My tulips are coming up. But we’re also getting more freezing weather tomorrow. So…
6.
lamh32
so I’m watching CBS sitcom “Mike & Molly”, and the “situation” of the night involves this scenario: when is it too “soon” to tell someone ur dating that when u die you’d like to be buried next to them? Is 2 months of dating too early for that type of commitment…lol!
7.
cyntax
This obviously not thread to be discussing what the weather in the Bay Area is like.
So… my new favorite drink is rye whiskey, sloe gin, absinthe, with some honey, lemon and a sprig of rosemary. Very warming, a bit refreshing, and goes well with a lot of foods.
Open thread– awesome!!! Here’s an update on the pittie puppeh who adopted us last week — with puppeh picture goodness!
15.
MsSkwEsq
Here in Chicago we got slammed with snow and now it below zero, yikes! My poor daughter was stranded on Lake Shore Drive on a CTA bus for almost 8 hours, scared witless. The waves were 15 feet high and there were gusts of 75 mph and thunder snow. So don’t complain to me about snow!
16.
Cliff
although he said we were a generation behind, isn’t a generation 10 years? japan has had shinkansen for decades.
Well, as long, and snowy, and cold as this winter has been, it’s dyill better than last year. Two 20″ nor’easters in one week almost broke me. We’ve been getting <6" weekly, and it's a heck of a lot easier to shovel.
That being said, I'm really tired of the cold west winds that hit the front of my house. I just foamed more cracks and put painters tape on the seams of the crappy replacement windows the DPO* installed. Maybe it'll feel warmer soon.
Has everyone seen the Wael Ghonim interview? He’s the google exec who just got out of prison in Egypt, and this interview is reinvigorating the protest movement. It’s heartbreaking, but worth watching in full.
24.
Nicole
Good thoughts to a childhood classmate of mine, who just received a double-lung transplant today, and gratitude to the family of the donor who, in the newness of their grief, were still able to think about other people’s needs.
Roran knelt down and slowly dragged his hands through the nearly virgin soil. It’d hadn’t been marched upon by the filthy boots of the enemy, it was still fresh and clean. With a gentle hand he lifted up a tiny bit, just between his fingers, watching as it flowed back to the earth where it came from, where it belonged. The remaining crumbs he pressed to his lips, tongue flicking out to tasted it delicately. He savored the taste. Such a fine bouquet of flavor he’d never tasted. It was full of the earth. Everything he could want in one heady taste, sending a slight groaning longing in him. He wanted to plow deep into this soil and reap crops from it. Over and over, this is what he should be doing here, not trampling over it like some sort of beast, but taking care of it. Loving it dearly. Put his full sweat and muscles into it every day, pushing dearly. Until he finally collapsed, empty and ruined til the next morning.
On the east coast they call it ‘snowmageddon’ or ‘snowpocalypse’. Here on the West Coast we call it ‘Schadenfreude’.
In September, when it’s 105 and the whole state is on fire, statements like this will come back to haunt you.
30.
RossInDetroit
Snow. Bah. I’ve been stuck at my computer entering data for my boss for… let’s see… 9 hours now, and at least 3 hours to go.
It’s 16 degrees out but I am definitely strolling down to the corner to replenish the Scotch supply this evening.
31.
Luci
I do believe that every single person I know, including myself, has gone completely mad with the weather this winter. All we talk about is the weather and all we think about is how long until spring. It’s been a long year so far.
Also… Riley is about as cute as he can be, and I wish I were there to give him a nice pat and snuggle! You’re a good soul to foster him, and I’m sure he appreciates it.
Since last Thur I’ve managed about 200 mi on the Harley. Highs of mid 40s but no snow on the roads. I finally just couldn’t stand it.
35.
RossInDetroit
Weather: it’s what you talk about when there’s nothing to talk about.
The wind chill will be minus 9 tonight. I filled up the bird feeders and put out another suet block this afternoon. In this weather the critters need all the free calories they can get.
36.
Left Coast Tom
I’m looking for one of the mid-1990s type winters when Tahoe-area resorts reported 300+ inch bases and Mammoth was open into August. It’s not happening, I has a sad.
I had no idea Bill Kristol was a mohel. Jewish moms out there, would you let Bill Kristol in the same room with your newborn son? With a knife in his hand? I may be just another ignorant Catholic, but the idea is incomprehensible to me.
