Van Buren Supernova

https://imgur.com/L6WvB50 I am not sure how to embed image anymore. Nothing seems to work. This my dog Locky enjoying his surf today in the beach. Moderator Comment: You need the .jpeg (or whichever it is) part of the link, or embedding won't work. Some browsers tend to swallow that bit.

I hide here so I don't clog more recent threads. I am in a very happy mood now. There are not many people I can share this with and you guys have been the ones who know me better. I guess I'm more comfortable hiding behind the keyboard. I used to work a decent job, but quit right before covid. There were multiple reasons. The problem of working my 'dream job' is the part when it ruins everything. I learned the ugliness of the industry and it didn't sit well with my conscience. It was also heartbreaking to see my dog waiting for me everyday and this was my biggest reason. I tried a small business that enabled me to spend 24/7 with him, but it was just my luck to start and end it with covid, wiping my life savings along the way. Starting that time, I revive my long-life passion for writing. I have finally received some royalty payment for my books. It's puny, probably won't last a few grocery trips, and I had spent much more than that in expenses, and this is the span of three-years work! However, it feels unbelievable that there are people out there who had spent their hard-earned few bucks and used their precious times to read my works. I am very grateful. I haven't admitted to many friends or family about this because for some reasons, it feels too personal. Weird, yes, but I don't feel comfortable because they know me in real life. Anyway, most of them are not readers. For those who read, they don't read English books. You guys also know I struggle forever because it's not my first language, therefore I still hesitate to reveal the books, but I am improving. It's nothing much, it's one of the hardest things I do (working purpose) and it's an emotional roller-coaster. For a few days I feel great, there are countless days when I feel worthless and inadequate. Today, it's great. Just want to share. You are all still my safe place.

Carol, this is like an ex who always lingers and being annoying. I am sorry but I have seen your war with it for years

There are a lot of ways to look into it, but yeah, I am on his side. I still care about people and feel for those who are the victims of war, disease, and injustice. I still worry about my loved ones and the future everyday. However, I'm hopeless about what ordinary people can do because we are basically powerless, pawns. Those with power are mostly greedy and don't blink an eyes about the misery they cause to ordinary people, but sadly, there isn't much we can do. Most are too easily distracted or pitted against each other, have no critical minds, or too narrow-minded to see the bigger pictures. I have no faith that this is ever going to change in my lifetime.

Oh good to know. I knew I would need to dedicate a lot of time so I haven't started, maybe I won't. I am the kind of person who would go sleepless to finish watching a show and it's not good for my timing. I enjoyed it but it doesn't leave much impression after I was done. Apparently there is a lot of things in the background from the moment it was still an unknown work until the messed-up production, to deaths etc surrounding it. Yes. There is a spin-off Yakamoz S-245 with the submarine. Story is still not concluded though.

Humans with below 40ish eyes, maybe? Some images are so blur and unclear there were more than two times when I had to do ten tests. Once I gave up because it was never-ending. I don't think they look at the camera (I hope not!). I am that kind of people who always have tape over the cameras. Judging by the amounts of bots frequenting almost every social media nowadays, I think they are not doing good jobs at separating humans and bots, although I strongly suspect bots are intentional. Just recently FB mentioned they are introducing bots to interact with humans. Not sure why, because they are already out there everywhere, posting propaganda, chatting users up, etc. I am 'quite new' to Twitter, in terms of knowing how it works. There are countless of sexy bots thinking I am sexy, sending dms, following in batch. At first I thought they were genuine 'followers' (hate that term) After a while, I am getting slightly smarter now and know I can't be that sexy.

You both are right, the term refers to someone being greedy, like they have a family, but want a mistress, or want to keep a double lives, things like that. Actually, it's quite obvious (after Carol explained it), not sure why I didn't get the logic . I know what they meant from the context, but every time I heard it, I got furious with the terms and my mind didn't work. The idea of not eating that cake somehow drives me nuts (still!). What did John or Sherlock say? Clot? I'd rather they don't use cake, maybe keeps the pants and wears it, too? No? Sherlock couldn't wear his pants and keep it too in Buckingham Palace, could he?

The ones I had seen were shelves of daily necessity being locked up or marked above 950 (with note to get the reductions on the cashier).

