Things you don't need to know...

American beer along with it's cheap Mexican variety does indeed taste terrible. I always go for local brews or imported ales at nearby pubs. As they taste much better.
A little research shows a lot chocolate is getting made in Mexico and shipped back to the US. All in the pursuit of cheaper margins. It's amazing how many product have changed quality. Take a look at the Hostess brand after they were sold to a Foreign investor.
I actually think some of the very light tasting lagers from the US and Mexico are great for hot summer days. Not something I would sip on slowly, but good to, sort of, quench thirst and still feel a little bit special instead of just a soft drink or carbonated water.
 
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American beer along with it's cheap Mexican variety does indeed taste terrible. I always go for local brews or imported ales at nearby pubs. As they taste much better.
A little research shows a lot chocolate is getting made in Mexico and shipped back to the US. All in the pursuit of cheaper margins. It's amazing how many product have changed quality. Take a look at the Hostess brand after they were sold to a Foreign investor.

We have something similar, several brands belong to big brewing groups that have acquired successful breweries in the past, and it's usually cheap beer that is OK but nothing more. And many local brews, among which the most famous are from abbeys: trappists (it's not only in Belgium, you have at least one in the US I think). It's an official label and the conditions are very strict, only a few qualify and most of them don't produce that much.

For ex. a new one appeared not long ago and there were queues everywhere to buy the few available bottles, insane. :)

Yeah, we're usually not proud people but we are proud of our beers.

I remember one very good nut-flavoured Oregon beer I tasted in San Jose, and some others I had after work in Philadelphia, but I forgot their names, it's been a while. It was fun to be asked our ID though, it's not as if we looked like teenagers anymore ;)

Switzerland makes excellent chocolate. If one day you fancy to buy an expensive foreign one, that's what you want to try.
 
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The Kwak is fun to drink, even more fun to watch someone else drink one for the first time! :lol:
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Especially when the glasses are huuuge.

There is also of course the ritual involved in drinking Kwak. At least in some pubs (One example De Deulle Gritte) you still have to give one of your shoes to the waiter (and get it back after finishing drinking).

pibbur who now has two shoes again.
 
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Not all is good, I would not call Milka good for example.

No, you're right, I'd rather have Cote d'Or. Lindt was nice (but it was long ago), or Toblerone is one of the famous brands, with their famous bear/mountain logo.

Well, we need a guide. :)

PS: Damn, I see they all belong to a "Mondelez International". So much for national pride in Europe.

At least, we have the Orval Abbey which is not a subsidiary of any holding. For now.
 
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Elon Musk says 'almost anyone' can afford $100,000, a hypothetical price point for a SpaceX ticket to Mars: https://news.yahoo.com/elon-musk-says-almost-anyone-124230757.html?guccounter=1

pibbuR starting saving, hoping to live yet another 10 years.

PS. Space travel is the only high risk adventure I would take part in. Mountaineering? Climbing sky scrapers? Parachuting? Hanggliding? Base or bungee jumping? Forget it!!! Going to Mars? I'm in!! AND I WON'T ASK THE WIFE FOR PERMISSION!!!! DS.

PPS. On a more serious note: I don't think we should go to Mars. Too many risks. But I hope we do, in time for me to watch it. DS.

Some good news. The wife says I can go to Mars if I want to, in 10 years time. And even better, I can afford it. There's no mortgage on the house now, so I can easily get a 938.000 NOK (100.000 USD) loan. She would of course have to pay back on the loan during my 2+ year trip, but that's just a minor detail. No need to bring that up.

I think I'm well qualified for going there. After all, I've seen nearly every movie/TV series about the red planet, so I think I know everything that might go wrong, and how to deal with it.

Tickets are available at sales@spacex.com, unfortunately journeys beyond the moon is not open for sale at the moment.

pibbuR who despite the (seemingly) good news has got a sneaking doubt. Why does she want him to leave earth for a very long time?
 
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We'd miss you Pibs if you were away for 2+ years!! :)
 
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I also don't think we humans should be invading another planet, considering what we've done collectively to this one. However, if I had to pick an envoy, in Pib I would trust, though I'd hope you could keep us up to date with postings!
 
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Throw both a farewell party and a funeral as it's a one way trip. I'm not kidding it's all in the offical brochure from SpaceX that explains the risk for the future mars missions.
 
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It's probably worth checking that the ticket specifies one or two-way trip, indeed.

And since it's a new destination, be cautious about any ad on time-shared flats, those are usually scams.
 
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Some good news. The wife says I can go to Mars if I want to, in 10 years time. And even better, I can afford it. There's no mortgage on the house now, so I can easily get a 938.000 NOK (100.000 USD) loan. She would of course have to pay back on the loan during my 2+ year trip, but that's just a minor detail. No need to bring that up.

I think I'm well qualified for going there. After all, I've seen nearly every movie/TV series about the red planet, so I think I know everything that might go wrong, and how to deal with it.

Tickets are available at sales@spacex.com, unfortunately journeys beyond the moon is not open for sale at the moment.

pibbuR who despite the (seemingly) good news has got a sneaking doubt. Why does she want him to leave earth for a very long time?

Maybe she gets creeped out by you sometimes talking in third person? :D
 
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@Couchpotato;, @Redglyph;: That adds a complicating factor. Have to thinks about it.


Done. I still want to go.


However, a one-way ticket to Mars means that I won't be able to travel on the planned hispeed transsiberian train at the age of 95. That one is difficult.


@Corwin;, @Carnifex;: Will do, unless bandwidth is prohibitively low and too expensive.

pibbuR who thinks @SveNitoR; may have a point.
 
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And since it's a new destination, be cautious about any ad on time-shared flats, those are usually scams.
I will be careful. I will probably buy real estate in stead. I suppose one of the agents selling real estate on the moon, will include mars very soon.

pibbuR who didn't buy the Eiffel tower when he had the chance, which may (or may not) have been a mistake.
 
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Going back 2000-7000 years (depending on what assumptions they use) every human being today stems from the same genealogical lines. Meaning we all have the same exact ancestors that far back. All other lines have died out.

It's "a statistical certainty" according to people who have investigated this, even doing computer simulations.

Anyone interested can read a (now quite old) paper I found:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/jour...-individuals/330372AB57FB1CB3839FAAA46CF81B66

I'm guessing only @largh; has the statistical know-how to really understand the details, though the basics are easy :)
 
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Yeah, those ancestors even have names: Adam and Eve!! :)
 
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Yeah, those ancestors even have names: Adam and Eve!! :)
In a comment to this paper someone said, that Judaism, Islam and Christianity might literally stem from Abraham (though it's impossible to know for sure of course :) )
 
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