Given my rather abrupt reacquaintence with this forum, it seems that I neglected to properly introduce myself, let alone make my general opinions known. Having no recent collection of my past thoughts to read, I suppose I should restate the generalities here, for your reference.
Hi, I'm Shecky, and I'm a complete prick. I'm 36, I live where medical marijuana is 'legal' but gay marriage is banned in our State Constitution, and I work for one of the largest health-care providers in the country. In Security. Master access to damn near everything.
In general, I pay my taxes, go to work every day, and my mortgage payment is always early. I'm mostly considered to be the Nice Guy Next Door, the kind of guy who would never think of doing anything out of sorts.
Heh.
Politically, I'd say I'm a Socialist Libertarian. In other words, I believe the Government should be here to provide a basic level of existence to all of its citizens (Food, Healthcare, Education, Housing, and Protection from Violent Lawlessness, Corruption and Foreign Invaders), and otherwise leave us the fuck alone. If you want more than basic living, go get yourself a job and raise your standard of living. If not, that's cool too.
... and that's all I'll say on Politics, since that isn't the focus of this thread.
What pisses me off? Apathy, Stupidity and Intolerance (as funny as that might seem). Is that hypocritical? Yep. Next question...
When I first started frequenting these forums, I was admittedly a knuckle-dragging, FOX News watching, Pro-War dumbass. But I read, I learned, and I changed. Perhaps other such dumbasses will wander by these forums and be similarily affected? Probably not, but it's worth hoping for. Thus my annoyance at extreme fluff, even though I understand where it is coming from.
Religiously, I'm one of those poor, deluded Wiccans. Gardnarian by training, Eclectic (to the point of being called Discordian, if that's even possible) by practice. I routinely piss off my High Priestess by questioning our basic tenets, so much so that I'm usually not welcome in circle anymore. As far as I'm concerned, if you take your religious beliefs as the "be all, end all" of your existence, then you've smoked too much Crack, my friend.
Eat a Hotdog and re-examine your damn life.
Now then, I'm not here to challenge you, as far as I'm concerned. I do realize that I have set the 'bar' for my posts rather high (as was pointed out elsewhere). I doubt I'll live up to those expectations. But I will continue to speak my mind, and tweak those who I feel need tweaking as necessary.
Does that mean I think I'm superior to any of you? No. I fully expect all of you to do the same, as you see fit. Hell, I welcome it.
Fire away.
i don;t udnerstand this whoel uh fluff thing
fluff where?
Again, welcome Shecky.
This is a post more suited to your emergence as a valuable member of the board, or a complete asshole (not mutually exclusive). Or not, but at least it gives you the option. As a plus, your bio is pretty darn cool. My life's aspiration is to be considered either a complete eccentric nutjob or an average citizen, neither of which will be true. Props to you for having the whole misguided "Nice Guy Next Door" thing.
And props for re-examining your previous thought system. I like your basic political philosophy and tend to agree with it, and I wish more Fox watchers (or commentators!) took your route.
I look forward to your upcoming posts. Hell, I might even read them now that you've introduced yourself.
My expectations will still remain rather high, I'm afraid. If you post one poop joke I'll stalk you with posts crying "Fluff!"
Also, security access is a tricky thing. I know it's probably tricky to post something like this, but do you ever use it for other-than-work purposes? Would that even be possible?
Just asking because I had access to a Bloomberg for a couple of months and I was giddy from all of the government/corporate info something like that gets you, which I'm sure is peanuts compared to what you're able to get.
Quote from: HoshikoAlso, security access is a tricky thing. I know it's probably tricky to post something like this, but do you ever use it for other-than-work purposes? Would that even be possible?
Well there is that whole "Don't get caught" thing that generally impedes doing truly obscene things, but then again, 'Have Keys, Will Travel'.
Mostly, I do the Dispatching, not the actual grunt work. This gives me access to all kinds of fun toys, like high-quality video equipment, card-access systems, and alarm monitoring software. If you can't imagine the possibilities, then you just don't know how to have fun.
"Hi. I'm Mike. Sometimes, I'm an asshole."
"That's fine by me. The interesting ones usually are."
Well, shoot. If I'd seen something like this before the other stuff I doubt I would've gotten out the cannons. Of course, I was also running on a hangover and three hours sleep, but that ain't YOUR fault.
Anyone that can admit to being a hypocrite and not be apologetic about it is fine by me.
Hate-town? Where do you live, Oakland? ;)
Salem, Oregon.
Damn. I haven't seen you posting around here in what? A year?
*wonders if it's still in style to rip the fairie's wings off*
Hi Shecky. Because I like you, I'm bestowing you with the title Honorary Doctor of Asshattery.
And you need to inform your priestess that she is a Discordian too, she probably feels left out.
And I think you have one issue. The basic tenets of the belief system is what give it it's magic. If you attempt to change the system, thats okay (I couldn't give a flying fuck), but you'll change the aim of the system. Believe what you want, but if you want to still be able to use the system, why not leave it alone? Perhaps you have another aim that I'm missing. Ohh well, I'm a shit head.
