# What’s On Your Mind?



## Huntn

I want a new replacement for this T-shirt! In the realm of T shirt color,  khaki is one of my favorites plus I love this icon. I wonder if I reproduce the icon, how much it would be to get a shirt made? Probably too much.



large on back


small on left breast​


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## Alli

Huntn said:


> I want a new replacement for this T-shirt! In the realm of T shirt color,  khaki is one of my favorites plus I love this icon. I wonder if I reproduce the icon, how much it would be to get a shirt made? Probably too much.
> 
> View attachment 3720
> large on back
> 
> View attachment 3719
> small on left breast​



If you can reproduce the icon, it can be printed on thermal transfer paper and ironed onto a t-shirt.


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## Huntn

Alli said:


> If you can reproduce the icon, it can be printed on thermal transfer paper and ironed onto a t-shirt.



I’ll have to research this. Thsnks!


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## DT

Huntn said:


> I want a new replacement for this T-shirt! In the realm of T shirt color,  khaki is one of my favorites plus I love this icon. I wonder if I reproduce the icon, how much it would be to get a shirt made? Probably too much.
> 
> View attachment 3720
> large on back
> 
> View attachment 3719
> small on left breast​




Smokin' Joes ... *snicker*

The guy next to us at our place in The Keys was involved in, ummm, "transportation", he's definitely still involved in consumption if my nose reading correctly


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## Scepticalscribe

Books, booze, bins.....oh, that was yesterday.

Coffee, online meetings, online orders, online conversations.

What a strange life we lead, these days.


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## Alli

Why do things have to be so difficult? Two days just to install a screen door. And my husband’s niece wants to talk religion - but only her religion and doesn’t understand why I insist that the Bible and the Old Testament are two different books.


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## Scepticalscribe

Alli said:


> Why do things have to be so difficult? Two days just to install a screen door. And my husband’s niece wants to talk religion - but only her religion and doesn’t understand why I insist that the Bible and the Old Testament are two different books.




In my experience, people who want to "talk religion" tend to want to talk at you about religion, rather than talk to you, or talk about (as in, discuss) religion with you. 

Religion seems to give rise to an unnerving and deeply unsettling and very adamant certainty in one's perspective.


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## Alli

Scepticalscribe said:


> In my experience, people who want to "talk religion" tend to want to talk at you about religion, rather than talk to you, or talk about (as in, discuss) religion with you.
> 
> Religion seems to give rise to an unnerving and deeply unsettling and very adamant certainty in one's perspective.



And she’s an ultra conspiracy theorist so I generally don’t want to talk about anything serious with her!


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## Huntn

Alli said:


> Why do things have to be so difficult? Two days just to install a screen door. And my husband’s niece wants to talk religion - but only her religion and doesn’t understand why I insist that the Bible and the Old Testament are two different books.



Is she an Old Testament kind of gal?


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## Alli

Huntn said:


> Is she an Old Testament kind of gal?



Of course. And she tells me about all the “research” she’s done, but none of it is verifiable without relating back to that book. SMH


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## Huntn

I’m sick of talking to US based companies and speaking with someone in the Far East or other places East. Today that would be Suddenlink, my cable company who called me today from India. Yes, I have grumbled about this before. I see $$ in someone’s  pocket. Here is the my point , Corporations are Nationless when profits are involved. I don’t insist on agreement.


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## lizkat

Specialized bot checks....

​


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## Huntn

lizkat said:


> Specialized bot checks....
> 
> View attachment 4761​



Sometimes I hate those... because there is the light “just check the box” and then the hardcore, clickon 2 pages of images. the latter really bugs me when I’m logged into the site.


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## lizkat

Huntn said:


> Sometimes I hate those... because there is the light “just check the box” and then the hardcore, clickon 2 pages of images. the latter really bugs me when I’m logged into the site.




Yeah and if you mess up and check off a bicycle as being a motorcycle then they throw up a new page of way grainier images and ask you to pick out the buses or trucks and they all look the same.  Sadists!


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## Huntn

You have a dentist you love for her dental charms, how she caresses your gums and teeth.  Then how do you break it to her son or her, the inspiring new practicing dentist needs to practise his needle work (application of anesthesis)?

With the Mom this was the first dentist I have attended where there was literally zero pain with the needle, based on previous application of topical anesthesia. You know when they say _you’ll notice a pinch_, there is zero with her, and more than a pinch with him. I could tolerate it, but it was still uncomfortable, she has spoiled me. I finished a crown up today and considered discussing it, but I did not want to embarrass him in front of his assistant. Or how does a dentist practise on the job without good feedback? Maybe I’ll get his email and contact him that way... or next time, just ask for Mom To do the crown?


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## Scepticalscribe

Huntn said:


> You have a dentist you love for her dental charms, how she caresses your gums and teeth.  Then how do you break it to her son or her, the inspiring new practicing dentist needs to practise his needle work (application of anesthesis)?
> 
> With the Mom this was the first dentist I have attended where there was literally zero pain with the needle, based on previous application of topical anesthesia. You know when they say _you’ll notice a pinch_, there is zero with her, and more than a pinch with him. I could tolerate it, but it was still uncomfortable, she has spoiled me. I finished a crown up today and considered discussing it, but I did not want to embarrass him in front of his assistant. Or how does a dentist practise on the job without good feedback? Maybe I’ll get his email and contact him that way... or next time, just ask for Mom To do the crown?




I'll offer the same advice as I did in The Other Place.

My father loved his dentist - having described a previous dentist (a snob and a sadist) as "a butcher" - because he was (and is) a lovely guy, with progressive political views, but, above all, because he is exceptionally competent and has "gentle hands".

In fact, the entire family - meaning my mother and myself - also ended up with this chap, and think him wonderful, professionally and personally.

Anyway, to reiterate my earlier advice: Ask Mom to do the crown, and remind them that you are Mom's patient, - and would prefer Mom to continue to treat you for as long as she remains with the practice - not the son's, even though it is a family practice.

Then, if you feel uncomfortable raising the fact that the son needs to refine his needle-work, with Mom, or her son, (perhaps by email), check out (by word of mouth, phone, email etc) - seek soundings - about other dentists in the area with "gentle hands", so that you may have a fall back position when Mom finally decides to retire, if her son's needle work hasn't improved by then.


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## Huntn

Scepticalscribe said:


> I'll offer the same advice as I did in The Other Place.
> 
> My father loved his dentist - having described a previous dentist (a snob and a sadist) as "a butcher" - because he was (and is) a lovely guy, with progressive political views, but, above all, because he is exceptionally competent and has "gentle hands".
> 
> In fact, the entire family - meaning my mother and myself - also ended up with this chap, and think him wonderful, professionally and personally.
> 
> Anyway, to reiterate my earlier advice: Ask Mom to do the crown, and remind them that you are Mom's patient, - and would prefer Mom to continue to treat you for as long as she remains with the oractice - not the son's, even though it is a family practice.
> 
> Then, if you feel uncomfortable raising the fact that the son needs to refine his needle-work, with Mom, or her son, (perhaps by email), check out (by word of mouth, phone, email etc) - seek soundings - about other dentists with "gentle hands", so that you may have a fall back position when Mom finally decides to retire, if her son's needle work hasn't improved by then.



Thanks for the advice!


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## Huntn

I did not want to start a new mask thread...
Visited, drove to Tulsa, Ok, from Houston last weekend to see a friend. Out in rural America no masks, maybe 5-10%.  Here in the Houston suburbs., despite “mask required” signs I’m seeing 10-20% non-compliance. I guess masks are over? I felt an urge to tell the manager of the grocery store if they are not going to enforce, take the signs down.


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## DT

Huntn said:


> I did not want to start a new mask thread...
> Visited, drove to Tulsa, Ok, from Houston last weekend to see a friend. Out in rural America no masks, maybe 5-10%.  Here in the Houston suburbs., despite “mask required” signs I’m seeing 10-20% non-compliance. I guess masks are over? I felt an urge to tell the manager of the grocery store if they are not going to enforce, take the signs down.




Yeah, when I went into Taco Libre for "to go" on Wednesday,  the staff was all wearing them, I was, like 5-6 other people and the balance of people standing around, none.


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## Eric

Huntn said:


> I did not want to start a new mask thread...
> Visited, drove to Tulsa, Ok, from Houston last weekend to see a friend. Out in rural America no masks, maybe 5-10%.  Here in the Houston suburbs., despite “mask required” signs I’m seeing 10-20% non-compliance. I guess masks are over? I felt an urge to tell the manager of the grocery store if they are not going to enforce, take the signs down.



One could argue that masks never even started in those places. There was never full compliance in my rural areas either, but when you go to San Francisco literally every person is wearing one and taking this thing seriously, as a result they currently have less than 15 COVID hospitalizations right now. Masks work, period.


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## DT




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## tranceking26

Does anybody ever take interest in certain things, then start seeing it IRL or online a lot? 

For me it's a car I like, started seeing them everywhere lol.


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## Ulenspiegel

Yeah, reminds me of my best years when I saw cute blonds all the time around me.

One of them became my wife. And then saw her everywhere.


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## Huntn

Texas passes open carry with Zero requirements, just be sure your an Asshole.


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## Pumbaa

Huntn said:


> Texas passes open carry with Zero requirements, just be sure your an Asshole.



Finally! No more mass shootings in Texas!


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## Apple fanboy

So glad it’s a three day weekend. If I play my cards right I might only have to work one of them.


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## Eric

Apple fanboy said:


> So glad it’s a three day weekend. If I play my cards right I might only have to work one of them.



Same here, we had a company holiday today but one of my clients wasn't having any of that and escalated. We have flex time (unlimited vacation) and in the three years I've been with my company I've taken less than three weeks, it's a great selling point but the reality is we can never make the time. I'm just doing what I can to ride it out until next year when I can retire but it's a challenge.


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## Pumbaa

I hate bad design. Really hate it.

Apple’s puck mouse was horrible. My AppleTV remote is not far behind. Half of the time I pick it up “upside down” and get thrown out of whatever I was watching instead of pausing or resuming it.

Sure, I can order or 3D print some kind of case to get rid of the problem, like the puck mouse got an add-on, but seriously, that shouldn’t be required!

Thanks. I’m all good now.


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## Hrafn

Apple fanboy said:


> So glad it’s a three day weekend. If I play my cards right I might only have to work one of them.



Mine was going to be just four, but a labor intense project wrapped up, so I've taken the rest of next week off, too.


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## Huntn

Pumbaa said:


> I hate bad design. Really hate it.
> 
> Apple’s puck mouse was horrible. My AppleTV remote is not far behind. Half of the time I pick it up “upside down” and get thrown out of whatever I was watching instead of pausing or resuming it.
> 
> Sure, I can order or 3D print some kind of case to get rid of the problem, like the puck mouse got an add-on, but seriously, that shouldn’t be required!
> 
> Thanks. I’m all good now.



They thought they were being innovative...I guess, but good examples of making something just to be different is not always the best choice or better. The puck mouse, came with one of my Macs was immediately tossed in a drawer, and the Apple TV remote, even after you get used to it, still sucks because pushing a button is less effort than swiping your thumb, especially when you swipe overshoot your target.


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## tranceking26

I just realised it's been like 12 years since I bought my iPod Classic. Shame I never kept the receipt, certainly got my moneys worth!

Trouble is, she's getting very laggy now. I feel dirty  but I've been eyeing up a replacement. 

I could never risk sending mine away for the SSD upgrade and I'm not very good at doing things like that myself.


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## SuperMatt

tranceking26 said:


> I just realised it's been like 12 years since I bought my iPod Classic. Shame I never kept the receipt, certainly got my moneys worth!
> 
> Trouble is, she's getting very laggy now. I feel dirty  but I've been eyeing up a replacement.
> 
> I could never risk sending mine away for the SSD upgrade and I'm not very good at doing things like that myself.



I still have my original 2001 iPod. Still works. It was very easy to put a new battery into and upgrade the 5GB drive to a 20GB one. Some of the later “classic” models were a bit more involved to get open…


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## tranceking26

SuperMatt said:


> I still have my original 2001 iPod. Still works. It was very easy to put a new battery into and upgrade the 5GB drive to a 20GB one. Some of the later “classic” models were a bit more involved to get open…



That's awesome. Yeah, looking at the teardowns etc put me right off!


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## lizkat

tranceking26 said:


> That's awesome. Yeah, looking at the teardowns etc put me right off!




I think it's all what you're used to, even if accustomed to working at little details of the mechanics of things.

A friend who thinks nothing of taking computing devices apart to upgrade them said to me once that he doesn't get why I'm put off by the idea of doing my own upgrades....  "I couldn't even thread one of your sewing machines with a manual in front of me never mind get oil in the right places in the chase of the thing. So there's no reason you couldn't snake the cable out from under that keyboard yourself and replace it."

Yeah but ....my eyes still glaze over when I look at how-to videos on upgrading e-devices.  With a new sewing machine in hand though (and a manual or sometimes a one-off class on setups) I always manage to stumble through getting familiar with its innards and so eventually acquire a new set of "second nature" handiness with its use and maintenance.   Somehow with the mobile computing devices though, my overall use of the stuff is permissibly more passive when it comes to the mechanics...  so I just can't quite get there when it comes to taking it apart to upgrade components.

I usually hand off iPods or iPod touch or iPhones to neighborhood kids while they're still usable and let them deal with upgrading them if they like...  otherwise they land in the e-cycle at my next opportunity.   I still have a couple of functional Classics I should probably hand off while the drives still work ok.   The stuff that came with flash drives like 2nd gen nanos i have tended to hang onto because they're so sturdy and handy.


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## tranceking26

lizkat said:


> I usually hand off iPods or iPod touch or iPhones to neighborhood kids while they're still usable and let them deal with upgrading them if they like...  otherwise they land in the e-cycle at my next opportunity.



That's really good of you.


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## lizkat

tranceking26 said:


> That's really good of you.




Also just really lazy...   a handoff to a local kid is the easiest way to move stuff out once I've dissociated it from my ID and wiped the content off it.   And an iPhone that's a couple generations back is still good enough to text or just use as a WiFi device for music etc.    This is a pretty broke county so every little bit of gear that still works is a potential boon to someone around here.


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## tranceking26

I keep having weird dreams. If I could take one thing from the Harry Potter books it wouldn't be dragons or firebolts, it would be the potion for dreamless sleep!


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## lizkat

tranceking26 said:


> I keep having weird dreams. If I could take one thing from the Harry Potter books it wouldn't be dragons or firebolts, it would be the potion for dreamless sleep!




Ya gotta lay off those cranberry orange creamsicle things before bedtime,  that's all.  Stick to a tablespoon of peanut butter...


Today on my mind:   the downsides of the upside of all our technology.   This Nieman Labs roundup of today's earlier Fastly breakdown is a howl.   A lot of outfits took to more or less blogging on Twitter and Fastly itself tried to play at that too although its timeline looked like a stuck 33RPM platter for awhile there.  Hilarious unless you had a billion bucks riding on your internet-using deal-making capabilities... or a readership you can only reach via live net connections.









						When all else fails: An internet outage sends news publishers scrambling for a backup plan
					

Some options: Google Docs, Twitter, or just sitting quietly for a while while you wait for the technological gears to come unstuck.



					www.niemanlab.org
				




Sample scrape by the worker bees at Nieman Labs:


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## tranceking26

What's on my mind? Bloody insomnia. It's so typical that the only sleeping tablet/etc that ever worked for me stopped working.


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## lizkat

tranceking26 said:


> What's on my mind? Bloody insomnia. It's so typical that the only sleeping tablet/etc that ever worked for me stopped working.




Ugh, insomnia if you have to get up in the morning and be somewhere is a serious drag.

Heh, so get an audiobook in the category of your least-loved literature or history genre and crank that up for awhile, you'll be out like a light in 15 minutes.    Don't pick something you think you'll love or you'll still be listening at dawn with eyes wide open.


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## tranceking26

lizkat said:


> Heh, so get an audiobook in the category of your least-loved literature or history genre and crank that up for awhile, you'll be out like a light in 15 minutes.    Don't pick something you think you'll love or you'll still be listening at dawn with eyes wide open.




That's a good idea. I use rain videos on YouTube most nights, but if I can get one to work on my TV it's worth a try.


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## Pumbaa

lizkat said:


> Ugh, insomnia if you have to get up in the morning and be somewhere is a serious drag.
> 
> Heh, so get an audiobook in the category of your least-loved literature or history genre and crank that up for awhile, you'll be out like a light in 15 minutes.    Don't pick something you think you'll love or you'll still be listening at dawn with eyes wide open.



In my late mother’s experience the genre was not so important; The key was the audiobook narrator. In her particular case, she found an author narrating his own books. Insta-sleep! Success!


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## lizkat

Pumbaa said:


> an author narrating his own books. Insta-sleep!




Hah, no kidding.   Why do the publishers let them DO that...


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## Pumbaa

lizkat said:


> Hah, no kidding.   Why do the publishers let them DO that...



No idea. They kept letting the dude do that, to my mother’s delight. She probably got a copy of each.

Maybe it was in the guy’s contract, maybe the publisher just didn’t care _why_ people bought the audiobooks as long as they did.


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## DT

"Infusing" yogurt ...


_"I pretty much infuse Greek yogurt all day long with every meal. "

 _


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## tranceking26

Summer rain is on my mind tonight, not the trance tune, but it started raining out of nowhere, apparently thunder is on the way.


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## lizkat

tranceking26 said:


> Summer rain is on my mind tonight, not the trance tune, but it started raining out of nowhere, apparently thunder is on the way.




I was startled early today waking up to fog so thick I couldn't see even a hint of my own barn 70 feet away from the back door.  Everything past about 15 feet was enveloped in a thick swirl of cloud.    I must have missed an updated forecast or something late yesterday afternoon!   What a strange start to the morning.  At first I lay in bed wondering why I was awake "in the dark" and then, glancing at my  XR, couldn't figure out how my phone's  clock could have gone off the mark.  Heh, it was nearly 5:30am already and absolutely nothing was wrong with that phone. 

I can remmeber fog that thick sometimes coming out of the creeks and streams on my commutes upstate very late at night in midsummer.   Unholy aggravation as it could take an hour to do the last ten miles to home in the wee hours, always wondering if fog lamps would lend me a view of a cow on the road before I hit the thing, in the event some farmer's dairy critter had decided to take a stroll off the homestead.   Even at a slow rate of speed a full grown cow can get the best of a VW beetle.  "Good times"...


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## tranceking26

lizkat said:


> I was startled early today waking up to fog so thick I couldn't see even a hint of my own barn 70 feet away from the back door.  Everything past about 15 feet was enveloped in a thick swirl of cloud.    I must have missed an updated forecast or something late yesterday afternoon!   What a strange start to the morning.
> 
> I can remmeber fog that thick sometimes coming out of the creeks and streams on my commutes upstate very late at night in midsummer.



Wow that sounds both cool and a bit alarming! I've seen foggy mornings here but nothing like that. Did it clear up later in the day?


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## lizkat

tranceking26 said:


> Wow that sounds both cool and a bit alarming! I've seen foggy mornings here but nothing like that. Did it clear up later in the day?




Yep, burned right off before 9am.   Thick as pea soup until around 8 or so.   First I've seen it like that for quite awhile.


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## tranceking26

Laying here wide awake, with some trance on shuffle. Wrapped around me is my waffle blanket. Am thinking it was the best £8 I ever spent lol.


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## Apple fanboy

tranceking26 said:


> Laying here wide awake, with some trance on shuffle. Wrapped around me is my waffle blanket. Am thinking it was the best £8 I ever spent lol.



What’s a waffle blanket?


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## tranceking26

Apple fanboy said:


> What’s a waffle blanket?






			https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-black-waffle-throw-200-x-240cm/p/0456457


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## DT

Apple fanboy said:


> What’s a waffle blanket?




It goes with syrup pillows ...


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## Scepticalscribe

How nice - how really pleasant, how wonderfully lovely - something I hadn't realised I missed so much - it is, to be able to meet with someone you are close to, face to face, (while still taking suitable and recommended health precautions).


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## Apple fanboy

tranceking26 said:


> https://www.wilko.com/en-uk/wilko-black-waffle-throw-200-x-240cm/p/0456457



We would just call that a throw. 

On my mind is work stuff. Thats what you get for working late at night.


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## DT

Hahaha, not sure if bender in this location is a little too threatening 

(not actually stuck yet ...)


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## JamesMike

The World better help India get a handle on the Covid situation there, it is totally out of hand. The government is not counting hundreds of thousands of infections according to my former UN mates there.


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## Scepticalscribe

JamesMike said:


> The World better help India get a handle on the Covid situation there, it is totally out of hand. The government is not counting hundreds of thousands of infections according to my former UN mates there.




Ouch.

A timely warning, and one worth heeding.  

From my time working in similar countries, I have long harboured doubts about how they gather, and collate and record data (for statistical purposes).


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## lizkat

JamesMike said:


> The World better help India get a handle on the Covid situation there, it is totally out of hand. The government is not counting hundreds of thousands of infections according to my former UN mates there.




India likely joins a longer list...  including at least Brazil, Russia and the USA.  A lot of the stats are focused on covid as cause of death, and underreporting by choice.









						By How Much Are Countries Underreporting COVID-19 Cases and Deaths?
					

As COVID-19 continues to ravage countries including Brazil and India, scientists warn that cases and deaths are being undercounted. Without accurate tallies, government responses won’t be enough to d…




					www.cfr.org
				




The data often comes from examination of excess deaths and comparative sampling across hospitals, counties, etc.  But some of it at least in India is also being measured by reported deaths and the reported vs likely number of cremations based on supply chain information - cloth for shrouds and wood for the pyres, etc.

We could start a whole thread on how undercounting in general (of people, events, situations) causes outward ripples of harm to the entirety of a nation and its subdivisions, whether intentionally, or through incompetence, ignorance or cherry-picking of data sets gathered via different methods of accomplishing the counts. 

Was just reading the other day about how the incidence of homelessness of high school students in the USA is thought to be vastly undercounted.  Part of it's due to different counting methods depending on who's doing the counting: federal agency like Education or Housing, or local counts by entities looking at a broader range of indicators.  But a part of it's also due to perceived shame in being homeless, and efforts of homeless teens and their (housed) friends to help conceal such status.   The effect though is an extra burden on teens trying to get through life to experience a high school graduation.

But back to the undercounting of covid infections and related excess deaths:   that too has a component of perceived shame, which when you think about it has itself been shameful as it contributes to ongoing higher rates of infection than if the public were more aware of the severity of the pandemic to begin with.   "Toxic shame" is a real thing.... even when its roots are cynically political.


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## Thomas Veil

​Saw this “wrinkle cure” and thought to myself, “…Decorate your face like a margarita?”


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## Pumbaa

Thomas Veil said:


> View attachment 7602​Saw this “wrinkle cure” and thought to myself, “…Decorate your face like a margarita?”



Genius! Nobody will notice your wrinkles if you make yourself look like a margarita!


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## lizkat

I just can't even...

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1421667032739745795/

Making the dinos...  prototype to factory floor







But the baby yodas only got as far as becoming some kind of tater tots



​


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## Deleted member 215

It is my birthday today  

My jaw is still numb from having my tooth worked on this morning, but it's been taken care of so I'm relieved and a happy 23 to me


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## Pumbaa

TBL said:


> It is my birthday today
> 
> My jaw is still numb from having my tooth worked on this morning, but it's been taken care of so I'm relieved and a happy 23 to me



Happy birthday, kiddo!


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## Renzatic

TBL said:


> It is my birthday today
> 
> My jaw is still numb from having my tooth worked on this morning, but it's been taken care of so I'm relieved and a happy 23 to me




I dunno why, but the thought that all the people who were born when I was 18 are now college graduate age really makes me mad.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, I GUESS!


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## Eric

TBL said:


> It is my birthday today
> 
> My jaw is still numb from having my tooth worked on this morning, but it's been taken care of so I'm relieved and a happy 23 to me



Happy birthday!


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## Scepticalscribe

TBL said:


> It is my birthday today
> 
> My jaw is still numb from having my tooth worked on this morning, but it's been taken care of so I'm relieved and a happy 23 to me



Happy birthday, have a lovely day - dental stuff is never fun, look after yourself - and it is very good to have you here with us.


