Random randomness

[Jaymon]

Never been to muir woods. but I have been to the olympic rain forest, which seems to look similair.






But before anybody can say all forests look the same. I've been to the Black Forest in Germany and it did not look like this.

[dbt1949]

I've been to all the afore mentioned forests. The Olympia one is a rain forest. The Muir one is too at a lesser degree. The Black Forest (that hasn't been destroyed by acid rain) is a temperate forest.
All are quite beautiful. Altho I prefer the Rocky Mountain forests.

[Daehawk]

I think both me and grocery store need to go back to school for remedial math classes.

I got my EBT filled today and had everything wrote down and planned out so off I went.

The store had Cokes on sale....2 12 packs for $12.99. Which isn't really a deal. But right beside those they had Coke 24 packs for $9.99. Hmmmm omg the decisions!..hmmmm. Ya Not sure what they were thinking there. Thats on them.

Me though I wrote everything down as I put it in my buggy and rounded up. So if it was $1.39 I put $1.50 and so on. When I was done I thought I had $90 of food for the month. But it rang up $103.00. I triple checked and Im still not sure on that one.

So ya we both need schooling. Tomorrow I hit up both food banks for beans....lots and lots of BEeeeans.

[hepcat]

I think both me and grocery store need to go back to school for remedial math classes.

I got my EBT filled today and had everything wrote down and planned out so off I went.

The store had Cokes on sale....2 12 packs for $12.99. Which isn't really a deal. But right beside those they had Coke 24 packs for $9.99. Hmmmm omg the decisions!..hmmmm. Ya Not sure what they were thinking there. Thats on them.

Me though I wrote everything down as I put it in my buggy and rounded up. So if it was $1.39 I put $1.50 and so on. When I was done I thought I had $90 of food for the month. But it rang up $103.00. I triple checked and Im still not sure on that one.

So ya we both need schooling. Tomorrow I hit up both food banks for beans....lots and lots of BEeeeans.

rounding up to 1.50 from 1.39 might be your first issue.

[Daehawk]

I think both me and grocery store need to go back to school for remedial math classes.

I got my EBT filled today and had everything wrote down and planned out so off I went.

The store had Cokes on sale....2 12 packs for $12.99. Which isn't really a deal. But right beside those they had Coke 24 packs for $9.99. Hmmmm omg the decisions!..hmmmm. Ya Not sure what they were thinking there. Thats on them.

Me though I wrote everything down as I put it in my buggy and rounded up. So if it was $1.39 I put $1.50 and so on. When I was done I thought I had $90 of food for the month. But it rang up $103.00. I triple checked and Im still not sure on that one.

So ya we both need schooling. Tomorrow I hit up both food banks for beans....lots and lots of BEeeeans.

rounding up to 1.50 from 1.39 might be your first issue.

Its food stamps so no tax.

[Daehawk]

Also because I go without for over a week I treat myself to one item Id not normally get due to never trying it or the price. Today was a cup of Kysari Ramen. Looked good and at $3.50 its not something I get and probably wont again. But as a treat it is nice.

https://www.kusarinoodles.com/

[Blackhawk]

rounding up to 1.50 from 1.39 might be your first issue.

That is exactly how I keep track of my totals. I always round up the the nearest .50. It makes keeping a running total much faster, and when you are on a tight budget, overestimated bills are fine, while underestimated bills are a problem.

Dae, you probably know this, but as short as you are, cokes are a HUGE cash sink (not to mention the health issues.) If you have to go that route (and you have to accept SOME pleasures), two 2-liters come to about $3 and are the equivalent of a 12 pack.

Or revisiit your childhood - Kool-aid is even cheaper. And lemonade from bottled juice is cheaper than that.

[LordMortis]

Dae, you probably know this, but as short as you are, cokes are a HUGE cash sink (not to mention the health issues.) If you have to go that route (and you have to accept SOME pleasures), two 2-liters come to about $3 and are the equivalent of a 12 pack.

