What’s On Your Mind?

[Scepticalscribe]

Wow, our switchback to standard time isn't until next Sunday... so we get one more week of half-&ssed "daylight" lingering until around 6pm and then the sudden plunge into pitch black suppertimes. The sop to our feelings is that at least the sun then starts straggling out of bed before a quarter to 8am -- if it even bothers to do that during the greys of November and December. I share your feelings, at least until January and return of the light!

For us, it usually takes place on the Saturday of the last week-end of October.

However, in mainland Europe, the clocks go back on the last week-end of September, following rapidly on the heels of the autumnal equinox, which brings both earlier dusk and darkness - signalling the unwelcome onset of winter all too soon, to my mind.

 

[lizkat]

That does seem too soon, end of September. But end of October would be fine to my mind in the USA, if we're not going to just leave it at Daylight Saving Time all year round.

I dunno. I grow to dislike the early morning darkness running so late near the end of the daylight saving mode here in the States. I tend to wake with the pre-dawn light and I do like that quiet time to myself-- but as fall approaches I either have to set an alarm or else find myself still abed at 7am, and then of course don't want to call it a day before 10pm.

But right now I blame the World Series games starting at 8pm EDT for my being awake at near midnight... and struggling to greet a new day at 7am when it's definitely still pitch dark.

 

[Herdfan]

The fact that the clocks have gone back this week-end - which means that winter is approaching. All too rapidly.

What's weird is setting them back will mess me up for a month. Setting them forward doesn't affect me at all except for that one day.

Can't wait to get to AZ and stop this foolishness.

 

[lizkat]

What's weird is setting them back will mess me up for a month. Setting them forward doesn't affect me at all except for that one day.

Can't wait to get to AZ and stop this foolishness.

I have to say that the plunge into darkness at 5pm is brutal for me, initially far more bothersome than the disruption of sleep/wake times.

It really brings home how small and short that arc of daylight is as winter approaches. Even today, on a sunny afternoon, I was looking out the kitchen window and it crossed my mind how long the light was already in casting shadows of the trees, and how by next week at this same time it would only be 1:30pm, roughly lunchtime for me. Ugh!

But yes, the shift backwards seems to disrupt my life much more than the change in spring, and more at night than in the morning. I'm ready to call it a day at 8:30pm all month after the switch back to standard time. I welcome the earlier light in the morning once we're in standard time in November, but I still wake up in darkness because I've meanwhile got used to it.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Early winter evenings. And darkness in early winter evenings.

 

[Herdfan]

But yes, the shift backwards seems to disrupt my life much more than the change in spring, and more at night than in the morning. I'm ready to call it a day at 8:30pm all month after the switch back to standard time. I welcome the earlier light in the morning once we're in standard time in November, but I still wake up in darkness because I've meanwhile got used to it.

So here's hoping for a Game 7 to keep me up as long as possible tonight and tomorrow, NFL game on Thursday and need to find a party for Friday & Saturday nights. Got to push that bedtime back so I am not wanting/needing to be in bed by 9:30.

 

[lizkat]

So here's hoping for a Game 7 to keep me up as long as possible tonight and tomorrow, NFL game on Thursday and need to find a party for Friday & Saturday nights. Got to push that bedtime back so I am not wanting/needing to be in bed by 9:30.

You left out election returns in a few interesting races tonight... anything to stay awake late this week.

A game 7 would be exciting... but I wouldn't mind if Atlanta managed to wrap it up tonight in Houston.

 

[DT]

This is a proper fish sandwich, with correct bun-to-fish ratio .

 

[lizkat]

This is a proper fish sandwich, with correct bun-to-fish ratio .



View attachment 9533

Hah, yeah, "the one that didn't get away..."

 

[ericwn]

This is a proper fish sandwich, with correct bun-to-fish ratio .



View attachment 9533

Looks great! What kind of fish is it?

 

[shadow puppet]

I have to say that the plunge into darkness at 5pm is brutal for me, initially far more bothersome than the disruption of sleep/wake times.

Same. I hate it. It's depressing.

 

[DT]

Looks great! What kind of fish is it?

Flounder.



Really, I didn't even know you had lost her ...

