The Random Thoughts Thread

[Tom1122]

Ugh, I've got a cold. This could be Winter 2019's last jab at me.

[TTC4120fan]

You can get in trouble for doing almost anything in class nowadays. Even breathing air will get you in trouble. In our class, the boys get in trouble, or as they liked to call it, "getting picked on" a lot. It is super duper rare for a girl in my class to get in trouble, and the boys bring they excuse, "whys is she not in trouble ?". But's is easy to see why with the other guys in my class. Swearing and talking back appear to be the number one issue.

They are also trying impress the girls. It's almost like a sport to them, but they keeping losing every year.

I am not into that stuff. I don't want to be a show off.

But they sure do like picking on me for being interested in TTC, and basically everything else I do.

They play this game called fortnite, and it's super fun to them. I play Nintendo and old video games that they have never heard of. I got made of so much for not playing it.

Luckily, I am of to High school next year, and so far nobody from my class is going. Sure there will be more bullies their, but after being with some of my classmates since Kindergarten, I just want to freaking leave.

 

[T3G]

I do miss my teenage years but the one thing I don't really miss is going to school. Homework was always a drag and we had a bunch of really draconian rules at my first high school that made it a pain in the ass to deal with. There was a blanket prohibition on using your phone anywhere, so you could get it confiscated if you happened to have it in your desk not in use, or if you were using it on your lunch break. At one point the principal came in to the cafeteria and stood on the podium to announce that he had confiscated 9 phones from people who were eating their lunch. Congratulations, I'm sure that really contributed to their education.

When a new high school opened in my town and I was moved there the rules around phone use became far more lax, although there was still the odd teacher that would try to enforce the old ways. One day I had finished my work around 20 minutes before class was over and had no other outstanding stuff to do so I popped in a headphone and browsed my phone and got in trouble for that. 

[81-717]

20 hours ago, Matthew TTC 4120 said:

Luckily, I am of to High school next year, and so far nobody from my class is going. Sure there will be more bullies their, but after being with some of my classmates since Kindergarten, I just want to freaking leave.

I felt the exact same way in middle school, my time in middle school was not fun at all, and by the end of it I was really looking forward to leaving and having a fresh start in HS. Most people from my middle school went to the HS closest to where I live, whereas I went to a different one further north for the International Baccalaureate program, and luckily was able to stay in the same school in Gr 11-12 when I dropped out of IB into the regular Academic program (technically since no longer in IB I was supposed to attend the school closest to where I live, but luckily I was able to stay in the same school because I had zero interest in going back to school with people who bullied me in middle school). There was some bullying in HS too, but it wasn't too bad, I actually started making more friends, and in Gr 12 bullying was basically a non-issue (and after leaving HS, bullying is basically no longer relevant to you). So I wouldn't worry too much if I were you.

20 hours ago, PCC Guy said:

I do miss my teenage years but the one thing I don't really miss is going to school. Homework was always a drag

Yeah, that's what I don't miss about school either. Even in university you get homework and the occasional essay or presentation (which I hate doing the most). I definitely miss other aspects of school, like some of the more interesting courses I took and never really indulged myself in actually grasping the concepts being taught (just wanted to get a good mark on the course), despite having an interest in the topics myself, and luckily I can still come and just chill at university (as well as taking advantage of the alumni gym membership). I too miss my teen years and my friends from HS (some of which I'm still in contact with). Nostalgia

20 hours ago, PCC Guy said:

There was a blanket prohibition on using your phone anywhere, so you could get it confiscated if you happened to have it in your desk not in use, or if you were using it on your lunch break. At one point the principal came in to the cafeteria and stood on the podium to announce that he had confiscated 9 phones from people who were eating their lunch. Congratulations, I'm sure that really contributed to their education.

When a new high school opened in my town and I was moved there the rules around phone use became far more lax, although there was still the odd teacher that would try to enforce the old ways. One day I had finished my work around 20 minutes before class was over and had no other outstanding stuff to do so I popped in a headphone and browsed my phone and got in trouble for that.

