Universal Chat Thread

[Moonface]

Happy late Halloween everyone!

I went virtual trick or treating in FFXIV it was interesting.

How the heck does that work? XD

[Dragon Lord]

So it was an interesting day in the town I live in.

Drug bust + hostage situation. I thought something was up when I left the bar from doing my pulltabs job and I saw a county sheriff outside of our police station putting on a bunch of gear (vest and whatnot), and then saw another one come zooming in with their lights on, and then the town cop right behind them. But I didn't see any more when I went to the bank. Came out of the bank and it was chaotic. Looked down the street towards the police station and there was a whole army of police down there, fully geared up with dogs. Then saw two helicopters flying around. Got in my car and just kind of sat there for a while, because they had some of the intersections blocked off and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go any where, haha. While sitting there, I saw the group of fully geared up police walk past me, and then a bit later got to see one of them just casually walking down the street with a sniper rifle resting on his shoulder.

Then two sheriffs from the neighboring county showed up. Turns out we actually had three total SWAT teams from three different counties here for this thing. Ended up being someone I knew pretty well too, an old friend of my mom's. I had heard she had gotten into drugs again lately, and it ended up that her boyfriend had stabbed her and wasn't letting her leave the house. He finally gave himself up around 6 PM last night. Whole thing started around noon, so it was quite a lengthy standoff. He had let her go at some point though. Apparently he's quite the character. I've never seen him around nor did I even know she had a boyfriend (her husband and her recently split, though still married), but he's got swastika tattoos and shit I guess. Pretty much sounds like the type of guy you'd imagine this kind of situation happening with.

So yeah, for this small rural town of 700 people, this was a pretty chaotic event and I imagine it'll be the talk of the town for quite a long time. Especially since it involved someone who has lived her for many, many years and everyone knew, instead of being someone that just moved here recently and was an unknown.

In other news, I recently got the news that I'm going to be bumped up to full time at work. Yay! Hours won't change too much, since I was already getting 34 hours a week, so I'll just be getting that extra 6 to make it 40, but the huge improvement to the benefits offered is going to be where all the good stuff is at. The upgrade to the insurance alone is going to be a huge improvement. Comes at a good time too. I've been having a lot of pain in my right and left arms lately, and I'm fairly sure it's the inevitable carpal tunnel that I knew I'd get some day. So there's a good chance I may have to get that surgery done soon, and having the better insurance for it is crucial.

[Mr EliteL]

@Moonface : On a normal long weekend I'm supposed to do 20 hours (Fri/Sat/Mon), agreed to cover 10 hours Sun, and under my own choice without anyone asking did 6 hours extra on Sat (2) and yesterday (4). I was super tired last night and slept a full 8 hour undisturbed.

We got no trick or treaters, but went over to Moony's parents and saw their house decorated, although thanks to windy weather it was limited. Was good for the ghost they had up that got blown about a lot.
Today not doing much now because my Dad and sister were doing something else separately that is, so hopefully another day for Dune. OK it's still good for resting and Genshin too.

@Dragon Lord : Oh crap! At least you were out of the way but not so much that the situation involved someone you knew, luckily not them who the police were after. Hope she survives that, but does seem like she was already in a bad place before the incident. Did your mother still keep in contact in any way or stop because of the friend getting deep into drugs?

Congrats on the full-time, the more money and more benefits will be great.

[Karo]

So it was an interesting day in the town I live in.

Drug bust + hostage situation. I thought something was up when I left the bar from doing my pulltabs job and I saw a county sheriff outside of our police station putting on a bunch of gear (vest and whatnot), and then saw another one come zooming in with their lights on, and then the town cop right behind them. But I didn't see any more when I went to the bank. Came out of the bank and it was chaotic. Looked down the street towards the police station and there was a whole army of police down there, fully geared up with dogs. Then saw two helicopters flying around. Got in my car and just kind of sat there for a while, because they had some of the intersections blocked off and I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go any where, haha. While sitting there, I saw the group of fully geared up police walk past me, and then a bit later got to see one of them just casually walking down the street with a sniper rifle resting on his shoulder.

