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6 hours ago, vampyrvem said:

haha and thankyou for the luck!  I will be working in Forensics. Basically our clients have been in the prison system for a long time and OT will help them reintegrate into back into society.  What we dont want to see is recidivism. I hope to be that glimmer of hope for them to get back to normalcy. I already met them last thursday and they were very nice and welcoming to me. 

I have worked in MH across various settings as a healthcare assistant, mostly in Dementia care but done a few shifts on Acute also.  In a previous life I managed a temporary staffing service for nearly 12 years at a MH Trust here in England so got to understand most of the services well.  I think you'll do great in your new job, best of luck. 

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3 hours ago, Thatguy said:

Or trucks

No worries mate, we can make this the truck porn thread Doc old buddy. Yes I can see you down there rolling your eyes.  C'mon, at least admit that there are days when you're stuck in the office poppin' pimples and your old lady is texting you stupid questions that you gaze out the window and long for the open road?

2008 International LoneStar semi tractor truck transport f wallpaper |  2048x1536 | 107958 | WallpaperUP

International Trucks | Current Models of International Semi-Trucks

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Truck porn has less exhaust fumes than cop26 discussions!

When I look out my window all I can see is trees, grass, barbed wire fences and cows, and I long for the open road.

I'm going to have a look at a '77 F-100 today. It's a burnt out shell that didn't survive the '09 bushfires, the 351 Cleveland was out of it at the time and apparently still runs. The old guy that owned it died recently and his family just wants it gone from the property. It will need a lot of work and I'm not sure I have the time or inclination but it doesn't hurt to look.

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8 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

No worries mate, we can make this the truck porn thread Doc old buddy. Yes I can see you down there rolling your eyes.  C'mon, at least admit that there are days when you're stuck in the office poppin' pimples and your old lady is texting you stupid questions that you gaze out the window and long for the open road?

2008 International LoneStar semi tractor truck transport f wallpaper |  2048x1536 | 107958 | WallpaperUP

International Trucks | Current Models of International Semi-Trucks

That is a beautiful truck. And I say that as a man who has no interest in trucks.

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23 hours ago, Dead1 said:

Goatmaster General knows a Megadeth song and especially one from their later more commercially successful period?!?

 

jaw_drop.jpg

 

 

So what do you think, I live in some secret deep dank dark black metal bunker miles underground and I've been down here cut off from all forms of civilization and completely ignorant of popular music for the last 50 years? That question was rhetorical obviously, not to mention tongue in cheek, but I suppose the real question would be what do you think I was listening to 30 years ago?

Countdown, the follow up to the overrated but very successful and much heralded Rust in Peace, came out in July of 1992. My daughter had just turned 2, I was a month shy of my 31st birthday, and my 1st wife and I had split up 18 months prior. At that time in my life '91/'92 I was pretty busy, being a working single dad you could even say my life then was hectic. I didn't have much time for late night metal club shows which in NY back then typically the first band would go on around 10 or 11pm and the headlining band played until 3am. Didn't have as much free time for record store runs either at that point as the one specialty "metal" record store we knew of on the Island (Slipped Disc in Valley Stream) was 45 minutes away (often took longer in traffic) just far enough to make it a real pain in the ass to go because we needed to set aside half a day for the trip so it had to be done on a day off when I had someone to watch the baby. And then also right around that same early 90's time period it suddenly became difficult to find a lot of new releases on vinyl. Seemed to me like the record industry was trying to force everyone to switch over to their relatively new CD format (or just keep buying shitty old semi-disposable cassettes) and as an avid collector of vinyl records for many years I was not having any of it. So the end result was I cut way down on how much music I had previously been used to buying.

So what all this back story adds up to is that due to outside factors I did not really notice when death metal and 2nd wave black metal sprang into being or when the metal world basically divided into two separate factions, the mainstream and the underground. Up until that point heavy metal had always been heavy metal, and the only division in the ranks most of us headbangers were aware of was between thrash and what we thought were the heavier more aggressive forms of heavy metal and hardcore on the one side vs the "poseurs" with their lightweight glam/hair/sleaze/cock rock and power ballads on the other.

