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

Last week there were articles in the Detroit newspapers about a homemade houseboat making its way through Lake St. Clair and up the St. Clair River. The pictures and videos made it look barely seaworthy. My in-laws live right on Lake Huron a couple miles north of the Blue Water Bridge and I thought about asking them to keep an eye out for this crazy boat but it looked so unsafe I figured there was no way this guy would be stupid brave enough to try and take it out into the big lake, especially in late November, so I never mentioned it.

1764769184151.png


We were visiting them for Thanksgiving dinner and talking about how rough the lake had been lately and how there were about a dozen freighters anchored a few miles offshore from their house waiting for weather further north to calm down when my FIL mentioned the craziest boat he had ever seen that anchored just off the beach two houses up the evening before. It was the same houseboat that had been in the newspapers. They watched as the Coast Guard came out to inspect it and then my FIL got curious and found somebody in Port Huron had used a drone to film the houseboat as it struggled to get up the St. Clair River where the current is particularly swift, especially closer to the U.S. side of the border. It looked like it literally took this contraption all day to go about a mile.

There was an interview with somebody from the Coast Guard who said the houseboat owner planned to take it all the way up Lake Huron, around the tip of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, then down Lake Michigan to Chicago and then eventually working its way through the Chicago River to the Mississippi and down to the Gulf. To me it sounded like the guy had a death wish to attempt that anytime in that contraption, let alone in November and December. My in-laws went out early Thursday morning to try and get some photos of this floating pile of trash but it was gone already. There were no signs that it had sunk so the owner must have pulled anchor and headed further north.

This house boat on Lake Huron has captivated social media followers

Well, looks like he made it about 85 miles over the next 5 days before he wisely decided to give up.

Huron homemade houseboat hits hardship; captain calls it quits in the Thumb
 
WSU MUP Student said:
Last week there were articles in the Detroit newspapers about a homemade houseboat making its way through Lake St. Clair and up the St. Clair River. The pictures and videos made it look barely seaworthy. My in-laws live right on Lake Huron a couple miles north of the Blue Water Bridge and I thought about asking them to keep an eye out for this crazy boat but it looked so unsafe I figured there was no way this guy would be stupid brave enough to try and take it out into the big lake, especially in late November, so I never mentioned it.

View attachment 65811

We were visiting them for Thanksgiving dinner and talking about how rough the lake had been lately and how there were about a dozen freighters anchored a few miles offshore from their house waiting for weather further north to calm down when my FIL mentioned the craziest boat he had ever seen that anchored just off the beach two houses up the evening before. It was the same houseboat that had been in the newspapers. They watched as the Coast Guard came out to inspect it and then my FIL got curious and found somebody in Port Huron had used a drone to film the houseboat as it struggled to get up the St. Clair River where the current is particularly swift, especially closer to the U.S. side of the border. It looked like it literally took this contraption all day to go about a mile.

There was an interview with somebody from the Coast Guard who said the houseboat owner planned to take it all the way up Lake Huron, around the tip of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, then down Lake Michigan to Chicago and then eventually working its way through the Chicago River to the Mississippi and down to the Gulf. To me it sounded like the guy had a death wish to attempt that anytime in that contraption, let alone in November and December. My in-laws went out early Thursday morning to try and get some photos of this floating pile of trash but it was gone already. There were no signs that it had sunk so the owner must have pulled anchor and headed further north.

This house boat on Lake Huron has captivated social media followers

Well, looks like he made it about 85 miles over the next 5 days before he wisely decided to give up.

Huron homemade houseboat hits hardship; captain calls it quits in the Thumb
Click to expand...

Having grown up on Lake Michigan, there are things that you just don't do... this is a different level of NOPE.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
Last week there were articles in the Detroit newspapers about a homemade houseboat making its way through Lake St. Clair and up the St. Clair River. The pictures and videos made it look barely seaworthy. My in-laws live right on Lake Huron a couple miles north of the Blue Water Bridge and I thought about asking them to keep an eye out for this crazy boat but it looked so unsafe I figured there was no way this guy would be stupid brave enough to try and take it out into the big lake, especially in late November, so I never mentioned it.

