“See. This is why I prefer rubber gloves instead of nitrile. That way I can keep doing the exam while they defibrillate, and my fingers don’t go numb!”

That’s part of the gig in many IT roles. You have to be at least partially available for IT help requests.

Whenever I’m in the middle of something and I get a message from someone high up on the org chart.

“Hey, got a moment for a quick question?”

Me, internally: ‘Ah, fuck.’
Externally: “Yeah, totally!”

Many years ago, I discovered that my then-employer’s “home built” e-commerce system had all user and admin passwords displayed in plaintext at home/admin/passwords.

When I brought this to the attention of leadership, they called the “developer” in and he said “oh, well, that’s IP locked, so no one on the web can access it!” When I pulled it up on my phone, he insisted my phone was on the work WiFi, despite it being clearly verifiable that was not the case. (The same work WiFi that had an open public connection, which is the one my phone would have been on, if it were on it…)

He did fix that, but many other issues remained. Eventually a new COO hired someone competent as his ‘backup’, replaced our website and finally suggested he pursue other employment opportunities before he could no longer voluntarily pursue them. (There was concern he might sabotage.)

I want a phone I can hold comfortably in one hand. I don’t need a larger screen, I need to remember to call the eye doctor.

No. I know. These phones aren’t for me. They’re for people who want to replace their laptop with a phone. The market is moving toward an all inclusive device, and the only way to make that work is dorky VR headsets, awkward projectors, or venti phones.

OldManYellsAtCloud.gif

I will not be suppressed.

It’s inferred.

There’s a whole subset of people for whom that statement would be an expression of endearment.

I would more just assume some people have a playful relationship with their partners and the subject of neurodiversity.

Unreported side effect of gabapentin use.

Definitely slow.

The really funny thing is that I’m in a heterosexual couple. My wife is bi, but the closest I tread to the rainbow is polyamory.

It’s not even a good insult!
Oooh. I’m going to associate you with a group that has shown incredible resilience and generally embodies such dastardly values as embracing their true selves, seeking or building community, respecting each other, valuing mental health and self care, and living in defiance of what is expected of them.
I’ve been given more insulting compliments.

All I see are under-evolved crabs.

That’s fair. To be honest, the thing that sort of put me back on my heels about him was learning about the TBI - that explained his pattern of behavior. However, I can definitely see the point about not wanting the recognition via the license plate, or the reminders of harder times.

After months of a mostly one-way back and forth, I really just was looking to poke back at him and was grasping at low-hanging fruit in the moment. Kinda glad I saw an alternative option once it opened up.

There’s a guy on our dog walking route that put up several Trump flags last year. My wife and I actually wound up having an interaction with him because he was spying on us through his cameras and got mad that we referred to the flags as embarrassing and said that Trumpism was a cult.

By mid-April, he’d pulled down all the flagpoles and didn’t even take the flags off them, just laid the poles with flags wrapped around them in the dirt by his driveway.

In May I actually talked with him. Initially I had no intention of trying to be nice to him - he just had done something sort of shitty a few days before (encouraging his dog to bark at our dogs). I was going to be like “Look, if you wanna call me gay slurs over your ring camera, that’s fine, but don’t encourage your dog to be hostile to mine.”
But somehow he tied his dog to military service, and while I was fully prepared to connect the lack of a veteran license plate to his statement to call him a liar and a Reddit ninja, he fielded the license plate question and said that he’d suffered a TBI that resulted in an appreciable percentage of brain dying, and that made him unable to be rational when he felt any sort of threat or insult. So he didn’t use the military plates, because he’d had negative experiences with motorists while using them.
I don’t know if I believe that - it seems dumb on the part of the other motorists. But I’m not willing to keep pressing for the sake of picking a fight. I’ll throw a barb, but not over-extend myself. It’s just not worth it.
So I listened, and we chatted - for like an hour and a half. My wife left after a few minutes with the dogs. We talked about politics, the world, our community, and how fucked everything is. He supported Trump because of the 2016 (Obama) economy. He believes in women’s rights. He is conservative, anti-immigrant, and believes in stronger policing. I told him I believe in increased social support, so folks like him can get out of the VA benefits trap. I told him I think the way to stronger communities is through stronger schools and increased civic engagement - more pride, less punishment. He even asked if we’d be willing to help train his dog better, because he notices that ours don’t bark at other dogs, and don’t pull on their leads. I told him I’d have to think about it, and ask my wife, since she’s the one who really had the patience to get our dogs where they are.

We parted - not as friends - but certainly not as enemies. Just - neighbors with a better understanding of each other.

Edit: I misread the comment I replied to as “But did you write that comment?” but it appears they said “How did you write that comment?”

I leave you with this, my final gift:

They often do, because they lack the courage to show the world their inner ugliness. Only through code and situational implication can they allude to what they hide away.
They’re in the closet. It’s a beige closet painted with a cheap sprayer, using bottom tier paint from a big box store. If it had wooden shelves, trim, or hardwood floors, they ripped it out and put up those flimsy wire shelves and that gray plastic faux-wood flooring. It’s a shitty closet, but it’s their closet. That is their soul, and where they feel the most comfortable being their true selves.

The Australian Bearypus, however, is a critical fail ecologically and economically.

In nature, the 3 lb (1.5ish kg) critter has a snout with grinding plates, claw-less paws, a wide tail and is covered in a thick layer of white fur. Although capable of swimming, the fur traps too much air, so they float like balloons on the water. They require a very cool environment, and a steady supply of easily huntable and crushable prey. This makes them poorly suited for icy (prey availability), wet (floating), warm (fur) and temperate environments (coloration).

Commercially - no one wants to ask the pet shop for a bearypus.

[King] Bluetooth was extremely influential, joining the tribes of the region into one kingdom — which is why the technology that unites electronic devices is named after him.

I’m one of the 10,000!

Right in Deans Beans!

These writers are getting lazy. This is barely satire.

I’ve seen like 8 pictures of that one car already. If they milk that thing anymore to keep trying to build up this illusion, that car is going to turn into a cow.