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So who has done the character quiz and gotten good results? Mine were pretty meh - (83% match for Nick Young - not the basketball player, but from Crazy Rich Asians)

Quiz: https://openpsychometrics.org/tests/characters/

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Jim Halpert - I . . . did not see that coming

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Heh, I can see that - my third was Bronn from GoT, much prefer that.

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Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jurassic Park).

Well at least I know that character.

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I took it and got "Daniel Jackson" from some show called Stargate SG-1 which 1) means nothing to me, and 2) I'm too lazy to look up.

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sucks so much that it's literally perfect outside (clear skies, sunny, breezy, low-mid 60s), no traffic, no crowds...and can't enjoy the outdoors 'cause there's no where to go...

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could you go for a drive? Gas prices are really low right now. Maybe that isn't allowed since it isn't an essential activity.

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My in-laws in GA paid 1.19 per gallon of regular this week. Insanity.

I don't know what prices are around here because I haven't needed to fill up in about three weeks. Back then I thought it was remarkable to pay 2.20-something for 93.

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Well, good news, because the President is proudly coordinating with murderous dictator thugs to scale back oil production so that millions of out-of-work Americans in a recession won't have to be tempted to buy cheap gas.

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yeah I noticed that he made sure to show he was a part of that. His oil buddies can make more money now.

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I saw that Costco in Concord is 2.35 and 2.55. I should go fill up both cars since gas may be going back up now that the Saudis and Russia have the agreement.

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2.139 in western Oregon. Haven't seen it that low in a large number of years.

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My friend in Houston reported 1.68

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metabolic syndrome from snacking while sheltering

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I've been pretty good about not eating anything until lunchtime and I'm generally trying not to snack between lunch and dinner.

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I notice that I've been eating more now that No 2 is back and I've been cooking for him.

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Young men want to eat all the time, so that makes sense.

Honestly though, I think it's less about how much food you have and more about how frequently you eat.

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He actually only really eats twice, and sometimes skips lunch. So I'm more so making sure he's got a good dinner.

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metafiction?

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Metaphorically speaking...

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Metamorphosis

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[one of my favorites]

One morning, when Gregor Samsa woke from troubled dreams, he found himself transformed in his bed into a horrible vermin.

He lay on his armour-like back, and if he lifted his head a little he could see his brown belly, slightly domed and divided by arches into stiff sections. The bedding was hardly able to cover it and seemed ready to slide off any moment. His many legs, pitifully thin compared with the size of the rest of him, waved about helplessly as he looked.

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I really disliked having to read that. It was well-written but I found it very off-putting.

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Apr 3, 2020
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No, because it was gross. My brown belly is delightful.

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Metacarpals

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A coworker of mine broke his hand a few months ago. That seemed like a tremendously inconvenient injury.

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Metaphysics

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What does it mean to be a good person? - Aristotle

What does it mean to be? - Descartes

What does it mean? Nietzsche

What does "it" mean? - Bertrand Russel

What does it? C.S. Lewis

What? - Lil Jon

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What is it? - Faith No More

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Metallica

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They will always have a special place in my heart. They were the "local" East Bay band having moved back from LA in the early-to-mid 80s, back when Mustaine and Burton were still in the band. If you were a metalhead like I was in the 80s, Metallica and Iron Maiden were kings. Kill 'em All ,Ride the Lightning, and Master of Puppets were the sweetest 3 successive albums ever. During the early days, you could occasionally catch them live either jamming in their house in El Cerrito or some other local dive. Then success when to Lars Ulrich's head.

Justice For All and Black Album were super-commercial, and swerved hard away from their kick ass days. I remember going to a concert at the Concord Pavillion. There were dads protecting their young sons in the mosh pit because that's how old Metallica had gotten. And I was thinking, this is not them anymore. And I stopped being a fan.

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booooooo

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Metabolism

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I'm terrified what's going to happen to mine during this

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Meta

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data

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mucil?

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Today in COVID-19

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Georgia governor re-opens the beaches, superseding local edicts, less than 24 hours after issuing stay-at-home order. This is the same governor who claimed he just learned Covid-19 can be passed by asymptomatic carriers. Oof. The South shall fall again.

https://www.thestate.com/news/coronavirus/article241764386.html

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No 1's GF got a job in Savannah at a museum. She got a room sharing an apt or a floor of a house. Her roommates aren't taking it seriously and she has to be the mom. She just moved in a couple of weeks ago so we'll see how that all goes.

