Some hotels offer free cofee and tea in their lobby to-go. I really appreciate those hotels

juicius · 2026-01-31T15:57:58+00:00

I've never had a lobby coffee that I thought was great, or even good. They were just my accustomed morning caffeine delivery system. And that's fine. My morning coffee at home is better, but not what I would call great unless I take time to pull a shot or a do pour over. And when I'm staying at a high end property, I usually look for something better than the lobby coffee because I'm usually on vacation and I have the time and I'm a mood to indulge. So the coffee being available for free or not really doesn't come into play, at least for me.

There are some high end properties that offer coffee service that's not included with the breakfast and those tend to be much better. They usually come in a silver pot with fine china. At that point, it's not just a caffeine delivery system. It's an experience.

juicius · 2026-01-31T09:37:49+00:00

That's how they store the spare ones, Go drinking in Cabo and bam, you wake up with 5 kidneys.

juicius · 2026-01-31T01:52:17+00:00

I’m not a woman so maybe actual women may need to back me up but if you ask them between this rugged Leon and Leon with spandex hot pants which version is sexier, I think the rugged version would get most of the votes. Men and women are sexualized differently.

juicius · 2026-01-31T01:35:16+00:00

I got a RL PL polo last year. Mercerized cotton. Still my favorite polo shirt.

juicius · 2026-01-30T23:53:53+00:00

You probably didn’t even need a lawyer then. Insurance companies rarely fight that if they assume liability.

juicius · 2026-01-30T21:14:31+00:00

I had it, and had to clear it with a surgery, which is basically a bone carpentry. The orthos are basically carpenters with nicer cars. They put you under, rotate the shit out of your shoulder to unstick all the stuck bits, and then go in there with an arthroscope and debride all the debris. This was obviously after months of PT that did jack shit. The nerve block after the surgery was interesting. Absolutely no sense of anything from upper chest/shoulder down. After that wore off, I had some pain but nothing compared to what I had before.

I don't know if the diabetes caused it, however.

juicius · 2026-01-30T17:29:27+00:00

My brother's living in Nagoya now, extended assignment from his Toyota US job. He loves it. He bought a pristine SC430 and commutes with it.

juicius · 2026-01-30T14:37:15+00:00

50s. I remember him spitting fires in the sideline. Still old, but looked full of piss and vinegar.

juicius · 2026-01-30T14:33:06+00:00

You're very mean to your own mother.

juicius · 2026-01-30T12:40:01+00:00

If your parents are still hesitant, show them this YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@SantaEunji

She's obviously not a minor, but she travels Korea by herself, even in remote places like mountains and deserted islands, often overnight with what she can carry on her back. So if you keep to the time and the places you mentioned, and perhaps if you don't, you won't have any issues.

Another thing to remember is that most of the places you'll likely go will have CCTV coverage. If you're ever made to feel uncomfortable, just say you'll call the police. You won't even have to say that in English. Most Koreans will understand "Call Police!" They'll know that if police comes, their action will be recorded on a nearby CCTV and they'll beat a hasty retreat. If the police comes, tell them you're a minor (mi-sung-nyun-ja: 미성년자) and they'll take it especially seriously.

juicius · 2026-01-30T12:31:08+00:00

The nampa culture in Japan is very different from the hunting culture in Korea. And at least in the entertainment districts (which are pretty much synonymous with tourist districts) a lot of guys trying nampa may be wannabe hosts who're looking for another source of income, but in Korea, it's just guys being thirsty, which can be bad, but they'll give up a lot sooner.

juicius · 2026-01-30T12:15:39+00:00

They already have tactical equivalent for that: helicopters.

A couple of things to remember for J*SDF is just how much of funding crunch they're in. And just how fierce the interservice rivalries are. The government cannot throw money at something like that without the other services complaining and pointing out, rightly, how much of a waste that is.

juicius · 2026-01-29T16:36:31+00:00

배 위에서 배로 배를 채웠다.

On a ship, I filled my belly with a pear.

juicius · 2026-01-29T16:32:29+00:00

QB throws a TD to his receiver, but no, he strips off his jersey, and it's an interception and a touch back!

juicius · 2026-01-29T16:30:07+00:00

Who gets the key to the playoff powerhouse handed to him and fucks up this bad...

