Octopus Overlords

You should have bought a squirrel.

Blackhawk wrote:And I'm no electrician, but is adding more outlets to the same wire really solve the problem? I thought it was more about how much the wiring was designed to handle than the physical plugs themselves.

The 14AWG (or larger) wiring inside your walls is designed to carry a lot more current than the smaller wiring inside a power strip. You still can't expand the system and keep plugging things in indefinitely without tripping a breaker or blowing a fuse, but it's better to expand with larger wiring than overloading a power strip.

disarm wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 10:00 pm

Blackhawk wrote:And I'm no electrician, but is adding more outlets to the same wire really solve the problem? I thought it was more about how much the wiring was designed to handle than the physical plugs themselves.

The 14AWG (or larger) wiring inside your walls is designed to carry a lot more current than the smaller wiring inside a power strip. You still can't expand the system and keep plugging things in indefinitely without tripping a breaker or blowing a fuse, but it's better to expand with larger wiring than overloading a power strip.

Wouldn't the breaker on the overloaded power strip trip before blowing a house breaker? If your power strip does not have a breaker I would get one that does.

Jaymann wrote:

disarm wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 10:00 pm

Blackhawk wrote:And I'm no electrician, but is adding more outlets to the same wire really solve the problem? I thought it was more about how much the wiring was designed to handle than the physical plugs themselves.

The 14AWG (or larger) wiring inside your walls is designed to carry a lot more current than the smaller wiring inside a power strip. You still can't expand the system and keep plugging things in indefinitely without tripping a breaker or blowing a fuse, but it's better to expand with larger wiring than overloading a power strip.

Wouldn't the breaker on the overloaded power strip trip before blowing a house breaker? If your power strip does not have a breaker I would get one that does.

A lot of the inexpensive power strips/plug splitters that people use don't have any type of built-in current limiter (fuse or breaker). They'll allow you to pull as much power as the devices plugged into them demand, but exceed the capacity of the circuit they're plugged into and you'll trip a breaker in your home. A typical household circuit is either 15 or 20 amps, and most power strips are rated for something close to that. The problem is that maxing out the current through a power strip can cause the wiring inside (which is small compared to what's in your walls) to heat up excessively, creating a fire hazard. Power strips and splitters just aren't designed to handle sustained high current/wattage demands. They're really intended for relatively low wattage devices; things like computers, TVs or lights as opposed to microwaves and space heaters.

About 10 years ago, Mrs. Skinypupy found a kids bike in our yard.

We've got a bunch of really large bushes next to our fence, and as she was clearing them back one weekend, there was a kids bike shoved back behind them. She put it on our porch, and let a few of the neighbors know to spread the word that we found this bike and whoever owned it could come claim it. About two days later, this 13 year old kid knocks on the door. He proceeds to very rudely accuse Mrs. Skinypupy of "stealing his bike", telling her he couldn't believe that an adult would be so mean to a kid. He was, to put it nicely, an absolute little shit about the whole thing, but we gave him his bike and off he went.

Fast forward to this morning. I had just finished my run and was walking around my driveway trying to catch my breath (as us old, out of shape guys tend to do). A young man was walking down the sidewalk, so we waved and said good morning. He stopped and said "Can I tell you something weird?". My hackles immediately went up (it's 7:15 in the morning and I don't know this guy, after all), but I cautiously said "Sure..."

He said, "About 10 years ago when I was 13, I lost my bike in your yard. One of my friends tossed it behind your bushes and didn't tell anyone. He then absolutely convinced me that your wife stole my bike. When I came to pick it up, I was an total dick to her. I've felt really awful about it ever since, but I thought coming over to apologize would just be weird. Could you please tell your wife that I'm really sorry I was such an ass and that I know she didn't steal my bike?" We laughed about it and off he went.

That's likely been bugging that dude for a decade now, and I'm glad he was able to finally get it off his chest. Thought that was a nice gesture, as did Mrs. Skinypupy (she actually teared up a little when I told her).

So, there's your feel-good for the day.

It's just dusty in here...yeah...that's it.

It's crazy how long people will deal with something like that rather than deal with it and be embarrassed about their behavior. Of course stuff like that is why a lot of relationships end. It's nice that he finally was able to get over it enough to admit he made a mistake.

EvilHomer3k wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 9:57 am It's crazy how long people will deal with something like that rather than deal with it and be embarrassed about their behavior. Of course stuff like that is why a lot of relationships end. It's nice that he finally was able to get over it enough to admit he made a mistake.

