Random Thoughts That Don't Deserve Their Own Thread Go Here

[Edward64]

See details below. The article says her co-workers have corroborated much. She is a fraking mess

The real reason Hannah Kobayashi vanished on trip of a lifetime to New York and headed for Mexico | Daily Mail Online


My questions are:

1) How does she feel now knowing her dad killed himself?
2) When or did the co-workers share any of this info to law enforcement?

[Ghost Econ]

I ordered delivery through Uber eats cause I had a coupon the restaurant is about a 7 minute drive. The driver picked the food up 1/2 hour ago. They appear to have made at least 2 deliveries in the interim and are 20 minutes away.

Why am I expected to tip them when it takes them 50 minutes to deliver the food I ordered from a restaurant 7 minutes away.

[thesloppy]

The ability to watch your delivery driver in real time is just as much an infuriating curse as it is a benefit.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

I ordered delivery through Uber eats cause I had a coupon the restaurant is about a 7 minute drive. The driver picked the food up 1/2 hour ago. They appear to have made at least 2 deliveries in the interim and are 20 minutes away.

Why am I expected to tip them when it takes them 50 minutes to deliver the food I ordered from a restaurant 7 minutes away.

Yeah, had the same experience. I think you have to pay for the express service to be upgraded to #1 on the delivery list.

This month, AmEx Plat's Uber benefit is increased to $35 over the usual $15. Combined with the AmEx Gold $10 benefit, I've got $45 to spend on Uber Eats this month. Can't wait to get a nearly free cold/late/wrong delivered order!

[Passacaglia]

Taking a shot that someone here might know what's going on. I've got a pair of "smart glasses" which are basically just frames that have Bluetooth, a speaker and a microphone in them. I got them so I can listen to music or make phone calls without having to either deal with a speakerphone or go find earbuds or headphones. I'm basically living the dream, with one exception. There's a button on the frames that resumes playing, which is perfect, because now all I have to do if I want to start listening to music is hit that button instead of pulling my phone out of my pocket. The button sometimes does what it's supposed to do, but sometimes it doesn't because my phone has forgotten where in the playlist it is. I'm pretty sure it's an issue with my phone or with Apple Music, not the glasses, because when I swipe down from the top on my phone, sometimes it remembers where I am in the playlist and lets me resume, but if it's been a long time since I've listened, it won't let me.

tl:dr - why does my phone forget where my spot is in an Apple Music Playlist if it's been a while since I've listened, and what can I do to fix it?

[Passacaglia]

Also, last weekend, I did finally hear a 60s song, Strawberry Fields Forever, on the radio. I also heard Strange Overtones by David Byrne and Brian Eno, which I was pretty geeked about, then when it was done, I switched to another station and heard Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads. Then during a 30 minute drive, I heard Another One Bites the Dust three times, plus twice more during the week since, a long with a couple other songs by Queen.

[Ghost Econ]

Strange overtones is an odd song to hear on classic rock. It's a banger, but not a classic rock song by year or style.

Of course I was channel surfing the other day and came across the local 90s rock station. Think mostly Metallica, hair metal and post-grunge (creed, puddle of mudd...). They were playing Lose Yourself by Eminem. Not sure how that snuck in their playlist.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

Strange overtones is an odd song to hear on classic rock. It's a banger, but not a classic rock song by year or style.

Of course I was channel surfing the other day and came across the local 90s rock station. Think mostly Metallica, hair metal and post-grunge (creed, puddle of mudd...). They were playing Lose Yourself by Eminem. Not sure how that snuck in their playlist.

Well this was on WXRT, which JIMGA point out is actually "adult album alternative" or something. But yeah, I'm pretty sure I've never heard it on OTA radio before, even when it was new. (Although I was probably listening to sports radio all the time in the car then).

[NobodyHere]

I just heard a stripper referred to as a "clothing challenged dancer".

What?

[Ghost Econ]

Is there a brand of residential smok alarms that aren't complete shit?

[Ksyrup]

Hopefully taking the rest of the year "off" (available by email generally and if anything important pops up), and last night get an email about a suspected IT breach. AWESOME TIMING! This, on the heels of a similar issue the Friday before Thanksgiving. It's always the lawyer who everyone is waiting for directions from (at least in terms of reporting obligations, notifications, etc.), so I spent over an hour last night drafting an analysis of the situation (with very limited information and technical expertise). Still had a better night than Sean Payton, though.

Anyway, data security/privacy issues are the least fun/most stressful part of my job. I freaking hate it. The only thing I miss about being in a large organization is that they are big enough to have whole departments whose job it is to handle shit like this. I mean, at the very least, discover this stuff on a random Wednesday in April, instead of the Friday before major holidays. Sheesh!

