romeoblade's recent activity
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Comment on Mystery drones over New Jersey spark concerns as FBI investigates in ~transport
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Comment on How well do you cook? in ~life.men
romeoblade (edited )Link ParentI cook my red beans in my instant pot nowadays since I can set it and forget it; this is the only recipe I wrote down over the years after experimenting with my mom's original method. I always...I cook my red beans in my instant pot nowadays since I can set it and forget it; this is the only recipe I wrote down over the years after experimenting with my mom's original method. I always make it with the optional jalapeño and habanero. It has one of those slow roll spice kicks that doesn't hit into the 3rd bite. The recipe stays the same even with different beans; I adjust the meat I use. For example, I'll use beef-like round steak cubes/roast them with red beans and ham steak cubes or ham hock for white beans.
Ingredients
- 1 pound dry kidney beans
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 yellow bell pepper, chopped
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 1 chopped green onion
For a kick:
- 3 jalapeño chopped
- 1 habanero chopped.
Spices
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon dried sage
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
Meat
- 1 pound andouille sausage, sliced or any meat you want
- 1 lb bacon, cooked
Fluids
- 3-5 cups water
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/3 cup vinegar base BBQ sauce.
Directions
- Rinse 1lb of dry red kidney beans under cold water and let them soak overnight in the fridge.
- Cook the bacon on the stove on medium heat till your preferred doneness.
2.1. Place only the bacon grease in the instant pot - Cut/Dice vegetables and place them in the instant pot
- Place all spices in the instant pot
- Pour in olive oil and BBQ sauce
- Pour in 3-4 cups of water and stir well. (The water should barely be at the top of the beans. It may take less than four or more; with the instant pot, it's easy to put too much water and have it soupy instead of thick. Everything will smother down, so the amount of water is deceptive.)
- Set the instant pot to 20 minutes on high pressure with quick-release pressure on the instant pot. Cook
- Add the bacon and other desired meat in an instant pot and stir well.
- Set the instant pot for 40 minutes on high pressure; let the instant pot release naturally.
- Cook your rice (cauliflower rice works great for this as well.)
- Serve with beans over rice.
Edit. Life hack in the deli or produce sections in supermarkets of most of the southern states I lived in they usually will have a deli container for sell that's pre-chopped up onions, celery and green onions, usually labeled as creole seasoning.
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Comment on How well do you cook? in ~life.men
romeoblade LinkI have known how to cook simple things since I was young. I remember making hamburgers, Mac-n-cheese, etc., just by watching my mom cook. Both of my parents work, and my sister is five years older...I have known how to cook simple things since I was young. I remember making hamburgers, Mac-n-cheese, etc., just by watching my mom cook. Both of my parents work, and my sister is five years older than me. So when I was in my teens, I was home by myself a lot, and my family was too poor to order out much.
I didn't start pushing myself to cook and explore until my mid-30s. I found out that I enjoy it, whether it's inside on the stove or BBQ/smoking outside. I'm now at the point (41) where I'm comfortable doing the entire Christmas/Thanksgiving dinners alone. I rarely use recipes, as I grew up in a Cajun household with the "pinch of this, pinch of that" method. I've never had any complaints from family or friends, and my dad says I inherited my grandpa's talent for being able to wing it in the kitchen.
Edit: My only downside, is when I make something truly amazing, since I don't use recipe’s I rarely write my process down. So nothing tastes the same twice lol. I've toyed around with the idea of putting a couple of camera’s in the kitchen so I can write down the recipe I made afterward.
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Comment on Dwayne Johnson became the world’s biggest movie star. Now he’s trying to disappear. in ~movies
romeoblade Link ParentFWIW Chris Evan's is defending him and even stated everyone knew his schedule and the days he was going to be late so far beforehand that it was built into the set schedule and the entire issue...FWIW Chris Evan's is defending him and even stated everyone knew his schedule and the days he was going to be late so far beforehand that it was built into the set schedule and the entire issue has been conflated.
