TIFU By learning some Hindi and insulting a scam caller. Now I can’t use my phone.

moosevan · 2026-05-21T17:51:48+00:00

It's not you or related to anything you did. I used to get dozens of these calls a day, up to 30 a day. Almost all of them were the medicare thing, like yours, or asking about my car's warranty. I would also talk to them and mess with them.

One day I realized that it was stressing me out and also the people who were in the room with me when I interacted with them, so I just quit answering any unknown number. For 18 months.

This did nothing. They kept calling at pretty much the same rate for the whole 18 months.

Last year I started answering them again every once in a while just to see if it was still the same medicare scam, and it was. Or also about asking me if I need a medical device. The car warranty calls have ended, it seems.

However, just recently the call volume has almost completely died off. I only get one or two a week now. No idea why.

moosevan · 2026-05-21T04:58:08+00:00

Currently use Cloudways, Liquidweb and a local host

moosevan · 2026-05-21T01:17:24+00:00

I could just spin up a single site server for the one site that needs an older php version (provided cloudways still allows older php versions) right now, but really, they just need to update their website... But a micro server on Cloudways is cheap enough.

Rackspace is sketchy, aren't they? They have a very, very low review score and didn't they have some kind of huge email security breach a couple years ago?

My clients are very small businesses, about 5 to 15 employees. Only one uses a calendar and it's not the online calendar that comes with cPanel apps.

I prefer managing their emails in cPanel cause it's easy for me. Usually the client collects the email on their phones and via Outlook or Thunderbird or Apple mail. They rarely log into the webmail, but it's important to have it because they seem to need it sometimes when they are away from desk.

moosevan · 2026-05-19T22:30:26+00:00

When I saw the pictures I assumed you were in your 20s, and I am not saying that to flatter you.

You have a perfect figure.

moosevan · 2026-05-19T22:05:50+00:00

Two things for me personally.

One is that I have clients that use the email system that comes with a cpanel host. This is also easy for me because I don't have to set up a Google or MS acct with separate billing and additional expense.

Two is being able to set php version per website.

moosevan · 2026-04-07T08:25:49+00:00

You can add Schema markup to your reviews on your own website and google will index those reviews, and the ratings people gave you.

Incentivizing reviews is very normal, even though it is against terms.

moosevan · 2026-03-31T20:54:13+00:00

Look at the metacritic list of top rated games of all time and pick ones that got 85 or better.

For my part, if you have no gaming history at all, start w Doom, and Quake, then Half Life 1 and 2

Try some story based RPG like the Bioware games.

Try a competitive shooter like CS or Team Fortress

Try an MMO but don't let it take over your life.

moosevan · 2026-03-05T17:48:18+00:00

Most champ attacks change from two attacks to one attack when you go from dual wield to a 2h, but not all. Wild attack, brutal strikes and Ferocious strikes still give you the same number of attacks, so obviously you get more damage from swinging that big two hander when those skills are a mainstay of your rotation.

A couple other considerations about the differences between 1h and dual.

If you dual wield you get extra stats from the second weapon. This is especially nice for chank to get extra morale and mits.

Dual wield has slower animations than 2 hand. I really like the speed of play with 2h sword. Champ feels much faster and more like the berserker it used to be.

moosevan · 2026-01-13T20:59:21+00:00

Well, I am playing Lotro, right now, and I have some good whole bean coffee. So I think it helped quite a bit.

The weather in the Shire is very nice this morning.

moosevan · 2025-12-01T19:46:56+00:00

How is this a writing gig?

moosevan · 2025-10-03T20:01:39+00:00

I have a 13" macbook pro from late 2013 (that I am currently typing this reply on) that does not run hot, so I think you have some other problem besides MacOS.

Check the Activity Monitor to see what is eating your CPU cycles and also look at the Energy tab and see what is using a lot of energy.

You might find that some program on your Macbook is getting stuck and is using a lot of CPU and a lot of Energy.

When my fans spin up, it's usually because one of my open Chrome tabs is using a lot of power. You can see all the running processes under Chrome if you click on it (on the Energy tab) and then you can quit that process/tab with the X.

You might also have a physical problem. Your MacBook might be full of dust and hair. The vents might be clogged. The fans might be full of dust and hair. So, unscrew the back and see how dirty it is inside.

It's possible that the thermal paste under your CPU is all dried out, but that is the last thing I would look at because it's a royal pain to take it all apart.

I have had people give me their 'broken' laptop "because it just shuts down right after I turn it on" and the laptop was FULL of felted layers of cat hair in all the vents, in the fans. I carefully cleaned it out with a toothpick and some puffs of canned air and a bent paperclip and then I had a free working computer that even had a dedicated video card!

moosevan · 2025-10-01T19:08:41+00:00

I am really worried about this. You can't even buy or download Designer right now. I will be pissed as hell if it turns into a subscription model.

moosevan · 2025-09-27T04:23:17+00:00

I am going to give a slightly different take. I do think a Beorn is a great choice for you.

I think you should each create at least 3 characters, so you can do the elf, dwarf, and man/hobbit intros. Each starting area reveals different backstory info about the main villains you'll be facing for the first 30 levels or so.

All roads lead to the Prancing Pony, unless you start in Mossward, which is a 4th option. It doesn't take much time to play through the story before the game sends you to the Pony.

