Years ago I moved to a new apartment that had a dishwasher, in unit washer dryer and a garage with an automatic garage door opener. I was really excited about the dishwasher and in unit washer dryer because I had never had those before. But, the thing I truly loved was the automatic garage door opener. It was unexpected. I didn’t think that would be the thing I loved most about that rental unit.
So what have you experienced that you loved but was surprising?
“Man Crowned Miss Nevada USA, First In Pageant History”
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/man-crowned-miss-nevada-usa-first-pageant-history
I have to admit he’s kinda hot.
I was thinking the same but there’s a prostate under there somewhere.
The end result of this to me is that they all look like trannies now, especially all dolled up like that. I see a bunch of six-feet tall women with a ton of caked on makeup and outrageous dress… I have to figure RuPaul is sitting behind a judging table somewhere nearby.
Agreed. I see probably two dozen women a day that are hotter than him. Kudos for not looking like Rhywun, but…
Don’t you live in the Minnesota or something?
I call bullshit that you see two dozen attractive women a day at all.
Lol.
You need to travel more, my friend.
Inspired by Q.
Are you by any chance on the internet when you see these attractive women?
oh dayum. clicked the link.
So that surprised you, but you loved it.
I noticed in the last thread there was a lot of referring to him as ‘she’.
It’s he, not she. I am not sure about the psychology of people who believe they are opposite of their gender, believe they are vampires, famous people from the past, had former lives etc.
Doctor Suthenboy’s cracked pot theory is that the world is too terrible for them to face so they delude themselves into believing it is what they wish it was. Probably a way to deal with fear, trauma or powerlessness.
Normalizing going along with their delusions is just another way the leftists brainwash the population as a whole. I aint buyin’, thanks though. Two birds with one stone as well, they want to destroy any institution that instills strength of character. That is why they have gone after the scouts, organized sports and now this one. As I recall there are character and behavioral standards to compete in this. Otherwise there is no point…you can go to any community college in America and find a dozen women equally or more beautiful than anyone in these pageants.
The rot of the Frankfurt school festers on.
In my head, It’s lumped in the same “first world disorders” bucket as eating disorders. People don’t worry about what “brain gender” they are when they’re having to work 60 hours per week to feed themselves.
It’s a tough call. If they are convincing enough, I will go along with “she” (or “he” as the case may be).
I won’t go along with:
– invented pronouns
– obviously unconvincing attempts at mimicking one of the two common pronouns
– constantly shifting pronouns
To that end I’m not going to make waves in public by dead-pronouning someone unless they’re being a dick, because I hate drama. OTOH I’ve never been put in the situation where I might have to do so, so… I dunno.
Thad Russell had a doctor on his podcast who points out that developing countries have better results in treating schizophrenia than the US. We don’t really know how the human brain works, but our experts believe it’s still OK to fuck around with it by using drugs and weird therapies.
Just call them they/them from now on. That’ll probably help.
Does no harm.
Somehow the casual pluralization of persons bugs me more than the insistence that men be referred to as women.
I was not surprised, nor did I love this.
I got nothing appropriate.
Good call. I’m thinking these personal question posts are some sort of Psyops setup. Tulip is a spook.
I’m not paranoid! I swear!
*adjusts shiny fashionable hat*
Great question.
Vehicle seat heaters.
I thought I was a tough, winter-defying motherfucker, but I don’t think there is anything better!
Agreed: It’s hard to beat turning them up to high and rolling down the windows on a cold (not Minnesota cold day maybe) day.
I have heard this praise for those before but have never owned a car that had them. Chances are if I bought one, the car I would afford in my self imposed price range they would either be broken or electrocute me. My current POS the driver side seat height adjustment only works on one side so if I run it up too much I have a pretty bad starboard list so I go low.
Yeah, I can’t remember exactly how, but I ended up with an electric vest for motorcycling. I’m just never really cold anymore. People have razzed me about it, but then they end up shivering and slowing down and wanting to keep stopping all the time. I really don’t understand why anyone would want suffering to be part of a thing they love doing. I guess it’s a macho thing. Whatever, I’m way more into removing uncomfortable aspects so I enjoy that much more.
Btw, I concur on the seat heaters too. I’m considering installing aftermarket ones in the Sky. The Saabrolet has them and they are great. I use them in concert with the a/c also.
I enjoyed a heated steering wheel more. IMO, the seat warms up under my ass faster than the wheel does in my hands.
Yup. I’ve never had to worry about a frostbitten butt.
Yes! I would prefer cooling most of the time, but it’s wonderful when my back is sore. Like having a heating pad on it.
The ventilated seats are damn nice here in TX. Especially because I can remote start my car and have the seats pre-cool. ?
I have 3 needs for any new* car:
Leather interior
Bluetooth
Heated seats.
*- I always buy slightly used cars.
The little rocker switches for the seat heaters is far forward on my console. Often when placing a drink in the holder, setting my cigarettes down or doing whatever on the console I hit the switch unknowingly. I live in Louisiana. Two minutes later: “Goddamned it is hot today” *Cranks air conditioner as cold as it will go*
My wife loves those.
I don’t get it, but I’m in SoCal where they’re not really needed.
I leave for work at 5 A.M. I won’t use them for the next 6 months, but even just a month ago, it was chilly on the way in. I do use them sometimes with the a/c even when it’s warm out. Bad back.
Make fun of my electric car all you want, but it is awesome to get into a preheated or cooled car.
Really summer is better than winter as you can remotely turn it on 10 minutes or so before departure from wherever you are.