Kids these days... when I was a kid I never had my own phone, got my first one in like Gr 12 (Nokia C3) and my first smartphone (Samsung) in university. I never had such expensive "toys" to play with throughout my childhood. Fuck I'm old 

Edited March 26, 2019 by D. Jacenkovic

[Wayside Observer]

Yeah, I got it too for my interest in transit when I was in public school too.  I think we all did to one degree or another.  Elementary was by far the worst.  I didn't have any video games when I was a kid so I got it for not playing the popular games of the day and for not having a Walkman either; these were a bunch of materialistic kids with wealthy parents who indulged them.  Some of the worst were hockey players and I got it for not being into sports ironically, and yet I enjoy playing football now.  Middle school was mediocre all round.  High school was fine for the most part but by then I was keeping to myself so I never took advantage of anything that it had to offer in terms of sports or clubs.  Throughout the whole thing was the underlying problem with the Toronto Board of Education's policies about how things were to be done combined with the indifference or outright hostility of a lot of the teachers which led to a lot of 'well, you could try but you're not going anywhere so it's probably just a waste of effort' through to 'gotcha on a technicality' garbage.  I'm glad it's long done and over with.

[7575]

I agree. Elementary is what nearly pushed me over my limit. It started with name calling but soon progressed to ripping up bus drawings (they weren't bad drawings). I told the teachers but they didn't give a rat's ass. I used to keep to myself and stay away from people. I had an education plan in place but it felt like it did more harm than help. I got picked on constantly and everything I did was wrong, apparently. I used to hide out in the washrooms for hours at a time. I got picked on for not having an interest in games, not having a Walkman and skipping out on "hangout sessions" to go fanning. I also got picked on for being in a special education class (which I was wrongly placed in). So yeah, my academic life in writing.

[TTC4120fan]

3 hours ago, 7575 said:

I agree. Elementary is what nearly pushed me over my limit. It started with name calling but soon progressed to ripping up bus drawings (they weren't bad drawings). I told the teachers but they didn't give a rat's ass. I used to keep to myself and stay away from people. I had an education plan in place but it felt like it did more harm than help. I got picked on constantly and everything I did was wrong, apparently. I used to hide out in the washrooms for hours at a time. I got picked on for not having an interest in games, not having a Walkman and skipping out on "hangout sessions" to go fanning. I also got picked on for being in a special education class (which I was wrongly placed in). So yeah, my academic life in writing.

That's my life at school in a nutshell.

Luckily, a few of my classmates got in trouble for saying some dumb puns on some very sensitive topics today.

A nice change from getting called a (name I can't say because I hate the word).

[T3G]

In my early years of high school, I wouldn't advertise that I was into transit because of exactly the reactions you guys are mentioning here.

In my last two years I became slightly more open about it, in the sense that whenever I was in a class that used computers I would spend a lot of my time either reading bus forums, reading up on the history of random European countries, or following the political gongshow that was the Rob Ford administration back in the day. Unsurprisingly, this earned me a bit of scorn. 

College was where it actually became accepted. Every now and then I will put a streetcar photo on my social media feeds (most recently a stripped 4041 to accompany a set of photos I took on a walk along the Woodbine Beach boardwalk) and I haven't become a social pariah yet, so that was cool.

[7575]

Well the peeps at UofT are chill and accepting. Most likely because I am 6 years older then most of them. 

[Greatcoinz]

Reading previous posts about school and group projects. As a college student, my experience for group projects is that since we are spending $600 a course, might as well put the effort for it.  Though I don't mind group projects in University as everyone normally contributes to the project,  I'm a nervous train-wreck when it comes to presenting whether alone or with a group, whether speaking to 5 People or 30 People. Even though I try to prepare ahead of time by wearing a shirt and tie and thinking it's a job interview, I'm still nervous. (Doesn't help that I often don't get a good nights rest) 

There's one thing that people still do whether in grade school, college or everyday life; people still do not read the instructions. I had an 80 Minute Presentation with five other people, on Government Policies involving Canada, in which we had to write a paper that was 6-10 Pages long on a subtopic, and a presentation summarizing the subtopic and our findings. The last person to present in our group did the exact opposite, which was read word for word from her paper and talked about government policies of another nation. Save the worst for last I suppose? It doesn't bother me as much as we are individually being graded for our papers, topics, and presentation but the look from the professor face of her eyes rolling towards the ceiling proved that she did not follow instructions while she presented. People, read the damn instructions, it can save your grade, or your life! 

[Wayside Observer]

Warm evening plus homemade hamburgers plus charcoal lighting means good food isn't too far away.

[Doppelkupplung]

Didn’t know where to put this, but thought it was noteworthy. They’re basically the same, rear engined rear drive. I can’t see the difference. 

 

Was in a rush so couldn’t get better shots.

