OT - What are you doing now? (2026)

dbCooper said:

Two things happened to me at Costco today, dismayed by both of them. 

First off I passed by a display booth, staffed by a young lady, promoting the Costco Citi credit card.  Sign up and get a gift blanket.  Already having that card I asked about getting the gift retroactively.   She responded by saying she didn't know what that word meant.

Next up, a 24 pack of Bodyarmor Lyte was placed on the lower rack of my shopping cart, placed up front for easy scanning by the clerk.  Checking my receipt at home that item was not scanned.  And the receipt checker at the exit missed it.

Both of these are very unCostco like.  Perhaps the Rosette Nebula is to blame? 

Curious as to which was more dismaying - the lack of retroactive blanket or the lack of familiarity with the word “retroactive”. I am kind of rooting for the latter. 

dbCooper said:

@Botch - It's a sports drink, no alcohol.   

Thanks.  After reflecting on it, that name sounded more like a deodorant or something; I'm out of the loop.  

GrateEggspectations said:

dbCooper said:

Two things happened to me at Costco today, dismayed by both of them. 

First off I passed by a display booth, staffed by a young lady, promoting the Costco Citi credit card.  Sign up and get a gift blanket.  Already having that card I asked about getting the gift retroactively.   She responded by saying she didn't know what that word meant.

Next up, a 24 pack of Bodyarmor Lyte was placed on the lower rack of my shopping cart, placed up front for easy scanning by the clerk.  Checking my receipt at home that item was not scanned.  And the receipt checker at the exit missed it.

Both of these are very unCostco like.  Perhaps the Rosette Nebula is to blame? 

Curious as to which was more dismaying - the lack of retroactive blanket or the lack of familiarity with the word “retroactive”. I am kind of rooting for the latter. 

@GrateEggspectations - It was the latter.  There once was a truism that half the people in a population are below average in intelligence.  In todays USA I'd wager well above 50% are below average. 

Really nice looking pics and rig @Paolo

dbCooper said:

GrateEggspectations said:

dbCooper said:

Two things happened to me at Costco today, dismayed by both of them. 

First off I passed by a display booth, staffed by a young lady, promoting the Costco Citi credit card.  Sign up and get a gift blanket.  Already having that card I asked about getting the gift retroactively.   She responded by saying she didn't know what that word meant.

Next up, a 24 pack of Bodyarmor Lyte was placed on the lower rack of my shopping cart, placed up front for easy scanning by the clerk.  Checking my receipt at home that item was not scanned.  And the receipt checker at the exit missed it.

Both of these are very unCostco like.  Perhaps the Rosette Nebula is to blame? 

Curious as to which was more dismaying - the lack of retroactive blanket or the lack of familiarity with the word “retroactive”. I am kind of rooting for the latter. 

@GrateEggspectations - It was the latter.  There once was a truism that half the people in a population are below average in intelligence.  In todays USA I'd wager well above 50% are below average. 

The Gunners remain atop the PL, having despatched the rudderless Spurs with distain.   7th place Brentford have hit the magic 40 point mark while Forest, Spurs and West Ham are contesting the final relegation spot. European matches are very much back on, meaning the teams with shallower resources will struggle with the intensity of their programme. Not quite around the final bend yet and there are still stories to unfold. 

Friday

Wolves vs Villa, a run of two draws was Wolves’ renaissance,  they are back to losing now.  0-2.

Saturday

Bournemouth vs Sunderland, The Maccems have thoroughly slipped their form, but are still some way better off than they would have feared at the start of the season,  The Cherries are in form, so 2-1.

Brighton vs Forest, not the highlight of either team’s season but could be pivotal.  Those filthy Seagulls took a good away win last week and a similar result puts them within touching distance of safety - and condems Forest to more anxiety, possibly south of the dotted line. 2-0

Burnley vs Brentford, better recently from the Clarets but they are some way off safety while a stinging home defeat last week for the Bees will either galvanise them or prove to be when the rot set in. 1-1

Liverpool vs West Ham, much better from the Hammers recently but this is a big ask.  The Reds need all three points to stay close to the top 4.  No push-over but a home win,1-0

Man United vs Palace, plain and simple 2-0.  If we score then nice, if we lose by 4 then not nice - nor terrible. 

Newcastle vs Everton, The Toon are held by intractable force to the mid-table and can’t seem to get any elevation. The Toffees have slipped recently and so this will most likely be a routine 1-0.

Leeds vs Man City, the hosts are far from safe but have given themself a fighting chance of survival,  they will have ten more games after this one to secure the nine points to make 40, and that seems do-able.  Free hit here. 0-2.

 Sunday

Fulham vs Spurs, neither team are easy to predict but Spurs are in much greater jeopardy with three defats on the bounce. Other results will likely not harm them if they lose here, but there is a scenario where they are 17th and a point north of the dotted line.  The Cottagers are already going through the motions of a traditional 10th to 13th place finish.   Low wattage, few goals. 1-0

Arsenal vs Chelsea, potentially the game of the weekend,  but the Chels’ do enjoy a self-destructive sending off or two. The Gunners winning this will be very significant and could pitch them in to uncharted territory of self-belief. 3-1

Can you believe it’s March on Sunday, already? 

Ozzie_Isaac said:

Paolo said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

@Paolo wow!! Very cool, any details on the setup?

Thank you for the details, that is awesome.  My son is dabbling in astro-photography.  Being in Arizona and access to areas with very little light pollution, it is a good place for him to start. He has become friends with a few local astrophotographers and is looking to build something for himself.

Wow, that is a dream place to be for astrophotography! If the intent is just imaging my advice is to start with a small refractor like the one I have, or even smaller, to keep things as easy as possible. Larger scopes are a lot more complicated to handle. 

poster said:

Wind picked up heavy today and started rolling the snow into cylinders everywhere. First time I've seen this.

Wow, I've never seen nor even heard of that, either!  
Maybe Ma Nature is fed up and building up an Apocalypse Snowman Army.  

hoosier_egger said:

Just finished putting this beast together. Old treadmill died a few months back. The wife tried out the walking pad but it just didn’t fit her needs. So here we are. Myles (our Golden Retriever) however, loves the walking pad and happily trots on it. 

Nice. Now place that standing desk so that it’ll straddle the treadmill!

playlist Dead and Company

Date day/night yesterday over here. Got a few admin activities done sans kids in the morning, then we walked downtown, shopped for my wife a bit and then went to a restaurant we’ve been frequenting together for almost a quarter century. No pretension and all sorts of people. The servers are always the same and we always make the same order - an incredible, beautifully charred burger with perfect fries and a fresh salad served in a creamy vinegar sauce. The food has been unbelievably consistent and is always beautifully executed. Just simple food done well. Only the prices have changed - $8 in 2004; $21 in 2026. 

Michelin star breakfast right there.  Magnificent.

GrateEggspectations said:

Waking her up to honey molasses bacon cornbread and cappuccino. Followed the cornbread recipe (https://www.finexusa.com/blogs/recipes/bacon-molasses-cornbread), but I was worried the bacon wouldn’t render out (has to be crispy for us), so pre-cooked it and then used left some bacon grease coating the pan, mixed with butter, to pour the batter into. I am far prouder than I should be about that. 

Dios mio!

Reading applications for the DOE's flagship computational science graduate fellowship program.  Awards provide full tuition and full stipend for four years at the very best institutions in the US.  Each one takes me a good half hour to read.  It's a tough slog.  

@GrateEggspectations - Your wife married well.  And . . . I'm still available for adoption.