Topic: The Chit Chat Thread

@kyleforrester87 thanks for being candid and sharing your experience. It is tough, I've had to spend long amounts of time defining vague all encompassing words like "love" to both my partner and myself.

It is such a weird thing because it does mean a lot of different things, especially to different people. And no relationship maintains that New Relationship Energy and overwhelming intense feeling of love that comes with it. And I guess most relationships kind of slip into that comforting kind of love in the end, among other ways of loving eachother.

I guess for any relationship going through an existential crisis, separating the different forms of love for analytical purposes is probably neccesary to see whether things can continue or not. It's just tough to do, especially when you just enjoy moments together as much as you enjoy the comfort.

Anyway, I'm glad you made the decision that was right for you. 👍 And that youve kept the cat 😹

@ralphdibny Your inquiry got me to thinking, and I’m not really sure that I’ve ever sat down to write out my life’s aspirations in any official sense. Certain things are just ingrained into my mind and writing them would merely be a formality.

However, I feel it is a good idea to check oneself from time to time to make sure your daily activities are in alignment with your life’s goals. I’m pretty much a “nose to the grindstone” and “keep my head down and trudge the day to day” type of guy. However, I know that my work, my relationships, and my activities have been in basic alignment with long term goals so it’s easy to just not have to constantly think about what I want to have achieved with my life when it’s all said and done. However, it is really easy to drift from the path that one sets for themself and so if you don’t do a ‘level-set’ and look up at the map every now and then you can find yourself way off the mark. That’s my problem. I do get complacent and probably need to re-inventory how I’m doing more often. The stock market currently makes me depressed to do that though. 😣

And the depressing part of it all is that none of us have any guarantees for tomorrow, as awful as that sounds. The last 3 years has definitely taught us that. Relatively young healthy people have had life cut short way too often. I think we’ve all seen it first hand with people we know in the prime of their life and then suddenly it’s over. I think the hard part is planning for the next 50-60 years but also being in a place where if it all ends tomorrow that I can be satisfied with how I left the world behind. That’s tough. But if your daily grind is in alignment with the long term goals, then it should be okay, even if it’s cut short. But I think it would also be natural to feel like Liam Neeson at the end of Schindler’s List regretting that he could have done more, no matter what one has accomplished.

All this can get very overwhelming and depressing to think about, but I like to keep perspective and think of things in some historical context. Average life span was like 40 years just a couple generations ago. Compared to our ancestors, we have a lot more time to accomplish things and get our relationships in order, and so a little grind isn’t too bad. In fact, it was pretty common in the 1800s and early 1900s to grind away on a farm from sunrise to sunset and then die of tuberculosis or an infected wound at age 30 and that was your life’s work. Thankfully, I’ve been granted a little more opportunity to work on some things and cultivate quality relationships. 😄

Unfortunately, we live in a time when we are bombarded with constant updates on social media of how our peers and celebrities are ‘living their best life.’ Undoubtedly these usually show a false sense success and happiness. I think it’s far healthier to compare our lot to our grandparents and great-grandparents who were just scrapping by for a meal during much of their lives. I can only imagine what my great-grandfather’s daily Facebook or Instagram post would be like. “Another snapshot of me on the farm milking the cows at 5:00 AM. Same as yesterday. And the day before. But today I gotta go bury the dog, he was bit by a rattler yesterday. Haven’t had rain in a while. Gonna be a bad crop this season.”

Today is 10th anniversary of LEGO CITY UNDERCOVER Wii U version.

You said the other day about there being a feeling with the forum @Th3solution and whilst I didn't really see it at the time having only been back two days I totally feel it now.

Granted it's now the weekend too so it's going to be even slower but there is a definite colder air about the place now which is a damn shame.

Also I forgot to ask in my previous response of how you were sol!

@Th3solution it's a tough one ain't it? I think for a long time, I've been grinding. A few months ago I took a step back to look at the long game and now it feels like I'm grinding again, just towards a slightly different goal. It's a weird feeling

I think you are right in that people just have to find the right balance for themselves. Enjoy the moment, plan for the future and remember the past. I always kind of get stuck doing one of those things, it becomes all encompassing so a pause to check the balance sounds like a good idea.

