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

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

Two dozen! That's a lot. I don't think I've been stung by an insect in the last 30 years.

I have been in pest control for 20 years, and this is the first time I have been stung since I was in middle school.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Today at work I got grease on my fingers from a pizza party. I had to go wash them and everything.

No one knows the suffering.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Hit the ground hard with a 60 pound pack on my back.

I do believe I just spotted your first tactical error.

Avoid wearing 60 pound pack, you can't hit the ground while wearing a 60 pound pack.

[PilotMan]

Conversely, with a 60 pound pack on your back, you WILL hit the ground hard.

[CrimsonFox]

shit on the floor
get schwifty

[Edward64]

Ready Player One coming our way sometime!

I know FB is doing well stock price wise but it is not a stock I own individually (but do with ETFs and mutual funds). TBH, their revenue and ad base may impress Wall Street but I see them primarily as a one trick pony.

But if below is real, yeah I'd invest in FB. Have to read more about it. Unfortunately, think I'll be dead before it really happens in 30+ years.

Big Tech has its eyes set on the metaverse. Here's what that means | CNN

Facebook has many pressing problems, from proposed antitrust legislation to accusations that the company is contributing to vaccine misinformation. But when CEO Mark Zuckerberg joined a recent conference call with analysts to discuss its latest quarterly results, much of the focus was on something far removed from those issues: the metaverse. During the hour-long call, the metaverse was mentioned nearly two dozen times.

The metaverse was originally conceived as the setting for dystopian science fiction novels, where virtual universes provide an escape from crumbling societies. Now, the idea has transformed into a moonshot goal for Silicon Valley, and become a favorite talking point among startups, venture capitalists and tech giants.

The idea is to create a space similar to the internet, but one that users (via digital avatars) can walk around inside of and where they can interact with one another in real time. In theory, you could, for example, sit around a virtual meeting table with colleagues from around the world — instead of staring at their 2D faces on Zoom — and then walk over to a virtual Starbucks to meet up with your mom, who lives across the country.

Zuckerberg has in recent weeks been extolling his vision for turning Facebook (FB) into a "metaverse company," claiming that he began thinking about the concept in middle school. The company recently announced the creation of a new metaverse product group and Zuckerberg said he sees the technology as "the successor to the mobile internet."

[RainMaker]

There isn't a good thread for this but I just thought it was a remarkable story on the heels of the 9/11 20th anniversary.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...lvaine/619490/

[molson]

Originally Posted by molson

Contractors can be such evil fuckers.

We had water damage in the bathroom and had to replace everything. That stalled 2 months because there were no soaker tubs available. I told him at one point I'd drive as far as Salt Lake myself to just get one if he could locate it. Finally he gets one. Plumber shows up and says, "they ordered a tiny tub, this is way smaller than the one you had before." We asked him if he had access to any soaker subs at at least the depth we had before, and he said sure and could be back in 20 minutes.

I suspect the contractor's been pushing other jobs in front of ours (there's a massive housing and construction boom here, lots of millionaires buying up and renovating homes), and then he tried to screw us on the cheaper tub with hopes we wouldn't notice. He's never met my girlfriend.

My girlfriend came home today and they had left the front door wide open, not just unlocked. There is a lockbox we reminded them of before we left. We do not live in the nicest neighborhood, there's also a bunch of stray dogs and cats around. I'm just so tired of these people, I'm not sure what the appropriate level of pissed off is. I did say we're taking off the lockbox and they'll have coordinate arrivals/departures with us from now on. Glad we're crating the new dog at least! I've always been super careful of my dogs with workers at the house, I just do doggy day care, or leave them in a closed room, but with these people, anything is possible.

[CrimsonFox]

grilled cheese

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

There isn't a good thread for this but I just thought it was a remarkable story on the heels of the 9/11 20th anniversary.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...lvaine/619490/

Thanks for sharing!

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

There isn't a good thread for this but I just thought it was a remarkable story on the heels of the 9/11 20th anniversary.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine...lvaine/619490/

That was a gut wrenching story.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Kodos

That was a gut wrenching story.

As someone with two brothers, this part from his brother really got to me.

