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

[Ksyrup]

Continuing with the pop discussion, I saw a commercial for Dr. Pepper dark berry. Apparently this is a re-issue of a limited-edition flavor from 2019. I have never heard of this before today.

Perhaps it's because Barry Manilow is the spokesperson. I hope I can get my hands on some to try.

[RainMaker]

I have been rolling my eyes at this for years but it's true, I can't tell the difference between the impossible whopper and a regular whopper. Mad scientists somehow did it.

[Poli]

Today marks the 44th anniversary of when my mom met my stepdad. A day I remember better than my own father's birthday, which was April 22nd.

I was raised to think he was a worthless, hot tempered coward. One of the things I was told was that he had skipped out on the Army and went back home. Presumably dishonorably discharged and unable to keep to a commitment he made to this country. Just adding to the legend of a man who didn't make an effort to see his sons.

I visited Fort Hood last month or so while I was in the area...where he was stationed and where I was born. It made me wonder if I could see his official records. I looked it up online. I found where I could and, to my surprise, they were mailed to me without any question. I got the DD214 and his reserve time letter on April 23rd...the day after I forgot about his birthday.

He was honorably discharged after 3 years of service. There was also a form saying he'd been cleared of reserve duty after that time was complete. It's clear his service was exemplary...no good conduct type award, but also nothing to suggest he got the boot after skipping out.

I wish he or my mom were alive to explain this to me.

[NobodyHere]

Nice to see that at least some members of the British Parliament are working hard:

UK lawmaker says he opened porn in parliament in error | Reuters

[AlexB]

Very hard.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

I have been rolling my eyes at this for years but it's true, I can't tell the difference between the impossible whopper and a regular whopper. Mad scientists somehow did it.

I accidentally ate a regular Whopper and couldn’t tell.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by NobodyHere

Nice to see that at least some members of the British Parliament are working hard:

UK lawmaker says he opened porn in parliament in error | Reuters

Ahh, One of the downsides of no longer being able to zoom in to work.

[NobodyHere]

"America's Home Video's" should be renamed to "America's most sadistic videos"

[JonInMiddleGA]

(repurposed from my social media ... fwiw)

Story time.

Earlier this evening I mentioned a dinner outing, to a place I hadn't been since sometime probably in the latter part of the mid 1980s.

Just to find a restaurant that's still open today that was open that far back is impressive enough but my nostalgia sense on this one was strong.

To really understand what an unusual landmark this is for me, you probably need to have some sort of similar background, some parts of time & space that resemble mine.

The distance to the restaurant from where I grew up is about 40 miles, give or take a mile. But for roughly 18 year old me, it might as well have been 4,000 miles.

It was my first sit-down Mexican restaurant experience. I drove there. I ate there alone the first several times, having convinced myself that if I managed to get myself there then surely I could manage to navigate the unfamiliar territory within.

And, whaddya know, I did.

We all have rights of passage as we grow up, that doesn't require any specific background to understand. But to really "get" why this felt like such a big deal to teenage me at the time, such a growing up thing, I suspect you have to be from an environment where such places didn't exist yet (tho a counter serve Mexican restaurant would pop up within a year).

It was what it was, and that's fine, but it's surely fair to say that I didn't grow up in a particular diverse food environment. It didn't take a whole lot for something to feel ... exotic. And while that certainly extended well beyond the food realm, food was a good entry level place for experiencing outside-the-box.

Mostly, I think, it was just one of the places I'd discover on my own in that time frame that helped me build confidence that I could indeed navigate unfamiliar waters. That learning process, brick by brick (taco by taco?) was instrumental in not only who I would become but for my very survival to get those opportunities. Without that, maybe I'm not typing any of this.

Officially, I had a couple quesadillas and a couple tacos tonight.

I'm just glad they didn't charge extra for unlocking some pretty specific memories, not about food, but about a pretty early version of myself.

[molson]

I am critically vested to be the one to hit the "10,000 water bottles saved" milestone on the floor's water bottle fountain. We're at 9962.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by molson

I am critically vested to be the one to hit the "10,000 water bottles saved" milestone on the floor's water bottle fountain. We're at 9962.

Will it feel like you, personally, were the one to save 10,000 bottles?

Will you buy yourself a "saved 10,000 bottles" badge and display it prominently?

[molson]

Originally Posted by PilotMan

Will it feel like you, personally, were the one to save 10,000 bottles?

Will you buy yourself a "saved 10,000 bottles" badge and display it prominently?

I will definitely create a certificate for myself and hang it in my office.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by molson

I will definitely create a certificate for myself and hang it in my office.

ok, I need to see this now

[molson]

I don't want to get ahead of myself though. There are several people in the office vying for the honor. There is a code of conduct though - you have to actually drink all water you dispense. You can stand at the fountain and continue to fill up your bottle IF you are also drinking the water before you replace it.

