He’s a bitch. He’s a lover. He’s a child. He’s a zombie. He’s a sinner. He’s a saint.

It doesn’t seem to be a super common, general thing where I live. However, there are some more prone to it than others, like places that have a bar and/or otherwise serve alcohol. Typically though it’s only the nights they do live music and that’s most often weekends and around specific holidays.

Mostly I just avoid pretty much any establishment if they’ve got live entertainment for the night and I’m there to eat as well as talk with others. I avoid any that are particularly egregious in terms of loud music. I have been with a group where we asked if the volume could be turned down on the speakers one night at a live event where we were one of only a few tables in the entire place and it was clear that nobody was particularly interested in damaging their hearing. The manager slowly slinked over to the performers about 5 - 10 minutes after the request, and they stopped playing shortly after.

Thou shalt thank or otherwise acknowledge thine responders whomst volunteer their time to provide helpful comments and posts.

Yes. They stole everything of value in my home, which sadly was not much, and they killed the family pets while doing it. No clue who did it, cops tend not to care much when this sort of thing happens to poor people, and they never tracked down who the culprits were. Definitely did affect me and yes I care.

Not sure if it’s already covered in another comment or if you are already aware, however … Depending on where in the world you live, there may be a semi-local official UPS drop off location at a store or business near you. I live outside of a very small rural town, yet there are UPS drop off options here. They even print, text, or email a receipt to confirm they’ve received it.

Still not as convenient as an at-home pick-up, but it’s something to consider if you didn’t already know.

It’s infuriating (mildly may be an understatement).

My neighbor ended up getting “a virus” on her laptop. It wasn’t actually a virus as best I could tell, but instead, it was a full screen pop-up browser window with no window controls.

The scam had a bunch of scary messaging and loud sound playing an alarm with someone stating that the computer was infected and that it was also infecting Microsoft’s servers. Further, the scam insisted that she call the number on the screen or she will face legal issues.

For an older non-technical person, it was frightening.

After this happened a second time, I did a little more digging to see if I could figure out what was going on. Virus scans showed no infection and I couldn’t find much online with specifics about what I was seeing.

Turns out, my neighbor was going to Google, searching for terms like “Amazon”, and then she was clicking the first ad / sponsored link in the results expecting to be taken to the Amazon website. Instead, the sponsored ad on Google search was linking to a blog on Microsoft’s Azure hosting services, which then triggered the full screen non-closable scam.

I even tested it out on one of my old laptops. Went to Google search, tried the exact search term she used, and sure enough, the same exact thing happened. I reported the ad, it is clearly malicious and a scam. It’s ridiculous that Google actually serves up malicious ads like this. And the ad was up there for days after I reported it. I sincerely hope nobody actually got scammed by it, but I definitely feel like Google should be responsible for any damages/losses.

I did go ahead and install ad blockers on all her browsers, removed google search from being the default search engine, and showed her how to avoid clicking on ads and sponsored links if/when any slip through the cracks. So, hopefully it won’t happen again.

I chuckled heartily earlier today when I saw a post on the front page of the R-word site that was posted to the conservative sub. It was a picture of the band holding up a mask of Trump with idiot written on it and a title along the lines of “After Trump assassination attempt, Green Day holds up head of Donald Trump”.

Literally, it was just a mask of Trump with something like “Idiot” written on it from a band that quite literally is known for criticizing the government (understatement).

They were making it sound like it was an implicit threat to Trump and hateful rhetoric inciting further violence.

I swear there must be some brain damage involved in those types of conclusions.

I would truthfully and happily go back in time and tell people not to waste with the fucked up bullshit technology of the past. I mean Angular 1, what the hell was that? Twitter integration? Fuck you 2010. Zend Framework? You should be hanged. HANGED.

I mean aren’t numbers invented by Arabics anyway? What’s the point at ending with 9 and 10 when they could go full 9 and 11? /s

RULES FOR THEE, NOT FOR ME.

