knifemissile's recent activity
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Comment on I need to make a wooden box to ship something delicate. Could I please get some pointers? in ~life.home_improvement
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile Link ParentGiven you are essentially a psychic based on yesterday's results, I'll lock that in to my head. Shu the OctopusGiven you are essentially a psychic based on yesterday's results, I'll lock that in to my head.
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I need to make a wooden box to ship something delicate. Could I please get some pointers?
Hi Tilderinos, I've got to ship some wrought iron to a blacksmith in another country to be reforged and properly heat treated. I've worked with them before and they're far better than anything...
Hi Tilderinos,
I've got to ship some wrought iron to a blacksmith in another country to be reforged and properly heat treated. I've worked with them before and they're far better than anything that is available in my country.
They've asked me to ship the pieces in a wooden box, that is not real wood (I don't know the English term for it). It must be processed wood, the names in our hardware stores are multiplex and plywood underlayment etc. This is to avoid customs issues with untreated wood.
I have been advised to make the sides of the box multiplex, with underlayment for the top and the bottom. I have my dimensions, but I have never done a woodworking project before and I am nervous the men in the hardware store will laugh at me for my inexperience.
I have some basic questions like:
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Is it okay to go to the hardware place and ask them to cut my pieces to size?
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The box must hold together fine, but it doesn't need to be beautiful or lasting. I am thinking of putting the top and bottom on like the back of an IKEA wardrobe, with tacks, but my wife says hiring a staple gun might save a lot of time. Would a staple gun be too aggressive and potentially wreck the rather soft treated wood?
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Lastly... Could someone just reassure me this will be fine? I associate woodworking as a very masculine 'father' skill and I did not have one of those. I have very poor spatial awareness and my wife is the furniture assembler in the house, so she will be helping me, but this is my first time trying this craft that I find very intimidating.
Thank you for any input anyone is able to provide!
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile LinkThe Final - Spain vs Argentina Spain relies on discipline and ball control, with each player slotting into a well planned system. Argentina's game this tournament has been much more uneven, but...The Final - Spain vs Argentina
Spain relies on discipline and ball control, with each player slotting into a well planned system.
Argentina's game this tournament has been much more uneven, but also much more exciting, with young players taking advantage of the opportunities Messi is able to create, from gaps other players can't see or pass to.
Stat of the tournament: Spain have only been scored on once in the tournament, in the quarterfinal against Belgium.
Personally, I'm going for Spain because the young Argentines pulled that Las Malvinas shit after the England game. I am not a 'no politics in sport' person, as sport is inherently political. But I am very firmly 'no far-right nationalist politics in sport', and as Fifa will not do anything, I can at least lend my support to the Spanish squad.
There've been a lot of funny memes of South American fans sadly resigning themselves to support their colonizer over the Argentines. I knew Argentina (as a side, and their fans) was disliked within and without South America, but not to this extent!
I'm hoping for 2-0 Spain but my predictions have been wrong all tournament
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile Link ParentHope you had fun with the match today! What a show from England, that was some of the most fun football I've seen, even if it wasn't consequential in the tournament. So many epic moments. Anyone...Hope you had fun with the match today! What a show from England, that was some of the most fun football I've seen, even if it wasn't consequential in the tournament.
So many epic moments. Anyone who says the England squad are bad is a fool.
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile Link ParentThat was an insane game and I was thinking about your prediction after the first two goals! 😂 Really felt like the French were treating it as a kick around until the second goal, and then the...That was an insane game and I was thinking about your prediction after the first two goals! 😂
Really felt like the French were treating it as a kick around until the second goal, and then the momentum just ran away.
That was less the Battle of Ushant than it was the Battle of the Nile. The second half was really fun, seeing France come roaring back. I very much wanted some extra time but seeing Bellingham subbed on to cap an incredible tournament by him was nearly as good.
