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Ordering eyeglasses question
October 14, 2026, 7:25pm 1 When specifying glasses for my wife online I notice that when I check the “Progressive bifocal” box a number of eyeglass styles are not available. I can’t see any distinguishing features about them. So what is the reason some do not work?
Ordering eyglasses question
October 14, 2026, 7:25pm 1 When specifying glasses for my wife online I notice that when I check the “Progressive bifocal” box a number of eyeglass styles are not available. I can’t see any distinguishing features about them. So what is the reason some do not work?
Pope Leo XIV has lung cancer (10/13/2026)
Several days ago, the Vatican announced that he was having a lung nodule biopsied, and it looks like they did this and then went ahead with the removal of that lobe of his lung when it turned up positive. My dad had this done in early 2023, 8 months before he died from a cerebral hemorrhage at age 90. Dad was a city firefighter for 36 years and raised by smokers, although AFAIK he never smoked. He declined further treatment, because the surgery appeared to get it all, and his doctors agreed.
Why do people often describe themselves as 'humbled' when receiving an award or other honor?
October 8, 2026, 2:48pm 1 In the most recent edition of the free local community newspaper we get in the mail, the cover story was about a former school principal saying she was ‘awed and humbled’ after getting a newly opened school named after her. ‘Awed and Humbled’ was the actual headline. It made me wonder, as it has in the past, why people use the word ‘humbled’ when getting an award or other positive recognition.
Your new furniture purchases thru the years
September 29, 2026, 1:03pm 1 Do you remember the first new piece of furniture you bought? And today, what is the oldest that you still have that you bought new? And the newest new-bought item(s)? Hand-me-downs don’t count. Thrift store finds don’t count. Antiques don’t count. Just things you bought new from a store or someone who built it for you. When I got my first apartment in 1975, I went to an unfinished furniture store and bought a pine rocker. I stained it a dark color and used it for many years.
What are YOU doing to save democracy in the US?
September 16, 2026, 2:23pm 1 It’s now less than nine weeks to the midterms, perhaps the most important election of our lives. If Trump and his goons achieve their stated goal of stealing elections, and Democrats do not take back the House and, hopefully, the Senate, there will be almost nothing stopping the country from descending into a dictatorship.
"Stand by Me" is 40 today {Released August 22, 1986}
August 22, 2026, 9:07pm 1 Released August 22, 1986 I think the movie is pretty close to perfect, though Rotten Tomatoes is only 89% and 94% from the Audience. This was during an almost impossible run of great movies by Rob Reiner. The casting was pretty great also. The 4 friends were River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton (probably his best role), Corey Feldman & Jerry O’Connell. The nemesis was Kiefer Sutherland. The late older brother was John Cusack and grown-up Gordie was Richard Dreyfuss.
Any substitute teachers in the crowd?
August 19, 2026, 11:12pm 1 A local school district, through Kelly Education, advertised on Indeed for substitute teachers. All that was needed was a Bachelor’s degree. On a whim, I sent them a resume. To my surprise, they were very receptive. I went through the whole process: hours and hours of on-line training, a variety of clearances and criminal checks, FBI fingerprinting, and enough paperwork to fill a two-inch binder. Now, I’m waiting to see if I made the grade.
The Hardy Boys - Ever read them as an adult?
During a recent bout of insomnia, I decided some late-night reading might put me in a sleepy state of mind. I didn’t want anything too serious, nor with print so small I had to strain to read it (new glasses are on their way). I looked through the library and came upon a few Hardy Boys books I’d saved from the late 1950s. “Perfect!” I thought. I started on the first of the series, “The Tower Treasure.” It wasn’t bad. I enjoyed it. And it did put me in a calm state of mind.
What were the most useless skills you were taught in school?
6 Multiplying, dividing, and other arithmetic applied to fractions. Absolutely zero point in it outside of elementary school. And other than in cuisine (1/2 teaspoon of this, 1/4 tablespoon of that*), I never use fractions anyway. Everything relevant to my life is expressed in integers and/or decimals.
