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

[Ksyrup]

I'm drinking my second one right now and I don't mind it. It has a sweeter taste which I suppose mimics the syrupy real Coke flavor, but it seems to be missing the more robust burn of the other Coke Zero.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Interesting experiment. Hard to believe this will work but it just might ...

Beijing to bar weekday videogame play among school-aged Chinese - MarketWatch

I would absolutely love it if the Communist regime in China was brought down after restricting video games.

[21C]

Today is the 25th anniversary of my six week trip to the US where I planned the entire trip around football and a bit of baseball. The internet was still in its infancy, for me at least, so I did most of my planning at the local library. I booked my NFL tickets by phone which usually meant that I was ringing in the middle of the night my time.

My itinerary (current stadiums unless noted otherwise):
SF - Saints @ 49ers (Candlestick)
Oakland - Yankees @ A's
Los Angeles - Pirates @ Dodgers
San Diego - Bengals @ Chargers and Angels @ Padres (Murph)
Denver - Braves @ Rockies and Bucs @ Broncos (original Mile High)
Philadelphia - Expos @ Phillies (Veterans)
NJ - Temple @ Penn State (Giants Stadium)
Foxboro - Jags @ Patriots (Foxboro)
Boston - Orioles @ Red Sox
Tampa - Lions @ Bucs (Tampa Stadium)
New Orleans - Jags @ Saints

The baseball games were a bit of an afterthought and originally timefillers but, after that trip, I had a deeper appreciation for the game. I have had subsequent trips to NY, Chicago and SF where I spent two weeks in each and went to MLB games almost every day.

What's the one thing that still sticks with me about that trip? Alanis Morissette had released Jagged Little Pill a year earlier and I heard her on every radio station in every car trip for the six weeks.

"'Cause I've got one hand in my pocket . . ."

[NobodyHere]

80-pound cougar removed from New York City home

I went into this story expecting something completely different.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by 21C

Today is the 25th anniversary of my six week trip to the US where I planned the entire trip around football and a bit of baseball. The internet was still in its infancy, for me at least, so I did most of my planning at the local library. I booked my NFL tickets by phone which usually meant that I was ringing in the middle of the night my time.

My itinerary (current stadiums unless noted otherwise):
SF - Saints @ 49ers (Candlestick)
Oakland - Yankees @ A's
Los Angeles - Pirates @ Dodgers
San Diego - Bengals @ Chargers and Angels @ Padres (Murph)
Denver - Braves @ Rockies and Bucs @ Broncos (original Mile High)
Philadelphia - Expos @ Phillies (Veterans)
NJ - Temple @ Penn State (Giants Stadium)
Foxboro - Jags @ Patriots (Foxboro)
Boston - Orioles @ Red Sox
Tampa - Lions @ Bucs (Tampa Stadium)
New Orleans - Jags @ Saints

The baseball games were a bit of an afterthought and originally timefillers but, after that trip, I had a deeper appreciation for the game. I have had subsequent trips to NY, Chicago and SF where I spent two weeks in each and went to MLB games almost every day.

What's the one thing that still sticks with me about that trip? Alanis Morissette had released Jagged Little Pill a year earlier and I heard her on every radio station in every car trip for the six weeks.

"'Cause I've got one hand in my pocket . . ."

Man, that's a fantastic trip.

[21C]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Man, that's a fantastic trip.

Thanks. It was a trip of a lifetime.

I'm sad that this was the time before selfies and, traveling alone and being shy, I was reluctant to ask anyone to take my photo. I don't have a single photo of me on that trip.

I do have this scanned photo.

[Lathum]

What is the statute of limitations of graduation lawn signs?

The next school year has started and I see several from last year still up.

[bob]

I'd say once the kid goes off to college / military, and if neither of those, then yeah once the next school year starts.

[NobodyHere]

I'm a simple man. I see Ribeye steaks on sale. I buy them.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

What is the statute of limitations of graduation lawn signs?

The next school year has started and I see several from last year still up.

The parents probably left the sign up as a reminder to the kid that they no longer live there and will no longer live there.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

The parents probably left the sign up as a reminder to the kid that they no longer live there and will no longer live there.

These are signs for kids who are going from 5th grade to 6th grade.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Lathum

These are signs for kids who are going from 5th grade to 6th grade.

they were held back

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

These are signs for kids who are going from 5th grade to 6th grade.

Ahh, I was thinking HS grads.

[Ksyrup]

Anyone seen this, the Female Delusion Calculator? I Got Standards Bro - Female Delusion Calculator

[NobodyHere]

Is there a male version?

