If one of our family suffers a case of mortality, it would be good to be notified about it, as sad as that would be. When we lost Paul (Maxwell Buchannon) a while back, there was closure and some solace in that we stayed with him and offered him comfort while he was going through his final challenge.
This would simply be a line on your page with "Secondary contact". Don't need to get into why that would be an option, it would just be another email address of a friend or relative. Then if somebody disappears, that second contact can be written to and hopefully they'll just write back and say "He/she got sick of the lot of you and decided to get a life." and we could all breath a sigh of relief.
Sorry for the Debbie Downer of an idea, but people dissapearing is creepy. I don't like it.-- doctorremulac3, Jun 14 2020 Underwater-basket weaving (for catching fish) https://willowhaven...hat-keep-on-giving/ [pocmloc, Jun 21 2020] Ditto https://babbarra.co...mandjabu-fish-trap/A well-proven technology [pertinax, Jun 21 2020] The Howard Stern bit I got my moniker from https://www.youtube...watch?v=wtXr7-NvZdI [doctorremulac3, Jun 23 2020] It's a good idea, and a nice reminder to us all that life is fleeting, make plans, be aware that people care and you'll be missed. Not just here, but other places as well. Thanks, doc. I've done mine.-- blissmiss, Jun 14 2020 Thanks Blissy, I’ll do mine too.-- doctorremulac3, Jun 14 2020 I always imagined [8th] as some part of shadowy governmental operations. Contractually that work involves creepily moving around, disappearing, reappearing with no trace. Unless a clean up crew has been ordered.
Next of kin or friends should be oblivious.-- wjt, Jun 15 2020 //Next of kin or friends should be oblivious// Yes I've heard about those parties.-- pocmloc, Jun 15 2020 Nice sentiment. I posted something here on a similar theme many years ago (since deleted). I just have a status update on my user page & you can check the 'last modified' date to see if it is current or not. I just checked mine & realised that I am coming up fast on 20 years of halfbakery attendance. Haven't done much actual halfbaking recently but, still, thats...a long time! hippo & po are probably around the same point too I imagine.-- DrBob, Jun 15 2020 Wow, I thought I was a long time veteran at 15 years. Very cool Doc.-- doctorremulac3, Jun 15 2020 I'm 19. 19 years old. That's very old, but you are right, Dr.B (it's so good to see ya), hippo and po are even older. They are officially our Elders.-- blissmiss, Jun 15 2020 Dang, I'm a newbie here!-- doctorremulac3, Jun 15 2020 I only bin here 14 years.-- FlyingToaster, Jun 15 2020 Hey, I'm coming up on my 18th birthday.
Although I thought I was older... perhaps I had a protracted gestation.-- Loris, Jun 15 2020 14 years here... Man what a time it's been too...-- 21 Quest, Jun 16 2020 I've done this in reverse. That is, in case I take a one-way ticket unexpectedly, I've asked the inventor of Draughts Abdication to drop in here and let you all know. So if you don't hear from her, I'm probably fine.-- pertinax, Jun 16 2020 //That is, in case I take a one-way ticket unexpectedly//
WA Borders still have a hard closure so you should hang around.-- AusCan531, Jun 16 2020 //hippo and po are even older. They are officially our Elders// - that's a scary thought...-- hippo, Jun 16 2020 {the H P Lovecraft reference that [8th] ought to have made at this point}-- pertinax, Jun 16 2020 [Loris], our birthday on our page isn't correct if you lived through the great crash, and I'm sure you did.-- blissmiss, Jun 16 2020 My old college has a special members club for people who have written the college into their will. Perhaps the halfbakery could do likewise. The Flakey Crusties could have the privelege of mumble mumble and their bequest, when they finally croak, would help pay for HB expenses.-- pocmloc, Jun 16 2020 Wow 18 years goes fast!If I haven't come around for a while and anyone cares I left my wifes' contact info.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 16 2020 What do you mean, if anyone cares??? You'd be missed so much we would have to bestow a day in honor of you, a half-day of course, but a day just the same.-- blissmiss, Jun 16 2020 Thanks 2frys. You'd be surprised how many nice people are out there who care about others. They just don't get a lot of attention.
