The Ben Affleck Meme: AKA Life Right Now

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by JHikka

So you can turn it on when you're not in the kitchen/house. I assume it also plays music or something I don't really know.

The thing that doesn't make sense to me is that you still need to load the rice or whatever and water before turning it on. That means you'd have it soaking the entire day before you turn it on when leaving work or whatever.

[O-tacular]

Today's mood:

[O-tacular]

Was thinking on the drive to work this morning about how we are in a pivotal point in history. Having a baby during a pandemic while millions of people are dying and governments and institutions are facing collapse provides an interesting perspective. In many ways the old world is dying while a new unknown reality is emerging. Change is in the air. On the one hand death and on the other new life. What will my son's future world look like? How will he (and history) view this era?

I've been plagued by pessimism about things like Climate Change and the Pandemic, but recently I've felt more grounded and began to wonder if things might actually improve. Time will tell I guess. I'm sure it was difficult for people to foresee the 60 years of stability that occurred after the Depression and WW2.

Seeing my family doctor earlier this week didn't help though. He is completely burnt out from the pandemic, has 2 young children and is in his early 40's. After telling me about how his sons are literally the only children in their classes wearing masks he then turned to Climate Change and flat out asked me "Do you regret having a child?". Dark. I love him but think he's borderline autistic sometimes.

[esquire]

^ Even in those years after WWII there must have been existential dread over potential calamities like nuclear war. Then once that settled down, boom, 9/11. Then an economic crisis, now a pandemic. Obviously some are worse than others in terms of their actual impact and the current one is a doozy, but there is always some threat lurking in the background that keeps people up at night. But things do have a way of working out eventually.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by esquire

^ Even in those years after WWII there must have been existential dread over potential calamities like nuclear war. Then once that settled down, boom, 9/11. Then an economic crisis, now a pandemic. Obviously some are worse than others in terms of their actual impact and the current one is a doozy, but there is always some threat lurking in the background that keeps people up at night. But things do have a way of working out eventually.

Very true. The 90's were the exception it seems. Thankfully I was too young in the 80's to experience the fear of Nuclear Holocaust / Russian aggression. But post 2000's it's been 9/11 followed by multiple recessions fermenting in Climate Change calamity. My entire working career post college except for 2 years (2013-14) has been spent in recession.

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Very true. The 90's were the exception it seems. Thankfully I was too young in the 80's to experience the fear of Nuclear Holocaust / Russian aggression. But post 2000's it's been 9/11 followed by multiple recessions fermenting in Climate Change calamity. My entire working career post college except for 2 years (2013-14) has been spent in recession.

We had Y2K to freak out about.

Bottom line is people will make up a struggle in their lives. It's almost like our brains require it. Just look at the dumb shit rich people get bent out of shape about.

[lio45]

Re: the appliances discussion, am I the only one who always buy them used? There's always every type of appliance available for cheap on the classifieds. (I have access to pickup trucks, guess that helps, but doesn't everyone know someone with one?)

[WarrenC12]

Originally Posted by lio45

Re: the appliances discussion, am I the only one who always buy them used? There's always every type of appliance available for cheap on the classifieds. (I have access to pickup trucks, guess that helps, but doesn't everyone know someone with one?)

I look at used for some things.

I'm also lazy. Give me the new thing, delivered (and remove the old one) with full warranty. Access to a truck is available but adds to the pain in the ass factor.

[canucklehead2]

Ben... Aka The face of modern middle aged white guy depression... I hear that! Curious to see/know how long Bennifer 2.0 lasts but last time I checked nostalgic retreads have a mixed record at best...

[canucklehead2]

On a related topic the best thing to cure the blues is a good hot springs soak and even that hasn't happened where I live thanks to the pandemic. The irony! Tried at Radium in July but the wait time was hours long just to get in and both Banff and Jasper were closed. Me thinks whatever government we get next week needs to put more money into public pools and springs across Canada. We all deserve Nordic level spas in a climate like this with few winter escapes possible for most people and that was BEFORE all this...

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by canucklehead2

Ben... Aka The face of modern middle aged white guy depression... I hear that! Curious to see/know how long Bennifer 2.0 lasts but last time I checked nostalgic retreads have a mixed record at best...

This pic was snapped of him leaving J'Lo's house so not sure how rosy things really are.


https://pagesix.com/2021/06/07/ben-a...r-lopezs-home/

But then again this one was also snapped of him leaving her place so make of that what you will...

[thewave46]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Was thinking on the drive to work this morning about how we are in a pivotal point in history.

I've been plagued by pessimism about things like ...

I think this is where being in the moment, connected to your family/friends and (somewhat) disconnected from the world helps.

To kind of take a wider view on this: being 'connected' isn't beneficial all the time. It's also not something humans can cope with very well.