38.
stuckinred
Took the doggies out after work and saw a big golden up the street wandering. I made my way to him and it was a very old critter that obviously had vision and hearing issues and was struggling to walk. I unleashed my “good” dog and hooked the big boy up and brought him home. Couple of other folks walked by and said they’d seen him wandering for a while. I brought him in and he was worse than I thought. Horrible nails, matted all over, couple of cuts and stinky of pee. I got him to eat, cleaned up as much as I could and started searching for an owner by posting his pic on the Facebook. I was convinced that a dog in that bad of shape was probably just turned out to die. We talked and tried to figure out what we’d do. The obvious answer,since no one in their right mind would adopt a dog in his condition, was that we’d keep him. I thought if someone did claim him I’d get all up in their shit for his condition. Couple of hours later a pal called and said he’d run across a dude looking for a dog of this description. I met up with him and he was all appreciative and said it was his roommates dog. I gave him the woofer and said “he sure is in bad shape, I cleaned him up the best I could and fed him”. I guess I was relieved enough that I wasn’t going to have to do doggie hospice that I didn’t go any further than that. It’s amazing to me that someone who cares about an animal could let one go like that. Shit.
OK. Seriously. Am I the only person on earth who loves the winter and snow? Really? I am? I love this weather. Summer gives me SAD, winter makes me happy. I’m moving to an unsettled province of northern Canada (the coldest place on earth, according to the Googles).
@stuckinred: Like I said, you did what you could, and you did more than many people would have.
42.
PurpleGirl
No snow in the forecast for NYC area for a few days, but it is cold and windy. From the National Weather Service:
Mostly clear, with a low around 15. Breezy, with a west wind 18 to 21 mph decreasing to between 10 and 13 mph. Winds could gust as high as 36 mph
.
Yeah, I can hear the winds outside. Apartment is warm and cozy.
43.
Cat Lady
Truck Day in Boston today – an annual rite of impending spring that includes the smell of diesel fumes and appropriate mocking of fans who show up to wave to the equipment wombats. Hey, it’s a long time between football and baseball.
@Left Coast Tom: That’s true. So you did. I missed your post amidst all the haters. Then again, you don’t actually live IN snow, do you? So, you can’t love it all that much. And, I will ignore what you said about summer.
46.
Gravenstone
Just watched Lawrence O’Donnell’s show tally up the number of times Billdo the Dildo interrupted the President during his superbowl interview. 72 times, or an average of once every 19 seconds. Obama literally couldn’t get a complete answer out. Just another tally in the infinite list of why I despise the multi-generationally inbred cock sucking cum-guzzling whore that is Billdo.
47.
McKnuckles
Breezy 60 degree day here in SF and it would be a beautiful day anywhere from my perspective after regaining my freedom after doing 8 mos. in SQ over drug related bullshit. Just g
lad to be back reading the wonderful comment section of one of my favorite sites. Keep me laughing and engaged!
@MsSkwEsq: She was on the Drive?! Holy schmoly that was something else – all those poor people! I’m not sure that’s a story I would want to have to tell my grandchildren. Was she on the bus with the crazy driver who kept yelling things like “we’re all gonna die”? Poor thing!
Here’s how big Chicago’s snow story was: Last week I was absolutely, positively obsessed with events in Egypt and had Al Jazeera on on my computer kind of all the time. At one point they started showing footage of the cars stranded on Lake Shore Drive.
Also, too – today the sky was brilliant blue in Chicago (hence the zero temps of which MsSkwEsq spoke) and I am so done with the whole “winter” thing — not least the damn walls of snow — that I found I was trudging along, looking glumly at the ground. I finally forced myself to look UP — gotta get as much sun into the eyes as possible at this time of year!
Thanks for all the Riley props, peeps! I’d have answered sooner but I’m still reading that Paul Haggis-Scientology New Yorker story someone linked to over here last night. Jesus God, the fucker is 26 pages long. This is why journalism is dying.
52.
Anne Laurie
@Southern Beale: Oh, Riley does look like a total sweetie — no wonder he charmed you into letting him winter by your fireplace!
A tool you might want to consider to make walks easier for both of you: ask your vet about fitting a prong collar. Yeah, they have a ‘bad reputation’ (like, erm, pibbles) but they’re safer for short-coated dogs with muscular shoulders than the standard chain chokes. A prong collar doesn’t “pinch” the puppy’s trachea, just the back of his neck (like his mom would, to keep him in line), and it’s easier for him to remember his manners if he doesn’t associate Being Good with bronchial spasms. One of my first dog-owning friends was a tiny little woman who bred Great Danes, who are big softies but susceptible to tracheal issues; the mechanics of the prong collar were an important issue (when her vet first recommended them, she actually tried one on her own neck to verify that they were about safety & not inflicting pain!)
I don’t know how much snow we’ve had, but it’s enough that the piles are too high for plowing. The city is running with snow blowers on all of its sidewalk plows, and the bucket loaders are out in force in private parking lots.
