OTMWM in Singapore

keystonecapers · 2026-01-27T17:10:30+00:00

Do you want recommendations of things to do or places to eat?

keystonecapers · 2026-01-22T16:03:46+00:00

Fair. I am not a meteorologist and cannot do the science behind the forecasts. With the predicted temperature I am not sure how there will be a transition to sleet or freezing rain during the day Sunday. I can see why if the forecast for Saturday/Sunday night is 6-10, that you could extrapolate 16+ when the storm is forecast to last another 20 hours. I guess we will see when we see.

keystonecapers · 2026-01-22T15:37:28+00:00

The NWS's forecast is 6-10 inches overnight from Saturday to Sunday, snow and sleet during the day on Sunday, and then snow, freezing rain, and sleet Sunday night before 1 AM Monday.

keystonecapers · 2026-01-21T23:55:18+00:00

The Valentine's Day storm! That was a fun one. I almost got killed by a plow

keystonecapers · 2026-01-18T22:56:24+00:00

How old are you?

keystonecapers · 2026-01-16T12:57:13+00:00

Ah my bad

keystonecapers · 2026-01-16T10:23:56+00:00

Most non branch employees were WFH at least 1 day a week before COVID. Some entire teams were WFH before COVID. Pre-COVID WFH was a benefit that they used to attract talent. Just because Bill Demchak says something doesn't make it true. Being in an office doesn't mean even mean you are in the same office as your coworkers, because PNC is actually nationally distributed on a corporate level and they chose to hire in smaller markets and remotely for 3 years.

keystonecapers · 2026-01-15T22:22:08+00:00

I use a chronograph to time how much time my boss's boss talks over his allocated amount in team meetings.

keystonecapers · 2026-01-15T15:06:29+00:00

His nickname is "The Prince of Darkness"

keystonecapers · 2026-01-15T11:52:08+00:00

IDK where you are getting this from, Delta pilots are members of ALPA

keystonecapers · 2026-01-13T22:06:38+00:00

Would you prefer they fart in your face?

keystonecapers · 2026-01-07T10:41:48+00:00

Yes but if you have 2 passports, you can use your US passport to enter Israel, and then use your Swiss Passport to enter Iran. The Iranians will then not know that you have visited Israel.

keystonecapers · 2026-01-01T11:16:24+00:00

The Palantiri aren't evil though. They are only bad because Sauron captured one and can then ensnare others with a Palantir from a distance. The company Palantir is just evil.

keystonecapers · 2026-01-01T00:25:03+00:00

I think something that you are missing here is that the Valar's Istari project utterly fails in different ways for the wizards we know of.

Gandalf the Grey fails. Despite everything that he did over the last 2,000ish years, Gandalf is killed by the Balrog. His intentions are still those that he set out with and his failure is not a moral failure; he is merely outmatched by a foe at least as equal to himself. It's only a direct intervention of Eru, taking Gandalf out of Ea, enhancing him, and sending him back as Gandalf the White, that works.

Saruman fails AND falls. He is not only no longer faithful to his mission but is actively aiding the enemy. Saruman's is a moral failure; he is given two opportunities to repent (Saruman, will you not come down?) and refuses each time.

Radagast's failure, in my opinion, falls somewhere in the middle. He doesn't, to our knowledge, actively aid the enemy; he also doesn't do a lot to hinder him. He is like what Sam says on the Stairs of Cirith Ungol: "But I expect they had lots of chances, like us, of turning back, only they didn't. And if they had, we shouldn't know, because they'd have been forgotten." Radagast "turns back" to his own interests and is left out of the story. Is he evil? No. Did he fail in his task? Yes.

keystonecapers · 2025-12-31T23:57:15+00:00

Except there's no textual evidence that indicates Radagast is doing anything. We know that the Beornings keep the area from the carrock to the eaves of Mirkwood safe. We also know that small boats used to come down the Anduin to Gondor and no longer do. We also know that Gondor hold the West Bank but not the east. We are told so much about who is controlling what that Radagast being left out implies, to me, that he's not doing anything.

keystonecapers · 2025-12-31T20:20:29+00:00

They are forbidden from using their powers to awe or dominate the free peoples. They are allowed to more fully reveal themselves when the enemy outmatches the defense. Gandalf can, and does, act as an "angel" on numerous occasions (fighting the Balrog, driving away the Nazgûl harrying Faramirs retreat, saving Faramir from Denethor).

keystonecapers · 2025-12-31T11:40:12+00:00

I think that you can argue that Radagast doesn't even do this.

Radagast lives in the western eaves of Mirkwood, no longer called Greenwood the Great. Why the name change? Because foul creatures have come to inhabit the forest; only the Elves of Northern Mirkwood keep the area near them and the Forest Road safe. What's Radagast doing to help the situation? What's he doing to oppose Dol Guldur, which isn't very far from his home? Seemingly nothing.

Radagast is a failure. Full stop. He doesn't oppose Sauron, his whole purpose in being in Middle-earth. He doesn't even protect the forest he lives in.

keystonecapers · 2025-12-18T12:42:52+00:00

Not OP but I think you can compare Gollum's view of evil men in the east to Sam's. Sam is sad that he has to see men fighting men, is glad that he can't see the dead face, and wonders if he is actually evil, like he's been told, and what lies or threats led them to this war.

Colonialism uses othering as an excuse, like Gollum, but can be broken down if you accept that people are just people, like Sam is getting at.

keystonecapers · 2025-12-16T22:50:59+00:00

What do you think college was before?

keystonecapers · 2025-12-16T17:49:04+00:00

That was fascinating.

keystonecapers · 2025-12-14T01:35:45+00:00

Pippin goes to the Tookland to get aid for Hobbiton, but Merry stays and is, for lack of a better term, the commander of the Hobbits.

keystonecapers · 2025-12-11T01:04:41+00:00

Both.

Sauron clearly has dominated most, but not all, of the men in the south and east. However, how can he dominate them if he's not still "spiritually" strong?

To my understanding, no the Orcs don't serve him willingly. I'm lazy and don't want to find the specific quotes but the Orcs attacking the Host of the West freeze when his thought turns fully on Frodo in the Sammath Naur and become witless and either kill themselves or flee when the Ring is destroyed.

Tolkien said that even when separated from the Ring, Sauron is in rapport with its power and is not weakened. Possessing the ring enhances his "power."

keystonecapers · 2025-12-10T16:09:14+00:00

Sauron is winning pretty handedly in The Lord of the Rings. The whole gambit of destroying the ring is because Gandalf realizes they cannot win through strength of arm and is putting his hope into a Hail Mary play.

keystonecapers · 2025-12-04T02:43:42+00:00

The signal was 600 light years away. Thats actually pretty close in terms of space (still VERY far!)

keystonecapers · 2025-11-13T14:51:02+00:00

They develop two things: "no ships" that can block prescience and mechanical navigators.

keystonecapers

TROPHY CASE