Bobby would have been 46 this September. Jeff used to have vivid dreams about him, and man, how he loved them. They were brothers again, just talking, resuming their old rhythms and habits. But he seldom has those dreams anymore. “I haven’t seen him in 20 years, you know?”

He says he almost wishes sometimes that he could trade his current well-being for the suffering he felt 20 years ago, because Bobby was so much easier to conjure back then, the sense-memories of him still within reach. “No matter how painful September 11 was,” he explains, “I had just seen him on September 6.”


It’s the damnedest thing: The dead abandon you; then, with the passage of time, you abandon the dead.

Imagine wanting to go back to that time where you hurt so much just so you can remember your brother you lost more clearly.

[dubb93]

Completely random, but is there an app or something that will remind me when games for teams I want to follow are about to start? I’m mostly thinking for college, but it would be nice for baseball too to just be send a push alter that a game is starting in 30 minutes. IOS by the way.

[sterlingice]

Yahoo Sports does that but it's maybe not as customizable as you want. You can pick teams and then pick the notifications you want. Unfortunately, there's no option for 30 minutes before - there's one for 3 hours before, Game Start, Game End, and a handful of others. I'm on Android but I have to imagine the IOS one works the same.

SI

[cartman]

ESPN app has that stuff as well. You can get updates on a list of teams you select. Upcoming start times, score updates, etc.

[Coffee Warlord]

"Won" the newegg lottery, decided to pull the trigger on a 3070ti.

Wasn't going to until I saw the resell prices of my 1660ti.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by dubb93

Completely random, but is there an app or something that will remind me when games for teams I want to follow are about to start? I’m mostly thinking for college, but it would be nice for baseball too to just be send a push alter that a game is starting in 30 minutes. IOS by the way.

I've been using the Score app for years. The Android widget is basically my phone's home page and it has room for 6 leagues and easy scrolling access to all games that day. And yes, you can set alerts for all sorts of pre-game, in-game, and post-game things. No clue how it works on IOS but I'm sure it's not as cool... Although I assume the notifications work regardless of whether you can use a widget.

[Ksyrup]

Does anybody else obsess over maximizing credit card benefits? I've used credit cards for daily purchases for over 20 years but in the last couple of years, I've really started figuring out how to pair 2-3 cards to maximize my gains based on how I spend and what I want for "extras." Right now, the signing bonuses are as good as they've ever been, and I'm racking up benefits like crazy.

I upgraded my Delta Platinum SkyMiles to Reserve for $60K miles and a $300 statement credit. I got the Chase IHG card for gas purchases since it's 2x the points and I got 120K points to sign up. Then I added the Chase Sapphire Preferred for 3x points on restaurants (starting Monday, 2x up until then) and 100K point signing bonus. Sapphire Preferred has this "pay yourself back" feature that allows you to use your points for statement credits. It's usually 1 point per $10 so the 100K points I got is normally worth $1000, but right now they're giving 25% more value until the end of September, so I used the card on all of our food purchases on vacation and this morning when my 100K got deposited into my account, I was able to claim $1400 credit against my statement balance. Plus, I used the IHG points bonus to get 6 hotel stays for free. And, I still have nearly 500K SkyMiles on my Delta card that I expect to use 350K to purchase 6 tickets to Hawaii for like $66.

The pandemic has obviously created a crazy scenario in which it's easy to accumulate a ton of miles/points, but even putting that aside, there's a ton of value in the benefits if you do your research and pair up your cards in a way that makes sense for you. The big issue for many, I suppose, is learning to treat a credit card like a debit card, but I've been doing it for so long it's like second nature. I've not paid a cent in interest since the 90s.

The Points Guy is a must-follow if you are into this sort of thing. I guess this is what fun looks like to someone who turns 50 in a couple of days...!

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Does anybody else obsess over maximizing credit card benefits? I've used credit cards for daily purchases for over 20 years but in the last couple of years, I've really started figuring out how to pair 2-3 cards to maximize my gains based on how I spend and what I want for "extras." Right now, the signing bonuses are as good as they've ever been, and I'm racking up benefits like crazy.

