You used to be this beautiful shining star but your light has dimmed and parts of you, quite a lot of you actually have gone dull.
You were supportive of so many as I grew up, showing us wonders and telling us we could do whatever we could dream once we got old enough, got enough schooling and just plain tried. But now you’re turning your back on over 168 million of the people who call you home. And what about the 7.1% of the people who are finally free to truly express who they really are with joy and less fear then ever before? We still have a lot of work to be done for more than two-fifths of your people, and I thought we were going in the correct direction.
But you’re now going backwards. You’re now hurting more than you help. Why? What has made you change to hate so many for no reasonable reason?
Why does the hurting of people make so many stand on their feet and cheer? While they are in the halls that had been created to making things better? How is this better?! How is telling someone what they are allowed to do with their own body a good thing?
Have you become so delusional that you have forgotten how you came about to even exist? Have you, a country so filled with a rich and horrible history actually forgotten that very history? Or as a people are we just forever doomed to ruin by being forced to believe in other peoples delusions? Always forced to do things we either do not personally believe or just plain are not up to doing?
What changed? Or was I just always so blinded as a child, so drunk off the kool-aid that I just didn’t see the truth until I got older and tried to be what I dreamed, tried to get the schooling required and just kept trying.
I am scared.
Of you. My home, sweet home.
You have become so toxic. So hurtful. I can’t even stand to be near you. I am constantly in pain when I listen, watch and read about you. Of the things that is happening. Of the horribleness that is churning in your borders and in the hearts of so many old people who are somehow still dictating your accomplishments, or in reality the lack thereof.
How did you get here?
How do you go back to being the home that I love. The home I’d stand beside and help guide? The home I was once foolish enough to believe would always better itself.
November is coming.
I cannot forget come November that you are toxic. I need to do everything I can to change that. I am suppose to help make you better. I am not the only one. But it feels like I am.
I am not the only one who is scared. But I need to help change that. I can’t keep going like this. So many of us can’t. We need to do better.
Let me start this rant with a simple fact: I have loved these mice for years. I’ve had these mice for years. I have sold and recommended these mice for years. They are durable, tough and last for years. In the last 20+ years I’ve personally owned three of them. For the most part they still work in some fashion but I’ve replaced them for whatever personal reason I had.
Kensington customer service is about on par with Xfinity/Comcast however and the real reason I’m not buying another Kensington product.
My last purchase of a Kensington mouse was actually not a personal purchase. I was given a replacement as a gift. It is this mouse I will be talking about in this post. It was given to me either in December or January, I don’t completely remember.
As usual, the product is fantastic. But this past week I’ve run into a strange and annoying problem. If I suddenly, say like right now, jump up from my computer and go do something else for a few minutes then come back, the mouse pointer won’t move when I go to use it. The buttons still work and I can still scroll on whatever page I’m currently on, I just cannot move the mouse pointer. Unplugging it from the USB port and plugging it back in fixes this. Until I go and let it sit unused for a random amount of time.
Now as someone who lives with a top tier tech and am pretty techy myself, I’ve made sure other things like the USB port, are not what is causing this, but since the only thing that “goes to sleep” is the led inside the mouse that tracks the ball, it’s not anything on my computer that is causing it. Hubby also had this problem with the mouse when I asked him to test it out. So we have determined it is the mouse.
I contacted Kensington support online yesterday after seeing if I could fix the problem on my own. After reading a Reddit thread about this very problem, I determined there was no easy fix but a replacement. Since it is under warranty I reached out to Kensington.
Vishnu is your typical chat tech. Had me do a few things I’ve already done as they probably have that check-list to go through. He sends me a link to download a program that will update the firmware on the mouse that came out in February. I run it and at first it told me that the firmware isn’t for my mouse. Even though the page I downloaded it from is for my mouse. I inform Vishnu of this and then tell him it finally went through.
But now the mouse pointer doesn’t work. Buttons and scrolling still works, but the pointer itself isn’t moving. I did the unplug and plug back in, but this time that doesn’t fix the problem. My mouse is bricked. I inform Vishnu of this and ask if there was an older version of the firmware I could run to at least get it back to working after I unplug and plug it back in.
But I guess Vishnu ditched me after he found out he broke my mouse as now I have someone called Chityala asking for the purchase receipt from Amazon. Which confuses me as I already informed Vishnu it was a gift and I’d have to wait for the person who bought it to send me a copy.
I ask if there is an email address I can send the receipt to once I get it, which they really do NOT want to give me. I then ask when I can expect the replacement since I’ll be leaving on Sunday to go out of the country for 3-6 months. I’m told by ‘Agent’ that it will be 10-14 business days. I asked if there was anyway to get that faster as I need a mouse and their firmware has now bricked mine.
And for those who are uncertain what bricking something means, basically it is to make something as useful as a brick. Since the pointer no longer works no matter what I do, the mouse is basically an $100 paper-weight. Usually used in terms of modding things like game systems so they will play downloaded games, if you mod it incorrectly you could break the system so it doesn’t even work as it is suppose to work.
That answer is no. I ask to speak to a supervisor and they tell me they’ll have one call me. And that was it for the chat tech. So I actually went and called Kensington Tech support and went over with them of what happened, did a couple of things with the phone tech I already did with the chat tech including redoing the firmware update because “I probably did it wrong”. So we do that again, restart my computer and it is still broken. I ask to speak to a supervisor as I get the same 10-14 business days quoted to me. After a brief wait, I get a supervisor who informs me they have no option to send anything faster with FedEx Ground.
I know you’ve worked with FedEx Ground at some point in your life as I have. We both know there is an option for 1-2 day delivery.
I said that they broke my mouse so that it’s completely unusable and I’ll be leaving the country on Sunday for a few months. Could they ship it to my place out of country? No. They ONLY ship to the US.
I am sitting stunned into silence. I was about to say something else when the supervisor asks me how old the mouse is. I tell him only a couple of months. He then tells me they have a 90-day return policy and he can send me a form to fill out to get my money back for the mouse.
