Speedy's Cafe - General Chat about anything you like!

[Carol the Dabbler]

9 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I wonder if that was related to the storm that went through here about the same time.

It went through here Saturday, May 21, right about 4 pm.  Looks like we're about 500 miles apart.  So at roughly 100 miles per hour, that'd be around 9 pm at your end, give or take an hour or so.  Judging by the way the trees fell, it was headed your direction!

9 hours ago, Arcadia said:

the power company was out just a few days before, marking all the roads where they plan to bury the lines so they won't have so much trouble with the trees causing power outages any more. Bad timing.... all the marks were washed away.

Well, at least they have good intentions!  Doubt we'll see electrical service going underground around here any time soon.

 

[Arcadia]

On 6/10/2022 at 6:45 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

It went through here Saturday, May 21, right about 4 pm.  Looks like we're about 500 miles apart.  So at roughly 100 miles per hour, that'd be around 9 pm at your end, give or take an hour or so.  Judging by the way the trees fell, it was headed your direction!

Not the same one, then, as I was driving on a Monday about 4 pm. But the date's about right. Maybe it took Sunday off?

[Carol the Dabbler]

I text people all the time, using their 10-digit cell-phone numbers, but now I need to text to one of those 6-digit text-only numbers.  How do I do that?  I don't even know what those 6-digit numbers are called, so I don't even know what to ask on an internet search!  

 

[Pamela]

22 minutes ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

I text people all the time, using their 10-digit cell-phone numbers, but now I need to text to one of those 6-digit text-only numbers.  How do I do that?  I don't even know what those 6-digit numbers are called, so I don't even know what to ask on an internet search!  

 

Say what? I've never heard of that. Six digits?

[Caya]

"As the popularity of text messaging rises, [note: yeah that page has been around a while apparently] it is common to see advertisements or contests where you can text a word or phrase to a short, six-digit number. These short numbers, also known as common short codes, operate in the same way as a regular phone number when you send a text to it. Texting a short code involves the same process as texting a regular number."

(source)

[Carol the Dabbler]

Thanks!  I'll try that.

Funny thing is, one company told me I could text them at a certain six-digit number -- and before I got around to it, they texted me from a (somewhat similar) five-digit number.  But I guess big companies have lots of regular phone numbers too.

8 hours ago, Pamela said:

I've never heard of that. Six digits?

You've never seen those ads that say you can accomplish something-or-other by texting a certain code to a certain number?  Those numbers are typically shorter than ten digits.

 

[Pamela]

12 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Thanks!  I'll try that.

Funny thing is, one company told me I could text them at a certain six-digit number -- and before I got around to it, they texted me from a (somewhat similar) five-digit number.  But I guess big companies have lots of regular phone numbers too.

You've never seen those ads that say you can accomplish something-or-other by texting a certain code to a certain number?  Those numbers are typically shorter than ten digits.

 

When I get texts from my pharmacy they come from a five or six-digit number, and the verification codes from my bank come from a five-digit number. And yes, I've seen some of those ads, now that you've reminded me. This sort of thing isn't available for real people, though, is it?

[Carol the Dabbler]

2 hours ago, Pamela said:

When I get texts from my pharmacy they come from a five or six-digit number, and the verification codes from my bank come from a five-digit number. And yes, I've seen some of those ads, now that you've reminded me. This sort of thing isn't available for real people, though, is it?

I've only seen those numbers from companies, but that doesn't necessarily mean they aren't available to individuals.  Judging by my examples and yours, it may be that the five-digit ones are for outgoing texts and the six-digit ones are for incoming.  The latter may be something like In-WATTS (i.e., toll free) phone numbers, which cost a lot more than a regular number.  Most people would have very little use for them, so they'd see no reason to fork over that much dough.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

On 6/6/2022 at 1:01 AM, Carol the Dabbler said:

... there are now a dozen one-gallon (roughly four-liter) jugs of water down [in our basement].

I learned something else in the process of filling those jugs of emergency water:  Ordinary one-gallon plastic jugs (such as milk is sold in) do not age gracefully no matter how carefully you store them.

I had washed some empty milk jugs about five years ago and stored them in our basement, thinking they'd remain usable indefinitely.  (I knew better than to store them in the attic, where it gets hot.)  But as I was filling some with water a few weeks ago, I was surprised to see that several had pinhole leaks.  In the process of finding a dozen usable jugs, I rejected seven, and as I was squashing the leaky jugs flat for the recycling bin, a few of them actually shattered!

