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RTDNTOTO 🐻 Random Thoughts Deserving No Thread Of Their Own 20 (2025)

The Terminator said:
I went to Canada for the first time in 4 years yesterday, on Canada Day nonetheless! I wanted to see if they'd still let me in since I'm a former Permanent Resident. Since I renounced voluntarily before my PR expired, they told me that it wasn't an issue and let me pass after talking to me for about a minute. I also think it helped that I was dressed in office clothes and told them I was coming to celebrate Canada Day and support the local economy. Coming back into the U.S. was like going through a tollbooth, once I told the CBP Officer I worked for [a] city and had nothing to declare.

I walked across the [guess which] bridge and crossed into [New York adjacent city in Southern Ontario] to celebrate Canada Day by smoking a [brand redacted] cigar and eating rotisserie at Swiss Chalet. It was underwhelming NGL, but felt good to be back as a visitor. I was having mad border anxiety about returning since I left Montreal, especially recently with all the tensions between Washington and Ottawa, hearing stories of Americans being tripped up. I think if they see your attitude is pro-Canadian and you don't have a record or act sketch, its fine. I look forward to visiting that side more now that I know I can without hassle.
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On Canada Day, crossing as a pedestrian is probably the wise choice. We've made the mistake a few times of crossing from Port Huron to Sarnia and back the other way and also once made the crossing into the U.S. at Niagara on Canada Day and the traffic is usually unbearable.

The new Gordie Gate Bridge is set to open at the Detroit/Windsor border this fall and I think that one is supposed to allow for pedestrian and bicycle crossings which will be nice. It will be our first bridge here that has the option for non-motorized vehicle traffic and I'm looking forward to checking it out.

There is ferry service across the St. Clair River from Algonac, MI onto Walpole Island and you can make a bicycle crossing there but there is basically nothing on the Canadian side and the little town of Wallaceburg is not really worth the bike ride from the border.
 
Hubby is making Sloppy Joes for dinner to introduce Itty Bitty to them. While he is a good cook, I am trying very hard not to have a visceral reaction to looking at them. I detest food with loose meat. 🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢

He made me a burger.
 
DVD said:
If your library has the culture pass thing like mine do, get one and go to a museum or some place you haven't been to. I got to see the Musical Instrument Museum, take a trip with the kid to Sedona to see a Pioneer Museum, and even got luck to go to the Symphony and Heard Museum
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I once wrote a column expressing the need for a National Museum Museum, a museum about museums.

Good news: I have found a home for "Standing On My Head" and hope to resume it in August after a two-year hiatus. Maybe I'll post it here as well.

Jim
 
WSU MUP Student said:
On Canada Day, crossing as a pedestrian is probably the wise choice. We've made the mistake a few times of crossing from Port Huron to Sarnia and back the other way and also once made the crossing into the U.S. at Niagara on Canada Day and the traffic is usually unbearable.

The new Gordie Gate Bridge is set to open at the Detroit/Windsor border this fall and I think that one is supposed to allow for pedestrian and bicycle crossings which will be nice. It will be our first bridge here that has the option for non-motorized vehicle traffic and I'm looking forward to checking it out.

There is ferry service across the St. Clair River from Algonac, MI onto Walpole Island and you can make a bicycle crossing there but there is basically nothing on the Canadian side and the little town of Wallaceburg is not really worth the bike ride from the border.
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It was really nice to walk! The view from the [redacted] bridge was great and pretty much once you leave the bridge and come into [Ontario city redacted], you are hit with the most oppressive, obnoxious tourist zone in all of Canada. I popped into the first Cigar store I saw to get myself a [brand and country of origin redacted] Magnum #54, and was able to haggle with the guy to get a better deal once I showed them USD.

I than walked about 2 miles out from [tourist zone] over to where the closest Swiss Chalet was, enjoying the delicious Cigar on the way. The Swiss Chalet ladies were surprised someone actually walked all the way from New York, so they let me stay a little after closing to use the bathroom and finish my meal.

