Randomness Dos

[tifosi77]

That said, I really would love to build the Saturn V and Millennium Falcon sets.

I'd like the Saturn V, but GD that thing is almost 200 bucks.

The most recent Millennium Falcon set is like $800 and has over 5,000 pieces. (!) Fun fact: On the Adam Savage 'Tested' YouTube channel they built one of the Falcon sets a few years ago, and the guy on the crew who provided the kit went to my high school.

Last year, Mrs Tif and I went to the LA Auto show, and there was a 1:1 scale Bugatti (I forget if it was a Veyron or Chiron) made out of LEGO. We had an fun discussion as to which is the bigger flex, having an actual Bugatti or the LEGO one.

[Sam's Drunk Dog]

Best one ever was "WHY DON'T YOU JUST SMILE, AND BLOOOOOOOWWWWW MEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!"

Mel Gibson to his fiance/wife/whatever. She was secretly recording it. Back in 2010 or so.

Another favorite from that is "YOU MAKE ME WANT TO ...SMOKE!!!"

[NTP66]

And away we goooo.

[Shyster]

Do they lick the ends before holding them up?

[NTP66]

I sure as hell hope so.

[Ad@m]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/da ... r-n1240902

A Massachusetts construction worker’s love of black licorice wound up costing him his life. Eating a bag and a half every day for a few weeks threw his nutrients out of whack and caused the 54-year-old man’s heart to stop, doctors reported Wednesday.

“Even a small amount of licorice you eat can increase your blood pressure a little bit,” said Dr. Neel Butala, a cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital who described the case in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The problem is glycyrrhizic acid, found in black licorice and in many other foods and dietary supplements containing licorice root extract. It can cause dangerously low potassium and imbalances in other minerals called electrolytes.

Eating as little as 2 ounces of black licorice a day for two weeks could cause a heart rhythm problem, especially for folks over 40, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns.

“It’s more than licorice sticks. It could be jelly beans, licorice teas, a lot of things over the counter. Even some beers, like Belgian beers, have this compound in it,” as do some chewing tobaccos, said Dr. Robert Eckel, a University of Colorado cardiologist and former American Heart Association president. He had no role in the Massachusetts man’s care.

The death was clearly an extreme case. The man had switched from red, fruit-flavored twists to the black licorice version of the candy a few weeks before his death last year. He collapsed while having lunch at a fast-food restaurant. Doctors found he had dangerously low potassium, which led to heart rhythm and other problems. Emergency responders did CPR and he revived but died the next day.

[Freddy Rumsen]

[eddy]

That's very cool and a bit weird because I had an old timey snowball fight dream last night. Moreso because I just finished reading Dune too

[shafnutz05]

Thanks for the tip Freddy. Damn this thread is fascinating.

[willeyeam]

On a similar note - good stuff https://newsinteractive.post-gazette.co ... -district/

[shoeshine boy]

But man, to remain in the closet for half of your life is just tough. We're all so happy for him, and it's good to see him so happy.

That's pretty good news for 2020.

one of my friends stayed in the closet until his 40s. he married a woman even though he, and she knew he was gay.he was already married to the woman when I met him so I never questioned it. he went on a business trip to LA and the day he came back his wife was waiting for him and said, "I'm leaving you". a few days later he asked me and my SO to come over because he wanted to talk to us about something. we sat in his living room and he said, "I wanted you to know that I'm going to start dating.....guys."
both he and his ex-wife are happy and everything worked out.

[NTP66]

44° outside? Still not turning on my heat yet.

[willeyeam]

You show em ntp

[NTP66]

Just don't show my wife this...

[PFiDC]

Saw several very slow yellow jackets today. **** off until spring you bastards.

@Shyster

[shafnutz05]

Saw several very slow yellow jackets today. **** off until spring you bastards.

Shyster

This is the woooooooooorst time of year for them. They all leave their nest and go foraging. Thankfully they aren't super aggressive but they will just land on you without even thinking about it.

That's one of the biggest reasons I HATE going apple picking in the fall. Yellow jacket city.

[robbiestoupe]

Saw several very slow yellow jackets today. **** off until spring you bastards.

Shyster

This is the woooooooooorst time of year for them. They all leave their nest and go foraging. Thankfully they aren't super aggressive but they will just land on you without even thinking about it.

That's one of the biggest reasons I HATE going apple picking in the fall. Yellow jacket city.

You are not a true American. No apple pie for you.

[Shyster]

Bumble bees, honey bees, mason bees--no problem. I leave them alone; they leave me alone. My grandfather kept honey bees for years, and my brother did too until a representative of the local bear population destroyed and ate his hives. I like honey bees. I like bumble bees. I have overgrown rhododendrons that I really should cut back or replace, but I haven't done so because bumble bees love rhododendron flowers in the spring.

Wasps and hornets, OTOH, can all go straight to hell.

[PFiDC]

Saw several very slow yellow jackets today. **** off until spring you bastards.

Shyster

This is the woooooooooorst time of year for them. They all leave their nest and go foraging. Thankfully they aren't super aggressive but they will just land on you without even thinking about it.

That's one of the biggest reasons I HATE going apple picking in the fall. Yellow jacket city.

Yup. The ones I saw were all on my patio and gave zero **** about where they were going.

[shafnutz05]

Yup. The ones I saw were all on my patio and gave zero **** about where they were going.

In a similar vein, I definitely have noticed as the weather has gotten cooler, a marked uptick in no-see-ums biting me as I'm sitting on my deck.

On another note, holy HELL the lanternflies out this way are absolutely out of control. I saw my neighbor out by his big oak with a broom yesterday, and went over and talked to him. This isn't his tree, but captures what I saw:



Stinkbugs were a nuisance and destructive but it seems like they have been kept in check by the cold winters here. These things honestly scare the crap out of me from an ecological perspective. I was working outside yesterday, and one dive bombed me and flew down the back of my neck...I was on the phone with a candidate and am ripping the shirt off my back trying to get it out

[tifosi77]

How am I doing? Oh, so glad you asked. Mrs Tif and I shared a box of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies for dinner is how I am, so mind your business.

[Shyster]

How am I doing? Oh, so glad you asked. Mrs Tif and I shared a box of Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies for dinner is how I am, so mind your business.

[blackjack68]

Yup. The ones I saw were all on my patio and gave zero **** about where they were going.

In a similar vein, I definitely have noticed as the weather has gotten cooler, a marked uptick in no-see-ums biting me as I'm sitting on my deck.

On another note, holy HELL the lanternflies out this way are absolutely out of control. I saw my neighbor out by his big oak with a broom yesterday, and went over and talked to him. This isn't his tree, but captures what I saw:



Stinkbugs were a nuisance and destructive but it seems like they have been kept in check by the cold winters here. These things honestly scare the crap out of me from an ecological perspective. I was working outside yesterday, and one dive bombed me and flew down the back of my neck...I was on the phone with a candidate and am ripping the shirt off my back trying to get it out

The adults are going to die out at the first hard frost. The problem now is the egg masses. Each female lays two egg masses with up to 50 eggs in each. So for every female in that pic, you’re looking at ~100 more lanternflies next year. Scrape and bag egg masses in alcohol, hand sanitizer type liquid. Then trash

[Gaucho]

[NTP66]

Can anyone actually load the full PA voting status page? https://www.pavoterservices.pa.gov/page ... cking.aspx

We've been waiting for our ballots to arrive, and they have until Monday before I have to contact my county's board of elections. And now PA's online status page is useless.