For me its more like that bit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail where the soldier seems miles away as he charges the castle, until a random moment where he’s right on top of them.

Someone has been watching too much Clarksons Farm, lol

So it would resemble the beginning of the universe, but smaller. Neat.

In my experience, it totally depends on the shop and what kind if environment the owners are trying to cultivate. I’ve been to super competitive shops that are crazy anal about sticking to game rules, rude to newcomers, etc, and I’ve been to others (like my current shop) that realize we’re a bunch of middle aged fucks playing with toys (40k is my shit).

More often than not, though, the vibe is going to be a welcoming one. As others have said, its more people to play games with! Especially in the plastic crack community, where there’s certainly a 30 year Warhammer veteran just waiting for a newbie to dump their lore knowledge into.

Local gaming shops are good options if you’re in an urban/suburban area. Many run regular events for TableTop Role Playing Games like Pathfinder and DnD, Warhammer, board game tournaments, etc… Many also host discord servers so folks can make “LFG” (Looking For Game) type posts.

Obviously its going to depend where you are, but I’ve found it to be a great place to socialize when I’m bored.

I see your point, but I’d be cautious of underestimating them.

Regardless of their own shortcomings, they have more resources than virtually anyone else on the planet to compensate for them. They certainly have teams of incredibly smart, and incredibly well paid people scheming for them.

What are the chances they are working together and creating a distraction?

It’s good enough to give me a little buffer, fortunately

As expected, lol

Patiently waiting for a meeting in which I’m almost certainly going to be laid off.

I was 15 or so, trying to drill a hole through the bottom of a 5.56 casing to weave onto some paracord for a necklace. Using whatever I found in the shed to try and accomplish this, I held the casing in place with a pair of vice grips as used a shitty old bit in a hand drill to try and put the hole in it. Well, instead the bit snapped, and I put what remained of the bit in the drill through my finger. Being a stubborn idiot, I dumped some hydrogen peroxide on it, applied pressure with a paper towel, then covered my whole finger in duct tape. Fortunately didn’t get infected (the bit was probably screaming hot), but I’ve got a fun scar now!

Its like they’re cutting policy from whole cloth

If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

What they say: Small government

What they do: Spend massively on police, military, and surveillance while pushing laws that dictate personal behavior (abortion bans, anti-trans legislation, drug criminalization).

What they say: Free market

What they do: Hand out subsidies to corporations, give massive tax breaks to the wealthy, and block labor protections.

What they say: Traditional values

What they do: Use “tradition” as a smokescreen to resist civil rights, suppress diversity, and enforce a narrow Christian nationalist vision.

What they say: Personal responsibility

What they do: Blame poor people for their conditions while defending corporate bailouts and generational wealth hoarding.

What they say: Rule of law

What they do: Apply it selectively—crack down on protests they dislike, but excuse insurrectionists and lawbreaking when it suits them.

What they say: Cautious to change

What they do: Rush radical deregulation and culture war laws through state legislatures while blocking any progress toward equity or justice.

Use a trusted VPN and/Tor while surfing