So, this happened.

New thread, and this picture of me and Pilot JoeK after lunch today:

Today was also J.C.’s birthday, so let’s wish him a happy one.

Me, I went to the Schvitz tonight and am too relaxed and warm to do much of anything other than go to bed.

Posted at 10:24 pm in Same ol' same ol' |
 

94 responses to “So, this happened.”

  1. jcburns said on April 11, 2017 at 11:09 pm

    Hey, it was! My birthday, that is. And a fine round-numbered one it was.

    So NOW I have an actual snapshot of Pilot Joe to go with my cartoony mental one. Much better. Everyone who reads nancynall.com should make a pilgrimage to the northeast fringe of Detroit and have a sit-down meal and a selfie with the proprietress. The world would be a better place.

    I should do that sometime soon.

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  2. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on April 11, 2017 at 11:15 pm

    Noted.

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  3. MarkH said on April 11, 2017 at 11:15 pm

    Happy Birthday, JC! I’m assuming that ‘nice round number’ is three score. A nice one indeed, been there myself.

    Nice to meet you, Joe!

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  4. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on April 11, 2017 at 11:32 pm

    Google tells me it’s 230 miles, almost 4 hours. I may wait until the Proprietress makes a pilgrimage to Toledo to try to buy her lunch . . .

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  5. Sherri said on April 11, 2017 at 11:36 pm

    Happy birthday, JC!

    Add another zero onto that number, Jeff(tmmo), and that’s approaching how far I am from lunch in Detroit…

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  6. jcburns said on April 11, 2017 at 11:38 pm

    230 miles, chump change! (He wrote from Atlanta.)

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  7. Jerry said on April 12, 2017 at 2:07 am

    3750 miles for me! May be some time, but of course if Nancy is in London…

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  8. Jakash said on April 12, 2017 at 2:14 am

    As “The Underground Railroad” was recently “On the nightstand” of our host and discussed by several among the Commentariat here, I’m posting this pair of tweets celebrating Mr. Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize:

    https://twitter.com/colsonwhitehead/status/851512526718283777

    https://twitter.com/HeerJeet/status/851620640775852032

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  9. Sherri said on April 12, 2017 at 2:45 am

    Ed Murray, the mayor of Seattle who was sued over sexual abuse claims, says no me, I don’t have a mole on my junk.

    http://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/04/11/25069906/doctors-report-shows-mayor-ed-murray-does-not-have-a-mole-on-his-genitalia-as-accuser-claims

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  10. Dave Kobiela said on April 12, 2017 at 3:08 am

    Nice picture of you two. Glad you finally were able to make that lunch. And a 3 hour tardy, but sincere Happy Birthday to JC. Thanks for all you do, keeping things running smoothly in the land of nn.com.

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  11. basset said on April 12, 2017 at 6:50 am

    So what did you eat? Joe, Mrs. B and I had breaded pork tenderloins in Auburn awhile back.

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  12. Deborah said on April 12, 2017 at 7:07 am

    Happy birthday JC.

    As I said yesterday it’s nice to put a face with a name. Sometimes a face will turn out to be surprising and sometimes exactly what you expected.

    I had lunch with Nancy in Chicago, not Detroit, who knows people, she may travel to your city too.

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  13. alex said on April 12, 2017 at 7:11 am

    Love the funky salmon tabletop, though it looks rather more ’80s than ’50s. I have a Formica-topped midcentury coffee table in that color with an amoeba pattern, a holdover from my “Japanese minimalist” days when I was a college student. It’s a keeper and still a standout.

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  14. Deborah said on April 12, 2017 at 8:31 am

    I know I’ve told this story here but on the day of her death, I’m going to repeat it, RIP Letterman’s mom, Dorothy. A woman I worked with was a friend of David Letterman’s niece, her name is Bryn Muth (the niece, not my friend). When we were at a conference in Cincinnati, we went to Bryn’s house and she served us wine and some cheese sticks that her grandmother made. The whole time I kept thinking about how awesome it was that I was eating cheese sticks made by David Letterman’s mother. It took a long time for my friend to even find out that her friend Bryn was Letterman’s niece. My friend was at Bryn’s house earlier (she lived in St. Louis then) and noticed a picture of Letterman’s mom on Bryn’s refrigerator, she asked Bryn why there was a photo of David Letterman’s mother on her fridge and that’s when she told my friend that it was her grandmother. Bryn is a writer, she’s written a cookbook and she has a blog. She used to be the editor of a graphic design magazine called How.

