So far, none. But everyone is freaking out. I realized how different my priorities are since I quit drinking, because I would have hit the liquor store yesterday were I still on the bottle. Now, I just made sure I had enough half and half and cat food, because being left alone snowed in in the woods with this beast and no cat food would be dangerous:
Took that late last night while he was snoring.
raven
It’s a clusterfuck in Charlotte and they are worrying about the game!
Betty Cracker
Your priorities are correct; clearly it would be child’s play for that monster to take you down and feast on your carcass.
Luthe
What’s the half-and-half for? Because I wouldn’t want to be snowed in with a cat that size after it had dairy…
Pogonip
Yes, he looks quite dangerous. And fluffy. That’s a critter you want sleeping on top of your feet.
And I bet he hardly ever barks.
Baud/Jane 2016: Because It’s A Jungle Out There.
raven
I have a buddy, old infantry guy, who owns a bail bond business. He had a situation where he flew to Miami to get an RV after a guy shot himself inside. There was a cat inside and it took a few days to discover what had happened. When they opened it up it smelled really badly but the cat was fat and happy. My buddy drove the damn thing back to Georgia and said it was OK with the windows open on the open highway but stopping for gas was not fun.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
You know the most … interesting … people.
Pogonip
Does he really snore? I don’t think I’ve ever heard a housecat snore. I heard a zoo lion snore once. I always wanted to hear a roar but a keeper I asked about what time it was best to come by in hopes of hearing a roar said they very rarely roar during business hours. The best roar times are dawn and dusk.
ThresherK
@raven: Shot himself? That’s just what the cat wants us to think.
catclub
Our large cat sounds more like wheezing, when sleeping.
raven
@ThresherK: Ding!
Pogonip
@raven: I read the autobiography of a coroner who said that cats immediately start eating on a deceased owner, whereas dogs usually wait a couple of days. Must be religious differences.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: I know a couple of bail bond/bounty hunter guys. It is an interesting business to say the least.
raven
@Pogonip: You’re killin me over here! I wonder what Cole’s herd would do? Would the fat cat get it all or would the dogs tag team like the wolves in the Revenant?
Poopyman
@raven: Nicely placed for those BJers checking in on their lunch hour. And I thought one of my cat’s eating her brother’s puke was bad.
I came back from picking up cat food and dry cleaning a few minutes ago, and the stores were humming. The liquor store between the Giant and dry cleaners was doing a brisk business at 9:30, earlier than they usually open. And the owner had decided to start this evening’s wine tasting by then.
raven
@Poopyman: Well, that’s just EST. And, besides, the blog guy brought it up.
raven
@Poopyman: What is this Giant that ya’ll Yankees keep talking about?
p.a.
Looks like a real threat. Would he shed you to death?
gratuitous
Just make sure the Blu-Ray is in good working order. Maw, get me my sittin’ pants; it’s time for the extended Blu-Ray version of Lord of the Rings!
schrodinger's cat
@Pogonip: Cats don’t like stale meat. Fresh is best! Whereas dogs are scavengers so not picky eaters like most kittehs are.
Floofy beast is floofy. Want!
Poopyman
@raven: I get the sense that dogs would only do that if hunger drove them to it, while cats always seem to be sizing us up for edibility, even though they’re fed early and often.
raven
@p.a.: That’s a trap. The dude is ready to pounce at the least sign of weakness.
raven
@Poopyman: See p.a. , that’s what I’m talkin bout!
Poopyman
@raven: As she said when she cracked open a bottle “well, it’s 5 PM somewhere”.
Trite but true.
raven
@Poopyman: I work from home and just got told to take the rest of the day of on account of the weather!
Poopyman
@raven: It’s like a cross between a Publix and a Safeway.
raven
@Poopyman: Sounds. . . Giant!
Howard Beale IV
You could always put up the French Toast Alert widget.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@Pogonip: My late and much-missed Phoebe, adorable fluffball and World’s Most Affectionate Cat, would sit with her paws crossed in front of her like a proper lady, come when called like a good little girl, and snore like a passed out drunk sailor.
She also once blew her nose on my arm.
MattF
@raven: It’s a DC-area supermarket chain. Used to be run by local people, including the well-known and well-liked ‘Izzy’ Cohen- but it was eventually bought out by a megacorporation. Still OK, but not as good as in the old days, needless to say.
raven
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: I think I’m going to head out to Trader Joes and see what’s up!
Adam L Silverman
@raven: Its three different grocery stores that aren’t related. You’ve got the Giant that you find throughout Pennsylvania and parts of Northern Maryland and some other places. Then you’ve got the Giant in the National Capital Region, which isn’t related to the other Giant. And finally you’ve got Giant-Eagle, which I’ve seen in Bucks County, PA and over in the western side of Montgomery County, PA in the Philadelphia suburbs. It isn’t related to either of the other two Giants.
Howard Beale IV
@Pogonip: Mine (Persian) does.
raven
@MattF: Cool, our local store is “Bell’s” and it’s owned by a bunch of rednecks. But they do sell white dirt for folks to eat.
Poopyman
@raven: Can’t argue with a directive like that.
I was already taking the day off, so I’m sitting here in the upstairs BR watching a neighbor cut up a tree he just dropped into firewood-sized chunks. Hope he’s not thinking of burning it during Snowmageddon II.
raven
@Adam L Silverman: Sheesh, ya can’t tell the groceries without a scorecard.
Mai.naem.mobile
You guys laugh but I worked with a woman whose Dad was found dead with parts of him chewed off b his dogs. I.didn’t ask any questions because it was TMI and none of my business. They weren’t close and he lived in a rural area with a few guard dogs – not Pits. He had chronic health issues and had been dead for a few days.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@raven: Might run into my husband if he stops there on the way home from work. Sarcastic guy in an Athens Transit uniform. Neither of you tolerate bullshit — you’d probably get along well.
Mike J
@Poopyman:
She was a winner
That became the doggie’s dinner
She never meant that much to me
Woe, poor Marie
Luthe
@Pogonip: One of my cats snores loud enough that I have half-jokingly asked the vet if a cat could have deviated septum.