I kept wondering if this victory would make things better or worse for English fans in the post-mortem. Tuchel has tried to explain that, versus Argentina, his team got into such a defensive mindset that he couldn't shake them out of it. His rationale for the centre-back subs was 'if they're going to play defensive, I may as well put good defenders in there.'
But if I was an England fan, seeing Saka score a hat-trick and Rice creating so many opportunities for his playing time, I would think this was a team that could beat Spain. A decisive 2-0 loss might have been psychologically easier to take.
What a fun game.
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile Link ParentI had no idea they had so many awesome names! Erielhonan is a great name for my next sneaky grey cat. Aka Night Crier (I am hungry), aka Swamp Screamer (I am hungry in a swamp)I had no idea they had so many awesome names!
Erielhonan is a great name for my next sneaky grey cat. Aka Night Crier (I am hungry), aka Swamp Screamer (I am hungry in a swamp)
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile Link ParentThank you for another amazing America Fact! I often wondered if the history of first nations people in Florida was different from Northeastern/'Plains'/Western groups due to initial contact with...Thank you for another amazing America Fact!
I often wondered if the history of first nations people in Florida was different from Northeastern/'Plains'/Western groups due to initial contact with the Spanish.
The Spanish had a truly odd relationship to colonization, because of their extremely legalistic culture. I've read several books about the bizarre fact that native culture persists so much more in Central and South America because, once the requirimento was read, first nations people were Spanish subjects, and could legally challenge colonizer actions in courts in Spain.
Obviously the dice were massively stacked against them, but it is an interesting fragment of history.
For Florida, though, this didn't seem to make much of a difference. Infectious diseases and policies of extermination by English colonists to the north of Florida meant that most of the first nations peoples encountered in the 17th century were gone as coherent polities by the 18th.
Of the two 'federally recognized' tribes in Florida (?), both are noteworthy. The Seminole people came together and created a shared identity from many of the remnants of groups that were wiped out by disease and genocide by the English/US colonists. Florida had been a place of refugee for escaped slaves for decades before the American revolution, and the Seminole people mixed material culture and lifeways, incorporating aspects of Gullah culture. This pissed off Andrew Jackson so badly he launched a war of extermination on the Seminole, ending up with many being forcibly marched to Oklahoma in the trail of tears.
In more recent news, a coalition of environmental groups hoping to protect the Florida Everglades and the Miccousukee people of Florida caused the closure of the so-called Alligator Alcatraz concentration camp, successfully arguing in court that the proximity of their villages close to the camp meant its building was illegal. This coalition was successful, with Miccosukee spokespeople stating that:
As Native peoples, we have a sacred obligation passed down from our ancestors to care for the land and everyone who depends on it. The construction of the detention center in Florida was on the ancestral lands of the Miccosukee Tribe. The buildings endangered delicate and protected ecosystems. Alligator Alcatraz put thousands of immigrants at risk. The reported filthy and unsafe conditions were a violation of the human rights of immigrants and their families.
The administration’s violent crackdown on migrant communities is an affront to all we stand for as Native peoples. We are opposed to any government operation that violates the human rights of our neighbors and all who reside on this land. As we saw in Minneapolis earlier this year, ICE operations operate with little to no oversight or safeguards, acting illegally in many cases. Multiple people, including babies, have died in, or as a result of, ICE custody. This must end.
The closure of Alligator Alcatraz is a victory for human rights and Tribal Sovereignty, but we want to see an end to all inhumane and unlawful detention of our neighbors who are simply trying to live, work, and raise their families.
Perhaps not cheerful facts, but very illustrative of Florida's complex society and history that defies the easy memes of 'Florida man' etc. And special shout out to the Florida panther, my personal favourite North American big cat.
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile Link3rd Place Match - England vs France, Miami, July 18 If these teams made it to the final, the English were already going to call it Agincourt II. If you don't know the battle of Agincourt, it was...3rd Place Match - England vs France, Miami, July 18
If these teams made it to the final, the English were already going to call it Agincourt II. If you don't know the battle of Agincourt, it was England's last consequential victory in the 100 Years War before Henry V died of dysentery and his son lost all of their French conquests.
Anyway, what to call it now? What's a battle that both of them don't really want to be at, where the outcome doesn't change the overall result, where everyone's a bit wet and wants to go home.
The Battle of Ushant: Round 2! This time we're fighting in America. Plus, we might have reached the stage of internal recriminations on the England side, mirroring the two English admirals who disliked each other more than they disliked the French.
I don't really watch the third place game as a rule but I've come to really enjoy both the English and the French teams, so I'll be tuning into this one.
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile Link ParentI'm by no means an expert, but the relatively good commentators on my feed were saying the same thing. They were very critical at the time of England's strategy of 'stopping playing football'...I'm by no means an expert, but the relatively good commentators on my feed were saying the same thing.
They were very critical at the time of England's strategy of 'stopping playing football' (harshly worded) after the goal, and further 'parking the bus' with the defensive substitutions just before Argentina's goals.
They said such a strategy would only be workable if England's lead were greater, and if Argentina wasn't completely dominant in the second half. So the professionals (in my language) were as baffled as you are
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile Link ParentNone from me. Sorry about the resultNone from me. Sorry about the result
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile (edited )Link ParentThe second half was the real difference maker. The spark Argentina showed, especially in the last 30 minutes, seemed impossible to stop. England were on the back foot for too long, and Messi...The second half was the real difference maker. The spark Argentina showed, especially in the last 30 minutes, seemed impossible to stop. England were on the back foot for too long, and Messi looked ten years younger as he just created multiple opportunities.
Mac Allister got very unlucky hitting both posts with such force. I really dislike Fernandez for his history of racism and homophobia, so it was sad to see his goal break the walls of the dam.
I think England played well and I hope they don't face too much criticism when they get home. It looked like they were doing their best to stick to Tuchel's game plan, that game plan just appeared to be the wrong fit for an energetic and hungry Argentina.
I thought England were going to win, so I can only imagine how an England fan must feel.
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile Link ParentI was kidding (mostly). If England won, I'd be happy for England fans. And I also thought France would win, so who knows?I was kidding (mostly). If England won, I'd be happy for England fans. And I also thought France would win, so who knows?
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile (edited )Link ParentThat's what I interpreted the comment to mean, yes. By playing in the World Cup, they're obviously world-class players by definition. I didn't mean the team that is favoured to win the World Cup...That's what I interpreted the comment to mean, yes.
By playing in the World Cup, they're obviously world-class players by definition. I didn't mean the team that is favoured to win the World Cup is shit.
I meant (and thought the original comment meant) they're not a team with multiple superstars. Their game isn't centred around an Mbappe/Messi/Haaland/Bellingham like figure - no star striker or magical midfielder.
Today's game was another Spanish game where no single player was being fed the ball or created all attacking drives from the midfield, and their win was methodical and disciplined. It's a very different style of football than relying on one lynchpin to make something happen in the attacking half of the field.
Just to re-iterate again, I don't think the team going to the final isn't world class. But if you were picking an ultimate team before the 2026 WC started, I don't imagine many people would have picked Rodri or Oyarzabal back in June.
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile (edited )LinkEngland v Argentina Discussion - Semifinal 2 The football history between these two runs deep, with the Hand of God being brought up in every discussion of ENG v ARG, including this one. The...England v Argentina Discussion - Semifinal 2
The football history between these two runs deep, with the Hand of God being brought up in every discussion of ENG v ARG, including this one.
The history-history is unusually passionate, with the Falklands/Las Malvinas debate still animating figures on the right wing of politics in both countries.
With much of the world open to the idea that the tournament is rigged for Argentina, or that their fans are just so nasty they deserve to lose, England go in as the underdog favourites for once.
