Based Wage Making: Money Sitting as a Service

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Nocheez: Sep 5, 2000; Can you spare a little cheddar?; Nap Ghost

I ran out of weed in March and just stopped using it. If anyone would have been addicted it would have been me, but I just stopped and nothing happened except for getting extremely vivid dreams. It's been 10 weeks and I'm doing just fine.

But I'm going to Washington in June so we'll see how long my willpower lasts.

# ? May 20, 2020 15:10

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# ? Jun 8, 2024 09:44

Mocking Bird: Aug 17, 2011

I've never wanted someone to get popped on a piss test so bad in my entire life

# ? May 20, 2020 15:11

Nocheez: Sep 5, 2000; Can you spare a little cheddar?; Nap Ghost

Mocking Bird posted:

I've never wanted someone to get popped on a piss test so bad in my entire life

Couldn't wait 14 loving days. I bet that dude would have failed the marshmallow test while the instructions were still being given to him.

# ? May 20, 2020 15:26

Hoodwinker: Nov 7, 2005

Nocheez posted:

Couldn't wait 14 loving days. I bet that dude would have failed the marshmallow test while the instructions were still being given to him.

Then he would have complained about how unfair the whole situation is.

# ? May 20, 2020 15:30

Residency Evil: Jul 28, 2003; 4/5 godo... Schumi

IANAL, but

quote:

I already did it what are they going to do send me to jail for two weeks till I max because once I max they have to release me I did my time

Wouldn't smoking weed/violating parole potentially be an entirely new crime?

# ? May 20, 2020 15:39

SpartanIvy: May 18, 2007; Hair Elf

No you see once you get one speeding ticket you can never get one again it's called Double Jenga and this isn't even a Nautical Court in accordance with the flag sticker on the back of my PT Cruiser, OFFICER!

# ? May 20, 2020 15:46

threelemmings: Dec 4, 2007; A jellyfish!

Residency Evil posted:

IANAL, but

Wouldn't smoking weed/violating parole potentially be an entirely new crime?

If they catch him actually doing it, yes. Popping positive only matters because he is on probation, otherwise by itself there is no crime having the metabolites in your system.

# ? May 20, 2020 15:57

Cacafuego: Jul 22, 2007

Residency Evil posted:

IANAL, but

Wouldn't smoking weed/violating parole potentially be an entirely new crime?

I believe someone pointed that out in the response chain.

# ? May 20, 2020 15:58

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

quote:

No �Prairie Home Companion� at Sea, and So Far, No Refund, Either
Garrison Keillor�s cruise was to set sail in March. Loyal fans out thousands of dollars are still scrambling to determine if they will get their money back � and if so, how much.

Buckle up folks.

quote:

When reservations for this year�s cruise with Garrison Keillor, the former public radio host, went on sale last May, Mr. Keillor�s loyal listeners rushed to claim passage. Cabins sold out in 23 hours.

The Veendam, boarding 1,350 passengers, was scheduled to leave for the Caribbean from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on March 18.

But a week before the cruise was set to depart, Mr. Keillor, who has corresponded with cruisers throughout the process, emailed the more than 1,200 guests, officially canceling the cruise.

�Events are moving rapidly,� he wrote. �And in the wrong direction and what was intended to be enjoyable has lost all aspects of pleasure.�

quote:

In the wake of the pandemic, would-be passengers who booked directly through Carnival�s nine cruise lines have been able to choose between a refund and rebooking with 125 percent credit, said Roger Frizzell, a company spokesman. But the refund process for those who booked through charters, like Mr. Keillor�s Prairie Home Cruises, LLC, is more complicated. The charter, which essentially rented the boat from Holland America, had already spent much of the money the cruisers prepaid.

Caught in the tangled relationship between the charter operator and the cruise line, more than two months after the canceled trip, passengers out thousands of dollars are still scrambling to determine if they will get their money back � and if so, how much.