I think this is the best explanation which makes it slightly more understandable now. The context with what I watch is probably along the line 'keep the cake (maybe for later) and also eat one now.' Still, I am against not eating a cake rightaway :p One of others that drive me nuts is 'I'm up for' or 'I'm down' means the same thing. The other day it stopped me a while to decide how to respond, whether it's up or down (because I was sure I have heard two versions before), but as usual, I always doubt myself and needed to double check. So, I just choose other answers like count me in or I am okay, then retreated to check instead of humiliating myself (which I still do anyway in other terms I am confident with but wrong!) I have read the origins of these two terms, but just to show you how confusing English can be. Another example: someone talked about 'hair of the dog' in his list of hangover cure he didn't want, and I took it literally and responded that I didn't mind hair of my dog in my drink!

I think you meant the ones stuck on our skinny Christmas tree? I was the one who put it on the tree, he provided tremendous help by making a few-minutes work into an hour, continously picking the toys from them and playing with it. They only perched there. I had the same tree with same decorations with the same dog posing for years (with same santa hat and scarf, I think I had posted it here before) so this (last) year I used his toys and I love it. I believe I saw a video of cops going around and following two shoplifters to catch them on the third act because they could only do so. I could be wrong, but I think that is in line with what you describe there. However, isn't it still a joke? I don't get the logic. Why would I work hard if I could just go in and 'get' my grocery for free? 950 dollar is a lot of money. You see, I was baptized as Christian, I have a skinny Christmas tree decorated with saliva-ridden dog toys just because I love the feeling of Christmas, nothing religious, but you will see me pray hard when the cashier rings my grocery nowadays, hoping the dollars don't add up that fast, and it's a fraction and bloody far from $950.

I love True Crime and some narrators always use the term 'she/he wants the cake and eats it, too' (mostly to describe crimes that involve greed or possessiveness). This actually drives me nuts. I mean WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT A CAKE BUT NOT TO EAT IT?!? GET MYCROFT!

Watched 3 Body Problems, Alice in Borderland, Into the Night. Anyone watches them? Haven't had chance to watch Ripley.

Well, apparently, it happened again. In 2016 (?), I was devastated, even though I lived far away. I just can't fathom why someone like that could be elected. Maybe I was still hopeful and naive. This year, I felt nothing. I don't know if the world has gone way too crazy, or I am jaded by everything else as well. My take for everything now is: whatever, just leave me and my family alone. I know it's impossible, but meh for every play, manipulation, greed, puppeteering in every industry. Not only politic and economic, but I feel jaded about everything, knowing people who are affected the most are puppets and powerless. The more I know, the more I think the world is broken and that wealth shouldn't be monopolized by some who become too powerful, or those with greed that will never be satisfied in expense of small people. I have one conclusion: I think we should eat the rich and powerful.

Merry Christmas! I remember it used to snow here and I have missed all of you greatly. Hope you are all well! I can't find a good way to host my image anymore, a link is the best I can do. This is my dog Locky, posing with 'almost' all his toys, collected over 9.5 years from me, family, and friends. He doesn't destroy toys (he only digs plastic/button eyes ) and I wash them when they get too dirty, so they are all in good conditions. https://ibb.co.com/7tW7gQZ The rest of the toys are either scattered around, in his toy's lair, or are somewhere waiting to trip me. I can't express how happy I am with this picture. We had just gone through weird times. He had a head operation early November to remove a lump (thankfully it's benign) but the few months leading to it and the time waiting for the biopsy result were hellish. Locky is a healthy dog, but he is 9.5 years old, has kidney issues, irregular heartbeat, and reverse sneezing. While all these didn't give him problems, it increased his risk significantly for anesthetic procedure. It didn't help that I had known a few healthy dogs that didn't wake up after simplest procedures, and there were multiple pet deaths around me including my brother's when I was told he needed the operation. The fear of him not waking up and going home with me paralyzed me with fear. Besides that, I also went through my own operation that delayed his (thankfully, nothing permanent but it was unexpected. The only time I was hospitalized was almost forty years ago) but everything is okay now! We are out there again roaming the beaches! So, Merry Christmas! Hope you have the good one, too.

