Our area got smashed by a tornado last night. Power still down. My family and I are safe. So exhausted.
OT: General OT Thread #44 - Hat Talk 2025
- Thread starter TaLoN
- Start date
-
Xenforo Cloud will be upgrading us to version 2.3.5 on March 3rd at 12 AM GMT. This version has increased stability and fixes several bugs. We expect downtime for the duration of the update. The admin team will continue to work on existing issues, templates and upgrade all necessary available addons to minimize impact of this new version. Click Here for Updates
Minnewildsota
He who laughs last thinks slowest
- Jun 7, 2010
- 9,040
- 3,165
Glad to hear you and family are alright. Stay safe
Where do you live? Southern US? Glad you're okay!
TaLoN
Red 5 standing by
Yep. Live in Round Rock, Tx If I was fifteen minutes late coming home I'd been outside when the tornado hit
It obliterated a few houses on our block. If it didn't turn, we would have been in its path.
Minnewildsota
He who laughs last thinks slowest
- Jun 7, 2010
- 9,040
- 3,165
Close counters are always eye opening. I remember when the 35W bridge collapsed I had driven over it ~15 minutes earlier.
Really puts life in perspective.
TaLoN
Red 5 standing by
They're still testing the possibility of larger avatar sizes. Looks gorgeous! 
Here's how this thread looks with the larger avatars for me currently as seen here with @Minnewildsota's post seen above...
Here's how this thread looks with the larger avatars for me currently as seen here with @Minnewildsota's post seen above...
Minnewildsota
He who laughs last thinks slowest
- Jun 7, 2010
- 9,040
- 3,165
All your avatar are belong to me!They're still testing the possibility of larger avatar sizes. Looks gorgeous!
Here's how this thread looks with the larger avatars for me currently as seen here with @Minnewildsota's post seen above...
View attachment 520347
That's why I've been stuck with the default one since I joined. I'm too cheap to buy one from you.
MK9
Registered User
I remember hitting a small puddle which unsettled the car, was doing probably 130-140kph on a winding backroad with some moisture. It went sideways, but was FWD so I managed to hit the exact amount of counter-steer required and floored the throttle. It all happened in an instant, but had my reflex not been spot on, I'd have ended up in some mighty fine trees waiting just outside the road. The car in question was from late 90's, and even if it was more modern, at that speed it would've been GG.
Another one of those happened in 2009. I remember talking with mom that we could drop by a mall named Sello in Espoo (some 5km from where we lived at the time) to pick up some stuff, mostly groceries and to check out the remaining post-xmas sales. I was heading to a friend's place later that day, because it was New Year's Eve. We thought morning would be great, but then decided against it because there didn't seem to be anything interesting and we still had some food anyway so that plan got scrapped.
Then, this happened.
MK9
Registered User
Unfortunately what I was hoping wasn't, but guessing it was. He'd had issues with drugs for years.
ultimateclassicrock.com
TAYLOR HAWKINS’ EARLY TOXICOLOGY REPORT SUGGESTS LETHAL OVERDOSE
"An early toxicology report states that Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had 10 different psychoactive substances in his system when he died last night in Bogota, Columbia at the age of 50."
Taylor Hawkins’ Early Toxicology Report Suggests Lethal Overdose
An early toxicology report suggests that Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had 10 drugs in his system when he died in March 2022.
ultimateclassicrock.com
TaLoN
Red 5 standing by
In 2018 I upgraded my home theater system from a Yamaha to a new and MUCH better Pioneer receiver with multiple HDMI 4Kuhd "pass through" ports that would allow HDR10+ and Dolby Vision etc while vastly improving sound quality as well. This change made my old subwoofer unusable as the new one required a powered sub and my old one was not.
So, I moved that into the bedroom along with my old receiver - replacing the VERY OLD prologic receiver I was using there, adding a sub to that system.
