Catwhoshatinthehat

So if you're not an asshole, not looking for confrontation and you respect the land and other people around you 99%+ of the time you'll be fine. It's so simple in theory but impossible to pull off because there's no shortage of assholes in any given area.

In 2008 the estimated cost was $40B.

Caught up with a family member over Easter who is a swat member in LA. He said it's always been bad but over the last few years it's gotten to the point where so many more officers have just said fuck it and retired because they can't do their jobs anymore. I've heard the same thing out of a few guys out of Long Beach who said it's not like cops don't want to hold people accountable or like letting them walk but it's the DAs who won't prosecute.

Been to Hawaii about 8 times now to 3 of the 4 main islands and spent a few days on Lanai as I mentioned earlier in the thread. Never had an issue but I know there's locals who don't like mainlanders and tourists which I get because sooner or later you've got people visiting who disrespect the area and crowds which are never fun. Last year when we were headed to Maui with travel picking back up there were articles talking about how locals were angry with tourists clogging up local beaches in Wailea and Kihei. Spoke to a few people when we were there and they said the issue was the hotels that were taking up space on the sand with chairs/umbrellas. They're only supposed to put them out when people are using them yet they had them up early morning when no one was using them which reduced the space available to people who walked or drove to the beach. Hope to be back later this year and like every other visit we'll be respectful of the area and the locals and not ruin it for anyone else.

https://news.yahoo.com/house-candidate-jay-chen-under-235526919.html

Watched the 60 minutes interview with Zelenskyy. Definitely recommend it as it made me like and respect him and the people of Ukraine who are fighting more and at the same time feel worse about the invasion. Saw earlier this week that Putin was basically saying only complete victory would suffice or something along those lines. I could see that changing the longer this drags on especially from internal forces in Russia but no idea if Ukraine can hold out that long. Randomly heard one of the morning radio shows talking about Russia committing human rights violations and one of the people on the show said "like it matters no one's going to do anything about it." I realize sending troops or closing off air space could lead to something bigger and I don't want to see that but I'm just not sure what else Russia needs to do to get the world to respond more than they are now.

The cat sanctuary serves a few purposes one of which was to protect the bird and small critter population on the island as feral cats were wiping various species on the island out. Yes we did go and I'm cool with it.

We spent two nights in Hotel Lanai on Lanai in 2019 on one of our Maui trips. Really enjoyed it but it's definitely super laid back while the only other hotel option we came across was the four seasons which at the time was running $1K+ a night. When we arrived our cab driver warned us if we rented a car to watch out for the deer at night and driving back one night from dinner at the Four Seasons out of the corner of my eye I saw a herd of them bolt across the road so I slowed to a stop. One of the days we drove to the other side of the island and spent time there while checking out shipwreck beach. Our cab driver and a few other locals implied that Ellison allowed Hawaiians who own property to continue owning it but it sounded like when he bought the island their rights more or less turned into land lease rights that revert to him if they sell. Still seems crazy to me that someone was allowed to buy a Hawaiian island. That said I know his goal is self sustainability for the island and it sounds like he's done the island well but I'm sure plenty of Hawaiians aren't happy a rich Haole bought it.

I stopped getting frustrated with or disappointed in the Angels years ago. It's made it a lot easier to go with the flow of whatever happens over a 162 game regular season. They'll have plenty of hot and cold streaks while hopefully towards the end of the regular season they've had more of the former and are playing meaningful games.

The worst is the triple threat - the old Asian female driver.

I agree with others who said this was likely done as a favor. He wasn't going to be getting regular playing time and I hadn't heard about him pouting like Pujols before he got DFA'd last year but I'm sure he wants a chance to start. Considering they're still paying him I'd rather have him as an option off the bench or when someone gets injured but I can't fault him for wanting regular playing time or for the Angels DFA'ing him. Looking forward to seeing what Adell and Marsh do this season.

Clearly real men slap other grown men on awards shows. There was nothing manly about what Will Smith did when he hiked up his skirt to go on stage and slap Chris Rock. If he had an issue with it he should have taken it up with him after. If he's so concerned about people commenting on him and his family perhaps he and his wife could stop oversharing every little detail about their marriage and their kids with the public.

I posted like half a second after you. Well played.