As a fellow EV driver, I am not making fun.
It’s awesome to pre heat or pre cool from afar. It’s also awesome to accelerate like it’s nothing.
“Come to Me” is a feature I didn’t think I’d use, but when I staggered out of the hospital at 3 am after being with my husband through another horrible hospital day this April, I was great to just push that button on my phone app and watch the car’s light come on, them watching it pull out in reverse, stop, go in forward .
That was nice.
And crash into a signpost.
Just kidding! Reminded of one it first came out and idiot YouTube videos.
#metoo
You people are old ladies. I ask my wife what kind of car she wants. She does not care as long as it has bluetooth and heated seats. I love cooled seats better. That was definitely a nice surprise when we got our used Explorer.
My minivan. It’s totally lame. and kind of awesome.
???
*waits patiently for recently purchased minivan to be shipped up from Houston*
Wife told me she’d never be so lame as to own a minivan. The tune changed immediately when baby 2 came.
I’ll repeat my request. Please contact me when you come through CW.
Absolutely! I’ll put the trip up on the forum once we nail down the timing.
Relevant, unless blocked in your country.
Open Post Titties!
https://archive.li/wgAC7
Earlier in this thread I became gay but now I’m straight again.
Those could be modern lyrics for Amazing Grace.
Actually, I prefer these.
That reminds me to check if/when she’s coming back to the Troubador. I saw her last time she was there and then she got cancelled for the ‘vid panic. Thanks.
Dammit! The show’s in October and it’s sold out. Gotta prowl for craiglist or secondary market tickets now. Dammit!
Can’t go wrong with Samantha Fish.
Well, that was surprising, but I enjoyed it.
The Cuban Missile Crisis.
Milk just shot out of my nose.
Were you surprised? Did you love it?
Kind of.
So what have you experienced that you loved but was surprising?
This is the start of every letter to Penthouse in the 80s.
Good story ‘sloper.
The kegerator is finally assembled. What a pain in the ass.
Kegs go in tonight. Should be cold by tomorrow night.
Urthona likes this
For kegs in the kegerator: bochet, lime mead, raspberry/blackberry/blueberry mead, lemon-vanilla sour braggot (lemon vanilla mead blended with a golden sour ale).
The Crying Game
More like the crying shame. Well, I’ve never seen it, that I recall.
That is a really good movie.
That movie would actually infuriate woke people today because of the main characters reaction.
Real fireworks.
I always thought they were for the toothless among us, but I bought some last summer and can’t wait to get back to the Fireworks store this year.
That’s a good one. Blowing shit up is underrrated.
I have never underrated that particular activity.
Tannerite! The most fun you can have with your pants on!
Surprisingly enjoyable, or enjoyably surprising?
The former? Baseball, usually. The latter? Baseball, sometimes.
Old house. Wife convinced me to put in central air.
II thought they would tear the hell out of the house and was ok with window units.
Way cooler, way quieter way more efficient. Sadly my energy savings was eaten up just about dollar for dollar by my increased property taxes. God bless NJ.
Still, being able to sleep is worth a shit-ton of money.
Being a city creature I don’t have much experience with central air. Mostly with an ex whose roommates kept it too warm for my taste, plus I kind of missed the blast of cold air directed at me even if there are hot-spots elsewhere in the room. And of course there’s the office where the central air is too warm*.
*Or was. One of the things I noticed in the return to the office was that there weren’t enough chicks around to turn the thermostat up. It was actually set at a quite pleasant 70 instead of the usual 76 or so in the Before Times.
76!!? That is absurd. These women could only be environmentalists to use that much fossil fuel heat.
Dishwasher- saves so much time over hand washing the dishes
Side by side- has really helped me clean out the back acreage this spring. First, by the wife wanting paths cut so she can drive around. Second by making it so much easier to load up tools, drive to where I’m clearing, then load back up and drive back. Packs a cooler and bathroom breaks whenever I need one. And great for moving bark dust, plants, and anything else around the yard.
Washlet- wasn’t crazy about them at first and thought it was a novelty. After having one at home for three years, I’m sold. So nice to have a heated seat in the winter and feel much cleaner. I dislike staying in hotels or even using the can at work now.
Just as long as it makes running water sounds.
🙁
No auto flush either. The wife still complains if she walks in and finds the seat up before it auto closes.
My harrier just stopped by. Nap-of-the-Earth attacks on the mouse population. He flies at
tree-grass-top level. Sometimes he hovers. Sometimes he pounces.Mice fear him.
Yeah, but the jet wash on those things is awful.
Hence the need for the F35.
“Need”
One of my buddies worked on that project. He left after being disgusted at all the waste.
You knew it was going to be a disaster when you saw all the variants for each service.
Don’t forget overseas military sales!
There is something special about that type of dog that they needed to make an entire size range for them from Beagle to Foxhound.
Tejano music.
I’ve been pondering the question, and I think I’m going to have to answer music. Right now I’m kind of obsessed with Justin Johnson and his guitar techniques. How he can pull that many different sounds out of a silverware box confoozles my brain.
I’d love to see him play with Joe Bonamassa or Samantha Fish or Chris Thomas King.
That guy’s a badass.
I frequently loose an entire evening as youtube feeds me one Justin video after another.
This is your fault.
Charcoal grill – I was afraid I wouldn’t like all the extra effort required compared to gas. Nope, it’s enough better, especially with lump charcoal, that I don’t mind the effort.
