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RTDNTOTO 🐻 Random Thoughts Deserving No Thread Of Their Own 19 (2024)

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fringe said:
The shell coated ones reward you for effort plus they are salted. Bought a bag of shelled ones and they were insipid, maybe just for making ice cream.
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They are my go to snack now. The shelled ones are beyond bland. They have them in different flavors.
 
I was talking to one of my HS classmates. It appears that we are going from the Breakfast Club to the Grand Parents Club.
 
TOFB said:
In other news, my interview has been postponed. The weather is just ridiculous right now.
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In case I missed your previous posting - Interview for what - your music or going back to work or something else ?
 
JNA said:
In case I missed your previous posting - Interview for what - your music or going back to work or something else ?
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https://www.commonchordqc.org/

Working mostly on venue/special event management and summer music camps (rock camp). Just part-time. Don't tell them but I would consider doing it as a volunteer as well. Zero interest in planning at any level, at least right now.
 
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Look at all you geography nerds! I was one of the cool kids in undergrad - economics and public policy major!


Re: Nuts with shells

My youngest for some reason really wanted a nutcracker for Christmas. Not a fancy decorative one but a little handheld one that she can use to crack nuts. I found one at the grocery store shaped like a squirrel. It does a meh job but she gets a kick out of cracking her own walnuts. She had a few friends over during the holiday break and they all seemed really intrigued, for a few minutes anyway, by the process of opening up their own nuts for a snack.

We actually eat a lot of nuts in this house but for the most part, I think I'll stick to just buying the pre-shelled ones. But I will say that the little tray of various nuts we've left out on the counter with the nutcracker since Christmas does remind me of my childhood. My parents ALWAYS had a big tray of nuts out to choose from from about Thanksgiving until the end of winter.


No snow on our side of the state yet but we're supposed to get between 3" and 6" last I checked. However, the temp keeps going up and it doesn't particularly feel like snow out there. I'm thinking we end up with about 0" and just some wind and rain. I would like to get some snow though so that I can take the youngest over to the golf course to do some sledding. We didn't get to do any last year.
 
WTH is going on -

Florida school district pulls dictionaries and encyclopedias as part of "inappropriate" content review
www.cbsnews.com

Florida school district pulls dictionaries and encyclopedias as part of "inappropriate" content review

The dictionaries and encyclopedias are being reviewed based on state legislation that says schools may not have books that depict or describe "sexual conduct" or are "inappropriate."
www.cbsnews.com www.cbsnews.com

Banned book list
pen.org

More than 1,600 books banned in Escambia County, Florida - PEN America

Five dictionaries are on Escambia County's list of more than 1,600 books banned pending investigation in December 2023, along with eight different encyclopedias, The Guinness Book of World Records, and Ripley’s Believe it or Not.
pen.org pen.org
 
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BA in History here with a minor in Geography. Apparently, my geography professor was one of the few experts in Afghan geography right at the time the Soviets invaded that country and was in high demand in DC. We had some interesting discussions in his class.
 
TOFB said:
Late in my career, I became interested in the anthropological impacts on urban planning.

In other news, my interview has been postponed. The weather is just ridiculous right now.
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I had a pair of urban sociology courses that were, SO cool. So so cool.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
Look at all you geography nerds! I was one of the cool kids in undergrad - economics and public policy major!


Re: Nuts with shells

My youngest for some reason really wanted a nutcracker for Christmas. Not a fancy decorative one but a little handheld one that she can use to crack nuts. I found one at the grocery store shaped like a squirrel. It does a meh job but she gets a kick out of cracking her own walnuts. She had a few friends over during the holiday break and they all seemed really intrigued, for a few minutes anyway, by the process of opening up their own nuts for a snack.

We actually eat a lot of nuts in this house but for the most part, I think I'll stick to just buying the pre-shelled ones. But I will say that the little tray of various nuts we've left out on the counter with the nutcracker since Christmas does remind me of my childhood. My parents ALWAYS had a big tray of nuts out to choose from from about Thanksgiving until the end of winter.


No snow on our side of the state yet but we're supposed to get between 3" and 6" last I checked. However, the temp keeps going up and it doesn't particularly feel like snow out there. I'm thinking we end up with about 0" and just some wind and rain. I would like to get some snow though so that I can take the youngest over to the golf course to do some sledding. We didn't get to do any last year.
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Re nuts and history, not many here remember Reagan's "Iran-Contra" scandal where by Israel sold weapons to Iran for its war with Iraq. Money made by Israel was smuggled by US to fund right wing insurgents fighting socialist Nicaragua, which had overthrown a brutal right wing dictator there. Iran paid in large part for the weapons with pistachio nuts, which suddenly became plentiful and cheap for a while.
 
^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

Enter the horrifying reality that you may be considering..........door dash. What will you get, I wonder?

