MichaelG.
- You wanna hear cable guy? As a result of a domestic realignment, I now find myself exiled from Auburn to a small house in Sacramento. Given the circumstances, small was all I could afford to buy. I read the ads and decided to go with Direct TV satellite service. They were supposed to show up in a four hour window on Mar 1 in the PM. No show, no call. I called them on Fri AM. I talked to 7 or eight different people, all of whom apologized profusely but none of whom were responsible or able to reschedule me to my satisfaction. I called Dish Network. They were scheduled to come out between 8 and noon last Sunday morn, the 11th. No show no call. After the obligatory several people and their empty apologies, the best they could offer was to reschedule me for Wednesday (yesterday). I was in Susanville, CA yesterday. Beautiful country, beautiful weather, but far away. So I've had no TV for the last couple of weeks. I may try cable, but I think I'll call the local purveyors instead of the 800 numbers. Lots of NPR the last couple of weeks. God, I can't stand Garrison Keillor.
- "My comment is awaiting moderation"? What does that mean?
- Right you are, Nance. My home email address has changed. The result of getting a broadband hookup. In Auburn the only thing available was dial up. No cable, no dsl, no nuttin. Things certainly have changed. I miss lots -- even the goatie-oaties. It's an adventure starting over at 62. I'm not sure I'd recommend it.
- I'm dying to look at those models. I'll have to wait 'til I get home!
- I also discovered Kim Morgan the other day through Wolcott. She's terrific. After several weeks without TV, I have the satellite people coming tomorrow. I hope. This will be the third try and I would like to watch the coming NCAA rounds. Nance, I heard your pal Laura on PBS yesterday AM. I liked her. A lot. I also found out she's married to the guy who does "The Wire". I forgot his name. Maybe blocked it out. Also on PBS' Latina something-or-other show they featured Viki Carr. I had forgotten all about her. She's a very good singer. And I still can't stand Garrison Keillor. He seems to be on all PBS stations at the same time for about six hours on Sunday. It's like when the local begging channel latched on to that horrid Riverdance stuff and aired it hour after hour, day after day. This being single stuff is taking some getting used to.
- Chip and Dale -- aren't they chipmonks?
- I've enjoyed Cathy Seipp's blog for several years. Quite a statement given my liberalism and her conservatism. She is everything you say she is, Nance. She'll be sorely missed.
- I also remember the Paris Airshow Airbus splash. SAAB had a similar software problem that caused a prototype to crash in the mid '90's. You want crosswind practice, try Half Moon Bay just south of San Francisco. As a result of various circumstances, the runway is situated 90 degrees from the prevailing winds. On a good day it would take full rudder on my old Citabria to land and that thing had a huge rudder.
- When I hear people speak of tandems the first term that comes to mind is "parasitic drag". Hollywood? My wife, from whom I recently became separated, used to live with Ian McShane. In the south of France back in the early '70's. She says he was a very nice man. Oh, and I finally have TV.
- I'm no competition, Mary. I never met the guy. I can't think of anybody famous whom I have ever met. Best I can drop is places. Like I'll be in Sothren Calif for three days next week on bidness. One great thing I discovered is that most hotels and motels will charge gov't rates to gov't employees. That means I get to stay in lots of nice joints I couldn't otherwise afford. Like that lovely suite in Palm Desert.
- Beautiful bike! What a find.
- What was it George Gobel used to say?
- Shoot, Mary, that's what kids are for.
- I am always entertained by the hysteria vis a vis kids and strangers. 99% of the danger is right there in the home -- Dad or Step Dad or Uncle Charlie or . . . Football and basketball in the same year. Florida's bitch indeed.
- It's so easy to make your own mayo. Don't worry about separating whites and yolks. Just dump an egg in the blender whiz it once quickly and drizzle in the oil to your desired degree of mayoness. Be easy with it but it won't separate on you. You can add garlic or terragon or lemon or whatever. Really. Give it a try. You may have to sperament once or twice for your own best result. I learned this from my (now ex) mother in law who lives in Brussels. Home of the sprouts.
- I don't know much about memory except that mine isn't what it used to be. Boy am I ever with Kate on the subject of beets. YUK! This is a big upside for my erstwhile dear one. Now she can eat beets to her heart's content without having to listen to my moaning. I do like spinach, though. And brussels sprouts.
- My daughter was always a negotiator. If we wanted her to clean her room (hah) for instance, she would counter with an offer to, for example, just remove the six or eight half full water glasses now and clean the rest tomorrow or some such nonsense. I used to have to leave the room to laugh. And now she's pregnant with my second grandkid. Good lord, beet pornography! I hope, Nance, that you have a palatable alternative to feed your poor suffering child in lieu of those awful beets. I may have to alert child protective services.
- Used to enjoy B.C. and the Wiz before Hart turned into a religious wacko. I haven't read either in years. Why can't people just quietly keep whatever faith they wish to keep? Why do they have to bother everybody else with their business? Like all those athuhleets who have turn their post game interview into a prayer meeting. I used to do all the driving just like men are supposed to. Then I woke up. In recent years we took turns.
- You want a non-boring drive? Try 299 between Redding and Arcata. Nobody sleeps there.
- Try to buy anything but a flat screen TV these days. I moved into a house by myself about six weeks ago. I have a 13" TV. So I started shopping for something a little nicer. Just this AM I ordered a 37" LCD. It's an off brand that has garnered excellent ratings all over the net. Price is $750 -- high for me to spend on a TV but low for what you get. I was gonna buy the 32" model for $520, but somehow talked myself up to the bigger, more feature laden model. I'm not sure how that psychology works but work it certainly did. Anyhow, the new TV will serve both living room and kitchen very nicely from its location against the front wall of the house. No buyer's remorse yet. Maybe later.
- I think Dimes' point was not that Sharpton was offended by Imus' remarks but that Sharpton is just as big a piece of human effluent as Imus. I would tend to agree. I don't know which of the two is worse.
- Oh, for sure, Mary. Nobody would dispute that. As far as I am concerned Imus should be fired. I just don't like the way this kind of thing seems to lend legitimacy to Sharpton.
- You got it Mary! I've been shopping in restaurant supply stores for years. Afterwards it's fun to walk through Macy's and sneer. Splitting up with my wife in March led to several nice trips to Cresco.
- Great, Ashley, thanks for the link. I don’t know if it’s dancing or dressage, but I’ve been to some places where I thought I was observing dressage rather than dancing. By the way, did that dancing horse show up at the Iggy concert?
- Mason jars are great for some types of storage. They come in several sizes and are available at the supermarket for cheap.
- We’ve all observed appalling parental behavior toward children in the supermarket. I saw something nice one time. Turning the corner into the paper products aisle, I noted a woman piling up four packs of toilet paper on the shelf. As I approached, I could see that she had her very young child on the shelf and was bricking the kid up behind the packs of TP. She and the child were both absolutely laughing their asses off. She hadn’t noticed me and I kind of tip-toed my way back up the aisle away from their private and obviously very entertaining moment.
- They've just let go a bunch of newsroom folks (including a couple of columnists) at the Sacramento Bee. Also the Bee is noticeably thinner than it used to be.
- I was attending the University of Illinois in Champaign back in the dim past when Roger Ebert was the editor of the Daily Illini. My favorite memory of Roger is from a party that was raided by the police. They used to look for underage drinkers in those days. Roger was over 21 at the time but didn’t want to be seen on the same premises as a raid -- half-hearted though it might have been. Last I saw of Roger that night was the sight of his not inconsiderable rear end disappearing out a window.
- I don’t remember specifics of accusations, dates or publishers but there were numerous accounts of Arnold’s tendencies to behave boorishly and worse with a wide variety of women. They started appearing as soon as Schwarzenegger entered the race. As I recall, they were mostly ignored and generally downplayed. Describing the Times’ story as a “despicable eleventh-hour smear campaign designed to take down Swarzenegger” is way over the top. Hyperventilation doesn’t get any of us anywhere.
- I have a picture of a Daytona that I took at Bonneville a couple of years ago. It's orange with the nose and the ass stripe and all. If someone can tell me how to attach it to this comments section I will be glad to do so.
- My one Ohio experience dates from 1968. We were traveling and it was late on a Sunday night. Stopped to eat. Ordered a burger and a beer. Was told that it was not possible to have a beer on Sunday, but since it was minutes before midnight, things would soon change. We sat and watched the bar clock. At the stroke, a schooner appeared in front of me. Love them blue laws. Mass was and probably still is the worst. By the way, Mr. Dimes, is that pronounced "Chucky"? As in Cheeze? Wait! Wait! I was in Ohio one other time. I got off the plane and went to the rental lot and stood sort of stupidly looking at my car which had frost all over the windows. This was in Columbus. The guy getting into the next car said "gotta credit card?" I replied "uh, yeah, I guess so". Quick study that I am, I half assed scraped the windows and went about my business. I always knew there were reasons I don't like the cold country.
- I know the unused freezer is strange, but didn't anybody miss old Dorothy? I wonder how many freezers there are out there that haven't been looked into in a long time.
- Ashley, how do you pronounce "Atchafalaya"? I see it all the time in James Lee Burke's wonderful books and I'm guessing that it has some kind of trick pronounciation.
- Feel better soon, Nance. Ken Levine is one of the best. He’s a daily smile source. Rolls Royce is in . . . Ohio? And I’ve been believing that Briddish propaganda all these years?
- I know, Dorothy, thanks. The comment was supposed to be a joke. Hence the spelling. Rollers were, however, built in the US at one time. During the twenties RR had a satellite factory in Springfield, MA.
- Thanks, Ashley, and for the links!
- As I understand it, Rolls Royce engines etc. group is owned by RR. Rolls Royce cars is owned and operated by BMW. Bentley is owned and operated by VW. MG is owned by some Chinese outfit and Lotus is owned by an Indonesian bunch. Though it may be Malaysian. I can’t remember. Jaguar and Range/Land Rover are owned by Ford. Ford did own Aston Martin but they just sold it to somebody else. And so it goes. The Briddish Motor Car Industry is not what it was. Morgan lives on, though.
- And congrats, Dorothy. Sounds like a great job and a very nice area.
- Shoot, Dorothy, I'm over 60 and still haven't figured out what I want to be when I grow up. Assuming I ever do.
- If he's a Mormon why's his fave book the Bible?
- I owe Bob Greene the same nod since it was the Greene Piece (yuk, yuk) that introduced me to Nance's blog.
- My goodness, John. Marcia was being kind. Perhaps you may wish to reread your statement and give it a little reflection. I used to know people who said: "Good food, good friends, good God, let's eat!" I don't know how sincere they were but it seemed to cover the ground nicely and concisely.
- Sorry, Marcia. I didn't mean to step on your toes. If your post hadn't been booted I wouldn't have stuck mine in.
- I remember Gene Scott. Had on a different hat every time you saw him. Told people not to bother with ones or fives -- send nothing smaller than a twenty. This goes back a fur piece.
- Happy Anniversary, Nancy! Sorry to be late. I've been out of town the last couple of days.
- I was going to write a snarky comment for Jerry Jr., but I stifled it. Mary, I assume that when saying "state police" you are referring to the CHP. In the course of my job I have occasion to visit CHP field offices all over the state. I was at Joshua Tree yesteday. I've found that the CHP seems to attract a decidedly better quality of officer than your average police dept. With (naturally) a few exceptions, they all seem to be pretty good people.
- Danny, when you insult people you should be prerpared for them to respond in kind. I hadn’t made any comment about Falwell. My comment was not about Falwell. My comment was about you. You admittedly don’t know anything about the man, “(barely knew of him)” yet you’re making nasty, self serving and unjustified accusations about other people who post comments here. Seems to me that the acrimony around here is mostly yours. Falwell devoted his life to spreading hate, fear, intolerance and division. This is not opinion, this is fact. Bringing up these unpleasant issues upon the occasion of his death is not being a jackass or attacking his family. It is simply a plain and honest assessment of his life and legacy. Some people have made comments to the effect that they are, to say the least, untroubled by his death or even happy that he’s gone. These comments may be honestly viewed as suffering somewhat from a lack of taste but the world certainly is not lessened by Falwell’s passing. His actions, his rhetoric, his preaching, his dishonesty, his hypocrisy all begged for just such comments. After all, they were nothing more than a reflection of his own words. If you buy into Rev. Falwell and his supporters to the extent of defending them then you are buying into the whole program.
- I think Basset's right. I need to go back to my original policy of keeping my comments light. Lite? The worst toenail stuff I know of is that disgusting toenail medicine commercial they insist on playing at dinner time.
- Ummm, I don't think pudendum means "bottom". Gas in Sacramento runs $3.39 up.
- We did a nice wedding for my daughter about eight years ago. We had about 80 people, had a great party (what I can remember of it) and spent about 10 grand. Later my daughter spent a semester as the only white person at an all black college in the south. She didn't find the experience pleasant and it did nothing to shore up her liberal leanings.
- We were married at a friend’s house. The preacher was an Episcopalian priest who ended up by saying “I now pronounce you man and wife. May I have a gin and tonic?” We were both nominally Catholic but divorced. No Catholic priest would touch us. Food was by our hostess and my brother in law. Great party late into the night. The wedding night was no surprise since we had been living together for several years. The marriage lasted for about thirty. Ended in March. No fault, no hate, just an end. Sigh. Oh, and watch the DJs. I had to hold a counseling session with the one at my daughter’s wedding. He was under the misapprehension that it was all about him.
- One time I was at a small club in San Francisco when Robin Williams showed up unannounced and did an hour or so. I don't think I've ever laughed so hard.
- Let’s look to the future. There’s a kid here in Sacramento named Alex Kosinski. She’s the best high school middle distance runner in the country today. Maybe ever. For example she owns the United States national high school record at 1600 meters. She runs the 800 and anchors the 400 meter relay. She’ll be going to Oregon in the fall where she (naturally) has a scholarship. So far she’s clean but imagine the pressure on this kid and expectations this she faces. I hope it works out for her and I hope she stays clean. I’ll be following her career.
- I read both Carroll and Lileks yesterday. Carroll in actual paper and ink as usual. The contrast couldn't be starker. Lileks is a obvious jerk. Wants to be a snob and doesn't know how or even why. He's not even sure why he should have been served white meat other than he somehow expected it. Carroll was his usual graceful self. I didn't quite get Jeff's comment. Lileks seems to have an odd relationship with his wife. References to her are rare and strange. Note that he always refers to her as "wife" And he always goes to bed at some very late hour. Etc., etc. She's very depersonalized. I'm not sure why. Carroll always refers to his wife as "Tracy", always refers to her in the most favorable way and clearly has a very close relationship with her. My strong feeling is that Tracy both cares and reads the columns. Mrs. L? I don't have a clue.
- I heard about these kinds of movies and about "short arm inspections" and so forth but didn't experience any of it while I was in the service. I must have slipped through the cracks somehow. I heard legends while I was in RVN about the "black clap" It was this horrible variety of gonorrhea that was impervious to all medicines and your genitals turned black and fell off and the Army maintained this island somewhere in the Philippines where all the victims were quarantined and if you caught it you were on the island forever and . . .
- You're right about publishing the picture. Not doing so would only engender the feelings you yourself noted. The State track meet is to take place this weekend down the street from my house. Here is a link which includes all events handicapping. http://www.dyestatcal.com/ As you can see, Stokke is picked to finish 2d behind a kid form Palo Alto. The young lady I wrote about the other day, Alex Kosinski, suffered an injury last weekend and won't compete --- at least not at full strength and not in all her events. Kosinski is just as attractive as Stokke. Let's hope that they and all the rest of the contestants are left to compete without the freako element.
- That's "from" Palo Alto.
- Two hoots in a day -- Nance's tattoo picture and Mary's ex.
- Burke is absolutely one of the greatest writers around but I don't see Dave Robicheaux as a descendant of Travis McGee. Try Randy Wayne White and his Doc Ford novels for a MacDonald look-a-like. I once thought that Lileks was a decent writer. I retract that. He's descended into total incoherence with a big side of out-to-lunchness. Terms like self absorbed, narcissistic, inner directed, self important don't even begin to do it with this guy.
- I stopped reading Lileks over a year ago. I started again a week or two back when it appeared his job was in jeopardy. Along with Nance I agree that the dark meat rant was worth the price of admission. Without going back and comparing earlier "Bleats" it seems to me that he is making far less sense than he used to -- that his Lileks' disease has dramatically worsened.
- I was on the train to Bakersfield yesterday when some guy drove his truck into the side of the car in front of me. Just inexplicably turned left from a parallel road, crossed traffic and about 30 feet of grass and bang. A crunching sound, a slight lurch and a spray of dirt past the window. We had been bucketing along at around 70. I was on the opposite side and didn’t see the wreck. The guy across the aisle described it for me. We got restarted after a two hour delay. I was late for my meeting in Bakersfield and for the first time ever used the excuse that I was late because I was in a train wreck. The HBO summation of “John” sounds kinda T. Jefferson Parkerish. I've always had a lech for Rebecca DeMornay.
- The good part is when they start having their own kids. I figure my job is to teach my grandson to drink, cuss and smoke cigars. Want more fries, Dominic? Cool. Here, have some more Coke with that. Oh, and some popcorn too? Here you go. Not my job to say no. He gets enougn of that from his mom and dad. I have one grandson now and my daughter is pregnant with #2. I get to help spoil another one. He's really a great little boy and I'm not really that bad.
- The cuts in the Bullitt chase are interesting: Cut!! and the car(s) magically reappear at a location miles away. This minor cavil aside, it truly is the best chase scene ever. There have been several instances of play structures being burned in the Sacramento area. I don't know what the attraction is for arsonists. My guess would be that it's teenage "pranksters" who are burning them. What's sad is that, aside from the victims being little kids, many of these structures have been built by mom and pop volunteers with donated materials in communities that just don't have the money to furnish these things any other way. And it's tough to start one of these efforts over from scratch.
- I kind of looked over my faves and a lot of them do look as if they could survive without your sawbuck. What about Digby? Every time I look at some kind of cat humor stuff I wonder where B. Kliban went. Ever check a Joe Eszterhas book out of the library and actually try to read it?
- Couldn't agree more about Sandler. He's just so creepily offensive. Ashley, it's simple. In Poland Windex is spelled "Xedniw". And Alex, I must confess to having had a prurient interest in certain aspects of anatomy from time to time. What's wrong with that?
- I feel the same way as Nance and 4d. If you didn't dislike those people before, the currant WAPO series should certainly raise an eyebrow at minimum if not your blood pressure. I have a son-in-law in the Army. In fact, I'll be going back east on Wed to visit he and my daughter and grandson for a week or so. He's been to A'stan but has been lucky enough to avoid Iraq -- so far. I'll be carrying out my grandfatherly duties. It's my job to teach the kid to drink, cuss and smoke cigars. Nance, with your mentioning Serena's potential lethality, can I assume you saw "Lust in the Dust" with Divine illustrating how such a fatal event might occur?
- Make that current WAPO series. Isn't a currant some kind of raisiny thing, all small and dark and crinkly?
- Kim, what's a good malbec? I've tried several and haven't been overly impressed.
- Hot dogs get mustard, onions and, if desired, liberty cabbage. The corollary to "no ketchup on hot dogs" is "no mustard on hamburgers". What is this "catsup" stuff I see here and there?
- I’ll assume Mr. Zorn is pulling my finger. There’s lots of other stuff to put on burgers and dogs. There used to be a place in Berkeley called Jerry’s Grossburgers. The buns were great, the burgers as moist as you could ever want. Their thing was to put lots of fried onions on the burger. The juice would run down your arms when you ate one of those things. Lord, they were great. There’s bacon and cheese and raw onions and ‘shrooms and more for burgers. I’ve even seen people put sprouts and avocado and other non-specific organic stuff on them. Paddy melts can be good. There’s cheese, chili and relish and more for dogs. Mayo, lettuce, special sauce, whatever. Imagination is the only limit. My feeling is the most important thing is the quality of the meat and the bun. The best are probably local or regional. For example here we have hot dogs made by an outfit called Zenner’s which is located somewhere in Oregon. There is also Morant’s over on Franklin Blvd. where they make their own along with many other kinds of sausages, sauerkraut, hams, bacon, etc. Burgers need some fat to be juicy and tasty. Don’t worry. It’ll cook out. Buns need to be firm and solid with or without sesame seeds, onions, poppy seeds or whatever. Not those mushy things that the supermarket sells. In the end, however, what’s really most important is the combination that floats your boat. Geez, it’s only 9:20AM and I’m ready to fire up the barbie. Oh, and Ashley, eat any good Polish sausages in Poland?
- I'll second or third the In-N-Out motion. They're the best fast food burger outlet around. Europeans put mayo on fries. My ex-wife (still kinda feels funny to say that) is European and lived for some years in Belgium where fries are said to have originated. I spent almost 30 years watching her put mayo on fries. Well, I mean,that’s not all I did for the last 30 years.