I upgraded my Delta Platinum SkyMiles to Reserve for $60K miles and a $300 statement credit. I got the Chase IHG card for gas purchases since it's 2x the points and I got 120K points to sign up. Then I added the Chase Sapphire Preferred for 3x points on restaurants (starting Monday, 2x up until then) and 100K point signing bonus. Sapphire Preferred has this "pay yourself back" feature that allows you to use your points for statement credits. It's usually 1 point per $10 so the 100K points I got is normally worth $1000, but right now they're giving 25% more value until the end of September, so I used the card on all of our food purchases on vacation and this morning when my 100K got deposited into my account, I was able to claim $1400 credit against my statement balance. Plus, I used the IHG points bonus to get 6 hotel stays for free. And, I still have nearly 500K SkyMiles on my Delta card that I expect to use 350K to purchase 6 tickets to Hawaii for like $66.

The pandemic has obviously created a crazy scenario in which it's easy to accumulate a ton of miles/points, but even putting that aside, there's a ton of value in the benefits if you do your research and pair up your cards in a way that makes sense for you. The big issue for many, I suppose, is learning to treat a credit card like a debit card, but I've been doing it for so long it's like second nature. I've not paid a cent in interest since the 90s.

The Points Guy is a must-follow if you are into this sort of thing. I guess this is what fun looks like to someone who turns 50 in a couple of days...!

I don't obsess, but I actually read the promotional emails they send to make sure that there isn't a simple change I can make to maximize points.

Like our Southwest card had a thing where they gave triple points for Amazon purchases for a few month period. So we switched our Amazon to that card for that period.

But I don't go looking for new cards to get. We had a period for a while where we had way too much high-interest debt. And that makes me a bit trigger shy for new cards.

[Butter]

Yes, KSyrup, we're not crazy points people over here, but I've gotten a number of free flights and hotel rooms over the past few years thanks to the points game, not to mention getting discounts on many other things through using AMEX "offers".

Gotta watch those annual fees though and just make sure it makes sense when you take those into account, but for us it most certainly does.

Delta SkyMiles free companion ticket per year, Hilton Honors free weekend night per year plus $200 "resort" credits when you stay at a resort plus $250 airline credit per year, AMEX Platinum points that you can transfer almost anywhere... it's an awesome setup if you like to (or have to) travel a lot

[sterlingice]

I also try to keep my annual fee cards to a minimum because you're like $70 here, $99 there - it adds up. You can talk yourself into each one being a good deal - but you only have so much CC spending to go around. I have a Sapphire Preferred that I've had for a long time and a United Card (since we live in Houston and we're almost always flying United so the 2 free bags benefit pay for that card when there's not a pandemic). Then I tend to rotate one more fee card to try it out - get the nice sign up bonus and see if I use it enough to justify it. If not, get rid of it after a couple of years and try another bonus. I also have a couple of old cards that I spend enough on to keep them active since they're 20+ year cards and they help the credit score. But, basically, I have a couple but don't want to totally min/max because it takes effort to keep track and also companies will shut you down and take away points if you play churning games too much.

SI

[Ksyrup]

Yep. I decided to upgrade to Delta Reserve to help with Delta status since the other cards get me hotels/points for whatever. The fee is steep - $550 - but I get a $300 statement credit to basically offset the difference for the 1st year, and that card comes with an annual 1st class companion ticket. So if I use that, plus MQMs based on spending that should keep me at Platinum Medallion, it's worth the fee.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Does anybody else obsess over maximizing credit card benefits? I've used credit cards for daily purchases for over 20 years but in the last couple of years, I've really started figuring out how to pair 2-3 cards to maximize my gains based on how I spend and what I want for "extras." Right now, the signing bonuses are as good as they've ever been, and I'm racking up benefits like crazy.