Bug-a-salt – it’s downright fun to kill flies now. The kiddo loves to run off and get the “bug gun” so I can shoot the flies that get in the house. Dropped a horsefly into my pitcher plant this morning after stalking it with the bug gun.
Mark Levin’s books – massively superior to his radio show and, IMO, the only books from the conservative talk show hosts worth reading
Yeah, I use my Weber/Slow n’ Sear combo almost exclusively now.
Holy shit dude, my brother gave me one of those, and yes, it’s a blast. If they land, they’re toast. I’ve even gotten somewhat good at shooting them right out of the air if they come at me from just the right angle. I’m using Kosher salt, so it’s extra brutal.
The only drawback is cleaning up when it occasionally splatters their guts everywhere. I shot one today off a side table and had to wipe a 3-inch radius of fly pulp off the living room wall. Another one was foolish enough to land on the kitchen window sill, and it looked like the shot dismembered it.
Things you don’t want to hear the day before you go on vacation.
“The clothes washer isn’t draining”
“Good news. The repair will cost the same as your vacation.”
When they filmed the episode of “My Name is Earl” at my shop, they pain me about 4 grand for half a day. After it was over, I was racing a friend down Victory Blvd, feeling all high spirited by the day. I left a light super hard and my bike just locked up completely. I pulled it over and the connecting rod broke in half was sticking out of the back of the case. I did some mental math and all the parts came out to about 4 grand. Literally an hour later.
Ouch
Man, I had something like that happen once but on a smaller scale than 4 grand.
My husband’s band was paid to go from the twin cities to an Indian casino in Wisconsin for a 2 day gig. We decided to make a weekend of it so I went along.
The cheap bastards didn’t provide free drinks for the band, so we spend a good bit on our own drinks. The gig pay wasn’t great either. But I got lucky on a couple of bingo games.
On the drive home, I tallied all the receipts (gas money, uncomped meals, drinks) against the gig money and gambling winnings.
We came out ahead by $341.29, (can’t remember exactly but it was a highly specific number north of $300).
Then we got pulled over for speeding just before we left Wisconsin. The ticket fee was exactly, to the penny, what I had calculated and written down 30 minutes earlier.
It was odd. We shrugged and figured at least we broke even on our little trip.
To the penny.
Weird.
I’m fighting that battle right now. The guy’s come out twice and I’m in it 180 for repairs. Should’ve just bought another.
I can fix the damn thing, I just don’t have the time to do so.
Besides which, working on washing machines is a guaranteed laceration from sheet metal edges.
I fixed mine a few times and the dishwasher more than a few. Now, I just pay a guy. It ain’t worth the headache. Especially when the whole drum has to come out.
Youtube is your friend. There is usually a strainer basket just behind the lower front cover. You just have to remove that cover, open the strainer, and dump out the lint/legos/missing-socks from the strainer. It will work like new.
I asked the spousal unit when the last time was that she cleaned out the strainer.
“I don’t know”
This is why marriages fail.
My minivan. It’s totally lame. and kind of awesome.
I like station wagons. I want a ’65 Malibu wagon.
Viz
It’ll be awesome when I get done with it.
Long roofs are cool.
Too bad it has a sbc.
My Dad had a 1970 Country Squire Wagon with the Windsor 351 when I was a yute.
I’d drive that.
There was guy who took a two door Chevelle wagon and made a phantom GTO out of it. He painted it really bright seafoam green and drove everywhere for at least a decade. It was fast and super cool, excepting the nineties chic color.
We had one of these when I grew up. It was awesome. 8 cylinders and ran like a beast.
Forgot the link.
https://www.kloompy.com/oc-content/uploads/74/82772.jpg
In high school, I had a 1973 AMC Ambassador Brougham Wagon; it was a veritable tank.
Biden still acting as ISIS’ Air Force?
Of course! We either fight them there, or we’ll fight them here.
Or something.
There pays much much better, so there.
In my town, in a particular part of town, leaving the garage door partway up is a sign that you’re swingers, and an invitation to “Come on in!”
Is this the same i in other places?
Apparently not as in all the times Ive left the garage door open not a single sexy couple has propositioned us.
Like in that one Nugent song? Wango Tango?
Last time I left my garage door partly open I got some tools stolen. So, I guess I got screwed.
Just not the good kind of screwed.
Traditional double-action pistols with metal frames.
Britpop and pop country music. It goes along really well with learning the guitar.
Hmm. I’m trying to decide how much I want to talk about my sex life here. Well, use your imagination, I probably liked it.
Well, use your imagination, I probably liked it.
I’m just wondering where you found 40 Japanese businessmen and a city bus.
HM could tell us if only he came back around.
High powered revolvers. Not surprising, but a certain kind of fun you can’t really get from autoloaders.
Ruger Blackhawk chambered in 45 Auto Mag. Best of both worlds, but not double action.
*Hands ES a P228*
Water / ice dispenser on the front of the fridge.
Good one!
“what have you experienced that you loved but was surprising?”
Parenthood
I wasn’t ready for it (probably never would have been – is anybody ever really ready? (Does anyone really know what time it is?)). I took a leap of faith.
It has been so much fun to watch them grow up. The boisterous first-born has become contemplative, introspective, but internally driven. The quiet adopted one has become the boisterous, talk-to-anyone, life-of-the-party, one. She also recently took up gardening (one of my hobbies). The needy third one has become mostly independent. He is going into Engineering this fall (at least he inherited his mother’s brains).
They all tend toward their mother’s pickiness in food, but that is slowly changing.
