Trusty old laptop finally cacked, so I'm setting up a replacement with a fresh Windows install for the firs t time this decade.

GOD DAMN, I can't believe how hard the Microsoft and Google plantations work to keep you locked in!!!

• Just the initial setup of Windows DEMANDS that you use a microsoft account; I had to use my phone to look up how to bypass this

• SO many apps that "phone home" to keep big tech prying eyes on you auto-install, which you then have to manually hunt down and uninstall

• FML, the act of just trying to watch videos on Youtube using the MS Edge browser, is positively maddening! The ads are SO FUCKING RETARDED and obnoxious. To someone not exposed to them constantly for years, it's very obvious how they've evolved to try to catch and maintain the attention of the latest generation of users who are jaded from the constant barrage. SO many times, I shout, "What the FUCK was THAT???"

• Trying to download alternate browsers meets with deliberate system blockading. Both Firefox and LibreWolf downloaded glacially slowly, with the latter download obviously throttled to show a time of DAYS before download completes.

• After a couple of failed tries, got the firefox installer to load. Attempting to run it, what should take minutes plods along slowly before eventually just stopping dead. I'm on like the sixth run attempt. After well over an hour, the progress bar is sitting at around 20%.

*Librewolf download failed numerous times, and had to get manually restarted repeatedly. I FINALLY got it to complete, only for the system to refuse to open it. It gives a message that "[File] is not commonly downloaded so make sure you trust it before opening." Only to not give any option to open it, just a fake "keep" option that does nothing. Probably have to run it from File Explorer, not the downloads tab of Edge.

• Trying to log in to websites like Yahoo Mail and Youtube, I find they all developed amnesia of the passwords I know damn well I used, necessitating "account recovery" procedures that freshly tie the account to my email and cell phone number.

They are pushing me SO SO HARD to say FUCK ALL THIS and finally make the leap to Linux!!

@lmhaaaydi At 16, everyone is on a learning curve for "adult" activities including dating. For this reason, don't get too worked up and concerned about trying to make everything meet some arbitrary standard of perfect , from your conversation to externalities like the ambience of the places the date happens. What REALLY matters is you remaining present in the moment, not anxious inside your head. This helps you feel and therefore act relaxed and natural, without having to consciously try to.

Good dates often involve a change of venue at some point, rather than staying one place the whole time. Dinner dates are common, but 2 disadvantages: it puts you in a "provider " role right off the bat, and a big meal makes it likely neither of you will feel frisky afterwards. So, save big Dinner dates for when you're older and more established, and in relationships where going home to sleep off a big meal and get frisky another time makes a natural and sensible option. Movie dates are not great for first dates as you can't engage and interact with each other.

What worked well for me when I was hitting a stride on online dating sites, was a very light meal, then a walk in a nice park or nature trail. Good for getting acquainted without pressure or a big obligation, easy to unravel early if you don't match well, or extend if you do.

Especially when you're young, don't take a woman somewhere isolated, fear and anxiety are not good rapport builders. A place where other couples are always in sight works good for this.

Good luck to you! My well meaning Mom had only terrible outdated advice when I started dating so I didn't hit a stride till well into my 20s.

Update to this story. I returned to the scene of the fire, and found the property was occupied by a VERY old man who is not in good shape at his best. He indicated that he is "Indian" of Central American origin. Conversation was very difficult, as he'd ramble off-topic and not remember or describe events in a linear and coherent manner. Anyway, the best I can put together what happened from what all he said to me:

There was a litter of 10 puppies, of which 6 survived to weaning age

Something about making coffee, and a "butane" cylinder with a bad connection.

He has no phone, and is in no shape to have alerted the nearest neighbors in a timely manner 1/2 mile and more away. He referred to the neighbors as "Christians" though in a tone suggesting their history with him was neither loving nor charitable.

His beloved dog he had a long time, probably the Mama dog, who would wait for him on his bed; apparently perished

I spotted one puppy obviously from the same litter. It had burned paws and burns elsewhere including his head, but he was moving around actively and looks like he'll recover fine.

The car was a completely burned out husk with shards of windshield glass on top of everything inside.

Kneeling down, the car was much lower with all the tires flat, and I could see the fur of the puppy I couldn't pull out, way underneath. I might take a jack over there to try to get it out for a proper burial.

It wasn't clear that it registered fully with him that I was there during the fire, and that I had saved two of the puppies. I'm going to bring one so he can see it still alive. A neighbor has committed to adopt one already.

At night there was fire EVERYWHERE, making it seem like the property was much bigger. By the light of day, there was surprisingly little to see, not even piles of ashes to match all the burning shit around that night.

The poor old chap can barely take care of himself it seems. At least he has the one puppy as a companion, but I don't see him as capable of caring for more pets so giving the one back really isn't under consideration.

As my beloved Granddad said numerous times during his last years, "Getting old sucks!"

@Typo-MAGAshiv

that would not have been spontaneous combustion

Actually, yes it would, as opposed to combustion initiated by contact with the flames themselves. The technical term would be flashover, which incidentally sets up the conditions for a backdraft by superheating combustibles well above ignition temperature so a sudden increase in available oxygen causes a runaway burning event.

Flashover was poorly understood in fire science even 25 years ago. I remember reading an in depth article about the phenomenon getting recognized and slowly propagated from fire labs to arson investigators. It talked about people languishing in jail insisting on their innocence, but charged with arson and manslaughter because investigators assumed the evidence showed multiple origin points and considered this prima facie evidence of deliberate setting. It finally got recognized that the radiant and air heat within a confined space could result in the fire "jumping" to flash ignite objects, leaving unburned materials between the original fire and these. Imagine losing your family and property to a tragic fire, then getting accused of and jailed for starting it?

@SeasonedRP I already have an optimal number of ranch dogs thus had no plans to keep them permanently; good news, one of my neighbors is already committed to adopting one.

I've tried to get my three dogs to interact with the puppies to help socialize them, but the inter-dog dynamics have made this challenging and attention-intensive.

I have my main dog Radar, so named because he was a stray rescued from the grounds of a major airport. Then there are Duke (Huge Dane) and Mama (spazzy German Shepherd), who I took in after they got abandoned by a pot farming operation that got burgled and cleaned out. Mama had newborn puppies at the time, which i rehomed once they were old enough; Mama and Duke have long since gotten spayed/neutered

Duke actually recognizes the significantly smaller Radar as "top dog" on the ranch in my eyes; Radar however is insecure about his position and always gets into growling matches toward Duke who puts up with his shit with a surprising amount of forbearance. It's uncannily like the dynamics between guys in a bar.

Radar hasn't been particularly welcoming toward the puppies, growling at them. Duke has taken a protective role toward them, so he gets between Radar and the puppies with both of them growling at each other which intimidates the puppies who are trying to interact. Mama makes playful gestures toward the puppies, which scares them into retreat, and brings Duke over to check her; this prevents play from developing further.

It's taken a lot of work to de-escalate the tensions between the two males; Duke is picking up on the message that the puppies don't need such intensive guarding faster than Radar is getting that the puppies are welcome guests on "His" territory.

Using Applied Social Dynamics on a group of canines wasn't on my 2025 bingo card, but here I am.