tnguy

I am certain that it will be cut and censored so much that it ruins the feeling. I would never watch something like The Walking Dead on network TV and have come to avoid most movies there also after seeing many of my favorites butchered.

  +1. Have one and it's a lot nicer than the old gas one. Besides avoiding the agro with starting, there's also less agro with stalling when it gets tangled. Just bought an extra battery though as it doesn't last quite long enough.

  Keep ethanol gas away from those things. Biggest killer of engines (especially two-stroke) I know of.

  Very much this. Consider also storage space for your gear. For two people, you'll want either a 3 or possibly 4 person tent.

I've had good luck buying memory off ebay for older systems. Great way to get a bit extra life from them.   An important factor in how much memory will help is which OS you are using. I'm guessing you're probably on XP so 4GB should be good but 7 really needs 8GB to be comfortable.

The theory was that the CJD was the human version of BSE. I think the fear was that after a couple of cases of CJD had shown up, that the necessary mutation to cross species had already occurred at some point and it could potentially be widespread in the population. Of course, as said, it appears that never happened and more than likely it was a bunch of doomsayers looking to build their empires larger. Take it for what you will :)

Apparently the UK was gearing up for a full-blown outbreak. Obviously it didn't materialize.

I recall reading that one of the factors in a pandemic being overdue is simply that we have adopted much better hygiene practices. Simple hand washing helps prevent a lot of transmission. Add into that improved communications and if any mass infection starts to occur, transmission opportunities will be cut-down almost overnight. It could still get bad but we are not likely to see anything extremely gruesome in the west again. Though something like CJD is still a threat as it lies dormant for a long period.

Open box doesn't often mean broken though. You do have to watch what you're buying though. I got fed up of replacing hinges on the cheaper Toshibas and Compaqs so started going Thinkpad.

Have a couple of the aquatainers on standby because short-term outages are not that uncommon. I have a couple of large barrels as well (one of which is destined for rainwater) but I haven't had the time to get those set up properly. (I really should just go ahead and fill them with water and worry about getting fancy later). I think there's definitely a lot to be said for the aquatainers due to the portability. I think this is another area where a diverse strategy is a good idea.

I had my eye on a laptop from one of Newegg's marketplace providers but it's out of stock. Closest price I can find elsewhere is about equal to the price from them *including* tax. Bummer. I ended up ordering a manufacturer refurbished one from ebay for cheaper and will spend some of the difference upgrading to match the specs.

  Well, they are. Illegal immigrants but still.

Crosswalks are really a mess here. Though I like right turn on red, it complicates things when pedestrians are around. In the UK, at a zebra crossing, the pedestrian is supposed to wait for traffic to stop and the traffic knows it is supposed to stop. I see a lot of confusion at the few non-intersection crossings here.

Of course, you could always be the kind of dad that annexes a portion of your child's bedroom for your own pet project http://metro.co.uk/2013/07/27/man-builds-fully-functional-boeing-737-flight-simulator-in-his-sons-bedroom-3900819/

  When you shape up and get that job and change in those ways, you'll want better than her anyway. End it now. She won't change and you'll be in misery forever, especially if children start to come into it. Seen it happen more than once.   (Edit: A little late to the party. Didn't realise this thread was so long)

Cables are always a good buy. Probably not as fun as what you're looking for.   Maybe this?   http://www.ebay.com/itm/QZO-Funny-Cute-USB-Humping-Spot-Dog-Toy-Pet-Christmas-New-/141304423323?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item20e666639b

Indeed, one cannot simply mow down pedestrians (unless you're really really sure no one is looking ;) ) but the question is who is to yield and two contradictory statements were offered, the first a "FTFY" to TMF's statement, the second one apparently backed by law. I was simply pointing out the contradiction.

They have discovery flights out here in Dickson but I'm sure you'd prefer something closer.

Could you be a little more specific? That's a wall of text and the most relevant thing I saw at the very top was simply the second quote he made (which states that pedestrians should yield to traffic in unmarked intersections).

I'm not a big fan of such things but it does seem like it's one of the least-worse approaches I've seen.

      So which is it?

  Anyone likely to get caught in this road block should print this pdf out and hand it over when stopped. Possibly also with a copy of that pledge they're supposed to say when joining up.

  "Something has to be done"? Worst justification for an action ever.

He's got a pen. It's probably a red pen so he can draw another red line.

Yep, you'll also need to bring your friendly neighborhood FFL to do the transfer.