It has left some fans feeling let down by their cultural idol, Mr. Keillor, who some six weeks after canceling the trip, sent a mass email that jumped from a personal anecdote about sheltering in place to Franz Kafka to plans for his own novel, �in which Lake Woebegonians catch a virus from eating cheese that causes compulsive admission of innermost thoughts and guilty secrets.� (He offered advanced copies of the novel �AT COST plus postage,� as well as a monetary prize for the winning title suggestion.)

But the email � complete with a limerick written by Mr. Keillor � left a lot of questions unanswered.

This reads like an Onion article.

quote:

�There is a lot of red tape,� said Elissa Wolfson, who had spent $4,947 for reservations for herself and her daughter on Mr. Keillor�s cruise, and now wants her money back. For weeks she has gone back and forth with employees of Prairie Home Cruises. �It�s not only Holland America, it�s Prairie Home � and lawyers. Big ifs here,� she said.

quote:

On 11 cruises since 2005, what Mr. Keillor calls his �floating small town� had traveled to Scandinavia, the Mediterranean and the Canadian Maritime, among other locations.

Without American Public Media, which had chartered the previous cruises and held all financial responsibility, Mr. Keillor was uncertain if they would be able to continue sailing. But after hearing from interested cruisers, his small team worked to restart them. The cruise in March would have been the first since the accusations.

Dick Kaufmann, 80, a retired lawyer and businessman from Washington, D.C., and his wife, Barbara, are among Mr. Keillor�s dedicated listeners. They had attended every previous cruise and looked forward to sailing again.

�The reality for me and my wife was that we could go anywhere � or stay moored to dock and not go anywhere � and it would have been a warm and interesting experience,� Mr. Kaufmann said.

Such rich cultural tastes.

quote:

As with the previous cruises, this year�s was centered on performing arts. The ship was set to stop at ports in Jamaica and Cayman Islands, before turning back up through Cozumel, Mexico, and Key West, Fla. With 45 musicians aboard, time at sea promised performances of jazz, reggae and honky-tonk piano, as well as nightly shows with music and stories � sometimes in the stylings of �A Prairie Home Companion� � by Mr. Keillor.

quote:

When passengers eventually receive a refund from Prairie Home Cruises, it will not be the full amount they laid out, Ms. Gustafson said.

quote:

Ms. Wolfson said she finds the whole process �rife with bureaucracies� and told the charter company in an email that: �Waiting until June for an unspecified partial refund seems callous, unprofessional, and unacceptable.�

She said that while she was disappointed the cruise was canceled and would rebook if offered a refund, �I�d be really disappointed to be thousands of dollars in the hole because we could really use that right now.�

But that might not be a possibility. In an email to Ms. Wolfson, Ms. Gustafson said that the loss of cruise funds �has hit us in the knees.�

You chose to waste $5,000 on this.

quote:

David Bartlow, 77, of Richmond, Va., sailed on all 11 Prairie Home cruises and dates his introduction to Mr. Keillor to his show�s debut during Watergate. He was signed up for the March cruise with his wife, and said the cancellation was �kind of devastating.�

He had looked forward to seeing friends he had met on board, among them Chuck Eklund, 71, of Colorado Springs, and Mr. Kaufmann.

Shortly before the cancellation was announced, the three men hopped on a Zoom call to discuss their options.

�We were all on the horns of a dilemma,� Mr. Kaufmann recalled, adding that for him the eventual cancellation came as a relief.

At their age, those who had not already canceled were strongly considering it, the friends said.

�You could watch the age of the people go up,� Mr. Eklund laughed, recalling previous cruises. �And the number of people on walkers and little scooters have gone up.�

quote:

Without another cruise on the itinerary, the company has considered other ways to get together �on land or sea, whenever the pandemic lets up,� Mr. Keillor said.