- Apropos of nothing: I was in Pelican Bay the last two days. I've got a little job up there. On Tuesday there were several of us standing around watching one guy, the excavator operator, work. There was me (the project manager), the inspector, a guy from the Department of Corrections, the county guy and one of the contractor's guys who was leaning on a shovel. Across the road there was a level one (minimum security) yard. Of course there was a multitude of blue uniformed sidewalk superintendents over there supervising the job. Out of the crowd, seeing five guys standing around watching one guy work, came a voice: "Hey, are you guys a CalTrans crew?" What a trip. I was at the airport at 5:30 in the morning on my way up there, ready to board the plane when I suddenly realized I was wearing Levis. Blue jeans are a no no at a prison. As many times as I have been to prisons I should know better but I sort of dressed in a fog that morning. As soon as I landed at Crescent City and picked up my rental car, I headed straight to Wal-Mart. I found a pair of khaki wash pants for $9.86. I paid, then started to explain to the lady that I wanted to wear them because I had to go to the prison and . . . She interrupted me before I could finish and pointed me to a changing booth, "Happens all the time, Honey. We get several guys a week in here need pants to go to the prison." A little comfort. I guess I'm not the only dummy.
- That's it precisely, Nance. Inmates wear blue shirts and blue pants. Orange is worn by newbys in reception centers. They want the cops to be able to instantly distinguish inmates from free folks. And, yeah, I laughingly told the pants story to my inspector and he replied that he had done the same thing just a month or so ago. He now carries the extra pants in his truck. Mary, amazingly enough (or not) I find the LA newscasts to be way inferior to KCRA 3 in Sacramento. Except for Rachael Whatshername, the AM weather person on Channel 4. And I never got the impression that Moyer was a genius.
- Ahhh, yes. I can remember getting my old man’s ’55 Desoto sideways. I can remember the fan belt coming off as I struggled to reach 100 MPH on a back road. I can remember revving the engine in neutral and dropping the little dashboard stick into drive so as to induce wheel spin in the old behemoth. I still don’t understand how it is that I never crashed. I’m glad my kid was a girl. A kid who, by the way, is pregnant with a granddaughter. Due in Nov. My five year old grandson is all excited. He wants to buy her presents. He’s gonna be a terrific big brother.
- The “Beaverton” post points up one of the unique facets of the Iraq/A’stan war. The war is being fought and the consequences borne by a very small portion of the American public. The lack of a draft, the unit rather than individual replacement policy, the extension of enlistments and zone time along with the reduction of home time have all conspired to limit the number of individuals and families actually participating in the sacrificing. This has all been compounded by the administration’s complete failure to do anything to try and spread the sacrifice, to do anything to try and attract to the military the progeny of the prosperous. It’s also instructive to observe how few administration members and their offspring possess genuine military experience. No other war has had such limited participation. None. Middle, upper class and Republican youth are well represented by such creepy little chicken hawk twits as Continetti and NRO’s Jonah Goldberg. This is an old controversy that has been argued back and forth in blogdom for several years. The chicken hawks’ contention is that since they are the elite intelligentsia, their efforts are better expended toward selling and justifying the war rather than actually, physically participating. In fact, they have argued, they are just as much warriors in their own right and their contribution to the nation’s welfare is as great as or greater than that of the marines and soldiers who are bleeding and dying overseas. I kid you not.
- Do I sense a dismissal here, Brian? The fact that you are unfamiliar with Continetti and Goldberg doesn’t mean they don’t exist or that their audiences are inconsequential. They do, of course, have every right to express their opinions and to express them in public fora. Equally, I have every right to express my criticism of their opinions. As I alluded earlier, this whole chicken hawk issue was the subject of much debate in the blogosphere a year or so ago. Several young chicken hawks including Goldberg explicitly espoused the position that I repeated in my post. I never stated that “one cannot possibly express an opinion on a war, unless one is either a combat veteran or else flatly anti-war” and I’ll thank you to not put words in my mouth. What I did say was that the extraordinarily low level of participation in the military by educated, middle class and upper class youngsters is remarkable and without precedent in U.S. history. Just read Phil Carter. And what I did allow to seep through was my disdain for people such as the aforenamed who, as a group, express lots of enthusiasm for a war that none of them will touch with a ten foot pole. We’re all stakeholders in this war, Brian. Some just have more invested than others. As you say, they absolutely are entitled to their point of view -- and I am entitled to mine. Lordy, I try not to get political but I get sucked in now and again. Sorry.
- I’m not quite sure what you mean by “wouldn’t you agree that this “chicken hawk” precisely an attempt (rightly or wrongly) to pre-emptively dismiss people who express lots of enthusiasm for a war that none of them will touch with a ten foot pole.?” I take it to mean, Brian, that you think that I am trying to “dismiss” somebody, whatever that means, and that you are trying to maneuver me into agreeing with you. I don’t. Please stop trying to put words in my mouth. There is no hidden agenda, no secret meaning buried in what I wrote. I meant exactly what I said. No more, no less.
- OK, Brian. I give.
- The other day somebody mentioned sipping a malbec. Friday I stumbled on a very nice one at Costco. Pascual Toso -- about eight bucks. Try some.
- Thanks, Kim. I'm sorry, we must have misconnected. Anyway, we met over Pascual and that’s what counts. I’ll keep my eyes open and pass on any others I discover. Thanks for the tip. You are absolutely right in pinning the original context, Alex. The term has been somewhat sidetracked by events. Time will work it out. Another distraction: The Tour Day France, as Bob Roll would have it, is a wonderful TV event. The visuals are spectacular. It’s easy to shine it on my screen for hours as background and suddenly immediate TV. Especially since I live alone. If there are better commentators in any sport, anywhere than Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwen, Bob Roll and yes, even Al Trautwig, I would like to see them. The whole experience is just delightful. I have no favorites this year, but you certainly have to give credit to Kloden and Vino for sheer guts. C’mon, Levi, show us something before it’s over. The one thing I find curious is that there is no mention of the bikes used by the participants. In any other kind of racing the ride is always a key part of the commentary. You know, Ford vs. Chevy. Full disclosure: My ride is a Specialized Sequoia. Yes, Nance, I confess to riding a bicycle.
- Geeze, Nance, Roger Moore's got to be 75 years old. 'Course, now that I think about it, that's not all that old.
- I flew to Norfolk, VA and back a couple of weeks ago on Southwest with no problems. Don't forget to pack a lunch and bring a book. I've also been doing my regular two or three trips a month within CA without grief. Maybe it's not quite as bad as some people say. Or maybe I just have really low standards.
- Joe, I've been going back and forth between Sacramento and Crescent City, CA. The return to SMF involves changing planes at SFO. The plane to SFO is a turn around (SFO-CEC-SFO) and is always one to three hours late. The airline, Skywest flying as United Express, always claims the delay is due to weather. SFO is not socked in at 3:00PM on a summer day nor is CEC. Last week it was CAVU to the moon in San Francisco. The deal is Skywest has way more flights than gates in the afternoon. It's just that simple. Any landing in the city involves 10 to 20 minutes waiting on the ground at the terminal before moving to a gate. That's after the gatehold in the departure city. I just plan for the extra time, tune out their bullshit excuses and go with the flow. I guess that's what I mean by having low standards. I can't see any value in my getting upset over this stuff.
- Oh, I agree, Joe. A month or two ago I rode down to the desert in a CalTrans Bonanza. Point to point, free parking, no muss, no fuss. Beautiful views. Altogether a great trip. A posting tip: Rite you stuff on MS Word or whatever. Then yu can revue it, spelchek it and soo forth befor pasting and posting.
- I got the wine at Costco. Guess I need to go back, but did anyone ever get out of Costco for less than a hundred bucks? Most of my travel is work related so I'm being paid. I'm also single with no dependents. Those factors go a long way toward making travel stress free.
- Oh, and Kim, those gateholds in Crescent City are not with pax on the aircraft. Because the delays are self induced, Skywest has a pretty good handle on the timing. What you do is check in at the counter before you turn in your rental car. They'll tell you what time you have to be back. This is Crescent City, CA here, not ORD. The terminal is like a couple of trailers with a single coke machine and there's only one airline. The airplane is a thirty seat turboprop and typically there are no more than a dozen passengers. No Airbus A-380s there. The whole affair is out on a windswept beach. There's a beautiful coastal look out a couple of miles away at Point St. George and you can bring the take out sandwich you thoughtfully purchased back in town to the look out and eat and read your book. Crescent City is basically just a little fishing village and logging town that was dying out along with those two industries until Pelican Bay State Prison was built there 15 years or so ago. Check it out at local.live.com.
- I dunno, Mary. I guess I'm just not much of a judge of womens' shoes although I can see they might be much more comfortable than some styles out there. $495 does seem a lot. Maybe somebody has $10 knock offs. I seem to buy most of my shoes at Big 5 when they have their $12 sales. Edit, Edit, Edit.
- It’s not surprising that VS doesn’t have any on camera coverage of the Rasmussen removal. All the coverage is produced in France and rumor has it that France is several hours ahead of us -- especially those of us on the west coast. They did run a crawl during the last presentation that informed viewers of the latest developments. The VS web site (which is quite good) also carries the news. The TdeF coverage on VS is superlative and I highly recommend it to anyone. It’s repeated several times a day. There are wonderful views of the French countryside. The commentary is the best and most intelligent anywhere. The whole thing is just a delight. Other than the TdeF VS programming can only be described as creepy.
- Been gone for a couple of days and just read Gary Kamiya's excellent article. It should be mandatory reading for everyone who puts paws to keyboard.
- Well, Nance, your first guy up demonstrated the need for an editor or at least a bit of proof reading: "first goat led to the alter". I wonder at the great Jon Carroll's writing every day. I read the Chron at lunch. I mean the actual paper paper spread out on my desk. I save him for last.
- You mean Carroll is a better writer than some who write about personal stuff like Lileks and his ilk?
- I saw the Devine "Hairspray" and loved it. You must see "Lust in the Dust". Same people. Here in Sacramento we had a new record high temp for the date yesterday. It was 74 degrees. A world record for the lowest peak temp ever recorded in Sac on August 6. Howboutdat.
- The weather has been great, Mary. (As far as I'm concerned you're the original Mary). The average for Aug 6 is 93 and the record high high is 108. We're looking at mid 80's today. I'll take it! For once nobody's complaining about the weather. Looks like all the heat floated back east. Now they have some kind of bogus "heat index". So while yesterday's high in Houston is listed as 96, on the tube this AM they said that it officially "felt like 113". So there you are. The temp is really whatever you feel like it is.
- There you go, Alex! The TV weather people aren't reporting on the weather, they're consensus building. Although they are leading you when they tell you it should feel like XX degrees. Me, I'll take, oh, let's see, umm, 83 today. One thing that bugs me about so many movies and TV shows is that dim blue light stuff. Like they ran out of money when it came to the lighting budget and that was all they could afford.
- It makes everyones' day!
- I remember college relations. I had lots of fun. Then there's UC Santa Cruz. They're the Banana Slugs.
- Nance, I just wasted several minutes reading that idiot's blatherings. You can quote him if you want, but I won't be following the link next time. My head is still spinning from just reading it. Imagine what his must be like.
- Geez, I was going to make some smart remark or other about whatshisname until I read down to Mary's post. Be careful, Mary. That's about more than your respective salaries. You know the drill: polite smile, nod, keep your distance, etc. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe I'm just hyper alert to this stuff. I love what I do, but I spend way too much time dodging management idiots. I'm old and crafty and experienced. I don't know how young kids survive.
- Does Rove's resigining mean something is going to happen in Sept/Oct and he doesn't want to be in town when it does? Is it related to Chaney's renewed push to attack Iran?
- Oops, just realized I spelled a word wrong. Resig...
- Whoops! But I guess I have company, Bill. My only excuse is that it was early here and the coffee was still brewing. That was two words out of 33 or 6%. I violated my own rules about proofing and spell checking and see what happened.
- OK, I give up. What is deep fried Pepsi? I saw the picture of little Courtney and her whatever on a stick. I've been to the California state fair (it opens this coming Fri) many times and don't recall ever having seen deep fried Pepsi. So I'll bite . . .
- Ellen Barkin is indeed a goddess.
- Go to Ken Levine's wonderful website for the fall movie capsules. He just posted them yesterday and today. http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- Used to be a club in San Francisco called Finocchio's. It featured all the old tranny entertainers like Charles Pierce. I hadn't thought of it in years. I only went there a couple of times.
- OOOO! I always wanted to fire a nun. Especially in seventh grade. Also: I never thought of nuns as having resumes. I mean, it just never occured to me. Nuns are . . . nuns. What's to put on a resume? But I guess now that they're roaming the streets freely they need resumes just like the rest of us.
- Wait a minute. The head nun sent word down to you to fire her? What does one do with a fired nun? Does she get kicked out of the convent? Is everything OK if she goes to confession? Is she publically defrocked or at least dewimpled? Can they option her to some other order? This is all new territory to me.
- A mail order nun. Lord, save me. Like that guy in Fresno who made everybody ministers? Is he still in business? I work for the State of California and I don't know of anybody being tested for drugs. Sure, cops and COs and fire people but not non-sworn folks. I don't know what JCAHO means, Mary, but I would guess it includes Catholic Health Orgs. We have Mercy Hosp up the street and they're a pretty major player in the health biz around here.
- There have been stories about Craig floating around for some time. Including supposed events in a DC train station washroom. That's the part I cannot understand. What's with restrooms? I'm sure that disgust at these kinds of encounters is a component of anti gay sentiment. There are gay guys all around. If you want to get together with someone it's easy to do so. I repeat: What's with restrooms? And by the way, part of Roy's appeal is his great commenters. They never fail to make me laugh.
- Took the words right out of my mouth, Mary.
- Danny, think it's possible for people to disagree without snide innuendo and the nasty personal attacks?
- Josh Marshall has a terrific post from a reader on TPM this AM about gay restroom sex. Educational. http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/ scroll down to "Context and History".
- I travel a lot. As a result, I frequently make stops in airport restrooms. I always thought I was just going in to take a quick leak. I had no idea I was entering a subculture. It's always been in do your business and out. It has seemed to me that everybody else was in the same mode: Worried about catching that flight or just getting the hell out to the parking or car rental lot. And the whole time there's been strange stuff going on all around me. Geez! I never noticed any peepers or other weirdoes or suspicious activity. Now I'll have my shoulders hunched and my head down. I'm going to have to get a "grope the other guy" sign to wear, I'll leave my location with a friend and if I don't call within so many minutes, my friend can call the cops to come get me. Maybe I'm safe because I'm old and gray but maybe not since all the perps seem to be old and gray too. Maybe it's like some say: just look straight ahead and ignore everything. Anyway, I'm safe for now. Next week I'm taking the train. Wait a minute! They frequent train stations too . . . At least I'm not staying at the YMCA. Oh, and when I read Larry's wide stance excuse yesterday, it didn't creep me out, it made me laugh out loud. I'm still laughing as I write this. He's forever going to be known as Larry "Wide Stance" Craig.
- I must have missed something. When was there ever any doubt that the NOLA disaster was a flood resulting from a levee breach? Sacramento is a levee bound city and folks here are very conscious of these things. We do not have disastrous winds here but there have been some horrible floods in the area over the last 20 years caused by levee problems. Levee maintenance and repair is a major issue in this area. The levees here are ancient and in dismal shape. The whole downtown area of Sacramento was raised about 10 feet around the turn of the last century. It is most interesting to tour old downtown buildings and see the bricked up windows and doors in the (now) basements. Today’s street level is at what would have been the 2d story a hundred and some years ago. Many older houses including mine are raised 8-10 feet off the ground. This whole levee business is a national disgrace. Sacramento is one good rainfall away from being the next NOLA.
- San Francisco will experience flooding over the Embarcadero and down by Fort Point when Dec-Jan high tides coincide with storm surges. Sacramento is located at the confluence of the American and Sacramento rivers. The American comes straight down from the Sierra bringing the snow melt. Combine the snow melt with a good rain and we have floods even without levee failure. The Sacramento comes down from the Northern end of the state and regularly floods small communities on its way to Sac. In addition there are several large creeks that regularly (every 10 years or so) cause severe flooding. There are whole neighborhoods built right up against the levee which is higher than the houses it protects. At any rate, a combination of warm temps causing an early snow melt, heavy rain and a levee failure could cause disaster. It's happened before and will certainly happen again. The only questions are where, when and how bad.
- That revirginization might be worth 5500 bucks to some Pakastani girl. Say "designer vagina " with a Boston accent. Have a great three dayer, all!
- Wow, Mary. we had 5-6 days of triple digits but it never got past 105. Plus, it cooled down yesterday so we're looking at our normal mid nineties for the next week or so. Hope yours improves soon. Nance, what do you think about poor Michigan? They got punted clear out of the top 25 after Saturday's disgrace.
- I grew up in a suburb of Chicago. Every Friday during the season the nuns would make us pray for Notre Dame. I've rooted for them to lose ever since. I went to the Univ of Illinois. Even attended the Rose Bowl in 1964 when they whipped the Huskies. The Illini football program has been the dumper for a long time. Speaking of football towns, I'm off to Berkeley right now. I've got a little radiation survey project in a building there.
- I had a meeting in Berkeley this morning. That is, I had one scheduled. Also lunch at Oscar’s, a venerable hamburger joint I hadn’t been to in 30 years. I thought I’d be greener than a Prius and take the train. The train left Sacramento on time at 7:40 AM and made almost to Davis, a distance of about 10 miles, before we stopped. The conductor came on the blower and informed us that a truck had hit a bridge and there would be a delay while the bridge was inspected. We were stopped just short of the Davis station because there was another train right ahead of us occupying the station. We waited for a little over an hour before rolling the 100 meters or so to the Davis station and starting out again. Moments later we stopped again in the middle of nowhere which turned out to be seven miles west of Davis. A pedestrian, the conductor informed us, a suicide, had jumped in front of the train ahead of us and the tracks would be closed for two and a half to three hours. Then he came back to tell us buses would meet us to take us to our respective destinations. Then we were told we would roll back to Davis and buses would meet us there. Then we were told that another train would be there to take back to Sacramento those who preferred to return home. I so preferred, understanding by this time that it was doubtful that I would even reach Berkeley in time to catch my 1:39 PM return trip let alone make meetings or lunches. I called everyone and told them to carry on without me and that I’d catch them all tomorrow on the phone. There were four passenger trains and a freight stuck at Davis. Eventually I made it back to Sacto sometime after noon. Over four hours for a 34 mile round trip to nowhere. I bagged it and started for home. The client agency’s rep called me to tell me the meeting had gone fine and that the burgers at Oscar’s were great. I can't imagine what he was laughing at. All this on top of the train trip to Bakersfield a couple of months ago when we collided with a pick up truck. I don’t know whether I’m unlucky for AMTRAK or they’re unlucky for me.
- That On Star stuff scares the crap out of me. If they can turn it on they can turn it off. If they can tell you where you are they can tell everybody else where you are or were. Told your wife you were bowling? On Star knows you were at Betty-Sue's house. How fast were you going? On Star knows. This thing has a lot of potential and as far as I am concerned, at this point, the bad outweighs the good. Plus, after the initial free period, you are actually paying big brother to monitor your every automotive activity. If you elect not to pay, They can still monitor you, they just don't give you those benefits they tout in the ads. No thanks. I'd pay money to have the thing disabled or removed.
- If I wanted it I wouldn't have any problem paying for it, John. The whole point was not that I want anything for free but that I don't want the thing at all. I believe I mentioned that I would pay to get rid of it. I was pointing out the irony of paying someone to spy on you. Also, while there is apparently no nefarious use being made of the data at the moment, the data is still being collected and the moment will pass. The potential is still there. Also so is the knowledge that if there is a thing such as this that could be abused, it always has been abused.
- Greatly entertaining clip. La Minelli had a stupendous talent. Too bad she . . . whatever she did with it. These days National Anthem performances are either a disgrace or a joke. With each jack leg so called entertainer personalizing it with their own hip hop or country or whatever take I just want to scream when it comes on. If you can’t sing it, don’t try it. The very best rendition I ever heard period was Pavarotti singing it at a Giant’s game. I’ll never hear it done that well again. I average a couple of round trips a month on SWA and on any flight one can see more revealing outfits than that worn by Ms. Ebbert. I certainly can’t explain it. Another “What were they thinking?” moment.
- Wow, Mindy, we also once had a dog that got a Mickey Dee’s burger for her birthday. Also had a cat many years ago who scored the Col’s chicken on his birthdays. The burger dog was the beautiful Blondie, the worlds largest (120 lb and not overweight) golden retriever who lived to be 12. I have a friend whose schnoodle named Fred recently died at age 20. Happy birthday, Sprig. Keep it going.
