Daily "Check In" Thread For Us

[Mountaineer]

Another great Psalm for comfort in trying times is 27.

[dualstow]

How bad is it? Should I sacrifice a dove or a feral cat?

Trick question; it will be a feral cat.

Good call, Kriegs. Doves are the wrong animal in this situation. If I'm reading the room correctly, we may need a horse head.

I thought the Canadian mafia just gently slapped people with soft pillows. Should be fine.
In any case, it sounds like it's not health related, which is a relief. I was sitting here feeling somewhat sorry for myself because I have a bullseye rash that looks like the Lyme disease rashes online (don't look), but which is probably just a bandaid rash. Then I read your post and thought uh-oh. What's up with Smithers that he needs prayers?
In any case, sending out positive energy.
EDIT: I just noticed that Mark, not Smithers, wrote "horse head." So I guess it could be anything. Darn.

[dualstow]

RIP Ron Cobb
https://news.avclub.com/r-i-p-ron-cobb- ... 1845135247

[Mark Leavy]

Dude. I'm not religious, but best wishes. You have a lot of good still to do. You make the world a better place.

Thank you, Mark. The challenges in life don't stop, but I am doing my best to meet them.

On a side note, every painful experience usually has a stand-up comedy bit somewhere in there.

Hey Smith! Just checking back in with you. Remember to play your Country Music CD's backwards.

Seriously, though, hope things are going well for you. And that you get laid tonight.
Mark

[Mark Leavy]

Well, Smith1776,

I'm sure that you have read "Wealth of Nations". But Mr. Adam Smith was quite the erudite. And not immune to the problems of post puberty. Have you read "The Theory of Moral Sentiments"?

Smith rejected his teacher's reliance on this special sense. Starting in about 1741, Smith set on the task of using Hume's experimental method (appealing to human experience) to replace the specific moral sense with a pluralistic approach to morality based on a multitude of psychological motives. The Theory of Moral Sentiments begins with the following assertion:

How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some principles in his nature, which interest him in the fortunes of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it. Of this kind is pity or compassion, the emotion we feel for the misery of others, when we either see it, or are made to conceive it in a very lively manner. That we often derive sorrow from the sorrows of others, is a matter of fact too obvious to require any instances to prove it; for this sentiment, like all the other original passions of human nature, is by no means confined to the virtuous or the humane, though they perhaps may feel it with the most exquisite sensibility. The greatest ruffian, the most hardened violator of the laws of society, is not altogether without it.

Rooting for you. It is a rough road, becoming a man.

Mark

[Mark Leavy]

This morning about 2am the fire alarm in the bedroom went off. I was going to wait it out (per normal) until I realized it was in the bedroom and not the building alarm. I had left all of my windows open and it was windy and hot and super humid. The 90% humidity and hot breezes set it off. Much like what happens when I take too long of a hot shower.

It was’t letting up, so I popped it off of the wall. It was one of those kind that are wired into the wall - but luckily it had a clip to disconnect the wires. It still kept wailing - even fully removed. So I popped it in the microwave for a few seconds. That silenced it. All good now. Everything reassembled.

[boglerdude]

you can go anywhere right? why FL...

[Mark Leavy]

you can go anywhere right? why FL...

Great weather, (I like hot). No masks or social distancing. Miles of pure white beaches with warm, swimmable water.

Heading to Aspen, CO in a couple of weeks. Then somewhere else...

[Mark Leavy]

It still kept wailing - even fully removed. So I popped it in the microwave for a few seconds. That silenced it. All good now. Everything reassembled.

Seriously? And if so, it still worked after that?

Fried the electronics in about 2 seconds. And no, it will never work again. But also, no visible signs of sabotage.
I'm not a big fan of fire alarms. 100% false positive for my entire life.

[WiseOne]

Yeah fire alarms can be annoying, and I’m not sure how useful they really are. Smoke is a pretty good alarm as are fire trucks pulling up outside. Especially if you’re a light sleeper. I know there have been instances of people killed by fires while still in bed, but, yet another case of rare events driving a hugely expensive and invasive universal mandate.

Carbon monoxide alarms are a different story. I also have a cheap water leak detector under my sink. I got it after fielding a call from the downstairs neighbor when my faucet sprang a leak and dripped water down the back of my cabinet into her apartment. Luckily no damage that she wanted to fix.

[Libertarian666]

It still kept wailing - even fully removed. So I popped it in the microwave for a few seconds. That silenced it. All good now. Everything reassembled.

Seriously? And if so, it still worked after that?

Fried the electronics in about 2 seconds. And no, it will never work again. But also, no visible signs of sabotage.
I'm not a big fan of fire alarms. 100% false positive for my entire life.

It is well known that the majority of fire alarms are false alarms.
It is also well known that the best way to prevent false alarms is not to have a fire alarm at all.

In fact, we can extend the same reasoning to any unlikely event.
What are the chances of dying before age 60? Very low.
Thus, life insurance for younger people is a waste of money.
And of course it's too expensive after age 60.
So why buy it at all?

Hmm, maybe there's something this analysis overlooks...

[Mark Leavy]

It still kept wailing - even fully removed. So I popped it in the microwave for a few seconds. That silenced it. All good now. Everything reassembled.

Seriously? And if so, it still worked after that?

Fried the electronics in about 2 seconds. And no, it will never work again. But also, no visible signs of sabotage.
I'm not a big fan of fire alarms. 100% false positive for my entire life.