I actually studder. “What?” At this point I am so surprised that they rather give me back my money and loose me as a loyal customer then find a way to ship a replacement to me before I leave. I even asked him “You rather loose my business?” and his only reply was to make sure they had the correct email address for me and they would send the form. Talk about sending a clear signal!
Like any relationship you have had for years, I am saddened that ours with Kensington has ended, but I am not going to support this type of behavior in customer service. They didn’t even seem to care that their tech killed my mouse and I was going to need a replacement before I left. Didn’t even care that I’ve used these mice for years, recommended these mice to many or always said good things.
None of that mattered to them, so the company no longer matters to me. This goes both ways Kensington.
I am now going to check out the company Elecom. And their ‘Elecom Huge Trackball Mouse‘ I found with great real reviews on Amazon last night while doing some research. Also found that Kensington isn’t highly rated any more as well, but wasn’t interested enough to find out why that may be (I may already know but let’s not assume). It only cost me a little more than half what the expert mouse cost me, but like I said, using Fakespot I managed to see that most of the reviews on the page were real. And even after polling some of my gamer friends on what they use, I like the trackballs and want to keep using them. Won’t get it until Saturday, but at least I will have something.
As you know, I like to rant about something and then move on with my life. So goodbye Kensington and hello Elecom.
Until next time, I am going to put my graphic design skills to work and make some printables to sell on Etsy. I will let you know when that’s going. And if you want to read my chat conversation with Kensington it’s below. Some details have been removed to protect myself. Mainly anything that I haven’t already shared with the world. Enjoy.
You9:51am
The pointer on my expert mouse keeps stopping if I don’t use it for a few minutes, but the buttons and scroll work just fine
vishnu9:52am
Thank you for contacting Kensington Technical Support.
I will help you with that.
Could you help me with your full name and email address/ID to create a record of this conversation?
you9:53am
Sure! Name is blah blah blah
vishnu9:53am
Please help me with the exact part number of the product, which starts with ‘K’ and is followed by a five-digit number i.e;(64325) along with the serial number of your product in order to assist you better.
you9:54am
k64325
vishnu9:55am
Clean the housing of the Trackball using an air blower.
you9:55am
It’s clean
you9:56am
This seems to be a known problem. Apparently a bad batch where the pointer stops when you don’t use it for a few minutes but the buttons and track wheel still works. Usually unplugging it and plugging it back in fixes the issue.
vishnu10:00am
Have you tried connectig to a different USB port?
you10:00am
Yes
vishnu10:01am
Lastly could you connect the trackball to a differet laptop and check if the issue still persists?
you10:02am
It’ll be a couple of minutes but sure
vishnu10:05am
Sure,please go ahead.
you10:07am
Yeah it’s doing the same thing on hubby’s laptop as well
vishnu10:08am
When did make the purchase?
Sorry for the typo you*
you10:08am
I believe December. It’s fairly new, I’d have to check Amazon and I think it was a gift
vishnu10:09am
Could you please share the purchase receipt.
you10:10am
As soon as I find it. What exactly do you need? Would a copy of the email stating the purchase from Amazon be good enough, or do you need a screenshot of the order off Amazon?
vishnu10:10am
We need the purchase invoice.
Please share the serial number of the trackball.
It is an alphanumeric code like A2326B009876.
vishnu10:13am
Are you still with me? I haven’t heard from you in a while. I want to make sure we help you with all your queries.
vishnu10:14am
I’m still here willing to assist you with any request you need. Please be informed that our session will timeout after 2 more minutes of inactivity.
you10:15am
Sorry I was looking for the invoice
A lot of stuff order on Amazon.
Serial # XXXX123455
vishnu10:16am
Did you find the invoice?
you10:17am
Not yet.
Like I said, I believe it was a gift. I’ve contacted the person who gave it to me to see if they can get me a copy.
you10:19am
Is there someplace I can send the invoice to?
vishnu10:21am
I will share you an email, but as a last measure of toubleshooting can you please download a firmware update?
This might fix the issue.
you10:22am
Everything is up to date on all computers. Firmware, drivers.
vishnu10:23am
We have a latest firmware update,which is released this week.
And am moving it to another computer and now it’s dead
Won’t work anywhere
vishnu10:30am
Please share the purchase invoice.
you10:31am
Still a gift, I don’t have the Amazon purchase invoice.
So now the mouse pointer doesn’t even work, the red led inside isn’t lighting up but the buttons and wheel still work.
you10:34am
How do I undo the update? At least before when I unplugged it and plugged it back in it worked. Now that doesn’t even work!
chityala10:36am (new tech I didn’t even notice at first as you can see, there is no warning)
Please share the purchase invoice so that we can replace the product.
you10:37am
This one was a gift, so I’m going to have to wait for the person who sent it to me to send me the purchase invoice. If you could please get me an email address that I can forward it on to or at least a reference number so I can come back here when I have it.
In the meantime, can I get a link to the previous edition of the firmware so I can set the mouse back so at least I can still use it?
chityala10:40am
It is the only firmware
you10:41am
Okay so you broke my mouse.
Great
agent10:43am (this is where it changes again?)
We have just trying to solve the issue.
you10:43am
So can I have an email or reference number so when I find/get the invoice I can send it to you
agent10:45am
May I know from where did you make this purchase?
you10:45am
Amazon
agent10:48am
We will send an email with instructions. Please follow the instructions and share with us a copy of the invoice, shipping address and daytime telephone number.
Once, we have the required information. We will place the order for the unit.
you10:49am
Okay, that sounds good. About how quickly can I expect this since I’ll be going to Mexico on Sunday for 3+ months? Or would you be able to send to Mexico as well?
agent10:50am
Once, we have the required information. We will place the order for the unit and you will receive it in 10-14 business days.
you10:51am
Okay nope. You’ll need to send it quicker than that as now I can’t even use the mouse where before I at least could use it.
agent10:52am
It would take at least 10-14 business days.
you10:52am
That is absolutely not acceptable. Like I said, your little firmware update has made the mouse completely useless to me and I need the mouse.
