olderguy

iTrader: (19)

And Planned Parenthood, which has absolutely nothing to do with people becoming parents.

z31maniac

Small things about OKC continue to annoy me. I just returned from renewing the tag for the 135i. The tag agency I normally use for DMV related matters recently moved.

The new address is 6317 N Meridian Ave. However, the building is on the South-West corner of 63rd St and Meridian Ave. The street/number count increases as you move north. So it seems that, following the conventional rules of the USPS, 6317, should be on the NORTH side of 63rd.

This of course isn't even taking into account that odd numbered addresses are typically on the EAST side of the street, not the west.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

I know that feel.

I live on W Street Name. I'm not sure what the "West" actually signifies or why? I suppose i am West of where the road STARTS? But i am very much not in the West half of the road. The road runs east to west, so i'm also not on the West side of the road, i am on the North side of the road.

Bonus round: My driveway, nor my house entrance, nor mailbox are even on the damn road that my address is on. I live on a corner and all that is on the other street.

Guess how often my mail gets jacked up? Or the pizza guy calls me? Or how often i get other peoples' food delivered to me?

z31maniac

That is one thing, regarding addresses that OKC does correctly. You can have NW 63rd, NE 63rd, SW 63rd, and SE 63rd.

Reno Avenue that runs through downtown is the dividing line for North/South. And Broadway, also through downtown, is the dividing line for East/West. So in that way, the city is broken up into quarters and easy to navigate.

So NW 63rd is West of Broadway, NE 63rd is East of Broadway. And since they have the "North" designation, means they are both north of Reno Avenue.


Our house, also a corner lot, is on the south side of the street, with an EVEN address...........thus following the standard convention. Of even being on the South and West sides of the street, with ODD being the opposite.

From pulling up a few other addresses, it seems as OKC follows the correct N/S protocol for even/odd, but do not for E/W addresses.

viperormiata

iTrader: (24)

Getting ready for my second ride-along for EMT class tomorrow. We are having class five days a week just the fire academy. 9-5 mon-fri and a 12hr ride or clinical every weekend for six weeks. Man. This is the most exhausted I've ever been in my life. The county is opening a hiring CPAT test two weeks after the class and they want to hire as many locals as possible from the recent academy. Me and a bunch of the others are working out and training at 7am at the academy and I'm still doing my powerlifting 2-3 times a week. Between all that and the 80-100 pages of lecture a day I am wearing very thin.

My first ride was amazing, though. Five calls in Stock Island and three being trauma calls. First was an open ankle fracture that we had to fly out to Miami on Trauma Star. Nearly every firefighter in Monroe County is a medic so I was surrounded by knowledge and, luckily, they were very nice and helpful.

Four more weeks.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Hang in there, Josh. Firemen have good benefits like retirement and days off.

DNMakinson

iTrader: (3)

I suppose you have some strong reasons for keeping up the power lifting, but consider backing off a bit so you’re not completely exhausted. The emotional down can be a by-product of too much physical drain. Also, likelihood of injury is increased.

Best of luck making it through.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

Just got back (at 5 AM) from the regional qualifier match in Montreal, Canada. Three 15-18 hour days of screaming kids, robots, screaming kids, cool tech demos, robots and screaming kids. I have lost my voice. Did I mention there was screaming involved?
The event was held at the Olympic stadium. It is a very cool looking structure. It is huge, and it was like an icebox inside. That many square feet of space must take an incredible amount of energy to heat, especially considering Montreal hit highs of 0 degrees all three days.

We finished 4th in qualifier matches, out of at least 40 teams. Picked for the third alliance, and we knocked out #2, but were no match for the #1 team. We won the Imagery award, which is for aesthetics of design.
Alas, none of this qualifies us to go on. That will be up to the results of the next qualifier match, which (thankfully) is local.

My students conduct, on and off the field, has made me proud. I am absolutely exhausted.

shuiend

iTrader: (24)

I got back last night form the Palmetto Regional. I had a blast judging again this year. Also I won the judge impromptu dance off that was held right before giving out awards.

