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

michaelskis said:
I did have to work yesterday... but I also had to go pick up the oldest from play practice. He didn't get done until 10:15 PM...
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luckless pedestrian said:
Yeah play practice schedule is brutal
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Our oldest loves drama and musicals and is in the school musical again this year (they're doing Mama Mia! this time around). The musical kicks off in a few weeks and rehearsals started in early December. They have had rehearsal nearly every day from 3:00 until about 6:00 PM. They're on mid-winter break this week so they have a well-earned rest but starting Monday, rehearsals will go until 7:00 PM every evening and then starting two weeks out from the first performance, they go until 9:00 PM each evening, with that first week being their "tech week".

She always complains about tech week and how long the days are but at least she looks forward to the catered meals they bring in and then ranting or raving about either how good or how terrible the food was.

The family of one kid in the drama program owns a shawarma place and they always provide one of the meals and my daughter really likes that one. Last year they brought in trays of food from Panda Express one of the evenings and my daughter said that was pretty terrible.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
There was a priest and a nun outside the Starbucks downtown yesterday doing ashes to go for folks walking past. Most Friday evenings there are a group of youngish Orthodox Jews holding a Shabbat candle lighting outside the same Starbucks. Maybe some of the evenings of Ramadan we can get a group out there at that same corner setting up a stand with food for people breaking their fasts.

There's a Christian Science Reading Room right down the street. I wonder how we can get them involved at the corner too...
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I can get you a couple Witnesses to stand there quietly with their watchtowers like they do on my corner.
 
We've been watching The Price is Right with Itty Bitty. Quoting good ol' Bob, I said, "The price is wrong, bitch." Now she can't stop giggling and repeating it.
 
There is was an old school burger diner on a corner in our downtown at what's arguably the most high profile site (in terms of traffic and incomes) in the entire metro area. The burger place had been on that site for about 75 years and owned their building and fixtures but not the land. They had been fighting with the landowner for about the past 20 years. The landowner wanted them out so he could build a 5-story mixed use building on the lot and a neighboring lot that they own. The burger place was a neighborhood icon but honestly, the mixed use place would probably be a more efficient use of the site and generate a lot more foot activity at that corner of town. The burger place had a long-term lease and the courts kept siding with them over the years.

Fast forward to this fall and the burger place got help buying a larger parcel at an equally high profile site about a half mile south and reluctantly moved down there. Most of the details of the deal were sealed but we're pretty sure their landlord offered to buy them the other site and give it to them if they'd vacate their existing site. So they moved south on November 1 and have been operating out of a closed KFC and a tent while they wait for the spring to redevelop the site and build essentially a 1:1 copy of the iconic building the moved out of, complete with their old grills and kitchen fixtures.

Everybody wins, right?

This past Monday the building they moved out of suddenly and unexpectedly re-opened as another burger joint with basically the same menu. It looks the exact same from the outside, and from the few pictures I've seen online, it looks like they may not have even cleaned the grease off of the counters. I cannot find details of ownership in CoStar yet but I'm pretty sure the new place is owned by a company that is also owned by the guy who owns the property and he's probably leasing to himself for free. I imagine this new burger place is only going to be open for a few months until they begin site work, but it sounds like basically a big FU to the old burger place that refused to break the lease over the years.

The TLDR version of this is that we now have our own local version of Larry David's "Mocha Joe's", just in burger form.
 
WSU MUP Student said:
The TLDR version of this is that we now have our own local version of Larry David's "Mocha Joe's", just in burger form.
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Ooh. I can't wait to see what a judge has to say about that!!!

JNA said:
Who is watching USA Women's Hockey in the Gold Medal game ?
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I plan to later today.

dandy_warhol said:
We've been watching The Price is Right with Itty Bitty. Quoting good ol' Bob, I said, "The price is wrong, bitch." Now she can't stop giggling and repeating it.
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My cousin was on the show last year. He won a trip to Fairbanks and some home air purifiers.

Fun fact: I was in the contestant pool for "Match Game," the most recent iteration with Alec Baldwin. But then he accidentally shot someone, the show ended, and my chances disappeared.
 
SlaveToTheGrind said:
And the USA just tied 1-1 with two minutes in regulation.
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US WINS GOLD

USA USA USA...

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JNA said:
Would you wear this in public ?
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No.

But then again, I would not wear this in public either:
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Most of my t-shirts are for for sports teams, colleges, or our local high school, and for places that I have visited.
 
Here is the most recent shirt in my collection; it came in the mail last weekend. Is it dorky enough for me to wear?

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luckless pedestrian said:
If you do Lent, you can't have meat today so it's a fish and chips day for you

I made it to 14 hours and had a protein bar by Rx - I will get to 16 comfortably soon
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The Catholic Church in town is raising money again for a new building. Every Friday during Lent they sell food. The rotate between the old (white) members having a fish fry with slaw and banana pudding and the newer (El Salvadorian/Hispanic) members making pupusas, street corn, and other treats. All of it was delicious.

Its been nice to see a 100+ year church that had dwindled down to about 20 members now pretty packed. Plus everyone seems to get along. They had to bring in a priest who was fluent in Spanish and some of the celebrations now have a much more Central American flair.
 
bureaucrat#3 said:
The Catholic Church in town is raising money again for a new building. Every Friday during Lent they sell food. The rotate between the old (white) members having a fish fry with slaw and banana pudding and the newer (El Salvadorian/Hispanic) members making pupusas, street corn, and other treats. All of it was delicious.

Its been nice to see a 100+ year church that had dwindled down to about 20 members now pretty packed. Plus everyone seems to get along. They had to bring in a priest who was fluent in Spanish and some of the celebrations now have a much more Central American flair.
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This reminded me to take a look: There's a big Catholic parish in the village next door that has festivals all year for various holy days and church events and we usually stop by and pick up a fish dinner once or twice from the tent they always set up in the parking lot during lent. Looks like they're not doing it this week for some reason but are starting up next Friday.

FWIW, I love fish and chips. It's one of my fallback orders at a lot of restaurants if nothing else is grabbing my attention that particular day. Last week, I got a couple packs of frozen breaded halibut from Trader Joe's. Frozen fish from the supermarket can be hit or miss but these particular ones were very good but a bit pricey by TJ's standards.
 
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