But for now, he said, he is glad they canceled the cruise. In his email to concerned cruisers on April 20, amid paragraphs lamenting the pandemic and asserting his company�s intention to refund them, he included a limerick:

�I�m glad we�re not on the Veendam

Trying to maintain aplomb

In Corona hell

Sprayed with Purell,

Reading the 23rd Psalm.�

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/...&section=Travel

# ? May 20, 2020 16:12

Alan Smithee: Jan 4, 2005; A man becomes preeminent, he's expected to have enthusiasms.

Enthusiasms, enthusiasms...

I've always had an irrational hatred for Garrison Keillor's voice. It was like Tom Brokaw meets Mitch Mcconnell before I even knew I would hate his voice too

when the sex pest poo poo came out I was like "yup"

# ? May 20, 2020 16:16

canyoneer: Sep 13, 2005; I only have canyoneyes for you

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Paying $1.6 million for a 3,500 year old tablet of Gilgamesh that you know was looted and stolen from Iraq during the Iraq War because "Iraq is a mess right now and they won't have time to come after it."

U.S. Authorities Say Hobby Lobby's Gilgamesh Tablet Is 'Stolen,' Must Go Back To Iraq

Hobby Lobby admitted in a settlement that they "failed to conduct due diligence" and not that they were purposefully looting the country because there was a war and these needed to be in "The Museum of the Bible," but they took some weirdly diligent steps to make sure that they got away with it.

They took "all possible" measures to prevent this, but in a settlement, they agreed to additional oversight measures. Does this mean that Hobby Lobby will now be implementing all possible and impossible measures to prevent accidentally ending up with more than 12,000 looted items again?

Don't forget the stuff stolen from OXFORD

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/06/museum-of-the-bible-obbink-gospel-of-mark/610576/

# ? May 20, 2020 16:27

SpartanIvy: May 18, 2007; Hair Elf

Hyrax Attack! posted:

Buckle up folks.

This reads like an Onion article.

Such rich cultural tastes.

You chose to waste $5,000 on this.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/...&section=Travel

I didn't read all of it but it sounds like the cruise is delaying refunds hoping that the older people waiting for refunds get sick and die first.

# ? May 20, 2020 16:34

Phanatic: Mar 13, 2007; Please don't forget that I am an extremely racist idiot who also has terrible opinions about the Culture series.

Hyrax Attack! posted:

This reads like an Onion article.

I can't imagine how someone like Garrison Keillor would agree to be cooped up on a cruise ship where the only passengers are the type of people who'd want to go on a cruise because Garrison Keillor will be there.

# ? May 20, 2020 16:58

Alan Smithee: Jan 4, 2005; A man becomes preeminent, he's expected to have enthusiasms.

Enthusiasms, enthusiasms...

stuck at the port of Lake Wobegon, not allowed to debark

# ? May 20, 2020 17:01

bob dobbs is dead: Oct 8, 2017; I love peeps; Nap Ghost

prolly north of a quarter mill bucks convinced him

# ? May 20, 2020 17:01

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

never mind

Hyrax Attack! fucked around with this message at 22:08 on May 20, 2020

# ? May 20, 2020 17:25

Subjunctive: Sep 12, 2006; ✨sparkle and shine✨

Nocheez posted:

Couldn't wait 14 loving days. I bet that dude would have failed the marshmallow test while the instructions were still being given to him.

Apropos which, that test didn�t fare so well under conceptual replication: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/publications/observer/obsonline/a-new-approach-to-the-marshmallow-test-yields-complex-findings.html

# ? May 20, 2020 17:25

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Woman spends $6,394.52 on onions to make ex-boyfriend cry.

That is ~61% of the average annual salary in China.

quote:

Woman in China sends 1,000 kg onions to ex-boyfriend to make him cry

In a bizarre incident, a heartbroken woman in China sent 1,000 kg of onions to her ex-boyfriend as revenge. She apparently wanted to make him cry as much as she did after their relationship ended.

They were in a relationship for over a year. According to her, she spent three days at home crying. But when she got to know that her ex-boyfriend was not upset at all, she decided to send him 1,000 kg of onions.

