Yeah, I was bored.
The .Gif Friday Post No.461 – Playing with Echeveria
Yeah, I was bored.
Category: Bizarre
Thailand Rodeo
Detroit’s Handicap-Accessible Sidewalks To Nowhere
Detroit’s in a financial mess but at least they’ve got curb ramps with truncated domes.
Consider the cost of this nonsense.
[(Demo + curb ramp + truncated domes) x 8 curb ramps per intersection x number of Non-Compliant intersections] x 1.2 for Union Wages = Some Serious Clams for a city with no money to be forced to provide handicap accessibility for ghosts.
In a city where poverty is high, schools are broken and crime is rampant, the federal government has forced Detroit to spend more than $50 million in the past decade for sidewalk ramps that often lead to nowhere.
Many of the nearly 35,000 ramps, which are for people with disabilities, are on inaccessible sidewalks or streets with no homes.
My guess is the construction cost per curb ramp is closer to $3500 apiece, not including striping, and it gave the Detroit Public Works employees something to do. On the other hand, it’s probably cheap insurance because the Americans with Disabilities Act is enforced via litigation and not local jurisdiction.
[Photo essay from here, via here. See Appendix D Page 43 for estimated costs.]
Monday Morning Puzzle
The photo was taken after an earthquake in the Tottori Prefecture on October 21st, in a hotel owned by the Kishida family.
Given:
Cabinet with glass panels, earthquake-shifted valuable bowls.
Task:
Extract the bowls intact without breaking any glass.
There are some great solutions offered, like this one:
Open the cabinet door just enough to allow the nozzle of an expandable insulation foam canister. Fill up the cabinet with expansive foam, wait for it to set. Open the door and chip off the insulation with a screwdriver.
I don’t know who posted that solution, but it’s brilliant.
[Found here.]
Roof On A Tin Cat Hot Links
- lima bean (n.)
- 1756, associated with Lima, Peru, from which region the plant (Phaseolus lunatus) was introduced to Europe c. 1500. Among the earliest New World crops to be known in the Old World, Simmonds’ “Dictionary of Trade” (1858) describes it as “esteemed,” but it has the consistency of a diseased dog kidney.
I grew up with a subscription to Mad Magazine. Check out what writer Dick DeBartolo is doing these days.
Interesting list of “hate crimes” that were hoaxes (with links).
Grifters. I’ve seen ’em everywhere I’ve ever lived. I remember growing up in Ohio and hearing the warning that “the Williamsons are in town.” Their gig was to offer to reseal your asphalt driveway with hot mop. The “hot mop” washed away with the next rain, and by that time they were out of town.
10 Best Leon Russell Songs (R.I.P. 1942-2016).
A turkey’s gender can be determined from its droppings–males produce spiral-shaped poop and females’ poop is shaped like the letter J. More fun turkey facts here.
[Top image from here.]
The .GIF Friday Post No.460 – Sheep Dog, Bowzer Break & Doggie Duckies
How To Sell Inflatable Geese
No.
Nothing Much Happened Today.
[Found here.]
A Super Moon, The Moon Bunny Lady & Apollo 11
SuperMoon is scheduled to peak at 8:52AM EST Monday (and no, I’m not gonna set my alarm). This full moon will be not only the closest and brightest supermoon of 2016 but also the largest since 1948, and the full moon won’t come this close to Earth again until Nov. 25, 2034.
The moon rabbit in folklore is a rabbit that lives on the Moon, based on pareidolia that identifies the markings of the Moon as a rabbit. The story exists in many cultures, prominently in East Asian folklore and Aztec mythology. In East Asia, it is seen pounding in a mortar and pestle, but the contents of the mortar differ among Chinese, Japanese, and Korean folklore. In Chinese folklore, it is often portrayed as a companion of the Moon goddess Chang’e, constantly pounding the elixir of life for her; but in Japanese and Korean versions, it is pounding the ingredients for rice cake [Wiki].
[Top image from here; Apollo 11 quotes documented here and here, recording from here ; PBF strip here.]
Tacky Raccoons 