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

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

Gonna through this out here because I know there's a lot of people that can visualize this. I simply cannot get enough time to step away from the middle of it to actually think of a solution.
Our district has done a good job on staying in school through all this. Our district has minimal cases and my own school is the last (knock on wood) to not have a case at all. My concern is we now have several different forms of information. We have one that registers a student that is symptomatic, close contact, etc. We have another that logs students that are now quarantined that is communicated to district transportation. We have another that is a daily check in for students that are virtual or for all students on our virtual Wednesdays. And there is yet another that is used by teachers to log when they check in with their virtual students. My worry is there are so many forms that something can fall through the cracks. Outside of simply assigning people to communicate these forms to others, I want to find a better way to merge this information into one source that we can use to help track and help students. This is the headache we have.

Looking at it totally from the outside, fwiw ... I don't see 1 merged dbase there, I could see 2 merged databases though.

I'm just not sure the 2 health-related inputs and the 2 general checkin inputs belong in the same db, at least not the way the information to be input appears to be structured.

Have you tried looking at the problem as one of getting from 4 points to 2 instead of from 4 points to 1?

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by ColtCrazy

Gonna through this out here because I know there's a lot of people that can visualize this. I simply cannot get enough time to step away from the middle of it to actually think of a solution.
Our district has done a good job on staying in school through all this. Our district has minimal cases and my own school is the last (knock on wood) to not have a case at all. My concern is we now have several different forms of information. We have one that registers a student that is symptomatic, close contact, etc. We have another that logs students that are now quarantined that is communicated to district transportation. We have another that is a daily check in for students that are virtual or for all students on our virtual Wednesdays. And there is yet another that is used by teachers to log when they check in with their virtual students. My worry is there are so many forms that something can fall through the cracks. Outside of simply assigning people to communicate these forms to others, I want to find a better way to merge this information into one source that we can use to help track and help students. This is the headache we have.

FWIW, my 2c

If you are thinking about "merging" the 4 systems so there is a common user-interface where everyone can enter their data, that sounds like a significant re-write, re-test, and retraining.

If the you asking how to "merge" the data from the 4 systems together to better track it, that would be creating a data-warehouse that accepts transformed/normalized data from the 4 different systems. Then you can build whatever analytics/reports and distribute as needed.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

How the hell were you getting away with $5,000? I just dropped $10,000 for ours.

Speaking of house repairs, should I be nervous that about a third of the houses in my development have gotten new roofs during the pandemic?

Well, it turned out that, completely unrelated to the kid's toy incident noted above, we just had to get our unit replaced. It was 20 years old, and they don't even repair it anymore. They were impressed by how long it had lasted, though :-)

And, fun bonus, we also had to get the ductwork replaced.

For the inquiring minds, the unit (compressor and air handler) was ~$7,000 and the total with ductwork was ~$12,000.

Whee.

[Ksyrup]

$7K is about what I paid for our main compressor/handler about 4 years ago. Upstairs unit is still working fine (knock on wood) 15 years later. Probably going to find a really good home warranty (with a high limit of liability or full replacement value) when I get even an inkling of an issue with it. Normally, the way it works is there's a wait period of 30 or 60 days to limit "buying a claim," the theory being that pre-existing conditions are not covered and no one's going to go a month or two without air or heat. Just gotta get the timing down right...

[sterlingice]

We did $14K to replace our 2.5 and 3 ton last year

SI

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I've mentioned this in another thread as a joke (and think I've mentioned it once in this thread or another previously) but it's downright uncanny

Late this evening the AJC posted a list of now a dozen HS weekend games cancelled by Tuesday evening in Georgia.

Of those, all 12 were cancelled by the underdog.
11/12 were double-digit spreads
10/12 were 28 point spreads or more.

One of the 2 relatively close ones was cancelled by a team that's already locked up a playoff berth while the only single digit spread game also has a path to clinch without playing as well

And today, we have our first case of a program cancelling their way into a region title.

Long story short, while the majority of regions are counting cancellations as forfeits for the purpose of region standings, this particular region is not. So it's just "no contest". Therefore, this cancellation avoids the biggest threat to their first region title in school history.