But all throughout the 80's "heavy metal" which included basically everything from Slayer, Sepultura, Celtic Frost, Candlemass, Metallica, Megadeth, Motorhead, Mercyful Fate to Priest, Maiden, GnR, Scorpions, Riot, and poppier stuff like Cinderella, Twisted Sister, Dokken, and Def Leppard...had all been marketed to the mainstream. Heavy metal in the 80's was for the most part readily available, well known and above ground if you will. I was already heavily into classic heavy metal and then thrash and crossover by the mid 80's. But then in the early 90's I also started getting into newer bands like Alice in Chains, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Type O Negative, Godsmack and Monster Magnet. And that's because the truth is I had no fucking idea back in 1992 that anything like Norwegian black metal or Floridan/Swedish death metal even existed. Metal had gone underground and no one bothered to tell me. Guess I must have missed the memo. 

So of course I know about Megadeth songs ya dickhead. They weren't ever one of my unfuckwithable top tier favorite bands like Overkill or Celtic Frost or Motorhead, but still I did have all their albums in regular rotation up until Youthanasia in '94 which I guess is where I lost interest. I did think Dave was a major fucking dick because the one time I went to see them play live in a small local club called Sundance in '88 they had to cut the show short because he was drunk as shit and/or probably fucked up on drugs. He was quite beligerent, half out of his mind babbling nonsense wanting to fight everyone and he was barely able to stand up on stage and hold his guitar without falling over much less be able to play and sing. It's no wonder Metallica shit canned him. But despite that bad experience I still played their albums well into the 90's.

So in conclusion, yes Deadly Do-Right, believe it or not I was a mainstream metaller through and through all throughout the 70's 80's and 90's. And even up until the early 2000's when I was just a little older than you are now. That's when the internet came along and I finally figured out how to find all the good shit I had been missing. In light of my proclivities towards extreme metal I have sort of let go of certain bands from my past over these last 20 years that just don't do it for me anymore the way they used to. And Megadeth is deffo one of those bands. But I don't hate them or anything, not gonna say they're shit, I just seldom find myself wanting to listen to those old records anymore and I've never had any desire to check out the newer ones. My spin of Countdown last night was probably the first time I'd played it in over a decade. Thing is when I do get struck with the occasional urge to hear some MegaDave it's usually gonna be Peace Sells 9 times out of 10, that's my favorite of theirs and by far their best effort imho. That Captive Honour's a pretty good tune though.

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11 hours ago, KillaKukumba said:

You only get $1 an hour extra to work on a holiday?

Shit employers in this country would love that, most here pay a minimum of time and a half, some pay as high as double time plus an extra day off for working holidays.

Unless you are on a salary with no set hours in which case you get nothing.

 

Happened to me in my second job (junior in a stockbroking firm) - I had to work all state public holidays without extra pay  Only got Commonwealth holidays though sometimes required to work them too.

Theu had initially reduced the salary when I accepted the job too 

Also no overtime and I found out later they screwed me on salary by fudging the statement of duties.

I could literally work 80 hoirs a week and still paid same as if I had worked 40 

After that and my first job which was just as exploitative I decided capitalists are bad people and Lenin and Stalin were right to shove them in gulags.

 

I don't ever do overtime anymore.

 

----

Goatmaster General, so my mind is blown.  For some reason I thought the last mainstream album you got into was Kill Em All when it came out!

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There is always exceptions to every rule. Salary workers get other benefits those who don't get overtime do, that's why they get a package. It's the same as those who have EBA's, but the basic premise of my statement remains, people here don't work on a holiday for $1 an hour extra.

 

10 hours ago, GoatmasterGeneral said:

 I did think Dave was a major fucking dick because the one time I went to see them play live in a small local club called Sundance in '88 they had to cut the show short because he was drunk as shit and/or probably fucked up on drugs. He was quite beligerent, half out of his mind babbling nonsense wanting to fight everyone and he was barely able to stand up on stage and hold his guitar without falling over much less be able to play and sing. It's no wonder Metallica shit canned him. But despite that bad experience I still played their albums well into the 90's.

