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Morons Driving Like Assholes

Posted on December 27th, 2024

Dave!Yesterday the mountain passes were off-and-on closed due to weather or stalled due to accidents or requiring chains. Needless to say, I wasn't looking forward to the drive home this morning. I mean, chaining-up is no big deal. I've done that loads of time. And temporary closures are annoying, but part of the game (just make sure you've got a full tank of gas). The problem is, of course, morons driving like assholes and causing accidents. I've seen the consequences far too many times, mostly due to people in 4-wheel-drive rigs thinking they're invulnerable to ice and slush.

It's only my dumb luck that I haven't been sucked into their stupid all these years.

But when I woke up, all passes home were open. And my preferred mountain pass, which was chains-required all day yesterday, was in great shape. So the drive home was easy and, dare I say it, enjoyable...

The snowy drive home on bare roads.

In the end I felt fortunate that I was able to escape for a few days on my Christmas holiday.

Hopefully yours was equally good.

   

The Spirographs of Christmas Past

Posted on December 25th, 2024

Dave!Christmas morning was a morning unlike any other when I was a kid. So. Many. Toys. I suppose it's that way for a lot of people, because the saying "It's just like Christmas morning!" had to come from somewhere.

This morning before crawling out of bed I looked through an old digital photo album labeled "Christmas" to bathe in the warm waters of nostalgia for a few minutes. One of the photos was of me playing with my brand new Spirograph as a kid...

Young Dave with his brand new Spirograph set at Christmas

And that got me wondering... in this digital age, does Spirograph even exist any more?

Indeed it does...

   
But of course Spirograph has been taken digital in a dozen different directions too. Including this awesome HTML version you can play with right here...

HTML Spirograph

   
And here's one which tries to replicate the physical process...

Spiralator

So there you go! Entertainment for days on your Christmas morning. You're welcome!

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Deep Slush Stories

Posted on December 24th, 2024

Dave!Wintertime driving over the mountains in my neck of the woods can be a scary prospect.

Because even though WhizDOT (aka WSDOT, the Washington State Department of Transportation) and their awesome crew of dedicated workers does an exceptional job keeping the roads cleared, heavy snows can overwhelm the system. Whiteout snow conditions married with ice, deep slush, and morons who drive like assholes is a recipe for disaster, and I've experienced more than my fair share of terrifying experiences over the years.

And yet... if you gotta go, you gotta go, and that's just the way it is.

Plus, it's pretty...

Driving through the mountains in the snow.

Fortunately my trip today wasn't bad at all. A little slush here and there, but otherwise bare and wet.

Alas, the forecast for my return trip is not looking quote so pretty. But we'll see.

   

The Expense of Being Alive, I Guess

Posted on December 20th, 2024

Dave!Well poop.

This day certainly didn't go as I had hoped. Started out with a major problem that ended up having a heinously expensive solution. But isn't that always the case?

I'm used to it by now.

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FML: Part 38,467

Posted on December 17th, 2024

Dave!   
Well, today didn't go as planned. At all.


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Violence shouldn’t have to be the answer.

Posted on December 9th, 2024

Dave!There's a lot that I could say about current events.

But I think that this TikTok from Pastor Paul Drees is the closest to how I am feeling about things, so it's probably best that I just go with it instead of trying to dance around what I'd like to say... what I should probably say... or something I might immediately regret if I say...

@pastorpauldrees hey don't hurt other people. Also I understand the irony of posting this video while I'm recoving from an illness. #progressivechristianity #pastorpauldrees #lutheran #elca #progressiveclergy ♬ original sound - Pastor Paul Drees

"Health care" in these United States is utterly fucking horrendous.

You've got an entire industry whose entire point is to take money out of the system. It serves absolutely no other purpose.

If all the money that the American people paid into "health" insurance only for insurance companies to FUCK THEM OVER was instead put into actual health care, we'd be paying less for far, far more.

