Lord Ratner

Story time

Picard should have used the force to stop the Cylons in the mirror dimension.

SPOILERS! Finally watched it all. Jesus what a disappointment. The writers even admitted they just wanted to move on, but wow. Jon being a Targaryen? Meaningless Bran can see the past? Doesn't change a thing. Sansa is cursed by terrible acting. Arya had the best life of any of them, yet she's so damaged she has to sail off the end of the world? So much for family sticking together. Jaime's redemption? Undone. The White Walkers? Just monsters that kill people it turns out. Dragons? Amazing at political commentary (burning the throne), but cool with genocide. The smartest half-man in the realm? Turns into a naive fool, but also gets to pick the king. The Lord of Light and the Prince who was Promised? Meh, just forget about that. The Unsullied, Dothraki, and Northmen storming Kings Landing... Why? One dragon can do it all. They basically shit the bed as soon as they ran out of books to follow.

You've never done something dumb? You're boring I guess. His hands are clearly not touching her. Does that make it right, noble, or couth? No. But if you can't see the distinction, I'd have to say (while admittedly not knowing you) that you're ignoring your own shortcomings to judge another. We can't complain about the one-mistake Air Force or an unforgiving society if we only seek forgiveness for our friends. There was plenty to dislike about Al Franken's policy and philosophy. Republicans couldn't beat him in the battle of ideas, so they took the easy road, after years of Democrats doing the same to them, I might add. Doesn't make it right, or healthy.

This "new normal" of guilty-until-innocent-but-still-treated-guilty is in large part a result of politics becoming team sports, where winning is the desire, instead of compromise. I think... How many Republicans defended Al Franken when he was drummed out for nonsense? How many excuse Trump when he says things that are obviously false? Both sides are doing this because we've prioritized winning over the truth. I don't think it's a new phenomenon, but the internet, social media, and the 24 hour news cycle has made it worse. Each side is convinced the other is stacking the deck, so they take their wins wherever they can, even when it's disingenuous.

Do flies really drop? I've never seen that. Sure, they usually hang out around large piles of sh*t, but in that environment they tend to thrive.

Apparently it's "the sport of Kings," not "the sport of potential Kings."

Loved this movie. I watched that scene 3 or 4 times, it was nuts.

If you want to send kids to die for their country, you can't be surprised when when the people charged with dying for their country act like kids.

Thanks for the great post. Wow. Fortunately I may have lucked my way into a good custom builder already. I'm going to keep looking around, but they do the type of work I'm looking for, and during the tour of one of their more ambitious projects they were hitting all the right notes. Unfortunately, as you pointed out, I'm expecting to pay a lot. The land in Dallas is also very expensive. We have to live in the populated zone due to her job, so I've been looking in the area between DFW and Fort Worth. Lots of good areas all over, but at least 300k or much more to get over a half an acre. Thanks again for sharing all that. You've at least reaffirmed my desire to get a full custom builder.

Thanks for the info, and yes, I would appreciate any and all experience you had. Private message or here for everyone to see is your choice. The timber lien is a new one to me.

I have to disagree. It was total ball wash. First, with zero explanation as to where this cookie cutter replacement for the Empire, complete with wrinkled old holographic Force user, came from, it destroys the entire Republic, erasing the entire struggle of IV, V, and VI. So a headstrong orphan who works with broken equipment on a desert planet encounters a robot who thrusts her into a space adventure on the millennium falcon where she learns of her incredible connection to the force. This journey includes a stop in a dangerous cantina for space criminals. Our hero receives the wise guidance of a very old, very short, sassy alien that appears to know more about the protagonist than they let on. She is given a lightsaber from an older, still alive but disgraced powerful Jedi. Oh yeah, she's also a great pilot. This journey ultimately leads to their participation in the ultimate fight to destroy the third, THIRD massive spherical planet-destroying space station, which requires Han Solo and Chewbacca to break into a building and destroy it with explosives before an X-Wing can fly through a laser-ridden gorge and destroy the strangely accessible weak spot that will detonate the whole station. How on Earth did JJ come up with such a fantastic story?

His entry sucked too. They completely shat the bed with EP 7 and 8. They couldn't stop geeking out over the original trilogy references and write a story that stood on its own.

Bagram Tower: Antonov6969, hold short runway 3, traffic on three mile final. Ivan: Bagroom tower, I read you! Cleared for takeoff! Bagram Tower: Antonov 6-9-6-9, negative! Hold short, runway 3, landing traffic is on 2 mile final. Ivan: Yes, traffic in sight, Antonov 6969 is taking off! Happy morning tower. Bagram Tower: Fighting Falcon 55, go around, traffic taking runway is ....

