Minor Confession Thread

Combo confession here:

I killed my Xbox One in a stupid manner. I then looked at the current pricing and availability on the Series X and S...and then promptly bought a PS2 on ebay.

I bought a PS2 just to be able to play Twisted Metal.  That was two years ago at least.  I still haven't hooked it up.

Few months back I bought a 2002 accord. Our van got totaled out, only had 1 day without a rental, and my car DOES not work for family duties. Found this appliance on first lot I hit. Basic 4 door, auto and basic, sold. 
Well today was first day I got to actually hit some corners at speed. Mind you this car is the SLOWEST vehicle I've ever driven. This things handles corners effin awesome, not only planted but did not get upset with bumps. Little did I know this thing has double wishbones, first for me. 
Amazing how the most boring vehicle can be amazing!

I am stupid and lucky. Bought some fiberglass bumpers today and they didn't fit inside my car so we strapped them to my trunk lid after failing to secure them on my roof. Drove 90 miles home checking my rear view frequently and arrived safely only to realize that the blanket I had laid down had moved enough to completely obscure my license plate and tail lights and the bumper obscured my third brake light. Explains all the weird looks we got. 

I spent way too long this morning wondering if European mechanics had half inch, quarter inch, and 3/8 ratchets.

Stampie (FS) said:

I spent way too long this morning wondering if European mechanics had half inch, quarter inch, and 3/8 ratchets.

Huh.... I never thought about that. 

Stampie (FS) said:

I spent way too long this morning wondering if European mechanics had half inch, quarter inch, and 3/8 ratchets.

I used to have a roommate that had a euro craftsman ratchet and socket set from his grandfather. It was 7mm drive, just a little too big for a 1/4 socket to fit.

Edit: may have been 6mm. Either way sloppy one way and no fit the other when trying to use US sockets.

Stampie (FS) said:

I spent way too long this morning wondering if European mechanics had half inch, quarter inch, and 3/8 ratchets.

No, man, they got the metric system. They wouldn't know what the f**k a quarter inch drive is.  They call it a Royale drive.

Apparently, it's been too long since I've played with fireworks.  This may get a bit long, so grab a fresh cup of coffee.  This all starts a day or so ago when the bird feeder ended up in the back yard.  There weren't any storms or anything, so I suspected fowl play.  The feeder is one of the "squirrel proof" feeders with a cage that slides down if anything heavier than a bird grabs on to it.  (Works pretty well for squirrels, BTW)  The feeder has also been "cleaned out" the last several days.  Yesterday morning the feeder had been propped up on the deck rail to keep the "squirrel cage" from shifting down and cleaned out again.  I knew we were dealing with either the Hercules of squirrels or every homeowner's nightmare . . . trash pandas!  

Fast forward to dinner time.  My wife exclaims, "Oh my word, looks at that!"  (My wife is a pure soul, no "Holy E36 M3!" for her).  I look out, and this fat SOB is raiding the feeder.  (For reference, the feeder is MAYBE 10 feet from the back sliding door)

I figure I'll yell at him and he'll run away.  I open the slider and yell something nonsensical.  Instead of running away, he looks at me with his beady little eyes . . . and starts eating faster.  It's on now.  Just so you know, I'm totally not above shooting this fatso and making him into a hat, but there are literally no safe shooting lanes from any direction in our neighborhood.  (I know, I mentally double checked last night while I was trying to get to sleep)  So, with yelling not working, we escalated slightly, to NERF guns.

My son actually pulled off a pretty incredible shot and hit him right between the eyes.  He waddled down the deck rail and off into the night, I assumed for good.

I was wrong . . . 

About 10 minutes later, he's back, raiding the feeder again.  We pelt him with NERF darts again, but this time he just gives us an "I am Sparticus!" look and keeps shoveling in food.  It's time to escalate again.  I feel it's necessary to point out that NO alcohol was involved in the decision making here.  After thinking hard, I remember we have some left over fireworks in the garage.  Perhaps unfortunately, none of them are firecrackers.  First we try whipper-snappers.  Same results as the NERF, he beats a quick retreat, but re-appears less than 5 minutes later.  In the mean time, however, I've found some bottle rockets, a steel pipe and a lighter.  We crack the slider and our masked bandit sneers at us with a look that says "Do your worst!"  Alright fatso, you've earned this.  I light up a rocket and point it at his fat little butt.  What happens next will live in family lore forever.  Remember the part about "too long since I've played with fireworks"?  See, back when I played with fireworks regularly, I would have remembered to plug the bottom of the tube before firing.  I didn't.  The good news is we scared away the raccoon.  The bad news is I'm not sure if it was from the rocket or Mrs. Kazoo's shriek as a plume of fireworks sparks blasted through the kitchen and down the hallway.  Fortunately, nothing caught fire.  

TLDR - I'm dumber than a raccoon. 

Duke said:

Stampie (FS) said:

I spent way too long this morning wondering if European mechanics had half inch, quarter inch, and 3/8 ratchets.

No, man, they got the metric system. They wouldn't know what the f**k a quarter inch drive is.  They call it a Royale drive.

 

What do mechanics call a hammer in France?

I dunno.  I didn't go into Harbor Freight. 

Appleseed said:

Duke said:

Stampie (FS) said:

I spent way too long this morning wondering if European mechanics had half inch, quarter inch, and 3/8 ratchets.

No, man, they got the metric system. They wouldn't know what the f**k a quarter inch drive is.  They call it a Royale drive.

What do mechanics call a hammer in France?

