Got my test results and I am negative. Now to call my doctor and tell him to get me a z-pak stat.
Also to go get more birdseed cuz we got some hitchcock like shit going on out front and I am legit scared.
This post is in: John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House"
Got my test results and I am negative. Now to call my doctor and tell him to get me a z-pak stat.
Also to go get more birdseed cuz we got some hitchcock like shit going on out front and I am legit scared.
Comments are closed.
zhena gogolia
I’m glad you’re negative.
ETA: My friend who watched the Schiff video said, “Oh, the man who started the blog is very personable and friendly, and so at ease with leading the conversation.” I was totally flummoxed until I realized she meant Curt, who MC’ed.
eclare
Good news!
JoyceCB
Excellent news, Mr. Cole!
Old School
Whew!
SiubhanDuinne
Glad to hear it, John! You stay negative, now, hear?
Another Scott
Good, good.
If you want to drive the little birdies away, get an owl or a hawk or … Putting out more feed is probably the wrong way to go. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
SiubhanDuinne
@zhena gogolia:
Fully agree about Curt, but LOL that your friend thought it was John :-)
WaterGirl
Yay, John! What a relief.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne: Yes, I was taken aback for a moment.
Chief Oshkosh
Shit, Cole, I coulda told you that you’re negative. It’s how you roll.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne: BTW, several of my friends have watched it and were very impressed.
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: That’s very funny!
Steeplejack
In other COVID-related news, Georgia GQP dillweed David Perdue tests positive.
Chetan Murthy
John, like everybody who comes to your place, I’m thankful you’re negative!
CaseyL
Glad to hear the test was negative!
What kind of birds are giving you the Hitchcovk treatment? If it’s crows, you brought this on your own self. “How can I attract more crows?” you asked, with everyone begging you not to do it. ?
I think it’s too early for the porch families to be back yet. You might want to get rid of the multitudes who are hanging around, or they may not feel safe nesting there.
zhena gogolia
@CaseyL: My thoughts exactly. Crows, ugh.
Redshift
Oh, good. I feel like lots of us are getting nasty non-covid bugs. Maybe we’re just paying more attention to them while waiting for our test results. I caught something at New Year’s (from a friend’s teenager) that I guess was a bad cold, bad enough that I couldn’t work for a couple of days and felt rotten for a week.
A friend has recently tested negative, but is having days of a fever spiking up to 104, going to the doctor, then the fever breaks, but it comes back the next day. None of this seems like the normal stuff we used to suffer through occasionally.
SiubhanDuinne
On a wistful note, our friend and fellow blogger Schlemazel passed away three years ago today. I miss him.
Laura Too, if you’re around, please know I’m thinking of you and your uncle’s family.
SiubhanDuinne
@CaseyL:
Attempted murder.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: It seems impossible that it’s been that long. Tears.
dnfree
My husband was sick just before Thanksgiving. They tested him for both Covid and flu, and “fortunately” it was flu (type A), but he was miserable for days. They said both were going around.
And we think he might have gotten the flu at the urgent care center where he had to go for a Covid test a couple of days before he got sick (in preparation for a minor procedure).
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: 72 views!
Good thing I had John put it up on YouTube so we wouldn’t overload Balloon Juice with the traffic of a bunch people watching the video. :-)
mrmoshpotato
Good to hear about the negative test.
So there’s currently seed in the feeder(s) but you fear the possible attack if it runs out?
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: Good one.
I dropped Laura a note to let her know that you remembered that we lost him 3 years ago today.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: Yes, there’s a bunch of (bird) company coming and he doesn’t have enough food.
edit: I highlighted your empty block quote in case you were sending us a secret message.
mrmoshpotato
I was nice enough not to mention the crows.
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne:
Thanks for the remembrance.
HuCat
Glad to hear it–the negative test results, that is; not the Hitchcock-like swarms.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: I deleted the empty block quote, so now you’ll never know the secret message that wasn’t there.
Keep the birds fed, keep your eyes.
Omnes Omnibus
I normally complain about negativity on this site, but, in this case, I will applaud it.