- There have been at least three other Michael Goldens who worked for the State of CA. Wildest of all is that there was one with the same middle initial who worked in the same unit where I work doing the same thing that I do. We used to call him my dad. He retired several years ago. Imagine the problems with network log ons, email, messages, travel claims, etc., etc. It was endless. Worse still was that he was a bigoted, racist SOB. They used to call me the ‘good Michael G’ and he was the ‘bad' one. I still get messages and mail for the guy. Our people came from the same area in the west of Ireland so I assume we’re related somewhere way back. What a trip that was. I also ended up having to fix some jobs that he had fu I mean, messed up. I felt like a fool trying to explain how it wasn’t my fault. I’m lucky so far to not have had any credit or ID problems because of any of the others.
- It's possible to get in trouble with a standard loan as well. I have a fixed 30 year loan at a very good rate. When I bought my house in March the lender approved me for a loan 20% higher than I ended up taking out. They were more than happy to sign me up for an amount higher than I would have been comfortable with. I looked at the numbers and at what I felt I really wanted to pay per month and kept my sights in that area. Eventually I was lucky enough to bag a house from a desperate seller for much less than it was worth. But if I hadn't gotten an attack of the cautions, I could easily be paying $5-600 more per month than I am now. This on an excellent standard loan.
- I've been following the Fossett story with some interest. I used to own a plane similar to the one Fossett was flying when he disappeared. I had a Citabria 7ECA and he has a Super Decathlon. It's like I had the basic Mustang and he has the Jack Roush super bomb but it was the same basic airframe. Stand 20 feet away and the uninitiated couldn't tell the difference. I've also done some flying over northern Nevada. Mountain flying is a whole other discipline from basic flatland flying and there is a host of different and special ways to kill yourself. Minden, NV, just east of Tahoe, is a big time sailplane center and many records have been flown from there. The SF Chronicle - sfgate.com - has had very good coverage of the search. See today's front page for example. Some friends died just 2 weeks ago taking off from a small airport in foothill El Dorado County. A36 Bonanza, 1300 feet elevation, 100 degrees temp, 300 lbs overweight, took off downwind into rising terrain. The airplane didn't want to fly, hit the fence and endo'ed. The accident was filmed by Fox news who happened to be on site. It has been making the rounds of the internet. Perhaps you saw it.
- Good, Mary. I thought I was the only one who didn't get the pigskin quote.
- Mark, the pilot of the A36 had something over 10,000 hours in all. He had flown jets in the military and had several thousand hours in the aircraft that he crashed. The airstrip is called Cameron Park and is in the foothills at about 1300 feet. He took of downwind toward rising ground because the winds were minimal (every bit does count, though) and the ground rises more steeply in the other direction. Who can say what is in somebody's mind when they make the decisions that we all say we would never make. Downwind. Overweight. Density altitude of I don't know what. Even then things wouldn't have been so bad if they hadn't hit the fence and flipped. They would have wiped out the plane but nobody would have been killed. I didn't know the pilot well. I have only met him a couple of times and that several years ago. The guy I knew was the one who died. The pilot later said to another friend of mine that the plane "just didn't want to fly." They were on their way to Baja to go diving. They had all their gear on board. I do know this: Things happen fast.
- Well, I'm taking the train to Bakersfield Monday. Wish either me or Amtrak good luck. By the way, I was at Trader Joe's this AM and Two Buck Chuck was still priced at $1.99.
- Just got back from Bakersfield on Amtrak with no incidents. Whew! Not a hunter so I don’t shoot at animals. I don’t even own a gun. Don’t tell the neighbors. I did spend a lot of time exchanging fire with other humans when I was in Vietnam, though. Home insurance in Sacramento is $938 with no flood and no earthquake. I can’t remember what the Auburn house costs. It’s a much nicer, bigger place with property so it has to be more. Auto is $1214 and that’s just for me, my four year old Taurus and my 37 year old F-250 that doesn’t look a day over 25. I had accidents two and four years ago. I’ve shopped and that’s the best I could find. I hope it comes down next year.
- Here's from another recovering Catholic. Don't get me started on the failed potential of Catholicism, the Papacy and the Catholic hierarchy. Not to mention the organization wide code of silence on their recent and continuing scandal. I think you're right about the origin of atheists. And I would be willing to bet that among the gentle, peace loving Muslims the number of atheists rises with the level of education. Real education, I mean, not madrasas.
- What is it with this praying business? Why do people have to make such a large production out of it? Take prayer in school. There certainly is no prohibition against quietly bowing one’s head and saying a silent prayer. Why can’t people do that? Why do they have to turn their personal activity into a spectacle? Why can’t religion or spirituality be a private thing? Telling someone you are going to pray for them is so arrogant, so patronizing as to make me want to scream.
- I visited Hanno’s once. Hanno’s in the Alley it was called. It was in 1969 not long after I got out of the Army. I was visiting a lot of bars in those days. One of my drinking buddies was a copy boy at the Chron. They still have copy boys? Hanno’s was a totally unmemorable place as far as bars go. Stone average. The difference was (as it usually is) in the clientele. Nobody was nasty, but I wasn’t part of the group. I didn’t bother me, I understood bar dynamics. Now, since I’ve split up with my wife, I go to an old Sacto institution on two or three Friday nights a month. I’d forgotten how pleasant a nice bar can be. It’s such a rough place I took my pregnant daughter and grandson there for lunch in July. They both loved it. And vice-versa. The bartender was shoving pictures of his 2 yr old in our faces. Physically, the place is an ancient dump just like Hanno’s was. A bar’s character is in the people.
- You agree with the whole WSJ thing Nance? Even this: "Mr. Giuliani has run an impressive campaign so far, especially on the issues. He has a record of accomplishment in New York, and he projects the kind of executive competence that many Americans want in a President." I think he's a bug eyed wacko and the phone calls don't help. I like local.live for maps and aerial photos.
- I've seen a couple of episodes of Meerkat here and there and enjoyed them. Anybody told those WV people what causes that stuff? It's amazing how helpless many people become if things in their car are the slightest bit out of the ordinary. The people who crashed are the same ones who step on the gas insead of the brake or put it in reverse instead of drive. Couldn't figure out how to control the vehicle in six miles. Whew.
- “IRS regulations require employers to do one of two things with unused FSA monies: give it to charity or plow it back into administrative costs for the program.” Admin costs like executive salaries and bonuses?
- What about that Olympic thing where little girls twirl around with ribbons? Or that other Olympic one where they bob up and down in the pool?
- I totally agree, Ashley. Alton has gotten a bit too full of himself but "Eats" is still watchable. Food Network has done everything in their power to destroy all that made it an enjoyable place to go. They've canned Mario and Flay (except for Iron Chef). Even poor Emeral is nothing but a husk of his insufferable self. La Ray has worn me out. The rest are dying out and posing in awful specials. Please, don't show me Paula Deen's poor pickled husband. And that horrid woman who cooks out of cans. They dropped Bourdain and then hired a dipshit do do the same job. There's nothing left but their stupid specials and bogus competitions. Nothing real about cooking, or eating or the love of food. I guess nothing's forever.
- I can't get too fired up about what is a sport vs what is a game. We're getting into distinction without a difference territory. Also what does it matter? I DO think that there are way too many events (crafty dodge) in the Olympics. They could drop half and nobody but parents would notice.
- Terrell Owens comes to mind, Cathy.
- I don't know anything about knitting (but I know what I like?) however in "For Better or For Worse" the old man, Elly's dad, just had another stroke and looks good for maybe another week. FBFW is generally one of the best strips out there. One of the four, make that three now, that I read. Doonesbury and Dilbert are the others. I read Farley in the SF Chron for many years. It may have been the best of them all but it was strictly local and not syndicated. The subject matter and characters were all too SF centric. The creator, the wonderful, funny and talented Phil Frank died a few weeks ago and that was the end of that strip. I'm still not sure what to think about comic strips that feature sad events. I read them for entertainment and amusement. I have enough problems of my own without suffering through Elly's dad's (I forget his name) problems. I guess I go along since the strip is of such high quality.
- Here are a couple of Farley links. The first goes to the subject of death in comics and also has lots of other stuff including archives. The second is about Phil Frank. I really felt badly when Frank died. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2007/09/30/BAFARLEY.DTL http://www.farleycomicstrip.com/ Thanks, Julie. I'll check Zits out.
- Remember those awful "Baby on Board" signs? I once saw a car with a sign reading "Baby Carries No Cash". My daughter Stephanie is due on Nov 17. It's supposed to be a girl. Steph is definitely not a pink person. Should "Stephanie" be led by and followed with commas?
- Over the last several years I’ve watched with scorn and disgust countless athletes and public officials apologize. Yesterday I watched Marion Jones’ shot at it. For the first time I saw an apology that appeared to me to be heartfelt and genuine. No “I’m sorry for what happened”. No “It’s time to move on”. She stated her sin, she expressed her sorrow for having committed it and her sorrow at having hurt those who trusted her. While she didn’t (at least that I saw) mention the consequences (six months in the pokey) she didn’t try to weasel out of them either. So I’ll buy it. Besides, it’s returnable isn’t it?
- Lileks (I know, I know) has all those horrible recipes in his gallery of regrettable food. http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/index.html They're kind of fun to peruse. When I saw the super tuber earlier today I had a reaction I still can't quit describe. Something between a snort and a gag, I guess. Somehow, it seems to fit my pal Larry.
- It just occurred to me that somebody should open a SuperTuber concession outside that MPLS airport mens' room.
- I'm wearing some Timberline topsider type things on my feet.
- No child left behind. Except the sick and crippled. That's the fun of the Gore Nobel. It'll drive the right wing nutsos crazy.
- Don't let Gov. Richardson's unfortunate remarks about the Great Lakes distract you. We do, in fact, need a national water policy. Droughts have effects beyond the immediately affected areas. Rivers cross state lines. One of the reasons New Mexico has a water problem is that Southern California has rights to the Colorado River. Maine has a severe problem -- who'da thunk it and aren't there problems with subsiding water levels in the Great Lakes? Also it's too easy to jump on the nouveau riche and their mc-mansions. In California, for example, residential water consumption adds up to only 15% of the total. That's right, commercial, industrial and agricultural interests account for 85% of water usage. However, it's always the residential user who is exhorted to conserve. If residential users cut consumption by 10% it would only amount to a whopping 1.5% total cut. In other words, purely symbolic. If we are to get serious about solving what is a very serious and very rapidly growing problem, we need to look at a comprehensive nationwide approach.
- Nance, you illustrate my point. The problem is wide spread and interlocking. To the extent that anybody is doing anything it is being attacked piecemeal. I'm not an expert and I have no solution other than to repeat that the problem needs immediate attention on a national basis. And good luck to that.
- Yeah, I started looking at the pix and couldn't get past #8. I used to think SJP was fairly attractive. Whew! Too many diets.
- Just got back to town after spending the last couple of days up in Susanville. The fresh snow over Donner Summit was gorgeous -- especially since I managed to sneak through without chaining up. My neighborhood? 37% white, the rest pretty evenly split between black and hispanic. Asians in single digits which is very odd for this part of the world. It’s also neither the best educated nor most prosperous zip code in California. I once went to a party dressed as the military-industrial complex. White shirt, tie and jacket over fatigue pants and combat boots. This will be my first Halloween in this house. I don’t know what to expect. Maybe I’ll arrange to be out of town.
- Wow, Teri Hatcher. Another one I used to think was hot. Years ago as Lois Lane. The mask looks like one of those old man lesbians from a couple of days ago.
- Newly split, I don't have much to take or leave. Passport, some papers etc. The rest is back in Auburn which, thankfully, had rain during the last few weeks so we're optimistic about fire. See Ken Levine for an amusing take on what to bring: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- That was back in the day when the guys who ran companies like GM were something other than parasites whose whole agenda is to screw as much money out of the company and the shareholders as possible. Contrast "Engine" Charlie Wilson and Roger Smith. Shoot, look at the contrast between George Romney and "Mitt" Romney. GM absolutely owed the design center palace to Earl after all he had done for the company for 30 years. When I lived in Auburn there were turkey gangs roving the area. Still are, I suppose. I had to cross a small single lane bridge to get to our place. There were occasions when a turkey gang would be just standing around on the bridge. Horn honking and creeping didn't work. They'd just stare stupidly at you. I would have to get out of the car and physically shoo them off the bridge. Then the big daddy would stand by the side of the road and spread all his feathers at me to show me that his was bigger than mine. He was kind of cool. They mostly stayed off our place because they didn't like the dogs, the goats or the chickens. They were funny because they would either come marching up the driveway en masse or they would fly in. You'd suddenly see these huge things dropping out of the sky onto your lawn. I always thought they were amusing and never felt threatened by them. A neighbor with a large lawn and no dogs didn't like them because their scratching would tear up the lawn.
- The total design package, buildings, furniture etc. reminds me of Wright's work. Like the Johnson's Wax place in Racine. Also see the John Deere HQ in Moline IL. Another Saarinen design. I've always liked his stuff a lot including IIT and those two apt buildings on Lake Shore Drive that I know Alex doesn't like.
- Sorry, Alex. I thought I remembered you saying you didn't like the buildings. My mistake. Also I don't know how I confused Saarinen and Van Der rohe. That is also totally my screw up. I know better. Really. I am embarrassed. Best I can say is that I was starting my first cup of coffee. I retract the post. Everybody forget you read it.
- Gawd, that's what I'm afraid of. Oh well. It's not the first time I've embarrassed myself. Won't be the last either.
- Sounds like a typical homeowners assn, Alex.
- Are you sure about the Pope's phone number, Sue? I always heard it was Vat 69. Maybe one's his cell.
- I got 70% which is pretty lucky since I don't watch faux news and haven't a clue about who any of those women were. People don't need to bring their dogs to malls. Not stepping on gum is enough of a problem without adding new features to the minefield. What happened to good manners?
- Whence comes this impulse to put one's hands on other people's dogs? Especially without asking. We once had a huge (120 lb) but cuddly looking Golden Retriever named Blondie. She was very protective of my daughter when the kid was young. She would get very edgy when people got too close. A few people were insulted at Blondie's -- shall we say -- lack of appreciation for their well meaning but ill-considered gestures. Oh, and for some reason she didn't like piss bums. I can't believe that monster used to sleep in our bed. When personal activities commenced she would just retreat to the floor. I wouldn't mind having a dog, but I live alone and it wouldn't work with my traveling two or three days a week.
- Alice Waters has moved from food guru to do gooder. It's tough when you become a parody of yourself. And that little girl sing song voice. Those costumes are too much. There's something pathological about the idea of a sexy 11 year old. The Jon Benet thing. But Fairy-Licious? Sounds like something Perez Hilton would come up with. I'm gonna get me a Big Daddy self-adhesive hairy chest kit. A man merkin. I just ran spell check. Word doesn't recognize "gooder" and suggests "goober" as a replacement. Hmm.
- Jeff’s question about whom God may be rooting for reminds me of my days in grade school. I grew up in a suburb of Chicago and went to a Catholic grade school. Every Friday during the season the Sisters of Mercy would have us get down on our knees and pray for Notre Dame. Ever since, of course, I’ve rooted strongly against Notre Dame. But as for God, whom does he root for when Notre Dame plays Boston College? Which Jebbies are in favor that week? If I only had a tap on God’s bookie's phone.
- Hit the nail on the head there, Danny. The Maloof Bros (wealthy Vegas casino owners) are even now threatening to move the NBA Kings out of Sacramento if no new sports palace is provided them. They and the usual jock sniffing municipal lackeys are scrambling to find a way to finance it without going before the voters because they know full well that any ballot proposition is DOA. They want to move if we don't pay for their new arena? Vaya con Dios.
- For a great take on the WGA strike read Ken Levine. One of the best blogs around. Right up there with . . . well . . .you know. http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- I'm a grandpa again! My daughter introduced young Miss Sophia to the world early this AM. Seven lbs some ounces. Daddy says she's beautiful.
- I just found out the official spelling is "Sofia". It's the Portuguese way.
- I wanna see waxed jump roping dogs.
- I'm sure you could sell a lot of tickets to either event.
- I was living in SF the first time I applied for a passport. I got some pix and went down to the passport office. Filled out app, paid $$ left pix and went home. I got the passport in the mail in 3 days. The last time I renewed it (in 2000) I went to the office in SF and with a little whining was able to get it while I waited. Guess those days are over. Green beans: French cut whatever amount of greenies suits you. Steam to desired degree of doneness. Saute briefly in butter with lots of sliced almonds. Season to taste. Yum.
- Happy Thanksgiving to all!
- Happy Birthday!!
- I wish I was 50 again and knew what I know now. If I don't forget it.
- Here in the Sacto area we have a complete selection of memorials. We have roadside crosses, piles of stuff and the SUV window things cited by Mary. I've also seen murals and graffiti. I don't know about tattoos but then I haven't looked. Or asked. Nor do I intend to. Amtrak seems cheaper here. My 282 mile trips from Sac to Bakersfield run six hours and cost $45 each way for the old folks rate. Sure beats busting my ass down 99 in the fog. There's already been one 100 car plus pile up this month. The rental car people pick me up at the Amtrak station. The fare for the 94 mile ride between Philly and NYC sounds like a rip off. Could NYC possibly be a more desirable destination than Bakersfield? Amtrak wouldn't charge a premium on a high demand route, would they? Mileage courtesy local.live.
- Tell me about the Sacto news person who quit. I haven’t seen that. KCRA in Sacramento has an excellent news operation. There are three or four other operations in Sacto that are not so good. In my travels I regularly see them all (in California). LA area, Bay Area, San Diego, Fresno and the really funny ones in small places like Eureka. I’d put KCRA up with any major city news outlet in the country. They are that good. You want to see football crazy people, go to Bumminham Ala on a Friday during the season. The Bay Area has a great rivalry playing this weekend. Cal vs. Stanfurd. Both schools are right there and both have very large alum bases in the SF area. It would be interesting to see what schools have the highest percentages of grads who don’t leave the school’s neighborhood. Cal and Stanfurd would rank right up there. As with the Motown area, there are other attractions with two minor league “pro” football teams (49ers and Raiders) two baseball teams, a hockey team, an NBA team etc. etc. And yes, I know how to spell. What you see reflects my bias.
- Strangest I’ve seen are the Aussies. In Vietnam during the war, I was sitting at a bar with a friend. There were two Aussies on the stools immediately to my right. Everybody was quietly drinking beer when one of the guys from Oz suddenly punched the other in the face. The punchee fell off his stool to the floor. He picked himself up, got back on the stool and they resumed their conversation as if nothing had happened. A beer or two later the original punchee suddenly clouted the other guy. Again the punchee fell on the floor, got up and resumed his stool and the conversation as if nothing had happened. It hadta been an Aussie thing. I still don’t understand it.
- I like a girl with garlicky ears. Those La Shish people sound like quite a family. You don't have to apologize for restaurant choices. Even fast food ones. I eat at the Carls Jr in Ontario Airport all the time. It's the best place there -- which probably says more about the airport than CJr.
- Thanks, Mary. I'll check it out next time I have time in Ont. The CJr is just a bite while waiting for a plane. I went to one of those author signs books things at Borders one time. The author (the ever excellent Lee Child) noted that several of his books had been optioned for movies but that none of the movies had ever been made. It was fine with him. He figured that he had been paid good money for nothing. He also said that he would not want to be involved in writing the screenplay for one of his books. He saw writing books and writing movies as two totally different disciplines.
- Stick around, michaelj. The mixed bag is part of what makes this place great. I went to Illinois. I don't mind in the least seeing them in the Rose Bowl. I didn't see it coming, though. One thing I want to see outlawed is that stealth time out business. It's just pure ugliness. If that's what it takes to win, you don't deserve to win.
- I got no birthday pi. It can't find me. I go to an old fashioned barber so there's no hoping for leaning. What's tough is that I can't read without glasses and they have to come off for the haircut. Oh well. It doesn't take long. A guy here at work who is about the same age as I am showed up Monday with his hair all dyed brown. He looks ridiculous. How can people be so stupid? The Monday AM meeting was filled with hilarity at his expense. On the other hand, Nance, you look great.
- I'm not even gonna try. I'll look when I get home. Good site, Mary. With one exception we've always gotten dogs from the pound. My (ex) wife picked up an ugly little schnoodle with an attitude one time. She said he was the ugliest one there and picked him figuring that all the cute ones would be easy sells. That was 13-14 years ago and the little guy's still around and still has an attitude. I had a neighbor tell me one day "You know, Mike, Jack has issues."
- I'd love to have a dog but living by myself and being gone several days per week . . .
- Great little flick. Thanks. I remember your relating Mr. Bragg's seat campaign. I also recall your deep respect and admiration for Mr. Bragg.
- You gotta check out the pole dancers. First read the story in the NY Daily News. Then watch the video. It’s marginally not work safe but certainly not salacious. If you don’t come away with a great big grin, something’s wrong. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/12/10/2007-12-10_subway_pole_dancers_enrage_mta.html http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARZxKkBr02Y
- A jib is a sail. You can google for details. The term "cut" refers to its shape which is optimized for the individual boat. So, technically, one is complementing a boat owner on his nicely done sail. It's also an old expression used to indicate one's approval of someone. Just as Nance used it. "I like the cut of his jib."
