A final note.

I was on the most frivolous of errands on one of our last days in France (trying to find drugstore beauty products that were worth bringing home) when I came across this marker.

My rudimentary understanding of Latinate word roots gave me to believe this commemorates the death of Seraphin Torrin, a member of the French resistance during WWII. A little googling confirmed that was, indeed, the case. You may have to auto-translate a few web pages, but the gist is this: Seraphin Torrin and a confederate, Angelo Grassi, were executed by the Nazis – hung, specifically – and their bodies left swinging from the light posts on a wide public plaza for several hours, as a lesson to others. This was in July 1944. If the two had survived another month, they might have hooked up with this fella:

The fella being Roger Derringer, my husband’s father, who rolled through this area on a mission of liberation in August of that same year. Note the camera around his neck; it was taken from a German officer, a POW, and Roger, Bud to his family and friends, used it to take some photos. (Then he was wounded, and woke up in a military hospital without it; he always assumed some doctor who outranked him appropriated it.)

I’ve written a little about him here in the past. He was an infantry paratrooper during the war, a position roughly the same as special forces today. They jumped in ahead of the forward forces and did what they could. Most of his battalion, the 509th, didn’t make it home, but he did. The few photos that survived are kinda amazing, although the scrawled pencil notes on the back are incomplete, alas.

This castle – those are German helmets on the ground – is now an art center outside Nice, which I regret to say closed for the season a month ago. It’s privately owned, by Americans, which seems fitting. But this may be my favorite picture of all:

The note on the back only reads “German emplacement.” Check out the swastika; Jerry was planning to stay a while, it seems. He put up a sign.

I’m sorry we didn’t get up to the art center/castle. It was a ways out of town and it might have been fun to find that vantage point for another photo. What is the purpose of war, after all? To win back the peace, and make the world safe for art centers again. More pictures were of victory parades in Nice, Cannes and elsewhere around here:

That toddler on her mother’s hip would be very old today, if she still lives:

And it all happened here. We’re at a strange time in history, in the history of all the world. It’s good, sometimes, to look back at these sepia memories and remember that in some sense, it was ever thus.

Back to America very soon.

Posted at 1:51 pm in Same ol' same ol' |
 

53 responses to “A final note.”

  1. ROGirl said on October 15, 2021 at 2:07 pm

    Wonderful photos. The medallion at the bottom of the monument reminds the passerby to remember.

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  2. Deborah said on October 15, 2021 at 2:34 pm

    Great photos. That toddler wouldn’t be that old now, maybe 80ish if still alive. 80ish doesn’t seem old to me, it’s all relative.

    We’re having company for dinner tonight, my husband’s making risotto. He has a few dishes in his repertoire and that’s one of his favorite. He likes to cook when we have company which is fine with me. If you have dinner here more than three times you get something you’ve already had here before. We’ve been quite the social butterflies having people over every week since I’ve been back in Chicago.

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  3. Julie Robinson said on October 15, 2021 at 3:39 pm

    If that’s 1945, the baby would have been born in 1943 or 44, so not that old at all. But I’m very impressed that while you are in France you are easily able to find these old family photos. I have a long way to go in getting photos scanned and organized.

    BTW, leftover from yesterday, what’s wrong with two-button toilets? They save lots of water.

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  4. Joe Kobiela said on October 15, 2021 at 6:25 pm

    Your father in law had 4 combat jumps which is very impressive, he jumped operation torch which I believe was the first airborne operation for the U.S. I think there were only 8 mass jumps in Europe during WW-2 to participate in 4 and survive is amazing, to be able to walk where you dad fought must have been emotional for your husband but in a good way, hope he felt his dad’s presence.
    Truly the greatest generation.
    Pilot Joe

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  5. Dorothy said on October 15, 2021 at 8:11 pm

    The date on the plaque was my mother’s 22nd birthday. She had gotten married just shy of two months before that. Dad was home on leave and went back not long after the wedding. He was an Army medic in WWII.

