1% makes a difference over large numbers but even in a heavy combat session we're probably not even rolling dice 100 times so 2-4 hours a week/100 rolls a week just doesn't see that volume.

I read somewhere that for people who count cards and grind things out as professional gamblers usually end up making about minimum wage on average. You might get some hot or cold streaks but in general with $5,000 in your bankroll and a 1% edge minus expenses/tips/taxes etc.

In theory pure optimal at $5,000 an hour at 1% edge you should average $50/hr but you cannot play for 24 hours a day nonstop perfectly. Eventually you start making mistakes, have to take a break, need to eat, use the restroom etc. which all cuts into your grind time. Dealers have to swap out, slow/drunk players will sit down and screw the flow up etc.

The "Harvard Card Counting Team" didn't make great returns but what people don't realize is they collected funds like an IC and raised nearly $100,000 to gamble with so that 1% return was much much higher for them and even still they ended up only hitting about $162/hr which means that 1% edge translated into only 0.2% profits.

uhhhh...what were we talking about?

Dear child of mine that just excitedly shared a picture of your engagement ring:

"It's very pretty" is the best I can do, sorry. I pray you won't regret this, but I fear you will, because right now you're not remembering one bit how many times in the past six months you've sat at my kitchen table/stood in my driveway and contemplated kicking your SO out of your shared housing situation because living with them drives you nuts. If you don't want to live with them now because of their obnoxious habits, you're not going to want to live with them five years from now, either. If they've not improved over the previous three years you've been dating, they aren't going to improve one bit once they no longer have to do much of anything to keep you around.

...and let's not even get into the way you feel about their family. That won't get any better with time, either. I speak from experience, here.

/headdesks

Deep down, I know this is a terrible idea, for about a thousand reasons - but I feel like I have no recourse but to cross my fingers and hope it's not the utter dumpster fire that I just know it's going to be. If I even remotely try to point out reasons to wait on this decision, it's just going to push them to make it faster.

In reply to SunRuanEr (msg # 1831):

Wow, that is sad. The myth that a bad relationship will magically become a good one with a ring and a ceremony has caused so much pain over the years.

Take it from a guy who is on his third marriage, even the best relationships require a lot of work and compromise.

In reply to SunRuanEr (msg # 1831):

Sadly, train wrecks have to be experienced personally.
I on the other hand. am in what was basically an arranged marriage.
Like roses, there are thorns but, this year will be the 36th.

Maybe it will be like a "Near Death Experience" and transform them both. (Odds are against it but it happens.)

A "something" that just struck me: When contemplating marriage, consider how well you like the bread in the relationship, not the cake.

Marriage is like the Lockhorns.

If you're not Leroy and your wife isn't Loretta (or vice versa) then you're in the wrong comic strip. :|

It turns out that I have Two Half-Sisters. One of them just made first contact through Ancestry.

So I already knew that our father was a liar and a cheat. So now he has more Karmic debt that he will never repay in this lifetime. He left a woman without a family as her Bio Mother wanted nothing to do with her.

I have yet to meet her in person but she has family now if she wants them.

In reply to Rockwolf66 (msg # 1837):

That's neat, did you already know the first one?

I was contacted by a half-brother years ago. My mother was from the generation where her parents pretty much forced her to put the child up for adoption. Luckily he seemed to have had a good life. Sadly he didn't contact us until years after our mother had passed, but I converted all out home movies from 8mm to VCR for him.

Yeah I knew of and get along great with the first Half-Sister. Dad was married three times and was not faithful to any of his wives. We suspected that there are more siblings out there. We now have proof.

Well She wanted more family than her kids so she's getting one now. She's survived a 3 hour conversation with out Mutual half sister. They seem to be getting along like a house on fire.

Not sure where this vent is aimed, but it is frustrating sometime to be roleplaying a character, and getting no sense that anyone reads your stuff. I try to work things other people do and say into my posts, but it is rare to find someone who seems to even notice, much less reciprocate.

In reply to Piestar (msg # 1840):

Lot's of "snap posts" to make an update sounds like.

It's frustrating to me that people don't refresh themselves on what has come before just "post for the moment".

"I'm bartering with the shopkeeper."
"I raise my mug in toast to the table."
Just because the active play is at the tavern doesn't mean you jumped there to cut into the conversation.

It's been a hell of a week.  Car incurred a repair worth more than it was, so traded the car for a newer one last Friday.  Worked butt off on Monday night painting floor lines and safety barriers because of a CEO tour at the factory.  That Tuesday afternoon, Husband took our 18-year-old cat Timmy to the vet because he'd been a little sick for the past few days.  They called at 3 to say it might be serious and they needed to do an ultrasound.  Called back at 5 to say that our beloved cat was beyond help.  We had to put him down, though at least we got a chance to see him, pet him, kiss him, and tell him we love him.  We were both sobbing basket cases, and I called off work because there was no way that 1.) I was going to be able to pay attention to anything and 2.) Husband and I needed to be together to support each other.

That night, we both realized that our house was intolerably quiet and empty without a feline presence.  And Timmy had been such a boon to both of us.  That next morning we went to a shelter and adopted two cats.  Those two have been a tremendous help with the loss, and we're really glad to welcome them into our house.

But holy heck, could we slow down the ride for a while, life?!

An old peeve, made new again here recently.

It stems back to when I was a DM in the Army, and we were getting ready to game, when one Michael Ramos vanished on us. We found out later he had decided to go to a movie, mere minutes before the game started.

His response (I wont call it am excuse, as he felt there was nothing wrong with his actions) was that 'it was just a game'.

