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Gimme a status update while you moonwalk out the door
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Topic by: The Taco Prophet
Posted: Apr 19, 23 - 7:01 PM
Last Reply: May 11, 23 - 2:15 AM
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Author Gimme a status update while you moonwalk out the door
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Posts: 65
I'm enjoying this trip down memory lane and finding that I really missed you wads of jerk. I really want to know what you've all been up to. So if you're game, throw me a status update on your way out the door. Some of you aren't going by the handles I know you by any more, and it's taking me a few minutes to catch up. I'm old now. Be kind. Tell me what name I know you by.

Or don't be kind. It's funnier that way.

I'll start.

Forumer: The Taco Prophet
Name: Billy Flanagan if you're looking for me in Zuckerberg's hellhole
Email: tacoprophet at the gmail machine

He Leg came to see me one time. We had an uncharacteristic ice storm around that time and got stuck in the house for the whole week. We played lots of Munchkin. That was yay.

I've been through a few jobs since I saw you guys last. I did a short stint at a company that specialized in software for managing GIANT ASS FUCKING networks. Super cool tech. I got unlucky with teams though, so it wasn't much of a fun time for me. But I got to meet Lisa Lippincott, who was super nice in addition to being goddamn brilliant. So that was cool.

I write software to run clinical trials now. One of the covid vaccines ran on my shit. That's probably the most rewarding thing that's ever happened in my career. Yay.

Coyote died. I took that real hard and spent about six months drunk. When I got tired of feeling awful, I started running. I think my now-running-partner is the reason. He was in a motorcycle accident, and it wasn't for sure he'd walk again, but he completed his first half marathon around the same time I was ready to start taking care of myself again. I've run a bunch of half marathons since then. I'm not fast, but I can run slow for a really long time. I have no interest in running a full marathon, but halves are just a thing I do sometimes now. There's about 65 pounds less of me crossing the finish line these days.

I started a memorial fund in Coyote/Steve's name, with the proceeds going to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. We've raised a fair bit of money. They sent me a little... thing? I'm not sure what to call it. Artsy acrylic doo dad on a stand with a plaque recognizing the contributions in his name. That was lovely. I keep it on a shelf in my living room next to his ashes.

Oh, yeah. His ashes are in my living room, so we hang out most nights now. He and I always joked about distributing our ashes in a Folger's can. He asked for that in his note. His family did it, but fucked it up, because they haven't seen the movie and didn't get the reference. So they're just the sweetest people ever. I've left him in the wrong can because a) what sweet, wonderful people, to do this thing that surely had to be the most bizarre request ever if you don't catch the reference, and b) serves him fucking right. I've also got a pinch of his ashes in a pendant I wear every day. Stuck with me now, bucko.

My kids are mostly grown now. My daughter is 18 and graduates high school this summer. She's headed to college in the fall. She's way into biology, and plans to study in that area. She's looking at getting a job at the local natural science museum (she waitresses right now). Wendy is encouraging her to study veterinary medicine, given her interests. There is a college nearby with an excellent veterinary program.

My son is 21. He dropped out of college last year. Got married, spent a while living in my house, moved to Florida. He's been on a tough road. Figuring things out, I reckon. Or doing his best. He and his wife are splitting up. He went through a rough patch a while back and attempted suicide several times. I had to call in wellness checks. He spent a week in the mental hospital. It seems to have done him some good, as he seems to be doing much better both physically and mentally since then, and has been getting some help. He's still pretty angry at me. He's just recently started speaking to me again. I hope he figures things out and finds the kind of life he deserves. I worry about him.

I got a divorce a while back. There's an old joke: why does divorce cost so much? Because it's fuckin' worth it. I used to think that joke was kinda funny. Now I think it's hi-goddamn-larious.

We got along pretty well toward the end and in the initial months of the separation. She's very angry and pretty mean these days. I'm sure she's got good reasons, but I don't know them, nor do I especially care. I'm not angry, but I'm glad to be done.

I've been seeing a lady named Wendy for two years or so. She's pretty great. I'm planning to sell my house and move in together some time in the next year or so. A lot will depend on my daughter's plans and timing as she transitions out of my house and into being on her own.

Wendy has a daughter the same age as mine. Also graduating this summer. She's shipping off to the Naval Academy in June. If you're not aware, that's one of the finest technical educations you can get, so that's exciting. I'm smart and very good at math. She makes me feel like a moron.

Not gaming as much as I used to, but still more or less at it. Currently playing one of the Pathfinder RPGs on Steam, so that's fun. Playing D&D with some college friends on Sundays. We started during covid lockdown to stay sane. We're all up and down the east coast of the US, but Tabletop Simulator and Discord make it pretty seamless. We wrapped up our first campaign a few months ago (so long, Rasvan, I loved you, you sanctimonious little shit). We're the bad guys in our new campaign, and it's a fucking blast. The half-ogre NPC won't work on my watch, because he's convinced I'm going to burn someone alive. He's probably right.

That's... probably about it for me.

