Back home, back to the grind. It was a nice mini-break during which very little happened. I cooked all but one of our meals. Read two books (“Passing” by Nella Larsen, and “Squeeze Me,” Carl Hiaasen’s latest) and got a good start on a third (“Evil Geniuses,” Kurt Andersen). At one point I got bored and went into town, hoping for another slight novel from a used bookstore, a Friends of the Library pile, even a drugstore revolving rack. Discovered even the magazine selection at the latter was confined to fish, deer and, of course, weaponry:
Well, it is northern Michigan, after all. I found an InStyle, and bought that. Waste of money.
I also checked out, from our local library, the second season of “The Knick,” a Steven Soderbergh drama I — and hardly anyone else in the whole world — really liked. I cut the cable cord when that season, which was also its final one, was still playing, and I needed, what’s the word, closure. It reminded me how much I liked the damn thing, but alas, it is no more. At least I got my closure.
The last day we floated a few miles of the Au Sable:
Alan got skunked on midday fishing. The car-spotter cost $30. But that was the night we went into town for a barbecue dinner at a breezy, socially distanced restaurant, and that was OK.
Of course I had to peep at the news during our fleeting moments of connectivity. It was like looking through your fingers at a gory movie. Oh, we’re doing sterilizations on women in ICE camps now? A HHS communications aide is cracking up on Facebook Live? Who was it who said here that we’ll be cleaning up after the Trump disaster for the rest of their lifetime? That’s absolutely true. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t leave a fresh turd in the Oval Office privy on his way out the door.
And that brings us up to date. A short shift of census-ing this evening, but I bagged some pelts, and that was good. Even got one from a household where a previous enumerator had been told to get off the property, so that’s good. And one nice lady had a two-month-old Rottweiler puppy that I got to pet. He was as soft as a stuffed animal. She said he already has a bond with her grand baby. I advised her to buy the “Good Dog Carl” books.
Now the weekend awaits.
One final photo, speaking of peeking through fingers at gory things. This is what Ivanka must know her future looks like. Imagine what that must be like:
Well, Halloween is coming…
Brian stouder said on September 17, 2020 at 9:16 pm
Egads! My eyes!! I cannot un-see that photo of Ivana!!
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Sherri said on September 17, 2020 at 9:38 pm
Like her ex, all that money and effort, and *that’s* what they think is a good result?!
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Mouse said on September 17, 2020 at 10:08 pm
I too really liked the Knick and was bummed they didn’t renew it for another season.I felt there was more story to tell!
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Deborah said on September 17, 2020 at 11:15 pm
We’re at a Hampton Inn in Wichita, KS. I did the whole Covid wipe down again when we first got here. No bathroom stops on the road, only a la natural. It’s getting easier. Lots of smoke all the way here, a creepy haze, the sky a lurid pale yellow, nothing like in CA but still unpleasant.
I want to read the latest Kurt Andersen Book too, but I’m also interested in reading his previous book “Fantasyland”, about 4 centuries of magical thinking about this country (even before it was a country).
I see another Trump/Pence administration staffer has come out for Biden. Maybe this will keep dribbling out until the election, hopefully damaging Trump’s chances as much as possible.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 17, 2020 at 11:23 pm
I’ve got to catch up with “Squeeze Me,” but Hiaasen should incorporate this story into his next one:
https://religionnews.com/2020/09/17/report-jerry-falwell-injured-in-fall-while-drinking-according-to-911-call-libertyuniversity/
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Mark P said on September 17, 2020 at 11:35 pm
I know you all will be glad to know that the Coronavirus crisis is over. At least that’s my impression from my visit to Walmart today (Thursday). The last time I was there they had closed one of the two entrances (easier to track how many people weee in the store) and had put up barriers to keep people entering separated from people leaving. The aisles had one-way signs. Today both entrances were open, no barriers and no one-way signs. They still had a sign saying masks were required but it was off to the side where I had to actually look for it. Some customers had masks, some did not. Most employees did, but not all. So we must be pretty much back to normal, right? At least in Walmart land.
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Jakash said on September 18, 2020 at 12:39 am
“Becki Falwell told the dispatcher her husband had been drinking but would not say if he had been ‘drinking heavily.’
‘I’m not going to answer that question,’ she reportedly said.”
Hmmm… I believe I’d call that a non-denial non-denial.
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beb said on September 18, 2020 at 3:26 am
Welcome back, Nancy. Sounds like it was a nice break from the drama. Our idea of a break was to drive up to Lake St. Claire Metropark and hang out by the skidoo boat launch. It was kind of a chill breeze day, not what I’d pick to go riding on a water bike but some people were. More by three or four were parasailing, which with the wind was a good day for that. Then we ordered Chinese take-out and went home.
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alex said on September 18, 2020 at 7:28 am
The soft focus actually helps Ivana a little bit. Under studio lights and with her lips moving she’s one frightful piece of work.
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Deborah said on September 18, 2020 at 8:24 am
Ivana and Donald both have made their hair dos and fake tans their identity. That’s weird. Can they not see themselves in the mirror?
