Random randomness

[hepcat]

Every single one of those cute animals would tear you to shreds and possibly eat you if they had the means. Keep that in mind.

[Jaymann]

Like, don't harsh my mellow, man.

[hepcat]

A fully grown red panda has the proportionate strength of 25 men and has been known to chew through sheet metal like it was paper. Fun Fact: they get enraged when shown images from Mark Wahlberg movies.

[dbt1949]

Don't we all.

[hepcat]

Speak for yourself. I have the proportionate strength of 2 toddlers. Well...1 and a half.

[hepcat]

Good lord, I've been making jokes about cute animals being vicious, but then I saw this news article about a friggin' loser who runs a business soliciting ideas for videos of monkeys being tortured. Then they'd send the info to Indonesia, where someone would make these ideas into a reality.

One can only hope there's a special place in hell for people like this.

[dbt1949]

There is. There is.
I refuse to believe otherwise.

[Holman]

He packed up one of the boats he was working on going into the weekend before last. Someone came back once, presumably to get or feed his dogs that had/have been locked in the garage. It might have been him. It might have been one of his lackeys. I really try not to be a nosy neighbor, even as he makes it almost impossible; so I'm not sure who it was nor if they took the dogs or if they are still unattended (but quiet and indoors).

I don't know what level of attention you've given this situation, but if someone has gone away and left dogs at home to fend for themselves, you might be able to do an anonymous report to animal welfare authorities.

Maybe the dogs are a pain in the ass, but if your neighbor is neglecting them, make him pay for it.

[LordMortis]

I don't know if they are home or not. I only knew they were home when someone came back last week and I could hear them and him taking care of them. Normally, he leaves them outside all day every day but put them in the garage until someone came and took care of them. For all I know that person (presumably the tenant) picked them up and took them with him. Also, an anonymous call means little. If local authorities wanted to come down on him, they would have already. All a call would do is stir up a hornets nest. Otherwise, I'd have called for vehicles left in front my house for days at a time or the garbage that piles or him leaving vehicles on his lawn or the noise violations of running a mechanic shop out of his house with hazmat chemicals or the garbage he burns or... The stuff is all actionable and obvious.

[Holman]

I don't know if they are home or not. I only knew they were home when someone came back last week and I could hear them and him taking care of them. Normally, he leaves them outside all day every day but put them in the garage until someone came and took care of them. For all I know that person (presumably the tenant) picked them up and took them with him. Also, an anonymous call means little. If local authorities wanted to come down on him, they would have already. All a call would do is stir up a hornets nest. Otherwise, I'd have called for vehicles left in front my house for days at a time or the garbage that piles or him leaving vehicles on his lawn or the noise violations of running a mechanic shop out of his house with hazmat chemicals or the garbage he burns or... The stuff is all actionable and obvious.

Well, my point is that anyone neglecting animals deserves consequences. And the animals deserve better.

[LordMortis]

Raising attack dogs and leaving them outside all the time only socialized with each other is something for which the animals deserve better. Since my neighborhood self fulfilling prophesy decline, this is not a unique phenomena. Though I suspect my neighbor is on the sliding ever lower scale among the worse of the bad. There's a pretty bad drain circling of slum lords lowering standards, attracting people to expect and propagate lowered standards, which makes it an expectation of the people around them, which makes the area worse, causing people with the means to do so to bail... It's pretty sad to watch in real time.

[Daehawk]

Always been lucky to have good neighbors here. That one guy that had like 5 pitbulls was on the line but his dogs were sweet.

[Hrdina]

WTF man we just had a pretty rocking earthquake right here in New Jersey.

[telcta]

I certainly felt it here in northern Connecticut. The condo made some creaking noises.

[Isgrimnur]

The Ramapo Fault zone is a system of faults between the northern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont areas to the east.[1] Spanning more than 185 miles (298 km) in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, it is perhaps the best known fault zone in the Mid-Atlantic region, and some small earthquakes have been known to occur in its vicinity.

[dbt1949]

I have a fault zone right here in my room. Just ask my stepson.

[Hrdina]

I certainly felt it here in northern Connecticut. The condo made some creaking noises.

My son up in Massachusetts felt it, too.

The Ramapo Fault zone is a system of faults between the northern Appalachian Mountains and Piedmont areas to the east.[1] Spanning more than 185 miles (298 km) in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, it is perhaps the best known fault zone in the Mid-Atlantic region, and some small earthquakes have been known to occur in its vicinity.

Yeah, we have them here on occasion, but they're almost always around 2 or so on the scale. This one was estimated at 4.7, and was centered out near Whitehouse Station (Hunterdon County). I used to live not far from there (in Clinton) but now I'm closer to Newark.

This one had a nice roll to it. My wife thought it lasted more than a minute; to me it felt like maybe 10-15 seconds, which still seemed like a lot.

[Unagi]

WTF man we just had a pretty rocking earthquake right here in New Jersey.

My sister in Montclair,NJ. just reported that they felt it too.

[Smoove_B]

I'm about 30 miles north of where it was and it absolutely rattled my house and shifted some pictures. That was pretty crazy.

[Jaymann]

Just be glad you weren't in Taiwan where a 7.4 magnitude quake hit. At lease tsunami warnings have been cancelled.

