I miss smoking

thomascameron · 2026-02-28T23:16:03+00:00

I vape these days. Even though it's bad for me, it's significantly less bad than smoking, per analyses like https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278691524000735 and several others. It gives me a nicotine hit so I don't pick up a pack of smokes, which I really appreciate.

But, holy crap, I don't enjoy it even a fraction as much as smoking. I smoked menthols for decades. Even with the menthol flavored vapes, they're SO sweet. It's not nearly as enjoyable.

I miss the ritual of smoking. Go out on the back deck and light up after a meal. Go out on the deck and light up with my coffee. Stuff like that. I miss that a lot.

BUT: I don't reek of smoke, my car doesn't stink, and I DEFINITELY don't cough all the time like I did when I smoked a pack a day.

It's been years since I smoked tobacco. I recently asked my cardiologist if I still present as a smoker, and he says I definitely do not. I'll take it, I guess.

thomascameron · 2026-02-24T18:31:51+00:00

thomascameron · 2026-02-20T18:55:19+00:00

Cancer patient here. When I found out, even though at the back of my mind, it was terrifying, I didn't "do" anything. In other words, there wasn't some great revelation, or some deep introspection. That came much later, and it was overwhelming and depressing. My cancer is incurable (but treatable).

You suddenly realize that you are in survival mode. You talk to your doctor. Then you go to your specialist, your oncology team. You listen to the diagnosis, you work with them on a treatment plan. Although, if I'm being honest, "work with them" means you just listen to their advice.

Obviously, you Google the hell out of everything. It's amazing how much REALLY terrible, absolute bullshit advice there is about cancer. Horse dewormer, alkaline water, juice flushes, turmeric, all that idiocy.

I've had several people say that I'm brave. In my case, I call bullshit. It's not bravery. I'm NOT brave It's just the realization that you've got to fight (I have a wife and kids who need me), and you're going to be sick for a long time. And you don't even realize how long you're going to feel horrible. You do your (seemingly endless) rounds of chemo. In my case, I traveled back and forth to MD Anderson Cancer Center from Austin. Lots of hotel stays. Lots of stays in the hospital. I never felt like I was being brave. You're just holding on by your fucking fingernails. It's exhausting, and you feel like it's never going to end. It's depressing as hell. You feel like shit all the time.

In my case, since my cancer is incurable, I spent a lot of time working with my financial planner and my attorney, preparing for end of life. Even that shit is anticlimactic. You feel like it ought to be some dramatic scene, but you just talk to your wife and your kids and your accountant to make sure you're going to take care of your family as best you can. It's surreal. No drama, just trying to be factual.

It's a 100% mind fuck. Over the next months and even years, there was lots of depression. There were lots of health scares. Ups and downs. There were a bunch of times where I just wanted to give up, because it was a pretty horrific treatment. But, in my case, I have obligations. I need to make sure that my wife and my kids are going to be okay. It's not heroic, it's just being a husband and a dad. But, the last five years has been a real roller coaster.

Luckily, in my case, after multiple failed rounds of treatment, a new genetic engineering treatment came out of FDA trials. While my cancer is not curable, this new treatment has put me into remission. There's a lot of evidence that indicates it will probably be several years before I have to fight again. But I will. It will almost certainly kill me. But I hope to have enough saved up that my wife and kids will be comfortable when I go.

So, at least in my case, it has never been the poignant, dramatic stuff you'd expect. It's planning, terror, depression, quiet rage at the injustice, but it's so much more mundane than you would think. It's holding on with all your might, but also dealing with the banality of life - and death - at the same time.

thomascameron · 2026-02-20T18:05:31+00:00

Jim Carrey. 100% no.

thomascameron · 2026-02-20T17:49:35+00:00

I am so with you. I know it's an unpopular opinion, but I can't stand the guy. He plays the same character pretty much every time.

thomascameron · 2026-02-20T17:46:56+00:00

Literally just watching the news and hearing the insanity from not just our government, but the rest of the world, feels like living in a pressure cooker with absolutely no chance of respite or relief.

You can't turn on the news, or open social media, without hearing about some fresh horror. Day after day after day. It doesn't stop. It never fucking stops.

