Was just gifted a brand-spankin’ new Xbox 360 Slim. Now I am trying to track down a WD Scorpio Black 3200 BEKT hdd to replace the laughable 4GB that comes pre-loaded. On the whole, a $80 320GB slim sounds like a good deal to me!
Replaying Mass Effect series before I jump into ME3. I forgot how good this series is.
3.
currants
Congratulations! That takes WORK. Got mine in (except for the mulch in the walkways) Friday, the day we were supposed to leave for VT for summer courses. Didn’t, of course, and didn’t start packing til Sat morning, but who CARES what you wear if your garden’s all done.
Change of Subject: anyone doing the Thunderclap with Taibbi? I don’t even do facebook, so am not signing up, but it seems like an interesting idea.
Planted some hot cherry peppers and some cayennes in the back veggie garden, local nursery had scads of them leftover. Mrs J bought a raft of annuals she put into containers. Just finished off a couple of sloppy joes with melted Velveeta (settle for nothing less) and some tater tots.
Fighting a bug in Drupal, and filing a bug report that makes me sound like a crazy person. (“I swear, it’s just adding in a random class attribute for no reason!”)
6.
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
Four fatal shootings (so far; two other victims in critical condition at this time) in two separate (and supposedly unrelated) shootings here today in Seattle. That’s five shooting deaths in the past week, plus a girl caught a stray bullet downtown a couple weeks back, plus a bystander was shot in the leg over the weekend at a big arts festival at the Space Needle.
Several months ago I began wearing a “Rene’s Brigade” bracelet in support of one of our local Assistant District Attorney’s (and a friend and co-worker of mine since 1994) fight with breast and liver cancer. She has insurance but the co-pays and costs of driving to and from Duke 3 times a week for treatment bites. Today I am now also wearing a “Vatcher’s Avengers” bracelet in support of one of our local beloved attorneys fight against Pancreatic cancer. He has insurance, but the co-pays etc., etc., I am so fucking sick of the health care system in this country. These are honest to goodness hard working people who have done right all their lives and played by the fucking rules. They are now facing almost financial ruin thanks to their illnesses. This shit has got to fucking stop. Sorry, but I have had enough.
8.
geg6
Gonna check out “Dogs in the City” and settle in for dvr’d ep of “Mad Men” before “Around the World in 80 Plates.”. Gaz will never speak to me again.
Finally watched the Fox Media ad for Romney and now I think I’ll go watch an uplifting movie. We need to talk about Kevin just arrived in the mail from Netflix so that’s a possibility.
On June 5, 2012 at sunset on the East Coast of North America and earlier for other parts of the U.S., the planet Venus will make its final trek across the face of the sun as seen from Earth until the year 2117. The last time this event occurred was on June 8, 2004 when it was watched by millions of people across the world. Get prepared for this once in a lifetime event!
For over 100 years the main quest of astronomers was to pin down the distance between Earth and Sun (the Astronomical Unit), which would give them a key to the size of the solar system. Careful studies of the transit of Venus became the gold mine they would harvest to reveal this measure.
Live Webcast from Mauna Kea, Hawaii
On June 5, 2012, we will air a live ‘remote’ webcast from a mountainside Visitors Station site near the observatories in Hilo, Hawaii. This location will give a wonderful view of the entire transit with little chance of cloud cover to a worldwide audience.
12.
FlipYrWhig
@Litlebritdifrnt: You know things are a mess when the best possible outcome of the health care system is that you pay and pay and pay every month while using your benefits as little as possible. It’s like a mandatory cas1no, only with no winners and without any of the adrenaline rush.
Also, too, if it is playing near you, the Scandanavian thriller Headhunters is wicked fun. About a business exec who moonlights as an art thief to keep his wife in luxury goods. What could go wrong? Everything.
16.
Yutsano
Home from running around with Mom which included a late lunch and two extra riders who appreciated the lift so much they snoozed the entire time. But at least I haz drugs again.
I went ahead and renewed my rent for my current apartment. I was thinking about moving, but I realized that I don’t really feel like moving, and I actually do like the apartment (where else can I get a one bedroom with a large living room, nice kitchen (w/island stove) and an attached garage, oh and did I mention it’s on the 1st floor. The walls are major thick (I’m not even sure that I’ve ever heard any noises coming from neighbors on either side of me) and the location is pretty quiet and only 5 mins from my new job. I did actually look at other apartments. I had 10 picked out, but after reading some reviews and checking out BBB on each property, I ended up with only 2 choices and I just figures forget it, so I re-upped for 14 months.
18.
cathyx
@FlipYrWhig: Yes, we do have the best medical care in the world.
Just got half of my mouth deep cleaned at the dentist.
The last time I went, I got my wisdoms removed, and they gave me xanax or something similar as an anti-anxiety med.
That little tiny pill made it so that I was drooling on myself in the waiting room, I had to be carried/dragged into the dentists chair, and the poor man had to prop my mouth open with something or other because I passed the hell out through the whole procedure. I don’t even remember it.
This time, they didn’t prescribe me anything. They just gave me some local-anesthetic and started grinding away at my mouth. Not the same as getting a teeth yanked, but I’m pretty sure my dentist has a note on my chart about no meds. =) hehehe
I can’t eat right now and I’m hungry =(
I can’t talk or smile properly. my mouth is all crooked. I kind of wish they did both sides at once just to even it out, but I’d probably be drooling on myself. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, so doing all of it at once would have been preferable. rather just be done with it . Oh well.
20.
gogol's wife
I need somebody to reassure me that Romney is not going to win. I’m so depressed after reading the NYTimes.
21.
cathyx
@jeffreyw: No kidding, my mouth watered looking at that steak. I’m worse than a dog.
Just got half of my mouth deep cleaned at the dentist.
The last time I went, I got my wisdoms removed, and they gave me x4n4x or something similar as an anti-anxiety med. (they script’d me two of them, but I just took one)
That little tiny pill made it so that I was drooling on myself in the waiting room, I had to be carried/dragged into the dentists chair, and the poor man had to prop my mouth open with something or other because I passed the hell out through the whole procedure. I don’t even remember it.
This time, they didn’t prescribe me anything. They just gave me some local-an3sthetic and started grinding away at my mouth. Not the same as getting teeth yanked, but I’m pretty sure my dentist has a note on my chart about no meds. =) hehehe
I can’t eat right now and I’m hungry =(
I can’t talk or smile properly. my mouth is all crooked. I kind of wish they did both sides at once just to even it out, but I’d probably be drooling on myself. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, so doing all of it at once would have been preferable. rather just be done with it . Oh well.
PPP: Black Gay Lincoln leads red state of Missouri 45-44
Honest Gaybe also leads Ted Nugent’s home state of Michigan by 14 points. I guess the trees aren’t the right height in Michigan.
25.
Cassidy
Recovering from yesterday’s MMA workout. We joined our YMCA so we can have somewhere to send the kids during the day while my wife and I are at work. It has a great gym and I love going there. Two nights a week, they have MMA classes and I started bringing my two oldest girls (one wants to do kickboxing, the other is a BJJ natural). It’s a fun bonding thing and I don’t have to shell out a couple hundred a month just to go to an “MMA gym”. Anyway, we did takedown drills yesterday and I got my leg caught under me. Sadly, it’s the jammed big toe that hurts more than my ankle and quadricep. I’m getting old.
26.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Condi Rice is going to endorse J. Willard. Dumbya, Darth, and most of the B-listers (Bolton, Gaffney, Cofer Black). I think the only member of Team Vulcan, who brought you the Iraq War, who hasn’t endorsed Romney is Rumsfeld.
I’m publishing my second book. God, I love the internet.
30.
JPL
@gogol’s wife: See my comment at 10.. The good news is that Fox got so much grief, maybe they won’t be a 24/7 entertainment channel for Romney. Yeah, I’m naive.
31.
scav
If the ChiBleedingTrib is willing to and in fact does print an article apparently critical in any teeny possible manner of Faux’s treatment of Obama, how big a shark was it?
