Random Chat, Thoughts, Posts, and/or Rants Thread

[GPM]

Happens here a lot... Non-native english speakers seem to have the best english of all! And here we have english-only speakers who can barely write! LOL

You need to swap about 100lbs of muscle for fat in that picture if it was a true native English speaker.

 

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[MitchC]

I recently watched The Batman. The new one from 2022. Don't bother, save yourself nearly 3 hours.

I swear modern movie writers are completely talentless. They have just oodles and oodles of source material to work with when doing a project like this, and they still just ruin it.

After the movie I didn't learn anything about Batman, Bruce Wayne, Alfred, Cat Woman, The mobster badguy, penguin, Gordon or the Riddler. I never got to know a single character, and therefore didn't care what ended up happening to them. In a nearly 3 hour movie they did not give me a single compelling character that I even remotely cared about.

They also didn't really serve up any good action sequences or set pieces either. I guess the car was kind of cool, but it was also kind of pointless. It could not even outrun a Maserati or whatever it was chasing on the highway.

I recently heard a pretty fitting quote: "The characters are only as smart as their writers". And well, it appears that they are scraping the bottom of the barrel for writers these days.

I also went through The Boys on Amazon prime. The first season was so good. Homelander was the most terrifying character I have ever seen put on TV I think. Just an absolutely unhinged psycho with literally unlimited powers. Season 2 was a shell of the first season, and there was so much filler in there that just did not need to be there. Tongue in cheek political commentary started to pop up a little more, and it was getting to be a bit much.

Season 3 it was like everyone stopped trying, and it was just full on political commentary and trying to ram Hollywoods version of how the world is in their eyes onto the screen. Homelander became a Trump allegory. It was so bad I googled it to see if I was just making it up. Nope. The writers literally turned Homelander into how they see Trump. It was all down hill from there. Don't forget the insanely cliché speeches throughout the show, not an original thought to be had. They turned their only decent human being character into a weak loser of a white male who threw all his old character development into the garbage to turn into a toxic a**hole. Can't have any male characters be decent humans now can we? It turned to trash.

I think I will go back to not watching anything for a long time. It ends up just being a frustrating experience.

Mad Men is my favourite TV series, I’ve watched it 3 times.

It’s like the total opposite, the whole show is basically just character development.

Is there any other shows like this?

I think I might just have to watch it again

 

[MoneyDoc]

I wanted to share a quick story with you guys on how to win at business with honesty:

I sold my G Wagon a few weeks ago. The dealer offered me a little lower than what I wanted for the car. The owner told me to take it and if he sells the car over $x profit to him, whatever that extra profit is he'll split 50/50 with me. In my head I said he's probably just playing me, but I accepted anyways. Fast forward to today, I get a call from him saying that I forgot something in the car and that I needed to pick it up. I go to the dealership and he tells me it's in the passenger door. I open the door and there's $10k in cash from the 50/50 profit split that he left for me. I didn't know what to say to him. Shook his hand and told him this is a moment I will never forget. Now when I need a car, who do you think I'm going to visit?

Hard to find business owners like this these days, let alone dealerships. He really made my day today, not because of the extra $10k, but because of the fact that he kept his word and valued our relationship. Amazing person.

 

[msufan]

I wanted to share a quick story with you guys on how to win at business with honesty:

I sold my G Wagon a few weeks ago. The dealer offered me a little lower than what I wanted for the car. The owner told me to take it and if he sells the car over $x profit to him, whatever that extra profit is he'll split 50/50 with me. In my head I said he's probably just playing me, but I accepted anyways. Fast forward to today, I get a call from him saying that I forgot something in the car and that I needed to pick it up. I go to the dealership and he tells me it's in the passenger door. I open the door and there's $10k in cash. I didn't know what to say to him. Shook his hand and told him this is a moment I will never forget. Now when I need a car, who do you think I'm going to visit?

Hard to find business owners like this these days, let alone dealerships. He really made my day today, not because of the extra $10k, but because of the fact that he kept his word and valued our relationship. Amazing person.

So he sold the car for $x + $20K profit and this was your cut, or you actually left cash in your car?

I assume it's the former, and if so... I appreciate his honesty on the back end but he really did lowball you initially.

 

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[MoneyDoc]

So he sold the car for $x + $20K profit and this was your cut, or you actually left cash in your car?

I assume it's the former, and if so... I appreciate his honesty on the back end but he really did lowball you initially.

Yeah he sold it $20k profit over what he told me the split would start from.

