Wordle 894 Hint

Hint: Fiddlers use the pine variety of today's Wordle on their bows; dabbers put the cannabis variety in their pipes and smoke it.

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First Letter: R

New Scooter Decor, Right Rear

Still waiting on a custom sticker for the left rear. This is really not going to be the kind of anonymous vehicle that I'd want to use to rob a bank or anything of the sort.

NFL Week 13 Picks

My NFL picks for this weekend, as posted at ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em site (straight picks, no spreads, etc., and I've created a group for those who would like to play along with me):

• Dallas Cowboys beat Seattle Seahawks
• Indianapolis Colts beat Tennessee Titans
• Los Angeles Chargers beat New England Patriots
• Detroit Lions beat New Orleans Saints
• Atlanta Falcons beat New York Jets
• Pittsburgh Steelers beat Arizona Cardinals
• Miami Dolphins beat Washington Commanders
• Denver Broncos beat Houston Texans*
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat Carolina Panthers
• Cleveland Browns beat Los Angeles Rams*
• San Francisco 49ers beat Philadelphia Eagles*
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Green Bay Packers
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Cincinnati Bengals

"Upset" picks -- that is, where my pick disagrees with the majority of Pigskin Pick'em players (as of the time I make my picks, but if I notice a change I'll mark that) -- are marked with asterisks. If I make any changes to my picks, they will be made before the game in question kicks off, and specifically noted in an update to this post.

Wordle 893 Hint

Hint: Today's Wordle is an edible roll, but it's not bread.

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First Letter: S

Street Legal, C'est Moi

Florida's web site requirements listings are confusing, but as gummint people go the people at our local tax/license offices are just stellar.

I took the mandatory four-hour online course explaining to me that drinking and driving is bad.

I scheduled an appointment to take the driving test.

When I got there, it turns out there was an additional written test that I had to take, and I could take one or the other today because there wouldn't be time for both.

BUT! The confusing web site requirements had mentione that if I had previously held a driver's license from any state, I might not have to take all the tests. Since my old Missouri license had expired in 2006 or so, I figured that wouldn't help, but I told the lady about it, she pulled it up, and said "OK, no tests, you get a driver's license." Other than the $50+ fee, it was painless as could be.

Scooters are definitely not real winter vehicles. Even at 50-some degrees fahrenheit, I was cold underneath a thermal shirt, a t-shirt, a polypropylene cycling jacket, and a sweat jacket (I rode the scooter into town, then with Tamara in the car for the test, then back to the scooter and home -- 20 miles or more, quite a bit of it at max speed because it was two-lane highway).

NFL Week 12 Outcomes

My picks (posted here), with "Tom was right" picks in green and "Tom was wrong" picks in red:

• Detroit Lions beat Green Bay Packers
• Dallas Cowboys beat Washington Commanders
• San Francisco 49ers beat Seattle Seahawks
• Miami Dolphins beat New York Jets
• Atlanta Falcons beat New Orleans Saints*
• Pittsburgh Steelers beat Cincinnati Bengals
• Carolina Panthers beat Tennessee Titans*
• Indianapolis Colts beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• New York Giants beat New England Patriots
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Houston Texans
• Denver Broncos beat Cleveland Browns*
• Arizona Cardinals beat Los Angeles Rams*
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Las Vegas Raiders
• Philadelphia Eagles beat Buffalo Bills
• Baltimore Ravens beat Los Angeles Chargers
• Chicago Bears beat Minnesota Vikings*

Wow! 13 right, only three wrong! And three of my five "upset" picks panned out! My season record so far is 112-68, putting me in the 90th percentile  among ESPN Pigskin Pick'em players.

Wordle 892 Hint

Hint: Today's Wordle could be an optical instrument, or a range, or a mouthwash.

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First Letter: S

Surprisingly Not Terrible

I've been watching for Muddy Bears ever since I heard them mentioned on Doug Stanhope's podcast, years (or at least year) ago.

I wasn't willing to order them from Amazon (not an affiliate link), because they sound, well, terrible. But I figured they'd eventually show up at Dollar Tree or Five Below and I'd try them just because. I saw them at the latter the other day and finally bought a box.

Not terrible. Not great, either. Just weird, but edible. I won't be buying them again. Not my kind of thing. But I just had to try them because I was all like "who would do that?"

And I still wonder who would do that. Is there really that much of a market for chocolate-covered gummi bears?

