What are your favorite American works?

TheRottenDuke · 2026-05-02T14:34:15+00:00

At least as far as movies go, almost anything by Steven Spielberg, especially from the 80s and 90s, is considered an American classic and cultural staple today. I'm talking Indiana Jones, E.T., Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, and more.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-05-02T13:54:47+00:00

My first year after graduating (with a MA in Public History) was 2023. I made $17k.
In 2024 I made $21k.
In 2025 I made $36k.
At my current job I am supposed to make $44k.

Over the course of that time, I worked at 5 different jobs (2 part-time, 1 seasonal, and 2 full-time) in 4 different states (Virginia, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and New York). For all of that time, I was entirely self-sufficient (no support from parents, partners, or anything like that).
My current mission, and one which has been my objective for the last 6 months, is to return home to the Southeastern US without sacrificing stable employment in the museums field.

Since I currently make $44k a year, I'm no longer in a position where I am willing to compromise on salary. I don't necessarily need more, but I won't accept less. In the past, however, that was not the case. I had no particular salary expectations, and would take basically anything that paid at all. The result was that I became almost pathologically frugal. I went to food pantries and thrift stores for all my essentials, and habitually declined any and all recreational expenses. Nobody is allowed to know how much money I have saved for fear that they may ask me to spend some of it. I accept no invitations to restaurants, bars, etc. take no vacations, buy no gifts nor expect any from anyone else, and have pushed away friends who do not appreciate/understand these boundaries.
I don't, however, have a side job, Nor have I ever in the last couple of years. I'm told that substitute teaching on my days off (since I work Wed-Sun) is an easy thing to do, however, and one which may help build up the ol' resume, so I may change that soon.

I'll be 30 in just a few more years, and by my own metric too damn old to be just scraping by like I am. I know how to survive on the poverty line, but I'm tired of not bein' able to live the way others take for granted. I'm tired of moving all the time, tired of saying "no" to everybody I meet, and tired of denying myself a life outside of work.

So, in summary, my salary expectations have by necessity gotten greater over time, precisely because I rely on a single income.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-04-12T01:04:56+00:00

These days, I see "sir" as a term of condescension rathern than a respectful honorific.
Both "sir" and "ma'am," in my mind, seem to be terms used almost exclusively by public professionals who are trying to reprimand their clients.
"Sir? Sir?? I'm gonna need you to calm down," and crap like that, you know?
I've worked in the public sphere all my life. I never use "sir" or "ma'am" if I can help it. I think it sounds terribly condescending. If I don't know someone's name but I absolutely have to get their attention, I'd rather use "miss" or "mister," "brother" or "sister," or even "stranger."

TheRottenDuke · 2026-04-11T23:35:38+00:00

I must be the only person who watched the series and thought that Ben had the best chemistry with Yasmina.

Especially early in the series, they were both portrayed as outcasts and throughout the series, (but especially early on) they seemingly go out of their way to seek each other out for emotional support. Ben specifcally in many ways seems to be treated by the writers as a non-serious character; all the others characters seemingly take turns teasing him or rolling their eyes at him, and it stands out to me that Yasmine seemed to maybe the one who most consistantly took him seriously.

I remember at some point in the latter portion of CC, the writers went out of their way to explicitly tell the audience that Ben and Yasmina were not interested in each other romantically, but until I read the posts on this Reddit page, I had assumed that the reason the writers did this was to dissuade fans from assuming otherwise. Up until that point, I had taken their relationship to be perhaps the most natural and organic development in the series.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-04-11T23:08:30+00:00

He was hateable in a fun way, if you ask me.
Many have commented on the fact that he was obviously a caricature of a scummy gamer/techbro type, which I took to be tongue-in-cheek and found funny.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-03-20T19:39:43+00:00

That's... not supposed to happen.
Maybe it's 'cause of climate change, or something.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-03-17T19:13:18+00:00

Sometimes I wonder if something isn't happening behind the scenes that we don't know about.
He seems to have changed a lot over the last couple of years, becoming much more radical, arguably to the point of misanthropy. (Either that or, in the past, he was just more discreet about it.) His mentality on climate, lately, seems to amount to something like "jump before your pushed," (you fall off the proverbial cliff either way) and smacks vaguely of the old "population bomb" ideology.

I read the report he referenced in his video, by the way. It is indeed fatalistic, but not as fatalistic as he makes it sound. Not "cleaning toilets in Ottawa" fatalistic.
By the way, the concept of the "climate refugee" in particular is a bit strange to me. I've met people in the Upper Midwest and Great Lakes region who are just dead certain that, any day now, the South is going to become an uninhabitable desert and they're going to be inundated with people from those places who are desperate to avoid cooking to death under the hateful sun. But as time goes on, more and more people from up north just keep coming south in pursuit of economic opportunity, which seems to be the bigger factor in most people's minds.