 

When they toured Oz for RIP Dave was pretty much the same, but he was also Mr. Quick Change. I don't think he was completely wasted when he came on stage but he wasn't in great shape. We didn't get to see him face to face before the gig but we heard his presence everywhere back stage when he was there, he was yelling and demanding all sorts of shit, half of it we couldn't even understand. By the time 'deth hit the stage he seemed angry and didn't speak too much but when he did he was almost spitting every word. Then about half way through the gig as the bouncers tried to pull a guy in a wheel chair out of the pit Dave became all caring and concerned. He stopped the song, started calling for people to help, cheered on those who did, then told the bouncers to let the guy back stage, it was a real Jekyll and Hyde performance.

 

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21 hours ago, KillaKukumba said:

You only get $1 an hour extra to work on a holiday?

Shit employers in this country would love that, most here pay a minimum of time and a half, some pay as high as double time plus an extra day off for working holidays.

Yeah but I already get paid way more than I'm technically worth because Mickey D's was hard up for employees. I started off making $12/hr (the same I was making to install windows and sliding glass doors) despite knowing NOTHING about the job. A few days ago, I had a performance review a month earlier than I was supposed to get one and got a $0.25 raise, which yeah it's not much, only an additional $2 per day, but still, that's an additional $10 a week, $40 a month, you get the picture.

Mickey D's pays surprisingly well. When I was working at Culver's for three years, I never even broke $10/hr and did way more work because everything was cook to order. Now I'm basically just taking orders on the drive thru and barista-ing (I make all the McCafe items and there are a lot) and getting $12.25 an hour for it. So I'll take the extra $8 for working the holiday and I lucked out and got my Friday schedule shifted to 6am-2pm, which is good because I have to work at 4am-12pm the following day so it gives me a little more time to do laundry and eat dinner when I get home instead of just going straight to bed.


 

 

10 hours ago, Dead1 said:

After that and my first job which was just as exploitative I decided capitalists are bad people and Lenin and Stalin were right to shove them in gulags.

I don't hate all capitalists. I guess I am a capitalist because I am trying to build a small business as a vinyl distributor, but I get the point that most capitalists suck... but then again, most communists suck exponentially worse, as they just kill you for getting in the way/opposing their ideology whereas capitalists literally don't give a shit about you and will leave you to die if you can't provide any value to them (in addition to paying you less than the value you add with your labor. For instance, if I make $20 an hour for McDonald's, they will only pay me $12.25 instead of the $20 I'm actually bringing in for them).

They both suck and not to get into a big thing here, but David Graeber had a great quote that I really like: "The hidden truth about our world is that it is something that we make, and just as easily, could make differently". Since communism and capitalism both suck, there has to be some sort of a middle ground between the two that we haven't yet tried that sucks less-- takes ideas from both and combines them into something that sucks far less than either capitalism or communism.

Even our managers are not mostly salaried. They make about $15/hr to start and can earn as much as $18 before climbing the ladder higher. Our GMs make $55k a year to start and are eligible for $25k in performance bonuses, so a good GM with a solid crew can make $80k a year. They're also trained in Chicago at Hamburger University for a week on how to completely run a McDonald's restaurant and respond to any situation that might go sideways on a given day. So realistically, being a GM of a McDonald's is a pretty good career move because they make more than my mother makes as a legal assistant at a local law firm & that's where I want to be by the time I am older.

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2 hours ago, KillaKukumba said:

There is always exceptions to every rule. Salary workers get other benefits those who don't get overtime do, that's why they get a package. It's the same as those who have EBA's,

I received no benefits from being on a salary for those 2 firms.    Literally I was underpaid (both fudged figures/awards) and in the second required to work long hours without any additional compensation.  Literally contract specified minimum of 40 hours per week.

 

Sure I got sick leave and annual leave but so do many people who get overtime. 

I also get no additional benefits from being on a salary in my current job.  However I am not required to do any unpaid overtime and if I am required to work extra, I will get paid or get time off.

 

Quote

but the basic premise of my statement remains, people here don't work on a holiday for $1 an hour extra.

 

Given in two jobs I was required to work public holidays without additional pay or time off, I was effectively working holidays for $0 in total.   I was paid minimum award rate so by working public holidays I actually was reducing the hourly rate by working public holidays

 

Not the only person either - I've known quite a few people that have been horrifically underpaid or lost entitlements to savvy employers who understood the system and knew how to exploit it.

