The Thread of Randomness. . .

[davintosh]

South Dakota Tourism took another stab at branding this spring; We're Better Than Mars.

https://youtu.be/HrX8OTFSFZI

I just... don't...

I heard a radio ad like that the other day and wanted to think I had just imagined it, but no, it's out there. And it's as bad as the recent "Don't jerk and drive" campaign. I think I'll move far, far away. I hear the south of Germany is nice...

[Jeremy]

That is the most hilariously awful branding for a state I think I've ever heard. I can't stop laughing.

I'm sorry, Dave. I'm laughing at the commercial, not your state. I think.

[Karl Grau]

I was thinking SNL fake ad but it's too lame even for that.

[oldskool]

Dug a 4 foot deep hole and buried another one of my mother's dogs today. This one was of the 2003 vintage and stiff as a board when moms went to give it a bath this morning. He was pretty soft and cuddly by the time I got to him though, and I placed him in his final resting place with care as my back made some unfamiliar noises. She supervises the whole damn deal now, as she wasn't too pleased that other fine spring day when she found some of my previous work while planting begonias.

[tig]

I watched some Niki Minaj video today from 2012 about aliens. All I could think of was oldskool.

[Karl Grau]

I stopped at Lowe's to get a couple of house keys made and was directed to this thing.




I was skeptical but I stuck my key in the slot, swiped my card and, half of a town name in Washington State or an 18th century stringed instrument, I had two keys.
I don't know how long these have been around, but it's the first time I've seen one.

[wkohler]

That's very disappointing.

[tig]

I've long wondered why those didn't exist. It was clear to me in 3rd grade that key duplication could be automated.

[Karl Grau]

It pays to advertise...

[a]

Druggists are working on using only the "healing" compounds of the hemp plant. Pot pills that cure. This raises questions.

What do they do with the good stuff? Channeling 'Subterranean Homesick Blues Dylan may be the next Nostradamus?
Isn't the buzz part of the healing?

[Karl Grau]

[wkohler]

That looks like a nice chair.

[a]

JATO?

[Mike W.]

JATO?

Uh, I'm no munitions or plane expert, but I see wings, small wings, but wings. JATO is to assist something else. I think the device pictured is to get somewhere in a hurry. With a bang.

[1st 5er]

Out checking permits?

[tig]

Today is the same right-side-up as well as upside-down. In America anyway.

[Karl Grau]

JATO?

Uh, I'm no munitions or plane expert, but I see wings, small wings, but wings. JATO is to assist something else. I think the device pictured is to get somewhere in a hurry. With a bang.

I did some investigating and it's a target practice drone made by Northrup in the '70s & '80s.
The building next door to my work (where this thing is sitting) is a metal fabrication place that does mostly Government work. Maybe it's made of some alloy that they use for one of their contracts.

[Jeremy]

I have come to the inescapable conclusion that people who intentionally produce children are insane. Not stupid, just insane.

I'm beginning to understand why parents are so proud of what I consider relatively simple events such as successfully graduating high school though. When you observe a 5 year old for any considerable time, it's a wonder their parents allow them to reach puberty, let alone actually make it to adulthood.

And then you put on "Peanut Butter Jelly Time", everybody rocks out, and your faith in the world is briefly increased.

[oldskool]

Wifey bet money there was a show called "Naked and Afraid". I guess I just lost that bet. Holy hell.

[Mike W.]

Yesssssss. It's not often I enjoy seeing someone get a ticket, but yesterday, stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on the freeway, there goes a Toyota RX something scooting by on the shoulder as the rest of us were inching along. Only got a couple of hundred feet more before it went by a CHP and was summarily pulled over with the cop walking up to it as we inched by. Don't know if he thought the rest of us enjoyed waiting or if he felt he was just more important and shouldn't need to. But perfect timing.

[John in VA]

Thanks Social Media – Our Average Attention Span Is Now Shorter Than Goldfish

Our average attention span is now 8 seconds – 1 second less than a goldfish

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information, at the U.S. National Library of Medicine, the average attention span of a human being has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2013. This is one second less than the attention span of a goldfish. That’s right, goldfish have an attention span of 9 seconds – 1 second more than you and I.

According to the source, this is due to “external stimulation” like all that content marketing we’re producing and distributing across all the social media channels. The research states:

“Attention span is the amount of concentrated time on a task without becoming distracted. Most educators and psychologists agree that the ability to focus attention on a task is crucial for the achievement of one’s goals. It’s no surprise attention spans have been decreasing over the past decade with the increase in external stimulation.”

http://blogs.sap.com/innovation/sales-m ... h-01251966

[WilNJ]

Yesssssss. It's not often I enjoy seeing someone get a ticket, but yesterday, stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on the freeway, there goes a Toyota RX something scooting by on the shoulder as the rest of us were inching along. Only got a couple of hundred feet more before it went by a CHP and was summarily pulled over with the cop walking up to it as we inched by. Don't know if he thought the rest of us enjoyed waiting or if he felt he was just more important and shouldn't need to. But perfect timing.