According to Daily Mail, she also sent him a note with the onions that read, "I've cried for three days, now it's your turn." Apparently, the girl was angry that her boyfriend had not shed a single tear after parting ways with her.

Speaking to a local reporter, the man said that they had broken up because of her 'over the top behavior'.

https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/woman-in-china-sends-1-000-kg-onions-to-ex-boyfriend-to-make-him-cry-1680036-2020-05-20

Leon Trotsky 2012 fucked around with this message at 17:29 on May 20, 2020

# ? May 20, 2020 17:26

Foma: Oct 1, 2004; Hello, My name is Lip Synch. Right now, I'm making a post that is anti-bush or something Micheal Moore would be proud of because I and the rest of my team lefty friends (koba1t included) need something to circle jerk to.

Hyrax Attack! posted:

I found a worse one

9 years? I admire the grift but drat.

hell

Can you imagine commanding a sub with the Prairie Home Companion and JoCo cruises in your scope, but only having one torpedo?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/travel/joco-cruise-jonathan-coulton.html

Coulton is decent, he wrote the portal songs. I wouldn't want to go on a cruise built around him, but not sure why you are so down on it. There are even Magic the Gathering cruises and cruises for people who like knitting.

# ? May 20, 2020 17:33

bob dobbs is dead: Oct 8, 2017; I love peeps; Nap Ghost

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Woman spends $6,394.52 on onions to make ex-boyfriend cry.

That is ~61% of the average annual salary in China.

https://www.indiatoday.in/trending-news/story/woman-in-china-sends-1-000-kg-onions-to-ex-boyfriend-to-make-him-cry-1680036-2020-05-20

last line is :discourse:

# ? May 20, 2020 17:35

Cyrano4747: Sep 25, 2006; Yes, I know I'm old, get off my fucking lawn so I can yell at these clouds.

Hyrax Attack! posted:

Can you imagine commanding a sub with the Prairie Home Companion and JoCo cruises in your scope, but only having one torpedo?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/travel/joco-cruise-jonathan-coulton.html

That JoCo boat seems like Internet forums made into terrible, physical, sweaty reality.

Am I allowed to write �ban hammer� on the torpedo?

# ? May 20, 2020 17:39

Ralith: Jan 12, 2011; I see a ship in the harbor
I can and shall obey
But if it wasn't for your misfortune
I'd be a heavenly person today

I, too, am physically nauseated by the prospect of people with common interests socializing in organized events.

# ? May 20, 2020 17:44

SpartanIvy: May 18, 2007; Hair Elf

I'd heard of the JoCo cruise from some of the McElroy podcasts. Never bothered to look it up but it sounds like every sci-fi/anime con in existence except way longer and you can't escape. I bet if the ship ever sinks it'll leave a bigger oil slick than the Exxon Valdeez.

# ? May 20, 2020 17:47

Residency Evil: Jul 28, 2003; 4/5 godo... Schumi

Cyrano4747 posted:

That JoCo boat seems like Internet forums made into terrible, physical, sweaty reality.

Am I allowed to write �ban hammer� on the torpedo?

I remember running across someone who wore a cape and didn't wear shoes outside or to class during my first year at college. I bet they're on this cruise.

# ? May 20, 2020 17:47

Leon Trotsky 2012: Aug 27, 2009; YOU CAN TRUST ME!*

_{*Israeli Government-affiliated poster}

Why do people who get caught inappropriately using government funds always spend it on the worst things?

- The "Downtown Abbey" office.
- Plane tickets for their pet rabbits.
- $1,302 worth of DLC and skins on Steam.
- Expensive haircuts.

And now, more than $200,000 on a full-time harpist, $190 pens, "goody bags," $45 cocktails, and $17 spiral notebooks.

quote:

Pompeo's elite taxpayer-funded dinners raise new concerns

The secretary of state's exclusive "Madison Dinners" have featured guest lists heavy on influencers but light on diplomatic invitees.

quote:

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo regularly held taxpayer-funded, 500-guest formal dinners � and President Trump reportedly knew nothing about them.