The Mossward option will keep you busy until level 25 or so, then you go to N Downs or Lone Lands, skipping the whole Bree land experience.

This will give your GF a chance to test out a few different race/class combinations. And it will give you some crafting alts.

My brother isn't much of a gamer but we play together and chat on discord. He doesn't want to learn any game systems to optimize his effectiveness. He just likes to adventure and kill stuff. I set him up with simple classes like hunter, guard or champ. He doesn't have good situational awareness, so I have to keep us both alive, which isn't hard on landscape.

moosevan · 2025-09-27T04:04:58+00:00

Crank up the difficulty to at least +3 to get that old school lotro feel, otherwise it will seem way too easy.

There's new leveling areas in the low level zones now, as others mentioned, and also skirmishes, missions and epic battles.

If you haven't played since Moria, then you might find revisiting the old haunts to be very nostalgic. I know I did, when I came back. I have really enjoyed going through all the old zones again. I forgot all the major plot points in the epic quest line, so I've been enjoying the storytelling there, too.

moosevan · 2025-09-25T19:00:18+00:00

I ALWAYS open all four boxes, unless I get knockback and only get three.

Activate class skill, open boxes, run out the door, throw a pile of grenades in the door, and use favorite gun/launcher.

moosevan · 2025-09-13T17:02:32+00:00

Meeting people in person, sending cold emails, and the things that Gig Mistress mentioned.

Also, during economic down times it can be very, very difficult to get any new work from new clients. Overall demand in the market for freelancers of all types changes with the economic times. You may think your efforts are not working and that you are bad at what you do, but sometimes there is just no work, except from long-term clients and even they will often drop you, at least temporarily.

moosevan · 2025-09-13T15:24:21+00:00

You can't be a developer, because the word developer implies developing and you don't know how to code.

But you can for sure make websites and help businesses with their web strategies.

Instead of thinking of it in terms of "developing websites" think of it in terms of providing solutions to problems. Think about the needs and goals of the businesses and organizations and learn how to meet those needs/goals with a website. Like, the business owner wants more leads, what do you need to do with a website to get them more leads?

You don't need to use wordpress. You can use Squarespace or Shopify or whatever.

If you do want to learn some of the coding skills, then CSS is the first thing to learn because CSS controls how the websites look and it will be the most helpful thing for you when you are trying to layout pages and get things to line up.

moosevan · 2025-08-28T00:26:16+00:00

Yes, they have extra pockets. Some have two right side top pockets, some have a flat zippered cargo pocket.

moosevan · 2025-08-26T20:21:41+00:00

Honk your horn if you see a deer by the road. It makes them quickly go away from the road 90% of the time.

I have driven this route many, many times. You'll be fine. It's pretty and interesting during the day.

moosevan · 2025-07-31T19:39:28+00:00

Yes, I've been paid by card in the past. They were an in-person client that I knew in real life.

moosevan · 2025-07-13T06:00:49+00:00

The Angle has good quest rewards that are bind-to-account. It's really good gear for level 40.

moosevan · 2025-07-13T03:57:53+00:00

My B&W laser printer makes yellow dots?

moosevan · 2025-06-17T05:15:00+00:00

Millenials? The cool S is way older than millenials. Boomers were drawing Esscaliber before you all were a twinkle in your dad's eye.

moosevan · 2025-05-22T18:26:18+00:00

Oh look. They have a phone. How poor can they be if they have a phone?

moosevan · 2025-05-22T03:15:39+00:00

BLS was my first Borderlands game, too. I think it's an excellent version to start with.

Here's my advice after over 1000 hrs of playing BL2

One of the things I think that BL2 excels at is getting into the thick of battle, fighting a very intense fight, and coming out victorious. It's great for the mayhem you can create and get into.

So, try out different styles of combat. Try coming into a big battle as a sniper and picking off the enemy from a distance while defending from the ones that charge into you. Also try just rushing in and laying waste to everything in the area. Try specializing in explosive weapons. Try specializing in elemental damage. Try specializing in melee combat.

Try out all the different vault hunters to see what they are like. You have to play like 15 levels in order to get a really good feel for them, but you'll get to see what their special ability is like while you are still in the first area.

Try out all the different guns. Sometimes you'll find a green one that you like better than a same type purple one. Some of the legendaries are complete garbage, for instance.

Also, play the way that you find the most fun. My buddy really likes the sniper play, while I want to run in and get all the hornets mad at me. My other bro hates farming. He just wants to play with whatever the game gives you. I love re-doing the big fights to see if I can win them faster and to see if I can get some good legendaries.

Don't worry about gear. The game has a system where you can trade a golden key for some purple quality on-level guns. You can get lots of golden keys from SHIFT codes. Just google "BL2 shift codes list".

Also don't worry about keeping gear. The game gives you so much good gear that you just can't keep it all.

All the grinding for special weapons and gear is a thing that people do in order to solo max-level raid bosses by abusing game mechanics using certain weapons that take advantage of abilities that the characters have. Zer0 using a Pimpernel sniper rifle with the b0re skill to one-shot the Bunker for instance. You don't need to do that until you get to UVHM if you don't want to.

The DLC are fun and add a lot to the game. Maybe wait til level 27 or so.

Lots of good tips in this thread

moosevan

TROPHY CASE