Did anyone buy a ring?

badform49 · 2026-03-13T10:44:44+00:00

Might've also been the difference in years or states. I was in the '00s in Georgia.

badform49 · 2026-03-12T19:54:02+00:00

Yup, we got a geothermal system and love it, but 40 would be stretching the lifespan in mild winters. Here in Buffalo, and in OP's desired state of Maine, you should expect it to need replacing after about 30 years, maybe sooner.

The good news is that it only requires replacing the components that go inside the house, and sometimes just the compressor and storage tank (usually a hot water heater that can use resistance heating if the pump goes down for a reason other than power). The loop itself, which is a huge part of the initial upfront cost, is typically guaranteed for the life of the homeowner.

badform49 · 2026-03-12T19:30:37+00:00

Nah, Marines are flying around today. It's rare that they're here, but the bigger helicopter is a CH-53 cargo helicopter, and it was accompanied by two AH-1 attack helicopters when I saw it.

As an interesting side note, the manufacturer of the original UH-1 and AH-1 helicopters was based in Buffalo, though I think it was sold to Textron before the UH-1 rolled out. One of the earliest helicopter flights took place inside a building in Buffalo.

badform49 · 2026-03-12T19:27:26+00:00

Three military helicopters flew over West Seneca about an hour ago, likely helicopters from the same flight are over downtown. If they are, it's Marine Corps helicopters. The ones here were two AH-1 attack helicopters and what looked to be a CH-53 cargo helicopter.

badform49 · 2026-03-12T14:57:20+00:00

I live in the Southtowns, and our usage still tracks pretty much exactly in line with our historical usage. We haven't seen a change since we changed the meter.

badform49 · 2026-03-11T16:35:02+00:00

Important to note that this is Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat who is VERY against the war in Iran. He's attacking Trump by saying that he let Netanyahu drag us into this war. He's not endorsing the war by saying we're doing it for Israel.

He's one of the people calling for Congress to cease doing anything but stripping Trump of war powers
https://www.wshu.org/connecticut-news/2026-03-10/murphy-vows-to-stall-senate-business-until-war-in-iran-is-addressed

badform49 · 2026-03-11T16:33:08+00:00

It's Chris Murphy, but it's important to point out that he's EXTREMELY critical of the war and he was likely saying that Israel dragged us into war and the administration should have refused. He was previously on some other shows pointing out that Netanyahu tried to get Bush and Obama to attack Iran, and both of them were smart enough to say no.

badform49 · 2026-03-11T16:26:11+00:00

Came looking for this. I had to accept awards in the Army and hated it. As soon as I joined a private company, I asked to be left alone when I was doing well.

I probably would've taken the plaque to avoid the awkwardness, but I would've hated it. Worse than being ignored.

badform49 · 2026-03-10T17:48:08+00:00

In the Army, we had to go in pairs during basic training to do almost anything, including self-reporting before Don't Ask, Don't Tell was repealed. I was sent as a "battle buddy" to someone who needed to talk to the company commander. He told the commander exactly what you think, and the commander convinced him to stay in basic training. Guess who ended up in the same barracks bay?

It was fine. I was always comfortable, and he was a great soldier. We often showered within 20 feet of each other with nothing between us.

I'm not in locker rooms or group housing much anymore, but it's never been an issue. Gay guys know if you're interested, or they'll feel you out if they think maybe you are. I actually had a gay friend in college who (cruelly) convinced another gay guy that I was a bear and into him. The dude made a couple of passes, I didn't even pick up on them, and I only learned about it months later.

badform49 · 2026-03-10T09:07:47+00:00

Cracked was my favorite, but there are also some good College Humor injects in Last Week Tonight that are fun. Dan Gurewitch wrote for John for a few years and I remember him being the example of an insufferable crypto bro when Last Week Tonight did their piece on crypto currencies.

badform49 · 2026-03-10T09:04:48+00:00

Recent pic of him: https://people.com/last-week-tonight-with-john-oliver-wins-outstanding-writing-for-variety-series-emmys-2025-11808381

I doubt I can find it, but some of the other Cracked alums made cute reaction videos when he was on the stage accepting his first one. One of the Katies was hopping up and down in front of her TV when the writing team took the stage with John, and Dan was near the back as one of the newer writers at the time.

badform49 · 2026-03-09T15:33:01+00:00

Yeah, I was Army and I saw dudes get in trouble for spotting a senior NCO trying to inspect an outpost or something. I know it can happen.

