Originally Posted by Joe Perez (Post 1393669)

As someone who grew up in a strongly Christian household but has since adopted a sort of vaguely agnostic philosophy, this sort of thing really bugs me.

My mother, step-father, sister, brother-in-law, and niece attend their local church regularly, and are very much of an "if it ain't in the bible, it can't be true" mindset. What's even more distressing to me personally is that they've also "converted" a childhood friend of mine, who was previously very much of the metalhead persuasion, and now he and his whole family also attend their church. In fact, he's in charge of the front-of-house audiovisual system. Yes, it's that kind of church. Three cameras, two HD projectors, a video switcher and clip playout / CGI system, etc. Despite this, we all get along very well both on social media and in real life. My IRL childhood friends (who I mostly see only when I'm down in Florida around the holidays) span the spectrum from religious converts to "we don't really pay attention to that" to Bobby, who is literally a Satan-worshiper. For what it's worth, I've found Satanists to be much more open-minded and less judgmental than evangelical Christians, and I can speak from direct first-hand experience on this.

My family are all young-Earth creationists who believe that God formed the whole universe 6,000 years ago. I've long since stopped trying to argue with them, and we've reached an amicable and tolerant stalemate situation on that front. They don't preach to me (I literally have formal authorization to roll my eyes and say "ok, grandma" at my mom when she tries- we actually agreed on that several years ago) and I don't point out hypocrisy to them. It frustrates me, but it's their decision, not mine.

And I have no problem with people who subscribe to any particular religious faith or another. I recognize that for many people, religion and church-attendance is a kind of cleansing therapy, much like yoga or going to the firing range.

What twists my pickle is when people start using religion as an excuse to deny reality, or worse, start trying to impose their religious faith as the law of the land. There's really no fundamental difference between someone who claims to be a [Catholic / Christian / Jew / Muslim] claiming that State and Federal law need to conform to their religious doctrine, and all those folks who protest that I need to pay for their birth control / "free" college / defaulted loans, to acknowledge their identity as a [man / woman] despite the fact that they are in fact a [woman / man] or else I'm Hitler, and so on...



EDIT: But this isn't the Politics thread.

(joe_sipping_coffee_from_a_Harris_mug.jpg)

Originally Posted by Joe Perez (Post 947567)

Exactly.

So long as I don't observe the results of the election, both Obama and Romney are simultaneously the President-elect. And if I can somehow manage to remain ignorant through next January, we should, in theory, wind up with two presidents at the same time.

I just need to wait a year or two for new high-school history books to be printed, and see if they contain any notes concerning a highly unusual outcome to the 2012 election.

The only thing that concerns me is that I am travelling to NYC tomorrow, where I will be working in the same facility as both CBS 880 and 1010WINS, which are the two biggest news stations in the country. I fear the possibility of inadvertent exposure.

Originally Posted by hi_im_sean (Post 1394258)

Joe, you are my spirit animal.

Meant to post this a few days ago, as it ties this convo together nicely.

https://youtu.be/XHBZkek8OSU

Originally Posted by Oscar (Post 1391981)

Anyone with the opportunity to measure a BP cam wheel outer diameter for me?

Originally Posted by Joe Perez (Post 1395210)

It's depressing that I had to add this paragraph to the incident-summary email to the EICs (Engineers in Charge) log at 4 am today:
Do they not teach basic electromagnetic physics in high school anymore?

Originally Posted by Joe Perez (Post 1395210)

It's depressing that I had to add this paragraph to the incident-summary email to the EICs (Engineers in Charge) log at 4 am today:
Do they not teach basic electromagnetic physics in high school anymore?

Originally Posted by Godless Commie (Post 1395212)

Are we talking about nodal lines, or is there something more black magicish involved here?

Originally Posted by Joe Perez (Post 1395230)

Just plain ole' nodal lines.

Or, put more simply, if you have a 20.5kw transmitter at location A, and an 8kw transmitter about a mile away at location B, and they're both radiating full-tilt-boogie at 500-506 Mhz, shit ain't gonna work.



Ever have one of those haircuts where you saw your reflection in a store window on the way out, and thought to yourself "god DAMN, that is a fine haircut!"?

I was worried, as my barber just moved to a new space across the street (the old building has been condemned and is being torn down), and the new shop is all bright and airy and clean and new and free of rats and and near an L station. Normally this is a warning sign for me, but Jon hasn't lost the touch just because he's not working in a feculent hole anymore. (The price did, however, go up. Not happy about that, but still loyal.)

Originally Posted by rleete (Post 1395305)

I am on a crash diet. Biggest loser at work, but I'm also trying to lose enough weight to get off some of the medications I am on.

Salads and eggs, lots of veggies. I have lost 19.5 pounds so far (@ 4 week mark). I expect to be down another 4-5# at weigh-in on Monday.

Originally Posted by rleete (Post 1395305)

I am on a crash diet. Biggest loser at work, but I'm also trying to lose enough weight to get off some of the medications I am on.

Salads and eggs, lots of veggies. I have lost 19.5 pounds so far (@ 4 week mark). I expect to be down another 4-5# at weigh-in on Monday.

Originally Posted by fooger03 (Post 1395534)

Cut carbs down, reduced exercising, and dropped 20 lbs between 20 November and 10 January, apparently a difficult time frame to drop weight. Now down 25. If you asked me when I started, I would have said that I didn't have 25 lbs to lose. If I lost another 25 , I would probably be visibly unhealthy. I never actually intended or expected to lose weight, as I cut carbs to reduce my self-perceived risk of getting type 2 diabetes. The weight loss is definitely a motivating factor to continue though, I'm down to my HS graduation weight of 15 years ago.

Originally Posted by Joe Perez (Post 1395387)

Any good 16" wheels out there in 4x100 at 6.5-7.5" width and an offset that's reasonable with 205 tires and stock everything, which are lightweight and cheap, aside from the Tirerack C1? It's getting to be time to re-mount the summer rubber, and I'm tired of having to visit the tire shop twice a year.

Originally Posted by Godless Commie (Post 1395543)

Originally Posted by TurboTim (Post 1395541)

That describes my kosei k1.