    Loved the other pictures, too. Julie is right – that toddler was likely born in ‘43 or ‘44. The previous chair of my department was born in May 1944, just a few days before my parents got married. So that little girl, if she’s still alive, is not even 80 yet.

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  6. susan said on October 16, 2021 at 1:23 am

    What wonderful photographs. All the people in them look so happy and relieved.

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  7. Dexter Friend said on October 16, 2021 at 2:04 am

    Today’s post reminds me of that Roger Waters “The Wall” production in which he drives with a friend to places his dad was in the war, and was KIA. Off topic , Waters just took a beautiful bride the other day.
    Like many my age, I had uncles who were in Europe fighting in WWII. Two were in the infantry; one never spoke a word about any of it, and one jovially would tell stories about it for hours. Quite gruesome stories, actually, for a little boy named Dexter to hear. Dad was manifested for The USS Franklin’s departure from Oakland Alameda Naval Air Station bound for the Pacific battle seas. A toothache just before departure sent him off-ship to a dentist and he missed the ship, which took horrendous attacks from Japanese airplanes, losing 38 lives in just one of many attacks. It survived after many stints in drydock repair and finally was sunk as scrap in 1966 I believe. Dad ended up back in his job on Treasure Island training radio operators aboard planes. Dad spent 3 years , almost every day in the air training radio operators in Florida and later California. When he left the Navy, he never flew again.

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  8. Alan Stamm said on October 16, 2021 at 7:23 am

    Classy, touching au revoir post.

    And as someone just a decade shy of 80ish, I agree with Deborah that it doesn’t seem old.

    Welcome back, Nancy.

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  9. Bitter Scribe said on October 16, 2021 at 5:13 pm

    Ah, the days when we were the good guys.

    I came of age during Vietnam, when America was busy pissing away all the goodwill it had built up during WWII.

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  10. Deborah said on October 16, 2021 at 7:25 pm

    I tried to send a post earlier not sure what happened probably a misstep on my end.

    Basically I just wanted to say welcome back and how jetlag is much easier on the return trip which seems so unfair when the trip over when you’re so ready to get going is when you want more energy. On the other hand if you have to get immediately back to work after being away you probably enjoy the respite from jetlag. I’ve forgotten that part because I’ve been retired 9 years now.

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  11. Dexter Friend said on October 17, 2021 at 3:02 am

    Many here have Netflix; have any of you seen the latest and last Netflix special by Dave Chappelle? I watched it. The LGBTQ+ leaders are opining and they are split, sort of, on their assessments. https://www.sfgate.com/streaming/article/timeline-netflix-dave-chappelle-anti-trans-16536743.php

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  12. Deborah said on October 17, 2021 at 7:33 am

    I really tried to read that link about Chapelle but the pop-up ads made it impossible. Why do they do that? It makes people spend less time on their site.

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  13. ninja3000 said on October 17, 2021 at 12:20 pm

    Nancy, those photos are priceless scenes of history and should be exhibited somewhere.

    My dad survived a battlefield explosion near Versailles and woke up in the Army hospital, and all his stuff was gone (medals, Luger etc.). He said this was not an uncommon occurrence in the field hospitals.

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  14. basset said on October 17, 2021 at 11:58 pm

    Finally got rid of the Subaru, was thinking about trying to keep it and treating its issues as charming idiosyncrasies rather than problems but the touch screen went black one too many times and we said enough of this, don’t want it to quit while moving the way it already has once.

    Replaced it with a Chevy Equinox yesterday, which I took out to the deer woods this morning and ran up and down some steep hills and rough paths. Did fine, and I don’t think I broke anything.

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  15. Suzanne said on October 18, 2021 at 6:59 am

    This travelogue of France makes me want to go more than ever. Sigh.

    I need a new vehicle. I am driving a 2005 van with rusty wheel wells. My in-laws who are in assisted living have 2 cars and my mother at 86 has a car that she hasn’t driven in over a year. We are willing to buy any one of them but are they willing to sell? Not just yet. They all believe they are still going to drive. Sigh again.