You've really hit the nail on the head regarding finite lifespans. I think that's what led me to take stock a few months back. The life I was living was full of regret and if I had died the next day, it wouldn't have been a life worth living. I just want to know that if I make it another 40-50 years, then my entire life wouldn't have been like that.

I have to say though, your image of a great grand farmer posting on Insta has made me laugh! I am sure that they would have been doing just as many "life is great" posts as people today 😅. "Beautiful sunrise, beautiful cattle! Rattlers be damned, buy your snake proof cattle fence here! 🚨👌👉 https://youtu.be/dQw4w9WgXcQ"

@HallowMoonshadow That’s a good way to describe it. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but “a colder air” is an apt analogy.

It used to be like walking into a pub and hanging out with a bunch of your mates - not everyone agreed but we all just blew off some steam, release some stress, laugh, swap tales, and talk about games, life, and whatever was on our minds. We’d be like those guys at the pub debating with each other for the 100th time whether Michael Jordan was the greatest player of all time or is it Lebron James. Then someone pipes up and says it’s gotta be Kobe Bryant. Then the old guy says we’re all crazy because if you’d seen Wilt Chamberlain play back in the day then you’d know he was the GOAT. We’d smile, laugh, roll our eyes maybe, and slap each other on the back at the end of the day, and say “see ya tomorrow buddy.”
Now it’s a little more like being at a work party - it’s still great to see your mates, but some participants are a little cold to one another, or avoid each other entirely, and aren’t really engaged so much, just sitting in the corner drinking some punch. If you go over and try to make conversation you don’t know if you’re going to get the cold shoulder or annoy the person, so people just kind of tip-toe around, whilst pockets of people have a nice chat here and there. The boss is in the background keeping order because the last time we had a party someone got unruly and HR had to be called the next day and he was put on probation. So we all enjoy ourselves a little, thankful that at least we’re not working and do our best. But when two people start to debate Lebron vs Jordan the two of them just give give their case and you look around wondering if the Wilt Chamberlain or Kobe fan out there is going to pipe up and one of them is asleep in the corner and the other appears to clearly be in a foul mood and ready to just dismiss anyone who crosses them.

@ralphdibny It’s a really interesting thought exercise. Years ago I made a personal accounting of my core values and principles and chose to build my life around supporting those. Theoretically, as long as you are engaging in activities that support those, then you should be happy, even when things don’t work out. If you spend time on things you don’t value at your core, then that’s when unhappiness and/or regret might creep in. At least that’s what I figured. I don’t think those core values have changed much over the years for me, but I probably need to reassess, because life is an every flowing river of change.

And yeah, 1800’s farmer Insta would be fascinating to see. Someone’s probably put together a fake account like that, I imagine, just for creative kicks.

@RogerRoger Thanks, Rog. 😄 Sometimes I get into a weird mood and my imagination gets the better of me.

It was probably also prompted by the fact I’ve been watching a lot basketball this weekend. Not sure if you all know about “March Madness” over here, but well… we’re deep in the middle of it. And everyone has filled out their brackets and are talking about it with one another, debating, predicting, pontificating, and gambling. It’s a big thing over here.

Ah, go back and read some topics from 2015, 2016. The place was totally different. I really miss some of the guys from back then, and if I am honest I relate to some of the crowd less now - you’re a lot smarter, I give you that - but I love you no less. Its not good or bad, just the way she goes. I blame Covid 😂

@Th3solution @RogerRoger while I’m appreciating what I have, you guys are probably the two nicest people on the internet

@kyleforrester87 Very nice of you to say, sir. Cheers 🍻.

But the best Final Fantasy is still XII.

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And going back to what @ralphdibny and others were saying on the previous page, I think it’s great that you never know where life might take you.

