Random thoughts that don't warrant a thread

[Brisketexan 105127]

Yeah, both my parents smoked and somehow were only related to, and friends with, people who smoked even more.  Every function we ever went to, it was just people chain smoking all night, mostly indoors.  Looking back, there really was this film/haze on everything.  But I guess everywhere had it so nobody noticed?  And the car, with cloth seats, and that ashtray just brimming with butts (not in a good way).  
I remember in 2005 (IIRC), Austin passed a resolution/law finally outlawing all smoking inside bars and restaurants, no special sections, nothing.  I think it even covered rooftops and patios (though maybe that was phased in later).  And hornfans and whatever the other message board after LFZ imploded, was filled with 20/30-somethings declaring it the death of the Austin bar/music scene.  Bars and restaurants would be going under left and right.  Smoking is part of the nightlife experience, we're all screwed, death of old Austin for the 37th time.  Flash forward 5 years later, then 10 years...we have more bars and restaurants per capita than nearly any city in the United States.  By the end of today, a craft cocktail bar, a wine bar, and 2 seafood restaurants will have opened up. 
 
That smell in your hair on sunday mornings combined with the cat that put all the little socks on your teeth.  I'll never miss that again.

Back then, my “home bar” was the Little Longhorn. I could drive home without getting on any main roads, or if I’d had more than a few cold pops, I could walk home (and did a few times). But back when smoking was allowed in that little cinderblock place…my wife issued the edict that I had to leave my smoke-permeated clothes in the garage before I came inside. Seriously, I had to ditch my clothes, they smelled so bad. So then I entered the house nekkid, and was under further orders to hit the shower immediately, because my hair also reeked of smoke.
First time I went there after the smoking ban, I realized I could actually see to the other end of the building for the first time.

[Armybrat 40842]

17 minutes ago, Sandman said:

A few years ago, I was talking to my kids about growing up in West Germany and how great it was. I decided to plan a trip and jumped online to plot out all the stuff I wanted to show them. Then I got on google maps and discovered that the apartment building I lived in as a kid had been torn down, years ago. They built a hotel there. I was crushed. The trip plans were scrapped. I've decided Thomas Wolfe was right and I can't go home again.

The only military quarters I remember living in that still exist is this one on Old Infantry Post at Fort Sam Houston (we were stationed there 1946-48):

Me on the front porch:

 

[SHOOTER12 8808]

On 6/30/2023 at 7:05 AM, nnm said:

You have no idea. It was everywhere, summer, winter, 24/7 365. Offices, schools, hospitals, buses, airplanes, submarines. It had nothing to do with body odor. It was just the way it was. 

I remember looking at some of my oldest sisters yearbooks and in the back section where sponsors and donors had photos of them and their businesses and seeing our family doctor sitting at his desk smoking a cigarette.

[Crapinon 2257]

1 hour ago, SHOOTER12 said:

I remember looking at some of my oldest sisters yearbooks and in the back section where sponsors and donors had photos of them and their businesses and seeing our family doctor sitting at his desk smoking a cigarette.

When I was growing up my doctor would smoke during exams/check ups and in his office while we were discussing results. I never thought anything about it. 

[SHOOTER12 8808]

1 hour ago, Crapinon said:

When I was growing up my doctor would smoke during exams/check ups and in his office while we were discussing results. I never thought anything about it. 

Yes sir, same here. Funny looking back on it.  Can you imagine the reaction today when a lobby full of patients noticed all the doctors and other professionals walking around with a cigarette in their mouth?

[Underdog 28627]

Great article on these two legends... 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/interactive/2023/chris-evert-martina-navratilova-cancer/

 

[Superhero 8830]

5 hours ago, Crapinon said:

When I was growing up my doctor would smoke during exams/check ups and in his office while we were discussing results. I never thought anything about it. 

[52-80 19155]

15 hours ago, Crapinon said:

When I was growing up my doctor would smoke during exams/check ups and in his office while we were discussing results. I never thought anything about it. 

dont question the science

[Scheiss Meister 8407]

I love "The Star Spangled Banner", "America The Beautiful", "The Marines' Hymn", and other patriotic songs, but the one that makes me cry every time is "The Stars And Stripes Forever".  Every damn time.  Best march of all time, with the best trombone part of all time.

[Crapinon 2257]

3 minutes ago, Scheiss Meister said:

I love "The Star Spangled Banner", "America The Beautiful", "The Marines' Hymn", and other patriotic songs, but the one that makes me cry every time is "The Stars And Stripes Forever".  Every damn time.  Best march of all time, with the best trombone part of all time.

