Random Thoughts

[Beltway]

I haven't used a punch clock to log my work hours since October 2005.

I have never used a punch clock.  We wrote down our hours on timesheets and could be trusted not to fudge the times.

I used a punch clock on a high school part time job, and early college age summer jobs.

[Max Rockatansky]

An order of five bacon cheeseburgers, a pack of hot links and bag of chile for dinner tonight in Jalisco cost $270 Pesos.  Right now that is about $15.70 USD with current exchange rate of $17.19. 

[gonealookin]

An order of five bacon cheeseburgers, a pack of hot links and bag of chile for dinner tonight

You'd better add in the cost of the Pepto Bismol.

[Max Rockatansky]

An order of five bacon cheeseburgers, a pack of hot links and bag of chile for dinner tonight

You'd better add in the cost of the Pepto Bismol.

I've never actually had a stomach issue down here.  The burgers are right-sized enough that I probably could eat all five after a run of decent length.

[kphoger]

I've never actually had a stomach issue down here.  The burgers are right-sized enough that I probably could eat all five after a run of decent length.

Tummy issues are more likely to arise from tainted water, or fruit/veg that's been rinsed in tainted water.  I think the first time I ever had diarrhea in Mexico was from fresh-made salsa at a roadside hole-in-the-wall counter-serve place that the bus stopped at in Villa Ahumada, Chihuahua.  Was probably made from veggies rinsed in rooftop tank water, with knives and cutting boards rinsed in the same.

[Max Rockatansky]

I've never actually had a stomach issue down here.  The burgers are right-sized enough that I probably could eat all five after a run of decent length.

Tummy issues are more likely to arise from tainted water, or fruit/veg that's been rinsed in tainted water.  I think the first time I ever had diarrhea in Mexico was from fresh-made salsa at a roadside hole-in-the-wall counter-serve place that the bus stopped at in Villa Ahumada, Chihuahua.  Was probably made from veggies rinsed in rooftop tank water, with knives and cutting boards rinsed in the same.

If I was distance running regularly down here like I do at home I would need to cut back on the chile.  Pretty much everything here has some chile in it.  Running alone tends to induce bowel movements.  Throw large amounts of chile on top of they and running is almost guaranteed to trigger having a bowel movement. 

My wife thought for the longest time that I didn't like spicy food.  I love spicy food but she kept trying to feed it to me when I was going for a long run the next morning. 

The good news is when we vacation in Jalisco we do so much walking that it is sufficient cardio.  It is very easy to get a nature 15,000 plus steps by just doing normal things in town.

[ZLoth]

[PColumbus73]

FSK threads are piling up like plague corpses

[TheCatalyst31]

Why does the deer have hands that seem to be holding its hooves (which are in turn holding the phone)?

[LilianaUwU]

I only have "ok boomer" in my mind for some reason.

[Molandfreak]

I only have "ok boomer" in my mind for some reason.

[LilianaUwU]

On another topic... priorities:



Pointe-aux-Loups is a small village on les Îles de la Madeleine that is best known as the archipelago's speed trap. Of course, I had to build a station there in NIMBY Rails.

[vdeane]

I only have "ok boomer" in my mind for some reason.

Where's "Cylon sleeper agent"?

[ZLoth]

Why does the deer have hands that seem to be holding its hooves (which are in turn holding the phone)?

I only have "ok boomer" in my mind for some reason.

Maybe it's too "Canadian" for you. After all, we had all those "deer in headlights", what about "deer glued to mobile device"?

[freebrickproductions]

I will say, if there's anything nice about following a lot of furry and MLP artists on BlueSky, it's that you get a lot of great art to look at in between posts about The Horrors™.

[kphoger]

Dear neighbor two blocks up the street,

I understand it's almost 9:00 pm, but I know you're home.  There are two cars in the driveway, your lights are on, and I can see and hear the TV going in your front room.  And I know you're not expecting anyone, because otherwise you'd answer the knock at your door.  No one likes to talk to strangers at their front door.  I get it.  I really do.  But, because you've chosen to ignore me, now you won't find out till tomorrow morning that you left the hatch open on your car.  I was going to tell you, lest someone steal your stuff or the dome light drain your car battery, but oh well.

Your neighborly neighbor,
kphoger

[gonealookin]

Why I deal only with the major brand names when renting a car:

Tuesday morning I returned a car to Budget at PBI.  My receipt still wasn't showing up today and the rental was still showing as open, so apparently they never checked the car in.  When I pulled in they had one guy working returns and motioned me into a certain lane from several lanes over.  If they are standing right there they usually scan the bar code and hand you a paper receipt, but I'm not going to wait for him to come from across the lot to do that.

I had no direct evidence that I returned the car, just a time-stamped gas station paper receipt from a couple blocks away plus whatever evidence I could get from United that I boarded a flight a short time later.  So I was thinking uh oh, I'd better deal with this before I get charged for extra days, or asked to buy them a new car.

It was pretty easy though; I had to get to Budget's second CSR on the phone, but after a few questions they closed it out with the back-date and I had my receipt.  I assume they look up the car and see they rented it back out 6 hours later or whatever.  If something like that happens with Jim Bob's Car Rental, who knows how it's resolved.

