The Random Thoughts Thread

[azgreg]

I don't want to adult today.

[UAEebs86]

I don't want to adult today.

Take a number

[Chicat]

I don't want to adult today.

Take a number

Taking a number sounds suspiciously like adulting.

[MrMeow]

Can anyone recommend the best credit card that offers points towards free air travel. There seems to be so many of them. Air travel would be primarily on American, btw.

Sorry, didn't know where else to put this

[Chicat]

We’ve only had Chase Sapphire so I have nothing to compare it against but we did use it for flights and hotels on our trip last March to Arizona. Only had to spend eleventy bajillion dollars to get a couple free tickets and nights!

[azgreg]

We use a SW Airlines Visa. Our round trip tickets to Miami last summer were covered by points.

[cpt]

Why doesn't anyone sell a thermostat for the shower? You set the temperature, the water turns on and then beeps when it hits your temperature. You get in. It adjusts if necessary to maintain the constant temperature.

Million dollar idea.

[gronk4heisman]

Can anyone recommend the best credit card that offers points towards free air travel. There seems to be so many of them. Air travel would be primarily on American, btw.

Sorry, didn't know where else to put this

I use the AAdvantage, it does have a $99 fee but I got it waived the first year. We also use it for a business which makes the $99 fee worth it so it may not be worth it with the volume we use it at. Not sure if it is worth it as a personal card, but it definitely racks up the miles and status way faster than flying.

[MrMeow]

Can anyone recommend the best credit card that offers points towards free air travel. There seems to be so many of them. Air travel would be primarily on American, btw.

Sorry, didn't know where else to put this

I use the AAdvantage, it does have a $99 fee but I got it waived the first year. We also use it for a business which makes the $99 fee worth it so it may not be worth it with the volume we use it at. Not sure if it is worth it as a personal card, but it definitely racks up the miles and status way faster than flying.

Thank you. What personal expenses count for points? If good for points, I would charge everything on it: mortgage, food, gas, utilities, insurance ... everything I could. Also, are the blackout dates excessive?

[gronk4heisman]

Can anyone recommend the best credit card that offers points towards free air travel. There seems to be so many of them. Air travel would be primarily on American, btw.

Sorry, didn't know where else to put this

I use the AAdvantage, it does have a $99 fee but I got it waived the first year. We also use it for a business which makes the $99 fee worth it so it may not be worth it with the volume we use it at. Not sure if it is worth it as a personal card, but it definitely racks up the miles and status way faster than flying.

Thank you. What personal expenses count for points? If good for points, I would charge everything on it: mortgage, food, gas, utilities, insurance ... everything I could. Also, are the blackout dates excessive?

All expenses count for points, some count for additional points based on promotions (like restaurants 5x or hotels). I have not had any blackouts date issues ever so I can not comment on them or if they even exist, you just have higher points needed for tickets on certain flights. I definitely get upgraded a lot with the card and get premium seats that come with free premium drinks which more than make up for the card fee among the other features.

[UAEebs86]

Can anyone recommend the best credit card that offers points towards free air travel. There seems to be so many of them. Air travel would be primarily on American, btw.

Sorry, didn't know where else to put this

Here's some good resources:

https://thepointsguy.com

https://www.doctorofcredit.com

Look for a nice big sign on bonus. You will have to charge everything to it for a few months to make the minimum spend.

We have the Capital One Venture X, and had AmEx Gold until they jacked the annual fee up to $325, so downgraded to Green.

A lot of the cards with annual fees give you enough travel credits to pay for most of the fee. Venture X is $395, but you get $300 travel credit, they will pay for TSA Pre-check or Global Entry, etc.

We have tons of points but haven't cashed them in yet, so I'm no help there as to which card is best. Trying to get two lie flat seats to NZ/OZ at some point.

Clark Howard who gives financial advice on radio/TV/podcasts says most of the airline cards aren't worth it unless you live in one of that airline's hubs.

[MrMeow]

Can anyone recommend the best credit card that offers points towards free air travel. There seems to be so many of them. Air travel would be primarily on American, btw.

