Random randomness

[Sudy]

You're not too old Dae, but the house may be too old to waste resources on from what you've described, even once you take care of the more pressing issues.

A change in furniture/layout/decoration can really freshen things up, especially if what you've got now is really outdated. (Unless you dig that aesthetic, at least when it's pleasing and functional... I often pine for the 80s and 90s.) Sure it'll be a shock at first, but we always get used to the new eventually. Change and new experiences can aid mental health and has been shown to decrease risk of developing dementia, etc. Novelty and creating new memories also slow down our perception of time. We might feel nostalgia for the old, but that's what photos/video and memory are for.

[Blackhawk]

But the reviews reported it was just plain earmuffs without any speakers lol. What baffled my mind is that other people gave them a good review (at least some of them looked legit) and they didn't seem to care. Or maybe they started shipping a different model at some point and didn't bother updating the product description. There's an option to "report error in item description", but the link didn't work. This will not stand, man.

Or the earlier reviews were for a completely different product. That is a common scam at Amazon. A product with great reviews goes dormant for a few years and other people are able to hijack the listing. They change the picture, description, and title, just like the original store could have, but they change it to something completely different. When they're done, they have their crappy product listed with hundreds of five star reviews from the previous product, and most people never notice.

I have seen cheap electronics, for example, with reviews from a romance novel.

[Blackhawk]

Been thinking lately of when I have the money to redo my bedroom / computer room. Its been the same for 35 years nearly. Almost exactly the same.

Was thinking of maybe just this one room redoing it in some way I want it done rather than how everyone else always had my room done or a room done before me that I used.

Make it mine. Thinking of bright and dark paints and lots of glowing stuff. Some neon, a moon lamp and galaxy lights and black lights.

Then I think Im too old. The house is too run down. Dont bother. Waste of money. Couldn't sleep in it. Too different.

Just dont know.

Dude, you literally do not have a pot to piss in (i.e. you haven't been able to flush your toilet normally for months), and you're thinking of squandering what meagre resources and income you struggle to subsist upon on such frivolous moonshine as neon decor and lava lamps!? This seems… ill-advised to say the least.

No, he's not. He's talking about what he would like to do if he ever gets out of his financial troubles. He's playing, "If I won the lottery..." on a smaller scale. It can be cathartic for people with limited resources and limited options (like those on disability.) Trust me - I've probably designed my dream tabletop and video game rooms a hundred times. That doesn't mean I'm spending the grocery budget on them.

After the dark and miserable hole he has been in, I think it's great. It means that he's thinking about the future in a positive way, looking forward to possibilities. It's a big change from fixating on the past as the only way to be happy.

Obviously it can be taken too far (as with any coping mechanism), but in moderation it can be a positive tool.

And his pipe dream probably costs less than what some people here spend on eating out in the average month.

[Daehawk]

Honestly other than this one bedroom the rest of the house could be empty and bare. I dont use it. No one comes over. I pass through it going to the kitchen or bathroom.

and you're thinking of squandering what meagre resources and income you struggle to subsist upon

I think you missed the part where I said

when I have the money

. ie...years from now when I have no mortgage..no debt and money is to do what I want.

[Anonymous Bosch]

Been thinking lately of when I have the money to redo my bedroom / computer room. Its been the same for 35 years nearly. Almost exactly the same.

Was thinking of maybe just this one room redoing it in some way I want it done rather than how everyone else always had my room done or a room done before me that I used.

Make it mine. Thinking of bright and dark paints and lots of glowing stuff. Some neon, a moon lamp and galaxy lights and black lights.

Then I think Im too old. The house is too run down. Dont bother. Waste of money. Couldn't sleep in it. Too different.

Just dont know.

Dude, you literally do not have a pot to piss in (i.e. you haven't been able to flush your toilet normally for months), and you're thinking of squandering what meagre resources and income you struggle to subsist upon on such frivolous moonshine as neon decor and lava lamps!? This seems… ill-advised to say the least.

No, he's not. He's talking about what he would like to do if he ever gets out of his financial troubles. He's playing, "If I won the lottery..." on a smaller scale. It can be cathartic for people with limited resources and limited options (like those on disability.) Trust me - I've probably designed my dream tabletop and video game rooms a hundred times. That doesn't mean I'm spending the grocery budget on them.