A Tale of Two Sport Utility Vehicles

Today is Tamara's first day back at the office since her November 1 surgery.

So naturally she had a flat tire on the way in to work.

Scooter to the rescue! Rode into town, pulled the completely trashed tire, mounted the very suspect spare, followed her to the tire shop (where she went ahead and bought the four new tires and "forever" alignment that were already on her "some time soon, got the money saved up, but would like a little more savings cushion" schedule) ... then she reluctantly let me take her to work on the scooter since it will be a couple of hours until her car is ready.

She had to sit in front, because her surgery includes several weeks of "don't lift more than 10 pounds" restriction remaining, and having to hold on around my waist would functionally be similar to lifting her entire torso. I pulled out the little pegs that are usually for someone riding behind to rest my feet on, sat behind her, and whipped her over to work, mostly observing posted speed limits. Then home again home again.

About 21 miles -- by far my longest ride so far. About two miles from home, the scooter started to lose power and feel sluggish. Pulled over, cracked the gas cap (it seems to be an airflow/vapor lock type problem), and it ran fine the rest of the way.

Wordle 891 Hint

Hint: A late actor (The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik-Yak, as well as various music videos) shares her first name with a "mixed color" adjective.

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First Letter: T

I Usually Can't Remember My Dreams ...

... but over that last few days, I've remembered two. May have to do with recent experiments in cannabis-related pain/sleep remedies.

The one the other night was interesting, but not as disturbing as the one last night.

The one the other night involved a scooter wreck: I was rear-ended at a right turn, ended up lying on the shoulder of the road, not seriously injured. Instead of getting up, I asked the motorist who hit me to hand me my phone from the scooter, and, lying there, called my daughter and told her to call Bill Allen.

I guess  that one's easily explained:

Riding a scooter is new to me and obviously I'm still a little tense about the possibility of getting hit by a car or truck.

And Allen is the lawyer who 1) got my daughter a reasonable settlement for injuries she suffered in a car accident (rear-ended at a red light), and 2) pays current/former clients some kind of bonus for referring new clients.

Also, you can't drive around Gainesville or watch TV in the Gainesville area without seeing ads for his firm, and his commercials tend to lean into the two-wheel vehicle market (clients who had motorcycle wrecks, Allen himself riding a motorcycle or bicycle, etc.).

The dream last night, however, was terrifying: I was about to post a Garrison Center column when I suddenly realized I had already just written and posted one and had already forgotten. I thought I was shut of Garrison work for a long holiday weekend, but no, it's haunting me even when I'm off!

Wordle 890 Hint

Hint: Of the four states of ordinary matter, math tells us only one can be a Wordle answer.

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First Letter: S

Replacement time

A few years ago, I bought a little tire inflator gun -- the kind you plug into the car's cigarette lighter port -- at Ollie's for, IIRC, less than $10.

It's been very useful. Less for the car than for bicycles, but less for bicycles once I started rocking narrow tires that want pressure in the 100 PSI range.

Yesterday, someone pointed out to us that the rear right tire on the Honda CRV was low, so while Tamara was doing some shopping I pulled the gun out and got it aired up (doesn't look low again nearly 24 hours later, and didn't find any nails or anything in it, or any leak I could detect by noise or by running my hand over the tire to feel air gushing out).

This morning, I figured I should check/air the tires on the scooter, and the hose popped loose from the gun (about the time I was finished) and doesn't seem to want to re-screw in.

Fortunately, this one (not an affiliate link) is on sale for $17.99 at Amazon and gets 4.3 stars over the course of 8554 ratings. If you don't have something like this in your car, I highly recommend getting one.

I'll probably look for a smaller one with its own power source later, to keep in the scooter's storage space.

Wordle 889 Hint

Hint: Lost? Today's Wordle will show you the way.

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First Letter: G

Ordered!

Didn't wait for Black Friday -- deals were already good.

• 100cc Big Bore Performance Kit (w/head)
• Carburetor
• Air Filter

Total: $88.10

Should be here by the end of November, I'll plan to do the job (under my mechanic's supervision) in early December.

Wordle 888 Hint

Hint: Today's Wordle is legit conduct when applied to a ball, but cheating when applied to a match.

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First Letter: T

Wordle 887 Hint

Hint: This kind of lady might live near Crathie ... or way down around Vicksburg, around Louisiana way.