Quite a few years ago I mentioned to a neighbor that I wanted to clean up our mutual property line. She liked that idea. So I hired a tree company to take out a line of "junk maples" or "weed trees" that had taken advantage of our neglect. Neighbor knocked on my door and had a meltdown about "her trees." I explained that I was going to replace them with nicer trees (Bradford pears) to restore privacy and that I thought she was on board with that when I told her (albeit in uncertain terms) that I was going to do it. She stormed away and we didn't talk again for 10+ years.

Then as I was walking past her house one day last summer she stopped me and apologized. She was in tears, and had been carrying around this guilt all this time, and didn't want to be the Bad Neighbor. I shrugged it off; although I thought she was sort of an asshole, I'm not one to carry grudges, so now we're cordial again. It's funny how long a misunderstanding can fester.

One of my other neighbors is a slob about her property. I don't like seeing her trashy yard but have tolerated it for decades; I'm not a Yard Nazi, and my cats have always appreciated the mouse haven. Well, last summer someone complained to the town, who made her clean up. She hasn't spoken to us since. I'm sure she thinks we blew the whistle on her since we're the ones most affected by the mess. We didn't, of course, and now her yard is gradually returning to its natural trashy state. I don't care if she thinks I'm the villain.

When I met my wife I was 18 and living at home. After we met and started our amazing and fun life one thing led to another and one day I realized I hadn't spoken to or called my dad in a year. To him I guess Id died or dropped off the planet. To me I was too afraid to call. I wasn't mad at him just worried he'd be mad. But of course the longer I waited I didn't think about it..just got more worried he'd be upset in my mind. Finally my wife talked me into calling and he wasn't mad at all of course just worried about me. I was so embarrassed by it all but it was instantly over and life was normal after all.

Life with you is not normal.

disarm wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 12:08 am Power strips and splitters just aren't designed to handle sustained high current/wattage demands. They're really intended for relatively low wattage devices; things like computers, TVs or lights as opposed to microwaves and space heaters.

That's probably why we've had good luck. The microwave, window AC units, oven, and fridge each get plugged directly into the wall. I had no idea that computers weren't in the same category, though. I don't have a good working knowledge of electricity.

Kraken wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:53 am One of my other neighbors is a slob about her property. I don't like seeing her trashy yard but have tolerated it for decades; I'm not a Yard Nazi, and my cats have always appreciated the mouse haven. Well, last summer someone complained to the town, who made her clean up. She hasn't spoken to us since. I'm sure she thinks we blew the whistle on her since we're the ones most affected by the mess. We didn't, of course, and now her yard is gradually returning to its natural trashy state. I don't care if she thinks I'm the villain.

I'm ashamed of our yard, and the general outside appearance of our house. The yard is a mess, it's always full of sticks, always overgrown. The bushes and greenery is never trimmed. There's junk lying here and there. The house itself is covered in a terrible warm peach painted... wood siding? I'm not sure what it is, but it's crumbling and the paint is peeling all over the place. The neighbors on each side of us have nice houses and yards, and put a lot of care into them, and I'm always acutely aware that ours makes theirs look bad. And I'm sure they blame us.

But the house is divided into three apartments (two downstairs, and one upstairs - us) and we rent. The outside isn't 'ours', it's the landlady's. We have neither control nor responsibility for it. And I'm no more likely to start taking it over and caring for it than I would if this were a traditional apartment building. When we do get visitors, we always get compliments on the interior. It's old and worn, but we keep it clean and neat. But people see the yard and expect to see trash and dirty dishes piled all over the floors.

Every now and then I'll be talking to one of the neighbors and I'll compliment their yard and drop something like, "I hope to move somewhere someday where we'll have a yard of our own to work with. I'd love to do something like what you have." I want them to know that it isn't us. We aren't like that.

(Side note: It's a lie. I don't hope to move somewhere I have to deal with yardwork. I just want to move somewhere where the property own actually does maintenance.)

I'm not fastidious about my own yard so it's nice to look so much better in comparison. They used to mow only once a year, so the tall grass hid the trash piles. Now that they mow twice a year they're more visible.

I cut them a lot of slack because the owner is a disabled obese woman who lives with her obese working daughter and grandchild. They don't have the time or physical ability to tend their lot, and probably can't afford to pay someone to do it for them even if they did care. I do get annoyed sometimes at having to constantly pick up trash that blows onto our lot.

I had barely turned my alarm off this morning when I thought I heard a knock at the front door. But my dog didn't bark. Thought maybe it was in my head. I got my pants on and made it to the door but no one was there and no package on the porch. Figured I was dreaming. Later when I went to get the mail I saw someone had stuck a full color business card in the door frame. Guess they knocked and moved on. Was for property work. Guess they somehow know my yard instamagically doesn't have a way to be mowed next time.

They can piss off. If I had money for them Id not have money for the mower..if I ever find one.