After the dark and miserable hole he has been in, I think it's great. It means that he's thinking about the future in a positive way, looking forward to possibilities. It's a big change from fixating on the past as the only way to be happy.

If you say so. It just struck me as counting one's eggs before they've hatched given the dire nature of his particular predicament. Years from now, I certainly do hope it's a "when" rather than "if" Daehawk has no debt, and sufficient income for lava lamps and the like.

[Sudy]

Daehawk, please resolve this once and for all. Were you parsing your poultry prematurely, or was this merely innocuous home makeover mental masturbation?

[Daehawk]

Im a dreamer. Always have been. As BH says it helps to imagine.

[Smoove_B]

Im a dreamer. Always have been.

Are you sure you're not trying to run away high so you won't come home low?

[Unagi]

[Rumpy]

Didn't know where to put this since we don't have a general movie thread. But just heard that there's a Roadhouse remake being made. Jake Gyllenhall will take on the role that Patrick Swayze played. That to me is odd in itself. But the other thing is, I don't think it was one of Swayze's best movies. If not for Swayze and Sam Elliot, it would be a forgotten movie. The third thing is , and this is something most omit when talking about it, is that Jeff Healey, the blind bar musician, helped make the movie more memorable. He's to this day, one of the best parts of that movie. You take away all those 3, and you IMHO have a fairly generic movie.

https://movieweb.com/jake-gyllenhaal-di ... oad-house/

[Blackhawk]

New threads are your friend!

[Isgrimnur]

Or old threads you've already posted in.

[Blackhawk]

That, too.

[Daehawk]

Are Star Wars toys hot to sell? Thinking I might sell my AT-ST walker I got years and years ago. Ill never part with my original Kenner X-Wing from 79 or so though lol. I dont think. Never know.

Also geez I thought Id look at the car while I was out there looking for stuff to sell. Brake reservoir was dry almost. Shit. Lucky I had some. Enough to fill it to the top at least. Need to buy some more when I get money. Figured I better check the other fluids.....oil...not any on the stick. Damnit. How low is it now I wonder and for how long has it been this way!??? Power steering. No noise from it but no fluid I could find...just dust. Geebus this is not me. I never let a car go like this. Shit.

If that guy really does buy the chainsaw tomorrow Ill have to go up the road to the auto shop and buy fluids.

The trans did seem full though. Phew.

[dbt1949]

I'm watching Barney Miller and I realize I'm older than Fish. And not in as good of shape.

[Brian]

Is Barney Miller on one of the streaming services? I would like to watch a few episodes myself.

See Shepherd Book before he was Shepherd Book.

[Jaymann]

I'm watching Barney Miller and I realize I'm older than Fish. And not in as good of shape.

You're worse than dead? That's going a ways.

[Max Peck]

Is Barney Miller on one of the streaming services? I would like to watch a few episodes myself.

See Shepherd Book before he was Shepherd Book.

https://www.amazon.com/Barney-Miller-Se ... B001AM4QWU

[Max Peck]

I'm watching Barney Miller and I realize I'm older than Fish. And not in as good of shape.

Abe Vigoda wasn't all that old (mid 50s) when he was in Barney Miller, so lots of us are older than Fish now. He had another 40 years in him, so he was probably in better shape than he looked.

[hepcat]

Barney Miller was all about Dietrich for me.

[Kasey Chang]

Latest Youtube Scandal... aka "people abusing animals for views", it appears that some Youtube Channels saw the popularity of sea turtle rescue videos (where the turtles are captured then barnacles removed), and decided to abuse their local turtles by gluing on plastic or fake barnacles, then "remove" them on camera for views. DanTheTurtleMan pointed out some of the worst offenders, as you can clearly see many of the turtles are freshwater turtles that wouldn't have any barnacles nearby, so any barnacle removal were clearly faked and outright animal abuse. (Sea turtles have flippers, freshwater turtles have claws, generally speaking)

[Holman]

Holy Cow.

I just learned that my oldest niece (a couple of years out of college) has been hired as a lighting technician for Critical Role, the famous live D&D show.

Her training and work so far has been in the technical side of theater, and she has spent a few years working backstage at various performance venues in California. But Critical Role just seems like an amazing step up, especially since she has been an RPG player for years.

Happy news from my niece:

She's continuing to work the sound and lighting board for Critical Role once a week. They seem to be keeping her on at that pace. (She has full-time work elsewhere.)

