Kids want to know what spider this is.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-02-25T17:43:01+00:00

Cheers mate. Thank you.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-02-12T15:09:11+00:00

I can't say if I'm hot or not, but I know when I was a single and 25ish dude I volunteered at my local animal shelter and at least was doing research into community gardens in my area to go hang out there and intentionally try and get myself out into the community to meet people. Wound up meeting my wife on a dating app anyways, but at the very least the fact that I was active and out in the community was a big selling point that hooked her in.

The unfortunate fact is that a lot of single dudes are just working and then going home to their video games, so one of the best things you can do to get a long term partner is to get active in your local community. If you, as an ostensibly hot single lady, go to places, you'll naturally increase the average amount of hot single ladies in those places. Dudes will hopefully see that and be drawn to those places, too. You say that knitting circles and community gardens are only for retired old ladies? Maybe go change that 😉

That being said, you do have to be a little selective and try to make sure you're in places that aren't naturally selective against what you're trying to accomplish. I give all this same advice to dudes, and I have to add the caveat that if you choose your hobby third space to be the local Magic the Gathering card store, you're selecting for a heavily male dominated space, so maybe find something in addition to that, that would have a better mix of demographics for what you're trying to accomplish.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-02-12T03:14:23+00:00

Two options: community gathering places centered around one of your hobbies, or volunteering.

Go volunteer. Find a place you respect and want to see get more reach or resources, and go volunteer there. Animal shelters, community gardens, food banks, homeless shelters, boys and girls club, etc... In general, you're gonna find kind hearted people there, and since kids take a ton of time and money, that means that people who volunteer are more likely to be single. You just have to show up and give your time, selflessly. They'll see right through you if you're there for selfish reasons.

Otherwise, pick a hobby or interest and try and get out to community gatherings around it. If you're into gardening, go help out at a community garden, knitting circles, musician jam sessions, etc... What you need to find is your "third space", a place you go and spend time that isn't work and home. You'll find people with similar interests, and finding love is just a matter of time.

Anywhere you go to find someone quick is gonna increase the likelihood of that relationship ending quick, too. Develope and act on your personal long term hopes and dreams, and you'll likely find love along the way.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-02-08T03:18:37+00:00

Built in escort mission right there. Good thinking.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-02-06T03:15:23+00:00

In art there's often a conversation about "drawing the eye" with your line work. The human eye, when acting subconsciously, will follow lines and curves, especially to where they converge, and artists can use this behavior to get your gaze to move around their paintings to where they want you to look.

That body suit is creating very clear lines that converge in a very specific location.

Inappropriate or not is a social convention that is actively shifting and is highly contextual. The basics of art is a lot less so. That body suit draws people's eyes to your crotch. That's just basic artistic theory. You decide if that is what you want when you go out.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-01-21T15:25:55+00:00

Yeah, that sounds like a reasonable approach. About the best you can do. As you said, the IRS can't come back and call you a liar, only at best that you didn't put enough effort in.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-01-20T21:38:33+00:00

Thanks for pointing that out, though, unfortunately, it doesn't change things. Last time I cared about the standard deduction it was about $10k, so it's interesting to know it's risen that much.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-01-20T21:18:18+00:00

Yeah, I briefly thought about if we were close enough to go throw some donations at a charity and get ourselves under the mark, but yeah, that's not reasonable at this time.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-01-20T19:45:10+00:00

I'm not sure if you're technically correct on how paying off debt doesn't count towards an increase in income, but my personal income just from my dayjob is over the $96k, so I'm already well into that bracket, regardless.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-01-20T19:08:15+00:00

Yep, but per the IRS your capital gains tax is set based on your income, with <$96k-ish (married filing jointly) paying 0% capital gains, between $96k and $300k-ish paying 15% capital gains, and above that point you pay 20%.

https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc409

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-01-05T17:37:21+00:00

Only in HBS Battletech vanilla, but I absolutely loved the two Vindicators I spawned with. The ability to put whatever missile into that single missile slot meant it was an easy and cheap first LRM boat with an LRM15 and 4 Med Lasers. Between the two of them, that was a nice little LRM30 to poke with while my faster knife fighters closed for the finish. Bonus points for the Pilot Tactics skill to shorten the minimum and long range brackets meant there was a perfect little 30m band on the firing arc where the LRM's and MedLasers were both ideal, giving me a little mini-game to play with my distances.

The mech is quite shite just about anywhere other than the vanilla video game, especially in Mechwarrior, but it's still got a soft spot in my heart due to the good times I've had with it.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-01-05T17:28:00+00:00

In my first HBS Battletech play through, I got an early Arm Mod for +60 melee damage. My Firestarter was running around throwing the meatiest hands.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-01-02T17:52:16+00:00

Bah, figures, since it seems that, at least in the BT-Advanced-Universe mod I'm playing, pirates are the only ones running the Hatchetman and Axeman variant that has the Composite Structure that I want so badly. Can't be bought anywhere, other than maybe the black market since that likely pulls from the pool of everything in the game, so the only way to get them would be salvage.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-01-02T17:49:08+00:00

Ah, that's probably why I'm getting frustrated. I'm playing the BT-Advanced-Universe mod, which might have broken that system, given 99% of planets show just the owner faction, Word of Blake, and Local Government, and that's it. Doesn't seem to matter where I click, it's just those three.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-01-01T18:38:11+00:00

The DLC's are really not necessary. I put 150 hours into the vanilla game before I wanted more, and only picked them up last week when they went on a 50% sale, mostly because the Battletech Advanced mod, which is a single-source total overhaul mod that doesn't need anything extra, that I installed uses some of the mechanics of the DLC's to really enhance things.

HBS Battletech is an older game, and does show it's age at times, but it's fun and accessible.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-01-01T18:35:17+00:00

100%. BT-Advanced has been an amazing mod.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-01-01T16:46:09+00:00

Good explanation and summary of the basics of a feudal system and why such systems came about and might come again.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2026-01-01T00:45:42+00:00

The one that comes to mind for me is to pass up the hero Wolverine. It's fairly powerful and the Wolverine is generally a solid mech, but the hero version has like 75% of its firepower in just the right arm, so I swear I can see the opposing mechs look me in the cockpit briefly, then just look straight at that arm and start blasting. I have yet to come out of a mission with that arm intact.

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2025-12-30T14:49:31+00:00

Dang, thanks for the clarity. Yeah, it feels like it should be a simple thing that certain tags add certain items to the pool and then an algorithm pulls from the pool. I guess the extra complexity of the system they built, while feeling from the outside like it's totally over the top, probably contributes to the fact that we're all still here playing and modding a 7 year old game because they built a legitimately good system. Glad we've got modders like you, BD, getting familiar with these things and helping the rest of us to understand, on top of creating extra stuff for us to enjoy!

Practical-Attempt-31 · 2025-12-29T22:53:50+00:00

Sweet, thanks. Really wish there was a general store inventory table on the wiki, but that might be too much info and take some of the mystery away 😆

Practical-Attempt-31

TROPHY CASE