@raven: Giant is a grocery chain. However, true Yankees don’t shop at Giant; you rarely see them north of Delaware. Real Yankees shop at Stop & Shop or Shaw’s.
@Adam L Silverman: Which one is the sister store to Stop & Shop?
japa21
@raven: Cool. Our company specifically says if there are office closures due to weather, employees re still expected to work and if you work in the office but have the ability to work from home (me, for example) you are expected to put in a full day’s work.
Steve in the ATL
@raven:
Remember the old Bi-Lo on North Avenue that got shut down and is now a Piggly-Wiggly? Giant is like a shittier version of that.
raven
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: I live about 4 blocks from the city yard. Tell him to look at the gardens behind Dixie Painting in the Kudzu hole.
laura
My ancient gentle tabby snores and snuff and it has a soothing effect on the entire household.
Chet the weiner-dog doesn’t so much snore but dreams aloud.
Critters are funny.
Adam L Silverman
@raven: I only know this because I was TDY in DC and went to the Giant near my hotel to pick up a couple of items and my member card wouldn’t work. I’m pretty sure the Giant in PA is its own independent group and the Giant-Eagle’s are owned by the same consortium as Kroger and King Soopers.
raven
@Steve in the ATL: Damn, that was a rough place! You see the “Murder Kroger” t-shirts they are making for the one in your fair city?
raven
@Adam L Silverman: And getting TDY pay just like them Air Force cookie pushers! (:
Cermet
Sorry to hear of the ice – worst of the worst; the storm is nearing DC and soon will hit the Washington-Baltimore area. They are now calling for a full 26 inches here north of Baltimore and 35 -50 wind gusts with white outs. About to head home – have extra gas for the generator, food and ready to start clearing a very short driveway (only about 100 meters with a bridge that has no railings … .) Looks like late Monday or Tuesday will be the first days the roads will be passable … .
Adam L Silverman
@Luthe: Its not the Giant’s in Central PA. It is its own group. Its probably the Giants from the National Capital Region.
raven
@Cermet: Hang in there!
Adam L Silverman
@raven: I you meant meals and incidentals? Yes, I did.
chopper
@Pogonip:
i think that’s because dogs like everything just a bit fermented. they’ll eat their own poop as long as it has sat in the yard for just a few days to ripen.
Steve in the ATL
@raven: Only shopped there a couple of times. You could buy any part of the chicken except the breast! Never figured out how to grill neck, beak, or feet….
gvg
My big cat does snore. He also walks loudly, not at all dainty cat feet like the previous pets. You can hear small thuds as he walks across floors and coffee tables with little tap taps of his toenails added. Largest cat I’ve ever owned. Was 18lbs at one point but diet has him down to 12. He is not just bigger, but built out of denser muscle than other cats and weighs more than I would expect just looking at him. He was a very solidly built athletic kitten who used to think it was fun to run through the house and head but cabinets. Body built more like a bulldog than a cat except for cat ears. tailless, but mom resembled a Japanese bobtail not a manx so we think thats his genetic source. Very definately snores.
TaMara (BHF)
One of my cats snores, too. It’s freakin’ adorable. Steve is such an awesome beast.
One year, when I was the person to three Great Danes, a predicted snow storm suddenly became a blizzard warning – I looked in the food bin – no way would we make it three days if snowed in – so we drove out in the quickly worsening snow to stock up on dog food.
I have never allowed myself to run low in the winter months ever again. Cat or dog kibble.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@raven: I work from home too. It’s strange watching inclement weather predictions, thinking “cool, an excuse not to have to drive an hour to Johns Creek,” then remembering I don’t have to do that anyway. It’s a nice perk for lowly support staff like me, and I don’t think I’ll ever fully get used to it.
Of course, if my job can be done from my house, it can also be done from somewhere in Asia. One day the corporate PTB will look at each other and say, “Why not?” And I’ll be screwed.
It’s fun while it’s lasting, though.
raven
@Adam L Silverman: In my day almost everyone in the damn Air Force was TDY and they got extra pay, housing, chow and all that shit. We flunky GI’s got hard dick and bubble gum and they were fresh out of bubble gum!
chopper
@raven:
man i used to live by the murder kroger. after a decade of being known by that name they revamped a bit and got themselves a new image, and then like a week later some dude got murdered in the parking lot.
raven
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: My situation was just blind luck. It happened ten years ago and will probably hold until I retire. One lucky “cat” I am.
raven
@chopper: Paree on Ponce!
http://www.parisonponce.com
satby
PSA for any job seekers: if you get an email from a place you applied for, especially if you applied through Indeed.com that asks you to do a screening interview through Google Hangouts, it’s a scam. I was suspicious fairly quickly, but it was a fairly straight screening interview at first. I was trying to ID the guy on LinkedIn in another tab, and he wasn’t on… first clue. Second was when he asked where I banked if I wanted direct deposit. Goodbye. They recalled the email, so I can’t report it. I tried reporting it as a phishing scam to Google, but have no idea if they’ll ever act on it.
Adam L Silverman
@raven: Okay, that is beyond my experience. I was on legit TDY for a meeting at the Pentagon and then another at NDU. I spent enough time on TDY from NOV 2008 through SEP 2009 to last me a life time. I was constantly bouncing between planning team meetings, training sites, and working groups. I was probably on the road three out of every four weeks for a year if the travel had been planned coherently/consistently.
Villago Delenda Est
The Lord and Master of the Cole household will eat well, regardless of the circumstances. If that means human and dog cutlets, so be it.
Germy
My cat sleeps with her eyes open.
Yesterday she was sprawled in a comfortable position. Breathing steadily. Looked asleep, but eyes were open and staring. I thought, “maybe she’s just resting” went to pet her, and she blinked and woke up, her eyes coming into focus.
raven
@Adam L Silverman: Sound like good duty! This was my permanent duty station for a year and I was one of the lucky ones!
