Random talk thread: It just keeps happening

[VomKriege]

Well the last moutain stage of the Tour de France has concluded and that's it : Froome is probably going to win this one. Team Sky was just too stronk, their climbing train neutralized any possibility of a long range attack and Froome -bar a small weakness- was at the level of his direct contenders. One of which (Uran) wheelsucked the entire race without any attack anyway. Bar any crazy incident, of course.

Warren Barguil, who wears the polka dot jersey of the best climber, won his second stage in an heroic attack and won many fans this year. Not pursuing the GC (he doesn't have the appetite for it, he said) enabled for a more flamboyant style the Tour is in a dire need of. He's almost probably a lock for a top 10 position. His team, Sunweb, had an excellent tour and should cross the line in Paris with the polka dot jersey, the green jersey (which they worked for even though they got it through rivals getting DNF or DQF) and 4 stage wins. They have under contract the dutch rider Tom Dumoulin who won the latest Giro, and could contend for the Yellow Jersey next year.

Otherwise I liked how combative Dan Martin was, as well as old guy Contador. El Pistolero has nothing to show for it sadly, but every day he tried to be on the offensive and he animated the race quite a bit.

Hoping that ASO would manage to ban race radios and impose smaller teams to help get out of this era of superteams keeping a stranglehold on the race, but it's probably not happening.

[I'm a Puppy!]

Man long Friday, after a meeting at work we were talking about how some guy's kid is going in for surgery and they're going to be sure to take a video and be like "hee hee, he's so high." when he wakes up. I was reminded of something and started chuckling. And they asked what was so funny. I mentioned that my best friend's sister is like my own sister but she has low spinal fluid pressure in her brain and had to go in for surgery where they would put a shunt in her brain. Everyone was like "Oh no! That's awful! Why are you laughing." I explained to them that she was really worried that her brain would be borked after the surgery even though the doctors said they were just putting a shunt in and wouldn't be messing with her brain, but she was understandably still worried. I explained that the day of the surgery I went to the local costume shop and rented a napoleon costume. I snuck it in my bag and then her family went in after she woke up for the first time they let me in to see her. I first snuck into the bathroom and put on the napoleon costume and came out to talk to her, she was still groggy. I was just talking to her normallly and she said, "Why are you wearing a napoleon costume?" I said, "What Napoleon costume?" And told her she needed to go back to sleep. After that I went back into the bathroom and changed before I went out to see her family. She kept on asking "Why was Puppy in a Napoleon costume?" and her family was like "What? We just saw him. He's in normal clothes." Her family knew me well enough to know I was probably up to something and went along with it. Freaked her the hell out. She didn't forgive me for almost a year. Good times. Good times.

[bork]

Was driving home on Friday and went to change lanes.  It was clear so no problem, but then all of a sudden this douchebag guns it and speeds up as fast as he can in the lane I'm about to go into.  I was already merging, but rather than slow down, he keeps going and starts honking at me like crazy, then slows way down when he sees I'm still moving in front of him and don't care.  I managed to get a good look at this guy and his car.  He was some college fratboy idiot (had frat stuff plastered on the car) wearing a baseball cap turned to the side.  After we got to the highway, he took off again and I watched him weave in and out of lanes, horribly, at 70+ MPH, until he disappeared.

Normally this wouldn't be memorable because ATL drivers are always morons, but what struck me about this particular individual is that he looked just like this:
 

So all I could think of was that it was Bobby Roberts, doing his best Fresh Price Of Bel Air impression, driving around like an idiot. 

[Mupepe]

Was driving home on Friday and went to change lanes.  It was clear so no problem, but then all of a sudden this douchebag guns it and speeds up as fast as he can in the lane I'm about to go into.  I was already merging, but rather than slow down, he keeps going and starts honking at me like crazy, then slows way down when he sees I'm still moving in front of him and don't care.  I managed to get a good look at this guy and his car.  He was some college fratboy idiot (had frat stuff plastered on the car) wearing a baseball cap turned to the side.  After we got to the highway, he took off again and I watched him weave in and out of lanes, horribly, at 70+ MPH, until he disappeared.

Normally this wouldn't be memorable because ATL drivers are always morons, but what struck me about this particular individual is that he looked just like this:
 

So all I could think of was that it was Bobby Roberts, doing his best Fresh Price Of Bel Air impression, driving around like an idiot.