*rimshot*

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I have to say that the plunge into darkness at 5pm is brutal for me, initially far more bothersome than the disruption of sleep/wake times.

It really brings home how small and short that arc of daylight is as winter approaches.

Same. I hate it. It's depressing.

I loathe winter, the short days, the darkness, the abysmal quality of available light, and detest ice and sleet and snow, also.

 

[lizkat]

I loathe winter, the short days, the darkness, the abysmal quality of available light, and detest ice and sleet and snow, also.

I just set back my two clocks that aren't hip to our semiannual ritual of pretending it's not really what time we've got used to it being.

What a PITA. And despite having tried to stay up later this week, to avoid feeling like it's bedtime at 9pm tomorrow, it seems to have backfired at this point, since I've been yawning as usual as 10pm EDT approached. I'll never make to 11 so I'm kissing daylight saving time off a few hours early, at least in the kitchen where the dumb wall clock and microwave would otherwise resist the time change on my behalf.

At least I'll be happy to see daylight while making Sunday breakfast. Darkness lingering past 7am has not been my friend, so I won't miss that.

 

[yaxomoxay]

Fucking bastard assholes that run red lights. Almost T-boned by a big pickup truck that was going way above the speed limit and ran the red light by several seconds. Thankfully I saw him with the corner of my eyes, coming from the right, and hit the brakes just in time.

My wife, seating on the passenger’s side, would’ve been seriously injured and it would’ve been a very bad wreck. Dude didn’t stop or slow down.

 

[lizkat]

Fucking bastard assholes that run red lights. Almost T-boned by a big pickup truck that was going way above the speed limit and ran the red light by several seconds. Thankfully I saw him with the corner of my eyes, coming from the right, and hit the brakes just in time.

My wife, seating on the passenger’s side, would’ve been seriously injured and it would’ve been a very bad wreck. Dude didn’t stop or slow down.

Oh man, thank God you noticed the idiot in time not to get hit.

A brother of mine was driving his vehicle behind his daughter's car once, when they were both heading back to their respective homes after some event they'd attended together. Not far into the trip, someone ran a red light like 5 seconds in and DID actually t-bone his daughter's car. He thought he was watching his child get killed.

It had to be one of the very worst moments in his life... and I can't even imagine what it was like for the daughter to realize at the last split-second that she was going to be hit, and no way to prevent it. Fortunately her car's cage structure held up and she was only slightly injured. She still loves to drive (and so does he), but I'm not sure my bro has ever managed to let that those few terrible frames of memory fade away. Of course he doesn't helicopter-parent an adult daughter, although I suspect he breathes a sigh of relief every time she shows up for a get-together unscathed by further road incidents. Hah, probably he'd be happiest if she drove a Humvee after that crash.

 

[ericwn]

I got T-boned off the road four years ago by a young lady who was playing with her phone. Double spin, all windows burst and the car was completely ruined but somehow I was unharmed. The moment before the impact though will not leave my memory.

 

[Edd]

Thanks to skiing, I spend a similar amount of time outside during winter as I do in summer. It starts slow though. Early season (now) isn’t really worth the effort to me anymore. I’ll get out there in a week or two with low expectations.

The light in December blows in New England. By 2pm the flat light makes it dangerous on slope most days. By January things are good and generally get better into April for the most glorious of seasons, spring skiing. I’ve gotta try on my boots when I get back home.

 

[DT]

Howdy Folks!

Doing a single update post, I'll just keep things positive and say, I'm mostly in "read only" mode for now

For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, hope you're having a terrific one. We got a fresh turkey this year, should be amazing, got two pies from Village Inn (Banana Cream and French Silkd, yes, we're having breakfast pie ), J's amazing mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, biscuits, stuffing - J's homemade Mac and Cheese and on and on ...

So many pies when I went to pick ours up, they had 15 minute pick up intervals to keep the savages under control (it was crazy, I'm surprised there wasn't a riot ... especially when one of the hosts walked me past the line of 10 people, hahaha, I guess because I ordered online )

I've mentioned Bones Coffee a few times, I got a Christmas sampler, flavored whole bean, so good - also determined our 34oz french press wasn't enough for some mornings, so I picked up another stainless FP, this one 50oz

We have flown so much in the last month or so, twice was due to some unfortunate circumstances, but we got through it together and our little G was amazing, helpful, so proud of how she handle all this - while still getting straight As in mostly AP level courses.

