Blinded by the light.

I lived in Indiana for 20 years, a state that didn’t observe daylight saving time, and ached for it. Part of it was the simple embarrassment of living in a backwater, one of two states in the union that didn’t observe it; Indiana was fond of dumbshit policies like that, like keeping its welfare system not at the state or even county level, but townships. People in Indiana, as charming and down-to-earth as they are, could also be stubborn in truly unique ways.

The problem, we were told twice a year, was that the state lies at the western edge of the eastern time zone, and the line kept getting fiddled with. At one time it was in the Central zone, then the line ran through Indianapolis, bisecting the state. Now it’s the western border, except for carve-outs around Evansville in the southwest and Chicago in the northwest. So those practical Hoosiers threw up their hands and said enough, and opted out.

Oh, but we’ve been through this many, many times. Indiana now observes DST, adopted the year after we left. And now it would seem Hoosiers were ahead of their time.

This week a Michigan lawmaker introduced a bill to end DST in Michigan. It’s not going anywhere, but it accompanies a wave of anti-DST blah-blah, the two previous links coming from Slate mainly because I’m too lazy to dive deeper.

This happens more often in recent years, I’ve noticed, and only in the spring. No one ever complains about getting an extra hour of sleep in the fall, even when it means gloomy evening commutes and grilling dinner by flashlight. When did we get so soft? It takes a couple days to adjust, but before long we’re all enjoying the long evenings and warm nights in the yard and bike rides after work. Aren’t we? I do, anyway. I can’t recall a single thumb-sucker about how stressful DST was until fairly recently.

Of course, that might be because there weren’t a million websites looking for clickbait, too.

So we limp into the weekend. I’m feeling my general energy return, probably because the light is returning, too. I’m even cleaning the house again. Woot.

Bloggage? Hmm.

Me, on Michigan’s aging northern region.

If you missed it in the comments yesterday, Bob Pence, a now-deceased member of our readership (but who only rarely commented) was revealed to have left $1 million to the ACRES land trust, sort of a local Nature Conservancy in northeast Indiana, dedicated to preserving natural areas. Good old Bob.

And while we’re on sort of a Hoosier kick, it looks like Fort Wayne daughter Nancy Snyderman is out of work at NBC News. I talked to her a few times and always liked her, but to judge from the comments, many, many others did not. She’ll land on her feet. But still.

Have a good weekend, folks.

Posted at 12:30 am in Current events |
 

96 responses to “Blinded by the light.”

  1. Kevin said on March 13, 2015 at 1:26 am

    Here’s an anti-DST piece from November. But it’s so bad that I think it might be satire.

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  2. Dexter said on March 13, 2015 at 1:40 am

    The last time I saw Dr. Nancy on the evening news I noticed she looked old, gaunt, and very wide-eyed, and I thought to myself she looks like a tweaker…then forgot about it and dismissed it to being a too-fast make-up session or a late arrival to the studio for any reason. I had no idea she was on the shit-list at Rockefeller Center.

    My last job before retirement included unloading semi-trucks at the end of my night-shift if they had extremely critical parts. Drivers, time after time, who had crossed into Indiana to deliver parts from Ohio or Michigan stopped me in the aisle and told me they had the load we needed and said they told they would be unloaded at 7:00 AM…I was busy most of the time and told them that unless so directed by my boss, I had to take care of the machinists and they had to wait until 7:00 AM. They frequently blew up and pointed to their watches to show me it was well past 7:00. “Not here driver…you’re on Chicago time here.” Oh yeah, I heard a lot of WTFs.

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  3. Jolene said on March 13, 2015 at 2:57 am

    Too bad about Nancy Snyderman. I always thought she seemed very well-informed, competent, and sensible, but that peanut allergy presentation does suggest that she was under the influence of something.

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  4. MarkH said on March 13, 2015 at 5:26 am

    No question Dr. Snyderman had background and acumen for her TV role. Combined with her appealing screen presence, she was a natural for NBC to snag her as a medical reporter. But after a time what comes with that is hubris. Regardless of how one feels about the ebola outbreak and its effect in the US, she was put under an ordered quarantine when one of her crew contracted it, potentially exposing her. As a medical professional, she knew better than to break it, but she did anyway, seriously hurting her credibility. I saw the peanut allergy report too, and it was probably just the final straw.

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  5. David C. said on March 13, 2015 at 6:15 am

    I would be fine with moving the time up an hour and leaving it there, but I don’t need the sun to rise at 4:00 am in the summer. When my brother worked on a farm, he loathed DST with a burning passion. He said the cows hated it. I never quite figured that one out. I also had a co-worker who refused to change from standard time, because it was God’s time. I never figured that one out either.

