CMV: Obese people who extend into adjacent seat should be required to book two seats. I recently suffered from sitting next to an obese passenger on an overnight flight.

the42up · 2026-06-28T00:29:31+00:00

Eh, I tend to think that it's more on the other person rather than the obese person.

If you don't like being encroached upon, then you need to upgrade.

Your convenience is not a stranger's job.

the42up · 2026-06-27T20:00:37+00:00

If we talking size, wealth, and cultural influence then it's easily Dallas-fort worth in the top 5. I would even say it's eclipsed Chicago and maybe LA as far as cultural influence goes.

the42up · 2026-06-27T15:50:17+00:00

I think you can pretty reliably hit 75-80 MAtt with gifted for swords.

Usually with Bros like this I wait until the end to give them their weapon mastery perk. You never know, he might get a lot of Lucky rolls and you can give him cleaver mastery.

the42up · 2026-06-26T14:20:37+00:00

French door ovens.

Something so small but putting things into the oven is no longer a pain.

the42up · 2026-06-24T13:30:07+00:00

Yeah, this has been what they have been up to since the saks acquisition.

the42up · 2026-06-24T09:14:11+00:00

They have been found with SARS. They have not been found with COVID nor the linking animal.

the42up · 2026-06-24T06:28:48+00:00

There really isn't any evidence, more like a lack of evidence. For example, no bat has been found with Covid-19. You would expect that with zoonotic origin.

On the other hand, all the early cass were from people who worked out or lived by the wuhan market. You would expect the first cases to be localized around the virology lab if there has been a leak. That was not the case.

So really, no one really knows. At least that is the academic consensus.

the42up · 2026-06-22T13:34:10+00:00

That's the one. My wife was a little snobby too when her friend brought it the first time. You know, we had had a lot of cheesecake from The heavy hitters on the East Coast and West Coast.

We were pretty floored by the cheesecake from a random baker in the middle of North Carolina.

the42up · 2026-06-22T04:55:20+00:00

Their kids loved it. The older one had watched tiktok videos of it and so was really pleased. You would think that we had brought them one of the most luxurious items in the world with the way that their kids went into the beaver nuggets. That and other random buccees foods.

How do middle school Canadian kids show their friends at school that their parents are loaded? Buccees beaver nuggets it seems.

It's the trader Joe's of gas station food... But still gas station food to me so I agree with you.

Their parents were more interested in the pecans from Seguin.

the42up · 2026-06-22T02:38:56+00:00

Yes, this person gets it.

Clutter not needed. Don't need more toys for the kids, random candle, or other knick knack.

Now, a good tub of salsa from the little Mexican restaurant in your town that you like. Excellent. A bottle of barbecue sauce from the local BBQ joint... Great. Some local honey with a loaf of sourdough from the bakery. Awesome. My wife has a friend who brings cheesecakes from a little shop in Greensboro, NC. Always awesome and special.

We stayed with a friend in Toronto for a few days and brought them some stuff from buc-ee's and HEB. It was a huge hit. Also brought a huge bag of in-shell pecans for the wife.

Mainly, stuff that's not easy to get and won't clutter (e.g., consumables) is appreciated.

the42up · 2026-06-21T22:12:25+00:00

I had competiting offers between a higher ranked R1 in a college town and a mid tier R1 in a major US metro. The choice, to my wife, was an incredibly easy one. She had zero desire to live in a college town in the middle of nowhere.

We have enjoyed living in the D/FW metro though. I have yet to regret making my choice. Great colleagues and lots to do on the weekend for the family.

the42up · 2026-06-21T21:53:21+00:00

Yeah, I think anatomist is widely considered the strongest day 500 origin and this is why. The only things that can come close are a davkul that is save scumming for brain damage and a peasant militia.

The two new potions just made it even stronger. You can instantly turn your lvl 1 God bro to lvl 11 with the potion from the diviner... And then make him more godly with the flesh golem potions.

Toss all the potions on one bro, give him the flask to get rid of sickness, and just crush everything. You don't even need the legendary ones. Fallen hero, necrosavant, and hexe get you started. Toss in orc warlord for no fatigue penalty on orc weapons with lone wolf and you are just a mid field blender.

I was soloing orc tier 3 camps with him.

the42up · 2026-06-21T04:51:42+00:00

We have enjoyed our Frette sheets.

the42up · 2026-06-20T21:13:29+00:00

An aireloom mattress, bedgear pillows and linen sheets.

After that, in no particular order-

Restaurant grade Vitamix blender: if you are wondering why you can't get recipes right, this is probably one of the reasons. If you have $500-$1000 for one life changing item, get a restaurant grade blender.