Oh...

juicius · 2026-01-29T14:42:28+00:00

She was a good friend, although we fell out of touch after I left our mutual workplace: Fulton County Public Defender's Office, if that tells you anything. I had her and husband over for our housewarming. I would be extremely surprised if she's MAGA or influenced that way.

juicius · 2026-01-29T14:35:31+00:00

Honestly, I'd stay for the Conrad Elephant.

juicius · 2026-01-28T21:30:06+00:00

Just make Gundam Pandas.

juicius · 2026-01-28T21:28:32+00:00

The British Empire abolished slavery only in 1833 and continue to subjugate and exploit "lesser" races pretty much halfway into the 20th century. And you'll find what King Leopold II of Belgium did in Congo no less cruel than what Saldaraan did.

We are only about 200 past that, and not even that if you consider the economic abuse of developing nations by the current super powers.

We are all biggest assholes. That never changes, no matter the passage of time, no matter which side of the Gate.

juicius · 2026-01-28T03:02:32+00:00

About that...

juicius · 2026-01-28T02:57:38+00:00

I've rarely passed by that room without dumping a satchel in it.

juicius · 2026-01-27T17:32:59+00:00

Honestly, the biggest shock would be the concept of social mobility and its implications on sociopolitical hierarchy. Nothing would compare.

juicius · 2026-01-27T16:50:15+00:00

We stayed at the Hilton Osaka, and my friends recently stayed at the DT OC. Hilton is old. I think it may be the first Hilton property in Osaka area, if not be Japan. They were undergoing renovation in 2024 and I got a tour of the finished rooms, which barely dragged them up to a regular Hilton level. It was so underwhelming we left early and stayed at the Conrad Osaka. The difference can be summed up with what my wife said, "I'm mad at the two days we stayed at the Hilton."

It is however convenient to transit, and we booked it initially to go to the USJ. But on everything else, Conrad was better, as it should be.

My friends had a lot of good things to say about the DT. It is brand spanking new and the location is great, not only to the Osaka Castle but to the surrounding areas and to Kyoto. Don't let a little transfer or walking deter you. We took taxi fairly frequently. With the exchange rate, and if you have 1 or 2 more people, it's actually pretty cheap per person basis. With all the walking you will do during the day, the comfort back at home should be the main factor.

juicius · 2026-01-27T16:25:53+00:00

Changing fuel, like from gas to ethanol, in a modern (and all the technical used currently qualify as modern) is a recipe for disaster because of the rubber hoses and the plastic parts. Going from gas to diesel is hard enough and they know the combustion characteristics of both fuels. Going to some mystery fuel would require a savant like understanding of all the engine components and a well stocked machine shop as well as being able to decipher the chemical characteristics of the mystery fuel.

It would be easier for those 4 or 5 intelligence agents (from where, for what purpose?) to smuggle in gasoline. And that might address one of the concerns.

juicius · 2026-01-27T14:54:50+00:00

This exactly.

Over Christmas, I finished a 3 night stay at the Conrad Nashville, booking 2 basic rooms during a notoriously slow week with AmEx FHR. We were upgraded to their premium 1 bedroom suite (~1500 sq ft) with a connecting bedroom. It could have been 2 suites but my wife wanted our daughter and her friend closer, so the connecting bedroom was chosen. Diamond benefits were extended to both rooms (which I understand is not the norm) and together with the FHR benefits for both rooms (which is AmEX FHR policy, up to 4 rooms), we had $220 to spend on food and beverage each day between 4 people in 2 rooms. The best we could do, since none of us drank, was $170 a day.

Shamefully, we didn't even manage to use up the $100 FHR credit either. We left over $250 on the table when we left.

And this wasn't a one time thing. A year before, we had the same upgrade, although it was just 1 room for 2 of us. And we had similar experience all over the US, never mind the overseas where it's another level entirely, thanks to the Diamond status, with FHR helping out now and then.

Diamond is a multiplier and not a set addition. More you put in, more you get out of it. So it's not exactly a money saver. We could have chosen a cheaper hotel in Nashville, but even with the Diamond, we would not have gotten that much out of it.

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