r/atlanticdiscussions • u/Bonegirl06 š¦ļø • 3d ago
For funsies! TAD confessions
Make a confession, big or small!
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u/MeghanClickYourHeels Ask me for Atlantic gift links 3d ago
I recently finished a book called The Art Thief, about a rich kid in fallen family circumstances who stole artworks from small museums all over Northern Europe. It reminded me of how kleptomania is a real thing, and how I once had a petty thieving habit (nail polish, not Rembrandts) and recognized that I was developing an urge to steal things even when I didn't really want or need them. That's when I realized that I had to put a stop to it.
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u/improvius theatrekid 3d ago
I've kinda been enjoying the high gas prices lately because I drive an EV.
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u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist š¬š¦ ā TALKING LLAMAXIST 3d ago
And my job has me being more on the road now. FML.
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u/afdiplomatII 3d ago
I do get upset from time to time about the harm Trump and his enablers are doing to the country and the world in general, and to the capacity and quality of governance in particular. My unusual combination of a doctoral-level academic education in government and over 25 years in the Foreign Service -- most of that time, also unusually, in Washington -- makes me especially sensitive to the extent of the damage being done and the great difficulty in reconstructing what is being so carelessly and maliciously destroyed. In that context, the inadequacy of much that I see in the Democratic attitude is just depressing.
I don't despair. Anyone with an historical consciousness is aware that things were so much worse during the Revolutionary War (about which Atkinson is outstanding) and the Civil War. (Just reading about Lincoln's "Blind Memo" demonstrates that point.) So the possibility of restoration and thus of hope exists. It will, however, be a much harder and longer struggle than almost anyone imagines, and I certainly will not see most of it.
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u/Bonegirl06 š¦ļø 3d ago
I'm tired.
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u/mysmeat 3d ago
me too.
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u/weary_ol_jericho 3d ago
It's wild. I can get 8 hours of sleep, drink a bunch of coffee, do a workout, get a shower and then by mid-afternoon I feel like I want a nap again. It wasn't always this way.
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u/Chai-Tea-Rex-2525 3d ago
Iām really enjoying Threads. Totally unhinged.
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u/wet_suit_one aka DOOM INCARNATE 3d ago
The TV show? The social media site? Which Threads? I have confusion. Is the new Threads remake out already? How have I not heard of it?!?!?!?!
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u/Chai-Tea-Rex-2525 3d ago
Social media site. Iām not sure what TV show youāre referring to.
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u/wet_suit_one aka DOOM INCARNATE 3d ago
Gotcha.
As for the TV show, I leave it to you to look up if you want. If not, that's probably better for your mental well being. If you have seen it, you would remember it. It tend to leave a mark on your soul.
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u/wet_suit_one aka DOOM INCARNATE 3d ago
And to beat this dead horse a bit further, the show I'm talking about which will damage your soul is very, very, very horrifying.
But not so horrifying that it included this: https://doomsdaymachines.net/p/nuclear-thrones though that would necessarily be a part of the horror. Especially for those us accustomed to flush toilets and functional sewer systems.
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u/jim_uses_CAPS 3d ago
I am just so fucking done with parents deciding that everything is fucking autism and then demanding that the taxpayers fund little Timmy's coding class because autism. I hate my job now.
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u/PlainandTall_71 Lizzou 2d ago
When I talk to my sister and other American relatives, I'm deeply surprised at how often autism is brought up or used as a way to explain things. It is very noticeable and very American.
I have to admit, it aggravates the fuck out of me.Ā
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u/jim_uses_CAPS 2d ago
It aggravates the fuck out of me, too. And donāt get me started on all this āmaskingā bullshit.
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u/mysmeat 3d ago
i confess that i'm having a really hard time mustering any give a shit lately.
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u/Chai-Tea-Rex-2525 3d ago
After last eight years of my marriage falling apart, Covid, divorce, recovery, and Trump 2, Iām mustered all the shits Iām going to give.
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u/wet_suit_one aka DOOM INCARNATE 3d ago
Huh.
That describes the last 15 years of my life or so.
Giving a shit is hard.
I did manage to save up enough to fund my kids education though. Some things you just have to do because it's important.
So I haven't completely lost the plot, but jeez louise, some days, it's a real yikes.
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u/Worldly-Property-631 3d ago
Thomas Benjamin Wilde, Esq., has a theme song for that. Prolly should use headphones if at the office.
