Lonnehart wrote:
Perception of ratings is weird for me too. Let's say there's a 5 star rating. Three stars is supposed to mean that the product is okay. However, I've noticed that lots of people (myself included) see anything less than four and 99/100 stars as products to be avoided. Weird…

Indeed, on IGN people see anything below an 8 as a bad review. It's daft, but that's people for you.

Hahaha! That sounds like a typical Filipino over the top melodrama XD
Love that heightened reality

-That was a reply to Lonnehart's thing about a crazy TV show with a mad love revenge plot.

Finished the anime Durarara X2 season 3. The final episode as of March 2016. Man it gets confusing and there are a lot of plots and characters. But they all come together and nearly all have an episode devoted just to them. And even with all the supernatural elements and yakuza and street gangs it's more realistic than the Filipino soap opera described by Lonne.

And am in season two of the Hollow Crown which has the multiple part Henry Vi and Richard III. And even more Game of Thrones guests. The three parts of Henry VI were edited down to two and some characters were dispensed with but overall the reviews were very positive.

ozoneocean wrote:
Hahaha! That sounds like a typical Filipino over the top melodrama XD
Love that heightened reality

-That was a reply to Lonnehart's thing about a crazy TV show with a mad love revenge plot.

Yep. Filipinos LOVE that sort of stuff…

Sorry I deleted it… not sure why though…

It's about a girl who is forced to run away from her wedding to the man she really loves because of a really REALLY jealous ex-boyfriend who had a sniper waiting to shoot him the moment they took their vows. The ex then demands that she go with him instead or else other members of her family will end up hurt (he murdered her brother and her cousin as well as put her father into a coma). This is a guy who's used to getting whatever he wants…

Update from newbie pharmacy tech: Sick people, or those who care for them, raise retail to a WAY new level. I knew this before accepting the job, on a cerebral level, but the day in and out is amazing.

And, given that this store is in an upscale town (some NYC network news anchors call it home), I was a tad freaked out when a white-haired, preppy-looking man surnamed Koch picked up a prescription. Best for all that there are cameras every where.

Hey everyone,

I have sort of been having a crummy week and I need advice from those of you with more life experience to change my mental perspective.

Six weeks ago, I started a new job where I have been given a lot more responsibility. I have access to door codes and safes and an override password for the whole system. This in turn has given me more anxiety on whether or not I locked a door after leaving a building or turned a safe dial correctly. In the past, I have usually excelled in work tasks because I am more than willing to do my job.

Part of my job description involves a lot of driving. There are two cars that I am able to drive: one is a mid-sized car that is very simple to drive and the other is a large white van with very few windows. I love the days I get to drive the smaller car because I get to play my favorite CDs, the car runs on company gas paid for with the company card and it has the most amazing rear view mirrors in place.

Now the white van has it in for me. Two weeks ago, I was involved in a parking lot fender bender with another vehicle that was backing up at the same time as me. Since the accident, I have been overly cautious of where I park the van, walking farther distances so I do not run the risk of hitting other vehicles as I am backing out.

Yesterday, after I had finished my daily tasks and was on my way back to the office to start on the daily paperwork, I was at an on ramp with the white van yielding to traffic before I merged onto a busy street. I saw an opening and was about to take it when I heard a *Thump*. Someone had hit the left side of the bumper cover on the white van, cracking the rubber. I sat in the parking lot for about an hour with the other driver to exchange insurance paperwork and wait for the police to arrive. The damage was not deemed serious enough to write a report and the person that rear ended me took full responsibility and fault for the accident for neglecting following distance.

I let my boss know about the situation, but unlike the last time (which was more like a “get out of jail FREE” card), this time, I was on my own. I left the scene stressed out, I still had to complete the rest of my work for the day and at the end, I had to climb right back in the same van that was involved in the accident and drive to the opposite side of town and back.

All I wanted to do was crawl into bed, draw the blinds, and melt into my sheets as soon as I got back home. I know I will need to get back into that van in a few hours and sit behind the driver's wheel. I still have no idea how my boss is going to react, hence the crummy mood.

How do I keep moving forward without letting all of this stress build up?

You need Bravo or Ayes…
I hate pressure like that. I don't know how to advise you.

I can only talk about how I cope.
If I'm stuck in a situation like that the way I cope is to not take it personally: none of this really affects me because it's not really my fault. That thing happened because it happened, I'm just here to earn money, I don't have to care about any of it. When I leave for the day I leave all this behind me. I do the best work I can for the money you're paying me and I can't be expected to do better than that. I'm not a god or a perfect robot, if you want that then hire them instead and STFU.