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Dorothy C Michalski said on September 18, 2020 at 8:51 am
When you wear that much mascara I’m guessing it (the uber thick eyelashes) blocks the view in the mirror enough that you cannot see your reflection, thereby reinforcing her assumption that she looks gorgeous.
Happy birthday, Dexter!
I confess that I have not once during the pandemic wiped any surface of anything I’ve come in contact with. I don’t wipe grocery carts; I don’t wipe door handles; I don’t wipe anything off that I’ve bought at the store; I don’t use hand sanitizer (we’ve talked about this before). I use my knuckle to push elevator buttons and I wash my hands with soap and water vigorously. I don’t touch my eyes or nose or mouth after being at the store until I have washed my hands thoroughly. I use public restrooms with the same amount of caution I always did before. The chances of catching the virus by touching something is really very, very small. It’s the breath of another human being that is the toxic part of the equation.
https://health.ucdavis.edu/coronavirus/covid-19-information/coronavirus-mistakes.html
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Jim said on September 18, 2020 at 8:55 am
70 odd year old woman *trying* to look xx years old .
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JodiP said on September 18, 2020 at 9:29 am
I got a reminder today that Trump and Mitch are also able to appoint a record number of appeals court judges; their average age is around 47 so they will be with us for a very long time. Details on today’s What a Day podcast.
And Pompeo will be holding a campaign thing at the WI capitol next Wednesday. It is, of course, being dressed up as a speech on foreign policy. What, again, is the Hatch act?!
But, we are celebrating our 19th wedding anniversary by going to an photo exhibit at the MN Marine Art Museum. Yeah, ironic, but it’s a surprisingly good museum.
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LarrytheRed said on September 18, 2020 at 9:53 am
An Ivana mask for Halloween would be perfect, especially for Ivanka.
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Sherri said on September 18, 2020 at 11:18 am
I want Trump, Barr, McConnell, et al to get their just desserts, but Jared? Jared, I’d like to beat the shit out of personally.
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Jakash said on September 18, 2020 at 12:14 pm
In the category of Republicans Turn On Trump (ew, that sounds gross, and I bet many of them aren’t even his type), this video from a woman who was Pence’s “lead staffer on the COVID task force” is a solid one.
https://twitter.com/BillKristol/status/1306684848908754945
“The President said ‘Maybe this Covid thing is a good thing. I don’t like shaking hands with people. I don’t have to shake hands with these disgusting people.'”
Which brings up something that’s been bugging me lately. Finally, after Gore, Kerry, Hillary and to some extent and for certain people, even Obama, we’ve got the “Guy you’d wanna have a beer with” candidate. Whatever his good points, if he has any, Trump has never been a regular Joe that you’d belly up to the bar with. That seemed to be the whole reason Bush got elected twice, seeing as how he had no other qualifications. So, what’s up with these sheeple? What about voting for the hail-fellow-well-met?
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Heather said on September 18, 2020 at 12:53 pm
You can get all the plastic surgery in the world from the best doctors, but the neck still gives you away.
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Sherri said on September 18, 2020 at 1:10 pm
I get that your lips thin as you age, but I’ve never understood why you would then pump them up to the point of bursting in response. It just highlights the thing you were trying to cover in the first place. Same with the ridiculous combover and fake tan of her ex. With a decent haircut and good rug, reasonable makeup, and tailored clothes, he wouldn’t look like such a buffoon.
Of course, maybe all the stylists and makeup people hate them. Always a possibility.
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LAMary said on September 18, 2020 at 1:28 pm
I have always said Jared has the ultimate punchable face.
Sherri, have you ever watched Botched? There are frequently people with ridiculous plastic surgery who want more of the same. They have way weird ideas of what is attractive. More than once there were women who wanted to look like blow up sex dolls. Botched is a guilty pleasure of mine, but the rest of the household can’t handle watching the surgery.
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Mark P said on September 18, 2020 at 1:33 pm
Trump’s face, and especially his nose, are showing signs of aging and hours in the sun cheating at golf, so he needs troweled-on makeup. His gigantic bum and bulging belly require loose clothes.
I think an orange jumpsuit would look good on him.
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Sherri said on September 18, 2020 at 1:39 pm
LAMary, I can’t watch surgeries. I get faint at the sight of blood. I have to look away when I get blood drawn or I get light-headed. I once passed out when a friend was describing her husband’s broken collarbone. It’s really annoying.
It’s weird. I have a high tolerance for pain, and have continued doing things through broken bones and torn ligaments, but start talking to me about the injury, and vasovagal syncope will kick in.
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alex said on September 18, 2020 at 1:41 pm
Ivana’s hair looks like the hind end of a Pomeranian and it’s taking one surreal-ass dump.
I am so ready for the weekend. We ordered a big roll of isinglass, which is the commercial-grade glass-clear vinyl used for windows in retractable boat and car tops. We’re going to spline the material into aluminum frames and make custom storm windows for our screened porch. We almost ordered such windows from a company in Michigan until we found out they would charge us $3,600 for four panels, so we decided to make our own and it should cost about one-tenth of that when we’re all done.