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  16. alex said on October 18, 2021 at 7:20 am

    My mom quit driving voluntarily and my dad’s license renewal was recently refused, so I’m very much relieved. As for the one remaining car they haven’t totaled, the body’s so banged up from their poor driving that I’d be embarrassed to be seen in it.

    Dex, I’ve been reading about the dustup surrounding Chapelle’s new special but haven’t seen it. I always loved Chapelle’s work and would love to see the show no matter whose ego is inflamed over it.

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  17. Julie Robinson said on October 18, 2021 at 8:50 am

    Colin Powell has died of Covid 19 complications. Fully vaxxed according to his family. Wow.

    Suzanne, how about a scenario in which your car was going to be in the shop for a major repair, and you ask to borrow one of the three? And then it’s going to be too expensive and you can’t replace it just yet, so you ask for a longer term loan, etc. Kind of deceptive, but still…

    Both my in-laws had to have the keys taken away from them and it didn’t go well, so it was a relief when my mom willingly gave up hers (and gave the car to a grandchild). Since we moved to Orlando I don’t drive that much myself, street signs being so dang small and all. This week I’ll be going to both airports so we’ll have some real adventures!

    basset, enjoy that Equinox. Seems like you made the right decision for you.

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  18. alex said on October 18, 2021 at 10:16 am

    Basset, I was just getting an earful yesterday from a friend who says he’s never buying a Subaru again. He bought a 2019 Forester and at some point recently he ran over a nail. He stopped by the dealer service department to have the nail pulled out and the tire patched. No can do, they said. He’d need to buy a new tire and they’d have to shave the tread down to match the reduced tread on the rest of the tires or it would eff up his all-wheel drive computer system. Or he could just buy all new tires even though the tires aren’t particularly worn. He ended up doing the latter.

    I took our frivolous 2007 Solstice convertible to be appraised at a dealer group that’s been advertising that it needs cars and is paying top dollar. Evidently they don’t need them that badly, at least not cars like this one. Was hoping to unload it and get a nice downpayment on something else, but I guess that will just have to wait.

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  19. LAMary said on October 18, 2021 at 11:09 am

    I took my 2016 VW SportWagen (a Golf wagon but more fun) for service at the dealership and they said they’d give me about five grand short of what I paid for it. It’s a rare car in high demand I guess. It has low mileage for its age and it’s in perfect condition. It’s also still fun and having been uncataracted last Friday I’m looking forward to driving it again.

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  20. Deborah said on October 18, 2021 at 11:42 am

    LAMary, good to know you finally got to have cataract surgery. Did you only have a cataract in one eye? It changed my life, now it’s in full color, no halos/radiating lights on car headlights at night, and no need for glasses for distance.

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  21. David C said on October 18, 2021 at 11:44 am

    We took our Sonata to the dealer for an oil change. As I sat there, the sales manager offered me a thousand less than we paid for it. The service people must tip the sales side off for low mileage cars. It’s not a particularly fun car, but it’s paid for which is a lot of fun. All the cars on their lot that I looked at have at least a five thousand dollar “market adjustment” over MSRP. No thanks.

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  22. LAMary said on October 18, 2021 at 12:08 pm

    I passed the halos phase years ago. I was at the just about blind in one eye level. My depth perception was gone. It just took a long time to get it together with my medicare supplemnt insurance to get the procedure done. I’m told I will only need glasses for reading. I have a followup appointment today and I’m going to ask when I can get an eye exam to find out exactly what I need. I’ve worn glasses for distance since I was fifteen. Fifty three years of glasses, the first five or so with actual glass lenses making the glasses weigh enough to put dents in my nose.

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  23. Dorothy said on October 18, 2021 at 12:18 pm

    basset we sold my nine year old Equinox in June to get my new Blazer. I loved my Equinox – very dependable. But be sure to stay on top of the oil changes.

