TR Forums

I did really poorly on the biology and chemistry stuff, and not so great on the maths. Or anything else, I guess. 64% is probably better than most of America but it's still not passing.

88%

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/jo ... 25431.html

Looks like good hands run in the Torre family. FTR, Firefox seems to have issues with this so head on to your other favorite browser.

On another note, today's drive to work came with some gibbage that not even the bloodiest Doom mods have ever shown. Not sure if the remnants were a deer or a small moose but the blood spray covered both lanes of the interstate and the crows' dinner was pretty well evenly-distributed over the passing lane. Been running the roads for almost 35 years and it's the worst deer/moose explosion I've ever seen. Wonder what the guy driving the semi thought (given the destruction it had to be a semi)?

I would have taken pics, but no safe place to get out of the way on that stretch.

Captain Ned wrote:

Wonder what the guy driving the semi thought (given the destruction it had to be a semi)?

I'm guessing it was something along the lines of "F**K!!!!!"

My companies hiring practices suck! Especially their recruiters. grrrrr...

First of my brother is applying to the same company and the recruiter sat on calling him for a week until I asked about it. Then she sets up a phone meeting with the hiring manager for a certain day and time and then that manager doesnt call. Also no call from the recruiter to say that he couldnt make it. So when he finally get the phone interview the Manager says you'll here something back by the end of the week, if you dont email me. And oh BTW I will be out of the country for a week and a half attending a wedding so.......

Seriously. BAH! I had thought all of this was fixed 11 years ago after I was hired. Long-story-short, I was given a verbal offer from the hiring manager but couldnt do anything until a formal offer came for the recruiter. Needless to say it took me 6 weeks before it came after countless phone calls.

And dont get me started as to how a person that is roughly 3-4 years out of high school with no college degree or even ANY college becomes a recruiter for a Fortune 200 company. I can guess a bunch of things but it all boils down to one set of them. /grrrrrr

paulWTAMU wrote:

why is it so hard to find *good* premade first aid kits? ONes with splints, clotting agents, eye washes, small medicine bottles (with more than 2 damn tylenol though!), medical glue, thread, etc?

This is what you need Its the Combat Medic pack that the US Army employs.

The old Abbott & Costello gag finally comes to pass in the real world:

tanker27 wrote:

My companies hiring practices suck! Especially their recruiters. grrrrr...

First of my brother is applying to the same company and the recruiter sat on calling him for a week until I asked about it. Then she sets up a phone meeting with the hiring manager for a certain day and time and then that manager doesnt call. Also no call from the recruiter to say that he couldnt make it. So when he finally get the phone interview the Manager says you'll here something back by the end of the week, if you dont email me. And oh BTW I will be out of the country for a week and a half attending a wedding so.......

Seriously. BAH! I had thought all of this was fixed 11 years ago after I was hired. Long-story-short, I was given a verbal offer from the hiring manager but couldnt do anything until a formal offer came for the recruiter. Needless to say it took me 6 weeks before it came after countless phone calls.

And dont get me started as to how a person that is roughly 3-4 years out of high school with no college degree or even ANY college becomes a recruiter for a Fortune 200 company. I can guess a bunch of things but it all boils down to one set of them. /grrrrrr

It's not just your company. This is my experience with most HR/hiring departments.

Set your DVRs, folks. Awesome badness is coming, and it is called Sharknado. Yes, it's just what it sounds like.

http://www.syfy.com/_utils/video/embed. ... vid2659154

Just sampled my IIPA and my PA from my keggerator. The PA is pretty nice and standard, but the IIPA tastes like hoppy rocket fuel. It needs another 2 weeks in the keg I think.

SpotTheCat wrote:

Just sampled my IIPA and my PA from my keggerator. The PA is pretty nice and standard, but the IIPA tastes like hoppy rocket fuel. It needs another 2 weeks in the keg I think.

Any idea what your starting gravity and fermentation temperatures were like? Overly warm fermentation or marginal yeast health (you really should make a starter for high-gravity beers) are the usual culprits when you get a "rocket fuel" character on a high-gravity beer. And yeah, some aging ought to smooth it out.

I have a Borderlands 2 and Borderlands GOTY key for sale. I thought I'd check in with the regulars in here to see if anyone wants them. You can have both for 25 bux. Any takers?

DancinJack wrote:

I have a Borderlands 2 and Borderlands GOTY key for sale. I thought I'd check in with the regulars in here to see if anyone wants them. You can have both for 25 bux. Any takers?