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ROGirl said on September 18, 2020 at 1:59 pm
She looks like a drag queen.
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Snarkworth said on September 18, 2020 at 2:16 pm
I remember Ivana’s hairstyle from 1964.
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LAMary said on September 18, 2020 at 2:27 pm
Isinglass curtains you can roll right down in case there’s a change in the weather? Counting on some Broadway musical fan to understand that.
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Julie Robinson said on September 18, 2020 at 2:30 pm
Oklahoma, okay!
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Joe Kobiela said on September 18, 2020 at 3:09 pm
Great song by shadow show quick question, what happened to Kate’s left knee? looks like a nasty bruise or burn.
Pilot Joe
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David C said on September 18, 2020 at 3:32 pm
I can watch surgeries as long as they’ve already cut through the skin. When they’re cutting the skin it looks like they’re harming a fellow human and empathy kicks in hard. Once they’re inside it all feels mechanical to me so I have no problem watching.
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LAMary said on September 18, 2020 at 3:47 pm
I had a car with a cassette player when my kids were little. One of the cassettes was Oklahoma! so my kids heard me singing along, usually Oh What a Beautiful Morning, a lot. They were not permanently scarred. Other cassettes were James Brown (kids in the back seat filling in for the horn section on I Feel Good,) and Bob Marley, kids joining in on Two Little Birds.
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Bitter Scribe said on September 18, 2020 at 4:21 pm
Isn’t InStyle the Meredith mag for readers who find People too intellectual?
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Julie Robinson said on September 18, 2020 at 4:24 pm
Happy anniversary, Jodi! Wishing you many more years of happiness, and the museum sounds fun.
We’ve been in a happy little bubble with Matt & gf here. Yesterday we visited a sunflower field where you could pick a bouquet (at Salomon Farm Park, for locals). Gf endeared herself to me by eating my cherry tomatoes like candy; the plant has been so prolific we’ve been having trouble keeping up. Today he’s taking her around to all his old haunts, but we met them for dessert and then will go see 1776 together tonight. That should be interesting as it’s an all female cast, and also held at an outdoor but covered theater. And it’s going to be cold tonight, so we’re bringing lots of blankets.
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Dorothy said on September 18, 2020 at 4:54 pm
Stop what you’re doing and read this quick story:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/gene-weingarten-a-neighbor-asked-for-a-tomato-this-is-where-the-story-gets-weird/2020/09/14/43160b9e-e7bf-11ea-97e0-94d2e46e759b_story.html
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Bitter Scribe said on September 18, 2020 at 5:01 pm
Dorothy: Hoo boy. Talk about living out the definition of chutzpah…
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nancy said on September 18, 2020 at 5:04 pm
No, InStyle is Vogue for people who think they should be the models, not those skinny bitches.
And that’s a tattoo on Kate’s leg, Joe. Please don’t be an asshole anymore.
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Colleen said on September 18, 2020 at 5:15 pm
I did three semesters in surgical technology…before I realized I didn’t like surgeons. I only got woozy in the OR once, during a knee replacement. Orthopedic surgery is rough…hammers and saws and power tools.
Most people who get plastic surgery don’t look younger as much as they look…weird.
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LAMary said on September 18, 2020 at 5:23 pm
Colleen, I completely understand your feelings about surgeons. Not all of them, but a lot of them.
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beb said on September 18, 2020 at 5:54 pm
I have to speed-scroll past the picture of Ivana. Or is that Tammy Faye Baker, the two look sort of alike — train-wrecks of make-up and plastic surgery.
My wife can watch botched with ease. I’m one of those who turns away when blood is drawn (though I have learned to take my insulin without fainting).
Jared, Steve Miller and that Nazi guy who looks like Miller* all deserve having their faces punched in. Jared in particular has a oily shine to his face like a plastic manikin. (* Lawyers, Guns & Money often uses a picture of Miller and some guy who looks like Miller’s twin to headline stories about fascism. I’m not sure the Nazi guy is, maybe Hess? But, yeah, all evil, all deserving of extreme measures.
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Sherri said on September 18, 2020 at 6:26 pm
It’s raining here! Maybe by tomorrow I’ll be able to open the garage door and get some air flow when I work out in my garage gym!
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Deborah said on September 18, 2020 at 6:38 pm
Dorothy, it’s not the surfaces in public bathrooms that I worry about, or not as much anyway as the plume after the person before you or in the next stall over flushes. The virus is in liquid and solid waste of someone infected with it. And apparently the tiny plume droplets can hang in the air for some time. I can spray surfaces With sanitizer and wash hands etc etc, but it’s the breathing in the droplets sent into the air by flushes that can get you. Plus it’s gross just to know those droplets are in the air even when there’s no virus to worry about.
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Deborah said on September 18, 2020 at 7:09 pm
Toilets and Covid https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/16/health/coronavirus-toilets-flushing.html
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LAMary said on September 18, 2020 at 7:28 pm
Hess didn’t look like that. Goebbels maybe.
