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RTDNTOTO 🐻 Random Thoughts Deserving No Thread Of Their Own 21 (2026)

Got 'em carrying hard hats, like we're a bunch of field roaming bad-asses. You need that hard hat to make sure those street trees are 2" caliper, eh? Yikes!

True email I just received to my whole department from the executive assistant:

"Dear Fish Cooker,
Several have asked whoever is cooking fish in the morning if they can please cook it upstairs in the breakroom. Thank you!"


We have a small kitchen area in our department, but the full break room is upstairs. What kind of numb-nutz fries fish in an office every morning?! I don't want to believe that they are working with me....and I have really low standards for people. Ask anybody. :)

I'm not one of the several complaining. The kitchen area is over by the engineers. My money is on one of the building inspectors. I'll keep you updated on this socially criminal activity.
Who eats fish period in the morning????
 
This reminds me that I once bought a Canucks jersey when I was in high school, so probably some time in the winter of 1995 or 1996? I wonder if I still have that packed away somewhere at my parents house...
Of course I was a Wings fan but I always liked the Canucks colors and noticed a Canucks jersey with a steep markdown at a local hockey gear store so I bought it. I'll have to take a look next time I'm out there.

It’s actually a funny story how I ended up as a Canucks fan. Back when I was about 11, I discovered hockey*. I realized I needed a team, but, living in Sacramento, there was no local team. So, I would default to the closest non-SoCal team. I went and got a lot of all the NHL cities, ruled out all the ones that were obviously nowhere near, and was left with one choice: Vancouver.

(This was before San Jose, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Seattle had teams, all of which are closer to Sacramento and not in SoCal.) So, I adopted the Canucks, and have stuck with them ever since.

As for how I ended up a Washington Redskins/Football Team/Commanders fan? Well, my stepfather grew up in Dallas and watched every Cowboys game. The first time I started watching football (1988), his Cowboys happened to be playing Washington, so I took the opposite team just to mess with him. Have been a fan ever since.

NBA: I have no NBA team. Haven’t watched a single second of the NBA since the Fixed Game Six in 2002. The whole league can shrivel away for all I care. I used to be a huge fan of Sacramento's franchise, but can't name a single player from the last 20 years.

MLB: I am really only a casual baseball fan and watch a few innings of any random game from time to time.

So, how did you get to become a fan of your team, if it wasn’t your local team? (This may turn into a thread of its own.)

*Canadian mother. What took me so long?
 
So, how did you get to become a fan of your team, if it wasn’t your local team? (This may turn into a thread of its own.)

*Canadian mother. What took me so long?

Geography for me for all of my fandoms - Red Wings, Lions, Tigers, Pistons.

Neither of my parents went to Michigan or Michigan State but we always enjoyed watching Michigan and MSU football and basketball. Growing up, I had a good friend with parents with UofM football season tickets and would go to one or two games a season with him all through elementary school so I usually cite that as the start of my affinity for the Wolverines.

Save these last few seasons, the Detroit Lions had been mediocre to downright bad for so long that usually after the first few weeks of each season I'm looking for another team to cheer for and usually base it off of a player or two who I really like and who seem like a good guy... that's how my love and appreciation of Ray Rice made me a fan of the early 2010s Ravens!
 
My High School's mascot is a Canuck. Other school fans would always yell "What's a Canuck?" Our logo had a Canadian fellow with a thick, full beard, grimacing face, beanie, plaid shirt, and crossed axes behind him, lol.
 
My High School's mascot is a Canuck. Other school fans would always yell "What's a Canuck?" Our logo had a Canadian fellow with a thick, full beard, grimacing face, beanie, plaid shirt, and crossed axes behind him, lol.
At least that is indefinable. My rival high school (Dowling Catholic - Caitlin Clark alumni) their mascot is a "Maroon." No idea what is a maroon.
 
I am a diehard Redwings fan and they are finally having a decent season.

On that topic, what the hell is going on with Colorado? They are so far ahead in the points it makes me wonder if they are playing middle school teams or something.
 
At least that is indefinable. My rival high school (Dowling Catholic - Caitlin Clark alumni) their mascot is a "Maroon." No idea what is a maroon.
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Why would I want to watch this? All I have to do is watch myself at work.

