Hasn’t worked for me. My partner made me go to the ER today. I’ve been completely deaf in my right ear for a month now. They said that wasn’t an emergency and sent me out with a prescription for Flonase. On top of that. After I left I read my paperwork. They wrote down that my blood pressure was 177 over 114. But never said anything about it. That probably should also have been addressed but whatever.

That’s what I get for having no insurance in the US.

I used to run a very successful server for BioWare Neverwinter Nights back in the early 2000s. A guy started playing on there when he was 15 and met a married woman in her 30s. She got divorced and a few days after he turned 18 he flew out to meet her.

They got married about 12 or 13 years ago. I was the best man, and they are still married. I talk to them daily and usually see them weekly. It happens.

This reminds me of that old story. One, I have tried to live by.

There was an old man with a huge watermelon patch. Every day a group of kids would come over and steal a single watermelon. The old man was furious about the kids stealing his watermelons and devised a plan. He went out and posted a sign in his patch that said “One of these watermelons is poison. KEEP OUT!”

So, a day goes by, and no stolen watermelon. A week goes by no missing watermelons. The old man is just so pleased with himself and his success. But, then he wakes up after about a week and a half and goes to pick some watermelons, and notices that someone has put a smaller sign next to his. He walks over and the smaller sign simply says “Now there’s two”.

This happened to me 2 nights ago. I was fishing for catfish and it was 9pm. The sun went down at like 5. I’m in the woods with a bright headlamp on, and there is an old service road behind me that I’ve never seen anyone drive down before.

So, imagine my surprise when I see 2 headlights coming down the service road. When I realized it was coming towards me I cut off my headlamp. I don’t know if it’s like this everywhere, but in the south everyone I know was taught to always assume people in the woods are up to no good and to be avoided.

Anyway, the truck stops on the hill 30 meters above me. I grabbed my machete in preparation for whatever is about to happen and continue fishing in case they are lost or something. I can hear rap music blaring from the radio. So, I’m pretty sure not a game warden, and about that time I see a second truck coming down the road. It stops behind the first. They get out and talk for a few mins then leave in opposite directions.

I was incredibly relieved that nothing happened, but I also went ahead and packed up and left after that.

I have looked at gore and just the most horrible things mankind has to offer since I was a kid. I’ve watched taliban executions. I’ve watched cartel videos and yes I’ve seen funky town.

Nothing, and I mean nothing fills me with rage like having to remember that I saw a video of George Floyd die while begging for his god damn mother. Even as I’m typing this I’m so angry that I am literally in tears. That racist piece of shit doesn’t even know that prison is the safest place for him.

I’m not a believer in the death penalty, because there is too much room for error. But I saw what that man did. There’s no mistake that he murdered a man in cold blood because he had to show everyone that he was in charge. If ever a man should have received the death penalty it’s Derek Chauvin.

I used to beg for money. I was a homeless heroin addict. I learned some interesting stuff begging for money. Being white myself. When I asked white people for money they would often look at me with disdain. Ask black people and they’d usually help ya out. It always seemed crazy to me that the white guy with a suit would treat you like garbage, but the black guy with gang tattoos on his his face and a car that needs work would throw ya a couple of bucks. I’ve heard black people say it works the other way around for them, but I had no way to test it heh.

I’m completely opiate free now for better or for worse. I say it like that because I suffer from crippling depression. Life is not enjoyable to me anymore. But, there are a lot of homeless guys where I live. I give them money, and blankets in the winter. Honestly, I give zero shits what they spend that money on. I don’t care if it’s drugs, alcohol, toothpaste, or socks. The money, once it leaves my hand is theirs to do with as they please. As long as that money brings them even a moment of happiness. As long as I make their life a little more bearable. I’m fine with that.

Nah they counted right. It’s just women aren’t people to them. Hehehe god damn those ass holes look like a bunch of shady individuals. Like, if this gig doesn’t pan out their backup plan is robbing banks.

While I agree that suicide should never ever ever be encouraged. I don’t think it’s necessarily a mental illness. This person was going to or already had lost everything they had ever known and worked for. They would have been a pariah in their town. They very likely would have been disowned by family and friends. It’s a little late in life to be starting all over somewhere new. I don’t think it’s crazy to contemplate unconventional exit strategies in that case.

Source: I am from small rural town Alabama.

I also think that we should remove the negative stigma behind suicide. After all, even bringing it up with a mental health professional can and will get you essentially arrested for 48 to 72 hours which discourages people from seeking help.

Story about my southern grandparents, but grandad in particular.

So my grandparents born in the 19 teens in rural Alabama. They said the n-word with a hard r until the day they died. But grandma had a friend named Loraine. Loraine’s husband worked at the same steel mill as grandpa. They also had a kid same age and school as my uncle named Wayne.

Wayne always came to holidays at our house. He was flamboyant to say the least, but a super nice guy. When Wayne wasn’t around I’d hear grandma talk about him occasionally. She’d say things like “being gay isn’t a choice, because you could tell Wayne was different when he was too little to know what gay was”.

Fast forward and grandpa dies. After the service the family is standing around with grandma. Wayne walks up and tells grandma. “I wish grandpa had been my dad. My dad hated me for being gay, but grandpa always treated me like all the other kids”.

Wayne sent my grandma flowers every excuse he got till the day she died.

I’ve always felt like if those 2 old school bigots could figure out that gay isn’t a choice. Why can’t the rest of the world?

Sometimes, when I’m deep in thought I forget to turn on music in the car. My partner is convinced that i do it on purpose to piss them off. Really, my brain just sucks at multitasking.

So, I’d probably ride there in silence, but only because I forgot to turn on the music.

I don’t know. I think it’s pretty cool. I used to get downvoted on Reddit for being too liberal. Now, on lemmy I get downvoted because I’m not liberal enough. For some reason though, the latter gives me hope.

This is why religion should be stamped out world wide. Faith always overrides common sense. Any rational human will tell you that killing your own daughter is abhorrent behavior.