55.
Gin & Tonic
@asiangrrlMN: “Love” may be strong, but I like it, mostly because I like the changes. Although shoveling snow off the roof isn’t a lot of fun. But otherwise it’s OK.
56.
Gina
@Southern Beale: Nice one! The pups take stamina, but they’re good for midwinter blues.
57.
fcc
I’ve spent the last five days chopping ice and shoveling to great profit, while my super insulated house sits happily with 40″ of free insulation atop it. More snow please.
58.
Gina
@asiangrrlMN: I have to say, I do like snow more than no snow myself. Winter is great for me, no asthma or sinus issues to speak of. And bonus snow means all the crap I forgot to pick up and put away outside gets covered in a lovely blanket of sparkly white stuff (springtime, um, not so much). I adore the days when it’s an arctic high, with the bright sun and cloudless blue skies.
59.
2liberal
we get a few snowflakes here in metro PHX every 3 years or so. It never accumulates of course. I have seen ice – this is when lawn irrigation water freezes overnight.
Thanks everyone for the various collar tips for Riley. We’re trying to rewrite the software (behavioral training) before going for hardware solutions. So far it’s working … we’re going to give it a shot, at least. Good to know other alternatives are out there if this doesn’t work.
No I actually love the snow. I love the cold. My best warm day is a high of 65. If I could live in Scandinavia I would.
I just really hate dealing with the snow and cold AND not having socialized medicine, a strong social safety net, and a community that understands pro hockey. Seriously, if I have to deal with this weather I should get the whole package.
:-)
62.
morzer
Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse. Apparently Alaska’s answer to Miss Mubarak is writing a memoir, and has a noble willingness to run for office:
Miss Palin told E! Online on Monday that she would “probably” run for office one day
“If I saw something that needed to be changed, then I would step up to the plate and do something about it,” she said.
@Anne Laurie: We had a prong collar on our German Shepherd pretty much all the time. I got chided by the vet one time, who told me she needed more exercise, that’s why she was so hard to walk. He took it off and took my doggie back to the exam room.
When he came back he looked at me and said “That’s the strongest dog I’ve ever seen.” I put the collar back on and we had successful walks until she left us a couple of years ago.
ETA: Did I mention that when she saw a small white dog once (we called them Breakfast Dogs) she pulled so hard that she bent some of the prongs flat?
There are a number of things one might like to say to Mr Lansburg, but let me congratulate him instead for his inspiring opposition to fallacious arguments from anecdote. One may wonder, however, whether this commonplace error is among our society’s most pressing problems, much less among our society’s most serious epistemological failings. I take it that Mr Wahls’ problem, the problem he was addressing in his uplifting oration, is that a powerful political faction convinced of the essential evil of homosexuality by a magical book seeks to injure his family by voiding his mothers’ marriage of its legal standing and stripping his family of the status and respect that flow from that.
I do take issue with the author referring to “Mr Lansdburg’s often illuminating popular writing.” Steven Landsburg is a complete douchbag tool, and nothing he writes is illuminating.
68.
Origuy
I saw this on Facebook; I’d forgotten about this Tom Lehrer song, but it’s still relevant after 50 years. Send the Marines.
you can train a dog to do amazing things if they understand that they will get pay for performance
Our doglet has been bribed into using a litter box. ‘Bacon’ treats do the trick. No more trips out into the snow for his digestive comfort.
70.
Jim, Once
@RossInDetroit:
I filled up the bird feeders and put out another suet block this afternoon. In this weather the critters need all the free calories they can get.
Yes. We’re filling our feeders every three days (and those feeders hold a LOT). We’re retired, and sometimes wonder if we should be doing this ($40 a bag, after all). But we just can’t NOT do it. Poor things.
71.
Violet
@morzer:
You didn’t get the key part of the E! interview with Bristol from the Telegraph. Money quote (and I do mean money):
“I think it would be a good enough payoff if I knew that I was going to go into something and change it and make it better,” Palin said.
Payoff. She’s learning well from her mother.
72.
Jim, Once
@Southern Beale: But isn’t it great? I’m trying to get all my reading friends on it.
73.
Jim, Once
@Jim, Once: Jesus Constipated Christ. I have no idea what happened there.
Wake Forest freshman outfielder Kevin Jordan needed a kidney transplant. None of his family members was a suitable match for a donation.
__
That’s when his baseball coach, Tom Walter, stepped in.
__
Both men are recovering at Emory Hospital in Atlanta after Walter donated a kidney to Jordan on Monday. One of the surgeons in the procedures, Dr. Kenneth Newell, said the operations went well and that both men are expected to make full recoveries.
