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Posted
In some ways, it's a pretty remarkable world we live in.
 
I ordered a special LED light for my camera from Amazon. It cost 21 dollars. When I ordered, Amazon indicated that it would take three weeks to arrive. I'm in no rush, so no biggie. 
 
This morning I got an email that it shipped.  Amazon says it will be delivered sometime between Feb. 26-March 10.  I wondered "where is this that it actually is going to take almost four weeks to get delivered?"  So I checked my orders on Amazon to view the shipping status. It says "Package shipped .... from Dongguan, GUANGDONG China."
 
So for 21 bucks I can order an LED light, somebody in China gets the order, puts the light in a box, puts the box on a truck, that truck goes to a harbor, the box gets unloaded onto a ship, that ship sails across the ocean, the box gets unloaded and put onto another truck, that truck drives to a distribution center, somebody unloads it and puts it on another truck and so on until some random guy gets it in a delivery van, drives past my house, stops, unloads it, and puts it on my doorstep here in Texas.
 
Without getting into the ecological ramifications of all this, I'm feeling powerful and mighty this morning and, per the teachings of Ray Wylie Hubbard , keeping my gratitude higher than my expectations.
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Posted
21 minutes ago, Hornius Emeritus said:
In some ways, it's a pretty remarkable world we live in.
 
I ordered a special LED light for my camera from Amazon. It cost 21 dollars. When I ordered, Amazon indicated that it would take three weeks to arrive. I'm in no rush, so no biggie. 
 
This morning I got an email that it shipped.  Amazon says it will be delivered sometime between Feb. 26-March 10.  I wondered "where is this that it actually is going to take almost four weeks to get delivered?"  So I checked my orders on Amazon to view the shipping status. It says "Package shipped .... from Dongguan, GUANGDONG China."
 
So for 21 bucks I can order an LED light, somebody in China gets the order, puts the light in a box, puts the box on a truck, that truck goes to a harbor, the box gets unloaded onto a ship, that ship sails across the ocean, the box gets unloaded and put onto another truck, that truck drives to a distribution center, somebody unloads it and puts it on another truck and so on until some random guy gets it in a delivery van, drives past my house, stops, unloads it, and puts it on my doorstep here in Texas.
 
Without getting into the ecological ramifications of all this, I'm feeling powerful and mighty this morning and, per the teachings of Ray Wylie Hubbard , keeping my gratitude higher than my expectations.

Yeah, it is crazy what we can get right away. And some of it we really need. Like the coconut tree I just ordered.

But you better go to the climate thread and talk about the ecological ramifications before the Greta Gang see this post. :) 

Posted
31 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

Yeah, it is crazy what we can get right away. And some of it we really need. Like the coconut tree I just ordered.

But you better go to the climate thread and talk about the ecological ramifications before the Greta Gang see this post. :) 


I'm just a spoke in a great big wheel
A tiny blade of grass in a great big field
I feel like a number

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Posted
1 hour ago, Hornius Emeritus said:
In some ways, it's a pretty remarkable world we live in.
 
I ordered a special LED light for my camera from Amazon. It cost 21 dollars. When I ordered, Amazon indicated that it would take three weeks to arrive. I'm in no rush, so no biggie. 
 
This morning I got an email that it shipped.  Amazon says it will be delivered sometime between Feb. 26-March 10.  I wondered "where is this that it actually is going to take almost four weeks to get delivered?"  So I checked my orders on Amazon to view the shipping status. It says "Package shipped .... from Dongguan, GUANGDONG China."
 
So for 21 bucks I can order an LED light, somebody in China gets the order, puts the light in a box, puts the box on a truck, that truck goes to a harbor, the box gets unloaded onto a ship, that ship sails across the ocean, the box gets unloaded and put onto another truck, that truck drives to a distribution center, somebody unloads it and puts it on another truck and so on until some random guy gets it in a delivery van, drives past my house, stops, unloads it, and puts it on my doorstep here in Texas.
 
Without getting into the ecological ramifications of all this, I'm feeling powerful and mighty this morning and, per the teachings of Ray Wylie Hubbard , keeping my gratitude higher than my expectations.

george-clooney.gif.3488b7961b1d35c5dc4957ddf8fedb7b.gif

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Posted
1 hour ago, Hornius Emeritus said:
In some ways, it's a pretty remarkable world we live in.
 
