Latest rat in the pantry

[Pop]

Hey-o everyone!
New to the site (duh) and posting the obligatory introduction.
Not too sure why I am here, just signed up on a whim really.

I like to talk about many different things and often go on long un-related tangents, feel free to interrupt me and get me back on track if it happens, I enjoy deconstructing common sense arguments and obvious notions as well as taking the "wrong" side in an argument just to further more discussion on the topic and to provoke people into considering some other points of view.
Some have described me as "combative" but I prefer to see it as "needlesly invested", nevertheless it is all in good fun and with the intention of pushing personal event-horizons.

So take a chance, strike up a conversation and see if you care for my brand of humorous insights, or you know just to pass the time with whatever.

[LunaLovegood]

Welcome to Windlyn, nice to meet you.
This place is full of wonderful people, you'll fit right in here.
If you have any questions don't be scared to ask.

[Nek0Nerd0]

Welcome to Windlyn Online, Pop.
Have a look around and make yourself at home.

[Akuyi]

Yoooo welcome!

[Lemon Cheesecake]

Welcome! People come and go on here and then reappear later, something charming about the Windlyn community keeps drawing them back.

I am very willing to share my opinions so we will have to start some discussion threads! Keeping it within the TOS of Windlyn of course!

Are you finding your way around? Fishing, under the game room tab, is every 8 hours, Questing every 12. Game scores count for currency 3 each a day. Lazarus items are only temporary, generally during an event. Check out the pumpkin patch shop for things magical.

If you find an easter egg click on it as the event is still going on and they will give you free items. Drop time is about 20-30 minutes.

Visit my game threads and charity, links are in my signature, for a chance at extra feathers or items.

Are you totally home isolating? Working from home? An "essential" worker? How is your area dealing with the economy shut down?

[galled]

Welcome to Windlyn!

Oh, you like playing devil's advocate do you? I suppose it would be a fun thought exercise if all involved know that's what you're doing and it doesn't devolve into personal attacks and mentioning nazi's...

I am reminded of a very funny Monty Python skit where someone goes to a place to pay for an argument (just roll with it) and they complain because all the other person does is say the opposite of what ever is being said. Which of course becomes a complaint! --which is another department with someone doing the same thing!

I hope you enjoy your time here!

[Gingerale]

Hello~ come visit my newbie's thread for a welcome gift.

If you play other electronic games we have an assortment of threads for people to discuss their progress.

[Pop]

Appreciate the warm welcome, thank you Lunalovegood, Nek0Nerd0, Akuyi, Lemon Cheesecake, Galled and Gingerale.

I dont have any questions that are not existential in nature, so wont bother you all with those
Wont be "grinding" for outfits, I like to just relax and take things as they come, could afford most things I desired for my avatar with only 60 feathers hehe.

As far as home isolating, yes mostly, bought a supply of canned beans, spaghetti and bottled water back in late January, have not needed to dig in as the lockdown was put in effect early here and shops have stayed open and well stocked, eventually I will be digging into it before it spoils thou, which would be great come summer since I need a whole bunch of money to fix up my car and.. I am doing that tangent thing arent I?...
Working from home, yes, lets call it that, I am unemployed but on benefits for life, so my "job" is to do whatever I feel like, the isolation across the globe have resulted in me only having a single "day off", as the demand for GMs in online Roleplaying games have skyrocketed so there is alot of prep-work to be done.
Which brings me on to the "essential" part I definately wasnt, but I sure feel like one now that everyone needs more Dungeons and Dragons in their lives


Yes Devils advocate, that is what its usually called, althou the connotation that infers is more accurate of my behavior in my teens, althou I might have been more akin to a devil on the shoulder than the traditional advocate picture invoked by that notion.
While being edgy and causing mayhem was an objective of its own in my youth, that part have luckily matured alot with age, and while the "wrong side" of an argument still intrigues me, I dont pretend to actually hold the views I present in those situations anymore.
I would be lying if I said I dont enjoy the hateful glares of my peers in real-life, but its all part of the role you gotta play if you are a jester at heart, I do it for the ones who are in on the joke, usually myself and a few friends at most in public.
Online use of an obscure reference that seems obscene to the un-initiated is much easier as the concentration of popculture nerds are much higher, and thus there is always atleast one or two that can let others in on the joke in the comments or what have you.
Hence it is pointless to be "edgy" online because it will either have no bite, or be straight try-hard, both of which lack in style imho.

oh almost forgot the obligatory old BB pre-meme style one liner that should end one of these posts.

[Gingerale]

Were you on a debate team in High school? You probably would have excelled at it if your heart was into it.

So sorry you are on disability, we have a few members in that boat. But it doesn't seem to affect your mind!

You should watch "Scotty Kilmer" if you need to fix up your car - he is great and I don't even understand much about cars but enjoy listening to him once in awhile. Fortunately my car just needs the general oil change done.

[Pop]

No debate team in any of my schools but I did manage to get banned from the student council meetings after attending twice, because the meetings took up the whole schoolday when I was there.(also I was advocating for an abolishment of breaks to give me an extra 1½ hours on the nintendo in the afternoon...).