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  6. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on March 13, 2015 at 7:12 am

    Hat tip, Bob Pence; grace and peace to his people. From our Habitat/mission trip discussion yesterday, it sounds like he had thought through what he wanted to help do, and how he wanted to see it done, even after he was gone. That’s vision. May his tribe increase!

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  7. Connie said on March 13, 2015 at 7:25 am

    David C, old joke. Why doesn’t Indiana have daylight saving time? Because cows can’t tell time.

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  8. ROGirl said on March 13, 2015 at 7:48 am

    Previous post had wrong name listed. My bad.

    I didn’t mind DST so much until they extended it a few years ago, so that now it starts in early March and doesn’t end until the start of November. Why?

    It’s hard to say that Nancy Snyderman was drunk, but she looked kind of tired, and the anchor was trying to cut her off in mid-sentence. Not a good set-up for a medical report.

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  9. Suzanne said on March 13, 2015 at 7:57 am

    I’m with ROGirl. I don’t mind DST but it not the extension. I also get a kick out of the people who say it takes them weeks to adjust. People also don’t understand it. I had several conversations this winter with people complaining how they hate DST because it gets dark so early in the winter and I had to explain that, no, it would get dark the same time in the winter, DST or not. That always got me a “Whaaat?” look.

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  10. Deborah said on March 13, 2015 at 8:11 am

    I love, love, love DST. I love that it starts in early March now, it makes me so happy. When we were in Finland a few years back in the summer, the nearly 24 hours of light was fantastic. I crave natural light, the brighter the better. That’s what I like about New Mexico.

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  11. alex said on March 13, 2015 at 8:28 am

    Connie, when I heard that joke, the punchline was idiots, not cows.

    The anti-DST stuff is of a piece with the “government can’t tell ME what to do” syndrome that afflicts those who are still litigating the Civil War. Indiana owns the dubious distinction of having invented it first, in fact decades before the Tea Party was even a glimmer in Michelle Bachmann’s crazy eyes.

    Loving the extra daylight at the end of the day, even if my mornings are a tad groggy for the time being.

    Sorry to see Nancy Snyderman lose her place at NBC. I wasn’t aware of this development when I mentioned her last night in response to a post by Deborah regarding the death of Michael Graves.

    I don’t know much about Habitat for Humanity but Jimmy Carter lending his good name to it tells me all I need to know. Mr. Carter refuses to accept honoraria for his public appearances because he regards profiting on one’s former elected office as a gross ethical offense, and he similarly won’t endorse just any charity.

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  12. Jolene said on March 13, 2015 at 8:28 am

    Something cute to start the day. Background: Robert Downey, Jr. plays Ironman in the movies.

    http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/13/3d-printed-iron-man-gauntlet-becomes-a-kids-awesome-bionic-arm/?ncid=rss_truncated

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  13. Jolene said on March 13, 2015 at 8:31 am

    Carter has done hands-on work with Habitat ever since he left the WH, thirty-five years now. Impressive, indeed.

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  14. coozledad said on March 13, 2015 at 8:33 am

    You can try and save time all you want, man, but the only thing that can warp a continuum is a really large galaxy or a black hole equivalent to sixty billion of our suns, and who wants that?

    I’m just glad winter is over. We lost a couple sheep to exposure, and the extreme protracted cold seems to have driven one of them, Babuh-Duh, mental. She follows us around and inspects everything to make sure it isn’t a food item. She helped us unload groceries yesterday. It was a challenge.

    I even found a little screech owl that had likely frozen to death inside one of the old tobacco barns. You start to wonder how climate change is going to disrupt wildlife migration patterns.

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  15. Lou Gravity said on March 13, 2015 at 8:39 am

    I have a tip for the ever increasing number dopes who are traumatized by DST: Don’t set your alarm on the Sunday morning when DST starts. Sleep until you wake up. Then you haven’t lost any sleep! Problem solved.

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  16. Jolene said on March 13, 2015 at 8:40 am

    Posted this last night, but am reposting because it’s so wonderful. I wanted you all to see this essay by a man of many gifts, gone far too soon. Was one of the “most read” articles in yesterday’s WaPo. The last paragraph will break your heart, but what a lovely sentiment to be left with.

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  17. nancy said on March 13, 2015 at 8:44 am

    Jimmy Carter will also go down in history for playing a key role in eradicating guinea worm. That alone qualifies him for secular sainthood.

    Yes, read that essay Jolene links above. It’s outstanding, and very sad, but still outstanding.

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  18. beb said on March 13, 2015 at 8:50 am

    DavidC: Cows produce milk at a steady pace. If they are not milked regularly their udders become swollen with excess milk and they become discontented. So cows prefer being milked the same times every day. Daylight Saving Time throws their milking time.

