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

[Logan]

Originally Posted by rowech

Arguably my least favorite sound in the world. As soon as I hear it, it reminds me of my dad's alcoholism and all the stuff that came with it when I was growing up and all the baggage I carry today because of it.

[heybrad]

I'm on a crusade to put an end to the phrase "perception is reality". No it's not. It's either your laziness or inability to find out the actual truth. You know.. actual reality.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by heybrad

I'm on a crusade to put an end to the phrase "perception is reality". No it's not. It's either your laziness or inability to find out the actual truth. You know.. actual reality.

I hope your efforts end well.

[Qwikshot]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

I hope your efforts end well.

Corporate life doesn't believe in reality, only results perceived or otherwise.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Yesterday morning I willingly walked into a burning building for the first time. I can totally see the allure of being a firefighter, that adrenaline rush is amazing.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Yesterday morning I willingly walked into a burning building for the first time. I can totally see the allure of being a firefighter, that adrenaline rush is amazing.

Umm...more details please.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

Yesterday morning I willingly walked into a burning building for the first time. I can totally see the allure of being a firefighter, that adrenaline rush is amazing.

I've been in two

One was a controlled training burn when I was, hmm, 11 maybe. (Dad was a volunteer fireman, chief of the local volunteers in fact). I was safely on the periphery of an old business that was donated to be burned, watching the inside go up from the relative safety of the sorta inside porch. That was very cool.

The next time I was probably 15 or 16, when the neighbor's house caught fire, the response was delayed and I wasn't letting him go inside alone to look for the 3 yr old we thought was inside. Kid was fine, wasn't even home ... but there was pretty much no fun or even adrenaline from doing that room to room search of a three story house (2+finished basement)

Maybe later, but at the time I just didn't want either of us (or the kid) to die.

[Easy Mac]

A subdivision down the road built around a lake have hired hunters to shoot the migratory geese population that comes through once a year. They've been licensed to use shotguns.

We have 40-50 geese come through each year to the pond a few hundred yards from our house, and it's annoying, but killing them seems extremely excessive.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

A subdivision down the road built around a lake have hired hunters to shoot the migratory geese population that comes through once a year. They've been licensed to use shotguns.

We have 40-50 geese come through each year to the pond a few hundred yards from our house, and it's annoying, but killing them seems extremely excessive.

Geese do an unbelievable amount of property damage.
And Ive traveled as far away as Nova Scotia to hunt them...so getting paid to kill them sounds like fun, but...

Some friends in Charlotte founded this company: Index

That is a better way and cheaper!

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Umm...more details please.

I'm a gas serviceman for the local utility company, so part of my job is being a first responder - for gas leaks, carbon monoxide scares and for structure fires. Typically when we show up for a structure fire, the fire department has already turned off the gas and I'm there to verify cause, damage done and any injuries. Once it's safe, I secure the meter. Typically these are extremely boring calls.

This time it was a restaurant, and the fire was not yet contained. The restaurant had done what we call an overbuild - they had added walls and roofing to put the gas meter inside the building. To make matters worse, because of the overbuild, the firefighters couldn't get any leverage on the valve to shut off the gas meter, so when I got there the gas was still live. The fire was above us in the attic, and as I was getting there the fire department was putting people on the roof to demolish the tiles so the fire fighters could get at the wooden substructure that was still burning. Walking into a room filled with smoke with a pair of wrenches...that was an experience I won't soon forget.

[Lathum]

Not to be a downer but one of my best friends is a professional firefighter for Cincinnati.I consider him a true hero. A couple weeks ago one of his brothers was killed when he fell down an elevator shaft trying to save people in a burning building. My buddy knew the guy well. My friends adrenaline rush is when he comes home to his wife and two kids. Running into a burning building is not a fun part of the job.

[lungs]

You really appreciate fire fighters a lot more when you need them.....

[molson]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Geese do an unbelievable amount of property damage.
And Ive traveled as far away as Nova Scotia to hunt them...so getting paid to kill them sounds like fun, but...

Some friends in Charlotte founded this company: Index

That is a better way and cheaper!

That looks exactly my dog.

There's a big park here that gets overrun by geese at certain times of the year, and the city begs dog owners to use the park to keep the geese at bay and make the park a little less desirable for them. There's nothing quite like watching a border collie disperse a huge flock of geese.