When it's an early flight we stay over at the in-airport Hyatt, which makes the next morning __so__ much easier (vs. trying to catch a morning flight + a 2.5 hour drive/parking). I think I could make the St. Aug to MCO (Orlando International) drive in my sleep. Twice I made the drive two-time for the same trip (once a drop off, and pick up a couple of days later - once a drop off of just J, then a return trip a few days later with T to meet up in PA).

I've got more mileage on the Tesla in 5 months than I had on the Mustang in 2 years! I also found the parking up in the Hyatt area, is awesome, it's not "secret", but it's out of the way while being super convenient. I parked in almost the exact same spot on two different trips, I had to chuckle, this was the 2nd time, and the previous trip I was where this M3 cab was parked It's a nice safe corner, roomy, a huge "spacer" on one side, really deep, and very little car traffic.

Our Tesla Model 3 Performance continues to dazzle me, I've owned 25+ vehicles - some I absolutely loved - and this ranks up there, it's as good while being a totally different experience (and it continuously improves). It's sitting with about 3K miles which cost us ~$73 (while being quicker and way more feature rich than anything I've owned)



While in PA, the BIL's cat helped out with printing some documents - he was first concerned about there being a firmware update - then very focused on watching the progress indicator - finally, bummed out it didn't work ...

He looks just like our kitty if she was to gain like 20 pounds


While in PA as a market store, I saw all sorts of amazing beer, I was bummed I couldn't drink enough or bring in back, so after we returned it was my white whale - but I was DENIED. None of the several local stores had anything interesting, let alone any of the beers I saw up north.

I was searching online and I've been curious about this place called Total Wine, they're all over the US, ours isn't super close, they deliver, but it was several days before the first available day. They had at least a couple of the ones I had seen, so I was like what the heck, drive over, and why not it was a beautiful morning, I was likely beating the (last) Saturday shopping, I took the Wrangler - top off, seats warmed, Dr. Dre thumping, and ...

OMFG. At one point I figured I must have fallen asleep and died and gone to heaven. This place is INSANE, it must be one of their larger stores that in the 40,000-50,000 sq/ft sized.

Rows and rows and ROWS of glorious beer!!

Hahaha, I waved at that guy after I took the pic and he waved back



They had EVERYTHING I saw up in PA - and so much more!

Here's the seasonal/Xmas related score (got a few other things as well, plus some "standard supplies" like a handle of Bulleit Rye ...)

The little had yesterday off, and obv., today and tomorrow, so it's a nice recovery from travel, school, work.

We both got our Moderna boosters yesterday morning - and we feel pretty good! Maybe a little sluggish, but nothing like my ass-kicking second shot back in April

I picked up a short, but very concentrated piece of work from an existing client, it's, well, very good, and has a short term delivery so I'll be focused on that through the end of January - and we're working on a business plan to possibly sell a product to the main client, source, etc., could be very lucrative and I'm about ready to retire

We are headed to NYC for a week on Christmas day Got a ton of shows lined up, plans / reservations for some of our favorite (and out of the way) restaurants plus a few new ones - some Xmas shopping mapped out, should be an amazing time, we haven't been in a couple of years, and we used to go at least once a year.

Snapped this coming across our bridge on Tuesday, did a school drop off since the bus was running late, pretty amazing view that morning, I'll just leave everyone with this




The weather is glorious, the food smells amazing, parade is on - everyone stay safe, healthy and happy <3

 

[Joe]

Howdy Folks!

Doing a single update post, I'll just keep things positive and say, I'm mostly in "read only" mode for now

For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, hope you're having a terrific one. We got a fresh turkey this year, should be amazing, got two pies from Village Inn (Banana Cream and French Silkd, yes, we're having breakfast pie ), J's amazing mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, biscuits, stuffing - J's homemade Mac and Cheese and on and on ...