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  15. Julie Robinson said on April 12, 2017 at 8:40 am

    Happy belated birthday to JC! Glad you had a good day. And glad to see Nance and Pilot Joe in the flesh, so to speak.

    The Underground Railroad destroyed me. I hope the Pulitzer will boost its readership, as an antidote to all the happy slave themes still out there.

    I’m a third through the current On the Nightstand book, Lincoln in the Bardo, and finding it rough going. I’ve set it aside for now; who can give me reasons to go back? I understood the concept once I googled the word bardo, but it just seems to be stagnant, wallowing in mire. There were so many glowing reviews but I feel like I’m not getting something.

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  16. Dave said on April 12, 2017 at 8:42 am

    Happy birthday to JC and welcome to 60. I had my, uh, 67th this past Sunday.

    Joe, did you have a beard before, I saw a picture of you once on Facebook when a friend of my son flew with you, the friend has a company in Fort Wayne making commercial films, I believe it’s Anchor Films.

    My sister-in-law’s brother used to be the manager of a Kroger’s in Indy where David Letterman’s mother shopped regularly. He said she was always a pleasant customer.

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  17. brian stouder said on April 12, 2017 at 8:42 am

    Great photo of Pilot Joe & the Proprietress!

    And, Happy Birthday, JC

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  18. Mark P said on April 12, 2017 at 8:58 am

    Hey, happy birthday JC. We’re neighbors! I’m just up the road in Rome.

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  19. Icarus said on April 12, 2017 at 9:18 am

    I’m up in Grosse Pointe several times a year, don’t know if I merit lunch but I’d gladly buy Nancy a cup of coffee (or lunch) if so inclined. Can I bring my twins?

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  20. Dorothy said on April 12, 2017 at 9:22 am

    Happy belated birthday, JC. And happy birthday to Mr. Letterman who turns 70 today. I remember that story Deborah. The first time I was in New York I got to attend a taping of his show in August 1987, and 90 seconds before the show started I got to give him a quilt I made for him (not bed size – a wall hanging). And in that 90 seconds when he asked me about myself, he said “My mother’s name is Dorothy!” and I said “Yes I know!” That made my brother-in-law (who was sitting with me and my sister, his wife) laugh pretty good. Then he quizzed me on the names of the three rivers that form the Point in Pittsburgh and Paul Shaffer played a nice flourish on his piano after I said them correctly.

    RIP Dorothy (Letterman) Mengering, who was 95 when she passed. My mom will be 95 in July and I wonder all the time how much longer we’ll get to have her with us.

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  21. Julie Robinson said on April 12, 2017 at 9:37 am

    Dorothy, that was so kind of you, and shows you earned the same name as Dave’s mom. How I loved his interactions with her. She met every one of his acerbic comments with kindness and love. My own mom will be 85 in July and keeps complaining of how tired she is. Her cardiologist just released her for another year without any new treatments or meds, but I feel your dread.

    BTW I had to stop at Kroger on my way home last night and they still carry whole chickens.

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  22. Joe K said on April 12, 2017 at 9:38 am

    Dave at 16,
    I had a goatee until last Friday,
    And Deb at 12 so which is its?
    What you expected or surprise? Lol.
    And Dave those guys at Anchor were great, they took a picture
    Of me with the plane matted it and blew it up and sent it to me,
    Hangs in the living room.
    Lunch was great great conversation and good food, even had dessert,
    Would love to,do,it again some time.
    Off to Monroe N.C. Just east of Charlotte,
    Anyone down there for lunch?
    Pilot Joe

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  23. Deni Menken said on April 12, 2017 at 9:43 am

    Thinking about Spicer. Ugh. Why doesn’t he hie himself the few blocks over to the Holocaust Museum and request a docent give him a private tour? And keep it under his hat instead of putting it into self-aggrandize mode. I am going to send him a copy of “Night.” Pointless, I know, but maybe we will never again hear about “Holocaust Centers.” Never again.

