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

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So when my wife was a little girl, this is the house she dreamed of living in. Built in 1847, on 17 acres, only $749,900. Waddya think?

www.zillow.com

95 Brunswick Road, Troy, NY 12180 | Zillow

95 Brunswick Road, Troy NY, is a Single Family home that contains 4256 sq ft and was built in 1847.It contains 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.This home last sold for $636,000 in January 2025. The Zestimate for this Single Family is $640,800, which has decreased by $13,027 in the last 30 days.The...
www.zillow.com www.zillow.com

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Doohickie said:
So when my wife was a little girl, this is the house she dreamed of living in. Built in 1847, on 17 acres, only $749,900. Waddya think?

www.zillow.com

95 Brunswick Road, Troy, NY 12180 | Zillow

95 Brunswick Road, Troy NY, is a Single Family home that contains 4256 sq ft and was built in 1847.It contains 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.This home last sold for $636,000 in January 2025. The Zestimate for this Single Family is $640,800, which has decreased by $13,027 in the last 30 days.The...
www.zillow.com www.zillow.com

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Those stairs look really steep to me.
 
So here we are, the hottest day of the year (so far) and my AC died on me. Ugh. 9:40 pm and it's still 86 degrees out. The house is getting stuffy.
 
And just like that, the AC works again! :D

It was up to 81 in here. The thermostat setting that feels comfortable to us is 74-75; it was up to 81 in here. Uncomfortable sleeping but I slept better than I thought I would.

I have an old friend that does AC, first with his dad and then when his dad retired he hooked up with another local company. I texted him last night, then sent an appointment request through the company's website. He got here just after 9 am and it took him all of 5 minutes to change out a capacitor. I told him with all the capacitors he's changed out for me over the years I should know how to do this myself, but he said... easy for someone who knows what he's doing and he's right; I have no idea what I'd be doing.

The temp is already dropping in here. Nice. :cold:
 
There is a certain kind of podcast that grates.

I am currently listening to a podcast episode about Neil Gaiman's Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett), and the hosts are bantering back and forth about who Gaiman is and how some of his other works are weird. This strikes me odd - the podcast is about books, including children's books and plays. Many books are indeed weird, and don't people seek out "weird" for weird's sake (assuming "weird" is a lay person's nomenclature for identifying something that is different, full of intrigue, inherently mysterious?). Isn't calling out something as "weird" somehow related to one's own inability to come to terms with their own lack? Self-anointed gatekeeping?

I guess this kind of podcast is just two dudes talking, with no kind of education or informed background about the authors, other than what they glean from a live reading of said author's Wikipedia page.
 
Definition of a cold front: Over the last 3 miles of my commute, the temperature dropped from 81 to 64. It's raining pretty good but I got into the office before the downpour.
 
Doohickie said:
So when my wife was a little girl, this is the house she dreamed of living in. Built in 1847, on 17 acres, only $749,900. Waddya think?

www.zillow.com

95 Brunswick Road, Troy, NY 12180 | Zillow

95 Brunswick Road, Troy NY, is a Single Family home that contains 4256 sq ft and was built in 1847.It contains 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.This home last sold for $636,000 in January 2025. The Zestimate for this Single Family is $640,800, which has decreased by $13,027 in the last 30 days.The...
www.zillow.com www.zillow.com

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The average person in the 19th century was like 3 inches shorter than today. I always wonder why they had a fixation about high ceilings.
 
Mine eyes may have seen glory, but right now, they only itch and have crusties in them.
 
Are Catholic church summer socials a big thing in your fair community?
 
Posted on FB by NPS

The mondayest Tuesday everā€¦

Dreading what could be a bear of a week? Feeling like you're constantly playing catch-up? Unbearable. Donā€™t worry, take some time to ease back into work rather than trying to tackle everything at once. You could start the day by tidying up your work area, remembering what you actually do at work, and planning your first break of the day. Basically help your brain get back into work mode.

Did somebody say break? Never hurts to take a much needed paws. Taking regular breaks can help you recharge and stay focused. It can be helpful to step away from for a few minutes to stretch, take a walk, catch a live salmon for lunch, or scroll through the NPS socials. This is your time.

Image: Bear napping upside down at Katmai National Park & Preserve. NPS/ M.

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Happy National Orbisculate Day! This is my third year celebrating it after it was written about in the major Reno newspaper.

A made-up word that definitely needs its own day.

"Orbisculation," with no known etymology that I can see, is what happens when you are eating fruit and juice from it squirts onto your eye.


Jim
 
JNA said:
Are Catholic church summer socials a big thing in your fair community?
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In Buffalo they're called Lawn Fetes and a lot of parishes have them. They have carny rides and usually a beer tent (which is typically the big money maker).
 
michaelskis said:
Because they were.



Funny thing is if you look at pre-colonial houses in the North East, the ceilings were super low to keep the heat low. But if does not get all that hot up there and they had much better ventilation.
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I spoke to someone that owns a home here in Texas that was built pre-AC. He said if he opens the windows and night, then closes them in the morning, the house stays cool-ish; he only has to run the AC a month or two a year. It has architectural features to help that, including high ceilings and large overhangs that shade the windows to keep the sun from shining in.

There is an old Looney Tunes cartoon that takes a humorous look at the typical day of a suburban housewife, and one thing they show her doing is closing all the windows first thing in the morning. That always seemed like an odd thing to me, a kid in Buffalo, but having lived in the southwest it makes sense now.
 