Makes for boring headlines but a good world.-- doctorremulac3, Jun 16 2020 Aw that's sweet. I'm kind of in-like with you guys too.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 16 2020 (handshake, awkward hard slap on the back man half-hug)
So, looking forward to the new football season? Yea, gonna be great.-- doctorremulac3, Jun 16 2020 //[Loris], our birthday on our page isn't correct if you lived through the great crash, and I'm sure you did.//
I'm not sure about that. It seems like it would have been data available for scraping when jutta was salvaging from the google cache. The wayback machine has its first hit on my user page on august 10, 2002 with the same birthday - and by then it has three ideas listed. Also, one of the first comments I remember making was on "progressive peril clock" in august 2002. You replied to that (very kindly), but that comment is now gone. I think you might have deleted your account for a while.
In brief, I think my registration date is correct (mental reconstruction of when I found this place notwithstanding), but also you're right in thinking you had an account in 2001.-- Loris, Jun 16 2020 hmm... a check and my first posting is Dec 2007, so only 12-1/2 years... a veritable newbie, I is. More likely of course is one of those annoying parallel universe shifts, that keeps my car keys and glasses in places I already checked.-- FlyingToaster, Jun 17 2020 It's weird. I could probably spend a century here and still feel like a newb.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 17 2020 That 8th needs his arse spanked. Who let him out of his box? Where is he?-- xenzag, Jun 17 2020 Do we have a bakery version of an "Amber Alert", that beeps everyone's phone and comes on the tv, and gets you while in your car as well? A missing person auto alert for everyone on Earth would work. Maybe someone kidnapped him. I'm starting to get sad. Very sad.-- blissmiss, Jun 18 2020 Yea, me too. I think it's probably safe to make a pretty horrible assumption at this point.-- doctorremulac3, Jun 18 2020 You mean... Covid?-- whatrock, Jun 18 2020 England's been pretty hard hit. Of course it could be anything but I'm not seeing a reason why one of the most prolific and earliest Halfbakery members would suddenly just drop off. We've obviously had members who just got tired of the site, but 8 seemed to have as much or more fun with this site as anybody. He's also not the type to get offended and leave a contentious forum, on the contrary, he relished it.
I'm going to sadly assume we've lost him. Hope he turns up and makes fun of me for being so melodramatic but, well... not sure what to say beyond that.
Wonder if we should just do a compendium of thoughts about our brother. If somebody wants to take point on that I'll join in but I'd rather not do it myself. I've had enough drama this year.
But if nobody else wants to I'll handle it I will I guess.
I'm also fine with holding off for a while. He may be sick and sick people do recover.
Thoughts?-- doctorremulac3, Jun 18 2020 [-] This again.
Assume people who want to be here will be here and people who do not want to be here will not be. That's the extent of it.-- tatterdemalion, Jun 18 2020 I don't want to be here! How do I get out? Everywhere I turn there is a stupid idea, and my only option is typing a supposedly witty or insightful reply into a little box.-- pocmloc, Jun 18 2020 With [MB] gone, my suspicions would immediately point to an unsupervised Sturton. If someone could track down the intercalary for questioning, it might be of some use.-- lurch, Jun 18 2020 Just some observations...
During the learning curve with Covid [8th] seemed to be the info man, perhaps too much info? He caught some flak for that judging from the subsequent annos.
When [kdf] popped up he was openly hostile to [8th], though those annos have now been removed.
Losing [Max] hurt many of us.
Maybe our alien friend is sitting back, rethinking his approach, taking a break from recent events. And if he is, that's fine. But it's worrisome to not know.-- whatrock, Jun 18 2020 All I know is that my favourite teachers seem to be disappearing at an alarming rate.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 19 2020 Well said, fries.-- blissmiss, Jun 19 2020 I disappeared for a while because [grayure] said I should get a life and was spending too long on here. I proceeded to go out and get a job-type thing, which went on for a bit and eventually came back to this place. My absence was somewhat noted. It was in about 2007 I think. Sometimes meatspace intervenes.