I upgraded my Delta Platinum SkyMiles to Reserve for $60K miles and a $300 statement credit. I got the Chase IHG card for gas purchases since it's 2x the points and I got 120K points to sign up. Then I added the Chase Sapphire Preferred for 3x points on restaurants (starting Monday, 2x up until then) and 100K point signing bonus. Sapphire Preferred has this "pay yourself back" feature that allows you to use your points for statement credits. It's usually 1 point per $10 so the 100K points I got is normally worth $1000, but right now they're giving 25% more value until the end of September, so I used the card on all of our food purchases on vacation and this morning when my 100K got deposited into my account, I was able to claim $1400 credit against my statement balance. Plus, I used the IHG points bonus to get 6 hotel stays for free. And, I still have nearly 500K SkyMiles on my Delta card that I expect to use 350K to purchase 6 tickets to Hawaii for like $66.

The pandemic has obviously created a crazy scenario in which it's easy to accumulate a ton of miles/points, but even putting that aside, there's a ton of value in the benefits if you do your research and pair up your cards in a way that makes sense for you. The big issue for many, I suppose, is learning to treat a credit card like a debit card, but I've been doing it for so long it's like second nature. I've not paid a cent in interest since the 90s.

The Points Guy is a must-follow if you are into this sort of thing. I guess this is what fun looks like to someone who turns 50 in a couple of days...!

ping molson on this one. I think he maximizing his points is a big hobby for him.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Edward64

re: Coke Zero

Coca-Cola Zero Sugar is getting a makeover | CNN

Had my first sip of one tonight, and ugh. It taste like Diet Coke with the aftertaste and all. Why would they do this? The only soda I drink. Looks like they have made me kick the habit all together.

[Ksyrup]

Damn. I saw these in stores this week but didn't get one, then when we wanted to get it, it was sold out. Super bummed. I think I may try to grab as many of the old ones as I can if that's the case.

In the ongoing saga of drinks that have disappeared from shelves, I still can't get Zero Orange or Cherry Vanilla. Diet Dr. Pepper is now back on shelves in place of the new Zero Sugar. Gatorade is still in short supply. And now... Arizona Iced Tea. I love the zero calorie green ginseng and the Arizona shelves around here are completely bare. Also the Snapple diet raspberry has disappeared. This is getting old.

The only positive I can think out of the Coke Zero development is that it will help me in avoiding drinking too much of it. The past month, I have consciously limited my pop intake to 1 every 3-4 days as I cut back on all the crap I've eaten since the pandemic started. Lost 10 pounds in 3 weeks. Then went on vacation, gained 5 back, lost 3 of it already this week. So this might help me stay away from pop if it tastes like diet Coke.

[Ghost Econ]

Do people who microwave hard boiled eggs at work not realize how terrible the office smells the rest of the morning?

[Ksyrup]

If you are going to be one of the 7000 companies who bombard my personal email with "happy birthday!" messages, you best be coming with a freebie, or just GTFO and save your faux "we care about you" sentiment. It's not going to make me think more highly of you.

Now, Jimmy Johns giving me a free sandwich that I have a month to claim and City BBQ giving me $5 off my next purchase... you guys are good.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Ghost Econ

Do people who microwave hard boiled eggs at work not realize how terrible the office smells the rest of the morning?

Yes, not that I am a person who does that. I used to be the person who microwaved something that will linger in the office an equal amount of time just to be petty.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

If you are going to be one of the 7000 companies who bombard my personal email with "happy birthday!" messages, you best be coming with a freebie, or just GTFO and save your faux "we care about you" sentiment. It's not going to make me think more highly of you.

Now, Jimmy Johns giving me a free sandwich that I have a month to claim and City BBQ giving me $5 off my next purchase... you guys are good.

As someone whose birthday is coming up this week: Preach!! I act like Bart in that episode of The Simpsons where he cashes in for everything from a shave to tango lessons. My birthday is a week long (or more) food celebration, especially while the pandemic is still going strong here in Texas - food is one of the few things I can enjoy. However, don't make me buy something to get my freebie. At most, I might do a B1G1 dessert. But I'm not going to like 50 different places to get 50 full price meals to get a free tiny dessert.

Also, Happy Birthday!

SI

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Also the Snapple diet raspberry has disappeared. This is getting old.
.

The Costco by me sells a 24 variety pack of diet Snapple that has the raspberry in it.

