Random thing you loathe right now.

I hate today. A lot. x9,000.

Bam! Second "I consider you a friend" speech in two days. This one was a little more acceptable than yesterday's, but it still sucks.

Vista's search function. I can't seem to find *anything* with it. I have to boot into XP (I run a dual-OS system) to actually find things. I've tried Copernicus and it did the same thing; found *nothing*. Search for *.mp3? I've got at least 1,500, yet Vista and Copernicus both report a big fat zero files found. Maybe I have a corrupt sector that XP skips over? Who knows. Whatever the case, my XP install always finds the files I'm trying to find, but it's a bit of a pain having to boot into a different OS just to search. Thankfully I don't have to do it that often.

Atomicvideohead wrote:

Bam! Second "I consider you a friend" speech in two days. This one was a little more acceptable than yesterday's, but it still sucks.

Man, you've got the anti-midas touch it seems.

Kannon wrote:
Atomicvideohead wrote:

Bam! Second "I consider you a friend" speech in two days. This one was a little more acceptable than yesterday's, but it still sucks.

Man, you've got the anti-midas touch it seems.

Bizarro-Midas.

As for me, I hate trying to compress my demo reel into a reasonable file size for download without compromising image quality. And it has to be *.mov. Bawls.

Sparhawk wrote:

Money keeping me separated from my wife and two daughters. Immigration plans gone wrong because of this f*cked up state of the world.

My sympathies. I agree that the whole visa system sucks in a big way. I'm also trying to go outside of Europe and it's so much harder than it needs to be I can't even imagine how much it would suck if I had a partner and children waiting for me there.

Coldstream wrote:

My view is that if you don't already possess a high standard of ethics and at least a reasonable modicum of compassion, you probably don't belong in medical school in the first place. Further, if you lack these things, twenty hours worth of classroom time isn't going to change anything. All that's happening is that those of us who already possess an ethical outlook and compassion are having our time wasted. Personally, I think it's a bunch of academics trying to justify their jobs, but hey, I'm not bitter or anything.

Fair point. Having said that, I have met plenty of doctors without a shred of human decency, so even if they shouldn't be in med school, they still seem to make it there. But I guess that goes for all walks of life - and I agree that twenty hours in a classroom isn't going to change a thing in their outlook.

So, not being able to find my Vista dvd, I just threw Kubuntu 9.04 on there. Is it just me, or did KDE4 get a lot more stable with the 9.* distro?

Also Backtrack on a SD card FTW.

Colossus #14 - the miserable SOB.

Atomicvideohead wrote:

Bam! Second "I consider you a friend" speech in two days. This one was a little more acceptable than yesterday's, but it still sucks.

It could be a statistical fluke, but it also suggests that there's something wrong with the way you're interacting with these girls. :-s There'll always be exceptions, but you shouldn't really be in a position where that happens very often. You need to make it clear from the get-go where you stand, and they'll either let you down early (in which case you've lost nothing, and can often still wind up with a perfectly good friendship), or they'll be clear that you're not just a friend. If you haven't read it already, you might want to check out "The Game" by Neil Strauss. Helped me do a lot better on that front.

NB: Just make sure that (unlike some truly depressing people) you don't take it too seriously, and look at it as an entertaining story with some interesting ideas rather than a how-to guide. Had a great chat with a girl at a bar about why so many guys had been coming up and asking for her opinion on something.

Better yet, ask Mex. Problem solved! Or, at least one problem solved, many, many more entertaining stories to come.

Public universities, aka money sucking vampires.

MacBrave wrote:

Public universities, aka money sucking vampires.

Wait, as opposed to the private universities that are just charities in disguise?

Sonicator wrote:
Atomicvideohead wrote:

Bam! Second "I consider you a friend" speech in two days. This one was a little more acceptable than yesterday's, but it still sucks.

It could be a statistical fluke, but it also suggests that there's something wrong with the way you're interacting with these girls. :-s There'll always be exceptions, but you shouldn't really be in a position where that happens very often. You need to make it clear from the get-go where you stand, and they'll either let you down early (in which case you've lost nothing, and can often still wind up with a perfectly good friendship), or they'll be clear that you're not just a friend. If you haven't read it already, you might want to check out "The Game" by Neil Strauss. Helped me do a lot better on that front.

NB: Just make sure that (unlike some truly depressing people) you don't take it too seriously, and look at it as an entertaining story with some interesting ideas rather than a how-to guide. Had a great chat with a girl at a bar about why so many guys had been coming up and asking for her opinion on something. :-)

Oh man am I glad you added that disclaimer. Everyone I know who has read The Game has been a frat boy, and taken it very literally. Like it's their new bible or something. And then they watch Keys to the V.I.P and compare strategies. It's a weird sports-competitive approach to relationships, and watching The Game-inspired pick up attempts has been a source of constant amusement / embarrassment for me at bars in the last few years.

Note to anyone trying to use Game-ish strategies, near-verbatim: girls can read too, and more than you think have also read The Game.

Funny. I used to get the "I consider you a friend" speech all the time. Now that I'm married, I get the "If you weren't married..." one just as often.

Crappy apartment Air conditioners + living on the 3rd floor.