1 pound of hotdogs (the cheap bar-s ones) $0.88 at walmart equals 5-800 treats. I see no reason to support “dog treat” makers.
ps if the dog does not respond to a command those cheap hotdogs are just really skinny baloney … you can eat it with no problems, it also puts stuck up pups in their place if you eat their treat when they don’t obey.
edit: they taste like the oscar meyer baloney FYI.
Word Press hates our freedoms and our way of life.
78.
Suffern ACE
@Jim, Once: Eventually nature should take over and your expenses should go down. My dad was feeding the birds the first half of the winter and making homemade suet for them. When I was home at Christmas I as amazed at the number of species of birds he had, many of which I don’t remember having around growing up. Fortunately (or not), a hawk eventually caught on to the location of the menagerie and just perched out. He made a meal of a few of them and they dispersed.
79.
frosty
@Origuy: EVERYTHING Tom Lehrer wrote is still relevant. Try Pollution or Political Science to start with.
Well maybe not everything. Hopefully “So long, Mom, I’m off to drop the bomb, so don’t wait up for me.” is finally obsolete.
Dog treats are more expensive than hot dogs but we can keep them in teh bathroom with the litter box. A small package lasts 2 months for our dog.
Speaking of treats, his favorite is frozen vegetables. Nothing stirs that animal out of bed faster than the sound of the freezer door. He’ll do anything for a quarter cup of frozen green beans. Anything.
He’ll do anything for a quarter cup of frozen green beans.
What *is* it about green beans? Buddy of mine has this gorgeous golden lab, all business, but even a hint of a promise of green beans, and that animal is like a crack junkie catching a whiff of 8-ball. Dog would rob banks for green beans if he had opposable digits and a concealed-carry.
@RossInDetroit: Wow, that was totally too cute. Thanks for all of it (rescue and pic).
87.
RossInDetroit
There’s a whole series of pix on the rescued baby ducks. My wife, not a Nature Person at all, somehow manages to end up in charge of infant bunnies, snakes, birds and once a tiny black squirrel she named Skeezix. The very distilled and concentrated essence of adorable. All have been raised and repatriated.
@burnspbesq: Sure, pick the one month out of 12 when there’s a sligthly better than 5% chance that the weather will be more livable on the east coast than out here in the Bay Area. I’ll take those odds.
90.
Jim, Once
@Suffern ACE:
Well, we’ve been feeding them for eight years now here in the country, so …
And yeah, we have the hawks – the Cooper hawk is the one that terrifies our birdy babies. It’s really fun to watch the pilieated woodpecker try to eat out of the feeder – all eighteen inches of him.
Fortunately (or not), a hawk eventually caught on to the location of the menagerie and just perched out. He made a meal of a few of them and they dispersed.
When we were feeding heavily I had a ton of pigeons in the yard. The hawks eventually started hanging out to pick off the pigeons. I have a bunch of hawk pix from the yard here and here.
cathyx
How much do you have where you are?
blogbytom
Dude, I was there two weeks ago.
joe from Lowell
Last week, when I was flipping through the channels, I stopped on a fishing show, just because the weather looked really nice on that lake.
A few days ago, I had a dream that I was transplanting daffodil bulbs that had sprouted in my lawn. Gee, Doctor, whatever could it mean?
schrodinger's cat
Me too. In Western Mass, we have had more snow than in elebenty years. Do not want. Ceiling Cat, I can has spring?
Violet
My tulips are coming up. But we’re also getting more freezing weather tomorrow. So…
lamh32
so I’m watching CBS sitcom “Mike & Molly”, and the “situation” of the night involves this scenario: when is it too “soon” to tell someone ur dating that when u die you’d like to be buried next to them? Is 2 months of dating too early for that type of commitment…lol!
cyntax
This obviously not thread to be discussing what the weather in the Bay Area is like.
So… my new favorite drink is rye whiskey, sloe gin, absinthe, with some honey, lemon and a sprig of rosemary. Very warming, a bit refreshing, and goes well with a lot of foods.
MikeJ
@joe from Lowell:
Dreams about running your hands through fresh, fertile soil, while you put in plants that humans value only for their sex organs?
You’re a plant fucker.
sukabi
just for declaring you’re at your limit, the weather gods will bless you with a foot or two more before the melt…
haven’t you learned by now that you DON’T tempt fate?
Maude
House failed to pass Patriot Act extension.
Snow is a four letter word.
Cliff
OMG hardball guy said something I agree with.
That was a Epic rant on high speed rail Chris, keep on it.
Geoduck
@cyntax: Ditto the Seattle area. Although the weather’s still been screwy these last few years; the change is upon us.