I dunno.  I didn't go into Harbor Freight. 

While quarantining, I cleaned out my bookshelves. Then, because I was bored and needed things to do, I bought more books off Amazon and ripped through those in a couple days. Upon being released from quarantine, my first action was to pillage a Barnes & Noble. Now my bookshelves are full again. Whoops.

mtn (Forum Supporter) said:

This is the pizza we got tonight. Absolutely delicious. Probably in my top 10, top 9 for places still in business. 
 

My rant is that anybody that cuts a pizza like that *without being requested to do so* is a aberrant, glue sniffing nincompoop.

kazoospec said:

Trash Panda Saga

Hit the trash panda in the eyes with pepper spray. Alternatively, coat the bird seed with hot pepper oil/cayanne powder/something with a high scoville rating. Birds aren't affected by capsaisin, mammals are. It should keep the squirrels out of it, too.

We just hired a new lady welder that drives a nice Dodge Ram with an NHRA sticker on the back.    

Seeing our other welders seem to have minimum magic welder fabrication skills I'm putting a lot of hope in her cause of her ride and the sticker.  

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) :

Thanks!  For now, we've hit the "easy button" by bringing the feeder in at night. Hot sauce might be amusing, though.  

Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) said:

mtn (Forum Supporter) said:

This is the pizza we got tonight. Absolutely delicious. Probably in my top 10, top 9 for places still in business. 
 

My rant is that anybody that cuts a pizza like that *without being requested to do so* is a aberrant, glue sniffing nincompoop.

 

If its more than 12" wide, thats how you should cut it.

Streetwiseguy said:

Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) said:

mtn (Forum Supporter) said:

This is the pizza we got tonight. Absolutely delicious. Probably in my top 10, top 9 for places still in business. 
 

My rant is that anybody that cuts a pizza like that *without being requested to do so* is a aberrant, glue sniffing nincompoop.

 

If its more than 12" wide, thats how you should cut it.

No no nonononono.

When it's cut that way you have your choice of a mostly crust piece with hardly any toppings, or a greasy mess you can't eat without burning and/or sliming up your fingers.

Proper triangular pizza slices come with a built-in grab handle for convenient cleanliness, and a pointy end for easy snarfing. Why would you interfere with such a naturally evolved design?

In reply to Duke :

Eat the edge pieces first.  The topping-only pieces are perfect breakfast pizzas straight from the fridge.

Duke said:

Streetwiseguy said:

Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) said:

mtn (Forum Supporter) said:

This is the pizza we got tonight. Absolutely delicious. Probably in my top 10, top 9 for places still in business. 
 

My rant is that anybody that cuts a pizza like that *without being requested to do so* is a aberrant, glue sniffing nincompoop.

 

If its more than 12" wide, thats how you should cut it.

No no nonononono.

When it's cut that way you have your choice of a mostly crust piece with hardly any toppings, or a greasy mess you can't eat with burning and/or sliming up your fingers.

Proper triangular pizza slices come with a built-in grab handle for convenient cleanliness, and a pointy end for easy snarfing. Why would you interfere with such a naturally evolved design?

 

If the pointy end is too far away, it falls over.  As to burned fingers, the pineapple generally cools off quickly and can be used as an insulator.

Stampie (FS) said:

I spent way too long this morning wondering if European mechanics had half inch, quarter inch, and 3/8 ratchets.

I spent a considerable amount of shower time pondering the same thing.  I went to a German tool site to see how they listed things and, yes, they sold ratchets and sockets with 1/4", 3/8", and 1/2" drives.

In reply to wae :

Wait 'til you find out that they size tires in inch wheel diameters!

Well, there was Michelin's TRX, which was metric, and IIRC actually had different rim diameters inside and outside.  But, well, France invented/adopted the Metric system of measurements as part of their whole revolution thing, so we would kind of expect that to happen.

(Also, the international standard for seat belt fasteners is 7/16-NF for some reason)

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to wae :

(Also, the international standard for seat belt fasteners is 7/16-NF for some reason)

I've always wondered whether there was some DOT requirement for that.  It sure is wrong on a Honda...

I'm also weirded out by spark plugs in American vehicles having 14 or 18mm thread for a very, very long time.

Despite having a badass supercharged Miata on killer suspension with big grippy tires, I am still fascinated with trying to build some sort of homebrew Yaris ClubSport thing. I have installed a TRD rear sway bar and 15x7" wheels with Conti ECS. And now I've acquired TRD springs and what may well be the last set of new-in-box Tokico HPs for a Yaris. 

Streetwiseguy said:

Duke said:

Streetwiseguy said:

Brett_Murphy (Ex-Patrón) said:

mtn (Forum Supporter) said:

This is the pizza we got tonight. Absolutely delicious. Probably in my top 10, top 9 for places still in business.

My rant is that anybody that cuts a pizza like that *without being requested to do so* is a aberrant, glue sniffing nincompoop.

If its more than 12" wide, thats how you should cut it.

No no nonononono.

When it's cut that way you have your choice of a mostly crust piece with hardly any toppings, or a greasy mess you can't eat with burning and/or sliming up your fingers.

Proper triangular pizza slices come with a built-in grab handle for convenient cleanliness, and a pointy end for easy snarfing. Why would you interfere with such a naturally evolved design?

If the pointy end is too far away, it falls over.  As to burned fingers, the pineapple generally cools off quickly and can be used as an insulator.

C'mon, man, look at that cantilever.  Eat pizza the right way and it's not a problem.