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

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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 ass shit. 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Shake Shack > In-N-Out.

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

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.

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...c97ba3ceb1.png

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

All chain places suck.

*Stevencrowder.jpg*

McDonald's makes them crispy on the outside without overcooking them by using silicone in their oil. That used to be the secret ingredient. Others have since discovered it. Probably not very healthy. In fact, it may even be deadly long-term. Just don't know.

Well if that's what the hype is presented as, of course that's what we expect. :rofl: Of course some of it is interpretation, because i can't imagine people going through the throes of religious ecstasy for a burger that isn't gourmet. Apparently they do and i was wrong.

What do you consider a chain?

More than a couple dozen locations.

I try my best to eat at mom and pop / localplaces when ever I go out.

There's a burger place here (2 locations) called Brome. They have the best burgers I've ever had in the country, by far. You just won't get the same at a high volume high turn place.

1: Chef has an idea for a burger joint.

2: Chef opens burger joint. The burgers are very good.

3: Chef expands the burger joint concept, opening other locations and eventually franchising.

4: Suddenly, because the burgers were so good that the chain was successful, the burgers cease to be good.



The size of a restaurant chain has little to do with it. I've had very good burgers from large chains (Shake Shack, Chilis, etc) and very unremarkable, almost McDonalds-ish burgers from tiny little mom-n-pop shops.


In-n-Out makes a burger which is at the top of its category. I define this category as "places with a drive-thru window."

I'd agree that it's in the top percentile, and maybe their consistency lands them top prize. (I wouldn't know. I had it once and that was enough for me) But a GOOD Steak 'n' Shake is better. A GOOD 5 Guys is better. I also found Whataburger to be easily as good if not better than In 'n' Out.

And if i'm eating fast food and accelerating my demise, may as well go for it, full send, and hit up some Hardee's. One thing they all have in common other than Hardee's: The fries are terribad. Which is ok, because i think potatoes are worthless garbage food with no reason to be ingested.

Either way, i eat things from a drive thru window a maximum of 2 times a year because it's all terrible. (Drive-thru window slammed into the side of the pizza joint down the street doesn't count)

moe's southwest grill > chipotle

Welcome to MOOOOOEEEEE'SSSSS!!!!!!!!!

Drinks in glasses? Metal forks? Waitresses and menus? Steak-n-Shake ain't in the same group as a place where you pump your own ketchup into a paper cup and wait for them to call your number. (And as a matter of personal preference, I don't find the burgers all that tasty. My sister loves the place, but that's the only time I'd ever go.)

Five Guys makes me ill. Everything is so greasy, and yet the burger manages to be flavorless at the same time.

Whataburger ain't bad, but more like the southern version of Jack in the Box.



Best burger on earth: Kuma's Corner in Chicago. https://kumascorner.com/#menu


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...6e089d38f4.png

This one is the Lair of the Minotaur burger. Bourbon-poached pair, brie, caramelized onions, and pancetta.

They're juicy, flavorful, and the cooks actually pay attention. If you order it medium, you'll get it medium.

Thank you for saying so. I thought about posting that same thing earlier but figured there was no point because everyone has their favorites. Steak homewrecker with all of the standard ingredients on their list is just right. The hot sauce they call rock and roll sauce is very good.

By the way, is anyone else here a fan of Valentina hot sauce? It has a fantastic flavor other than just being hot. It is quite unique.

Valentina is legit. I have the OG and the "extra hot" whatever they call it on hand. I dump it on chili, in rice/chicken/veggies bowls, whatever.

Yes, they are both good and do not lose their flavor when you go up to the higher heat version, like so many sauces. Down here it's common to put it on everything from roast chicken to rice and beans to steak.

Don't get me wrong. Family restaurants can have the absolutely worst food too.

I can't remember the last time I've been to a chain and got good food(something not frozen even). I can remember the last place I got bad food and it was a local joint, Thursday in South bend. Asian food from a place called woschie. Great reviews and everyone in the city raved about it. But a simple dish like pad tahi was crap. Overdone noodle. No seasoning. Rubber frozen chicken. Yuck. And my pot stickers we're cold.

On the other hand the Mexican food a few doors down I had the night before was fantastic. Mom and dad working hard in the kitchen with the kids behind the counter. You could tell they had some passion in their work.

Passible fast food burgers can be had at Culver's. IMO

Same here. Was just curious since I know of a restaurant group here in OK, that has multiple locations of the same pub. You can get a damn fine burger and pint of Guinness at any of the 3 locations. They also have a pretty decent mexican place (Ben and his wife ate there with me) and good sushi place all under the same ownership.