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Comment on Taylor Swift fans are leaving X for Bluesky after Donald Trump’s US election in ~society
romeoblade Link ParentThere is instructions for running your own PDS on the AT Protocol Documentation. I'm also starting to see an uptick of projects being built around the protocol. It will take time, but I can see...There is instructions for running your own PDS on the AT Protocol Documentation. I'm also starting to see an uptick of projects being built around the protocol. It will take time, but I can see the protocol starting to gain traction now that it's got a solid foundation to build off of. I love that the documentation is easy to read and follow and they seem to have put a lot of thought into it.
Mastodon and tools waited to long to tackle issues like profile/identity issues and dropped the ball when the community were begging for it.
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Comment on How Donald Trump won, and how Kamala Harris lost in ~society
romeoblade Link ParentI'm aware they are not reliant on only UI information but it is a datapoint. As for the survey they mentioned: Do you honestly think A survey including only 60000 datapoints is valid when the...I'm aware they are not reliant on only UI information but it is a datapoint. As for the survey they mentioned: Do you honestly think
Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of over 60,000 households
A survey including only 60000 datapoints is valid when the population of the us is between 336.5 million and 345.4 million people.
To put that in perspective, in census.gov
HUD reports that on a single night in 2023, roughly 653,100 people in the U.S. experienced homelessness, up about 12 percent from 2022.
When a sample size about unemployment is lower the amount of homeless people counted by the national census, it should be suspect. I bet if you quiz that population you'll find 60000 people unemployed by itself.
Keep in mind a household can include kids who are old enough to work, but not work a job that can support them enough to leave home. As a datapoint 60000 is no where near enough to get a complete picture or any correct picture at all and if the survey does include data for all people in the household are they asking the right questions to determine if some of those members of the household are underemployed. Being underemployed, I.e not about money to afford rent, support yourself, etc is almost as bad as being unemployed.
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Comment on How Donald Trump won, and how Kamala Harris lost in ~society
romeoblade Link ParentThis is a part I honestly don't believe. Judging by my contact list on my phone, I have roughly 15 fellow tech personnel who were laid off between last year and now that I check in with them. At...unemployment down but besides all of this it doesn't matter if the voters don't believe it...
This is a part I honestly don't believe. Judging by my contact list on my phone, I have roughly 15 fellow tech personnel who were laid off between last year and now that I check in with them. At least 7 of them are maxed out on unemployment and no longer receive it. My other contacts all say they are on a hiring freeze even if they have open listings posted.
If you are maxed out, you have no reason to visit the employment sites anymore to report if you are still unemployed or employed, as at least in the three states I lived in, the unemployment sites were terrible for job searches and applying. All 15, including me, have been applying relentlessly with minimal interviews. The interviews they have received have been basically "work for free on this code" and turn it in, and we might call you back for an actual interview; most of the time, you don't receive an interview or even feedback on your code.
Many job positions posted are ghost positions designed never to be filled. If you no longer receive unemployment and living off savings, etc., you won't be counted as unemployed unless a census is due. Let's face it: it makes stats look better, and the unemployment office will not hire people for outreach to verify their numbers.
My previous company had a hidden Facebook group for alums. Since October, out of the 60 or so posts on it, all but 10 are people looking for work. I refuse to scroll back further than that, as it's daunting to think about.
At over 40, with ageism, I'm seriously at the point of going back to school or switching to a different career altogether, as I've yet to receive a single call back after four months and countless applications. I hope things pick up around April when the fiscal year starts, or I'll be in trouble. Luckily, my kid is in college, and I was smart and bought a camper when my house sold (laid off two weeks before closing), so I won't be homeless. (try finding a place to rent with four large dogs, two of them pit bulls; it's impossible, and since I was laid off, buying another house was now out of the question even if I did have enough cash from the sale of mine to put down a downpayment). I also purchased a deep freezer and stocked it with a year's worth of meat, so at worst, all I need is enough money for my truck note, dog food, and a few staples.
