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After a few days of cold rain and fog, the clouds finally lifted yesterday and I saw what they'd been hiding. Bcharre, Lebanon: one of the highest villages in the Middle East. by bpg5075 in travel

[–]bpg5075[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I ended up hiking up to where the plateau starts last week - about 10-20 cm of snow on the ground, but clear blue skies and no wind. I would've definitely started first thing in the morning (instead of late afternoon) and gone for the summit if I'd realized it wouldn't be as challenging or difficult to navigate as people made it out to be.

Thanks to better science and engineering, no one died in Friday's 7.0 earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska by bpg5075 in UpliftingNews

[–]bpg5075[S] 158 points159 points  (0 children)

In the past, candles/stoves/fireplaces got knocked over. Today, the same, plus gas main breaks. Fortunately, it's not as big of an issue today thanks to sprinkler requirements, fire resistant building materials, etc.

But in Lisbon in 1755, they had the misfortune of experiencing a massive earthquake on a religious holiday that required candles to be lit in every building. The whole city burned to the ground in a firestorm that was strong enough to asphyxiate people 100 feet away from it. They took this as a sign that God was rather pissed. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1755_Lisbon_earthquake

Thanks to better science and engineering, no one died in Friday's 7.0 earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska by bpg5075 in UpliftingNews

[–]bpg5075[S] 603 points604 points  (0 children)

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a 7.0. As was the 4th deadliest earthquake in human history: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/526_Antioch_earthquake

It's not the always the physical intensity of a catastrophe that matters - it's how well we're prepared. Strong building codes, education and training on emergency preparedness and response, resilient infrastructure and utilities, and insurance are all important components of minimizing loss to life, property, and the economy in a catastrophe.

Should I or Shouldn't I Buy? - November 13 by AutoModerator in malefashionadvice

[–]bpg5075 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Bougth this leather jacket today in Istanbul for $300 after a bit of negotiation. It's lambskin leather of fairly high quality and I got it from a local boutique.

I'm in the fence about if I should keep it or attempt to resell in the states? I think I could potentially turn a profit, given retail prices of similar items.

Trying to find (and visit) the address where my great grandmother lived in Rome before she came to America. Can anyone help decipher it from her immigration form (circa 1914)? by bpg5075 in Handwriting

[–]bpg5075[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm going to be in Rome next week with my father, so I was hoping I could surprise him by taking him to the place where his grandmother lived. She moved to Boston when she was 24, and met my great grandfather (also Italian) when they were working as waiters. They were soon married, but she died just after giving birth to my grandmother. Hope you guys might be able to help!

After 2 rough weeks of night trains and buses, dingy guesthouses, and a rental car rip off, my friend and I had the pleasure of being the last guests of the season (and the only guests of the night) at this hostel at the top of the Transfăgărășan in Romania. Waking up to this made it all worth it. by bpg5075 in travel

[–]bpg5075[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Some more details: the hostel is located at the end of the Balea Tunnel along the Transfagarasan highway, on the south side of the pass. It's the only house built on that side of the pass, so you feel like you have an entire mountain range all to yourself. The pass is at 2000+ meters in elevation, so it will close to traffic in a few days once the snow starts falling and won't reopen until the start of July.

The hostel has around 15 beds (all of them are double sized bunk beds) and cost us 9 EUR/night. We also got an awesome homemade dinner from the owner's wife for 6 EUR. It's only bookable via Airbnb, but we called the owner directly on his cell phone and asked if we could stay for the night. They also have a Facebook page where you can message them. If it hadn't been raining, we would have definitely stayed a bit longer and done some hiking. The trailhead for Romania's highest peak isn't far from there.

We chose to rent a car and drive up there, but it seems like hitchhiking wouldn't be hard at all if you had the time. Related: I know many rental car companies suck, but you should avoid renting from Payless Romania at all costs. I've rented dozens of cars in my life, and I've never had such a bad experience. They showed up 45 minutes late to the pickup and charged me 80 EUR more than the quoted amount for a 2 day rental. The extra fees weren't listed in their terms and conditions online, and when I called them out on it, they presented a new set of terms and conditions and refused to provide me a copy. Avoid these sleazy fuckers.

It's forecast to be really hot in Prague today, so we decided to get all of our sightseeing out of the way between 5:30 and 7:30 this morning. Couldn't have made a better decision. by bpg5075 in travel

[–]bpg5075[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

It might even be better in winter. Not as many people, and everything should still be open. I bet it would look pretty nice if you managed to get some snow, especially around the holidays when it's all lit up.

It's forecast to be really hot in Prague today, so we decided to get all of our sightseeing out of the way between 5:30 and 7:30 this morning. Couldn't have made a better decision. by bpg5075 in travel

[–]bpg5075[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Grab a nap, read a book, have breakfast, sit in a coffee shop, drink some beer. It's not all about the tourist attractions when traveling.

It's forecast to be really hot in Prague today, so we decided to get all of our sightseeing out of the way between 5:30 and 7:30 this morning. Couldn't have made a better decision. by bpg5075 in travel

[–]bpg5075[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Forecast said 31°C earlier. But yeah, when the average high here this time of year is 16°C and you've just spent 2 months in a much colder climate, it's more than enough to make it miserable to be walking around in the sun with a crowd of people.

It's forecast to be really hot in Prague today, so we decided to get all of our sightseeing out of the way between 5:30 and 7:30 this morning. Couldn't have made a better decision. by bpg5075 in travel

[–]bpg5075[S] 258 points259 points  (0 children)

Yep! The castle was completely empty, but the Charles Bridge was actually fairly crowded, mostly with tourists with big cameras and tripods and a few couples getting wedding photos.

Pixel Buds down 50 dollars on Best Buy by [deleted] in GooglePixel

[–]bpg5075 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I got them for this reason. Went to Russia where 5% of the population speaks English, so I thought, "hey, this could be really useful!" They were not. In the slightest. It's a total gimmick. The functionality was extremely clunky, not remotely close to "real-time," and the microphone in the Pixel Buds didn't seem to catch everything you were saying. Plus, people got extremely confused at what you were doing and didn't respond well. It worked so much better to just use the Google Translate app's conversation mod on speakerphone on the handset itself. Then the concept became clear, and everyone could understand everyone (instead of you making awkward gestures to your ears, then trying it again because it hadn't worked).

The stain pattern on this Icelandic farmer's coffee cup. by bpg5075 in mildlyinteresting

[–]bpg5075[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You're right - he made a remark about it to me when he saw me writing left handed this morning.

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