But yes, it is a little concerning given the circumstances that [8th] is not here.-- nineteenthly, Jun 19 2020 I am always connected to some folks by Facebook, like nineteenthly. I notice disappearing people though.-- blissmiss, Jun 19 2020 I don't think I know [8th] from elsewhere though [blissmiss]. I would like to know what's going on.-- nineteenthly, Jun 19 2020 //my favourite teachers seem to be disappearing at an alarming rate//
Surely that happens to everyone at a certain time of life. What it means is, you're one of the teachers now.-- pertinax, Jun 20 2020 // What it means is, you're one of the teachers now.//
Well crap... I'm completely unprepared.If we could just rewind the last decade or so that'd be great...
No?...
<heavy sigh>
Allrightythen sign up sheets for underwater basket weaving 101 have officially been posted.May God have mercy on our souls.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 20 2020 //Well crap... I'm completely unprepared.//
I know. It's a bit like parenthood, right? Just think of all those big, round trusting eyes looking up at you, then bursting into tears.-- pertinax, Jun 20 2020 //kind of in-like with you guys//
Umm ... steady on, old chap.
{sniffles}-- pertinax, Jun 20 2020 What, I've got to learn a whole new set of niggle points. That's a bit unfair.-- wjt, Jun 21 2020 Underwater basket weaving is really given short shrift. Do you realize just how many fish have been caught with underwater baskets?-- 4and20, Jun 21 2020 ^ I think I may need technological help to complete.-- wjt, Jun 21 2020 I feel like I've had just about enough death to deal with. Best friend of 39 years, ex wife who remained a dear friend after we divorced, my mom recently. Maybe with all the crap going on in the world it's time to have a little quiet introspective moment and appreciate the life and loved ones we have.
Max and 8th gave me 15 years of great conversation, debate, advice, criticism, humor and views of the world from a different perspective. It's time for me to celebrate that and knock of the negativity associated with loss. I don't have the strength to carry that kind of pain anyway so I'm just going to let it go as best as I can and move on.
I'll celebrate the good memories I have of these people but my heart told me it's tired, so I'm reducing the load it has to carry.
I'm standing up now, dusting my knees off and moving forward. I'm trading my grief for appreciation of the people I've been blessed to have in my life, those still with me and those who have passed.
It's father's day today. Hope I get a tie. Maybe they'll bring me ice cream. And life goes on.-- doctorremulac3, Jun 21 2020 That's the way, doc.
My daughter is studying to be a Death Doula. She and I have always felt that death should be a celebration of life, not an ending...
I think time will tell but my belief is all will be well.
My husband lost both his parents in January. I'm still trying to support his grief, but not take it on. It's his to mourn, really, if that is what he chooses to do.
Have a shoulder, doc, you can cry on it or pinch it. Just don't let those emotions fester inside of you and become an illness. But you are a doc, so you already know that.-- blissmiss, Jun 21 2020 Thank you Blissy, you're kind and wise. People like you shine in times like these.
(By the way, I'm not a real doctor, I just picked that name because it sounded funny.) :)-- doctorremulac3, Jun 21 2020 (It's a Howard Stern thing yes?)-- tatterdemalion, Jun 21 2020 Yup. That’s where I got it. Didn’t put a lot of thought into it because I thought I would post my custard filled speed bumps idea and be on my way. Of course 1,000 people had already thought of it but I found the site intriguing and decided to hang out for a few minutes. That was 15 years ago.