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LAMary said on September 18, 2020 at 7:44 pm
We’ve lost RBG. That bastard McConnell needs to be reminded of what he said about Obama’s nominee.
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beb said on September 18, 2020 at 8:02 pm
My father died this morning at 99. I’m sad but we were expecting it. Ruth Bader Ginsberg died this evening and I am devastated. The flying monkey will have a field day.
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LAMary said on September 18, 2020 at 8:18 pm
So sorry Beb. And yes, the flying monkey, Mitch McConnell, all the shits are going to be in full cry now.
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Little Bird said on September 18, 2020 at 8:36 pm
Welp, we’re screwed. RBG has passed.
Joe, try not to be an asshole about it.
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Jerrie in MidMD said on September 18, 2020 at 8:40 pm
So upset about RBG. It looks like 5781, which started at sundown, isn’t going to be any better than 2020, even for one minute.
Beb, I’m so sorry.
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Suzanne said on September 18, 2020 at 8:46 pm
McConnell can nominate a SCOTUS replacement (Which he of course will) but the Senate has to consent. Will any of them grow a spine and say no to Moscow Mitch? Doubtful.
Going to have a 2nd beer tonight. No idea what to do but drink.
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LAMary said on September 18, 2020 at 8:59 pm
My old colleague and one of my favorite people, Sister Sheila Browne, just posted a sad comment about losing RBG on Facebook. A Catholic nun. Clearly it’s not all about abortion. It’s about justice and integrity, things Kavanagh, McConnell,trump and a long list of others are short on.
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Joe Kobiela said on September 18, 2020 at 9:13 pm
L.B @ 44,
You must be a bitter unhappy person, to go thru life with so much hate, you really need to seek help.
Pilot Joe
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LAMary said on September 18, 2020 at 9:26 pm
Joe, give it a rest, ok?
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nancy said on September 18, 2020 at 10:30 pm
Joe, you’re at strike two. Now’s the time to shut up.
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susan said on September 18, 2020 at 11:32 pm
nancy @51 – Why not two strikes and he’s out? Besides, his strikes go w-a-a-a-a-ay back. He’s one of those disgusting people with whom Trump doesn’t want to shake hands.
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nancy said on September 19, 2020 at 1:09 am
Because my policy is to let people talk, with some rare exceptions. But he’s being a troll of late, and my patience is gone.
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Mark P said on September 18, 2020 at 11:37 pm
Here are some ifs: if Trump nominates a new justice, and if the Senate confirms, and if Biden wins, and if the Democrats keep the House, and if the Democrats take the Senate, then they should absolutely pack the court. They should add four new justices, and they should be liberal and young. That’s our only hope.
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Deborah said on September 19, 2020 at 12:20 am
RIP RBG.
Beb sorry about your Dad.
Joe, my daughter LB, is disabled with a pretty serious. neurological condition. But true to form, you just go right ahead and bad mouth her. Bastard.
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basset said on September 19, 2020 at 12:27 am
Mrs. B and I and another couple had a nice outdoor lunch on the banks of the Cumberland River today, watching barges go through a lock (at Cheatham Dam, Sherri) and enjoying the cooler weather. That section of river has recently been closed to swimming due to an overabundance of fecal bacteria, but we hadn’t planned on getting in anyway.
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Deborah said on September 19, 2020 at 12:46 am
I just gave another $100 to Amy McGrath’s campaign to beat Mitch McConnell in memory of RBG. Won’t you consider making a contribution too?
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Sherri said on September 19, 2020 at 1:23 am
Instead of donating to McGrath’s campaign, which is already flush with money, consider contributing to some Senate campaigns that might flip the Senate. The Princeton Election Consortium has calculated the biggest bang for the buck opportunies for flipping the Senate, and set up a donation site here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/pec2020federal
For more thoughts on effective political giving, as well as some other sites to give, this is a good article: https://idlewords.com/2020/09/effective_political_giving.htm
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Sherri said on September 19, 2020 at 1:34 am
To give you some idea of what my week has been like, my husband asked me earlier in the week how much I had donated to political races so far this year. I told him I wasn’t sure, I’d have to look it up. He said, whatever it is, double it. That’s how pissed off my very calm, not really political* husband was about the wildfires and COVID.
And that was before RBG died.
*he’s much more political than he used to be. As is my daughter.
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Sherri said on September 19, 2020 at 2:39 am
Very familiar with Cheatham Dam, basset. Our family used to picnic there regularly when I was growing up.
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Sherri said on September 19, 2020 at 3:20 am
LAMary, hope the quake wasn’t too impactful where you are.
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ROGirl said on September 19, 2020 at 5:27 am
Fuck. The dystopian nightmare will go into hyperdrive now. I can’t read or watch anything about RBG, it’s too traumatizing.
Beb, so sorry about your father.