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  24. Jolene said on April 12, 2017 at 9:48 am

    Happy birthday to JC and, yes, thanks for your efforts on behalf of nn.com. Nice to see the lunch photo too. Looks like you had fun.

    And RIP to the charming Dorothy Mengering. Letterman fans might be interested to know that there’s a new book out about him. Here’s the NYT review.

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  25. Jolene said on April 12, 2017 at 10:06 am

    A couple more “Dave’s Mom” links that appeared in my FB feed:

    A very sweet obit written by Dave and his two sisters.

    Her first on-air appearance.

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  26. Connie said on April 12, 2017 at 10:22 am

    I am something like 40 miles N/NW of Gross Point, just a few miles north of I96. And I have had lunch in Fort Wayne with both Alex and Brian.

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  27. alex said on April 12, 2017 at 10:39 am

    And Connie and I found out we have some friends in common as well!

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  28. Suzanne said on April 12, 2017 at 10:55 am

    Happy birthday, JC. It’s my nephew’s birthday as well as David Letterman’s. When my nephew was younger, he sure looked like a young Letterman, gap tooth and all. I always wanted to send Letterman a pic, but figured he’d never get it.

    I still don’t think Spicer’s comments were stupidity but a dog whistle to all those nice KKK sorts out there.

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  29. Heather said on April 12, 2017 at 10:58 am

    Great pic! Having done it a few times, I can vouch that it’s nice when nn.c’ers get together in person. And happy birthday J.C.!

    Sherri, in response to your post in the previous thread about the San Bernardino shooter’s history of domestic violence, a friend of mine said on FB, “It’s almost like it’s no big deal because it’s expected.”

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  30. basset said on April 12, 2017 at 10:58 am

    I see in the obit that Dave’s mom and I were born in the same small town, Linton down in Greene County. I never lived there though, the hospital there was just the closest one to where we were in the next county over.

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  31. Deborah said on April 12, 2017 at 11:13 am

    I’m between medical tests, I have a little less than an hour to kill, so at a Starbucks.

    Joe, I was surprised, I guess. You look younger than I thought, since I knew you had 2 grown daughters I thought you’d be closer to my age. Well, maybe you’re just well preserved.

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  32. Dorothy said on April 12, 2017 at 11:16 am

    Gosh but that obit made me cry at the end! That was just lovely…

    I bought her cookbook a long time ago when it first came out. I always wished I could have had her sign it for me, and I’m not really a big fan of autographs. Our favorite recipe in it is still made by my son – the hot chicken salad, for which one of the ingredients is corn flakes.

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  33. Deborah said on April 12, 2017 at 11:23 am

    Oops I see from the obit that I spelled Bryn’s name wrong, it’s Mooth not Muth. I teared up at the end too.

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  34. Julie Robinson said on April 12, 2017 at 11:24 am

    I was doing okay until the cardinal landed.

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  35. MichaelG said on April 12, 2017 at 11:49 am

    Happy birthday, JC!

    I guess I’m about 2400 miles away from lunch. Maybe one of these days.

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  36. Sherri said on April 12, 2017 at 12:01 pm

    Uber, classy as always.

    http://www.blackenterprise.com/technology/opinion-probably-legal-not-cool-uber-black-single-mother/

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  37. Sherri said on April 12, 2017 at 12:07 pm

    The Kushner Family Haggadah: https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the-kushner-family-passover-haggadah

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  38. Diane said on April 12, 2017 at 12:15 pm

    1,400 miles for me but would certainly be worth it!

    Belatedly wishing a Happy Birthday JC and to echo everyone else, many thanks for all you do here.

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  39. jcburns said on April 12, 2017 at 12:37 pm

    Mild-mannered Jeff is tweeting Warren Zevon lyrics. Alert the media.

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  40. Connie said on April 12, 2017 at 12:40 pm

    Wasn’t able to read the obit because as always I have reached my Indy Star free articles limie.

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  41. Jolene said on April 12, 2017 at 1:26 pm

    Connie, sometimes you can get around paywalls by googling an article. If you want to try, search for “Dorothy Mengering’s life story, written by her children.”

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  42. Connie said on April 12, 2017 at 1:48 pm

    I knew that and…. SUCCESS!