Tom Hilton
On the east coast they call it ‘snowmageddon’ or ‘snowpocalypse’. Here on the West Coast we call it ‘Schadenfreude’.
Only got up to the low ’60s today, but you can’t have everything.
Southern Beale
Open thread– awesome!!! Here’s an update on the pittie puppeh who adopted us last week — with puppeh picture goodness!
MsSkwEsq
Here in Chicago we got slammed with snow and now it below zero, yikes! My poor daughter was stranded on Lake Shore Drive on a CTA bus for almost 8 hours, scared witless. The waves were 15 feet high and there were gusts of 75 mph and thunder snow. So don’t complain to me about snow!
Cliff
although he said we were a generation behind, isn’t a generation 10 years? japan has had shinkansen for decades.
http://www.google.com/images?um=1&hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&biw=1183&bih=912&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=shinkansen&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=
frosty
Well, as long, and snowy, and cold as this winter has been, it’s dyill better than last year. Two 20″ nor’easters in one week almost broke me. We’ve been getting <6" weekly, and it's a heck of a lot easier to shovel.
That being said, I'm really tired of the cold west winds that hit the front of my house. I just foamed more cracks and put painters tape on the seams of the crappy replacement windows the DPO* installed. Maybe it'll feel warmer soon.
*Damned Previous Owner
asiangrrlMN
I would seriously love it if you sent it to me personally, Cole.
@Southern Beale: Aw aw aw! Riley is soooo cute. Good on you for taking him in, whether it’s as a foster or a permanent thing.
burnspbesq
On a more somber note …
The plaintiffs have filed a petition for cert in the Supreme Court in Mohamed v. Jeppesen, the state secrets doctrine case from the Ninth Circuit.
The law in this area is FUBAR, but I don’t see the current court doing anything but making it worse, so I’m hoping that cert will be denied.
mr. whipple
@schrodinger’s cat:
Awesome!
gogol's wife
@Southern Beale:
I love the two-toned face! He should be on an “Our Gang” comedy.
I’ve had quite enough snow for the rest of my life, thank you.
abscam
@Southern Beale: Lovely doggeh!
middlewest
Has everyone seen the Wael Ghonim interview? He’s the google exec who just got out of prison in Egypt, and this interview is reinvigorating the protest movement. It’s heartbreaking, but worth watching in full.
Nicole
Good thoughts to a childhood classmate of mine, who just received a double-lung transplant today, and gratitude to the family of the donor who, in the newness of their grief, were still able to think about other people’s needs.
Cliff
@Southern Beale:
Pulling issues are easily solved with a gentle leader.
or proper use of a wonder lead:
http://www.gundogsupply.com/wonleadbydel.html
or if you are rural and want range to play consider a e-collar with some training.
http://www.gundogsupply.com/dog-training-collars-buyers-guide.html
BTW, Molly has the SD-800 and loves it, although I would of gotten the SD-1825 if I was getting it again
Thoroughly Pizzled
@MikeJ:
You’re welcome.
Elisabeth
@Southern Beale:
Jesus, what a cutie!
Suffern ACE
Could care less what your upper limit is. I’ve got snow to get rid of, and you have enough when I say so.
SKADI
burnspbesq
@Tom Hilton:
In September, when it’s 105 and the whole state is on fire, statements like this will come back to haunt you.
RossInDetroit
Snow. Bah. I’ve been stuck at my computer entering data for my boss for… let’s see… 9 hours now, and at least 3 hours to go.
It’s 16 degrees out but I am definitely strolling down to the corner to replenish the Scotch supply this evening.
Luci
I do believe that every single person I know, including myself, has gone completely mad with the weather this winter. All we talk about is the weather and all we think about is how long until spring. It’s been a long year so far.
Also… Riley is about as cute as he can be, and I wish I were there to give him a nice pat and snuggle! You’re a good soul to foster him, and I’m sure he appreciates it.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Luci:
Weather has given me a serious case of SAD this year, I mean serious. I just want a day of sunshine.
hamletta
You and me, both, Cole. We’re supposed to get another 1-3, or 5, or 6 inches tomorrow.
Nashville just doesn’t get this kind of thing!
Chuck Butcher
Since last Thur I’ve managed about 200 mi on the Harley. Highs of mid 40s but no snow on the roads. I finally just couldn’t stand it.
RossInDetroit
Weather: it’s what you talk about when there’s nothing to talk about.
The wind chill will be minus 9 tonight. I filled up the bird feeders and put out another suet block this afternoon. In this weather the critters need all the free calories they can get.