I than bummed a ride back downtown with a random person I met in an Esso Gas Station in exchange for a 6 pack of Carlings, and I walked my happy American butt back into our fine Republic feeling very satisfied. Going into Canada, I waited about 8 minutes on a small line. Coming back in, it might as well have been like going through a tollbooth, felt like one minute 30 seconds total wait time. CBP doesn't hassle City employees since they're all WNYers too. I hope CBP shows you similar respect being a veteran!
 
We had someone call asking if she can reduce their garbage pickup to once every two weeks rather than once a week, since she doesn't make a whole lot of garbage.

I explained that, while we are not in charge of trash pickup, there is no requirement that she put the can out every week--if she wants to put it out every other week, that's fine with the trash people.

She didn't seem happy with that since she'd still have to pay the same amount. I am not sure how to help her with that--the truck rolls every week.

In our house, we put it out every week even on the weeks there isn't much there, just so it doesn't decay for another week in our garage can. Besides, we never know when we might need the space the next week.

Jim
 
It's amazing to me that Mr. Bean consisted of only 15 episodes & not 15 seasons.
Seems like there's so much more content.
mr bean GIF
 
dandy_warhol said:
Hubby is making Sloppy Joes for dinner to introduce Itty Bitty to them. While he is a good cook, I am trying very hard not to have a visceral reaction to looking at them. I detest food with loose meat. 🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢🤢

He made me a burger.
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So no loose meat? what about tacos?
 
We ate 'impossible burgers' last night. I broke up the patty after I grilled team and made mine into an 'impossible cheese(not)steak'

It wasn't bad and I have eaten worse things.
 
1751803186544.png


As posted on FB by Badlands National Park
Here we have two of the prickliest introverts you’ll ever meet—like two peas in a very pokey pod. The American badger and the prickly pear cactus: one grumpy digger, one stabby salad, both perfectly happy to keep everyone off their lawns.

Let’s be honest, they have a lot in common:
  • Built-in security systems. The cactus has needles, the badger has claws (and zero patience for your nonsense).
  • Keep to themselves. They’ve been around long enough to know most visitors are more trouble than they’re worth.
  • Masters of survival. Badgers can dig a fresh tunnel faster than most folks can tie their shoes, and those burrows can run up to 30 feet long with multiple exits. Prickly pears store water in their thick pads, letting them ride out droughts that would wither lesser plants.
  • Earned their respect. Badgers keep the rodents in check, and prickly pears feed critters that know how to mind their manners.
So if you happen upon this grouchy little coffee club, do yourself a favor: tip your hat and admire them from a safe distance.
 
Planit said:
We ate 'impossible burgers' last night. I broke up the patty after I grilled team and made mine into an 'impossible cheese(not)steak'

It wasn't bad and I have eaten worse things.
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I've never made Impossible Burgers at home or anything with the "Impossible" meat but on the rare occasion I get a breakfast sandwich at Starbucks, it's the Impossible Sausage sandwich. I think it's delicious.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
I've never made Impossible Burgers at home or anything with the "Impossible" meat but on the rare occasion I get a breakfast sandwich at Starbucks, it's the Impossible Sausage sandwich. I think it's delicious.
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Mrs. Bubba got some sort of plant-based ground supposed meat-like substance a year or so ago to try, and served it to me in a pasta dish without telling me. The texture was so disgusting that I stopped eating it after three bites (one of which managed to avoid the faux "meat").
 
Maister said:
Yes....and no.
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This is....correct. Two of my daughters have married. Sometimes when I talk to their husbands I think "I see so much similarity to me in this guy..." and I wonder if THAT is what I'm seeing, or if I'm just seeing a man responding to being married to a woman who is very much like her mother, MY wife...? Science can't tell us. We will never know.
 
ursus said:
This is....correct. Two of my daughters have married. Sometimes when I talk to their husbands I think "I see so much similarity to me in this guy..." and I wonder if THAT is what I'm seeing, or if I'm just seeing a man responding to being married to a woman who is very much like her mother, MY wife...? Science can't tell us. We will never know.
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What, big blonde hair?:ha:
 