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## lizkat

TBL said:


> It is my birthday today
> 
> My jaw is still numb from having my tooth worked on this morning, but it's been taken care of so I'm relieved and a happy 23 to me




Happy birthday!!   No law against celebrating when you really feel up to it.


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## Deleted member 215

Thanks everybody  Appreciate the wishes.


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## Pumbaa

lizkat said:


> Happy birthday!!   No law against celebrating when you really feel up to it.



Good to hear! I still haven’t celebrated last year’s birthday, feel like a criminal. Covid-19, please go away!


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## DT

Wife got this new killer haircut and blonde/red color, wow!

We broke from our weekday "cutting back" SOP yesterday, popped up to MJBBQ, always so good, as always, got the O-Rings, they were spectacular even for theirs (which are always amazingly good).  Anyway, ordered too much good, took a bunch home - in the stairwell, in the parking garage, was a younger-ish dude, homeless[?], no shoes, kind of mumbling to himself, we passed him got the landing, decided, wow, he could probably use the food.

So I go back down, offer it to him, in a completely coherent voice he asks, "Is it leftovers?", I said, "Well yes, but we didn't even touch it, it's a bunch brisket, cornbread, it's delicious!", he politely said, "No thank you", I asked if he was sure, he smiled and nodded.

Who knows.


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## JamesMike

With my Afghan friends on my mind and what will happen now, this article is timely.

https://apple.news/AHn-kGFE1T6qEVd107vXytA


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## Scepticalscribe

JamesMike said:


> With my Afghan friends on my mind and what will happen now, this article is timely.
> 
> https://apple.news/AHn-kGFE1T6qEVd107vXytA




My Afghan friends are very much on my mind, too.


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## Thomas Veil

I don't have any Afghan friends, and the Afghans are still on my mind.


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## Herdfan

Thomas Veil said:


> I don't have any Afghan friends, and the Afghans are still on my mind.




I don't either, but have a couple of close friends who served there.  Having lunch with one of them Thursday.


----------



## lizkat

My attention shifted back to Haiti this afternoon after learning that the death toll from the quake(s) nears 2,000, with nearly 10k injured, sixty thousand homes destroyed and the area suffering a severe lack of medical caregivers and related resources.  Like they really needed tropical storm Grace to whip through there with 10-15 inches of rain and terrible winds while people slept outside bereft of housing or afraid to sleep under a roof for fear of further quakes and aftershocks.  So now on top of everything else plus a tenuous temporary government,  it's about mudslides and waterborne illnesses.   Country can't catch a break.   That's before any effects of the violent gangs able to mess with delivery of humanitarian supplies, which somehow so far are getting through to some extent anyway.









						Tropical Storm Grace batters Haiti days after deadly quake: 'Countless Haitian families have lost everything'
					

A revitalized Tropical Storm Grace rolled across Haiti on Tuesday, pounding the region with drenching rains just days after a powerful earthquake.



					www.usatoday.com
				






> Bruno Maes, UNICEF’s representative in Haiti, said security issues were complicating the humanitarian response. The main road from Port-au-Prince to the hard-hit southwestern region is controlled by gangs, he said.
> 
> But Maes said UNICEF was able reach affected areas with medical supplies, delivering medical kits to three hospitals in Les Cayes – including gloves, painkillers, antibiotics and syringes to treat 30,000 earthquake victims for three months.


----------



## Thomas Veil

Between those things and Covid, it really does seem like the world is going to hell in a handcart, doesn't it?


----------



## DT

Don't know if people saw this, but Michael K. Williams, died yesterday at 54, found in his NYC apartment (there's a suggestion of a possible overdose):









						R.I.P. The Wire actor Michael K. Williams
					

The 54-year-old actor was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment by his nephew




					www.avclub.com
				




Amazing actor, starred in The Wire, Boardwalk Empire, The Night Of and most recently, just fantastic in Lovecraft Country.

Fans of The Wire and his character will appreciate this 

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1434985918125928450/


----------



## Scepticalscribe

The fact that the autumn equinox has just occurred.


----------



## Pumbaa

Scepticalscribe said:


> The fact that the autumn equinox has just occurred.



…which also, year after year, roughly coincides with a @Pumbaa birthday celebration.

Sure, correlation does not imply causation, I’m not going to take credit for causing the autumn equinoxes without more samples to back it up.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Pumbaa said:


> …which also, year after year, roughly coincides with a @Pumbaa birthday celebration.
> 
> Sure, correlation does not imply causation, I’m not going to take credit for causing the autumn equinoxes without more samples to back it up.




For me, it is the first, stark, signpost to winter (a season I loathe), an early warning that from now until March night will exceed day in length, and that we are approachig a tie of the year that I detest.

However, in truth, I really only feel this (onset of winter gloom) the weekend that the clocks go back an hour.


----------



## Renzatic

I'll tell you what's on MY mind...

I'm all snug and snuggly in bed around 11PM last night. It's comfortable, it's warm, I'm happy. As I find myself slowly drifting off to the lands of nod, I notice this light stinging sensation on my forehead. I lift my head, thinking that a piece of something or other had managed to work its way out of the pillow.

That's when I see it.

...a black caterpillar, one of those fat, fuzzy bastards, was crawling its way across my damn pillow right next to where I had laid my head. It didn't even scare me. I was too amazed to elicit anything other than open confusion. I ended up taking it outside, leaving it on the breezeway.

So what's on my mind today? I'll tell you: HOW THE HELL DID A CATERPILLAR GET IN MY DAMN HOUSE?


----------



## Pumbaa

Renzatic said:


> I'll tell you what's on MY mind...
> 
> I'm all snug and snuggly in bed around 11PM last night. It's comfortable, it's warm, I'm happy. As I find myself slowly drifting off to the lands of nod, I notice this light stinging sensation on my forehead. I lift my head, thinking that a piece of something or other had managed to work its way out of the pillow.
> 
> That's when I see it.
> 
> ...a black caterpillar, one of those fat, fuzzy bastards, was crawling its way across my damn pillow right next to where I had laid my head. It didn't even scare me. I was too amazed to elicit anything other than open confusion. I ended up taking it outside, leaving it on the breezeway.
> 
> So what's on my mind today? I'll tell you: HOW THE HELL DID A CATERPILLAR GET IN MY DAMN HOUSE?



What about the related thought “Was it the only one? How many others are there?“?


----------



## Hrafn

Pumbaa said:


> What about the related thought “Was it the only one? How many others are there?“?



“Let me plant an evil thought in your mind!   Muahahaha!


----------



## Renzatic

Pumbaa said:


> What about the related thought “Was it the only one? How many others are there?“?




I wouldn't mind it so much if they'd stay off my face.


----------



## lizkat

Scepticalscribe said:


> For me, it is the first, stark, signpost to winter (a season I loathe), an early warning that from now until March night will exceed day in length, and that we are approachig a tie of the year that I detest.
> 
> However, in truth, I really only feel this (onset of winter gloom) the weekend that the clocks go back an hour.




Yes, the autumn equinox almost merits crepe-hanging in my household. The earlier and earlier dark now...  ugh!

So I'm suddenly less fond of my Sundial app with its crickets singing at the moment of sunset.  I haven't shut off the notification yet but that moment is fast approaching.  Noticing the arrival of twilight minutes earlier every evening lost all appeal to me once sunset slipped back to before 7pm. 

Anyway I can hear a real cricket singing now every evening,  since one has moved into the honeysuckle thicket outside my deck.   Its next stop is probably under the crawlspace of the deck and so to the environs of a kitchen warmer and more appealing than another night in the shrubbery.   But getting from the deck to my kitchen is an adventure most crickets don't seem to manage to complete.  Once in awhile one does get in.  I don't mind, really, but at close range it can be pretty loud.


----------



## Pumbaa

Hrafn said:


> “Let me plant an evil thought in your mind!   Muahahaha!



What, I would neeeeever do such a thing!



Renzatic said:


> I wouldn't mind it so much if they'd stay off my face.



The rest of them are. For now!


----------



## Renzatic

Pumbaa said:


> The rest of them are. For now!




I bet I'm gonna wake up one morning, hearing the scare chords playing...


----------



## lizkat

Renzatic said:


> I bet I'm gonna wake up one morning, hearing the scare chords playing...




Nah, it will have gone off to curl up in a leaf big enough to eat some and leave some to take a nap in.   You'll see it after the magic of metamorphosis,  flying around a lamp some evening and making the cats go nuts trying to catch it.  That noise won't be scare chords, just bric-a-brac falling off the end table.


----------



## Renzatic

lizkat said:


> Nah, it will have gone off to curl up in a leaf big enough to eat some and leave some to take a nap in.   You'll see it after the magic of metamorphosis,  flying around a lamp some evening and making the cats go nuts trying to catch it.  That noise won't be scare chords, just bric-a-brac falling off the end table.




Which reminds me, what's the point of having an indoor cat if she won't eat bugs?


----------



## DT

Excited for fall, the slight drop in temp is so nice, especially since this is when the humidity starts going down, we're normally dealing with walking through a sauna levels ...


----------



## lizkat

DT said:


> Excited for fall, the slight drop in temp is so nice, especially since this is when the humidity starts going down, we're normally dealing with walking through a sauna levels ...
> 
> 
> View attachment 8889




Hah yeah you can't fool us.  You are excited for fall because Halloween is coming.  Pumpkiny goodness my first clue.

Meanwhile that weather does sound almost enticing.  We're getting into the season where 70s will be a treat and 60s the norm.   I don't mind as long as the sun shines and delivers a lingering Indian Summer.   We've got one coming after the rainy July we had.


----------



## Renzatic

lizkat said:


> Hah yeah you can't fool us.  You are excited for fall because Halloween is coming.  Pumpkiny goodness my first clue.




This year, I'm gonna hand out steaks for Halloween.


----------



## DT

lizkat said:


> You are excited for fall because Halloween is coming.




We are very excited   We have something brand new currently in the design phase ...   




Renzatic said:


> This year, I'm gonna hand out steaks for Halloween.




Nice.

We're back to full bars* this year, last year we did these really fun glove-full-of-candy, they looked like creepy hands, semi-opaque, neat effect.





*Please refer to Bob's Burgers, Season 3 / Episode 2 / "Full Bars"


----------



## lizkat

Renzatic said:


> This year, I'm gonna hand out steaks for Halloween.




Yeh keep it real and forget all the pumpkin-spice chatter.    Around here pumpkins are doorstep decorations but after that they're just like any other winter squash and so get served up with butter, salt and pepper.  

Wait...  what are your steaks going to made out of?


----------



## Renzatic

lizkat said:


> Wait...  what are your steaks going to made out of?




Probably cow, though goat would be more in theme with the season.


----------



## Renzatic

Are goat stakes even a thing? I'll look it up ON THE INTERNET!

edit: Looked it up. They are a thing.


----------



## Alli

Renzatic said:


> Are goat stakes even a thing? I'll look it up ON THE INTERNET!
> 
> edit: Looked it up. They are a thing.



Both goat stakes and goat steaks. Personally I prefer goat cheese.


----------



## Renzatic

Alli said:


> Both goat stakes and goat steaks. Personally I prefer goat cheese.




Goat cheese is good, yes.


----------



## DT

We're having stakes tonight, you know, because we live in Santa Carla 

(we're actually having the 'ea' variety, appears to be bacon wrapped filets from Ohoma )


----------



## lizkat

I love goats for their love of photogenically getting up on cable spools.

 Internetz full of them doing that,  bc it's really just what they do.


​


----------



## Scepticalscribe

lizkat said:


> I love goats for their love of photogenically getting up on cable spools.
> 
> Internetz full of them doing that,  bc it's really just what they do.
> 
> View attachment 8901​




Several years ago, not long after my father had died, a cheesemonger who is a close friend brought me to the biennial international cheese festival in Bra, Piedmont, northern Italy - (the very same place where the Slow Food Movement came into being) to cheer me up; it was a wonderful holiday - food for the body and food for the soul and wine for the mind, amid terrific and congenial company - food, wine, cheese, culture and opera in northern Italy....

One wonderful evening, I was seated at dinner beside an award winning producer of cheese - goat's cheese, as it happened, - and the cheese producer and I were chatting about the award winning cheese, and about the (prize winning) herd of goats that produced the milk which, in turn, allowed her to produce this - her - internationally recognised award winning cheese.

Not only, according to her, were they mischievous marauders, - and highly intelligent - but, there were also ascending degrees of mischief that were indulged in, when they embarked upon their destructive sprees, a piece of information which astonished me.

She informed me that the goats all wore these clanking bells around their necks, which normally sounded, giving advance notice - indeed, warning - of the goats' approach - but, paradoxically, their owner advised me that the bells did not necessarily sound the alarm when trouble was about to brew or mischief was in the collective mind of the herd.

"No", she said, lifting her beautiful Italian wine glass, and studying the refracting light ruminatively, with an admiring - but rueful - snort of laughter. "It is when the bells are silent - very, very silent - that you really have to watch out. That is when the real trouble happens."


----------



## lizkat

Scepticalscribe said:


> "It is when the bells are silent - very, very silent - that you really have to watch out. That is when the real trouble happens."




How true!!   Not just goats, cats too sometimes, apparently.   A pal up the road had belled her indoor-outdoor cat in hopes of reducing its predation of songbirds, but she caught sight of it one afternoon sitting in the driveway, pawing its collar round and round and pausing when the bell was up atop the back of its neck, where apparently any ringing noise would be muffled after it stood up and resumed walking (or stalking as case may have been).   My friend was outraged!    Sigh.   Better mousetrap, smarter mouse, etc.


----------



## Pumbaa

Renzatic said:


> Goat cheese is good, yes.



Greatest of all time, even?


----------



## Scepticalscribe

lizkat said:


> How true!!   Not just goats, cats too sometimes, apparently.   A pal up the road had belled her indoor-outdoor cat in hopes of reducing its predation of songbirds, but she caught sight of it one afternoon sitting in the driveway, pawing its collar round and round and pausing when the bell was up atop the back of its neck, where apparently any ringing noise would be muffled after it stood up and resumed walking (or stalking as case may have been).   My friend was outraged!    Sigh.   Better mousetrap, smarter mouse, etc.




That is brilliant.

Laugh out loud brilliant.

Actually, that is hilarious.

I remember having to explain the term "belling the cat" to a brother - who had never heard of it but was absolutely fascinated by my explanation (it came up in the context of an internal (brothers & I) discussion of family - i.e. parental - health matters/problems, oh, several years ago, with my (rhetorical) query - after the immediate health disaster/topic du jour had been teased to death - to brothers taking the form of "but, who (i.e. which of us) shall bell the cat?")

So, yes, "belling the cat" is now well known and a much used metaphor (for we, none of us, have cats) when brothers and I chat, these days.


----------



## Renzatic

Pumbaa said:


> Greatest of all time, even?




Goat cheese is good, but not the GOAT. Feta is great in certain circumstances, but smoked Gouda goes with everything!


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Renzatic said:


> Goat cheese is good, but not the GOAT. Feta is great in certain circumstances, but smoked Gouda goes with everything!



Aged goat's Gouda is sublime.


----------



## Renzatic

Scepticalscribe said:


> Aged goat's Gouda is sublime.




…there’s a goat Gouda? Why was I not informed?


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Renzatic said:


> …there’s a goat Gouda? Why was I not informed?




Seek it out.

It is.....simply sublime.

Seriously sublime.


----------



## Renzatic

Scepticalscribe said:


> Seek it out.
> 
> It is.....simply sublime.
> 
> Seriously sublime.




I won’t just seek it out, I’ll make a full on quest for it!


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Renzatic said:


> …there’s a goat Gouda? Why was I not informed?




It is pale white in colour (in marked contrast to the cow's milk Gouda which is gold, graduating to a burnt orange, deep rich amber, or apricot, for the more aged versions), and both wonderfully sweet, yet sharply tart, - an explosion of contrasting tastes - when savoured. 

A favourite.

My cheesemonger stocks it, but that is probably of little reassurance to someone who dwells in the United States, not far from the Georgian state border, or near to where the battle of Chickamauga was fought, if memory serves.


----------



## lizkat

Scepticalscribe said:


> It is pale white in colour (in marked contrast to the cow's milk Gouda which is gold, graduating to a burnt orange, deep rich amber, or apricot, for the more aged versions), and both wonderfully sweet, yet sharply tart, - an explosion of contrasting tastes - when savoured.
> 
> A favourite.
> 
> My cheesemonger stocks it, but that is probably of little reassurance to someone who dwells in the United States, not far from the Georgian state border, or where the battle of Chickamauga was fought, if memory serves.




I know that Goat Rodeo Farm in Pennsylvania makes a decent goat's milk Gouda cheese,  but not sure which markets might carry it in the southern USA.    I used to get carried away with myself whenever I was shopping in person at the local Hannaford and ended up by the cheese offerings.  They had quite an array of domestic and imported cheeses,  including different goudas, some made in the USA...  at least before the pandemic managed to complicate supply and demand for everyone around the world from farm to retail customer.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

lizkat said:


> I know that Goat Rodeo Farm in Pennsylvania makes a decent goat's milk Gouda cheese,  but not sure which markets might carry it in the southern USA.    I used to get carried away with myself whenever I was shopping in person at the local Hannaford and ended up by the cheese offerings.  They had quite an array of domestic and imported cheeses,  including different goudas, some made in the USA...  at least before the pandemic managed to complicate supply and demand for everyone around the world from farm to retail customer.




Actually, @Renzatic, while I love all (really good quality) Goudas, if I had to choose, an exceptionally good goat's Gouda easily surpasses (in my subjective judgment) the best of the (superb crystalline, and aged) cow's milk Goudas.


----------



## lizkat

Renzatic said:


> I won’t just seek it out, I’ll make a full on quest for it!




Here ya go.   How far can it be?   A 50-goat cheesemaking enterprise in good ol' Franklin, Tennessee.









						Noble Springs Dairy: Goat Cheese Farm - Tennessee Home and Farm
					






					www.tnhomeandfarm.com


----------



## Renzatic

lizkat said:


> Here ya go.   How far can it be?   A 50-goat cheesemaking enterprise in good ol' Franklin, Tennessee.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Noble Springs Dairy: Goat Cheese Farm - Tennessee Home and Farm
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.tnhomeandfarm.com



I will accept this quest, and shall travel hither anon.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Renzatic said:


> I will accept this quest, and shall travel hither anon.




My friend, the cheesemonger, used to quote (with cackling, delighted, glee) the line in Monty Python (The Life Of Brian), "Blessed Are The Cheesemakers", blithely disregarding the (suspected) fact that this may have been an inspired (if splendidly irrelevant) heckle in an otherwise brilliant scene.


----------



## Pumbaa

More cheese action here than in the cheese thread! 









						The Cheese Thread.
					

Time to start a cheese thread, although, I suspect that I may be one of the main contributors:  Today, I paid a flying visit to the city, and - among other things - thought to visit the cheesemonger's.  My purchases included: Roquefort, Bleu d'Auvergne, mature Gruyère, aged, mature Comte, Torta...




					talkedabout.com


----------



## ericwn

Pumbaa said:


> More cheese action here than in the cheese thread!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Cheese Thread.
> 
> 
> Time to start a cheese thread, although, I suspect that I may be one of the main contributors:  Today, I paid a flying visit to the city, and - among other things - thought to visit the cheesemonger's.  My purchases included: Roquefort, Bleu d'Auvergne, mature Gruyère, aged, mature Comte, Torta...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> talkedabout.com




I had a peek but the first entry got me too hungry already! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## Alli

DT said:


> We're having stakes tonight, you know, because we live in Santa Carla



The one thing I always hated about Santa Carla was all the damn vampires goats.


lizkat said:


> I love goats for their love of photogenically getting up on cable spools.



Have you seen the goats in pajamas? That’s my all-time favorite.


----------



## lizkat

Alli said:


> Have you seen the goats in pajamas? That’s my all-time favorite.




Yes indeed, i might even have posted about them somewhere, probably over at that other place...   they are adorable.


----------



## lizkat

On my mind today:   how civil some people manage to be when describing road trips in today's conditions.

I laughingly chided a bro for being crazy enough to make a round trip down to mid-Long Island and back upstate again the same day, due to an overcrowded calendar.   Of course I referenced the complaint of a friend who lives down there,  that driving on the island is impossible now, the rotten state of the roads and signage, everyone in a tank-like SUV doing 75 and being rude but why not since so is everyone else in sight, etc.​
His possibly self-censoring reply:  "Potholes did not disappoint. Also the exquisite public manners of fellow drivers."


----------



## Renzatic

What's this about goats and pajamas now?

...are they pigmy goats?


----------



## Pumbaa

Renzatic said:


> What's this about goats and pajamas now?
> 
> ...are they pigmy goats?



I had to google it. Only knew about bananas, not goats.


----------



## Renzatic

Pumbaa said:


> I had to google it. Only knew about bananas, not goats.




Itty bitty goats is best goats.


----------



## Alli

I called the local opera company today to see what Covid precautions they were taking. Long story short, none. The staff and cast are all vaccinated. Yippee. But the audience will be shoulder to shoulder with people who may or may not wear a mask and may or may not be vaccinated. I guess my season tickets are another donation this year.


----------



## SuperMatt

Alli said:


> I called the local opera company today to see what Covid precautions they were taking. Long story short, none. The staff and cast are all vaccinated. Yippee. But the audience will be shoulder to shoulder with people who may or may not wear a mask and may or may not be vaccinated. I guess my season tickets are another donation this year.



That’s crazy… Does your state maybe have a ban on vaccine/mask mandates for such things? Most opera performers are pretty liberal, so I’m surprised they wouldn’t require it for the audience…..


----------



## Alli

SuperMatt said:


> That’s crazy… Does your state maybe have a ban on vaccine/mask mandates for such things? Most opera performers are pretty liberal, so I’m surprised they wouldn’t require it for the audience…..



Alabama is just like Florida. Of course there’s a ban on mandates.


----------



## lizkat

On my mind today:   soon talking to AT&T in the only terms they understand, revenue dollars.  They can expect a loss!

I'm pretty steamed that they funded OANN in its startup era and are now claiming well that's not really how it was.   Of course that's how it was.   Add lying on top of stupidity to have underwritten a fake news generator,  and the way I look at it, that probably all adds up to just about how much I am paying them every month for what they euphemistically still call "spotty" cell service to my area.

So winging its way to me right now is a T-mobile SIM for my XR which will acquire a new phone number on a senior citizen discount basic line month to month,  and that phone will gradually acquire the 2FA powers for various websites as I work my way through the list taking care to attend to how each site requires a change of method or device to do auths.

I figure it could take me about a month to fix the 2FAs,  and then my SE phone will say sayonara to AT&T (and go to WiFi-only mode or land in a drawer as a spare), since I'm on a month to month and always brought my own devices purchased from Apple.    Basically AT&T has been clipping me since 1997 when they were still Cingular and there's still the same crappy service here there always was,  because they're never going to bring that fabled "tower over the mountain soon!"

Meanwhile T-Mobile has been upgrading its network and some around here say they even get a good T-Mobile signal now inside their house.   So it was time to switch anyway since I can barely get AT&T in my back yard, same as Verizon, so I've always resorted to WiFi calling over my DSL.

The data breach T-mobile experienced earlier this year doesn't really faze me...  I lived through the Equifax one already and my credit stuff is locked up like a drum ever since that, lol had to unlock it briefly to let T-m check my credit today.   So I figure hey at last the T-m breach probably taught them something and not at my own expense for a change.   And I'll still be doing WiFi streaming so I don't care if T-m throttles after 50GB or whenever they just can't handle it.   I had only 8GB from AT&T and usually used zero to maybe 200KB if i was traveling.    I can stream SD fine over DSL most of the time.


----------



## JamesMike

While on a short work trip to Kenya, I heard the news that a popular tourist resort, Treetops, has closed due primarily to Covid issue, no tourists. I had stayed there in the early 90s. It is famous for a visit by then Princess Elizabeth and her becoming the Queen while staying there.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

JamesMike said:


> While on a short work trip to Kenya, I heard the news that a popular tourist resort, Treetops, has closed due primarily to Covid issue, no tourists. I had stayed there in the early 90s. It is famous for a visit by then Princess Elizabeth and her becoming the Queen while staying there.