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  43. Joe Kobiela said on April 12, 2017 at 1:49 pm

    Deborah,
    Never let the struggles of life interfear with the pleasures of living, I’ll be 60 in December,kinda try to live that motto.
    If anyone finds them self in Monroe N.C. I can recommend the Franklin Street grill. Just had a killer Cuban and hand cut fries.
    Pilot Joe

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  44. Deborah said on April 12, 2017 at 2:15 pm

    OK, here we go again, I had never heard of J. Geils before today, and “Love Stinks,” ‘’Freeze Frame” and “Centerfold”, I don’t know those songs at all. Maybe if I’d hear them I’d recognize the music. I guess I’ll have to look them up on youtube.

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  45. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on April 12, 2017 at 2:17 pm

    “Previous run-ins with local authorities…” We all know the type, don’t we?

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/compost/wp/2017/04/12/crucified-man-had-prior-run-in-with-authorities/

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  46. Scout said on April 12, 2017 at 2:24 pm

    Happy Birthday JC – and thanks for all you do for the gang here.

    What a sweet picture of PiJoe and Nancy. I’m 1985 miles away from Detroit, and doubt I’ll be headed that way anytime soon. Maybe Nancy will want to do the Grand Canyon State sometime and I can host here.

    I’ve met Deborah and Little Bird so far, and we had a wonderful visit. Would love to meet up with other nn.c’ers too. Facebook has been great for putting faces to the names, which is nice because we really are all over the country and even the world!

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  47. Kirk said on April 12, 2017 at 2:49 pm

    I bought Nancy a beer about four months ago, so I’m good for a while.

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  48. Sherri said on April 12, 2017 at 3:42 pm

    A lawyer weighs in on United’s justification for its actions. There’s a difference between denying boarding and involuntary removal from a plane.

    http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/united-cites-wrong-rule-for-illegally-de-boarding-passenger/

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  49. brian stouder said on April 12, 2017 at 3:49 pm

    I am BIGLY indebted to the Proprietress*; I don’t think I’ve ever even gotten her an icy-cold Diet Pepsi (yet)

    *I don’t think it’s possible for Nance to take a bad picture!

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  50. brian stouder said on April 12, 2017 at 4:00 pm

    Sherri – thanks for sharing that article; it was an excellent, enlightening article about the lawfulness (or lack thereof) of United’s actions against the doctor.

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  51. Jakash said on April 12, 2017 at 4:09 pm

    This was pretty interesting to me. YMMV, greatly…

    A NYT food article today, asking “Ham or Lamb?” for Easter. (Uh, it was always ham for us.) A good, brief overview of the question and some of the tradition with regard to the 2 choices. But, the comments! Almost all of the top 20 “Readers’ Picks” are vegetarians chiming in with variations of “Neither. How could you even think of eating a cute little lamb — or one of those intellectual pigs?” I realize that NYT readers are not exactly a cross-section of America, and I’m no “Beef: it’s what’s for dinner” acolyte, myself, but I was still kinda surprised by that.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/11/dining/easter-ham-lamb.html?

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  52. brian stouder said on April 12, 2017 at 4:30 pm

    I vote – STEAK on the grill!

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  53. Charlotte said on April 12, 2017 at 4:42 pm

    We were always lamb at Easter folks when I was growing up. Turkey was for Thanksgiving, Roast Beef for Christmas and Lamb for Easter. (Drives me crazy how hard it is to find good lamb here in Montana, where we’re surrounded by sheep.)

    Now I’m a pagan and we’ll probably just have regular dinner!

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  54. Deborah said on April 12, 2017 at 4:56 pm

    I kept meaning to mention this but today has been kinda busy and I’ve only been able to comment briefly in between stuff. Last night we watched “Being There” with Peter Sellers. I had mentioned yesterday in comments, a blurb from the DVD liner notes which is so apt today. I’m telling you that it is a fantastic movie. I had seen it before when it first came out but holy cow, It couldn’t be more apropos now. Sellers does an amazing job, and Melvin Douglas won an Academy Award for best supporting actor for his part in it. I had read the book by Jerzy Kozinsky years before, but the movie is much, much better than the book. We watched supplements on the DVD, some of Sellers being interviewed. He said it was the most challenging role he’d ever played because he had to be so blank but still have credibility as a believable character. I was laughing out loud so much I was afraid a neighbor might knock on the door to complain. Shirley McClaine is the only disappointing performer, I like Shirley, she has been a fabulous actress in so many movies but she doesn’t cut it in this one. Her character is a good one, but she doesn’t do it justice. My husband had gotten the DVD not because of recent politics but as I’ve said here before we watch movies by director and we’re concentrating now on Hal Ashby, a little known director these days who did some great movies in the past like Coming Home, Harold and Maude, The Last Detail etc. Ashby later burned himself out with drugs and a debilitating lifestyle and died after wringing himself out (as did Sellers) a shame on both counts.

