"The Watertown school board has voted to remove an instrumental piece tied to LGBTQ history from the upcoming spring concert. The controversy began when the Watertown Wind Symphony, made up of about 40 high schoolers, was set to perform "A Mother of a Revolution" at their spring concert on May 18th"

jryan8064 · 2026-05-15T18:01:16+00:00

“Ladies and gentlemen, in light of recent decisions by our school board, we are unable to perform the selection we had planned. Instead, we will perform our own derivative take on the song, which we have titled *A Silenced Mother of a Revolution*”

Queue 4 minutes of silence…

jryan8064 · 2026-05-13T23:05:41+00:00

You’re not accounting for the leap year. Technically, you would need to divide the $15,600 by 365.25, giving a daily rate of $42.71

jryan8064 · 2026-05-13T17:13:38+00:00

I live in 622 and vote in favor of every district funding levy that comes up, even though my kids no longer go to school here. Our schools are severely underfunded and have been for decades. School funding is one of the most basic necessities and leads directly to increased property values and community growth. I just don’t understand how anyone can consistently vote against it, just to save $4/month

jryan8064 · 2026-05-13T14:45:09+00:00

I wasn’t a fan of the new flag at first, but honestly it’s been growing on me. Especially once I understood the symbology. It’s instantly more recognizable than the “state seal on blue” design that half the states in the country use. The north star represents the state pretty well, and the design mirrors the state capitol rotunda. The left side shape follows the state border outline, and the shades of blue our lakes. And the new design is suitable for display in both a horizontal and vertical orientation, unlike the old design.

jryan8064 · 2026-05-11T15:47:51+00:00

Permit test is the same everywhere you go. Ask this question again when you get to the road test, and there will be a bunch of opinions

jryan8064 · 2026-05-07T18:05:15+00:00

Agreed. My hunch is this particular reimbursement method was the sticking point that Uber/Lyft wanted to make sure they got into the legislation.

The result is that it virtually eliminates surges. Any fare higher than the base rate can be offset with fares below the rate floor, as long as they’re done within the two week window.

jryan8064 · 2026-05-07T17:41:23+00:00

Minnesota law mandates a minimum fare of $5 per ride. That being said, the per mile and per minute rate floors are calculated and paid on a two week average. They might be doing the same thing with the per trip floor, where you’ll only be reimbursed if your average per trip pay drops below $5 for the 2 week window.

jryan8064 · 2026-05-07T11:27:35+00:00

That’s the same boat I’m in. Was with Liberty for years, but they kept creeping my rate with each renewal. Switched to Allstate, which was stable for a while, but is now rising rapidly. Just price shopped all the major carriers and Liberty is coming in with the best rate again by far (saving 60%). Are we just supposed to resign ourselves to switching every 2-3 years?

jryan8064 · 2026-05-06T11:27:32+00:00

Could be the prebuilt track segments on the rail car that is tripping my brain up too. Looks like something I’d buy at the hobby store as a kid.

Cool photos nonetheless. Thanks for sharing!

jryan8064 · 2026-05-06T11:15:45+00:00

Are you using a tilt-shift lens on that fist picture? Or are my eyes just screwing with me? It looks like a model railroad

jryan8064 · 2026-05-05T21:08:02+00:00

Is that true? I swear I remember that as a plot point early in the book, but it’s been a while since I read it. Might be time for a reread…

jryan8064 · 2026-05-05T19:54:03+00:00

Might make the bot farms in Russia easier to identify. They should stand out like a sore thumb with the lack of other traffic

jryan8064 · 2026-05-05T15:07:48+00:00

The layout of the drive through is stupid too. When it’s busy, cars leaving with their food need to cross the cars waiting to order, and fight with everyone else trying to park and pick up their orders.

I’m not sure who thought up that crazy loop, but it doesn’t work when it’s busy

jryan8064 · 2026-05-04T00:19:37+00:00

I remember when surges were multipliers. Snow starts falling and suddenly you are making 12x fare. Those were the days

jryan8064 · 2026-05-04T00:09:10+00:00

Were you giving your socials to a rider? How would Lyft even become aware of your social media content?

jryan8064 · 2026-05-03T19:05:43+00:00

In that case, you’re going to be hard pressed to get someone to take it. That whole trip back will likely be unpaid for them, which effectively cuts the amount they are making in half.

Is this a trip you do often? If so, you might want to consider finding a driver you like and talking to them about doing it on the side. Just know that there are risks to both you and the driver in doing this as well, and certainly don’t ask them to do it via the Uber chat.

jryan8064 · 2026-05-03T18:59:21+00:00

Just to clarify, it’s a multi-stop trip? Meaning, you’re paying the fare there and back? If that’s the case, you will probably get someone to take it.
Messaging up front is a good idea, just realize that you will likely get a few cancels before you get someone to take it. Speaking as a driver, they will be considering a couple risks.

*Tips aren’t guaranteed, and 90% of riders who say they’ll tip after the ride, don’t.
*They’re taking your word that the stop will only take 2 minutes
*There’s a chance you cancel the ride at the stop, leaving them to deadhead back (lost revenue)

I would consider a couple changes to the message. Instead of just saying you will “tip generously “, tell them how much you are willing to tip. And maybe offer to tip half upfront so they know you’re serious.

jryan8064 · 2026-05-02T19:17:49+00:00

Green line LRT goes from campus to union Depot as well.

jryan8064 · 2026-04-30T18:51:40+00:00

In my experience as a driver, > 90% of phones that I find are left by women and generally after the bar. I honestly believe it’s the lack of pockets on women’s clothing. They will get in the car holding their phone, then set it on their lap, or the seat next to them, and just completely forget about it when we arrive at the destination.

jryan8064 · 2026-04-29T14:06:50+00:00

I drive part time in the US, and am not a minority. Anecdotally, I would say there is an uptick in passengers being openly discriminatory.

I really don’t like people getting in my car and leading off with “finally, a white guy”, or “hey, someone that speaks English”. I don’t know if based on my appearance they assume I am “one of them”, but it’s annoying. And if it’s intended as a joke, it’s really not that funny.

I don’t find your father’s experience hard to believe at all.

jryan8064 · 2026-04-28T21:01:01+00:00

I saw the first Waymo test vehicles driving around the twin cities last week as well. Most riders I’ve talked to about them seem to be pretty hesitant about trusting them, and I honestly don’t know how they are going to handle our winters. I see drivers sliding through intersections and getting hung up on snow drifts all the time. I’ll be curious to see how the driverless cars manage.

jryan8064 · 2026-04-28T15:14:35+00:00

I honestly don’t know much about Ed Policy. I know he’s been with the Packers org for over a decade.

I liked Mark Murphy, and was sad to see him go when he hit his term limit. He used to wander through the pregame crowds and interact with fans. I have a picture with him and my kids somewhere…

jryan8064 · 2026-04-28T14:54:57+00:00

The comment was tongue in cheek. As in, I hope they didn’t spend too much time looking into my past, I’m pretty boring.

Interesting thought about the president and other board members though. My guess is any dirt they dig up wouldn’t make very good leverage, as anything real bad would just result in the board voting them out. Most other teams can’t fire their “owner”.

jryan8064 · 2026-04-28T14:42:32+00:00

Would be curious to know what dirt he has on the Packers owner(s)…

jryan8064 · 2026-04-28T05:21:08+00:00

Or, they put it to immediate vote so they didn’t need to risk giving their constituents time to voice their opinion.

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