RaflW
In the realm of Hitchcock, we live within a mile of Loring Park in Minneapolis. There’s a murder of crows that is estimated to be 5-10 thousand birds that swirls around here every evening this part of winter. Some days 20-50 of them hang out in the trees in the center courtyard of our townhouse complex. It’s something!
Steve in the ATL
@Omnes Omnibus: well played
eclare
@SiubhanDuinne: I can’t believe it has been that long.
MomSense
Relieved to hear you tested negative. Have you tried an inhaled corticosteroid?
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
How nice of you! Thank you.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
@eclare:
I’m the same. How can it possibly be three years already?
SiubhanDuinne
@Baud:
One thing about getting old is that one racks up a lot of yahrzeits. According to my contemporaneous notes, Schlemazel’s death hit me hard — it was so fast.
WaterGirl
So I was in the mood for dessert, and I had sour cherries in the freezer. I am not a big fan of pie crust unless it’s a homemade gallette and I’m too lazy for that today.
So I made a double batch of the cherry filling and cooked it on the stove top.
I took a refrigerator-case pie crust and made a zillion tiny little crust circles with my tiniest biscuit cutter and baked those in the toaster oven.
Definitely not the prettiest thing I have ever made (to put it mildly) but I get 4:1 cherry to pie crust ratio and I’m hoping that’s just right.
edit: In all fairness, it looks better in person because you can see the cherry filling peeking out.
Chief Oshkosh
@Steeplejack: Tots and pears for unknown comorbidities.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: Oh, I think my people watched it through the blog — that’s the link I sent them.
eclare
@WaterGirl: Sea salt and caramel gelato here….
Jharp
I had to quit feeding the birds. It was attracting far too many critters.
And one further and interested in anyone’s thoughts.
I have decided that it is irresponsible to plant a garden and not secure it from critters.
I came to this conclusion when a ground hog dug a hole under my neighbors deck right next to his foundation.
The ground hog moved in to dine on my garden. We have very few of them. I live a very urban environment.
Thoughts?
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne: That was sad.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Nicely done.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl:
Sounds good!
WaterGirl
@zhena gogolia: I wonder if you watch it from here if that counts in the YouTube view count. I had assumed that it would, but maybe not? ?♀️
WaterGirl
@eclare: Yum!
mrmoshpotato
@Jharp: Flamethrower.
NeenerNeener
Glad your test came back negative, John.
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I didn’t pick up anything from the 10 masked minutes I spent in Kohls on Saturday morning. So far, so good.
RaflW
My partner, unaware of my last comment here, just came down a few minutes ago and said “It’s really Hitchcockian today!” His home office faces the courtyard/short-term roosts. Here’s a couple photos. Loud buggers, too!
laura
@SiubhanDuinne: Schlemazel’s memory is a blessing. I’d like to tell his niece, from one laura to another, your Uncle was such a wonderful Jackal and though it was due to his passing, that you, too, became a Jackal.
lowtechcyclist
@Chief Oshkosh:
Nonsense! There’s a difference between being a grouch and a misanthrope, as our host is, and being negative.
raven
@Jharp: We had whistle pigs until the coyotes moved in.
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: It probably does.
WaterGirl
@laura: I wanted to say something similar to Laura, but the best I could come up with was that we were lucky to get her out of the deal, but that sounded awful, so I left it off my note to her.
Yours is so nice and mine sounded awful!
mrmoshpotato
Going long tonight!
Last night was Instant Pot Spinach and Artichoke Chicken – only 8 minutes of pressure cooking.
Tonight – Mexican Shredded Beef at 90 minutes of pressure cooking.
My only complaint is that the power cord isn’t a bit longer.
Ruckus
@Redshift:
I’ve been hospitalized with a fever of 105 for 9 days after vaccination day in boot camp. Good times. Aw the fun we had…..
I’ve never lived during a pandemic but there are a few alive who have. Of course one has to be a bit over 100 for that and the likelihood they would remember what it was like is slim. But with this heightened awareness of the potential issues, every thing is going to cause a scare. And if you’ve been vaccinated and boosted your symptoms can vary quite a bit from unvaccinated covid at least from people I know that have had it of which I know of 4 with the latest version in my small world.
raven
@mrmoshpotato: I did some of the vacuum packed butter beans for my bride, she likey!!
