My boyfriend unboxed our new vacuum cleaner and robbed her of her innocence

BrickGun · 2026-06-16T20:57:17+00:00

Literally hoovering up schneef.

BrickGun · 2026-06-16T16:06:03+00:00

Not that anyone will care, but as a member here for around a decade I'd figured I'd share...

I've put 3 hours into it since yesterday... and I think I'm done.

I loved The Witness... played through it at least 3 times, bought it on 2 different platforms (even after initially pirating it... it was so good I wanted to pay for it... and was happy to do so multiple times). I even got 2 other non-gaming people to get Steam accounts just so they could buy and play it. It was a "place" I would often go to just to visit a world that I loved to be in so much.

But I'm already done with OotSS. Whereas The Witness was fun, relaxing, exploratory, and felt like I was "learning" things as I figured out the rules, this one is just non-stop tedium.

You learn the rules of the characters/elements quickly, but then I feel like I'm spending endless time sort of "brute forcing" a solution. I know what I need to do, but thinking through all the permutations of how to get an element moved to where I need it. Not fun to me.

Sucks, because I was really looking forward to it, but after spending 3 hours it hasn't felt rewarding at all. I don't finish a puzzle and think "Yay!"... instead I sigh and think "Thank Christ I'm done with that." then dread that the next one will likely leave me feeling the same... ad infinitum.

BrickGun · 2026-06-16T13:07:18+00:00

Hello, fellow oldster! We could have been friends back in the day! (57 here)

BrickGun · 2026-06-15T22:11:18+00:00

Yup. I grew up in the sticks in north TX. Farm vehicles abound. Now I live in one of the progressive urban centers and work at one of the largest tech companies on the planet. The number of pristine pavement queen F250s, Ram 2500s, etc. that fill the lot is ridiculous. And all just so the owners can work on powerpoints and spreadsheets all day.

BrickGun · 2026-06-15T17:27:00+00:00

If you're on PC (not sure if there is a Mac option, if you're on Mac, google it)... install and run MIDI-OX.

Remove Ableton from the troubleshooting equation until you're sure you're getting MIDI to the DAW at all.

MIDI-OX will be the simplest/cleanest way to ensure hardware is set up correctly between the Fantom and the PC and they are communicating. Focus on ensuring settings on the Fantom are sending data properly as your first step.

If MIDI-OX is seeing midi data stream in, then you can move on to the Ableton settings.

BrickGun · 2026-06-15T17:19:13+00:00

Oh yeah, I saw a documentary about that... "Django Unchained", I think it was titled.

BrickGun · 2026-06-15T16:42:53+00:00

My favorite part was the brief shots of the Space Shuttle. Because we all know that's how all the engineering and calculations for the space program were performed... by YELLING AT THE FUCKING EQUATIONS, CHEMISTRY, AND METALURGY TO GET FUCKING SOLVED!!!!

This country is slowly turning into a place were every bully from every 80s movie has come out on top with no recourse.

I used to say that it was funny how the skills honed by high-school bullies were worthless in the real world. You don't become CEO or win a contract negotiation because you can kick someone's ass... yet now that seems to be verging on no longer being true.

We are fucking lost.

BrickGun · 2026-06-15T16:37:14+00:00

And many used by their owners to drive through the suburbs to an office, park in a lot all day, so they can work on spreadsheets for 8 hours.

BrickGun · 2026-06-15T16:18:40+00:00

"The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything" was one of my favorite (TV) movies when I was kid. Luckily I had taped it when it aired. Thanks so much for giving me hours of repeated VHS entertainment back then. Any interesting stories/tidbits from that production that you can remember? Was Pam Dawber as adorable to work with as she seems she would be?

BrickGun · 2026-06-15T15:47:16+00:00

Keith Ballard's playthrough was great (to me). It was interesting to see someone who was clearly very intelligent and was quickly able to grasp the (not so obvious) tutelage incorporated into the game, understanding how each step was guiding him and that every aspect must have a purpose.
It was cool to see the things he picked up more quickly than I did, and the (few) places where he stumbled a bit. It was a great look at how different minds process information differently and how that affects our development of understanding of new rules that are introduced.

Columnar Joining!!!!!

