Topics

31

Off-Topic / Just got back

« on: June 01, 2019, 07:32:00 am »Message ID: 1277832

Twelve days in Germany, Hungary, Poland and the United Kingdom with the family. Finally shaking the jet lag off enough to write somewhat coherently. Eating, drinking, dancing, touring, hiking, resting and relaxing...long over due. Probably the last time I will be able to corral the entire family together long enough to share a vacation. One of my goals has been to accumulate more stamps in my passport than material junk in my life and this trip is the second in what I hope will be many. Aiming to do a solo adventure in Central/South America later this year. Being with the family was great but I focused, too much, on their comfort and happiness. I have six years of Spanish language study but will need to revisit. My day time job provides educational materials and will help me with spanish immersion.

32

Off-Topic / Forgot...

« on: May 07, 2019, 05:09:03 pm »Message ID: 1274414

the orange juice! My wife stopped at the grocery store (about a mile from our house) got home, we put the groceries away, got comfortable and I settled in to uploading my receipt into several sites. I happened to notice that she had paid three dollars for orange juice but I did not recall putting that item away. I asked her about it and she was like "Oh goodness, I must have left it in the shopping cart!". She called the grocery store and while waiting on hold, got dressed in her out side clothes, hopped in the car, drove back to the grocery store and found the orange juice sitting in the cart where she had left it. How many people would do this? I thought it was crazy because she makes over seventy dollars an hour at her job. That means that the forty five minutes spent retrieving the three dollar item ended up costing over forty dollars. Perhaps it will make her more cognizant of fully emptying out the cart in the future?

33

Off-Topic / Lucky Month

« on: March 27, 2019, 06:00:11 am »Message ID: 1267671

I have been blessed with good fortune this month! While donating blood, at the beginning of the month, I was pulled aside by the management and given a Gold card that allows me to by pass any long lines for a period of three months. I didn't use it till today and managed to save forty minutes. During the second week I won twenty dollars on a scratch ticket. I found out that my daughter will be giving Lectures at a materials conference in Germany at the same time that a close cousin has rented a house in the same area. My night time/weekend job has slowed down enough to get a few major house projects done in time for my daughter's graduation which brings a great deal of happiness, and relief, to my wife. I found four banks that are posting bonuses for opening accounts as well-which is pretty good at this time of the year.

34

Off-Topic / When are you an adult?

« on: March 21, 2019, 04:48:16 pm »Message ID: 1267012

I heard this question asked during a meeting the other day and the answers were quite varied: Purchase of first car, purchase of first house, purchase of first appliance, first time voting, when you are legal age for drinking, when you attain legal age to join the military, when you have to take care of your own children, when you get married, even an answer that stated you felt you were an adult when you stooped down and picked up an errant ice cube instead of kicking it under the refrigerator. For me I felt that I was an adult when I started paying for my insurance on a house and a car. I felt like more of an adult when I had other people to take care of, namely, a wife and two children. It was also surprising how events that made people feel like an adult happened much later in life (age wise) for men.

35

Off-Topic / Storm-Bomb Cyclone

« on: March 14, 2019, 06:35:43 am »Message ID: 1266102

We got a taste of the storm (qualified as a winter hurricane due to the speed of the drop in atmospheric pressure) yesterday with strong winds (up to ninety miles per hour in parts), eight inches of snow at my house (some areas got four feet), zero visibility, and it came in after heavy rains that froze making the driving conditions somewhat perilous. My day time companycontacted everyone on Tuesday and told them not to come in. All meetings were scheduled to happen on line via skype (or the company equivalent). We lost one tree that sat next to our drive way-completely pulled out (roots and all). It was one of two trees that bordered each side of our driveway which is kind of a bummer because now our drive lacks aesthetic symmetry (feng shui). It was so bad, my dogs did not even want to go for a walk!

36

Off-Topic / Happy Galentine's Day!

« on: February 13, 2019, 06:26:07 pm »Message ID: 1261520

Started five years ago in a show that aired February eleventh of two thousand and ten called Parks and Recreation with Amy Poehler, this holiday has risen from television and is all about ladies celebrating ladies. I heard about it on the radio as I was driving home from work. Stopping at the store to get flowers and candy for Valentines day made me realize how big this non-holiday has gotten. Valentines day has lost it's appeal as it is a holiday (like New Years Eve) where seemingly every business jacks up their prices. My flowers were seven dollars more than the normal bouquet I pick up every two to three weeks.  The store was loaded with grumpy husbands/boyfriends getting things for their ladies. There was a special card section dedicated to Galentine's day that had cheery greetings like "Hoes before bros" and other fusion cash non-mentionables.

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Off-Topic / Valued Intelligence Community

« on: February 01, 2019, 06:06:21 am »Message ID: 1259405

Phew! Where doe on begin on that one?! I don't think I would find value in someone telling me I was "passive and naive" or that I "should go back to school" for stating the results of focused research and having years/decades of experience. Once again the media was blamed for misunderstanding these insulting statements although it sees that the media helped the pres see the error of his ways as he appears to be back pedaling and soft soaping his rhetoric. But now we are all in agreement and best of friends (TIC) even though none of the agencies have issued retractions/ amendments to their statements and the pres has stated that "Time will prove me right, probably". Not enough time has passed to lend any legitimacy to the pres's comment to the World that he believed Vladimir Putin over the US intelligence leaders.

