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

I like cheeseburgers. And I like pizza. But for some reason I don't find the idea of 'cheeseburger pizza' all that appealing. Not sure why.

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JNA said:
Was an Afraid of Heights location - The rooftop catwalk on the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

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I did the catwalk and YES, I hated it. Standing looking at the other tower swaying (like it is supposed to) and thinking, if I was over there looking back at this tower, it'd be swaying too.

Yeah, down. I want down. Now!
 
Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of talk about faith following the shooting of Charlie Kirk. Some not so good. I think most of you know this, but my Christian faith is important to me. I attend a Baptist church, but there are some church practices (such as not consuming any alcohol) that I don't agree with and are not founded in biblical doctrine. What is founded though is to not judge. This does not always mean agree or support actions that go against my believes, but it does not mean that I will reticule someone for their beliefs. The wife and I went to see a concert (bar show) on Friday night and I thought the performer's comments expressed my thoughts on this every well; always love everyone, even if you don't agree with their actions.
 
JNA said:
Was an Afraid of Heights location - The rooftop catwalk on the South Tower of the World Trade Center.

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Gedunker said:
I did the catwalk and YES, I hated it. Standing looking at the other tower swaying (like it is supposed to) and thinking, if I was over there looking back at this tower, it'd be swaying too.

Yeah, down. I want down. Now!
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I did the catwalk on August 11, 2001 and had the same feeling as you. I did not like the combination of being outside AND not on the ground AND the wind blowing AND seeing the other tower moving in the breeze.
 
I was getting ready for bed last night when I overheard the TV programme my wife was watching. I don’t know what it was, but I heard the words “zoning restrictions” and “setback,” so I returned to the living room and checked it out.

It was one of those home improvement shows, and the highlighted family was building a pool. The host was saying they couldn’t have the pool how they wanted it because it was within the setback, and they would need a variance.

I knew in my head what they were actually needing was a deviation, but I figure planning lingo is not necessarily the expertise of that type of show, intended for a general audience.

I also realized I have never worked for a jurisdiction that has setbacks for in-ground pools, as they are not structures. Apparently wherever this was being filmed—somewhere in southern California, I think—does.
 
I've worked every Columbus Day ever since I began working, regardless of whether it was military service, retail, in the medical field, or planning related.
 
jumbach said:
I also realized I have never worked for a jurisdiction that has setbacks for in-ground pools, as they are not structures. Apparently wherever this was being filmed—somewhere in southern California, I think—does.
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Everywhere I've worked it's different: sometimes it's a structure, sometimes not, most often it's unclear. When it's up to me I don't consider them structures vis-a-vis the codes for setbacks, etc. I prefer when there is a small subsection for pools with a limited setback (like 5' for easements, etc.) and rules listed right there for fencing and equipment.

I stand with the pools. :)
 
Maister said:
I've worked every Columbus Day ever since I began working, regardless of whether it was military service, retail, in the medical field, or planning related.
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I had it off once... I took it as a vacation because we traveled someplace.




In regards to Holidays, when the Wife was younger in her career as a nurse, she had to work Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years all in the same fall/winter year.

When I worked at a ski hill, I did the same for several years running. Those were big days for us.
 
Maister said:
I've worked every Columbus Day ever since I began working, regardless of whether it was military service, retail, in the medical field, or planning related.
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Same here now that you mention it, unless I already have it off as a vacation day or what not.

Jim
 
I get the New York Times on Sundays because it covers development and planning issues, ergo, a business expense. Plus, that gives me online access to the archives going back to 1850 or so, which is valuable research. (I don’t read it for the editorials—let’s leave it at that.)

Anyway, there is clearly some sort of general failure going on. I haven’t received my Sunday New York Times in about two months. I can usually go down to the store in town and buy it, and it gets credited back, but the whole point of subscribing is so I don’t have to do that 11-mile round trip.

Every time I report it missed, the AI chat bot says they are “opening an investigation” about the issue. Ironic that a paper known for its in-depth investigative reporting can’t investigate its own distributor.
 

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I think that this morning I may want to be abducted by aliens. I understand there may be...probing, and other unpleasantries, but I have to assume that all those unpleasantries happen while you are lying down, semi-conscious, on some sort of table or slab in the UFO and you don't have to actively participate. If I can zone out in a prone position and the aliens don't do worse than probe me....I might be OK with that this morning. I'm not up to what's coming with my normal day today. Just putting this out there in case the aliens monitor Cyburbia, which I assume they do. Come get me - I won't struggle today.
 
ursus said:
I think that this morning I may want to be abducted by aliens. I understand there may be...probing, and other unpleasantries, but I have to assume that all those unpleasantries happen while you are lying down, semi-conscious, on some sort of table or slab in the UFO and you don't have to actively participate. If I can zone out in a prone position and the aliens don't do worse than probe me....I might be OK with that this morning. I'm not up to what's coming with my normal day today. Just putting this out there in case the aliens monitor Cyburbia, which I assume they do. Come get me - I won't struggle today.
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I mean if you can build a transportation device that is capable of intergalactic travel, you likely have the technology for non-invasive procedures to explore the internal workings of human life forms. If you pop the hood of the space craft and see a dip stick, the technology isn't likely there yet.