Lets place the AC right at the point I would place anything on that wall, so now I have to move my TV. Great TV moved and your still not cooling my apartment. I know it is having to work extra hard because the idiots downstairs probably didn't close their blinds all day and I'm trying to cool off three apartments worth of heat. I'm done with it now though. Goign to set up an intricate system of fans to circulate my air. Screw you AC. I'm creating my own wind tunnel.

That I can't find this mysterious Pepsi Throwback anywhere in NYC. I love soda with real sugar.

Slumberland wrote:

That I can't find this mysterious Pepsi Throwback anywhere in NYC. I love soda with real sugar.

It is worth the hunt. I had some of the Mountain Dew Throwback, and it was great.

Slumberland wrote:

That I can't find this mysterious Pepsi Throwback anywhere in NYC. I love soda with real sugar.

Since you are in the City, try going down to Lower East Side or Alphabet City, especially the area around Avenue D and 1st, where NO ONE speaks English and everyone plays dominos on the sidewalk. Any bodega there should sell Mexican Coke and/or Pepsi, they are made with cane sugar.

ColdForged wrote:

My kitty is dying.

Sorry for again bringing drama in... I have to vent somewhere. I abso-f*cking-lutely hate that I have a 2PM appointment to make my kitty no longer alive. Seems like a sick f*cking joke.

That's horrible.

Atomicvideohead wrote:

Bam! Second "I consider you a friend" speech in two days. This one was a little more acceptable than yesterday's, but it still sucks.

Kannon wrote:

Better yet, ask Mex. Problem solved! Or, at least one problem solved, many, many more entertaining stories to come.

I'll second Kannon. I've seen Mex's general guide to talking to women and if he ever starts a men's magazine, he'll give Playboy (or maybe more accurately Hustler) a run for their money.

ColdForged wrote:

(sad)

I'll be thinking of you at 2pm. Try to think of it as being able to say goodbye. You have a chance to make sure that nothing is unsaid. *Hugs*

ColdForged wrote:
ColdForged wrote:

My kitty is dying.

Sorry for again bringing drama in... I have to vent somewhere. I abso-f*cking-lutely hate that I have a 2PM appointment to make my kitty no longer alive. Seems like a sick f*cking joke.

I hope it's not at the NC Vet School. We had a very bad experience there.

So sorry you're going through this, CF.

Nah, I know what my problems are

A) I haven't really been involved in dating in 3 years-- I just got out (or feels like I just got out) of a relationship, I was really happy with. We "broike up" because I moved away to go back to school. The old SO threatened to clobber me if I bailed on school for her. So, I guess my "skills" are rusty, and I'm not exactly exuberant in dating.

B) I'm aware of the rules of "the game" but frankly, I willfully ignore them. I don't aim to impress so much as give an honest picture of myself. I don't like indulging mating ritual stuff that dating seems to be made of -- I see that as base instinct; deception to the self and other. When I see a girl starting to put me through the same troupes that are associated with dating, I start to see less a transcendent human being with self awareness and free will. Instead they start looking like monkeys to me, doing just a more sophisticated version of the same monkey dances. And frankly, I don't like kiss monkeys.

Yeah, I'm a little vainglorious.

Quintin_Stone wrote:
ColdForged wrote:
ColdForged wrote:

My kitty is dying.

Sorry for again bringing drama in... I have to vent somewhere. I abso-f*cking-lutely hate that I have a 2PM appointment to make my kitty no longer alive. Seems like a sick f*cking joke.

I hope it's not at the NC Vet School. We had a very bad experience there.

So sorry you're going through this, CF.

No, here. Very highly recommended, they've been awesome.

Thanks for the thoughts everyone. I appear to need them, I'm a fsking mess.

ColdForged wrote:

:(

I'm very sorry you have to go through that.
I felt the same way with my dog.

1) Cities without a Subway system, and the late buses that arise because of them. Seriously, the greater Ottawa area has about a million people, and we have crap public transportation. My buses are always, ALWAYS late, to the point where I don't understand why they keep to a schedule. Traffic is a problem, but that's also a result of crap urban planning that's been focused on easy access to suburbs rather than improving transit in the downtown area.
I actively have to calm myself down when my bus is late, I get so mad.

2) Contacting someone who doesn't get back to you. Either by phone or by e-mail. I cringe when I speak to someone who says "I'll get back to you tomorrow". They won't. I know they won't, they know they won't, so why do we play this little game? Why can't they just tell it like it is? "Call me back tomorrow, when I won't have an answer for you and you can call me back the next day when I will also not have an answer for you". Rage!

3) Insurance policies. sh*t is complicated, yo!

4) Telecommunication companies. Too many reasons to list - but they are evil incarnate, no doubt in my mind. When I start thinking that the phone lines would be better run by the government, there is a problem.

While I do loathe all these things, they are actually pretty minor in the large scale. My sympathies to all of you with actual problems and not nerd-ragy crap.

Clemenstation wrote:

And then they watch Keys to the V.I.P and compare strategies.

Wow, I'm going to pre-emptively add that programme to my list of things I loathe, despite never having seen it.

The guy in the apartment below mine is always coughing. Long, continuous fits of coughing that last for minutes on end.
Maybe he has lung cancer or swine flu or something, maybe I should feel sorry for him. I don't. I just want him to stop coughing so damn much, especially late at night.