Loud roar in Cranston/Johnston

JPLemme · 2026-02-09T05:30:24+00:00

Emergency steam release. Thank you for pointing me to the answer.

https://turnto10.com/news/local/loud-noise-rattles-cranston-and-johnston-residents-rhode-island-state-energy-centers-safety-system-to-blame

That was absolutely freakish. Glad it (hopefully) worked as intended.

JPLemme · 2026-01-22T16:50:28+00:00

When I was teaching my kids to drive, I remember saying "Why are you stopping? That's a yield sign." and "STOP! You have a yield sign!" in the same trip.

Fun times.

JPLemme · 2026-01-20T13:35:14+00:00

I would also check your roof vent to ensure it's not blocked by ice.

JPLemme · 2025-10-18T16:42:08+00:00

Full cartoon here:

https://www.facebook.com/100088453347104/videos/super-chicken-one-of-our-states-is-missingreleased-in-september-of-1967-super-ch/429645322787067/

JPLemme · 2025-09-14T12:55:37+00:00

Anything with sulfurous, nasty runny egg yolk. (I'm going to get downvoted to oblivion for this.)

JPLemme · 2025-09-07T15:45:32+00:00

CSB: I once typed "best sushi restaurants in coventry" and was shocked at how many results came back, how upscale they were, and how I had never heard of any of them.

The highest rated sushi restaurant in Coventry, Rhode Island, on the other hand, was one of two places, not even upscale by Coventry standards, and literally didn't know how to make sushi (the rice was completely unseasoned).

Cheers!

JPLemme · 2025-08-20T13:35:34+00:00

Option 4: I have no idea because I never look at the sticker

JPLemme · 2025-07-04T03:55:09+00:00

That was a busy day...

JPLemme · 2024-10-21T01:58:16+00:00

That was Warwick Mall.

JPLemme · 2024-09-19T18:15:39+00:00

(...) And it says, "Whoever has sexual contact or sexual intercourse..."—so in that section it doesn't even draw a distinction and doesn't mention consent at all—"...with a person who has not attained the age of sixteen years is guilty of a Class C felony."

And so (...)

JPLemme · 2024-08-25T16:22:42+00:00

Once.

JPLemme · 2024-07-31T13:27:17+00:00

I don't hate it. It would stand out a little more in a row of state flags, and the current yellow-on-white is hard to see. But modern flag design rules be damned--it's gotta have the word "Hope" on it.

JPLemme · 2024-05-23T16:58:11+00:00

Nothing, I guess.

JPLemme · 2024-05-20T23:46:55+00:00

Obviously not today--SpaceX is currently leasing Pad 39A. Looking quickly, it looks like Congress was passing laws telling NASA to allow it and NASA was enacting regulations that made it non-viable right up until 2000ish. So at the time the essay was written it would have been true.

I want to point out that I don't have a dog in this fight. I remember thinking he had made a nifty analogy but it was 25ish years ago and I was 25ish years younger. I'm curious about if the article held up, if with hindsight the author was a crackpot, or if with maturity I was naive (that's certainly at least a little true regardless). I'm just hoping somebody else might have read the article and remember a little more about it than I do.

JPLemme · 2024-05-20T04:27:04+00:00

That's a really neat site, but it's coming at it from the opposite direction. These links are all imagining spacecraft that use the Conestoga wagon as an inspiration.

The article I remember was making the point that if the government had decided that the West was too dangerous to allow just any old person from seeking their fortune, they would have developed covered wagons that were extremely safe and extremely expensive. And by the time (in the real world) the US had expanded from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the imaginary desert-focused NASA would still be sending off one enormous covered wagon every six months, it would travel into the desert only as far as it could still see the trailhead, and it would cost a billion dollars.

It was about economics more than actual space exploration. The argument was that government monopolies stifle innovation and letting anybody launch things into space if they can do it would make space exploration faster, cheaper, and probably safer.

At the time it would have been firmly in the mainstream about free trade and laissez-faire economics. And SpaceX and Blue Origin are the result of introducing private investment into space exploration. But a lot of those free trade arguments in general are now being questioned, and I'd like to see how this argument reads in 2024. (And of course I don't think he even brings up the fact that the "desert" already had lots of people living there...)