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He Leg
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Umm, okay so if I start off around 2015 we've got this:

Moved from Germany to France because my partner got a job there. Lasted 6 months before we managed to get back to Germany with a better job, and that couldn't happen fast enough. Lyon is not a bad town to visit, but when your income is not very high the suburban living options are unpleasant. I also spoke no French, so getting back to Germany was a bit of a relief.

Heidelberg is nice but the 6-month period from late 2016 to early 2017 was rough. Mum died, Coyote died a few months later. I also wasn't able to sleep (despite moving apartments to a quieter place) because I'm too sensitive to noise, so I ended up being mostly non-functional. After a while I had enough, so I threw in the towel and moved back home to Sydney in late 2017. 5 years total in Europe.

Got a job doing IT for medical centres. Partner came home from Germany a year later and we got married in Feb 2019. Sheps came along to the wedding but none of you other jerks made the short and convenient trip. Some friends from Germany came to visit us and we took them to the Great Barrier Reef for some snorkelling, that was neat.

Covid while working in medical centres was not amazing, but at least it got me priority vaccination status.

Left the medical centres gig in 2021 to work for the state government. My team develops and runs the systems that process fines and penalties here... so we don't really have happy customers, but at least I can work 4 days a week from home.

Finally got Covid for the first time 5 months ago - symptoms started Christmas morning. Got over it in time to visit the in-laws in Taiwan for Lunar New Year, so that was nice. We hadn't seen them since the pandemic was just starting in 2020. Those visits will likely now go back to being an annual thing for us... until the Communists make a move, of course.

Bought a house about an hour outside of Sydney. In hindsight, might not have been a great move, but Sydney isn't remotely affordable. Currently renting it out until we know what to do next with our careers. Re-evaluating come July/August.

Gaming-wise, I did in fact buy my first ever pre-built desktop last year. After 10 years on laptops it is a nice change. It's also my first time getting actual high-end gear rather than just bang-for-buck stuff. World of Warships looks nice at 4k. That said, I am getting a bit over it and I don't really have any other games tickling my fancy right now. Normally I would still be playing a Civ game of some kind, but I really didn't like Civ6 so that has kinda killed the franchise for me. I expect my next game is likely to be Diablo 4, several months after release.

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Cyrris wrote:
none of you other jerks made the short and convenient trip.


I was about to object that I watched your ceremony online, but no, that was parena's, I think. I am indeed a jerk.

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The Taco Prophet and Cyrris wrote:
Coyote died

WHAT?!!?


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He Leg
Posts: 527
In Reply To #4

January 2017. Self-inflicted. I guess making an announcement about it here didn't really cross my mind at the time, activity levels had already dropped off years prior.

He's still in my ear, berating me for not having played Mass Effect.

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In Reply To #5

I'm still not playing Dark Souls just to spite him.


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Posts: 138
In Reply To #5

Jesus... he was one of the few people from here I managed to stay somewhat in touch with, for a few years at least. I feel like we last communicated in 2008 or so, outside of seeing him pop up here, briefly. Wish I’d made more effort to reconnect, but I wasn’t in the best place myself the last time there was a burst of activity here... if you’d posted something in 2017 I might have seen it, but I was still a year or two off from turning my life around, so maybe it’s best I didn’t.

On a lighter note, the header for that memorial page definitely looks like a golden wang - unintentionally, I presume. Still, I think he would appreciate that.


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Cereal Samurai wrote:

Wish I’d made more effort to reconnect, but I wasn’t in the best place myself the last time there was a burst of activity here...


That’s natural but I hope you don’t indulge that thought too much. Life happens. I’m glad you’re doing better.

I went to the funeral. His family are lovely. I had lost touch with a lot of folks but got the word out to people as best I could. I carried a list of names with mental o the service and when it rqsnmy turn to go sit with the ashes and talk to the guy, I passed on a lot of good-byes for a lot of you folks. Joke’s on me. He lives in my house now. I could’ve given him those good-byes anytime. Instead I just make him watch while I hate Hot Fuzz and Goonies. He knows what he did.

I gave fett some of his ashes, so he lives there part time too. I made a pretty cool box for them. I put another Folger’s can in it. And a dickbutt outside of it. And a greeting card that said “fuck you.” With a circle game pic tucked inside.

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I was in London for work. My school was playing for the natty. It’s hard to watch college football outside of the states. I finally figured out a way to watch the game, which ended at an ungodly hour in London. But I wasn’t missing it, because we had a good chance of snagging our first national title in 35 years. Steve stayed up and watched the game with me. We texted the whole time. It was great. He died the next day. I go back and reread the conversation sometimes. Damn.

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The Taco Prophet wrote:
That’s natural but I hope you don’t indulge that thought too much. Life happens. I’m glad you’re doing better.

<3

Quote:
I hate Hot Fuzz

</3


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He Leg
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I specifically avoided watching Goonies so I wouldn't need to take sides between Coyote and Taco.

But, what? Hot Fuzz was great.

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Cyrris wrote:
I specifically avoided watching Goonies so I wouldn't need to take sides between Coyote and Taco.