View attachment 65811

We were visiting them for Thanksgiving dinner and talking about how rough the lake had been lately and how there were about a dozen freighters anchored a few miles offshore from their house waiting for weather further north to calm down when my FIL mentioned the craziest boat he had ever seen that anchored just off the beach two houses up the evening before. It was the same houseboat that had been in the newspapers. They watched as the Coast Guard came out to inspect it and then my FIL got curious and found somebody in Port Huron had used a drone to film the houseboat as it struggled to get up the St. Clair River where the current is particularly swift, especially closer to the U.S. side of the border. It looked like it literally took this contraption all day to go about a mile.

There was an interview with somebody from the Coast Guard who said the houseboat owner planned to take it all the way up Lake Huron, around the tip of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, then down Lake Michigan to Chicago and then eventually working its way through the Chicago River to the Mississippi and down to the Gulf. To me it sounded like the guy had a death wish to attempt that anytime in that contraption, let alone in November and December. My in-laws went out early Thursday morning to try and get some photos of this floating pile of trash but it was gone already. There were no signs that it had sunk so the owner must have pulled anchor and headed further north.

This house boat on Lake Huron has captivated social media followers

Well, looks like he made it about 85 miles over the next 5 days before he wisely decided to give up.

Huron homemade houseboat hits hardship; captain calls it quits in the Thumb
Click to expand...
Ha!

Doofus!
 
WSU MUP Student said:
Last week there were articles in the Detroit newspapers about a homemade houseboat making its way through Lake St. Clair and up the St. Clair River. The pictures and videos made it look barely seaworthy. My in-laws live right on Lake Huron a couple miles north of the Blue Water Bridge and I thought about asking them to keep an eye out for this crazy boat but it looked so unsafe I figured there was no way this guy would be stupid brave enough to try and take it out into the big lake, especially in late November, so I never mentioned it.

View attachment 65811

We were visiting them for Thanksgiving dinner and talking about how rough the lake had been lately and how there were about a dozen freighters anchored a few miles offshore from their house waiting for weather further north to calm down when my FIL mentioned the craziest boat he had ever seen that anchored just off the beach two houses up the evening before. It was the same houseboat that had been in the newspapers. They watched as the Coast Guard came out to inspect it and then my FIL got curious and found somebody in Port Huron had used a drone to film the houseboat as it struggled to get up the St. Clair River where the current is particularly swift, especially closer to the U.S. side of the border. It looked like it literally took this contraption all day to go about a mile.

There was an interview with somebody from the Coast Guard who said the houseboat owner planned to take it all the way up Lake Huron, around the tip of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, then down Lake Michigan to Chicago and then eventually working its way through the Chicago River to the Mississippi and down to the Gulf. To me it sounded like the guy had a death wish to attempt that anytime in that contraption, let alone in November and December. My in-laws went out early Thursday morning to try and get some photos of this floating pile of trash but it was gone already. There were no signs that it had sunk so the owner must have pulled anchor and headed further north.

This house boat on Lake Huron has captivated social media followers

Well, looks like he made it about 85 miles over the next 5 days before he wisely decided to give up.

Huron homemade houseboat hits hardship; captain calls it quits in the Thumb
Click to expand...
What a complete dumbass!
 
I can almost hear Gordan Lightfoot singing a song about the "Doofus in a Homemade Houseboat"

***************



In other news, I found a new job for terminator:
www.thedrive.com

Design Boss Behind Controversial Jaguar Rebrand Has Reportedly Been Fired

Gerry McGovern, Chief Creative Officer at JLR largely responsible for Jaguar's rebrand, has been let go from the company according to reports.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com
Or is this the wrong kind of Jaguar.
 