    I grew up in eastern St. Joe country, which was central time zone. We were maybe five miles from the Elkhart countyline, which was Eastern time zone. It was bad enough that five miles equaled a one hour time differential but one year St. Joe went off daylight savings entirely and suddenly there was a two hour time difference between the two counties. Every couple years the legislature would try to fix the time zone problem, which is unfixable because there is always somebody crossing a county line or a state line and moving into a different time zone. I’m one of those who hate daylight savings time, which is mostly pushed by golfers so they can play an hour longer. I say pick a time and stick with it!

    My Dad, who continues to live in St. Joe, has long been ticked off that Gov. Mitch Daniels stole all the profits from the Indiana Toll Road to pay for freeway construction around Indianapolis. That money was to be spent on the Toll Road and the counties it passed through. So this morning I read from a Philadelphia blogger than the original company Daniels leased the Toll Road to has filed for bankruptcy and now an Australian firm is picking up the lease. Considering how much of a cash cow the Toll Road had been before the lease, and that the Spanish company that bought the lease had jacked up rates I’m surprised they went bankrupt. If I were running for governor I think my platform would be to break the lease and take the Toll Road back home to Indiana.

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  19. brian stouder said on March 13, 2015 at 8:50 am

    Jolene – that is a wonderful, terrible article!

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  20. coozledad said on March 13, 2015 at 11:12 am

    Pooty-Poot’s done disappeared. Guess they haven’t looked in the well of the Senate.
    http://www.balloon-juice.com/2015/03/13/putin-in-his-place/

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  21. susan said on March 13, 2015 at 11:24 am

    cooz, maybe Lassie can find Pootie Poot in the well of the Senate. Shaaaaaaannnnne…..

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  22. Deborah said on March 13, 2015 at 11:27 am

    Loved reading the comments in that balloon-juice link about where Putin might be. My favorite was managing a Cinnabon in Omaha.

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  23. coozledad said on March 13, 2015 at 11:30 am

    He shouldn’t be that hard to find. He’s the shirtless guy with C-cups, riding a horse.

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  24. Kirk said on March 13, 2015 at 11:41 am

    Nancy@17: That’s what I was talking about, not Habitat. The Carter Center has done that kind of monumental work internationally for some time.

    I attended a conference in Atlanta about 20 years ago, and the first-night reception was held at the Carter Center. We had been told that Jimmy might show up, but were disappointed that he couldn’t join us.

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  25. Dorothy said on March 13, 2015 at 11:56 am

    When I knew Nancy Snyderman broke quarantine, I knew her days at NBC would be numbered. I’m surprised it took as long as it did. I admire her very much, but that was just a dumbass move and a very bad lack of good judgment.

    Lou Gravity – that’s what happened to us last Sunday. Not that we set alarms on Sunday anyway, but when I woke up at 7:10 I was stunned. Mostly because our dogs hadn’t circled our bed and whined until we woke up.

    The editor of the Pilot resigned last night, and my daughter is simply bereft. He is widely admired and adored by his staff and he has only week left there. This has been a very rough year or so for her at the paper. I can console her in person when we visit her over Easter, though.

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  26. Charlotte said on March 13, 2015 at 1:06 pm

    DST has kicked my ass this time around — maybe because I had a cold at the same time? Himself hates it, but since he works for himself, it’s no big deal, but I just Could Not get my morning re-synched so that everything got done (the poor dog, short walks this week). Losing an hour of daylight before I have to log in to work, just as we *got* that hour, has been a big pain this time around. But like I said, it might have been this cold/virus I’ve been fighting off too.

    And Jimmy Carter is my hero.

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  27. Deborah said on March 13, 2015 at 1:58 pm

    I’m killing time waiting to leave for the airport. One of my Facebook friends linked to this, more about racists frats and sororities http://mic.com/articles/112240/12-incidents-that-prove-fraternity-and-sorority-racism-isn-t-just-an-oklahoma-problem. Here’s hoping that their lack of judgement has more to do with the underdeveloped cortex of that age than outright racism.

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  28. Dorothy said on March 13, 2015 at 1:58 pm

    Jolene thank you for sharing that article about Paul Kalanithi. I couldn’t help thinking of our fellow nn.c-er, Mo, who also died from lung cancer.

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  29. adrianne said on March 13, 2015 at 2:18 pm

    Dorothy, a former colleague is a reporter at the Pilot, and she’s very depressed about Denis Finley’s departure. He was very well regarded by the staff, and it sounds like he just reached the end of his rope with directives to cut staff. The second-guessing on an investigative series regarding the mayor of Va. Beach and his votes on projects financed by a bank in which he was on the board of directors was likely the last straw.

