My “big” Christmas present this year — no, last year — is an Apple Watch. I told Alan it was too extravagant, but he didn’t have a better idea, so now I have Dick Tracy’s two-way wrist TV strapped to my arm, and I kinda like it.
A committed and unapologetic Apple cult member, I hadn’t felt the need to pull the trigger on the watch until recently. With typical master of the universe skill and timing, Apple has, in a pandemic, gone all in on “health” with the latest model, and I am SO THERE for it.
However. I have some thoughts.
First, what I like: The A.W. is the first fully immersible fitness tracker I’ve cared to own, and one reason I was looking forward to our trip to Florida was for the chance to test it out in our condo complex’s 25-yard pool (with two lap lanes!). It worked, well, swimmingly. As a lap swimmer who’s been deprived of water for months, it was frankly thrilling to, first, actually get in a pool, and then to be able to read all about it afterward. And boy, was I able to read about it.
This thing tracks the number of laps you turn and your total yardage — yes, all things you could carry in your head if you can keep focused enough to count while you’re swimming — as well as your heart rate and range. And it even knows what strokes I did. Sorcery! How do it know? (I’m sure J.C. will be forwarding me some links within a few minutes.) I mean, I can figure it out, a little — breaststroke has a distinctly different arm motion than freestyle, and I guess it can detect it — but backstroke is far more similar, and it picked up my single backstroke 50. Sorcery! Satellites! Spycams!
It also does a million other things: Tracks your heart rate and rhythm, your blood oxygen, your periods (shoved that one off to the side, crone that I am), and of course your movements. I enabled every notification, to see which ones I want to live with, and which I can do without. When I was drying my hands in an airport bathroom, it told me that I was in a 100-decibel environment and that wasn’t good for my ears. The hand washing timer is sometimes a pain, but not too bad. I’m reminded to take a moment every so often to do some deep breathing. It tells me to stand for one minute every hour. Needless to say, you can add apps for food and sleep and really dive down the rabbit hole of your own navel. And so on.
And that brings me to the thing I least like: The prodding. While the data can translate to real accountability — it’s a lot harder to skip a workout when you know your watch will be sending notifications like “you still have time!” — I also try to be aware of how it’s leading me around by the nose.
I subscribed to the NYT crossword about a year ago, because I like doing crosswords online, but I hate-hate-hate the “streak” feature, which keeps track of how many days in a row you’ve successfully solved the puzzle. My nature runs to good-studenthood, and whether it’s my watch or my crossword puzzle, anything that pats me on the back and says good job! is going to sucker me in. I don’t like to be like this. And yet I am.
That said, I should probably try to get a workout in later today. Also, let’s take a moment to savor the irony that many of the rioters who invaded the Capitol would refuse to get a Covid vaccine for fear of being microchipped, but willingly carried smartphones with them as they climbed through the broken windows; i.e., they microchipped themselves. LOL. Pro tip from every law enforcement officer in the world: If you’re gonna do a crime, leave your phone at home.
So much good journalism about the Capitol riot, but if I had one piece to recommend, it might be this New Yorker piece, but it’s the New Yorker, so you may face a paywall. Still, it’s very you-are-there:
When Babbitt was shot, I was on the opposite side of the Capitol, where people were growing frustrated by the empty halls and offices.
“Where the fuck are they?”
“Where the fuck is Nancy?”
No one seemed quite sure how to proceed. “While we’re here, we might as well set up a government,” somebody suggested.
Then a man with a large “AF ” flag—college-age, cheeks spotted with acne—pushed through a series of tall double doors, the last of which gave onto the Senate chamber.
“Praise God!”
There were signs of a hasty evacuation: bags and purses on the plush blue-and-red carpet, personal belongings on some of the desks. From the gallery, a man in a flak jacket called down, “Take everything! Take all that shit!”
“No!” an older man, who wore an ammo vest and held several plastic flex cuffs, shouted. “We do not take anything.” The man has since been identified as Larry Rendall Brock, Jr., a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel.
The young America Firster went directly to the dais and installed himself in the leather chair recently occupied by the Vice-President. Another America Firster filmed him extemporizing a speech: “Donald Trump is the emperor of the United States…”
Ai-yi-yi, these people.
OK, back to the Sunday papers and errands.
David C said on January 17, 2021 at 1:34 pm
My sister credits her apple watch with helping her lose 25 lbs. and helps her keep her blood glucose under control so you can’t knock that. The heart rate monitoring sounds like it’s sending people to the doctor unnecessarily about 90% of the time. Who knows if it’s better that they found 10% with genuine problems or worse to put the 90% through tests they don’t need. Probably needs some studying.
https://www.theverge.com/2020/10/1/21496813/apple-watch-heart-monitor-ekg-false-positive
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Sherri said on January 17, 2021 at 1:44 pm
I love my Apple Watch, though I I’ve turned off a bunch of those nags to breathe and stand up. It is amazing how it can detect when you’re taking a walk or when I’m on my rowing machine.
