Lounge random thoughts/stories thread -- CURRENT

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Hey, @Yagisama? I couldn't resist, the post above and the song I've been listening to, well...now I have this image in my head, you and your wife walking along the back alleys overseas, every evening a new restaurant, every meal a new adventure, and just how good that life sounds, and how beautiful those nights must be, the two of you, alone in the quiet crowds, a reflection of each other, and so...well, 🤗. If that life is anything like reality, I'm really happy for you, you know?
 

Telwar

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So, while walking the other day, I passed a business never seen before, in a prime downtown corner location: a pet optometrist.
A friend found out that there are pet opthalmologists, when his senior cat got sent to one. Apparently that particular one was quite expensive.

Though that did lead to a good joke.

"One, or two? One, or two?"

"Meow?"

"Three or four?"
 

Yagisama

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Hey, @Yagisama? I couldn't resist, the post above and the song I've been listening to, well...now I have this image in my head, you and your wife walking along the back alleys overseas, every evening a new restaurant, every meal a new adventure, and just how good that life sounds, and how beautiful those nights must be, the two of you, alone in the quiet crowds, a reflection of each other, and so...well, 🤗. If that life is anything like reality, I'm really happy for you, you know?

Thank you! 😊 Recent years have been somewhat of a tribulation. I don't want to dwell on these much, but I just want to mention it because so much of others' experiences we read online just focuses on the positives and it feels like everyone else is having such a grand old time. This included a couple of years of self injections daily and enormous amounts of money in a failed attempt to spawn a mini-Yagi. I accidentally hit a nerve once during injection and ended up dreading each injection. One of the few times I mentioned this here, it was easier for me to talk about the money side of it just to vent. Someone ended up complaining that I shouldn't be venting about it because the costs were minimal compared to the grand scheme of things.

Then November 2024 came and I was overcome with anxiety. After a bout of pneumonia, I decided to take a trip to Scandinavian in the hope of at least being in a peaceful area. I mentioned that here and someone complained about it. The lounge was apparently not suited for venting angst anymore, especially as a reason for taking a trip 😅

Now I've found peace once again and I'm back to my "walk the earth" ways. I'd probably have a LOT more anxiety now if things had gone differently in the first part. And I was previously getting ready to say goodbye to the Vagabond life, so there's that bonus too. 😅

The "Konditorei tours" are full steam ahead and mission parameters are being set! 🥳

July 19-21 - Part of the "Seven years weeks in Tibet Japan" We threw some darts on a map and it's going to be somewhere in Chiba during this time. I've already added some Patisseries to an excel spreadsheet for these dates. Ideally three a day.

December - My old stomping around in Hamburg, Altona. Exact dates depends on whether the initial insertion is in Hamburg, Munich, or Copenhagen. Patisseries and bakeries have been identified. 🥳
 

Drizzt321

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Now I've found peace once again and I'm back to my "walk the earth" ways. I'd probably have a LOT more anxiety now if things had gone differently in the first part. And I was previously getting ready to say goodbye to the Vagabond life, so there's that bonus too. 😅
If you want to vagabond some of the South West/SoCal, would be happy to camp out at some places with you, or have you join some fun camp out gathering/events.
 
I've seen them before, and yes, there is a weird history with there use. But, I will still Spock-eyebrow and chortle at the notion of a "tactical umbrella". (I mean, I still kinda want one) one example
1777163656598.jpeg
 

Yagisama

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If you want to vagabond some of the South West/SoCal, would be happy to camp out at some places with you, or have you join some fun camp out gathering/events.

That sounds great! And if there's ever another "Ars Meat" I shall demonstrate the Yagi Uchi Do Dojo method of ordering, which involves holding up a similar badge as the one pictured below to the server.

"Dana, Scully F.B.I. !!" 🥳

IMG_7268.JPG


(A couple of weeks ago)
 
A friend found out that there are pet opthalmologists, when his senior cat got sent to one. Apparently that particular one was quite expensive.

Though that did lead to a good joke.

"One, or two? One, or two?"

"Meow?"

"Three or four?"
Nice joke! Though there are automatic optometry machines that can measure all of your eye's lens aberrations including including high order ones – up to 20 Zernike polynomials the last time I had a measurement done with a Zeiss machine – and even a 2D map of your diopters both wide open (in dark) and stopped down.

So if one really wanted to make the perfect (and expensive) custom‑moulded or custom‑ground aspheric glasses for their beloved aging pet, it's certainly easier to just stick them into the machine than guessing how many meows mean two or four mice on the poster ;-)
 
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Da Xiang

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That sounds great! And if there's ever another "Ars Meat" I shall demonstrate the Yagi Uchi Do Dojo method of ordering, which involves holding up a similar badge as the one pictured below to the server.

