Real Life and What's Happening...

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
Nobby-W said:
\begin{Grumpy_old_man}
40 years ago, phones had a 99.999% uptime. That means that 99.999% of the time you could pick it up, dial a number and expect it to connect unless the phone at the far end was engaged. That's what the term 'five nines' was coined to describe. Now my desk is in a blind spot in the cell coverage, and much of the time the phone doesn't work. What used to be carrier grade infrastructure has been replaced with a gimmicky userspace designed to sell advertising and geegaws with far more lax quality control standards, Telephony has been reduced to an app in this cesspit and does a frankly mediocre job of actually placing phone calls.

However, it does allow folks from all walks of life to pester me 24/7, or push bogus notifications for advertising and promotions, no matter where I am.

I'm not convinced that this is actually progress.
\end{Grumpy_old_man}
Click to expand...
My parents live in a town where the local Phone company holds a monopoly on phone service. Their cell tower got busted a couple years ago, and now about 50% of the times I call them I get a completely different person.
 
I just has this conversation with my dad. Talking about self isolating and the modern era. The cell phone is amazing. It I have given up a small amount of audio quality/connection reliability it has been more than made up for by being available just about everywhere, adding video, adding a friggin encyclopedia of almost all human knowledge at my fingertips, mapping knowledge, entertainment,etc. It's amazing.

Anytime I hear people complain people are always staring at their phone I go back to all the effing time I lost standing next to a fixed line waiting for someone to call that exact spot on earth.
Yes I look at my phone. I used to look at a newspaper, tv, map book, novel, comic, rpg book, radio (waiting for it to play that song I wanted to record because the local store didn't have the tape in stock). I mean really what I here is "I want your on demand attention and I don't think I should have to wait for anything you're doing."

Grrr. Yes it was so awesome having to stand arms length away from all the devices you wanted to interact with in the past and hope their tiny storage and broadcast capabilities lined up with what you wanted in whatever amount of time you'd allocated to waste waiting.
 
Bunch said:
I just has this conversation with my dad. Talking about self isolating and the modern era. The cell phone is amazing. It I have given up a small amount of audio quality/connection reliability it has been more than made up for by being available just about everywhere, adding video, adding a friggin encyclopedia of almost all human knowledge at my fingertips, mapping knowledge, entertainment,etc. It's amazing.

Anytime I hear people complain people are always staring at their phone I go back to all the effing time I lost standing next to a fixed line waiting for someone to call that exact spot on earth.
Yes I look at my phone. I used to look at a newspaper, tv, map book, novel, comic, rpg book, radio (waiting for it to play that song I wanted to record because the local store didn't have the tape in stock). I mean really what I here is "I want your on demand attention and I don't think I should have to wait for anything you're doing."

Grrr. Yes it was so awesome having to stand arms length away from all the devices you wanted to interact with in the past and hope their tiny storage and broadcast capabilities lined up with what you wanted in whatever amount of time you'd allocated to waste waiting.
Click to expand...
When I was young, people in line at the grocery store spent their time involved in spirited civic discourse with one another, and I made a new friend every time I took the train to work!
 
Nobby-W said:
So, I have a Samsung S4, and my wife just says she thinks I have an embarrassing granddad phone, and her father has a better one than I do.

I'm not sure what to make of that.
Click to expand...
Hey man no worries, I am still rocking an IPhone6 because the thought of paying $1000 for a phone that will rapidly depreciate the moment it leaves the store makes me cringe.

That being said, I'm sure a brutally honest audit would reveal that I spend an equivalent amount of money on equally silly things
 
I paid $30 for my last phone.

I was annoyed that touchscreen was my only option, I just want a phone-phone.
 
Brock Savage said:
Hey man no worries, I am still rocking an IPhone6 because the thought of paying $1000 for a phone that will rapidly depreciate the moment it leaves the store makes me cringe.

That being said, I'm sure a brutally honest audit would reveal that I spend an equivalent amount of money on equally silly things
Click to expand...
Yeah, but maybe it's better that the small, independent silly thing vendors get your money rather than Apple and the phone leasing company.
 