You can still get the occasional sale for Coke for $1 a 2 Liter and find then pretty often on sale for buck fifty. You can always find some Cola two liter on sale for buck, if you will drink a Pepsi or RC or Faygo/store brand, etc... and those are often for $.89. I found it better to strike pop from my diet but I still watch for the sales because my father will still drink a 2 liter a day. Not good for him at all but when you make it to your 80s and your day to day existence is pain you get whatever pleasures you want.

I also round up the cost of everything. To what level will depend on the cost of the item. That is unless I am trying to hit a price level such as $10 off a $50 purchase. Then I round down, so I don't get to the register, thinking I spent $50 to save $10 only to find out I spend $48.

[Kraken]

rounding up to 1.50 from 1.39 might be your first issue.

That is exactly how I keep track of my totals. I always round up the the nearest .50. It makes keeping a running total much faster, and when you are on a tight budget, overestimated bills are fine, while underestimated bills are a problem.

I used to do the same. Now that I can self-scan, I can always see my exact running total (before tax and coupons, but most food items are nontaxable here...we only pay tax on pet food, paper goods, cleaning supplies, etc).

[Blackhawk]

I'm sure I'll do the same in ten or fifteen years when Indiana gets to 2020.

[Holman]

Philadelphia just completed a reassessment of land value. Our property taxes are going to double from almost $4k to almost $8k.

Obviously that sucks for us, but... I believe in taxes. The city needs income for services, and landowners must do their part. Our kids have been in public schools their whole lives, and those schools need money.

This will require some belt-tightening for us, but I support it.

Now everybody salute me for standing up for principles. [grits teeth, checks wallet.]

[Anonymous Bosch]

Dae, you probably know this, but as short as you are, cokes are a HUGE cash sink (not to mention the health issues.) If you have to go that route (and you have to accept SOME pleasures), two 2-liters come to about $3 and are the equivalent of a 12 pack.

Or revisiit your childhood - Kool-aid is even cheaper. And lemonade from bottled juice is cheaper than that.

This is some sage wisdom, Daehawk. One of the best things you could possibly do for the health of your wallet as well as your overall well-being would be to minimise your consumption of sugary soft drinks as much as possible.

I've never much enjoyed drinking plain water personally. But I use fruit-infusing water bottles, and find they provide plenty of adequate flavour to easily achieve daily water intake requirements:



Since nutrients leak out of the fruit directly into the water, they make for a healthier alternative to Kool-aid and other 'water enhancers,' without the additional calories or fructose of pure fruit juice. Flavours are akin to the likes of La Croix or Spindrift, so nowhere near as sweet as regular soda, but surprisingly pleasant nonetheless once you become accustomed to it.

[hepcat]

I know they’re bad for me, but you’ll have to pry coke icees from my cold, dead hands. Which, considering how bad they are for me, won’t be much longer.

[Blackhawk]

So the internet is down for the entire town. It went down at 4. Xfinity says it will be back up at 5. Updated to 6:45. Updated to 7:30. Updated to 9:46. Currently it is 10:02.

And, naturally, since Xfinity is the only broadband option here, every single person switched to their phone. Now 4g is getting about 1Mbps with regular timeouts.

Before the first 'update' the Xfinity app said that they were doing work in the area, which suggests that the outage was either intentional or due to an oops.

Which is wonderful when my son is trying to study for finals and everything is online.

[Blackhawk]

Oh, and I was just reminded that Epic's offline mode requires internet access.

Because reasons.

[Kraken]

I believe in taxes.

Taxes are the price we pay for civilization, of which I"m very fond. Especially at the local and state levels, we get robust services for a moderate price -- good schools, curbside recycling/trash pickup, good roads, working streetlights, emergency services, snow removal -- all that stuff. As a child-free person I grumble a little because 80% of my property tax gets blown on schools, but I recognize that they're foundational to civilization.

I'd pay 80% in taxes if I never had to pay for housing, medical care, clothing, food, clean air and water, or any of life's other necessities. I only need 20% for walking-around money. Yeah, I might be a communist.

[Holman]

I believe in taxes.

