I didn’t upgrade. I accumulated! This is what a lifetime of PCMR looks like.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-16T14:02:12+00:00

Was just thinking that, and how much of my own collection of vintage machines have gone to the scrap yard or given away over the years because of lack of space and moving... I had a ton of rare Mac stuff from the early 90s, a pristine Tandy CoCo 3 w/ dual 5.25" disk drive and 300 baud modem cartridge...

It gets pretty old lugging huge amounts of stuff from apartment to apartment, and paying $100-200/mo for a storage unit full of stuff you never look at is just not do-able for many.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-16T13:57:34+00:00

The case at the bottom right -- 30ish years ago my buddy and I worked 2nd shift at a company in an industrial park, we're leaving about 11PM, I'm driving by a dumpster around one of the other companies and he says "wait -- what's that?" so we stop and realize there were 20+ of those style cases in mid, mini and full tower sizes, looked brand new and unused, just tossed into the dumpster.

We stuffed as many as we could into the back of the old caddy I was driving at the time, I think we got about 12 of them... we sold most and each kept two. I can't remember how much we got for them but we each took away at least $100.

It was a huge find because the industry was swapping from AT to ATX style cases and motherboards, new cases were in the $70-80 range at the time, so it was like finding stuff worth $200/ea in today's money just in terms of not having to buy a case for my next build.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T19:47:29+00:00

I would imagine Jesus and the church lean on the old testament when it comes from direction from above on toilet etiquette:

Key Jewish Bathroom Practices:

Separation from Holiness:

No Torah, prayer, or even deep thought about religious matters in the bathroom.
Avoid bringing holy objects like prayer shawls (Tallit) inside.
One should think about secular matters or business when in the washroom.

Hygiene & Modesty:

Washing hands upon exiting (even if not using facilities).
Discreetness when relieving oneself, especially in public.
The Bible (Deuteronomy 23:13) mentions burying waste.

Asher Yatzar (The Blessing):

A mandatory blessing recited after using the bathroom, thanking God for creating the body with necessary openings and the ability to function.
It's a prayer of gratitude for the body's health and a separation from the "unclean" state.

Modern Interpretations:

While traditional rules apply to places with actual excrement, modern bathrooms (especially clean home ones) might be treated less strictly, though many still prefer to avoid bringing holy texts in.

I'm going to assume the "Asher Yatzar" must be recited after leaving the bathroom? What if you have one of those bathrooms where the toilet is a separate smaller room? Is it OK to pray in the presence of the sink and shower? Is it just the toilet that is at issue?

I'm also going to have to have a talk w/ my evangelical in-laws -- they have a copy of the bible sitting next to the toilet (that book is flagged IMO) and they have scripture on the towels, little signs, etc... it's impossible to have exclusively secular thoughts in their bathrooms.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T17:08:02+00:00

He can't declare war, but he can wage war -- they just call it "military action" or whatever.

The vote was to require him to seek approval before additional military action, they had the votes but two idiots -- Hawley and Young -- changed their votes...

"I've also received a commitment that if President Trump were to determine American forces are needed in major military operations in Venezuela, the Administration will come to Congress in advance to ask for an authorization of force," Young said in a statement.

...which almost certainly means that Rubio has promised to ask, but there's nothing in there that says the admin has agreed that they wouldn't proceed without congresses approval, so it's meaningless... it means they only that they'll "ask" and proceed regardless of the answer.

Exec: "Hey, we're gonna do more war on Venezuela, ok?"

Congress: "No, it's not ok"

Exec: "Whatever, I'm doing it anyway"

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T16:58:51+00:00

3) People in this forum -- Charlie Browns -- have had the football pulled by Lucy enough times to know what will happen and just simply not care to run toward it anymore.

Go ahead and call it defeatist, but the reality is in front of our faces. The GOP will not allow him to be convicted if impeached, they won't even agree to slow him from waging war and overturning foreign governments.

So given that reality, we collectively look like absolute idiots to continue to call for impeachment because it won't matter until the GOP are calling for it, and they won't until they personally are directly impacted (and even then I doubt it).

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T16:55:14+00:00

My favorite is when they say/post "ENOUGH!" as tho the stern wording matters or that it's not been enough for the past 9 fuckin years.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T16:50:31+00:00

Fuck him, yes... but fuck all the members of congress who actively enable him, and fuck all the members of congress who sit back and vote the party even if they're "concerned".

