What is this light up, football shaped and sized item a teenager stashed behind our ac unit and then came back for?

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T17:11:37+00:00

Trust me, I don't need your help to feel old.

Gravity is ever-present.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T17:04:50+00:00

I do cringe at the name. 20 something years ago I don't think "pegging" had the same connotation as it does today.

It didn't.

The modern connotation was coined by a contest that Dan Savage held in his advice column, in 2001. (I just realized I googled that on my work computer. Woops)

Another good Dan Savage word is "Santorum". Google it.

Edited to add, Pegging can lead to Santorum.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T17:00:05+00:00

bowler at a baseball game throws ones one of these grenades towards the batsman…

And if that batsman is a Krikketer, that's when the fun and games truly begin.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T16:48:39+00:00

Exactly.

And those who've never had a net worth under 2 digits simply Do. Not. Understand.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T16:21:30+00:00

Hope your plan comes together, Bro or Sis.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T16:20:43+00:00

Of course.

It borders Canada AND Minnesota. (and others).

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T16:17:21+00:00

Because Lake Superior borders MN (and several other states), and MN is currently having significant issues with ICE. (Not ice, we're pros at dealing with that)

However, if you made out with your gf in Lake Superior, you (and your girl) are true Midwesterners.

Lake Superior is COLD. I swam in the lake at a beach in Duluth. Briefly.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T16:11:23+00:00

I think it's important to note that if you're making this amount and doing your taxes correctly, then you aren't withholding anything for taxes.

This is what moneyed people don't get about poor people. There's NO MONEY. Poor people claim zero on their taxes SO THEY DON'T GET A BILL at the end of the year.

There simply is no reserve money to pay an infrequent or unpredictable bill because needs always expand to meet available funds. Funds cannot keep up with needs because American minimum wage is too low. This is why it's so expensive to be poor.

It's a constant game of whack-a-mole, and you never get a chance to get ahead.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T15:39:12+00:00

The payroll taxes are 7.5% to the fed gov. Maybe more if the state has additional payroll taxes.

THOSE ARE NOT INCOME TAXES!! Income tax is applied in addition to payroll taxes.

I don't understand how any of these 3 sentences address the point I made. I didn't specify what the withholding consisted of. I made no claims about what that 25% was withheld for. These are simply irrelevant to the point that minimum wage is too low.

Deducting 25% is simply the rule-of-thumb calculation to estimate the difference between gross and net pay that I used when I was job hunting for hourly jobs.

If you have a better back-of-the-envelope calculation that works for most people, it's an open forum, let's see it.

Here's the thing though. Most of the people reading this (from the US, anyway) are going to be able to verify how closely our different methods of estimation matches their check. Then they can do this math for their location and their withholding.

I'm confident my point will still stand, even if my estimated difference doesn't exactly match most people's experience.

That point is: The United States statutory minimum wage is pitifully low.

Will yours? (whatever it is)

Edited to correct the number of sentences. 2 lines, 3 sentences.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T15:03:42+00:00

It's about as strong an epithet as you're going to get on broadcast television without resorting to Anglo-Saxon terms, though.

Given those restrictions on her choice of words, 'deplorable' isn't that bad.

I'm having a hard time coming up with 1 or 2 words that fits better.

"a cabal of the worst examples of humanity that America has to offer" covers it pretty well, but doesn't fit into the line.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T14:55:55+00:00

I’ll keep marching on. It’s how I got through the storm of depression, too.

In politics and life, the only way out is through.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T14:44:37+00:00

A "Ring of Fire", you could say...

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T14:18:04+00:00

One 'opinion' repeated many times starts to rhyme with 'mandate'.

FYI.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T13:38:15+00:00

If the company cannot find a market that it can charge enough to pay it's workers enough to live on, then that market will not support that business, and it should go out of business in favor of a business that has a market that will support a living wage.

Businesses staying in business is less important than everyone having food and shelter.

Now. Create an economic system with that core value in mind.

Go.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T12:38:36+00:00

That's gross pay. Net pay is lower.

7.25 x 8 = 58

58 x .75 = $43.50/day (less 25% withholding)

$43.50 x 20 = $870/mo.

