Miscellaneous Discussion Thread

DailyMail.com: Cats ARE neurotic - and they're probably also trying to work out how to kill you, say researchers

Quote: jjjoooggg

I brought a cat in my office. Tonight

Quote: MrV

The host has a passing resemblance to Hillary.

Thanks. I thought it was obvious. =\

Gators and crocs, funny story.
Was in Cancun Jan 2006, couple months after Hurricane Wilma pretty much shut the place down. Had wife's college friend and her husband Jerry with us staying at my timeshare. Jerry's a golfer and missed his annual retreat with the boys to Myrtle Beach to go to Cancun with his wife. Not happy about it. Of course Wilma struck about a week after we had purchased the airline tix ;-) Place was a ghost town, most resorts, restaurants, attractions closed. Our resort Royal Mayan was open, and the 2 sister resorts next door, Islander and Caribbean. So we had restaurants anyway.

Jerry had wanted to go golfing, Hilton just a couple doors down has a nice golf course right across the street. Of course Hilton shut down for the season (took the insurance money like 95% of the resorts )for repairs, same for golf course. Jerry wants to walk the Golf course, every hole, anyway just to see what he missed. So we go for a 2 hour walk on the course where we probably aren't supposed to be, but what the heck, the whole island is virtually deserted. Jerry is checking out every tee, walking to every cup, in order mostly, just getting a feel for the place. Lots of water hazards, ponds lakes canals every where and as we skirted along the edge of one I started to jump over yet another downed tree. Except it wasn't a tree. Croc, big frikken Croc. 18 ft we estimated once we retreated 20 ft or so in like .5 seconds and I checked my pants! Was about 36 inches wide at midpoint of belly. It never moved, but it was watching us. Had the eyes of a dragon. We didn't even have a camera with us. Definately one of the most exciting points in my life, just for a couple of seconds. I had no idea they got that big. I almost stepped on a damn dinosaur! Probably 24inches high at/between the front legs.

Took Jerry out on fishing boat 2 days later, delayed one day by rough seas, out trolling for sailfish which supposedly had come in early that year. 38-40 ft boat, 6 ft seas, bout 10 customers, run like a headboat but smaller.
<Edit > Boat from Aquaworld and maybe 45 ft, they run about six boats a day or used to in prime season (US Winter), 6 hour trips. Had to look it up to remember name.

Had been out with them several times before, had really good catches, but the troll for sailfish thing was new to me. Jerry never been on a boat before...... Seas weren't too bad till we passed Isla Mujeres that shelters the waters in between. Just passed that, 5 minutes at most, I got 9 seriously seasick fishing mates, including Jerry. We spent 4-5 hours trolling in a figure 8 pattern about a mile long, in relatively big seas for a smallish boat. The turns that caused the waves to be coming in from the side were interesting to say the least. 9 people spent all those hours lined up along the rail trying to be sick long after they couldn't. Guess they were trying to throw up internal organs at that point. I don't get seasick, don't know why. I was having a good time, drinking their beer, and eating their lunches cause they couldn't. I am surprised they didn't throw me overboard. We only had one strike, it wasn't a sailfish, I saw it, all day.

Jerry was sick all night, and all the next day, and the day after when they caught their plane back to Virginia he still didn't look so good. I assume he has not been on a boat since. Jen and Jerry haven't vacationed with us since then either.

The croc was so big that you had to stand 20-30 ft away just to see all of it at once. So big that if you just walk up behind it at like a 30 degree angle and close, it just looked like another downed tree. Damn big Croc!
<2nd edit> back in the day (1985 ish) when food was cheap, the resort was brand new, a dollar went a long way, I used to rent a wind surfing rig for the week and we spent a lot of time on the bay side on the beach that is no longer there. I would not swim in those waters anymore. Crocs get really big!

I'm not much for reading autobiographical books especially about actors. I know we have some nostalgic old- timers here

Apparently this is supposed to be fairly interesting. But Enough About Me, a memoir of Burt Reynolds.