32.
cathyx
@pragmatism: Start taking Zicam. Then you won’t get what they have. I swear by that stuff.
33.
geg6
On the gardening front, our roses have gone completely insane. Never seen so many so early. The whole pond area is just bursting with them. It smells heavenly down there. The veggie gardens are all done. Onions, beets, carrots and radishes are in a medium sized (about 5×10′) raised bed at the southern end of the property, near the blooming peach and pear trees and past the blackberry and raspberry bushes. Green and Hungarian peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, summer squash, zucchini, and green and wax beans are in the big fenced in garden (probably about 25×25′). The asparagus there is done. We had the last of it last week.
Our new twist is the herb and tomato garden we’ve started on the deck. All in pots, of course. I have two pots with Romas, one with cherry tomatoes, and a pot each of basil, chives, thyme, rosemary, flat leaf parsley and mint. Looks nice (all terracotta pots), smells nice,and will taste very nice.
I love our home.
34.
pragmatism
@JoyceH: congrats!@cathyx: Thanks for reminding me. We have some around here somewhere.
My own father, a 100% Pole that fought against the Nazis called them Polish death camps. They were in friggin’ POLAND.
36.
cathyx
I had my first red strawberry yesterday and the the raspberries are not far behind. I have been harvesting asparagus for a month now, and I might get a half a month more then I have to quit.
37.
Carrie
Waiting for the guy to bring me my poutine and donair.
I’ll eat the poutine tonight and save the donair for lunch tomorrow.
bliss, oop there he is!!!!!
Looking for a simple but flexible cloud-based way for a bunch of kids to make their own multi-media-enabled websites. Recommendations?
Not doing Facebook.
Tumblr? WordPress?
41.
David Koch
Your retarded libural media in action:
Even though multiple polls show Obama leading Iowa by 10 points, the associated press’ political “reporter” Kasie Hunt says the double digit deficit is Great NEws for McCain!
I think Obama is in bigger trouble in Iowa than a lot of folks have recognized. The unemployment rate there is a lot lower than it is in other states and I think, you know, you’re going to get a chance to see whether or not Romney’s economic message resonates in a place like that.
Trailing by 10 points after campaigning for a full year in Iowa is in realty great news for Romney.
“A lot lower” state unemployment rate in Iowa is in realty a great opportunity for Romney.
We live in an age were satire writes itself.
42.
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
@pragmatism: What cathyx sez. (Provided your loved ones are suffering with head colds and not a flu bug.)
Just this weekend I awoke with a distinctly sore tonsil, but managed to knock the bug out over the course of the day with four or five Zicam RapidMelts (the only way to go – the other zinc lozenges that take 3 – 5 minutes to dissolve in your mouth will leave you with a mouthful of ick for an hour or two afterwards; the RapidMelts largely leave little aftertaste).
I always have it in the house. I *rarely* get full-blown head colds, anymore.
43.
FlipYrWhig
I don’t think I shared this tale of suburban life. My wife thought that there were fewer frogs on our windows than there used to be in years past, and got a haunting feeling something was killing them. Then one day she went to get the mail and came back to a scene of a snake devouring a hapless frog right on our porch, the little legs still kicking. She grew up being warned about snakes and freaked out. She found an animal control guy and had him out to the house… whereupon he found that possums had moved into our crawlspace. He trapped one out, and we’re waiting on him to come back and clean up mounds of possum poop all around the periphery. Apparently it’s a Hobbesian state of nature, war of all against all scene around the old homestead this summer.
44.
beltane
@Paddy: I knew this would happen. The Poles should have requested that the White House issue a correction to the death camp statement and then left it at that. It’s a “he said, she said” world and now we’re going to hear what “she said”.
@slag: Why not start out with Prezi? It’s a good step to gauge interest before trying Frontpage.
48.
liberal
The spirit of the Arab Spring is still alive!!1! Pushback against our children’s daycare unilateral decision to terminate the hot lunch program might result it its reinstatement!!1!
49.
BethanyAnne
If Skyrim doesn’t call, I’m going to keep on working on Loremaster. I have it on Alliance, now I’m working on getting it on Horde.
Also, I should add that free or donated is a requirement. And the kids need to retain all rights to their own content.
I’ve worked with Google Sites on my own, and it strikes me as poorly maintained. Buggy even.
57.
beltane
We had our first broccoli rabe from the garden this evening. Earlier today our neighbor stopped by to show us some pictures of the mother bear and her two cubs who were taking a stroll next to our house yesterday morning. Our dog was, of course, did not make a peep.
Going shoe shopping, for the first time in a couple of years. It’s not so much that I have money burning a hole in my pocket, more that the asphalt has burned a hole in my soles and I have no choice.
I saw “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” this afternoon. Clichéd in many ways, but AFAIAC you really can’t go too far wrong with Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, and Maggie Smith. I enjoyed it a lot.
62.
Cassidy
@SiubhanDuinne: Love mine. Best coffee purchase ever. It isn’t the most cost effective, but you can buy an adapter to put your own grounds in it. I’m the only coffee drinker in my house so it never made sense for me to make a whole pot. The convenience of my Keurig far outweighs the little more in cost.
@FlipYrWhig:
I have health insurance, I never go to the doctors (I don’t trust them pure and simple) my premium has gone up every single year, every single year that I do not use it, it goes up. My boss is now paying almost $1,000 a month for a health insurance policy that I haven’t used since 2004. That is some racket right there.
The attorney I was talking about had some slight pain in his side, he went and had blood tests. They said that they “detected cancer” they did biopsies. They now say that they have to do extensive stents in his bowels. He may not ever get out of the hospital if they can’t get the stents to work in his bowels. This is a guy who was on the golf course one week ago and now he may not make it out of the hospital? He would have lived longer if he had never gone to the doctors and never had the blood tests. These people are out for money, pure and simple. They give not a whit for people’s health. They care about money. The more tests they do, the more procedures they do, the more money they make. The entire system is evil.
@FlipYrWhig: I’m with John on bats (especially) and spiders. Wouldn’t necessarily characterize them as vermin, in the traditional sense. They’re quite beneficial.
I am cool with bats. Spiders? Not so much… Cole would throw me out of his house after I started stomping those dive bombing spiders.
The raccoon thing was a bit of a nuisance… but nothing we couldn’t handle. After watching one turn over the recycle and trash we just learned to raccoon-proof the place and they went away.
I’ve tried it in hotels and it works pretty well. I like my coffee very strong and somehow the pods they sell never leave me feeling happy. I always have to half the water and use two pods.
If we are talking about using pods I would recommend the Nesspresso machines. Perfect real espresso every time. I know they sell used refurbished machines at cheaper prices.
My sister has one – I always use it when I visit her. It’s neat. She doesn’t say she’s getting a cup of coffee, she says she’s getting a Delicious Beverage.
The countertop resident that I wouldn’t willingly live without is my Sodastream.
@jeffreyw: Good to know. I need to check it out further. Glad to hear it’s easy. That’s important in this case (although it wouldn’t hurt to give these kids some deeper web skills).
70.
Arm The Homeless
@SiubhanDuinne: My folks have one. It’s great if you often just want a cup or two, or get company who drinks coffee.
Don’t get suckered into buying the re-fills, they suck, and never tastes the same as the pre-measured cups. It’s an affront to the environment, but there is caffeine at stake. YMMV
I hope some of you commies will be tuning in to the USMNT game against Brazil, starting in just a few on ESPN2.
I’m not so naive as to think this one will go anything like the match against Scotland, but I’ll be happy with, say, a draw and not getting our asses kicked :P
@Litlebritdifrnt: I also distrust the doctor and have been fortunate to go only three times in the last 20 years. So we’ve been paying for nothing for decades, and that puts us… ahead? Odd how that works. But now that I’m 40 I’m dreading having various procedures be part of the routine.
@slag: I’m prone to a Colonel Kurtz mentality. Exterminate the brutes.
