samhexum

Groundwater (spring). 

Literally...
 
640-year-old castle with moat found under hotel in France
The castle, which has been identified as the Château de l’Hermine, was built by John IV the Conqueror in the 1380s. It is located under the courtyard of Hotel Lagorce.

Max, a friendly tabby living adjacent to Vermont State University’s main entrance in Castleton was named a “doctor of litter-ature” — after spending a string of semesters wandering the halls of the institution of higher learning, charming students and staff with his positive energy.

“Max the Cat has been an affectionate member of the Castleton family for years,” the school said in a Facebook post.
The curious kitty first wandered down the street in search of a social life roughly half a decade ago — and the rest was history 101.
“So he decided that he would go up on campus, and he just started hanging out with the college students, and they love him,” owner Ashley Dow told the Associated Press.
Everybody knows Max, who laps up the attention he’s given, allowing himself to be picked up and played with, and even posed for selfies.
The social creature also loves to join campus tours, designed to show prospective students the ropes, running across the street to the meeting point at the right time.
“I don’t even know how he knows to go, but he does,” Dow said. “And then he’ll follow them on their tour.”
Dow, known as “Max’s mom” around Castleton, said that she’s spoken to graduates who return to town and want to know how Max is doing.

For Chicago Bears fans there's always Dick Buttkiss.

not to mention an almost crushing dose of modesty and humility!!!
😇😇😇

My position is that I am definitely for it.
Do you really think there are gonna be people here that are against it?
 

My boyfriend broke up with me because of my compulsive gambling.
 
Ever since, all I can think of is how to win him back.

Sandwich icon Katz’s Delicatessen and beloved Ukrainian East Village eatery Veselka have teamed up to create a new menu mashup: the “pastrogi,” a pastrami-stuffed pierogi.

The city’s oldest deli provides its signature deli meat, and Veselka works the pastrami into its classic Eastern European dumplings.
The one-of-a-kind “flavorful fusion” will only be available for one month at Veselka’s new Williamsburg location at 646 Lorimer St. starting on its opening day, Wednesday, June 5.
The “innovative” pastrogi — available either boiled or fried — emerged through trial and error, with the restaurants saying it took weeks to perfect. In the end, “we couldn’t be more thrilled to share it with both our customers and theirs,” Veselka owner Tom Birchard said, adding that the partnership was a way “to showcase our Ukrainian heritage while celebrating the diverse culinary landscape of NYC.”
An appetizer portion of four is $12, while an entree portion of eight costs $22.
Adding to the hype, the 1954-born Ukrainian spot and Katz’s — the latter oft-remembered as a filming location for the 1989 hit rom-com “When Harry Met Sally” filming location — are also offering a super-stuffed “New York Classics” combo package that can be shipped nationwide for the next three weeks.
For $160, it includes a pound of each of hand-carved pastrami and corned beef; a 12-pack of potato pierogies; a 16-slice half-loaf of deli rye; 2 quarts of sour pickles; 8 ounces each of deli mustard, ruben dressing and sauerkraut; a pound of Swiss cheese; and a dozen Veselka potato pierogies.

“We love having the capability to ship these exclusive and iconic tastes across the country, making it possible for everyone to experience and provide a bit of nostalgia to those who may have moved away from the city,” said Jake Dell, owner of Katz’s Deli.
Two years ago, Katz’s teamed up with Italian sandwich shop Alidoro and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority for a subway-themed pastrami Ruben sandwich.
 

BATTLE OF THE BULGE
ABC execs alarmed over ‘GMA3’ host’s skin-tight biker shorts pics: ‘Little to the imagination’
The images of Morgan show the affable anchor’s “package” is on full display — and make for an uncomfortable fit with ABC’s corporate parent Disney, sources said.

South Park Wants to Put Cartman on Ozempic in The End of Obesity Paramount+ Special 
 
 

Moderator note: this has gone way off topic. If you want to continue to discuss this topic I suggest taking it to the financial sub-forum.
Let’s get back on Red Lobster topic. Thanks!

I think Red Lobster's troubles have more to do with the changes in ownership in the past couple decades than one badly executed promotion.  It's a eye catching headline, sure, but if the business was fundamentally healthy it would be no more than a blip.
To be clear, Red Lobster was a mature brand with a lot of older locations, and a fairly downmarket reputation. It was no longer a growth business, it was the seafood place you went with your boomer (grand)parents after church.  There was a lot more competition from other newer chains, but still, it had a decent level of goodwill.  If it was structurally sound, I think it would be struggling to stay relevant but not going bankrupt.
Red Lobster was owned by Golden Gate Capital for several years last decade.  It's typical for PE firms to saddle their targets with a lot of debt as part of the acquisition.  It's also common for them to sell off the assets like real estate.  They'll take a location where the chain owned the property and sell the lot to a real estate investment firm and execute a long term lease.  They restaurant is still on the hook for any maintenance and upkeep on the property, so the new landlords provide very little service for the rent payments.  So the PE firm gets their aquisition paid off and they leave the business with high debts and more operating expenses than they had before the takeover.
If GCC left Red Lobster with drained assets and high debts, and you add the challenging post-pandemic restaurant environment on top of that, it's little wonder they're struggling to keep up.  It would certainly explain the turnover in their c-suite ever since Thai Union bought them, I can see these executives coming in, getting a real look at the balance sheets and noping out as soon as they could.
That would also explain the sudden move to close a large number of locations. They can stem the bleeding from underperforming locations, and hopefully recover enough value from the assets that get auctioned off to pay down the debts and get to a more stable financial position.  Unfortunately, a bankruptcy will probably still be necessary to force a restructuring of the remaining debt (and hopefully not a liquidation).
Sadly, the chain retaurant industry has been a big target for these firms, and it leaves empty buildings and lost jobs in the wake.  Name any chain that's died or struggled to survive in the past many years and it's a reasonable bet that there's been an leveraged aquisition in the process.  Consumers pay higher prices, employees lose jobs and or better wages, and cities are left with empty storefronts that become a hole in their tax base.  But somehow the blame gets shifted to the middle class because a soccer mom stopped for a latte.
 
 
 

They should really up the ante...
Loser gets full custody of both kids 

Matt Carpenter is the new lead off player for the. Cardinals
Glad he is back. Nice guy 

Wearing a pair of ankle socks right now 

How's this for some organizational pitching…
The Yankees won 4-0 tonight and all four of their minor-league teams won, three of them by shut out. 
Including the major league team, the organization gave up three runs in five games tonight. 
It means absolutely nothing, of course, but I thought it was kind of cool, nevertheless

BATTLE OF THE BULGE
ABC execs alarmed over ‘GMA3’ host’s skin-tight biker shorts pics: ‘Little to the imagination’
The images of Morgan show the affable anchor’s “package” is on full display — and make for an uncomfortable fit with ABC’s corporate parent Disney, sources said.

South Park Wants to Put Cartman on Ozempic in The End of Obesity Paramount+ Special 
 
 

It took you until now to understand the point of this thread?

Administrator’s Message
Gentlemen, The subject is on “Different Advice”.  Let’s stay on topic and not wander off by personally replying  to different members. Thank you! 🙏 

They should really up the ante...
Loser gets full custody of both kids 

ALL YOUR PRAYERS HAVE BEEN ANSWERED!!!
 
More than six years after their divorce was finalized, Flip or Flop hosts Tarek El Moussa and Christina Hall are set to reunite for a new HGTV series.
It was announced on Wednesday morning as part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s Upfront presentation to advertisers that El Moussa and Hall will challenge each others’ flipping skills in (heh) The Flip Off.
“Tarek El Moussa and Christina Hall built a home-flipping empire and top HGTV series with Flip or Flop. But it all came crashing down after their much-publicized divorce,” reads the official synopsis. “Now, the exes are back — along with their new spouses — for a throwdown competition to see who can find, buy, renovate, and flip a house for the biggest financial gain, and the chance at bragging rights.”
The Flip Off is on track to launch in early 2025 with a “super-sized premiere.”