The Bloated Pig - A Place for Weary Flingers Page 2299
  • 153759 Comments
  • @Kathy @SweetP -- Identity theft is a total disaster even if you think your identity is not worth much. Someone stole HWDNF's SSN, probably during 12 hrs he spent in the hospital a couple of years ago. They used it to open up several Verizon accounts. Verizon was perfectly happy to open multiple accounts for the same name and SSN but different addresses on the same day, and perfectly happy to report them to the credit reporting bureaus when they weren't paid. The credit bureaus were just as happy to list all these different addresses and accounts as delinquent and trash our credit rating. All of this without contacting us. Getting his credit rating restored was a real headache. Getting fraudulent info removed from your credit rating is extremely difficult, and neither Verizon nor the credit bureaus take any responsibility for the error, because the law does not make them responsible for such obvious mistakes.
    Oh yes, Verizon continues to send us letters encouraging us to switch our phone and internet to them!
    @SweetP -- Let me join you in a whine, or maybe something that releases more aggravation. How about splitting a bunch of boards with a karate chop? (Not that I've ever done that.)
  • @SweetP -- Have you ever been on the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road between PCH and 101? Wikipedia says it's one of the best motorcycle roads in CA. HWDNF really enjoyed driving his car on it.
  • lol, apparently the Obamas bought a house in Asheville, NC (about an hour from me) and plan to live there after he finishes his term. Asheville property values are already ridiculously high. I wonder what an ex-presidential mansion will do to them?
  • @SweetP, so you have 6 neighbors that you could team up with and fund installing a wireless security camera above the mailboxes. Split 7 ways, it shouldn't be that expensive. Just a thought.
  • @fenikus @SweetP You can also get nice dummy security cameras for about $8

    http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=dp_brw_link?ie=UTF8&node=14241441

    A real mailbox security camera w/DVR is like $500
  • @fenikus I love the dummy cameras that follow you as you walk around. My buddy has them all over his warehouses. Even knowing they're fake, it's really creepy. btw, those Pet Naturals treats? The cat ones say "For geriatric or retired cats" Guess I'd better sign Swipe up for social security. :D

    @Kathy You mistyped Mumsie42's name on your @dmsral nominations, so I guess nobody saw it. I added my vote, though. so it should be OK now.
  • @Kelani, did Patty like them?
  • @fenikus yep, after the half-second sniff test. They're so tiny, I think she swallows them whole. :)
  • @SweetP I agree with @Kelani. It wouldn't be difficult or expensive split seven ways to install if you have electricity available and possibly some sort of utility pole or streetlight close by. And putting a visible video camera pointed at the mailboxes would be a great help in catching the ignorant kid that's stealing your mail. I say it's a stupid kid because no organized crime perpetrators are going to spend the time required to open a group of locked mailboxes while exposed to pedestrians or traffic. Even putting a fake camera pointed at them will probably stop the thefts. It's worth a shot and very inexpensive. Putting up a fake camera is a lot cheaper than one of those expensive locking mailboxes. The irony of it all is that there's very little personal information, and even less cash or checks, coming through the US mail anymore. What's the point of the crime? Again, it must be a stupid whippersnapper. Why commit a Federal crime for so little potential gain? Good luck with the idiot.

    Sorry I missed you @JLZ666. I haven't felt well enough to fling much but I was here while you were. I just was busy flinging for a change. We've got a new flinger in Space, @Romo, that thinks he's better than me and I needed to school him a bit. He's played all of Space and sez he's going to input all his scores when he gets back from vacationing at the beach. I hope all his scores are as good as Beak Impact part one.

