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RTDNTOTO 🐻 Random Thoughts Deserving No Thread Of Their Own 19 (2024)
- Thread starter Doohickie
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And a couch long enough for a tall person to lay completely flat.
Has to be about 6.5-7 feet long between arms.
I've had a couple in my time as a full grown 6'-1" tall person and its glorious.
@SlaveToTheGrind @ursus @Suburb Repairman @DVD
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SlaveToTheGrind
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Ah, the old reliable Honeywell thermostat. Both houses we built, I immediately changed the awful thermostats the builder installed with the Honeywell. We now have a smart thermostat but the Honeywell was nice to have.
Faust_Motel
Cyburbian
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Yep- my "smart" thermostat is so picky about the batteries I put in it it's nearly useless. Gimme a knob and a mercury switch.
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By the time we owned this house, this thermostat was nonfunctional, but a previous owner didn't remove it.
We had a decent digital 'dumb' thermostat in a better location in the house. This change was done when the previous owner changed the heating system from baseboard hot water to forced air with AC.
The house is a ~1,700sqft ranch with a full unfinished basement so the heating system change was presumably pretty easy.
michaelskis
Cyburbian
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The google video of their year in review is really good. Makes me wonder what will happen next year.
DVD
Cyburbian
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There's that one day in January or February that it actually gets down to freezing and if I'm actually awake it's nice to be warm. Otherwise, yes, we run around naked spraying ourselves with water.I just assumed that in your part of the world people basically just had to wander around naked with misters and water bottles to stay alive. It's good to challenge assumptions. You've broadened my world this morning.
bureaucrat#3
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ursus
Cyburbian, raised by Cyburbians
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That's wise. It's the end of the year. Don't look for a lot of meaning and purpose: Just get naked and spray yourself with something.
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MD Planner
Cyburbian
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Well, I'm pretty much out of here until January 2nd. So . . . .
michaelskis
Cyburbian
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I went home for lunch and some guy was standing on my sidewalk, looking at my house, talking on the phone. He had a construction van parked next to the curb and when I pulled into the driveway, he appeared to panic, got into his vehicle and quickly drove off.
We have a security system with multiple cameras and a dog, so it does not give me much worry.
We have a security system with multiple cameras and a dog, so it does not give me much worry.
Party is over for Party City, closing all US stores.
Employees at the Reno location here were called this morning and told not to come in at all.
Honestly, I can't say I'll miss it. We like to party (like the Vengaboyz), but I never really found much of what I needed at that store I couldn't find elsewhere.
www.newsweek.com
Employees at the Reno location here were called this morning and told not to come in at all.
Honestly, I can't say I'll miss it. We like to party (like the Vengaboyz), but I never really found much of what I needed at that store I couldn't find elsewhere.
Party City abruptly shutting down all stores: What we know
Party City's CEO announced at a meeting Friday it is shutting down all stores, a day after Big Lots announced closing sales.
www.newsweek.com
Yep, we were supposed to keep one Big!Lots here with the rest closing, but as of last weekend they had the closing banners up.
Well, as concerning as that is, if he was standing on public property, he was within his rights.
I got snapped at once for taking a picture of a bird in a tree in someone's front yard. She made me erase the picture. (Which I did, after I e-mailed it to myself.) It was zoomed in and you couldn't even see anything but the bird and the branch and a bit of sky. I maintain I did nothing wrong.
Jim
I wonder if he mistakenly got your address somehow for a interior job, saw nobody was home, and was calling the office to verify the address. That's the most plausible scenario.
Jim
michaelskis
Cyburbian
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It is a shame that he took of so quickly. I have some work that I need to get done and was going to ask him for a quote.
Here’s a rerun of my 2021 Christmas column for all the Cyburbians out there. Enjoy!
Standing On My Head
December 22, 2021
Copyright (C) 2021 James D. Umbach. All rights reserved. Not for distribution.
RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE
“We need a little Christmas, right this very minute,” says the classic Christmas favorite. But do we really need a little Christmas? Right now? Why not wait until Your Columnist has had his coffee? Or read his paper? Do we really need carols on the spinet? And what the heck IS a spinet, anyway?
“Spinet” is one of those terms that you never really hear outside of Christmastime, like “figgy pudding,” Whatever “figgy pudding” is, it doesn’t sound very appetizing, and I wish those carolers would leave, despite their singing that they won’t leave until the get some. Caroling is fun, but if you are going to stand there until you get some, you are going to have a very long wait.
For that matter, when was the last time outside of Christmas time that you heard the word “coursers?” I had always thought that it was related to the word “courier,” and indeed it is: the word “courser” in this context means “one who courses,” with the very “course” meaning “To proceed or move swiftly along a specified course.” Upon some digging in my dictionary, it turns out that the words are, in fact, both derived from the common Latin root, “currerre,” meaning “to run.”
So, where was I? Oh, yes: a spinet. A spinet is a small instrument similar to a piano or harpsichord, so “carols on the spinet” would refer to tunes played on a small piano. And, “carols on the spinet” sounds a lot better as a rhyme than “carols on the piano” and “right this very minute.”
While we are at it, how in the world does one dance “the new old-fashioned way?” What in the world is that supposed to mean? Is it a new dance, or an old dance? Is it more like a Dougie or a Charleston? I have no idea.
Apparently we are all supposed to pretend that the snowman is Parson Brown. But, in order to do so, I need to know who Parson Brown is. My guess had always been that Parson Brown somehow refers to a church official (as in “parsonage,” a home often found on church grounds). My dictionary confirms that: “parson” originally referred to an official in the Anglican church, and still does today, but it also has wider meaning to represent the leader of any congregation, even if that is not an official title. Be that as it may, whomever the snowman is pretending to be—Parson Brown, Pastor Bob, or Father Mitchell—he needs to hurry up and get us married while he’s in town. It likely won’t be legal once the folks down at the county courthouse find out that a snowman officiated, but that’s not my problem. Maybe that’s why the snowman ran right past the traffic cop.
Finally, speaking of being a child, do you know how many years I heard a certain song and sang it as “Please Mom and Dad,” wondering why those words made no sense at all? Until the year I figured out that the line is “Feliz Navidad,” Spanish for “Merry Christmas.” Now that makes a lot more sense.
However you say it, Feliz Navidad, Mele Kalikimaka, Frohe Weihnachten, and Merry Christmas.
Standing On My Head
December 22, 2021
Copyright (C) 2021 James D. Umbach. All rights reserved. Not for distribution.
RIGHT THIS VERY MINUTE
“We need a little Christmas, right this very minute,” says the classic Christmas favorite. But do we really need a little Christmas? Right now? Why not wait until Your Columnist has had his coffee? Or read his paper? Do we really need carols on the spinet? And what the heck IS a spinet, anyway?
“Spinet” is one of those terms that you never really hear outside of Christmastime, like “figgy pudding,” Whatever “figgy pudding” is, it doesn’t sound very appetizing, and I wish those carolers would leave, despite their singing that they won’t leave until the get some. Caroling is fun, but if you are going to stand there until you get some, you are going to have a very long wait.
For that matter, when was the last time outside of Christmas time that you heard the word “coursers?” I had always thought that it was related to the word “courier,” and indeed it is: the word “courser” in this context means “one who courses,” with the very “course” meaning “To proceed or move swiftly along a specified course.” Upon some digging in my dictionary, it turns out that the words are, in fact, both derived from the common Latin root, “currerre,” meaning “to run.”
So, where was I? Oh, yes: a spinet. A spinet is a small instrument similar to a piano or harpsichord, so “carols on the spinet” would refer to tunes played on a small piano. And, “carols on the spinet” sounds a lot better as a rhyme than “carols on the piano” and “right this very minute.”
While we are at it, how in the world does one dance “the new old-fashioned way?” What in the world is that supposed to mean? Is it a new dance, or an old dance? Is it more like a Dougie or a Charleston? I have no idea.