[Kraken]

I felt it, too, but Wife didn't. We're on the edge of the affected zone (news said it was felt "as far away as Cambridge" and we're about 12 miles closer than that) and all I noticed was my office chair gently rising and falling for maybe 20-30 seconds. The trash truck was going by at the same time, so I thought maybe that was it, although it's never shook the house before. Only later did Wife ask if I felt the earthquake.

I've been through a few of them over the decades, but they were all too small or too far away for me to notice, or they happened while I was sleeping.

[Holman]

I felt it in Philadelphia.

My office is on the fourth floor of an older building, and it definitely shook. The best I can compare it to is when a helicopter flies low and fast over your house, except that the shaking was obviously coming from the ground rather than the sky.

A little while later my sister (who lives in California) called to laugh at me.

[Madmarcus]

My wife (Philly), brother (Metuchan NJ), and sister (Easton PA) all felt it. I was driving and didn't notice it at all!

[Fardaza]

I felt it in Philadelphia.

My office is on the fourth floor of an older building, and it definitely shook. The best I can compare it to is when a helicopter flies low and fast over your house, except that the shaking was obviously coming from the ground rather than the sky.

A little while later my sister (who lives in California) called to laugh at me.

I had a lot of stuff fall off shelves, bookcases collapse, dishes break on the floor, etc. during the 1994 Northridge quake in California. I'm laughing at you wimps.

[em2nought]

Just be glad you weren't in Taiwan where a 7.4 magnitude quake hit. At lease tsunami warnings have been cancelled.

It looks like they do some pretty high quality construction over there. It's hard to imagine buildings leaning as much as some of those buildings in the videos without collapsing.

[jztemple2]

And now for something completely different...

[Jaymann]

Good thing I majored in Psychology. Brilliant!

[Blackhawk]

I'm actually surprised to see graphic design in there. In the Age of Advertising, I'd have thought there'd be steady demand.

[gilraen]

I'm actually surprised to see graphic design in there. In the Age of Advertising, I'd have thought there'd be steady demand.

I'd venture a guess that most of those positions are contracted out, and the supply of qualified people to do those jobs far outstrips the demand.

[Kraken]

My BA is in English, which basically qualifies me to get a master's degree and teach. English majors are especially threatened by the new large language models. Fortunately, having a strong command of language opens a lot of other doors that aren't degree-related. As I liked to say in my younger days, I can bullshit my way into anything.

[LordMortis]

He's been noticeably gone for 11 days now. I'd totally forgotten what normalcy is like. I'm actually noticing other neighborhood dogs and loud horn honking neighbors but they don't distract me at all. I know it's too much to hope he's not on a two week vacation but Pancake this is sooo nice. Hopefully, he at least stays gone long enough for the weather to hit a warm dry streak so I can weed/spray the fenceline before he returns. 11 days of relative quiet and no industrial smells. 11 days of people not trampling on my lawn. 11 days of children not screaming outside my window. 11 days of not working on car engines and motorcycles. 11 days of not picking up garbage off my lawn and drive. 11 days of no unattended attack dogs going crazy all day long and especially if I am outside doing anything.

Made it two glorious weeks. He came back today. No idea when the shit starts but I bet it will be soon. I got the weeding finished today shortly after he came pulling in. At least that's taken care of for the next few weeks before the dogs re-appear.

[jztemple2]

At least that's taken care of for the next few weeks before the dogs re-appear.

Any option to use some kind of pepper spray on the dogs if they trespass or threaten you?

[LordMortis]

At least that's taken care of for the next few weeks before the dogs re-appear.

Any option to use some kind of pepper spray on the dogs if they trespass or threaten you?

Not sure. I looked at the dog equivalent of pepper spray on my side of the fenceline (also under my deck to shoo away rabbits that are have gone from pleasant to annoying as their burrow is against my house now) but treatments only last about a week or until it rains and is expensive as well as too temporary. Dogs never appeared yesterday, so I am guessing they are under someone elses care or the return is only temporary. *fingers crossed*.

[Max Peck]

Happy Rex Manning Day!

[Jaymon]

Gary Indiana, Gary Indiana Gary, Indiana let me say it once again

[jztemple2]

[Blackhawk]

I seem to be getting a rash of arbitration notifications. I've gotten four just this week, all along the lines of "This is to notify of changes to our terms, including changes to our dispute resolution procedures."

I can't go more than a day without some friendly corporation kindly informing me that my rights could cost them money, therefore they've decided that I'll be waiving them. How the hell has this managed to go as far as it has?

I can't wait until I start seeing arbitration clauses on grocery store front doors, "By shopping here, you agree..."

[Daehawk]

I haven't purchased Ruffles chips in a very long time even though they always made some of my favorites and were the best chip to dip hot slaw with. Due to the ridges it makes them hard for me to chew and eat. But Im tiring of all the rest so I got some to see how it went. Its going ok actually. If I go slow I can eat them. But I forgot just how GOOD the cheddar and sour cream ones are wow. So good!

Wish I had hot slaw now.

[hepcat]

From some of the stuff you folks eat Id think you were pregnant.

[dbt1949]

I've been retaining a lot of water lately, like 3-5 gallons. I'm beginning to look like a jellyfish.