    Just for the record, I haven't watched the Shield or the Wire and it's also hard to watch the news these days. It's more biased opinion than news. I wish they would just give us the facts and let us make up our on minds as opposed to misleading "sound bites" and "sensationalized news" for the sake of ratings. I'm definitely not the demographic they're gunning for.
  • @Rat tried BBC news? It's not nearly as bad as what the networks have become.
  • I watch PBS newshour. Or listen to NPR. BBC is certainly less sensationalist, but hardly unbiased.
  • No, but that's a good idea @Kelani.
  • Same here @fenikus. Coupled with the Wall Street Journal and my own perusal of the web.
  • I also enjoyed CNN when it first started. I loved the immediacy of it before they became a ratings chaser. I can't stand it now.
  • @mumsie -- Why didn't your name come out in blue in post above?
  • @fenikus yeah, they're destined to become like all the rest. What I mostly like is how they act like a filter because most of the crap stories US networks use to fill airtime is beneath their radar. PBS/NPR are also good, but they're not immune to sensationalism, either.
  • There is a lot of spectacular coastline in that area @Mvnla2. Looks like you found a beautiful piece to call your own for a week. I'm jealous.
  • @mvnla2 awesome pics :) Sounds like you had a great time. I love those long stretches where nobody lives. CA having those emergency phones every few miles is a nice touch, too. btw, mumsie didn't work because of the "(" touching "@ " Stick a space between them to fix it.
  • While unsuccessfully trying to figure out who Fergusson in Nacimiento-Fergusson was, I came across several reviews of the road, which HWDNF thought was great, and many flatlanders think is worse than the worst roller-coaster ride. It is super curvy and well paved, even if there is no centerline, since you drive more or less in the middle except when passing or on blind curves, of which there are a lot.
    BTW -- Nacimiento means something like nativity in Spanish, and was apparently given to the location by early Spanish explorers, who were there near Christmas.
  • Forgot to mention that staying in that house checked off an item on my bucket list (staying in a house on the Pacific Coast with a spectacular view).
    @Kelani -- CA may have emergency phones along a lot of highways (are they still there???), but not on roads like Nacimiento-Fergusson, which doesn't even rate a county road designation. The gps complained the whole time we were on the road, even though it was by far the most direct route to the tiny town we listed as our destination.
    On the other hand, the gps redeemed itself by directing us on a detour around a bad accident in I-5, north of LA.
  • @Kelani -- I'm just quoting the web "experts."
    We went close to Buttonwillow on our trip, so I just had to look up Dogpatch, which is a neighborhood in San Francisco, as well as the location of Lil'Abner. FYI -- Something like "from Dogpatch to Buttonwillow" was part of an ad or song some years ago.
  • @mvnla2 the "experts" were right. I just didn't know that word existed in Spanish too. :) Wow, you have quite a memory. I have a song in my archive: George Bruns/Phil Bounds(Phyllis Detiege) - the Man from Button Willow. It's marked as a soundtrack, so it may be from a movie or something.
  • Eddie posted a screenshot for his 96,800 HH1 score. Looks like a legit miracle shot to me.
  • @rat I'm probably going to miss you again as I'm popping due to a much needed clear out of paper work in the study. I'm a shredding demon tonight! Hubby has shouted at me a few times already for almost losing important papers....oops :( Anyhoo I hope you're at least enjoying the flinging and not doing it because you feel you have to? Which you don't btw. I'm pretty sure you can bat off his scores with your eyes shut when you're in full flinging mode. Just don't want you to overdo it while you're still a wee bit out of sorts. I don't blame you for avoiding the news,I'm getting quite good at picking what I do or don't want in my life. It's probably not the right way to live but honestly? I'm sick of feeling sad and anxious and at the moment there's so much pain and worry in the world. What good does it do me to constantly worry about things that are out of my control when all I'm trying to do is get on with my daily life? So yeah,I'm more "ostrich" than I used to be but I've also got more going on in my own life.
    Good grief sorry about that! Haahaaaa! I was on a roll!
    @kelani yep we heard about the guy who played Julien...yikes! Thanks for the info about the extras,I didn't know that. To say it was uncomfortable working conditions for everyone is an understatement ;) I'd forgotten about Dutch....thanks for the reminder ;(
    @mvnla What a wonderful vacation! One of my bucket list trips is a Cali road trip and you've just strengthened that desire. I've been to Cali twice when my Mum stayed there and yep,when you come from a county that can fit into Cali 3 times then we are indeed amazed at the open spaces!
    I'd better go as my mind is starting to wander into holiday mode and I only came downstairs for a ciggie!
  • Jeez I can ramble on
  • @JLZ666 -- If you want suggestions about what to see in CA, and fun roads to drive on, just let me know. I assume your idea of a fun road includes lots of twists and turns, steep drop-offs, and generally a road you don't want to drive on when it's dark or raining (forget about snow, it would be impossible and probably closed).
  • OK, all Europeans who want a glimpse of an unusual place in CA -- See the teaser video at
    http://www.angrybirdsnest.com/rovio-to-sponsor-the-course-of-the-force/
    The distances shown in video are totally unrealistic, since the distance from SkyWalker Ranch to the Santa Monica Pier is about 400 miles by the most direct route, which is definitely not that shown in the video. Check out the location at about 3min 50 sec. This segment was filmed along the Soda Lake Road, which runs ~50 miles through the Carrizo Plain, which is ~100 m north of LA and parallels the segment of the San Andreas fault that runs through the plain. The road is dirt for long stretches, and you might well encounter some Sand People as in the video.
    The following scene shows the hero looking over what is probably a ridge in the Santa Monica Mountains, but you could not see the Santa Monica Pier as shown except using a really big telescope.
  • Has anyone else had any long periods where the catapult won't set off the trigger on TT18? When I got 203k (July 29), It happened dozens of times. Since then, it's happened once. Every shot, the catapult crushes the structure and sticks in the gap left of the big TNT. I may need a new acronym: ROL with O=outcome. :)
  • Haven't a chances too read all the posts..I just skimmed.. gotta go back and see the pics and report @mvnla2 but so far seems like you had a wonderful time:)
    @kelani huh? How could I spell @Mumsie wrong? Thanks for seconding the nomination @dmsral definitely deserves them both.
    Uhmm about Eddie screenshot I would have preffered the 3star screen or one when the damage was done.. that one could easily been photoshopped? But his explanation sounds reasonably and his willingness to post it I gotta believe him:)
  • @Kelani TT-18 is easy if you follow @Kelani's strategy and put a blue on top for the ride. Blue takes out the upper right side and the catapult triggers. But look who I'm telling. You already know it. lol
  • @Rat lol. Well @Kelani's an idiot, 'cause that doesn't work for me anymore. :)
  • Finally we agree on something.
  • That was a little harsh. Bad Rat...Bad. How come you stopped playing TT and BI #2 @Kelani? The only challenge I've had recently is from the new guy.
  • The problem with that approach @SweetP is you don't get the points from what the catapult was sitting on. And the log still has all those lovely yellow points attached to it.

