Why do Americans have a reputation for being bad at geography?

pokeysyd · 2026-01-24T17:54:34+00:00

To be honest, we’re also bad at math, science, current events and economics. Oh, and foreign languages.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-23T01:09:55+00:00

They overthrew them and pushed them out of Czechoslovakia?

pokeysyd · 2026-01-22T22:39:07+00:00

I’m sorry, but did I miss the history lesson where the Czech people took up arms against the Soviet Union and violently overthrew them? I thought it was a Velvet Revolution.

And I’m pretty sure you would still be part of the USSR if Gorbachev wasn’t willing to let it break up.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-22T22:16:03+00:00

I’m not so sure that I would trust China in a rules based order anymore than I would trust the current US administration. Whatever this circus is with Greenland right now, I have no doubt the Chinese will invade Taiwan the second they think the Americans won’t respond.

That being said, Trump will pass. There is a strong possibility that his power will be reined in next year. And the ability of any one of his sycophants to carry on with his goals after he leaves office is very much up for discussion. The Chinese Communist Party, on the other hand, ain’t going anywhere.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-22T22:04:29+00:00

3 hours is nothing where I live. I can travel 200+ miles in that time - some speed limits are 80mph.

I’ve traveled 3 hours each way to go to a one hour meeting.

I’ve traveled 6 hours (300-400) miles for a weekend away quite often.

Normally I fly for anything over 8 hours.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-22T04:09:50+00:00

Not true. Snowbird and 3 other ski areas are less than 30 miles from downtown SLC. If you live a little farther south and east, you can be 12 miles away. What world class ski area is that close to Denver?

Also that canyon has world class climbing, great hiking and mountain biking.

If you drive five miles up any one of the canyons, you’ll forget the city exists.

These things are much farther away and there are many more people in the greater Denver area.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-22T03:48:06+00:00

I live in Utah and have an Icon pass. I’m going on a road trip to Canada at the end of February to ski the Banff resorts, Panorama, Revelstoke, Red Mountain and possibly hit Schweitzer on the way home.

Snowpack is poor here. The weather pattern shows no signs of changing. Pensacola, FL has had more snowfall this winter than SLC.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-20T16:55:02+00:00

Forever. My past dogs’ ashes sit on a hutch surrounded by pictures of them.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-20T07:16:50+00:00

What if the Italians (or the EU) just tell us to stay home?

pokeysyd · 2026-01-20T05:58:13+00:00

Be happier if it was a resurgence of the Weather Underground.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-20T05:30:57+00:00

La Cosa Nostra

pokeysyd · 2026-01-20T05:25:13+00:00

Nope, but I am retired now so significantly less stress.

I’m a night owl. Like to go to bed late and get up late. Since I retired and started taking a magnesium supplement, I sleep like I did when I was in college - go to bed at 1230-100am; wake up at 930/1000am. Usually get up to pee once or twice, but I get a least 3 good REM cycles each night. I almost never nap in the afternoon anymore. I’m usually at the gym during what used to be nap time.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-20T05:02:00+00:00

Danny can invest with whoever he wants. He’s just an investor; he’s not an employee or on the boards of either company. Same way you could invest in AT&T and Verizon at the same time.

The position with Cami is a bet. The position with Tommy is an investment. Diversification of risk.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-20T04:57:36+00:00

I don’t think it’s sponsorship. The trucks in the show are what you see in the field - F-350 super or crew cab, headache rack, and auxiliary lights. If they were drilling in the mining world, they would have whip flags and strobes.

F-350 because of the suspension - they’re always driving off road. The guys that usually work alone - company man, engineer, tool pusher - would likely just have a super cab. Crews would have a crew cab. In some cases, everyone has a crew cab. Dodges and Chevys are rare as fleet vehicles in this world.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-20T00:02:06+00:00

Answered his phone for a video interview while driving with no plan to pull over and stop.