Until the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Pompeo often invited hundreds of guests to the U.S. State Department for his "Madison Dinners," referring to how former President James Madison often met with foreign diplomats over a meal. But unlike Madison, Pompeo invited more than just diplomats to his dinners, and sent the bill for food, entertainment, and goody bags to the U.S. government, NBC News reports.

quote:

Just 14 percent of attendees were actually involved in foreign policy.

quote:

State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus acknowledged that, "The CEO of Chick-fil-A is not someone I would say is involved in foreign policy directly," but said the dinners are "a world-class opportunity to discuss the mission of the State Department and the complex foreign policy matters facing our exceptional nation. Each guest has a stake in America and its leadership in the world."

She added that Pompeo "has benefited greatly from these gatherings as he has gained knowledge listening to his guests from all across the political spectrum and all around the world."

quote:

Guests to the "Diplomatic Advisory Meeting" included Reba McEntire, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Dr. Larry Beamer, a surgeon in Wichita, Kansas, historian Niall Ferguson; and Fox News host Brian Kilmeade.

quote:

Other invitees included Supreme Court Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch, Fox News host Laura Ingraham, American Conservative Union head Matt Schlapp and his wife Mercedes, GOP operative Karl Rove, and anti-abortion lobbyist Marjorie Dannenfelser of the Susan B. Anthony List. Various corporate executives, such as Raytheon CEO Thomas Kennedy and AOL co-founder Steve Case, were also invited.

quote:

The dinners were paid for out of the State Department's Emergencies in the Diplomatic and Consular Service Appropriation, known as the "K Fund," which can be used for "confidential requirements in the conduct of foreign affairs as well as other authorized activities that further the realization of U.S. foreign policy objectives," according to the State Department's website.

People, if you're going to misappropriate funds, then get a jet ski or a night in Vegas with hookers and blow.

Also, if I am a billionaire CEO or millionaire TV personality/Supreme Court Justice/Lobbyist, then would I really give a poo poo that you are giving me an insanely over-priced pen and spiral notebook? Who is that for?

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/pompeo-s-elite-taxpayer-funded-dinners-raise-new-concerns-n1210746
https://theweek.com/speedreads/915535/taxpayers-paid-food-harpist-goody-bags-pompeos-frequent-500guest-formal-dinners

Leon Trotsky 2012 fucked around with this message at 17:56 on May 20, 2020

# ? May 20, 2020 17:49

Cacafuego: Jul 22, 2007

Hyrax Attack! posted:

I found a worse one

9 years? I admire the grift but drat.

Of course she's involved.

We're being subtweeted.

Please don't discourage serial killers from boarding.

I've known adults who abandon their kids to play board games, not the best folk.

The pictures are worse than you're imagining.

The hell

no

One of the worst living writers. The most recent cruise had Patrick Rothfuss

hell

Can you imagine commanding a sub with the Prairie Home Companion and JoCo cruises in your scope, but only having one torpedo?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/travel/joco-cruise-jonathan-coulton.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcBc2XV1ijY

# ? May 20, 2020 17:51

gvibes: Jan 18, 2010; Leading us to the promised land (i.e., one tournament win in five years)

Leon Trotsky 2012 posted:

Paying $1.6 million for a 3,500 year old tablet of Gilgamesh that you know was looted and stolen from Iraq during the Iraq War because "Iraq is a mess right now and they won't have time to come after it."

U.S. Authorities Say Hobby Lobby's Gilgamesh Tablet Is 'Stolen,' Must Go Back To Iraq
Hobby Lobby admitted in a settlement that they "failed to conduct due diligence" and not that they were purposefully looting the country because there was a war and these needed to be in "The Museum of the Bible," but they took some weirdly diligent steps to make sure that they got away with it.
They took "all possible" measures to prevent this, but in a settlement, they agreed to additional oversight measures. Does this mean that Hobby Lobby will now be implementing all possible and impossible measures to prevent accidentally ending up with more than 12,000 looted items again?

