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

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

I've been sitting in the library for 35 minutes while this guy tests this laptop I'm trying to sell. I get you want to make sure it works, but come on man.

I have to assume he's looking at porn or something and I'm going to have to super wipe it if he doesn't buy it.

Did he buy it?

[Ksyrup]

He's still testing it.

[Ghost Econ]

He bought it about 20 minutes after the post. He tried to haggle the price down because the camera didn't work. I told him it was listed in the post and factored into the price.

[dubb93]

They really need to make TVs that work. I’m already trouble shooting the sound on another new TV because it stopped working day 2.

[GrantDawg]

I know. The "Men are from Mars and women are from Venus" is a very outdated trope. Honestly, it might not be about our sexes as much as just who we are, BUT....
I get home from work, and I need to decompress. Flip through the internet. Play a mindless game. Turn off my brain from work. I feel so much better after a good 20 minutes to an hour of quiet, and I usually get it as I get home before my wife. When she gets home, though, it is trauma dump time. Everything that went wrong on the day, every stress of the world, every negative thing she can think of cascades out of her mouth at a rate that is crazy heavy. That's fine when I have my decompress time, but days we get home at the same time? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.....

[RainMaker]

Well I just experienced tinned fish a couple weeks ago and I don't know where it's been my whole life. Become a staple in my diet now.

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Well I just experienced tinned fish a couple weeks ago and I don't know where it's been my whole life. Become a staple in my diet now.

Link to what you are enjoying?

[dubb93]

DOLA: Old man problem. The sound on my TV just isn’t loud enough. Any recommendations for affordable sound solutions that will allow me hear the TV? I can hear all the others so I assume a soundbar is maybe all I need?

When I say I can’t hear it I don’t mean can’t hear at all but at 100 I’m still wanting to turn it up. My other TVs in range from listening to at 30-70. Yes I know I can’t hear as well as I used to but it’s not like I need a hearing aide or anything, this thing just literally just isn’t loud at all.

[Glengoyne]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Well I just experienced tinned fish a couple weeks ago and I don't know where it's been my whole life. Become a staple in my diet now.

Inquiring minds. There are so many options. Sardines? Oysters? Hmmm...Now I need some crackers.

[sovereignstar v2]

Originally Posted by dubb93

DOLA: Old man problem. The sound on my TV just isn’t loud enough. Any recommendations for affordable sound solutions that will allow me hear the TV? I can hear all the others so I assume a soundbar is maybe all I need?

When I say I can’t hear it I don’t mean can’t hear at all but at 100 I’m still wanting to turn it up. My other TVs in range from listening to at 30-70. Yes I know I can’t hear as well as I used to but it’s not like I need a hearing aide or anything, this thing just literally just isn’t loud at all.

I have moved on from soundbars to dedicated speakers, but Sonos makes a very solid small soundbar called the Beam. Their stuff is a bit premium, but it’s worth it. I might even have a coupon to save tou some money

Edit: Meh, looks like the upgrade coupons are tied to your account

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I know. The "Men are from Mars and women are from Venus" is a very outdated trope. Honestly, it might not be about our sexes as much as just who we are, BUT....
I get home from work, and I need to decompress. Flip through the internet. Play a mindless game. Turn off my brain from work. I feel so much better after a good 20 minutes to an hour of quiet, and I usually get it as I get home before my wife. When she gets home, though, it is trauma dump time. Everything that went wrong on the day, every stress of the world, every negative thing she can think of cascades out of her mouth at a rate that is crazy heavy. That's fine when I have my decompress time, but days we get home at the same time? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.....

