RANTING/VENTING MEGATHREAD 3.0

I used to like playing games with my students because it took up so much time, but these kids are such sore losers I don't enjoy it anymore.

If they lose, they become so demanding like it's their right to win. They scream for another round or to get a prize anyway. They whine like they're dying. My CT is nice enough to usually award the top 5 spots in a game, staggering the prizes (1st place gets 3 stickers - 5th place gets 1 sticker) and they still have the nerve to complain and demand more stickers.

I know they are just kids, but I hate to watch them getting away with this behavior. There will be another game next class and another after that. This is the only time in life they will ever be awarded for 5th place, but they are so ungrateful. They need to be taught to say thank you and try again next time. Again, I know they are children but I just don't like seeing this behavior unchecked. It's so entitled.

They're training to become Korea's SJW generation.

Pls take your agenda elsewhere. They're freakin' children.

Children being taught the same negative behaviours that led to America's 20-somethings becoming the disaster they are.

Pls take your agenda elsewhere. They're children. Stop trying to make some kind of statement.

I'm not blaming the poor innocent children. I'm blaming the adults who are teaching them weak values. Sevenpm talked about how entitled her students are, which reminded me of America's SJWs. They have similar attitudes and I'm worried that Korean kids will turn out that way too.

Pls take your agenda elsewhere. You are not worried about the kids at all. You are just trying to push your anti-SJW agenda. Grow up.

I'm worried for everyone.

You worried that everyone won't believe exactly what you believe and make life comfortable for you. Get over yourself. Stop asking like you're the only voice of logic or reason.

Eh, my life is comfortable enough if I stay away from young western people. I have a nice apartment, nice car, easy job. It could be worse.

I think they're life is better if they're away from you, too. Good job containing your toxic ways. 


Rant: As I grow close to the end of my time here, I have found that I have lost my ability to put up with stupidity. The older I get, they more I realize that a lot of dumb people have somehow coasted through life to positions of power.

I feel like a politics joke could be inserted here.

wasn't informed that lunch was an hour early today. I walked into the lunchroom and everything had been cleared up? Nice.

Hey, you got out of eating Korean food. Buy a lotto ticket.

I only eat school lunch at my country school, where the 30 minute drive precludes going home for lunch. The new VP asked me if I liked bibimbap, which was our lunchtime 'treat', and seemed surprised when I unenthusiastically said "It's OK". I imagine she was expecting a wide-eyed "It's delicious!", but I've been here too long to pretend to be excited about a plate of rice and vegetables with one kind of sauce.

Lol how many sauces do you want on one food? Do you need some ranch and ketchup?

No, I'm not looking for tacky American 'cooking'.

Take a European pasta dish. You can expect stock, tomato paste, olive oil, various herbs, an acid such as lemon or balsamic, garlic and even a bit of butter. Bibimbap has gochujang. It's passable, but not anything to write a book about.

Our office smells like chicken.



Oh wait... this is the ranting thread 

wasn't informed that lunch was an hour early today. I walked into the lunchroom and everything had been cleared up? Nice.

Hey, you got out of eating Korean food. Buy a lotto ticket.

I only eat school lunch at my country school, where the 30 minute drive precludes going home for lunch. The new VP asked me if I liked bibimbap, which was our lunchtime 'treat', and seemed surprised when I unenthusiastically said "It's OK". I imagine she was expecting a wide-eyed "It's delicious!", but I've been here too long to pretend to be excited about a plate of rice and vegetables with one kind of sauce.

Lol how many sauces do you want on one food? Do you need some ranch and ketchup?

No, I'm not looking for tacky American 'cooking'.

Take a European pasta dish. You can expect stock, tomato paste, olive oil, various herbs, an acid such as lemon or balsamic, garlic and even a bit of butter. Bibimbap has gochujang. It's passable, but not anything to write a book about.

Ew. Putting more than one type of sauce on a pasta dish would be a terrible idea.

Also yeah, bibimbap is a food that literally originated as a way for people to clear out their leftovers. Like, it's not supposed to be thought of as some haute cuisine. The people that promote it as such are trying a little too hard.

I think you missed my point about properly made pasta. You don't traditionally buy a pre-made sauce from the supermarket. You make a sauce using lots of different seasonings. Bibimbap's flavour is basically just fermented chilli. It's boring.

