WTF-Beta

My condolences, Mark. May her memory be a blessing to you and your family.

Big Al

One of my wife's grandmothers left what she called White Russia in the early years of the 20th century. From the descriptions of the poverty and pogroms in the region she left, I don't think the good old days existed for people like her. The flow of immigrants out of eastern and southern Europe wasn't a flight from a workers' paradise.

Big Al

That village is on the Erie Canal and has a population of less than a thousand.

There must be thousands of old houses built in more prosperous times by wealthy families that have little hope of ever being revitalized, especially in towns that the economy has passed by in more recent decades.

It's rather curious how most of the frontage has been separated from the main highway by smaller lots.

Big Al

@Steve-Miller said in Cottage cheese has a resurgence. Apparently.:

I put salsa on it. OTOH, I put salsa on pretty much everything.

I tried that when I ate some cottage cheese a couple of days ago. I liked it and appreciate another alternative for eating it.

Big Al

Apple and Justme are the two posters that I credit with welcoming me to the old Coffee Room back in the day. I believe Justme is still around somewhere based on more recent posts by Beelady, but I haven't her for quite a while.

I do wonder sometimes where people have gone.

Big Al

People love sugar in whatever form it's delivered to them. Maybe we should classify it as a controlled substance.

Big Al

A small victory in a very big war.

Big Al

@Steve-Miller said in Farewell Address.:

He’s tired.

I'd agree with that assessment. That job can do that to a person. Compare photos of Barack Obama immediately before and after his stint as president.

Big Al

I've always liked cottage cheese fairly well, especially as a quick portion of a lunch meal. I'd often eat it with some canned fruit like pineapple tidbits or maybe sprinkle a little seasoned salt on it for more flavor.

Big Al

The talk of ice fishing reminded me of the winter I worked through in northern Minnesota. With 10,000 lakes, you might well imagine that ice fishing was common during the winters there.

Some of the ice fishing houses/huts were quite substantial, with heating and cooking provisions and even bunks for sleeping in a few. They were dragged from the shore by pickup trucks when the ice became solid enough and normally stayed through the winter. With the coming of spring, they were pulled back to shore, but there were a few that tried to extend the season a little too far. You could see them floating, usually kitty-cornered, in the lake as the ice gave way.

Ice skating and hockey were also naturally very popular. Almost every town of any size had an arena for the local hockey teams. They were normally unheated and left open at night to freeze the rink. Infrared heaters made the stands reasonably comfortable with just a sweater or light coat during the games and the restrooms and concession stand were heated.

I remember sitting in a fellow worker's home one winter evening looking at the lake nearby. A young boy, maybe about eight years old, came down to the lake with a hockey stick and a broom slung over his shoulder. By the light of a nearby outdoor luminaire, he proceeded to sweep snow off an area of ice, Then he laid down the broom, picked up the hockey stick, pulled a puck out of his pocket, and tossed it down on the ice. He skated around for a while, working the puck on his stick, then picked up everything and headed home. I thought to myself that he really had a love for the game.

Big Al

@Daniel
Victor Davis Hanson is a tool of the military-industrial complex that President Dwight Eisenhower warned us about.

Big Al

@wtg Once upon a time, we would have had a piano party to celebrate the anniversary.

Big Al

A new area for The Donald to strive to "Make America Great Again."

Big Al

The winter pictures are particularly apt right now.

Big Al

This is a subject about which my wife is passionate. Between cataract surgery and treatments for wet macular degeneration, she is very concerned about the ability to see. The glare of oncoming headlights and sometimes also following headlights is very disturbing to her.

Some partial solutions may exist and are mentioned in the article. Failing to use low beams when approaching or following another vehicle is the simplest change but also the hardest to enforce. I think it's symptomatic of the entitlement or ignorance some drivers display in many ways on the roads. Automatic dimming might help somewhat with this.

It's clear that banning LED replacements for cars not originally designed for them could help, but with the phaseout of older sources like incandescent or halogen, that possibility becomes harder to require.

The ADB control that directs light preferentially away from oncoming vehicles in the opposite direction is a technical change and potential improvement that has IMHO real merit.

Lowering the mounting height could also help, but with the rise in popularity of large SUVs and trucks could be hard to require. Such vehicles introduce hazards to other drivers and pedestrians that are hard to regulate effectively.

I'm glad someone is at least trying to publicize the issue.

Big Al

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/four-decades-after-fall-argentina-dictatorship-fight-over-country-darkest-chapter-reopening-grievous-wounds-180985587/

A number of countries in this hemisphere have gone through periods of military dictatorship. We can't assume it's impossible in the USA.

Big Al

@Piano-Dad

I actually think turnkey is the ideal vehicle for selling that house. The decor and furnishings are each so much a part of the complete scheme that one wouldn't make much sense without the other.

Big Al

An interesting video (at least for those who find the history of technology interesting) about how Ethernet transitioned from coax to unshielded twisted pair.

Big Al

Hot soup on a cold day is one of the rewards of winter. We recently had a tomato soup with fire-roasted red peppers and diced tomatoes that was seasoned with onions, garlic, and smoked paprika, all blended after cooking. Delicious with grilled cheese sandwiches and made enough to have a couple of mugs stashed in the refrigerator.

Big Al

It could simply be a wrong number. If your voicemail greeting doesn't identify you, they may have thought they were leaving a message for someone else.

I have a neighbor whose greeting simply says, "You have reached the number which you have dialed. If you believe this is the number you were trying to reach, you may leave a message after the tone."

Big Al