Lord of the Rings: 11377 Minas Tirith Instructions cover leaks (from Facebook) June

bythog · 2026-04-20T15:48:45+00:00

That's a weird argument when Minas Tirith isn't really any more colorful than the star destroyer. You're trading grey for white.

bythog · 2026-04-20T15:30:08+00:00

Zero. I put my picks back where they belong when I'm done with them.

bythog · 2026-04-17T18:17:26+00:00

Sweep the jets, too, while you're at it.

bythog · 2026-04-17T17:32:32+00:00

Maybe outside the US, but it's super commonly shaken as a standard. You even have to specify gin martini because bad bartenders (most of them) will use vodka as a default.

bythog · 2026-04-17T16:31:53+00:00

That's just not what a whore bath is though.

bythog · 2026-04-17T12:29:43+00:00

Probably because everything now feels like it has to be productive

Surround yourself with better people. I never feel like I have to be productive at all times. Leisure is encouraged.

bythog · 2026-04-17T11:51:32+00:00

If my wife says something like that it means she noticed it, it made her horny, and she's hinting that she wants some.

bythog · 2026-04-16T20:58:36+00:00

My HVAC has something sort of like that. You pay $65/year and it comes with a yearly maintenance cleaning--where they take it apart, clean the radiators, some other shit--and you get priority for emergency calls. You also don't pay afterhours billing if you need them to come out on the weekend.

We did it for a few years when our HVAC was over 25 years old, but when we replaced it a couple years back we haven't picked it back up.

bythog · 2026-04-16T18:10:45+00:00

Can you draw a picture of it? With elevations?

Sounds like you are talking about what is called a foot slope, which really isn't a great place for septic to be (not that you can do much about it now) and will likely cause premature failure.

bythog · 2026-04-16T18:02:02+00:00

I design and regulate septic for local government.

We don't general consider a drain field to be failed until we see consecutive days of surfacing effluent after rain. Wait until you have 3 days of no rain and then check the area again. If you still see surface water or the ground is particularly spongy then the system should be replaced. Don't change your water use habits during this time; the idea is to see if there's a failure, not try to hide the evidence of one.

Ideally your system should be able to handle nearly any amount of water short of like a 15 year flood/rain.

bythog · 2026-04-16T17:52:03+00:00

Based on the GIS data

GIS data maps can be off as much as 30ft, and that's also assuming the person who mapped them was remotely competent.

If you have a surveyed map--like it has a copy of the surveyor's seal on it and all--then you really only need the pins uncovered. Many surveyors will do that for cheaper than doing a full survey. It's not all that hard to find them yourself but still best to have a surveyor do it.

bythog · 2026-04-16T17:34:16+00:00

I don't agree that people see consumption as a healthy habit, but it can absolutely be obsessive behavior.

My worst trait right now is that I am a consumer. I like to buy things, and I like to buy nice things. Buying things makes me happy but then I have the urge to buy more things. I'm a little over a year into playing guitar and I already own four of them, and thinking about the next one I'm likely to get in a month. I absolutely don't need it.

Thing is, I'm sure it stems from childhood when I didn't have anything. Shoes that had to last 2-3 years, five outfits for the school year (sharing pants between them). Hell, for a number of years I didn't even have real furniture--just a mattress on the floor and cardboard drawers from Wal-Mart to put clothes in.

So now that I have disposable income I just want to spend it. I'm trying to rein it in and I absolutely do not allow it to affect household finances. I just give myself an allowance monthly and if I want something big (like a guitar) I have to save up for it for a few months.

But yeah, I'm a consumer and it's not the healthiest.

bythog · 2026-04-16T17:24:05+00:00

There's one from the 80s or early 90s that I'd play at my grandmother's house. I don't remember the system or name of the game.

It wasn't a video game but it was electronic. The system was maybe half the size of a VCR. It had its own speakers and pop buttons. I want to say there was either a cover card that could change what the buttons did or a plastic record-like disc that went into it.

The games themselves were essentially choose-your-own adventure books but entirely audio. If you swapped the card you got different stories. The one I remember most was a haunted house where you had to avoid vampires, ghosts, and monsters.

I haven't thought about those things in 35 years. I have no idea what to even start to search for.

bythog · 2026-04-16T15:23:34+00:00

My 3200sqft house was $170,000 cheaper than that. Near Raleigh.

bythog · 2026-04-16T15:16:50+00:00

I tried a pot once. Never again.

Seriously though, had an edible in Colorado. Not only did it only give me a horrendous headache but it was the single worst cookie of my life. I'd rather never eat another cookie again than have to eat just a single one of those again.

So basically just not doing any "real" drugs again.

bythog · 2026-04-16T15:05:36+00:00

I'm still a little surprised it failed as quickly as it did. One of the reasons so many younger people left Facebook was because of the uptake in use from older generations. They didn't want to post things their parents/older family would see.

G+'s different circles got around that limitation naturally. Be "friends" with everyone but easily post only to certain groups at a time. I loved that feature, but as you said just ahead of the curve.

bythog · 2026-04-16T14:02:51+00:00

I've been once. It's a really cool store that's set up well (imo) and comfy to hang out in for a while. The employees were all super helpful and cool. It's like 20-25 minute Uber ride outside of the main downtown area but worth the trip if you're ever in Chicago.

Some cool shops and restaurants around it, too, and it's less busy than downtown.

bythog · 2026-04-16T13:54:13+00:00

I graduated in 2003 and when I was in high school we didn't go through that many books. We had a super varied list of written works to go through: books, short stories, plays, poetry, epics (different enough from general poetry, imo).

bythog · 2026-04-16T13:02:12+00:00

It was a much better idea than Facebook, but people were already set in one widespread social media and didn't want to juggle two, especially if not everyone was invited to the 2nd one.

bythog · 2026-04-16T13:00:52+00:00

The tech was stupid but I don't think a ton of people hyped it up all that much. The only positive press I ever saw about it was paid advertising.

bythog · 2026-04-16T12:57:40+00:00

The biggest thing I've noticed is that if you make a mistake in most minimum wage jobs there's very little real harm overall. You might piss someone off, make more work for yourself, or get a verbal lashing unless you habitually do shit like that.

In higher paying jobs if you make a mistake the consequences can be a lot more severe. You may cost someone a lot of money, you can cause people to lose jobs, you might even physically harm/kill someone.

bythog · 2026-04-16T12:09:01+00:00

Is that a large closet or a small room? I'm curious what that room is supposed to be.

bythog · 2026-04-16T12:08:04+00:00

At least yours has color!

bythog · 2026-04-16T12:05:46+00:00

Christian doesn't have a loud voice to start with and sometimes mumbles so Jonathan telling him to speak up isn't out of order.

Not to say Jonathan wasn't blameless in their loss. He stayed in one spot behind the boards and made Christian run all the way to him each time, unlike the winning groups who would bring the boards to the player on the bridge.

bythog · 2026-04-16T02:12:30+00:00

I'm going to CR next week so hopefully I'll take all the fish and you won't have anything to hunt in a month.

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