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  30. Julie Robinson said on March 13, 2015 at 2:24 pm

    Hey Lou, there’s a few of us here who go to church on Sunday morning. Twas a struggle this week though.

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  31. Jolene said on March 13, 2015 at 2:29 pm

    I thought of her too, Dorothy. Seems a long time ago already since we had her with us.

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  32. Deborah said on March 13, 2015 at 2:59 pm

    I miss Mo too.

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  33. Dorothy said on March 13, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    Yes adrianne, I’m sure that whole VA Beach thing factored into this. Our daughter shared what she could, and I understood everything she told me. Still – being right in the middle of it was very, very hard for everyone concerned. My daughter said Denis has been looking ‘gaunt’ and knew he was struggling lately. Cutting the staff by about 30% last November didn’t help either. I hope he has only good days ahead of him.

    On a happier note, I found out on one of my first days here that one of the professors (an opera singer!) in my department has a brother who works at the Pilot, too. He’s a photographer. She was so delighted to find out we had that connection!

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  34. Deborah said on March 13, 2015 at 3:23 pm

    Little Bird and I just worked out via text that tomorrow we are having pizza and key lime pie for dessert to celebrate Pi day. We need to find a good key lime pie recipe. Does anyone out there have one? I’m particular because I grew up in Miami, FL so I know excellent key lime pie. I’ve never tried to make one before.

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  35. Kirk said on March 13, 2015 at 3:26 pm

    Just remember it’s not key lime pie unless it’s made with juice from key limes, not any old limes.

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  36. Jenine said on March 13, 2015 at 3:37 pm

    My father grew up in Ft. Myers. His aunts would sometimes mail him key limes swaddled in paper towels inside an eggcarton. Their skins are so thin they would bruise otherwise. He would make lime sherbet. Happiness!

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  37. Deborah said on March 13, 2015 at 3:50 pm

    We had a key lime tree in our yard when I was a kid, my Dad made excellent limeade. I can’t tell you how often I think of that taste. The sound of him stirring the juice with ice in the glass pitcher is a distinct aural memory I have, coupled with the taste it is ingrained in my brain.

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  38. Colleen said on March 13, 2015 at 4:07 pm

    I’m with Deborah…I’m a HUGE fan of dst. The one hour doesn’t upset my bio clock enough to matter. I love light later in the day…can get out for some bike riding or walking, even after dinner. I’d much rather have that daylight at the end of the day than the beginning, when I am asleep!

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  39. Basset said on March 13, 2015 at 4:17 pm

    Fast tube and slow time, remember em well from growing up in range of Terre Haute tv. “Tonight at eight, seven in Illinois…”

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  40. paddyo' said on March 13, 2015 at 4:37 pm

    Susan @21: Funny you should mention Lassie looking for Pooty-poot, because today, “Jon-Provost-as-Timmy” turns 65. Cue the theme music!

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  41. MichaelG said on March 13, 2015 at 5:01 pm

    I always liked Nancy Snyderman and couldn’t understand why she broke her quarantine. It was one of those willfully stupid things like Hillary Clinton’s email debacle. I only got halfway through the peanut presentation before I bailed out because of embarrassment.

    That excellent article on Paul Kalanithi really struck home. It’s been a little over a year since I was diagnosed with lung cancer and I recall how sick I was for a large part of last year. In truth, though, my sickness resulted largely from the incredibly aggressive chemo regimen my doctor put me through. Then I did more chemo this past January and February.

    After I learned of my situation, I went back and read through all of Mo’s posts. What a lovely and very smart woman she was. Wasn’t her name Regina? I deeply admire her smarts and her strength and her wisdom.

    When I was first diagnosed, my surgeon and oncologist both had long faces and spoke very softly. Though neither was explicit, it was clear that neither expected me to last all that long. My X-Rays and scans showed numerous spots on my lung. Too many to make operating a viable option. Hence the banzai chemo.

    Well, it seems to have worked to a large degree. My latest scans (yes, one of each, PET, MRI, and CT along with a couple of chest X-Rays) show I’m down to one so-so sized spot and two smallish ones. The surgeon is smiling and the operation is scheduled for 04-13 just after I get back from Spain. My oncologist was happy and smiling when I saw her last Wednesday. I’m even feeling excellently! There’s hope! Now I just need my hair to grow back.

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  42. Jolene said on March 13, 2015 at 5:12 pm

    Great news, MichaelG. I’m happy for you. Feeling well and having an optimistic prognosis should mean that you can really enjoy your trip.

    Have been reading some very interesting news stories about innovative cancer therapies based on cell biology and immunology. Very small numbers so far, but some hopeful ideas to explore in further testing.

