Idiot box thread

[JTA]

When I have a kid, when he reaches the age of 10, he's gonna be kicked out of the house with only a dollar bill and some boot straps so that he may learn the value of hard work.

Good luck with that. When I was a kid it was normal to have a paper route or fast food job. Now the newspapers will only hire adults for delivery. It's the same for most fast food restaurants.

Of course, such jobs used to be "beneath" most adults. Now most career jobs have been replaced with low-paying, part-time, temporary or contracted-out no-advancement-possible "McJobs." Many adults need a second job to make ends meet. And so that part of growing up is gone.

Yeah I caught the beginning of this growing up back in my shit town. It was nearly impossible to find a part time job in high school because you were competing against adults for that minimum wage grocery store job. An Aldi's opened up a little while ago and they were so swamped with applicants they had to start a gladiatorial style death match out back behind big lots to at least weed out the weak from the applicant pool. Nah, but seriously, it's really unfortunate and sad that how sought after those kind of jobs had become back home.

[Vrede too]

When I have a kid, when he reaches the age of 10, he's gonna be kicked out of the house with only a dollar bill and some boot straps so that he may learn the value of hard work.

What's one to do at work when Reddit is down?

[JTA]

When I have a kid, when he reaches the age of 10, he's gonna be kicked out of the house with only a dollar bill and some boot straps so that he may learn the value of hard work.

What's one to do at work when Reddit is down?

I'm trying to make my kid learn from my mistakes.

[neoplacebo]

I used to mow lawns in the neighborhood when I was a kid.....usually for $1.25 or maybe $1.75 for a bigger lawn. Back then, you could buy a new lawnmower for about $35 and gas was around .32 per gallon. Also, gasoline used to really smell good back then.....no ethanol, plenty of lead, etc. I only mention that because I consider myself an authority on the olfactory properties of refined petroleum products. Hell, I've probably smelled as much gasoline as anyone except maybe Trump.

[rstrong]

Mmmmm.... lead....

[O Really]

It's funny how gas pumps are still marked "Unleaded" even though there hasn't been any "leaded" for what - 40 years? Sorta like people still "dial" a phone even though there haven't been actual dials in the lifetime of a lot of phone users. Even the now obsolete "dial-up" internet wasn't really "dial" when it came out.

[Seth Milner]

It's funny how gas pumps are still marked "Unleaded" even though there hasn't been any "leaded" for what - 40 years? Sorta like people still "dial" a phone even though there haven't been actual dials in the lifetime of a lot of phone users. Even the now obsolete "dial-up" internet wasn't really "dial" when it came out.

"Oh, I'm sorry Ma'am, I've dialed the wrong number . . ."

[O Really]

I may be the one who bought one of the last TV's with a dial (non-remote) channel changer and kept using it possibly years longer than anybody else had one. I bought a 19" set on sale sometime around '82 or so and it was on sale because it was one of the last dial types. But that didn't matter because cable boxes back then were what you used to change the channel so it wasn't like I had to actually get up and do it manually. Had an early cable box where the channels were on a push-button pad, hardwired to the box. Later on, it connected to a regular remote-controlled cable box. Good set, though - I think it was a Zenith, and it was still running as a bedroom set as late as the late 90's when I gave it away.

[Vrede too]

Mmmmm.... lead....

[Seth Milner]

Say what . . . ?

91-year-old man shoots man trying to rob him in the neck

[Seth Milner]

No comment necessary. . .


Probably just did the world a favor...

[Vrede too]

So, Christian Slater got Colbert to join him in crowd surfing. Later in the show, Colbert gets 76 year old civil rights icon and GA Rep. John Lewis to do it. Pretty cool.

[rstrong]

Watch for the science fiction series Dark Matter, appearing on the SyFy channel down in the Excited States. The first season's lower budget shows a bit, but the writing is excellent. The episodes should be watched in order. It's from the writers and other folks who produced much of the Stargate franchise.

The show just keeps getting better and better with every episode.

[JTA]

Watch for the science fiction series Dark Matter, appearing on the SyFy channel down in the Excited States. The first season's lower budget shows a bit, but the writing is excellent. The episodes should be watched in order. It's from the writers and other folks who produced much of the Stargate franchise.

The show just keeps getting better and better with every episode.

Black Mirror is another alright sci Fi series. Doesn't need to be watched in order.

I'll check Dark Matter out.

[Seth Milner]

West Virginia license plate. . . .

[Vrede too]

Just watched this on PBS: Defying the Nazis: The Sharps' War

"Waitstill and Martha Sharp leave their children behind in the care of their parish and boldly leave for multiple, life-threatening missions in Europe to rescue hundreds of political dissidents and Jewish refugees prior to World War II."

Amazing, inspiring story.

Hard not to think about our current refugee debate while watching it.

[Vrede too]

I only catch snippets of DWTS now and then. Last year, without knowing a thing about dance, it was certain to me from the start that Bindi Irwin would win . . . if she could dance. She could and she did.

This year, Ryan Lochte will exit early, but perhaps not as early as if there hadn't been that goofy, sympathy-generating protest. Then, there's:



Laurie & Val's Cha Cha - Dancing with the Stars



Laurie Hernandez & Val Chmerkovskiy-Jive (Season 23 Week 2)

She can dance and she will win. It's almost not fair.

[Seth Milner]

I only catch snippets of DWTS now and then.

Same here. Since the take-down of the protester, I haven't watched anymore of DWTS.

[O Really]

I like DWTS. What's not to like? (often) good dancing/music, competition, (mostly) pretty people, entertaining backstories.

[Seth Milner]

I like DWTS. What's not to like? (often) good dancing/music, competition, (mostly) pretty people, entertaining backstories.

I like it. Just been too pre-occupied with other stuff.