In case the alien overlords are in fact monitoring Cyburbia, I want to state my preference to a beginning of the day abduction as opposed to an end of the day abduction.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
In all seriousness, I do enjoy eggplant and prefer it grilled or fried. Eggplant parm can be good too but when it's bad it's just absolutely terrible. Eggplant definitely is one of those items I will not go out of my way to get. I'm not going to be ordering it at a restaurant and usually will not even buy it at the grocery store. I think the only time I've ever made it at home was when my parents grew some and gave us a bunch because they had more than they could consume and when we used to get a weekly delivery of vegetables from a local co-op and they would always include a few "freebies". More than once the free items were eggplants... I guess they weren't particularly good sellers for the co-op either.
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I've had eggplant one time and that was in San Francisco in 2019 while attending NPC. A high school friend of mine used to work in SF and I asker her for a recommendation on a good place to eat. She recommended Fang, so I went and ordered an eggplant dish with sauteed pork dumplings and it was very good.
 
ursus said:
I think that this morning I may want to be abducted by aliens. I understand there may be...probing, and other unpleasantries, but I have to assume that all those unpleasantries happen while you are lying down, semi-conscious, on some sort of table or slab in the UFO and you don't have to actively participate. If I can zone out in a prone position and the aliens don't do worse than probe me....I might be OK with that this morning. I'm not up to what's coming with my normal day today. Just putting this out there in case the aliens monitor Cyburbia, which I assume they do. Come get me - I won't struggle today.
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It was a Tuesday morning like all other Tuesday mornings when a Plan Commission meeting is on the agenda for the evening, until it wasn't. Then it was a Tuesday morning unlike any other and I found myself in the local ER with an EKG and nurse afterward stating I was having cardiac abnormalities and they would be admitting me to fix this problem. And so a while later I was rolling along the hallways of the local hospital, looking at the ceiling on the way to the cath lab, which honestly looked more like an ill-kept supply closet than anything rightfully called a laboratory, though I didn't look around too closely. My alien hosts advised me to keep perfectly still while the cath was inserted and I acknowledged my planned stiffness and, no, they would not be giving me anything to put me to sleep while they worked their magic. I did offer that I would prefer not to watch any of the proceedings and, just moments before they penetrated the inside of my thigh at the groin and inserted the cath, they draped (what I suppose was) a towel over my eyes. Then it was off to the cardiac wing and more unpleasantries which with I will not bore you. Strange what one remembers from such moments.
 
Big Owl said:
I mean if you can build a transportation device that is capable of intergalactic travel, you likely have the technology for non-invasive procedures to explore the internal workings of human life forms. If you pop the hood of the space craft and see a dip stick, the technology isn't likely there yet.

In case the alien overlords are in fact monitoring Cyburbia, I want to state my preference to a beginning of the day abduction as opposed to an end of the day abduction.
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The imagery of popping hoods and dipsticks is making me rethink my position on probing.... 😂
 
There is a lady in town trying to rehome her cockatiels. Problem is: she has seven, and they have to go together, as a flock.

That's a hard pass from me--we do not have the ability to take care of eight birds, plus, that would instantly make Rio an outsider.
 
Maister said:
I've worked every Columbus Day ever since I began working, regardless of whether it was military service, retail, in the medical field, or planning related.
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I honestly cannot remember if we had a holiday for Columbus Day when I was in the Marines but I texted my nephew the other day to ask if he has a 96 for it and he says he does, so I probably had it off too... but there were at least three out of my six years where I was on a deployment this time of year, so I probably had it off those other three times. Thinking back, I'm pretty sure I lucked out with only ever having "Duty" during a holiday one time and that was during the Christmas 96 when I was on Okinawa.

Columbus Day is a normal work day for us here at the county. It used to be a holiday for us but they took it off of the holiday schedule a year or two before I began here and replaced it with a floating holiday that we can use whenever during the calendar year. Speaking of floating holidays... I already used mine for the year but just realized that since we unionized a couple months ago I now get two floating holidays a year so I've still got another one in my leave bank I've got to use up before Dec 31.
 