The sky at night. I hope that there aren’t a lot of clouds and that the moon moves closer to the horizon so I can see some stars. It’s going to be super hot during the day, so I anticipate being inside for most of it this weekend. It will be nice to go out after sunset and enjoy some nature. Ideally I would like to sit out and enjoy the stars after dark and listen to the sound of crickets and frogs in the background.

Where I live, the big 3 are mustard, ketchup, and mayonnaise.

If I had to limit it to the “big 3” you listed, I would have to go for mustard. There are so many different types and of the options listed, mustard is easily the healthiest (or can be the healthiest) since a basic mustard is going to be low in sodium, sugar, and fat while also containing healthy phytonutrients.

Mustard is also much more versatile than folks in my part of the world give it credit for. It seems like a cultural thing / learned behavior rather than based on actual taste preferences. For instance, a fairly bland yellow mustard actually goes well with french fries. A spicy mustard (the types that are almost like horseradish) goes well with a variety of roasted veggies like broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower. Honey mustard works well with chicken in various forms. Lots of cheeses pair well with different types of mustard. I could go on, but I’ll stop here.

Since the majority of folks are discussing condiments that aren’t in your “big 3”, I would say that my actual favorite condiment is hot sauce. I’m not a connoisseur by any means and I don’t have refined tastes. I don’t even like super spicy hot sauces. But I do use hot sauce of some type with almost every meal and I go through a lot more of that than mustard or ketchup. Granted, hot sauces tend to be high in sodium, so I try not to go overboard.

I assume you live in a cool-cold climate and/or in the southern hemisphere? Violas/pansies wouldn’t perform well at all this time of year in my part of the world, it’s far too hot.

Except that’s exactly how nose canceling ear phones work.

Mine work like this: “Got your nose. Neener neener neener.”

This seems like it involves gore.

I’ll have some cake please. Nothing fancy, no frosting, just plane.

Unless your life insurance policy is all paid up and your Earthly affairs are in order, I hope it’s not a Boeing.

Fish don’t stink underwater the fish don’t stink.

Just thought I’d mention that there are species of fish and other animal groups that are all female or close enough to it that their populations do not rely on males to propagate. For example, Amazon mollies. I couldn’t tell you if any species of betta are capable of parthenogensis, but as a general statement “If you would have only females, the entire fish species dies out” isn’t universally true.

Although it’s possible that female bettas want strong males, I’m certainly not a female betta and don’t want to get too far into the territory of anthropomorhpism and there are certainly other possible motivations and processes going on than simply wanting “strong males”.

But really, all this seems to be veering oddly away from the original topic and my first comment, so I’m just going to leave it at that.

It’s mostly only the males that don’t get along with each other. Given enough space, females can be peacefully kept together in sorority tanks. Similarly, a trio or harem (i.e. one male with multiple females) is typically safe as well and the fish get along just fine, given a large enough tank and appropriate stocking.

Also, most reputable breeders and sources of information will tell you that 5 gallons / 19 liters is the minimum suggested tank size for a happy and healthy fish in optimal conditions. While they can certainly survive in much smaller bodies of water, it’s not ideal and in some cases it’s actually harmful.

Some of it depends on your circumstances, honestly. What’s applicable and works for me, may not be applicable and work for you in your situation.

One thing that really helps me in my situation is a product called Mosquito Bits. It’s a microbial product that you add to anything that might contain standing, stagnant water. It kills mosquito larvae and is quite effective at it. I place this in the saucers of outdoor plants, in equipment that tends to collect water after rain, and even sprinkle it in plants that tend to collect water (ex: bromeliads).

I’ve also read and heard that using aromatic wood mulch, like cedar, around the outdoor living areas can help somewhat.

The biggest disappointment in terms of products that don’t seem to be terrible effective was a Dynatrap. I had acquaintances raving about it, saw some people on other sites like the R-word saying good things about it, so even though they are expensive and require yearly bulb replacements, I gave it a try. It really did not make a dent in the mosquito population, and worse, it traps so many other kinds of insects including beneficial insects that I consider it to be a failure. I’ve opened up the trap to empty it, and there just aren’t many mosquitos in there, just lots of moths, flies, beetles, etc.