[Edward64]

Wow, that is dedication from the wife. 39 years is too long IMO, I would have wanted to die (painlessly). Wonder if she had an option to let him pass.

Jean-Pierre Adams: Former France international dies after 39 years in coma - BBC Sport

Former France footballer Jean-Pierre Adams, who had been in a coma for 39 years, has died at the age of 73.

Adams was admitted to hospital for knee surgery in March 1982 but never regained consciousness after an error with his supply of anaesthetic.
:
Adams was supervised by a trainee, who later said: "I was not up to the task I was entrusted with."

Between the anaesthetist and trainee, numerous errors were made, causing Adams to suffer a cardiac arrest and brain damage.
:
Adams was discharged from hospital after 15 months and had been cared for at home in Nimes by his wife, Bernadette, ever since.

[Cuckoo]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

I just made some fantastic home-made air-fried pizza rolls.

Life is Good,

So my "Go to first new post" button has been stuck on this post for months. Nearly every time I hit it, I scroll down to the recipe and say to myself, "I have to make these." I'm intrigued each time, particularly when hungry, but for some reason never remember when it comes time to actually cook.

That is... until Saturday. I was doing a spread for college football day and remembered, so I rushed on here to get the recipe. Sure enough, the button was fixed and now went to the actual first new post. Man, scrolling time...

I changed a couple of things (pepperoni rather than bacon, very light on the seasoning, sprinkled some parmesan on top after they came out), but have to say kudos NobodyHere. They were indeed fantastic.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Anyone seen this, the Female Delusion Calculator? I Got Standards Bro - Female Delusion Calculator

So much of this is the median income is much lower than most people believe.

[molson]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Anyone seen this, the Female Delusion Calculator? I Got Standards Bro - Female Delusion Calculator

It sure took a while, but I'm starting to look pretty good.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Edward64

Wow, that is dedication from the wife. 39 years is too long IMO, I would have wanted to die (painlessly). Wonder if she had an option to let him pass.

Jean-Pierre Adams: Former France international dies after 39 years in coma - BBC Sport

Just like taking care of a plant

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by Cuckoo

So my "Go to first new post" button has been stuck on this post for months. Nearly every time I hit it, I scroll down to the recipe and say to myself, "I have to make these." I'm intrigued each time, particularly when hungry, but for some reason never remember when it comes time to actually cook.

That is... until Saturday. I was doing a spread for college football day and remembered, so I rushed on here to get the recipe. Sure enough, the button was fixed and now went to the actual first new post. Man, scrolling time...

I changed a couple of things (pepperoni rather than bacon, very light on the seasoning, sprinkled some parmesan on top after they came out), but have to say kudos NobodyHere. They were indeed fantastic.

Glad to hear this!

[Ksyrup]

I had an awkward exchange with a guy who used to be my best friend in high school. I say used to, not because we're not friendly anymore, but simply because we rarely talk and the last time I saw him was about 4 years ago, I think? For a time, he lived about 3 hours away; now he's like 12 hours south.

Anyway, out of the blue, he messages me that some guy died. I see the name and draw a total blank. He says, we worked with him at the grocery store. This was like 1986-88 time frame. Still nothing. Sends me a pic. Nope, not registering at all. I felt bad and probably should have just lied and said, oh yeah, him, how sad, but that's just not my style. Apparently he ran a baseball card shop back home, and my buddy - who's still into cards - is considering moving back and buying his shop.

It got me thinking about how some people stay so tied in to their youth and others move on. We went to high school in a small GA town (I only lived there for my HS years), and I've been back twice in 30+ years after my parents moved during my college freshman year - once for this guy's wedding (his first wedding - he married/divorced the same woman twice, and is married to a new woman now), and again for my 20 year HS reunion. Aside from seeing names float across my FB feed who I friended around 2009 (mainly around our 20 year reunion), I don't interact with hardly any of them. Haven't seen a single one of them other than this guy since the reunion. And here he is telling me about some dude who worked in the bakery of our local grocery store back in 1988 whose baseball card shop he is thinking about buying. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's just a stark contrast to the way my life has gone since I left. On one hand, I wouldn't change any of it but on the other, I felt bad that I literally had no recollection of that life. It felt like he was trying to get me to remember a previous life I lived in the 1800s.

Anyway, that's it. Random thought.

[Kodos]

I don't have a lot of ties left from high school either. And I've never gone to a reunion because the introvert in me is like "What would we ever talk about?"

My college crowd is the opposite. Still in contact with most of them, and we manage to have a group outing pretty frequently.

