Life updates

[Harrison]

BTW both of my accounts on FB have eaten 30-day bans, so I can't respond to anyone. I can read though lol

[leah]

BTW both of my accounts on FB have eaten 30-day bans, so I can't respond to anyone. I can read though lol

methinks thou might consider not feeding the trolls...

how much school do you have left? are there any other types of work-study jobs you might be able to finagle? also eggs are a good budget food.... not too expensive for a dozen and there's enough protein to keep you fuller longer.

[brinstar]

ya man eat hell of eggs and get beans in bulk for protein and such, apples and oranges for vitamins and shit, and chew a broccoli sometimes

keep clawing tho something has to break your way soon

[leah]

GUYS! has NT been down for everyone else or just me? regardless, its absence in my life made me very sad indeed and i'm glad it's back and i love all you idiots.

[Harrison]

It was for a few days.

[brinstar]

rando updates:

-actively looking for and applying to cool nonprofit jobs, no luck yet though. had a few interviews. mildly terrifying as i haven't gone through this process since GWB was in office, but i still have a stable job while i'm doing it so it could be a lot worse i guess

-started playing D&D 5E on the reg with some omaha friends (human mnk3/dru1 multiclass w/ folk hero background)

-started running D&D 5E on the reg for some lincoln friends, including my gf and leah+sir (we are four days away from starting Curse of Strahd!)

-enjoyed the hell out of zelda on switch, mario was meh, currently playing stardew valley and darkest dungeon (with occasional dips into the SNES classic) while waiting for Dark Souls Remastered to release in may. hardly use my desktop PC at all these days.

-discovered a record label out of australia called Art As Catharsis, they have a huge catalog and most of it is great. highlights include Mister Ott (afro-jazz funk), The Physics House Band (sounds like mars volta without all the meth), Hashshashin (desert doom) and Gauche (what if bjork but live D&B).

-primus and mastodon are touring together and making a stop at lincoln's awesome outdoor amphitheatre in june

-my old-ass brake lines blew out a couple weeks ago so i learned to drive without 'em until my mechanic could do a fix, which thankfully cost less than i expected

-birds are cool

-rewatched original fullmetal alchemist, then watched the new live-action netflix movie, thought it was weirdly disappointing, currently watching fullmetal alchemist brotherhood. i don't usually get into anime stuff these days but FMA is some good shit.

-reading more books lately. finished New Jim Crow finally, killed The Green Boat in a day, yawned through After Alice, currently reading Birds Art Life while also rereading Reverence from my undergrad days as a religious studies minor

-gf going on a week-long work trip to ATL at the end of the month and i'm kinda excited because i expect it to go much like her last trip (4 days in FL over christmas) during which i did nothing but lay on the couch and play switch and watch indiana jones movies (my new ranking is Crusade, Raiders, Skull, Doom. you can disagree, but you'd be wrong.)

-haven't had to do any major house repairs/whatever for a while other than replacing an evaporator fan in the icebox, though i foresee having to dig up yet another fuckload of day lilies within the next couple of months. would like to replace the dishwasher (it's a cheap-ass white one that doesn't work that great and also does not match our stove/fridge which are both black with brushed aluminum)

-just realized last month marks 4 years of not eating meat from mammals lol

[Jay]

-Getting remarried to my ex wife.

-Quit job. Gonna travel a bit and figure out a career path.

-Made bank on bitcoin.

-Lost some of that bank on bitcoin.

-Heart stuff is good.

-Kids are happy.

-I'm getting kinda fat and need to cut that shit out.

-But this new donut truck near me is amazing

-Going to Seoul, Korea and boating to Japan for a vacation probably in June

[leah]

jay that's awesome for you and your (ex-)wife! congrats.

bulletins from the world of leah:

- nearing two years of working at this nonprofit foundation and still really enjoying it. it's challenging but in a very different way from the ad agency, and i feel good being part of something that's at least trying to make a difference in nebraskan communities and for the next generation of citizens.

- as i mentioned, the divorce is now finalized. josh and i are still figuring out how to co-parent our shared dogs without stepping on each other's toes. i took the two corgis and he took the black lab; currently, he brings the lab (and his other new dog) over to my house once or twice a month to visit. it's working ok but i miss june. it's also weird not living in the same place as the person i spent 11+ years of my life with, but i'm also really glad to not be with him anymore. especially since he's still boning my slutty ex-bestie. barf. we will not be reconciling. (that applies to me + josh and me + bestie, for the record.)

- to that end, things are going well with the new dude (aka the aforementioned "sir"). i live in fear of fucking it up because of all the brokenness that resulted from my marriage. wish me luck.

- i still see the therapist that josh and i started seeing for couples counseling. she's amazing and has helped me come a LONG way in just a short time. silver lining.

- sir is helping me fix up my house after having lived there for a decade (officially next month). it's really excellent to see the potential actually coming to fruition in this place... though living there by myself has been a lot harder financially than i anticipated. things are tight money-wise.

- very much enjoying learning the D&D ropes from/with alex, and also from watching HarmonQuest which everyone should watch if you like D&D, rick & morty, community, or some combination thereof.

[Harrison]

Yay for all the good news from everyone.

Nothing really new on my front. Buried in schoolwork, feet of snow, and nothing good to report really.

[Drem]

hmm i haven't done an update in a long time

-wife and i bought a business in 2015. we will have had it for three years this May

-had our second son back in february 2017. he just turned one and he's walking and trying to talk and just totally kicking ass

-remodeled the business at the end of january. changed everything except the floor. it was insane and stressful but turned out really well

-trying to apply for state jobs like park ranger, etc., because the business is established and i want to do something else. this business is my wife's thing at the end of the day, i'm just helping

-been snowboarding whenever i can but the remodel and a really really bad winter kept me from going up so far this season

-been skateboarding when the weather's nice/in the garage

-picked up tenkara fly fishing and got yvon chouinard's book about it and spent all last summer trying in vain to wrap my head around it but it's been a lot of fun

-barely even play games anymore. keep wasting money buying new shit and then i never play it. but i did get a really fun metroidvania type thing called The Mummy Demastered. other than that just been fucking around w/ Stardew Valley finally and Dragon Ball FighterZ and Monster Hunter World. but with like <5 hours a week to play games i barely ever get anything done anymore. still haven't beat Dark Souls 2 or even started Dark Souls 3 and DS1 was one of my favorite games. o well

-getting out in the yard finally and getting ready for summer. gonna put up an awning on our back patio and do some other landscaping projects

-fuck we're all old now aren't we

[brinstar]

The Mummy Demastered.

man i tried this and had to shut it off after 20 minutes, it's like whoever designed it only ever watched their older brother play metroid instead of playing theyself, just clunky and shitty and stiff

Stardew Valley finally

yesssssssssssssssss

fuck we're all old now aren't we

absolutely

[Drem]

bruh keep playing. i wasn't sold on it til i got a little ways in and got some new abilities and guns. the secret finding and difficulty overall are great. had some true platforming moments that took me back to SM/SotN too. really tight controls in the game. fun bosses. criminally short tho. it's like a two- or three-sitting game to 100%

i didn't realize it was made by the same people (Way Forward) that did all those Shantae games and that really excellent (also metroidvania) Aliens: Infestation game on DS tho until i just looked it up. guess they've been around since like 1990

stardew valley is so good tho. any tips? i don't even really know what to focus on. it's so chill. i got like three crops going and i just spend all day fishing ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[leah]

The Mummy Demastered.

man i tried this and had to shut it off after 20 minutes, it's like whoever designed it only ever watched their older brother play metroid instead of playing theyself, just clunky and shitty and stiff

so basically it's like it's designed by me? hahaha

[brinstar]

stardew valley tips

ah man i don't really think there's a wrong way to do it, if you're chillin out and growing a few veg and catching some fish sounds like you're doing just fine

the only real advice i would give you is to upgrade your backpack at the general store asap (twice if you can afford it), as it makes everything just so much easier when tools don't take up more than half your inventory. upgrading your tools at clint's is nice too because they'll work better and you get less tired

[Jay]

Oh yeah I'm pretty badassed at Dragon Ball FighterZ. Come see me. I play the most scumbag team. Adult Gohan, Android 16 and Vegeta.

[Drem]

it's so fuckin good. what you mean come see you? do you stream? i watch and learn from that dude shinkensou whenever i can Kappa

[Jay]

Come see me is shit talk lol. Like come see me and catch these hands yo Truth be told I'm only good cuz my team is cheap as fuck. I'm otherwise just ok.

[Tossica]

Got a new job at the same government agency. Got a new dog. Got a new car. I guess that's about it.

[ClakarEQ]

Company I work for is being broken up and sold as the 3 major divisions it currently holds. Job security is so shit in IT, this is the 4th acquisition process I've been through (in my career). Too common it seems in the metro Detroit area.

Looking for a new home, 2-10 acres, 1700 sq ft around the Lapeer / Imlay City corridor. Not having much luck but I want some country life, I can't stand neighbors or people congestion at all anymore LOL.

Wife and kids are doing great. She takes a lot of time looking for homes and prepping ours to sell.
Young son is a junior this year. 1 year left then no more high school /yeah
Older boy is aligning with a community college, he's not really sure what he wants to do yet. Looking to knock out some of the core classes.

My hobby is finally done, working on installation scripts, it is nearly 50 consoles and 1TB of games and stuff, here are two videos I put together yesterday. Let me know if anyone is interested, you can send me a PM. I have no issues giving it all away but 1TB of "stuff" is too much to transfer but I'd be up for shipping a HDD around :p. This stuff often sells for 2-3k USD and would have half or a 1/3 of the content I have.

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[Durothil Skyreaver]

Busy year for me. Got engaged in October and have a baby coming middle of June. Bought a house 2 weeks ago, get possession on Wednesday. Becoming very impatient waiting for the damn lawyers to do their thing. Retro gaming collection has expanded - bought myself a Sony Trinitron after I learned that the SNES, GC, and N64 can all use S-Video.

[Jay]

Busy year for me. Got engaged in October and have a baby coming middle of June. Bought a house 2 weeks ago, get possession on Wednesday. Becoming very impatient waiting for the damn lawyers to do their thing. Retro gaming collection has expanded - bought myself a Sony Trinitron after I learned that the SNES, GC, and N64 can all use S-Video.

You ever get your house stuff settled?

Nothing much changed for me since last update. Been enjoying funemployment and trying to come up with some kind of business idea to invest in. Saw Hannibal Buress live not too long ago. Great show. Seeing Hasan Minhaj next Tuesday. Life's pretty good.

[Durothil Skyreaver]

You ever get your house stuff settled?

Got into the house over Easter Break. But we're still busy with renovations, but getting close to the end. Probably get the rest of the baseboards put in tomorrow and then a quick clean and we'll be ready to move in. Fucking awful time of yaer to move, we had 3 feet of snow till 2 weeks ago. Plus work has been so busy too.

[Harrison]

So I just accepted an internship with potential to turn into a full-time position today. Officially signed the offer and returned it a couple hours ago.

It seems like this hellish ordeal that is college while scraping by is coming to an end. (I hope.)

I'm tasked with developing a pricing tool to be used internally at first that pulls parts numbers, uses the parts numbers to identify what material they are (CT***** = copper tubing for example), and then populates a saveable list to be pulled up again if desired.

The SR Applications Engineer who interviewed me said I can tackle this any way I want to, got my own office, and can help others with other things if I want, too. He literally said, "do whatever you want and learn everything you can anywhere."

I'm super excited and they're paying me way, way, more than I expected for an internship.

[leah]

So I just accepted an internship with potential to turn into a full-time position today. Officially signed the offer and returned it a couple hours ago.

It seems like this hellish ordeal that is college while scraping by is coming to an end. (I hope.)

I'm tasked with developing a pricing tool to be used internally at first that pulls parts numbers, uses the parts numbers to identify what material they are (CT***** = copper tubing for example), and then populates a saveable list to be pulled up again if desired.

The SR Applications Engineer who interviewed me said I can tackle this any way I want to, got my own office, and can help others with other things if I want, too. He literally said, "do whatever you want and learn everything you can anywhere."

I'm super excited and they're paying me way, way, more than I expected for an internship.

HOLLA!!

[brinstar]

nice dogg