The Very-Many-Questions-Not-Worth-Their-Own-Thread Thread XXXVIII

[aimeeandbeatles]

The setup tjs282 is showing is neither complicated nor expensive, so if you really want to make your own wine, you could do it.
Might not be the very best one though.

I don't want to try for myself. I was just curious because of the discussion in one of the other threads about banning tobacco/alcohol.

 

[The_J]

Yeah, I somehow thought so ^^

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Should I put all the loose cat fur into the garbage or the compost?

 

[Commodore]

Why is highway piracy not a thing? I mean, there are vast stretches of highway here in the US that semis frequently travel and they are relatively unpatrolled by law enforcement. Seems like a situation ripe for shipments to be hijacked left and right, but it doesn't happen. Or, at least, we never hear about it happening.

 

[Synobun]

Seems ill-advised. A semi will win any confrontation with another vehicle. If you block the road, you have to contend with other traffic. And the truckers themselves have access to a CB radio which can inform all truckers in the area of their dilemma.

I feel like there's significantly less risk involved with just robbing the warehouse it came from or where the product is going to.

And it might be tough to fence an entire shipment's worth of goods in a way that doesn't attract undue attention. If an organization is robust and wealthy enough to be dealing with the risk of a shipment hijacking and it can handle the influx of a shipment's worth of product, it seems like they'd have much better sources of revenue to dip their toes in than highway robbery.

 

[Zkribbler]

Should I put all the loose cat fur into the garbage or the compost?

I was told never to put animal wastes into a composter.

Why is highway piracy not a thing? I mean, there are vast stretches of highway here in the US that semis frequently travel and they are relatively unpatrolled by law enforcement. Seems like a situation ripe for shipments to be hijacked left and right, but it doesn't happen. Or, at least, we never hear about it happening.

This was the plot of the original The Fast & the Furious, i.e. it's hard to stop those darn trucks.

Plus, the truckers have radios on which to call for help. and I'm sure today's trucks have GPS trackers.

That having been said, I think you may be onto something. If I ever return to the US, I'll take up a career in truck piracy.

 

[Commodore]

Plus, the truckers have radios on which to call for help.

For this particular point I'd say jammers are relatively easy to purchase or make nowadays so it could be easy to stop them from calling for help.

And it might be impractical to go after semi trucks, but there are smaller targets to go after. For example, my father is an expediter who just drives a cargo van. That would be much easier to stop and rob, especially since most cargo van expediters don't run with a radio. Hell, you could probably even target people driving U-Hauls just trying to move their household goods across country to a new house.

I feel like there's significantly less risk involved with just robbing the warehouse it came from or where the product is going to.

I don't know. A lot of these warehouses invest pretty heavily in security, mostly because they don't trust their own employees.

That having been said, I think you may be onto something. If I ever return to the US, I'll take up a career in truck piracy

Look me up if you do. I do have some insider information by virtue of my father's employment that could allow us to be rather successful.

 

[Synobun]

Should I put all the loose cat fur into the garbage or the compost?

It's pretty late to be doing it, but you could just distribute it outside for birds to pilfer for their nests.

I don't know. A lot of these warehouses invest pretty heavily in security, mostly because they don't trust their own employees.

That is true, although even with better security it ends up being a known quantity. Shifts are relatively static because whoever's in charge of security is lazy (which I'm sure you have experience with), and a building stays where it is.

There is a fulfillment center for a telecom down in Seattle that has three guards, and the shift hours haven't changed for as long as I've known someone working there (~2 years). One guy in the security room, one on the inside, and then one in the shipping bay.

And I used to know someone who worked in the security business before transitioning to insurance, and they had experience with 5 different job sites. Same deal: no change in shifts, same routes and routines.

Not to say it's easy, of course. If it were, I imagine it'd happen a whole lot more. But I guess my point is that if you're capable of hijacking shipments on an open road, you're probably just as capable, or more capable, of tackling a warehouse.

 

[Commodore]

It's pretty late to be doing it, but you could just distribute it outside for birds to pilfer for their nests.



That is true, although even with better security it ends up being a known quantity. Shifts are relatively static because whoever's in charge of security is lazy (which I'm sure you have experience with), and a building stays where it is.

There is a fulfillment center for a telecom down in Seattle that has three guards, and the shift hours haven't changed for as long as I've known someone working there (~2 years). One guy in the security room, one on the inside, and then one in the shipping bay.

And I used to know someone who worked in the security business before transitioning to insurance, and they had experience with 5 different job sites. Same deal: no change in shifts, same routes and routines.

Not to say it's easy, of course. If it were, I imagine it'd happen a whole lot more. But I guess my point is that if you're capable of hijacking shipments on an open road, you're probably just as capable, or more capable, of tackling a warehouse.