Thanks. That’s very helpful. I live alone, and long ago gave up on the several-pots-a-day coffee habit. I discovered the Keurig last week when I stayed with a friend (on my wonderful 4500-mile road trip, which is a whole nother story) and was very impressed with the quality.
I’ve become so contemptuous of the “health”care system and the pharmaceutical/insurance/medical industrial complex that I’ve decided to completely avoid it myself as much as humanly possible. I took a very bad fall three weeks ago and I thought I tore my hamstring, but instead I damaged the nerve cluster that causes sciatica. I took my diagnosis to the doctor of Chinese medicine who owns the wellness clinic near me, and instead of taking the muscle relaxants and pain pills I was prescribed every day, I started acupuncture and an herbal formula to help clear out the bruising and the inflammation, and am just about 90% back to normal after not being able to walk or sit.
I’ve become one of those annoying people who tell people to stop eating the crap they’re eating, and to stop taking the drugs they’re taking like all those fucking statins, and change their fucking diet asap. Americans are killing themselves with their diet, and big Pharma and big Insurance will make sure you die poor, fat and unhappy.
Then my bro-in-law bought us a Breville machine for Christmas in 2010…
…and now you can only have it when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
79.
the fugitive uterus
@JoyceH: we have one at work and it’s turned out to be rather unreliable. i think we replaced it and that one’s not working right either.
one thing that’s cool, though, is you can buy a little canister that you can fill with your own coffee and use that in the machine instead of the expensive K-cups, which also create a lot of waste
80.
Gozer
Eating some Indian food and drinkin’ beer! and generally letting it all hang out (Dr. Mrs. Gozer is in SF visiting friends).
P.S. And by “letting it all hang out” I mean “eating too much and falling asleep watching HBO GO.”
We used to have one at work, and it was OK. The main problem we had with it, which is unlikely to be an issue for a home user, is that around 3 every afternoon there would be thirty people at once wanting their afternoon beverage and the poor thing just couldn’t cope with the load. Coffee was decent if you got K-cups loaded with decent quality coffee (duh), but a lot of the Keurig blends were so-so at best.
We switched a year or so ago to a Lavazza machine, which has been working much better. And it can make something approximating a latte as well! (though using powdered milk, boo)
@FlipYrWhig: I’m always looking for (and rarely finding) good documentaries on bats. Spiders too. Documentaries can be particularly useful for inspiring empathy toward their subjects.
86.
Violet
Aren’t those little pods that go in the Keurig (or similar) machines just filled with instant coffee? They were sampling them at the local supermarket and I asked the rep and that’s what they told me. Why not just boil some water and use instant coffee for one cup?
87.
cathyx
@SiubhanDuinne: Thank goodness I’m a human and can get my own meat, because that would be me if I were a dog.
@David Koch: I was wondering that myself. I think it may be slightly better at emphasizing the social aspect of social media. But I don’t know enough about it to be confident in that assessment.
I’m publishing my second book. God, I love the internet.
I’m still writing the rough draft of my first and EVERY SINGLE PERSON THAT SAID THAT THEY’D READ IT AS I WENT AND PROVIDE FEEDBACK HAS CRAPPED OUT so I really have no idea whether it’s any good. I’m much too close to this one to have any confidence in my own assessment.
90.
cathyx
@J. Michael Neal: Send it my way. I have no problem being brutally honest.
91.
Cassidy
@Violet: No. The coffee is actual coffee. The cappucino’s, etc. are usually just powders.
Also, just for general knowledge, you need to buy your K-cups stronger than what you normally like as they will tend to come out weaker. Ex: if you like a lighter roast, buy a medium roast.
I never had a problem going to my GP in England. He made 40K a year regardless of whether I was sick or healthy. Didn’t matter. Over here it is all about money. They will no doubt send you for “tests” at clinics they own, or have an interest in. If you have health insurance then it is “testing” city baby! My boss has a friend who is a doctor, he had a health issue and they sent him for every test that there was imaginable, the boss said to the doc friend “I think they are just sucking off the insurance” his friend said “wait and see, if they send you for a sleep study then yes they are doing that”. The very next test they recommended was a “sleep study”. Bloodsucking vampires, every single one of them. The boss said to me today (talking about the doctors) “they make a million dollars a year, but they will do anything to make a million one, I don’t understand it”.
95.
Stuck in the Funhouse
Watching the Reds play the Peerats, and staying indoors as all the fires around us are smokifying the outside environs. Forest fire smoke does a number on my sinuses.
96.
Just Some Fuckhead
I still haven’t planted. If I don’t do it this weekend, I may miss.
I agree 105% and have changed the headline. Funny, I was thinking that in the body of the post, but must have automatically just put in in the headline. Indoctrination doncha know.
You can get a small Mr. Coffee for single cup. Better coffee and won’t cost a fortune.
Check Goodwill and other resale type stores for these. I picked up one that was brand new, complete with filters, a packet of coffee and the instruction manual. The only thing missing was the box. Cost me seven dollars.
The last day of high school for my daughter. Big sigh…so I’m taking her out for Cajun food. Tomorrow we assemble a photo collage for her graduation party/open house this weekend, which will no doubt be further cause for feeling old. At least she and I are doing it rather than she and her mom, because between the tears and bickering over which pictures to include it would never get done if they were doing it. More cleaning and prep work for the party this weekend too. Then graduation next weekend with six (so far) graduation parties to attend that weekend.
After five weeks of end-of-school hyperactivity the spousal unit gets a hip replacement on the 14th. I may have to put a rocket in my pocket* and wear my sailin’ shoes Friday night and go see some rock and roll, since it’s distinctly possible the rest of the summer will pretty much suck.
*Note: not the hip pocket; I’d just as soon not be confused with Assrocket, thankyewverymuch.
103.
cathyx
@J. Michael Neal: I hope you mean donkey 1968 at comcast dot net because when I typed in the winnie the pooh part, it wouldn’t send.
He died last weekend after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a religious ceremony in my home county.
Let me guess. Obama didn’t gather a lot of votes in your county last week.
112.
CaseyL
@Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn: It’s horrible. Seattle hasn’t had this kind of violence since the gang wars. I don’t know if it’s bad economic times, crazy people who can’t get healthcare, or the beginning of just another cycle of violence.
I’m glad the City Council voted down extending open-bar hours. If we’re in for another era of spiking gun violence, one thing we don’t need is more drinking into the wee hours.
113.
cathyx
@Alison: Oh, I get it. I was thinking of the donkey on Shrek who was named donkey, lol.
114.
hitchhiker
Well . . . some people got randomly shot here today, in a nice old neighborhood near the university. And, yes, the word “nice” in this context means — ironically and wretchedly — that people will pay attention, because the whole scene was white people. Shooter, victims, etc.
Also I went to a meeting at my church, where there is a serious discussion about replacing a $2M pipe organ.
Also my youngest is about to graduate from a fine school. Her plan for next year is to work at a longterm care facility for homeless and abused women.
Also I get to work with some homeless women tomorrow about how to self-publish, which, yes, I have some experience in . . . the main message about POD is just that you don’t have to wait for permission. You get to do it all by yourself. I love books so much, and I want there to always be books . . . but I don’t mourn the downfall of the old publishing industry.
@khead: I was helping a coworker on a project in a late 1800’s farmhouse. woman was home. had to duck going ‘down cellar’ (as we say here in N.E.); as I glanced up to check head clearance I saw something. Used my longnose and pulled out a 3 foot snakeskin from between the floor joists. “think we should tell her, Jack?”
“Pal, if that was my wife the for sale sign would be on the lawn by sunset. Don’t say a thing,”
@danielx: Congratulations to the fam. Big changes!
118.
Carrie
@SiubhanDuinne:
We have one at work and i have a Tassimo at home.
Personally? i prefer the tassimo. The coffee is cheaper, better and the unit isn’t as bulky, takes less counter space.
if you’re by yourself, look into the tassimo….it’s great.
put in the pod, press the button, go outside for a smoke and when you come back in there’s a decent coffee waiting for you.
I think the Keurig is gonna go the way of cassette players, beta’s even :-)
119.