[OC Transpo/STO Fan]

Apple really has a shitshow on their hands. They announced AirPower back in September 2017, never released it, and only today did they confirm it was cancelled. That's incredibly rare for Apple to do something like that. They cancelled it due to having issues with the wireless charger not working as intended.

A lot of people on Reddit are also complaining.

[Wayside Observer]

Apple's had a shitshow on their hands for a while now.  Can you say "Pro Apps"?  Can you say "Final Cut X"?  Can you say "Mac Pro 6, 1"?  Can you say "Mac product line"?

I think the AirPower charger's cancellation may actually be unprecedented though.  Apple's had lots of products get cancelled during development or be discontinued after being on the market for a long time as part of the product life cycle like any other company but nobody can think of anything else that's Apple's retracted after being announced without ever being released.

As for Tim Cook's latest repeat of the shitshow line about how they "have amazing products in the pipeline", that's been a shitshow for ages because the pipeline's been constipated for years now!

[OC Transpo/STO Fan]

27 minutes ago, Wayside Observer said:

Apple's had a shitshow on their hands for a while now.  Can you say "Pro Apps"?  Can you say "Final Cut X"?  Can you say "Mac Pro 6, 1"?  Can you say "Mac product line"?

I think the AirPower charger's cancellation may actually be unprecedented though.  Apple's had lots of products get cancelled during development or be discontinued after being on the market for a long time as part of the product life cycle like any other company but nobody can think of anything else that's Apple's retracted after being announced without ever being released.

As for Tim Cook's latest repeat of the shitshow line about how they "have amazing products in the pipeline", that's been a shitshow for ages because the pipeline's been constipated for years now!

True, although I had specifically been talking about AirPower. Mac product line is really complicated with the MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, iMac, iMac Pro, Mac Mini, and Mac Pro. They should take out the regular MacBook as the Air could replace it. 

In the case of the Mac Pro, Apple actually apologized for it not being updated since 2013! They said they would release an upgradable Mac Pro this year. 

[Wayside Observer]

My point was that the mess at Apple extends beyond AirPower.  A lot of Aperture and FCP users got totally burned as did people who bought into the hardware ecosystem only to end up shafted the last few years.  Starting around OS X 10.3 on the large multi CPU machines, Apple had a serious hardware platform running an easy to use, well supported Unix system, but now it's like the late 80s and the 1990s has come back and if you need a real computer, once again you buy something else.

[FutureHeartsJunkie]

Is it rude (and considered bad manners) to hang up on a telemarketer (or a survey company) thesedays?

That's the age old question I'm asking. I remembered the time that someone claiming to be from "The Globe and Mail" newspaper asked me to do a survey many years ago.

I immediately hang up on them just because they wanted to offer me a subscription. I felt so guilty and violated when I hang up on them! The only concern is - will they ever call the police on me - just because I simply hang up on them?

 

[captaintrolley]

13 minutes ago, FutureHeartsJunkie said:

The only concern is - will they ever call the police on me - just because I simply hang up on them?

No.  Hanging up the phone on someone is not a crime punishable by law.

[T3G]

19 minutes ago, FutureHeartsJunkie said:

Is it rude (and considered bad manners) to hang up on a telemarketer (or a survey company) thesedays?

They are widely considered a scourge on society, so no.

[Wayside Observer]

If it's "Air Duct Cleaning" or "Canada Revenue Agency" calling, you get bonus points for having fun with them instead of hanging up with them.

I've been getting a lot of duct cleaning calls and a prerecorded message that has an Asian lady speaking on top of a bed of soft music and I have utterly no idea what on earth it's about. Unfortunately the Canada Revenue Agency hasn't called me. I would love to have some fun with the unfortunate sod that calls my number with that load of BS.

[FutureHeartsJunkie]

13 minutes ago, Wayside Observer said:

If it's "Air Duct Cleaning" or "Canada Revenue Agency" calling, you get bonus points for having fun with them instead of hanging up with them.

I've been getting a lot of duct cleaning calls and a prerecorded message that has an Asian lady speaking on top of a bed of soft music and I have utterly no idea what on earth it's about. Unfortunately the Canada Revenue Agency hasn't called me. I would love to have some fun with the unfortunate sod that calls my number with that load of BS.

It's one of those Chinese Embassy scam calls - mainly targeting the Chinese people.

Sometimes, I don't have any "confidence" on who's calling my phone line. The Caller ID (Call Display) isn't giving me confidence either! My phone can sometimes display "private" or "unknown" caller" or have a weird phone number.  There are some situations in which the display could be screened - it could be either the hospital telling that your loved one is in the ER or a social worker, I just simply don't have any confidence on who's calling my line. One of my takeaway advice is the following: let callers from "private" or "unknown" numbers go through your voicemail or have it forwarded to another phone number.

