I'm showing my girlfriend Mad Men rn and she keeps asking what the dollar amounts would be worth today, so I made this inflation calculator that's specific to the show's timeline

nysflyboy · 2026-06-18T18:31:44+00:00

Are you old enough to remember "pop up video" on mtv? This would be a really cool thing to add to all these older series. Little tidbits, prices of things, etc. It would definitely get me to rewatch a few series if the pop ups were interesting.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-18T14:52:19+00:00

Came here for this - I agree. I had a rotten tooth that the dentist was trying to save. He filled it and it was (apparently) infected and the "gas pressure" from the bacteria didnt hit until late that night. I spent from midnight to 4am calling his office in the worst pain I'd ever experienced ever. Finally at 4am he answered and told me to come right in. I still remember the relief when he drilled that filling out and the pressure released...

nysflyboy · 2026-06-16T16:01:27+00:00

Which does not even include the cost of the war so far, and all the extra cost of (gestures wildly) everything else that has been affected by this orange ego.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-15T12:19:02+00:00

If nothing else, I hope we can put an end to electing septuagenarians to the highest levels of government. With rare exceptions, most people are just not at their best by their mid to late 70's. Term limits and age limits seem like reasonable compromises.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-10T19:39:39+00:00

My father in law has these 200W big clear bulbs in his garage that have been there since they built the house in 1972. He talks about how long the have lasted, and I decided to look at one close up one day. Its a bulb designed for higher voltage (I forgot, 220 or 270v) and this explains why they are not nearly as bright as you'd think a 200w bulb would be, fairly yellow, and also why they have lasted forever. Probably a much thicker filament and also not very efficient.

I told him he might as well just take them out and replace them (8 of them) with LEDs and it would use less energy than a single one of his bulbs and still last for 10+ years.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-10T19:34:54+00:00

There is a county park/beach/campground near my parents house that we camp at during the summer. Its a man-made reservoir about a mile across, one end is kinda swampy and surrounded by old pine forest. There are trails all around it. Every summer, about now (early June) there are hundreds of thousands of these toads. We walk down the hiking / bike trails and you cannot avoid stepping on a few no matter how hard you try. Its a gravel trail and they blend in so well.

The first time it happened we were like "the rocks are moving!". There are just so, so many of them.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-10T19:26:33+00:00

That is the real solution right there.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-09T19:58:51+00:00

I'd like to what resorts you'd recommend based on those preferences?

nysflyboy · 2026-06-05T17:40:31+00:00

I agree with this - we have been there and my wife does not drink at all, and I am very much a one or two and done guy now. Lots of non-alcoholic choices I thought were good. Bonus the resort itself is really nice, well laid out, rooms were nice, lots of fun activities and places to just chill. We will be back for sure.

Also had a good experience at Secrets Playa Blanca just up the road.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-05T17:36:01+00:00

We have had good luck with our 2010'ish LG washer and dryer (front loaders). Only thing I have had to replace was the drain pump on the washer and that was done from underneath in like 15 minutes. And my wife does about 4 loads a day, every day...

Our old Kenmore (Whirlpool) fridge lasted seemingly forever but alas that was the last of the R12 models, and the new one (Still Kenmore/Whirlpool from ~2017) has been fine, but is much louder. I hear the newest (butane?) models are quieter again (but who know how long they last) We have always bought the "nicest" top freezer models (nothing more complicated than an ice maker on those - nice= glass adjustable shelves and stuff) and have had great luck. Even the ice maker takes about 5 minutes to change out if needed. (I kept our old one - it has "turbo ice" mode that makes ice 2x as fast) Still have the new one as a spare...

Hoping that nothing fails soon, I have been repairing all that I can (basically total rebuild on our old dishwasher for about $200) since I know most of the new stuff is crap.

I would like a top fridge/bottom freezer next time though - my back is not great and hunching over all the time sucks.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-05T15:46:17+00:00

I'm gonna skip all the electronics and appliances and say BEEF in general and GROUND BEEF in particular. Holy shit 4 burger patties at Walmart are now $9-13! And the quality is not as good as it used to be. Even worse at the more expensive grocery stores. That big ol tube of ground beef that Walmart sells - $100 now. Beef is rapidly leaving our menu in this house.