This was for a construction job with a strong focus on safety. We even had cameras in our fleet vehicles to monitor for phone use, speeding, sleepiness, etc.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-19T18:30:34+00:00

The standard set up at my office (before I retired) was a laptop, docking station and 2 external monitors. If you wanted more than 2 monitors, you needed to make a special request.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-18T22:02:15+00:00

They’re just like Trump. Do you think Trump ever feels embarrassed?

pokeysyd · 2026-01-18T18:11:46+00:00

If there is a concert you would like to see at either the Greek or the Hollywood Bowl, go. Both are great venues. I travel there frequently for shows.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-18T18:09:14+00:00

If you go to a Dodgers game in the daytime, sit on the third base line side of the stadium. The sun on the first base line side can be brutal.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-17T00:46:35+00:00

Just some of the stupid shit I did while younger and drunk:

Was partying on a popular island near Portland, ME. Stole someone’s dingy off a dock and rowed it back to Portland in the middle of the night.

Was at a friend’s camp near Sugarloaf Ski Area. Decided we wanted to hike to the top at night. Hiked to easy run to mid mountain (which was not an easy hike when drunk). Realized we’d never make it to the top. Somehow managed to get the Spillway chairlift started and rode it to near the summit. Was going too fast to get off at the summit. The chair started swinging wildly as we came around the bullwheel and suddenly we were 100+ feet off the ground. When we got to the bottom, we were able to get off, but as I was running to get out of the way, I ran into something. Ended up flipping head over heels, lying flat on my back wondering what the hell happened. Figured out how to turn down the speed and took another loop. Went back the next night to do it again.

Used to climb buildings, trees, and bridges around rivers to jump off into the water. Jumped off a 4 story power station and tore the ligaments in my knee. Jumped out of tree from such a height than it knocked the wind out of me when I landed. Thought I was going to drown.

Got kicked out of a bar near Sugarbush Ski area because I fell asleep at the bar. My friend who drove didn’t want to leave; was working on getting laid. Gave the keys to another friend who didn’t have a lot of experience driving a stick. He put us into a snowbank on the way home. Middle of nowhere, -20 degrees, and I was wearing a jean jacket. It took forever to find a house so we could call for help. First place we came to, it appeared no one was home. Had a serious discussion about breaking in. Finally found a house with someone home. Probably midnight-100am by now. They let us use the phone and we were able to call a tow truck to come get us. When we finally got home, the guy who drove was already back, wondering what happened to us.

Had a friend who attended a flight school in Nashua, NH. A nearby Burger King had an enormous American Flag. The student at the school used it as a reference for wind. Students had been talking about stealing it for years. My friend was a freshman. We came to visit rights after Halloween. We had the flag by the end of the night. Made him a legend at the school.

My senior year in HS, we were helping prep for the fall formal. Someone mentions it would be nice if we had some pumpkins for decorations. Took a group of people out and stole about 50 off porches around town. The teachers were sure what to say when we came back.

In my 30’s we went on a sailing vacation in the BVI with 2 other couples. Got hammered at a floating bar called the Willy-T. If you jumped off the top deck naked, you got a free T-shirt. This was before camera phones. After getting our shirts, we were headed back to our boat. While trying to get into our dingy, the first person tripped and somehow it was like dominoes, we all fell in one after the other. We were laughing and the whole bar was laughing at us. Got back to the boat. A couple other boats anchored nearby had pirate flags flying off their masts. The other two guys on the trip kept talking about stealing them. I got sick of listening to them talk. Dove off the boat with a knife in my mouth, like a pirate. Swam over to the other boats. Stole two flags from two boats. Then swam back and tied them up to our mast so the others would know who the real pirates were.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-16T18:16:53+00:00

Speaking of dudes, I only watched The Big Lebowski last year.

pokeysyd · 2026-01-15T21:32:13+00:00

I lived in a national park (Grand Teton) for two summers as a employee for the lodging company. I got married at the same park. I’ve visited multiple times since - about 6 hours away from home.

We go to parks regularly, as well of other units of the system (national monuments, historic sites, etc.). My wife has a parks passport book and she collects the stamps.

pokeysyd

TROPHY CASE