SDHokie

but it doesn’t capture the descent into madness of the final guys and the movie ending was too Hollywood.

That is a historic bed ****ting for the ages.

Saint-Béat. The last time, the stage started in Loudenvielle and ended in Plateau de Bielle. I don’t think I could complete this ride through the Pyrenees in a month.

That’s why Slot is unemployed.

Incredible.

They secured 17th place for the second season in a row as their Captain Romero is an ocean away in Argentina supporting a team he actually cares about on the day his team is playing for their survival. Great sign for next season. Was it only five years ago Tottenham thought they could be part of some sort of European super league? Ha, no. I can’t believe CC isn’t an Mikel Arteta fan. His fixation on defense and possession to the exclusion of offense is very reminiscent of CFB. As someone who started following Arsenal in 2005, I have to say I never thought I’d see the day we’d win the league. North London forever, whatever the weather. These streets are our own.

next season. Seriously. 115 charges.

It’s says “At this spot the 77th Infantry Division lost a buddy.”

Money talks. Loudly. The league is incapable of policing itself.

It seems like all the OCO sites I worked at were built to withstand/survive another Khobar Towers, not Shahed drones. I hope calmer heads prevail and all sides stand down.

And I was paid to do vulnerability assessments for utilities at US Navy facilities in Bahrain, UAE, and Djibouti.

sobering. The BEQs are heavily reinforced. Everything else, not so much.

made. I always ask the drivers what they think of BYD and they all say they love them.

Easy to spot the high drivers: they’re the ones going 30 in a 55.

decimated by layoffs. Maybe it’s not a great idea to let a handful of billionaires control all of our media.

Absolutely stunning city that is ridiculously cheap by European standards. I think it’s a lot more interesting than Prague, especially if you’re into WW2 or Cold War history. Would dovetail nicely with a trip to Vienna.

owned, and that includes an >$9,000 Liebherr that was otherwise amazing. I moved to rural France five years ago where appliance repair techs don’t go, so we got a huge, beautiful Falcon by Rangemaster w/o a water dispenser or ice maker. It is the only refrigerator I have owned in my adult life that hasn’t had a single issue with frost, frozen vegetables, ice build up, etc. I just make ice in ice trays old school style.

Nice remix of DvD in his prime.

From the Guardian’s live coverage: The Village People’s show-closer: “And finally, here’s the Village People, a band one is minded to tread carefully around these days, their singer Victor Willis having threatened to sue anyone who suggests their song YMCA is a gay anthem. Clearly it isn’t: what could be more innocent than a hymn to young men simply enjoying each other’s company, doing whatever they feel and hanging out with all the boys, unencumbered by the distracting presence of women; the fact that YMCAs were so notorious as cruising spots there are literally academic books devoted to the subject being entirely coincidental? And furthermore, nor was the rest of the Village People’s oeuvre, including Macho Man, Hot Cop, Fire Island and I’m A Cruiser. Let us pause for a moment and consider how terribly frustrating it must have been for the Village People to have their work so consistently, inexplicably and cruelly misinterpreted.

Ministry of Fear was excellent. I had previously read The Quiet American, Our Man in Havana, and The End of the Affair, all of which I would recommend. My wife and I spend a lot of time in Antibes where he lived. His grand nephew works in a bookshop there and recommended the biography of his partner Yvonne Cloetta. Greene was an interesting guy (former MI6). He also wrote the screenplay for The Third Man which is one of my favorite movies.

giving me the attention span of a five year old on Cocoa Puffs. Here’s what I’ve read so far: - Prophet Song by Paul Lynch - The Passenger by Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz - The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt - Unruly: the Ridiculously History of England’s Kings and Queens by David Mitchell - The Reformatory by Tananarive Due - Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler - In Search of a Beginning - My Life with Graham Greene by Yvonne Cloetta as told by Mary-Françoise Allain - Facelessness by Imre Kertész - The Ministry of Fear by Graham Greene - The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig The Prophet Song and The Reformatory were the highlights for me. The less time spent doom scrolling on social media, the better.

