ROFL in Book Six: Trying to Hold On 2019

Me and my dumb dedication.

So… weather has kicked our ass. Saturday night I couldn’t sleep because the wind outside was whipping every ounce of snow and ice around and you could actually watch the houses assaulted with ice. Our kitchen window (which desperately needs a curtain) became entirely iced over. If you are anything like my inner monologue, you might be saying “All right, Chris. That’s your cue to write on Prosebox and catch up with your bookmarks! If you can’t sleep, be productive.” You’d be right to say that; but instead I played Borderlands 2. Because (honestly) it is a Trophy thing. There are 89 Trophies possible. I am only missing 19 of them. However, achieving those 10 requires an additional 4 playthroughs plus playing with partners. So… yeah. In my ever foolish quest to squeeze every video game I can for the most content (if I paid for it and the developers included it… I consider it a part of the video game experience), I decided to try to push forward there. I did get some sleep but only about 6 hours. I woke up and the world was ice and snow. Wife and I discussed things and decided I would need to take her car if I was going to try to go to work on Monday.

Monday is here. Took Wife’s car. Saw several trucks (like… actual trucks) stuck in the snow. Got to work “late-early” (what I call it on days like this. County is on a two-hour delay, so I could have arrived at 10, but I got here at 9 when usually I’m supposed to be here at 8). As I walked in, I noticed that almost nobody was in the building. My boss and Victim/Witness Coordinator are in the conference room teaching each other Acoustic Guitar songs. The Judge cancelled court for today.... sending that information out on Sunday afternoon. Area schools are entirely cancelled. In other words… Me and my dumb dedication.... I didn’t have to come into work today, I don’t have to stay at work today… I could very easily, reasonably declare that “Court was cancelled due to weather, schools are cancelled, I can just go home.” AND YET… I’m sticking around. There’s stuff I want to get done here and stuff I want to prepare.

Do you know what that says to me? I’m in a much different place than my last 3 jobs. If I was told specifically that I didn’t have to come to work at the Law Library. Tiny Town, or Chinese Firm? I’d be home in my underwear playing video games right now. Here? I want to be here. I want to get my work done and do a good job. That’s a good place to be. Interesting and weird place to be.... typing away and doing things while The Boss is trying to master “Wild Horses,” “Bad Moon Rising,” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. Besides, and this is so true it is depressing… when it comes to writing, just… writing… I FAR prefer a desktop. Especially if I’m writing anything that requires research, references, or citations… I prefer the two monitor desktop approach… which is what I have at work. Meanwhile, my computers at home? Desktop from 2011 which is buggered… laptop from maybe 2015 that is buggered… and the laptop I used when working for the Chinese… which suffered so much damage and abuse that it is CLEARLY buggered. SO… I hear what you might be saying, “Time for a new desktop so you can write at home?” And I’d certainly agree with you! However, I’m thinking that the Wife wouldn’t be in favor (as much) though I’ve not spoken with her about it. Though, to be fair… I’d also likely approach MBFITWW who makes his own computers (and selects for Games and Hentaii). Because the description of the computer I would want/need?
“I’m looking for something simple. I write a lot, so a word processor is needed. But I write all manner of things, so I need something that could easily and safely access anything from the BBC to Trophy Hunter. However, I also need something that can safely access a variety of cosplay websites that may or may not contain nudity. Also, I spend a great deal of time looking through pintrest, instagram, facebook, those kinds of things. Lastly, I need to safely access and organize xxxvideos.com, chyoa.com, and a collection of Google Image Pornography. That’s what I’m looking for.” lol

OH

Speaking of computers and technology… I have a technical issue I would love to get some help on! When I get back home, I’ll post a help request to facebook on this and copy it over to here. But to state it simply:

We have a Marantz NE1509 receiver. A 5.1 channel receiver We have a Samsung QN75Q8FNBFXZA TV. A 75 inch QLED TV. We have connected all of our video game sources to the receiver. This has been done in the following way.
PS4 to receiver via HDMI
XBox 360 to receiver via HDMI
PS2 to receiver via Composite cable
N64 to receiver via Composite cable
SNES to receiver via Composite cable
The receiver to TV connection is an HDMI connection. We have confirmed that we get audio via surround sound AND video on the TV for the PS4 and the XBox 360. However, the lesser systems give us audio via surround sound but NO video on the TV. This is our problem.
Considering the other sources are pre-HDMI sources, are we correct to think that the HDMI carrying the signal to the TV will not carry that signal to the TV? If that is the case, we need to use a component or composite cable to carry video from receiver to TV? As our TV only has HDMI (I was shocked by this), then I assume we’d need to purchase a component to HDMI adapter of some kind? This is our issue. Because… we discussed this exact thing (wanting to have MarioKart parties or Original Mortal Kombat tournies) with our Home Theater expert… who said we’d be okay… but is now not returning my e-mails. I don’t blame him… from his perspective, we decided to install everything ourselves to “save money” so if there is a potential install problem, he’s not obligated to give a shit. But… it would really be nice to get all of those systems to work so that we can put our basement together in a “finishing touches” kind of way. Below are some pictures from the facebook post in an effort to demonstrate what is going on:

In different news… my Saturday morning was fucking frustrating.
Item 1: Celebrate Anti-Vaxers! Look at this pediatrician, epidemiologist, and John’s Hopkins researcher who all came out against Vaccines!
Reality 1: Uhm, do an inch of fucking research!! The pediatrician? Actually an interior designer who, according to their business, “is looking to improve your closets and add light to your home.” The epidemiologist? A talk show host on a small, little known radio channel who has no degrees in medicine. The John’s Hopkins researcher? You just quoted a Mommy Blog from a self-confessed Stay At Home Mom with no college degree! HOW?! I mean… WHAT?! I mean… FOR FUCK SAKE! Don’t share something that is so obviously fake! If you don’t know whether it is fake; simply fucking google search the names of the people quoted! IT IS JUST THAT EASY!

Item 2: SO glad our honored President is fighting against this push for socialism and global government. Climate Change has been a well-known hoax for decades and all these socialist-wanna-be-millennials are just eating it up blindly out of their hatred for Trump.
Reality 2: You. Dumb. Fucking. Cow. The links you shared to back up your claims that “science disproves climate change” were all debunked, for-profit, bullshit articles that Exxon and other companies have publicly admitted to paying for!! Gosh, is the lesser known meteorologist who authored the “No Carbon Concerns” paper paid for by the Fossil Fuels industry… maybe, just maybe, not the person you should be listening to??? Could, perhaps, a CLIMATE scientist or a PANEL OF WELL-VETTED EXPERTS with no DIRECT financial influence possibly be a more trustworthy voice in the debate? HERE’S THE THING I say this as someone who took a long time to come around!! I openly resisted the presumptions of Climate Change for a long time because I wanted to make sure the science wasn’t just rushed propaganda for research grants. But here’s the thing.... other planets HAVE seen global warming and cooling trends. So the truth is, the sun (the giant fusion reactor at the center of our system) does have trends of its own. As a species we’re past that issue. Where we are now is more akin to the following analogy:
The Sun, which will be represented by a stationary machine shooting a nail gun, is in the center of the room. The walls of this room (upon which all the planets are drawn), rotates around the center. As the walls rotate, the nail gun manages to hit every planet with at least two or three nails per pass. However, there is a different machine that removes these nails, so each planet only really ever has 1 nail in it as it rotates. Except recently, one of those planets got repainted. It is now 3x harder to remove nails due to the new paint job. Therefore, as this specific planet gets hit with 2 to 3 nails per pass, the machine that removes nails can now maybe remove 1 nail per pass. So while it is certainly true that each planet is getting nailed… the nature of “the room” keeps those walls from getting to bogged down by nails. Except for the one re-painted planet. Since only sometimes the de-nail machine can remove a SINGLE nail… that planet is getting REALLY nailed. Whereas the other planets tend to have 1, maybe 2 nails in it at a time… this planet is downright collecting nails. 2 turns to 4 turns to 3 turns to 6 turns to 9.... it never significantly goes down… and it keeps going up.