Didn't Isis sell those guys a bunch of fake dead sea scrolls or something too?

# ? May 20, 2020 17:56

Wicked Them Beats: Apr 1, 2007; Moralists don't really *have* beliefs. Sometimes they stumble on one, like on a child's toy left on the carpet. The toy must be put away immediately. And the child reprimanded.

That nerd boat sounds like hell. By day three the stench must be unbearable. And hearing people shout "the cake is a lie" unironically for a week would be maddening.

But definitely GWM on Coulton's part. The Z-list celebrities he's inviting on aren't going to be cutting too deep into the profits and the type of person who goes on a cruise celebrating 2007 Video Game Music Man is going to snap up every bit of merch you put in front of them.

# ? May 20, 2020 18:57

Ham Equity: Apr 16, 2013; The first thing we do, let's kill all the cars.; Grimey Drawer

Hyrax Attack! posted:

Cruises

I can't really judge the JoCo people for going to a nerd-con-esque thing (I usually go to PAX, mostly for board gaming). But I can definitely judge them for going on a cruise. And I can also judge the oldsters for joining Garrison Keelor on the USS #MeToo.

quote:

hell

Can you imagine commanding a sub with the Prairie Home Companion and JoCo cruises in your scope, but only having one torpedo?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/travel/joco-cruise-jonathan-coulton.html

Shoot the Prairie Home Companion Cruise, then ram it to make sure it goes down. Worthwhile sacrifice.

# ? May 20, 2020 19:13

DarkHorse: Dec 13, 2006; Vroom vroom, BEEP BEEP!; Nap Ghost

Alan Smithee posted:

I've always had an irrational hatred for Garrison Keillor's voice. It was like Tom Brokaw meets Mitch Mcconnell before I even knew I would hate his voice too

when the sex pest poo poo came out I was like "yup"

Thank god im not the only one

GWCar, BWLife

quote:

TIFU by giving my old sports car to my stepson (16), instead of my actual son (20) who wanted it since he was a child.

TIFU by giving my old sports car to my stepson (16), instead of my actual son (20) who wanted it since he was a child.

This happened last year, but yesterday I got a grim reminder.

Before we start off with this trainwreck of a story, here is some background information.

I've been a car mechanic since the age of 19 and I have my own garage/store since I was 28 years old.

After my first marriage went to shambles, I remarried a few years later. Just like my current wife, she had a son from her first marriage. My stepson was around 4 years old back then and he sees me as his real father, seeing his own father walked out on him.

My son from my first marriage was living with his mom, but I saw him quite often shop was on his way back from school, he dropped by occasionally to say hello or look at the cars I had in the shop. My wife and ex-wife actually got along well, there was never any issues with my son staying over or staying for dinner, he lived with his mom though.

When I turned 17 my dad bought me a black Chevrolet Chevelle SS, through my entire live I've always taken care of that car. I loved that car to dead, 90% of that car is still consisting of it's original parts. Seeing I'm a mechanic I had no issues doing everything myself, this car was standing in front of my shop most of the time or in my garage at home. My son, loved this car as well. He always wanted to go along for rides and he knew everything about it. He even had a small model car that looked just like it.

So, where did it go wrong you wonder? My ex-wife remarried as well 8 years ago, but they moved a few states away seeing her new husband got a new (and better paid) job offer. After that, I spoke to my son mostly on the telephone and saw him maybe once every 3-4 months for a long weekend or half a week. The phone calls became less frequent and he said he wanted to focus on his schoolwork. Seeing he was a teen and I couldn't blame him for that. My stepson was already 10 at that time. When my son was 16 he went to univeristy a few states away, I barely had time to speak to him or to see him, my business was doing bad at the time and my wife had also gotten really sick at the time with E. coli and got kidney failures. It was a tough time keeping everything together, but somehow we made it through all of it and my wife is doing far better now.

