Addiction is so much more complicated than the 12 step AA/NA cultists like to paint it. Granted, we don’t know what he’s really up to, but going from heroin, meth, & coke to beer is a pretty damn good step in the right direction. I hope to see this notion that abstinance is the only way, etc. dead and buried.

One day while my gf was on a road trip, she called me from one of those big chains that specializes in oil change, tune-ups, fluid flushes etc.. She stopped for an oil change and they told her that her S-10 was leaking transmission fluid badly and they needed to keep it and investigate the problem. I asked her to…

“Sometimes the paramedics will even suggest (after checking you out) that your case is mild enough you can drive yourself to the hospital or urgent care clinic at your convenience.”

Parts/Repair costs are pretty high, but at least some of the older Mercedes are pretty reliable. The 240D got upwards of 30 mpg and have been known to make it past the million mile mark (according to Mercedes, the record holder is a greek taxi with 2.8 million miles on it!)

Yeah, that kind of empirical evidence is what brought on the “housing first” policy that’s been adopted by a lot of agencies and organizations involved in the fight against homelessness.

I see your point, no one would exactly call cheap beer, crack or heroin “luxury” items, but the perception/reaction is the same: If a person can afford to get drunk/high everyday they’re undeserving of help, not really poor just choosing to blow their money on substances, etc.

That’s totally related. Being poor is really stressfull. It’s all too easy to turn to alcohol or drugs when you feel trapped and can’t sleep at night because you’re one missed paycheck away from disaster. It’s just as common for people to end up addicted because they’re poor or homeless as it is for them to end up…

Thank you so much for pointing out what should be obvious to anyone engaged in wage slavery, which is just about all of us. In most cases your employer is more than "not your friend", they are your enemy, nemesis, oppressor, etc. . They can and will sell you down the river at any point it seems in their best…

Yeah I'm always amazed by his portliness, but I agree he's looks truly fat or at least very pudgy lately. I mean the dude has pretty much absolute power there, but with a chronically underfed/starving population, having an obese "dear leader" seems a really bad idea on his part in terms of propaganda and maintaining…

If there's a way to edit an old post, I can't find it, so reposting it sans F-bomb was the best I could do, hope you can show it to your kids.

You have been eaten by a grue

You have been eaten by a grue

Sweet, now I can finally write the ZORK inspired text game I tried to write when I was 13 and learning BASIC and Turbo Pascal. I had a notebook full of maps and story ideas, and quite a few lines of code written when I realized just how much work it was going to be and my ADHD took care of the rest.

"They made a brozillion of them, you saw them in every cul-de-sac and subdivision in America for 10 years, then they all just disappeared. You'll still see its competitors from time to time—even in rust-central Pennsylvania where I'm from, a 25-year-old Chevy Lumina or Buick Park Avenue can still be heard…

A lot of the chain auto parts stores have "loan-a-tool" programs. You basically pay the cost of the tool and as long as you bring it back and don't destroy it you get your deposit back. It's great for specialized and vehicle specific tools and diagnostic equipment.

Ditto pressure washers. If you look around you can usually find a good used one for about the price of a day or two's rental fee.

YES, I need them to drive, especially at night so I have a backup pair always in my glove compartment. I won't plug any specific sites, but I've been ordering mine online for years now. You can get a no-frills pair of RX glasses for like $12 if you look around. Quality isn't the best but the RX is right so for less…

Does anyone know of a comparable app for Linux? Yes I'm too lazy to google and wade through forums right now, but if no one has an answer, I'll see what I can find and post it here.

Self driving cars, hell no! I don't even trust cars that lock the doors when you go over 20mph. We keep replacing perfectly good time tested tech with buggy new tech. Accelerators that used to be attached to a cable are now controlled by software that can kill you if there's a faulty line of code (toyota I'm…

Good point, same with instruments if you can play them well and guns I guess if you're a criminal or win a lot of shooting competitions.