Author Archives: f2x

Nothing Says America Like Shitty ISP Practices

So AT&T had their chance, and they blew it. All I wanted was an internet rate that was $50 a month or lower. I felt that was more than reasonable, and they simply would not budge. Even after I canceled the service, they continued to stand firm, and even doubled down a little by glitching out whenever I try to check for new deals. Fortunately for me, it looks like they are being rendered irrelevant.

As some of you may recall, last time it was a fight with Spectrum, and I vowed NEVER to do business with them ever again. AT&T was not available at that time, so I resorted to using a wireless provider for my home internet. The only problem I had was that 4G/LTE data was not unlimited, and I had to be very careful with how much internet I was using. I had it down to a science. I paid $50 a month for 24GB of data from Mint Mobile. (Actually it was 2 x $25/month for 12GB, but whatever.)

Then AT&T finally came along and offered me fiber for $50/month. After the first year they tried to raise my rate, but I talked them down, unfortunately after the second year, no dice. That is why I recently canceled AT&T at the end of April.

Fortunately I found another MVNO called Tello. Their service has provided me with 25GB of 4G/LTE data for $40, and whenever I ran out I just drop another $40 for another 25GB. That has been working out pretty good except that my devices are using up a hell of a lot more data than they used to.

Seriously, I would come home from work only to find that between my smart home devices and computer auto-updates, nearly a Gigabyte was gone before I even had a chance to check my e-mail. At $1.60/GByte that shit gets expensive and paying AT&T $60/month might actually have been more cost effective.

But then I heard that T-Mobile was offering a new UNLIMITED 5G wireless home internet service for $60/month. Hmmm… Interesting! AT&T has legit competition! I checked into it, and it was available where I live, but I wasn’t quite ready to commit… That was until they offered a permanent $10/month discount for new customers! That means the service would be $50/month. That’s my sweet spot!

Unfortunately signing up for their service is a bit of a hassle. You have to give a lot of sensitive personal information to customer service reps with thick foreign accents over the phone. Even though these people were super friendly and helpful, it just feels super uncomfortable because of all the scams and identity theft going around these days. They even required me to do a temporary lift on my credit freeze, something I didn’t have to do back in January when I got my car loan!

If all goes well, my new “Internet Gateway” will ship sometime in late July, as the devices are currently on back order. While there is no equipment fee, they still own the device, and it costs $370 if anything should happen to it. In all fairness, AT&T’s modem had the same deal. but I’d prefer the option to own my own equipment from the start, even if I had to pay for it up front.

So we shall see how this internet service pans out, and I will report back warts and all. Currently T-Mobile home internet is not available in all areas, but since they don’t have to lay down physical lines, it should be coming to your town soon. After all, more internet options means more competition, and more competition generally brings prices down. Let us hope that the age of shitty ISP practices will soon come to a close, and may bundle pricing rot in hell.

One last ironic note: Both Mint Mobile and Tello are MVNO’s that lease bandwidth on T-Mobile’s towers. So no matter what, I’m using T-Mobile. And T-Mobile’s towers are connected via AT&T’s fiber, so no matter what, I’m still using AT&T. That’s hilarious!

Kudos

With work and all, I am still relying on the generosity of people like you to submit jokes via our submission page. After you enter the joke, it will go straight into the “Pending” queue. Once there, I will briefly review it, edit it if necessary, then schedule it.

If you will do that, I’ll try to keep the comics coming, and who doesn’t love seeing “Gail’s Pic of the Week”? There are sure to be more of my rants too! With all that entertainment, what’s not to love?

Thanks so much, and God bless.

Pax,

-f2x

That Sense of Community

I am still pretty stoked with my car, and like anyone who gets infatuated with their toys, I want to learn as much as I can about it. There is only so much I can learn on my own, but thanks to the wonders of the internet, I can join one of the many social media forums to ask questions and get demoralizing replies from complete strangers!

My car is only being used as an example here. You can find social media for just about any passion project imaginable, and they all follow the same basic pattern, and this week I would like to share my observations on the structure of these social groups.

In all boils down to your founders, founders’ friends, groupies, newcomers, trolls, and usurpers.

The founders are the ones who started the community, set the stage, and worked to build a following. They encourage newcomers to join, but paradoxically they don’t really like a lot of the newcomers because they eventually see them as parasitic or possible marauders. Occasionally, the founders are replaced by usurpers, but more on that later.

Founders’ friends are people the founders knew from outside the group. They have a tendency to use their relationship to the founders as leverage within the community. Sometimes they even start to bully other members. When a community becomes toxic, they are usually to blame.

Groupies are the long time fans and contributors of the community. They typically don’t hold any positions of real power within the community, but they know the ropes and can use that knowledge to their advantage. You may also find entire subgroups within this group.