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  43. beb said on March 13, 2015 at 5:39 pm

    Good news indeed, MichaelG. Enjoy Spain andbest wish on your surgery.

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  44. Judybusy said on March 13, 2015 at 5:54 pm

    Wonderful update, MichaelG! I hope you share Spain with us as you did last year.

    We are doing the happy dance in our house for a few reasons: spring came suddenly a week ago. It’s been in the 50s and 60s. So, last Thursday, there was a morning windchill of about -17. Today after work I sat outside with an iced coffee. We are going to Costa Rica in June with our middle niece. We have our accomodations and flights purchased, so it’s really happening. And just general goodness of seeing friends, eating good food and drinking good wine.

    Happy weekend, all.

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  45. Deborah said on March 13, 2015 at 6:27 pm

    Has it already been a year since your previous Spain trip, MichaelG? I’m really looking forward to hearing the next installment. And good news about the prognosis.

    I’m sitting at the airport and really pissed because I realized I left my $54 Nortface gloves in the cab. Damn. I was going to take the el to Midway but because I had 3 bags to wrestle with I decided to take a cab. I had 3 bags because I bought some household goods at IKEA to take with me. Irritating.

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  46. brian stouder said on March 13, 2015 at 6:40 pm

    Good news, MichaelG!

    Deborah, I have a confession: I’ve never yet ridden in a taxi cab. I’ve ridden city buses; the subway in NYC; airplanes; rental cars; courtesy vans….but never a cab.

    I wouldn’t know how to do it. Hailing them, dealing with the driver, paying the fare and then a tip? – all greek to me.

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  47. Deborah said on March 13, 2015 at 7:45 pm

    Brian it’s easy to hail a cab in Chicago, you just go out to the street and stck your arm out and have an expectant look on your face. You often have to wrestle with your own luggage, you have to ask them to pop the trunk if you want to put it back there. You tell the driver where you want to go and if you’re familiar with the route you tell him how to get there, otherwise you could end up being taken on an expensive circuitous route. Really most of the drivers I’ve encountered have been friendly and honest but every once in awhile you end up with a real bastard.

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  48. Sherri said on March 13, 2015 at 8:06 pm

    I’m so glad to hear your good news, MichaelG, and I’m looking forward to a vicarious trip to Spain!

    I’ll be the contrarian. I hate DST. I hate switching back and forth, and with the days so long here in the summer, DST just makes it screwier. I’ve never gotten used to it still being fairly light at 10 pm, and when my daughter was in elementary school, trying to keep a reasonable bedtime when the sun hadn’t set yet was challenging.

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  49. alex said on March 13, 2015 at 8:19 pm

    Regarding hailing cabs, it helps if you look Caucasian.

    I”ve probably lost hundreds of dollars” worth of gloves, umbrellas, jackets and sweaters in cabs. Had a friend who was a good Jesuit-schooled Catholic boy who once found a thousand bucks on the floor of a cab. He gave it to the driver who probably put it toward a hooker when his shift was over and had enough left over for rent. I know what I would have done.

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  50. Dexter said on March 13, 2015 at 8:28 pm

    Great report, MichaelG.

    I’ve hailed cabs in Manhattan, Chicago, Fort Wayne, here in Bryan, Philadelphia, and San Jose and Oakland…probably more places as well. Only in Philly did I get “took bad”. Asshole took us over a bridge and in a big circle to get us from Center City to The Spectrum, when he could have just taken us there via Broad Street. The 22 dollar fee going was only $4 coming back.

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  51. Dexter said on March 13, 2015 at 8:30 pm

    fare not fee…autocorrect went crazy

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  52. Little Bird said on March 13, 2015 at 8:52 pm

    What Drborah isn’t telling you is that getting a cab in Santa Fe requires a phone call and very likely a 30 minute wait. If you don’t have luggage, it’s almost easier to walk!

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  53. MichaelG said on March 13, 2015 at 10:26 pm

    Deborah, last trip to Spain was in September. So it’s only been six months.

    I left a really nice North Face hip length, lined wet weather jacket on a seat by the gate at Ontario Airport. Remembered it as soon as I got on the airplane.

    Leaving for Spain on the 24th.

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  54. Kim said on March 13, 2015 at 10:48 pm

    Wonderful news, MichaelG and count me among those awaiting your dispatches from Spain.

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  55. basset said on March 13, 2015 at 11:03 pm

    Fast TIME, not tube, and slow time, I should have said @39… typing on my phone at a stoplight, it happens.

    Working on booking a trip to Alaska, anyone been to Homer or Kodiak? Went to Seward a few years ago and had a wonderful time… when Mrs. B was really sick in early 2010 I told her I’d take her to see the bears when she got better, finally getting our situation to the point where we can do it.