I can’t wait to spoil their children.
That’s an exactly perfect one. My kid changed my life in ways I could never have known.
You win.
I can’t wait to spoil their children.
This.
Awww. One very sincere and profound post shining in the darkness.
Well done.
Easy listening music.
I was all about punk, metal, and rockin’ country, but now I want Krungbin, Tommy Guerra and so on.
Mel Torme!
https://youtu.be/5_RwIt3a8xs
Mel Torme!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwlBVJYM38o&ab_channel=mcappa11
Mel Torme!
https://youtu.be/2DQ2WOGY12c
Nice! I love all those mellow tune artists. I enjoyed your German dark jazz you linked me the other nite. How is your knowledge of bossa nova? You should check out the album Samba Jazz from Stan Getz if you don’t know it and dig the mellow shit. The song “Baía” is one of my all time fav easy listening classics.
I will check that out, but I am sure I will Blame It On The Bossa Nova.
Here is another one you might like: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d29u8KWiacw&ab_channel=IvicaStojkov
Mostly I just want to hear new music. I always feel sad for old high school friends who are still listening to the same shit 35 years later.
Nice, I will put it on my list to listen to tonight. Yes, I feel the same way about music. I still want to discover as much new stuff as possible. Even bands that I know pretty well can be fun. Recently heard an old Dire Straits song on somafm and went and listened to their entire debut album, which I knew only three songs from and loved it.
Formula 1. If you’d told me years ago that I would really be into an auto sport I would’ve laughed. Now it is my favorite sport after baseball got woke and made up stupid rules and football turned into a ridiculous farce.
I agree completely. I’m still somewhat surprised I’m so into it.
Right on, no one I know IRL is interested in it, you are the only one I have had brief discussions about it. This has been the best season of the three I have watched intently. Love the strategy behind it.
I suspect we’ve been fortunate, timing-wise – Mercedes has been dominant for 7 years, with Lewis winning 6 of those 7 years.
Suddenly, that seems like that might be on shaky ground and we have some real competition brewing.
Oh yeah, I think Red Bull and Verstappen have a really good chance of winning it. The last couple years they have been coming up close, but not having quite enough. Mercedes ran away with it. There have been great races this year, every one had drama of some sort. This year I have finally started watching the qualifying more. It’s fun to see how they adjust the car to each track to try and get an advantage. Sometimes it works, and sometimes not. There is really so much into it, it’s incredible.
How could I miss this one. Returning to skateboarding after a 40 year hiatus. Turns out I can still do it, albeit with less gusto and vigor. Huge fun, though.
We had one of these when I grew up.
Olds Vista Cruiser, FTW!
It truly was awesome. Florida beach vacations, Minnesota family visits. Power, music, air conditioning.
I remember ‘Afternoon Delight’ playing over and over on one of the drives to Minnesota. Then it was ‘Baker Street’ all the way to Ft. Walton Beach. Those two songs and remembering napping in the back seat of that car until we could see water are precious nostalgia for me.
I just listened to those two songs and it got damned dusty in here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4b3w6a9cSk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU6w56epBdc
I can see Sandy, Dottie, and Doreen splashing around in the surf with us back when you could camp on the beach and not see a sign of any other people as far as the eye could see like it was yesterday.
That’s awesome. What a car to do it in. Our fam had the mid 80’s wooden panel Olds wagon.
OT/
In machine learning, an array of variables are fed into deeply layered “neural nets” that simulate the binary, fire/don’t-fire synaptic connections of an animal brain. Vast amounts of data are used in a massively iterated (and, in some versions, unsupervised) training regimen. Because the strength of connections between logical nodes is highly plastic, just like neural pathways, the machine gets trained by trial and error and is able to arrive at something resembling knowledge of the world. The logic by which an AI reaches its conclusions is impossible to reconstruct even for those who built the underlying algorithms. We need to consider the significance of this in the light of our political traditions.
When a court issues a decision, the judge writes an opinion in which he explains his reasoning. He grounds the decision in law, precedent, common sense, and principles that he feels obliged to articulate and defend. This is what transforms the decision from mere fiat into something that is politically legitimate, capable of securing the assent of a free people. It makes the difference between simple power and authority. One distinguishing feature of a modern, liberal society is that authority is supposed to have this rational quality to it — rather than appealing to, say, a special talent for priestly divination. This is our Enlightenment inheritance. It appears to be in a fragile state. With the inscrutable arcana of data science, a new priesthood peers into a hidden layer of reality that is revealed only by a self-taught AI program — the logic of which is beyond human knowing.
https://unherd.com/2021/06/big-techs-threat-to-democracy/
With the inscrutable arcana of data science, a new priesthood peers into a hidden layer of reality that is revealed only by a self-taught AI program — the logic of which is beyond human knowing.
Dammit, squirrels ate my first comment…
Anybody using AI to make moral decisions is an idiot. Horrible system for such things. Beyond that, AI suffers from garbage in, garbage out just like any other algorithm, and there are classes of question that AI simply isn’t good at answering.
That said, I’m getting sick of all the technophobes with strong opinions about AI. Reading a politically slanted book does not an AI expert make. Most are taken aback when I explain to them that there are two “bias” issues in AI. Technical bias where the data is unrepresentative in a way that leads to the wrong conclusion, and social bias where the data leads to a correct but socially unacceptable conclusion. The number of brains I’ve seen explode when explaining those two concepts to very opinionated (usually lawyers) luddites is large. They thought they were vanquishing white supremacist robots, but their conversation with their AI savvy friend was actually crossing wires because AI savvy friend was talking technical bias.
