Kate returned from Cuba late last night. Her flight didn’t arrive until close to 1 a.m., so her night-owl father did the airport duties. Found this on the kitchen counter this morning:
Well, OK then. Looks like she’s already absorbed the first rule of adulthood: When in doubt, a bottle makes a fine gift. Those ripe bananas may find their way into a round of daiquiris this evening.
Although I kinda hope I got a T-shirt or something, too. Maybe something with Che’s face, so I can remember this week in which the NFL caved to a petty tyrant the very day yet another appalling video emerged of police behaving like thugs toward a professional athlete.
Thuggishness is all the rage these days, of course; security physically hustled a reporter from the Associated Press — the steadiest Eddie in today’s media environment — out of a public hearing. That was Tuesday.
And it’s only Thursday.
Can you tell I’m watching “The Handmaid’s Tale” these days? I am. This week’s episode is the best of the season so far, which is the first to extend the story beyond Margaret Atwood’s novel. It had everything I asked for, after one too many shots of Elisabeth Moss reacting to outrage entirely through her buttoned-up facial expression — serious plot action and flashbacks featuring the previous life of its primary female villain. I won’t go into a lot of detail; if you know “Handmaid’s” you already know them anyway, but I’ll just say that this episode posed a question: Is it abusive to scream FASCIST C*NT at someone who actually advocates fascism and wants to take your rights away?
But that would never happen here, right?
Another show doing interesting things with current events — while not actually about current events — is “Westworld.” I have to admit my fandom is pretty much gone now; I don’t mind challenging television, but this one isn’t my cup of tea. However, in the second season the writers have teased out two plot lines that reflect on today. Westworld, if you didn’t know, is a near-future theme park populated by very advanced robots that are indistinguishable from human beings. They live in a standard Hollywood version of an Old West town, and visitors interact with them. Most of the interaction, as you might expect, is sexual and violent and sometimes both, because when humans are turned loose with “humans” and permitted to do whatever they want, they mainly want to fuck and kill. This season, it’s revealed what makes this park so valuable — the user data, of course. “Where else can you see people being exactly who they are?” one executive, whose name is not Mark Zuckerberg, asks.
The other thread is another Silicon Valley obsession, i.e., whether eternal life might be possible, via downloading one’s brain into one of these better-than-real vessels. It’s not going well, as we see with a particular executive, whose name is not Peter Thiel, who keeps getting rebuilt and rebooted but is still really glitchy.
And now here we are at Memorial Day, almost — the start of the weekend. Less TV, more outdoors. Bring it on. Before you head outside, read this piece from a few days back, advising Democrats on how they might win over Trump voters. Spoiler: THEY CAN’T. So stop trying. Register your voters, then turn them out. It’s the old-fashioned way.
I’ll try to be back here and there over the weekend, but no promises. A lot going on. So let’s leave this thread open until the next one, and have a happy long weekend, all.
Dorothy said on May 24, 2018 at 9:23 am
I’m so glad Kate is home safely! And I hope you also got a refrigerator magnet out of the deal. Wait – that’s our ‘thing’ – never mind. I bet she got you something way cooler than a tee shirt.
I tried to like Westworld but the violence got to be a bit too much for me. Then I think “But I loved The Sopranos and The Wire – and those had violence in them!” My brain doesn’t want to figure out the difference; I’m just going with my gut that I didn’t care for it. But you make an intriguing argument about season two. Is anyone watching Fear the Walking Dead? I wrote that show off, too, because some of the characters annoyed the crap out of me. But this year I was pulled in by the love story of characters John and Naomi/Laura. This show is not exactly a love story kind of project. We’ll see how long I stick around with that one.
I watched The Americans’ penultimate episode this morning while hand stitching on a quilt, eating my breakfast, walking the dog, etc. before I had to go to work. Next week is the end of this terrific show and I’m trying not to guess how it will end. I hope it surprises me.
I need to take a break from watching so much t.v.! So – I’m taking off this afternoon and tomorrow and I’ll be doing a lot of weeding outside and also getting a table runner ready to machine quilt – a gift for my daughter-in-law’s best friend who’s getting married in September, but the shower is in 6 weeks. I’m not invited but I like this girl a lot and wanted to give her something hand made. After that I’m going to do some hexagons in batik fabrics, appliqued onto a black batik print. I hope it’s a magical as my imagination is making it out to be. Happy Memorial Day weekend everyone. Cook something outside on a grill! We got a new Weber charcoal grill as a change from a gas grill and I can’t wait to taste the burgers etc.!