This really should be on the Bargain Basement. Start a thread there and I'll make this one disappear.

Yeah, sorry.

the longer teething last, th emore convinced I get that there's a malevolent omnipotent diety.

paulWTAMU wrote:

the longer teething last, th emore convinced I get that there's a malevolent omnipotent diety.

I see you've taken the average parent's approach to teething issues. CH₃CH₂OH.

Random trivia for 7/9/2013 - Historically (going way, way, back...), the unit of weight for gemstones (the carat) was based on the weight of a carob seed.

And leg before wicket (lbw) first appeared in the laws of cricket in 1774. Some 240 years later the precise definition is still a mystery.

Captain Ned wrote:

And leg before wicket (lbw) first appeared in the laws of cricket in 1774. Some 240 years later the precise definition is still a mystery.

But it does create a talking (arguing) point when having a beer after the game. Most batsmen are adamant that they were not out and all bowlers claim it was plumb and don't know what the batsman was complaining about.

P.S. thinking about its pretty well defined. It's just that there's so much difference in interpretation by umpires. Been watching some baseball lately and noticed the strike zone is a similar case. Commentators always talking about a big or small strike zone.

monts wrote:

P.S. thinking about its pretty well defined. It's just that there's so much difference in interpretation by umpires. Been watching some baseball lately and noticed the strike zone is a similar case. Commentators always talking about a big or small strike zone.

As will be with any game judged in real time by humans. I'll be the first to admit that the strike zone in the rules and the strike zone as called are not congruent, but LBW rulings make MLB umpires look like paragons of consistency.

Captain Ned wrote:

monts wrote:

P.S. thinking about its pretty well defined. It's just that there's so much difference in interpretation by umpires. Been watching some baseball lately and noticed the strike zone is a similar case. Commentators always talking about a big or small strike zone.

As will be with any game judged in real time by humans. I'll be the first to admit that the strike zone in the rules and the strike zone as called are not congruent, but LBW rulings make MLB umpires look like paragons of consistency.

Around here most of the people who carry on about LBW are those that don't or haven't played the game. Those of us who have don't seem to have too much hassle with it. Personally I'd prefer less technology and just to leave it up to the umpires.

Department of ironic names, news file #3781:

http://www.9news.com/news/article/34440 ... ed-in-fire

NBC Denver wrote:

LOVELAND - Fire crews from six different fire departments battled a three-alarm fire at a Loveland office building that houses seven different businesses.

Loveland Fire Rescue Authority Division Chief Ned Sparks said the first response was at 9:51 p.m. Tuesday.

So yesterday in front of my house, I saw an old guy in a rattletrap pickup truck blow by a pizza delivery guy who was trying to make a U-turn. Going about 40 MPH in a 25 MPH zone, "pickup truck guy" passed "pizza delivery guy" on the left with no room for oncoming traffic and not even a twitch on the brake pedal or any regard for letting him complete his maneuver or at least get the hell out of the way.

It goes without saying that the pizza delivery guy's car was barely held together with chewing gum, duct tape, twine, and toothpicks; so neither car was the epitome of class or even confidence of mechanical reliability.

A major pileup in a 25 MPH zone was narrowly avoided, but it would have been a bloody mess if there were any bikers or joggers (or me) in that intersection at that moment.

Ten minutes later, pickup truck guy is now "motorcycle guy" riding his big Harley down my street; it was definitely the same dude, only this time he was moving much more slowly and much more carefully, making the traffic behind him go much more slowly than "pizza guy" was just a few minutes before.

So after a brief WTF moment, I began to think. Just how many of us lead schizophrenic lives from minute to minute? And do we recognize it in ourselves? Or are we oblivious because it's normal behavior at this point?

So how the heck does the inside surface of a car rear window get dirty anyway? I could see it happening if someone in the family was a smoker, but my car is a no smoking zone. The used paper towels were surprisingly grimy.

I also think I need another new radiator cap. Old one was leaking, bought a cheap-ass replacement a few weeks ago (14 YO car with nearly 180K on it, I am trying to minimize how much more I put into this rust bucket), I think the cap is still leaking a little. Guess I won't go for the cheapest aftermarket cap this time.

just brew it! wrote:

So how the heck does the inside surface of a car rear window get dirty anyway? I could see it happening if someone in the family was a smoker, but my car is a no smoking zone. The used paper towels were surprisingly grimy.

