I know a lot of people will tell you to expect boredom, but the last time I was called for jury duty it was actually a great time.

Once I got inside the building and signed in the jury room was pretty nice. It was set up with a bunch of large armchairs with a side table next to it with a charging station all facing toward a projection screen. In the morning they would show a concert and a movie in the afternoon. You could listen to or you could sit there with your laptop in your chair. They had coffee and snacks for free and a side room which was dark and quiet if you wanted to sleep. They encouraged people to bring in food or entertainment too. In the afternoon they had a field trip where we were given tours of the state buildings or meetings with the judges. We had to be available for 2 weeks unless we got empaneled which only happened once but the case was settled before any arguments. If anyone’s work complained that they were out or asked them to do work during the day the court would physically send one of the jury officers to go yell at your boss and he would come back and tell us about it.

By the end of the week we were all on a first name basis and people were bringing in legitimately good food. One guy played us some music and another guy was a radio host and offered to announce an Uno tournament like it was a professional sporting match. One guy needed help with filling out a bunch of paperwork for an issue he was having and we all pitched in to help him figure it out and it was done in a morning.

I still talk to some of those people and it was 5+ years ago. Hopefully you have a good time too.

It’s a masterpiece of a game. I still recommend it to people and it holds up. I even bought a pirated copy of the print strategy guide for a play through.

During a particularly hard part of my life I asked my partner to take my car for an past due oil change while I was at school/work. When I got home at 11pm I asked how it went and they said that my car was a mess, which is not how I keep my car. Turns out someone trashed my car and stole everything the previous night including a bunch of school textbooks and a bunch of other related stuff. I have had things stolen before but this was in my driveway way outside the main city so it felt personal.

Luckily, I was able to work with the professors and my classmates who provided me copies or a spare book for the semester and I was able get by. Really sucked at the time but it was really warming to have other people pitch in to help me.

I had some red paper stuffed in the one side for a little bit too 🤣

I have a small diecast dumpster on my desk that people always comment on.

Something related to add that a lot of people don’t realize is that Windows has a way to add ASCII emoji by pressing Win + .

It’s a pretty comprehensive list too.

I worked a precinct that was right next to a huge nursing home. One guy who was 98, came in and after getting his ballot fell down and was unresponsive. Luckily the home had their own staff join the groups that came to vote and resuscitated him and he continued exactly where he left off at tortoise pace.

Also lots of people who were not registered or at the wrong polling place but insist on voting anyways despite me patiently explaining and showing them how to solve the issue. They demand to “vote” so they get a provisional ballot that we dutifully process which likely will be rejected. All of them are certain we are stealing their ballot, or trying to keep them from voting. I always say to them, “you seem like you are someone who knows a lot about the election process and has the time, we need people like you to volunteer” while offering them the volunteering paperwork. They leave pretty quickly after that.

There was a weekend in 2006 where I had absolutely nothing to do despite a full schedule for months on either side. I stayed in my apartment and played video games and just existed happily without being molested for three whole days.

I have had children and received promotions and all of that, but all of those experiences are laced with a bit of anxiety. That weekend though was just pure, light joy for three days and it is something I revisit mentally, constantly. Make sure to enjoy those little times too.

As an counter example as something that you may not think of as therapeutically relevant, there are a whole class of Platinum based anti-cancer drugs.

Well I use mine every night and sleep fine. I could also be a robot as you suggest too.

Check out bone conduction headphones.

The audio quality is not the best but it more than enough for podcasts or youtube content. They are much more comfortable for me as long as the volume is relatively low or else the vibration starts to become annoying. I would recommend trying them out if you can from a friend or order some expecting to return them because they aren’t for everyone but if you are like me you won’t want to use anything else.

I went to a John Kerry Rally in 2004. I got there about 30 minutes late and for whatever reason was ushered up to the front corral of people. Inexplicably, Bon Jovi takes the stage and shouts, “You what George Bush’s financial policy is? Bad Medicine!” and launches into the song ‘Bad Medicine’. I started laughing my ass off because it was corny as shit and Bon Jovi and I made eye contact for a brief second.

YMMV

This adds a whole new dimension to the lore.

One day a coworker of mine was walking into our huge office building and thought he saw a mitten on the ground of the lobby. When he picked it up it was actually a pair of lacy women’s underwear. Ostensibly it fell out of someone’s gym bag or got caught in their pant leg in the laundry and dislodged there. He drops it immediately and comes into the office. He doesn’t mention this to anyone.

Two hours later the main receptionist comes in with the underwear in front of our whole group and says she saw him drop these this morning and she wants to return them. He’s denying the whole thing and at this point none of us have the previous context and all locked in to the conversation and silent laughing. She says, “We just want to give these back in case they have sentimental value!” and the the whole group is dying laughing now. He eventually convinces her he isn’t interested in a stranger’s underwear (which she bare handing) to which she says she’ll keep them in case he changes his mind (???).

It’s been 5 years and it gets brought up nearly daily

For sure. I just dragged and dropped the jpg into 3d Builder. That program is rudimentary but if it is a simple drawing it does a great job creating a model.

It ended up being solid just because of the standard wall thicknesses, but PLA prints are quite strong from a compressive standpoint. That said, I am sure I am not applying the entire 6 tons. I have done similar experiments with a bench vice with similar results too, it’s just a little harder to line everything up give the jaw depth.

All I know that if this works intraspecies, dentists would collect all the powers of various people through incidental biting like Megaman.

Here’s a picture of the stamp.

It’s just a 3mm thickness disc with the picture on the top at 2mm. I use a 6 ton shop press to compress it with a 1" steel plate used to distribute the force. The print is a no name brand black PLA printed at 0.2 at the fast setting on an AnkerMake M5. You can also see the residual ink, the stamping only takes a small amount. I did a few at one time without having to reapply.

I went over the stamp with blue sharpie and wet the leather with water and a small amount of isopropyl alcohol. When you compress the stamp into the leather with a press the alcohol reactivates the ink in the recesses.

This was my first attempt with a 3d printed stamp. Worked great!