Gosh; poor, Kenya.

My wonderful driver has been in touch with me a few times - by text - to check in.


----------



## DT

Having the Tesla has opened up some interesting options for parking, we were just on a trip, and a place we've stayed dozens of times I discovered has much more parking.

It's always been the surface lot right across from the main entrance, but in doing our "charge planning", I found there's a few additional surface lots, but the real discovery:  they have a 4 story, covered parking garage!

With free chargers!

So I parked in the main lot, got checked in, walked back down to the car, drove around a service road I had never been down (just assumed it was for resort/facility use).  Sure enough a couple of extra lots, they were maybe at 20-25% capacity, another gate the room key opened, then there it was ... covered, a row of both J1772 and Tesla specific L2/40a chargers, I wheel in next to a TM3 and TMS, plug in, and cut through the ballroom/meeting areas, maybe 5-6 minute walk (at my perky pace )

Later I moved the car to a non-charging spot (NO CHARGER HOGS), and while the main lot was packed, this was this "secret" area:








So we hit the road a few days later at ~90%, no cost to "fuel", and of course when we got home I immediately plugged in so no gas stations to deal with


----------



## DT

Wife and Daughter got selected to be on a panel for Universal Studios, so right now they're on a Zoom call, to provide feedback for the existing parks, as well as the major new expansion planned for the next few years.


----------



## Herdfan

lizkat said:


> So winging its way to me right now is a T-mobile SIM for my XR which *will acquire a new phone number *on a senior citizen discount basic line month to month,  and that phone will gradually acquire the 2FA powers for various websites as I work my way through the list taking care to attend to how each site requires a change of method or device to do auths.




You don't want to port your number over?


----------



## lizkat

Herdfan said:


> You don't want to port your number over?



I'll port it over to another line later on.


----------



## Herdfan

lizkat said:


> I'll port it over to another line later on.



.When we move to AZ in a year or so, I am going to use the dual-sim function and get a new number and keep my old one on the same phone.


----------



## lizkat

It's what I want to do.  [ not move to Arizona though... are you taking a water tanker with you?]

 I have heard that some companies refuse 2FA auth tied to a phone number if a *device *is changed [but how do they know that?] else I'd port my ATT number from SE to a second T mobile line on the XR's e-sim right now and be done with it. I have to check with the entities I actually care about and make sure I won't have to get into account recovery operations on anything crucial.


----------



## Herdfan

lizkat said:


> It's what I want to do.  [ not move to Arizona though... are you taking a water tanker with you?]
> 
> I have heard that some companies refuse 2FA auth tied to a phone number if a *device *is changed [but how do they know that?] else I'd port my ATT number from SE to a second T mobile line on the XR's e-sim right now and be done with it. I have to check with the entities I actually care about and make sure I won't have to get into account recovery operations on anything crucial.




Northern Arizona.  Sedona area.  Not an issue up there, or at least not as much of an issue.

Not many thing worse than account recovery for sure.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

The fact that the clocks have gone back this week-end - which means that winter is approaching. All too rapidly.


----------



## DT

DT said:


> Wife and Daughter got selected to be on a panel for Universal Studios, so right now they're on a Zoom call, to provide feedback for the existing parks, as well as the major new expansion planned for the next few years.




Wow, they got contacted afterwards by the facilitator, they were like, "You really had great ideas, I love the feedback quality from your daughter, we'd like a lot more from her"


----------



## lizkat

Scepticalscribe said:


> The fact that the clocks have gone back this week-end - which means that winter is approaching. All too rapidly.




Wow, our switchback to standard time isn't until next Sunday...    so we get one more week of half-&ssed "daylight" lingering until around 6pm and then the sudden plunge into pitch black suppertimes.   The sop to our feelings is that at least the sun then starts straggling out of bed before a quarter to 8am -- if it even bothers to do that during the greys of November and December.    I share your feelings, at least until January and return of the light!


----------



## Scepticalscribe

lizkat said:


> Wow, our switchback to standard time isn't until next Sunday...    so we get one more week of half-&ssed "daylight" lingering until around 6pm and then the sudden plunge into pitch black suppertimes.   The sop to our feelings is that at least the sun then starts straggling out of bed before a quarter to 8am -- if it even bothers to do that during the greys of November and December.    I share your feelings, at least until January and return of the light!




For us, it usually takes place on the Saturday of the last week-end of October.

However, in mainland Europe, the clocks go back on the last week-end of September, following rapidly on the heels of the autumnal equinox, which brings both earlier dusk and darkness - signalling the unwelcome onset of winter all too soon, to my mind.


----------



## lizkat

That does seem too soon, end of September.   But end of October would be fine to my mind in the USA, if we're not going to just leave it at Daylight Saving Time all year round. 

 I dunno.  I grow to dislike the early morning darkness running so late near the end of the daylight saving mode here in the States.   I tend to wake with the pre-dawn light and I do like that quiet time to myself--  but as fall approaches I either have to set an alarm or else find myself still abed at 7am, and then of course don't want to call it a day before 10pm.    

But right now I blame the World Series games starting at 8pm EDT for my being awake at near midnight... and struggling to greet a new day at 7am when it's definitely still pitch dark.


----------



## Herdfan

Scepticalscribe said:


> The fact that the clocks have gone back this week-end - which means that winter is approaching. All too rapidly.




What's weird is setting them back will mess me up for a month.  Setting them forward doesn't affect me at all except for that one day.

Can't wait to get to AZ and stop this foolishness.


----------



## lizkat

Herdfan said:


> What's weird is setting them back will mess me up for a month.  Setting them forward doesn't affect me at all except for that one day.
> 
> Can't wait to get to AZ and stop this foolishness.




I have to say that the plunge into darkness at 5pm is brutal for me, initially far more bothersome than the disruption of sleep/wake times. 

It really brings home how small and short that arc of daylight is as winter approaches.   Even today, on a sunny afternoon,  I was looking out the kitchen window and it crossed my mind how long the light was already in casting shadows of the trees, and how by next week at this same time it would only be 1:30pm, roughly lunchtime for me.  Ugh!  

But yes, the shift backwards seems to disrupt my life much more than the change in spring, and more at night than in the morning.  I'm ready to call it a day at 8:30pm all month after the switch back to standard time.  I welcome the earlier light in the morning once we're in standard time in November,  but I still wake up in darkness because I've meanwhile got used to it.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Early winter evenings.  And darkness in early winter evenings.


----------



## Herdfan

lizkat said:


> But yes, the shift backwards seems to disrupt my life much more than the change in spring, and more at night than in the morning.  I'm ready to call it a day at 8:30pm all month after the switch back to standard time.  I welcome the earlier light in the morning once we're in standard time in November,  but I still wake up in darkness because I've meanwhile got used to it.




So here's hoping for a Game 7 to keep me up as long as possible tonight and tomorrow, NFL game on Thursday and need to find a party for Friday & Saturday nights.  Got to push that bedtime back so I am not wanting/needing to be in bed by 9:30.


----------



## lizkat

Herdfan said:


> So here's hoping for a Game 7 to keep me up as long as possible tonight and tomorrow, NFL game on Thursday and need to find a party for Friday & Saturday nights.  Got to push that bedtime back so I am not wanting/needing to be in bed by 9:30.




You left out election returns in a few interesting races tonight...   anything to stay awake late this week.

A game 7 would be exciting...  but I wouldn't mind if Atlanta managed to wrap it up tonight in Houston.


----------



## DT

This is a proper fish sandwich, with correct bun-to-fish ratio .


----------



## lizkat

DT said:


> This is a proper fish sandwich, with correct bun-to-fish ratio .
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 9533




Hah, yeah,  "the one that didn't get away..."


----------



## ericwn

DT said:


> This is a proper fish sandwich, with correct bun-to-fish ratio .
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 9533




Looks great! What kind of fish is it?


----------



## shadow puppet

lizkat said:


> I have to say that the plunge into darkness at 5pm is brutal for me, initially far more bothersome than the disruption of sleep/wake times.



Same.  I hate it.  It's depressing.


----------



## DT

ericwn said:


> Looks great! What kind of fish is it?




Flounder.



Really, I didn't even know you had lost her ...

*rimshot*


----------



## Scepticalscribe

lizkat said:


> I have to say that the plunge into darkness at 5pm is brutal for me, initially far more bothersome than the disruption of sleep/wake times.
> 
> It really brings home how small and short that arc of daylight is as winter approaches.






shadow puppet said:


> Same.  I hate it.  It's depressing.




I loathe winter, the short days, the darkness, the abysmal quality of available light, and detest ice and sleet and snow, also.


----------



## lizkat

Scepticalscribe said:


> I loathe winter, the short days, the darkness, the abysmal quality of available light, and detest ice and sleet and snow, also.




I just set back my two clocks that aren't hip to our semiannual ritual of pretending it's not really what time we've got used to it being.

What a PITA.  And despite having tried to stay up later this week, to avoid feeling like it's bedtime at 9pm tomorrow,  it seems to have backfired at this point, since I've been yawning as usual as 10pm EDT approached.   I'll never make to 11 so I'm kissing daylight saving time off a few hours early, at least in the kitchen where the dumb wall clock and microwave would otherwise resist the time change on my behalf.

At least I'll be happy to see daylight while making Sunday breakfast. Darkness lingering past 7am has not been my friend, so I won't miss that.


----------



## yaxomoxay

Fucking bastard assholes that run red lights. Almost T-boned by a big pickup truck that was going way above the speed limit and ran the red light by several seconds. Thankfully I saw him with the corner of my eyes, coming from the right, and hit the brakes just in time.

My wife, seating on the passenger’s side, would’ve been seriously injured and it would’ve been a very bad wreck. Dude didn’t stop or slow down.


----------



## lizkat

yaxomoxay said:


> Fucking bastard assholes that run red lights. Almost T-boned by a big pickup truck that was going way above the speed limit and ran the red light by several seconds. Thankfully I saw him with the corner of my eyes, coming from the right, and hit the brakes just in time.
> 
> My wife, seating on the passenger’s side, would’ve been seriously injured and it would’ve been a very bad wreck. Dude didn’t stop or slow down.




Oh man, thank God you noticed the idiot in time not to get hit.

A brother of mine was driving his vehicle behind his daughter's car once, when they were both heading back to their respective homes after some event they'd attended together.    Not far into the trip, someone ran a red light like 5 seconds in and DID actually t-bone his daughter's car.   He thought he was watching his child get killed.

 It had to be one of the very worst moments in his life... and I can't even imagine what it was like for the daughter to realize at the last split-second that she was going to be hit,  and no way to prevent it. Fortunately her car's cage structure held up and she was only slightly injured. She still loves to drive (and so does he), but I'm not sure my bro has ever managed to let that those few terrible frames of memory fade away.  Of course he doesn't helicopter-parent an adult daughter,  although I suspect he breathes a sigh of relief every time she shows up for a get-together unscathed by further road incidents.  Hah,  probably he'd be happiest if she drove a Humvee after that crash.


----------



## ericwn

I got T-boned off the road four years ago by a young lady who was playing with her phone. Double spin, all windows burst and the car was completely ruined but somehow I was unharmed. The moment before the impact though will not leave my memory.


----------



## Edd

Thanks to skiing, I spend a similar amount of time outside during winter as I do in summer. It starts slow though. Early season (now) isn’t really worth the effort to me anymore. I’ll get out there in a week or two with low expectations.

The light in December blows in New England. By 2pm the flat light makes it dangerous on slope  most days.  By January things are good and generally get better into April for the most glorious of seasons, spring skiing. I’ve gotta try on my boots when I get back home.


----------



## DT

Howdy Folks!

Doing a single update post, I'll just keep things positive and say, I'm mostly in "read only" mode for now 

For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, hope you're having a terrific one.  We got a fresh turkey this year, should be amazing, got two pies from Village Inn (Banana Cream and French Silkd, yes, we're having breakfast pie ), J's amazing mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, biscuits,  stuffing - J's homemade Mac and Cheese and on and on ...







So many pies when I went to pick ours up, they had 15 minute pick up intervals to keep the savages under control (it was crazy, I'm surprised there wasn't a riot ... especially when one of the hosts walked me past the line of 10 people, hahaha, I guess because I ordered online )









I've mentioned Bones Coffee a few times, I got a Christmas sampler, flavored whole bean, so good - also determined our 34oz french press wasn't enough for some mornings, so I picked up another stainless FP, this one 50oz 








We have flown so much in the last month or so, twice was due to some unfortunate circumstances, but we got through it together  and our little G was amazing, helpful, so proud of how she handle all this - while still getting straight As in mostly AP level courses.

When it's an early flight we stay over at the in-airport Hyatt, which makes the next morning __so__ much easier (vs. trying to catch a morning flight + a 2.5 hour drive/parking).   I think I could make the St. Aug to MCO (Orlando International) drive in my sleep.  Twice I made the drive two-time for the same trip (once a drop off, and pick up a couple of days later - once a drop off of just J, then a return trip a few days later with T to meet up in PA).

I've got more mileage on the Tesla in 5 months than I had on the Mustang in 2 years! I also found the parking up in the Hyatt area, is awesome, it's not "secret", but it's out of the way while being super convenient.  I parked in almost the exact same spot on two different trips, I had to chuckle, this was the 2nd time, and the previous trip I was where this M3 cab was parked   It's a nice safe corner, roomy, a huge "spacer" on one side, really deep, and very little car traffic.







Our Tesla Model 3 Performance continues to dazzle me, I've owned 25+ vehicles - some I absolutely loved - and this ranks up there, it's as good while being a totally different experience (and it continuously improves).   It's sitting with about 3K miles which cost us ~$73  (while being quicker and way more feature rich than anything I've owned)



While in PA, the BIL's cat helped out with printing some documents -  he was first concerned about there being a firmware update - then very focused on watching the progress indicator - finally, bummed out it didn't work ...





 

 





He looks just like our kitty if she was to gain like 20 pounds 


While in PA as a market store, I saw all sorts of amazing beer, I was bummed I couldn't drink enough or bring in back, so after we returned it was my white whale - but I was DENIED.  None of the several local stores had anything interesting, let alone any of the beers I saw up north.

I was searching online and I've been curious about this place called Total Wine, they're all over the US, ours isn't super close, they deliver, but it was several days before the first available day.  They had at least a couple of the ones I had seen, so I was like what the heck, drive over, and why not it was a beautiful morning, I was likely beating the (last) Saturday shopping, I took the Wrangler - top off, seats warmed, Dr. Dre thumping, and ...

OMFG.  At one point I figured I must have fallen asleep and died and gone to heaven.  This place is INSANE, it must be one of their larger stores that in the 40,000-50,000 sq/ft sized.

Rows and rows and ROWS of glorious beer!!












Hahaha, I waved at that guy after I took the pic and he waved back 



They had EVERYTHING I saw up in PA - and so much more!

Here's the seasonal/Xmas related score (got a few other things as well, plus some "standard supplies" like a handle of Bulleit Rye ...)






The little had yesterday off, and obv., today and tomorrow, so it's a nice recovery from travel, school, work.

We both got our Moderna boosters yesterday morning - and we feel pretty good!  Maybe a little sluggish, but nothing like my ass-kicking second shot back in April 

I picked up a short, but very concentrated piece of work from an existing client, it's, well, very good, and has a short term delivery so I'll be focused on that through the end of January - and we're working on a business plan to possibly sell a product to the main client, source, etc., could be very lucrative and I'm about ready to retire 

We are headed to NYC for a week on Christmas day    Got a ton of shows lined up, plans / reservations for some of our favorite (and out of the way) restaurants plus a few new ones - some Xmas shopping mapped out, should be an amazing time, we haven't been in a couple of years, and we used to go at least once a year.

Snapped this coming across our bridge on Tuesday, did a school drop off since the bus was running late, pretty amazing view that morning, I'll just leave everyone with this 




The weather is glorious, the food smells amazing, parade is on - everyone stay safe, healthy and happy <3


----------



## Joe

DT said:


> Howdy Folks!
> 
> Doing a single update post, I'll just keep things positive and say, I'm mostly in "read only" mode for now
> 
> For those who celebrate Thanksgiving, hope you're having a terrific one.  We got a fresh turkey this year, should be amazing, got two pies from Village Inn (Banana Cream and French Silkd, yes, we're having breakfast pie ), J's amazing mashed potatoes and homemade gravy, biscuits,  stuffing - J's homemade Mac and Cheese and on and on ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So many pies when I went to pick ours up, they had 15 minute pick up intervals to keep the savages under control (it was crazy, I'm surprised there wasn't a riot ... especially when one of the hosts walked me past the line of 10 people, hahaha, I guess because I ordered online )
> 
> 
> View attachment 10000
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I've mentioned Bones Coffee a few times, I got a Christmas sampler, flavored whole bean, so good - also determined our 34oz french press wasn't enough for some mornings, so I picked up another stainless FP, this one 50oz
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 10001
> 
> 
> We have flown so much in the last month or so, twice was due to some unfortunate circumstances, but we got through it together  and our little G was amazing, helpful, so proud of how she handle all this - while still getting straight As in mostly AP level courses.
> 
> When it's an early flight we stay over at the in-airport Hyatt, which makes the next morning __so__ much easier (vs. trying to catch a morning flight + a 2.5 hour drive/parking).   I think I could make the St. Aug to MCO (Orlando International) drive in my sleep.  Twice I made the drive two-time for the same trip (once a drop off, and pick up a couple of days later - once a drop off of just J, then a return trip a few days later with T to meet up in PA).
> 
> I've got more mileage on the Tesla in 5 months than I had on the Mustang in 2 years! I also found the parking up in the Hyatt area, is awesome, it's not "secret", but it's out of the way while being super convenient.  I parked in almost the exact same spot on two different trips, I had to chuckle, this was the 2nd time, and the previous trip I was where this M3 cab was parked   It's a nice safe corner, roomy, a huge "spacer" on one side, really deep, and very little car traffic.
> 
> 
> View attachment 10002
> 
> 
> Our Tesla Model 3 Performance continues to dazzle me, I've owned 25+ vehicles - some I absolutely loved - and this ranks up there, it's as good while being a totally different experience (and it continuously improves).   It's sitting with about 3K miles which cost us ~$73  (while being quicker and way more feature rich than anything I've owned)
> 
> 
> 
> While in PA, the BIL's cat helped out with printing some documents -  he was first concerned about there being a firmware update - then very focused on watching the progress indicator - finally, bummed out it didn't work ...
> 
> 
> 
> View attachment 10003 View attachment 10004 View attachment 10005
> 
> 
> 
> He looks just like our kitty if she was to gain like 20 pounds
> 
> 
> While in PA as a market store, I saw all sorts of amazing beer, I was bummed I couldn't drink enough or bring in back, so after we returned it was my white whale - but I was DENIED.  None of the several local stores had anything interesting, let alone any of the beers I saw up north.
> 
> I was searching online and I've been curious about this place called Total Wine, they're all over the US, ours isn't super close, they deliver, but it was several days before the first available day.  They had at least a couple of the ones I had seen, so I was like what the heck, drive over, and why not it was a beautiful morning, I was likely beating the (last) Saturday shopping, I took the Wrangler - top off, seats warmed, Dr. Dre thumping, and ...
> 
> OMFG.  At one point I figured I must have fallen asleep and died and gone to heaven.  This place is INSANE, it must be one of their larger stores that in the 40,000-50,000 sq/ft sized.
> 
> Rows and rows and ROWS of glorious beer!!
> 
> 
> View attachment 10006
> 
> 
> View attachment 10008
> 
> 
> Hahaha, I waved at that guy after I took the pic and he waved back
> 
> 
> 
> They had EVERYTHING I saw up in PA - and so much more!
> 
> Here's the seasonal/Xmas related score (got a few other things as well, plus some "standard supplies" like a handle of Bulleit Rye ...)
> 
> View attachment 10009
> 
> 
> The little had yesterday off, and obv., today and tomorrow, so it's a nice recovery from travel, school, work.
> 
> We both got our Moderna boosters yesterday morning - and we feel pretty good!  Maybe a little sluggish, but nothing like my ass-kicking second shot back in April
> 
> I picked up a short, but very concentrated piece of work from an existing client, it's, well, very good, and has a short term delivery so I'll be focused on that through the end of January - and we're working on a business plan to possibly sell a product to the main client, source, etc., could be very lucrative and I'm about ready to retire
> 
> We are headed to NYC for a week on Christmas day    Got a ton of shows lined up, plans / reservations for some of our favorite (and out of the way) restaurants plus a few new ones - some Xmas shopping mapped out, should be an amazing time, we haven't been in a couple of years, and we used to go at least once a year.
> 
> Snapped this coming across our bridge on Tuesday, did a school drop off since the bus was running late, pretty amazing view that morning, I'll just leave everyone with this
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The weather is glorious, the food smells amazing, parade is on - everyone stay safe, healthy and happy <3
> 
> View attachment 10010




I love the Total Wine by my house. Lol


----------



## Scepticalscribe

A mug of hot chocolate is on my mind.


----------



## Renzatic

ericwn said:


> I got T-boned off the road four years ago by a young lady who was playing with her phone. Double spin, all windows burst and the car was completely ruined but somehow I was unharmed. The moment before the impact though will not leave my memory.




I had a similar experience, though I was the one at fault. I was driving along after a long day at work, didn't notice the red light until I was up on it, and by then, it was too late to do anything about it except hope for the best. 

Luck wasn't on my side. Ended up getting t-boned, and rolled over on my side. I'll never forget the eerie calm that overcame me when I knew I was going to get hit. It wasn't quite like it was in slow motion, but everything seemed so casual. I saw the car hit me, and I thought "yup, this is how I die." I looked to my left, saw the road coming up at me from the drivers side window, felt the impact as I landed, and I sat there on my side, watching antifreeze spew out of the front edge of my hood for a good 30 seconds before I finally snapped back to reality.

My car burst into flames about 5 minutes later. Altogether, 4 cars were totaled in that wreck. Somehow, no one was severely hurt. I ended up with a bruised shoulder, and nothing more.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

And now, a cousin of mine is on my mind.


----------



## Renzatic

I'm thinking about fajitas, and how good they are.


----------



## lizkat

Snow!   Deer!   Hanukkah, the winter solstice, Christmas, Kwanzaa, New Year's, Twelfth NIght and alas, land tax season to bring everyone around here back to their budgets just in time for the dead of winter. But first all the festivities.

And yeah, mice...  I have special Unwelcome mats out for them as they're starting to come in now after a long Indian Summer.   I've never replaced a particular missing pane of glass on the deck that conveniently faces a small alley between deck and walk-in coldframe.   it's sheltered from the wind, just outside my kitchen door and a handy place to toss the evidence that there's a certain level of basic hospitality missing from these premises from a mouse's POV.


----------



## ericwn

Renzatic said:


> I had a similar experience, though I was the one at fault. I was driving along after a long day at work, didn't notice the red light until I was up on it, and by then, it was too late to do anything about it except hope for the best.
> 
> Luck wasn't on my side. Ended up getting t-boned, and rolled over on my side. I'll never forget the eerie calm that overcame me when I knew I was going to get hit. It wasn't quite like it was in slow motion, but everything seemed so casual. I saw the car hit me, and I thought "yup, this is how I die." I looked to my left, saw the road coming up at me from the drivers side window, felt the impact as I landed, and I sat there on my side, watching antifreeze spew out of the front edge of my hood for a good 30 seconds before I finally snapped back to reality.
> 
> My car burst into flames about 5 minutes later. Altogether, 4 cars were totaled in that wreck. Somehow, no one was severely hurt. I ended up with a bruised shoulder, and nothing more.




Wow, thanks for sharing! For me, this was the third heavy car accident that I was involved in as a victim so to speak, and each time I thought “this is the moment I die” with that calm certainty- luckily I was wrong every time.


----------



## Herdfan

Renzatic said:


> I'm thinking about fajitas, and how good they are.




Now I want fajitas for dinner.


----------



## Renzatic

Herdfan said:


> Now I want fajitas for dinner.




I had some for lunch. They tasted like a dream!


----------



## Eric

Cleaned up my office and add some wall hangers for my guitars, freed up quite a bit of room.


----------



## Herdfan

Renzatic said:


> I had some for lunch. They tasted like a dream!