As well as you haven’t even said if you can ship it to Mexico where I will be for months after this Sunday
agent10:54am
We regret to inform you that we cannot ship it to Mexico.
you10:54am
Then you’ll need to have it here before Sunday
agent10:56am
We can only ship it to US and it would take minimum 10 days to deliver the unit.
you10:57am
I need a number to speak to a manager than because I’m not going months without a mouse because your firmware update made it unuseable
agent10:58am
Please share with us the daytime telephone so that we can arrange a callback with our supervisor.
you10:59am
800-382-5633
agent10:59am
Thank you.
Is there anything else that I can assist you with?
Thanks to The Blue Box Press for the images included in this review (with the obvious exception of the header and image I took).
The Review
Sapphire Storm by C. Travis Rice, is an exciting and captivating romance novel that will leave readers eager for more. The plot, which follows the complicated relationship between two men, Ethan Blake, a successful pastry chef, and Roman Walker, a fitness celebrity, with a shared history, is sure to draw readers in with its themes of desire, revenge, and forbidden love. The beautiful setting of the luxury resort on the Southern California coast only adds to the book’s appeal, providing a backdrop of glamour and extravagance that will make readers feel like they are right there alongside the characters.
The novel also touches on themes of the power dynamics between the wealthy and the less privileged, and the struggles faced by individuals who are marginalized due to their sexual orientation. Overall, Sapphire Storm offers a steamy and passionate story that will appeal to readers of the romance genre, as well as those interested in exploring complex relationships and themes.
C. Travis Rice’s skillful writing brings the story to life, with descriptions that are rich and vivid, and characters that are complex and fully realized. It’s also exciting to see Rice writing under a new pen name and exploring new territory with his writing, proving that he is a versatile author capable of tackling a range of genres and themes.
Overall, Sapphire Storm is an excellent addition to the romance genre, with all the passion and steaminess that readers have come to expect from the best romance novels. Anyone looking for a thrilling and captivating read is sure to love this book.
Disclaimer, I was given this book to read and give an honest review. This is a completely honest review and if you check my history, I rarely read romance novels, but this one kept me up reading throughout the night. I was quite disappointed when I finished it early Sunday morning.
Is this the same review I splattered across every platform I could? Yes. Could I have been a bit more creative for each and every platform? Also yes. Is it 9 am Mountain Time? A very BIG yes. Have I had enough coffee? Absolutely not. Have I been sitting on this review and my thoughts since Sunday at 4 am – ish? Oh my yes.
I did read the first book in this series, Sapphire Sunset just because I know the author is good and even though I do not, as before mentioned like romance novels any more, I do like these. Probably because Christopher is writing what he knows and he knows this. He has never tried to explain or describe something that can be quickly and easily…..is debunked really the right word?
One of the most common criticisms of romance novels is that they perpetuate unrealistic expectations and harmful stereotypes about love and relationships. Some people argue that romance novels create an idealized version of love that can be damaging to readers who expect their own relationships to live up to the same level of passion and intensity. Others argue that romance novels often portray unhealthy power dynamics, such as the idea that a man should be dominant and possessive over his partner, or that a woman should be submissive and passive.
Another criticism of romance novels is that they are often dismissed as frivolous or “guilty pleasures” and not taken seriously as literature. Some argue that this is due to the fact that the genre is largely written and read by women, and that its themes and concerns are therefore undervalued and dismissed by the literary establishment.
Despite these criticisms, romance novels remain incredibly popular and beloved by many readers around the world. They offer a space for readers to explore themes of love, desire, and intimacy in a way that is engaging and entertaining, and they provide a valuable escape from the stresses and pressures of everyday life.
Honestly my biggest criticism of romance novels is the writer is always writing about parts of the body they have no idea about. And there are some good ones out there who seem to know a bit more than others and it DOES show. I mean, I can’t really recall a time my boobs…. smiled. Or visibly strain my breastbone. They have also never rolled in sync with my eyes. Which is good as I tend to roll my eyes quite a bit and my boobs would always be moving inside my shirt in that case and holy crap that is funny to think about.
If you need a laugh, google ‘male authors describing female characters’ If you add ‘in romance novels’ you get some….very disturbing mental images from the descriptions. Women do this as well with male bodies, you should google that as well.
But we’re here to talk about C. Travis Rice’s new book and not me rambling on about my grievances about writers being clueless. I know google can only give you so much. Maybe try AI? Now I am scared.
Sapphire Storm, an all-new beautifully-crafted enemies-to-lovers age-gap MM romance set in the Sapphire Cove world from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice writing as C. Travis Rice is available now!
Under his new pen name, C. Travis Rice, New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice offers tales of passion, intrigue, and steamy romance between men. The third novel, SAPPHIRE STORM, once again transports you to a beautiful luxury resort on the sparkling Southern California coast where strong-willed heroes release the shame that blocks their hearts’ desires.
Ethan Blake has dedicated his life to satisfying other people’s appetites. At forty-three, he’s finally landed his dream job—head pastry chef at an exclusive resort. Now he’s got a jet-setting career that’s taken him to romantic locations all over the world. But years before, after his parents threw him out for being gay, Ethan supported himself in a manner he’d rather keep under the covers today.
Roman Walker is a twenty-five-year-old fitness celebrity awash in thirsty followers. But when he walks through the doors of Sapphire Cove, it’s not just to oversee the menu for his celebrity client’s wedding. Decades ago, Roman and Ethan crossed paths on a New York street corner during a terrible, life-changing moment that scarred them both. Now Roman’s back for revenge.
But when his plan goes wildly off the rails, Roman suddenly finds himself at the center of an even stranger and darker plot concocted by his most famous client. Well-versed in the ways of the wealthy and the entitled, Roman’s former target offers to be his strongest ally during a moment that might derail the young man’s newfound career. But the experienced older man’s offer also ignites an irresistible and forbidden attraction that threatens to consume them both, even as it exposes old secrets and incurs the wrath of the powerful and the famous.
“You first,” he finally said. “Why’d you quit escorting?”