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Science and data and public health - oh my! Today's WFH diversion...

https://news.berkeley.edu/berkeley-conversations-covid-19/

Berkeley Conversations: COVID-19 (live)

Across the UC Berkeley campus, researchers are rising to meet the complex challenges of COVID-19 even as the crisis generates waves of news and information that can be confusing and contradictory at times. In response, the university is launching a new online video series, “Berkeley Conversations: Covid-19”, to connect our leading experts with the public they serve, and each other. Through Q&A’s, seminars, and panel discussions, faculty from a wide range of disciplines—from epidemiology to economics to the computing and data now undergirding their work—will share what they know, and what they are learning.

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It's cool and windy out so still wearing a bandana on my head and not using it as a mask. I ran by some park police and military police and fortunately no one arrested me. They keep ratcheting things up as they have locked the gate to the parking lot to the park across the street and took the nets away from the volleyball courts near the Lincoln Memorial.

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Apr 3, 2020
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so now everyone gets to be treated like suspected drug dealers! fun!

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@"SusPeCTed dRuG DeALerS"@

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I wasn't making any judgement about how robust those suspicions were

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Yes, indeed.

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Today in our crumbling democracy

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USS Teddy Roosevelt Captain relieved of duty because of leak about his request for help amid his sailors being infected. Yet, I shouldn't be surprised since the Executive Branch pardoned a war criminal. This is his send off:

https://twitter.com/AmberSmithUSA/status/1246052144115077120

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My initial response was disgust but at some level I "get it". Regardless of whether or not he personally leaked it to the news, he sent the message to 20+ people. Meanwhile, the Navy is claiming there were already plans in place to remove more than half the crew. So perhaps it is spin but he made the issue public which is also a major security breach. So, seriously bad optics for the Navy but he committed a serious breach.

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I'm glad to see rational discussion of a matter that is MUCH more complicated than it appears on its face. Yes, the optics are terrible for both the captain and the US Navy; however, we must stop viewing EVERYTHING through orange-colored glasses.

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If anyone needs removed, its the acting Secretary of the Navy who is more concerned about being embarrassed because a commander needs to ask for help for hundreds of sick sailors he can't take care of than he is about why said unacceptable situation was allowed to get so badly out of hand to begin with. This wasn't as large a security issue as letting a carrier become disabled was. Its scapegoating at a time when being tone deaf is more unacceptable than ever, and it makes it very hard to demonstrate support for the troops when the organization they are a part of, and outwardly support, isn't being properly managed.

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And I think a reprimand was probably a better answer, but they couldn't just let this slide.

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Letting the public know, and by default, potential enemies of the United States know, that an aircraft carrier has been struck by plague and is effectively out of commission is a pretty massive breach. So while I understand his concerns/anger/frustration, you don't go outing something like that to the world at large. Its just a no go. So as Cugel states, its a bad look for all parties

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Chain of command is a really big deal in the military, for good reasons.

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The captain is responsible for the lives of his crew, and he was facing an urgent threat that his superiors were not being responsive to. He's not supposed to sacrifice the health and lives of the men and women under his command purely to not bruise the egos of the higher ups.

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Apr 3, 2020
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Yes, but it assumes a competent and responsive chain of command, which didn't exist in this case. And it was a 3rd party that "outed" what was already not a secret or surprise by any stretch of credibility.

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Yeah, both sides come off looking bad.

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Unemployment jumps from 3.5 to 4.4 as US loses 701k jobs in March.

"For the first time in nearly a decade, the U.S. suffered a net loss of jobs as the coronavirus began to take hold in the country. But a monthly snapshot from the Labor Department shows only the first pinpricks of what will soon be a gaping wound.

U.S. employers shed 701,000 jobs in March, according to the monthly survey. But that was conducted three weeks ago — before the pandemic forced the widespread closing of restaurants, retail shops and other businesses."

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/04/03/826096581/jobs-data-will-be-from-way-back-when-things-were-normal-3-weeks-ago

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In Oregon, Unemployment claims increased 19 fold in 2 days, We have now gone from the lowest unemployment in history to the highest (more than post Great Depression) in ~ half a month. New claims have tapered off only because staff and phone lines can't be added fast enough to handle the load.

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Non-farm payroll figures are trailing indicators. They only go to March 12th (ie, the tip of the iceberg). For example, the Bay Area shutdown happened Mar 17th.

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

Unemployment claims are more current (10m). Unemployment is officially 4.4%, but it is actually already around 16%. And rising.

The peak of unemployment during the Great Depression was 24.9%.

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Pros

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Cal

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Go Bears!!!

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Grace Leer (Women's Soccer '10-'14, Forward, 85 games, 13 goals) Danville, SRVHS

https://calbears.com/sports/womens-soccer/roster/grace-leer/5323

She's on American Idol now. Cheer her on.

https://calbears.com/news/2020/4/3/inside-the-lair-idolized.aspx

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