How about the partner to this - getting home after a long shift and the SO's immediate desire for you to tell them about your day? Like if we need to talk instead of just letting me decompress for 20 minutes first we can talk about dinner, or other plans, or watch a show, or even what's bothering you, but it was hot, it was stressful, we killed it, and we'll be back to it again tomorrow or in a couple days and I'd rather enjoy my free time with you until then, ranting about work frustration doesn't help it just reminds me what I couldn't fix or have to fix next time

[dubb93]

Originally Posted by sovereignstar v2

I have moved on from soundbars to dedicated speakers, but Sonos makes a very solid small soundbar called the Beam. Their stuff is a bit premium, but it’s worth it. I might even have a coupon to save tou some money

Edit: Meh, looks like the upgrade coupons are tied to your account

Thanks for the suggestion but I think $500 is a bit above what I’m wanting to spend. I’m sure it sounds great though.

[Suicane75]

Originally Posted by dubb93

DOLA: Old man problem. The sound on my TV just isn’t loud enough. Any recommendations for affordable sound solutions that will allow me hear the TV? I can hear all the others so I assume a soundbar is maybe all I need?

When I say I can’t hear it I don’t mean can’t hear at all but at 100 I’m still wanting to turn it up. My other TVs in range from listening to at 30-70. Yes I know I can’t hear as well as I used to but it’s not like I need a hearing aide or anything, this thing just literally just isn’t loud at all.

Bluetooth earphones or buds?

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Glengoyne

Inquiring minds. There are so many options. Sardines? Oysters? Hmmm...Now I need some crackers.

Mackeral and salmon currently. Never been a fan of sardines. Mostly did it because I need something semi-healthy to snack on and this gives me a bit of fish oil. Can put on a cracker with cream cheese or just dump it over a little rice.


Been mostly getting the cheap King Oscar stuff at the grocery store but did splurge on these two brands. Haven't tried them all yet.


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[NobodyHere]

It's not cannibalism if you don't swallow.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Mackeral and salmon currently. Never been a fan of sardines. Mostly did it because I need something semi-healthy to snack on and this gives me a bit of fish oil. Can put on a cracker with cream cheese or just dump it over a little rice.


Been mostly getting the cheap King Oscar stuff at the grocery store but did splurge on these two brands. Haven't tried them all yet.


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A while ago my wife and I attended a pop up dinner at a restaurant that was all about sardines. The two chefs hosting it love sardines and every course involved them in some way. It was a great dinner and since then, we have sardines about once every two weeks or so for dinner.

We mash them up with some lemon juice, garlic and maybe some other stuff? My wife handles that. We soft boil some eggs and make sourdough toast. We spread the mushed up sardines on the toast, smush the egg on top of that and... it's delish! And easy.

[JonInMiddleGA]

For anybody who might have wondered what being the only human in a house is like, I just had a moment that could provide some insight.

To myself I just said "you don't need no damned Oreos, you've got Twist N Shouts at home"

I said that out loud. In my own basement. Not even the cat is down here at the moment, just me.

How squirrely I may be getting, well, my best hope is that squirrely is only a relative term.

[flere-imsaho]

Bro, it's almost 17 years since I have been alone in my own home for more than 8 hours. Keep the stories coming.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Bro, it's almost 17 years since I have been alone in my own home for more than 8 hours. Keep the stories coming.

I have always done alone well. Very well even. I think probably the longest stint that wasn't, erm, uh, related to health issues here was maybe Will's summer overseas study. Wife went across the pond with him at the start of that trip and I was here with just the cats for like 8-9 days IIRC. Purely enjoyable.

But what I believe I'm discovering is that there might be an upper limit to even my skill at it.

Granted, an extremely high maintenance cat in the house is taxing my ability to cope (hell, to survive) very hard lately but damn, that little moment today was pretty stark. Pretty sure I said it aloud simply to hear a voice in the house.

And that was in spite of my bro-in-law being here just a few hours earlier to help with some household maintenance.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

But what I believe I'm discovering is that there might be an upper limit to even my skill at it.

Sorry if I missed it. Did you end up in Florida?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Sorry if I missed it. Did you end up in Florida?

Alas, not yet.

Still here in my personal hell.

[cuervo72]

Yeah, I have a lot of alone time these days, with the kids out of the house and with my wife working 3 7P-7A shifts a week (outside of the work hours themselves, she sleeps during the day a lot, obviously). But it's not all of the time, and one kid is still within shouting range (just moved out of FRE to Hagerstown, but generally accessible).