Alexandria Occasional Cortex is the deus ex machina for Republicans. Seriously, with all the conspiracy theories out there, it makes more sense to me that AOC is a republican plant than to believe the archetypal millennial has descended from the heavens to save Donald Trump from himself. Overpriced undergraduate degree in a subject she knows nothing about? Check Convinced she knows more than experts in a variety of fields? Check Worked in the restaurant industry and has a terrible credit score? Check Finds racist white male privilege in every perceived injustice? Check Completely unable to judge character and thus associates with people looking to benefit financially from campaign finance fraud? Check Terrified the ecological Holocaust is moments away, but unwilling to make environmental changes in her own life? Check Considers herself qualified for a job merely by merit of her existence? Check Obsessed with seeing herself in social media? Check I could go on and on and on. You couldn't make her more stereotypical if she was slathered in avocado There's an important philosophical point somewhere in here about abandoning principals for political gain and the road to ruin, but I'd rather watch the train wreck than consider the implications for now.

Just wait until they find out about the post-solo waterboarding that happens at UPT...

"Us" was stupid. Had potential, but fizzled with too many obvious contradictions.

This is actually more what I would have imagined. The experience I had with O-6s was that they were resentful of the younger crowd for wanting better retention measures. That's not to say they were malicious about it (some were), but even the "great dudes" would push back some in a conversation about why the AF isn't doing enough to keep talent. I suspect that sentiment goes all the way to the top. Think about it, these are the guys who made it through the air force that was firing people every three years. There was never anybody higher ranking than them who asked what it would take to keep them in. In fact, if they left, it was in line with the Air Force's future manning projections. They basically lived through the hunger games to make it to the top. Now all of a sudden, when they're finally in the position of power they worked oh so hard for, they're told they need to come up with ways to keep a bunch of millennial captains and majors happy, when not a damn person cared about their happiness. I get why they aren't thrilled with the idea. But that doesn't change the necessity of it.

How does buying land work? I plan on doing a completely custom build, which means I'll need to have the land before the plans can be drawn up. Land in Dallas isn't cheap, so I'll most likely need a loan for the land. Is it usual to get one loan for the land and one for the build? Will getting a loan for the land hurt my ability to get a loan for the build? Thanks, Seth

Keep positive, keep sober, and keep notes. And remember, there's an all-you-can-eat international buffet of strange and wonderful "adventures" out there awaiting you, and the company pays for the hotel room. Patience.

If she wants the house, she can get a mortgage for it on her own. Agree with the others, do not allow any part of your new finances to touch. Don't worry about the kids, they're like cats. Two hours in a new house and they think they own the place.

To be fair, I didn't want to leave for the money. Life is just much better. Since the AF can't really match that aspect, money is all they have left.

I'll add something a bit different here. The above advice is solid, especially not drinking. Remember that everyone you deal with other than your wife and kids has seen this a million times. When a judge/lawyer/mediator asks what you want, it's just a test. You're getting half. If that's what you ask for, they know which party is acting in good faith. "I want my children to have a great relationship with both of their parents going forward, and to split the assets we accumulated while married right down the middle." Don't date for now. You have kids, I didn't. But they won't understand I'm guessing, and it sounds like the soon-to-be-ex will tell them if she finds out. You're going to get so much ass it'll make your head spin, so be patient. Write down everything that was wrong in your relationship. You determine the detail, but it should include what she would do that you didn't like, why you didn't like it, and how it made you feel. For bonus points, also write down the things that she didn't like about you. Trust me on this. When you meet that flight attendant that turns your stomach into butterflies, if it ain't written down, you won't remember it. Make sure the woman you decide to make into your kids' second mom isn't a recycled script. Do not trust this to your memory alone. The smaller brain is always an optimist. Think about how many people you know. Then think about how many of them are good friends. Then think about how many of those are best friends. The friend you can go on a month long backpacking trip with and not get annoyed with or tired of once. Pretty rare, huh? Now add sexual compatibility to that. If you find your forever-mate after 3 months and a few tinder dates, you'd better be buying lottery tickets too...

Caveat, if your life is put together and you're generally happy, this book is not really targeted for you, unless you're just interested in the underlying psychological theory.

I'm totally against it. He missed his shot when the Republicans controlled the Congress. This is just sloppy. But tactically it may be smart. He can at least force Democrats to constantly rail against any anti-immigration measures, keeping them as the party of lawlessness and foreign interest. That will play very well come election time, and it got him elected in the first place.