Then two sheriffs from the neighboring county showed up. Turns out we actually had three total SWAT teams from three different counties here for this thing. Ended up being someone I knew pretty well too, an old friend of my mom's. I had heard she had gotten into drugs again lately, and it ended up that her boyfriend had stabbed her and wasn't letting her leave the house. He finally gave himself up around 6 PM last night. Whole thing started around noon, so it was quite a lengthy standoff. He had let her go at some point though. Apparently he's quite the character. I've never seen him around nor did I even know she had a boyfriend (her husband and her recently split, though still married), but he's got swastika tattoos and shit I guess. Pretty much sounds like the type of guy you'd imagine this kind of situation happening with.

So yeah, for this small rural town of 700 people, this was a pretty chaotic event and I imagine it'll be the talk of the town for quite a long time. Especially since it involved someone who has lived her for many, many years and everyone knew, instead of being someone that just moved here recently and was an unknown.

In other news, I recently got the news that I'm going to be bumped up to full time at work. Yay! Hours won't change too much, since I was already getting 34 hours a week, so I'll just be getting that extra 6 to make it 40, but the huge improvement to the benefits offered is going to be where all the good stuff is at. The upgrade to the insurance alone is going to be a huge improvement. Comes at a good time too. I've been having a lot of pain in my right and left arms lately, and I'm fairly sure it's the inevitable carpal tunnel that I knew I'd get some day. So there's a good chance I may have to get that surgery done soon, and having the better insurance for it is crucial.

That sounds crazy, but I'm glad that nobody seem to got hurt...assuming the stabbing wasn't during the event if it was I hope your mom's friend recovers quickly...and she doesn't date another nazi. Congrats on full time though!

@Moonface 
It was pretty simple you just put in the party finder that your house was open for trick or treaters and you went to their house and said, "TRICK OR TREAT" and thne they'd trade you random food items I even got candy and jack-o-lanterns it was pretty cute! I even went to a halloween party and entered a costume contest. Sadly my mime costume did not win and instead it a street fighter costume...I should of dressed up as Cami. >.>

[Moonface]

We got no trick or treaters, but went over to Moony's parents and saw their house decorated, although thanks to windy weather it was limited. Was good for the ghost they had up that got blown about a lot.

Yeah, I saw how windy it was in the video they took of the house. We got no trick or treaters either, and this is the third year running now. I'm not bothering to get any candy next year because I'm tired of being stuck with it every year.
@ShiraNoMai took some photos of how we decorated and hopefully she shares them without me having to poke her with a stick.

@Moonface 
It was pretty simple you just put in the party finder that your house was open for trick or treaters and you went to their house and said, "TRICK OR TREAT" and thne they'd trade you random food items I even got candy and jack-o-lanterns it was pretty cute! I even went to a halloween party and entered a costume contest. Sadly my mime costume did not win and instead it a street fighter costume...I should of dressed up as Cami. >.>

FF14 gives you the ability to make your own costumes?

@Dragon Lord: Holy shit that sounds nuts! That'll definitely be the talk of the place for a long time unless something even crazier happens, but I doubt it. How bad was the injuries of the victim? Given she was held that long while stabbed makes me presume it didn't hit anything major or cause a lot of bleeding otherwise she would've been in really bad shape I'd imagine.
As for @Karo's comment about the woman not dating another person like that, I wonder if she dated him because he was enabling her drug habits. Logic and reason would quickly go out the window for someone desperate for a fix and finds a person willing to enable it.

Also congrats on the full time DL! I didn't realise it was a bar job because I think when you first mentioned the training and stuff that you mentioned areas that made it sound like a regular store. XD

[Maniakkid25]

FF14 gives you the ability to make your own costumes?

Sort of. See, most any equipment you can wear can be dyed or glamoured (made to look like another piece of equipment), so it's not all that weird to see people in top-level gear looking like they're on their way to school, for instance (I have it on my Red Mage ^.=.^).

I spent it working, like I spent last night, and spending tonight and tomorrow, and thursday as well X.=.X. I prefer closing, but not working 5 nights in a row.

[Dragon Lord]

Nah, the job is a convenience store chain in the midwest called Kwik Trip (Kwik Star in Iowa). I have another side job that I do at the bar, which is why I was there. I technically have three different jobs -- the now full time one and two smaller side jobs for extra money.