Our yard isn't good. I mow but little else. I don't seed or fertilize. I don't kill the grubs. I don't kill the moles who eat the grubs. In the back the dogs destroy most of the grass and it gets worse each year. I always feel I should do more but then I think I'd rather go for a bike ride so I do.

Skinypupy wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 9:32 am So, there's your feel-good for the day.

I and my friends were real dicks (if not quite bullies) to one of our classmates in sixth grade. I'm not even sure why. I suppose I can explain it as "what boys do," but I remember feeling bad about it at the time and after. I went along and was complicit.

I moved states and went to a different school, but when I was a freshman in college I realized that the kid we'd be mean to was a classmate of mine.

I'd like to say I approached him and apologized for my middle-school behavior, but I never did. I only saw him a couple of times, and I learned later that he had transferred to a different school.

This could be a story of regret, and it still sort of us, but I only recently learned that after college he became friends with one of my friends at the time we were mean to him. Now I kind of feel like I'm forgiven by proxy, I guess.

There was a girl that I went to junior high and high school with and in junior high I kind of bullied her. Nothing too bad, mostly just verbal...I did take her asthma inhaler once and squirted it all in the air and wasted it. She was an easy target, she had bad allergies and asthma and a real raspy voice. Her aunt was obese and taught at our junior high, and they had the same last name so she took a lot of shit for that.

Years after high school we worked at the same hotel. It felt really good to apologize for being such a dick to her when we were kids.

She took it well and said, "I know you just picked on me because you liked me."

I said, "Shut up froggy!" and punched her in the arm.

I know this movie.

My bully (one of them) grew up to be an actor. I peruse his IMDB page from time to time out of curiosity.

Found one of those black ants in the floor by my foot. He was a big one so guessing he is a warrior. He had the head of another one clamped onto his head or antennae stub. Just a head. I got it off him but he moved and appeared to be confused or blind without his antennae. He could really pinch hard though. I felt bad for him and just sat him down.

True joy: realizing that one of your kids is smarter than you. And not just in a “smart....for a kid” way.

I’m not a very emotional guy, but that moment hit me pretty intensely.

Carpet_pissr wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:35 pm True joy: realizing that one of your kids is smarter than you. And not just in a “smart....for a kid” way.

I’m not a very emotional guy, but that moment hit me pretty intensely.

I'm glad you were finally able to get that child-proof Tylenol cap open!

My wife kept throw up for hours. Finally sent her to the hospital. They're keeping over night as they couldn't find my phone number.
Thank goodness.

Hate when I look at something on some site like Amazon then for weeks afterwards I get emails "Hey we saw you looking at this" or "You still want this?"....no..no I dont. I didn't then and I still dont. Asshats.

dbt1949 wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 12:09 am My wife kept throw up for hours. Finally sent her to the hospital. They're keeping over night as they couldn't find my phone number.
Thank goodness.

These days I dont know if you love your wife. Hate you wife. Have a wife. Have an ex wife. Married a goat. Think of your wife as an old goat. Or buried your step son 4 feet deep.

Four feet is probably insufficient.

Jaymann wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 2:19 pm Four feet is probably insufficient.

I took into account him being old and his step son most likely skinny from drugs.

Daehawk wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 1:48 pm Hate when I look at something on some site like Amazon then for weeks afterwards I get emails "Hey we saw you looking at this" or "You still want this?"....no..no I dont. I didn't then and I still dont. Asshats.

That doesn't bother so much as when I follow a link from somewhere that has nothing to do with my actual interests, but is part of a discussion. Amazon then thinks it is a part of my core personality and starts making recommendations based it.

Daehawk wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 1:48 pm Hate when I look at something on some site like Amazon then for weeks afterwards I get emails "Hey we saw you looking at this" or "You still want this?"....no..no I dont. I didn't then and I still dont. Asshats.

Amazon.com Help: Unsubscribe from Amazon Marketing

You can also disable recommendations and personalized ads on your Amazon account.

wonderpug wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 12:07 am

Carpet_pissr wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:35 pm True joy: realizing that one of your kids is smarter than you. And not just in a “smart....for a kid” way.

I’m not a very emotional guy, but that moment hit me pretty intensely.

I'm glad you were finally able to get that child-proof Tylenol cap open!

Ha! Actually this was during a board/card game, where I used to dominate him only a couple years ago. Now he's 10, and using techniques and strategies that I didn't even think about. Love it. Just seeing the way he thinks makes me proud (without any coaching from dumb ol' Dad!).

Carpet_pissr wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 4:33 pm

wonderpug wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 12:07 am

Carpet_pissr wrote: Fri Apr 16, 2021 11:35 pm True joy: realizing that one of your kids is smarter than you. And not just in a “smart....for a kid” way.

