Categories
The Current Situation

*THE* Christmas lights setup of 2020

Photo: Light-up Santa “peeing” (by way of an arc of Christmas string lights) on the year 2020.
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Categories
America The Current Situation

Twitter response of the day

When Ted Cruz tweeted that today’s Dems are the party of the rich, he was hoping that you wouldn’t look too deeply into his household’s sources of income:

Heidi Cruz did her masters in Europe and got her MBA at Harvard, and since 2011 has been the primary breadwinner of the family. This is in line with 40% of U.S. households, but might be concerning to social conservatives and other people who still live in the Bronze Age — in other words, Ted’s base.

Ted probably doesn’t think of his family as rich, since Heidi says she has to put in long hours to support her family, according to a 2018 article in Quartz. That’s because “rich” is a matter of perspective. Their guesstimated just-shy-of-half-a-million pre-tax a year doesn’t put him in the top 1%, so that means middle class, right?

As a managing director at Goldman Sachs, Heidi Cruz likely earns over $300,000 a year—without factoring in an additional bonus. As a senator, Ted Cruz earns an annual salary of $174,000 for his work as a public servant, placing him in the top 3% of American earners.

I will remind you that the U.S. median household income in 2019 was $68,703. I will also remind you that “U.S. median household income” means that if you lined up all the U.S. households in order, from poorest to richest, it’s the household in the dead center of the line.

Categories
Tampa Bay

Tampa’s messed-up intersections

Poster of Tampa’s very weird intersections.
Found via Reddit’s Tampa subreddit. Tap to view at full size.

I’ve lived here for almost 7 years (my anniversary will be in March), and I can say I’ve driven across most of the messed-up intersections on this poster. It’s almost as if Tampa’s roads were designed as a challenge by the designers of the Grand Theft Auto videogames rather than competent civil engineers.

(Source: /r/Tampa)

Categories
Internet Finds It Happened to Me

Thoughts upon seeing an ad for a “Saturn Devouring His Son” yoga mat

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My thoughts, in order:

  1. That’s a bit gruesome to bring to yoga class.
  2. On second thought, if you wanted to give off a “Don’t mess with me” vibe at yoga class, this would be the way to do it.
  3. Does the headline mean that Saturn’s son was named Yoga Mat? That name doesn’t sound like classical Greek.
  4. “Yoga Mat” would be a good Star Wars character name. Definitely better than the one they gave Baby Yoda.
  5. I’m sure there’s a dude named Matthew in the hipster part of town who goes by “Yoga Matt”.

Here’s the link if you’d like to buy the mat.

Categories
funny In the News Slice of Life

Pictures aplenty for Saturday, November 28, 2020















Don’t understand this photo? Remember that’s a protest against police brutality — then read the musical notes.
































































































Categories
Tampa Bay

Flan Factory: A Tampa Bay small business worth supporting

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Flan Factory logo
Flan Factory is located at 1718 N Nebraska Avenue in Tampa. Their phone number is (813) 402-2400, and you can find them online at flanfactorytampa.com.

Here’s a local (if you’re in Tampa) business worth supporting: Flan Factory. There’s no lie on their mural — their flans are flantastic.

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We first tried their flan at the North Tampa Market, which used to take place in Carrollwood back before the plague. We made a habit of taking home several of their individual-sized ones, notably the original, guava, dulce de leche, cafe con leche, coconut, and arroz con leche flavors.

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We’re very happy to see that they’ve gone from temporary setups at markets to a full-blown brick-and-mortar shop on Nebraska, just at the northern edge of Ybor City (a stone’s throw from Centro Asturiano).

In addition to tasty flan, they have amusing merch:

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Yes, that was a funny shirt, but for those who “get it”, this is the money shirt:

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They have a regular set of a half dozen flavors, with another, larger, rotating set. If they have Nutella flavor available, get it:

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They don’t just have flan — they make a mean cafe con leche, and also have some very interesting sandwiches and other dishes as well:

The sandwich I’m most intrigued by is their take on the Elena Ruz sandwich, the Elena 1985. Served during merienda (an afternoon teatime that’s practiced in Spanish colonies — even my birth country, the Philippines), it’s a sweet and savory sandwich that combines turkey, jam, and cream cheese.

Here’s the description of Flan Factory’s Elena 1985:

Thick-cut brioche bread, deep fried in cinnamon batter, then filled with flan factory guava sauce, cream cheese, and oven roasted turkey breast, then dusted with powdered sugar.

Flan Factory logo

Flan Factory is located at 1718 N Nebraska Avenue in Tampa. Their phone number is (813) 402-2400, and you can find them online in several places:

Categories
funny

What I did on Black Friday