I should have been more specific by saying 'seasoning' instead of 'sauce'.

Was late to my 5th period class because nobody told me that the 1st years still had class. That makes zero sense to me. Let the 1st years have a break, too.

StillInKorea is on here harping on about Millennials. Many millennials have come to Korea and have stayed a number of years due to poor opportunities after the financial crisis. StillInKorea is ostensibly, not a millennial but an older individual who probably came here many years ago. If that is correct, he came from an era where opportunities in the west were plentiful compared to what they are now.

I think a couple of things can be deduced from this:

. He left the western world back when it was much easier to find a well paying career and has stayed in Korea. There could be many reasons for this in his defence. Who are we to judge? But someone could hold the view that he was a sad, miserable and unpleasant person back in the West.

. The fact he is apparently older and has come onto this thread to start throwing around his SJW "promotion" nonsense to younger people seemingly proves this.

What Korea does to the burnouts..

wasn't informed that lunch was an hour early today. I walked into the lunchroom and everything had been cleared up? Nice.

Hey, you got out of eating Korean food. Buy a lotto ticket.

I only eat school lunch at my country school, where the 30 minute drive precludes going home for lunch. The new VP asked me if I liked bibimbap, which was our lunchtime 'treat', and seemed surprised when I unenthusiastically said "It's OK". I imagine she was expecting a wide-eyed "It's delicious!", but I've been here too long to pretend to be excited about a plate of rice and vegetables with one kind of sauce.

Lol how many sauces do you want on one food? Do you need some ranch and ketchup?

No, I'm not looking for tacky American 'cooking'.

Take a European pasta dish. You can expect stock, tomato paste, olive oil, various herbs, an acid such as lemon or balsamic, garlic and even a bit of butter. Bibimbap has gochujang. It's passable, but not anything to write a book about.

Ew. Putting more than one type of sauce on a pasta dish would be a terrible idea.

Also yeah, bibimbap is a food that literally originated as a way for people to clear out their leftovers. Like, it's not supposed to be thought of as some haute cuisine. The people that promote it as such are trying a little too hard.

I think you missed my point about properly made pasta. You don't traditionally buy a pre-made sauce from the supermarket. You make a sauce using lots of different seasonings. Bibimbap's flavour is basically just fermented chilli. It's boring.

I should have been more specific by saying 'seasoning' instead of 'sauce'.

But pasta sauces from the supermarket also aren't as good as homemade ones. Kind of like gochujang. For gochujang, you don't traditionally buy a pre-made sauce from the supermarket. You make a sauce using lots of different ingredients. Unfortunately, a good gochujang is infinitely more difficult to make than a good pasta sauce, so a lot of the time, the supermarket is our only option.

Bibimbap is a super basic food that doesn't really deserve to be put on any sort of pedestal beyond being a satisfying and simple meal.

Gochujang, on the other hand, is one of the most difficult things to make in Korean food, and if you ever taste some made by someone who's been doing it for decades, you should be able to notice a much deeper flavour profile, as well as different notes depending on the ingredients, fermentation time, climate, etc.

I prefer my bibimbap with sesame oil and soy sauce.   I've never been too fond of gochujang in general.  I've had basic and a mixed version (that includes a bit of sesame oil among other things); the latter is definitely superior. 

Also, there's basic bibimbap (like at a school lunch) and then there's better.  Never gonna claim bibimbap is meant to be some fancy dish, but it all depends on what you put into it. 

My favorite rendition includes avocado, crab meat, and roe in addition to a medley of lightly seasoned vegetables and an egg with a runny yolk. 

StillInKorea is on here harping on about Millennials. Many millennials have come to Korea and have stayed a number of years due to poor opportunities after the financial crisis. StillInKorea is ostensibly, not a millennial but an older individual who probably came here many years ago. If that is correct, he came from an era where opportunities in the west were plentiful compared to what they are now.

I think a couple of things can be deduced from this:

. He left the western world back when it was much easier to find a well paying career and has stayed in Korea. There could be many reasons for this in his defence. Who are we to judge? But someone could hold the view that he was a sad, miserable and unpleasant person back in the West.

