The even randomer thread

[LTS]

3 hours ago, N S said:

The beans should only be ground as needed.

I never grind until I need them.  I'll just need to figure out how to grind them more.  I think I have a plan to try it.

[josie]

Took today off and painted a quick one of Shannon Szabados. 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Day 3.

I read somewhere that nicotine is processed out of your body in 3 days.  Not sure if that is true, but they say that the cravings disipate after 3 days.  There was only once that they were bad ... yesterday morning.  So, I feel pretty good about this, but know that last time I quit it lasted 20 years and then I went back to it.  So, I'm not thinking that I am out of the woods yet.

MORE COFFEE!!

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Also, I want to thank you all for the support.  It has helped a lot.

[josie]

Kind of dark but, two friends of mine have lost friends/family in separate incidents this weekend on the road. Drive safe and put down the phone. 

[darksabre]

12 minutes ago, N S said:

Also, I want to thank you all for the support.  It has helped a lot.

Keep up the good work man! 

12 minutes ago, josie said:

Kind of dark but, two friends of mine have lost friends/family in separate incidents this weekend on the road. Drive safe and put down the phone. 

I don't even know what to say to Mitch. How do you "sorry for your loss" when it's 20 people? 

[Eleven]

27 minutes ago, darksabre said:

Keep up the good work man! 

I don't even know what to say to Mitch. How do you "sorry for your loss" when it's 20 people? 

I take it that he had friends in the Albany-area limo?  That's really rough.  My suggestion is to give him a call and let him vent, and then take him out for lunch in a week or so if you can.

[Eleven]

On 10/5/2018 at 6:23 PM, North Buffalo said:

It’s an ER doc giving a warning to the trust fund classes.  God, I see enough of it in the ER.  The denial of the parents then seeing them break down down as they realize that their son or daughter is in a real dangerous spot.  Its heart breaking too because non of their money can save their kid at that moment.

I have a friend who was one of those kids.  He suffered a serious injury in high school, was prescribed opiates because doctors foolishly use them as a first-line pain management option, and became addicted.  Heroin followed.  He's in seminary now.  He certainly has changed his path.  

[WildCard]

Why is Columbus day a holiday?

[SwampD]

1 hour ago, N S said:

Day 3.

I read somewhere that nicotine is processed out of your body in 3 days.  Not sure if that is true, but they say that the cravings disipate after 3 days.  There was only once that they were bad ... yesterday morning.  So, I feel pretty good about this, but know that last time I quit it lasted 20 years and then I went back to it.  So, I'm not thinking that I am out of the woods yet.

MORE COFFEE!!

Keep it up!

The physical cravings are gone after that, but the psychological cravings last a little longer. The hardest part for me was convincing myself that I was no longer a smoker. Notice I didn't say that I no longer smoked. For some reason, that distinction was important for me. 

Good luck.

[North Buffalo]

1 hour ago, Eleven said:

I have a friend who was one of those kids.  He suffered a serious injury in high school, was prescribed opiates because doctors foolishly use them as a first-line pain management option, and became addicted.  Heroin followed.  He's in seminary now.  He certainly has changed his path.  

Unfortunately my brother was one of those kids though more the intellectusl crowd.  Help wasnt readily available, though a couple of rehabs and group home didnt take.  He died of AIDs due to his drug addiction at age 36.  My folks were heart broken and ps addiction doesnt discriminate.

Edited October 8, 2018 by North Buffalo

[Sabres Fan in NS]

1 hour ago, SwampD said:

Keep it up!

The physical cravings are gone after that, but the psychological cravings last a little longer. The hardest part for me was convincing myself that I was no longer a smoker. Notice I didn't say that I no longer smoked. For some reason, that distinction was important for me. 

Good luck.

Thanks.

And I agree with you that the distiction you outlined above is important.  I think that any smoker / ex-smoker would tend to agree.

+++++

Lots of heavy stuff in this thread today.

[Eleven]

25 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

Unfortunately my brother was one of those kids though more the intellectusl crowd.  Help wasnt readily available, though a couple of rehabs and group home didnt take.  He died of AIDs due to his drug addiction at age 36.  My folks were heart broken and ps addiction doesnt discriminate.

Ugh I'm so sorry.