Leave work at the front door- leave all the emotions, the feelings, the stress and responsibility there, take none of it home, don't take any of it personally.

That is how I deal. Hope that can be helpful in some way.

Kawaii, you've noted the most important part, not to let it build. Start with simple things that are easily solved. Things like the doors and checking you've done things. For example every time toy leave somewhere you need to lock a door and have keys work out a little routine and name each step of the process and run through it like a checklist. Doing that each time you'll feel my confident that you've done it properly and you (hopefully) will be able to recall doing it each time. don't do things by rote, make an effort every time and take comfort in the process. The van thing, well get to know it, become familiar with it and it's quirks, I'm guessing much of it is because you aren't comfortable driving it. As for the bumps and things, if you leave stressed remember to take some time to go over events in your mind, try and work out if you did anything wrong. if you did, learn from it and endeavor not to repeat it. If you didn't, make sure everything you needed to do is done and accept that these things happen there's nothing more you can do. Your boss may or may not understand this but that is partially beyond your control and not worth worrying about. If worries are niggling in the back of your head take time to address the concerns, resolve them for yourself and put them to bed. Just don't allow them to dominate your thoughts.


These are all things I have to work on but it has helped me.

Make a list and follow it so that it becomes a routine. Not rote but a routine, a mental checklist that you can rewind and fast forward as necessary.

As for driving an unfamiliar vehicle, make it your vehicle of choice until you learn every little thing about how to operate it. It takes time and practice to get the feeling of a type of vehicle you've never operated before. For me I tend to make mastering new things into a game. By the way, there are all kinds of extra mirrors that can be fitted to vehicles with blind spots. The van probably already has a lot of them that you might not be aware of or have adjusted for your self yet,

I hope that helps. As for dealing with bosses over accidents and incidents, be honest and forthcoming. Come up with ways to recognize and solve the problem that caused the incident. Be part of the solution.

Hi Kawaii. Ozone, Genejoke, and Bravo covered the day to day, imo. My thoughts are on the build-up of stress. The first thing anyone should do is try to get a clear and honest idea of What They Really Want. If you find you're in a situation where you're continually compromising/giving and not getting enough of what you want (recognition, new skills, enjoyable day, whatever) then ask yourself why you're there. If the answer is only money, then you might want to reassess. But if you Are getting something out of it, then accept the mistakes you might make with patience, find the humor in situations (for example, reverse the “I Love Lucy is funny because it happened to her, not me”). And smile, even when alone and you might not really feel like it. So much magic in smiles.

Personally, I spent way too many years doing what I thought I should or had to, which is too close to a life lived in mini-fear. There's few stressors greater than trying to keep fear at bay. If you feel fear, then you shouldn't be in that situation, whatever it is.

ayesinback wrote:
My thoughts are on the build-up of stress. The first thing anyone should do is try to get a clear and honest idea of What They Really Want. If you find you're in a situation where you're continually compromising/giving and not getting enough of what you want (recognition, new skills, enjoyable day, whatever) then ask yourself why you're there.

And that's why I haven't updated any of my comics in six months.

I hope Kawaii finds some stress relief :(

———-

One of the tropes in what seems like 80% of anime is this annoying (to me), unrequited love theme where you have this subplot where a character is majorly crushing on another because they have a memory that they met in a playgroud as little toddlers and they promised to marry, and one has held onto that hope ever since while the other has forgotten it.
Their families moved away and they never saw each other again, till now…
The drama is INTENSE and world shaking! They MUST be together, they were destined…

SO amazingly moronic and fantastical, but it's done aaaaaaalllll the bloody time!

Since it's so stupid, because kids don't really think that way, I'm guessing that convention was adopted from traditional Japanese drama and they've just adopted it into stories featuring younger protagonists so they can write the same sorts of love triangle stories regardless of how much sense it makes, and now it's become a trope so people use it without thinking.

…You really DO have to know your tropes and try not to use them without thinking.

The thing is that children may not think that way, but adolescents and adults romaticize their childhoods that way.

They fabricate the memories of a relationship that never really existed that way. It was a simple boy and girl, they might have played “house” but at the time they did not see it as “true love forever”

However adult onlookers read it that way. The children were told if it or heard about it and the false romantic memories are created. Wonderful stuff. Mine was Estelle Strulley and Lori Hugzig. One moved away and the other came to despise me. Then I moved. Who knows what would have happened if I had gone to high school with Estelle. But my mother still talks about how cute we were together playing house in elementary school.

And yes this is a phenomenon known about by child psychologists.

You read too much into things man I think.
I never remembered or cared about any kid I met from when I was a toddler. Why would anyone?

ozoneocean wrote:
You read too much into things man I think.
I never remembered or cared about any kid I met from when I was a toddler. Why would anyone?

I agree with you and, the way I read it, I think Bravo does, too.

But as Bravo pointed out, memories can be shaped, even created, by repeated messages from a trusted source, particularly one's mother. Look at The Manchurian Candidate, ey? Ey?!! All part of MOM201

ayesinback wrote:

ozoneocean wrote:
You read too much into things man I think.
I never remembered or cared about any kid I met from when I was a toddler. Why would anyone?

I agree with you and, the way I read it, I think Bravo does, too.

But as Bravo pointed out, memories can be shaped, even created, by repeated messages from a trusted source, particularly one's mother. Look at The Manchurian Candidate, ey? Ey?!! All part of MOM201

Precisely. I had an encounter with a raccoon that I thought nothing of, I just wanted it gone. Everyone tells me how ballsy it was so it's tempting to build a heroic mythology around the encounter that was not part of the encounter.

You would not believe how amazing it felt to have the outpouring of responses from each if you on the forums. Thank you, thank you, thank you for your kindness. I have been reading through all of the advice and have added it to my daily thoughts. It has been a quiet week. I have been laying low and have been trying to remain mum at work, I clock in, climb into the big van, do my work, and clock out. My level of caution has gone up a notch whereas I now park the van in very empty parking lots far removed from all other cars to reduce the chance of hitting another vehicle or having to deal with backing up in reverse.

I spent all of Wednesday as a full-on treat myself day. It started with yoga because the build up of the last few days has left the left side of my neck feeling more sore than usual and I am prone to headaches. I stopped by an apothecary and found a lavender that smells delightful and helps to calm my nerves. Then I went to a nice coal fired pizza shop.

In truth, I have not been feeling one hundred percent and it is much more difficult to think about other things when the thoughts of getting into accidents are on the forefront of my mind. Thankfully, I have a social network and an outlet to relieve stress during the weekly board game night. I have been learning how to play more board games like Dominion, a deck building game with many fun actions. There is another game, Splendor, which is an addictive game or merchant trade. There is a really fun game about bluffing called The Resistance that is best played with large groups. I have a horrible poker face, so people can easily guess my hand.

@Bravo and Ayes- I'm pretty sure that's not what the trope is based on. It's too literal (rather than literary haha), and complicated.

@Kawaii I am so relieved to hear that you're managing to handle the situation! I was worried for you.

——-

Well I have finally finished my scene swap with Ashtree House!
Pinky in Steel and Manitou:



See the rest here: http://www.theduckwebcomics.com/forum/topic/177517/?page=2#2986536

Great work as always.

—–
So I had another dream that turned into a story scenario. There was this British girl in it whole poses as a tour guide to kidnap a bus load of teens I'm moonlighting as a chaperone. Turns out as a little girl she visited this lost city in China Vopal Poh, didn't perform the proper ritual before touching a red Rock and contracted the itching sickness. Without medication she would literally tear her own skin and flesh off down to the bone. She has to get back to this city which is why she grabbed a bus load of teens.

Not to hijack a plane, but to get through a gate in this delapidated house in Maryland?

And then when I woke up, I realized the dream had been populated with people from Drunk Duck and the British girl was none other than pitface.

bravo1102 wrote:
Great work as always.

—–
So I had another dream that turned into a story scenario. There was this British girl in it whole poses as a tour guide to kidnap a bus load of teens I'm moonlighting as a chaperone. Turns out as a little girl she visited this lost city in China Vopal Poh, didn't perform the proper ritual before touching a red Rock and contracted the itching sickness. Without medication she would literally tear her own skin and flesh off down to the bone. She has to get back to this city which is why she grabbed a bus load of teens.

Not to hijack a plane, but to get through a gate in this delapidated house in Maryland?

And then when I woke up, I realized the dream had been populated with people from Drunk Duck and the British girl was none other than pitface.

Dreaming or prognosticating? *shakes head* That Pitface.

Really? Pit and I are usually just having sex in my dreams.
Hahaha, no, that never happens! Well, maybe once…

I miss Miss Pit. She can't do the Quackcast now because she's cleaning up after dying animals on the weekends now. Elbow deep in excrement, viscera and blood… It's heaven for her.

I can imagine pitface reading that and then plotting something evil to punish you for your wicked thoughts.

Dreaming or prognosticating? *shakes head* That Pitface.