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jcburns said on May 24, 2018 at 9:30 am
To answer your question from yesterday, Jolene, I’m afraid I have to point my finger at sloppy cutting and pasting—you let a smart quote get into the URL which as far as most browsers and servers are concerned, is a garbage character.
Gotta be careful and make sure your pasted link doesn’t contain ANY quotes at the end, smart or otherwise.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on May 24, 2018 at 9:41 am
Mmmm, an Old Fashioned. Also a nice idea.
But yes, get out your voters. The endless fascination with flipping voters just has not solid evidence behind it that it will work. Negative advertising, by the way, is NOT about changing minds, it’s about depressing turnout.
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Icarus said on May 24, 2018 at 9:49 am
We so want to watch The Handmaid’s Tale but now that naps have gone away, there isn’t any TV time with our preschoolers. We can watch our own shows now and then, but we try to limit the adult content they would see.
Going to Grosse Point over the weekend so hoping to catch up on Westworld and obtain my BIL login/password so i can watch in near-real time.
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Julie Robinson said on May 24, 2018 at 10:01 am
If we’re taking bets on when Kate gets up, mine is for after the noon hour. I remember those student trips, when you don’t want to miss out on anything, and come home with a huge sleep deficit. Hope you’ll share a few of her stories.
Dorothy, I’m glad you’re having so much fun sewing. Textile work is finally bringing my mom out of her deep mourning after my sister’s death, as nothing else we’ve tried has. I don’t have much time to sew anymore, and certainly not the patience for something as intricate as quilts. When I can, I pop in and whip up a couple of fabric backpacks, which our church fills with school supplies and sends overseas. Increasingly they are going to refugee camps.
I’m packing for two trips at the same time and it’s just about left me brain dead. We’re leaving for Orlando tomorrow, and three days after we get back I’m taking my mom to Iowa for two family reunions. All the while I’m trying to get pictures scanned to take with me for gathering family history. The trip has a melancholy feeling because, at almost 86, she doesn’t think she’ll be able to go again.
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Jolene said on May 24, 2018 at 10:02 am
Gotta be careful and make sure your pasted link doesn’t contain ANY quotes at the end, smart or otherwise.
I know that last link didn’t contain any quotes, as I just pasted it again (It was still on my clipboard.), and there were no quotation marks, smart or otherwise. So, apparently the quotes I’m adding to create the link are smart quotes. Any idea how to turn the “smartness” off?
Also, why is this problem intermittent? I’m not doing anything different than I’ve always done, but I seem to be generating non-functioning links more often, but not (I don’t think) consistently.
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jcburns said on May 24, 2018 at 10:15 am
All I can tell you is that the raw link ends up with only one smart quote, at the end. Are you typing one quote, and then pasting, and typing another quote? Are you pasting and then clicking and adding a quote at each end? And of course what browser and operating system you’re using makes a difference. There are some operating system clipboards that handle cut and paste differently in terms of trimming a space character at the end of a link. Lots of variables.
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Jolene said on May 24, 2018 at 10:15 am
Dorothy, I’ve been watching The Americans too. Such a great show. There are so many different ways it could end. Can hardly wait until next week to see what works out.
Also, our hero, David Letterman, was on Seth Meyers’s show last night. If you missed it, you can find the clips here: https://www.nbc.com/late-night-with-seth-meyers
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Jolene said on May 24, 2018 at 10:22 am
Are you typing one quote, and then pasting, and typing another quote?
Yes, that’s what I’m doing. And I’m using Safari on a fairly ancient iPad. Should I switch to Chrome.
I know you can’t necessarily solve this from a distance, though, of course, I’d love it if you could. And thanks.
P.S. I would like to know how to make my name and email address appear automatically, as they had always done until a few days ago. What changed?
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Dorothy said on May 24, 2018 at 10:35 am
Jolene I recorded Seth Meyers’ show and will watch Dave later – didn’t have time for it this morning since I was watching The Americans!
I too am not able to ‘save’ my name and email address on my fairly new iPad, and it’s also now happening on my work computer. If I type a post for this page on my phone, it saves my name and email address which I’m quite happy about. I’d love to know how to make it ‘stay put’ on my iPad, which I try to exclusively use when I’m at home after work and on the weekends.
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Sherri said on May 24, 2018 at 10:35 am
The NFL owners didn’t cave to a petty tyrant. They are petty tyrants. They would have done this whether trump noticed or not. Gotta put those uppity (black) players in their place. They think they’re being gracious and progressive by letting the player stay in the locker room during the anthem if he doesn’t want to stand.