. The fact he is apparently older and has come onto this thread to start throwing around his SJW "promotion" nonsense to younger people seemingly proves this.

What Korea does to the burnouts..

It’s quite ironic that you’re paying out on StillInKorea, yet you’re one of the saddest gits on here.

Stop getting personal with people, or, better still, find something else to do with your life than acting as some kind of man of wisdom on a forum. It’s sad.

I like how the luggage pickup company changed my original window (3p-5p) to be broader (11a-5p), and they still haven't picked it up at 6:30. This has been more hassle than it's worth.

But pasta sauces from the supermarket also aren't as good as homemade ones. Kind of like gochujang. For gochujang, you don't traditionally buy a pre-made sauce from the supermarket. You make a sauce using lots of different ingredients. Unfortunately, a good gochujang is infinitely more difficult to make than a good pasta sauce, so a lot of the time, the supermarket is our only option.

Bibimbap is a super basic food that doesn't really deserve to be put on any sort of pedestal beyond being a satisfying and simple meal.

Gochujang, on the other hand, is one of the most difficult things to make in Korean food, and if you ever taste some made by someone who's been doing it for decades, you should be able to notice a much deeper flavour profile, as well as different notes depending on the ingredients, fermentation time, climate, etc.

Understood. I have had some Korean dishes with a much better and deeper flavour than the standard fare, perhaps for the reason you suggested. I tend to cook at home and while I will cook western food from scratch, I just don't have the knowledge to make Korean food in the same way. Maybe I need to track down some of the better Korean restaurants.

However, I wish people wouldn't constantly expect foreigners to sing the praises of everyday Korean food. The VP at the country school looked genuinely surprised and disappointed that I only gave the school lunch bibimbap an "OK".

StillInKorea is on here harping on about Millennials. Many millennials have come to Korea and have stayed a number of years due to poor opportunities after the financial crisis. StillInKorea is ostensibly, not a millennial but an older individual who probably came here many years ago. If that is correct, he came from an era where opportunities in the west were plentiful compared to what they are now.

I think a couple of things can be deduced from this:

. He left the western world back when it was much easier to find a well paying career and has stayed in Korea. There could be many reasons for this in his defence. Who are we to judge? But someone could hold the view that he was a sad, miserable and unpleasant person back in the West.

. The fact he is apparently older and has come onto this thread to start throwing around his SJW "promotion" nonsense to younger people seemingly proves this.

What Korea does to the burnouts..

I am technically a millennial, but just old enough that I didn't grow up with the extreme political correctness that infected universities in the past few years. I've been in Korea for several years, but lived elsewhere before that, and I've formed my own opinion on things, increasingly not giving a damn about social courtesies and conventions. I am still polite to people and I try not to be an ***hole, but my view on the world is rather pessimistic and certainly not consistent with my peers.

But pasta sauces from the supermarket also aren't as good as homemade ones. Kind of like gochujang. For gochujang, you don't traditionally buy a pre-made sauce from the supermarket. You make a sauce using lots of different ingredients. Unfortunately, a good gochujang is infinitely more difficult to make than a good pasta sauce, so a lot of the time, the supermarket is our only option.

Bibimbap is a super basic food that doesn't really deserve to be put on any sort of pedestal beyond being a satisfying and simple meal.

Gochujang, on the other hand, is one of the most difficult things to make in Korean food, and if you ever taste some made by someone who's been doing it for decades, you should be able to notice a much deeper flavour profile, as well as different notes depending on the ingredients, fermentation time, climate, etc.

Understood. I have had some Korean dishes with a much better and deeper flavour than the standard fare, perhaps for the reason you suggested. I tend to cook at home and while I will cook western food from scratch, I just don't have the knowledge to make Korean food in the same way. Maybe I need to track down some of the better Korean restaurants.

However, I wish people wouldn't constantly expect foreigners to sing the praises of everyday Korean food. The VP at the country school looked genuinely surprised and disappointed that I only gave the school lunch bibimbap an "OK".

StillInKorea is on here harping on about Millennials. Many millennials have come to Korea and have stayed a number of years due to poor opportunities after the financial crisis. StillInKorea is ostensibly, not a millennial but an older individual who probably came here many years ago. If that is correct, he came from an era where opportunities in the west were plentiful compared to what they are now.

