Crack Stuntman had this idea years ago

Ending a game of Munchkin is almost impossible to do without upsetting the rest of the players. If you felt bad, that’s fair, but what you described is very much in the spirit of the game.

That’s totally on them for ignoring you. Sounds like getting knocked down a peg might have been good for that guy.

Related, Settlers is one of the two games that are banned at my family gatherings.

The Monopoly house thing is a bit of a dick move, but I wouldn’t feel bad about the Civ one–that seems legit.

Back when Words With Friends was big, I developed a reputation among my friend groups for being very good. I wasn’t terribly good, but I noticed there was no penalty for misspelling a word. So each turn, I’d try a bunch of high-scoring combinations that seemed like they might be words, and eventually one would work.

My family plays heavyweight games, and enjoy strategy (whether it’s a “strategic” game or not). We mostly get along well (though we’ve had to ban a couple games that got too heated too often), but we’re quite competitive and we put a lot of thought into games when we play.

My wife’s family is the polar opposite. They seem to enjoy passing cards or pieces around without much reason or goal (they often play pure-luck games). The first time I sat down to a game of Rummykub with them, I won the first three games in a row, and it wasn’t close. Fortunately I had the sense to pull back a bit, but then it was super boring. Finally I gave myself a new goal–each game, I mentally chose another player at the table and would subtly play to see if I could get them to win. I had about a 3/4 success rate on that, and the whole experience was more enjoyable for everyone.

How is it that technology has gone backwards in this area?

The Brave Little Toaster. It’s a bit endearing until the LSD trip goes bad.

Math! Also, noise!

There are algorithms (a set of math steps) that make pseudo-random numbers. These usually involve large prime numbers, because those usually generate fewer repeating patterns.

A truly random number generator is similar to rolling dice: you use some source of randomness and convert it to a number. All electric circuits produce “noise” (which is often received radio waves and such that interfere with the circuits). Think of tuning a radio to a channel with nothing on it–you get “white noise”, which can be a good source of random information. Then all you need to do is convert that to a range of numbers, and you’re good to go.

These are fairly simplified explanations, so take them with a grain of salt, but they give the general idea.

I’ll echo the “see a therapist if it’s feasible” recommendations. Here’s another possibility:

We all have a worldview, and that includes our own understanding of who we are. One of the possible reasons for self-sabotage is when we believe ourselves to be a certain way (or that we do/don’t deserve something), we tend to self correct for any anomalies, whether good or bad. That is, if I was treated poorly as a child, or otherwise lacked the love and support that children need, I might believe myself to be unlovable and “correct” anything that contradicts that understanding (such as someone showing interest in me).

It could be that, or any number of other things. I’ll echo another recommendation: take note of your emotions when you’re in those situations (you might even be able to feel them when you imagine a situation like you described). What do you feel?

The real question: is it better or worse than Oreo Coke?

Probably sleep late, then spend some quiet afternoons digging through the wreckage for a can of something that doesn’t seem too radioactive. Maybe get into painting or something.

About 15 years ago, my dad was doing some work on a manufacturing line and needed some technical drawings done (schematics, wiring diagrams, and panel layouts). I was just starting college, but had learned Autocad in high school, so he hired me to make them.

It paid well, and me being relatively inexperienced, I went the extra mile to make them clear, readable, and easy to work with. I think I did several dozen pages of drawings.

Just this year, my dad was chatting with someone from that plant about something unrelated. The person asked how I was doing, and said those drawings were still the best ones anyone had done for them. Felt pretty good.

If you’re browsing for torrents without a serious adblocker… why?

But what’s the statue made of?

I have a feeling that the political use of it will die out after the election, for what that’s worth. And I don’t think it will seriously impact the “Keep ______ Weird” trend, because they are celebrating weirdness (whereas the Republicans are trying to claim they’re not).

No, the other answers explain why.

Tilt your head 90 degrees to one side. Bam! Now it flips up and down.

This is the legalese equivalent of “people-who-owe-me-half-a-million-dollars-say-what.”