[cuervo72]

I'm not sure if I've seen anyone I went to HS with since my wedding.* There was my brother's wedding a few years ago, but he was 3 years younger and our HS at the time was only 10/11/12, so I was gone by time he and his friends got there.

(I'm not sure I've seen anyone I went to college with since a couple of years after my wedding, either.)

* I see James Franklin and Jeff Devlin on my teevee

[Lathum]

Outside of Facebook I don't interact at all with anyone from high school. I was recently at the same concert as a girl from school who I haven't seen in 30 years and I actually was hoping I wouldn't run into her. Not that I didn't get along with them, just was a lifetime ago.

[molson]

Sometimes I wish I could have been one of those people that just lives in his hometown forever - who knows everybody, sees all his friends' kids grow up, have that kind of a connection to a place and its people that you only get living there for decades.

But I didn't feel like there was really a life for me there so I left the city immediately after high school, and then 3,000 miles away from the state a few years later. I haven't talked to anybody from high school except some Facebook post comments, and my 5th, 10th, and 20th reunions, at which I had an absolute blast. I was shy and introverted in high school. I'm still introverted, but much less shy. Being around all of those people, whom I always liked and had happy memories about, as a much more functioning and competent social being was honestly pretty great. I'd probably see a few of them occasionally if I didn't live 3,000 miles away now.

[Ksyrup]

I enjoyed my 20 year reunion because I got to show my wife and kids where I lived before my wife and I met in Florida. The reunion itself was weird - about an hour of everyone acting like they were all best friends, people you rarely spoke to in HS asking to see your kids' pics, etc., and then 2 hours of everyone huddled up in their HS cliques like it was 1989 again.

[JonInMiddleGA]

In the nearly 40 years I've been officially gone from my hometown there has never been a single day where I even once said "y'know, I kinda wish I'd stayed".

That said, between 1/3rd and 1/2 my FB friends (550 total give or take) are people that were in the same HS as me as some point in my time there. I enjoy keeping track of their kids, seeing their grandkids, so forth and what not.

There is also value to me in being able to speak in shorthand, to not have to explain geographic references, to not having to explain inside jokes specific to the area.

Just not nearly enough value for me to want that opportunity if it required me to endure the shortcomings of the area to get it. Social media distance is about the perfect distance afaic.

[Ksyrup]

The single biggest reason I ended up somewhere else is my parents moved to Florida when I started college. I ended up transferring to a college closer to home, went to law school in Florida, got a job where the law school was, etc. I suppose if my parents stayed in Georgia, I might have looked in-state for law school (or in South Carolina, where I went to school my freshman year).

Totally random. I just kinda went where the tide took me.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I had an awkward exchange with a guy who used to be my best friend in high school. I say used to, not because we're not friendly anymore, but simply because we rarely talk and the last time I saw him was about 4 years ago, I think? For a time, he lived about 3 hours away; now he's like 12 hours south.

Anyway, out of the blue, he messages me that some guy died. I see the name and draw a total blank. He says, we worked with him at the grocery store. This was like 1986-88 time frame. Still nothing. Sends me a pic. Nope, not registering at all. I felt bad and probably should have just lied and said, oh yeah, him, how sad, but that's just not my style. Apparently he ran a baseball card shop back home, and my buddy - who's still into cards - is considering moving back and buying his shop.

It got me thinking about how some people stay so tied in to their youth and others move on. We went to high school in a small GA town (I only lived there for my HS years), and I've been back twice in 30+ years after my parents moved during my college freshman year - once for this guy's wedding (his first wedding - he married/divorced the same woman twice, and is married to a new woman now), and again for my 20 year HS reunion. Aside from seeing names float across my FB feed who I friended around 2009 (mainly around our 20 year reunion), I don't interact with hardly any of them. Haven't seen a single one of them other than this guy since the reunion. And here he is telling me about some dude who worked in the bakery of our local grocery store back in 1988 whose baseball card shop he is thinking about buying. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it's just a stark contrast to the way my life has gone since I left. On one hand, I wouldn't change any of it but on the other, I felt bad that I literally had no recollection of that life. It felt like he was trying to get me to remember a previous life I lived in the 1800s.

Anyway, that's it. Random thought.

I moved away and came back to my home town. The funny thing is, I still have friends from high school that I am in touch with regularly, but there is only a handful that still live here and those I am not as close. We were still gaming until recently, and imagine we probably will start back sometime soon. I have next to no contact with guys I went to college with.