I love it for the ability to do Apple Pay without getting my phone out. I’ve chosen a modular watch face with several complications, so at a glance I can see what’s next on my schedule, what the temp is outside, and a few apps that I regularly use. I also like being able to reject calls without digging out my phone.
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Beobachter said on January 17, 2021 at 1:48 pm
From a review of the ‘ancient’ (3+ year old Series 3)
https://www.yourswimlog.com/apple-watch-swimming-review/
The fancy-pants engineers at Apple installed an accelerometer and gyroscope to capture all the rollicking and rolling we do in the water with our wrist, and as a result can quickly figure out what we are doing (backstroke, freestyle, breaststroke) and quantify it.
While the accelerometer tracks velocity and motion, the gyroscope helps figure out what stroke you are doing judging by the angle of your wrist. The gyro also helps to figure out when you are doing a flip-turn.
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Jeff Borden said on January 17, 2021 at 1:51 pm
David Jones posted the “New Yorker” article yesterday on Facebook, noting the author is, fittingly, a war correspondent.
First reactions to the Capitol Putsch were on the comic level among some of my pals. One guy said it reminded him of the “Black Friday” crowds at Walmart. But as the reporting has widened and deepened, we now know just how dangerous this incursion was and how close the bearded infants came to (a) grabbing Mike Pence, who was hustled to a secure area literally seconds before the mob arrived, and (b) confiscating the mahogany boxes containing all the electoral votes. (Two women staffers carried them away when Congress went into lockdown.) There were clearly some extremely dangerous people among the dolts. And, of course, the riot showed how differently white people are treated compared to people of color by the authorities. It’s funny to watch the rioters weeping and gnashing their teeth because they’re actually being arrested! That’s for black and brown people!
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LAMary said on January 17, 2021 at 1:57 pm
My brother who died about a year ago wore an apple watch given to him by his son, a physician. Supposedly my nephew had access to what the apple watch was reporting and knew that my brother was having a mild heart attack before my brother did. He called the appropriate people and services to get him to the ER. My brother was the sort who blew off stuff like chest pains, etc. I’m sure that’s why my nephew gave him the watch.
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Heather said on January 17, 2021 at 2:07 pm
Never been interested in the Apple Watch but I might be now. Especially for when I can swim again.
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Little Bird said on January 17, 2021 at 2:10 pm
I’ve heard that there is a setting for the Apple Watch that can detect if you’ve had a sudden fall. If true, that could be helpful for biking accidents and people who are fall risks. For that one feature alone I would consider one for myself.
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nancy said on January 17, 2021 at 2:12 pm
It does have that feature, yes. I didn’t enable it, figuring I’m not a fall risk (yet). But of course we all are, and I probably should do that.
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Little Bird said on January 17, 2021 at 2:11 pm
I must have typed my email address in wrong…. awaiting moderation.
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Deborah said on January 17, 2021 at 2:28 pm
OK, now I want an Apple Watch. You totally sold me on the health benefits of it. I already have a MacBook, an iPad and an iPhone, it’s kinda embarrassing to now want the watch, but I do. One irritating thing I’ve been having to do is to dig my phone out of my pocket to see what time it is. I wore a wrist watch for a long time, until the battery kept running out and having a hard time finding a place to replace it. And when the pandemic started and I’m washing my hands a lot, my wrist watch wasn’t waterproof. I use the pedometer on my phone to count steps when I’m on walks, but again I always have to dig it out of a pocket to check that, and in the summer when many items I wear don’t have pockets carrying my phone around is a problem, I hardly ever carry a purse. As you can see I’m really trying to make the Apple Watch a thing I really, really require.
This video is excellent, but I’m afraid it will be preaching to the choir, I wish the people who need to see it will, but I doubt it. It is going viral, so fingers crossed https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qud-CiuJTnI&feature=youtu.be
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susan said on January 17, 2021 at 2:55 pm
Deborah @9— Yep, that video: Preaching to the choir. Everything that fellow pointed out is what makes Republicans proud to be Assholes. I could see them watching that and nodding their heads. “Yup yup yup. He speaks th’ trooth.”
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Julie Robinson said on January 17, 2021 at 4:08 pm
My wrist holds a perfectly adequate five year old Timex. Hubster has a Fitbit, which he wears to the pool, and he’s obsessive about getting his 10,000 steps in. Maybe it’s the fireworks display that goes off? When I ask how he slept, he has to consult his wrist. I don’t care how many hours I slept; I know whether I feel rested or not.
Okay, rant over, I wanted to share an entertaining little book I’m reading by Christopher Buckley, Make Russia Great Again. The character names are great, such as Senator Biskitt of South Carolina, Katie Borgia O’Reilly (Kellyanne Conway), and former press secretary Beulah Puckle-Peters, who looks like “a prison matron who discovered a pet mouse on block six”. But my favorite is the Vice-President, known only as Pants. Has Buckley been reading nnc?
