Universal Chat Thread

[Mr EliteL]

Yeesh the hurricanes and storms happening over there. Nature be crazy, just won't stop and rest for a moment.

[ShiraNoMai]

This seems to be updating live so you can see it here. The cone of uncertainty (where anywhere within that area the center of the storm can pass through (which is where the strongest winds/storms are)) is still quite wide. It's all dependent on this cold front pushing it down from the north; however sooner it dips down is how far south the storm will wind up. I expect late Monday into Tuesday we'll know for sure where it'll end up. This is one of those slow movers, unlike Helene that just speedran her way through, which made storm surge and winds rough as hell. Slow storms tend to just slow-cook rain and storm activity. 

The latest update (11PM) is here if you wanna check it out.

[Karo]

I hope any friends that are in the path of it will be safe I think I might see some rain from it, but I don't think I'm in the direct path currently.

Also I'm really shocked at how it feel like every company doesn't really care about lawsuits or customer safety? It feel like they must make more money than they lose if that seem to always be their go to.

[ShiraNoMai]

Most times yeah, they can easily throw their financial weight around to bully smaller entities into getting their way. The only thing that can deter big companies from a suit is bad publicity.

Speaking of rich idiots, our brilliant governor has once again denied a call from the federal government to provide aid for this hurricane. I've never hated a living human being as much as I do this guy. I will not be surprised if riots or calls for impeachment ensue.

[Moonface]

Given the Cybertruck's tendency to cut fingers off, it has stiff competition. See, the Cybertruck doesn't just have a strong hood closing mechanism. The problem is that if there's something blocking it, rather than doing the sensible thing and lifting off to allow the blockage to clear, it will clamp down HARDER, potentially breaking something. ...Granted, with the Cybertruck, the question becomes "where is there NOT a design flaw", but that immediately comes to mind.

I'd also personally like to nominate "suicide doors as standard". See, Suicide Doors, as they are commonly called, are doors that open towards the back of the car as you exit, rather than towards the front. If you don't think this is a problem, I want you to think about opening that car in a crowded street, and a car slamming the door. Yeah. Not pretty. Also, if the door isn't properly shut, aerodynamic drag will force that door open, with predicable results.

Yeah, I've seen videos of how dangerous the trunk is on the Cybertruck. A particular one I saw demonstrating it was a guy using stuff like cucumbers and bananas to demonstrate the danger of the trunk, and then when a patch was issued that was meant to resolve the issue he did another video doing the same test. While it was clearly an improvement, he then decided to stick his own finger in the gap since it hadn't cut the banana or cucumber this time, and it proceeded to close dangerously close to almost fully closing onto his finger before re-opening. I have no idea what the status of that is now but considering the Cybertruck is a disaster from front to back as a vehicle (as well as something I see driving around Florida far more commonly than I'd like...) even if that was fully fixed it's like if the Titanic had multiple holes in the side and you patched up only one of them.

For some reason I always think suicide doors are scissor-style doors because I imagine the things closing on someone getting out and turning into a makeshift guillotine.

So it looks like I'm getting Ian 2: Electric Boogaloo this season. Tropical Storm Milton just formed on the other side of the gulf, and is on a perfect course to slam into Tampa, which is only a 90 minute drive from me. I've already heard rumors that it could strengthen to a Cat 4, but I cannot confirm that at this time.

I haven't followed it much but I did see a comment or something that Tampa might have the fortune of the winds pushing water away from land rather than into it so they might not get terrible floodwater. Whereas I think Ft. Meyers was the place I saw in the same speculation that could get it really bad due to its position in relation to the winds? It could all be bullshit for all I know though.

Yeesh the hurricanes and storms happening over there. Nature be crazy, just won't stop and rest for a moment.

Hurricane season runs in Florida until some time into November, so storms happening even with high frequency is to be expected right now.

I hope any friends that are in the path of it will be safe I think I might see some rain from it, but I don't think I'm in the direct path currently.

I think we're not expected to get anything but rain and wind, assuming the path doesn't change or anything like that. Of course everyone is still going crazy for supplies, but it's funny to see people bulk buying water and batteries yet also buying a load of frozen food items? If you're buying batteries from concern of a power outage why are you buying perishable shit?!

Also I'm really shocked at how it feel like every company doesn't really care about lawsuits or customer safety? It feel like they must make more money than they lose if that seem to always be their go to.

I don't think I've seen many cases of a company getting fined/sued for an amount that actually hurts their pockets. Mt. Trashmore as it's lovingly called has seen Waste Management get fined a few times and at no point on that locations Wikipedia page does it sound like any of the fines made WM actually pull their finger out their arse and deal with the problem they were being fined for.

[Maniakkid25]

Well, it looks like Milton is currently a Cat 5, and still headed directly for Tampa. Here is my live reaction to finding out about its strength.



But seriously, it's currently forecasted to diminish down to a Cat 3, which is still dangerous, but not nearly as terrifying. We should be okay? I'll try to let you guys know what's up when it hits.

[Moonface]

That video feels way too tame of a reaction to potentially being in the path of a Cat 5, but then again I've heard that Floridians treat hurricanes like the soldiers in 300 doing that turtle shield formation against the arrows being fired at them.

Also, Hurricane Ivan has been living rent free in my head since last night because of learning how wild the path on that bastard was.

[Maniakkid25]

Really, what's making me unhappy about the storm is the timing of it. It's supposed to make landfall around midnight to 1 AM, Jesus Christ! Why can't you come in at a sensible hour, Milton?!

[Moonface]

Wouldn't it coming in the middle of the night be better in theory because the majority of people will be inside to sleep, rather than it landing in the daytime when there's a higher chance of people being stupid enough to go outside?

[Maniakkid25]

It's a double-edged sword. Potentially, it also means that any damage will be responded to with being woken up, which means a slowdown of reaction time, which could be fatal.

[Moonface]

Ah, good point. I guess my take is better suited for when a storm is bad enough to stay inside but not so dangerous that it can put buildings at risk.

I was reading that there's a big wind shear that Milton has to pass through before it makes landfall and that it could possibly take a lot of strength out of it. Apparently it's now the 5th strongest hurricane to be recorded in the Atlantic Basin though so I wonder how much difference it will make with how strong the thing is now.

[Maniakkid25]

So I have been informed that the local Waffle Houses are closing their doors in preemption of Hurricane Milton. This is officially the most terrifying news I have heard about Hurricane Milton this entire week. See, for those that don't know, Waffle House is a chain that prides itself on being open 24/7/365, no matter what may be happening. This is to the point that FEMA has an unofficial rating on how bad a natural disaster is based on whether or not Waffle House is operating. So, if Waffle House is closing, that's when you KNOW it's gonna be bad.

[Moonface]

lol, meanwhile Disney is continuing to operate their theme parks as normal and requiring all employees to come to work. Universal and other places already closed up shop which to me should have been enough of an indicator of what to be doing, but if you're still open when even Waffle House has noped out you're just straight up smooth brained.

[Maniakkid25]

Just reporting in. The storm seems to be near the end for me. We've suffered no water intrusion or wind damage so far. We have lost power, but we have solar and battery backups, so we've been doing okay, this time around. I mean, I have an internet connection, which is more than I can say about last time.

[Mr EliteL]

Ah, good you've come out of it with just that, Maniak.

Yeah hoping it's passed you guys by now and really hoping y'all have come out with minimal damage or something similar to Maniak. Seen some videos now and terrible for the areas being affected badly.