Random Thoughts.....What Are You Thinking?

I just can't decide if I should simp for daddy dong li in Genshin or get parts to fix my laptop. A new battery and charger is like 300$. That's like two constellations! I need c6 so he can be my healer, but I only have c0.

Part of me wants to play League of Legends and WarCraft 3 again, but I'm a sore loser so those games can make me really upset (hence I'm not sure if it's worth it).

Yeah, dont do simping stuff, imo

Anyone watch the House of the Dragon yet?

Everyone forgot it started today?
(Iguess it's tonight, even though it's piratable already)

I'll give it a shot for an episode or two just because of Matt Smith- really was pleased with his work on early seasons of 'The Crown' as Prince Philip.

It's aight. Dragons lookin a little scrawny though. More like flying snakes.

but of course, it's only 2, and of course they have to start with the little ones so the big ones are more amazazing.

(bred for speed not terrify in battle)
((there better be a god damn battle hydra in there somewhere later))

My breakfeast today was very exaggerated by my standards,,,

Sandwich and a lot of leftover meat.

Not a good idea to be that full before starting the work

I noticed like maybe in the realm of 7 years ago that my lunches were ridiculously huge. For years I was always complaining how I had no energy in the afternoon, and it never occurred to me that maybe eating a couple pounds of food at lunch time probably wasn't a good idea.

Well, it could be also the amount of physical and mental resources spent during the day.

Even on days when i dont practice any exercise, if it was a day full of work and stress, then i domt perform that well in gym that day.

I could say mental tiredness can be as tiresome as physical one.

Definitely think this series has potential to be successful. Enjoyed the performances by the actors, and think (so far) they are walking that line between familiarity and just rehashing well. Its enough to remind you where you're at, but its not just fan service.

Did find it amusing that 3 minutes prior to "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver" just being the showrunners and GRR trying to convince people they were going to "take what works from GoT, and learn from what didn't". Best thing I can say about House of the Dragon is at least all the source material already exists, no waiting on GRR to stop rubbing shoulders and get back to writing.

waaagh there is an actual P server lol

Ok, to substitute Age of Mythology, im buying Xenoblade 2 right now.

I hope i can easily purchase a digital copy of it because it seems way cheaper than the physical copy, and because I want it available tonight (though, im doing some Udemy classes so I think I shouldnt play before I finish it).

BTW, whats this "Expansion Pass"?

Damn, it almost double the game price for this addition. Is it worth?

Im not sure im that commited in playing sidequests.... Despite playing over 100h in Xenoblade 1, I really didnt feel like playing the side quest of it. Well, actually I just got sick and bored of the original cast.

EDIT: well, i just read the description, i guess i will enter the mode, shut up and grab my money.

the xenoblade 2 expansion pass has an entire 2nd game in it

just like car racing, let's just admit it- we all love a good crash^^ Interesting observation- all these are when foiling was introduced into The Cup rather than hull sailing...speed kills^^

(apologies for the annoying merch whoring between #3 and #2, and wtf that the 2021 capsize of Team American Magic's 'Patriot' didn't make the list- not really that dangerous, but easily one of the most spectacular, and campaign ending capsizes I've ever seen)

I just watched a 20 minutes video about Hotline Miami 2 Story, yesterday I watched another 20 mins video about Hotline Miami 1, and there is another 1h30m long video summing all the events.

I guess as much entertaining it was to watch both separated videos, and how I still feel like I miss the understanding about some parts, I guess tonight menu will be watching this complete video.

Yeah, sure I guess I should play the game, but somehow I dont feel like investing that time on game itself, but I do feel like I want to invest time in understanding the story, thats great.

i may have just gotten the rarest item in last epoch... 2 hand fire mace that can summon a fiery skeleton chance on hit,, and i cant wear it i am a acolyte *** me

OMG I CAN WEAR AS A 2 HAND but i cant mele hahaha
anyway not sure if this is chrono trigger now Elder Gaspar at the end of time?

https://imgur.com/gallery/wlWtFn2

Ya, watched it, was alright, was doing a ff14 alliance raid while watching it. some rando complained I was only doing auto attacks.
o well, got my clear and exp.
show wasnt super extraordinary, didn't like seeing the chick cut up. did like seeing the uncle being evil as the same dude vs morbious, nice fit for that character again.
feminine whatever are being broadcasted to the masses now.

You know, I was super impressed with the juxtaposition of those two scenes in terms of holding a mirror up to the audience. We are so desensitized to the horrors in battle or even torture these days- even scenes with women in battle now don't have that visceral horror experienced by the scene you referenced. And forcing the audience between "normal" and "horrific" when in fact both are horrific (for quite different reasons- I don't make this comparison to minimize either)...and expose how little life was respected in the era these stories are based on.