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Mark P said on January 17, 2021 at 4:12 pm
I have read that there were two additional copies of the electoral votes, stored in a different location.
Many people have said it, but I’ll say it again — criminals are generally stupid. These were textbook examples.
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Deborah said on January 17, 2021 at 4:27 pm
Nancy, can you share which series watch has those health benefits you described? I’m doing research but it’s a bit confusing.
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diane said on January 17, 2021 at 4:36 pm
Do you do the NYT Spelling Bee? I don’t like doing crosswords online (buying the paper Sunday NYT and reading it on actual paper and doing the puzzle is my weekly treat) but I subscribed to the Crossword for the Spelling Bee. They made it free for awhile in the early pandemic and I inexplicably got addicted. I would have said it was not my kind of game at all.
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Deborah said on January 17, 2021 at 5:06 pm
Santa Fe is where the Capitol of NM resides and LB says lots of streets around the building have been closed off and a fence was erected. I have cautioned LB to stay home which she is in total agreement about. The governor is a woman and a Democrat, and there are a lot of gun nuts in NM, especially in the southern part of the state, which is a bit of a drive for people intent on havoc but not enough distance away to be prohibitive. Do any of the others of you in the nn.c community live in Capitol cities? What’s the situation there if you are?
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Julie Robinson said on January 17, 2021 at 5:40 pm
Diane, is that the panagram? They put it at the bottom of the daily email every morning, and I keep wondering what it’s about. I’m not a crossword person, but love other word games.
Did anyone else watch the Indoguration of Major Biden? It was a fundraiser for animal shelters, especially the one the Bidens adopted Major from. Dog lover Josh Groban “begged” to sing for it, and changed the lyrics of How Much is that Doggy in the Window to I’m Adopting that Doggy in the Window. Hilarious.
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LAMary said on January 17, 2021 at 6:22 pm
Thirty year old Seiko here. I like tank watches. I also have four super cheap Chinatown watches in bright colors that I wear when I’m not feeling so classic.
The block, not really a block, more of an oval, where I live is .52 miles around. I have a redwood stockade fence in front of my house and on top of one of the pickets are dozen toothpicks. When I go for a walk I take as many toothpicks as the number of times I want to go around the oval. After each lap I replace a toothpick.The oval is on a pretty steep hill so there is the easy quarter mile and the hard quarter mile. I have no idea how many steps it is but I’m told I take long strides.
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diane said on January 17, 2021 at 6:42 pm
Julie, yes, one element of the puzzle is the pangram. The puzzle has a center letter and six letters around it. The goal is to find as many words 4 letters or longer, always containing the center letter. There is always at least one pangram, a word containing all of the letters. There are many bonus points for getting the pangram. God, this sounds mundane as I type and I have no idea why I do it but I do, every morning.
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Sherri said on January 17, 2021 at 6:45 pm
One concern I had with getting an Apple Watch is that I am very hard on watches. I break watches, watches fail to keep accurate time, or something goes wrong. So far, the Apple Watch has been indestructible.
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nancy said on January 17, 2021 at 6:49 pm
I have the Series 6, but if you’re budget-minded, the earlier ones are still available here and there. There’s also a less-fancy current one, I believe.
And I often do the Spelling Bee. If I can find the pangram as my first word, I often declare myself a winner and skip the rest.
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basset said on January 17, 2021 at 6:49 pm
Deborah, here in Nashville there was talk of some kind of demonstration outside the Capitol today, didn’t happen though and we are getting the kind of messaging you’d expect from the police… closely monitoring the situation, remaining watchful, so forth.
We live about twelve miles from the Capitol, that should be far enough.
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Little Bird said on January 17, 2021 at 7:05 pm
I live about a mile from the Roundhouse. Maybe a little more. And yeah, I’m pretty concerned about the next few days/weeks. People here in NM are pretty gun happy. Current rule of thumb is if there are helicopters circling, stay inside.
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Deborah said on January 17, 2021 at 7:14 pm
LB, you’re less than a mile from the Roundhouse I’ve checked it on my pedometer, which for those who don’t know The Roundhouse is what they call the Capitol building in NM. This is a mother’s way of warning.
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Dorothy said on January 17, 2021 at 7:53 pm
I can’t believe several of you are talking about the NYT Spelling Bee etc! I just subscribed to the games this week. $40 a year for a chance to do puzzles? It did not take me long to know I had to pay for this. I still haven’t gotten today’s pangram, but I do have 41 words and 105 points; I’m thrilled because I’m in the Amazing category. And I’m not much of a crossword puzzle player, so I turned on the Auto Correct. I don’t care about streaks – I just like knowing if I’m guessing correctly. I really like the Letter Boxed game. I’ve done a few really long words with it and it gives me a satisfaction I’m not getting working from home these days.