But the good part is that she reports that everyone is genuinely nice. She had a nice talk with Matt Mercer the other day and says he was very down-to-Earth.

[Isgrimnur]

Is Barney Miller on one of the streaming services? I would like to watch a few episodes myself.

See Shepherd Book before he was Shepherd Book.

https://www.amazon.com/Barney-Miller-Se ... B001AM4QWU

Complete with old FBI warnings. Remastered, it ain't.

[Max Peck]

At one point CTV had Barney Miller on their "throwback" streaming site, but they only have 2 seasons left now and those are flagged as leaving soon as well.

[telcta]

Is Barney Miller on one of the streaming services? I would like to watch a few episodes myself.

There’s a channel called FETV that seems to be on a lot of cable and streaming systems. They show a couple of episodes of Barney Miller every night at midnight.

https://fetv.tv/channels/

I just happened to see it because they’re showing Emergency! which was one of my favorite shows to watch as a kid.

[Sudy]

Is Barney Miller on one of the streaming services? I would like to watch a few episodes myself.

In addition to two seasons on Amazon Prime, Justwatch's US site says there's two seasons on Crackle, and five seasons on Fubo TV (whatever the hell that is).

Edit: Actually the link Max provided indicates Prime US has all eight seasons? So maybe Justwatch is out of date.

[Daehawk]

I got up at 2pm yesterday. Today I got up at 3pm. Hard to sleep when I go to bed at midnight and Ive only been up about 9 hours. I did take a sleep aid last night so that probably held over this morning. But 2-3 hours of sunlight SUCKS. My little dog is as bored as me. He just wants back in bed and stays all day. Yet he sleeps. lol. Not good for either of us I guess. Gonna be dark again soon. Terrible.

[Daehawk]

This is a pic of Fess Parker filming either Davy Crockett or more likely I think Daniel Boone down the road from me at the Summerfield Johnston farm. Summerfield has a huge ass place cause he is the Coca Cola Johnston.

Anyways my wife told me stories of Fess and him as Daniel Boone because she loved the show and had a crush on him...she was like 9 years old lol. She was good friends with Johnston's 2 daughters that were her age and their brother and would spend nights there and ride horses and stuff. Anyways Fess used to have dinner and hunting trips there a lot and my wife got invited to dinner once. She said she couldn't talk hardly lol ...she just stared at Fess.

This pic is maybe the movie...1950s. The tall guy in the buckskin outfit is Fess Parker. He was 6'5"

[Daehawk]

Surprising how much money you save by not powering your water heater for a month. My bill , which isn't complete yet, is showing $58.

[Kraken]

During the summer, our gas bill for cooking and hot water drops to as little as $25/mo. During the coldest heating months it can top $400. I hope that this Friday's home energy audit (paid for by a surcharge on our gas bills -- socialism ftw) will bring that down a little. MassSave provides stuff like weatherstripping and thermostat upgrades and low-flow faucets for free, plus subsidies and rebates for major improvements. If we were planning to stay in our house we would upgrade our 30-year-old boiler.

Our realtor recommended getting this done before we upgrade our fuse box to one of those newfangled breaker things, so maybe there's some incentive for that, too.

[LordMortis]

During the summer, our gas bill for cooking and hot water drops to as little as $25/mo. During the coldest heating months it can top $400. I hope that this Friday's home energy audit (paid for by a surcharge on our gas bills -- socialism ftw) will bring that down a little. MassSave provides stuff like weatherstripping and thermostat upgrades and low-flow faucets for free, plus subsidies and rebates for major improvements. If we were planning to stay in our house we would upgrade our 30-year-old boiler.

Our realtor recommended getting this done before we upgrade our fuse box to one of those newfangled breaker things, so maybe there's some incentive for that, too.

Historically, my gas bill goes up to about $150 in the winter. I'm trying to brace myself for the idea that is going to be a much worse than my summer electric was. My summer electric went from about $120 to the plus or minus around the $200 level this year and it wasn't that hot of a summer.

[Daehawk]

Is car design dead?

https://www.autospies.com/news/index.as ... nid=112305

[Pyperkub]

Yes, at least until batteries are so powerful and quick charging that aerodynamics don't matter.

Then we get all sorts of really cool cars with far out designs. Fins, hood ornaments and badges, flared fenders, etc.