[josie]

34 minutes ago, North Buffalo said:

Unfortunately my brother was one of those kids though more the intellectusl crowd.  Help wasnt readily available, though a couple of rehabs and group home didnt take.  He died of AIDs due to his drug addiction at age 36.  My folks were heart broken and ps addiction doesnt discriminate.

God that's so awful. I'm so sorry.

 

14 minutes ago, N S said:

Thanks.

And I agree with you that the distiction you outlined above is important.  I think that any smoker / ex-smoker would tend to agree.

+++++

Lots of heavy stuff in this thread today.

There have been so many deaths affecting my coworkers lately- there's just this pall of sadness hanging around the office. Seems like everywhere I turn right now, there's another tragedy.

So whatever astrological phenomenon random planet in another one's house BS that's going on, knock it off, eh?

[North Buffalo]

16 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Ugh I'm so sorry.

Been awhile so TY but unfortunately mental health/drug addiction strategies understanding was just in its infancy, programs have come a long way and still have a long way to go. But a least they are not being shoved under the rug like they once were.  It gives me hope..

Edited October 8, 2018 by North Buffalo

[Sabres Fan in NS]

Day 4 ...

[biodork]

?

[Winston]

10 hours ago, N S said:

Day 4 ...

Keep it up! 

Totally random but related question- do you abstain from smoking during fasting hours of Ramadan? I feel like I’ve heard it go both ways, and Google is indecisive on the matter. If yes, I imagine that could be very tough, but could also help prepare you for this ? 

[North Buffalo]

On 10/8/2018 at 10:14 AM, N S said:

Day 3.

I read somewhere that nicotine is processed out of your body in 3 days.  Not sure if that is true, but they say that the cravings disipate after 3 days.  There was only once that they were bad ... yesterday morning.  So, I feel pretty good about this, but know that last time I quit it lasted 20 years and then I went back to it.  So, I'm not thinking that I am out of the woods yet.

MORE COFFEE!!

3 weeks is better, 3 months you hardly feel cravings anymore.  Drink coffee, water and knaw on hard candy... it helps

[Marions Piazza]

Last week we found out from some friends on our street that their son, along with several others on the street have been vicitmized by another boy.  Two kids have come forward so far and CPS and the police are involved and investigating.  Supposedly, there are more victims than the two that have come forward but they haven't said anything yet.  The kid who has been identified is 12 and his 'victims' have been younger.

3 families including our friends (house on the market already) have already made plans to move and my wife and i are considering it ourselves since we have an almost 5 year son and 9 month old daughter.  Are we jumping the gun here? being unreasonable in anyway?  I mean nothing has been proven yet, but, we have been very good friends with the one family and we believe them.  this is one of the hardest situations i have ever been in, protecting my children is #1 in my life, but the financial stress it will cause is high as well since housing prices have gone up quite a bit since we built ours, but, can you really put a price on the safety of your kids?  my wife asked "what happens if we uproot and move only to move into another neighborhood where this could also be happening?" chances of that are slim i would think, but, you never know

[LTS]

4 minutes ago, Marions Piazza said:

Last week we found out from some friends on our street that their son, along with several others on the street have been vicitmized by another boy.  Two kids have come forward so far and CPS and the police are involved and investigating.  Supposedly, there are more victims than the two that have come forward but they haven't said anything yet.  The kid who has been identified is 12 and his 'victims' have been younger.

3 families including our friends (house on the market already) have already made plans to move and my wife and i are considering it ourselves since we have an almost 5 year son and 9 month old daughter.  Are we jumping the gun here? being unreasonable in anyway?  I mean nothing has been proven yet, but, we have been very good friends with the one family and we believe them.  this is one of the hardest situations i have ever been in, protecting my children is #1 in my life, but the financial stress it will cause is high as well since housing prices have gone up quite a bit since we built ours, but, can you really put a price on the safety of your kids?  my wife asked "what happens if we uproot and move only to move into another neighborhood where this could also be happening?" chances of that are slim i would think, but, you never know

The logical move is to wait and see what becomes of this situation while watching over your children. At this point it seems to be known that there is an investigation into this particular child and that should lessen any chances of things happening, for now.

On the flip side, this is your children's safety and your mental well being that we are talking about and logical sometimes doesn't have a place. Your wife is correct in that it is possible and you are correct that you never know. The biggest thing to consider is whether you may be overly paranoid wherever you move because of what is transpiring in your neighborhood right now.