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Suzanne said on May 24, 2018 at 10:38 am
I used to sew a lot. Made my own clothes, made my kids’ clothes, and sewed curtains and all kinds of things. I don’t have the patience any more. I’m not even sure I know how to thread my sewing machine any more. I used to do a lot of counted cross stitch, too, but that has gone by the wayside as my eyesight has entered middle age.
My only hobbies any more are reading and gardening. I have been on a “I am getting old and running out of time to read everything I want to read!” reading binge the past couple of years. I guess that is my new hobby.
I was saddened to hear of Philip Roth’s death. American Pastoral stuck with me like few books have. It so captured the societal upheaval of the 1960s and beyond, of which we are still feeling the repercussions.
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Jolene said on May 24, 2018 at 10:40 am
Here’s how Trump responded to the statement by the NFL owners. What a pig. And, oh, by the way, the summit with North Korea has been canceled. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll fall into that sinkhole on the WH lawn.
“You have to stand proudly for the National Anthem and the NFL owners did the right thing if that’s what they’ve done,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News that aired Thursday morning. Trump, who had been speaking at a roundtable on immigration when the policy was announced Wednesday, was informed of the new rule by “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade.
“You have to stand proudly for the National Anthem or you shouldn’t be playing. You shouldn’t be there. Maybe you shouldn’t be in the country,” Trump said.
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Bob (not Greene) said on May 24, 2018 at 10:47 am
Neil Steinberg had The NFL anthem demand exactly right on his blog today: http://www.everygoddamnday.com/
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jcburns said on May 24, 2018 at 10:55 am
No…using Chrome on an iPad is really a mess (and not at all comparable to using it on a desktop machine.)
The feature on iPads and iPhones that puts your name and email address into a web form is called ‘AutoFill’ and you can make sure it’s turned on by going to Settings > Safari and then click on AutoFill.
I think that iOS (the operating system for iPhones and iPads) has been toughened—made more secure by requiring you to explicitly poke the ‘autofill contact’ or the little key icon down just above the pop-up keyboard before it autofills. Aparently some malicious people had come up with ways to steal info if it just filled without user interaction.
But, hey, I dunno.
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Dorothy said on May 24, 2018 at 11:07 am
I use Chrome, JC, not Safari but I’ll look for that setting and see if I can make it work.
Anyone read the (choose your own adjective) letter Trump sent to North Korea cancelling the June 12 summit? It’s so obvious he wrote it himself. It makes my brain seriously ricochet trying to figure out how this idiot got elected.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/05/24/the-letter-trump-sent-to-kim-jong-un-canceling-the-summit-annotated/
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Peter said on May 24, 2018 at 11:22 am
Well, here’s an important question while I’m waiting for the bomb to drop – are they still going to sell those awful looking commemorative coins? And if they do, would they fetch a lot of money as a jokey novelty item?
Asking for a friend.
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Suzanne said on May 24, 2018 at 11:27 am
That letter cancelling the NK summit. I can’t even. This, my friends, is American Exceptionalism.
I think after this, I can’t even stand for the National Anthem because the country is now just a non-funny joke.
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Brandon said on May 24, 2018 at 12:42 pm
Show Dogs removes two controversial scenes.
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Jakash said on May 24, 2018 at 1:35 pm
I’ve sewn a few buttons on shirts and fixed a tear or two, but something tells me that’s not gonna get me in the club! ; ) Today’s comments made me think about the sewing my mother did. All the patches she sewed onto my jeans when I was little, when, if she’d just waited half a century, I’d have been right in style with them as ripped-up as possible. Of course, there were also iron-on patches, but those were largely “fake news” in my recollection — the edges would start curling up at the first opportunity.
Actually, my wife sews and knits well and has made a fair amount of stuff when she has the time and inclination, but the need for patches for my jeans has gone way down, for some reason…
From that WaPo article: “A North Korean official also called Vice President Pence a ‘political dummy'” Aw, come on, does *everything* have to be political these days? Clearly plain “dummy” would have sufficed in that instance. One could do worse than titling a book about the last couple years “The Dotard and the Dummy.”
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Deborah said on May 24, 2018 at 1:49 pm
Dorothy your ability to multitask is impressive.
I used to sew my own clothes, started when I was about 16, an aunt taught me how. I made some of LB’s clothes when she was a baby and toddler but then I got too busy. I should get back into sewing, I made LB a bathrobe a couple of years ago on her machine, I don’t have a machine anymore. Maybe I’ll get one for Chicago, but I’d have to sew on the only table we have room for there, which is used both for eating and as a desk. Plus sewing also makes a mess, at least when I do it. I’m talking myself out of it.
I howled with laughter when I finally got internet access this morning and learned the NK summit has been canceled. Kim made a dupe out of Trump. How about the great deal making the president has pulled off. I can’t wait to see what Mueller comes up with.
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Deborah said on May 24, 2018 at 2:05 pm
I read this guy on Twitter (he’s on Chris Hayes from time to time), he’s got a great idea (imo) of what protesting players could do instead of taking a knee https://mobile.twitter.com/ElieNYC/status/999385519841796096
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Dexter Friend said on May 24, 2018 at 4:16 pm
Nobody commented on my caboose post from last thread, so I searched a bit and found that previously the record award for a Georgia rape case civil settlement was $9M. Now the bar has been set with this latest settlement of $1B. Nowhere can I find even any guesses as to how much, in hard cash, the survivor will ever recover. Are these giant verdict-awards real? Who guarantees a back-up of a small security company to cover a billion dollar settlement? Are these settlements strung out like over a hundred-year term to the future families of the survivors? Who has a billion dollars at the ready to disperse after a surprise award of a billion dollars?
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Dexter Friend said on May 24, 2018 at 5:07 pm
Also glad to read of the student’s safe return. The rum photo sent me down memory lane, rum & Coke…rum & Diet-Rite…rum & soda w/ big lime slice on the rim…rum shots with soda back…rum & pineapple juice…I usually bought Ronrico rum. Was it Coozledad who detailed how rum was made…something about rotting goats’ heads and rotted vegetable dunder pits? https://www.thedailybeast.com/great-rum-without-rotting-goat-heads
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Jakash said on May 24, 2018 at 5:40 pm
2018: An Amazon Odyssey
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2018/05/24/an-amazon-echo-recorded-a-familys-conversation-then-sent-it-to-a-random-person-in-their-contacts-report-says/
“‘I’m never plugging that device in again,’ she said. ‘I can’t trust it.'”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0r-XhL6mAg
“I know everything hasn’t been quite right with me, but I can assure you now, very confidently, that it’s going to be all right again. … Look, Dave, I can see you’re really upset about this…”
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Deborah said on May 24, 2018 at 6:16 pm
I thought rum was mostly made from sugar cane. I did a design project for Bacardi in Miami a few years before I retired, I didn’t learn as much about rum then as I did about bourbon when I designed a bourbon museum in Kentucky for Woodford Reserve. Bacardi had a bar in their lunch room and two or three guys behind the bar would make you any rum drink you wanted, free. When I was there I tried a different rum drink each day with my lunch, that was the first time I ever had a mojito which is now one of my faves.
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Sherri said on May 24, 2018 at 8:28 pm
The Pew poll referenced in this WaPo article pretty much sums up why I have been unable to attend church since the election.
White evangelicals are the worst, but white mainline Protestants aren’t great.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/politics/wp/2018/05/24/the-group-least-likely-to-think-the-u-s-has-a-responsibility-to-accept-refugees-evangelicals/
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David C. said on May 24, 2018 at 9:03 pm
You first, asshole.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/paul-ryan-says-america-needs-catholicism-weeks-after-failed-chaplain-ousting/ar-AAxKpSs?ocid=spartanntp
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on May 25, 2018 at 1:27 am
I have no idea if anyone will give a rat’s patootie about this, but a few friends of mine and I got our local 2,000 year old American Indian earthworks into the UNESCO World Heritage List program, which Friday goes into the inexorable process of being listed come 2020 as the United States’ 24th World Heritage List site.
https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2018-11363.pdf
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Dexter said on May 25, 2018 at 2:02 am
https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/25/americas/canada-restaurant-explosion/index.html
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Brandon said on May 25, 2018 at 4:05 am
@Jeff: Congratulations!
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on May 25, 2018 at 7:58 am
It happened!
https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/05/25/2018-11363/us-nomination-to-the-world-heritage-list-hopewell-ceremonial-earthworks
The current line up, which we’d be the twenty-fourth on:
https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/us
I’ve been to twelve of ’em. Y’all? (Oh, and come to Newark/Heath, Ohio!)
The formal listing will take us to about 2020, but the process is pretty inexorable from here, especially since the UNESCO folks have already visited, and told us as we toured about “you really need to be on the World Heritage List, as open and shut a case as I’ve ever seen.”
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Julie Robinson said on May 25, 2018 at 9:56 am
Jeff, how terrific! No doubt working on this has been a great distraction from church crap. Our daughter is always energized by her “away” projects. For the last 10 days she’s been hosting four actors who were in town for the Fringe Fest and having a terrific time. Hope you can continue to find away projects.
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Deborah said on May 25, 2018 at 10:00 am
Jeff, that is super cool.