Fast forward to april 2019, my stepson was turning 16 that month. My stepson always got on with my son, so he invited him. My son was busy at the time, but promised he would show up a few days later. After all that happened I didn't see him for almost 4 years, so I was glad he was coming over. Now here comes to part where I hosed up badly. My stepson was a grade A student, even when times where tough he managed to get good grades at school and even got into the university where he wanted to study Medicine. My wife and I where so proud of him. So I decided to give him my old Chevrolet Chevelle for his 16 birthday.

He was pretty amazed by it and so were his friends, it's a car that to this day still makes an impact. It so on my son as well, one that would cost my relationship with him.

I texted him a picture of my stepson with the car on his 16 birthday party, not knowing what would happen next. My son texted me back with "Is this a joke?"

I didn't understand at the time and texted him back with "No, why?"

He called me not a few seconds later, yelling at me to tell him that it was a joke.

He told me that I promised him the car when he was 10 years old, that if he did well in school I would give it to him. The part that made me yell back at him through the phone was when he called me a "louzy father that didn't care about his real son", let me tell you things were said from both sides that weren't nice from that point onwards.

My wife told me to calm down and to talk it out because there was some misunderstanding.

I then did the most regretabble thing I've done and If I could take it back I would do it, I told my son in a fit of rage that "he didn't deserve the car" and that he could call me back if he changed his attitude. After I hang up the phone, I got into a fight with my wife, who stood up for my son. At that moment in time I didn't care, I was insulted for being called a bad father.

I tried to contact my son a few days afterwards, but I wouldn't get any response. I think he changed his phone number a day after the fight. I couldn't care any less at the time.

Three weeks later my ex-wife called, furious as hell. My son had apparently gratuated from University and I was (in hindsight) not invited by my son. My ex-wife already found it strange that I wasn't there, my son told her there and then what happened and that he wanted to invite me on the day he would come to visit for his graduation. The worst thing is, he was graduating as an automotive service technician and was apparantly one of the best in his class. I then realized that I was indeed, a bad father. In those 4 years of not seeing him and all the stress around me I didn't even bother to ask what he was studying. My ex-wife told me that he was heartbroken and felt like he was unwanted unlike my stepson. She started crying on the phone, saying he just wanted to be a mechanic just like you. He apparently wanted to move back and work with me in my shop and take over when I was going to retire. My entire world crumbled up in front of me, I felt and still feel so encridibly stupid for saying those things to him. My ex-wife wouldn't give me his new number and adress, seeing he wanted no contact with me ever again. She also told me to never reach out to her ever again.

It's been more then a year now, I've had a few fights about it with my wife. My stepson gave the car back and settled for something else if it ment that my son would come back.

I've tried getting into contact with him for the last 11 month's. Until a few months ago the last thing I found out that he was probably working for some big car manufacturer, but they didn't want give out any information about the people working there.

Yesterday I got a package from him, unexpectedly.

It didn't come with a letter or return adress on it, but I knew it was from him.

It was a box with his old Chevrolet toy car, an old picture ripped up of him and me on the hood of the car and a videotape. I watched the videotape, he was probably seven years old at the time, in the video I was fixing a car. I cried halfway through this, because I then knew why he mailed me the tape.

I said to him while he was filming it, if he wanted and kept up his grades that the shop could be his one day including my Chevie.

TLDR: I didn't keep my promise to my son and gave away my sports car to my stepson.Things were said and now I will never see him again.

Edit: a part I left out

Edit 1: Some of you didn't clearly read everything and that's okay. I would be mad to while reading this. My stepson is not to blame here, he gave back the car and the car is now stored in a garagebox. This car has become a thorn in my eye and I can't look at it tbh.

Edit 2: Me and family tried to search for him on facebook and all the other popular social media apps, seeing how he never was into any of those we couldnt find anything.

