Useless Conversation

[Father mike]

Wait, that's for the movie?  I saw part of that clip over my daughter's shoulder yesterday and thought it was for some shitty WB series.

[HaemishM]

It is for some shitty series on DC's streaming service.

[Khaldun]

Fuck Batman!

[Soln]

That’s some hard hitting YA drama rite ther.

[Signe]

DC streaming service?  What's that?

[HaemishM]

DC Universe

[MisterNoisy]

I have no idea how they haven't just given the creative reins over to the people responsible for their animation.  DC has good stories to tell, but outside of projects like Constantine and the Nolanverse Batman stuff, they've cocked everything up when they try to take it to the big screen.

[Yegolev]

Survived Duck Tour.  We were talking about the deaths while waiting for our turn.  I've done more dangerous things.  Presumably I'd have enough time and sense to grab a vest, with the worst part being the likely loss of my new iPhone and some potentially un-uploaded photos.

The Duck Tour was underwhelming (to me).  Probably should have visited the Bill & Melinda building instead.

[Yegolev]

Going to Iceland for a week in February.  Suggestions welcome.

[Chimpy]

Going to Iceland for a week in February.  Suggestions welcome.

Dress warm?

[Teleku]

Going to Iceland for a week in February.  Suggestions welcome.

It's awesome.  I went there in December two years ago.  It was just for a few days while I was on my way back to the US to pretend I like my family, but was a great time.  Where all will you be going?

Biggest thing I can tell you (Which you probably already know) is that your daylight will be severally limited (in December the sun was coming up between 10 and 11, and going down between 2 and 3) so look up your exact daylight hours and plan appropriately.

Gullfoss is super impressive and worth a visit.  The golden circle in general is fun, but that was the only thing that really impressed of the things we visited on it.

Edit:  Oh, also, its almost as expensive as Norway (Which is worst in the world).  Be prepared to get a kick in the balls wallet every single time you go out to eat/drink for the night.

[Yegolev]

There is too much to do, which is what prompts this post.  We have gotten as far as looking at all the things.

I expect it will be about the same temperature as Krakow, but more wind, so the clothing bit is done.

Good tip on the expenses.  I suppose I will finally spend cash for ISK, just not in EVE Online.  I assume they have modern things like ATMs and cell service.

[IainC]

I expect it will be about the same temperature as Krakow, but more wind, so the clothing bit is done.

There is an unbelievable amount of wind. There's practically no vegetation taller than grass so there's no windbreaks outside of the cities, and the sea means there's an effective fetch of about a thousand miles. You will be walking practically doubled over if you are going into the wind.

[Teleku]

The weather there is CRAZY.  The hotels made jokes about it, which I took as the standard sort of boasting nations makes to tourist about how unique their country is.  But its true.  Walking outside for a few hours, it went from Sunny, to snowing, to hail, to a blizzard blowing snow sideways, to sunny, to rain, to... you get the point.  I am not even slightly exaggerating.  It has the the craziest weather I have ever seen anywhere on the planet.  Literally can shift to something totally different every 10-20 minutes.

Reykjavik is a super nice little town, but you quickly see all there is to see after a day or two.  Based on my experiences just hanging there, and talking to friends who’ve traveled more, I recommend you try to tour around the island, staying at different locations and seeing all you can at all parts.  I know this is dependent on how long you will be there, but renting a car and road tripping around the island seems to be the best way to go.

[Yegolev]

The best way to go anywhere is to have a guided tour. Planning, and executing the plan, is not fun. I don't even drive myself on business trips anymore.

No Saturday flights mean we will have a short week and we are thinking about a few 3-day options that should hit the major points such as nearly dying on top of a glacier and nearly dying in a volcano, perhaps with a visit to a deadly black-sand beach.  We could also stay in a ramshackle cabin or a clear plastic bubble.

Initially I had the idea we should just stay in the best hotel in Reykjavik and do daytrips, but prices are higher than expected.

[Teleku]

Get use to that.   

But yeah, if your time is more limited, then do the pre-planned trips.  They were surprisingly affordable considering everything else.  Crazy cheep flights in and out as well (its a trap).

[Yegolev]

I'm not sure I'd call the flights cheap, but then I only fly Delta and our new low bar is Comfort Plus.  In fact I'm going to apply for a Platinum AMEX just because I can't seem to stay home anymore. Just in 2018, I've been to Berlin, Prague, Krakow, Budapest, New Orleans, Seattle, Juneau, Skagway, and Victoria B.C. (and seen about 30 bald eagles). I'm scheduled to go to Asheville N.C., Hilton Head, Cancun, and Didney Worl before it's over.  I'm not sure where my life went wrong.

I didn't count Massachusetts because it was for work and it sucks.

[Fraeg]

anyone have any experience in Portugal?  Girlfriend is presenting a paper there in several months.  I am tagging along. Conference is in Lisbon, from there who knows.   

From my initial reading it sounds like an amazing place to go.  Going to buy a lonely planet book (that still the go to brand?) etc.   We are probably going to spend a week total there.  We like to hike, raft, and eat...

[Samwise]

If I ever go to Portugal, the main thing on my list is going to be seeing Portuguese Sundews growing in the wild.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drosophyllum

[Yegolev]

This is totally unhelpful but I've enjoyed almost every place I went in Europe.  If there was a good part in Berlin, I missed it.  Anyway, same rules as touring the U.S.: Be courteous, eat at the hole-in-the-wall places with customers, and take pictures of manhole covers.

[Rasix]

Computer upgrade is coming at a good time apparently. Current PC is making a speedrun of falling apart. CPU fan stopped spinning and now I'm getting memory errors. YAY.

[Teleku]

I'm not sure I'd call the flights cheap, but then I only fly Delta and our new low bar is Comfort Plus.  In fact I'm going to apply for a Platinum AMEX just because I can't seem to stay home anymore. Just in 2018, I've been to Berlin, Prague, Krakow, Budapest, New Orleans, Seattle, Juneau, Skagway, and Victoria B.C. (and seen about 30 bald eagles). I'm scheduled to go to Asheville N.C., Hilton Head, Cancun, and Didney Worl before it's over.  I'm not sure where my life went wrong.

I didn't count Massachusetts because it was for work and it sucks.

Ah, forgot you are in a delta hub (I've probably been on between 200-300 flights in my life at this point, and I have never once flown on Delta for some reason).  I was referring to WoW air, their super budget airline, which doesn't fly to you.  I flew them one way from Iceland to San Francisco for $250, which was an insane under cut of all other airlines at the time.

anyone have any experience in Portugal?  Girlfriend is presenting a paper there in several months.  I am tagging along. Conference is in Lisbon, from there who knows.   

From my initial reading it sounds like an amazing place to go.  Going to buy a lonely planet book (that still the go to brand?) etc.   We are probably going to spend a week total there.  We like to hike, raft, and eat...

Hey, I may be going to Portugal in a few months as well!  Interested to hear suggestions also.

[Yegolev]

If you haven't flown Delta, don't start because you'll hate all the other airlines.

[Yegolev]

I get this in an email from my wife this morning: https://www.atlasobscura.com/unusual-trips/arctic-2019/

[MrHat]

I get this in an email from my wife this morning: https://www.atlasobscura.com/unusual-trips/arctic-2019/

Your husband being eaten by a polar bear sounds like a pretty good way to get life insurance to pay out.

[Teleku]

If you haven't flown Delta, don't start because you'll hate all the other airlines.

It is a major US Airline.  I HIGHLY DOUBT this would be the case.

[Sky]

Jet Blue I find tolerable with the upgrade package (skip the lines, a few more inches of legroom).

Delta 1st class is decent, I got bumped back to coach once though and it was cattle transport.

I take the train when I can, even though the border crossing back into the US is just silly long.

[Gimfain]

Today I was supposed to play Swedish championship in bridge.Yesterday started with a cancelled flight and wouldn’t get one until too late. Went with train, would arrive with an hour to spare. It ended at a stoplight for six hours.At least I get to play side tournaments but the highlight of the year turned into a shitshow.

[schild]

You arrived late to the national championship for bridge? Did they give you an honorary crochet kit and denture glue as consolation?

But seriously, are you that competitive with bridge? I need the story of how you got there.

[Shannow]

Love Bridge but it's definitely the sport of my over 75 parents.

Is is big in Europe?

[Teleku]

Either way, thats shitty man, sorry to hear.  It’s really aggravating to have something you worked towards like that be crushed by dumb luck.

[Ironwood]

You arrived late to the national championship for bridge? Did they give you an honorary crochet kit and denture glue as consolation?

But seriously, are you that competitive with bridge? I need the story of how you got there.

Really ?  You're going to snark on card games ?  Really ?

Ok.

 

[Gimfain]

I always played Cards, was good at board games and needed a hobby after my mmo addiction ended. I’m extremely far from the elite but got bronze at district championship to qualify. Friday was basically a semi, went from 170 down to 52 pairs. I think there are 30000 members in Sweden.

When we have our internal league matches at the club we got 56 people playing, Friends that still stick to magic sometimes struggle with getting 10+ on their regular play times. Difference is they are considered old while I’m still young.

Since I started playing bridge I stopped enjoying strategy games, more fun outplaying human players than finding a static solution

[schild]

Not to bemoan any game but going from single player strategy games straight to bridge is... Interesting? As Ironwood mentioned, Magic? Also, board games?

But then, bridge is almost entirely geriatrics in America.

[Reg]

I'm closing in on geriatric myself and I don't even know any bridge players. It's been a game for old people for as long as I can remember. Maybe it's rich, old, WASPy kind of game?