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Off Key - General Discussion

A place to talk about whatever you want

2.1k Topics 15.2k Posts
  • What if he loses

    politics
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    wtgW
    The quote was from Liz Cheney, not Dick Cheney. But yes, they are both supporting Harris.
  • Why do we treat the elderly this way?

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    No one has replied
  • Will Shortz' recovery

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    Big_AlB
    Some inspiring stories and tributes to human resilience. Big Al
  • Ovarian cancer progress

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    wtgW
    I lost a lifelong friend to ovarian cancer in 2016. She fought it for eight tough years before it finally got her.
  • First time for this pizza (edit: and also pasta sauce)

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    MikM
    I love the unnaturally green relish. It's like a Christmas hot dog.
  • "Not today."

    long read
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    Big_AlB
    I've seen a couple of YouTube videos about incidents like this one (including this particular incident), but this story added a lot more color to the event than the videos can do. Big Al
  • Rude awakening

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    wtgW
    @Big_Al Good points. It is a combo unit. Three beeps signal a smoke problem and four beeps signal a CO problem. And it chirps when it has reached end of life. https://www.firstalert.com/us/en/products/alarms/combo-smoke-carbon-monoxide-alarms/1046800-10-year-battery-2-in-1-smoke-co-alarm-with-slim-profile-design-1046800/ This particular one doesn't have a specific display that shows the actual CO level. We used to have a CO-only unit that did, but have been going for the combo units for some time now. There are actually two units on our second floor where the bedrooms are, one at either end of the hallway. There are also the same model units on the first floor and in the basement where the hot water heater and furnace are. It was just the one unit that beeped, it was three beeps (smoke), and it didn't beep again after I cleaned it and reset it. I figured we were OK. This isn't the first time a spider, or dust, has caused a false alarm.
  • Oenophiles

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    Big_AlB
    I do like a good Saint-Émilion (probably as a result of initially drinking some in France in the company of some Frenchmen. Too bad that Pennsylvania liquor laws keep alcohol off the shelves of Costco here. Big Al
  • Harris' $40B/yr proposal - At-Home Medicare

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    P
    It's badly needed.
  • Garden Project

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    S
    Here’s something I didn’t have to do in CA -blow all of the water out of the sprinkler lines so they don’t freeze. [image: 1729800592221-fc5850b6-ac18-4a23-9eb0-edf97a3bcdf0-image.jpeg] Thought about doing it myself but decided to hire it out this time so I can see how they do it. On line I was told it takes a big air compressor. I have a fair sized compressor but nothing like this: [image: 1729800745895-fcd88765-8e93-4453-9d69-199254d2bbcd-image.jpeg] SK, have you had your sprinkler system winterized yet?
  • Fascist come home to spank 'ya

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    wtgW
    No-paywall version: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/tucker-carlson-says-father-trump-will-give-spanking-at-rowdy-georgia-rally/ar-AA1sPuLI That’s not just weird, that’s totally bizarre.
  • RIP Julia Hawkins

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    ShiroKuroS
    Wow! Phenomenal! As for me, no running or walking right now. My plantar fasciitis has returned in the worst possible way.
  • Heather Cox Richardson

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    NinaN
    @Jodi same here
  • Ramanujan's genius

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    3 Posts
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    wtgW
    @Big_Al I haven't read the book, but I saw the movie.
  • Guayule

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    wtgW
    Great article. Was able to read using Reader Mode/View. I had no idea: During World War II, Japan cut the West from the global rubber supply and the United States lacked enough material to produce the plane tires, gas masks, life rafts and soldier boots required for the war. The U.S. lost access to more than 95 percent of the world’s rubber by February 1942 and launched the Emergency Rubber Project that same year — a $37 million guayule investment that some historians have touted as the Manhattan Project of the plant sciences world. The project united chemists, foresters and engineers to cultivate 32,000 acres of guayule on American soil. Coordinators also received help from Japanese American scientists incarcerated in a U.S. prison camp, who developed ways to increase the rubber content of guayule crops but lacked enough support to pursue the research, according to historian Mark R. Finlay, who extensively studied the American rubber industry. And this.... Sustainability efforts are trickling into other parts of the U.S. tire market. In May, lawmakers introduced a bipartisan bill to create tax incentives for tire retreading, an industry that has dwindled since its peak during the 1960s. During the retreading process, manufacturers replace the worn tread — the part of a tire that comes into contact with the road — to save costs and extend the tire’s life. The congressional initiative would provide a tax credit of up to $30 per tire each time a commercial trucking fleet purchases retreaded tires. The bill has garnered bipartisan and industry support, with prominent tire manufacturers commending it for helping U.S. manufacturers compete with overseas competition. “It’s simple: cars and trucks driving on American roads should have American tires, made and retreaded by American workers,” Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), the bill’s Senate sponsor, said in a written statement to The Washington Post. Retreading is the largest remanufacturing sector in the United States and supports more than 50,000 jobs, according to the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association, an industry trade group. But a massive spike in imports of low-cost tires from overseas has decimated the industry. The number of tire retreading facilities in the country has declined from more than 3,000 in the early 1980s to about 500 in 2023. Foreign-made tires are less likely to be retreaded because of their design and construction, according to the association, so increasing the number of high-quality, domestic tires in the U.S. market — including those made with guayule — could reduce reliance on overseas alternatives and boost the retreading industry.
  • 'Pink slime' journalism

    politics
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    No one has replied
  • Hey SK

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    ShiroKuroS
    Good luck! I haven't ridden a bicycle (or tweaked with a saddle) in..... probably more than 25 years!
  • Recovery from Helene

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    ShiroKuroS
    Right, I wasn't thinking about all the structures that just got washed away. It's heartbreaking to think about.
  • For users of X

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    AdagioMA
    @ShiroKuro I don’t remember if I had an invitation! Just go try to start an account and see if they let you do it.
  • Knife sharpening hack

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    Big_AlB
    @wtg Just the idea of cutting abrasive paper with scissors made me cringe. If you want sharp knives, a good whetstone and a stropping leather is hard to beat. Big Al