Left Coast Tom
I’m looking for one of the mid-1990s type winters when Tahoe-area resorts reported 300+ inch bases and Mammoth was open into August. It’s not happening, I has a sad.
burnspbesq
Shocking Revelations!
http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/02/glenn-beck-is-right/70945/
I had no idea Bill Kristol was a mohel. Jewish moms out there, would you let Bill Kristol in the same room with your newborn son? With a knife in his hand? I may be just another ignorant Catholic, but the idea is incomprehensible to me.
stuckinred
Took the doggies out after work and saw a big golden up the street wandering. I made my way to him and it was a very old critter that obviously had vision and hearing issues and was struggling to walk. I unleashed my “good” dog and hooked the big boy up and brought him home. Couple of other folks walked by and said they’d seen him wandering for a while. I brought him in and he was worse than I thought. Horrible nails, matted all over, couple of cuts and stinky of pee. I got him to eat, cleaned up as much as I could and started searching for an owner by posting his pic on the Facebook. I was convinced that a dog in that bad of shape was probably just turned out to die. We talked and tried to figure out what we’d do. The obvious answer,since no one in their right mind would adopt a dog in his condition, was that we’d keep him. I thought if someone did claim him I’d get all up in their shit for his condition. Couple of hours later a pal called and said he’d run across a dude looking for a dog of this description. I met up with him and he was all appreciative and said it was his roommates dog. I gave him the woofer and said “he sure is in bad shape, I cleaned him up the best I could and fed him”. I guess I was relieved enough that I wasn’t going to have to do doggie hospice that I didn’t go any further than that. It’s amazing to me that someone who cares about an animal could let one go like that. Shit.
stuckinred
@Chuck Butcher: Softtail?
Nellcote
LaPalin’s media withdrawl via Funny of Die:
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/5bc6d41ec7/sarah-palin-media-addict
We about died laughing.
asiangrrlMN
OK. Seriously. Am I the only person on earth who loves the winter and snow? Really? I am? I love this weather. Summer gives me SAD, winter makes me happy. I’m moving to an unsettled province of northern Canada (the coldest place on earth, according to the Googles).
@stuckinred: Like I said, you did what you could, and you did more than many people would have.
PurpleGirl
No snow in the forecast for NYC area for a few days, but it is cold and windy. From the National Weather Service:
.
Yeah, I can hear the winds outside. Apartment is warm and cozy.
Cat Lady
Truck Day in Boston today – an annual rite of impending spring that includes the smell of diesel fumes and appropriate mocking of fans who show up to wave to the equipment wombats. Hey, it’s a long time between football and baseball.
Left Coast Tom
@asiangrrlMN:
At #36 I was wishing for 300+ inches of snow on the ground and skiing in August…
Although, I also like summer.
asiangrrlMN
@Left Coast Tom: That’s true. So you did. I missed your post amidst all the haters. Then again, you don’t actually live IN snow, do you? So, you can’t love it all that much. And, I will ignore what you said about summer.
Gravenstone
Just watched Lawrence O’Donnell’s show tally up the number of times Billdo the Dildo interrupted the President during his superbowl interview. 72 times, or an average of once every 19 seconds. Obama literally couldn’t get a complete answer out. Just another tally in the infinite list of why I despise the multi-generationally inbred cock sucking cum-guzzling whore that is Billdo.
McKnuckles
Breezy 60 degree day here in SF and it would be a beautiful day anywhere from my perspective after regaining my freedom after doing 8 mos. in SQ over drug related bullshit. Just g
lad to be back reading the wonderful comment section of one of my favorite sites. Keep me laughing and engaged!
Left Coast Tom
@asiangrrlMN:
No, but I see Tahoe or Mammoth as reasonable retirement locations when the time comes. I do _camp_ in snow, though.
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
@MsSkwEsq: She was on the Drive?! Holy schmoly that was something else – all those poor people! I’m not sure that’s a story I would want to have to tell my grandchildren. Was she on the bus with the crazy driver who kept yelling things like “we’re all gonna die”? Poor thing!
Here’s how big Chicago’s snow story was: Last week I was absolutely, positively obsessed with events in Egypt and had Al Jazeera on on my computer kind of all the time. At one point they started showing footage of the cars stranded on Lake Shore Drive.
Dude. Al Jazeera!
/Oak Park is almost Chicago.
Emily L. Hauser/ellaesther
Also, too – today the sky was brilliant blue in Chicago (hence the zero temps of which MsSkwEsq spoke) and I am so done with the whole “winter” thing — not least the damn walls of snow — that I found I was trudging along, looking glumly at the ground. I finally forced myself to look UP — gotta get as much sun into the eyes as possible at this time of year!
Southern Beale
Thanks for all the Riley props, peeps! I’d have answered sooner but I’m still reading that Paul Haggis-Scientology New Yorker story someone linked to over here last night. Jesus God, the fucker is 26 pages long. This is why journalism is dying.