What musical performance or recording of a performance makes you tear up?
June 4, 2026, 1:44pm 1 I am enough of a David Bowie fan but not a rabid deep fan. I am enough of a David Byrne fan but not a rabid deep fan. For some reason this performance just wrecks me. Perhaps it is the layered generations of civilians singing with love, pain, joy, honesty and soul. Perhaps it is what David does with David’s composition. Here’s David Byrne and a chorus of fans singing David Bowie’s “Heroes” at Joe’s Pub in NYC. What’s your easy cry?
I pit "the shooting was staged" conspiracy theorists
April 26, 2026, 3:58pm 1 There are an alarming number of people on my friends list on Facebook who believe that this latest shooting against the Trump administration at the dinner was staged/faked. What’s more, a lot of it is coming from my own side, which I identify as liberal / Democrat. A lot of it is also coming from people who I tend to highly respect and think of as intelligent, smart people who would never drink the Flavor Ade…and yet it seems that a lot have over this.
Karma, karma, karma -- big game hunter trampled by elephants
April 26, 2026, 3:52am 1 A big game hunter from California dies when he’s trampled by elephants. Lodinews.com Lodi’s Ernie Dosio, an avid big-game hunter known for his contributions to the local agricultural community, was killed by a herd of elephants during a hunting trip in central Africa
How do you pronounce
March 11, 2026, 3:58am 1 “Often”? I don’t pronounce the T, but lots of people do. Does anyone know if this is a regional or cultural thing? I know that Gilbert and Sullivan didn’t pronounce the T, either, because they made a joke in The Pirates of Penzance out of the fact that (with an English accent) “often” and “orphan” sound the same (ie, no T sound). Do you pronounce the T on “often”? Yes No I never use the word. However, I don’t intend this thread to be about just this one word.
Speculation for Consequences to the US for Engaging in the Bombing of Iran and Other Targets
March 4, 2026, 10:01pm 1 If you have thoughts about what the consequences will be to the US and its citizens as a result of our bombings of Iran and other targets, this is the thread for it.
Trying to remember name of now-defunct restaurant chain
Steak and Ale is an American chain of restaurants that was influential in the growth of casual dining. Founded in 1966, it achieved major success in the 1970s and 1980s before declaring Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceeding and closing its remaining 58 locations on July 29, 2008. The first new Steak and Ale restaurant since then opened on July 8, 2024, in Burnsville, Minnesota, with more planned for the Midwest and Texas. Steak and Ale was opened in Dallas, Texas, on February 26, 1966, by Norman E. ...
How do people "disappear?"
The Savannah Guthrie’s Mom case got me thinking about something else. More than a half-million people “disappear” in this country every year. The vast majority are eventually found, alive or not, but there’s a small number who simply vanish and are never seen or heard from again. For those who simply walk away from their lives, move elsewhere and change their names (as opposed to those who are found deceased or return on their own), I’m wondering how do they do it?
How does my dog know about deliveries before they arrive?
Whenever something is due to be delivered, my dog seems to know when it is en route. That is, when Amazon would start marking the number of stops as 3 or 4 away, or UPS or FedEx would be about 15 minutes away (but not when USPS is close, albeit, they deliver to a box about 150 meters away from the front door, where there are several hundred boxes; rarely to the front door).
Service men with "estimates". This is super shady right?
December 17, 2025, 5:21pm 1 So I’m trying to hire a handyman to do some stuff around the house. The first three people I called wanted a 50 to 75 dollar deposit. The way it works is; they come out and look at what you needed done. If you like the estimate the deposit goes towards the bill. If you DON’T like the estimate you forfeit the deposit. That’s insane right?
Scanning large documents
7 I used to be a scanning and color reproduction expert, and even back then I wouldn’t have scanned a doc like this, I would have shot it. Probably with a medium or large format digital camera back with appropriate lighting on either side. I’ll admit to not being super up-to-date on what’s going on in the repro world these days, but scanner development has atrophied over the last decade and I would assume shooting this would be even more common than back in my day.