[Ksyrup]

I'm just looking for the 6 pack of diet raspberry only. Shelves have emptied. Not a fan of peach drinks, which all of the tea companies make for whatever reason.

I'm really missing my jug of Arizona diet green ginseng. Not enough decent diet teas out there.

[miami_fan]

Last week was the first week of school for my son. Watching parents trying all sorts of ways to circumvent the drop off and pick up processes in order to drop off or pickup their child faster has been a fascinating social experiment.

So far I have already seen two physical skirmishes, numerous people cursing each other out along with a similar number of people flashing the bird at others who won't let them skip the line and several other attempts to avoid waiting in the line. There have been two pièces de résistance so far. First, a woman was handcuffed for arguing with a police officer over not being allowed to turn in front of a gated community on order to skip in the car line. The second one was finding out that the church next door to the school received an email threatening them with a lawsuit. The church blocked off their parking lot to stop people from drive through the lot and again skipping the car line. The email stated that it was a violation of their religious freedom to block access to their place of worship.

The best part is the obvious part. As they have closed the loopholes that parents have used to try and beat the system on a daily basis, the line has actually moved faster each day than it did the day before.

[Ghost Econ]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

As someone whose birthday is coming up this week: Preach!! I act like Bart in that episode of The Simpsons where he cashes in for everything from a shave to tango lessons. My birthday is a week long (or more) food celebration, especially while the pandemic is still going strong here in Texas - food is one of the few things I can enjoy. However, don't make me buy something to get my freebie. At most, I might do a B1G1 dessert. But I'm not going to like 50 different places to get 50 full price meals to get a free tiny dessert.

Also, Happy Birthday!

SI

I'm glad it's not just me. Each year I scour my spam email address and meticulously sort coupons. I normally get free/near free food for the entire month.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

Last week was the first week of school for my son. Watching parents trying all sorts of ways to circumvent the drop off and pick up processes in order to drop off or pickup their child faster has been a fascinating social experiment.

So far I have already seen two physical skirmishes, numerous people cursing each other out along with a similar number of people flashing the bird at others who won't let them skip the line and several other attempts to avoid waiting in the line. There have been two pièces de résistance so far. First, a woman was handcuffed for arguing with a police officer over not being allowed to turn in front of a gated community on order to skip in the car line. The second one was finding out that the church next door to the school received an email threatening them with a lawsuit. The church blocked off their parking lot to stop people from drive through the lot and again skipping the car line. The email stated that it was a violation of their religious freedom to block access to their place of worship.

The best part is the obvious part. As they have closed the loopholes that parents have used to try and beat the system on a daily basis, the line has actually moved faster each day than it did the day before.

My son's middle school happens to be across from the parking lot that I use for work. So we park together, and he walks in. But I have noticed some . . . crafty parents realize that it is way faster to drive into my lot and drop their kid off to walk than it is to join the line.

It is a lot easier in middle school b/c they just let the kids go to walk. Couldn't pull this off with elementary school rules.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

As someone whose birthday is coming up this week: Preach!! I act like Bart in that episode of The Simpsons where he cashes in for everything from a shave to tango lessons. My birthday is a week long (or more) food celebration, especially while the pandemic is still going strong here in Texas - food is one of the few things I can enjoy. However, don't make me buy something to get my freebie. At most, I might do a B1G1 dessert. But I'm not going to like 50 different places to get 50 full price meals to get a free tiny dessert.

Also, Happy Birthday!

SI

Buffalo Wild Wings dropped by with a free 6-piece wings that I need to use by 8/31, so that might be useful. While trying to cut back, that's about all I would eat.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

My son's middle school happens to be across from the parking lot that I use for work. So we park together, and he walks in. But I have noticed some . . . crafty parents realize that it is way faster to drive into my lot and drop their kid off to walk than it is to join the line.

It is a lot easier in middle school b/c they just let the kids go to walk. Couldn't pull this off with elementary school rules.

I didn't do the bus and basically did this last year. My kids elementary school is surrounded by a neighborhood. I put them down as walkers, which get released first. I would just parks a 1/2 block up and meet them. We were halfway home before the pickups in cars even started.