Now, the guy I work with is from the class ahead of me and he never moved away. He knows everybody that stayed. He know who they married divorced and remarried. Heck, he coached most of their kids in baseball for years. Almost every day he asks me "do you remember so and so from high school?" and I never do. But then somehow he doesn't know remember anybody I know either. It was a big school (2400 students or so) but it is still weird that we have the same memories of places and events, but not people.

[Lathum]

My dog left us a dead groundhog on the back porch. I found it after it had been there at least since last night. So. Yeah.

[cuervo72]

TIL the Police Academy theme was ripped from Patton.

[sterlingice]

My wife and I have been to reunions but they're quite different.

She's from a small town in the midwest and she skipped a grade so she's part of 2 classes. But we've been to one of each reunion and it's been like 20-ish people from a class of, I dunno, 70 or something and everyone remembers everyone. At least half haven't moved away. She got out and hasn't looked back, except to visit family that still live in the area. There's no regret or bitterness - but she's glad she doesn't live there anymore.

Meanwhile, I went to a 2700 person high school in suburban Houston. My 20th reunion was a couple of years ago and there were maybe 100 people at a bar in downtown Houston. Honestly, I only knew a couple of people and they were only acquaintances then and I hadn't seen them in 20 years. I went to a parochial and then public school growing up so I only knew about, I dunno, 50 of the 500 people in my graduating class to begin with. My wife and I treated it more like a date night between the two of us than anything else and mostly kept to ourselves. We don't live in Houston because "I had to come back" - it just happened to be where my wife got a job.

I'm kindof just indifferent. I don't "hate" going back to where I'm from or she's from but our own lives led us away and back and that's ok, too. Plus, building a non-professional, non-parent network as an adult is damn hard.

SI

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

She's from a small town in the midwest and she skipped a grade so she's part of 2 classes.

Ooh, I've got at least a dozen questions for her ... but I'll try to restrain myself.

If she doesn't mind you sharing, I'd love to know her thoughts on how that worked out for her. Pro? Con? Would she do it again if she could time travel back? And particularly what grade(s) the jump took place, because I've always felt like that was a very big factor in how easily (or not) the transition would be, socially far moreso than academically.

If she ain't cool with it, I totally understand but I'd love any input she's willing to share. I ask largely because, well, I haven't run into hardly anyone else who has had that experience and having been through it myself (went from 6th grade to 7th grade literally in the middle of a school year) compare/contrast is always interesting to me.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Ooh, I've got at least a dozen questions for her ... but I'll try to restrain myself.

If she doesn't mind you sharing, I'd love to know her thoughts on how that worked out for her. Pro? Con? Would she do it again if she could time travel back? And particularly what grade(s) the jump took place, because I've always felt like that was a very big factor in how easily (or not) the transition would be, socially far moreso than academically.

If she ain't cool with it, I totally understand but I'd love any input she's willing to share. I ask largely because, well, I haven't run into hardly anyone else who has had that experience and having been through it myself (went from 6th grade to 7th grade literally in the middle of a school year) compare/contrast is always interesting to me.

My son skipped second grade. We always feared he would be picked on being the younger kid in classes, but he never was. He was glad he did it.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Ooh, I've got at least a dozen questions for her ... but I'll try to restrain myself.

If she doesn't mind you sharing, I'd love to know her thoughts on how that worked out for her. Pro? Con? Would she do it again if she could time travel back? And particularly what grade(s) the jump took place, because I've always felt like that was a very big factor in how easily (or not) the transition would be, socially far moreso than academically.

If she ain't cool with it, I totally understand but I'd love any input she's willing to share. I ask largely because, well, I haven't run into hardly anyone else who has had that experience and having been through it myself (went from 6th grade to 7th grade literally in the middle of a school year) compare/contrast is always interesting to me.

I'll just go with what I've observed in talking with her since I think there are some extenuating circumstances that make it less interesting. Between her sophomore and junior year in high school, her parents got the divorce they had been heading towards for a while so she combined her junior and senior high school year and got the hell out of Dodge. So she did it late in her academic career - won't have the same ripples as doing it when younger.

She went from being valedictorian in one class to another (yup, we're nerds). It took her away from her two best friends but small town school so everyone knew everyone from birth, practically. Socially, her "fucks to give" basket was mostly empty by the end of middle school and I think that's necessary, especially in a small town/school. Having been to both, I think it's a lot easier to find your niche in a larger school if you're an outlier.

Then she kindof did it again in college. She took 19 and 22 hours her "senior" year to finish up 2 degrees and move to Kansas to be with me (so, clearly some judgement is lacking).

