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

Do we really need airplane safety briefings anymore? I know the FCC requires them, but we all know how to use a seat belt, to put our own mask on before helping others, Federal law prohibits smoking in the lavatory, and that the nearest exit may be behind you.
 
jumbach said:
Do we really need airplane safety briefings anymore? I know the FCC requires them, but we all know how to use a seat belt, to put our own mask on before helping others, Federal law prohibits smoking in the lavatory, and that the nearest exit may be behind you.
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No one actually listens anyway. Soon as I get on the plane my AirPods are in and I don't hear a damn thing the rest of the flight.
 
I was having lunch yesterday with a friend & he gets a call from his daughter who's in college. Her apartment was on fire and didn't know what to do. Mom & brother left immediately to go there.

Spoke to him last night about the details. A lithium battery in an electric skateboard blew up - a literal explosion. They lost everything in the apartment. Damage to other units. Entire complex building evacuated. Daughter was in class so not harmed. Her 2 room mates were home & 1 was sent to the hospital, has some burns but overly serious.

That's not quite the phone call you expect or want to get.
 
Planit said:
I was having lunch yesterday with a friend & he gets a call from his daughter who's in college. Her apartment was on fire and didn't know what to do. Mom & brother left immediately to go there.

Spoke to him last night about the details. A lithium battery in an electric skateboard blew up - a literal explosion. They lost everything in the apartment. Damage to other units. Entire complex building evacuated. Daughter was in class so not harmed. Her 2 room mates were home & 1 was sent to the hospital, has some burns but overly serious.

That's not quite the phone call you expect or want to get.
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I really hope she had insurance . . . but even if she does, it's still a major PITA. You'd be amazed how many people--renters especially--don't have it.

I am glad she's OK though.
 
jumbach said:
I really hope she had insurance . . . but even if she does, it's still a major PITA. You'd be amazed how many people--renters especially--don't have it.

I am glad she's OK though.
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Thinking back to that, I remember being in college and the first year in an apartment, I didn't have insurance. I thought hey, I have nothing of value so what does it matter. Then a guy I knew who lived in a dorm room and had a small fire. (Lava lamp exploded). He lost most of his stuff to smoke damage but it was enough of a wakeup call to me to get it.
 
Fast, faster, fastest

Germany has blitzers (mobile police speed cameras) that the police put up here and there and if you speed by one you get blitzed with the flash of the light and then a ticket gets automatically sent to you.

I just got a ticket in the mail for going 6 kph (or 3.7mph) over the speed limit. 🫤
 
My former employer presented a weiner about their GIS database, which is pretty comprehensive.

This was my idea and it had its beginning 10 years ago. At.the beginning of the webinar, someone else.got credit for it.
 
kms said:
My former employer presented a weiner about their GIS database, which is pretty comprehensive.

This was my idea and it had its beginning 10 years ago. At.the beginning of the webinar, someone else.got credit for it.
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Did HR get involved? 😁😀

But seriously, it totally sucks when someone else gets credit for your weiner work. Jerks.
 
Why do so many people do their social media rants/blurbs in their car? Do people.from less car-centric societies use cars as much for their commentary?
 
SlaveToTheGrind said:
Creeps up on you and then kicks you in the ass and we sit here thinking where did the time go?

I'm the youngest at 55 with my siblings at 58 in February, and 57 and 61 in May (born on same day). Parents sill kicking around and will be 90 in August.
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I turned 77 in November, one brother still alive at 79. I just had right hip replaced. The year I turned 60 a contractors helper stopped me and asked, if you don't mind my asking, how old are you? When I told him his jaw hit the floor. Maybe that was the year I removed the mustache. I kept one for forty years but it became uncontrollable. Started going up my nostrils and I could not stand it!
 
dandy_warhol said:
Why do so many people do their social media rants/blurbs in their car? Do people.from less car-centric societies use cars as much for their commentary?
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Yes! Maybe for the sound, that is not a lot of background noise - or lighting - but yeah it is a phenomenon

and that word always is followed by the following in my mind:

 
michaelskis said:
Thinking back to that, I remember being in college and the first year in an apartment, I didn't have insurance. I thought hey, I have nothing of value so what does it matter. Then a guy I knew who lived in a dorm room and had a small fire. (Lava lamp exploded). He lost most of his stuff to smoke damage but it was enough of a wakeup call to me to get it.
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The thought of NOT having it seems so absurd to me.


I am aware of at least four cases in the last two years of people in my circle having to deal with a relative who passed away suddenly with no life insurance. These are people in the 30's and 40's with kids, who really should have had some sort of plan other than having their families beg for help online.
 
fringe said:
I turned 77 in November, one brother still alive at 79. I just had right hip replaced. The year I turned 60 a contractors helper stopped me and asked, if you don't mind my asking, how old are you? When I told him his jaw hit the floor. Maybe that was the year I removed the mustache. I kept one for forty years but it became uncontrollable. Started going up my nostrils and I could not stand it!
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Yo money, you are the same age as Samuel L. Jackson and one year younger than IGGY POP!