[Qwikshot]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I'm just looking for the 6 pack of diet raspberry only. Shelves have emptied. Not a fan of peach drinks, which all of the tea companies make for whatever reason.

I'm really missing my jug of Arizona diet green ginseng. Not enough decent diet teas out there.

Amazon has a 24 pack of diet raspberry only for 49$ or 12 pack for 29.89$

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Buffalo Wild Wings dropped by with a free 6-piece wings that I need to use by 8/31, so that might be useful. While trying to cut back, that's about all I would eat.

Addendum: I hate that a lot of these places have gone to doing coupons on apps. I get why they do it. But, look, I visit your establishment maybe a couple of times a year - I'm not giving you access to my phone. Hell, I barely like giving you my 20+ year old Yahoo spam account.

SI

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Qwikshot

Amazon has a 24 pack of diet raspberry only for 49$ or 12 pack for 29.89$

Yeah I've stayed away from ordering drinks online. I mean, I like this stuff a lot, but not that much. I got a 6 pack in store for $4.99 2 weeks ago.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Had my first sip of one tonight, and ugh. It taste like Diet Coke with the aftertaste and all. Why would they do this? The only soda I drink. Looks like they have made me kick the habit all together.

I'm giving it another shot. The one I tasted last night wasn't completely cold and I just took a sip. I am working on a super cold can now, and I will say it is not quite as bad. Still taste a bit flat, but it is less like a Diet Coke. Also not quite as much after taste. Wonder what the bottles/fountain versions will taste like.

[Qwikshot]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

Yeah I've stayed away from ordering drinks online. I mean, I like this stuff a lot, but not that much. I got a 6 pack in store for $4.99 2 weeks ago.

Fair, but I find Amazon a necessary evil anymore in getting things that I want.

[Ksyrup]

Don't get me wrong, we use Amazon at least 5 times a month. This is more about the price than Amazon. I don't need diet raspberry Snapple tea THAT bad. I just wish they'd fix the supply chain issues at the local/brick and mortar level. I mean, I haven't seen a Cherry Vanilla Coke Zero since like April or May of 2020, and I've been lucky to find Orange Vanilla stocked maybe 3 or 4 times in the past 15 months.

[henry296]

I saw an article recently that talked about how some companies pulled back on the number of varieties they offered to ensure better reliability of core products. Coke wasn't mentioned, but I'm wondering if something similar happened. Overall, the number of different items at grocery stores dropped last year:

These foods disappeared from grocery stores last year. Now they're back - KESQ

[molson]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

ping molson on this one. I think he maximizing his points is a big hobby for him.

We're a little past the golden era of bonus offer point accumulation, but ya, we definitely are on it still and have our next 5 international vacations tentatively scheduled from all the points we hoarded during the pandemic, and now from doing some domestic travel.

(For others who are interested)

The most important thing is to have a strategy based on your spending style and stick with it, and have cards that fit that style. And to not pay any credit card annual fees unless there's value in the card for the following year that warrants it.

I keep an eye on the Credit Card shopping and dining portals. My favorite work lunch takeout place is a "qualifying dine", as is my favorite local pizza place in my neighborhood. I get 5X per dollar through the portal, on top of the 4X per dollar for restaurants I get through my Amex Gold, for a total of 9X. When we're away somewhere I check if there's any restaurants there we might like to go to anyway that are on that portal. Anytime I'm shopping for anything over $50 I at least check the shopping portals. I'll often find 6X per dollar offers on stuff I've already decided to buy.

I have one card issued by Chase (that is no longer available to new customers) that pays 2X for home improvement. That's nice at Lowe's and Home Depot, but it's even better for bigger home improvement stuff. I paid $10k for new windows and got 20k points.

We earn points on domestic flights and spend them on international flights. Our international trips tend to booked much further out, so we have maximum flexibility to get the best redemption rate possible. I never use the points for anything else - no hotels, no rental cars, etc. This makes particular sense for us because we fly a lot to places that are expensive to get to, but then pretty cheap once you get there. It also allows for multi-segment international vacations. United has an "Excursionist Perk" where you start and end at the same airport, you can get a free segment in the middle that doesn't cost any points. So Boise to Budapest and back costs the same number of points as Boise to Budapest to Istanbul to Boise.