I think a couple of things can be deduced from this:

. He left the western world back when it was much easier to find a well paying career and has stayed in Korea. There could be many reasons for this in his defence. Who are we to judge? But someone could hold the view that he was a sad, miserable and unpleasant person back in the West.

. The fact he is apparently older and has come onto this thread to start throwing around his SJW "promotion" nonsense to younger people seemingly proves this.

What Korea does to the burnouts..

I am technically a millennial, but just old enough that I didn't grow up with the extreme political correctness that infected universities in the past few years. I've been in Korea for several years, but lived elsewhere before that, and I've formed my own opinion on things, increasingly not giving a damn about social courtesies and conventions. I am still polite to people and I try not to be an ***hole, but my view on the world is rather pessimistic and certainly not consistent with my peers.

By form your own opinion, you mean you believe whatever the MRA tell you to, right? 

But pasta sauces from the supermarket also aren't as good as homemade ones. Kind of like gochujang. For gochujang, you don't traditionally buy a pre-made sauce from the supermarket. You make a sauce using lots of different ingredients. Unfortunately, a good gochujang is infinitely more difficult to make than a good pasta sauce, so a lot of the time, the supermarket is our only option.

Bibimbap is a super basic food that doesn't really deserve to be put on any sort of pedestal beyond being a satisfying and simple meal.

Gochujang, on the other hand, is one of the most difficult things to make in Korean food, and if you ever taste some made by someone who's been doing it for decades, you should be able to notice a much deeper flavour profile, as well as different notes depending on the ingredients, fermentation time, climate, etc.

Understood. I have had some Korean dishes with a much better and deeper flavour than the standard fare, perhaps for the reason you suggested. I tend to cook at home and while I will cook western food from scratch, I just don't have the knowledge to make Korean food in the same way. Maybe I need to track down some of the better Korean restaurants.

However, I wish people wouldn't constantly expect foreigners to sing the praises of everyday Korean food. The VP at the country school looked genuinely surprised and disappointed that I only gave the school lunch bibimbap an "OK".

StillInKorea is on here harping on about Millennials. Many millennials have come to Korea and have stayed a number of years due to poor opportunities after the financial crisis. StillInKorea is ostensibly, not a millennial but an older individual who probably came here many years ago. If that is correct, he came from an era where opportunities in the west were plentiful compared to what they are now.

I think a couple of things can be deduced from this:

. He left the western world back when it was much easier to find a well paying career and has stayed in Korea. There could be many reasons for this in his defence. Who are we to judge? But someone could hold the view that he was a sad, miserable and unpleasant person back in the West.

. The fact he is apparently older and has come onto this thread to start throwing around his SJW "promotion" nonsense to younger people seemingly proves this.

What Korea does to the burnouts..

I am technically a millennial, but just old enough that I didn't grow up with the extreme political correctness that infected universities in the past few years. I've been in Korea for several years, but lived elsewhere before that, and I've formed my own opinion on things, increasingly not giving a damn about social courtesies and conventions. I am still polite to people and I try not to be an ***hole, but my view on the world is rather pessimistic and certainly not consistent with my peers.

By form your own opinion, you mean you believe whatever the MRA tell you to, right? 

Boring.

But pasta sauces from the supermarket also aren't as good as homemade ones. Kind of like gochujang. For gochujang, you don't traditionally buy a pre-made sauce from the supermarket. You make a sauce using lots of different ingredients. Unfortunately, a good gochujang is infinitely more difficult to make than a good pasta sauce, so a lot of the time, the supermarket is our only option.

Bibimbap is a super basic food that doesn't really deserve to be put on any sort of pedestal beyond being a satisfying and simple meal.

Gochujang, on the other hand, is one of the most difficult things to make in Korean food, and if you ever taste some made by someone who's been doing it for decades, you should be able to notice a much deeper flavour profile, as well as different notes depending on the ingredients, fermentation time, climate, etc.

Understood. I have had some Korean dishes with a much better and deeper flavour than the standard fare, perhaps for the reason you suggested. I tend to cook at home and while I will cook western food from scratch, I just don't have the knowledge to make Korean food in the same way. Maybe I need to track down some of the better Korean restaurants.