[Kodos]

You should make a little badge out of recycled water bottles.

[Lathum]

I had made plans for my kids to meet a friend at Skyzone today after school. Got a reminder text around 2:45 that they have a dentist appointment. So instead of skyzone when they got home from school it was the dentist. Dad of the year.

[GrantDawg]

I saw a restaurant on Shatk Tank called "Cupbop", and now I want a franchise.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

[tarcone]

I saw a video that said if the Sun died it would take a little over 8 minutes for us to realize. But then I think we die immediately.

This pops up in my head occasionally. Kind of freaks me out, Then I forget about it.

[molson]

Cheery stuff tarcone.

[sabotai]

Well we wouldn't die immediately. The light from the sun heats the planet but the greenhouse effect holds some heat in. So temps wouldn't just fall to -200 degrees C right away. We'd have a day or two of knowing we were all going to freeze to death before it happened.

[molson]

Well that's a relief.

[miami_fan]

https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/04/enter...deo/index.html

Video circulating on social media appears to show Dave Chappelle was attacked Tuesday night when a person ran onto the stage during the comedian's performance at the Hollywood Bowl.
It's unclear whether Chappelle was injured, but another video seemingly recorded by someone in the audience appears to show the comedian joking about the incident afterward and continuing with his set.
The motive of the apparent attack is unclear.

CNN has reached out to representatives for Chappelle for comment.

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) told CNN affiliate KABC officers responded to an incident at the Hollywood Bowl around 10:45 p.m., and a man who was reportedly armed with a gun and a knife was taken into custody.

CNN has reached out to the LAPD, the Los Angeles Fire Department and the Hollywood Bowl for more information.

[NobodyHere]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I saw a restaurant on Shatk Tank called "Cupbop", and now I want a franchise.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

I don't think I would want anything from "Shatk Tank". Especially anything with word "cup" in the title.

[Lathum]

Originally Posted by GrantDawg

I saw a restaurant on Shatk Tank called "Cupbop", and now I want a franchise.

Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

It looked really good and those guys were awesome.

[stevew]

Spam calls are getting relentless

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by Lathum

It looked really good and those guys were awesome.

This piqued my interest so I looked it up. I'm a big fan of Bibimbap and if you want to serve it in a cup - I'm all in.

[Kodos]

I heard a coworker utter the phrase "go ugly early", which means you get the bad news out at the start of a conversation to get it out of the way. But when I initially heard it, it sounded like a strategy to be used in bars at night.

[Breeze]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I heard a coworker utter the phrase "go ugly early", which means you get the bad news out at the start of a conversation to get it out of the way. But when I initially heard it, it sounded like a strategy to be used in bars at night.

The bar analogy is how we used it growing up.

[cuervo72]

Harry's Chocolate Shop Black T-Shirt | PurdueU

Back view.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Breeze

This piqued my interest so I looked it up. I'm a big fan of Bibimbap and if you want to serve it in a cup - I'll all in.

I love Bibimbap so much. I am in a Korean food desert here. It would be a dream to get quick cups of Korean goodness at $8-10. I'd eat there for lunch multiple times a week. If someone wants to buy a franchise, I will manage it for you. I would just live there.

[molson]

There's a Cupbop 2 blocks from my office, I was sure it was going to be a lunch staple, but the food I got there the day was nothing like what I see on their website now. It was a tiny portion of what I might have found in a gas station in college. Maybe I should give it another shot. But this version of "Cupbop" appears to be an Idaho-only chain.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by molson

There's a Cupbop 2 blocks from my office, I was sure it was going to be a lunch staple, but the food I got there the day was nothing like what I see on their website now. It was a tiny portion of what I might have found in a gas station in college. Maybe I should give it another shot. But this version of "Cupbop" appears to be an Idaho-only chain.

Yeah, there is like a "Krazy Cupbop" and a "T-Cupbop" in the Atlanta area, but they look nothing like the Sharktank one.

[Poli]

I just passed up a trip to Vegas for one to Biloxi.

Partly because I was going to Starkville next Friday anyhow...I had to make the trade in part because it interfered with my daughter's preschool graduation.

[stevew]

There’s a Fanta Zero dragon fruit which is one of the best new drinks I’ve had in awhile. May be wal mart exclusive in 20 oz sizes. Highly recommended

[Ksyrup]

I tried a regular Dr. Pepper Dark Berry yesterday. Haven't seen a Zero anywhere, so this will be my one and only if Zero doesn't hit the shelves. Anyway, it was decent - tasted like Dr. Pepper crossed with a black raspberry seltzer.

