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

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Close to 48 hours with no power at our house. Thank goodness they sell hot dogs and cold drinks at the high school football game!

Also... it's our first high school football game with our freshman daughter in the marching band! I've gone all in as a band booster parent and have a t-shirt, hat, and seat cushion for the games this season (and a sweatshirt for once it gets cooler out). Our daughter says both my wife and I are limited to just 1 piece of "spiritwear" each per game. I figure she's not in the stands so she won't see how much we've got on. :actually:
 
^^Don't be that dad. Not cool.
North Carolina Football GIF by UNC Tar Heels
 
  • Haha
Reactions: JNA
WSU MUP Student said:
I figure she's not in the stands so she won't see how much we've got on.
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Here is something to think about...

Grandparents did that last year when the teenager was in the band. Got so embarrassed and avoided them before and after games. Fast forward to today, teenager isn't in band this year (there really is hardly any direct cause and effect at all, the decision boils down to having one's own sense of agency, whatever that means for a teenager). Grandmother got so upset and told the teenager what a big mistake dropping band was and that musically inclined people are smarter (we do let her boil in her own stew of self-inflicted resentment).

This coda is for the grandparents (especially for the outspoken, yet, for some reason, woefully ignorant, grandma):

t.jpg
 
btrage said:
One artist I wish I would've caught live.
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Well I made up for you. I saw him 108 times! I'm listening to Radio Margaritaville today. They had fans vote for the Top 100 Buffett songs (that he wrote or co-wrote) and the countdown is today.

Jimmy in Key West, February 2023. His very last show in Key West and I was there. It will remain one of my most favorite memories.

Jimmy Last Show.png
 
The Man let everyone leave early today and forgot to tell my office. Kinda pissed, if I'm honest ...
Oh My Reaction GIF by Saturday Night Live
 
The final long dissident chord of or piano hitting the back of the junk truck will haunt me forever.
 
Over the weekend the pastor at my church said that crime is a “heart” problem.

I have to disagree.

Crime is a culture problem created by a society that won’t hold others accountable.
 
So many podcasts tell us we can improve our lives by making drastic and sudden changes. The fact that there is so much content out there with that theme tells me there is in audience for that kind of message. And if that’s true, then basically everyone thinks their life is below average, it sucks, or not measuring up. But the good news is that must mean you are not alone, everyone feels the same way. And that’s the kind of podcast we really need, one that says, yeah, actually, you are doing pretty good, keep it up, we are all struggling. We need a podcast that doesn’t tell people to make drastic changes, we need a podcast that says you’re doing all right, you’re okay.
 
It's tough to thoroughly enjoy oneself when one has Monday off as a holiday. Kinda feels like an extended Sunday to me. Like you still get that same feeling of dread as thoughts of work continue to pop into one's head. Anticipation that five days of work will be crammed into four is also off-putting.
 
Maister said:
It's tough to thoroughly enjoy oneself when one has Monday off as a holiday. Kinda feels like an extended Sunday to me. Like you still get that same feeling of dread as thoughts of work continue to pop into one's head. Anticipation that five days of work will be crammed into four is also off-putting.
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No, it's easy to enjoy oneself with a Monday off for a national holiday :beer::solo::scotch::wine: - it's Tuesday at 6:30 AM when the alarm goes off and you're hungover (theoretically speaking) that reality crashes in...
 
Wannaplan? said:
So many podcasts tell us we can improve our lives by making drastic and sudden changes. The fact that there is so much content out there with that theme tells me there is in audience for that kind of message. And if that’s true, then basically everyone thinks their life is below average, it sucks, or not measuring up. But the good news is that must mean you are not alone, everyone feels the same way. And that’s the kind of podcast we really need, one that says, yeah, actually, you are doing pretty good, keep it up, we are all struggling. We need a podcast that doesn’t tell people to make drastic changes, we need a podcast that says you’re doing all right, you’re okay.
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It takes a relatively small number of people to make a podcast successful. If a podcaster has a million subscribers (not uncommon), they're in the black. One million is a fraction of a percent of the US population. So no, that is not everyone. But it is a lot of people, enough to support a podcast.

The secret though is the hook. "Doing okay" when people are struggling is not a strong hook, is it?
 