That's what I think, I watched other zombie shows without hesitation. I think the fact that it has been going around so long that put me off again and again. See? I know there are more! I actually wrote something like that and yes, it depressed me so much I took a lot of break and was genuinely affected by it. I know what you meant. Talking about undead, have you watched The Last of Us? It's based on video game but it's a very good season one, mostly because of the things you mentioned. The Talented Mr. Ripley? Are they the same? I watched the movie and I quite like it. It's not my favorite but it was intriguing to me. Anyway, my deadline is looming and I haven't found time to watch it.

No. She caught me red-handed. We were not each other's fans.

My neighbor has chickens (this is a very urban area). I don't mind them and actually like hearing them, but the damn roosters cockle-doodle-doo every 2 p.m, on EVERY TIMEZONE. Anyone has good recipe for roosters?

Exactly. It's a pity to see. I wouldn't want my grandpa to do that when he should have been at home enjoying his retirement. To be honest, I know nothing about politic, and I try to stay away from it. To be really really honest, I don't actually know what you all mean as far right or left or any. It's just hard for me to believe there are no overlapping interests between sides or parties. How if I like one thing from this party and other thing from the other party? That is my biggest question mark actually, and surely, SURELY, there are other more suitable candidates out there. I mean, I barely survive attending any social function and standing up when I am not even fifty, and I remember my face almost stayed as forced-polite-grinning permanently when I had to shake hand with probably less than one hundred people during my high school graduation? How do they do that? Let them rest! Having said that, although I can't even answer the names of my politicians at gun point now, because yes, I barely paid attention, as long as things are working, I followed the 2016 US's presidential debate and was so heartbroken when he was elected. It really affected me because it was terrifying to me that this kind of person could be elected. But then again, since that 2016, and Covid, I am not the same person. I had underestimated the absurdity and stupidity of everything. Many things still infuriate me, but I have an open mind now that things could get worse. @J.P. I read about what happened in the border with Belarus. It's ridiculous. I also notice the increasing antisemitism. It's scary and we never learn, apparently. 'Never again', my ass. This is scary.

I see. I understand need you mentioned. For me, the only time I want to use it is to call the internet company to make a report if the internet is not working. But then, when the internet is not working, the telephone also not working! One of my reasons to disconnect it because it made me jump every time it rang, and it was mostly sales pitch. It's also too expensive to use for communication because my loved ones stay abroad. And good that you don't have those calls anymore. There are handsets that display caller numbers so you can block them, or only pick up those you recognize.

Yeah, not to mention that it could be quite traumatic. I read (but wasn't really sure how legit, wait I think it is) that San Francisco wants to make it illegal for grocery store to close without six months' notice and must seek 'successor.' I had tried my hand in small business, and this is bloody ridiculous because of how hard it is to even survive without crime. But, but, what about my eyesight excuse? I can't read the forum from my phone now without getting headache. Yes, I am still considered lucky and I am really grateful because my eyesight is still okay for everything else. I heard stories about pain and bad posture from a friend who has a similar problem with yours. And my neighbor threatened to cut my hand because I touched her flower! True story, I was six maybe. Charming woman.

Hi J.P, happy to see that you are well. I have a confession to make, every time I see owls, I still think, "J.P!" Not so much to seeing duck reminds me of Carol, though. Not sure why I actually don't remember the old one. I think I have watched it, but didn't pay attention to details. I still have the thick hardcover book (it would potentially give a thief concussion should I use that as weapon). Actually, these two are in my TBW (to be watched) list, I hear good things about them, but I also hear they don't conclude well or become repetitive/draggy. Not sure it's wise to watch Walking Dead when I stay alone in quiet neighborhood but I think I have seen worse. I'm just confused, is it the same with 'The Fear of Walking Dead?" I haven't heard of it actually. I always think if I ever lived near Yellowstone or Utah, I would hike everyday. So, the scenery itself is a good sell to watch. My most urgent TBR is Ripley, I saw some threads about it here, but didn't read any as I don't want to get spoiled. I have to get to it by the end of the month, because my sis-in-law watched it and she would most likely spoil it!

