NeuroTypical

I have the world's best ministering brother.  He owns a used car dealership.  He let me browse the big auction site in Denver where he gets all his cars, then took me up with him when I found my top three.   He came back with like six cars for his lot, and I got the sweetest deal ever on a dream car.   Love that mild hail damage that everyone but me thinks is severe!   
If I ever lose him and have to going back to dealing with used car guys, here's what finally worked for me:
- Find the thing on the internet, look up NADA/BlueBook price.
- Go test drive the thing, taking it to my trusted mechanic who looks it over and nods.
- Then I leave.  Hopefully without talking to anyone.
- Eventually, they will call me.  (Because I gave them my phone number in order to take the test drive.)
- I offer them a price based on NADA/BlueBook, plus tax and license.  I don't give a flying wet crap what they say or how they say it.  They can either take the offer or leave it.  I don't care about their cost structure.  I don't care about their counteroffer.  I don't care about their stupid number games.  I don't care if he is personally hurt by my offensive and unreasonable attitude.   $x.  Plus tax and license.  The only thing I care about is a yes or a no.  No, I won't sign anything else other than a sales contract.
- I will say things like "I understand if you have stuff happening that means you can't accept my offer.  Thanks for your time."    And, "So what I understand from everything you just said, is you are declining to accept my offer of $x, plus tax and license.  Is that correct?"
- After 5-6 minutes of letting them try their soulless evil tactics on me, I will say something like "Ok, so, I do not hear you accepting my offer.  I am going to end this call, thank you for your time."  And I'll hang up, even if the guy is still talking.
- 10-15 minutes later, I'll get a call back, and if they accept my offer, I'll come in and look at the paperwork.  
- The paperwork must show a number of $x, a number for tax, one for license, and a total with those three added together and nothing else.  If the total is one dollar more, I am getting up and walking out.  I don't care why it's there.  I don't care what law they have to follow.  I don't care how I'm being unreasonable or stupid.  I am offering $x, plus tax and license, and they need to stop wasting everyone's time if that offer doesn't work for them.  Their hoops are not my problem.
- If they do new paperwork with $x+t+l = total, then I sign and pay.  Anything else, including "Just give me 5 minutes to clear this with my boss", and I walk out permanently, block their number, and report any other contact to the BBB, and give negative yelp and google reviews. 
This has worked for me the one time I tried it.  I was exhausted at the end of the ordeal, but happy through the life of that car.  I hope I can keep my ministering buddy.

I'm grateful that I was able to tear down the walls of denial, and finally admit to myself that I'm just not good at home remodeling.  Installing fences is something I can do, but I now understand and accept that I should never be allowed next to a bucket of drywall plaster.

Hmm, with what you just wrote in mind...
I probably would have built my own table somewhere in that time period.  Actually, have put together at least two tables around that size (more around a 4.5' x 7') during the past 5 years.  Also built some shelves and other items out of wood.  In that light, I suppose I am grateful for the ability to do so (though now that I've voiced it, it will probably be taken away, things seem to happen that way sometimes).
Grateful for Doritos Chips.  They are probably very unhealthy for me, but I love the Nacho Cheese and even moreso love the Cool Ranch flavors of Doritos.  I also love Cheetos, Sour Cream and Onion and Sun Chips.
I'm grateful for soap and water so I can wash my hands off before touching any of my wonderful books.  Also grateful so that I can force everyone else to wash their hands before touching my books.  (Might love chips, but if they are terrible for fingerprints and books).

Another reason to love fountain pens and their inks...  Pictures from this post by EBGBs over on the FPN:


I might need some Colorverse Golden Record and Montblanc Midnight Blue now.  Sigh.  So many inks, so little time.

Let's just make sure we're all on the same page about what happened.  It's a story about three twitter loudmouths off doing their thing.  