[Edward64]

Nice timing for the strike. Good thing all our Christmas packages have been delivered.

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

Is there a brand of residential smok alarms that aren't complete shit?

Can't vouch for anything on the list, but here is ratings by Consumer Reports. Maybe helpul:



I guess those are combo smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Here are just smoke detectors:

[Edward64]

My saga with Kroger milk going bad before "best by date" continues.

I'm going to talk with the store manager about this. She probably can't do much but so she is aware (if not already) that this is a real thing.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by Edward64

My saga with Kroger milk going bad before "best by date" continues.

I'm going to talk with the store manager about this. She probably can't do much but so she is aware (if not already) that this is a real thing.

Are you 100% sure your fridge isn't warm? I'd toss a thermometer where you sit your milk and leave it for a few days and see what it reads.

[NobodyHere]

I've got a lot of problems with you people...

[Ksyrup]

Perfect day for my BIL and his wife to show up in KY for the first time, 3+ years after his (and my wife's) parents moved from FL to KY as nearing-80 year olds because their son and other daughter in FL ignored them for so long they decided to move closer to the only kid who gave a shit about their well-being. Should be... awkward.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by dubb93

Are you 100% sure your fridge isn't warm? I'd toss a thermometer where you sit your milk and leave it for a few days and see what it reads.

Pretty sure. It says 38 degrees

My Sapporo, Sprite Zero frost and Coke Zero cherry are cold enough.

But will do thermometer to doublecheck

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Am I going nuts? We want to upgrade my daughter's iPhone and we have the Next Up thing on her account, and she's eligible for an upgrade. When we go through the website and pick the phone, color, GB, etc., it clearly shows the phone will be $16.67. Add $10 for the new Next Up Anytime, and it's $26.67. When I hit Upgrade Now, the price immediately changes to $40.56.

On the cart page, it clearly shows it costs $40.56 plus $66 due now. Literally, the line item shows $30.56 per month for 36 months, and $0 to trade in the device.

So, I'm confused. I do the Chat, and explain my question. Here is the response:

Hello, Chris thanks for waiting. As I checked here nothing to worry while you are checking it out it will show still regular price but rest assure that after 2 to 3 billing cycles the actual amount will reflects.

WTF does that mean? Even if I wasn't an attorney, I would not be stupid enough to agree to purchase something that clearly says you owe "X" on the promise of a Chat rep that eventually, it'll be "Y" and we'll credit your account in a few months.

What kind of BS is this?.

Just a follow-up on this AT&T crap.

So, we went into the store to do both upgrades so I could talk to someone face-to-face to understand the process, and it's the same - you get charged the regular monthly cost for 4-8 weeks until they confirm the phone is upgrade-worthy, at which point they credit your account for the overage you paid and then adjust your monthly cost. Except, it's total BS because we turned in the phones then and there. YOU confirm it works, then I don't have to give up my phone, sign a contract saying I owe the full amount, and have AT&T send me an email/letter 6 weeks later that you found a problem with my phone (which may not happen to me but totally happens on the regular, I bet).

Here's the even better (scummier) "new" shady business practice. You know the Next Up program, where you can pay $X amount a month for the ability to trade in your phone early and avoid paying the rest of the cost if you upgrade to another phone? It used to cost $6/month and let you upgrade after the phone was 50% paid off. So, 18 months on the typical 36 month plan. Well, that probably didn''t work for Apple, since that doesn't allow people to upgrade every 12 months - right when they release a new phone - to the latest phone without an out of pocket expense (paying the difference between the 12 months you've paid for and the 18 months until you can upgrade for free). So now, it's $10/month, but you can upgrade after 33% of your phone is paid off. Hey, 33% of 36 is 12 months!

But here's the best part - YOU ARE FORCED INTO THE NEXT UP PLAN WHETHER YOU WANT IT OR NOT. Seriously. My wife is not going to trade in her phone every year. She just upgraded from a 12! We wanted it taken off. Nope. No can do. You have to wait 14 days to be able to remove it from a line. How many people are simply going to forget, on a $100-300 phone bill, that they're paying $10/month for a feature they won't use?

Total, Grade-A, robbing our customers blind, BULLSHIT.

[Edward64]

We migrated from AT&T to T-Mobile and now to Google Fi. Decided to not play the upgrade teasing game (unavailable in T-Mobile unless you get on a higher tier plan) anymore.

We just accept that we’ll trade in with Apple every 3-4 years.want to keep it simple

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by Edward64

My saga with Kroger milk going bad before "best by date" continues.

