MTG Salvation

Yes, its possible to waste time "having fun", though its difficult to define exactly where to draw the line, though maybe discussing it here could help define some of the ideas more clearly.

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You have a finite time on this earth... and the closer you get to the end of it, the more you desperately wish you had more of it. So its a shame to "Kill time" between the "highlights"... it reminds me of that Adam Sandler movie where he finds a remote that lets him fast forward through life.

I went through a period of my life where I found tons of ways to "kill time", by playing videogames and watching movies, just to get through the lonely or boring parts... and really its a shame to waste time that way.

Fill your time with cultivating relationships or cultivating yourself, so that you will GO places and make the highlights that much HIGHER and BETTER.

Killing hours and hours doing nothing just leaves a bad taste in your mouth, and choosing it as any kind of lifestyle is no different than TRAINSPOTTING.

It's ridiculous. Practically every item on Target.com has near perfect reviews, including products that get 1,2, and 3 star reviews on Amazon.com.

It makes their review system practically worthless.

Not only that, but I just reviewed a screwed product they sell on their website, and they promptly removed my 1 star review.

They sell a Graco stroller - carseat combination box (exclusive to target) where the carset attaches to the cupholder tray instead of a metal bar.

Most graco strollers you'd use with a carseat have a metal bar that is horizontal and the carseat latches onto, and then higher up there are two little shelves that the carseat rests on so there is virtually no "play" between the carseat and stroller after you attach the two little black elastic "hooks" into the notches.

This cupholder on this particular graco stroller that the carseat attaches to is horizontal, but asymmetric because of the cupholder goes straight down into the tray, but the other "wide bowl" side dips very shallow and at an angle, so the carseat cannot sit level on top of it. Absolutely no way does it sit level. It simply wobbles with at least 1 inch of play, no matter how tight you latch it down with the black elastics up top. Its further exacerbated by the fact that there are no "shelves" or anything else on the main bars of the stroller for the carseat to rest on. The lip on each side of the stroller just rests on a 45 degree angle bar of the stroller, and slides back and forth, there is no natural resting point, the carseat simply slides back and forth a good couple of inches because of the "play". As a result, even with the black elastic fasteners slid down or up or anywhere, the carseat has a tremendous amount of "play between it and the stroller.

the instructions clearly show it attached exactly where I'm describing and its just unsafe and just not confidence-inducing to attach a carseat to a flimsy plastic tray which is snapped to the stroller frame, and which the carseat will not even sit level on.




I wrote a review on this on target.com, and it was shortly removed from their reviews. No explanation, no email from target explaining it. They just removed the review.

I think they virtually all dope, 1st to last.

But who ultimately knows. Without proof, I will not convict Lance Armstrong, and as far as the issue of whether he "officially" has those tour wins, I could not give a crap either way.

Armstrong raised $470 million for cancer research, started the "live strong" band thing that has been used to raise billions worldwide for everything from breast cancer to stopping bullies to AIDS research.

The idea that he may have cheated to win some sports contests is very small potatoes to me. It's not a felony in any jurisdiction that I care about

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On the "moral wrongs" scale, cheating to win a sports event falls way, way below... Drunk driving.

Its actually staggering what this backwards piece of crap really believes, based on what he clearly said, and intended to say. Where he got this idea is utterly beyond me:

"If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.... But let's assume that maybe that didn't work or something. You know I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist and not attacking the child."

Its really just an even STUPIDER version of the "if she really didn't want to be raped, she would have fought harder" attitude. Blame the victim. Yeah, she's crying in a corner, but if she didn't want it, she would have stopped me.

He's basically saying to women that got pregnant through rape: Clearly if you had actually hated the rape 100%, you would have used your female mechanisms to 'shut the whole thing down'. The fact that you're pregnant proves you enjoyed it, at least a little bit.

NON-"legitimate rape" is just code for "she enjoyed it".

This loathsome POS is too stupid and ignorant to stay a Senator. HE NEEDS TO GO AWAY. I would not be shocked if this scumbag has date-raped women before in college when he was younger and left some woman crying and upset, and this is his cognitive construction that rationalizes that his actions were consensual.

The whole mindset STINKS of rationalization for personal loathsome behaviors.

Quote from ljossberrir »

The only reason I could see to be more concerned with unemployment around you rather than unemployment abroad is because I suppose it lessens the likelihood that someone desperate is going to mug you.

You say that like its a small thing... but it's actually something that I long ago concluded as a HUGE thing.

You don't want the people who live nearby to be poor and desperate and unemployed. It WILL drag you down. It WILL cost you tax dollars.

Somebody in the world has to do the dirty textile work, and somebody has to do white collar office jobs... but I sure as heck prefer it if the ones doing the white collar jobs are the ones that live down the street from me, not the sweatshop laborers whose cousins are unemployed and considering kidnapping a rich businessman for ransom, a la the Phillipines or Mexico.

Globalization putting "lower middle class jobs" into India instead of the US is only good if my neighbors who lost their jobs to that can find some other equally decent paying work.