Two words; Climat Model.
That is the sort of “objective” source of many people’s morals, and this is what will be the front runner of AI, at least in my opinion. It’s not that some people are letting an algorithm be their moral center, but that some people will use it to excuse their current priors and biases. And that will inform others.
It’s kinda like the people who go to church, but really don’t know what the basis for the belief system is. Joe Biden being a bad catholic is a good example of it, and a better one is all the people making excuses for it who have zero ideas of what Catholicism entails.
Universally accepted systems of nomenclature are super important. If you don’t first understand the lexicon, you’re unlikely to understand the subject.
Fuck me, maybe the MLA types have a point…
I’ve been pondering the question, and I think I’m going to have to answer music. Right now I’m kind of obsessed with Justin Johnson and his guitar techniques. How he can pull that many different sounds out of a silverware box confoozles my brain.
That reminds me of some guy I saw on the teevee one time who was playing (I shit you not) a “guitar” made out of a hubcap and a broomstick. I can’t remember how many strings it had.
The sound it made was amazing and awesome.
Seasick Steve. I saw him on Top Gear.
Been on a Law & Order kick lately, but recent days have been top-heavy with lefty agitprop.
This is not surprising or enjoyable.
Like more than usual?
Try watching the pre-’96 episodes with Steven Hill, compared to the ones now. Holy fucknuts.
Those don’t seem to be in rotation. They jump all over the place but only from 97 or so forward.
Italy.
I’m off to work, kids. Hungover as hell.
Mind the shop.
Getting duplicates of things I’m regularly using, particularly in different places. Tools, charging cables, etc. Saves a lot of mental energy not worrying about having things or forgetting them when it’s already there.
Commenting instead of lurking with you lot.
One of us. One of us.
The tank with lid for my sous vide. I used to use a stock pot, but had to keep adding water, the tank makes it truly set it and forget it.
I need to cut my lids to fit. Evap wasn’t too bad, but the 195 tub was struggling to keep temperature, even with the lid covering most of the tub.
Seeing so many changes over a lifetime it’s difficult to point to a single thing. After I got my first job I bought my mother a deep fryer, a percolator, a pop up toaster. The joy those simple things brought to a farm lady can not be described.
First car with an auto transmission and now every car/truck has to have an auto. TV in the ’50s to rural America. Electricity in ’53 on the farm. Too many miracles in one lifetime.
Finding the Glibs and realizing I wasn’t the only lost sheep.
Finding the Glibs and realizing I wasn’t the only lost sheep.
Nice!
I made it walking 1/4 mile on the new titanium knee tonight.
Every day is better than the day before.
Good to hear, Nick, I’m looking forward to taking that walk with you, I may be a little slower for a while.
Your stride with those long legs (jealous) will make you faster. I got short, monkey legs.
I’m going to work from home Thursdee and Fridee of this week, then go into the office half days next week, slowly working up to 8-9-10 hours.
I’m going stir-crazy at home, so getting out will be good for me.
Excellent, Nick!
Not bad for 2.5 weeks from having total knee replacement.
Since I’m in the middle of it right now, I’ll say my eye surgery. I had my left eye lens replaced after a lifetime of glasses/contacts (no, really, I got glasses at 3), and as my stronger eye, I wasn’t expecting much change and guys, it’s a revelation. I now am super excited for my nearly blind eye to get the same on Thursday morning. I mean, knock wood cuz shit happens, but if it’s even half as good as the change to my other eye, it’ll still be fab.
Fuck yeah!
Best of luck, athena! You deserve it.
I was going to add modern medicine, having recently experienced the benefit of x-rays and trained surgeons. Good luck with the new changes and surgery, you’ll be surprised and amazed.
You still gotta be fit and strong.
Modern medicine works a lot better when the patient is a beast.
Like you.
My father had very poor vision all of his life. In his mid-60’s he had lens replacements and suddenly had 20/20. He was amazed when he finally saw what everyone else was seeing.
I had the opposite….I had 20/5 vision most of my life….or something ridiculous like that. The first time I was tested the doc said if he had not seen it he would not have believed it. Then I turned 42 and it was downhill fast from there. Dammit.
Best wishes OTA. Dont let that excitement wear off. Good vision is truly a gift. Put that doc on your Xmas list.
I’ve been a 4-eyes since about 5. No major problems with it until age 50 or so when suddenly I have two pairs of glasses and neither of them works well for reading or for work. I’m constantly switching pairs, squinting, tilting my head to get a better look ugh.
I think the eye docs who made the latest pair didn’t hear what I do for a living and for most of my off time.
Nice!
I can’t even imagine.
May you enjoy many years of laser vision in the future.
That’s great news OTA. Don’t answer this if I’m prying, why lens replacement instead of Lasik?
Answer is basically just because lasik wouldn’t help much and my right was building a cataract anyway (it’s apparently quite common in very near-sighted people for that to happen), so we decided to do both.
Getting duplicates of things I’m regularly using, particularly in different places. Tools, charging cables, etc. Saves a lot of mental energy not worrying about having things or forgetting them when it’s already there.
Haha. At one point in my life it seemed as if I spent half my time just ferrying tools from one place to another.
Never let your brother-in-law in to use your shop when you’re not there. You’ll never find anything, ever again.
I always tell my wife, “go ahead, use my tools, but leave them on the bench when you are done.”
That way, I can find them and put them away.