How many books do you not finish?
September 30, 2025, 2:36pm 1 Does anybody out there keep track of the books that they abandon? How often do you abandon one? I have a DNF (did not finish) shelf on Goodreads, so it’s very easy for me to sort by date “finished” to see how often I give up on a book. (I mark a book as finished reading when I give up on it, so that it records the date that I abandoned it.
Songs of searing anger!
These are songs that sound to me like they were written and/or recorded in a white-hot blaze! Love ‘em. Contributions welcome. I Wish Them All Dead - The Wonder Stuff How Do You Sleep - John Lennon Let Him Dangle - Elvis Costello Pills And Soap - Elvis Costello Tramp The Dirt Down - Elvis Costello Fortunate Son - CCR Bloody Well Right - Supertramp I Hurt You - The Pretenders Rockin’ In The Free World - Neil Young For A Thousand Mothers - Jethro Tull Lone Star Song - Grant Lee Buffalo
Connie Francis has died
July 17, 2025, 12:12pm 1 Another powerful voice of the ballad genre has died at 87. We’re all sorry now.
For the Neurodivergent Folks
July 7, 2025, 6:47pm 1 I was diagnosed with ADHD (predominantly innatentive) at age 34. After my son was diagnosed as autistic I started poking around whether other people in my family might be autistic and somehow ended up back at myself. I found a therapist who specializes in trauma and neurodivergence and even though I felt kind of stupid asking, I told her I wanted to know if I was autistic.
I shot the sheriff
6 Paul Simon had contemporary songs Even Bob Marley didn’t “invent” Reggae. UB-40, the Police? The former is still a reggae band (They just released an album cleverly called “40” with their greatest hits and new stuff) , and I am aware of The Police having only seen them live twice. I was talking mainly about Bob Marley. And I suppose Eric Clapton (seen twice also). I mentioned Paul Simon (seen four times) as I know, circa 1974 he was one of the few white artists who had any songs close to Reggae.
Band whose best-known song sounds like Pink Floyd
For years I would hear a song on Classic Rock radio that I would have sworn was Pink Floyd and I was surprised to find it was by some band I’d never heard of before. I can hear the song in my mind but for the life of me I cannot remember the title or the name of the band. It starts with some heavy guitar strokes, and the end has an effect of a European-type police car siren that sounds like it’s passing you, like the Doppler effect.
"Conclave" currently free for Amazon prime members to stream [Open spoilers starting in post 5-ish]
April 28, 2025, 12:01am 1 For non-Prime members it’s $5.99 to rent. When it first came out, it was $19.99 even for Prime members to rent. If you’ve been planning to see it, or want to see it again like me, now would be a good time.
Has Trump shown the ability to actually think?
March 28, 2025, 8:40pm 1 What I mean by that is as we age we seem to get more and more stuck in our ways, unable to break out of patterns we have established. Trump seems to default to typical patterns, such as witch hunt for personal wrong doings, previous admin did it for anything negative, take full credit for anything positive and the list goes on a bit, but critical thinking (or any thought) doesn’t seem part of the process.
Classical music performance as an exercise in memorization
March 26, 2025, 3:35pm 1 We saw a Performance on Sunday of Beethoven’s piano Concerto No. 5 (“Emperor”). And while I was of course impressed by the skill and talent of the pianist, and genius of Beethoven… I am always struck by the fact that the soloist is performing without the benefit of sheet music. And this is typical: any solo performance you see (concerto or Sonata) the soloist practically never has music in front of him/her. This seems a superhuman feat.
Who's watching trump's Address to Congress tonight (3-4-25)?
March 4, 2025, 8:04pm 1 I’m not sure if I will watch or not. I haven’t been watching or reading trump-related news too much, or very actively participating in the trump threads here lately, because my attitude towards the trump administration is largely shell-shocked, numb bemusement.
Major appliance shopping (washer) for the first time. Recommendations and advice?