A lot of people in Australia now are not even classed as employees anymore - they're paid as contractors - so reduced rates, no holiday leave, no superannuation, no nothing.     This despite their "engagement" meeting all standards of being a paid employee, aka master-servant relationship ( https://www.taxassistau.com.au/resources/articles/employee-or-contractor ).    This has included people who have worked in retail (eg my best mate who worked in a sports shop and paid as contractor and forced to work 80+ hour weeks lest he lose his "contract") and other people I've known in hospitality and trucking.

 

In Australia many workplaces have mandatory unpaid overtime.  It has to be "reasonable" but what is reasonable is determined by the employer.  It's why government jobs are so valued - you actually have rights and have recourse if those rights are violated.

 

Wage theft and employee exploitation are endemic in Australia.  An esteemed economist, Alan Koehler went so far as to call temporary migrant workers slaves because they have such few rights and often work for nothing in horrid conditions (especially agriculture).

50 years of neoliberalism (starting with Gough Whitlam) has destroyed Australian workers rights.  

 

----

 

 

I saw Megadeth and Slayer play in Melbourne.  Slayer sucked - Tom's voice died and they played an instrumental set!  Megadeth were on fire and one of the best performances I've seen.

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, Dead1 said:

Wage theft and employee exploitation are endemic in Australia.

Yuck. Supposedly that goes on in America as well, but I cannot point to any examples where I have personally experienced wage theft... or maybe I have and I didn't realize it, I don't know. Exploitation of workers is huge though in America and you usually don't have a lot of recourse because a lot of states, including where I live in Florida, are "Right to Work" (which really just means that labor unions are not allowed & your employer can shitcan you for any reason at any time).

 

 

3 hours ago, Dead1 said:

50 years of neoliberalism (starting with Gough Whitlam) has destroyed Australian workers rights.

It has in America as well. Although most people don't believe that we've had 50 years of Neoliberalism because they actually think that Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush were "conservatives" (they were just socially far-right neoliberals, as neoliberalism is inherently right wing economically, "supply side economics" and all that nonsense). Union membership is at it's lowest in America at any point in time in the past 100 years iirc because Reagan set out to bust unions in the 80s and union labor was already on the decline then anyway. In the 90s, Clinton merely finished the job with NAFTA (Neoliberalism Always Fucks The American) and then after 9/11 we really saw the plutocracy take off and the divide between the wealthy and average person got wider than it ever was before until it culminated in the biggest upwards transfer of wealth in human history around the time of the CARES act/COVID19.

Like I'm well aware that McDonald's isn't truly paying me what my labor added value is to them, but there's nothing I can do about it so I just make do and don't bitch because it's better than being unemployed like I was for the past year.

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1 hour ago, KillaKukumba said:

While I accept things aren't always great here I honestly think I live in a different Australia to Dead1

Dunno how much you've been following the news but widespread wage theft,  casualisation of workforce, worker exploitation, wage suppression and exploitation of temporary migrant workers are all covered regularly in news such as Guardian and ABC.

 

And you might have been lucky and never had a crummy employer or worked in industries with good protection.  If you're a bit older than me (41) you probably benefited from union protection back in 1980s and early 1990s.

 

2 hours ago, NokturnalBoredom said:

Yuck. Supposedly that goes on in America as well, but I cannot point to any examples where I have personally experienced wage theft... or maybe I have and I didn't realize it, I don't know. Exploitation of workers is huge though in America and you usually don't have a lot of recourse because a lot of states, including where I live in Florida, are "Right to Work" (which really just means that labor unions are not allowed & your employer can shitcan you for any reason at any time).
 

It has in America as well. Although most people don't believe that we've had 50 years of Neoliberalism because they actually think that Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush were "conservatives" (they were just socially far-right neoliberals, as neoliberalism is inherently right wing economically, "supply side economics" and all that nonsense). Union membership is at it's lowest in America at any point in time in the past 100 years iirc because Reagan set out to bust unions in the 80s and union labor was already on the decline then anyway. In the 90s, Clinton merely finished the job with NAFTA (Neoliberalism Always Fucks The American) and then after 9/11 we really saw the plutocracy take off and the divide between the wealthy and average person got wider than it ever was before until it culminated in the biggest upwards transfer of wealth in human history around the time of the CARES act/COVID19.

Like I'm well aware that McDonald's isn't truly paying me what my labor added value is to them, but there's nothing I can do about it so I just make do and don't bitch because it's better than being unemployed like I was for the past year.

