Don

Normally I'd just say screw it, shelter my car as well as possible, and just hunker down for the weekend. But I'm going to the Chiefs game with a bunch of people Sunday. It's gonna be an adventure.

Might get a F-all ice storm Friday-Sunday if the temps stay low enough. Really hoping that doesn't happen. I've been through a lot of crap weather in my time in the Midwest (blizzards, an F4 tornado, crazy storms, ridiculous hail, etc...), and there is nothing more frightening than a true ice storm. F#%^s absolutely everything up. The last time I went through a real bad one was in December of 2007. Most people in town lost power for a week, some as long as two weeks. The town I was in didn't finish cleaning up from the storm until March.

You guys wear underwear? Weird. And not just in winter?

Sorry that happened to you man. I know it's trite to say, but at least it was just stuff. Glad you and yours are ok.

Picking up 4 inches of snow tonight. Current "real feel" is 1 degree (as in a single degree). Blowing snow. Now to walk my ass home a half mile through this shit.

I had a sixth grade teacher (public school in like '96) straight up tell us that if we were going to be in his class that we needed to use deodorant daily. He told us that if our parents didn't already buy deodorant for us that we were to tell them it was a requirement for his classroom. He added something to the effect of not using deodorant when in public being rude and classless. Looking back, I love that he did that. My guess is that speech wouldn't fly today.

Most cars are good to about -20 as long as the battery is in good shape. The Civic I had in college would struggle to start at about -10, but always pulled through. My current car doesn't seem to care at all about low temps, but I don't believe I've ever started at lower than about -10 (straight temp).

Questions before you buy: What/who are you buying it from? Private seller, private seller who is also the original owner, CarMax, dealership, etc...? Are you trading anything in (if dealership)?If so, what? If you're trading in and buying from a dealership, you could save some decent money by negotiating both on trade-in value and price. If you're trading in a 94' Astro van with 200k miles, just take whatever they'll give you for the trade, and focus on price. If you're trading in say a 2010 Sonata with 80k miles, negotiate on both (though especially the trade). Dealerships make a ton of cash by hosing people on trade-ins.

My gf was super excited to finally get a KitchenAid Stand Mixer. She had asked her parents for one for years. Cyber Monday was good to me.

In the past three days I've treated myself to a Bourbon County Stout and two Pliny the Elders.

I feel you man. It was crazy cold here for a few days, then got warmer today finally. Came home for lunch and let my dog out. It felt super nice while I was out there with him. Looked at my phone... 37 degrees.

Not too shocking. I've long thought Booker's was the best bang for your buck bourbon out there. When I was in college I would sell all my textbooks back after the last final of each semester, get a solid (like way more than I would normally spend at the time) lunch or dinner somewhere, then buy myself a bottle of Booker's with the money I got back.

The wind is the only part that matters. I'll take 5 degrees and still over 20 degrees and windy eight days a week.

My first thought before opening the thread: "No. Just no." That said, I'm not a big fan of the idea of engagement/wedding rings on multiple levels. 1. It's really just succumbing to the best advertising campaign in the history of advertising. Really. A couple guys (in I think the 40s or 50s) managed to just create an obligatory market for diamond rings out of thin freaking air. I mean kudos to those guys for just crushing it at work, but still. 2. Diamonds are a bit of an ethical clusterf*ck. "Conflict-free diamonds" is a bit of a loaded term. My understanding is that the term only means the stones weren't bought from an active rebel group. 3. Why not spend the money on something way more useful? Put a down payment on a car. Improve the value of your home. Start an education fund for your kids. Something. Pissing away 5-10k (or however much) on a symbolic rock that some (frankly kick-ass) advertisers from 60-ish years ago told you that you must get in order to marry someone is way less practical than any of those other things. I mean even spending the extra cash on an awesome(r) honeymoon makes more sense to me. Last thing... When the time comes, I'll probably end up getting one for somebody. Because like tradition and stuff? But I won't like it.

I used to live like two blocks from that very Walgreens.

I've lived in the Midwest for 10-ish years total, and I've never owned a pair of gloves (hooray pockets). The last few days doing walks with my Border/Aussie have convinced me that I need to change that though. As much as I hate winter, the dog seems to freaking love it.

Freezing rain here now/until morning, then about 4 inches of snow tomorrow afternoon, followed by 0-ish degrees and wind chill to -20 tomorrow night. That, my friends, is quite the shitty one-two-three punch.

Crushed Cyber Monday this year. Got about $600 worth of gifts for roughly $250. Drank whiskey and farted loudly while ordering.

The gf had been eagerly awaiting Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Went and saw it today. Not typically my favorite genre, but I thought it was really well-executed, flowed well, and looked great. It basically nailed what it set out to do as well as it possibly could have. If you have kids, take them to see it. They'll be totally enthralled, and you'll likely enjoy it too.

Namely that the Netherlands still has the lesser Antilles.

The WBC is always fun in my opinion. I like seeing the absolute best each country has to offer talent-wise (assuming the right players agree to participate). I also enjoy coming back to the realization every few years that the Dutch really won the shit out of the post-WWII decolonization movement. You could even make an argument that they just straight up won colonialism. Very sneaky.

I once had to attend a meeting about how to schedule meetings. First rule was to never schedule a meeting for right after lunch. It was a 1PM meeting. Also, after it was over my boss asked if she could use some of the presenter's slides for a presentation she wanted to give later. I wanted to puke. I left that job about two years later because it was just a bit too corporate. People were confused.

If you recall, this is exactly what Starbucks turned into in Idiocracy. "Let's grab some Starbucks." "Starbucks!? We don't have time for a handjob!"

It's been over 80 here today, and will be this weekend. That's insane for late October. I can remember several Halloweens here where it was 25-30ish.

It got to 92 here today, which is super weird for mid-October. Normally in the 60s around this time of year.