totm nov 2023 Thread to discuss negative things in a very general way, just see where it goes y'know?

[TheSaint]

18 minutes ago, DarkOwl57 said:

So I've been feeling kinda down-ish lately. Nothing too bad, just a bit tired, not interested in very much, etc. This started about a month or so ago, and I just assumed that it would just pass. "Ah, I just didn't get enough sleep," I thought to myself. Well, it's not.

I've found myself set off by the easiest of things, especially on Discord- the live chat messaging site I've frequented pretty much every day for the last 2-3 years. A simple joke, a sarcastic comment- I just lose it. I've been alienating my good friends and ignoring everyone else. Track started this last week, and I was looking forward to it for easily 3 months. Now, though, I've just got this "Why am I even bothering" attitude of my favorite sport in the world. My granddad (my favorite relative ever) got diagnosed with cancer a couple years ago, and he's apparently slipped in the last month or two. I heard yesterday that he's been moved to an "Assisted Living" home, and I felt like I was crushed for some reason. I know he's not dead, but for whatever reason that news just crushed me.

It all kinda just bubbled over yesterday. I was sitting at home, watching TV, and then I felt like I got crushed like a soda can. I missed my girlfriend (We celebrated 17 months together yesterday), I felt like a failure, and I just wanted to curl up into a ball and cry like a little kid. This morning, I took a couple online tests, and though I don't take much stake in what the internet says, I think that it might be right: Evidence of "severe" depression, Anxiety, and Bipolar Disorder according to a couple different tests. Go me I guess...

I wouldn't trust Internet tests to diagnose anything. I'm pretty sure we all had days like you described when we were your age. But if you're feeling depressed, go talk to someone. In real life. Parent, teacher, coach, pastor, someone. Sometimes just talking it through with someone helps a lot.

3 minutes ago, StrandedonEarth said:

Touche. It "only"  cost me ~$1500 CAD, which is a hefty chunk for me right now. And I don't think I'll get that back from my employer's benefit plan

I'll bet. How's the wife's job search going?

[kerbiloid]

It's very good that the Utah physicists were so well-mannered people that "Oh My God!" were the first words occured to them...

[TheSaint]

Just now, kerbiloid said:

It's very good that the Utah physicists were so well-mannered people that "Oh My God!" were the first words occured to them...

Maybe they weren't, but their bosses said, "Dude, we can't publish that."

[StrandedonEarth]

10 minutes ago, TheSaint said:

I'll bet. How's the wife's job search going?

She's finishing up her practicum for her Education Assistant certificate, and everyone at the school she's at thinks she's fantastic. It helps that she already has her Early Childhood Educator certificate, and has been a daycare teacher for the last ten years or so. She was trained in that by the "old guard" that believed in doing what is best for the children. But as the government has been putting more money into daycares, the focus has shifted towards what's best for the daycare, and my wife has clashed against that philosophy and wanted out.

She has already gotten a foot in the door as a casual, temporary (for the school year) lunchtime "Supervision Assistant,"  and used those contacts to get her practicum at the same school. Her ECE training has made her a godsend to the K-2 teachers. So with those references, she's practically a lock to get a "Casual" EA position. But to get benefits, she has to win a Permanent position, for which competition is understandably fierce. But her ECE is a huge asset, and the school she's at wants her there, so it *should* just be a matter of jumping through all the hoops once a permanent position is posted; once the principal gets funding for another EA or an older "EA" (who often don't have certificates; they were grandfathered in from before an EA ticket was actually required) retires.

[richfiles]

I have a digital clock with a pair of alarms that operate a 120 volt relay switched outlet.
It's a useful little gadget, for if I need to run something for a limited time unattended.
the problem, is that I have to preemptively calculate how long it should run... every 5 hours, it gains a full extra hour!
I started it at 7am this morning, and it now shows 1pm, while my functioning clocks say noon!

It'd be nice if it... well, you know, could also keep time. 

Edited February 24, 2020 by richfiles

[TheSaint]

23 minutes ago, richfiles said:

I have a digital clock with a pair of alarms that operate a 120 volt relay switched outlet.
It's a useful little gadget, for if I need to run something for a limited time unattended.
the problem, is that I have to preemptively calculate how long it should run... every 5 hours, it gains a full extra hour!
I started it at 7am this morning, and it now shows 1pm, while my functioning clocks say noon!

It'd be nice if it... well, you know, could also keep time. 

Christmas light timers. They run like rocks, and they're dirt cheap.

[Dirkidirk]

no

Edited February 28, 2020 by Dirkidirk
no

[LittleBitMore]

I now have 4 less friends at my school, adding up to a grand total of 0.

Edited February 26, 2020 by LittleBitMore
Fixed mobile autocorrect.

[DunaManiac]

20 hours ago, LittleBitMore said:

I now have 4 less friends at my school, adding up to a grand total of 0.

Don't worry, I've had 0 friends for a while.

Or maybe it's because I have extremely rigorous standards of who I call a "friend".

