What are you doing today?

Scepticalscribe said:
My mother (in the days when she had her mind and marbles) used to watch Match Of The Day, often in the company of Decent Brother and/or myself.

As did my father (a Manchester United supporter) but in another room, the study, from which he would eject me (very politely) whenever MOTD came on. Actually, he refused to watch MOTD with anyone present - I think it allowed him to vent his emotions and frustrations without callous observations from the rest of us.
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In years gone by I'd watch it with my Dad or with friends when we got back from the pub. These days always alone.
 
BigMcGuire said:
That sounds nice! There’s a bakery within walking distance of my house and I keep meaning to go but I haven’t. I will make it a point to try.
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That bakery - the French bakery - is brilliant. Their breads are simply delicious (and totally natural); their sandwiches superb, their coffee excellent (their coffee machine is an impressive and almost intimidating looking large La Marzocco) and so on.

There are almost always queues, quite literally, out the door, local businesses all have (or buy) their coffees and cakes there, some of the best local restaurants (the award-winning ones) who do not bake their own bread, order bread from the French bakery, and so on.


BigMcGuire said:
How long did it take them to replace the battery?
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Surprisingly quickly; under an hour - I had been prepared to leave the watch with them, and travel in to pick it up later in the week.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
That bakery - the French bakery - is brilliant. Their breads are simply delicious (and totally natural); their sandwiches superb, their coffee excellent (their coffee machine is an impressive and almost intimidating looking large La Marzocco) and so on.

There are almost always queues, quite literally, out the door, local businesses all have (or buy) their coffees and cakes there, some of the best local restaurants (the award-winning ones) who do not bake their own bread, order bread from the French bakery, and so on.



Surprisingly quickly; under an hour - I had been prepared to leave the watch with them, and travel in to pick it up later in the week.
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The best bread I had in my life was when I was in Germany on a work trip. The hotel got bread from a local bakery and … I’ve never had anything come half as close as how great that bread tasted. That will be something I will look forward to if I ever return to Europe one day. :P
 
Apple fanboy said:
In years gone by I'd watch it with my Dad or with friends when we got back from the pub. These days always alone.
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Ah, yes, that is how it used to be.

My father wanted to be free to shout at the TV if Manchester United were screwing up, something he couldn't do if we were present, laughing unkindly at him.

So, and this was funny, there were two TVs, in two different rooms, both showing MOTD; brother - Decent Brother - and self would often have beer and crisps; Mother rarely drank at home, but might have the remains of a glass of wine from dinner, and we chatted while watching the programme; however, my father, left his wine or whiskey in the kitchen - to be returned to - while he suffered - endured - tortures when watching MOTD (especially if Manchester United featured).
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Reading newspapers, sipping coffee, browsing here, listening to music, perusing recipes for caponata, debating bestirring myself and venturing out to face a wintry Sunday.
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Caponata can wait for another day or so, I think, much though I love it.

Instead, it may be potatoes dauphinoise, or the Swedish version, "Jansson's temptation/potatoes".
 
BigMcGuire said:
The best bread I had in my life was when I was in Germany on a work trip. The hotel got bread from a local bakery and … I’ve never had anything come half as close as how great that bread tasted. That will be something I will look forward to if I ever return to Europe one day. :p
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Most (mainland) European countries - especially France, Germany and Italy - have superb bread, simply superb bread.

And one can become used to it awfully quickly.
 
lizkat said:
Just watched the first snowplow of the season pass by. I'm like a little kid about first snowfall that really sticks... love waking up to seeing snow sparkling on rooftops, trees and the ground in the early morning light for the first time in the season. Bad luck for the deer though, they're too easy to track in a couple inches of snow that reveals their chosen paths to and from the creeks and forests at start of hunting season.
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I was hoping for a white Christmas this year, but, as usual, it doesn't look to be the case. It's another mild winter, with a couple cold days, followed by temps in the high 60's, low 70's.

...maybe it'll snow in February.
 
Renzatic said:
I was hoping for a white Christmas this year, but, as usual, it doesn't look to be the case. It's another mild winter, with a couple cold days, followed by temps in the high 60's, low 70's.

...maybe it'll snow in February.
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One thing we don’t get here in Los Angeles… Going to be 85F today - and for the next handful of days.
 
Renzatic said:
I was hoping for a white Christmas this year, but, as usual, it doesn't look to be the case. It's another mild winter, with a couple cold days, followed by temps in the high 60's, low 70's.

...maybe it'll snow in February.
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BigMcGuire said:
One thing we don’t get here in Los Angeles… Going to be 85F today - and for the next handful of days.
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I'll cheerfully swap with you both.