I ordered a special LED light for my camera from Amazon. It cost 21 dollars. When I ordered, Amazon indicated that it would take three weeks to arrive. I'm in no rush, so no biggie. 
 
This morning I got an email that it shipped.  Amazon says it will be delivered sometime between Feb. 26-March 10.  I wondered "where is this that it actually is going to take almost four weeks to get delivered?"  So I checked my orders on Amazon to view the shipping status. It says "Package shipped .... from Dongguan, GUANGDONG China."
 
So for 21 bucks I can order an LED light, somebody in China gets the order, puts the light in a box, puts the box on a truck, that truck goes to a harbor, the box gets unloaded onto a ship, that ship sails across the ocean, the box gets unloaded and put onto another truck, that truck drives to a distribution center, somebody unloads it and puts it on another truck and so on until some random guy gets it in a delivery van, drives past my house, stops, unloads it, and puts it on my doorstep here in Texas.
 
Without getting into the ecological ramifications of all this, I'm feeling powerful and mighty this morning and, per the teachings of Ray Wylie Hubbard , keeping my gratitude higher than my expectations.

"LED light for my camera."  Seems like an odd product choice to replace the term "vibrating butt plug."  No matter, we're all glad that it's showing up pronto to take care of your needs, and we don't judge around here.  You do you, brother.

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Posted

Well, alright!

image.thumb.jpeg.cb4cc9a1c4a6ecf5514551748a30fcc4.jpeg
 

Quote

Researchers at the RIKEN Centre for Emergent Matter Science in Japan have designed a revolutionary biodegradable plastic that dissolves in seawater. The material of this plastic is also strong and can be adjusted to fit various uses such as packaging materials to medical devices

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/etimes/trending/japan-developes-plastic-that-disappears-within-hours-in-the-sea-and-boosts-soil-health/articleshow/116128117.cms

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Posted
25 minutes ago, Willfully Horn said:

I wonder how many similarly important but obscure and silly-sounding lines of study have just been ended due to the ongoing, irrational shark frenzy in the name of cost-cutting but really only benefit rampant corruption.

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Posted

I bought some air freshener at Walmart today.

They no longer have aerosol cans, just the pump style (Fabreze).

Aerosol cans use a propane-butane mix (hydrocarbons) to atomize the spray, and the propane-butane mix stays into the atmosphere. I prefer the atomized cloud to the spray, but this has been low hanging fruit for a long time coming.

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Posted
13 minutes ago, PTINS said:

I bought some air freshener at Walmart today.

They no longer have aerosol cans, just the pump style (Fabreze).

Aerosol cans use a propane-butane mix (hydrocarbons) to atomize the spray, and the propane-butane mix stays into the atmosphere. I prefer the atomized cloud to the spray, but this has been low hanging fruit for a long time coming.

Just a hint, dude.....when you stink up your shitter something awful, and you spray a bunch of Febreze around, instead of your bathroom smelling like shit, it now smells like you took a giant shit...on top of some flowers.  That's it.  That's all you're accomplishing.

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Posted
On 2/13/2025 at 9:11 AM, Hornius Emeritus said:
In some ways, it's a pretty remarkable world we live in.
 
I ordered a special LED light for my camera from Amazon. It cost 21 dollars. When I ordered, Amazon indicated that it would take three weeks to arrive. I'm in no rush, so no biggie. 
 
This morning I got an email that it shipped.  Amazon says it will be delivered sometime between Feb. 26-March 10.  I wondered "where is this that it actually is going to take almost four weeks to get delivered?"  So I checked my orders on Amazon to view the shipping status. It says "Package shipped .... from Dongguan, GUANGDONG China."
 
So for 21 bucks I can order an LED light, somebody in China gets the order, puts the light in a box, puts the box on a truck, that truck goes to a harbor, the box gets unloaded onto a ship, that ship sails across the ocean, the box gets unloaded and put onto another truck, that truck drives to a distribution center, somebody unloads it and puts it on another truck and so on until some random guy gets it in a delivery van, drives past my house, stops, unloads it, and puts it on my doorstep here in Texas.
 
