Fondots

joined 1 year ago
[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago (1 children)

It depends a bit on what you mean by "stealing"

If you were to break into the coke vault, hack into their computers, threaten or blackmail a coke executive, etc. in order to obtain it, those would all be illegal acts on their own.

But if you reverse-engineered the recipe yourself, or just happened to come across it in some legal fashion you could do pretty much whatever you want with it- publish the recipe, make your own cola and sell it (can't call it "coca-cola" or "Coke" though because of trademarks and such,) try to sell the recipe to one of Coke's competitors, etc.

Anyone with the recipe is going to have a hell of a time trying to do anything with it though because one of the ingredients is allegedly still coca leaf extract and coke is pretty much the only entity that is allowed to do anything with the stuff.

[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 3 points 6 days ago

I've always been lucky and my skin is pretty bulletproof, I could probably just about wash my face with acetone and shave with a broken beer bottle and be none the worse for it.

I shower, normally every day but occasionally skip a day or two due to weather, lack of motivation, and how much I've been sweating, with Dr Bronners Peppermint soap and a washcloth.

I like Dr Bronners because it's the best I've found at stripping the wax out of my moustache. I also find the mint to be nice and refreshing, especially after a hot day. It's also nice that its organic, fair trade, etc. and since it can be used for pretty much everything I like it for backpacking (I tend to go unscented for that purpose, but if I intend to brush my teeth with it mint in the way to go, still a bit gross and soapy tasting, don't exactly recommend it but it does the trick in a pinch)

If we want to count it as skincare, though it's more hair care I suppose, my moustache wax of choice is Firehouse Wacky Tacky

I shave my head with a double edge safety razor, I like Feather blades. I lather up with whatever bar of soap smells good to me when I bought it and looks like it will fit in my shaving bowl, right now I think I'm using Dr Squatch Bay Rum because they sold it in the checkout line of ace hardware and the line was moving slow one day leaving me with nothing much to do to entertain myself but stiff some soaps.

Sometimes, instead, I splash on some lectric shave and use a foil shaver on my head.

Then I splash on some aftershave. I used to rotate through the usual drug store brands- Brut, Pinaud Clubman, Aqua Velva, and Old Spice, but then I met my wife and it turns out she really likes me in Old Spice, so I don't switch it up too often anymore. I do tend to get a bottle of cheap bay rum to use over the summer though.

I use whatever beard oil or balm smells good to me when I run out and find myself needing more. I honestly couldn't even tell you what brand I have kicking around currently, I use it pretty infrequently, mostly when I'm dressing up and feel like my beard could use a little extra taming and shininess. I tend to like woodsy scents like cedar.

When my hands feel a little dry and cracked, which isn't a very common issue for me, I use Duke Cannon Bloody Knuckles balm. Again, I'm pretty sure that was an impulse buy from the checkout line of a hardware store or something, but I think it works pretty well. My wife probably uses it more than I do and she has an actual skincare routine so I guess she agrees.

And for deodorant, I again like old spice. It works for me, and I've used it pretty consistently since I was in about 4th or 5th grade when we had a basic sex-ed/some-of-you-stink-so-use-deodorant-please assembly where they handed out a small stick of it to all the guyse Again, apparently my wife likes old spice so that worked out well, and I can usually find a 2-pack of it at most grocery stores and such that is probably the best value in the deodorant aisle.

[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Yeah, I'm holding onto hope for the electric VW bus when that comes out. Fingers crossed it kicks off a wave of electric vans

[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (3 children)

The flex was a cool car, never had one but I remember trying to convince my parents to get one when they traded in the family minivan during Cash for Clunkers (also I love minivans in general, there's a good chance I'll be a minivan guy someday )

That also touches on something that drives me nuts about a lot of pickup trucks- the short beds that so many of them have these days. It feels like it misses the point of a truck- being able to haul big shit around. If I can't fit a mattress, couch, or refrigerator comfortably in the bed, what's the point? My dad's truck is a single cab with a 7ft bed and I can't imagine having a smaller bed, it's going to be a sad day when that truck finally dies (although it's a '93 with less than 100k miles on it, so at this rate it may well outlive me)

Even though we had the truck, we got just as much use out of the van hauling mattresses and such for exactly the reason you gave- it was covered. My wife and I actually borrowed their van once for a road trip (different van, after they traded it in my parents realized they missed having a van and got another) because we could fit a full sized air mattress in the back and camp out in the car with some room to spare for a cooler and our bags.