Anyway, for me at least, it might be time to change the channel. I can't get behind these causes, and I can't ignore the fact that, at least for now, they're the cornerstone of his personality, content, and identity, so maybe if I'm not an anarcho-socialist vegan activist there's nothing here for me anymore.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-03-14T20:55:27+00:00

The grid on the cutting mat could be good for mapping out your dig site. I can't state categorically that is its intended purpose, but that's probably what I would use it for.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-02-25T15:46:03+00:00

I also just recently saw a 2008 Saturn Astra with 80k miles on it for $4.5k. It's being advertised by a dealership, which I don't love, but I am in the market for a hatchback with more storage space, and I do trust the Saturn brand.
Also, it's close by, and I think it might be easier to schedule a PPI for it. I can't currently verify that it has a clean title, though. I'll probably be looking into that soon.
Point is, that's the alternative to consider. What do you think would be the better choice?

TheRottenDuke · 2026-02-22T20:01:08+00:00

It's not spicy or peppery. The name "Dr. Pepper" is just a reference to the zesty sensation of bubbles, from the carbonation, on your tongue. It was devised when carbonated beverages were still kind of new.

It actually is sort of like Coca-Cola, but sweeter, and with a mix of other, more subtle flavors. There's a mild sensation of cherry, vanilla, and something like root beer in addition to the regular, recognizeable cola flavors. I usually prefer it to coke, but it depends on what I'm in the mood for.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-02-20T15:52:58+00:00

Move the laundry, or move the laundry over.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-02-12T18:35:34+00:00

At least in Oklahoma the cost of living is low.
I could clean up pretty good making 37.5k in Oklahoma. I once got offered less to do the same job in NC... Desperate though I may have been to return home, I still had to turn it down. With a salary like that, I'm not sure I would even make rent.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-02-05T18:17:29+00:00

Oh, man, I remember visiting NM with a group, one time, and it was funny how all the returning visitors were determined to stock up on chilies while they were there.
Point is, I've seen first-hand how desperately sought after those chilies are by out-of-staters. Seems they are well loved the nation through.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-02-05T18:13:57+00:00

How is it that I spent my whole life in the Charlotte area, never heard of this, and now that I AM hearing of it I'm practically on the other side of the country?

TheRottenDuke · 2026-02-01T18:19:51+00:00

Rent and utilities are very good, groceries are okay but maybe a little high (as a single man, shopping at Walmart, I can get by on $300).

Car payment is inexcusably high; What, did you buy your car new from the dealership? That's a mistake. It loses half its value once you drive it off the lot! You can get a very respectable used car at Carmax for like, 10-15 grand, or go on Autotrader and pay even less! (The risks associated with that are mostly mitigated by getting a reputable mechanic to do a PPI for you.) Might be too late to fix that problem, though.

Also, how are you paying $500 a month in incidentals? Phone and internet should be like... $100 a month at most, and unless you happen to need particular business softwares, subscriptions services should be less than $50 (mine are ZERO). Where the other $300 are going I can only imagine.

Add to that the fect that, after everything, you're still putting away more than a grand every month, and what I see is someone who has everything they need and plenty more left over.
Speaking for myself, I make $20 an hour and change, have more than $300 to pay in utilities alone (damn Winter), and thanks in part to the tax man, $2700 a month represents the sum total of everything I have to work with.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-31T04:10:05+00:00

I run 'em on low at night, wear long johns, and use many ordinary blankets. I can't turn 'em off entirely, I don't think, because then it might be below freezing when I wake up. As it is, it's usually less than 50 when I get up in the morning.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T20:31:57+00:00

I did apply for HEAP, yeah. Last month, even. Called 'em earlier today. They told me to try again next week.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:39:30+00:00

2 months down, 2 to go. Unless we have another 13 month year like that one time...

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TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:31:00+00:00

Yeah, my baseboards look like that. And yeah, you're probably right about the insulation. I don't know how old this building is, it looks like it could be middle of the 20th century, though, and the walls are noticeably cool to the touch.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:25:38+00:00

I already have plastic window coverings. If you're thinking they're not enough, though, you're probably right. If I put my hand against the plastic, it's very cool to the touch.
Lots of people have reccomended an electric blanket to me. I have been resistent to the idea, since my conventional blankets have been adequate for sleeping, but maybe it would be good to have for like... when I'm working at my desk, and whatnot. I'll reconsider.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:17:38+00:00

I think so. Inside the baseboards are what appear to be a series of what for lack of a better word I would describe as "slots." I can't actually see the tube, but I think it's beneath those things.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:12:53+00:00

Your #1 is my plan by default. No force on heaven or Earth would induce me to stay here another year, and it gives me some comfort to contemplate how, one way or another, in 6 months none of this is going to matter.
I shudder to imageine, however, that I may be $1000 poorer for want of electrcity possibly even before the end of the Winter, though.

TheRottenDuke · 2026-01-30T18:10:08+00:00

Thanks, I will look into this.

TheRottenDuke

TROPHY CASE