Bringing UP the slums of India at the expense of bringing DOWN the poor neighborhoods of Northern VA. is terrible for anybody living in Northern VA. Both from a practical standpoint (crime, property values, keeping wealth in the country), this is a no brainer.

It always shocks me when some people don't realize that spending local dollars and supporting local jobs is important for your own well being and safety and security. To us Confucians its a no brainer.

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The question isn't whether it should factor into your buying decisions. The question is HOW MUCH it should factor into your buying decisions. For me as a consumer, I will buy to support American jobs if it is not a HUGE financial burden on me, and if the American made product is within a decent ballpark.

OF course, for corporations, the decision is very different, because margins are tight, and NOT using cheaper foreign labor just means you GO OUT OF BUSINESS against companies that don't give a **** about supporting local labor.

But for consumer buying decisions, it factors in.

Quote from JaceTheWalletShredder

And, I DID do the dish stacking once in a restaurant. It took 45 minutes to make a tower that no member of the wait staff or the management took the time to investigate. So, I don't feel bad about what I did at all. If I sit there waiting for someone to stumble across my table for over 45 minutes, they aren't paying enough attention to their business to deserve my money. And, no, I never went back, either. The place closed down a couple of weeks later for bad service. Seems I wasn't the only one that was unimpressed with their business practices.

You want words? Bring em.

Um... uhkay. If that's the way you want this to go.

At the restaurant in question, firstly, it was a steak house. On their menu was Filet Mignon. My wife LOVES Filet, and, it was her birthday.

She ordered her Filet medium rare. When it arrived, it was butterflied (cut almost in half so that it was more like two thin pieces of meat instead of one thick one) and was cooked nearly to charcoal. It was atrocious. The waitress practically slung the plate onto the table (vegetables spilled off of it and into my wife's lap) and then left the area IMMEDIATELY. I tried several times to get her attention as she walked by, and she ignored us.

I tried to get the manager's attention, and she said she had to do something and would be right back. She disappeared into the kitchen for over 1/2 hour, and then went outside and smoked a cigarette (less than 25 feet from the front door, in violation of local ordinances). So, yeah, the service was abyssmal.

Sorry to hear that.

I don't see how stacking plates for 45 minutes really helped make your wife's birthday better.

The whole 45 minutes of stacking plates (45 minutes divided by 5 minutes a plate comes to what, 9 plates?) thing just sounds passive aggressive.

I would have just grabbed the manager, insist we're leaving, settle up with a disputed bill (and clearly label it on the receipt) on my VISA, and leave.

Butterflying a filet is something one does only when TRYING to get it well done, and it sounds like an order was well done, so it was a messed up order if you ordered it rare.

I don't know why a stranger would deliberately get your order wrong and single out your wife to throw vegetables on.

But since I wasn't there, I guess I'll take your word for it that your original (a) "If I am getting horrible service, I will set a dish in the center of the table. Every 5minutes that I am not taken care of, I will add a dish, until everything is in one stack, at which time I will put a napkin in the top dish/glass/cup. 5 minutes later, it gets set on fire, and I walk out of the establishment. " story was ACTUALLY a (b) "I took my wife out at a steakhouse for her birthday and they poured vegetables on her and threw a and burnt steak at her, even though I know I ordered it rare, and the manager & waitress kept dodging me until the only option left to me was building a giant pile of plates and light a fire. One of the few times in my life I got bad service" story.

It was one of the few times I have had bad service, but I don't regret letting them know how displeased I was. I generally get good service, too, and, as I said, I pay well for it. But, when they screw up my wife's birthday, and don't even make any attempt to make it right...yeah, I get really pissed.

Your earlier post sure doesn't sound like a person who has gotten bad service only a "FEW times".

number of things go into my determination of a tip amount:

The speed of service
My glass NEVER gets empty
Pleasant conversation, menu recommendations
Smile
How large my group is
How long we stay.

If a server lets my glass get empty, frankly, unless the place is balls to the wall busy, they probably aren't going to get a tip at all. If they are unpleasant, they won't get a tip, either, and will probably get a complaint instead. If I am in a group that is using the restaurant as a meeting place and we are all there for an extended time, and the service is very good, I will ensure to suggest everyone put a tip in before leaving, and I will do my best to make sure it is really good.

If I am getting horrible service, I will set a dish in the center of the table. Every 5minutes that I am not taken care of, I will add a dish, until everything is in one stack, at which time I will put a napkin in the top dish/glass/cup. 5 minutes later, it gets set on fire, and I walk out of the establishment.

It sounds like somebody complaining about the multitude of ways in which their service has been bad before, justifying not having given tips for those occasions, and advising people what to do if they ever get service as bad as you've gotten.

You basically started with "I don't tip AT ALL when they forget to refill my water glass" and now you're telling me "I'm no complainer. I usually get good service. But how can I tip when my wife got food thrown on her? On her BIRTHday!!!"

Why do you need it?

Do you need a realistic looking one to hide your identity that looks realistic to fairly close up observation, or do you just a relatively obvious fake for comedic effect or for a stage show type deal?

Or is this part of a fake mustache wedding party?

http://offbeatbride.com/2008/10/wedding-mustaches


Here's how To make your own:

http://www.marthastewart.com/265827/mustache-on-a-stick

Just skip the stick and glue it on your face with "spirit gum". Don't use crazy glue or any stupid permanent adhesive.

