I know this is really small, but my wife loves it about me. I always make sure to genuinely ask people how their day has been when they work in a customer-facing job (cashiers, servers, stockers, tellers, etc).

Not just the "how's it going?", that nobody wants an answer to. I look them in the eye and ask how their shift is going, and I keep in mind things I know about the field, like asking how servers and grocery store workers held up through the after church crowd if I see them on a Sunday, or sympathizing with a driver about road construction i know they'd have to deal with. I always keep it brief (even more so if they just seem like they don't feel like talking to a customer), but it reminds them that there are people who actually see them as the human beings they are, instead of some kind of vending machine for their workplace. It's something I always wished anyone would do for me when I was in those positions. And you might be surprised how often people seem really touched by it.

You look like a patchwork doll, made by sewing together red flags and stuffing it with bad decisions, was brought to life by the magical wish of a schizophrenic child.

Dude, no one else is even remotely close. Boone isn't even necessary, really. Fawkes has four billion HP and could cock-slap the head off of Liberty Prime. Pretty sure he could wear one Deathclaw as a condom to fuck a second Deathclaw while catching up on his reading.

Thanks for the tip! Though I'd really like to be able to get it raw for some grilled skewers, at least this gives me an option to be able to eat it.

Hell yes. I want a good size Asian grocery store. I need a place where I can buy eel. I love it, but I'm allergic to fish so I can't have it at a restaurant because there's no chance they haven't prepared it on the same surface as the fish. Add in some of the less usual produce, sauces, etc, and I'd be pretty pumped.

Dude. Imagine how awkward and fucking weird the next year would be. First of all, Harry watched like 15 percent of his inner circle die there. Tonks, Lupin, Fred, at least one Creevey brother (i can't remember), and a shit load of others just from the final battle. That's not even counting Dumbles, Snape, Cedric, etc.

But on top of that, Harry and Ron wouldn't have been the only ones who were dramatically influenced by the events of DH. How do you think it would've gone when the Slytherins came back? With a bunch of them now having a direct family member either in prison, or dead as fuck because they got stabbed 473 times by one particularly ugly house elf? And Harry already didn't like how much everyone paid attention to him; imagine that feeling now that you're fucking Wizard Jesus (tm). There'd be nothing "normal" about returning there. It'd be a shit show for several years after the battle and I sincerely doubt that most people would sign up for the pinecone enema that would be attending Hogwarts after DH.

Wait, did the movies change it so he wanted baby Harry to live? Because that would be literally the opposite of how Snape is written. In the book, Snape only even goes to Dumbledore after Voldy rejected his plan, which was "slaughter her infant son and husband and I'll keep her". Dumbles is disgusted by him and says as much. Snape then gets extorted into spying so that Dumbledore will try to protect Lily (a protection which extends to her family even though Snape never says a single word suggesting that he cares). Obviously that doesn't work out.

Spidey can achieve equilibrium in any position, and even without sticking to a surface can do a handstand on one finger. I actually had one of the special edition comics of his when I was a kid that delved into his acrobatics (i believe it was the Giant-Sized 30th Anniversary with the green cover and holographic picture in the middle). Nobody mentioned is actually beating him in terms of agility and acrobatics. I can't believe someone actually said Daredevil.

Nightcrawler is one of my all-time favorite characters ("chicks dig ze furry dude!"), but even he isn't matching the agility and acrobatics part. His teleporting isn't a part of agility and acrobatics; it's a separate power that plays well with it. But the only reason Kurt is in the discussion at all is because his mutant physiology enhances his agility, too. No one who has a fairly normal human body can possibly be in this discussion.

Literally my first thought as well.

My job is great. Service and sales rep for a uniform company. No weekends and Monday off as well. Benefits are awesome, pay is some of the best in my area (it can be tough to find jobs over 50k here, even with a degree, so a job that scales with your work and typically ranges from 60-90k is great here). Independent job with team support, so I rarely hear from my boss when I don't need anything unless they're passing on information. My customers love me, the company is good, room for advancement, I'm off in time to pick up my kids, and you actually get higher pay if you take on more.

It's a bit of a dirty job. Swapping out clean for dirty products, and some customers are quite dirty locations, such as diesel garages. And you get up quite early. Most of us start around 5am. Other than that, barring a random day where things turn crappy and you end up late, the main reason people don't always want the job is just that you can't smoke weed (overseen by the DOT). For the fact that I get 3 day weekends every week and make more than 85% of my town having only been there for 2 years, seems like that's a trade I can live with.

For what it's worth, I shifted careers completely in my mid 30s for this. I hope that whether it's a new job, or even just a new employer, you find something that makes you happy.

Because how else are you supposed to know that he was screwed up for life because literally the first thing he sees is a swinger's party?

That was hysterical to me when I realized what the joke was (I was in middle school when it came out, so I didn't at all understand that the Who's were having a key party until I saw it again at like 19).

Yes, that's roughly what that means. We had an acquaintance who needed to stay there, and found out that he was unable to get a clearance card when he went into the police station. A clearance card just shows that someone isn't a sex offender and doesn't have an active warrant, and is required to get in the shelter. Not issuing them on weekend days means that if, for example, someone's house burned down on a Friday, or they got in a fight with their significant other on a Saturday night and they locked them out, or they just got into town to realize the person putting them up had bailed, they'd have to wait until Monday to begin the process of getting a bed at the shelter. This, obviously, puts some people at significant risk.