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  55. Jolene said on April 12, 2017 at 5:02 pm

    FYI: If you’re interested in following Deborah’s movie recommendation, you can find Being There through HBO OnDemand or rent it for $2.99 on Amazon.

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  56. Jolene said on April 12, 2017 at 5:10 pm

    A somewhat long, but valuable, discussion of why air travel is so miserable.

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  57. Sherri said on April 12, 2017 at 5:18 pm

    Easter dinner will probably be pizza this year in our house. We’ll be driving back from Walla Walla on Sunday after seeing out daughter’s last concert as a member of the Whitman Choir. Sunday is also my birthday (not a nice round number, but a double number.)

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  58. basset said on April 12, 2017 at 6:57 pm

    J Geils… saw em at IU in 73 and a poster advertising that show is hanging near my computer right now. Nice piece of poster art, high contrast black, white, & red.

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  59. Deborah said on April 12, 2017 at 7:21 pm

    Easter dinner will be nothing special for us. We’re having guests over Saturday night, my husband will make shrimp risotto for that. I can’t even remember the last time we did something special for Easter dinner.

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  60. Deborah said on April 12, 2017 at 7:34 pm

    Jolene, or anyone else who might want to watch Being There, stay watching through the credits at the end they show a hysterical seqence of outtakes. So funny.

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  61. Jolene said on April 12, 2017 at 7:38 pm

    The best piece I’ve seen on Dave’s mom, by the guy who wrote the book I mentioned yesterday.

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/12/arts/how-david-lettermans-mother-endeared-him-to-viewers.html?_r=0

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  62. brian stouder said on April 12, 2017 at 8:49 pm

    Sherri – further to your comment a few days ago regarding eagles at the landfill, there’s this article from here in Fort Wayne.

    http://wane.com/2017/04/12/eagle-marsh-burns-90-acres-of-grassland/

    Frankly, I’d have missed on a quiz that they conduct controlled burns of the grassland there…

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  63. Suzanne said on April 12, 2017 at 8:52 pm

    Interesting article on flying, Jolene.
    In a nutshell, flying could be much better, but ticket prices would go up, and ain’t nobody got time for that.

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  64. coozledad said on April 12, 2017 at 9:19 pm

    I experienced some difficulties when I first studied international law, but I was a 19 year old pothead, and not the president of the US. What is the phrase? We are so fucked? Yes, we are fucked.
    https://twitter.com/RachelMorris/status/852271053334249472

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  65. Deborah said on April 12, 2017 at 9:32 pm

    I read the Vox piece that Jolene linked to about air travel and I’m not buying it completely. First part of the problem is that a great number of travelers (maybe the majority?) are business travelers and those folks have to fill out expense reports that need to be approved by corporate bean counters who could care less if the person traveling has a good experience or not as long as it doesn’t cost too much. But business travel is the most expensive kind of travel, because it’s usually not planned very far in advance so they pay the high last minute traveler rate. They have something called business class on some airlines which I only got to use for international business travel. Anyway, it’s complicated and it’s a quagmire of ins and outs. Then there is also the fact that for some of the things that could be done to improve the experience for the average traveler doesn’t take that much more money. In other words an airline could raise the cost of a ticket a couple of dollars per and subsequently gain a shitload of profit by volume. People would revolt if the fare goes up a lot but if only a few bucks, who cares? I think we are being scammed by how much extra they say it takes to provide “amenities” when what it really amounts to is basics like decent legroom or fresher air. They’re trying to pass off the lowest common denominator as normal to see how much they can get away with. Yes they have to pay for empty planes to fly when the demand isn’t great or there are no-shows, but cry me a river, it’s a business that has known that since the beginning of air travel. I’m not being very coherent and I need to think about this, but there’s more to the story then we’re being given.