“You,” Ethan answered softly, even as saying the word aloud made him feel like there was a tremor deep inside his gut that might slowly but steadily send cracks running through him from head to toe. “I quit because of you.”
Roman looked too stunned to speak.
“I quit because I couldn’t stop seeing your face on that street corner. But I was still about fifteen grand short of what I needed to finish culinary school, so I flew back to South Carolina and I confronted the parents who banished me like I had the plague after I refused to renounce my sexuality for the benefit of their church friends. I told them they could either write me a check for the difference or I could set up shop in their backyard. I already had it on good authority that I’d have some pretty steady clients among their church friends.”
Roman seemed stunned by the answer. When it was clear Ethan wasn’t going to say more, he broke the silence. “What did your parents do?”
“They wrote me a check, and I was on my way.” It had been years since he’d told this story to anyone, and he’d only ever told it twice. He wasn’t prepared for how hollowed out and exhausted he’d feel once the words left him. Years since he’d ever had to see anyone react the way Roman was reacting now, wincing and making sad eyes over the heartless efficiency of the exchange. It was easier to keep your pain stuffed deep down when you never had to see anyone else react to hearing it for the first time.
“Did you ever talk to them again?” Roman asked softly.
“I believe you said you’d answer my question when I answered yours.”
Roman sucked in a deep breath and stared down into his now empty glass. “She didn’t mean it but…”
“But what?”
“It was about my mom. She said I should do it because my mom would want me to live at my fullest potential, or whatever. And that’s when I realized I just…can’t be…”
“Can’t be what?”
Tears slipped down his face. “Homeless. Broke. Couch surfing. Again. Everything I saw in her eyes when I told her I was quitting school, when I told her I was throwing everything she’d given me down the drain.” He shot to his feet.
“Roman, sit. Please.”
“No. Look, this is what I have to do, okay? And I know you don’t approve, and I know you think I’ll fuck it up or lose my mind or whatever, but I’ve got no choice, okay? And I’m sorry if asking you to talk to me like this was inappropriate. But it’s my life, and I have to make my own decisions.”
“I understand, but Roman—”
He was striding toward the door on his powerful legs.
“Roman!”
When the entry door swung shut behind him, Ethan sprang from his feet, but by the time he reached the parking lot, the Bentley’s taillights were shrinking into the dark.
He didn’t expect a response, but he was staring down at his phone, wondering if he’d been too hard on the guy. And wondering simultaneously if he should have tried harder to stop him.
A guy he’d dated in France a few years back had yelled at him during one of their many fights that he needed to learn the difference between protecting someone and suffocating them. Where did tonight fall on the scale?
You are not dating that young man, Ethan Blake. He was tempted to ignore the voice in his head because it sounded like his late mother’s. Imperious and dismissive and cold. But the only way to drown it out was to imagine taking Roman into his arms, holding him there, protecting him.
Unlike mine, he thought. When his vision misted and he found himself blinking back tears, he was shocked. He sat frozen behind the wheel before a neighbor’s headlights swung into alignment with his car.
As he opened the door to his apartment, he saw he had another text from Roman.
Given their history, the words meant far more coming from Roman Walker than they would anyone else.
He slept more peacefully than he thought he would. Until about three in the morning, when he woke from a dream of Roman Walker snuggling into bed next to him, whispering the words of his last text into his ear, their bodies entwined and grasping beneath the covers.
People always ask me this while I’m reading. Even if I’m not on my tablet and reading an actual book. So let me tell you what is open on my tablet this very moment. I happen to be reading it too. *clears throat*
Sapphire Storm!
Sapphire Storm, an all-new heat-filled MM (that’s male on male for you rookies out there) romance from New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice writing as C. Travis Rice is coming March 7th!
Under his new pen name, C. Travis Rice, New York Times bestselling author Christopher Rice offers tales of passion, intrigue, and steamy romance between men. The third novel, SAPPHIRE STORM, once again transports you to a beautiful luxury resort on the sparkling Southern California coast where strong-willed heroes release the shame that blocks their hearts’ desires.
Ethan Blake has dedicated his life to satisfying other people’s appetites. At forty-three, he’s finally landed his dream job—head pastry chef at an exclusive resort. Now he’s got a jet-setting career that’s taken him to romantic locations all over the world. But years before, after his parents threw him out for being gay, Ethan supported himself in a manner he’d rather keep under the covers today.
Roman Walker is a twenty-five-year-old fitness celebrity awash in thirsty followers. But when he walks through the doors of Sapphire Cove, it’s not just to oversee the menu for his celebrity client’s wedding. Decades ago, Roman and Ethan crossed paths on a New York street corner during a terrible, life-changing moment that scarred them both. Now Roman’s back for revenge.
But when his plan goes wildly off the rails, Roman suddenly finds himself at the center of an even stranger and darker plot concocted by his most famous client. Well-versed in the ways of the wealthy and the entitled, Roman’s former target offers to be his strongest ally during a moment that might derail the young man’s newfound career. But the experienced older man’s offer also ignites an irresistible and forbidden attraction that threatens to consume them both, even as it exposes old secrets and incurs the wrath of the powerful and the famous.
Okay, are we clear now? I’m reading a romance book, which I hate romance books, but I do like Christophers….err I mean C Travis, books. Probably because I don’t have to read yet another man trying to write a woman sexily. Sorry darling, but boobs don’t do…what was the word they invented? Gah. Also, guy on guy is much more interesting to read to be honest.
I read the “first” book in this series, hadn’t gotten to the second one when I was snared by a post asking if I’d want to read this one before it came out and give a review (there is a name for this, I KNOW there is, but I have completely forgotten it) honestly for it after reading. Well, I’ve only started it so I can’t give a full review, that will come shortly in a different post (as well as all the places linked above) but so far, as with the first one, I’m deep into it. No pun there, I promise. But make one if you want. I will say that at the point I am in, I am not a fan of Roman. And it is not because he is a fitfluencer. I love that word. That’s how it’s done gentlemen. If you are going to make up a word, that is how it is done.
