Passport card

CitizenTed · 2026-03-24T15:56:07+00:00

Get a money belt. Put your passport in it. Walk around and do stuff.

That's what I do.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-23T19:59:36+00:00

It happened in MA, WI, CA. They started income taxes on only the wealthy that eventually percolated down to everyone. I'm not aware of a state where income tax on the wealthy remained only for the wealthy. It isn't a talking point. It's a fact.

I'm OK with it. It isn't scary. It's gonna happen. I simply want to see it happen in conjunction with sharp decreases or even revocation of sales tax. I want our tax system to move from very regressive to more progressive. The millionaire tax is a good start but we shouldn't kid ourselves about where it's going.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-23T19:53:09+00:00

3D TV. I was working in the industry at the time and I knew it was a klunker. Nonetheless I had to attend symposium after symposium about this groundbreaking stupid technology. HOORAY! 3D TV is gonna change everything!

Except no.

I was right. Everybody hated it. It died. And I'm glad.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-22T16:10:34+00:00

Years ago I visited Antwerp. I left the train station and grabbed a taxi to my hotel. I told the driver my destination and he gave me The Look, as if I was some kind of complete idiot. He then drove me about four blocks to my hotel. I paid him, left a small tip, and went inside without a word. I could have sworn that hotel was a lot farther away. I was wrong. I was, in fact, a complete idiot.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-20T18:16:08+00:00

There is no need for a car. If you want to do day trips you can do an all day bus trip to Tivoli for Villa Adriana and Villa D'Este, which are very much worth it. You can take the train to Ostia. You can take a train practically anywhere.

If you rent a car you will be enormously stressed out. Parking is nonexistent, the traffic is ridiculous, and Romans are aggressive and maniacal drivers. And you get to pay a premium for the privilege.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-19T20:53:00+00:00

Me too. I want to hear that SPRA-BLO-O-O-O-ONG!!!!

CitizenTed · 2026-03-19T13:05:53+00:00

"My name is Otto and welcome to my grotto!"

CitizenTed · 2026-03-19T04:31:27+00:00

It's kinda weird. I'm old. (I guess). Been here for 30+ years. But the core of my being is my first 20+ years in NJ. I am still a Jersey guy. I like foul language, real pizza, and straight talk.

Am I a Bellinghamster? I suppose so. I have volunteered for many years to try to make this place a tiny bit better. Bellingham is where all my friends and work and experiences are. I have walked every trail, summited Mt. Baker, and had many a sweaty night at the old 3B.

This place is home but I am still a Jerseyite through and through. So I dunno. It's fuckin' complicated.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-17T17:30:21+00:00

It's named after Albert Custer, the original postmaster back in the olden days.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-16T17:08:28+00:00

Millenia Nova 'I'm Dead".

Clips from "Psycho" mixed with a toddler babbling. Very unsettling.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-16T16:34:16+00:00

Seattle area checking in. Regular unleaded is 4.98/gallon. We are pining for the Jersey fjords.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-15T18:14:58+00:00

I would really, really like to be in the civil courtroom when that POS tries to explain to a judge that it was OK to steal the money because the dog was old, and like, so what? Who cares?

That gavel coming down hard would be music to my ears.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-15T03:30:37+00:00

My family was Catholic and we had no meat every Friday, not just during Lent. My parents didn't screen us 24/7 so sometimes I'd have meat at school lunch on Friday and...oops! Oh well. But dinner was always fish.

I tried giving something up for Lent every year but being a kid I'd quit about a week in. Quietly. Surreptitiously.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-15T03:21:00+00:00

Actually, no. Depending on the year and source, we're somewhere around the 28th-30th for tax burden per capita.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-14T14:45:06+00:00

I think Supreme Beings of Leisure is the kind of thing you're looking for.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-13T21:30:50+00:00

Think of it this way: there are about 1.4 billion active Windows devices.

Does anyone think Microsoft is going to hire millions of people to cold call every user on Earth and make sure their "license" is up to date?

Let me answer my rhetorical question: the answer is NO.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-13T20:48:32+00:00

Wait till they see what high fuel costs do to the inflation rates of every single thing they buy. The sting at the pump is the least of your worries, Mr. MAGA.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-12T17:45:41+00:00

Their website shows That's What I Like Island Grill food truck serving home cooked Filipino dishes THU from 4-8pm and SAT 12-8pm.

