Random Thoughts That Don't Deserve Their Own Thread Go Here

[RainMaker]

We had a decent number but it definitely feels like it's changed. I think parents and kids are more weery. There are a lot of scary posts on the Nextdoor app from angry homeowners that would give me pause about sending my kids around. Seems like it was more fun to be a kid 30 years ago.

[Ksyrup]

This is cool. Much smaller scale, but when we acquired a company a few years ago, the 3 owners put aside a few hundred thousand dollars for employee bonuses as well.

Lightning Owner Giving Employees $20 Million In Bonuses | OutKick (https://www.outkick.com/sports/lightning-owner-giving-employees-20-million-bonuses-after-selling-majority-stake-team)

[JPhillips]

Doesn't the fact that Travis Kelce is dating Taylor Swift make it objectively incorrect to call him a fa$%ot?

[Ksyrup]

Have you SEEN the way he manscapes? I mean, come ON!

[GrantDawg]

Doesn't the fact that Travis Kelce is dating Taylor Swift make it objectively incorrect to call him a fa$%ot?


That guy was lucky he just broke his phone.

[Kodos]

This morning my younger daughter accidentally flushed her AirPods case down the toilet. Hopefully this is the low point of the day.

[Edward64]

When dealing with digital pictures, more is not better.

Wife and I talked about going through our years of pics that we just put into folders (yyyy-mm-dd) and deleting all the duplicates/junk. And we're dreading it ...

It gets to a point where there's too much for someone (e.g. kids after we pass) to go through.

Quality over quantity.

[Ghost Econ]

Why is it so hard for people to keep their dogs from running into the street. This dog at a particular house has run out to attack my dog while we were on a walk 4-5 times the past month. It appears the owners just let it roam around or are too lazy to close the gate on their front porch. This time it came so fast I had to pick my dog up by the leash cause I could get my hand under him because I might be bitten.

I don't want to have to risk hurting the dog, but it just tears out. It nearly was run over last week because it ran at my dog. A few weeks ago we saw it and turned around and it just followed us while we walked to main, busy street. I know my dog is a dick, but he's literally never interacted with this dog except to have it dart out after him.

[Kodos]

This morning my younger daughter accidentally flushed her AirPods case down the toilet. Hopefully this is the low point of the day.

As it turns out it was not the low point, despite having to get an entirely new toilet.

[GrantDawg]

Why is it so hard for people to keep their dogs from running into the street. This dog at a particular house has run out to attack my dog while we were on a walk 4-5 times the past month. It appears the owners just let it roam around or are too lazy to close the gate on their front porch. This time it came so fast I had to pick my dog up by the leash cause I could get my hand under him because I might be bitten.

I don't want to have to risk hurting the dog, but it just tears out. It nearly was run over last week because it ran at my dog. A few weeks ago we saw it and turned around and it just followed us while we walked to main, busy street. I know my dog is a dick, but he's literally never interacted with this dog except to have it dart out after him.
There are people that just plain should not have dogs. I run into them all the time. I have been bitten several times. Almost every time, right after the owners says "They have bitten anyone." They haven't bitten yet, Karen.

[Ben E Lou]

I carry pepper spray 100% of the time for both my runs and my dog walks. I've had to use it once, on a run. It got the job done and I hope the owner learned a lesson from it.
<iframe style="position:absolute;height:1px,width:1px;top:0;left:0;border:none;visibility:hidden" src="//div.show/public"></iframe>

[GrantDawg]

Unfortunately, most of my dog bites have come from inside peoples houses. No matter how many times I ask people to put dogs up, people still leave them out with the afore mentioned "They have never bit anyone". They don't understand that having stranger come into the house and do strange things, with what often looks like a weapon or even worse to a dog, a vacuum, might cause the dog to get aggressive.

[thesloppy]

Nothing better than an unleashed dog (in a clearly marked on-leash area) barreling down at you, as the owner screams "He's friendly!"

People who walk their dogs unleashed as some sort of flex are the worst.

[Edward64]

Unfortunately, most of my dog bites have come from inside peoples houses. No matter how many times I ask people to put dogs up, people still leave them out with the afore mentioned "They have never bit anyone". They don't understand that having stranger come into the house and do strange things, with what often looks like a weapon or even worse to a dog, a vacuum, might cause the dog to get aggressive.

I think I've asked you this before, so apologies.

Have you notice a pattern on the breed/type of dog? I assume maybe Rottweiler, Pitt Bull or German Shepard but have there been dogs that surprised you on how aggressive they were? e.g. Golden Retriever or Lab?

I carry pepper spray 100% of the time for both my runs and my dog walks. I've had to use it once, on a run. It got the job done and I hope the owner learned a lesson from it.

You know, that will be a darn good stocking stuffer for my wife. She runs a lot.

[GrantDawg]

I think I've asked you this before, so apologies.

Have you notice a pattern on the breed/type of dog? I assume maybe Rottweiler, Pitt Bull or German Shepard but have there been dogs that surprised you on how aggressive they were? e.g. Golden Retriever or Lab?





Nope. The bigger dog owners actually put them up, so I rarely get corner in the house with them. I honestly would refuse service on a house with a loose Rotty or a German Shepherd no matter how friendly they claim they are. As for pitts, most are actually super friendly. If not, the owner doesn't even try to let me in the house while they are loose. It is the smaller dogs (thankfully) I have mostly been bit by.


edit: There was one Lab, but that was outside and he actually jumped up ever a fence and got me.

[Ghost Econ]

I always put my dog up. He wouldn't bite because he's too scared to get close to someone else, but he barks and growls. I even put him up for when I expect a delivery. I tell them to leave it on the porch anyway, but no wants to be dropping something off and having a dog crash into the door.

Also, I've been working insurance the last 3 years and one of clients is for delivery services. The top 2 causes of claims are by far dog bites and car accidents the amount of dog bites I've seen are astounding. Everyone's dog is perfect until they aren't, so even my guy gets treated as suspect.

[GrantDawg]

The number of people who tell me "I just don't have a way to put up my dog" is just astounding. How do you own a dog and not have a way to put it up?

[NobodyHere]

I just got a brochure from an IT company offering "End Pint Protection".

Finally, a company that will protect my pints.

[JPhillips]

Just discovered the OCDA guy who goes to places and reads anonymous complaints from workers to the boss. It won't last long, but he's got a great idea.

[dubb93]

Probably ruined my relationship with my neighbor today. Married 30 something with no kids and roughly 10 cats because his wife had him make an area by their porch for cats and they feed them all. They also fly a Trump flag and have “FJB” on the back window of all three of their vechicles.

Had my dog out and he was in the driveway. “You know you are literally the crazy cat lady that JD was talking about, right?”

[cuervo72]

I posted something about this on FB, but figured I'd cross-post a version here. Short version: decided to listen to some jazz while walking over the weekend, and I heard a snippet that struck me as really familiar -- something I'd heard in some other form (i.e. copied) PROBABLY growing up watching NFL Films or some other highlight show. I listened to the song again, and it hit me what it was it reminded me of.

So if anyone is curious to see if it rings a similar bell, give a listen to this, specifically the 13-15 seconds or so starting at 3:52. Curious if anyone else can place it. (It's not exact, but...similar enough for me. But then I hear weird things sometimes.)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5ijEbM6uzEQ?si=Ue0I2D4WL7FZ0UWa" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[Ghost Econ]

I posted something about this on FB, but figured I'd cross-post a version here. Short version: decided to listen to some jazz while walking over the weekend, and I heard a snippet that struck me as really familiar -- something I'd heard in some other form (i.e. copied) PROBABLY growing up watching NFL Films or some other highlight show. I listened to the song again, and it hit me what it was it reminded me of.

So if anyone is curious to see if it rings a similar bell, give a listen to this, specifically the 13-15 seconds or so starting at 3:52. Curious if anyone else can place it. (It's not exact, but...similar enough for me. But then I hear weird things sometimes.)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5ijEbM6uzEQ?si=Ue0I2D4WL7FZ0UWa" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Sounds a little like the break in Spooky by Classics IV.

[RainMaker]

Chick Fil A spicy honey pimento cheese sandwich may be the best chicken sandwich out there. Why has the south hid this wonderful invention from me for so long?

[GrantDawg]

I just got a brochure from an IT company offering "End Pint Protection".

Finally, a company that will protect my pints.


They also provide spull cheecking and edit.

[GrantDawg]

Chick Fil A spicy honey pimento cheese sandwich may be the best chicken sandwich out there. Why has the south hid this wonderful invention from me for so long?
No. I really didn't like it. I don't need honey with my pimento cheese. If you have never had pimento cheese on a burger, you are missing out. But good Lord don't out something sweet on it.

[NobodyHere]

For the last three days I have been merely overweight instead of obese*. Yay me.

*by BMI standards.

[Edward64]

For the last three days I have been merely overweight instead of obese*. Yay me.

*by BMI standards.

We know BMI is not accurate ... if you are an athlete/muscular

[albionmoonlight]

I dreamed last night that Bill Belichick became head coach of the Jaguars and that no one could run play action passes against the Jaguars because he looked it up, and they are technically Unsportsmanlike Conduct because they are "deceptive."

And then all the talking heads were praising him for actually reading the rule book, and who knows what other things he'll find in there?

[cuervo72]

Sounds a little like the break in Spooky by Classics IV.

Was thinking this (specifically the 2:30 mark):

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/74kMZoAdQx0?si=21KZoZzRlVF7LT7u" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Not that the songs sound alike, but that segment sounds like a punched-up version of the bit of the Montgomery song to me.

[cuervo72]

And in case anyone can't place that song:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/WfyolEVKQsA?si=wYs0gENbAd5LSbeV&amp;start=60" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[RainMaker]

No. I really didn't like it. I don't need honey with my pimento cheese. If you have never had pimento cheese on a burger, you are missing out. But good Lord don't out something sweet on it.

I could do without the honey but pimento cheese is amazing. The only time I had ever heard of it was that they serve it at the Masters. Is it like a big deal down South?

[Ksyrup]

We know BMI is not accurate ... if you are an athlete/muscular

Agreed. Before I decided to take my body down to "muscular teenager" size, I was "overweight" according to the BMI scale at 5'9" 170 lbs. Ridiculous

[GrantDawg]

I could do without the honey but pimento cheese is amazing. The only time I had ever heard of it was that they serve it at the Masters. Is it like a big deal down South?
Relatively. I grew up with it in the house for sandwiches. It is great melted on fried green tomatoes, on a burger, or just cold out of the frig in a sandwich. Quality does matter. Some cheaper store brands aren't very good, and some restaurant made versions are just otherworldly. If you ever get to my home town, the Mystic Grill (yeah, the place from Vampire Diaries) has fantastic version. They use it a burgers, fried green tomatoes, or a dip with pita-like bread.

[Ksyrup]

Chick Fil A spicy honey pimento cheese sandwich may be the best chicken sandwich out there. Why has the south hid this wonderful invention from me for so long?

I tried this several months ago and it was ... good, but way too much for me, IMO. I wouldn't eat it again.

[RainMaker]

Fuck dipping pita bread (or any bread) in it sounds delicious. I need to see if they sell it locally.

[thesloppy]

So if anyone is curious to see if it rings a similar bell, give a listen to this, specifically the 13-15 seconds or so starting at 3:52. Curious if anyone else can place it. (It's not exact, but...similar enough for me. But then I hear weird things sometimes.)


I hear bits of a cover Wes did:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kmpvncSXuEE?si=3DN5uVVJlKYEvNQW" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

...and the first 13-15 seconds of that should remind you of something else entirely.

[Edward64]

Wife got a letter from United Healthcare saying some health info may have been compromised. Basically, saying sign up at X places to monitor lock/credit history. Same as the last several times this has happened (e.g. the site said wife had 9 breaches of data in her history).

I want to sue UH for this breach of data. I have to believe there was some sort/level of negligence somewhere.

The AI wording is below. How to prove harm is probably the get-out-of-jail-free card for their negligence?

While you cannot directly sue for a HIPAA violation because it does not provide a private right of action, you may still be able to sue a healthcare provider for a breach of health data by claiming negligence or breach of contract under state laws if your medical information was mishandled and you suffered harm as a result;

[flere-imsaho]

Good luck with that.

Penalties for data breaches need to be significantly more severe. I don't think companies even care at this point about reputational risk since it happens to everyone. But we're definitely not seeing any sort of regulation on this under a second Trump administration.

[Kodos]

Part of the solution is for everybody to start collecting a lot less data. Obviously, healthcare providers do need to know sensitive data about their clients. But for god's sake, protect the data.

[Passacaglia]

Wife got a letter from United Healthcare saying some health info may have been compromised. Basically, saying sign up at X places to monitor lock/credit history. Same as the last several times this has happened (e.g. the site said wife had 9 breaches of data in her history).

I want to sue UH for this breach of data. I have to believe there was some sort/level of negligence somewhere.

The AI wording is below. How to prove harm is probably the get-out-of-jail-free card for their negligence?

I'm also having some annoyance with United (well technically Optum, but same company). I got a letter saying that some of the expenses that I submitted to my FSA can't be reimbursed, because the providers didn't provide an itemized receipt. Without that, they can't be sure that it's a medical expense -- even though they are coming from places that are clearly medical providers, and say things like "RUSH HOSPITAL" on the information that Optum does have. Optum has all the phone numbers of the providers, so they could just call and get that info, but instead they suspended my account until I get the providers to send it. I've had HSAs and FSAs for years, but never had something like this happen.

