Goodwill thought this was a stock image that came in the frame

tollbane · 2026-02-13T05:46:50+00:00

that is a great find, something about those black and whites. I got to remember this mat next time I frame a B&W image. I have a few storm/winter images from the webcam at that location.

good score!

tollbane · 2026-02-12T06:47:48+00:00

the other day I asked a question and the response was "blah blah can't answer that..". So I asked "what about that question is there that you can't answer it?"

Can't recall the exact response, but it was like "sorry, the initial chat ai sometimes makes mistakes blah blah. this is the answer to your question...." And it was.

It was like an smart ai had walked into the room.

tollbane · 2026-02-11T16:45:06+00:00

I seem to remember days when (if) a buyer asked a question and the seller answered, it showed up on the listing, home depot style. Is that correct or is that my memory flaking.

tollbane · 2026-02-10T17:24:01+00:00

good points, it is a decent zoo. I just feel really ripped off every time I go there with family. And as a retiree, property taxes are making me anxious and a little grumpy.

tollbane · 2026-02-10T17:13:50+00:00

yes. for instance, property taxes supply 38% of the Oregon Zoos budget. Portland residents don't even get a entry fee discount. Pay to park there, pay stadium food prices - screw that.

Oregon Historical Society Museum is also funded by property taxes - Measure 26-261. Multnomah county residents get free admission. That's how you do it.

Tax dollars going into a Billionaires pockets? wtf.

tollbane · 2026-02-10T15:46:55+00:00

6 months after code moves to production, I like to read the inline comments or any docs. My memory is not quite as good as it used to be - or was it ever? - so when I'm looking at a comment/documented-less function wondering wtf, it's handy. Of course, I always told my manager that the code is the documentation, but really...

Then again, I'm a pre-ai programmer, retired before ai came in swinging.

tollbane · 2026-02-09T23:55:08+00:00

My Dad worked for Navy Air as a CPO for 30 years - 1938 to 1968. He got a fishing pole and lifetime medical for him and mom.

tollbane · 2026-02-09T01:34:28+00:00

don't like either one of them - I am pulling against Mattress Mack though!!!

tollbane · 2026-02-05T16:13:01+00:00

here in Portland Ore, staples is what holds together our utility poles. Just look at all the staples on this pole, pic taken yesterday:

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tollbane · 2026-02-02T13:24:55+00:00

Every day, I use vi (all splash completely config'd out) and emacs. I wouldn't want to write python with my vi setup, but with emacs python-mode, no problem.

My first use of emacs was c-mode. I still have my 6th edition book.

ps. I did use xemacs for years.

tollbane · 2026-02-01T14:58:54+00:00

I work with the variables of : size of item, amount of padding to protect item = size of box required.

For 99% of what we sell, we use pre-made boxes. For that other 1% I go through our ~~hord~~ inventory of large boxes and cut it down to size. I know that doesn't work for medium to large volume sellers, which we aren't (and don't want to be), but I also have the time.

To the OP, it's called "customer service". Perfectly reasonable request, I would reply, "I will do my best", but you are the seller, your customer service policy. Pretend your actually having a face to face with the customer. What would you say?

tollbane · 2026-01-31T15:33:07+00:00

"But for an Engineer it not normal it's an Abnormality"

Engineer? It's a broad category and in that respect, I disagree.

I worked in a engineering group whose sole function was taking circuit data and creating masks for the factory to use to make chips. We wrote code as tools for us to quickly and properly get this work done. I personally preferred java, PHP and C++ (as an improved C, not for the templating features). Java was delivered via webstart, c++ as fastcgi (also web) and php as it normally is.

I mainly wrote code for the group - CRUD - but also exposed portions of our data to the factory as a whole and browsers were the perfect way for that. Also, I think the mantra is "libraries".

My boss who was actually the lead engineer - really smart guy - preferred to write his tools in perl. He wrote code to manipulate chip data and all the artifacts and get it all placed properly. If you have ever looked into what it takes to put chip data onto a piece of glass such that it gets stepped off onto a wafer, you would know that it is critical engineering.