Planit said:
I can almost hear Gordan Lightfoot singing a song about the "Doofus in a Homemade Houseboat"
Click to expand...
The legend lives on of a dumbass named John
Who attempted to act out his death wish
when his homemade houseboat sailed
and he desperately bailed
when the gales of November came stealing

Everyone else saw it from miles away
but not poor John that day
as he cluelessly captained his raft
You really gotta wonder
when he heard the waves and thunder
just how truly he was daft
 
Maister said:
The legend lives on of a dumbass named John
Who attempted to act out his death wish
when his homemade houseboat sailed
and he desperately bailed
when the gales of November came stealing

Everyone else saw it from miles away
but not poor John that day
as he cluelessly captained his raft
You really gotta wonder
when he heard the waves and thunder
just how truly he was daft
Click to expand...
You win our little part of the internets today!

:trophy::medal::rollofhundreds:
 
WSU MUP Student said:
Last week there were articles in the Detroit newspapers about a homemade houseboat making its way through Lake St. Clair and up the St. Clair River. The pictures and videos made it look barely seaworthy. My in-laws live right on Lake Huron a couple miles north of the Blue Water Bridge and I thought about asking them to keep an eye out for this crazy boat but it looked so unsafe I figured there was no way this guy would be stupid brave enough to try and take it out into the big lake, especially in late November, so I never mentioned it.

View attachment 65811

We were visiting them for Thanksgiving dinner and talking about how rough the lake had been lately and how there were about a dozen freighters anchored a few miles offshore from their house waiting for weather further north to calm down when my FIL mentioned the craziest boat he had ever seen that anchored just off the beach two houses up the evening before. It was the same houseboat that had been in the newspapers. They watched as the Coast Guard came out to inspect it and then my FIL got curious and found somebody in Port Huron had used a drone to film the houseboat as it struggled to get up the St. Clair River where the current is particularly swift, especially closer to the U.S. side of the border. It looked like it literally took this contraption all day to go about a mile.

There was an interview with somebody from the Coast Guard who said the houseboat owner planned to take it all the way up Lake Huron, around the tip of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, then down Lake Michigan to Chicago and then eventually working its way through the Chicago River to the Mississippi and down to the Gulf. To me it sounded like the guy had a death wish to attempt that anytime in that contraption, let alone in November and December. My in-laws went out early Thursday morning to try and get some photos of this floating pile of trash but it was gone already. There were no signs that it had sunk so the owner must have pulled anchor and headed further north.

This house boat on Lake Huron has captivated social media followers

Well, looks like he made it about 85 miles over the next 5 days before he wisely decided to give up.

Huron homemade houseboat hits hardship; captain calls it quits in the Thumb
Click to expand...

There seems to be a lot to unpack here. I do find the Canadian trying to sail his house into America, while flying a Trump flag, as an additional element to the story.
 
People living in houseboats on lakes is an issue in Maine because all lakes are owned by the state, so as long as it doesn't anchor for more than a certain time, they can do it - pricy lake owners are not happy about it but I like the whole renegade quality of finding a loophole to have housing
 
I have seen float houses on the lakes in Idaho, and recently in some of the marinas on the Columbia River here in Oregon. Always that that would be cool to live in... Always wondered about utility conveyance and connections.
 
Emptied the dishwasher this morning. We have 5 different silverware styles in the drawer. Moving to dishes, the cabinet holds four different designs. Those I can name - Mikasa, Fiestaware, Corelle, and Cracker Barrel.
 
dw914er said:
There seems to be a lot to unpack here. I do find the Canadian trying to sail his house into America, while flying a Trump flag, as an additional element to the story.
Click to expand...


IIRC, anybody can hang out in the water on their boats on either side of the border here but once you touch land, you're supposed to check in with that country's Border Patrol. I wonder what happened with that Canadian guy once he grounded his boat on the American side.