Taxes are the price we pay for civilization, of which I"m very fond. Especially at the local and state levels, we get robust services for a moderate price -- good schools, curbside recycling/trash pickup, good roads, working streetlights, emergency services, snow removal -- all that stuff. As a child-free person I grumble a little because 80% of my property tax gets blown on schools, but I recognize that they're foundational to civilization.

I'd pay 80% in taxes if I never had to pay for housing, medical care, clothing, food, clean air and water, or any of life's other necessities. I only need 20% for walking-around money. Yeah, I might be a communist.

Yup. All in.

We knew a reassessment was coming, and our house/lot is definitely worth what it's assessed at now.

Honestly, we've had so much in the way of sewer work, street work, tree work, trash work, and water work that I can hardly believe my taxes pay for it. But then that's why I always thought Ayn Rand was a world-class asshole.

[Blackhawk]

So the internet is down for the entire town. It went down at 4. Xfinity says it will be back up at 5. Updated to 6:45. Updated to 7:30. Updated to 9:46. Currently it is 10:02.

And, naturally, since Xfinity is the only broadband option here, every single person switched to their phone. Now 4g is getting about 1Mbps with regular timeouts.

Before the first 'update' the Xfinity app said that they were doing work in the area, which suggests that the outage was either intentional or due to an oops.

Which is wonderful when my son is trying to study for finals and everything is online.

Man, they called the 10:02, and they raised a 7:00 AM!

[LordMortis]

I believe in taxes.

Taxes are the price we pay for civilization, of which I"m very fond. Especially at the local and state levels, we get robust services for a moderate price -- good schools, curbside recycling/trash pickup, good roads, working streetlights, emergency services, snow removal -- all that stuff. As a child-free person I grumble a little because 80% of my property tax gets blown on schools, but I recognize that they're foundational to civilization.

I'd pay 80% in taxes if I never had to pay for housing, medical care, clothing, food, clean air and water, or any of life's other necessities. I only need 20% for walking-around money. Yeah, I might be a communist.

I'm with you. Though my trust in the establishment to provide such things is at a low.

[hitbyambulance]

an example of a potential issue that didn't exist until somewhat recently: what are the chances that a light-skinned person using a dark-skinned emoji will get called out for racial insensitvity/racism or the like - like, can one's company force them to change the skin color on their Slack emojis?


EDIT: just found this -


and this

https://www.dailydot.com/irl/skin-tone-emoji/

[dbt1949]

I remember in reading the original Spiderman comics that the reason he could climb so well is because he had jillions of little hairs growing out of his skin that could grab onto things.
How does he do that with gloves and shoes?

[Smoove_B]

[Unagi]

If it helps, just think of how some of the more clever chest hairs manage to poke out of the fabric of a t-shirt.

[Rumpy]

I constantly see this internet 'simulated news' advertisement and wonder if everyone else sees the same thing.

For me, it says: "Illinois Gov Will Cover the Cost to Install Solar If You Live Here" and then it always has the same picture of what appears to be a politician in a suit. The thing is, this isn't Illinois' Governor, nor anyone else in Illinois Government. I believe it's a stock photo. What's really very odd about it, to me, is that it's a very specific-looking man. He's a person of color, bald, but with a very striking white beard. Basically, he's someone you would know if you've ever really seen before, and so in this case, it's sorta like a give-away that the 'news' is just a bullshit ad.

Anyone else see this man in their "Will Cover the Cost to Install Solar" news?

The algorithm tailors clickbait links to what it knows about you. I've never seen the one you describe, but I get a bunch of "New Assistance for Pennsylvania Drivers" and "People Over 50 Are Thrilled About This New Thing" ads with obvious stock photos.

I've seen some very specific ones appear on Facebook. They've tended to be oddly specific yet vague at the same time. In this case, "X are shocked and saddened at the recent tragedy surrounding this X Celebrity. " All it includes is a picture of the person in question. Seems to imply a death of a celebrity, yet if you research the person in question, nothing's happened. I've seen a number of them, all copies within a number of days , all seem to share the same headline but coming from different shiftly looking URLs which leads me to believe some server's been hacked. I've reported all of them that I've seen, and I haven't seen a recurrence since.