Apparently he turned down some big rolls like James Bond and many more (oop's)

he was in financial trouble? I can't imagine had he taken some of them rolls that wouldn't be the case.

Heat 1986 Vegas and gambling related http://static.srcdn.com/slir/w570-h300-q90-c570:300/wp-content/uploads/reynolds-in-heat.jpg

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093164/

Quote: AxelWolf

I'm not much for reading autobiographical books especially about actors. I know we have some nostalgic old- timers here

Apparently this is supposed to be fairly interesting. But Enough About Me, a memoir of Burt Reynolds.

Burt is broke, out of rehab (again) and pushing 80.

Dreams can be disconcerting

I had a dream I stabbed someone in a restaurant. Had to get rid of it (evidence), and I didn't really want to because it was one of them good knives that's made out of something probably called polychrome. Ya know, they kinda plasticky, but they'll cut through bones and cans and whatever else random stuff they cut through on the TV infomercials.

Quote: RS

I had a dream I stabbed someone in a restaurant. Had to get rid of it (evidence), and I didn't really want to because it was one of them good knives that's made out of something probably called polychrome. Ya know, they kinda plasticky, but they'll cut through bones and cans and whatever else random stuff they cut through on the TV infomercials.

Do you typically find that dreams are first or third person? Would you classify it like being involved in a movie? More like a 'pick your own adventure'?

In the past i dreamt my bedroom was burglarized. This time i was Armed As he was breaking in but i woke up to pee.

So, I'm reading last night and I come across this: https://www.rt.com/usa/322417-nuclear-bomb-test-nevada/, and I think to myself, nah, this is RT. It's got to be some conspiracy crap and I won't post it at wov or anywhere else, because surely, this news would be reported on the msm.

And then today, I see this: http://www.valuewalk.com/2015/11/u-s-successfully-tests-new-nuclear-gravity-bomb-in-nevada/, which is the same thing only it's on Yahoo. So my suspicious mind thinks "was yahoo forced into publishing this because RT had already exposed the news, or were all you Vegas-ites already aware of these radioactive tests" ?

I read the Yahoo one a bit, and I see this is the third, above ground nuke test of this particular nuclear bomb since June.

I don't receive the msm news feeds. I'm wondering if others had been aware of this above ground testing, especially the downwinders in Nevada? Isn't there some kind of treaty about not doing that?

You just have to appreciate the irony, that first, I would get my news about nuke testing in Nevada from a Russian source, and this is the part I get a chuckle out of. The US names this project the ELP, or extended life program. A new nuclear weapon and they name it "extended life", ain't that a knee slapper? Like Internal Revenue Service, a laugh a minute these guys. ROFLMAO extended life, hahahaha

I was coming home at night from the North and I'm looking off to the West and I see what looks to me like Northern lights? So much so, that I call my wife and tell her to look from the house [in AZ.], Northern lights aren't unheard of this far south, so wtf. Unique. Then I get home, fire up the www and I see, that the Navy has launched [according to them] and surprise minute man missile out of the Pacific and it is visible for nearly a bazillion miles around. I think sure, they are going to launch a ICBM, into oft travelled airspce not far from LA, and not put out a notice to all mariners and aircraft?

That's the sort of thing, especially commercial aircraft like to know about, just in case. And the news is relegated to the dustbin, or the "memory hole". One thing about these guys, they got a sense of irony...and macabre humor.

Turns out what I thought was northern lights was apparently a ICBM.

They did not explode a nuclear bomb, or worded slightly differently they did not set off a nuclear-powered explosion.

Quote: petroglyph

...and I see this is the third, above ground nuke test of this particular nuclear bomb since June.

Except that it was a test of a tail fin, which would go on a container that could hold a bomb, but didn't for a test of the aerodynamic properties of tail fins.

http://www.redorbit.com/news/technology/1113410856/us-air-force-successfully-tests-improved-b61-12-nuclear-gravity-bomb-in-nevada-111815/

My curiosity really pertains to whether or not prior to the news being broadcast today, if it has been made common knowledge prior to RT posting it and the Russian general announcing it? Not whether or not there was a thermo-nuclear test in Tonapah where this test was performed.