Anyway, look for a link to the actual review somewhere in this area perhaps…
Until next time, I’m not a fan of job hunting, but I have found a couple of things that has made it more amusing for me that perhaps I’ll tell you about. You can find a post I did about it on Reddit, but I’m not a big Reddit fan and the last comment on the thread is a great example as to why. Besides the fact it’s filled with trolls and horrible people amongst the great ones, Reddit thinks I have two accounts when in actuality I only have one and so does my hubby. So yeah Reddit, there will be two accounts coming from my neck of the woods, but if you look closer, you’ll see that they’re coming from two different computers *gasp!*
Any American knows how the end of that sentence goes. We’ve spent our lives pledging ourselves to an ideal that we are free and OMG this country is the best as no other country is as free as The United States of America.
Was that ever true though?
Honestly. Think outside your race, culture, gender and religion and tell me. Have ALL Americans been free all this time?
The answer has always been no.
Unless you are a white man, you are not free. You have never been free, and you will never be free.
“Yes, but our founding fathers….” Are dead. Leave them that way, because if you think that they would approve of anything that’s been going on, not just now, not just this year, but for decades, then you have been brainwashed into the white man way of thinking.
Our founding fathers cannot help us now. Our founding fathers WOULD not help us now.
They would look at this country and be amazed. Not because of our progress, but because of the lack of it.
Words are spoken, words are written and some of those words are made law. But none of them mean anything because we just keep acting and doing as we always have. We’re now using religion, the very thing our precious founding fathers ran away from Britain for, to make the laws, or to unmake laws.
What’s worse is that it isn’t even real religion, but a pretend take on what some would like the religion to actually say because they’re not educated enough to understand the very basics of life. Or even the man written book they claim to worship and quote -wrongly I may add- from.
We’ve allowed a handful of citizens to hoard all that is precious to us.
Another handful to tell us how much our time is worth, with or without a degree -not that it matters, most cannot afford a full degree even with grants and scholarships.
And yet another handful that makes sure we’re not healthy enough to fight.
We are poor.
We are uneducated
We are too sick to fight.
That’s not what the founding fathers had in mind. It’s not the country they imagined if they thought much into the future. It’s not what they had hoped.
We cannot erase the past just because it is unpleasant. We cannot erase the past because it makes certain citizens look bad. But a handful of citizens try, and a handful of them succeed. And the rest say nothing. Do nothing.
Because we are tired, and sick. But we’re becoming educated even against the hopes of a handful of citizens. We are able to put the truth out there to stick somewhere forever. At least until Skynet becomes reality. We don’t even really need the hostile artificial intelligence, most of our citizens already fit that sigma nicely. So sorry computers, we’ve already beaten you to that one.
The founding fathers were not perfect. Nearly half of them were slaveholders and all of them profited from the system of slavery in the United States. The nation they created ensured that the rights of white, property-owning men were protected, but it would take almost 200 years to ensure that more Americans were provided those same protections.
Many of the founders were unsure if succeeding generations would be up to the task of protecting the liberty they had successfully secured. When Benjamin Franklin was asked after signing the Constitution if they had created a monarchy or a republic, Franklin replied: “A republic, if you can keep it.”
They were quite young when they helped create the Country. George Washington was 43 years old when he accepted command of the American Army during the war. Thomas Jefferson was 33 years old when he wrote the Declaration of Independence. John Adams was 40 years old when he argued for American independence. James Madison was 36 years old when he was at the Constitutional Convention. John Jay was 43 years old when he became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Alexander Hamilton was 33 years old when he was made Secretary of the Treasury. The oldest was Benjamin Franklin who was 70 years old at the Second Continental Congress.
Some of us were taught that they were largely in agreement and are often referred to as a single entity that all worked together to create one American nation. In reality, they had extremely different views on all sorts of issues, including the role of the federal government, the issue of slavery, and how radical or moderate the American Revolution should be. At times, these differences of opinion destroyed friendships and threatened to pull the country apart.
There were many who contributed to the founding of the United States, these seven are considered by most as the founding fathers: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, John Jay and James Madison.. They all played key roles in the securing of American independence from Great Britain and in the creation of the government of the United States of America. But there are dozens of others who played smaller but valuable roles. George Mason, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, John Marshall, and Samuel Adams are some of those, just to name a few. There were 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence and 39 signers of the United States Constitution. In addition to men, women also played important roles, such as Abigail Adams and Mercy Otis Warren.
Look at that. You learned something. You empowered yourself and learned something. Granted, like most of everything you learned in your school years, you’ll probably won’t remember much if any of it and that’s okay. If it comes up, you may at least remember where the information is and can go back to it to refresh yourself.
How do we become free? How do we become equal? And why do we continue to let other people’s religion (read fake Christianity) rule us when there is suppose to be a Separation of Church and State?? When will people stop throwing out that freedom isn’t free?
This is freedom explained
Until next time, when thinking about the US, remember that people who are not of your race, religion, culture or gender are always effected differently than you are. It’s called privilege. Check yours always and try to see a different view before reacting. Something shouldn’t have to happen to you before you realize there’s a problem.
Information on the founding fathers was pulled fromBattlefields.org. Yep, pretty much copied and pasted.
Before I get to talking about anything FNaF I really need to get this off my chest. So beware, I’m about to lay down some feelings on the six week long trial that was Depp V Heard.
I must have said or wrote the title of this post more than 50 times in the span of the last six/seven weeks. People claiming to be abuse survivors throwing shade at the whole trial as if the trial itself was about the abuse instead of the claim of abuse made public by Amber Heard. Which told me clearly that those people throwing the shade had not been listening to any of it.
Let me first begin with the fact that ANYONE can be an abuser. Man, woman, adult, child, rich, poor, smart, stupid, straight, bi, gay, pansexual, etc. Like death, nothing matters. Let me also state that anyone claiming abuse should not be automatically believed. They should be treated with a kind, loving hand while an investigation is done into the allegations. People’s knee jerk reaction to believe all abusers’ claims is befuddling to an intelligent mind. One who has grown up surrounded by drama queens who loved to make outrageous claims about anything.
Ah the 90s in Washington State.
