I never understood why Breath of the Wild was so beloved. I played through it and Tears of the Kingdom, but I really wonder if they would have been as well received if they didn’t benefit from the Zelda franchise.

I found myself getting annoyed with the game more often than excited. I very quickly became annoyed encountering koroks, or shrines, or the stupid sign guy. I think the bevy of side quests and collectibles diluted too much of the narrative and enjoyment of the world.

Not me but my brother although I was involved.

It was ~2003 and I had spent the summer working to get an eMachine to play Diablo II and Everquest on. My older brother would play on it while I was working, which I was fine with, but then would refuse to get off when I came home. One specific time he was being exceptionally annoying and I had a pack of chocolate covered pretzel rods in my hand I got from work and decided to retaliate. He was so immersed in the game he was leaning forward on the stool I used as a computer chair. You know how jeans will pucker out a bit when you’re sitting and leaning forward?

With the hand of a surgeon I gently slotted a single pretzel rod into the exposed crack of his ass. He didn’t notice at all. How? I have no idea to this day. I laid on my bed and waited for him to notice but 10 minutes passed as the chocolate melted and the pretzel rod integrated itself into my brother ass crack. Every time he moved it slid slightly further. At one point he re-positioned himself on the stool and I heard it break in half and, even then, he was completely unaware.

I started dying laughing because it was so absurd that he didn’t realize and at this point it wasn’t even visible. He asked me why I was laughing and I kept telling him “you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.” He started demanding to know and eventually I said, “you have a chocolate covered pretzel in your ass.” He thought I was just being annoying and talking nonsense but I just kept repeating it between bouts of laughter.


Eventually he got so mad he stood up and I saw the grim realization hit him that he did, indeed, have a chocolate covered pretzel in his ass crack. He was immediately irate and went to chase me but as very few people know it is hard to run with a chocolate covered pretzel slotted like a credit card between your ass cheeks. He yelled for my parents who both ran into the room and I got to see him try and tell them that I had put a chocolate covered pretzel into his ass crack and then them ask the obvious question, “how does someone do that and not realize?”


He had no answers. He had only his impotent rage and a chocolate covered pretzel in his ass crack. I had my computer back and was later beaten, but I knew I had struck a devastating psychological blow that still exists to this day.

I remember going to the library when I was 10 and asking the librarian to help me find a book that was similar to the Redwall series. She cheerfully handed me Watership Down and told me it was very similar because it had anthropomorphic animals in it.

It’s like going to Walmart and saying you like Nerf and they suggest a glock.

Yep, that’s the experience! 😂

Highly recommend checking out the Link to the Past Randomizer if you haven’t. It shuffles all the chest contents while ensuring you can complete the game. It’s different each time and even gives you a cheat sheet if you get stuck.

Check it out here

My wife’s family was like that when I met them. Stomping around, chewing loudly, and TV super loud. When we moved in together, we got our hearing checked and it turned out she had a genetic issue that fused her stapen (hammer bone in the ear) into a fixed position which meant severe hearing impairment. Luckily a surgeon can replace the stapen with a titanium micro prosthesis that solves the problem.

Just after the procedure she called me downstairs because she said she was hearing weird noises and it turned out to be the refrigerator compressor she had never heard before. After both ears were completed, a lot of the loud behavior stopped.

I really think that some subset of these people just have hearing loss.

I bought my first one to do exactly that! The clip that held the spring in place to gently lower the door snapped twice and I saw that someone had a beefier one modeled and decided I would buy a printer rather than pay the $17 dollar for another part that would break.

My 3d printer(s). I bought my first one used for $100 ~10 years ago and offered to print a small model for someone’s college capstone project. People learned I had a printer and started coming to me for all sorts of small things. I would only charge for substantial jobs but people would end up paying me anyway. I quickly got a resin printer and started selling miniatures for friends. I eventually got contacted by one of the major manufacturers who would send me return units and replacement parts so I could repair and tell them what was broken, if anything, then I could keep or sell them.


Everything I have done with 3d printing has been subsidized by side jobs. It’s a super fun hobby because 3d printing sits at the nexus point of basically every other hobby. I have done jobs for people building rat rods, model trains, cosplay, interior designers, hydroponics, brewing, architects, drones, and more.

Rocco’s Modern Life

"In November 1992, two months before the production of season 1 of Rocko’s Modern Life, Murray’s [the shows creator] first wife committed suicide. Murray had often blamed his wife’s suicide on the show being picked up. He said, “It was always an awful connection because I look at Rocko as such a positive in my life.” He felt that he had emotional and physical “unresolved issues” when he moved to Los Angeles, describing the experience as participating in a “marathon with my pants around my ankles.”

Rocco’s Modern Life - wikipedia

It’s a deep cut but I used to play a ton of The Incredible Machine as a kid and the Zydeco song has always been a banger.

Higher quality remixed version from the 3DO version

I was at a bar with a friend years ago and he kept talking about how much he loves limes. He went on and on about it. Finally, I told him I would bet him $50 if he could eat a whole lime, rind and all. He couldn’t refuse after spending 10 minutes talking about his love for them. The bartender was happy to offer a large one for the challenge.