And none of the cats are basket cases.

[NobodyHere]

My company was very nearly hit with a cyber attack yesterday.

They breached our network but our security caught the attempt to deploy malicious software.

This is just a warning to any IT people out there. Threats are real.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

My company was very nearly hit with a cyber attack yesterday.

They breached our network but our security caught the attempt to deploy malicious software.

This is just a warning to any IT people out there. Threats are real.

I work for the federal government, so if someone just asks nicely we just give the information over.

[GrantDawg]

They are filming the Madden movie here. They have made up a local restaurant as an old style "Tastee Freeze". Jokes about Jack and Diane hwve insued.

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[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

They are filming the Madden movie here. They have made up a local restaurant as an old style "Tastee Freeze". Jokes about Jack and Diane hwve insued.

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Out of curiosity, who did they transform?

[GrantDawg]

Mamie's Kitchen. Very popular local biscuit place. There was panic in the streets until people learned it was just temporary signage.

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[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Mamie's Kitchen. Very popular local biscuit place. There was panic in the streets until people learned it was just temporary signage.

Sent from my C5 using Tapatalk

I had to Google it to refresh my memory, but yeah, I can totally see that working as a TF.

[Edward64]

Great song.

re: Tastee Freez, had to look it up

Where Is the Tastee Freez From John Mellencamp’s ‘Jack and Diane’?

It’s the latter establishment that seems closest to the songwriter’s heart. “The Kovener’s Korner is located about two blocks from Mellencamp’s boyhood home on 5th Street,” writes Plump. “[There was] no actual Tastee Freez that I recall, but ‘someone’ still enjoys a visit to Kovener’s Korner.” She attaches a recent snapshot of Mellencamp pausing outside the stand (located at 712 West 2nd Street) in jeans, a button-down, and sunglasses, digging into a large Styrofoam cup housing some kind of frozen concoction.

[Ghost Econ]

We somehow have an entire shelf in our fridge that is just yogurt for my wife and daughter. It's a French door fridge, for reference.

[Ghost Econ]

For someone who spends her entire day texting, it's amazing that I can't get her to text me logical sentences. The number of times she texts me one thing when she means the exact opposite because she left out a word or combined two thoughts is astounding.

[GrantDawg]

Does she use voice to text? My sister loves to send me late night MAGA rants that are complete gibberish because she uses voice to text.

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[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Does she use voice to text? My sister loves to send me late night MAGA rants that are complete gibberish because she uses voice to text.

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Is she hot?

[GrantDawg]

No. Sorry.

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[GrantDawg]

Went by today while they were shooting the movie. They staged at a big parking lot (the old Kmart we use to cruise when I was in highschool). The lot was full of old 70's cars in pristine condition. It was so cool.

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[Edward64]

Glad the Diddy trial seems to be coming to an end.

https://www.newsweek.com/diddy-trial...-court-2093307

The jury in Sean "Diddy" Combs' sex trafficking trial announced Tuesday that it had reached a verdict on four of the five charges, but remained deadlocked on the most serious count: racketeering conspiracy.

Judge Arun Subramanian, echoing the views of both prosecutors and the defense, said it was too early—just two days into deliberations—for the panel to give up. The judge instructed the jury to continue deliberations.

[Edward64]

This is fantastic!

No, it's not a pedestrian walkway. It's for vehicles. Not quite 90-degrees though

Just a moment...

The 200-million-rupee (£1.7 million) project, meant to reduce waiting times at railway crossings, remains unopened after due to safety concerns. Drivers approaching the bridge must slam on their brakes to navigate a perilously sharp turn. As reported in The Times, engineers initially defended the design, with Chief Engineer VD Verma claiming they had "no other option" due to land constraints near a metro station.