Back in college there was a local Mexican place that was still probably the best Tex-Mex I have ever had.  It was fairly cheap so a lot of students ate there as it was within a long walk from campus.  Final semester of my senior year we all had to take the Management capstone course.  I was in it with 2 other friends and since the class was at 2 on M-W, every Wednesday we would meet there for lunch and then go to class.  

This was the type of place where you pretty much smelled like the place when you left.  So the three of us would go to class and basically make the whole room smell like Mexican food.  Before long a couple of other in the class would join us ensuring the room smelled even more like Mexican food.  By the end of the semester, half the class was eating lunch there.  Even had a surprise visit by the prof for lunch once.  Good times.

Sadly they moved to a new larger location and closed within a couple of years.  It lost the original feel and people stopped going.

The owner/chef is now putting his recipes on youtube for people to try and make at home.  So far he as released 2 chili's and the black bean soup.  Waiting on him to release his fajita recipe. 



			https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGv8U055WmkAHWDoyRqH0mg


----------



## Renzatic

Herdfan said:


> This was the type of place where you pretty much smelled like the place when you left. So the three of us would go to class and basically make the whole room smell like Mexican food.




That's the sign of a good Mexican restaurant right there.

The place I go to is a little hole-in-the-wall joint that you wouldn't even look at twice were it not for the word of mouth surrounding it. It is, bar none, the best Mexican place for miles and miles around.

...though I've been hearing rumors about some taco place up in Chattanooga that may have it beat.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Herdfan said:


> Back in college there was a local Mexican place that was still probably the best Tex-Mex I have ever had.  It was fairly cheap so a lot of students ate there as it was within a long walk from campus.  Final semester of my senior year we all had to take the Management capstone course.  I was in it with 2 other friends and since the class was at 2 on M-W, every Wednesday we would meet there for lunch and then go to class.
> 
> This was the type of place where you pretty much smelled like the place when you left.  So the three of us would go to class and basically make the whole room smell like Mexican food.  Before long a couple of other in the class would join us ensuring the room smelled even more like Mexican food.  By the end of the semester, half the class was eating lunch there.  Even had a surprise visit by the prof for lunch once.  Good times.
> 
> Sadly they moved to a new larger location and closed within a couple of years.  It lost the original feel and people stopped going.
> 
> The owner/chef is now putting his recipes on youtube for people to try and make at home.  So far he as released 2 chili's and the black bean soup.  Waiting on him to release his fajita recipe.
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGv8U055WmkAHWDoyRqH0mg




Sounds as though it was a great place.

Thanks for posting the link; anyway, I've been enjoying the videos - that seriously industrial (professional) stick blender is absolutely awesome.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Herdfan said:


> Back in college there was a local Mexican place that was still probably the best Tex-Mex I have ever had.  It was fairly cheap so a lot of students ate there as it was within a long walk from campus.  Final semester of my senior year we all had to take the Management capstone course.  I was in it with 2 other friends and since the class was at 2 on M-W, every Wednesday we would meet there for lunch and then go to class.
> 
> This was the type of place where you pretty much smelled like the place when you left.  So the three of us would go to class and basically make the whole room smell like Mexican food.  Before long a couple of other in the class would join us ensuring the room smelled even more like Mexican food.  By the end of the semester, half the class was eating lunch there.  Even had a surprise visit by the prof for lunch once.  Good times.
> 
> Sadly they moved to a new larger location and closed within a couple of years.  It lost the original feel and people stopped going.
> 
> The owner/chef is now putting his recipes on youtube for people to try and make at home.  So far he as released 2 chili's and the black bean soup.  Waiting on him to release his fajita recipe.
> 
> 
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGv8U055WmkAHWDoyRqH0mg



Did I mention that - I have now watched all three of his videos, and must say that I thoroughly enjoyed them - I also like his background music?  

Again, thanks for the link.   

Terrific stuff, the sort of recipes that make (nay, persuade) one want and wish to cook these delicious dishes.


----------



## Herdfan

Scepticalscribe said:


> Did I mention that - I have now watched all three of his videos, and must say that I thoroughly enjoyed them - I also like his background music?
> 
> Again, thanks for the link.
> 
> Terrific stuff, the sort of recipes that make (nay, persuade) one want and wish to cook these delicious dishes.



You're welcome.  It seems like he is releasing one every couple of months.

I plan on doing the Texas Red over Christmas.  Trying to track down all those peppers at the moment.  And I am going to cheat and buy Chorizo.  Making it seems a bit overkill.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Herdfan said:


> You're welcome.  It seems like he is releasing one every couple of months.
> 
> I plan on doing the Texas Red over Christmas.  Trying to track down all those peppers at the moment.  And I am going to cheat and buy Chorizo.  Making it seems a bit overkill.



Agreed.

To be quite candid, the Texas Red struck me as being the most - shall I say, challenging - of the three recipes; not just tracking down the ingredients, but the execution of the detailed instructions (fascinating, though they were).

However, the other two recipes did seem, to me, to be a lot more......doable.

And I don't doubt that they were delicious.


----------



## Herdfan

Scepticalscribe said:


> Agreed.
> 
> To be quite candid, the Texas Red struck me as being the most - shall I say, challenging - of the three recipes; not just tracking down the ingredients, but the execution of the detailed instructions (fascinating, though they were).
> 
> However, the other two recipes did seem, to me, to be a lot more......doable.
> 
> And I don't doubt that they were delicious.




My standard meal there was beef fajitas, with which you got a side.  My side was always a cup of Texas Red.  They served it with a flour tortilla folded in fourth's with a dollop of butter inside.  Yum.

I am going to watch the video again taking detailed notes.  Then when I try my hand, I will take detailed notes as to how much of each thing, the setting on the stove, etc.


----------



## ericwn

Reading all of this, I miss Austin. Been there many times and really enjoyed the people and atmosphere and food.


----------



## DT

Put the top back on the Jeep Monday morning, to drop it off at service.  Not totally necessary, but figured if it had an extended stay for some reason, it could be closed up/secured.

I forgot how great it looks all buttoned up, with the color matched top, it really comes together nicely.  I was going to pull it right back off when we got it home, but I think we're going to leave it, and if we want a little extra sun and fresh air, the front 1/2 of the top has easy to remove panels (aka, "freedom tops" )  And start using the Jeep more,  give the Tesla a little break   The Jeep has ~1400 miles on it and we got it in April ... 

Got it back Tuesday morning, heck, I thought it would take longer, it was specifically for a service bulletin (not quite as urgent as a recall), for an improved harness (done).  I also felt there was a tiny bit of slop in the steering,  plus I had heard an "under torque spec" issue from other owners for the control arm, checked, and tightened, feels 100% better.  All that was quick, but the service manager said they spent like 3 hours applying __several__ ECU/MCU updates (I mentioned I knew of some when I dropped it off, guess there was ). Supposed to smooth out the transmission, especially in electric-to-gas transitions (this is much improved, feels much better), tweak several other things - and finally (as I had heard from other owners) the regen braking switch now retains its state, i.e., turn it on, stop, fire it up, and it's on again.  Sweet.

We took it out for a long drive today, over to Total Wine (@JagRunner ), roof panels out, stocked up (FYI, AMEX is doing $20 off $100 or more), and came back by Ida Claire, so f-ing good, we had duck nachos, house made potato chips vs. corn chips, gravy, sunny side up eggs on the top, gravy - their biscuits with bacon gravy and homemade apple/pineapple jam, and cups of their out of this world gumbo (sausage, chicken, okra).

Also placed an order with Sonos - more on that later when the gear arrives, it's backordered (but no biggie since we're traveling for XMAS).

Edit for beer scored on this trip ... and FYI, every bottle/can in this photo is unique, so 16 choices on deck


----------



## Joe

DT said:


> Also placed an order with Sonos - more on that later when the gear arrives, it's backordered (but no biggie since we're traveling for XMAS).




I recently purchased the Sonos Arc Soundbar and the SubWoofer - I love it!


----------



## ericwn

Thinking about resigning and what else to do for a living. 
Feeling my heart’s no longer in it and the need for change. At the same time, stressed and clueless what else to do.


----------



## lizkat

ericwn said:


> Reading all of this, I miss Austin. Been there many times and really enjoyed the people and atmosphere and food.




One of my nephews spent some time working there for awhile,  came back east but I have a feeling this time of year is when he might run that decision tree through his memory again and be wondering wtf he was thinking.  Aside from the ambience of Austin, the weather was more to his liking.  Here now the  forecast is for pelting rain and snow the next couple days with a few warm fronts trying to nip in but not making it for long before we get back into the 20s again.   

As for myself, it's books and music time and hang the weather.   At sunset I launch my online Advent calendar app and check out whatever is the day's little amusement, then head out to the kitchen to get supper organized, then a few cleanup chores and settle in with books again -- or a movie,  if I remember what I was watching and on what platform. 



ericwn said:


> Thinking about resigning and what else to do for a living.
> Feeling my heart’s no longer in it and the need for change. At the same time, stressed and clueless what else to do.




Hope you will find something that's more appealing but still lets you cover living expenses.  For sure, money is not everything,  and when one tires of a job or a project,  one can reach a point of just wanting to walk away...  but it's usually better to find another job while still having one.   I took some time off once after a disastrous job switch, and was none the worse for it in the long run career-wise, but I knew going into that gap that I'd have to pinch pennies twice.  I was okay with that though, and really needed the time off to regroup, relax and just have fun.

Not always easy to manage a career switch but always worth giving it a shot.  Sometimes just exploring other options makes you remember there are things you like about whatever you have been doing for a living -- and that maybe it was just the particular job, not the whole field of endeavor, that was problematic. 

The best of luck to you,  as you make inquiries of your inner self and then of the job markets going forward.


----------



## Alli

ericwn said:


> Thinking about resigning and what else to do for a living.
> Feeling my heart’s no longer in it and the need for change. At the same time, stressed and clueless what else to do.



You’re never too old to start something new.


----------



## ericwn

Thank you both for your kind words.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

ericwn said:


> Thinking about resigning and what else to do for a living.
> Feeling my heart’s no longer in it and the need for change. At the same time, stressed and clueless what else to do.



I echo what both @lizkat and @Alli have written, - it never is too old to try something new, and it is never too late to interrogate yourself on what you would really like to try to do, or explore - but, I will also add to that, to try to be "open" to something - and seize such an opportunity - that may arise at very short notice.

The very best of luck with it.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

@ericwn: When my father retired, he made the decision to explore aspects of his character that he had never allowed himself to explore (or some of those limiting constructs of masculinity - which he outgrew as he aged - might have served, earlier in his life, to curb, or constrain or curtail such attemts at exploration).

Anyway, he took up creative writing, and went to creative writing classes for the following three years, and loved every minute of both the classes and the writing, which allowed him to think through, and put on paper, stuff that had troubled him since his own childhood, decades earlier.


----------



## DT

ericwn said:


> Thinking about resigning and what else to do for a living.
> Feeling my heart’s no longer in it and the need for change. At the same time, stressed and clueless what else to do.




I _somewhat agree_ with some of the other responses, but many people aren't in the position (i.e., retired, large cash reserves) to be able to, for example, go back to school, and/or take a [potentially] large pay cut, especially if you've got family that relies on you financially.

And to be clear, I have zigged when most of my peers have zagged, so I'm am __not__ part of the status quo / slave to work, I have engineered myself into a position where I've got a perfect mix of effort/revenue/flexibility/time, the latter being incredibly important for my family.  My previous company acquisition put me into position to take a pretty stout compensation package and I walked away, but I had buffer and have always had incredible fortune with professional opportunities, which have had a bit of risk most of the time.

Let me ask you this:  is it the what you do that's a bummer?  Or is really where and how you're doing your what?


----------



## ericwn

DT said:


> I _somewhat agree_ with some of the other responses, but many people aren't in the position (i.e., retired, large cash reserves) to be able to, for example, go back to school, and/or take a [potentially] large pay cut, especially if you've got family that relies on you financially.
> 
> And to be clear, I have zigged when most of my peers have zagged, so I'm am __not__ part of the status quo / slave to work, I have engineered myself into a position where I've got a perfect mix of effort/revenue/flexibility/time, the latter being incredibly important for my family. My previous company acquisition put me into position to take a pretty stout compensation package and I walked away, but I had buffer and have always had incredible fortune with professional opportunities, which have had a bit of risk most of the time.
> 
> Let me ask you this: is it the what you do that's a bummer? Or is really where and how you're doing your what?




Thanks for chiming in. I used to be an IT product trainer / instructor at heart and that skill set is just not required at my current employer anymore due to business changes. I have been given support responsibilities, but honestly speaking, it’s boring me a lot. I’m used to a different pace and when I’m not challenged it just seems like a waste of my time.


----------



## yaxomoxay

Oven is on my mind. Called techs to fix it, they didn’t and they wanted more money than the oven is worth, or “subscribe to a $35/mo appliance insurance”. They didn’t show up even with the most basic part (igniter), they disassembled a few pieces and barely made tests. Bottom line: kicked them out, I’ll try to fix it by myself.

Good service died.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

yaxomoxay said:


> Good service died.



I remember when my mother studied for a degree at night - three nights a week, -attending classes for a number of years.

My brothers and I were still kids at the time, and my father - to his undying credit - was completely supportive of my mother, and proud of her abilities and achievements.

Anyway, one of her subjects was economics - which fascinated her (others included politics, philosophy, and sociology; politics and philosophy fascinated her, as well, whereas, sociology, well, she thought that sociology was poorly taught) and she used to want to discuss and explain some of the concepts to me when she returned home at night - still excited by some of what had been covered in class.

She was one of two women in a class of men, and her Economics Professor (now, a full professor and a highly regarded scholar, then an idealistic lecturer passionately committed to the concept of second chance education, a man whom my mother held in high esteem) - to my astonished delight - turned up at her funeral to sympathise with me and still recalled her enthusiasm and questioning intelligence with pleasure decades later.

Anyway, I do remember how - through her excited recall of her lectures when discussing and explaining them to me - I was about to embark on second level, secondary school, "high school" - she introduced me to concepts such as "inbuilt obsolescence", "consumer resistance",  the "gold standard", "inflation", and stuff such as how reducing the size of something such as tins of a product, or a bar of chocolate, (while keeping the price the same) still constituted a price increase in real terms.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

ericwn said:


> Thanks for chiming in. I used to be an IT product trainer / instructor at heart and that skill set is just not required at my current employer anymore due to business changes. I have been given support responsibilities, but honestly speaking, it’s boring me a lot. I’m used to a different pace and when I’m not challenged it just seems like a waste of my time.




Do you like - as in, get along with, like, respect - your colleagues and superiors?


----------



## ericwn

Scepticalscribe said:


> Do you like - as in, get along with, like, respect - your colleagues and superiors?




Yup, I have nothing but respect for the team. We’re a small company and I think I get along well with almost everyone.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

ericwn said:


> Yup, I have nothing but respect for the team. We’re a small company and I think I get along well with almost everyone.




That is a very good reason to stay put.

Are you respected - and supported - professionally?

With hindsight, some of the warmest memories I have re the positions I have held over my professional life, have come from posts where I liked - rated, respected - my colleagues and thus, hugely enjoyed simply physically turning up for work. (Okay, I also enjoyed - and was challenged and stretched by - the work).

In my experience, people leave more jobs because of awful, or simply bad, rotten, bosses than because they do not feel professionally fulfilled.


----------



## DT

ericwn said:


> Thanks for chiming in. I used to be an IT product trainer / instructor at heart and that skill set is just not required at my current employer anymore due to business changes. I have been given support responsibilities, but honestly speaking, it’s boring me a lot. I’m used to a different pace and when I’m not challenged it just seems like a waste of my time.




OK, this what I was talking about, you have a skill, sounds like you enjoy using it - i.e., your what isn't the issue, it's the how/where, and more to the point that lack of even utilizing your what due to the current company organization.

Look into some training services, do a little investigation into where you might be able to build and sell training content, a buddy of mine got involved in this space years ago and it's been very lucrative.  Especially now that the model for communication is mostly through video/remote, you might be able to train and instruct, with minimal travel - you might also find working solo, delivering your own services and products, very desirable.  I'm a work alone type person, I built a professional model after I sold my last company that requires no one outside of my wife who provides admin, accounting, QA and an amazing sounding board when I need to think-out-loud.  Otherwise, it's me and a couple of client contacts - I'm coding and supporting massive backend enterprise solutions, on my own (exactly like my aforementioned buddy), my own hours, my own code specs and because we're so lean, we're incredibly efficient and effective, clients __love__ us and we have an amazing amount of freedom to spend cycles where it really counts, with family.


----------



## Herdfan

ericwn said:


> Thinking about resigning and what else to do for a living.
> Feeling my heart’s no longer in it and the need for change. At the same time, stressed and clueless what else to do.




Sorry if I missed it, but what do you do now?

Edit: Saw your response on the next page.


----------



## Herdfan

ericwn said:


> Thanks for chiming in. I used to be an IT product trainer / instructor at heart and that skill set is just not required at my current employer anymore due to business changes. I have been given support responsibilities, but honestly speaking, it’s boring me a lot. I’m used to a different pace and when I’m not challenged it just seems like a waste of my time.




One of my employees used to fix copiers.  He loved it.  Got out when he went from repairing them to just replacing parts.  He found no challenge to that.


----------



## yaxomoxay

yaxomoxay said:


> Oven is on my mind. Called techs to fix it, they didn’t and they wanted more money than the oven is worth, or “subscribe to a $35/mo appliance insurance”. They didn’t show up even with the most basic part (igniter), they disassembled a few pieces and barely made tests. Bottom line: kicked them out, I’ll try to fix it by myself.
> 
> Good service died.



The oven has been fixed. $30, less than 20 minutes of work, assisted by one of my cats.


----------



## Alli

yaxomoxay said:


> The oven has been fixed. $30, less than 20 minutes of work, assisted by one of my cats.



How can you do anything without the assistance of your cat.


----------



## yaxomoxay

Alli said:


> How can you do anything without the assistance of your cat.



I must say, impossible. They make things so much more difficult, and decide to look for a pet at the worst possible moment (let alone playing with the various screws), that one has to be fully focused on the job at hand. This focus, this attention to detail is what makes some work, such as repairs, possible and efficient.


----------



## DT

This.





And this.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Scepticalscribe said:


> And now, a cousin of mine is on my mind.



A cousin is on my mind.

Around a fortnight ago, I received word from Decent Brother, (who is - was - his godson) who had phoned me to let me know the news, as he, himself, had just been informed of the diagnosis by my cousin's estranged sister.

In turn, last Tuesday, (and prompting the above post), I received an email from the actual family of the cousin in question to let me know that he had been diagnosed with prostrate cancer and that "time was short".

I hadn't wished to contact them prior to that, as "technically" I hadn't been (formally) informed of the deadly diagnosis, and one always prefers to be discreet and dignified and tactful and respectful around death - anyway, once notified, I was immediately in touch with them.

Well, time was very short, and the poor chap - who had only received word of the extent of the return (he had first been diagnosed in 2019, and had recovered after treatment) and spread of the cancer - a fortnight ago - passed away (at home, fortunately) this morning.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

That particular cousin was the god of our childhood; we were kids, he was a handsome, accomplished, charismatic, confident, urbane, and very warm, young man, and a young man, who, somewhat surprisingly, got on extremely well with children, and was comfortable with children, and no, not in any creepy or sleazy way.

Years later, he was a very warm and loving father to his own children.

Decent Brother has just been on the phone for the best part of the past two hours - my cousin was his godfather, after all, - and we were recalling stuff such as the intense and extraordinarily competitive games of Monopoly, which we used to play with this cousin (he would have been in his early to mid 20s at the time, - whereas, we were kids who were still in primary school) who sometimes arrived to stay with us for a few days in the period immediately after Christmas.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

His kids (all adults now) lost their mother (who was a lovely person) in tragic circumstances over twenty years ago - she was a teacher, who died of a sudden heart attack while on holiday, she had just made a cup of tea, one morning, and collapsed - leaving him with four kids, aged from just under a year, to ten years of age.

And, so, he raised his four children, - financially, he was fine, he had his own successful business, he worked in the travel trade - for the best part of a decade, until he met another woman, several years later, who was also, (as, my parents had thought, and as Decent Brother and I both still think) an absolutely lovely person, whom he married, very happily, and who became an adored stepmother to his four children.

He used to say (and said so on several occasions to Decent Brother and myself) that he was very lucky with the women in his life - and he was - but he was also a very warm, and generous person, with a great capacity for love, who liked food and drink, and football and music and laughter.

He had been very close to my parents, who had played a sort of mentoring and supporting role for him when he was a young man.

In fact, looking through his emails today, reading one he wrote to me shortly after learning of my mother's death, he had commented on that:
"Your family home was very much a second home to me during the late 60s and early 70s.
Both Charlie and Phil were the easiest people in the world to discuss all my cares and worries with during those times. They weren't an uncle and aunt, they were my close friends and confidents."


----------



## Thomas Veil

My daughter called this morning to ask a favor. She needs us to drive her and both of our grandsons to band practice at school today, because she has no car.

Why does she have no car? Well, although they own two, my son-in-law, airhead that he is, is always misplacing his stuff. Today he managed to lose his coat, wallet _*and*_ the keys to _his_ car. He's participating in a toy distribution event today, so he's going to borrow her vehicle.

I suggested _this_ as a Christmas present for him:


----------



## Herdfan

Thomas Veil said:


> I suggested _this_ as a Christmas present for him:




I have 3 boxes of 4 waiting to be wrapped for Christmas.  We have done the Tile thing and while they sort of work, they also sort of don't.  So going to give these a try.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Thomas Veil said:


> My daughter called this morning to ask a favor. She needs us to drive her and both of our grandsons to band practice at school today, because she has no car.
> 
> Why does she have no car? Well, although they own two, my son-in-law, airhead that he is, is always misplacing his stuff. Today he managed to lose his coat, wallet _*and*_ the keys to _his_ car. He's participating in a toy distribution event today, so he's going to borrow her vehicle.
> 
> I suggested _this_ as a Christmas present for him:



Probably the sort of guy who has had people cleaning up after him, stepping up and solving his problems for him - a kind of learned behaviour (but extremely effective) of cultivated helplessness - for his entire life.


----------



## Edd

Thomas Veil said:


> My daughter called this morning to ask a favor. She needs us to drive her and both of our grandsons to band practice at school today, because she has no car.
> 
> Why does she have no car? Well, although they own two, my son-in-law, airhead that he is, is always misplacing his stuff. Today he managed to lose his coat, wallet _*and*_ the keys to _his_ car. He's participating in a toy distribution event today, so he's going to borrow her vehicle.
> 
> I suggested _this_ as a Christmas present for him:



Coat, wallet, and keys. That’s a ding-dong hat trick. My friends and I would bust each other’s balls relentlessly if one of us did that. Gotta have systems for this and 100% PKW when you leave the house.

A couple of years ago I altered it to PKWZ because middle age seems to have triggered me forgetting to zip my fly from time to time. Works pretty well.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Mine is - before I even leave the house - to check keys (pat pocket), wallet (check other pocket), coat (well, it is winter, and I feel the cold - I am never without a coat), and, these days, also check for face-mask, and, usually, lip gloss, spare tissues, too.

Phone is an occasional optional extra.


----------



## Apple fanboy

I always gave my wallet, keys and phone on me. Never lost one yet. 
I’m often wondering if I could stop carrying a wallet although as I now pay for everything on my watch. And when I say everything I mean petrol. I rarely buy anything else. Mrs AFB does the shopping. We don’t really go out for coffees or alcohol or any other socialising. 
So although my wallet is on me, it’s pretty redundant.


----------



## Pumbaa

Scepticalscribe said:


> Mine is - before I even leave the house - to check keys (pat pocket), wallet (check other pocket), coat (well, it is winter, and I feel the cold - I am never without a coat), and, these days, also check for face-mask, and, usually, lip gloss, spare tissues, too.
> 
> Phone is an occasional optional extra.



I’ll just assume you sing “Hey Macarena!” while doing this pat dance. No need to confirm.