Meh, low balling/buying low is their business. Also, the market for these type of cars are getting worse by the day. Supply is going through the roof for G Wagons, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, McLaren's, etc. I personally really appreciated his gesture. Also keep in mind, these super luxury niched dealerships are suffering hard right now. Remember, they're constantly buying and selling. Many are stuck with overpaid inventory from last year and many are bought on loans. So I'm sure he could've kept his mouth shut and walked away with another $10k in his pocket, and to be honest, that's exactly what I was expecting him to do.

 

[Antifragile]

Curious what are you driving now? G is a nice car.

Yeah he sold it $20k profit over what he told me the split would start from.

Meh, low balling/buying low is their business. Also, the market for these type of cars are getting worse by the day. Supply is going through the roof for G Wagons, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, McLaren's, etc. I personally really appreciated his gesture.

 

[MoneyDoc]

Curious what are you driving now? G is a nice car.

Yeah I miss it already man. Not sure if it's just me, but driving cars like that just give you a different kind of feeling. Almost like you're untouchable lol.

Nothing right now. Using my GLE 53 coupe that I bought for my mom for my errands right now. I really don't want to take on a 8% loan nor do I want to pay a 15-20% downpayment for any car right now. I got my mom the GLE at a 0.49% rate directly from Mercedes Financial early last year, so it would be quite stupid of me to trade that up for another car at a 8% rate.

 

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[Antifragile]

Not sure if it's just me, but driving cars like that just give you a different kind of feeling.

Not just you bro. I miss driving 911 and love my RRS. And somehow in a cruel twist of irony… after covid I dress worse and don’t get excited about getting a new car. Still have my deposit on the new Range Rover but won’t be buying. At least not at the moment. Not feeling it.

 

[Antifragile]

 

[mikecarlooch]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny80er8v1mk

 

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[Antifragile]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ny80er8v1mk

Can you dumb down this video for me and tell me what I need to know? Thanks.

 

[mikecarlooch]

Can you dumb down this video for me and tell me what I need to know? Thanks.

society would rather worship the guy they want to have a beer with than an articulate mastermind.

one sentence description hah!

 

[loop101]

Is there a cooking simulator that can actually teach you how to cook basic foods? Like a piece of chicken or steak?

 

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[MitchC]

society would rather worship the guy they want to have a beer with than an articulate mastermind.

one sentence description hah!

That’s a damn good 1 sentence summary

 

[Xeon]

TikTok's secret plans for an online shopping empire in the U.S. | Semafor

The company is betting that Americans will fall in love with livestream shopping, a format ByteDance already mastered in China.

www.semafor.com

Livestream commerce has never really taken off in the West unlike in many Asian countries. I'm not sure if it's because Westerners are already used to QVC and those infomercials in the 90s. Personally, I find it silly and lame, not sure why it's such a big hit in China. Not sure if TikTok can make this work in the west where Amazon has already tried and failed.

 

[Anon05554]

Happens here a lot... Non-native English speakers seem to have the best English of all! And here we have English-only speakers who can barely write! LOL

This is the very thing that has had me intrigued about Upwork hirers who categorically emphasize their need for native speakers. They ought to know that those of us who have learned and used English in all official interactions are afraid to "murder" their language.

 

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[StrikingViper69]

Just got out of a refreshing meeting.

Two high school kids started knocking on doors to clean cars. A month later (today), they met with me to get a website and start some internet marketing.

In the last 30 days, they've cleaned 30 cars, and generated $5100 in revenue. Just knocking on doors and working part-time while they are still going to high school.

Hustlers gonna hustle.

I got done with the meeting, I just kept thinking about how many people come on this forum and announce that they're going to start an internet marketing agency and they're wondering how to get to $1,000...

$5100 for 30 cars? Are they charging $170/car?

 

[Lex DeVille]

Okay... I think this is the year I finally take the leap and fully ditch Siteground and migrate to a new web host.

Is it hard to do that?

I've migrated most of my domains to Namecheap, but I've never switched web hosts when I still had websites live through them.

 

[Lex DeVille]

For anyone who's hosting their sites on non-Shopify/Squarespace/Wix platforms, check out Rocket.net as an alternative. They're running on servers with 32 core CPUs and 128GB Memory with SSD/NVME disks. This is insane compared to my previous favorite host Cloudways+Vultr Hi-Freq servers (their basic plan are at 1core+1GB memory if I remember). Also, they throw in Cloudflare Enterprise CDN for free.