It is well known that the majority of fire alarms are false alarms.
It is also well known that the best way to prevent false alarms is not to have a fire alarm at all.

In fact, we can extend the same reasoning to any unlikely event.
What are the chances of dying before age 60? Very low.
Thus, life insurance for younger people is a waste of money.
And of course it's too expensive after age 60.
So why buy it at all?

Hmm, maybe there's something this analysis overlooks...

I think you have correctly described the Mark Leavy filter on reality.
I am also not a big fan of any form of insurance.

[Libertarian666]

It still kept wailing - even fully removed. So I popped it in the microwave for a few seconds. That silenced it. All good now. Everything reassembled.

Seriously? And if so, it still worked after that?

Fried the electronics in about 2 seconds. And no, it will never work again. But also, no visible signs of sabotage.
I'm not a big fan of fire alarms. 100% false positive for my entire life.

It is well known that the majority of fire alarms are false alarms.
It is also well known that the best way to prevent false alarms is not to have a fire alarm at all.

In fact, we can extend the same reasoning to any unlikely event.
What are the chances of dying before age 60? Very low.
Thus, life insurance for younger people is a waste of money.
And of course it's too expensive after age 60.
So why buy it at all?

Hmm, maybe there's something this analysis overlooks...

I think you have correctly described the Mark Leavy filter on reality.
I am also not a big fan of any form of insurance.

Virtually all forms of insurance have a negative expected return, because the insurers have to have a reason to take the risk.
Which is why it is foolish to insure against events whose costs you can absorb without too much difficulty. Why pay someone else to take a risk that you can afford yourself?
But there are risks for which you need a risk pool, e.g., outliving your savings.
In that situation, you can optimize your spending by buying an annuity.
Of course, if you have plenty of money to spend even if you live a very long time, especially if you care about leaving a legacy, then there's no reason to buy an annuity.

[dualstow]

Smoke alarms and car alarms, the bane of my existence.

I’ll have to remember the microwave trick.

[Tortoise]

Microwaving a blaring smoke alarm to silence it seems like overkill when you can just pop out the battery instead.

[dualstow]

Microwaving a blaring smoke alarm to silence it seems like overkill when you can just pop out the battery instead.

Where's the fun in that? Mine are hardwired, so the batteries are just a backup. Of course they beep-nag me for fresh batteries. Still, if Mark's were disconnected and beeping..it's one of the mysteries of the universe. There's a button you can press on many models to silence them for a little while.

[Tortoise]

Microwaving a blaring smoke alarm to silence it seems like overkill when you can just pop out the battery instead.

Where's the fun in that? Mine are hardwired, so the batteries are just a backup. Of course they beep-nag me for fresh batteries. Still, if Mark's were disconnected and beeping..it's one of the mysteries of the universe. There's a button you can press on many models to silence them for a little while.

The hardwired ones often have battery backups like yours, so if you disconnect the wires and they continue to beep, it's because of the battery. If you remove the battery, the beeping stops.

[Xan]

Do you guys really think that was something that didn't occur to Mark?

I wouldn't be surprised if this is a "safety" innovation in smoke detectors: a small, rechargable (powered from the mains) battery that can't (easily) be removed. Just so that it won't let you forget that it doesn't have power.

[Tortoise]

Mark is a very smart guy, so I agree it probably occurred to him. My guess (correct me if I’m wrong, Mark) is that he was half-asleep while trying to deal with the blaring alarm, so he opted for the fastest solution — the microwave — to just make it stop ASAP.

[Mark Leavy]

Mark is a very smart guy, so I agree it probably occurred to him. My guess (correct me if I’m wrong, Mark) is that he was half-asleep while trying to deal with the blaring alarm, so he opted for the fastest solution — the microwave — to just make it stop ASAP.

The backup battery was under a screw secured cover. And yes, I was still getting my bearings from being woken up. My first thought was "Hulk Smash", but then I wrapped it in a towel to muffle it. It was still fairly loud, so I looked for something to stuff the towel burrito into and noticed the microwave. That muffled it even more and I paused for a second. And then the devil made me push the start button.

[l82start]

many new alarms have a ten year non replaceable battery, the whole thing gets replaced when it starts to beep, so nuking it only keeps it from beeping itself to death in the dumpster.. (in addition to preservation of sanity)

[dualstow]

...

I wouldn't be surprised if this is a "safety" innovation in smoke detectors: a small, rechargable (powered from the mains) battery that can't (easily) be removed. Just so that it won't let you forget that it doesn't have power.

Whatever you do, don’t try to remove that small battery. That’s where the real alarm is hiding.
Microwave for safety.

[Smith1776]

I just ate a full-sized mooncake all to myself, and now it feels like I have a brick in my stomach.

[dualstow]

I just ate a full-sized mooncake all to myself, and now it feels like I have a brick in my stomach.

That’s pretty much what it is. Had 3 the other night. The small size. Nutritional info says 100 calories. I don’t think so. Maybe they left a zero off.

[Smith1776]

I just ate a full-sized mooncake all to myself, and now it feels like I have a brick in my stomach.

That’s pretty much what it is. Had 3 the other night. The small size. Nutritional info says 100 calories. I don’t think so. Maybe they left a zero off.

It really hit the spot. I'm treating myself to, well, treats since coming back from my fiasco. Definitely helps.