If I had saved all the one-gallon plastic vinegar jugs that I've emptied and discarded since they stopped using glass, I might have a dozen, and their nice thick plastic might remain usable indefinitely.  But how much vinegar can a person use?  I am now in the process of accumulating a dozen new milk jugs -- which I will need to replace every couple of years.

Nothing lasts forever.  *sigh*

 

[Arcadia]

On 6/26/2022 at 4:41 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

I learned something else in the process of filling those jugs of emergency water:  Ordinary one-gallon plastic jugs (such as milk is sold in) do not age gracefully no matter how carefully you store them.

Okay, this is good to know! One of my storage jugs is in fact a milk jug. The other is clear plastic -- apple juice jug, maybe? Something. I'll used them for comparison purposes. Check back in a couple of years.  

[Carol the Dabbler]

57 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

One of my storage jugs is in fact a milk jug. The other is clear plastic -- apple juice jug, maybe? Something. I'll used them for comparison purposes. Check back in a couple of years.

Yes, please do keep us posted!

Your milk jug is presumably #2 plastic (high-density polyethylene), but the clear jug is more likely #1 (Polyethylene terephthalate -- yeah, I had to look that up!).  My money would be on the #1 to last longer, but unfortunately I don't recall ever buying anything in a gallon-size #1.  Number 5 plastic (polypropylene) is also very durable, but that's mostly yogurt tubs.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

For my fellow Rocky & Bullwinkle fans, here's a video of June Foray and Bill Scott doing those voices on-camera:

I just love that kinda stuff!  (Here's a link to some related videos: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rocky+and+bullwinkle+voice+actors )

Came across that video while looking up info on real-life flying squirrels.  Turns out, even though I don't believe I've ever seen one, they do live around here.  In fact, counting all three North-American species, they pretty much cover the entire continent.  And if you shine an ultraviolet ("black") light on them at night, they all fluoresce pink!

There's also a Eurasian species, but I have no idea whether it fluoresces.

 

[Arcadia]

11 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

 

I had no idea the same people did all the different voices! Rocky & Bullwinkle was always my favorite kid's cartoon. Very subversive, tho I didn't know it at the time. I watched them again when I was in my 20's and found them even funnier.

They mentioned Crusader Rabbit ... I remember that was another favorite, but more rare. I must off and see if any of it has been preserved on YouTube.....

 

ETA: Found some! But it's not what I remembered, apparently there was more than one incarnation. One thing I did not know was it was the first cartoon created specifically for TV. But that's not the version I saw.

[Carol the Dabbler]

57 minutes ago, Arcadia said:

I had no idea the same people did all the different voices!

As I recall, the credits at the end of the show listed maybe four or five voice people.  Lemme go check.  OK, according to IMDb, Paul Frees did Boris Badenov and Inspector Fenwick.  As he demonstrated in that video, Bill Scott did both Bullwinkle Moose and Mr. Peabody.  June Foray did Rocket J. Squirrel, Natasha Fatale, and Nell Fenwick.  Sherman (Mr. Peabody's boy) was voiced by Walter Tetley.  Snidely Whiplash was voiced by Hans Conried.  Most of them also did a bunch of miscellaneous voices, and a bunch of other people did still more voices.

Did you ever see a short-lived (13 episode) sitcom from 1984 called The Duck Factory?  My brother and I loved that show, partly because the actors included Don Messick (who we'd previously known only as voice credits on Yogi Bear and The Flintstones) and Jay Tarses (whose name was familiar from a variety of behind-the-camera credits).  June Foray had a cameo in one episode.  Oh, and the young guy who played the lead was pretty good, fella named Jim something, here it is, Jim Carrey.  Would love to get that on DVD  (It does seem to be available as used VHS cassettes, for $70-something.)

 

[Arcadia]

20 hours ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Did you ever see a short-lived (13 episode) sitcom from 1984 called The Duck Factory?

Nope, missed that one. Sounds like something I might have enjoyed, though I confess to not caring much for Jim Carrey's brand of acting.

[Arcadia]

On 6/28/2022 at 12:34 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

Your milk jug is presumably #2 plastic (high-density polyethylene), but the clear jug is more likely #1 (Polyethylene terephthalate -- yeah, I had to look that up!).  My money would be on the #1 to last longer, but unfortunately I don't recall ever buying anything in a gallon-size #1.  Number 5 plastic (polypropylene) is also very durable, but that's mostly yogurt tubs.