My kids bought me an LP of an old John Philipa Souza recordings. Nothing better for the 4th than Stars and Stripes Forever played by his band, directed by JPS.

[Patricio Swayze 17058]

I find it astonishing that people used to smoke indoors all the time and it was normal. I smoke cigs sometimes when I’m drinking but during the day it’s gross and makes me sick. I heard one explanation that made sense. When people wore three piece suits and heavy dresses back in the day without air conditioning, people stunk like like crazy indoors when the temp was 90 plus, and smoke smelled better. Other than that, it’s so gross.

Yes.

But also, fuck all smokers that smoke in public. No one wants to smell that cancer garbage. Fuck you fuck you fuck you. My mom is a smoker and she has the decency to be ashamed of her habit. She smokes on the back porch of her house and hides the evidence from all the grandkids.

I was just in Italy and while the amount of smoking was less than the previous time I was in Europe, fuck all the piece of shit smokers in public open air places. Smokers who smoke in public should be treated like Nazis. Punch or shot in the face.

[beer 3220]

3 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:

Yes.

But also, fuck all smokers that smoke in public. No one wants to smell that cancer garbage. Fuck you fuck you fuck you. My mom is a smoker and she has the decency to be ashamed of her habit. She smokes on the back porch of her house and hides the evidence from all the grandkids.

I was just in Italy and while the amount of smoking was less than the previous time I was in Europe, fuck all the piece of shit smokers in public open air places. Smokers who smoke in public should be treated like Nazis. Punch or shot in the face.

Spain didn't get the memo

[GoPokes83 2240]

After five straight days and nights of 4th of July weekend here at the beach I’m not doing a gat dang thing today. I’m sitting my ass on this couch in the A/C and enjoying the relative peace and quiet. Might bring the trash cans back from the street after they’re picked up, might not.

[Storm the Field 5294]

Tuesday is the worst possible day to have a random mid-week day off, unless you're able to just make an extended weekend of it and take Monday and/or Wednesday off too. If not, you get treated to "Extra Monday" on Wednesday, usually with a hangover. 

I mean, that's fun if you're in your 20's . Go out Monday night after work and chase tail, stay out late partying, sleep in and then party all day. But it kinda sucks as an old. 

Wednesday also a less than ideal option if you don't/can't turn it into a 5-day weekend. Too far from both the weekend before and weekend after.  Fortunately it's a leap year next year, so the 4th will skip Wednesday and fall on a Thursday. 

Edited July 5, 2023 by Storm the Field

[NeverMarryAStripper 21907]

Why is Thursday good and Tuesday bad?  They're both one day removed from the weekend.

[Storm the Field 5294]

30 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

Why is Thursday good and Tuesday bad?  They're both one day removed from the weekend.

I mentioned Thursday as being preferable to Wednesday, which is equidistant from both the previous weekend and the upcoming.

And, IMO, it's better than a Tuesday because if you're going for a 4-day weekend, it starts your break. You can start enjoying your free time on Wednesday evening, partake in holiday festivities on Thursday, and then have 3 more days off. When it's on a Tuesday, your long weekend ends when you go to bed that night and you're back in the office to start a 3 day week, probably hungover. 

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

51 minutes ago, NeverMarryAStripper said:

Why is Thursday good and Tuesday bad?  They're both one day removed from the weekend.

Because, it would seem, Friday is the weekend as finding someone at work is impossible. Thursday is the new Friday

[52-80 19155]

My niece has a best friend whos round and chubby, but barely so. 

However, in conversation all references to are are exclusively as “the fat girl”, and so goes her associations, e.g. “im going over to have coffee with the fat girls mom”.

Its kinda wrong but hilarious. 

[tbone_ 14123]

Tuesday is the worst possible day to have a random mid-week day off, unless you're able to just make an extended weekend of it and take Monday and/or Wednesday off too. If not, you get treated to "Extra Monday" on Wednesday, usually with a hangover. 
I mean, that's fun if you're in your 20's . Go out Monday night after work and chase tail, stay out late partying, sleep in and then party all day. But it kinda sucks as an old. 
Wednesday also a less than ideal option if you don't/can't turn it into a 5-day weekend. Too far from both the weekend before and weekend after.  Fortunately it's a leap year next year, so the 4th will skip Wednesday and fall on a Thursday. 

Fuck that. Take the extra days off. Went to the beach from Sunday to yesterday.

