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Post by Kapitan on Aug 16, 2021 13:33:07 GMT
We're 8:16 sunset today. (Northern latitudes, so we do get slightly longer days in summer than you do.)
It's still a reasonably long day, but definitely not like those great late June days when you get another hour or so, with sunset not coming until a little after 9! I remember being a kid with those late sunsets, being able to play sports outside so late even without extra lights... Days lasted forever, and it was the greatest.
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Post by kds on Aug 16, 2021 13:41:47 GMT
I think the latest the sun sets here is around 8:40pm or so. But, there's still plenty of light into the nine o clock hour.
I've really noticed it this weekend when I did my deck decompression time. By the time we put my son down, I pour myself a drink, and spray myself with Off! it's a little after 8pm, and this weekend it's been almost dark when I go out. For June and July, I'll typically have a lot more light.
But, such is life.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 16, 2021 13:52:02 GMT
Now you have something to look forward to for the next 7-8 months!
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Post by kds on Aug 16, 2021 13:56:42 GMT
Now you have something to look forward to for the next 7-8 months! Lol, nah, I'm past that point in life where I want to rush the colder months just to return to my beloved summer.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 19, 2021 12:31:47 GMT
And it's over! Well, Phase II of III is over. After an hour, I got through to a somewhat rude operator (whom I don't really blame, considering she is dealing with people who presumably have yelled a lot at her for having been on hold for literally hours, which isn't her fault).
I also agreed to take the first available appointment ... which is in late August. Seriously. Almost a month out. All this TO RENEW MY DRIVERS LICENSE, a process that I don't think has ever taken me more than about 45 minutes in the past, even when I had to wait in lines.
Ladies and gentlemen, today is the big day. It's been nearly a month, but in 15-20 minutes I'll head out the door to go to my appointment to finish the renewal of my drivers license. At this point, I fully expect the process to not end today, for some other absurd administrative task to push it off another month.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 19, 2021 13:57:44 GMT
Miracle of miracles! It took four or five hours spread over nearly a month, but I finally got my license renewed (and can drive legally ... these past few weeks, well, whoops).
Also, I've learned that the appointments they required were meaningless: I still stood in line for half an hour. The appointments seem to have been attempts at keeping randomly large crowds at one time, but weren't in any way used to secure place in line, order the people in line, etc. I actually wonder what would've happened had I not bothered to make one (which, remember, was several hours' of hold time). My guess is nothing, I'd have waited in the same line and gotten in just as fast. Well, "fast."
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 20, 2021 13:13:37 GMT
Here is one of the smallest, silliest complaints you'll ever hear. But nothing is so inconsequential that I can't whine a little about it.
My coffeepot doesn't keep coffee hot. Barely warm, in fact. That first cup is great, piping hot. But for example, today I went for a walk between cups one and two. Thirty minutes later, I return. The pot is still on, of course, and so theoretically the remainder of the coffee ought to be hot (if a bit stronger due to evaporation). But it's scarcely even warm.
I don't know if this is because they decided along the way that keeping the warming pads too hot was a fire risk, or a burn risk, or a danger to the ever-thinner glass of the pots, or what. But never before have I had a coffee maker that was so useless in this regard.
There's my first-world problem of the day.
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Post by kds on Aug 20, 2021 13:56:24 GMT
I've come to the realization that the owners of the liquor store I most frequent are geniuses.
I typically go there because it's close to the house, and they have good selection. But, the owners always have the local Top 40 station on. I thought it was odd since the patrons tend to be (at least when I'm there) people in their 40s and 50s. The owners aren't young men either.
Then, it hit me yesterday. That music makes people want to drink. You could walk in with the intention of getting a six pack of Buds, but then hear one of those whiny Olivia Rodrigio songs, and suddenly you've got your sixer of Buds and a bottle of Scotch.
Genius.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 20, 2021 14:21:49 GMT
That's funny.
My liquor store is also really close--I can just walk a block or so to the neighborhood shop--but the music is exactly opposite. In fact, I dare say you'd love it for its musical selection, KDS. For some reason, both my neighborhood grocery store and liquor store play a lot of classic rock ranging from the '50s through the '80s and into the '90s a little. Both have a wide variety of that, too, not just the same tunes you hear on commercial classic rock radio. So you'll hear a Foreigner hit, then the 1971 "Surf's Up," then maybe the original "Mony Mony," then some Joan Jett, then Poison, then Fleetwood Mac...it's really remarkable. Two of the only stores I know of that play a wide variety of rock/pop music, and they're right across the street from one another.
I suspect in both cases it is in part because they're just independent stores, not chains. So there are no guidelines on that kind of thing, just whatever the owners and employees want to play, which happens to be that.
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Post by kds on Aug 20, 2021 14:28:09 GMT
The Weis Grocery Store near me used to play a great variety of classic rock, but they've reverted to a mix of pop from the 80s to present, with an occasional classic rock song thrown in.
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Post by Kapitan on Aug 21, 2021 15:54:14 GMT
How about another first-world problem complaint of the day?
My iphone--so yes, the first thing I mention as part of my gripe is a magical little box that has powers that would have astounded the world's most brilliant people if you showed it to them 50 years ago, containing unlimited information and having basically unlimited reach--is aging. Its power jack is clearly screwed up, so the cable has to be placed just so or it won't charge. I need to just go get a new one, but have been putting it off (mostly because I just hate every aspect of getting a new one, too).
