George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
The things you lean on / are things that don't last
User ID: 107
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
2hr ago
I'm only needed physically at work between 3 and 4 days a week at present, which helps considerably, and I have a workout plan that puts me in the gym 3 days/wk on a shifting schedule.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
18hr ago
Pullups suck. I don't mean they're bad, I mean I hate them because they're hard. I used to be able to do 10-15 and now I'm lucky to do 3. But that's improving. Wide-grip pull-ups suck worse. Neutral grip are the easiest for me. You're doing well Any other exercises or muscle groups your working on?
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
3d ago
With a nod to the humor in your post, the answer seems obvious: Lack of judgment. This phrase can be read as a double entendre of course but I mean the lack of feeling as if your interlocutor is holding gavel and ready to bang it the moment you unburden yourself. That feeling diminishes basically as you move from left to right in your scale there.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
3d ago
More now than when? I agree with you on some level (what you say seems undoubtedly true at least in terms of real-world interactions as opposed to say, MMPORPG or whatever) but as someone who was a kid in the 70s and teen in the 80s there was a lot of therapy talk even then. Maybe just in Hollywood? Because I have some pathology where I remember things, I recall clearly the lines from the 1989 film Sex, Lies and Videotape:
"My therapist says--"
"--You're in therapy?"
"Aren't you?"
The talk therapy boom, at least in the US, arguably seems to have started from the mid 20th century (when "shellshock"morphed into PTSD) and has just ballooned since then. I'll be the first to say I'm out of touch with current US norms, but I certainly remember the ethos of "Talk it out" even from childhood.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
5d ago
Is this an effort to trump my response? Or to take the discussion to a place where humor has no foothold (i.e. bringing up assault etc?) You're learning loads.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
6d ago
I don't encounter this as much as I might in an English-only environment (though I am sometimes in those), but I find and have always found that a sense of humor works wonders. Even if you don't change anyone's mind, at least you've made someone laugh (even if that someone is only yourself.) I can't script your situations obviously so this advice may be useless to you, but generally I wouldn't take such jibes particularly personally. There's a whole ethos taking this kind of I'm With Stupid (and stupid is Men) as some kind of norm, but also women may have been through any number of situations that may have embittered them or otherwise turned them shrewish. Take the high (and humorous) road if possible.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
6d ago
The reddit link has its top post reading "Removed by Reddit." God I hate what that site has become.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
7d ago
It's not just political subs. Reddit is a web of lies, misrepresentation, shills, fraud, and trolling. Believe me I wish it weren't the case. I mean I have a long train commute.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
8d ago
My condolences. You surely know this already, but if you are blessed enough to live long, you will see a similar tableau many times over--relatives, your own parents, acquaintances, and friends. I could quote a poem to you, and almost did just that as a reply, but it seems dull to do so.
Delete if you want but I think this site needs a bit more personal raw honesty about concrete matters and your post certainly qualifies.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
8d ago
Interestingly (to me) another euphemism for sex is etchi or エッチ which is itself the pronunciation of the letter H, which in turn is a representation of the romanization of the word 変態 (hentai or perversion).
The term's arduous journey softens the tone from the original hentai meaning--エッチ really just is a noun for sexual intercourse --but it's one of those weird words in Japanese.
There is a term 性行為 or sēkoi which means sex, but it's a clinical term (think "intercourse"). Sēi means sex or gender, koi means "deed" or "behavior."
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
11d ago
Read every word. Interesting on many levels, not least that your perspective is from IT but really hits on all sorts of larger policy effects. Thanks for posting and taking the time to post.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
11d ago
I do not doubt you. I think though what people imagine when they imagine "Trump supporter" is a demon of their own creation, not the actual humans in voting booths with reasonable perspectives. I think also with dialogue that (at least some) people can be made to realize this.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
12d ago
I feel like if I typed that I'd get a visit from some agency.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
12d ago
They are not. Others here are probably more cognizant of the machinations of politics in Japan than I. On the macro level the LDP or Jimintō party is typically the winner, with only a few brief periods of upset. The LDP is weirdly partnered with (New) Komeito, which is affiliated with the Soka Gakkai sect (some might say cult) of Buddhism, which has great social and political sway in Japan (if to some degree implicitly).
There are of course randos in Twitter who have opinions, but typically elections pass without great interest, with voter turnout not great, but similar to that of the US.
It's nowhere near as circus-like as in the US. Elections do make the news and on election nights the results are covered on the Japanese TV networks (which still receive considerable viewership despite Netflix) but there's not the wild and woolly atmosphere. It's rare (for me) to hear anyone discuss politics openly, which may or may not be gor cultural reasons (e.g. desire for social harmony )
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
12d ago
Sorry to disappoint. Mine was not an attempt at comeback, simply a suspicion that we actually do agree in the essentials and that any point of argument isn't really worth the candle for either of us.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
13d ago
I'm not going to try and co-pilot your conversations, obviously, and I trust you know what you're doing. I would suggest if she decides to bail on you for this there may be a lack of emotional maturity worth thinking about--and which may itself be a consolation to you. This is regardless of whether you or she is the one "in the right" politically.
I would like to think, however, that she resists the urge to just walk away and rid herself of the cognitive dissonance that seems to be at play, and that this is a kind of wake-up call for her.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
13d ago
The fact that I do not live in the US certainly weighs in on this view of mine, no doubt. I was recently in conversation with solid blue tribers who did not disavow me as a friend, though we did agree to change the conversational topic.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
13d ago
voting for Trump "that time" doesn't define your whole personality.
We are in agreement.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
13d ago
Sure, part of, yes. But disagreeing with your choice for president needn't be "hating who you are." That's the kind of thing that reasonable people really need to get past--it's buying into a pop culture meme way of looking at the world, a tacit acceptance of the premise that vibes are some existential manifestation of selfhood.
I'm sure for many here it is outrageous to suggest that core principles can be shared by people on both sides of the political aisle, but I certainly believe this to be true.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
13d ago
Was a conversation held? Reasons given? A good old fashioned discussion? Sorry it just seems bizarre to me that personal intimacy to the point where you'd call each other girl/boy friend can be destroyed by this. Facebook unfriending, sure. Dropping of acquaintanceship across the internet, yes, I've seen it. But breaking up with someone you're supposed to be somewhat intimate with? Over a vote? Maybe this reveals enough fundamental disagreements that you are just not compatible, but I would have imagined such things would have come to light earlier.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
14d ago
Hmm. I would argue that "Who I voted for that time" is considerably different from "Who I Am."
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
15d ago
I'm surprised that you're surprised, actually.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
16d ago
I have to get up early AF so I'm going to bed (it's 9:15 pm in Japan, yes I'm on farmer's hours).
I hope when I awake the country hasn't exploded. Good luck, my fellow countrymen and women.
George_E_Hale
insufferable blowhard
16d ago
Your link suggests sarcasm, though this showed up in my filter feed.
Putin says it's an "Oreshnik" missile and claims Western defense capabilities are useless against it.
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