Davis X. Machina
@J. Michael Neal: My brother, who was born and raised 11 miles from Boston Garden, is a Redwings fan because of him.
We had a minor ant invasion last weekend and I was afraid we were gonna have to move before we stopped it.
I think a three foot snakeskin would be grounds for burning the house down.
121.
Odie Hugh Manatee
I’m rebuilding the door hinges on our Mustang and having fun dealing with the ‘quality’ of Chinese rebuild parts. The replacement door pins and bushings are not the size stated on the box. I’m having to combine GM door pins and Ford bushings to get the proper clearance and not end up with a sloppy hinge (kinda defeats the purpose of the rebuild). What’s ‘funny’ is that the inner diameter (ID) of the Ford bushings are 0.002″ smaller than spec’d, the GM bushings are anywhere from 0.004″ – 0.006″ larger than spec.
The Ford bushings are supposed to have a 0.002″ larger hole than the GM bushings, yet they are the size that the GM bushings are supposed to be. Someone needs to teach them Chinese some remedial maths.
The Chinese win again, Ford bushings and GM pins it is.
122.
FlipYrWhig
@khead: I hate hate hate ants. There’s an orange-oil product that works well on killing them and creating a perimeter they won’t cross. I got a tip from a guy at Ace Hardware.
Sorry, I’m afraid that your wishes of “a draw and not getting our asses kicked” may not be answered tonight.
With Brazil mostly fielding a young squad of second- and third-team choices against what appears to be the US main starting IX (save Dempsey), the match has been lop-sided so far. I hope it remains a “friendly.”
Even should the match end unhappily for us/US, competition against international squads of this caliber are instructive: it offers a better assessment of overall US quality and maturity, questions that remain open, particularly after failing to qualify for the London Olympics.
@p.a.: I bet she doesn’t have any problem with mice in the house, though.
129.
dr. luba
@the Conster: I developed a radiculopathy a few weeks back (sciatica, but at a different nerve root level), and read up on it–it seems that, like lower back pain, there’s to much you can do to make it better, it heals on its own for the most part. I got a few scrips (which I didn’t use, but it’s nice to have a bottle of pain pills around the house just in case), and a scrip for physical therapy that I didn’t follow up on, as I was going out of town. I’m pretty much back to my normal now, and a few weeks back was on crutches and couldn’t even stand straight.
What I’m saying is that your treatment choice probably didn’t actually influence your outcome. I went and saw my doctor for a diagnosis (I was pretty sure I knew what was wrong with me, but wanted to be certain I wasn’t missing anything), and discussed treatment options with her. We decided that doing nothing would probably be right in this case, but she gave me back-up options in case it didn’t work out for me.
I’m self-paying $640 a month for health insurance and have no prescription coverage. Yeah, it’s expensive, but if I do get sick, seriously sick, I will be covered for treatment. And having seen the sort of bills that can be run up from even a short hospitalization, I prefer not to risk going bankrupt for medical reasons. YMMV
BTW, statins are probably overprescribed, but they can be life savers. Most people, even with extreme diet changes, can lower their cholesterol only about 10%, as most of it is produced endogenously. Eating well is a good idea, but if you have familial hypercholesterolemia, it won’t save you.
130.
Carrie
@SiubhanDuinne:
sigh, i envy you so much.
how did you quit?
this WILL be my last pack, i swear.
131.
Linnaeus
Nick retiring. Knew it had to happen some day. Thanks for the memories.
I’ve had a pretty good mad on all day about GOP voter caging and our fourth estate’s cowardly failure to cover it. As I figured, The Maddow led off with it. If anyone else brought it up, I missed it.
Aren’t those little pods that go in the Keurig (or similar) machines just filled with instant coffee? They were sampling them at the local supermarket and I asked the rep and that’s what they told me. Why not just boil some water and use instant coffee for one cup?
I have a little Melitta filter that fits over a mug and I make my afternoon coffee with delicious fresh ground beans and some fresh nearly-boiled-but-not-quite water. No fuss, no muss, quick and delish. Who needs a machine for that?
136.
p.a.
@SiubhanDuinne: most commercial exterminators use a chrysanthemum extract which, unless I’ve been lied to, is very effective and very safe. and (voice of experience here) NEVER plant peonies near a structure: carpenter ants love ’em.
137.
gelfling545
I just finished visiting with my baby girl ( so she’s 28. So what.)who is off to Poland for a month. Being her, she had to wait until she was married with one child and another on the way and her husband in Afghanistan before going to college. So now it’s two kids and, thank gods her husband back home safe if somewhat the worse for wear and she’s set to graduate in history next spring BUT for the honors degree in her area she needs foreign study time so she’s off. My son in law will be doing single parent duty but he is gracious enough to admit that she did it alone for longer, so he is doing it with good will. He’s a good man. Since she lives near me I usually spend time with her at least once a week so I will miss her and I really hope today’s nuttiness about Polish/in Poland will not cause anti American difficulties.
You’re not alone; somehow I suspect it has to do with the period of 80 degree days in March (March!!!) that went on for a week and a half. I’m seriously considering putting up more fiber cement siding at this point – vertical wood siding (t1-11) sucks big time, especially because siding guys never do what they’re supposed to and prime it front and back. Ants just love it, unfortunately.
Since she lives near me I usually spend time with her at least once a week so I will miss her and I really hope today’s nuttiness about Polish/in Poland will not cause anti American difficulties.
I wouldn’t worry — it was one former Fox News contributor trying to make a stink. I think she’s safe as long as Chicago continues to be the second largest Polish city in the world.
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BarbCat
Hockey! Go Kings.
Arm The Homeless
Was just gifted a brand-spankin’ new Xbox 360 Slim. Now I am trying to track down a WD Scorpio Black 3200 BEKT hdd to replace the laughable 4GB that comes pre-loaded. On the whole, a $80 320GB slim sounds like a good deal to me!
Replaying Mass Effect series before I jump into ME3. I forgot how good this series is.
currants
Congratulations! That takes WORK. Got mine in (except for the mulch in the walkways) Friday, the day we were supposed to leave for VT for summer courses. Didn’t, of course, and didn’t start packing til Sat morning, but who CARES what you wear if your garden’s all done.
Change of Subject: anyone doing the Thunderclap with Taibbi? I don’t even do facebook, so am not signing up, but it seems like an interesting idea.
jeffreyw
Planted some hot cherry peppers and some cayennes in the back veggie garden, local nursery had scads of them leftover. Mrs J bought a raft of annuals she put into containers. Just finished off a couple of sloppy joes with melted Velveeta (settle for nothing less) and some tater tots.
TooManyJens
Fighting a bug in Drupal, and filing a bug report that makes me sound like a crazy person. (“I swear, it’s just adding in a random class attribute for no reason!”)
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
Four fatal shootings (so far; two other victims in critical condition at this time) in two separate (and supposedly unrelated) shootings here today in Seattle. That’s five shooting deaths in the past week, plus a girl caught a stray bullet downtown a couple weeks back, plus a bystander was shot in the leg over the weekend at a big arts festival at the Space Needle.
Not at all typical of this town. It’s damn crazy.
Litlebritdifrnt
Several months ago I began wearing a “Rene’s Brigade” bracelet in support of one of our local Assistant District Attorney’s (and a friend and co-worker of mine since 1994) fight with breast and liver cancer. She has insurance but the co-pays and costs of driving to and from Duke 3 times a week for treatment bites. Today I am now also wearing a “Vatcher’s Avengers” bracelet in support of one of our local beloved attorneys fight against Pancreatic cancer. He has insurance, but the co-pays etc., etc., I am so fucking sick of the health care system in this country. These are honest to goodness hard working people who have done right all their lives and played by the fucking rules. They are now facing almost financial ruin thanks to their illnesses. This shit has got to fucking stop. Sorry, but I have had enough.
geg6
Gonna check out “Dogs in the City” and settle in for dvr’d ep of “Mad Men” before “Around the World in 80 Plates.”. Gaz will never speak to me again.
khead
Meet Mack Randall Wolford.