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Deborah said on September 19, 2020 at 6:14 am
I don’t even care if McGrath doesn’t have a rats chance in hell of winning, I wanted to do something to show my respect for RBG and my disdain for the hypocrite McConnell. And I give a monthly amount to 5 other senate races. I think I’m going to up those too.
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Dorothy said on September 19, 2020 at 6:17 am
Beb I’m really sorry to hear about your dad. 99 – you got to have him for such a long time! I hope his passing was peaceful.
I’m seriously thinking of just sitting out social media until after the election. And if Trump wins I might have to just stop all social media and stop watching or listening to the news. I don’t think my brain and my heart can take anymore of this crescendo of crushing information. It’s starting to feel as though slabs of concrete are laying on my body suppressing all hopeful and happy feelings. As soon as I heard about RBG’s death those feelings hit me like a truck. We’re going to visit some friends in Cincinnati later this morning and I’m hoping that cheers me considerably. We won’t be hugging or anything, but these are dear friends and almost like family. It will be a good antidote to the news.
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Connie said on September 19, 2020 at 6:26 am
It’s endless. Today is my 98 year old mother in law’s memorial service. She got a four month cancer diagnosis and was gone in a week. Service will be out back in the church pavilion. She ran the pasty making fundraiser at the church for years. You will receive a bag on the way out containing a frozen pasty. Under other circumstances they would have been served hot.
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Joe Kobiela said on September 19, 2020 at 7:00 am
Nancy,
Sorry if I offended you by asking about Kate’s knee, I couldn’t tell from the picture and was just hoping she hadn’t fallen off a bike or something and gotten hurt, again my apologies. RGB one amazing lady, while It’s true her and I wouldn’t see Eye to eye on politics she lived a fantastic life and Am happy that both of my daughters saw her as a role model and can only hope they reach her status in life.
Pilot Joe
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ROGirl said on September 19, 2020 at 7:14 am
Does your apology apply to anyone else?
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nancy said on September 19, 2020 at 8:05 am
I just deleted Joe’s reply, which wasn’t obnoxious, but was unnecessary. Joe, time to take a few minutes away. No one wants to hear from you today.
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Mark P said on September 19, 2020 at 8:47 am
Right now I can hardly believe that I will ever smile again, but here’s an effort: https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=48504#respond
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Deborah said on September 19, 2020 at 9:20 am
Thanks, I needed that Mark P.
Dorothy, slabs of concrete, that’s a good analogy of the way I feel too.
We got together with friends in St. Louis last night, dinner in their backyard, then my husband got a text from another friend about RBG and we were all sad, sad, sad. It still was a good evening. The Wife of the couple we were visiting is German, she’s lived here 30 or so years by now, she came for graduate school, but she’s still astounded by the divisive politics of the US.
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4dbirds said on September 19, 2020 at 10:24 am
I too am very sad about RGB. With each of her recurrent cancer announcements, I always though “Well, this is it”. I’m surprised she made it as long as she did. If we do get the Presidency and the Senate, I hope democrats use that time wisely to pass codify rights for our vulnerable citizens so future Supreme Courts don’t get the final say. Also my condolences to Beb and Connie.
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diane said on September 19, 2020 at 10:29 am
Sherri, thank you for those links. They were helpful. I am not able to give much at all so I would like my few dollars to go where they will be the most useful.
I’ve landed on Bullock for my practical choice and Jaime Harrison for my emotional choice. I think Bullock has more of a chance than people are giving him credit for and he gets overshadowed by the ‘name’ races, Kentucky, Maine, etc. Harrison, I just want to fantasize about wiping that smirk off of Trump toady Graham’s face.
McGrath isn’t that much of an asset to the Democrats, though admittedly she probably has to be so centrist to have a chance in Kentucky. But while it would be beyond great to have Mitch gone, having him lose the Senate and have to watch somebody else (though please God, not Schumer) be majority leader would do.
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Julie Robinson said on September 19, 2020 at 10:57 am
We heard about RBG’s passing at the intermission of 1776, a show about a time when our country was at a crossroads. Congress was bitterly divided but ultimately came to a compromise for the better good. Who do we have in today’s Senate who can do this? Say what you will about John McCain, but we need someone with the balls to save Obamacare, only this time the Supreme Court.
My deepest condolences to you both, beb and Connie. I love that you’re handing out pasties; what a great remembrance.
Joe can go away forever and I’d be just fine. He’s on strike 9,473 as far as I’m concerned.
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LAMary said on September 19, 2020 at 11:46 am
Thanks for asking about the quake. It was no big deal. A 4.5 or 4.8 depending on what source you’re looking at. The epicenter was about ten miles from my home but I think the quake was quite deep and that makes a difference. I slept through it but the in house Brit woke me up to tell me there was a quake. In my experience, when it’s that close it’s one big bump. When there’s a strong one 90 miles away the shaking goes on and on. The Ridgecrest quakes last summer kept shaking the house for way too long. It’s sort of the pebble in the middle of the pond thing. The ripples go out for a long time, but where the pebble hit the pond was one splash.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 19, 2020 at 11:48 am
Beb, blessings on your way; it’s hard to let them go at any age, even when you know it’s time.