You ride around with the windows open? Guess where all the stuff the wind blows into the windows comes to a sudden stop. If it were a new car it'd be plastic outgassing but your old relic must have given up all the volatiles already.

As for the radiator cap, make sure there's nothing gritty on either sealing surface.

Captain Ned wrote:

just brew it! wrote:

So how the heck does the inside surface of a car rear window get dirty anyway? I could see it happening if someone in the family was a smoker, but my car is a no smoking zone. The used paper towels were surprisingly grimy.

You ride around with the windows open? Guess where all the stuff the wind blows into the windows comes to a sudden stop. If it were a new car it'd be plastic outgassing but your old relic must have given up all the volatiles already.

Yeah, I suppose... but why does it *stick*? It's not like I'm going off-roading in the mud with the windows open; I'd think that if anything, there'd be a pile of crap collecting on on the rear deck. This phenomenon is something that has puzzled me (and others, maybe...?) for a long time!

Captain Ned wrote:

As for the radiator cap, make sure there's nothing gritty on either sealing surface.

Yeah, I'll check that. My bet is that it is just a crap cap though.

just brew it! wrote:

Yeah, I suppose... but why does it *stick*? It's not like I'm going off-roading in the mud with the windows open; I'd think that if anything, there'd be a pile of crap collecting on on the rear deck. This phenomenon is something that has puzzled me (and others, maybe...?) for a long time!

I've just stopped puzzling about it and accepted it. Same thing happens in my car which rarely has the windows open. A real SWAG is that the heating/cooling cycle of the Sun combined with direct irradiation of the rear deck somehow makes the schmutz stick to the inside of the rear window, but I just clean it off and harrumph.

Epic XKCD...

I posted about this a few months ago, and it's still going. XKCD #1190 has been changing every hour, on the hour (every half-hour initially), since late March.

This site lets you watch the entire sequence -- with pause/forward/back capability -- in its entirety.

Note: The current frame, as of 9:47 CDT, is all black... a "fade to black" between scenes of sorts. You can hit the second link above and use the left-arrow key to move back through the last few hours/days worth of frames (it wraps around) if you want to get a feel for the recent history... or just let the aubronwood site load and free-run to get the whole sequence from the start.

BIF wrote:

So yesterday in front of my house, I saw an old guy in a rattletrap pickup truck blow by a pizza delivery guy who was trying to make a U-turn. Going about 40 MPH in a 25 MPH zone, "pickup truck guy" passed "pizza delivery guy" on the left with no room for oncoming traffic and not even a twitch on the brake pedal or any regard for letting him complete his maneuver or at least get the hell out of the way.

It goes without saying that the pizza delivery guy's car was barely held together with chewing gum, duct tape, twine, and toothpicks; so neither car was the epitome of class or even confidence of mechanical reliability.

A major pileup in a 25 MPH zone was narrowly avoided, but it would have been a bloody mess if there were any bikers or joggers (or me) in that intersection at that moment.

Ten minutes later, pickup truck guy is now "motorcycle guy" riding his big Harley down my street; it was definitely the same dude, only this time he was moving much more slowly and much more carefully, making the traffic behind him go much more slowly than "pizza guy" was just a few minutes before.

So after a brief WTF moment, I began to think. Just how many of us lead schizophrenic lives from minute to minute? And do we recognize it in ourselves? Or are we oblivious because it's normal behavior at this point?

Risk. Like it or not, we are governed by what we perceive as risks. I have always wondered myself those that suffer from road rage what kind of persons they are in other facets of their lives. Without consequences people would succumb to their baser desires. There are certain artificial constructs (most powerful would be survival, and to procreate) in our mind that keep us in check. To some, it is their sense of morality, freedom, their aim for fame, for acceptance, vanity, rewards, whatnot. But to a very few rare, their brains don't work as quite as well, and well.....

About living two lives, it might just be that we compartmentalize and rationalize our decisions to fit the end that we truly want. It is more like we decide before hand what we want, and we cherry pick our rationalizations for it. In this sense, we might arrive at cognitive dissonance. Not at the level that a pathological liar is able to gymnastically juggle, and believe his own lies, but, nonetheless, we do it to a lesser extent. Think hard the last time you had one of those "rationalizations". It is very to look at yourself, as far as we know, we see ourselves as we want to see ourselves, and thus, we cherry pick so that it matches our conclusion. Sort of picking a jury where they already have a stake on the outcome of the case, and their mind is already made up. They will reach the verdict and they will do so holding many conflicting pieces of facts in their heads.

Such is human nature....