Random Thread ～Owaranai Insomnia '25 ver.～

[erilaz]

Yesterday I made my annual trip to the WESTPEX stamp show, where I bought some stamps that were on my wish list and some postcards of topical interest. Here's one stamp I bought that I find quite amusing. Who could have imagined that a 1977 postage stamp from San Marino commemorating World Rheumatism Year would feature tentacle porn?

[TotallyUncool]

But did you find the special semi-postal overprint?

[Celedam]

It's the first of May, and it's snowing outside.

It's not sticking, at least not here, but this is by far the latest snowfall I've ever seen in this state.

The Upper Peninsula and northern Wisconsin are getting buried.

[Zunu]

You guys seem to get a lot of extreme weather evnts in Ann Arbor

[Celedam]

No, not particularly. Taken in its entirety, the weather has been very mild. The extremes have been flattened out, if anything.

The problem is that the flattening out has happened in the range of 25℉ to 45℉ (-4℃ to 7℃). What should have been winter snow followed by spring rain has been turned into a neverending smear of both.

And the ice storm at the end of February wasn't really about the storm itself. We have a storm like that every few years. The ice melted within hours; we wouldn't have been able to drive to Toledo if it hadn't.

No, it was about how the worst part the storm almost exactly mapped a heavily populated region, thereby overwhelming the utility companies' ability to repair the damage. (People who don't live in Southeast Michigan don't understand how many people do live in Southeast Michigan. Y'all just hear "Detroit" and laugh.) If the storm had shifted just 50 miles to the north or south, fewer people would have lost power and the damage would have been repaired more quickly.

On a more personal note, I talked a lot about the storm and its consequences because it was a stressful time for me and the person I'm taking care of. If I were by myself and not taking care of another person, it would've been an interesting little adventure… <shrug>

[esm]

I went to Taylor Swift's show in Atlanta last Friday and it was the most amazing show I've ever seen even though I was at the upper level (and I've been front row at a lot of good shows). The production was so good it was like being at a Broadway show. Plus, she performed for 3 hours. I'd been tired from the week so I couldn't even stand the whole 3 hours and kept having to sit down. Now I'm trying to go to Nashville for Memorial Day weekend or a few days after, since the school year would be over by then because there's a Taylor Swift exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame.

[Celedam]

I watch Top Gear and The Grand Tour videos for the humor, not for the cars. I don't care about cars. Cars are tools, not a lifestyle. At best, they're very expensive toys, and people who play with cars are just as silly as me playing with Gundam models. At least I know how silly it is, and I waste much less money doing it. My car is 12 years old and I plan to drive it until it's a pile of rust, because I hate everything the auto manufacturers are pushing these days. I don't want or need a $50,000 smartphone-on-wheels to run a few errands.

So of course YouTube thinks I want more car videos and AdSense thinks I want more car ads.

The Algorithm™ is truly and irredeemably stupid.

[esm]

I don't care about cars either, but I watched Paul Hollywood’s Big Continental Road Trip on Netflix recently, and it was actually really interesting to learn about Italy, France, and Germany through their car culture. I'm already interested in those countries anyway (going to be in Germany and France this summer).

And if you're thinking, huh, French cars? That's exactly it -- they don't care about fancy cars there.

[TotallyUncool]

I grew up around California car culture - some of it (like lowrider restoration, or classic surfer wagons) can be pretty interesting, but for me, it's always been a matter of buying something practical and keeping it going - cars are for getting to where the people, jobs, stores, and fun things are, and trucks should be dirty, dented, and ready to haul anything. And so much of the time, automotive marketing is about anything but people, everyday life, or hauling tree stumps.

[Amped]

getting weird errors again on the forum. It's on and off.

Also the imgur deadline is coming up, so save your pictures.