That 1940s/50s-era person basically was connected to their community. Family. Friends. Sure, they got a newspaper or radio broadcast, but their lives weren't run by the buzz of 'breaking news' in their pocket and their limit to doomscrolling was going to a library and reading books. Sure, nuclear war loomed but imagine if one had wasted a life hiding in a bomb shelter waiting for it all to end. They would have missed some amazing decades.

The acceleration of information (from newspapers to radio to TV to 24-hour news to internet to Twitter) hasn't yielded as much gain as we think. It did annihilate a lot of pensiveness to fill airtime/internet pages. Doom gets attention, or as much as it can among the million other things competing for attention.

There's a black joke in the healthcare world about the banality of death. As much as COVID has somewhat accelerated that, death is our long-running companion through life. We're all doomed; it is the human condition. Smart enough to know we're going to die, dumb enough to be unable to avoid it. We've just had the good luck to live in an age where death is something mostly excised from daily life. Hidden away. Dramatized for entertainment purposes. It's not necessarily something to be feared, but motivation to live a meaningful life.

Where history goes? Who knows? Enjoy being a father. Do the best for your family. Watch your kids experience the world with wide-eyed wonder. Savour those moments. It's not an easy path, but it sure is a meaningful one.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by thewave46

I think this is where being in the moment, connected to your family/friends and (somewhat) disconnected from the world helps.

To kind of take a wider view on this: being 'connected' isn't beneficial all the time. It's also not something humans can cope with very well.

That 1940s/50s-era person basically was connected to their community. Family. Friends. Sure, they got a newspaper or radio broadcast, but their lives weren't run by the buzz of 'breaking news' in their pocket and their limit to doomscrolling was going to a library and reading books. Sure, nuclear war loomed but imagine if one had wasted a life hiding in a bomb shelter waiting for it all to end. They would have missed some amazing decades.

The acceleration of information (from newspapers to radio to TV to 24-hour news to internet to Twitter) hasn't yielded as much gain as we think. It did annihilate a lot of pensiveness to fill airtime/internet pages. Doom gets attention, or as much as it can among the million other things competing for attention.

There's a black joke in the healthcare world about the banality of death. As much as COVID has somewhat accelerated that, death is our long-running companion through life. We're all doomed; it is the human condition. Smart enough to know we're going to die, dumb enough to be unable to avoid it. We've just had the good luck to live in an age where death is something mostly excised from daily life. Hidden away. Dramatized for entertainment purposes. It's not necessarily something to be feared, but motivation to live a meaningful life.

Where history goes? Who knows? Enjoy being a father. Do the best for your family. Watch your kids experience the world with wide-eyed wonder. Savour those moments. It's not an easy path, but it sure is a meaningful one.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Very good points. For the record when my doctor asked me if I regretted having kids my answer was an unequivocal no. Not for a minute. No matter what this world will throw at him there is no doubt in my mind that my son’s life is worth living. Parenthood is exhausting but filled with beautiful moments. The first time he kissed me, every new word, him roaring when a Godzilla movie was on tv, these are all things that I cherish and help me to see the magic of life.

[O-tacular]

https://edmontonjournal.com/news/pol...le-his-cabinet

At this point I'm waiting for the entire cabinet to be comprised of Jasons. Kenney must believe that if he has enough Jason decoys, he won't be removed from his job as Premier. I suppose Jason Copping was a better choice than Jason Nixon though.

[WhipperSnapper]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

Very true. The 90's were the exception it seems. Thankfully I was too young in the 80's to experience the fear of Nuclear Holocaust / Russian aggression. But post 2000's it's been 9/11 followed by multiple recessions fermenting in Climate Change calamity. My entire working career post college except for 2 years (2013-14) has been spent in recession.

Parts of Canada faced economic depression in the 1990s. Manufacturing was in decline however, it was hollowed out in a matter of years. Major real estate bust from a speculator boom.

Getting everything Y2K compliant saved us from a lot of 9/11 economic turmoil . Almost all the info lost when the towers fell was backed up at a distant site. Before y2k, that info was backed up I at the same site.

The US communication system failed after 9/11. This was completely overhauled shortly after. As bad as 9/11 was, it could have been much worse. The navy buying oversized patrol boats at the cost of destroyers in response to terrorist threats is a cause for concern with their aging open water fleet.

Preparations for a pandemic were always being deferred. No one was interested in paying for a SARS1 vaccine trial. SARS 2 has a high recovery rate notwithstanding the tremendous loss of life has and the long term effects of being Covid positive unknown. Again, it could of been worse and we should be more prepared for the next one.

Green energy has become a booming business in the last ten years creating more value than traditional technologies. Our children will face increasing climate change hardships but, I'm confident we as a species will make it through it. Canada offers many safe harbours from extreme weather systems like the Great Lakes.

[rofina]

Originally Posted by O-tacular

I’m 1/4 Scottish and 3/4 French but it comes from my mom’s Quebec francophone side. My wife is of German ancestry. Tomatoes are a night shade and surprisingly common allergen. I react more immediately to them than wheat. Gluten gave me extreme fatigue and brain fog vs tomatoes extreme bloating, indigestion and even vomiting. Most celiacs are also lactose intolerant because they’ve damaged their villi. Basically any foods that are harder to digest seem to affect us more. I’m borderline lactose intolerant (can have cheese, butter and occasional cream in coffee but not straight up milk).