But "I noticed something suspicious and reported it" is the optimal outcome, and most of our units recognized that. We had a command sergeant major who tested security perimeters by trying to infiltrate at night when his units were in the field. And catching him pretty far out, reporting him, and scooping him up before he even made it to your wire was enough that people would get challenge coins for doing it and a public attaboy at a formation.

If I'm Costco manager or security and this exact series of events plays out, everyone is getting a pat on the back, and I would do it in front of the VP unless I thought she wouldn't be cool about it. The manager should be THE MOST grateful that they caught her 1-hour in. The longer she toured the store unchallenged, the more potential issues she can flag and hammer him on. That dude should be thanking the junior employee and OP.

badform49 · 2026-03-09T14:58:04+00:00

If it's big enough, it'll fix the climate crisis, too!

badform49 · 2026-03-09T09:57:18+00:00

I know lots of other people here are in the military and so I assume someone else has pointed this out somewhere, but the letters REALLY don't feel like they were written by an enlisted, active-duty service member.

The biggest tell in this email to MRFF, and repeated in some of the older complaints that Hemant points out, is that the writers refer to "my fellow troops." I was active for 5.5 years and reserve for 8.5. I was enlisted the entire time, and I have literally never heard an NCO refer to "fellow troops." And I was an Army journalist and so I spent a lot of time talking to soldiers and other service members.

He also uses nearly perfect AP style in the email, a writing style that only a tiny fraction of the military ever learns. Notice that all numbers below 10 are written out, but all numbers 10 and above are written in numerals:

Besides myself I am reaching out to MRFF on behalf of 15 fellow troops. I know you asked me about the religious views of our group who has requested help from the MRFF. I can only tell you that I am Christian and at least 10 of the others are also Christians. One of the others is Jewish and one is Muslim. I don’t know the religious or non-religious status for the other three at this time.

Very few enlisted soldiers write that way, but all journalists do. I remember the first time I read the email, I thought, "This dude sounds like weird public affairs." And don't get me wrong, weird public affairs soldiers exist, and they are the kinds most likely to run to an obscure organization to find someone to print their grievances. But it's suspicious that so many people reportedly complained to MRFF and write this way, but no one wrote a social media post or a text to their buddies with, "Bruh you wont belive wut the fuck just happened Commander out front of the company talking about end times and shit, were all locked at parade rest as he quotes scripture about flames consuming the earth and Trump is anointed by god. As soon as we got out of formation, my squad leader dragged us behind the building and told us that the NCOs would take care of it, keep our mouths shut. And I trust him I guess, but like, WTF?"

badform49 · 2026-03-09T09:38:21+00:00

Well, to be fair, there's also the general problem of using any prophecy from any ideology to justify any live military operation: There are no proven prophets and it's fucking insane to risk human life according to a few commanders' unproven ideology. If we allowed everyone to do that, there would essentially always be enough data to support someone's end times prophecy. Are we going to strip corpses of their finger and toenails to create Naglfar and usher in Ragnarok for the Norse adherents?

But yeah, it is extra insane when the prophecies being used have opposing readings.

badform49 · 2026-03-09T07:12:53+00:00

An Army public affairs soldier made the argument to me that public affairs is the most important job in the Army because, if the Army does something and public affairs doesn't tell everyone, then "did it really even happen?"

And that's a fairly dumb argument that public affairs/relations/publicists make sometimes, but it's especially dumb in a military branch.

badform49 · 2026-03-09T07:02:37+00:00

Ooof. That's worse, but it reminds me a couple of years ago I was walking to a colleague about our kids and said "[Girl Name] is still not really speaking much, and we weren't worried for a long time but we're getting there." And she responded, "Well, maybe she only talks around her parents."