A few years ago, the military wanted to do a non nuclear test with a million tons of tnt, IIRC? Residents were concerned that that large of an explosion would stir radioactive dust into the air from prior nuke testing.

I see. I misunderstood the nature of your concern.

Though it is rather obvious that a "Russian General" and "Russia Today" had nothing to do with "announcing" it in any meaningful sense of the term, since they simply reproduced the US Gov't press release word for word on the telemetry guidance and aerodynamic system test (at a site that has never had any sort of nuclear detonation of any kind ever) and appended their Russian Gov't political commentary at the bottom.

I think my new condo neighbor is pissed because I been getting scalding water when I shower twice today.

I was in my bedroom arguing with my mom over serious business problems. Yes, I have a life, I have problems. I shouldn't have to apologize for being a real person.

There is a chance it is a coincidence.

Omg. Im eating thai dish. So hot

Quote: jjjoooggg

Omg. Im eating thai dish. So hot

I once ate a super hot Thai dish in a restaurant that was also a front for prostitution. And there is not a double entendre in that statement. More of a pun on words.

Internet gaming in the US is the last chance for politicians not to screw the public.

Except for some games in Nevada, the casino can legally hide the take. (percentage individual game makes)

They allowed gambling in Indian casinos -- they can hide the take.

If full blown Internet gaming in the US happens, will they make the take unknown to the public again?

If I don't have that right, feel free to correct me.

Yup you should know what the game is taking stated right there on each game, whether it's a 98% or 90% or whatever.

Yah, it's mostly machines, but many games online will be simulations too, including many table replicas.

How can you shop smartly when you don't know the cost? It's consumer advocacy to provide percentages!

Does anyone had a clue how to get rid of a rental car drop fee when dropping to a different location? When we go to Florida we are flying in to tampa and out of fort lauderdale. Rental car is $11 a day but there is a $75 drop fee.

Quote: GWAE

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

Quote: GWAE

Quote: Face

American Crocs have a conservation status of "vulnerable". The Glades are the very northernmost tip of their habitat, and as such, aren't likely to be seen. The American Alligator, on the other hand, is everywhere. We have to worry about them even while golfing way up in Swansboro, NC.

Do you want to see one? Just stop, walk in, and find somewhere with water, shade, and sun. Wear thick rubber boots at least knee high. Or just go golfing.

I wouldn't know the differencenter if I saw them side by side. I want to see a large alligator looking animal in the wild. I will call it an alligator even if it is a croc.

You don't often see the gators just driving down the road. You have to stop, get out of the car. Enter the roadside canals/creeks/ditches just 10 ft from the pavement. That is a different world. How fast can you run anyway?

I am a.fat limber dude. I can run 12 ish MPH I believe.

The swamp tour I assume would show us some alligators. It is only $35 a person and kids 4 and under are free. I am going to miss when my year old isn't free for stuff anymore.

Sorry I'm late to the party, GWAE, but you know.

I think you meant to say that you can run a 12 minute mile. If you could run 12 MPH you would be a world class athlete.

Quote: 1BB

Sorry I'm late to the party, GWAE, but you know.

I thimk you meant to say that you can run a 12 minute mile. If you could run 12 MPH you would be a world class athlete.

No, you wouldn't. If you can run about 12mph (sprinting a short distance to avoid becoming lunch) you'd be about like an average reasonably healthy adult man or woman. But not a very athletic one. And I have no idea if you'd be a quick or slow gator.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-average-running-speed-of-a-human
http://www.ask.com/health/average-human-running-speed-7f0ef0953669fa1

EDIT: For clarity - short runs.

Quote: 1BB

Quote: GWAE

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

Quote: GWAE

Quote: Face

American Crocs have a conservation status of "vulnerable". The Glades are the very northernmost tip of their habitat, and as such, aren't likely to be seen. The American Alligator, on the other hand, is everywhere. We have to worry about them even while golfing way up in Swansboro, NC.

