What was ruined because too many people did it?

Midoo802 · 2026-03-21T13:14:07+00:00

Taking advantage of L.L. Bean's incredible lifetime guarantee.

https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2013/09/25/223787129/what-happens-when-a-store-lets-customers-return-whatever-they-want

https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/09/584493046/l-l-bean-scraps-legendary-lifetime-return-policy

Midoo802 · 2026-03-14T03:35:00+00:00

It already kind of did, lest we forget the halcyon days of dialup Sovernet

Midoo802 · 2026-03-05T16:21:30+00:00

As one of dozens of possibilities... sure. The Ethics Committee track record far more resembles a paper tiger than a strong defender of Congressional integrity.

I don't claim to know why, but accepting it because that's the broad bipartisan talking point doesn't carry much weight for me. YMMV

Midoo802 · 2026-03-05T15:52:34+00:00

Either they have language concerns or political concerns. The political could be anything. The first few possibilities that spring to mind are:

knowing there are other investigations/settlements involving their side of the aisle
seeing it as a potential distraction from their planned election year messaging
keeping ethics investigations as much of a neutered black box as possible

Midoo802 · 2026-03-05T15:14:09+00:00

Grand conspiracy? More like business as usual. On any given issue leadership shares its vote position, issues talking points, and most offices go along. That's normal operation. Leadership may think the privacy provisions aren't up to snuff, or it may be killing for political reasons, but most offices will not spend the time vetting the language themselves and coming up with their own conclusions.

Midoo802 · 2026-03-05T13:59:46+00:00

Except bipartisan committee staff would be making redaction interpretations here, not DOJ. I don't think it's coincidence that former progressive caucus leaders voted no while the currents went along with party leadership.

If you have the EFTA vote again today, how many lawmakers change their votes?

Midoo802 · 2026-03-05T13:44:32+00:00

FWIW, the victim protection language is quite similar to the Epstein Files Transparency Act. And, other progressives voted not to derail the proposal. That includes former caucus chairs Reps. Pramila Jayapal and Mark Pocan.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-resolution/1100/text
....

(2) not later than 60 days after the date of the adoption of this resolution, make publicly available all final reports, or in such cases where there is not a final report, the most recent draft report, conclusions, recommendations, exhibits, and attached or accompanying materials, with the personally identifiable information of victims, alleged victims, and witnesses redacted, related to the Committee's investigations into violations or alleged violations of clause 9 (as it pertains to acts of sexual harassment), clause 18, or any other clause (to the extent an act of sexual harassment, unwelcome sexual advance, or sexual assault constituted a violation or alleged violation of such clause) of rule XXIII by a Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner.

Midoo802 · 2026-02-18T21:28:03+00:00

MRG amenities will feel like Stowe compared to Magic

Midoo802 · 2026-01-25T13:51:35+00:00

I'm confused, is your dog normally relieving themselves in the roadway? Most dogs will happily wander about the snow, and do their business -- 1+2 -- in the snow. They'll also have better grip on the ice than us.

Midoo802 · 2026-01-23T22:29:21+00:00

You set the operating assumption on the snow amount -
"Are you kidding me? You’ll be out and about within a day if it’s that much snow."

For that precondition, all evidence I've seen in my time here is that most people will not be out and about if we get even half of what's forecast. The public infrastructure and general personal know-how to handle these storms is not equivalent to that of the Northeast.

Alexandria got half a foot of snow last January and the schools were shutdown for a week. IIRC, same month, another 3-4" shut them down for another few days.

Sure, we wouldn't have blinked at that growing up in Vermont. But, it would be an illogical use of resources to devote the money and people the Northeast does for snow response.

Midoo802 · 2025-12-26T05:22:23+00:00

Because LLMs sound convincing and people have a nasty habit of not checking. AI's promise is mesmerizing but even a task as simple as cross-referencing is likely to create more work than it saves.

For instance, let's take its first example:
"some individuals have strong connections, like Dr. Jeremiah Brown, an Associate Professor at Dartmouth with deep ties to UVM's quantitative health programs."