February 17, 2025, 9:01pm 1 My condo came with a Samsung washer and dryer, circa 2017. The washer has been having issues with vibration in the spin cycle bad enough to significantly move the entire thing (something I hear is common with this company). Handyman said that it’d be cheaper to replace than repair (an indictment of modern capitalism, as far as I’m concerned, for something just 8 years old, but that doesn’t get my clothes any cleaner). So I’m appliance shopping for the first time.
Opinions on places in the world for Americans to retire to cheaply
February 17, 2025, 10:30am 1 I’m interested in ideas of where an American might move for a retirement visa and presumably spend the rest of my life. I’m going to be a bit vague on personal details, but I’m only about 40 and so I realize I’m not exactly retirement age, it would be hard to practice my job in other countries. There are language/cultural issues and licensure issues that would make things complicated.
What was Phys Ed/Gym like in your school?
January 13, 2025, 8:02pm 1 I’m assuming we all had to suffer thru this class in high school. For reference, please include when and where you attended. And I’ll start. Baltimore county public schools - high school was '69-'72. PE was mandatory every year. Boys and girls were segregated - no cross contamination allowed! We had uniforms.
Ought one say, "I'm sorry to hear" to someone w/ a serious diagnosis?
January 10, 2025, 5:27pm 1 Let’s say you hear that a friend or relative has a serious - possibly fatal - medical condition. You hear about this from someone OTHER than the person who is ill. Do you communicate to the ill person that you are sorry to hear about their condition? Do you send a card/call? Or bring it up the next time you see them? Specific situation. A BIL died of Huntington’s. I heard that 1 of his 3 sons tested positive.
Obsolete speeds on turntables
January 9, 2025, 2:38pm 1 I recall my first turntable purchased for me in the late 60’s. It had adjustable speeds to play 45 rpm singles and 33 rpm albums, and also had a 78 setting as well for those older format records, but what purpose did the 16 setting have? It was a delight to put 45s on 16 speed to hear the comically slow singing, but I’ve never actually heard of a record designed to run at that speed. If so, it must have been from a VERY long time ago.
Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul and Mary has died
January 8, 2025, 1:03am 1 I know this was reported in the Celebrity Death Pool thread, but I think it should have its own thread here. The trio was an iconic part of the peace movement and while most of their hits were written by others, they staked out their spot and were wildly popular in their day.
How to get better reception on portable FM radio?
November 24, 2024, 7:42am 1 I have a portable FM radio that gets less-than-perfect reception in a particular residence. Don’t know if it’s the building itself, or the location in town relative to the broadcast antenna, but I’d like to see if I can get better reception on it there.
Are people who work on commission (salespeople) inherently dishonest?
November 23, 2024, 12:38am 1 I’m sure some are honest hard working people. They just give the pros and cons of the product to the customer. And the customer decides. But most people, or maybe just me, have a less favorable view of the profession. And I’m not talking about hourly employees working in retail. If your livelihood, housing and feeding your family, relies on me buying your product, I think this might push people to, at the least stretch the truth. If not outright lie.
What version of the twilight zone do you like best and why
November 22, 2024, 9:14pm 1 So, IMO there are 5 different versions of the twilight zone TV series The original 60s version The 1980s remake The 2002 remake The Jordan Peele 2020 remake The TV show night gallery. This one isn’t technically twilight zone, but Rod Serling hosted and wrote many episodes. For me, I think the 80s version is the best. I know most people will probably prefer the original, but the 80s have some really interesting storylines.
Is NOW the time to buy that new car
November 19, 2024, 12:27am 1 …before the economy takes a dive? We have two aging cars, 2012 and 2015. Both need some repairs but neither is on the verge of falling apart. As we are retired, we don’t really need two cars. We’ve been thinking about trading in both on a new or recent vehicle, a Honda, Toyota or Subaru. With the uncertainty of changes in Washington, and prices shooting up if Trump gets his way with his tariffs, we’ve been thinking that NOW might be the best time to do it.