It's pretty funny because it's basically just the planners saying "no" to everything.

Clarkson's Farm is the same way when he tries to do anything on the farm and has to go see the planners and the local Council.
 
I know old MacDonald had a farm. I know he had some animals. I know the animals made some sounds. Does anyone know what E-I-E-I-O means?
 
Geography for me for all of my fandoms - Red Wings, Lions, Tigers, Pistons.

Neither of my parents went to Michigan or Michigan State but we always enjoyed watching Michigan and MSU football and basketball. Growing up, I had a good friend with parents with UofM football season tickets and would go to one or two games a season with him all through elementary school so I usually cite that as the start of my affinity for the Wolverines.

Save these last few seasons, the Detroit Lions had been mediocre to downright bad for so long that usually after the first few weeks of each season I'm looking for another team to cheer for and usually base it off of a player or two who I really like and who seem like a good guy... that's how my love and appreciation of Ray Rice made me a fan of the early 2010s Ravens!

Baseball: NY Mets Always. Fan since literally age 1.5.

Fooszball: BILLS MAFIA!

Hockey: SABRES NATION!

Rugby: Go Springboks!!

Premier League Football: Tottenham Hotspur, North London represent!

CFL: Montreal Alouettes

MLS: Club de Foot de Montreal (Formerly l'Impact de Montreal)

NBA: Toronto Raptors

WNBA: NY Liberty

Olympic anything: Team Canada or Team Sweden

World Cup FIFA: Italia! Duh.
 
Geography for me for all of my fandoms - Red Wings, Lions, Tigers, Pistons.
Me for the most part, too.

NFL - Vikings
MLB - Twins
NHL - Was the North Stars until the move to Dallas. Seriously, you moved a hockey team from Minnesota? What other state gives awards for the best hockey hair? Never got into the Wild since I moved well before establishment. I did send an email to the team when the Wild name was revealed. Wild? Really? I now root for and watch the Mammoth. Would have preferred to be the Outlaws.
NBA - Jazz when Stockton and Malone played. Have not watched a game since. Timberwolves? See Wild reasoning above.
WNBA - only to watch Caitlin drain 3's.
Premier League - Richmond Greyhounds
Pesäpallo - Yet to be a fan
Netball - Yet to be fan
MLF - Too many bass.
PBA - no favorite.
 
NHL - Was the North Stars until the move to Dallas. Seriously, you moved a hockey team from Minnesota? What other state gives awards for the best hockey hair?
TRUE!


NFL - Packers
MLB - Tigers
NHL - Wings
NBA - Basketball is not a real sport
WNBA - See above... although CC is freaking awesome
Premier League - I don't even know what this is
Pesäpallo - I don't even know how to pronounce this
Netball - Is this even a thing?
MLF - Hold up... professional fishing?
PBA - It was better when Jewel would attend to cheer on her then husband.
 
Went to the DMV Kiosk at the grocery store to renew my registration for one of our vehicles.

They want $4 extra to renew at the kiosk. Heck with that--the idea of paying money to pay money is absurd. So, I did it online, for no extra charge.

I used to mail my renewals in, but they stopped allowing that in 2020 "temporarily" and haven't brought it back. But they also gave everyone whose vehicle was expiring an extra three months free, so that was nice.

So now your renewal choices are online, in person, or via kiosk. The first takes about two minutes and updates the system instantly, the second takes all day, and the third costs extra. In Nevada, you also have the option of renewing at your county courthouse, but Virginia City is a long drive for me at lunch.

Maybe by the time our 2026 renewals (for 2027) come around, they will be back to taking mailed renewals.
 
Went to the DMV Kiosk at the grocery store to renew my registration for one of our vehicles.

They want $4 extra to renew at the kiosk. Heck with that--the idea of paying money to pay money is absurd. So, I did it online, for no extra charge.

I used to mail my renewals in, but they stopped allowing that in 2020 "temporarily" and haven't brought it back. But they also gave everyone whose vehicle was expiring an extra three months free, so that was nice.

So now your renewal choices are online, in person, or via kiosk. The first takes about two minutes and updates the system instantly, the second takes all day, and the third costs extra. In Nevada, you also have the option of renewing at your county courthouse, but Virginia City is a long drive for me at lunch.