I’m disappointed in myself at how hard it feels just to let go of a house that I haven’t spent more than a week in since mid-1978, but that’s a big part of life is learning the letting go part. While I still think of myself as a conservative in some ways, conservatism’s problem is that too much of it as a political stance is rooted in telling people they don’t have to let go of anything they don’t want to, and that’s just not a sustainable plan.
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Maria said on September 19, 2020 at 12:21 pm
I seldom comment here, but I read this blog every day and often check for comments during the day. It’s about the only social media that doesn’t make me crazy. I am so grateful to Nancy and all (well, almost all) of the commenters. You guys are keeping me sane.
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Sherri said on September 19, 2020 at 12:44 pm
I’m grateful that I had the opportunity to see RBG work. Visiting SCOTUS was definitely a bucket list kind of thing.
I’m grateful that the smoke is finally gone from the air here!
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ROGirl said on September 19, 2020 at 1:18 pm
I live close to the high school, and on Friday nights I can hear the noise from the football games when I open my back door. Last night, when I opened the door to let the cat out, I didn’t hear anything. It was oddly silent.
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LAMary said on September 19, 2020 at 2:39 pm
No smoke this morning here either. Every day for the past week I’ve awakended to smoke smell so strong I looked out the windows to see if the fire was close. No dull headache today.
Sorry about your loss, Connie. This has been a sad summer. My son is depressed and frustrated and worried that his job will never come back. His older brother is doing better, or maybe is better at concealing what’s going on. He’s working Postmates, doing food delivery, and has worked out a geographic strategy that allows him to travel fewer miles and make bigger tips. He hangs around Malibu, Brentwood, Bel Air, Calabasas, a few other places. Lots of big expensive houses and expensive restaurants. He’s making 60 dollar tips, one time a 100 dollar tip, usually grossing about 200-300 a day. Sure he has to pay for his own gas etc, but overall it’s profitable.
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St Bitch said on September 19, 2020 at 2:55 pm
It’s hard to let RBG go, and all too easy to get caught up in the Supreme Court fallout.
Yet mixed with my sorrow is so much awe and gratitude for this brilliant, intrepid warrior that I can only celebrate that she has at last laid down the burden of her devotion to all of us and RIP…damn the torpedoes!
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Sherri said on September 19, 2020 at 6:10 pm
May her memory be a revolution.
Pack the courts. End the filibuster. Add DC as a state, and if they want it, Puerto Rico. Get the National Popular Vote Compact across the finish line.
Take control of law enforcement. Raise taxes. Forgive student debt.
And Medicare for All! If we’ve learned nothing else from this pandemic, let us learn the importance of health care for everyone, not tied to employment.
I have more radical ideas, but that’s a starting point.
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LAMary said on September 19, 2020 at 7:50 pm
With you on all of those, Sherri. We need to use all we’ve learned living through the past seven months, and actually before then. The weird nightmare of the pandemic, the protests the fires and before that the takeover of a selfish, ugly mentality.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 19, 2020 at 8:08 pm
So this happened . . . north of me a bit over 30 minutes, there was a “buggy parade” of Amish and Old Order Mennonites for Trump. I kid you not. See subsequent tweets for more. It is not a spoof . . .
https://twitter.com/BuCap004/status/1307378139627126793
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LAMary said on September 19, 2020 at 8:15 pm
There’s a wisecrack to be made about bullshit or horseshit but I haven’t worked it out yet.
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beb said on September 19, 2020 at 8:54 pm
Thanks you, everyone for your notes of kindness. I would like to pass along a kind thought to Connie. My Dad just faded away, getting weaker and weaker, but cancer is rough. The pastries as memorials to her were a clever and lovely idea. Dad asked for and will get a military service at his burial. He served in Abadan, Iran during the war. Assembling airplanes for Russia.
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beb said on September 19, 2020 at 8:56 pm
LaMary, one joke could be “Watch where you’re walking. There are Trumpapples everywhere.”
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LAMary said on September 19, 2020 at 9:59 pm
I was thinking along the lines of mentioning people were riding on the sources of trump’s ideas.
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Dexter Friend said on September 19, 2020 at 11:23 pm
Driving towards Columbus yesterday I tuned in 700 AM Cincinnati for a while. Almost every ad was a trashing of McGrath with the McConnell voice approval following. I don’t think the Kentucky voters are going to dump McConnell, but I sure hope so. Every McConnell supporter had that unmistakable thick KY drawl.
I had a big take-out BBQ dinner at daughter Vanessa’s house; daughter Sandi and her husband Steve flew up from Port St. Lucie on American to Columbus and today drove up to Toledo for a wedding. They rented a BMW SUV and remarkably hated it for the stiff ride. Steve is HQ’d at the airport Trump uses all the time. He said they get a lot of downtime because everybody is shut down for hours for Trump’s landings and take-offs.