I had to go nearly three fucking weeks without medication prescribed by my doctor because my "health" insurance company wouldn't fill it without "prior approval." And it's like... my doctor says that I require it. That's all the fucking approval you fucking need. But no. They had to deny the prescription. Then my doctor had to send in paperwork asking for approval. Then the insurance company had to process shit while I waited. Then I'm guessing the CEO of the insurance company had to fly to St. Barts on their private jet for a week to consider if, in fact, they would allow me to have what my doctor says I need. THEN they decided to allow the prescription to be filled.

Two days after my medication was finally in my hands, I got a letter telling me how "pleased" my "health" insurance company was to approve my prescription request.

For the love of God I don't understand how Americans have been continuously conned into thinking that this is the way health care should work. Forget one greedy fuck at a fucking insurance company... the entire country should be in goddamn flames over this bullshit.

And perhaps one day it will be.

   

Something to be thankful for.

Posted on November 28th, 2024

Dave!Blessed as I am, it's easy to find things to be thankful for.

But there's a lot of baggage that comes with this American Day of Thanks. Personally for sure, but also as a country. That's something that all too often gets overlooked and it really shouldn't.

This remains my favorite take on it all...

The two Addams Family movies are genius. I don't know why we never got a third with that incredible cast.

   

Bullet Sunday 883

Posted on November 24th, 2024

Dave!Snowy weather may have kept me from working in the yard today, but it didn't keep me from blogging... because an all new Bullet Sunday starts... now...

   
• Garbage! Remember how I was chuffed to bits that I managed to get everything in my garage put away so I have a dry place to park this Winter? This past Wednesday I realized that I forgot to leave room for my garbage can. In the Spring and Summer months I keep it outside because the heat makes it smell and I don't have to worry about trudging through snow to get to it. But now is when it's far smarter to have it inside, so I had to spend an hour rearranging all my junk so it would fit. WHY, LORD? WHY IS LIFE SO HARD?!?

   
• More Hallmark Than Hallmark! I lost access to Hallmark Channel, so I haven't seen any new movies in a while. Which is a wild adjustment for me to be making considering how I watched every new movie they ever released. But I can still enjoy the parodies, and this couple has some that are better than most...

This one is even more hilarious...

It's funny. But entirely accurate.

   
• XXX! I hate having my time wasted. And an increasing cause of time being wasted are companies adopting technology, then abandoning it without shutting it down. I bought a new Whirlpool oven. There's a Photoregister service where you can take a photo of a code and text it to register your product. But even though my photo is perfectly legible, I get the error "Sorry, we were unable to read that. Please reply with the code on the bottom of the camera icon."

Photoregister Image that's PERFECT!
I blurred out the number at the end because I don't know if having my serial number out there causes problems, but you can see how crisp and perfectly clear the number is in the image by the first three numbers

So I scream then enter the code manually, double-check I have it right, AND GET THE SAME FUCKING ERROR. Jesus. How is this useless fucking technology helping your customers? Just give me a fucking QR code for manually registering to begin with.

   
• Buggy Bugs! iPhone: You've Got Mail! Except when I click it tells me I don’t. This happens CONSTANTLY. It has been reported as a bug for years...

YOU HAVE MAIL! Oops, no you don't!

And yet Apple, with their billions of dollars, refuses to allot resources to fix it.

   
• Doon Episode Two! The money that HBO must be dumping into Dune: Prophecy is astounding. This series looks better than most movies. Everything from the sets to the costumes to the incredible special effects... it's so very cool that they're making sure the show has the budget it deserves. It's like they can feel that this has the potential to be their next Game of Thrones and they're doing what they can to make it happen. The preview for Episode 03 has me seriously bemoaning that we're only getting six episodes...

I choose to look at it as a very long movie instead of a short season. Here's hoping that they reeeeeally stick the landing on this one so we get a second season.

   
• WELP! Apple's "Apple Intelligence" ad campaign has been about the stupidest thing I've ever seen. It's not a tool to help you be more productive... it's a badly-implemented crutch for people who are lazy morons! This sums it up nicely...

Maybe eventually AI will become something I give a shit about, but from what we've got right now I'm more embarrassed than impressed.

