JCPhoenix @ JCPhoenix @beehaw.org

Internet Addict. Reddit refugee. Motorsports Enthusiast. Gamer. Traveler. N

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So my base plan here in the US is probably 7-10yrs old? And they keep pushing me to switch over to one of the new "unlimited" plans, since I'm on an old 5GB/mo plan. So why don't I switch?

Mainly because I don't normally use more than 5GB/mo. Crazy in 2024, I know, but I'm usually at home on WiFi. And if I'm traveling, I'll try to stick to WiFi as much as possible, esp if I'm going to watch YouTube or something.

But then a couple years ago, I stumbled upon a special offer from my carrier that gives me 1000GB/mo for $10/mo. Oh, it also rolls over. So I basically always have 2000GB/mo. And I can use it for hotspot data for no additional cost (which I do). And it doesn't get deprioritized (unlike the "unlimited" data in the their newer plans, once I go over a certain point). As long as I don't change my base plan, I get to keep this add-on.

And even with that add-on, my bill is still $5-10 cheaper than the carrier's worst "unlimited" plan. I do lose out on two things: Ultrawideband/mmwave and no international coverage included. I don't care for the first thing and I don't travel abroad often enough that that's an issue. I still get 5G, just not the special 5G or whatever UWB/mmwave is.

Short of me losing 5G access or making the "unlimited" plans significantly cheaper, there's really nothing they can do to make me switch.

Time to push up my glasses and say "well akshually..."

I think they're saying that because Direct Action has a particular definition.

Direct action may include activities, often nonviolent but possibly violent, targeting people, groups, institutions, actions, or property that its participants deem objectionable. Nonviolent direct action may include civil disobedience, sit-ins, strikes, and counter-economics. Violent direct action may include political violence, assault, arson, sabotage, and property destruction.

So on one hand, they're right. Direct Action is not done at the ballot box. It's done in the streets.

But on the other...it doesn't matter. Just like most "well akshaully" statements!

Because people should do everything you've laid out, regardless. And don't forget to vote!

I have a lifetime subscription for Windscribe, so I've just been using that with no issues for years. I've recommended it to some other friends and they've been fine.

I also pay for Proton services, so I have ProtonVPN, but I've yet to try it for torrenting.

Oof, sorry to hear. Being sick is never great, but sore throats are definitely up there with the worst. Here's hoping the meds quickly do their thing and you start feeling better!

Thanks!

Like I get having a house and wanting/needing to fill it. Or seeing something that you've always wanted and buying it, even if you don't need it (for me, it's games on Steam). But this is ridiculous. It took 4 trips with moving trucks (a 26' [7.9m] and 15' [4.5m]), plus numerous trips with their SUV. Hopefully my parents, especially my mom, will start going through it all and either getting rid of old stuff or consolidating. They have at least one more move once they buy their "final house" -- god, that sounds morbid -- but I said if they have the same amount of stuff or more, that I won't help. It's just too much to move.

Though it's an empty threat: I'll still help them move 😒

I'm out of town to help my parents move. Oh my god, my mom has so much shit. Especially kitchen stuff. Yes, she cooks (and cooks very well), but it's not like she's a passionate chef or baker who's always cooking in her freetime, as like a hobby. Nor is she cooking to feed a family of 5. No, it's just her and my dad, and my younger brother (who's only just living at home temporarily again). My dad doesn't have nearly as much stuff.

It's boomer-level conspicuous consumption at it's worst.

On the plus side, it's my birthday today (as of this post). 37yo. What a weird age to be. It feels like no-man's land. Gonna fly to San Diego for a few days to celebrate and enjoy. Off the rest of the week to do that. Rarely do the whole "birthday week" thing, but I needed a vacation.

You gotta 'baptize' that sucker at some point!

The handegg team from my city won! I don't watch much football, but it actually was a decent, nailbiter of a game. Watched it with my friends online, so that was fun.

On Friday, I was a little peeved with my HR/Payroll person. They switched some tax withholding stuff around for some of us, which isn't a huge deal, but only because I and affected coworkers noticed it now. Like it was working fine as it was. There really was no reason to change things, especially like this. Oh well, I think I got it fixed. Should be good going forward.