If you are a resident at a shelter, skipping a night could potentially mean losing your spot in the dorms. But even if you don't immediately lose your spot (it can depend on several factors), you have to get a new clearance card before re-entry, basically to make sure that you didn't do anything to get a warrant during your night out (it happens, sometimes people are out a night because they went to a party and got wasted, beat the crap out of someone and passed out in the dugout at O'Neil Park). You wouldn't be permitted a return to the dorms if you can't show that unless there's also been a significant change in that policy. So, assuming you ended up in an innocent situation like getting stranded across town for several hours on a Friday night, where you weren't out partying and whatever, you could still be screwed just because the police department wouldn't approve you on a weekend.

I sided with someone else about Smoking Aces for piercings. I don't have many piercings (now all that's left is an earring, but I used to have multiples and a lip ring). However, Illinois Tattoo Company is awesome for tattoos. Excellent quality and customer service for a pretty good price (it's not literally the cheapest in town, but I definitely don't want my ink from the cheapest in town and their prices are reasonable).

Chick at the front desk, whose name is can't remember unfortunately, is quite welcoming and informative. She also knows the portfolios and specialties of the artists well enough to know exactly who should do each job. I had Harley as my artist to do a half-realistic, half-whimsical and colorful portrait of my deceased dog, and did an amazing job. Seen lots of great work come from that shop.

Edit: I posted to my profile the two tattoos I got from Illinois Tattoo Company. One is my dog tattoo, and the other is a tattoo that I got when my best friend died (so that one's a little esoteric).

Agreed. My wife had her for a nose piercing and a daith (no clue if I spelled that right). I went with to both and she's just a lovely person to be around. Very knowledgeable, personable, and with a great mixture of being friendly and casual without sacrificing professionalism.

I did one of those. I made a character with stats and abilities that actually matched mine IRL, and named him my actual name. Well, except that my middle name isn't really "fucking".

That's exactly what I do with the Sierra Madre. The 35:1 payout is so worth it, and I just take 3-4 tries, then go back to blackjack to get the amount back up if it's low. But at least with Sierra Madre, max bet is 100.

"Oh, wow... how the fuck is Harry supposed to get past a Balrog on PCP and Viagra? Wait, the fuck? It was just crushed by 1996 Toyota Tercel packed to the brim with tens of thousands of bottle rockets! Fucking shit, I gotta stop skipping charms class."

The best way is to do blackjack until you're just under the ban limit, then hit the roulette wheel so you can get several thousand over said limit.

Light weight, better accuracy while moving, lower AP cost. They can help you have a much lighter alternative to save ammo on a high end rifle. And with some builds, are some of the most damaging options (primarily crit builds with guns like A Light Shining in Darkness, or the Ranger Sequoia).

I mean, in Ginny's defense, Fleur was kind of a bitch in the books, and Ginny was just the 15 year old girl who had to put up with her. I wouldn't expect the most maturity out of a super-annoyed pubescent teenager. It's not like she was saying all of it to her face. But I'd expect better than that out of her middle aged mother.

I'm also not saying that I think Molly should've liked Fleur at that point, but the only person who should've known exactly how she felt is Arthur. It's pretty shitty for her to be talking about her future daughter in law right in front of several of her children and their friends. Molly sets a terrible example.

So, admittedly, it's been a while since I worked at the Salvation Army in town. It was a little over a decade ago, and I worked nights. I did intakes, I kept the peace, followed up and referred residents to other agencies, and lots of other things. I'll add a few things to this.

1. 130 people? No. There were nights during the winter where that was how many people were staying at just Safe Harbor, let alone how many stayed at Home Sweet Home, Neville House, halfway houses, tent cities, etc.

2. The only place in town that has restrictions about criminal history or addiction is Home Sweet Home. They take children, so you can't stay there if you're a felon. They also breath test at the door, and drug test for the dorms. If you're in Bloomington Normal and your criminal history stops you from staying in a shelter, it means that either A) you're being actively pursued by the police and therefore cannot get the security clearance card, or B) you're a sex offender, which means you wouldn't be able to stay in any homeless shelter in the US unless it's specifically set up as a sex offender shelter (the closest ones to here are in Chicago or St Louis).

The biggest difference I've seen since I worked there is that there's no longer the warming center, which was the overflow for people who were usually banned (or for whom there simply wasn't space in the dorms). Now they can come in and not freeze, but evidently they literally aren't allowed to lie down. And the local police will no longer issue clearance cards for admission on the weekends (which is a ridiculous level of bullshit).

I'm assuming you mean from Oblivion. I wouldn't have thought that, but I guess when Fallout 3 came out, people were saying it was "just Oblivion with guns".

Not made up, but I got a part of the job wrong. Average for a long haul driver is $172,000. He was probably a local driver, which starts out in the 20s, but can get up to over 40/hr, and have easy access to overtime. It would really just depend on how long someone's been doing it. I honestly considered trying for it, but I would've had to take a pay cut to start because you're required to work their warehouse before you can be a driver.

There were actually a few guys who broke it down and even shared pay stubs a few years ago. Granted, the main one i remember said he had worked 59 hours that week, but he'd apparently been there for seven years so his base rate was $44/hr, $66 for overtime. I've had worse jobs and longer hours that paid less.

Though admittedly, you're right that he would've made less back then.

Dude, UPS drivers make bank. If you're a young guy who's known to be funny and charming, you aren't dog-fuckingly ugly, and you have a six figure job with no student loan debt, I could see being confident enough to talk with most people.