So John and Joe are doing what your average 2nd amendment enthusiast twitter people like to do - be yellin' about how da gubment is out to come take their guns, and how that'll never happen because we gonna fight back.  And then the clueless guy from California shows up and does what they like to do - chimes in to talk about how the military has nukes and is stronger and better than a bunch of toothless hillbilly hicks and they'd win quickly.   I've seen this discussion a million times.  I've participated in various forms of it hundreds of times over the decades. 
The difference here, is the clueless guy from California is actually the Democratic U.S. Representative from California's 15th congressional district.  Usually the clueless liberal is just some random clueless liberal, but in this case, he's actually part of the government, which makes his clueless claim, well, a threat that the government will nuke it's own citizens if they resist liberal efforts to seize guns.  
Dood went on to clarify he was only joking/using sarcasm.  But he's doubled/tripled/quadrupled-down on his statement that, the USA won't lose to it's citizens:

 
Swalwell is pretty dang scary.  One would think he's just sort of the laughing stock of the house, but one would think wrong.  He's actually in the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence committee, and is the ranking freaking member of the Subcommittee on the CIA.   So yeah, he shouldn't be.  Not with that level of cluelessness about the purpose and composition of the US government. 
 

My dad had two bumper stickers on his car.  The first one said "I'm not prejudiced, I hate everybody".  The second one mentioned Jane Fonda, and had a swear word on it.  He was a vet.
We had a bumpersticker "DANGER! Unsocialized Homeschoolers on board!"
 

My dad had two bumper stickers on his car.  The first one said "I'm not prejudiced, I hate everybody".  The second one mentioned Jane Fonda, and had a swear word on it.  He was a vet.
We had a bumpersticker "DANGER! Unsocialized Homeschoolers on board!"
 

Don't get me wrong, I'd trample your rights in a heartbeat.  Everyone else is safe, though.

Not sure it's about guns.  It's about how the civilization functions.  History is full of examples where a nation's military and police fell on it's own citizens.  From Crystalnacht to Tiananmen square to Stalin's purges to a thousand other examples.  A good solution is to keep the distance short between an average citizen and the military/police.  Mirkwood, for example - regular guy.  You think his bosses can order a guy like Mirk to start committing atrocities against his own neighbors?  
It's easier to organize military units in one cultural area, and go have them commit atrocities in another.  But again, our military is full of notions of American patriotism.  Our soldiers aren't trained to hate gays, or people from South Dakota, or whatever.  When you take a guy from Kentucky and put him in a unit in California, he's still around his fellow American citizens.  You think he'd be any more willing to go round up people into camps (or whatever) than Mirk?  Not much.
I don't think I'll worry until Rep Swalwell's idiot comments start to be repeated in earnest, by people in charge, and the notions are reflected by the military/police.  I don't see that happening right now.  

Not sure it's about guns.  It's about how the civilization functions.  History is full of examples where a nation's military and police fell on it's own citizens.  From Crystalnacht to Tiananmen square to Stalin's purges to a thousand other examples.  A good solution is to keep the distance short between an average citizen and the military/police.  Mirkwood, for example - regular guy.  You think his bosses can order a guy like Mirk to start committing atrocities against his own neighbors?  
It's easier to organize military units in one cultural area, and go have them commit atrocities in another.  But again, our military is full of notions of American patriotism.  Our soldiers aren't trained to hate gays, or people from South Dakota, or whatever.  When you take a guy from Kentucky and put him in a unit in California, he's still around his fellow American citizens.  You think he'd be any more willing to go round up people into camps (or whatever) than Mirk?  Not much.
I don't think I'll worry until Rep Swalwell's idiot comments start to be repeated in earnest, by people in charge, and the notions are reflected by the military/police.  I don't see that happening right now.  

Let's just make sure we're all on the same page about what happened.  It's a story about three twitter loudmouths off doing their thing.  

So John and Joe are doing what your average 2nd amendment enthusiast twitter people like to do - be yellin' about how da gubment is out to come take their guns, and how that'll never happen because we gonna fight back.  And then the clueless guy from California shows up and does what they like to do - chimes in to talk about how the military has nukes and is stronger and better than a bunch of toothless hillbilly hicks and they'd win quickly.   I've seen this discussion a million times.  I've participated in various forms of it hundreds of times over the decades. 
The difference here, is the clueless guy from California is actually the Democratic U.S. Representative from California's 15th congressional district.  Usually the clueless liberal is just some random clueless liberal, but in this case, he's actually part of the government, which makes his clueless claim, well, a threat that the government will nuke it's own citizens if they resist liberal efforts to seize guns.  
Dood went on to clarify he was only joking/using sarcasm.  But he's doubled/tripled/quadrupled-down on his statement that, the USA won't lose to it's citizens:

 
Swalwell is pretty dang scary.  One would think he's just sort of the laughing stock of the house, but one would think wrong.  He's actually in the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence committee, and is the ranking freaking member of the Subcommittee on the CIA.   So yeah, he shouldn't be.  Not with that level of cluelessness about the purpose and composition of the US government. 
 

