Jon in Pasadena
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Posts posted by Jon in Pasadena
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Quick update... After spending much of my summer with my family blowing cash (the American dream!), I spent the past month or so scouring the local dealerships for bikes. After feeling comfortable, I plunked down on an 07 HD Dyna Super Glide last weekend. I spent the past week getting myself accustomed to the weight and power of the bike. After about 15+ hours, and about 25 miles of figure-eights, starts, and stops all under 10mph, I finally ventured out onto the road this weekend. I'm absolutely hooked. It's pretty wild driving on a bike on the road. I'm still puttering around town on a familiar route, which is OK, but I'm way more confident now than I even was a couple days ago. I really enjoy riding within my limits, and I enjoy practicing that slow stuff because that's what will make me a good rider. Thanks for all the advice earlier this spring in this thread. As for the fat guy on the bike, my bike is a little bigger and my ass is a little smaller than that example above!
If I may pass along one bit of wisdom that was given to me by the guy who taught me to ride..
The most dangerous time for new riders is after you've been riding about 6 months. Your skills and road experience will be quite a bit higher by then, and there's a natural tendency to relax your guard a bit. That can be fatal. In my case, right on schedule at the half-year mark, a snot-nosed kid in his Civic crapmobile shot out from a side street and made a left in front of me without looking, at the perfect point where my sight-line was blocked momentarily by a parked van. I steered to avoid him, and would have just missed the rear of his car if he'd kept going, except of course he slammed on the brakes mid-turn. That was 28 years ago, and it taught me a very important lesson: always reduce speed whenever your sight-line is blocked, even for a split-second. I was lucky, but many other new riders are not.
Good luck and keep the shiny side up!
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The point was that it's a scam, the point was how easy it is for such scam artists to get tax exemption status.
Thank you. I'm amazed (and a little bit scared, frankly) that this point wasn't obvious to everyone.
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"Giant Pacific octopuses have huge, bulbous heads..."
Hey, they have something in common w/DCTom!
I was more referring to the part where they grow up to 30 feet arm-span and 600 pounds, but your point is good too.
Ha! I bet it was! We never did see quite how the starfish did it. We woke up in ghe morning and Mr. Anemone was gone to that gr8 dinner plate in the sky... Or Davey Jones' Locker, whichever you prefer.
Wonderful, priceless creations of God! The octopodes that is...
Trust me, you do not want to see how a starfish feeds on its victim....
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omg....I'm so glad octopuses are small. Those things are nasty.
Some are chameleons, too. They can change color to blend into any background.
The ocean is a scary place.
Oh boy, are you gonna hate this
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My younger son just read a "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" story, where the family is on a road trip, and while they were staying at some low-rent motel Rodrick accidentally mixes up the room safe and the microwave. Maybe it was something like that.
Ok, that was wrong. Very wrong.
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I lived in Altadena for years and it wasn't all that special. Being the second or third white family in an all black neighborhood wasn't that much fun. Although having said that the foothills are beautiful. I'm sure it has changed since the 80's but back then,,,? Not so much. My next door neighbor was an ex bank robber who had his legs shot off in a police shoot out and was a crack dealer. But I still enjoyed every conversation I had with him. A very poetic man given all his challenges. I loved East LA actually, my wife taught school there and I loved the Mexican culture and still do.
Ah. Well, I've never lived in Altadena, though I have friends there. There are some real nice pockets.. .and some less so. A lot has changed since the 80's in the foothill communities. (I'm not in Pasadena anymore either, but still close enough that I didn't bother to change my handle.) Personally, I love being 5 minutes from hiking in the mountains, 45 minutes from the beach, an hour from skiing. My commute is an 11 mile motorcycle drive over a scenic mountain pass. San Diego is also great, and only a couple hours drive. We just went down there last Saturday and hung out with friends. Ever been to Asti's in the Gaslamp? The kids liked the food, which is always a plus!
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John Oliver is pretty funny, but aren't televangelists a passe target? I don't think anyone's eyes are going to be opened by an expose on televangelists. Jim and Tammy Fay pretty much blew the lid off all that 30 years ago.
The point of JO's show was that today they are, contrary to what you might expect, still alive, kicking, and draining lots of fools of the little resources they have.
Maybe the IRS could tighten up the parts of the tax code that deal with "churches" just a wee bit without causing a massive collapse of society...?
If stupid people want to waste money then good for them. I can't blame someone for knowing how to take advantage of the dumb for some money. That is what life is about.
Yeah, and the really awesome part is laughing at the lame fools who're gonna end up paying for the dumbfolks' medical care and other life expenses after they've given all of their $$ to the hucksters!
Wait, hold on...
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All of the beach communities that are located in LA county probably. Anything east of the coast in LA is a nightmare IMHO
I live in the foothills, and it's great. What's all the nightmarish stuff that I'm apparently missing?
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This older woman once told me this.
"Think of a broom. A 20's something can sweep. But an older broom has experience and can sweep just as good."
That's why I will take the older woman over the annoying 18-20somethings any day of the week.
I'll keep that in mind next time I want to !@#$ a broom.
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Is your poultry purveyor called a cockmonger?
Naw, you want to go down to the Mission for those.
Or not.
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Probably. Maybe you should brush up on the PIT maneuver, and use that next time.
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Just to be clear, I USED TO masturbate. Years ago. Like 8 years ago. Just dont feel like it.
You dumped... your hand?
Did you man up and tell it directly, or just "un-friend" it on fb?
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My youngest started today too. No reports of bears.
Just wait until the PE teacher has a few too many nogs at the Christmas party and starts dancing around shirtless.
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How long before this thread gets me to open up old enviro movement wounds. Bears never use to wonder into towns when there were open dumps around... They hung out there! Or taking picnic baskets against The Ranger's wishes...
Gotcha by a half a minute and a post!
Great minds are in tune.... and so are ours.
Finish in May?? When did all this happen?
I think every state is racing every other state to graduate their seniors earlier and earlier to give them some kind of competitive edge. I figure it's only a matter of time before they lap themselves, and we end up right where we started, Sep - Jun school year.
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Damn school starts early these days. Those poor teacher.
Yeah, but they finish in May. Or did you mean early in the a.m?
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Until the bear ate them all.
Well, I left work to go get mine and saw him safely home, but I can't vouch for the rest.
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First day of the new school year, and my younger kid is trapped at elementary school because a bear wandered down out of the mountains and was cavorting around the perimeter of the campus. All the "walk-home" kids were made to wait in the cafeteria until someone showed up to get them.
It's gonna be that kind of year.
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Follow W.C. Fields' budget:
1) Spend half on gambling, alcohol, and wild women.
2) Waste the other half.
YouYour friend will be rich in life experience. -
I just learned how to say "Holy !@#$!" in Mandarin.
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Next person that talks about "the good ol' days," I'm sucker punching.
Arguing with bills fans on DK Valentine's old BBoard; amber monochrome text, blinking cursor (block OR underscore, yay choices!), 9600 baud if you were lucky, no graphics. Man I tell ya, those were the days!
/ducks
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Crab QB, you say?
Good lateral movement. Not sure if starting material, but probably will work in a pinch.
John Oliver on scummy televangelists
in Off the Wall Archives
Posted · Edited by Jon in Pasadena
EDIT: In my reply to TRBJ, "this point" refers to the point TRBJ is making. Sorry if that was unclear.