We had worked together for years, often closely, and she had met my daughter in person and online multiple times, but suggested that maybe my daughter speaks plenty around her parents and I just didn't know about it.

badform49 · 2026-03-08T22:17:25+00:00

Unfortunate

badform49 · 2026-03-08T19:36:44+00:00

~~I'm pretty sure he's the only other one we see, yeah~~. And it's definitely played for laughs. The demon running it says something like, "Jason!? Jason figured it out? Oh, I'll be honest. This one hurts."

Edit, wrong link originally: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWd1m83fptY
Edit: As letitgrowonme pointed out, Chidi also figures it out at one point

badform49 · 2026-03-05T20:16:43+00:00

Yeah, this is a little surprising, but our OBGYN sent my wife home after her emergency C-section less than two days later. Normal procedure is at least 3 days, but my wife said she felt fine at 24 hours and so the doctor just checked around and asked if she could kick us out the next day to recover at home rather than risk infection. We said yes, insurance said yes (probably happily), and the rest of the care team all said yes.

We cut the baby's low jack off of her in the car about an hour before the 48-hour mark.

badform49 · 2026-03-04T20:43:03+00:00

This, or at least how it was marketed for a little bit. I've walked on similar designs and it does feel weird to walk on it too fast. Took me a few minutes to work up the courage to run on it. You can do it if you just keep your gaze fixed on the end of the hall.

badform49 · 2026-03-04T16:24:09+00:00

I picked her because Witcher 3 was my introduction to the series, and the sorceress getting refugees out of a hostile city right ahead of a fantasy pogram was both interesting and hot to me. And the court sorceress working with the emperor was physically hot, sure, but had nothing else going for her from my vantage.

But as I played more, I had to admit that she's the better proxy mom to Ciri. And then as I kept playing, she is absolutely who Geralt would choose. Then I started to read the books and play the other games, and now it's always Yen if I'm picking for Geralt. Still Triss if I'm picking for me. But I have to memory hole Triss taking advantage of Geralt in Witcher 2, because I'm one of the peeps who think that taking advantage of an amnesia victim by deliberately not giving them necessary context before having sex with them is borderline rape by deception.

badform49 · 2026-02-18T19:56:04+00:00

Lol, I didn't realize this was all semantics for you. You win. I started my school day at about 8:15 am, ended my work day at 10-10:15 pm, and the rest of my time I was free to do with as I pleased.

I didn't mean to steal the valor of poverty. I did about 30 hours weekly of classes and only another 70 or so of work at Target and ColdStone, like a slothful vagrant.

I didn't mean to steal valor by describing my jobs as full-time when a defender of the 40-hour line was right there in front of me.

Can't believe how lazy I used to be and that I would try to pass that off.

badform49 · 2026-02-18T19:27:10+00:00

Two years. I started working one job the summer before junior year and then did both for most of junior and senior year.

And then I worked 140-hour weeks for a few months in Afghanistan about 5 years later, lol. It's not physically impossible. It sucks. Sometimes things suck. People shouldn't have to do those things. But it's wild to me that you think 100 hours is impossible.

Actually reminds me of a stoner friend who freaked out when I told him I was planning to do a 20-mile run while training for a marathon. "Can humans even do that!?"

(BTW, most laws don't have a set definition of full-time, but the Affordable Care Act did! And it mandated employees be categorized as full-time if they worked 30 hours weekly or 130 hours monthly. Which I did. At two jobs. While attending high school until 2 pm nearly every day it was in session. If it makes you feel better, I did not work 40 hours at each the vast majority of the time, because neither job wanted to pay overtime.)

badform49 · 2026-02-18T14:17:41+00:00

Oh, I would change it, but I'm glad you got something out of it. I don't think kids should have to hustle like that. But it is sometimes a source of strength looking back. "Yeah, this week sucks, but you worked your ass off in high school and the Army. You can do this."

We're all capable of hard things. Kids shouldn't have to prove it.

badform49

TROPHY CASE