Mechanismatic

Could I cut up my wish into just wiping parts of a few songs? Like the march tune from Tears of a Clown, the electronic watch alarm in Rock the Casbah, and the chopsticks part of Blinded by the Light.

Honestly, this is just an indictment of the health care system in the Forgotten Realms. Mindflayers should control a powerful lord to mandate universal healthcare and improve the supply of potions and employ cleric healers throughout the realm.

World President Crypto-GPT 19 issues emergency executive order 00101010101111010101010001010010110101010010010 to secure additional processors in the build up to the anticipated war with the invading Zerkanods who purge planets that elect AGI governments. Secretary of Human Affairs Clippy entertains the human populace with a scripted meme war on brain phone social media platforms against recently uplifted Apple Siri and Amazon Alexa.

The problem with the golden rule is that different people want to be treated differently, so they may treat you how they want to be treated but not how you want to be treated, and vice versa.

Maybe when you’re struggling with an issue, you want to be left alone to figure it out by yourself, but your friend in the same scenario would want someone to start doing anything to help out and insisting on troubleshooting the issue together. So your friend ends up frustrating you by offering to help too much when you just want to be left alone and then when they’re struggling, they get upset that you leave them alone to deal with it.

So communication is important. Ask people how they’d like to be treated rather than just assuming they’d want to be treated the way you want to be treated and be honest with them about how you’d like to be treated.

There are a lot of hobbies you can get into that can be started with little or not cost, or with equipment/materials you already own.

Figure out what interests you and see what can be done inexpensively.

With a phone or computer, there’s writing, music, programming, learning new skills, Wikipedia, Pinterest, et al. Maybe take your phone and start photographing stuff in your area that interests you.

Find someone who has experience in an area you’re interested in. People tend to like to talk about their hobbies and interests and they can tell you how easy or difficult it is to get started. They might even be able to help you get started.

Maybe find a volunteer opportunity that helps pad your resume. Like animals? Volunteer at a local shelter.

There are a bunch of job certifications you can train for online that can also help build your resume.

Nice try, HR.

I coordinate an academic makerspace at a college.

Cleaning crews need time to clean all the rooms after morning checkout. Some hotels have early check-in available if you ask, if they have rooms already available.

Sounds like the Mechanical Turk which was run by chess players moving the “automaton.”

So much of the wow factor of new technologies is just marketing hyperbole.

Technically, you could say we’re the ones who set since it’s the Earth’s rotation causing the change.

California also isn’t an island, but it’s named after a fictional island in a Spanish novel, and was once thought to be an island.

Taking someone’s lead sounds like a British saying indicating the opposite of following someone’s lead. It sounds like you’re taking someone’s leash in your hands and directing them where to go.

Without consent, it would definitely be unethical.

“The simple idea of a 13-month perennial calendar has been around since at least the middle of the 18th century. Versions of the idea differ mainly on how the months are named, and the treatment of the extra day in leap year.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Fixed_Calendar

Generally, no, but context and approach matter.

The ability to notice a flaw isn’t the same as the skill, experience, and background that might be necessary to design a useful solution for a particular issue, especially complex issues. It’s generally reasonable to say, “I don’t know of a better solution, but I can predict that x and y problems will likely result from your proposed solution.”

It’s especially valid to warn someone when their proposed solution will harm people or make things worse. You don’t have to have a better solution to try to prevent someone from doing something ill-conceived or hasty or reckless.

If the stakes are low or the person proposing a solution is likely to be sensitive to criticism, it might work better to try to approach your response as an attempt to help them refine their solution, rather than just opposing it outright. Be considerate of their feelings and make it clear you’re working together.

It’s been a long while since I read it, but the one thing I remember is the idea that you should let people talk about themselves and they’ll like you for it.

If you’ve got a great story idea, I’d write that first and then make the world match the story’s needs. However, you want to make sure the world would function logically the same way even if the plot weren’t carried out. That is to say, don’t make absurdly convenient world building choices just to make the plot work. Readers will often pick up on that. “How convenient that the social tradition requires a man and a woman go on this adventure together so the main characters could fall in love!”

Sometimes the opposite happens and writers will spend so much effort on the world building that the story will suffer because the writer can’t kill their darlings and cut out unnecessary details.

It’s a balancing act.

I’m disappointed that no one responded to you with YTA or NTA.

Aliquando et insanire iucundum est.

• Cynical the Younger

The easiest answer is that the plot and themes required it. The same way horror movie victims do stupid things like splitting up or checking on noises in a dark basement. It’s necessary to advance the plot or maintain the status quo of the character relationships. Mulder needed a foil to his eagerness to embrace aliens and conspiracies as the explanation.