Quote from: Irreverend Hugh, KSCDamn. I haven't seen you posting around here in what? A year?
Perhaps not that long, but a while, yes.
Quote from: Saint Zurtok Ah.D.*wonders if it's still in style to rip the fairie's wings off*
Who you callin' a fairie, fairie?
:lol:
Quote from: HoshikoQuote from: Saint Zurtok Ah.D.*wonders if it's still in style to rip the fairie's wings off*
Who you callin' a fairie, fairie?
:lol:
I don't think he was talking about you. We know you're not a fairy. You're just fricken nuts.
Quote from: Irreverend Hugh, KSCQuote from: HoshikoQuote from: Saint Zurtok Ah.D.*wonders if it's still in style to rip the fairie's wings off*
Who you callin' a fairie, fairie?
:lol:
I don't think he was talking about you. We know you're not a fairy. You're just fricken nuts.
.............as a demon seed and also the daughter of Demonic Demonica
She would be a very scary fairie!
Hey............ where did she go? I hope she wasn't using those wings to typeShecky, Is Salem a good place to live? Why do you call it hate-town?
I almost moved to oregon once.
So long as you're not a witch I'd gander.
Salem? Ironic place for a wiccan to live, I'm sure you noticed.
Quote from: Duchess DemonicaShecky, Is Salem a good place to live? Why do you call it hate-town?
I almost moved to oregon once.
Oregon is nice. Salem, OR is not nice. We have more prisons than anywhere else in the state. It is the central seat of the state government, so a huge proportion of the people here are fucking bureaucrats.
Unless you live in South Salem (too expensive) or West Salem (where I thankfully do), this town is a giant parking lot. All asphault and concrete, with very little trees and greenery. It truly sucks in the summer, when this causes it to get remarkably hot, and there is almost no shade anywhere except for the fucking malls.
South and West Salem are the smallest sections of town, by the way.
Then there's the churches. You have one on nearly every block. I didn't realize that a population of 100,000 could support 50,000* Christian churches! Every "Christian" I've met here is rather intolerant, which makes things oh so much more pleasant here.
Back in the weeks prior to last November's election, all I saw around here was bumper stickers supporting either W's "re"-election or Measure 36. Ah, yes, the famous "One Man - One Woman... Yes on 36" stickers were indeed all over town. Everywhere I looked, in fact.
You couldn't swing a dead goat without slamming it into a car wielding one of those fucking stickers!
Sure, the local college (Willamette University) was a respite from this anti-homosexual stupidity, but I rarely get over to that side of town. Anyway, it's pretty much surrounded by government offices and churches, so what's the point?
In closing, I may be overly sensitive to the crap that happens around these parts, but I doubt it. The only reason I bought a house here is that the Portland area is much more expensive to live in, let alone to buy a house at.
[/travelogue]
(*) Okay, so that's an exaggeration... but not by much.
Quote from: Big Cat FelixSalem? Ironic place for a wiccan to live, I'm sure you noticed.
Yeah. Most of the coven lives here (sans our Priestess and Priest + a couple of stragglers), too. In fact, there's a burgeoning neo-pagan community here (or so I've heard), but no one really advertises it much.
See above for why.
I was born in Portland. Pretty place. Glad I wasn't raised there.
Portland's alright...it's like seattle only smaller, dirtier, and with much less culture...for that matter, it's only the second-coolest portland in this country, but it's still alright...
8)
Quote from: That Communist BastardPortland's alright...it's like seattle only smaller, dirtier, and with much less culture...for that matter, it's only the second-coolest portland in this country, but it's still alright...
8)
Don't forget: The cops in Portland, OR are much more likely to shoot you, than they are in Seattle (or anywhere else, except for L.A.).
meh..Sea-town cops can be pretty trigger-happy, depending on your external hue...
and let's not forget how they reacted at the WTO protests..believe me, I was there, and none of that shit got out of hand until the cops went nuts and started lobbing tear gas grenades and shooting old ladies with rubber bullets...
but yeah, the Portland cops are pretty damn sucky...I'd be sucky too if I had to patrol northeast portland...
8)
Quote from: That Communist Bastardmeh..Sea-town cops can be pretty trigger-happy, depending on your external hue...
and let's not forget how they reacted at the WTO protests..believe me, I was there, and none of that shit got out of hand until the cops went nuts and started lobbing tear gas grenades and shooting old ladies with rubber bullets...
but yeah, the Portland cops are pretty damn sucky...I'd be sucky too if I had to patrol northeast portland...
8)
Hah, oddly enough I was studying that in International relations before the holidays (The WTO protests, not Portland cops, although that may make a good thesis to do their effect on IR, just to confuse markers). They held the next one in some Arab police state after that if I'm not mistaken. I remember alot of negative media coverage of the protests over here too.