As for the stabbing injury, from what I've heard, he stabbed her in her hand. No details on anything that happened have come out yet as far as I'm aware, so I don't know what exactly happened that lead to that. As for her dating that guy because he was enabling her drug use, that's most likely the case. It probably wasn't so much that she was interested in the guy himself, but more so the drugs that he was able to supply her with.

[Moonface]

FF14 gives you the ability to make your own costumes?

Sort of. See, most any equipment you can wear can be dyed or glamoured (made to look like another piece of equipment), so it's not all that weird to see people in top-level gear looking like they're on their way to school, for instance (I have it on my Red Mage ^.=.^).

I spent it working, like I spent last night, and spending tonight and tomorrow, and thursday as well X.=.X. I prefer closing, but not working 5 nights in a row.

Interesting. I'm curious to see how good the custom costumes are that are based on characters from other games such as the Street Fighter costumes that @Karo mentioned.

You do five nights/days every week Maniak?

Nah, the job is a convenience store chain in the midwest called Kwik Trip (Kwik Star in Iowa). I have another side job that I do at the bar, which is why I was there. I technically have three different jobs -- the now full time one and two smaller side jobs for extra money.

As for the stabbing injury, from what I've heard, he stabbed her in her hand. No details on anything that happened have come out yet as far as I'm aware, so I don't know what exactly happened that lead to that. As for her dating that guy because he was enabling her drug use, that's most likely the case. It probably wasn't so much that she was interested in the guy himself, but more so the drugs that he was able to supply her with.

Ah, I think I've seen one of those in Florida. There's a couple of them in the area but not many.
I thought you had quit your other jobs after getting this new one, but I presume you just left the one that you often spoke about prior to the new job?

Oh, well at least it wasn't anywhere in the torso which was what I was expecting it to be. I wonder if the story was that she was going to him for drugs and he turned on her because maybe he thought he had control over her and she attempted to oppose him? I know it's silly to speculate but my curiosity can't help itself.

[ShiraNoMai]

Gosh, what a whirlwind of events here from y'all. I'll put a few comments on them all:

@Karo : That sounds super cool! Sorry you didn't win though, but I'm sure your costume was still cute af!

@Maniakkid25 : Good luck with those shifts, pal! That sounds like a doozy. Do you have open availability?

@Mr EliteL : Ooh, hope y'all get to see Dune soon (ha!), I've heard many good things about it. Wanna watch it myself.

@Moonface : I will post those photos when I'm good and ready to sir :@

@Dragon Lord : Christ. Thanks for the full story details. I'm glad you're safe, and that she's presumably safe for now. Fuck that other guy though. I really hope she gets the help she needs. Sounds like she's in for a rough time lately. Ah well, at least you got the full time insurance! Hopefully it's good enough to cover elective surgeries like that. Carpal tunnel surgery is no joke. I don't know how you're gonna do it, considering how much you need them for games

[Dragon Lord]

You might have seen a different store chain by the same name. The Kwik Trip I work for is only in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois right now, with stores set t open in North and South Dakota at some point as well. There's another chain spelled with a Q though, Qwik Trip, which is why the one I work for had to use the name "Kwik Star" in Iowa instead, because the other Qwik Trip was already there before them.

Yeah, I only quit my job at the convenience store here in town. However, I still do work for the owner there doing her reports and deposits for her. That's the third job I have. I gets me an extra $80-$100 every couple of weeks, which isn't much, but hey, more than I'd have otherwise and it only takes me like 3-4 hours a week to do the job. Same with the pulltabs, I get paid $625 a month for that job and usually it only takes me like 30-45 minutes a day to get everything done. Exception being when I have to count the tickets of a game I took out of play, which can sometimes take several hours depending on how many tickets were left and how many games I had to pull at once, but those days are few and far between. Overall I'm making a great amount of money off of that job for how little work I actually have to do for it.

So between all of the jobs combined, I get some where between $2,500 and $3,000 a month. The only downside is that for the pulltab job, I'm hired as a freelance worker, which means its considered a personal business. So I don't have taxes taken out of those checks, which means come tax time I have to pay in on those, which usually means no Federal Tax return for me. I usually owe the Government a few hundred dollars instead. Though when those checks are an extra $7,500 a year, paying $300-$500 in taxes isn't actually that bad. I'm still making more money than I would without the job. The much higher pay at Kwik Trip should also help reduce how much I owe for Federal as well, so maybe that'll go down to only paying in around $200-ish. I do still get a State return some how though, but it's usually pretty small, haha. Still something though, I guess, and helps offset what I end up paying in for Federal.

