• Cyburbia is a friendly big tent, where we share our experiences and thoughts about urban planning practice, the built environment, planning adjacent topics, and anything else that comes to mind. No ads, no spam, and it's free. It's easy to join!

RTDNTOTO šŸ» Random Thoughts Deserving No Thread Of Their Own 19 (2024)

Status
Not open for further replies.
JNA said:
Seasonal question -

Your fair community Christmas Tree - is it a live cut down or artificial ?
Click to expand...

We have a big fake tree in the park in the center of downtown. When we first moved here, they had been decorating a real tree off to the side of the park. I believe it was a "Scots Pine" and it was hideously lopsided with tons of bare spots in it. It's limbs were very straight and spaced out perfectly that it was an attractive place for kids to climb and it would not be uncommon to be sitting in the park and to look over and see a couple 10-year-olds 20-some feet up in there are. No matter how many lower branches the city trimmed from the tree, kids kept finding a way to hoist themselves up so they city cut it down about a decade ago.

Doohickie said:
Looks real to me.

View attachment 63819

The Fort Worth tree came from Cadillac, Michigan. At 82 feet, it's the tallest Christmas tree in Texas.
Click to expand...

So it's the Cadillac of Christmas trees?


Also on the topic of Christmas trees... we got our first real one ever this past weekend. We still have our fake tree up in the living room but my wife wanted to start getting a real one to put in either the dining room or the family room. We had brunch with her parents on Sunday and then stopped at a tree farm out near them. Our kids liked that we could drive the Jeep way out into the fields and through some ditches to get as close to the trees as we wanted. Once we were out there, we hiked around for a while looking at the various trees. Either of the rooms we were going to put the tree in could easily accommodate something like a 15' tree and I sort of wanted to get something around 10' but we told the kids that as long as they could agree on a tree, they could be in charge of picking it out. They kept going for trees that were barely 4' tall and were all really bare... I think they had visions of the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree dancing around in their heads. I kept having to come up with excuses about how crooked the trunks were. They finally settled on something just about 6' that at least I can say is very symmetrical. Once we got it home and put up the first thing they each said was, "It's a little small!" :rofl:
 
jumbach said:
I actually use mechanical pencils to write about 90% of the time. They never need to be sharpened, and, like you, I enjoy the feel of it.

Jim
Click to expand...
That is mostly what I used in high school and college along with the separate retractable eraser. Had a #2 swimming in my desk drawer and thought, why not?
 
Took a day off and now I have to pay for it with all the extra emails.
 
I am trying to decide if I like the web version of Microsoft Outlook (In the Microsoft365 Platform) or the computer app. What do you use?

(and yes, I will laugh if you still use AOL)
 
I left the house early today because of snow, I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get in, and I sometimes stop at a local general store to grab a breakfast sandwich if there isn't any food in my house which I did this morning - it's a couple that owns it who I have known since we moved up here 24 years ago - the husband is very quiet and civil, so if he's there, you can get in and out pretty easily and be on your way - so today, it's his wife, who I love - we have some great poignant conversations over the years and though our kids aren't friends, we remain connected - but today, I really wanted to be in and out because of the snow, but somehow we started talking about how rushed and busy people are and for what - on the outside, I am engaged completely in this conversation but on the inside, ironically, I am flippin dying to get out of there with my egg and ham and cheese, slowly walking backward to the door while engaging in a deep discussion on the failure of busy-ness

not sure what the point is to this post but it was a weird start to the day with such an ironic dialogue
 
Writing? People still do that?
michaelskis said:
I am trying to decide if I like the web version of Microsoft Outlook (In the Microsoft365 Platform) or the computer app. What do you use?

(and yes, I will laugh if you still use AOL)
Click to expand...
AOL? Backup is Compuserve? AOL is still around? Explain for the computer illiterate.
 
michaelskis said:
I am trying to decide if I like the web version of Microsoft Outlook (In the Microsoft365 Platform) or the computer app. What do you use?

(and yes, I will laugh if you still use AOL)
Click to expand...