It also sounded like his floating pile of trash is going to be stranded on that beach in Michigan's Thumb at least until the spring. I sort of want to drive up there and check it out.
 
SlaveToTheGrind said:
Emptied the dishwasher this morning. We have 5 different silverware styles in the drawer. Moving to dishes, the cabinet holds four different designs. Those I can name - Mikasa, Fiestaware, Corelle, and Cracker Barrel.
Click to expand...
We have 3 different styles of "silverware". We have the set that we got when we got married; we have some pieces that came from my parents that my kids carried home and I never returned; and we have restaurant grade silverware that I bought from Sam's to make up for the silverware that would go missing because of the kids. I have 2 boxes of the set we had when we got married up in the attic but we are waiting to bring it out when the risk of it going missing is lower. It will likely stay up there forever.
 
We have one set of everyday flatware that we got when we got married and that's what goes in the drawer in the kitchen. We also have fancy silverware that we only get out every once in a while but then we also have a bag of random flatware that is some stuff I had before we married and some stuff my wife had and there are probably a few pieces mixed in there from both of our parents homes that somehow made it home with us. We use that bag of mixed stuff if we need to pack a fork or spoon into a lunch bag or take with us somewhere since we won't be as upset if we misplace or lose it. When one of those randoms makes it into the dishwasher my wife usually just puts it back in the drawer with our everyday stuff. It irks me when she does that more than I know it should, but I like all my flatware to match - I feel the same way with our glasses and dishes and I despise when a random no matching piece gets mixed in to the cabinet with all the other stuff.
 
Big Owl said:
We have 3 different styles of "silverware". We have the set that we got when we got married; we have some pieces that came from my parents that my kids carried home and I never returned; and we have restaurant grade silverware that I bought from Sam's to make up for the silverware that would go missing because of the kids. I have 2 boxes of the set we had when we got married up in the attic but we are waiting to bring it out when the risk of it going missing is lower. It will likely stay up there forever.
Click to expand...
Tangent - the use of an attic to store items seems to be relegated to "older" homes. I don't know of anyone in a home built within the last several decades that uses the attic to store items. My current home and previous have attic access but never used for storage. Due to the season, I now have images of Clark Griswold in his attic.
 
We have way more plates, cups, forks, knifes, spoons, and sporks than we need. The silverware is all just are mashed together in one drawer, and the cups and plates are in the cabinet.
 
SlaveToTheGrind said:
Tangent - the use of an attic to store items seems to be relegated to "older" homes. I don't know of anyone in a home built within the last several decades that uses the attic to store items. My current home and previous have attic access but never used for storage. Due to the season, I now have images of Clark Griswold in his attic.
Click to expand...
Here in the west we just use our garages for storage. We don't have an attic or a basement in our house.
 
I use my mom's silver. I remember polishing it one time when I was young, but I don't remember her using it. Its the only set I own now.
 
1 set of flatware
nice set of for table service + additional random pieces from older sets
1 set of table service Ms. P has (in hutch)
2 sets of fine china table service (in boxes in storage)
1 set of grandma's table service (in boxes in storage)
1 set of mom's table service which includes prototype pieces never produced for purchase = grandfather was a manufacturer's rep for table service, china, flatware, glassware & she got display & prototype from him & I won't get rid of those. We don't have a set of glassware. We have several random pieces from his collection of samples, but we generally use beer pint glasses. Right now these are in boxes in storage.
 
We have yet to watch "Angels With Filthy Souls" this Christmas season. I don't think we've missed a year yet . . . a cinematic masterpiece!
 
I have an attic storage area, but not a full attic. We just keep the decorations and old stuffed animals up there. Anything that would melt from the heat can't go up there.
 
Ever hear of a drink called a scoofee - hot coffee infused with ice cream ?
They are offering vanilla, chocolate, cappuccino, & s'more.
 
luckless pedestrian said:
People living in houseboats on lakes is an issue in Maine because all lakes are owned by the state, so as long as it doesn't anchor for more than a certain time, they can do it - pricy lake owners are not happy about it but I like the whole renegade quality of finding a loophole to have housing
Click to expand...
Do they stay in the water through winter. That would seem like a really cold way of life.
 