Bubba said:
No, it's easy to enjoy oneself with a Monday off for a national holiday :beer::solo::scotch::wine: - it's Tuesday at 6:30 AM when the alarm goes off and you're hungover (theoretically speaking) that reality crashes in...
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I decided to ride with the Night Riders for the first time in ages this Sunday. With the next day off I didn't have to worry about dragging my butt outta bed Monday morning. Just shy of the meetup point, I rode into a deluge. I ran under a covered loading dock until it moved through. Was able to meet up with the group and we had a fun, if soggy, ride.

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Our electricity finally came back on early early Saturday morning, some 85+ hours after it went out. :mad:

I could watch the map and numbers on the local utility provider website showing where the outages were and how many were left. Right after the storm came through, there were about 300,000 homes/businesses without power (about 10% of their customers). By the time I went to bed on Friday night, we were down to about 4,000 without power across the region... including our neighborhood. I went for a walk after I got up on Saturday and our power had been on for a few hours by then but half of our neighborhood still had nothing until around lunchtime.
 
I'm really discombobulated. It's Tuesday but my mind is in its Monday routine. There's usually a team tagup meeting Monday morning but there isn't one today cuz it's Tuesday. Stuff like that. Gah.
 
MD Planner said:
Well I made up for you. I saw him 108 times! I'm listening to Radio Margaritaville today. They had fans vote for the Top 100 Buffett songs (that he wrote or co-wrote) and the countdown is today.

Jimmy in Key West, February 2023. His very last show in Key West and I was there. It will remain one of my most favorite memories.

View attachment 63208
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I just never got the appeal of Jimmy Buffett. I mean, he's okay but I just don't see him as especially great compared to other artists. Maybe cuz I'm not into the beach lifestyle? I dunno.
 
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Doohickie said:
I may have mentioned it a while ago, but the office where I work is consolidating from 2 buildings to 1 and they'll let the lease expire on the other building. They moved my stuff yesterday. I worked from home and avoided the whole mess. I came in this morning, walked over to my new office, dropped in my laptop and boom, everything works. Nice.

The old building had 3-foot high cube walls; the new digs have 6-foot high, which helps attenuate the sound. On the other hand, the old building was pretty much empty, so unless The Loud Guy was there it wasn't too bad. I think I'll have to get used to the constant of buzz of low level conversation. If all else fails, I still have my earbuds.

I am looking forward to more face-to-face collaboration.
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More New Building Benefits:
  • I'm closer to the break room (fridge, microwave).
  • I'm closer to the restroom, and it's generously sized. The nearest restroom in the old building had 3 urinals and 1 stall. The new office is just off the building lobby and the nearest restroom has literally 20 stalls or more.
  • My cube is probably 1.5 larger than the one in the old building.
  • Windows! Although I have these 6 foot high cube walls, if I prairie dog I can actually look over the next 5 cubes and see natural daylight outside. There were windows in the old building, but they just looked out into the hallway.
 
Doohickie said:
More New Building Benefits:
  • I'm closer to the restroom, and it's generously sized. The nearest restroom in the old building had 3 urinals and 1 stall. The new office is just off the building lobby and the nearest restroom has literally 20 stalls or more.
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And that leads to...please, for the love of all that is good in this world, please put in dividers between urinals. Just common sense.
 
SlaveToTheGrind said:
And that leads to...please, for the love of all that is good in this world, please put in dividers between urinals. Just common sense.
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Bashful kidney, eh?

Both buildings have separators between urinals. It was really just that, if you needed the stall in the other building and someone was in there, you had to hike to the next one.
 
Doohickie said:
I just never got the appeal of Jimmy Buffet. I mean, he's okay but I just don't see him as especially great compared to other artists. Maybe cuz I'm not into the beach lifestyle? I dunno.
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Well first of all, it's Buffett, with two "t's". I understand where you're coming from but not everything he did was about the beach. He was quite the songwriter and many of his songs are very deep and contemplative. Any plenty of silly and fun ones too. I think one of the many impressive things about Jimmy was how creative and prolific he was. He was constantly working and making new music. You can't really say that about very many of the "legacy" acts. But to each his/her own.
 
I have to agree, Jimmy had a romantic heart, but that sense of fun too. Some songs hit you, others are just songs. If it isn't for you than ceis la vie.
 
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