I guess I ranted, but my point is that just because unemployment is down on paper doesn't mean it's really down. Companies are hiring slower, and there are many people like me out there living off savings or profits from selling their houses/belongings who can no longer claim unemployment.
From the U.S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS
How is the unemployment rate related to unemployment insurance claims?
Some people think that to get these figures on unemployment the Government uses the number of persons filing claims for unemployment insurance (UI) benefits under State or Federal Government programs. But some people are still jobless when their benefits run out, and many more are not eligible at all or delay or never apply for benefits. So, quite clearly, UI information cannot be used as a source for complete information on the number of unemployed.The number of unemployed persons in the United States and the national unemployment rate are produced from data collected in the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of over 60,000 households. A person's unemployment status is established by responses to a series of questions on whether they have a job or are on layoff, whether they want a job and are available to work, and what they have done to look for work in the preceding 4 weeks. The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed persons as a percent of the labor force (employed and unemployed persons). See "Who is counted as unemployed?" for more information.
Statistics on persons receiving unemployment insurance benefits (sometimes called insured unemployment) in the United States are collected as a byproduct of unemployment insurance programs. Workers who lose their jobs and are covered by these programs typically file claims which serve as notice that they are beginning a period of unemployment. Claimants who qualify for benefits are counted in the insured unemployment figures. More information about the Unemployment Insurance program is available from the Department of Labor's Employment and Training Administration, including weekly data on UI claims.
While not related to the national unemployment rate, UI claims data do serve as inputs into the calculation of state and local area unemployment estimates. See the Local Area Unemployment Statistics program for more information.
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Comment on How Donald Trump won, and how Kamala Harris lost in ~society
romeoblade Link ParentAbsolutely true, it is price gouging in an economic/common sense. Legal sense I believe it falls more under colluding like you stated, just couldn't think of that term at the moment as I was...I just thought I'd let you know, but this can still be the type of price gouging people are discussing these days: stores are indirectly colluding to increase prices through third-party data analyzing companies.
Absolutely true, it is price gouging in an economic/common sense. Legal sense I believe it falls more under colluding like you stated, just couldn't think of that term at the moment as I was mutiltasking.
I'm from a hurricane prone state, so I tend to by default associate the term price gouging as the only store down the road with power selling water for $20 a case during natural disasters.
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Comment on How Donald Trump won, and how Kamala Harris lost in ~society
romeoblade Link ParentThis. This is a challenge for anyone. Pick a town 40-60 miles from a Walmart or a significant big box retailer. Find the local grocery store in that town, spend 3-4 hours at the store, and watch...This.
This is a challenge for anyone. Pick a town 40-60 miles from a Walmart or a significant big box retailer. Find the local grocery store in that town, spend 3-4 hours at the store, and watch how many people pick up an item, look at the label, and put it back, shaking their heads.
Spend enough time, and you'll even see some people with a tear or two in their eye while doing that. I'm left-leaning but have been living in those rural communities for most of my life, and I see the reactions from the community at the grocery store every time I go. People will not care about policies that don't affect them personally when they can barely put food on the table or afford housing. Yet the Democratic Party keeps praising how well the economy is doing; the working class is not seeing it. The party waited too long to tackle inflation, price gouging, housing, etc. They should have been handling it in Dec 2022 when items like bread were already at a 35% increase in price over 2019/2020 levels, and everyone was already complaining about being stretched thin. Now, the last I checked, it's at a 54% increase over 2019/2020 levels. I recently stocked up on essentials because the last of my severance came through, and never in my life would I have dreamed that I would pay 5.49lb for the only hamburger meat available at the local store, and no, it was not Angus, just 80% regular ground meat. I double-checked that price between my local mom-and-pop supermarket and Costco. It was the same, so it wasn't price gouging.
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Comment on 2024 United States election megathread in ~society
romeoblade Link ParentI will break down how the sentence reads so you can see how it can be misinterpreted. In context, his comment directly quotes a subsection of my post targeting it. The subsection refers to most...I will break down how the sentence reads so you can see how it can be misinterpreted.
