Random randomness

Captain Caveman · Post by **Captain Caveman** » Sun May 22, 2016 11:12 am

Didn't both Dubya and Clinton visit Vietnam while in office?

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Sun May 22, 2016 11:22 am

Captain Caveman wrote:Didn't both Dubya and Clinton visit Vietnam while in office?

Yes, they did.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Sun May 22, 2016 11:52 am

dbt1949 wrote: Like I said this is really for the best I'm sure but I just feel...bad (and mad) about this.
<sigh>

Nothing wrong with feeling that way.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Sun May 22, 2016 12:21 pm

dbt1949 wrote:I really didn't want to start a thread about this in the politics section, I just wanted to get something off my chest.
I see where Obama is about to visit Vietnam. Relationship with Vietnam is good and getting better. I suppose is all for the best but I can't help but feel.....I don't know, betrayed maybe? Disappointed?
Obama isn't really to blame but for some reason I am really sorry to see this happening.
Like I said this is really for the best I'm sure but I just feel...bad (and mad) about this.
<sigh>

My parents felt the same way when Wife and I went to Germany 20 years ago. My dad just clammed up, and mom said gently "You know we fought a war with them," and at that moment the generation gap got a little wider. Intellectually they knew that Germany was our ally now, but on a gut level old animosities die hard.

rshetts2 · Post by **rshetts2** » Sun May 22, 2016 1:39 pm

Kraken wrote:
dbt1949 wrote:I really didn't want to start a thread about this in the politics section, I just wanted to get something off my chest.
I see where Obama is about to visit Vietnam. Relationship with Vietnam is good and getting better. I suppose is all for the best but I can't help but feel.....I don't know, betrayed maybe? Disappointed?
Obama isn't really to blame but for some reason I am really sorry to see this happening.
Like I said this is really for the best I'm sure but I just feel...bad (and mad) about this.
<sigh>

My parents felt the same way when Wife and I went to Germany 20 years ago. My dad just clammed up, and mom said gently "You know we fought a war with them," and at that moment the generation gap got a little wider. Intellectually they knew that Germany was our ally now, but on a gut level old animosities die hard.

With the possible exception of France, who hates us most of the time anyway, who havent we been at war with at one time or another? I dont blame anyone who faced an enemy in war for hating that enemy but somewhere along the line you have to give up that hate or peace will never be a possibility.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Sun May 22, 2016 3:26 pm

dbt1949 wrote:I really didn't want to start a thread about this in the politics section, I just wanted to get something off my chest.
I see where Obama is about to visit Vietnam. Relationship with Vietnam is good and getting better. I suppose is all for the best but I can't help but feel.....I don't know, betrayed maybe? Disappointed?
Obama isn't really to blame but for some reason I am really sorry to see this happening.
Like I said this is really for the best I'm sure but I just feel...bad (and mad) about this.
<sigh>

(Firstly, thanks again for your venerable service to your country).

Alas, what goes around, comes around. When you served in Vietnam, it was part of a proxy war intended to thwart the (Soviet and Chinese) commie menace. Now, it's part of a proxy war intended to thwart the (primarily Chinese naval) commie menace.

tjg_marantz · Post by **tjg_marantz** » Sun May 22, 2016 3:57 pm

tjg_marantz wrote:
tjg_marantz wrote:Looking forward to CAN FIN. Should be a dandy.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
Yup. As expected but pleasantly surprised by the effort from the American team.

Not calling the final. Could be close, wouldn't be surprised it went to OT.

2 in a row!

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Sun May 22, 2016 6:09 pm

rshetts2 wrote:
Kraken wrote:
dbt1949 wrote:I really didn't want to start a thread about this in the politics section, I just wanted to get something off my chest.
I see where Obama is about to visit Vietnam. Relationship with Vietnam is good and getting better. I suppose is all for the best but I can't help but feel.....I don't know, betrayed maybe? Disappointed?
Obama isn't really to blame but for some reason I am really sorry to see this happening.
Like I said this is really for the best I'm sure but I just feel...bad (and mad) about this.
<sigh>

My parents felt the same way when Wife and I went to Germany 20 years ago. My dad just clammed up, and mom said gently "You know we fought a war with them," and at that moment the generation gap got a little wider. Intellectually they knew that Germany was our ally now, but on a gut level old animosities die hard.
With the possible exception of France, who hates us most of the time anyway, who havent we been at war with at one time or another? I dont blame anyone who faced an enemy in war for hating that enemy but somewhere along the line you have to give up that hate or peace will never be a possibility.

