The Dangers of Association

I encountered a situation the other day that may have been happening all of my life and I may have simply not been realizing it. This may be one of those epiphany moments. I headed to the restroom to take care of the quicker version of the standard visitation needs and as soon as I entered the room it hit me. An aroma so indescribably bad that the best I can do is chewed puppy lit afire and doused in wet manure to extinguish. That and sweaty goat testicles. I think that about sums it up. The room was empty. The culprit escaped without notice. So I brave the deadly stench long enough to resolve my situation, wash the hands and start heading out. As I cracked the door to leave, a thought occurred to me; what if I encountered someone entering at this point? The rotting corpse-like foulness would certainly be attributed to me. How does one escape that invalid supposition by the other party? Vocal denial would certainly draw suspicion. There is no way out of it. It is your cross to bear even though you are a mere victim of the situation. So unfair, so unfair. Not only do you have to suffer through eye-watering discomfort while attempting to alleviate your own needs, you must now carry the label of "that guy that destroyed the atmosphere in the restroom". Fortunately, I got off easy in this case. Nobody in sight as I exited the polluted facility and I have only this tale and realization instead of an unwarranted label.

EVE Online

New video game to me of interest: EVE Online. Playing the 14 day free trial of it at the moment an enjoying it very much. It reminds me of the old BBS days of Tradewars 2002. I've been looking for something to fill that void for quite sometime. Earth & Beyond did a pretty good job of it while it was around, but it has been gone for awhile now. EVE Online is very similar in play from what I can tell. Spectacular graphics for a MMORPG though. A really excellent interface as well. The fact that it appears to only have 1 server is pretty amazing as well considering how many players are active in the game.

Adding Injurty to Insult

Some insults simply do not work in particular situations. "Son of a bitch" is one of these.

For example, calling a sibling a "son of a bitch" without doing the same to yourself as a result. Similarly using a statement such as "Son of a bitch!" when you cut yourself shaving or step on a sharp object walking by yourself can have unintended implications. Without specifying an article for your insult, you indirectly imply "you". In turn, if alone, then that "you" must be directed at the closest logical unit, physical or ethereal. In the physical sense, we must suppose that "you" is oneself (in which case you really should say "I'm a…") or a nearby inanimate object (in this case you are talking to inanimate objects - this is a thing that crazy people on the street do - don't do this). If, however, we suppose the likely more logical ethereal target of your insult, then we assume something like the entity of the universe or your perception of a God or gods. In these cases, considering the karmic or smiting repercussions, then said insult should likely be reconsidered. Yet another case in which this insult can backfire is when targeting someone who is either a) adopted or b) without a living mother. In one case, you toss the label "bitch" on a completely unknown so it is relatively ineffective. In the second case, even if your statement is accurate - it's one thing to toss the mom insult out there, it's a whole other thing to throw the deceased into the mix. Again, potentially unintended consequence.

So, be careful in your usage of insults of the like. Be sure that your target is a valid and good one. Cater your insult to the appropriate conditions. It will be far more effective.

Late Nights

So I've spent the last three nights up late doing work for the day job.  Apparently I am old because I am tired as a result.  Didn't *used* to be tired from such forays, but I'm beat.  Got another late night tomorrow for the store's game night and then I'll probably "waste" my Friday night by going to bed early as a result.

 

Where do I apply for these senior citizen discounts I hear tale of?

News of the Inside

Yay me.  I don't have stomach cancer.  Not yet, at least.  Not that I'm trying for it, but you never know what the future will bring.

For those of you baffled completely by my first sentence, here's the story.  I went in for my every-few-years-upper-endoscopy thanks to an acid reflux issue last Wednesday.  While there was a camera down my throat and in my belly, they discovered some polyps in the upper portion of my stomach and removed about 1/2 of them, biopsied them and I just got the results back today.  So, I've been somewhat panicked over the past week that I was in for some bad news come today.  Mostly because the only time I've ever really heard the word "polyp" used was in reference to some form of cancer.  However, the biopsies came back negative and the only bad news (which is, of course, well overshadowed by the good news) is that I have to go back fairly soon to get the rest of them removed, which means another adventure of "Hey, is that a camera down your throat or are you just happy to see me?" and likely a follow-up of the same a year or two later along with every couple of years thereafter for... oh... ever.  Additional good news is that they didn't have to do any stretching while they were in there this time (ask me for details of previous events if you have no idea what I'm talking about here), so the Prevacid that I've been taking for the last 3 years seems to be doing its job well.

Woohoo!  Reason to celebrate.