Open Bar: We hacked the DNC and all we got are these lousy emails

[Bruno]

I'm having a Super Fun Time at the fall-of-society dress rehearsals here at this gas station in Tennessee.

Can't wait for the Really Big Show when it finally comes.

So excited!

What the hell is going on there?

Major gasoline pipeline sprung a leak and had to be shut down for repairs. The governor declared a state of emergency. Everybody panicked and ran out to fill every vehicle and container they had, thus causing a shortage.

Saturday morning, we were completely out and the station was dead. A tanker truck showed up with a delivery, and before the guy could even get out of the truck, we had 2-3 cars at every pump. It took him 30 minutes to set up. By the time we actually had gas to sell, we had people lined up all the way to the road to the two nearest entrances. People had to come in and out the back way to get groceries. We pumped 1200 gallons an hour for 6 hours before we ran out again.

It all started on Friday, actually, but I didn't work that day. I had been scheduled to, but I had given away that shift to another co-worker who was going on vacation next week, and wanted more hours to pad his next-to-last paycheck before vacation, so I let him have it. He had to call out because the FBI was at his house. Apparently someone who lives with him had been threatening congressmen or something on the internet. So they had to deal with the "crisis" while also short-handed. I still haven't figured out why no one thought to call me.

Sunday was similar to Saturday, but significantly less hectic. 750 gallons per hour, still ran out before another truck showed up, which it did about 6 hours later, an hour before closing time.

Today, we had gas all day. We even had to turn a truck away because we were full. Sales were slow because everybody is already loaded to the gills with gasoline. I hope they all feel silly, but I doubt it.

All this because of the perception of a problem that didn't exist. Just imagine if the problem had been real.

[Cain]

Looks like I'm through the first stage of the Oslo PhD application.

Now I just have to wait up to 3 months (!) for the selection committee to decide who they want to invite to interview.  Good thing I applied for some other jobs in the meantime.

[Junkenstein]

Looks like I'm through the first stage of the Oslo PhD application.

Now I just have to wait up to 3 months (!) for the selection committee to decide who they want to invite to interview.  Good thing I applied for some other jobs in the meantime.

Good stuff there. Ballache of a process, but at least it's begun. What did you run with in the end?

[Vanadium Gryllz]

Congrats Cain, and good luck!

[Vanadium Gryllz]

Recently i've been finding that my usual time-sinks of Reddit and console games are feeling less fulfilling than previously.

Particularly Reddit, where i've been noticing the effects of the 'hivemind' more and more.

What do you guys do for rest/relaxation/stimulation? Anything that you would recommend?

[Faust]

Recently i've been finding that my usual time-sinks of Reddit and console games are feeling less fulfilling than previously.

Particularly Reddit, where i've been noticing the effects of the 'hivemind' more and more.

What do you guys do for rest/relaxation/stimulation? Anything that you would recommend?

I found the same, so I tried to find the cause of my dissatisfaction, its all transitory, consume once and forget with most of the web sites I used to visit without meaningful engagement, gaming I still a lot of, Deus ex Mankind divided was enjoyable, but utterly superficial and with only the shallowest pretence of story compared to its predecessors.

For the instant consumption websites sites I've tried to go through less content, but think about what I am going though and think about my response where normally I wouldnt make one. Even for image sites like tumblr I try to spend a minute looking at each picture in my feed, think about it, and why it was shared.

I'm trying to balance my time between creative stuff (even if I create BADLY), in a good proportion of what I do when I get home and switch off tired from work.

[Cain]

Looks like I'm through the first stage of the Oslo PhD application.

Now I just have to wait up to 3 months (!) for the selection committee to decide who they want to invite to interview.  Good thing I applied for some other jobs in the meantime.

Good stuff there. Ballache of a process, but at least it's begun. What did you run with in the end?

Unique strategic characteristics of right wing terrorism, juxtaposed against a legal and policy system geared to fight Islamist terrorism.

[LMNO]

Niiice.

[Cain]

Recently i've been finding that my usual time-sinks of Reddit and console games are feeling less fulfilling than previously.

Particularly Reddit, where i've been noticing the effects of the 'hivemind' more and more.

What do you guys do for rest/relaxation/stimulation? Anything that you would recommend?

Reddit's metasphere is occasionally fun, though you have contrarian hivemind smugness instead of the usual hivemind nonsense.  Not to mention a fuckload of 3edgy5me tankies and "antifascists", most of whom aren't even 20 yet.

Lately I've been mixing things up on the game front by going back to some older games (everything between Dragon Age Inquisition and Morrowind) and trying new things, character types and classes I wouldn't normally pursue.  If there's one thing to like about RPGs, it's replay value.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Cannibals probably don't worry too much about income.

Just a stray thought.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I was confused by Freeky saying that sandwiches aren't all that filling or calorie-rich, but then I remembered not everyone lives in lower NY state. "Sandwiches" in NY are what most places in the world refer to as "what the fuck how is a human supposed to eat this much."

It's like you people don't know how to distend your jaws like snakes, or something.

OK, I'm glad I wasn't the only human baffled by that. Sandwiches here tend to be full meals, if not multiple full meals.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Anyway, hi there PD. I'm here because I'm miserable, cranky, and tired, and according to the newsfeed I'm in the perfect mood for PD.com.

Since getting my thyroid disease treated in August, my range of emotions has expended past "vague sense of dying" that defined the previous six months. I have added feeling sad, stupid, and lonely to the mix.

This too shall pass and all that, but fuck it. I feel like whuppin' on some motherfucker.

I'm glad you finally figured out what the fuck was going on! Hopefully your mood will improve and stabilize soon.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Applied to go back to Switzerland, for a doctoral program.

I think my Australian passport may give me an edge over other British applicants, in that if we do do something stupid re: Brexit, arrangements with Australia will remain unaffected and so shouldn't pose a problem for an academic or work visa.  Since these programs are all 4+ years long, and who knows what idiocy we will see in the meantime.

It's not as good as an EU second nationality would be...but I'll work with what I have.

Ooooh, good luck! That sounds great. I can't imagine any program rejecting you!

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

Recently i've been finding that my usual time-sinks of Reddit and console games are feeling less fulfilling than previously.

Particularly Reddit, where i've been noticing the effects of the 'hivemind' more and more.

What do you guys do for rest/relaxation/stimulation? Anything that you would recommend?

I've noticed that the internet is getting more boring as well. I can't help wondering where all the creative, intelligent people are hiding.

[Cain]

Applied to go back to Switzerland, for a doctoral program.

I think my Australian passport may give me an edge over other British applicants, in that if we do do something stupid re: Brexit, arrangements with Australia will remain unaffected and so shouldn't pose a problem for an academic or work visa.  Since these programs are all 4+ years long, and who knows what idiocy we will see in the meantime.

It's not as good as an EU second nationality would be...but I'll work with what I have.

Ooooh, good luck! That sounds great. I can't imagine any program rejecting you!

Well unfortunately I'm in a position where I can only afford to study if I get on a paid program, so competition is likely to be fairly intense.

In other news, after 17 months of asking, I've finally been allowed to move from a dinky student room into an actual studio flat.  I've been given 3 days, on one of the few weekends I get off due to our idiotic rolling rota, to do this.

I don't even need to tell you what my response is.