Sent from my SM-S908U1 using Tapatalk

[Blackhawk]

Efficiency has become more important than aesthetics. Which, honestly, puts us more in line with the rest of the world.

[Isgrimnur]

F-150


Silverado


Ram 1500

[Daehawk]

Wondering if anyone has any experience with this. When the well was fixed he went all out and replaced all the piping too. Its great. But he had to use pvc glue it seems and now my water smells like it. Its not better yet. Been a week. Its not super strong but not weak either. I smell if good . Ive wondered if its flamable lol.

Anyways how long might this last? I wont use it for cooking but I use it for showers, flushing toilet, and washing dishes. I hope its safe. But I dont like smelling like it after a shower and not being able to cook with it. Keeps me reliant on some jug water for now.

Im thinking the hot is worse and I think its because 1. its hot and therefore the molecules are more active and 2. It filled up my hot water heater with the first stronger pvc tainted water. Im hoping over time it goes away.

[hitbyambulance]

Wondering if anyone has any experience with this. When the well was fixed he went all out and replaced all the piping too. Its great. But he had to use pvc glue it seems and now my water smells like it. Its not better yet. Been a week. Its not super strong but not weak either. I smell if good . Ive wondered if its flamable lol.

Anyways how long might this last? I wont use it for cooking but I use it for showers, flushing toilet, and washing dishes. I hope its safe. But I dont like smelling like it after a shower and not being able to cook with it. Keeps me reliant on some jug water for now.

Im thinking the hot is worse and I think its because 1. its hot and therefore the molecules are more active and 2. It filled up my hot water heater with the first stronger pvc tainted water. Im hoping over time it goes away.

had this issue with my ISE hot water dispenser after it was replaced. took a looooooong time for that smell to go away (and before i figured out what the issue was, was wondering why my tea tasted all weird and gnarly... very 'chemical'-y)

[Default]

Holy Cow.

I just learned that my oldest niece (a couple of years out of college) has been hired as a lighting technician for Critical Role, the famous live D&D show.

Her training and work so far has been in the technical side of theater, and she has spent a few years working backstage at various performance venues in California. But Critical Role just seems like an amazing step up, especially since she has been an RPG player for years.

Happy news from my niece:

She's continuing to work the sound and lighting board for Critical Role once a week. They seem to be keeping her on at that pace. (She has full-time work elsewhere.)

But the good part is that she reports that everyone is genuinely nice. She had a nice talk with Matt Mercer the other day and says he was very down-to-Earth.

Funny, he doesn't look like a dwarf.

[Holman]

Hoo boy.

My MIL (who lives with us) flew out to Oregon to spend Thanksgiving with my BIL and his young children (whom she seldom gets to see except on Zoom). I'll be picking her up, but now it looks like her flight gets in close to midnight.

Midnight airports are their own special kind of setting.

[jztemple2]

Had the windshield on my 2016 Grand Caravan replaced by Safelite today. I'd had them replace a back window a few years ago, but this was the first time for the whole theater that is a windshield replacement. And to complicate things, part of the toolset he brings in his van requires that a brace be suctioned cupped onto my front driver window. Unfortunately my driver's window was down, either the glass or the mechanism broken.

The technician was a wonder. As he was getting ready and explained to me the issue with the driver's window, I explained that I was going to have it fixed the next day but that didn't help him. There was a "reverser tool" that would allow him to mount the brace on the passenger window, but he'd have to drive 45 minutes back to the shop to get it. However, he is very familiar with replacing these windows since Safelite used to do them (but no more) so he just took the inside of the door apart like someone was holding a gun to his head. He took out the speaker in the door and in no time he established that the window was fine and it was a problem with the mechanism.

We agreed that getting the window in the up position was the best solution. He pushed and pulled and got it fully up, but even wedging suction cups at the bottom of the window frame didn't hold it steady. So he says that if he had something to wedge inside the door to keep the glass up that would work. I quickly found a small piece of 2x4 and a very stiff cardboard tube. He cut the tube to size, moved them through the speaker hole and voilà!, the window stayed up. He added tape around the frame to add extra security for the window.

After that the next to remove the old glass epoxy, using a thin twine and pulleys which was very cool. Then he took out the old windshield, added new epoxy, mounted the new windshield in place, put the door back together, did some cleanup and I had a new windshield. The tech was just brilliant and I'm glad I had Safelite do it so I could watch