Ran across this scary bit of info today............

Plastics can take anywhere from 20 to 500 years to decompose, depending on the material and structure.  Additionally, how fast a plastic breaks down depends on sunlight exposure.

And....

Plastic can take anywhere from 20 to 500 years to decompose or break down in any environment, including landfill. When plastic decomposes, it breaks down into small pieces that may not be visible to the naked eye, however, these small pieces of plastic will never fully decompose...

Thank goodness for repurposing/reusing/recycling, but I do wonder how effective that is.....

Edited July 5, 2022 by Carol the Dabbler
Retyped first quote to be visible on dark theme.

[Carol the Dabbler]

4 hours ago, Arcadia said:

I confess to not caring much for Jim Carrey's brand of acting.

In that case you'll be glad to know he wasn't like that in The Duck Factory.  At least I recall him as being perky rather than umm, Carrey-ish -- so apparently he was more restrained.  (I like some of his more recent stuff too, but I'd probably enjoy it more if he dialed it back a bit!)

Added:  I went looking on YouTube to see if they had any samples -- and the entire series seems to have been posted by several different people.  Just type Duck Factory into the YouTube search bar.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

10 hours ago, Arcadia said:

Plastic can take anywhere from 20 to 500 years to decompose or break down in any environment, including landfill. When plastic decomposes, it breaks down into small pieces that may not be visible to the naked eye, however, these small pieces of plastic will never fully decompose...

I guess that's good news in a way.  As we've all noticed, brand-new plastic can be pretty stinky at first, releasing large amounts of volatile substances into the air, but this outgassing decreases quickly.  Apparently the slow-down continues, to the point where the remaining plastic is virtually inert, and therefore fairly harmless.

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

Alex just saw a TV ad for artificial Christmas trees.  On July 13th.     Five months and 12 days before Christmas.

 

[Arcadia]

On 7/13/2022 at 3:04 PM, Carol the Dabbler said:

Alex just saw a TV ad for artificial Christmas trees.  On July 13th.     Five months and 12 days before Christmas.

 

Were they on sale?  

[Carol the Dabbler]

5 hours ago, Arcadia said:

Were they on sale?  

Still trying to get rid of last year's stock, you mean?  No idea.  Just being FOR sale at this time of year is weird enough!

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

On 5/26/2022 at 1:26 AM, Carol the Dabbler said:

Our typical power outages last two or three hours, but this time there was a derecho (a storm front of unusually strong winds) that knocked down numerous trees

Had another outage today, just a bit over four hours long this time.  There was no strong wind, no lightning, no storm at all.  But it's very hot and muggy, so I'm sure everyone's air conditioning was going full blast -- till everything stopped.

When I phoned to report our outage, the nice recorded lady said there were a few hundred (I forget the exact figure) homes affected.  When I called back three hours later, she said nearly 2,500.  I'm wondering if perhaps they had to shut down a large section of their customer base in order to replace some piece of equipment?  Can't seem to find anything about it on the news.

OK, found this on their Twitter account:  "We currently have 2,491 members without power due to a down transmission line."  That'll do it!  (That initial few-hundred count must have been before they knew the full extent of the problem.)

Transmission lines are the ones on those big honkin' towers.  They carry wholesale amounts of electricity cross-country from a power station.  So if the transmission line that feeds our area goes down....

 

 

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I've been pondering certain aspects of the 2001 film Kate & Leopold (starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman, respectively).  If you don't want to read any spoilers, don't click on this box:

Spoiler

Leopold accidentally goes from 1876 to 2001, where he meets Kate and they fall in love over the course of one week.  Then he finds out that he must return to his own time.  After he leaves, Kate is persuaded to follow him back to 1876.

What I'm wondering is, would I be willing to go back in time (and how far back) if I knew it would not be possible to return to the present?

I'd like to hear what y'all think you might do.

 

[Caya]

A time before computers? Not even for Hugh Jackman.

[Carol the Dabbler]

13 hours ago, Caya said:

A time before computers? Not even for Hugh Jackman.

Before computers doesn't bother me so much, since I grew up well before the home-computer era.  What *would* concern me is the state of medicine and dentistry.