Though I'm going to need some new strategies soon. Amex cuts you off from new bonuses if you cancel the card in the first year too often. (Not that I regret doing that.) Not sure if that's permanent or if I can get off their shit list eventually. Chase is getting stingier too. The next horizon for me may be a sole proprietorship business that I can honestly and legally qualify for business cards for.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Lathum

I didn't do the bus and basically did this last year. My kids elementary school is surrounded by a neighborhood. I put them down as walkers, which get released first. I would just parks a 1/2 block up and meet them. We were halfway home before the pickups in cars even started.

We used to be able to do this when the school was just an elementary school. Unfortunately, people began parking on the neighborhood lawns and making a general nuisance of themselves. Those privileges were taken away.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

In the ongoing saga of drinks that have disappeared from shelves, I still can't get Zero Orange or Cherry Vanilla. Diet Dr. Pepper is now back on shelves in place of the new Zero Sugar. Gatorade is still in short supply. And now... Arizona Iced Tea. I love the zero calorie green ginseng and the Arizona shelves around here are completely bare. Also the Snapple diet raspberry has disappeared. This is getting old.
.

There's been no unsweet tea in bigger (2 quart, whatever) sizes here in several months. No Pure Leaf, no Gold Peak, nada.

But I'm not entirely buying the bottle-shortage as an explanation for that either, as new flavors/configurations have rolled out from those same brands.

We're getting to the point where some of the "it's not currently produced in X size" is about efficiency and shedding non-sellers rather than raw materials.

THe other big time shortage here, for several months? Canned cat food (whether in plastic cups or actual cans). Grocery, big box, pet store, all with mostly empty shelf space.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I'm really missing my jug of Arizona diet green ginseng. Not enough decent diet teas out there.

OMG you too? We have it in stock here right now but it's been off and on since the pandemic started. Mostly off. During one of the stocking droughts my wife talked to the manager of one of the grocery stores here and got them to order the 6 gallons their supplier was showing as available for us. I managed to stretch those out until we started seeing it again.

[Edward64]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

Had my first sip of one tonight, and ugh. It taste like Diet Coke with the aftertaste and all. Why would they do this? The only soda I drink. Looks like they have made me kick the habit all together.

I've been looking for the new cans at my local Kroger and haven't seen them. Looking forward to tasting it. I hope its not as bad as you say it is, I don't see myself drinking Diet Coke regularly (or Tab)!

FWIW, I did not mind New Coke. Didn't see what the complaining was all about.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Atocep

OMG you too? We have it in stock here right now but it's been off and on since the pandemic started. Mostly off. During one of the stocking droughts my wife talked to the manager of one of the grocery stores here and got them to order the 6 gallons their supplier was showing as available for us. I managed to stretch those out until we started seeing it again.

This is the first time I'm noticing a shortage, but then again, I don't drink a lot of iced tea during the winter. I started buying it again in May or June. Didn't notice an issue last summer though.

And the canned cat food thing JIMGA mentioned is weird. We don't buy canned cat food (our cats have to eat a special Rx diet dry food) but we do buy canned dog food, and we haven't seen any issues with supply here.

On the pop front, the only stuff I'm noticing is out is the zero/diet stuff. I thought those were bigger sellers than perhaps they are, so maybe they just aren't willing to produce enough right now and are sticking with regular? Like, I haven't seen A&W Zero Creme Soda in 3-4 months but you can get regular creme soda fairly easy.

Perhaps it's because I live in KY where I'm guessing most people who buy pop drink regular.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

And the canned cat food thing JIMGA mentioned is weird. We don't buy canned cat food (our cats have to eat a special Rx diet dry food) but we do buy canned dog food, and we haven't seen any issues with supply here.

And it's not just here apparently, even Amazon hasn't been a reliable source :/

It started out as a brand-specific thing - like all the Purina was missing, then the Meow Mix cups, etc. Now? I'm more likely to find 80-90 percent empty shelf space in that aisle than I am to find even 50% full.