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

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by stevew

4.99 delivery fee plus a $5 tip just kills delivery pizza for me.

Charging $22.50 plus $1 per topping for an $8 pizza kills it for me.

[stevew]

We don’t have fancy pizza like that here.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by stevew

We don’t have fancy pizza like that here.

Hell, that's Pizza Hut, and I only exaggerate slightly.

Looking at them online right now, delivery (which they only do through a service now unless you're like a mile from the only two locations they have left here) is $16.79 for a large but then each topping is actually $4.78 !!!!

edit to add:
Johnny's is $16.89 and $3.50 to $4.50 per topping
Pizza Factory is $17.25 for their combos but there's no way to remove the salami from anything that has meat (wtf? salami? on PIZZA?)
Fully Loaded is $14.20 for a medium (11", PHut large is 14" for comparision) and $2.50 per topping
Papa John's starts at $14.09 for a 14", $17.09 for a 16", though they do throw in one topping then $1.60 each after that
Little Italy (best slices in town but they suuuuuck when delivered) is $31.45 (!!!) for a large and then $1.80 per topping
Bulldawg Pizza (which is really low end, bad pizza) is $12.99 and $2 per topping
Marco's is $18 for a large pepperoni, call it $20 once I at least add onion
Mama Sid's is $21.49 and $1 per topping [i] per half (so $2 per topping) ... just celebrated something like their 40th year here, best known for buffet

And no, I wasn't anal enough to just look that up, I was actually trying to find something to order and figured wth, I'll just look at these

[JonInMiddleGA]

Oh, and re: Chinese -- how in the fuck do I live somewhere that has 3 chinese joints with various things I could get delivered but none of them have Mongolian Beef? I mean, just how in the fuck {shakes head}

edit: I stand corrected. One place DOES have it ... naturally it's the place I mentioned earlier whose food quality had dropped below anything edible

[cuervo72]

Too lazy to find the discussion on girls basketball. But, our HS JV team just lost 42...to 2.

[Ksyrup]

Been there, sat through that!

[stevew]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Too lazy to find the discussion on girls basketball. But, our HS JV team just lost 42...to 2.

Some HS game ended 4-2 as a protest against there not being a shot clock.

[Ksyrup]

I'm torn on that. We don't do it in KY and it's a big point of debate. I absolutely hate the 5 possession 4th quarters where the winning team just bleeds the clock. OTOH, you're asking players who generally can't shoot to throw up more shots because of a clock. So I could see it resulting in even worse quality games - if that's even possible.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Too lazy to find the discussion on girls basketball. But, our HS JV team just lost 42...to 2.

Our varsity girls led 38-0 at the half tonight, in a regular season region finale.

The losing team will next face a team that's beaten us by double digits twice in the first round of the region tournament, which will wrap up their 3-25 season.

[Ksyrup]

My daughter's old HS team is putting the wraps on a 2-24 season once they lose the play-in game at districts. They won 8 with her last year. I wish she had played with a different era of our basketball team or played elsewhere. She was way better than the players around her.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

So I could see it resulting in even worse quality games - if that's even possible.

It is, and it has.

It's new to Georgia, and it's been a mistake for all but the higher end winning teams.

[cuervo72]

It's just weird seeing (not really first hand, but following results) the huge disparity of talent. The FHS girls won a couple of state championships five years ago, though I guess that was helped by a G who is now playing for Arky. Now their JV is scoring a lone bucket?

(Of course that's not the only team that has had wildly fluctuating results. When I was going to football games because of the band, we got romped, regularly. One game we trailed by 50 at the half. This year, undefeated regular season. Similarly, the boys basketball team was middling-to-decent. This year? 20-0. Where the hell was all this when my kids went there??)

[HerRealName]

I've been able to stream a few of my nephew's JV games. His team's zone offense is to pull back towards half court and hold the ball and pass the ball back and forth 35-40 feet from the basket. It's horrible but especially egregious since his team is undersized and has a few good shooters.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

It's just weird seeing (not really first hand, but following results) the huge disparity of talent. The FHS girls won a couple of state championships five years ago, though I guess that was helped by a G who is now playing for Arky. Now their JV is scoring a lone bucket?