I did watch snippets of the trial (if I ever type trail instead of trial, please forgive my crossed mind) when I could and recaps from LegalBites to get a quick overview of the day. And if I found a particular part needed to be watched first hand, I would find it and watch it.
I therefore saved my judgement and opinions until I was able to hear both main parties talk about the incident and why an op ed was made. While I will freely admit I have been a great fan of Johnny Depp’s work and have never had a reason to think him as a person was anything but great. I’ve only had fan interactions and what people have said about him both as an actor and a person to base any opinions on. Same with Amber Heard. She has never stuck out in my mind before these last few weeks but I do realize she was in Aquaman and have listened to what people have had to say about her as an actor and person.
It’s what any of us have really when it comes to celebrities. We will never know what goes on in the places where we can’t or don’t go. So we have to rely on what we see and if we trust the source, hear.
Listening to Johnny I will admit broke my heart. As it would if I listened to anyone saying these types of things. As it did when Amber was speaking as well.
Until Amber’s side started to unravel. Until evidence started to show that what she was telling us didn’t have any proof to support it. Not just a few embellishes here or there, but that some of these events didn’t happen at all. Except inside her head.
This then made me angry.
Here is a celebrity who has stepped up and said that she not only supports the MeToo movement (as we all should), but is an abuse survivor and a “public figure representing domestic abuse”. She made claims in a very public venue, that although she named no names, it was painfully obvious who she was referencing. And she did admit this in court. A celebrity who gave others strength to speak up about their pain and experience. And now we find out she was not the abused but the abuser? Talk about a slap in the face or a punch in the gut!
When these things started to become apparent I was heartbroken. Here again is another person claiming abuse only to be shown not to have been abused at all. Another person to make others ask “Why should we believe you?” And the honest truth of the matter is we shouldn’t.
We should not automatically believe allegations of abuse from anyone, yes I do mean anyone, but instead jump directly into taking care of the person and investigating the claims. Make sure that if those claims prove to be true, we can help do something about them. And if they prove untrue, we can help do something for the person making the untruths.
Why is it that society always, ALWAYS goes one way or another so dramatically and not just sit in the middle? You either jump into the pool of belief or the pool of disbelief. Both will always hurt someone. So why not just stand on the edge like an intelligent person until the actual facts are known and there is proof one way?
It is what I’ve always tried to do with many things I see, hear and read. Yes, I have my biases.
Did I want the claims about Johnny to be lies, well of course I did! I never like thinking the worse about people or even assuming it. Especially those people I do not know personally. And yes, this was the same when Harvey Weinstein, Oliver Stone, Kevin Spacey, and even George Takei and Ben Affleck were accused. There is a whole LIST of people who have been accused over on teen vogue.
Did I read the accounts in disbelief? Yes of course! Did I personally cancel anyone proven to be an abuser? Absolutely. And I would have done so if Depp was proven as well.
But I do that for those who falsely claim to be abused as well as that is a form of abuse. It’s a horrible thing to even do, mainly to all those who rally around the abused because they know what it is like to be abused and to have people flat out disbelieve them. And then to find out that the person they supported was lying? Imagine it if you will. If you can.
I am also quite tired of the people now saying stuff like “Women will always defend a guy and men will always defend a gal.” when it comes to abuse allegations. Which is absolute bullshit.
And I am floored to read that a writer for The Cut asked, “Here is a woman recounting, in agonizing detail, how an extremely famous man allegedly abused her. Why, in 2022, do so many people seem to hate her for it?”
We hate her because she lied dumbass.
Or how about clueless sociologist Nicole Bedera who offered a few theories about why both female survivors of domestic abuse and many women period have seemed to support Depp.
“It can be scary — and for victims, re-traumatizing — for women to empathize with an abuse survivor. If violence really *is* everywhere and if it *feels* like it can happen to anyone, then a lot of women will start to worry that they will be next” she wrote on Twitter and an article for Harper’s Bazaar “So is it surprising that a lot of women are coming to Depp’s defense? No. Not at all.”
Or perhaps, just perhaps those people looked at Amber and heard their abusers. Many now recognize abusers by their words and actions as they have been through it and are more aware of it so they do not fall for it again.
I personally am amazed at anyone not upset at Amber for these lies. Not because of who she accused, but because SHE LIED ABOUT A PRETTY IMPORTANT ISSUE. And she was caught lying about donating money as well.
How many feelings did you have through all this whether you actively watched, caught snippets or high lights or just followed the memes, how do you feel now? Sound off in the comments and where ever else you wish!
Until next time, I promise I will get to FNaF. But with all things happening it’s hard to sit down and focus on it and feel the excitement it greatly deserves.
I recently purchased an Alienware m17 R5 AMD with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. It is this years’ gaming laptop from Alienware/Dell and I am seriously due a new laptop since my Dell G7 is a few years old now and some of the numbers and letters on the keyboard no longer work correctly.
I looked at “professional” reviews and YouTube videos about the very model I was getting and thought this was going to be a great purchase for me. I have never owned an actual Alienware before this one.
And if I really had to choose, I wouldn’t buy another one. In fact, I’m returning the one I have to get my money back. And I haven’t even owned it for a whole month yet.
Sure, it’s sleek and has the 17 inch screen (not in 4K, but whatever), fancy light up keyboard and the alien head and Tron ring light (both totally a waste in my humble opinion) and many people seem to like it.
I probably would have too if I could play games like Jurassic World Evolution 2 or Ark Survival Evolved or even Sims 4. With all three games the game would crash or the entire computer would freeze. I couldn’t even play Jurassic World at all. Sims should have run smoothly but it was choppy and would randomly kick out completely. Took me over an hour to even get to the part where you start to play. I only got through creating my avatar and barely grabbed a house.
Ark, funny enough ran the best on this thing. Unless I did anything really intense. Ride a wyvern? NOPE!! Switch maps (on a unofficial server)? NOPE! But if you want to stay at your base and maybe tend to the garden, it might be allowed. Just don’t plan on going into any inventories or anything like that.