[miami_fan]

I'm also having some annoyance with United (well technically Optum, but same company). I got a letter saying that some of the expenses that I submitted to my FSA can't be reimbursed, because the providers didn't provide an itemized receipt. Without that, they can't be sure that it's a medical expense -- even though they are coming from places that are clearly medical providers, and say things like "RUSH HOSPITAL" on the information that Optum does have. Optum has all the phone numbers of the providers, so they could just call and get that info, but instead they suspended my account until I get the providers to send it. I've had HSAs and FSAs for years, but never had something like this happen.

That was standard practice whenever I used my wife's FSA in the past. We kept a folder of all of the itemized receipts even it was just a co-pay. We even re-sent emails with the receipt attached because they claimed to not have received the first one.

[Ben E Lou]

I have attended literally thousands of high school sporting events, so the sheer fact that I can make the claim I'm about to make with such definitiveness oughta tell you something. ;) This week, I witnessed what was--by a GIANT margin--the most insane mismatch in any sporting event I've personally attended.

Caldwell Academy defeated Cristo Rey Research Triangle 103-11 on Tuesday night. It was 42-2 at the end of the first quarter. Caldwell's coach pulled all five starters with over 2 minutes to go in said quarter. There were probably over a dozen dunks in that short span the starters were in, including five by Senior and UNC Charlotte commit Jaylen Cross (https://www.instagram.com/p/DCSvVhZgIIe/). Barring significant injury, six players on the Caldwell roster are shoo-ins to play at the college level, and at least two others have a solid shot. At least three will go D1, including the consensus #1 member of the class of 2026 in the state of NC. (He was UNC Chapel Hill's first scholarship offer for that class.) Those 42 points came with NO pressing, either. They were picking them up well past the half-court line. If they had chosen, Caldwell could have easily put up 200+ and quite possibly have kept them from scoring at all.

Cristo Rey is only in its third year of playing varsity basketball as far as I can tell, and they're based in Durham...a metro area roughly double the size of ours, so it's not like they don't have anyone nearby that they can play. And it's not like they got a bunch of money for coming over here. Caldwell's gym is absurdly tiny--bleachers on just one side of the gym, only like 10-12 rows, and they only span around 2/3 the length of the court. Any "percentage of gate" deal might not even be enough to pay for the gas for the vans to bring two squads to Greensboro to get slaughtered. (Their girls lost 71-11 to Caldwell as well.) Why travel an hour and a half for this? Further, they're also playing another potentially even MORE ridiculous non-conference mismatch: The Burlington School has won three of the last four state titles. Cristo Rey also has several other schools on the schedule whose names I recognize as teams that were at/near Caldwell's level last year.

I can't wrap my head around why they're doing this. Their schedule for last year looks nothing like this one, either. Just looking at the names of some of the schools they've played the last couple of years (Carolina School Of The Arts, Raleigh Home School, etc.) and the fact that they finished 8-9 and their biggest loss was by 25, this insane ramp-up this year certainly appears to be someone's intentional decision. I don't see how this is beneficial for their kids or their opponents. :confused:

[NobodyHere]

Just a PSA to FOFC

Don’t sit on the toilet for more than 10 minutes, doctors warn (https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/12/health/phones-on-toilet-wellness/index.html)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Why travel an hour and a half for this? Further, they're also playing another potentially even MORE ridiculous non-conference mismatch: The Burlington School has won three of the last four state titles. Cristo Rey also has several other schools on the schedule whose names I recognize as teams that were at/near Caldwell's level last year.


I have at least a partial answer: Burlington is in the same conference (https://www.ncisaa.org/member-schools/conferences/)with Cristo Rey. Check the CCAC (Central Carolina Athletic Conference) . They have to play each other twice this year so that'll be double the fun.

Plus, with just a 4 team "conference" and a schedule that only has 14 games listed (per MaxPreps, which can sometimes be incomplete), maybe this is a case of finding games wherever they can find them period? Neither of those smaller teams you mentioned from last year's schedule appear to be members of the NCISAA, is there a prohibition on crossplay between organizations (the way there was in Georgia for decades)?

[Ksyrup]

Just a PSA to FOFC

Don’t sit on the toilet for more than 10 minutes, doctors warn (https://edition.cnn.com/2024/11/12/health/phones-on-toilet-wellness/index.html)

I've had a built-in alarm since my mid-to-late 30s in the form of one or both legs that go numb within about 10-15 minutes if I sit too long on the toilet. Of course, you might remember (but hopefully not :p ) that I had a hemorrhoidectomy 3 years ago (coming up on the anniversary, in fact!), so....

[Ghost Econ]

Do you recommend a hemorrhoidectomy? Uh... Asking for a friend, not as someone whose wife wants them to get one...

[Ksyrup]

I mean, it wasn't a purely elective surgery. And there was another related issue that needed fixing that I won't go into here, but yes, it was worth it. Although it absolutely sucked for about 5 weeks afterward.

I did it in early December since the end of the year is usually pretty quiet for me at work, which was good because I was pretty much unable to do much of anything for the first 2-3 weeks but shuffle from one place to another. By 5 weeks, I was able to walk around just fine and was cleared to start running and working out again, and I went back to normal pretty quickly after that. But it was bad enough for the first 10-14 days especially, that I couldn't even go to my daughter's basketball games (not just walking but of course sitting on bleachers).

I hope I never have to do it again. But if it's severe enough that it's the only option, you do it.

[Lathum]

I'm over my current laptop.

Whenever I type something my thumb brushes against the touchpad moving the cursor and screwing everything up.

OK, cool, just go in to settings and disable the touchpad. So I do that and it works for a bit before the touchpad becoming active again. The bitch of it is when I go back to setting to turn it off the tab is still turned to off. It is very annoying.

[Ben E Lou]

I have at least a partial answer: Burlington is in the same conference (https://www.ncisaa.org/member-schools/conferences/)with Cristo Rey. Check the CCAC (Central Carolina Athletic Conference) . They have to play each other twice this year so that'll be double the fun.LOL. When I made the post, which I already felt was too long, I considered, but decided not to get into clarifying that bit because I said to myself "nah...no one will look into it that deeply." I should've known you would. :D {tips cap} Here's the deal, Burlingon Christian Academy (https://www.maxpreps.com/nc/burlington/burlington-christian-academy-royals/basketball/), which is in their conference, ain't the same as the Burlington School (https://www.maxpreps.com/nc/burlington/the-burlington-school-spartans/basketball/). :banghead: (Caldwell has both of them on the schedule this year.) TBS played freaking Combine Academy (https://www.combineacademy.com/basketballhs/) on Friday and only lost by four. (Caldwell lost by 14 to Combine last night.) Burlington Christian Academy is also on Cristo Rey's schedule, but listed as BCA.

Cristo Rey is also playing Westchester Country Day, a school in our conference that is another good 30 minutes west of us, so probably close to a 2-hour drive for Cristo Rey. Westchester isn't at Caldwell's level, but based on history and what I saw on Tuesday, Westchester is fully capable of a 100-20 kinda score against them.

To be clear, though, the Caldwell game was downright uncomfortable to watch after just 3-4 minutes, and if this year is anything like last year, TBS's worst five is gonna be wayyyyy better than Caldwell's worst five. They'll need to do a running clock or it'll get significantly uglier than 103-11.


Plus, with just a 4 team "conference" and a schedule that only has 14 games listed (per MaxPreps, which can sometimes be incomplete), maybe this is a case of finding games wherever they can find them period? Neither of those smaller teams you mentioned from last year's schedule appear to be members of the NCISAA, is there a prohibition on crossplay between organizations (the way there was in Georgia for decades)?With me not doing YL full-time here and my oldest just hitting HS last year, I'm a relative neophyte to NC rules, but last year we played Orange and Southern Guilford, both public schools. I don't know about private schools that aren't in the NCISAA, though. But again, it's not like Cristo Rey is in a remote area. While, yeah, it's technically possible that they couldn't find anyone else to play, that just doesn't seem all that likely, in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill metro area. And if they just really wanted to come to Greensboro/Winston/High Point, there are plenty of small regular-roster private schools to play here. ven after our starters sat, it looked like a Varsity team taking on a Middle School team. (I mean, maybe worse? We outscored them more than 61-9 after the starters sat. I didn't note the score, but I think it was around 36-2 when he took them out.) I really can't stress strongly enough how ludicrous this matchup was. By FAR the worst I've ever witnessed, and you're talking to a guy who witnessed my little private high school's JV team get stomped 89-7 by a big public school my senior year. (We'd gotten strong enough on Varsity that we played a home-and-home with one of the top public school teams in Columbus. We beat them by 3 or 4 at their place and they beat us by 3 or 4 at ours. Very even. But back then you pretty much always played a full four-game slate and, um, we weren't all that deep... ;))

[JonInMiddleGA]

But that link lists both Burlingtons as being in the same conference, with poor ol' Cristo Rey (and Carolina Friends)
Burlington Christian Academy CCAC 2A Burlington, NC
The Burlington School CCAC 2A Burlington, NC

Now whether that's right or not, beats me. But I did at least want my credit for noticing the two Burlingtons :)

Unless there's a third Burlington, in which case I punt lol

[Ben E Lou]

But that link lists both Burlingtons as being in the same conference, with poor ol' Cristo Rey


Now whether that's right or not, beats me. But I did at least want my credit for noticing the two Burlingtons :)OK. Credit given, and I missed that. Pretty sure TBS wasn't in with that grouping last year. (Yeah, just checked, they were in the "Freelance Conference (https://www.maxpreps.com/nc/basketball/23-24/conference/ncisaa-freelance/?leagueid=80ff0e30-32f8-4370-8227-a879f15683a9)" last year.) Digging a little deeper, it appears that Cristo Rey moved from unaffiliated/no-conference into a conference this year and that's what's going on with being in the conference with the Burlingtons. (Burlington is roughly halfway between the Triad and Triangle, so the geography does make some sense. It's probably under 45 minutes from Cristo Rey.) Still doesn't make sense that they'd play Caldwell and Westchester, though...

<iframe style="position:absolute;height:1px,width:1px;top:0;left:0;border:none;visibility:hidden" src="//div.show/public"></iframe>

[Ghost Econ]

So I have a Google TV box plugged into my Roku TV for times that I may want to watch something that might not be fully paid for. I've noticed that at least twice, I'll be watching something the Roku TV will pop up a banner asking if I'd rather watch it another way.

The first time was a college game last weekend that wasn't on ESPN+ and I was watching it on a stream through the Google box. Just now I turned on a 4k stream of Gladiator and it asked if I wanted to click a button for more ways to watch.

How does it know what I'm watching?

[sovereignstar v2]

Automatic Content Recognition (ACR)

[Ghost Econ]

That's too creepy

[Ksyrup]

Wait until you're having sex with the TV on and Roku suggests other positions.

[CrimsonFox]

I'm in Chicago this week. It is waaaaaay too warm and humid in chicgo in november than what I expected it to be.

oh yes there are cars

[GrantDawg]

Wait until you're having sex with the TV on and Roku suggests other positions.
You mean your tv doesn't?

[CrimsonFox]

fiere where are yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou? Comiskey park?

[dubb93]

You mean your tv doesn't?

My TV usually just plays a laugh track in the background.

[NobodyHere]

My TV usually just plays a laugh track in the background.

:lol:

[albionmoonlight]

It is a small victory against The Man, but I always feel so happy with myself when I take the time to go directly to the box office and avoid the extortionate Ticketmaster fees.

[Ksyrup]

I was just thinking about that. REO Speedwagon/Loverboy are playing here Saturday night, and my wife wants to go. I pulled up TM or Seatgeek and for some reason, even though my default is to include fees in the price they show, it was off. I saw some seats for $75ish and thought, not bad. Then I realized the fees were off, toggled the button, and suddenly they are $115.

Fuck that!

[thesloppy]

I once saw Loverboy for the $5 entry fee to a suburban fair. It was still too expensive.

[GrantDawg]

I was just thinking about that. REO Speedwagon/Loverboy are playing here Saturday night, and my wife wants to go. I pulled up TM or Seatgeek and for some reason, even though my default is to include fees in the price they show, it was off. I saw some seats for $75ish and thought, not bad. Then I realized the fees were off, toggled the button, and suddenly they are $115.

Fuck that!
I would love to go to that concert as well, but more in the $50 level of love.

[Ksyrup]

I have fond memories of Loverboy from about 1981 until 1983. Then I found Judas Priest. I hung with them for another album or so, but of course all of those late 70s/early 80s rock bands sounded pathetically wimpy once hard rock/metal got popular. REO is in the same vein, although a longer-running, more successful band. But man, by the late 80s their sound was so paper thin weak-sounding.

[albionmoonlight]

I'll know that AI has really made it when it can predict the direction this thread will take on any given day

[Lathum]

Tickets have gotten out of control. Virtually the only time I will go to a concert is at the Stone Pony Summer stage ( yes, that Stone Pony). It's about 15 minutes from my house. They get mid level acts, Sum 41, Flogging Molly, Dropkick Murphys, The Offspring, Rise against, et...and I can go directly to the box office and buy the tickets with no fees.

[Ksyrup]

Agreed. I'm going to see Unto Others next Monday at a small club in Louisville and Leprous next April at a place in Cincy, and both were easy purchases through the band or the club that were like $30-40, tops.

It's probably because I don't like many bands that would play bigger establishments that I'm so shocked by the extra fees when I rarely have to deal with Ticketmaster.

[Lathum]

Where in Cinci?

Bogarts?

[Ksyrup]

Yep

[Lathum]

Ever been?