 

 

Possibly you weren't aware of it.  I've known people who have been massively exploited yet weren't aware of it.  Eg a friend of mine was working retail and she was not paid any shift penalties for working late to 11 pm.  She was also required to put in 1 hour unpaid overtime to  close and clean the shop.  She was also not paid any extra for managing the shop!

My mate (and the husband of the woman mentioned above) didn't understand the sports shop he was doing 80+ hours a week work for as a "contractor" was massively exploiting him.  He ended up resigning after his health completely collapsed due to overwork.

 

My brother is in insurance and he is required to do huge unpaid overtime - he officially finished at 5 but often stays at work to 7 pm or later to get through his work.  He was also required to attend work functions and conventions - all unpaid.  And he was a junior clerk for all intents and purposes.

It was the same with me in stockbroking - and the salary was less than a cleaner (which my flatmate who cleaned at a small goods factory would laugh at - he'd say "you went to university and you're paid less than me who finished high school" (and incidentally he was illiterate)).  Salary was AUD $25,000 (US$18,000) with no bonuses/overtime/time in lieu - it was literally the minimum wage.  Cleaners were on about AUD$30,000 with penalties.

 

First job with an accounting firm didn't even pay minimum wage.  they fudged it by counting government mandated compulsory retirement benefits as part of the salary so I was $2,000 under minimum wage .

 

The alternative of course is unemployment.  I knew a guy whose boss wasn't paying superannuation (retirement benefit).  He didn't claim his super because the boss openly said he would sack him.  Another friend of mine worked for a casino - the casino changed the work conditions to worse.  My friend and his coworkers took the casino to the industrial commission who ruled in favour of them.  All the workers involved in that action never got another hours work at the casino (all casual/0 hour contracts). 

Etc etc.

 

---

In Australia a pair of supposed centre left scumbag PMs, Bob Hawke and Paul Keating, destroyed the unions.  They ramped up neoliberalism and destroyed Australian manufacturing and killed the union movement (ironic as Bob Hawke was originally leader of unions).   They introduced lots of social welfare to damped resistance to the destruction of the unions, sale of public assets and wage suppression.

 

Far right neoliberals still view Keating/Hawke as golden standard for neoliberal reforms even though as I mentioned they were with a centre-left party (Labor).

 

Quote

NAFTA (Neoliberalism Always Fucks The American) 

I like that!

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4 hours ago, Dead1 said:

Possibly you weren't aware of it.  I've known people who have been massively exploited yet weren't aware of it. 

Oh I guarantee if it happened, I was not aware of it. And with some of the places I've worked in my time, it likely did happen. I remember one of my employers tried to not pay me for 10 hours OT that I worked, so on the way out to a jobsite, we drove out to his house with my timecard and forced him to cut me a check out of his personal checkbook. He claimed that he didn't see it, but he was pretty bad about paying people for Saturday work and would always try to find a way out of paying you OT. Then there was a guy who flat out said that he "didn't pay overtime" and that he "just paid you cash" but that was definitely a way of screwing his employees and is why I only worked for him for one week... especially when he wigged out and started slapping his wife in the shop. I don't work for woman-beaters.

And to be fair, when I was younger, wage theft probably did happen to me somehow and I was just too naive to realize it because conditions for workers in Florida actually seemed a lot worse when I was younger. Granted they aren't great now and part of the reason I'm at a corporate gig and not in local construction anymore is because construction companies are beyond exploitative to their workers... they basically want people that they can keep as perpetual laborers, run into the ground, and never actually train them to be a qualified journeyman so that they do all the work of a journeyman, but cannot command a journeyman wage.

One of my biggest regrets is that I don't know a trade. I know I'm still technically young enough to learn one, but I need to be serious about a job from here on out and stick with something. Unfortunately I think that something is going to be McDonald's which is a thankless job and one that you're treated like a moron by society for doing, but it pays my bills and there is potential to make decent money there as I've already laid out previously if you climb the ladder. It's just hard work, not so much physically but it's just mentally taxing.

 

 

4 hours ago, Dead1 said:

She was also required to put in 1 hour unpaid overtime to  close and clean the shop.  She was also not paid any extra for managing the shop!