    My husband had his first cataract surgery in his right eye about seven years ago. Tomorrow he needs his left eye done. This time the doc said there are ‘multiple’ cataracts so we’re hoping this one goes as smoothly as the first one did. He too marveled at how clear and beautiful the world was after the first surgery. My daughter has a co-worker whose father did not follow the rules set forth for post-surgery and messed up his eye. He had to have it re-done. Yech. We are big fans of following doctors’ rules in our house.

    Mary I remember driving with Mike to a dollar store after his follow up appt. seven years ago. He bought readers, 1.5 magnification I think. We drove to Pittsburgh three or four days later and he didn’t need glasses to drive. I remember feeling very nervous at first because he’d worn glasses since I met him in 1973. Maybe now he won’t need ANY glasses since both eyes will be ‘bionic’ (his phrase for his new lenses).

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  24. Julie Robinson said on October 18, 2021 at 2:53 pm

    Alex, if you wait until next spring to sell that convertible you should get more for it.

    Our NOLA travelers are home after a drive that turned out to be 12 hours each way; probably not that different than two airplane rides with much less Covid exposure. Hot and humid of course, and most venues were outdoors.

    About a third of the homes had blue tarp roofs and down the street was a crushed car with the palm tree still draped over it, just waiting to be claimed and towed. Trash and storm debris were everywhere. They went to a jazz concert at Preservation Hall and were shocked by its small size and lack of AC.

    The upsides were seeing extended family and the wedding of two amazing young folk. And since the wedding was on Friday night, Sarah was home for Sunday services.

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  25. LAMary said on October 18, 2021 at 3:50 pm

    The roadie son is home for a few days and he made the schlep to Malibu yesterday to see his dad. Since I will need at least a pair of reading glasses I asked my son to request that his father give me back the glasses that used to belong to my father circa 1940. My ex had his lenses put in but I know he hasn’t worn them in years. Luckily he showed some decency and gave them to my son. I have decide if I want them for sunglasses, computer glasses or reading glasses. They’re 14k gold wire frame with tiny engraving on the earpieces and bridge.

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  26. basset said on October 18, 2021 at 6:42 pm

    Alex@18, did he get nitrogen in the tires? It’s the industry standard, y’know.

    Heat pump crapped out last night, refrigerator this morning, my printer shortly after that. These things do come in threes.

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  27. cdm said on October 18, 2021 at 7:10 pm

    a thoughtful take on the Chappelle matters. “Both” is the key word.
    https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/10/dave-chappelle-the-closer/620364/

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  28. A. Riley said on October 18, 2021 at 11:00 pm

    Cataracts. Getting them taken care of was the most amazing thing, I swear. I wore glasses with thick, complicated (expensive) lenses from age 8, so imagine my amazement at only needing readers and sunglasses. I got a pair of progressive readers from Zenni.com (plain top part shading down to reader bottom part) and I’m so pleased with the whole process and results I could just burst.

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  29. LAMary said on October 18, 2021 at 11:21 pm

    I told a friend that my cataract procedure was like a mashup of Stan Brakhage, Le Chien Andalou and Clockwork Orange on acid

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  30. Dave said on October 18, 2021 at 11:58 pm

    Goodness, Basset, you’re really on a roll, you get rid of a lemon Subaru and now three more things go KAFLOOEY!

    Alex, I think I would have taken my chances and gone to a tire shop to see what they had to say before investing in four new tires. Four new tires don’t come cheap these days.

    Suzanne, you remind me of my mother who thought she was going to travel again. My parents had a motor home that they traveled in many places over the years but Dad said he would get rid of it if he didn’t think he could handle it. IThat day did come and Dad did exactly what he said but my mother had a fit, what if she wanted to take another trip. Never mind that she was, by then, in the mid stages of dementia and only knew us part of the time, which was better than the later none of the time. I like the idea of trying to borrow one of those vehicles and see if you can get away with it.