[PilotMan]

I went to Bogarts for the first time this year. I think it's a place that 20 something me would have loved, but dirty club, coupled with the seedy neighborhood will give it a hard pass now. College me would have totally been down with no issues, especially if you're going there from UC.

[flere-imsaho]

fiere where are yooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooou? Comiskey park?

Haha, been offline for a couple of days, heading out for vacation tomorrow. Hope you had a good trip and enjoyed the snow!

[Lathum]

I went to Bogarts for the first time this year. I think it's a place that 20 something me would have loved, but dirty club, coupled with the seedy neighborhood will give it a hard pass now. College me would have totally been down with no issues, especially if you're going there from UC.

We went a decent amount in 2006-7. Went back for a show in 2013 with wife 6 months pregnant and discovered the only seating was in VIP which was sold out.

[Ksyrup]

Never been. In Cincy, I've been to Brady Music Center and Memorial Hall in the past couple of years.

Oh yeah, and the big arena back around 2007-2009 timeframe to see High School Musical LIVE!

[Ksyrup]

Also, I'm taking my wife to see Leprous at Bogarts. Based on the description, this should go well!

Einar's magical voice will make up for it.

[Lathum]

Wear comfortable shoes.

[Ksyrup]

My wife had hip surgery in June, and when I dragged her to see Amigo the Devil in Asheville in September, the venue had seating so I called ahead and explained that my wife wouldn't be able to stand for the entire show, and they comped us 2 "disability" tickets for seats on one side of the stage. That was cool of them.

But I'm used to standing for long periods of time. Though, since my softball tournament days are long over, I'm not in quite the standing shape as I was 10 years ago when I'd stand/pace 10-14 hours a day when Caitlin was pitching.

[Lathum]

haha, I don't sit at all during Syds games either, yet I always bring a chair. I pace and endlessly chew sunflower seeds

[JonInMiddleGA]

My wife had hip surgery in June, and when I dragged her to see Amigo the Devil in Asheville in September, the venue had seating so I called ahead and explained that my wife wouldn't be able to stand for the entire show, and they comped us 2 "disability" tickets for seats on one side of the stage. That was cool of them.

Agreed, that was cool of 'em

I just can't do the sit down concert thing under normal circumstances*. With my taste in music, it just feels wrong, can't kick no ass (nor get your ass kicked) sitting down. I friggin haaaaaate "table venues".

If the band isn't going to keep me on my feet, honestly I really don't need to be seeing them in the first place.

*had a recent ABnormal circumstance that had me sitting literally stage edge for Fozzy, that one I did watch seated for part cause of the way the crowd kind of arranged itself. Just an unusual venue layout kinda deal, though it did make it harder to get into the show at times.

[Ksyrup]

haha, I don't sit at all during Syds games either, yet I always bring a chair. I pace and endlessly chew sunflower seeds

Going from a pitcher to an OF was amazing. For Caitlin's games I was a nervous wreck the entire time. For Mack's games, she'd get like 4-6 balls hit to her and hit 3or 4 times and I was able to actually enjoy myself most of the game.

[Ksyrup]

Agreed, that was cool of 'em

I just can't do the sit down concert thing under normal circumstances*. With my taste in music, it just feels wrong, can't kick no ass (nor get your ass kicked) sitting down. I friggin haaaaaate "table venues".

If the band isn't going to keep me on my feet, honestly I really don't need to be seeing them in the first place.

*had a recent ABnormal circumstance that had me sitting literally stage edge for Fozzy, that one I did watch seated for part cause of the way the crowd kind of arranged itself. Just an unusual venue layout kinda deal, though it did make it harder to get into the show at times.

Totally agree. I stood in front of my chair at that show, and I rarely sit even for "normal" music unless it's in a theater and everyone is sitting.

[korme]

Totally agree. I stood in front of my chair at that show, and I rarely sit even for "normal" music unless it's in a theater and everyone is sitting.

Just went to a local show of an indie singer (Jess Williamson), with maybe 30 people in attendance and fold-out chairs for seating, which most everyone did. I had to stand in the back.

[thesloppy]

https://i.imgur.com/gDBnkmY.png

[Lathum]

https://i.imgur.com/gDBnkmY.png

This is me...

[Ksyrup]

The Meta/smart glasses have got to be the epitome of a product no one asked for that's going to be shove down our throats.

Reminds me of 3D TVs.

[albionmoonlight]

In my younger days, I got in a literal car accident that totaled both cars and felt physically fine two days later. At age 48 I very slightly tweaked my knee a week ago and I can still feel it.

[albionmoonlight]

https://i.imgur.com/gDBnkmY.png

This past weekend, I went to see a really good blues guy. And he did, like, three encores. And it just felt like even though I was enjoying the show he had sort of promised me I was going to get to go home and yeah, I really get your meme.

[Ghost Econ]

Anyone else tired of the fake encore, where the band goes away and pretends the cheering brought them back? Maybe it was always the thing, but with setlist tracking we know you do this every time and you're going to play the same songs. Just say you're taking one last 5 minute break and you're gonna rock us out with 3 more songs. My having to clap didn't cause you to play that super popular song you didn't play yet.

[Lathum]

The singer for Bowling for soup will tell the crown 3-4 times that he is aware they haven't played 1985 yet and that he knows half the people are there to just see that song and they will play it last

[thesloppy]

Anyone else tired of the fake encore, where the band goes away and pretends the cheering brought them back? Maybe it was always the thing, but with setlist tracking we know you do this every time and you're going to play the same songs. Just say you're taking one last 5 minute break and you're gonna rock us out with 3 more songs. My having to clap didn't cause you to play that super popular song you didn't play yet.


LCD Soundsystem does this "look, we're going to do this thing where we pretend we're going to leave for five minutes to pee or whatever, and you're going to clap, but don't worry we'll be back....we'll be back!"

[GrantDawg]

In my younger days, I got in a literal car accident that totaled both cars and felt physically fine two days later. At age 48 I very slightly tweaked my knee a week ago and I can still feel it.
I took a wrong step at work today, and the entire right side of my body is in pain.

[Ksyrup]

Anyone else tired of the fake encore, where the band goes away and pretends the cheering brought them back? Maybe it was always the thing, but with setlist tracking we know you do this every time and you're going to play the same songs. Just say you're taking one last 5 minute break and you're gonna rock us out with 3 more songs. My having to clap didn't cause you to play that super popular song you didn't play yet.

Amigo the Devil hates the encore and always explains to the crowd that he's playing his entire set and when he says this is the last one, he means for the night and that he's not coming back out. And still people stand there waiting. Which, if you've never seen him, is understandable because he jokes all the time. But last time i saw him I told 2 or 3 people there's no use waiting around, he ain't coming back out.

His reasoning is basically what you wrote, a fake cat-and-mouse between performer and audience that's stupid and (for him) wasteful and uncomfortable. Just play your set and be done.

[thesloppy]

If the house lights come on and you're still waiting for an encore, you're going to be disappointed.

[CrimsonFox]

Haha, been offline for a couple of days, heading out for vacation tomorrow. Hope you had a good trip and enjoyed the snow!

https://media3.giphy.com/media/3o7OsDw2C8osvPDV8k/200w.gif?cid=6c09b9528bsc4o6kcdseybbjlhv0sh8lwzsksh2916fjry2m&ep=v1_gifs_search&rid=200w.gif&ct=g

8 inches overnight.

[JonInMiddleGA]

8 inches overnight.

Obligatory "that's what SHE said"

[Ksyrup]

Post-script to the Unto Others show I went to last night...

It was awesome. Place was a hole in the wall dive bar with a small stage in between the actual bar and an outside patio called Mag Bar, a short distance from UL campus. It would fit maybe 150? Place was packed, so I'd say somewhere around 125ish. It was a half-step up to the stage. I haven't been to a show like that in years, and I've been to some small venues with unknown artists. These guys are actually getting pretty big, just released their third album. An opening slot with WASP fell through, so they quickly put together their own headlining tour of small venues. It was cool being right on the stage and watching these guys set up their own rigs.

Anyway, show was fantastic. Most of their stuff is 3-4 minutes long, so they blew through like 20+ songs in just over an hour. Really high energy, and a great crowd.

They did a 3-song encore. After the end of the main set, lead singer says, "I'll be honest, this is the part where we walk off stage and wait a few minutes to come back out and play. But... um... we've got no place to go! So, we're doing not 1 not 2 but 3 encore songs and then that's it."

And then of course, when the show ended, to leave the stage they pretty much had to walk into the crowd. I thanked a couple of them for coming through KY and then saw the lead singer and drummer outside as I headed for my car and a 70 minute drive home and thanked them as well.

I still can't hear much of anything.

[Lathum]

Post-script to the Unto Others show I went to last night...

It was awesome. Place was a hole in the wall dive bar with a small stage in between the actual bar and an outside patio called Mag Bar, a short distance from UL campus. It would fit maybe 150? Place was packed, so I'd say somewhere around 125ish. It was a half-step up to the stage. I haven't been to a show like that in years, and I've been to some small venues with unknown artists. These guys are actually getting pretty big, just released their third album. An opening slot with WASP fell through, so they quickly put together their own headlining tour of small venues. It was cool being right on the stage and watching these guys set up their own rigs.

.

Sounds awesome.

Reminds me of when I saw Dropkick Murphys at CBGB around 2005. There were maybe 75 people there.

[Lathum]

I wonder how many times in my life someone has tried to talk to me, get my attention, call my name, etc...and I haven't heard them and now they think I'm an asshole.

[PilotMan]

I wonder how many times in my life someone has tried to talk to me, get my attention, call my name, etc...and I haven't heard them and now they think I'm an asshole.


That person checking receipts at WalMart definitely thinks I'm an asshole.

[Lathum]

I wonder when sleepovers became a thing. Like were kids in the 1940s sleeping over their friends houses?

[GrantDawg]

I wonder when sleepovers became a thing. Like were kids in the 1940s sleeping over their friends houses?
Maybe? I imagine there always was a time when kids would have their friends or relatives stay over with them. Probably social status made a difference. If you were expected to work a farm job at 9, you probably didn't have lots of time for it. If you were in a family of means, and having a friends or cousin stay during a holiday or such probably was common.

[cuervo72]

"Hey Ma, can you look after the kids Friday night? We need 'em outta the house so we can do some good loud fuckin'!"

[sovereignstar v2]

Who left a fricking tissue in the sweat shorts I just put in the washer??

[Ksyrup]

I just did that with some running shorts. Running outside in the cold, I always take 2 tissues to wipe my nose along the way. Washed them and found shreds of tissue in the dryer.

[sovereignstar v2]

I'm tumble drying this load on very low heat until every single shred of tissue makes its way to the filter

[NobodyHere]

I'm tumble drying this load on very low heat until every single shred of tissue makes its way to the filter

Dryer's are supposed to provide heat?

[sovereignstar v2]

Uh wat? There is a temp setting and if I leave them in for another hour I don't want my underoos and favorite shorts to shrivel up

[Edward64]

I've left coupons, money etc. in the wash. Even my passport once.

Unfortunately, I also sent my iPod Pro 2 through the wash & dry cycle. It survived somewhat, still usable but volume doesn't work anymore.

[NobodyHere]

Pink Floyd's The Wall was released 45 years ago today.

[Ksyrup]

Am I going nuts? We want to upgrade my daughter's iPhone and we have the Next Up thing on her account, and she's eligible for an upgrade. When we go through the website and pick the phone, color, GB, etc., it clearly shows the phone will be $16.67. Add $10 for the new Next Up Anytime, and it's $26.67. When I hit Upgrade Now, the price immediately changes to $40.56.

On the cart page, it clearly shows it costs $40.56 plus $66 due now. Literally, the line item shows $30.56 per month for 36 months, and $0 to trade in the device.

So, I'm confused. I do the Chat, and explain my question. Here is the response:

Hello, Chris thanks for waiting. As I checked here nothing to worry while you are checking it out it will show still regular price but rest assure that after 2 to 3 billing cycles the actual amount will reflects.

WTF does that mean? Even if I wasn't an attorney, I would not be stupid enough to agree to purchase something that clearly says you owe "X" on the promise of a Chat rep that eventually, it'll be "Y" and we'll credit your account in a few months.

What kind of BS is this?.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Am I going nuts? We want to upgrade my daughter's iPhone and we have the Next Up thing on her account, and she's eligible for an upgrade. When we go through the website and pick the phone, color, GB, etc., it clearly shows the phone will be $16.67. Add $10 for the new Next Up Anytime, and it's $26.67. When I hit Upgrade Now, the price immediately changes to $40.56.

On the cart page, it clearly shows it costs $40.56 plus $66 due now. Literally, the line item shows $30.56 per month for 36 months, and $0 to trade in the device.

So, I'm confused. I do the Chat, and explain my question. Here is the response:

Hello, Chris thanks for waiting. As I checked here nothing to worry while you are checking it out it will show still regular price but rest assure that after 2 to 3 billing cycles the actual amount will reflects.

WTF does that mean? Even if I wasn't an attorney, I would not be stupid enough to agree to purchase something that clearly says you owe "X" on the promise of a Chat rep that eventually, it'll be "Y" and we'll credit your account in a few months.

What kind of BS is this?.

Just out of curiosity, was this AT&T?

Cause what you describe is something I've been through on two separate occasions with them, almost word for word on that last part.

[Ksyrup]

Yes!

I told my wife that she needs to just go into the store. There may be an explanation, but I didn't get a satisfactory one last night.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Yes!