    SEC basketball tournament is in town right now, I could give a shit who wins but it does seem to be really good for the sales tax revenue.

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  56. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on March 14, 2015 at 12:01 am

    MichaelG, that’s wonderful news. Except now you’ll have to pay those “final notice” bills from The French Laundry you were ignoring!

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  57. MichaelG said on March 14, 2015 at 12:05 am

    Not only that but they lost a sock.

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  58. MichaelG said on March 14, 2015 at 12:10 am

    It’s surprising and disheartening to see how many people and businesses refer to next Tuesday as “St. Patty’s Day”.

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  59. Dexter said on March 14, 2015 at 12:43 am

    Pittsburgh..forgot to mention that city…longest wait ever for a cab, 45 minutes outside old Three Rivers Stadium for a cab I had to call for. Every other major sports stadium I have been to has streets clogged with cabs after games, except Pittsburgh which had none.
    When I first started hailing cabs the Checker Marathon was the standard, although there were always Plymouths and Fords and many other brands as well. I am glad I got to ride quite a few times in the back of the old Checkers. Made in Michigan, they were. Kalamazoo. A few years ago we discussed the time 45 years ago when the Fort Wayne fleet was scrapped and replaced by an all-Peugeot fleet of hacks.

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  60. Dorothy said on March 14, 2015 at 6:11 am

    Dexter the traffic around the ballparks in Pittsburgh is notoriously bad. I’m not surprised to hear about a 45 minute wait for one.

    MichaelG I’m so excited for you on many fronts! The health news is spectacular and you have an impending trip to look forward to. That is excellent news all the way around.

    I’m up too early for a Saturday but I’m headed to a quilt retreat that is less than 3 miles from my house. $25 for the entire weekend to go and sew to my heart’s content. I just sat with the ladies last night and did about 3 hours of hand quilting. But today my machine is going to buzz and spit out new blocks for a wall hanging in my new office cube. I might decide to just skip tomorrow’s day to sew because I need to get some laundry done at home. But today should be very nice. And at least I”m making some new acquaintances at this event. It’s been 16 months since we moved to Dayton and I feel like I don’t have very many friends yet.

    Happy Saturday, y’all.

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  61. coozledad said on March 14, 2015 at 10:22 am

    Conservatives: They’re just a little uneasy about the reach of the Federal government:
    http://wonkette.com/579656/child-regifting-job-creator-justin-harris-got-4-million-in-tax-funds-for-jesus-pre-school

    Those children are lab rats in yet another bullshit medieval Republican experiment that asks the same question, over and over: what’s the shortest route to extinction?

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  62. Sherri said on March 14, 2015 at 1:17 pm

    Dexter, the way to deal with the ballparks in Pittsburgh and getting a cab is to walk across the bridge into downtown and get a cab there. I almost never took a cab in Pittsburgh, but occasionally took the bus to a game, and the easiest way was to bus to downtown and walk across to the stadium.

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  63. Jean S said on March 14, 2015 at 2:53 pm

    Deborah, I grew up in Miami, too, with a key lime tree in the side yard (as well as a Persian lime) … I do have a recipe, but I won’t be able to post it until late tonight Pacific time. In the interim, get your sweetened condensed milk.

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  64. Deborah said on March 14, 2015 at 3:36 pm

    We went to 3 stores to find either key limes or key lime juice. We finally found some bottled key lime juice, Nellie and Joes brand. I got some recipes on Facebook (thank you LAMary). The third place (Albertsons) had key limes too but they were hard as a rock and not very fresh looking. I forgot how tiny key limes are, it would have taken a bunch to make enough for a pie anyway.

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  65. Kirk said on March 14, 2015 at 5:47 pm

    Appropos of earlier discussion, I happened to get a fundraising letter from the Carter Center today, so I’m sending a check.

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  66. Deborah said on March 14, 2015 at 10:10 pm

    We had our homemade pizza and key lime pie for Pi Day dinner. Wow, the key lime pie was amazing. And easy. Won’t be the last time we make it. We’ll try a few different recipes to see which ones have the best result. Good times.

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  67. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on March 15, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    Love spring, but I despise the annual hacking of the ornamental grasses and various other decorative plant-like landscape-y things (sedum, lavender, sage, peony) that leave stalky stands of skeletal debris to be chopped and disposed of. I know winter is over when I look down at the end of a sunny day and see my hands covered with tiny lacerations — and every year, my wife says “why don’t you wear gloves?” and each spring I reply “I started with them, and then I decided I’d rather get done than remain unwounded.”