Item 3: THEN Wife decided to “have some fun.” She had watched a few documentaries about the Flat Earth Society while I was asleep. And wanted to discuss all of the people and theories and oddity and everything… and she was just so… joyful about it. To her… these are idiots sharing stupid ideas and isn’t it funny how people can be like this and on and on about the novelty, the “freak show” nature of it all.
I can’t. I can’t see Anti-Vaxxers or Flat Earthers as “novelty sideshow acts” to watch and be entertained. I see them as cancers in our world. I see them as the impending downfall of our society. I see them as people capable of accessing all of the information in the world, and selecting for the most outrageous and fringe of insanity. I see them as a darkness that, whether by choice or by accident, envelopes a world that could be so much more BUT FOR their poison. HONESTLY AND TRUTHFULLY: We could have computer programs and VR/AR systems that allow bed-ridden kids in hospitals to continue to attend their original schools! We could completely do away with “education disparity due to health or poverty.” The heights that we could achieve for people are vast! But instead… we live in a world where thousands… maybe even millions… are entirely convinced that there is a conspiracy generated over 5,000 years ago that remains today that is somehow profiting or benefiting from insisting on a “Round Earth Model.”

I just… that was too much for one day. Too much for one week, even!!
HOW IS IT that we live in a world where there are so many people with so much access to information that are so passionately opting to remain fucking idiots?
Vaccines? If vaccines were fatal, we’d stop giving them. Doctors killing patients tends to be a bad thing. If vaccines caused autism, that is something more than 1 criminally manipulated study would show. Better yet: autism is not worse than death. Don’t go anti-vax because you think death by measles is preferable to autism!
Climate Change? If you deny it because (I can’t even COUNT how many times I’ve heard this) “God is bigger than man. God will take care of the earth. All these godless liberals think that they’re bigger than God.” Gee, I appreciate that your faith is strong enough to believe that God will do that but what about the Bible? God told you to take care of the earth. Genesis 1:28, Genesis 1:26, all of the passages requiring humans to be Good Stewards of the Earth… or how about all the passages where God smote those who were mistreating the land? Seriously?! You think you’re being more faithful by not proactively caring about the world? Seriously?!

And just… all the misinformation and bullshit and lies that are eaten by the fucking people of the earth. Did you know that there are over 1.5 billion Muslims in the world? If they were all terrorists… do you think that ANYONE anywhere would be safe?! That is almost 20% of the earth. If everyone in that faith wanted every other person to die… don’t you think we’d see mass murder every day from the Faithful in every country?

It is just… these wildly irresponsible generalizing bullshit misinformation campaigns finding traction that DRIVE ME DARK AND DRIVE ME CRAZY! It got to the point on Saturday where every new “And then they said this on the documentary” that Wife mentioned resulted in me saying, “Wife, these are the kinds of people I genuinely want to murder. Seriously. I want to end their lives because I genuinely think that would make the earth a better place. The willingness to believe in the least informed conspiracy is how people become these damned fucking mobs that harass the grieving parents of Sandy Hook elementary to this day because they believe Alex Jones’ assertion that they are all just “crisis actors.” The very fact that we have a well recognized word for “those that fake tragedy for political gain” is enough to get my violent urges churning.

Turning our attention to the news and other ventures, I am happy to say that Wife, taking her own initiative, has settled on a current candidate for 2020. I realize my influence is felt, even if unintentional, so I’m not exactly surprised that Wife is supporting Kamala Harris as I am, but it is always good when she can come to a decision on her own that agrees with me. Not that I’d be terribly upset if she selected Warren or Sanders or Klobuchar or Gabbard or Castro or.... someday, I’ll do a full 2020 Dempocalypse post just to cover ALL the candidates and my feelings towards them. But for here, as a shorthand, I’ll just say… for many political and personal reasons, my support is presently for Kamala Harris.

Over on the BBC: Editor’s Note the commentary following each article should be understood as Park Row’s thoughts, feelings, and assessment and should not be ascribed to the BBC or its affiliates. Any change to this will be specifically highlighted and properly cited.
Ex-security officials: ‘No factual basis’ for Trump wall
Fifty-eight former US national security officials are set to rebuke President Donald Trump’s national emergency declaration to build a border wall. I think, despite your political beliefs, that this is obvious. There is no factual basis to declare an emergency at the border and if there were such a factual basis, in order to properly qualify as a true emergency the funding would need to be used for military, humanitarian, and law enforcement support. NOT a prolonged, time-taking construction project. National Emergency is something like Hurricane Katrina… there were a lot of people suddenly in jeopardy and we needed the ability to mobilize support and funding immediately. That is a national emergency. A National Emergency is not merely a way to secure funding if Congress doesn’t give it to you. The National Emergency Powers were established to “provide funding in an emergency when Congress would not have time enough to meet and decide funding measures.” THAT IS NOT THE WALL by definition. The Wall has routinely been discussed by Congress. Congress has routinely said no. The fact that our President doesn’t understand this (and the fact that his supporters do not care about this) is an example of what is wrong in America today. Lastly, as a personal note: The current statistics are clear. In the early 2000’s, the Southern Border Immigration Concern was young single men coming over looking for work. The last five years in a row, the majority of immigration from the southern border is women and children seeking asylum. AS PLAINLY AS I CAN.... men seeking work crossing the border is something I can agree is “illegal immigration” and something to which we should have responded.... families seeking asylum crossing the border is LEGAL and not a crisis for which a wall is warranted.