(Of course that's not the only team that has had wildly fluctuating results. When I was going to football games because of the band, we got romped, regularly. One game we trailed by 50 at the half. This year, undefeated regular season. Similarly, the boys basketball team was middling-to-decent. This year? 20-0. Where the hell was all this when my kids went there??)

Has the attendance zone changed in that time? Lose a feeder school to a different HS for example?

That, or coaching changes, would be the two most likely things that come to mind.

Another possibility for the JV decline is if the varsity is really young this year & has stripped most of the talent away from the JV squad

[NobodyHere]

How embarrassing, I took a nap thinking that tonight was tomorrow morning and been texting my mom not realizing that.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Has the attendance zone changed in that time? Lose a feeder school to a different HS for example?

That, or coaching changes, would be the two most likely things that come to mind.

Another possibility for the JV decline is if the varsity is really young this year & has stripped most of the talent away from the JV squad

No loss of feeder school, no.* Change of coach...yes. Bit of a story to that: Former Frederick basketball coach sues FCPS, alleges racial discrimination

Could in part be youth though, too. Varsity only lost 48-41 to the same school, which wouldn't suggest a huge difference in programs as much as just a really, really sub-par JV, for whatever reason.


* I still don't know how completely fixed these lines are. I mean, give a mile here or there on this map and you can be going to one of four different high schools. (Or five really, given that anyone accepted to the IB program would be going to Urbana.)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

How embarrassing, I took a nap thinking that tonight was tomorrow morning and been texting my mom not realizing that.

Happens to the best of us ... though, granted, most of us don't bring somebody else into our confusion lol.

What I hate are naps like mine the other day which had me waking up at like 645pm ... meaning outside light/dark provided no clue whatsoever whether it was night or day

[Solecismic]

I once played in a JV game in which we led 30-0 at the half. We ended up winning 33-22. No real change in players. Warming up on the good side, we didn't notice a thing. Switching sides at the half, we realized the basket at one end was seriously warped - like Darryl Dawkins had been playing earlier and nobody checked the baskets afterward. It's not like anyone took JV seriously at a small high school - none of us were headed to varsity any time soon. I don't even think we had parents showing up for games - I told mine never to bother.

[Ghost Econ]

So last time there was a massive lightning strike about 2 miles from my house. Never seen lightning that bright. Then the loudest, longest thunder I've ever heard. People up to 90 minutes away said they felt the thunder.

Some weird stuff going on in the sky lately.

[molson]

I have a few friends who are into writing right now, and I coincidently came across this quote from Ray Bradbury which I love. He said, if you want to be a writer, "“write a short story every week. It's not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row."

I feel like that applies to any creative endeavor.

[cuervo72]

Or blackjack.

[sterlingice]

Or maybe writing just isn't your game

SI

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by molson

I have a few friends who are into writing right now, and I coincidently came across this quote from Ray Bradbury which I love. He said, if you want to be a writer, "“write a short story every week. It's not possible to write 52 bad short stories in a row."

I feel like that applies to any creative endeavor.

Thanks for this. I’ve always imagined writing in retirement. I’ve done a little already and all that’s taught me is I’ll never be as good as my favorite authors in prose or creativity. My job gravitates toward technical writing with details and ‘telling’ vs ‘showing’, just something I need to break away from (unless I want to write autobiographies or history).

Maybe the approach is to write 51 bad short stories to get to the 52nd and then start writing for real

[stevew]

The PepsixPeeps is decent but way too sweet.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Edward64

and all that’s taught me is I’ll never be as good as my favorite authors in prose or creativity.