----------



## ericwn

Thomas Veil said:


> My daughter called this morning to ask a favor. She needs us to drive her and both of our grandsons to band practice at school today, because she has no car.
> 
> Why does she have no car? Well, although they own two, my son-in-law, airhead that he is, is always misplacing his stuff. Today he managed to lose his coat, wallet _*and*_ the keys to _his_ car. He's participating in a toy distribution event today, so he's going to borrow her vehicle.
> 
> I suggested _this_ as a Christmas present for him:




Good call I think.


----------



## Edd

Pumbaa said:


> I’ll just assume you sing “Hey Macarena!” while doing this pat dance. No need to confirm.



Video or it didn’t happen.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Pumbaa said:


> I’ll just assume you sing “Hey Macarena!” while doing this pat dance. No need to confirm.



Neither singing nor dancing, I'm afraid, not for an introverted individual very strongly culturally influenced by Anglo-Saxon reserve and restraint.

Those activities - on the rare occasions they occurred - belonged to dim and distant student days, and even then, only ever happened in company and when amply fuelled by copious quantities of the products of the Grape or the Grain.  

Rather, my (double check) wallet, jacket/coat, keys (and mask, and lanyard for my glasses) routine resembles standing still, ruminating, thinking, patting pockets, and mentally running through stuff such as shopping and Things-To-Do lists.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Edd said:


> Video or it didn’t happen.




It didn't happen.


----------



## Edd

Scepticalscribe said:


> It didn't happen.



Disappointing to be sure.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Edd said:


> Disappointing to be sure.




No, not really.

I am one of those reserved sorts who is violently allergic to exercise.

Dancing for joy?

I might have imagined doing (or wanting to do) such a thing when Barack Obama first won the presidential election, and I did thoroughly enjoy the clip of Joan Baez dancing (in a store) after Mr Biden's victory.


----------



## Edd

Scepticalscribe said:


> I am one of those reserved sorts



You don’t say 

Yeah, we’re wildly different but I find it more interesting than off-putting.


----------



## Pumbaa

Scepticalscribe said:


> Neither singing nor dancing, I'm afraid, not for an introverted individual very strongly culturally influenced by Anglo-Saxon reserve and restraint.
> 
> Those activities - on the rare occasions they occurred - belonged to dim and distant student days, and even then, only ever happened in company and when amply fuelled by copious quantities of the products of the Grape or the Grain.
> 
> Rather, my (double check) wallet, jacket/coat, keys (and mask, and lanyard for my glasses) routine resembles standing still, ruminating, thinking, patting pockets, and mentally running through stuff such as shopping and Things-To-Do lists.



I’m still seeing this, sorry.


----------



## Edd

Seth Meyers has a Corrections bit he does every week, where he recounts what viewers have corrected him on for the previous week’s episode. He’d mentioned high-fiving a rat, and a viewer helpfully pointed out that a rat’s front paws only have four toes, so you’d properly say “up top” if you wanted to slap hands.

I laughed tearfully for a couple minutes and that’s all I can think about right now.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Capers.

The noun, that is, and not the verb.

That is, the briny, salty, small green things, the immature, unripened green flower buds of the caper bush, not playful skipping, or, for that matter, an amusing activity or escapade of dubious legality.

@lizkat will enjoy this: I thought I had them (they play a starring and - unfortunately, a key - role in the Sicilian dish known as caponata) , but, it transpires that I had cornichons (and also, for that matter, classic sweet gherkins).  But, not capers.

So, capers shall be purchased tomorrow; everything else required for caponata has already been set out.


----------



## User.45

Pumbaa said:


> I’m still seeing this, sorry.
> 
> View attachment 10326



This reminds me of when I forgot to take my car keys with me, and someone thought I'm trying to break into my car while I was doing the key macarena dance.


----------



## lizkat

Scepticalscribe said:


> Capers.
> 
> The noun, that is, and not the verb.
> 
> That is, the briny, salty, small green things, the immature, unripened green flower buds of the caper bush, not playful skipping, or, for that matter, an amusing activity or escapade of dubious legality.
> 
> @lizkat will enjoy this: I thought I had them (they play a starring and - unfortunately, key - role in the Sicilian dish known as caponata) , but, it transpires that I had cornichons (and also, for that matter, classic sweet gherkins).  But, not capers.
> 
> So, capers shall be purchased tomorrow; everything else required for caponata has already been set out.




How exasperating...   but then it will be the more delightful when all is secured for the dish as it should be made!

On my mind, Friday night's jazz on Saturday instead (JImmy Greene),  Sunday morning's breakfast for supper tonight instead (fancy oatmeal with apples, raisins, peaches)...  what can I say.  It's the early sunset and late sunrise.   Even the fun of an Advent calendar doesn't gloss over how ready I am for the solstice, the return of the light and so to the time of getting my darkness-addled brains out of hock again.

Anyway the power's still on here,  temperatures due to drop like a stone in awhile when the wind shifts, but not so far.  It's really windy and a few t'storms have grazed the area but it's almost still balmy out there at 51ºF.  Hope everyone else experiencing weird weather in December lands safely in Sunday morning too!


----------



## Huntn

Scepticalscribe said:


> Capers.
> 
> The noun, that is, and not the verb.
> 
> That is, the briny, salty, small green things, the immature, unripened green flower buds of the caper bush, not playful skipping, or, for that matter, an amusing activity or escapade of dubious legality.
> 
> @lizkat will enjoy this: I thought I had them (they play a starring and - unfortunately, a key - role in the Sicilian dish known as caponata) , but, it transpires that I had cornichons (and also, for that matter, classic sweet gherkins).  But, not capers.
> 
> So, capers shall be purchased tomorrow; everything else required for caponata has already been set out.



When I think of Capers I think of something olive like which I don’t care for. I’m picky about pickled vegetables. I do like pickles, and jalapeños. Are capers technically pickled?


----------



## lizkat

Huntn said:


> When I think of Capers I think of something olive like which I don’t care for. I’m picky about pickled vegetables. I do like pickles, and jalapeños. Are capers technically pickled?




Not just technically.    Definitely.  

They're great in sauces and appetizers like caponata, they help give depth to the flavors of vegetable-based dishes.


----------



## Huntn

lizkat said:


> Not just technically.    Definitely.
> 
> They're great in sauces and appetizers like caponata, they help give depth to the flavors of vegetable-based dishes.



I’d have to try something with them.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

lizkat said:


> Not just technically.    Definitely.
> 
> They're great in sauces and appetizers like caponata, they help give depth to the flavors of vegetable-based dishes.




Exactly.

Definitely.

And olives, yum.  I devour them like sweets (candies), or, rather, the way one assumes chidren devour candies (sweets) - which, for the record, are something I never really much cared for.


----------



## DT

Oh geez, Anne Rice died ...









						Anne Rice, Who Spun Gothic Tales of Vampires, Dies at 80
					

She wrote more than 30 novels, including the best seller “Interview With the Vampire,” which became a hit movie starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.




					www.nytimes.com


----------



## Hrafn

DT said:


> Oh geez, Anne Rice died ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Anne Rice, Who Spun Gothic Tales of Vampires, Dies at 80
> 
> 
> She wrote more than 30 novels, including the best seller “Interview With the Vampire,” which became a hit movie starring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.nytimes.com



I saw that earlier.  Loved the Vampire Chronicals.  RIP


----------



## lizkat

Huntn said:


> I’d have to try something with them.




I even toss a couple of them into the mix for a tuna salad sandwich sometimes.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

lizkat said:


> I even toss a couple of them into the mix for a tuna salad sandwich sometimes.



They go brilliantly well with fish, and are a key, core ingredient in the classic tartar sauce (sometimes written as "tartare" sauce) often served with fish.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

My cousin, who died just under a fortnight ago.


----------



## lizkat

On my mind, how lazy I've gotten about making new playlists (even of music I've had a long time).  I can't be all THAT busy any more but somehow I'm still reaching for a spare iPhone that has a Summer-2021 playlist on it when I'm in the  mood for a familiar  mix of rock / pop / whatever  -- as if it were still August instead of December.  It must have to do with the fact that the change of seasons is taking its sweet time to impress winter upon us this year.


----------



## DT

Went to a presentation/meet-and-greet last tonight for a special program for Daughter, she has invite into this program where she does 3 years high school, and then pivots to the last year at an actual college with actual college courses blended in through the 4 years.  When she graduates HS, she would also graduate college with an AA, which transfers, to any school, so her first year at college for a BA/BS, she'd be a junior, and finish her undergrad work by 20.


----------



## DT

And FFS, we kept her home today, she finished all her midterms yesterday, and there's a crazy thing on Tik-Tok about "Bring a weapon to school" specifically today (Friday).  We actually got a message from the superintendent, dozens of schools all over the US are actually closed today.

Do I think something would happen?  Very unlikely, but all it takes is something to trigger a person who's borderline to put their Dad's unlocked firearm into their backpack and things to go very wrong.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

My cousin, life, loves and family, and his funeral service, which I attended remotely earlier today.


----------



## Apple fanboy

DT said:


> And FFS, we kept her home today, she finished all her midterms yesterday, and there's a crazy thing on Tik-Tok about "Bring a weapon to school" specifically today (Friday).  We actually got a message from the superintendent, dozens of schools all over the US are actually closed today.
> 
> Do I think something would happen?  Very unlikely, but all it takes is something to trigger a person who's borderline to put their Dad's unlocked firearm into their backpack and things to go very wrong.



Sometimes you do wonder what would make someone post crap like that. I’d have done the same. Stupid people will no doubt do it.


----------



## DT

Apple fanboy said:


> Sometimes you do wonder what would make someone post crap like that. I’d have done the same. Stupid people will no doubt do it.




I hope there's some real investigation and some serious penalties.

Here's some info:









						Schools nationwide increase security in response to TikTok threats
					

Schools nationwide have increased security in response to shooting and bomb threats that have been made on TikTok.Schools in Arizona, Connecticut, Illinois, Montana, New York and Pennsylvania …




					thehill.com
				




And I hate that the threat "isn't credible", yes, it's not a specific threat from a specific person, but it's a provocation, it's the same thing that made 100s of kids destroy school property (another Tik-Tok "challenge")


----------



## Scepticalscribe

DT said:


> And FFS, we kept her home today, she finished all her midterms yesterday, and there's a crazy thing on Tik-Tok about "Bring a weapon to school" specifically today (Friday).  We actually got a message from the superintendent, dozens of schools all over the US are actually closed today.
> 
> Do I think something would happen?  Very unlikely, but all it takes is something to trigger a person who's borderline to put their Dad's unlocked firearm into their backpack and things to go very wrong.



That is absolutely insane; you did the right thing.


Apple fanboy said:


> Sometimes you do wonder what would make someone post crap like that. I’d have done the same. Stupid people will no doubt do it.



Completely agree.


----------



## Renzatic

DT said:


> And I hate that the threat "isn't credible", yes, it's not a specific threat from a specific person, but it's a provocation, it's the same thing that made 100s of kids destroy school property (another Tik-Tok "challenge")




Tik Tok will be the downfall of western civilization. We will have dared ourselves to our own deaths.


----------



## Herdfan

DT said:


> Went to a presentation/meet-and-greet last tonight for a special program for Daughter, she has invite into this program where she does 3 years high school, and then pivots to the last year at an actual college with actual college courses blended in through the 4 years.  When she graduates HS, she would also graduate college with an AA, which transfers, to any school, so her first year at college for a BA/BS, she'd be a junior, and finish her undergrad work by 20.




That's awesome.  My daughter took a few dual credit courses while in HS in partnership with a local university.  And some AP courses as well.  She ended up with 24 hours of college credit, which was nice.  But that program sounds much better.


----------



## DT

Herdfan said:


> That's awesome.  My daughter took a few dual credit courses while in HS in partnership with a local university.  And some AP courses as well.  She ended up with 24 hours of college credit, which was nice.  But that program sounds much better.




Yeah, it's a very managed dual enrollment. You could, possibly on your own, do dual enrollments through the 4 years of high school and have enough credits to equal an AA, this has a specific program that assures that happens, and then of course, has the nice extra perk of actually going to the college campus for senior year.

I hope she does it, she'd be in a cohort of 60 kids, so it would be a nice group to be part of, and the school (which we'd have to drive her to/from every day) is like a year old, really nice new facility.


----------



## lizkat

Renzatic said:


> Tik Tok will be the downfall of western civilization. We will have dared ourselves to our own deaths.




Quite possibly.

Every time I start to type "why don't they just send a cop to the back door of every kid who relayed a threat like that and have a long talk with the mom or pop and the kid?" then I realize I'm talking about advocating a surveillance state.

The backbones of that certainly already exist,  but god forbid we should say the quiet part out loud in the USA. 

The really sad thing is that we still have people who say it doesn't take a village to raise a kid.  We now have an international community raising our kids and we have zero clue most of the time who the influencers really are.

I was maybe a little happier when it was just a bunch of grandmas on front stoops or in sheer-curtained parlors who were raising our kids by picking up the phone and asking Mabel or Gloria if she realized Joey was still picking on kids smaller than him on the way home from school.

So I don't type actual inquiries about hey why don't we have COPS do this?  Heh but the grandmas were not a bad idea and every decent person over the age of about 60 actually knows this.

A village will help raise your kid whether you want that to happen or not.  The way things go now, the village awaits your seven-year-old's first use of an iPad connected to the net to watch some kidvid.

But I do wonder where's Tik Tok with this stuff, they know who breaks their guidelines and should be banned not just suspended.

 I guess it's simple enough to spoof an IP address, to create another username... and another, and another, and certainly the real police in any community of size are not going to spend hours looking to arrest the average teenage parrot of meaningless mass threats that some malevolent person initiated.  So it's a challenge to both the social media outlets and to would-be regulators in governments.

 Will we end up having to give up the idea of relative anonymity -- and so some protection of "free" speech along with a measure of freedom from fear of physical harassment for voicing opinions--  just because some people think it's fun (or, politically useful) to escalate use of "social" media from mere insult to threats of harm? 

Is it even possible to demand verifiable identity on the net any more? 

All of us have our particulars out there somewhere, thanks to hacks of careless beancounting megacorporations and even governments.  And no beancounting social media outlet is very concerned about making sure it's not being deceived about identify in the case of ordinary Americans.  Only someone who's a celebrity gets that kind of once-over when going for the "verified identiy" stamp on their social media setup. 

I'm certainly out of suggestions on how to make this better.  I sometimes fantasize though about some uber-Nanny giving the whole planet a cyber-TIMEOUT for a couple hours now and then, without notice.   Time enough for all our short-circuiting. attention-shifting brains to cast about for something real to do, something real to connect to and realize that in real time and space, all actions do have consequences.


----------



## chengengaun

lizkat said:


> The really sad thing is that we still have people who say it doesn't take a village to raise a kid.  We now have an international community raising our kids and we have zero clue most of the time who the influencers really are.
> 
> I was maybe a little happier when it was just a bunch of grandmas on front stoops or in sheer-curtained parlors who were raising our kids by picking up the phone and asking Mabel or Gloria if she realized Joey was still picking on kids smaller than him on the way home from school.
> 
> So I don't type actual inquiries about hey why don't we have COPS do this?  Heh but the grandmas were not a bad idea and every decent person over the age of about 60 actually knows this.
> 
> A village will help raise your kid whether you want that to happen or not.  The way things go now, the village awaits your seven-year-old's first use of an iPad connected to the net to watch some kidvid.



Very well said. The village analogy reminds me of global village and _The Gutenberg Galaxy_ by Marshall McLuhan. I need to revisit the book.


----------



## lizkat

In my email this morning, twice.   Hell, for my money they had it right the first time. 2021 = one long Halloween. 


​


----------



## Renzatic

lizkat said:


> 2021 = one long Halloween.




...if only.


----------



## lizkat

Renzatic said:


> ...if only.




Well the trick part, not so much the treats. 

Maybe after I quit fuming over Manchin on Fox today, I will remember some cool stuff about 2021.

Anyway moving on,  what else is on my mind:   warmest December I can remember., and another week of it on tap.  Phenomenal outlier in my memory, even though we have had generally milder winters for at least the past five years.

Thirty-eight years ago I spent my first Christmas up here.    It was 22 below 0ºF with blizzard conditions and 7-foot drifts that morning...  naive thing that I was, I hadn't even realized it could snow when it was that cold.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

My mother.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Scepticalscribe said:


> My mother.



My mother: Today is the third anniversary of her death.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

And today is also the day of the winter solstice, something which is also very much on my mind.


----------



## shadow puppet

Happy Winter Solstice everyone.
"Yuke King" by Michael Kerbow.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Thinking of my mother - for, today marks the third aniversary of her death - and my poor cousin, who died not quite three weeks ago - all I can suggest is that those who of you who have friends and family whom they love to give them a hug (Covid permitting).


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Other Brother emailed to discuss Christmas, memories and Mother, and wrote: "So she passed away on a day she always had mixed feelings about, the worst of the winter darkness but also with it's passing the prospect of things becoming brighter."


----------



## DT

Happy Birthday my dude!


----------



## Eric

DT said:


> Happy Birthday my dude!
> 
> View attachment 10672



Happy birthday! @JayMysteri0


----------



## Alli

And belated happy birthday, Jay!


----------



## Scepticalscribe

lizkat said:


> Quite possibly.
> 
> Every time I start to type "why don't they just send a cop to the back door of every kid who relayed a threat like that and have a long talk with the mom or pop and the kid?" then I realize I'm talking about advocating a surveillance state.
> 
> The backbones of that certainly already exist,  but god forbid we should say the quiet part out loud in the USA.
> 
> The really sad thing is that we still have people who say it doesn't take a village to raise a kid.  We now have an international community raising our kids and we have zero clue most of the time who the influencers really are.
> 
> I was maybe a little happier when it was just a bunch of grandmas on front stoops or in sheer-curtained parlors who were raising our kids by picking up the phone and asking Mabel or Gloria if she realized Joey was still picking on kids smaller than him on the way home from school.
> 
> So I don't type actual inquiries about hey why don't we have COPS do this?  Heh but the grandmas were not a bad idea and every decent person over the age of about 60 actually knows this.
> 
> A village will help raise your kid whether you want that to happen or not.  The way things go now, the village awaits your seven-year-old's first use of an iPad connected to the net to watch some kidvid.
> 
> But I do wonder where's Tik Tok with this stuff, they know who breaks their guidelines and should be banned not just suspended.
> 
> I guess it's simple enough to spoof an IP address, to create another username... and another, and another, and certainly the real police in any community of size are not going to spend hours looking to arrest the average teenage parrot of meaningless mass threats that some malevolent person initiated.  So it's a challenge to both the social media outlets and to would-be regulators in governments.
> 
> Will we end up having to give up the idea of relative anonymity -- and so some protection of "free" speech along with a measure of freedom from fear of physical harassment for voicing opinions--  just because some people think it's fun (or, politically useful) to escalate use of "social" media from mere insult to threats of harm?
> 
> Is it even possible to demand verifiable identity on the net any more?
> 
> All of us have our particulars out there somewhere, thanks to hacks of careless beancounting megacorporations and even governments.  And no beancounting social media outlet is very concerned about making sure it's not being deceived about identify in the case of ordinary Americans.  Only someone who's a celebrity gets that kind of once-over when going for the "verified identiy" stamp on their social media setup.
> 
> I'm certainly out of suggestions on how to make this better.  I sometimes fantasize though about some uber-Nanny giving the whole planet a cyber-TIMEOUT for a couple hours now and then, without notice.   Time enough for all our short-circuiting. attention-shifting brains to cast about for something real to do, something real to connect to and realize that in real time and space, all actions do have consequences.



Terrific post.

The "grandmother" who filled that function on our road was a retired Lieutenant-Colonel, who lived four houses away - his son, his only child, was (and is) a very good friend of both Decent Brother and mine.

Anyway, @Apple fanboy would know the sort of guy I am describing - crisp, dapper, upright (in every way), polite, yet commanding - a man of utter integrity, who sported polished, laced, brown brogues, razor sharp creased twill trousers, pressed shirt and tie, tweed jacket, was commissioned just before, or during, WW2, (and yes, as his son pointed out to me, "that generation" had an extraordinary capacity for alcohol - he was convinced that most of them suffered from some form of PTSD) - who kept fit by walking (marching?) daily, long walks - and barked at (and kept a close eye on) groups of young local male miscreants long before they ever had a chance to even think about (let alone plot or plan) getting into mischief or stepping out of line in any way seriously.


----------



## lizkat

Scepticalscribe said:


> Terrific post.
> 
> The "grandmother" who filled that function on our road was a retired Lieutenant-Colonel, who lived four houses away - his son, his only child, was (and is) a very good friend of both Decent Brother and mine.
> 
> Anyway, @Apple fanboy would know the sort of guy I am describing - crisp, dapper, upright (in every way), polished, polite, a man of utter integrity, polished, laced, brown brogues, creased twill trousers, pressed shirt and tie, tweed jacket, commissioned during WW2, (and yes, as his son pointed out to me, "that generation" had an extraordinary capacity for alcohol - he was convinced that most of them suffered from some form of PTSD) - who kept fit by walking (marching?) daily, long walks - and barked at groups of young local male miscreants long before they ever had a chance to even think about (let alone plot or plan) getting into mischief or stepping out of line in any way seriously.




The thing is everyone seems meaner these days and in the US of course some don't think twice about pulling a gun to make a deadly point of "mind your own biz".

It's sad and has been exacerbated by covid. Service workers and  the customer service staff of retail companies have reported record numbers of over-the-top abusive callers or in-store tantrum throwers.  It can become just too much to bear no matter what the wage scale is after awhile.    Everyone is stressed out over disappointments of one sort or another -- items not in stock, delivery dates not met etc., stuff that ordinarily makes one roll eyes and press on but nowadays can seem like a last straw and the unfortunate CS rep takes the brunt of consumer unhappiness.    Maybe it was ever so,  but now the job even comes with the occasional death threat which is really just ...  way into mental illness territory.   I mean over something like a mask, or a ripped seam in a blouse?


----------



## yaxomoxay

Friend of mine, no vax, at the hospital, apparently her condition is very serious and might die. I truly hope she survives but I hope she learned her lesson and I hope she’ll use her mistake to be an example to other people.


----------



## Eric

yaxomoxay said:


> Friend of mine, no vax, at the hospital, apparently her condition is very serious and might die. I truly hope she survives but I hope she learned her lesson and I hope she’ll use her mistake to be an example to other people.



Yeah, it's easy to point a finger and say "I told you so" but the reality is every time this happens it saddens me, nobody wants to see another person suffer and die at the hands of this hideous virus. I wish your friend the best and like you said, hopefully it will serve as a reminder to others she may know who might still be on the fence about a vaccine.


----------



## Apple fanboy

yaxomoxay said:


> Friend of mine, no vax, at the hospital, apparently her condition is very serious and might die. I truly hope she survives but I hope she learned her lesson and I hope she’ll use her mistake to be an example to other people.



Hope they pull through. Stories like this make me fear for Mrs AFB more and more. This week and next I’m travelling to London with a stop over and am paranoid I’ll bring it back home. I’ll be as careful as I can, but it’s not like I get much choice. I have to work.


----------



## DT

yaxomoxay said:


> Friend of mine, no vax, at the hospital, apparently her condition is very serious and might die. I truly hope she survives but I hope she learned her lesson and I hope she’ll use her mistake to be an example to other people.





OOC, what was her vaccination stance?  Was it slightly voluntary (as in, felt safe due to lifestyle / a little concerned over the vaxx development), due to other mitigating circumstances (couldn't do to medical issues, etc.),  raging anti-vaxx (with or without insane political extremism)?


----------



## DT

Side note:  just saw the FDA approved the Pfizer booster for kids 12 and up, I think there's another step involving the CDC before a full rollout[?], but we'll be on deck for this ASAP.









						CDC backs FDA's decision to reduce time between primary series and booster dose of Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine | CNN
					

The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday expanded the emergency use authorization for Pfizer's Covid-19 vaccine boosters to children ages 12 to 15.




					www.cnn.com


----------



## yaxomoxay

DT said:


> OOC, what was her vaccination stance?  Was it slightly voluntary (as in, felt safe due to lifestyle / a little concerned over the vaxx development), due to other mitigating circumstances (couldn't do to medical issues, etc.),  raging anti-vaxx (with or without insane political extremism)?



Not raging anti vax, more on the “I don’t trust them on me but if you want to do it, your problem” camp, but still leaning towards the “vax is a scam” thing.


