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 Post subject: Thoughts and Intrigue
 Post Posted: Tue May 21, 2013 7:56 pm 
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We have Annoyance and Pleasure threads, but things do not always fit into those categories. Maybe you had just had a thought about something or something interesting that occurred, but it was not really enough to start another thread. I know there has been a few times I had a little thought or observation of something, but since it was not really an annoyance or pleasure, I end up putting nothing down.

So here's this thread for whatever ideas, observations, situations, interests, scares, incoherent thoughts, or whatever you may think does not need its own thread. Of course it can also be used to gauge if there is enough interest to start a new thread. Of course, this thread may be the inverse of that, and nobody's interested or sees a reason for it to exist and it will eventually fall off page one. I guess we'll see if this fills a niche nobody knew needed filled, or whether it's a niche that never needed filled.


Now on that note, let tell you about something that happened the other day:

I don't know if you know about these "expandable garden hoses", where the hose is light and compact with no water inside it. Hook it up to the faucet, turn on the water, and it expands to the size and length of a regular garden hose. Well we have one of those and finally got around to test it out.

Hooked it up, did what the instructions said, and turned the water on. Worked exactly as stated. But, as we were trying it out with a sprayer, I noticed that hose looked odd at the faucet connection. It was going out at an angle instead of being straight like it is supposed to. So I go over and push it so it was straight...

Next thing I know, the outer cloth covering rips open about a quarter of a meter and the inner rubber hose (which is contained by the covering) quickly expands about ten times normal size. So I frantically start closing the faucet. A second later, water sprays everywhere as it lets go. Fortunately though, it didn't burst. It just levered the aluminum crimp ring holding the rubber hose to the plastic connection right off. Bad design, the plastic was smooth, it did not have and ribbing to keep the hose from coming off. And the manufacturing flaw of the covering.

Otherwise it worked as advertised, for about a minute and a half.

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 Post Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 9:23 am 
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So, what I got from that is, it was working, and then you went over and broke it, right? :riff:

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 Post Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 2:30 pm 
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I would say that "working" is subjective, and that I merely helped...

Also, to go along with the wonderful hose, got a new (cheap) sprayer attachment. It has pin-hole defect that sprays whoever holds it with water.

...

I'm changing the title. Don't really like it after all. Probably moot, I know...

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 Post Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 2:59 pm 
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Nooo! I like the idea behind the title!

I thought it would be a fun Sticky if it caught on. Ramblings are so much fun to read.

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 Post Posted: Wed May 22, 2013 3:37 pm 
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Okay, okay! I'll change it back.

Considering how many words I went through before settling on "Intrigue", I'll give it more time.

Just knew that I wanted it to be "Thoughts and..." something that portrayed people's interest in things. Really wanted a word that started with a T. My first choice was going to be Thoughts and Tribulations, so it would be the TnT thread. But I wasn't sure if Tribulations was really what I wanted. I like the sound of it though...

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 Post Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 12:15 am 
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I think I'm starting to be racist against expatriates. Not all of them, just the ones who seem to walk around in a haze of cluelessness, privilege and snobbery.

Last night there was a woman at my knitting club who just pushed all my wrong buttons. For example, she:

- Talked about how she was trying to find a job at a local school where she felt that she could "make such a difference". How? Due to your amazing power of whiteness?

- Went on admiringly about this former journalist who was dedicated to "bringing the gospel to China". Lady, if we wanted your religion, we would've asked for it.

- Said that she couldn't shop at the local fabric market because she couldn't communicate with the stallholders well enough to determine the exact fiber content of the cloth, and it would just kill her to buy a piece of cotton fabric that was actually 20% nylon.

- Won't eat any of the local food due to her sensitivity to MSG. You can't tolerate MSG and you moved to Asia? That's like moving to Ireland when you're deathly allergic to potatoes.

- Talked about how she made dozens of baby hats for charity but then was disappointed that she couldn't actually donate them because she made them out of pure wool, which would shrink as soon as they were washed. Several other women tried to make her feel better by suggesting that maybe the recipients would be too poor to wash them at all. Yeah, the poor unwashed masses will be so grateful.

Tell me I'm being unfair, and maybe I'll stop feeling so stabbity.