I will say this was a pilot episode, and those are insanely difficult to judge a series by, at least for my sensibilities. A lot of administrative work has to happen in a short time and it often doesn't leave a lot of room for quality plot or character development, more just exposure to the world/era (yes, even a known world needs establishing "again", and the change of era is a big deal for this kind of world) and relationship establishment between the main players. Considering that, the more I think about it the more impressed I am they still were able to convey as much as they did, and pretty well, too.

obligatory Cele commenting on the music just to muck stuff up- So far not at all impressed with the "new" work of Ramin Djawadi here. Of course that also plays into the nature of a Pilot episode- give people the familiar sounds they expect with very little alteration at first, then build off it. So we'll see what he's got cooked up as the season evolves^^

How man... what a story....

It does deserve some movie or serie to retell this great story.

Taking all bets on;

Extended Moratorium (..........again)
vs
10k forgiveness, no qualifiers
vs
(*)up to(*) 10k forgiven (*)if you originally owed more and have paid down enough to be under 10k and/or some other "qualifiers"
vs
Up to 10k forgiven, but we take your tax returns until the 10k (plus interest of course) is paid back. (and now we have the IRS agents to do it)
vs
Something even more *** stupid (but not political, economics onry)

My desert: a mixture of whey protein creamy vanilla flavored, oatmeal and a bit of water, enought to not to dissolve the whey protein powder, but make it like an ice cream (not cold though).

(Officially?) $20,000 less poor today. (effective 12/31/22)

Still poor. Just slightly less poor.

The OTHER stuff that isn't going to get any press is AMAZING!

If you make under 30k - Your payments are ZERO
If you make over 30k it's hard capped at 5% income(*)
IBR time cut in half
Circumstances may negate interest rates

ACTUAL ECONOMIC PROGRESS INSTEAD OF REGRESSION. THE FIRST AND ONLY TIME IN OUR *** LIFETIME. That's phenomenal.

I'm so torn on the issue of student debt forgiveness.

I know my undergrad 'debt' was handled because i worked my *** off and got a scholarship.

I know my graduate school debt was resolved by serving 5 years in the US Navy.

There wasn't any "forgiveness"....there were agreements and trade in my case.

But at the same time, I completely agree that the Federal Student Loan system basically enabled schools to never cap tuition while simultaneously increasing their endowments and in a very real sense- charging students whatever they wanted to make money rather than educate, all funded through guaranteed loans given to children. And its completely crippling our economy as each subsequent generation enters the work force already pre-loaded with debt.

I'm more in favor of a system of some form of public service to "pay off" said debt, but not 100% tied to military service. If we had better civil service options, we could fix a LOT of the infrastructure problems in this nation rather than just military service (quite ok with many simply do not want to be part of a military branch- its not for everyone).

College has gotten so absolutely *** ridiculous.

The same college I went to in the early 00's has TRIPLED the price per credit hour in twenty years. That's INSANITY.

It needs to be reigned in. You shouldn't have to go into lifelong debt to START A LIFE lol. Everything is. so. ***. up.

The forgiveness is just rectifying a 50 year wrong (reparations..........) It'll give SOME of those people who essentially got conned a second chance. (I still owe 70k, 20k is barely a dent, the interest is asinine)

Completely agree. I just don't know where the fault lies, because its leaving a bad taste in the mouth of about half the tax-paying voters who either already paid off their own debt, left college without it, or didn't go to college. But again, its complete *** what those schools were allowed to do. The moment they started accepting federal loans some restrictions of tuition never exceeding inflation should have been applied. Hey, you get in bed with the devil, YOU are supposed to get ***, not a 3rd party.

There's no super great solution, but I would've included 20k TO go to college, if you didn't, or wanted to extend your degree. (and ability to give it to your kid/grandkid if you're "too old to go back to college")

Also in need of change. "we" have used education as military service bait for decades. They keep allowing the price to go up like that so the GI bill can cover it.... it's all manufactured.

I dunno. Kind of a big fan of the Montgomery GI Bill, in particular for a peacetime force (don't kid yourselves, even the 20 year Afghanistan 'war' was still peacetime service). I just think the system should be used for service in social programs and betterment of the national infrastructure- not just military service. I do agree tying it just to the military was a mistake, and there should be an option for those to serve their country in different ways, yet still get the benefits without pointing a gun.

(then again, I got my GI Bill and used it for a 2nd bachelor's degree after playing in a military band and only holding a gun for weapons qualifications early on)

Tuition is a vicious cycle in North America.

They can keep increasing tuition because everyone gets loans anyway. It doesn't matter if it's affordable or not because loans allow any price to be affordable. So they just keep raising it forever without consequence.

There's no legitimate reason for it to cost as much as it does, but they can get away with it because it's an unregulated necessity.

The USA is even more baffling because there's no way out of that debt, not even bankruptcy, not even death.