I think a good first step is at least doing your due diligence on what you could reasonably sell your house for and where you want to move and how much that will cost.  From there determine if it's more or less viable than you are comfortable with.  If it isn't something that isn't viable, what will it take to get there?

Removing emotion from it will be tough, but making a rash decision could cause you years of problems you don't want. For now, hopefully it is enough to just watch over your children in your current area and make sure they are safe while investigating your options.

I'd like to think I'd follow my own advice in this situation... but I can feel your struggle in my heart when I think about what if it happening in my neighborhood.

[darksabre]

8 hours ago, biodork said:

?

The under-bite is, to me, the key design element here. 

[Sabres Fan in NS]

7 hours ago, EichSnipe said:

Keep it up! 

Totally random but related question- do you abstain from smoking during fasting hours of Ramadan? I feel like I’ve heard it go both ways, and Google is indecisive on the matter. If yes, I imagine that could be very tough, but could also help prepare you for this ? 

Thank you.  Day #5 almost complete ... smoked my last at around noon on Friday.

Yes.  I do fast from smoking during Ramadan and I was going to try during Ramadan, but it actually proved harder than now.

Part of that was that Ramadan was 30 days, so it was hard for me to set an exact target date ... they say set a date and do it.  So, I picked my 54th birthday ... October 5th as the date and actually did that on Eid at the end of Ramadan.  That helped me.

7 hours ago, North Buffalo said:

3 weeks is better, 3 months you hardly feel cravings anymore.  Drink coffee, water and knaw on hard candy... it helps

Thanks.  Lots of coffee ... too much probably, but I'll worry about that later.

30 minutes ago, Marions Piazza said:

Last week we found out from some friends on our street that their son, along with several others on the street have been vicitmized by another boy.  Two kids have come forward so far and CPS and the police are involved and investigating.  Supposedly, there are more victims than the two that have come forward but they haven't said anything yet.  The kid who has been identified is 12 and his 'victims' have been younger.

3 families including our friends (house on the market already) have already made plans to move and my wife and i are considering it ourselves since we have an almost 5 year son and 9 month old daughter.  Are we jumping the gun here? being unreasonable in anyway?  I mean nothing has been proven yet, but, we have been very good friends with the one family and we believe them.  this is one of the hardest situations i have ever been in, protecting my children is #1 in my life, but the financial stress it will cause is high as well since housing prices have gone up quite a bit since we built ours, but, can you really put a price on the safety of your kids?  my wife asked "what happens if we uproot and move only to move into another neighborhood where this could also be happening?" chances of that are slim i would think, but, you never know

This is terrible.  Your children and your own sanity have to be the priority.

That said, it may be prudent to see how it plays out, at least for a bit of time, with the parents of the bully and him.  They may be very good about it and deal with it properly and get the family (there is almost always a family dynamic at play in these situations) and the bully the help they need.

Edited October 10, 2018 by N S

[shrader]

1 hour ago, N S said:

This is terrible.  Your children and your own sanity have to be the priority.

That said, it may be prudent to see how it plays out, at least for a bit of time, with the parents of the bully and him.  They may be very good about it and deal with it properly and get the family (there is almost always a family dynamic at play in these situations) and the bully the help they need.

This one looks to be a great example of why people need to be a little more descriptive when they label these situations as opposed to just saying victimized.  Maybe I'm off on this one, but I get a completely different read from what Marions posted to where this isn't a bullying situation.  If I'm wrong, good, because my read is something far worse.  Broad terms used to cover just about all bases (and your own ass, at least when it comes to news reports) lead to more confusion.

[Sabres Fan in NS]

13 minutes ago, shrader said:

This one looks to be a great example of why people need to be a little more descriptive when they label these situations as opposed to just saying victimized.  Maybe I'm off on this one, but I get a completely different read from what Marions posted to where this isn't a bullying situation.  If I'm wrong, good, because my read is something far worse.  Broad terms used to cover just about all bases (and your own ass, at least when it comes to news reports) lead to more confusion.

Oh, man.  When I read the OP and he said the kid was 12 I didn't think to go where you did.  I really hope that you are off base here, as you are corect ... that would be far worse.