Now I know Ark on it’s own has problems. And the Unreal Engine seemed to be what was tossing out the most errors (D3D device lost Error: 0x887A006 – Hung is what was happening). And like a good human I googled the error and applied every single fix I could find out there. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. I’m not even exaggerating. NOTHING got the game to run correctly. And to note, there were plenty of fixes to be had as I am not the only one who had this problem.
Jurassic World was throwing the ‘Exception unknown software exception (0x000fdead) occurred in the application at location 0x00007FFA0528474C’ error which when you clicked OK would exit the game. Although I did finally get this game to work….as long as I didn’t have it plugged in. WTF?
That’s right. As long as I did not have the laptop plugged in with the charging cord that came with the system, I could play Jurassic World Evolution 2. Plug it in and it would freeze the ENTIRE system or I’d get that error. I didn’t try this with the other two games as when I went to do so, it decided that even though it is connected to the wifi or ethernet it wasn’t going to actually SEE the internet. Which is a new problem that I almost yeeted the fucking thing out the open window over.
I did try talking to support about it as well. They took forever to get back to me, and mind I only have 30 days to return the system, so that seems like an asshole move on their part. And one thoughtful official mod on Dell forums suggested I google the problem and try the fixes that pop up.
GOOGLE THE FUCKING ERROR AND SEE WHAT OTHERS DID TO FIX IT.
This was from a Dell employee. Uh…….. fuck you.
Were the drivers up to date?
Yes.
Did I run anything else when I tried running said games (Steam, Xbox or UbiSoft)?
No. Played them straight from the hard drive.
When I did a video stress test, the Nvidia GeForce passed with flying colors. The AMD Radeon did not. The Wireframe Stress Test and Transformation and Lighting Stress Tests for both went well. It was when it got to the second part of the test, the one with the marbles on a marble slab that the AMD couldn’t run. As in black screen and it ran all night without completing. I know it didn’t turn off as I did have the laptop plugged in and in the upper left it said AMD Radeon(TM) Graphics FFS: N/A
And yes. I ran both video card stress tests plugged in AND unplugged. AMD failed on both.
Asked if there was a way to disable the AMD graphics card. Never got an answer. So I’m returning it. Once I get my money back, I will then choose a different laptop. I really wish I could afford a Clevo, but sadly right now, my budget is Dell stuff as I have credit through them and it’s the only way I’m getting a new laptop.
It may still end up being an Alienware, but an older model that I know works well. And if you are sitting there asking your screen why it is I’m not using the laptop’s warranty to have Dell fix it; the answer is simple; I cannot afford to spend much time in the US which is the only place I’m going to get good service. Mexico doesn’t have the parts or service people. And it may take over a month to fix.
Nope, not kidding.
Husband is going through this now. His laptop is overheating and the really expensive warranty he has on the system claims next day fixes, but we were told that it would take four weeks for parts to come in to fix it. So instead he decided for them to swap out the system for a new one… which we had to have sent to the US as the one they would have sent to where we are was actually a model (or three) lower than his current system.
This year, Dell/Alienware is not at all impressing me. Not a single bit. I may actually see if I can get credit somewhere else so I can broaden my choices (sorry Apple, not looking anywhere in your direction) but that’s not really going to do my credit much good.
But you know what?? I could play the Microsoft Solitaire Suit with no problems at all. Both plugged in and just on battery!
Joy of joys.
Until next time, I am quite aware of the teaser poster Steel Wool has dropped about the DLC for FNaF Security Breach (which I didn’t even try to install on the new system, nor anything else I normally use tbh – which is why there’s no customized banner for this post when I posted it), and I have quite a few thoughts on it. The best is that it’ll be free for those who already own the game and there’s a new character!
I’m guessing by now you have seen the news on this if you weren’t following or participating in it yourself. But in case you’ve missed it, Brandon Sanderson who is a well known author who has been around for at least 10 years now, made history not too long ago when his little Kickstarter became the most funded Kickstarter ever. As it sits this minute, it’s gotten $31,745,891 pledged of the $1,000,000 goal from 137,118 backers with 9 days to go.
Not going to lie, that is freaking impressive and what EVERY CREATOR WANTS to happen when they do a Kickstarter.
But.
I sort of hate it.
Not at all jealous, at least that’s not why I hate it.
Like I mentioned, Brandon is a fantasy writer who has been around for a few years now. I personally was not a reader of his books, but my daughter is and it is through her and my son that I found out who he was by watching his “It’s Time to Come Clean” YouTube video he made that at first startled his fans. Or at least my daughter.
He was first published in 2005 with positive results. But it seems his rise to prominence happened in late 2007 when Harriet McDougal, the wife and editor of author Robert Jordan, chose Sanderson to complete the final books in Jordan’s epic fantasy series The Wheel of Time after Jordan’s death. McDougal asked him to finish the series after being deeply impressed by his first Mistborn novel, The Final Empire.
Honestly, I haven’t even gotten through the first Wheel of Time book yet. Mainly because I have a few books I’m trying to get through.
What I hate isn’t the fact he build some of his fans on the back of Robert Jordan’s work, it’s not even that he seems to be a good writer. It’s has nothing to do with his abilities. He misused Kickstarter.
An little bit from Kickstarter’s About page:
Our mission is to help bring creative projects to life. We believe that art and creative expression are essential to a healthy and vibrant society, and the space to create requires protection.
We don’t want art world elites and entertainment executives to define our culture; we want creative people—even those who’ve never made anything before—to take the wheel. We help creators connect directly with their communities, putting power where it belongs.
Brandon is one of those elites. Not only that, but Kickstarter is used to raise the funding to create the project. Which ironically is why many people have a problem with Kickstarter; you may or may not actually get a product from any you back and pay for. According to him, he already wrote the books. He was just looking to ‘self publish’ and sell them.
But Kickstarter isn’t a selling platform. Kickstarter should be used for limited edition books, or to secure funding for illustrations, an audio book version, or something that can only be created as a consequence of assistance from crowd funding. Could you argue that he needed money to get the books published?
Sure.
If the first reward tier wasn’t eBooks.