Bobby Thomson
@raven: that’s a Food Lion.
geg6
I’m kinda disappointed myself. They keep lowering the snow totals here. Guess we’re only getting 1-3 at most. Bummer. I was really looking forward to watching Lovey bounce around in some deep snow. She too comical in just the little bit of snow we’ve gotten so far this year and I was very curious to how she’d react to a really good dump of the white stuff. Especially since it would happen over a weekend. Oh well. I’m sure we’ll get one before winter is over.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@raven: He said, “Yep, right down the street.” On his own and my behalf, he waves a friendly hello in your general direction.
Adam L Silverman
@raven: That looks fun.
To a certain extent the TDY was okay. We were trying to revamp, nail down, and square away the training protocols for the down range teams. Some of the meetings were at the program offices in Newport News and some were at the training site in Leavenworth. I also had the occasional meeting in DC and would go to academic conferences. I got real tired of living out of hotels and eating out.
Once I got assigned to USAWC the travel started to slow down. My first year I only did about a week of TDY every five weeks or so. Most of it involved programmatic work in trying to get the larger cultural advisors program up and running combined with providing support to operating headquarters. By my last year I was doing much less travel with the biggest blocks being going to Germany every three months for about a week to ten days.
raven
@Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA: Does he ever eat at White Tiger?
Randy P
@raven: My telework agreement says I work normal hours when my employer is closed for snow. Which they just announced at 2 pm. A real test of my work ethic.
Somehow I don’t think they’re going to get that report that was due at “COB Friday”. And which was requested at 3:30 pm yesterday.
Snow prep: I’m working more on comfort than on snowmaggedon panic. Want to make sure I have everything I could possibly need to be happy and that there’s absolutely no reason to run an errand till Sunday. Probably have to start digging out on Sunday morning, but I’m hoping not to leave the house till then. (In most blizzards I do end up running an errand mid-bliz, but that’s because I’m weird and like going out when everyone else is all panicked.)
And I did actually count the cans of cat food as we’re running low.
raven
@Randy P: Yea, normally I just work too, I was a little surprised but what the hey!
wvng
Not enough people have noted that THIS IS AN AWESOME PICTURE OF THE NOBLE STEVE!
Poopyman
Welp, the radar tells me I’m getting snowed on, but nothing’s made it to the ground yet. That may change between now and Sunday.
We’re at the very end of a pretty long run of overhead wires from the nearest substation, so I’m confident the power will fail once the winds get over 50 mph. Not sure if the wood stoves can keep the pipes from freezing, and we’re on a well, so keeping water trickling is not going to be a long-term option. And of course we have no backup generator, which we’ve planned for this spring/summer. Not much help now though.
Randy P
My new favorite weather app is Weather Underground, but I haven’t been able to get any forecasts this morning. My guess is they’re being DOS’ed by storm-watchers.
Emerald
@wvng: Indeed it is an awesome pic! This blog needs moar Steve. I’m glad to have seen moar of him in recent weeks. I was beginning to think John had lost him and just couldn’t bear to tell us.
Wally Ballou
Don’t forget to get the bread and milk.
jeffreyw
Power’s out, they are replacing a pole. Alas and woe – our generator would not start although it did try. Bad battery I suppose.
MomSense
Steve! I love that floofy, magnificent feline.
I’m not following the news at all so I have no idea how much snow you are expecting. I will try to freak out for all y’all in solidarity but I’m pretty jaded about snowpocalypse panic after the last couple winters.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Twitter tells me to day is the March for “Life” in DC. Would it be mean to laugh?
Face
Snow? Where? East Coast? Did someone tell the national media?
Oh yeah, they did. About 7 days ago.
trollhattan
@Pogonip:
Our zoo’s lion pair had cubs and we visited around the time they were first allowed outside, into the exhibit area. Dad stood on a rock roaring his enormous head off, bragging I presume. “Yeah, I did that y’all.” The roars literally shook one’s innards.
This is dad in his more typical state.
Punchy
Not surprised. Those electricians from Warsaw are worthless.
trollhattan
@Punchy:
Accept no Romanians!
MazeDancer
Excitement is rampant in the Weather World because it is still unknown if snow is going to happen north of 1-84 in the NY State over through the Berkshires to Western MA zone. That’s, basically, a line about 80 miles north of NYC.
Big discussions among meteorologists. Some models say “yes, snow”, some say “big storm not coming that far north”. And HudsonValleyWeather.com admits “We live for this”. And made a 15 minute YouTube video to fully discuss the variables and differing opinions. (Which you can find at their site, should you share their enthusiasms.)
Seems like last Winter there were many, many days of one-foot snow falls without media-geddon. Which is why most people – who don’t ski – in the NE remain extremely grateful for the lack of same white stuff so far this Winter. (Knocking wood for continued lack of deluge.)
MattF
Twitter is all agog with reports of snowflakes in and around DC. And it’s true, even in Bethesda.
J R in WV
Since the new snow started around 9am we have nearly 5 new inches, on top of 2 left from Wednesday’s little weather event.
So over half a foot on the ground in a little more than 5 hours…that’s pretty substantial. We’re supposed to have a “dry band” pass over here shortly, but so far no sign of even a let up in the deluge of snow, much a stop in snowfall.
And we did go out yesterday, it was snowy but not unsafe, and we had Dentist appointments for actual work to be done. So we stopped at the big Krogers for all kinds of good stuff. One shop I went into had a rack of light weight snow shovels, so I bought one in case we need to shovel off the flat roof. If you get a couple feet of snow, followed by rain, you can get crushed buildings.
Beckley, where I grew up, and 90 miles east and 1800 feet higher in elevation than home now , had a 30 inch snow followed by rain a few years ago, and had nearly 50 buildings crushed, not counting porch roofs, garages, etc. One was a new Krogers, and canned goods shot clear across the street, and that building wasn’t close to the F’ing street!
Cross posted from the other SNOMAGEDDON thread.
Adam L Silverman
@Randy P: Or its out blowing up mailboxes.
Germy
@Adam L Silverman: No, the snowplows do that.