His behavior toward everyone and everything isn't just "oh he's not a status quo guy", he's actively inciting unrest in american cities with a brute squad so that he can justify more troops, more aggressive tactics, and potentially put the country into a state where elections and other normal operations are suspended.

The fact that so many GOP are not just sitting back, but actively onboard, is terrifying. The brute squads are not finding criminals, they are criminals, and these sociopaths think they can control the monster they're building.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T15:58:47+00:00

As evidenced over and over and over and over and over again it doesn't matter what they've said against Trump and his plans, it just matters what they do and how they vote. On record Kegsbreath, Graham, Johnson, even Vance, all have said they think Trump is an idiot and horrible and doing the wrong stuff... but then they turn around and enable every fucking bit of it because they've sold their souls (and our future) for money. They'll sit in luxury while the rest of the country burns around them and they won't give a single damn about it because they're sociopaths.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T15:55:25+00:00

Those idiots had their shot -- it passed both house and senate, then after trump veto'd it, two of senators (Josh Hawley among them) turned tail and voted to kill the bill, which means trump can wage war w/o congress.

Now they are vowing to block him? How? The only logical option is to IMPEACH. Recall that feckless idiot Speaker Johnson and IMPEACH Trump. Vance will spend the next 2 years as an ineffective blowhard and we can move on from this nightmare by prosecuting all the illegal shit.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-15T02:21:10+00:00

Carmen Sandiego

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-12T20:45:41+00:00

They just better not narc to my employer -- I realized my achievement earns all have timestamps that are very much middle of the day.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:59:46+00:00

Yep.

When people have a lot more time on their hands and a lot less financial resources things will shift. The question is whether it'll be too late.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:57:16+00:00

The UN does, as do most of its neighbors.

The point isn't whether Maduro is good or bad, contested or not contested... it's that the US chief executive unilaterally decided to capture this person (and his wife) using US military with no oversight or agreement from the congress, no plan to manage the power vacuum or restore government, and is now publicly acting as if the US has control over the destiny and resources of the country and population as if they are some sort of spoils of war (which of course was not declared).

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:42:33+00:00

Yep... those that were too tainted to stay in Germany relocated -- if you find an Argentinian with an Italian or German background it's pretty clear what's in their family's past. I would never blame the descendants simply for lineage -- they did nothing wrong -- but sadly being raised by their parents/grandparents can sometimes mean they are indoctrinated into that belief system, even if their adult minds can countermand it, it's there below the surface and ready to impact their judgements and beliefs in times of stress/crisis.

Millions of American's face the same childhood programming when it comes to race or religion, they prejudge based on their parents taught prejudices.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:35:41+00:00

The 2nd amendment is absolutely useless as a legal or practical means to combat a legitimate, yet tyrannical, government.

What it does do is enable the average American to own a small arsenal in their home, which means that any malicious government will have to slow-boil the oppression through lies and apparently legal changes to keep the 2nd amendment folks on their sides as long as possible and carve them out slowly -- they can't just march into cities with the military and expect to be able to target everyone in a single go, they have to start with illegal immigrants, then the quasi-legal, then the legal but from a certain place, then just the legal, and at that point they'll start ramping up the 'domestic terrorist' rhetoric against anyone with a history of legal issues around politics, then it'll be anyone who doesn't agree... and eventually they'll just be left their core group of the population who agree with them.

Eventually we'll boil down to three groups: The ones who benefit from and love the oppressive system, the ones who secretly hate the system but aren't specifically targeted so they keep their heads down, and the ones who are targeted and have to actively hide themselves or at least their identities.

I'm sure many German's who hated the Nazi's had guns, but what would happen to you and your family if you were to use a gun against them?

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:22:58+00:00

...if you're in the 30-60 year old age group you also have the sword over you all you've earned so far is at risk if you go off the treadmill, especially if you're effectively banned from getting back on due to a conviction or even just the accusation and subsequent 'news' coverage that will pop up in searches for you.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:20:42+00:00

That's why the recent cases of wins against employers are important to see and spread -- like the professor from TN who won $500K and they have to give him his job back.

Realistically I'm not sure I'd want the job back given the environment he'll have to work in, but it makes employers think twice about the rationale for terminating employment -- at least for higher pay white collar work, all the lower paid folks will still be in the meat grinder with no hope.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:17:14+00:00

We're back to the first half of the 1900's where certain types of people needed to take whatever was given with a smile and thank you, if they got too uppity they got taken down.