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWotpIy0uTg

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  68. Judybusy said on March 15, 2015 at 7:08 pm

    The weekend’s been delicious. Took the bike out both days, and it was warm enough for shorts and a short-sleeved jersey. Pure delight riding along the Mississippi River on both sides. We heard about this singer, Sofia Rei, http://sofiamusic.com/news/ who will be playing at the best jazz venue in town. We couldn’t pass up the $25 tickets and have great seats about 25 feet from the stage. Joining her is JC Maillard, who toured with the incomparable Lisa Fisher last fall. What a great thing to do on a Monday!

    I am doing something a little different this week for work, staying in the office instead of going to see clients. This means I can ride my bike every day but one. Woo-hoo!

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  69. LAMary said on March 16, 2015 at 12:04 am

    I decided it was too hot to crank up the oven to make a pie. Instead we sat outside and grilled a lot of chicken, had a salad of arugula, scallions, cilantro and lime juice. Little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper of course. We tossed some flour tortillas on the grill and they puffed up like chapatis, and I made another salad of papayas, blood oranges, heirloom navel oranges and mandarins. It was all very good. We didn’t miss the pie.

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  70. coozledad said on March 16, 2015 at 7:45 am

    T-Bogg’s back:
    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/03/conservatives-want-liberals-to-date-other-people-not-grab-the-first-hillary-who-comes-along/

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  71. brian stouder said on March 16, 2015 at 9:18 am

    Regarding Hoosiers, forget the ‘blinding light’ – it’s the smelly water that has us all up-tight right now

    http://wane.com/2015/03/12/city-attributes-melting-ice-snow-to-recent-water-questions/

    Here’s an unfortunate quote from a city utilities person:

    In a statement on the city’s website, the odd taste and smell is caused by warmer temperatures melting the snow and ice into the rivers. The city said when the snow and ice melts quickly, it often creates a slightly different smell in the water. “The soil gets really saturated with the rain and snow, and once it gets too saturated, it runs down toward the river. As it runs toward the river and into the river, it carries with it all kinds of things- sticks, debris, manure,” Water Quality Supervisor for the Three Rivers Filtration Plant Vicki Zehr said.

    All anyone is gonna remember in that quote is the word “manure”! (the scary part is, I honestly haven’t really noticed anything wrong with the water, while the young folks and Pam have been grousing about it for the last week….)

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  72. Sue said on March 16, 2015 at 10:39 am

    Nice weekend for us too. Used the last Meyer lemon for lemon whiskey sours, and pulled the cherries we had picked last summer from the freezer, pitted them and made a cobbler. Planted some peas – don’t judge, we just couldn’t help ourselves!
    And, did a little book shopping on Amazon (also don’t judge, the only bookstore in the entire county closed last year). Was looking for a gift for someone with a scientific mind but wanted it a little lighter. So I typed in “science humor” and wowmygoodness. I did not even know that “lactation erotica” was a thing. Or that a series called “Bimbo Island” could stretch to three books.

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  73. brian stouder said on March 16, 2015 at 12:27 pm

    Well, Sue – I’m just about to run off to lunch, and right now the idea of a tall glass of milk has lost its appeal!

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  74. Judybusy said on March 16, 2015 at 12:49 pm

    Remember that Dairy Queen is giving away free cones today to celebrate 50 years! It’s not the best ice cream ever, but whenever I have a cone, I am instantly brought back to childhood summers.

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  75. Dexter said on March 16, 2015 at 12:52 pm

    whoosh! off to DQ!

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  76. Dexter said on March 16, 2015 at 12:55 pm

    I am a DQ alumni…one summer when I was 15. I still remember dumping sacks of that powdered mix and water and milk into a hopper to prepare it for freezing. That was the “ice cream”.

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  77. Kirk said on March 16, 2015 at 1:28 pm

    I worked at a DQ for about six months my freshman year of college in Columbia, Mo. Needed beer money.

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  78. Dexter said on March 16, 2015 at 1:34 pm

    From DQ ice cream to something a tad more spicy…wild oats or insanity? Bold or crazy?
    http://nypost.com/2015/03/16/i-bedded-12-strangers-in-a-year-with-my-husbands-permission/

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  79. Dexter said on March 16, 2015 at 1:44 pm

    http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2015/03/15/corktown-detroit-parade/24810285/

    Corktown pops a cork for St.Paddy.

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  80. Dorothy said on March 16, 2015 at 1:59 pm

    Not a fan of DQ. I’ll stick with the pistachio nut pint I bought at Ritter’s last week.

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  81. Julie Robinson said on March 16, 2015 at 2:24 pm

    Three out of four family members have put in time at a DQ. My first day was the annual banana split sale. Oy veh! I bet I could still make the DQ curl blindfolded.

    Speaking of DQ’s, we have noticed a lack of ice cream shops in Orlando and West Palm Beach that seems counter intuitive. And almost none are soft-serve. We always want ice cream when we’re visiting, because it’s HOT. Why, Florida, why?