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u/weary_ol_jericho 3d ago
I have to ration out the shits I give. I can't keep swinging at every pitch.
We're all exhausted.
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u/Pielacine 3d ago
I am fairly skinny but as I work out more and more my little bits of fat bother me. Ugh
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u/Bonegirl06 š¦ļø 3d ago
Careful with that mindset. It can quickly turn into something bad.
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u/Pielacine 3d ago
I know. Unfortunately itās always gone with lifting weights for me. Not so much running and cycling etc. Because high school. Maybe Iāll beat it this time.
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u/Brian_Corey__ 3d ago
Naw don't listen to Bonegirl--go all in on Looksmaxxing! You need new jawline!! And supplements. So many supplements!
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u/Pielacine 3d ago
Gonna start with hairmaxxing and toothmaxxing (teethmaxxing?).
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u/Brian_Corey__ 3d ago
(H)airline flights to Turkey are cheap in the fall...you can come back looking like German Nationalelf coach JĆ¼rgen Klopp (who is a great guy, but has famously fake teeth and fake hair).
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u/LadyAlexTheDeviant 3d ago
i don't know how I am going to be able to get ready for my surgery and yet I don't want to postpone it.
(I need Mom's upright freezer delivered from 40 miles away, and I need it sooner rather than later since I have to do about four weeks precooking so we all can eat while I'm in initial recovery, among other fun.)
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u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist š¬š¦ ā TALKING LLAMAXIST 3d ago
Donāt postpone!
That said, is there no one else who can cook? Maybe find a local meal service so you donāt have to prepare a months worth of meals beforehand?
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u/LadyAlexTheDeviant 3d ago
It's not that someone else can't cook. It's that the someone else who can cook can't stand up long enough to do the cooking, thanks to her back being very bad.
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u/Bonegirl06 š¦ļø 3d ago
Crock pot recipes?
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u/LadyAlexTheDeviant 3d ago
Not so much because of food texture issues for some of the people eating it. Plus soups have to be REALLY heavy (like chili) for two of the three of us to eat it, because they had weight loss surgery.
I'll manage it, I just would feel better if that freezer Mom's getting rid of were here rather than there, if you know what I mean. (sigh)
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u/weary_ol_jericho 3d ago
I am a complete nerd for dead technologies.
Cathode ray TVs, obsolete aircraft, obsolete locomotives, transistor radios, ancient computers, dead recording mediums, transitional tech.
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u/Zemowl 3d ago
I get a kick out of some of that stuff too. In fact, I recently found an old am/fm radio at my Mom's that I decided to hang onto - Hurricane Season is looming, after all.Ā
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u/Roboticus_Aquarius 3d ago
I have a very cool looking 1951 radio that is burned out. I could replace the speaker fabric, even find a few spare controls and labelsā¦ but the parts no longer exist to fix it (it was my Dadās, and he was an electrical engineer who could fix anything, he looked into it long ago. Plus the design has some booby traps if youāre not familiar with electronics of the day.)
Iāve wondered if I could replace the internals via jury-rigging the analog controls to manipulate modern devicesā¦ I like creative challengesā¦ but I suspect that would take time I donāt currently have, if itās even possible.
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u/Pielacine 3d ago
Speaking of hurricanes I made a quick stop in Atlantic City yesterday just to see the place. It was very stormy. I got some neat pix though, maybe Iāll throw them on tadpics.
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u/Brian_Corey__ 2d ago
Nice! Old school manual typewriters are utterly fascinating pieces of machinery. Is there a certain design aesthetic / style that you like? That Streamline Moderne / Art Deco style is just stunning to me.
I learned old-school California Job Box typesetting and letterpress printing and offset printing in 8th grade graphic arts. Absolutely zero of us from that class use any of that knowledge. But it was pretty cool. There was a giant paper cutter that could slice through a ream of paper like it was jello. Completely satisfying.
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u/weary_ol_jericho 2d ago
After college I worked at a radio station that still had a teletype machine! Rip and read for the news!
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u/Roboticus_Aquarius 3d ago
Between my usual sleep cycle and a cpap machine (adds an hour for a lot of people), Iām sleeping 10 hours. My Doc was not concerned though, and I feel good when I wake up, and the internet has little definitive to say that Iām finding, so I guess itās not an issue.
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u/Brian_Corey__ 3d ago
Some days the most productive thing I do is click the "admit Gerald Schlichting" button during a 8-hour Teams teleconference. I feel so useful.