Quote from Jay13x

I should also be clear here - Brian was going to be best man at my wedding, and I was going to be best man at his. Which complicates things a bit - it isn't just about attending their wedding.

I do appreciate the advice, and I am seriously considering it, considering it is the same reaction I've gotten from everyone I've told.

Dude, get another best man. Do NOT have this woman or this dude at your wedding bringing down your day.

It may be a decision that makes you feel a little bad, but it's a ****ing NO BRAINER, EASY CHOICE. Do not have your wife have to put up with potential drama on her wedding.

There is clearly just no way to trust Laura on any level and you can't have her (and therefore him) within 10 miles of your wedding.

Seriously, I've read both threads, and seriously: **** them both. I would definitely wash my hands of them, and better yet, I'd do it by email to, rather than give them the respect of a face to face.

I'd CC: both of them on the email, lay out the whole situation as I see it (including going very deep, ugly, and TRUTHFUL on her alcholic loser drama and family, which is the real source of all this, and tell her straight up, that she shouldn't be blaming YOU because her loser parents don't love her enough to get their **** together, and that she's obviously headed down the same road, dragging your former best friend with her. Avoid exaggerating too. Just tell the both the EXACT truth).

Just as she is playing games with you, deliberately ****ing up your wedding (and there is no other interpretation, it was on purpose, it was petty, and it was quite IN CHARACTER).

You have an obligation to your own fiance, just as your former best friend has to his, and you are not going to ruin YOUR wife's because his fiance has issues.

That ***** hates your guts, and you've done everything possible to fix it, and she's slapped you AND YOUR WIFE in your face. Much of this is your best friend's fault in not setting limits on her, and frankly he's enabling her behavior terribly, and he's committed to hell with her, so let him burn.

I had a good friend and he got married to an absolute **** too (which I recognized, but she didn't actively rub the the wrong way that much, though I recognized she was bad). ***** didn't get along with my wife, and I initially made a few excuses for her and my friend, and asked my wife to be accommodating... but after a while, I thought about it and realized that my wife probably already WAS being accommodating and big about things and the fact that she was even mentioning it meant that it was much worse for her than she was saying... also I thought more about it and decided for myself that I shouldn't put my wife in the position that she has to bend for people like that. So I just passively ditched my former friend and his horrible wife for about a year, until that whole marriage imploded, and now that friend is back.

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He's MARRYING the girl. Better for YOU and better for HIM if you cut it off clean, at this point, and your letter accomplishes two things well (1) You get to give it to her both barrels, and let her and your former best friend know what you really think (2) it lets them start clean, letting them pretend that YOU are the "badguy" in this drama, and that would be fine with me.

Like it or not, she is linked to him now and they're supposed to be #1 to each other. If their marriage has any chance, he can't have torn loyalties, or a best friend that his wife hates.

And again, your own fiance may let this go, and be accommodating, but you owe it to her to stand up FOR HER. Don't even put her in the position of having to give up her honeymoon. YOU PROACTIVELY protect her honeymoon from that ****ing **** and your spineless ex best friend. You love your fiance? Well treat her like she's #1. She's the victim getting screwed. Its HER wedding and honeymoon.

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And this may all sound like just pure anger talking, but its not (the only part thats excessive is my suggesting that you call out her alcoholic loser family in detail, so you might consider dialing that part back just al ittle). Your friend needs to try to make things work with his wife. He could have made an attempt to make it work for both of you, but he's apparently USELESS.

Quote from actionandy

I turn into Magua when I smell cilantro. I will have him under the knife, and I will put his children under the knife so that he will know his seed is gone from the earth forever.

Would Magua use the ways of le Francais and the Yengheese? Would you? Would the Huron make his Algonquin brothers foolish with brandy and steal his land to sell them for gold to the white man? Would Huron have greed for more land than a man could use? Would Huron fool Seneca into taking all the furs of all the animals of the forest for beads and strong whiskey? Would the Huron kill every man, woman, and child of their enemy? Those are the ways of the Yengheese and the Francais traders and their masters in Europe infected with the sickness of greed. Magua's heart is twisted. He would make himself into what twisted him. I am Nathaniel of the Yengheese, Hawkeye, adopted son of Chingachgook of the Mohican people. Let the children of the dead Colonel Munro and the Yengheese officer go free. This belt, which is a record of the days of my father's people, speaks for my truth.

I love that movie. And I like cilantro... though it makes my tummy grumbly.

Do you hate salsa if it has a tiny bit of cilantro in it? Or a tiny bit in pho?

Quote from Observer_DK

argh, I gotta go with Star Wars. You just can't beat lightsabers.
Star Trek is awesome as well, and I guess has a wider appeal.
But Darth Vader, the Death Star and did I mention lightsabers, that has to be number one.

Star trek doesn't have nearly as wide appeal as star wars.

The highest grossing PG movie ever is The Phantom Menace.

The thing I don't like about star wars is that there's only a small number of iconic images that the franchise revolves around and the rest of it is very average.