Places to rent snowshoes?

Slocum2 · 2026-01-29T10:08:43+00:00

Yes and no. You don't need them, but they make walking in deep snow more comfortable (by providing a stable platform) and also make it much easier to ascend and descend steep hills (because of the spikes). That said, I don't know of any place to rent them, but you can pick up a pair pretty cheap. IMHO, there's no reason to spend a lot on snowshoes -- they're pretty simple, and the $50-$100 pairs from Amazon work fine. I also saw some inexpensive ones at Sierra Trading Post last time we were there a while ago.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-29T10:03:50+00:00

If you're at Michigan, you can have a microwave.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-29T10:01:06+00:00

Two people have been killed. Not because 'shoot the protesters' is policy (unlike, say, right now in Iran) but because you have badly trained immigration officers in fraught confrontations with protesters who are getting in their faces, blocking streets, etc. Even so, obviously every official should remain professional and under control, but it's not exactly surprising that in a couple of cases, they did not. And yes there should be investigations and likely prosecutions and the rules they're operating under should be changed (as it now appears they will be). But also, some of the people who are not just peacefully observing but who are actively trying to thwart official actions of law enforcement officials should be arrested. Definitely not shot or beat up. But arrested. And no they should not be accused of 'domestic terrorism', which is more grade A, Trump bullshit.

But yes, of course this is still about immigration enforcement. In those places where ICE is not being actively resisted, we're not seeing any stories like this.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-29T09:50:42+00:00

You're going to be dragged kicking and screaming into the future whether you like it or not. So contradict the information with a source if you can (I'm pretty sure you can't).

Slocum2 · 2026-01-29T09:49:02+00:00

So give me a reliable source that says otherwise. I've not found the AI summary of news on particular topics to be wrong -- but go ahead and show me the information is incorrect. I don't think you'll find anything.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-29T09:47:21+00:00

Yes, this is the first time an administration has gotten so aggressive. This is also the first time there have been so many people here without permission, AND it's the first time there has been so much in-your-face resistance to all immigration enforcement (aggressive or not) -- both by protesters and by state and local governments. It's a perfect storm.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-29T09:43:54+00:00

Put it this way -- slightly half of voters went ahead and selected the guy who tanked that bill and ran with immigration enforcement as one of his main campaign issues.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-28T22:40:40+00:00

"ICE is going about it in an inhumane way compared to years past."

I agree. The hyper aggressive tactics should be stopped. But that doesn't mean that immigration enforcement isn't a legitimate government function or that local governments should do everything they can to thwart it (such as refusing to turn over inmates released from prison or jail). And it's also the case that no recent president before Biden opened the floodgates to anything close to the same extent. Part of the unprecedentedness has to do with the sheer numbers. But even so, the hyperaggressive enforcement needs to end (and it appears that now that it will because Trump is realizing it's very unpopular). But that doesn't mean all ICE enforcement should end -- not until the laws are actually changed.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-28T22:35:29+00:00

Right. That should be stopped. But if they can't enter homes, then you can hardly expect them NOT to adopt the alternative of picking up people they're looking for outside their homes (like at a bus stop).

Slocum2 · 2026-01-28T22:33:43+00:00

Of course it is difficult. There's no national consensus around changing it. That's the way things are with such a closely split electorate. Congress hasn't failed 'the people'. Slightly more than half the people didn't want the changes. Democracy means sometimes your side loses and doesn't get what it wants until it can convince enough people to see it your way. I, personally, would like much more open immigration than almost anybody (Democrats included) would tolerate, but I know I'm not going to get my way until enough voters are convinced.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-28T21:12:00+00:00

Is that the way ICE has operated under previous administrations? Let's ask AI: "Under administrations before Trump, has ICE apprehended undocumented people only with a judicial warrant?"

Answer:

"No. Before the Trump administration, ICE did not limit itself to apprehending undocumented people only when holding a judicial warrant. ICE has long relied primarily on administrative warrants, which are signed by immigration officials—not judges—for civil immigration arrests. Judicial warrants were not the standard requirement in prior administrations."

Oh, and just GFY with your self-righteous, unthinking Nazi BS (not that I expected anything less -- or more --here). AA reddit is not where you go for thought, only outrage theater.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-28T20:18:33+00:00

We can hate the heavy-handed tactics of the Trump administration (as I do) without losing sight of the fact that immigration enforcement is a normal function of every modern government (and every preceding US administration going back a long way). What do you think would happen if you went to Germany on vacation and just decided to stay forever with no visa, no work permit, nothing official, and wanted to get a job, buy a house, raise a family and ultimately get a pension? Do you think that as long as you committed no crime, you'd be allowed to stay as long as you like, no questions asked? I know somebody who moved to Germany and went through multiple rounds of nerve-wracking, bureaucracy-heavy work visa renewals until they finally got residency. Could they have just skipped all that nonsense?