    Edit: @Kelani was referring to the high approach strategy. Where you bust the glass to the left of the catapult and put one blue on top of it.
  • Then, what's the best way to get all those missed points?
  • @Kelani's strategy.

    Edit: Shoot high arc towards catapult and activate late so that the lower blue hits the glass, the middle blue hits something and bounces back to break the glass, and the upper blue goes on top of the catapult all the way to the right.
  • Beautiful pics @mvnla2 :) yep I'm jealous lol.. what an awesome vvacation! !
    Oh yeah @kelani I forget the '42' well I'm sure shell get it . Thanks..
    OB I'll have a a Marmoset killer please. I've picked up a couple points here and there.. not much to speak of. . Very random scoring:^
  • Whaaaaa! I triggered the catapult but it didn't bounce onto the TNT pile!
  • Not quite @SweetP. You want the blue to go all the way to the right on top of the red box.
  • I wish I could take pictures on my I-Pad @SweetP. I can't get to the buttons quick enough with the cover I have on the I-Pad. But after breaking the screen glass three times, I really need that protective cover. It was getting a little expensive. lol
  • Quick pop in, eyes closing, only read this page, @mvlna2 vacation sounds and looks amazing! Don't tell my HWDNF about that road he'd love it!! We keep saying we'll do a west coast US trip one day but would it would take weeks & weeks to do all we want to and can't be away for. My very own Mumsie for that long.
    @SweetP looks like you've have bother with some dumbclucks! Sorry to hear that.
    @rat - delighted you're feeling better enough to do some flinging but don't overdo it (Mumsie sneaks in fast to give a quick ((((hug)))) to her favourite rodent. )
    @kathy - of course your phone could spell @mumsie wrong! We know what it can do!!!
    Hi @jlz & @fenikus and @kelani!!
    Must go - caddying tomorrow for my friend who is in a 36 hole final - no I won't be carrying her golf bag!! Electric trolley for the first 18 and a buggy for the second 18! Hip seems all better now so won't need @jlz666’s gift!
    Nngb @all
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