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  82. Jolene said on March 16, 2015 at 2:27 pm

    Loved DQ as a kid. Every so often, on long summer evenings, the whole family would go for a drive, ending at the Dairy Queen. My mother, slurping her butter pecan sundae, was a bit less likely than usual to worry about our drips and spills. Like my dad, I never passed up the chance for a strawberry sundae.

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  83. MarkH said on March 16, 2015 at 2:51 pm

    I had it made as a kid: My Uncle John and Aunt Mary Lou owned two DQs outside Pittsburgh.

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  84. Dorothy said on March 16, 2015 at 3:37 pm

    MarkH every year I find the road to turn on for my mother’s family reunion by looking for the DQ on Perry Highway in the North Hills. That’s not one of your family’s places, is it? I’m royally screwed if that DQ ever closes! I’ll have to look for another landmark if it does.

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  85. Deborah said on March 16, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    In Miami growing up we used to go to an ice cream place called Carvels. My favorite flavor was mint chocolate chip. When we were older and spent a few summers in Missouri at my grandfather’s small town there was a down market DQ type place called the Dairy Freeze only it was spelled weirdly. I remember the ice cream there being pretty bad but we still ate it because it was the only place in town. St. Louis had a great frozen custard place called Ted Drewes, when I lived in St. L it was always mobbed with people on summer evenings. Wedding parties often showed up there on Friday and Saturday nights. I’m pretty sure it’s still going strong.

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  86. MarkH said on March 16, 2015 at 3:49 pm

    No, Dorothy. They had one in Monroeville and the other in our old hometown, East McKeesport. I think that one is still there. My parents didn’t take us there real often, fearing the OD factor. They sold the businesses in the early ’70s.

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  87. susan said on March 16, 2015 at 3:51 pm

    Graeter’s. Chocolate chip. Or strawberry. That’s all I will say.

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  88. MarkH said on March 16, 2015 at 4:07 pm

    ’nuff said, susan. When we moved to Cincinnati, no more thoughts of DQ. Graeter’s was the preferred hangout in junior/senior high on the Mariemont square. I KNOW it’s still there!

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  89. brian stouder said on March 16, 2015 at 4:13 pm

    If you’re ever in Logansport, Indiana – the Sycamore is superb; Mr Happy Burger has great shakes; and another near the drive-in movie, the name of which escapes me – are all marvelous

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  90. Dorothy said on March 16, 2015 at 4:20 pm

    Graeter’s. Black raspberry chocolate chip!!

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  91. Judybusy said on March 16, 2015 at 4:28 pm

    We have several small, independent ice cream shops in the Twin Cities. A co-worker’s daughter made a summer project of visiting and rating them all last year. One that is in walking distance from my house is so good–the owner really uses a lot of local ingredients, including the cream. No powdered mix for her! I did get my DQ cone, and thoroughly enjoyed it on the way back from the gym. Then, and only then, did I have lunch.

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  92. Charlotte said on March 16, 2015 at 4:30 pm

    DQ! We have one in town, and I never go, but I used to help my BFF by picking up her Lily at preschool and we’d always go to DQ for a “kid’s cone” — a wee tiny cone — on the way home. They do doggy cones too … 2 bites maybe. Lil is now so tall her favorite joke is to stand with her chin on the top of my head …

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  93. Smurch said on March 16, 2015 at 5:45 pm

    Here in Cincinnati, Graeter’s raspberry chocolate chip ice cream has almost sacramental stature. And with zero calories!* I’m also partial to their blueberry pie ice cream – bits of real pie crust along with the blueberries and cream.

    My second cousin is married to a Graeter scion – Lots and lots of Graeter’s ice cream at the reception!

    *It is entirely possible that this is wildly inaccurate or indeed a complete falsehood (but oh so delicious!)

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  94. alex said on March 16, 2015 at 6:37 pm

    Can’t help but notice crinoidgirl hasn’t dropped in lately. Hope she’s doing okay and will check in to let us know.

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  95. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on March 16, 2015 at 11:01 pm

    Amen to Alex’s note. And Dexter, I read the Washington Post’s version of the same story, and it just left me sad. For her, for her husband, in general. We all have to pursue happiness our own way, but she doesn’t seem to be getting happy as much as she’s getting even, with someone. Whom, I’m not clear.

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  96. Dexter said on March 17, 2015 at 2:24 am

    best in America… http://youngsdairy.com/homemade-ice-cream/

    My fave…Fatboyz Ice Cream Parlor, Nag’s Head, North Carolina.
    http://s3-media2.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/A1UcdK-Eb4xsqXequ4zNUA/o.jpg

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