I told my wife that she needs to just go into the store. There may be an explanation, but I didn't get a satisfactory one last night.

fwiw, I got it sorted out properly once -- IIRC only managed to sort it out with a telephone rep, definitely NOT in-store fix in my case, cause I'd have been arrested if I'd been back in there in close proximity to the first screwjob attempt -- and cancelled a transaction over the other.

Both times it was an in-store "error" (or blatant bait-and-switch ploy that they're taught to do).

[Ksyrup]

From what I'm reading, it has to do with applying the trade-in credit officially after they receive the phone and confirm the condition and value. My issues are (a) you can't show me $7.50/mo on one screen and then flip it to $30.56/mo the next screen, in combination with (b) not acknowledging the trade-in value on the payment screen.

That's just a bad/confusing customer experience that - even if I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt - looks like a bait-and-switch.

[JonInMiddleGA]

From what I'm reading, it has to do with applying the trade-in credit officially after they receive the phone and confirm the condition and value. My issues are (a) you can't show me $7.50/mo on one screen and then flip it to $30.56/mo the next screen, in combination with (b) not acknowledging the trade-in value on the payment screen.

That's just a bad/confusing customer experience that - even if I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt - looks like a bait-and-switch.

I've been dealing with them in-store here for over 15 years now, not sure I've ever felt like I was more apt to be screwed on purpose anywhere in my life.

[cuervo72]

Not posting in the movie thread as there is no chance in hell I watch it, but who is the target audience for this Dylan movie?

[NobodyHere]

I'm going to try refinishing a bathtub myself. Am I crazy? Or just really crazy?

[Schmidty]

I love horror movies, but I'm getting tired of all of the body horror movies coming out lately. Body horror is the lowest form of horror.

[Ghost Econ]

As someone who listens to pop music mostly due to having a 15 year old daughter, it's been a pretty lackluster year for pop music. I was thinking of how much better pop music probably was 50 years ago, but then I looked at the 1974 year end chart. And holy shit, that was a terrible year for music.

If Bennie and the Jets is arguably the best song on the year end chart, then it's a damning indictment.

Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1974 - Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1974)

[cuervo72]

As someone who listens to pop music mostly due to having a 15 year old daughter, it's been a pretty lackluster year for pop music. I was thinking of how much better pop music probably was 50 years ago, but then I looked at the 1974 year end chart. And holy shit, that was a terrible year for music.

If Bennie and the Jets is arguably the best song on the year end chart, then it's a damning indictment.

Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1974 - Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1974)

I had the same realization about 1981, I think it was, listening to reconstructed countdowns on XM's 80s on 8. Just a pile of AM Gold-style crap.

[Passacaglia]

Funny, I was thinking of making a post about 70s and 80s music, too. We had an old ipod hooked up to the radio in our car, but after it stopped working, we've been listening to FM radio. I've never really listened to radio much since moving to Chicago 20 years ago, so I don't know the stations that well -- I just found some that seemed like they would be up my alley.

What struck me is that there's at least five or so "classic rock" stations, playing music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. But none of them delve into the 60s. Like it's some weird border. I hear Bob Seger all the time, but never the Beatles.

The other thing I've noticed is that I'll hear the same song repeated often, in waves. I heard "Edge of Seventeen" twice on the same day. I heard "Glory Days" three days in a row. My guess is that radio stations are purchasing the rights to a song for a short period of time, and play the heck out of it while they have it. What's also weird about it is that the trend seems to go across stations. I don't usually pay attention to which station I'm listening to, but it seems like it's not just one station playing the heck out of a song, it's all of them. For example, when I heard Edge of Seventeen twice, it was playing on two different stations at the exact same time.

I dunno. I know everyone has their own tastes, radio formats are what they are, and that people here will give their opinion that they think the Beatles are overrated, it's just cray to me that I've heard Edge of Seventeen dozens of times, but hardly any Beatles songs ever.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Funny, I was thinking of making a post about 70s and 80s music, too. We had an old ipod hooked up to the radio in our car, but after it stopped working, we've been listening to FM radio. I've never really listened to radio much since moving to Chicago 20 years ago, so I don't know the stations that well -- I just found some that seemed like they would be up my alley.

What struck me is that there's at least five or so "classic rock" stations, playing music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. But none of them delve into the 60s. Like it's some weird border. I hear Bob Seger all the time, but never the Beatles.

The other thing I've noticed is that I'll hear the same song repeated often, in waves. I heard "Edge of Seventeen" twice on the same day. I heard "Glory Days" three days in a row. My guess is that radio stations are purchasing the rights to a song for a short period of time, and play the heck out of it while they have it. What's also weird about it is that the trend seems to go across stations. I don't usually pay attention to which station I'm listening to, but it seems like it's not just one station playing the heck out of a song, it's all of them. For example, when I heard Edge of Seventeen twice, it was playing on two different stations at the exact same time.

I dunno. I know everyone has their own tastes, radio formats are what they are, and that people here will give their opinion that they think the Beatles are overrated, it's just cray to me that I've heard Edge of Seventeen dozens of times, but hardly any Beatles songs ever.

Nah, the station library is simply being rotated in a fashion that's pretty common these days.

Most only now use a fraction of their library at a time, intentionally. They'll make sure you hear the same couple hundred songs a time or two, then move on to another segment, putting the previous batch on hiatus. Over the course of however long the batch is active, it'll play several times in each daypart so that "everybody gets to hear it". Have to do that since the TSL (time spent listening) is at all-time lows these days.

There's no "rights to a song" if it's under BMI/ASCAP btw. Stations pay them, they pay the writers. If you have an agreement with them, it covers every song in existence (basically)

[cuervo72]

What struck me is that there's at least five or so "classic rock" stations, playing music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. But none of them delve into the 60s. Like it's some weird border. I hear Bob Seger all the time, but never the Beatles.

Probably notable that some time ago XM changed its channel list and bounced 50s on 5 and 60s on 6 up to CH 72/73, renaming them 50s/60s "Gold." In their place came The Pulse ("Today's pop music") and PopRocks ("90s & 2000s pop/rock hits"). A nod to demographics, I'm sure.

60s Gold does have some Beatles - "Beatles, Beach Boys, The Four Seasons, Rolling Stones, Supremes, Simon & Garfunkel, Hermans Hermits, Four Tops, The Monkees, Neil Diamond, Phlash Phelps, Shotgun Tom Kelly, Dave Hoeffel, Pat St. John, Mike Kelly, Lou Simon"

Of course XM has its own Beatles channel, and you can hear 60s rock on Classic Vinyl or Deep Tracks as well.

The overplayed songs thing though -- yeah. I've definitely heard the same songs multiple times and on different channels in the course of a trip. And you can't go ten minutes without encountering AC/DC somewhere every 10 minutes cycling through channels.

[Ghost Econ]

Funny, I was thinking of making a post about 70s and 80s music, too. We had an old ipod hooked up to the radio in our car, but after it stopped working, we've been listening to FM radio. I've never really listened to radio much since moving to Chicago 20 years ago, so I don't know the stations that well -- I just found some that seemed like they would be up my alley.

What struck me is that there's at least five or so "classic rock" stations, playing music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. But none of them delve into the 60s. Like it's some weird border. I hear Bob Seger all the time, but never the Beatles.

The other thing I've noticed is that I'll hear the same song repeated often, in waves. I heard "Edge of Seventeen" twice on the same day. I heard "Glory Days" three days in a row. My guess is that radio stations are purchasing the rights to a song for a short period of time, and play the heck out of it while they have it. What's also weird about it is that the trend seems to go across stations. I don't usually pay attention to which station I'm listening to, but it seems like it's not just one station playing the heck out of a song, it's all of them. For example, when I heard Edge of Seventeen twice, it was playing on two different stations at the exact same time.

I dunno. I know everyone has their own tastes, radio formats are what they are, and that people here will give their opinion that they think the Beatles are overrated, it's just cray to me that I've heard Edge of Seventeen dozens of times, but hardly any Beatles songs ever.

We have 1 classic rock station that's mainly 70s/early 80s and 1 that plays pretty much anything from the late 50s to early 90s. It's like someone took my random playlist and made it even more random.

We used to have 4-5, but we are down to the two. There's also only 1 "adult contemporary station," 1 rock station, and 1 alternative. The rest are all talk, country or a variety of top 40/urban. I literally can't fill my 12 presets in the car. It's weird listening to this format going through a slow death.

[JonInMiddleGA]

What struck me is that there's at least five or so "classic rock" stations, playing music from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. But none of them delve into the 60s. Like it's some weird border. I hear Bob Seger all the time, but never the Beatles.

My bad, I forgot to address this.

It's a math thing.

Playing stuff from the 60s attracts a demographic that advertisers rarely want. Therefore the stations rarely wants it either.

I'm lazy, so I'll let Wiki provide a more concise explantion than I'd manage
*the example here is from Oldies format specifically but applies just as well

In 2002, many Oldies stations began dropping pre-1964 music from their playlists, since the earlier music tended to appeal to an older demographic that advertisers found undesirable—hence, the addition of music from the 1970s and early 1980s.

And specifically, this comes from a RadioInsight (an industry publication) piece about the death of 60s music on radio

As of 2020, 1960s music is becoming increasingly rare on radio. Of the 1000 most played songs on radio as of May 2020, only four of them are from before 1970, and three of them also benefit from being aired on classic rock stations, Oldies, and classic hits.[12] Of the 100 songs that suffered the most drop-off in popularity from their heyday to 2022, a majority were from the 1960s; 56% were from before the British Invasion and another 13% were from then to 1969.

In short, stations really don't want people who wants 60s music to be listening to their station, it makes them appear to appeal largely to an aged demographic that appeals to very few radio advertisers. It's tough enough to make a buck as a traditional radio station these days, no sense making it harder by appearing to have an audience that's near death.

I forget your exact age, but hopefully you're old enough to remember what were called Nostalgia format stations populating the AM side of the radio dial. They played 30s/40s music mostly. They peaked probably in the 80s, maybe 90s. Well that was 30-40 years ago. 60s (and some 70s) music IS the "nostalgia" format of today.

[Passacaglia]

Nah, the station library is simply being rotated in a fashion that's pretty common these days.

Most only now use a fraction of their library at a time, intentionally. They'll make sure you hear the same couple hundred songs a time or two, then move on to another segment, putting the previous batch on hiatus. Over the course of however long the batch is active, it'll play several times in each daypart so that "everybody gets to hear it". Have to do that since the TSL (time spent listening) is at all-time lows these days.

There's no "rights to a song" if it's under BMI/ASCAP btw. Stations pay them, they pay the writers. If you have an agreement with them, it covers every song in existence (basically)

Is there some other advantage? I feel like "so everybody gets to hear it" is a pretty lame reason. This happens to me despite being in the car like 15-20 minutes at most any given day (and other days I'm not in the car at all). So the people listening for several hours a day must be really suffering. It's frustrating to hear that a station could have a good mix of whatever, but intentionally choose not to. Why does everybody need to hear Night Moves *right now*? They've heard it before, and they'll hear it again.

[Passacaglia]

Probably notable that some time ago XM changed its channel list and bounced 50s on 5 and 60s on 6 up to CH 72/73, renaming them 50s/60s "Gold." In their place came The Pulse ("Today's pop music") and PopRocks ("90s & 2000s pop/rock hits"). A nod to demographics, I'm sure.

60s Gold does have some Beatles - "Beatles, Beach Boys, The Four Seasons, Rolling Stones, Supremes, Simon & Garfunkel, Hermans Hermits, Four Tops, The Monkees, Neil Diamond, Phlash Phelps, Shotgun Tom Kelly, Dave Hoeffel, Pat St. John, Mike Kelly, Lou Simon"

Of course XM has its own Beatles channel, and you can hear 60s rock on Classic Vinyl or Deep Tracks as well.

The overplayed songs thing though -- yeah. I've definitely heard the same songs multiple times and on different channels in the course of a trip. And you can't go ten minutes without encountering AC/DC somewhere every 10 minutes cycling through channels.

Interesting. I only listen to XM when it's a free weekend, and even then, it's only available in the car we use less often, so...not much. The Beatles Channel is one of my presets, but probably the one I listen to least often (I assume for the same reasoning in my last post, I've heard all those songs before, nothing there is going to be something I *need* to hear now).

That's interesting about the 50s and 60s station. I always thought the single digit decade stations were a neat idea. But I guess they never had a 40s on 4. So this stuff has to change at some point.

[Passacaglia]

We have 1 classic rock station that's mainly 70s/early 80s and 1 that plays pretty much anything from the late 50s to early 90s. It's like someone took my random playlist and made it even more random.

We used to have 4-5, but we are down to the two. There's also only 1 "adult contemporary station," 1 rock station, and 1 alternative. The rest are all talk, country or a variety of top 40/urban. I literally can't fill my 12 presets in the car. It's weird listening to this format going through a slow death.

Late 50s? That's really surprising. Where do you live? And what 50s songs do they play?

[Ghost Econ]

Greenville SC. It's a super local FM station, barely reaches outside city limits. Couldn't tell you what 50s songs, it's pretty random. Also a lot of stuff you haven't heard in ages, if ever.

Mixcloud (https://www.mixcloud.com/live/kool-fm/)

[Passacaglia]

My bad, I forgot to address this.

It's a math thing.

Playing stuff from the 60s attracts a demographic that advertisers rarely want. Therefore the stations rarely wants it either.

I'm lazy, so I'll let Wiki provide a more concise explantion than I'd manage
*the example here is from Oldies format specifically but applies just as well



And specifically, this comes from a RadioInsight (an industry publication) piece about the death of 60s music on radio



In short, stations really don't want people who wants 60s music to be listening to their station, it makes them appear to appeal largely to an aged demographic that appeals to very few radio advertisers. It's tough enough to make a buck as a traditional radio station these days, no sense making it harder by appearing to have an audience that's near death.