…and there was this little guy with long hair and an Australian accent making sure she got her medication. Did he secretly lust for her? It wasn't clear. I found her attractive if she would stop itching, but one of the teens reminded me I was twice her age.

There was some witty dialogue about the name of the city. Other than the girl noone could get it right. And I mistook it for Popal Voh which I thought was a Mayan city (it's actually a book)

And then last night I dreamt I was trying to find my briefcase with all my class stuff in it during the school festival. To make it worse I was extremely defensive taking umbrage every time a girl bugged me (which was alot!)

Fortunately there was no sign that I had a harem.

bravo1102 wrote:
Great work as always.

—–
So I had another dream that turned into a story scenario. There was this British girl in it whole poses as a tour guide to kidnap a bus load of teens I'm moonlighting as a chaperone. Turns out as a little girl she visited this lost city in China Vopal Poh, didn't perform the proper ritual before touching a red Rock and contracted the itching sickness. Without medication she would literally tear her own skin and flesh off down to the bone. She has to get back to this city which is why she grabbed a bus load of teens.

Not to hijack a plane, but to get through a gate in this delapidated house in Maryland?

And then when I woke up, I realized the dream had been populated with people from Drunk Duck and the British girl was none other than pitface.

This is erie, as I actually am considering becoming a tour guide (like seriously) and I was attacking an itch on my ass that would NOT go away as I read this (again, seriously).

Whatever you do, don't touch any red rocks without the proper purification ritual.

Whatever that means. It could mean a Virgin sacrifice and dancing around naked with a rhythmic chant or wiping your hands with an alcohol wipe.

bravo1102 wrote:
Whatever you do, don't touch any red rocks without the proper purification ritual.

Whatever that means. It could mean a Virgin sacrifice and dancing around naked with a rhythmic chant or wiping your hands with an alcohol wipe.

And, where would we find a virgin?… maybe at a comic con…

Gah. F*%k is it hard to get the uploader working on the site these days. I was trying to upload a 6 page comic I did a while back, and the upload keeps getting interrupted. I'm not sure if it's my internet connection, or the site itself that keeps reloading/dropping connection mid-upload.

Also probably just lost about 80% of my income and 3 of my biggest accounts with one of my clients walking out on me, which is why I'm uploading things in various places and taking the time to actually work on some of the things that I want to be involved in. I'd like to say it doesn't phase me, but for at least a day or so there I was in “wake up and start drinking at 10AM” depression and anxiety over it. Now I'm coming around to the idea that maybe even if the money was good, I don't need the stress of a client who made constant changes, didn't understand the process of what I do like they should and who regularly wanted things done too quickly to do them right. I'm coming to the idea that even though this is going to hurt me pretty badly financially, that this might be for the better anyway.

tupapayon wrote:

bravo1102 wrote:
Whatever you do, don't touch any red rocks without the proper purification ritual.

Whatever that means. It could mean a Virgin sacrifice and dancing around naked with a rhythmic chant or wiping your hands with an alcohol wipe.

And, where would we find a virgin?… maybe at a comic con…

The difficulty in finding Virgin sacrifices is a trope, not a truth. It's actually pretty easy if you know where to look.

I'm looking to replace my machine's hard drives with SSDs. Well… when they wear out. But this machine can support up to six drives and I'm thinking of adding one in and using it as my system drive. This means fast boot up speeds due to the drive's performance.

Right now, my computer's pretty fast. Too fast for my 500GB hard drives to keep up. And they're close to being 5 years old now (the average age I've had hard drives fail on me) so I'll need to replace them sooner or later.

I've found a few SSDs that are cheap and have less space than one of the hard drives, but I have six SATA ports so I have room for it. Hopefully Windows 10 is not going to be hard to reinstall (I plan on doing a fresh install instead of cloning the drive so I can clean out whatever junk my computer downloaded from the internet…

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01FJ4UL2S/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Get it Lonne. SSDs are the Bee's Knees!
But not STDs. Avoid those.

ozoneocean wrote:
THIS IS HERE!

This one is a popup notification that you have a PQ. It will look like this:



And it will go in the middle of the screen as soon as you get a new message, informing you in real time. You won't have to close it or click it, it just goes away when you browse away from it- though you CAN close them if you like or click on them to go to your inbox.
There will also be a setting feature so you can turn these off for good, but they will be on by default because it's pretty harmless.

They only show up once when you get a new message and never again, not until you get another message.

The little number of “personal Quacks” in your mini-contronl panel on the right will go to red when you have 5 or more PQs.
THIS stuff should hopefully facilitate communication on the site a bit better…
So people who only even comment on comics will be able to see when someone contacts them finally!