[Rothman]

I gave up on Avis/Budget a couple of years ago.  Got sick of being nickeled and dimed (e.g., didn't matter if I filled up right outside the airport, they'd find I was a tenth down and charge me for gas...).

[JayhawkCO]

I gave up on Avis/Budget a couple of years ago.  Got sick of being nickeled and dimed (e.g., didn't matter if I filled up right outside the airport, they'd find I was a tenth down and charge me for gas...).

Never had an issue with them thankfully. Hertz it seems never has the class of car I booked and always wants to push electric cars on me. Charging them as a rental is way too much of a PITA.

[formulanone]

I gave up on Avis/Budget a couple of years ago.  Got sick of being nickeled and dimed (e.g., didn't matter if I filled up right outside the airport, they'd find I was a tenth down and charge me for gas...).

If I'm close enough to the rental car facility (10 miles or less), I just "top off" twice after the gas pump stops. Avis uses a near-field scanner connected to the OBD-II port to determine the fuel level on many vehicles which report that data (as of now, I think just GM, Ford, and Toyota vehicles seem to immediately report the data).

At least once a year, I think it's full but it turns out that 1-2 gallons less than full appears as full on the dashboard reading and they send me a bill. If I keep the receipt, they send a credit. So I've been used to taking photos of the dash showing a full reading with mileage to save one hassle and incur two more...

Never had an issue with them thankfully. Hertz it seems never has the class of car I booked and always wants to push electric cars on me. Charging them as a rental is way too much of a PITA.

The two times I've rented electric vehicles from Avis, they permit you to return it at 75% charged (or greater), which works fine if you're going from your charge point right to the airport. Not a great choice for those of us who like to take the long way back to the airport, but fine for tighter schedules if you've remembered to zap it up beforehand.

[gonealookin]

I gave up on Avis/Budget a couple of years ago.  Got sick of being nickeled and dimed (e.g., didn't matter if I filled up right outside the airport, they'd find I was a tenth down and charge me for gas...).

Never had an issue with them thankfully. Hertz it seems never has the class of car I booked and always wants to push electric cars on me. Charging them as a rental is way too much of a PITA.

I've had that same experience with Hertz/Dollar/Thrifty, and Dollar's web site is godawful (and I don't think Dollar has an app).

Avis/Budget through Costco usually has the best rates, and with their frequent-renter program ("Fastbreak" with Budget) I can at least avoid the longest line at pickup, if not avoiding a line entirely.

[JayhawkCO]

Avis/Budget through Costco usually has the best rates, and with their frequent-renter program ("Fastbreak" with Budget) I can at least avoid the longest line at pickup, if not avoiding a line entirely.

Fastbreak is handy and I get good corporate rates through my job.

[Rothman]

I gave up on Avis/Budget a couple of years ago.  Got sick of being nickeled and dimed (e.g., didn't matter if I filled up right outside the airport, they'd find I was a tenth down and charge me for gas...).

Never had an issue with them thankfully. Hertz it seems never has the class of car I booked and always wants to push electric cars on me. Charging them as a rental is way too much of a PITA.

I've had the opposite experience.  Switched to Hertz and haven't looked back.  It got to the point with Avis/Budget where I had to give them a call after every rental about some charge they added to the bill (not only fuel).  Their cheaper rates just weren't worth it for the inevitable hassles, no matter the location.

[kphoger]

I just heard Paris D. Davis say on the radio that, when it comes to the racist stuff coming out of D.C. these days, we need to remember that old line from the Bible:  "This too shall pass."

Um, that's not from the Bible, Mr. Davis.  The origin of the phrase, in fact, is neither Christianity nor Judaism, but rather Persian Sufism.

[kphoger]

For those who jump all over people who use the word "dethaw" instead of "thaw", claiming that the de- prefix makes it mean the opposite of what the person intends...

I'm curious to know how you would define the following words:
  defraud
  delimit
  denote

 

For what it's worth...

Siccare	=	to dry,	therefore	to desiccate	should mean	to moisten	but doesn't.
Clarare	=	to clarify,	therefore	to declare	should mean	to confuse	but doesn't.
Solare	=	to make lonely,	therefore	desolate	should mean	well populated	but doesn't.
Mostrare	=	to show,	therefore	a demonstration	should mean	hiding something	but doesn't.
Luere	=	to wash,	therefore	a deluge	should mean	a drying-up	but doesn't.
Pravus	=	crooked,	therefore	depraved	should mean	right-minded	but doesn't.
Notare	=	to mark,	therefore	to denote	should mean	to erase	but doesn't.
Sevrer	=	to separate,	therefore	to dissever	should mean	to reattach	but doesn't.
Gruntelen	=	to complain,	therefore	disgruntled	should mean	content and forbearing	but doesn't.
Limite	=	boundary,	therefore	to delimit	should mean	to remove boundaries	but doesn't.
Lineare	=	to draw lines,	therefore	to delineate	should mean	to obscure the lines	but doesn't.
Fraudare	=	to swindle,	therefore	to defraud	should mean	to return things	but doesn't.