I hope ball don't lie when they play (which they claim they plan to do) next week.

[Ghost Econ]

Anyone else crack their neck and knuckles when they're about to ether someone over email?

Somebody emailed me like I'm a 5 year old because the answer I gave them wasn't the answer they wanted me to give. And they cc'd my boss and their boss. Now I'm about to destroy them so subtly destroy them that I'm 90% sure they won't realize, but our bosses will. I made sure to clear it with my boss first.

[Ksyrup]

I know this year has sucked hard and feels like it has gone on forever, but I cannot believe Neil Peart died this year. I just saw something on TV about him dying in January and it feels like that can't be true.

It's like I'm living each month of 2020 in dog years, yet at the same time, the lack of the normal events that mark the passing of a year (kids' softball seasons, summer vacations, visits from family, etc.) oddly makes the year feel like it has flown by.

[Edward64]

Red Robyn has the best burgers (I go for the regular cheeseburgers).

Five Guys - way too messy
Taco Mac - decent, a couple ticks below Red Robyn
Buffalo Wild Wings - on par with Taco Mac

Of the fast food chains, I'm partial to BK flame broiled over McDonalds and Wendy's.

[spleen1015]

Watching Phil play his 3rd round today, it is like myself playing golf.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

Anyone that would do this would kick a kitten...

VIDEO: Rick Moranis, 67, sucker-punched on Manhattan's Upper West Side in NYC | abc7ny.com

Looks like they may have caught the douchebag

Suspect in custody in connection with Rick Moranis assault

[spleen1015]

Cholula chicken at Qdoba might be the best thing I have ever tasted.

[Lathum]

Does anyone else go into a panic second guessing themselves when they buy lightbulbs? I get major anxiety worrying if it will be the right hue, etc...and I always bring the old one to make sure the size is the same.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Lathum

Does anyone else go into a panic second guessing themselves when they buy lightbulbs? I get major anxiety worrying if it will be the right hue, etc...and I always bring the old one to make sure the size is the same.

I don't go quite that far about it but I do check pretty much any bulb that's funky -- i.e. non traditional standard lightbulb shape -- for base size before going to get ANY bulb.

edit to add: wife has a ton of funky fixtures around the house, so that checking 'em happens somewhat regularly for me

[cartman]

The place where my uncle currently is has gone into COVID lockdown due to skyrocketing cases in San Antonio. Found out on Saturday morning when my mom went to try and visit.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

Anyone else crack their neck and knuckles when they're about to ether someone over email?

Somebody emailed me like I'm a 5 year old because the answer I gave them wasn't the answer they wanted me to give. And they cc'd my boss and their boss. Now I'm about to destroy them so subtly destroy them that I'm 90% sure they won't realize, but our bosses will. I made sure to clear it with my boss first.

This is typically one of my favorite things to do. Unfortunately I underestimated one of my target's ability to detect subtlety, and my boss has curtailed my vitriol for the most part.

[NobodyHere]

Happy Life Day Everyone!

[miami_fan]

A 43 year old friend of mine just sent me a picture of him waiting outside of a computer store to get a Radeon 6800 XT graphics card. Alongside him is his wife.

I guess that is true love huh?

[Edward64]

Not going to shed a tear if Weinstein dies from the coronavirus. What a horrible human being.

[Lathum]

ugh, just got a call from my doctor. Need to schedule a colonoscopy. Last one wasn't terrible but not something I look forward to.

[cuervo72]

It's kind of depressing watching Joe Namath in commercials shilling Medicare coverage plans.

[Ksyrup]

"But you don't get all the benefits AUDA-MA-DIC-LY!"

[Edward64]

New name for Gen Zed. I like it. I'll start calling my kids this.

But I'm not sure how they'll overtake the Millennials "in income by 2031".

Bloomberg - Are you a robot?

Eating meat is out, flight-shaming is in. Gen Z is transforming the world and investors need to be prepared.

As this new cohort -- “Zillennials” -- comes of age it’s going to eclipse the vaunted Millennials, boost emerging markets and help preferred sectors outperform as other more passe companies are likely to fall by the wayside, Bank of America Corp. wrote in a recent research report.