Thou I am on disability, it is purely on a "welfare society basis"(I live in Denmark), my tendency to optimize and "streamline" do not sit well with employers, so after jumping between a host of random jobs, I was finally caught by "the system"/"nanny-state" and declared unfit for workplace participation due to my "desire for conflict" as they put it.
Cant say I agree on their conclusions, but I wont complain about free money and no boss, so took their offer and am now enjoying life as a pensioneer in my mid 30s ^^

I always aspired to have no boss, the whole nothing to do thing is just a bonus haha.

As far as the Car goes, I have no way to fix it myself, I live in a smallísh appartment with no parking spot, and my car requires some specialized kit to access its driving computer, I lost all my tools in a fire in my previous house at the start of the year so kinda stuck with a half broken car in the middle of nowhere city.
To add to the oddity of the whole thing, I dont have a drivers license, I have a friend I employ as my driver in exchange for the car after 3 years of his services, in the meantime he is going to mechanics college to facilitate free repairs, but with the lockdown, no classes = no free car repairs.

[Lemon Cheesecake]

A mechanic friend is a great help! Too bad he can't self isolate and work on the car somewhere, there are lots of how to video's out there.

I am unfamiliar how disability/welfare works in other countries. Does Denmark pay for everyone's healthcare? I am fortunate because my employer covers 3/4 the premiums of my health insurance.

There has got to be a job out there that is perfect for your qualifications ...maybe you need to be quality assurance...the one who picks something apart to brainstorm whether it is feasible or not.

[Pop]

As for the healthcare and welfare, In denmark we get all hospital and emergency room treatments at no expense (not factoring in tax that pays for it here).
Only things you gotta pay for are dentists and prescription drugs, and as far as the drugs go it is pretty standard to have a private health insurance that will cover 50-90% of the expense at purchase, while at the dentist you can use the same insurance to pay for anastethics, they only cover about 25% of the actual treatment costs.

That job is exactly what I was hoping to land in, but Denmark have a very "village like" attitude, and the most reviled segment of public workers are lean coordinators and anyone that can identify who needs a pink-slip, so that is a job you only get through nepotism and connections here.
The Danish subscribe to a notion that noone is better than the crowd, so if you try to excel or stand out you will be taken down by peer pressure unless you have the money and influence to be a trendsetter.
And while one could tough it out and just power through it, the whole attitude leaves one rather unwilling to "assist with any optimization" on account of the grief you get for trying to improve things.
I would much rather make a handful of friendly people enjoy an afternoon of make believe than work to improve the quality of life of my neighbor, the Danes have it so good they have adopted an outlook that can be described as "its all good enough so why put in effort?", which makes it VERY hard to work with them.

[galled]

Thank you for the insights into the societal quirks in your country. I have never heard or read about how things are over there. There's a big push towards socialism by some people in this country and I imagine we'd up up with similar dilemmas here should it happen.

I'm curious, are there any folks that have distinguished themselves from your country/system that we would know along the lines of a Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, etc.?

[Lemon Cheesecake]

I watched a Danish t.V. series long time ago called "Borgen", but I watched it more for the interaction between people and to get a glimpse of what it is like to live in another country. I did not pay attention to the political interactions too much other than the conflicts that arose but I may watch it again with a new perspective.

It sounds like your country is now more about "not rocking the boat", and if it isn't broken why fix it, maybe a little disappointing coming from the rich heritage of their past?

[Pop]

While I do think the "Scandinavian model" is a very solid system, it does get a bit stiffling when you get to larger economies, Social-Capitalism is very prone to bribes, and the only reason it works imo is because we have small populations and rich territories, so its harder to avoid scrutiny by the public and easier to keep the minimum wages high.
I doubt an income tax of 36-65% depending on income is feasible in the States.
(not to mention the 25%+25% sales tax, the 200% car purchase tax, the mandatory government registered bank accounts and green taxes that easily add up to 5000 dollars a year if you own a gas powered vehicle)

We have alot of notable inventors but few that make the cut in international reknown, Niels Bohr is the last great mind we fostered to my knowledge.
Mads Mikkelsen is likely the most notable person we got in the past 10-20 years, after he found international succces, before that he was a stable in danish television and movies for many years.

"Borgen" is a pretty good show as far as replicating our political climate and issues, though it has been dramatized to make it more interesting to watch.
"Borgen" is short for "Christiansborg"(Christians Castle) which is the building that house our parliament.

And yes The Danish agenda is very much to not make any sweeping changes, although I think that has more to do with making bank off of the EU.
Being the only nation in the world with simulataneous seats in the EUP, UN and the Arctic Council, we have a unique position as far as Veto rights across international political entites goes, so alot of the crappier EU laws we simply ignore because we can hold the other "councils" hostage with our votes(cant imagine Greece and Italy being too happy about that part).

As far as our heritage goes, we have been a sovereign nation for over a thousand years, with the royal line unbroken, today the queen is a figure head, she still has the option to deny signing a law but that havent happened in living memory.
The one good thing about having the royals (mostly they are just considered the wealthiest welfare recipients in the country) is that IF the government goes pants on head, the army is loyal to the Queen and not the money grubbers in parliament.
All in all Denmark is a pretty insular nation, the exception being our media consumption which is very much akin to anyone else online(we have 2.3 PCs pr. household last I checked).