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  66. Sherri said on April 12, 2017 at 9:59 pm

    The quibble I’d raise with the Vox article is that it ignores that the airlines are already demonstrating that people will pay more for a better experience, by charging more for the better experience. You pay more for an aisle seat, or for a seat near the front of the plane, or for checking luggage, or for boarding earlier on Southwest, and any number of other amenities. Not everybody will, of course, but people do, obviously.

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  67. Jolene said on April 12, 2017 at 10:24 pm

    The thing to keep in mind, Deborah, is the background–the structure of the industry, not just what’s happening on each flight or with individual passengers. For big chunks of time, airlines have lost money. Think of all the airlines that have come and gone over the course of our lives: Eastern, Pan Am, TWA, Braniff, Northwest, Allegheny, USAir, and many more.

    Now, after years of losses, bankruptcies, and mergers, the industry seems to be experiencing a period in which there’s a favorable combination of capacity, an economy strong enough to allow people to travel, and relatively low fuel prices. But those factors have to remain in balance for the airlines to remain profitable. The balance could change at any time.

    Clearly, they need better ideas about how to handle situations when problems arise, but I’m not sure that the basic model can change much as long as people shop for tickets based pretty much entirely on price, which they seem to do.

    Here’s a short piece on how these factors interrelate and affect both profits and the desirability of airline stocks as investments.

    http://fortune.com/2017/03/10/airline-stocks-investment-advice/

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  68. Jolene said on April 12, 2017 at 10:34 pm

    The quibble I’d raise with the Vox article is that it ignores that the airlines are already demonstrating that people will pay more for a better experience, by charging more for the better experience.

    Within certain limits, yes, but recall what the article said about Virgin and other airlines that have tried to compete on comfort. They haven’t succeeded. What people are paying more for–aisle seats, baggage handling–used to be considered part of the deal.

    I think most people must tell themselves that it’s only a few hours, and they can stand anything to save a few bucks.

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  69. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on April 12, 2017 at 11:20 pm

    Deborah: ironically, I can’t recall the last time I made anything special for Easter either! I’m already looking forward to a 3:15 pm nap. 4 services that day, and a dozen the week leading into it . . . we’ll be having popcorn for dinner Sunday night.

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  70. Deborah said on April 13, 2017 at 2:32 am

    Popcorn is my idea of a legitimate hot meal.

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  71. Deborah said on April 13, 2017 at 3:10 am

    While the actual time you’re in the air flying may only be a few hours, the whole dismal travel experience can be many hours. When I fly from NM to Chicago the total experience takes nearly a whole day. Airports aren’t thought of as gateways to cities like grand train stations once were (a long time ago). They’re often thought of more like urinals/toilets, a place where a necessary but unpleasant function must take place. They’re often confusing gerbil trails with bad lighting, bad signage, bad aromas (bad food), bad sound systems, rude agents, stale air, overpriced retail etc, etc etc. I really don’t like to be barked at and patted down by TSA agents. It’s one queue after another, checking luggage, security, buying a cup of coffee, getting on the plane, every visit to the restroom involves a line. When I’m traveling I’m stressed about finding my way, managing my belongings and time. People who work in airports must get very frustrated dealing with thousands upon thousands of people like me all day. I remember when we used to get dressed up to go to the airport, even when you were picking someone up. My husband remembers as a kid when his whole family dressed in their Sunday finest to go have dinner at a restaurant at the airport in St. Louis, and they weren’t even flying anywhere, they were just there for dinner at a nice place.

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  72. alex said on April 13, 2017 at 7:03 am

    Doing real Easter this year, no lamb but there’s a ham in the mix. In addition, smoking a turkey, grilling some pork tenderloin, crock potting a pork roast, baking two trays of cauliflower au gratin with gruyere and feeding an army. And they’re bringing stuff too.

    Took care of the shopping yesterday and it didn’t set me back too bad.

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  73. Connie said on April 13, 2017 at 8:17 am

    Don’t do much Easter here. Since only my husband and one sib, the two locals, could have made it to a fancy dinner at my MIL’s on Sunday, us locals are meeting at the halfway point for lunch on Saturday. So see you at Highland House at 2 p.m. Saturday.

