HiTekRedNek

Good. That's what I was aiming for.

It is painful.

What was worse for me? I began suffering from a kidney stone when I was parked at a New Jersey turnpike rest area/service area.

In a semi truck.

Almost 1000 miles from home or anyone I know

With my dog in the truck.

Obligatory pic. Gina, the dog in the story, is no longer with us, but she is the golden/husky mix, while Zeus, the bigger black and white mutt still is.

https://tinypic.host/image/Snapchat-1486115008.3dlaJ4

A dog that had horrible separation anxiety and would chew her way out of said truck if I left her in it with the climate controls on, for more than a few minutes.

I wound up calling 911, since obviously I'm not getting a semi truck into a hospital parking lot, and explaining the situation to the dispatcher. By the time the ambulance got to me, I was doubled over, dry heaving in the parking lot, with my dog freaking out thinking I'm about to die.

In her defense, by then, so did I. I still didn't know it was a kidney stone, and my mind was going immediately to "burst appendix", and me dying a thousand miles from home, in the middle of the night, leaving a wife and a daughter behind....

Ambulance crew loaded up me AND my dog, and one of the EMTs called the hospital, and got that handled.

The hospital security team babysat her, while the nurses and doctors fussed over me.

When it was time to get back to the truck, I tried to call a cab. None would take me back because of the dog. She wasn't a big dog, but not a lapdog either.

Needless to say when the head ER nurse found out, she flipped her shit in perfect, foul-mouthed, Jersey attitude, and this southern boy loved her for it.

She said "I'll take you myself if this guy doesn't, and if he doesn't, his fuckin whole company will be banned from this whole muthafuckin hospital!"

As an aside, that's when it clicked that New Englanders ain't rude or unfriendly. They just express love differently. 😂

Damn. I rambled like hell, but. It all needed to be said anyway

3 words.

Stand.

And.

Deliver.

I'll admit to being mostly right of center in a lot of ways gasp HERE??! Lol.

But I'm no boot licker.

Anarchocapitalist is probably the closest category.

That said, there's nothing I like more than fighting back against "the man" whether that "man" is a corporation or the government itself.

So when corporations, or anyone really, tries to fuck me over?

Stand. And. Deliver. removed.

I turn 49 in August. I've had a home computer since 1984. I am of the generation that could work on the old school computers, and I've been pirating since the 80s.

If you want me to PAY you, make it worth the money. Otherwise, I'll get it however I can get away with.

Got my first home computer in 1984. I've sailed the high seas off and on pretty much my entire life.

I hung up the hat for a while when Netflix really had their heyday, and had pretty much every show and movie.

But then studios and networks started pulling shows from Netflix, and creating their own streaming services, prices kept creeping higher and higher.

I finally had enough. They wanna play? Ok. We'll play.

Stand and deliver removed.

What's hilarious is, Netflix damn near killed piracy completely. Until every single network decided to do it themselves.

They forgot the most important part of piracy. Access.

I am NOT paying for your entire streaming service if I want to watch a movie.

Not to mention, a LOT of older movies should be in the public domain by now, and therefore free to watch. But nope, in fact, many older movies are simply gone. Never to be seen again.

Know what else is like pinball?

Kidney stones. Definitely feels like you're getting your balls thrown into a lot of shit.

My work provided phone is, sadly, an iPhone.

But the case they provided for it (OtterBox) actually doesn't have the window.

Meanwhile, my personal phone, a Pixel, has a case is 100% clear.

I bought a white phone, so dammit I want to see the white phone! 😂

laughs in C64 BASIC

What's crazy is you can build a kit plane for less than what this costs, and flying a kit plane does NOT need a pilot license in the US.

Materia Magica has had a playable race called dracon since the 1990s. Back then it was called Moongate Online.

It's a MUD. The precursor to the graphical MMORPG genre.

And yes, people still play MUDs online.

To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women.

If he doesn't want it, I'll take it! 🤣