- It has a kind of wearing a smoking jacket and ascot while holding a pipe in one hand ring to it. Gray hair, glass of single malt.
- I dunno, Brian. Somehow I'm not turned on by pistol packin mamas. They make me nervous.
- You want some honest sport? I got some honest sport for you. Also some great, most enjoyable family entertainment: The NCAA Women’s Volleyball final. It’s tonight (Saturday) on ESPN2 at 6:00PM Pacific time. A friend of mine works as a volunteer for the Sacramento Sports Commission, is working the tournament and recommended it to me. He tended the (non-alcoholic) bar at the banquet on Wed evening. He says the young women were all unfailingly smiling and unfailingly polite. He says they even called him “Sir”. “And I had to look up at all of them”, my 5’ 11” friend relates. I watched the semis on Thursday and enjoyed every minute of it. I wasn’t even put off by the shrill voice of the commentator. This is collegiate sport as it is intended to be. No steroids, no cheating, nothing but smiles, grins, high fives and hugs from the young women on both sides of the net. They are all plainly enjoying playing. Sure this is big time sport and yeah, a lot of them are competing for berths on the Olympic team, but it’s good, healthy competition. If you have any young women of teen or preteen years in your homes, I highly recommend tonight’s game between Stanford and Penn State. And the young ladies! Whew! Even if they are all over 6’ tall. Wish I were young again. I’ll be watching it. I even bought popcorn. The hell with the 49ers and Bengals who are on at the same time.
- Oh sure, I like women's soccer. It's fun to watch and they aren't all a bunch of crybaby fakers like the European and South American men.
- A snow blower. I've never even looked at one up close. Hope I never have to. I did grow up in the "Chicagoland Area" and once had more than a passing acquaintance with a snow shovel, but that was in my youth. Let's keep it that way. I once perused a web site that was selling Chev V-8 powered snow blowers. It's out there somewhere. Wild. I'm glad I went to Susanville last week. This week it will be very difficult. You all cold country people are stronger than I am.
- I hope nobody thought I was criticizing the use of snow blowers. When I was a kid with a shovel there was no such thing as a home snow blower. I would have loved to have had one. Now I live in a snow free zone and am most pleased that I don't need one. If I had a use for one I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
- Now leaf blowers . . . Ever watched some dope out there trying to blow wet leaves?
- Farmers markets in Sacto are wonderful. Great quality, great variety -- in season which now ain't. When living in Berkeley many years ago I dated a young woman who was some kind of bio chem grad student at Cal. She used to bring home from the lab a 50/50 mix of distilled water and pure alcohol. She'd pour it into a Smirnoff bottle. I sure couldn't tell.
- I buy Peet's French Roast. About 11 bucks per pound but then it's just me and just weekends. On work days I suck off the pot at the office which is the Kirkland/Starbuck coffee. Not bad but not Peet's. Anybody outside of the Bay Area familiar with Peet's?
- Merry Christmas to everybody!!
- Mary and Ricardo -- my ex likes her purple PT Cruiser. She can accomodate the dogs, put her bike right in, carry sacks of feed for the goats etc., etc. I was surprised at what a nice car it is. Small outside, large inside, very inexpensive to purchase new, decent mileage, decent performance and stylish (you may or may not like the looks, but at least they tried).
- Ron Karenga kommands: Have a Kool Kawanzaa!
- It's not spell check (which I agree you have to use carefully) that bothers me so much as all the automatic shit they build into each successive iteration of MS Word. It takes me a long time to find all that crap and stamp it out. And each version has much more bloat than the one it succeeds. I doubt I use 10% of Word's capability including tables which I used to use lots. Same applies to Excel.
- How about all the apostrophe's people use in plural's these day's?
- All my sympathies. It will be good to take a couple of well deserved days and start afresh in the new year.
- Agyness Deyn? = Agnus Dei? Lamb of God? WTF is she trying to say? Has anybody told the Pope? Vinho Verde -- Here I'm way ahead of kool. Been drinking it for years. It's $4 to $9 a bottle at BevMo. Clean, clear, crisp with a hint of a sparkle. It's a great, refreshing summer treat. The "Verde" refers not to the color of the wine but to the state of the grapes when harvested. They're somewhat green rather than fully ripe. Try some. You'll love it.
- My front porch is a large, airy, usable, porch with an old time glider. People do use front porches here and back yards as well. It's a nice place to have a cigar, sip something (maybe some vinho verde) and read. Of course my neighborhood is a tad different from most of yours. For example I haven't had any Mormons or Witnesses at my door but I have had the Black Muslims politely inviting me to services. I'm sure they were relieved I didn't go. And the 6 - 8 drug salesmen who hang on the porch across the street all wave and say "Hi, Mike" when I park my car. Living alone here is fine, but I wouldn't want to live here with kids. New Years Eve midnight sounded like some arab city with everybody firing their weapons into the sky. Seems like so many people confuse their idea of what reality should be with what reality actually is. Kim - talking about wine in Portugal: The first time I went there I bought a nice bottle of vintage port -- then dropped it in the parking lot at JFK. I almost wept.
- I buy it off the shelf at Safeway here in Sactown. I don't like to buy too big a bottle because I think it goes off after a time. I like the illusion of freshness.
- Dec 31, 1968, Fort Bragg, North Carolina. I was the duty NCO when some numbnuts tossed a grenade from the barracks 3d story window . "Oh, shit", I thought, with mountains of paperwork dancing in my head. I was due to get out of the Army in two weeks and didn't want the bother. It took a moment for it to occur to me that somebody might have gotten hurt. Nobody did. With a spark of genius I called the Sgt of the Guard and reported a loud noise. He hot footed over and it became his problem. I kind of stayed lost as much as possible and played dumb (never difficult for me) and managed to avoid the worst of the paperwork. I never did know who threw it and never cared. The supermarket singles night reminds me of the Marina Safeway in San Francisco. Stories abound about the place. It has a fabulous view (a supermarket with a view?) and it was probably the best looked after Safeway in the chain since the corporate president and his wife shopped there. Best meat and produce, new carts every few months etc., etc. Everything except parking. It was also located dead center in yuppie singlesville. Wednesday night was pick up night. It was one of those things that just happened. It was never advertised or promoted, it just was. It got written about, but that was after the fact. You can't artificially create these kinds of things. They have to just occur naturally. The guy in Boston probably read about the store in SF. You can check out the view on local.live.com at the corner of Marina Blvd and Laguna.
- I work as a construction project manager for the State of CA. Where it's windy as hell and raining like -- well, a lot. We're looking for 10 feet of snow today in the Sierra. I work daily with architects and engineers. Don't forget who does the structural, electrical and mechanical design in a project. And don't forget the civils. As somebody pointed out, architects are like anybody else. There are good ones, mediocre ones and poor ones. Much of what people complain about is poor project management, not necessarily lousy design. A project is all of a whole. The three big factors are scope, schedule and $$. Those factors have to be understood by all involved parties in front and agreed to by all parties. Those factors have to be controlled and everybody's expectations have to remain in line. False or mistaken expectations are big, big problems. Here, where I work, every project is subject to an estimate during the preliminary stages and re-estimated when working drawings are completed. Each project is also submitted to a constructability review wherein the plans are checked by the inspectors who will have to be on site during construction. Lots of things are discovered and fixed during these reviews. It's not taken as a criticism of the Architect. Everybody knows that design and construction are two different things. These kinds of reviews and oversight go a long way to ensuring that a real, buildable, budgeted design hits the street. The process also builds great working relationships between all parties. We've put some really nice designs out there over the last several years -- designs of which we can all be proud. Starting with the architects. By the way, we have increasing numbers of women working here as architects, engineers and project managers. Any of you with daughters or sons might point these types of jobs out to them. It's a good and interesting career path. You also get out of the office a lot. Maybe even to Bakersfield.
- The power at the office went out about 9:45 Friday AM. We were cut loose about 11:00. I went home to find -- no power. It didn't get it back until about 5:55 PM on Sunday evening. Power was out in random spots all over Sacto. Great weekend. I had battery radio, Coleman lanterns etc. but all at my (ex) wife's place uo in Auburn. And her power was out as well. She told me she was cuddled up on the loveseat with a fire, the dogs and a book. I went to REI to see if they had a lantern. Too late. Target was on the way home so I dropped in (no Lileks sighting) and bought the last one they had. No battery radios there so I went to Radio Shack and got one. Sometimes lucky is as good as being prepared. I stayed out and about during the day on Fri and Sat and ate in restaurants. I went to a joint on Fri night and another one on Sat night. I took a book and held down the end of the bar. Both places were very welcoming to refugees and had friendly and attractive female bartenders. I stretched a couple of drinks for a couple of hours and left good tips. At home I had the Coleman lantern and the four burners of my gas stove going. Created a nice little corner where I could sit on a stool and read. Also, I had gas hot water which afforded me nice showers. I recharged my cell phone in the car. It could have a lot worse. I didn't lose anything in my freezer. It was full and the ice maker was full so there wasn't a lot of air space but there was a lot of frozen stuff. By 5:55 Sunday evening nothing had even begun to soften at the edges. A lost weekend but not really. Just a different one.
- You pays your money and you takes your choice, Brian. We don't have really cold weather or ice and snow here. Mid thirties overnight is about it. We also don't have tornados. Just think of poor Fernley NV where it flooded badly and then froze.
- Nothing heavy. A Doc Ford book by Randy Wayne White and East 47th by Gerald Browne. What's this about fabulous Michigan wines?
- Eau de Vie is a generic term for a distilled fruit brandy. They make the stuff in every country from every sort of fruit imaginable. It's usually clear. Another generic term for it is WHOOEEE! Actually, some of it isn't bad. I know the fruit in the bottle stuff you are thinking of but I can't recall the name. I'll look around and see if anybody sells Michigan wine here.
- C'mon, you guys. The place was vented. You should see all the warnings on the Coleman lantern package and instructions. I think I turned the gas off when I came to work this AM.
- It's just that. A lid rack that cost all of about $3 or so at IKEA. One of the greatest inventions ever. The strainer you can see at the top is actually hanging from an oval pot hanger that is over the sink. On the other side of the sink is an under cabinet wine rack that holds four bottles. Also about $3 at IKEA. Altogether, this stuff basically cleans out your cabinets.
- I don't use plastic containers. I use Mason jars. If there are multiple servings worth of leftovers (soup for example) I'll double freezer bag the stuff in single serving amts and freeze it. It is true that you don't need all those gadgets and bunches of knives. I also like to keep it simple. NN.c does hints from freaking Heloise.
- Kim, I'm sorry for your friend's loss. Respectfully, however, I fail to see the lesson in your cautionary tale. The fact that the situation involved a bare stovetop is immaterial. Your friend's dad could equally have fallen face first into a hot wok, a sizzling frying pan or a pot of boiling water. The seizure could have caused him to fall in front of a bus or could have occurred while he was driving or up a ladder. Things happen. As for the stove, I use my stove every day. I wager that you even use yours fairly often. Fear of a seizure doesn't deter millions of people from using stoves. I have no children at home and no pets to get curious. I don't leave the stove on when I'm out of the room pans on or pans off. Again, I'm sorry for your friend's misfortune, but I don't understand what it has to do with my efforts to stay warm during a midwinter power failure.
- No apologies necessary, Kim. In fact, it appears I may have misconstrued your comment. I am aware there are people killed every year through careless use of fire and by asphyxiation from using combustion powered items indoors. My use of the lantern and the cooktop was not cavalier. I considered the dangers and the paths of avoidance and acted accordingly. I know there are quite a few news types reading this blog and that all youse folks would be more sensitive than most to this sort of thing.
- Merrill -- you weren’t a lurker, you were an observer. I remember Roger Ebert from way back in college days. He was the editor of the “Daily Illini” and was two years or so ahead of me at Univ of Ill. I remember one night at somebody’s party the cops came. They were forever showing up at parties because of the noise and also because they were looking for underage drinkers. I happened to look around and saw Ebert’s not inconsiderable even then ass going out a window. Guess he didn’t want his name in the wrong part of the paper. He did a damn fine job at the DI and I’ve been a big fan of his ever since. I find it interesting that people in Michigan and New Hampshire can evidently vote for whomever they please in a primary. In California we don’t have open primaries. You declare D or R or Ind and you get a D or R or Ind ballot so you can only vote for candidates in your declared party. Every now and again somebody brings up the idea of having open primaries, but both Dem and Rep party bigwigs get a case of the lama damas and start howling at the very idea. I can’t recall CA ever having any say in choosing a presidential candidate. They don’t campaign here other than to maybe run TV ad or two. They only show up in person on whirlwind visits to collect money at carefully planned and very restricted umpty dollar a head fund raisers. So Peter and Brian, don’t feel like the lone strangers. You guys aren’t any worse off than we are here in Calif.
- I didn't know that, Mary. I never registered Indy and one reason was that I just assumed that I would not get any say in a primary. I never checked. Mitthew. Not bad, Ashley.
- The man said "Mount Up!" and the critters took him seriously.
- Here's yer video. Warning: Includes graphic scene of cow pie and gratuitous bovine bopping. http://jalopnik.com/344260/detroit-auto-show-slow+moving-steer-steal-the-show-from-the-2009-dodge-ram-1500
- All I know about cows is what I see in the supermarket. I never owned any. The next door neighbor had a couple of (maybe) steers and they were OK on the other side of the fence. They ended up in the freezer. Chickens and a couple of goat sisters were my speed and even the goatie girls were pushing it. All that mating stuff is a little organic for me. And that "uncut male" talk sounds a bit creepy. Jalopnik is a fun site. I used to spend a lot of time in Alameda were "Murilee" shoots old cars. Nice place.
- Speaking of TPM, they have issues with the favorite from the other day, MoDo. http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2008/01/times_edit_page.php
- Was she at Sen. Clinton's victory party or was she thousands of miles away when the victory party occurred? Fake deadline? No attribution for source of quotes? Thin gruel, Brian, only if your concern for the truth is thin.
- When I was living the life of a country squire in Auburn with my now estranged wife we usually had about a dozen chickens and a rooster or two. Normally two roosters are a problem, but in this situation they had neatly sorted themselves out as Principal Rooster and Associate Rooster. The youngster had grown from the egg and didn't mind being daddy's assistant. It worked for all of us including the girls. I never found their (or the many other neighborhood roosters') crowing to be a problem. Or cows mooing or horses making their noises or the wild turkeys and crows and all the rest of it. It was just part of being on the earth. Some folks are simply more bothered than others by audible signs of life like trains, airplanes, people and traffic. It's an individual thing. We had the birds confined to a large area of about an acre and a half which gave them lots of room to roam and scratch. The were not permitted around the house or garden or lawn or patio, etc. The large amount of poop in the chicken house could get fragrant on a warm day and it do get warm in Northern California. This was minimized, however, by keeping the chicken house clean. Other than inside their house, we never had anything even remotely approaching a generalized chicken smell. It took some effort, yes but the girls rewarded us with the most wonderful eggs ever. Believe me, there is a real difference between real, fresh eggs and store bought. Each bird had a name and a personality. Ours were all delightful, friendly creatures who provided us with endless entertainment. We took all visitors from little kids up for tours and never had any problems with meanness, attacks or beaks. We did once have a mean rooster but he was down range so fast that his head must still be spinning. I don't know what the secret is but plenty of room, a large clean house to roost and sleep in, a good natured rooster or two and we were a happy bunch. The also got along well with the goaty-oaty girls and even the dogs.
- Wow, Basset. Thanks for the lead. Great stuff.
- I need to talk to my Ex about taxes. It's a strange thing working up the courage to call a woman with whom I lived for almost 30 years.
- We're also having a cold snap here. On the way to work at about 5:00AM there was a bank thermometer reading 33 degrees. That's plenty cold for me. The normal low here for this time of the year is low to middle forties. Ken Levine informs us that in Dallas people are referring to Jessica Simpson as "Yoko Romo".
- OK, True cold weather stuff: Champaign, Illinois. December, I think, 1965, I think. Walking down the middle of the street with my then girlfriend. It seemed quite warm with no wind and the snow was falling very, very heavily in huge flakes in slow motion and it was loading up on everything at an incredible rate that I had never seen before and haven’t seen since. It was a romantic evening to remember. The snow fall muted all sound and it seemed as if the two of us were the only people in the world. It was a wonderful, sweet night. We were young and in love, and it was all new and wonderful. Later, finals were cancelled and I went out hooning around in an old (but I guess it wasn’t so old then) VW with a couple of friends, bouncing off snow banks and having a high old time.
- OK, a true Cold story this time. I grew up in a suburb of Chicago. One super cold morning I was leaving the house to walk to High School. We had had an ice storm and ice covered everything. Beautiful and awful at the same time. I turned in time to see the woman who lived next door approaching her car with a large steaming pot. I opened my mouth to shout “NOOO!!” but before I could get a sound out she had poured the boiling water on the windshield of her car. The resulting “CRAAKK” must have been heard for blocks. Her windshield simply disappeared. It was all over the dash, front seat and floor. VA, huh Kim? My daughter lives in Yorktown.
- A Pontiac Astre! My goodness, Dorothy. They made like three of them. I'm amazed this thing lasted 10 years. The Astre was the Poncho version of the Chevy Vega, a car with a distressing Fiat like tendency to melt when exposed to moisture.
- Cessna 310? Named "Songbird"? Where was Penny? What an antique.
- The 310 always was one of the prettiest aircraft ever. Del, I feel a lot of wind but hear a guy basically telling me that it's OK that Kilpatrick is a lying sack of shit.
- The CHP has a long unused firing range at their Oakland field office. No, they weren’t shooting skeet. There’s every other kind of shooting in Oakland, but not skeet. We’re going to do some demolition and construction on the site to upgrade some facets of the CHP operation but there is severe lead contamination. Things have already been delayed for over a year because of the contamination. It’s going to cost a bloody fortune to abate it. Oh well. The Hazmat people need to eat too.
- I lived in Chicago and in the Chicago area when I was a kid. That was when Richard J. Daly, Hizzoner himself, was mayor. I don't know anything about the younger Daly and his job and I certainly don't know anything about Detroit except that that mayor and city g'ment look like a couple of real pieces of work. When Hizzoner was mayor the corruption was a mile wide and an inch deep. The machine and the city worked exactly as John C describes it. No need to give further examples. I think John C gives you the flavor. Daly himself never took a dime. He was born, grew up and died in the same "back of the yards" house. He didn't drive big cars or take rich trips or any of that. His corruption was about power plain and simple. Oh, and this all covered Cook County, not just Chicago.
- I'm gonna do a slow read on that article. A word today, a word tomorrow . . .
- I mailed my vote in a week ago. I keep the ballot stub and post it outside my cube as my "License to Complain". Whadda you mean you can't read Hema's cute web site? The ghetto blaster is right there, just next to the confetti which is next to the feestvlaggetjes which is just above the feestballonnen.
- I've voted at people's homes many times in California and as Danny says, it's always been in the garage with the door(s) open. And the residents have no access to anything so, Danny, you can feel safe voting at your old antagonist's place. You probably knew that. There's no way that DFC stairway meets basic code or ADA requirements from any perspective: treads and risers, railings, lack of landings, nuttin. I can't imagine an insurance company covering that death trap.
- Oh, don't get me wrong here, Nance. I'm not being censorious. I've certainly hung out in worse places. Still do. I was just observing. There are some exceptions in historic buildings for some ADA requirements. There are variables such as the bldg itself, its usage, the type of shortcoming and the degree of renovation that is being undertaken. I also have no idea what Michigan or Detroit or local county codes require. In my country, that stairway would need work.
- That was a really fun vid, Nance. We want more. I was especially primed for this one because the lady who runs the bakery was interviewed yesterday (Tues) AM on NPR. She claimed tradition has it that the watchacallits were made to use up all the fat that had accumulated over the winter so it wouldn't spoil in the coming summer heat. I know. It sounds that way to me too. I didn't have much riding on any of the props in CA except that I did want the indian gambling ones to go down. They were about nothing but more money and power for a very few already rich and powerful indians. And it is gambling, not gaming. Your career path is a well trodden one here in Sacto, Basset. For years I've been seeing TV news people disappear from their TV jobs and turn up two weeks later as spokesindividuals for an endless number of utilities, state agencies, big businesses, etc. Some of them return to the news desk after a few years. It hints that the TV news bidness is not an easy ride.
- Here in Sacto the main anchor team on the highest rated station are a husband and wife named Dave Walker and Lois Hart who have been around since before ever. They worked here in Sacto long, long ago and then went to CNN. Their claim to everlasting trivia fame is that they were the very first faces to appear on screen when CNN began broadcasting back in whenever. I agree that it must be much more difficult for women. Just ask Christine Craft. Lois Hart on KCRA is obviously of a certain age. According to Wikipedia she turned 58 yesterday. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lois_Hart . An old pro, she competes as you observed: "by being fast, low-key and competent".