Last edited:
Fenris-77 said:
So, on the list of things I wasn't expecting, I taught my teenage son how to break into cars over lunch. I'm going to chalk it up as a dad moment and move on.
Click to expand...
Reminds me of the time my father taught me how to conduct myself safely (at least as much as possible) through an outbreak of civil unrest.
 
Baulderstone said:
When I was young, people in line at the grocery store spent their time involved in spirited civic discourse with one another, and I made a new friend every time I took the train to work!
Click to expand...
I met people. I still do. Very rarely they have my shared interests. They were interesting. I'm glad I met them. I still do at the grocery store and pub if I go and want to.

Are you sure it's the tech that changed things or is it our age. Meeting folks is generally harder as you get older. Having spirited conversation
Giganotosaurus said:
My father taught me how to refine nuclear material for making a atomic bomb. Mind you this was all on a piece of paper.
Click to expand...
Yours too!?!
To be fair my dad has a degree in Nuclear Engineering and I have one in Chemical Engineering so it was bound to happen.
 
Bunch said:
I met people. I still do. Very rarely they have my shared interests. They were interesting. I'm glad I met them. I still do at the grocery store and pub if I go and want to.

Are you sure it's the tech that changed things or is it our age. Meeting folks is generally harder as you get older. Having spirited conversation

Yours too!?!
To be fair my dad has a degree in Nuclear Engineering and I have one in Chemical Engineering so it was bound to happen.
Click to expand...
When I was 12 or 13 I asked my dad "Dad, how do they make nuclear bombs?" He then proceeded to draw it out for me on a piece of paper while also explaining it.
Another father son bonding activity was building a trebuchet that could launch tennis balls. We hit a neighbor's car once, but fortunately there wasn't any damage.
 
My dad taught me lots of things. He was Force Recon (Deep Penetration)... so I spent my youth doing what our family called "camping". Going out into the Sierra Nevada mountains, with rucksacks with about three days worth of MRE's (our emergency food), but our plan was to stay for two-weeks. So we'd hunt and fish and build/find shelter after hiking at minimum about 15-miles into the backcountry away from the nearest possible dirt-road (which was already in the backcountry). So I learned to fish, hunt, track (I'm not particularly good at tracking, my brother is scary good) build basic shelters, skin and dress small game and deer. He tried teaching me to set snares, but I never got the hang of it. I understand the principles but I was a restless lad and i wanted to go catch snakes...

We'd bring our friends along, and we'd split into teams, my brother and sister leading his pack of friends vs. me and my friends (we were younger) with my dad as the leader. We'd spend a day setting up a secret camp away from the others, then we'd hunt and raid food one another, take captives and stuff. It was hilariously fun.

I never knew that this was not what most people thought of as "camping". It was like combat-version of Survivor and Lord of the Flies with Gunny Highway.
 
tenbones said:
My dad taught me lots of things. He was Force Recon (Deep Penetration)... so I spent my youth doing what our family called "camping". Going out into the Sierra Nevada mountains, with rucksacks with about three days worth of MRE's (our emergency food), but our plan was to stay for two-weeks. So we'd hunt and fish and build/find shelter after hiking at minimum about 15-miles into the backcountry away from the nearest possible dirt-road (which was already in the backcountry). So I learned to fish, hunt, track (I'm not particularly good at tracking, my brother is scary good) build basic shelters, skin and dress small game and deer. He tried teaching me to set snares, but I never got the hang of it. I understand the principles but I was a restless lad and i wanted to go catch snakes...

We'd bring our friends along, and we'd split into teams, my brother and sister leading his pack of friends vs. me and my friends (we were younger) with my dad as the leader. We'd spend a day setting up a secret camp away from the others, then we'd hunt and raid food one another, take captives and stuff. It was hilariously fun.