Sorry, didn't know where else to put this

Here's some good resources:

https://thepointsguy.com

https://www.doctorofcredit.com

Look for a nice big sign on bonus. You will have to charge everything to it for a few months to make the minimum spend.

We have the Capital One Venture X, and had AmEx Gold until they jacked the annual fee up to $325, so downgraded to Green.

A lot of the cards with annual fees give you enough travel credits to pay for most of the fee. Venture X is $395, but you get $300 travel credit, they will pay for TSA Pre-check or Global Entry, etc.

We have tons of points but haven't cashed them in yet, so I'm no help there as to which card is best. Trying to get two lie flat seats to NZ/OZ at some point.

Clark Howard who gives financial advice on radio/TV/podcasts says most of the airline cards aren't worth it unless you live in one of that airline's hubs.

Thanks, Eebs, I'm trying to get as much free travel on American as I can. I live in Greensboro NC now, and American flies out of here. A friend in Sacramento highly recommends the Southwest card, but I would have to drive to Raleigh (over an hour) to fly with Southwest. The Citi AAdvantage card shown on one of the sites you included looked great until I read the comments. Citi seems to decline people with great credit regularly with no reason given. I don't need the hard pull facing that b.s. I'll keep looking, but many thanks for the information.

[azgreg]

My dog said my wife didn't feed her.
My wife said she fed her.
I don't know who to believe.

[Chicat]

I tend to believe the dog. Why would they lie?

[Merkin]

But them both in the trunk of your car until the perp fesses up.

[azgreg]

Getting ready to go into the Sphere

[Chicat]

Getting ready to go into the Sphere

Please tell me that you have mushrooms and when they are about to kick in.

[Merkin]

The Sphere Experience with Darren Aronofsky's Postcard From Earth: An event that takes place on Friday, March 1, 2025 at 11:15 AM and 1:45 PM


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjgnniAi1r0

[azgreg]

Just payed $19 for a 19oz Blue Moon

[azgreg]

Just payed $19 for a 19oz Blue Moon

And another

[Chicat]

Just payed $19 for a 19oz Blue Moon

And another

I appreciate you supporting my client, but goddamn! That’s a pricey beverage.

[azgreg]

It's 4:00 and my wife is hammered.

[azgreg]

Just payed $19 for a 19oz Blue Moon

And another

I appreciate you supporting my client, but goddamn! That’s a pricey beverage.

It was a great fucking show.

[UAEebs86]

It's 4:00 and my wife is hammered.

Greg's getting lucky tonight hammered? or Greg's helping her throw up and put her in bed hammered?

[Merkin]

It was a great fucking show.

So you went to TJ not LV?

[Chicat]

It's 4:00 and my wife is hammered.

That 4:07 post coitus cigarette must have been epic.

[azgreg]

It was a great fucking show.

So you went to TJ not LV?

We saw the Postcard From Earth show.

[Carcassdragger]

Another Sunday of worrying what disarray, dis -functionality, threats, and ineneptitude I'll find waiting for me tomorrow at 6:30 am.

[azgreg]

Had my first post 60 physical. I'm now on Tamsulosin for my prostate, Lisinopril for hypertension, and Atorvastatin for high triglycerides. Also got a blood pressure machine for dailey testing.

[dovecanyoncat]

Had my first post 60 physical. I'm now on Tamsulosin for my prostate, Lisinopril for hypertension, and Atorvastatin for high triglycerides. Also got a blood pressure machine for dailey testing.

Read up on proper protocol for taking your own BP at home. It's kind of a pain to do it right. They almost never do it right in the Doc's office. And be careful at first on the Lisinopril. Might make you light-headed standing up quickly at first. Muscle cramps and brain fog can come with the statins. Get to the gym old man!

[84Cat]

You might consider reducing your saturated fat intake as well as strength training and zone 2 cardio. Potassium can help lower your BP

[Merkin]

Get to the gym old man!