True. Security guards are usually found wanting. I know from experience. However it's not necessarily the guards I'm worried about. It the other security measures I'm worried about like cameras and access control systems like badge readers and such.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

Stopping a vehicle is fairly challenging to start with. Stopping a vehicle that would make it worthwhile, in a location that would allow time to do the deed, would require a level of inside information that is also difficult to come by. And a location that is remote enough to make it possible means that the escape routes into the safety of anonymity are long. Long distance in a stolen semi is not an attractive prospect.

Go watch some Fast and Furious and ponder this a bit more.

 

[Commodore]

And a location that is remote enough to make it possible means that the escape routes into the safety of anonymity are long. Long distance in a stolen semi is not an attractive prospect

I feel like this could be mitigated somewhat through bribery. I know that a lot of drivers in this type of work aren't exactly happy with their level of compensation and might be susceptible to taking a bribe to not report the theft until you are long gone.

I'm thinking you don't have to steal the whole truck either. Either bring a smaller vehicle with you and just take what you want and leave the rest, or bring your own semi and hook the stolen trailer up to your truck.

Or maybe don't even steal anything at all. Do what the Taliban does in Afghanistan and just make truckers pay you to pass through your impromptu toll station.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Why is highway piracy not a thing? I mean, there are vast stretches of highway here in the US that semis frequently travel and they are relatively unpatrolled by law enforcement. Seems like a situation ripe for shipments to be hijacked left and right, but it doesn't happen. Or, at least, we never hear about it happening.

Looking into new career opportunities?

 

[Commodore]

Looking into new career opportunities?

Maybe...

If I were to get into crime though, it would probably be money laundering. I am going back to school for Accounting after all.

 

[Arakhor]

As interesting as this discussion is, let's not advocate criminal activity, thanks.

 

[Synobun]

As interesting as this discussion is, let's not advocate criminal activity, thanks.

And you think to call yourself part of the dremora.

 

[Arakhor]

Ah yes, but I don't practise as a morally bankrupt warrior-demon here at CFC.

 

[Valka D'Ur]

The new versions of Parent Trap and Freaky Friday are far better than the originals.

No, they are not. But I suppose there are now grown adults who have no idea what the contraption is in the scene with the electric typewriter in the original Freaky Friday, or how to use the phones that Hayley Mills used in The Parent Trap.

The same can be said of Beauty and the Beast.

What about the TV series? It's the same name - totally different concept.

Marketing, esp name recognition. People are more comfortable shelling out $ for something they're familiar with.

True. I have all 36 editions of Fantasy Mosaics, and am currently working my way through Pixel Art (the 12th edition of that came out yesterday). Park Ranger 9 was surprising in that we learn a new fact about the pov character, and I'm a bit steamed that it looks like there might not be a Cruise Director 6 this year (made by the same company that does Park Ranger and Christmas Wonderland; there are some characters that cross over among all three games).

I wonder if Cruise Director 6 isn't coming out because the Captain's wife found out that he's been inviting the cruise director out on dates during and after the latest voyage in the 5th game, and she did something to him?

There's a possible hook for a fanfic, since I've already been working on one for Park Ranger and intended to eventually incorporate the other two games since they have characters in common (it's bizarre to see one of the couples originally introduced in the cruise game show up at a Rocky Mountain campground still wearing their fancy cruise duds, and the mom in Christmas Wonderland and Park Ranger shows up on the very fancy cruise ship in the jeans and arrowhead necklace she wears in the other games).

How possible is it to return developed areas to a natural or agrarian state? Like, if we bulldoze a suburb and uproot all the cement, does the land actually heal? What about New York City?

Would underground infrastructure (cables, pipes, sewage) have any long-term effect, or can we just ignore them?

Of course underground infrastructure has a long-term effect. Yes, the land will heal, but it might take a century or two, depending on how contaminated the developed area is.

If you leave an open container of grape juice sitting on the counter long enough, is there any chance it'll ferment and turn alcoholic?

Yes, and it will be disgusting. Keep grape juice refrigerated, unless it's grape pop. In that case, refrigeration isn't necessary.

 

[The_J]

Has anyone ever seen Heavy Metal style greeting cards?
Bern googling for a bit now, but cannot really find anything suitable.
(Not a birthday, but a PhD defense, so kinda needs to be generic; could be band-themed though)

 

[Lemon Merchant]

I have seen greeting cards based on art from the movie Heavy Metal. Notably the flying '59 Corvette dropped from orbit, but I've never seen greeting cards of heavy metal bands before.

As far as I know, the movie themed ones are all collector's items now.

 

[Synobun]

You can actually make custom greeting cards online for, like, $10. About the price of a Hallmark card.