I had an incident just like this on Saturday.  Except I moved into the lane and the guy who is in a huge GMC 3500 drives around me on the shoulder and then stops in front of my car.  He's shaking his fist and honking his horn.  It blew my mind because he about 5-10 full seconds before he came up around me and we weren't even close.  He was just pissed that I decided to move in front of him.  Then he goes weaving through traffic on a 2 lane road going at least 60 in a 45 MPH zone.  Psycho.  He was a redneck though

[Raist]

Was driving home on Friday and went to change lanes.  It was clear so no problem, but then all of a sudden this douchebag guns it and speeds up as fast as he can in the lane I'm about to go into.  I was already merging, but rather than slow down, he keeps going and starts honking at me like crazy, then slows way down when he sees I'm still moving in front of him and don't care.  I managed to get a good look at this guy and his car.  He was some college fratboy idiot (had frat stuff plastered on the car) wearing a baseball cap turned to the side.  After we got to the highway, he took off again and I watched him weave in and out of lanes, horribly, at 70+ MPH, until he disappeared.

Normally this wouldn't be memorable because ATL drivers are always morons, but what struck me about this particular individual is that he looked just like this:
 

So all I could think of was that it was Bobby Roberts, doing his best Fresh Price Of Bel Air impression, driving around like an idiot.

So it was a black dude then?

[Mupepe]

Black dude is not the preferred nomenclature.  African American please.

[Joe Molotov]

African American duxe.

[Raist]

Black dude is not the preferred nomenclature.  African American please.

What if he was a student from Liberia tho.

[brawndolicious]

Eurobore, I have some questions for a trip I'm doing in the end of August:

• In Paris and Rome, is it easy to get around by car? Rentals are cheap and it's just more convenient to have a car when you're a traveler rather than lugging everything with you all the time. I'm wondering are there congestion charges and how hard is it to park? I've driven in Europe before but that was like 8 years ago. So I don't know how much it's changed.
  
  
• I'm going to take a train via Trenitalia from Paris to Venice. Is this a sketchy railroad? I ask because it's only 70 euros for two tickets. 
  
  
• Anything in particular that I have to check out in Paris or Rome?
  
  
• What sites do you recommend for getting best deals on hotels, car rental, etc?

[Raist]

Going around Paris and Rome by car? morganfreemangoodluck.gif Public transports breh

70 euros for two tickets sounds rather.... cheap yes. Depends on the exact journey time / stops / train type etc. The railroad itself is fine.

Paris: Montmartre, Le Marais, Cimetière du Père Lachaise, Louvre mseum, Catacombs.

Trivago / Expedia generally have decent deals.

[brawndolicious]

It's an overnight straight shot with no transfers. 14 hours to do 1100km, so jealous we don't have trains like that in the US.

Also being American,  I don't know much about how busses work. My memory of Paris and Rome was that driving tiny cars was actually quite fun. And that you could legally park anywhere there's space (and those metal bollards in Paris). I regularly drive a stick shift car through San Francisco so I'm used to paying parking fees and parking a few blocks further than I want.

I'm just hoping y'all haven't implemented any crazy new laws in the past decade. And that congestion hasn't changed much.

[VomKriege]

I wouldn't worry about the train. You'll maybe get the train agent pick your passport (if transiting via Switzerland) and tell you to lock the compartment at night if it's anything like the Firenze - Paris I took a few years ago.

How long do you plan on staying in Paris ? I'd concur with Raist : unless you need to go somewhere far out on the border of the region, don't bother with a car ?

Though there's now public bikes and electric cars you can pick in stations scattered all around the city :

Autolib' (cars)
https://www.autolib.eu/en/

Vélib' (bikes)
http://en.velib.paris.fr/

The most reliable way to get around is public transport. There's now a single chip card with which you can subscribe for a week or a month (at a fixed rate) and that will let you access all subways, all tramways, all suburban trains, all buses (bar maybe in some removed towns in Ile-de-France) and night buses in the region. See the info below but AFAIK it's fairly cheap (I remember the Oyster card in London being much more expensive once you started taking trains every day).

http://parisbytrain.com/paris-train-metro-week-pass-navigo-decouverte/

You can probably skip buses (longer wait times and less reliable). The subway network is very strong into the city proper and will basically put you at 30mn max of any point except for edge cases. Trains will often come into a station every 2 to 4mn during the day. Wait is rarely above 12mn unless at the tail end of the service. Most lines go from A to B / B to A (a couple are Y shaped).

Depends on your exact plan, of course. Would be happy to provide more details tailored to your specifics. All links above need a registration of some kind before being there.

No idea on what site is best for deals.

As for things to check out in, depends on what type of activities you fancy. Don't hesitate to narrow it down a bit, I think I can be helpful with regards to museum related pointers and of course points of interests.

[Valkyrie]

Seconding/thirding the "Don't drive in Paris".

Von, are you French or do you just live there? I didn't know!

[VomKriege]

Seconding/thirding the "Don't drive in Paris".

Von, are you French or do you just live there? I didn't know!

Both, my Capitaine. Paris-bred even
Yeah I caught in another thread you were, if I understood correctly, expatriated and still had your family over here.

[Raist]

It's an overnight straight shot with no transfers. 14 hours to do 1100km, so jealous we don't have trains like that in the US.

Heh, that's actually slow. The italian side isn't quite up to scratch...
I've done London - Southern France in 7h. That includes a 1h stopover in Paris.

[Valkyrie]

Seconding/thirding the "Don't drive in Paris".

Von, are you French or do you just live there? I didn't know!

Both, my Capitaine. Paris-bred even
Yeah I caught in another thread you were, if I understood correctly, expatriated and still had your family over here.

That's cool! My family is from the north (near Amiens/Doullens) but my dad is a Parisien, and my cousins live in Orsay. My mom is Norwegian so I've got family all over the place though.

[brawndolicious]

Thanks for all the advice y'all.

My entire trip is only one week due to schedule conflicts. I arrive in Paris on Friday (September 1st) around noon, spend a couple days in Paris, then Sunday night I go to Venice for 12 hours and then I drive to Rome where I'm gonna be from Monday night until Thursday evening. Yeah I'd rather spend a couple weeks in Europe but hopefully I can go back again next year.

I calculated it out and it seems to be the same price between public transport and car rental. Except for parking....I just blame Napolean. In that case the best thing is to get a "carnet" or two of metro passes and just go wild? I'd still take a car between Venice and Rome as I do kinda miss driving those little cute cars they have in Europe.

How bad an idea is it to use a scooter in Paris/Rome tho?

[Raist]

That's cool! My family is from the north (near Amiens/Doullens) but my dad is a Parisien, and my cousins live in Orsay. My mom is Norwegian so I've got family all over the place though.

I was starting to get all confused because I thought you were 100% Norwegian . I'm from northern France
Knew VomKriege was french, obviously, but not Paris-bred.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Where's the ignore list here

[close]

Thanks for all the advice y'all.

My entire trip is only one week due to schedule conflicts. I arrive in Paris on Friday (September 1st) around noon, spend a couple days in Paris, then Sunday night I go to Venice for 12 hours and then I drive to Rome where I'm gonna be from Monday night until Thursday evening. Yeah I'd rather spend a couple weeks in Europe but hopefully I can go back again next year.

I calculated it out and it seems to be the same price between public transport and car rental. Except for parking....I just blame Napolean. In that case the best thing is to get a "carnet" or two of metro passes and just go wild? I'd still take a car between Venice and Rome as I do kinda miss driving those little cute cars they have in Europe.

How bad an idea is it to use a scooter in Paris/Rome tho?

The issue isn't really costs, but rather the... messy, to put it midly, traffic. You're going to have a shit time trying that, especially for a short stay.
The underground/overground network in Paris is quite straightforward, cheap and efficient. Better to get a "pass" I assume, although I've not been to Paris in ages so I'm not sure if it's cheaper than individual tickets - it should be, presumably.

You can also easily walk along the Seine and see a bunch of places within a ~5km walk - starting from Le Marais all the way to the Eiffel tower, you'll get to see Notre-Dame, the Louvre, just to name a few. The Invalides (Napoleon's final resting place, since you blame him, I guess you can file a complaint or something) is just a very short detour on that path.

edit: getting at the top of the Montparnasse tower is quite cool too, especially if the weather is cooperating. I think it's like 10 euros or something, there's a small "museum" with old pictures of Paris, and the observation deck gives you a really nice view of the city.

[Rahxephon91]

Bought a $1000+ Alienware computer. Google chrome and Edge constantly crash the thing. Steam refuses to keep up and download things. When it does the games say the instal faild.

Really sucks.

[toku]

shoulda built it

[brawndolicious]

Sounds like it could be drivers need updating or something.

[archnemesis]

Random crashes could be faulty memory but that doesn't explain broken downloads. Try updating everything. If that doesn't work, try to get it replaced with a new unit.

[Rahxephon91]

I should have built it but I had money I could blow and went what the hell.

I'll go through and try and update the drivers.

Through device manager right?

But this is also the 2nd unit actually. I returned the first one only to have the same problems.

[fistfulofmetal]

Just being honest here, you made a bad call buying prebuilt. If you have the money to blow invest it in a custom rig and you'll get more bang for your buck.