I woke up wondering what kind of wrist watch Smokey the Bear would wear. I think probably and indiglo Timex from the late 80s. My man's a practical bear with a job to do in the great outdoors, and I think he would eschew anything expensive or unnecessary to his tasks, like a diver's watch of some kind. No, the bear is wearing a simple Timex Expedition with indiglo, and he's been sporting it since '89. I'm pretty sure.
 
ursus said:
I woke up wondering what kind of wrist watch Smokey the Bear would wear. I think probably and indiglo Timex from the late 80s. My man's a practical bear with a job to do in the great outdoors, and I think he would eschew anything expensive or unnecessary to his tasks, like a diver's watch of some kind. No, the bear is wearing a simple Timex Expedition with indiglo, and he's been sporting it since '89. I'm pretty sure.
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Are You Okay Season 2 GIF by SHOWTIME


:cool::brofist:
 
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WSU MUP Student said:
I honestly cannot remember if we had a holiday for Columbus Day when I was in the Marines but I texted my nephew the other day to ask if he has a 96 for it and he says he does, so I probably had it off too... but there were at least three out of my six years where I was on a deployment this time of year, so I probably had it off those other three times. Thinking back, I'm pretty sure I lucked out with only ever having "Duty" during a holiday one time and that was during the Christmas 96 when I was on Okinawa.

Columbus Day is a normal work day for us here at the county. It used to be a holiday for us but they took it off of the holiday schedule a year or two before I began here and replaced it with a floating holiday that we can use whenever during the calendar year. Speaking of floating holidays... I already used mine for the year but just realized that since we unionized a couple months ago I now get two floating holidays a year so I've still got another one in my leave bank I've got to use up before Dec 31.
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At my previous jurisdiction, my floating holidays were September 19 and November 5.

JIm
 
ursus said:
I woke up wondering what kind of wrist watch Smokey the Bear would wear. I think probably and indiglo Timex from the late 80s. My man's a practical bear with a job to do in the great outdoors, and I think he would eschew anything expensive or unnecessary to his tasks, like a diver's watch of some kind. No, the bear is wearing a simple Timex Expedition with indiglo, and he's been sporting it since '89. I'm pretty sure.
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He's a bear, so no, he wouldn't be wearing a timex.....




What he wears is something more robust and durable, with big legible markers, bright lume (for night or diving for fish), and really good water resistance. He’s wearing a Seiko Prospex Marinemaster Professional “emperor tuna.”
 
dw914er said:
He's a bear, so no, he wouldn't be wearing a timex.....




What he wears is something more robust and durable, with big legible markers, bright lume (for night or diving for fish), and really good water resistance. He’s wearing a Seiko Prospex Marinemaster Professional “emperor tuna.”
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I looked it up: snazzy, without pretention. I dig for the bear. But is that going to clash with his campaign ranger hat? I accidentally noticed the Prospex Alpinist and I really feel like the leather band may be more in line with his overall look.
 
Wondering if I should even bother scheduling stuff for the December 24, 5 p.m. PC meeting. I think there is a zero percent chance it will be held.
 
Its 2005, I just came back to the classroom from "Naptime" i.e. a "free period". The teacher is away, so I can sneak a moment on the computer to check my Myspace profile before we have to go to Biology class.

I'm going to skip gym to take a ride from an upperclassman into town to get some beer & cigs with our fake IDs that say we were born in 1978 & 1981 instead of 1988 & 1991.
 
luckless pedestrian said:
Lobster pie for lunch today
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Leftover carved turkey breast on rye for me. I've been thinking about it literally all morning since it was first lovingly crafted - by me - at 5:15 a.m. as I prepared to walk to the bus. It rode the commute with me, snugly tucked into a compartment of my bag. It's waiting in the break room fridge. I hope it's thinking about me. I hope it knows how much I love it.

It's going to be the best part of my day.
 
dw914er said:
He's a bear, so no, he wouldn't be wearing a timex.....




What he wears is something more robust and durable, with big legible markers, bright lume (for night or diving for fish), and really good water resistance. He’s wearing a Seiko Prospex Marinemaster Professional “emperor tuna.”
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Somebody call for a Tuna?

Here's my vintage one from 1983:

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It's actually the 5th Tuna I've owned (6th, if you count the "Ashtray" which is often cited as an early variant). Here's the other Tuna currently in my watch collection:
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For such large watches, the Tunas wear remarkably small thanks to the lugs being tucked all the way under the case.


ursus said:
I looked it up: snazzy, without pretention. I dig for the bear. But is that going to clash with his campaign ranger hat? I accidentally noticed the Prospex Alpinist and I really feel like the leather band may be more in line with his overall look.
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I had an Alpinist SPB121 (the one most people are talking about when they say "Alpinist") for a while but I never really connected with it so ended up selling it to put the funds towards other watches. Your post got me curious so I looked up what the Alpinist sells for these days and :omg: I think they were about a third of that price when I bought mine new back in 2010 or 2011... though they do reportedly come with a nicer leather strap and better movement now.