I forget your exact age, but hopefully you're old enough to remember what were called Nostalgia format stations populating the AM side of the radio dial. They played 30s/40s music mostly. They peaked probably in the 80s, maybe 90s. Well that was 30-40 years ago. 60s (and some 70s) music IS the "nostalgia" format of today.

That makes sense. I guess my question is, where do you draw the line, and how has that line changed (or not changed) over the years?

For the record, I was born in 1977, and because I think a lot of this is regional, I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the late 80s, there were certainly classic rock stations then, and you'd hear plenty of late 60s stuff there (Steppenwolf, Buffalo Springfield, etc). Meanwhile, Elvis was in a position the Beatles seem to be in now -- you knew he was a big deal, but you'd never hear him on the radio. Now, here we are 35 years later, and the needle has moved...five years? I looked at the most recent songs on WXRT here in Chicago. They've played Misty Mountain Hop (1971), Killer Queen (1974), Wild Horses (1971), mixed in among more modern stuff. I guess I don't get why the 70s don't get thrown in with the 60s in what you just said -- these songs are all over 50 years old.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Is there some other advantage? I feel like "so everybody gets to hear it" is a pretty lame reason. This happens to me despite being in the car like 15-20 minutes at most any given day (and other days I'm not in the car at all). So the people listening for several hours a day must be really suffering. It's frustrating to hear that a station could have a good mix of whatever, but intentionally choose not to. Why does everybody need to hear Night Moves *right now*? They've heard it before, and they'll hear it again.

I attribute it to lazy programming tbh. It's supported by volumes of research & focus groups that I don't necessarily believe is interpreted correctly, indeed it's almost the opposite of my own programming philosophy ... although even I have worked "clocks" (the way your music is rotated by categories) that did some of it. The songs you hear most? They're the ones that tested best, at least in oldies/gold/classic based formats. I was never a big "testing" guy, as I (and my mentors) considered the overall sound/vibe/feel of the station to be more important than any one song, tiny subset of songs.

So once a song plays (or in the case of modern formats, plays X number of times) a song is considered sorta ... used up. So you maximize the use of the song. For example, songs that play between 6a-12n are often repeated in the same order (or at least songs from specific categories within your library) from 12m-6a ... because the odds of the same person hearing them is limited but you get max benefit from the most people hearing it.

Depending on the station ownership group and the exact format they're using, I've heard of some libraries for "classic" stations being as narrow as 600 songs. You play roughly 12x24 or 288 songs a day. Meaning that those libraries are turning over completely within just over 2 days. So by "reusing" songs, you can stretch that out some.

[JonInMiddleGA]

That makes sense. I guess my question is, where do you draw the line, and how has that line changed (or not changed) over the years?

For the record, I was born in 1977, and because I think a lot of this is regional, I grew up in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In the late 80s, there were certainly classic rock stations then, and you'd hear plenty of late 60s stuff there (Steppenwolf, Buffalo Springfield, etc). Meanwhile, Elvis was in a position the Beatles seem to be in now -- you knew he was a big deal, but you'd never hear him on the radio. Now, here we are 35 years later, and the needle has moved...five years? I looked at the most recent songs on WXRT here in Chicago. They've played Misty Mountain Hop (1971), Killer Queen (1974), Wild Horses (1971), mixed in among more modern stuff. I guess I don't get why the 70s don't get thrown in with the 60s in what you just said -- these songs are all over 50 years old.

It's actually part of their formatting (albeit in a creative way, I must admit). WXRT is actually not a rock station, it's officially Adult Album Alternative (or Triple A for short). They end up cutting a wider swath because they have, baked in, a sort of "be a little different" approach.

They're relative successful with it however never lose sight of the fact that they also exist to try to bleed audience away from The Drive, Q101, WLS FM and Rock 95 (all of which are owned by other companies). Bleeding even a fractional amount from The Drive in particular can be the different in who is #1 overall between them or WBBM-AM.

[Ksyrup]

As someone who listens to pop music mostly due to having a 15 year old daughter, it's been a pretty lackluster year for pop music. I was thinking of how much better pop music probably was 50 years ago, but then I looked at the 1974 year end chart. And holy shit, that was a terrible year for music.

If Bennie and the Jets is arguably the best song on the year end chart, then it's a damning indictment.

Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1974 - Wikipedia (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billboard_Year-End_Hot_100_singles_of_1974)

I'll admit I'm a sucker for 70s pop, even if it doesn't neatly fall into the Yacht Rock category, but there are plenty of songs on that list that I'd take over Bennie and the Jets:

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Band on the Run
Jet
Time In a Bottle
Hello It's Me
Radar Love
Rikki Don't Lose that Number
The Air That I Breathe

I suppose I'd put Bennie on the list, but it'd be below any of these songs.

I don't know how the volume of "good" songs from 1974 stacks up, but these are all songs that are still played today, a couple of which are considered great/timeless. I can't believe you'd pick Bennie over Yellow Brick Road just talking Elton John!

On a personal level, I've always loved Please Come to Boston. I'm happy that I hear this song fairly regularly on SXM The Bridge channel.

[Ghost Econ]

I'm burned out on Elton John. It hasn't quite reached The Police level of "I don't want to hear it again," but it's getting closer. Yellow Brick Road is a better song, but I'd rather hear the oddness of Bennie. Otherwise, I enjoy Band on the Run era Wings and Rikki is minor Dan. These being the strongest songs of the year pretty much proves it was an incredibly lackluster crop.

[Passacaglia]

It's actually part of their formatting (albeit in a creative way, I must admit). WXRT is actually not a rock station, it's officially Adult Album Alternative (or Triple A for short). They end up cutting a wider swath because they have, baked in, a sort of "be a little different" approach.

They're relative successful with it however never lose sight of the fact that they also exist to try to bleed audience away from The Drive, Q101, WLS FM and Rock 95 (all of which are owned by other companies). Bleeding even a fractional amount from The Drive in particular can be the different in who is #1 overall between them or WBBM-AM.

So if I'm following this, the answer to "why 70s, but not 60s" is "because everyone else does?" I just looked at the Drive to see they're most recently played. Of course, they just played "Edge of Seventeen" half an hour ago (this song is by far the worst offender for songs I hear all the time inexplicably, it peaked at #11 for two weeks in 1982, but it's all over these stations). But it also includes Led Zeppelin's "The Ocean" (1973), Maybe I'm Amazed (1970), Steve Miller's "The Joker" (1973), and Fat Bottomed Girls (1978), Two Tickets to Paradise (1977), James Gang Rides Again Funk 49 (1970) and More Than a Feeling (1976). It's just weird that 1970 is the cutoff, and it's the cutoff for all the stations. (EDIT: Oh, they just played Killer Queen. They must have found out XRT played it earlier)

Like I said, these songs are 50 years old. You're telling me that there were stations in the 80s and 90s that played music from the 30s and 40s -- I don't recall that, but I was probably too young to have noticed. There seems to be a difference, though. Maybe it's just AM vs. FM. Maybe it's that DRV and XRT are top 10 stations here (although OTA radio is much more niche, i.e. geared toward older people, now).

[JonInMiddleGA]

So if I'm following this, the answer to "why 70s, but not 60s" is "because everyone else does?" I just looked at the Drive to see they're most recently played. Of course, they just played "Edge of Seventeen" half an hour ago (this song is by far the worst offender for songs I hear all the time inexplicably, it peaked at #11 for two weeks in 1982, but it's all over these stations). But it also includes Led Zeppelin's "The Ocean" (1973), Maybe I'm Amazed (1970), Steve Miller's "The Joker" (1973), and Fat Bottomed Girls (1978), Two Tickets to Paradise (1977), James Gang Rides Again Funk 49 (1970) and More Than a Feeling (1976). It's just weird that 1970 is the cutoff, and it's the cutoff for all the stations. (EDIT: Oh, they just played Killer Queen. They must have found out XRT played it earlier)

Like I said, these songs are 50 years old. You're telling me that there were stations in the 80s and 90s that played music from the 30s and 40s -- I don't recall that, but I was probably too young to have noticed. There seems to be a difference, though. Maybe it's just AM vs. FM. Maybe it's that DRV and XRT are top 10 stations here (although OTA radio is much more niche, i.e. geared toward older people, now).

With the exception of Edge of 17, Ocean, and Amazed, the others are very much staples of every station of similar ilk in Atlanta. Chicago would be a lucrative enough market that individual -- rather than national -- song testing would be pretty viable, so not surprising to have similarties in the song selection across multiple stations/ownership groups. I mean, if it tested well locally for one, good testing would have it test well locally for another (and another and even another)

re: stations and ratings

These are simply the Persons 6+ numbers, average quarter hour audience, but that's what readily available to the general public and generally common sense let's us adjust mentally for narrower demos.

Drive edges WBBM for #1 in "November" (which is actually mostly October + first week of November). Lite FM & V103 are well back of that pair for #3 & #4. WLS-FM and country US 99 are #5 & #6. WXRT/Que Buena 105/101.9 The Mix are 7/8/9. Kiss 105 & WGN-AM are just behind in 10 & 11.

BUT ... that's AQH order. Let's also look at how they Cume. (that's cumulative listeners, how many people listened to the station at all during the ratings period, not the average of how many were listening at a given moment)

Lite FM is a dominant #1 in Cume, nearly 1.2 million total listeners.
WLS-FM 94.7 is 2nd with just under a million (giving me a good idea who the #2 workplace station in the market is).

3rd & 4th belong to CHR Kiss-FM and Hot AC 101.9 The Mix, both around 930k-935k

Drive doesn't show up until #5, at 890k. Next highest cumes are waaay down the AQH list, Alt Q101 and classic hip hop 104.3 Jamz and CHR WBBM-FM, all in the 700k-800k range.

[Ksyrup]

Probably notable that some time ago XM changed its channel list and bounced 50s on 5 and 60s on 6 up to CH 72/73, renaming them 50s/60s "Gold." In their place came The Pulse ("Today's pop music") and PopRocks ("90s & 2000s pop/rock hits"). A nod to demographics, I'm sure.


I've been a subscriber long enough (actually on XM, pre-dating the merger) to remember 40s on 4 (not that I listened to it), which went the same way as 50s on 5 and 60s on 6 over the last 2 decades. 40s on 4 got dropped in 2010 but was reformatted into a 40s station on channel 71.

[cuervo72]

I've been a subscriber long enough (actually on XM, pre-dating the merger) to remember 40s on 4

Same, though I did on occasion listen to it.

[Edward64]

My last 3 half-gallon milk went bad before the expiration date. Two were Kroger brand and third was Walmart brand.

Pretty sure I’ve not had 3 in a row (and 2 different places) before so think something is up. Anyone else notice this?

[Sweed]

My last 3 half-gallon milk went bad before the expiration date. Two were Kroger brand and third was Walmart brand.

Pretty sure I’ve not had 3 in a row (and 2 different places) before so think something is up. Anyone else notice this?

Is that a sell date or expiration date? In the mid-west the date on the jug is a "sell by" date and the milk should be good for 7 days past that, though most people here do think it must be old if it gets to the printed date. And before anyone says asks, yes the milk will normally be fine 7 days past date and sometimes more. If it's going bad before a "sell date" that is even worse. :eek:

I'd wager that both brands are bottled by the same dairy. So yeah, could be something in production or handling afterwards. Trucks not running cold enough, sitting out too long once unloaded at the store, before getting into the store's cooler etc. Are you going directly home from the store and getting it in your fridge? Or are you making one more stop on the way? Not saying it's your fault but extended periods out of refrigeration can have an affect on how long the milk stays "fresh".

One of the big dairies, Blue Bunny, sold it's milk plant to another company. Blue Bunny trucks were pristine and if you were around when one was opened up you were greeted by fresh air and a trailer with a floor you could eat off of. The new company? I doubt they wash out the trailers twice per year, nor the crates they put the milk in. I won't buy anything that has the companie's label on it. The foul air that comes out of their trailers will turn your stomach. Ie if it's something new and consistent there could be a suit somewhere cutting costs and reveling in his bonus. :(

[Ghost Econ]

Time has passed unbelievably slow this morning.

[Honolulu_Blue]

While I listen to a few a Ringer podcasts (less so lately) and only visit the website occasionally, they just launched a new website design and it's absolutely awful. Hideous. It's so over designed that it's jarring and feels unusable, even more so on mobile.

Poorly done.

[Ksyrup]

That spoiled milk comment made me think back to my first HS job at a grocery store. I did a bunch of jobs there, but one was stocking dairy. One time, we were alerted that our milk shipment would be delayed for a couple of days, so the manager grabbed me and another guy and a bottle of fingernail polish removal and told us to wipe off the numbers on the dates on the jugs.

Good times.

[Edward64]

Is that a sell date or expiration date? In the mid-west the date on the jug is a "sell by" date and the milk should be good for 7 days past that, though most people here do think it must be old if it gets to the printed date. And before anyone says asks, yes the milk will normally be fine 7 days past date and sometimes more. If it's going bad before a "sell date" that is even worse. :eek:
You are right, it is the "sell by" date. I typically try to buy milk about 10'ish days out. But my milk has been turning sour even before the sell by date. It may have happened once in a while, but never 3 times in a row which is super weird.