Apparently we are all supposed to pretend that the snowman is Parson Brown. But, in order to do so, I need to know who Parson Brown is. My guess had always been that Parson Brown somehow refers to a church official (as in “parsonage,” a home often found on church grounds). My dictionary confirms that: “parson” originally referred to an official in the Anglican church, and still does today, but it also has wider meaning to represent the leader of any congregation, even if that is not an official title. Be that as it may, whomever the snowman is pretending to be—Parson Brown, Pastor Bob, or Father Mitchell—he needs to hurry up and get us married while he’s in town. It likely won’t be legal once the folks down at the county courthouse find out that a snowman officiated, but that’s not my problem. Maybe that’s why the snowman ran right past the traffic cop.
Finally, speaking of being a child, do you know how many years I heard a certain song and sang it as “Please Mom and Dad,” wondering why those words made no sense at all? Until the year I figured out that the line is “Feliz Navidad,” Spanish for “Merry Christmas.” Now that makes a lot more sense.
However you say it, Feliz Navidad, Mele Kalikimaka, Frohe Weihnachten, and Merry Christmas.
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my gosh, people, I took one day off and we're naked and spraying things in here
clutching my pearls...
clutching my pearls...
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It's intake week for us, and I am the only one here who can process them (normally there are three of us). So I hope to be busy all week.
dw914er
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Sometimes I feel like birdwatching was a clever ruse to make up for peeping toms.
"Hey, what are you looking at up there?"
"Tits!.... Uh, I mean a bush.... uhhh, an american bushtit... yeah, that's it, uh, over there!" And then the name just stuck.
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ursus
Cyburbian, raised by Cyburbians
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I gave all the planners (but me) the day off today, but we've been fairly slow. I am jealous of all the people who are off work today, but don't need the time to finish preparations for the holiday! How is TODAY the day you want to come and check out if your house works for accessory dwelling units?! Shouldn't you be panic-shopping somewhere? I know I'll be panic-shopping at 5:30!!!!
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exactly - I underbought this year and now I am out of time so it is what it is
also, I have a meeting tonight if you can dig it
btrage
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bureaucrat#3
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I've been accused of putting controversial things on the December and July meetings, but they weren't this close to the holiday. The only meetings, especially afterhours, should be those where the institution has to call it a meeting to pay for food and booze for the afterparty.
Maybe somebody decided their wife needs a "she"shed for Xmas.
michaelskis
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Planit
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There was a time when we'd put a few small rocks in The Girl's stocking if she hadn't been "too good." One year I put one very small rock in & when she pulled it out she looked so dejected and said in a very disappointed voice "I didn't want a rock this year." I think we ended that practice then.
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ursus
Cyburbian, raised by Cyburbians
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I just composed a big long post about how irritating extended families can be and how I'm not going to be like that as I get older. I deleted it because I feel better now that I typed it out. For the record, it contained the word "Satan" twice, and also had comparisons to baby-eating death cults. I was concerned that I may have crossed some lines...and settled for this instead, you know, in the spirit of the Season.
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Where is Santa?
www.noradsanta.org
(He came to our house yesterday afternoon.)
Official NORAD Tracks Santa
(He came to our house yesterday afternoon.)
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How we doin on post count
dw914er
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michaelskis
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We have a bit of a frustration with mail right now. My dad sent a package in the 16th and it departed Michigan on the 18th. That was the last update.
Wife ordered something from overseas on the 1st. It says it arrived to the US on the 18th and hasn’t been updated since.
Wife ordered something from overseas on the 1st. It says it arrived to the US on the 18th and hasn’t been updated since.
DVD
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I learned something new.
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1/2 day...but here the rest of the week after tomorrow...DCM on vacation, so someone needs to make sure payroll gets approved.
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~2/3 day for me - leaving at 3p CST.1/2 day...but here the rest of the week after tomorrow...DCM on vacation, so someone needs to make sure payroll gets approved.
At least it will still be daylight.
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