Do you want to see one? Just stop, walk in, and find somewhere with water, shade, and sun. Wear thick rubber boots at least knee high. Or just go golfing.

I wouldn't know the differencenter if I saw them side by side. I want to see a large alligator looking animal in the wild. I will call it an alligator even if it is a croc.

You don't often see the gators just driving down the road. You have to stop, get out of the car. Enter the roadside canals/creeks/ditches just 10 ft from the pavement. That is a different world. How fast can you run anyway?

I am a.fat limber dude. I can run 12 ish MPH I believe.

The swamp tour I assume would show us some alligators. It is only $35 a person and kids 4 and under are free. I am going to miss when my year old isn't free for stuff anymore.

Sorry I'm late to the party, GWAE, but you know.

I thimk you meant to say that you can run a 12 minute mile. If you could run 12 MPH you would be a world class athlete.

I believe I can get to 12MPH for about 25 feet. Never said I could run an entire mile at that rate. Don't world class athletes run over 20MPH.

However I wonder if I could run a mile in 12 min? I think I could break 10 minutes but maybe I am delusional.

Quote: DrawingDead

Quote: 1BB

Sorry I'm late to the party, GWAE, but you know.

I thimk you meant to say that you can run a 12 minute mile. If you could run 12 MPH you would be a world class athlete.

No, you wouldn't. If running about 12mph, you'd be about like an average reasonably healthy adult man or woman. But not a very athletic one.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-average-running-speed-of-a-human
http://www.ask.com/health/average-human-running-speed-7f0ef0953669fa1

I take it you're not a runner. May I suggest that you try another Google?

In the meantime, Ryan Hall won the 2011 Boston Marathon with a finishing time of 2:04:58 or a 12.6 MPH pace. I'd call him athletic.

How fast do you run, DrawingDead?

If Usain Bolt could keep up his speed for the entire marathon, how fast could he complete it? He ran the 100 meters in 9.58 seconds.

1 Mile = 1609.344 Meters
1609.344/100 = 16.09344
16.09344*9.58 = 154.1751552 seconds per mile

154.1751552 * 26.2 = 4039.38906624 total seconds

Maraton would be done in 67.32 minutes.

Quote: 1BB

I take it you're not a runner. May I suggest that you try another Google?

In the meantime, Ryan Hall won the 2011 Boston Marathon with a finishing time of 2:04:58 or a 12.6 MPH pace. I'd call him athletic.

How fast do you run, DrawingDead?

You are welcome to run your marathon. The rest of us are sprinting from the gator. I competed in distance running ("cross-country" events) when I was MUCH younger, in my teens, but won't be thinking of joining you these days. However, if you'd like to take anything like a marathon or even a mile pace for this task at hand involving Mr. Gator, you're certainly welcome to. Then, the rest of us won't even need to break a sweat for our 20 or maybe up to 40 yards. The gator will probably appreciate you being so considerate for him, as well.

I just read from a respected, depending on who you ask, person that this site is "99%+ voodoo betting strategies."

At least the people here go to casinos and play unlike the phonies that type a book all day debating "which is better."

Real APs play. Losers and ploppies argue on the internet all day!

Quote: GWAE

However I wonder if I could run a mile in 12 min? I think I could break 10 minutes but maybe I am delusional.

I dunno. Maybe you could break 10 min AND have delusions. Or neither. The current US Army fitness standard for young males 17 to 26 (they vary the standard by age & gender) awards a 100% score for doing the required two mile run in 13:00 flat or less. That's in full "battle dress uniform" meaning boots, not Nike Air Jordans. And to barely pass with a 60% score requires doing the two miles in no more than 15:54 if you are a 17-21 year old guy, or 16:36 if you're a 22-26 year old male. Or by next August if you're now a decrepit graying goat like me.