Edited because grammar


Last edited by Passiflora on Thu May 23, 2013 1:55 am, edited 1 time in total.
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 Post Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 12:21 am 
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Wow, that would be enough to send me into a rage as well. I wouldn't mind being an expatriate myself, though... Maybe spend a year or two living overseas in some other foreign country. Japan would be my top choice, but really anywhere that's at least a little interesting would be fine.

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 Post Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 12:42 am 
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I'm sorry, but in this case, I think you're being pretty fair actually.

Stab away.

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 Post Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 2:34 am 
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I used to have a .txt file that was essentially random thoughts and concepts, but I lost it when my last hard drive went crazy and had to format it.

Random story concepts, like...

What happens when AI advances to the point it starts playing humans like a game?

What would it be like to live 'normal' in a world where everyone uses virtual tech?

What would the world be like today if magic was developed at the same rate as - and was compatible with - current technology, and anyone willing to learn could use it? No Masquerade, no nothing - a fully integrated modern world + magic. All the various magical races also exist - elves, dragons, gnomes, ect, also sans Masquerade.

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 Post Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 4:01 am 
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Zillatain wrote:
I'm sorry, but in this case, I think you're being pretty fair actually.

Stab away.

Yeah, but the woman obviously means well. Seems kinda jerkish of me to hate people who are trying to do the right thing.

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 Post Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 4:11 am 
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I've had two book ideas I've toyed with, though as shoddy a writer as I am I haven't bothered trying to pen them. The first idea was a group of amnesiacs are thrown into a skyscraper designed to resemble a medieval dungeon, and each one is put into a different section and given a different role to perform. The main character would have been trapped in security with access to the building intercoms, but the story would have been told from the points of view of the other characters as he attempted to coordinate them and guide them to safety.

The second book idea was remarkably similar to that modern world + magic idea you had, Ruan, but this one was a zombie apocalypse brought on by the fusion of science and magic, the undead hordes being supported by the powerful immortal liches that result when a magic user dies from a zombie virus created by science. The basic idea being that humanity was actually perfectly capable of dealing with hordes of marauding zombies and everything was fine and dandy up until the first mage died from the plague and rose to become a lich. All of a sudden, magic super zombies! Magic users in this setting would all be mute, because the very act of speaking generates mana, and mana not spent in spells creates random effects and hazards that backlash against the magic user who attempted to speak words that weren't mystic runes. The main character would be a magic using genre savvy heroic mute surrounded by genre blind idiots.

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 Post Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 5:20 am 
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I hate the term 'expatriate'. It's what immigrants who think they're better than other immigrants call themselves. The term is almost exclusively applied to Americans and Europeans - no one calls the Vietnamese or Nigerians who live here expats.

I'm going to stop now before I start on a rant about the British people who move abroad, sit in bars with other British people ordering drinks in English, and complain about how they had to leave Britain because of all the foreigners who didn't speak English or integrate with the local culture.

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 Post Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 5:49 am 
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Kajin wrote:
All of a sudden, magic super zombies!


Sounds kind of like a jagji or jiangshi. Fun stuff.

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 Post Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 5:52 am 
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I have a friend whose dad is precisely one of those cranky old British guys who sits in bars in Hong Kong complaining about all the immigrants messing up Britain.

Top 5 differences between an immigrant and an expat

1. An immigrant is expected to learn the local language. An expat expects locals to learn his language.

2. When an immigrant gets a job, she is supposed to adapt to the local work culture. When an expat gets a job, she expects to shake everything up.

3. Immigrants come here to steal our jobs. Expatriates come here to provide their expertise.

4. When immigrants prefer to hang out with their own kind, it's because they're socially maladjusted. When expats prefer to hang out with their own kind, it's because you can't get any decent food/drink/music/entertainment in this country.

5. Immigrants experience hardship. Expats receive hardship allowances.

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 Post Posted: Thu May 23, 2013 8:11 am 
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Kea wrote:
- Talked about how she was trying to find a job at a local school where she felt that she could "make such a difference". How? Due to your amazing power of whiteness?


I think she'd be trying to make a difference at home too. Job fulfillment can be important.

So this one seems a little unfair. The rest, yeah.

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