The Apple Watch seems like it might be a cool thing to have. But then I’d have to stop wearing any of the other watches I own. I have 6 or 7. One of them I bought for myself on my 40th birthday (23 years ago); one of them I bought in Ireland in 2004 when my daughter and I were on a trip. I have a Timex that lights up and I used to love wearing it to the movies so I could check it and not get my phone out and make the light come on while I’d check the time. But my favorite watch is the second Ireland purchase I made in 2019. It’s a grey band, pink/gold face Olivia Burton watch. It has a pink bee in the middle of the face. (Mike is a beekeeper) When the clerk got it out of the case and I was trying it on, something about it made me exclaim and I raised my hand to gesture to my husband. Little did I know the clerk was standing bent over slightly near my wrist, and I whacked her right in the face. I don’t know who was more surprised, me or her. I had already decided I wanted it, but of course I joked and said “Well now I HAVE to buy it since I punched you in the face!” I’m a holdout on an Apple watch for now, but I reserve the right to change my mind.
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David C said on January 17, 2021 at 8:33 pm
I shudder to think what will happen if corporate wellness programs decide they and Apple watches are a marriage made in heaven. We’ll never have a moment’s peace again. Any time you stop into Ol’ Possum’s Pork Palace for a rack of ribs you’ll get a message “You’d better be getting a quinoa salad instead”.
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LAMary said on January 17, 2021 at 8:44 pm
David C. I temped at a place for six months where they had that apple watch (or for peons a fit bit) connected to how much the company would contribute to your hsa/fsa.
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Little Bird said on January 17, 2021 at 8:47 pm
Deborah, duly noted.
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Margaret said on January 17, 2021 at 9:05 pm
I’m now thinking about the Apple Watch, although my FitBit nags me enough. “Take me for a walk,” “Get up and move!” etc. I like some of the other features like being waterproof and detecting falls. I’m still in awe that you can do the breaststroke. I’m a terrible swimmer.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on January 17, 2021 at 9:18 pm
The other open secret about crime: it’s mostly solved by family & friends turning you in, and when I say family, I include of course America’s most public spirited demographic, the exes. Ex-spouses are awesome about helping us ID suspects and close cases; sure, their motives are mixed, but the final steps are up to law enforcement to prove. It really helps to get that call saying “You know Bob was the one who robbed the 21st St. branch, right?”
And it was reassuring to see how many of the insurrectionists were turned in by family & friends & co-workers who were ready to see their nearest and dearest loudmouths nailed. Even in sedition somethings don’t change. If Melania ever decides to explore the furthest fringes of her pre-nup, it could get really interesting. Since Michael Cohen has been outed (somewhat self-outed, but nonetheless) as a mostly toothless tiger, and his role is now filled by the incontinent house cat named Rudy, I don’t know that he can intimidate his exes or NDA holders quite as he’s been accustomed to.
Oh, and his pre-presidency doctor, the long-haired odd fellow in NYC, has predeceased his now former patient, at the tender age of 73. I think there’s going to be a line for the singing pigeon department at the Manhattan DA’s office.
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alex said on January 17, 2021 at 9:22 pm
Thankfully not in a capital city, but we’ve got enough nutters around here to make trouble at courthouses and federal buildings that it has me somewhat braced all the same. I understand that true believers think that Trump could invoke martial law and suspend the inauguration if rioting were to suddenly break out all over the country in the next day or two, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they attempt to make it happen.
No Apple watch for me yet. In fact, I turned off the tracking functions on my iPhone because I was tired of being nagged about my indolence.
Got into it with a friend today who thinks the disruption in Parler’s service is an incursion on free speech. Didn’t know she was so dumb. Or how I could have been so dumb as to not see it sooner. I have a feeling that the sad disillusionments that started in 2016 aren’t going to abate with a new administration.
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Sherri said on January 17, 2021 at 9:59 pm
Many years ago, when I lived in Pittsburgh, I read about a criminal who broke into some offices in the Allegheny County Courthouse, took a picture of himself with Polaroid camera that he found in one of the offices, then tossed the photo into the trash, for investigators to find. I thought he was the dumbest criminal, until now.
One of the insurrectionists, on probation already, wore his GPS ankle monitor to the Capitol riot, including into the Capitol. He had asked and had been granted permission to leave the state, telling his probation officer that he was going with the Gideons to distribute Bibles.
