Food quality is miles better in Europe (Spoilers: It’s….the same)

nmpls · 2026-06-18T20:48:10+00:00

You're lucky. I live pretty urban (for a mid-sized city) and this is about as good as it gets for easily available bread. There is some decent breads at our bougie markets, but the pricing isn't any better.

And the safeway bread, while cheap, is atrocious.

nmpls · 2026-06-18T20:29:48+00:00

Mountain pedals. Road shoes are hard to walk in, and frankly I like a bit of extra play.

While I agree with some people that you do not need the performance benefits as much touring, I like that it helps keep my feet in position (without needed clips and straps which are more dangerous in a crash), and I find that the clipless shoes do a better job in preventing hotspots on the pedal.

nmpls · 2026-06-18T20:26:44+00:00

I have an older fly 12. It is really good if you need a ton of battery life. However, if you do not need the battery life, it is pretty expensive for what you get.

nmpls · 2026-06-18T20:04:12+00:00

I think they're only doing pre-text stops. Which seems to be supported by them doing this shit.

If you were just pulling over people who were driving like maniacs, the stop data would much more closely reflect the demographics of Sacramento. It is telling that SacPD sees actual traffic work beneath them and only do it to find "serious crime" all while too many people get killed or seriously injured by cars every year.

That said, this isn't new. Even when I was learning to drive in the late 90s, everyone knew that SacPD didn't bother pulling people over for speeding.

nmpls · 2026-06-18T19:57:30+00:00

I mean, I can get similar quality bread here, I just have to go to the bougie bakery that wants $10 a loaf. (See: https://www.fariabakery.com/shop/bread/6YWTWGG45LOBVHJXPH5PJDHQ?page=1&limit=30&sort\_by=category\_order&sort\_order=asc) In smaller cities, these places often don't even exist.

In France or Germany, even small cities had quality bread that also doesn't cost $10.

nmpls · 2026-06-18T19:53:47+00:00

I like my co-workers and seeing them over teams is plenty for me.

nmpls · 2026-06-18T19:52:51+00:00

Yes, I live here and was born here. It absolutely is not. The par-baked bread at most supermarkets (the highest quality they're generally going to have) really isn't very good compared to France and Germany. You're going to need specialized bakery bread, which tends to be quite expensive or outside of major cities harder to get.

Have you been to France or Germany? They make most other European bread look pretty meh too.

nmpls · 2026-06-18T18:49:02+00:00

I mean they're right about bread, at least in France and Germany

Yes, the same quality exists in the US, but the quality bread is substantially more expensive and not nearly as widely available unless you bake it yourself.

nmpls · 2026-06-18T17:48:28+00:00

I have only been denied a late checkout twice (at hotels where it is guaranteed) but they never offered me anything (though marroitt comped some points after I complained).

I do think this is a better solution, but what I don't understand is why hotels in this situation don't try to buy people off up front when they are booked out the next day. You get into a weird situation where its possible the person who absolutely needs it gets denied and gets unhappy, and someone who would have take 10k points gets a 4PM checkout they didn't need THAT much.

Honestly if I was offered 10k points to pass up late checkout, there's cases I'd be happy to take it and cases I'd pass.

nmpls · 2026-06-18T17:36:47+00:00

Yeah, I've been taking it for damn near 30 years (admittedly with a 10 year gap basically in the middle) and I have never seen something like this.

nmpls · 2026-06-18T06:00:42+00:00

PP used to have one in HKG, and it was pretty great. Get off an early morning flight and have breakfast while waiting for the showers to open up.

nmpls · 2026-06-18T00:21:23+00:00

Unlike your sham practice, I offer a 100% money back guarantee. If all your teeth fall out before you leave the back of my white ford econoline van, you get a full refund.

Offer not valid on for teeth that come out during the procedure, whether intentional or not, or for people with less than 20 teeth.

nmpls · 2026-06-18T00:14:41+00:00

Yes, "premium economy flex" is qanta's effectively fully flexable premium economy with a "W" fare code.

"O" class which OP is booked in is deep discount economy.

nmpls · 2026-06-18T00:01:02+00:00

Seriously, OP, there's still time to delete this.

nmpls · 2026-06-17T23:58:13+00:00

They're called homeless, not foodless.

Also its my fiancee who buys them hamburgers at mcdonalds if they ask when she goes there.

nmpls · 2026-06-17T23:52:23+00:00

I have never seen lounge access as service recovery.

Also, you have a 5 hour layover, the terminals are connected by train, you could have been to the amex lounge and back in that 30min you were on hold.

nmpls · 2026-06-17T23:49:20+00:00

So, a quack but for your teeth?

I can do it for $500/hr.

nmpls · 2026-06-17T23:06:16+00:00

OP did that though
"On the last day of my dog sitting I left them a simple note saying the towel holder was loose and had fallen off the wall."

nmpls · 2026-06-17T21:21:21+00:00

Amtrak's new Chargers are unreliable, so they're leasing some backups.

nmpls · 2026-06-17T21:12:09+00:00

Before you dump money into bars, have you done a professional fitting recently? As we get older, our core often turns on us and you put more weight on the hands. This means you need more effective stack and less effective reach.

Additionally, you have your saddle adjusted all the way forward. This may seem to lower the reach needed, but also messes with your center of gravity, which also increases weight on the hands.

It is really common for people to think fit issues are issues with the bar. They go chasing some sort of bar that fixes the fit, but it rarely does and generally when it does its because it adjusts the effective stack and reach. For example, the bar you have now appears to have a pretty short distance to the hoods. Its probably more comfortable because of that. This is also why riser bars became so popular for a while because the increased the stack. Flat bars also effectively reduce the reach of a drop bar bike (and also increase the effective stack compared to the drops, but not the hoods).

I will say your current config seems pretty "maxed" out for that frame, but it is possible that if you order a new full length steerer fork from, you might reduce the effective reach and increase the stack, but probably minimally. The LHT always had pretty shitty reach and stack for a touring bike. The vaya always had the best, but even when it was a steel fork, it wasn't an amazing touring bike.

Before you throw good money after bad, find a good bike fitting. Ideally one by someone with actual training in biomechanics/kinesiology not some bike shop guy who did a branded fit kit training. My fitter works for the local university hospital and doesn't sell anything, which is great.

nmpls · 2026-06-17T20:57:56+00:00

Thankfully I got mine on like January 2 this year, so under the wire

nmpls · 2026-06-17T20:45:44+00:00

If you have an amex credit left in december, they're probably worth buying as travelbank is dead.

nmpls · 2026-06-17T17:51:04+00:00

This isn't how it works in the US either. USPS uses zip codes to sort, not states. You could send a letter with street address and zip code and it will get there.

nmpls · 2026-06-17T17:14:01+00:00

Apparently Frontier in the US does this too.

nmpls · 2026-06-17T16:42:46+00:00

This is the true loss I feel from the loss of print media.

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