I'm going to talk with the store manager about this. She probably can't do much but so she is aware (if not already) that this is a real thing.

Good idea to make the store aware since it's an on going issue. I'd think about emailing their corporate offices too.

I thought I had responded to your last post quoted below, but going back to look after seeing this one I see I had not. I know I read it, intended to respond, but had to be somewhere so must have went on my errands and then just forgot .

Originally Posted by Edward64

You are right, it is the "sell by" date. I typically try to buy milk about 10'ish days out. But my milk has been turning sour even before the sell by date. It may have happened once in a while, but never 3 times in a row which is super weird.


I do pretty much buy groceries and go home. Sometimes I go to the asian grocery/Walmart store first but pick up milk at Krogers on my way back.


Don't keep us in suspense ... and the new company is?

The plant actually sold three times over a few years (3-5 year span? IIRC).
First buyer was Land O Lakes, second Dean's (though it's been awhile it may have been Dean's and then LOL), and last I heard it belonged to
Kemps.

[Edward64]

There's a Gen Beta now (and I missed the Gen Alpha announcement).

Welcome Generation Beta: Successor to Gen Alpha And Gen Z, Set To Arrive In 2025

Generation Beta is the successor of Gen Alpha (those born between 2010-2024), which came after Gen Z (1996-2010), and millennials (1981-1996). Generation Beta follows a naming convention that started with Generation Alpha, using the Greek alphabet to signify a new era in human history.

The 'Beta babies' as they are being called, will grow up in an era that is characterised by unprecedented technological integration into daily life. They will likely be the first generation to experience "autonomous transportation at scale, wearable health technologies, and immersive virtual environments as standard aspects of daily life".

"While Generation Alpha has experienced the rise of smart technology and artificial intelligence, Generation Beta will live in an era where AI and automation are fully embedded in everyday life, education and workplaces to healthcare and entertainment," said Mr McCrindle in his blog post.

[Ksyrup]

Having lost a bunch of weight/fat the past year and cycling through 2 wardrobe refreshes, I've had my first real jeans "reset" in decades. I've found Wranglers fit the best in terms of seat/crotch, but I've tried several brands. And the one consistency I've found among all of them is the lack of consistency in fit. I'll try 2 or 3 of the exact same type of pants, and none of them will fit the same - some will be tighter/looser, some will be shorter/longer, etc. It's ridiculous. I can't just say - Wrangler Athletic Fit, 31/30 (that's my preference right now) - none of them fit the same way. The colors are the least of their differences. And I've found that to be the case for all brands.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Having lost a bunch of weight/fat the past year and cycling through 2 wardrobe refreshes, I've had my first real jeans "reset" in decades. I've found Wranglers fit the best in terms of seat/crotch, but I've tried several brands. And the one consistency I've found among all of them is the lack of consistency in fit. I'll try 2 or 3 of the exact same type of pants, and none of them will fit the same - some will be tighter/looser, some will be shorter/longer, etc. It's ridiculous. I can't just say - Wrangler Athletic Fit, 31/30 (that's my preference right now) - none of them fit the same way. The colors are the least of their differences. And I've found that to be the case for all brands.

No kidding. I had to do the same this year, and you have to try jeans on or you will regret it.

[Edward64]

I buy from Land's End. They have decent sales and returns are pretty painless, just take it to Kohls.

But yeah, they have same problem. I had an issue with same size jeans but different color, one was definitely tighter than the other. From what my wife tells me, it's much worse for women and their "vanity" sizes.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Edward64

From what my wife tells me, it's much worse for women and their "vanity" sizes.

Having sorted out my wife's extensive closet over the past 2 years, I can vouch for that

Every brand is different and that's before you get into stuff like "european sizing"

[flere-imsaho]

My understanding is that on top of everything else, there are wide variances in sizes between brands of women's clothing.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Every brand is different and that's before you get into stuff like "european sizing"

Nothing drove home to me how fat Americans are - and how our sizing has been recalibrated to soothe our fragile psyches - than when I bought a special edition CD release from a German metal band back in 2021 and it came with a t-shirt. So, I ordered my standard "Large." It arrived, and I couldn't fit into it. I was only able to wear it once I got down around 155 lbs earlier this year.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Nothing drove home to me how fat Americans are - and how our sizing has been recalibrated to soothe our fragile psyches - than when I bought a special edition CD release from a German metal band back in 2021 and it came with a t-shirt. So, I ordered my standard "Large." It arrived, and I couldn't fit into it. I was only able to wear it once I got down around 155 lbs earlier this year.

