The Drop In Centre 3

[Mikiesboy]

15 hours ago, Brayon said:

I do an Uber Eats delivery. Uber pays me $2.00 for a four-mile run. Customer stiffs me on the tip. Overall, about 20% of the time, I get non-tippers.

We use Uber and regular taxis, and we tip them mostly.  It was an Uber driver who rescued me and got me home from work during a massive snow storm buses could not get through. He got a massive tip, so did the guy who helped us haul a giant portable AC home. 

But i don't like the tipping culture generally and frankly, people should not be expected to tip in order to boost people's income. A tip is for doing more than expected. But too many employers don't pay people for the work they do and expect that tips will make up the shortfall. To me, that's wrong.

In my world people would be paid a living wage and then, if I want to thank them for something I can give a tip, but it shouldn't be a way of life. 

However, i know it's not my world, and we tip servers and drivers 99% of the time. 

[Mikiesboy]

“You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection.”

—Buddha

[Wayne Gray]

I love it when I'm writing, and three of the more substantial "floating scenes" I've been saving all land in the same chapter. BAM. Started a chapter yesterday. Done today. Just had to stitch those scenes together in a sensible manner, and it's done.

Sometimes I'll write a floating scene and never use it. Sometimes they get wildly adjusted. Then, some I can just drop in. That's how these went. Super satisfying to go from 700 to 3,600 words in... ten minutes. LOL

Chapter 8 done. Moving on to 9 after work is over today.

I hope everybody else is having a great day.

[kbois]

55 minutes ago, Wayne Gray said:

I love it when I'm writing, and three of the more substantial "floating scenes" I've been saving all land in the same chapter. BAM. Started a chapter yesterday. Done today. Just had to stitch those scenes together in a sensible manner, and it's done.

Sometimes I'll write a floating scene and never use it. Sometimes they get wildly adjusted. Then, some I can just drop in. That's how these went. Super satisfying to go from 700 to 3,600 words in... ten minutes. LOL

Chapter 8 done. Moving on to 9 after work is over today.

I hope everybody else is having a great day.

I can relate. 

I have a folder with a few of those. I even have a whole chapter written for the middle of a story that only has two chapters done at the beginning. That one will stay on the burner for a while lol.

Keep on writing... can't wait to see what you come up with!

[Wayne Gray]

17 hours ago, kbois said:

I can relate. 

I have a folder with a few of those. I even have a whole chapter written for the middle of a story that only has two chapters done at the beginning. That one will stay on the burner for a while lol.

Keep on writing... can't wait to see what you come up with!

It's like nothing I've ever written before.

I'm experimenting with style, mechanics, setting, and the incredible complexity of all the relationships possible in this new future I've built.

It's pretty fun so far. I do hope people enjoy it, but... I've really enjoyed the challenge of writing it.

I've probably got something like three more chapters to go. So... maybe around 12-13 chapters total. Not too long, and the end is in sight.

[Sherye Story Reader]

On 10/6/2026 at 5:54 AM, Mikiesboy said:

Good luck with it. 

Thanks! I have my 2nd chapter out now. I am really enjoying it. I had a problem both times but hopefully I will get used to it all soon. 

[kbois]

5 hours ago, Wayne Gray said:

It's like nothing I've ever written before.

I'm experimenting with style, mechanics, setting, and the incredible complexity of all the relationships possible in this new future I've built.

It's pretty fun so far. I do hope people enjoy it, but... I've really enjoyed the challenge of writing it.

I've probably got something like three more chapters to go. So... maybe around 12-13 chapters total. Not too long, and the end is in sight.

Trying something new is fun...and sometimes scary, but usually worth it. Looking forward to your creation!

[Gary L]

26 minutes ago, Sherye Story Reader said:

Thanks! I have my 2nd chapter out now. I am really enjoying it. I had a problem both times but hopefully I will get used to it all soon. 

I have been a disaster at posting, especially with special events, so I sympathise. I’d like to say it gets easier but I seem to be going backwards and need more help.

i hope you are enjoying being an GA author!

[Mikiesboy]

“We can’t heal the world in a day. But we can begin with a voice of compassion, a heart of love, and an act of kindness.”

—Mary Davis

[Mikiesboy]

Hope everyone is doing well. 

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

—Lao Tzu (600-531)
philosopher

[mollyhousemouse]

1 hour ago, Mikiesboy said:

Hope everyone is doing well. 

“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”

—Lao Tzu (600-531)
philosopher

Hi tim, Need an emoji for "meh"

[Mikiesboy]

4 hours ago, mollyhousemouse said:

Hi tim, Need an emoji for "meh"

¯\_(•_•)_/¯ or this one  ._.      They come from the Meh Emoji database. Of course there is  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ too

You can copy and paste these guys.

Edited October 14 by Mikiesboy

[Mikiesboy]

Morning. It's Sunday, it's cold but sunny and bright. 

Life is okay. It's only hard because I make it hard for myself. I see lies and trickery and it's nothing I can control. I cannot control why other people choose deceit. I can only think tricking other people into believing does something for their ego. Not much I can do about that, but I will not be a part of it in the future. That I can control. 