I quit a job once because they told me that I had to come in at 6am to "get ready for the day" but that I wasn't allowed to punch in until 7am. Not really sure how they got away with that, but remember that Florida is a "Right to Work" state, so employers down here are allowed to get away with the equivalent of capitol murder in terms of violating employment laws. Many construction gigs do not provide you with any sort of PPE to do the job like they would in a union state. But when I move back to New York, I might look into a union construction job again because I always wanted to be a union man and get a lot of pride from work.

 

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4 hours ago, Dead1 said:

Dunno how much you've been following the news but widespread wage theft,  casualisation of workforce, worker exploitation, wage suppression and exploitation of temporary migrant workers are all covered regularly in news such as Guardian and ABC.

 

And you might have been lucky and never had a crummy employer or worked in industries with good protection.  If you're a bit older than me (41) you probably benefited from union protection back in 1980s and early 1990s.

 

I watch the news everyday and I never denied any of the things you talk about actually happening here. I've had bad employers, I've worked in bad jobs, I've dealt with bad employees. I've dealt with government from the very top, requiring the highest levels of security to annoying local councils who don't care about anything. But as shitty as this world can be I choose not to sit around focusing on the doom and gloom and constantly looking at things through a negative light. It's always easy to find the negative in any situation, the media pretty much does it for people every chance it gets, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to see things.

 

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47 minutes ago, KillaKukumba said:

I watch the news everyday and I never denied any of the things you talk about actually happening here. I've had bad employers, I've worked in bad jobs, I've dealt with bad employees. I've dealt with government from the very top, requiring the highest levels of security to annoying local councils who don't care about anything. But as shitty as this world can be I choose not to sit around focusing on the doom and gloom and constantly looking at things through a negative light. It's always easy to find the negative in any situation, the media pretty much does it for people every chance it gets, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to see things.

 

 

Fair enough.

 

I have literally spent the last half an hour investigating whether committing suicide would allow my family to keep the house instead of bankruptcy where we definitely lose the house.  Also have to check if my life insurance covers suicide.  I'd rather that than my kid become homeless.

 

My wife upon looking at the spreadsheet of impending financial doom has ramped up spending and I am now royally fucked very soon.

 

And now I literally feel like my chest is about to burst open.

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Would be a good insurance company that pays out on suicide!

How is the woman who you claim treats news of impending bankruptcy by spending even more money, going to maintain a house, raise a child and keep the lights on by herself? Even if the house is paid off tomorrow there is plenty of other bills to pay, how does your wife pay them if she can't manage money? You've already suggested your house is over valued and falling apart how much does it cost to keep the roof above them? What does your wife do when the insurance payout she might get runs out? Or worse still doesn't cover what her and your daughter actually need other than a roof over their heads? Or what happens if the insurance company hangs it up in court for months and months arguing whether they really should pay out on a policy that the person deliberately ended just for the pay out? Who pays for the lawyers to fight such a fight? I'm not sure legal aid fight such cases.

It seems you are not thinking straight and that's creating a story with inconsistencies that will unravel, or you are not thinking straight and you could be a danger to yourself. Either way you probably should get proper help.

In saying that I do realise that a hundred people could reach out and offer to help, but a person needs to want help first. I'm not going to try and talk anyone off a bridge, just like I've never been talked off one by a stranger on the internet, but there is always help for those who want to seek it, some of it is even free.

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13 hours ago, Dead1 said:

I have literally spent the last half an hour investigating whether committing suicide would allow my family to keep the house instead of bankruptcy where we definitely lose the house.  Also have to check if my life insurance covers suicide. 

Dude, don't even think about that shit for any reason. As someone who bought a 9mm carbine and began sticking it in his mouth two years ago "just to see how it felt" as my relationship with someone I wanted to have kids & a life with was falling apart rapidly, please go talk to someone right away. The fucked thing about suicide is that these kinds of thoughts are how it starts and it may seem like a beneficial thing for the family, or a way out, but you have to think about the damage that you'd do to the people who survive you and are going to be asking why you did it, even when your financial situation seems insurmountable & horrible. I promise you that even if you think that you have a good reason, people are going to miss you much more than they're going to be thankful for a life insurance payment.