Maybe by the time our 2026 renewals (for 2027) come around, they will be back to taking mailed renewals.
We can do it online or in person at “select” motor vehicle agencies. Not all of the motor vehicle locations to all of the things and you pretty much need an appointment.

The less time I have to interact with that agency the better.
 
In the latest installment of random work things from my world, here is a first... and something decidedly curious:

- A couple of us from the City leadership went to a marathon meeting with the County at the courthouse in the commissioners' conference room. As usual, there were bottles of water, a pot of coffee, and some cookies set out. About mid way through the meeting, I notice three bottles of Tums set out of the conference room table. Tums. Mint flavor, as if they are candy.
Apparently, this is not an anomaly as I found out on break when the deputy county attorney remarked that the "holiday flavor" of mint was still out and usually they put out the assorted fruit variety... I then asked how stressful is this meeting about to get...

WHY? This was strange and I spent way too much time in the meeting trying to figure this out. I should have just asked, I guess.
 
So, how did you get to become a fan of your team, if it wasn’t your local team? (This may turn into a thread of its own.)
Dang, I have to jump in on this... (dont want to wait for the thread split):

Typically geographical for me, eventhough I no longer live in Colorado:

NFL: Broncos
NHL: Avalanche, although I spent a good portion of my time following the Montreal Canadiens and sometime have their games on TV
NBA: Once you realize the NBA is (likely) rigged entertainment ala wrestling, I have been able to watch. Team: Nuggets (helps that they're actually relevant now)
MLB: Dont really follow a team. I have spent parts of my life liking the Cubs, grew up in Denver and went to a bunch of Rockies games, and now live in Mariners country... 3 franchises with little success...

Will not go into other leagues, although I catch and follow Tri City Americans (WHL) and will often check in on Ams alums in the NHL.
 
I forgot it was payday today (I tend to forget) until they brought my stub. I went online to Quicken/Simplifi to see if the payment had registered, only to show all our balances are at $0.

Luckily, it's an error with Simplifi, and not with the bank, and our online banking accounts all show the correct amounts. But what a way to scare people. Our net worth is higher than $0. :)

Intuit (makers of Quicken/Simplifi) will be pushing out a fix this weekend.

Jim
 
My neighbor plows around my car with his ATV. He's hand shoveling my steps, landing and the path to my car. He plowed the police department and fire department lots. He's a good guy.
Sounds like my wife's paternal grandfather (RIP) - that dude would get out at 5 AM to clear snow off neighbors' driveways even into his nineties.
 
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Our HOA is having a Super Bowl party at the clubhouse, and charging $5 admission. I have told them they shouldn't do that, but ifmake admission free and charge $5 for the food that's OK and is a legal workaround. Except, they said no, because it's a potluck and you can't charge for food AND make people bring stuff.

Well, OK then. I am not going to Karen my own HOA, but, they will probably get a nasty letter. The NFL goes after this sort of thing aggressively.

With that said, even though my wife's Seahawks are playing, we will NOT be having our annual bash at our house. Since there is a bigger party a block away at the clubhouse, we will merge our festivities with theirs. I will, however, still be up at 4 a.m. to begin making my Famous Ribs.

Jim
 
I finally bought a shaker cup for my morning protein powder drink. Much better texture than just mixing them with a spoon. Why did I not do that before now?

I've been using a shaker cup for years. A few weeks ago I dropped one on the stone floor in our back hallway and it cracked the lid. I didn't notice the crack in the lid and proceeded to dribble my chocolatey drink down the front of my shirt... which I also did not notice until I was on the way out the door with my daughter and she pointed it out to me.

Anyway... I went online to find a replacement and it seemed the company I bought my old one from had changed their design and was no longer selling the type of cup I liked. I went on to Amazon and went for the cheapest one with good reviews that also didn't have one of those little wire balls in it (I don't like those). I ended up with a set of four of these and I have to say they work really well. I think I like them more than the one I had previously.
 
I finally bought a shaker cup for my morning protein powder drink. Much better texture than just mixing them with a spoon. Why did I not do that before now?

I have a shaker that has a dome grid in the bottom instead of the ball bouncing around and is lined with aluminum instead of plastic.

I am not sure if it works as well as the classic shaker bottle, it they say it creates less microplastics.
 
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