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First Letter: Q

NFL Week 12 Picks

My NFL picks for this weekend, as posted at ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em site (straight picks, no spreads, etc., and I've created a group for those who would like to play along with me):

• Detroit Lions beat Green Bay Packers
• Dallas Cowboys beat Washington Commanders
• San Francisco 49ers beat Seattle Seahawks
• Miami Dolphins beat New York Jets
• Atlanta Falcons beat New Orleans Saints*
• Pittsburgh Steelers beat Cincinnati Bengals
• Carolina Panthers beat Tennessee Titans*
• Indianapolis Colts beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• New York Giants beat New England Patriots
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Houston Texans
• Denver Broncos beat Cleveland Browns*
• Arizona Cardinals beat Los Angeles Rams*
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Las Vegas Raiders
• Philadelphia Eagles beat Buffalo Bills
• Baltimore Ravens beat Los Angeles Chargers
• Chicago Bears beat Minnesota Vikings*

"Upset" picks -- that is, where my pick disagrees with the majority of Pigskin Pick'em players -- are marked with asterisks. I usually pick three or four. This week, five ... and I'm not wildly confident about those picks. I'm mainly just operating on a gut feeling that some teams are just starting to get their shit together after early poor performance, while others who've been doing better early are feeling the wheels come off due to injuries. I guess we'll see, won't we?

If I make any changes to my picks, they will be made before the game in question kicks off, and specifically noted in an update to this post.

NFL Week 11 Outcomes

My picks (posted here), with "Tom was right" picks in green and "Tom was wrong" picks in red:

• Baltimore Ravens beat Cincinnati Bengals
• Pittsburgh Steelers beat Cleveland Browns*
• Detroit Lions beat Chicago Bears
• Los Angeles Chargers beat Green Bay Packers
• Miami Dolphins beat Las Vegas Raiders
• Washington Commanders beat New York Giants
• Dallas Cowboys beat Carolina Panthers
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Tennessee Titans
• Houston Texans beat Arizona Cardinals
• San Francisco 49ers beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• New York Jets beat Buffalo Bills*
  
• Seattle Seahawks beat Los Angeles Rams
• Denver Broncos beat Minnesota Vikings*
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Philadelphia Eagles

I went 8-6 this week, a little better than last week's  7-7. That puts me at 99-65 for the season, leaving me at the 85.4th percentile  among ESPN Pigskin Pick'em players. I only predicted three upsets, and only one of those picks worked out -- and, as with last week, it was a prediction that the Broncos would win. Spoiler alert: I've got them picked to win again this Sunday versus the Cleveland Browns.

I'm Glad I Adopted a Phased Breaking-In Plan for the Scooter

The ride home after buying the scooter was about five miles, and I took it reasonably easy. I've taken it out for anywhere from 1-5 miles since then.

This morning, my son had a medical appointment five miles away. Ten-mile round trip -- a chance to step things up and see how it performs! -- so I rode there while he and Tamara  followed in the car.

The basic point of this trip was to find out how it performs when it has to go ten miles at (usually) top speed.

I found out. The first five miles were great. On a couple of downhill grades I basically buried the speedometer, which goes to 50mph but seems to be about five miles off (upward). Just zipped along. What fun!

About 2 1/2 miles into the trip back, the thing suddenly lost power. It completely died about the time I got pulled over, and wouldn't restart. I spent a few minutes sitting there using my phone for troubleshooting suggestions, then tried again and it started right up. I didn't really punch it the rest of the way home.

Likely a clogged vent or fuel filter. Glad it didn't happen halfway through a hundred-mile trip. This way it's a minor inconvenience that I can look into and either correct permanently or learn how to correct on the fly (one trick seems to be opening the gas cap -- if it's a clogged vent, there will be a "whoosh" sound).

Wordle 886 Hint

Hint: A cat who walks through walls (or, alternatively, one little piece of a bigger picture).

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First Letter: P

Nice!

Max Borders at Underthrow just called something cool to my attention: A piece of steganography software by John deLaubenfels. It's called Stegmeister, and it can encrypt/embed the entire text of Tolstoy's War and Peace in an 1135 x 757 BMP graphic.

At the moment, it's only available for Windows, which I do not use, so I can't say I've tried it out or what I think of it. But JdL is learning Linux GUI stuff with an eye toward porting it to my preferred OS.

Wordle 885 Hint

Hint: You'll need more than one key to unlock today's Wordle. In fact, you'll probably need 88.

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First Letter: P

I Am Not Good At Painting

But I'm in the middle of spray painting the rear side panels on the scooter yellow. They're in terrible shape and sanding didn't seem to help much at all. If I keep this scooter for very long, I will probably either pull them off and use a power sander, then use my friend's real paint rig to do them, or just buy new aftermarket ones.

The nice thing about a $600 scooter is that it's inherntly a project bike. Apart from tax and plate fee (but I repeat myself), the thing cost about as much as my cheap electric bicycle. If I ruin the look, I can try again or not. If I blow the engine, I can spend $250 on a new one or junk the bike. And I'm already enjoying riding on two wheels and an internal combustion engine so much that I'm thinking "motorcycle" a lot.

Wordle 884 Hint

Hint: The Strangeloves, the Tremeloes, and Bow Wow Wow all wanted today's Wordle.

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First Letter: C

Wordle 883 Hint

Hint: In a hurry to solve today's Wordle? Too bad -- get in line like everyone else.

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First Letter: Q

Wordle 882 Hint

Hint: I solved today's Wordle, therefore I am.

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First Letter: T

Me and My Hog

Got it home. I think the previous owner may have already put a bore kit in it. Seemed to be getting close to 50mph. Of course, the speedometer could be inaccurate, but it did feel like more than 25-30. I'll be testing that soon. My motorcycle helmet hasn't arrived yet, so I went with bicycle helmet. I think the Kill Bill track suit is pretty damn visible.

Update: Downloaded a speedomeder app for my phone. Its verdict differs from the scooter speedometer's by about 5 miles per hour. According to it, I was topping out at about 32mph, but that was fairly short-run on my street. The scooter was telling me 45mph on the highway at times, so I was probably pushing 40. And that was probably on downhill grades.

Wordle 881 Hint

Hint: Late as in "not on time," rather than as in "dead" or "formerly from."

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First Letter: T

Bought the Scooter!

 

Italica Grace. Used. A little scratched up. $848 with tax and tags. Now I just need to get a driver's license and bring it home.

Update, because that first post was from my phone:

I was looking at used scooters online at a couple of local dealerships, as I've been doing, when I noticed two things.

One was that the $900 Binetti I had my eyes on New Scooters for Less had sold. The other was that this used Italica Grace was priced to sell at $599 at Campus Scooters. I dropped by, sat on it (and on another style of scooter just to decide what I liked better), listened to it run, and pulled the trigger.

It's got about 5,500 miles on it. Belt was replaced at 5,000, and it has a fresh oil change. It was a trade-in from a prior customer, who (they claim) brought it in for its regular service, etc. I won't say it was "well loved" -- it's got some road rash or some other kind of extensive scratching on the right rear panel -- but it seems to be in decent shape. I rode it from the sales bay to the work bay so it wasn't on their "showroom floor" anymore, and already like it.

My appointment to get a driver's license isn't until the 28th, but I'm planning to find some way (cough) to get it home tomorrow. Whether it will get additional work before I get my license, I don't know yet. If there's any kind of throttle restriction, that will go. Maybe a better carburetor. At some point it will likely get a "100cc" (actually more like 80cc) bore kit. I want this thing to do 50mph so that it's less dangerous on the local two-lane highways.

I've got a helmet, a motorcycle/scooter cover (we have no garage or carport), and a phone holder on the way. I'll probably also buy a USB charger to install so that my phone can be plugged in when I'm riding.

Black was not my first choice of color, as I like to be highly visible. Part of that, I'll try to address with bright clothing. Maybe some psychedelic stickers and such. And I may even do some "underglow" lighting so that it's more visible at night.

So far, all I really know about this scooter is that it sits comfortably (the "European" style is more of a flat than lean-forward feel than the "tries to look like a motorcycle" style), that it runs, and that it seems to run smoothly. Everything feels nice and tight, which is unsurprising. I'm sure they went over things before putting it out for sale. It has the sort of "industry standard" 139QMB (most people, apparently incorrectly, refer to it as a Gy6) engine, so I shouldn't have to worry about weird proprietary parts.

Update, Friday, 11/17: A little more research, from the VIN. This scooter is actually a 2019 ZNEN ZN50QT. These machines are apparently manufactured (with different cosmetic variations) by Taizhou Zhongneng Motorcycle Co., Ltc. for wholesaling to companies (like Florida's Italica) who put their brand/model name on them and sell them retail. Very nice -- a generic scooter for which parts are widely available!

Wordle 880 Hint

Hint: US coins attribute today's Wordle to all of us regarding God, but Deep Throat recommends that Dana Scully exercise it with no one.

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First Letter: T

I Guess I've Passed the "Sunk Cost" Signpost on My Way to Scooter Ownership

I've ordered a helmet -- good deal on sale. No point in a motorcycle/scooter helmet without a motorcycle or scooter to ride. I'm expecting to get my license in the next week or so, and the vehicle between now and Christmas.

Unfortunately, that helmet was only available at that price in matte black.I'd kind of planned on bright yellow. I like to be a very visible person when riding a two-wheeled vehicle.

NFL Week 11 Picks

Not a great week last week. Let's see if I can redeem myself for Week 11! Here are my picks as posted at ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em site (straight picks, no spreads, etc., and I've created a group for those who would like to play along with me):

• Baltimore Ravens beat Cincinnati Bengals
• Pittsburgh Steelers beat Cleveland Browns*
• Detroit Lions beat Chicago Bears
• Los Angeles Chargers beat Green Bay Packers
• Miami Dolphins beat Las Vegas Raiders
• Washington Commanders beat New York Giants
• Dallas Cowboys beat Carolina Panthers
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat Tennessee Titans
• Houston Texans beat Arizona Cardinals
• San Francisco 49ers beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• New York Jets beat Buffalo Bills*
  
• Seattle Seahawks beat Los Angeles Rams
• Denver Broncos beat Minnesota Vikings*
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Philadelphia Eagles

"Upset" picks -- that is, where my pick disagrees with the majority of Pigskin Pick'em players -- are marked with asterisks. I usually pick three or four. This week, four -- but one of those may change. As of my pick time, 72% of players predicted the Cleveland Browns to beat the Pittsburgh Steers. I already disagreed with the majority, but with today's announcement that Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson is out for the season with a shoulder injury, I expect the crowd to move in my direction.

 If I make any changes to my picks, they will be made before the game in question kicks off, and specifically noted in an update to this post.

Wordle 879 Hint

Hint: If you can see, you've already got the solution to today's Wordle.

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First Letter: S

NFL Week 10 Outcomes

My picks (posted here), with "Tom was right" picks in green and "Tom was wrong" picks in red:

• Chicago Bears beat Carolina Panthers
• Indianapolis Colts beat New England Patriots
• Cincinnati Bengals beat Houston Texans
• New Orleans Saints beat Minnesota Vikings*
• Pittsburgh Steelers beat Green Bay Packers
• Tennessee Titans beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers*
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat San Francisco 49ers*
• Baltimore Ravens beat Cleveland Browns
• Atlanta Falcons beat Arizona Cardinals
• Detroit Lions beat Los Angeles Chargers
• Dallas Cowboys beat New York Giants
• Washington Commanders beat Seattle Seahawks*
• Las Vegas Raiders beat New York Jets*
• Denver Broncos beat Buffalo Bills*

Not a very good week -- 7-7. That puts me at 91-59 for the season, and knocks me down to the 87.2nd percentile  among ESPN Pigskin Pick'em players. I predicted six upsets and only two of them panned out. Actually, one -- when I picked the Raiders to beat the Jets, I was in the minority, but by kickoff it was 54% for the Raiders and 46% for the Jets. But only 5% matched my pick for the Broncos to beat the Bills, so there's that.

Wordle 878 Hint

Hint: Today's Wordle strikes me as cheeky and impudent.

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First Letter: S

Wordle 877 Hint

Hint: It's Jill Stein's party and she'll cry if she wants to.

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First Letter: G

Wordle 876 Hint

Hint: Finding today's Wordle difficult? Well, that's intentional.

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First Letter: M

Wordle 875 Hint

Hint: All the world's a stage; today's Wordle is a player.

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First Letter: A

Wordle 874 Hint

Hint: One might keep JDevil, or a dog, on today's Wordle.

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First Letter: L

Wordle 873 Hint

Hint: One might do this to a window, or to a donut.