You have to pay $160 or more to get something in your hands. That’s $40 a book, which is on par I suppose for a ‘premium’ unsigned hardback.
From the Kickstarter
It is one thing if you are a new writer who doesn’t already have a publishing house behind you. They generally give you an advance to basically live on while you write and then they pay you for every book sold.
I am curious to know how that self publish is going to work. From the NYT article linked above:
Books require editors, designers and lawyers. Someone has to register the ISBN number and file for copyright. Someone else has to proofread the manuscript, then proofread it again. Printing thousands of copies of physical books, then storing and distributing them, is expensive and onerous.
To that end, Sanderson has built a company, Dragonsteel Entertainment, which employs 30 people including a marketing director, concept artist, continuity editor and human resources director. He also has a warehouse in Pleasant Grove, Utah, a short drive from his house.
Don’t know about you, but I don’t have that. At all or the capital to start something of that nature.
But he does because he’s an already established author. He had all this BEFORE the Kickstarter. None of us unknowns will ever see this type of success on Kickstarter. Unless you have a really good idea for a project, you’re not going to see this. Even then, this is, as it’s being tossed about, a Kickstarter first. And it’s still going for 9 more days! In fact, even as I wrote this out more backers came and bought something.
It’s not that I don’t think he deserves it. He does. But he shouldn’t have used Kickstarter to get here. There are literally other sites he could have done this on. Ones actually designed to sell things. Hell, he could have sold them on his own website! Or make a new one for such a thing! Or, you know, maybe use the one already around for Dragonsteel Entertainment.
Until next time, I’m hating my browsers at the moment. Yes all of them.
Heard and read about it yesterday, and am looking forward to the changes that are going to be made. If you haven’t been following along over at Steel Wool’s blog/news, I have to wonder as to why. Best way to get your news, quickly and without any additions to it. Make your own assumptions!
I especially like the Glamrock Helpy. MUCH better than Buff Helpy. Sorry Dawko. So of course some bugs are going to be patched up, that is generally the whole point of patches. The whole thing where rooms don’t properly load, being able to trigger events WAY ahead of when you should – looking at you MatPat – and some other little things you can read about on their site.
They’re also going to be adding a save point in the Atrium for after 6am. I guess the number of people who used the found hack around the save points was enough that they realized that just MAYBE not having at least ONE save point was bad. Yeah guys, it was a wee bit bad.
We will be able to skip cutscenes! Thank the gaming gods as watching ANY cutscene more than once was just annoying as all hell.
I guess the sequence in the Daycare was really confusing and difficult for all of us. LOL. They’re going to color code the wires that come out of the generators so it will be easier to follow. I will probably still use the video walkthrough I found so long ago now IF, IIIIIFFFFFFF I ever decide to play the game AGAIN. Which with these changes I just might.
The overall game size on our hard drives will be smaller. Or would be smaller if we download it after the patch…..anyway it won’t be this GIGANTIC file download in the future. Side thought, does anyone else have a problem saying or even using the word ‘huge’ after the spectacular idiot used it so much? I can’t do it without cringing and feeling sick.
And there will be balance changes for things like the Burntrap battle and hiding. Can we just have a better battle??? A more fulfilling battle? I mean sure, take away some of the tentacle things and make it so no one gets jump scared during the credits. But a better battle.
Anyway, there’s no actual news about a DLC from Steel Wool, but when you’re poking around in the changelog, there is a suggestion to one as there are file names of fnaf9_dlc__shipping.
Okay, that part isn’t on the site, that was mentioned by Dawko.
As for my personal gameplay, I’ve gotten probably all that I’m going to get in terms of bags of lore and presents. And of course all of the CDs. I haven’t recorded playing the Burntrap ending, I think I’ve only recorded the leaving by the VIP area and the docks area. They’re my favorite endings. While I haven’t actually recorded me listening to the CDs, I have opened up the room and looked around in it.
I have only put the beginning of the game play on my channel though. I have a lot recorded I just am not sure that anyone really wants to watch that at this point since ‘everyone else has done it’. That and I’ve been tied up trying to understand some brainless people on Reddit.
Been spending some time over at r/GameTheorists and r/fivenightsatfreddys as one does and I’ve had to try and get people to explain their thinking about some theories as well as the hilariously annoying “Well so many people have said this so it’s true” assumptions many people take on these subreddits.
Had one person try to tell me that Gregory and Freddy were already buddies and their proof was the fact that there is a drawing in Freddy’s green room that is repeated in the secret room by the daycare and it’s Gregory. When I asked how they knew it was drawn by Gregory, they responded with “it looks like him.”
Uhhmmm…
That is a STICK FIGURE THAT LOOKS LIKE NO ONE.
And to me, the kid has RED hair. Same color as Freddy’s shoulder pads and legs, but not the same color as Freddy who is brown. The kid even colored their face to match Freddy’s color. From what I’ve seen of Gregory, he’s white.
But yeah, the drawing is repeated. So is the one of the group that is seen in the Freddy green room image. There is nothing in that child and Freddy image that screams Gregory to me. And the fact Freddy had to ask Gregory his name and says “You’re not known to me” clearly states that they do not know each other.
And then there is the theory running around that the voice that talks to you through the watch isn’t always Freddy. Proof is how Freddy is surprised to find you have hurt his friends and pulled parts out of them. Well, it is Freddy talking as if you have him with you and trigger lines you can look at him and his mouth is moving with the words. Also, Freddy is surprised as the objective is to decommission and he tells Freddy that he destroys them.
I’ve taken a break from that crap however and even had to block the one who even after I said I’m not going to respond any more because they are closed minded and won’t accept when parts of their theory is debunked as they wouldn’t leave it. Kept responding on the post then PMing me five times a day at the least. *shakes head*
Being a good theorist means that you keep an open mind and use the evidence in front of you to create the theory not try to create the evidence to fit a theory you like. I feel for MatPat and the shade that’s thrown his way a lot by the idiots. Also sort of fear for the future.
Until next time, it’s not a long post, but it was a post, a post just for you.
Cheshire Anthropology 