    Oh, BTW, I think we’re all being delusional if we can convince ourselves that 80-ish isn’t all that old. Really? I’d like to think so but. . .

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  31. Dexter Friend said on October 19, 2021 at 12:04 am

    I called the local county health department on day 1 of booster shot availability and was told I had to wait 3 weeks , so I scheduled, and today was the day. Of course, I found out that walk-ins had been getting shots all along, and I was not on their schedule…they never had heard of me. So I got my shot, no 15 minute wait for possible reaction, and that’s that.
    I lost all respect for Powell that very day he addressed the UN all those years ago. He let Cheney-Bush-Rumsfeld make a stooge out of him. Most still respected him after that horrible day at the UN, but I never forgot what that rotten administration did to this nation and the country’s status around the world.

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  32. Deborah said on October 19, 2021 at 5:00 am

    I hear you Dave, 80ish is old, but I have lots of friends in their 80s now and they’re not anywhere near as decrepit as 80ish used to be. They drive, they exercise fairly vigorously, they’re constantly on the go. It’s not like it used to be. At least for some.

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  33. David C said on October 19, 2021 at 6:02 am

    The one tire replacement is one of the fun things they don’t tell you about all wheel drive cars. If you replace just one tire without shaving the tread, the limited slip differentials are activated all the time and wear out. The old advice was to replace all the tires. Tread shaving is the less expensive but perfectly effective alternative.

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  34. basset said on October 19, 2021 at 10:15 am

    Replaced a damaged tire on the awd Toyota we had before the Subaru, and the tire store didn’t say anything about tread shaving… although they tried to upsell me on everything else. Wouldn’t be more than a half inch or so of difference in the diameter of a new and a worn tire, wouldn’t think that would be enough to mean anything but maybe it does.

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  35. Sherri said on October 19, 2021 at 4:20 pm

    Yesterday was the deadline for state employees to be vaccinated or lose their jobs. The highest paid state employee, Washington State football coach Nick Rolovich, was fired, along with four of his assistants. Overall, over 90% of state employees complied with the mandate, as did Seattle city employees and King County employees. The stories are about those who didn’t, of course, but most did.

    Starting next week, everyone will have to show proof of vaccination to eat at a restaurant or work out at a gym or other similar indoor activities.

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  36. Julie Robinson said on October 19, 2021 at 5:04 pm

    Sherri, I’ve been following this story because accountability is so rare in sports. What interests me is that the firing came from the governor, not the university president or athletic director. The power structure must be different in Washington, as I can’t imagine that happening in Indiana. Florida, well who knows? Four assistant coaches also lost their jobs for refusing to be vaccinated.

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  37. Sherri said on October 19, 2021 at 5:34 pm

    Julie, the mandate came from the governor, but the firing came from the university athletic director. It’s been pretty clear for a while that this was inevitable.

    The governor announced the vaccination mandate for all state employees (as well as all teachers in K-12, public and private) back in summer. We’ve known since July that Rolovich wasn’t vaccinated and would not get the vaccine, and he has refused to discuss why. The state set up a process for handling religious and medical exemptions, with blind review, but it takes more than just saying you have a religious objection or showing a letter from some whacko preacher. You have to demonstrate a consistent objection to medical intervention.

    We found out a couple of weeks ago that Rolovich had applied for a religious exemption when one of his mentors and former coaches said so, and Rolovich was pissed that the news had leaked. That’s something I’ve seen from other people claiming a religious objection to the vaccination: they suddenly don’t want to talk about their faith, say they shouldn’t have to talk about their faith, it’s private.

    Even if a religious exemption is granted, that doesn’t mean you keep your job. It means that the state tries to find a job for you where you don’t interact with others. We didn’t find out whether Rolovich received his religious exemption, but he can not fulfill the duties of his job without being around other people, so it doesn’t matter, he’s fired, with cause, which means that WSU is not buying out his contract.