I know that Greg is a young pup, but for those on Medicare, like myself, many plans offer free gym memberships. My plan offers Silver Sneakers which I recently signed up for and started going to 24 Hour Fitness this week.

[CatsbyAZ]

When receiving work emails addressing me as "Mr" it's easy enough to respond in kind. But for responding to women you never know whether it's Ms or Mrs.

Could a way around this be M(r)s?

I've never seen this done before.

[gouacats]

I've always heard that Ms. is safe for either. That being said, I try to avoid using salutations if at all possible.

[Chicat]

I thought it was Miss that was the safe choice.

Ms. - Unmarried Woman
Mrs. - Married Woman
Miss - Woman

But fuck the patriarchal salutations. Use their first name.

[Merkin]

I've written thousands of emails at work, and generally always used their first name. Even the campus president told me to use his first name.

But in official correspondence, it was always Ms. unless they changed their preferences online to Mrs. or Miss, although don't recall ever seeing Miss.

[azgreg]

Is bitch out of the question?

[CalStateTempe]

I hate time changes.

I don’t care which, just pick one.

Going on day two of zombiedom and my kids have been up to “10:30” the past two nights.

Dog still waking up at 5:30, albeit it’s 4:30 with my internal clock.

Fuck agricultural tyranny
We are all messed up.

[Merkin]

I hate time changes.

I don’t care which, just pick one.

Going on day two of zombiedom and my kids have been up to “10:30” the past two nights.

Dog still waking up at 5:30, albeit it’s 4:30 with my internal clock.

Fuck agricultural tyranny
We are all messed up.

We did vote to keep it all year round. https://calmatters.org/politics/capitol ... alifornia/

But Congress has to get involved, and they would rather be in keeping Freda off the girl's badminton team.

[Chicat]

The trick is agreeing which time we all like. If you live in the north you may have a different answer than if you lived in the south. And there would likely be different answers whether you lived in the east or west portion of the time zone.

For instance, I’m on Central time but just about 30 miles east of me it’s Eastern. The sun goes down at relatively the same time. In eastern Indiana that’s at close to 10pm but where I live it’s close to 9pm so while I like that it may be too late for people in the east and they may want to have it be like the winter timing. Conversely, during the winter the sun sets at 4:00pm for me and 5:00pm for them, so I’d rather have summer hours where it would set later.

[gouacats]

Lack of DST is one place where AZ wins!

[CalStateTempe]

Agree gouacats

[dovecanyoncat]

Is bitch out of the question?

Preceded by Yo.

[CalStateTempe]

Question for the BDW brain trust:

Someone has my same legal name. They recently emailed me asking me to change my email that I use for all professional communication because they got two errant emails intended for me. Basically the vendor messed up and left out a letter, that distinguishes our two emails.

Basically I responded saying not possible overnight as I’ve had this email since 2004. Also asked him why I should do a the non-specific AARP mail that gets sent to me on his behalf.

Did I handle this correctly?

[dovecanyoncat]

Could it be an identity theft scam set up?

[Chicat]

I would have said sure… for a price. Like with player numbers in sports. You want to be #24 that bad? Pay up.

[CalStateTempe]

lol, love it…that will be my rebuttal

No there really is this guy with the same name, form the globe side of the family tree. I’m the bisbee side.

Two Italian bros came over in The late 1800s, had a falling out over some old world stuff, we we really don’t know the globe side at all.

[UAEebs86]

I bought the domain myfirstnamemylastname.net years ago and I use it for my e-mail address. The .com was already in use at the time.
Later, myfirstnamemylastname.com became available and my domain provider offered it to me. I went ahead and bought it as well.

Later, someone with my same first name and last name who was a lawyer sent me an e-mail saying I needed to prove I had a right to that domain. I told him it is my legal name. He said OK, then I asked if he wanted to buy it. I think I sold it to him for like $250.

[UAdevil]

I'm still waiting for some UW football fan to buy www.firejeddfisch.com from me.

[Chicat]

I'm still waiting for some UW football fan to buy www.firejeddfisch.com from me.