I hung a cheap set of old Stanley screwdrivers by the garage door. Really don’t care if they get rusty, misplaced, or even lost since they were just taking up space at the bottom of a tool box. Now I probably grab those more often than any others because they’re there and handy. Same with putting box cutters (another tool I didn’t realize how good they were) all over the place so I can just grab one to open a box. The mini retractable ones with magnets work great for that stashing.
I seen your post yesterday about using Tordon for killing vines / invasive stuff. If you do a lot of it, you might want to consider getting some of these empty Bingo daubers for applying the Tordon. I’m always switching work trucks, so I keep one of these in all the trucks I use.
https://www.amazon.com/Handy-Marker-Bottle-12-Each-900-003/dp/B007TIEG6U/ref=pd_ybh_a_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=V49HYEFG3WMN9SJQCP8C
My BIL gave me the idea a couple years ago, and it’s the best damn time saver for me since the backpack leaf blowers came out. I have a landscape maintenance business, and part of that includes maintaining shitloads of landscape beds, woodlines, paths, etc. Now when I’m weeding, mulching, trimming, or doing other bed maintenance I carry one of these bottles with Tordon in my pocket along with my Felco hand shear and folding saw. If I see a vine or weed tree growing in a shrub, I just cut it off, dab it with the Tordon, and done. In the past I used to have to dig the things out if they were growing in the shrub or too close to a tree. It really sucked if it was a rock bed. When using the Tordon bottle, I was always afraid of it dripping in the soil or getting on the desirable plant if the weed tree or vine was too close. I’ve damaged plants in the past by dripping it in the soil. These daubers don’t leak. And they pay for themselves in no time. I use about 75% less Tordon with these. It takes very very little on the cambium layer to kill stuff.
That is awesome! I just get it in a RTU squeeze bottle with marker dye in it. It’s a bit messy but the dye tells me where it all is (the bottle, my gloves…). I love the dauber idea. Will still use the squeeze bottle for poison oak to maintain appropriate social distancing from that stuff.
Yeah, I forgot to mention not getting it on my gloves! Or having it drip all down the bottle and getting on clothes and other shit in my truck.
That said, I’m getting sick of all the technophobes with strong opinions about AI.
A tool is a tool. It’s supposed to make your life easier.
It’s never a bad time to make my life easier.
There’s only one correct opinion about current AI. It’s still in the realm of Science Fiction. Want to see our current most brilliant example of AI? Alexa, there you go. A 3 year old who is not 100 billion times more intelligent would have been better off not being born.
Alexa…that is Chinese for ‘Spy’, right?
Open Post? Gah! People can’t just say whatever they want! That’s chaos! It’s anarchy!
Just wait for the great wisdom of your great leader, Xiden, to come down from high. America’s President, so loved!
Out of all those cany-dates, this is the best we got? A lifelong politician with Alzheimer’s and a token Jamaican/Indian?
I don’t understand why you people vote.
For shits and giggles.
Space Race!
Who will win? Elon Musk. You 2 jokers are but his bitch.
Hyp gets it.
The army. No that experience sucked.
What tiny bit of combat I saw was great though. You don’t know how you’ll react to it and or how you may like it. I did. I wish I’d gone 11B.
Surprising things? I met a Lady disc golfer,quite good, we played together and I am taking her to lunch for her Birthday tommorow, we fell for each other. she is a wild woman, very tough and fun, except she’s only 29, Dilemma!
29 is old enough to know what she is doing.
Enjoy yourself and let things lead where they may…
I like her, and she likes me, so we are going for it despite the age difference, we are golfers, very thin, and very attracted to each other, what fun!
I fail to see the problem.
Faith.
Another profound one.
Nicely done Ozy.
Re: AI article.
Imagine people ceding their autonomy to an obstensibly neutral, smarter entity to make decisions for them or their ‘leaders’. The control freak social engineers will be the city planners/ethicists of the future writing their own biases into the algorithms to be sure you come to the same decisions they would make for you. It looks like authoritarianism by proxy to me.
Everything old is new again.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalism_(Chinese_philosophy)
I’m saying again, this is the Chinese century. Not necessarily that China itself will be dominant, but their historical movements and themes are floating to the top.
I will go on topic, finally. I have to go with pistoffnick. Nothing has been more rewarding to me than parenthood. Everything else pales in comparison.
Small town on the Oregon coast succumbs to insanity, driven under the color of liability.
https://www.dailyastorian.com/news/local/warrenton-requires-anti-harassment-training-after-email-exchange-over-gender-pronouns/article_ee927986-d3a9-11eb-acaf-3393c02b5053.html
I’m not sure how this can be reversed without excessive bloodshed.
I can’t tell from the article if the city is claiming using the wrong pronouns could lead to liability or the concern this lady may keep yapping and create a real problem. If it’s the former, then the law needs to change.
I was surprised and delighted by the lack of mosquitoes in San Diego.
Mosquitoes were just ubiquitous in Minnesota, and they prematurely ended many an otherwise nice evening outside.
California is a commie state surrounded by power tripping hippies hell-bent on destroying one of the most beautiful places to live on Earth.
But at least there are no mosquitoes. I’m amazed they don’t mention that as a recruiting tool.
I have a gas powered fogger. I can deal with mosquitoes. It is not yet socially acceptable to use effective means of dealing with the power tripping hippies.
My friends were knocking mostquitos off of my shirt today, I thought they were ticks, yikes!
