The Swamp

Do you have an Alexa-enabled device that heard the wrong answer at some point when you asked for a song that was only on Unlimted? I always worry the kids are going to botch that one up.

We just settle with what regular old Prime provides, too, though usually once a year they offer a couple of months of Unlimted for free and I take it (and set a reminder to turn it off before they charge). This spring I actually got a paper letter from them offering 4 months free but when I activated the offer I only got 3 months because I had previously tried Unlimited.

Johnnie wrote: ↑Tue Jul 06, 2021 5:20 am No idea how, but I somehow enrolled myself in Amazon Music Unlimited and have been paying for it for the last 3 months. ($8 a month)

I always hit "decline" on the option to upgrade when I open my Amazon Music app. And I always get the screen anyway. So I have no idea how this even happened. I use the free music with Amazon Prime and that's enough.

This shit was sneaky. Anyone ever deal with this?

It's real easy to say "OK" on a connected device when it asks if you want to play on two devices at once. My wife listens at work and I was getting ready and I almost said yes because it's just so easy.

rass wrote: ↑Tue Jul 06, 2021 6:31 am Do you have an Alexa-enabled device that heard the wrong answer at some point when you asked for a song that was only on Unlimted? I always worry the kids are going to botch that one up.

Nope. All but one of my Alexas are in storage and the one I do have with me in Korea I never set up.

A_B wrote: ↑Tue Jul 06, 2021 7:17 am It's real easy to say "OK" on a connected device when it asks if you want to play on two devices at once. My wife listens at work and I was getting ready and I almost said yes because it's just so easy.

Hmmm, I don't think it's that, but if playing two devices at once triggers an auto-enroll, it's *possible* that my wife and I triggered it without knowing since we're half a world away. But I think her devices are still being used by her Mom's account. We only share Netflix.

It may just be that I agreed to a free trial without realizing it and never cancelled, but I reflexively close the "try Unlimited now!" pop up every time. So I'm stumped.

Oh so Amazon Music Unlimited is a woke lib?

So, the Buccaneers won the Super Bowl, and the Lightning won the Stanley Cup. Maybe a guy should put a buck or two on the Rays to win the World Series?

Is Windex-ing otherwise uncatchable house flies a common thing or a me thing?

mister d wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 7:30 am Is Windex-ing otherwise uncatchable house flies a common thing or a me thing?

I've seen Windex suggested for ants. Not only does it kill them, but it destroys the scent-trail they leave for others to follow.

Hells yeah. Effective and fun and cheaper than this:

I’ve used hairspray. It sticks their wings together, so they just fall down.

L-Jam3 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 7:43 am I’ve used hairspray. It sticks their wings together, so they just fall down.

Y'all are a bunch of cheaters. Chopsticks are the only appropriate way to catch a fly.

The Sybian wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 7:50 am

L-Jam3 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 7:43 am I’ve used hairspray. It sticks their wings together, so they just fall down.

Y'all are a bunch of cheaters. Chopsticks are the only appropriate way to catch a fly.

I caught one with my hand the other day and didn't really know what to do. I got it together and threw it outside, but it was odd.

A_B wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 7:54 am

The Sybian wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 7:50 am

L-Jam3 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 7:43 am I’ve used hairspray. It sticks their wings together, so they just fall down.

Y'all are a bunch of cheaters. Chopsticks are the only appropriate way to catch a fly.

I caught one with my hand the other day and didn't really know what to do. I got it together and threw it outside, but it was odd.

You squish. Thats what you do.

The Sybian wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 8:30 am

A_B wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 7:54 am

The Sybian wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 7:50 am

L-Jam3 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 7:43 am I’ve used hairspray. It sticks their wings together, so they just fall down.

Y'all are a bunch of cheaters. Chopsticks are the only appropriate way to catch a fly.

I caught one with my hand the other day and didn't really know what to do. I got it together and threw it outside, but it was odd.

You squish. Thats what you do.

I think I would eat a live fly before I set it outside to keep living.

/entomophaging

L-Jam3 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 7:43 am I’ve used hairspray. It sticks their wings together, so they just fall down.

But, then don't you get sticky hairspray all over your counter-tops and furniture, etc.?

sancarlos wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 11:17 am

L-Jam3 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 08, 2021 7:43 am I’ve used hairspray. It sticks their wings together, so they just fall down.

But, then don't you get sticky hairspray all over your counter-tops and furniture, etc.?

It also results in some pretty bug hairstyles

I love that movie

Giant feline terrorizes Japanese city.

