LoneLocust

LoneLocust, 8 days ago to random

We’ve hit rock bottom.

My wife, reading something in her phone, says, “What a terrible name! ‘Egg Coffee.’”

In retrospect, I should have realized it was some form of beverage, but I automatically assumed it was the name of one of her next year’s kindergarten students.

…and yes, it’s plausible.

LoneLocust, 8 days ago to random

My 19 YO is pestering me to sign up at the gym again so we can play #racquetball during the summer.

I seriously don’t think he understands what 40 extra years means on the raquetball court.

LoneLocust, 9 days ago to random

Woke up this morning and said, “What will get me off my butt and out for a bike ride?”

“Donuts!”

Learned when I got to #RandysDonuts that apparently today is National Donut Day.

The line for donuts was long!

1/2

LoneLocust, 10 days ago to random

I’m getting ready to watch USA get spanked by Pakistan in the #T20WorldCup

I mean, sure, USA might win, but, by and large, the lot of the associate nations is to get spanked by the full ICC members.

LoneLocust, 10 days ago to random

This topic has made me think about the day my dad died. I'll tell a story some will think horrific, but I found quite funny.

My dad died in his home. I was there. I called 911. They came - fire, police, and ultimately the coroner's van. It took a couple of hours before I was able to leave. The coroner's van had left somewhat earlier.

I needed to tell my wife, a teacher in class at the time, so I drove to her school. I stopped at QuikTrip for brunch.

1/2

LoneLocust, 14 days ago to random

Now that #TheHabit has discontinued their steak sandwich, they’re just a run-of-the-mill burger joint with nothing really to make them stand out over dozens of other (potentially cheaper) alternatives.

LoneLocust, 16 days ago to StarTrek

#StarTrek #Discovery (No Spoilers)

Now that it’s done, I will say this: NEVER HAVE I EVER seen a show that can be in a situation where, for example, “The warp will blow up in 30 seconds” and they manage to pack 5-10 minutes of dialog about their feelings into that “30 seconds.”

That’s been a joke about ticking bombs on TV and movies for decades, but Disco came along and said, “hold my beer.”

(Writers, tip for you: all you need do is change “30 seconds” to “10 minutes.”)

LoneLocust, 16 days ago to random

42.7° in the backyard, 9% humidity.

“At least it’s a dry heat.”

Also explains my nosebleed.

LoneLocust, 17 days ago to random

The drain hose on my washer has finally rotted away and cannot be MacGyvered anymore. I said, “How hard can it be?”

The hose snakes all the way from the back of the unit to the front, meaning you have to remove both the back and the front. To get to the front, you have to remove the top, the soap dispenser, the filter assembly, the control panel assembly, the door seals, the door, the unit up 45 degrees on its back feet, and finally, the front.

1/2?

LoneLocust, 18 days ago to random

Legend!
https://noc.social/@todayilearned/112524287330949265

LoneLocust, 18 days ago to Costco

Wow, #Costco has scored a deal here. Infinity X1 5000 lumen rechargeable/dry cell flashlight. List price, around $150.

$40 at Costco today.

LoneLocust, 19 days ago to random

This is the kind of thing that really gets my brain churning, and not in a good way. This will bug me for days.

This box of Macaroni & Beef says, “30% MORE MEAT*
*REQUIRED BY THE MACARONI & BEEF IN SAUCE STANDARD”

Who establishes the macaroni & beef in sauce standard?

Is it the United Nations? The macaroni and beef board? Who?

LoneLocust, 21 days ago to random

When I heard that vinyl records were making a comeback, at first I thought it was a collective joke (like a flash mob or something,) then I realized it was a massive practical joke being played on people.

But after seeing this news piece, which is the next “logical” step on the path back to the Edison wax cynlinder photograph, by way of the 8-track tape, I’m convinced this is far more sinister. They’re just trying to burn the word to the ground.

https://youtu.be/Vr2_CUAldjQ?si=cN11WJpxYQ2dbjbX

LoneLocust, 24 days ago to cricket

Watching USA vs Bangladesh in #T20 #Cricket. Shocked that USA apparently beat Bangladesh the other day. Not going to happen today, I fear.

Match in Houston. The field looks awful. No stands. Maybe 50 people watching the match.

Still… go team USA!

LoneLocust, 24 days ago to random

My experiences with Waymo so far have been most satisfactory.

Far less scary than riding in a car with an unknown, untrusted human.
https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/112484401923377732

LoneLocust, 26 days ago (edited 26 days ago) to Podcast

Talk about silk purses from sow’s ears!

I take my 13yo #podcast episodes, some of which we recorded over Skype and sound pretty janky, run them through #LogicPro’s #StemSplitter, isolate the voices and process them through the #Adobe #EnhanceSpeech tool, then re-integrate it replacing the original voices and it actually sounds pretty good.

AI tools have their place (just probably not as information repositories.)

(Needless to say, I don’t have the original master recordings anymore.)

LoneLocust, 27 days ago to random

I hate door-to-door solicitors, but I don’t mind occasionally seeing how they deal with nonstandard responses.

“Hi, my company is in the neighborhood doing a couple of installs down the street, so you may see some cones around their vehicles.”

“Oh, ok, great, thanks for giving me the heads up. I won’t call the police on them, then.”

“Heh, um… thanks.”

1/?

LoneLocust, 28 days ago to random

“I pledge to use and internalize the Metric System in my own life wherever possible, so long as it does not impact safety. Further, I will not make it easy for others to cling to outdated measurement systems.”

— The Metric Pledge

#MetricPledge

LoneLocust, 1 month ago to random

I woke up this morning to this alert on my phone.

My first words uttered this morning were, “Go home, Siri, you’re drunk.”

1/2

LoneLocust, 1 month ago to Phoenix

So, Weee! (https://www.sayweee.com/en) is an Asian grocery delivery service. (Probably not very carbon-friendly.) They deliver a lot of goods difficult, if not impossible to find in #Phoenix, but they also (apparently) listen.

I ordered Chashu from them a while back but, being frozen, large, and uncut it was problematic if you’re just making a single bowl of ramen.

1/?

LoneLocust, 1 month ago to Taiwan

Many details to square away, but No. 1 Offspring, having completed their university degree, and with no immediate prospects for gainful employment beyond McDonald’s, has opted to go live with their grandparents in #Taiwan for up to a year and participate in the government-endorsed (?) Mandarin language learning program.

1/?

LoneLocust, 1 month ago to DoctorWho

In just 2 hours, the first @podcast episode on the new series of #DoctorWho episode #SpaceBabies goes live.

In 13 years, this is the first time I've had to include the explicit tag.

LoneLocust, 1 month ago to random

Who says Arizona is too far south to see the #AuroraBorealis?

I’m pretty sure that’s the #aurora right there.

LoneLocust, 1 month ago to random

As I watched this ad, my first thought was, “WTF?” But about halfway through, I realized it was being compressed INTO an iPad. “OK, I get it…”

But

The misstep to me is that the items are (a) obviously being destroyed and (b) leaking out and therefore escaping being part of the iPad. The iPad is therefore less than the sum of the parts.

Also, the rubber ball face doesn’t look happy being squished.

I reckon this ad will disappear very soon.
https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/112411319892987319

LoneLocust, 1 month ago to StarTrek

My years-long watch/re-watch of every episode of every series of #StarTrek has brought me to today where I start series 5 of #StarTrekDiscovery.

I have caught up to the current season and will be caught up to the current episode by next week.

Just in time for the end.