   
• Start with Garbage, End with Garbage! And, speaking of AI, I can't believe that Adobe has their Stock Images defaulting to AI-Generated images being ON by default. If I wanted an AI-generated image, I'd go to a fucking AI-art generating tool. I wouldn't go to a stock art website. God this company has turned into the absolute fucking WORST. I just accidentally bought an AI-generated image because I didn't see the little "AI" tag they don't add until you hover over it. Well, sorry, I don't support that bullshit personally, and I certainly don't tie it to my place of employment where people would rightfully bash them for stealing photos and art. Lord. If you're going to sell this shit, default to it being OFF... and make the damn disclaimer tag be permanent and not turning off and on based on where your mouse is...

This isn't rocket science. Any guesses as to whether or not my excluding AI will stick and be permanent?

   
Back to watching the snow fall on this very snowy day.

   

Not Da Bomb

Posted on November 20th, 2024

Dave!This morning a so-called "Bomb Cyclone" (AKA "Winter Hurricane") slammed into Washington State. I'm across the mountains from the coast so it wasn't anything I needed to worry much about, but it did give us the first serious snowfall of the season. Things Seattle-side were a bit more dire as high winds, heavy rains, and power outages (600,000 people without electricity) were the order of the day. Then tomorrow night the forecast says we get to do it all over again, this time with blizzard conditions in the mountains.

As I'm typing this the snow has turned to rain, which is strange this late into November. I remember when our first serious snow used to happen late October and run through March. Now it's more late November through February or early March. Climate change is a heck of a drug.

In non-Judgement-Day-related weather news...

  1. I managed to get all my Fall yard prep completed except cutting down my big hydrangeo bush. If I'm lucky, there'll be a break in the weather for the weekend to make things easier on me.
  2. Remember how I was chuffed to bits that I managed to get everything in my garage put away so I have a dry place to park this Winter? Today I realized that I forgot to leave room for my garbage can. In the Spring and Summer months I keep it outside because the heat makes it smell and I don't have to worry about trudging through snow to get to it. But now is when it's far smarter to have it inside, so I had to spend an hour rearranging all my junk so it would fit.
  3. I am seriously considering building a larger/warmer cat shelter when I build my new pergola/catio on my back porch. Something that can integrate outdoor-rated heating and be easy to hose-out and keep clean. The shelter would be a part of the design, but separated physically and visually so my cats and any neighborhood cats staying there wouldn't be bothering each other. I do love a project, and this sounds like a fun one.

And now back to hoping that my gutter drainpipes are clear and the drainage pads are directing water away from my foundation properly. I gave them a quick look-over, but if the rain really does end up being problematic tomorrow night, that's probably not good enough.

Story of my life.

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The Bold Fuckery of Kohler

Posted on November 12th, 2024

Dave!As I mentioned yesterday, I was mad that the new faucet I bought was opposite in operation from the faucet that it replaced... despite being the same brand, Kohler! It was also opposite of every other single-handle faucet I've ever used where the HOT water is away from you and the COLD water is nearest to you. Which only makes psychological sense, because you'd want the more dangerous option to be the furthest away.

I thought I might be crazy in my expectations, so I posted the following photos to Facebook and asked which they would expect to dispense hot water. The overwhelming majority said that the left photo was the correct photo.

Jenny's Claws Sinking into Me!

Except when it comes to the dipshits at fucking Kohler, where it's not.

A part of me wonders how shit like this happens. Is there like one designer guy who makes all the decisions and just doesn't give a shit? There's no quality assurance person there to say "Whoa! All our other faucets have the hot water dispensed when the handle is away from you! Let's fix that!"

I still don't know if I will swap the lines to the opposite way that they've been marked on the hoses. I'll wait until my ribs are mostly healed again to decide. Though I suppose I should ask fucking Kohler if there's some ramification from correcting their stupid fucking mistake by switching things up. Could be that there's a special gasket for the hot water and running it through the cold water part will void your warranty or some such stupid bullshit.

And now I'm fucking furious all over again.

This is bullshit.

   

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