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Deborah said on May 25, 2018 at 10:25 am
It’s very dry in NM https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/05/24/climate/dry-rio-grande.html
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brian stouder said on May 25, 2018 at 1:45 pm
…and the beat goes on….
http://www.wane.com/news/indiana/-active-shooter-taken-into-custody-at-indiana-middle-school/1198453767
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Charlotte said on May 25, 2018 at 1:51 pm
Dorothy and I are Instagram buddies — I’ve been sewing most of my own clothes for a few years now and really love it. Although I hate most pictures of myself so I don’t post them much (clothesline photos mostly). Nothing binds, and everything has pockets now!
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beb said on May 25, 2018 at 2:48 pm
Jolene isn’t the only one whose name and mail boxes aren’t autofilling anymore. I use Firefox 58 on Windows 10. This started happening after the spring update.
The Korea thing is begining to sound like that old ad for The Clapper…. Talks On, talks off, talks on. Since Trumps says they’re still talking to Kim. I blame “bomb bomb bomb Iran Bolton.”
Got a new tak of propane for the grill yesterday. Now we have to find something extra-good to cook on it.
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Sherri said on May 25, 2018 at 3:28 pm
Alert Betsy DeVos! The high school next door to me is on modified lockdown right now because a bear wandered through school grounds.
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alex said on May 25, 2018 at 3:52 pm
Let’s have some “dog bites man.” This school shooting shit is getting tiresome.
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Bob (not Greene) said on May 25, 2018 at 4:25 pm
I love the Indiana Attorney General’s solution:
“School safety plans, resource officers, red flag laws and hardened targets are vital to the defense of our schools and our children.”
But not regulating guns or penalizing gun owners who fail to secure their precious deadly weapons. The problem itself is never the guns.
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Dexter Friend said on May 25, 2018 at 4:25 pm
Take me home tonight…just like Ronnie sang, be my little baby…
Yep, yas still have 3 hours to get out to the old Pine Knob music venue in Clarkston to see Eddie Money. https://www.facebook.com/events/410752412711636/
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Jolene said on May 25, 2018 at 6:07 pm
The phenomenon of Irish citizens flying home to vote is quite something. As you may have heard, Ireland is holding a referendum to repeal a portion of their constitution that precludes the legalization of abortion. This article contains examples of people flying to Ireland from Buenos Aires, Bangkok, Tokyo, and more. That’s serious commitment.
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Jolene said on May 25, 2018 at 6:10 pm
I figured out how to disable the default smart quotes, so I can again make links that work. The Autofill issue remains a puzzle. As far as I can tell, I have it set correctly, but it’s not happening.
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Deborah said on May 25, 2018 at 6:20 pm
FWIW, I’m having to fill in my name and email each time I comment. I don’t remember when it started.
We tried to go for a hike at Ghost Ranch, but forgot that it’s Memorial Day weekend and there were waaaaayyyy to many people there to make it pleasant. Lots of people will be in Abiquiu this weekend hanging out at the lake (man made).
It turns out that my husband has to go back to Chicago for a few days to take care of some business for uncle J so we’re leaving Abiquiu tomorrow morning and I’ll stay in Santa Fe until Thursday when my husband gets back. Since LB is in California until next Friday, I’ll have the apartment to myself for a few days.
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Suzanne said on May 25, 2018 at 9:25 pm
No Bob, it’s never the availability of guns, is it?
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beb said on May 25, 2018 at 11:34 pm
The Noblesville shooting cut a lot closer than I’d care for. My nephew’s son attends that school (was not hurt). Students were evacuated to a near-by high school, which was put on lock-down when someone phoned in a bomb threat. That is one ugly, terrible way to start the Memorial Day vacation.
I’d like to see some real action on gun control but Congress can’t get its shit together to ban bump stocks! Bump stocks solely exist to evade the laws controlling the use and ownership of fully automatic weapons. If that it’s illegal I don’t know what is.
Sherri, good for the bear to exercise it’s constitutional right to be an asshole around schools. [/sarcasm]
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basset said on May 26, 2018 at 6:58 am
He is a free bear upon the land, traveling lawfully and within his rights without government interference.
Meanwhile, one more perspective on The Wedding:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/magazine/the-times-magazine/it-was-a-week-ago-today-caitlin-moran-on-harry-meghan-and-the-royal-wedding-d0kqvmc7j
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Connie said on May 26, 2018 at 8:43 am
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/irish-times-exit-poll-projects-ireland-has-voted-by-landslide-to-repeal-eighth-1.3508861
Ireland has voted by a landslide margin to change the Constitution so that abortion can be legalised, according to an exit poll conducted for The Irish Times by Ipsos MRBI.
The poll suggests that the margin of victory for the Yes side in the referendum will be 68 per cent to 32 per cent – a stunning victory for the Yes side after a long and often divisive campaign. See here for liveblog coverage of the count on Saturday.
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Jakash said on May 26, 2018 at 1:51 pm
Today’s blog post by Neil Steinberg may or may not resonate with some of the parents among the Commentariat. Twitter indicates that the Proprietress seems to have enjoyed it…
http://www.everygoddamnday.com/2018/05/talking-to-old-people.html
Separately, Nancy asks on Twitter: “Seriously, what’s the *point* of decaf?” I just don’t understand why this is such a common question. Somebody likes the taste and/or “ritual” aspect of drinking coffee, but can’t or doesn’t want to deal with the effects of caffeine. What is unusual or unacceptable about that?
I’ve never been a fan of light beer and never drink it, myself. But the idea that somebody enjoys beer but wants to cut the calories to the extent that they easily can — well, I get that. On the other side of the equation — some folks don’t realize that many craft beers have way *more* calories than your run-of-the-mill lagers. I recently had a Dogfish Head 90-minute IPA. Excellent beer. Looked it up. “the average 12 oz. serving has 294 calories.” Whoa. Of course, it’s also got a 9% alcohol level, so it’s like drinking 2 beers at once…
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Suzanne said on May 26, 2018 at 4:23 pm
I love craft beers (especially IPAs). I think I have also gained some weight in the past few years. Great. Now I have to deal with the knowledge that these two things are related.
Do I embrace the fat or give up the craft beer?
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Deborah said on May 26, 2018 at 7:16 pm
I drink decaf because I like the taste. I used to drink a quad espresso macchiato every morning full strength (that’s 4 shots of espresso). When I was about 50 I started getting very jittery whenever I had caffeine, so I switched to decaf, and never looked back. I guess I don’t drink coffee for the jolt. I like the taste and the ritual. On the other hand I have tried non-alcohol beer, I think it tastes terrible.
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Dexter Friend said on May 27, 2018 at 1:38 am
I drink most of my coffee at home. I have several contraptions, a French press, a 4-cup drip and also a 12 cup, used for thermos fill ups, and a Keurig single cup system. Maybe 3 years go here we debated the merits and demerits of Keurig, and some here had already sworn them off or junked theirs. Mine just wore out. I took the K-cups and opened them into a coffee can and brewed them. A week later my son-in-law received a fancy top-line Keurig and sent his Keurig machine he had only had a month to me.
Back in business. We can all understand the monumental environmentally negative practice of tossing thousands of K-cups into the trash , but dammittall, it’s handy. And I am an American and we do shit like this. But…I also bought some reusable K-cups, a real pain d’ ass to clean out several times a day, so I also use regular one-and-done K-cups. I drink a helluva lotta java, folks, I cannot deny.
I drink the good stuff, like Jimmy Dimmick drank in ‘Pulp Fiction’. The past couple years I favor Bustelo, espresso grind. I can’t find it in whole bean but it’s damn good joe. However, as I watch my last TV show of the early morning, I do drink a demitasse of brewed de-caff, and for that, I just buy cheap stuff.
When I was a booze-hound, the alcohol from the night before and the large strong regular cuppas of real coffee finally got to me, 35 years ago. My heart went crazy, skipping beats. I know I have mentioned before that the docs wired me to a Holter monitor for a week…nothing out-of-line showed up and the arrhythmia disappeared, showing up when I went overboard on booze, and leaving for good when I quit. Coffee is called the unofficial official beverage of recovery meeting rooms, but in this modern age many prefer energy drinks and water in bottles.
On the last trip to Cleveland Clinic for Carla Lee, I bought a latte while waiting. I shouldn’t have. Now I find myself making lattes too often when for years I only had it straight black. I hate running out of milk all the time because I used it up on lattes. There’s something really comforting about that frothed milk though.
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Joe Kobiela said on May 27, 2018 at 9:24 am
I quit drinking soda 3 weeks ago, it is harder for me than when I quit drinking alcohol back in 1997, I am sleeping better, trying to drink water but power aid zero mountain berry blast has been filling in nicely, missing Indy this year, Mackinaw to Omaha at 12:30 today instead.
Enjoy the weekend, please take a moment and thank those who sacrificed so we can live in this great country.
Pilot Joe
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basset said on May 27, 2018 at 9:53 am
Second that, Joe.
Diabetes guy, as Mrs. B describes him, is starting 15th in the 500 today… Charlie Kimball is type 1 himself and sponsored by a diabetes medication, so both of us have someone to pull for this time.