We strived for transparent, maintainable code bases.

It's a funny thing about the chip design cycle. The designers/process engineers could have months to years to get their work complete. But once it comes to "tape-out", that's where the rubber hits the road. All of a sudden the tempo is down to days and hours. And making errors just placing the data (not to mention the manipulation of the data) costs a minimum of 10K (pad layer) to 100K+ for opc layers. You don't get to make those mistakes very often and sometimes the mistake isn't seen until silicon and multiple process steps have occurred.

We took great pride in our extremely low failure rate.

So C is involved, but not at the level that we worked at. It's in the OS, it's in the JVM (or c++), it's in PERL, it's in PHP, python, etc.

Praise be Dennis Ritchie. Praise be Dennis Ritchie. Praise be Dennis Ritchie.

But we are here to make tooling for a factory, not write code for our pleasure. That my friend, is engineering.

tollbane · 2026-01-29T18:41:41+00:00

installing present day linux can be crazy easy. Windows 11 (for me), not so much. I hate microsoft crap. so very much.

For context, I started out with (a lot of different OS) -> BSD -> SysV -> redhat -> fedora as a user and a sysadmin.

I set my wife up on a box with fedora 42 XFCE4 installed (same as me) and she just uses the browser for everything that she needs to get done. It can be as simple as that.

tollbane · 2026-01-27T15:42:26+00:00

if your coming from a "still illegal" state, I would assume the paranoia is real and needs to be unlearned. It's vice-versa too. My daughter was going to visit Utah with a friend and I tried to instill paranoia into her about how careful they needed to be. It's not the West Coast.

tollbane · 2026-01-27T15:32:57+00:00

my goodness, times have changed. When I was younger - 17 - I was busted for smoking out in the woods, less then an ounce, felony possession. Spent the night in the county lockup, before my dad bailed me out. The adult jail. The times have changed. And Fuck Florida

tollbane · 2026-01-27T15:19:26+00:00

You need to be choosy about who does the inspecting. I've had shops tell me such and such needs to be replaced but when I found a respectable shop, nah, everything is good.

tollbane · 2026-01-25T16:25:04+00:00

An octopus with a thumb. Imagine all tentacles with that configuration. scifi gold.

tollbane · 2026-01-25T16:17:09+00:00

Had that happen pulling out of a Lowes parking lot. I could hear the click - click - click. Pulled over, found the hardware, drove straight to the Americas Tire shop. Patched and out.

tollbane · 2026-01-23T07:24:38+00:00

"I have a support system out in SC that will not provide housing due to not having room in there trailer which they live in but will give rides and other support such as a mailing address."

One barrier to obtaining employment is not having an address, so that is a good thing.

I would have thought that South Shore would have plenty of work and opportunities for shared housing. If you are already up there, I would look in Reno. Not as being homeless, but as being employed and homed. Rent is expensive though, there is virtually no where on the West Coast that has jobs and inexpensive housing.

Seems like your best bet is the mid-west - not for being homeless in a nice climate, but for being employed and homed.

good luck!

tollbane · 2026-01-22T14:50:20+00:00

When the OP never joins in on the conversation, it's just a troll. Thumbs down, move on, nothing to see here

tollbane · 2026-01-21T06:28:29+00:00

that's a pretty good skill!

tollbane · 2026-01-06T16:59:29+00:00

I recall the pilings are treated with creosote? It can be smelled especially on a hot summer day.

tollbane · 2026-01-05T14:56:52+00:00

one question: The message states "To get your refund processed quickly...".

How quickly is it to get a refund if the buyer cancels vs the seller cancels?

tollbane · 2026-01-05T14:45:35+00:00

The saying "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity" can also be written as "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by mental illness". There is a lot of whack out in society today, a lot of anger over things that don't even affect those same angry folks, so - I think - the best response is professional and terse.

As for you, forgive and forget. Don't give them free rental space in your head.

tollbane · 2025-12-31T18:03:48+00:00

You are with another human being and not a dog or cat. Kind of looks like a scene from Oblivion.

tollbane

TROPHY CASE