Random thoughts thread

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

I appreciate that, I'm not going to do anything that would effect me too seriously like lose a job or anything, and I've gotten plenty already.     When we started talking I had been stuck home alone for two months and in addition to having someone to talk to almost all the time she's been where I am. There was a lot of advice and understanding that helped me stop beating my self up over decisions I made or things that didn't go right and to stop worrying about doing what people thought I should be doing.  That and getting talked into getting a therapist were huge steps towards getting a bit of my life back. I wouldn't have had the last few months I had with going racing and such without someone to convince me it was ok to do it so soon, 

Im honestly not worried about whether or not it becomes anything more. We still haven't even met. She does seem great but who knows. Right know I just want to be around to help.  I can't imagine how hard this has to be and until this happened she was running constantly to give her kid the best life she could, the sooner she gets back to that the happier they'll both be. 

In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) : 

I've had people mistake my kindness for weakness, and been taken advantage of because of it. But it's the one bad thing that happens that hasn't truly soured me. I might get burned 10 times. That one that really needed it, and appreciates it is all that matters. 

The sharks see a mark to exploit, no matter, I'm stronger than they can possibly imagine. 

I've been thinking about money. Specifically currency. It more or less exists as an intermediary between the exchange of goods and services. A middle man of the barter system, if you will. It facilitates a lot of things. 

My question is- if currency (dollar bills) did not exist, what would you give strippers? Would it be socially acceptable to throw ham? What if she's vegetarian? Do I need to break out some celery or something ? What are the rules?

Mndsm said:

I've been thinking about money. Specifically currency. It more or less exists as an intermediary between the exchange of goods and services. A middle man of the barter system, if you will. It facilitates a lot of things. 

 

My question is- if currency (dollar bills) did not exist, what would you give strippers? Would it be socially acceptable to throw ham? What if she's vegetarian? Do I need to break out some celery or something ? What are the rules?

Lol - toss her/him a nice pierogi, you can make them vegan or with meat. 

A professor who may have been the smartest man I ever met says that the best invention so far is money/currency. It allows/forces people who, with no other reason not to kill each other, to be polite.

In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :

There are many people here on GRM that I have never met but have had a positive influence on me.  I consider you to be one of them!  

Sound all good to me.  I try not to make it a world of "even" but I do keep in check as to weather I am getting more than I'm giving (or some ratio of that which I can deem as acceptable.)  As you have stated, you've gotten much so that then means you should continue to try to give more.  

In reply to John Welsh (Moderate Supporter) :

I don't keep score either, but she seems like a pretty special person, even now when we talk she's worried about her roommates, coworkers etc more than herself. There aren't many people like that. 

In reply to Mndsm :

Change.

MAKE IT HAIL!!!!

Strippers hate that.

In reply to Appleseed :

That gives me an idea, I've got a bunch of rolled change in my closet. 

In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :

Will a roll of dimes fit in a Nerf gun?

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

One of the nerf megas it would. 

Wally (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Appleseed :

Believe it or not it's almost never been a bad thing. Most of my life I've been the person friends come to when the need help and it usually works out fine. I'm really hoping to continue that streak. 

Regardless of how you decide to handle this you are a good, decent human being.  The world is a better place with you in it.  Thank you for caring about others, I hope it rubs off on everyone around you because that would be awesome.  

mtn (Forum Supporter) said:

A professor who may have been the smartest man I ever met says that the best invention so far is money/currency. It allows/forces people who, with no other reason not to kill each other, to be polite.

I like the philosophical parts of his statement. Sadly, like so much philosophy, it ignores basic human nature. Money ( or greed to be more accurate) induces much killing. Us "decent" folks WISH it wasn't so, but history tells otherwise.

In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :

Long reply to your long post!