Back when I had a high-stress, high-treachery suit and necktie job I used to make one of those Italian stovetop espresso pots every morning, drink it down, drive to work sweating like a pig then pull into the parking lot, wipe my face, knot up my tie, go inside and start throwing phones and yelling at people. No more.
A new variation on our local Gannett franchise’s chronic delivery problems… we got a paper today about 8:30 but only the preprinted advertising section. Gotta have your priorities, I guess.
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Heather said on May 27, 2018 at 12:05 pm
I gave up coffee a couple of years ago when 1) I stopped drinking milk and coffee just isn’t the same with milk substitutes, and 2) I started getting heartburn after drinking it. I’ll still have it on vacation or when out to brunch, but otherwise I’m a tea drinker now. I love the Mariage Freres teas, especially Russian Breakfast.
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Jakash said on May 27, 2018 at 12:59 pm
Suzanne @ 50,
It’s a conundrum! I know that craft beer has contributed to me putting on a few (ahem) pounds in the last couple years, but I prefer to blame our Maximum Leader.
Deborah @ 51,
I hope you didn’t go from the 4 shots to decaf cold turkey. That would give me a nasty headache for at least a couple days.
Heather,
I thought I had investigated the available tea options pretty thoroughly, but I’ve never seen nor heard of that one. Looking at the “Where to find us” page on their website, I understand why! Next time I’m at the Louvre or in Yokohama, I’ll have to try it. ; )
The gold standard for me used to be coffee with whipping cream, or at least half and half. Those fun, artificially flavored “coffee creamers” kinda creep me out. I decided a while ago that, while I’m not yet willing to give up IPAs, I could save money, trouble and calories by forgoing the cream. Trying to switch to skim milk was a complete bust, so I settle for just sugar. Since I only have a couple cups a day, I figure those 30 or 40 calories aren’t too bad. Just can’t make it all the way to black coffee, despite a few attempts. When we’re out for breakfast, though, I certainly avail myself of the real half and half, if they have it. I just use one of those cheap, plastic cone drip things with a filter, which holds just enough to fill the mug I use. Usually with Lavazza or Gevalia, for those scoring at home…
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Jakash said on May 27, 2018 at 3:31 pm
I realize that one could put funny Twitter videos on here all day and all night, and it would get old real fast. But, man, this is a funny video, IMHO. For your possible amusement:
“when you’re at the bar and the dude next to you is way too into the music”
(But with birds.)
https://twitter.com/goldengateblond/status/848376371378126848
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Deborah said on May 27, 2018 at 3:50 pm
That bird video cracked me up, especially when the poor bird put its foot out against the crazy one. I had to put it on mute though.
I’m proud of myself. My husband hasn’t been able to get emails on his phone for a few months. He likes that when he’s in Chicago but not in Abiquiu since there’s no wifi for his laptop unless we go to Bode’s or a restaurant. I spent some time on his phone today and fixed it. Then I figured since that was successful I’d get on my iPad and see if I could restore sending text messages from it, after spending a painful amount of time fussing with it, I was able to get it working again. Both of these were password issues and email accounts we no longer use. Answering those damn security questions is the biggest pain.
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Deborah said on May 27, 2018 at 4:31 pm
This is what it felt like when I was doing my iPhone/iPad restoration today https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154227772759031
I’m not sure that link will work since it was through a post by a FB friend.
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Dexter Friend said on May 27, 2018 at 5:35 pm
It seems odd to watch a foreign film and the coffee is served in those tiny cups, when I had a friend who I’d see at work every morning lugging in a giant travel cup, like people get at 7-Eleven, the 64 ouncers or maybe larger, filled with gas station black coffee, and by 9:20 break (2 hour-twenty minute break), he’d be at the coffee machine.
Will Power, in third, beat the strategy of two drivers trying to win on fumes but had to stop for a splash & dash of fuel, took over the lead then with about 3 laps to go and hammered it across the checkered flag for the win. He’s 37, but with a little makeup, Tom Cruise could easily play him in a film. It was hard to watch Mrs. Power, so nervous the last half hour she was chewing furiously on a crumpled plastic water bottle. We had a local guy win down there, once upon a time… Sam Hornish, Jr., from Defiance, 2006, one town away from here. https://cdn-4.motorsport.com/static/img/mgl/1100000/1140000/1145000/1145600/1145614/s8/indycar-indy-500-2006-sam-hornish-jr-with-wife-crystal-and-his-parents.jpg
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Dexter Friend said on May 27, 2018 at 6:21 pm
Any of you Chicagoans participate in car-free “Bike the Drive” today? My friend Mitch and his friend Jenn did.
https://scontent-ort2-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/33619919_10158006831004852_6328388436663205888_n.jpg?_nc_cat=0&oh=52b32b986cde86c0a03dc34932e5456e&oe=5BC0D92B
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Julie Robinson said on May 27, 2018 at 9:39 pm
Some college friends posted pix from Bike the Drive, and it looked fun. Our daughter just biked off, on city streets, at night, with a helmet and lots of lights, but still…
Deborah, what you did yesterday we had to do for my mom over the phone. Somehow she really screwed up her computer the day I left for two weeks. She loves to keep up with all the news online and it’s become a major part of her day. Lordy it was painful for us all, but we got her back.