Poopyman
@MattF: We’re feeling ripped off in Southern MD.
Poopyman
@Poopyman: Oops! Spoke too soon. Flurries have started.
J R in WV
@Poopyman:
What city is near you? Cause I forget…
Poopyman
@J R in WV: Well, none, technically. We’re about 20 miles SE of DC.
Brendancalling
@Pogonip: my cat snores. It’s a funny little buzzing sound.
JPL
When we lived in CT, during storms the toddler would like to watch the plows. I noticed that they would leave five feet of snow in front of the driveway when he was watching. You can figure out the rest of the story..
Shell
Well, I made sure to replenish the Chardonnay supply.
Here in the Montclair area, NJ, we’re supposed to get 6-12 inches. But were kind of on the fringe..a couple of towns further north and its almost a dusting.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@satby: Zooks! That’s horrible. Is there anything out there that someone isn’t using to try to scam people? :-(
Someone out there must be working on ways to take over self-driving cars to kidnap the occupants. Someone else must be working on ways to take over Roombas to vacuum up wallets and jewelry and dump the contents down the street, or something.
:-(
I’m glad your spider sense was tingling. Thanks for the heads-up.
I hope our genius soon-to-be overlords start thinking about security issues like these a lot more seriously.
Best of luck with the search! Hang in there.
Cheers,
Scott.
daverave
My big orange tabby, Buddy, definitely snores. Although he’s getting on in years at 14, now and then he will do a borderline painful bite to remind us that my wife and I are not only his servants but will be cat food under the right circumstances.
glory b
@Adam L Silverman: Giant Eagle is headquartered in Pittsburgh. I have a neice who once worked for it. It’s huge, now moving into Ohio and Indiana. Owned by the Shapiro family.
jeffreyw
… and I’m back on mains power. My Co-op peeps are good, better than the fuckers that put in the generator, still waiting on them. I’m set up with a bunch of minimal capacity UPSs to tide me over the 30 seconds or so until the generator kicks in, I had to scurry around shutting those off lest the beeping summon birds too early, it is not yet spring.
Steeplejack
No snow yet here in Threadkill Lane, on the line between Arlington and Fairfax counties in NoVa. On the radar we’re in a little zone of clearness that is getting enveloped.
I kicked the thermostat up to 74° in case the power goes out later (more heat to dissipate) and put a couple of big containers of water in the refrigerator. The housecat’s heating pad is set to 3 (“low simmer”). She is dozing with her “I didn’t come here to work” face on. Guess we’re good to go.
Pogonip
@raven: First come, first serve.
ruemara
Working on the film website, press kits, festival submissions… I thought I was done.
Booking an artist for the cartoon stuff, building a budget for the next episode of the film, voiceover stuff and hopefully fitting in some kickboxing practice before I zumba. Nice to finally have some budget money to do all the things I’ve been sitting on for over a decade.
J R in WV
@Poopyman:
That’s near. We’re about 20 miles SW of Charleston, WV…sometimes luggage winds up in that other Charleston down south.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Steeplejack: I’m south of you, near MtV. We’re getting flurries now and things are trending white on the ground. You probably don’t have long to wait.
Cheers,
Scott.
Felonius Monk
@Adam L Silverman:
Or themselves.
max
@Cermet: They are now calling for a full 26 inches here north of Baltimore and 35 -50 wind gusts with white outs.
Ah. The last run of GFS I saw says we’re getting 36″+ here in the hills. Which in our case might mean 48. Woo.
Looks like about 2-3 inches so far.
max
[‘Goin’ shovel all day, gonna shovel all night…’]
jl
Are the establishment GOP Trumpists the rebel forces of good holed up in their Valley Forge through their winter of discontent. Or is that the establishment GOP Cruzites?
Mike J
Shit Trader Joe’s ran out of.
Adam L Silverman
@Felonius Monk: that too.
Linnaeus
Rained like the dickens yesterday here in the Emerald City. Great for stormwater sampling, not so great for my arms after carrying around all those sampling bottles. Water is heavy.
satby
I know all you (more southern) Easterners aren’t used to snows like this. Just stay safe, because there’s almost nothing that can’t be put off for a few days. I’m hoping it’s not too bad, and because everyone prepared, it turns out to have its fun moments. If you’re prepared, even the power outage days can be an adventure, not a tragedy. Fingers crossed for you guys, anyway.
trollhattan
Don’t know if it’s been brought up before, but Woody Guthrie went to battle against he elder Trump for how he ran his housing empire. Evidently the old man was a piece of work (shocking, right?).
Poopyman
@jl:
In keeping with another topic on this thread I read that as “crudites”. Only with Cruz. Ick.
satby
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: Thanks Scott. They were quick, when I busted on the guy he deleted his gmail account as he pulled back the email so I couldn’t recover it. He thought. Before I flagged him, I had copied the whole chat, it should be enough for Google and the FBI to track down the IP.
geg6
@Adam L Silverman:
You are wrong. Giant Eagle is the western PA chain. It goes into Ohio and, I think, West Virginia. I know because that’s my grocery store. Their in-house Market District foods are excellent. The pastas, especially. And the actual Market District stores are your fanciest Whole Foods on steroids.
MazeDancer
@Cermet:
Sounds like you’re prepared, but good luck. (Those howling winds will be no fun, either.) May there be some nice, cosy, safe and snug inside your home feelings, too.
Adam L Silverman
@geg6: I’ve only been in the one near Plymouth Meeting outside Philly.
Shell
I have a friend who’s an executive producer on a film in competition at Sundance. She flew out today and I joked that she picked a good weekend to get out of town , then realized, uh, yeah they get snow in Utah too.
Shell
Uh no. Its an adventure for a grand total of half a day, then goes downhill fast. Its a lot like camping. Only with camping you can give up and go home when you’ve had enough.
Elizabelle
SerialKillerSnowstorm Jonas Wayne Gacy has arrived in Northern VA. Been here about an hour; first in a desultory manner, now putting down a lovely powder dusting. Street and sidewalks covered; grass — not yet.
Outside, one frantic and energetic squirrel.
And, to herald the great storm event, this morning looked out across the deck at 7:30 to spy a very large red fox. Taking a dump under a tree in the backyard. Wishing I had a camera, because that is NOT something you see every day.
Fox finished his business, jumped gracefully to the fence nearby, perched there lightly — like a cat — and disappeared into the neighbor’s yard.
Was thankful the cat across the street was not over yet on his “good morning” rounds. This was a BIG fox, assume it was male, but did not look predatory.
RoonieRoo
Ugh. I just want to bitch about the fact that once a post is off of page one, you can’t get to them. Makes me crazy.
raven
@Adam L Silverman: Lots pof travel!
Germy
@RoonieRoo: archives selector on the right of the site?
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@raven: Not that I know of. I’ll ask when he gets home.
Glidwrith
@ruemara: Film? What film? Do we get more Rom-com?
Woodrow/asim
@Shell: This. I also work from home a great deal, and have my work PCs/routers/phones on UPSes, and I’m on gas for heat plus a business class cable-based Internet line with really good support. A power loss isn’t an immediate hellhole: I have time to alert people, power down stuff, and so forth. But it can get that way fast, if I’m not careful or I’m bogged down with critical work.
And if I’m snowed in, the local Starbucks, much less a hotel, is Not A Option.
raven
of
Adam L Silverman
@raven: The reality was that the meals and incidental pay actually covered my dog sitter fees when I traveled. So unlike a lot of folks, I wasn’t banking any money.
Betty Cracker
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Yes, very mean.
@RoonieRoo: That irritates me too, but there are workarounds, such as clicking a category (if you know it) and summoning older posts that way. You can also click an author’s name and see a list of their recent posts.
Elmo
I’ve been moving stuff from the fridge to the front porch so that when the power goes out it won’t spoil. I have 35 gallons of water set aside for two people, five dogs, and three cats. We made roast chicken so we will have cold chicken to eat all weekend.
I think we should be ok.
Steeplejack
@RoonieRoo:
You can snag ’em by putting the date in the address bar, e.g.:
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2016/01/21
That gets you all the posts for yesterday.
Or you can make it even more specific:
http://www.balloon-juice.com/2016/01/22/page/2/
That gets you the posts that have dropped off today’s front page.
Poopyman
I see that the southern extremity of this storm is still in Cuba.
Hmmmmm.This can’t be a good omen.
I blame Raul.
MattF
@Elizabelle: In the hour or so since I last looked, it has gone from flurries to s-n-o-w. Coming down.
Elmo
@Poopyman: out of curiosity, which side of the Pax are you on?
Stacy
@Elizabelle: We’re in NoVa as well, Leesburg area which is expected to get upwards of 30″. If you’re interested follow Jay’s Wintery Mix on Facebook. He’s a weather hobbyist and very accurate. We too get a pair of foxes that trot through our backyard much to my dog’s chagrin. One time my 17 year old cat was outside and dashed into the house about 25′ in front of the fox while my dog stood at the backdoor barking. The fox barely acknowledged either one and proceeded to “mark” the yard while my dog watched. Then off he went back to his den. Every hear one “scream” at night? Very unnerving.
satby
@Shell: Well, my longest here in Snyder’s magical Michigan has been 5 days in summer (no power also = no water when you have a well) and about 4 days in winter. So I have some experience in lasting for more than 1/2 a day, but then I’m also a disaster services person and have deployed to earthquake and hurricane zones. My bar for comfort is pretty low.
RoonieRoo
@Steeplejack: Thank you!! The date trick is exactly what I needed.
HeartlandLiberal
A beautiful cat. Looks like our recently departed Buckaroo, who died three weeks ago, age 18. Damn, I miss that cat. Everyone morning was spent feeding and interacting with him,part of the morning ritual since I stll get up at 6 am, even though retired. He was deaf as a post the last year, but would still go outside, do his rounds, and when he came back in, stand at the foot of the stairs and yowl loudly up them to let us know he had come home. If my wife and I ever raised our voices to each other, he would appear out of thin air, get between us, and stop talking, forcing us to defuse and calm down. One of the most loving and intelligent cats we have ever had. I had left the garage door open while running an errand to the store a few months back, drove back into the circle, clicking the door opener as I forgot I had left it open. The door would start down, the bounce back up. As I pulled into the drive, I saw why. Buckey was sitting right at the threshold, blocking the electric eye, so the door had started down, saw it should not close, so bounced back up. He of course could not hear it, so he just sat there waiting for me to get out of the car and love on him. Which I so wish I could do again right now.
$DEITY I miss him.
Germy
@HeartlandLiberal: He was lucky to have such loving humans in his life.
RoonieRoo
On the cat front, has anyone gone through the radiation treatment they do for thyroid issues in cats? We have our labs and consult coming up before we start the treatment. Just curious what to expect from other cat owners that might have gone through it.
The Golux
@Mai.naem.mobile:
Which removes any doubts I might have had about keeping this household pet-free.
Stacy
Steve is just awesome.
Elizabelle
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: You’re nice to just laugh. I am rooting for injuries.
WaPost on today’s March for Life, the smallest ever — imagine that.
Well, alrighty.
Le sigh.
geg6
@Adam L Silverman:
They’re headquartered here in Pittsburgh. It’s the only place I’ll buy meats and seafood around here. And if I can’t get to a farmer’s market or the local fruit/vegetable market near my house, their produce is generally pretty good. It’s where you can get the more unusual/exotic ingredients (though not all of them). The Giant Eagles are the more general grocery stores, though mostly quite nice. But the Market District stores are very upscale, with restaurants, high-end chef demos (saw Michael Symon and Michale Voltaggio do demos at the one closest to me) and gourmet products. The Giant Eagle closest to my house even has a state wine and liquor store inside, so I can buy wine with my groceries, something that is pretty unusual in PA.
April
@HeartlandLiberal: So sorry for your loss. For little things they sure leave great big holes in our hearts and daily lives when they leave us. Hope the Steve pic brings up more fond memories than pain.
Steeplejack
Okay, I’m getting snow now (in Falls Church). It went from zero to the street is white in about 20-30 minutes. Small flakes, coming down fast.
I was reminded by another car that I forgot to point my windshield wipers up so they don’t get frozen to the windshield. Oh, well, not going out to fix it now. I parked in the auxiliary parking lot behind the building a couple down from mine. I didn’t want to parallel-park on the street, because the snow plow always leaves a tasteful ridge of snow along the driver’s side of the parked cars. And with this storm that’s going to be yooge.
Elizabelle
@Stacy: Yes. Did hear some foxes screaming over the summer.
Wondered if it was birds. They do it in the predawn hours. Unnerving is right.
Why do they scream? Are they communicating with each other, or romancing, or fighting?
I love Leesburg! Lucky you!
Poopyman
@Elmo: eastern, by about 120′
Elizabelle
@HeartlandLiberal: What a great cat. Hugs.
Steeplejack
@HeartlandLiberal:
My condolences on your loss. Remember the good times.
Elizabelle
@Steeplejack: That’s great to know. Thank you.
Sometimes I summon them by including as many odd topics from the thread as I can remember. Is a treasure hunt.
Germy
@Elizabelle:
Someone should have thrown a condom at her parents.
Elmo
@Poopyman: We’ll have to compare notes when this is over. I’m in Waldorf.
Shell
Don’t quite get the connection/outrage. Don’t these prevent unwanted pregnancies ?
Germy
The Archives feature on the right of this page works fine. You select a month, year and you can see all the posts you want.
Cacti
The Great Orange Satan has posted something to top Cole’s FP post last week about the whitest thing ever.
Intoxicated concealed-carry gun owner “accidentally” discharges his gun during a showing of Benghazi film, critically injures woman.
trollhattan
@Elizabelle:
Joni should get her Iowan butt out there and show off her breadbag footwear to the assembled crazies.
She bookends so very well with Steve cantaloupe calves King. The hell happened to Iowa?
Jay C
Well, reading this thread has made me realize some of the advantages we have living in the middle of a Big City (NYC) – not much danger of serious damage/inconvenience from even major snowstorms (power, water, transport, etc); makes me thankful that the worst we probably have to deal with is a lack of fresh bagels for a day or so — maybe. Done a bunch of shopping just to make sure I don’t have to go out tomorrow: we plan to stay home, make soup, and (me, anyway) watch the Weather Channel. Hope all the Juicers “out there” outside urban areas come through OK.
@RoonieRoo:
Have you discussed all the treatment options with your vet? We had a cat some years ago (orange tabby DSH), who was diagnosed with thyroid problems at about age 12: surgery, radiation, and pills were the
choices back then – when we were told we would have to pill the cat anyway (for life) even after other treatments, we opted for the pill-a-day treatment: which worked, Max lived to be nearly 18. The daily pill was a chore, though: Max hated them,had fangs like something from the La Brea Tar Pits, and had learned about half-a-dozen ways to spit them out/not-swallow them/maul the pill-giver. Miss him, though: the PITA was worth the extra years we got.
MrSnrub
@Adam L Silverman: With the taco truck on the roof? The taco place is rilly good.
Elizabelle
I know. I wait to hear the context of Carly’s “condoms”remark. The WaPost did not provide. Yet.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Probably too much to hope for that Luke “Luckysperm” Russet gets buried in a snowdrift, eh?
raven
@Adam L Silverman: What kinda dog do you have?
Ruckus
@Adam L Silverman:
I don’t think Giant-Eagle and Kroger are owned by the same company, at least not 10 yrs ago. When I lived in OH the were very much competitors. That may have changed but Giant-Eagle was a much better shopping experience than any Kroger or Kroger owned chain, such as Ralph’s here in CA.
Mike J
Trollin’ trollin’ trollin’, keep them doggies trollin’ …
raven
@Ruckus: Yea, my Kroger card works there.
catclub
@Jay C:
I definitely don’t live in a big city, But a small city/town. After Katrina, we got power back in a week. Folks in the country got
power back after 5 weeks.
Catherine D.
@Jay C:
I had a cat diagnosed with hyperthyroidism at 12. She couldn’t tolerate the medication – made her puke and gave her a horrible skin rash. At that time, the quarantine for radiation was 6 weeks, which I knew wouldn’t work for her personality. An iodine scan showed only half her thyroid was affected, and she had that removed. DIdn’t need any medication because she still had functional tissue. She lived to be 17.
A very earnest vet student told me I needed to watch for signs of hypothyroidism. When I asked what those were, she said “heat-seeking and sleeping a lot”. I asked her if she’d ever lived with cats.
geg6
@Ruckus:
Giant Eagle is locally owned here in Western PA. I think the family’s name is Shapira.
Looking up in Wiki, I’m right about the family:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giant_Eagle
geg6
Goddammit, I have goddam link in my comment that is currently in moderation.
I don’t understand how linking works here any more. I’ve never been able to do it on my phone and now I apparently can’t do it on the desktop either.
Amir Khalid
@Mike J:
As I recall, the term “natural born citizen” has never actually been defined by any statute or court ruling. What definition is the state of Tennessee to enforce?
jeffreyw
Robot fox camera.
kc
Damn, what a handsome cat.
Mike J
@Amir Khalid: The one with the most lulz.
ThresherK (GPad)
Weather Channel names storms?
In CT TV-3, now WFSB, got there first, and has been doing it since c. 1970.
We are stocked for everything, and perhaps Adam’s brownie recipe is getting made tonite.
J R in WV
At 3 pm here in SW W Va, 7 inches on the ground, still dumping fast. Weather Underground still calling for 8-12 today, 5-8 more tonight. Looks like they got today pretty close.
Young lab mix (almost 3) walking in it by picking her feet WAY up, her first snow this deep. Can’t wait until tomorrow when it may be up to her belly. Older lab mix (10ish) hasn’t been out since early morning just after this snowfall started, won’t go out until she HAS to.
My life is as a doorman for 2 dogs and 2 cats. Neither of the cats wants out now, although one of them went out this morning early for an hour or two. She’s more nearly feral, spends most hours of darkness outside, even if it’s wet out. There’s a woodshed, dry and full of crevices to sniff at.
schrodinger's cat
Ideal for a snowy evening. Grab your loved one and give it a listen.
No one does songs celebrating love better than Hindi movies do. Urdu is truly the language of love.
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan sings Sajdaa from My name is Khan.
Sajdaa == Worship
ETA: There is a fairly decent translation if you click the show more link under the YouTube video.
danielx
@Pogonip:
One of our felines snores/wheezes when she sleeps, but I suspect it’s because of her Tunch-like build. I have heard lions roaring at the zoo, and even at a zoo it’s a sound you will never forget. Touches something down in the lizard brain, it does.
dexwood
My life is as a doorman for 2 dogs and 2 cats.
A door is something a dog is ever on the wrong side of. Ogden Nash, I believe…
danielx
@Amir Khalid:
No Caesarian delivery babies allowed….naturally. ::::ducking:::::
@J R in WV:
More times than I care to count, I have stood at a door while a cat decides whether to go out, stay in, or just stand there on the threshold. Thinking the while “there goes another minute of my life that I will never get back, waiting for a cat to make a decision”.
Cliff in NH
@Elizabelle:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Carly’s+“condoms”
Cliff in NH
@Elizabelle:
Sep 26, 2015 – Planned Parenthood protesters threw condoms at Carly Fiorina
I assume it is ongoing…
Adam L Silverman
@MrSnrub: Haven’t been to that place since 2005, so sure, I guess.
Adam L Silverman
@geg6: I’ll update my files.
Stacy
@Elizabelle: I think the scream is a mating call? We also have an owl who hoots all night as well. Haven’t seen coyotes yet though I hear they’re around.
Adam L Silverman
@raven: My two current dogs are a five year old blag lab/german shepherd or malinois mix. She’s all black. Doesn’t retrieve and doesn’t herd. The puppy is a 27 month old chocolate lab/boxer and small hand mix. She’s got crystal eyes like a Catahoula Leopard Dog, but she sent tracks like like a small beagle. We know who/what Mom was, but no idea what her Dad was other than some sort of small hound or small hound mix. She retrieves like a retriever, paws/boxes like a boxer, scent tracks and bays like a hound.
raven
@jeffreyw: Fucking cool!
Adam L Silverman
@Ruckus: Like I wrote above, all I’m sure of is that the three chains of stores in geographic proximity with the shared name are not part of the same company. Since I know the Giants in central PA are independently owned, and geg6 has now let us know who owns Giant-Eagle, that means by deduction I think its the Giants in the DC area that are owned by a larger grocery company.
raven
@Adam L Silverman: Nice! Lot’s of military dogs are malinois, right?
MomSense
@Adam L Silverman:
Hmm, do other dogs box? My dog (mutt) is constantly getting on her hind legs and swatting with her front paws. I don’t think she has any boxer but who the heck knows. She also herds, runs into the border collie creep, and scent tracks. She doesn’t really bay but she makes all kinds of different barks and vocalizations.
Adam L Silverman
@raven: Malinois are used a lot for K-9 and security work. The oldest four foot basically looks like a plushy black lab at times and at others a shepherd or malinois with floppy ears. They’re both sweeties.
Adam L Silverman
@MomSense: I’m sure some do. My first dog, as in not the family dog, was either a whippet/terrier mix or a greyhound/terrier mix. She would paw – both for play and if she wanted something. She also made a vocalization like a wookie.
sherparick
@Pogonip: They snore. My wife says I and the three cats in the bed snore in rhythm.
JC, my, that is a big paw on that cat. In his younger days my Maine/coon mix use to love going out in the snow, but now he won’t have anything. He is curled up on the bed.
raven
@Adam L Silverman: Nice, of of my good buddies was tracker. They used little black labs.
Poopyman
Still no wind, praise FSM, but three heat-seeking cats have attached themselves to my thighs and lap. A seatbelt of cats
Aleta
@MomSense: I had two cats who would box each other once in awhile, standing up on their back legs. One of them would also stand up to catch with both paws a toy mouse or a tampon thrown to him. He would do this over and over and over. Other times he would bat, mostly to left field.
Matt McIrvin
@MazeDancer: Last year’s big snow in New England didn’t really get started in earnest until January, though, so it’s conceivable we could still get socked.
Gin & Tonic
@Adam L Silverman: They are part of the group that owns Stop & Shop here in New England, among others.
Mike J
@Aleta:
So did Thomas Edison.
Adam L Silverman
@Gin & Tonic: Very good. I think we have now expanded everyone’s supermarket knowledge today by a factor of 10.
Matt McIrvin
@Catherine D.: My cat Niobe was hyperthyroid: same deal, I opted to dose her every day instead of having radiation treatment because I knew the quarantine would be a terrible ordeal for her. it’s hard enough for humans.
She made it to about 15, about average for a domestic cat, though her precise age was uncertain; we got her as a young adult (and she’d had a rough youth as a stray).
Ruckus
@danielx:
That cat made a decision.
It was to make you lose a minute of your life. Door open/closed makes no difference to them. You being subservient to them, that’s important.
phoebes from highland park
Both my cats – a smallish tabby female and a largish tuxie male – snore. Lots of times they’ll sleep curled up with each other, both snoring to beat the band. That’s a great picture of Steve.
Gin & Tonic
To bring this snow thread to a typically-for-BJ classy denouement, this for your pleasure.
Mingobat f/k/a Karen in GA
@HeartlandLiberal: Aw, hell, I’m so sorry. What a cool kitty.
I lost my Smudge and Phoebe within a month last April and May. I still find myself tearing up sometimes, but the memories are happy.
Adam L Silverman
@raven: I’ve been very lucky. All my dogs have been rescues. The greyhound/terrier mix I got from a friend when I lived in Miami. He actually bred German Shepherds and Belgian Malinois for K-9 work and had offered me, as a thank you for helping him with something, an adoption from his kennel. When I went over to see his dogs he had this little straw blonde 4 month old puppy he’d found. He let her out, she did three high speed greyhoundish laps around his yard, stopped on a dime five feet in front of me, jungle crawled the rest of the way, and I was hers.
Four years later as I was finishing my doctorate in Gainesville, FL we adopted a one year old black lab/Australian shepherd mix that was being fostered by a veterinary student in my apartment complex. She was to be the second family dog. After my Dad died, Mom didn’t feel like she had the time to take care of her full time and asked me to take her with me back to Philadelphia after I came down for THanksgiving. She was with me till she died of cancer at 13 and 1/2 right before Thanksgiving 2013.
In January 2005, when driving back to Philadelphia from our place in New Mexico with the two dogs above in the car, we came across a blue tick coonhound. He was running wild down the median of I70 an hour east of KC, MO. It was 4 degrees out. We got him into the car and he had no tags. We eventually found a vet, and he had no microchip, so home he came. He was about 2, skin and bones, and had intestinal worms. Nursed him back to health several times over the next three years (separation anxiety induced colitis, stomach bloat that took out his spleen). He was finally rounding in to an easy going, non-stressed out good dog at 5 when I came home and found him dead. He’d blown a massive stroke and bled out internally.
The black lab/malinois mix I got for the black lab/australian shepherd mix when her big sister died in January 2011. The chocolate lab/boxer and hound mix I got for the black lab/mailinois mix when her big sister died in November 2013.
My only complaint is that there lives, no matter how long they live, are always far too short.
schrodinger's cat
@HeartlandLiberal: {{{}}} Do you have a photo to share?
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
Probably dead thread, but …
@geg6: Someone here explained that this updated version of Balloon-Juice has some fancy HTML in the background (related to the smooth scrolling and such, IIRC). When you post a “naked” link (just the URL, without the “anchor” tags and so forth), that background HTML goes nuts and creates more than 3 links in your post, which sets you over the limit, and throws you in moderation.
The way around it is to use the “link” button just above the “Leave a Reply” text box.
I assume this is one of the things that Alain is having addressed in the new comment engine.
(I’m talking about the desktop version – dunno how one does proper links on the mobile version.)
HTH.
Cheers,
Scott.
Aleta
@Mike J: that’s cool. Any idea who the pretend ref guy is?
Come to think of it, my cats were more like sumo wrestlers trying to rush-slap each other out of the ring. Can’t find a good video of a pure defeat by the force of slapping, but I remember seeing some.
Boatboy_srq
Out this morning getting supplies: OK. Picked up housemate and went to lunch: OK. Driving home: total disaster. Between NoVA just not giving a sh!t about any road not a US numbered highway, and all the idiots unable to grok how to drive, it was a mess out there. Multiple accidents in Henson in a matter of minutes? Really? After a mere hour of snowfall? Thank FSM the house is warm and comfy.
@Gin & Tonic: Mum went to uni with a former owner of one of those. Never was clear if she was on the Shop’n’Save or Hannaford side of the equation, but she made out like a bandit. I went to lunch with Mum and said person and a bunch of their classmates: looking round the table I thought “Hmmmm… Engineer’s wife, attorney’s wife, retail magnate… What did the rest of you do wrong?”
@Poopyman: I thought that was what Harris Teeter was. I’d place Giant between Publix and Sweetbay.
MomSense
@HeartlandLiberal:
I’m so sorry about your kitty. I lost my old coon cat almost a year ago now and I still expect him to walk around the corner looking for me.
@Aleta: My coon cat used to box other cats–especially if they came into our yard. He puffed up his fur and made himself look fearsome.
Aleta
@HeartlandLiberal: sorry for your loss. It’s so rough.
satby
@HeartlandLiberal: condolences Heartland. 18 years of love is an amazing story.
J R in WV
@danielx: One of our cats dives out the instant the door is opened for her, the other (bigger but the same age) will wait and duck and dodge and think and then walk away.
Cats, can’t live with ’em, can’t live without ’em.
Ang
@RoonieRoo:
Our cat also requires med for thyroid – our local compounding pharm is able to prepare it as a topical that we rub into his ear twice daily (while he is distracted with canned food treat). Cost was 25 or 35 dollars per month. Now that he also requires a heart med they are able to compound them together, total $48 a month. Not having to pill a cat twice daily – priceless. I love topicals for long-term cat meds and can’t understand why vets don’t seem to recommend them more often.
RoonieRoo
@Ang: We’ve been doing the thyroid meds for a while and they work wonderfully but we are now moving to the radiation stage. After she gets her thyroid radiated we won’t need the meds anymore, thankfully and hopefully she will go back to her old self. Has your vet ever mentioned the radiation treatment option for your cat? This is our third cat to go through the thyroid issue but the first cat that was a candidate for the radiation treatment.
Ang
@RoonieRoo:
I had researched thyroid treatment in cats prior to taking him to the vet, as I suspected it was the cause of his symptoms. He doesn’t take pills easily and I thought radiation would be our only option. The nearest radiation treatment facility is over an hour away, and our elderly cat doesn’t like car travel. When the vet suggested trying the med as a compound I was thrilled – none of the sites I saw had even mentioned it as a possibility! It is working well for us (6 months now) and his labs this week came back great – we’ll stick with it as long as it’s working. I just wanted to let folks know to check into compounding as an option, and not just for thyroid meds. The small cost increase is well worth it to us.
jeenu
I had researched thyroid treatment in cats prior to taking him to the vet, as I suspected it was the cause of his symptoms. He doesn’t take pills easily and I thought radiation would be our only option. The nearest radiation treatment facility is over an hour away, and our elderly cat doesn’t like car travel. When the vet suggested trying the med as a compound I was thrilled – none of the sites I saw had even mentioned it as a possibility! It is working well for us (6 months now) and his labs this week came back great – we’ll stick with it as long as it’s working. I just wanted to let folks know to check into compounding as an option, and not just for thyroid meds. The small cost increase is well worth it to us.