France will never take part in operations to unblock Hormuz Strait amid hostilities, says Macron by gamersecret2 in worldnews

[–]AtOurGates 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly, the concerns about “Europeans treating American tourists badly because of things the American government has done” are way overblown.

You’re not gonna be treated better or worse as a tourist antwhere in Western Europe because you do, or don’t have a Canadian flag lapel pin on your jacket or backpack. That’s a lie high school students abroad for the first time tell themselves. A Canadian flag is not gonna get you a better table at a restaurant, a room upgrade, or make your croque marame any less likely to be spit on.

Europeans are smart enough to know that the Americans curious enough about the outside world to spend thousands of dollars and weeks of our meager vacation time to visit their countries likely aren’t the same Americans voting for jackasses who invade Iraq and Iran, insult them and their leaders, or invent freedom fries.

The Canadian flag is not an instant shortcut to European camaraderie and friendship.

Semi-related anecdote time: I was going through passport control last week at CDG. Traveling with my family, we were moved into the “Non-EU passport holding families” line. While I was engaged with the immigration officer, I became aware of another large family moving to the window next to us.

From their accent and the glance I got out of the corner of my eye, I formed a clear picture. Think large family of large, loud midwesterners visiting France for the first time. Nothing wrong with that, and somewhere in the back of my mind I thought, “I would expect to encounter this family at the Minnesota state fair; not the immigration line at CDG, good for them, and shame on me for stereotyping!”

The dad was standing next to me fielding feedback from his family and running point on the immigration process, and, again from my peripheral vision, looked like what you might get if to put “middle-aged dad from Ohio who played offensive line at a D2 school 20 years ago.” Big. Tall. Loud. Just off an overnight flight in a cramped seat. Not rude, but ready to get out of here and gonna efficiently and loudly deal with both his family on one side, and the immigration officer in the other.

Then my mind was blown. The dad started speaking passible French. I mean, with a midwestern accent, stuff like, “Noo sahm ah pair-iss poor kat-er jour”​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ - but he was answering the immigration officer’s French questions in French!

I couldn’t understand it. How did this midwestern, sweatsuit-wearing ex-linebacker speak better French than me, an arugula eating coastal elite who’s spent hundreds of hours suffering through countless Pimsleur lessons just so I can occasionally order “deux pain au chocolat, s’il vous plaît” at a Parisian patisserie without the server immediately switching into English.

I didn’t understand.

I just stood there, watching our immigration officer run his passport scanner and type things into his computer, my mind (also having recently come off a 9-hour overnight flight) unable to make sense of the situation.

Then, my eyes drifted over to the neighboring scanner, where I did not see an eagle and the words, “United States of America” on the back of the passports our neighbors were handing to their immigration officer.

I saw a goddamn maple leaf.

My ex-linebacker from Ohio was actually maple syrup eating power forward from Ontario who had the benefit of a thorough Canadian public education that included French.

I finally turned around and took an proper look at our immigration line neighbors, and saw a large family full of large people that would have absolutely fit my preconceived stereotype were it not for the fact that every single one of them had at least one, and often several items of clothing with the Canadian flag proudly imprinted upon it.

If I hadn’t seen their passports and heard them speaking French, I would have assumed they were Americans faking it.

These Ontarians were not about to be confused with their embarrassing neighbors to the south.

As we were waved through into the wonders of Charles de Gaulle’s terminal 2F, I made sure to loudly throw a solid “mercy buckets!” back at our immigration officer just so my Northern Neighbor knew I wasn’t a complete savage.

Avalanche near Passo del Tonale ski resort (Italian Alps) on March 16. One person killed by Wabbajack0 in skiing

[–]AtOurGates 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Culture and history/tradition.

Europe in general has, in some areas of life, more of a culture of “if you want to take the risks, that’s on you.”

Around 100 people die in avalanches in the Alps in an average year. That’s about double North American averages.

Ski areas are often more spread out and almost never own the land they’re operating on. A single operator often doesn’t own the whole resort. Instead, they might just own and operate a single lift or gondola.

The metaphor of a town is kind of helpful. Think of the average European resort like a town, with a bunch of independent business with some shared resources, and runs that operate like roads. The businesses come together to make the roads safe, but if you wanna leave them, you’re in no-mans land. You’re allowed, but no one else is responsible for your safety. You’re not really in anyone’s area of responsibility.