Update: We have been worried as Lori was taken into ICU, screaming with pain and having oxygen level drops. But…she just face-timed me. She said the morphine drip has helped some, and while she could not talk yesterday, now her voice is strong. A lot of people out there in Las Vegas depend on her; she is much-loved. Covid 19 is surging. Wear the mask, please. She has double pneumonia so she is at high risk…her co-worker, a man of 50, passed away from Covid 19 yesterday at home, quarantining. His wife went to wake him…dead.
RBG…She so wanted to make it to the end of January, to see Biden take the oath. We will miss her so much.
beb: Sympathies on losing your father. Was he a lifelong Detroiter?
And I just gotsta give out a goddam to the farmers just west a little of New Hampshire, Ohio, on Route 33. They fly a giant Trump Pence flag atop a giant sized Confederate flag. I can’t stand much more of this. And I fucking HATE Jim Jordan, that sonofabitch. And his yard signs are everywhere. How can these voters stand that fuck?
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Dave said on September 20, 2020 at 1:50 am
Dex, a fellow I know who is a retired schoolteacher posted on Facebook one day that Jim Jordan is a great patriot and anyone who doesn’t agree can unfriend him right now. So, without comment, I did.
Beb, my sympathies, my father left us over seven years ago now and I often think, why didn’t I ask him this or that.
Glad that you were able to talk to your daughter, I know it’s scary and I know everyone here is pulling for her.
Jeff, the house our family owned for nearly 65 years was sold this summer, it has sunk in that it’s no longer our home. My brother told me the other day he doesn’t even like to drive by it now, which surprised me. The new owners have changed the appearance a good deal but it was in need of a great deal of work. I hope they enjoy living there but it’s in a far different environment now than the one I grew up in.
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Dexter Friend said on September 20, 2020 at 3:27 am
Earlier there was a discussion of “Botched”, which I never watched. Also, there is a show, “Dr. Pimple Popper”. I can guess what that is about. I know people who are sane and watch that. How do yas suppose that fucking thing got green lighted? “So tell us about this show concept, tell us about doctor pimple popper.” Well, see…it’s best to find high school freshmen and sophs when you want big load pus, and older people for really gross weird shit like…”
What the FUCK!
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beb said on September 20, 2020 at 3:46 am
Dexter. I’ve lived in Detroit for over 40 years but I’m not a native. Born and raised in North Indiana. My dad was born there and built a house on land across the street from his father. Also married the girl next door. He was a life long liberal. Found it hard when people started talking politics because they were all conservatives.
Botched, Dr. Pimple Popper, My 600 Pound Life and Interventin all appear on A&E, which used to be Arts & Entertainment but now seemsdevotedto people with ef’d up lives.
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alex said on September 20, 2020 at 8:53 am
beb, it’s been a few years since we cut the cord, but as I recall, the History Channel and the Learning Channel also became big purveyors of freak-show schlock that had nothing to do with history or learning or the arts. The disconnect seems perfectly consistent, though, with today’s Orwellian cable media atmosphere.
There’s a broadcast channel called DABL that runs old HGTV series and we can tell how dated those shows are by the big fat TVs and computer monitors featured in the decor schemes. And everything’s produced in Canada where it’s cheap and non-union.
Our isinglass porch window project continues apace. We’ve got one panel done. It seems to have shrunk tight as a drum overnight into its frame. We’ll have this all done just in time to bring in all of our plants for the winter.
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basset said on September 20, 2020 at 9:55 am
Hadn’t seen anything from PJ O’Rourke in awhile, this is interesting:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/trump-v-biden-pj-orourke-on-why-this-us-election-is-the-craziest-yet-p7q3wchk7
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LAMary said on September 20, 2020 at 10:47 am
In defense of Botched, they often help people who have a problem due to an accident or bad surgery,not bad plastic surgery. A surprising number of women who got reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy have a bad result. I’m not talking about appearance entirely. I’m talking about implant put in backwards or in a way that allowed the implant to shift. There are also plenty of freaky people who want to look like Michael Jackson or Kim Kardashian or whomever. I’ve never watched Dr. Pimple Popper. The title seems to sum it up.
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Little Bird said on September 20, 2020 at 11:21 am
I’ve seen exactly one episode of the pimple popper. It was one that featured a guy with the same condition I have. He needed a few small but painful plexiform tumors removed. There were also a other people who all had large cysts removed because they were creating problems in their everyday lives. While I’m not sure the average person learned anything about Neurofibromatosis, I appreciated seeing it represented in mainstream media.
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Maria said on September 20, 2020 at 11:56 am
Quote from Nina Totenburg on the passing of RBG yesterday:
“A Jewish teaching says those who die just before the Jewish new year are the ones God has held back until the last moment because they were needed most and were the most righteous. And so it was that #RBG died as the sun was setting last night marking the beginning of RoshHashanah.”
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on September 20, 2020 at 12:16 pm
Just to brighten up your Sunday:
https://twitter.com/Fuacata66/status/1304897310032363529
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Deborah said on September 20, 2020 at 12:24 pm
I learned something new on Twitter today: Roe was a 7 – 2 decision. 5 of the 7 were Justices were there by Republican presidents and 1 of the 2 dissenters was on the court by a Democratic president. My how things have changed.
