Random Thoughts

[Scott5114]

It's good to know if you drive out to the middle of nowhere.

But I will note that althought I do know how to change a tire, it's only come up once in 41 years of driving.

It's come up a few times for me in the 16 years I've been driving, but that's mostly because I've done a good chunk of my driving late at night when tire shops aren't open. Once I get it home, may as well put the donut on before taking it to the tire place.

[dlsterner]

I find it weird that I've been driving a car for over a year, but I've never been taught how to change a tire.

It's good to know if you drive out to the middle of nowhere.

But I will note that althought I do know how to change a tire, it's only come up once in 41 years of driving.

Been driving for 48 years, think I've had to change a tire three times in that time span.  That said, I'm glad that I learned how to, as I preferred it to the alternative - waiting at the side of the road for help.

The first time, my car was old enough to still have a full size spare.  The other two times the car had a micro-spare that was just to get you to a repair shop.

IMHO this is something that should be taught in Driver's Ed class.  It was not part of my course in the mid-70s - my Dad taught me how to change a tire.  If I recall, my Mom said that her Driver's Ed class in the 1950's did include physically changing a tire.  Along with other skills lost to the times - like hand signals for turns.  Or driving without the aid of power steering, which was an option in those days.

[formulanone]

There's a brand of electrical food service products called Zojirushi. It means "elephant" in Japanese, and the logo of an elephant appears on some of their products. I've seen it in various places over the past few decades.

But today I stopped for coffee at a hot pot station, and discovered there's another company out there which apparently sells some similar products, but named Shurizjo. That is a very close anagram of the beforementioned brand, and their logo...is a mouse. 

[kurumi]

There's a brand of electrical food service products called Zojirushi. It means "elephant" in Japanese, and the logo of an elephant appears on some of their products. I've seen it in various places over the past few decades.

But today I stopped for coffee at a hot pot station, and discovered there's another company out there which apparently sells some similar products, but named Shurizjo. That is a very close anagram of the beforementioned brand, and their logo...is a mouse. 

That is weird. Shurizjo is a product of Newco in Missouri. It definitely seems intended to resemble the Japanese company.

Another fun fact: Zoujirushi's full name is 象印マホービン株式会社, which means Zoujirushi Vacuum Flask (e.g. Thermos Bottle), Inc. The characters for マホービン (Vacuum Flask) are 魔法瓶, which means "magic bottle" (or even "witchcraft bottle"). Imagine bringing a Thermos into a church and it starts glowing red hot :-)

[SSOWorld]

How did snowc become a moderator?

not a mod, just trying to keep it cool.

I once got thoroughly bitched-out by the mods for using purple font.  You might want to rethink what's cool.

How about every color except purple?

By posting in our forum, you automatically agree to the following:

What's not allowed:
Excessive use of formatting. Use formatting sparingly. When formatting is used, it should be done for a reason, not simply to make your posts stand out. (As an example, posting a list of Interstates you traveled on with the ones you clinched marked in green is acceptable, but coloring your entire post teal just because you like the way it looks is not.)

valid here, random thought

[formulanone]

There's a brand of electrical food service products called Zojirushi. It means "elephant" in Japanese, and the logo of an elephant appears on some of their products. I've seen it in various places over the past few decades.

But today I stopped for coffee at a hot pot station, and discovered there's another company out there which apparently sells some similar products, but named Shurizjo. That is a very close anagram of the beforementioned brand, and their logo...is a mouse. 

That is weird. Shurizjo is a product of Newco in Missouri. It definitely seems intended to resemble the Japanese company.

Another fun fact: Zoujirushi's full name is 象印マホービン株式会社, which means Zoujirushi Vacuum Flask (e.g. Thermos Bottle), Inc. The characters for マホービン (Vacuum Flask) are 魔法瓶, which means "magic bottle" (or even "witchcraft bottle"). Imagine bringing a Thermos into a church and it starts glowing red hot :-)

I always thought it was funny that the kanji for "magic" and "devil" used the radical for "hemp".

[CoreySamson]

It seems FritzOwl puts a lot more emphasis on E-W interstates than on N-S ones (excluding the ones on the coasts of the US). He's poached my E-W ideas from my fictional highways thread, but hasn't bothered at all with my N-S ones so far.

I should note that I'm not annoyed by this, and nor do I really care; it gives my plans more publicity! Just an observation.

[noelbotevera]

Or driving without the aid of power steering, which was an option in those days.

Aw man, I remember making this mistake - I drove my family's newer Nissan, and shifted the car into drive without turning on the engine. While I was in a parking lot.