They are pretty darn good at mosquito abatement here. You have to go to the high back country in the summer to really get a taste of how damn annoying those things can be. The hippies here just set the stage for the real power hungry progs, that were more than happy to move in and fuck up this paradise on earth.
Poke. I was never enamored with sushi. But the first time I had spicy poke I was hooked.
I love how in Hawaii you can get five types of fresh poke at the fish and meat counter in the supermarket. We gorged on that stuff when there.
Preach it!
The two on-topic examples that come to mind are those where I was surprised how much I liked them.
In my car, the moonroof. I never would have put that on my wish list, but now opening it is one of the first things I do when I climb in, especially in winter when I want as much daylight as I can get.
Among household appliances, the spray nozzle in my kitchen sink. When we were forced to replace our kitchen sink’s faucet, we were at first annoyed that we couldn’t find one without the spray nozzle. “I don’t need one of those,” whined a naive GT. “I don’t want one!” Fortunately, we were dragged kicking and screaming into…whatever you’d call the era of kitchen sink spray nozzles. Now I don’t know how I managed without one. (And it sure as hell came in handy cleaning up after our massive food fest Sunday.)
Damn Tres is messy.
😀
Actually, that stinker didn’t even stay long enough to eat. (The clean-up was mostly of the prep – and COMPLETELY worth every messy vessel! Tried to send such food as could safely travel with UCS, but we’re still noshing on the rest.)
I completely forgot about those things. Now I miss them. Thx, GT.
Bringing a little ray of sunshine into your life since 20(??)…. (I forget what year I landed here.)
Surprising: letting go of any hope that statism could be reformed. I clung to that hope for a while because I was afraid of what taking individual rights to the unavoidable conclusion would mean. Instead of feeling depressed or fatalistic, it just was what it was.
I’m tired of all the depressing news, I golf and and chase Women, goo enough for the Old Man,
As it should be.
My latest Lady is so cool, she’s a cocky Lady, thin like me, and so sexy, we get along great, and already have a standing date. Brown hair and Blue eyes, a real sweety, I hope for the best, She purty!
Not brown eyes and blue hair?
It’s NBA I know, but I just wanted to watch some sports for a change. They’ve lightened up on the woke shit during the games, so it’s been tolerable. Then I watch tonight’s conference final game and ? two time MVP Giannis folds his knee inwards. Gruesome.
What exactly have they done to lighten up?
Guess I should’ve pointed out I made this in honor of Duncan Lemp.
https://mobile.twitter.com/GSlackjaw/status/1410032572474609668
I like it. It made reading the second thing under yours (from the vegan runner) slightly less enraging.
I don’t see it. Got a link?
If there was no Sarwark, it would be necessary for the NSA to create one.
Truth.
https://mobile.twitter.com/MadMikeOfficial/status/1410042716348628992
If the NSA isn’t spying on US citizens then Edward Snowden would just be a crazy person and not an internationally hunted fugitive
Yep
The three letter agencies are in charge,
Eric Clapton should’ve gotten a cat.
https://mobile.twitter.com/CatsBeingEpic/status/1409828577273544705
Ouch! Sad but true.
https://archive.li/bEDKS/329c1257f086bac32f65f845bb624701fc474fad.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.li/qyCYW/406038fe4ad0b00f766b3d9ef212d2848b06ed0b.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.li/9gAE8/b4993cbeb0a39da641bcff81a208325e9bd2ca46.jpg
NSFW.
Suddenly I want to visit Japan.
Or you could just buy some silicone bags and play with them.
I don’t think coloring within the lines is an actual job.
https://twitchy.com/sarahd-313035/2021/06/29/ezra-klein-thinks-joe-biden-should-be-giving-kamala-harris-less-difficult-tasks-in-order-to-make-it-likelier-shell-win-when-she-runs-for-potus/
The only thing that comes to mind is wearing glasses.
I got glasses when I was 14 and quickly changed to contacts because I didn’t like the way they looked. 19 years later, I decided I better get a pair of glasses just for backup. I actually like the way this pair looks, and I forgot how easy it is to just get up, put them on, and get your day started. No need to wash my hands immaculately and fuss around with putting little discs of plastic on my retinae.
I still wear the contacts sometimes, usually when I’m doing something where the glasses are going to constantly get dirty.
If you’re putting contact lenses on your retinae, then you’re doing it wrong.
I wasn’t quite ready for bed so I decided to watch a movie.
I made the mistake of watching the excellent movie Shadowlands, which I had not seen previously.
I generally try to stoically suppress tears when watching movies, but since it was just me and the cat I let them flow. Now I have a headache and puffy eyes.
Good grief I’m pathetic!!
Pathetic? whenever I watch Band of Brothers, the mist begins and the tears flow, an emotional response means it was a good movie.
If you’re a man and you never at least got misty eyed at the end of Old Yeller and Brian’s Song, you’re a robot/sociopath.
emotional response means it was a good movie
Agreed, as long as the movie is not just a straight-up bloody action flick. That might be concerning.
Happy Humpday, Yu.
Dude, I cry every time I watch Apollo 13. Crying during a movie is not pathetic at all, it’s showing appreciation for a great movie.
Tango & Cash
Gets me every time.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VlVhUbGa2pg
?
https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/allentowns-cedar-beach-pool-closed-for-at-least-10-days-while-crews-clean-up-glass/article_759c4964-d915-11eb-ae98-c790260ee363.html
10 days? People are asshoe.
No information on the source of the glass.
Are you suggesting it was aliens?
