Topic: The Chit-Chat Thread

@ThanosReXXX Now come on, you KNOW for a fact I don't mess with other humans. The way I dress and act I may as well be a Time Lord.

I can still do empathy, just in weird ways. Normally if a difficult subject comes up I work out what to say a few moments later when it's not helpful.

But also, people understand that.

@Joeynator3000 So, what are you using all those four HDMI ports for, then?
The first thing I'd connect, after my set top box, would be my HDMI splitter and all my consoles. That's one of the main reasons I'd be buying one, after all...

Did you also manage to find a good gaming chair already?

@NEStalgia And what exactly is the romanticized ideal of the car? Freedom? Fast travel? From what you've told me, those things aren't valid anymore in your neck of the woods, so I can imagine. Over here, it's the same in the city, what with all the "you'll pay everywhere you go here" rules, and some cities even go out of their way to remove car access to certain parts of the city, so it's bike and pedestrian only (or tram/street car & bus), but outside of the cities and for travel from home to work, it's still quite ideal.

@ThanosReXXX First one is my Switch (it's outputting to TV and soundbar at the same time), second is for my sound bar, third one is my ultra bluray. Fourth one would be where I put the SNES Classic if I ever bother with that, lol

Poor Reggie

@Joeynator3000 Aha, I didn't think the soundbar came with an HDMI input. Is that an LG soundbar or what? Probably didn't come with the TV, or did it? Either way, I've got 3 ports now, so I'm already used to using a splitter.

@ThanosReXXX It's Vizio, it has HDMI input and one for ARC.

@Knuckles-Fajita So, kind of like sim-pathy, then?

@Joeynator3000 Is that either/or? Or does it need both? I do believe the C9 does have an ARC port. It's eARC, if I remember correctly.

@ThanosReXXX ...I dunno, but it works with the bluray, so whatever. lol

@ThanosReXXX So it's not all gridlock and lights there? I mean locally part of the problem is the city is descending upon the area. They weren't invited, land developers just showed up and started building their city and luring demand, screw everyone that was already here. I suppose corrupt local politicians throughout the whole region are to blame for that. Land developers come in, "we want to build this future" and then the politicians just rezone and approve whatever it is so long as their pockets are well greased. They do a "traffic study" but they don't actually improve it, and they miss the point that it can't and shouldn't be improved. It is the way it is. People live around the way it is. You can't just brute force tell people how their lives will chance so you can put what you want where you want it simply because someone paid you to approve it.

But it's bigger than that. It's happening even in the actual city. It was always a ghetto city, but now they're rebuilding it as an ultra mega luxury city and the ghetto crowd gets stomped even harder.

If it were like the actual city transportation wouldn't be an issue. The actual city proper, of said major metro, I can walk end to end in an afternoon. It's designed for that. It's efficient for that. This isn't. It never was. And it never will be without a forced relocation program to dispose of everyone and everything and build a new city on top of the old locality. Usually when that happens it's called "conquest and occupation" though.

Commuting home and work doesn't involve sitting in snarled traffic inching forward a few inches periodically while people try to squeeze around? Because that's your daily existence here, twice a day. And if you need to buy food? Add another hour + to the trip home.

@Joeynator3000 I'd say that's something to look into, then. Might free up an HDMI port...

@ThanosReXXX ....Um, what do you mean? lol

@NEStalgia Me Grimlock! Oh wait, gridlock...
No, it's all pretty well taken care of over here. Can't speak for the entire country, obviously, but in the city here, thinks all work as they should, also in the more suburban areas and the uptown and/or surrounding areas of the city, so the neighboring districts and such. Also, everything is very strictly regulated, so no greased pockets, corrupt politicians, or people pushing their personal agendas for whatever reason.

We have commissions that have to approve of the commissions that approve of what the commissions in the city approve of. And then they put it to a vote and THEN they agree upon the action to be taken or not...

Most people over here only do shopping in the weekends, or do their grocery shopping right after work, on the way home, because being in traffic for a little longer doesn't really matter all that much in such moments.

@Joeynator3000 I mean that if you could just use the ARC port for the sound bar, then you wouldn't have to stick it into the HDMI port, freeing that up. That's why I asked earlier if that is an either/or situation or if it needs both connected to work properly.

@ThanosReXXX I think the hdmi Arc port has to be connected to the TV's in order for it to work. lol

@NotTelevision Oh, gosh. My GPS on that particularly bad drive I mentioned was barking at me to make a left turn at one point. That definitely wasn't happening lol. I've never been to Houston, but I've been to Atlanta for a conference before; I was VERY thankful for my taxi driver lol.

I don't often have a huge need to stock up on things in bulk, at least not food since I try to stick with fresh or flash-frozen stuff on a certain budget. Some people around here with large families do travel to a Sam's Club and stock up.

There's still a GameStop nearby, and I don't see it leaving until the chain ever goes under. There's another about forty minutes away. There was a third one, but it closed several years ago. GS and Walmart are my only brick and mortar options for retail games. There's a secondhand shop not too far away that has retro games in stock sometimes.

@NEStalgia Crazy. Sounds like a lot of gridlock might be involved in your case. Walmarts are plentiful in my corner of the Midwest; many towns have one at least somewhat close. I've only ever bought from Best Buy online, and I've only ever once entered a Target in living memory.

I can't help but think of a recent SNL skit by Eddie Murphy that pokes fun at gentrification (among other things) from the conversation I've skimmed above. XD

@ThanosReXXX I feel like I should interject that cost of living in this country definitely varies depending on where you live. I'm doing fairly well for where I'm at, but slap me with my current income in an urban area like San Francisco, and I'd definitely be homeless. $600 here would get you an okay-ish place to rent, though that figure probably wouldn't include utilities.

@Joeynator3000 So, both then. Well, good to know. Goes to show you what I know about ARC. Never had one of these ports on my TVs, so it's all new to me.

@ThanosReXXX I never used one before either, so, yeah. I think that's how it works though, it's so that everything doesn't have to connect to the sound bar itself.

@Tyranexx That amount of €600 is also without utilities over here. It is my net rent, so no electricity, gas or water, much less TV and internet. So, add all that up, and we're talking more along the lines of €800 - €900.

But that's still a heck of a lot cheaper than renting something in @NEStalgia Land...

And my home may not be as big as something more rural or outside the city, but it's more than enough for me. I've got a one storey apartment, with around 279 square feet of living space, that includes two bedrooms, a bathroom, a living room with a separate kitchen, and a large balcony overlooking the canals here.

@Joeynator3000 So, it's more like a through-port/through put, then?