Major nerd cred there, Wack. We used to do the brass plaques at Harris, too. I never got one.

In semi-engineering-related news, sometimes you come back to the truck to find that you have a new friend:

click to play

Trouble report:

Audio faders 26-29 inop. A raccoon pissed on the mixer.

Time to replace the Cat 5 with some Coyote 6a cable to keep the data intact.


https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...4a411d0a79.png

We were invited to the Valentine's special on a quiz show.
I got to plug both "my" TV shows, and we did pretty good, too...

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...74f8822624.jpg

You are getting to be quite the celebrity. Are people hounding you for autographs yet?

https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.c...-463798893.jpg

No autographs yet, but this minor celebrity thing is actually pretty cool.
I get recognized a lot.
Oh, and people want selfies.

Its $2 a selfie. That is what you tell people. At least that is what all the famous people do in the US at Cons.

Be sure you're standing in the green box if you pull that trick in Times Square. Otherwise it's a ticketable offense.


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...bfe63fec6e.png

Here's your ticket to major celebrity things. Just drop this pic in the right producer's "lap" and you'll get your own secret agent series- turkish style.

https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...157b9aafae.jpg

This is true. I have never seen Hakan and James Bond in the same room...

"The name's Commie. Godless Commie".

My wife was not pleased with the fact that I posted a less than flattering picture of her.
In the name of making it up to her, here is another pic...

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6d3eaf40d9.jpg

http://tehgeektive.com/wp-content/up...ce-b1GK8WG.png

for full sized: http://tehgeektive.com/wp-content/up...ce-b1GK8WG.png

Cops couldn't spin this guy out without him recovering at speed!
​​​​​​

Don't these idiot cops realize they put everyone in danger when they chase someone like that?
They can just call ahead and close the road - that's what they do over here. No one can outrun the police radio.

Also, I would assume recovering that stolen car should be an objective for law enforcement. What is the point of destroying a theft victim's property?

Trigger happy idiots who have no problem shooting innocent people and household pets. They do get away with it, that's the problem.

Agree with Godless Commie here, in Australia they close off the road ahead and use spikes, it's far too dangerous to others using the corner nudge in traffic - a satisfying buzz for the police when they get it right though.

That driver is pretty awesome, recovering from multiple high-speed spins.

With regard to insurance claims, will the insurance company pay out on this given that the car was will-fully damaged by the police in pursuit of the stolen car?

*

They have these in the US as well. The fact is, however, that the average police officer rarely has the opportunity to be a "hero," and engaging in a high-speed pursuit is both stimulating of the adrenal gland and relatively free of consequences given the nature of our court systems.




That's an interesting question.

If the owner of the car has comprehensive coverage (which is optional), then insurance will most likely pay out. If they do not, then they can try to file a civil lawsuit against the police department, however they will most likely lose, as the police were not responsible for the event which instigated the pursuit, which was the theft itself. A suit filed against the thief would be pointless, as the average car thief does not have sufficient financial resources to pay against a judgement.


Disclaimer: my area of interest was IP and corporate law, not this messy civil stuff.

Collision. Comprehensive is for theft, vandalism, stuff like that. If the car is moving and hits something, or is hit by something else on wheels, then it's collision.

--Ian

Edit: I had assumed the question applied to a bystander car that was hit by the perp after the police spun him, but apparently not.

Assuming the car belonged to the perp, it probably isn't covered at all, because most policies don't cover damage incurred if you're operating the vehicle while committing a crime (and running from the cops is a crime.) If stolen then yeah, police aren't responsible for damage to the car incurred while stopping it, but normal policy should apply. I don't know if that would be collision or comprehensive though.

I'm looking at this from the point of view of the owner of the car which was featured in the video as being spun out by the police.

Presupposing that the owner was not driving the car at the time (which is a reasonable assumption, as it was described as "stolen"), then this falls under comprehensive coverage, as a theft was the instigating event.

I don't recall seeing any third-party private vehicles being damaged during the pursuit. But if there were, then the insurance requirement would vary between collision (if the 3rd party car was being operated by the insured at the time) and comprehensive (if it was parked and un-occupied.)

Either way, a lot of motorists in the US carry only the state-mandated liability insurance, meaning that they'd have no recourse with insurance regardless of whether they owned the car which was stolen or suffered damage to their cars during the pursuit. In such an event, their recourse would be to serve the police deportment with notice that they intend to file a civil suit if they are not compensated for damages, then file said suit, and then lose (and have to pay attorneys fees and court costs.)


TL;DR: If you live in the USA, try not to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...66491565f0.png

Yeah, I had the sound off when I watched it, so didn't catch the "stolen" comment. Couldn't tell from the video if he was the owner or not.