Quincy Jones dies at 91
pjd November 4, 2024, 10:04am 1 Quincy Jones, jazz legend dies at 91… Time to give this gem another listen … Another accomplishment among many: recording the track that became the Austin Powers theme: Chefguy November 4, 2024, 12:50pm 3 Wow, what a career he had. His production on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album made it a huge success. He could really do it all. He even made simple Teen Pop like Lesley Gore’s “It’s My Party” something special. A brilliant man.
Humor/satire of the 1950s and 1960s
He may not be exactly what you’re looking for, but one of the most prolific humorists of the 1960s was Jean Shepherd, as a writer and radio personality. People know him best from “A Christmas Story,” which was adapted from a collection of his stories reflecting on his childhood in the 1940s, but many of his writings (in Playboy and other magazines) and radio broadcasts were topical to the 1960s.
Edwin Starr - War, did the song's meaning get lost?
October 15, 2024, 5:37pm 1 I was listening to my Motown Classic Hits album. War starts playing. I’m tapping my foot, grooving to the beat. The music could be a soundtrack in an action movie. A platoon of soldiers inserting clips into their assualt rifles, putting on Kevlar vests and charging out the barracks door. How many people remember that the lyrics are actually strongly anti-war? Totally different from the music. It’s a great song. I get pumped every time it plays.
What's your "Rosebud"?
October 1, 2024, 3:40pm 1 I’m not really a nostalgic person. I’ve got a good memory for people and events and don’t have many physical keepsakes. But last night I got to thinking about a toy I had as a child - a grey fighter jet. So I did what anyone would do these days and started some internet research. I discovered it was a Matchbox Skybuster plane and found the very model I had. Just ordered one on eBay. I can remember how it felt in my hands, with its swept back wings.
Term life insurance: Keep it or dump it?
September 16, 2024, 6:23pm 1 I’m asking for opinions from the learned members of the Dope. For many years, we’ve carried term life insurance policies from AAA. We have no dependents. The payout from either is the same, and while substantial, hardly exorbitant. These policies are in effect to age 85, quite some distance away. We also have whole life policies with much lower premiums and payouts.
"Appreciate you" vs "appreciate it"
September 9, 2024, 6:48pm 1 When I was growing up and someone did you a favor or helped you out, a standard response to express your gratitude was to say “I appreciate it”, with the “it” being whatever action they took to help you out. These days, and only it seems to be within the last couple years, the typical response among younger people has now seemed to shift to “I appreciate you”, with the emphasis shifting from the particular action to the person doing the favor.
The 6 greatest British bands of all time
September 9, 2024, 4:26pm 1 According to YOU. Genre is open. You can judge by music sales, influence on later music or just the awesomeness of their talent. Whatever you feel qualifies them to be deemed the greatest. But only 6 band and a few words to make your case. I’m hoping this thread will open my eyes to some things I’ve missed. (This weekend I learned about Terry Reid. What an amazing talent - I’d never heard of him.) So what British bands were the greatest ever?
'Bad' actors who you still enjoy watching
August 30, 2024, 2:42pm 1 Continuing the discussion from Actors/resses that makes you NOT want to see a movie: What makes for a ‘bad’ actor is entirely subjective, of course. Hence the quote marks. But this comment from the other thread: I agree Nicolas Cage “over-acts” but also agree with Si_Amigo: “other [Cage movies] are great for his overacting abilities.” …got me thinking. I agree with the Nick Cage assessment.
Actors/resses that makes you NOT want to see a movie
3 Mel Gibson. And I used to really like him, going back to “Gallipoli,” “The Year of Living Dangerously,” and all the Mad Max movies. When he revealed the ugliness of his real nature, I wrote him off. No matter what he does, I will never watch him in another movie again.
Off key singers on (mainstream) records? -> Santana Caravanserai
August 12, 2024, 12:46pm 1 I just listen to Santanas Caravanserai record … and the singer is the main reason I do not listen more often to that otherwise good work: (cued to the right spot (0:43) I still am godsmacked how a performance like that could end up on an mayor record of a then worldfamous artist like Carlos Santana? got any other examples?
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