SlaveToTheGrind said:
Tangent - the use of an attic to store items seems to be relegated to "older" homes. I don't know of anyone in a home built within the last several decades that uses the attic to store items. My current home and previous have attic access but never used for storage. Due to the season, I now have images of Clark Griswold in his attic.
Click to expand...
My house was built in 1919. It's a story and half bungalow. I have four ~100 sq ft sections of finished, but semi-conditioned space accessible off the main hallway of the second level of the house, via 4 individual 6.5' doors. The ceiling height in that space goes from 8' to 4.5'. I also have several section of "attic" accessible via scuttle holes above and beyond that space. I don't use that space for storage.
 
Is karma real? In this case, I want to think so. Councilmember at my previous employment wanted me out and got their wish. This person was/is a total ass. Come to find out they came second to last of multiple candidates in the latest election - far from being reelected. Cheated on spouse which lead to divorce and was fired from their job. Some people just don't deserve your compassion and this person is the perfect example.
 
Planit said:
I can almost hear Gordan Lightfoot singing a song about the "Doofus in a Homemade Houseboat"

***************



In other news, I found a new job for terminator:
www.thedrive.com

Design Boss Behind Controversial Jaguar Rebrand Has Reportedly Been Fired

Gerry McGovern, Chief Creative Officer at JLR largely responsible for Jaguar's rebrand, has been let go from the company according to reports.
www.thedrive.com www.thedrive.com
Or is this the wrong kind of Jaguar.
Click to expand...
...down in Venezuela they call those big cats tigers.
 
Big Owl said:
My house was built in 1919. It's a story and half bungalow. I have four ~100 sq ft sections of finished, but semi-conditioned space accessible off the main hallway of the second level of the house, via 4 individual 6.5' doors. The ceiling height in that space goes from 8' to 4.5'. I also have several section of "attic" accessible via scuttle holes above and beyond that space. I don't use that space for storage.
Click to expand...
I inspected a house built in 1846 for a buyer, but that was delivered on site by oxen that rolled it on top of rows of round logs. Ceilings from 12 to 14 ft. with faux ceilings hung at 8'. Crawl led to higher levels. Almost got lost up there but buyer was a fireman trained to always know an escape path!
 
JNA said:
View attachment 65834
Click to expand...

michaelskis said:
I had a fruitcake a few years ago that was the exception. I am not sure how they made it, but it was incredible. It was a local bakery a little outside of Raleigh NC and it almost tasted like a banana bread base.
Click to expand...

I am not a fan of fruitcake, no matter how good somebody claims a particular one is. I've never had a piece of fruitcake and thought to myself, "That was so good that I'd like to have another piece!" On Saturday my wife's aunt dropped off a fruitcake for us from one of the fancy gourmet grocery stores around here. My wife and kids all loved it. I had the tiniest sliver of it couldn't even finish that. I'm good on fruitcake for at least 3 or 4 more years.

FWIW, a couple years ago my mom decided she was going to make a homemade fruitcake from some old German recipe that my oma (who died in 1994) had given to my mom some time in the '60s but my mom had never actually made. Everybody (except me of course) seemed to enjoy the fruitcake... which is a good thing because my mom ended up making a ton of them. The recipe called for tiny bits of all sorts of different liquors and dried fruits, neither of which my parents generally have around the house so my mom had to buy a bunch of stuff just for the fruitcake. After making one and realizing she was going to have a ton of leftover liquor and dried fruits that they would never eat she decided she'd just use it all up on more fruitcakes and she ended up making a bunch. Everybody was gifted a fruitcake that year and my dad says he probably at 5 pounds worth of fruitcake on his own that winter. :puke:
 
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