The Bitching Thread

[Ryllharu]

Dear Bill,

You are welcome to come to America. Our internet sucks too (compared to the so-called "third world") but at least we don't have quotas that are unbearably low, if at all. There is plenty of low-cost food (made from 90% corn/corn syrup) to make you fat and your intestines cry. We also have a blatant disrespect for others in nearly every situation. Fortunately, we don't usually have to shut down deserts to prevent tourists from killing themselves in the heat, but we do have rough weather, and more natural disasters than any other country on Earth.

All of our drivers are morons, when it gets dark and when it rains, except for me .

Rent can be had for cheap, because our economy is headed towards the toilet.

We also neighbor Canada, known for hockey and nicer people, and Mexico, known for...party destinations for the people mentioned above with a blatant disrespect for all others.

Best wishes,
Ryll
- ad hoc Embassador to the American Empire


PS: The only reason I learned IRC was because my university started to ban torrents (and eventually succeeded, we couldn't connect to the trackers).

EDIT:
Did I forget to mention that we too have an oppressively morally conservative nanny-state of a goverment?

[Buffalobiian]

@Kitkat: Moving out...that's happening as soon as I graduate and get a decent job that's stable and pays decent. If home's not too bad then, I might even consider staying at home for a while longer to build up some cash.

I can't afford to be impulsive. In fact, I can't afford much of anything right now

@Ryll: Ah, the American Empire. It's a very tempting offer, and I'd seriously consider it if I had all the connections and money to do it. What am I saying, the ad hoc Embassador's got my back, all that's left's the money

From what I heard, the US is going more and more towards capped plans, so it's only a matter of time I think. Perhaps the only good thing that's come out of having capped accounts is that we pay for everything, and the companies know it. I haven't heard of anyone doing P2P traffic shaping, and they're generally unco-operative with handing out customer details to copyright activists.

After all, in a world where we pay for downloads, businesses want us to download. What better way to make money than from torrent overheads

As for my earlier bitch, it's going to be wait and see. Dad's always been all bark and no bite, but this time he bit. Once.

Wait and see......

[KitKat]

I can't afford to be impulsive. In fact, I can't afford much of anything right now

Well, I can understand that. I would probably live at my parents' house too if they weren't on the other side of the continent. As it stands, I can't afford my tuition for next semester. My sister has given me some really good tips on dumpster diving for groceries, so I'm going to give that a try. And no, I'm not joking. If I find some good dumpstering spots, I'm hoping to bring my monthly food bill down to $20.

[Assertn]

Just tell your parents the story of Brandon Crisp

[XanBcoo]

My sister has given me some really good tips on dumpster diving for groceries, so I'm going to give that a try. And no, I'm not joking. If I find some good dumpstering spots, I'm hoping to bring my monthly food bill down to $20.

I read this my freshman year of college. Perhaps you'll find it useful?

On Dumpster Diving

Really amazing how much good food gets thrown away.

[Assertn]

my brother is so goddamn suffocating...

[Ryllharu]

From what I heard, the US is going more and more towards capped plans, so it's only a matter of time I think. Perhaps the only good thing that's come out of having capped accounts is that we pay for everything, and the companies know it. I haven't heard of anyone doing P2P traffic shaping, and they're generally unco-operative with handing out customer details to copyright activists.

The caps here aren't really that bad. They've always been there, they are just finally admitting that they are using them, which is a better thing. I've been locked down few times, and my ISP isn't even one the ones publically accused of traffic shaping. 250 gigs is a lot today, and they will get a lot of hell from angry customers if they don't scale that when the time comes, but for the average user, they'll never reach it.

At least we don't have any intentions of a nationwide plan for internet censorship in order to "save the children."

I know it is the wrong thread, but the response from the head of iiNet, 'Sure, we'll use it, and report each and every time how much it consistently sucks,' made me smile.

[Animeniax]

I read this my freshman year of college. Perhaps you'll find it useful?

On Dumpster Diving

Really amazing how much good food gets thrown away.

Wow, I couldn't help cringing repeatedly while reading this article. I've always wondered how an otherwise sane person could let themselves fall into homelessness and living on the streets. Before it gets that bad, maybe get a job at McDonald's?

Sadly with the current economic problems we're facing, this dumpster diving article will come in handy for more and more people. Of course, conversely it will lead to more people being less wasteful when throwing food out. It's a catch-22 situation that's best avoided by sound financial planning and living within your means.

[Death BOO Z]

wow, I'm speechless. I can't imagine myself doing so, but this guy makes it sound so reasonable..