I never knew that this was not what most people thought of as "camping". It was like combat-version of Survivor and Lord of the Flies with Gunny Highway.
Click to expand...
Wow... Force Recon! That’s elite! Did he see action? My dad was a boom operator on a Air Force KC135 when Vietnam broke out. He spent a night at a base under attack. All he had was a 45 and the army guys all had M-14s but he tried to defend the base. Said it was the scariest thing he ever did. I imagine that was normal for Force Recon
 
Ronnie Sanford said:
Wow... Force Recon! That’s elite!
Click to expand...
Force Recon is hardcore. They go deep, deep into enemy territory. Way back when I was a young Devil Dog in 1993 I knew a grizzled old 1st Sergeant who would share bone-chilling tales of his Vietnam experience. They weren't glamorous stories or self-aggrandizing. It was shit like, encountering an enemy squad and deciding not to ambush them, then finding out they were the part of the forward elements of a fucking division on the move.

Once in a blue moon Force Recon does basically a casting call and all the eager young dudes fresh out of SOI apply. A buddy who tried out told me you basically have to "swim like a fish and run like a deer" to qualify.
 
I have a buddy a good bit older than me that used to jump out of helicopters behind enemy lines in Nam. His wife told me he was special forces or something like that. He refused to talk about Nam and every time a car backfired he freaked out. Been a while - hope he’s better now.
 
Old man was never on the military or a farm boy, taught me to fish, ride and shoot. However, I’ve never done any of these things ever again, since he passed, 25 years ago.

He also taught me the value of reading, hard work and timeliness and I like to think I did a good job of learning the first two, but really messed up the third, to my perennial embarrassment.

He didn’t hang around long enough to teach me his insane (for a hobbyist) woodworking and metalworking skills, or how to appreciate a good whisky, or to share his experience as a surgeon himself. But what he did pass on, I try to cling to, even as I lament that which I didn’t learn, because we had no time or because I was just a stupid kid.

Fuck, I’m pouring myself a dram to toast him now.
 
The Butcher said:
Old man was never on the military or a farm boy, taught me to fish, ride and shoot. However, I’ve never done any of these things ever again, since he passed, 25 years ago.

He also taught me the value of reading, hard work and timeliness and I like to think I did a good job of learning the first two, but really messed up the third, to my perennial embarrassment.

He didn’t hang around long enough to teach me his insane (for a hobbyist) woodworking and metalworking skills, or how to appreciate a good whisky, or to share his experience as a surgeon himself. But what he did pass on, I try to cling to, even as I lament that which I didn’t learn, because we had no time or because I was just a stupid kid.

Fuck, I’m pouring myself a dram to toast him now.
Click to expand...
My father passed away at 50 when I was 23. I am 56 now. Miss him a lot.
 
Ronnie Sanford said:
My father passed away at 50 when I was 23. I am 56 now. Miss him a lot.
Click to expand...

Right? Miss my dad a lot myself. My mother is an amazing human being and has stuck with me through thick and thin; my stepdad is awesome, and is a bit like my dad in some things; but my old man had his own brand of wisdom. If only I could have an evening’s worth of conversation with him, one last time. So much catching up to do.
 
I consider myself lucky. I went through a long period where I didn't get along with my father, and we didn't really reconnect until my mid-30s. I consider him one of my best friends now, and it chills me to think about if he'd died before we turned things around.
 
So it is my week off, and since I can't go on a real trip, because you know, thanks COVID, I've taken to instead doing something really silly and ridiculous, but also a way to spend time with my kids:

I've started a quest to consume every type of mountain dew I can find. Why? I have no idea it just seemed like a funny idea. Tonight me and my two sons took a trip out to Speedway, 30 minutes from the house to find 2 exclusive flavors, 1. Goji Citrus Strawberry, a Speedway exclusive fountain Mountain Dew, and Spark, a Speedway exclusive bottled Dew.