I have prior attempts on my own life. I tried to hang myself but the fixture I tried to do it from ended up collapsing. I also tried to OD on drugs and simply just got really high for days (and probably did permanent brain damage and heart damage in the process). I am on meds now that make me realize that suicide is never an option because as bad as things get (and they're going to get bad societally for me in the next few years), I'd rather force the authorities to kill me so I can escape the reeducation camps & political prison than die by my own hand and have the remaining few people who love me wondering why I did it and why I chose to leave them here without me.

Don't do it. Talk to someone. There are things that are preferable to life and I get it completely, but those things are not here yet although they are in the process of coming down the pipe.

 

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    • Whichever tier of thrash metal you consigned Sacred Reich back in the 80's/90's they still had their moments.  "Ignorance" & "Surf Nicaragura" did a great job of establishing the band, whereas "The American Way" just got a little to comfortable and accessible (the title track grates nowadays) for my ears.  A couple more records better left forgotten about and then nothing for twenty three years.  2019 alone has now seen three releases from Phil Rind and co.  A live EP, a split EP with Iron Reagan and now a full length.

      Notable addition to the ranks for the current throng of releases is former Machine Head sticksman, Dave McClean.  Love or hate Machine Head, McClean is a more than capable drummer and his presence here is felt from the off with the opening and title track kicking things off with some real gusto.  'Divide & Conquer' and 'Salvation' muddle along nicely, never quite reaching any quality that would make my balls tingle but comfortable enough.  The looming build to 'Manifest Reality' delivers a real punch when the song starts proper.  Frenzied riffs and drums with shots of lead work to hold the interest.


      There's a problem already though (I know, I am such a fucking mood hoover).  I don't like Phil's vocals.  I never had if I am being honest.  The aggression to them seems a little forced even when they are at their best on tracks like 'Manifest Reality'.  When he tries to sing it just feels weak though ('Salvation') and tracks lose real punch.  Give him a riffy number such as 'Killing Machine' and he is fine with the Reich engine (probably a poor choice of phrase) up in sixth gear.  For every thrashy riff there's a fair share of rock edged, local bar act rhythm aplenty too.

      Let's not poo-poo proceedings though, because overall I actually enjoy "Awakening".  It is stacked full of catchy riffs that are sticky on the old ears.  Whilst not as raw as perhaps the - brilliant - artwork suggests with its black and white, tattoo flash sheet style design it is enjoyable enough.  Yes, 'Death Valley' & 'Something to Believe' have no place here, saved only by Arnett and Radziwill's lead work but 'Revolution' is a fucking 80's thrash heyday throwback to the extent that if you turn the TV on during it you might catch a new episode of Cheers!

      3/5
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    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/52-vltimas-something-wicked-marches-in/
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    • https://www.metalforum.com/blogs/entry/48-candlemass-the-door-to-doom/
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    • Full length number 19 from overkill certainly makes a splash in the energy stakes, I mean there's some modern thrash bands that are a good two decades younger than Overkill who can only hope to achieve the levels of spunk that New Jersey's finest produce here.  That in itself is an achievement, for a band of Overkill's stature and reputation to be able to still sound relevant four decades into their career is no mean feat.  Even in the albums weaker moments it never gets redundant and the energy levels remain high.  There's a real sense of a band in a state of some renewed vigour, helped in no small part by the addition of Jason Bittner on drums.  The former Flotsam & Jetsam skinsman is nothing short of superb throughout "The Wings of War" and seems to have squeezed a little extra out of the rest of his peers.

      The album kicks of with a great build to opening track "Last Man Standing" and for the first 4 tracks of the album the Overkill crew stomp, bash and groove their way to a solid level of consistency.  The lead work is of particular note and Blitz sounds as sneery and scathing as ever.  The album is well produced and mixed too with all parts of the thrash machine audible as the five piece hammer away at your skull with the usual blend of chugging riffs and infectious anthems.  


      There are weak moments as mentioned but they are more a victim of how good the strong tracks are.  In it's own right "Distortion" is a solid enough - if not slightly varied a journey from the last offering - but it just doesn't stand up well against a "Bat Shit Crazy" or a "Head of a Pin".  As the album draws to a close you get the increasing impression that the last few tracks are rescued really by some great solos and stomping skin work which is a shame because trimming of a couple of tracks may have made this less obvious. 

      4/5
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