Big Blue Huddle

Quote from: MightyGiants on March 14, 2024, 01:14:54 PMI can go the private route, but here in NJ that costs between $50 and $100

That's messed up. IMO, if the state mandate requires you to get your vehicle inspected then it should be done by state licensed inspection stations at a price set by the state. You shouldn't be at the mercy of some service station out to price gouge you.

Quote from: Bill Brown on March 14, 2024, 11:51:08 AMWow. Up here in Maine almost every neighborhood garage and auto dealership inspects vehicles. I get my car inspected at the dealership where I bought it and my wife and daughter get there vehicles inspected at a small garage a few miles from the house.  You do have to make an appointment.   12.00 to inspect one if everything passes.

Bill

That's also pretty much how it was when I lived in NY. In CA we don't even have to have our vehicles inspected, which I find odd. Although every other year we do have to have our emission system tested/certified, or "smogged" as it's called out here.

I just wrapped up the 2nd season of The Tourist on Netflix starring Jamie Dornan, (The Fall, and Fifty Shades of Grey). Season one took place in the outback of Australia, and season two in Ireland, and had little to do with the first season other than the lead character's amnesia. For the most part I liked it, but I'm torn on this series. It was at times interesting, and at times dull; both serious and yet on occasion mildly funny. Some nice plot twists with interesting characters, though it did have a couple side plots that went nowhere. I probably liked it more than I should have, but that was mostly due to the likeability of Dornan's character, and watching him get into and then out of too many impossible situations. I'd recommend it if you don't mind suspending belief, and are also running out of other shows on your list to watch.  I'd rate it a 7/10, but maybe a 6/10 with another lead actor rather than Dornan.

I use my cell phone more as a camera and a flashlight than as a phone. I make/receive very few calls or texts. There's a few apps that I use, and websites I visit.

Phone related - two days ago our son's cell phone was hacked and the hacker(s) tried to embezzle money from him. They sent texts to him stating that they have his contacts list and would start sending out harassing and compromising texts and pictures to his contacts unless he sends them money. An hour later they started sending texts and porographic pics to some of his contacts. These text looked like they originated from our son. Our son then sent texts to some friends saying he's been hacked and warning them of possible scam texts. A few minutes later he received a text from the hacker telling him to stop warning his contacts, and that sending them $650 is the only way to stop this. Since this all happened at night he waited until morning when his local Verizon store opened, he went in and they installed a new sim card and assigned him a new cell number. He also filed a police report. So far, two days later, all is good.

I also have no experience with major back issues so my opinion should be taken with that in mind. First, I'm sorry you're going through this Squibber, I hope you find relief. I would agree others on getting a another opinion(s). Personally I think I would go to great lengths exhausting any and all non-surgical procedures, including lifestyle changes, weight loss, PT, acupuncture, even chiropractor visits, before I would look to surgery. Best of luck.

My friend Brian's job took him to a new town. On a whim, he attended church one Sunday morning and found himself seated beside a very attractive lady who had just finished conducting Sunday School. Brian, never one to die wondering, whispered to the lady, "Would you come out to dinner with me one night?"
"Why yes, that would be nice", the lady whispered back.
Brian was a happy man and arranged to pick her up a couple of nights later. He found the best restaurant to take her to. As they made themselves comfortable, he asked, "Would you like a cocktail before dinner?"
"Oh gosh no," she replied, "how would I ever explain that to my Sunday School class?"
That set Brian back a bit but he left things lie until after dinner. When they went out to his car, he reached into the glovebox, produced some marijuana and asked: "Do you indulge?"
"Oh my goodness, no," said the woman. "I couldn't face my Sunday School class if I did!"
As he drove the lady home, they passed a motel. Although rebuffed on two prior occasions, Brian tried his luck again. "What do you reckon, want to spend a night with me in this motel?"
"Oh yes!" she replied enthusiastically. "Let's do it!"
Brian was mildly surprised but swung around in a U-turn and entered the motel. That night they enjoyed the most sensational sex Brian had ever known! In the morning, still in wonderment, he woke her gently and whispered in her ear, "You are incredible but I must ask you something. Whatever will you tell your Sunday School class?"
She rolled over, stretched languorously and smiled at him. "What I always tell them, 'You don't need drinks and drugs to have a good time.' "

Heartwarming pictures. Tim and Ric, my heart melted. 

Quote from: Jolly Blue Giant on March 08, 2024, 01:08:11 PMI don't feel like digging up the old thread about things I learned from watching movies, so this is just an attachment to the long gone thread



The Wild, Wild West

The fast draw did not exist

Revolvers were not worn low slung

Revolvers were never fired from the hip

Fanning a revolver was unheard of and made up for movies

The low-slung pistol holster wasn't designed until the 1920s

Gunslinger and gunfighter are movie terms

Calling out for a showdown in the street only happened a couple times

More men in the old west were killed with knives in barrooms than by firearms

Most cowboys on the range did not carry revolvers, most carried rifles in saddle boots

Indians preferred to fight at night, in spite of movies showing them attacking during daytime

Cavalry troopers did not wear yellow bandanas

There was no such military command as "Forward Ho"!