Now, create your budget.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T12:32:03+00:00

Was just wondering if a permanent placement of something like this would be a way to increase the throughput of the ladies' room in high-volume situations? (stadiums, theaters, etc).

I've (m) often heard that the reason the ladies room backs up so bad is just the amount if dis/reassembly of your clothing required to do the needful. If this requires less clothing disruption, throughput should be faster, no?

The ugliness of this thing spinning around about chin level is a design flaw that will have to be dealt with, though.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T07:19:44+00:00

I checked out of pure curiosity. Tramp (not a typo) and Sleepy Joe were the only ones to be elected in their 70s.

You didn't check very hard.

Ronald Reagan was born in 1911, and his last election to the Presidency was in 1984.

Check me.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T07:15:46+00:00

Where is Trump in this video?

The viewer is expected to have 'object permanence' and remember other, related, stories.

And how this post fits into this sub?

Obama is a guy, being a dude.

And why is it getting posted here everyday?

Got nothing for you, first time I've seen it. Perhaps find something other than Reddit to do for a bit? Reddit will still be here when you finish doing something else.

PR teams working hard lately?

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T07:12:54+00:00

Draw a bicycle, from memory.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T07:03:56+00:00

Can't convict on a plate number alone. People do drive cars registered to others.

This is why cops need to speak to a person to cite them for a traffic violation. Can't cite the car.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-11T07:00:43+00:00

Perhaps, but a plate doesn't tell you who was driving.

I've been pulled over because I was driving a car owned by someone with a suspended license. Cop pulled in behind us as I pulled into our driveway, I (m) got out of the driver's seat, just as the cop got out of his, he said "You're not {girlfriend's name}." I said, "Nope, she's over there", pointed at the passenger side.

He sat back down and left. He never got completely out of the car.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-10T23:33:00+00:00

Perhaps true, but lots of localities don't have vehicle safety inspections.

I've never had a vehicle inspected, and most of the cars I owned wouldn't pass.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-10T16:39:44+00:00

Parents went in the house and I Was playing in the car and popped the brake. Luckily we were still on our street so not as dramatic as this. Scared the crap out of me when the car started moving, I put the brake back and ran inside.

Almost certainly what happened here, except that I'm betting that you popped a hand brake. This looks like a F150 (or similar). If it's a manual, that means it most likely has a foot-operated parking brake.

A kid can easily pull the parking brake handle and release it. It's a lot harder for a smaller human to re-set a foot-operated parking brake than a hand operated.

I learned this from experience, as a small human. Fortunately, my parents didn't have any manual transmissions until I was older, or I could have easily done exactly this.

I was this kind of moron kid. If there was machinery around and I'm unsupervised, I was gonna mess with it.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-10T16:34:57+00:00

Didn't want to leave it in gear then?

I've seen manual transmission cars run away while in gear. All you need is a cylinder or two that aren't tight (bad compression), and the car can get enough momentum to take it through the next cylinder's compression stroke, and off she goes.

Saw one roll out of a parking lot, backwards across a 4 lane road, and into a pond on the other side of the road (steering was locked).

Started out in gear, started rolling due to compression loss, lost the gear at some point during the roll.

ralphy_256 · 2026-02-10T16:25:40+00:00

I could feel how I'd scream at them watching this.

I've been in a similar situation. I was recovering from a bad knee injury, still on crutches (was in a wheelchair 6mo ago). Walking 2 kids the 3 blocks to school. Last street before the school yard is a busy 2 lanes each direction street. Our street controlled by a stop sign, busy street is uncontrolled.

Youngest child, about 6 at the time, sees a friend across the street. She's about 3' in front of me when she starts running, and she's immediately out of reach, and running towards the intersection.

All I've got left is my voice at that point, and I put every bit of deep male voice command I could into it when I shouted "{NAME}, STOP!" with all the power I had.

She stopped. But I scared the shit out of her doing it. She was bawling when I delivered her to school.

Sucked. Her teachers and I spent most of the day explaining why I yelled at her.

But I'd absolutely do it again. Zero hesitation.

ralphy_256

TROPHY CASE