He died last weekend after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a religious ceremony in my home county.
JPL
Finally watched the Fox Media ad for Romney and now I think I’ll go watch an uplifting movie. We need to talk about Kevin just arrived in the mail from Netflix so that’s a possibility.
Brachiator
The Transit of Venus is coming. Cool NASA stuff.
On June 5, 2012 at sunset on the East Coast of North America and earlier for other parts of the U.S., the planet Venus will make its final trek across the face of the sun as seen from Earth until the year 2117. The last time this event occurred was on June 8, 2004 when it was watched by millions of people across the world. Get prepared for this once in a lifetime event!
For over 100 years the main quest of astronomers was to pin down the distance between Earth and Sun (the Astronomical Unit), which would give them a key to the size of the solar system. Careful studies of the transit of Venus became the gold mine they would harvest to reveal this measure.
Live Webcast from Mauna Kea, Hawaii
On June 5, 2012, we will air a live ‘remote’ webcast from a mountainside Visitors Station site near the observatories in Hilo, Hawaii. This location will give a wonderful view of the entire transit with little chance of cloud cover to a worldwide audience.
FlipYrWhig
@Litlebritdifrnt: You know things are a mess when the best possible outcome of the health care system is that you pay and pay and pay every month while using your benefits as little as possible. It’s like a mandatory cas1no, only with no winners and without any of the adrenaline rush.
jeffreyw
Your dog wants steak.
kdaug
Sausage calzones & beer.
May well be followed by a nap.
Brachiator
The upcoming movie version of Les Miserables looks like some cool shit.
Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway
Fun story and trailer featuring Hathaway
Also, too, if it is playing near you, the Scandanavian thriller Headhunters is wicked fun. About a business exec who moonlights as an art thief to keep his wife in luxury goods. What could go wrong? Everything.
Yutsano
Home from running around with Mom which included a late lunch and two extra riders who appreciated the lift so much they snoozed the entire time. But at least I haz drugs again.
lamh35
I went ahead and renewed my rent for my current apartment. I was thinking about moving, but I realized that I don’t really feel like moving, and I actually do like the apartment (where else can I get a one bedroom with a large living room, nice kitchen (w/island stove) and an attached garage, oh and did I mention it’s on the 1st floor. The walls are major thick (I’m not even sure that I’ve ever heard any noises coming from neighbors on either side of me) and the location is pretty quiet and only 5 mins from my new job. I did actually look at other apartments. I had 10 picked out, but after reading some reviews and checking out BBB on each property, I ended up with only 2 choices and I just figures forget it, so I re-upped for 14 months.
cathyx
@FlipYrWhig: Yes, we do have the best medical care in the world.
gaz
Just got half of my mouth deep cleaned at the dentist.
The last time I went, I got my wisdoms removed, and they gave me xanax or something similar as an anti-anxiety med.
That little tiny pill made it so that I was drooling on myself in the waiting room, I had to be carried/dragged into the dentists chair, and the poor man had to prop my mouth open with something or other because I passed the hell out through the whole procedure. I don’t even remember it.
This time, they didn’t prescribe me anything. They just gave me some local-anesthetic and started grinding away at my mouth. Not the same as getting a teeth yanked, but I’m pretty sure my dentist has a note on my chart about no meds. =) hehehe
I can’t eat right now and I’m hungry =(
I can’t talk or smile properly. my mouth is all crooked. I kind of wish they did both sides at once just to even it out, but I’d probably be drooling on myself. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, so doing all of it at once would have been preferable. rather just be done with it . Oh well.
gogol's wife
I need somebody to reassure me that Romney is not going to win. I’m so depressed after reading the NYTimes.
cathyx
@jeffreyw: No kidding, my mouth watered looking at that steak. I’m worse than a dog.
gaz
Just got half of my mouth deep cleaned at the dentist.
The last time I went, I got my wisdoms removed, and they gave me x4n4x or something similar as an anti-anxiety med. (they script’d me two of them, but I just took one)
That little tiny pill made it so that I was drooling on myself in the waiting room, I had to be carried/dragged into the dentists chair, and the poor man had to prop my mouth open with something or other because I passed the hell out through the whole procedure. I don’t even remember it.
This time, they didn’t prescribe me anything. They just gave me some local-an3sthetic and started grinding away at my mouth. Not the same as getting teeth yanked, but I’m pretty sure my dentist has a note on my chart about no meds. =) hehehe
I can’t eat right now and I’m hungry =(
I can’t talk or smile properly. my mouth is all crooked. I kind of wish they did both sides at once just to even it out, but I’d probably be drooling on myself. I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, so doing all of it at once would have been preferable. rather just be done with it . Oh well.
khead
Also, here’s some lazy cats.
Look at them. Love them.
David Koch
PPP: Black Gay Lincoln leads red state of Missouri 45-44
Honest Gaybe also leads Ted Nugent’s home state of Michigan by 14 points. I guess the trees aren’t the right height in Michigan.
Cassidy
Recovering from yesterday’s MMA workout. We joined our YMCA so we can have somewhere to send the kids during the day while my wife and I are at work. It has a great gym and I love going there. Two nights a week, they have MMA classes and I started bringing my two oldest girls (one wants to do kickboxing, the other is a BJJ natural). It’s a fun bonding thing and I don’t have to shell out a couple hundred a month just to go to an “MMA gym”. Anyway, we did takedown drills yesterday and I got my leg caught under me. Sadly, it’s the jammed big toe that hurts more than my ankle and quadricep. I’m getting old.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Condi Rice is going to endorse J. Willard. Dumbya, Darth, and most of the B-listers (Bolton, Gaffney, Cofer Black). I think the only member of Team Vulcan, who brought you the Iraq War, who hasn’t endorsed Romney is Rumsfeld.
Cassidy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Powell
pragmatism
Nice work Cole!
Wife is sick. Daughter is sick. I’m battening down the hatches.
JoyceH
I’m publishing my second book. God, I love the internet.
JPL
@gogol’s wife: See my comment at 10.. The good news is that Fox got so much grief, maybe they won’t be a 24/7 entertainment channel for Romney. Yeah, I’m naive.
scav
If the ChiBleedingTrib is willing to and in fact does print an article apparently critical in any teeny possible manner of Faux’s treatment of Obama, how big a shark was it?
cathyx
@pragmatism: Start taking Zicam. Then you won’t get what they have. I swear by that stuff.
geg6
On the gardening front, our roses have gone completely insane. Never seen so many so early. The whole pond area is just bursting with them. It smells heavenly down there. The veggie gardens are all done. Onions, beets, carrots and radishes are in a medium sized (about 5×10′) raised bed at the southern end of the property, near the blooming peach and pear trees and past the blackberry and raspberry bushes. Green and Hungarian peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, summer squash, zucchini, and green and wax beans are in the big fenced in garden (probably about 25×25′). The asparagus there is done. We had the last of it last week.
Our new twist is the herb and tomato garden we’ve started on the deck. All in pots, of course. I have two pots with Romas, one with cherry tomatoes, and a pot each of basil, chives, thyme, rosemary, flat leaf parsley and mint. Looks nice (all terracotta pots), smells nice,and will taste very nice.
I love our home.
pragmatism
@JoyceH: congrats!@cathyx: Thanks for reminding me. We have some around here somewhere.
Paddy
The Poles are gonna learn, consider what you’re bitching about because you might expose more than you want.
Video- Why The Poles Are Overreacting To Obama Gaffe: BBC Expose On Racist Polish Soccer Fans
My own father, a 100% Pole that fought against the Nazis called them Polish death camps. They were in friggin’ POLAND.
cathyx
I had my first red strawberry yesterday and the the raspberries are not far behind. I have been harvesting asparagus for a month now, and I might get a half a month more then I have to quit.
Carrie
Waiting for the guy to bring me my poutine and donair.
I’ll eat the poutine tonight and save the donair for lunch tomorrow.
bliss, oop there he is!!!!!
