What's the latest in people's lives?

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Nearly eight hours. Wow. Well... at least the furniture was nice, Graham. Always look on the bright side of life!

[Captain Picard's Hair]

I've ended up getting birthday gifts from my parents rather early the last few years. In this case, I had a desk chair a bit too big for it's space under my desk and a small bedroom which was wearing down. It's still structurally intact but due to areas of the surface cover peeling away just looks like crap. Both problems were addressed by means of a somewhat smaller and thinner, mesh backed chair. As a more breathable chair it should aid in comfort as I tend to sweat a lot; New York gets fairly hot and humid in summer while in the winter moving around while in thicker bundles of clothes creates it's own stickiness.

*a good two and a half months ahead of Sept 1 this year.

Also, call it a gift for myself, I happened across a laptop that caught my eye on ebay the other day. This HP envy ultrabook lists for a bit over a thousand bones at the HP online store but a (factory recertified) unit was at $695.45 from an ebay reseller. It will replace a 2013 model Toshiba touchscreen laptop, providing a thinner and lighter unit (about a full pound less than the old one and .71 inches in thickness), a matte finish over it's own touchscreen of the same 15.6 inch size that should provide an easier reading experience and a bump in resolution from full HD to 4k as well as in internal spec (4th gen i5 -> 7th gen i7; 8 -> 12GB RAM). In particular the storage is in a configuration a bit hard to find, a 128GB SSD (providing super fast boot and app launch times, for those not as tech savvy) coupled with a separate hard drive for media storage (in this case 1TB). It seems many consumers would be confused by dual drive systems but it's fine for me. My previous laptop I'd upgraded to an SSD by hand. My boss agreed to buy my old one for his daughter for $335, so I get the upgrade for 300 and change simoleans. The UPS package is due to come in later today. The only loss is the lack of an optical (DVD/CD) drive (which still gets some occasional use in the shop) but external drives are easy to get.

[Bryan Moore]

This is Burberry. After 9 years, I put her down this week. It was time, as her kidneys were failing and she'd been in poor health for weeks. Still, she's the only pet I've ever owned. Moreover, she stated with my mother when I had my unplanned 18-month "vacation" from society and sat with her daily. That's the only animal she's ever held, in her 65 years.

[Graham Kennedy]

Awwww, RIP Burberry!

[Mikey]

Very sorry for your loss, Bryan. I know firsthand how conflicted you may feel when put in that situation, but I know it was done out of love.

By the by, I am also as proud of one of my kids right now as a dad could possibly be. Not for athletic or academic achievement, though they both do fine in that regard... but my daughter related to me what happened to her in the penultimate day of her seventh-grade school year. She was talking with a female friend of hers when a male classmate walked by and commented to my daughter's friend that "terrorists" shouldn't be allowed to wear hijabs in school. My daughter told the boy that she would graciously give him thirty seconds to apologize before she went upside his head, and went on to explain that the only terrorists around are the ones who harass people for the creeds or cultures.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Aw, I'm sorry, Bryan.

Mikey, your daughter is made of condensed win.

[Bryan Moore]

Thanks guys. And well done Mikey- light!

[mwhittington]

I'm sorry for your loss, Bryan.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

I have no idea why, but I feel very irritated today. Very irritated.

[Mikey]

I have no idea why, but I feel very irritated today. Very irritated.

Hmm. Striking, since you are probably the least irritable person I've ever met, in person or online. Hope the new week finds you better.

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

I have no idea why, but I feel very irritated today. Very irritated.

Hmm. Striking, since you are probably the least irritable person I've ever met, in person or online. Hope the new week finds you better.

Thanks. But today just... ugh.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

I've had plenty of days when I've felt irritable or just otherwise "off" for no apparent reason. Hopefully things are back to normal for you today. For me, I can't think straight half the time on good days so it's hard to tell what's normal sometimes - that's life with a mental condition it seems. Speaking of irritability though, an antidepressant regimen has done a lot to make me feel steadier - but after trying two (first an SSRI, now an SNRI) it seems they interfere with my blood sugar too much for me to maintain use. The first drug was cut off for that reason, and the second has me suspicious since high sugar and evident insulin resistance has returned. It seems like you wouldn't need one, thankfully.

Well the new laptop isn't quite as light as advertised, though still half a pound lighter than what it replaced. It's screen was advertised as having an anti-glare coating though it's far from matte or "semi-gloss," which I have screens at home as. Still, it's a beautiful machine, though it's taking a while to restore some stuff from the cloud to it (to be fair, there's a lot I'm grabbing and I blame the cloud service - OneDrive - not the laptop).

[mwhittington]

I'm taking the family tomorrow morning on a trip to visit my family in Oklahoma. They originally lived in Missouri, but they moved. I haven't seen them in 6 years. This is gonna be lots of fun. BTW, I know lots of people say they miss their mom's cooking, but my mom can cook like Paula Deen, no joke! I expect to gain a few pounds.

[Bryan Moore]

Busiest week of selection in the history of my company here. My hours this week have been as follows:

Sunday: 7p-8:30a
Monday: 7p-9:00a
Tuesday: 6p-9:00a, get home at 10a Wed morning sleep about 45 mins then, field calls for 4 hours before I say fuck it and drive back to work for
Wednesday: 3:45p-1:00a, get home and sleep to come in for
Thursday: 9:30a-11:30a meetings, go home, shower, do laundry, eat come back for 3:45p-10p. Finally sleep 8 hours!
Friday: 10a-1p at work, come in 4:00p-10:45p, get home to be woken at 6am to come back
Saturday: 8a-still here (leaving by 2).

The funny thing is, this is the most fun I've ever had here - guys are dropping all around and I'm still managing.

Can't wait for some Balvennie

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

Took my mother to the airport this morning. She'll be in California for two weeks. I might stay up until 8 PM on nights I don't have to work the next day!