Not much of an art enthusiast but I was looking for an Atlanta Olympics soccer poster and bam. $10 on this site. Has lots of other cool sport related prints. Let you know if it comes. Lists of this stuff could definitely be resold at higher prices especially locally to the piece.

https://bookstore.ussa.edu/collections/art

The flavoring for champagne cola and bubble gum water ice is one and the same. After tonight I’m convinced.

serrano wrote: ↑Sat Jul 24, 2021 9:20 pm The flavoring for champagne cola and bubble gum water ice is one and the same. After tonight I’m convinced.

I don't understand a word of this.

“wooter ice”

rass wrote: ↑Sun Jul 25, 2021 8:30 pm“wooter ice”

This got a legit lolz.

It appears my wife will be drawing real, grown-up paychecks again for the first time in over 18 months soon.

I don't count her current hourly gig the last couple months doing office work for a doctor doing sleep studies.

Dentists and optometrists become a thing again.

Assuming he doesn't buy it back, on February 11, 2029 I will reach a point where half of my life will have been spent without my dad owning the Ford Explorer he just sold today.

High school orientation today. I am going to have problems. Girl is looking womanish (and athletically improved due to track workouts) these days and enjoying the attention at the gym, at the food hall at the HS. Yikes.

HaulCitgo wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 4:59 pm High school orientation today. I am going to have problems. Girl is looking womanish (and athletically improved due to track workouts) these days and enjoying the attention at the gym, at the food hall at the HS. Yikes.

Wait until she's away in college and wants to bring the boyfriend home for a visit, and says, "Oh is it ok for him to stay in my room..."

Having a daughter is difficult for the father.

Not if you have your own room.

Ha. You guys have it easy. What if your daughter is now your son? And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

A_B wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 8:01 pm Ha. You guys have it easy. What if your daughter is now your son? And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

AB, I know you love your kids very much, and I do feel for the societal issues your family is now confronted with. Good luck with dealing with the asshole element of society.

sancarlos wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 9:31 pm

A_B wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 8:01 pm Ha. You guys have it easy. What if your daughter is now your son? And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

AB, I know you love your kids very much, and I do feel for the societal issues your family is now confronted with. Good luck with dealing with the asshole element of society.

Appreciate it. Definitely not the way we envisioned things many moons ago!

sancarlos wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 5:09 pm

HaulCitgo wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 4:59 pm High school orientation today. I am going to have problems. Girl is looking womanish (and athletically improved due to track workouts) these days and enjoying the attention at the gym, at the food hall at the HS. Yikes.

Wait until she's away in college and wants to bring the boyfriend home for a visit, and says, "Oh is it ok for him to stay in my room..."

Having a daughter is difficult for the father.

Wait till she competes in the Olympics and degenerates on a message board comment on her looks rather than athletic performance.

A_B wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 7:03 am

sancarlos wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 9:31 pm

A_B wrote: ↑Wed Aug 04, 2021 8:01 pm Ha. You guys have it easy. What if your daughter is now your son? And I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

AB, I know you love your kids very much, and I do feel for the societal issues your family is now confronted with. Good luck with dealing with the asshole element of society.

Appreciate it. Definitely not the way we envisioned things many moons ago!

I hope the kids in KY are as understanding as kids in my school district seem to be. While I am sure there are assholes, or kids who say mean shit to get a laugh or deflect the bullying off of them, but from what my kids say, there are a lot of kids who have come out as gay, and some who have come out as transgendered or gender fluid, and the other kids are extremely accepting and don't understand why parents are proud that kids are understanding. I'd heard that a boy my son has been friends with since they were 5 came out as gay last year. I asked my son how his class reacted, and he was very confused and asked, "why would anyone care?" My kids were shocked when I told them kids just didn't come out in high school when I was there age, and they were totally confused why anyone would hide it. My daughter walks home from school with a friend and her older sibling who is gender fluid. Some days she is Sarah, some days he is Chase. My daughter is just really worried that she will accidentally use the name Sarah on a day he is Chase. My daughter doesn't want to avoid using names or pronouns, but she is really worried about offending. I wasn't really ready to advise on this one, but I told her that her friend's sibling knows she is a friend and respectful and trying, it won't be taken the wrong way. Just do your best be a friend, and it'll be ok.

Anyways, my point in all of this, is that I hope my impressions are correct, and it's much better for kids today than in our day. I'm sure there will always be struggles for everyone in the LGBTQ community, but I'm optimistic people are becoming more accepting.

Yeah, maybe things are different outside our northeast liberal bubble, but things seems to be getting so much better. Maybe that's causing the transphobic and homophobic to be louder and more aggressive, and maybe some kids change when they get away from school and live more isolated lives watching FoxNews and Facebook videos.