And as I've said, I'm doctorremulac3 because doctorremulac and doctorremulac 1 and 2 were already taken. Guess the Stern show bit was pretty popular.-- doctorremulac3, Jun 21 2020 //“8th” was openly hostile to almost everybody here at one time or another//
Oh please, 8th is a pussycat. All you gotta do is mention any sort of antipathy towards felines or small children, mahogany, or steam powered ANYTHING and he'll be eating out of your hand.-- 21 Quest, Jun 22 2020 //But don’t mistake characters for their authors...//
So, don't you think there's any truth in Vonnegut's famous remark, "Be careful what you pretend to be, because you are what you pretend to be"?-- pertinax, Jun 22 2020 /“8th” was openly hostile to almost everybody here at one time or another/
Part of his charm.-- blissmiss, Jun 22 2020 Absolutely, I got into it with him often, same with Max. Who the hell wants to sit around holding hands singing kumbaya?
I always considered debate as being like the tension cables holding up a suspension bridge, they pull in opposite directions but they're effective towards achieving the same goal. In the case of the bridge, it's holding up the road, in the case of debate, it's critically analyzing the complicated options and choices we're faced with in running a civilization.
Right or wrong, 8th would get into the ring, and although some find that uncomfortable, I consider the crucible of contentious debate a sacred place no matter where it's located. Keep in mind, some cultures don't have that, so I think it's something to be celebrated and cherished. I think it should be voluntary, but from my perspective, if that challenge bell rings, I'm jumping over those ropes and getting into it. 8th had that attitude too.
And 8th could take a (metaphorical) punch as well as he could give it. I respect that.
Of course everything I've just written is debatable. Ironically.-- doctorremulac3, Jun 22 2020 I'll go out on a limb here and guess that he's not dead, Jim, just doing other stuff. Maybe out standing in his field, perhaps critiquing pon farr while laughing but probably repainting the damn Cube.
[8th] will be back.-- whatrock, Jun 22 2020 I misread that as "...perhaps critiquing porn". He's probably taking a break. A few times I've found I had nothing particular to say, and taken breaks of several months from the Halfbakery. I think this happens to a lot of people; It's just more noticeable with those who have a high volume of contributions.-- hippo, Jun 22 2020 I did too. I think it was porn and it was changed. Haha What the hell is "pon farr"?
Yes, breaks give you perspective. Maybe when he comes back he'll be as sweet as a little lamb. Docile, agreeable...
OH HELL NO.
Does anyone else read "the flipside"? it gives an alternative rationale for current issues and makes you think about other people's perspectives if you are unable to figure out that for yourself. (wear a mask/not wear a mask for instance)-- blissmiss, Jun 22 2020 // I'm doctorremulac3 because doctorremulac and doctorremulac 1 and 2 were already taken.
Presume you are talking about other platforms because those usernames are all available here. As is "doctorremulak" which I believe was the accepted spelling.-- tatterdemalion, Jun 23 2020 God, it's like you all have this secret language. I feel left out. Does anyone know "Pig Latin"? That would suffice.-- blissmiss, Jun 23 2020 //Presume you are talking about other platforms//
Yes, I signed up for Halfbakery at the same time as I signed up for, I think it was an old defunct email address I used to have as well as my Macy's account, etc. If the Howard Stern show I listened to that day featured a character named Captain Buttface that would have been my name to this day. Got a little luckier with Doctor Remulak being the guest that day I guess.
And yes, the Howard Stern guy spells it with a K.
In case anybody is interested, here's a link to the bit. (link)-- doctorremulac3, Jun 23 2020 You would have made a great Captain Buttface if it's any consolation.-- tatterdemalion, Jun 23 2020 Pon Farr is the most ridiculous idea ever to grace SF, [blissmiss]. It's the idea that male Vulcans come on heat every few years and if they don't have sex, they die, which makes no sense at all from the point of view of passing on their genes (except maybe it does). But it's annoying.-- nineteenthly, Jun 23 2020 //it's like you all have this secret language//
"The secret is, there is no secret". That was told me by a Russian at the end of the Cold War, apropos the closed cities of the Soviet Union. It probably applies here, too.-- pertinax, Jun 23 2020 Very zen. I love it.-- blissmiss, Jun 23 2020 //"The secret is, there is no secret".//
[marked-for-tagline]
also"The halves and halve-knots"...because that just popped into my head while I was typing.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 23 2020 random, halfbakery