Unfortunately, the Speedway had neither. but it did have Mountain Dew: Cyclone in the fountain machine, which is a citrus punch Mountain Dew. Very sweet, little bit of bite. Has like a sour fruit punch flavor. Not as good as normal Mountain Dew, but I could definitely see getting it again if the mood struck me. 6/10

Second up, we had Mountain Dew: Voodew, the seasonal halloween variant. It has a new flavor every year. This year the flavor is just straight up skittles. It tastes just like skittles. I have no idea how to feel about this. I like skittles, and it is strangely good, but I can't place my opinion on it on any scale. ????/10

I also got Voltage and Code Red, but I've had both before, so just put them in the fridge for thoughts later.

Tomorrow I'm going to get lunch at KFC so I can get Mountain Dew Sweet Lightning.

I really do want to find Spark though. It is apparently Raspberry Lemonade flavored Mountain Dew and that sounds good.
 
I worked with a guy who on my last day told me he had been a Green Beret in Vietnam. Apparently he was part of the "B" teams which were guys sent out to work with the locals and form resistance. Shortly after he got setup in a village his boss transferred and they pretty much forgot about him. So as he put it he had budgets with the Army, Special Forces and the CIA he could all pull from. One of the first things he did was build a school for the village. He figured if he got them what they needed they were more likely to help him. It worked. He also noticed the horses in the village didn't seem to die to landmines like other animals. He figured maybe they knew something about the ground so he built himself a cavalry unit by requesting saddles from the various budget groups.

He also described how he often rode with the various non military transport flights(similar to the planes in Air America). He talked about how he would see enemy troops below, tall in an airstrike and an hour later they would blow up a place the troops had walked through already. It seemed so inefficient to him so he started putting grenades in a glass jar and dropping them on the enemy. It worked so he started ordering small mortars that he could hand drop on them with a grenade taped to the bottom to start? the mortar. Over time this got to larger and larger mortars. Finally some other army guy has flow with him a few times and seen this so he figures next time he'll help too. They're both flying in separate planes and my boss drops his mortar and then he hears a loud BOOM! The plane behind starts talking on the radio that it's been hit and still has control but they need to land soon. Turns out the guy pulled the pin and counted instead of pulling the pin and just dropping.

He had fun stories.
 
My Uncle was assigned to guard river boats in Vietnam. He doesn't talk about it and my Aunt has said that we shouldn't ask him about it.
My Grandfather, however, flew Sub hunting and Weather planes over the south china sea during Vietnam. He has this story about how he had to fly into typhoons and would throw up in his flight mask due to motion sickness.
 
Ronnie Sanford said:
Wow... Force Recon! That’s elite! Did he see action? My dad was a boom operator on a Air Force KC135 when Vietnam broke out. He spent a night at a base under attack. All he had was a 45 and the army guys all had M-14s but he tried to defend the base. Said it was the scariest thing he ever did. I imagine that was normal for Force Recon
Click to expand...

4 tours in Vietnam. Notable Operations - Deckhouse 1 and 2, Operation Hastings, Operation Starlight among others.

Elite... yeah. But my dad was not built for living in society. They should have never let him out of the Corps. In fact his fourth tour, he shouldn't have been allowed to go back - but he'd amassed so many contacts and "knew people" they let him slide. He was so filled with shrapnel and bullets (his whole body was covered with scars), he had *7* Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star (for Operation Hastings), he had to carry a medical card with him because he set off metal-detectors.

He was on the cover of Newsweek or some big magazine back then. We had a picture of it. As the story goes, my father was one of only twelve survivors of India 3/5 where he was detached and with 1st Platoon. And they basically got run over by a division of North Vietnamese Regular (not Vietcong). Anyhow... his right-hand man, this Lance Corporal Richard Pittman got the CMH - never took a wound. My dad got shot to pieces, but frankly the story is so epic, it's really hard to believe, yet I've heard the survivors all tell it many times.

Suffice to say - when it was over, my dad was laying there with dead Vietnamese bodies all over around him. His arm was half-shot off. And this reporter took the picture with the quote from dad "War his hell."

