wild_turkey

It seems like there is an insurance bubble ready to pop. I wouldn’t be surprised if many families either can’t find coverage period or can’t afford the coverage they are offered, leaving them with no choice but to be uninsured, a situation that would’ve been unthinkable 5 years ago. That’s a crisis waiting to happen. If enough people are forced to go that route in a high risk area, and then a major natural disaster strikes, there could be a lot of homeless families. Perhaps the cost of insurance will become a bigger factor in the decision making of buying a home, how big of a home to buy, or what region to live in. Perhaps the cost of owning and insuring a home in certain areas like the gulf coast will skyrocket, making people less willing to live there. Sadly, maybe that’s how it has to be. The Daily did a podcast on this topic not long ago: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-daily/id1200361736?i=1000655653194

You need to know more people. Cheese enchiladas are great and any Tex-Mex joint that can’t pull that off is in bad shape. It’s like a bbq joint with bad brisket.

Lol

Finished this one recently. I’m a huge Cormac fan and I enjoyed The Passenger, but Stella Maris didn’t do much for me.

I listened to this after seeing it posted here. Half of the book is essentially a factual reporting of the nuclear status and capabilities of the U.S. and the other countries with nukes. I found that part interesting and thought she did a good job reporting. The other half is the hypothetical worst-case scenario involving nuclear war between North Korea, the U.S., and Russia. I liked it for a bit, but by the end I felt it was a little too focused on describing death in gritty detail and it left me wanting more information about the aftermath. It felt incomplete. What happens to the other countries with nuclear weapons in that scenario? Did Israel, India, and Pakistan somehow get involved? What about other countries with no nuclear weapons? I know there would be nuclear winter and that affects the entire planet, so what does she think would happen in the southern hemisphere and third world countries? Basically, I was curious to know the overall future of humanity and if places like New Zealand would stand any chance of coming out the other side with a functional civilization.

I liked this episode. This show is good and makes your brain work a little bit. Jason2 should’ve headed straight back to his box and peaced out to a new world after he murdered Jason? In the library bathroom. He’s made such a mess of things that it’s hard to imagine a happy ending for him here, plus he doesn’t even seem to like Daniela and Charlie that much. From his standpoint, cut your losses and try again. Jason1 should consider the same. Go to the storage unit and get some ampules, then take his family to the box and try to find the world that Amanda stayed in. Once there, destroy the box in that world. It sucks starting over, but at least his family would be together and be in a world without all the other competing Jasons.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/06/19/health/microplastics-human-penises-study-scli-intl-scn-wellness/index.html

Just to be clear, you “read between the lines” and you “believe” that Erin Moriarty had cosmetic surgery because of criticism from incel idiots on the internet, and then you reported it here as a hard truth? I still don’t see any evidence to support that claim. I agree that internet bullying is a problem, and there’s a reasonable discussion to be had about that somewhere, but we don’t need to create false narratives in this thread to achieve that.

Read between the lines. Erin Moriarty Says The Boys Trolls Made Her Feel 'Dehumanized' and 'Paralyzed' Read between what lines? You said her cosmetic surgery was the direct result of internet bullying in response to people saying she doesn’t look sexy enough, but the article you posted doesn’t come anywhere close to saying that. The article says she has been a victim of bullying and that she left Instagram in January 2024 as a result. I looked it up and read the post she made when that happened, which also makes no mention of her being pressured by bullies into getting cosmetic surgery. There is no causal relationship even remotely implied in any of this. At least some of her physical changes were done prior to filming season 4, which according to the internet, was finished by April 2023. Then she leaves Instagram 9 months later for bullying. That is not the correct order to support your claim, nor can I find anything else online that supports it. Internet bullying sucks, but let’s not make up facts here.

Please tell me that is not true. How does an attractive lead female on a critically acclaimed TV show give in to pressure from internet bullies to the point of having bad cosmetic surgery to appease said internet bullies? Is there evidence that this was a factor in her decision to have surgery? Has she spoken about it? Celebrities are constantly being shit talked on the internet. It’s an unfortunate side effect of the job. They don’t get surgery because of it.

I just caught up and I’m not enjoying it as much as I used to. I think shows with a never ending cat-and-mouse plot get stale after a while. It also feels like their attempts to mock certain segments of the population have become much more heavy handed. I enjoy a little mockery of a particular political group, but I don’t want them to beat me over the head with it. Maybe it’s just too close to real life. I’ll keep watching, but S1-2 were much more enjoyable for me.

Last post. The southern part of Mallorca is somewhat flat, whereas the northern coast is a mountain range called Serra de Tramuntana, and that’s where we spent our last few days. We chose a small town called Valldemossa and stayed at Hotel Valldemossa, which was previously part of a monastery but now converted into a 12 room hotel. The property was recently purchased by a local boutique hotel company and they have done a fantastic job with it. The rooms are massive, each with a private terrace. Great restaurant, small pool, spa, and vineyards you can walk through. The hotel was a 5 minute walk into town, which had a few shops and restaurants. Very simple but we ate well there and the main thing to do is relax and live at a slow pace. It was also a good point to access other points of interest along the northern coast. We went to a town called Deià which is worthy of a few nights on a future trip. We also drove to a place called Sa Calobra which is kind of the Mallorcan version of the Road to Hana. A scenic drive through the mountains, narrow road with lots of hairpin turns, leading down to a tiny town with a couple of cool beaches. I highly recommend this and will for sure do it again if we return. We’ve been on a bit of a Mediterranean kick lately with Corsica, Sardinia, Saint-Tropez, Cinque Terre, Croatia, and now the Balearic Islands. I like them all for different reasons, but Mallorca lived up to the others and will be on our radar for a future trip. These have all been without our kid, but I think it would be exciting to take her as she grows older and let her experience these places with us. Perhaps my posts will give some useful info to someone else considering a similar vacation. I’m happy to help if anyone has questions.