[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (5 children)

Yeah, I kind of ended up here accidentally while scrolling through someone else's comment history. Thought about not commenting since this thread is a few weeks old, but I figured I have some thoughts and Lemmy can always use more activity in general.

Also I do want to say that while there are some different concerns with driving a pickup truck vs other types of vehicles, 99% of the time it's not all that different than driving any other car, it's just that for that 1% of the time it really pays to know what you're doing and take a little extra care.

And for all my words, my personal biggest concern with people driving trucks (rented or otherwise) is people not securing their loads properly, which is totally independent of weather. If I could add one thing to school curriculums it would be how to use a ratchet strap.

[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (3 children)

My gut says that most of the people who vote early have already had their minds made up for a long time and not much would change their vote one way or the other, otherwise they'd probably wait until the day of to see what new information might come to light in case it changes their mind.

And in general Democrats vote early in higher numbers than Republicans. This wouldn't do much to change how the Democrats vote (what are they gonna do? Say "well I wasn't going to vote for they guy anyway, but now I'm really not gonna vote for him?") but you would at least hope it would for some Republicans (though that might be wishful thinking.) Since more of those Republicans are going to be voting in-person it may have made sense to hold this back so it was still fresh in their mind when they actually go to the polls.

Just my 2¢ on the matter. Take it for what it's worth.

[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 21 points 1 week ago

My friend forgot their umbrella at the office.

They nervously answered the phone.

They're a lazy motherfucker.

I gave my friend a hug and wished them a speedy recovery.

Any of those sound unusual, or like they're referring to more than one person?

[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (7 children)

Think of a pickup truck, you have a big engine and a cab up front, and then not much in the back except a big empty bed.

Most pickup trucks are rear wheel drive, so there's not much weight over those drive wheels. That can create some traction issues in rain, snow, loose sand, mud, etc. if you're not careful, it's not hard to spin your tires when starting from a stop, or oversteer hydroplane. Having some weight in the bed-cargo, sandbags, etc. can help a lot with that. They also have a higher center of gravity than most smaller vehicles so they're a higher rollover risk when that kind of thing happens.

Most people who drive trucks regularly are used to this in their vehicles and know how to compensate for it. It also helps to have some weight in the bed over those rear wheels- cargo, sandbags, etc. Or depending on what sort of 4wd system it has (if equipped, I'm not sure if home Depot rentals are 4wd or not) you may also be able to put it in 4wd to help, some are able to be driven on dry pavement in 4wd provided you stay under a certain speed, others should really only be put into 4wd if you're driving through significant mud or snow or similar conditions or you risk significant wear and damage to various vehicle component, or at least compromising some of the handling characteristics or increased fuel usage.

It's something most people should be able to learn and adapt to pretty quickly, but frankly I've seen how people drive, and I don't exactly blame the lawyers and bean counters for hedging their bets there. You can't know for certain what that person's driving experience is like, but since they need to rent a truck, it's probably a pretty safe bet that they don't regularly drive one, and may not know how to drive one safely in inclement weather.

One of the cars I learned how to drive in was my dad's rwd ranger. It's kind of shitty in any kind of weather, and it has occasionally struggled to get up some sheepish gravel driveways without some weight in the bed, even though other cars had absolutely no issues making it.

[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 23 points 1 week ago

I haven't exactly spent a lot of time in Juggalo circles, but the few I have met have all been great people, the types of people who would literally give you the shirt off their back without a second thought. Generally not the brightest bulbs out there, but they also tend to be the rare type of person who can recognize that about themselves and are willing to seek out and listen to people who are more knowledgeable (unless we're talking about scientists and magnets) which is actually pretty amazing, that's not a common quality to find in any group of people

I generally kind of think of juggalos as those kids in school who were a little too weird to be "normal" kids, and not smart enough to be "nerds" some of them have some issues, maybe more than average, but most of them are just trying to get by with what they've got.

[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Centrifugal governors are possibly one of the origins of the phrase "balls out" or "balls to the wall" (although many say "balls to the wall" has to do with the ball-shaped handles on old aircraft throttle levers)

Also somewhat similar to governors are centrifugal switches, which are used in just about anything with an electric motor to disconnect the motor from a capacitor which gives the motor a little extra juice to get it going (I like this video for an explanation of how they work)

[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

Is not potato man, is secret police. Such is life.

