Daily "Check In" Thread For Us

[Smith1776]

Starbucks sells ones with their logo on it. Wouldn't that be good enough?

Oh hey, you're right. And it looks exactly like their disposable ones. Hmmm. Might pick one up then.

[Mark Leavy]

Her "honest" response would have been "I can appreciate traditional values in a man..." or some version of that. There is zero chance she would have said, "I prefer to pay half".

Speaking of which, what the hell has happened to Maddy? She would know the right answer.

Mark, all due respect, but I disagree. I have been told by numerous women that they expect me to pay when we go out, regardless of how I frame it. Either because I am the man, or because I have a higher paying job depending on their (faulty) philosophy. However, this attitude varies wildly depending on age, and becomes much more common as women get older. Smith is presumably dating ladies in their 20's where splitting expenses is a more common attitude.

I miss Maddy, too, but I'm not sure if she would be the one to ask here.

I amend my opinion to agree with MangoMan's.
And Smith, it sounds like life is good.

[dualstow]

Starbucks sells ones with their logo on it. Wouldn't that be good enough?

Oh hey, you're right. And it looks exactly like their disposable ones. Hmmm. Might pick one up then.

I don’t know why but i love reusable products that look like disposable ones. Ceramic coffee cups that look like paper. Fake brown lunch bags, Beer glasses shaped like a can of beer.

[Mark Leavy]

This is my mental image of Smith1776 planning his date.

[Dieter]

This is my mental image of Smith1776 planning his date.

+1

[dualstow]

This is my mental image of Smith1776 planning his date.

Ha!

side note: that looks like Randy from ‘Monk’ at the very beginning of that clip.

[Smith1776]

How'd you guys know I prefer blondes?

[Mountaineer]

ALSO. (And sorry for the rapid fire posts.)
I wonder how many times you can use a disposable coffee cup before you get "chemicals" leached into your drink though...

At least once per day until you die.

[pp4me]

ALSO. (And sorry for the rapid fire posts.)
I wonder how many times you can use a disposable coffee cup before you get "chemicals" leached into your drink though...

At least once per day until you die.

If you're talking about styrofoam cups I gave up on using them at work in favor of my own cup long before I retired.

I can probably thank my wife for that. How long did it take for chemicals to leach through? Almost immediately for her, causing her lips to swell to about twice their normal size.

And then there is that powder they call creamer. What the hell is in that any way?

[Smith1776]

I'm buying MapleGrams on Monday and no one can stop me!!!!!!! ^__^

[Smith1776]

The Vancouver Bullion and Currency Exchange's Burnaby location was totally sold out of everything except for 10 ounce silver bars. Today I managed to catch a break at the downtown branch and added a bit to my physical holdings with a MapleGram and two 1 ounce silvers.

goldsilver.png (1.16 MiB) Viewed 5084 times

[Mark Leavy]

The Vancouver Bullion and Currency Exchange's Burnaby location was totally sold out of everything except for 10 ounce silver bars. Today I managed to catch a break at the downtown branch and added a bit to my physical holdings with a MapleGram and two 1 ounce silvers.

That MapleGram is beautiful. I wouldn't mind a pocketful of those - even at the crazy markup. Well done.

[Smith1776]

That MapleGram is beautiful. I wouldn't mind a pocketful of those - even at the crazy markup. Well done.

Thanks! I do really enjoy collecting these MapleGrams. Yes, they're not very efficient in terms of spreads, but I honestly don't really care. They're very fun to own! I have a few of them floating in my wallet at any given time. (Shhhh don't tell anyone.)

A nice compromise is the purchase of these little MapleGrams in bulk. You can order a "sheet" of 25 of them all at once and the spread becomes quite minimal. I actually just compared the spread to the 1 ounce gold coins and the spread may favour the bulk MapleGrams depending on how much you value the divisibility. I prefer the MapleGrams overall to the CombiBars too, as I think the plastic shell is probably pretty valuable for durability.

Here's a look at the MapleGram sheet.

maplegrams.png (311.49 KiB) Viewed 5155 times

[Smith1776]

As an aside, the woman helping me at the VBCE mentioned that while supplies were already tight due to the pandemic, the riots and civil unrest have seemingly introduced an additional surge of demand. I suppose this shouldn't be surprising. We're already over $1700 as of today. I wonder if we'll see $2000 in the next year.

[Smith1776]

The gold supply at my local dealers is getting even tighter these days. Some denominations are backordered as far as 12 weeks from now. How are supplies at your local dealers guys?

gold.png (458.63 KiB) Viewed 4615 times

[dualstow]

How are supplies at your local dealers guys?
...

I haven't been to my local shop in a long time. Apmex has the kangaroos I crave, but the markup is still too high.
Long bonds are really what I'm too low on...no rush.

[Smith1776]

I haven't been to my local shop in a long time. Apmex has the kangaroos I crave, but the markup is still too high.
Long bonds are really what I'm too low on...no rush.

