I’m putting our little play farm together and then I’ll be doing machining again. Have a potential contract for remote work that would be real nice. Otherwise, I’m going to have to go work in a shop for a little while and save up so I can build my own shop.

Luckily, I pass as a standard machinist good 'ol boy. Just have to keep my mouth shut and let them assume.

I’ve always heard and seen good things from Hurcos but have never ran one. I’m hoping to find a nice old Fadal mill and maybe an Okuma lathe here in the rust belt.

Jeebus. Trans machinist in Georgia? That’s a hard row to hoe there, hun. I ran a shop during 2020 and about half my crew was black. The political insanity ripped it apart.

Born and raised in Alabama, we moved to a northern state this summer. You need to think hard about getting out. We are not registered as Dems, but instead independent. Probably going to remove face pics from fet. Don’t fly a pride flag. Figure if you’re white, you’ll be okay for a while. Probably be a while before they come after LGTBQ. Maybe things get better, IDK.

Keep your head down and your powder dry.

Our family motto is: Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.

The movie starred David Bowie’s cock, David Bowie was just a supporting actor.

Found this but I don’t know how credible it is. From around the same time.

Article says numbers written, title says branded.

It’s not good, nothing about this is. However, I’m not seeing actual hot branding to foreheads.

https://www.democracynow.org/2024/11/1/headlines/israeli_forces_detain_beat_and_brand_palestinians_after_deadly_west_bank_raid

Upvoted even though your comment created intense loathing and a little rage within me.

Looks like Ruger is not a part of this other than them buying Marlin who did it back in the day.

We’re in a purple state now. Best we could do. Started saving and planning during COVID when we saw friends and family go down the rabbit hole.

We looked at Canadian citizenship but it was to expensive. We’re pretty much resigned to riding it out here, nothing else we can do.

Are you me? We moved from the deep South, in large part, because our daughter is queer and things got so nutty.

I’d watch the fuck out of that.

Like, no. All sorts of carbide bits, including drill bits.

Lot of tungsten producers and recyclers in the US, kennemetal for instance. They would be happy to come get that cube, might have to crack it into smaller pieces.

My presentation had the Russian video where the kid gets wrapped up around a bar. Also had the pictures from where the guy got wrapped around a chuck and there is an eyeball sitting on top of the pile.

Gimme some beef curtains, gimme some Homer Simpson lips (Simps). They’re all lovely in their own way. I’m just a bulldog eating chili.

The manual lathe is the most dangerous piece of equipment in a shop in terms of fatalities. They cannot be made ‘safe’. You can only train people how to use them safely and not put idiots on them.

I’ve seen the chuck key of shame used and support its use. My rule was one chuck key fuckup, second offense, immediate termination.

I used to have a safety presentation on lathes. It was called, “The Happy Fun Lathe Safety Presentation.” Kittens and puppies on the title and chock full of gore.

SPEAK UP, F**ET! FADDER CAN’T HEAR YOU!

Spacedicks was a terrible place full of terrible people, but I still feel like something has been lost.

Nah, don’t lump farmers and such into this, please. Cows and bulls, hens and roosters, nannys and billys, sows and boars. There are also words for modified gender/castration similar to agender: steer, stoat, gelding, bellwether.

I might die if I couldn’t cuss while working. I’d just fucking explode.

I cuss during job interviews, both as the interviewer and applicant.

Thank you for bringing this up. Anytime this fuckwit is allowed back in the public eye, this should be right at the top to help invalidate the shit he spews.

Shh. Only dreams now.

Day late. Was totally wiped yesterday and took a down day with the girl on the couch.

… When people, who have unalterable traits, tell you that they do not appreciate being stereotyped, having certain words used to describe them or people like them, or erroneously lumped in as the same as them, in certain contexts and ways… the decent thing to do is just listen to them and not demand an explanation why they find such things offensive.

I wouldn’t quite say I’m demanding an explanation. I would hope you see it as having a discussion with a typical who is genuinely trying to understand and is willing to modify behaviors if they are problematic. I was raised in profound ignorance by religious fundamentalists in the deep south. Sprinkle in racism and pretty much all the other “isms”. I’ve worked very hard to make my way out that ignorance. Asking lots of questions has served me well. I feel like that open questioning and willingness to try and learn is part of the reason I tend to get along so well with people on the spectrum as well as making my way out.

I also have a whole heap of monkey curiosity. Figure it’s a good thing. Want to know and learn about other’s cultures, experiences, and mental states. In no way am I trying to be aversive in this conversation, you just seemed to be willing to talk and I’m satisfying that curiosity. I like different people. Please don’t feel like I’m demanding your time or attention. If you need to tell me to fuck off, that’s cool, won’t hurt my feelings. If you need to space out your responses, I don’t need an immediate reply, take as long as you want.