----------



## Apple fanboy

yaxomoxay said:


> Not raging anti vax, more on the “I don’t trust them on me but if you want to do it, your problem” camp, but still leaning towards the “vax is a scam” thing.



Mrs AFB is due to her other conditions and the reactions other people who are allergic to as many things as she is reacting badly. I have asked her to go talk to the doctors about it, but she refuses. She doesn’t trust doctors.


----------



## Renzatic

yaxomoxay said:


> ...but still leaning towards the “vax is a scam” thing.




I've seen a number of people claim such, and I'm wondering how it could be a scam. If we were paying a premium for alleged immunity, with Big Pharma stoking the fervor around it, I could understand that line of thinking.

...but they're not. It's widely available, and doesn't cost a thing out of pocket.

So who's being scammed here? The government?


----------



## yaxomoxay

I’ve got this ad on Instagram. I’d rather buy an inflatable doll.


----------



## DT

yaxomoxay said:


> I’d rather buy another inflatable doll.




Hmm ....


----------



## yaxomoxay

Ref the above, I wonder which scenario would piss my wife off more.

a) she gets home early and she finds me “playing” with an inflatable doll
b) she picks up my phone and finds out that I am sexting with an AI app.

Either case My obvious line is “honey I can explain.”


----------



## lizkat

yaxomoxay said:


> Ref the above, I wonder which scenario would piss my wife off more.
> 
> a) she gets home early and she finds me “playing” with an inflatable doll
> b) she picks up my phone and finds out that I am sexting with an AI app.
> 
> Either case My obvious line is “honey I can explain.”




The doll might actually be a safer bet.    Persuading her that the other side of dialogue with a sexting app is just a computer program making stuff up?  That could be a really hard sell. 

Either way, you might end up with a distinctly real crowning via nearest cast iron skillet.


----------



## rdrr

yaxomoxay said:


> Ref the above, I wonder which scenario would piss my wife off more.
> 
> a) she gets home early and she finds me “playing” with an inflatable doll
> b) she picks up my phone and finds out that I am sexting with an AI app.
> 
> Either case My obvious line is “honey I can explain.”




The conversation with the blow up doll might be more captivating.


----------



## DT

I can definitely offer some advice for scenario A ...


----------



## Renzatic

yaxomoxay said:


> Either case My obvious line is “honey I can explain.”




That's your problem right there. You're trying to explain yourself out of an unexplainable situation, which won't end well for you. What you do in those situations is go full tilt in the opposite direction. Be so brazen that she can't think of anything to say in response.

The first thing you should do if you wife catches you with a blow up sex doll is to act like you're not doing anything weird at all, that she's the one being overly dramatic...

...then ask if she wants to join in.


----------



## yaxomoxay

Renzatic said:


> That's your problem right there. You're trying to explain yourself out of an unexplainable situation, which won't end well for you. What you do in those situations is go full tilt in the opposite direction. Be so brazen that she can't think of anything to say in response.
> 
> The first thing you should do if you wife catches you with a blow up sex doll is to act like you're not doing anything weird at all, that she's the one being overly dramatic...
> 
> ...then ask if she wants to join in.



Thanks for sharing your wisdom and your long experience!


----------



## lizkat

DT said:


> I can definitely offer some advice for scenario A ...




Considering your avatar, your experience with an inflatable doll would likely be pretty brief...   jes' sayin'.


----------



## SuperMatt

lizkat said:


> Considering your avatar, your experience with an inflatable doll would likely be pretty brief...   jes' sayin'.



Robots need love too


----------



## lizkat

SuperMatt said:


> Robots need love too





Bender's inflatable doll would need some seriously standup skin though.  Tough AND flame resistant...


----------



## Apple fanboy

yaxomoxay said:


> Ref the above, I wonder which scenario would piss my wife off more.
> 
> a) she gets home early and she finds me “playing” with an inflatable doll
> b) she picks up my phone and finds out that I am sexting with an AI app.
> 
> Either case My obvious line is “honey I can explain.”



When I spoke to her she said she was more annoyed by the blow up doll she found you with than the sexting you were doing with Alexa. But I think that was because it was a sheep….


----------



## yaxomoxay

On my mind the fact that people don’t realize that “Metaverse” is just a way to get people to buy twice as much stuff (virtual clothes, virtual shoes, virtual house etc), with the exception that it’s not actually stuff.


----------



## ericwn

yaxomoxay said:


> Ref the above, I wonder which scenario would piss my wife off more.
> 
> a) she gets home early and she finds me “playing” with an inflatable doll
> b) she picks up my phone and finds out that I am sexting with an AI app.
> 
> Either case My obvious line is “honey I can explain.”




You can share a doll…


----------



## lizkat

yaxomoxay said:


> On my mind the fact that people don’t realize that “Metaverse” is just a way to get people to buy twice as much stuff (virtual clothes, virtual shoes, virtual house etc), with the exception that it’s not actually stuff.




Well and then there's the issue of when is digital currency a currency and when is it a meta group name for "currencies" that in certain circumstances are just the equivalent of Monopoly money... or, so may stipulate some government agency or even a bank sometime,   perhaps with little to zero prior notice.   Also known as  "Web 3.0 is bullshit" -- as a financial blogger puts it. 

And then there's meta fiction:   writers writing stories about writers writing stories...   the construct has always been around since the days of Greeks and Romans, but now it has a groovy label and so now gets taught or at least analyzed at pricey workshops.   It's possible the first meta writer was only just warming up to recover from an attack of 'the blank page' and the story was an effort to get past writer's block.   Now it's a technique and a lot of it that makes it to bookshelves isn't worth the ink or the pixels.   At least not compared to The Odyssey...


----------



## Apple fanboy

Miss AFB is on my mind this morning. Today is the sixth anniversary of when she went. I still miss her terribly. Some days it’s all I think about. Others not as much. 
Give your kids a hug. You never know when it will be your last.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

lizkat said:


> ....
> 
> And then there's meta fiction:   writers writing stories about writers writing stories...   the construct has always been around since the days of Greeks and Romans, but now it has a groovy label and so now gets taught or at least analyzed at pricey workshops.   It's possible the first meta writer was only just warming up to recover from an attack of 'the blank page' and the story was an effort to get past writer's block.   Now it's a technique and a lot of it that makes it to bookshelves isn't worth the ink or the pixels.   At least not compared to The Odyssey...



Writers writing stories about writers writing stories can work well, as can its kin, the old "I met a man who met a man who had a story to tell."

While it can be impossibly and ridiculously self-indulgent, it can also be a safe way to say something or touch upon an otherwise controversial topic (while simultaneously serving subtly to distance the writer from the content or topic - "Me?  No, not at all....just a story I heard somewhere from someone...", allowing for possible disavowal, if that proves necessary.)

Two such tales that both employ this techique that come to mind are Thomas More's "Utopia", and Oscar Wilde's "The Portrait of Mr WH."


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Apple fanboy said:


> Hope they pull through. Stories like this make me fear for Mrs AFB more and more. This week and next I’m travelling to London with a stop over and am paranoid I’ll bring it back home. I’ll be as careful as I can, but it’s not like I get much choice. I have to work.



Wince.



Apple fanboy said:


> Mrs AFB is due to her other conditions and the reactions other people who are allergic to as many things as she is reacting badly. I have asked her to go talk to the doctors about it, but she refuses. She doesn’t trust doctors.



Is there any way she can be persuaded to think again?

Covid is extraordinarily contagious.


Apple fanboy said:


> Miss AFB is on my mind this morning. Today is the sixth anniversary of when she went. I still miss her terribly. Some days it’s all I think about. Others not as much.
> Give your kids a hug. You never know when it will be your last.



My sympathies.

There is not much I can say except to take care of yourself and be kind to yourselves.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Death and loss are on my mind - and the New Year is supposed to be about New Things, New Beginnings.

Brothers were in touch yesterday to let me know that the last aunt on my mother's side - my mother's sole surviving sister-in-law had died.

So, this morning I have been on the phone.

To the wife (well, widow, now) of my cousin who died shortly before Christmas - I know from experience that compressed and incredibly intense time you often feel  (endure? survive?) immediately after a death, not to mention the frenzy of the funeral; but I also vividly recall the quiet time that follows, when the fact that one is alone is brought home to you because the person who used to be there is there no longer.

We had a long and lovely chat, she really is a lovely person.

And then, I phoned my cousins to sympathise on the death of their mother.

They told me that their brother is still in the US, (where he lives and works, his wife is American) but buried his father-in-law last week, (in the US), and so, will not be able to take leave to travel Across The Pond to attend the funeral of his mother.


----------



## yaxomoxay

yaxomoxay said:


> View attachment 10753
> 
> I’ve got this ad on Instagram. I’d rather buy an inflatable doll.



If nothing else my Instagram ads are getting better 





However, I still don’t think I’d look nice in that dress.


----------



## Chew Toy McCoy

yaxomoxay said:


> Ref the above, I wonder which scenario would piss my wife off more.
> 
> a) she gets home early and she finds me “playing” with an inflatable doll
> b) she picks up my phone and finds out that I am sexting with an AI app.
> 
> Either case My obvious line is “honey I can explain.”




The ex-wife of my early years worked at an adult store.  Along with some random "surprise me with something" requests, I had her bring me home an inflatable sheep because why not.  The store was in a large strip mall and occasionally when I would visit her at work I would park as far away in the lot as possible so I could confidently walk to the store with my half deflated sheep in hand.  Sometimes I like to give society something to tell their friends about.


----------



## SuperMatt

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> The ex-wife of my early years worked at an adult store.  Along with some random "surprise me with something" requests, I had her bring me home an inflatable sheep because why not.  The store was in a large strip mall and occasionally when I would visit her at work I would park as far away in the lot as possible so I could confidently walk to the store with my half deflated sheep in hand.  Sometimes I like to give society something to tell their friends about.



I remember somebody getting the “Love Ewe” as a gag gift at a party in the 90s…


----------



## lizkat

Scepticalscribe said:


> Writers writing stories about writers writing stories can work well, as can its kin, the old "I met a man who met a man who had a story to tell."
> 
> While it can be impossibly and ridiculously self-indulgent, it can also be a safe way to say something or touch upon an otherwise controversial topic (while simultaneously serving subtly to distance the writer from the content or topic - "Me?  No, not at all....just a story I heard somewhere from someone...", allowing for possible disavowal, if that proves necessary.)
> 
> Two such tales that both employ this techique that come to mind are Thomas More's "Utopia", and Oscar Wilde's "The Portrait of Mr WH."




Oh, sure, and there's value as well in efforts to "break the fourth wall" or introduce an unreliable narrator or whatever.   There are lists floating around of people's favorite metafiction and a lot of them do include The Odyssey... and/or Arabian Nights.

My remark about some of them not being worth the pixels or ink, however,  stems from a few times I've gone to the e-library to look for some particular book, discovered they don't have it, made a recommendation to the library to acquire it,  then been asked if "in the meantime" I'd like to "try one of these", taken them up on that and discovered that it's practically boilerplate writing about a writer trying to write a story or write some other person's story or rebut a stereotyping reader in advance of what they'll read in chapter three, etc.

Sometimes the technique works.  When too much of the mechanics show -- completely aside from what's intended to confront us--  then there's an early return of a book to the library when I'm the reader.    I do like to read about "writers on writing" but mostly when I'm reading an interview of the writer.   When I'm constantly reacting in mode of "ok I see what you did there" then I tire of sorting out what I was meant to observe and what was just a careless or shopworn application of some metafiction technique.

What's on my mind today:   as a joke I had put up onto my iPhone's lockscreen wallpaper the other day --when it was almost 50ºF outside--  a painterly fabric swatch of two Adirondack chairs in the dunes along a sunny beach   But since it was 8º this morning and is forecast to sink to 2º or below zero in the overnight a week from now, I've decided to look for some wallpaper that's a little less summery, ya think?  Talk about metafiction.


​


----------



## Scepticalscribe

It is always interesting how additional pieces of information can serve to transform a particular picture.

This transformed picture concerns the cousin - referred to in my previous post, above - who is marooned in the US, unable to attend his mother's funeral.

Anyway, earlier today, I had spoken with the husband of one of his two sisters.

Tonight, I spoke with his other sister, a gay feminist, who is raising her son with her partner, (in Brighton, in the UK), who explained with no small degree of exasperation that her brother, his American wife, and their family are all "Trumpets", - this was a detail I had not known -  had voted for that individual in 2016 and would do so again were his name to appear on a ballot, and hold peculiar views on vaccination,- the sort of peculiar views on vaccination that mean that when one does indeed contract Covid, as my cousin did, one gets the sort of serious dose that - in this instance - gave rise to double pneumonia, and, in the case of this particular cousin, seems to have also triggered what may well have been underlying cardiac problems.  And considerable medical expenses, needless to say.

So, the tale of his non-attendence at - and inability to attend - his mother's funeral is a little more complex than I had been given to understand.  I confess that my sympathy (substantial) earlier in the day, has, to a considerable extent, since then, largely evaporated.

Moreover, that cousin's entire family hold (tenaciously) these peculiar views on vaccination, and it appears that the demise of the recently deceased father-in-law, (whose funeral occurred last week) might have been brought about as a consequence of such tenaciously held views.


----------



## yaxomoxay

Chew Toy McCoy said:


> I had her bring me home an inflatable sheep because why



was it really supposed to be an inflatable one???!!!!!?!! I might’ve made a mistake…


----------



## ronntaylor

lizkat said:


> And then there's meta fiction: writers writing stories about writers writing stories... the construct has always been around since the days of Greeks and Romans, but now it has a groovy label and so now gets taught or at least analyzed at pricey workshops.



My fav author of meta fiction is Richard Grayson, a perennial outside candidate for political office (mostly) in Florida. He started writing while completing his MFA at Brooklyn College in the late 70s.


----------



## lizkat

ronntaylor said:


> My fav author of meta fiction is Richard Grayson, a perennial outside candidate for political office (mostly) in Florida. He started writing while completing his MFA at Brooklyn College in the late 70s.




Now I now what to search for the next time the library offers me "meanwhile how about one of these?"   Thanks!


----------



## ronntaylor

lizkat said:


> Now I now what to search for the next time the library offers me "meanwhile how about one of these?"   Thanks!



I've read this one several times:
Lincoln's Doctor's Dog: And Other Stories​


----------



## ericwn

yaxomoxay said:


> If nothing else my Instagram ads are getting better
> 
> View attachment 10782
> 
> However, I still don’t think I’d look nice in that dress.




The Yayaareonamazon!


----------



## Scepticalscribe

I think I would (almost) kill for a back and shoulder massage.


----------



## Alli

Scepticalscribe said:


> I think I would (almost) kill for a back and shoulder massage.



I have a facial scheduled for Sunday after dinner, and Monday morning my sister-in-law and I are getting a couple’s massage. I’m really looking forward to this cruise.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Alli said:


> I have a facial scheduled for Sunday after dinner, and Monday morning my sister-in-law and I are getting a couple’s massage. I’m really looking forward to this cruise.



Oh, wow, wonderful.

Do enjoy; however, I won't deny my envy - just now, I think I would (or could) kill for a facial and a massage.


----------



## Apple fanboy

Scepticalscribe said:


> Oh, wow, wonderful.
> 
> Do enjoy; however, I won't deny my envy - just now, I think I would (or could) kill for a facial and a massage.



You have my sympathy. I have a chiropractor appointment Monday.


----------



## lizkat

ronntaylor said:


> I've read this one several times:
> Lincoln's Doctor's Dog: And Other Stories​




Hey a collection of stories by anyone who reportedly "grew up in Brooklyn, attended Brooklyn College and... in 1982 garnered 26% of the vote running for the town council in Davie, Florida, on a platform of giving horses the right to vote"  is probably worth at least one trip to the bricks and mortar library if they don't have e-book versions.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Apple fanboy said:


> You have my sympathy. I have a chiropractor appointment Monday.




I'm torn between envy (on my part) and pleasure (for you).

Do enjoy; nay, savour, wallow, luxuriate in this (doubtless well deserved and well earned, and much longed for) treat.


----------



## yaxomoxay

yaxomoxay said:


> Friend of mine, no vax, at the hospital, apparently her condition is very serious and might die. I truly hope she survives but I hope she learned her lesson and I hope she’ll use her mistake to be an example to other people.



My friend has passed away a couple of hours ago.

Despite my strong desire to yell “I told you so!!! Why didn’t you listen?” I will actually cherish the memories of how she took me many many years ago - when I was nothing more than a brand new immigrant and not yet a citizen and with not much clue of the land around me - and introduced me to local political and social action, which ultimately led me to look for a job in government, a job that now love and makes me give back what I can to our community.

May she Rest In Peace, sure that upon reaching the pearly gates she engaged in a vivid, yet honest political discussion with St Peter.


----------



## yaxomoxay

My youngest kid, the one still living at home, tested positive for covid today. 

I guess it’s good timing that my wife and I did the booster a week/10 days ago.


----------



## Eric

yaxomoxay said:


> My youngest kid, the one still living at home, tested positive for covid today.
> 
> I guess it’s good timing that my wife and I did the booster a week/10 days ago.



Sorry to hear that, hoping for a speedy recovery.


----------



## yaxomoxay

Eric said:


> Sorry to hear that, hoping for a speedy recovery.



Thanks. I really really got exposed to covid in the last two days, at least 3 people (2 of which for an extended time) plus my son.


----------



## ericwn

yaxomoxay said:


> My friend has passed away a couple of hours ago.
> 
> Despite my strong desire to yell “I told you so!!! Why didn’t you listen?” I will actually cherish the memories of how she took me many many years ago - when I was nothing more than a brand new immigrant and not yet a citizen and with not much clue of the land around me - and introduced me to local political and social action, which ultimately led me to look for a job in government, a job that now love and makes me give back what I can to our community.
> 
> May she Rest In Peace, sure that upon reaching the pearly gates she engaged in a vivid, yet honest political discussion with St Peter.




I am sorry for your loss.


----------



## Eric

yaxomoxay said:


> My friend has passed away a couple of hours ago.
> 
> Despite my strong desire to yell “I told you so!!! Why didn’t you listen?” I will actually cherish the memories of how she took me many many years ago - when I was nothing more than a brand new immigrant and not yet a citizen and with not much clue of the land around me - and introduced me to local political and social action, which ultimately led me to look for a job in government, a job that now love and makes me give back what I can to our community.
> 
> May she Rest In Peace, sure that upon reaching the pearly gates she engaged in a vivid, yet honest political discussion with St Peter.



What a shame, so sorry to hear this.  All we can do is use cases like this to educate anyone on the fence. I know I'm hard on them on this site but in real life when I meet anyone refusing it I just diplomatically and positively encourage, we can't berate people into it. Who knows, you may make a difference to someone and there's no harm in trying.


----------



## Apple fanboy

Back from a busy few days in London. I’ll self isolate from Mrs AFB until the morning, then take a lateral flow test.


----------



## ericwn

Snowed in, both kids with colds, and I somehow also have some home office work to do. 

Well what can you do but make the best of it anyway.


----------



## jonblatho

A bit of a rant, I guess: It strikes me that The Other Place disabled comments on an article about Apple’s homepage update to commemorate the holiday today. A post that shouldn’t be all that controversial — sure, perhaps some criticism over a megacorporation hawking justice — gets the “too controversial for comments” stamp.

Amazing what years of inconsistent and/or incompetent moderation will do, since who in their right mind doesn’t share King’s ideals? A post like that should, if absolutely nothing else, be an excellent honeypot to ban the most vile forum posters…but no.


----------



## DT

RIP Marvin Lee Aday aka Meatloaf









						R.I.P. Meat Loaf
					

The Bat Out Of Hell singer and Fight Club actor was 74




					www.avclub.com


----------



## DT

DT said:


> RIP Marvin Lee Aday aka Meatloaf
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> R.I.P. Meat Loaf
> 
> 
> The Bat Out Of Hell singer and Fight Club actor was 74
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.avclub.com




Well I now read he was an anti-vaxx, anti-mask, pro-Drumpher, denied climate science ... so I guess YERMV ... Art vs. Artist ... etc.


----------



## lizkat

DT said:


> Well I now read he was an anti-vaxx, anti-mask, pro-Drumpher, denied climate science ... so I guess YERMV ... Art vs. Artist ... etc.




Still...     _Paradise by the Dashboard Light_...


----------



## DT

FFS ...









						Louie Anderson Dies: Comedian & Emmy Winner Was 68
					

Louie Anderson, the veteran comedian, game show host and three-time Emmy winner, has died. He was 68. The Baskets star died Friday morning in Las Vegas, where he had entered hospital this week for …




					deadline.com
				




Also saw this:









						Louie Anderson, Emmy-winning comedian, dies at 68 after battle with cancer
					

Louie Anderson, whose more than four-decade career as a comedian and actor included his unlikely, Emmy-winning performance as a mom to twin adult sons in the...




					www.marketwatch.com
				






> Anderson died at a hospital in Las Vegas of complications from cancer, said Glenn Schwartz, his longtime publicist. Anderson had a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma, Schwartz said previously.




Loved Louie!


----------



## ronntaylor

DT said:


> FFS ...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Louie Anderson Dies: Comedian & Emmy Winner Was 68
> 
> 
> Louie Anderson, the veteran comedian, game show host and three-time Emmy winner, has died. He was 68. The Baskets star died Friday morning in Las Vegas, where he had entered hospital this week for …
> 
> 
> 
> 
> deadline.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also saw this:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Louie Anderson, Emmy-winning comedian, dies at 68 after battle with cancer
> 
> 
> Louie Anderson, whose more than four-decade career as a comedian and actor included his unlikely, Emmy-winning performance as a mom to twin adult sons in the...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.marketwatch.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Loved Louie!



Always liked Louie. A true friend of many other comedians. Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall told the hilarious story of having to have a "token" white character in "Coming to America" in order for it to be made. Louie was an instant choice because he was so likable.


----------



## ericwn

jonblatho said:


> A bit of a rant, I guess: It strikes me that The Other Place disabled comments on an article about Apple’s homepage update to commemorate the holiday today. A post that shouldn’t be all that controversial — sure, perhaps some criticism over a megacorporation hawking justice — gets the “too controversial for comments” stamp.
> 
> Amazing what years of inconsistent and/or incompetent moderation will do, since who in their right mind doesn’t share King’s ideals? A post like that should, if absolutely nothing else, be an excellent honeypot to ban the most vile forum posters…but no.




Yup kinda sad when folks can’t even agree to his ideals.


----------



## ericwn

lizkat said:


> Still... _Paradise by the Dashboard Light_...




I want to add “Life is a lemon and I want my money back “.


----------



## ronntaylor

DT said:


> Well I now read he was an anti-vaxx, anti-mask, pro-Drumpher, denied climate science ... so I guess YERMV ... Art vs. Artist ... etc.



https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1484665770969747456/


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Blood oranges are on my mind.


----------



## Ulenspiegel

If you were born to be cool, it starts at this age:


----------



## DT

Listening is a such lost art.

People are just waiting to talk, and when they do, it's often not even a response to the conversation, they're in their own head .  Seriously, I've been pretty effective in life and business by shutting the fuck up, listening intently, giving the other person/people some cues that I'm engaged, and when I speak, giving the communication some room to breath.

It's just astounding.  I'm experiencing it right now.


----------



## JamesMike

Just returned from my trip to Europe and the thing I noticed the most is the outspokenness against Russia that wasn’t present in previous trips. I wonder why?! It is good to be back with the critters, they are happy to see me, I have the key to the treat jars!


----------



## lizkat

On my mind lately, ya know when people suggest that you just do this, that and the other "and Bob's yer uncle"  -- in trying to convince you that getting something done is simple or easy?

Well what keeps running through my mind now,  whenever someone says that,  is a completely unrelated but perfect line from the movie Syriana:    "...   rumors of Bob, but never Bob..."


----------



## Deleted member 215

I love it when jaywalkers get angry because I don’t stop for them. It’s like, you’re breaking the law you piece of shit, I’m under no obligation to let you cross.


----------



## DT

TBL said:


> I love it when jaywalkers get angry because I don’t stop for them. It’s like, you’re breaking the law you piece of shit, I’m under no obligation to let you cross.