Carol and Hikari, happy to see you both are well. Oh, how much I miss that dancing cow! I've always wanted to come here to discuss something, but when I had time I forgot what I wanted to say. I also need reading glasses now (I'm lucky, a bit late. I am 47) and it takes away one of favorite activities, reading! This forum doesn't display well in my mobile version, and I still haven't found the nice balance of not getting headache between wearing and not wearing the glasses! You can injure your forehead with the size of fonts I use now, but somehow it doesn't work on every site so I barely do any serious reading except when I am on my laptop or kindle. Oh well. Those are my excuses. Oh that sound pretty uncomfortable! Sometimes I got water in my ear for being in there for too long or because of some wrong movements, I had to clear the clog by putting in more water, bent the body so the ground was perpendicular with the ear canal direction, let it settle for a couple of second, and then tilt the whole body in opposite alignment to pour it out. It would poop and the stuck water would be gone, maybe it's similar concept? Not sure if that also cleaned my ear or took out some of my brain matter as well, but I only did that when there was water in my ear. Apparently yes, it encourages crime, because I think $1000 is a lot of money for grocery anywhere, right? It probably lasts me a long time. So, it's very lucrative for those who prefers not to earn money the honest way, especially because working could pay much less. I have seen too many footages and read about thieves simply walked in and took merchandizes without anyone doing anything about it. And worse, for shop owners who took action, they were punished for protecting their places instead of the thieves, which is very ridiculous to me. I read about big chains closing like Target, Starbucks, Walmart, and more because of blatant retail thefts, I saw merchandizes locked behind glass cabinets or priced above $950 (shoppers get their 'refund' on the cashier). There are more news about organized retail thefts for high value stuffs like electronics and branded goods. It sounds unbelievable to me and I don't discount that the reports might have been overblown, it probably worse than the actual data, but one thing is for sure: it happened. Well, free $950 grocery, I'd be tempted! I have read about Romanian pickpocket's confession that he operated in Spain because the punishment for pickpocket was 3 days jail (regardless of how many times you offend) while it could be years in Romania, and they made much more than working or being a police officer. I love self check-outs, although it sometimes not user friendly for my parents. I don't need to interact and I can use coins from my piggy bank all I want (most cashiers have policy that limits the number of coins you can use). That's why we can't have nice things. On another note, I read interesting articles that revealed Amazon's 'just walk out' checkout tech was powered by 1,000 Indian workers which is hilarious to me because I am going to hell Amazon's Just Walk Out technology relies on hundreds of workers in India watching you shop but then Amazon sort of 'denied' it Amazon insists Just Walk Out isn’t secretly run by workers watching you shop. I tried to check Snopes but there was nothing about it.

I come here to express my surprise, up until a few weeks ago, I thought I was reading old news. From all the people in America, do you really only have these two guys? I know many if not most work places/institutions don't allow convict to join/hold important position, and please that the other retires already.

Any updates about your mysterious calls, Carol? I'll add another paranoid suggestions, that some people with not-so-good intention might be targeting you. It's way too often to be a coincidence, unless your phone company really sucks at its job. We had landlines for decades and I don't remember getting calls without anyone/machine talking more than a few times. It's never too safe to consider that they are calling to check if you are home or other bad purposes. Anyway, do you still need the landline? I only maintain one where my spouse lives because mil still uses it sometimes, but the amount of spam calls is very annoying (and this is not everyday). Spam calls are something like telling you have some problem with government and they need you to press buttons/call back to verify in order not to get into troubles, so your traffic is very high. I have disconnected the landline here since I don't need it. It comes free with internet but I just pull the plug, nothing good can come from those calls and everyone I care about knows how to find me. Most businesses are not using landline anymore, and even if they, I don't call them through that because it's costly compared to just using WhatsApp, where you can get extra benefit to send images etc.

My friend recommended Severance until smoke came out her head, so I gave it a try, but I think it suck. I wrote a long list of reasons why it sucks when she asked me and she was certainly not happy, wonder if you guys have watched it and liked it. It's been a while and I have liked the first four season and one or two episodes of the fifth season (including the one with Andrew Scott), but season six was weird to the point that they don't feel like Black Mirror anymore except one good episode 'Beyond the Sea.' Watched Shogun but haven't had access for more episode and the first episode is good.