Kid is in San Francisco doing some law school thing at Standford. She tells me, I refuse to believe it's summer. It's like 50 degrees this morning. I keep trying to explain that Arizona is a different kind of hot. Live somewhere else and you begin to understand that it's not normal.
 
ursus said:
This is....correct. Two of my daughters have married. Sometimes when I talk to their husbands I think "I see so much similarity to me in this guy..." and I wonder if THAT is what I'm seeing, or if I'm just seeing a man responding to being married to a woman who is very much like her mother, MY wife...? Science can't tell us. We will never know.
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My daughter is engaged to a guy whose personality reminds me of me a good bit. He's fairly reserved and mild mannered. He's also a bit goofy. We don't look a bit a like and he's definitely smarter. He'll have his work cut out for him because she can be like her mother who would give you her last dollar but can also blaze from one emotion to the opposite fairly quickly. Overall, I think they'll make a good pair.
 
Someone walked off with a few of my Dad Joke cards at my author fair this weekend. I don't really care, since I bought the whole deck of 100 for about four bucks years ago, but it's such an odd thing to take. I can see how, with them being on the table next to the freebee pens and bookmarks, someone might have thought they were giveaways.

Oh well.

(If you saw me in Minneapolis or Philly, you were probably a victim of said cards. :) And they'll be with me in Detroit next year. Ye be warned!)

JIm
 
DVD said:
Kid is in San Francisco doing some law school thing at Standford. She tells me, I refuse to believe it's summer. It's like 50 degrees this morning. I keep trying to explain that Arizona is a different kind of hot. Live somewhere else and you begin to understand that it's not normal.
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Hee hee, Standford. Is that the Big!Lots knockoff of Stanford?

(I knew what you meant and it was just a typo. Just wanted be a smartass. :) )

I went to a lecture at Stanford once, during college. I can technically say I "went to Stanford" in the sense that I visited the campus. But I make sure to disclaim that after a couple of seconds.

The real fun is down the road at the Electronic Arts shareholder meetings. Ten minutes of rah-rah, then food, then playing video games all day. I used to go to their meetings a lot in my twenties. (It's the one stock I own individually, aside from all the mutual funds and such. I've done well with the one share I bought thirty years ago, but it ain't gonna make me rich. Bought it at $2.50 in 1992, now it's at $153.85 and has split a couple times. I only bought it because my father said I spent so much time playing video games, I should buy stock in the company. So I did, through his broker, not realizing he was being sarcastic.

I honestly don't see a problem with using video games to relax. To this day, being almost 50, I still do. Some people watch TV. Some crochet. Some cook. I relax with computer games. Work done for the day? Household tasks taken care of? Why not??

Jim
 
Speaking of fathers and stocks, my father once used the "We do not own stock in the power company!" line.

I replied, "Well, Dad, let's just analyze that. Yours and Mom's retirement are in CalPERS?"

Dad: "Yes."

Me: "And are SMUD and PG&E a big part of CalPERS' portfolio?"

Dad: "Yes."

Me: "Well, then your assertion that we do not own stock in the power company is factually incorrect."

He did not appreciate it.
 
I went for a haircut this weekend. The person who cut it was awesome with one slight issue. She accidently nicked my ear with a razor. Thing bled for a while.
 
Wannaplan? said:
I need some help interjecting a Babylon 5 reference into my staff report recommending denial of a rezoning request.
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Londo and G'kar couldn't agree on anything. But even THOSE TWO would agree the proposal doesn't match the Future Land Use Plan.
or
The Vorlons promoted the orderly development of humans, whereas the Shadows promoted chaos and survival of the fittest. To be clear, with regard to this case in particular, staff favors the Vorlon approach.
 
kms said:
She didn't "apparently" nick your ear with the razor. She did.
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Well, I didn't see it happen, so it could have been any of the following:
  • Slice
  • Slash
  • Lacerate
  • Slit
  • Scratch
  • Graze
Thus I need to use the word apparently because I don't know for sure, but that is what it appears to be.

We joked about it for a while as she continued. I asked her if she ever did Van Gogh's Hair, and I appreciate that she didn't take the Mike Tyson route.
 
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