[terpkristin]

Yeah my smoke alarms are hard-wired but they manage to only chirp for new batteries at 2 am. When I was on IV antibiotics, I was getting antibiotics every 4 hours via a pump. The pump needed a new 9V battery every day. The medical supply company sent me ~10 batteries per week, so now I have lots for when it happens.

/tk

[Vince, Pt. II]

"Jimmy Butler's great playoffs continued as his 31 points helped Chicago take a 2-0 series lead over the Bucks."

The fact that his 'great playoffs' consisted of one game prior to this game makes this sentence annoy the hell out of me.

[Vince, Pt. II]

Originally Posted by terpkristin

Yeah my smoke alarms are hard-wired but they manage to only chirp for new batteries at 2 am. When I was on IV antibiotics, I was getting antibiotics every 4 hours via a pump. The pump needed a new 9V battery every day. The medical supply company sent me ~10 batteries per week, so now I have lots for when it happens.

/tk

That is an insane amount of battery usage, jeez.

[Buccaneer]

My son turned 18 yesterday. Still coming to grasps with that.

[albionmoonlight]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

My son turned 18 yesterday. Still coming to grasps with that.

Congratulations. And, yeah, I have no idea how I will handle that.

[QuikSand]

I don't think it's a good idea for a business to use the "Since [year]" or "Est. [year]" add-on to its logo, sign, or name -- unless the year is impressive.

If your plumbing company spans three generations and has been around a long time, then I like the message "Since 1946." Fine.

If your food truck was repainted in October, then don't brag with "Since 2014." No.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

My son turned 18 yesterday. Still coming to grasps with that.

Has he enrolled at UW yet?

[Buccaneer]

We begin that process in the fall but that's still his dream school.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

We begin that process in the fall but that's still his dream school.

atta boy!

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

My son turned 18 yesterday. Still coming to grasps with that.

Awesome, mine oldest turned 20 a couple weeks ago.

[terpkristin]

Originally Posted by Vince, Pt. II

That is an insane amount of battery usage, jeez.

Yeah, well, the pump was going all the time. When it wasn't actively dosing (every 4 hours), it was on a continuous positive-pressure thing, dosing a tiny amount to keep the vein open (I was on a PICC line).

I don't recommend needing long-term IV antibiotics if you can avoid it. 12 weeks was enough. Lyme patients often get 1 dose a day for a year or more. Still no fun, but at least then they don't need the pump. :\

/tk

[rowech]

A week ago I knew nothing about easements but thanks to trying to take down an old fence and put a new one up, I know I hate every aspect of them. You own your property except the part you don't. The farmer in 1950 better have been paid pretty damn well for forking over his propery rights. The developer of our subdivision from the 1980s better sleep well at night knowing he completely ignored this easement, allowed fences, sheds, pools, and everything else within the easement and right on BPs pipleine knowning it would be a problem at some point for this entire neighborhood. Maybe I'm just too much of a rule follower.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by rowech

A week ago I knew nothing about easements but thanks to trying to take down an old fence and put a new one up, I know I hate every aspect of them. You own your property except the part you don't. The farmer in 1950 better have been paid pretty damn well for forking over his propery rights. The developer of our subdivision from the 1980s better sleep well at night knowing he completely ignored this easement, allowed fences, sheds, pools, and everything else within the easement and right on BPs pipleine knowning it would be a problem at some point for this entire neighborhood. Maybe I'm just too much of a rule follower.

Did you get title insurance? This should have been shown in your policy, if it wasn't. You can go after the title insurer for damages if they did not disclose it.

[Buccaneer]

You can typically build temporary structures on easements, just know that they can be torn down if needed.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Did you get title insurance? This should have been shown in your policy, if it wasn't. You can go after the title insurer for damages if they did not disclose it.

We are definitely researching this. It's very possible we lost something along the way being young and stupid but what we do have shows nothing regarding the easement.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by rowech

We are definitely researching this. It's very possible we lost something along the way being young and stupid but what we do have shows nothing regarding the easement.

Lmk if I can help. I work in title insurance, although I am out in CA (so I don't know if I can look at your property chains with the tools I have). But I might be able to look at what you have and tell you what you have there.

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

Lmk if I can help. I work in title insurance, although I am out in CA (so I don't know if I can look at your property chains with the tools I have). But I might be able to look at what you have and tell you what you have there.