There are wars, and then there are wars. WW2 was total war that transformed a generation and the nation. None of us here know what it's like to live through that.

Vietnam, while not on the same scale as WW2, also transformed a generation thanks in large part to the draft and the antiwar movement, and we haven't seen upheaval on that scale since then.

Not to minimize the impact of subsequent wars on those who fought in them, but wars no longer involve the US civilian population beyond gestures like the occasional yellow ribbon and Thank you for your service. Hell, we don't even raise taxes to pay for them anymore.

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Sun May 22, 2016 11:07 pm

i kinda would like to own a place, but in Seattle, this is kind of a no go. just the other week, a house down a few blocks listed for $650,000 and sold for $890,000. not sure what to do.... i'm worrying if, as a single person with a dependent, i'll have to leave at some point due to constantly escalating prices.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Mon May 23, 2016 8:34 am

BTW I don't hate the Vietnamese. I hated the Communist government there. And I can't say I'm too fond of the soldiers I faced there either.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon May 23, 2016 10:36 am

Kraken wrote:
dbt1949 wrote:I really didn't want to start a thread about this in the politics section, I just wanted to get something off my chest.
I see where Obama is about to visit Vietnam. Relationship with Vietnam is good and getting better. I suppose is all for the best but I can't help but feel.....I don't know, betrayed maybe? Disappointed?
Obama isn't really to blame but for some reason I am really sorry to see this happening.
Like I said this is really for the best I'm sure but I just feel...bad (and mad) about this.
<sigh>

My parents felt the same way when Wife and I went to Germany 20 years ago. My dad just clammed up, and mom said gently "You know we fought a war with them," and at that moment the generation gap got a little wider. Intellectually they knew that Germany was our ally now, but on a gut level old animosities die hard.

I'm still pissed about our cordial relations with England, god damn it!

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon May 23, 2016 10:41 am

hepcat wrote:
Kraken wrote:
dbt1949 wrote:I really didn't want to start a thread about this in the politics section, I just wanted to get something off my chest.
I see where Obama is about to visit Vietnam. Relationship with Vietnam is good and getting better. I suppose is all for the best but I can't help but feel.....I don't know, betrayed maybe? Disappointed?
Obama isn't really to blame but for some reason I am really sorry to see this happening.
Like I said this is really for the best I'm sure but I just feel...bad (and mad) about this.
<sigh>

My parents felt the same way when Wife and I went to Germany 20 years ago. My dad just clammed up, and mom said gently "You know we fought a war with them," and at that moment the generation gap got a little wider. Intellectually they knew that Germany was our ally now, but on a gut level old animosities die hard.
I'm still pissed about our cordial relations with England, god damn it!

Psssst... They only seem cordial. It's the accent.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Mon May 23, 2016 1:16 pm

Oh the hell you say! I KNEW those damnable Red Coats were up to something!

Max Peck · Post by **Max Peck** » Mon May 23, 2016 6:26 pm

Kids these days...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A 12-year-old Sacramento student who already has three community college degrees and has been accepted to two University of California campuses says he plans on studying biomedical engineering and becoming a doctor and medical researcher by the time he turns 18.

Back in my day, we knew that Doogie Howser was a fictional character, not a role model.

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Mon May 23, 2016 6:33 pm

Max Peck wrote:Kids these days...
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) -- A 12-year-old Sacramento student who already has three community college degrees and has been accepted to two University of California campuses says he plans on studying biomedical engineering and becoming a doctor and medical researcher by the time he turns 18.
Back in my day, we knew that Doogie Howser was a fictional character, not a role model.

Catastrophic puberty derail in 3, 2, 1...

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Mon May 23, 2016 7:08 pm

That happened with my last debate partner in high school. Somehow the genius found a way to attract the ladies despite being a hardcore math/science and debate nerd. Last I heard, he gave up curing cancer for poetry (and breaking hearts).

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue May 24, 2016 12:55 pm

Facebook keeps me from spamming up OO all day every day. However, I seem to have too many real life friends who use FB as an outlet for posting spoiler pictures they think are funny for every story they are exposed right after they are exposed to it.

I'm tempted to put start putting people I've known for well over 30 years on ignore because they can't refrain from posting GoT or Civil War or whatever else they find funny and up to the moment contemporary.

