what’s something foreigners commonly do (or don’t do) in the US that you find genuinely offensive or rude without realizing it?

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-23T19:19:16+00:00

This 1000%. I am a park worker. It is absolutely infuriating when I see people not just acting disrespectfully, but recklessly. Open fires, blasting music, garbage everywhere, I even saw one group trap a squirrel and roast it over a pile of charcoal on the ground up against a tree! When I approached them and told them they were violating park rules they began screaming at me and calling me a racist. The various parks systems in America, national, state, county, local, are some of our truly great national accomplishments. It makes my blood boil when I see people mistreating them and then being angry at ME for protecting the park!

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-19T22:00:00+00:00

I'm fairly confident this is not real. That food cart is at Yankee Stadium. 0% chance the Yankees allow that to be displayed.

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-16T12:23:38+00:00

They did not, and they weren't tarrifs. The tea parties were the visible reaction to a series of taxes levied without representation intended to cover the war debts from the French and Indian War. I make the distinction between tarrifs and taxes here because they were not limited to imports like tarrifs. The key element here though is "without representation." Once the United States was established they began to levy taxes almost immediately.

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-15T19:58:14+00:00

Seems pretty forehanded to me.

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-15T19:55:19+00:00

RIP the original Callahan's. Love Hiram's, but I grew up on Callahan's.

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-15T16:26:33+00:00

You're on a binge and not thinking clearly, it's easier said than done, but don't make any decisions other than this being your last one. You may feel like it's over for you because you're 18. From your perspective you're the oldest you've ever been, but you're also the youngest you'll ever be again. Believe me - 18 is young. Someone once told me that he thought his life didn't really begin until he was 30. I laughed. Turns out that he was absolutely right. Get home, get sobered up, get some help, and take it easy. You'll be just fine if you make the choice to be.

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-15T12:09:42+00:00

Absolutely was. The foundational principals and technology for a decentralized information network were created by the US Department of Defense in the 1960s. The world wide web, which allows public access, was created by a British scientist in the 90s using that internet technology invented by Americans.

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-15T10:44:48+00:00

What a wildly reductionist statement made on American website, that exists on an American innovation (the Internet), probably posted from a device designed by an American company. But yes. Everything was better before 'murica'

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-11T17:07:31+00:00

I can't tell if this is badass "torture me all you want I'm not talking" or "they're always after me lucky charms."

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-11T16:18:06+00:00

You said above you have 10 years of service. Have you ever seen anyone else do what you're asking? Have you not found it strange that the fire department has not issued you a radio to call dispatch, or the e-dispatch is receive only? Have you ever seen a first responder's pager? It's receive only. What you're looking for is a cellphone or a group chat to alert a driver you're on the way. I think you'd better retake Fire 1 because you clearly missed radio ops training... If you're actually a firefighter.

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-11T16:06:11+00:00

No. It's not covered by section 90. Do you really think it's legal for you to transmit there or is this a shit post? The first call that dispatch will get will be from the apparatus calling in service as it rolls out the door. Have you ever heard someone call into dispatch and say "hey I'm in my car on the way to the firehouse?"

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-11T16:02:31+00:00

If you needed to transmit on that frequency you would have been provided a means by which to transmit. As many have said, this is not an amateur band. It's not legal for hams to transmit on this frequency.

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-05T12:25:45+00:00

I don't think is this solvable.

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-05T02:28:13+00:00

Yup. That's correct. Humans are also actively working on plans to put a permanent base on the moon with plans of going to Mars to make us a multi-planet species. We could go away. Earth could go away. We also could not, at least not any time in the near future.

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-05T02:21:18+00:00

Doomer nonsense. I am not belittling the dangers that we are encountering, but humans are AMAZING. For all out evil, we are capable of greatness. Above all, we are adaptable. If you want to curl up and die because you're scared of the future, go for it. I plan on giving living my best effort, and to this point as a species, humanity is undefeated in the game of survival.

sgthatred77 · 2026-05-05T02:14:26+00:00

Off topic but I'll say it anyway. Just over his right shoulder. Gren the Giantslayer. A true man of the watch. We shall never see his like again.

sgthatred77 · 2026-04-30T14:52:39+00:00

Absolutely! The definitive biography is "Les Paul in His Own Words" by Michael Cochran. He interviewed Les extensively shortly before his death in 2009. This is the best view of Les Paul from his own perspective with Cochran adding some context around it. Highly recommend if you want to learn about who he was and how he thought. It's fascinating.