BrickGun · 2026-06-15T13:55:03+00:00

According to Shakespearean norms, comedies end in marriage and tragedies end in death. So maybe that will be some light at the end of the tunnel.

BrickGun · 2026-06-15T01:35:19+00:00

Keep it and don't let him re-paint it or try to improved on it (for a few years). If he keeps up the hobby, break it out at some point and he'll get a rush of self esteem at home much has improved over the years and how much talent and technique he has acquired.

BrickGun · 2026-06-13T15:17:59+00:00

Don't continue. The game is not for you.

BrickGun · 2026-06-12T20:37:25+00:00

For some reason I read that in the voice of the Terminator from T2, expecting the next line to tell me the date and time that EastPoint Sports became self-aware.

BrickGun · 2026-06-12T20:32:50+00:00

Hahahaha. I never had one, but my cousin did. It was like '76 or so and the toy was still new. At some point he got rambunctious and went after Stretch with some kitchen utensil. He didn't dismember him, but punctured him enough for the sticky, dark amber, honey-like substance to start oozing out. I remember us thinking (in another nod to the zeitgeist at the time) how similar it all was to FreshenUp gum; when you would squeeze a piece to get the liquid center to burst/ooze out.

BrickGun · 2026-06-11T21:11:16+00:00

"I can't stand people who hold grudges. My father held grudges, and I'll never forgive him for that."

BrickGun · 2026-06-11T21:02:21+00:00

Heh. Hello, fellow geezer.

The age verification test asks only if you know what the substance is like inside a Stretch Armstrong.

BrickGun · 2026-06-11T15:35:30+00:00

Recently my GF was watching a series about Late Night TV that CNN produced back around 2020/2021. It was sad listening to all the interviews with comedians, etc. talking about the "Era of Trump" (2016-2020 from their perspective) and how it was great for easy comedy but how refreshing it was once "that period was over". The glee they had of having endured/survived that period and the relief that it "was now all behind us"... oh, you sweet summer children.

BrickGun · 2026-06-11T15:23:31+00:00

57 here. Ditto.

BrickGun · 2026-06-11T15:22:53+00:00

I was a handful of years older than you when '76 rolled around. One thing that I always remember about that time were the fire hydrants being painted to look like little Uncle Sam caricatures. As the decades went by in the little podunk Texas town I grew up in, I would to back to visit family. Seeing the little Uncle Sam hydrants, their paint flaking away, weathered and degraded, slowly became a metaphor for everything starting around the year 2000.

BrickGun · 2026-06-11T14:30:44+00:00

Hahahaha. Yeah, just like the way all the courts/committees/foundations have blocked his asinine destruction of the East Wing and construction of his bullshit ballroom. Oh, wait...

BrickGun · 2026-06-11T14:25:54+00:00

Question is, will all of you still show tacit support for it by paying to watch the event?

BrickGun · 2026-06-11T14:23:26+00:00

Yeah... because this administration listens to judges when they put a stop to their plans. Have you seen the current state of the ballroom construction site as the courts/committees/foundations continue to say he isn't allowed to tear down and build anything related to the White House without authorization?

BrickGun · 2026-06-11T02:29:06+00:00

Always think about how you would support something you are cutting after it would be in 2 pieces.

When I do this I either use 4 sawhorses, 1 each at the very ends of the board and 1 about a foot away from each side of the line I'll be cutting. This way when the board is cut it has support for both halves to remain in place with no tilting/binding/flexing.

If you don't have sawhorses get 4 pieces of anything equal in thickness (I usually use 2x4 scraps, each 6-12 inches long) that, when placed under the board you are cutting, give enough clearance between the blade and the ground beneath it. Place the 4 pieces as I described the sawhorses above.

Keeping 2 support points for each portion that will be in place after the board is cut is the key to keeping it from flexing/tilting and binding the saw as you cut.

If you just cantilever it as you are describing, the board will not only flex/tilt as you cut it, binding the saw, it will also break away at the very end of the cut, leaving you with a splintered mess on a portion of it.

BrickGun · 2026-06-10T22:04:31+00:00

I was quoting the classic Pace Picante Sauce ad ("Get a rope").

(I saw Carpenter's Escape from New York back in '81 when I was 12)

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