today's rant: hanging out

Is hanging yourself the new celebrity fad?  First bag lady Kate Spade, then celeb chef Anthony Bourdain, both in the same week.  Why don’t celebrities that really deserve it hang themselves, like news media whore Nancy Grace, or really-aspiring sperm donor Harvey Weinstein, or businessman-turned-reality TV star Donald Trump?

OK, yes, rich successful people can be depressed.  Part of the problem is chemical or hormonal, which can lead to mental.  As much as I despise drugs, I am willing to hear the argument for medicinal marijuana.  I haven’t been willing before because of the credibility of the people trying to explain it to me.  Honestly, hearing the argument for medicinal marijuana from a stoner is like being recommended Adderall by a speed-freak or being recommended ephedra from a tweaking meth-head.  I’m still against recreational use, though.  The shit stinks like hell.

How in the hell have male SNL cast members hooked up with the likes of Scarlet Johannsen and Ariana Grande?  Does the “he makes me laugh” thing actually work?!  Damn.  In the end, good for you.  Don’t fuck it up.

I want a new phone.  I currently have an iPhone 6.  Like other phones of this model, the battery’s capacity is starting to crap out.  In addition, the ear piece part of the phone is barely audible, no matter how high I turn up the volume.  I can only hear clearly through speakerphone or my earbuds.  It’s about 3 1/3 years old, so way past the warranty and AppleCare expiration.  If it was just the battery, I’d get it replaced and be done with it.  However, since the “phone” part of the iPhone is not functioning completely, and the do-it-yourself repair is too complex for me to want to try, I’m just going to get a new phone.  I want a refurbished iPhone 7, and I haven’t decided on AppleCare or an AT&T insurance plan.  Goddamnit, it sucks that these things are intentionally engineered to crap out and have a short lifespan.  Why do you think Apple’s stock price is so high?  It is because people have to buy a new $1000 phone every 2-3 years.  Same thing goes for tablet computers.  I don’t like that bullshit.  I built a custom PC all by my lonesome as a college graduation present to myself.  That was 11 years ago, and I still use the fucking thing.  The only things I’ve changed on it are the RAM and the operating system.  I was forced to install Windows 7 because Microsoft stopped supporting XP Pro with updates.  Once again, a scheme to force consumers to buy upgrades.  There is a lot of money to be made for companies by creating a bullshit problem and selling a bullshit solution.