Both teams have had uneven performances throughout the tournament and have struggled against theoretically 'lesser' teams. The Spain that just shut down France would beat the England who went to extra time against Norway, and the Argentina that struggled with Switzerland.
But that's getting ahead of tomorrow's game - let's hope it's a good one!
AND IT'S HAPPENING IN ATLANTA WHICH I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT EXCEPT FOR DONALD GLOVER MADE A TV SHOW ABOUT IT!
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile (edited )Link ParentSpain absolutely shut the French down. They were so disciplined with their marking and every promising French service pass had a Spanish player to intercept it. Third straight year that Spain has...Spain absolutely shut the French down. They were so disciplined with their marking and every promising French service pass had a Spanish player to intercept it.
Third straight year that Spain has beaten France in a semi - Euro 24, EUFA Nations 25, and now the World Cup.
Goal number one was an impressively tactical penalty. I don't respect it, but it was well done. Goal number 2 was just flat out very impressive.
Spain is on to the final. I find it hard to muster enthusiasm, as @culturedleftfoot said, they are a team without world class players but it's working out for them very well. Champion team beats team of champions etc etc
Edit: Mbappe gave an interview about his assessment of the game, which is refreshingly frank:
"We didn't play the match we wanted to, neither tactically, nor technically, nor in terms of our overall performance. When you don't do what you need to do in a World Cup semifinal, you don't win. Spain stayed true to their game plan, which is what defines them: a team that likes to control the ball and the pace of the match. The idea was to press them high up to keep them from settling into that deceptive rhythm, but we couldn't manage it. We made a lot of technical errors, we didn't know how to hurt them when we should have.
"What were we missing? We let them set the pace. It was up to us to change the balance, and that's where we failed. From the start, with how we pressed, we failed. We were always outnumbered 3 vs 2 in midfield. And against Spain, that's already tough. Fabián and Rodri had plenty of time to play. There was a lack of communication in the press. We needed to go 1 vs 1 in the press, force them to run with us because they're a team that doesn't like to run without the ball. The problem was also that, even when we recovered the ball, our first touches and first passes weren't up to World Cup semifinal level. When you add this up, the result is defeat."
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile Link ParentI am sorry. I try and I try but I just cannot make myself want English football fans to be happy. Individual fans may be lovely, but they do not travel well, and they come to my country.I am sorry. I try and I try but I just cannot make myself want English football fans to be happy.
Individual fans may be lovely, but they do not travel well, and they come to my country.
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile Link ParentI'm really hoping for a FRA-ENG final, and then 5 nil to France. That would bring me great joy.I'm really hoping for a FRA-ENG final, and then 5 nil to France. That would bring me great joy.
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile LinkFrance v Spain Discussion - Semifinal 1 With only the Pyrenees holding these two Western European titans back at all times, the gloves will be off tomorrow. Unless you are a goalkeeper, then...France v Spain Discussion - Semifinal 1
With only the Pyrenees holding these two Western European titans back at all times, the gloves will be off tomorrow. Unless you are a goalkeeper, then gloves are allowed and just fine.
France's attack has been amazing throughout the tournament. As has their defensive play. As has their coaching. However, Spain has a racist ex-prime minister on their side, so it's anybody's game!
THAT WILL BE PLAYED. IN ARLINGTON, TEXAS. NOT THE CEMETARY WITH THE TROOPS, NOR THE ADJOINING TOWN IN VIRGINIA!
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Comment on 2026 Fifa World Cup - Finals discussion and news megathread (quarters/semis/finals) in ~sports.football
knifemissile Link ParentAgreed. It would be nice if more countries had national play pay equity, but I think women's football is far better.Agreed. It would be nice if more countries had national play pay equity, but I think women's football is far better.
Thank you so much to everyone who replied in this thread, I sincerely appreciate it.
@goose
@nukeman
@Englerdy
@creesch
I really appreciate the practical suggestions as well as the moral support. I don't know why this is freaking me out so much, but I have the confidence to take the first steps. Thank you for taking the time