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First Letter: G

NFL Week 10 Picks

Not sure what the point is of having a Week 10 with no Chiefs, Dolphins, or Eagles, games, but here are my picks as posted at ESPN's Pigskin Pick'em site (straight picks, no spreads, etc., and I've created a group for those who would like to play along with me):

• Chicago Bears beat Carolina Panthers
• Indianapolis Colts beat New England Patriots
• Cincinnati Bengals beat Houston Texans
• New Orleans Saints beat Minnesota Vikings*
• Pittsburgh Steelers beat Green Bay Packers
• Tennessee Titans beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers*
• Jacksonville Jaguars beat San Francisco 49ers*
• Baltimore Ravens beat Cleveland Browns
• Atlanta Falcons beat Arizona Cardinals
• Detroit Lions beat Los Angeles Chargers
• Dallas Cowboys beat New York Giants
• Washington Commanders beat Seattle Seahawks*
• Las Vegas Raiders beat New York Jets*
• Denver Broncos beat Buffalo Bills*

"Upset" picks -- that is, where my pick disagrees with the majority of Pigskin Pick'em players -- are marked with asterisks. I usually pick three or four. This week, I've got six of the 14 games predicted to be upsets. If I make any changes, they will be made before the game in question kicks off, and specifically noted in an update to this post.

Wordle 872 Hint

Hint: Varieties of today's Wordle range from mass market blenders to adolescent anthromorphic shelled reptiles.

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First Letter: N

Paying More to Pay Less

With Tamara home recovering from surgery, we're largely relying on Instacart (that is an affiliate link -- if you sign up through it, we each get a $10 credit) for our groceries.

We pay about $10 a month for their "premium" membership, which means we don't pay the "delivery" fee. 

On the other hand, the prices are a little higher than in-store, and there's a "processing" fee (I think it's $2), and I try to tip well.

But we're still saving money in several ways:

• There's not a bunch of impulse buying;
• We're not using gas and putting wear and tear on the car going to the store;
• We're doing more preparing food at home and getting less from out.
• I've been buying Instacart gift cards using cryptocurrency via Bitrefill (another affiliate link -- once you've spent $50, we each get $5 worth of BTC) ... and while I pay 25 cents above face value for the cards, lately they've been running a "15% Bitcoin back as spendable rewards" special.

I suspect that 15% back alone more than makes up for the price difference in the grocery purchases.

There's another benefit, too:

When I buy a scooter, I want to do so locally instead of using crypto to buy an Amazon gift card, and it's unlikely, although not impossible, that I'll be able to use crypto to do that. So right now, I'm using crypto to pay expenses that would normally come out of Tamara's checking account. The money she's not using on that stuff can be used toward the scooter instead.

NFL Week 9 Outcomes

My picks (posted here), with "Tom was right" picks in green and "Tom was wrong" picks in red:

• Pittsburgh Steelers beat Tennessee Titans
• Kansas City Chiefs beat Miami Dolphins
• Atlanta Falcons beat Minnesota Vikings
• Cleveland Browns beat Arizona Cardinals
• Green Bay Packers beat Los Angeles Rams*
• Washington Commanders beat New England Patriots
• Chicago Bears beat New Orleans Saints*
• Seattle Seahawks beat Baltimore Ravens*
• Houston Texans beat Tampa Bay Buccaneers*
• Indianpolis Colts beat Carolina Panthers
• Las Vegas Raiders beat New York Giants
• Dallas Cowboys beat Philadelphia Eagles*
• Cincinannti Bengals beat Buffalo Bills
• New York Jets beat Los Angeles Chargers*

I went 10-4 for the week, I'm at 84-52 for the season, and I'm currently in the 89.2nd percentile among ESPN Pigskin Pick'em players. I predicted six "upsets" (those are the games with asterisks next to them), and got three correct.

Wordle 871 Hint

Hint: Randy Meisner talked about taking it there one more time on One of These Nights.

Not Enough? Get the first letter of today's Wordle after the ads below.

New to Wordle? Here are some thoughts on how I go about solving each day's puzzle.

First Letter: L

Yes, They Really Think You're That Stupid

"We want to emphasize that DCSO located the vehicle on Sunday, and our initial post aimed to raise awareness about this incident, ensuring that the public can avoid being duped by such individuals ..."

That's the DeSoto County, Florida Sheriff's Office.

The individuals in question were cited for violating Florida State Statute 316.2397, which prohibits "certain lights."

The lights in question were on a truck prominently marked BOOTY PATROL.

If you're capable of being duped into believing that's an "official police vehicle," you're too damn dumb to be driving in the first place.

Wordle 870 Hint

Hint: Don't like today's Wordle? Maybe you can exchange it for another, or for something else!

Not Enough? Get the first letter of today's Wordle after the ads below.

New to Wordle? Here are some thoughts on how I go about solving each day's puzzle.

First Letter: T