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SGBear's avatar

What’s a “bare minimum” skill everyone should have, but surprisingly many people don’t?

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Macarolina's avatar

skills to have a civil conversation on a contentious matter.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

I've always thought throw a ball. But I guess that's not "bare minimum".

I'm assuming you don't mean a physical skill so I'm going to say being fiscally responsible.

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CalGal2004's avatar

I was going to say balance a checkbook, a (very) old school mechanism of fiscal responsibly. However one can be fiscally responsible without having ever seen a checkbook let alone balance one.

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FiatSlug's avatar

Being fiscally responsible is a vastly underrated skill.

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Wiata78's avatar

Huh, no jokes about the “Bear Minimum”…which I will say is Oski on Ozempic.

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DC Trojan's avatar

changing a tire, checking oil in an engine, clearing browser caches, using MS Word styles, using basic MS Excel functions (simple formulae and charts, formatting, pivot tables), frying an egg (lol)

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FiatSlug's avatar

You'd be surprised how easy it is to eff up the last listed skill. But learning how to fry an egg and do it well also teaches one many other skills about use of energy, the proper cooking equipment (size of pan, and type of pan), the proper kind of grease (be it butter, bacon fat, or an oil), time and motion, and simple judgement.

One thing I learned from my youngest brother - you can conserve some energy in frying an egg or eggs and creating a superior result by using a dinner plate as a cover for the fried egg(s).

I like mine over easy (as opposed to sunny side up). I flip the egg(s), turn off the heat, and then place a dinner plate over the pan, upside down. This does two things at once: (1) it traps heat that helps finish the egg(s), and (2) simultaneously heats the plate. Because the down side is up, I grasp the pan by the handle with one hand and pull the plate over the rim of the pan toward me with my fully open hand and with wrist rotation flip the plate so that it is upright. Then I plate the eggs. I've tried to plate the eggs by simply doing a combined flip of the pan and plate, but inevitably one or both eggs stick at least a little, breaks the yolks, and creates a mess on the plate.

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GoldenSD81's avatar

I have two electric cars so I no longer need to check engine oil. As EVs become more common, checking engine oil will not be a very common thing for the majority of drivers.

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DC Trojan's avatar

I think you're right - in much the same way that being able to operate a manual transmission is now essentially the "listening to records" of driving, simple engine management will go by the wayside. Still need to be able to manage tire pressures for the foreseeable future though.

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DC Trojan's avatar

that said, given the strength of some people's political opposition to electric cars, it's going to be a long transition period.

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GoldenSD81's avatar

My first car was a 96 Ford Ranger, single cab. It had a manual transmission, manual locks, manual windows and no AC. I started driving by using 3 pedals and now I basically drive with just one pedal with my EV.

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DC Trojan's avatar

We have friends who had an electric VW Golf for a while and one of the things I liked about it was that the regenerative braking (just from taking your foot off the accelerator pedal) was, on its highest setting, very much like engine braking in a manual gas car, very intuitive to drive.

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Tangtpt's avatar

Independent thought.

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Oski Disciple's avatar

Speaking a second language.

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AndyPanda's avatar

The ability to multi-task.

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SGBear's avatar

This is why I never finish anythi

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Oski Disciple's avatar

It’s time for another edition of Oski Disciple’s quote of the day.

"The only one way we were going to get serious about a revolution was when we had something in the soil. We have it — the People’s Park — and its avenging angels are everywhere.” — Eldridge Cleaver

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FiatSlug's avatar

Where did all those avenging angels go when the park became overrun with transients, drug addicts, and criminals attempting to evade responsibility for their misdeeds?

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GoldenSD81's avatar

Agreed, in the end Peoples Park wasn’t worth saving because it was no longer serving the people in a meaningful way that benefited the people and society.

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Oski Disciple's avatar

I'm someone who was at the park before it was bulldozed and participated in the demonstrations that followed and has researched the park's history for a book. My quote was an attempt to capture the spirit of the time. I'm surprised and disappointed that it wasn't recognized as such and that I got such a cynical response. If I ever do this again I'll be sure to only use quotes that are universally true at all times. And to your last point it was well worth saving in 1969 but the university ruined it. And yes, I do recognize what it turned into.

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GoldenSD81's avatar

I was at Cal from 2000-2004 and even at that time Peoples Park wasn’t utilized much, very sketchy and mostly used by transients and people openly using drugs or drinking alcohol. Very few people recreated or used the park.

Is it true that Peoples Park was originally intended for a 4th Unit and student housing and that the housing project didn’t happen because enrollment had dipped or plateaued at the time so it was turned into a park?

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Oski Disciple's avatar

That's partially true. It was turned into a park because local merchants on Telegraph saw a big chunk of land that was in disuse so decided to try to make something positive for the community from it. They did. All the work was done from volunteers of various stripes including engineering students, locals, musicians and previous lazy hippies.

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Oski Disciple's avatar

This quote was in the immediate aftermath of the university bulldozing and fencing the park. At around the time of Bloody Thursday when the police rioted and killed James Rector, blinded another man and injured scores of others. There was a large and peaceful march throughout Berkeley that Memorial Day. The problems you reference would never have happened if the university hadn't acted so capriciously. Sadly people have forgotten what the park was before then and remember only what it turned into later.

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AndyPanda's avatar

"Sadly people have forgotten what "the park" (fill in the blank) was before then and remember only what it turned into later."

Sadly, that applies to a number of things that were once wonderful, but were ruined by poor decisions (usually a series of them) in some form, often ones that had there been a responsible adult in the room would have recognized as the disaster that it would become. And many either suffer, or are at least worse for it all, as a result.

There is no substitute for good judgement.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

Sze

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heyalumnigo's avatar

I don't know anyone named Sze. I'm going to guess that it's a Cantonese last name. There is also the last name Tse. I assume they're pronounced differently, though I could see them having very similar pronounciations.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

Or maybe one is spelling if you're from China vs Taiwan, similar to Zhang and Chang.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

Our disfunctional government

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SGBear's avatar

Despite cowtowing to the Trump administration, DOE threatens Columbia University accreditation

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/education-department-threatens-columbia-universitys-accreditation/

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SGBear's avatar

ICYMI: Trump administration forced out U Virginia's president due to DEI support

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/27/us/politics/uva-president-resigns-jim-ryan-trump.html

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heyalumnigo's avatar

DBD AV Club

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SGBear's avatar

RIP to Tarantino regular Michael Madsen at age 67. It appears that he has died of a heart attack.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/michael-madsen-dead-reservoir-dogs-1236306069/

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heyalumnigo's avatar

PRO

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SGBear's avatar

Malik Beasley has allegedly stiffed his dentist, barber, agent, landlord... He may have a MAJOR gambling problem

https://www.complex.com/sports/a/andrew-white/malik-beasley-sued-by-barber-dentist-sports-agency-unpaid-debt

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SGBear's avatar

Cheater passes roider to become 2nd all-time Astros hitter

https://www.mlb.com/news/jose-altuve-passes-jeff-bagwell-for-second-on-astros-all-time-hits-list

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heyalumnigo's avatar

Even though people claim Altuve didn't partake in the trashcans for the ASSterisks, he's still a cheater! Let ex-ASSterisks know when you're at a game.

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SGBear's avatar

LIverpool's Diogo Jota has died in a car crash, along with his brother. He leaves behind his newlywed wife whom he married 10 days ago, three young children, and his parents.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/live/c5y7p6pw5gyt

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DC Trojan's avatar

Read the linked article - he could have had a one car crash from a blowout in a (regular) VW, but it's hard not to imagine this is something that was worse because of "young man in extremely fast car" - specifically the bit where it burned so badly they need to do DNA testing to confirm identities. Dreadful turn of events.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

Athletics drop finale 6-5 to Rays

https://www.athleticsnation.com/2025/7/2/24460566/athletics-drop-series-finale-6-5-to-rays

The Athletics faced off against the Tampa Bay Rays this morning at George M. Steinbrenner Field in Tampa. After winning the first two games of this series, the A’s hoped to take a rare road sweep home with them as they head back to West Sac for their holiday weekend series against the rival San Francisco Giants.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

Giants beat the Dbacks by scoring the Manfred-man in extras, 6-5

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FiatSlug's avatar

"Blinded by the light..."

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heyalumnigo's avatar

Oakland Ballers beat the Rocky Mountain Vibes 11-4

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heyalumnigo's avatar

Clayton Kershaw the 5th pitcher with 3,000 strikeouts for one team

https://www.truebluela.com/2025/7/2/24455739/clayton-kershaw-3000-strikeouts-dodgers

LOS ANGELES — Clayton Kershaw struck out White Sox third baseman Vinny Capra looking in the sixth inning on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium, making the Dodgers left-hander the 20th player in major league history with 3,000 career strikeouts.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

Kershaw is probably the last one to hit 3000 Ks. Sale is close, but getting old and injured. No one else is super close. Not sure any super young pitchers pitch long enough and with enough innings to hit 3000.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

Freddie Freeman completes Dodgers 9th-inning comeback to stun White Sox

https://www.truebluela.com/2025/7/2/24460861/freddie-freeman-clayton-kershaw-dodgers-white-sox

For the vast majority of this matchup, the Dodgers looked set to hand Clayton Kershaw a rather bittersweet memory of his 3,000-strikeout game, potentially losing to the White Sox in what would be Kershaw’s first loss of 2025. That ultimately wasn’t the case, with Freddie Freeman delivering the walk-off single to cap a three-run ninth inning in a 5-4 win at Dodger Stadium.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

Looks like Sale is about 472 behind 3000. So 3 more seasons being relatively healthy should do it. After that, Garritt Cole is 750ish away. So maybe.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

Oops...wrong thread.

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FiatSlug's avatar

Ah! A reply fail sighted in the wild!

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heyalumnigo's avatar

My first in a long time!

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heyalumnigo's avatar

CAL

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SGBear's avatar

Rachel Kirshner writes a opinion piece about her time at UC Berkeley in the NYT. It's remarkable how I could go to a university with her. And HAG. And HSB. And others at the same time and not know them. To be a giant university where I perversely had a tiny world

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/30/opinion/rachel-kushner-berkeley.html?smid=url-share

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dcblue's avatar

I’ll have to look into the novels she’s written. I’m currently reading a book by another Cal grad, Jesse Q. Sutanto. She’s Chinese-Indonesian and it’s a comedy- mystery with an older Chinese woman with a tea shop in SF Chinatown as the main character.

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Oski Disciple's avatar

Go Bears!!! It is worth remembering as we head into Independence Day that...we've got the Axe!

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heyalumnigo's avatar

[MGOLF] Sampson Zheng Qualifies For The Open

https://calbears.com/news/2025/7/2/mens-golf-sampson-zheng-qualifies-for-the-open.aspx

BERKELEY – California men's golf alumnus Sampson Zheng will make his major championship debut at The 153rd Open after finishing runner-up at the final qualifying event at West Lancashire in Liverpool, England, on Tuesday.

Zheng shot 68-69 (-7) in qualifying to become one of five golfers in the West Lancashire field to clinch a coveted spot in The Open, which will be played at Royal Portrush Golf Club in Northern Ireland on July 17-20.

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heyalumnigo's avatar

[NEWS] Larson, Simon-O'Neill Start Tenure As Co-Athletic Directors

https://calbears.com/news/2025/7/2/athletics-news-larson-simon-o-neill-start-tenure-as-co-athletic-directors.aspx

We are excited to officially begin our 12-month appointment as Co-Athletic Directors! With a combined 25 years of experience working for Cal Athletics and over 40 years in college athletics, we are honored to serve in this capacity at a university that means so much to us.

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