I can tell you from multiple experiences that insurance companies in California do not cover damage caused by someone hitting the insured parked-and-unoccupied vehicle under comprehensive. That's either collision or UIM.

Theoretically they could sue the perp, although since he likely has no assets to recover they'd still be screwed.

My parked, unoccupied Audi that was hit by the 16-year-old daughter of a friend of my wife's (in reverse). I filed under my policy because it was simpler than trying to deal with her carrier (USAA) directly. Despite the parked, unoccupied, and in-reverse aspects (which were not in disupute), it took USAA 2 years to agree to pay for it under subrogation, and thus for me to get my deductible back.

http://www.codrus.com/audi/door/audi-door.jpg

--Ian

And here's a lowered Chevy
​​​​​​​https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...2f60d397c6.jpg

So appropriate.


Mobile app picture uploader still broken.

Six, which lifts are these? My garage is scheduled for demo and reconstruction this year.

Fergie should be ashamed... that shiz was aweful... but she's gonna have to dig a lot deeper to do worse than Jamie Foxx at the Pacquiao/Mayweather fight. Any respect I may have had for professional boxing went out the window after that... forget the fucking fight, hearing that shit totally ruined it for a long time.



I know everybody says Whitney at the '91 Super Bowl is the best ever... kinda tied with a dozen other great ones. I was about 15 rows up in Turn 1 for this one... tough to beat.

I find the US National anthem quite grating since I've heard it so often and only females have a chance of singing it decently due to the high notes but that little girl did a great job and I would have cheered her for that.

Pink did a good job at the SuperBowl too (she's considered an honorary Australian since she's toured here a lot, always adding extra concerts, always filling stadiums and no-one here ever seems to have a bad word to say about her).

Most national anthems are crap IMO and have to be suffered rather than adding anything enjoyable to the experience.

Rugby pre-game activities that have one or two Polynesian teams always have a Haka which is entertaining and some of the Polynesian national anthems are pretty good too, like this Fijian one sung by the players at the 2017 Rugby League World Cup:

.
Australia's national anthem, "Advance Australia Fair", other than the first verse, is barely known by anyone in Australia and we much prefer our unofficial anthem, "Waltzing Matilda",
There's some stirring footage I saw on the History Channel of WWI Australian soldiers marching into battle behind the creeping barrage all whistling "Waltzing Matilda" which I can't find anywhere.
Here's some footage from WWII of Australian soldiers singing it on a march (yes, it's been dubbed) - sounds MUCH better than "Advance Australia Fair"!

At the 3:00 mark they switch to whistling the tune.
It's a song about a vagrant who stole and butchered a sheep to eat, then drowned in a water hole avoiding captured by the authorities - if that doesn't personify Aussies I don't know what does!

When sung in unison within a stadium, "Waltzing Matilda" sounds great.

I don't know many Australian themed songs but I do remember Melba from Melbourne, which tells a more common story than stealing a sheep and drowning.

Witches! Burn them!

It's back, along with the guy with the hockey stick.

Atlas sold by Greg Equipment Co.

https://135724-392963-raikfcquaxqnco...TD-FM9SL-2.jpg

https://www.atlasautoequipment.com/p...r-lifts/fm-9sl

Hehehttps://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...26d30fbbc7.gif

Fucking impressive.

The next version is designed to deal more directly with hindrances to performing the objective. It will strike the human in the testicles then grab him by the neck and slam his head repeatedly against the floor then resume opening the door.


I wish it wasn't the inevitable truth.



On a lighter note:

https://pics.me.me/Facebook-Well-tha...mes-06ee55.png

Finding notes like this is what makes working at WGN interesting:


https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b3b1bf89e3.png

I back-traced the wiring. In this case, "OFF" is actually "Remotely controlled by the GSC-3000 in rack [something]."

^
Even pigeons respect Vladimir Putin - they just shit on Trump.

yeah, we all know pigeons are evils. this is not news.

now this is respect:

^ That's in Turkey...

There's got to be a reason nobody picks the cat up and moves it.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...8d3874f549.gif

When working in Montreal, I went to a workmate's place for dinner one evening and he warned me that his girlfriend's cat was an arsehole.

It was winter so when I got there, I took off my shoes when I got inside and was introduced to his girlfriend who then went back to the kitchen since she was cooking.

While standing in the living room, the cat came straight up to me and started clawing at my feet, through my socks.
With a sweeping motion of my right foot, I sent the cat sliding across the polished wooden floor and crashing into the corner wall.

The cat disappeared for the rest of the night and Brian and I never mentioned the incident to Genevieve.

I love animals but some cats are just arseholes and need to be dealt with as such!

Chicken in a bread pan pickin' out dough
Granny, does your dog bite? No child, no

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...92747ffb9a.jpg

Probably has been shared before but it's still too damn cool: