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This discussion is pointless. No one here is going to change anyone's mind about anything. For some reason, we as humans seem to hold onto our opinions even in light of contradictory facts. It is next to impossible to change someone's mind about something once they have formed their opinion. My ex used to cram Q-tips way up her ear to "clean out all the wax". I told her over and over that ears were self cleaning and that a damp washcloth was all she needed to clean them. Showed her articles and papers written on the subject all the time. Yet there she was after each shower reaching for the box of Q-tips. I am one of those freedom loving, gun toting, conservatives and I have been vaccinated because for me it was worth the risk to help ensure no adverse effects of Covid. But, my daughter who is 8 will not be getting any shots for it anytime soon (I know that there are no vaccinations for 8 year olds, but even if there were...) because with the unknowns around the vaccine and her young age/health, the reward doesn't really outweigh the risk. I see both sides of the debate. Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

"LEGO is better than gold" - Benjamin Franklin

That they unlocked the Covid-19 thread. I give it until sundown tomorrow

2 Baby Yoda miss marked for $24 at Meijer. Worst case scenario, excellent gifts.

I think Americans are too conditioned to not trust the government. To the people who are upset that you're getting mixed messaging, you must never deal with government agencies. They move the goalposts all the time, it's like a silly little game. Having to work for them is even worse - sure, I can completely redo the project we spent three months completing to spec. Oh, you want it entirely redone in 5 days and with variations and multiplied 100 times. Yeah, let me get my time machine out. The other good one is: Today is the last day. [Tomorrow] Eh, we don't like the results, let's add a week and see if we can refine it further. It's ok that over half of the employment contracts are completed and there is no longer sufficient staff, that's a you problem. On Covid: Generally, I trust the science I can find on Covid, but with a grain of salt. some of it is sketchy or contradicting, but it's evolving. I trust my brain more in that I don't want Covid, and I'm ok with that decision. Our family knows people that died and we're hospitalized for 2-4 weeks and I prefer to avoid that. Do I know the long term effects of the vaccine? No. However, I don't think the pharmaceuticals can risk screwing it up this time, so I give a little more leeway. Also, authoritarian, democracys, republics, all want you to get a vaccine. Just different ones, is it really likely that all the vaccines give the government the same mind control abilities? I doubt it (but cool if so) I agree with one aspect, in that governments were overly strict out of fear of hospital capacity. This was never really an issue locally, and our case count is relatively low for an urban setting. Further, they didn't really give enough good news with firm deadlines for fear of lapses in people's social dealings. Governments also took advantage to what they think they could get away and yes, a small amount of liberty may be permanently lost. It's probably worth it to prevent tens of thousands of deaths (whoops, that didn't happen in large swaths of the US). Even a not for profit I volunteer for has changed some parameters going forward that make things much easier for the organization and a little less for participants. All in the name of safety. I guess I rationalize it as: if I get vaccinated, and wear a mask with people I don't know, when in close proximity, for long periods of time, and it prevents one person from getting seriously ill, then it's worth it. Conversely, if people can do the same in reverse then my son won't get it, which is a bonus. Sorry, that meandered. Yay LEGO!

You’re doing a good job of supporting their narrative. Congrats on being a sheep. Bah.

I believe the the blackberry is the worlds most perfect fruit. There is nothing that you can do to it to make it any better then it is right off the bush.

It's so backwards. We admire philosphers, scientists & revolutionaries but despise even the simplest thoughts of scepticism in society. I can't understand this mentality & I never will.

Hear hear. We canadians are watching in horror as states like Florida have 60 times as many deaths as Ontario with only twice the population. Thankfully the “freedom, guns, anti-masks” folks here are seen as kooks and have not stopped us from getting to almost 75% double vaccination despite a significant lag in getting vaccines compared to every other western country. Stay calm and science on.

The inmates are clearly running the asylum.

I'm sure this will go better this time.

Day 62 of trying to get a PS5. Tired of waiting in online queues for hours only to find out it's sold out once again. Scalpers really do deserve the extra 150€ for all this effort. I just can't get myself to pay over retail, this thing will gradually drop, just like all the other consoles.

They have Priority boxes that are not Flat Rate. I use them. If that makes me a bad person, I'll add that reason to the list of others. Depending on the set, depends whether I use them or not. Sold a Duel on Bespin set, I used a new corrugated box for that one, but lots of City sets that go for $30-40 will get the free USPS box treatment.

Actually the science is proving that the “face coverings” are not effective. N95 masks may be effective but require special fitting. Masks are a placebo to make you feel protected. Read the label on the box. I am more Roy Neary than Fox Mulder but I cant say I’ve watched a lot of Xfiles

One of the best covers of all time... Sent from my SM-G960U1 using Tapatalk

First rule of spreadsheets is there is nothing fancier than spreadsheets (jk, it's relational databases and I am just not up for it) A good chunk of my inventory is Walmart clearance so I use Walmart pay on the app which 1. tricks Bank of America into believing it's an online purchase so I get 3% CB instead of 2%, and 2. Puts my in-store order into my purchase history automatically. https://www.walmart.com/account/wmpurchasehistory In the past I have just copy pasted the 'table' of data there into a worksheet in Google Sheets and then massaged that into the relevant info into the format I desire before pasting it into my inventory spreadsheet. A very nice thing about Lego is the set numbering system which makes it very easy to grab the relevant five digits out of a item name that is search engine optimized: "LEGO City Roadwork Truck 60284 Building Toy; Cool Roadworks Construction Set for Kids (58 Pieces)" -> 60284 with a function I already forgot. I've already gotten ahead of myself. This most recent round I tried something new, added a Chrome extension called Data Miner and built myself a little scraper tool to grab the items from the WM purchase history page. Tried my darndest to make it auto-paginate and click the buttons to display all the items purchased but it just wasn't happening, so I cut my losses and clicked the buttons myself in between scrapes. This cut my data entry time by a lot. I keep this info for my items: (The percentage is a conditionally formatted column that shows me visually if I got a good deal: Price/RRP) UniqueID Set Number Set Name Price W/Tax RRP 43.8% Purchase Date Retailer Location/Delivery Notes KEY20210001 40312 Xtras Streetlamps $3.99 $4.33 4 99.8% 1/1/21 ShopLego Home So I had to add the date and location to each group of purchases - used the location with a lookup table I made to calculate the sales tax for each location and also the three+ different rates I get charged by different retailers for items shipped to me. I also used a Lookup table function to fill in the Set Names and RRP this time around. Maybe this is helpful/interesting to y'all, maybe it isn't.

Is your name Terry, and do you have any Steamrollers?

A little amusing we moved from marijuana over to bacon. I guess the thread developed a case of the "munchies". Haha. Anywho I will admit bacon certainly had been a guilty pleasure especially when in a cheeseburger. I have not eaten much of the stuff for a long while now. Even then I grew up more on the turkey variety when it came to home cooking. The "increased risk of colorectal cancer by 18% over a lifetime" statement by the International Agency for Research on Cancer sector of the World Health Organization has already been brought up. Chances are anyone would have a general idea there are health risks of varying degrees with any variety of foods consumed regularly and/or in excess. However the pork and beef industries have known since at least the 1970's the health risks of their product and has practically bullied the United States Department of Agriculture and the US Department of Health & Human Services into downplaying these risks. Health concerns shouldn't be a surprise considering bacon is cut from the largest part of a pig, the belly, which is mainly fat. Especially in the 80's where America was going through an anti-fat fad, the pork board had difficulty trying to sell these cuts so leave it to the fast food industry to mass market a "bacon bonanza" by the following decade starting with Hardee's Friscoburger. Random ranting aside, a bacon quarter-pound cheeseburger with ketchup, mustard, couple pickles, some bits of onion and a couple slices of mozzarella cheese in all its greasy glory sounds pretty darn good right about now. I enjoyed a good cup of joe in the morning up until my body just couldn't handle the java anymore a long time ago. Still I do love the scent of hot coffee or even the unused beans in the bag. No particular favorite flavor really. And I do not know how to describe the smell of coffee. It's just nice.

They'll be back in full force very soon.

I like them cold so I usually put them in the fridge overnight

I hate to “like” your post, but I’m glad you’ve decided to share your journey with us. In my experience, finding a doctor or two who decides your “mystery” illness is something they are called to solve is a very good thing.

Ah yes, the American rugged individualism. It doesn't work against a virus. Viruses don't care about your personal freedoms, your guns, or your toughness. Heaven forbid I care about my fellow man, woman, and child. You've blown up your spot, Mathew. For all your blather, in the end you complain because you simply don't care about other people. If it means I'm a sheep to care about others, then bah-ram-ewe. WE knew about the Delta outbreak in India - it was WIDELY reported and was basically concurrent with the widespread availability of vaccines in the United States in April. Since then the public has been pummeled with messaging from the government to get the vaccine. We've always known there are stubborn and disinformed people who would put off the vaccine or refuse it - folks who don't trust anyone and only want elderberry or thieves oil. You cannot blame WHO, the CDC, NIH, Fauci, the White House or 'liberals' for that. You are literally blaming public health experts for the disinfo spread by untrusting conspiracy theorists [the little? guy]. This is actually just you talking out of your butt parroting some disinfo you saw somewhere? All the science points to universal masking and increased barriers slowing the spread of pandemics. Remember when y'all were like, the Chinese invented this thing! They are lying! Nah, they just ALL wore masks and listened. https://www.pnas.org/content/118/4/e2014564118 This is a lit review on masks published in January. You're wrong because you're 100% focused on masks as a filter for the air you breathe in, but that's backwards, we're concerned with keeping our droplets to ourselves. So ideally we'd all have perfect filters on all the air we breathe in, but putting some filtration on all the air we breathe OUT actually helps everyone. And... we're back where we started at individual vs. community protection.

Looks no different from the stonewars list.

I thought that was Ben Franklin

Passed away because he could never leave this site no matter how hard he tried. He did leave and came back in attempt to reinvent himself as @Val-Ebut he just had to be him. I figured if he came back as another new account I would pickup on his dynamic persona. Hopefully it was quick and painless and his loved ones are all well, but it would be interesting to know if it was Covid because Spain had a surge the same time he disappeared. We could rename the Covid thread after him.

I like popcorn, I like watching foreigners and their unknown quotes

Yeah, where is @stephen_rockefellerwhen you need him

A Friday the 13th seems appropriate.

Second Robert Palmer song you've posted today. I meant to reply to the Addicted to Love video, but I enjoy Florence and the Machine's cover of that song.

Why? Because watching this video is so much more enjoyable than this never ending, going nowhere debate.

I unlocked and merged with the original thread. Sorry if some legitimate complaints got lumped into the merge.

I don't want to quote @elmaslıefendi because it's long, but you raise a lot of valid points. Some of which I share a similar opinion (eg. How fast the vaccine was created and approved, it's as if they had a head start, maybe they knew something or were already working on something) and some I don't, and that's ok. Differing viewpoints are ok in society. You're spot on in that big corporations (not just corporations) are too powerful and too big to fall and we're just a merger or two away from one conglomerate instead of 4 or 5. I'm not American and have never heard the quote you ended with. Good read overall and points worth considering. Yay LEGO!

