The big gap looks like the mortar has just deteriorated to the point that it’s fallen out. It’s not ideal but not necessarily an emergency yet either. Most likely the ground under the foundation has settled a bit. How urgent it is depends partly on whether the crack continues to expand. I would check it every week or two for a few months and see if it gets any wider. You can use a deck of of cards and keep track of how many you can squeeze into the crack. That will tell you if it’s expanding.

I would also suggest making sure you don’t have rain water collecting anywhere next to the house. If you have downspouts, make they’re they’re diverted away from the house as much as possible.

Not nearly good enough to make me give up Quicken but it is nice to see some more self hosted options popping up.

You know, I would bet there’s tens of thousands of Russians that would be interested in having children if they didn’t all have a case of unnecessary deadness. If only something could have been done to avoid that.

Nothing. As far as I know he’s still there. That company was a raging dumpster fire.

Guy in my department strolls into my office and says, “Welp, this is probably my last day working here.” I asked him why he would say that. He sits down and shoves his phone across the desk toward me. I start reading and it’s an email from him to the CEO complaining that our boss is, in so many words, a complete fucking moron.

I finished reading and was just like, “Yeah, you shouldn’t have done that.” I mean, he wasn’t wrong. I agreed with basically everything in his email. He was also right about it being his last day working there because he was fired that afternoon.

"And on the third day, there was a wedding in Cana. Jesus’ mother was there. When the wine was drunk, Jesus’ mother said to him, ‘We’re out of wine.’ ‘Bruh… That’s a big yikes. But why do I care?’, replied Jesus.

Jesus mother instructed the servants, ‘you just do whatever he tells you no matter how stupid it sounds.’ Jesus sighed and turned to the servants saying, ’ Okay. You see those jars? Nope. Not that one. The big ones. Yeah. Those big ones over there. Go fill them up with water. All the way up. Then take some of the water and give it to the host."

The servants were more than a little skeptical but shrugged and did as they were told. When the host of the wedding feast tasted the water, it had become wine. And the host exclaimed, “Damn! That is some good shit. Where did you get that from?” And the servants were amazed because they knew from where the wine came.

And the servants implored Jesus, 'Do it again! No, wait. Can you make something stronger this time?"

– The Gospel According to [Skibidi] John

I’m an American but I remember talking to a gentleman from Belgium years ago while visiting Muir Woods. He said something along the lines of, “You all have some of the best national parks in the world. You should be very proud of them.”

That conversation gave me a new appreciation for our national parks. We are fortunate to have some pretty amazing scenery in the US.

I prefer the council/manager scene myself, although that’s probably less common.

Manual transmissions are operated almost entirely by “feel”. Once that sinks in, it’s a lot easier.

If you can, go find a quiet street, parking lot, or any place with an incline. Practice stopping in the middle of the incline and taking off without stalling. Don’t stress out when you inevitably stall. You will and that’s ok. If you can master starting on a hill, you’ll find that the rest of it comes a lot easier.

With the transmision in 1st and your foot on the brake, release the clutch very slowly until the engine starts dragging just a little. Slowly take your foot off the brake. You’ll know the clutch is in the right spot if it keeps you from rolling backwards. At that point, start to accelerate and let the clutch out slowly. Continue to accelerate and up the hill you go.

Don’t hesitate to hit the brakes at any time if you feel like you’re going to roll backwards. Better to stall than to roll back into someone behind you. Depending on the gearing, you may be able to start in 2nd and that will keep you from having to worry about shifting in the middle of the hill.

Don’t panic. Learning is good. If someone gets upset with you because you’re inexperienced and stall out then screw them. They should try to remember what it was like to learn how to drive. It just takes practice, practice, and more practice.

Probably because old habits die hard. Kaspersky used to have a pretty good reputation as far as AV software. In the past, I used TDSSKiller to resurrect many PC’s where other antivirus software failed.

Unfortunately, the whole Russia being a malicious actor negates any reasons to continue using Kaspersky.

That’s still a thing although it’s a dated practice and I only ever see it in very specific formal situations (wedding invites, obituaries, etc.)

President Convict also had their top general assassinated which did not exactly help diplomatic relations.

I’ll have to show this picture to my toddler because what will happen is she’ll get excited and say, “Daddy, I see moon! I see moon!” It’s so cute.

Nice shot(s)!

Shot myself with a BB gun when I was a kid. Not intentionally. I shot at a tire filled with concrete because I was being an idiot and it didn’t occur to me that the BB would ricochet off the tire. I would have shot myself in the face if not for my left middle finger being in exactly the right spot. I still have the scar as a reminder.

Remember kids, BB guns are firearms and firearms deserve respect.

I’ve had a Phillips Sonicare for years with no complaints.

Tools. Usually on top of a step ladder. It happens when I’m working on a project and I have to get down for some reason. I think, “I’ll just leave this [hammer, screwdriver, drill, etc.] up here for a second. I’ll totally remember it’s there.”

To the surprise of no one here, I do not remember. Until I go to move the ladder and get clobbered with said tool. I’ve gotten a lot better at just taking everything down with me. 🤷‍♂️

Not so much what I did as what I didn’t do. I was picking up a birthday cake for one of my kids and I was standing in line behind a lady who was obviously doing the same thing. Based on her appearance and the fact that she was fumbling through her wallet while on the phone with the bank, I got the sense that she was a little short on cash.

Something told me I should go ahead and pay for her cake. I could easily afford it so why not? For whatever reason I chickened out. I don’t know why.

I left there with my kids birthday cake, feeling very ashamed of myself. It was a small thing and yet to me it was a serious moral failure.

Neither AI nor OpenAI’s management are capable of understanding irony.

I think there were some legitimate concerns about the potential nuclear threat as well as uncertainty regarding Russia’s actual capabilities.

Now we’ve seen that Russia’s claims don’t hold any more water than a strainer, the west should be more aggressive with its assistance. The Ukrainians have already demonstrated that they are not just going to take it laying down and they’re the only reason Russia hasn’t moved on to invading other former Soviet states. I think we owe them all assistance we can give.

“Softly” by Gordon Lightfoot is one of my favorite songs. On the surface it appears to be about a woman but I don’t think it is. I was listening to it one time when it just popped into my head, “Holy shit. He’s talking about the moon.”

I thought about writing him to ask if I was right and I kind of regret that I didn’t while he was still alive. The man was a poet of highest caliber. If you like or can at least listen to folk music, the album “Gord’s Gold” lives up to it’s name.