Still with scam calls, I have long removed my phone number off the Do-Not-Call List (DNCL) in Canada. Even that my number has been long removed, scammers can somethings slip through the cracks! My takeaway advice: consider against adding your phone number (recommended if you have activated your phone line for the first time) to the DNCL. It'll save the headaches on being counter-productive on who's calling you. 

[7575]

11 minutes ago, Wayside Observer said:

If it's "Air Duct Cleaning" or "Canada Revenue Agency" calling, you get bonus points for having fun with them instead of hanging up with them.

I've been getting a lot of duct cleaning calls and a prerecorded message that has an Asian lady speaking on top of a bed of soft music and I have utterly no idea what on earth it's about. Unfortunately the Canada Revenue Agency hasn't called me. I would love to have some fun with the unfortunate sod that calls my number with that load of BS.

Yeah I said this to an Air Duct Cleaner when he called. "Thank you for calling tech support, my name is Muhammed, how may I help you today". They hung up on me. Must be opposite day or something.

[Wayside Observer]

I forgot to mention that the air duct cleaning people's robodialler hit about every phone in the shop late in the afternoon on Friday.  I walked from bench to bench answering phones as they rang.  One of them told me they had a great deal on duct cleaning for my house and I told the guy that I don't have a house, can't afford one on what the slavedrivers pay me here.  Another asked how I was and I said I was barely surviving but at at least it's Friday - and that's very important right now.  I asked another when the blind guy who tunes the pianos was going to arrive.  I told the last one that I was there to deliver the catering and someone better let me in soon because the steaks and lobsters were getting cold and the champagne was getting warm.  It was wild.  As soon as one of these clowns hung up on me, within seconds, another phone in the workshop would start ringing.  Their autodialler had to be incrementing phone numbers by one each time.

Once I was a real jackass with someone who was calling from "Windows" and tried to pull one of those scams.  I kept telling the guy that all I had on my screen was Workbench, AmigaShell and FinalWriter 5.  I kept asking if the start button was like the Project menu.

[Wayside Observer]

1 hour ago, FutureHeartsJunkie said:

It's one of those Chinese Embassy scam calls - mainly targeting the Chinese people.

Ah ok.  We used to have a bunch of people who were originally from Hong Kong at work and I'd have gotten one of them to translate except they all retired over the last couple of years.  That prerecorded message has been unique among the recent scam calls in that it'll actually play out onto your voicemail if you let it ring through and I have one saved because one of the retirees visits every so often.

1 hour ago, FutureHeartsJunkie said:

It'll save the headaches on being counter-productive on who's calling you. 

And pass up on the fun stretching my legs coming up with the most off the wall stuff I can improv to screw with the people on the other end while trying to crack up the co-workers at the same time?

1 hour ago, 7575 said:

Yeah I said this to an Air Duct Cleaner when he called. "Thank you for calling tech support, my name is Muhammed, how may I help you today". They hung up on me. Must be opposite day or something.

Nice!  My view is, have some fun screwing with them - and waste their time.  Hanging up immediately only does them the service of moving on to the next mark immediately but if you can waste some of their time, their productivity takes a bit of a hit.  If lots of people do that, the cumulative effect begins to add up.

[Downsview 108]

16 hours ago, FutureHeartsJunkie said:

Is it rude (and considered bad manners) to hang up on a telemarketer (or a survey company) thesedays?

That's the age old question I'm asking. I remembered the time that someone claiming to be from "The Globe and Mail" newspaper asked me to do a survey many years ago.

I immediately hang up on them just because they wanted to offer me a subscription. I felt so guilty and violated when I hang up on them! The only concern is - will they ever call the police on me - just because I simply hang up on them?

 

 

13 hours ago, Wayside Observer said:

If it's "Air Duct Cleaning" or "Canada Revenue Agency" calling, you get bonus points for having fun with them instead of hanging up with them.

I've been getting a lot of duct cleaning calls and a prerecorded message that has an Asian lady speaking on top of a bed of soft music and I have utterly no idea what on earth it's about. Unfortunately the Canada Revenue Agency hasn't called me. I would love to have some fun with the unfortunate sod that calls my number with that load of BS.

Is duct cleaning the new dot com bubble? I see a lot of that on FB.