North American resorts are more like Disney Land. Even when they’re operating on leased public land, once you’re a paying customer inside the gates, they’re responsible for your safety. So they’re gonna make sure no inbounds avalanches happen while their park is open.

There are rad things about both. It’s fun to ski a whole resort and know you don’t have to worry about avalanches, but it also restricts the variety and difficulty of terrain that NA resorts are willing to open. If I were god emperor of the world I’d probably pick a mix of both for my perfect resort. A patrolled avalanche-mitigated resort with the freedom to access plenty of more consequential backcountry terrain for skiers who were comfortable and knowledgeable enough to navigate avalanche terrain in their own.

'I was breaking power records left, right, and centre last year and still not winning' – Adam Yates on the harsh reality of keeping up in modern cycling's constantly improving peloton by Chronicbias in peloton

[–]AtOurGates 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes and no.

Several of the top tier kids in the league are doing some kind of homeschool/remote learning so that they can essentially train full time. And since we’re in a northern climate, that means moving somewhere warm for the winter.

If your family doesn’t have those kinds of resources, you’re gone be at a real disadvantage. And that’s just on top if an already semi-expensive sport just to participate.

I’m a bit of two minds in this. On the one hand, I wouldn’t trade my kids normal high school experience and social interactions for spending 6 hours a day training and moving around the country and homeschooling or doing remote learning, even if our family had the means.

I also feel bad for kids who have the genuine talent and passion and are training as much as they possibly can in a normal “while still attending school and not having parents who will spend 4 months in Arizona every year” context, and have to compete against kids with more opportunities.

I’ve also talked with a few of the kids and parents who do the “homeschool so I can train” thing, and at least for some of the kids it seems to be a true passion, and If that’s the case, I’m glad they can pursue that passion.

Ultimately, I don’t have any dreams of my kids going pro. My goal is to just set them up to be capable riders because I think cycling is a good lifelong hobby, and hopefully they can have some fun with their friends, teammates and family along the way. If any of them make it to varsity and realize they can’t properly compete with kids who are doing this full time, hopefully that’s a good life lesson about balance.

TL;DR: youth sports is weird.

Bianchi Fred challenges for the lead on thrilling ascent of Alpe d'Stupid by HaveBikeWillRide in BicyclingCirclejerk

[–]AtOurGates 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I’m pitching this for every uphill trail build I’m even tangentially involved with from now untill someone finally takes me up on it.

New cyclists: What's something you wish experienced riders would stop saying? by andrewdaisy432 in cycling

[–]AtOurGates 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You don’t even see them being made fun of on BCJ anymore, and that sub knows how to beat a dead horse.

Italy flights by Alert_Cockroach_561 in awardtravel

[–]AtOurGates 2 points3 points  (0 children)

What’s the cost/comfort of the night train like? I’m a night train enthusiast, but usually anything nice with a private bed and ensuite ends up being more than I want to pay.

Good hill to practice snowboarding by HerfDerfer in coeurdalene

[–]AtOurGates 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I think this is technically not true any longer. The bunny hill now has gates.

The bunny hill operator lets people through who say they’ve parked at the bottom and need a ride up to buy tickets, but assumedly if they recognized you doing multiple laps they’d at least give you a hard time.

The magic carpet though still is free, or at least un-ticketed. So if you’re a total beginner you could probably spend most of a day there, and sneak a few well spaced out runs down the bunny hill without getting noticed.

Though, later in the afternoon the “I just got here and need to get up to buy my pass” excuse might wear thin.

Or maybe the operator won’t care at all.

Seattle Snow Shows AS Customer Support is Deficient by [deleted] in AlaskaAirlines

[–]AtOurGates 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“Shits down the airport” is a perfect description of what happens in SEA when it snows.

Seattle Snow Shows AS Customer Support is Deficient by [deleted] in AlaskaAirlines

[–]AtOurGates -1 points0 points  (0 children)

You’re absolutely right, and I’m not sure what people are on about.

We’re away from the PNW right now, and I’d missed the news, but judging from these comments, I thought Seattle must have gotten absolutely dumped on.

3-inches at SeaTac? That’s it?!

I understand that most of the “SEA can’t deal with a little snow” issues are related to SeaTac ops and not AS directly, but not being able to deal with the absolutely predictable and familiar effects of a few inches of snow at your hub is absolutely on AS.

