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spenser1058

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The entire nation's infrastructure is dangerously old.  Not all of it and not everywhere, but everywhere has SOME old stuff.  I had no idea we had anything that old in the ground here.  Much less anything that old that could have survived building a city on top of, with the pounding and piling it takes here.

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The 7-Eleven of the Future Is an Organic Hellscape of Turmeric Slurpees

"In the aisles, this 7-Eleven is stocked with enough gluten-free, paleo, vegan, organic, and naturally sweetened options to feed an entire army of wellness-obsessed snackers, with just enough “normal” food to resemble a small grocery store."

"...the lab store’s innovation is the organic Slurpee, made with “farm to fountain” flavors like coconut, blood orange, and cucumber from Idaho’s Tractor Beverage Company, which boasts that its syrups are USDA certified organic, GMO-free, and “entirely” natural. In the organic Slurpees, buzzy superfoods like celery and turmeric are ingredients in the cucumber flavor; allegedly stomach-soothing licorice root adds an extra veneer of health to the cherry cream flavor; the blood orange flavor also features turmeric, along with black carrot."

"In the coming months, 7-Eleven has plans to open at least five of these “lab stores” in various locales across the country, including Washington, D.C. and San Diego, tailoring each to their geographic preferences."

https://www.eater.com/2019/3/22/18277582/7-eleven-healthy-food-organic-slurpees-lab-store

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And so it begins. The first Florida JCPenney to bite the dust in this round of closures will be at the Ponce de Leon Mall in St. Augustine.

According to The Jaxson, this was already a dead mall in 2015 with not much left but Penney’s.

Stay Tuned...

https://www.metrojacksonville.com/article/2015-apr-end-of-an-era-death-of-ponce-de-leon-mall

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In a nod to one of our local successes with tech firms, HR firm PlanSource has been purchased by a private equity firm.

The company, which has 200 downtown employees at The Exchange, did not signal any intention to relocate.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/consumer/os-bz-plansource-purchased-vista-equity-partners-20190327-story.html

From the Sentinel 

 

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Ezra Klein has a podcast w/ presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg taped at SXSW.

What is really interesting is his thoughts on turning local economies around like he has worked on as mayor of South Bend,IN.

So it’s worth a listen for UP’ers even if he’s not your guy (or gal or non-binary descriptor) for president.

https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/policy-and-politics/2019/4/3/18282638/pete-buttigieg-mayor-pete-pronounce-explained

From Vox

Edited by spenser1058
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I will equally eat all chicken sandwiches, as long as they are good.  Unfortunately, that list isn't very long.

 

My fast food chicken list isn't that extensive, but it's decent.

Good chicken sandwiches:

  • Chick-fil-A

Bad chicken sandwiches:

  • McDonald's
  • Wendy's
  • Burger King
  • Hardee's
  • Zaxby's

 

I've still never had one at KFC, which seems like one I should have tried.  I haven't tried PDQ's either.  I'm not counting the Publix chicken tender sub, sorry Spense.

I'm am very open to chicken sandwich suggestions.

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56 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

I will equally eat all chicken sandwiches, as long as they are good.  Unfortunately, that list isn't very long.

 

My fast food chicken list isn't that extensive, but it's decent.

Good chicken sandwiches:

  • Chick-fil-A

Bad chicken sandwiches:

  • McDonald's
  • Wendy's
  • Burger King
  • Hardee's
  • Zaxby's

 

I've still never had one at KFC, which seems like one I should have tried.  I haven't tried PDQ's either.  I'm not counting the Publix chicken tender sub, sorry Spense.

I'm am very open to chicken sandwich suggestions.

My sammich go-to these days is hot pastrami at Beefy King so I’m afraid I’m not much help.

The worst part of giving up CFA for me wasn’t even the chicken sammiches -I always went for sweet tea that was made like a Southerner would. And the most efficient service in fast food. The waffle fries and coleslaw were meh.

Captain D’s fries and coleslaw are better and the sweet tea is a close second to CFA. Entree-wise, I mostly eat country style fish there and have only had chicken tenders (no sammich).

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58 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

I will equally eat all chicken sandwiches, as long as they are good.  Unfortunately, that list isn't very long.

My fast food chicken list isn't that extensive, but it's decent.

Good chicken sandwiches:

  • Chick-fil-A

Bad chicken sandwiches:

  • McDonald's
  • Wendy's
  • Burger King
  • Hardee's
  • Zaxby's

I've still never had one at KFC, which seems like one I should have tried.  I haven't tried PDQ's either.  I'm not counting the Publix chicken tender sub, sorry Spense.

I'm am very open to chicken sandwich suggestions.

Arby's is decent.

Also, I think Popeye's has one that was pretty good many years ago, which was the last time I had one.

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On 1/31/2019 at 11:54 AM, spenser1058 said:

It has begun - Italy, Europe’s 4th largest economy, has slipped into recession.

Depending on what happens with Brexit between now and the end of March, the rest of Europe may well follow suit (the UK and Germany are already slowing down).

China is also slowing down thanks in part to the trade war and, here at home, some regions like the agricultural midwest are seeing effects from tariffs.

Orlando has escaped the brunt of recessions before when infrastructure growth kept the coffers full. Hopefully, that will be the case this time with so many new projects coming on line in the next 30 months or so.

Stay tuned...

https://amp.businessinsider.com/italy-economy-officially-in-recession-data-shows-02-contraction-2019-1

From Business Insider

I’m considering retiring to Italy.