Keep Writing! This happens to all creative people:

Ira Glass on The Creative Process: - YouTube

[Ghost Econ]

Anyone else have a dog with a place he takes things he doesn't want you to know about? Like our dog will take things under the dining room table so he's surrounded by chairs. If he finds paper or tissues I guess to make it harder to take from him.

Today he found a pretzel on the floor and ran off under the table. Like, dude, you've had hundreds of pretzels, why the subterfuge on this one?

[Lathum]

My dog does literally the exact same thing under the dining room table. Sometimes he will also run into his crate, giving himself no escape route.

[flere-imsaho]

Our last dog would take rawhides we gave him outside and bury them, and then dig them up months later and eat them. I get they were "seasoned" or "aged" or something. He was weird in many ways, but still a good dog.

[RainMaker]

Bought a new car which I had avoided for way too long. First time I can remember feeling old when it comes to technology. Had to ask the sales guy how to even shift into reverse. There's like 500 options and I'm still not totally sure how to set the temperature.

I'll learn it but technology sure moves fast if you don't keep up.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Bought a new car which I had avoided for way too long. First time I can remember feeling old when it comes to technology. Had to ask the sales guy how to even shift into reverse. There's like 500 options and I'm still not totally sure how to set the temperature.

Reminds me of an old routine by Southern humorist Wendy Bagwell, a bit called "Old Ralph Bennett's Volkswagen" (story goes back to when they were first imported).

After a series of misadventures the bit culminates with Wendy reaching for what should be the emergency brake lever and Ralph screaming "don't pull that, the bottom is liable to fall outta this thing"

It's a classic

edit to add: For those who've never had the privilege, here's Wendy in all his glory with the tale
https://youtu.be/k3NLm37ywC8

[flere-imsaho]

Once upon a time (in the 80s), one of my Dad's work colleagues had a Peugeot (an extremely uncommon car in 1980s Maine). It was in the shop a lot. And there was one shop, and it was in Bath, roughly an hour up the coast (in those days) from Portland, where they worked and we lived.

One day Dad asked me to drive this guy to pick up his car (I think this was summer and I was working for my Dad since I was in HS). One the drive up we talked about lots of stuff, including me asking what the car was in the shop for.

It was in the shop, he said, because one of the warning lights on the dashboard had gone off. Oh, like "check engine", I said? No, in this case, a light that said "Engine Detonator Malfunction".

[Ghost Econ]

How does my family lose iPhone cords so fast? They're 6 foot cords, are they also losing snakes all over the place?

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

How does my family lose iPhone cords so fast? They're 6 foot cords, are they also losing snakes all over the place?

Your dog is hiding them.

[B & B]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Bought a new car which I had avoided for way too long. First time I can remember feeling old when it comes to technology. Had to ask the sales guy how to even shift into reverse. There's like 500 options and I'm still not totally sure how to set the temperature.

I'll learn it but technology sure moves fast if you don't keep up.

We are getting old(er)

My car has a CD player.

If thats not old enough for you then my car also doesnt have an alert or constant beeping sound for not using the seatbelt.

Would be like a triceratops getting in a Tesla.

[flere-imsaho]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

How does my family lose iPhone cords so fast? They're 6 foot cords, are they also losing snakes all over the place?

Oh thank god it's not just me. And AC plugs for those USB cords. I swear one day my kids are going to move out and I'm going to clean up the place and find dozens of both.

[Edward64]

We have a drawer full of cords. We don’t lose cords but I can’t identify half of them anymore.

[GrantDawg]

Bohemian Rapsody as a crime thriller. Just wow.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRtGWVHb/

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

[Edward64]

Below article is interesting but made me wonder. If they can do a DNA analysis of every really old mummy, skeleton etc. found from all over the world and put it into a DNA database like 21andMe, I’d be willing to pay money to see what type of relationship I had with the bones (e.g. cousin 21 times removed).

https://edition.cnn.com/style/articl...ntl/index.html

[miami_fan]

I don't know if there was some sort of call to action, but over the last two weeks or so, I have heard more than a few stories about people challenging the legitimacy of people with disability car plates, tags and if they are allowed to park in spots designated for people with disabilities. I just had my own incident where someone questioned my wife while she was in the passenger seat of the car while I ran inside a store. Who are they doing this for? What are they trying to accomplish?