Hahaha, I love when someone thinks their "coolness defense shield" will save them from my 4000 lb vehicle, as they shuffle slowly across the street in front me.  The laws of physics vehemently disagree


----------



## Apple fanboy

DT said:


> Hahaha, I love when someone thinks their "coolness defense shield" will save them from my 4000 lb vehicle, as they shuffle slowly across the street in front me.  The laws of physics vehemently disagree



I find a good blast on the horn and windscreen washers does the trick.


----------



## lizkat

I was cured forever of jaywalking one night in NYC,  and not because of a moving vehicle. 

While facing the last bit of walking towards winter winds off the Hudson River,  I started at the avenue's crosswalk but then angled across so I'd sooner get the building I lived in between me and that bitter blast of wind.

Unfortunately that put me at just about between two illegally parked cars in front of my building.  Instead of going alongside them back to the corner,  and then using the sidewalk to the building entrance,   I found it convenient to step between the two cars, so I did that.

The heat of my takeout Chinese food set off the alarm on one of the cars.

It was one of those very fancy car alarms that had about six different tones and blasts all meant to try to get through typical New Yorkers' blasé attitude towards street noise in general. 

Doormen and porters of four buildings (two each on either side of the avenue) came rushing out,  with two of the porters brandishing baseball bats and all four of them screaming threats.   Jesus Christ!   I thought I was going to die in a hail of bullets or else get beaten to death.

Anyway I have never jaywalked since then,  even on a traffic-free block with no parked cars in sight.


----------



## SuperMatt

TBL said:


> I love it when jaywalkers get angry because I don’t stop for them. It’s like, you’re breaking the law you piece of shit, I’m under no obligation to let you cross.



Cleaning the blood off the hood of the car afterwards is a pain too.


----------



## Renzatic

SuperMatt said:


> Cleaning the blood off the hood of the car afterwards is a pain too.




It's really not that hard.


----------



## Huntn

TBL said:


> I love it when jaywalkers get angry because I don’t stop for them. It’s like, you’re breaking the law you piece of shit, I’m under no obligation to let you cross.



Accept if you hit them, all bets are off. Peds usually have the advantage when hit by a car.


----------



## lizkat

On my mind today (in the first-world problem category):  the weird and apparently spotty shortage of saltine crackers in some USA supermarket chains.   Some say it's because of the overhang of the strike last year at Mondelez Foods (but still??) others say a flour shortage, still others say just a typical supply chain glitch.



Today where my Instacart shopper was, they didn't even have substitutes like Ritz Crackers or Town House.   She texted a photo of the empty shelves next to some sorry alternatives to soup crackers.... I said no thanks to those,  and so it's back to using croutons.  At least there was no shortage of decent bread to toast up for that purpose,  so I got an extra loaf of that.


----------



## Citysnaps

Hunter Biden and where that might go. And the potential consequences.


----------



## Hrafn

lizkat said:


> On my mind today (in the first-world problem category):  the weird and apparently spotty shortage of saltine crackers in some USA supermarket chains.   Some say it's because of the overhang of the strike last year at Mondelez Foods (but still??) others say a flour shortage, still others say just a typical supply chain glitch.
> 
> View attachment 12793
> 
> Today where my Instacart shopper was, they didn't even have substitutes like Ritz Crackers or Town House.   She texted a photo of the empty shelves next to some sorry alternatives to soup crackers.... I said no thanks to those,  and so it's back to using croutons.  At least there was no shortage of decent bread to toast up for that purpose,  so I got an extra loaf of that.



I was in a grocery store today.  It's odd how things will be available or not.  I don't think I have seen a real pattern anywhere.  A few months ago, our grocery had no staples: rice, beans etc in bags, but multiples in cans and pouches.  Today the asian section was pretty sparse (I was looking for low sodium Tamari sauce), but it's been full in weeks past.


----------



## yaxomoxay

people, it’s Time to buy MRE’s. It seems that every 3 months we have an international crisis that caused food shortage.


----------



## Alli

yaxomoxay said:


> people, it’s Time to buy MRI’s. It seems that every 3 months we have an international crisis that caused food shortage.



I still have 2 cases of MREs left from Katrina.


----------



## SuperMatt

Alli said:


> I still have 2 cases of MREs left from Katrina.



Is Yaxo advertising for you to sell them?


----------



## lizkat

yaxomoxay said:


> people, it’s Time to buy MRE’s. It seems that every 3 months we have an international crisis that caused food shortage.




Late last year it was ordinary brands of whole coffee beans that seemed in short supply, but that may have been related to people reading about a freeze in Brazil that had threatened future harvests.

Other shortages now in grocery stores may be more about the economic angles.  Supermarket profit margins are notoriously thin and the retailers sometimes delay payments past what suppliers will put up with.  The megacorporate food distributors are notorious for trying to hike prices, so negotiations can end up at a stalemate for awhile.   Everyone's labor costs have also gone up, and  it takes awhile for bigger wages to end up as consumer $$ being spent locally, etc.   

All that can add up to wrangles between suppliers and retailers, and so to gaps on the store shelves.  Throw in the shortage of truck drivers,  the delays at seaports of containership processing, the little-known-about hassles for truckers like 10-ton weight limits on some county roads during late winter and early spring...   and then there are the burned-out clerks trying to keep a higher-wage job when the store has fired a couple clerks just to keep payroll costs even.    It's a wonder more shelves aren't empty more often!

Yesterday the shelves at my market were also out of 5-lb bags of white rice and the Instacart shopper had just suggested the 25-pound one instead (!! no way!!)  when some harried-looking clerk turned up with a whole raft of 5-pound ones to stock back on the shelves.  I was happy to see the smaller ones show up in timely fashion.  Even 5 lbs of white rice lasts me a long time as I prefer to buy 2-lb bags of brown rice but have to keep those in the freezer. 

I have a feeling that people may tend to double up when they have encountered shortages,  and then  finally connect with what they were looking for.   I have to resist that impulse myself.   I know I'm going to be tempted to get 2 boxes of saltines whenever they finally show up again locally.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

My aunt.

Today, - April 1st - I received word that the very last relative of my parents' generation - my formidable, 97 year old (almost 98, and still sharp as a tack) aunt - my father's older sister, who adored him, the person who was the matriarch of a vast family, - had died late last night, (just before midnight, March, 31) more or less lucid until the end.

She had continued to work (as a postmistress in the more than 200 year old house where she - and, for that matter, my father - had been born), until she retired at the grand old age of, yes, 83, and then, only with considerable reluctance.

So, life and death - among other things - are on my mind.

Tonight, my brother, (referred to as Decent Brother on a number of fora), remarked that he had always loved visiting that house, - savouring the sense of many lives lived, and the fact that he was able to feel a connection with his own roots, (I will freely admit to similar thoughts) the house my aunt left for the last time last week, when, laid low by a bout of pneumonia, she was admitted to hospital, something she would have hated, for she detested hospitals.

She adored my father (her baby brother) who loved her in turn; a relationship not unlike mine with Decent Brother. Indeed, she loved Decent Brother, for I think that he reminded her of my father.

She was a fully qualified music teacher (and gifted musician, some of my father's family - including my father - had music in the soul) who ended up succeeding her own mother, my grandmother, as postmistress, in a house where members of my extended family have lived for more than a century.

And, with her own salary to call upon, she was able to finance foreign holidays (disliked and intensely disapproved of, by her conservative husband, who never travelled, but hugely encouraged by both of my parents, who cheered her on), where she would head off (by herself, or in company with a congenial group, but never accompanied by her husband) to places such as Vienna (she loved Salzburg and Mozart) and Paris, and Italy, for opera, on short breaks - rarely more than a week, usually less, but undertaken regularly - for music and culture, which thrilled and delighted her, and which she regarded as sanity saving and soul preserving.

And would then return to her 200 year old plus house, her job as a postmistress in a village, (now a dormitory village for the nearby city) and her intelligent, conservative, somewhat suffocating, handsome, but uncomprehending and traditional husband - "Spartan", my brother remarked this evening, "but, I loved it."

My parents were horrified by the house, for they loved the conveniences of the modern world, - they had both known what it was like to grow up in and live in a spacious old house (my mother used to mock my adoration of sash windows) without electricity, warmth unless a fire had been set hours earlier, or the joys of modern plumbing, and both hated it - and this lovely, but ancient, house was tardy in discovering the advantages that the modern world might offer to older houses; "sell it," my father urged.

The location is amazing, and the house directly across the road has a lintel with the date 1799 inscribed. My aunt used to reply, "I was born here, and I'll die here." And she very nearly did.

Less than a year after my father's death in 2005 there was a robbery (armed robbery) at the post office (not the first).

My uncle, then still alive, well into his eighties, polite, still handsome, dignified and dressed in an impeccable (tailored) three piece suit, pressed shirt, knotted tie, calmly and clearly - articulate and eloquent - described in impeccable detail the raid - in what was his home (he had married into my aunt's family) to the police to their stunned amazement. 

Apparently, he had rushed into the post office - from the adjoining living room - this is a house where the walls are about three feet thick - so, the internal door from the living room to the post office was almost like a small hallway - to try to defend his wife. They (the police) were expecting to speak with a gibbering wreck, for this was a man, an elderly man, who was suffering from the cancer that claimed him a year later.

Meanwhile, my aunt, then aged 82, rose for work the next day, before 7 am in the morning, ready to open the post office for business as usual, - people in the village needed these services, especially the elderly not all of whom were computer literate, or had children who lived online; the smashed glass of the broken sash windows swept away, the post office opened the day following the armed robbery - precisely on time, - I remember the loud sound of the "tock tock" of the second hand on the large, clear, extremely legible, ancient (but very accurate), classic clock in the post office - as was insisted on by my formidable aunt.

The young police officer that the police had detailed to stay with my aunt and uncle overnight (lest they were traumatised) was stupefied. He phoned my cousin (my favourite cousin, whose daughter is autistic, @Apple fanboy, will know of him; he is their youngest child and youngest son) to express concern, wondering whether this determined detachment was an expression of, or a case of, delayed shock.

My cousin laughed: Nah, this is normal. Don't worry. The day she doesn't want to get up - classical music on the radio in the background - is the day we need to worry.

And, last night, that came to pass. Decent Brother had said to me (when he phoned earlier in the week to let me know that she was in hospital, and wasn't expected to "come home") - "you know, when she realises that she can't return to the house she loved, she will just say, "I've had enough, time to move on"".

And that, I believe, is what she has done.


----------



## Apple fanboy

Scepticalscribe said:


> My aunt.
> 
> Today, - April 1st - I received word that the very last relative of my parents' generation - my formidable, 97 year old (almost 98, and still sharp as a tack) aunt - my father's older sister, who adored him, the person who was the matriarch of a vast family, - had died late last night, (just before midnight, March, 31) more or less lucid until the end.
> 
> She had continued to work (as a postmistress in the more than 200 year old house where she - and, for that matter, my father - had been born), until she retired at the grand old age of, yes, 83, and then, only with considerable reluctance.
> 
> So, life and death - among other things - are on my mind.
> 
> Tonight, my brother, (referred to as Decent Brother on a number of fora), remarked that he had always loved visiting that house, - savouring the sense of many lives lived, and the fact that he was able to feel a connection with his own roots, (I will freely admit to similar thoughts) the house my aunt left for the last time last week, when, laid low by a bout of pneumonia, she was admitted to hospital, something she would have hated, for she detested hospitals.
> 
> She adored my father (her baby brother) who loved her in turn; a relationship not unlike mine with Decent Brother. Indeed, she loved Decent Brother, for I think that he reminded her of my father.
> 
> She was a fully qualified music teacher (and gifted musician, some of my father's family - including my father - had music in the soul) who ended up succeeding her own mother, my grandmother, as postmistress, in a house where members of my extended family have lived for more than a century.
> 
> And, with her own salary to call upon, she was able to finance foreign holidays (disliked and intensely disapproved of, by her conservative husband, who never travelled, but hugely encouraged by both of my parents, who cheered her on), where she would head off (by herself, or in company with a congenial group, but never accompanied by her husband) to places such as Vienna (she loved Salzburg and Mozart) and Paris, and Italy, for opera, on short breaks - rarely more than a week, usually less, but undertaken regularly - for music and culture, which thrilled and delighted her, and which she regarded as sanity saving and soul preserving.
> 
> And would then return to her 200 year old plus house, her job as a postmistress in a village, (now a dormitory village for the nearby city) and her intelligent, conservative, somewhat suffocating, handsome, but uncomprehending and traditional husband - "Spartan", my brother remarked this evening, "but, I loved it."
> 
> My parents were horrified by the house, for they loved the conveniences of the modern world, - they had both known what it was like to grow up in and live in a spacious old house (my mother used to mock my adoration of sash windows) without electricity, warmth unless a fire had been set hours earlier, or the joys of modern plumbing, and both hated it - and this lovely, but ancient, house was tardy in discovering the advantages that the modern world might offer to older houses; "sell it," my father urged.
> 
> The location is amazing, and the house directly across the road has a lintel with the date 1799 inscribed. My aunt used to reply, "I was born here, and I'll die here." And she very nearly did.
> 
> Less than a year after my father's death in 2005 there was a robbery (armed robbery) at the post office (not the first).
> 
> My uncle, then still alive, well into his eighties, polite, still handsome, dignified and dressed in an impeccable (tailored) three piece suit, pressed shirt, knotted tie, calmly and clearly - articulate and eloquent - described in impeccable detail the raid - in what was his home (he had married into my aunt's family) to the police to their stunned amazement.
> 
> Apparently, he had rushed into the post office - from the adjoining living room - this is a house where the walls are about three feet thick - so, the internal door from the living room to the post office was almost like a small hallway - to try to defend his wife. They (the police) were expecting to speak with a gibbering wreck, for this was a man, an elderly man, who was suffering from the cancer that claimed him a year later.
> 
> Meanwhile, my aunt, then aged 82, rose for work the next day, before 7 am in the morning, ready to open the post office for business as usual, - people in the village needed these services, especially the elderly not all of whom were computer literate, or had children who lived online; the smashed glass of the broken sash windows swept away, the post office opened the day following the armed robbery - precisely on time, - I remember the loud sound of the "tock tock" of the second hand on the large, clear, extremely legible, ancient (but very accurate), classic clock in the post office - as was insisted on by my formidable aunt.
> 
> The young police officer that the police had detailed to stay with my aunt and uncle overnight (lest they were traumatised) was stupefied. He phoned my cousin (my favourite cousin, whose daughter is autistic, @Apple fanboy, will know of him; he is their youngest child and youngest son) to express concern, wondering whether this determined detachment was an expression of, or a case of, delayed shock.
> 
> My cousin laughed: Nah, this is normal. Don't worry. The day she doesn't want to get up - classical music on the radio in the background - is the day we need to worry.
> 
> And, last night, that came to pass. Decent Brother had said to me (when he phoned earlier in the week to let me know that she was in hospital, and wasn't expected to "come home") - "you know, when she realises that she can't return to the house she loved, she will just say, "I've had enough, time to move on"".
> 
> And that, I believe, is what she has done.



My condolences. Your Aunt sounds like she was a wonderful women. Not just from this story, but from others you have shared over the years. 
I’m sorry she wasn’t able to pass in her own family home.


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Apple fanboy said:


> My condolences. Your Aunt sounds like she was a wonderful women. Not just from this story, but from others you have shared over the years.
> I’m sorry she wasn’t able to pass in her own family home.



Apparently, her children plan to bring her home for a private "wake", and she will spend a final day and night under her own roof, - a day before the funeral - which I think very fitting.


----------



## Clix Pix

SS, I am so sorry to hear of your aunt's passing.  From the way you've described her over the years she sounds as though she was indomitable, determined, feisty, and fun!  I'll bet she was really interesting to sit with and have an afternoon's tea and chat.....   She lived to a good age -- sadly, that amazing  generation is leaving us and the world is all the poorer for it.  

The private wake and a final day and night under her own roof sounds very much like something she would greatly appreciate.


----------



## Edd

I’m having lunch at a restaurant sitting at the bar. A couple with a kid like 15 years old just sat at the bar. They told the bartender they’re all gluten free and the father ordered a water with no ice. They seem really fun and cool.


----------



## Cmaier

Edd said:


> I’m having lunch at a restaurant sitting at the bar. A couple with a kid like 15 years old just sat at the bar. They told the bartender they’re all gluten free and the father ordered a water with no ice. They seem really fun and cool.



I know those guys.


----------



## DT

This is apparently amazing, and one of the "next big things" on Broadway (it's been off to date):





_The musical is about Usher, coincidentally named the same as his day-job as an usher for The Lion King on Broadway, a fat, Black, gay writer who tries to navigate the heteronormative white world. He is backed by a six-person all-black-queer ensemble who voice his inner thoughts as he begrudgingly ghost writes a new Tyler Perry stage play._

It's in previews starting April 6th, and we __just__ scored tickets through an AMEX invite, 1/2 price, special reserved seats (center/corner mezzanine), pretty excited, this fills our 3rd night of shows this upcoming trip


----------



## DT

Edd said:


> I’m having lunch at a restaurant sitting at the bar. A couple with a kid like 15 years old just sat at the bar. They told the bartender they’re all gluten free and the father ordered a water with no ice. They seem really fun and cool.




Yeah, you know, I get that for whatever reason some people don't drink (whether it's in the specific circumstance or in general), and sure, maybe there are a few folks who have a legit gluten issue - but goddam, there are just some joyless people in the world, and you wonder why they even bother to do X/Y/Z.

We were in NYC around Christmas, we had a late lunch at this amazing cafe, everything is big, and greasy, and covered in gravy, and they had a ton of draft beer options (and a full bar), they make these killer open faced sandwiches, all sort of french fry variants, they service breakfast all day and have an out of this world Eggs Benedict.  We get a little of everything, some delicious local drafts, we have savory, sweet, gravy, cheese, some grits, fried everything - and sure it's not very healthy, but this place is a moment to live.

Some family behind us gets salads without dressing, fruit cups and water.   They sat there, eating in silence, with their overblown handbags and whatnot, sad, starring off into the ether.  We had a __blast__, our servers enjoyed us (we even scored from freebies), they rolled their eyes at the sad table - I don't get it.


----------



## lizkat

DT said:


> you wonder why they even bother to do X/Y/Z.




Well we generally have no particular insights into strangers' lives when our paths intersect in public.

Maybe somebody had just died and they were on their way to the funeral.  Still gotta make a pit stop now and then, get a little something to eat...    I mean stopping into a bar or a restaurant is not at all the same thing as accepting an invitation to a wild party while knowing one is not the wild party type.


----------



## Alli

Scepticalscribe said:


> And that, I believe, is what she has done.



I'm sorry for your loss. When it's time, we go.


----------



## DT

lizkat said:


> Well we generally have no particular insights into strangers' lives when our paths intersect in public.
> 
> Maybe somebody had just died and they were on their way to the funeral.  Still gotta make a pit stop now and then, get a little something to eat...    I mean stopping into a bar or a restaurant is not at all the same thing as accepting an invitation to a wild party while knowing one is not the wild party type.




True, I hate to assume ... but that wasn't the case, they were just hanging out in the city (and this would've been an odd place to go on the way to a funeral).

We actually wound up leaving about the same time they did (though they showed up like 20-25 minutes after we were seated), they walked around the corner,  and the one younger girl wanted to go into the same store as our little G (it was an Asian/K-pop type place), the parents and other daughter stayed outside on their phones, we all went in as a family and took fun pics and bought some stuff 

We've seen the same thing at theme parks, that are certainly a destination for fun.  Some people are just joyless, even when they're doing something that supposed to be an exciting/fun/joyful/silly experience. *shrug*


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Clix Pix said:


> SS, I am so sorry to hear of your aunt's passing.  From the way you've described her over the years she sounds as though she was indomitable, determined, feisty, and fun!  I'll bet she was really interesting to sit with and have an afternoon's tea and chat.....   She lived to a good age -- sadly, that amazing  generation is leaving us and the world is all the poorer for it.
> 
> The private wake and a final day and night under her own roof sounds very much like something she would greatly appreciate.



I think that she would have loved it, - it is a wonderful idea - and I think, too, that her children will derive enormous joy, pleasure, - and comfort, from this.

And yes, you are absolutely right: She was really interesting to sit and chat with, (yes, over tea, although she drank coffee when she used to meet my father, while he lived, while she still worked, most weeks, she would take a few hours out, one set morning each week, and would have arranged to meet him for coffee and a chat) and was terrific company, with an acerbic wit, strong opinions, (on matters such as politics and religion and much else), and an excellent sense of humour (and well able to laugh at herself, which she enjoyed). 

Her mind remained razor sharp until the end, while her memory was absolutely extraordinary.  And her self-discipline - even when she retired - was simply fantastic - one of my cousins told me today (for we discussed music) that, in recent years, she had taken to practising - the musical equivalent of warming up - she had circulation problems - for half an hour daily, on her treasured piano, and then proceeding to actually play several of the pieces that she loved.


----------



## ronntaylor

Scepticalscribe said:


> So, life and death - among other things - are on my mind.



Sincere condolences to you and yours


----------



## DT

Set up for our 2nd booster tomorrow, and then some beach side eats


----------



## shadow puppet

DT said:


> Set up for our 2nd booster tomorrow, and then some beach side eats



Getting my 2nd booster tomorrow too!


----------



## DT

shadow puppet said:


> Getting my 2nd booster tomorrow too!




Excellent!  I thought CDC clearance was still in process, but the wife got them scheduled at CVS without any issues.  Just her and I, the little G had her 2 and her booster (and she's not in the recommended age group).  We're headed up to NYC in a couple of weeks, so travel creates some additional exposure concern, figured it was extra important (we're flying while the mask mandate is still active).


----------



## DT

Speaking of flying to NYC, holy shit, we scored a killer deal flying out of a local regional airport.  JAX is about an hour plus 15-20 minutes of parking/walking - and we often fly out of MCO and combine that with a Universal stay-over that's around 2 hours and closer to 20-25 just to get into the airport.

This is 7 miles away and one flight coming and going


----------



## Alli

DT said:


> Set up for our 2nd booster tomorrow, and then some beach side eats



That’s on our agenda for this week as well. I figure we’ll just wander into CVS and ask for a booster.


DT said:


> Speaking of flying to NYC, holy shit, we scored a killer deal flying out of a local regional airport.  JAX is about an hour plus 15-20 minutes of parking/walking - and we often fly out of MCO and combine that with a Universal stay-over that's around 2 hours and closer to 20-25 just to get into the airport.
> 
> This is 7 miles away and one flight coming and going



So which one did you fly out of, and what was the deal? Since my son still lives in NY, I could use a deal to go visit him!


----------



## DT

Alli said:


> That’s on our agenda for this week as well. I figure we’ll just wander into CVS and ask for a booster.
> 
> So which one did you fly out of, and what was the deal? Since my son still lives in NY, I could use a deal to go visit him!




Yeah, we probably didn't even need an appointment.  That's where we're doing ours, at CVS!

It's Elite out of St. Augustine, which is officially Northeast Florida Regional Airport









						Northeast Florida Regional Airport
					

Northeast Florida Regional Airport is located just a few miles from historic downtown St. Augustine and serves as a focal point for the Northeast Florida region.




					www.flynf.com
				





It's right across the intracoastal, we could boat over and it's about 2 miles away


----------



## Deleted member 215

Pro-tip: If you don't know how to use "whom" properly, just don't use it. Using "who" where "whom" is technically correct is less of an error than using "whom" where "who" is appropriate.


----------



## Renzatic

TBL said:


> Pro-tip: If you don't know how to use "whom" properly, just don't use it. Using "who" where "whom" is technically correct is less of an error than using "whom" where "who" is appropriate.




To whom what beist thou, anon?


----------



## SuperMatt

Renzatic said:


> To whom what beist thou, anon?



Whom dat?


----------



## Huntn

TBL said:


> Pro-tip: If you don't know how to use "whom" properly, just don't use it. Using "who" where "whom" is technically correct is less of an error than using "whom" where "who" is appropriate.



Not making excuses, but few if any pros here, formal writing and speech is mostly dead. 









						Who vs Whom: What's the Difference? [Simple Explanation & Video!]
					