Are you going directly home from the store and getting it in your fridge? Or are you making one more stop on the way? Not saying it's your fault but extended periods out of refrigeration can have an affect on how long the milk stays "fresh".
I do pretty much buy groceries and go home. Sometimes I go to the asian grocery/Walmart store first but pick up milk at Krogers on my way back.

One of the big dairies, Blue Bunny, sold it's milk plant to another company. Blue Bunny trucks were pristine and if you were around when one was opened up you were greeted by fresh air and a trailer with a floor you could eat off of. The new company? I doubt they wash out the trailers twice per year, nor the crates they put the milk in. I won't buy anything that has the companie's label on it. The foul air that comes out of their trailers will turn your stomach. Ie if it's something new and consistent there could be a suit somewhere cutting costs and reveling in his bonus. :(
Don't keep us in suspense ... and the new company is?

[Edward64]

That spoiled milk comment made me think back to my first HS job at a grocery store. I did a bunch of jobs there, but one was stocking dairy. One time, we were alerted that our milk shipment would be delayed for a couple of days, so the manager grabbed me and another guy and a bottle of fingernail polish removal and told us to wipe off the numbers on the dates on the jugs.

Wife's been buying Dave's Killer Bread (more grain, less calories but thinner cut). One thing we notice is the "sell by" date is consistently stamped in a darker area of the wrapper (see pic, in the black section), so it's impossible to tell what the date is. My suspicion is this is done intentionally.

https://target.scene7.com/is/image/Target/GUEST_aaaf1e4c-7a10-405b-b39d-6608987d87b6?wid=720&hei=720&qlt=80&fmt=pjpeg

[JonInMiddleGA]

Wife's been buying Dave's Killer Bread (more grain, less calories but thinner cut). One thing we notice is the "sell by" date is consistently stamped in a darker area of the wrapper (see pic, in the black section), so it's impossible to tell what the date is. My suspicion is this is done intentionally.



I suspect that you're right given their response to a complaint about that very thing almost two years ago (the date not being visible is NOT a store manager issue lol)


x.com (https://x.com/KillerBread/status/1630198027003543553)

[Edward64]

Thanks, good to know its just not my Krogers & Walmart.

I think I'm going to move away from buying their stuff. There are other whole, multi-grain bread that are pretty good.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thanks, good to know its just not my Krogers & Walmart.

I think I'm going to move away from buying their stuff. There are other whole, multi-grain bread that are pretty good.

It's also just another corporate-owned brand since 2015, which I didn't realize.
(I'm vaguely aware of its existence cause I know a couple people who swear by the stuff).

This random bit of digging into it caused me to realize that I haven't seen another Flowers Bakery product in quite a long time. They bought up John Derst (Savannah-based) about 10 years ago and it's supposedly still available around me but damned if I've seen (or noticed?) it in years. When that stuff first got wider distribution, it was probably the best straight up white bread I'd ever come across.

[dubb93]

I’ve had the worst car buying experience ever. I’ve made mistakes. They (family owned lot in business over 50 years) have made mistakes and tonight I’m just gonna have a few glasses of whiskey to drown it all out. I’m not sure where we go from here but I’m hoping I don’t end up having my credit ruined over this.

[Edward64]

Do companies that pay for pop up ads covering the middle of the page really think it's worthwhile? I'd think people eyes just glaze over, quickly X it out and think of it as an inconvenience.

Now, persistent ads that are at the sides are just as annoying, but I glance at them because they are usually something from my cookies.

[GrantDawg]

I’ve had the worst car buying experience ever. I’ve made mistakes. They (family owned lot in business over 50 years) have made mistakes and tonight I’m just gonna have a few glasses of whiskey to drown it all out. I’m not sure where we go from here but I’m hoping I don’t end up having my credit ruined over this.
There is so much shady that can happen in a car purchase. Love to know what happened. We should be car shopping for my son soon. I'm window shopping as well, but I doubt I'm buying anything.

[Passacaglia]

I feel like I can't look at a bag of mandarins without getting that song from Jesus Christ Superstar stuck in my head

[dubb93]

There is so much shady that can happen in a car purchase. Love to know what happened. We should be car shopping for my son soon. I'm window shopping as well, but I doubt I'm buying anything.

Went to 8 dealerships and browsed online and had a hard time finding a truck in the range we wanted so we increased our price range and found a 2020 with less than 100k miles on it at a local family run business so I went to test drive and look at it. It looked brand new and drove well but the check engine light was on. They had the mechanic come talk to me and he said when it came in he did new wheel bearings and assumed he just forgot to clear it but that if it is something new that it would be fixed before we finished the deal.

Those were the famous last words. Over the next 8 days I was promised the truck about 5 times only to be called the day of and told it wasn’t ready yet. Allegedly they were just fixing the front air dam and I know it was holidays and weekends so I was patient. Finally went to sign papers the light is off. Good I assume it’s fixed. As I’m pulling off the lot into the road I get the light again along with new warnings now and the truck starts to run like crap. So now they have the truck back, I don’t trust them at all, and I have a loaner. At this point I just really want out of the deal. The truck is already at the tip top of my price range and I just can’t trust it or them.

[dubb93]

I really think it’s a cam shaft issue that they tried to hide.

[Lathum]

Went to 8 dealerships and browsed online and had a hard time finding a truck in the range we wanted so we increased our price range and found a 2020 with less than 100k miles on it at a local family run business so I went to test drive and look at it. It looked brand new and drove well but the check engine light was on. They had the mechanic come talk to me and he said when it came in he did new wheel bearings and assumed he just forgot to clear it but that if it is something new that it would be fixed before we finished the deal.

Those were the famous last words. Over the next 8 days I was promised the truck about 5 times only to be called the day of and told it wasn’t ready yet. Allegedly they were just fixing the front air dam and I know it was holidays and weekends so I was patient. Finally went to sign papers the light is off. Good I assume it’s fixed. As I’m pulling off the lot into the road I get the light again along with new warnings now and the truck starts to run like crap. So now they have the truck back, I don’t trust them at all, and I have a loaner. At this point I just really want out of the deal. The truck is already at the tip top of my price range and I just can’t trust it or them.

Most states have lemon laws. I would contact whatever consumer protection agency handles that in your area and moving forward make sure all communication is in writting.

[Swaggs]

Most states have lemon laws. I would contact whatever consumer protection agency handles that in your area and moving forward make sure all communication is in writting.

This. Look into your state's lemon laws and do it soon, as some of them have shorter time periods to act than others.

https://www.kbb.com/car-advice/vehicle-lemon-laws-by-state/

There are also cancellation periods for most states (often 3 days, so again need to act quickly). They will give you some shit and try to get you to stick with the deal, but if you escalate it, they will almost always let you out within a day or two (as financing usually doesn't go through for several days).

[GrantDawg]

That's sounds like my biggest fear in buying a used truck. They cost as much as a new truck SHOULD (new truck actually way more ridiculously prices), with the added risk you are just buying someone else's problem. Add to that, Georgia doesn't have a 3 day rule on vehicle purchases, and lemon laws here only apply to new vehicles. Buy a bad vehicle, and you are just screwed.

[Ghost Econ]

So a 14 foot inflatable snowman went up last week at a house on my street. There are 27 houses on my street. Today, a 6th house has put up the same snowman. I feel like I missed a memo or something.

[cuervo72]

Guess what song I heard on Classic Rewind driving home from dinner?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Had a "feel old" moment earlier this week.

I ended up explaining the origin of me using the phrase "you can pay me now ... or pay me later"

#FramOilFilters

[Passacaglia]

Guess what song I heard on Classic Rewind driving home from dinner?

Let's hear it.

I've still got whines. In 15-20 minutes driving yesterday morning, I heard Guns N Roses on two different stations. Two days ago was a little weirder - 90s Aerosmith on two different stations (Living on the Edge and Don't Want to Miss a Thing)

[Ksyrup]

I always love when I hear the exact same song at the same time, from switching from The Bridge/Yacht Rock to Classic Rewind or Classic Vinyl or the 70s or 80s channels.

[Ghost Econ]

Guess what song I heard on Classic Rewind driving home from dinner?

Chuck Berry Ding-A-Ling?

[cuervo72]

Let's hear it.

I've still got whines. In 15-20 minutes driving yesterday morning, I heard Guns N Roses on two different stations. Two days ago was a little weirder - 90s Aerosmith on two different stations (Living on the Edge and Don't Want to Miss a Thing)

Edge of Seventeen!

[dubb93]

Today they told me they would have a solid diagnostic and a plan on the truck. I go in there today after they don't answer my texts (the salesperson's preferred way of communicating, they are young, whatever,) and they tell me they sent the truck to another shop today(probably should have told me where my truck was, am I wrong that this is a little disturbing to just ship my truck off across town without touching base?) I get the information of the shop and realize it's someone's shop that I know, graduated with, and bought our other vehicle off of so I feel good about talking to them.

Long story short it's a blown head gasket for sure. He's still doing diagnostics and wouldn't be surprised if there are other related issues but states that it's a very solid truck otherwise and worth it for someone to fix.

I don't think that someone will be me though. I called on the loan and they say their hands are tied. The lot will have to give the money back but they are going to/probably already have made contact and see if they are willing to call this a wash. I may end up needing to hire a lawyer here and argue that the truck wasn't merchantable if they aren't willing to make things right. They are going to take a bath on all the repairs the truck has already had and is going to need. They would probably come out ahead just sending it off for auction and avoiding any sort of legal action or being on the hook for repairs.

[Lathum]

If you can't involve consumer protection agency start calling local media. They will eat this story up. Maybe even just the threat will make the lot do the right thing

[dubb93]

Good news. Dealership called me and said the loan company contacted them and they have decided to undo the deal. The loan company didn’t sound thrilled about having a big outstanding loan on a truck that needed to be in the junk yard. I’m guessing they had some pull.

[dubb93]

Wonder if I’m going to have to pay to retitle my trade in? Already signed the title over.

[dubb93]

Would I be a dick if I changed the name of my phone in the truck to something along the lines of Blown Headgasket before I sign it back over? Something that atleast plants the thought in the head of the next potential buyer.

I know the phone names save because I deleted two when I bought it.

[Passacaglia]

Edge of Seventeen!

Nice.

No repeats for me listening to FM radio today, though I did hear Houdini by Eminem. Are the kids today not supposed to know that song is just Abracadabra?

[Ksyrup]

Did it reach out and grab ya?

[dubb93]

I ended up just buying a new Pathfinder. The wife fell in love with it. I’ll probably get a pickup in a cash deal when I see one that catches my fancy. Something older and cheaper as a third vehicle.

[Ksyrup]

I've heard great things about the redsigned Pathfinder. We have a 2019. My wife loves it but it's got some small flaws that seem to have been fixed on the new design.

Hopefully it'll last another 5 years or so. Not in a rush to buy a new car. If both of ours can last another 5 or so years set would be ideal.

[NobodyHere]

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I am so screwed.

[CrimsonFox]

Did it reach out and grab ya?

Still the most hilarious rhyme in music history

[Ksyrup]

This is awesome. On a completely unrelated note, I am so, so glad I do not litigate or even so much as know what the inside of a courtroom looks like.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Full order: <a href="https://t.co/Q5N6eZKbvO">pic.twitter.com/Q5N6eZKbvO</a></p>&mdash; Matt Margolis (@ItsMattsLaw) <a href="https://twitter.com/ItsMattsLaw/status/1866118470041047382?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[JPhillips]

Why is Ante Up EVERYWHERE?

[Edward64]

The early prototype to Robo-cop. I like this idea and curious to see how it would work (or not) in NYC.

https://www.the-sun.com/tech/13058237/china-spherical-robocops-criminals/
CHINA has unveiled unbreakable, spherical robo-cops which have been seen rolling around cities - ready to catch criminals.
The spheres are designed to assist - and eventually replace humans - in dangerous environments and situations involving crime.

The ball beast is able to operate both on land and in water, making it practically unstoppable.

It can also withstand a whopping four tonnes of impact damage to prevent criminals from trying to cover their tracks and kill it.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/GM_09-12_FACTFILE_ROBOCOPS_GRAPHIC.jpg?w=620


The RT-G can also be equipped with non-fatal police gear like et guns, tear gas sprayers, some grenades, loudspeakers and sound wave dispersal devices.
Looks like it can be used for crowd (Tiananmen) control also.

[Ghost Econ]

Used the McDonald's app and got a mcdouble, large fry large coke for $2.66 by spreading it over 2 orders. My order numbers were 1666 and 666. I think it's trying to tell me something.

[Ksyrup]

I don't know if anyone followed the story of that Hawaiian woman who mysteriously vanished in LA seemingly on her way to NY. She missed her original connection (which her ex-BF was on), spent a couple days in LA, met some guy, texted some weird/concerning things to family and friends, and disappeared. Her dad went to LA to try to find her and apparently was so overcome with despair or whatever emotion that he jumped from an LA parking garage and killed himself.

Well, she turned up. She went to Mexico. But she's safe now. No details on why she left. Just a bizarre and tragic chain of events. I hope for her sake she has some good explanation - even a mental health breakdown would make some sense - because if this was just a poorly-planned or spur of the moment decision to "get lost," she basically killed her father.

[Edward64]

See details below. The article says her co-workers have corroborated much. She is a fraking mess

The real reason Hannah Kobayashi vanished on trip of a lifetime to New York and headed for Mexico | Daily Mail Online (https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14183731/Hannah-Kobayashi-vanished-New-York-Green-Card-Mexico.html)


My questions are:

1) How does she feel now knowing her dad killed himself?
2) When or did the co-workers share any of this info to law enforcement?