- A couple of years ago I slipped in the mud and fell backwards onto an exposed tree root. That broke two ribs and a shoulder blade. They gave me a morphine shot in the E-room to ease the 3 hr wait. Then they prescribed Percodan. A year later I had an airbag go off and break my breastbone in two (yeah, I hit something: an impatient left turning lady). That time they gave me Vicodan. I had an excellent experience with each of the three drugs. They worked exactly as designed. I got pain relief but had no feeling whatsoever of being loaded or high or stoned or anything at all but the most welcome pain relief. When the pain lessened, I stopped taking the pills. It wasn't difficult since there was no reason not to. Having heard all the stories about painkillers, I had been a little apprehensive, but one sneeze sold me on their desirability. Believe me, you do not want a cold to go along with your broken ribs and scapula. Anyhow, maybe I was lucky, but I'll bet my experience is reflective of the majority of cases of pain killer usage.
- Whoops, looks like I spelled "Vicodin" wrong. Actually I spelled it "Vicodan" which was incorrect.
- My vasectomy qualified me as well for the ice and the afternoon off. I still have a medicine cabinet full of percs and vikes from my misfortunes of a year or two ago. Keeping them for a rainy day. Sounds mighty rainy for you in NOLA, Ashley. I hope you're better soon. Stephenson is great. I'm waiting for whatever is going to follow the Baroque Cycle. I still can't believe he writes in pencil on a yellow pad.
- Lots of manufacturers are coming out with variations on BMW's beloved iDrive. An NPR guy tested an iDrive equipped Bimmer a couple of years ago. It was hilarious. From the looks of the steering wheel hub, your car appears to be a Honda. My second guess would be Hyundai. There have been lots of pix of pending BMW models lately and none of them look like that one. The number one snapper of mystery car spy pix worldwide is a German woman named Brenda Priddy. Check her web site. http://www.brendapriddyandcompany.com/
- My embarrassing mistake, Brenda. I'm very sorry. I picked up the German attribution at some auto web site. I can't remember which, but it was a long time ago. I take it that I was correct about the rest? The stuff about you being Number One? Again, I apologize. I've enjoyed your pix for years. By the way, does that look like a Honda steering wheel?
- The Winehouse song that grabs me is "Love is a Losing Game". Wow.
- And I'll be your dolly grip. I know how to do that. I was channel surfing one time and happened upon a field hockey game. I was just in time to see a young woman wind up and with a beautiful home run swing cut the legs out from under another young woman who was running full out. The resulting front flip and half twist were spectacular. The victim was still lying there in a heap when I moved on. These were well bred youngsters from Ivy League colleges.
- Speaking of girls (or not) the new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue features Danica Patrick. She has a gorgeous body but I can't get over those killer eyes. No, I don't mean killer as in beautiful, I mean killer as in assassin http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/features/2008_swimsuit/danica-patrick/ Thanks to Bossy for the link. And please don't let Kate get one of those stupid small-of-the-back tattoos.
- I've attended a lot of different kinds of races. F-1 at Long Beach years ago, CART at Long Beach and Laguna, NASCAR at Sears and Ontario (OMS was a few years ago as well), drags, Can-Am (another oldie), SCCA, dirt, you name it. The very best big time stuff was CART before an obscenity named Tony George ruined open wheel racing in the US. It's only now beginning to come back. Another obscenity named Bernie Ecclestone ruined F-1. The mostest funnest racing for me is SCCA club racing and low key vintage racing. Lower speeds and no names but good, honest racing by real people and total accessibility for a happy fan. This place http://www.thunderhill.com/html/get_your_fill_at_the.HTM is about an hour from my house. Check out the schedule. This is grass roots racing.
- OK, I'll bite. Is the following typo deliberate? An attempt to see how long it would take before somebody would notice it? Or did I miss something? "I could go on all day, but like the growling, foaming, spitting, dog, you might fear I was rapid." I like to think that I'm a reasonably OK writer but before I send out an important email or letter at work I always have somebody else look it over. Seems like simple common sense to me.
- OK
- Dexter, your comment reminds me of a joke back at the time of the merger. How do you pronounce "Daimler-Chrysler"? It's pronounced "Daimler". The "Chrysler" is silent.
- Best of luck, Mary. Hope you snag a good one!
- Tell your friend the librarian in Indy that there's a name for what the pervs are doing. It's called "pocket pool". For Better of For Worse used to be one of the sharpest and best strips around. Now it's turned into a dense, impenetrable morass of stupidity. And all that horrible flash back stuff with the el shitto artwork . . . yuggh. Content aside, there's nothing that ruins a strip like lousy art. I went to their (her?) web site a couple of weeks ago and sent them a nasty gram. Like they care.
- Beth, sorry for not addressing you directly. Am I to infer from your comment that in some high schools there's such a thing as pocket pool with an assist? And Danny: "Doesn’t librarian have its root in libido?" No. The root is libri which means, amazingly enough, book. My parents made me take Latin in high school. What a waste.
- Well, we've heard a lot of the administration schtick now. The liberals do it all the time. I'm sorry for what happened. It's time to move on. Release the news late on Fri. Although I must admit they acted promptly on this one instead of dragging it out day after agonizing day as happened in Fredo's case. Blame the consequences on the prosecutor, not the offender. It's a witch hunt. Forgetting, as a commenter noted, the Plame affair, forgetting the unrelenting hounding of the Clinton family, forgetting countless other victims of the slime machine. One of the signature characteristics of the Bushies and the Neos is hypocrisy. If there is any gloating, it's over the reversal of fortunes suffered by a loud mouthed, sanctimonious hypocrite pure and simple. Mr. Goeglein positioned himself as cheerleader-in-chief of religion and morals in the administration. It's tough to square his public posturing with his personal actions. Just as it was with Larry "Wide Stance" Craig, the renowned anti-gay activist. Another signature characteristic of the Bushies and the Neos is that they can dish it out but they can't take it. What a bunch of pusey little whiners. Nance, I've always enjoyed the high quality of the commenters here. All praise to them and to you. Keep it up. I'm gonna want an autographed copy of the book. Sorry to add to your server woes, JC.
- Another signature characteristic of the Bushies and the Neos, as exemplified by Mr. Walters, is that what they are accusing others of perpetrating is precisely what themselves are practicing. By all means, Mr. Walters, you are welcome to take your ball and go home if that is what you wish. Heaven forbid that anyone should see things differently from you.
- Don't look at it as a penance, Ashley, look at it as a good deed.
- Jeez, Mary. That's so tacky. Looking for work is the worst thing in the world. I feel for you.
- Was in Susanville the last two days. Back in the office today catching up on stuff and, whoops, guess what I saw on Monday's Slate! Pretty neat, Nance. I'd love to see some more. Interesting thread. I had no idea that field trips were down and especially no idea that it was so harmful to museums, etc.
- michaelj -- I agree totally with your assessments of Kinsley, Kaus and Hitchens. As for La Lithwick, well, sigh, she's tops. I've long had this fantasy about her and Nina Totenberg, who is NPR's brilliant radio equivalent, sitting in the gallery of the Supremes knitting and exchanging salty comments about Souter, Scalia et al, toddling down to some joint afterwards for a tot and filing their stories. Yeah, I know, but remember it was a fantasy. Ever notice that Dahlia seems oddly attracted somehow to Scalia?
- I did two tours in the RVN. Trust me, michaelj, it was "doan mean nuthin'".
- We lost several silkies (a type of bantam chicken) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silkie to red tail hawks. You could always tell when there had been an air strike. The girls, banty and otherwise, would all be clustered near tree trunks looking fearfully at the sky. The only attack I ever witnessed was when a hawk hit our white silkie rooster. The rooster fought back and ended up being more than the hawk wanted to handle. What a spectacular sight it all was. Lots of screaming too. It took me an hour to coax the little guy out of the bushes. He was scared shitless but other than losing some feathers, unharmed. A year or two later he fed a fox. Oh, well. Were Sen. Clinton to be nominated and offer the VP job to Sen. Obama, it would pose a true dilemma for him, I think. Look at where presidents have generally come from and you don't see a lot of senators making the jump. I don't really know why other than maybe senior senators have some sort of Washington insider aroma to them that the electorate doesn't like. On the other hand the VP spot seems to be a shoo in. A governorship is a good stepping stone as well. Other than the above, I sure as hell wouldn't want to be veep under Hillary with that other guy around. And I also don't like the dynastic aspect of having 28 years of nuthin' but Bushes and Clintons in the Pale Palace. The stuff mentioned by michaelj is known as "offal" because that's what it has been called for hundreds of years. It's not a value judgment. I have seen what you guys call "Beef Manhattan" all over the place called a hot beef sandwich. It can also be had in turkey flavor as well. Slices on white bread topped with mashed potatoes and gravy. Pho is wonderful stuff. There are several varieties of it. There are any number of excellent Vietnamese restaurants around here selling it with those great piles of aromatic greens to accompany. Yum. Best I ever had was from a street vendor in Ho Chi Minh City a couple of years ago. I'm not familiar with the Italian version of bread soup, but the Portuguese version called "Sopa Acorda" (the "c" should have one of those little things on it that tells one to pronounce it as an "s"). It's a classic in Portuguese cooking. Scariest thing I ever ate was one of those eggs with the fully formed baby duck inside. I choked it down with copious glugs of Heinekens. This was also in the RVN a few years ago. Once was more than enough. Hills Bros coffee used to be roasted in a plant right at the SF end of the Bay Bridge so that people crossing the bridge would be welcomed into the City (in SF the word "City" is capitalized) by the aroma of freshly roasted coffee. It was wonderful. I have no idea where it is processed now. Nor do I know where MJB is processed. I'm too lazy to google all that stuff to find out. MJB is Max J. Brandenstein. I once worked for a guy who was married to a Brandenstein. Max's granddaughter I think. Same guy dated Diane Feinstein back in the day.
- I've been out of town the last couple of days and it sure looks like I missed a couple of good NN.Cs. Went to the women’s prison at Chowchilla. They've got their own sex scandal going on right now. Not pretty. The warden told me "If your contractor has any Brad Pitt look-a-likes on his crew, keep him off the property." She was more than half serious. While down the valley, I stayed at a brand new Courtyard by Marriott. They let me sleep indoors -- I didn’t have to crash in the courtyard. Anyway, the bog had some kind of blow jet toilet affair that scared the crap out of me the first time I flushed it. I pushed the little lever down as per normal and it aggressively popped right back up at me as if to cast off my hand. Startled, I drew back with a jerk and at the same time the toilet flushed with an instant and almighty 800 decibel KERWOOSH. A little kid experiencing this for the first time would be terrified into a horribly scarred lifetime of anal retention. Fortunately, I’m made of stouter stuff, but wow. I still may need counseling. I'm waiting for the next wife of one of these guys to balk at going up to the mic with him. "I'm not going up there. Don't look at me, go talk to stupid."
- Nancy, I don't believe Eliot's Irish. Besides, all the bishops have been trying to cancel, postpone or otherwise stave off Paddy's day this year. Sorry about the bikini, Ashley. But you gotta admit she's cuter than you.
- There's a web site run by a woman billed as a "College Girl Hooker". I can't link to it here at the office but I will later when I get home if somebody else hasn't already done so. I forget how I got there. I think it won some kind of blog award. Very interesting. No heart of gold here. She works in New York City and works solo, not as part of some agency. I haven't looked at the blog since the Spitzer affair. Maybe she'll have something to say.
- Ahh, I once had a letch for Joey Heatherton . Kafkaz, I know a reader may have the impulse to arrive at a quick evaluation and judgment when looking at something like the College Girls whatever. While it is certainly the reader's prerogative to do so, it isn't necessary to either take her completely at face value or to dismiss her as a fake. The judgment may be left in suspense. I have no idea if the writer if that blog is what she purports to be and don't particularly care. I'm aware that it's not an annotated sociological study published by a university press. I'm happy to take her observations for what they're worth along with all the other stuff I've heard here and there over the years. I find interesting her observations on women and their self image and on hookers and their attitudes toward their customers. That wouldn't change if she were proved a fraud or proved genuine.
- So how did codpieces work?
- There's a lake in Northern California that has been infested with northern pike. It's Lake Davis out east of Quincy. For years the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) has been trying to eradicate them. They've drained the lake. They've poisoned the lake. They even tried a scheme to electrify the lake and kill the pike that way. I think they have another poisoning try on deck for this year. The pike have survived it all so far. The thinking is that some numbnuts imported the fish for his own purposes as I gather they are supposed to be fun for fishermen to catch. The problem is that the northern pike is voracious and a prolific breeder and will quickly wipe out native populations. The fear is that they will escape from Lake Davis one way or another (maybe even another numbnuts) and spread to other areas with disastrous results. michaelj: I've followed Riverbend for years. She is everything you say and more. What a delightful, provocative and ultimately saddening read she is. I have been checking her blog every week since her last post on 10-22-07. This post came just after she and her family escaped from Iraq and relocated to Damascus. I hope she's OK and that she resumes posting. I don't mean to go all California on you, but I was at the farmers' market last Sunday. Greens were weak but there was lots of other stuff. A friend gave me a large bag filled with 10-12 pounds of gorgeous fresh, fresh asparagus. Delicious. I'm still eating it. I bought all the veggies and herbs and stuff and my garden goes in this weekend. I was raised in the "Chicagoland Area" as the TV weather people used to call it and vividly remember the "Hawk". This was in the days before wind chill, and lake effect snow and when ice was just "ice" not "black ice". Even without all those add ons it was cold and snowy and slippery and windy. I sympathize with all you cold people.
- Terrific little sketch! Amusing and well written. You owe yourself a victory lap. Nice and tight without unnecessary embellishment. Shots well composed -- I liked the prisoner exchange set up. Good real sound. I hate that Foley shit. It's ruined countless movies. I concur with John. 'Tube it. More please.
- Great quote from Ken Levine's wonderful blog: "I hate myself for laughing but KLAC sportstalk host Big Joe McDonnell said this about the Paul McCartney-Heather Mills divorce settlement: she made a lot of money for spreading her leg." Made me laugh out loud!
- C'mon, Brian. I saw the clip of Senator Clinton (D, NY). relating her experiences. She told how they had to run from the plane amidst sniper fire, ducking as they headed for cover. Then I saw the clip of the actual event. This was no "oops". This was a deliberate misstatement. Nobody tells accidental untruths about having been under hostile fire. I find this kind of effort to steal somebody else's glory despicable. But then I never did like her. I don't like her sense of entitlement; her belief that it's her turn and I don't like the dynastic aspect. If she were elected and served two terms it would mean 28 uninterrupted years of Bushes and Clintons. I don't like her speaking style, I don't like that she never seems to stand for anything but talks around every issue. I see no leadership whatsoever here. She's had five years to speak out on the war and only speaks critically of the war now when it is safe to do so and only in the most general of terms. That's hardly leadership. There have been, for over seven years, almost daily opportunities for a leader to speak out on the misdeeds of the Bush administration and I haven't heard anything from Sen. Clinton (D, NY).. As far as I am concerned, she's a hold over from the old impotent liberals of the '80s and '90s. She has nothing new to offer. She is a polarizing figure who brings a whole train of baggage, controversy and dislike to the dance. I think the international stage would have the same perception: Nothing new or different here, no break with the past, just another in a series of the same old same olds that the world has seen in the US for decades. Whew! There's exaggeration, Brian. We all do that. But you don't falsely claim combat experience. You just don't do it. Besides, can anybody seriously imagine Air Force One (or whatever they call FLOTUS' airplane) being allowed to land on a hot runway? It was a ferchirstssake photo-op, not an assault. All that said, if she were nominated, I would have to vote for her over Sen. McCain (R, AZ), but it would be a vote against Sen. McCain (R, AZ), not for Sen. Clinton (D, NY).
- Misremembering who dropped the mashed potatoes is not the same thing as fabricating out of whole cloth a story about getting shot at. A statement of the sort that Mrs. Clinton made is not inadvertent. It is deliberate. Nobody would criticize her for not being a Marine Corps veteran. Nobody would expect her to be a vet. Nobody doubts that she has done service to her country. It's the false claim to having been involved in hostile action that I find offensive and impossible to accept as a simple misrecollection. Noticing an egregious misstatement is not a "gotcha" and calling it that cheapens the idea of any critical discourse as does throwing up a whole smokescreen of other stuff that I supposedly might have said or thought or inferred. Besides, Brian, you brought it up. I merely responded. I realize that Mrs. Clinton has been a lifetime subject of the Republican slime machine and I've been outraged by that for years. I have no sympathy for her on this one. She owns it 100%. And yes, I voted for the Irish guy O'bama. You heard about his brother, Al, didn't you?
- Any relation to Lamont Cranston?
- Chron TV Critic has an issue with Simon: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/26/DDGRVPNRO.DTL
- I had a girlfriend once (many, many years ago) who suffered severe migraines. She was helped by acupuncture. It took several treatments over a couple of years but she did get permanent relief. And, yeah, I'm kind of attached to my hands.
- That was fifteen minutes portal to portal. No stand by time, no nuthin. He paid the fifteen minute rate and left a $50 dollar tip. Wonder if there is any possibility of them bonding. What do you say to your wife? "Umm, honey..."
- What a kick in the nuts. I've read and commented on his blog for a long time. I'd really come to like the cranky so and so. We need more people like him. People who are filled with genuine outrage. I, for one, will really miss him. I wish I had had the opportunity to have a cigar and a few pops with him.
- Wonderful obit, Nancy. I feel like crap.
- I don't work for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. I do work for another state agency. I'm in no position to provide a big essay and don't have exact statistics at my fingertips. So. CDCR has something like 33 prisons in the state along with a number of youth facilities. What does CDCR bring to the local economies? They buy a lot of stuff on statewide contracts -- you can't imagine how many millions they spend on pharmaceuticals every year. But there is still a lot to be bought locally. Think of all the miscellaneous stuff you buy on Saturday at the home store, odds and ends at the supermarket etc. Multiply that by 33 and then by the 3-5000 inmates at each joint. Prisons buy lots and lots of stuff at the hardware store as you might guess. Maintenance is forever and inmates are hard users. Prisons have an enormous effect on local utilities. Garbage, waste water treatment, power, water and all. In some locations these are major issues and CDCR pays tons of bucks in mitigation fees and for mitigation projects all up and down the state. The biggest and most obvious monetary contribution is, of course, the payroll. Most California prisons, especially the ones built in the last 50 years are in relatively rural areas. The salaries paid by CDCR are pretty good, especially when compared with those paid for the few other jobs available in a rural economy. The decent salaries paid to the 50,000 or so people who work in the prison system dump a lot of money into local economies for housing, restaurants, groceries etc. and provide an otherwise unattainable standard of living for many, many people living in these rural areas. Some institutions are located in very desirable Sierra foothill areas. The Dept. provides a means for people to move to these areas and in other locations provides living wages to otherwise impoverished folks. For those of you familiar with California, think Jamestown and Blythe. Mule Creek and Centenela. It's not a PhD thesis, but I hope this gives some small idea of what effect prisons have on local economies. When reading Nancy's post, as soon as I got to the Mississippi bus service part, I thought of the CA bus service she subsequently cited. This service provides transportation from the Bay Area to two women's prisons located in the Central Valley near Chowchilla, north of Fresno. One is Central California Women's Facility and the other is Valley State Prison. As it happens, I have a small job going on at CCWF and plan to be there next week. Here's the web site: http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/
- Del's bus trip reminded me. I have occasion to fly into and out of Ontario fairly regularly. There are three prisons located not far from there: Chino, Norco and Corona or Frontera as it was once called. Every now and then, I have flown out of ONT on release day. The waiting area and flight will be loaded with families and just released inmates. I've seen them (ex-inmates) guzzle three and four beers on the short flight from ONT to SMF. It's an interesting flight.
- Both Folsom and San Quentin are in major metro areas. Folsom is a suburb of Sacramento and San Quentin is located in Marin County, in suburban San Francisco. There has been talk for years of selling Quentin off and relocating death row elsewhere -- usually to Corcoran. San Quentin occupies many acres of what must be some of the most valuable water front real estate in the country. Both places date back to the nineteenth century. Here's a link to a great picture of Folsom Prison: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3a/FolsomStatePrison.jpg Below (maybe) is a picture I took at San Quentin last summer. Death row is in the building to the left with the green vertical stripes. That stack visible at the far corner of the building, next to the siren, is the vent pipe for the gas chamber. I remember the Chowchilla kidnapping, but was never motivated to figure out exactly where it took place. I can't imagine there's anything to see.
- No picture. I'll email it to Nance.
- "Inmate" is also a legal term. That is what inhabitants of California State prisons are officially called. They are so termed in all publications and in legal procedings. Those who inhabit youth facilities are called "wards".
- proceedings
- Used to be a NASCAR race driver named Dick Trickle. Swear to God. I had a friend many years ago who was the service manager at a BMW store. Some genius at the regional level decided that service managers should wear suits. So Leroy used to buy a suit a week from the Salvation Army. He'd wear it for five days and toss it. It was cheaper than a bill from the dry cleaner. You can imagine the look and fit of some of them -- especially by Friday. This only lasted a month or two. It's in the eighties here today.