Haven't used them yet, since their price is a little too high for my current needs (their basic plan costs the same as about 7 Venti size cups of Starbucks cafe latte), or about 1.5x Cloudway's Vultr Hi-Freq basic plan. And no, I don't work for them lol

Ah, thank you. Just what I was in the market for this morning. Options.

 

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[MTF]

Okay... I think this is the year I finally take the leap and fully ditch Siteground and migrate to a new web host.

Is it hard to do that?

I've migrated most of my domains to Namecheap, but I've never switched web hosts when I still had websites live through them.

Any respectable hosting provider will provide a free migration service for you. You need to give them access to your old hosting account and they'll transfer everything.

 

[Lex DeVille]

Any respectable hosting provider will provide a free migration service for you. You need to give them access to your old hosting account and they'll transfer everything.

I talked with Namecheap this morning since I have domains hosted there. They said they can't migrate my emails from Siteground because Siteground no longer uses Cpanel. Ugh, figuring out hosting is a nightmare. I've already spent like 2.5 hours comparing plans and companies and that was before I stumbled upon a bunch of non-mainstream companies to check out.

 

[MTF]

I talked with Namecheap this morning since I have domains hosted there. They said they can't migrate my emails from Siteground because Siteground no longer uses Cpanel. Ugh, figuring out hosting is a nightmare. I've already spent like 2.5 hours comparing plans and companies and that was before I stumbled upon a bunch of non-mainstream companies to check out.

If you want fast, reliable WordPress hosting, Kinsta is awesome. But it may be an overkill for smaller websites.

 

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[MTF]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBNcYxHJPLE


Interesting video on the travel habits of the wealthiest. I didn't know that there was such a thing as a "social calendar" for the ultra rich and that there are huge ships that transport yachts across the ocean.

 

[Fox]

Yeah I miss it already man. Not sure if it's just me, but driving cars like that just give you a different kind of feeling. Almost like you're untouchable lol.

Ha ya I was really tempted to sell mine cause I think I would make double but the feeling on the road makes it hard to sell. Just feels so safe with a great driving height.

 

[Andy Black]

This is the very thing that has had me intrigued about Upwork hirers who categorically emphasize their need for native speakers. They ought to know that those of us who have learned and used English in all official interactions are afraid to "murder" their language.

That could be why some hirers want native speakers. They're often murdering the language without knowing it, and it's more "natural sounding" to other native speakers.

 

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[Lex DeVille]

I decided to try ChemiCloud.com. They have a lower-priced option than what I pay Siteground, and it comes with equal/superior features.

Where they won me over was a live chat box that instantly went to a real person. I asked the support rep the same question I asked Namecheap (can you migrate my emails from Siteground?).

Namecheap's rep had no idea and had to go find out, then returned and said they can't do it because Siteground doesn't use Cpanel. It took 10-15 minutes to get this answer.

ChemiCloud instantly responded, and the answer was yes we can!

I returned to ChemiCloud's support a bit later and the same rep instantly responded once more. So I only had to deal with one chat person.

This website helped me make a decision:
WordPress Speed Tutorials Since 2011 by Tom Dupuis

@MTF might be interested in checking it out since it appears to be a niche SEO blog site. I stumbled upon it through Google search. I'd never heard of the guy or his website before, but his blogs instantly felt *real* and created rapport. He has a YT channel with around 4k subscribers. I clicked an affiliate link to the ChemiCloud site. Not sure if he runs ads. I have ad-blocking software on.

 

[Simon Angel]

I simply asked for a blood test check, vitamins, cholesterol levels, potassium levels, vitamin levels (vitamin deficiency) (vitamin D), comprehensive metabolic panel for things such as glucose, creatinine, sodium, chloride, calcium, globulin, and bilirubin). Basically asking for a detailed blood test along with vitamin levels they should be able to understand.

Definitely recommend checking it even if the GP said it's unnecessary. I thought it wasn't necessary since I'm a young, fit, "healthy" guy.

To add to this for anyone who's wanting to get a blood test done but isn't sure what to include:

• WBC - white blood cell count
• C-reactive protein or CRP (top indicator for inflammation in the body)
• Triglycerides (to check for metabolic disorders such as diabetes)
• Iron (Ferritin) to check for anemia
• Vitamin B12
• AST, ALT - liver enzymes
• Apart from total cholesterol, also get HDL and LDL
• Uric acid (approx. 20% of people have high uric acid which can lead to gout)

Source: "Interesting" genes. Nature made me handsome, but I've got health issues. Anyway, most of my markers are in the perfectly healthy range now, even though I've got Crohn's and psoriasis.

