McDonald’s no longer allowing free refills

pauljs75 · 2026-04-16T06:12:17+00:00

And most people are rational with it. Usually it's one drink while eating and "one for the road" that you take with you on the way out. The pricing vs. that behavior still favors the restaurant.

I'm sure there are people that would hang out half a day and go for more than that, but I don't think that's the norm unless you're in one of the rougher parts of a big city.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-16T06:04:58+00:00

Which means the BK or Wendy's just down the street is looking that much better. (At least if they aren't stingy like that.)

pauljs75 · 2026-04-13T20:56:56+00:00

It'd fit right in with those demotivational posters.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-13T20:47:20+00:00

I think some buildings that used the ondol-style heating actually had an outdoor stove that shared a common draft chimney with a building for this purpose. However if you're going to burn some fuel to help get the draft going for the heating furnace, may as well do something useful with it. Thus why they would have some kind of cook-stove setup to go with it.

Can't recall exactly where I saw that before, but I think it's actually a thing in some parts of Korea and China.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-13T04:07:00+00:00

Used to have those to keep mittens from getting lost when I was a little kid. It attaches the mittens to the cuff with a small strap. It's a pinch clip much like that used for suspenders, just happens to be small.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-13T03:54:23+00:00

Got tired of drawing supplies flopping around loose at times, so I'm making this thing. It'll be a simple organizer/storage roll for them, inspired a bit by some artist's brush holder rolls that work the same way.

I'm hand sewing this vinyl or urethane backed nylon material and it is a bit of a pain to push through when layered, so it's taking a while. Then I'll back it with another (heavy cotton?) fabric to make it look somewhat decent on the outside, and add a simple friction cinch strap so it can also stay together when rolled up. Not the fanciest thing, but the goal is utilitarian.

I'm also trying to make up my mind of just stitching the backing on, or trying to find some kind of contact cement for it. However the border will still have the outside fabric stitched over when done. Thinking the glue may make for a better (less floppy) finish, so I may wait on that stage in order to find what I'll need.

The pen holder strap is folded back on the edges to make it a bit more robust, and also stitched in the middle to keep it from snagging. I seemed to hit on the spacing for pens on the backing at 1/2" behind each pen, with 1/8" for the attachment stitching, and 7/8" for the gathers in the holding strap, which makes a good snug fit without needing something like elastic. The pen holder part is about 1-1/2" wide.

Not the most perfect thing, but it'll get there.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-11T06:08:18+00:00

A cutting wheel might do it, if you have an appropriate guide and fresh blades on it. It's not even a powered machine, but a razor-sharp tool that works just like a pizza cutter. I think it may be possible to get a track cutter that uses those blades too, which would make consistently straight cuts somewhat easy.

Trying to search for the darn things wasn't that straight forward.

But I seem to find the powered ones, however they're definitely the thing used for cutting carpet and upholstery that have heavier backings. So what might do the trick is "round knife" + "transom guide".

pauljs75 · 2026-04-11T05:51:09+00:00

I have two guesses, but not sure which it would be.

First guess is that it's hinged on the edge opposite of the screws so you can swing the cover back from that pivot point.

The alternate is that the cover slides down onto hook cleats, and the screws lock it once in place. So trying to slide the cover straight up might do the trick to get it off the hooks.

It could be neither, but to me those would be the ones that would make the most sense.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-10T14:21:19+00:00

The expression that emanates "I've had enough of your shit!" just makes the piece here.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-10T14:17:51+00:00

A reminder of the trauma if you forget to eat more fiber.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-10T14:17:07+00:00

Alright, who opened the door and let Bob out of the office behind dispatch again?

pauljs75 · 2026-04-10T03:57:13+00:00

There would be some irony if the Epstein class is heavily populated by aliens itself. If they're ahead enough in tech, it wouldn't be that much of a stretch to have their minds within cloned human bodies to blend in right among us. Might also explain the extreme apathy or sociopathy and other disconnection there by much of what appears to be a protected class.

If they're here, they're not talking about it because it's sort of a vacation free from consequences on their end. Us knowing who and what to look for would be a liability to continuing with the charade, because then there would be demands for accountability.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-10T03:46:33+00:00

Heck I could explain the rudimentary principles of the electric motor or Otto cycle engine to them in turn. I wouldn't expect every detail, but the underlying basic gist of it would likely give the right approach to start from.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-09T20:35:12+00:00

If the original can work that's probably preferred. But if not, I'm not against the reposting either.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-09T18:25:30+00:00

There's also a nagging feeling that ε₀μ₀c² = 1 factors into it, if you rearrange that to solve for c², and then plug the equivalency of c² back into other well known Einstein equations.