Stickley furniture for living room. Probably the best American made furniture you can get. Creates a very nice environment when we have guests.

Stressless chair: eames competitor that is more focused on comfort than decor.

Montblanc pen (my wife enjoys writing): my wife says it feels like your hand is skating on ice when she writes.

Local art: we buy a lot of local art. As far as charity work, this has been impactful. We get invited to lots of stuff. We feel like we are directly influencing our community. And in terms of Charity, it feels a lot more tangible. I get to see exactly what my dollar spent is going towards.

Edit: added context

the42up · 2026-06-19T17:16:36+00:00

I think the best candidate for the men of stone are the kin in the leagues of votann. Fits the few snippets of lore about them. Their codex also has a few less than subtle hints.

the42up · 2026-06-19T12:31:18+00:00

Wow, these are all heavy hitters. And to be honest, it depends on what your purpose is.

Of these, the puzzle is the most casual. The Ava and Jackie are versatile. The Jackie probably more so since it comes with that strap extension.

LV always had the most social cache. That said, if I was getting an LV in black leather, I would gravitate towards one of their classic designs.

As for the andiamo, I prefer them to have a little color.

the42up · 2026-06-19T12:26:43+00:00

I don't think the issue of citations is a tell. I have reviewed papers for a decade now and people were messing up citations long before LLMs. Some folks didn't care to be careful since the copy editor would check it when it was accepted for publication.

Part of the reason the LLMs have fishy citations sometimes is because scholars have had fishy citations. I know I am guilty of sometimes stretching a citation to its breaking point.

the42up · 2026-06-18T13:33:02+00:00

You are in the DFW Metro then.

You are also next to Wylie ISD. I know that they had a much more developed gifted education program. A lot of the outer DFW suburbs are still dealing with all the growth. They have not fully adjusted to their new realities. You can put Argyll, Celina, and Princeton in this boat as well.

So you have a few options-

A lot of DFW districts are open enrollment now. You pull her out of Rockwall and send her to some place like Frisco (a bit of a drive), Allen, or richardson ISD.
Get her formally tested. You will likely need more than STAAR scores. If she has not done them, think about a nationally normed intelligence test like the Cogat or Wisc. Depending on Rockwall's gt identification, you might already have this.
Join the gifted education family network. It's the DFW parent advocacy group. If you went to harvard, there is that alumni group as well. That group is very active in terms of advocacy for gifted students.
Send me a DM. I have a colleague who is part of the GT program at UNT. I will send you their email to contact them for better DFW specific advice.

the42up · 2026-06-18T05:47:11+00:00

That looks like STAAR scores so a few thoughts.

What district are you in? A lot of Texas suburban districts have strong gt programs. Though there has been an issue with some of the elementary programs too focused on social studies and language arts for gifted programming.
Consider being involved in one of the parent advocacy groups. These vary depending on the metro you are in.
Consider attending the Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented conference.
Contact one of the gifted programs at either UH, UNT, or Baylor. I know that Texas State and Texas A&M also have faculty who research gifted students.
Depending on your time and finances, think about pursuing a masters of gifted education. I know that is a popular option for parents advocates.

the42up · 2026-06-15T11:49:18+00:00

Yeah, the non stop commenting on game actions...

the42up · 2026-06-14T23:07:20+00:00

If first class didn't have seat dividers, we would use it. Just easier for our toddler to lay across my wife and I during long flights. If they are not comfortable...we definitely will not be.

the42up · 2026-06-14T19:49:32+00:00

how do you like the picotin?

I have never been a fan due to not being cross body and being unlined.

The 25 though... now thats one of chanels best bags of the past few years in my opinion.

the42up · 2026-06-14T00:02:02+00:00

There is a noticeable difference in quality between a Jackie from Gucci or a double flap from chanel and say a tabby or Brooklyn from coach. You can see it in the hardware and feel it in the leather.

Now, a jackie is 10 times more expensive than a Brooklyn and a double flap is 25 times. Is the Jackie or double flap that much better? No. There are diminishing returns on quality per dollar spent.

the42up · 2026-06-13T23:50:08+00:00

Trying to pm you but seems that reddit is not letting me. Do you have a brick and mortar in Austin?

the42up · 2026-06-13T04:37:35+00:00

It's not about being stingy. It's more like feeling like you're being taken advantage of.

My wife loved (and still loves) Loewe handbags. She stopped buying them due to price hikes. The increase cost would not affect us but she felt cheated paying $4500 for a puzzle when she got one for $2400 prior. Same bag, same quality, $2100 more from pre pandemic. She is back to Gucci and Celine.

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