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Dexter Friend said on January 18, 2021 at 2:06 am
I always wore drug store watches since I was a small boy. In 1970 on my only visit to Disneyland I bought a Mickey Mouse watch which only lasted until I got to Vietnam a few months later and was replaced by a self-winding Seiko, which lasted 22 years and was replaced by a watch like Bill Clinton was famous for, the Timex Ironman Triathalon. That lasted ten years and then I ordered two more with my last paycheck before I retired. One still exists which I use to measure inhaler seconds at bedtime. Now I alternate between two Timex with twist-o-flex bands, one clock-face, one digital. Along the way , say when I forgot my watch, I have gone through maybe 10 dollar store cheapos, and the company gave me a watch for 25 years service that a jeweler valued at $300. I never wear it. In the latter half of 2020 I spent more than a few days in waiting rooms in hospitals and doctors’ offices. After a while I noticed that all nurses and doctors were wearing Apple Watches. One young doctor at Lima St. Rita’s showed me how to take an EKG, but said to never depend on the reading, as one needs 8 leads, not just the one the A.W. reading shows. ( The update for Carla Lee closed the last thread)
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JodiP said on January 18, 2021 at 2:41 am
The tech of the AW sounds amazing. That said, I am surprisingly pretty motivated to be active.
I found out over the weekend that sea shanties are a thing right now!
Also: Bridgerton is super fun, especially the clothing.
Dexter, you and the family remain in my thoughts every day.
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ROGirl said on January 18, 2021 at 4:53 am
I’m not one for large watches, let alone a device that tracks my behavior. I gotten a number of Skagens over the years, they are light and have flat dials and mesh bracelets.
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ROGirl said on January 18, 2021 at 4:55 am
I’m not one for large watches, let alone a device that tracks my behavior. I have gotten a number of Skagens over the years, and like them because they are light, with flat dials and mesh bracelets.
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Deborah said on January 18, 2021 at 4:58 am
Well that was fascinating Suzanne. Talk about rabbit holes, I’ve been reading about games now for the last couple of hours, and I have to get up early for a dr appointment. Lucky for me I’m retired and don’t have to go to work after a night of insomnia.
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Dorothy said on January 18, 2021 at 6:05 am
My daughter-in-law told me yesterday that she’d read somewhere that on dating websites, in the last week or so, some women have changed their political beliefs to conservative, and men who were at the Capitol on January 6 are contacting them, bragging about their participation there. And the women are turning around and giving them up to the FBI. I love the ingenuity people display!
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alex said on January 18, 2021 at 6:44 am
The video from that New Yorker story was featured on 60 Minutes last night. Some amazing journalism there.
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ROGirl said on January 18, 2021 at 7:55 am
Didn’t mean to double post, the comment didn’t appear to be loading.
This article is worth reading.
https://defector.com/after-the-sacred-landslide/
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Deborah said on January 18, 2021 at 9:37 am
Yes, ROGirl, that was worth reading. There are quite a few good pieces circulating out there, making some sense about what is going on.
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susan said on January 18, 2021 at 10:54 am
Post Reports Podcast has a chilling run-through of what happened inside, and outside, the Capitol on January 6. It was way worse (www) than we were led to believe. Jeebus, it is amazing more people weren’t killed; it was close.
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Scout said on January 18, 2021 at 11:46 am
The New Yorker piece Nancy linked to was chilling. I made the mistake of reading it before trying to fall asleep last night.
Dexter – I continue to hold you, Carla Lee and your daughters in my heart and meditations.
Between Covid and Civil War, 2021 is a truly the most frightening era in my lifetime. I shudder to think how much bleaker it would feel if 81M of us hadn’t voted to end a wannabe strongarm dictator’s hold on power, and if we hadn’t swept the GA Senate runoffs. Even going forward from this Wednesday at noon EST with those advantages, the knowledge that violent terrorists walk among us is daunting. We have to remain vigilant and continue to vote in every election, no matter how ‘off-year’. The people we elected need to push for media reform that has real consequences for lies presented as news. We need Citizen’s United overturned and anti-gerrymandering legislation, and the permanent restoration of the Voting Rights Act. For starters.
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Jeff Borden said on January 18, 2021 at 11:52 am
Perhaps because both of my grandfathers were railroad men –each had a beautiful gold pocket watch which was certified on a quarterly basis– watches have always been a thing for me. It’s almost impossible to find a photo of me without a watch on my wrist.
My prized possession is a 1973 Bulova Accutron, which my beloved parents went way over budget to give me for my college graduation. It still works and keeps excellent time with its original tuning fork movement.
I probably own about 20 watches, most in the $100 range, though I have a gorgeous Bulova Accutron tank watch from the mid-1990s that was $395. My latest fixation is on watches that don’t require batteries. I have a Seiko 5 self-winding watch (Johanna gave it to me for my birthday when we were in Seville, Spain in 2017) and two Armitrons that are powered by light. Most of my pals who wear watches favor the smart watches. I’m an anomaly.
As we wait for the grotesque slug to slither out of the Oval Office, has anyone given thought to how he might leverage the state secrets to which he’s been privy? He is going to be facing an absolute shit storm of legal problems and has $300 million in personally guaranteed loans coming due in 2021. He has shown no loyalty to anyone but himself. Isn’t it conceivable he might sell some of this knowledge to the Russkies?
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LAMary said on January 18, 2021 at 12:00 pm
That’s why he should not be privy to intelligence info.