And then there are the newcomers. People who show up looking to join the community for various reasons, and are therefore the most diverse aspect of the group, and they can be broken up into the invited, the referred, the naive, and the cringe.

The invited should be obvious. A founder invited them, and at first they get preferred treatment. It is not uncommon for founders’ friends to get jealous and snipe these people, but sometimes they fit in just fine and move on to become founders’ friends or groupies.

The referred show up when a group member or even someone else recommends the group. They have a better than average chance at fitting in, but they were interested in the group’s main focus prior to knowing that the group existed. These people were not looking to join if someone else had not prompted them first.

The naive are those who recently became interested in a subject. Maybe they bought a telescope or a car or a comic book, and are now looking for like minded people to learn and share their experience and sought out a group to help them. The odds are against them when it comes to clicking with the group, but occasionally it can happen.

Finally we get to the cringe. They also come in a variety of flavors, but their main feature is that their interest is more focused on the community or group than on the interest of the group. Sometimes it’s like, “Hey guys, I bought the decoder ring! Can I join your club now?” They are essentially attention whores. Sometimes if the cringe type does not get the attention they crave, they can morph into one of our next two types: The trolls and usurpers.

I think we all know what trolls are, but just in case: Trolls are bad faith actors. They are there to mess with people. “Don’t feed the trolls” means never engage with them in discourse. If you take the effort to explain something to them, it will be in vain. If you argue with them, it will also be in vain. Any acknowledgement of a troll is likely to lead to problems for the community.

Finally, we get to the usurpers. They do not spend a lot of time chit-chatting with the community. These are entities that wish to take over a group. The usurper can be an individual, a private group, or a corporate interest. Basically they saw that some community existed, and decided they wanted to annex it for themselves. Sometimes they try to sway people to follow them instead, and sometimes they try to convince the founders to hand it over. Sometimes there is even an amicable exchange of funds. In any event, they want to be your group’s new leader.

If you look around, you’ll see this fascinating structure exists in all social settings. You’ll find it where you work, in schools, churches, cults, and anyplace people gather together on a regular basis. In modern times it is how online forums are structured. Even some families follow this.

While I’m sure you can get more granular, these are the main types that I could think of. Did I miss any?

After Thoughts

I hope you enjoyed this week’s exposition. It was something I started writing a few weeks ago, and today I thought I’d just go ahead and publish it.

In other news, I think my new job might actually be starting to grow on me a little, and it might just work out after all. Sorry Amazon.

Kudos

Once again, thanks to our main contributor, Big D. The submission page remains open for more jokes. As of this writing, there are currently 3 weeks worth scheduled in the queue.

Pax,

-f2x

I’m Still Kickin’

I am still on the fence with my new job. Sometimes I think it will work out, but then things go badly, and I end up wishing I had stuck to my original plan of working as an Amazon delivery driver. It really is starting to feel like I am trapped in an abusive relationship.

Only I am not trapped. If this keeps up much longer, I will bail and go with my original plan A. The money is good at my new job, but it ain’t that good. Amazon drivers work ten hour days four days a week. Three days off every week? YES PLEASE!

Overtime is available too, so that’s also nice.

Kudos

Thanks again for leaving us jokes on the submission page. Eventually things will have to get back to normal… whatever normal is anymore.

Pax,

-f2x

Dogs and Cars

When I first brought Gail home from the farm, she threw up on me. For the next several months Gail would just about always get car sick within a mile or two. She was even unsure of how to get into the car, and I had to help her into the vehicle up until a few months ago.

The good news is that Gail is now an old pro at getting into the car. She can even hop up into the Envoy without any trouble. Keep in mind that Gail is only 1 year and 10 months old at this time. I’d say she is doing pretty good for a gal her age.

Practically all dogs love to go for car rides. They love sticking their head out the window, and they love the sights and smells. Even if you are merely going to the store, the dog loves it when you let them tag along for the ride.

Of course some people don’t like it when you take your dog out for a ride. They like to point out that the temperature in a car can soar to over 104°F in under 10 minutes even on mildly warm days. And yes, people who leave dogs in hot cars for an extended time should be held accountable, but it’s the 21st century you fucking overzealous busybodies.

Whether it is my Leaf or my Envoy, I can leave the AC running while I run into the store. It could be over 90°F outside, and the dog is doing just fine. In fact, my vehicle’s AC is probably cooler than my house. I’m cheap, and I keep my home thermostat on 80°F in the summer, meanwhile the car is blowing out an icy blast that can give my cheeks frostbite.

So before you get all judgmental because you see a dog left in a car, take a moment to notice if maybe, just maybe the the car is humming, and that maybe the AC is on, and the dog is fine. Take a moment to check for that before you get all sanctimonious in the parking lot, you attention seeking narcissistic bag of shit.

Cheers!

Kudos

Once again, thanks to Big D. I really appreciate that you’re keeping the jokes queued up for me on the submission page.