Linda Featheringill
@gogol’s wife:
Romney doesn’t have to win. It depends on which is more effective, TV advertising or GOTV.
cathyx
@khead: I showed my daughter your cat picture and she gave it an ohhhh, how cute!
slag
Looking for a simple but flexible cloud-based way for a bunch of kids to make their own multi-media-enabled websites. Recommendations?
Not doing Facebook.
Tumblr? WordPress?
David Koch
Your retarded libural media in action:
Even though multiple polls show Obama leading Iowa by 10 points, the associated press’ political “reporter” Kasie Hunt says the double digit deficit is Great NEws for McCain!
Trailing by 10 points after campaigning for a full year in Iowa is in realty great news for Romney.
“A lot lower” state unemployment rate in Iowa is in realty a great opportunity for Romney.
We live in an age were satire writes itself.
Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn
@pragmatism: What cathyx sez. (Provided your loved ones are suffering with head colds and not a flu bug.)
Just this weekend I awoke with a distinctly sore tonsil, but managed to knock the bug out over the course of the day with four or five Zicam RapidMelts (the only way to go – the other zinc lozenges that take 3 – 5 minutes to dissolve in your mouth will leave you with a mouthful of ick for an hour or two afterwards; the RapidMelts largely leave little aftertaste).
I always have it in the house. I *rarely* get full-blown head colds, anymore.
FlipYrWhig
I don’t think I shared this tale of suburban life. My wife thought that there were fewer frogs on our windows than there used to be in years past, and got a haunting feeling something was killing them. Then one day she went to get the mail and came back to a scene of a snake devouring a hapless frog right on our porch, the little legs still kicking. She grew up being warned about snakes and freaked out. She found an animal control guy and had him out to the house… whereupon he found that possums had moved into our crawlspace. He trapped one out, and we’re waiting on him to come back and clean up mounds of possum poop all around the periphery. Apparently it’s a Hobbesian state of nature, war of all against all scene around the old homestead this summer.
beltane
@Paddy: I knew this would happen. The Poles should have requested that the White House issue a correction to the death camp statement and then left it at that. It’s a “he said, she said” world and now we’re going to hear what “she said”.
slag
@Paddy: I wish we wouldn’t call it a “gaffe”. Maybe syntax? It’s more accurate.
trollhattan
Whatever I’m doing, I’m doing it for Amercia!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18269833
Arm The Homeless
@slag: Why not start out with Prezi? It’s a good step to gauge interest before trying Frontpage.
liberal
The spirit of the Arab Spring is still alive!!1! Pushback against our children’s daycare unilateral decision to terminate the hot lunch program might result it its reinstatement!!1!
BethanyAnne
If Skyrim doesn’t call, I’m going to keep on working on Loremaster. I have it on Alliance, now I’m working on getting it on Horde.
cathyx
@Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn: I use the mouth spray. Since that’s what I used the first time, I’m too afraid to try the other forms in case I don’t get the same results.
quannlace
Anybody been watching the Hatfields and McCoys on the History Channel?
I tried but it was so relentlessy grim.
liberal
@FlipYrWhig:
Red in tooth and claw, eh?
Still nothing compared to the Tea Party.
khead
@cathyx:
Chalk one up for the “love them” column?
@FlipYrWhig:
We have raccoons that climb the deck. I never knew raccoons could even do that shit until they started hanging out on the deck at 3-4 AM.
SiubhanDuinne
Anyone here have a Keurig coffee maker? Thoughts?
FlipYrWhig
@liberal: @khead: I know John is protective of his local bats and spiders. I am not that Zen about vermin.
slag
@Arm The Homeless: Oooh! I knew nothing about this. Thanks!
Also, I should add that free or donated is a requirement. And the kids need to retain all rights to their own content.
I’ve worked with Google Sites on my own, and it strikes me as poorly maintained. Buggy even.
beltane
We had our first broccoli rabe from the garden this evening. Earlier today our neighbor stopped by to show us some pictures of the mother bear and her two cubs who were taking a stroll next to our house yesterday morning. Our dog was, of course, did not make a peep.
jeffreyw
Bush Cat — Tree Cat
Comrade Colette Collaboratrice
Going shoe shopping, for the first time in a couple of years. It’s not so much that I have money burning a hole in my pocket, more that the asphalt has burned a hole in my soles and I have no choice.
the fugitive uterus
petition asking DOJ to investigate FL voter purge
SiubhanDuinne
I saw “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” this afternoon. Clichéd in many ways, but AFAIAC you really can’t go too far wrong with Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, and Maggie Smith. I enjoyed it a lot.
Cassidy
@SiubhanDuinne: Love mine. Best coffee purchase ever. It isn’t the most cost effective, but you can buy an adapter to put your own grounds in it. I’m the only coffee drinker in my house so it never made sense for me to make a whole pot. The convenience of my Keurig far outweighs the little more in cost.
Litlebritdifrnt
@FlipYrWhig:
I have health insurance, I never go to the doctors (I don’t trust them pure and simple) my premium has gone up every single year, every single year that I do not use it, it goes up. My boss is now paying almost $1,000 a month for a health insurance policy that I haven’t used since 2004. That is some racket right there.
The attorney I was talking about had some slight pain in his side, he went and had blood tests. They said that they “detected cancer” they did biopsies. They now say that they have to do extensive stents in his bowels. He may not ever get out of the hospital if they can’t get the stents to work in his bowels. This is a guy who was on the golf course one week ago and now he may not make it out of the hospital? He would have lived longer if he had never gone to the doctors and never had the blood tests. These people are out for money, pure and simple. They give not a whit for people’s health. They care about money. The more tests they do, the more procedures they do, the more money they make. The entire system is evil.
jeffreyw
@slag: Tumblr is pretty good, very easy to upload various media. This is mine, I do photos almost exclusively, but video and audio are easy too.
slag
@FlipYrWhig: I’m with John on bats (especially) and spiders. Wouldn’t necessarily characterize them as vermin, in the traditional sense. They’re quite beneficial.
khead
@FlipYrWhig:
I am cool with bats. Spiders? Not so much… Cole would throw me out of his house after I started stomping those dive bombing spiders.
The raccoon thing was a bit of a nuisance… but nothing we couldn’t handle. After watching one turn over the recycle and trash we just learned to raccoon-proof the place and they went away.
Valdivia
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’ve tried it in hotels and it works pretty well. I like my coffee very strong and somehow the pods they sell never leave me feeling happy. I always have to half the water and use two pods.
If we are talking about using pods I would recommend the Nesspresso machines. Perfect real espresso every time. I know they sell used refurbished machines at cheaper prices.
JoyceH
@SiubhanDuinne:
My sister has one – I always use it when I visit her. It’s neat. She doesn’t say she’s getting a cup of coffee, she says she’s getting a Delicious Beverage.
The countertop resident that I wouldn’t willingly live without is my Sodastream.
slag
@jeffreyw: Good to know. I need to check it out further. Glad to hear it’s easy. That’s important in this case (although it wouldn’t hurt to give these kids some deeper web skills).
Arm The Homeless
@SiubhanDuinne: My folks have one. It’s great if you often just want a cup or two, or get company who drinks coffee.
Don’t get suckered into buying the re-fills, they suck, and never tastes the same as the pre-measured cups. It’s an affront to the environment, but there is caffeine at stake. YMMV
the fugitive uterus
@jeffreyw: jungle kitteh!
trollhattan
@SiubhanDuinne:
I do like the just-in-time coffee-making concept, although the little pod thingies can kill you financially.
We use an espresso maker at home but I’d like to have one of the Keurig machines at work.
Alison
I hope some of you commies will be tuning in to the USMNT game against Brazil, starting in just a few on ESPN2.
I’m not so naive as to think this one will go anything like the match against Scotland, but I’ll be happy with, say, a draw and not getting our asses kicked :P
KNOCK ON WOOD.
cathyx
@khead: No, two for that column. I loved it too.
FlipYrWhig
@Litlebritdifrnt: I also distrust the doctor and have been fortunate to go only three times in the last 20 years. So we’ve been paying for nothing for decades, and that puts us… ahead? Odd how that works. But now that I’m 40 I’m dreading having various procedures be part of the routine.