Candidly, you can keep winter, the cold, darkness, dismal quality of light, interminably long nights, hail, sleet, snow and treacherous ice (both black and white varieties).

Given a choice, I'd happily sleep until March.

Instead, do, please, bring on spring.......
 
Scepticalscribe said:
I'll cheerfully swap with you both.

Candidly, you can keep winter, the cold, darkness, dismal quality of light, interminably long nights, hail, sleet, snow and treacherous ice (both black and white varieties).

Given a choice, I'd happily sleep until March.

Instead, do, please, bring on spring.......
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Mmm, sounds like someone needs to move to Florida. Could be your jam, especially the culture 🤣
 
BigMcGuire said:
One thing we don’t get here in Los Angeles… Going to be 85F today - and for the next handful of days.
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The chance of snow is a big tease where I live. It COULD snow. It has in the past. But WILL it snow? Probably not...

...but maybe.

Even worse, when it does finally snow, it usually doesn't last. We got around a half inch dumped on us during the early hours of a cold February morning in 2020. It was beautiful winter wonderland for about 8 hours, then it all melted away. Didn't even give most of us enough time to make a snowman.
 
Edd said:
Mmm, sounds like someone needs to move to Florida. Could be your jam, especially the culture 🤣
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Not Florida, no, never.

And this is not just a profound and very pronounced allergy to The Deep South (historically, culturally, politically),....

While I like sunshine, I also like culture, fine wines, and antiquities, ancient cities, and good cuisine and liberal politics.

Now, southern France, or Spain, or Italy, or Greece, all come to mind. I'll not deny that parts of the Balkans attract, as well.
 
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Scepticalscribe said:
Actually, you expressed it far better than I did.
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Verily, it is a land of wonder and excitement. Also meth.

And this is not just a profound and very pronounced allergy to The Deep South (historically, politically, culturally)....
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Florida isn't quite the Deep South. It's very much it's own thing, similar to in some ways, but ultimately separate from the rest of the South.
 
Scepticalscribe said:
Not Florida, no, never.

And this is not just a profound and very pronounced allergy to The Deep South (historically, politically, culturally)....

While I like sunshine, I also like culture, fine wines, and antiquities, ancient cities, and good cuisine and liberal politics.

Now, southern France, or Spain, or Italy, or Greece, all come to mind. I'll not deny that parts of the Balkans attract, as well.
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Hey, I’ve lived there twice in my life, and everyone has to take a turn. Do your time!

You can’t hate Florida in the proper way that I do without experiencing it up close. Sorry to break the news but…you’ll love the weather??? 😀
 
Edd said:
Hey, I’ve lived there twice in my life, and everyone has to take a turn. Do your time!

You can’t hate Florida in the proper way that I do without experiencing it up close. Sorry to break the news but…you’ll love the weather??? 😀
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I've done half my time then, living there in a time I only dimly remember in the early 1940s. I remember palm trees in the yard, and entertaining my mother (big maybe) out on the sunporch by shaking a fine set of maracas that my dad brought up from Venezuela when he was on leave once. My mom and I had moved to Florida to be closer to Venezuela, where my dad was earlier working for an oilco and later on helping the US Army build runways and roads to ensure transport of petroleum for the war effort.

My parents had honeymooned in Venezuela, then he stayed for his work and US Army service, and she lived there until it was almost literally time for me to be born, at which point she did manage to get back to upstate NY. But then she and I moved down to Florida to make reunions with my dad during the war a little more feasible. My sister was born in Florida, but my mom didn't want to remain there when she became pregnant again, and so we moved back to upstate NY awhile before the eldest of my brothers was born. As it happened the war was then ending, and then we got the little farm over in the Hudson Valley after my dad could leave service, get back to the States and settle us in to the first place that was really "home" aside from the homes of our grandparents.

And I ain't doin' the other half of my "required residencies to dislike Florida" if one round of that wasn't enough. Forget the politics, it's that as an adult, I can't take the hot weather. Even in most of the photos taken of me in Florida, I'm wearing just about nothing, and that fact was not lost on me as I grew older and was shown the photo albums of those times. I have not ever been back there, even though in my young adulthood I was curious to see how much it had changed from the 1940s.
 
Being especially lazy this Sunday. A bit of reading. Some email catching up. And helping a nephew with his college essay. That last bit was a shocker as he's been a bit distant lately. We figure he's angling to get hubby involved since he's an academic and at one point worked for a cram school and specialized in college prep.

Probably will binge watch a bit later. We've finished Foundation, Seasons 1-3 of Kim's Convenience, and restarted Hulu and watched Dopesick in ~24 hours. Definitely taking a long-ish walk around the colleges later. Nice weather to do it and we have every day so far this week.
 
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