If you have to go back to Riverside, take a few days, head east, drive up US-395 to Tahoe, and tell us what you think of California.

Spuds last trophy was the Carabao Cup (i.e., the League Cup) in 2007-2008. Tottenham last won the FA Cup in 1990-91. Arsenal has won is nine (9) times since then. Tottenham last won the League title in 1961. Arsenal was won it six (6) times since then. Arsenal has won the double (FA Cup and League title) three times, something Tottenham has never done. You do recall you finished 17th place last season?

Emirates was great. Qatar was ridiculously great, but your trip is another level.

I live between the two in the Pyrenees in France. We spend a lot of time in both cities but we always take out of town guests to San Sebastián because it’s way more interesting/memorable and the food is absolutely incredible. Bilbao is an easy day trip from San Sebastián and has a fantastic museum.

Nip and tuck battle between the 16th and 17th EPL teams who each have the same number of wins over EPL teams this season (4) as PSG does in the Champions League (4).

One of the better hotel window views I’ve had.

All four VA and MD senators voted against the 2024 FAA reauthorization bill over safety concerns about too many flights into and out of DCA. Feel horrible for the families and the recovery teams who have an unspeakable task ahead. (Edit: Will, after posting this I hope it doesn’t run a foul of the no politics prohibitions. It wasn’t intended to be political, just to note there were concerns about air traffic at DCA before this incident). ** Edited by SDHokie at 1/30/2025, 10:10:00 AM

CA wildfire fire? If not, then stop offering advice about something you know nothing about because you read some posts on Facebook. I lived in San Diego from 1999-2019. I lived through the 2003 Cedar Fire (273,246 acres burned) and the 2007 Witch Creek Fire (273,246 acres burned). I doubt most of you have any appreciation at all for the topography of the areas affected or the incredible speed with which these fires move. This isn’t like a hurricane where you have warning days in advance before you have to evacuate. My wife and I took turns sleeping in 2003 and 2007 so someone could watch how close the fires were getting to us on TV. The winds that drive these fires are near hurricane speed and they accelerate as they blow through canyons. Fire crews try to build fire breaks but we watched in horror in 2003 as the Cedar Fire lept over I-15 aboard MCAS Miramar and towards our house. These are literally fire gales. People 5-8 miles away from the current fires in LA report phone book sized chunks of burning debris landing in their yards. Regarding prescribed burns, do you actually think that the US Forest Service and Cal Fire hasn’t thought of that? “Hey guys, GSOHokie01 has some unique ideas about fire and land management we hadn’t considered!” They’re are multiple problems these organizations have to consider: - the acreage we’re talking about is enormous. - decades of drought have created an unprecedented amount of dead and diseased trees and understory. You do not appreciate how many acres of fuel we’re talking about. - that drought has also made the trees vulnerable to invasive species like bark beetles, creating even more fuel - once again, you cannot appreciate the topography of these areas unless you’ve been there. California makes extensive use of fixed-wing and helicopter water drops because most of these areas are inaccessible to firefighters. When the wind is blowing at near-hurricane speeds, guys with shovels aren’t going to create firebreaks. So what does this mean? Cal Fire and other agencies have stopped doing control burns because they have no confidence they can actually *control* the burns they start. - Lastly and most importantly, developers keep building houses further and further into wildfire-prone areas that cannot be defended and protected. Most of the California wildfires this century have the exact same cause: trees or other debris gets blown into power transmission lines in backcountry areas, starting huge fires. Part of the reason electricity prices in Cali are so high is because PG&E and SDGE are paying billion dollar settlements for previous fires they caused through negligence to maintain clearance around their transmission lines. As for water management and protection of endangered species like the Delta Smelt, that has absolutely, positively nothing at all to do with these fires or the ability to fight them and I challenge EDGEMAN or any other poster to provide evidence from anyone other than known hydrology experts like Joe Rogan or Brian Kilmeade to demonstrate otherwise. Why were some of the hydrants dry during the LA fires? Once again, look at the topography. You have to pump water up to the elevation where the fire is. LA has more than enough water. They do not have the pumping or conveyance capacity because it wasn’t reasonable or practical to assume that you’d simultaneously have massive fires on three sides of the city. Please don’t believe a word I say. I only did potable water system planning for Navy and Marine Corps installations in California for two decades while the company I owned prepared Integrated Land Use Management Plans for the same installations. You’re much better off believing @jewscontroltheweather on Twitter.