    So my Dad told me all about the Easter lunch he was putting on at the finest restaurant in town, has reservations, my brother and my step and his family are coming. I will note that he told me all this on the phone but did not invite me. We rarely do holidays at his place but even so……

    In other news my Dad’s third great great was born earlier this week. Third boy named Ozinga.

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  74. Connie said on April 13, 2017 at 8:18 am

    And btw, lamb for Easter. I was almost 30 the first time I ever had lamb. At a restaurant. And will order still when available. But Easter is ham or Pork loin roast.

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  75. Connie said on April 13, 2017 at 8:20 am

    How long ago was that Connie? The dinner at which I had lamb – at a fine French restaurant in Dallas – was also my first ever bottle of White Zinfandel. My companion said I had this interesting new wine…….

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  76. Icarus said on April 13, 2017 at 9:45 am

    @Deborah at 71, I’m stealing this because you succinctly stated what I hate about air travel: it’s essentially a seasonal job upon itself. I fly so rarely that I have to re-learn a lot of the basics along with any new changes. It’s almost like doing your taxes except my accountant only violates my wallet.

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  77. Deborah said on April 13, 2017 at 10:06 am

    Icarus, I believe you’ve said here before that you have a couple of small children, maybe I’m confusing that with someone else? In any case I can’t imagine what it would be like to go through all that you must these days while traveling by air AND have small children to tend. I would stay home.

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  78. coozledad said on April 13, 2017 at 10:47 am

    More evidence that Trumpies love to eat shit.

    https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/852487856257982464

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  79. coozledad said on April 13, 2017 at 11:05 am

    And they’re traitor scum, to boot.
    https://twitter.com/yashar/status/852530784774889473

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  80. coozledad said on April 13, 2017 at 11:10 am

    “The message was: ‘Watch out. There’s something not right here.’”

    According to one account, GCHQ’s then head, Robert Hannigan, passed material in summer 2016 to the CIA chief, John Brennan. The matter was deemed so sensitive it was handled at “director level”. After an initially slow start, Brennan used GCHQ information and intelligence from other partners to launch a major inter-agency investigation.

    In late August and September Brennan gave a series of classified briefings to the Gang of Eight, the top-ranking Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate. He told them the agency had evidence the Kremlin might be trying to help Trump to win the presidency, the New York Times reported.

    One person familiar with the matter said Brennan did not reveal sources but made reference to the fact that America’s intelligence allies had provided information. Trump subsequently learned of GCHQ’s role, the person said.

    The person described US intelligence as being “very late to the game”. The FBI’s director, James Comey, altered his position after the election and Trump’s victory, becoming “more affirmative” and with a “higher level of concern”.

    Comey’s apparent shift may have followed a mid-October decision by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (Fisa) court to approve a secret surveillance order. The order gave permission for the justice department to investigate two banks suspected of being part of the Kremlin’s undercover influence operation.

    According to the BBC, the justice department’s request came after a tipoff from an intelligence agency in one of the Baltic states. This is believed to be Estonia.

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  81. Jakash said on April 13, 2017 at 11:35 am

    Yeah, Deborah, that was a swell airport rant. Well said. “They’re often thought of more like urinals/toilets, a place where a necessary but unpleasant function must take place.” Nailed it on the difference between the aspirations of the grand old railroad stations compared with the functionality (or less) of big airports these days. Pilot Joe might want to acquire the rights for his promotional materials. ; )

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  82. brian stouder said on April 13, 2017 at 11:48 am

    The most neutral thing I could conjure (if I really had to; say, at a family gathering…!) would be – The United States certainly has routinely worked (overtly and covertly) to affect elections around the world, and to that extent, the Russians’ actions (in themselves) are not surprising.

    But – Good God!! – within the Trump administration, you cannot throw a dead cat without hitting a foreign agent…and (by definition) most of these folks were SECRET agents (Manafort, Flynn – in the NSA!!, and Page leap to mind).

    The president himself is almost certainly in violation of the Emoluments Clause in the United States Constitution – and that doesn’t even bother me as much as all these foreign agents bumping into one another in the Executive Branch of the United States government.