Did I ever tell you that when I was a pharmaceutical rep in training I was at the Beverly Hills Hilton. I was still super-religious at that time, so while all the other reps went out carousing, I went back to my hotel room, called my fam, studied, and ordered room service on my per diem. Every night for three nights: big ole steak sandwich with some fries, two cokes, and a pint of whatever Ben and Jerry's he had in that day. It was like...a vacation. I was working out then and not yet thirty, too, so I could get away with it.

I feel all warm inside just thinking about it. :)
 
Never had delivery, dont have any of the apps for it, never used my smart phone to charge anything.
 
JNA said:
Never had delivery, dont have any of the apps for it, never used my smart phone to charge anything.
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GIF by Giphy QA
 
My wife gets lots of compliments on her big, beautiful diamond ring.

She loves telling people she got it from Temu for a dollar.
 
Another definition of rugged - any utility lineman out in this weather on an emergency call.

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How do expect a higher post count than last year if you take the weekend & holiday off ?

Talk about being slackers.
 
My BS is in Geography - Natural Environmental Systems. Basically physical geography with a bunch of cross listed geology courses. Not much on the social geography. My unfinished MS was also in Geography, with an emphasis on soil science and hydrogeology. Unfinished because I went through a divorce and had to get a real job. Put my GIS skills to work and haven't really looked back, except that now I do more IT than GIS. In my last job at a water district, I became a certified public water operator. I can officially run a class c water plant.
 
I admit I am not a car person. But at this point, I should have been one, as my tires should have been replaced 5,000 miles ago, and this snowstorm is making me less than confident in my car's ability to get me places safely. Turns out bald tires do poorly on ice...

Guess I will call the dealership and get some new tires. :broken:
 
Hink said:
I admit I am not a car person. But at this point, I should have been one, as my tires should have been replaced 5,000 miles ago, and this snowstorm is making me less than confident in my car's ability to get me places safely. Turns out bald tires do poorly on ice...

Guess I will call the dealership and get some new tires. :broken:
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NOBODY buys tires from a dealer. Head down to your local tire shop or order them online and pay to have them mounted. DO NOT go to a dealer.
 
Gedunker said:
NOBODY buys tires from a dealer. Head down to your local tire shop or order them online and pay to have them mounted. DO NOT go to a dealer.
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I bought a set of tires at a dealer once. It was surprisingly competitive with what I would have paid at a tire shop.
 
michaelskis said:
I don't want to go out for dinner, but I don't want to cook either.
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Cereal is my go to dinner option of choice when we don't want to go out (or get take out) or cook. I used to love having cereal for dinner when I was a kid. My kids on the other hand are never into it, though I will say they just aren't as in to cereal in general as I was as a kid, no matter what type of cereal is on offer.

FWIW, we've never done DoorDash or Uber Eats or any of those delivery services.

Gedunker said:
NOBODY buys tires from a dealer. Head down to your local tire shop or order them online and pay to have them mounted. DO NOT go to a dealer.
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The last few sets of tires I've gotten, I got from my dealership. They match prices (and a couple times have beaten the prices) with the local shops and the big online retailers. They offer all the same perks as the local places (free rotations for life, free patching if I need it, etc.), plus, with the dealership, I'll actually use the free rotations since I am in the occasionally for my free oil changes.

If you don't want to go to your dealership and you are a CostCo member (I am not), I've heard from a bunch of people that they generally have the best prices for tires.
 
Last Friday:
Mrs. P has to drive 5 hours to another facility on Monday.
There's some weather coming in.
Mrs. P says that she remembered me telling her awhile back to get tires for her car.
Mrs. P asks if I can get her tires. I'm in class all day so I don't know.
I call local tire shop, they have size in stock. pull off some fancy moves to get her car there.
Mrs. P's car has new tires for her trip yesterday.
 
Costco has great prices, but they won't do my car because I have spacers on the back wheel.
 
My cousin worked in the tire industry for 40 years. He told me that cheap tires and costly tires are about the same quality.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
If you don't want to go to your dealership and you are a CostCo member (I am not), I've heard from a bunch of people that they generally have the best prices for tires.
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Wait. We are going to fly right by the fact that you are NOT a CostCo member? It's not safe to work in planning and also NOT have a CostCo membership, you know that right? Both things are generally viewed as two of the three parts of being a communist in many parts of the country. The third box can be checked by many things (pride flags, voting records, going to libraries, not owning a boat, etc.) so you have to be careful. Constant Vigilance!

Go get a CostCo membership this coming weekend, Two-Strikes, I don't want to see you hurt.


:)
 
I don't have a Costco membership. Tje nearest is 15 miles away, pretty close to Pittsburgh. I used to have a Sam's membership, but let it lapse when I no longer needed drums of breakfast cereal.
 
On Friday, we did several different toss in the oven meals from the local grocery store for dinner. So while it was cooking, it wasn't really cooking.

