Jolt Country

If you were to make a list of the top million things that bother me, the fact that my hair began turning gray before I was thirty would not make the list. For many women, the sight of a single gray hair is enough to send them running to the nearest salon, but being a gray-headed man doesn't have the same stigma in society. Maybe it's because I've had a sliding ratio of black and gray hair almost half my life now, but each year both the hair on top of my head and my facial hair gains a little more gray and the most I can muster is a solid "meh."

That being said, twice yesterday, younger people asked me if I was retired.

The first was by the girl who cut my hair. I get my hair cut at a Chinese-owned salon. It's a family affair; usually mom cuts my hair, although I've also had haircuts from her husband and her mom, too. Yesterday, I got the young daughter. If I saw her on the street I'd guess she was 15, although she told me she's going to college, which would make her a bit older. She asked me what I did and when I told her she said, "oh, are you retired now?"

(For the record, I am eligible to retire in 15 years, and that would still be pretty young.)

Last night I was invited to speak to an IT organization at a local college. Before I began, I told one of the students that I had worked at the FAA for 23 years. His response was, "did you retire from there?"

(I started at the FAA when I was 21. Now I'm 44.)

As I continue to lose weight and move more, maybe I'll look into some of those hair coloring products too. Wouldn't my wife and kids be surprised to see dad with a head full of black hair and an empty box of Just for Men sitting on the kitchen counter?

I dunno. Maybe? Probably not.

I guess people just associate grey hair with retirement? Seems kinda silly considering how much higher the retirement age is these days.

I've only dyed my hair twice as a teen. Once I tried blonde and it came out Chucky orange. Another time I tried black and people said I looked Asian. I won't attempt again.

Flack wrote: Wed Mar 14, 2018 7:44 am For many women, the sight of a single gray hair is enough to send them running to the nearest salon, but being a gray-headed man doesn't have the same stigma in society.

Meow!

I agree. I've had gray fur all my life; as a male kitten it hasn't bothered me at all, nor do any of the foxy felines in the neighborhood think I'm prematurely gray. As one nice orange and white female put it, "Meow, meow, hiss, hiss, purrrr, mowr."

Flack wrote: Wed Mar 14, 2018 7:44 am (For the record, I am eligible to retire in 15 years, and that would still be pretty young.)

Yeah, you could always "double dip," work until you reach retirement, then come back as a consultant or contractor!

As I continue to lose weight and move more, maybe I'll look into some of those hair coloring products too. Wouldn't my wife and kids be surprised to see dad with a head full of black hair and an empty box of Just for Men sitting on the kitchen counter?

If you do, leave your beard alone. I remember from one of the Jack Webb police shows (Dragnet or Adam-12) a sketch artist had drawn a picture of what a robbery suspect looked like, and said he dyes his hair or beard. When she was asked how she knew, she said that they both were the same color, which never happens naturally.

I recognized that myself, I have a luscious full head of brown hair, brown mustache and a white beard.

My wife encouraged me to dye my hair in my last job search so I did. They couldn't get the blond color right so it came out looking a little bit red, which worked because that's how my beard would grow in before it turned half grey. I have to say it was probably a good move considering half of the people interviewing me were millineals and age discrimination is a thing in Silicon Valley. Biggest problem i have with turning partly grey is I'm no longer allowed to donate to locks of love.

Jizaboz wrote: Wed Mar 14, 2018 10:00 am I guess people just associate grey hair with retirement? Seems kinda silly considering how much higher the retirement age is these days.

I've only dyed my hair twice as a teen. Once I tried blonde and it came out Chucky orange. Another time I tried black and people said I looked Asian. I won't attempt again.

I did the blond/orange thing once, too. Someone once told me it looked like the color of the cheese they put on nachos at the fair.

I did blue twice. Once when I was working at Best Buy and my manager told us a bunch of guys from corporate were coming, and once when I went to a security training course and nearly got charged for staining a bunch of hotel towels blue.

Runner wrote: Wed Mar 14, 2018 10:02 am Meow!

I'm not going to engage your cat's fake account in conversation, sorry. My kids outgrew that stuff when they were five.

When my dad started to dye his hair, I thought he was being silly. When a gray hair popped up on my own head, I reconsidered...