Doohickie said:
I spoke to someone that owns a home here in Texas that was built pre-AC. He said if he opens the windows and night, then closes them in the morning, the house stays cool-ish; he only has to run the AC a month or two a year. It has architectural features to help that, including high ceilings and large overhangs that shade the windows to keep the sun from shining in.

There is an old Looney Tunes cartoon that takes a humorous look at the typical day of a suburban housewife, and one thing they show her doing is closing all the windows first thing in the morning. That always seemed like an odd thing to me, a kid in Buffalo, but having lived in the southwest it makes sense now.
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My mom grew up in Niagara Falls, Ontario, not too far away. I've never been to that area but would love to go.
 
Doohickie said:
In Buffalo they're called Lawn Fetes and a lot of parishes have them. They have carny rides and usually a beer tent (which is typically the big money maker).
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Here in southern Indiana they are festivals and the big money makers are gambling tables and games of chance, as well as prize drawing with a guaranteed $10,000 payout, which I won once and immediately used for catholic HS tuition. (That wasn't any fun, let me tell you...)
 
Last winter a buddy found me an old Trek 830 hybrid mountain bike at Goodwill for like $40. The bike is about 30 years old and other than needing some new brakes was in perfect shape. I've been sans-bike since around 2006 or 2007 when I sold my last one (a Trek 870 from around 2001) with the plan to put the money towards an upgrade but life got in the way and I never bought another.

I've put maybe 30 miles on the bike since I got it, just riding around the neighborhood and to the grocery store, but this past Sunday I got out for a longer ride with that buddy and another friend of his. We did 30 miles early Sunday and I wish we had more time because I wanted to do 30 more. I forgot how nice it was to be out there. I'm looking forward to this week's ride!
 
Someone's stealing my Dr. Pepper out of the fridge so now I need a cruel prank to teach someone a lesson. Maybe get some ghost pepper oil and wipe it on the rim?
 
Faust_Motel said:
I had an 830 in High School! My first "real" bike.

I had a 930 in college whose frame is still with me, as a converted, basketed, fendered neighborhood cruiser that lives behind my shed. I have vague plans of restoring it someday.
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My first "real" bike was an "Excalibur" bike, with swords on the plate, brakes that worked by pushing back on the pedals, and a banana seat. Had that when I was about seven. I remember the day I got the training wheels off . . . some neighborhood girl took them off (also about seven) and I wasn't about to look scared in front of a girl.

I later upgraded to a 10-speed for my paper route, then an 18-speed when I was on the high school cycling team for my 50K's. That same bike is now in the backyard of our home, where it's sat unused for a decade. :-(

Jim
 
DVD said:
Someone's stealing my Dr. Pepper out of the fridge so now I need a cruel prank to teach someone a lesson. Maybe get some ghost pepper oil and wipe it on the rim?
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Put some laxative and/or fiber powder in it.

I've been lucky that in all the jobs I've had over the decades, I've never had one with a lunch thief.

I usually bring all my food for the week in on Monday, and the stash slowly diminishes over the week. Our 2nd floor fridge usually fills up, but there is lots of room on the 6th floor, where the rest of our department is.

Oddly, no fridges at all on the 7th floor, where the break room is. No offices on that floor; just a big break room and some meeting rooms.

Jim
 
Faust_Motel said:
I had an 830 in High School! My first "real" bike.

I had a 930 in college whose frame is still with me, as a converted, basketed, fendered neighborhood cruiser that lives behind my shed. I have vague plans of restoring it someday.
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My first 'real' bike was in 8th grade and a new Trek 820. That was a beaut.

Then I used HS graduation money to buy a new 970 Trek Mtn bike. That was a beauty of high end XT components and cro-moly steel frame.
 
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Stupid FedEx or stupid people in city hall still not getting me the check that should have gone straight to finance anyway. Also, why is finance asking me to figure out when a secondary tax will show up in the city budget? The same time as any new tax...sometime in about two years after they collect one year in arears and then send the money over in September like they do every year. Shouldn't the people that do budgets know that stuff?
 
Buc-eeā€™s to open largest location yet next month in Texas

120 fueling positions
75,000-square-foot store

The new Buc-eeā€™s just barely beats out the current record holder for the largest Buc-eeā€™s store in the world. That title is currently held by the store in Sevierville, Tennessee, which opened in June 2023. At 74,000 square feet large, it is just 1,000 square feet less than the new location in Luling, Texas.
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www.kmvt.com

Opening date announced for the worldā€™s largest Buc-eeā€™s store

The new Buc-eeā€™s in Luling, Texas, will be the largest location in the country, according to a news release.
www.kmvt.com www.kmvt.com
 
mendelman said:
My first 'real' bike was in 8th grade and a new Trek 820. That was a beaut.
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My first MTB was an 820 in 1991. Living and working at the beach it was the preferred transportation. I loved that bike. We lived on the second floor with a great porch and that's where we locked up our bikes. We awoke one night to find someone cutting through our cable locks. We snuck down the back steps and came up the front. There were 2 of them and 2 of us. They had a choice; jump from the 2nd floor or take their ass whipping. Let's just say they did not descend the steps under their own power. Ah, memories.
 
DVD said:
Someone's stealing my Dr. Pepper out of the fridge so now I need a cruel prank to teach someone a lesson. Maybe get some ghost pepper oil and wipe it on the rim?
Click to expand...
Learn to drink them warm and just keep them at your desk. Also, I thought you worked from home.
 
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