Randomopolis

[rhfarmer]

Since Jose, everyone has been seeing sharks. I haven't had a close encounter in years. Used to have them all the time on Hatteras Island.

 

[aiw]

Yikes, that sounds terrifying. Murky water is the worst.

A few years ago I was finishing up a session and was riding a mushy wave straight into shore. The nose of my board suddenly collided with something big and I got tossed off. I hastily scrabbled back onto my board and body boarded the next wave in. My buddy who was still out back later told me he saw a shark where I fell off my board. Definitely freaked me out for a while.

I figured you more for a penguin than a surfer

 

[surfpenguin]

Yikes, that sounds terrifying. Murky water is the worst.

A few years ago I was finishing up a session and was riding a mushy wave straight into shore. The nose of my board suddenly collided with something big and I got tossed off. I hastily scrabbled back onto my board and body boarded the next wave in. My buddy who was still out back later told me he saw a shark where I fell off my board. Definitely freaked me out for a while.

I figured you more for a penguin than a surfer

Some moments of brilliance, but mostly:

 

[aiw]

 

[Thain]

well, based on the fact that I wasn't bitten, I'd say it was a nurse shark. I'm basing this on a separate incident that occurred about an hour later.

I had been wading around in neck-deep, very murky water, which is flat out nerve wracking anyway. After the bump, I went into the beach and grabbed a board to finish the lesson. On the board is just way safer, and in deep water it's easier to get around on a board. So, with about 10 minutes left in the lesson, I got this kid into a really good wave.

After his wave, I submerged the tail of my board deeper into the water to spin around 180 degrees and paddle back out. (When you push the tail of your board down in the water (while sitting on it), when you turn around, the buoyancy of the board helps propel you forward). When the tail of my board submerged, it hit a substantial object, that was very clearly alive. I could feel a ton of turbulence from the animal as it moved to get out from under me.

If it had been any other kind of shark, it would have bitten me at the point my board hit it, IMO.

It really is amazing how many sharks are around you at any point when out surfing. When I was in college I tried my lot at surfing and I had sharks swim by me, whip through the water near me and all of that scared the shit out of me. There was one time though a friend of mine and I were going out and my non surfing friend just had to go. We gave him a 9 footboard to play around on. As he was paddling out he literally paddled on top of a hammerhead. I happened to be near him and was able to convince him it was a shadow and to keep paddling. The last thing I needed was for his fat ass to fall of into the water and get bit.

 

[deepdarkblue]

So I see on the news where a Food Lion VP was caught in a sex sting, where he was attempting to have sex with a child.

I've always hated Food Lion, but I thought it was because they repackage their expired meat after soaking it in bleach and put it back out for sale, and because their stores all smell bad. Now I know, I really hate them because their executives are pedophiles.

 

[bfactor]

Screw that, you can order food through Facebook now.

 

[rome8180]

I've been meaning to look into the Amazon grocery delivery thing. Supposedly you can get discounts if you have an Amazon credit card as well. And if you check the box that says you're elderly they'll even bring it up the stairs.

 

[deepdarkblue]

I've been meaning to look into the Amazon grocery delivery thing. Supposedly you can get discounts if you have an Amazon credit card as well. And if you check the box that says you're elderly they'll even bring it up the stairs.

I think they're still in very limited markets. It will be decades before they reach Wilmington. If you haven't already, you might want to check out Instacart.

 

[rome8180]

I am in Chicago, so I imagine they are here.

 

[deepdarkblue]

Yeah, big city boy, you got it made!

 

[aiw]

https://twitter.com/kfc/following

KFC follows 11 Herbs and Spice (Girls)

 

[CK86]

I am a horrible drunk. No elaboration needed.

 

[aiw]

That's awesome. I need to move back into town.

 

[aiw]

Getting our house ready to sell. Will be on the market in January. Looking Croasdaile or Brier Creek

 

[deepdarkblue]

So Duke Energy is pushing for a rate hike of anywhere from 13% to 16.7% (depends on location, I guess) effective Jan. 1. I assume what they really want is 8% - 12%, because they always aim high so the political goobers in Raleigh can go through their little charade of "hearings" and "negotiations", then proudly tell the folks back home about how they're looking out for them in the state capitol.
Something us city folks don't think about - if our electric bills go up 10%, our municipality's electric bill also goes up 10%. And guess who gets to pay that bill, too?

Anyway, solar is looking better all the time. And maybe a move out to the sticks, providing I can find some place with decent internet and not fucking DSL.

 

[aiw]

DSL is one of the major reasons I'm moving back into town. Can't wait for real internet. Hughesnet says they have really upgraded the speed, but I don't want to deal with no internet during storms because I already lose my DirecTv (though this is rare). If I had no TV or internet, I'd have to talk to my family, which I don't want to do. Hughesnet is also very expensive.

 

[rhfarmer]

Amazing that were are talking about DSL's in multiple threads...

 

[rhfarmer]

Putting this here but not sure the appropriate thread.

During the offseason, I only open my shop on weekends or by appointment on weekdays (not as snooty as it sounds, you just have to call the shop phone number to get my cell and I'll pretty much meet anyone at the shop at anytime). Anyway, on the side, I'm doing the electrical rough in on a new home. In the past week, I have heard 2 people use the word n*****.

The first instance was with a heating and air guy. He was doing all of the duct work for the house I'm working on. So, I know who this guy is, as I played rec league ball against him for years and years. He was an absolutely uncanny 3 Pt shooter, like nothing I've ever seen. So, he clearly has friends/team mates who would be black. He dropped a tool while he was basically making boxes, and yelled n***** about as loud as someone can yell. It was truly bizarre. My first thought was that if the first word to come out of his mouth when he was angry was n******, then he is deeply, deeply racist. So weird.

Second instance. I got a call on my cell from a customer at my shop. He had some our rental bikes that had been left under his oceanfront home by some weekly renters. At some point during the chaos of summer, we had neglected to pick them up. After thanking him profusely, I told him that I would pick them up the next morning as I was doing electrical work and couldn't get there until the next day. Before we got off the phone, he asked me to have a look at one of his outdoor light fixtures, which hadn't worked in years.

The next morning, we met at his house. He owned a massive, 8 bedroom oceanfront in South Nags Head. One of 2 that he owned, I might add. He showed me his outdoor light, and then commented on how it was n***** rigged. My first thought was how it was 100 percent likely that it was white-person rigged, given the predominantly white population of the Outer Banks. He then started on about Trump and how Obama was sabotaging Trump's Presidency. It was fucking stunning, I was literally speechless. This guy has the keys to the kingdom, clearly has notions of morality as he went out of his way to find the company that rented the bikes that were left at his cottage, and his morality can not cross a bridge over blatant racism. It's so weird. Like, why give the bikes back? Why have a general idea of what it's like to be a decent human being, yet be a racist, and just casually assume that I must agree with him?

People are fucked up.

 

[deepdarkblue]

You've led a sheltered life, farmer. If I make it to noon without hearing something like that four or five times, it probably means I didn't leave the house that morning.
And, yes, they all assume you think and feel the same way they do, because you seem like a normal guy and that's what they believe are normal attitudes. And I'll bet both of those guys go to church at least semi-regularly and will tell you if asked that they are Christians. Some people have no mirrors in their worlds.