Pax,

-f2x

Any Better Yet?

You know how people are usually warned against associating with other people who have a lot of baggage? Well, it turns out there is a lot of baggage where I am working, and some of the relationships around there are kind of weird. I have never claimed to be at the pinnacle of mental health, but the more I get to know these people, the more dysfunctional they become.

Don’t get me wrong… I like weird, but this is more like a factory full of a bipolar paranoid schizophrenics with Tourrette’s. Not quite the quirky fun I aspire to.

While I am still struggling to keep my head above water in this place. There are times when things click, and I think, “Yeah, this is going to work out just fine,” only for something stupid to happen two minutes later, and I am back to thumbing through the listings on Indeed again.

I want this to work out. The pay is good, the actual machinery I work on is cool, but my feet are killing me and the people are crazy, and it’s not the fun quirky kind.

Kudos

Once again, thanks to Big D and TOR. Thanks for keeping the queue filled up by usingthe submission page.

Pax,

-f2x

Gonna Try to Keep This Going

So the comic is on hiatus again. That’s temporary, but unavoidable. I’ve decided to maintain this space, and therefore move Gail’s pic ahead of the comic in the layout.

Things are still shit, but I’m managing.

Kudos

Of course none of this would be happening if Big D and TOR weren’t putting jokes into the queue by using the submission page. Thanks so much! It really means a lot right now.

—Jus’ hangin’ by a thread.

Pax,

-f2x

It’s a Long Way Off From Sunday

So the new job is not going well, and there really is not much else I can say about it. I have been putting in applications with other employers, but so far no new offers. Until the situation improves I simply cannot devote any time to Flush Twice. I am dealing with too much as it is.

Thank you for understanding.

Pax,

-f2x

The Pizza Pause

So back when this “Covid” thing started up, certain grocery items disappeared from the store shelves and stayed away longer than I expected. Without going into to much detail, I stopped making my “world famous” pizza, and even when those ingredients were made readily available, I just didn’t feel in the mood.

Well baby, I’m back in the mood again.

Interestingly enough, I’m using the oven from the new range that I bought last summer. I had only used it a couple of times prior, so I’m still working out that “new oven smell”. (And yes, I followed the manufacturers instructions when I got it, and ran it for however many hours on high to burn off the machining oil. I don’t bake in the full size oven all that much, so it still lingers, OK?)

Anyway, the first couple of pies were “pretty good”, but this last pie was almost what I have come to expect from my traditional hand tossed. Quick joke: Pizza is like sex: When it’s good, it’s really good. When it’s bad, it’s still “pretty good”.

So as some of you might recall from ancient history, I used to deliver for Dominoes and got a fair bit of training in the art of pie making. While I never actually worked that position, I was good enough to take the helm in a pinch. Over the years I learned how to make my own pizza dough from scratch, and as you can plainly see, I can still make a decent looking pie.

So achievement re-unlocked! While good pepperoni is still too damn expensive at the moment, a cheese pizza can be a treat as well. Once you know how to make it, it really isn’t that much work, but it still is a thing of beauty when it comes out of the oven.

Kudos

Sorry I was late getting the this week’s content up. Been real busy. Thanks for all the contributions to the
submission page. It has really helped out.

Pax,

-f2x

The “Other” Child

While I have been giving Gail plenty of attention over the past year and a half, I have not given much if any attention to Alex in this space. Born somewhere around July 15, 2009, Alex is soon to be 12 years old. I got him off Craigslist after my previous cat passed away. The people who were giving him away said that he had been abandoned on their porch. Alex immediately took to his new forever home and soon after learned to come when I called his name.

For almost a decade, Alex has suffered from a kind of bulimia. Whenever I bring it up, the vet repeatedly defaults to the notion that it is hairballs, but hairball remedies do not improve the condition. No, it is more akin to what they call “scarf and barf”. He eats, he barfs, he eats again, he is fine… mostly. I have tried many techniques for dealing with this, but nothing has ever proven to be long term effective.

Recently I have found pureeing his canned cat food in an old mini food processor has halted his bulimic patterns. I fear it might not be enough though. Alex has been very thin and tired looking, with a permanently furrowed brow. There is no nice way to say it. I’m getting that EOL vibe.

Please, God, just let me wrong about this for a change. Alex is a good cat, and honestly I don’t think I’ll be able to get another cat until after Gail is gone. The thing is, I’ve always had a cat around, and I don’t like the idea of not having one. The house would feel too empty.

So let us hope the pureed food turns things around for Alex. Even if he looks like a grumpy old man, I hope he can live another decade or more. In some ways, I even hope he outlives Gail.

Kudos

Did I mention our submission page? It’s still a thing around here, and I count on people like you to put jokes into it. Thanks ever so much. It really means a lot to me.

Pax,

-f2x