brewdad

I grew up in Michigan farm country and have lived in the desert SW and Pacific NW as an adult.

The outdoor attractions out west are world class compared to the attractions closer to where I grew up. Still, there are plenty of places I enjoy when I get back to Michigan to see family and friends. Even the Plains states have some great outdoorsy places, you might have to work a little harder to find them.

I randomly picked Jamestown ND as an overnight stop on a recent trip. The next morning we went into the downtown and were pleasantly surprised. Even found a Seattle themed coffee shop with gluten-free options for my travel companion.

Completely unexpected.

I do wonder about the tradeoff between excess perspiration due to wearing heavier materials versus the ability to collect water, especially on the days where replenishing fluids is most crucial.

This is exactly why I opted for the iPad Air over the Mini. It's an optional carry device that really only leaves my home when I am traveling overnight somewhere. In that use case, and on my sofa, I appreciate the bigger screen more than any portability advantages.

I was required to install an app in order to enter and leave the Philippines. To my knowledge there was no other way to get the required approvals.

My local system is completely cashless. You can pay by phone, credit card tap or with a reloadable transit card. To my knowledge, the only way to reload the card is to use their app or travel to a handful of authorized agents to have them reload your card.

I can call my government office and wait on hold for an hour, ultimately probably needing to schedule an appointment in person to handle my issue or I can install an app and have my issue resolved in a few minutes. Which option do you think most people choose?

If it doesn’t, a whole lot of European lawyers need to turn in their licenses.

Also, in the US until very recently, there was no path for women athletes to make sports their career after college. Soccer could be a path to a scholarship but you were going to have to get a "real" job after that even if you wanted to continue to pursue Olympic or World Cup level goals in the sport. The NWSL is changing that but salaries are still nowhere near the men's game, nor any other male dominated professional league.

I've had more QR codes direct me to my device's app store than I have to a web site lately.

I have a Bosch dishwasher that predates the app days. The only setting I use on it is the Extra Dry setting, so that actually requires a button press prior to pressing Start. Otherwise, it's pretty much always on Auto mode.

There are at least a dozen combos I have never used.

They mentioned Gil’s Fingerbot. It’s literally a remote controlled “finger” that can be commanded to press your power button. Obviously, if your MacBook goes with you everyday rather than living on a rack, this isn’t a practical solution.

In a global context, pretty much anyone on this site is a 10%er. Most of us are 1%ers.

When I visited Singapore most people retreated indoors to the AC from about 2:30-4:30 every afternoon. I don’t recall the exact temps then but the idea that everyone would be just fine in a severe heat wave leading to power grid outages is false.

I’m about the same age as you and at a similar level of ability at this point. I tested out of all 16 credit hours of foreign language requirements at my university but my current Spanish skills are nowhere near what will be required of me to function well in Mexico when we retire there.

I haven’t sent a postcard in years but I always thought it was a signal that I am having a great time but also you are important enough to me that I want to include you in the only way I can. I certainly never expected a direct response but hoped I might receive a postcard from that friend at some unexpected future time.

No message between friends should ever need “polishing” unless you are trying to deliver really bad news in the softest way possible.

It’s the latest version of the meme stock craze. Nobody bought Gamespot stock because they thought it was a good long term investment. They bought it because they thought they could quickly double or triple their money and leave someone holding the bag

The fact that the road is legally accessible to the public makes it a public road for the sake of this discussion. You must have a license plate to drive on a public road. It really isn’t any more complicated than that.

It doesn’t matter whether the road in front of my house is owned by the federal government, state, county, city, or Bob, I and everyone else is allowed to drive on it, so it’s a public road.

I’ve found more places going cashless in Portland than are cash only. The one cash only place I regularly visited for decades finally gave in and started accepting cards.

And those older people frequently have to ask someone in their life who has a smartphone to assist them. They still need a smartphone to manage modern life they just don’t happen to own the phone they need.

It's the state of modern capitalism. Money must flow from one entity to another even if nothing of tangible value is produced. The flows of money prove the growth of both businesses.

Isn't eye tracking required there too now? If you look away, or even not in the direction the car expects, for more than a couple of seconds >> more beeps.

GPS is receive only. If you've disabled the ability to send telemetry, there should be no reason to be concerned about the GPS antenna.

It can be a double edged sword. A restaurant near me got written up in the NYTimes and a few other "foodie" publications. What used to be a plan a head a few weeks reservation turned into the place selling out the month in less than 10 minutes.

The owner, recognizing that eventually the hype would die down and locals are his lifeblood, had to come up with all kinds of creative ways to make sure at least half his seats went to locals.

It's been about five years now and it's still not an easy reservation but I no longer have to logon at 12:01am on the 3rd of the month to score a seat two months from now or go attend a street concert on a random Tuesday afternoon in order to get early access to the reservations list.

My favorite vacations have been the ones where we've planned or been forced into a day of downtime amidst multiple days of go-go see the sights. I hope to never again be a seven countries in six days type of traveler.

We just spent 14 days in Mexico City. We'd been before, so got to visit some 2nd and 3rd tier sights and also just spent a few days vibing in the neighborhood. Meals for two were anywhere from $5 to $600 and almost all of them were excellent.

We've probably been to NYC ten times at this point. We stay out of Midtown except if we are going to a Broadway show. The subway can get you quite a ways. Head out to the Cloisters instead of the main Met museum. Be sure to walk around the rest of the park. It's a completely different version of New York. Not better, not worse, but completely new if you've only ever done Times Square and other popular spots. We took a subway and bus out to the Botanical Garden. Another gem that gets few out of town visitors but gives locals discounted access and they use it.

Heck, just walking around Harlem will give you an amazing day with 20% or less of the tourists.

My wife and I took a walk along one of the Paris canals on a nice early spring day. You are very right that there wasn't much exciting to see once we got out of the touristy areas but locals were out enjoying the day and it was nice to see how the more average Parisian lives rather than only seeing the attractions and neighborhoods occupied by the 7 zeroes and up class.

I think we walked 18 miles that day all told.

This is how I approach Costco. Everything there will meet a minimum standard, so I'm more willing to try something new. Also, the prices will pretty much always be fair. Could I track down a better deal somewhere else? Possibly but I usually don't want to expend that extra effort to save a buck or two.

While true concerning the quality of Kirkland brand, sometimes there are still differences that can matter. I love the Kirkland bacon but they don't sell a thick cut version (at least at my Costco) so sometimes I buy the "brand name" instead.

Earlier today I read how World Cup resale tickets are dropping below face value for many of the upcoming matches. This evening I read that FIFA tripled the price for the best seats. Bifurcation indeed.

The owner can afford to use the HOT lane at any price.