GJ you two. Mighty big of you, visiting other people's countries and wilfully showing poor manners. You seem so proud. Represent your country well.
So you follow every single societal norm, every where you go, at all hours? You must be the most amazing human on earth.
It was hot. I'm not going to dehydrate. I'll be sure to ring you up before my next trip so I can have your input.
The catch in Japan is that it's not socially polite to walk around with drinks, you're encouraged to hang out at the vending machine and finish it off right there. Of course, taboos be damned, we had cheap electronics stores to explore.
Yeah, and they enforce it by not having recycling bins or trash cans ANY WHERE except right by the vending machines, yet somehow there isn't litter all over the place. When I was there it was incredibly warm and humid, so I'd walk around with a bottle of water or whatever just to stay hydrated, despite the lack of manners it displayed.
In fact, I am typing this post on the rotated screen right now.
No wonder your post looked sideways.
What about those of us without houses?
Those without houses are just SOL.
Mine, built for less than $4500.00 with used junk off ebay is better than MOST smaller commercial theaters. Do I get 1st run movies? Nope and dont care either. I have better popcorn, better sound, FAR BETTER picture, and I can pause the movie if I want.
Yeah, there are a LOT of used projectors on ebay for only a few hundred dollars. If you have a house with an extra room, get one of those, some surround sound speakers, some chairs from Ikea, and run it all off of your laptop and you're getting 99% of the theater experience without the overpriced, crap junk food or the rude patrons.
Go somewhere else then, seriously. Most often it's the small, independent, or even budget theaters that actual treat their patrons nicely.
+1 to this. I rarely see first run movies anymore, just because it's expensive and annoying to fight the crowds, sit through the commercials, and all of that garbage. My local independent theater shows movies a few months after they originally come out (I can wait), and will also run older films and cult classics (I've been able to see Blade Runner and Star Trek II there).
The best part is that tickets are only $3, they have real food available if you don't want popcorn, and they have beer. They limit the previews to 5 minutes, and don't show commercials.
It makes Regal (and whoever else operates the big chains these days) seem like a bunch of jerks.
Wow, I just want to comment on how nice it is to see someone who actually understands how water rights in the west (which is much more arid than the eastern US) work.
I work in a related industry and it's not often that people understand why water rights even exist, or how they operate. I'm with you on not totally agreeing with how it works, but from what I understand, many places are allowing the collecting of rainwater by residents now, because they realize that it probably won't impact the recharge rate of the local aquifers. If I have a 55 gallon bucket hooked up to my gutter at my house that I use to water my plants, I'm not doing much harm. I just don't think they want to see expansive rainwater harvesting system constructed that could divert serious quantities of water.
All the rest of what Starbucks offers is just so much pretentious bullshit.
You haven't SEEN pretentious until you visit a Stumptown coffee roasters in Portland, Oregon. You can choke on the skintight black jeans and irony just stepping into that place.
I've moved to using glass for food storage. Although heavier, it's chemically safer since it's non-porous, and much easier to clean.
See, I still store food in tupperware, but will only reheat in glass containers, or microwave-safe plates. Does simply storing food in the containers contaminate it with BPA, or does the heating process do that?
Will health insurance companies reimburse people for Wii purchases?
Ha, doubtful. I just shelled out nearly two grand for a new bicycle setup, which I probably get more benefit from in an hour than a whole day of playing some Wii Fit game, and I couldn't get one red cent back from my health insurance company for that type of purchase.
Even my "health savings account", which I put money into beyond my normal insurance payments, won't even cover the purchase of health equipment. Sure, you can buy prescription sun glasses with it, or pay your co-pays with it, but buy something to help actually get and stay healthy? Forget it!
My parents tell me the Tri-state tollway in Illinois (built in the 1950s) was sold the same way. It's still toll today.
That would be frustrating. If something is built with a toll system to pay for it, you should be able to call a number (or visit a website these days) and see how much is left to pay off.
The only other reason I could think that a toll is still levied is that it continues to pay for maintenance. In that way, the people who actually use (and wear down) the road are responsible for paying the upkeep.
Here in Oregon, the Astoria-Megler bridge connecting Oregon to Washington was a toll bridge for a long time. They finally removed the toll booths sometime in the 90's and made it free. You can still see marks where the booths were though.
fortune: cpu time/usefulness ratio too high -- core dumped.