I think the trick here is doing it before anybody notices. If you already have a whole bunch of gray hair, it's too late. You can't just show up one day without any gray hair. You need to do it early.

Flack wrote: Wed Mar 14, 2018 2:28 pm

Runner wrote: Wed Mar 14, 2018 10:02 am Meow!

I'm not going to engage your cat's fake account in conversation, sorry. My kids outgrew that stuff when they were five.

CATS do not belong in the hair dye thread. Calling the animal cruelty police

Also, I’ve always thought Sir Graham from Kings Quest looked like a cool dude since I was 11. I am looking forward to more grey.

RealNC wrote: Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:04 pm When my dad started to dye his hair, I thought he was being silly. When a gray hair popped up on my own head, I reconsidered...

I think the trick here is doing it before anybody notices. If you already have a whole bunch of gray hair, it's too late. You can't just show up one day without any gray hair. You need to do it early.

Yeah, we had "that guy" at work. Dyed his hair over the weekend, and his beard a few days after that. The only people who noticed were every single person in the building.

RealNC wrote: Wed Mar 14, 2018 4:04 pm When my dad started to dye his hair, I thought he was being silly. When a gray hair popped up on my own head, I reconsidered...

I think the trick here is doing it before anybody notices. If you already have a whole bunch of gray hair, it's too late. You can't just show up one day without any gray hair. You need to do it early.

At that point you just get a new job, right? Anyone who you are friends with won't care and anyone you work with at the new place will think that's just how it looks. Luckily we work in an industry where lots of people move around all the time. Flack's even luckier as he can work from home a lot and therefore I'd imagine that when he does come in, enough time has passed that people may not remember the details.

When I went in last week, all the people that sit on my row were gone and had been replaced by other people (true story). At this point I think I could show up wearing a novelty hat with dreadlocks and nobody would notice.

If you see some Let's Plays of Dead Rising, the protagonist often finds himself wearing ridiculous outfits and I feel going that route would be great.

Paul, your cat can post here in threads other than the two you have going if you play the server bill for Jolt Country for 2018. It's $104.

Ice Cream Jonsey wrote: Fri Mar 16, 2018 6:44 pm If you see some Let's Plays of Dead Rising, the protagonist often finds himself wearing ridiculous outfits and I feel going that route would be great.

Paul, your cat can post here in threads other than the two you have going if you play the server bill for Jolt Country for 2018. It's $104.

Who the fuck are you buying hosting from? Defense Contractor Toilet and Internet Sales? Last time I bought hosting I got three years of service for about $76. Three different companies had similar rates. If you're paying $104 a year, for the small size of your account they should be including HTTPS.

Boy are you getting ripped off.

Some Current Internet Service Plans:
Hostgator Cloud, $2.99/mo no contract, $2.15/mo 3 yr ($77.40 or $25.80/yr) I've used them for a client.
Hostinger, $2.15/mo 3 yr
Blue Host $2.95/mo 3 yr ($106.20 or $35.40 a year)
InMotion $2.95/mo 3 yr
MDDHosting $2.95/mo 3 yr
Ipage $1.99/mo 1 yr ($24)
Hostmetro $2.95/mo 3 yr
GoDaddy 3Yrs $107.64 or $35.88/yr

I'm kind of interested in what you're getting to host this site alone that makes it worth FOUR TIMES the price of commodity hosting service. Otherwise you're getting ripped off.

I feel like the Spirit of Kindness is about to come to an unsightly end.

Tdarcos wrote: Sun Mar 18, 2018 1:25 pm I'm kind of interested in what you're getting to host this site alone that makes it worth FOUR TIMES the price of commodity hosting service. Otherwise you're getting ripped off.

The fact that it's always up, you fucking drumstick, as can be attested by the fact that you're ALWAYS FUCKING HERE.

You know what they say, the squeaky wheel gets the most pork rinds.

So, I had the price wrong. Hosting for JC is $159 a year and hosting for Caltrops is $119 a year. That doesn't change the fact that Tdarcos has absolutely no idea what he is talking about and I'm going to ban what is his fifth alt account not because the idea of contributing to one place left to him on the Internet where he is welcome is abhorrent to him, but because of the stupid shit he said about webhosts, once again acting from a position of complete ignorance.