Quote: GWAE

1 Mile = 1609.344 Meters
1609.344/100 = 16.09344
16.09344*9.58 = 154.1751552 seconds per mile

154.1751552 * 26.2 = 4039.38906624 total seconds

Maraton would be done in 67.32 minutes.

I know I could've figured it out, but I'm recovering from a bad flu bug and don't have the energy :-)

I would bet everything I have including my life that I could smash 12mph right now with no warm up, even in the midst of what I refer to as "injury season". Bolt has the fastest recorded; I don't recall exactly but it was high-mid 20's. 27mph? Somewhere thereabouts anyways. I have no doubt that I've neared 20 in my prime. Gimme 10 minutes to warm up and 5mg of Vicodin and I'll break 16 on the spot, right after this cigarette. "But Face, that's like one step behind Deion Sanders' 40 time". Yes. It is. "He was the fastest man in the NFL!" Only because I never played ;)

Extended is another animal. 12mph over a marathon is a superhuman hauling of freight. Sadly, my fastest mile, even in my prime, was well into the high teens of minutes. I'm a cheetah, not a wapiti.

Quote: GWAE

Does anyone had a clue how to get rid of a rental car drop fee when dropping to a different location? When we go to Florida we are flying in to tampa and out of fort lauderdale. Rental car is $11 a day but there is a $75 drop fee.

I have never found a way to dismiss that charge unless the change of venue was due to extreme weather, or if the rental agency that your were going to drop at was closed. I am surprised it is only $75. I have had to pay $200-$300 before.

Quote: Face

...<SNIP>...I have no doubt that I've neared 20 in my prime. Gimme 10 minutes to warm up and 5mg of Vicodin and I'll break 16 on the spot, right after this cigarette. "But Face, that's like one step behind Deion Sanders' 40 time". Yes. It is. "He was the fastest man in the NFL!" Only because I never played ;)...<SNIP>...

Bah! Lumbering football players. Phffft!

Quote: Jeffrey Flanagan / MLB.com

Per Statcast™Cain went from first to second base in 3.81 seconds, and needed only 3.34 seconds to go from second to third. He cut even more time off the final leg, going from third to home in only 3.31 seconds. In all, Cain reached a max speed of 20.7 mph during his 10.5-second dash from first to home.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/155433184/statcast-cains-sprint-the-difference-for-kc



From a standing start, making two abrupt 90 degree turns and a slide.

...oh wait, I guess Sanders also played real games, too. And was okay at it.

In the outfield top fielders such as a Lorenzo Cain or a Deion Sanders or a Jason Heyward, with more of a chance to accelerate on a line to the ball, will sometimes top 23mph or so according to Statcast's metrics.

Quote: DRich

I have never found a way to dismiss that charge unless the change of venue was due to extreme weather, or if the rental agency that your were going to drop at was closed. I am surprised it is only $75. I have had to pay $200-$300 before.

I think it is about the supply and demand of the return place. In April we went to NOLA. I rented a car from the airport and returned it the next day in downtown NOLA. My total rental was $32. It was cheaper than a taxi plus I got to swing by a fee casinos and drive to a plantation. I am guessing there is a high demand in downtown so they actually like when people return it there so they don't have to pay someone to go get cars.

Quote: GWAE

I think it is about the supply and demand of the return place. In April we went to NOLA. I rented a car from the airport and returned it the next day in downtown NOLA. My total rental was $32. It was cheaper than a taxi plus I got to swing by a fee casinos and drive to a plantation. I am guessing there is a high demand in downtown so they actually like when people return it there so they don't have to pay someone to go get cars.

It's a dynamic fee for exactly the reason you list. They anticipate demand based on rental reservations, and right now it's a minor (75 dollar) inconvenience for that car to be relocated. I think it might be worth locking that rate in for the moment, then calling back in 2-3 weeks and have them re-compute it, in case demand has changed. But before you do that, I'd get them to commit that the rate won't go up, only down, if they look.

For comparison (FWIW, different place, different time) I picked up a car at LAS, left it at Harrah's LV (what, 5 miles away?) and incurred a $57 dollar fee 18 months ago.

