It’s truly impressive that the Republicans managed to make the House health bill care worse. But they got rid of the individual mandate and rich and healthy people benefit and will get tax cuts, so WINNING! I have nothing going on the next few days so may actually try to find protests and go march in front of Capito’s local offices. I am not a protest person, but this shit requires drastic measures. Of course, the bill is not evil enough for the Zodiac killer and his cadre.
Speaking of healthcare, I turned 47 today. I’m not a person prone to celebration- I think this irritates ABC a touch because I’m not one to get really excited about things. I’m really not a hot or cold person (despite my irate ramblings), I just cruise along comfortably at the speed of grumpy. I mean, I am not miserable. I’m generally a happy person (ask people who know me IRL). I feel like I am defending myself too vigorously.
At any rate, mom and dad wanted to go out to dinner tonight, and I was not feeling it. I initially agreed, but then thought about it and cancelled. I decided I would rather stay and home and putz around the house, cook a nice dinner with a ribeye, and so I pushed back the plans until tomorrow night. I bought a steak and planned a nice dinner, and then had leftover fajitas that Christion and I made yesterday. Because who says I am not spontaneous?
Back to health and healthcare. Every summer as I head toward a new birthday I schedule a lot of health related events. I’ve had sleep apnea since 2005 (if you snore, get yourself checked- it will change and maybe save your life), and have not had a test since, so I scheduled a new sleep study. I had a friend die of pancreatic and colon cancer this past year, so I scheduled my first colonoscopy. I had another friend die of a heart attack, so I am headed to get a stress chest and a cardiac check up just because I don’t want to die before my parents so they don’t accidentally see the contents of my hard drives. I had my b-annual physical and labs. I went for my six month checkup at the dentist, had a crown replaced, a cleaning, and bought a night guard because I grind my teeth. I had my eyes checked and got new glasses two months ago. All in all, it cost about $2500 out of pocket (eyes and dental were the worst), which is a lot, but I’ll have it all paid off by the time I have to go in next year.
None of that would be possible without health insurance. None of it. And again, I am one of the upper tiers as far as lucky goes when it comes to health insurance. I’m having this shit done. A shit ton of Americans can’t, and that’s before the Republicans have their way and dismantle the ACA. What they want to do is cruel, inhuman, and flat out evil. The slashing of funds to deal with the opiod epidemic and things like that will stand out, but all of it is uniformly vile and awful. They are just horrible people beyond redemption. They sicken me emotionally, and they intend to sicken the nation physically, all just to throw a couple more bucks to the already rich. I don’t know how these reptilian motherfuckers sleep at night.
In house related news, my water filter needed to be replaced on my fridge. So I went and bought a new one. I installed it. The warning light was still on. I read the manual from cover to cover. I googled. Couldn’t find help anywhere. So I called GE and I spent an hour on the phone to have a person tell me to turn my unplug/plug my fridge back in to get rid of the warning light. He called it a “factory reset” to justify his existence and for me to not feel like a stupid asshole who is confused by household appliances.
I also found another board on the back deck (right next to the one I fell through) that needs to be replaced, so now I am wondering if I should have another expert come in and check the entire damned thing. I think it is too big to begin with, but I am not financially prepared to rip it out and replace it, so mending will have to be all I do.
The garden is weeded and up looking good. I did not put in raised beds yet because $$$, and I had a large portion of the yard where the ground was really uneven and nothing but shitty weeds were growing, a remnant of the yard being in disrepair so long. Remember, the weeds were chest high when I bought the place. So what I did this year was just plow up a big section of it and plant a garden right in the damned middle where I know I will have to level next year, and I am using that. It is unsightly, but it works. Next year I will get a dumptruck of topsoil and fill that in and seed it.
Also next summer I have decided I am going to ring the outside of the fence with native flowers and the like. The front yard has shrubbery and all that, and i will plant some bulbs and some other stuff there, but around the sides the length of the house I am going to plant day lilies, snap dragons, sage, milkweed, black eyed susan’s, milkweed, and use that and have a more free look than the paean to Prussian order that is my front yard. I figure I will have those around the whole yard and then I can plant a solid butterfly/bee garden in the back yard with a little butterfly pond. Under the pines I am going to put in blueberry and blackberry bushes.
The front yard is looking ok, but I apparently have swarms of ground bees (they are yellowjackets), so I bought some thing I have to pour into the nests to kill them. I don’t like pouring chemicals into the ground for obvious reasons, but I also don’t want swarms of bees attacking ABC’s kids when they come down.
Today while getting the water filter at Lowe’s, I picked up a flag mount for the front porch and a nice nylon flag. Is there a specific etiquette to where you hang it- if you are facing the house, to the right or to the left? I know neither adheres to official flag regulations, but I was wondering if there was an informal rule.
Finally, I got a fern. For some reason, I love ferns, but everyone says “don’t get a fern they are a pain in the ass.” They are probably right, but I have Thurston, so my definition of pain in the ass might be a little bit different than other people. At any rate, I am hanging it from the ceiling on the landing of the stair case in between the first and second floor by the window. I just think it will look good there, especially with pictures lining the staircase walls. Now I am looking for a neat pot hanger to go with it. I like this, but it seems kind of expensive:
Any thoughts? I thought it would go well with the colors of the house.
That’s about it for me. Guess I will sit down and start searching netflix and amazon prime for something to binge.
Baud
tl;dr
Happy birthday, man.
ThresherK
Rebooting the refrigerator.
That is all I can imagine.
Happy Birthday. There’s something you have to sync up with someone: How they want to be celebrated v. how you want to be celebrated.
trollhattan
Hippo, birdie, two ewe!
p.s. Find the farging breaker for the fridge and flip it off and on. No point in dragging the thing out just to get at the stupid plug.
Major Major Major Major
Happy birthday, ya jackass. :)
Dr. Ms. Sardonicus
Ferns wither quickly if they do not get watered regularly. I’ve killed many because I only water my plants when I feel like it.
John Cole
@trollhattan: that’s what I did
satby
Happy Birthday ? John! Get the planter, you like it and it fits the colors of your house. And you’ll end up having it for years, so get what you like.
And I still have a cool Japanese scrubby cloth to replace your loofa if you’d email me where to send it.
AdamK
When you say “putz” I hope very much you mean “futz.” (“…waste time; idle or busy oneself aimlessly: “mother futzed around in the kitchen””–some dictionary.)
TaMara (HFG)
Happiest of birthdays, John Cole.
Geoduck
My only plant is a fern that has survived 25+ years of my benign neglect, so your mileage may vary.
Omnes Omnibus
Happy b-day.
lamh36
Happy Birthday John.
If ur in the mood form quirky British comedy on Netflix, try “Chewing Gum”…I found it hilarious. For drama, I always suggest “Luther”, and not just cause of my love of Idris…I think it’s actually a great series…though u may have seen it already. I have of course watched it all, but with the news that a new Luther series is gonna start filming next year…I may go back and rewatch the seasons of Luther again!
As for Amazon Prime…try “I Am Not Your Negro” the James Baldwin doc, if u haven’t already
Again…Happy Birthday!
Steve in the ATL
I thought ground bees were the ones we desperately need to save
Steeplejack (phone)
Happy birthday, Cole! Give the animals a scritch or a thump, as appropriate.
Mike J
The United States is sending a man named “Woody Johnson” to the court of St James’s.
Woody
Johnson
Mike J
@Steve in the ATL: I don’t have the grinder attachment for my mixer. Will a blender work?
jeffreyw
I’m fucking exhausted just reading this. Have a kitteh.
FlyingToaster
If those are plasterer bees, they don’t swarm or sting. They live at my daughter’s godparents, and at her school. Our season is over now — in Watertown it runs from the week we get back from Patriot’s Day vacation to the first week of June, or basically the last month of school.
The species is likely colletes inaequalis, native to North America and great pollinators.
Redshift
Happy birthday!
If you’re planting milkweed for the monarchs, make sure you get the right kind. I don’t know anything about it, but I’ve read that they only eat one kind, and a lot of well-intentioned people end up with the wrong one.
FlyingToaster
Oh, and happy birthday, kid.
SiubhanDuinne
@jeffreyw:
Startled kitteh is startled.
Mnemosyne
A colonoscopy is no big deal — the prep is annoying, but raven gave me the great advice to put the prep liquid in the freezer and get it as cold as possible so you don’t taste it. The biggest issue I had with the prep was boredom, honestly.
G says I’ve been snoring a lot lately, so I’m going to ask my doctor about a sleep study. I don’t want a CPAP, but I’d prefer not to die of a heart attack.
BBA
@Mike J: He’s one of the “Johnson & Johnson” Johnsons.
Tbone
Happy birthday John, I just hit the big 4-0 on Tuesday myself. Going to Belgium in 2 weeks to celebrate! If anyone has any places to visit, I’d love to hear. I do a lot of homebrewing, so lots of…..”reasearch” will be happening.
japa21
Happy birthday John. I now know that I am 23 years and one day older than you. What I will do with that knowledge is still undetermined. What has been determined is that the GOP from Trump on down is composed of cowardly assholes.
NeenerNeener
Happy birthday.
Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.)
Happy birthday. I hear 47 is the new 17. I know, I know, “[some random shit] is the new [some other random shit],” is stupid and irritating. But so what? Who wouldn’t rather be 17 than 47? And this is an easy way to be 17 instead of 47.
satby
@FlyingToaster: or they could be ground wasps, not bees.
Larime
Happy birthday, and thanks for everything you’ve done!
Mnemosyne
@jeffreyw:
I left work early the other day for a doctor’s appointment that got canceled, so I was able to play with the rescue kittens at the local pet supply store (they work with one of the local rescue orgs to display them there). The nice rescue lady let me hold a couple of them while she was packing them up to take them back to their foster home for the night.
LurkerNoLonger
QFT
wuzzat
@Steve in the ATL: You’re thinking of honey bees. “Ground bees” are probably yellow jackets, which are territorial as fuck and can sting multiple times each. I usually try to leave all the pollinators alone, but had to kill the yellow jackets that built their nest in the ground right in front of the mailbox. Well, I suppose I didn’t have to, but the mailman sure appreciated it.
It is a sign of my redneck roots that I had to look up ways to kill yellow jackets that don’t involve gasoline or fire.
Mike J
@BBA: Britain did send us Peter O’Toole, so double barrelled phallic turnabout is fair play, I suppose.
Sentient AI from the Future
Regardless of the type of bees they are, please do not kill them. In many places you can get an apiarist to come move them for you. I imagine you might have to pay them for their time (sometimes if there’s a lot of honey to be had during the move they will do things for closet to free) but we need to do what we can to preserve the bees we have.
Please at least look into it. Call any local honey producers if you can’t find a line on one. Please.
Edit: just saw comment 32. If they’re yellow jackets or other wasp related species, then definitely kill those motherfuckers with fire. I was unaware of the colloquialism.
schrodingers_cat
@Larime: Did you get your wife’s immigration situation all sorted out.
ETA: If you are not the artist Larime, then apologies.
Adam L Silverman
@Mike J: Could be worse. If his name was Willie Johnson and his wife was Fanny Johnson, then we’d have a problem.
JPL
Happy Birthday!
LIsten to Satby, because not all bees are alike. I was attacked once by ground bees/wasps and it’s not fun.
Adam L Silverman
Sana halwah ya jameel! Yom hooledet samaech!
schrodingers_cat
Happy Birthday JC.
वाढदिवसाच्या शुभेच्छा
p.a.
I turned 58 a few weeks back, so you’ll have a decade-ish more here in Jebus’ favorite country than I, probably. Try to fix it when I’m gone, ’cause if this shit doesn’t
turn aroundget turned around by 2022 I don’t think I’ll see it. Stupid reproduces.tobie
Happy Birthday, John. I’ve had great success with Ernst Seeds for native plants and especially meadow flowers. They have seed mixes for almost every habitat, soil and climate condition in the mid-Atlantic region.
Mnemosyne
@FlyingToaster:
We had these small bees in IL we called sweat bees that I got stung by one time when I was a kid. That was no fun. But hornets were worse, because they’re fucking assholes.
Spanky
ATTENTION PA, WV, and OH RESIDENTS. YOU ARE FORWARNED:
D58826
Look at it this way the celebration is as much for them as you. Smile and put a third scoop of ice cream on your very bigly chocolate cake.
schrodingers_cat
@Spanky: How is funding his tour going to save healthcare?
Ohio Mom
Happy Birthday. I try not to celebrate the things myself. I figure I am old enough to get my own presents and I don’t need fawning over.
From experience I can tell you that if you aren’t careful, Black-eyed Susans will eventually take over the entire yard. But they are very pretty, and we don’t use the back yard so I don’t mind.
SiubhanDuinne
@Larime:
Good to see you posting, Larime. Best wishes to Sylv.
Drunkenhausfrau
Happy birthday, You wonderful curmudgeon, you.
See if you can find that fern planter, or something like it, on eBay. I got a real 1920s glass fluted lamp for less than a new reproduction.
And definitely go get up into Your Senators’ faces about this evil,farce Trumpcare bill.
+1. I am cutting down.
?BillinGlendaleCA
Happy b-day John. At least your’s sounds better than mine was this year(car died).
Origuy
@wuzzat: The best way I’ve found to kill yellow jackets is with the yellow traps that you hang up. They come with a packet of something that attracts them and they get caught, dying of dehydration. The problem is that you have to wait for them to die before you empty the trap.
They love the forests in northern California. I take one with me camping and leave it when I go. I’m not sure how the rangers like that, but I’m not putting a trap full of thirsty yellow jackets in my car.
FlyingToaster
@satby: Which is the problem.
“What fucking flying thing just dug holes in my yard?” was the phone call I got 5 years ago. I told him to take a video, walk down the hill to Ricky’s Garden Shop, and ask them. When the bees turned up at school year before last, I took a video and sent it to him, and he was, “no, don’t kill THOSE.”
RobertDSC-iPhone 6
Happy birthday, amigo. Wishing you many more.
Thoroughly Pizzled
You are a mensch, John Cole. I’m glad that you are in my (Internet) life.
Spanky
@schrodingers_cat: Your MoveOn dollars at work, naturally!
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mike J: Did he do some adult film work?
O. Felix Culpa
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
Egads! Not me!
Happy birthday, John! Do whatever the hell you want. Middle age allows it.
jeffreyw
@Mnemosyne: Petco has the same sort of arrangement with some of the local shelters, and an occasional pet fair kind of thing.
Wapiti
My safety guess: whichever side of the steps that allows the flag to blow away from the steps in the prevailing wind. You mostly don’t want it hanging up on the railing, or blowing in front of people and being a tumble-down-the-stairs hazard.
FlyingToaster
@Mnemosyne: I grew up in Missouri, where we had a species of wasp that was both fucking huge and hated teenagers. Or at least, it liked to hang around the places we congregated and sting us. I’d see one, scream “AIR RAID” and run away.
From my time in Indiana, I was stung once, (and walked to UHS with an arm doubled in size), but I have no idea what stung me. It probably was a sweat bee, since it was 90° and we were freshmen doing our Marching 100 formations practice.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@schrodingers_cat: I thought he was going to have a million of his folk out in front of Mitch McConnell’s office. So he’s doing a tour instead?
SiubhanDuinne
Re birthdays: I am going to celebrate my 75th in a few weeks, and have been pondering what to do on the day to make it a bit special. I want to do something slightly edgy and risky and different, but not so threatening or dangerous that I’d be likely to be traumatized for months thereafter.
After considering, and rejecting, stuff like skydiving and hang gliding, I think I have decided that I want to do an hour or maybe 90 minutes of floating in a sensory deprivation tank.
Has anyone done this? It sounds very cool, and I would be going in with absolutely no expectations. I’m prepared to be scared, or bored, or meditative, or having a powerful spiritual experience, or just fall asleep, or whatever else may be in store. It has always sounded neat to me, floating in a salt-water pool in total darkness and in a totally sound-proofed environment. Just hanging out in my own head.
Anyhow, if you have any experience with SD, or anecdotes from others, or cautionary tales, or encouragement, I’d be glad to know any of it.
Thanks!
JPL
@Ohio Mom: My favorite birthday was when I said no gifts. The sons arrived, and I had gifts for them. The point was that they are my gifts. Truth be known their faces showed some type of horror, like is she losing it expressions, but once I explained it, we all had fun.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: Nope! If you want to drive over though, I’ll buy you lunch. All the reporters are gone now.
Wapiti
@Origuy:
Ah memories – I grew up in California (years ago). Some fishermen in the campground space next to us used this one simple trick: First fish they caught got nailed up on a tree, with a half-full tin can right below it. The yellow jackets would eat the fish, and when they went to fly they’d drop a bit – enough to land in the can and drown.
Steeplejack (phone)
@BBA:
Oh, I thought he was one of the “Big Johnson” Johnsons.
Iowa Old Lady
@JPL: Hobbits give gifts to other people on their birthdays.
(Is it wrong that I know that?)
NotMax
Several thoughts come to mind.
First, make double sure the hanging basket has a very wide bottom saucer. Inevitably there will be water, dirt and mud spillage onto the landing floor/carpet.
If you go with a fern, you will also have insects. No ifs, ands or buts. Also too, daily sweeping or vacuuming to get rid of plant bits that drop.
Be aware of how much and the intensity of light at the window.
Might suggest some fern alternatives which are easier to deal with and (mostly) tolerant of “operator error.”
1) Columnea (Hardy, forgiving, and you get flowers to boot.)
2) Pothos (Not just green; hints of gold make it less boring.)
3) Hoya (You’ve seen ’em in lots of places. Easy care a reason they are such a popular choice.)
D58826
Listening to another GOP healthcare ‘expert’ on Chris Haynes. According to this guy
1. premiums will go down
2. deductibles will go down
3. medical costs in general will go down
4. people will flock to buy these new policies
5. all of this will be paid for by the exploding economic activity by upper income tax cuts and
6. insurers will fall all over themselves to off platinum level plans at bronze level prices and best of all the first million peole to enroll will get a free unicorn in one of three colors.
If this sound like voodoo economic wearing a stethoscope it is. This plan depends on a magic asterisk about the size of Jupiter
Iowa Old Lady
@SiubhanDuinne: That sounds interesting! I look forward to hearing how it goes.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
Well, I would love to drive over and have lunch with you, but you don’t have to buy it! Let’s connect on email (siubhanduinne @ gmail . com). And I still have great hopes that you and Mingobat (Karen in GA) can meet up at some point.
It was crazy enough being a poll-watcher on Tuesday; can’t imagine what it was like to live in the District and be subjected to all that national media attention for weeks.
SiubhanDuinne
@Iowa Old Lady:
Heh! Me too!!
TenguPhule
Enjoy this birthday as if it were your last!
/I know I am, if we all live that long.
NotMax
@SiubhanDuinne
Heads-up via Mom to avoid the opera made from the play Angels in America. She gave the first act a B+, the second act barely a D. The original play still rates a solid A with her, for comparison purposes.
Doug!
I fucking hate going to the dentist but you’ve inspired me to do it.
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
A couple friends tried SD and didn’t like the disorientation at all.
Baud
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Cut him some slack. If the GOP passes this bill, he’ll have to resign as the Dem outreach person.
JMG
John, my birthday is next week. I’ll be 68. It’s just starting. Before she left the practice before her partner got a spiffy job at a Chicago hospital, I had an ace women GP who had both an MD and an MBA. When I went for my physical just after my 50th birthday, she told me, “OK, now we start to make the money back.”
Peale
Hmmm. I wonder if the solution to enrollment caps that will make states choose between children and the elderly is to simply use Medicaid money to pay the more expensive elderly to move away. Just, say, at retirement, offer each 65 year old a few grand to move to another state. That way, if by 80, they need extensive medical support, they are someone else’s enrollment problem.
D58826
Listening to Ezra Klein and this bill is a huge payoff to the insur. companies for sitting on the side lines that past 6 months. The other reason the ins. companies are silent is because this plan moves back to the days of high premiums, higher deductibles, limited coverage and probably allowing a company to get back in the pre-existing conditions game.
And he didn’t even mention the new tax break involving the ins. company CEOs paycheck.
debbie
@Mnemosyne:
I haven’t seen sweat bees around here in years. One problem with yellow jackets is that if one gets stuck between a storm window and screen, others hover around, looking for someone to blame. Kinda scary.
D58826
@Peale: Good idea. And if you structure it correctly at some point the elderly will be near a state that has access to ice flows.
El Caganer
@LurkerNoLonger: They don’t sleep at night. That’s when they…feed…..
Peale
@D58826: yes. Because if there’s one thing we learned before Obamacare, it’s that insurance companies freely float plans that are consumer friendly due to competition.
Sab
@Spanky: Wilmer is an idiot. Rob Portman got reelected because Americans for Prosperity spent an absolute fortune trashing Ted Strickland from Spring through the Fall. Rob Portman knows who matters, and it’s the Kochs, not his voters.
Cheryl Rofer
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear John, happy birthday to you.
???????????
Patricia Kayden
The happiest of B’Days to you, John!! Hope you had a fantastic day (despite the awful politics).
Peale
@D58826: yep. My guess is that insurance companies won’t be worrying about having payout ratios that are too low.
Well, back to the 2000s for me, where every raise I got was more than offset by premium hikes.
TenguPhule
@wuzzat:
But where’s the fun in that?
John Weiss
Happy birthday.
You might be successful growing a fern in an interior room, but there is probably not enough light. Get another and rotate the two between the hallway and an East or North window. Water ’em when the soil is dry about 3/4 inch from the surface.
jw
SiubhanDuinne
@debbie:
Thanks. I’m pretty sure I can handle that, and if not, there is a panic button I can engage. I do know that different people have widely and wildly varying experiences.
My real concern is that I have never learned to swim. I know it’s a saltwater tank and I can and will float, but my phobia may kick in and try to give me a bad experience.
But hey, it’s still an experience, right?
TenguPhule
@D58826:
There are black holes smaller then this magic asterisk.
People are going to die when that bill becomes law. Not enough of them are going to be the people who really deserve it. And the anger that’s going to generate is not going to be gentle or predictable.
Olivia
Happy Birthday, John. It sounds like you had a rather lovely day, celebrating in your own way. I like my birthday low key as well. I just like to spend one day a year with no one asking me to do stuff. Your plans for the yard sound very nice.
schrodingers_cat
House related question:
For humidity level do I need a dehumidifier for the basement?
Patricia Kayden
@D58826: Wealthcare and not healthcare is what this abomination should be called. Talk about death panels.
NotMax
Oh, afore I forget again, Happy B’day!
Johannes
Happy birthday, John! From one Grumpasaurus (51 in April!) to another.
JPL
@Iowa Old Lady: I’m a hobbit, who knew.
SFAW
Happy birthday, John, and many more!
O. Felix Culpa
@SiubhanDuinne: I walked 500 miles on the Camino de Santiago for my 59th birthday (but not all in one day). It’s highly worthwhile choosing one’s own milestone experiences.
Spanky
@schrodingers_cat: Yes. And set it to drain automatically. I think they all have that option.
justawriter
Happy planetary revolution to you. Plans sound good. Just one note on the wildflowers, check with your local county extension service (if Trump hasn’t abolished them by then) to make sure you get a blend that doesn’t contain plants listed as noxious weeds for your region. I think some of the weed boards out here in cattle country have the motto “to protect and eradicate” and have no sense of humor whatsoever.
Mnemosyne
@debbie:
That happened at my old apartment one time. It was very freaky to look outside my window and see a swarm of angry bees trying to figure out who to punish for their friend’s predicament.
(I always assumed they were some of our Africanized bees, but IANA entomologist.)
SFAW
@Mike J:
And NY Jets fans EVERYWHERE are praying that Woody will sell the team to someone like Bob Kraft (i.e., someone who will hire good talent, and not meddle in team operations) before he goes. [Note: I am avoiding comment on any other aspect of Kraft’s life.]
Oh PLEASEPLEASEPLEASE!
debbie
@SiubhanDuinne:
Beats skydiving!
Iowa Old Lady
@O. Felix Culpa: Good way!
D58826
At last Der Fuhrer can claim an absolute first that no other president in the future will ever want to copy :
SFAW
@TenguPhule:
Of course it will: it’s all Obama’s fault, or Pelosi’s fault, or the Democrat Party’s fault.
JPL
@Iowa Old Lady: Years ago on my sons birthday, I took the family out for dinner, and it was the first time with the now dil. They had veal piccata on the menu. Anyway, I started to quiz the waiter about the veal, and how it was raised, and then how it was butchered. I ordered the chicken. I might be a little bit Portlandia also. My dil loves that about me though, so that’s good.
O. Felix Culpa
@Iowa Old Lady:
Thank you. It was a Buen Camino in many, many ways!
zhena gogolia
So you, me, and Trump are all Geminis. Go figure.
Sab
@wuzzat: My spouse tried to eradicate ants with gasoline and almost blew up the yard, the house and the neighborhood. He’s still embarrassed 30 years later. I am sure the descendants of those ants are just fine.
TenguPhule
Fireant threat from Tropical Depression CIndy in Gulf
I swear I’ve seen this movie plot on cable somewhere.
joel hanes
day lilies
Anecdotally toxic to cats, who fortunately aren’t much given to eating them.
Still
ding7777
Trumpcare is worse than the Carrier Deal (Layoffs set to begin next month at Carrier plant Trump struck deal with)
TenguPhule
@SFAW: Not all of the people who die are going to be wingnut loved ones. And not all of the wingnuts are going to blame the same Usual Suspects provided to them. I worry about the Doctors and Nurses who are potentially at risk.
The Republican elected in danger can of course go fuck themselves.
Lapassionara
@SiubhanDuinne: I too will be 75 this year. Don’t know about SD. My SU and I are treating ourselves to a nice trip. Doesn’t have to be on the day.
And Happy Birthday, John Cole, blog host and mensch. Just don’t do blackberries. They are not bushes, but very invasive vines. VERY INVASIVE!
Iowa Old Lady
@JPL: I’ll bet the waiter went back to the kitchen and talked about you.
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne:
Claremont Lounge.
NotMax
As mentioned (with the numerical breakdown) here a full month ago.
East coast media kind of slow on the uptake on this one.
AnonPhenom
Happy B-day.
FlyingToaster
@Sab: Nematodes. They eat the babies so the grownups move away.
Gardeners Supply online has them, as well as local organic-leaning garden supply shops.
MomSense
Happy birthday, John.
JPL
@Iowa Old Lady: lol The son and his wife love the the chicken episode in Portlandia so it’s all good.
Sab
@Iowa Old Lady: I have remembered that Hobbits give gifts on their birthdays rather than receiving them. I have known this since about 1965. I would be shocked if anyone who read the Hobbit didn’t know this. I always thought it was very cool/neat.
I suspect that Steve ATL will think that confirms my pedantry.8
Not sure why I am picking on SteveATL. Just bored.
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: I would jump out of a plane a thousand times before I would do sensory deprivation. No way, not me.
eclare
@Tbone: Go to Bruges! Absolutely gorgeous, worth your time. And happy birthday John Cole!
hedgehog the occasional commenter
Happy Birthday, John, and thanks for this place.
NotMax
@NotMax
#119 a reply to ding7777.
Apologies for the inadvertent omission.
efgoldman
@D58826:
The magic is whoever it is is a fucking lying sack of shit.
I really want all these evil fuckers to have people they care about, who don’t have their gold-plated insurance and can’t get any, have terrible, lingering, painful diseases.
Yes, I know fucking right well this makes me an awful person. Guess what. Nobody made them vote for this pile of pig shit. If they and their voters can’t exist rationally in a rational fucking world….
Fuckem
Steve in the ATL
@Sab: are you suggesting I would judge someone for being a pedant?!
ETA: except for Omnes. I judge the shit out of that guy.
SiubhanDuinne
@Omnes Omnibus:
Well, I admit I was very tempted to jump out of a plane, and I may yet (perhaps on my 80th), but the sensdev sounds intriguing to me.
Adam L Silverman
ArchTeryx
@Iowa Old Lady: Not in the least. :-) It does sure make them popular on their birthdays, though!
Just One More Canuck
@schrodingers_cat: it will save his healthcare
And Happy Birthday, John
mai naem mobile
Happy Birthday John. Should have gone out with the parents. Not trying to sound morbid but ya never know how many more you’re gonna have for memories! Also buy the planter. It’s metal I am assuming and will probably last.you decades.
? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?
@Adam L Silverman: Did Capito vote for the AHCA?
GregB
Happy Birthday John.
SiubhanDuinne
@Steve in the ATL:
ROFL!!! Back in the day (mid-1980s) I lived about 1/4 mile from the Claremont Lounge!
Ruckus
I figured out a question to ask a drumpfer if you have to talk to one.
“What will this do for you?”
Not what will it do to or for someone else, what will it make positive for you.
If they say that black man on the corner won’t get free whatever, ask the question again, what positive aspect will it bring to your life?
At some point they will have to admit that nothing the right wants to do will be positive for them unless they make north of a 1/4 mill a year. It will hurt someone and most likely them. But make them explain it. If they throw out taking points ask what law is going to do that. Make them cite the law that will help them. Focus on what any of the crap will do to them, not to anyone else. Because they obviously don’t give a fuck about anyone else. Any focus on anyone but them just feeds their bullshit.
How does this ___________ help them.
GregB
Happy Birthday John.
AliceBlue
Have a happy birthday, John.
My bifocals have been needing a tweak lately (need to be stronger) so I went to the eye doctor today. Got a new prescription, got checked for glaucoma and macular degeneration–and it was all so easy because I’m one of the lucky ones with insurance. I was thinking about it all the way home; I’ve got a dental appointment next month, annual checkup in the fall, and I’ve always taken it for granted. There are still so many others without insurance and so many others who are going to lose it if McConnell has his way. I’m making phone calls but I still feel so angry and helpless.
NotMax
@ArchTeryx
The thought of giving birth to a hobbit brings on the galloping shudders.
Big head and two huge feet.
;)
Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho
Happy Birthday, Cole.
Steve in the ATL
@Adam L Silverman: meanwhile on FB one of my fraternity brothers just posted a job fair announcement for a coal mine in Comfort, WV. Free food, drinks, and giveaways! Not for my friend, of course–he’s a third generation coal company lawyer. But he totally supports other people’s rights to get maimed or killed underground while ruining the planet for human life. Not that I have an opinion on this.
eclare
@SiubhanDuinne: That idea terrifies me….
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne: I would rather jump out of a plane sans parachute than go back into that smoke-filled hellhole…but you have fun!
efgoldman
@Sab:
Says right in Shakespeare: ”The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers,”
(Henry VI, Part II, act IV, Scene II)
Mike J
@SiubhanDuinne:
My old pal Will[1] used to live on Ponce de Leon, IIRC.
[1] Just Will in Memphis, old pal Will in Atlanta.
Ruckus
@Smedley Darlington Prunebanks (Formerly Mumphrey, et al.):
I’m pretty far north of 47 and I wouldn’t want to be 17 again. Then I’d have to try to do this shit all over again. And while I’d maybe be able to not make the same mistakes over, I’d bet all your money that I’d make at least as many.
AliceBlue
@SiubhanDuinne:
When I first moved to Atlanta in 1975, I lived in an apartment right off Ponce de Leon, on Penn Avenue. The woman who lived upstairs worked at the Claremont.
Adam L Silverman
@? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?: There hasn’t been a vote yet in the Senate.
JPL
@Steve in the ATL: Truthfully, I’m not sure I can even work on local elections anymore. They preach personal responsibility but it’s all about them, isn’t it. fk em
Adam L Silverman
@Steve in the ATL:
I find this hard to believe.
Steve in the ATL
@AliceBlue:
Pretty sure she’s still dancing there today
? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?
@Adam L Silverman: I thought i saw rep.
Watch her vote yes. They don’t care
NotMax
@efgoldman
Quasi-obligatory.
OldDave
I suggest Cole adopt hexadecimal notation next year. He can be “30” instead of 48. It’s a wonderful thing.
raven
@AliceBlue: It’s under renovation.
raven
Clermont Lounge could reopen in July (SLIDESHOW)
eclare
@Steve in the ATL: Claremont Lounge..seconded! Lived in the ATL for 15 years after college.
Cheryl Rofer
@Adam L Silverman: And Capito will vote with all the other Republicans.
I just saw a report on Twitter that the House will vote for the Senate bill if it passes the Senate. No conference committee. If the Senate votes for it, if lying Ted Cruz and Susan Collins vote for it, it is all over.
JPL
@raven: I’m sure you won’t be shocked that I had never heard about that particular lounge before tonight.
Steve in the ATL
@Adam L Silverman: every now and then I throw you a curveball!
@JPL: Not sure how it is in Roswell, but in Johns Creek our candidates are just embarrassing. They fight over who is more capital-C Conservative. Republican is assumed; you have to present your Conservative bona fides.
@efgoldman: you surely know this, but that line describes what to do to overthrow a nation, not what to do to bring Utopia to the land.
efgoldman
@NotMax:
Many many many years ago (many! I was still in college) I conducted a summer production of Kiss Me Kate! Loved it then, love it now. It is NOT an easy show, not at all. Some of the songs are much harder than they sound when John Raitt or Howard Keel sang them.
Adam L Silverman
@Cheryl Rofer: McConnell’s plan is to jam the Senate. Ryan appears willing to go along.
? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?
@Cheryl Rofer: Can they do that?
Steve in the ATL
@JPL: and you totally never worked there, right?
JPL
@Cheryl Rofer: I saw that earlier. They really don’t care, because those folks don’t vote anyway, if they do, they will die off.
schrodingers_cat
@Steve in the ATL: Lawyers have stopped the travel ban dead in its tracks, so far.
Ruckus
@SiubhanDuinne:
Got 3 weeks till 68.
Never done the sensory deprivation tank thing, but it sounds not good to me. All I’d know the entire time was the constant ring in my right ear. 24/7 for the last 14 yrs. Same tone, same volume. It’s from a damaged aural nerve and can not be fixed so it’s my friend. And no I’m not used to it yet.
gene108
Happy birthday John. Thank you for this blog.
Meyerman
Happy Birthday, John Cole! Many happy returns of the day!
efgoldman
@Steve in the ATL:
How many of the motherfuckers we’ve been discussing have law degrees?
JPL
@Steve in the ATL: Depends on where there is … hmmm
jl
I’ve worked with this guy a few times, though i have no idea whether he remembers me or not. He’s a super bigshot (edit: at Harvard (TM) econ). Also, one of the most careful, cautious, numerate, empirically minded and theoretically sound, and conscientious, and super professionally responsible, health economists I know of. So, below is his verdict on the GOP health care bill. I can vouch for this guy’s judgment and take what he says very seriously. So, bottom line: YIKES! People need to contact their congresspersons.
David Cutler
@Cutler_econ
A GOP congress may never again get a chance to kill so many people. Could rival the Iraq war in its total.
https://twitter.com/Cutler_econ/status/877976919349895168
Edit: amazed he wrote this. Would never expect that from such a careful circumspect person, at least professionally.
raven
@JMG: Me too, in November. I’m in pretty good health but I’ve had a couple of ultrasounds, blue light treatment and my wellness exam in the last couple of months. Last week I had dropped 18 lbs since my last wellness and my doc told me not to lose any more. I liked that.
rikyrah
Happy Birthday, Cole :)
NotMax
@efgoldman
Chose that particular version as it includes the lyrics deemed too blue for the film.
@Cheryl Rofer
Distinctly gray area as, constitutionally speaking, revenue bills must originate in the House. Tax cuts place it in the revenue category.
raven
Happy birthday babysan.
gene108
Talking to my mom over dinner. She said Democrats should dump Pelosi. I told her it didn’t matter, who Democrats put in charge Republicans would demonized them, like they did with Harry Reid, a Mormon from Nevada.
Edit: The David Brooks columns that filter into talking points onCNN and NYT “think pieces” on what Democrats should do really does I,pact people.
raven
@JPL: Then you need to listen try my buddy, Redneck Greece sing
Mama Was A Dancer At The Clermont Lounge. it’s not as good as We Was, Snotty Nose Kids in a Trailer Park but, hey!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXpranpsVu0
SiubhanDuinne
@Ruckus:
I’m sorry. I think I would hate that. The only thing I have that’s remotely analogous is that I have a recurring musical earworm that I CANNOT.GET.RID.OF. It’s always there in the background, and I think sometimes it goes on for an hour or more before I even consciously notice it. Drives me nuts, but at least it’s not tinnitus/ringing.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@SFAW: What! You’re not blaming Hillary Clinton? Neoliberal!
JPL
@JPL: I did go to a Chipendale thingy with a neighbor and her relative who was playing in an amateur event for the LPGA decades ago. The gal became a top player for the LPGA, and my son still talks about knowing her. That was the only time. The guys had abs.
TenguPhule
@efgoldman:
Let’s not. Lawyers are useful.
Republicans on the other hand, serve no useful purpose I have yet been able to determine.
Anne Laurie
Many more
happygrumpy returns, Mr. Cole!It doesn’t get any easier, but in my experience, eventually one gives fewer & fewer fucks…. which is not nothing.
? ?? Goku (aka Junior G-Man) ? ?
Happy B-day Cole! Thanks for your blog!
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Hey, Raven, was wondering about you. Any word from your sister on the memorial service/funeral? Are you heading to CA or still waiting for more info?
jl
Oh yeah. Happy birthday Cole. May you have many more, in good health and happiness.
I was going to make some sort of trouble as a B-day present. But I can’t think of anything at the moment. So, my apologies.
Ruckus
@efgoldman:
Careful now, I got a lot of pushback for talking like that.
I thought that they should all find out they have stage IV cancer, on the day after their insurance ended, just to find out how nice it is to be on death’s bed with no way to get better and no one to even pay for hospice care. People thought that was harsh.
raven
@SiubhanDuinne: It’s been pretty weird, Neither she nor her girls communicated with anyone, not eve my brother who lives there. I called, emailed and FB’d all of them and nothing. Finally last night my sister told me they decided on next Saturday. I’ll fly out Thursday and come back Monday. I’m sure there is some explanation so I’ll just be cool.
Ruckus
@SiubhanDuinne:
I was thinking that it would make a SD tank a less than inviting place to spend time. But then I’d bet an SD tank would be less than inviting place without this issue. YMMV.
I’ve never had a real desire to do special things for birthdays. Although I did go to the Oshkosh WI Experimental Airplane Association annual show one year. Flew in a B-17, which was a blast. Planned 4 days, left after 3, I was bored.
Ruckus
@Anne Laurie:
QFT
NCSoder
Happy Birthday!! I get a lot of pleasure and chuckles reading your posts. Finally someone klutzier than me! Enjoy your life and your house and your new relationship. You’ve earned it!
Another Scott
HBD JGC! I hope it was a good one.
Cheers,
Scott.
Kevin Hayden
Clearly the two most important things are:
1) Have a great birthday that lasts the whole weekend or more.
2) The Republican death panels only lack guillotines.
germy
Who Is Randy Bryce? 5 Things You Should Know About Paul Ryan’s Congressional Challenger
NotMax
@Kevin Hayden
Too French. Freedom choppers.
:)
Jim Bales
Happy Birthday, John!
I got my CPAP in 2006. My life was transformed for the better — sleep is *good*! And, my wife stopped hitting me to get me to stop snoring.
I hope that the good things in your life continue throughout the year ahead.
Best
Jim Bales
germy
@SiubhanDuinne:
Have you read “Altered States” by Paddy Chayefsky? Some detailed descriptions of the sensory deprivation tank experience. Of course, Paddy takes it further, and has his character go through physical changes.
lurker dean
happy birthday, jc!
NotoriousJRT
@AdamK:
“Putz” Half putter, half futz.
Ohio Mom
@Ruckus: No, you want them to have Stage 3 cancer. That comes with the hope that they could beat it with enough really expensive treatment, and the sure knowledge that Stage 4, the terminal stage, is just around the bend otherwise.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: @Steve in the ATL:
Omnes Omnibus
@TenguPhule: Some Republicans are lawyers.
Butthurt Jordan Trombone (fka XTPD)
Happy birthday John.
Marcopolo
Hippo Birdie Two Ewes! Thanks for the blog, including the selection of an excellent cast of front pagers.
stinger
Late to the conversation as usual, but happy birthday! Planting natives for the bees and butterflies is a great idea — it may bring in hummingbirds too. I never understand why people plant barberrys and other ornamental bushes as foundation plantings. Blueberry bushes have pretty spring flowers, gorgeous red fall leaves that stay on the bush a long time, and of course delicious, nutritious fruit. No thorns. Different varieties bear at different times, so with only a few bushes you can be eating fresh blueberries several months of the year.
NoraLenderbee
Even later, but Bappy Mirthday all the same!
Big Picture Pathologist
Happy birthday, JC. Your honest and heartfelt Road to Damascus period almost a decade (!) ago was a momentous period in the history of the blogosphere and it helped strengthen my political beliefs as well as get me through a tough personal time. Now, this blog is a national treasure.
As I am your same age, today I’ll yell at the clouds in your honor.
satby
@Omnes Omnibus: ?
Summer
@wuzzat: Not necessarily wasps. I had ground bees and they don’t bother you; you can walk right through them. They leave after about a month of buzzing around being great pollinators.
Ruckus
@Ohio Mom:
OK, OK, very late 3rd stage. That way they have hope and will spend what they can, only to find that it wasn’t enough and there isn’t any government help, thanks to them, and because all their friends are in the same boat there isn’t any one who can or will give money to a GoFundMe campaign. And of course the local diner, Help Local Fucking Moron Jar will never be enough, for the same reason. Then they hit stage IV.
I like it, Thanks!
chopper
@Origuy:
you don’t have to wait for them to die to empty the trap. just stick the thing in the freezer for a few hours.
chopper
@Mike J:
I used to live a short block off ponce just by clermont lounge.
Gretchen
@Mnemosyne: My son was frantically afraid of sweat bees when he was little. I’m from Michigan, and had never heard of sweat bees. I didn’t believe they were a real thing, and kept telling him that his friends were just making them up to scare him. I don’t think either of us has actually encountered one. Wasps, on the other hand….. I was scraping the bottom of my compost pile when I hit a wasp’s nest, and they attacked me. “Dad, Mom’s on the front porch taking of her clothes!”
NotoriousJRT
Happy Birthday, John. Life is short; grab every opportunity to celebrate with people who love you.
TenguPhule
@Omnes Omnibus: And that doesn’t disprove my point. Of course there are fucking useless lawyers, the Republican ones.
Gregory
Happy birthday, John, and many more!
wuzzat
@Summer: You don’t really get swarms of your type of ground bee, which are a spring-nesting insect whose season has past if you live south of Connecticut. Those are solitary little buggers — you can get a bunch of them in the yard, but they’re obviously not an organized group. Swarms of bee-like things living in the ground are almost always wasps.
JR in WV
@Steve in the ATL:
He’s talking about “Yellow Jackets” which dig dens in the ground, and swarm any moving object that disturbs them. I got some up a pants leg once, and shucked out of those pants out in the road, while a good friend helping move hay watched with interest. I was shouting God Damn over and over, and finally spit out BEES at which point Bob left the area.
11 stings, no serious reaction, they don’t hit you as hard as bees or wasps do. Bad for kids, tho. They make paper nests to hold the larva, and don’t do honey. Skunks prey on them, which is a blessing, or we would be overrun by the pests.