I am horrified to discover the kind of paper that now merits an A in an undergraduate course

also, can I pass an opportunity to link a webcomic? No

[XanBcoo]

Jesus Christ, literally half of those panels didn't need to be there.

I kept waiting for the punchline to come, and it wouldn't.

[Animeniax]

Ha, I was thinking the same thing. He really milked it to death. None of it was really clever or funny either.

Reading about dumpster diving is making me feel guilty for the vast amount of good stuff I throw out all the time. Unfortunately that's the result of constant electronics/PC hardware upgrades and tinkering. Plus, it's either trash it or pack-rat it, and with my mobile lifestyle, pack-ratting isn't really an option.

I do however, clean my plate when eating. Bad side-effect is being overweight, but at least I'm not wasting food.

I love how the otaku fanboy at the end of the strip has a Japanese flag on the wall. Classic.

[RyougaZell]

We also neighbor Canada, known for hockey and nicer people, and Mexico, known for...party destinations for the people mentioned above with a blatant disrespect for all others.

Ah... the good old Spring Breakers... always willing to leave dollars on our land, all the while acting like the total morons they are, and can't show while on their suppresive land.

Not that I care, since I never go there

[Ryllharu]

I ordered a package last Tuesday (11/11). Books, a game, some manga, etc. The package shipped Friday morning (11/14). It still hasn't gotten here.

Now, that alone is not much of a reason to bitch. The US Postal Service isn't particularly known for speedy package delivery when you get free shipping. They don't really move anything of note around on Saturday or Sunday.

But...the origin of shipping was within my own state. That for reference, is less than 200 miles. I travel half of that to work and back each day. In 3 and a half days, the package has not apparently moved one fucking mile.

I keep looking for it when I get back home every day and it's not there. I am absolutely confounded how it is possible to not be here by now. Every day it isn't there, I get more and more pissed off. I have ordered sets of speakers and gotten free shipping from the same company [Amazon]...and they've come from China faster.

[RyougaZell]

LOL. Story of my life Ryll.

I ofter order Figures from Japan (HLJ). They arrive at Mexico City, all the way from Japan, in 4 days. Then from Mexico City to Monterrey they take another 7 days... amazing! not...

[Assertn]

Dear Bill,

You are welcome to come to America. etc. etc.

So Ryllharu, do you have some sort of false sense of entitlement, or are you just a hopeless cynic?

[Xelbair]

Ryll - at least your package will be delivered, compared to polish postal system. Packages often goes "missing", and post-guy just deliver notice that package has arrived(the one that should be put when there in no one home) and you have to go to nearest postal office and wait 1h in queue.
And i envy you guys, paypal works for your countries and you can buy stuff directly from japan. I would love to get some anime-gear, but only way to do this is to have friends in other countries, UK would be best or US, and make the order it and send it to you(of course you will pay them for it). In Poland is only 1 internet shop with anime figures, and if there is only one shop of its own kind prices go sky-high... in fact I'm more interested in other stuff than figures but still...

[darkshadow]

There is more then just paypal... play-asia uses moneybookers as well

[Ryllharu]

I experienced a technological cascade failure today at work.

My computer died first. Definite hardware failure. Two of the diagnostic lights blazing fiercely, and beep code blaring. So I call the outside contractor (actually a division of our parent company...) that handles our IT at around 8:30. They give me a ticket number and I wait for a tech to show up.

So with little else to do, I ask my cubemate to print me out some documents so I can read through them, better than nothing.

And I wait.

So, after lunch, I decide to give them another call and see why no one has been by to check out my computer.

Phone's dead.

Somewhere between 8:30 and 12:45, my phone died. Not the phone (checked by plugging into a nearby line) but the line. I make another call from an unused phone and get my service ticket expedited. A nearby secretary puts in a service request on my phone for me.

Apparently, the techs had been calling me to see if I was available all morning. Guy shows up at 3pm, right around when I was going to leave, but I'm happy as hell to see him. We check out the beep codes with my cubemate's functional computer.

Motherboard is toast. Fantastic.

[RyougaZell]

Dead computer and dead phone.

You sure your boss is not trying to 'tell' you something? Lol. Just kidding.

That sure sucks Ryll.
I've been there. My computer had to be formatted 4 months ago because it crashed. Fortunately my data was saveable. But damn it... if I had free access I know I could have repaired the laptop without formatting... stupid support.

[Ryllharu]

Haha, I actually asked the secretary if I was being fired, half in jest (she has access to some of the HR databases).

I was still in the Time Management System (like a time clock, but manages budget charge numbers as well), so I hadn't been fired.