Thus I had to purchase a new powered sub for the living room... I wasn't all in on spending a ton on a new sub, and Yamaha had served well with the old system... so I figured, just get a powered version that was just a step up from my old unpowered version - did so for right around $100. I was perfectly happy with the result until this past Friday.
I get home from work Friday night/Sat morning, go to watch a movie and suddenly my system... still sounding good overall... was clearly missing the depth of the bass that a sub provides. Further investigation proved to find that the sub must've blown a fuse or something in it's power supply, as it would not power up at all anymore.
Shit!@!@#$!^%
That's what I got for trying to go cheap I guess. Rather than repair it and probably have something similar happen again down the road, I said f*** it... replace it with something of much better quality instead.
So, I went out and got this...
www.klipsch.com
Got it on sale, just under $300... MUCH better quality than the Yamaha was, and sounds like it too! This one has an auto on feature, so it will power down into standby after 20 minutes with no signal from the receiver (the Yamaha did NOT have this feature and probably contributed to it's demise as it was often left on as you wouldn't always think to turn it off).
Sometimes you can get away with going cheaper on things... but often times it truly is "you get what you pay for."
So, I moved that into the bedroom along with my old receiver - replacing the VERY OLD prologic receiver I was using there, adding a sub to that system.
Thus I had to purchase a new powered sub for the living room... I wasn't all in on spending a ton on a new sub, and Yamaha had served well with the old system... so I figured, just get a powered version that was just a step up from my old unpowered version - did so for right around $100. I was perfectly happy with the result until this past Friday.
I get home from work Friday night/Sat morning, go to watch a movie and suddenly my system... still sounding good overall... was clearly missing the depth of the bass that a sub provides. Further investigation proved to find that the sub must've blown a fuse or something in it's power supply, as it would not power up at all anymore.
Shit!@!@#$!^%
That's what I got for trying to go cheap I guess. Rather than repair it and probably have something similar happen again down the road, I said f*** it... replace it with something of much better quality instead.
So, I went out and got this...
R-100SW Subwoofer
The Klipsch R-100SW subwoofer delivers incredibly deep bass via a 10" front-firing driver featuring a spun-copper IMG woofer and all digital amplifier.…
Got it on sale, just under $300... MUCH better quality than the Yamaha was, and sounds like it too! This one has an auto on feature, so it will power down into standby after 20 minutes with no signal from the receiver (the Yamaha did NOT have this feature and probably contributed to it's demise as it was often left on as you wouldn't always think to turn it off).
Sometimes you can get away with going cheaper on things... but often times it truly is "you get what you pay for."
The Enemy Within
Holl at .6 seconds
Unfortunately what I was hoping wasn't, but guessing it was. He'd had issues with drugs for years.
TAYLOR HAWKINS’ EARLY TOXICOLOGY REPORT SUGGESTS LETHAL OVERDOSE
"An early toxicology report states that Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had 10 different psychoactive substances in his system when he died last night in Bogota, Columbia at the age of 50."
Taylor Hawkins’ Early Toxicology Report Suggests Lethal Overdose
An early toxicology report suggests that Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins had 10 drugs in his system when he died in March 2022.
Such a sad deal. A great drummer, and a great live band in Foo Fighters. He will be missed.. Drugs can kill the laughter in anyone, as those old Chris Farley posters used to say.
Just saw this, and I'm so glad to hear you are okay. I hope your community builds back even stronger eventually. So very scary.
Really wishing I wasn't working evenings lately so I could watch more games with you guys. I'm still doing good. Just still getting used to this whole being happy thing. i may need to find a less angry version of my new avatar in fact. Yes, this is the same avatar I wore back when I lost some bet on here, and yes I secretly enjoyed it.
Alright yall. Need some advice on LEGAL streaming options to watch sports. I've been paying upwards of 200 a month with Directv for years now to basically watch the Wild, Twins, and football. So when it's all said and done, $200 for a lot of games on Bally, the occasional game on national TV (espn or whatever) and local channels for football. Is there a paid streaming option available to watch all of this (without worrying about blackouts or not including the playoffs)? Priorities are the Wild, then Twins, and then Football. It's not an issue of not being able to pay... it's just come to the point that I think it is ridiculous the amount of money I'm paying for what generally amounts to 1 channel.