Okay, Mallorca. What a fantastic place. The only thing that would keep me from returning to Ibiza is Mallorca. It has so much to offer that I could probably spend a month there and still not be ready to leave. We stayed the first 2 nights in Palma at a swanky and sultry hotel called Palma Riad. It will put you in the mood. I was unsure about staying in Palma because I often avoid large cities while on vacation, but Palma was incredible. There were a ton of people yet it felt so calm and laid back and peaceful. The city center is very walkable and has endless shops and restaurants, a beautiful cathedral, a huge beach, and lots of narrow alleyways that remind me of Venice. It’s a place you want to get lost in and be on an endless rotation of Aperol spritz, gelato, and tapas. Palma has an assortment of Michelin restaurants if you like that type of thing. Sometimes we do, but we elected to pass and seek out more “normal” food, which was nothing short of exceptional. Whatever you prefer, you will eat well in this city. A couple of restaurants that I would recommend are Vandal and Mambo. Seriously good food, and compared to France, you can eat like a king for cheap in Spain. We rented a boat one day and it was fun but the boat was a bit slow for my tastes. I probably should’ve got a bigger boat with a skipper rather than the self drive boat. Oh well, still nice to be on the water. After Palma, we left for the hills, which I’ll write up in another post.

Well, I’m back and it was an excellent trip. We have a fondness for French and Italian destinations, and even though we have been to Barcelona before, we were a little unsure what to expect from this one. I’m glad we followed through on it. Spain delivered. Ibiza first. It’s a nice island with a bohemian carefree vibe, despite the very prominent electronic music scene. Someone described it as a “choose your own adventure” type of place and I think that’s fitting. There can be a little something for everyone there. We stayed at Hotel Riomar in Santa Eulària on the southeast part of the island. Nice hotel in a good area, a little quieter but with plenty of nearby restaurants and shops. If we ever go back, I will probably opt to stay in Ibiza Town (Eivissa) because I really loved what I saw of that area. We had dinner inside the walls of the old town one night and it was very enjoyable. The restaurant was called La Oliva and I would highly recommend it. Excellent food and drinks, good service, nice ambiance, great people watching. We were relatively tame on nightlife. Club hours are basically 12:00-6:00 am which would’ve left us dead the next day, and at our age, we would rather enjoy the days. We did see Calvin Harris play at Ushuaia, huge outdoor club with 7,000+ people, fun experience but not something I’m itching to do again. My favorite thing was a place called Cala Gracioneta where we spent most of a day. It’s a small cove with a beach and a great little restaurant. The overall vibe is pretty close to perfect. I would go back to Ibiza just for that, and I think there are numerous similar spots around the island. I suspect we will return at some point. We didn’t make it to Formentera or over to see Es Vedra, somewhat due to weather. Our time was a little short because we were eager to get over to Mallorca, but I think 4-5 days would be ideal. Perhaps we’ll take our kid in a few years.

Shantal VanSanten (Butcher’s wife) looks like she got extreme filler done. I know she’s only a small role, but compared to her appearance in For All Mankind, it’s scary.

Where did you eat? We’ve had some excellent meals in Tulum. I have no doubt there are bad places like anywhere else, but there are also some really good places. Yes, Tulum is somewhat expensive. People should probably expect that by now. If anyone is looking for a cheap Mexico vacation, Tulum is not the place for that.

Whoa, nice. That was an excellent show that no one ever talked about. Figured it was a one and done but I’m happy to have a second season.

I loved this show but I’m okay with it not being renewed. It felt like the story was complete. Not every show needs 6 seasons.

Watched it last night and enjoyed it.

I used to love the Alamo Drafthouse when I lived in Austin, but that was 15 years ago. The franchise Alamo theaters in other locations don’t seem much different from any other modern theaters. In Fort Worth, the best theater IMO is AMC Clearfork. AMC gets shit on a lot but this theater is nice - good seats and screens, good drink selection, clean and well-maintained.

Tulum proper has seemed fairly safe when I have been there. Kidnapping for ransom is crazy but maybe people who stay in hostels are a little more susceptible to that?

Maybe not 26% in a place like Fort Worth, but I think it’s pretty well established that Airbnb drives up housing prices and makes entry into home ownership more expensive. I don’t have time to dig into it right now, but I seem to remember Hawaii having a major problem with this in the past few years to the point they were considering restricting Airbnb, VRBO, etc. Obviously the OP is about Fort Worth and not Hawaii, but I think there’s a reasonable discussion to be had about Airbnb and its contribution to the difficulty of home ownership in many areas.

I’m going to have to strongly disagree with that. A helicopter ride in Kauai is pretty damn cool and allows you to see things you wouldn’t otherwise see.

Stayed there for our honeymoon 19 years ago. I remember liking it but I’m not keen on big resorts these days. Seems like it would still be a good option for someone looking for that.

Pardon my ignorance here and for asking a question that’s been hotly debated nationwide, but can anyone explain why the U.S. is still actively supporting Israel in this war? I understood supporting them immediately after the Oct 7 attacks, but why are we still involved in any capacity other than humanitarian aid? Regardless of what events led up to this, it currently feels like we are assisting a genocide. The fact that we even have to discuss things like “is this a genocide?” makes me as an American want no active part in this, yet we continue supporting Israel. I understand that many conservatives and Republicans have taken Israel’s side, yet we also have a Democrat president who is fully on board. I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.