Personally, I could have probably done it somewhere in middle school - I was taking higher level stuff at that point, being in some classes with the grade above. However, I have a late August birthday so I was already behind the 8-ball maturity wise and being in a small school, being a nerd is already hard. So standing out even more, especially in a school that seemed to have an abnormally high number of assholes (probably the middle class parochial school influence: a bunch of future Kens and Karens who think they were socially better than they were) - I would not have handled it well. As above, in a larger school, maybe it works out better.

SI

[JonInMiddleGA]

Thanks to both SI and GD for their input on this. It's not really something I get a chance to hear much about from anyone else at all.

SI -- definitely a different scenario the way her's played out. That would have been largely seamless for me as well at that point I think. Small HS like mine, people aren't always sure what grade someone else is in to some extent. I've been invited to four different single-year class reunions, I flowed with so many different class (age) groups that people literally forgot which class I was actually IN.

GD -- I absolutely think "the earlier the better" is the way to go, based on my own experience, if you're going to be with the same student body throughout (i.e. not moving towns, etc)

[Kodos]

Interesting. The best friend of my 7th-grade daughter just switched to a Catholic girls school and jumped a grade. My advice to her was not to reduce her childhood by a year, but of course that fell on deaf ears. Big plans to be a neurologist and have a big family...

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Interesting. The best friend of my 7th-grade daughter just switched to a Catholic girls school and jumped a grade. My advice to her was not to reduce her childhood by a year, but of course that fell on deaf ears. Big plans to be a neurologist and have a big family...

Maybe the world is different now, or maybe it's different for boys vs girls but socially -- in hindsight -- this seems like just about the worst possible age for such a move.

I dunno, maybe it's slightly easier for girls? They do have an earlier maturity leap generally so maybe that improves things? But traditionally the whole "mean girls" thing worries me in this age group.

Don't get me wrong, I don't regret it, not for a minute. I'd change the timing but not the decision. Anything that ends k-12 sooner is aces in my book.

[Kodos]

I believe part of it was to escape some bullying from some older girls.

[sterlingice]

Jon, I hadn't thought about it that way. I mean, we romanticize childhood and, frankly, it's a lot easier than adulthood. Again, I doubt I'd have had the maturity, but just because I don't doesn't mean others don't. I'd be the opposite: anything to reduce the hell that is middle school would have been nice. I think the hardest years to change or move would be 3rd-5th, when the cliques are forming and crystalizing. But, yeah, they just set the stage for the crap from 5th~9th grade.

SI

[Kodos]

Personally, sophomore year in high school was by far my best year. I came out of my shell a bit, and I was pretty well liked among the honors student group that had many of the same classes. Of course we moved to Ohio a month into my junior year to a snobby/clique-filled town (Centerville). That wasn't fun, but it lead me to Indiana University, where most of my lifelong friends were met.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'm pretty certain that Breakfast At Tiffany's was the first time I was enthralled.

Revisiting this. Finally watched My Fair Lady. Ok, Hepburn was adorable (assuming one can still be "adorable" at 35). But I think, for me, she suffers from being from an era where stars were often beautiful but almost non-sexual. I watched To Catch a Thief the other night (Hitchcock and Grant, enough of a draw) and thought the same about Grace Kelly. Gorgeous, but...like, just for display, you know?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by cuervo72

Revisiting this. Finally watched My Fair Lady. Ok, Hepburn was adorable (assuming one can still be "adorable" at 35). But I think, for me, she suffers from being from an era where stars were often beautiful but almost non-sexual. I watched To Catch a Thief the other night (Hitchcock and Grant, enough of a draw) and thought the same about Grace Kelly. Gorgeous, but...like, just for display, you know?

Funny you chose that movie as a comparison because it's the one I often mention in the same breath. And yes, in both cases, the phrase "works of art" come to mind. (the beautiful actresses, not the movies themselves I mean)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I believe part of it was to escape some bullying from some older girls.

And that was a primary motivation for the administration for my move (and particularly the timing of it)

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

I'm pretty certain that Breakfast At Tiffany's was the first time I was enthralled.

I said I think we both kind of liked it

[bob]

Well that's the one thing we've got.

[cuervo72]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Funny you chose that movie as a comparison because it's the one I often mention in the same breath. And yes, in both cases, the phrase "works of art" come to mind. (the beautiful actresses, not the movies themselves I mean)

"Works of art" is a good way to put it.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by CrimsonFox

I said I think we both kind of liked it

A for effort, C- for execution.

She said I think I remember the film
And as I recall I think we both kind of liked it
And I said well that's the one thing we've got

[miami_fan]

Detroit Is The Capital Of Bad Sports Right Now | FiveThirtyEight

Yes I know. Water is wet etc.