Without getting into the ecological ramifications of all this, I'm feeling powerful and mighty this morning and, per the teachings of Ray Wylie Hubbard , keeping my gratitude higher than my expectations.

It helps that the light was made with slave labor, trucked by slave labor, loaded on the ship by slave labor, and shipped on a ship manned by slave labor.

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Posted

Just saw that the undercarriage of Texas Tech is getting a good cleanse. They even evacuated some folks and closed the university. Something about an explosion and fires and manholes. 

Probably not a good thing, but my wife wants me to be more optimistic.

Posted

I am about to enjoy a beautiful day with my wife of 39 years.  We are going to take a time machine back when we were young living in Travis Heights with an infant and a newborn.  A time long ago when a good baby sitter you could trust with your young children was more valuable than your car for parental freedom.  We used to go see a lot of music, and today is a day to rekindle that.  

We are going to go down to South Congress and drift between music venues, grab some food, I'll have a few drinks, and just generally have a damn good day.  Might even run into some old friends.  Or perhaps even make some new ones!

Each day is yours to own.  And while many things you cannot control, there are so many things you can control that can make each day of yours, AND someone elses better.  Just be nice!  Be as nice as you can, to everyone you meet. Especially folks in subservient positions.  The funniest thing about being nice, is it tends to make so very many more days "good days in the world."  You never know what tomorrow holds, so take control of today.  So today I am going to go spread goodwill in the world!  Unless you fucking step in front of me right as the headliner comes on.  Then I will be like Patrick Swayze in road house, you be nice until it's time to be nice.

But a beautiful day to see live music in Austin outdoors with a loved one, or a new friend.  Have a great day all of you!

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Posted
21 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Just a hint, dude.....when you stink up your shitter something awful, and you spray a bunch of Febreze around, instead of your bathroom smelling like shit, it now smells like you took a giant shit...on top of some flowers.  That's it.  That's all you're accomplishing.

Word of caution, around xmas when the wife and I were still dating we were at her folks house and I got a case of the bubble-guts.  Her sister was still living at home so the back bathroom was a no-go.  Their master was obviously off the table, so that left the hall bathroom.  I did a "drive-by" under the auspices of washing my hands and sprayed some xmas spray all over the bathroom in advance.

Then it was time.  What I didn't know was it was cinnamon based.  I do my thing.  It's of course awful.  Then I feel this insane burning on the twig and berries.  When I say burning, it was like rubbing icy-hot on your balls.  I'm freaking out, even to the point that I flopped them over the counter trying to run water over them.  Tears in my eyes.  It was awful.  I get the "are you ok in there" comment, as I now have water on my pants and my balls are still burning.  Lasted most of the afternoon before I could take a shower at home.

Takeaway:  spray the room, but not the bowl.....

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Posted
23 hours ago, PTINS said:

I bought some air freshener at Walmart today.

They no longer have aerosol cans, just the pump style (Fabreze).

Aerosol cans use a propane-butane mix (hydrocarbons) to atomize the spray, and the propane-butane mix stays into the atmosphere. I prefer the atomized cloud to the spray, but this has been low hanging fruit for a long time coming.

I won't Debbie Downer what's actually in air "fresheners" but ... well too late. Delete user, ban from thread.

To make up for that, I'll pass on "Feels good to help" story:

I was at an Austin burger joint a few weeks back when a rather "salt of the earth" family in front of me created chaos by breaking the soda fountain dispenser.

As in, it would not turn off and the Dr. Pepper was flowing non-stop. Luckily the place had a large spill trough, but that was filling up at an alarming rate.

The bewildered hillbillies couldn't stop it, and the maybe 20-year-old employee who decided to try was way over his head, just running around back and forth like Frogger.

I've never worked in the food industry, but while everyone else sat on their hands (or panicked) I quickly Googled "how to shut off a soda fountain"

First video showed how to remove the facade, twist some white knobs in there and, voila.

I showed that to Frogger.

Got my burger and walked out without a word afterwards.

It doesn't take much to help someone out sometimes.