“The Gen Z revolution is starting, as the first generation born into an online world is now entering the workforce and compelling other generations to adapt to them, not vice versa,” strategists led by Haim Israel said.

Gen Z -- the group born between about 1996 and 2016 -- is on track to overtake Millennials in income by 2031, the BofA report says. And nine of 10 live in emerging markets, with India accounting for about 20% of the total. Countries like Mexico, the Philippines and Thailand are also set to benefit from the changeover. Sectors that will benefit include e-commerce, payments, luxury, media and ESG, according to BofA, while areas like alcohol, meat, cars and travel may suffer.

[NobodyHere]

So where do we go after Gen Z? Is it back to Gen A?

[ISiddiqui]

This all started with calling the post-Baby Boom generation "Gen X" because people thought they were a mystery. Now we are stuck with this weird late alphabet generation naming. Let's go back to referring to generations by various signifiers.

Maybe we can start by calling Gen Z the Post Pandemics.

[bob]

What the hell is flight-shaming? Shaming people that take airplane flights?

[Radii]

Originally Posted by bob

What the hell is flight-shaming? Shaming people that take airplane flights?

I was curious enough for a quick google:

“the inherent guilt that an individual feels as a result of one's aviation-related carbon footprint”

[SirFozzie]

Have you ever tried to cancel a newspaper subscription (or a newspaper's digital only subscription?)

God. Makes my blood boil thinking about what I just went through

I had subscribed to the Boston Globe during one of their reduced fee things, but I really didn't use it much (was doing it for local sports stories), so now, a few months later, I wanted to cancel

1) They only do cancellations by phone.
2) They wanted to know if I had tried out the app, with digital just like the paper version formatting
3) They had a special offfer
4) They had another special offer
5) They Had ANOTHER Special Offer.
6) THEY HAD ANOTHER SPECIAL OFFER

I've been on the other side of the call center hell, so I didn't lose my temper with the lady trying to keep me around, but god, I wanted to lose my temper. Just say "No. I just want you to freaking cancel my subscription, just like the LAST four times I asked during this conversation"

Never again. Never again.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by SirFozzie

Have you ever tried to cancel a newspaper subscription (or a newspaper's digital only subscription?)

God. Makes my blood boil thinking about what I just went through

I had subscribed to the Boston Globe during one of their reduced fee things, but I really didn't use it much (was doing it for local sports stories), so now, a few months later, I wanted to cancel

1) They only do cancellations by phone.
2) They wanted to know if I had tried out the app, with digital just like the paper version formatting
3) They had a special offfer
4) They had another special offer
5) They Had ANOTHER Special Offer.
6) THEY HAD ANOTHER SPECIAL OFFER

I've been on the other side of the call center hell, so I didn't lose my temper with the lady trying to keep me around, but god, I wanted to lose my temper. Just say "No. I just want you to freaking cancel my subscription, just like the LAST four times I asked during this conversation"

Never again. Never again.

When we got our most recent car, it came with 3 months of Sirius/XM. Which was nice, but I listen to podcasts or apple music almost exclusively in the car, so I had no intention of keeping it.

And b/c it was just a promotion, Sirius/XM never got my cc number.

So watching them become increasingly desperate as my trial wound down was nice. I forget the details, but I'm pretty sure that by the end, I could have gotten another 6 months for, like, a dollar.

[ISiddiqui]

This is why I love how the Washington Post does things. You can just cancel your subscription on their website.

[Ksyrup]

OK, so after we've gone through 2 boxes of "cinnamon" graham crackers over the past month - the Nabisco Honey Maid ones, not store brand - I've come to ask: Where's the effing cinnamon?! These are just graham crackers. If there's some sort of cinnamon in these things, it's like 4-5 granules per sheet, tops.

[CrimsonFox]

Is it just me or am I less fun than usual

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by bob

What the hell is flight-shaming? Shaming people that take airplane flights?

Screw PIlotman! SPLITTER!

[CrimsonFox]

[Ben E Lou]

I turned 50 almost two years ago, but today, I think, qualifies for my first “only could happen to someone over 50” injury.