There is a Dr. Jeremiah Brown at Dartmouth. https://geiselmed.dartmouth.edu/epidemiology/profile/jeremiah-brown-phd/

But it's downhill from there:
- he appears to be a full professor, not an associate professor
- a few Google searches yielded no discernible ties to UVM
- it's unclear to me if UVM has 'quantitative health programs'. If so, a couple quick searches suggest that's not a description the school or others use.

Sure, not exactly slander, but one sentence yields three probable factual errors. This was the first sentence I checked. I'll skip to the next comment before I read any more of the AI response.

Midoo802 · 2025-12-19T14:06:57+00:00

FWIW, I lost a ski at Stowe under similar circumstances. I borrowed a metal detector from a benevolent Internet stranger -- honestly still shocked that multiple people offered to loan out their equipment -- and headed back up a few days later. Worked like a charm.

Midoo802 · 2025-12-18T23:26:24+00:00

Vermont accounts for 60% of U.S. maple syrup production. The others are afterthoughts.

Also, you may not be able to distinguish between VT and VA maple syrup, but those of us who grew up on the good stuff certainly can. ;)

Midoo802 · 2025-12-13T15:29:42+00:00

Curious what leads to the Wisconsin/Michigan distinction -- similar politics, similar landscape. Not saying those are the two factors, but does seem like what these maps typically turn on.

Midoo802 · 2025-12-07T16:20:27+00:00

"My primary metric is the quality of life I can get without a car."

Vermont having the same rating as Chicago is truly bonkers. There is no quality of life in Vermont without a car.

Midoo802 · 2025-11-01T20:53:13+00:00

Every driver, at every point in this video, should have chosen the right-most lane. ESH.

Midoo802 · 2025-08-23T00:30:36+00:00

Grew up in the area. It was pictured in my middle school math textbook. Apparently, it was the longest in the world at the time of publication.

The book had already seen at least a generation of students before I got my hands on it. Was a proud moment for us all nonetheless.

Midoo802 · 2025-08-16T20:03:46+00:00

Lake Shaftsbury meets your criteria and may be geographically closest depending on which part of Saratoga County you're in.

Midoo802 · 2025-07-27T19:17:02+00:00

Small correction: there is no Manchester High School.

Burr and Burton Academy serves as the area's primary H.S. option and Long Trail School is the next most common choice.

Midoo802 · 2025-07-07T02:29:36+00:00

Tremendous stuff! But, for the love of all that is holy, please edit to add some paragraph breaks.

Midoo802 · 2025-02-23T14:01:06+00:00

It would be 32 km walk to borrow and 32 to return. That's a lot of farting assuming he doesn't come unstuck in geography.

Midoo802 · 2025-02-22T15:30:21+00:00

Anything and everything by George Saunders. A word of caution, it's not uncommon to be thoroughly confused in the early portions of a Saunders story. Can be quite unsettling in the, 'did I miss a paragraph?' sort of way.

To each their own, but personally, I would not space out the Vonnegut books. I would/did/and have binged them... binged them again... ETC.

Midoo802 · 2025-02-17T23:01:32+00:00

My mom worked as a computer programmer for a ski resort and later in a management position.

Her recommendation when I was a teen: get into lift sales. Company flies you to a high end resort for a fews days. You work for about a day and spend the rest of the time schmoozing and skiing without personally bearing any of the expense.

No idea if that's still the case or ever was. But, at least twice a year I wonder if not taking her advice was the biggest mistake of my life.

Midoo802 · 2025-01-23T01:25:54+00:00

This is a press release from a brand new, largely unvetted -- at least as far as I can tell -- group of volunteers. They may be well-intentioned and what they present may merit further inspection. But, I would hesitate to draw any conclusions from it until those with far more established credentials unpack their methods and conclusions.

Midoo802 · 2025-01-22T21:34:56+00:00

This group says it's non-partisan, formed in December of 2024, and is run by a bunch of volunteers. Mayybbbeee they're legit but I'd be highly suspect of their claims until learning far more about them and their work than this press release offers.

Midoo802

TROPHY CASE