    I mean, Good God!! What would they (our Republican congress, or our friend Comey at the FBI, or the Fox News contingent of gropers) say, if this was happening in President Hillary Clinton’s administration?

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  83. Dorothy said on April 13, 2017 at 12:08 pm

    We’re driving home from Virginia on Easter so dinner will be peanut butter sandwiches. Or maybe popcorn.

    Someone way upthread mentioned being at Letterman’s niece’s home once. Well last night at my quilt Guild meeting a friend said she knows that same niece. Brynn lives in Cincinnati now. She and my quilting pal used to work for the same company. Sat three cubicles apart. How about that for a fun coincidence?!

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  84. Icarus said on April 13, 2017 at 1:16 pm

    Deborah, yes two and a half year old twins (boy and girl). My wife took our daughter on a short flight to Detroit (from Chicago) last May and all the stars aligned. We usually drive and on our visits to Tennessee, we split the trip into two days of shorter legs with a hotel stay. Costs a little more but neither I or my kids tolerate long car rides.

    That might be ironic considering I would drive 7 hours to Kirksville, MO for college a couple decades ago.

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  85. Deborah said on April 13, 2017 at 1:19 pm

    Dorothy, that was me who was at David Letterman’s niece’s house in Cincinnati. She had lived in St. Louis before that. Did your quilting pal work for How Magazine? Bryn used to be the head (?) editor there.

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  86. Scout said on April 13, 2017 at 1:36 pm

    So, this happened.
    http://www.cnn.com/2017/04/13/politics/afghanistan-isis-moab-bomb/index.html

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  87. coozledad said on April 13, 2017 at 2:50 pm

    Scout: He just figures every time he drops a bomb the press will come running to blow him again. And they will. It’s a Pavlovian white guy response to shit blowing up.

    We killed fifteen of our Syrian allies today. That is not what makes Wolf Blitzer’s dick hard.

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  88. Sherri said on April 13, 2017 at 2:51 pm

    Bombing Afghanistan has always worked so well historically. I hope, but doubt, that Democrats will be willing to stand up and ask real questions about the appropriate use of bombing.

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  89. Charlotte said on April 13, 2017 at 2:57 pm

    One of my jobs in my 20s was flying with a couple of kids — I was their nanny for a winter, but flew from Telluride to North Carolina (usually Atlanta) with them a number of times from when they were 4&6 to 6&8. And the youngest has Down Syndrome. They were pretty well behaved, and with Liza especially we worked hard on manners, but it was alway epic.

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  90. coozledad said on April 13, 2017 at 3:24 pm

    http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/04/13/_concrete_evidence_of_trump_russia_collusion_exists_the_guardian_reports.html?wpsrc=sh_all_dt_tw_ru

    https://medium.com/@archiestrauss/pence-everything-you-need-to-know-e321c437a383

    Trump dropped the bomb solely for distraction value. The codes need to be taken away from him.

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  91. Sherri said on April 13, 2017 at 3:58 pm

    Which org has more leaks, the WH or Uber?

    http://www.theverge.com/2017/4/13/15283840/uber-hell-shady-software-track-lyft-drivers

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  92. Sherri said on April 13, 2017 at 4:20 pm

    I think that every story about coal mining jobs should mention what coal mining jobs do to coal miners. After all, we talk about Medicaid in terms of the choices made by the people using it, and put endless restrictions on food stamps to make sure people don’t spend them on the “wrong” things, why not mention the health care costs of black lung disease?

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  93. Scout said on April 13, 2017 at 5:05 pm

    Sherri @ 92: We saw the documentary film “Time to Choose” last night at our local art cinema. Very, very sobering. The coal aspects of this are horrifying. http://www.timetochoose.com/

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  94. Deborah said on April 13, 2017 at 10:39 pm

    I’ve had a number of medical tests the last couple of days and each time I’ve made an appointment they ask a bunch of generic questions because I have Medicare and one of the questions that has been asked is if my condition has anything to do with black lung. I find that question jarring each time it’s asked, obviously it has nothing to do with my condition, but the fact that it keeps getting asked makes it seem fairly prolific. Hmmm.

    I got some really bad news today. Talked to a neurosurgeon who highly recommended spinal surgery to correct my foot drop problem. They think it’s serious. I’m going to get more info and a second opinion but I’m kind of in shock about this.

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