Most women wore dresses, not jeans

Chaps were only worn when herding cattle

Indians did not attack a wagon train circle by riding in circles around it

Most western forts did not have walls

Army chevrons were not worn on shirts

Mexican Bandidos did not wear bandoleers

String bow ties ("bolo ties") are a 20th century invention

Panel front shirts were not worn with one top corner unbuttoned and hanging down

Stage coaches rarely carried gold on a run, most holdups were made to rob the passengers

Most men did not carry revolvers all day, every day

Hats worn by cowboys looked much different than what is shown in movies and a good cowboy hat cost as much or more than a pistol

The Winchester lever action rifle was "The gun that won the west" not the Colt revolver

Awww Rick!! Now why did you have to and ruin it for me?!?     

Last night I finished watching Fisk, the Australian comedy that @ozzie recommended. I liked it, thought it was quite funny, though not laugh-out-loud funny. Any more recommendations Ozzie?  In the meantime Netflix just released the second season of The Tourist, so I'll watch that next. I watched the first season last month, and offered some thoughts on it a couple weeks ago or so.

Subject: FW: : Psychiatrist vs. Bartender
Ever since I was a child, I've always had a fear of someone under my bed at night.
So I went to a shrink and told him:
"I've got problems. Every time I go to bed I think there's somebody under it. I'm scared. I think I'm going crazy."
"Just put yourself in my hands for one year," said the shrink.
"Come talk to me three times a week and we should be able to get rid of those fears."
"How much do you charge?"
"One hundred fifty dollars per visit," replied the doctor.
"I'll sleep on it," I said.
Six months later the doctor met me on the street.
"Why didn't you come to see me about those fears you were having?" he asked.
"Well, $150 a visit, three times a week for a year, is $23,400.00. A bartender cured me for $10.00. I was so happy to have saved all that money that I went and bought a new pickup truck."
"Is that so?" With a bit of an attitude he said, "and how, may I ask, did a bartender cure you?"
"He told me to cut the legs off the bed. Ain't nobody under there now."
It's always better to get a second opinion.







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Quote from: files58 on March 06, 2024, 08:54:24 PMThere is a famous quote "there is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert". It's true. At my first aforementioned concert I was straight, just on oxygen, and the music itself just blew me away, floating on a cloud. They had the best sound system in the business. A formula that has been copied. Their music is an amalgam of several genres. Rock, country, bluegrass, and jazz. Jerry was greatly influenced by bluegrass, Phil Lesh the bassist was classically trained. Ok so you're familiar with Wake of the Flood. Albums are nice but their genius is live. Improvisational jamming at it's best. No two shows are alike. Go onto archive.org and you can search Grateful Dead. Listen to the Mississippi Half Step from the 77' show I posted, you can go to you tube and search Grateful Dead, or just search Eyes of the World, Here Comes Sunshine and you'll get a feel for live vs album. Turn it up, and enjoy. There is a reason so many of us Heads travelled around to see them. Another famous quote "they're not the best at what they do, but the only ones who do what they do".

Thanks I appreciate your reply. I'll definitely listen to those songs. I remember buying Wake of the Flood as a teen even though I was completely unfamiliar with anything on the album. It was in the cut outs for a couple bucks, I'd heard some of their songs and thought I'd give it a try. It became one of my go-to late night chill albums. I no longer have it, or any of my old LPs as I donated my turntable and albums, not wanting to pack and move them from NY to CA. But before I did I digitized a bunch of albums, Wake of the Flood being one of them. The copy sits on my music server and I still listen to it from time to time.

Quote from: files58 on March 06, 2024, 05:50:44 PM2

Here's 11/6/77. When I say I'm a fan I've been to 150+ shows, and now see the main cover bands for lack of a better term. Dead & Co., Phil & Friends, Joe Russo's Almost Dead, DSO, and Stella Blues Band(NYC Metro), and some others. My first show 9/2/78 with about 40,000 of my closest friends in Giants Stadium.

https://archive.org/details/gd77-11-06.sbd.nawrocki.283.sbeok.shnf

John Mayer asked Bobby how would I know the Dead. Bobby told him listen to 1977, and Spring of 90'. They were blazing hot in 77', and 90' was a very good year.

That's awesome!! I never saw them in concert, nor would I consider myself a big Grateful Dead fan. I only have one of their albums - "Wake of the Flood," which I do really like. Also a few years ago @weeze burned me a copy of "American Beauty." Aside from those two albums I'm only familiar with their hits. Though I have known about the significance of the 1970 Binghamton concert, in the grand scheme of things, because I don't live totally under a rock. 

Maybe I'm wrong Len, but that seems to be primarily an American thing. It's a money grab - have success and bleed it dry, quality be damned. Case in point, the US version of The Office, a show with many great episodes, went on for 9 seasons, Too long!! The original, UK version went just 2 seasons and was excellent throughout. And The Walking Dead is an even better example.