What’s on your mind?

[decafjava]

The DC area has certainly had an extraordinary "up" and (not quite DC, but close to home anyway!), and our near neighbor, Baltimore, has been grappling with a tragic "down" quite recently.....

First, the exciting, fantastic news: the new reigning World Champion in Figure Skating for 2024, announced on Saturday, is Ilia Malinin, a brilliant young figure skater born and raised right here in Fairfax County, Virginia, who executed not only the four quadruple jumps for which he is already known and called "the Quad God," but he tossed in a couple more as well -- an astonishing feat. SIX quadruple jumps -- no one has ever done this before.

The not-so-good, and indeed extraordinary and tragic, news comes from our neighboring city, Baltimore, MD, when about an hour after midnight 03/26/2024 a cargo ship unexpectedly lost power and crashed into a pillar of the Francis Scott Key Bridge, which then horrifyingly, all-too-rapidly collapsed into the water. Unfortunately at the time, there were eight workers on the bridge doing repairs; two of them were rescued, and now, hours later, after all search-and-rescue efforts failed, the others have now been declared dead. For the city of Baltimore, its citizens and its nearby neighbors, this is a devastating situation.

The bridge was a major conduit to traffic going around (rather than into inner city) Baltimore, and also served as an access to the Port of Baltimore, where many cruise ships come-and-go throughout each calendar year. Needless to say, normal activities in that immediate area have come to a halt and it will be quite a while before there is restoration to the bridge.

Some days bring us delightful surprises, other days bring us shocking and very, very sad news.....

The accident was horrible and our students were talking about it.

As for Ilia Malinin's crowning as World Champion in figure skating I saw that free skate, what a performance!

 

[SpanishAppleNerd]

Thinking about getting an M5 iMac in 2025 and taking my M3 iMac to work when I get my first long-term contract as a uni prof.

 

[HDFan]

Envy you folks who have real weather. Blizzards, tornadoes, hail, hurricances - all of the good stuff. Remember in Illinois a cold front came in and you could actually see the mercury in the thermometer moving as it dropped 30 degrees in a few minutes. Hearing the tornado sirens going off in Minneapolis. Being snow bound at home with 6 feet of snow waiting for the snowplow. Neighbors all out helping each other out with their much bigger snowblowers. That is living!

 

[Chuckeee]

Envy you folks who have real weather. Blizzards, tornadoes, hail, hurricances - all of the good stuff. Remember in Illinois a cold front came in and you could actually see the mercury in the thermometer moving as it dropped 30 degrees in a few minutes. Hearing the tornado sirens going off in Minneapolis. Being snow bound at home with 6 feet of snow waiting for the snowplow. Neighbors all out helping each other out with their much bigger snowblowers. That is living!

I totally understand. I’m in California and we don’t have weather, just occasional earthquakes.

 

[mtbdudex]

Spring break 2024 in Cancun.. I did 7am spinning class, then 8am wife and I did our first ever hydrotherapy hour session.
Sauna room, steam room, ice all over body, then lavender shower, then 3x 102 hot tub 2 minutes & 60 degree cold tub 1 minute in repeats
Unique experience.

 

[bousozoku]

I totally understand. I’m in California and we don’t have weather, just occasional earthquakes.

You must live in Southern California. The Sacramento news talks about chain controls on the way to Reno and flooding to the south and west this time of year. A few weeks ago, they were talking about 12 feet of snow during a blizzard in the Sierra.

 

[VisceralRealist]

You must live in Southern California. The Sacramento news talks about chain controls on the way to Reno and flooding to the south and west this time of year. A few weeks ago, they were talking about 12 feet of snow during a blizzard in the Sierra.

Well, this was also the year that parts of Southern California received 7 inches of rain in less than a day. Weather is just more erratic all over, even in places that were formerly known for very calm, predictable weather. (Not to mention a hurricane hit us last summer, which made me question whether I was in California or on the Gulf Coast).

That said, I'll take the weather here over most other parts of the U.S. Even our "extreme" weather is more tolerable than what happens on a regular basis in the Midwest and Northeast.

 

[rm5]

This is another instance where I've been listening to the same 40 seconds or so of the same song for the entire day with minimal breaks. I have no idea how I'm able to do it without going crazy. Looking at you, @VisceralRealist

EDIT: I started listening to the segment when I woke up this morning. Then I had classes so I didn't, obviously, then as soon as I got done, I started again. The same 40 seconds. Then I transcribed said 40 seconds on the piano (still counts as listening), then I've just been playing it on loop for about the past 4 hours.

 

[bousozoku]

Well, this was also the year that parts of Southern California received 7 inches of rain in less than a day. Weather is just more erratic all over, even in places that were formerly known for very calm, predictable weather. (Not to mention a hurricane hit us last summer, which made me question whether I was in California or on the Gulf Coast).

That said, I'll take the weather here over most other parts of the U.S. Even our "extreme" weather is more tolerable than what happens on a regular basis in the Midwest and Northeast.

Seven inches of rain in Southern California can be devastating.

A year ago around December we had so much rain, our local parks became lakes. I was interested in the 12 feet of snow further north and east, as the most I'd ever seen was during a blizzard in the midwest, when i got frostbite.

I really thought that the moment I returned to California, there would be a R5.5 to welcome me home. It's been really quiet but with the screwed up atmosphere and volcanoes in places like Iceland erupting, anything can happen.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Nothing good. Been awake most of the night. It’s 5:30 am and I’m looking forward to when I can get up just so I’m not lying here looking at the ceiling some more.