As Russian's invasion of Ukraine has unfolded I keep thinking of Operation Odessa that I watched a year or two ago. No doubt it was embellished but at the same time there's certain aspects of it that no one denied or disagreed with. When the Soviet Union fell anyone with enough money could buy tanks, other weapons and apparently even a Soviet submarine if they got in touch with the right person, usually a general or someone higher up in the military. Anyways I've always just assumed even now that the Russian military is ridiculously corrupt and it wouldn't surprise me if high ranking members have made themselves wealthy at the expense of their army. Also wouldn't surprise me if they thought they had things locked away for years or even decades that were sold off a long time ago.

Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins dead at 50 https://consequence.net/2022/03/foo-fighters-drummer-taylor-hawkins-dead/

I definitely won't miss Hill in the AFC West but KC got a ridiculous return for a WR. Like you said I'm sure as a fan of the team it sucks but he wanted top receiver money while he's 28 and known for his speed more than anything and that's usually the first thing that starts to go. He's still in his prime don't get me wrong but he's not built like the type of top receiver who usually has success in his early 30's. He has his ring and wanted to get paid while his best option for that was somewhere else as KC's window with Mahomes could be the next decade plus and they need to take that into account with other players they sign, trade or let walk ala NE during Brady's tenure. As a Broncos fan I'd much rather see KC paying Hill ~25M a year into his early 30's while the smart business move was moving him especially considering what they got.

I just read that GB was willing to pay Adams what the Raiders did but he wanted to move on so I’m assuming Rodgers knew. Wouldn’t put anything past him but for a guy who has already made over $250M from playing alone you would think winning another championship would be priority number one. GB has 4 of the top 59 picks and 11 in total heading into the draft so they have options but replacing Adams or just getting a legit WR isn’t a given especially as most of the FA options have signed. They play in a weak division and maybe they can take a chance on a guy like OBJ who may not be ready at the start of the season.

Adams traded to the raiders where he signs a 5 year 140Mish contract. AFC west looks to be pretty stacked on paper. Guessing Rodgers regrets signing his extension but at least he’s rich. I’m guessing GB acquires a WR via the draft, FA or trade before the season starts. Might have gotten one in the trade for Adams no details yet.

I don't disagree with anything you've said about him. Unfortunately though it seems like his administration really had few solutions for anything going on before he was elected and to make matters worse he's now dealing with Russia invading Ukraine and inflation that's hitting 40 year highs and looks to be headed even higher. As you said there's no magic bullet for some issues but his administration definitely hasn't done anything that instills much confidence. I'm glad we got out of Afghanistan but logistically that was a massive failure. This is what we get when people just wanted the other person out of office. Hopefully for the 2024 presidential election the main candidates aren't bat shit insane, completely full of crap or too far right/left but we'll probably end up with Newsom vs. DeSantis as we continue to circle the drain politically.

Fuck cancer. Sorry for your loss.

I'm in the same boat as Don. I was going to say real life is the biggest reason my interest has decreased over the years but I still make time for the NFL even when my team isn't competitive. 2002-2009 as an Angels fan we were definitely spoiled while they've made the playoffs once since 2010. Following a team that has more or less been out of the playoff hunt when the last month or so of the regular season rolls around has made me less interested over the years. It's been like Groundhog Day where the Angels miss out on SP in the off season, some fans say wait until the trade deadline then when the Angels miss out there they say the cost was too high wait until FA or the off season for trades, rinse and repeat. More power to you for being optimistic but ownership/management doing the same thing repeatedly after trying to say the right things doesn't give me much faith. Add to that a 162 game regular season that lasts half a year, a sport that to me is boring on TV and the current lock out and I'm closer and closer to MLB being like the NBA for me which I have no interest in for other reasons. Hopefully that changes but if not I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it.

Don't worry Edison and PG&E have been hard at work figuring out how to get more money out of people who use solar panels https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/story/2022-02-03/california-utilities-commission-wont-vote-on-controversial-rooftop-solar-bill-until-further-notice

Spoke to someone who is originally from Poland it was cool to hear what businesses and individuals in Poland are doing to help those who are fleeing Ukraine. He said he's never seen anything like it as far as people coming together and the lengths they're going to trying to help. Kudos to Russia for being the asshole the world needed to bring people together.