People, people, people.

You don't have to outrun the gator, you just have to outrun whoever is next to you.

Looking at the equation from a slightly different angle:

You don't have to be the fastest, just don't be the slowest.

Actually,

If you trip whose next to you. You can walk.

Have you ever had a thought to hide something in your home and forgot where you hid it? How did you find it if you did find it?

Quote: TwoFeathersATL

Was that an insult aimed at moi? ;-)

No, 2Feathers, I seem it was directed at some unidentified idiot who posted a winning ticket's image and someone tried to cash it via the bar code image.

Anyone recall the two locals who bought the golden nugget with profits from a telephone/ticket/internet/room reservation they came up with?

Look at some of the places they went to pitch their ideas for the website when they needed capital.

Not 'mobbed up' but "respected" men with instant access to lots of money. No committees.

Quote: mason2386

Have you ever had a thought to hide something in your home and forgot where you hid it? How did you find it if you did find it?

Everyone should know this answer. It's always in the last place you look.

Quote: FleaStiff

No, 2Feathers, I seem it was directed at some unidentified idiot who posted a winning ticket's image and someone tried to cash it via the bar code image.

Anyone recall the two locals who bought the golden nugget with profits from a telephone/ticket/internet/room reservation they came up with?

Look at some of the places they went to pitch their ideas for the website when they needed capital.

Not 'mobbed up' but "respected" men with instant access to lots of money. No committees.

Are those the 2 that had that tv show. Tim and something.

Tim Poster and Tom Breitling. And yeah, they did that lame brief TV show.

Quote: DrawingDead

Tim Poster and Tom Breitling. And yeah, they did that lame TV show.

I actually enjoyed that show. Matt dusk is one of my favorite singers.

Ah, well then. I assumed too much, and out of respect for the significant chunk of the former audience that's here, I've edited my post.

Quote: DrawingDead

Tim Poster and Tom Breitling. And yeah, they did that lame brief TV show.

They unwisely let a show in over which they had no control so the show's lack of quality only made money for the show, not the casino.

Quote: FleaStiff

Anyone recall the two locals who bought the golden nugget with profits from a telephone/ticket/internet/room reservation they came up with?

Look at some of the places they went to pitch their ideas for the website when they needed capital.

Not 'mobbed up' but "respected" men with instant access to lots of money. No committees.

Things that make you go "hmm:" .

Yesterday I was at a bar watching the game. When the national anthem started playing I hopped right out of my seat. Next thing I know the people seated next to me hop out of their seat too. Pretty soon the whole bar is proudly standing for the national anthem.

However the reality of the situation was i had just cashed out of one machine and stood up waiting to get paid by the bartender before sitting down at another machine. Just so happened to coincide with the start of the national anthem so i inadvertently got everyone else to stand.

Quote: rudeboyoi

Yesterday I was at a bar watching the game. When the national anthem started playing I hopped right out of my seat. Next thing I know the people seated next to me hop out of their seat too. Pretty soon the whole bar is proudly standing for the national anthem.

However the reality of the situation was i had just cashed out of one machine and stood up waiting to get paid by the bartender before sitting down at another machine. Just so happened to coincide with the start of the national anthem so i inadvertently got everyone else to stand.

Can we borrow you for the national republican meeting? You can open for Donald trump

Quote: rudeboyoi

Yesterday I was at a bar watching the game. When the national anthem started playing I hopped right out of my seat. Next thing I know the people seated next to me hop out of their seat too. Pretty soon the whole bar is proudly standing for the national anthem.

However the reality of the situation was i had just cashed out of one machine and stood up waiting to get paid by the bartender before sitting down at another machine. Just so happened to coincide with the start of the national anthem so i inadvertently got everyone else to stand.

Love it. Especially from you. Doesn't happen often enough, though.

Quote: beachbumbabs

Love it. Especially from you. Doesn't happen often enough, though.

Thanks babs. Never thought I'd be leading an act of state worship lol.