До сих пор многие, кто изучает английский язык путают, когда нужно использовать who и whom в английском языке. Согласно правилам грамматики, who должно использоваться в субъектной позиции в предложении, а whom следует использовать в положении объекта, а также после предлога. Статья в...




					preply.com
				



_9 times out of 10, you can actually get away with using who and whom interchangeably. Whom is not used frequently in modern conversational English, but it is used in formal writing and speech._


----------



## Renzatic

SuperMatt said:


> Whom dat?




To whom whilst thou what now?


----------



## Hrafn

Renzatic said:


> To whom whilst thou what now?



Whilst willing the whom in the womb American women are in the tomb...


----------



## Deleted member 215

Frustrating situation at work re. pay.

Basically, I got paid twice last pay period because they sent me a physical check that had the incorrect amount, but I deposited it before I received the email saying "DON'T DEPOSIT", so they sent me an ACH with the correct amount, so I had twice the normal amount in my account. They told me they'd sent out a "stop payment" for the check before I deposited it, but it didn't seem to have gone through because the money was in my account and it was a few days after they attempted to stop the payment. So they told me I should write them a check in the amount of the erroneous check, which I did two days ago. The check cleared yesterday morning and the extra amount was gone from my account. I thought that was it. Then I get an email this morning from my bank saying the "stop payment" went through and the amount of the original incorrect paycheck was removed from my account. So now my employer owes me the amount of the check I sent them!!!!! 

This email chain has been going on for a week now


----------



## Apple fanboy

TBL said:


> Frustrating situation at work re. pay.
> 
> Basically, I got paid twice last pay period because they sent me a physical check that had the incorrect amount, but I deposited it before I received the email saying "DON'T DEPOSIT", so they sent me an ACH with the correct amount, so I had twice the normal amount in my account. They told me they'd sent out a "stop payment" for the check before I deposited it, but it didn't seem to have gone through because the money was in my account and it was a few days after they attempted to stop the payment. So they told me I should write them a check in the amount of the erroneous check, which I did two days ago. The check cleared yesterday morning and the extra amount was gone from my account. I thought that was it. Then I get an email this morning from my bank saying the "stop payment" went through and the amount of the original incorrect paycheck was removed from my account. So now my employer owes me the amount of the check I sent them!!!!!
> 
> This email chain has been going on for a week now



A physical cheque? Where do you work? 1992? Hope it gets sorted. If not you need to send a strong worded fax to the head of finance. Alternatively page the MD to discuss!


----------



## Scepticalscribe

TBL said:


> Frustrating situation at work re. pay.
> 
> Basically, I got paid twice last pay period because they sent me a physical check that had the incorrect amount, but I deposited it before I received the email saying "DON'T DEPOSIT", so they sent me an ACH with the correct amount, so I had twice the normal amount in my account. They told me they'd sent out a "stop payment" for the check before I deposited it, but it didn't seem to have gone through because the money was in my account and it was a few days after they attempted to stop the payment. So they told me I should write them a check in the amount of the erroneous check, which I did two days ago. The check cleared yesterday morning and the extra amount was gone from my account. I thought that was it. Then I get an email this morning from my bank saying the "stop payment" went through and the amount of the original incorrect paycheck was removed from my account. So now my employer owes me the amount of the check I sent them!!!!!
> 
> This email chain has been going on for a week now






Apple fanboy said:


> A physical cheque? Where do you work? 1992? Hope it gets sorted. If not you need to send a strong worded fax to the head of finance. Alternatively page the MD to discuss!



I'm with with @Apple fanboy:

A physical cheque?  

Wow.  Seriously?

My mother used them extensively in the 1980s and 1990s; however, I haven't written one in around twenty years....


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Two things are on my mind, just now.

The first is the carer: The lady she has been caring for, looking after, for the best part of the past two years, died around a fortnight ago (the carer called by this week to pick up some post, and let me know).

Yes, she will be seeking fresh employment, - that brings its own challenges, but, she is so good (and will receive superb references, not least from me), that this will not be (or should not be) a problem, but, just imagine a world where your work means that you get to form exceptionally close bonds, and ties, (as she does, and did) with the people you care for so wonderfully, with such care and competence and compassion, and then, they (inevitably) die, again and again.

And my left heel; today (and yesterday), it is excruciatingly painful when I walk.


----------



## Apple fanboy

Scepticalscribe said:


> Two things are on my mind, just now.
> 
> The first is the carer: The lady she has been caring for, looking after, for the best part of the past two years, died around a fortnight ago (the carer called by this week to pick up some post, and let me know).
> 
> Yes, she will be seeking fresh employment, - that brings its own challenges, but, she is so good (and will receive superb references, not east from me), that this will not be (or should not be) a problem, but, just imagine a world where your work means that you get to form exceptionally close ties (as she does, and did) with the people you care for so wonderfully, with such care and competence and compassion, and then, they (inevitably) die, again and again.
> 
> And my left heel; today (and yesterday), it is excruciatingly painful when I walk.



What did you do to your ankle?


----------



## Deleted member 215

Something about my position changing recently caused them to send me physical checks for a couple weeks instead of a direct deposit. Definitely felt old-timey. I've never had a physical paycheck otherwise. In either case, they said they will deposit me the money I sent them, so should be solved now.

I’m glad my parents showed me how to write a check, otherwise I wouldn’t have known. I had to dust off my checkbook that I got years ago when I got the account. Lol


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Apple fanboy said:


> What did you do to your ankle?



My heel, not my ankle.

Actually, I don't quite know what I did (other than walk to the local shops in the suburb, around 15 minutes away on foot, yesterday, to buy some beer, (and crisps) and to pay a few bills).

But, that is not quite true, as it was also somewhat sore (but, not, unlike this morning, utterly excruciating - this morning, the first few steps on getting out of bed were pure agony, as were the first steps on an earlier nocturnal visit to the House of A Thousand Pleasures), the previous day as well, when I had trotted to the nearest local shop for my (organic) milk which they usually keep for me each week.

A spot of online research (dear God, the internet, hypochondriacs - and I am not one, if anything, I'm almost the opposite - must revel in it) suggests that it might be something along the lines of plantar fasciitis; certainly, the symptoms I have seem to match those described


----------



## Apple fanboy

Scepticalscribe said:


> My heel, not my ankle.
> 
> Actually, I don't quite know what I did (other than walk to the local shops in the suburb, around 15 minutes away, yesterday to buy some beer, and to pay bills).
> 
> But, that is not quite true, as it was also somewhat sore (but, not excruciating - this morning, the first few steps on getting out of bed were agony, as were the first steps on an earlier nocturnal visit to the House of A Thousand Pleasures) the previous day as well when I trotted to the nearest local shop for milk.
> 
> A spot of online research (dear God, the internet, hypochondriacs - and I am not one, if anything, I'm almost the opposite - must revel in it) suggests that it might be something along the lines of plantar fasciitis; certainly, the symptoms I have seem to match those described



I’ve had that in the past and it can be quite painful. There are a series of stretches that can really help. But usually that’s the underside of your foot no?


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Apple fanboy said:


> I’ve had that in the past and it can be quite painful. There are a series of stretches that can really help. But usually that’s the underside of your foot no?




Yes, "quite painful" sounds about right, (actually, excruciating, last night, and agonising, this morning, once I left my bed, in fact, I was *hobbling* to the bathroom, rather than simply limping, and wondered whether I would even manage to get to the farmers' market); and yes, the pain can be found on the "near" underside of my left heel.

Now, - after a brief afternoon nap, with raised feet, it is still quite sore, but no longer absolutely agonising.


----------



## DT

TBL said:


> Something about my position changing recently caused them to send me physical checks for a couple weeks instead of a direct deposit. Definitely felt old-timey. I've never had a physical paycheck otherwise. In either case, they said they will deposit me the money I sent them, so should be solved now.
> 
> I’m glad my parents showed me how to write a check, otherwise I wouldn’t have known. I had to dust off my checkbook that I got years ago when I got the account. Lol




Checks make me chuckle, we very rarely write one, usually it's to some service provider like the folks who did some tree work for us recently, hahahaha, it was a struggle locating a check and determining how to write it  

We have a state client that sends a physical check (recurring 3-month payment), we scan it into our biz account with a phone, takes like 30 seconds.  I did a side gig as a contractor for a client who is also an employer (if that sounds confusing, it is ... ), wasn't setup with a way to pay other than a check, which they also FedEx'ed priority/overnight, the amazing gyrations just to pay, it was fine, again, app based scan and deposit, done.  Well, the first payment actually hit a deposit max limit and required a bank visit, now talk about stepping back a couple of decades into the past, people waiting in line to deposit checks or take out money, WTF, hahaha ...


----------



## ronntaylor

TBL said:


> Something about my position changing recently caused them to send me physical checks for a couple weeks instead of a direct deposit. Definitely felt old-timey. I've never had a physical paycheck otherwise. In either case, they said they will deposit me the money I sent them, so should be solved now.
> 
> I’m glad my parents showed me how to write a check, otherwise I wouldn’t have known. I had to dust off my checkbook that I got years ago when I got the account. Lol



When I worked for Barnes & Noble (the original store), their systems were ancient and they would *fax* over payroll. A few times the fax didn't go through properly and they had to send folk paper checks at the last minute. Hated dealing with that as I got direct deposit first time I heard about it and insisted on it at previous employers.

The elderly couple that I assist sends me checks as reimbursement as that's the only way they know (I've gotten Beats from the Apple store, groceries when I was in their nabe, and set up accounts for them online). I often order things for them on their Amazon account and they don't trust electronic payments. I tried telling them if you can buy electronically, you should have no trouble paying others electronically. They get frazzled with so many scam calls about their Amazon account and always call me thinking I must have done something wrong. I gave up trying to convince them otherwise. They're in their mid to later 80s. I'll take the damn check and will e-deposit when I remember.


----------



## Apple fanboy

When I started work I’d get paid in cash. The boss would come round with the brown envelopes and payslips. Then I’d deposit it at the local bar!


----------



## Scepticalscribe

Apple fanboy said:


> When I started work I’d get paid in cash. The boss would come round with the brown envelopes and payslips. Then I’d deposit it at the local bar!




Gosh, yes.

That does bring back memories.

Those were the days.

When I first started work as a teacher in the university - I was also a postgrad - I worked for two different departments (hence, two separate budgets, plus payment for term paper and exam grading came from a third budget), the university had a horrid habit of issuing cheques after bank closing time on a Friday.

And yes, the university bar invariably did the needful, and cashed our cheques, while we had a beer, or two, or three......


----------



## Cmaier

Apple fanboy said:


> When I started work I’d get paid in cash. The boss would come round with the brown envelopes and payslips. Then I’d deposit it at the local bar!



When i started as a teen in the construction industry in nyc, part of my job was to carry brown envelopes full of money to suspicious locations near the Fulton fish market.

Wait, what were we talking about?


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## lizkat

Apple fanboy said:


> When I started work I’d get paid in cash. The boss would come round with the brown envelopes and payslips. Then I’d deposit it at the local bar!



I first worked in inventory maintenance at back of the shop where my dad and his partner ran an industrial heating/cooling contracting outfit.   My job was to sort out the parts the guys dumped from their toolboxes as they returned from job sites and put them where they belonged or toss them into the scrap pile if damaged.

They too paid out in cash with payslips in brown envelopes.  My first pay came with those items plus a note from my dad that $2.47 had been deducted to pay for the neighbor's garage window that I had "caused" to be shattered by making a fat pitch that one of my bothers had hit a home-run ball through on the previous weekend.

So much for the "privilege" of being a daughter of the boss...  and yeah, from the pricetag of that garage window repair,  you can tell it was a long, long time ago.


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## Huntn

NO BUSINESS SEEMS TO WANT TO ANSWER THEIR PHONES ANY MORE! 

Ok, how about most?


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## lizkat

Huntn said:


> NO BUSINESS SEEMS TO WANT TO ANSWER THEIR PHONES ANY MORE!
> 
> Ok, how about most?




They should at least have the decency to offer a callback option,  or failing that,  at least the option to be on hold in silence rather than listen to static-laden elevator music.


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## DT

lizkat said:


> [...] at least the option to be on hold in silence rather than listen to static-laden elevator music.




... or at least offer a genre selection   Press 1 for Metal, Press 2 for Smooth Jazz ...


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## Pumbaa

lizkat said:


> They should at least have the decency to offer a callback option,  or failing that,  at least the option to be on hold in silence rather than listen to static-laden elevator music.



Maybe they just want you to hang up?


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## Deleted member 215

Knowing someone is going to be fired before they are is not pleasant.   (The reason I know is because I do employee scheduling and my boss tells me when someone is leaving; it's just that so far, it's only been people quitting, usually temps finding full-time work somewhere else). But this is a full-time employee who's been here a year--someone I'm on friendly terms with. So talking to her today like everything was normal knowing what I know was so awkward and uncomfortable. I need a break from work...


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## lizkat

TBL said:


> Knowing someone is going to be fired before they are is not pleasant.   (The reason I know is because I do employee scheduling and my boss tells me when someone is leaving; it's just that so far, it's only been people quitting, usually temps finding full-time work somewhere else). But this is a full-time employee who's been here a year--someone I'm on friendly terms with. So talking to her today like everything was normal knowing what I know was so awkward and uncomfortable. I need a break from work...




I used to hate that sort of thing too.    There was a time it was part of my gig to revoke infotech-related access when someone was leaving,  and the protocol was to make it happen while the exit interview was occurring.  It was not a hassle personally when the situation was like a departing consultant group or a temp clerk at end of contract,   but for an in-house employee of some longer term employment,  it could feel really awkward when it was obvious the separation was involuntary.


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## ronntaylor

TBL said:


> Knowing someone is going to be fired before they are is not pleasant.   (The reason I know is because I do employee scheduling and my boss tells me when someone is leaving; it's just that so far, it's only been people quitting, usually temps finding full-time work somewhere else). But this is a full-time employee who's been here a year--someone I'm on friendly terms with. So talking to her today like everything was normal knowing what I know was so awkward and uncomfortable. I need a break from work...



That's a messed thing to do; for the employee *and you*. They should just have the employee informed at the beginning of their shift and have them leave, with payment for the shift.

I worked for Barnes & Noble and for several years they would have managers and supervisors fire temps without notice. It was always F'd up to have people work a shift and inform them as they're punching out at the end of their shift. Especially if they believe they'll be working for 2+ days more. A bunch of us managers revolted and insisted that we be allowed to give exact working days and even inform temps if their expected time was going to be cut short. We'd rather have some temps leave on their own and have other temps (or regular available staff) pick up shifts if temps were upset and didn't show up.

We once had a temp that first wanted to fight her supervisor, then sat down in the middle of a room and bawled her eyes out after being told that she was no longer needed for the remainder of the week.


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## fischersd

Labour guidelines in the US are very different than up here.  We usually give more severance than what's required by law (usually 4 weeks per year).  (partly to keep people from litigating) - though, you don't actually need cause to terminate someone.

I've been in management most of my career.  Worst was outsourcing a department - some of the staff weren't going to the new services company.  Just an awful experience for all involved (and it was completely a BS move by the VP that made it happen).


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## DT

I fortunately have never had to deal much with company/corporate firing practices.  My previous company, I did let a few people go, but it was very clear they were not cutting it (to them as well), so it was pretty expected and we didn't do anything like escort people out of the building.

When that company was acquired, we were rolled into a corporate machine and at some point very early in the process they wanted us to jettison some of our staff, and these were long-timers, because of existing people where they merged us.

I raged up to the P's office, said I would walk, and that the existing people are shitty at their jobs and are massively overpaid.

Hahaha, the existing staff (people there before the merge) got moved into a sort of "special practice" that was eventually shut down by way of offering them positions at other divisions (in a different state).

My company was like a family, you do NOT fuck with my people


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## lizkat

DT said:


> My company was like a family, you do NOT fuck with my people




A rarity any more, I suspect, as far as corporate outfits go.   Workforce so often gets treated as if part of just-in-time inventory schemes and that goes even now when the labor market is tight.  The days of a two-way-street of consideration between employers and employees had long since begun to fade by the 1990s.  But the USA was yet to see the brutality of today's gig jobs.  Even fast food joints back then still had full time employees with regular shifts. 

By ten or so years later, when one of my nieces got a counter slot at a fast food place in the summer before college, they had her calling in on Sunday nights to find out a) how many hours she'd have the following week and b)  when and how long the first two of that week's shifts for her would be.  So she was always max three or four days away from finding out there was no work.  I was thinking about what it would be like for a single mother with two kids to be working that kind of gig...  and at the pay at that point,  probably working multiple similar jobs.


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## DT

Forgot to mention back before the flood (I guess around Genesis 6:17  ) we got a Burrow sofa!

This is one of those modular products, and there are several brands in this marketspace, Joybird, Lovesac, and they're all very interesting.  They tend to be built around sustainable materials, small-ish companies led by smart people, really outstanding construction, clever design elements, insanely good customer service.  This isn't a Swedish brand that comes in a box for DIY assembly, it's really pre-built modular components, with heavy duty locking systems, the ability to change the configuration, size, features.

One thing that drew us to Burrow is they offer a "cat proof" material.  Like they even built this cat scratching simulator and tested the material against 100K scratches   and according to the dozens of incredibly enthusiastic reviews it really works, so there you go, we chose our style, size, features, material, color, legs.  The olefin fabric is super stain resistant, uses some deep dying process, you can actually use ++bleach++ on it.

And using my mediocre super power, I managed to find a really good coupon (I think it was 20%, and they always offer free shipping).

It arrived sooner than expected, the Sun before Ian hit (that Thu), so it sat in the garage for a few days, then we figured we should at least bring it inside, then decided just to set it up - this chair goes there, other sofa moved to that wall, etc., and we had a new place to sit for a few days before it was stacked on top of the old sofa 

Even the packaging was stellar, very "Apple-like", nice design, everything labeled, covered with thick protective cotton bags, it was like 30 minutes start to finish.  We went with a Nomad 3-section, mid-height block arms, navy blue fabric with walnut legs.


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## lizkat

DT said:


> One thing that drew us to Burrow is they offer a "cat proof" material. Like they even built this cat scratching simulator and tested the material against 100K scratches  and according to the dozens of incredibly enthusiastic reviews it really works




Well I sure could have used something like that back in the 70s in NYC.  I had a nice loveseat from Macy's in my apartment then, and unbeknownst to me one of my cats was stealthily turning the end that faced away from view (unless one was doing spring cleaning, duh)  into the equivalent of a shredded grass skirt, one day at a time.  I tossed a magazine towards a rack meant to store such things one day, missed, and the thing caromed off a leg of the piano onto the floor.  In retrieving it, I saw that end of the couch.  Holy sh^t!  Total destruction, you could see through to the wood of the corners of that loveseat behind what little was left of the upholstery...it looked like Spanish moss. 

That cat knew it had been outed, because it got up off the cushions of that love seat and disappeared into my bedroom for the rest of the weekend, leaving there only whenever I went in there myself looking for it, and then hiding out under the piano or a credenza in the living room...


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## Herdfan

Annoyance.

Found out last night that we are not going to have a traditional turkey dinner at Thanksgiving.  Idiot BIL doesn't want his mom to have to cook so he is going to smoke a turkey on his smoker.  Which means there will be no stuffing (which is different than oven cooked dressing) and no broth to make gravy.   So dry meat and mashed potatoes.  Yay. 

She doesn't cook anyway, she just wanders in the kitchen and gets in the way of the people who are actually cooking.  

Wife is going to make a proper turkey on Sunday when we are back home.


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## Renzatic

Herdfan said:


> Idiot BIL doesn't want his mom to have to cook so he is going to smoke a turkey on his smoker.




That's not necessarily a bad thing. If he's at all competent at it, smoked turkey is about the best thing in the world. You miss out on the stuffing, gravy, and whatnot, sure, but you can mix up your sides a bit to compensate. I recommend mac 'n cheese, though of a fancier make and model, since it is Thanksgiving and all.


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## DT

lizkat said:


> Well I sure could have used something like that back in the 70s in NYC.




It's working so far, in fact, I think it's sort of unfulfilling since she knows she can't wreck it, so she pretty quickly ignored it. 



Herdfan said:


> Annoyance.
> 
> Found out last night that we are not going to have a traditional turkey dinner at Thanksgiving.  Idiot BIL doesn't want his mom to have to cook so he is going to smoke a turkey on his smoker.  Which means there will be no stuffing (which is different than oven cooked dressing) and no broth to make gravy.   So dry meat and mashed potatoes.  Yay.
> 
> She doesn't cook anyway, she just wanders in the kitchen and gets in the way of the people who are actually cooking.
> 
> Wife is going to make a proper turkey on Sunday when we are back home.




Ha!

Same thing here, down to the IL's place in NSB, he's doing a turkey in a BGE, apparently all the sides (we're bringing pies from Village Inn),  so I guess no stuffing, no real turkey fat gravy ...

The wife however, also bought a smaller-er-ish 15 pound Butterball for us, so Saturday, we'll have a properly STUFFED turkey, with her killer gravy (also mashed potatoes, hers are magic, especially with a gallon of gravy )



Renzatic said:


> You miss out on the stuffing, gravy




Full stop.


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## lizkat

Stuffing is key.... look up a recipe for sheet pan stuffing or traditional herbed pan dressing made with chicken broth and assorted veggies and just bring it along.   Gravy, well...  chicken broth to the rescue again, add a little something or other for umami -- soy sauce, worcestershire etc.   Only tell people what's in it so to avoid any allergy issues.  Also there's no law says a "side" dish can't include a pan dressing made with shredded roast chicken in it, what the heck.   Let them wonder.


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## DT

DT said:


> It's working so far, in fact, I think it's sort of unfulfilling since she knows she can't wreck it, so she pretty quickly ignored it.




Meant to mention: we ordered a matching ottoman, same material (and color/legs), but that looks a lot more like a scratching kind of thing, we'll have to see if she changes her mind ...


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## Herdfan

Renzatic said:


> That's not necessarily a bad thing. If he's at all competent at it, smoked turkey is about the best thing in the world. You miss out on the stuffing, gravy, and whatnot, sure, but you can mix up your sides a bit to compensate. I recommend mac 'n cheese, though of a fancier make and model, since it is Thanksgiving and all.




Yes, smoked turkey is great.  My wife's family love dark meat.  To the point there is never enough.  So one year I bought 2 turkey legs and smoked them in addition to the regular oven cooked bird.  They liked them which I think was the impetus to smoke the whole thing.


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## Herdfan

lizkat said:


> Stuffing is key.... look up a recipe for sheet pan stuffing or traditional herbed pan dressing made with chicken broth and assorted veggies and just bring it along.  * Gravy, well...  chicken broth to the rescue again,* add a little something or other for umami -- soy sauce, worcestershire etc.   Only tell people what's in it so to avoid any allergy issues.  Also there's no law says a "side" dish can't include a pan dressing made with shredded roast chicken in it, what the heck.   Let them wonder.




Funny story about the gravy.  Wife's family always made giblet gravy.  First couple of years the wife would strain the bits out for me.  Then one year when we hosted and my mom was attending, the wife kept some of the broth and made more of a white gravy without the giblets.  And this continued over a few years until one year her son asked if there was any more of the other gravy.  That did not go over very well.


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## lizkat

On my mind:  none of us has had anything on our minds since Thanksgiving gravy?  We are slackers.


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## lizkat

Ok so on my mind today is how northern Californians here experienced the 6.4 earthquake in the wee hours today...









						Live updates: A 6.4-magnitude earthquake strikes Northern California
					

A 6.4 magnitude earthquake impacted Northern California's Eureka area early Tuesday, according to the US Geological Survey, leaving thousands without power. Follow the latest news here.




					www.cnn.com


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## Apple fanboy

lizkat said:


> On my mind:  none of us has had anything on our minds since Thanksgiving gravy?  We are slackers.



I donated my mind some years ago.


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## lizkat

Apple fanboy said:


> I donated my mind some years ago.




I'm fairly convinced of having lost my own mind every time I watch myself look for the pour-over coffee filter, pawing through the dish drainer with one hand since the filter's in the other and what I want is just a spoon.


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## Scepticalscribe

My mother is on my mind; she passed away four years ago today, and I am now raising A Glass Of Something Nice to the memory of my mother, recalling how much she loved travel, and (good) food and history and sport and culture and laughter. And us.


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