- Nothing wrong with John Lee Hooker the great blues singer. That was true about Dick Trickle (funny how how you have to say his whole name) smoking in the race car. He would light up during yellow flag laps and they would pick it up on the in car camera. I don't recall anybody ever making a stink about it.
- That horrible crash in "Le Mans" was not staged. It was the real thing. The driver, David Piper, lost a leg in the accident. Aside from that awful moment, it was a teriffic film.
- I'm sure you're correct, Mark. I'm operating off an ancient memory without a reference. Too lazy to google. Boy, I can see that on a tombstone now. TOO LAZY TO GOOGLE. Ms. Knipl is too good. I knew a kid named Joe Blow in third or fourth grade.
- There's fiction vs. fact and there's details right and wrong. Two very different things. Fiction can be whatever you want it to be. If an author goes to the trouble of including a detail, it needs to be right. One can't help wondering what else is wrong when one spots a boo boo. That stuff really can ruin a book. An M-16 round does not tumble (I've seen that in a book). That is an erroneous detail. Doesn't matter if the book is fact or fiction. And where are editors and other prepublication readers? For the Twin Cities John Sandford is the best. He may be the best of them all. My one time wife and I once operated a business. We had an accountant do our taxes. I used to cringe at the things he deducted and at the big refunds we received. Finally we got audited. I was very nervous. I asked the guy what I needed to do and he said nothing, that he would take care of things and that it was all part of the service. In the end I got a very nice letter from the IRS saying they were sorry for bothering us. The accountant has more than earned his fees over the years. He doesn't do personal taxes as a rule but he likes my erstwhile wife (we're legally separated but not divorced for a variety of reasons mostly spelled $$) and does her/our taxes. I'm way money ahead having had him do our taxes all these years. It might be worth it to get a pro, especially with home office issues. Dinah Shore sang "I'll Walk Alone". I like the links to the record store.
- Trust me, Mark. I've fired many, many rounds through an M-16. Including tracer. It does not tumble. Think about rifling, aerodynamics, etc. It couldn't tumble. The lethality you speak of results from an air space at the forward end of the brass jacket. When the round strikes, the melted lead surges forward into the air space causing the spinning (not tumbling) jacket to burst with unfortunate results for the hittee.
- I'm a Connelly fan as well and I've had occasion to follow his footsteps in the valley. I think changing an apartment house for an office building is an acceptable detail switch because curious readers might bother residents. Also that sort of detail has no effect on the story or on credibility the way misplacing the sunrise would.
- I donated a comment with my thoughts on Hillary a week or two ago. I don't particularly care for her and I voted for Obama in the CA primary. In fact, the more I see of her, the less I like her. To hear her talk, she practically joined the NRA over the weekend, clutching Charlton Heston's used gun. But, if she is the nominee, I will vote for her over McCain. That said, I am appalled at the steady beat of misogynistic crap that is everywhere including all the so-called joke emails I get every day. I don't care who she is or what she stands for it's just wrong.
- Jeff, I can't imagine why you're startled by the idea of maintaining an escrow account to cover property taxes. I make one payment per month to my lender and don't have to worry about property taxes at all. The mortgage company provides me with a monthly accounting of the whole shebang including the escrow account, pays interest on the account and pays my taxes every six months. In the mean time, the county still sends me the same tax bill everybody else gets so I'm never in the dark about my property taxes and how they're paid. I have friends who prefer to pay themselves. I see it as a Ford vs. Chevy sort of thing. But a startling concept? Can't understand that.
- Rev. Jenkins' ribs in Berkeley used to be great. Part of the fun was watching the counterman whack 'em apart with a huge cleaver. Wonder if they're still there. Also Leon's in San Francisco. The place caught fire once when I was there. Nobody left or even missed a bite and the grill guy managed to somehow put it out with a garden hose. Can't imagine that happening today. I've been to Arthur Bryant's in KC and couldn't see that it was any better than Jenkins' or Leon's. Wonder if any of them are still there.
- My erstwhile wife used to do pork butt in cherry coke. On top of the stove for hours and hours. I laughed my ass off when I first saw her boiling pork in cherry coke. Until I tasted it. She got the recipe from a guy who runs a Mexican restaurant. It's sublime in tacos.
- No alcohol in Indiana on Sunday? Really? In 2008? How barbaric. Trader Joe has a Shiraz called Purple Moon that sells for $3.99. It's better than Charles Shaw. Then, at twice the price it should be. The label says it's made in Manteca so it may come from the same factory as TBC which, by the way, still costs $1.99 at my local Trader Joe's.
- When I'm with my grandson I make a conscious effort to say "yes" as much as I can which is 99% of the time. I feel badly about all the "noes" I said to his mom. I've never looked in the mirror in the morning and seen Kim Basinger but then I never cared for her. I have, however, been priveleged to see numerous other lovely morning faces over the years.
- Clinton by seven.
- I saw Padma Lakshmi (truly a goddess) on television. I never could stand Garrison Keiller or his horrid show.
- Inside the little box, alas.
- Well, who else you gonna complain about, Jolene? Nobody complains about themselves. It's like feeling sorry. If I don't feel sorry for myself, who will?
- So are we now going to see Miley Cyrus dressed up like one of those Texas cult ladies?
- Was it JoeK who said "If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going"? I guess an A320 is alright as long as the nose wheel is pointed in the right direction when it lands. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERFf91rkc6w There have been something like 15 of these incidents. Oh, and this is why those airline captains are paid decent bucks. This LAX incident was great for the media. I watched it live on the 5:00 news. It was perfect. Drama, scariness, suspense and a happy ending. Everytime somebody says "A320" I think of it. Easy please, Caliban. I used to have a mild letch for Jane Birkin.
- Years ago when we lived in San Francisco and my daughter was the age of Ms. Skenazy's son she had an adventure. Stephanie was going someplace with her YMCA group on the Muni bus and fell asleep. The group got off wherever they got off and forgot the sleeping Steph. She woke up at the end of the line somewhere. She didn't know where she was and to this day I have no idea where she went. Someplace in San Francisco. I didn't know what bus route they had taken since they had left from some intermediate destination. So there she was, nine years old and stranded Lord knows where in a major city without a dime. But she's always had an excellent sense of direction and a fast mouth (you wouldn't believe) and great confidence in herself. So she BS'd her way home on the Muni. No tears, no calling the cops, no calling one of us, no problem. She got home earlier than she would ordinarily have - laughing. To Stephanie the whole thing was a lark. We had to call the Y to tell them she was safe. I think kids are a whole lot smarter than we give them credit for.
- And the follow up? Now Stephanie has two kids and is your classic soccer mom. Soccer, swimming lessons, kung fu, etc., etc. I just try to be as bad an influence on the kids as possible.
- I've been in the L. A. area for a couple of days. It seems I missed some excellent sessions at NN.c. The rental car people gave me a Passat. I was most favorably impressed, Nance, it's a really, really nice car. One of the neat things I did while in cool, cloudy Southern California was to survey restrooms for access compliance. During one fun packed morning, in the course of which we trooped through about 8000 restrooms, a great philosophic question posed itself to the members of our all male crew: While in the bog, do women read the newspaper society pages the way men read the sports pages? This also raises the question of how the electronic media will respond to the male need for sports pages in the loo. Great video. I was just wondering where the fire boat escort complete with all the spectacular water plumes might have been. Somehow I missed it. Seriously, I enjoyed the movie. This blog is taking on whole new dimensions and I love it. Somehow, with all the blogs I cruise, this is the best -- my "home blog".
- Nothing to be insulted about, Nance. I was making a mild joke. It's well known that some men read the sports section on the pot. This applies more to workplaces than restaurants. Nobody really thought that women brought the paper to the potty much less the society pages. After surveying about your 968th restroom anything that seems amusing is welcome. Besides, they don't even have society pages anymore, do they? Except in those slick city and regional magazines.
- I truly despise Bush but I must admit the bride looks very nice. I have nothing against her and would agree that she deserves a happy wedding. The mom looks, as she always has, like she dresses out of a 1977 Monkey Wards catalogue. She also looks like she saved a few bucks when she selected her plastic surgeon. The sister? I don't know. All the speculations in the comments sound plausible to me. As far as looking under the weather goes, well . . . I certainly can't say anything, though Mom does look rather loopy. I got quite toasted at my daughter's wedding. That was a great party.
- OK, Marche's "dress" was in poor taste. So let her put a on sweatshirt or something. I had to watch the video without sound so I probably missed the important parts. But I still don't get the handcuffs. And I have come to hate the word "inappropriate". It means everything and nothing to idiots who don't like something but can't articulate why they don't like whatever it is they don't like. Didn't the Bugman hail from Sugarland? SJP's hat is nothing. What about all those country and western singers who sit at award shows wearing those huge cowboy hats? Didn't anybody ever tell them that a gentleman doesn't wear a hat indoors? Kind of a self answering question.
- Say but the word. Here's your Smart Car wreck of the day. http://jalopnik.com/389911/smart-fortwo-punted-by-delivery-truck-returned-by-van
- I saw that WAPO weeny's shrimp recipe. Huh. Here's a shrimp dish. You eat it with friends and wine and beer and mojitos and a nice green salad. Get some of those frozen shrimp of the large persuasion. They've already been slit up the back and the, er, alimentary canal excised. Get your stuff ready. Some chopped garlic, olive oil, some soy, some sherry, red pepper flakes, some fish sauce and if there is anything special in your arsenal add or delete. This is to your taste. Add some salt and pepper. Get a large frying pan or wok. Get it hot. No. I mean hot! Now splash in the olive oil, add the shrimp and toss. Wait a sec, then start adding the other ingredients starting with the garlic. Toss. Add the rest of the ingredients. Toss. Toss some more. When ready (don't over cook) turn out into a large bowl and put on the table with an extra bowl for the shells. Yeah, you gotta peel them yourself. Your fingers get all messy. On a warm Sunday afternoon with friends . . . Other than chopping the garlic it takes seconds to prepare.
- Oh yeah, and Brian. I noted that "my little chiclets" remark but wasn't sure what to make of it. Is there something I don't know about?
- How do you say "Nice hat" when trying to stifle a guffaw?
- Besides, the ANWAR is limited - that is there is only so much oil there. It could potentially help shortages but would not go any near solving shortages. Also if they started out today with full approvals, permits, etc it would be ten years before any of it arrived at the pump. We had a beautiful golden retriever named Blondie. She was a sweetheart but very emotional. Our yellow naped amazon used to call her from the other room. "Blonnnntie". Then poor Blondie would come into the bird's room and the bird (her name is Murphy and she's 26 now) would cuss her out and make her cry. What a collection of animals we used to have.
- Out here in California we have the Quinceañera, a sort of elaborate Mexican sweet 15. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quincea%C3%B1era I've had friends spend fortunes on them.
- I once had a minor letch for Rebecca DeMolay.
- The filters on my office computer won't let me look.
- I once heard a five year old call it a "shiner".
- Brian, my daughter was so bad she'd fall asleep when I was backing out of the driveway.
- The Oregon State mascot is the beaver. The female athletes are known as the "Lady Beavers" which I and my Pac 10 watching friends always thought was repetitively redundant. Mindy, get a new knee. I've talked to lots of people who have had knee replacements and they have all had only one regret: that they hadn't done it sooner.
- LAMary, Danny, we had the same swing here from 100's to 60's. I don't mind so much but my tomatos could use a little sun. Also I'm very, very tired of the wind. I had a good time in high school. I wouldn't call them the best years of my life but I did enjoy that time.
- I saw a place this AM that was down to $4.09. That's right. Down. It's been $4.13 -$4.16 at the cheapest around here. They ran cars and trucks on charcoal in Europe during WWII. I never bothered to find out how it works. Never thought it would matter. Here in Northern Cal the authorities have instructed people not to heat their houses with wood or to burn fires for fun. This was last winter. Wood burning fires are very polluting. Big story here is they're gonna be closing I-5 off and on for days at a time right in downtown Sacto for the next two months starting Friday. I-5 is kind of a major street in Calif. Things will be very interesting.
- Oh, I know all about clean burning stoves, C'dad. When I was still married and living in Auburn we had an insert that came with all kinds of EPA, etc. stickers attesting to its clean burning ways. We used to save lots of money burning windfalls instead of turning on the central heat. I was just reporting what the air people here mandated last winter.
- When I was at UI in Champaign in the early, ulp, 60's the steam tunnels used to be available for pedestrian traffic. That really did ease winter walks to class. MommyTime, my daughter, who lives in Yorktown, VA, voiced exactly the same complaint to me last Sunday. She would love to walk to the store but with two little ones and no sidewalks she isn't about to risk those 50mph streets. They don't even have shoulders on half of the streets. Just ditches. The developers saved a couple of bucks.
- I had a '61 or '62 four door Falcon wagon once. The basic model, no shelf paper on the sides. Had a little six with about 12 HP and three on the tree. I'd love to have it back. Best car I had in the old days was a '69 BMW 2002. First wife got it in the divorce. I got the '67 Dodge convert. I drive a couple of dozen rental cars a year. One thing that strikes me is how competent they all are, from little Hyundai shitboxes to huge Lincoln Towncars, when compared to cars of 40 years ago That airport at Tegucigalpa looks terrifying. Personally, I always preferred slipping into an Xwind rather than crabbing.
- Bossy's got the Michigan/Florida vote fiasco fairly well covered. http://iambossy.typepad.com/
- You've got it John C. Claiming her people have been disenfranchised when, in fact, it's Obama's people who got disenf'ed and then claiming that she got the most popular votes. She only gets the high vote total when counting FL where Obama's people didn't vote in any real numbers and MI where they didn't vote at all. Can you imagine the screaming from the Clinton camp were it Obama wanting to change the rules after the fact and count states favorable to him?
- In summer of 1965 they held a race in the parking lot of Candlestick Park. I was right there when a driver named Bart Martin, driving a Brabham sports racer, hit a power pole head on at speed. The live wire came down and torched the car. I don't know if he died from the impact, electrocution or the ensuing fire. I do know that the charred remains were not pretty. It was the worst thing I had seen to that point in my young life. Because of these and other accidents all forms of racing are orders of magnitude safer than they used to be.
- I'm glad that you haven't banned Caliban, Nance. The comments can be a little, er, opaque at times and sometimes his fingers don't all seem to be connected to the same brain but occasionally there's a zinger. I have no complaint. Beautiful weather here: 80ish, 26% humidity, sunshine, light wind. One of those days that reminds you of why you wanted to live in California. Ten day calls for more of the same with mid 90s next week which isn't bad here.
- So, Caliban, come out, come out wherever you are. You've received an overwhelming vote of confidence. Of a sort. I, for one, would welcome you.
- Judith, help me. I'd love to read what you wrote but your link puts me on a main page and I have no idea of where to go. I see local headlines, recent headlines, one dead - one missing etc. Tell me where to go. Thanks. Hmmm. You can go to the head of the long line to tell me where to go.
- Thanks, Kim. Nice letter, Judith. We should all take heed.
- I've been stuck with rented Cavaliers several times. They buzz and they vibrate and they throw the most horrid reflections from the plastic dash right into your tortured eyes. My worst experience was driving one from Sacramento to Arcata via 5 and 299. 299 is one of those legendary trips -- 4 hours of two lane mountain driving from 5 to the coast. The Cav absolutely beat the shit out of me. I was exhausted when I got to Arcata. I've made that drive in a lot of different types of cars and there isn't anything like a Cav. Driving one of those things is an absolute act of self abuse. Here's one for you: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/2004-CHEVY-CAVALIER-TURBO-LAMBO-DOORS_W0QQitemZ290236852688QQihZ019QQcategoryZ6163QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
- Dr. Doolittle? The Wind in the Willows, Charlotte's Web, the Holling Clancy Holling books - I loved his Book of Cowboys and his Book of Indians. Minn of the Mississippi is a classic.
- If she's looking for something light and amusing I'll be happy to forward a copy of the State of California's "General Conditions for Construction Contracts". The section on change orders is particularly edifying.
- I'd loan you my biography but it's still in development.
- I can picture the kid with the extra appendage grown up and dancing with one of those Muslim girls.
- C'dad, I often find myself imagining conference room scenes when ad agencies are pitching particularly crappy commercials to clients. I can see the idiots sitting there: "Yeah, . . . yeah, that sounds good." while their product is embarrassed on screen and I wonder if the ad agency people are laughing their asses off or are just incompetent.
- When I lived in Auburn before splitting with my wife, one of the dogs got skunked. I had heard about tomato juice so I poured TJ all over poor Aimee's head and shoulders. Worked like a charm. She had instant relief. Saw possums waddling around but never thought of them as pests. Same, same coonies. The hawks (chicken killers), bobcats (ditto), foxes (ditto) and coyotes (couldn't get past the fencing but killed three cats) were more of a concern. Our eggs were never that dirty. We just rinsed them in warm water and let it go. Boy, were they good.
- Thanks for the tip LAMary. I certainly defer to your greater experience but now I live alone in town and as a frequent traveler I don't have any pets. C'dad - great story. Just a reminder that no good deed goes unpunished. We never had more than 12-15 chickens at a time. They were locked in their house at night and ran loose during the day. I was never aware of possums as predators but I'll again defer to the greater experience. The worst were the bobcats who showed up during the last six months or so that we were together. There was no stopping them and we eventually had to give the surviving chickens away. The mother is the only one I've seen and at a good 2.5 feet long and looking like 25 lbs she seemed huge to me. My untrained eye has probably caused her to grow but even so . . . So far they haven't bothered the goats. Talked to my ex the other day and she reports that current population is mom and two wee ones. Obviously, dad's not far away.
- Well, if Barack isn' her baby's daddy, who would be?
- It's not just in the south, C'dad. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/16/MNJT119MI5.DTL&tsp=1
- Great looking recipe, C'dad. I'll have to try it. An excellent quick stock can be made from shrimp shells. When you peel some shrimp for whatever recipe, merely toss the shells in a small pan of water. Bring to boil and simmer for a half hour or 45 min. Strain and season to taste. Use it for cooking your rice or for your sauce or save it or whatever. It has a sweet flavor and doesn't taste fishy at all. Here's your demons, Jeff. The follow up stories about the man who beat his son to death tell us that he was heard by onlookers to indicate that he was beating his son to chase out the child's demons. Deputy Singh with the Stanislaus County Sheriff's office in Modesto is on TV all the time. He's different. A skinny little guy with mod, moussed and spiky hair, he favors purple shirts with white ties. Not your average rural sheriff's rep.
- I can't play the sound here either, Mary, but I can hear the stirring music and the deep, manly voice anyway. I visited the Alamo once (it's right in the middle of town) and discovered that it's not a historic building, monument, museum, preserve or such. Nope. It is a Texas State Shrine. Says so right on the plaque.
- I heard every one of those stories on the news last night, Nance. Wording identical to yours. There used to be a lot of flooding in the Sacto/NorCal area. But that was back in the days when it used to rain. Filling sandbags is not fun.
- Do you riprap people know what gabions are? We used a lot of both 10 years or so ago in an effort to keep San Quentin from disappearing into San Francisco Bay. Along with a lot of other tricks.
- A-B truly makes lousy beer. 'Though, I must admit that when I was young and thirsty and in the RVN I sure was happy to see a can of the stuff - even warm. Ever notice that it's made with rice, not barley? I'd much rather have a Stella. Maybe they could teach A-B something about making beer. I have no ancestors who fought in the civil war. My grandfather, however, was active in the IRA. Story goes that he, who was from the South (Swinford, County Mayo), killed a British policeman in the North and suddenly developed an interest in emigrating to the US. This would have been about a hundred years ago.
- It's only 12:30 here and already it's over 100. Lots of fires. It's going to be a scary summer. There should be a way to split the difference with the rain between us and the midwest.
- I made beer a couple of times many years ago when I (we) lived in San Francisco. It was quite good. I really surprised myself. Maybe I should try it again. Jeez, that would have been back in the early '80s.
- The high today was 102. What caught my attention was the merc hitting 100 very early. Usually it takes longer to reach peak temps. High clouds floated in to ease the temperature. Unfortunately, those clouds mean dry lightning in the foothills and in the Sierra. 102 is just summer weather here in Sacramento. We can have stretches of 20 days and more of triple digit temps. The thing that makes the place so livable is the evening cool off. At night the temps fall to the 60's or even the 50's before climbing back to their highs. As a result, evening activities like BBQs or sleeping or whatever are most pleasant. I'll confess. The thing that has me edgy is the fire danger. The temps, low humidity and high winds are fire magic. My (once) wife lives in the woods. In a gorgeous house to be sure, but still in the woods. The very dry, tinder dry woods. Sure we split last year, but without rancor and after 30 years together there are still feelings and the fire danger and the dry lightning have me very scared. So. I might have been to a party or two. Lord, how does one pick? There was one when I was in school at the Univ of Ill when I observed Roger Ebert going out a back window as the police raiding the place came in the front door.