Edit 3: I've been searching for him for quite some time already. If this virus clears out I can travel to some states to see if he actually lives or works there.

Edit 4: After actually contacting my ex-wife a few times over the course of months, she told me half a year ago that she would ask him once to contact me. But she couldn't force him to if he didn't want to.

Edit 5: Some of you have reached out to me, I'm grateful for the help from some of you to try to help me track him down. But as you can understand I can't give out personal information about myself or my family and my son. There is already to much at stake.

Edit 6: Deleting this account. I know a lot of you people are angry. Believe me I know the feeling, I hate myself as well. I came here to share a story of how I hosed up badly, hoping some people maybe would learn of it. But the nasty messages and death threats I'm receiving in my inbox from other car enthusiasts and other upset people are really not worth it.
From one worthless father to any father or future one, please learn from my mistake.

DarkHorse fucked around with this message at 21:06 on May 20, 2020

# ? May 20, 2020 20:51

Subjunctive: Sep 12, 2006; ✨sparkle and shine✨

That didn�t need to be posted here at all, really.

# ? May 20, 2020 21:00

Magnetic North: Dec 15, 2008; Beware the Forest's Mushrooms

Subjunctive posted:

That didn�t need to be posted here at all, really.

Yeah I kept waiting for it to get funny, and then it didn't.

# ? May 20, 2020 21:14

DarkHorse: Dec 13, 2006; Vroom vroom, BEEP BEEP!; Nap Ghost

Magnetic North posted:

Yeah I kept waiting for it to get funny, and then it didn't.

Sorry, it was just so awful

# ? May 20, 2020 21:23

Volmarias: Dec 31, 2002; EMAIL... THE INTERNET... SEARCH ENGINES...

Hyrax Attack! posted:

Can you imagine commanding a sub with the Prairie Home Companion and JoCo cruises in your scope, but only having one torpedo?

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/travel/joco-cruise-jonathan-coulton.html

I have a good friend who has gone on this cruise for several years. He is exactly the kind of person you would expect to see there, but he also genuinely enjoys it and it sounds like it's fun for that kind of person. No one is forcing anyone to attend. Don't be lovely.

# ? May 20, 2020 21:27

Hoodwinker: Nov 7, 2005

Subjunctive posted:

That didn�t need to be posted here at all, really.

# ? May 20, 2020 21:35

Splicer: Oct 16, 2006; from hell's heart I cast at thee
🧙🐀🧹🌙🪄🐸

Thanatosian posted:

I can't really judge the JoCo people for going to a nerd-con-esque thing (I usually go to PAX, mostly for board gaming). But I can definitely judge them for going on a cruise.

Not PAX but this is where I'm standing

# ? May 20, 2020 21:45

canyoneer: Sep 13, 2005; I only have canyoneyes for you

When I saw JoCo I thought it was a cruise for enthusiasts of the John Company board game.

# ? May 20, 2020 21:50

silvergoose: Mar 18, 2006; IT IS SAID THE TEARS OF THE BWEENIX CAN HEAL ALL WOUNDS

canyoneer posted:

When I saw JoCo I thought it was a cruise for enthusiasts of the John Company board game.

I mean I knew it wasn't but that was my only association with that shortening too.

# ? May 20, 2020 22:10

captkirk: Feb 5, 2010

threelemmings posted:

If they catch him actually doing it, yes. Popping positive only matters because he is on probation, otherwise by itself there is no crime having the metabolites in your system.

True, the crime is usually possession, not "got high before". But with this guy's attitude I'm pretty sure if his PO asked him to empty his pockets after he failed his UA that he'd get hit with possession.

# ? May 20, 2020 22:38

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# ? Jun 8, 2024 09:44

Midjack: Dec 24, 2007

canyoneer posted:

When I saw JoCo I thought it was a cruise for enthusiasts of the John Company board game.

I thought they were going to charge their crystals.

# ? May 20, 2020 22:48

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Business, Finance, and Careers > Based Wage Making: Money Sitting as a Service

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