@slag: I’m prone to a Colonel Kurtz mentality. Exterminate the brutes.
SiubhanDuinne
@Cassidy:
Thanks. That’s very helpful. I live alone, and long ago gave up on the several-pots-a-day coffee habit. I discovered the Keurig last week when I stayed with a friend (on my wonderful 4500-mile road trip, which is a whole nother story) and was very impressed with the quality.
the Conster
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I’ve become so contemptuous of the “health”care system and the pharmaceutical/insurance/medical industrial complex that I’ve decided to completely avoid it myself as much as humanly possible. I took a very bad fall three weeks ago and I thought I tore my hamstring, but instead I damaged the nerve cluster that causes sciatica. I took my diagnosis to the doctor of Chinese medicine who owns the wellness clinic near me, and instead of taking the muscle relaxants and pain pills I was prescribed every day, I started acupuncture and an herbal formula to help clear out the bruising and the inflammation, and am just about 90% back to normal after not being able to walk or sit.
I’ve become one of those annoying people who tell people to stop eating the crap they’re eating, and to stop taking the drugs they’re taking like all those fucking statins, and change their fucking diet asap. Americans are killing themselves with their diet, and big Pharma and big Insurance will make sure you die poor, fat and unhappy.
khead
@SiubhanDuinne:
Never wanted one.
Then my bro-in-law bought us a Breville machine for Christmas in 2010…
…and now you can only have it when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
the fugitive uterus
@JoyceH: we have one at work and it’s turned out to be rather unreliable. i think we replaced it and that one’s not working right either.
one thing that’s cool, though, is you can buy a little canister that you can fill with your own coffee and use that in the machine instead of the expensive K-cups, which also create a lot of waste
Gozer
Eating some Indian food and drinkin’ beer! and generally letting it all hang out (Dr. Mrs. Gozer is in SF visiting friends).
P.S. And by “letting it all hang out” I mean “eating too much and falling asleep watching HBO GO.”
SiubhanDuinne
@cathyx:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGeKSiCQkPw&feature=youtube_gdata_player
David Koch
how did Tumblr become so popular, when blogger and wordpress already existed?
some guy
celtics in 40 minutes.
dmsilev
@SiubhanDuinne:
We used to have one at work, and it was OK. The main problem we had with it, which is unlikely to be an issue for a home user, is that around 3 every afternoon there would be thirty people at once wanting their afternoon beverage and the poor thing just couldn’t cope with the load. Coffee was decent if you got K-cups loaded with decent quality coffee (duh), but a lot of the Keurig blends were so-so at best.
We switched a year or so ago to a Lavazza machine, which has been working much better. And it can make something approximating a latte as well! (though using powdered milk, boo)
slag
@FlipYrWhig: I’m always looking for (and rarely finding) good documentaries on bats. Spiders too. Documentaries can be particularly useful for inspiring empathy toward their subjects.
Violet
Aren’t those little pods that go in the Keurig (or similar) machines just filled with instant coffee? They were sampling them at the local supermarket and I asked the rep and that’s what they told me. Why not just boil some water and use instant coffee for one cup?
cathyx
@SiubhanDuinne: Thank goodness I’m a human and can get my own meat, because that would be me if I were a dog.
slag
@David Koch: I was wondering that myself. I think it may be slightly better at emphasizing the social aspect of social media. But I don’t know enough about it to be confident in that assessment.
J. Michael Neal
@JoyceH:
I’m still writing the rough draft of my first and EVERY SINGLE PERSON THAT SAID THAT THEY’D READ IT AS I WENT AND PROVIDE FEEDBACK HAS CRAPPED OUT so I really have no idea whether it’s any good. I’m much too close to this one to have any confidence in my own assessment.
cathyx
@J. Michael Neal: Send it my way. I have no problem being brutally honest.
Cassidy
@Violet: No. The coffee is actual coffee. The cappucino’s, etc. are usually just powders.
Also, just for general knowledge, you need to buy your K-cups stronger than what you normally like as they will tend to come out weaker. Ex: if you like a lighter roast, buy a medium roast.
SiubhanDuinne
@Arm The Homeless:
No, MMDNV when it comes to caffeine.
Thanks to everyone for advice, experiences, and suggestions.
Maude
@SiubhanDuinne:
You can get a small Mr. Coffee for single cup. Better coffee and won’t cost a fortune.
Litlebritdifrnt
@FlipYrWhig:
I never had a problem going to my GP in England. He made 40K a year regardless of whether I was sick or healthy. Didn’t matter. Over here it is all about money. They will no doubt send you for “tests” at clinics they own, or have an interest in. If you have health insurance then it is “testing” city baby! My boss has a friend who is a doctor, he had a health issue and they sent him for every test that there was imaginable, the boss said to the doc friend “I think they are just sucking off the insurance” his friend said “wait and see, if they send you for a sleep study then yes they are doing that”. The very next test they recommended was a “sleep study”. Bloodsucking vampires, every single one of them. The boss said to me today (talking about the doctors) “they make a million dollars a year, but they will do anything to make a million one, I don’t understand it”.
Stuck in the Funhouse
Watching the Reds play the Peerats, and staying indoors as all the fires around us are smokifying the outside environs. Forest fire smoke does a number on my sinuses.
Just Some Fuckhead
I still haven’t planted. If I don’t do it this weekend, I may miss.
J. Michael Neal
@cathyx: If you really want to, send some contact info to [donkey from winnie the pooh] 1968 at comcast dot net.
Paddy
@slag:
I agree 105% and have changed the headline. Funny, I was thinking that in the body of the post, but must have automatically just put in in the headline. Indoctrination doncha know.
Violet
@Maude:
Check Goodwill and other resale type stores for these. I picked up one that was brand new, complete with filters, a packet of coffee and the instruction manual. The only thing missing was the box. Cost me seven dollars.
J. Michael Neal
End of an era. Thanks for the 20 years, Nick. We’ll miss you.
slag
@Paddy: Right on. I do know.
danielx
The last day of high school for my daughter. Big sigh…so I’m taking her out for Cajun food. Tomorrow we assemble a photo collage for her graduation party/open house this weekend, which will no doubt be further cause for feeling old. At least she and I are doing it rather than she and her mom, because between the tears and bickering over which pictures to include it would never get done if they were doing it. More cleaning and prep work for the party this weekend too. Then graduation next weekend with six (so far) graduation parties to attend that weekend.
After five weeks of end-of-school hyperactivity the spousal unit gets a hip replacement on the 14th. I may have to put a rocket in my pocket* and wear my sailin’ shoes Friday night and go see some rock and roll, since it’s distinctly possible the rest of the summer will pretty much suck.
*Note: not the hip pocket; I’d just as soon not be confused with Assrocket, thankyewverymuch.
cathyx
@J. Michael Neal: I hope you mean donkey 1968 at comcast dot net because when I typed in the winnie the pooh part, it wouldn’t send.
Alison
@cathyx: Eeyore?
Violet
@J. Michael Neal:
Link broken. Who is Nick?
J. Michael Neal
@cathyx: Fill in the name of the donkey from Winnie the Pooh. The blue one with the nailed on tail.
SiubhanDuinne
@J. Michael Neal:
??? Better link, pls? This one has only the http:// and nothing else. Kthxbai.
J. Michael Neal
@Violet: Nick Lidstrom. Third best defenseman in the history of hockey. It sounds like he’s going to announce his retirement tomorrow.
p.a.
@Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn: i swear by Zicam. use the spray- has the added benefit of aiding weight loss because it really f&$!s up the taste buds…
J. Michael Neal
@SiubhanDuinne: Nick Lidstrom to announce retirement.
jharp
@khead:
Let me guess. Obama didn’t gather a lot of votes in your county last week.
CaseyL
@Studly Pantload, the emotionally unavailable unicorn: It’s horrible. Seattle hasn’t had this kind of violence since the gang wars. I don’t know if it’s bad economic times, crazy people who can’t get healthcare, or the beginning of just another cycle of violence.