All I can say is that kids same the funniest things to judges sometimes when we ask them questions.

I am not sure how it is up in your area, but down in the south east it can be stunning the differences in robots based on the availability of mentors and good sponsors. There are probably half a dozen to dozen teams within 30 miles of where I live. Some teams have Bosch and Boeing as sponsors and work out of their manufacturing plants. Full access to every tool imaginable and trained staff that are almost always more then willing to help build some crazy *** ****. They build $5k robots and a backup to practice and work with between competitions. Then we have a local inner city school that has 2 mentors, hardly any funding, and no big sponsors. They showed up with a $900 robot, and half that cost is 2 belts they have used for the last 4 years in a row.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

I spend all the time I can wandering around the pits, talking to kids and mentors. I just love how some kid's eyes will light up as they tell you about 3D printing a part they made in CAD, and showing you the finished part on the robot. Or how some girl, barely 4 feet tall, talks about kicking the boys asses at drive team trials, and how she is going to be an engineer some day.

There are some super smart kids on these teams. If just watching the robots isn't enough, they can tell you how they are going to school for aerospace, or any number of engineering fields or some other STEM related jobs. These are the future tech leaders. It is the kind of thing to give you hope for the future of humanity.

xturner

The fact that you and Lars are willing to put yourselves out like this is very much the same kind of hopeful thing. Good for you guys.

Change of subject - yesterday I finally ate at an In-N-Out Burger, in Marana AZ. Double Double, fries. It is amazing that this place and McDonalds exist in the same universe.

Also, I’ve been driving around Tucson since Thursday in a rental Land Rover Sport HSE. It is quiet on the highway and has a good stereo. The ride is better than my 01 Silverado, the steering isn’t as good. The ergonomics suck, and today my wife told me to STFU about the car already. There are apparently people who willingly pay $60k for these things. Our ‘14 CX-5 is really more satisfying to drive.

Dann0

The burgers are simple and great. The fries at In-N-Out are the worst I've ever had at any restaurant chain (to be fair, I've only eaten at one, although I've probably eaten there ten times). The first time I got them I assumed they had been sitting out under a warmer for hours, but nope, they're like that every time. How they take fresh potatoes and make them taste freeze-dried is beyond me.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

The trick is to ask for the fries "well done." This gets them a second trip through the fryer, and they come out nicely crisp.

z31maniac

Shake Shack > In-N-Out.

I've never really understood the hype over In-N-Out.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

Agreed, but the two are kind of in different categories. Shake Shack is more of a gourmet burger place, In-n-Out is traditional drive-thru fast food.

Also, Shake Shack is relatively new. In-n-out has had a lot more time to gain notoriety.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

I also found In-N-Out hugely overrated. If the hype had resulted in realistic expectations, then maybe i wouldn't have been so disappointed.

It's better than McDonald's FOR SURE.

It's still not something i'd choose to put in my mouth unless it had been a solid 24 hours without food and there wasn't a Qdoba/Chipotle within 30 minutes of driving time.

People who talk about it like it's a religious experience are more than likely going to Hell.

z31maniac

It is newer, but I remember getting a burger, fries, and a shake right there in Flatiron and it being very reasonably priced. It definitely exceeds it's price point.

It's not hard to have a better burger than McD's. Although I will admit to the occasional drunken craving for a 1/4. It's terrible, you know it's terrible, but for some reason you still want one.

Chipotle? IE, our marinade for everything is SALT.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

Qdoba > Chipotle.

But the main reason i included Chipotle was because rice/meat/veggies is pretty much my lowest food requirement, and in some undeveloped backwards areas, Qdoba doesn't exist.

z31maniac

Fair enough. I typically end up at Panera since there is one right by the office and they deliver if I'm too lazy to drive 3 blocks.

codrus

Ugh. Overdone fries.

In-n-Out fries are really tasty for about 5-10 minutes after they come out of the frier, after that they expire and aren't worth eating.

In-n-Out makes a mighty tasty fast food burger, the best of its category that I've ever had. I think the "it's all hype" comes from people expecting to be a "gourmet burger", which it's not.

--Ian