I do not mean to be offensive, but you describe neurodiverse people in a… typical way that a genuinely well intentioned neurotypical person who has actually gone out of their way to learn about and personally knows neurodiverse people would.

Yup. Glad you see it that way. My wife and I are heavily involved in the BDSM community and are poly. I don’t know what it is, but you can’t throw a stick without hitting a neurodiverse person within our subculture. Neurodiverse individuals are far more common than in the general population. At a guess, 25%; certainly greater than 10% but less than half. It is common for neurodiverse folks to be in positions of leadership or longstanding respected members of the community. Another commonality among neurodiverse folks that I’ve noticed is that they are far more likely to be bi or some sort of trans.

… I am apparently quite an oddity in that I am a high functioning autistic person. I don’t like to use the term ‘savant’ because it connotes that I am some kind of super genius. I’m not a super genius.

I’ve actually known quite a few high functioning autistic people. Wife is some sort of neurodiverse, our former partner was high functioning autistic. Anyhow, savant or savant-like behaviors. Yeah, it’s not a great term. But, you know what I mean. It’s totally a thing. As a typical, I’m unable to make those leaps and do find it endlessly fascinating. Y’all’s brains are working on a different wavelength, and aren’t even on the same wavelength as each other. In this instance, we are looking at someone who is sorting pseudo random text into genetic code and then finding a genetic match. That’s a wonderfully weird thing to do. My questions about ‘Why’ would they do that are rhetorical. Those behaviors, even as a hobby, would never occur to me in a million years.

I suppose that’s what I’m really trying to ask. You’ll see the term ‘autist’ used as an explanation, ‘neuro’ in this case. You, and other autistic people, can find this offensive, and rightfully so. Is there an inoffensive term for these behaviors?

In private playful conversations with my wife, it’s not uncommon for me to call her a “fucking autist” or call her actions ‘autistic.’ This might also occur among close friends. It’s absolutely a slur. I would never, ever, do so publicly. Note that she calls me ‘old man’, calls me ‘bald’ or makes fun of my baldness, makes fun of my ileostomy, makes fun of my accent and so on. We use slurs, in play, for each other all the time. Publicly, it’s very common that I’m the butt of the group jokes because it’s obvious that it doesn’t bother me and I’m an easy and willing target for that sort of humor. (Average height/weight cis-het appearing, bald, white guy with a great beard/moustache and a southern accent.) I have a gruff demeanor so it’s a lot of fun for people to poke at me, especially neurodiverse folks, as they know that I’m a safe target by example from my wife and friends. (Think Jaimie from Mythbusters.)

That’s a whole other thing that happens to me with the neurodiverse. The pure fucking joy they get from playfully picking on me is something else. It’s apparently quite a thrill. Very timid about calling me bald, old, or whatever at first. My wife or friends are usually the ringleaders. I guess it feels subversive or something? I just growl, grumble or frown back with the very timid.

My wife and I have a lot of back-and-forth with this sort of thing. Our relationship is very kinky and this is how we flirt. She initiates by picking on me, gets in ‘trouble’, I put her in her place or give her a swat and a kiss. I initiate by picking on her or giving her a swat, she pouts about how I don’t love her or how mean I am, and I kiss her better. She wants that tingle of fear and then the comfort. Note, we’ve never had a real raised voice argument. We communicate very well. Real relationship issues are handled in an adult manner through discussion including cooling off, if needed. This is our relationship and communication style, it has grown organically between us and isn’t a one-size-fits-all.

With the other neurodiverse folks I’ve been close to, including our former autistic partner, I’ve basically found that we create almost our own dialect between us. I feel like, as a typical, that I have some gifts in being able to communicate and modify my communication style to theirs. I enjoy it and don’t mind stretching myself to their preferred communication style and level of comfort.

… People just enjoy doing things. Sure, some are more niche and rare than others… but why is there even a question as to why someone has some specific hobby as opposed to another?

… Why does an uncommon hobby warrant explanation?

… How can there be an explanation beyond ‘I find it entertaining or fulfilling or enjoyable?’

So, there are hurtful slurs that describe a common behavior among neurodiverse folks. When trying to be inoffensive, I’ve called it savant or savant-like behavior. It’s the sort of behavior that a typical would almost certainly never engage in. As a typical, when it’s pointed out that the person that engages in the behavior is neurodiverse, it’s an ‘aha’ moment often mixed with humor. It would be nice if it had an inoffensive label.

Sorry for your loss. FWIW, pipe smoke isn’t inhaled and has much lower cancer rates than cigarette smoking. It’s lower risk, not no risk.