Years ago, I was dating a young lady with a bad alcohol/substance abuse problem. Helping her, when se decided to quit, was taking a toll on my emotions. I was walking out he gate one night with a co-worker (former Vet., nice man... never heard him cuss, just 'cause everbody else was) and asked him "I was raised to be a helpful guy; when do you know when to stop helping." He thought a min., and replied "I going to hold out a helping hand to anybody in need... Till it hurts me or my family. And then berkeley 'em!" Made a lasting impression on me.

Years later, was talking to another friend that complimented my for helping her as much as I did. I pointed out it keep me a mess for a while (including after the breakup). And he said "yea, but it didn't cost ya anything that mattered."

The short version: help as much as ya can. And just a bit more. But find that line and know ya helped where you could. Its worth it.

11GTCS said:

Wally (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to Appleseed :

Believe it or not it's almost never been a bad thing. Most of my life I've been the person friends come to when the need help and it usually works out fine. I'm really hoping to continue that streak. 

Regardless of how you decide to handle this you are a good, decent human being.  The world is a better place with you in it.  Thank you for caring about others, I hope it rubs off on everyone around you because that would be awesome.  

Thanks everyone for basically affirming that I'm not crazy. News sounds troubling, after almost a week of tests they keep ordering more tests with no answers but all I'm really out is a few hours of texting a day when I wouldn't really be doing anything anyway. I'm hoping to be out a dinner or two if she's in Manhattan much longer because she's still being good for helping me too. 

In reply to Wally (Forum Supporter) :

Sound like a GREAT way to spend some hours. And dinners!

I just wanted to take a minute to thank everyone here on the forum. This place feels like a sanctuary of sanity in a world gone crazy. 

Car people are the best people.

In reply to gearheadmb :

I'm in a self-imposed media blackout for precisely this reason. GRM is a really cool place...

In reply to Recon1342 :

I'm here for the same reason. GRM is a special place.

Wally, just make sure she is who she says she is. I had a friend get strung along (catfished?) on a dating site-every time it looked like he was going to meet her she would be in the hospital, sick relative, work trip, etc. He swears he never gave her any money, so I have no idea what "she" got out of it.

In reply to CrustyRedXpress (Forum Supporter) :

I appreciate the warning.  We've exchanged a fair amount of info and so far she's asked for nothing so I have no doubts she is who she says. I also dropped of a phone cord at the hospital the night she was admitted and they had her as a patient there. If she's making it up she went pretty far taking pics and such but I'm being careful. 

MrsRecon and I moved into base housing when I was a PFC for our first apartment. It was a cute little one-bedroom affair with a grand total of 750 sq ft. 
 

The Garrison flag (flown on Sundays and Holidays at military installations) measures 20' on the hoist by 38' on the fly. That's 760 sq ft.

Yep, that's right. Our grand old flag has more square feet than my first apartment did...

Today should be test results day. As nervous as I am I can't imagine how hard it is having to hear them alone. Thank God work is slow today so I've been trying to be a distraction until the docs come in. I'm not sure how well it's working. 

Last night my daughter looked outside at 5:30 as it was getting dark and said (I think quite cleverly):  "If we have Daylight Savings and can shift things around however we want, why not roll it back so the daylight is in the afternoon where we could use it?  Who cares if it's dark until 10 am, that was just for farmers anyway."

As I suffer from SAD from now till January, I have to agree with her.

KyAllroad (Jeremy) (Forum Supporter) said:

Last night my daughter looked outside at 5:30 as it was getting dark and said (I think quite cleverly):  "If we have Daylight Savings and can shift things around however we want, why not roll it back so the daylight is in the afternoon where we could use it?  Who cares if it's dark until 10 am, that was just for farmers anyway."

As I suffer from SAD from now till January, I have to agree with her.

I live far enough north that we have 16 hours of daylight in the summer.  I live in Saskatchewan, where we don't use DST.  I was deep into my 30's before I figured out you guys were adding more time to the evening in summer, and leaving the winter days un-fixed.

In reply to KyAllroad (Jeremy) (Forum Supporter) :

The person that suggested moving clocks ahead is a hero.  The person that reminded him to move it back should have been put in a sack of rocks and tossed in the ocean