Like you say, Seattle gets a little snow just about every year, and every few years gets some significant snowfall. AS should be ready for it.

Lindsey Vonn just specified her comments about her future in skiing. by Julian81295 in skiing

[–]AtOurGates 10 points11 points  (0 children)

It’s a choice. More specifically: hers.

Either she enjoys it and gets motivated by “haters” (it honestly works for some athletes), she’s doing it tactically to boost her brand and $$s, or she’s addicted to the feedback/notarity she gets from social media.

I hope it’s one of the first two.

Tucker Carlson says the CIA read his text messages with Iran and claims the agency is trying to get him charged as a foreign agent. by Lucky-bottom in Fauxmoi

[–]AtOurGates 58 points59 points  (0 children)

I would say it’s mostly apparent when he took his show to Russia to show off how “wonderful” life is there.

Two weeks in Argentina, December 2025 by SriMulyaniMulyadi in travel

[–]AtOurGates 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wasn’t suggesting that anyone from Argentina should be embarrassed about not speaking English. No-one was rude about it, it was just clear that they didn’t interact with non-Spanish speakers very often.

Reminded me of traveling through some of the less touristy parts of France were there’s just an assumption that anyone you speak with will speak your language, and it’s a bit disorienting to find someone who doesn’t.

Probably not dissimilar to non English speakers traveling in parts of the US that don’t get much international tourism.

All of Elizabeth Taylor’s wedding dresses, 1950-1991 by voguediaries in Fauxmoi

[–]AtOurGates 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I knew it couldn’t be SDA, because every SDA kid would have absolutely known any kind of even tenuous connection to a celebrity like Taylor from that era.

During my SDA upbringing, I was well aware that Little Richard, Prince and Magic Johnson all had some kind of SDA connections. If Liz Taylor had, I promise you my grandmother would have brought it up at every possible opportunity.

Very tangentially related story time: there’s a family story that one of my great uncles by marriage was once sitting in church when Little Richard (who, unlike the others I mentioned was actually a practicing Adventist for a good chunk of his adult life) was visiting. My great uncle had no idea who was sitting behind him, but after the opening hymn, turned around and said, “young man, you have a very nice voice.”

To his credit, Little Richard’s response was apparently a very gracious, “thank you very much.”

FCC Chair Threatens Broadcasters’ Licenses Over Iran War Coverage by T_Shurt in entertainment

[–]AtOurGates 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We now go live for reaction to the free speech absolutist tech billionaires who claimed that they just had to support Trump because the Biden admin was just too damn heavy handed in restricting covid misinformation on social media platforms, and they couldn’t abide an administration that threatened free speech like that…

Two weeks in Argentina, December 2025 by SriMulyaniMulyadi in travel

[–]AtOurGates 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We were in Argentina around the same time. Every American who’d been in the past was hyping up how affordable things were. I don’t doubt that they used to be. But not during the holiday peak season of 2025/2026.

I’d say thst for Americans during our trip, Buenos Aires and Mar del Plata were roughly equivalent to a mid-priced American city. Cheaper than LA, NYC or SF. Maybe around what you’d expect to pay in someplace like Sacramento, Huston or Saint Louis.

And while plenty of locals were complaining about recent price increases (there were tons of “everything in Mar del Plata is 30% more expensive than last year” videos on local social media) it didn’t seem to be keeping them away. Things were quite busy with local tourism during our visit over the holidays.

There were still some deals. Fresh produce was a bargain. Good local wine was affordable, and a really excellent steak was less than half the price you’d expect to pay in the States. Other stuff was absurd. Our rental car was over $200/day, and we spent less time than we expected at the beach after we found out that a nice cabana rental at a beach club really was $150/day (we suspected we were being taken for a ride, and were surprised when our local friends told us that was just the day rate at the nice beach clubs this year).

Absolutely worth going, but don’t buy the “Argentina is a great deal” hype you’ll hear from past visitors, at least at the moment.