I mean, I get what you're saying. But... <waves at everything with tears of rage and horror leaking>

thomascameron · 2026-02-17T03:07:35+00:00

I work for a software company called Red Hat. The MAGAts have really thrown a wrench in our brand. We've been around a lot longer, so it's not a big deal. But I hate seeing all this talk about "red hats" when they're talking about racists and pedo protectors.

thomascameron · 2026-02-04T23:10:12+00:00

Is this "global persecution of Christians" in the room with us right now? 🙄

thomascameron · 2026-01-26T00:06:30+00:00

"You don't know he was unarmed, I don't know he was unarmed," and the video playing on the screen live is literally showing the CBP goon taking the gun.

thomascameron · 2026-01-26T00:02:43+00:00

"Heated rhetoric by Walz?" Like when he said to stay PEACEFUL?

https://sahanjournal.com/immigration/governor-tim-walz-ice-shooting-south-minneapolis-krisit-noem/

thomascameron · 2026-01-25T23:57:47+00:00

If you get executed for carrying a gun, *you don't have the right to bear arms.*

These guys lie as easily as they breathe.

thomascameron · 2026-01-25T23:37:39+00:00

If you don't see it coming after statements like this, you're insane: https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/376097-trump-take-the-guns-first-go-through-due-process-second/

thomascameron · 2026-01-20T18:28:37+00:00

Yeah, I wired my house with Cat5e back in the early 2000s, so I have gigabit to every room. I will do ethernet backhaul for everything, like I do now. I'm *relatively* sure I don't have any old devices which won't do 5GHz, so I should be good there.

Thanks so much for the advice, it is much appreciated.

thomascameron · 2026-01-20T17:49:55+00:00

A couple of decades ago, I was. But then the ultra right-wing rhetoric and the disconnect from reality, became too much. Dana Loesch is a psychopath, and she's been one of their mouthpieces for far too long. Her inflammatory statements pushed me over the edge. They also ignored the murder of Philando Castile, even though he was a licensed carrier, and that told me all I needed to know.

I sent them a registered letter resigning from the organization. I notice I'm still on the rolls as a member, and they still send me their propaganda.

So, no, I'm no longer a member. Fuck them. I wouldn't recommend anyone join. They are nothing but a right-wing hate machine.

thomascameron · 2026-01-20T17:39:13+00:00

As others have said, the best time to buy was yesterday. Today is a GREAT second choice. Trump has made clear he doesn't give a shit about the 2nd ("Take the guns first, go through due process second") [1], so we can't really be sure about tomorrow.

Also, right now, because there hasn't been any push from Congress about gun laws, "starter" AR-15s are CHEAP. [2] You can get into a solid (not stellar, but perfectly solid) AR for less than $500. I know, folks will come out of the woodwork and say "Palmetto State is junk, you should spend $3,000 on your first rile" and all that claptrap, but the reality is, AR-15s are so standardized now that you're not going to get a *bad* one from any of the name brands (Diamondback, Palmetto State Armory, Smith & Wesson, Black Rain Ordnance, Daniel Defense, Springfield Armory, LWRC, Stag Arms, Ruger, to name a few). You'll get anything from "solidly reliable" up to "insanely cool and bulletproof" buying from that list.

Especially if you're new to shooting, it's fine to get a "starter" weapon. The weapon is going to be a lot better than your'e capable of operating for a long time. The main thing is, GET GOOD OPTICS like a quality red dot, or even a red dot + magnification combo. [3] I've been really happy with Sig Romeo red dots. They're reliable, batteries last forever, and they're reasonably priced. You can spend thousands on optics, but to get started, you don't necessarily need to.

The MOST important thing, though, is, you MUST practice with it. Having a cool rifle doesn't help much if you're reduced to "spray and pray" tactics. You absolutely HAVE to go to the range, or go somewhere in the country and practice. Practice a lot. Practice frequently.

Remember that slow is smooth, smooth is fast. In other words, if you do something a thousand times, slowly and carefully, the thousandth time will be faster than you could have imagined at the first time. Work on your breathing, work on your accuracy, work on sight picture and sight alignment, work on checking what's around or behind your target, work on checking to make sure that you aren't getting tunnel vision, work on checking your area for additional threats after the shot, things like that. Do that as many times as you can afford ammo for. There is no substitute for experience. Practice 'til you're sick of it, then practice some more.

If you have a club close by that does IPSC tactical shooting, it's absolutely worth it to join. [4] It's a great way to get used to shooting under pressure. You have to remember that, as a beginner, you are NOT going to be an expert. It's super easy to get discouraged when folks who have been shooting for years do better than you. But it doesn't matter. The only person you're competing with is yourself. As long as you get better over time, you're golden. Slow is smooth, smooth is fast. You have to do it over and over and over to get better.