Ken
@raven: Now all you have to do is get rid of the coyotes. Hmmm… How would you go about attracting bears?
Oh, right, vote libertarian. But then how do you get rid of the libertarians?
raven
@Ruckus: That was after they asked you which vaccines you did, and did not, want right?
raven
@Ken: The feral cat population plummeted too.
mrmoshpotato
@raven: Mmmm butter beans. So….buttery.
mrmoshpotato
@Ken: Isn’t there an old episode of The Simpsons where that chain of madness is unleashed upon Springfield?
WaterGirl
Well, this is lovely. I guess it’s “leave the faucets dripping overnight” time. Wind chills 15 to 20
degrees below zero.
cckids
What is it with birds today? Here (N. of Seattle), we had an enormous gaggle of birds loudly gathering across the street. For noise level, think of the loudest truck going by outside. They stayed about 10 minutes, then were gone.
Maybe we should all watch for meteors?
Baud
@WaterGirl:
You broke the blog.
Geminid
@Chief Oshkosh: David Perdue has at least two comorbidities: he’s 72 years old. And Trump persuaded him to enter the Governor’s race, and they say that everything Trump touches dies.
CaseyL
@mrmoshpotato: Heh. I couldn’t resist. Also, I am genuinely worried about the family birds who’ve been nesting on John’s porch, who he (and we) are looking forward to seeing again come Spring. Crows kill and eat baby birds, and I doubt the parents will nest anywhere near large numbers of them.
satby
@SiubhanDuinne: oh, I can’t believe it’s been three years! Miss him.
MomSense
@SiubhanDuinne:
Thank you for the reminder. Sending love to Laura Too.
debbie
Just finished off a bag of Trader Joes dark chocolate covered graham crackers with sea salt. I’ve decided putting salt on dark chocolate is a crime. It was okay in the beginning, but enough already.
Cacti
I saw that David Ortiz was inducted into the baseball HOF.
So, there is literally no reason left for Roger Clemens or Barry Bonds to be left out anymore.
Chief Oshkosh
@lowtechcyclist: You are correct! Thanks.
zhena gogolia
TFG on Amtrak (Cauvin):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqoABDXlxQg
Ken
@mrmoshpotato: Not sure, but on the principle of “Simpsons did it!” I’ll guess yes. I was thinking of one of Pratchett’s books, Making Money, where the head of the post office is explaining why they were putting mongooses in the letter boxes.
(Snails were eating the glue on the stamps, so they put in toads to eat the snails, requiring snakes to eat the toads.)
zhena gogolia
@debbie: We like the Vermont Country Store chocolate-covered graham crackers (dark of course). There’s no salt. They are divine.
joel hanes
@WaterGirl:
windchill has almost nothing to do with pipes freezing.
Pay attention to the actual temperatures, which do.
Actual -10 is more dangerous to pipes than 0 degrees with a -25 windchill.
JPL
@Geminid: Since he’s fully vaxxed, he’s probably fine. At the Faith and Freedom luncheon, he didn’t receive a lot of applause, so the time off the campaign trail is probably a welcome respite for him. The Faith and Freedom Coalition is a tad week on faith though, since they love Herschel.
delk
Prognosis Negative
satby
@Jharp: If there’s snow on the ground it’s hard for birds to find enough food to survive in winter, they depend on feeders. Critters (I assume squirrels mostly) need to eat too so I just factor them in. I also throw old produce I won’t eat (think wizened, not rotten) out for the bunnies. Then they leave my shrubs alone instead of eating them in desperation. Groundhogs will eat a lot of stuff, I once watched one stroll up the stairs of the abandoned house where I left the ferals food to chow down on the leftovers after the cats were done; so I kind of doubt your garden is the only thing that attracted the groundhog. The deck offered a safe sheltered place to dig a burrow.
debbie
@zhena gogolia:
I’ll have to take a look at those. Thanks.