Hans Gruber seen leaving the area hurriedly.
I just put in my Wmart order for pickup after work. The site said most of what I wanted was out of stock, so I just doubled up on what they said they did have in stock to get to the order min $34 amount. Checking out they held $90 back for the order of stuff they said was out of stock. What kind of shenanigans is this?
Learning from Amazon?
Howdy WS,
Monining Yu. I am sure they are out of some stuff, but other stuff I have never seen them out of stock even during the great panicdemic. Supply chains are still screwed up all over but cilantro? Ya, they have never been out of cilantro. Ever. I need to start one of those herb garden dealies.
Flipped on Wimbledon.
There are 16 live matches going on that they could choose to look at but the hens are STILL going on about Serena and a deep analysis of the grass and how wet or new or slippery it is.
I hate these people.
*sigh*
My window AC was trying to fall out. I managed to re-seat it. I think I’m missing one of those non-moving parts involved in sealing the window around it. When seated so that the wings line up with the frame, there’s a slightly less than 1/2 inch gap just in the middle of the bottom. But that I plugged up.
On the plus side, the ominous noises from the fans have been turned into regular fan noises.
Have I mentioned how much I hate configuring email servers?
Amen.
And configuring clients to work with those servers. Gah.
Lotta mask Nazis here at the airport. First time I’ve had to wear one of the Cones O Shame in a month or two.
Drugs, ass, Yusef found a local Woman! and she plays disc! And shes a thin little hottie, and after golf today, we are going out for dinner, its her birthday,
Hell yeah!
Have fun!
And use a fake name!
Today is the last day of what has been a very pleasant vacation. This morning the outside temperature has cooled considerably, though we’ve hardly had any of the rain that’s popped up here and there all around us. We’re predicted to have thunderstorms starting late this morning. I won’t mind as long as the power doesn’t go out.
Also a comfort as my full week off wraps up – I’ll only have to work two days before we have a three day weekend! Of course, the first day of that will largely be taken up with packing up the music gear, hauling it to a neighboring county, and setting it up just to play a 45-minute set. But it’s for our friend’s cancer care benefit, so more than worth it. Then after we tear it down, haul it all back home, and put it away (possibly forever,) I’ll have two days to recover. 🙂 (Besides – I’ll still have plenty of vacation time available. I just can’t take it until after I finish all my month-end and quarter-end reports.)
I hope all of you have a pleasant last-day-of-the-month/quarter!
And as I sit here at Tranquility Base and log in to the satellite radio online, what should start playing on the jazz channel but Tranquility. I take that as a very good sign.
I can’t complain over much. Today is my Friday. Thursday is our National Holiday and I work Sunday to Thornsday. Means that I get another long weekend! Darryl’s liver will be on life support come Sunday morn…
RIP, Your Royal Highness, Christopher Rupert (etc.)
My first prince. Never watched him on the soap, so to me he’ll always be the charming prince (as charming as a prince could ever be.)
Wow. I remember that guy. Before marriage, as part of our getting ready for work ritual (afternoons), we used to watch GH. Soon after getting married we stopped watching.
Good Morning, Glibred. Glad you enjoyed your staycation.
Thanks, TARDy, and Good Morning to you, too. 🙂
Dude worked, what, once every 5 weeks?
Mornin’ All! Things that I found surprising and hated this week? Texted my Supervisor just before the heat wave and told her in no uncertain terms that I’d be taking a fairly minimalistic approach to the job until temps got back to normal. She texts me back saying that she’s contracted for the high dusting to be done and we have a site inspection due for Friday. High dusting means that everything up must come down. This inspector already has a hair across his ass about our current contract. I kind of went off reservation, as the racists are wont to say… Now they’ve switched up and the inspection will be next week. Yay, three days to clean up six years of accumulated dust and debris sifting down from the ductwork! I’m stoked!
Um…happy swiffering?
Unless you mean Ultra-Megatron-Swifferasaurus that doesn’t even approach the solution. My work situation has been on a downward spiral for about ten months and is quickly approaching the drain.
Any chance you could threaten to quit and have them double your pay to stay?
Union shop and it’s “complicated”. I did threaten to just walk away. I’m too old for this shit. Eight years I’ve given to this site and I like the people and the hours fit my lifestyle. Pretty late in the game to be starting over (again).
Things that I found surprising and loved? Steak and kidney pie when I was kid.
Good morning, Fes (and you, too, Sean!) I hope the heat wave breaks ASAP! 🙁
Thank’s Red! Just bellyachin’.
Mornin’
suh’ fam
yo whats goody
This.
Nice. Better shorn than torn.
Good morning, homey! We FINALLY got a couple of brief showers over here. And a squirrel is playing around in one of the neighbors’ hammocks.
Dude! You didn’t even get to come around and see TB! You HAVE to come over sometime when you can stay longer!
Since Festus mentioned foodstuffs :
Fish tacos
Euphemism for sure.
I was waiting for this, but I didn’t expect you!
*chuckles*
Fish tacos are the best tacos.
Yes! Most all of us with a few exceptions enjoy them.
https://thepostmillennial.com/seattle-mayoral-candidate-nearly-shot-and-killed-as-the-city-experiences-record-breaking-homicides-due-to-defunding-seattle-pd
*points and laughs*
*points and shoots*
Nothing a little gun control won’t solve.
Indiana has got some ‘splainin’ to do.
Nearly shot or shot and nearly killed? Seems there’s a difference.
Extra fortified.
Congratulations, Mayor Spaghetti-Hair!