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Pam said on January 18, 2021 at 12:17 pm
Jeff @ 43 — The russians don’t need our secrets, they hacked them all out of the state dept. while we were watching the Capitol building be invaded.
We have been deep into conspiracy theories here. My husband thinks that orangeman sold the Coronavirus vaccines that are conveniently “missing” to Vlad. Just 2 days after the vaccine store went missing, Vlad announced that he was stepping up vaccinations in Russia. I wonder what that was worth? Or possibly a bribe?
Rudy has allegedly been selling Pardons for $2M each. While that might be a stretch, it is certainly not a stretch that Pardons are being bartered. Plus, they also have the publicly funded $200M defense fund for “combatting the steal”. That will likely go the way of the Wall fund.
Orangeman and his son in law have set up shell corporations in the past few years. Any type of dirty dealing can be done with that cover. I’m highly suspicious of what reallly went on during SIL’s visits to the Middle East. No doubt that legislation at the end of 2020 was for them (and other crooks too).
And now orangeman is getting legal assistance from the My Pillow guy? Well, at least it’s free.
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Mark P said on January 18, 2021 at 1:01 pm
@Jeff Borden — I love the old tuning fork Accutron. My parents gave me one for Christmas around 1976. I still have it but it no longer works. There are places that do repairs with parts salvaged from other Accutrons. You are very lucky to have a working example.
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Suzanne said on January 18, 2021 at 1:18 pm
Jeff @43, it has been my assumption that Trump has been selling state secrets for the past 4 years and will continue to do so as long as he has state secrets to sell. He likely has someone inside still to feed him info. I assume Jared has probably stolen all kinds of intel. It’s how they operate.
The country in undoubtedly less safe now than when Pearl Harbor was bombed. Trump does his criminal acts in the open because he knows no one will stop him. And he’s been correct.
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Deggjr said on January 18, 2021 at 2:07 pm
I have an Apple Watch that I received from my last employer when I retired. The HR person was delighted with the gift; “this is your gold retirement watch but we’re a tech firm so it’s an Apple Watch!”
I had to upgrade my phone to an iPhone 6 to use the watch. Even after the phone upgrade I didn’t think the AW was very functional but I’ll never forget the thought behind the gift.
I got an iPhone 11 last year and upgraded the watch. The upgrade process wasn’t smooth but it was free. Apple put a lot of time into the upgrade process for a 4 year old watch.
The current watch functionality (phone, text, weather, heart rate, plus yet unidentified) is very cool. The AW is my dress watch so I don’t wear it very often.
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Kath said on January 18, 2021 at 4:23 pm
I have an older Apple Watch. Series 3 I think. I bought it primarily as a fitness tracker, but the feature I use most is pinging my iPhone. I have found that it is great for locating it in the couch cushions. I also like it for call screening and two factor authentication when my phone is on the charger or lost in the couch cushions.
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Sherri said on January 18, 2021 at 4:41 pm
Yes, Kath! Using it to find my iPhone is the best!
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Sherri said on January 18, 2021 at 6:09 pm
Reportedly, Parler is going to turn to Russian servers to host its site. That would mean that the NSA could look at everything without even having to bother with details like warrants. As could the Russians.
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Dexter Friend said on January 19, 2021 at 1:12 am
Pelosi’s laptop was stolen during the insurrection and apparently offered to Russian authorities, and I would bet the two younger hatless traitors shown photographing documents were planning the same thing. I wonder what the loudmouth traitor who yelled “Hell, we’re in here now, might as well set up a new government!” was planning in all the chaos. Maddow reported that Miller, under Trump’s command order, ordered a new officer (was it H.S.?) be installed tomorrow at The Pentagon, reason unclear. Pardons are indeed for sale, but I did not hear the $2mil price, but it’s hefty whatever it is. I do not understand the invitation list for the send off from Andrews, “You are invited…and please bring 5 guests”. Hard to assemble a crowd for an event so sordid the MAGAs want nothing to do with it. Tomorrow the sonuvabitch will finally be gone…will he be convicted by The Senate? I hope so, to be done with the creep forever.
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Dave said on January 19, 2021 at 1:14 am
Not to change the subject but I see by looking through nn.c history that our hostess should be celebrating this, the twentieth year of nn.c. Anyone else besides me think woo hoo! It always surprises me to look back and see some comment I made fifteen years ago or so, back when I was a youth. Wink, wink.
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ROGirl said on January 19, 2021 at 6:23 am
Between today and tomorrow at noon, I’m anticipating some last flourish of awfulness (apart from, or maybe in conjunction with, the pardon spree). I’m hoping to be wrong, but it seems all too possible.
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Suzanne said on January 19, 2021 at 8:23 am
I haven’t been this nervous about anything for years. I will be extremely surprised if Trump & his merry band of Trumpians don’t try something horrible in the next several days.
To think we used to have this:
https://twitter.com/mollyjongfast/status/1351515969630466056?s=21
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on January 19, 2021 at 9:05 am
The laptop stolen was apparently the conference room laptop used for presentations, meaning it is packed, PACKED I tell you, with some of the most soporific PowerPoints the Russians will ever have sat through. There are intelligence agents terrified that somehow this laptop will still make it through to them, and they will have to watch forty-seven House member PowerPoints, one after another, on the off-chance there’s some useful information mentioned casually in one of them.
Nice job, Q’sters.
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basset said on January 19, 2021 at 9:13 am
I read the old posts pretty much daily. May have found my first one ever last week, going on fifteen years old.
Tomorrow scares me. Something violent will happen, if not at the Capitol then elsewhere.
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dexter said on January 19, 2021 at 10:18 am
Best report in 10 days from hospital. Numbers reading on the upswing. Even this is a relief, like a true first step. Who knows?
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Deborah said on January 19, 2021 at 11:03 am
Dexter, so glad you have some good news, here’s to more coming your way.
I too am nervous about what might happen in the next few days and beyond. So, so sad that it has come to this in this country. Shame on Trump and his supporters and enablers and may there be serious accountability. I hope that is the last time I ever type his name.
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Deborah said on January 19, 2021 at 12:15 pm
Less than 24 hours! YAY!
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basset said on January 19, 2021 at 12:22 pm
Great to hear that, Dexter!
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alex said on January 19, 2021 at 12:38 pm
In other good news, several major retailers are giving My Pillow the heave ho.
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Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on January 19, 2021 at 1:07 pm
From Twitter, @jdawsey1:
“VP Pence is not expected to attend President Trump’s sendoff at Joint Air Force Base Andrews tomorrow morning, per White House officials. He is attending the inauguration later in the day, and aides say it would be logistically challenging for the vice president to do both.”
“Logistically challenging.” Yeah, that’s the ticket!
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Deborah said on January 19, 2021 at 1:09 pm
My husband is on the phone with USAA to indicate that we are insured by them and we want them to stop donating to the campaigns of the congress people who voted to not certify the votes even after the insurrection happened.
I made no-knead bread for the first time, just took it out of the oven a bit ago. LB has made it in Santa Fe many times and she sent me her recipe. I don’t have a enamel coated Dutch oven like she does, I used the only thing I have which is a 6 qt All-clad pot with a lid. My bread doesn’t look the same as hers does, it didn’t get as dark even though I left it in 6 minutes longer than her recipe. I don’t know if it’s the altitude difference or what, I won’t know for a couple of hours when it cools if it is even done enough inside but I didn’t want to leave it in any longer. Also, I don’t have a Danish dough whisk like she has so making the dough was really hard, stirring with a big spoon was tiring. I’m certainly not going to make it again until I get one of those whisks and maybe a Le Crueset Dutch oven or something like that.
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David C said on January 19, 2021 at 1:29 pm
I think you’re on the right track about the Le Crueset. Cast iron has a lot more mass than aluminum so it holds onto more heat.
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Deborah said on January 19, 2021 at 2:08 pm
David C, the All-clad pot that I used is stainless steel, I thought that might be OK. I looked at the Sur Le Table website, there’s a store a couple of blocks from here, and they have a 4 qt Dansk Dutch oven that is the least expensive Dutch oven they have, Lordy the Le Crueset and Staub ones are expensive. And I’m not sure a 4 qt one will be big enough I’ll have to go over there and look at it. Before I invest in something like that though I’ll have to see if this bread tastes OK. My tiny kitchen is coated in flour from the production, you have to wrap the bread in a well floured cloth and let it sit for 2 hours after it has risen for 18 hours in a bowl in a warmish place. That well floured dish cloth was hard to shake out over the trash can without bits flying all over the place after I put the dough in the pan. it’s a good thing I’m vacuuming today. Plus my bread didn’t seem to smell as good while baking as LB’s does.
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LAMary said on January 19, 2021 at 2:10 pm
It probably was the lack of cast iron that effected the bread, Deborah. If you don’t want to invest in a Le Creuset Dutch oven there are some good copies. Check Macy’s for the Martha Stewart cast iron. There’s some no name brand they carry at Costco occasionally too. If you lived closer by I’d loan you mine. Another possibility is Lodge cast iron. It’s not enameled so check the recipe to see if enamel is required.
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basset said on January 19, 2021 at 2:14 pm
The Lodge factory in South Pittsburg, TN, is about two hours from us on the way down to Chattanooga, and we have stopped there several times… usually can find something we just have to have, I think last time it was a black iron Dutch oven and a hibachi.
They do have enameled but it’s made in China.
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LAMary said on January 19, 2021 at 2:30 pm
I’ve been looking for a cast iron hibachi. I’ll check out the Lodge website.
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Suzanne said on January 19, 2021 at 2:40 pm
I bake my no-knead bread in this:
https://breadtopia.com/store/romertopf-medium-clay-baker-99150/
Works like a charm! I bought it after I baked bread in my garage sale cast iron dutch oven @ 500 degrees and melted the top knob. Yikes!
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Little Bird said on January 19, 2021 at 2:55 pm
Deborah, you might check out Marshals or Homegoods for a cast iron enameled Dutch oven. That’s actually where mine came from. And they’re much less expensive.
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Deborah said on January 19, 2021 at 3:12 pm
The recipe doesn’t say it has to be enameled, it’s just easier to clean. I had lodge cast iron stuff for the cabin but I ended up changing it out for other stuff because it was always arm breaking heavy whenever I lifted the pots and pans. I realize an enamel coated Dutch oven will be heavy too, but I won’t be using it everyday, maybe once every other week if I can get this to work for me. Also, I went out to empty the trash and when I came back in it smelled like freshly baked bread, so I guess I just got used to the way it smelled and didn’t notice while I was in the thick of it.
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Sherri said on January 19, 2021 at 3:18 pm
The Wirecutter did extensive testing on enameled cast iron Dutch Ovens, and concluded that performance, the Lodge was just as good as the pricier Le Creuset. The enamel on the Le Creuset is less likely to chip over time, but you can but a lot of replacements for the price of the Le Creuset.
That said, I have a Le Creuset, and it is a workhorse. Like my Kitchenaid, it will outlast me.
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basset said on January 19, 2021 at 3:35 pm
We see Le Creuset and other high end brands at estate sales, kinda high even there and we haven’t picked any up yet.
Then again, we are still using our 1981 wedding present Revere Ware, aside from the handles fading a little it’s held up fine. Have a Romertopf from then, too.
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susan said on January 19, 2021 at 3:59 pm
Deborah, I’ve made no-knead bread many times. I always triple the recipe, because I eat half a loaf when it’s still hot out of the oven. And because I only have one enameled cast iron dutch oven (that I got at Costco for $50-something. It was made in France.), I also use a Corning Ware pot with a lid, and a glass pyrex pot with a lid that was our Mom’s (it must be at least 60 years old. She used it for casseroles and matzoh charlotte.) I bake all three at the same time, and all come out so beautifully, with that thick brown crunchy crust and bubbled chewy innards. Oh yummmmmmmm…..!
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Deborah said on January 19, 2021 at 5:00 pm
You know I just realized that the Macy’s a couple of blocks from us in Water Tower Place is going out of business and everything is up to 40% off so that Martha Stewart Dutch Oven may be even cheaper. I’m going to check that out, it’s snowing now, so I’ll wait until tomorrow. I have an appt to get my eyes measured at my ophthalmologist office for my cataract surgery next week, so I’ll be out and about tomorrow anyway. I plan to be back by the time of the inauguration though to watch it and cheer.
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Deborah said on January 19, 2021 at 5:13 pm
Sorry to keep monopolizing this thread but when you folks make no-knead bread do you use bread flour or all purpose flour?
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Suzanne said on January 19, 2021 at 5:34 pm
Deborah, I have used both. Both work well for me!
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LAMary said on January 19, 2021 at 5:36 pm
Whichever flour your recipe specifies. The no knead bread recipes vary from each other. You need a neighbor like me. I have both on hand. And several le creuset dutch ovens and a fresh one pound block of yeast. You know on how old sitcoms people would ask neighbor for a cup of sugar? I’m neighbor to ask.
Also, check out the Barry Blitt cover on this week’s New Yorker.
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alex said on January 19, 2021 at 6:14 pm
I have a Le Creuset in which the enamel got chipped up by a house guest and a Lodge. I seldom use either because my steel clad IKEA dutch oven outperforms them both and comes clean much easier too. And it only cost about forty bucks if I remember correctly.
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LAMary said on January 19, 2021 at 6:51 pm
My le creuset cast iron pans were all gifts over about 40 years. I have a ceramic le creuset 9×13 baking pan and a batter bowl that I bought for myself when I saw them on clearance at SLT.
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Deborah said on January 19, 2021 at 7:36 pm
Have they announced the pardons yet? I’m not seeing anything that they have. Is he trying to steal Biden’s Thunder tomorrow or is he going to do something nefarious?
So my bread turned out ok, a tiny bit doughy, but I toasted it for roast beef sandwiches for dinner. I will continue to use it for toast which is fine. My husband was impressed with it. Live and learn.
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Deborah said on January 19, 2021 at 7:38 pm
LAMary, what is SLT?
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LAMary said on January 19, 2021 at 8:26 pm
Sur La Table. I was being intentionally awful by using the initials.
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Dave Kobiela said on January 20, 2021 at 12:27 am
Congratulations on the anniversary Nancy. Although I seldom comment, I read here daily, and really appreciate the wisdom, experience and insight shared by you and your many guests. Thank you all for your contributions.
In other news, here comes the pardons. Steve Bannon #1 on the list!
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