- I didn't mean early in the year, I meant early in the day. 95 at 10:30 in the AM means a really hot day but Sat it clouded up so we only topped out at 102. It hasn't gotten really hot here yet. The fire stuff scares the crap out of me for my ex-wife (as above). There is so much smoke that visibility is down and we can smell it inside the sealed building here. Outside it irritates one's eyes and throat.
- What a coincidence, Jolene. I just checked "Fiasco" out of the library this afternoon on the way home from work. One of the reasons my erstwhile wife and I are legally separated rather than divorced is health insurance. She has none where she works and I can continue to carry her on mine as long as we don't get divorced. Also taxes are more favorable for us filed jointly rather than singly. We are totally split. We talk no more than once every three or four months and then only for business reasons like taxes or something. I don't even know if she has boyfriend or not and don't care but I don't hate her and sure wouldn't abandon her to a life without health coverage.
- I'm sorry things are still that way, Alex. Best I can offer is that progress is slowly being made. I think marriage for all is making its way over the horizon. Let's just hope that it arrives sooner rather than later.
- I'm waiting for one of the religious wingnuts to equate the Calif Supreme Court decision vis-a-vis gay marriage with the fires now burning hereabouts.
- Nicely said, Mary. Very nicely said.
- Obviously, single payer is the way to go. There's nothing wrong with a well run bureaucracy. Think Toyota isn't a bureaucracy? The big thing is to keep the insurance companies out of the mix. Also, all anybody seems to talk about is how to meet the costs. Is anybody looking at what the costs truly are? At why the costs are skyrocketing? There must be something other than profiteering on the part of the industry. They wouldn't pad costs would they? So what has caused costs to increase so dramatically? What can be done to hold them within reason? Has anybody even taken a casual look at the health care mega corps and their cost structure? The politicians couldn't be . . . No, even such a cynic as moi couldn't believe that. I mean, look at the wonderful, classically simple drug bill that the Bush administration has given us. It cuts out the insurance companies while creating a mechanism to allow negotiating the most favorable prices from the drug companies. Doesn't it?
- What Moe says. The Dems need to get out there on the offensive and start attacking or Obama will go the way of Kerry. By the way, Kerry may have been a fine river boat leader but he was a shitty, mealy mouthed candidate who ran a lousy campaign. He wouldn't take a position on whether the sun rose in the east or the west. He didn't run to win, he ran not to lose. The Dems had better not make that mistake again. Do not underestimate McCain. I didn't vote for Kerry, I voted against Bush. The Republican slime machine will say what it's going to say regardless of what Obama says or does, so he may as well speak his mind. As Olbermann says, he's paid the price so he may as well get the game. Or something like that. Jack Shafer has been chasing the media on drug hysteria for several years now. He's doing an excellent job. "Oliver Winery black cherry honey-wine". Gag. I can only assume that's a joke, although I will admit to certain desperate purchases (not to be specified) in my youth. OK, here's a couple. Ever hear of Gallo Spanada? Richard's Wild Irish Rose? It's amazing that I'm as old as I am. And that's old. And Maker's Mark is so awfully expensive. Trader Joe has a pretty decent bourbon in Evan Williams. I quit Jack Daniels when they diluted the product from 86 to 80 proof. That's simply watering down the booze. Do the math over X number of cases.
- MMJeff, Evan Williams is about on a par with Jack Daniels. It isn't as good as Maker's Mark. It's a bit sweeter. I like it over ice. I don't know how it would fare warm. Alright, I'd guess, but again, it's not Maker's Mark. And for the price differential, MM had better be by far the superior sip.
- Now you want to put some kind of needs/qualification test on medical care? Gonna put the old people out on the ice? Stake 'em out on the hillside for the wolves? So how old are you Mo?
- Do tourist stuff. Ride a cable car. Have an Irish Coffee at the Buena Vista. Eat a great lunch at Tadich Grill or Sam's. Have Dim Sum at that great place on Stockton and Pacific. Visit the Exploratorium. Walk and walk and follow your nose. Union Street, Chinatown, the Marina. There's something neat on each block. Surprise yourself. Ride the 40 Stockton, also known as the Orient Express. What I do in a strange city is look at some kind of guide book and then just walk. I also like to take a bus or streetcar or whatever to the end of the line and back. Just to see what's there. Did I mention that SF is a great walking town? Also a bizillion great places to eat. Bring something warm to wear.
- I am. Now just tell me where I can collect.
- I also used to like Dexter. I still remember his last column in the Bee back in the mid 90's wherein he basically signed off with a 'screw you'. I wish he'd start writing again. I still miss Herb Caen from the Chron. The Chron has always had excellent columnists and still does today from the great Jon Carroll to the best sports columnist in the biz, Bruce Jenkins. You've got a new regular, C'dad.
- When my daughter was in high school she did a ride around with a local vet. This was a school approved deal. Our then vet (still my ex's) does both large and small animals and they have a half dozen service trucks that travel to farms and ranches. She thought it was cool until the vet was armpit deep in a cow. It squicked her out and she dropped being a vet from her list of career possibles. As an aside, their large animal facility is said to rival that at UC Davis. They have all these cranes, slings, turntables and a host of other medieval looking stuff. The place was spotless.
- Shit. I just saw a story on the news about a 64 year old farm worker who died of heat stroke while harvesting squash in hundred degree plus temps. In California. I'll be 64 in Oct. I don't know why, but for some reason I broke into tears. I must be getting weak in my old age.
- I don't know if Mr. Eason is independently wealthy or not, but you don't get rich working for the state. With all due respect, Dexter, I emphatically disagree with you that his protest is "is just plain weak". He paid with his job. I hope he does have a place to go. Fifty one is too young to retire. He won't get squat from his state retirement system going out at that age. I agree with your admiration of the two young men who protested the Vietnam war, but I have to note that it's lots easier to start one's life over in one's twenties than in one's fifties.
- I particularly liked that Pate woman in the wiffleball whirlwind who was so put out by the sounds of children playing. Oly has been gone for 20 years and more. Somebody may own the name and sell some stuff as a discount label but, come to think of it, you don't see those cheap beer labels any more.
- May the three of you have a great vacation! And may the airline gods be with you!
- I was in the Bay Area yesterday as well. I was in Berkeley. I could see the GG Bridge but it was too far away to see who was riding bikes on it. There is a big old public health lab in Berkeley. It has been replaced by a new facility in Richmond (which claims to be the largest public health lab in the country and is, indeed, huge) and will be razed. I have to survey it to see that there is no residual radioactive shit and to abate whatever is found and get the radioactive materials license surrendered. I had a job site meeting last week attended by no less than five PhD physicists. Talk about trees obscuring forests. Interesting project. Incidentally, there were never any isotopes of any harmful nature employed in this building. All very low level stuff, lower than one would see in an average hospital. The labs up the hill or out at Livermore are a different story.
- Telegraph has always been a little edgy. Our building is on the other side of the campus at Shattuck and Hearst, an old eight story bldg.
- You're right, LAMary that there's a lot of stuff in the Bay Area to make your eyes roll. I guess you just kind of grow some thick skin against all the self absorbed nitwits after a while. Nancy mentioned Acme bread for a reason. It's heavenly stuff and I'm lucky to be able to get it here.
- In Monterey go out to Point Pinos and pluck mussels off the rocks. Yum. Used to do that years ago when my brother in law lived there. LAMary, I saw those pix of Helen M. earlier. She looks even better than I do at 63.
- Hattie, I used to live on Bonita between Rose and Vine. Lenny's Meats, the Co-op, the Cheese Board, the very first Peets complete with Alfred, Cocolat, Chez, Pig by the Tail, Lucky's, Safeway, Saul's Deli, the places I've forgotten-- all that stuff that made the neighborhood such a great place for food.
- Yesterday my daughter, son in law and the two kids went to DC to meet the Pres. It was the occasion of that annual tee ball thing although Dominic didn't play. They got pix taken with the Pres and got fed and generally had a good time. I didn't get to talk with her much as it was late there and they were on the road from DC back to Yorktown. I should have pix in a day or so. My son in law (who is a career soldier) announced that he would be happy to go again next year unless there was a Democratic president in the pale palace in which case he would decline. He's a great guy but in some ways he's a real numb nuts. Brian, I worked for IHC in their SF/Oakland branch when AA was in charge. From my perspective the whole operation was poorly managed. I visited Ft Wayne once for a factory tour back in ought whenever. Probably around '77.
- Jeez, C'dad, that sounds like a real gamble. Is the store really that far away? Don't forget you need onion too.
- Chop the chard, saute briefly (very) in garlic and oil. I've got lots of tomatoes and chilis of several varieties but some critter beat me to the eggplant before it calved.
- So Nance, are you attending that Blogher conference?
- Boy did you hit one of my pet peeves. Luggage bin hogs. You wouldn't believe the stuff people bring on the plane. I've had several jobs over the years that entailed lots of flying. One time I was flying home from the east coast to SF and checked everything, even my brief case. All I had was a paperback book. Some dipshit, loaded down with everything but the kitchen sink, asked me if he could put one of his bags under the seat in front of me. I was struck dumb -- couldn't think of a thing to say. Just a couple of months ago another dipshit dropped his bag on me. Fortunately I was alert and caught it. They just fry my tootsies. I think the airlines encourage it because every bag handled by the pax is one less they have to handle. The new charges for checked bags aren't going to help. SF and Monterey are always cool. Always have a jacket in your car if not on your back. I heard that NPR bit. I really like that 90% smug and 10% whining combo. Great description. Imagine what that guy takes on to the plane.
- A composting toilet. The ultimate gift for the anal retentive. One day last year I was flying home from Orange County. For reasons that don't matter I was carrying more stuff than usual and checked a bag. I was an hour early but had a good book. Once at the gate I noticed there was a flight to Sacto that was boarding as I watched. I went to the desk and asked and was able to get a seat since the aircraft was only about half full. Relaxing on the flight north with my paperback, I smugly congratulated myself on the swift move that would get me home an hour early. We were on short final for SMF when the penny dropped. Oh well, an hour here, an hour there . . .
- I was interested to see that the Starbuck's at Shattuck and Cedar in Berkeley is closing. It's a block and change from Peet's -- the very first Peet's opened by Alfred Peet his own self back in the late '60s. The mother church. I used to buy my coffee there back when I lived in the neighborhood. I'm not at all surprised that the Starbucks there is closing. I still drink Peet's -- there's one not far from where I live and I pass at least two Starbuck's to get there. Herb Caen once observed somebody ordering a non-fat latte with decaf coffee and named the drink a "why bother". I'd let LeFevre go with a slap on the wrist. Maybe a $50 fine. I'll think about putting her in jail the day after "Scooter" Libby goes to jail.
- My once wife used to maintain that the time to plant the garden was at midnight when the moon was full. To my knowledge that never happened. But then who knows? I'm a pretty heavy sleeper.
- The metal thieves/scavengers are a big problem here too. A little responsibility on the part of the scrap yards would do wonders as Nance noted. You can bet the yards are cheating hell out of the scavengers. Wonderfulness breeds wonderfulness. The Governator is threatening to cut my salary to $6.55 an hour next week. That'll almost cover my wine and cigar bills. I may have to learn some of C'dad's survival skills. Or maybe go into the metal scavenging bidness.
- Check the suit that guy Minnis wearing. It looks like a '47 Buick seat cover. He does look kinda pleased with hisself. What kind of money does a guy putting out small town shoppers make?
- Reminds me of the time in Chicago when some lady asked my father for directions to the cicerobookstore. It took him a sec before he directed her to -- Sears. An that's what he called Sears for the rest of his life.
- In college I had what we used to call a "phone hook". It was a piece of heavy gauge wire bent a certain way which when shoved up the coin return tripped something so that coins inserted in the slot fell right into the return. You could call anywhere forever with a nickel, a dime and a quarter. Remember exchange names? Our phone number was Skyline 8-something or other.
- Right! The first two letters on the exchange were in caps. In those days where I lived the phone co. owned all the phones. There were no personally owned phones. And yes, they were stout. And you could actually jam the handset between shoulder and head and talk hands free. Then there were those rubber thingeys to attatch to the handset to further aid handsfreeness. It's all coming back now . . .
- Caliban, I happen to agree with much of what you say. What I can discern anyway. There are raised dots on the “F” and “J” keys to guide your fingers. I must, however, take exception to your criticism of McCain’s war record. Yeah, he dropped bombs. Yeah, the bombs may have killed whomever they may have killed. He may not have been the greatest flier the world has ever seen but then anybody who flies off a carrier is a better than average pilot. Being downed by a missile doesn’t mean he was a lousy pilot. Many excellent fliers have suffered the same fate. He carried the weapons loads he was assigned and he flew the missions he was assigned as did thousands of other pilots. By the nature of things there is a certain detachment between the pilot of an attack aircraft and the results of his efforts. This has been true since the introduction of indirect fire weapons in the Roman era and was true with the primitive bombers of WWI and is true today with the current generation of attack aircraft. There are plenty of points on which to attack McCain and his idiocies. This is not one of them. Please drop it. I was in the same war at the same time. I served in a five man recon team and later in a line company. I had many occasions to call in air strikes from both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft. Sometimes I was able to specify the ordinance we desired for the situation we faced, sometimes we took what was available. Unlike Sen. McCain and probably most of the NN.C regulars I know intimately the smell and the heat and the gruesome results of a napalm strike. The Smell. God. Certainly I was as guilty as Sen. McCain in putting napalm on the ground. I’ll admit to being sensitive on this subject. Hate me if you wish. Jeff, your holier than thou, smug, self satisfied “I’m the intellectual, fatherly voice of reason and sobriety on NN.C and my life is dedicated to doing good unlike the rest of you” act is wearing thin. Something has changed your posts in the last several months. I liked the Jeff of last year a whole lot better than the current paternal right wing apologist you seem to have become. “Clarity on abortion, McCain”. I heard both statements and Obama was just as clear as McCain on the subject and more thoughtful to boot. I know you don’t agree with Obama but you can’t with honesty say that he was unclear about what he thought. But then your statement exemplifies right wing rhetorical techniques, doesn’t it? Obama attempted, successfully I think, to articulate the difficulty of the decision a woman is confronted with when facing an unplanned and perhaps unwanted pregnancy. Pro choice is emphatically not pro abortion. Obama in no way advocated abortion as a substitute to thoughtful planning and careful acting. The problems and the difficulties of making a decision to carry or abort are unique to each woman and couple and situation. They’re not something to make light of or to brush aside. Women who have abortions are not thoughtless, godless heathens. It’s an awful, horrible decision but it’s her decision. Smart money “erring on the side of life”? If you think the “myth of conservatives who don’t care after the baby is born is … false” you haven’t been looking at the reality of the harsh life of the young single mom. Time and again the Republicans in legislature after legislature have defeated efforts to provide money, food and medical care for low/no income single moms. Yours is a strange position for someone who purports to be a caring provider of goodness, help and counsel to the unfortunate. Shit. I got sucked into the controversial again. I’ve been trying to stay out of it, but . . . oh well. One more thing: Michael Phelps may have eight gold medals but I can tell you that he owes at least two cases of the very best to Jason Lezak.
- Caliban, I'll defer to your greater knowledge of swimming. Jeff, sorry I got carried away. I live in the state with the worst budget problems in the country. Because of an almost unique requirement for a two thirds majority passing a budget every year is a drama. The budget was due on July 1. We still don't have one. The genius' under the dome are still wrangling. The movie should be entitled "When Idiots Collide". The Governor (yes, him) has signed an executive order reducing State employees' wages to the federal minimum. That means that at the end of the month I'll get paid $1152.80. Gross. The Republicans are always talking about cutting spending. Two problems here. One is that everybody wants the same level of service but that level can't be sustained without something goes up. DMV for example. How can the DMV be expected to provide a level of service to our current population similar to what they provided in 1998 with the same number of employees they had in 1998? Something has to give. The second thing is that somewhere around 90% of State funds are committed to one program or another before the budget is signed. That leaves only 10% or so discretionary. Any cuts have to come out of that small pot. Guess whose ox gets gored -- severely. Right. Those without legions of lobbyists. So every year the victims are the young, the elderly, the disabled and the destitute. Happens every time. It's going to be a tough couple of weeks for a lot of people who work for the State. What's the plural of "genius"?
- Thanks, I'll be fine. I have a corner reserved in old town where I'll be selling pencils to tourists on weekends.
- Anybody notice that the L.A. Times hired a former DirecTV boss to be publisher? He has zero newspaper experience. I'm sending in my resume. I can strike out as well as anyone.
- I've also spent time in Brussels. My ex Mother in Law lives there. Chimay is a little to alcoholic for my taste. I don’t think beer should be that strong. I’ve tried any number of good beers there but I can’t remember any brands other than Stella and Chimay right now. They used to have the pub system there where the brewer owned the pub and all they served was their brand(s). I haven’t been there lately so I don’t know if they still do. Stella is the Bud of Brussels but I think it’s not bad at all. It’s light (not “lite”) and refreshing when ice cold on a hot day. Gasman's right. I like it. But don’t forget the Brits and the Irish. My feeling is that there are different beers for different moods and times. Guinness is great when you are in the mood. If I want something a little heavier than Stella, in the winter for instance, I like Steam, Sierra or Red Tail -- all Northern California brands. Now that Stella and Bud are married maybe she’ll shape him up. I never could stand Bud and I agree with Nance about those fou fou beers. Ugh. Know why the Brits drink warm beer? Because they have Lucas refrigerators. Nyuk, Nyuk.
- I watched the '92 Olympics in Europe where the coverage was excellent and the 2000 Olympics in Saigon where the coveage was so - so. I think NBC's US coverage has improved dramatically over the years especially with the added channels and reductions in the sob stories. I used to like Costas but now there's something strangely infantile and creepy about him.
- I've done my serious for the month. I will, therefore, attest to the fact that hominid exhaust emissions can be set afire. The flame is blue. The duration is, . . . well, . . . a function of the duration. Talk about mileage varying. This was an old college dorm and army barracks pastime. I never saw anybody harmed by it other than having beer forcibly ejected from their nose whilst observing the process, although I never saw it attempted in proximity to an open petrol can. By the way, if certain unpleasant vapors are encountered in an enclosed space, lighting a match or lighter can improve the atmosphere. Burns up the remnants. Really.
- I don't believe there were cans of Off in those days. Can't recall having seen one, anyway. We used to flamethrow with spray cans of Right Guard. It was judged to be the best after some modest trial and error.
- Between college and military we are looking at about '62/'69. Sounds like we were using inferior products. I'm not Hungarian, I'm Irish. You can probably tell. And you can count me in as a member of the R. M. fan club.
- That Detroit teacher looks like a cross between Mr. Rogers and Pee Wee Herman. I suspect part of his problem is that he looks the part. The people across the street just painted their house PINK. Gghhaaa. I still remember the smell of fresh paper and pencils from back in primary days.
- AP story first sentence: “Columns of hulking, smoke-belching Russian tanks rolled out of key positions deep inside Georgia…” Who writes this shit?
- Von Spakovski. The Bushies are relentless, aren't they? What does it say when L. I. Libby walks free while Marion Jones rots in jail, her plea for presidential mercy unacknowledged?
- Gasman, I was married for 30 years to a foreign national. After 9-11 she went and got her American citizenship. She feared all the same stuff your wife fears. And thanks for your posts. Saves me the trouble and you say it better than I could.
- I quit reading the strip a long time ago. It just turned to mush. I don't to repeat Nance and Lance. They've said it so well. Was it just me or did that birds nest stadium look like a toilet seat from some angles?
- Great minds think alike. There's an interview of the guy who designed it on a web site called "Sexy Beijing". I don't know why it's called that, but it's a fun site. I don't want to access it here at the office for the usual reasons. I'll do a link when I get home. Anyway, he's a pretty cool guy.
- Here's the interview with Ai Weiwei http://www.sexybeijing.tv/new/video.asp?id=99 I don't know, Mary. Something about the idea of a wicker toilet seat . . .
- Lord help me, beet porn. I can't stand the things. Never been a Hillary lover (I've covered that here before) but as Scout opines, I think she hit a home run last night. As an aside, isn't there something better for political type women to wear than those horrid pants suits? They all look like they came off the clearance rack at Ross. This is not just Sen. Clinton. Look at that pale greenish number Laura Bush has been wearing for the last umpity ump years. Somebody needs to do something. It's a national disgrace and my eyes are starting to burn.
- I didn't mean to be disparaging about anybody wearing pantsuits. Just about the garment itself. But you guys do make good points about practicality and I really can't think of another alternative. Pants suits probably travel very well too. So I guess I'm a lot better informed now.
- WHOA, Gasman!! You’ve got the wrong guy here. I’m on the good side. I think you have me confused with Mark H. Look, for example, at my Aug 25, 2:55PM comment. Look at my comment the other day when I took off after Jeff calling him a right wing name! I agree with everything you and C-dad are saying. As I said the other day, you two make my life easy. You two say it so I don’t have to and say it better than I could. I await your apology.