 

[rm5]

Seven inches of rain in Southern California can be devastating.

Oh, absolutely. I can imagine seven inches of snow, cause I've been in that (well, more than that actually). But seven inches of rain seems like a much bigger problem to me, especially in California.

 

[mtbdudex]

I’ve been to Mexico 30+ times since 1989 .. business trips, this is first vacation. Showed my wife the drivers habits here are different than USA . People don’t get so upset at minutia stuff here.

 

[mtbdudex]

Oh, absolutely. I can imagine seven inches of snow, cause I've been in that (well, more than that actually). But seven inches of rain seems like a much bigger problem to me, especially in California.

Was in Las Vegas 2004 or 2005 SEMA show, got 2-3” in short time that was chaos. No cell phone pictures

 

[Herdfan]

(Not to mention a hurricane hit us last summer, which made me question whether I was in California or on the Gulf Coast).

Yeah, the offspring didn't flinch at the hurricane as she had been a couple when she was in college in Savannah.

But as the hurricane was blowing through, she got hit by an earthquake. That got her.

 

[SteveManila1960]

Nothing good. Been awake most of the night. It’s 5:30 am and I’m looking forward to when I can get up just so I’m not lying here looking at the ceiling some more.

Man that's tough. Are you OK?

 

[bousozoku]

I’ve been to Mexico 30+ times since 1989 .. business trips, this is first vacation. Showed my wife the drivers habits here are different than USA . People don’t get so upset at minutia stuff here.

I never saw anyone within the lane lines in Mexico, except for my parents' car.

 

[SteveManila1960]

I am counting the days until I go home to my family. Took on a contract job which has run over by nine months and I gave my word to the boss I would stay until it was done. Who knew uugghhhh

 

[Apple fanboy]

Man that's tough. Are you OK?

Not really. Tough few weeks. But thanks for asking. Early night tonight for sure.

 

[SteveManila1960]

Well anything I can do to help shout out. Get an early night and hopefully tomorrow is better.

 

[bousozoku]

Yeah, the offspring didn't flinch at the hurricane as she had been a couple when she was in college in Savannah.

But as the hurricane was blowing through, she got hit by an earthquake. That got her.

Northern Florida and Southern Georgia get hurricanes, tornadoes, and snow but earthquakes would be something completely different.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Just rewatched the movie Super Size Me, and it reconfirmed my opinion of American fast food. I read the other day that by 2030 nearly half of US adults will be obese.

No surprise to me

Each week I go to Costco to get a box of salad, bag of mixed veggies, some mixed frozen berries, coffee if needed, maybe some chicken or fish or beef..

...and what I see people buying and in the quantities they are buying it .. and then often having a pizza or hot dog on the way out the door...

..explains a lot

 

[bousozoku]

No surprise to me

Each week I go to Costco to get a box of salad, bag of mixed veggies, some mixed frozen berries, coffee if needed, maybe some chicken or fish or beef..

...and what I see people buying and in the quantities they are buying it .. and then often having a pizza or hot dog on the way out the door...

..explains a lot

That's for certain. I didn't shop much at Costco, but I shopped at Sam's Club and BJ's Wholesale on the east coast.

It's not just the coffee-flavored drinks from Starbucks and Dutch Bros., but anything easy to buy.

I found that a lot of people bought the ingredients for smoothies, to make up for their tri-tip, BBQ ribs, loads of potatoes, and more.

I blame a lot of it on the microwave oven and McDonald's but it's probably a lack of parenting way back when.

 

[DaveFromCampbelltown]

Yeah, the offspring didn't flinch at the hurricane as she had been a couple when she was in college in Savannah.

But as the hurricane was blowing through, she got hit by an earthquake. That got her.

When Papua New Guinea was still under Australian colonial rule, a banking officer for one of the large banks was posted to PNG. His initial posting was to Madang, well known for lots of earthquakes. He declined and was then offered Rabaul, which he accepted.
His plane lands there, he gets out of it onto the tarmac, where he looks around to see 7 (seven) live volcanoes surrounding him...

Be careful what you ask for.

 

[Richard8655]

No surprise to me

Each week I go to Costco to get a box of salad, bag of mixed veggies, some mixed frozen berries, coffee if needed, maybe some chicken or fish or beef..

...and what I see people buying and in the quantities they are buying it .. and then often having a pizza or hot dog on the way out the door...

..explains a lot

Yes for sure. Costco also sells many healthy items, and more and more are natural and organic. The bulk sizing there can be cost effective, but many go with bad choices. Coffee there for me too, though Aldi has some surprisingly good, single origin organic coffee priced well.

It's also the massive quantities of small, BPA plastic bottled water that surprises me. Not only from a landfill and environmental point of view, but most of that water is drawn from municipal systems according to Consumer Reports. A good home filtering system to me is a better idea.

 

[Macky-Mac]

This is another instance where I've been listening to the same 40 seconds or so of the same song for the entire day with minimal breaks. I have no idea how I'm able to do it without going crazy. Looking at you, @VisceralRealist

EDIT: I started listening to the segment when I woke up this morning. Then I had classes so I didn't, obviously, then as soon as I got done, I started again. The same 40 seconds. Then I transcribed said 40 seconds on the piano (still counts as listening), then I've just been playing it on loop for about the past 4 hours.

it is indeed impressive that you can do this without going crazy (assuming you didn't)......but the question is; why are you doing it?

I'm guessing it's some method to learn 40 seconds of the piece so that you can performing it yourself?