[GoPokes83 2240]

Houston news had a story this morning about the opening of a 90’s themed cafe/restaurant (Sugarland I believe). Reporter was visiting and it was a strip mall looking building with some random 90’s looking junk on the walls and food dishes and drinks loosely associated or at least named after things from that time. Seems like there’s least a couple of different segments about these different types of theme joint bars or restaurants a week. Do these people know these places are going to fail as soon as the novelty wears off shortly and just open another short life cafe or bar somewhere else, or is this an all eggs in one basket dream of these families that has a forgone conclusion they just can’t see?

[Brothahorn 10087]

Tuesday is the worst possible day to have a random mid-week day off, unless you're able to just make an extended weekend of it and take Monday and/or Wednesday off too. If not, you get treated to "Extra Monday" on Wednesday, usually with a hangover. 
I mean, that's fun if you're in your 20's . Go out Monday night after work and chase tail, stay out late partying, sleep in and then party all day. But it kinda sucks as an old. 
Wednesday also a less than ideal option if you don't/can't turn it into a 5-day weekend. Too far from both the weekend before and weekend after.  Fortunately it's a leap year next year, so the 4th will skip Wednesday and fall on a Thursday. 

Not only that. Have the concerts/shows Monday night. A lot of us have to work Wednesday.

[Guest]

So is the otherboard officially toast? I went to shaggybevo.com and it redirects to some scammy foreign language site. Is that even the last iteration? 

Funny thing is, after I typed that first sentence, I went to Hornfans.com. It's a thing. And it looks updated... and at least a few people post there. Had no idea.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

It's poop.

[nnm 36396]

31 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

So is the otherboard officially toast? I went to shaggybevo.com and it redirects to some scammy foreign language site. Is that even the last iteration? 

Funny thing is, after I typed that first sentence, I went to Hornfans.com. It's a thing. And it looks updated... and at least a few people post there. Had no idea.

You can probably pick up the domain for about tree fiddy. @blacklab, check it out. 

[Armybrat 40842]

Manufacturing quality control in recent years has obviously gone downhill, with much discussion about it online. 
Here is a typical exchange on a gun board….

 

Quote

mbirdsley

Registered 

Joined Mar 3, 2014

63 Posts

#53 · 15 h ago

DaddyO66 said:

A few observations. 
My wife has always said a poor craftsman blames his tools. People talk about CNC machining and laser cut parts. All of that technology is great and I'm sure it speeds up the manufacturing process. Any tool or machine still needs an operator and it seems that's what companies are hiring. Not craftsman, just button pushers. With threads like this becoming more frequent I wonder if the QC person has a seeing eye dog?

Observation two. As a contractor I get to see a lot of WTF stuff. One of my customers had a security screen door installed by one of the big box stores. It was a really shoddy job. I was there when the warranty guy came out. We got to talking and he said that situation was fairly normal. The installers get paid by the job and the warranty guy by the hour. The install crew blows it out as fast as possible, gets paid, and leaves the customer to deal with calling to make it right.

As someone who has spent most of my adult life being self employed this seems like a terrible and wasteful business model. Yet we are seeing it more and more. The cost of labor and materials coupled with some strange government financial policies have driven up the cost of goods. All of the goods returned to a manufacturer for warranty or replacement just drive up the cost of future products. If you want a decent wage you should put in decent work.

As a country we seem to be lacking a passion for our work. The world needs ditch diggers and the ones who are passionate about their ditches, end up owning heavy civil construction companies.
As a lifelong Ruger owner it's very disappointing to see the recent rash of QC issues. Let's hope they get it sorted out.

for 12 years, 8 years in quality, and the last year running the QA lab. I worked at a high production machine shop of power tran components. we sold to every automotive manufacturer. we had around a hundred cnc lathes and mills. 

I can tell you for a fact their are no machinist any more. all that is required is to hit the green button ( go button ) cycle stops and than gage the part. green means a good part, yellow is still good, and red is bad ish and could still be a ship-able part . that is all a operator needs to know. if they know more they want more money. machining is not taught in the schools at all any more. 

when we would find out of spec parts and brought up issues we were told “it will build”. you learned quick to stop bringing up known issues if you wanted to keep your job. only time we really red tagged parts is if the heat treat process was bad or we knew the part wouldn’t go to together at what ever plant we were shipping to. we’re in a differnt world now. 

 

[Crapinon 2257]

13 minutes ago, Armybrat said:

Manufacturing quality control in recent years has obviously gone downhill, with much discussion about it online. 
Here is a typical exchange on a gun board….

 

 

I used to sell machine tooling and saw this coming years ago. Programmers write the functions, machinist just gage and change the tooling. I knew a couple of machinist who were trained by the navy in the 60's. They had to know how to make every part on the ship, either by blueprint or just measuring with a micrometer. Often on machines that were already 50 years old. They were true craftsmen.