Not sure it's about guns.  It's about how the civilization functions.  History is full of examples where a nation's military and police fell on it's own citizens.  From Crystalnacht to Tiananmen square to Stalin's purges to a thousand other examples.  A good solution is to keep the distance short between an average citizen and the military/police.  Mirkwood, for example - regular guy.  You think his bosses can order a guy like Mirk to start committing atrocities against his own neighbors?  
It's easier to organize military units in one cultural area, and go have them commit atrocities in another.  But again, our military is full of notions of American patriotism.  Our soldiers aren't trained to hate gays, or people from South Dakota, or whatever.  When you take a guy from Kentucky and put him in a unit in California, he's still around his fellow American citizens.  You think he'd be any more willing to go round up people into camps (or whatever) than Mirk?  Not much.
I don't think I'll worry until Rep Swalwell's idiot comments start to be repeated in earnest, by people in charge, and the notions are reflected by the military/police.  I don't see that happening right now.  

We live out in the middle of nowhere, and it makes sense to have car kits, especially in winter time.  I've been stuck in town and had to get a hotel room twice, the whole family twice too.  If we had been stuck in a snowdrift overnight though, yeah, that may actually happen sometime.  Or two or three nights.  By definition, we have "once in a century" storms about, well, once every hundred years or so.  People die in those.
We've also been evacuated due to forest fire, even though we're out of the trees.  It can still rain burning ash if the wind is right.  So it makes sense to have bug-out kits we can grab in an instant.  Again, in case the hotels are full and services get overloaded.  
Food storage is good for pandemics, civil unrest, or any other major disaster that overloads help, or makes it wise for us to be on our own for any lengthy period of time.  

Not sure it's about guns.  It's about how the civilization functions.  History is full of examples where a nation's military and police fell on it's own citizens.  From Crystalnacht to Tiananmen square to Stalin's purges to a thousand other examples.  A good solution is to keep the distance short between an average citizen and the military/police.  Mirkwood, for example - regular guy.  You think his bosses can order a guy like Mirk to start committing atrocities against his own neighbors?  
It's easier to organize military units in one cultural area, and go have them commit atrocities in another.  But again, our military is full of notions of American patriotism.  Our soldiers aren't trained to hate gays, or people from South Dakota, or whatever.  When you take a guy from Kentucky and put him in a unit in California, he's still around his fellow American citizens.  You think he'd be any more willing to go round up people into camps (or whatever) than Mirk?  Not much.
I don't think I'll worry until Rep Swalwell's idiot comments start to be repeated in earnest, by people in charge, and the notions are reflected by the military/police.  I don't see that happening right now.  

Who is the government going to use?  The two largest 2nd Amendment supporters (military and law enforcement).  Both groups have a duty to refuse unlawful orders.
  Add in the hunters and then what?

Let's just make sure we're all on the same page about what happened.  It's a story about three twitter loudmouths off doing their thing.  

So John and Joe are doing what your average 2nd amendment enthusiast twitter people like to do - be yellin' about how da gubment is out to come take their guns, and how that'll never happen because we gonna fight back.  And then the clueless guy from California shows up and does what they like to do - chimes in to talk about how the military has nukes and is stronger and better than a bunch of toothless hillbilly hicks and they'd win quickly.   I've seen this discussion a million times.  I've participated in various forms of it hundreds of times over the decades. 
The difference here, is the clueless guy from California is actually the Democratic U.S. Representative from California's 15th congressional district.  Usually the clueless liberal is just some random clueless liberal, but in this case, he's actually part of the government, which makes his clueless claim, well, a threat that the government will nuke it's own citizens if they resist liberal efforts to seize guns.  
Dood went on to clarify he was only joking/using sarcasm.  But he's doubled/tripled/quadrupled-down on his statement that, the USA won't lose to it's citizens:

 
Swalwell is pretty dang scary.  One would think he's just sort of the laughing stock of the house, but one would think wrong.  He's actually in the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence committee, and is the ranking freaking member of the Subcommittee on the CIA.   So yeah, he shouldn't be.  Not with that level of cluelessness about the purpose and composition of the US government. 
 