If you can get your money back - do that. If not, find out what the specs are. Get specific make and model numbers. Then go to their respective websites and start downloading the latest drivers/firmware for all of it. Motherboard, video card, etc. Also network adapter, any wifi stuff. All of it.

[Joe Molotov]

RMA it again.

[VomKriege]

I calculated it out and it seems to be the same price between public transport and car rental. Except for parking....I just blame Napolean. In that case the best thing is to get a "carnet" or two of metro passes and just go wild? I'd still take a car between Venice and Rome as I do kinda miss driving those little cute cars they have in Europe.

How bad an idea is it to use a scooter in Paris/Rome tho?

Considering the duration, a carnet or two might be enough, yeah and roughly the price of a pass. Just check out a couple things, I believe you have to use another ticket if you take a second bus right after another kind of transport for instance. Trains will leave you off in the city I assume but if you're going back by plane, you might have to take a pay a specific ticket for the suburban train. You're probably used to it but if you have to go for the airport, you'll have to get there a couple of hours in advance to go through security screening (Aggressions on security agents are on the rise because the wait times have bloated insanely, that's how bad it is).

If you're comfortable with a scooter, it's a much better solution than a rental car yeah. Maybe even a "bubble" one, I believe (but might be wrong) that  helmets are not mandatory on those. Depends what and where you want to go really, parking it might not always be the most convenient.

Raist mentioned the scenic route, the Seine crescent between Notre-Dame / City Hall and Concorde (with nearby Saint-Michel, Rivoli Street and the Place Vendôme) and Concorde is the bottom of the Champs-Elysées.
As far as museums go, considering the short amount of time, I would maybe avoid the Louvre and the Grand Palais, the lines are pretty obnoxious. There's plenty to go around besides that, depending on your interests. Also Paris has a philharmonic hall now, at La Villette.

For maybe something less typically touristic, you will catch the tail end of "Paris on the beach" (Paris Plage) and you can go for instance on the Canal de l'Ourcq in the northeast to grab a drink or play pétanque (though obviously alone not so much...). You can also rent electric boats nearby at the Bassin de la Villette but it's no Amsterdam and certainly no Venise. Some decent stuff in the first crown of suburbs but I imagine you won't have time for that.

[Valkyrie]

That's cool! My family is from the north (near Amiens/Doullens) but my dad is a Parisien, and my cousins live in Orsay. My mom is Norwegian so I've got family all over the place though.

I was starting to get all confused because I thought you were 100% Norwegian . I'm from northern France
Knew VomKriege was french, obviously, but not Paris-bred.

Whoa, another one! Really didn't expect this, especially since 99% of this forum is American. What are the odds the Europeans are all French?

Oh yeah. I did grow up in Norway but I'm still 50/50. I'm probably gonna go visit my French grandparents/family next summer, if I have money and time off from work. Do you know Fort-Mahon? I have very fond memories of that place, on top of my grandparents village (which has less than 200 people, no cellphone reception and no internet. )

Curious, is there more active EuroBore?

[Rufus]

Germany sagt hallo.

[CatsCatsCats]

Renting a scooter in a foreign city sounds so fun, I think I better do that at some point

[Valkyrie]

Renting a scooter in a foreign city sounds so fun, I think I better do that at some point

My sister is currently roadtripping around Scandinavia in an RV, and I'm super jealous because it looks like they're having so much fun camping, BBQing, bathing in lakes, etc. Her boyfriend works for an RV rental company, so they got to rent it for free I think.

[Raist]

That's cool! My family is from the north (near Amiens/Doullens) but my dad is a Parisien, and my cousins live in Orsay. My mom is Norwegian so I've got family all over the place though.

I was starting to get all confused because I thought you were 100% Norwegian . I'm from northern France
Knew VomKriege was french, obviously, but not Paris-bred.

Whoa, another one! Really didn't expect this, especially since 99% of this forum is American. What are the odds the Europeans are all French?

Oh yeah. I did grow up in Norway but I'm still 50/50. I'm probably gonna go visit my French grandparents/family next summer, if I have money and time off from work. Do you know Fort-Mahon? I have very fond memories of that place, on top of my grandparents village (which has less than 200 people, no cellphone reception and no internet. )

Curious, is there more active EuroBore?

I've heard the name, but never been there. I'm from northern France proper (i.e, a Ch'ti), so my northern french beach experience is limited to the ones around the border with belgium (either side).

[Valkyrie]

It's been years since I was even allowed to have goals, but now I do, and it feels awesome being able to look forward to things and get my life back together. It's just basic stuff like getting a degree, get a driver's license, buy a PS4 when I'm in a comfortable financial situation etc. But I'm doin' it, even if it'll take years.

