Recent Comments

1. 15 days ago on Wallace the Brave

   It looks like something from “Clockwork Orange.”

2. 15 days ago on Wallace the Brave

   I did not see the umbrella hat until you mentioned it. My first reaction was a 1980s fitness video host.

3. 25 days ago on Breaking Cat News

   It is a letter substitution cipher. I cannot read all the characters, but I think the third and fourth lines are something about the Earth ending.

   Earth (something)

   Earth ending

   Earth (“finish”?)

   Earth (a different something)

4. 25 days ago on That is Priceless

   That is EXACTLY what my wife would say to me pulling this kind of stunt. Unfortunately, she does not wear glasses, otherwise I probably would have done it a million times by now.

5. 26 days ago on Non Sequitur

   You can be spell out the . as [DOT]

6. 28 days ago on Breaking Cat News

   I think it was a short-lived US television show about a close-knit extended mountain family from outer space.

7. 28 days ago on That is Priceless

   Thank you for the details about the painting.

   The little cushion at the very front made me think it was some sort of sewing device. The pins and needles are stored in the basin and the piece being worked on is pinned to the cushion. That way everything you need is right in front of you.

   19th century ergonomics – at least in my mind.

8. about 1 month ago on Close to Home

   I would not be surprise if MIT has already answered this question. A group of students did a study on the effectiveness of tin foil hats. They used three styles, bowl, cone, and Roman helmet-shape.

   I do not remember which one, but one of the styles actually enhanced the radio waves of a certain wave range that is currently in reserve by the US government for future uses. The students’ conclusion was the US government started the tin foil hat theory in a fit if of reverse psychology to encourage their use in order to secretly test the radio waves “held in reserve.”

9. about 1 month ago on Pearls Before Swine

   Know it well. You are, indeed, stuck in the middle of all sorts of zones that could affect your fuel prices.

10. about 1 month ago on Pearls Before Swine

    I suspect you are either near a major metropolitan area and/or on the cusp of delivery zones between refineries.

    The counties in and around a major metropolitan area have additional fuel taxes for things like mass transit and emission testing. If you are outside that zone, you will not have those taxes as part of the fuel cost.

    Delivery zones are all about supply and demand for that particular refinery providing fuel that that particular station. Also, some refineries receive subsidies for using ethanol in their fuels, which reduces the price as well since most states have price gouging laws prohibiting the oil companies from earning a profit greater than a specific percentage of the actual fuel cost.

    Conversely, some states have laws prohibiting fuel sales below cost. That is to keep the big oil companies from operating at a loss to drive the independent fuel companies out of business since the big oil companies can withstand a profit loss for longer.