What are you doing today?

[JayAgostino]

I’m old enough to remember when it was called Kresge.

I’m so old.

I believe they had one of those stores in my childhood mall. I believe there's even a Sears store there? I'll have to check if it's still open...

 

[Citysnaps]

Hahaha, honestly, I don't keep up with it, but what's the WOTS, Dewalt vs. Makita vs. Milwaukee ?

I think all three are fine brands. Years ago I went Makita 18v Lithium and am completely happy with my drills/drivers, palm router, reciprocating saw (every bit as good as my plug in Milwaukee Sawzall), jigsaw, chainsaw, compact circular saw, vibrating multi-tool, a couple of hand vacuums, and tire pump. Each of those tools has exceeded expectations. My wife has the dust blower (in the photo below with two 5 AH batteries) and she's pleased with that as well after having it for five years - it's super powerful. Though I don't need it anymore, the chainsaw was a pleasant surprise for where we used to live dealing with a lot of trees. Nice not having to mix and store gas and oil - and no gas engine noise.

 

[Herdfan]

Hahaha, honestly, I don't keep up with it, but what's the WOTS, Dewalt vs. Makita vs. Milwaukee ?

All three of those are good brands. Have never had a Makita, but those who have them seem to like them. It's sort of the old Ford vs. Chevy vs. Ram except I can trade my Ford for a Chevy and go about my business. Once you pick a platform and invest in the batteries, you are kind of stuck. I started with the Milwaukee V18 platform and then went to the M12 (which are great for smaller jobs). But when Dewalt came out with their 20V stuff, I had to test drive it with a drill, impact and circular saw. They were OK, but battery life, especially on the saw, was less than stellar.

When Milwaukee came out with their M18 Fuel, I went back and now have way too many to even think about switching. One thing nice about the M12/M18 platforms is that one charger can do either.

But as I mentioned earlier, Milwaukee needs to get into the stacked cell tech sooner than later.

Also, Ryobi is junk. But they do release lots on new tools that forces the others to follow. Can you say battery powered glue gun?

I think all three are fine brands. Years ago I went Makita 18v Lithium and am completely happy with my drills/drivers, palm router, reciprocating saw (every bit as good as my plug in Milwaukee Sawzall), jigsaw, chainsaw, compact circular saw, vibrating multi-tool, a couple of hand vacuums, and tire pump. Each of those tools has exceeded expectations. My wife has the dust blower (in the photo below with two 5 AH batteries) and she's pleased with that as well after having it for five years - it's super powerful. Though I don't need it anymore, the chainsaw was a pleasant surprise for where we used to live dealing with a lot of trees. Nice not having to mix and store gas and oil - and no gas engine noise.

Makita was the first to make 2 battery tools and Milwaukee has just started with their mower and now a blower (Milwaukee, if you are listening we need a dual battery table saw). Was hoping to see the dual battery in a backpack version, but honestly when we move to Arizona, I won't need all the same outdoor power equipment.

I have the M18 Fuel Super Sawzall and it is better than my corded one.

And yes, it is great not having to deal with mixing gas and hoping it will start.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Bins, and paella.

Monkfish and chorizo (aong many other things) paella.

A long, lingering, gentle, puttering around the kitchen, the kind of preparation I like, in other words, relaxed cooking.

 

[DT]

I went standing mode with the desk today!

I haven't done this in a while, like at least like 3 (or more) months. I had a little stall on a couple of things, and figured the new "perspective" might shake things up a little, plus a long, heads down, ass-in-the-chair run over the last 2 weeks, I figured my body could use a little break

 

[DT]

Well, I guess it means they're attempting to deliver it, again, and I'm not sure if it's going to be "as is" (with the damage indicated), or a partial, or a re-pack provided by Walmart, but this is where it's at:

View attachment 15797


(We are pretty far south, not even in Jax, so deliveries originating from there are usually in the late afternoon ...)

It delivered.

First, it wasn't in a Walmart box, it was in a plain brown box with writing in huge letters, DO NOT DROP - CONTAINS GLASS, but that's not the really funny thing. Inside, instead of six 4-packs that look like this:

All the bottles had been removed from the cardboard holder, and wrapped up individually Seriously, each one was so wrapped up, it could probably sustain a drop from 10 feet.

I unwrap, some go in the utility room "beverage shelf", several go into my fridge ... I do a count. Hmmm, do it again, yep, it's only 23 bottles

Hahahaha, since I got my last order of 30 (after the two casualties) for free, maybe I'll just suck this one up.

It looks to me like FedEx opened the original box, removed the one broken bottle, tossed all the original boxes, packaging, OEM holders, cleaned everything up and reboxed it.

Anyway, yay, good ginger beer!

 

[Cmaier]

It delivered.

First, it wasn't in a Walmart box, it was in a plain brown box with writing in huge letters, DO NOT DROP - CONTAINS GLASS, but that's not the really funny thing. Inside, instead of six 4-packs that look like this:

View attachment 15808

All the bottles had been removed from the cardboard holder, and wrapped up individually Seriously, each one was so wrapped up, it could probably sustain a drop from 10 feet.

I unwrap, some go in the utility room "beverage shelf", several go into my fridge ... I do a count. Hmmm, do it again, yep, it's only 23 bottles

Hahahaha, since I got my last order of 30 (after the two casualties) for free, maybe I'll just suck this one up.

It looks to me like FedEx opened the original box, removed the one broken bottle, tossed all the original boxes, packaging, OEM holders, cleaned everything up and reboxed it.

