Older millennial nerd.

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  • 60 Comments
Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: June 26th, 2023

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  • My parents “pirated” all the time when I was a kid. We’d generally have no more than basic cable (usually just antenna). There would be free weekends for HBO, Cinemax, or Showtime back when there was only one of each. My parents always had blank 8hr VHS cassettes and they’d record three movies to each. They recorded on SLP or EP mode (depending on the VCR model) to get that much time per cassette and it would end up with the crappiest quality ever. If you think VHS is shit quality, watch a movie on EP mode. Our movie collection was pretty extensive, but 90% of it was this.

    You’d have to remember to reset the counter when putting in the tape and fast forward to a specific counter time written on the cassette in order to see the movie you want. My favorites were always second or third.

    I vaguely remember talk of Dad climbing the pole to connect the cable himself but that went away when cable boxes became a requirement. There was also a time when he ran a coax from the neighbor’s apartment and we split the bill. That didn’t last long though because that neighbor moved.

    My parents were sailing the seven seas back when your only option was a row boat.



  • It takes money and know-how to create and maintain a real website, but Facebook is free and requires little knowledge of how websites work. Add the fact that many rural folks still don’t take the Internet seriously, and you get businesses that don’t realize that they’re neglecting a useful tool to help them gain and maintain customers.

    What I said before was a little exaggerated. An example of the experience: this weekend I was looking to order lunch in an area that I don’t frequent. There was a sandwich shop that I had been meaning to try because people rave about it. I tried to call to place an order and the phone just rang. No voicemail, just ringing. I went looking for a website, thinking maybe they’re closed on Sundays (I hear the owner is religious) and I find nothing but Facebook. The latest post was from November saying something about the owner having broken his arm, so they’ll be closed until further notice. So I guess they’re closed?

    I move onto another shop who does have a website, but it’s bare bones: just the name, address, phone number, and hours that are probably outdated. No menu. Their Facebook wasn’t any help. I had to Google to find pictures of the menu. I called them and ordered. If I wasn’t willing to take an extra couple of steps, I’d have to resort to Subway for a sandwich… no thanks.

    The usual experience is like what happened with the second shop, sometimes with a menu, sometimes it’s up to date. No online ordering, no Doordash. Maybe they have a new customer form to fill out to get a call back for a quote, but don’t be surprised if they don’t call, because they don’t check those messages because they don’t take the Internet seriously. They’re great at their job, but suck at current forms of communication. If you want to support local businesses in a rural area, you call them or just show up. It’s like the 2000s out here.







  • Probably because they’re often not clearly identifiable as law enforcement, let alone ICE. Can’t It’s not good business to deny service just because they look the type that might be ICE.

    Edit: People seem to be misunderstanding my intentions here. Businesses should totally refuse service to anyone clearly showing to be ICE or acting in a racist way. Fuck them.

    I’m saying that it’s not in their best interest to deny service to middle aged white guys / rednecks because they look like they might be in ICE. They’d go out of business.