I ran into this problem last time I bought a Marlin 336. The 2nd shell always got hung up and failed to extract. I sent it in for repairs and it did the same thing when I got it back. QC was terrible. I traded it for a CZ and decided to never by a new Marlin product again. 

[Sandman 3403]

My kid got her first "real adult" job (her words) and left her retail gig she's had the last couple of years. So now my 50% discount is gone. I had bought some stuff online right after she put in her notice but tried for one final order last night before they turned off her employee account. No dice, the party is over. I'll have to pay full price again, fuck!

[GoPokes83 2240]

I’ve never been a coffee drinker, but our shitty excuse for a town got a Starbucks and the kid couldn’t wait to try it out. All over the store were signs for coffee mixed with olive oil. Isn’t coffee a natural laxative as it is, what happens when you add a shot of oil to that?

[NeverMarryAStripper 21907]

That sounds disgusting 

[nnm 36396]

2 hours ago, GoPokes83 said:

I’ve never been a coffee drinker, but our shitty excuse for a town got a Starbucks and the kid couldn’t wait to try it out. All over the store were signs for coffee mixed with olive oil. Isn’t coffee a natural laxative as it is, what happens when you add a shot of oil to that?

 

[WhatTheBuck 28780]

On 7/6/2023 at 4:23 PM, nnm said:

You can probably pick up the domain for about tree fiddy. @blacklab, check it out. 

I’m pretty sure he’s not allowed. 

[WhatTheBuck 28780]

I collect wheat pennies. Does anyone else do this? I don’t know why. I started doing it years ago. In high school at the latest, maybe when I was in junior high. I’m not obsessive about it but whenever I notice I have one, I throw it in a container. I’m sure I’ve spent any number of them over the years without realizing it. Recently I’ve noticed some because they’re not accepted by the automated checkout lane at the grocery.

I don’t think they’re worth much more than face value. The whole exercise seems kind of pointless. But I do it anyway. The other day I found one that was so dirty I could barely recognize it as a wheat penny but the self checkout rejected it. I started cleaning it and found that it was a steel penny from 1943. It’s hardly mint condition and still probably isn’t worth much but I thought it was kind of cool. That was a first.

[Scheiss Meister 8407]

@WhatTheBuck you might want to get a pro to check that out.  A quick Google says that a 1943 steel penny with no mint mark might have a good bit of value.

[WhatTheBuck 28780]

31 minutes ago, Scheiss Meister said:

@WhatTheBuck you might want to get a pro to check that out.  A quick Google says that a 1943 steel penny with no mint mark might have a good bit of value.

Holy shit! I’m sure mine won’t turn out to be valuable but I’ll have to look into it. The prices listed on eBay after a quick search were kind of eye popping. Fetching over $2,000 would be a nice little bonus. I’ve got a birthday coming up. But mine probably is in too poor condition. Thanks for the suggestion, though. It can’t hurt to ask someone about it. 

[Hpara759 1778]

1 hour ago, WhatTheBuck said:

I collect wheat pennies. Does anyone else do this? I don’t know why. I started doing it years ago. In high school at the latest, maybe when I was in junior high. I’m not obsessive about it but whenever I notice I have one, I throw it in a container. I’m sure I’ve spent any number of them over the years without realizing it. Recently I’ve noticed some because they’re not accepted by the automated checkout lane at the grocery.

I don’t think they’re worth much more than face value. The whole exercise seems kind of pointless. But I do it anyway. The other day I found one that was so dirty I could barely recognize it as a wheat penny but the self checkout rejected it. I started cleaning it and found that it was a steel penny from 1943. It’s hardly mint condition and still probably isn’t worth much but I thought it was kind of cool. That was a first.

I got 2 of them

[WhatTheBuck 28780]

29 minutes ago, Hpara759 said:

I got 2 of them

Yeah, I’m sure it’s worth cents, not dollars.

[NAVY 6740]

Col. Potter was 51 years old when he took command of the 4077th in 1952 

[GoPokes83 2240]

Just got back from Wal Mart, and checked my email. In the last 2 hours I’ve received 27 emails for second chance credit cards and online personal loan ads, thank God neither of which I need or have searched online for. I wonder what I could have said that my phone or Alexa picked up on that started all this?

[Gil Bang 25954]

On 6/30/2023 at 8:46 AM, YGIFS said:

Yeah, both my parents smoked and somehow were only related to, and friends with, people who smoked even more.  Every function we ever went to, it was just people chain smoking all night, mostly indoors.  Looking back, there really was this film/haze on everything.  But I guess everywhere had it so nobody noticed?  And the car, with cloth seats, and that ashtray just brimming with butts (not in a good way).  