[Ghost Econ]

I ordered delivery through Uber eats cause I had a coupon the restaurant is about a 7 minute drive. The driver picked the food up 1/2 hour ago. They appear to have made at least 2 deliveries in the interim and are 20 minutes away.

Why am I expected to tip them when it takes them 50 minutes to deliver the food I ordered from a restaurant 7 minutes away.

[thesloppy]

The ability to watch your delivery driver in real time is just as much an infuriating curse as it is a benefit.

[Ksyrup]

I ordered delivery through Uber eats cause I had a coupon the restaurant is about a 7 minute drive. The driver picked the food up 1/2 hour ago. They appear to have made at least 2 deliveries in the interim and are 20 minutes away.

Why am I expected to tip them when it takes them 50 minutes to deliver the food I ordered from a restaurant 7 minutes away.

Yeah, had the same experience. I think you have to pay for the express service to be upgraded to #1 on the delivery list.

This month, AmEx Plat's Uber benefit is increased to $35 over the usual $15. Combined with the AmEx Gold $10 benefit, I've got $45 to spend on Uber Eats this month. Can't wait to get a nearly free cold/late/wrong delivered order!

[Passacaglia]

Taking a shot that someone here might know what's going on. I've got a pair of "smart glasses" which are basically just frames that have Bluetooth, a speaker and a microphone in them. I got them so I can listen to music or make phone calls without having to either deal with a speakerphone or go find earbuds or headphones. I'm basically living the dream, with one exception. There's a button on the frames that resumes playing, which is perfect, because now all I have to do if I want to start listening to music is hit that button instead of pulling my phone out of my pocket. The button sometimes does what it's supposed to do, but sometimes it doesn't because my phone has forgotten where in the playlist it is. I'm pretty sure it's an issue with my phone or with Apple Music, not the glasses, because when I swipe down from the top on my phone, sometimes it remembers where I am in the playlist and lets me resume, but if it's been a long time since I've listened, it won't let me.

tl:dr - why does my phone forget where my spot is in an Apple Music Playlist if it's been a while since I've listened, and what can I do to fix it?

[Passacaglia]

Also, last weekend, I did finally hear a 60s song, Strawberry Fields Forever, on the radio. I also heard Strange Overtones by David Byrne and Brian Eno, which I was pretty geeked about, then when it was done, I switched to another station and heard Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads. Then during a 30 minute drive, I heard Another One Bites the Dust three times, plus twice more during the week since, a long with a couple other songs by Queen.

[Ghost Econ]

Strange overtones is an odd song to hear on classic rock. It's a banger, but not a classic rock song by year or style.

Of course I was channel surfing the other day and came across the local 90s rock station. Think mostly Metallica, hair metal and post-grunge (creed, puddle of mudd...). They were playing Lose Yourself by Eminem. Not sure how that snuck in their playlist.

[Passacaglia]

Strange overtones is an odd song to hear on classic rock. It's a banger, but not a classic rock song by year or style.

Of course I was channel surfing the other day and came across the local 90s rock station. Think mostly Metallica, hair metal and post-grunge (creed, puddle of mudd...). They were playing Lose Yourself by Eminem. Not sure how that snuck in their playlist.

Well this was on WXRT, which JIMGA point out is actually "adult album alternative" or something. But yeah, I'm pretty sure I've never heard it on OTA radio before, even when it was new. (Although I was probably listening to sports radio all the time in the car then).

[NobodyHere]

I just heard a stripper referred to as a "clothing challenged dancer".

What?

[Ghost Econ]

Is there a brand of residential smok alarms that aren't complete shit?

[Ksyrup]

Hopefully taking the rest of the year "off" (available by email generally and if anything important pops up), and last night get an email about a suspected IT breach. AWESOME TIMING! This, on the heels of a similar issue the Friday before Thanksgiving. It's always the lawyer who everyone is waiting for directions from (at least in terms of reporting obligations, notifications, etc.), so I spent over an hour last night drafting an analysis of the situation (with very limited information and technical expertise). Still had a better night than Sean Payton, though.

Anyway, data security/privacy issues are the least fun/most stressful part of my job. I freaking hate it. The only thing I miss about being in a large organization is that they are big enough to have whole departments whose job it is to handle shit like this. I mean, at the very least, discover this stuff on a random Wednesday in April, instead of the Friday before major holidays. Sheesh!

[Edward64]

Nice timing for the strike. Good thing all our Christmas packages have been delivered.

[sovereignstar v2]

Is there a brand of residential smok alarms that aren't complete shit?

Can't vouch for anything on the list, but here is ratings by Consumer Reports. Maybe helpul:

https://i.ibb.co/pf9g4YG/Screenshot-2024-12-20-082014.png (https://ibb.co/pf9g4YG)

I guess those are combo smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Here are just smoke detectors:

https://i.ibb.co/v3MVBPg/Screenshot-2024-12-20-082356.png (https://ibb.co/v3MVBPg)

[Edward64]

My saga with Kroger milk going bad before "best by date" continues.

I'm going to talk with the store manager about this. She probably can't do much but so she is aware (if not already) that this is a real thing.

[dubb93]

My saga with Kroger milk going bad before "best by date" continues.

I'm going to talk with the store manager about this. She probably can't do much but so she is aware (if not already) that this is a real thing.

Are you 100% sure your fridge isn't warm? I'd toss a thermometer where you sit your milk and leave it for a few days and see what it reads.

[NobodyHere]

I've got a lot of problems with you people...

[Ksyrup]

Perfect day for my BIL and his wife to show up in KY for the first time, 3+ years after his (and my wife's) parents moved from FL to KY as nearing-80 year olds because their son and other daughter in FL ignored them for so long they decided to move closer to the only kid who gave a shit about their well-being. Should be... awkward.

[Edward64]

Are you 100% sure your fridge isn't warm? I'd toss a thermometer where you sit your milk and leave it for a few days and see what it reads.

Pretty sure. It says 38 degrees

My Sapporo, Sprite Zero frost and Coke Zero cherry are cold enough.

But will do thermometer to doublecheck

[Ksyrup]

Am I going nuts? We want to upgrade my daughter's iPhone and we have the Next Up thing on her account, and she's eligible for an upgrade. When we go through the website and pick the phone, color, GB, etc., it clearly shows the phone will be $16.67. Add $10 for the new Next Up Anytime, and it's $26.67. When I hit Upgrade Now, the price immediately changes to $40.56.

On the cart page, it clearly shows it costs $40.56 plus $66 due now. Literally, the line item shows $30.56 per month for 36 months, and $0 to trade in the device.

So, I'm confused. I do the Chat, and explain my question. Here is the response:

Hello, Chris thanks for waiting. As I checked here nothing to worry while you are checking it out it will show still regular price but rest assure that after 2 to 3 billing cycles the actual amount will reflects.

WTF does that mean? Even if I wasn't an attorney, I would not be stupid enough to agree to purchase something that clearly says you owe "X" on the promise of a Chat rep that eventually, it'll be "Y" and we'll credit your account in a few months.

What kind of BS is this?.

Just a follow-up on this AT&T crap.

So, we went into the store to do both upgrades so I could talk to someone face-to-face to understand the process, and it's the same - you get charged the regular monthly cost for 4-8 weeks until they confirm the phone is upgrade-worthy, at which point they credit your account for the overage you paid and then adjust your monthly cost. Except, it's total BS because we turned in the phones then and there. YOU confirm it works, then I don't have to give up my phone, sign a contract saying I owe the full amount, and have AT&T send me an email/letter 6 weeks later that you found a problem with my phone (which may not happen to me but totally happens on the regular, I bet).

Here's the even better (scummier) "new" shady business practice. You know the Next Up program, where you can pay $X amount a month for the ability to trade in your phone early and avoid paying the rest of the cost if you upgrade to another phone? It used to cost $6/month and let you upgrade after the phone was 50% paid off. So, 18 months on the typical 36 month plan. Well, that probably didn''t work for Apple, since that doesn't allow people to upgrade every 12 months - right when they release a new phone - to the latest phone without an out of pocket expense (paying the difference between the 12 months you've paid for and the 18 months until you can upgrade for free). So now, it's $10/month, but you can upgrade after 33% of your phone is paid off. Hey, 33% of 36 is 12 months!

But here's the best part - YOU ARE FORCED INTO THE NEXT UP PLAN WHETHER YOU WANT IT OR NOT. Seriously. My wife is not going to trade in her phone every year. She just upgraded from a 12! We wanted it taken off. Nope. No can do. You have to wait 14 days to be able to remove it from a line. How many people are simply going to forget, on a $100-300 phone bill, that they're paying $10/month for a feature they won't use?

Total, Grade-A, robbing our customers blind, BULLSHIT.

[Edward64]

We migrated from AT&T to T-Mobile and now to Google Fi. Decided to not play the upgrade teasing game (unavailable in T-Mobile unless you get on a higher tier plan) anymore.

We just accept that we’ll trade in with Apple every 3-4 years.want to keep it simple

[Sweed]

My saga with Kroger milk going bad before "best by date" continues.

I'm going to talk with the store manager about this. She probably can't do much but so she is aware (if not already) that this is a real thing.

Good idea to make the store aware since it's an on going issue. I'd think about emailing their corporate offices too.

I thought I had responded to your last post quoted below, but going back to look after seeing this one I see I had not. I know I read it, intended to respond, but had to be somewhere so must have went on my errands and then just forgot :confused: .

You are right, it is the "sell by" date. I typically try to buy milk about 10'ish days out. But my milk has been turning sour even before the sell by date. It may have happened once in a while, but never 3 times in a row which is super weird.


I do pretty much buy groceries and go home. Sometimes I go to the asian grocery/Walmart store first but pick up milk at Krogers on my way back.


Don't keep us in suspense ... and the new company is?

The plant actually sold three times over a few years (3-5 year span? IIRC).
First buyer was Land O Lakes, second Dean's (though it's been awhile it may have been Dean's and then LOL), and last I heard it belonged to
Kemps.

[Edward64]

There's a Gen Beta now (and I missed the Gen Alpha announcement).

Welcome Generation Beta: Successor to Gen Alpha And Gen Z, Set To Arrive In 2025 (https://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/welcome-generation-beta-successor-to-gen-alpha-and-gen-z-set-to-arrive-in-2025-7357060)
Generation Beta is the successor of Gen Alpha (those born between 2010-2024), which came after Gen Z (1996-2010), and millennials (1981-1996). Generation Beta follows a naming convention that started with Generation Alpha, using the Greek alphabet to signify a new era in human history.

The 'Beta babies' as they are being called, will grow up in an era that is characterised by unprecedented technological integration into daily life. They will likely be the first generation to experience "autonomous transportation at scale, wearable health technologies, and immersive virtual environments as standard aspects of daily life".

"While Generation Alpha has experienced the rise of smart technology and artificial intelligence, Generation Beta will live in an era where AI and automation are fully embedded in everyday life, education and workplaces to healthcare and entertainment," said Mr McCrindle in his blog post.

[Ksyrup]

Having lost a bunch of weight/fat the past year and cycling through 2 wardrobe refreshes, I've had my first real jeans "reset" in decades. I've found Wranglers fit the best in terms of seat/crotch, but I've tried several brands. And the one consistency I've found among all of them is the lack of consistency in fit. I'll try 2 or 3 of the exact same type of pants, and none of them will fit the same - some will be tighter/looser, some will be shorter/longer, etc. It's ridiculous. I can't just say - Wrangler Athletic Fit, 31/30 (that's my preference right now) - none of them fit the same way. The colors are the least of their differences. And I've found that to be the case for all brands.

[GrantDawg]

Having lost a bunch of weight/fat the past year and cycling through 2 wardrobe refreshes, I've had my first real jeans "reset" in decades. I've found Wranglers fit the best in terms of seat/crotch, but I've tried several brands. And the one consistency I've found among all of them is the lack of consistency in fit. I'll try 2 or 3 of the exact same type of pants, and none of them will fit the same - some will be tighter/looser, some will be shorter/longer, etc. It's ridiculous. I can't just say - Wrangler Athletic Fit, 31/30 (that's my preference right now) - none of them fit the same way. The colors are the least of their differences. And I've found that to be the case for all brands.
No kidding. I had to do the same this year, and you have to try jeans on or you will regret it.

[Edward64]

I buy from Land's End. They have decent sales and returns are pretty painless, just take it to Kohls.

But yeah, they have same problem. I had an issue with same size jeans but different color, one was definitely tighter than the other. From what my wife tells me, it's much worse for women and their "vanity" sizes.

[JonInMiddleGA]

From what my wife tells me, it's much worse for women and their "vanity" sizes.

Having sorted out my wife's extensive closet over the past 2 years, I can vouch for that

Every brand is different and that's before you get into stuff like "european sizing"

[flere-imsaho]

My understanding is that on top of everything else, there are wide variances in sizes between brands of women's clothing.

[Ksyrup]

Every brand is different and that's before you get into stuff like "european sizing"

Nothing drove home to me how fat Americans are - and how our sizing has been recalibrated to soothe our fragile psyches - than when I bought a special edition CD release from a German metal band back in 2021 and it came with a t-shirt. So, I ordered my standard "Large." It arrived, and I couldn't fit into it. I was only able to wear it once I got down around 155 lbs earlier this year.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Nothing drove home to me how fat Americans are - and how our sizing has been recalibrated to soothe our fragile psyches - than when I bought a special edition CD release from a German metal band back in 2021 and it came with a t-shirt. So, I ordered my standard "Large." It arrived, and I couldn't fit into it. I was only able to wear it once I got down around 155 lbs earlier this year.