That or I have to walk away from FB, and that would make me sad. Most of my remaining pathetic social life comes from planning to do events from conversations on FB.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue May 24, 2016 1:23 pm

Having a deahawk moment.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Tue May 24, 2016 2:02 pm

Conversation just now:

Me about more doctor's appointments: "They said they want to do a stress test"
Boss: "Another one? Why don't they just spend a day with you at work?"

stessier · Post by **stessier** » Tue May 24, 2016 2:27 pm

LordMortis wrote:Conversation just now:

Me about more doctor's appointments: "They said they want to do a stress test"
Boss: "Another one? Why don't they just spend a day with you at work?"

Did you respond with something like "Because the medical profession has rules that prohibit torture"?

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue May 24, 2016 9:31 pm

Apparently "palm strike to the throat" is not the parental advice I'm supposed to give my 10 year old regarding how to deal with "mean girl" nonsense at school. Noted.

EDIT: I should probably just stick to the advice Dalton gives regarding knees.

Anonymous Bosch · Post by **Anonymous Bosch** » Tue May 24, 2016 9:44 pm

Smoove_B wrote:Apparently "palm strike to the throat" is not the parental advice I'm supposed to give my 10 year old regarding how to deal with "mean girl" nonsense at school. Noted.

EDIT: I should probably just stick to the advice Dalton gives regarding knees.

Perhaps you could justify teaching her how to deliver a 'Glasgow kiss' under the guise of internationalism? In my experience, that invariably ended any such altercations with the quickness.

LawBeefaroni · Post by **LawBeefaroni** » Tue May 24, 2016 10:35 pm

Anonymous Bosch wrote:
Smoove_B wrote:Apparently "palm strike to the throat" is not the parental advice I'm supposed to give my 10 year old regarding how to deal with "mean girl" nonsense at school. Noted.

EDIT: I should probably just stick to the advice Dalton gives regarding knees.
Perhaps you could justify teaching her how to deliver a 'Glasgow kiss' under the guise of internationalism? In my experience, that invariably ended any such altercations with the quickness.

Be careful teaching this to rambunctious kids. The Glasgow Kiss is how the kiddo often greets me. Not only is it socially akward, it's affecting my memory.

Smoove_B · Post by **Smoove_B** » Tue May 24, 2016 10:41 pm

Anonymous Bosch wrote:Perhaps you could justify teaching her how to deliver a 'Glasgow kiss' under the guise of internationalism? In my experience, that invariably ended any such altercations with the quickness.

Immigration Day at school is coming up...so this might work.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed May 25, 2016 12:03 am

A town worker replaced my water meter today after they had trouble reading it.

They read them remotely, so my first thought was "probably needs a new battery." My second thought was "It hasn't had a new battery in 26 years, so that's not right." So I asked the guy how the transmitter is powered, or if it's passive, or what. He said something about solar power.

That didn't sound right; there are precious few photons in my cellar. So I asked where the solar cell is. Turns out that it uses flowing water to turn a little dynamo or turbine or something, he wasn't sure.

That's ingenious.

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Wed May 25, 2016 12:45 am

My water meter works by "fucking magic".

Hrdina · Post by **Hrdina** » Wed May 25, 2016 1:20 am

dbt1949 wrote:My water meter works by "fucking magic".

Spoiler:

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Wed May 25, 2016 1:41 am

When the tornado took out part of our home we had to get the meter...well box and all..replaced. They put in one of those fancy wireless ones so they dont ever come out and look at it any longer. Well since then our bill has never been low again. Its ran $40 more no matter what. I want my old one back. The one with the pennies glued to it..

I kid..always wanted to do that but never did.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed May 25, 2016 9:37 am

Portland

LucidEnergy, a Portland, Oregon-based startup that launched in 2007, is starting to capture the energy of water pipes, beginning with a pilot project in Riverside, California and now with a full-scale project in Portland.
...
Pipes, on the other hand, are existing-man made infrastructure, so equipping them to be power producers doesn’t present any environmental concerns. They also pump water daily at a fairly constant rate, which allows for a consistent flow of energy.
...
The project touts itself as environmentally low-impact. But it could also help safeguard cities’ hydropower sources against drought, Laura Wisland, senior energy analyst for the Union of Concerned Scientists, said.
...
In Riverside, the electricity generated from the pipes is used to power street lights. Portland’s project has a bit more heft to it: it produces, according to Semler, an average of 1,100 megawatt-hours of electricity a year. That’s enough for about 150 homes.
...
The system is installed in 50 feet of Portland water pipes, in sections where the water flows downward due to gravity. There are four sections of pipe, and each has a generator on top and a 42-inch turbine that spins as the water flows inside. According to the company, up to four units of the so-called LucidPipe can be installed “in a standard 40-foot” section of water pipe, and one mile of 42-inch diameter pipeline has the potential to produce more than 3 megawatts of electricity.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Wed May 25, 2016 12:05 pm