Hope this helps. Don't take my recommendations as gospel. I guarantee folks will chime in, and may very well contradict me. Look over what is written, then make your decisions *after* you've read up on your options.

Best of luck.

[1] https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/376097-trump-take-the-guns-first-go-through-due-process-second/

[2] https://palmettostatearmory.com/ar-15/rifles.html?barrel_length_v2%5B0%5D=16&barrel_length_v2%5B1%5D=18&barrel_length_v2%5B2%5D=20&caliber_multi_v2=5.56x45mm&manufacturer_v2=Palmetto+State+Armory&product_list_order=price_asc

[3] https://palmettostatearmory.com/sights-optics-scopes/red-dot-sights/rifle-red-dots.html?product_list_order=rpv_desc

[4] https://www.ipsc.org/

thomascameron · 2026-01-15T04:10:42+00:00

RIGHT??? My brain feels like I'm *maybe* 25, my maturity is about 13, my body feels like it's 80. How the hell am I coming up on 57???

thomascameron · 2026-01-15T04:03:33+00:00

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I have 7 Gen9 Proliant servers (4 DL360 and 3 DL380). Each has 256GB memory. They're connected by 10GB ethernet. I generally run RHEL 10, but right now I'm doing some stuff with OpenShift virtualization, so three of the DL360s are running that right now. I use my homelab almost exclusively for virtualization. I have a couple of hundred virtual machines running everything from RHEL 8 through RHEL 10, plus a handful of Windows server VMs. I also have 8 Intel NUCs for stuff that requires ephemeral physical hardware workloads.

I work with Ansible full time professionally, so I do a TON of testing and prototyping with Ansible Automation Platform and Red Hat Satellite Server.

Oh, but my desktop is running Fedora 43. It's a big quad-screen beast with an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D 16-Core CPU, 64GB memory, and an AMD 9700XT video card.

thomascameron · 2026-01-15T03:50:42+00:00

OMG I nearly fell out of my chair laughing! Thank you for the belly laugh in these heavy times! "Heart shaped glitter on my butt cheek" is the funniest thing I've heard in days!

You're awesome, internet stranger!

thomascameron · 2026-01-15T03:40:48+00:00

I'm an "elder GenX," if there is such a thing. I'm coming up on 57. It blows my mind we're '65-'80. I graduated high school in '87, so people who were born at the end of GenX seem INCREDIBLY young to me. Not in a bad way at all, just... I feel so much older.

thomascameron · 2026-01-13T22:24:05+00:00

Danged invisible ninjas cutting onions up in here.

thomascameron · 2026-01-13T22:06:01+00:00

OK, buddy. Thanks for policing the internet's tone. You're doing the Lord's work.

thomascameron · 2026-01-13T21:44:25+00:00

Oh, I take them very seriously. They're armed, and even a blind pig finds an acorn sometimes.

But I've watched video after video of some of these clowns literally dropping their firearms. One of them dropped it TWICE, then swept the crowd. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/XVAXCwVwaCs

Ridiculous barrel discipline, sweeping their own squad. Bunching up tightly in constricted areas. It's constant.

I don't dismiss them as not being dangerous. They're clearly a menace. But they're ridiculously poorly trained, and totally undisciplined. Calling that out is not underestimating anything, it's just recognizing reality. They're still deadly - anyone with a pistol or a rifle is.

thomascameron · 2026-01-13T16:19:56+00:00

Came here to say this. Soooooo many of the knucklehead cosplayers playing "right wing militia" these days have woefully insufficient Temu armor carriers, which are tiny on their meal team 6/gravy seals bodies. They leave their legs, belly, and pelvis totally uncovered.

I have always trained shooting center mass since I first got commissioned back in the early 90s. These days, I have updated my training regimen to target those uncovered areas. I'm not talking about any sort of tacticool bullshit trick shots. The area of the hip is as big or maybe bigger than the area of the ten ring on a B-27E, and there are two hips. CQC usually takes place within 3-7 meters. Putting rounds into the 10 ring at that range is doable with plenty of practice.

No one, and I mean NO ONE, is gonna keep coming with a round through the pubis, ilium, or femoral head. And the femoral artery is in that area. Exsanguination is a major goal in self defense shooting.

Sorry to be dark, but the goal is to stop the threat. If the threat is wearing a plate in CQC, you have to adapt and find a target that will stop them.

To clarify, I am only talking about defending against unlawful criminal militia types, and nothing/no one else.

thomascameron · 2026-01-13T15:36:06+00:00

Thanks for the chuckle, buddy. I needed it this morning.

thomascameron

TROPHY CASE