However, I wish people wouldn't constantly expect foreigners to sing the praises of everyday Korean food. The VP at the country school looked genuinely surprised and disappointed that I only gave the school lunch bibimbap an "OK".

StillInKorea is on here harping on about Millennials. Many millennials have come to Korea and have stayed a number of years due to poor opportunities after the financial crisis. StillInKorea is ostensibly, not a millennial but an older individual who probably came here many years ago. If that is correct, he came from an era where opportunities in the west were plentiful compared to what they are now.

I think a couple of things can be deduced from this:

. He left the western world back when it was much easier to find a well paying career and has stayed in Korea. There could be many reasons for this in his defence. Who are we to judge? But someone could hold the view that he was a sad, miserable and unpleasant person back in the West.

. The fact he is apparently older and has come onto this thread to start throwing around his SJW "promotion" nonsense to younger people seemingly proves this.

What Korea does to the burnouts..

I am technically a millennial, but just old enough that I didn't grow up with the extreme political correctness that infected universities in the past few years. I've been in Korea for several years, but lived elsewhere before that, and I've formed my own opinion on things, increasingly not giving a damn about social courtesies and conventions. I am still polite to people and I try not to be an ***hole, but my view on the world is rather pessimistic and certainly not consistent with my peers.

By form your own opinion, you mean you believe whatever the MRA tell you to, right? 

Boring.

Well, if you'd like to explain your pessimistic world view, I invite you to PM me. I don't want to take up more pages in this thread.

...Sorry, everyone else. Music/gear is one of a handful of topics that can get me rambling at the drop of a hat. 

Please ramble further.  Especially about bass... I'm keen on picking one up when I migrate back home.  If you've got any tips for a beginner, I'm all ears.  I play violin but I'm tired of playing melody, haha.  Right now I'm researching inexpensive bass options for an amateur.

Well now there's a potential can of worms...

Understand right off the bat that "inexpensive" might mean something completely different to me than it does to you  . When I see a $300 bass, I think "that's dirt cheap," but people who don't play might think "$300?!? It'd better be made of diamonds!"

Then again, you play the violin, and symphonic acoustic instruments tend to be several orders more expensive than electric instruments, so maybe my gear is chump change to you, haha.

Mister Tim, this can of information is mighty appreciated!  I probably should have started a new thread... hahah

Heh, when I say "inexpensive" I think I have a similar mindset; I was thinking around 300~350 max for the bass alone.  I always like a decent beginner's instrument; it's difficult to ever bring myself to go for a cheap $50~$100 one, especially if it's a string type.  Maybe it's string snobbery but I always want somewhat decent quality.  When I got an acoustic/electric guitar, I dropped around $650 on a low end Martin (had a guitar friend go with me to pick it out.  At first my friend thought I wanted a $300 range one (I was thinking around $500 or so max) but after hearing the Martin there was no going back  ).  I enjoy dabbling with it but I've been wanting to add a deeper instrument to my collection.  My violin is easily the most expensive instrument I own (and it's just an intermediate student grade one too, nothing fancy) and as it's the only one I consider myself to be fully proficient in, I'm reasonably limiting myself with decent beginner grade quality ones for all other instruments.  If I gain reasonable proficiency in another instrument then I'd consider upgrading then but for the time being... musician's ADD? 

Jazz basses also have fairly slim necks compared to some other models, so that might be nice for you.

Good note; having started on violin I really was accustomed to quite a thin neck... shifting to guitar was a bit of an adjustment.  I started out on my brother's classical guitar and that was something of a strain for me  which is one of several reasons why I opted not to get a classical when seeking out my own guitar.  I have fingers of a goodly length but my actual hands aren't that big. 

You'd need an amp, too, of course, but honestly you don't need much of an amp for just noodling around at home and learning the instrument. Just a little thing with an 8" speaker and in the 15-25 watt range would more than suffice. Luckily there are plenty of options to go around from a number of well-known brands to choose from, like...

Yes!  Great!  I know nothing about amps (in spite of jumping for the acoustic/electric as opposed to simply acoustic-- figured I may as well keep my options open) but really I just need something to be able to play at home.  If I end up decent at bass it'd be cool to jam with some friends, that's about the only [hopefully] realistic goal I have other than just playing by myself for fun. 