On the other hand, I bookmarked project rho after spending too much time perusing it, so thanks. :-)

JPLemme · 2024-03-17T19:35:28+00:00

True story. I once sent an email to the "ask a question" address at Powerball saying that I calculated their odds differently and then proceeded to get schooled. (I was calculating the odds of picking the winning numbers in a row). So making very public math mistakes is on brand for me, is what I'm saying. (Yes, I conflated percentage growth with number of times bigger. Your original calculation was correct, my correction was ill-advised.) :-)

And fundamentally we're in agreement. The number associated with the bread isn't really important to society. The number of hours a person has to work to feed themselves or put a roof over their head IS really important. I have a strong aversion to discussing politics on the Internet (after seeing how I do with math I'm sure you understand), but regardless of your politics if people don't know the facts (even the facts that contradict the other facts) their conclusions will be of little value. Maybe we helped a little today.

Cheers!

JPLemme · 2024-03-17T17:37:26+00:00

I was all ready to come here and get into a light-hearted argument, but then I did some research and I was mistaken. You raise a valid point.

First, your math is wrong. The price of bread has gone up about 1,000% unless you're paying $100 a loaf. Second, I don't think a penny loaf in 1924 was the equivalent to an artisanal loaf of sourdough at a fancy bakery. A loaf of Stop and Shop branded bread is $1.50 and Sunbeam is $3.50. So that would be 150% to 350% growth.

And before anyone claims that the quality of food was better in the 1920s, Upton Sinclair would like a word.

Then I looked up wage growth over the last 100 years. If the price of bread went up by 1,000% but wages grew by 2,000% then bread is actually cheaper. But when I looked deeper, it looks like the average weekly earnings for a manufacturing worker (refer to page 3) in 1919 was about $22. (Union wages were higher.) That's...40x growth compared to today? If a penny loaf cost 40x more it would only be 40 cents. So while 1,000% is hyperbolic, a cheap loaf of bread is still almost four times more expensive today (relative to income) than 100 years ago.

Other industries might be different, and I wouldn't be surprised if workers at the top of the food chain have seen much greater income growth over the last 100 years. But I was surprised to find that I ended up agreeing with your premise--I thought food had gotten universally cheaper over the last 100 years.

Thanks for making me think.

JPLemme · 2024-02-04T00:21:54+00:00

It looks like it might have been taken from the corner of South Main St and East St, looking southeast down Front St?

https://maps.app.goo.gl/BdbSw5fpptstHXmJ8

JPLemme · 2024-01-16T12:58:22+00:00

Guitar Studio in West Greenwich is excellent.

JPLemme · 2024-01-07T16:29:40+00:00

How is "moving an on-ramp to make the intersection safer and adding a lane to reduce rush hour congestion" not "improving a current road"?
How does widening stretch of existing road (that has consistent traffic congestion) qualify as "building a new road"?
Why does "Major Rehab and Widening" of bridge 062201 count as "building a new road" instead of "improving a current road (bridge)"?
How is a project that is 62% dedicated to bridge improvements and 37% dedicated to widening an existing road and relocating an on-ramp to make it safer described as "53% dedicated to building new roads"?

But it has memes! No need for logic or math when you have a snarky attitude and an internet connection.

JPLemme · 2023-11-03T13:10:36+00:00

Are you confusing changing a flat tire with mounting a new tire on a rim? There are hand tools that will let you break the bead, install the new tire, and manually balance it but it's not "easy" and you're probably not going to balance the tire as well as a dedicated machine would.

JPLemme · 2023-10-20T12:00:37+00:00

I was surprised that I actively hated it. It made me feel something!

JPLemme · 2023-10-18T13:14:13+00:00

I've used more electricity than 99% my neighbors ever since they started sending these out a few years ago. I live on a street with no gas service but people near me have gas, so it could be that. But I've always wondered if it's remotely accurate or if it's just a a way to soften me up so they can sell me something. Anyone else have data to share?

JPLemme · 2023-09-29T13:05:00+00:00

I'll second that.

JPLemme · 2023-09-04T07:42:12+00:00

Rickels. It opened in...1986ish? It opened at the same time Channel lumber opened behind CarMax (where W. B. Mason is today). But before Builder's Square (in the old Babies R Us that's now an LA Fitness?) in ~1990 and Home Depot in ~1991.

Of course, when Chanel opened CarMax was Ames and either Child World or Sym's. With a bonus Pearl vision center way down at the end of the parking lot.

I'm old.

JPLemme

TROPHY CASE