Odd thing you saw today

[WildaBeast]

Originally Posted by crocoduck_hunter

Sometimes, Amazon recommends books or movies I've already bought from them.

Um, why the heck would I want to buy the same thing twice?

That reminds me, I vaguely remember some snopester complaining many years ago, like when I was still relatively new here in the early to mid 2000s, that Amazon's recommendation algorithm at the time seemed to think there were only two languages in the world: English and Foreign. So because this person bought, say, the French translation of Harry Potter, Amazon thought they might also like the German translation, and the Spanish translation, and so forth. I'm pretty sure they've at least fixed that by now, though.

[ASL]

Originally Posted by RichardM

Head south. Go see the Great Dismal Swamp. With a name like that, it can't really be that bad. Or can it?

I’ve seen it already. Road my bike through it along what was once US 17 (what is still US 17 parallels it) and went clear on to North Carolina. Here’s a picture I took on the other side:



The swamp itself was unremarkable.

ETA: But doesn’t the swamp name sound an awful like like the Swamp of Sadness from Neverending Story?

[Don Enrico]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

Amazon sent me one of those emails with recommendations based on my past purchases. Among the items they recommend is a potty training book for toddlers.

Let's be glad that against common fears, Amazon doesn't know everything about us (yet).


ASL, did you ask North Carolina for a cite? How do you messure "military friendlyness"?

[ganzfeld]

Maybe it's a quote from Sherman.

[GenYus234]

Originally Posted by Don Enrico

How do you messure "military friendlyness"?

Number of Civil War battles?

[RichardM]

Originally Posted by ASL

The swamp itself was unremarkable.

ETA: But doesn’t the swamp name sound an awful like like the Swamp of Sadness from Neverending Story?

I was hoping that it was full of small winding trails that went from high point to high point where people used to live hundreds of years ago.

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

Is NC the state most friendly to the military, or a friendly state that happens to be very militaristic? That motto can be read either way. The sentence division implies the second more than the first, IMO.

Seaboe

[dfresh]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

Among the items they recommend is a potty training book for toddlers.

Maybe Amazon knows something you don't, like an ex was recently looking up your address to deliver a fun surprise!

[Richard W]

I was on a train, and at the table next to mine there were a man and a woman sitting opposite each other, reading identical paperback books. They were both about the same amount through their book as well. The book was called This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay. At first I wondered if they were coming back from some sort of conference and if it was a self-help training thing, but I looked more closely and it was subtitled "The secret diary of a junior doctor", so it wasn't that. Then we stopped at a station and the man got up and got off without saying anything to the woman.

In the resulting reshuffling of seats, the woman stopped reading to let somebody else sit opposite her, so I asked "Excuse me, did you two (gesturing at the man as he walked away) know each other?". They didn't - it had been a coincidence.

[Hans Off]

By all accounts a fantastic book. I’ve heard quite a few interviews that he has done as well, His tales of his encounter with Jeremy Hunt is particularly eye opening.

[RichardM]

I saw a Cadillac SUV today. Not at all remarkable or worth posting in the cars thread. But it had a license plate supporting the University of New Mexico with a license plate holder for New Mexico State University.

[WildaBeast]

Those are rival universities, I take it?

[erwins]

I saw a fairly fat raccoon with no tail waddling accross the street one house down this morning. A tailless raccoon bears a certain resemblance to a koala, at least as it is walking away at an angle. I did wonder where her tail wound up, and how it came to be unattached to her body.

[RichardM]

Originally Posted by WildaBeast

Those are rival universities, I take it?

Most states in the middle of the country have 2 major universities. One is the University of State where law and philosophy are taught while the other is State A&M, the land grant university where engineering and agriculture are taught (to make sweeping generalizations). Other notable examples are Texas and Texas A&M; Alabama and Auburn.

[GenYus234]

Here it is Engineering and Medicine at U of Arizona and Drinking at Arizona State.

[RichardM]

The country is full of "Aggie" jokes. I had to lose all of mine when I married DW as she is a graduate of New Mexico State. Even more so now that she works there.

[Lainie]

Originally Posted by RichardM

Most states in the middle of the country have 2 major universities. One is the University of State where law and philosophy are taught while the other is State A&M, the land grant university where engineering and agriculture are taught (to make sweeping generalizations). Other notable examples are Texas and Texas A&M; Alabama and Auburn.

In Ohio the land grant university -- Ohio State -- does have large, highly regarded ag and engineering programs, but it also has a well-regarded law school. The differences between the two are more in size (OSU is much bigger) and the nature of the campus (OSU is urban, Ohio University is in rural Appalachian Ohio).

[RichardM]

Why does OU (for Oklahoma) have a better football team than OSU?

OU is easier to spell.

[RichardM]

The newspaper was late this morning. Finally a little before 9, I saw it laying in the drive. When I opened it, the headline was very familiar. I had a strong sense of deja vu. It took checking the date on my cell phone and the date of the newspaper. Today is really Friday and the newspaper was for Thursday. I got yesterday's paper again today.

Just proves when you are retired, you really don't know what day it is.

[crocoduck_hunter]

I just saw a guy riding a unicycle in the dark.