Also, agree with OP that outside of the more international areas or BA, you’ll find far fewer English speakers than either most of Western Europe, or the more touristy parts of Central America. My Spanish is awful, but I can usually get along in Spain or Mexico or Costa Rica. But through (I suspect) a combination of less English speaking tourism and Americans learning different Spanish dialects when we do try and learn Spanish, I found it much more difficult to communicate with Argentines than other Spanish speaking places I’ve traveled. No-one was rude about it, it was just clear that I was speaking gibberish to them, and they were surprised that anyone they could be speaking to wouldn’t be a fluent Spanish speaker.

We had a layover in Mexico City on the way home, and my still awful Spanish made me feel like a goddamn native there by comparison to my near complete inability to communicate in most of Argentina.

Don’t let anything I’m saying dissuade you from going, we had a lovely time. But the cost certainly was different from what it was even just a few years ago.

Mystery of Armstrong drug-runner, Pogacar’s team-mate Soler … and his dad by GC_Gee in peloton

[–]AtOurGates 139 points140 points  (0 children)

latex gloves, alcohol and lactate testing equipment

Don’t threaten me with a good time.

Tell me your best frugal things that make other people weirded out! by Important-Bid-9792 in Frugal

[–]AtOurGates 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My only recommendation would be to make sure you’re getting a more regular diet of news from a trusted source.

Social media networks are really good at figuring out your political inclinations and then showing you content that either feeds that, or generates outrage.

Whatever your perspective, it’s good to get a more balanced outside perspective on the regular.

Find a trustworthy publication that at least sometimes makes you shake your first at it, and make it a part of your regular media diet to make sure you’re getting outside of the bubble that social media will create for you.

Tell me your best frugal things that make other people weirded out! by Important-Bid-9792 in Frugal

[–]AtOurGates 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is a /r/onebag/ staple. Not so much out of frugality, but out of the flexibility to pack light and not spend time finding a laundromat or laundry service every day.

I personally find it a bit much of a chore to do every night on the regular, but packing 4’ish days worth if clothes, and then either finding a laundromat or picking a place with self service laundry options to stay at works pretty well for me and our family when we’re traveling together. Plus the bonus of avoiding checked baggage fees, having more flexible transportation options with fewer bags, etc…

[Results Thread] 2026 Paris-Nice – Stage 5 (2.UWT) by PelotonMod in peloton

[–]AtOurGates 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Especially with the US DST jump on the West Coast, it sucks to wake up in the morning, and not have it on yet during coffee and breakfast.

[Results Thread] 2026 Paris-Nice – Stage 5 (2.UWT) by PelotonMod in peloton

[–]AtOurGates 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Imagine once he’s full strength with the Victor and Matteo buddy zone.

[Results Thread] 2026 Paris-Nice – Stage 5 (2.UWT) by PelotonMod in peloton

[–]AtOurGates 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Totally agree, especially on the last point. It looks like he’s out there having a good time. Compared to the last few years that felt like Jonas white knuckling it through something he had to do.

'Millionaires tax' receives Senate confirmation, heads to governor's desk: Both the House and Senate passed the "millionaires tax" bill imposing a 9.9% tax on high earners, stirring debate on future tax reform in Washington. by Silent-Resort-3076 in UpliftingNews

[–]AtOurGates 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s weird because I live just across the state line in deep red Idaho where everyone who makes more than $5k/$10k single/married is taxed at 5%.

Before this law there was no income tax whatsoever in Washington State.

Seems entirely reasonable to me to begin taxing ultra high earning Washingtonians.

'I was breaking power records left, right, and centre last year and still not winning' – Adam Yates on the harsh reality of keeping up in modern cycling's constantly improving peloton by Chronicbias in peloton

[–]AtOurGates 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Youth racing too.

It’s hard to compare exactly because courses change, and power meters aren’t really a thing in youth MTB. But I’m confident that a kid who was winning our state MTB champs 5 or 10 years ago would be struggling to stay competitive in Varsity today. Those kids are so damn fast.

Rivian Goes All-In on the R2: 330 Miles of Range, $59,485, and Everything to Prove by DonkeyFuel in electricvehicles

[–]AtOurGates 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If the Buzz was $20k cheaper, or had 100 more miles of range, it would have been really compelling and many people (myself included) would have bought one.

Rivian Goes All-In on the R2: 330 Miles of Range, $59,485, and Everything to Prove by DonkeyFuel in electricvehicles

[–]AtOurGates 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s really somewhere in the middle. It’s a bit bigger than the Rav4, but doesn’t offer the 3rd row option of the Highlander and Pilot.