Oh, hey - I know that guy; he’s my friend’s dad!

Can confirm on the weekend warrior front: helped a buddy do some roofing in the middle of the summer heat, and I almost passed out. I was drinking water, but evidently not enough, and once I got behind, it was really hard to catch up. Barely made it home, and after a cool shower, I spent the rest of the day on the…

I find that I think too quickly for writing by hand, but it seems like a really great technique. I think it was Hemingway who was especially fond of it as it automatically gave you three cracks at it: once when you read it over, again when you type it up, and a third time when you go over the proof.

That is awful. There was a time in my life when one of my biggest fears was having a party and no one showing. Maybe find some kind of a meetup group with a common interest (e.g. book group, card/board game, pick-up sports, foreign language practice) or try inviting a smaller group to do something like go bowling or…

I used to love Papa John’s, but then I realized I just loved the garlic sauce and I was seriously getting a garlic sauce for every two slices. This epiphany came shortly before “Papa” John’s absurd outrage over it costing a dime per pizza to ensure his employees didn’t die from some completely curable disease like…

Barriers are often overlooked, I guess because people mistakenly think they are useless unless they are impregnable or something. Having worked in government, our active shooter training talked about the psychology of the shooters tending to go for maxing out casualties, so they are going to go for the easy pickings.…

That’s what I mean - Rasmussen did a good job on 2016, but they were way off on 2010 and 2012. Looking back further, it looks like they were pretty good in 2004 and off in 2000, but at the end of the day, this isn’t a hill I’m going to die on.

If I am not mistaken, a Scotch & Soda is a type of highball, so they are pretty much the same thing. Highballs are a class of drinks made up of a spirit and a mixer, usually soda water or a flavored soda. Scotch & Soda/Scotch Highball was probably the most common back in the day, but I would guess Gin & Tonic or Cuba…

This is why I ended up getting a soda siphon. It’s much less expensive in the long run and, especially since they stopped recycling glass in my area, much less wasteful - the cartridges are tiny and all metal.

It’s exactly why I prefer “Gesundheit!”, which is passable here in Pennsylvania German country, if increasingly rare (though not unheard of) these days and starting to show its age. I tried saying “Health!” for a while, but it was awkward and necessitated explaining it all the time.

Not a big fan of television news in general, but I definitely like WaPo and would read WSJ regularly if they had a more economically priced digital subscription. Definitely enjoyed having a subscription in college (business major, so it was required). Had one for The Economist for a while, but I let that one lapse…

Not if it goes as well as it did in Kansas. Of course, the Trump tax plan is still underwater with voters, with only 30 percent approving to 52 percent disapproving. Numbers that haven’t changed since May, despite quite a bit of time and money spent trying to improve them.

Ditto for many of us in politics and government. Long hours are the norm. I can’t remember the last time I worked a regular week.

If I ever say something so stupid, I will immediately follow it with “... but now that I’ve said that, it will take three hours.” Ditto for “we’re making great time!” and “glad I didn’t speed past that state trooper!”

Ha ha ha, oh irony. Try reading that again. I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you understand that four quarters is the same as one whole year and just had a reading comprehension fail compounded by an arrogant disposition.

Is there a functional difference between “block oil” and “mineral oil”?

Is there a functional difference between “block oil” and “mineral oil”?

Ah yes, calendar years and four-quarter periods, a distinction without a difference. 

Here’s a great hack: order an Americano and ask for a cup of ice; dump the ice in the trash and then go over and fill up your cup with milk. You just got a free cup of milk, you parsimonious skinflint thrifty genius!

Thank you for the great response! I will check out Foer’s book. I briefly tried memorizing poetry to exercise that memory muscle, but that makes sense that it would be specialized. Didn’t have much luck with memory palaces, but I have not been able to find any sort of science-backed methodology to learning these…

You’re hilarious. Between Q3-2009 and Q3-2010, GDP grew approximately 3.1 percent. Between Q1-2014 and Q1-2015, GDP grew approximately 3.3 percent. Taking after the Republican President with making up stuff that is easily verifiable, I see.

And my investments have been doing great for years: they increased over 125…