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Deborah said on September 20, 2020 at 12:32 pm
Dexter, I’m just now seeing your comment about your daughter being in ICU, not sure how I missed it earlier. I hope things will improve for her soon. Wow, “screaming in pain” sounds excruciating.
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Dorothy Michalski said on September 20, 2020 at 2:49 pm
I can highly recommend the show Grand Designs on Netflix. My daughter encouraged us to watch it. It’s a British show about people taking on these house building projects that are all sorts of odd/over the top/ inspiring/just plain nuts. We’ve seen 4 episodes I think and our favorite so far was the first one in Ireland. Alex I think you’d really like it!
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Jeff Borden said on September 20, 2020 at 2:53 pm
I know there are many posters in the NN.C community who have preexisting conditions. RBG’s death puts the ACA square in the sights of bastards who want to rescind it and, folks, if they choose to place conservative darling Amy Coney Barrett on SCOTUS, you can not only kiss the ACA good-bye, but also Roe v. Wade and, possibly, Griswold vs. Connecticut. She’s a so-called “charismatic Catholic” and a member of People of Praise, which pledges to follow a “covenant” to follow common Christian principles in all facets of life.
Since the One True still prohibits contraception and remains aloof from non-heterosexual people, you might get a sense of how she would approach her role as a justice in matters regarding birth control, gay rights, etc.
Oh, yeah. She’s 47. So she’d be making people’s lives miserable for a good three or four decades.
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Deborah said on September 20, 2020 at 3:00 pm
Fantastic weather in Chicago. Nice to be back when it’s like this.
While we were gone In NM our neighbor across the hall asked us if we’d let his Scottish friend stay in our place again. Our neighbor tested positive for Covid (Asymptotically, he’s 80) about 3 weeks before his friend was to show up so even though it would have been past the 14 day quarantine period he felt uneasy about his friend staying with him. Even though we were reluctant we said ok. The guy was supposed to stay about a week but he ended up staying 13 nights. The good part of it was the neighbor had his fantastic cleaning lady scrub our place down from top to bottom a few days before we got back here yesterday. I can’t tell you how fabulous it was to come back to this sparkling clean place after being away for awhile. We asked our neighbor if his cleaning lady would be available to clean our place every time before we come back. He said she’s lost some clients because of the virus so thought she’d be happy to make some extra $.
The Scottish friend is the one who screwed up our TV last time he stayed here, that took me an hour to get back to the way I set it up. But I was happy to find out that everything was the way I left it. So that was nice.
We really like our neighbor so we want to keep good relations. Plus when we got back yesterday he had 5 different flower arrangements set up in our place, plus the cleaning and a very generous gift card to Whole Foods, so it’s all good. We used the gift card today to stock our fridge and cupboards for some time.
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Deborah said on September 20, 2020 at 3:49 pm
I know that RBG was a big fan of the Santa Fe Oprea, which I have to admit I have mixed feeling about (same for the Met, for me). This article in the local Santa Fe newspaper is about her time there. I can only read the first paragraph or so because I don’t subscribe and they have a paywall. You’re allowed some free clicks and I’ve surpassed mine for this month but maybe you can access if you’re interested https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/an-eye-for-the-sky-ginsburg-was-drawn-to-santa-fe/article_843de354-fa0b-11ea-92ed-a3651780f638.html
I have seen some excellent operas in Santa Fe, and some awful ones. It has an interesting venue as it’s outside and as you face the stage you can see some spectacular sunsets beyond the stage sets. When there is blowing rain though, you get wet. It’s covered but NM is also known for wind and the opera season corresponds with the monsoon season.
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4dbirds said on September 20, 2020 at 5:50 pm
I found Dr. Pimple Popper on YouTube and loved it. It is a gross, guilty pleasure for me. It was glorious pimples, huge blackheads, cysts, lipomas and other squirting bumps and they would explode like volcanos. Now she is on cable and we have to get the back story on people and none of the procedures are shocking. I liked YouTube better, I didn’t care about the people, I just wanted to see the pimple pop.
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Sherri said on September 20, 2020 at 6:18 pm
Regardless of whether trump nominates and the senate confirms Amy Coney Barrett, who holds many, many odious views, the ACA is on shaky ground with RBG’s death. The latest case against it is scheduled for hearing on November 10, likely with only 8 justices. The 5th Circuit has already accepted the ludicrous argument that since trump zeroed out the penalty for the individual mandate, it can no longer be considered a tax, and therefore the constitutional basis for upholding no longer applies. (That it was a tax was the argument Roberts used to convince himself to vote in favor of it.)
So, if Roberts stays with the liberals and the conservatives stick together, it’s 4-4, and the 5th circuit ruling holds. Lots can happen, though; Roberts could delay the case until a new Justice is seated. Roberts does care about at least the appearance of legitimacy for the court, as long as it doesn’t involve voting rights or systemic racism, anyway.
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