If my life was 1946-2038, born in Montreal died in Cape Town, I'd say that was a win. No need to worry about the singularity and climate collapse.
 
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I have a relative who hates the use of the word “trip” as a noun or adjective in reference to travel, e.g., “I am taking a trip to Florida for Spring Break.” It’s so hard to avoid since it comes up regularly and is always, to me, a valid and grammatical use. Even airlines say “Review your trip details” and such. So, when I am around him, I try to avoid using that word in that context. Using it in other contexts, such as “Don’t trip on the curb!” are apparently OK. But I got ripped a new one one time years ago.

We all have pet peeves like that. (For example, I hate “where” and “at” in the same sentence due to redundancy), but, for the life of me, I don’t get where the “trip” avoidance came from, and since it’s sensitive, I won’t ask.

So I won't talk about my "upcoming trip to the conference" around him, but saying, "I am traveling to the conference" would be fine. Meanwhile, I am glad he doesn't work in a job where he has to read trip generation reports, as I am doing right now.

Gas stations don't really generate much traffic. They are really places people go on the way to or from somewhere else, with very rare exceptions. Regardless, we need the report.

Jim
 
dandy_warhol said:
I am hosting book club tomorrow and doing some Super Bowl snacks.

The Super Bowl isn't on until 1am our time, I believe! The kids at the base school get Monday off.
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I only eat Cool Ranch Doritos twice a year: at the Superb Owl Party, and at camping.
 
When I was at Starbucks the other day, the person in front of me said her name was "Sydney, spelled like the capital of Australia."

I thought to myself that "C-A-N-B-E-R-R-A" is a very odd way to spell "Sydney," but who am I to judge?
 
I know a guy who went ice sailing and went airborne - almost died and the recovery has been a couple of years now so yeah no thanks
 
dandy_warhol said:
Why do so many people do their social media rants/blurbs in their car? Do people.from less car-centric societies use cars as much for their commentary?
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I always figure that the people making these rants realize they are idiots and don't want to show that much stupidity at home where their family will see/hear.

Bubba said:
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This album came out a few weeks after I graduated high school and I can remember my friends and I listening to it basically non-stop. We also thought that Weird Al missed a big opportunity by not releasing a parody of "Where It's At" all about Jimmy Hart from the WWF and instead of having two turntables and a microphone he'd sing about having "The Heart Foundation and a Megaphone".

SlaveToTheGrind said:
Whatever happened to Beck? Fiona Apple? Alanis Morrisette?
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Beck has kept making a lot of great music since the '90s. His 2002 album Sea Change is one of my all time favorites. I still listen to it a couple times a month and is one of those rare "no skip" albums for me. Modern Guilt in 2008 was pretty great and Morning Phase in 2014 was phenomenal. Morning Phase also won some Grammys after it was released, including Album of the Year, controversially beating out Beyonce.

Fiona Apple hasn't been as prolific but Fetch the Bolt Cutters in 2020 was fantastic. It got 10/10 from Pitchfork and 4.5 or 5 stars from Rolling Stone. I think it was also the #3 or #4 album for Robert Christgau in 2020.

I haven't listened to much Alanis post Jagged Little Pill but I always felt like she had a tough road to hoe trying to follow up that album. My wife and her friend went to go see the Jagged Little Pill musical on Broadway back around Christmas of 2019. I think Alanis pops up from time to time as guest roles on TV and in movies, often playing herself. Looking at her discog now from the past few years, I don't recognize any of these albums but it appears some of them have pretty good reviews.
 
Did anyone watch the Muppets Show reboot the other day?

Tried to get to the zaniness of the original yet not imitate it. If it gets picked up, I'll get it a try, but the pilot was pretty meh.

And no Pigs In Space!
 
jumbach said:
Did anyone watch the Muppets Show reboot the other day?

Tried to get to the zaniness of the original yet not imitate it. If it gets picked up, I'll get it a try, but the pilot was pretty meh.

And no Pigs In Space!
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We have it on our agenda to watch with our youngest this weekend.

FWIW, we watch the Muppets Christmas Carol over the holiday break. I know I had never seen it before and my wife thinks she had never seen it either. We both enjoyed that quite a bit, but more importantly, so did our girls, including our 15 year old. They both liked it well enough that they actually sat down to watch it together a second time one day a week later when it was too cold to do much of anything else!
 
I went for a mile walk at lunch. It is bright and sunny and the 'feels like' temp is 70. The biggest complication was dodging the snow banks and large puddles.
 
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