I know just like everyone else that there are people who have illegally gotten disabled tags, stickers and/or window displays. It sucks and something should been done about that happening and punishing those that give those out and those who use them in a fraudulent manner. Random civilians demanding people with disabilities to prove their worthiness for access to a parking spot for them is not something that should be done. The encounters I have heard about so far have ended relatively peacefully with only the wannabe law enforcement person getting cursed out. I don't think that is going to remain the case if this trend continues.

[Sweed]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

I don't know if there was some sort of call to action, but over the last two weeks or so, I have heard more than a few stories about people challenging the legitimacy of people with disability car plates, tags and if they are allowed to park in spots designated for people with disabilities. I just had my own incident where someone questioned my wife while she was in the passenger seat of the car while I ran inside a store. Who are they doing this for? What are they trying to accomplish?

I know just like everyone else that there are people who have illegally gotten disabled tags, stickers and/or window displays. It sucks and something should been done about that happening and punishing those that give those out and those who use them in a fraudulent manner. Random civilians demanding people with disabilities to prove their worthiness for access to a parking spot for them is not something that should be done. The encounters I have heard about so far have ended relatively peacefully with only the wannabe law enforcement person getting cursed out. I don't think that is going to remain the case if this trend continues.

I can say I would never approach someone and question them about this even if I thought they were scamming the system. If I had a tag, needed that last spot for someone in the car that really needed it, and thought the person who took it did it fraudulently? I might call the cops to complain and see if they would even bother to respond. Then again I might not. IDK.

I have seen people I personally know, many times, park in the handicap spot while the healthy person goes in the store and the disabled person waits in the car. This IMHO is someone taking advantage that shouldn't be, unless there is a legitimate reason to keep the waiting person close. When one parks close just because "they can" they are taking the spot from someone that needs it. But again, in this case I'm not taking it upon myself to challenge this behavior even if I know the people and it's BS. If I have no idea who these people are, I'm staying even farther away.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Who are they doing this for? What are they trying to accomplish?

I'll assume that this is not a strictly rhetorical question and try to give what seems like a pretty simple answer to me.

It's rooted in a couple of things, to varying degrees per person. Some are simply sick & tired of watching people flaunt various rules, laws, etc. Others are just power starved.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Sweed

I have seen people I personally know, many times, park in the handicap spot while the healthy person goes in the store and the disabled person waits in the car. This IMHO is someone taking advantage that shouldn't be, unless there is a legitimate reason to keep the waiting person close.

Which brings up the issue of varying state laws on such a thing.

What you describe here IS (contrary to what's commonly believed, including by me if I'm honest with ya) illegal in Georgia

per § 40-6-226

(2) ... (b)(1) It shall be unlawful for any person to stop, stand, or park any vehicle in a parking place for persons with disabilities except for the purpose of allowing a disabled person to enter or get out of such vehicle while in such parking place.

In simple language: if they ain't getting outta the car, you can't park there in Georgia

Pull up applicable law in, say, Tennessee and you get an entirely different set of rules & regs. Including a couple of interesting provisions. 1) if law enforcement tickets someone for improper parking in a designated space, they can confiscate the placard from them and the burden of proof is on the bearer, not law enforcement, to get it back. 2) Violators can be sentenced to community service in addition to or in lieu of a fine. And that community service is specified by law as being monitoring handicapped parking spaces for violations and reporting such for ticketing purposes.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'll assume that this is not a strictly rhetorical question and try to give what seems like a pretty simple answer to me.

It's rooted in a couple of things, to varying degrees per person. Some are simply sick & tired of watching people flaunt various rules, laws, etc. Others are just power starved.