[CrimsonFox]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

I tried a regular Dr. Pepper Dark Berry yesterday. Haven't seen a Zero anywhere, so this will be my one and only if Zero doesn't hit the shelves. Anyway, it was decent - tasted like Dr. Pepper crossed with a black raspberry seltzer.

haven't heard of dark berry. interesting. We have regular zero. It's amazeballs

[Ksyrup]

What's odd about DP Dark Berry is that it's a limited edition version that apparently was released in 2019 as part of a Spiderman movie promo and is now being brought back for the second time. I had never heard of it until a week or two ago. They've been running promo commercials starring Barry Manilow.

[miami_fan]

A freshman cheerleader at Southern University committed suicide overnight.

Southern University Cheerleader Dies By Suicide After Posting Heartbreaking Message To Instagram

It feels wrong to say it was a good thing that she posted her farewell letter on social media before she died most of which is in this article. However because these things are usually kept hidden away for understandable reasons, I don't think the general public gets a honest look into a person's mindset at the end.

RIP Arlana Miller. May you finally have some peace.

[Lathum]

Horrible. I have personally been touched by suicide and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. The aftermath is dreadful.

[stevew]

Anyone had a roof done recently and does 41K sound like an insane price or within average. My moms house is bigger but it seems exceptionally high


Also I don’t like that the guy didn’t show his work very well. If you tell me it’s X amount of squares and it costs X extra because of (specific reason) I at least can evaluate it more fairly.

[stevew]

Guessing it measures something between 25-30 squares(prob closer to 25) at a medium difficulty. Did quick measurements on google earth and came up with 21 squares.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by stevew

Anyone had a roof done recently and does 41K sound like an insane price or within average. My moms house is bigger but it seems exceptionally high


Also I don’t like that the guy didn’t show his work very well. If you tell me it’s X amount of squares and it costs X extra because of (specific reason) I at least can evaluate it more fairly.

Sounds high to me although there's a lot of things that could kick the price up in that range.

Materials for new roof, the pitch of the roof, the height of the roof, repairs to any supporting structure, any sort of unusually high local cost (bldg permits, cost of old roof disposal), on and on the list goes.

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by stevew

Guessing it measures something between 25-30 squares(prob closer to 25) at a medium difficulty. Did quick measurements on google earth and came up with 21 squares.

I would say it is high. A friend paid $17k for just over 2000 sq ft in October. I know the material cost have risen since then but still.

[JPhillips]

Originally Posted by stevew

Anyone had a roof done recently and does 41K sound like an insane price or within average. My moms house is bigger but it seems exceptionally high


Also I don’t like that the guy didn’t show his work very well. If you tell me it’s X amount of squares and it costs X extra because of (specific reason) I at least can evaluate it more fairly.

We did ours last year. 2500 sq ft home and the cost was @12000.

[stevew]

I told her to get at least 2 more estimates. Not going to begrudge someone making a profit but also not looking to provide a down payment on a boat cause “the cost of everything has increased” and that translates into charging 100% extra.

[CrimsonFox]

[Swaggs]

I think it is high, too. Someone that I know had one done last fall (a little smaller than yours, but also had some underlying issues) and showed me three estimates and they were all between $15K-20K. Unless it is metal or slate or something else unusual (very steep, tons of valleys and/or dormers, the yard makes it really hard to access, etc.), $41K seems really high.

As a semi-related side note, there has been some recent news about roofers preying on folks by coming through after storms and justifying new roofs by claiming damage. So, people feel good getting a new roof and then their homeowners' insurance goes up a ton. I've known two people that this has happened to and I read that it is particularly bad in Florida.

[Ksyrup]

When we got our covered porch built, the contractor told us we were probably 5 years from needing to replace the roof and threw out a $15K price tag (not an official estimate, just what we should be expecting). $41K... I'd be praying for a hail storm.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by stevew

Anyone had a roof done recently and does 41K sound like an insane price or within average. My moms house is bigger but it seems exceptionally high


Also I don’t like that the guy didn’t show his work very well. If you tell me it’s X amount of squares and it costs X extra because of (specific reason) I at least can evaluate it more fairly.

Get at least three quotes. If you can, try to find at least one roofer with a local office and staff. It is hard to say if that is extreme because my roof was really simple, but the qoutes I got was from 8k-12k. The 8k was a guy I do work for and was pretty discounted, but still that a significant jump to 12k. And the top price company wasn't even very reputable.
I found the same for my heat pump replacement. Big named regional guys wanted anywhere from 10k-15k. Got it done with a local guy I do work for at 7k.

[Lathum]

Parents are funny. We had a small family party for my daughters bday tonight. I was telling my dad and father in law we are going to redo our front porch. My dad tells me make sure I chose someone reputable.

I am 47 years old and have owned more houses than my father has yet he still feels the need to advise me on these things. It is really endearing.