I was thinking the other day about where I was 10 years ago when I was working as a second year doctor in Bristol and having a great time. But I’d never in a million years have guessed that by now I’d be living in Devon with a wife and baby! I’m very easy going about things though which is the polar opposite to the wife who always has 1 year, 5 year, 10 year plans. I can’t even think beyond next week most of the time

Holy macoroni @Th3solution! I was going to say that sounds more like an actual experience you've had rather then something you made up on the fly but your answer to Rog seems to confirm it's at least somewhat fictional so... Bravo! 😅

... It took me a hot minute to realise what you were getting at there @RogerRoger with kyle and the tags...

Not gonna lie I completely forgot over my time off from here that you and your wife had not long had a baby @Thrillho! I feel really bad about that 😳

How are they coming along? All good I hope!

@HallowMoonshadow There’s no need to feel bad about us having a baby 😁

All good though thanks. Five and a half months now so is becoming more and more of a little person. She’s only on the second centile so is tiny but means we get our moneys worth out of clothes (plus all the nice hand-me-downs from other NCT mums)!

I have no idea how anyone copes with more than one though 😳

All this talk of hot and cold air reminded me to ask you guys if you have any tips for my PS5, because it seems to be struggling a bit (hello again @HallowMoonshadow by the way!)

So recently my PS5 has been cutting out. By which I mean turning off with absolutely no warning, like someone has pulled the plug from the wall. It's only when I play Elden Ring, it doesn't do it with any other game (apart from once with Fortnite when the kids were playing it). I took the covers off and cleaned the dust out a bit (a nerve-shredding, pant-wetting exercise which felt like performing open-heart surgery ona loved one) but the issue persists. I'm guessing it's the console overheating, but I also think it could be the power cable. When it goes off, the console won't come back on again until you unplug it and plug it back in again, no matter how long I wait.

Anyone else had this issue? My wife and kids have piled about 100 hours into that wizarding simulator which is so popular, and it hasn't died once. That's on disc, like Elden Ring, don't know if that's relevant. It doesn't happen often but it's quite heartbreaking when it happens in the middle of a boss fight. Although it does allow me to pretend that I almost had them, when in fact they were kicking my arse.

Also hello everyone else, hope you are all okay. Just been reading through the last couple of pages, some nice thoughts/ramblings there.

@Gremio108 Yikes, sucks to hear about your PS5. Thankfully I haven’t had any consistent shut downs. I think maybe I had one early on where I thought I had overheated it, but I don’t think that was it. I think it was just a weird glitch and it was with an early version of Returnal which was trying to make the PS5 do things it wasn’t intended for. It hasn’t happened since.

I’m not very smart about these things but I don’t know if your shut-downs could be attributed to overheating, since you have to manually unplug it after each of these events. It seems if it was an overheating issue that you wouldn’t have to do that.

Either way, it makes me nervous to hear your problems because I would hate to have my console start cutting off in the middle of a play session.

@Th3solution @RogerRoger I think we have something called a Super Sunday here in the UK. I think it's where lots of (non-American) football matches are played! You'd have to ask a football fan to confirm this though 😅

@Thrillho I hope all is well with you and the fam!

I think there is something to be said for going with the flow! Seems to have worked well for you especially with what sounds like the guiding hand of your wife! 😅

@Gremio108 hope you are well too! ✌️

@Th3solution Yeah it's strange because sometimes I can play Elden Ring for hours and it won't happen at all. That made me think it might be some sort of glitch related to the game (and I even tried uninstalling and re-installing), but it's only been an issue on this new playthrough. I must have poured 150 hours in on my first run and it didn't happen once. It's annoying, although it does add a certain extra tension to proceedings. Like ER isn't stressful enough. As long as it remains an Elden Ring only issue I can live with it, but it's making me hesitant to shell out for Wo Long.

@ralphdibny all good thanks! Re 'Super Sunday' - back in my single days, my friends and I would often spend our entire Sunday in the pub, watching every match, sometimes even the Spanish game in the evening. We nicknamed it Sunday Service. The football was really just a backdrop for the daft conversations and laughs. Good times.

@ralphdibny Yeah, I think we balance each other out. If we were both like me nothing would get done, if we were both like her then the anxiety in the house would be through the roof!

@Gremio108 Is the console still in warranty? May be worth speaking to Sony but very odd for it to be just the one game, especially as ER didn’t seem to be the most taxing game on the console.