Now, I'm not a doctor, but here are a few pointers for your results:

High WBC - bacterial/viral infection or prolonged stress. Blood disorders like leukemia possible if very high.
Low WBC - weak immune system. Funnily enough, cold showers got mine from below the reference range (I was there for years) to right in the middle of it. Cold showers also lowered my basophils and eosinophils (also WBCs) into the normal range, and as long as I take them, I'm not allergic to pollen and ragweed.

And also a warning to anyone out there that likes to experiment with diets, supplements, etc, and judging by how they "feel":

A friend of mine is exactly like that. He'd never taken a blood test but kept watching videos from carnivore gurus, including MDs touting the diet as the one that everyone should be on. He eats 2lbs+ red meat and some 15 eggs per day.

I told him that while such a diet wouldn't affect my cholesterol levels (I have naturally very low cholesterol levels and blood markers that resemble those of the Tsimane people of Bolivia, even though I have no genetic link to that part of the world), that he might not be so lucky. And I was right.

He did a test and his total cholesterol was more than 2-2.5x higher than the upper limit. Now he's "researching" and watching videos that reaffirm his biases that having high cholesterol is great because it's needed for "testosterone production". However, at least he's now aware of his very high cholesterol and rethinking his decisions to blindly follow YouTube advice.

 

[GPM]

Well I've done it again! After 3 or more months of no back issues and feeling awesome, the Boogie man strikes again.

My back has been solid. All the biking and morning yoga has led it to feeling better than it has in literally 20 years. And then yesterday happened... It progressively was getting worse through the day, and I started popping back pills towards bed time, hoping to have it just never come back. No luck. It's here. I can't bend at all. If I do it shoots lightning through my lower spine.

At least I can walk and function, which means it isn't as bad as it has been before. But this is not easy with toddlers, and my wife works tonight. My plan is to dig out the hard back relaxant drugs I have from when I was in the hospital emergency last time this happened, and hope it sorts itself out while I'm sleeping tonight.

I must have done it during a leg workout. I stopped biking and started working out. Damn!!!!! I don't even know how to workout now that involves any hinging at all. Maybe I just need isolation moves that put 0 stress on my lower back, and then do super easy moves that target it? I'm honestly at a loss right now, and beyond frustrated.

To top it off this is my view from my front door. So biking is out of the question until probably April at this point.

 

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[MattR82]

I find "Americanized" television is completely unwatchable. Don't even get me started on the super-hero crap movies which I haven't watched since Obama was president. I feel watching lowers my IQ so I avoid all network TV and Netflix stuff made for North Americans. I prefer foreign films where subtitles are standard, or films with a non-Americanized viewpoint.

A great example is Tehran on Apple TV ... the series is a little far fetched drama wise, but they build stunning characters, to the point you really feel for everyone involved, and it doesn't matter what country they are from. They simply don't make series like these anymore, so it was a joy to find it. Most stuff I start watching, I never finished as I leave with a "yea, right..." feeling.



Give me some time to put together some thoughts, Ill be happy to completely candid, although I might post it in my main thread on the INSIDERS forum.

The best middle east war movie I've seen in some time was from an Iraqi perspective. It's Netflix though haha. And produced by the Russo brothers behind a bunch of marvel films, lol. Eh, I still liked it though.

 

[Antifragile]

Well I've done it again! After 3 or more months of no back issues and feeling awesome, the Boogie man strikes again.

My back has been solid. All the biking and morning yoga has led it to feeling better than it has in literally 20 years. And then yesterday happened... It progressively was getting worse through the day, and I started popping back pills towards bed time, hoping to have it just never come back. No luck. It's here. I can't bend at all. If I do it shoots lightning through my lower spine.

At least I can walk and function, which means it isn't as bad as it has been before. But this is not easy with toddlers, and my wife works tonight. My plan is to dig out the hard back relaxant drugs I have from when I was in the hospital emergency last time this happened, and hope it sorts itself out while I'm sleeping tonight.

I must have done it during a leg workout. I stopped biking and started working out. Damn!!!!! I don't even know how to workout now that involves any hinging at all. Maybe I just need isolation moves that put 0 stress on my lower back, and then do super easy moves that target it? I'm honestly at a loss right now, and beyond frustrated.

To top it off this is my view from my front door. So biking is out of the question until probably April at this point.View attachment 45618

Sorry to hear brother. Literally a month ago, I was in the same shape. Could not put socks or shoes on, went out to buy groceries in shirts and slippers! I hate back issues.

Suggest finding a swimming pool and getting your workout that way… works for me when I do it!