It is "not just a jelly doughnut" day tomorrow.

Do these exist outside of michigan / north middle flyover area?



https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...b088f4cb3d.jpg

Yes they do.

They do but never as good as I used to get them at Knapps in Rochester, fresh.

They're fairly common in Poland.


They're also popular in Chicago, but I admit that while ORD is a major hub, we are completely surrounded by the Midwest in much the same way that West Berlin was completely surrounded by East Germany.

At the hospital for my total hip replacement. Product of a cycling encounter with a car 5 years ago.

This is probably the best burger I've ever had:
The Salt Line

http://storage.googleapis.com/zagat-...46&auto=format

Good luck. Let us know how you are doing.

Friggin' cyborgs...

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...5fc9bdfc31.png


(Ok, to be fair, I enjoyed a brief but intensely passionate romance with a cyborg about a year and a half ago.)

How are the motor powered fleshlights? Can you hot swap fleshlight for a dildo? I have never really looked into specifics before, but would have to think that the manufacture would want to maximize the potential audience to sell to and would make the hot swappable to cater to box sexes.

This is how I know you are too lazy even to type (much less form an original political opinion), and therefore rely upon the speech-to-text function of your phone.

Or maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps "box" is one of the many new genders that we've recently recognized.

I have heard of a female anatomical feature being referred to as a box.

:bowrofl:

I can confirm confidently that can get different orifices.

Went well. Due to hardware from previous surgery (repair of a highly fractured acetabulum) the Dr. feared the surgery would be long. Only 45 minutes, no blood required. At home next day. Some pain after getting off the hospital meds, and making transfer to home. Better this afternoon after a restful morning. Dr. is mostly encouraging me not not rush recovery, and avoid exposure to any infection, so rest at home with minimal PT for 3 weeks.

Thanks for checking.

Now that I added a small bass boost at 50hz through Windows, the Sennheiser HD569 sound pretty excellent. Incredibly accurate and controlled everywhere, they just didn't quite have the low-end thump I like since I listen to heavy music.

A+ would recommend. Hopefully they will last as long as my HD 280s did.

Well, the second robotics competition (Finger Lakes Regional) is over, and we didn't win. No awards that let us continue on either, so I guess our season is over. It was a helluva lot of work. I am proud of the students; they really put forth some extraordinary effort.

Not sure if I will mentor next season or not. I am not even sure they want me to, yet.

This article outlines how electric power steering do, and how to fuck with it. What do you guys think?

AutoSpeed - Modifying Electric Power Steering

Need a recommendation for small office speakers. Need something that sounds good at low volumes.
Headphones are not an option in the lab, but I can't have the music heard in the lab next door.

@Joe Perez had some recommended earlier, it I could not find.

You might look into Alesis if you are looking for powered units to be driven with computer.

The Alesis Elevate 5 MKII are my personal pick.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...a542da969b.png

They're not small, but sound fantastic. Available at Amazon, and other fine retailers.

For all you sound nuts and nerds, you'll really want this next thing:
https://equalizerapo.com/

It allows you to make subtle changes to the output (110% parametric everything) so the image lands right on your medulla oblongata.

And if you have a halfway decent measurement microphone (really just a 70 cent electret mic: https://www.digikey.com/products/en?...MA-4544PF-W%20
or https://www.parts-express.com/dayton...droid--390-810 )

You can get Room EQ Wizard and dial it in nicely and cheaply.
https://www.roomeqwizard.com/


THEN
I would suggest you consider pretty much any pair of speakers with halfway decent components. You can make them sound amazing.

Yeah, it's pretty amazing how inexpensive decent-quality powered speakers have gotten.

Use to be that there weren't a lot of choices outside of Genelec & Co. These days you've got Presonus, Mackie, Alesis, M-Audio, and loads more all building stuff that sound vastly better than whatever the most expensive thing you can possibly buy from Logitech, Creative Labs, etc.

At $99 a pair, I'd bet that any of these would be fine, assuming a smallish lab and relatively close proximity:


https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-...tudio-speakers

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-...monitors--pair

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-...tor-pair-black

https://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-...o-monitor-pair

Excellent, thanks for the links.

Better speakers for the home office are on the list. Headphones have to do at the office since I don't have an actual office.

Side note: This link is garbage, go to his profile sourceforge to download (for anyone interested). That link you shared forces you to accept a bunch of Chrome extensions or it cancels the download.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/equ...atest/download

Tonight, I glitched the signal on approximately three million TV sets (according to Nielsen) because I made a stupid decision during a crisis.