Anyway, yay, good ginger beer!

I love that stuff (the diet variety), though I only have been buying it by the bottle at a couple of candy stores that we wander into sometimes.

 

[DT]

I love a good ginger beer, but like to avoid the super sugary options (and some of them, holy hell, I don't think anyone needs a 12oz drink with 48g sugar ...)

If we are traveling and I'm in vaca-mode, I'll go with a Fever Tree (non-diet). Their low sugar are still pretty high and they're just not that tasty. The two popular brands you see everywhere, Goslings and Barritts, their zero calorie vs. isn't very gingery, and kins of flat. Tried most of them and Bundaberg seemed to be the only diet/low sugar version that had good carbonation, a nice ginger bite, it actually has a little sugar (25 calories / 5 grams), which is why it doesn't taste diet-y.

And that's 25/5 for a 375ml bottle too (the Fever Tree has 10g carbs and is only 200ml ...)

Anyway, that's my excessive ginger beer analysis

 

[JayAgostino]

I believe they had one of those stores in my childhood mall. I believe there's even a Sears store there? I'll have to check if it's still open...

I passed by it while driving to work. Sure enough, it's still open!

This was just one of the photos I took. I'm keeping these "souvenirs" for when the store inevitably closes its doors.

 

[DT]

T has her ortho appointment today to get her mold for braces, she had her consultation last week, everyone gave it the thumbs up (great ortho here in town). I guess I hadn't even considered how the process has been improved, but they basically get a good 3D model of your teeth, design and build the foundations, put those on a sort of transfer casting, and slip them right into place. So it's about 25-30 minutes today, and an hour or so for the install.

... and just going to leave this here

 

[JayAgostino]

This was just one of the photos I took.

Here are the rest of them!

 

[Herdfan]

Here are the rest of them!

View attachment 15838

Does it seem odd to you to closeout air conditioners when we have at least 2 months of heat left? Almost like they are going out of business.

 

[JayAgostino]

Does it seem odd to you to closeout air conditioners when we have at least 2 months of heat left?

Yes, I assume they have a bunch of leftover inventory and aren't receiving any new shipments. Do they even have any distribution centers left?

 

[JayAgostino]

Almost like they are going out of business.

Yeah, I don't know how they've managed to stick around for so long. They've been slowly going out of business for more than two decades now.

When I was about to leave the store, a lost family came through the entrance and were shocked to see that Sears still existed. One of the family members mentioned that they hadn't stepped foot in a Sears store for decades. That place is more of a tourist attraction now. I doubt they even have a single paying customer.

Do they even have any distribution centers left?

Google had the answer to my question. Apparently, this is the only one left!

Kmart Distribution Center in Fairless Hills PA

transformcoproperties.com

They even have their HQ up for sale!

Sears in Hoffman Estates IL

transformcoproperties.com

 

[Herdfan]

Yeah, I don't know how they've managed to stick around for so long. They've been slowly going out of business for more than two decades now.

The sad thing is they were Amazon before there was Amazon. I remember getting the Sears catalog as a kid. It had everything and we made our Christmas lists out of it.

Had someone in management seen online shopping coming, they would be in a great position today.

 

[JayAgostino]

The sad thing is they were Amazon before there was Amazon.

Sears shares a part of its distribution center with Amazon.

Had someone in management seen online shopping coming, they would be in a great position today.

They did, but it was not enough: https://www.sears.com/

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Headed into the farmers' market pretty early this morning, but they had already sold out of eggs by 8.30, they informed me; usually, I phone ahead, but - as I had planned to be in reasonably early, I hadn't thought that would be a problem.

Well, I have sufficient (organic, free range) eggs to see me through the coming week.

Anyway, I bought olives, (kalamata and anchovy stuffed olives), Mozzarella and semi-sundried tomatoes at the olive oil stall.

Organic vegetable stalls saw purchases of onions, new season's garlic, courgettes (zucchini), aubergines (eggplant), tomatoes, cucumbers, French beans, salad greens, and some Italian potatoes. Plus parsley and coriander.

Lemons, pink grapefruit, oranges, cherries, apricots and nectarines were also purchased.

Bread was bought in the French bakery (I had phoned them yesterday), and cheeses in the cheesemonger's.

Two blues: Roquefort, and a new blue from Italy, called BirbaBlu, (a lovely blue that has been soaked in ale); the timeless classic Camembert Rustique; Carre de Brebis from Corsica; Ossau-Iraty, a cheese made from sheep's milk from the French Basque region, and another brand new (somewhat creamy cheese, from Italy) called El novaleson dji Fra Fulvio.

And, as it happens, I still have some splendid Cantal and Shropshire Red.

And I also treated myself to a few lamb (loin) chops from the meat stall (they were already out of chicken by 10.00 am); I have in mind a Greek recipe for them.

 

[Deleted member 215]

I just went on a 15-mile bike ride, including biking through Stanford University campus. And while there, I saw they were spraying oak trees with some kind of insecticide or whatever, and as I rode by I got sprayed with it, on my face and arms and everything. It evaporated very quickly. In either case, if I develop cancer, I know who I'm suing

 

[Herdfan]

What I'm doing tomorrow:

 

[lizkat]

Watching Cleveland (at home) clean Detroit's clock in a 10-0 shutout that just wrapped up.

Guardians just have heads above sea level ahead of he All Star break. Will be quite a grind to a decent season finish...