"Dana, Scully F.B.I. !!" 🥳

View attachment 133813

(A couple of weeks ago)
I've been binging X-Files all the past week. Early in Season 4 now.
 

Jeff J

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One of my kids' friends was in a school sponsored game of assassins- everyone is assigned a target to spray with a squirt gun, and the last one standing gets $2000. The attacker hid behind a car seat, waited for the car to get on the highway at speed, and startled the driver screaming and shooting a water gun. The car was totaled, the attacker broke lots of bones, and the driver had only minor injuries thanks to seatbelts and air bags.

It sounds like a very bad idea.

Participants in a similar game broke my son's window trying to sneak up on his roommate.

I played those games as a youth, but I think "Don't do anything illegal or dangerous" was considered more important than the game.
 

Revike

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Oh, also, does anyone know what a fair pay scale might be for a faceless, numbered minion in an unmatched planetary takeover army? And should I invest in some sort of evil Minion Resources department?
3 bowls of gruel a day and a cot. They should be happy that you let them work for you and spare their lives.

Basically, you just treat them like interns.

And you only need an MR department if you want to subcontract your punishments.
 

CrackFraggle

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If it doesn't have a hidden sword/knife, it's not tactical. Might be shillelagh actually, with that knobby head.
I already have a walking stick I carved, effectively a shillelagh. "Tactical" doesn't require a blade, to my mind. (though, I do like a good sword cane) There is some historical precedent to the umbrella as a means to do self-defence with a thing that will go wholly unnoniced in general: Bartitsu
 

UserIDAlreadyInUse

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3 bowls of gruel a day and a cot. They should be happy that you let them work for you and spare their lives.

Basically, you just treat them like interns.

And you only need an MR department if you want to subcontract your punishments.
My minions are like family! I'd like to be like Gru from Despicable Me, knowing every faceless drone by name and/or number.
 
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Nauls

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Oh, also, does anyone know what a fair pay scale might be for a faceless, numbered minion in an unmatched planetary takeover army?
Back when I was in that line of work it was the benefits that really sold it for me. The occasional weekend and holiday off, opportunities for 2nd wave rotations during invasion week, bingo night, etc.
 

MichaelC

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UserIDAlreadyInUse

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Back when I was in that line of work it was the benefits that really sold it for me. The occasional weekend and holiday off, opportunities for 2nd wave rotations during invasion week, bingo night, etc.
Hmm...I can offer three weeks vacation, four-twelve hour shifts a week, family suites, on-island schooling and daycare, one-year parental leave for all minions past basic training and an extra six months for any soldier-become-mother, and while I can't offer pay, as such, I can offer a personal energy shield to protect against any and all projectiles, suitable for any occasion, from the reduction of a major metropolis to a minor domestic dispute?
 

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Auguste_Fivaz

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Hmm...I can offer three weeks vacation, four-twelve hour shifts a week, family suites, on-island schooling and daycare, one-year parental leave for all minions past basic training and an extra six months for any soldier-become-mother, and while I can't offer pay, as such, I can offer a personal energy shield to protect against any and all projectiles, suitable for any occasion, from the reduction of a major metropolis to a minor domestic dispute?
Uniforms are one reason to join an armed force, for the looks as well as the other attraction - look smart!
 

JiveTurkeyJerky

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Uniforms are one reason to join an armed force, for the looks as well as the other attraction - look smart!
"I love the idea of living on an exotic, volcanic tropical island - but what really sold me was the Hugo Boss uniforms. I mean, an evil plot is an evil plot, but I appreciate looking sharp in paradise while doing it, eh?"

- Henchman #31
 

MichaelC

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Back when I was in that line of work it was the benefits that really sold it for me. The occasional weekend and holiday off, opportunities for 2nd wave rotations during invasion week, bingo night, etc.
Speaking of minion job benefits, was it "burn, pillage and rape" or "burn, rape and pillage"? I could never get that one right...
3 bowls of gruel a day and a cot. They should be happy that you let them work for you and spare their lives.

Basically, you just treat them like interns.

And you only need an MR department if you want to subcontract your punishments.
That's the surefire way to get killed by the first random hero. No, you want your minions to be happy, sharp and not wearing full‑face helmets…

I mean, haven't you ever read "Evil overlord for dummies"?
 
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Da Xiang

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Yagisama

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18 year old faces two years of jail time for licking a straw and putting it back on a vending machine in Singapore. At least he was considerate enough to put a video of it on Instagram making life easier for law enforcement.

I used these "iJooz" machines in japan but there were no straws there!


https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjw8w849g6go