It really is the little things in life,

[davintosh]

Oh man... still laughing over this one. The Greatest Fart I Ever Did.

[1st 5er]

Oh man... still laughing over this one. The Greatest Fart I Ever Did.

Our grandkids favorite book at our house.



It somehow always finds it's way into the living room from the guest bathroom when they're over.

[MicahO]

I'll post this here so I don't crap up Mike's camera thread - a fun B&H story. One of the benefits of living in NYC has always been shopping at B&H for audio/video/camera/electronic equipment. Prices are always good - not the lowest, but close; support is decent and knowledge on the sales floor is always strong.

MANY years ago, when money was really quite tight, we were buying well over $1500 worth of camera equipment for the wife to use for business. It was a large bill for us. As we're checking out, the girl at the counter asks if we have a NJ address so they can ship the package. I respond, "Humm, what? No, we're right here."

She asks me twice more about an address for shipping. I'm smart enough to know that I'm missing something, but clearly not smart enough to know what it was. Luckily my wife (the smart one) finally heard the question I was being asked and connected the dots immediately. She gave an address for a friend of ours in NJ, which the girl entered into the "Ship-to" field, and we were on our way.

Totally illegal, but it saved us a bunch of NYC sales tax. I don't know how often they performed that service, but it helped keep a bunch of money in our pockets that day.

[John in VA]

She asks me twice more about an address for shipping. I'm smart enough to know that I'm missing something, but clearly not smart enough to know what it was. Luckily my wife (the smart one) finally heard the question I was being asked and connected the dots immediately. She gave an address for a friend of ours in NJ, which the girl entered into the "Ship-to" field, and we were on our way.

Furniture shopping in North Carolina has resulted in major savings for decades. Now many of the neighboring states (& Commonwealth of VA) are able to get you to pay sales tax on your purchases. Still might be a savings.

[davintosh]

I really hate it when this happens.

[davintosh]

I ordered some stuff from Amazon earlier this week (Prime, natch), and I seriously doubt they're making a dime on this order. Of the six separate items, only two were delivered in one package. There were three separate deliveries made yesterday, one today, and the fifth -- a new set of hood support struts for the e28 -- should be here on Monday (so much for two-day delivery; that was the only item that I really, really wanted to have by the weekend. )

The interestingest part of the whole deal was the two pieces of steel pipe I ordered. The Amazon seller for both pipes was the same, so when I ordered them I assumed they would ship together in one package, but no... they came separately. And were delivered by two different carriers, one yesterday and one today. Both pieces were five feet long; one 1" OD and the other 7/8" OD. The wall thickness of the 1" pipe is such that the 7/8" pipe will telescope inside the 1". The 7/8" pipe arrived yesterday in a 6' long cardboard tube, which weighs more than the pipe it carried, and could've easily accommodated both pipes. The 1" pipe that came today was in a 7' long cardboard box that was plenty roomy enough to hold both pipes AND the cardboard tube that the 7/8" pipe came in. I suppose they shipped separately because they came from different facilities, but it's impossible to tell by the shipping labels.

Not exactly a shining example of efficiency. How do they make this pay? I'm pretty much at a loss here...

[Mike W.]

Got up last night to get a drink of water at the kitchen sink and stepped on something on the rug just in front of it. Recoiled pretty quickly but didn't know what I stepped on even with the light on. Sometime later I walked in and found a potato bug in the middle of the floor. Ewwwww, stepping barefoot on a potato bug.

[Adam W in MN]

Went on an impromptu hike yesterday with the family. The hike was in a state park on trails with a mixture of dirt, small rocks, and weeds and was probably less than a mile in and back. My 5 year old daughter and 9 year son had the following reactions:

• Where are the snacks mom brought! (5 minutes in, seriously. Now walking slowly and eating Quaker chocolate chip granola bars)
  (at the fork in the trail) Can we go back to the car??
  Random stops to remove shoes and socks to try shaking small pebbles out.
  (on way back, 2nd half of loop) ARE WE THERE YET! More granola bars eaten.
  Daughter has to go brave the ticks to go pee in the bushes.
  Daughter complains that her mouth hurts from burning it slightly on hot breakfast that morning. This is the first I've heard of this complaint, not sure how it relates to walking in the woods.

Total elapsed time for walk: 60 minutes. We'll do it again soon but I'll bring earplugs to drown out complaining.