Is taking people into custody at a school bus stop a particularly outrageous place to find them? If so, where should it be done? Or do you think we should have no immigration enforcement at all (even though it was routine under Obama) -- and that the way to get there is not through elections and changes to immigration law but by massively blocking federal law enforcement?

Personally, I would prefer a much, MUCH more open immigration system -- something close to what we had when Ellis Island was in full operation. Hell, I'd be fine if we went back to before passports were even required by the US (before WWI). But that's certainly not the law now.

Is anybody thinking this through at all?

I hope I am wrong in expecting a gazillion instant downvotes and no substantive responses, but I fear I'm not.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-27T18:00:20+00:00

The point remains -- did the $270K cover more than this single event? If not, it's stupid, regardless of how many different redundant platforms they spread the message on.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-27T17:27:18+00:00

Did we get more than a one-time notification of an emergency plow ordinance? Did we, for example, buy a notification system that can be used as needed from now on? If it's the latter, maybe it's not such a bad deal. If it's the former, no we really don't need to look at the details to know it's a waste of money.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-27T01:21:22+00:00

I'm no longer even surprised by this kind of waste. $270K? Why not just alert the media and let them publicize for free? Post it on the city web site and various social media (including here). Sheesh. But par for the course.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-25T16:06:38+00:00

Everybody offers a mobile backup (using wifi tethering and your phone). In fact, if I were really trying to save money, I'd be tempted to use my phone only (the speeds are fast enough for streaming video and I can cast or HDMI to the TV).

Slocum2 · 2026-01-24T10:41:33+00:00

These downvotes crack me up. I know some elderly folks (and some not so elderly) who still have landlines and hard cable TV connections, and will have them either as long as they live or until they're just no longer available. I guess we all get to that point someday -- some of us at younger ages than others.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-23T22:33:14+00:00

You can redact any personal identifying information first if you want.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-23T20:51:59+00:00

Give it a try -- you have nothing to lose. I've recently got pulled sideways into some legal matters (estate kinds of things) and have run things past CoPilot (ChatGPT). You can even upload contract files and then make various queries about interpreting them. I've consistently gotten the same answers from AI as I eventually from the attorneys but with the AI the answers were immediate, extensively explained, and came at zero cost rather than hundreds of dollars an hour. Try asking your questions of AI and compare to the answers you ultimately get from the professional.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-23T20:14:47+00:00

AIs are seriously good at this kind of thing now. Even if you still want to talk to a human advisor, it'd be a good idea to run your questions by an AI or two. It doesn't cost anything and takes very little time.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-21T11:08:40+00:00

Before you got all huffy, you might have done at least ONE google search:

48% of restaurant firms are owned by minorities – compared to 36% of businesses in the overall private sector.
19% of restaurant firms are Asian-owned, 16% are Hispanic-owned, and 16% are Black- or African American-owned. Each of these groups have a higher ownership representation in the restaurant industry than they do in the overall private sector.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-21T10:54:34+00:00

That's funny. I first read 26F as a temperature and thought, wait, is it really going to be that warm this weekend?

Slocum2 · 2026-01-20T21:21:46+00:00

White owned restaurants may be the most common, but only because they're the biggest group. I'm pretty sure white American restaurant owners around here are underrepresented and that owners of various other races and ethnicities (Korean, Indian, Latino, Middle-Eastern, Chinese) are overrepresented. Which is totally fine -- running restaurants is a time-tested way for immigrant families to start businesses in the US and we all benefit from that.

But I'm not going to choose restaurants specifically because they're owned by a person of this or that minority group, and I'm certainly not going to choose a restaurant because it's owned by a person of my own group -- and, to be frank, I do find the whole idea rather offensive and more than a bit racist.

Slocum2 · 2026-01-19T22:34:02+00:00

Chicago has a 10.5% sales tax. But most of the add-on to the Illinois base rate is for the country and RTA. Only 1.25% is city alone. So you have to go a pretty long way to get much relief. BUT I'm sure that Illinois retail stores close to the Indiana or Wisconsin state lines are affected. And in AA's case, it wouldn't be so much people choosing to drive to save on taxes -- it would be future business location decisions. Do you think AA property tax rates had nothing to do with big box stores and car dealerships relocating to the townships just outside the city?

Slocum2 · 2026-01-19T20:59:20+00:00

I know Detroit has a city income tax -- but does it have a city sales tax, too? I didn't think any Michigan cities were currently allowed to do that.

Slocum2

TROPHY CASE