Direct Quote from the Statement: “Under no plausible assessment of the evidence is there a national emergency today that entitles the president to tap into funds appropriated for other purposes to build a wall at the southern border”

Over on the CNN: Editor’s Note the commentary following each article should be understood as Park Row’s thoughts, feelings, and assessment and should not be ascribed to the CNN or its affiliates. Any change to this will be specifically highlighted and properly cited.

Federal judge rules male-only draft is unconstitutional
I must, reluctantly, admit that I am torn on this ruling. I do honestly believe that if Men are required to sign up for selective service OR ELSE face consequences including jail time and not receiving federal funds for college or other needs… than Women should be required to sign up for selective service OR ELSE face consequences including jail time and not receiving federal funds for college or other needs. I do genuinely and honestly believe that!
However, a good friend once argued to me that requiring women to sign up for selective service makes it appear that the military treats civilians equally. So long as there are jobs that women cannot have in the military, so long as the Military Rape Scandal continues, and so long as men in the military continue to treat women in the military like they don’t belong… requiring women to sign up for selective service potentially creates a dangerous and undesirable situation for women in a way that would not be equally felt by their male colleagues in the similar situation. That was a compelling argument. It made me think that we SHOULD require both 18 year old men and women to sign up for selective service… but it also means we should be doing our best to make our military a place that welcomes all creeds, races, and genders in order to form a cohesive, well run military unit.

Harry Reid wishes for George W. Bush again ‘every day’
Much to the horror and chagrin of many of you here, I will repeat that I did support President W. Bush. I didn’t vote for him. In 2000, I was only 16 and unable to vote and in 2004, I did not feel that W was worth my vote (nor did I support Kerry) so I simply did not vote for President that year. But, as a President, I supported him. Even during the Iraq push… I always couched my statements appropriately but “Given the information I have received and reviewed, I support the push into Iraq to deal with the Saddam Hussein Regime.”

However, to some of my dear friends and some of you on Prosebox, George W Bush was “the fucking anti-christ” or (these quotes are from actual people discussing him) “the stupidest fucking person in America” or “The worst president in history” or “the frat boy made President on a dare.” Do you all still hate George W Bush with a fire and passion that is incomparable? Or maybe after seeing Trump in action are you more, “I didn’t like him, but he was a fuck lot more professional!” You don’t have to agree, honestly. You can still hate with blind fury the 43rd President and I’m certainly not going to debate you. But in the long scheme of history… I can think of but three Presidents that have so painfully wounded our country in the way of 45. And none of them were such insufferable, despicable, low class people.

Michael Cohen needs to answer these five questions
Opinion piece by Elie Honig offered without commentary or analysis.

What if Trump refuses to accept defeat in 2020?
Opinion piece by Joshua A. Geltzer offered without commentary or analysis.

Turning now to more comical reading:

4 Awesome Theories About What Real Aliens Would Look Like
4: Aliens Might Evolve Into Jabba The Hutt Covered In Anuses
3: Alien Life Could Be Silicon- Or Methane-Based
2: Alien Vegetation Might Be Purple
1: There Might Be Intelligent Space Dinosaurs

5 Things You Learn From A Miraculous, Nightmarish Childbirth
5: It Turns Out You Can Have A Miscarriage And Still Give Birth
4: Things Started Going Nightmarishly Wrong
3: It’s A Bad Sign When Your Medical Problem Is So Weird That It Freaks Out Hospital Staff
2: Once The “Miracle” Birth Was Out Of The Way, The Real Fun Began
1: Stress Like This Is Brutal On Your Body, And Marriage

5 Clever (But Evil) Gaming Trolls Who Caused Mass Chaos
5: A Fortnite Troll Massacred A Party To Set The World Record For Kills
4: GTA Online Trolls Found A Way To Kill People In Single Player
3: A Soulcalibur Troll Creates An Impossible-To-Beat Novelty Character
2: The Emperor Of No Man’s Sky Will Erase Your Base
1: Elite: Dangerous Trolls Target Charity Streams To Cause Maximum Grief