Today, I managed to sprain my *ankle* while *throwing* a ball.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I took a little unplanned trip this afternoon. Destination?

The bottom of the stairs to the batcave ... all traveled on my back as I slipped at the top and kinda bounced my way to the bottom. Good thing that's just 9 steps instead of something worse.

My thumb got the worst of it I guess -- it's skint pretty good -- and my ankle is a bit tender. On the bright side I wasn't carrying coffee at the time.

My biggest lament other than that is that I didn't have the presence of mind to yell "I'm halfway down now Lord".

[PilotMan]

That is scary. Falling down the stairs as an adult is no joke. You're lucky nothing worse happened.

[Ben E Lou]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

My biggest lament other than that is that I didn't have the presence of mind to yell "I'm halfway down now Lord".

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

That is scary. Falling down the stairs as an adult is no joke. You're lucky nothing worse happened.

You ain't kiddin'.

It's one of those deals where I'm gonna joke about it so I don't think about the other possibilities too much.

Funny thing about it, I'd been saying for about a month that I was having a lot of near-misses on falling. Like 2-3 a week. And this just seemed to be a straightforward slip-and-fall rather than a loss of balance kinda fall (which seemed to be most of my near misses)

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I took a little unplanned trip this afternoon. Destination?

The bottom of the stairs to the batcave ... all traveled on my back as I slipped at the top and kinda bounced my way to the bottom. Good thing that's just 9 steps instead of something worse.

My thumb got the worst of it I guess -- it's skint pretty good -- and my ankle is a bit tender. On the bright side I wasn't carrying coffee at the time.

My biggest lament other than that is that I didn't have the presence of mind to yell "I'm halfway down now Lord".

I fell going UP the stairs from our sunken den to the kitchen in March. My left hand hit the leg of the kitchen table so hard it moved it 4 feet. I swear I broke it but no black and blue. Since we were on lockdown I wasn't going to risk the doctor. 9 months later it still hurts and I just got a script for XRays. If I did break it I will likely need surgery to fix it.

[Ksyrup]

My wife fell down the basement (carpeted) stairs a few years ago and screwed up her wrist/thumb pretty bad. But I joke about it all the time. One of the dogs ran down the stairs at the speed of light once, and one of the girls says, "I've never seen anybody go down those stairs that fast." And without missing a beat, I said, "Your mom has." Oh the laughs that night!

[B & B]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I fell going UP the stairs from our sunken den to the kitchen in March. My left hand hit the leg of the kitchen table so hard it moved it 4 feet. I swear I broke it but no black and blue. Since we were on lockdown I wasn't going to risk the doctor. 9 months later it still hurts and I just got a script for XRays. If I did break it I will likely need surgery to fix it.

The only broken bone in my life (knocks on wood) is my wrist. They had to RESET it which to this day was the worst pain in my life. Perhaps it just healed incorretly and you can have that surgery. I fear a rebreak and reset. Godspeed.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Falling down the stairs as an adult is no joke.

Falling anywhere as an adult is no joke.

[21C]

I'm 56 and I wear it as a badge of honor that I can still take a fall like a champ.

[thesloppy]

I dunno if I could take a fall so good. These days on the rare occasion when I need to break out in a 50-foot sprint, to get across a busy street or whatever, during that instant where you crouch and spring forward my knees just kind of fart and say "What the fuck do you think you're doing??"

[Edward64]

I filed my taxes a couple days before the July 15 deadline but have not yet received my tax refund. When I check online, it says "in progress" and that's it.

Anyone else missing their refund?

[albionmoonlight]

More often than I am proud of, I confuse the names "Dabo Swinney" and "Deebo Samuel" in my head.

[AlexB]

So last night I had a sex dream that got so weird that in the actual dream I got dressed and walked out of the room, thinking, nope that’s not for me

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by AlexB

So last night I had a sex dream that got so weird that in the actual dream I got dressed and walked out of the room, thinking, nope that’s not for me

Why are you getting out of this that easily? Where is the rest of the story?

[AlexB]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Why are you getting out of this that easily? Where is the rest of the story?

The thought struck me as funny, the detail is not