Category: True Stories

Detroit’s Handicap-Accessible Sidewalks To Nowhere

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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

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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.]

Saturday Matinee – Gary Lewis & The Playboys, Joe Cocker & Tom Jones, George Benson, and…

Gary Lewis & The Playboys‘ “She’s Just My Style” reached #3 on The Billboard Hot 100 in January 1966. The chicks dug it.

Joe Cocker‘s take on “Delta Lady” earned him a hit in 1969, and in 1970 he doubled down by performing it with Tom Jones. The chicks dug it.

George Benson‘s recording of “This Masquerade” was a soft jazz R&B hit in 1976, reaching No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 3 on the Hot Soul Singles charts [Wiki]. The chicks dug it.

What do those songs have in common? They were all written by this guy:

Yeah, another great rock/soul/jazz/country icon passed away this week. R.I.P. Leon Russell (1942-2016).

Have no worries, these things happen all the time, and nobody lasts forever. Let’s have fun while we can. See you back here tomorrow.

A Super Moon, The Moon Bunny Lady & Apollo 11

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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].

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[Top image from here; Apollo 11 quotes documented here and here, recording from here ; PBF strip here.]

St. Pancras Hotel

St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London

St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel, London. St. Pancras is the Patron Saint of Teenagers:

We have no reliable historical information about this martyr. Legend tells us he was born at the end of the third century and brought up by an uncle in Rome after the death of his parents. Both he and his uncle became Christians. Pancras was beheaded in 304 during Diocletian’s persecution. He was only 14 years old [via].

[Photo by Dan Hamilton, image found here.]

Jim Ignatowski’s Father

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Veterans of WWII re-acclimating to civilian life.

[Found here. The irreverent reference to Reverend Jim Ignatowski is a joke.]

Bunk’s Grumpkin

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20 minutes start to finish, no template. I was going for a Samoan Luche Libre kinda vibe. In the sun it looks like The Donald, but that wasn’t the intent.

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We had a total of three trick-or-treaters. One was a little yappy dog. The other two were adult women begging for candy, and one of them thought jogging pants and a sweatshirt and carrying a little yappy dog counts as a costume. The other one was wearing crow feathers. Her outfit was awesome, and she’s completely nuts.

Then The Missus got HER knives out.

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These were good, orange bell peppers stuffed with rice, corn and black bean farts. I love Halloween.

Out Through The Night And The Whispering Breezes To The Place Where They Keep The Imaginary Hot Links

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This Sleep Graphic says I’m a parrot [via].

Toot Toot.

Serious Crowd Control.

This is kinda cool: WordPress Live Stats [h/t Thumbup].

11 Things NOT to Google. Some of the terms/phrases listed you definitely don’t want to search for, but these 5 aren’t too bad:

Bedbugs on a Mattress
Clock Spider
Coconut Crab
Peanut The Dog
Your Symptoms. This one doesn’t really count. It’s an advisory to see a doctor if you’re having medical problems.

As for the remaining 6 on the list… don’t do it. Please.

MSC Splendida plays Queen. Come to your own conclusions.

U.S. River Basins (contiguous states – no AL or HI).

Dad Jokes have long-term consequences. Pull my finger.

Jerks. Karma’s gonna gitcha.

It got this guy, too [via].

Heh.

And Karma’s also gonna get every one of those self-righteous condescending SJWs who harassed and attacked a 64 year old homeless woman JUST BECAUSE SHE VOICED HER OPINION.

[Top image is from this sketch by Mattias Adolfsson. Post title from here.]

WTFunction?

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[Found here via here, and TIMB has been officially notified.]

Frozen Cow Farts

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… Scientists suggest that the greater contribution to skyrocketing methane levels has more to do with biological sources of the gas. Methane molecules are made of carbon and hydrogen atoms, and the carbon in biological methane tends to be slightly lighter than the carbon in methane associated with fossil fuels. And over the past decade or so, the proportion of lighter methane in the atmosphere compared to heavier methane has been rising. “I think this perspective is basically right,” said Martin Helmann, of the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry, in Jena, Germany, in an email. Helmann was not involved in the research.

The authors of the Science paper have some ideas about why biological sources of methane may be increasing. “In the southern hemisphere especially,” Nisbet said, “but also in the northern tropics, a series of really wet years has caused wetlands to expand”—and vegetation decomposing in swamps and shallow lakes is a well known source of natural methane emissions. Another is cows, which generate methane as they digest their food, then belch it out into the air.

These explanations, however, aren’t at all definitive — another key point Nisbet and his co-authors make in the Science paper. “The measurements we make in the air are direct,” he said. “Estimates of where methane is coming from, by contrast, is much less reliable. You estimate the contributions from gas leaks, count up the cows, estimate the emissions from wetlands. There’s obviously going to be a lot of error.”

And in fact, there is: the estimates of how much methane should be going into the atmosphere are greater than what actually ends up there. Tracking methane emissions more accurately is crucial, said the scientists, and not just as an academic exercise.

“If we want to control greenhouse-gas emissions,” Nisbet said, “it’s obviously important to know where the emissions are coming from.”

Global vegetation decomposition, wetlands, the oceans,  rice paddys, rain forests, patio hibachis, your neighbor’s annoying little yapping kikmi dog and Humpback whales are all part of the mix.

cow-farts
Q: So, what happens if atmospheric methane triples?
A: Click on the image of the Flaming Cow Fart to find out.

[Commentary excerpt found here; top image found in here; snarky related posts here.]