I have a similar plan, but with slightly reduced scope, aimed at eliminating our debt. 
I figure the US should just declare bankruptcy and close up shop.  Then we open under new management.  We get to all keep the same buildings, jobs, and consitution, we're just opening under new management.  When China shows up looking to cash in United States of America treasury-bills, we just say "I'm sorry, nobody by that name works here.  This is the Associated Federation of Southern Canada.  Would you be interested in buying some of our treasury bills?  We do offer a rate that basically still drives the global economy..."
You might laugh, but when you realize how big our military is compared to the rest of the world, including China, you'll see the greatness of my plan.  Now, we just need to stop being the good guy.

Let's just make sure we're all on the same page about what happened.  It's a story about three twitter loudmouths off doing their thing.  

So John and Joe are doing what your average 2nd amendment enthusiast twitter people like to do - be yellin' about how da gubment is out to come take their guns, and how that'll never happen because we gonna fight back.  And then the clueless guy from California shows up and does what they like to do - chimes in to talk about how the military has nukes and is stronger and better than a bunch of toothless hillbilly hicks and they'd win quickly.   I've seen this discussion a million times.  I've participated in various forms of it hundreds of times over the decades. 
The difference here, is the clueless guy from California is actually the Democratic U.S. Representative from California's 15th congressional district.  Usually the clueless liberal is just some random clueless liberal, but in this case, he's actually part of the government, which makes his clueless claim, well, a threat that the government will nuke it's own citizens if they resist liberal efforts to seize guns.  
Dood went on to clarify he was only joking/using sarcasm.  But he's doubled/tripled/quadrupled-down on his statement that, the USA won't lose to it's citizens:

 
Swalwell is pretty dang scary.  One would think he's just sort of the laughing stock of the house, but one would think wrong.  He's actually in the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence committee, and is the ranking freaking member of the Subcommittee on the CIA.   So yeah, he shouldn't be.  Not with that level of cluelessness about the purpose and composition of the US government. 
 

It is ok to be shocked into an upset tizzy by such things.  
Many in the world disagree, including the folks you're talking to at work apparently.  They are the poorer for whatever they have lost from their souls, to react so blandly. 
But we know better.

Would it surprise you to learn that US military spending has continually gone down since WWII (as % of GDP), while entitlement spending has exploded in the same time period.  No, our budget issues are not from having a strong military.
Also, would it surprise you that we are in an era of unprecedented peace globally?  That death from wars is almost non-existent.

I have a similar plan, but with slightly reduced scope, aimed at eliminating our debt. 
I figure the US should just declare bankruptcy and close up shop.  Then we open under new management.  We get to all keep the same buildings, jobs, and consitution, we're just opening under new management.  When China shows up looking to cash in United States of America treasury-bills, we just say "I'm sorry, nobody by that name works here.  This is the Associated Federation of Southern Canada.  Would you be interested in buying some of our treasury bills?  We do offer a rate that basically still drives the global economy..."
You might laugh, but when you realize how big our military is compared to the rest of the world, including China, you'll see the greatness of my plan.  Now, we just need to stop being the good guy.

I have a similar plan, but with slightly reduced scope, aimed at eliminating our debt. 
I figure the US should just declare bankruptcy and close up shop.  Then we open under new management.  We get to all keep the same buildings, jobs, and consitution, we're just opening under new management.  When China shows up looking to cash in United States of America treasury-bills, we just say "I'm sorry, nobody by that name works here.  This is the Associated Federation of Southern Canada.  Would you be interested in buying some of our treasury bills?  We do offer a rate that basically still drives the global economy..."
You might laugh, but when you realize how big our military is compared to the rest of the world, including China, you'll see the greatness of my plan.  Now, we just need to stop being the good guy.