I get Chris on alternating weekends and holidays.

Cyrris wrote:
But, what? Hot Fuzz was great.


Much like Goonies, I railed on about how absolutely godawful Hot Fuzz is because it drove Coyote insane. But it did kinda fall flat for me. I didn't much care for the movie, and didn't find it all that funny. Love me some Simon Pegg, meh on Hot Fuzz.

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RIghty, since we're sharing the stuffs... I did write a bunch of it in another thread, but I'll just ignore that and put stuff down here.

I'm old now. Or at least in some cases it feels like it. Back in 2011 I met someone new (after getting divorced in 2009) and we got married in the lovely year 2021. Tiny wedding, due to restrictions, but a month later most of them were lifted and we got to have a proper party with so many people we hadn't seen in quite some time. We entered restaurant we had rented out, I started a tiny speech welcoming everyone and just burst out in tears. I was happy but it was so overwhelming.

Meanwhile, in the same year I asked my lovely to marry me, I also made the decision to quit my job. I talked to my manager and we agreed I'd quit June 1st 2020, after 17 years working for them (of which 12 and a half remotely from Finland after moving there in late 2007). He did make me an offer: "please stay another month, work half time but we won't tell anyone and you'll get full pay. But the part of me looking after my mental health said nope, enough is enough. So I did it and I don't even want to return to an IT job anymore. Great idea, being 40+ and starting a new career. I'm now hoping to find something as a video editor, though it's definitely not easy, having no professional experience.

So, that was all during the covid period here: some unfortunate timing, but it definitely could have been a lot worse. I did end up getting it in October last year. Turns out, that was good news: after 3 jabs, I now didn't need to get a fourth! \o/

Pre-covid: 2019 my wife and I took my son and my mom on a trip: my side of the family have relatives in New Zealand so we hopped on over to Tokyo for a night, then to NZ. Met up with my uncle and his wife first, then went all around the South Island. That's when Cyrris got married which we couldn't fit into the trip, unfortunately. But I'm glad I was able to meet them WAAAYYY back in ... 2013(?) in Prague by sheer coincidence. Me on Facebook: "about to head out to the airport to fly to Prague." PM from Cyrris: "you heading to Prague now? We're heading out the door to take a train there..." HUZZAH!

But yeah, definitely feeling old! My son will turn 19 this May. We don't have exam results in just yet, but he'll have finished his "high school" level school. Then he'll do civil service for a year (instead of opting for half a year of army service). And after that, hopefully he'll have some inkling of what he'd like to go and study. No tuition fees here in Finland (yet?) so let's see if he just tries something out or what.

Lastly, long story, but the background is important: as a person changes and discovers stuff, a little trip my wife and I made in 2022 turned out quite interesting. We went to Berlin for a week, stayed in the eastern part. It's the cooler part, for sure. And one thing that stood out was that there's such a huge variety of people (meaning cultures, how they dress, body decorations, sexual orientation) AND NOBODY CARES. You visit Mauer Park, there's a young lad with a mic and speaker just singing, lots of people watching, random older white dude with a much younger very not white dude smooching and nobody bats an eye. It was glorious to see what the world could be like without all the bigots and racists... So, later that day, we were talking about that, my wife asks what my ultimate Berlin outfit would be. I had a tiny bell ringing in my head, but said "oh, I don't know..." She tells about hers, including some wilder makeup. And then I couldn't stop myself. It took me several minutes to try and get the words out, but I told her that I wanted to try eyeliner and mascara. And not the Captain Jack Sparrow kind, but what is considered more feminine, like winged eyeliner, just like when we were just being silly with Instagram filter in messages to each other. She said "I guess we're going shopping for you tomorrow." That's what we did. Nothing else about me changed: I don't dress differently, I haven't made a "big discovery" about my sexual orientation. I just like the way it looks and anyone who doesn't like it, can go eff themselves. (it's interesting how strongly I felt about that) But honestly, haven't gotten any negative reactions. A look here and there, sure, but that's it. I don't know, maybe for some of you this is "okay, sure, whatever" but for me it was quite a big thing. And I hope anyone out there who feels they have a certain something in them that's tough to let out, will try and do it anyway. It's like the horrible motivational poster thing: Be true to yourself.

That was even longer than I expected. :D All in all, I'm in a good place. Learning Finnish still to make myself more employable and sucking at it is my biggest worry at the moment. But otherwise, I'm a fairly happy chappy.


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He Leg
Posts: 527
In Reply To #13

Still can't believe the level of luck we had with that coinkydink, meeting in Prague. If I had switched off my laptop 30 mins earlier before we walked out the door, it wouldn't have happened.

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He Leg
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The Taco Prophet wrote:
meh on Hot Fuzz.


Screw you, your ketchup, your mac, and your cheese.

Hmm.

Actually hold that thought for next alternate weekend.

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Gimme a status update while you moonwalk out the door
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Topic by: The Taco Prophet
Posted: Apr 19, 23 - 7:01 PM
Last Reply: May 11, 23 - 2:15 AM
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