Random thoughts that are pointless and too dumb to say anywhere else thread: * 2023 *

[homer]

My 22 year old nephew will never know what it's like to write a check.

[LouisEly]

7 hours ago, homer said:

My 22 year old nephew will never know what it's like to write a check.

I assume that he doesn't plan on becoming a homeowner anytime soon (many contractors don't take electronic payments or charge a 3% fee for using one, which for a $20K bathroom remodel is an extra $600, well worth writing a check).

[owbc]

17 hours ago, LouisEly said:

I assume that he doesn't plan on becoming a homeowner anytime soon (many contractors don't take electronic payments or charge a 3% fee for using one, which for a $20K bathroom remodel is an extra $600, well worth writing a check).

Everyone I've worked with in recent years takes electronic debit with no fees. If they don't do it yet they will soon. 

I wrote one check in 2022 and one in 2021. The one in 2022 was to the IRS (oops, underpaid on my taxes). None so far this year. My checks have an address on them from a place that I moved out of in 2016. I have 9 checks left so that should get me through the rest of this decade. 

[GAME05]

On 7/5/2023 at 11:45 AM, homer said:

My 22 year old nephew will never know what it's like to write a check.

Ooh, thanks for the reminder. I got a letter saying I bounced a $50 check from a closed account despite having the checking account for years with definitely enough money to cover that. And the letter doesn't really even say who I bounced the check to, which is confusing. No notice of it on my account, either. 

[igor67]

Was it maybe a check you deposited from someone else? I had that happen once, very annoying because it was family as well.

[LouisEly]

When is the last time that you've seen a June bug?  I *may* have seen one tonight fly in front of my TV on my rooftop deck - not sure, but if it was, it would be the first one that I recall seeing in 20 years.

[jerichoholicninja]

Every year from May through at least the end of July. I just had to fish a bunch out of the kiddie pool last week.

[Jim French Stepstool]

The first NBA player to shatter a backboard was Chuck Conners (The Rifleman). He played briefly for the Boston Celtics & broke the board in pregame warmups in 1946. No record of whether he did any 360 degree spins on his way to the hoop.

 

[Samurai Bucky]

On 7/8/2023 at 10:35 PM, LouisEly said:

When is the last time that you've seen a June bug?  I *may* have seen one tonight fly in front of my TV on my rooftop deck - not sure, but if it was, it would be the first one that I recall seeing in 20 years.

Didn't they lose the war against the stink bugs?

[CheezWizHed]

I see one or two June bugs every year at my house. 

But until this year, we had thousands of Japanese beetles.  Pretty, but terrible on my fruit trees.  Milky spore in the ground and cold pressed neem oil on the trees was the solution.  I started that late last year and it really knocked them back (but they did a lot of damage before I figured it out).  Now, I've seen maybe a dozen this year with very minimal leaf damage.

Now for the box elder bugs.

 

 

[Fear The Chorizo]

31 minutes ago, CheezWizHed said:

I see one or two June bugs every year at my house. 

But until this year, we had thousands of Japanese beetles.  Pretty, but terrible on my fruit trees.  Milky spore in the ground and cold pressed neem oil on the trees was the solution.  I started that late last year and it really knocked them back (but they did a lot of damage before I figured it out).  Now, I've seen maybe a dozen this year with very minimal leaf damage.

Now for the box elder bugs.

 

 

May I ask where you live?  Here in MN we've been hammered the past few years with Japanese Beetles chewing on our garden bean plants - this year I think I've picked 2 off the plants and didn't really do anything special...thinking the long winter we just had did a number on their larvae, although I probably just jinxed myself and a week from now I'll be picking them off by the bucketfull to feed our neighbor's chickens, lol

[CheezWizHed]

12 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

May I ask where you live?  Here in MN we've been hammered the past few years with Japanese Beetles chewing on our garden bean plants - this year I think I've picked 2 off the plants and didn't really do anything special...thinking the long winter we just had did a number on their larvae, although I probably just jinxed myself and a week from now I'll be picking them off by the bucketfull to feed our neighbor's chickens, lol

South metro Twin Cities.  I was just in Chetek, WI and they had them in droves.  Perhaps they are slow in coming, but I know both are helping.  I started Milky spore in 2021 (it takes a year to effect as it kills the grubs).  Last July, they came out strong, but reduced.  Then in Aug sometime I started using Neem oil.  They would land on the plant but not eat it.  

In years past, they were so bad, they bronzed one of my apple trees. I started using traps (yes, they might attract from neighbors, but it was so bad, I had to) and I would replace the bag weekly in two traps.  Last year, I only had one bag per trap for the whole season.  This year, no traps and only spraying neem oil weekly with the milky spore doing its thing from a couple years ago.  The contrast is very stark.  And both solutions are natural solutions, so I appreciate not having chemical pesticides on my fruit trees. 

[Fear The Chorizo]

1 hour ago, CheezWizHed said:

South metro Twin Cities.  I was just in Chetek, WI and they had them in droves.  Perhaps they are slow in coming, but I know both are helping.  I started Milky spore in 2021 (it takes a year to effect as it kills the grubs).  Last July, they came out strong, but reduced.  Then in Aug sometime I started using Neem oil.  They would land on the plant but not eat it.  