Not conditioned enough if you look at the past 100 years. Big pharma & government don't care about science. What is science? Science is a constantly evolving form of knowledge created by discussing, researching & questioning the current state we're in. Scientists do that & guess what: all of a sudden studies have different outcomes & different suggestions on how to deal with this pandemic other than the government narrative. These studies are ignored though. Don't trust a study you didn't pay for, right? Recent example: in Germany it is legal to vaccinate kids over the age of 12 despite the fact that the STIKO (Standing Committee on Vaccination) was against it. This is a big deal: https://www.rki.de/EN/Content/infections/Vaccination/Vaccination_node.html Link is a government website (RKI) explaining what the STIKO is & what it does, why it is important to have this independent advisory group etc. but they obviously forgot to add: "We don't care though lol" at the bottom of the text. Because clearly, they don't. They can just ignore advice from the most important advisory group on vaccines in Germany & instead legalize vaccination for kids. That's an unbelievably ignorant & dangerous approach. This is anti-science at its purest form. And this is true for masks, the virus, the vaccine, everything. Studies that are inconvenient are ignored or get 'debunked' by a half page article from some government journalist who doesn't even know what he's talking about. Now you're gonna say: one is pharma, one is government, what has one to do with the other? Apart from the corruption which is being uncovered daily (politicians are humans, not robots, they can be bought) government doesn't have a choice. The amount of money collected from taxes & the jobs attached to these giant companies act as a tool to blackmail authorities. Same is true for tech, the food industry, media, traveling, you name it. Big business becomes bigger, buys out smaller companies & eventually becomes a monopoly. We're witnessing the final stages of this development. You can't beat Facebook, Apple, Pfizer, Google, Nestle or Amazon anymore. They have become so big & so powerful, no government in the world can stop them. Too much to lose & nothing to gain. Quite the opposite. This results in government & these businesses cooperating & doing everything they can by creating useful laws in order to support their ability to bank higher profits, access private information legally or spread fake news without any major consequence. We can't trust these companies as they proved to us multiple times that they aren't trustworthy. Our voices-recorded, our movement-tracked by cameras & gps, our information-we give it away voluntarily, our shopping habits-available to our banks. And all this stuff is being sold as a service to other companies. Data is a product, not useless information. It gives them an advantage & they can directly advertize specific products we're interested in. Maximum efficiency for them in exchange for zero privacy for us. It seems trivial to most people, like sure have my data, whatever, but at a global scale it becomes significant. Especially when AI becomes smarter & smarter. Oh yes, they can risk it for trillions of dollars, no worries. Because there is no risk, you take it all by signing that little paper before you get your needle. If anything goes wrong, it's your own fault. This is not an ordinary vaccine, it's a mRNA-vaccine, which makes it the first of its kind to contain genetic information. A first attempt in human medicine, so it becomes even more unpredictable than it already is because: Vaccines generally get an 8-10 year period in which they are tested for safety. The fastest vaccine to get a permit took 5 years of development. This one was one the way in under a year. You go figure if the risk-reward trade-off is worth it. Speaking of worth it: the vaccine doesn't even protect you from getting the virus, so that's the cherry on top. Half of my family is vaccinated & they got sick regardless. I know I'd feel ripped off if I was in their situation. They should have known better. You consider public health & freedom of society a small amount of liberty? Just a quote to remind - Benjamin Franklin once said: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." Did this quote lose credibility...?

Oh man. Using a seat belt analogy. I wear a seat belt because it’s proven to provide protection for most (not all) accidents. A mask has not been proven to keep you from getting covid. If the FDA could even provide an approved mask type that prevented covid spread and contamination that would be a start. Wait they haven’t even approved a single covid vaccine 🥴 If masks were so effective for protecting from viruses then why did virtually no one (aside from regions in Asian countries) wear them prior to covid? And no I’m not counting Michael Jackson and his clan.

Updated list just posted on Brickfanatics.

Which Christmas?

This set is such a dud. Glad I have none as it will be such a long hold. The amount of stock around still is insane. People in the UK have already had there fill when it was 60 and also when you combine with promos. I doubt it will be long before it's heavily reduced again. It's a great looking set but there's just too many about now. Imo 100 max at Christmas so it's hardly worth it if you haven't got it a big discount.

It’s number one to offer a false sense of security so we can go about our “lives” but also to remind us that we are in perpetual danger.

Next year they will need bigger shelves.

Bacon is good. I can die hungry or happy and I choose happy. Yay LEGO!

Seedless would be an improvement.

Bacon falls under the red meat category , which the WHO classifies as a group 1 carcinogen. Basically all processed or red meat increases your risk for certain types of colon cancer. Here’s the source study the WHO cited: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanonc/article/PIIS1470-2045%2815%2900444-1/fulltext Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Genius level comeback.

Not my sets but Ideas logo was made with a Mickey Mouse art set.

Blueberry season!

Received this from LEGOLAND California this morning, lol.

wow this thing is hiddious.....