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Posted

Real, practical education for jobs that exist, will continue to exist, and are really, really important:

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/schools/pflugerville-isd-water-operator-license-tceq/269-53c40b64-ccdb-4542-b0e3-3cafe15619a9

Quote

Pflugerville ISD is once again tackling an impending crisis in the Texas water industry.

This is the second year the district is offering a state online training program to allow high school students to get a water or wastewater operator license faster.

Industry experts say high rates of retirement and difficulty filling positions will lead to a shortage of water and wastewater operators in just a few years. 

Ask @Scheiss Meister - these are legit jobs.  They are good jobs, providing both a valuable public service and a good living for a long career.  No, you don't make "fuck you" money, but you make "I have a secure life and can provide for my family" money.

People don't want to work in a factory turning screws on iPhones.  But they can and should want real jobs like these.  Stuff like this is how you help students, families, and our communities.  It's not glamorous, doesn't make huge headlines, but it's how stuff really gets done, and gets better.

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Posted

As long as cities offer good benefits packages, water and wastewater jobs will be good avenues for smart folks who don't want to go to college and want to make a difference in the world.  The pay, especially in smaller cities, can be miserably low, but good benefits can help make up for that.  If the benefits get eroded, as some places are doing, it's not such an attractive career.

I applaud Pflugerville ISD for doing that.  More such programs are desperately needed.  I don't understand why TSTC doesn't have a program where an person can get good classroom training and internship like experience and finish with a C license, ready to get a job.

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Posted
20 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Real, practical education for jobs that exist, will continue to exist, and are really, really important:

https://www.kvue.com/article/news/education/schools/pflugerville-isd-water-operator-license-tceq/269-53c40b64-ccdb-4542-b0e3-3cafe15619a9

Ask @Scheiss Meister - these are legit jobs.  They are good jobs, providing both a valuable public service and a good living for a long career.  No, you don't make "fuck you" money, but you make "I have a secure life and can provide for my family" money.

People don't want to work in a factory turning screws on iPhones.  But they can and should want real jobs like these.  Stuff like this is how you help students, families, and our communities.  It's not glamorous, doesn't make huge headlines, but it's how stuff really gets done, and gets better.

 

14 hours ago, Scheiss Meister said:

As long as cities offer good benefits packages, water and wastewater jobs will be good avenues for smart folks who don't want to go to college and want to make a difference in the world.  The pay, especially in smaller cities, can be miserably low, but good benefits can help make up for that.  If the benefits get eroded, as some places are doing, it's not such an attractive career.

I applaud Pflugerville ISD for doing that.  More such programs are desperately needed.  I don't understand why TSTC doesn't have a program where an person can get good classroom training and internship like experience and finish with a C license, ready to get a job.

Between these two posts, I'm curious Brisket, what do you consider "secure life to provide for my family" money these days?

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Posted
10 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

 

Between these two posts, I'm curious Brisket, what do you consider "secure life to provide for my family" money these days?

Depends on where you live.  A WWTP operator can make around $60-70k.  That alone ain't great, but yes, the benefits are usually quite good, and if the earner is a member of a two-worker household (spouse has a job making, say, $50k), you're at $110-120k, and in a mid-sized city, that's decent.  E.g., the median household income in Waco is around $50k.  Even in a big city like Houston, median is $62k.  A WWTP operator job alone can put you above median income, and can put you on track to being materially above median household income (double that) if you have another mildly decent earner in the house.

You're not taking fancy vacations or driving high-end cars, but the baseline of having a secure roof over your head, no food insecurity, good basic healthcare, enough money for clothing and some of the nicer basics (furniture, TV, cell phones) is a pretty decent life.  I mean....I guess I look at the kind of life I was born into and had for my first few years of life, and it looked a lot like that.  And to my mother -- who had grown up in abusive households, and then when her mom fled, a brutally poor household that survived with the help of gov't assistance and charity -- our little life in a tract home, where we could afford to buy meat for most meals, and I could have some new toys, was the American damned dream.  Her perspective made a lifelong impression on me.

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Posted
11 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Depends on where you live.  A WWTP operator can make around $60-70k.  That alone ain't great, but yes, the benefits are usually quite good, and if the earner is a member of a two-worker household (spouse has a job making, say, $50k), you're at $110-120k, and in a mid-sized city, that's decent.  E.g., the median household income in Waco is around $50k.  Even in a big city like Houston, median is $62k.  A WWTP operator job alone can put you above median income, and can put you on track to being materially above median household income (double that) if you have another mildly decent earner in the house.