Seems like they could install larger turbines in the pipes that bring water down from water tanks into the grid. The water pressure there must be awesome, and they could probably recoup all or most of the electricity needed to boost that water in the first place.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Wed May 25, 2016 12:32 pm

Kraken wrote:Seems like they could install larger turbines in the pipes that bring water down from water tanks into the grid. The water pressure there must be awesome, and they could probably recoup all or most of the electricity needed to boost that water in the first place.

Entropy and the laws of thermodynamics would like a word with you.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed May 25, 2016 1:13 pm

Are those huge charity clothes bins you see everywhere, there to support an international criminal cult?

http://gawker.com/planet-aids-yellow-cl ... 1778611205

Though I swear the ones around me are blue, so they may not be the same...

http://www.planetaid.org/find-a-bin

Nope, they're part of scam. Crazy.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed May 25, 2016 1:32 pm

10:59 Marketing: Check out this new product to help protect you from fraud
11:01 Card Ops: Priority 1 ticket - we need to get marketing a contact list for education purposes.

A) That is not a priority 1 ticket
B) How long was this in the works that you didn't bother to tell IT about?
C) We use SalesForce as an e-mail marketing platform. They already have all the data they need.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed May 25, 2016 1:34 pm

LordMortis wrote:Are those huge charity clothes bins you see everywhere, there to support an international criminal cult?

http://gawker.com/planet-aids-yellow-cl ... 1778611205

Though I swear the ones around me are blue, so they may not be the same...

http://www.planetaid.org/find-a-bin

Nope, they're part of scam. Crazy.

That's...it's...wow...just...wow.

But I've always said, being a cult leader is good work if you can find it.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Wed May 25, 2016 1:39 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:Priority 1 ticket .......for education purposes.

Think of the children. Can't you step it up for the kids? Just this once? Be on the ball, get it done. Imagine their sad faces if you fail them.

On my side, I've forgotten my golden rule. "Never trust the user; the user always lies"

Earlier today I get a marketing laptop for rebuild, the hard drive is tanking. He's got critical data, lots of it, that needs to be backed up and carried over. No problem. I don't discriminate and pull his entire profile to make sure I have everything. 2 hours later, I've still got 60GB left to back up ... and I start looking at the actual file names. Austin Powers. Casino Royale ... Motherf*&$r - I'm backing up his goddamn movie collection for him.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed May 25, 2016 1:45 pm

hepcat wrote:
LordMortis wrote:Are those huge charity clothes bins you see everywhere, there to support an international criminal cult?

http://gawker.com/planet-aids-yellow-cl ... 1778611205

Though I swear the ones around me are blue, so they may not be the same...

http://www.planetaid.org/find-a-bin

Nope, they're part of scam. Crazy.
That's...it's...wow...just...wow.

But I've always said, being a cult leader is good work if you can find it.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed May 25, 2016 1:45 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:11:01 Card Ops: Priority 1 ticket - we need to get marketing a contact list for education purposes.

The squeaky wheel starts out by getting the grease but people who become recognizably abuse high priority neediness begin to have all of their needs treated as low priority. And people who recognizably abuse high priority needs and demand read receipts on their emails eventually see me not even opening their emails until I have time to address them as low priority need. They've taken my ability to assess the situation as exceptional out of my hands.

hepcat · Post by **hepcat** » Wed May 25, 2016 1:47 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:
hepcat wrote:
LordMortis wrote:Are those huge charity clothes bins you see everywhere, there to support an international criminal cult?

http://gawker.com/planet-aids-yellow-cl ... 1778611205

Though I swear the ones around me are blue, so they may not be the same...

http://www.planetaid.org/find-a-bin

Nope, they're part of scam. Crazy.
That's...it's...wow...just...wow.

But I've always said, being a cult leader is good work if you can find it.

Hey, thanks for your full name and email address!

edit: ah, you caught it before I posted this reply.

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed May 25, 2016 1:47 pm

You might want to edit your screen cap to not include some anonymous person's name/email address.

Too slow.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Wed May 25, 2016 1:50 pm