I have access to both at work and prefer the computer desktop app version as opposed to the web version. I primarily like the desktop app version because it's closest to what I've always used. I rarely use the web version but your question inspired me to open it up and check it out again and it does appear that they've made the web version look a bit more like the desktop app version since the last time I logged in (which was probably at least 2 years ago).

FWIW, our IT department has been trying to gently nudge us towards the web versions of the Office programs over the past few years. I know a lot of folks in our office now primarily use Excel and Word and Outlook in SharePoint but I'm probably going to be one of those final folks that only begins using them all once the desktop versions go away completely.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
FWIW, our IT department has been trying to gently nudge us towards the web versions of the Office programs over the past few years. I know a lot of folks in our office now primarily use Excel and Word and Outlook in SharePoint but I'm probably going to be one of those final folks that only begins using them all once the desktop versions go away completely.
Click to expand...

It is the same way here.
 
I have the same set up as WSU. I prefer the desktop versions and I'm not liking sharepoint yet. Maybe I just need to use it more.
 
JNA said:
Seasonal question -

Your fair community Christmas Tree - is it a live cut down or artificial ?
Click to expand...
Just got a new fake tree. It's 72 feet tall. Very pretty, but its a bit too perfect of a cone for me.
Tallest-Christmas-Tree-in-Alabama-1.jpg
 
dw914er said:
I think it's pretty terrible to see so many people celebrating murder. No one here is the judge of who deserves to live or die. That's the job is the AI algorithm the insurance company designed to maximize profits on your health.

I'm fairly neutral on the whole affair. Murder is bad. The tactics united healthcare did is also bad and resulted in many deaths. The healthcare system needs more improvements, and two wrongs do not make a right.
Click to expand...

Come on god, answer me. for years I'm asking why, why are the innocent dead and the guilty alive? Where is justice? Where is punishment? Or have you already answered, have you already said to the world here is justice, here is punishment, here, in me

.
the punisher marvel GIF by NETFLIX
 
Last edited:
Bold dates indicate as of today we need to do better in our Random Thought postings


1K2K3K4K5K6K7K8K9K10K11K12K
#19 - 202402-1403-2805-2307-1909-3012-02
#18 - 202302-1204-2506-2609-2611-0812-286,585
#17 - 202201-1902-1603-3105-1106-1607-2609-1411-0812-1612-3110,297
#16 - 202102-1103-3105-1907-1609-0710-1811-1912-1012-2212-2812-2912-3112,744
#15 - 202001-2703-1005-1207-2309-1611-1112-2812-3112-319,375
#14 - 201902-1204-0505-2407-1508-3010-1712-0512-2412-319,484
#13 - 201803-1605-3108-1011-0512-315,115
#12 - 201702-2805-2308-2411-2812-295,096
#11 - 201602-0903-2305-1207-0108-1810-1212-0712-318,072
#10 - 201502-0604-0606-1508-1410-0111-2912-3012-3112-319,570
# 9 -- 201401-3103-1205-2108-0910-2112-1112-3012-3112-319,291
# 8 -- 201301-1802-1203-2204-2205-1706-2007-3009-1611-1312-1912-3112-3112,050
# 7 -- 201202-2305-1207-1009-1211-0612-0612-2812-3112-319,327
# 6 -- 201102-2504-1205-2606-3008-1010-0512-0512-318,041
# 5 -- 201003-0405-0907-2609-2211-245,563
# 4 -- 200902-1904-2407-1310-0712-315,004
# 3 -- 200804-0407-0709-2312-224,085
# 2 -- 200703-1005-1907-2410-114,862
# 1 --2004-2007
Original		13,142
 
Spotify has me under its thumb:

img_7780-jpeg.2293875


img_7777-png.2293877


Also... Thereā€™s a new yacht rock ā€œdockumentaryā€ on HBO that just came out. I never realized until watch that this past weekend how big Christopher Cross was when his first album came out. And he definitely was not the slickest or most photogenic pop star so he sort of disappeared after MTV blew up. Hopefully he earned a little bit of royalties from the 621 times I listened to Ride Like the Wind this year.
 