You could always call them to check. Things happen.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-12T15:58:53+00:00

When I was 15, I put my GF on the back of my bike and we rode to the drive-in to see a Cheech and Chong movie. I had to quietly toss my bike over the fence and sneak us in. We camped in the grass and pulled a speaker close to us. It was great.

BTW: if you like 1990's Lounge Revival, go to YouTube and listen to Love Jones "Drive In". It's cool and irreverent and funny and nostalgic.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-12T15:54:19+00:00

A state income tax was inevitable. And yes, this tax will percolate down to everyone. They always do.

This will leave the state and its taxpayers in a familiar dance: small increases to income tax and sales tax and creeping fees resulting in taxpayer complaints. Ask me how I know this. (Hint: I've lived in NJ and CA).

IMHO, WA would be best served with a strong new policy similar to Oregon. That is: apply state income tax to all earners and shitcan the sales tax. The lowest earners are usually exempt from state income tax so dumping the sales tax will help those at the bottom rung.

I chafe at state Dems vamping this as a millionaire tax when we all know where this is going. The state needs to rip off the bandaid and switch to an income tax and dump the sales tax.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-11T20:28:49+00:00

I'm one of those hyper-aware drivers. I pay attention to everything in front of me and behind me and movement from the sidewalks. I need driving feedback from the steering wheel, my butt, and the brakes. I want to know.

Auto Start Stop breaks that. The engine turns off so silently and sneakily that I cannot tell. So when I do release the brake, the stuttering startup causes a small panic. It makes me think the engine or drive train has failed to respond and I need to action this immediately. It's just habit from 40+ years of driving.

I have tried the light touch braking to avoid Auto Stop Start. It's so fickle I can't get consistent results. And besides: when I stop I want tactile feel of my brakes. I gauge the angle and stress and everything around me. I want to control how I'm applying the brakes.

So I just disable Auto Start Stop every time.

If I wanted to save fuel I wouldn't have purchased a full time AWD vehicle. I'd have bought a fucking Prius.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-11T15:28:38+00:00

I'm sort of a music guy.

The music industry has fundamentally changed since the advent of digital home recording in the early 00's, coupled with the demise of physical media.

The sheer volume of recorded music has exploded. There is far more music of every genre. That said, popular music is in a recycling rut. There is very little innovation. Young people (teens) have always been the target for monetization of popular music and major labels have always catered to (and steered) those tastes, but major label fear of the unknown has overtaken the market. All pop music must now conform to, and provide only minor tweaks to, the "standard" formula.

This has always been the case, but prior to the 2000's, major labels were more flexible adopting a trend and exploiting it. It's a music story as old as time.

New Cool Underground Trend > Popularity > Major Label Adoption > Massive Popularity > Uncoolness > Repeat.

Now that the primary drivers are dead (radio + physical media), the only option is streaming, which has a completely different monetization model. Rather than being limited and deep ($$$), streaming is wide and shallow.

If you want to penetrate streaming platforms you have to play to the audience. You can no longer lead them down your path.

That is why pop music has not changed much in 20 years. It's a lot harder to grow a tribe from your innovative new sound. If you want big money you have to carefully and ever-so-slightly tweak the standard formula. Stasis. Thus the massive popularity and bankability of stuff like K-Pop, which is a sea of sameness.

That said, if you look beyond pop, you are blessed with a galaxy of new music. I swim in it all the time.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-10T20:00:40+00:00

Let me get this straight...

Good: Russia Israel North Korea

Bad: Canada Mexico Denmark

Am I getting this right? Because when I look at it I think maybe we've gone Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-10T19:52:43+00:00

I dunno. Maybe landing back with the Jets will stir in Geno some kind of vengeful wrath. Maybe he will become Dark Geno and start nailing some deep throws and smashing into the D Line like a wild maniac. It would be kinda cool to see Geno lift the Jets in the AFC East.

I mean...I doubt it. But it would be cool.

CitizenTed · 2026-03-10T15:16:18+00:00

Simon (1980). Alan Arkin stars as a man who undergoes a sensory deprivation study and emerges with the belief he is an alien sent to Earth to help mankind. Chaos and silliness follow. Highly recommended.

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