In years past, they were so bad, they bronzed one of my apple trees. I started using traps (yes, they might attract from neighbors, but it was so bad, I had to) and I would replace the bag weekly in two traps.  Last year, I only had one bag per trap for the whole season.  This year, no traps and only spraying neem oil weekly with the milky spore doing its thing from a couple years ago.  The contrast is very stark.  And both solutions are natural solutions, so I appreciate not having chemical pesticides on my fruit trees. 

gotcha - I guess one item I did do this past winter was keep the garden area largely cleared of snow, so the soil could be exposed as much as possible to the elements...hearing that their larvae can't withstand extended stretches of soil temps below 15 degrees got me motivated to shovel snow across a little extra area where they would've largely laid eggs in my yard last year.  It also seems this year like we've got a much larger number of birds around that might be helping to keep their numbers down.

I've tried traps before, but found they just seemed to attract more of them...but it is satisfying to empty out a bag of them every now and then.  

[igor67]

Any recommendations for getting them out of my house? I bought a vacant house 5 years ago in Clark County, and it had been overrun. We spray outside windows and doors twice a years and it's manageable but they die year round inside the house and I haven't quite figured out how to clear out those that somehow lay eggs that hatch throughout the winter.

[Thurston Fluff]

I was walking my dog today and someone wanted to pet my dog. They asked what her name was and I told them Trillian. They asked if she was named after the character in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I said she was. The lady said she loved the books and loves English humor in general. To which is responded I wonder if commas aren't just apostrophes who are afraid of heights. The blank stare I got either meant she didn't get the English part or it really is that dumb of a joke.

[sveumrules]

33 minutes ago, Thurston Fluff said:

I was walking my dog today and someone wanted to pet my dog. They asked what her name was and I told them Trillian. They asked if she was named after the character in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. I said she was. The lady said she loved the books and loves English humor in general. To which is responded I wonder if commas aren't just apostrophes who are afraid of heights. The blank stare I got either meant she didn't get the English part or it really is that dumb of a joke.

"I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty was playing on the radio at work and I said to my coworker, "Man, Tom really is Petty if he won't back down. I heard Tom Reasonable will consider changing his mind when presented with compelling evidence to the contrary."

I also received a blank stare.

[Jim French Stepstool]

7 hours ago, sveumrules said:

"I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty was playing on the radio at work and I said to my coworker, "Man, Tom really is Petty if he won't back down. I heard Tom Reasonable will consider changing his mind when presented with compelling evidence to the contrary."

I also received a blank stare.

When the Brewers were looking to beef up their catching years ago, there was a rumor or two about them checking in with Miami on Realmuto. I was tempted to tell anyone I conversed with that they wouldn't be able to meet the price, but could probably afford to pick up Fakemuto.

Judging by the responses you guys got, I'm glad I never trotted that one out.

[AKCheesehead]

11 hours ago, Jim French Stepstool said:

When the Brewers were looking to beef up their catching years ago, there was a rumor or two about them checking in with Miami on Realmuto. I was tempted to tell anyone I conversed with that they wouldn't be able to meet the price, but could probably afford to pick up Fakemuto.

Judging by the responses you guys got, I'm glad I never trotted that one out.

That reminds me of how my best friend (RIP) and I used to refer to Gabe Gross as Gabe Disgusting.

[CheezWizHed]

If you aren't getting laughs with Dad jokes, get better friends! 😂

[Thurston Fluff]

Dang this kid can play.

[wallus]

I have been planning on quitting an online part time teaching gig for years. Today I found out I had been laid off due to poor enrollment numbers. It's probably good because it forced the decision and I don't really need the income. They also are telling me I am getting a severance which I did not expect. (I don't expect it to be much)

[LouisEly]

An FDA advisory panel voted 16-0 that the main ingredient in Sudafed, Nyquil, and Benadryl is ineffective.  Very little of the drug actually get to the nose and sinuses to relieve congestion.

Anyone who has ever taken Sudafed, Nyquil, or Benadryl already knows this. 

[nate82]

4 hours ago, LouisEly said:

Anyone who has ever taken Sudafed, Nyquil, or Benadryl already knows this. 

The only thing I use Benadryl for is a sleeping aid.  About an hour after taking one of those and I am out.

[NeedMoreFans]

11 hours ago, LouisEly said:

An FDA advisory panel voted 16-0 that the main ingredient in Sudafed, Nyquil, and Benadryl is ineffective.  Very little of the drug actually get to the nose and sinuses to relieve congestion.

Anyone who has ever taken Sudafed, Nyquil, or Benadryl already knows this. 

Regular Sudafed has pseudoephedrine, which is amazing (and it's the stuff you have to show an ID to get and is behind the counter or locked up, because of meth).  It's the stuff that has phenylephrine doesn't work.

[CheezWizHed]

Odd... I regularly take Nyquil when I have a head cold and it works for me.