Remember Oingo Boingo? How about Danny Elfman? Yeah, the same Danny Elfman that appears on the musical credits of many major Hollywood films got his start performing in the band Oingo Boingo in the 80s.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
Spotify has me under its thumb:

img_7780-jpeg.2293875


img_7777-png.2293877


Also... Thereā€™s a new yacht rock ā€œdockumentaryā€ on HBO that just came out. I never realized until watch that this past weekend how big Christopher Cross was when his first album came out. And he definitely was not the slickest or most photogenic pop star so he sort of disappeared after MTV blew up. Hopefully he earned a little bit of royalties from the 621 times I listened to Ride Like the Wind this year.
Click to expand...
I love how Biggie slides into your top 5 with the classic rock/folk guys.

When I checked my Apple Music 2024 list, my two most listened to genres were country and hip hop. I have such a weird mix of songs I love.
 
To all the Women of Cyburbia

1733875322716.png

Euphorbia pulcherrima AKA poinsettia
 
btrage said:
I love how Biggie slides into your top 5 with the classic rock/folk guys.

When I checked my Apple Music 2024 list, my two most listened to genres were country and hip hop. I have such a weird mix of songs I love.
Click to expand...

I listen to a lot of classic rock and folkier stuff around the house or office because it's generally pretty inoffensive and then mix in a lot of hip-hop when I'm working out and running. I download Spotify playlists of primarily hip-hop on to my Garmin watch and listen to those when I am running but even after I reconnect my watch to the internet, Spotify does not register that those songs have been played for x hours or y number of times. So my wrapped numbers actually greatly undercount the amount of hip-hop I listen to. If things were more accurately counted, there would probably be a lot of Big Tymers, Three 6 Mafia, DMX, Kendrick Lamar, and Lil' Wayne in my top songs/artists.

SlaveToTheGrind said:
Don't know how to get that exact graphic but I did see this:
View attachment 63844
Click to expand...

I love that Green Grass and High Tides song - one of my favorites to tell Spotify to build a playlist from.
 
Maister said:
Admit it, the Tokyo cat looks guilty of something. And in true cat manner, not at all regretful or sorry for his actions.
Click to expand...
But he's just a victim of his circumstances. He's redeemable.

The kitten is a born psychopath. He hides in plain sight and you never see it coming.

 
Last edited:
Doohickie said:
So what's your favorite band and why is it the Outlaws?
Click to expand...
Ha! I have been using Spotify for a some time and either listen to full albums or selected songs. The Outlaws and many of the others on that list are just favorie songs selected. I don't necessarily listen to full albums of those artists. Some, yes. I don't select many from albums I listen to front to back. Outlaws just happened to be the first I selected to start my list so it was played often. Probably have a few hundred I follow and a favorites list of over 100 songs. Top 3 in my book are The Who, Iron Maiden, and Led Zeppelin.
 
I looked at my spottily wrapped. My results were skewed due to me leaving my phone unlocked around my brother. I don't think that I listened to Fariden's "Used to be a Ho" once much less 46 times. I deserved it as I did the same to him last year with Aqua's "Barbie Girl".
 
I returned a call this morning and the message ended with "...leave a message after the "whooo." Sadly, it wasn't Rick Flair that I was calling.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: JNA
The vacant house across the street from us finally closed escrow yesterday, and I now know the new owners' names. When is too early to Facebook-stock them to learn about them?

Jim
 
jumbach said:
The vacant house across the street from us finally closed escrow yesterday, and I now know the new owners' names. When is too early to Facebook-stock them to learn about them?

Jim
Click to expand...
Now is good, just don't accidentally like any of their pictures or post.
 
jumbach said:
The vacant house across the street from us finally closed escrow yesterday, and I now know the new owners' names. When is too early to Facebook-stock them to learn about them?

Jim
Click to expand...

Big Owl said:
Now is good, just don't accidentally like any of their pictures or post.
Click to expand...

Unless it's one of the wife's pics from 2015 or so and you want to stir up some drama.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top