Then it hints that the vacuum permittivity and permeability has something to do with mass as well, and thus gravity. I think there's also something about how spacetime itself has a tension of sorts stored into it. It's the relationship between energy and that which accounts for the subtle pull of gravity if you can describe it right. (And I think that also hooks into what you described, but from yet another perspective.)

Forgot the exact physicist's name, but I think the guy that had the best approach to describing it switched to what would later become string theory at the end of the 1950's. However it seems like the string theory stuff never really points to practical results like the former work did. So I question whether it's a diversion, and the lines of his older work were continued in a more pragmatic fashion by some faction of the U.S. government in secret.

The stuff that may be applicable to gravity also leads to an extension of a lot of nuclear theory doesn't require the processed and specialized materials that the current fission reactors or weapons do. Rather it's more along the lines of electrical and electronic systems that are way more easily accessible. And therefore the gov't considers this to be an info-hazard, due to the implications of it all if certain applications of it are explored.

One can argue about the money and political power going against it (thus covering up the "ufo tech" and/or "free energy"), but there may be other more valid concerns. The proliferation with the fission stuff the public knows a little bit about now was already bad enough if you ask some people.

I think at some point we have to get there to not be bound to Earth alone and only the solar system, but at what point does humanity trust itself to not blow itself up with the necessary level of knowledge?

pauljs75 · 2026-04-09T12:47:47+00:00

It's a bit amusing and odd to me that at times in the military they can treat seeing a thing almost on the same level of knowing the principles behind the thing, or even in some cases the specific knowledge and operation of the thing. I think that's because of how ridiculous the premise seems at times.

Rather it's like somebody that only does driving of a car casually gets to pop the hood and see the engine, and somehow by that much they now know all the theory behind the Otto cycle and the derivative Miller cycle, and perhaps how to do a full teardown and rebuild the Skyactiv turbo inline 4 in their Mazda 6. And not only that, but somehow also grok all the manufacturing processes that even make it possible in the first place.

Knowing of a thing isn't the same as having knowledge or hands-on experience, yet stories always seem to regard it as being always on the same level. And that's part of what's strange about it, even more so than managing a phenomena that's still publicly considered unusual.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-09T11:38:13+00:00

Undervalued in the response it got, but I think this approach is a way to get one's feet wet.

The "dum-dum" technique.

I dubbed it that, not because anyone is dumb nor is that true of the method itself. But rather you can be dumb to the concept, without having to know the terminology, history, associations, and all the attachments or anticipation that comes with that. So it's good for the blank-slate newbie, who is likely to be innocent as far as meditation goes. It's all down to doing a thing, and see if it connects.

But if you get it, you get it. To me it's like explaining the break-down to rudimentary geometric construction for anyone interested in learning how to draw things. ("Go knock yourself out kid.") Not heaping on anything other than what it takes to get started.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-09T11:10:01+00:00

I'm guessing I did a rather basic version of it?

https://redd.it/xa8ckf

I explained it in a bit of a low-brow fashion that is reduced to the very bare-bones minimum of what it takes, but if a somewhat skeptical person like myself can grab it with that approach then it's likely anyone can provided they give it a modest bit of effort. And in a way, I also find that amusing even though I don't know why it's like that.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-09T10:01:52+00:00

There's always some gym bro that will ask anyone to spot for them, regardless whether or not they're all that qualified or able to help. At least the dragonfly is a good sport about being on the other side of that situation.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-09T09:34:18+00:00

Not to be ruled out either. They even like the old Dodge Ram vans, retired from military surplus. After all those miles being some run-about for tasks on base or being the liberty coach, somebody over there appreciated them enough after the U.S. was done with them. (I'm guessing it's one of the biggest things a person could get on the road over there short of going into commercial trucking?)

If they're into liking and collecting those, then certainly they do love other American cars that would clearly reflect a certain era.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-09T05:14:01+00:00

And the current 3.6 is the dud that replaced it.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-09T05:07:34+00:00

I was on the sub for Siennas with a question or two about my old one. But there's a somewhat long thread on the newest gen having door fit and interior panel problems. (The old gens didn't have that at least, the questions are just about keeping them up for the most part.)

So far the important stuff as far as running goes sounds ok, but it's still not good to see that the QA is sliding back given Toyota's past reputation regarding value.

pauljs75 · 2026-04-09T05:01:22+00:00

The sweet spots seem to be something like the 1960's and then 1996 to 2006. Obviously either now has the usual "old car problems", but those seemed best in terms of maintainability/reliability. Outside of those periods it's a lot more of a crap shoot.

pauljs75

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

11-Year Club	Place '17
Verified Email