My girls react just like Syb's kids do. They have had friends come out as queer and nothing changed and when we discussed it with them, they both were like whatever. Now the adults on the other hand are still trying to wrap their heads around all of this. Lots of talk around the school yard about it feels like all of the junior high has come out as queer. Parents and teachers just think it is a phase, but no one really knows. Just makes me so proud of how understanding and truly not giving a shit my daughters have about all of this. They are able to look through all the exterior drama caused by adults and just see the person for who they are. I do have hope for the future, but like Ed said, things may change as they isolate and live in their parents' echo chamber.

duff wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:13 am My girls react just like Syb's kids do. They have had friends come out as queer and nothing changed and when we discussed it with them, they both were like whatever. Now the adults on the other hand are still trying to wrap their heads around all of this. Lots of talk around the school yard about it feels like all of the junior high has come out as queer. Parents and teachers just think it is a phase, but no one really knows. Just makes me so proud of how understanding and truly not giving a shit my daughters have about all of this. They are able to look through all the exterior drama caused by adults and just see the person for who they are. I do have hope for the future, but like Ed said, things may change as they isolate and live in their parents' echo chamber.

Yeah, it's basically normal among my son's friends too. It just is.

Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 11:00 am

duff wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:13 am My girls react just like Syb's kids do. They have had friends come out as queer and nothing changed and when we discussed it with them, they both were like whatever. Now the adults on the other hand are still trying to wrap their heads around all of this. Lots of talk around the school yard about it feels like all of the junior high has come out as queer. Parents and teachers just think it is a phase, but no one really knows. Just makes me so proud of how understanding and truly not giving a shit my daughters have about all of this. They are able to look through all the exterior drama caused by adults and just see the person for who they are. I do have hope for the future, but like Ed said, things may change as they isolate and live in their parents' echo chamber.

Yeah, it's basically normal among my son's friends too. It just is.

It's heartwarming to hear and see this change taking place. When my son was in HS the football coaches made a reference to two boys being lovers and the whole team stopped and questioned why that would be a big deal and why was the coach making that a negative. That coach was let go shortly after that incident.

My son is moving back to the dorms and a friend from HS who happens to be gay asked him if they wanted to room together and my son jumped at the chance. I politely inquired about his comfort level with that and his answer was that he doesn't see gay or straight, he judges people by how good of a person they are. Nothing else matters. Proud moment for me and I felt bad that I even asked the question.

It really is heartwarming, and it really is changing. My kids are sort of in their own non-traditional school bubble a lot, but it seems like this generation mostly has it right regarding queerness not being a big deal.

bfj wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 12:37 pm

Steve of phpBB wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 11:00 am

duff wrote: ↑Thu Aug 05, 2021 10:13 am My girls react just like Syb's kids do. They have had friends come out as queer and nothing changed and when we discussed it with them, they both were like whatever. Now the adults on the other hand are still trying to wrap their heads around all of this. Lots of talk around the school yard about it feels like all of the junior high has come out as queer. Parents and teachers just think it is a phase, but no one really knows. Just makes me so proud of how understanding and truly not giving a shit my daughters have about all of this. They are able to look through all the exterior drama caused by adults and just see the person for who they are. I do have hope for the future, but like Ed said, things may change as they isolate and live in their parents' echo chamber.

Yeah, it's basically normal among my son's friends too. It just is.

It's heartwarming to hear and see this change taking place. When my son was in HS the football coaches made a reference to two boys being lovers and the whole team stopped and questioned why that would be a big deal and why was the coach making that a negative. That coach was let go shortly after that incident.

My son is moving back to the dorms and a friend from HS who happens to be gay asked him if they wanted to room together and my son jumped at the chance. I politely inquired about his comfort level with that and his answer was that he doesn't see gay or straight, he judges people by how good of a person they are. Nothing else matters. Proud moment for me and I felt bad that I even asked the question.

I dunno, it doesn't seem bad to me that you asked that question. Not from a "gays are bad" perspective, but from a "roomming with a guy who might be attracted to me at some point" perspective.

If it was your daughter, not your son, and she was asked by a male friend to share a dorm together, wouldn't it be fine to ask what her comfort level was with that? Is your son's situation materially different?

The furthest south I've ever lived was our 3rd place in Wilmington. The furthest west I've ever lived was our 4th place, which was three blocks away.

My best friend has a son who is gay, a daughter that hasn't come out, but would be shocked if she's not gay, and another daughter who is straight. They belong to one of the most prestigious country clubs in the area, but they put their kids in public school. So... they have a lot of private school social circle stuff, mixed in with us regular folks.

There are still places where being anything other than hetero-straight is something to hide. But those places are shrinking, thankfully. The public school kids here in MoCo are just like the kids you guys described... Very accepting. I don't mean to paint with too broad a brush, but that is not necessarily the case with the private school (religiously affiliated across the board) kids.