[Dirkidirk]

21 hours ago, LittleBitMore said:

I now have 4 less friends at my school, adding up to a grand total of 0.

that's sad, now i'm sad. 

[p1t1o]

22 hours ago, LittleBitMore said:

I now have 4 less friends at my school, adding up to a grand total of 0.

4 friends, if they are good friends, makes you very lucky. Many dont have that.

Learning to be happy without the support of others, to be functional alone, is a hard lesson for anyone - regardless of age - to learn to be sure, but if you can make it, it is extremely powerful and will pay you back GREATLY over the course of your life. This doesnt downplay the great benefits of friends, in fact it makes you a better friend to have.

 

But dang, that sucks, what happened?

**edit**

Oh also, Ill save you several years - the dirty truth is, friends are not forever, they come and go like everything else. Retain them whenever possible, wave a fond farewell when not, or forget them if they turn. Go with the flow, adapt, be water my friend.

Edited February 27, 2020 by p1t1o

[LittleBitMore]

2 hours ago, p1t1o said:

4 friends, if they are good friends, makes you very lucky. Many dont have that.

They were not very good friends.

 

2 hours ago, p1t1o said:

Learning to be happy without the support of others, to be functional alone, is a hard lesson for anyone - regardless of age - to learn to be sure, but if you can make it, it is extremely powerful and will pay you back GREATLY over the course of your life. This doesnt downplay the great benefits of friends, in fact it makes you a better friend to have.

 I hear you. I'll work on this.

2 hours ago, p1t1o said:

But dang, that sucks, what happened?

I decided to get to know them better instead of just sit with them at lunch. And so I asked them about themselves, and I told them about my hobbies (astronomy, KSP, etc.) and things I like (Scott Manley, NASA, etc.),  in an effort to strengthen the friendship, but they decided now was a perfectly great time to start insulting my hobbies, interests, and me.

(Keep in mind these are the kind of guys that call everything gay, and insult each other on a daily basis.)

I think it was my personality and their personality clashing horribly that led us to an argument over our Discord server. This argument was going around in circles and they were really ticking me off. Eventually I was fed up with them, left the server, blocked their phone numbers and discord accounts, and decided I didn't need them as friends.

I don't know whether I should regret my decision, as a majority of their arguments were talking about how sensitive I was. I'm probably too sensitive, and this worries me. I've been feeling bad about the whole situation, but maybe they're too insensitive. Personalities like those clash.

2 hours ago, p1t1o said:

Oh also, Ill save you several years - the dirty truth is, friends are not forever, they come and go like everything else. Retain them whenever possible, wave a fond farewell when not, or forget them if they turn. Go with the flow, adapt, be water my friend.

Thank you.

Edited February 27, 2020 by LittleBitMore
Cleanup because it was written on mobile

[p1t1o]

@LittleBitMore 

I can't tell you what I think you should do, I don't have feet on the ground, don't know anybody.

But I think you might have nailed it in your first sentence.

They don't sound like people I'd like to get to know, they will probably grow up later, but that isn't your problem.

Just don't let it stop you reaching out occasionally, that was a good move. But you're under no obligations.

[cubinator]

1 hour ago, LittleBitMore said:

I don't know whether I should regret my decision, as a majority of their arguments were talking about how sensitive I was. I'm probably too sensitive, and this worries me. I've been feeling bad about the whole situation, but maybe they're too insensitive. Personalities like those clash.

If they are truly critical of you and their insults are not just in jest, you are right to let them go. However, always remember that what others think of you doesn't need to affect who you believe you are. Your abilities, virtues, and the fact you like watching Scott Manley are never invalidated by others' opinions. 

[Kernel Kraken]

Got banned for 2 weeks from one of my favourite CS:GO servers (Edge Gamers Organization). Could be worse, I talked down an admin from forever to two weeks. At least I have time to work on a map I'm making.

[LittleBitMore]

21 hours ago, p1t1o said:

I can't tell you what I think you should do, I don't have feet on the ground, don't know anybody.

I originally read that as "I'll tell you what you should do:" and misinterpreted the comment greatly. Whoops.

21 hours ago, p1t1o said:

But I think you might have nailed it in your first sentence.

They don't sound like people I'd like to get to know, they will probably grow up later, but that isn't your problem.

Yeah, maybe.

21 hours ago, p1t1o said:

Just don't let it stop you reaching out occasionally, that was a good move. But you're under no obligations.

If you mean reaching out occasionally to those people, then I can't promise anything. But if you're talking about reaching out to others, then yeah, I'll try.

21 hours ago, cubinator said:

If they are truly critical of you and their insults are not just in jest, you are right to let them go.

Their insults were entirely in jest. I, for whatever reason, decided to take these insults personally even though I know they're in jest. I don't know why.

I don't think i'd be able to have enough self control to refrain from feeling bad from even a humorous insult, and I don't know why. I guess it's just a part of my personality.