Another Scott
4th Circuit also says Negative to approval of permit for the Mountain Valley Pipeline.
BlueVirginia.US:
Good, good.
Cheers,
Scott.
satby
@delk: wait, what? Who?
Geminid
@JPL: Have you seen Perdue’s campaign launch video? That’s a creepy two and a half minutes! There was this eerie music, and Perdue did that thing where he talked but his lips hardly moved. It was like something out of a science fiction movie.
Yarrow
Glad to hear it’s negative but sorry you don’t feel well.
WaterGirl
@Baud: What do you mean?
edit: I most of my comment in case you are saying the copy & paste from the weather channel screwed up the margins mobile.
Sure Lurkalot
@laura: @SiubhanDuinne:
Thanks for the reminder, Schlemazel was a fine jackal and his swift passing was quite a shock.
satby
About those crows:
WaterGirl
@joel hanes: We’re getting down to zero without the wind chill, and the water company left a phone message to do the drip thing, so I assume they know what they are doing.
Nelle
@Jharp: I was inundated with sparrows, over one hundred at a time. They were driving all the other birds out. So, following Google’s advice, I quit feeding all the birds. Then I had to take everything down, including the birdbath, to prep for the approach of the December derecho (second derecho in a year and a half). Never put anything back out. After that, I screwed up my knee and I couldn’t have kept up with going out on the ice and snow. I just tossed a cup of seed out on the deck since tonight it is to be -13, striaght temp.
LongHairedWeirdo
did a bit of re-write:
Scene 1 and… ACTION!
“Mr Turtle, how many pandemic deaths does it take to get Republicans to start caring?”
“I’ve never made it without biting! Ask Mr Owl.”
Never made it without biting, see? Because their constant indifference to the suffering adn death gets so aggravating that… look, you’d have been tempted to, if you were Mr Turtle, and he only nipped. Okay, Scene two… ACTION!
“Mr Owl, how many pandemic deaths does it take to get Republicans to start caring?”
“Let’s find out. One. Twohoo, three (loud crunch, as you see 6 eager young zeros line up behind the number 3).
“Three.
“Million.” No wonder the poor kid looked so forlorn!
zhena gogolia
@joel hanes: That’s what I thought, but what do I know.
persistentillusion
@Jharp: Battled them for years in a semi-rural setting. Either a Have-a-Heart trap or a .22. They are very difficult to get rid of, or to have them take the hint and leave.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Yes, it’s fixed.
Sure Lurkalot
@mrmoshpotato: I’m definitely interested in the shredded beef recipe.
We finally got some snow in Denver, about 3” and cold, but not wicked. I’ve just prepared a pot of mean green chili. I use frozen green chiles, this time, one tub mild, the other hot. Last time all hot was a bit much but capsaicin does give you quite a buzz.
JPL
@Geminid: I hoped that he would damage Kemp, but it is unlikely. Kemp is handing out bonuses and giving raises to state employees to buy goodwill.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: Tonight 01/25
Bitterly cold. Mainly clear skies. Low near -5F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph
Bet we’ll get that weird fog/steam effect on the lake.
persistentillusion
@Ken: Easy, tax them.
Ruckus
@raven:
Sure!
They may have asked, as you well know they didn’t ask out loud.
I remember that after I got out of the hospital on a Saturday I got to spend 2 nights in the discipline barracks and showing up and seeing 3 guys on the floor scrubbing it with tooth brushes and the guy behind the desk laughing because of the look on my face, and then telling me that I would get a new company Monday morning and no I was not in trouble. That and my new company commander really, really liked to swear at every thing but especially at everyone. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard fuck used in one sentence so many times. And you may have noticed that I’m not shy with using that word myself……
Brachiator
Are you positive about that?
Very cool.
Geminid
@Another Scott: I hope this puts a stake in that gd pipeline’s heart. It was to be a 42″ pipeline running from the Marcellas shale straight to the North Carolina coast. The plan showed it stopping 50 miles from Morehead City, and the owners downplayed the possibility of exporting the gas. Like, someone’s gonna set up a hundred brick factories in coastal North Carolina. The environmental groups did a great job resisting it.
