Posts by irongardener18

Thanks for the reply! I have one more question if anyone can help me out. Is there any rule saying my collision coverage and my liability insurance have to be with different companies?

I'm thinking about switching over to State Farm. Doesn't anyone else have great things to say about them?

brisktiger56 said:Wait, where exactly did I claim that crying was an abuse of power?

I was actually talking about how female retaliation—whether it's justified or not—is a demonstration of power, both the influence women hold themselves and the leverage they get through others. Now, tears? Usually, that's just a way for women to process pain—though, let's be honest, it can also be a repetitive pattern from childhood when crying was the easiest way to get what you wanted. If I started weeping because I wanted a candy bar or a new Ford, my wife would probably just suggest I check myself into a clinic in Seattle.

Women tend to be more emotional by nature, so letting a tear fall comes easier. Some clever women use that as leverage, and it often works to get them exactly what they want. Honestly, I’ve never understood how men fall for those tactics.
For me, just acting "sad"—even without the actual tears—is enough to make my partner give in. 🙂
It isn't about revenge; it's just an easier way to handle things when dealing with someone stubborn.

brisktiger56 said:Using that kind of power during a vendetta is probably the clearest sign of just how much influence someone actually has > they'll fire at anything and everything available to them
- at least, that's my experience anyway -

Why would a woman's tears be considered an abuse of power? It's just a form of influence that men often seem unable to handle.😁

We all know how much power a baby’s cry can have. It’s their way of letting us know they need us.
But have you ever stopped to think about the kind of influence a woman's tears can hold? 😉
It's rare to find a man who can actually resist them—especially if she knows exactly what she's doing.

brisktiger56 said:It’s the total lack of agency 🙂. When people find themselves powerless, they reach out—they look for help in every sense of the word. Take here at our little community, for instance. A mother of five reached out recently. She’s trying to get them a computer because their school curriculum is all digital now, but they have zero way to practice at home. She’s stuck—completely unable to make it happen because she's just barely scraping by. Buying a PC isn't even an option right now.
Now, look at my side of things... I have some level of ability here. I have the means, the connections, and the knack for scavenging decent, slightly beat-up computers from others, fixing them up, and tuning them specifically for kids like these. I have power because I haven't let myself get bogged down by that typical mindset—you know the one: "Eh, let them struggle like I did," or "Not my problem," or "Who am I supposed to help everyone?"—there are plenty of people who think like that...

I have this capacity, and I’m using it to bolster the strength of those who don't have it. These kids will grow up knowing how to navigate a computer, which is basically the baseline for survival nowadays. That gives them power later on, simply because someone stepped in when it mattered.

It’s been the fundamental setup since day one: a newborn without a mother or someone to feed them is just... gone. If the mother is healthy after birth, she has the power, while the infant is just a crying, helpless thing that can't sustain itself. It’s pure powerlessness.

p.s. does anyone else have the capacity to help? All I'm missing for this rig is a USB or a PlayStation 2 mouse 🙂 If you have one lying around gathering dust... please, help a kid out...

🤦
I usually just toss stuff like that because I honestly don't know what to do with it.
At that moment, I wasn't thinking about power—clearly, I wasn't thinking about anything at all.

dustyskipper3 said:So, it seems legitimate to ask the opposite question: "What is helplessness?"

Because it's pretty clear there is a massive gap between "not wanting to" and "not being able to." The first one is a conscious choice to refrain from using power, while the second is an expression of identity—the fact that something fundamentally inside a person prevents them from realizing their potential power.

It’s the same story with the gap between "wanting" and "being able." At the end of the day, does a person truly want to exercise their power, or will they misuse it?

brisktiger56 said:That really shows how much you’re limiting your own sense of agency by looking at things through such a narrow lens. It sounds like you’ve always operated under the assumption that someone else is going to be there to pick up the tab. Personally, I tried to flip the script. I told myself—plain and simple—that if I could cover my own rent and bills while I was in college, then I’d stick with it; otherwise, I was heading straight back to my hometown.

Basically, I set a goal and used whatever leverage I had to make it happen. Since I didn't let self-doubt or these arbitrary "safety nets" get in my way, everything played out exactly how it was meant to. Nobody from my old neighborhood has had to sponsor me since those days—in fact, if you want to get really crazy about it, the opposite has actually happened.

🙏
Reading this just now, I couldn't help but wonder why I wasn't a bit more courageous myself.

brisktiger56 said:Are you kidding me, or are you being dead serious about what your goals actually were!? It sounds like we’re aiming for totally different lifestyles here 😉!

Looking at what you wrote, if I had to take a guess, it seems like you just weren't motivated enough—you didn't want those things badly enough to actually grab them. Am I hitting the mark there?

When you talk about "power," the real question is whether you actually had the leverage to turn a thought into reality. When I went off to college, I didn't have much agency of my own, though my brothers stepped up and covered my tuition and housing. In terms of how life works, it’s like a baby wanting to experience the world but having zero survival power without help from their parents. Maybe you simply lacked the necessary resources—because clearly, the desire was there, so that part wasn't the issue.

What kind of small town are we talking about? And what's the thing you're actually missing most?

Power is an interesting thing; we all have it, but the real question is whether it's smart to use it every single time. I wouldn't trade my current life for a massive metropolis. Back when I actually had the drive and the means to move, my gut told me it wasn't the right move. I didn't have anyone to back me up (my brother was still just a kid 😢) and my intuition told me I'd just be struggling to get by in a huge city. Honestly, I'm glad I didn't push it then, because now I can head into the big city whenever I feel like it—whether it's shopping with friends or catching a concert with my partner. If I had moved, I'd probably be stuck coming back to this small town just to ask my sponsors for help.

brisktiger56 said:I see it differently—our agency is ours to command, while external circumstances are just variables that might nudge the direction we're heading.

In this modern society, honestly, very few people have the guts to actually grab hold of their own destiny. Take me, for example: I work, I live, I’ve got my family in the city. I’m certain life would be more peaceful out in the suburbs or maybe even rural Montana, and I’d probably be happier, too—but instead, I’m sitting here saving up for an apartment in a smoggy metropolis. What’s stopping me from moving to the country? Just pure cowardice, really, because I haven't been brave enough to exercise my own will.

I could do it, but I don't :/ and it isn't because someone is holding me back—it's because I'm the one setting my own limits.

If I had truly taken charge of my life, I'd be living in a major city right now. But I think I was always waiting for a specific catalyst to give me that push—maybe a better salary, finding the right person, or finally solving the housing issue. Instead, I stayed in a smaller town. At the end of the day, the reality remains: I didn't use my power to chase what I really wanted.

brisktiger56 said:Wait, what? I actually see it the opposite way—power shouldn't depend on belief in God or some random streak of luck. Honestly, luck feels more like a gambler's crutch to me; it's kind of an undesirable variable if you're actually trying to hold the reins and keep things under 100% control.

If we think we have total control, there's always that "X factor" that can either help us out or trip us up. When things go smoothly, we just call it luck, right? We can strive for power, but in today's society, isn't it a bit utopian to think we can ever truly hold it all?

brisktiger56 said:I mean, that makes sense if that's your worldview...

But just think about someone living in some totally isolated community—say, deep in the forests of the Pacific Northwest—who’s never heard of God and doesn't believe in any of that stuff. How would you even define power for a person like that?

They probably believe in something undefined—maybe just luck. But can anyone truly have power without a little bit of luck on their side?