Pineapple Express: Someone Is Wrong on the Internet?

[Mannahnin]

You know what we need? AI powered glasses. So we can be plugged in at all times, and not just look like a bunch of idiots with a twisted neck staring at our phones.

Internet enabled glasses always remind me of Hiro becoming a "gargoyle" in Snow Crash.

I've been hoping ever since that when the real world version eventually came it would be met with the same social disapprobation as it is in the book, but obviously we've seen only a limited amount of that with phones. Though there were the Google glasses attacks about ten years ago.

 

[The Firebird]

Just came back from 2 weeks with the family in Germany seeing relatives.

I took 2 weeks (one unpaid), and got called halfway through asking if I could cut it short -- not for a specific task, but because my coworker got sick, and they wanted to have me around for coverage "just in case". I told them I'd consider it if they paid for my ticket. They said they'd call me back. They did not.

Meanwhile I asked my cousins if it would be better to schedule the family visit for August next year, and was told, "Oh, no, our family's out the whole month for vacation."

One country is definitely "winning" more than the other one...

I've seen a few angles to this. Two of my best friends took jobs with European employers; one remote (US based), one on site (Switzerland, then Paris).

They were happy with the amenities, which are also better for healthcare, parental leave, etc. But, there were also complaints about how hard it was to accomplish anything. Especially those summer months where everyone is in and out and you can't get in touch with anyone. The salaries are worse too. My friend in Paris is deciding whether to stay for good--it sounds like she will--and her biggest concern is affording the airfare to see her family in the US once a year. More than that is out of the question.

 

[Deset Gled]

I've been hoping ever since that when the real world version eventually came it would be met with the same social disapprobation as it is in the book, but obviously we've seen only a limited amount of that with phones. Though there were the Google glasses attacks about ten years ago.

There's recently internet drama about a waxer wearing Meta glasses during a rather personal appointment.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I mean, how else does one know when its time to switch from Champaign to gin?

Why not both?

See, when you're having a light drinking day, might I recommend trying a Negroni Sbagliato (with Champagne instead of Prosecco because you want your sparkling wine to be as dry as your wit) instead of the regular Negroni? If you've never had one, I highly recommend it! Here's the recipe.

Negroni Sbagliato with Champagne

Ingredients
1 ounce gin
1 ounce sweet vermouth
Champagne
Garnish: orange twist (not optional- express some citrus oils!)

Steps
1. Go look at your glasses and think if you want to use a rocks glass for this drink, like a Negroni, or go high-falutin' with a Champagne flute.

2. Grab a bottle of gin and start pulling on it straight while you ponder the question.

3. Hmmm... well, if you want it up, it's going in a flute. But if you want it on the rocks, it's gotta go in a low and wide tumbler glass.

4. Man, that gin is pretty good! Take another long pull.

5. Yeah, you're thinking the rocks glass.

6. Yummy yummy gin. Take another pull.

7. Well, you just remembered that you broke all your glasses last night. Let's not think about that. But you still have one of those plastic Double Gulp 64oz glasses from 7-11. That should work!

8. Oh, you don't have ice. That sucks.

9. Pour the gin and vermouth in the Double Gulp. ...huh. I guess you're going to need some more bottles!

10. While you're looking for the bottles, you find a bottle of Prosecco. DANG IT! This is a classy Sbagliato, with Champagne. That won't work.

11. Drink the Prosecco.

12. Find some more bottles of vermouth and gin. Pour them into the Double Gulp, leaving room for Champagne.

13. Look back at your likker cabinet. Cabinets. Cabinetsssssss... huh. Is that Cava? TOO WET! Won't work.

14. Drink the Cava.

15. Consider that maybe this is a much harder cocktail to make than you originally planned, so you lie back and watch the overhead fan go in circles. Is this what Martin Sheen was thinking in Apocalypse Now? I must exterminate the Negroni Sbagliato ... with extreme prejudice....

16. Sit back up, and locate the champagne. Find something really brutal ... um, extra brut. C'mon, who are you kidding? At your price point, it's going to be brutal.

17. Mentally calculate the distance between you and the Double Gulp. It's like ... far. Drink the Champagne. COURAGE!

18. Find another bottle of Champagne. Pour it into the Double Gulp. Watch as is spills over the sides. Is it safe to lick your countertop?

......


29. Why did I wake up in my ex's shower?

 

[trappedslider]

Eh, not necessarily. I put that sort of thing back on the players.

In my campaigns, if the heroes are fighting some enemies that might have post-combat consequences (like NPC guards or bandits or whatever), I run the battle as normal and once the enemies are defeated, I'll ask the players to describe what "defeated" looks like. When the dust settles, are those guards dead or unconscious? Did the bandits fight to the death, or did they surrender, or did they flee? The heroes still get the same loot and XP either way; the biggest difference is that they have more control over the story.

Works fine for my table, YMMV.

I look for situations in adventures that are going to cause these kinds of moral quandaries and remove them. They're just not an area of games that I think either I or the group I'm with want to deal with. Like, the classic example is Keep on the Borderlands and the orc camp with the kids - the scenario is setting up a potential problem that I don't think I want to engage with. Easy to remove.

The thought came out of a post in Violence and (Geek) Entertainment

 

[Gradine]

Unrelated to anything above: I cannot even say here what I'd say in that thread, because everyone would know what thread I wasn't commenting on, and the fight I'd be trying not to start in that thread would happen in this one.

It's okay to post about Pumpkin Spice, OP

 

[prabe]

It's okay to post about Pumpkin Spice, OP

Look, I like pumpkin (pie) spice just fine as a seasoning blend, I just don't get obsessed with it. On the other hand, Burlap & Barrel just released their version, which has actual pepitas in it, and it sounds ... kinda amazing.

 

[Ryujin]

The pumpkin spice must flow.

 

[prabe]

The pumpkin spice must flow.

It's like a seasonal seasoning monsoon!

 

[overgeeked]

Arrakis—Dune—Pumpkin Planet.