I’ve had such a mellow day, with a nap after church, then a graduation/birthday party. Life in Orlando is good.
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Suzanne said on May 27, 2018 at 9:42 pm
My husband can screw up a computer quicker than anyone I know. Stuff just happens when he touches technology!
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Heather said on May 27, 2018 at 10:09 pm
Jakash, you’re in Chicago, right? You can get the tea at Gethsemane Garden Center in Edgewater. Probably other places carry it too–I don’t know why they don’t list their retailers in the U.S.
I didn’t do Bike the Drive (did it once, don’t need to do it again) but I had some friends who did. It was extremely hot, to the point that one of them reported feeling shaky on the el home.
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Dexter Friend said on May 28, 2018 at 1:04 am
Too many bad things can happen in winter: frozen pipes, furnace conking out in December, ice and snow on the roads; then there’s lovely spring and autumn, my favorite times of the year. That leaves summer. I updated my A/C for the house, that’s all copasetic now, and my latest van has ice cold A/C, so there’s a rejoicing point, but when it is 92F as it was Sunday, I hate it. Our Black Labbie is just 8 1/2 years old but just this year she doesn’t want to walk when the heat comes. She pees and finds shade and sits. She is smart. Carla Lee loves that desert heat of Las Vegas and next month our middle daughter is moving to Florida and my wife will likely visit there as often as possible. Point is, she loves that heat, humidity be damned in Florida. The way the hurricane & tropical storm season has exploded onto the scene days early, I would not want to live in Florida. Outside of Baltimore, MD, the storm has created actual fast-flowing rivers in the town streets. That volcano on the Big Island is worsening, and Californians are being warned of a huge upcoming San Andreas Fault blow-out quake.
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Jakash said on May 28, 2018 at 1:49 am
Yeah, Heather, and we’ve been to Gethsemane G. C. a number of times. Of course, we haven’t been looking for tea when we’ve gone there. I’ll keep that in mind. : )
And I’ll second your comment about Bike the Drive, as well. My wife and I rode in the first one, in 2002 evidently, and it was certainly fun. But not so *much* fun that either of us are really up for spending $60 each, or whatever it was this year, to do it again. I’m particularly glad that we didn’t today, given what a very hot, sunny day it was.
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Julie Robinson said on May 28, 2018 at 8:58 am
Mom has a four legged helper who pounces on the laptop too, so that doesn’t help. But she also doesn’t like Cortana or a Lenovo shell that keep popping up. I thought I had those removed for good so I’m not sure how they got on again. Our daughter suggested she might do better with a Chromebook; just has Chrome and no Windows 10, and I think it could work. She’s almost 86 and life shouldn’t be complicated.
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David C. said on May 28, 2018 at 10:36 am
I got my mom the cheapest Lenovo Chromebook and she loves it. She’s never used the computer for anything but e-mail and the internet anyway and dad’s computer just frustrated her. It does everything she wants. Her only problem is she likes to print out things she sees, usually recipes, but dad won’t shell out for a networked printer.
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Deborah said on May 28, 2018 at 1:30 pm
I don’t have links for either of these things, one is disgusting and one is incredible. The disgusting one is Trump’s self serving Memorial Day tweet, that guy can’t open his mouth without bragging, bullying or lying. The other one is the video of the 22 year old Malian guy in Paris climbing up 4 stories in like 30 seconds to rescue a toddler dangling off of a balcony in Paris.
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Jeff Borden said on May 28, 2018 at 5:42 pm
The Orange King is a classless moron. This is the tweet Deborah referenced.
“Happy Memorial Day! Those who died for our great country would be very happy and proud at how well our country is doing today. Best economy in decades, lowest unemployment numbers for Blacks and Hispanics EVER (& women in 18years), rebuilding our Military and so much more. Nice!”
Such a shameful fucking piece of shit. Will the stain he is leaving on our country be indelible? If not, how long will it take to erase? It’s pretty clear the GOP won’t help. Wankers and cowards almost across the board.
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