Will had the opposite thing happen when buying t-shirts at events during his Japan trip lol

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Nothing drove home to me how fat Americans are - and how our sizing has been recalibrated to soothe our fragile psyches - than when I bought a special edition CD release from a German metal band back in 2021 and it came with a t-shirt. So, I ordered my standard "Large." It arrived, and I couldn't fit into it. I was only able to wear it once I got down around 155 lbs earlier this year.

The average adult male in Germany weights 190lbs. The fact that a large doesn’t fit unless you weight 155lbs says more about the idiots making the shit than anything else. FWIW, the average American male is only 10lbs heavier so maybe size up 1 size?

[dubb93]

I’d pay $300 for an XBox handheld like the PlayStation Portal. That thing has been one of the best investments for my house this console generation. My kids play that thing to dead about twice when it’s cold out. It just sucks you can only have one at a time because I have too many damn kids and not enough portable consoles.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by dubb93

The average adult male in Germany weights 190lbs. The fact that a large doesn’t fit unless you weight 155lbs says more about the idiots making the shit than anything else. FWIW, the average American male is only 10lbs heavier so maybe size up 1 size?

Maybe, but I've noticed the same thing with merch from bands on tour from Europe generally. Large is an American medium, at best.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Maybe, but I've noticed the same thing with merch from bands on tour from Europe generally. Large is an American medium, at best.

Don't know much about European clothing but in Asia, we need to go up at least +1 size (e.g. an XL is comfortable in US vs tight in Asia).

re: German male, regardless of average weight, I suspect the US are much more midriff challenged and Germans are more proportional (?).

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by Edward64

re: German male, regardless of average weight, I suspect the US are much more midriff challenged and Germans are more proportional (?).

I mean if we are just doing generalizations I’d say I doubt it. Don’t they drink a shit ton of beer over there too?

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by dubb93

I mean if we are just doing generalizations I’d say I doubt it. Don’t they drink a shit ton of beer over there too?

Probably. But I'm pretty sure they are more active/walk more and eat less fast food. See below for obesity rates.

List of countries by obesity rate - Wikipedia

This is a list of countries by obesity rate, with data from the World Health Organization (WHO), as of 2022.

#13 United States 42.87%
#93 Germany 24.16%

I thought the Top-12 were interesting. Read about the South Pacific but didn't know about the Caribbean or Kuwait/Qatar/Egypt.

1 Tonga 70.54
2 Nauru 70.18
3 Tuvalu 63.93
4 Samoa 61.24
5 The Bahamas 47.61
6 Marshall Islands 47.29
7 Saint Kitts and Nevis 46.62
8 Kiribati 46.19
9 Micronesia 45.6
10 Kuwait 45.36
11 Qatar 43.76
12 Egypt 42.99

[cuervo72]

Initially misunderstood a mention of Atlanta's "peach drop" as "beach drop." My mind corrected itself immediately, but I did think "hey, dropping a few dozen tons of sand on a crowd might make for an interesting watch."

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Initially misunderstood a mention of Atlanta's "peach drop" as "beach drop." My mind corrected itself immediately, but I did think "hey, dropping a few dozen tons of sand on a crowd might make for an interesting watch."

And on the crowd downtown, not really the worst idea

[Ghost Econ]

Real confidence boost when random people laugh at your jokes. We were at Target and my daughter and wife were looking through the clothing rack. My wife held up a full length denim skirt and asked my daughter if she could pull it off. The daughter answered with a shrug, but then my wife asked me.

I just replied that, "I guess if I get a few more wives and give up soda..." My wife did the exasperated wife thing and snickered, but a couple of women a few racks away just busted out laughing. Felt nice that my stupid asides land every now and again.

I will say, only about 5% of my jokes actually get uttered because either they're too dark or won't be understood. Like my wife has what look like chemical burns on her face for possible skin cancer treatment. Evidently someone at work asked her about them in an uncouth way. I said next time just tell them your husband forgot about your shellfish allergy. She didn't get the joke at first until I started to explain it to which she said eww, stop, how did you possibly get there?

[Passacaglia]

Sorry if this is "on topic" in the off topic forums, but I just thought this was funny.

I'm doing some testing on my FOF9 universe, where I added a wild card game to a universe from the 1960s. The schedule is set up like the AFL was in its first few years, where there were 8 teams in two divisions, and all 8 teams played a home-and-home to make a 14-game schedule.



I just thought it was weird that all the AFL West teams had winning records, and none of the AFL East teams did. I guess in this case, the wild card is probably a good idea, since it lets another West team make the playoffs.