#WATCH | Madhya Pradesh | A newly-built bridge constructed in Bhopal's Aishbagh features a 90-degree turn pic.twitter.com/M1xrJxR45e

— ANI (@ANI) June 12, 2025

[GrantDawg]

Diddy walking. He is convicted on the lesser charges but not the two biggest charges. Most likely going to be freed.

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[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Diddy walking. He is convicted on the lesser charges but not the two biggest charges. Most likely going to be freed.

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Don't overprosecute into what you can't prove. Same lesson, as it turned out, that was taught in Atlanta with their own high profile trials.

[flere-imsaho]

Huh, that's not the lesson I take from this. The lesson I take from this (and countless examples over the years) is if you have enough money, you can afford yourself a different set of interactions with the law & courts.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by flere-imsaho

Huh, that's not the lesson I take from this. The lesson I take from this (and countless examples over the years) is if you have enough money, you can afford yourself a different set of interactions with the law & courts.

RICO is a tough one for juries, presumably was thrown on top of the charges in hopes of getting him to fold.

Credibility issues with the primary witnesses were always going to make this risky. In the end he was convicted of transporting male hookers to bang other women he was sleeping with himself already. I suspect the jury felt like he was paying hookers to bang other hookers.

[GrantDawg]

Jon is right. RICO is a tough one to prove, and the law experts I listened to thought the prosecution didn't. It is exactly the same as what happened in Atlanta where they wasted time over charging in more than one high profile case, and RICO in Georgia is much lower bar to prove than in a Federal case. Convict with what you got and stop trying to shoot the moon.
Surprisingly, Diddy still didn't get a bond. He is probably looking at somewhere between 2 and 5 years, with credit for time served which is 11 months. The chances he ends up in home confinement or probation is pretty high.

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[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

The chances he ends up in home confinement or probation is pretty high.

Which would be the norm for an awful lot of similar cases in a lot of places.

There simply isn't enough prison space to keep everybody locked up who has it coming (and I mean that simply in the sense of convicted criminals who have time to serve)

I ain't gotta like it to acknowledge it's often true. And I'm even more aware of it having someone directly connected to the system in one of those areas.

(right now in Miami-Dade, arrests would have to basically stop for over 18 months, actually close to two years, just to get the system caught up. And even then they wouldn't have space to house those who get convicted of a jailable offense)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

It is exactly the same as what happened in Atlanta where they wasted time over charging in more than one high profile case, and RICO in Georgia is much lower bar to prove than in a Federal case.

Speaking of, here's a small world X 2 for ya.

Yung Thug's lead atty? Was part of Diddy's defense team.

Would you care to take a guess what attorney's daughter was Will's opposite number in court yesterday in Miami?

[GrantDawg]

That is wild.

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[Edward64]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Speaking of, here's a small world X 2 for ya.

Yung Thug's lead atty? Was part of Diddy's defense team.

Would you care to take a guess what attorney's daughter was Will's opposite number in court yesterday in Miami?

Will should ask her for an intro to her dad!

Who knows, one day we'll read about Will defending rapper X, Y, Z.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Will should ask her for an intro to her dad!

Who knows, one day we'll read about Will defending rapper X, Y, Z.

Alas, that daughter isn't the most, umm ... likable or personable offspring. She's not a fan of prosecutors that don't just roll over and play dead in her presence.

Dad might be okay for all we know, but not worth having to deal with the daughter to find out.

edit to add: besides, he made a significantly better contact in his final year at UM, so that'd be the preferred play if he ever went that route.

[GrantDawg]

Bluesky

[flere-imsaho]

I'm getting really tired of having to adjust my driving choices to proactively avoid the stupid shit people are doing behind me (instead of just the usual stupid shit people are doing in front of me). I feel like getting rear-ended during my commute is only a matter of when, not if, at this point. And not like a minor fender-bender rear-ender, either. Like car totaled, whiplash & concussion rear-ended.

[RainMaker]

I really hate how all these newer cars have that thing where the engine turns off when you come to a stop. Yes I know you can turn it off but it'd be nice to be able to set it off as a default.