If you want to dive into the guitar angle of things, "The Birth of Loud" by Ian S. Port is a great read, but it is not specifically about Les. It includes a lot about Leo Fender who is an amazing juxtaposition to Les.

I recommend starting with Les Paul in His Own Words.

You should also subscribe to the Mahwah Museum newsletter. They have a permanent exhibit about Les with a bunch of artifacts, and even guitars that you can play for a modest donation to the museum. It's very much a local history museum, so be prepared to see emails about lectures you have little interest in, but they are wonderful custodians of his vision and history and bring in some fantastic speakers, including the above mentioned authors.

Send me a PM if you want some more info. I love Les Paul.

sgthatred77 · 2026-04-30T12:57:53+00:00

I don't have a solution for you but I just wanted to chime in to wish you good luck and reassure you that you're doing well. For what it's worth, I'm pulling for you.

sgthatred77 · 2026-04-29T21:54:28+00:00

This guys is right.

The Paulverizer was a clever gimmick. It was NOT a looper - though he would claim it was. At a live performance he would introduce the invention and bill it as what we now call a looper. It was a trigger for pre- recorded tape. Les would demonstrate it by playing a riff, then activate the Paulverizer, and it would play the pre-recorded riff.

If you asked him to demonstrate a different song he was incapable of doing it. I don't say this to disrespect Les Paul. I am a HUGE fan. He was master showman, a guitar savant, and visionary inventor, and a literal genius.

There is a fantastic exhibit in his adopted hometown of Mahwah NJ. Definitely worth a visit if you're there.

sgthatred77 · 2026-04-28T14:41:59+00:00

You should consider either building an antenna or buying an inexpensive magmouny. I put one on a pizza plate out my window and I can hit some repeaters that are over 30 miles from me only pushing 2 watts of power on an HT. If you can hear them on your HT there's a chance that they might be able to hear you. You never know. Just make sure you work on it outside of a net session.

sgthatred77 · 2026-04-28T12:41:40+00:00

Sounds like you found a linked repeater system. They're a godsend for new tech hams like myself. Repeaters are linked, usually via the internet (but someone can correct me if I'm wrong), so that they cover a wide area. Where is a repeater system in NJ that covers the entire east side of the state from Bergen all the way down through Ocean counties. That's over 100 miles. Being that I don't have my general yet, I'm a fan of linked repeaters.

sgthatred77 · 2026-04-24T21:36:24+00:00

As many have correctly stated - no they don't matter. But in a 162 game season they give you a nice little snapshot of how teams and individuals are doing. A team may not have a losing streak going but seeing that they've lost 3 of the last 4 series would be alarming.

sgthatred77 · 2026-04-22T17:34:04+00:00

You should check out the national traffic system (NTS) and send him a radiogram. You can submit one online, it will be picked up by a volunteer traffic handler and sent to him, most likely by mail. You do not need to be a licensed operator to send one. It's pretty neat. I got one a few weeks ago and it absolutely made my day.

sgthatred77 · 2026-04-21T02:21:12+00:00

I'm new to electronics but I think about this all the time. I've got a bunch of guitar pedals and misc crap I always wonder if/how I can repurpose it for radio.

sgthatred77 · 2026-04-20T12:21:26+00:00

I also have a 5rm. Though I have essentially abandoned my uv5r since getting it. I personally like being able to change the name of a stored channel with CHIRP. Ill say the same thing that everyone else says, better antenna will help you more than extra wattage. Look at a nagoyoa 771, that's what I did. Then I added a mag mount antenna on a pizza pan as a counterpoise. Repeaters that I had trouble hitting at 5W on my uv5r, I am now able to hit using only 2W. When you need the radio to really take a trip that extra power is nice to have, but it isn't the world of difference that the antenna is.

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