And while it is just a game, when people flake like that, it is the people they play with they are disrespecting, not the game. It is the commitment to the people not that game, that is the issue.

Grump, grump...

Anyway.

Age-old problem here, there, everywhere and one of my biggest pet peeves too but nothing you can do but delete, delete, delete.  I mean if someone leaves the game hanging like you said, then it is disrespect to not only you but all the players like you said.  If a player lets me know they need to be gone but are coming back that is fine.  It is the flakes that join, don't post but maybe a post or two then just disappear, when players are in a game they should at least be courteous.  I am gone often from my own games but I let my players know it is my illness that takes me away, or other things but they always know I will be back.  This is caring and common courtesy, Is that so hard for someone to do!  I agree completely with you Piestar.

Before it is said, I DO know that there are cases that something has happened to that player either health wise or computer wise but in the latter there are phones, libraries, friend's computer, contact to let you know something is going on is available.

In reply to ladysharlyne (msg # 1844):

Real life is certainly outside of the bounds of this peeve. It does bug me when real life interferes with my plans, but I am mad at life, not the person. This peeve is specifically people who blow off the game for trivial reasons.

I just got out of the hospital - the Infectious Disease doctor prescribed a strong antibiotic for me - one that states in its description DO NOT GIVE TO DIABETICS, which I am.
I had 2 doses in the hospital and already show some potentially dangerous side effects; bleed like a stuck pig, just from a simple finger stick, also sweating like mad, got bad shakes (which makes typing this a real challenge) and my vision keeps going in and out of focus, which makes it dangerous for me to drive. Which means I can't safely go get my meds, or go to any of the prescribed doctors appointments. (The local bus does not have a stop anywhere near me and a taxi is beyond my poor ability to pay for.)
I tried to call them about changing the meds but they just told me to see about staying in the hospital longer - After I had already been discharged. The hospital sent me home anyway. (nice Lyft driver though)

In reply to ShadoPrism (msg # 1846):

That sounds like an unsafe discharge, Robert. And possible medical malpractice on the part of the doctor in charge of you there.

In reply to Manticore (msg # 1847):

Unfortunetly its par for the course for the local hospital group - they have the worst reputation in the region for pretty much anything medical except Heart problems.
Most hospitals, as an example, serve turkey on wheat sandwiches as a quick meal for patents, Piedmont serves peanut butter and jelly crustless sandwiches (the kind you can get in a grocery). They have nothing for anyone who is allergic to peanuts, is diabetic, or other such conditions and their food service does not really care. (Their diabetic diet plan includes high fructose fruits, such as canned peaches and pineapples, with every meal.)
I really don't know how they are still in business, save they are the Only hospital in this city.

What a nightmare! You should be able to find a lawyer who would take this on at no cost to you, that hospital should end up paying out the nose for their behavior. Unbearably unsafe and uncouth.

https://www.jointcommission.or...oncern-or-complaint/

The above is no cost.

In reply to ShadoPrism (msg # 1846):

Sad to hear it. I had medical malpractice suit I was afraid to pursue, for similar reason; very poor. I hope that if you have case, you can get some boon of fortune to show that path to you.

However, my biggest concern is for your health. I had nowehre near the situation you did, but I had an allergic reaction to interraction with my Haldol, Remeron and Lexapro (all generic, but better searched by brand name). I had delusions and paranoia, called my mother in the middle of the night telling her I was god. Ruined a friendship calling them about my sister's boyfriend, who in reality was scumbag, but I thought was at my door.

Basically it's a blessing I called the cops and they just thought "this guy is high" and didn't arrest me. I was not in situation to drive, and so walked. It was quite bad, but never directly affected my health. Like I didn't have heart palpitations, like you're describing (#NotaDoctor). Still it affected me in the longterm, even if the physical symptoms faded.

That wasn't the malpractice suit I mentioned by the way.

I tell this story to show solidarity. I worry that you need to fight an infection, for whatever you were in for, be it surgery of illness, but also that the antibiotic has poisoned you, effectively. I really hope you can get some aid! You've had it rough! Aren't you who had the problem with the dentist and heart problems? Maybe I'm mixed up, and if I am just understand someone posted here about that, and I just got mixed up.

Can't really comment of RL politics, but I hope you can get some aid where you live. Best wishes. I know that's little good in practice, wishes won't fix problems. Sadly, all I can say is I feel for you, comrade.

In reply to ShadoPrism (msg # 1846):

Sorry to hear that, it must be a frightening and annoying situation.

Did your doctor explain why he'd give you that antibiotic? Doctors have to weigh the benefits from side effects which sometimes means discomfort/pain/etc. Though the doctor should make sure you understand why or what can/could happen.

There's also always the option to switch doctors and, don't cite me on this, I've heard that there are places where you could get help to pay hospital bills from the hospital directly (especially if they gave you antibiotics that might harm you without your consent/knowledge)

Advice from someone with family in the medical field: do not trust that your doctor has read your records! ALWAYS bring up whether or not a new med will react with your other issues/known allergies! Make the doctor check, and then double-check with a nurse or (preferably) a pharmacist for adverse reactions. Doctors can have a bad habit of getting hyper-focused on the one thing they're treating you for and forget that you are a person with other conditions and medications they may have to take into consideration. Maybe you still won't have a better option, but at least you'll know what to expect when you take it.

I always thought it was just the VA that was bad about this, but I've found it true in the private sector, too.

I always ask my pharmacist about my meds.  (One good reason why you should always deal with just one pharmacy)  I haven't found that the doctor seems to notice what else I'm taking, even other things he's prescribed. While the pharmacy tends to look at the whole picture, including all the over the counter things like vitamins that I take.