I remember in 2005 (IIRC), Austin passed a resolution/law finally outlawing all smoking inside bars and restaurants, no special sections, nothing.  I think it even covered rooftops and patios (though maybe that was phased in later).  And hornfans and whatever the other message board after LFZ imploded, was filled with 20/30-somethings declaring it the death of the Austin bar/music scene.  Bars and restaurants would be going under left and right.  Smoking is part of the nightlife experience, we're all screwed, death of old Austin for the 37th time.  Flash forward 5 years later, then 10 years...we have more bars and restaurants per capita than nearly any city in the United States.  By the end of today, a craft cocktail bar, a wine bar, and 2 seafood restaurants will have opened up. 

 

That smell in your hair on sunday mornings combined with the cat that put all the little socks on your teeth.  I'll never miss that again.

I'm pretty sure that @Macanudo was the derka of that discussion. 

On a side note:  Macanudo (a gentleman, as far as I can tell) gave me the last cigar that I ever smoked.  I had been a fairly regular cigar smoker.  He generously gave me what was certainly a fine cigar, I lit it, took a few puffs, and tossed it to the grass of the Brookside Golf Course at the Rose Bowl, and I haven't smoked anything since.

It was a "what the fuck am I doing this is disgusting" moment. 

[tbone_ 14123]

^ I did that with cigarettes one day a little over 20 years ago. Never looked back.

Technically that was 7,487 days ago. At a pack a day, that’s 149,740 heaters I haven’t smoked.

[Macanudo 12977]

I take extreme offense at being called the Derka of anything.

For the record I have always been in favor of smoking bans.

[Gil Bang 25954]

5 minutes ago, Macanudo said:

I take extreme offense at being called the Derka of anything.

For the record I have always been in favor of smoking bans.

I'm sorry that you're offended, because you were very nice to me when we met, and in all of our online interactions.

But, unless i'm very mistaken, and I don't think that I am, you were always "the bar owner should decide if they want to allow smoking" and "the employees can work elsewhere if they don't like it".   I'm 100% certain on the former, and about 90% on the latter.  Maybe your position has evolved since then.   Maybe my memory has faltered, but I'd bet my 401k that you were rock-solid on "business owner should choose".

But fuck (buttfuck?), If I've got the wrong guy, please accept my apologies.  Hornfans ain't exactly around for us to review the record. 

And, for what it's worth, I recently looked at a few of my posts on the baseball board and thought they were a little derky-y, and I haven't posted there since.  We all have our weak moments, and yeah, Shohei is the GOAT and anybody that doesn't think so is a moron. 

Edited July 10, 2023 by Gil Bang

[Macanudo 12977]

Eh, who knows.   I don't always remember yesterday let alone 15 or 20 years ago.

I am definitely in favor of bans now.  

[KaiserSoze 998]

So long as nobody bans South Austin's Mom from smoking pole we should all be fine

[TrashMaster G 17554]

I can't stand it when restaurants calculated the suggested tips for you and they base it on the after-tax total. Why would I tip on the tax?

It's a small thing and I know they do it to try to generate bigger tips for their servers, but it just feels deceitful to me.

And for the record, I'm a good tipper unless you suck at your job.  I know those folks work hard.

[Cheeseweasel 26438]

16 hours ago, NAVY said:

Col. Potter was 51 years old when he took command of the 4077th in 1952 

He recovered quickly from that brush with insanity as General Steele. (Still shocked the writers didn't attempt to explain it)

[GoPokes83 2240]

Got my truck inspected today. Busiest place to get it done is a place owned by a woman I’m guessing is in her mid 70’s. She has another slightly younger woman working for her and all they do is inspections. It cost me 7 bucks for the inspection, and I’m guessing the State gets a chunk of that. How does she keep the doors open on just a portion of a 7 dollar job, plus paying an employee? There’s only so many hours in the day, and it’s a small city.

[Superhero 8830]

Finally getting around to watching the walking dead. So what’s with these people walking around in tank tops and shorts? I’d be wearing a football helmet, body armor made out of bits of plastic and lint, wearing 3 scarves, cut resistant gloves and rain boots 24 x 7. 

[Guest]

Discussion about being on the road for work with 24YO son, who also loves sports:

Me- I'd probably go to any MLB game. Hell I'd gladly go to a AAA or AA game in most places. Can't think of any NFL games I'd pass up

Him, very quickly- Cards at Tampa Bay in September seems like it would suck.

Me- I concede the point.

[closetohumping 17441]

I think the smoking ban should be left up to the bar owner