This kid tried for 45 minutes to consume the lime. The juicy interior was quickly consumed and all that was left was the bitter, leathery peel which had the surface area of a dessert plate. He was chewing on it like he was trying to get someone to guess “chewing” in charades. He, very begrudgingly admitted defeat while me and the bartender were breathlessly laughing.

I only offer this as an alternative, minority viewpoint because I struggled with selecting earbuds for bed - try bone conduction ear buds.

Caveats being, side sleeping can be uncomfortable depending on head shape and pillow stiffness. Also the audio quality is not as good as traditional buds, but not an issue for most audiobooks or podcasts. For me though, it eliminated the uncomfortable pressure against my eardrum and didn’t trap moisture if I chose to take a shower before bed. I also could hear in case there was something I had to respond to.

I have been working through adding things to a pegboard wall with the help of a 3d printer. Sure it’s not the most exciting but this corner of the universe is not going to shit.

Oh, I wasn’t thinking at all. It was a mistake my body won’t let me make again though.

I have a coworker that has two monitors on a free-moving desk stand and he has monitors as far apart as possible. The monitors are pretty small (24") and there is over two monitor widths between them. He has to whip his head around like he is trying trying to dodge a fly all day to do his work.

He complains about back and neck pain all the time.

Years ago I went to a small bar within walking distance of my place to watch a couple games with friends. There was a beer rep there for one of the big brewers debuting some new seltzer flavors, but no one was interested. I felt bad and the game wasn’t terribly interesting so I talked with him and over the course of 4-5 hours ended up drinking ~8 different flavors of fall themed seltzers (e.g., sour apple, cinnamon, pumpkin, flannel(?!)). A few included a shot of vodka. It was all free so I wasn’t saying no and ended up quite drunk.

The bar was also hosting a fish fry that day and the bartender brought over the leftover fish after the party left and offered it to everyone. In retrospect, this must have been sitting out for hours, but in my drunken state it was ambrosia from heaven and I ate a couple fillets and a bunch of shrimp and walked home.

The next day I was violently hungover and had food poisoning. It was the worst I have ever felt by a wide margin. The absolutely abominable combination of seafood and potpourri flavored alcohol made it an exquisitely miserable experience

Pharmacy. The patients that are the worst at managing their conditions are the ones you have to deal with the most. Add to that the issues that stem from insurance, addiction, neglect, or end of life care, it can be really tough.

Many years ago was working in a pharmacy and a patient came in for a prescription for an steroid inhaler. Steroid inhalers can cause a fungal infection in your mouth if you don’t rinse and spit after using them. I told this to the patient’s mother but she said that the doctor told them to not inhale the spray and instead hold it in the mouth and then rinse and swallow. I told them that didn’t sound right and could be harmful but she insisted.

I called the doctor who told me the patient had a relatively rare condition called eosinophilic esophagitis that required they swallow instead of inhale to reduce the swelling in their esophagus and the chance of a fungal infection was manageable. Turns out that physician was performing a clinical trial which is now a recognized (off label) therapy for the disease.

I use that experience when I am training others on why it is important to listen to everything the patient/client/customer is saying, and not to immediately discount it because it sounds wrong.

I know a lot of people will tell you to expect boredom, but the last time I was called for jury duty it was actually a great time.

Once I got inside the building and signed in the jury room was pretty nice. It was set up with a bunch of large armchairs with a side table next to it with a charging station all facing toward a projection screen. In the morning they would show a concert and a movie in the afternoon. You could listen to or you could sit there with your laptop in your chair. They had coffee and snacks for free and a side room which was dark and quiet if you wanted to sleep. They encouraged people to bring in food or entertainment too. In the afternoon they had a field trip where we were given tours of the state buildings or meetings with the judges. We had to be available for 2 weeks unless we got empaneled which only happened once but the case was settled before any arguments. If anyone’s work complained that they were out or asked them to do work during the day the court would physically send one of the jury officers to go yell at your boss and he would come back and tell us about it.

By the end of the week we were all on a first name basis and people were bringing in legitimately good food. One guy played us some music and another guy was a radio host and offered to announce an Uno tournament like it was a professional sporting match. One guy needed help with filling out a bunch of paperwork for an issue he was having and we all pitched in to help him figure it out and it was done in a morning.

I still talk to some of those people and it was 5+ years ago. Hopefully you have a good time too.

During a particularly hard part of my life I asked my partner to take my car for an past due oil change while I was at school/work. When I got home at 11pm I asked how it went and they said that my car was a mess, which is not how I keep my car. Turns out someone trashed my car and stole everything the previous night including a bunch of school textbooks and a bunch of other related stuff. I have had things stolen before but this was in my driveway way outside the main city so it felt personal.

Luckily, I was able to work with the professors and my classmates who provided me copies or a spare book for the semester and I was able get by. Really sucked at the time but it was really warming to have other people pitch in to help me.