That said, there are some other watches in the Alpinist line that are still very cool and "utilitarian". My personal favorite is the "SRB059" with markings around the dial to help you know how to visually communicate with aircraft while you are stranded in the wilderness!

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But, if the Bear prefers having the internal rotating compass (though I would think a Bear should know their way around the woods!) how about the SCVF005? I've put the SRB059 above on a leather strap and it doesn't do much for me, but this one looks great on leather, and a bit more refined (though here I have it on a "Tropic" rubber strap):

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But if the Bear wants something really refined, how about the Seiko Credor "Phoenix" GCBR993, which is often called the luxury version of the Alpinist? It's like an Alpinist but with the level of finishing you'd expect from a Grand Seiko instead... and a significantly more accurate movement. I wear mine on the bracelet, but it's hard to go wrong with a leather strap for this one:

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ursus said:
Leftover carved turkey breast on rye for me. I've been thinking about it literally all morning since it was first lovingly crafted - by me - at 5:15 a.m. as I prepared to walk to the bus. It rode the commute with me, snugly tucked into a compartment of my bag. It's waiting in the break room fridge. I hope it's thinking about me. I hope it knows how much I love it.

It's going to be the best part of my day.
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do you think our lunches wonder what we are doing all morning away from them
 
luckless pedestrian said:
do you think our lunches wonder what we are doing all morning away from them
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I do. Some lunches are probably jealous, too. If that lobster pie smells a mid-morning Almond Joy on you when you go for your lunch you might need to defend yourself. Lobster seems....aggressive. And I understand your attraction, LP, I do...but we've talked about these tendencies of yours before.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
Somebody call for a Tuna?

Here's my vintage one from 1983:

View attachment 65525 View attachment 65526

It's actually the 5th Tuna I've owned (6th, if you count the "Ashtray" which is often cited as an early variant). Here's the other Tuna currently in my watch collection:
View attachment 65527

For such large watches, the Tunas wear remarkably small thanks to the lugs being tucked all the way under the case.




I had an Alpinist SPB121 (the one most people are talking about when they say "Alpinist") for a while but I never really connected with it so ended up selling it to put the funds towards other watches. Your post got me curious so I looked up what the Alpinist sells for these days and :omg: I think they were about a third of that price when I bought mine new back in 2010 or 2011... though they do reportedly come with a nicer leather strap and better movement now.

That said, there are some other watches in the Alpinist line that are still very cool and "utilitarian". My personal favorite is the "SRB059" with markings around the dial to help you know how to visually communicate with aircraft while you are stranded in the wilderness!

View attachment 65528 View attachment 65529

But, if the Bear prefers having the internal rotating compass (though I would think a Bear should know their way around the woods!) how about the SCVF005? I've put the SRB059 above on a leather strap and it doesn't do much for me, but this one looks great on leather, and a bit more refined (though here I have it on a "Tropic" rubber strap):

View attachment 65530View attachment 65531View attachment 65532


But if the Bear wants something really refined, how about the Seiko Credor "Phoenix" GCBR993, which is often called the luxury version of the Alpinist? It's like an Alpinist but with the level of finishing you'd expect from a Grand Seiko instead... and a significantly more accurate movement. I wear mine on the bracelet, but it's hard to go wrong with a leather strap for this one:

View attachment 65533View attachment 65534
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I would love a vintage watch that is Rolex Submariner-esque but is not actually that level of rarity/expensive. Should I start looking at Seikos on ebay?
 
The Terminator said:
I would love a vintage watch that is Rolex Submariner-esque but is not actually that level of rarity/expensive. Should I start looking at Seikos on ebay?
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Looking at @WSU MUP Student 's watches....I say YES. Those are awesome. I'm in love with every single one of them - most especially the Alpinists. I know what I want for Christmas now. :)
 
The Terminator said:
I would love a vintage watch that is Rolex Submariner-esque but is not actually that level of rarity/expensive. Should I start looking at Seikos on ebay?
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Seikos are great watches - I have an SKX173 automatic divers watch that has always been good for the outdoors and swiming. It stays in heavy rotation of usage with a few other of my watches.
 
ursus said:
I do. Some lunches are probably jealous, too. If that lobster pie smells a mid-morning Almond Joy on you when you go for your lunch you might need to defend yourself. Lobster seems....aggressive. And I understand your attraction, LP, I do...but we've talked about these tendencies of yours before.
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This reminds me of a favorite story I have with my eldest - when she was in daycare, maybe she was not quite 3, they asked her what her Mom did while she was at daycare and she said "she waits in the car until I am done playing" - lol
 
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