Anyway, i am going to go close some windows and sit under a blanket while I decide whether posting another story is worth it. No, I'm not soliciting for responses to that, that is simply what I am currently doing. 

I hope you all have a great Sunday. Keep warm. Keep writing (actually, yourself with your own fingers and thoughts) and have a great day. 

 

“I took a walk in the woods and came out taller than the trees.”

—Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)
naturalist, author, philosopher

[kbois]

It was a whirlwind couple of days, but they were so worth it. I love every minute I get to spend with my boy and his wife. 

We will see them again in May when we go to Kansas, and hopefully will know in a couple of months where they will land. 

My daughter-in-law is currently interviewing at a university down south...no, not Florida, but if we decide to move, it'll be stupidly hot in the summers. If I end up with a grandkid kid or two, it'll be worth it. 

Two weeks until we move. I can't wait. I really think this house is cursed. Now the heat isn't working and there is no way in hell we are doing anything about it. We have an electric fireplace in the living room that warms it up nicely, and I ordered a small space heater for our room at night. We'll tough it out until we're gone. I'd rather deal with no heat than no AC any day of the week. 

Have a good week everyone!

[Mikiesboy]

37 minutes ago, kbois said:

It was a whirlwind couple of days, but they were so worth it. I love every minute I get to spend with my boy and his wife. 

We will see them again in May when we go to Kansas, and hopefully will know in a couple of months where they will land. 

My daughter-in-law is currently interviewing at a university down south...no, not Florida, but if we decide to move, it'll be stupidly hot in the summers. If I end up with a grandkid kid or two, it'll be worth it. 

Two weeks until we move. I can't wait. I really think this house is cursed. Now the heat isn't working and there is no way in hell we are doing anything about it. We have an electric fireplace in the living room that warms it up nicely, and I ordered a small space heater for our room at night. We'll tough it out until we're gone. I'd rather deal with no heat than no AC any day of the week. 

Have a good week everyone!

Glad you got to enjoy your boy and his wife.  .... Maybe you could just move closer? I don't know. If I were you I'd want to move to the same street at the very least. lol. 

The heat now? Geez. Good riddance to that place.   You have a good week too. 

[Mikiesboy]

So, today's quote is not for the people who write with A.I.  And there are lots of them here. Yes, I am bitter about that. Angry even. More at myself I think for offering help to some. I won't in future. I've allowed it to ruin something in me. I have stories ready to post ... Things I actually wrote all by myself, but readers don't seem to want that. They are loving all this crap posted by AI 'authors' cuz it's fast and cheap . . .like fast food, I guess. Who wants to wait for me and others like me to write something. 

I don't know. Maybe I need to just stop ...   Anyway, no matter it seems, here is today's quote from a real person's thoughts:  

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”

—Pelé (1940-2022)
Footballer, humanitarian

[Gary L]

13 minutes ago, Mikiesboy said:

Who wants to wait for me and others like me to write something. 

I do! For me, part of the joy of a platform like this is where one strives to improve, to read and edit someone’s authentic writing. To get feedback and even praise for MY efforts.

Incidentally, I tried a free trial of Grammarly and its AI detector this am. I put a chapter I have just finished through the detector. Result 0% AI (obviously) but a monstrous list of changes ‘to improve’ my writing score (whatever that is). Apart from the usual punctuation issues, I could see my word ordering was considered incorrect, I should always use contractions, blah, blah, blah.  I am certain that I have written correct English and I refuse to conform my style to the dictatorship of some computer programming.

End of rant.

gxxx

[Wayne Gray]

28 minutes ago, Mikiesboy said:

So, today's quote is not for the people who write with A.I.  And there are lots of them here. Yes, I am bitter about that. Angry even. More at myself I think for offering help to some. I won't in future. I've allowed it to ruin something in me. I have stories ready to post ... Things I actually wrote all by myself, but readers don't seem to want that. They are loving all this crap posted by AI 'authors' cuz it's fast and cheap . . .like fast food, I guess. Who wants to wait for me and others like me to write something. 

I don't know. Maybe I need to just stop ...   Anyway, no matter it seems, here is today's quote from a real person's thoughts:  

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”

—Pelé (1940-2022)
Footballer, humanitarian

I do find it a little funny that I'm writing one of the most creative things I've done and it heavily involves AI characters. you did this as well.

I've used AI to fact check something I've written (Curing Humanity - the brain stuff). But now that I know more about it, I realize it doesn't fact check itself, really. It will list references for the information cited, then get the information wrong. So... I'm not sure there's a point.

And AI writing is just weird. Nifty is particularly bad right now. It's the same story with different characters and settings. But it's the same story...

We can do something AI can't. We can cook without a recipe. So, yes. People want to read what we write because it's new. It's fresh. The people who find AI writing interesting may do so for a while. But eventually, it'll feel like running along a very small track. "Wait. Haven't I see this before?" That didn't take long for me, but I'm a weirdo who notices patterns. Others will catch up.

Or they won't. And our writing will be enjoyed by a smaller slice of the readership. But it'll be ours. Someone with a soul produced this work. And there's no faking that.