This raises an interesting question: are they really in the wrong? Or am I being to sensitive and exaggerating without me knowing I'm being too sensitive and exaggerate-y? I can't tell for sure. I don't have the right perspective for that.

21 hours ago, cubinator said:

However, always remember that what others think of you doesn't need to affect who you believe you are.

It can help discover some of my greatest strengths and flaws though. This time it helped me discover one of my flaws: I take any insults personally, even if they're just for laughs.

21 hours ago, cubinator said:

Your abilities, virtues, and the fact you like watching Scott Manley are never invalidated by others' opinions. 

I didn't plan on letting them stop me from bingewatching Interstellar Quest.

Edited February 28, 2020 by LittleBitMore
Clarification

[cubinator]

48 minutes ago, LittleBitMore said:

This raises an interesting question: are they really in the wrong? Or am I being to sensitive and exaggerating without me knowing I'm being too sensitive and exaggerate-y? I can't tell for sure. I don't have the right perspective for that.

I don't think it's either. You're probably just different personalities that clash, and that's ok. There will be other friends, and it sounds like you know how to search for them.

[LittleBitMore]

Just now, cubinator said:

I don't think it's either. You're probably just different personalities that clash, and that's ok. There will be other friends, and it sounds like you know how to search for them.

Alright. Thank you for the help. I'll find new friends, hopefully.

[p1t1o]

1 hour ago, LittleBitMore said:

 

If you mean reaching out occasionally to those people, then I can't promise anything. But if you're talking about reaching out to others, then yeah, I'll try.

Oh God for sure I meant other people. But whatever makes you comfortable dude.

I only have a handful of people I like to see often, and much of the time I mostly like being left alone. This is a situation that has evolved as I learned, it's not perfect, there are still people I'd like to connect with, things I'd like more of and things I'd like less of, but I'm in control (mostly lol), at least I feel like I can influence my own social happiness enough if I wanted, in either direction.

But you're gonna be totally fine. You felt able to bring it up here and talk about it, it doesn't sound like you need to make any major changes to be honest.

[LittleBitMore]

1 minute ago, p1t1o said:

Oh God for sure I meant other people. But whatever makes you comfortable dude.

Good. They're honestly way too different from me for me to understand them in any way shape or form.

2 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

I only have a handful of people I like to see often, and much of the time I mostly like being left alone. This is a situation that has evolved as I learned, it's not perfect, there are still people I'd like to connect with, things I'd like more of and things I'd like less of, but I'm in control (mostly lol), at least I feel like I can influence my own social happiness enough if I wanted, in either direction.

Run on sentence alert. That's nice. I hope to get my social life under control sooner or later.

3 minutes ago, p1t1o said:

But you're gonna be totally fine. You felt able to bring it up here and talk about it, it doesn't sound like you need to make any major changes to be honest.

Thank you.

[richfiles]

I'm buried in circuit boards I'm soldering for work, and I want to finish by tomorrow, but I don't know if I even have the energy to stay awake long enough to do so! 
For reference... I normally do 25 a week. I have 106 right now. I got the parts Thursday.

Edited February 29, 2020 by richfiles

[kerbiloid]

The circuit voltage can help you not sleep.

[Guest]

21 hours ago, richfiles said:

I'm buried in circuit boards I'm soldering for work, and I want to finish by tomorrow, but I don't know if I even have the energy to stay awake long enough to do so! 
For reference... I normally do 25 a week. I have 106 right now. I got the parts Thursday.

Press F to pay respects

I already struggle soldering a single board, imagine soldering 106 of them

Edited March 1, 2020 by Guest

[TheSaint]

23 hours ago, richfiles said:

I'm buried in circuit boards I'm soldering for work, and I want to finish by tomorrow, but I don't know if I even have the energy to stay awake long enough to do so! 
For reference... I normally do 25 a week. I have 106 right now. I got the parts Thursday.

Well, looking at it positively: Job security. And, obviously someone thinks you do a good job.

[Delay]

Nostalgia!
I found my old GameBoy and even an N64 in my family's basement! We still have all kinds of rarities, I know there's an N64 controller down there somewhere and even a SNES controller (no idea about the console). Perhaps I'll finally get to play the games of a childhood I was born too late for!

...Perhaps, and this is where the good ends.  I always wondered how PCs can keep track of time while turned off! A small battery on the board whose sole purpose is to count, a simple solution to that problem.
GB cartridges use batteries not only for that, but also for a key functionality: to keep saves. Back in the day non-volatile memory was still so expensive most manufacturers didn't bother with it. Essentially these saves are on a RAM chip and need constant power to not loose their contents. Like RAM does.
And most games didn't even bother with that! Remember these huge codes some RPGs spat at you? YOU were the save file!

Anyway, the problem is that the batteries are expected to last about 10 years, and these games are over 30 or at least 25 years old. I can't save unless I replace the battery! Even the N64 has this problem, apparently.
Luckily replacing these seems to be rather easy if one is just remotely acquainted with soldering (I'm not).