Those Kangaroos are beautiful! The coins aren't bad either!

By the way, guys. TODAY I GET TO GO TO THE GYM. WOOHOO! I just signed up for Planet Fitness here in Vancouver. It's actually cheaper than my previous gym at $15 bucks a month, and the hours are more favourable too.

I'll be taking it easy at first since I haven't done a workout in a long time. Additionally, this time in self-isolation has given me an opportunity to reflect on how hard my exercise routine was on my body. I think I'll take it a little easier from here on out so as not to stress out my knees in particular. Don't want to end up like Ronnie Coleman....

[dualstow]

Is that 15 Canadian or did you pre-convert? Either way, it does not seem expensive.

[Smith1776]

Is that 15 Canadian or did you pre-convert? Either way, it does not seem expensive.

15 dollars Canadian. So, about 7 cents American?

[dualstow]

(Vinny, see previous page for context. I’m too tired to chase it).

[Smith1776]

Just came back from the gym. Here's a snapshot of the "damage" done by the inactivity since March.

- I did 7 reps of 225 pound bench press. Before lockdown I could do twice that number of reps.
- I ran for 1.25 miles on the treadmill before needing to stop. Before lockdown I typically did 3 miles before lifting weights.
- 3 chin ups and gave up. I could previously do 20 to 25.

I imagine that this first workout is a "shock" to the system, and that my original strength will probably return relatively quickly. I wasn't inactive for THAT long.

Also, you know anyone who drives everywhere at or below the speed limit? Well, now you do. When I was driving along Hastings Street tonight I saw some poor soul who got pulled over and was getting their car towed. Whoever they are they have my sympathy.

[Mountaineer]

Here is something to lift your spirits away from obsessing over police defunding, riots, Trump's latest tweet, Biden's latest slip of the tongue, fake news, BLM, climate change, muscle tone loss, lack of gold, or guns. Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MUg2BIzBmM

.

[Libertarian666]

Just came back from the gym. Here's a snapshot of the "damage" done by the inactivity since March.

- I did 7 reps of 225 pound bench press. Before lockdown I could do twice that number of reps.
- I ran for 1.25 miles on the treadmill before needing to stop. Before lockdown I typically did 3 miles before lifting weights.
- 3 chin ups and gave up. I could previously do 20 to 25.

I imagine that this first workout is a "shock" to the system, and that my original strength will probably return relatively quickly. I wasn't inactive for THAT long.

Also, you know anyone who drives everywhere at or below the speed limit?

Me.

[vnatale]

Just came back from the gym. Here's a snapshot of the "damage" done by the inactivity since March.

- I did 7 reps of 225 pound bench press. Before lockdown I could do twice that number of reps.
- I ran for 1.25 miles on the treadmill before needing to stop. Before lockdown I typically did 3 miles before lifting weights.
- 3 chin ups and gave up. I could previously do 20 to 25.

I imagine that this first workout is a "shock" to the system, and that my original strength will probably return relatively quickly. I wasn't inactive for THAT long.

Also, you know anyone who drives everywhere at or below the speed limit? Well, now you do. When I was driving along Hastings Street tonight I saw some poor soul who got pulled over and was getting their car towed. Whoever they are they have my sympathy.

How much do you weigh?

I weighed 148 this morning. Doing 3 sets of 3 reps of 120 pound bench presses is my absolute limit. Some days I can only do 2 reps in each of those 3 sets.

Just tried the chinups. First one was pretty easy. But that about exhausted my strength as I could only get partway up on a second before nothing was left.

CLEARLY upper body strength is NOT my thing!

Speed limit? I try to keep to 5 miles above. Also, since 2005 I've been using cruise control as much as possible as that seems to greatly reduce my general anxiety of being in a car and not getting anything productive done while I am in it.

Vinny

[Smith1776]

How much do you weigh?

I weighed 148 this morning. Doing 3 sets of 3 reps of 120 pound bench presses is my absolute limit. Some days I can only do 2 reps in each of those 3 sets.

Just tried the chinups. First one was pretty easy. But that about exhausted my strength as I could only get partway up on a second before nothing was left.

CLEARLY upper body strength is NOT my thing!

Speed limit? I try to keep to 5 miles above. Also, since 2005 I've been using cruise control as much as possible as that seems to greatly reduce my general anxiety of being in a car and not getting anything productive done while I am in it.

Vinny

We sound like we have opposite body types. I have sometimes been referred to as having a "mass monster" body type in the gym. I put on weight very easily. The downside is that it's not just muscle, I also put on fat very easily. I need to do cardio pretty much every day to stop my bodyweight from spiralling out of control.

I am 5'11" and weigh about 215 to 220 pounds depending on the day. Cardio for me does pose problems with chronic stress on my knees, so I am wanting to opt for lighter cardio going forward. I'm especially looking forward to swimming again!

I am wondering what ramifications autopilot will have for traffic tickets and red light cameras going forward. If my Tesla somehow runs a red light accidentally, is it my fault? I wasn't even driving.