[CatsCatsCats]

Awesome that you're finding your groove to stand on your own two feet! Get it, mama!

[Himu]

Haven't had hormones in 3 months because I ran out and my doc closed shop so I have to find a new one. I'm currently in permanent resting bitching face. I don't care about anything or anyone and I'm going nuts without hormones. My T levels are getting back to "normal" without anti-androgen and it has me jacking off every day. I miss when I could potentially not think about sex for weeks if not a month. I'm fucking miserable and have quit exercising. I couldn't manage to do bjj for two months because of it because I don't want to leave home. I sent in a medical record request to a new clinic and still nothing. Help meeeeeeee

[Himu]

I want to tell every person I meet,"fuck you, cunt".

The only thing keeping me going is church.

[brawndolicious]

That sounds horrible Queen. I thought you lived in Houston or some major metro, are the doctors that can/will prescribe hormones that rare? I'd honestly be considering going to Mexico if I was in your situation.

Note: That's not a smart thing to do but probably what I would do.

[Fifstar]

Another G.erman here

[Mupepe]

You mean the dress your mother laid out for you?

[Reb]

George with massive wood? It was cold!

[CatsCatsCats]

[Great Rumbler]

 

[Atramental]

At least mix some sriracha with it!

[zomgee]

I shave my back, and that takes some fuckingn time i tell uou

This guy married my cousin. They are divorced now. They have a kid.

It's weird.

[Bebpo]

So I grabbed my avatar from the latest One Piece chapter but I'm getting déjà vu that like 10 years ago I was using an avatar that was basically the same picture. Weird feeling. Tomorrow may need to see if my old photobucket still exists and look at my old avatars....

[Bebpo]

Sorry, only registered users can see this content. Please Login or Register.

[Valkyrie]

Oh stop it, you're a cutie and you know it.

[Madrun Badrun]

 

[Madrun Badrun]

I'm smiling on the inside - behind my lips. 

[team filler]

so I'm out of the army and back home in cali and I need a job. Can't decide if I should just go after something in unmanned aviation or not.

[Mupepe]

That license is easy as hell to get. My company has been hiring people for it to do equipment checks and land surveys. Seems easy AF. I do it recreationally and I know I could pass that test with ease.

[Bebpo]

So I sorta on an impulse took over a social meetup for people in their 30s and we had our first meetup tonight at a coffee shop with about 8 people. Went alright, got some good feedback on ideas for future meetup events. It's always tough getting a group of complete strangers together and trying to direct a group conversation but everyone seemed to have a good time and it was a solid mix of people. Now just gotta make a bunch more events for the next few weeks and host them and see how it goes.

The toughest part is just the time commitment; tbh it was a really bad idea to take this over right now when I'm dating and have an active social life as well. But I don't do things half-assed, so since I'm doing this group I'm going all in and its gonna be a great group and people gonna have an awesome time.

[VomKriege]

Tried Uber this week because of shitty work hours. Can see why people like it.

[Valkyrie]

Tried Uber this week because of shitty work hours. Can see why people like it.

UberEats next!

[Atramental]

Was listening to a podcast and the guest on it mentioned that he struggled with this growing up:
https://psychcentral.com/disorders/avoidant-personality-disorder-symptoms/

This was basically me all through out high school, college, and most of my adulthood.

[FatalT]

Was listening to a podcast and the guest on it mentioned that he struggled with this growing up:
https://psychcentral.com/disorders/avoidant-personality-disorder-symptoms/

This was basically me all through out high school, college, and most of my adulthood.

What podcast was it? This sounds just like my teen years and a bit of my early 20's.

[Atramental]

Ep. 245 (Mark Manson: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck) of the James Altucher Show

And I still am guilty of just burying myself in work in order to avoid intimacy and relationships.

[FatalT]

Ep. 245 (Mark Manson: The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck) of the James Altucher Show

And I still am guilty of just burying myself in work in order to avoid intimacy and relationships.

Thank you for the quick response! Google was giving me Mental Illness Happy Hour but the podcast wasn't showing up anywhere so this is great. I'll definitely give it a listen!

[Rahxephon91]

Is unwilling to get involved with people unless certain of being liked

Hmm....

[Atramental]

There's also "clingers". People who have to CONSTANTLY be around someone to show them love and approval. (that was basically what the girl I was with was like and it freaked the hell out of me).

[benjipwns]

There's also "clingers" where you have to wiggle your butt a little to make em drop.