OK, so, the phone was getting low and I plugged it in to charge a while ago. And now for the past half hour, my family keeps texting nonsense on a group text, and each incoming text disconnects the charging of the phone. So I have to go fiddle with it to reconnect. And then in comes another stupid text. I fix. Another stupid text. Etc.
I'm tempted to ask to be excommunicated from the family so I my phone can charge in peace.
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Post by carllove on Aug 21, 2021 20:25:20 GMT
How about another first-world problem complaint of the day?
My iphone--so yes, the first thing I mention as part of my gripe is a magical little box that has powers that would have astounded the world's most brilliant people if you showed it to them 50 years ago, containing unlimited information and having basically unlimited reach--is aging. Its power jack is clearly screwed up, so the cable has to be placed just so or it won't charge. I need to just go get a new one, but have been putting it off (mostly because I just hate every aspect of getting a new one, too).
OK, so, the phone was getting low and I plugged it in to charge a while ago. And now for the past half hour, my family keeps texting nonsense on a group text, and each incoming text disconnects the charging of the phone. So I have to go fiddle with it to reconnect. And then in comes another stupid text. I fix. Another stupid text. Etc.
I'm tempted to ask to be excommunicated from the family so I my phone can charge in peace.
Can’t you just put it in Airplane mode?
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Post by kds on Aug 22, 2021 4:53:39 GMT
So, today was to be a good day. Its one of the few times we didn't have plans for a Saturday. It turned out to be a perfect late summer day, sunny, mid 80s. I planned to grill.
My wife took my son to get a haircut. I ran some errands, and did some stuff around the house.
At 3:30pm, I finished my chores. I was just about to shower, then prep the grill. The phone rang. Apparently, my son's speech therapist's husband tested positive for COVID.
We get to a nearby Express Care to get tested. Luckily, we all tested negative, but the day was shot.
I'll grill tomorrow, but the weather's not supposed to be nearly as good as it was today.
Summer in waning, so these weekend evenings are few. I'm quite annoyed one got taken do to a COVID scare.
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Post by carllove on Aug 22, 2021 16:10:14 GMT
So, today was to be a good day. Its one of the few times we didn't have plans for a Saturday. It turned out to be a perfect late summer day, sunny, mid 80s. I planned to grill. My wife took my son to get a haircut. I ran some errands, and did some stuff around the house. At 3:30pm, I finished my chores. I was just about to shower, then prep the grill. The phone rang. Apparently, my son's speech therapist's husband tested positive for COVID. We get to a nearby Express Care to get tested. Luckily, we all tested negative, but the day was shot. I'll grill tomorrow, but the weather's not supposed to be nearly as good as it was today. Summer in waning, so these weekend evenings are few. I'm quite annoyed one got taken do to a COVID scare. kds - That sucks! The weather was so beautiful yesterday. It was in the 60’s here by late evening. I’m just so done with COVID. Working in healthcare just makes it worse. When the surge happened last year, no one came to the hospitals, because they were afraid of it. Now we get everyone. I feel like I spend half of my day making sure my hospitals are stocked up. We are barely keeping up with the rapid COVID PCR test supply and keep running out of test tubes and blood culture bottles, due to supply chain issues. Vaccinated staff are coming down with COVID, so they are out and nurses are leaving to become travelers for the money. All of the nurse managers left, so the two that they have now are just learning their jobs. I’ve been picking up the slack because of the lack of management presence, but it’s been making it hard for me to do my actual job. Those that are left are tired and stressed. It’s a mess.
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Post by kds on Aug 23, 2021 12:29:23 GMT
So, today was to be a good day. Its one of the few times we didn't have plans for a Saturday. It turned out to be a perfect late summer day, sunny, mid 80s. I planned to grill. My wife took my son to get a haircut. I ran some errands, and did some stuff around the house. At 3:30pm, I finished my chores. I was just about to shower, then prep the grill. The phone rang. Apparently, my son's speech therapist's husband tested positive for COVID. We get to a nearby Express Care to get tested. Luckily, we all tested negative, but the day was shot. I'll grill tomorrow, but the weather's not supposed to be nearly as good as it was today. Summer in waning, so these weekend evenings are few. I'm quite annoyed one got taken do to a COVID scare. kds - That sucks! The weather was so beautiful yesterday. It was in the 60’s here by late evening. I’m just so done with COVID. Working in healthcare just makes it worse. When the surge happened last year, no one came to the hospitals, because they were afraid of it. Now we get everyone. I feel like I spend half of my day making sure my hospitals are stocked up. We are barely keeping up with the rapid COVID PCR test supply and keep running out of test tubes and blood culture bottles, due to supply chain issues. Vaccinated staff are coming down with COVID, so they are out and nurses are leaving to become travelers for the money. All of the nurse managers left, so the two that they have now are just learning their jobs. I’ve been picking up the slack because of the lack of management presence, but it’s been making it hard for me to do my actual job. Those that are left are tired and stressed. It’s a mess. My heart goes out to healthcare workers during this. Especially since it was really starting to look like we were out of the woods. We haven't gotten those temps in the 60s yet, but Saturday was about as perfect as one could hope for on August 21. I was able to do my grilling yesterday, on a cloudy rainy day.
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