Gin & Tonic
@Another Scott: Way to go with that cliffhanger ending in your blockquote.
mrmoshpotato
@Sure Lurkalot:
Spice rub-makin’ time.
stinger
@SiubhanDuinne:
Thank you for the reminder.
Dan B
@RaflW: When we moved to our house 12 years ago there was a twenty minute long parade of crows at dusk from horizon to horizon. That happened two years in a row. Since then there have been an occasional trickle. How does that happen?
And, John, it’s good to hear that you don’t have Covid. Keep the snark coming as soon as you feel better.
Laura Too
@SiubhanDuinne: Thank you. He is being remembered tonight by his family. They made roulauden together and will share stories. I miss him very much. I miss his stories. It is why I love hanging out here, there are so many amazing story tellers with such wonderful tales. Hugs to Watergirl for the heads up, I had a local political zoom call I just got off of.
WaterGirl
@Baud: Weird. That should not have done that. ?♀️
thanks for letting me know.
LongHairedWeirdo
Random thought: did Mitch McConnell ever use the excuse, during the impeachment trial, that he won’t “do the Democrat’s work for them”? Or, did he think that was perfectly fine for a colleague to say, certainly nothing to raise a fuss over?
And did that happen after he swore an oath to see impartial justice done?
See, “impartial” means, well, being impartial, right? Any Republican present at the first two, or all three trials, in recent memory, had solemnly sworn that, if they were out for blood – er, I mean, guilt – with Clinton, they would do the exact same thing for Trump. Again: that’s what “impartial” means. If you think “impartial” means “we’ll favor the home team”, then you really do need to mention that, when taking your oath, because everyone else thinks “impartial” means “we don’t care which team he’s on”.
The notion that Republicans “won’t do the Democrat’s work for them” lays it out with precision. Democrats have a duty to search for the truth, and try to collect evidence, etc., but Republicans only have to do that if they feel like it. Because, hey, they love the constitution, everyone knows that they say that, over and over, even when their love is clearly in doubt.
Anyway: if you transliterate from BS to Human, they only think Democrats are bound by the Constitution.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: speaking of the lake, what was up with the weird circle shapes on the lake???
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: If you’re here now, I can put up the post now instead of waiting until 8pm. what do you think?
Roger Moore
@CaseyL:
Crows have an undeservedly bad reputation in this regard. Jays are apparently much worse in this department, and obviously nest parasites like cuckoos and cowbirds are even worse.
Dan B
@Ruckus: My father had the Spanish Flu and had an open draining sinus for almost forty years. We got every vaccine ever. Then I went to India and got all the rest.
Gin & Tonic
@WaterGirl: Whatever works for you
ETA: Might be best to put most of it “below the fold” as I suspect it’s pretty long otherwise.
delk
@satby: it was a movie from a Seinfeld episode.
Gin & Tonic
Big Papi in the HoF, Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens not – and Curt Schilling falls off the list after 10 years. Crying shame, there.
catclub
@dnfree:
 
So here is my theory, last winter there was basically NO flu season, but lots of covid. This winter any natural immunities to everyday flu are two years out of date. The non-symptomatic everyday flu, which will top up immunities, was gone, so you get that worse. Also, I have a theory on the brontosaurus.
satby
Thank you! Something that I wish more people would do.
Roger Moore
@satby:
It might be interesting to compare them to our local parrot population. They also tend to form big communal roosts. One of the benefits is that they start the day at a common point, so if one of them has discovered a good food source they can recruit their fellows to join them in eating it. A tree with ripe fruit can provide more food than a whole flock of parrots can eat before it goes bad, so there’s no problem with sharing, and having a bigger flock provides security. I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find crows have some of the same reasons for roosting communally.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Three years? Wow, that’s gone fast.
When I think of Schlemazel, I smile.