I started creeping out of my space and towards another car; I tried steering the wheel but found it incredibly hard to turn until I realized I didn't have power steering. Had to turn on the engine, quickly brake and shift into reverse. That was definitely an "oh shit" moment even though the collision speed would've been negligible.

[hotdogPi]

Crash_It and dzlsabe are both from the Chicago area. They both fixate on one thing. I don't actually believe they're the same person, but still...

[renegade]

Must be something in the water.

[dlsterner]

Or driving without the aid of power steering, which was an option in those days.

Aw man, I remember making this mistake - I drove my family's newer Nissan, and shifted the car into drive without turning on the engine. While I was in a parking lot.

I started creeping out of my space and towards another car; I tried steering the wheel but found it incredibly hard to turn until I realized I didn't have power steering. Had to turn on the engine, quickly brake and shift into reverse. That was definitely an "oh shit" moment even though the collision speed would've been negligible.

Bet that was a surprise!

In the time frame I was referring to (mid 1970s) you could buy a car without power steering (or without power brakes for that matter).  When I took Driver's Ed in 10th grade, we had a fleet of about 8-10 cars.  One of them did not have power steering (might have been a Dodge Dart), which we nicknamed "The Tank".  During class, the cars were set up at different stations on the course, you lined up for the ones you wanted, trying to get as much done as you could.  I actually didn't mind "The Tank" that much.  I sometimes would get in its line since it was always shorter than the others!

[Flint1979]

Must be something in the water.

That's what they used to say about St. Charles, Michigan; it's in the water.

[LilianaUwU]

Ever considered how Tetris Attack isn't even a Tetris game?

[SkyPesos]

85 mph may be too high for I-366 (VA 28), but would a speed limit of 85 km/h make sense?

[Flint1979]

Rocking on a Saturday morning. This is Laskos Restaurant in Midland, Michigan.

[hotdogPi]

Don't know where to put this other than starting a new thread:

Inflation is almost 6% yearly, and it's been less than a year. 6% × (8 months / 1 year) = 4%. (With percentages under 10%, differences between linear and exponential are insignificant.) However, most restaurants have increased their prices, and those increases are more than 4%. (Most restaurant price increases throughout the years are more than 4%; they're just not normally as frequent.) Are restaurant and/or food prices increasing more than other items, do I have a misunderstanding of the inflation rate, or it is confirmation bias?

[tolbs17]

Rocking on a Saturday morning. This is Laskos Restaurant in Midland, Michigan.

Let me ask, are you a great cook?

[zachary_amaryllis]

Rocking on a Saturday morning. This is Laskos Restaurant in Midland, Michigan.

Let me ask, are you a great cook?

at this point i don't care. that grill looks breakfasty and just downright sexy. lets eat.

[Flint1979]

Rocking on a Saturday morning. This is Laskos Restaurant in Midland, Michigan.

Let me ask, are you a great cook?

Yeah I can throw down on the grill.

[Scott5114]

Don't know where to put this other than starting a new thread:

Inflation is almost 6% yearly, and it's been less than a year. 6% × (8 months / 1 year) = 4%. (With percentages under 10%, differences between linear and exponential are insignificant.) However, most restaurants have increased their prices, and those increases are more than 4%. (Most restaurant price increases throughout the years are more than 4%; they're just not normally as frequent.) Are restaurant and/or food prices increasing more than other items, do I have a misunderstanding of the inflation rate, or it is confirmation bias?

In addition to the possibility you state of food cost increasing over and above the general inflation rate (I am not sure whether this is true or not), restaurants also have to contend with rising labor cost. While this is true in all industries, it's hitting food-service harder because pay rates have always been lower compared to other industries. And, of course, in the case of individual restaurants, there may be a reluctance to raising prices that led to a pent-up need for a price increase dating from before the pandemic.

[Flint1979]

A little tour of Saginaw, Michigan. From what I saw everything is on the east side of the river and I see these places just about every day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZmxijewQr0

[dlsterner]

Why is there a "Stairway to Heaven" but a "Highway to Hell"?  Projected traffic counts?

[kenarmy]

Why is there a "Stairway to Heaven" but a "Highway to Hell"?  Projected traffic counts?

omg you won.

[CNGL-Leudimin]

85 mph may be too high for I-366 (VA 28), but would a speed limit of 85 km/h make sense?

85 km/h would be weird, normally km/h speed limits are multiples of 10.

[wanderer2575]

It's good to know if you drive out to the middle of nowhere.

But I will note that althought I do know how to change a tire, it's only come up once in 41 years of driving.

Even for those of us who know how to jack up a car and change a tire, how many of us regularly check the donut spare to be sure it's inflated and usable?  I don't.  I'll probably be screwed if I ever have to use it.