Thank you very much for your offer.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

For you long time FOFC regulars, here's a quick public service announcement destined to make you feel old:

My son turns 17 today.

my son turned 18 a couple weeks before yours, sigh...

FM

[Honolulu_Blue]

Originally Posted by FrogMan

my son turned 18 a couple weeks before yours, sigh...

FM

Wait. That little karate guy is 18?!?!

[albionmoonlight]

You would want to talk to a property lawyer, but there are doctrines in the law (such as adverse possession) that basically say that if property is used in a certain way for long enough, it actually reverts to the people using it and not the owner.

Now, it is a bit of a hail mary shot to win something like that, and BP probably put what it needed to put in its easements to stop it. But if you have a whole subdivision affected, you might want to pool your money and talk to a lawyer.

Also, if you don't have documentation that the people who sold it to you told you about it, then I would see if you could sue them for the damages.

[Chief Rum]

Originally Posted by albionmoonlight

You would want to talk to a property lawyer, but there are doctrines in the law (such as adverse possession) that basically say that if property is used in a certain way for long enough, it actually reverts to the people using it and not the owner.

This is known as prescriptive rights.

I am not sure if this would work here, but I suppose it is worth a shot.

Prescriptive rights usually relate to access easements over neighboring land, where if you use someone else's land for your own purposes for a certain length of time, without that owner exercising his property rights, then you have essentially been granted an easement for the use of that property in the manner in which you have used it.

Now, pipeline easements are a little different. Since rowech didn't know about it, I am presuming the pipeline is underground, and if BP protested the fence, then they are presumeably still using that pipeline, which removes possible reversionary rights (i.e. if you're not using the pipeline, you don't need the pipeline, thus you lose the easement for the pipeline).

Unless the fence posts go particularly deep into the ground or the pipeline is unusually close to the surface, I would presume that BP is protesting to the fence on the basis of a restriction of access to maintain the pipeline. Usually it is acceptable to continue normal use of the surface of the property over the easement, so long as that use doesn't interfere with the possible maintenance of the pipeline. So you can usually put things like swing sets and fences over easement areas, but not actual structures, which would restrict access.

I am wondering if rowech could work out a deal on this if it comes down to access. Approach BP and ask to arrange some modification of access rights for the pipeline that would allow for the fence to be built. I would guess BP would be amenable to reasonable modications. Of course, rowech needs to get a copy of the prior easement agreement (which should be available in the public record).

Of course, if it is not public record (never recorded as an official property document), then rowech has much more leg to stand on with respect to suing the prior owner and also to contest the easement. And if it was recorded, and it wasn't disclosed by his title insurance policy, then he can go after the title insurer.

rowech definitely has options here. A property lawyer is not a bad idea. I would definitely look into all the specifics first, though, and then contact the lawyer before approaching BP.

[Butter]

This certainly doesn't deserve it's own thread, so I present it here:

“Butter Of ’69â€� is a catchy trifle from the alternative era · Hear This · The A.V. Club

[rowech]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

This is known as prescriptive rights.

I am not sure if this would work here, but I suppose it is worth a shot.

Prescriptive rights usually relate to access easements over neighboring land, where if you use someone else's land for your own purposes for a certain length of time, without that owner exercising his property rights, then you have essentially been granted an easement for the use of that property in the manner in which you have used it.

Now, pipeline easements are a little different. Since rowech didn't know about it, I am presuming the pipeline is underground, and if BP protested the fence, then they are presumeably still using that pipeline, which removes possible reversionary rights (i.e. if you're not using the pipeline, you don't need the pipeline, thus you lose the easement for the pipeline).

Unless the fence posts go particularly deep into the ground or the pipeline is unusually close to the surface, I would presume that BP is protesting to the fence on the basis of a restriction of access to maintain the pipeline. Usually it is acceptable to continue normal use of the surface of the property over the easement, so long as that use doesn't interfere with the possible maintenance of the pipeline. So you can usually put things like swing sets and fences over easement areas, but not actual structures, which would restrict access.

I am wondering if rowech could work out a deal on this if it comes down to access. Approach BP and ask to arrange some modification of access rights for the pipeline that would allow for the fence to be built. I would guess BP would be amenable to reasonable modications. Of course, rowech needs to get a copy of the prior easement agreement (which should be available in the public record).