Just to add some flavor, lol, I've been paying 185 since 2014. I don't watch TV other than sports. The other day I downgraded the package with a cost of 150ish and I thought Bally was included. I was mistaken. Directv then told me I had to upgrade to a package that was 195, lol. Talked to another dude who added the sports package for 150 a month. Still saving money, but it's still crazy what I'm paying for 1.3 channels.
Last edited:
I'm going with the combo of ESPN+, MLB package, and a VPN for NHL and MLB this year.
I'm in a broadcast dead spot and am still looking for an antenna that works for my house.
Minnewildsota
He who laughs last thinks slowest
- Jun 7, 2010
- 9,040
- 3,165
The Enemy Within
Holl at .6 seconds
What is also crazy is that you seemed to get different answers from different people. Why isn't there a set list of things you receive for paying said amount? Why the hell is it arbitrary? lol I am just so frustrared with how complicated it has all become just to be able to follow your favorite teams. I am with you in that I only really watch sports on tv for the most part and I would love a way to be able to just choose and pay for what I want at a reasonable price.
Finally. It took 10 weeks of trial and error, some waiting on parts from China, a trip to Disney to make a lightsaber, just to get the wife's new hobby/business functional. I now know more about 3d printing and resin crafting than I care to admit.
She's making 3d printed Star Wars cosplay stuff. Easy enough, create/buy a pattern, put it on the 3d printer, and wait for it to finish. Times vary on printing depending on the size and how fine the print is. The Mando helmet takes days. Small things like credits are done within an hour.
The lightsaber kyber crystals are resin molds with an RFID chip in them. The code on the chip tells the lightsaber what color the blade should be. It also tell the holocrons what color and voice to use. There are 7 different color crystals (6 blade colors) and 17 different voices. 3 of these voices are very rare: Snoke (red) is 1:100, the yoda magic 8-ball voice in 1:500 (green) and Vader magic 8-ball voice is also 1:500 (red). For reference, each crystal is like $25 at Disney and they only tell you the blade color, not the voice.
She told me there is a market for these crystals. I poked around and found a few online shops that sell them with some frequency. Worst case for me is she doesn't sell any of them, but at least gets a complete set of her own without having to be really lucky. TBF she did get the black (1:100) on her 1st try.
As a note the Savi build your own lightsaber was a really cool experience for her (I watched and it was still really cool). We were the last group of the day and the park closed about 10 mins before we started. So she got some pics at night with her lightsaber lit up in front of the Millennium Falcon without any other people around.
She's making 3d printed Star Wars cosplay stuff. Easy enough, create/buy a pattern, put it on the 3d printer, and wait for it to finish. Times vary on printing depending on the size and how fine the print is. The Mando helmet takes days. Small things like credits are done within an hour.
The lightsaber kyber crystals are resin molds with an RFID chip in them. The code on the chip tells the lightsaber what color the blade should be. It also tell the holocrons what color and voice to use. There are 7 different color crystals (6 blade colors) and 17 different voices. 3 of these voices are very rare: Snoke (red) is 1:100, the yoda magic 8-ball voice in 1:500 (green) and Vader magic 8-ball voice is also 1:500 (red). For reference, each crystal is like $25 at Disney and they only tell you the blade color, not the voice.
She told me there is a market for these crystals. I poked around and found a few online shops that sell them with some frequency. Worst case for me is she doesn't sell any of them, but at least gets a complete set of her own without having to be really lucky. TBF she did get the black (1:100) on her 1st try.
As a note the Savi build your own lightsaber was a really cool experience for her (I watched and it was still really cool). We were the last group of the day and the park closed about 10 mins before we started. So she got some pics at night with her lightsaber lit up in front of the Millennium Falcon without any other people around.