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: It’s up, and good idea, already done.
satby
@delk: ah. Never watched that.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
I’m glad it’s negative, Cole. Sorry you’re feeling like crap tho
catclub
@Gin & Tonic:
Let me know when Ty Cobb gets booted out. Till then, not having Barry Bonds or Roger Clemens in makes no sense. These were extremely famous, record settiong, extremely accomplished baseball players.
satby
@Roger Moore: that was some of the speculation at the link.
Laura Too
@laura: you are why I am “too”. Under the circumstances I couldn’t come up with anything clever. I so admired all of your great stories so I hoped you wouldn’t mind my hanging on your coattails. Thank you for the kind words.
Laura Too
@RaflW: It is one of the few things I love about our winter, the coming of the crows. I will say they do make a hell of a mess though. I have a white car, and the purple stains take forever to get off. :)
The Thin Black Duke
@Gin & Tonic: Big Papi was media friendly and knew how to work the crowd. Bonds, Clemens and Curt—not so much.
Miss Bianca
@Laura Too: We miss him. Glad to gain you, tho.
mrmoshpotato
Local Tyrannosaurus has thoughts about Wordle.
Central Planning
@SiubhanDuinne: That’s the quality kind of response I am here for. Thank you.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl:
Circles of ice?
Laura Too
@Miss Bianca: Thanks.
Doc Sardonic
@mrmoshpotato: I changed out the power cord on my Insta Pot with a 6 foot PC power cord, works great and I have enough cord to get it out of the way.
mrmoshpotato
@Doc Sardonic: I might do the same. The problem I ran into last night was being right under my kitchen cabinets for the quick release.
Moved out to the edge of my counter tonight, so hopefully I don’t slightly steam the underside of my cabinets again. (I used a towel to redirect some of the steam.)
NotMax
@mrmoshpotato
There are steam diverters which slide over the release nozzle available for a few bucks on Amazon that direct the steam release to around 90 degrees.
Nice thing about the 3 quart model is that the power cord unplugs from the unit if one wants to stow it inside the pot when unit not being used.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: Oh. Thanks! Pricy, but it IS a cannon.
The 6 quart has a detachable power cord too.
SiubhanDuinne
@Laura Too:
Mulberry trees in your neighbourhood?
#voiceofexperience
SiubhanDuinne
@mrmoshpotato:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/22/weather/midwest-chicago-lake-michigan-ice-pancakes/index.html
prostratedragon
@mrmoshpotato:
The new term for those circles is “pancake ice”. Appears almost every year since forever of course, but never heard the cute term, or any particular discussion of the stages of Lake freezing, before this year. They might be firming up a bit today.
prostratedragon
Popular article, I see.
NotMax
@prostratedragon
Linked to this earlier in January:
Back in shape: Maine’s famous spinning ice disk says hello
prostratedragon
(Edit box funny. Hope this works)
This one is one big disk, where as Lake Michigan had numerous little ones about 1 to a few feet in diameter. No doubt it’s a difference in the kinds of water motion that’s the reason.
prostratedragon
Yes, edit box is funny. I wanted to append, not eliminate, my original reply, which was to say that I’d seen something about the Maine disc before, probably in 2019 when they last had a big one.
chrisanthemama
@SiubhanDuinne: “Murder of crows” *groan
mrmoshpotato
@prostratedragon: I don’t remember seeing them 30 years ago. But I guess we were too busy keeping ourselves from falling in the lake while playing on the ice cliffs.
NotMax
@mrmoshpotato
Heh. Happens to be the one I opted for (slightly lower price then) when there weren’t nearly so many choices. Functions well enough, although depending on what is being cooked it may spritz some hot liquid occasionally, which is no biggie as the entire IP lid gets washed afterward anyway.
I laughed out loud at some of the reviews there: “It ends up facing the wall.” Well duh, takes all of three-quarters of a second to rotate the entire pot so the nozzle doesn’t face the wall before releasing pressure. At this point it is automatic procedure to pre-position the entire IP so that when the control is turned to vent the pressure the diverter is already pointing in the direction I want it to.
The Lodger
@SiubhanDuinne: Corvid infestation. (If someone hasn’t done that already. I’m only 10% of the way in.)
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: Yes, circles of life. Answering way after you will ever see my answer, I’m sure.