I imagine I'll be dropping roughly half a grand on this endeavor, after all is said and done.  So I'm glad my estimate is pretty much in line with yours.  Always gotta have the necessary accessories 

When I was looking up beginner basses, one that popped up was Ibanez.  Don't suppose you'd know anything/have any personal experience with this brand?  Aesthetic appeal is of course one of the minor factors in choosing an instrument but I can't help but feel shallowly attracted to this bass. 

I've got some time to think on this, but my plan is to hit up some music stores and fiddle around with what they've got to see how the different options feel.  Then I'll probably order online if that's a better deal.  Though, interestingly enough, I'm from the midwest and I notice that Sweetwater is in Indiana... could be fun to take a roadtrip

Again, thank you for your detailed rambling! 

StillInKorea is on here harping on about Millennials. Many millennials have come to Korea and have stayed a number of years due to poor opportunities after the financial crisis. StillInKorea is ostensibly, not a millennial but an older individual who probably came here many years ago. If that is correct, he came from an era where opportunities in the west were plentiful compared to what they are now.

I think a couple of things can be deduced from this:

. He left the western world back when it was much easier to find a well paying career and has stayed in Korea. There could be many reasons for this in his defence. Who are we to judge? But someone could hold the view that he was a sad, miserable and unpleasant person back in the West.

. The fact he is apparently older and has come onto this thread to start throwing around his SJW "promotion" nonsense to younger people seemingly proves this.

What Korea does to the burnouts..

It’s quite ironic that you’re paying out on StillInKorea, yet you’re one of the saddest gits on here.

Stop getting personal with people, or, better still, find something else to do with your life than acting as some kind of man of wisdom on a forum. It’s sad.

I apologise that the Man of Wisdom called you out for your silly post on how immigration works. I hope the Italian community remains thriving xx

So, not lot ago, I met this Korean girl I started liking, was going to ask her out, but she told me she fell for this other guy she met (online - never has met him in person). Gave her some advice, and she progressed with that guy. She started to tell me, in graphic detail, about all her intimate details dealings with this guy.

I told her politely, that I don't want to interact with her anymore, and explained why (liked her, I didn't want to hear about this other guy, and she'd always change the topic to her situation with him); She wasn't happy about it, but accepted it. However, she started contacting me again about it >.<
She's not being bad enough to warrant getting blocked, but I don't exactly want to hear about that stuff either. :\
#foreveralone

Bruh, block her now.  She's a user who enjoys getting the attention from you without reciprocating in kind.  Gross.

I took your advice, she eventually got the phones of her parents and tried to call me; She got the other guy to try message me; After I declined, they proceeded to make new Facebook accounts and kept trying to message me on there too. >.< To combat this, I just shut my laptop, and jammed on the ps4 though, as it was getting annoying. :p
We had only known each other for like 1.5 - 2 weeks, so I don't understand why the stalker behaviour was needed. >.<
So glad she doesn't know where I live, it could have really gotten scarypoppins.


Also, I'm still a bit sick from yesterday, so I decided to not go on the school trip >.< Even though I don't like baseball, I was looking forward to the school trip. >.<

YIIIIKES.


I can't understand people who engage in stalker behavior. If someone doesn't want to talk to you, nothing is going to change by going full crazy on them. In fact it'll only make things worse.


Not to make this about Korea in general, because stalkers happen anywhere... but it sure does seem to happen a lot here.

I once had to threaten a guy with police action. We met only one time. During our first meeting he suggested we meet again for dinner sometime in the future and I said "okay" even though I didn't mean it. Afterwards, I told him on Kakao I wasn't interested in hanging out again and he started telling me I OWED him one dinner. I told him I don't owe him anything and stopped responding.

He then started to offer money to meet and eventually for other things. He literally begged, like "please let me ****************** I will pay you, you don't have to do anything I will do everything" and other weird things I won't type out here.

 It was so gross and pathetic, and also really scary as I kept blocking him and he kept making new Kakao accounts. I'm SO glad he didn't know where I lived, and during our first meeting he seemed really interested in finding out where my room was. This went on for a couple of weeks. He'd text me from a new account like every other day. I deleted all my Kakao pictures, and stupid me I had given him my phone number to add me on Kakao so I had to block him there as well. Finally I told him I'd go to the police if he didn't stop and he hasn't texted me since.