[dbt1949]

This is all rather awkward. I planned on dieing before I fell apart but it just hasn't worked out that way.
When I join GG with you guys around 2000 I could easily walk 20 miles and if I pushed myself I could ride my bike 100 miles without stopping. I lifted weights. I could do pushups.
Now I'm hard pressed to walk to the mailbox and back without resting. Without my riding lawnmower I don't know that I'll get the whole yard mowed before fall.

[Daehawk]

Well that was 22 years ago. Guess you were in your 40s? I was 31. I go to the mailbox and call an ambulance to toss me back in the house.

[dbt1949]

I was 51 in 2000.

[Unagi]

I was 51 in 2000.

Well as bad as it is, just try to imagine yourself 22 years ago, commiserating with a 73 year-old about old age…

Now you’re in Daehawk’s Reeboks

[LordMortis]

I was 51 in 2000.

Well as bad as it is, just try to imagine yourself 22 years ago, commiserating with a 73 year-old about old age…

Now you’re in Daehawk’s Reeboks

I was 51 in 2022.

This is all rather awkward. I planned on dieing before I fell apart but it just hasn't worked out that way.
When I join GG with you guys around 2000 I could easily walk 20 miles and if I pushed myself I could ride my bike 100 miles without stopping. I lifted weights. I could do pushups.
Now I'm hard pressed to walk to the mailbox and back without resting. Without my riding lawnmower I don't know that I'll get the whole yard mowed before fall.

You were in as gooda shape at 51 as I was at 25. At 51, I mow half a small yard one day and half the next. I'm desperately trying to rebuild my endurance, strength, heart, and lungs and so it's not going well. Keep up the good fight.

[Blackhawk]

I'm in better shape at 49 than I was at 29. But I'm still not in good shape, and I dread how I'll feel in another 20 years if I don't make some changes.

[Unagi]

I'm totally falling apart, 52 years old. And I am doing everything I can to fight it off. If something hurts, I try and use it more.

[Anonymous Bosch]

The older you get, the more you have in common with your PC: both start out with plenty of memory and drive, then become bloated, outdated, crash unexpectedly, and eventually need to have various parts replaced.

[Daehawk]

I think slow drivers somehow find out Im going to town and plan accordingly. After following one slowpoke forever it seemed I was happy to see him turning off onto another road. But damned if just as he turned another pokey pulled out ahead of me to take his place. ARGH.

[TheMix]

Enjoy the pace. What's your rush?

[dbt1949]

Are you texting this while driving?

[Daehawk]

Enjoy the pace. What's your rush?

What does salsa and rock band have to do with it?

[pr0ner]

Chaufa Peruvian fried rice seem to be a lot of different ways to make it

hot dogs, yes or no?
ginger, should I peel it before shredding?
garlic, yes or no ?

LTTP, but I've never seen hot dogs in Peruvian fried rice.

[Blackhawk]

I think slow drivers somehow find out Im going to town and plan accordingly. After following one slowpoke forever it seemed I was happy to see him turning off onto another road. But damned if just as he turned another pokey pulled out ahead of me to take his place. ARGH.

Come visit Indiana sometime. In the spring and fall you'll be driving behind tractors that drive 10 on state highways for miles, and don't have the decency to pull over and let traffic by. And in the summer, the roads are always full of golf carts. Not road legal golf carts, just puttering slow golf carts, usually with three kids sitting on the back, no lights, and no turn signals.

And all year long you will find train tracks every few miles. I've been railroaded three times on a 14 mile drive. And then there are the trains that stop on the switch for hours, keeping the crossing down with no actual train.

[Daehawk]

I live 5 houses down from a train crossing. In years past that way was one of two to town. If it was blocked you took the longer way. In the 90s they built a new industrial park right before that crossing so we got a shortcut to the bypass and a short route to town. Lucky too for fire and ambulance. In the old days the yhad to sit and wait on a train while the house burned or the person died.

[Kraken]

Enjoy the pace. What's your rush?

Mustangs want to zoom.