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  38. Brandon said on October 19, 2021 at 6:44 pm

    @Sherry: The firing of Rolovich, a former Rainbow Warrior player and head coach, is big news in Hawaii. It made the front page of today’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

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  39. Sherri said on October 19, 2021 at 7:25 pm

    Five Redmond firefighters were fired today for failure to comply with the vaccine mandate. Two more retired rather than be fired. Five more are on leave until they finish vaccination.

    There are a few people who support the firefighters, but in a city with a vaccination rate of around 95%, most people are glad to see them go.

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  40. diane said on October 19, 2021 at 11:53 pm

    We were in Hawaii a couple weeks ago. You had to show proof of vaccination to go into any restaurant and they took your name and phone number for contact tracing and masks were required in all public indoor spaces. No where did I see it be an issue for anyone. Commerce and tourism just proceeded along, imagine that.

    I felt very safe. On the other hand, changing planes in Dallas was frightening. As many people weren’t wearing a mask as were, there wasn’t a hand sanitizer station to be found, etc. (in the Honolulu airport, there was hand sanitizer everywhere).

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  41. Dexter Friend said on October 20, 2021 at 2:05 am

    I was surprised today as it was difficult to comfortably get out of bed and begin the day. My first 2 Pfizer shots left me chipper, the third kicked my ass. I could barely shuffle along with my rollator and cane and my trip to the grocery store was cut short from the stiffness and muscle pain. I am still glad I upped my protection X10 of course, but damn, I probably have another day tomorrow to take it easy. I am actually feeling better already.
    Down in Houston a private jet never made it to the air as it burned up into a tangled heap of scrap. All 18 baseball fans , Boston bound for the playoffs, escaped, as did all 3 crew members. Amazing. Only 2 suffered minor burns.
    A few days ago it was rainy and cold; I needed heat for the defroster in the Honda Odyssey…just cold air. Easy fix I figured, a thermostat likely, right? A few bucks. Uhhh…it was 2 actuator/blend doors needing replaced, and with an oil change , between $600 and $700.
    I see the Chevrolet Equinox is popular here on the pages. My cousin lives in Valparaiso and her son is a forest ranger in South Dakota , and for years she and her husband travelled out there to visit and the dad could hunt and fish. Their Equinox engine blew up under warranty, no problem getting a new motor. A month later, on the big freeway in the middle of wide open country, the transmission seized up, ground up…toast. They got a new transmission under warranty. Then they immediately traded it in on another Equinox. But we all know all cars are money pits, lemme tell yas….

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  42. alex said on October 20, 2021 at 6:34 am

    Got my COVID booster and feeling no ill effects other than the aftereffect of being royally pissed at the boobocracy running things at CVS.

    They wouldn’t accept my state-issued certificate of vaccination that I’d taken care to download onto my phone should I ever need it for proof. Why? Because it doesn’t show whether I had Pfizer, Moderna or J&J, and my word isn’t good enough.

    No, they insisted that I produce the card I thought I no longer had. When I told them it was lost and that I probably tossed it thinking I’d never need it again because of my state-issued certificate FROM THE STATE BOARD OF HEALTH WITH MY NAME CLEARLY PRINTED ON IT, they told me to go back to the place where I got my shots and get another card. That place doesn’t exist, I countered. I got vaccinated at a temporary mass-vaccination site administered by God knows whom.

    They still acted like I was trying to commit some kind of skulduggery.

    If it’s this difficult to get a booster, I won’t be surprised if a good many people walk out of CVS and just say fuck it, which is almost what I did. Fortunately my habit of keeping a messy car paid off for the first time in my whole life. I found my tattered old vaccination card, took it back into the store and plopped it down on the counter and those officious twits gave me my fucking shot.

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  43. Jeff (the mild-mannered one) said on October 20, 2021 at 6:48 am

    A Twitter friend summed it up nicely, and I wish I’d put it together first, so credit to @paxr55 & HER friend’s initial realization:

    “A novelist friend (she follows Formula 1, boxing, and law enforcement) observed yesterday that tough-guy subcultures seem prone to phobias about injections. Penetration. The aversion is obvious now that I think about it.