You're not taking fancy vacations or driving high-end cars, but the baseline of having a secure roof over your head, no food insecurity, good basic healthcare, enough money for clothing and some of the nicer basics (furniture, TV, cell phones) is a pretty decent life.  I mean....I guess I look at the kind of life I was born into and had for my first few years of life, and it looked a lot like that.  And to my mother -- who had grown up in abusive households, and then when her mom fled, a brutally poor household that survived with the help of gov't assistance and charity -- our little life in a tract home, where we could afford to buy meat for most meals, and I could have some new toys, was the American damned dream.  Her perspective made a lifelong impression on me.

No, I mean, I get all of what you're saying. I'm simply looking at it through the prism of what I think that salary and household income is going to get someone in the next 10-20 years with the cost of skyrocketing things like homes, cars, even food. To me what you're describing is people getting second jobs to make ends meat. I get where you're coming from, I just think what you're describing in another 15 years will be closer to where you came from than where it exists currently. 

Posted
1 minute ago, SydneyCarton said:

No, I mean, I get all of what you're saying. I'm simply looking at it through the prism of what I think that salary and household income is going to get someone in the next 10-20 years with the cost of skyrocketing things like homes, cars, even food. To me what you're describing is people getting second jobs to make ends meat. I get where you're coming from, I just think what you're describing in another 15 years will be closer to where you came from than where it exists currently. 

Perhaps.  I'm just doing the realistic thinking of "half of all households subsist on an income that is below the median household income," and this career can put you on a path to being solidly above that.  Even the WWTP job alone usually puts the household above the median income, so it's good on its own.  It's even better if you have a two-earner household, which is the way of much of our country these days (again, that's just reality).

If the big picture is that inflation and our overall economic dysfunction will mean that life sucks for everyone below the 80th percentile of household income, that's real, but it's a separate issue.

A lot of us on this board (full of college graduates) really don't realize (or remember) how "the bottom half" lives.  Half of Americans live in households of below median income, and it ain't easy.  Anything that can boost them materially above that is a good thing.  Not great, not living in high cotton, but yeah - being able to be secure in housing and food and such is a win for a shitload of people.   

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Posted
On 6/6/2025 at 10:12 AM, Brisketexan said:

Depends on where you live.  A WWTP operator can make around $60-70k.  That alone ain't great, but yes, the benefits are usually quite good, and if the earner is a member of a two-worker household (spouse has a job making, say, $50k), you're at $110-120k, and in a mid-sized city, that's decent.  E.g., the median household income in Waco is around $50k.  Even in a big city like Houston, median is $62k.  A WWTP operator job alone can put you above median income, and can put you on track to being materially above median household income (double that) if you have another mildly decent earner in the house.

You're not taking fancy vacations or driving high-end cars, but the baseline of having a secure roof over your head, no food insecurity, good basic healthcare, enough money for clothing and some of the nicer basics (furniture, TV, cell phones) is a pretty decent life.  I mean....I guess I look at the kind of life I was born into and had for my first few years of life, and it looked a lot like that.  And to my mother -- who had grown up in abusive households, and then when her mom fled, a brutally poor household that survived with the help of gov't assistance and charity -- our little life in a tract home, where we could afford to buy meat for most meals, and I could have some new toys, was the American damned dream.  Her perspective made a lifelong impression on me.

The industrial side of wastewater usually pays more than municipal. You might work worse rotations (nights/days) or more overtime if you go industrial though.

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Posted
6 minutes ago, HenryJames said:

 

Quote

The suit, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, claims Midjourney pirated the libraries of the two Hollywood studios, making and distributing without permission "innumerable" copies of characters such as Darth Vader from "Star Wars," Elsa from "Frozen," and the Minions from "Despicable Me".

....every one of which has been used to generate AI porn of said character.  Some of which is AI-generated porn using ALL of those characters.  Elsa on the couch surrounded by Minions while Darth Vader gives her the light-saber treatment gets a LOT of hits.

Or at least that's what @MissingInAction told me.

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