Looks like in the real AFL, the worst division winner was a tie between the 7-6-1 Boston Patriots and the 7-6-1 Buffalo Bills in 1963. They played an Eastern Division tiebreaker, with a pretty cool story from wikipedia:

The season schedule itself was pushed back a week from what was originally planned, owing to the assassination of President Kennedy, which resulted in the AFL moving games from that weekend (i.e., the weekend of November 23–24) to the weekend of December 21–22. Since only three games had been scheduled, with Boston and Buffalo both having a bye, it meant that the Patriots and Bills finished their regular schedule on Saturday, December 14, a week before the league's other six teams did. Consequently, the Patriots and Bills could have played their tiebreaker playoff on December 22, potentially leaving the AFL Championship Game for the next weekend (the originally scheduled date), since they knew after games of December 15 that they and they alone had tied for the division title. However, the Western Division race had not yet been decided and Chargers and Raiders owners Barron Hilton and Al Davis respectively objected to playing the Eastern playoff "early" on the grounds that it would have given the Eastern winner an unfair advantage in terms of rest in case the Chargers and Raiders also had to play a tiebreaker. The Chargers won their last game and with it won the West outright, nevertheless the Bills-Patriots Eastern Division playoff was not played until after the following week on Saturday, December 28 (the day before the Chicago-New York NFL Championship Game). This meant that the Boston-San Diego championship game was not played until January 5, 1964. Thus was held the second professional playoff game ever held in January (with the AFL's first ever title playoff on January 1, 1961, being the only time before then that that had occurred). As it happened, the Patriots-Chargers playoff was also latest date on which a non-Super Bowl playoff game was ever held, and it retained that record until the AFC and NFC Championship Games of January 7, 1979. No 14-game season ever ended later.

Looks like Boston won that tiebreaker game, and no tiebreaker was needed in the West. San Diego beat Boston 51-10 in the AFL Championship Game, and 10-4 Oakland was left out.

The FOF9 universe was pretty chalk too. The Broncos went to Houston and beat the Oilers 14-7, then lost to the Raiders in the AFL Championship Game. And the Raiders lost to the Packers in the Super Bowl.

[GrantDawg]

What do you think this is a football simulation forum?

[Lathum]

Build a bear. Man what a racket.

[Ksyrup]

We walked past that store last week at the mall. Haven't had to go into that place in years. It looked completely different, but still a license to print money, I assume.

[Lathum]

Indeed. My daughter got a gift card and it ended up costing us double.

[dubb93]

My now 9 year old made a bear for my nearly 6 year old before he was born. That bear has spent every night of my son’s life in bed with him and has taken multiple trips out of state. It’s with him whenever we watch a movie or a take a road trip. He even snuck the damn thing into the Columbus, Ohio zoo. Say what you will about the price, those bears can take a beating.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Build a bear. Man what a racket.

Here's the house of the guy who founded Yankee Candle: Pardon Our Interruption.

[Ksyrup]

Saw that on Zillow Gone Wild.

[JPhillips]

This Draft Kings subscription service is a really bad investment. Multi-leg parlays are where these books make most of their profit.

DraftKings Sportsbook+, which debuted earlier this week in New York, will cost members $20 a month. In return, they will receive what the company calls “stepped up” boosts for all parlays where the individual legs are -500 or narrower. For parlays with two legs, users will see profits increase by 10%, with the boost growing as the parlays get bigger. For parlays with 11 or more legs, the profit increases 100%, or double.

[flere-imsaho]

Oh man, that's extremely clever. A recurring income stream plus push players to make bets with a lower chance of paying out.

One part of me is caveat emptor / a fool and his money are... but another part of me says this is pure predation and should really be shut down.

[Passacaglia]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Oh man, that's extremely clever. A recurring income stream plus push players to make bets with a lower chance of paying out.

One part of me is caveat emptor / a fool and his money are... but another part of me says this is pure predation and should really be shut down.

I'm in the pure predation camp on that, to the point where I am surprised it's legal.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Oh man, that's extremely clever. A recurring income stream plus push players to make bets with a lower chance of paying out.

One part of me is caveat emptor / a fool and his money are... but another part of me says this is pure predation and should really be shut down.

The whole industry is predatory and sleezy. I am sorry I was such an active participant for so long. Now that I am almost 2 years out of it I can really look at it from a macro level. I wish they never legalized it, so many lives have been and will be ruined and we are just touching the tip. So many late teens and 20 somethings haven't really been effected but they will be. Live betting is the real devil.

‘I literally can’t stop.’ The descent of a modern sports fan - The Athletic