toynbee

Me (after spinning them around): Do you know why people get dizzy?
Kid, 6: accuratelyish describes the workings of the inner ear
Me: uh ... Yeah.

Nothing to add here.

Preemptive edit: I spent a RIDICULOUS amount of time writing this very passionate post, then my client - for no reason I can identify - simply deleted it. I'm sorry if what I say below doesn't reflect how I felt adequately.

The first time I saw a Ford Flex, I said out loud "I want that!" (I was immediately mocked for wanting a minivan.) I've loved them since I saw one to the point that my wife eventually told me to shut up and buy one. Almost literally.

I did so and loved the car since I got it. Unfortunately, after many years of faithful service, it started breaking down past the point where it made sense to repair it. I still tried - I really loved the car - but at a certain point I gave up. I've now traded it in for an Edge, which is a perfectly satisfactory car but ... Kind of disappointing comparatively. Since then, to my wife's annoyance, I've occasionally observed that I missed the Flex.

Unfortunately, they stopped making it in 2019. (Mine was a 2014.) They've since started making the Explorer, which I think is a modern replacement, but when I had to replace my Flex it was semi urgent and there was no Explorer nearby enough to acquire. (I live in a rural area.)

Anyway, today I drove to a nearby town and saw this on the side of the road. It's the same color and I think the same trim as the one I had. It was extremely difficult not to swerve to the side of the road and call to buy it immediately.

Apparently, I've got spondylolisthesis, meaning that a disk in my spine has slipped out of place (to a rather extensive degree, according to my doctor; it was a relief, at least, to have a professional tell me I wasn't just being pathetic).

It fucking sucks. I'm laying in my bed now and I cannot describe to you the ways my back pieces currently feel like they are moving, except to say that the sensation is pervasive and unpleasant. Before I went to the doctor, I spent eleven days barely able to stand. I only left my bed to use the restroom and even that was an iffy prospect.

It's unclear if this makes it better or worse, but the most likely cause for this that has been put forth so far is hilarious ... And embarrassing.

Anyway, I've been enjoying this debilitating situation for a few months now and the next opportunity to potentially fix it is thirteen days from now. I wish it were today.

For a few months I've been trying to buy a laptop that charges via USB-C and that isn't a MacBook or Chromebook. So far I've gotten several laptops that have USB-C ports but don't charge using them; and one laptop that does charge via USB-C but is ... Otherwise pretty unimpressive. Please recommend a laptop that fits my needs! Thanks in advance.

Now it's a genre.

So they made their own fixes.

I've only bought a few...

I switched to Graphene on my Pixel 9a Pro, I don't know, maybe a month ago. It's, as the title says, almost perfect. However, I'm having two issues:

• Android Auto -- From what I've looked up, this should work. It does if I wire it up, but wireless is supposed to work also. I thought this was due to my VPN, but I've tried with Auto allowed through and even with the VPN (and kill switch) disabled. With the VPN on - passthrough or no - Auto just tells me to disable my VPN. With it and the kill switch off, it just says that it failed to connect. It's been a while since I tried it with the kill switch on, but I think I remember it trying to connect to some oddly named Wi-Fi network offered by the car. This did not work. edit: Essentially the same result has been encountered in two different cars. I did try toggling the developer settings with no impact. I was able to get Bluetooth working.

• Okta MFA. I don't think this is a Graphene issue because I also put Graphene on my tablet and it works fine there, with or without a VPN. However, on my phone, if I try to add the account it just says some form of "there was an error, please contact your administrator." My administrator has no interest in troubleshooting this.

Any guidance would be appreciated!

I made a vague reference to this movie elsewhere a day or two ago and have been annoyed with myself for not being about to identify it since then. I apologize in advance for the lack of detail. The things I remember:

• The movie is about chosen ones trying to save the universe (I think), found and identified by a similar mentor. Yes, much like Mortal Kombat ... And others.
• Early in the movie, there's a fight scene between the aforementioned mentor and primary antagonist; the fight takes place, I think, in a night club and the antagonist uses telekinesis to direct a spinning vertical CD as a weapon (this is my main memory of the movie).
• The mentor counters the CD attack with his own telekinesis, which holds the "weapon" in place, but then the antagonist endangers bystanders, distracting the mentor, who has to release the CD to save them. He barely dodges the disk and I think gets a cut on his forehead.
• The mentor collects the chosen ones and proves they're chosen by them all having the same birthmark. For some reason this happens on a boat. They all show their birthmarks, other than one who assures them that he has one but it's in a private place. Says something like "you don't want to see it, but trust me, it's there."
• I think the final showdown takes place in a parking structure, but I might be misremembering.
• This one is pure conjecture, but the movie reminds me of eXistenZ. That might be because of any kind of overlap or I might just have seen them in the same timeframe.

Thanks in advance!

I feel like I used to have a satisfactory layout for years but haven't since found a consistently comfortable arrangement. I like to have a fairly thick pillow or two under my head to accommodate my bad shoulder, a pillow between my thighs to avoid chafed skin, and a pillow for hugging - also mostly for my shoulder.

The head ones tend to get distorted really quickly and it's really difficult to find a good hugging pillow.