In context, his comment directly quotes a subsection of my post targeting it. The subsection refers to most struggling families.
Honestly, this is the problem. Low information lizard brain not connecting the dots between policy and costs. I work in the business that makes that $5.50 hamburger and if the immigration policies they voted for go into effect effect they’ll be lucky to afford bread.
Using the backreference of the pronoun "they" in his quote, they have to mean “most struggling families." His comment, "Low information lizard brain not connecting the dots between policy and costs," directly targets my comment about "most struggling families." by default, it groups everyone in the "they" group as unable to connect the dots between policy and costs.
A better wording of his sentence would have been.
Emotional-only driven decisions disallow connecting the dots between policy and costs.
It would have taken all of 30 seconds to reword the sentence.
His comment re-worded.
Honestly, this is the problem. Emotional-only driven decisions disallow connecting the dots between policy and costs. I work in the business that makes that $5.50 hamburger and if the immigration policies they voted for go into effect effect they’ll be lucky to afford bread.
That's not much better because of the "they" grouping. Because it suggests that struggling families are children who are incapable of separating their emotions from making a rational choice that affects their future.
Not caring about policies when you have more pressing matters like keeping food on the table and having fuel to get to work is not being emotionally driven or having a lizard brain. I could care less about foreign policy if I'm eating the same leftovers two or three days for lunch in a row just so my kids can have a better lunch to take to school or a better dinner at night.
So, in this case, "lizard brain" reads as an insult to me because his comment is directly targeting a subsection of my comment and using the "they" pronoun/grouping.
If the reply would have broken the paragraph up in multiple sections separating the two it would have read better...
Frankly, using it in this manner it currently is ranks up there with the word "retard" for me.
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Comment on 2024 United States election megathread in ~society
romeoblade Link ParentPlease... people use to make the same/similar argument about the word "retarded" as you do about "lizard brain". Both are offensive, stop trying to justify it.Please... people use to make the same/similar argument about the word "retarded" as you do about "lizard brain". Both are offensive, stop trying to justify it.
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Comment on 2024 United States election megathread in ~society
romeoblade Link ParentThat may very well be the outcome but it doesn't change the fact the current administration had no emotional victories to win these people over for things that mattered to them. All those...Honestly, this is the problem. Low information lizard brain not connecting the dots between policy and costs. I work in the business that makes that $5.50 hamburger and if the immigration policies they voted for go into effect effect they’ll be lucky to afford bread.
That may very well be the outcome but it doesn't change the fact the current administration had no emotional victories to win these people over for things that mattered to them.
All those lizard-brain people, as you call them, are HUMANS trying to survive on a food bill that has already doubled/tripled during the current administration. Hell, the average price of bread per lb in 2019 was 1.28, and last month, it was 1.98 per lb. That's a 54% increase for just one staple item over four years. In December 2022, it was already at a 35% increase, which is two years into the current administration's term.
Those humans, who you seem to despise by calling them lizard brains, are only trying to do what they feel is best for their family, and to them, the current administration doesn't give a damn about them.
Also, if you can't construct an argument without insulting a class of people, you may need to step back and take a hard look at yourself, my friend. You will only alienate people that way, and your voice will eventually be ignored as a rude, ignorant person.
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Comment on 2024 United States election megathread in ~society
romeoblade Link ParentAs someone who has moved from a rural area (we are talking 30-45 minute drive to Walmart rural) in one state to a rural area in another state in the last 4 months. It's harsh, but most rural...As someone who has moved from a rural area (we are talking 30-45 minute drive to Walmart rural) in one state to a rural area in another state in the last 4 months. It's harsh, but most rural struggling families don't care about policies. They have memories of not paying 5.49lb for hamburger meat 4+ years ago, their traveling expenses (fuel/food) being 1/3 of the cost of what it was 4+ years ago, and a dollar going a lot further.