[–] Fondots@lemmy.world 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It's been a long time and I'm not sure of it's current state, but some friends and I used to have a blast play Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator (I think there's a couple other games out there now that are similar)

You kind of need the right setup for it to work well, a big TV or projector you can hook up to a computer and everyone needs their own laptop, etc.

The basic idea is- picture the bridge of the enterprise (or your starship of choice) you've got a bunch of people with their own consoles responsible for different aspects of the ships operation, the helm, engineering, weapons, etc. That's what you're doing.

I think at some point they added support for support fighters and such to accompany the main starship so if you have more people they have something to do.

We also made up a couple extra positions, like a captain who didn't really have his own console, he just got his own chair front and center and a fancy hat and gave out orders.

 

Looking for some inspiration, my wife's out of town this week babysitting he grandmother with dementia, so she's been eating a lot of very bland, old-white-lady-palate-approved meals (her grandmother once described some jarred vodka sauce as being "too spicy")

We're both pretty adventurous eaters and spice-lovers, and I know it's driving her mad by now, so I figured I'd welcome her home in a couple days with a dinner full of all the biggest flavor bombs I can find

Help me light her taste buds on fire, decimated my spice cabinet, and make my toilet tremble in fear of what is to come.

 

The wife and I have been looking for a good excuse to dress to the nines and have a fancy night out

So what do you got for me, Philly? Fancy restaurants, swanky cocktail bars, jazz clubs, the opera, black tie galas, anywhere we're not gonna be "those overdressed weirdos" if we show up in a nice suit and fancy dress.

 

I recently got my hands on a very old but still totally serviceable full-sized deli slicer, and my local restaurant depot is very liberal about handing out day passes to anyone who walks in and asks for one, and the savings buying a whole log of meat and slicing it yourself are pretty bonkers, totally worth the pain in the ass that is breaking it down to clean when I'm done.

Of course it's just the wife and I, and 6lbs of Pastrami is a lot for us to go through before it goes bad. So far I've mostly been getting a few friends to chip in and divying up stuff between us or doing a little bartering and trading lunch meat for homemade bread and such, but I'd like to start freezing some to have on-hand.

Anyone have any experience with this to share? I have a vacuum sealer and a deep freezer to work with.

Which meats freeze well, which don't? Is it worth trying to slice it then package and freeze it in smaller portions, or should I freezer larger chunks of meat then thaw and slice it as-needed? Should I just abandon the idea of freezing and stick with the little ad hoc food co-op thing I have going?

Of particular interest to me is homemade roast beef and turkey, I'm never going back to the deli counter for those after I've been making my own (those boneless turkey roasts are amazing for this purpose, even if I'm sure there's a little meat glue involved in them)

Also cheese, I've never really contemplated freezing cheese until I found myself with a 9lb block of Swiss in my fridge. My gut says cheese doesn't do well in the freezer, but my gut has been wrong before.

I also kind of like the idea of having pretty much a lifetime supply of prosciutto in my freezer, although a quick Google search seems to tell me that prosciutto does not freeze well at all, which seems odd to me, since it's pretty low-moisture I would have thought it would freeze spectacularly well.

Besides that, anyone have any other cool ideas about what I can do with a slicer? I've already sliced down some beef to make cheesesteaks, and when I get my smoker up and running when the weather gets nicer I'm going to have a go at making my own bacon, and will probably use it to slice down beef for jerky as well.

 

This is a true story.

My dad and sister went out shopping on black Friday one year. The went to a local mall that was of course packed. They went to drop a couple of their bags off in the car to free up their hands for more shopping. On their way back to the car, a lady who was driving around looking for a spot pulled up next to them and asked

"Are you two going out?" Hoping to nab their parking space if they were leaving.

To which my dad answered "No, we're related" earning some befuddled looks from the lady and some amused Snickers from my sister.

 

Sunny is, as far as we know, a purebred Malinois, she's almost 4 years old, and is a strong contender for being the Laziest Malinois in the world (which still means she has more energy than any other dog I've ever known)

Some Malinois like to catch frisbees, run up walls, chase bad guys, parachute into hostile territory, etc. Sunny just like to wait for you to get up so she can steal your chair.

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