So many pies when I went to pick ours up, they had 15 minute pick up intervals to keep the savages under control (it was crazy, I'm surprised there wasn't a riot ... especially when one of the hosts walked me past the line of 10 people, hahaha, I guess because I ordered online )


View attachment 10000




I've mentioned Bones Coffee a few times, I got a Christmas sampler, flavored whole bean, so good - also determined our 34oz french press wasn't enough for some mornings, so I picked up another stainless FP, this one 50oz



View attachment 10001


We have flown so much in the last month or so, twice was due to some unfortunate circumstances, but we got through it together and our little G was amazing, helpful, so proud of how she handle all this - while still getting straight As in mostly AP level courses.

When it's an early flight we stay over at the in-airport Hyatt, which makes the next morning __so__ much easier (vs. trying to catch a morning flight + a 2.5 hour drive/parking). I think I could make the St. Aug to MCO (Orlando International) drive in my sleep. Twice I made the drive two-time for the same trip (once a drop off, and pick up a couple of days later - once a drop off of just J, then a return trip a few days later with T to meet up in PA).

I've got more mileage on the Tesla in 5 months than I had on the Mustang in 2 years! I also found the parking up in the Hyatt area, is awesome, it's not "secret", but it's out of the way while being super convenient. I parked in almost the exact same spot on two different trips, I had to chuckle, this was the 2nd time, and the previous trip I was where this M3 cab was parked It's a nice safe corner, roomy, a huge "spacer" on one side, really deep, and very little car traffic.


View attachment 10002


Our Tesla Model 3 Performance continues to dazzle me, I've owned 25+ vehicles - some I absolutely loved - and this ranks up there, it's as good while being a totally different experience (and it continuously improves). It's sitting with about 3K miles which cost us ~$73 (while being quicker and way more feature rich than anything I've owned)



While in PA, the BIL's cat helped out with printing some documents - he was first concerned about there being a firmware update - then very focused on watching the progress indicator - finally, bummed out it didn't work ...



View attachment 10003 View attachment 10004 View attachment 10005



He looks just like our kitty if she was to gain like 20 pounds


While in PA as a market store, I saw all sorts of amazing beer, I was bummed I couldn't drink enough or bring in back, so after we returned it was my white whale - but I was DENIED. None of the several local stores had anything interesting, let alone any of the beers I saw up north.

I was searching online and I've been curious about this place called Total Wine, they're all over the US, ours isn't super close, they deliver, but it was several days before the first available day. They had at least a couple of the ones I had seen, so I was like what the heck, drive over, and why not it was a beautiful morning, I was likely beating the (last) Saturday shopping, I took the Wrangler - top off, seats warmed, Dr. Dre thumping, and ...

OMFG. At one point I figured I must have fallen asleep and died and gone to heaven. This place is INSANE, it must be one of their larger stores that in the 40,000-50,000 sq/ft sized.

Rows and rows and ROWS of glorious beer!!


View attachment 10006


View attachment 10008


Hahaha, I waved at that guy after I took the pic and he waved back



They had EVERYTHING I saw up in PA - and so much more!

Here's the seasonal/Xmas related score (got a few other things as well, plus some "standard supplies" like a handle of Bulleit Rye ...)

View attachment 10009


The little had yesterday off, and obv., today and tomorrow, so it's a nice recovery from travel, school, work.

We both got our Moderna boosters yesterday morning - and we feel pretty good! Maybe a little sluggish, but nothing like my ass-kicking second shot back in April

I picked up a short, but very concentrated piece of work from an existing client, it's, well, very good, and has a short term delivery so I'll be focused on that through the end of January - and we're working on a business plan to possibly sell a product to the main client, source, etc., could be very lucrative and I'm about ready to retire

We are headed to NYC for a week on Christmas day Got a ton of shows lined up, plans / reservations for some of our favorite (and out of the way) restaurants plus a few new ones - some Xmas shopping mapped out, should be an amazing time, we haven't been in a couple of years, and we used to go at least once a year.

Snapped this coming across our bridge on Tuesday, did a school drop off since the bus was running late, pretty amazing view that morning, I'll just leave everyone with this




The weather is glorious, the food smells amazing, parade is on - everyone stay safe, healthy and happy <3

View attachment 10010

I love the Total Wine by my house. Lol