[Gary L]

5 minutes ago, Wayne Gray said:

And our writing will be enjoyed by a smaller slice of the readership. But it'll be ours. Someone with a soul produced this work. And there's no faking that.

So agree, Wayne. Well said.

[MichaelS36]

43 minutes ago, Mikiesboy said:

I've allowed it to ruin something in me.

This bothers me for a number of reasons. 

People writing with A.I. and passing themselves off as 'authors' does as well.  I understand you attempting to help them, but they don't want help, they want attention, an ego boost. 

I've watched you write and create. I watched you labour and research and toss things out. You care about what you are doing. And if I'm honest, I don't believe that you can truly stop. You have a gift and a soul and you are driven to create whether you are writing or working with fibre. 

I'm sure if I looked at your Word documents there are numerous stories there in various states of completion.  I know that you have at least four knitting projects on the go as well. 

Don't let these fake writers stop you from caring and creating.  

[Gary L]

50 minutes ago, MichaelS36 said:

This bothers me for a number of reasons. 

People writing with A.I. and passing themselves off as 'authors' does as well.  I understand you attempting to help them, but they don't want help, they want attention, an ego boost. 

I've watched you write and create. I watched you labour and research and toss things out. You care about what you are doing. And if I'm honest, I don't believe that you can truly stop. You have a gift and a soul and you are driven to create whether you are writing or working with fibre. 

I'm sure if I looked at your Word documents there are numerous stories there in various states of completion.  I know that you have at least four knitting projects on the go as well. 

Don't let these fake writers stop you from caring and creating.  

Spot on!

[CassieQ]

1 hour ago, Wayne Gray said:

The people who find AI writing interesting may do so for a while. But eventually, it'll feel like running along a very small track. "Wait. Haven't I see this before?" That didn't take long for me, but I'm a weirdo who notices patterns. Others will catch up.

The AI that I've read tends to be very repetitive, with storyline and details.  Maybe I'm just a weirdo too, but its something I've noticed.     

[kbois]

3 hours ago, Mikiesboy said:

So, today's quote is not for the people who write with A.I.  And there are lots of them here. Yes, I am bitter about that. Angry even. More at myself I think for offering help to some. I won't in future. I've allowed it to ruin something in me. I have stories ready to post ... Things I actually wrote all by myself, but readers don't seem to want that. They are loving all this crap posted by AI 'authors' cuz it's fast and cheap . . .like fast food, I guess. Who wants to wait for me and others like me to write something. 

I don't know. Maybe I need to just stop ...   Anyway, no matter it seems, here is today's quote from a real person's thoughts:  

“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.”

—Pelé (1940-2022)
Footballer, humanitarian

You and I have had several discussions on this and you know I agree with you 100%. 

Its hard not to take offense at all the AI crap out there. 

AI stands for Artificial Intelligence. And that's exactly what it is...artificial. Not much intelligence either in my opinion. 

Authors like you, Wayne and me have something AI can never replicate... Imagination. 

AI has to be given some sort of direction or parameters in order to "create" a story. 

We create from those insistent, pesky little voices that take root in our brains and say "write me, write me!" We also can take one idea, mull it over and come up with several options of where we want our story to go. Then we edit and tweak until it drives us insane and we finally say "eff it" and post. Let the chips fall where they may. 

I don't think AI has ruined something in you, but it's bothered you enough to affect your mental health. And that's understandable because you care about writing....otherwise you wouldn't keep doing it. I agree with Michael, I don't to think you can stop writing. None of us want you too. 

Wayne has a great point that after a while, AI $#!+ all feels the same. Same story, different setting and character names. 

So, know that you can hold your head high because you write from the heart and are true to yourself. That's what matters. 

xo

[kbois]

2 hours ago, Gary L said:

I do! For me, part of the joy of a platform like this is where one strives to improve, to read and edit someone’s authentic writing. To get feedback and even praise for MY efforts.

Incidentally, I tried a free trial of Grammarly and its AI detector this am. I put a chapter I have just finished through the detector. Result 0% AI (obviously) but a monstrous list of changes ‘to improve’ my writing score (whatever that is). Apart from the usual punctuation issues, I could see my word ordering was considered incorrect, I should always use contractions, blah, blah, blah.  I am certain that I have written correct English and I refuse to conform my style to the dictatorship of some computer programming.

End of rant.

gxxx

I still use Grammarly but more often than not dismiss the "improve your wording" suggestions. Sometimes the suggestions make sense. If you prefer how you word things, keep it that way. All writers have a style and it's one more thing AI can't discern from what it considers "proper". So nix the suggestions if you don't agree. Its a sanity saver. 

[Wayne Gray]

22 minutes ago, kbois said:

I still use Grammarly but more often than not dismiss the "improve your wording" suggestions. Sometimes the suggestions make sense. If you prefer how you word things, keep it that way. All writers have a style and it's one more thing AI can't discern from what it considers "proper". So nix the suggestions if you don't agree. Its a sanity saver. 

Yeah. I have to use Grammarly. Commas, man. Commas. Urgh. But yes, I reject lots of wording suggestions. And some of it's not even right, and it'll correct itself after you accept it. LOL