Anne Laurie
@Southern Beale: Oh, Riley does look like a total sweetie — no wonder he charmed you into letting him winter by your fireplace!
A tool you might want to consider to make walks easier for both of you: ask your vet about fitting a prong collar. Yeah, they have a ‘bad reputation’ (like, erm, pibbles) but they’re safer for short-coated dogs with muscular shoulders than the standard chain chokes. A prong collar doesn’t “pinch” the puppy’s trachea, just the back of his neck (like his mom would, to keep him in line), and it’s easier for him to remember his manners if he doesn’t associate Being Good with bronchial spasms. One of my first dog-owning friends was a tiny little woman who bred Great Danes, who are big softies but susceptible to tracheal issues; the mechanics of the prong collar were an important issue (when her vet first recommended them, she actually tried one on her own neck to verify that they were about safety & not inflicting pain!)
stuckinred
@asiangrrlMN: Yea, I was venting!
PeakVT
I don’t know how much snow we’ve had, but it’s enough that the piles are too high for plowing. The city is running with snow blowers on all of its sidewalk plows, and the bucket loaders are out in force in private parking lots.
Gin & Tonic
@asiangrrlMN: “Love” may be strong, but I like it, mostly because I like the changes. Although shoveling snow off the roof isn’t a lot of fun. But otherwise it’s OK.
Gina
@Southern Beale: Nice one! The pups take stamina, but they’re good for midwinter blues.
fcc
I’ve spent the last five days chopping ice and shoveling to great profit, while my super insulated house sits happily with 40″ of free insulation atop it. More snow please.
Gina
@asiangrrlMN: I have to say, I do like snow more than no snow myself. Winter is great for me, no asthma or sinus issues to speak of. And bonus snow means all the crap I forgot to pick up and put away outside gets covered in a lovely blanket of sparkly white stuff (springtime, um, not so much). I adore the days when it’s an arctic high, with the bright sun and cloudless blue skies.
2liberal
we get a few snowflakes here in metro PHX every 3 years or so. It never accumulates of course. I have seen ice – this is when lawn irrigation water freezes overnight.
Southern Beale
Thanks everyone for the various collar tips for Riley. We’re trying to rewrite the software (behavioral training) before going for hardware solutions. So far it’s working … we’re going to give it a shot, at least. Good to know other alternatives are out there if this doesn’t work.
Southern Beale
@asiangrrlMN:
No I actually love the snow. I love the cold. My best warm day is a high of 65. If I could live in Scandinavia I would.
I just really hate dealing with the snow and cold AND not having socialized medicine, a strong social safety net, and a community that understands pro hockey. Seriously, if I have to deal with this weather I should get the whole package.
:-)
morzer
Just when you thought it couldn’t get worse. Apparently Alaska’s answer to Miss Mubarak is writing a memoir, and has a noble willingness to run for office:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/sarah-palin/8312433/Bristol-Palin-writing-memoir.html
So that’s what Arizona has to look forward to…
schrodinger's cat
@mr. whipple: Thanks! I am glad you like my lol!
frosty
@Anne Laurie: We had a prong collar on our German Shepherd pretty much all the time. I got chided by the vet one time, who told me she needed more exercise, that’s why she was so hard to walk. He took it off and took my doggie back to the exam room.
When he came back he looked at me and said “That’s the strongest dog I’ve ever seen.” I put the collar back on and we had successful walks until she left us a couple of years ago.
ETA: Did I mention that when she saw a small white dog once (we called them Breakfast Dogs) she pulled so hard that she bent some of the prongs flat?
Cliff
@Southern Beale:
Hot dogs are 88cents a pound at walmart here.
a single hotdog can be cut down to hundreds of treats …
So, you should explore clicker training as you can get a puppeh to do anything for a tiny bit of hotdog.
http://mollymaesden.blogspot.com/2010/08/leave-it-training.html
you can train a dog to do amazing things if they understand that they will get pay for performance… (Hi you Liberal Pups!)
Peter
Just stumbled across this on the youtubes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5QjnqjwII2Q&feature=watch_response
Mark S.
This was all kinds of awesome:
I do take issue with the author referring to “Mr Lansdburg’s often illuminating popular writing.” Steven Landsburg is a complete douchbag tool, and nothing he writes is illuminating.
Origuy
I saw this on Facebook; I’d forgotten about this Tom Lehrer song, but it’s still relevant after 50 years. Send the Marines.
RossInDetroit
@Cliff:
Our doglet has been bribed into using a litter box. ‘Bacon’ treats do the trick. No more trips out into the snow for his digestive comfort.