This is crazy.

This is me too - I developed this in my 20's.

I absolutely love, love, love pastries. I would fly to Mars, one way, for a chocolate croissant, but I cant have them anymore.

I would love to know more about why there is such a growth in digestive issues in Canada.

[rofina]

Originally Posted by someone123

It is really bad for some seniors who stayed active into their 70's and 80's. If you stop biking or swimming for a year at age 78, getting back into it can be difficult. And the seniors who are not active at all tend not to do well.

I can only imagine what its like for seniors.

I fell off the gym/exercising bandwagon back in March 2020, like everyone.

Its been so difficult to get back into it. I tried a half dozen times now and its difficult to get set back in the pattern where working out is just part of the day.

Hate having fallen out of it, and its so counterintuitive too - I know I will feel better, and I know I enjoy it, but somehow I'm too lazy and too difficult to convince to get off my ass and do it.

Frustrating, for sure.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by rofina

This is crazy.

This is me too - I developed this in my 20's.

I absolutely love, love, love pastries. I would fly to Mars, one way, for a chocolate croissant, but I cant have them anymore.

I would love to know more about why there is such a growth in digestive issues in Canada.

Are you sure you developed it or simply always had it and were only diagnosed in your 20's? Celiac disease is hereditary and you're born with it. Gluten intolerance is different. For me and many others it was an issue of lack of awareness prior. You do a ton of damage to your system in your youth and possibly only start to notice it later on. Once I quit eating wheat I stopped being medicated for ADHD. My brain could function on a semi normal level and I wasn't always exhausted.

As for why it seems to be more prevalent now, I don't think it's more common, it's simply being diagnosed. The change in cultural awareness since I was diagnosed in my 20's has been massive.

I hear you about the croissant cravings. I literally used to have nightmares that I was eating donuts and then realized part way through what I was doing. At this point I've simply come to accept it for what it is. I have no idea how I would react today if glutened. Probably pretty violently.

[O-tacular]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

Parts of Canada faced economic depression in the 1990s. Manufacturing was in decline however, it was hollowed out in a matter of years. Major real estate bust from a speculator boom.

Getting everything Y2K compliant saved us from a lot of 9/11 economic turmoil . Almost all the info lost when the towers fell was backed up at a distant site. Before y2k, that info was backed up I at the same site.

The US communication system failed after 9/11. This was completely overhauled shortly after. As bad as 9/11 was, it could have been much worse. The navy buying oversized patrol boats at the cost of destroyers in response to terrorist threats is a cause for concern with their aging open water fleet.

Preparations for a pandemic were always being deferred. No one was interested in paying for a SARS1 vaccine trial. SARS 2 has a high recovery rate notwithstanding the tremendous loss of life has and the long term effects of being Covid positive unknown. Again, it could of been worse and we should be more prepared for the next one.

Green energy has become a booming business in the last ten years creating more value than traditional technologies. Our children will face increasing climate change hardships but, I'm confident we as a species will make it through it. Canada offers many safe harbours from extreme weather systems like the Great Lakes.

I do remember the austerity of the 90's (particularly the Klein years in Alberta). Y2K and irrational fears of the end of the millennium being the end of the world also existed. In general though there was no social media or smart phones to amplify the fear and anxiety to the levels we see now. Climate Change coming home to roost as well as this pandemic are unprecedented in our lifetimes though and require a global effort unseen before in human history. The shit seems to be hitting the fan in ways it hasn't in the past.

About the Great Lakes being a safe refuge I just read an article about that interestingly enough. The gist of it was that the cities around the Great Lakes are doing a piss poor job of protecting them from pollution. Farm runoff and algal blooms as well as toxic water in places like Flint Michigan are serious problems that need to be addressed. Funny enough my Climate Change denying father always claimed that Alberta would be well situated to weather the metaphorical storm should the predictions come true because we aren't coastal and had few natural disasters. In recent years summers have become inhospitable to everyone living in this province due to wildfire smoke. It has become a new season. Extreme drought and melting glaciers are also threatening our future water supply. The point I am making is that I hope you are right about the Great Lakes bearing less extreme pressures than other parts of the continent, but there's no telling what's in store.

[rousseau]

Originally Posted by rofina

I fell off the gym/exercising bandwagon back in March 2020, like everyone.

Its been so difficult to get back into it. I tried a half dozen times now and its difficult to get set back in the pattern where working out is just part of the day.

Hate having fallen out of it, and its so counterintuitive too - I know I will feel better, and I know I enjoy it, but somehow I'm too lazy and too difficult to convince to get off my ass and do it.

Frustrating, for sure.

This describes my situation exactly. Hard to feel motivated when life goes into a holding pattern.