slingstone

Adam Something is a favorite of mine.

As long as I tense my jaw, I guess, but it’s kinda awkward for me. I kinda have to pop my jaw down and hold it. I feel I’m making a silly face when I do it, so I’m not holding it long.

Wait a minute. If I hold my jaw right, I do get a very short rumbling apart from my breath. Is that what you guys mean?

I can’t block my nose in that way. I tried when your comment came in, but I can’t conceive of how to do it.

With the ear popping thing, I just hear the rushing of my breath. I can see how you might be able to hear your heart. I might be making this up in my head, but I feel like maybe I could hear it when I was younger.

I do this thing where I pop my ears (like when pressure changes from altitude) and then it’s like I’m hearing my breathing inside of my sinuses or something. When I breathe this way, it effectively blocks conversations I don’t want to overhear. Do other people do this, or am I odd?

I wish I had seen your comment earlier. You said it better than I did just now.

I haven’t watched the show, but reading your comment about the shopkeepers, the “problem” appears to be that they MAY be lesbians and they exist. That existence and possibility might be a trigger is sad to me. The hateful folks say it’s about homosexuality being shoved in their face, but, really, it’s a total rejection at the heart of their beliefs. It’s why when activists talk about the dangers of this bigotry, we ought to listen, because the existence or mere possibility of gay people being a problem for some people is only a short step away from the solution for those people being elimination.

Making an important distinction, my friend.

I liked Google+, mostly because it wasn’t Facebook, I guess.

Well, crap. I really want to go somewhere far from the global conflicts that might arise in the future but still live in a relatively modern and developed country. New Zealand seemed like it would be a desirable destination, but if it’s on the same trajectory as the US, UK, and Canada, I guess it wouldn’t be an upgrade.

I really want to be as far from likely military (particularly nuclear) targets as possible. I feel like we’re on the precipice of something truly awful.

Why couldn’t we switch back to glass as our primary container material? Wasn’t that always fully recyclable?

I’ve struggled similarly over the years and had my ups and downs. One thing that has helped me is remembering that my feelings are subjective, and not necessarily reflective of reality. My view of the world is often skewed, whether by brain chemistry, various biases, or the influence of others, so I have to seek out what’s actually true in any given situation. It helps me; I hope it will help you, at least a little.

Honestly, in my experience, things get better when I exert control over what I can. I’d tell you to control what you can and go easy with the rest. Try to do better every day, really try consciously, and the struggle itself will be rewarding.

I’m rooting for you. If there is a Creator, and I believe there is, he’s rooting for you, too.

Their breakfast burritos are good, cheap, and a great value for your money. Use their app, and you can get free stuff regularly, too.

EDIT: I’m talking about their lowest tier breakfast burritos. The higher levels are not worth it.

On those funky Coke machines in some restaurants, there was an option to get Raspberry Coke Zero for a long time. I grew to love it. Now it looks like they’re taking it away in most places.

I enjoy Sam’s Club’s “Scan and Go” feature in their app. I scan my items and pay in the app. I never have to interact with a soul, and that’s peachy keen in my book.

I used to love the lore of Steve Jackson Games a lot more than the actual games for this very reason.

The high level of sheer incompetence at all levels, but especially in management. I’m lucky to work with competent folks directly, but the sheer amount of work created by stupidity outside of my department is soul-crushing. I can present definitive proof of systemic failures all day long, and no one is interested in doing a damned thing if the people or departments in question are politically powerful within the organization. Neither I nor my immediate colleagues are perfect, but we acknowledge our failures and try to create solutions. So many others, though, seem so invested in the status quo beyond all reason.