5 Unsung Superheroes Who Rose Up During Natural Disasters
5: Zookeepers Stay Behind In Disaster Zones To Keep The Animals Alive
4: A Former Japanese Politician Is A One-Man Disaster Relief Team
3: A Louisiana Law Firm Stuck Around To Help Katrina Victims With Paperwork
2: Volunteer Architects Stay Put To Rebuild Devastated Communities
1: Celebrity Chef Jose Andres Feed Entire Cities After Disasters

Honestly, I’m not sure if this is creepy, irritating, or funny. I keep clicking on a Cracked.com article titled “5 Creepy Things A.I. Has Started Doing On Its Own”… and my computer won’t connect ot the article. It simply comes back with an error. Okay, finally got it to open. Funny, though.
5 Creepy Things A.I. Has Started Doing On Its Own
5: An AI Learned To Half-Ass Its Work, Then Lie About It
4: They Find Ways To Take “Shortcuts” At Every Opportunity
3: AI Will Learn To Become Aggressive In Order To Achieve Its Goals
2: They’ve Learned To Lie To Get What They Want
1: The Creators Sometimes Don’t Even Know How It Works

18 Pieces Of History That Your Brain Pictures Wrong

26 BS Things That Only Work In TV & Movie Universes

Now, this last one… I’m taking with a grain of salt just on the title
The CIA Live-Tweeted The Oscars To Debunk ‘Black Panther’

Well, I have 75 Bookmarks to catch up on. So I shall go do that for the moment. ‘Ta!

(The following photos are from the Photo Sharing account of SmaellBlack)

In other news…

My brother is planning this year’s trip to Iceland. He has two companies, bucketloads of natural artistic talent, plays waterpolo, exercises all the time, has a fairly decent home life with his working wife and his daughter.... I don’t know how he does it. Well, I do… lacking the physical disabilities I enjoy and gifted with unnatural artistic talent can combine to open doors most aren’t aware even exist. But he’s amped up and talking about going to Iceland in 5 weeks. Meanwhile, Wife and I still have yet to go on a vacation that didn’t double as something. Like… Okoboji but also Prosecutor training… San Francisco but also Cousin’s Wedding. We’ve never just “gone somewhere.” Which is maddening bullshit as we have FREE accommodations (meals not included) and FREE FLIGHTS to/from Hawaii to be used at our convenience. But it has taken us so long to “get settled” job/house/etcetera that we’ve never used them. I’m trying to get that all used this year. But with Wife still so undecided as to her own life? I had originally planned to do everything in July. Take the first two weeks of July, burn all of my accrued vacation and just go out there Sat June 29 and come back Friday July 12. BUT Wife thinks she wants to take classes “in something” over the summer “at some point” so she can’t really say when she’ll be free… but definitely said don’t plan anything firm yet because she doesn’t want to feel pressured to do something yet.

Guh.

I get it. We got married, went straight to Law School. During and after Law School, loans and debts and the like. After that, I never stayed at a job long enough to actually USE any of the accrued vacation time. BUT WE’RE IN A DIFFERENT PLACE NOW. I get vacation time, sick leave, personal days.... we’re in a financial position to take this trip and it is almost 100% free anyway! Just… this stuff pops into my head as my brother discusses Iceland.

Though, maybe that is just my Green Eyed Monster getting back into the swing of things. Because I watch videos about puppies and little tiny babies and also feel, “Man… when is that gonna be me? Is that ever gonna be me?” So who knows. Distraction time! Off to read more prosebox entries and other things.

The following photos were found on Geek Girls (HERE) from Lisitsa (HERE)

One last thing before I completely finish and publish this.

I’m feeling myself start to “hope for tomorrow” more again. Not in an inspiring “We got to work for tomorrow” way but more of a “Today is in my way!” kind of way. Like… I keep thinking
“Can’t wait til March and I can drink again.”
“Can’t wait til the weekend so I can play video games again”
“Can’t wait for better weather so the snow can melt”
“Can’t wait for March to be over so I can get those Jury Trials over with”

And that tendency to stop living today and look towards tomorrow or look towards the past has been with me for a very long time. I’d rather be happy to live today. But today just… seems in my way.

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