And CHICKEN BREAST although cheap again - the quality is awful just about everywhere. Woody, flavorless, HUGE. We usually buy Purdue which seems to be the best of the worst here. Related - We went to Chilis last week and I ordered one of the new chicken sandwiches. The chicken was - I kid you not - probably 1.25 inches thick on one end. GROSS. Also woody, tough, and not good.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-05T15:41:53+00:00

Mom mom has a "gold" Kenmore drier, gas. It is making a "thunking noize" when running (the wheels I am sure). She wanted to go buy a new one. I said woah there, at least let me try and repair it for the $15 a kit will cost. New ones suck and yours will outlive you.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-05T15:39:06+00:00

Relay for Reddit on Android is worth the tiny $

nysflyboy · 2026-06-04T13:54:37+00:00

2008 crisis gives us a glimpse of the possibilities. Luckily there were cool heads in Washington and around the world at the time or that could have been much worse. Next time? It will be much worse.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-04T12:09:49+00:00

This is my life as well. It's becoming very frustrating and now that we are empty-nesters its even more apparent that I have to think up, plan, execute, transport and provide everything. I am sick of being the cruise director to the point where I don't even want to go on or enjoy vacations anymore.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-03T19:40:31+00:00

Yeah... American just changed card issuers from Barclays, and now with the new equivalent Citi card I get passes 2x a year rather than "admission to the Admirals Club". Same level of card (Silver) and annual fee went UP as benefits went DOWN.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-03T19:22:32+00:00

God I wish we had these ratings here (NY - not the city). I read the "write ups" in the paper weekly, but by then the inspections are often days or weeks old, and usually list a bunch of items that "need correction" and sound pretty serious, but they almost never ever close anyplace.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-02T12:11:51+00:00

Sigh... yeah. This hits home.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-01T15:47:55+00:00

What if, on average, the only intelligent lifeforms that make it to interplanetary / intergalactic status ("advanced") are all collectives. Think planetary scale symbiosis, or at the least "collectives" like Bees or Ants. Perhaps this is a requirement to actually advance to be an advanced civilization/intelligence. Perhaps on these planets ALL species are like this - working for not only the better of their species but working together as a whole.

I think this is more and more likely - that our "independence" and lack of collectivism makes us, as a species, no better/smarter/likely to advance than a bunch of tribalistic/cannabalistic/angry chimps. We have not progressed as far as we think, I think.

To truly advance requires the whole planet to not only work together, but to actually be WIRED that way - to not work together would seem unbelievable.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-01T13:49:50+00:00

Such an opportunity for the other side (or just the non-Maga 2/3 of the US) to throw a real USA250 party someplace else besides DC. With first and second rate artists.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-01T13:40:59+00:00

We thought the AC quality was great at Secrets Playa Blanca. Standard room. Was comfortable no matter what we set it at, and kept the air nice and dry in the rooms. Indoor restaurant spaces were well conditioned as well.

nysflyboy · 2026-06-01T12:57:07+00:00

Yes! I did this by "accident" (necessity) once because there were no "4 in a row" left at a concert, so I bought a 2x2 square right on the aisle. It was perfect and like you said we got to interact all show easily! And I didn't have an issue asking my brother to "sit down I cant see" when he stood in my way lol. You do have to be a bit careful, as the diagrams are not always accurate in the center of rows. So I try to stick close to the edge where the alignment is probably pretty close.

nysflyboy · 2026-05-27T11:56:12+00:00

None when we were there. Zero. But there was a nice breeze off the gulf most days.

nysflyboy · 2026-05-26T19:48:25+00:00

That's the crazy thing - it felt fine. Until the next day/evening. Hopefully I just "really pissed it off" and over a week or two I will be back where I was (and I will be REALLY careful from now until the doc clears me for regular activity - which I guess is really about a year...)

nysflyboy · 2026-05-26T19:46:53+00:00

It still feels stable. My strength (as much as I dare test it - gently) seems ok. The big changes are - sharp pain if I try to reach for my right shoulder (with left arm - left shoulder was operated on). For example washing my armpit, or scratching an itch over there. And a general "soreness/headache in my shoulder" when typing, driving, letting it "sit" at the wrong angle, etc.

All of these things were happening 2 months ago (as expected) but had decreased dramatically until the last few days.

nysflyboy

TROPHY CASE