    Could we have a Freudian write about this somewhere?”

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  44. Dorothy said on October 20, 2021 at 7:25 am

    My son walked up to see our house last night, to see what was new as of yesterday, and met a couple who are also building across the street and down a house or two. They were guys. When he told me, I swear to God my first thought was “Oh thank you Jesus – probably not Republicans!”

    Diane I know a lot of people use hand sanitizer these days, but I have not used it once during the pandemic. It’s all around me at my office. I just hate hand sanitizer. I’m a long time believer in soap and water. But also this virus is airborne, and I’m pretty sure it’s been established that there is an extremely low risk associated with catching Covid via your hands touching something or someone. Unless you put your hand in your mouth, of course.

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  45. alex said on October 20, 2021 at 7:45 am

    Jttmo, I don’t know about the penetration part but it’s definitely a toxic masculine thing to act as if toughing out a contagious preventable disease is a “right,” along with spreading it and ridiculing those who try to protect themselves and others.

    Sometimes bananas are just bananas. Republicans are always bananas and they’re dicks too.

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  46. diane said on October 20, 2021 at 8:16 am

    Thanks Dorothy. I do get that the virus is airborne but in a crowded place with a lot of activity, talking and moving, and then waiting and not a lot of mask wearing hand sanitizer can be a bit of added protection. But my point was to illustrate the difference between Texas and Hawaii. Maybe I didn’t do it well but I don’t think the reason Dallas doesn’t have hand sanitizer and Honolulu does is because Dallas understands the virus better,

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  47. Dorothy said on October 20, 2021 at 9:32 am

    Understand and 100% agree with you, Diane!

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  48. Dorothy said on October 20, 2021 at 9:59 am

    Here’s a really nice story that will make you smile.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2021/10/20/randy-bachman-guitar-stolen/

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  49. Suzanne said on October 20, 2021 at 10:24 am

    Tough guy cultures and people refusing vaccines fits in with the speaker I heard last night at PFW in Fort Wayne, Tom Nichols. He discussed the narcissistic strain that is infecting society leading to the refusal of so many fellow citizens to listen to experts on things like COVID vaccines which impacts our democracy in a very bad way. It was a very worthwhile way to spend a couple of hours. I have read his book The Death of Expertise and while I didn’t agree with everything he said, he made some very perceptive points.

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  50. Sherri said on October 20, 2021 at 12:26 pm

    Surprise, surprise, Rolovich is suing: https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/wsu-cougar-football/former-wsu-football-coach-nick-rolovich-to-file-lawsuit-after-being-fired-for-noncompliance-with-vaccine-mandate/

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  51. Deborah said on October 20, 2021 at 1:02 pm

    Suzanne, I follow Tom Nichols on Twitter, he often makes a lot of sense and he can be funny. I also don’t agree with everything he says but his arguments aren’t crazy.

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  52. Jim said on October 20, 2021 at 3:50 pm

    Sherri @50: not a shock. As I expected, they are trying to fire Rolovich and his assistants with cause, so no remaining compensation for them. I seriously hope the courts do the right thing, WSU doesn’t settle, and that those dopes don’t get a sous.

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  53. basset said on October 20, 2021 at 4:42 pm

    That guitar story is behind a paywall, so here’s the free CBC version:

    https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/bachman-1957-gretsch-guitar-found-tokyo-1.6206128

    It was found by examining the wood grain with modified facial recognition software… amazing.

    The Stratocaster that Bob Dylan played when he went electric at Newport was ID’d the same way, not with software but by the wood grain; he left it in a small chartered plane and told the pilot he could keep it, years later it brought a huge price: https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylans-newport-guitar-sells-for-nearly-a-million-bucks-244351/

    I have seen Bachman’s touring Gretsch collection, even if you’re not interested in guitars I recommend it.

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