I’m not a very emotional guy, but that moment hit me pretty intensely.

I'm glad you were finally able to get that child-proof Tylenol cap open!

Ha! Actually this was during a board/card game, where I used to dominate him only a couple years ago. Now he's 10, and using techniques and strategies that I didn't even think about. Love it. Just seeing the way he thinks makes me proud (without any coaching from dumb ol' Dad!).

My 17-y.o. is the same. He and I are into mid-to-heavy strategy board games (COIN series, Twilight Struggle, Scythe, War of the Ring, etc).

A couple of years ago I realized he was good, but now he's nearly unbeatable. When I'm thinking one turn ahead, he's thinking four.

The only thing that keeps me in the game is that he's famously unlucky with dice.

It took 30 years, but my son is now capable of beating me at chess. It is still only about 1 game out of 8, but that shows some tenacity.

Blackhawk wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 3:27 pm

Daehawk wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 1:48 pm Hate when I look at something on some site like Amazon then for weeks afterwards I get emails "Hey we saw you looking at this" or "You still want this?"....no..no I dont. I didn't then and I still dont. Asshats.

That doesn't bother so much as when I follow a link from somewhere that has nothing to do with my actual interests, but is part of a discussion. Amazon then thinks it is a part of my core personality and starts making recommendations based it.

I've gotten into habit of going to incognito mode if I was doing research rather than just another tab.

Daehawk wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 1:51 pm

dbt1949 wrote: Sat Apr 17, 2021 12:09 am My wife kept throw up for hours. Finally sent her to the hospital. They're keeping over night as they couldn't find my phone number.
Thank goodness.

These days I dont know if you love your wife. Hate you wife. Have a wife. Have an ex wife. Married a goat. Think of your wife as an old goat. Or buried your step son 4 feet deep.

I don't know either. All I know is I haven't had a day off in over 2 1/2 years.

hepcat wrote: Sun Apr 11, 2021 8:24 pm I need to go back and finish that one. It’s on Hulu still, I believe. I think I stopped mid season 2 for some reason.

Wow. I guess we are getting near the end maybe.... Wiki says 76 episodes. Gonna be a lot packed in the last 3. It was a test not to read the summaries.

What's the deal with restaurant closing times? Is that "last seating", "last call/last order", or GTFO time?

I've never been willing to walk into a dine-in restaurant less than 45 minutes before their posted closing time. (Though I might have popped my head in and asked if it was OK.) Obviously, I'm not doing any dining in lately.

But even for takeout/delivery, I find myself asking myself whether I'm a tool for ordering less than 30 minutes before the posted closing time from a proper restaurant, or 15 minutes for fast food. Though on Uber Eats et al. it does seem like some restaurants take this into account and adjust their delivery hours to be a little shorter than their B&M ones.

Just saw this on BBC:

Two men killed in Tesla car crash 'without driver' in seat

The 2019 Tesla Model S was travelling at a high speed when it failed to negotiate a curve on a winding road.

The victims, both in their 50s, were found in the front passenger seat and in the back of the vehicle.

[...]

Evidence suggests that “no-one was driving the vehicle at the time of impact,” said Mark Herman, Harris County Precinct 4 constable, adding the case was still under investigation.

It is unclear whether Tesla's Autopilot feature was in use.

Yes. It is unclear.

Sudy wrote: Sun Apr 18, 2021 9:19 pm What's the deal with restaurant closing times? Is that "last seating", "last call/last order", or GTFO time?

I've never been willing to walk into a dine-in restaurant less than 45 minutes before their posted closing time. (Though I might have popped my head in and asked if it was OK.) Obviously, I'm not doing any dining in lately.

But even for takeout/delivery, I find myself asking myself whether I'm a tool for ordering less than 30 minutes before the posted closing time from a proper restaurant, or 15 minutes for fast food. Though on Uber Eats et al. it does seem like some restaurants take this into account and adjust their delivery hours to be a little shorter than their B&M ones.

When I was in restaurant front house work, closing time meant the kitchen and bar shut down, so no more orders. You probably want to be seated 10 minutes before closing time and you're going to annoy the wait staff who haven't been scratched but they're there to do the job, so it is what it is. Tip them well, especially if the house is otherwise empty.

In a bar, as a patron, closing time generally was 15 minutes after last call and GTFO. Kitchen close times vary.

I don't know what it's like now vs the before times, but ordering right up until 5 minutes before closing shouldn't be a problem. The kitchen shouldn't be starting their clean up yet.

Thanks. I figured it's a situation where common sense and politeness apply. It's just always nagged at me because there seems to be some inconsistency and I don't feel like there's a specific cultural expectation. But it's not like a restaurant can't inform me if they can't serve me. I just don't want to be the one person making staff stay late.