Of course, if it is not public record (never recorded as an official property document), then rowech has much more leg to stand on with respect to suing the prior owner and also to contest the easement. And if it was recorded, and it wasn't disclosed by his title insurance policy, then he can go after the title insurer.

rowech definitely has options here. A property lawyer is not a bad idea. I would definitely look into all the specifics first, though, and then contact the lawyer before approaching BP.

This covers all of it really. If nothing else, I'm anal about research to exhaustion and will continue looking for stuff about this. It really is an amazing cluster. The only thing I found similar was a town in Indiana in 2007 but I've been unable to find how that one ended.

[FrogMan]

Originally Posted by Honolulu_Blue

Wait. That little karate guy is 18?!?!

sure is... with a freaking full grown beard!!!

We did Movember and he shaved on December 1st and has not shaved since and now he's got this big beard, freaky I tell ya...

FM

[Easy Mac]

I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't understand why everyone is getting bent out of shape over this Affleck slavery thing.

[Grover]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

I feel like I'm the only one who doesn't understand why everyone is getting bent out of shape over this Affleck slavery thing.

I'm in the same boat with you.

A few points on why I can see people are upset with it:
It's a great redemption story. Leaving it in the interview would have probably looked much better for him, especially since his mother is/was a Civil Rights' worker.

What makes it look really bad is that he used his privilege and his power to get something, really rather innocuous removed from the final cut of the interview. I get that he was embarrassed and ashamed of his greatx3 Grandfather, but it was 150 years ago. Everyone is past it. It's not his fault that it happended.

[ColtCrazy]

So here's a good story for you all.

My wife teaches 4th. She recently gave a writing exercise where the students needed to describe a time they were doing something difficult, how they didn't give up, and why it was all worth the effort.

One of her girls describes a time when her step dad locked her in her room and she tried really hard to get out of the window. It was worth it because the dad was cheating on her mom with another woman.


So the dad locks the girl in the room so he can bang his mistress. Father of the year there.
This happened some time ago, and dad is no longer in the picture (thankfully).

[molson]

Dropping the dog off at the kennel is always tough, especially when it's for a longest time he's ever been boarded - 12 nights. Had to do that today. Of course, I deal with my guilt by using the best, priciest, doggie-day-care-style place in town, and paying extra for walks and nightly kongs with peanut butter. On the upside, there's nothing better in dog ownership than the kennel pickup. When I get back from Japan we'll share a steak.

[Ryno]

Probably a long shot, but does anyone happen to have a copy of the player editor for Front Page Sports Baseball 98? I found an old folder that has what appears to be the source code, but I can't get it to compile, and it uses some wizardry that's beyond my ability to fix.

[mckerney]

Originally Posted by molson

Dropping the dog off at the kennel is always tough, especially when it's for a longest time he's ever been boarded - 12 nights. Had to do that today. Of course, I deal with my guilt by using the best, priciest, doggie-day-care-style place in town, and paying extra for walks and nightly kongs with peanut butter. On the upside, there's nothing better in dog ownership than the kennel pickup. When I get back from Japan we'll share a steak.

I felt awful for having to leave my dog at the vet for a couple of hours so they could get a urine sample from her.

[Easy Mac]

My dog always looks like a POW after I get him from the kennel. I think the longest he's been cooped up was 3 days, but you would have thought he was tortured.

[jeff061]

We have a place near our house that is basically a free roaming indoors and outdoors playhouse for dogs. Last time our dog sat outside for about 3 straight days.

Same price as a kennel. We bought a huge block of days and sometimes just drop her off for the day so she can hang with other dogs.

[Easy Mac]

I hate my stomach. I've had cheerios, chicken, and fingerling potatoes today. Nothing that should upset a normal human stomach... but nope.

IBS really makes trying to lose weight feel pointless when it continues after you're making progress.

[Alan T]

Originally Posted by Easy Mac

I hate my stomach. I've had cheerios, chicken, and fingerling potatoes today. Nothing that should upset a normal human stomach... but nope.

IBS really makes trying to lose weight feel pointless when it continues after you're making progress.

I actually have begun to think myself that I have a slight chicken allergy. Every time that I eat chicken, I have stomach issues fairly soon afterwards (been that way for quite a while).

[Grover]

Am I the only one who kinda digs Jared Leto's Joker reveal?

[mckerney]

I'm still disappointed by any Joker that isn't Mark Hamil.

[stevew]

This joker looks like some fanfic wet dream. Also, like an emo NasCar.