I’m glad the City Council voted down extending open-bar hours. If we’re in for another era of spiking gun violence, one thing we don’t need is more drinking into the wee hours.
cathyx
@Alison: Oh, I get it. I was thinking of the donkey on Shrek who was named donkey, lol.
hitchhiker
Well . . . some people got randomly shot here today, in a nice old neighborhood near the university. And, yes, the word “nice” in this context means — ironically and wretchedly — that people will pay attention, because the whole scene was white people. Shooter, victims, etc.
Also I went to a meeting at my church, where there is a serious discussion about replacing a $2M pipe organ.
Also my youngest is about to graduate from a fine school. Her plan for next year is to work at a longterm care facility for homeless and abused women.
Also I get to work with some homeless women tomorrow about how to self-publish, which, yes, I have some experience in . . . the main message about POD is just that you don’t have to wait for permission. You get to do it all by yourself. I love books so much, and I want there to always be books . . . but I don’t mourn the downfall of the old publishing industry.
Random day, in other words.
Alison
Aaaaand the ref has already pissed me off. Rawr.
p.a.
@khead: I was helping a coworker on a project in a late 1800’s farmhouse. woman was home. had to duck going ‘down cellar’ (as we say here in N.E.); as I glanced up to check head clearance I saw something. Used my longnose and pulled out a 3 foot snakeskin from between the floor joists. “think we should tell her, Jack?”
“Pal, if that was my wife the for sale sign would be on the lawn by sunset. Don’t say a thing,”
slag
@danielx: Congratulations to the fam. Big changes!
Carrie
@SiubhanDuinne:
We have one at work and i have a Tassimo at home.
Personally? i prefer the tassimo. The coffee is cheaper, better and the unit isn’t as bulky, takes less counter space.
if you’re by yourself, look into the tassimo….it’s great.
put in the pod, press the button, go outside for a smoke and when you come back in there’s a decent coffee waiting for you.
I think the Keurig is gonna go the way of cassette players, beta’s even :-)
Davis X. Machina
@J. Michael Neal: My brother, who was born and raised 11 miles from Boston Garden, is a Redwings fan because of him.
khead
@p.a.:
Good call.
We had a minor ant invasion last weekend and I was afraid we were gonna have to move before we stopped it.
I think a three foot snakeskin would be grounds for burning the house down.
Odie Hugh Manatee
I’m rebuilding the door hinges on our Mustang and having fun dealing with the ‘quality’ of Chinese rebuild parts. The replacement door pins and bushings are not the size stated on the box. I’m having to combine GM door pins and Ford bushings to get the proper clearance and not end up with a sloppy hinge (kinda defeats the purpose of the rebuild). What’s ‘funny’ is that the inner diameter (ID) of the Ford bushings are 0.002″ smaller than spec’d, the GM bushings are anywhere from 0.004″ – 0.006″ larger than spec.
The Ford bushings are supposed to have a 0.002″ larger hole than the GM bushings, yet they are the size that the GM bushings are supposed to be. Someone needs to teach them Chinese some remedial maths.
The Chinese win again, Ford bushings and GM pins it is.
FlipYrWhig
@khead: I hate hate hate ants. There’s an orange-oil product that works well on killing them and creating a perimeter they won’t cross. I got a tip from a guy at Ace Hardware.
slag
@khead:
Pepper works for this. Also cinnamon.
SiubhanDuinne
@Carrie:
Thanks for all this.
You’re almost making me sorry I quit smoking 20 years ago :-)
SiubhanDuinne
@FlipYrWhig:
Please, do you know what it is called? The ants are HORRIBLE this year, more so than usual.
I’m afraid when push comes to shove, I would make a very poor Buddhist.
TooManyJens
We’ve had good luck with Terro for ants.
handsmile
@Alison: (#73/115)
Sorry, I’m afraid that your wishes of “a draw and not getting our asses kicked” may not be answered tonight.
With Brazil mostly fielding a young squad of second- and third-team choices against what appears to be the US main starting IX (save Dempsey), the match has been lop-sided so far. I hope it remains a “friendly.”
Even should the match end unhappily for us/US, competition against international squads of this caliber are instructive: it offers a better assessment of overall US quality and maturity, questions that remain open, particularly after failing to qualify for the London Olympics.
J. Michael Neal
@p.a.: I bet she doesn’t have any problem with mice in the house, though.
dr. luba
@the Conster: I developed a radiculopathy a few weeks back (sciatica, but at a different nerve root level), and read up on it–it seems that, like lower back pain, there’s to much you can do to make it better, it heals on its own for the most part. I got a few scrips (which I didn’t use, but it’s nice to have a bottle of pain pills around the house just in case), and a scrip for physical therapy that I didn’t follow up on, as I was going out of town. I’m pretty much back to my normal now, and a few weeks back was on crutches and couldn’t even stand straight.
What I’m saying is that your treatment choice probably didn’t actually influence your outcome. I went and saw my doctor for a diagnosis (I was pretty sure I knew what was wrong with me, but wanted to be certain I wasn’t missing anything), and discussed treatment options with her. We decided that doing nothing would probably be right in this case, but she gave me back-up options in case it didn’t work out for me.
I’m self-paying $640 a month for health insurance and have no prescription coverage. Yeah, it’s expensive, but if I do get sick, seriously sick, I will be covered for treatment. And having seen the sort of bills that can be run up from even a short hospitalization, I prefer not to risk going bankrupt for medical reasons. YMMV
BTW, statins are probably overprescribed, but they can be life savers. Most people, even with extreme diet changes, can lower their cholesterol only about 10%, as most of it is produced endogenously. Eating well is a good idea, but if you have familial hypercholesterolemia, it won’t save you.
Carrie
@SiubhanDuinne:
sigh, i envy you so much.
how did you quit?
this WILL be my last pack, i swear.
Linnaeus
Nick retiring. Knew it had to happen some day. Thanks for the memories.
FlipYrWhig
@SiubhanDuinne: Just checked… it’s called Orange Guard. Their website.
Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)
I’ve had a pretty good mad on all day about GOP voter caging and our fourth estate’s cowardly failure to cover it. As I figured, The Maddow led off with it. If anyone else brought it up, I missed it.
p.a.
@J. Michael Neal: or small dogs/cats! :(
Svensker
@Violet:
I have a little Melitta filter that fits over a mug and I make my afternoon coffee with delicious fresh ground beans and some fresh nearly-boiled-but-not-quite water. No fuss, no muss, quick and delish. Who needs a machine for that?
p.a.
@SiubhanDuinne: most commercial exterminators use a chrysanthemum extract which, unless I’ve been lied to, is very effective and very safe. and (voice of experience here) NEVER plant peonies near a structure: carpenter ants love ’em.
gelfling545
I just finished visiting with my baby girl ( so she’s 28. So what.)who is off to Poland for a month. Being her, she had to wait until she was married with one child and another on the way and her husband in Afghanistan before going to college. So now it’s two kids and, thank gods her husband back home safe if somewhat the worse for wear and she’s set to graduate in history next spring BUT for the honors degree in her area she needs foreign study time so she’s off. My son in law will be doing single parent duty but he is gracious enough to admit that she did it alone for longer, so he is doing it with good will. He’s a good man. Since she lives near me I usually spend time with her at least once a week so I will miss her and I really hope today’s nuttiness about Polish/in Poland will not cause anti American difficulties.
danielx
@SiubhanDuinne:
You’re not alone; somehow I suspect it has to do with the period of 80 degree days in March (March!!!) that went on for a week and a half. I’m seriously considering putting up more fiber cement siding at this point – vertical wood siding (t1-11) sucks big time, especially because siding guys never do what they’re supposed to and prime it front and back. Ants just love it, unfortunately.
Mnemosyne
@gelfling545:
I wouldn’t worry — it was one former Fox News contributor trying to make a stink. I think she’s safe as long as Chicago continues to be the second largest Polish city in the world.