Sade My friends and I loved her music. Link to video Many Saturday nights began with listening to her and drinking gin and tonics. Good times.

Friendly? Just watch!

Oh no. Please don't remind me about needing to repeat insipid sentences all day to "verify my identity". The best however is "prove it's really you" 30 seconds after using a fingerprint as biometric identification.

@AndyD said: You guys never watched Baywatch? As seen on Friends, Joey & Chandler watching the girls running along the beach. The Hof was head lifeguard. Yes. I watched it. Yes, I did know that. I was trying to forget it. Painful. Friends was no better. A show about a group of young narcissists, living a life they clearly not only could not afford, but didn't- that aspect of the narrative was like a fictional black hole. The Hawaiian guy Jason what's his name was much better in the role. And that version was just as dumb.

Link to video Camilla is a very strange woman. Yikes

Good idea. There used to be an important concept in the universe of forums- shilling. IRL,the line between shilling and not seems to have almost been erased. I don't trust social media reviews of contractors. I know that system can be gained because I got an estimate from a l. contractor from a company with a 5 star rating (that showed up on Google with the business website (Trust Pilot (?) is what Google was using) and after I got the written estimate, I knew dead to rights the man was a con artist. I doubt his manager didn't know it. Make that make sense.

@wtg said: Happy Diwali! We used to love going to the lunch buffet at our favorite Indian restaurant on Diwali. The buffet was always expanded to include even more items, and the restaurant was always super busy. Fun times! I've been to Indian restaurants in NYC, and I just don't like Indian food. More for you!

It's on its way! I have to be home for delivery. As much as I want a flagship phone, I'm getting my entire list for less than many of them cost. The washing machine transaction will probably not happen until Saturday or after Saturday but I have the shop vac for the washer. It's also for the air intake duct. I finally took that apart to measure the filter and inspect everything. The filter was unrecognizable. It was a mass of dirt. I could only see the cardboard frame. I threw it away. I'm surprised any air could pass through it. PSA, not that I expect anyone here would, but know that if you buy a vacation home, it might (of course not always but probably for most homes) need spring cleaning from top to bottom, have electrical hazards like burning lights split into two pieces, and an air filter that could have been replaced for less than $10, but wasn't, all with no rhyme or reason. I moved here on or about August 7. I'll be doing these projects for a good 6 more months from now.

@RealPlayer said: I remembered a couple…I was too young to go shopping but still remember some brands. Another one you don’t see any more…Sunshine Hydrox cookies. They were direct competition for Oreos. I thought they had a deeper chocolate flavor. And at least one dissertation has been written on the intricate design embossed into the chocolate wafers. Tangent, but your post reminded me of the signs and symbols around us every day. I have a theory that most of them hide in plain sight. My favorite company logo growing up was the logo for Eastern Airlines. I remember National's, and Piedmont's. Nation was Eastern's main competitor for NY to Tampa, and Piedmont was a Charlotte based airline, where my grandmother's family including my great grandmother, my grandmother's sister and brother, and my mother cousins lived. So it makes sense. I knew the badge of every vehicle marque by the time I was 5. Domestic and foreign if it had been imported after the war. I could tell the name of every make and model of car and truck on the road at a glance. It sounds like a brag. That's not the way I mean it. My favorites were Ford, VW, and Honda. I have a wooden ruler. I bought it 10 years ago. The brand is Westcott ("Since 1892"). Well, it took me until a few days ago to realize "Westcott" has an arrow running through it. It tiny. It starts before the W and crosses the E. I don't know why this kind of thing intriques me.

Hell @piano-dad has bigger sideburns today.

The utterly delusional fantasy of living on Mars, whether held by the delusional themselves or by con artists, ranks "way up there" (sic) among our culture's delusional fantasies. "Rosetta Stone for Mars"? A bit self-serving. /Understatement

@Mark So that is what happened. huh

May be a positive if the others ignore him.

I should have guessed Lisbon and Nazare. Been to all those spots in the last few years.

@jon-nyc Some call me The Gangster of Love! (And he spells his first name with a ph)

I've decided not to have WIFI period. I don't want the police to be easily and without a warrant be able to see holographic images of me in my home in real time. That's creepy AF. I closed my account. My phone records my location and listens to me 24/7, but at least I can make sure the camera is not pointed at me if I want. Cold comfort but at least it's something.

@RealPlayer said: The Fluxus Artist/Composer Dick Higgins died while performing one of his own pieces whose instructions are: “Scream as loud as you can for as long as you can.” My Fluxus piece was a compact disc hanging in a bird cage. There were no instructions.

@RealPlayer said: Thanks, Ron. I was aware of the push for bigger sound (cross-stringing, bigger soundboards) but never heard of key flare. Is that the “bend” in the key stick like what you see in clavichords? Correct!