They have memories of 4+ years ago being better for their wallets, and those are powerful memories that connect to powerful emotions like being able to afford to take a vacation or travel for the holidays to see family.
In their eyes, the current administration had 4 years to fix this and failed miserably. It sucks, it's harsh, but it is what it is. If Trump wins, it won't be because he's Trump for people struggling. The current administration had no emotional victories that mattered to people who are truly struggling between a pack of hamburger meat vs beans and rice for dinner weekly.
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Comment on What to snack on (other than slices of parmesan) in ~food
romeoblade LinkDiffering Opinion... have you considered that your body is trying to tell you something. Parmesan Cheese is packed with micronutrients, and has a pretty high salt content (daily value wise), etc....Differing Opinion... have you considered that your body is trying to tell you something. Parmesan Cheese is packed with micronutrients, and has a pretty high salt content (daily value wise), etc. You're body could be telling you it's deficient in sodium or another nutrient which is fueling your cravings.
Maybe pick other snacks that have some of the same nutrients and see if they satisfy the cravings. Wouldn't hurt to get some bloodwork done to see if you are deficient in area's of the essentials your body needs.
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Comment on Plasma 6 and me in ~comp
romeoblade LinkGreat writeup; I wish I had the time and energy to contribute to FOSS like I used to years ago. I've been a Linux user since the original RedHat 3/4 and FreeBSD 3/4 days. I switched back to KDE...Great writeup; I wish I had the time and energy to contribute to FOSS like I used to years ago. I've been a Linux user since the original RedHat 3/4 and FreeBSD 3/4 days. I switched back to KDE early last year after a few years on cinnamon/mate, alternating between tiling window managers (AwesomeWM), depending on my mood for the week. KDE has come a long way since the KDE4 fiasco, and I'm enjoying it for the first time since KDE3. I may try Cosmic DE once it gets out of alpha, but for the most part, I'm past the tinkering phase in my life and am very happy with my setup.
I currently run Debian Sid on all my machines in the house, and except for my Macbook Air M1 and my kid's gaming laptop, my house has been Linux only for over a decade.
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Comment on What email client do you use? in ~tech
romeoblade LinkMicrosoft 365: Hosting my domain e-mail under a business account. I have 3 x licenses for the family, so we all have access to Office/Teams/Sharepoint and other tools. Kids are in college, so they...Microsoft 365: Hosting my domain e-mail under a business account. I have 3 x licenses for the family, so we all have access to Office/Teams/Sharepoint and other tools. Kids are in college, so they are using most aspects of it.
Client: Linux - Thunderbird, Windows - Outlook, OSX - Outlook.
Work: Linux Laptop
Personal: Linux Laptop, new M1 Macbook Air, I'm playing around with.
Occasional: Windows via VM as needed or when troubleshooting my kid's gaming laptop.Up until two weeks ago, we were a Linux house on everything, with the only Windows machines being my kid's gaming laptop and a VM I keep around on my proxmox server for the rare Windows-only software. However, I recently acquired a MacBook Air 13 M1 due to the reasonable price at Walmart. I want to play around with iOS development, so I'm using Outlook.
I know I could use Thunderbird everywhere and probably simplify my life. However, I started my career in IT 22 ago on the helpdesk, and even though I have been a DevOps/Developer for the last decade, there is something nostalgic about using Office/Outlook and keeping up with the latest Microsoft OS releases just for awareness. I usually set it up just enough for me to be able at least do administrative tasks on it (email, finances, browses, etc) but dont do any an anything from them and then only in dire remote emergency situations via wireguard. Automation handles powering it up and applying updates on a schedule.
I've run Linux only on all my boxes for over a decade at this point, and I started using Linux exclusively since Ubuntu
Lucid/Precise, with brief tours to Fedora, Arch, and beyond, I finally settled on Debian Sid a few years ago. Before that, I usually dual-booted Windows XP with FreeBSD and stayed in FreeBSD more and more until I barely booted into Windows. IIRC, the only reason I switched to Linux is the company I worked for hardened some security measures for remote access. The port on FreeBSD didn't support the measures, and compiling the latest version didn't work then. I needed to be able to do my job, so I switched. Overall I've been dual booting since the FreeBSD 4, Redhat 3/4 (pre-RHEL/Fedora). -
Comment on On the XZ Utils backdoor (CVE-2024-3094): FOSS delivered on its pitfalls and strengths in ~comp
romeoblade LinkFOSS did deliver on its strengths, but we were fortunate with this find. It boiled down to a 500ms regression in performance that someone decided to dig deeper into. That kind of regression would...FOSS did deliver on its strengths, but we were fortunate with this find. It boiled down to a 500ms regression in performance that someone decided to dig deeper into. That kind of regression would not even create a task on my task list to look at, and I'm more security-conscious than most. I believe that it wouldn't register for most software developers/engineers, security-conscious or not.
As to what needs to happen to prevent this in the future? I'm torn between privacy and a kyc/kyd (know your developer) process for open source. On one hand I value anonymity for the internet but for critical infrastructure I believe there does either need to be a a way to vet software developers who contribute to a FOSS project that is already in use on 100's of system or an innovation in code reviews:/testing that make spotting issues like this easier.
Code reviews, while essential, are boring and I know every software developer has approved a PR at least once without reading every single line/charactoer displayed. I completely missed the period for the landlock issue three times before I read a hint because I tend to speed read even during leisure reading. I know I have skimmed over dependabot dependency updated at least once on a Thursday at 4:45 before walking out the door, and honestly there's no telling what's in the code I approved.
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Comment on When vision and hearing decline with age in ~health
romeoblade LinkFun fact: I was diagnosed partially deaf in 3rd grade; when I was 16, I started wearing glasses as I was nearsighted. Around this time, my hearing started getting worse due to the teenage loud...Fun fact: I was diagnosed partially deaf in 3rd grade; when I was 16, I started wearing glasses as I was nearsighted. Around this time, my hearing started getting worse due to the teenage loud rock-n-roll phase and beginning to work construction out of high school. As my hearing got worse, my vision improved; in my 20's, I was told I no longer needed glasses. It wasn't until I hit 37 that my vision started getting worse again, and now I wear glasses again. I turned 40 last year, and between that and a triple disc fusion I had at 39, my body is starting to show its miles, and I believe I'm in for a rough ride.
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Any RC enthusiast here?
I recently decided to get a new hobby and have been interested in RC's for a while. I wouldn't mind getting into racing buggies/truggies, however in order to see if I even like the hobby I decided...
I recently decided to get a new hobby and have been interested in RC's for a while. I wouldn't mind getting into racing buggies/truggies, however in order to see if I even like the hobby I decided to get and a decent used basher I can tinker with. I picked up a Arrma Kraton 6s V4 complete with batteries, chargers, and a few other extra's for a good price on FBMP.
I ran it for a few hours and loved it, right now it's tore down into the three major sections and I'm waiting on parts. Previous owner was a 14 year old and it appears it was a pandemic buy, so maintenance is lacking/non-existant.
Before I realized it between running it this morning, tearing it down, research on parts it was 10:00pm at night, lol. My pittbull is currently sulking because I'm late to bed.
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Comment on Pens and writing! in ~hobbies
romeoblade Link ParentSouthpaw's represent! I use the same pen, and discovered it the same way you did. I ended up finding them on sale a few months ago when I ran out/misplaced them, and picked up enough to probably...Southpaw's represent! I use the same pen, and discovered it the same way you did. I ended up finding them on sale a few months ago when I ran out/misplaced them, and picked up enough to probably last me 5 years.
/sarcasm
Probably some home insurance company piloting a ai driven drone program to get up to date information if a leaf is on a properties roof so they can drop them as a customer. The drone's will be 24/7, so you can sign up for a new policy and be dropped the next day because a shadow across your roof resembles the Mona Lisa of mold stains.