Definitely not rhetorical. I am genuinely interested in other people's opinion on this one. I am trying not to just lean on the uhhhh less than kind things I was thinking specifically of the person who approached my wife the other day and the thoughts of others in similar situations that I talked to.

Originally Posted by Sweed

I can say I would never approach someone and question them about this even if I thought they were scamming the system. If I had a tag, needed that last spot for someone in the car that really needed it, and thought the person who took it did it fraudulently? I might call the cops to complain and see if they would even bother to respond. Then again I might not. IDK.

I have seen people I personally know, many times, park in the handicap spot while the healthy person goes in the store and the disabled person waits in the car. This IMHO is someone taking advantage that shouldn't be, unless there is a legitimate reason to keep the waiting person close. When one parks close just because "they can" they are taking the spot from someone that needs it. But again, in this case I'm not taking it upon myself to challenge this behavior even if I know the people and it's BS. If I have no idea who these people are, I'm staying even farther away.

Like I said I get it. It is improbable but I would like to meet the person who was scamming and when challenged by non law enforcement, move from the parking spot. Hell, I would like to meet law enforcement personnel who regularly check if people who are scamming or not. I suspect that is not worth the backlash for them. It would be the same for parking spaces for expectant mothers.

[Ksyrup]

My wife's parents have a disability tag to hang from the rearview mirror, and they gave us one for when we drive with them. I've never even thought about having it, let alone using it when I'm not supposed to. Those people piss me off. In fact, I even feel self-conscious about using it when they are in the car because I'm sure someone is judging me when they see me come out of the driver side even though I've got 2 gimpy 76 and 80 year olds getting out of the car with me.

[MJ4H]

I just read some of my old posts in this thread. Yikes. I have almost completely opposite political and social views than I did 10+ years ago, apparently. I knew that, but seeing the crap I used to type is jarring.

Sorry. FTR: I'm a raging leftist now.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

I just read some of my old posts in this thread. Yikes. I have almost completely opposite political and social views than I did 10+ years ago, apparently. I knew that, but seeing the crap I used to type is jarring.

Sorry. FTR: I'm a raging leftist now.

And Matt Jones is still a Heisman winner in our hearts.


You are not alone in the big shift.

[cuervo72]

Huzzah new raging leftists!

[MJ4H]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

And Matt Jones is still a Heisman winner in our hearts.


You are not alone in the big shift.

I think there were a lot of minds that have shifted in the past 6 years or so. I had already been moving that direction, but it got a swift kick in the rear about that time, for sure.

[flere-imsaho]

This explains why a lot of people have been digging up my posts from 10 years ago and saying things like "you know, that flere-imsaho was right about a lot of stuff".

Right?

Hello?

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

I don't know if there was some sort of call to action, but over the last two weeks or so, I have heard more than a few stories about people challenging the legitimacy of people with disability car plates, tags and if they are allowed to park in spots designated for people with disabilities. I just had my own incident where someone questioned my wife while she was in the passenger seat of the car while I ran inside a store. Who are they doing this for? What are they trying to accomplish?

I know just like everyone else that there are people who have illegally gotten disabled tags, stickers and/or window displays. It sucks and something should been done about that happening and punishing those that give those out and those who use them in a fraudulent manner. Random civilians demanding people with disabilities to prove their worthiness for access to a parking spot for them is not something that should be done. The encounters I have heard about so far have ended relatively peacefully with only the wannabe law enforcement person getting cursed out. I don't think that is going to remain the case if this trend continues.

A couple thoughts

(1) As political rhetoric more and more aggressively attacks the legitimacy of institutions, you are going to see more and more vigilantism of all types.

(2) I knew a woman in college who had a degenerative muscle condition, and she was supposed to basically use her muscles as little as possible, so she had a disability tag to minimize walking as much as possible. She looked fine, but she did have a legitimate medical use for the tag.

I am sure that a lot of people who look fine and have a tag are some variation of having taken their grandpa's car to the store so they could park closer. But not all of them. So I'd be pretty reluctant to confront someone because they looked fine to me.