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In the ersatz, plastic, terribly nouveau monstrosity that is New York’s new Hudson Yards, there is the Shed, which aims to program gritty, left-of-center performances for the masses - those priced out of the rest of a project best left with the big hair and shoulder pads of the 1980’s.

Maybe moving OMA to Lake Nona puts little old Orlando up with the big city after all...

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/04/nyregion/the-shed-nyc-hudson-yards.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

From the New York Times

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I had a personal wow moment.  Recently a woman was killed by jumping in a fake ride-sharing car with a killer.  He pulled right up into a crowded spot and picked her up.  He was intentionally trying to get someone.

I had 3 people try to get into my truck this weekend at Earth Fare .  My wife had decided to run back in and I was waiting on her to come out when 3 goofballs tried to open my back door.  I looked at them and they knocked on the window.  I rolled it down a bit and said "What are you doing?" The girl says "you're our ride" and I was like "Your Uber is a big, white F-250 pickup truck?" She looks at her phone and says "Sorry.  Silver Toyota Camry."  That car pulled up a couple of minutes later and they got in.

Wow.  Just wow.

Edited by HankStrong
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1 minute ago, HankStrong said:

I had a personal wow moment.  Recently a woman was killed by jumping in a fake ride-sharing car with a killer.  He pulled right up into a crowded spot and picked her up.  He was intentionally trying to get someone.

I had 3 people try to get into my truck this weekend at Earth Fare .  My wife had decided to run back in and I was waiting on her to come out when 3 goofballs tried to open my back door.  I looked at them and they knocked on the window.  I rolled it down a bit and said "What are you doing?" The girl says "you're our ride" and I was like "Your Uber is a big, white F-250 pickup truck?" She looks at her phone and says "Sorry.  Silver Toyota Camry."  That car pulled up a couple of minutes later and they got in.

Wow.  Just wow.

And people wonder why I’m sticking with Mears. Uber and Lyft May be cheaper but all of the safeguards and controls put into place for both passengers and drivers  (not to mention wages and benefits) over decades were just tossed aside by the equivalent of a Silicon Valley Church Lady: “Never mind”. The mind reels.

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Affordable housing is like the weather- everyone gripes about it but no one does anything about it.

Wanna change that?

Join OC Mayor Demings’ first task force meeting on the issue this Friday from 9-11am at the Brick Bunker :

https://bungalower.com/2019/04/08/mayor-jerry-l-demmings-launches-housing-for-all-task-force/

From Bungalower 

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In a gigantic step backward, Amazon is supposedly going to begin accepting cash at its GO convenience stores, presumably in order to head off urban ordinances spreading across the country which require the acceptance of cash.

This, of course, will slow down the very efficiency that makes these locations so successful.

Instead of rolling us back to the 1950s, the REAL progressive solution would be to make sure the unbanked and underbanked among us may come along to the 21st century.

The easiest way to do that would be to provide bank-like accounts and easily loaded cash cards at local post offices. US post offices once provided bank-type accounts and countries like Japan still do. Ironically, several developing nations like India are quite far along this path.

Unfortunately, one of our major political parties has declared war on the USPS for ideological and profit-making reasons, so it’s also possible through stores like Walmart. What must be avoided at all costs is to turn it over to the very payday lenders who prey on the poor with usurious fees for their services.

https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/10/cashierless-amazon-go-stores-are-planning-to-accept-cash/amp/

From Tech Crunch

 

 

Edited by spenser1058
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17 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

In a gigantic step backward, Amazon is supposedly going to begin accepting cash at its GO convenience stores, presumably in order to head off urban ordinances spreading across the country which require the acceptance of cash.

This, of course, will slow down the very efficiency that makes these locations so successful.

Instead of rolling us back to the 1950s, the REAL progressive solution would be to make sure the unbanked and underbanked among us may come along to the 21st century.

The easiest way to do that would be to provide bank-like accounts and easily loaded cash cards at local post offices. US post offices once provided bank-type accounts and countries like Japan still do. Ironically, several developing nations like India are quite far along this path.

Unfortunately, one of our major political parties has declared war on the USPS for ideological and profit-making reasons, so it’s also possible through stores like Walmart. What must be avoided at all costs is to turn it over to the very payday lenders who prey on the poor with usurious fees for their services.

https://techcrunch.com/2019/04/10/cashierless-amazon-go-stores-are-planning-to-accept-cash/amp/

From Tech Crunch

 

 

Amazon already allows you to load your account with cash directly at 7-11 , CVS,  and GameStop (it seems like Whole Foods should be on that least as well lol). You can also purchase gift cards with cash at a ton of stores and load them onto your account with your phone.

If it does take the form of a machine (which is my expectation) , they could make it a dual purpose ATM and a cash checkout machine, which would reduce the amount of human service the machine needs as it could both receive and dispense money, much like debit card cashback offerings helped to reduce labor/cash management at stores (although I don't think I've seen anyone do that in a long time, is that still available? I always use credit).

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I'm entirely with the EU, England, and Canada on cash.  Coins for anything less than a 5.  Polymer notes for anything greater than 5.

I almost entirely use a card, though.  It is just the easiest way.

 

I've never understood the people who say "We can't use $1 or $2 coins!  Imagine how heavy that will be in my pockets!"  How many times in one's life do you carry more than 4 or 5 dollar bills?  There is this weird concocted story about how the overwhelming majority of people will be walking around with 30 or 40 coins in their pockets or purses, their pants nearly splitting from all the coins.  If I have more than a few ones in my wallet, I start to feel like I have the Costanza Wallet or something.

 

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