38

Off-Topic / Non-News

« on: February 01, 2019, 05:48:55 am »Message ID: 1259401

Today you need to google what happened to the five officers in Houston who were shot in the line of duty in order to get any information. Could this be because the shooter was a white person (not an illegal immigrant) and doesn't feed into the propaganda driven news sources/does not feed the current administration's needs? Two hundred and twenty five pounds of fentanyl/395 pounds of methamphetamines seized at the Nogales port of entry was briefly mentioned in the news (toward the bottom)but you now need to use your search engines to find it...perhaps because it did not come through a hole in the existing wall, through areas that do not have a wall or does not meet an agenda? Dee Margo, Republican Mayor of the biggest city on the Southwest border (and the Mayors of Las Cruces/Sunland Park) do not want a wall, need more cooperation from the government (instead),stated that most drug traffic comes through ports of entry, and avoiding the shut downs is a higher priority but this article also needs to be googled.

39

Off-Topic / Serena

« on: January 23, 2019, 06:25:42 pm »Message ID: 1258175

Serena Williams is five foot nine inches and has stated that she weighs two hundred pounds. After watching her match last night I think that her weight may have been underestimated and would have guessed her to be closer to weighing two hundred and forty pounds. Her serve was awesome, and she is the best female tennis player of all time, but the extra weight seemed to inhibit coverage of the full court. Serena has had several rolled ankle accidents but I can not help but feel that her weight contributed to last nights rolled ankle and subsequent forfeiture/loss. The optimal weight for someone who is five foot nine is between one hundred and thirty to one hundred and sixty pounds. Trying to make quick turns, pivots and stops with an extra fifty pounds has to be like an eighteen wheel, fully loaded truck trying to stop in a short distance. I am surprised that her coach let her play and has not required that she get back into shape.

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Payment Pictures / My $25.04 Direct Deposit cashout payment

« on: January 19, 2019, 12:35:26 pm »Message ID: 1257631

Member comment: Easy Money!!!!

This image was posted automatically.

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Off-Topic / Karoshi

« on: January 13, 2019, 11:42:25 am »Message ID: 1256694

A warning to all workaholics. Karoshi is a Japanese word that means work to death and is identified as occupational sudden mortality. This sudden mortality is often the result of heart attack or stroke brought on by stress and a starvation diet. Karoshi has had reported occurances in people working sixty hours per week and include deaths of a 34 year old working 110 hours a week, 37 year old working 3000 hours a year, a 58 year old working 4,320 hours a year and a 22 year old that had 34 hours of continuous duty five times a month. I have averaged well over 3,000 hours a year for 40 years, currently average over 110 hours a week, and typically have several weekends that exceed 34 hours of continuous duty. My second job is somewhat less stressful. I have not been working out as much as I should and had a cold for about a month. I think I will slow down today.

42

Off-Topic / RIP Hayabusa

« on: December 18, 2018, 09:19:51 am »Message ID: 1252295

For twenty years I have dreamed about getting a Hayabusa: one of the fastest production super, motorcycles made. This was the only tangible thing that I wanted in life. Houses, and cars were easy to attain and I had no grandiose car goals.I have selfies on several of these bikes in the show room. I have one picture of me struggling to keep the front tire down while driving a friend's bike. I have been through at least five telephones, during those two decades, with the exact motorcycle specifications I desired on this bike. I had even been on my way to drive one home three years ago. My son was with me so that he could drive the car back while I drove the bike. During that ride the conversation turned to his wanting to get a bike like mine. I turned the car around, called the dealer, and told him that I was no longer interested. A bike like that in the hands of a sixteen year old would be suicide. The news announced last week that production of my dream bike will stop December thirty first of two thousand eighteen. I was bummed for a few days...it is hard to let go.

43

Off-Topic / Florida Pythons

« on: November 08, 2018, 07:14:32 pm »Message ID: 1246417

My son came to me a few years ago and wanted to go hunting. He said it was only fair taht he get the opportunity since I grew up in Wisconsin and had an Uncle that took me hunting/fishing. I told him times were different, that we didn't need the meat and I don't agree with trophy hunting/sport fishing but I would give it some thought. I read an article about wild Boar being a vicious pest down south so I took him on a boar hunt and donated the meat to a charity. Now I want to take him down to the Everglades to catch a python and help the Water Management Python Elimination program. My son is a little nervous but I told him we would be helping the environment-the pythons are invasive- greatly reducing the wildlife population. I just sent my son an article about a guy who caught a 17.5 foot/120 pound python.

44

Off-Topic / Brilliant Leadership Conference

« on: October 11, 2018, 08:04:09 pm »Message ID: 1242286

Kanye West and President Trump helped me better understand the future. I was unaware of the parallel and/or infinite universes and am certain these will hold the key to our global 'non-warming' problem. Mr. Trump indicated that Mr. West "Could very well be" a future presidential candidate. Kanye West 2024! A Kardashian for first Lady. Perhaps the Kardashian show could be filmed in the White house. Right after Mr. Trump's  second term expires. Who could not be inspired by Mr. West's response "Let's stop worrying about the future all we have is today"? M The Potus and Kanye West have so much in common with that single statement as well as Kanye being in the 98th percentile on his IQ test..two of the self proclaimed smartest men in the country.

45

Off-Topic / Net Neutrality

« on: October 02, 2018, 04:24:48 pm »Message ID: 1240762

Washington and Oregon have used State level regulation to institute net neutrality. The State of California, currently the fifth largest economy in the world (bigger than the United Kingdom, just passed a net neutrality bill (contained in several hundred pages of legalese) and is being sued by the Department of Justice in an attempt to stop a wave of state level net neutrality protections (currently 23 state Attorney generals, and 30 state legislatures, pushing for laws blocking the recent Federal repeal of of net neutrality protections). The bill prevents internet service providers ("ISP's") from blocking/slowing down or charging higher fees for select online content,and polices anti-competitive abuse of usage caps, and aims to preserve free speech by prohibiting ISPs from blocking content (blocking content is common in China, Russia and North Korea) to name a few of the bill's aims/goals.