I flew to Germany in the late 80s seated in the "non-smoking" section. The next row was filled with people chain-smoking their way across the Atlantic. I really don't miss that.

I watched a recap on YouTube before watching Stranger Things S5e1. This was very helpful because I had forgotten so much of what previously happened. youtu.be/-PY2CFzEvf4

Mama's Pizza on Rice Street in St. Paul has been hit by cars at least twice in my memory. Now there is a large (at least 2' x 4') concrete planter box on the sidewalk acting as a bollard. I don't know how well it is anchored or if simply the weight is intended as protection.

Allowing belly rubs is a sign of trust in their human. Not every cat allows it and only select humans are permitted. It is a high honor.

Lacking opposable thumbs makes it hard for cats to type.

I had a colleague once who mentioned offhand that he played jazz in clubs. I looked him up and found he had won a Grammy. When asked WTF he was still working as a computer consultant, he replied "Do you have any idea what jazz pays?"

The Riverview uses real butter on the popcorn. They also have special events like the annual LoTR marathon where they show the extended versions of all 3 LoTR movies back to back to back.

Some of the authors I follow have no use of AI in their contracts. This could legally impact their publications.

We deep-fried a turkey and learned the hard way to keep the size down so it cleanly fit in the pot. Also, that thing has to be totally defrosted and dried off.

There is a scene in the movie "Margin Call" where one executive calls his boss to get him to return to the office at 11pm. Boss says "put it in an email". Exec says "I don't think that would be a good idea". Boss says "I'll be right in".

Tea-based advent calendar