Jim, Once
@RossInDetroit:
I filled up the bird feeders and put out another suet block this afternoon. In this weather the critters need all the free calories they can get.
Violet
@morzer:
You didn’t get the key part of the E! interview with Bristol from the Telegraph. Money quote (and I do mean money):
Payoff. She’s learning well from her mother.
Jim, Once
@Southern Beale: But isn’t it great? I’m trying to get all my reading friends on it.
Jim, Once
@Jim, Once: Jesus Constipated Christ. I have no idea what happened there.
MattR
For some inspirational news (and a different feature story about this)
BruceFromOhio
@Nicole, @MattR: Good thoughts to them all, may Gaia bless their lands, their lives, and their loved ones.
Check the damned box when renewing your drivers licenses, people!
Cliff
@RossInDetroit:
1 pound of hotdogs (the cheap bar-s ones) $0.88 at walmart equals 5-800 treats. I see no reason to support “dog treat” makers.
ps if the dog does not respond to a command those cheap hotdogs are just really skinny baloney … you can eat it with no problems, it also puts stuck up pups in their place if you eat their treat when they don’t obey.
edit: they taste like the oscar meyer baloney FYI.
RossInDetroit
@Jim, Once:
Word Press hates our freedoms and our way of life.
Suffern ACE
@Jim, Once: Eventually nature should take over and your expenses should go down. My dad was feeding the birds the first half of the winter and making homemade suet for them. When I was home at Christmas I as amazed at the number of species of birds he had, many of which I don’t remember having around growing up. Fortunately (or not), a hawk eventually caught on to the location of the menagerie and just perched out. He made a meal of a few of them and they dispersed.
frosty
@Origuy: EVERYTHING Tom Lehrer wrote is still relevant. Try Pollution or Political Science to start with.
Well maybe not everything. Hopefully “So long, Mom, I’m off to drop the bomb, so don’t wait up for me.” is finally obsolete.
Lyrics site:
http://www.sing365.com/music/lyric.nsf/Tom-Lehrer-lyrics/00AAF31EC6C79B4548256A7D0028A9E0
RossInDetroit
@Cliff:
Dog treats are more expensive than hot dogs but we can keep them in teh bathroom with the litter box. A small package lasts 2 months for our dog.
Speaking of treats, his favorite is frozen vegetables. Nothing stirs that animal out of bed faster than the sound of the freezer door. He’ll do anything for a quarter cup of frozen green beans. Anything.
Another Commenter at Balloon Juice (fka Bella Q)
@burnspbesq: Indeed, I read that, and suspect alien abduction.
Ash Can
@Cat Lady:
Woo-hoo! Winter’s days are numbered!
RossInDetroit
Here’s a pic of our dog Geezer checking out Charlie and Daphne, a pair of orphan wood ducklings being raised in his bath tub.
BruceFromOhio
@RossInDetroit:
What *is* it about green beans? Buddy of mine has this gorgeous golden lab, all business, but even a hint of a promise of green beans, and that animal is like a crack junkie catching a whiff of 8-ball. Dog would rob banks for green beans if he had opposable digits and a concealed-carry.
asiangrrlMN
@RossInDetroit: That is really freaking cute.
Another Commenter at Balloon Juice (fka Bella Q)
@RossInDetroit: Wow, that was totally too cute. Thanks for all of it (rescue and pic).
RossInDetroit
There’s a whole series of pix on the rescued baby ducks. My wife, not a Nature Person at all, somehow manages to end up in charge of infant bunnies, snakes, birds and once a tiny black squirrel she named Skeezix. The very distilled and concentrated essence of adorable. All have been raised and repatriated.
BruceFromOhio
@RossInDetroit: Seems the end totally justifies the means.
Tom Hilton
@burnspbesq: Sure, pick the one month out of 12 when there’s a sligthly better than 5% chance that the weather will be more livable on the east coast than out here in the Bay Area. I’ll take those odds.
Jim, Once
@Suffern ACE:
Well, we’ve been feeding them for eight years now here in the country, so …
And yeah, we have the hawks – the Cooper hawk is the one that terrifies our birdy babies. It’s really fun to watch the pilieated woodpecker try to eat out of the feeder – all eighteen inches of him.
Off to bed now.
RossInDetroit
@Suffern ACE:
When we were feeding heavily I had a ton of pigeons in the yard. The hawks eventually started hanging out to pick off the pigeons. I have a bunch of hawk pix from the yard here and here.
Cliff
@RossInDetroit:
Had a dog in the house for a few months who would do tricks for iceberg lettuce. I thought that was a bit weird.
Paul in KY
@stuckinred: Good on ya for taking care of him. You are a kind soul :-)