I'm sorry that happened to you. :(
Even though it involved threatening him to get the police involved, I'm glad he stopped!

When I was looking up beginner basses, one that popped up was Ibanez.  Don't suppose you'd know anything/have any personal experience with this brand?  Aesthetic appeal is of course one of the minor factors in choosing an instrument but I can't help but feel shallowly attracted to this bass. 

Ibanez is actually Fender/Squier's toughest competition when it comes to beginner gear, in my opinion. The one you linked and the nicer of the two Squiers I linked are both made in Indonesia and are at nearly the same price point, so I'd expect the quality on both of them to be about the same.

The model you linked is from the SR series, which is known for having very slim necks, which makes them... how to put this... "guitarist friendly"  . They're a popular choice for guitarists looking to pick up a bass to play on the side or to join a band that needs a bassist, largely because they're pretty easy to play. They're especially popular in the metal crowd, who want something affordable and comfortable, but tend to shy away from the more vintage-y designs.

That SR300 has more features than the Squiers, but then it comes down to whether or not they're features that you need. It has an active preamp, as opposed to the passive preamp on the Squier. That means it has on-board EQ controls that boost/cut the treble, mid, and bass frequencies, but will always need a battery in order to work. The Squier doesn't need a battery, but pretty much the only tonal control you'll get is a "tone" knob that rolls off the treble. The SR also has some different pickup switching options, which could be just the tonal options you find yourself needing, or it could be a feature you never end up using.

To be honest, Ibanez' proprietary electronics are kinda... well, sh!t. I have an Indonesian SR fretless myself, and while its construction, finish, and feel are all nice, the tone is definitely lacking a bit thanks to the lackluster preamp and dull pickups. That said, though, one nice thing about electric instruments is that pickups and electronics are replaceable. If you find a bass you like the look and feel of but aren't too stoked about the tone, you can just rip 'em out and replace them with third party stuff (it's a bit more involved than that and should probably be done by a trained professional, please do not rip out any electronics  ).

I personally lean towards the design of more vintage-y stuff, both for the aesthetics and simpler features, but I also see the appeal in more modern stuff. Hell, the custom I just had built is a headless 5 string with a combination active/passive filter-based preamp, so I definitely understand the appeal and the utility of more modern designs.

As you hinted at with your Martin story, though, I imagine what it'll really come down to will be sitting down with a few and seeing what speaks to you. Then the only decision you'll have to make is whether you want to support local businesses, or find it online for cheaper, hahaha.

I hate it when its only 10am and i am already really hungry and lunch is still a long time away. I have no snacks and can only fill up on a coffee mix untill lunch. Will have to stock up on some supplies for hungry times.

What do you snack on in between meals? I would like to find some reasonably priced cashew nuts or other healthy nuts rather than 2+1 chocolate bars that i always tend to buy at CU.

I hate it when its only 10am and i am already really hungry and lunch is still a long time away. I have no snacks and can only fill up on a coffee mix untill lunch. Will have to stock up on some supplies for hungry times.

What do you snack on in between meals? I would like to find some reasonably priced cashew nuts or other healthy nuts rather than 2+1 chocolate bars that i always tend to buy at CU.

I know your struggle.

I buy my nuts from Homeplus or Costco. They're not cheap, but good enough. I also bring in granola bars, jerky, cheese sticks, and, since I have my own classroom this year, stuff like hard-boiled eggs (pre-shelled and kept in a plastic container). I also bring in my own smoothies to sip on while I'm eating my nuts.

I hate it when its only 10am and i am already really hungry and lunch is still a long time away. I have no snacks and can only fill up on a coffee mix untill lunch. Will have to stock up on some supplies for hungry times.

What do you snack on in between meals? I would like to find some reasonably priced cashew nuts or other healthy nuts rather than 2+1 chocolate bars that i always tend to buy at CU.

https://www.iherb.com/pr/Eden-Foods-Pocket-Snacks-Quiet-Moon-Nuts-Seeds-Dried-Fruit-12-Packages-1-oz-28-3-g-Each/63069

Decent value and reasonably healthy...just a buck per package.