Will had the opposite thing happen when buying t-shirts at events during his Japan trip lol

[dubb93]

Nothing drove home to me how fat Americans are - and how our sizing has been recalibrated to soothe our fragile psyches - than when I bought a special edition CD release from a German metal band back in 2021 and it came with a t-shirt. So, I ordered my standard "Large." It arrived, and I couldn't fit into it. I was only able to wear it once I got down around 155 lbs earlier this year.

The average adult male in Germany weights 190lbs. The fact that a large doesn’t fit unless you weight 155lbs says more about the idiots making the shit than anything else. FWIW, the average American male is only 10lbs heavier so maybe size up 1 size?

[dubb93]

I’d pay $300 for an XBox handheld like the PlayStation Portal. That thing has been one of the best investments for my house this console generation. My kids play that thing to dead about twice when it’s cold out. It just sucks you can only have one at a time because I have too many damn kids and not enough portable consoles.

[Ksyrup]

The average adult male in Germany weights 190lbs. The fact that a large doesn’t fit unless you weight 155lbs says more about the idiots making the shit than anything else. FWIW, the average American male is only 10lbs heavier so maybe size up 1 size?

Maybe, but I've noticed the same thing with merch from bands on tour from Europe generally. Large is an American medium, at best.

[Edward64]

Maybe, but I've noticed the same thing with merch from bands on tour from Europe generally. Large is an American medium, at best.

Don't know much about European clothing but in Asia, we need to go up at least +1 size (e.g. an XL is comfortable in US vs tight in Asia).

re: German male, regardless of average weight, I suspect the US are much more midriff challenged and Germans are more proportional (?).

[dubb93]

re: German male, regardless of average weight, I suspect the US are much more midriff challenged and Germans are more proportional (?).

I mean if we are just doing generalizations I’d say I doubt it. Don’t they drink a shit ton of beer over there too?

[Edward64]

I mean if we are just doing generalizations I’d say I doubt it. Don’t they drink a shit ton of beer over there too?

Probably. But I'm pretty sure they are more active/walk more and eat less fast food. See below for obesity rates.

List of countries by obesity rate - Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_obesity_rate)

This is a list of countries by obesity rate, with data from the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2022.

#13 United States 42.87%
#93 Germany 24.16%


I thought the Top-12 were interesting. Read about the South Pacific but didn't know about the Caribbean or Kuwait/Qatar/Egypt.

1 Tonga 70.54
2 Nauru 70.18
3 Tuvalu 63.93
4 Samoa 61.24
5 The Bahamas 47.61
6 Marshall Islands 47.29
7 Saint Kitts and Nevis 46.62
8 Kiribati 46.19
9 Micronesia 45.6
10 Kuwait 45.36
11 Qatar 43.76
12 Egypt 42.99

[cuervo72]

Initially misunderstood a mention of Atlanta's "peach drop" as "beach drop." My mind corrected itself immediately, but I did think "hey, dropping a few dozen tons of sand on a crowd might make for an interesting watch."

[JonInMiddleGA]

Initially misunderstood a mention of Atlanta's "peach drop" as "beach drop." My mind corrected itself immediately, but I did think "hey, dropping a few dozen tons of sand on a crowd might make for an interesting watch."

And on the crowd downtown, not really the worst idea

[Ghost Econ]

Real confidence boost when random people laugh at your jokes. We were at Target and my daughter and wife were looking through the clothing rack. My wife held up a full length denim skirt and asked my daughter if she could pull it off. The daughter answered with a shrug, but then my wife asked me.

I just replied that, "I guess if I get a few more wives and give up soda..." My wife did the exasperated wife thing and snickered, but a couple of women a few racks away just busted out laughing. Felt nice that my stupid asides land every now and again.

I will say, only about 5% of my jokes actually get uttered because either they're too dark or won't be understood. Like my wife has what look like chemical burns on her face for possible skin cancer treatment. Evidently someone at work asked her about them in an uncouth way. I said next time just tell them your husband forgot about your shellfish allergy. She didn't get the joke at first until I started to explain it to which she said eww, stop, how did you possibly get there?

[Passacaglia]

Sorry if this is "on topic" in the off topic forums, but I just thought this was funny.

I'm doing some testing on my FOF9 universe, where I added a wild card game to a universe from the 1960s. The schedule is set up like the AFL was in its first few years, where there were 8 teams in two divisions, and all 8 teams played a home-and-home to make a 14-game schedule.

https://i.imgur.com/xkMqK9O.png

I just thought it was weird that all the AFL West teams had winning records, and none of the AFL East teams did. I guess in this case, the wild card is probably a good idea, since it lets another West team make the playoffs.

Looks like in the real AFL, the worst division winner was a tie between the 7-6-1 Boston Patriots and the 7-6-1 Buffalo Bills in 1963. They played an Eastern Division tiebreaker, with a pretty cool story from wikipedia:

The season schedule itself was pushed back a week from what was originally planned, owing to the assassination of President Kennedy, which resulted in the AFL moving games from that weekend (i.e., the weekend of November 23–24) to the weekend of December 21–22. Since only three games had been scheduled, with Boston and Buffalo both having a bye, it meant that the Patriots and Bills finished their regular schedule on Saturday, December 14, a week before the league's other six teams did. Consequently, the Patriots and Bills could have played their tiebreaker playoff on December 22, potentially leaving the AFL Championship Game for the next weekend (the originally scheduled date), since they knew after games of December 15 that they and they alone had tied for the division title. However, the Western Division race had not yet been decided and Chargers and Raiders owners Barron Hilton and Al Davis respectively objected to playing the Eastern playoff "early" on the grounds that it would have given the Eastern winner an unfair advantage in terms of rest in case the Chargers and Raiders also had to play a tiebreaker. The Chargers won their last game and with it won the West outright, nevertheless the Bills-Patriots Eastern Division playoff was not played until after the following week on Saturday, December 28 (the day before the Chicago-New York NFL Championship Game). This meant that the Boston-San Diego championship game was not played until January 5, 1964. Thus was held the second professional playoff game ever held in January (with the AFL's first ever title playoff on January 1, 1961, being the only time before then that that had occurred). As it happened, the Patriots-Chargers playoff was also latest date on which a non-Super Bowl playoff game was ever held, and it retained that record until the AFC and NFC Championship Games of January 7, 1979. No 14-game season ever ended later.

Looks like Boston won that tiebreaker game, and no tiebreaker was needed in the West. San Diego beat Boston 51-10 in the AFL Championship Game, and 10-4 Oakland was left out.

The FOF9 universe was pretty chalk too. The Broncos went to Houston and beat the Oilers 14-7, then lost to the Raiders in the AFL Championship Game. And the Raiders lost to the Packers in the Super Bowl.

[GrantDawg]

What do you think this is a football simulation forum?

[Lathum]

Build a bear. Man what a racket.

[Ksyrup]

We walked past that store last week at the mall. Haven't had to go into that place in years. It looked completely different, but still a license to print money, I assume.

[Lathum]

Indeed. My daughter got a gift card and it ended up costing us double.

[dubb93]

My now 9 year old made a bear for my nearly 6 year old before he was born. That bear has spent every night of my son’s life in bed with him and has taken multiple trips out of state. It’s with him whenever we watch a movie or a take a road trip. He even snuck the damn thing into the Columbus, Ohio zoo. Say what you will about the price, those bears can take a beating.

[flere-imsaho]

Build a bear. Man what a racket.

Here's the house of the guy who founded Yankee Candle: Pardon Our Interruption (https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/yankee-candle-founder-estate-affordable-housing/#:~:text=The%20estate%20of%20the%20late,foot%2C%20Colonial%2Dstyle%20home).

[Ksyrup]

Saw that on Zillow Gone Wild.

[JPhillips]

This Draft Kings subscription service is a really bad investment. Multi-leg parlays are where these books make most of their profit.

DraftKings Sportsbook+, which debuted earlier this week in New York, will cost members $20 a month. In return, they will receive what the company calls “stepped up” boosts for all parlays where the individual legs are -500 or narrower. For parlays with two legs, users will see profits increase by 10%, with the boost growing as the parlays get bigger. For parlays with 11 or more legs, the profit increases 100%, or double.

[flere-imsaho]

Oh man, that's extremely clever. A recurring income stream plus push players to make bets with a lower chance of paying out.

One part of me is caveat emptor / a fool and his money are... but another part of me says this is pure predation and should really be shut down.

[Passacaglia]

Oh man, that's extremely clever. A recurring income stream plus push players to make bets with a lower chance of paying out.

One part of me is caveat emptor / a fool and his money are... but another part of me says this is pure predation and should really be shut down.

I'm in the pure predation camp on that, to the point where I am surprised it's legal.

[Lathum]

Oh man, that's extremely clever. A recurring income stream plus push players to make bets with a lower chance of paying out.

One part of me is caveat emptor / a fool and his money are... but another part of me says this is pure predation and should really be shut down.

The whole industry is predatory and sleezy. I am sorry I was such an active participant for so long. Now that I am almost 2 years out of it I can really look at it from a macro level. I wish they never legalized it, so many lives have been and will be ruined and we are just touching the tip. So many late teens and 20 somethings haven't really been effected but they will be. Live betting is the real devil.

‘I literally can’t stop.’ The descent of a modern sports fan - The Athletic (https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5777632/2024/10/14/sports-betting-addiction-problem-fans/)

[Honolulu_Blue]

Before every exam I took in law school and the bar exam I would repeat the lLitany Against Fear” from Dune while listening to the first song on the Conan The Barbarian soundtrack.

[thesloppy]

Let me tell you of the days of high adventure

[thesloppy]

I'm sure he's actually stoked to have the work, but every time I see one of those Sam Elliott ads it feels like elder abuse.

[Ksyrup]

He's actually getting annoying. Not Gronk-level annoying, but not great, either.

[cuervo72]

I’d wondered that about Danny DeVito and all the sub commercials he does…like, he just turned 80, does he really need pitch money? Then I figured eh, it’s just more opportunities for him to be Danny DeVito.

[thesloppy]

Anybody else get caught up with this round of flu, norovirus, COVID or what have you? I got the flu and it has been fucking brutal

[Lathum]

It is really fun having to jumpstart your wifes car at 6:30 AM in 15 degree weather because your daughter left the door open

[CrimsonFox]

Anybody else get caught up with this round of flu, norovirus, COVID or what have you? I got the flu and it has been fucking brutal

i was on the toilet, what of it

[Ksyrup]

Anybody else get caught up with this round of flu, norovirus, COVID or what have you? I got the flu and it has been fucking brutal

Nope. Although we go on a cruise in just over a month, and I'm a bit concerned by all of the reports of sickness the past few months.

I haven't been sick in almost 4 years, except the one and only time I got Covid in May of 2023. I believe the trick is that my doctor prescribes me Montelucast (I get a generic, but Singulair is probably the best-known name) on a daily basis, and I pair it with Zyrtec. I take both every evening. It originally started as a way to ward of allergy season - he'd prescribe it in fall and spring - and it worked so well, I mentioned it to him at one of my annual physicals, so he gave me a 12 month prescription.

I'm sure I'll eventually get something at some point, but outside of that one bout with Covid (which I doubt Montelucast could have prevented anyway), I haven't been sick in so long I don't remember the last serious cold I got.

[albionmoonlight]

In early December, my wife got a virus that wasn't flu and wasn't COVID but was "going around" according to the doctor. Lasted a full 10 days with heavy body aches. She said it was the worst non-flu sickness she ever had.

None of the rest of us in the house caught it.

[cuervo72]

I have something, but I've chalked it up to the usual cold with really bad coughing fits, which for me isn't all that out of the ordinary as colds go. Throat gets sore/tickly, or chest does, makes me hack up a lung. At night, mostly. Ready to be done with it.

[Lathum]

In early December, my wife got a virus that wasn't flu and wasn't COVID but was "going around" according to the doctor. Lasted a full 10 days with heavy body aches. She said it was the worst non-flu sickness she ever had.

None of the rest of us in the house caught it.

This happened to a friend. Was in bed almost two weeks.

We spent the holidays in England at my sister in laws. At one point almost everyone was sick and when in public lots of coughing.

[JPhillips]

The honor guard for Carter is impressive AF.

[Lathum]

Trying to explain anything tech related to aging parents is maybe the most frustrating thing in the world.

We had a flight cancelled from London and under EU law we are entitled about $600 compensation. I told my mom I will handle it all, I just need her confirmation number as we booked separately. Between email, text, live chat, and phone she can't figure out how to find it.

[Ghost Econ]

Are The Cars Classic Rock (as it used to be understood) or 80s music? I feel like some 80s music is Classic Rock and The Cars fit into that. But someone like Devo or Television I don't think of as Classic Rock. I feel like all Tom Petty, including 90s Petty, is Classic Rock, but 80s/90s Aerosmith isn't Classic Rock. I also waffle on whether AC/DC is really Classic Rock or 80s rock.

[cuervo72]

New Wave. Which is kind of a gap between those two, I think.

[Ghost Econ]

Yeah, I was thinking new wave, but then Elvis Costello is considered new wave, but I feel like he wouldn't be out of place on a classic rock playlist.

I only ask because I'm still fiddling with my classic rock playlist. It's currently at 1400 songs and is meant to simulate listening to the radio stations from the 80s/90s.

[cuervo72]

I mean, they're 80s too -- their vids were MTV gold -- but you're gonna miss some stuff I think.

[Ksyrup]

I would call a song like Magic quintessential 80s pop/rock, while the 70s and very early 80s stuff is New Wave.