@ShiraNoMai - I'm not sure what her status is right now, but I presume she's okay. I imagine she'll be spending some time in jail though, for drug use/possession. I can't say I feel too sorry for her though. She's burned every place in this town that's hired her by deciding she just doesn't want to work any more and not showing up (most of this occurring before the drug use started), including doing the same thing to my mother when she managed the bar here. She's been given numerous chances by some places, and she kept doing it over and over again. Then she lets herself fall back into drug use and destroys her family. Can't say I have too much sympathy for someone like that, regardless how long I've known them. Maybe a lengthy stay in jail will be enough to wake her up and get her shit together, or possibly the fact that she's going to lose custody of her son now, who will likely be given to his father now (though from what I've heard he's been living with his dad mostly for a little while now because of the state of his mother). She still had legal custody of him, but I imagine the state will be changing that real quick. Especially since it sounds like he was at the house during all of this while his father was at work. Again, not much sympathy from me for someone who'd endanger their kid(s) by allowing questionable/dangerous people into their lives just to get their meth fix.

[Moonface]

You might have seen a different store chain by the same name. The Kwik Trip I work for is only in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois right now, with stores set t open in North and South Dakota at some point as well. There's another chain spelled with a Q though, Qwik Trip, which is why the one I work for had to use the name "Kwik Star" in Iowa instead, because the other Qwik Trip was already there before them.

I did. I searched Kwik Trip on Google but I didn't pay attention to what was being shown on the Google Maps image on the results page to see that it was just randomly showing places like Stop-n-Go and Quick Trip and stuff. My bad.

Yeah, I only quit my job at the convenience store here in town. However, I still do work for the owner there doing her reports and deposits for her. That's the third job I have. I gets me an extra $80-$100 every couple of weeks, which isn't much, but hey, more than I'd have otherwise and it only takes me like 3-4 hours a week to do the job. Same with the pulltabs, I get paid $625 a month for that job and usually it only takes me like 30-45 minutes a day to get everything done. Exception being when I have to count the tickets of a game I took out of play, which can sometimes take several hours depending on how many tickets were left and how many games I had to pull at once, but those days are few and far between. Overall I'm making a great amount of money off of that job for how little work I actually have to do for it.

So between all of the jobs combined, I get some where between $2,500 and $3,000 a month. The only downside is that for the pulltab job, I'm hired as a freelance worker, which means its considered a personal business. So I don't have taxes taken out of those checks, which means come tax time I have to pay in on those, which usually means no Federal Tax return for me. I usually owe the Government a few hundred dollars instead. Though when those checks are an extra $7,500 a year, paying $300-$500 in taxes isn't actually that bad. I'm still making more money than I would without the job. The much higher pay at Kwik Trip should also help reduce how much I owe for Federal as well, so maybe that'll go down to only paying in around $200-ish. I do still get a State return some how though, but it's usually pretty small, haha. Still something though, I guess, and helps offset what I end up paying in for Federal.

Ugh, taxes. I normally file mine jointly with Shira but this year I intend to file independently because I hate that any health insurance benefits I could get are denied to me because of how much she earns, and I'm not going to file jointly to spend more money on health insurance when I could file by myself and get a much better deal and save money.

[Maniakkid25]

@Moonface: No, they just schedule how they wanna schedule. Sometimes I do 4 days a week, sometimes I get 10 DAYS IN A ROW! It's just random!

@ShiraNoMai: Yes, I have mostly open availability, because I am looking to transition to full time, but with the move happening in a couple months, now is a bad time (as much as my Dad thinks I should totally just drop the job, find a place to work full time for literally WEEKS, and then jet!).

[Moonface]

Where are you moving to again @Maniakkid25?

[Maniakkid25]

Port Charlotte, on the West Coast of the state. What I'm not looking forward to is if I want to play mote Digimon Cards, the nearest card shop is more than an hour's drive, so that sucks.

[Moonface]

Where do you go currently to play Digimon cards @Maniakkid25?