Unrelated, someone should have prepped this kid before the interview:
www.uppermichiganssource.com

137th Annual Ski Jumping Tournament

www.uppermichiganssource.com www.uppermichiganssource.com
 
Went to Sam's on Sunday for the first time in a few years. What an f-ing clusterf**k! Very crowded on every aisle & (trying) going both ways. Mrs. P called me grumpy in the first 10 minutes. She became the same way over the next hour we were there.
 
kms said:
I don't have a Costco membership. Tje nearest is 15 miles away, pretty close to Pittsburgh. I used to have a Sam's membership, but let it lapse when I no longer needed drums of breakfast cereal.
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We have a Costco and a Sam's both about 3 miles away. We switched over to Costco about 20 years ago when they first moved into the area. We get the membership that gives you a percentage back. It costs $125 I think for a family membership, and we usually get an annual "check" (payable only at Costco) for right around that same amount, so it's free, more or less. If we make a major purchase (such as tires for my wife's car this year), it usually bumps it up enough that they're actually paying for the membership.

My biweekly provisioning trip is typically Pet Supplies Plus, then Costco, then Sprouts, then Albertson's.
 
My entertainment for the morning. We have ducks visiting our backyard. So I threw some corn just outside the sliding glass door. The ducks came up happily...corn...corn...corn...corn...CAT!!! The cat was so happy watching the ducks and is so proud that he scared them back to the pool.
 
ursus said:
Wait. We are going to fly right by the fact that you are NOT a CostCo member? It's not safe to work in planning and also NOT have a CostCo membership, you know that right? Both things are generally viewed as two of the three parts of being a communist in many parts of the country. The third box can be checked by many things (pride flags, voting records, going to libraries, not owning a boat, etc.) so you have to be careful. Constant Vigilance!

Go get a CostCo membership this coming weekend, Two-Strikes, I don't want to see you hurt.


:)
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In true planner fashion, we do probably 90% of our grocery shopping at a locally-owned store that we can walk to. We used to do most of our shopping at a nearby outpost of Midwestern grocery conglomerate Kroger (that we can also walk to) but the store has gotten so bad in the past 5 or 6 years that we've basically weened ourselves off if it except for canned goods or pantry staples.

FWIW, I've never actually been into a CostCo and I'm sure I could make it worth our while but I really just like being able to do all of our shopping within a few blocks of our house rather than needing to drive 5 or 6 miles and dealing with all the traffic.
 
Like @WSU MUP Student we do the vast majority of our shopping at a local market and a few other places mostly in the neighbourhood - yes it is definitely more expensive but I like supporting the local places...the Canadian grocery hegemony is something else, I would love something like Aldi to open up here.

When we rent a car/do carshare we'll do a big shop for pantry staples, and heavy/bulky stuff. Occasionally when the in-laws are doing a Costco run we will get a few things through them (multivitamins, TP, protein bars).
 
dandy_warhol said:
Shout out to the Austrian innkeeper who told me not to worry about having a shot of Schnapps after dinner because it was only 35% alcohol. 😳
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The tailor I used to go to before he retired a few years ago was from Austria and would always offer me a shot of schnapps when I went in there. I always liked the peppermint one he had but he usually had a cherry schnapps that was always very good too.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
In true planner fashion, we do probably 90% of our grocery shopping at a locally-owned store that we can walk to. We used to do most of our shopping at a nearby outpost of Midwestern grocery conglomerate Kroger (that we can also walk to) but the store has gotten so bad in the past 5 or 6 years that we've basically weened ourselves off if it except for canned goods or pantry staples.

FWIW, I've never actually been into a CostCo and I'm sure I could make it worth our while but I really just like being able to do all of our shopping within a few blocks of our house rather than needing to drive 5 or 6 miles and dealing with all the traffic.
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You would not survive in Phoenix. It's definitely a car town and 5-6 miles is down the road for us. Costco is about 5 miles. Walmart just 1 and my local Kroger affiliate store is within a mile, but most things you drive a couple miles to get there. Granted we have an amazing arterial grid so it's not to bad.
 
TOFB said:
I'm not going to drive four miles to Costco when Aldi is four blocks.
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My Aldi is half a mile away. A 10-minute walk, a little longer when I wheel my old lady shopping cart.

I was going to say "lucky you" for being 4 blocks away, but I realized that you have sub-zero weather, snow storms, and lotsa snow.
For whatever reason, we Gothamists hardly ever get that anymore...
 
Planit said:
Went to Sam's on Sunday for the first time in a few years. What an f-ing clusterf**k! Very crowded on every aisle & (trying) going both ways. Mrs. P called me grumpy in the first 10 minutes. She became the same way over the next hour we were there.
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Get the app if you don't have it. Scan and Go is the only way I'll go to Sam's now. It saves SO much time.
 
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