You will probably have to have an account with a local bank for rent, utilities, healthcare reimbursement, etc. Changes to US banking laws requiring overseas banks to report accounts of US citizens has meant a lot of banks don’t want US citizens as customers because of the extra admin hassle. Just be aware opening an account in country with a local bank may require more effort and legwork than what you’d expect. You’ll also want to maintain some sort of US address, even if it’s a friend or family members’ house because opening any sort of account or credit card with a US bank is basically impossible for US citizens overseas without a US address. You’ll also want someone who can forward important mail to you as this is really expensive to pay USPS to do.

Retiring overseas in no way affects your US citizenship, US voting rights, or requirement to pay US taxes. As others have noted, there are many online resources for retiring overseas, whether temporarily or permanently. International Living (see link below) is a good place to start and has lots of useful information. Big things to get smart on are: - Visa Requirements. This is the most important and the one you have to be sure to have sorted out. It was easy for me moving to France because I’m also a Hungarian citizen and therefore have EU citizenship. We had to get a residency permit for my wife but that was automatic (as automatic as French bureaucracy can be) because of my EU citizenship. Many countries have special visa programs for US retirees. You typically have to demonstrate some level of income/wealth. Again, you want to be certain what the requirements are and do what you have to do before you arrive. - Healthcare. Uruguay is supposed to have excellent healthcare for South America but you definitely want to do your research. We had to carry private health insurance to get my wife’s residency permit until we got covered under the French system, which is AWESOME. Reduced healthcare cost is one of the primary benefits of living overseas. Again, since health care is sometimes tied to the visa, do your homework. - Taxes. It is a really good idea to find an Uruguayan tax accountant or similar who is familiar with tax requirements for US expats. You have to pay US taxes wherever you live in the world (unless you renounce your citizenship). Some countries like France have a tax treaty with the US so we essentially pay no French income tax. Some countries or regions within countries like Spain have a wealth tax where you have to pay an annual tax on your worldwide assets, not just capital gains. This is why my wife and I love Spain but will only love it for about 181 days each year. - Housing. Very important to figure out where you want to live and what it’s going to cost. It is a really, really good idea to take a couple trips and figure out what city and neighborhood within a city you want to live in before you sign a lease. Transportation is super important and if you need a car, investigate what’s required to get a license. I, a filthy California socialist, actually moved to Texas before we left the US because you can exchange a Texas drivers license for a French one, thereby avoiding the painful and expensive French driving exams. Depending on where you are in country, there are sometimes firms that specialize in taking care of all of these expat relocation details for you (for a fee of course). Aside from that, good for you and good luck. We absolutely love the adventure of living overseas. There are headaches and frustrations to be sure but we love it.

They don’t make em like KK anymore.

No Rice, Ødogaard, Merino, or Califiori and Arsenal still wins.

We live in a rural part of France that doesn’t have dog washes. We have a 120lb lab and bathing him in the house isn’t an option because it’ll take 30 minutes to clean him and two hours to clean the bathroom. We bought a cheap inflatable kiddie pool for baths that was like €10. Amazon sells the same pool with a paw decal on it as a “dog pool” for something like $40.

stunning. The only drawback is 8 hours of Kansas.

This isn’t the first time the site has choked on game day.

an illegal took my job.