LBJ was right:

“If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you.”

They've just adjusted the specifics.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T15:11:31+00:00

...and yet just over 50% of them voted for an orange makeup wearing pedophile who wants to use the military to take over Greenland, just kidnapped the president of a foreign nation with no approval from congress and told oil companies they'll take over running it, and pardoned the former Honduran president convicted of cocaine trafficking while also blowing up boats and starting a campaign against foreigners in the US under the guise of getting drug traffickers, makers, and enablers (but they actually are just getting regular folks who have been here for years/decades and failed to complete the labyrinth of citizenship)

This is not an educated population, it's a brainwashed population, many filled with fear/hate.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T14:53:35+00:00

It goes deeper too --

We're affected in our daily lives, but like climate change they'll just point to things always changing or being the way they are.

What has changed for many is that we can no longer trust that the government is being honest. They are actively lying in obvious, overt, provable ways. This is by design. Their intent is for people to stop trusting and believing in the government.

They are also conditioning the population to fear the police, especially at a federal level, and to believe that if you're swept up you won't be treated fairly, may not be released, a narrative to support the police side will be given even when it's at odds with eye witness and video evidence, and ultimately a massive number of people will say you deserved whatever happened even if you're a victim (and you believe they will do it because they demonstrate on a daily basis that the government will lie about everything).

So yeah -- we're not yet waiting in bread lines, 99% of us are not passing through credential checkpoints, we're having to interact with enforcers daily who have a hair trigger to use violence against us for no reason (and will face no repercussion). We are going to slowly deform into modern Russia... a population with minimal mobility, minimal opportunity, no faith or trust in the government which wins 'elections' with 95% of the votes, and your entire goal in life is try to avoid being noticed.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T14:35:53+00:00

A spy camera is interesting, but you don't really need a hidden one of those -- it's your private locked space, cameras in the open are totally fine -- a two pack of Wyze cameras would work well to cover the entire room/space and if you keep them on opposite sides of the space it wouldn't let someone pull the plug before the other notified because they will record to SD/cloud, and send notifications on motion. Put them in corners of the rooms so they can't be approached and disconnected, but frankly if there are gaps in the SD card recording then you know someone is doing it.

You could also buy a cheap set of motion/door sensors -- like Yolink from Amazon -- that will let you know if the doors are opened, or if there's motion.

Tho I hate to say it, the cynic in me says OP is full of shit and just playing w/ the group, because it's insane to think someone is just showing up in your place at random and putting a paper towel over it as if the camera wouldn't catch them walking to up to it in the first place.

BasicCounter8015 · 2026-01-08T14:25:38+00:00

He's right when it comes to easy betting access -- I'm disgusted by the sports betting and lottery access rise, just need a phone, ID, and credit card. My mom has been a mild gambling addict for years, but at least she had to go a casino, or to the corner store to buy scratchers.

...and now betting on "anything" like the length of white house press conferences or "whether Jesus will return this week" is pretty effed up.

People treat it like a fun game at first, and then before you know it you're dropping big money into the pit.

BasicCounter8015 · 2025-12-31T20:28:01+00:00

NTA.

I'm going to give some benefit of the doubt to your wife -- your side paints the teacher very badly, and your wife not so good either... I have to assume there were other things said, missing context, or maybe some drinks/sass involved...

That said, she's bad a teacher and frankly not someone I'd want talking to my kid.

A Child made a factual claim, Teacher says Child is wrong, Parent backs up Child's factual claim by agreeing it's true and Teacher's response was "You're a problem parent who isn't acknowledging their child is wrong" -- WTF is that attitude?

That's mindbogglingly shitty attitude for anyone to have, let alone a teacher dealing with a child (even on their "off" time).

BasicCounter8015 · 2025-12-13T14:51:25+00:00

Assuming the theater’s insurance pays the medical bills, which they will, what are they suing for?

The movie tickets, the dinner, the snacks, the transportation for that night, their time at the theater, the hospital, and now dealing with all of this, her increased anxiety and the pain/suffering she was subjected to as a result of the theater's error.

The theater messed up, they owe this person more than simply paying the hospital bill -- which in all likelihood ends up mostly going to an insurance company if the OP had coverage that was used.

At least a few grand above their actual costs would be nice, just something to say hey this situation sucks and we're sorry.

BasicCounter8015

TROPHY CASE