Related, but separate, I reached out to my contacts at a place where I've been tentatively hired. The processing is taking forever. Partly because of my laziness, but mostly because I need a security clearance and that takes forever; several months now. I've been getting a little antsy since I hadn't heard anything in over a month. Was my stuff still being processed? Did I not get my clearance and they just didn't tell me? Was the offer still valid? One contact didn't respond at all which didn't help. But the other did and he said everything has been submitted to the proper department for review, and that he hoped to hear something back this week. Even though it was just a status update and technically nothing has changed, it was still a relief to hear that.

Later this week I'm going to go visit my parents and help them move. Then after that it's my birthday. For that, my brother and I are going on a trip to San Diego for like 3-4 days. Haven't been there since I was a kid, so excited to see what it's like as an adult. Should be a good time.

And because of that .tk ccTLD is completely disreputable now. Everyone and their mother had one back in the day, which included all the spammers/phishers and their mothers. Now no one trusts .tk domains. Or at least they shouldn't!

Maybe you're a Demisexual. For me, I can experience initial sexual attraction to people, but I never act on it. But my actual relationships have been similar to you: I knew them first as acquaintances/friends, we'd hang out, then I'd develop an attraction. My longest relationship was that way. We were simply friends for some months. Well, she liked me as I found out later, but I didn't pick up on it (typical guy). Wasn't until one evening we were hanging out a restaurant just chitchatting, enjoying each other's company, that I also noticed how attractive she was and started letting my mind wander to the possibilities. And I had a GF at the time! And that relationship developed a similar way, too.

We'll never get rid of these bigots. They've always existed. But at least they stayed away from library and school boards and other governance positions back then. Let's hope they keep doing that going forward.

What is going on with Honda? Seems like once a month for the last several months, I'm hearing about a new recall with their cars. Or am I just seeing the same news being reported over and over?

I like Honda, I have a newish Honda, and it's my second or third. "Luckily" only one of these recent recalls applies to my car. But damn, seems like quality is slipping.

If you're curious if a recall applies to your vehicles, and you're in the US, visit https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls. Just need a VIN and it'll tell you what recalls are in effect.

There are some instances still up, but I think the assumption is that eventually all of them will shutdown with time. I don't know the exact reason for it (you can read more here), but something was changed on Twitter's side that will end all of these.

Next you're gonna tell me their hit album was called "Tabthamping" instead of "Tubthumping!" Where does it end?!

Honestly though, I thought the same!

Yeah, I never understood that either. He was the president of South Africa from 1994-1999. Yes, he kept a lower profile in the 2000s, but I remember even as a kid/teen seeing articles and photos of him in the news. Bizarre.

Now the Berenstain Bears one, I understand. At the same time, I just chalk that up to spelling. For what reason would I need to know how to spell "Berenstain?"

My first name is already uncommon, or even rare. At least in the US; it might be more common in Europe, though still probably uncommon there.

But I always liked the name "Hiram." Not just uncommon, old-timey as well.

When my brother and I lived together, we definitely texted each other, either via text or Discord. When we only lived in a 2bdr apartment. If we were in each of our rooms, with the doors open, we could easily just talk really loudly if we wanted to. But we typically had headsets on.

If I'm visiting my family, if there's something I want to show them on the computer, I'll often just drop it into our family Discord. Easier that way.

But if it's not being developed (that's my assumption as I haven't touched WordPad in many, many years) and not many people are using it (again, I'm assuming based on my own personal experiences and those in the workplace), what's wrong with removing a legacy system?

People complain all the time about Microsoft retaining legacy systems, often seemingly detrimentally, so here it is, an opportunity to remove a legacy system, but now it's bad?

I get that not everyone has Word. But Word isn't as paywalled as it once was. There's the web version of Word, that's free to use with a free Microsoft account. There's Google Docs, also free with a gmail account. And there's of course OpenOffice and LibreOffice, obviously free. So users have options for word processing that are better than WordPad.

While I have my W-2 and a bunch of 1099s and 1098s from various banks, I'm still waiting on a few more things. But yeah, definitely silly that I have to gather these forms, tabulate them in the 1040, and technically send them off to the IRS, when these banks have also filed these with the government already. Electronic filing or not, it's annoying. It doesn't take me long to do my taxes, maybe like 1-2hrs (and admittedly I use H&R Block via the IRS' Free File program), but still. So stupid.

The IRS is trialing a "Direct File" system this year, but it's not open to everyone. Hopefully that turns out alright. I know that still requires people to file in the first place, but I still think it'll eventually get us to a point where the government "files for us" and we simply confirm the amounts. Anything that removes the influence of the proprietary tax software companies is a plus in my book.