We had a print of that photo hanging in his office blown up big most of my life. The magazine copy cropped out all the dead bodies. When my friends would come over he'd tell them "See that picture? I hadn't taken a bath in nearly 6-months when they took that shot." (I guess he'd come in from the field to join I3/5 when the shit hit the fan.

anyhow... When he passed this year, I got the .45, my brother got the M14 which is what he wanted.

Semper fi, Dad, give my regards to your pals in Valhalla.

/toast
 
spittingimage said:
At these latitudes there's only two kinds of Mountain Dew - pine-scented dish soap and diet pine-scented dish soap.

Apparently they also make Fanta in more than one flavour? Sounds like crazy talk to me.
Click to expand...
Fanta! Fanta! Don't You Want A! Fanta! Fanta!
 
Bunch said:
I worked with a guy who on my last day told me he had been a Green Beret in Vietnam. Apparently he was part of the "B" teams which were guys sent out to work with the locals and form resistance. Shortly after he got setup in a village his boss transferred and they pretty much forgot about him. So as he put it he had budgets with the Army, Special Forces and the CIA he could all pull from. One of the first things he did was build a school for the village. He figured if he got them what they needed they were more likely to help him. It worked. He also noticed the horses in the village didn't seem to die to landmines like other animals. He figured maybe they knew something about the ground so he built himself a cavalry unit by requesting saddles from the various budget groups.

He also described how he often rode with the various non military transport flights(similar to the planes in Air America). He talked about how he would see enemy troops below, tall in an airstrike and an hour later they would blow up a place the troops had walked through already. It seemed so inefficient to him so he started putting grenades in a glass jar and dropping them on the enemy. It worked so he started ordering small mortars that he could hand drop on them with a grenade taped to the bottom to start? the mortar. Over time this got to larger and larger mortars. Finally some other army guy has flow with him a few times and seen this so he figures next time he'll help too. They're both flying in separate planes and my boss drops his mortar and then he hears a loud BOOM! The plane behind starts talking on the radio that it's been hit and still has control but they need to land soon. Turns out the guy pulled the pin and counted instead of pulling the pin and just dropping.

He had fun stories.
Click to expand...
Amazing stories and amazing troops. And American vets were treated so poorly. I have respect for all of them!
 
tenbones said:
4 tours in Vietnam. Notable Operations - Deckhouse 1 and 2, Operation Hastings, Operation Starlight among others.

Elite... yeah. But my dad was not built for living in society. They should have never let him out of the Corps. In fact his fourth tour, he shouldn't have been allowed to go back - but he'd amassed so many contacts and "knew people" they let him slide. He was so filled with shrapnel and bullets (his whole body was covered with scars), he had *7* Purple Hearts and the Bronze Star (for Operation Hastings), he had to carry a medical card with him because he set off metal-detectors.

He was on the cover of Newsweek or some big magazine back then. We had a picture of it. As the story goes, my father was one of only twelve survivors of India 3/5 where he was detached and with 1st Platoon. And they basically got run over by a division of North Vietnamese Regular (not Vietcong). Anyhow... his right-hand man, this Lance Corporal Richard Pittman got the CMH - never took a wound. My dad got shot to pieces, but frankly the story is so epic, it's really hard to believe, yet I've heard the survivors all tell it many times.

Suffice to say - when it was over, my dad was laying there with dead Vietnamese bodies all over around him. His arm was half-shot off. And this reporter took the picture with the quote from dad "War his hell."

We had a print of that photo hanging in his office blown up big most of my life. The magazine copy cropped out all the dead bodies. When my friends would come over he'd tell them "See that picture? I hadn't taken a bath in nearly 6-months when they took that shot." (I guess he'd come in from the field to join I3/5 when the shit hit the fan.

anyhow... When he passed this year, I got the .45, my brother got the M14 which is what he wanted.

Semper fi, Dad, give my regards to your pals in Valhalla.

/toast
Click to expand...
True hero, God Speed!
 
Looking to replace my 120g ssd drive as it's getting to be a pain to keep enough free space on it. Looking back I paid $200 for it in 2011. Thinking I'll replace it with a 240G one for $25.
Hopefully that one will serve me as well as this one has.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top