- By the way, Gasman, I never went back and hadn’t realized until today that you had replied to my comment about my foreign born wife and her obtaining US citizenship. As you noted there is the very real risk of an irrational deportation without cause. It was precisely because of this fear and fears of losing other things like all the money she has paid into Social Security over the last 30 years and because of the Bush administration that she went for her citizenship. I don’t think the US government grants or recognizes dual citizenship or that there is a mechanism for applying for it. You sort of assume it. Jump through the hoops, get your US papers and just keep your foreign ones. That’s what everyone else does. So here she’s recognized as a US citizen and the Portuguese g’ment still recognizes her as a Portuguese citizen. I am truly sorry that the atmosphere is so awful in your area of New Mexico. Sacramento is a pretty level headed town, I guess, and she (we) never had any Gestapo fears here when she applied. There are so many foreign born folks here that one more here or there isn’t noticeable. I was going to make a tasteless joke about using Wen Ho Lee for a reference, but I’ll resist. Would it be possible for her to apply in Albuquerque? Would she be less noticed there?
- I knew you just got the names mixed, Gasman. Thanks.
- Probably the last time he got it up.
- I told the story about my daughter falling asleep on an SF Muni bus in a comment when the Ms. Skenazy story first emerged. I go with Mary and Nance. Today my daughter is confident and capable and strongly self-sufficient. She also has well developed self preservation instincts and lots of common sense. I be proud. She's doing a pretty good job of raising the next generation too.
- Last time it was Kerry. A guy who tried to be on all sides of every question; tried to be everything for everybody and ended up alienating everybody starting with me. And yet, he still came damn close. The guy was so bad you couldn't get an answer from him about where the sun rose. After a few weeks of his campaign, I was surprised that he was even agreeing that he was, in fact, John Kerry not just allowing that he might be John Kerry. If he were asked how many homes he owned he wouldn't even admit he lived in one. He didn't run to win the election, he ran to not lose. He couldn't even be bothered to stand up for his own personal self-respect. He may have been a hero in Vietnam but he was sure no hero in 2004. Before him was Gore, another charisma challenged stiff (ideas are no good if you can't do something with them) who also didn't run to win but ran to not lose. They were just like that doomed prevent defense employed by two point leading teams in the fourth quarter of a football game. And Gore ended within an eyelash of making it. Then came Obama. From that terrific speech last night, it appears that, finally, at long last, there's a Democratic candidate who is willing to play to win, willing to fight for his candidacy and for his own personal dignity. Obama stood on his hind legs like a man and said something last night, an act which neither Gore nor Kerry were capable of doing. I hope he keeps it up. Palin sounds like a desperate bid to grab the disaffected Hillary hold outs. Jeff, that was a wacked out comment. Sounds like you and Brooks http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/29/opinion/29brooks.html have been drinking the same Kool Aid.
- Gasman and JC, nice comments, certainly more thoughtful responses than my kinda smartass one.
- Track, Bristol, Willow, Piper and Trig. Really? These are ordinary sounding names in the so called "Heartland"? I guess I've been sequestered in California for too long. Is she Mormon?
- Of course she's not qualified. But I wouldn’t sneer too much. Wait until they finish packaging her. “I’m pro-choice. I chose to have my Down Syndrome baby” After thinking a little about it, I still agree Palin is a cynical choice but I’d never sell Rove and the Republican slime machine short. However, I don’t think they're going after the Hillary hold outs. Their track record shows that they chase electoral votes and they have a demographic in particular states they are chasing. Maybe I’m over thinking it but I’m going to worry until the morning of November 5 and I see Obama’s name on top.
- Derwood, see my 6:42 PM comment on Nance's Friday post "What a Weasel Wants". Link below. Your story is exactly what I had in mind. Mary, the "Capitol Corridor" train runs from Auburn through Sacramento to San Jose. It overnights in Auburn. I got stuck one morning because they couldn't get the damn thing started.
- I wasn’t aware that Alaska had an actual border with Russia. It had always been my impression that something called the “Bering Strait” interposed its presence between the two countries. Oh well, live and learn. Given this new reading of geography, could Delaware be said to have a border with Portugal? I know there used to be a little water between them, but it’s only a matter of degree, isn’t it? Now I’m beginning to wonder if California has an actual border with Mexico or whether Michigan truly abuts Canada.
- Nance, http://detroitblog.org/ features a guy who used to walk through the Pointe with a possum on his shoulder. Ever see him?
- Whew!
- Nice work, Jeff.
- Wait a minute, Danny. You started out on how Obama's community organizing was nothing and suddenly, somehow, it became Wright's preaching. They are two different subjects. Which one are we on?
- I think I know enough about Gov. Palin to entertain some serious doubts about her. She seems to have a tendency to be arrogant and autocratic and to personalize things as when she basically required senior managers in Wasilla to take a loyalty oath to her. This arose again in a big way when she used her gubernatorial powers for personal reasons to can the state’s chief law enforcement officer because he wouldn’t fire her former brother in law. She has a tendency to use her office to advance her religious agenda. This can be seen in her book banning efforts. She has made numerous statements in which she used her religious beliefs to support political and geo-political undertakings. She scooped up large sums of money from earmarks on the one hand while condemning the practice on the other. She has been less than candid in her statements about her positions with respect to the bridge to nowhere and about where the money went. She has used her pregnant daughter and prospective son in law to advance her political fortunes while condemning anybody who would comment about the practice. She claims to be on board with Sen. McCain and his “Country First” slogans while maintaining a very close and long term association with an extreme secessionist group. Can you imagine the screams if Obama had a similar association? With these and all the other things everybody else is pointing out it seems to me that this is someone whom I don’t want anywhere near the White House. I’ll be the first to admit that she scares the crap out of me. What have I omitted? What else is there that we don’t know yet? Whatever else, I don’t believe that this woman is stupid. I think one would underestimate her at one’s peril.
- More to the point what does " the only way that the pregnancy of Bristol Palin could’ve been kept secret is if it had been John Edwards’ baby. Then the press would have sat on it for months" mean?
- Geez, Basset, one of the great things about Trader Joe’s is the wine selection. They have all sorts of interesting foreign and domestic stuff. That blue law is positively medieval. Ever hear of a TJ wine tasting? Buy an interesting looking bottle. Go out to your car, open and taste it. If it’s good, go back inside and buy a case. And indeed, bacon is the world's most perfect food. Sorry, Mary. I’m doing my cleaning and laundry and vacuuming and stuff. I know. A man’s work is never done. Was cleaning the stove and have the football game on. Penn State vs. Oregon State. Why is Bob Griese still on TV? He’s horrible. OSU players are called the Beavers. The women’s’ program is the Lady Beavers. Isn’t that . . . Never mind.
- I look at a lot of food porn and all the food bloggers agree about bacon being the perfect food. I'm not quite sure what the joke is. There's a recipe for Kim Chee that I'm trying to work up the courage to make. One of these days.
- For some reason I just can't see "Fanny Hill" on the shelf at the Wasilla library. And if it ever had been there, some kid would have stolen it. It was the first dirty book I ever read back when I was 12 or 13. I swiped it from my dad's stash. Hard to believe he spent six years in the Catholic seminary. Thank somebody he quit before he was ordained.
- Forgot the cabbage recipe. Shred one. Chop three Granny Smith apples. Chop an onion fairly fine. Melt a stick of butter in a pan (a big pan, I use my wok) and throw the above in over medium to low heat. Toss. Cover. Sweat the stuff, stirring until limp. Combine cider vinegar, a very small touch of nutmeg, sugar, cayenne or red pepper flakes to taste and dump in the cabbage. Stir. S & P to taste. Eat. Excellent on the second and succeeding days. Good sweet and sour stuff.
- Fresh Dungeness crab right off the boat in Arcata. Tomales Bay oysters right out of the water at Tomales. Mussels plucked from the rocks at Point Pinos. Fresh abalone from the waters north of Fort Bragg. Lots of other fresh fish and seafood available around here. Yum. I guess fruits de mer are an acquired taste and the acquisition maybe has to do with where one has spent most of one's life.
- "Indiana-style tenderloins". For sure I don't know what that is. I'd be happy to try some though.
- You bread beef tenderloin at $15 a pound, deep fry it, put mustard, catsup, mayo, pickles and tomato on it? And eat it?
- Or pork.
- The Lions will have lots of competition from the 49ers this year. Below is the beginning of Ray Ratto’s column in yesterday’s Chron. I like the headline. Nothing to See Here, Move Along (09-07) 18:57 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- It's early. Lots of football left to play. A work in progress. Some good signs out there. See? Even you, the most committed 49ers fan that ever was, can't spit out those with any conviction. You saw what you saw, and the phrases stick like pet hair in your throat. "Early?" Looks like too late from here."Lots of football left to play?" Oh, dear God. "Progress?" Where? "Good signs?" Yeah, right.
- It's great, Mary! Thanks for the hook up. We have a lot of that senile agitation around here. Douching with Lysol? My God.
- Now you tell me.
- I make my own pickles. Pickling cukes and dill from the farmers market. They go into quart jars. Sometimes only one to a jar if big enough. No cooking, no preservatives and no vinegar. They are good in two to three days and last three to four weeks. Yum. I'll probably get one more batch this year before it's back to Claussen's. Next year I'll try growing cukes Mary, where's the best corned beef sandwich in the Burbank -Hollywood area? There's a place on I think it's 3rd and Palm in Burbank that's OK but there has to be something better.
- Thanks, Mary. I've got several things coming up in the area. Maybe I'll be able to hit them all.
- Old saying, Catherine: "If it wasn't for the last minute, nothing would ever get done."
- Jeff, are you being deliberately obtuse or do you really not understand the point? Please go back and reread Calliope's comment. It is very clear. It's OK if you move your lips while you do so. We won't tell anyone.
- I love traveling. I can sleep on airplanes. Airports are fine with me. I've been to a bunch of countries in Europe and Asia as well as Canada and Mexico. I enjoyed two government sponsored trips to Vietnam in the late '60s. My big surprise came in 2000 when I spent three weeks in Saigon. Ho Chi Minh City. The people there were friendly, open and cheerful. They loved Americans despite the years we spent assiduously fucking up their country. Everybody has a relative in Sacramento or Orange County. The way I travel is to find a spot and stay there for two or three weeks. Then I walk, walk, walk, take public transportation. Take the bus to the end of the line just to see what's there. Hang out, wander, hang out some more. You can get a real feel for a place that way. No, I don't get bored. The hotel in Saigon where I stayed in 2000 cost me $18 per night. Not the Ritz. I was the only gringo there. There's great food to be had from street vendors. But the big surprise was how they liked Americans. I spent a couple of days in a pedal powered rickshaw operated by an old man. Despite the language barrier, we exchanged war stories like any pair of old vets. He took me to museums, shrines - all kinds of war sites I would never have seen otherwise. It may sound morbid or something to most, but that war was a big part of my youth. The Binh Than Market is worth a trip itself. Great food, great sights, great people, great trip. I could live there.
- I felt kind of ugly Americanish having an old man schlep my fat ass around town on a rickshaw but it's his livelihood, he didn't seem to feel badly about it and we both had a good time. He kept wanting me to come back another day. I understand the Commie g'ment of RVN, in the brilliant fashion of g'ments everywhere, has banned rickshaws. I saw Hue, Da Nang and Phan Thiet during the war. I'd like to see Hue today. It was a mess then just after the Tet offensive. Nha Trang is a beautiful beach town not overly ruined by tourists.
- And I've also been to Bakersfield and Fresno.
- My daughter has a Chihuahua which she refers to affectionately as 'the bug eyed freak'. Here in Sacratomato I live in the hood. The dog of choice is a Pit Bull. Each one chained in the yard. A few have some half assed shelter but most just live in the yard all year 'round. No wonder they're so mean. I just can't figure out why they don't eat their owners first.
- She looked better than I have on several of the many occasions on which I've been caught out not knowing squat. Yeah, Colleen, I find that overuse of peoples' names annoying too. It's like it's some kind of technique they teach somewhere. She also has a mother in law voice.
- What is this “smell test” y’all keep talking about? It only conjures up images of dogs sniffing assholes. Corn based ethanol is one of the worst scams ever sold to the American people. It’s expensive in energy and water to grow. It’s expensive in energy to transport, expensive in energy to convert and has far fewer BTUs than gas. You have to burn 20 gallons of the stuff to get what 15 gallons of gas will give you. It’s a loser all the way. Some of the various grasses may be viable ethanol sources if ADM and Cargill and their legions of lobbyists would allow their use which they won’t. In Brazil they use sugar cane waste products for ethanol. Stuff they were throwing away anyhow. Burning your food just isn’t smart. Jeff, I can’t for the life of me figure out just what it is you’re so smug about.
- Muzzle Mammoth Palin. Another group of vics here is the shareholders. But then they've been getting abused all along by the corp officer corp.
- My car and truck used to be insured by 20th/21st Cent. They were bought out recently by AIG. The deal with AIG being insolvent is that if I get in an accident, AIG has no money to pay me. "Sorry, Mike. It's a stiff finger for you." My policy is up at the end of the month. I'm moving to somebody else Friday.
- Tina Fey did an amusing Sarah Palin, but Gina Gershon is to die for. http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/61410aa4ff
- Ford only sells one Ford car in the US as far as I can tell. That's the Focus. Everything else is a warmed over Mazda or Volvo. They sell countless different SUVs. Maybe that's their problem. Maybe Ford should make a car.
- 100
- I can’t crochet but I’m crotchety.
- I had business in StL once back in the late '70's. I remember the bar in the Holiday Inn. Somewhat.
- I thought you so called conservatives were all for less g'ment interference in peoples' lives. So whose business is it who marries whom? And who gives a shit? This is a religious issue and we still live in a secular democracy. We don't live undersome sick so called "Chrisitan" version of sharia. Yet. Thank God. If you don't believe in gay marriage, don't marry within your gender. Quit being such a bunch of busybodies about other people's lives. And somebody please explain how gays getting married is going to have one whit of an effect on anybody elses' marriage?
- So what, Jeff? Although I can see that a dilution of the power of the clergy might distress you. Moe, has Johnny Mac disclosed his full tax records? Including his wife? I recall that was missing and don't recall the omission being rectified.
- And what's the likelihood that the spineless Congressional Dems will actually hold out for real reforms before they hand Paulsen his blank check? Guess who the lobbyist for the foreign banks was. Right. Phil Gramm. The guy who dreamed up the current situation and Johnny Mac's financial advisor and putative SecTreas if the election goes that way. Nobody could dream this shit up.
- I dislike McCain as much as anybody here. I agree with most of what Caliban has to say with the exception of the constant carping about McCain’s being a criminal for conducting air strikes. I’m not trying to pretend there was anything heroic about it but it wasn’t criminal. I called in lots of air strikes while in Vietnam in the late ‘60’s. If he’s guilty, so am I. Also who gives a shit about his having a fling with a Brazilian bombshell when he was 21 or so. I’m more concerned with his cynical vote chasing (he’s making Joe Lieberman look honest) his constant lying and his complete lack of any grasp of things concerning domestic, foreign or economic policy. Alex, maybe she said “tasty” instead of “testy”.
- I watched the Katie Couric / Sarah Palin interview yesterday and I was appalled. Not just at Palin's utter lack of knowledge and understanding but at her lack of preparation as well. The questions were not that difficult. Every one of them was an expected question. There were no surprises, no "gotcha" questions. Where has the McCain campaign been for the last couple of weeks if not preparing this woman for these obvious questions? She should have had a pat, memorized answer for each one of them. Instead she looked and sounded like I did in grade school when the nuns called on me the day after I hadn't done my homework. By the way, the Governor of California does have actual meetings with the head of state of our next door neighbor. Governors have traditionally met with the President of Mexico for years. And maybe the President of Mexico flies over California airspace on his trips to Alaska.
- Catherine, I really liked your rant. You expressed exactly what I’ve been thinking. Capitalism is a full contact martial art and needs rules and referees to work. My feeling is that the Dems are fully as culpable as all the rest. They did nothing to oppose or counter the excesses of the last 20 years. The almost unbelievable spinelessness of the Democratic Party members of congress over the same span is one of the big stories of our time.
- Moe, you’re right about the filibusters and right that the MSM didn’t call the Reps on it. However, the Dems never called them on it either. There were several occasions on which they should have made the Reps talk their filibuster out instead of caving. They never said a thing about it in news conferences, etc. The Reps are always talking, always yakking, always criticizing, always keeping their ball in play. The Dems just lie huddled in their fetal position. I remain astounded and disgusted at the widespread lack of guts and leadership in the Democratic party over the last 20 years.
- I have a newspaper question. Is it common for the local writer to get a byline on a simple rewrite of a wire service story?
- For openers here in Sacramento there are something like eight car dealerships that have closed in the last couple of months. There are two big holes in the ground where high rise projects died. Houses are selling (those that are selling) for pennies on the dollar. The Bee has redesigned itself and looks like crap. Which is what we will be getting since they've canned half of their staff. Etc., etc. Life is good.
- I clicked on that ChiTrib thing long enough to see a guy billed as the “Associate Editor for Presentation” followed closely by another dweeb billed as “Innovation Director”. That was enough. I also saw that they narrowed the page and made the thing look like USA Today which I think is totally unreadable. When a paper starts canning reporters and replacing them with guys like this they’ve lost their way. Col. McCormack must be rolling in his grave. Don’t laugh Mary and Catherine. These people own the LAT. What’s the deal with making the paper narrower? Better slicing out of the roll? Spacing on the presses? What? I know the Bee told us it was to make the paper better for us. Uh huh. It looks and feels unnatural.
- Been in L. A. the last three days. Just got home. Best minor league baseball name is the Las Vegas 51s. The Sacto River Cats are the Triple A champs for the second year in a row. http://www.rivercats.com/
- I think the mispronunciation of “nuclear” was deliberate. Palin’s handlers know how to say the word. If they had been so inclined, they would have had her say it correctly. It’s part of the folksy presentation package. She didn't care what Biden or Ifill thought. She didn't care about the questions. She wasn't talking to them. She wasn't there to answer questions. She was making her campaign speech to targeted people in targeted states. I find that “Joe six-pack” appellation extremely patronizing in a way that “soccer mom” is not.
- Moe -- “Gidget goes to Washington.” I love it. My daughter was a math major. I idly picked up one of her text books one time. It meant nothing to me. Nothing at all. The whole thing was written in some kind of alien script. Trader Joe’s has a good selection of Indian foods. There is a selection of pre-done ones in pouches that you heat in the microwave or in hot water. They’re not bad at all. Also pretty inexpensive. Just don’t think of the processing facility in India where the stuff was prepared and packaged while you eat.
- Wow! Big weather here too! Temps plunged into the sixties. Normal at this time of the year is mid eighties. We are expecting our first real rain since Feb 24. So sez the TV weather peepul.
- You’re absolutely right, Mark. We don’t want “class envy” . So to avoid any danger of “class envy” we should give the richest 5% another large tax cut on top of all the other cuts they’ve gotten in the last eight years. We certainly wouldn’t want to gang up on the poor saps.
- I've got an Eames chair with ottoperson. Had it for years. It is beautiful but my recliner is much more comfortable.
- There are a lot of very nice chair/ottoman combos for sale at your local scandahoovian store. I've seen them priced from $300-400 up to $Several Thou. They tend to be very comfortable and to be very attractive if you like the look. Ikea has the Poang chair: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S39840162 for a hun and a half. The ottoman is about $85 extra. I've tried it. It's comfy.
- Here you go, Caliban. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2250244,00.asp
- I really miss the eggs from when I was married and living in Auburn. Sooo much better than store bought. We used to give the girls oyster shells too. I don't recall seeing any of the girls actually eat the stuff, but the shells were always strong and healthy. Don't forget the little targets in the yolks of the fertilized eggs.
- I think it was wolves she was hunting from a chopper. Derwood, isn't "ungulate" what a stripper does? Right? So meese are a species of stripper.
- The war in Iraq is going nowhere. The war in A-stan is going down the tube at an alarming rate. The world economy is in a meltdown. Millions of Americans are facing the loss of jobs, savings, houses or all three and all this shitbird can talk about is who Obama may have had lunch with 20 years ago. Talk about taking yourself out of the debate.
- Hi, Jeff. Good to see you. I agree with everybody. I am sick to death of all the TV ads. I’m looking forward to a few months without them after Nov. 4. I stumbled across this in one of James Lee Burke’s excellent novels: “…a prototypical personality any southerner recognizes – one characterized by a combination of self-satisfaction, stupidity, and a suggestion of imminent violence, all of it glossed over with a veneer of moral and patriotic respectability.” You don’t have to be southern to observe this. And I was at Trader Joe’s today. Two buck Chuck is still $1.99.
- Many, many years ago when I was in the army, a couple of us were driving through Ohio. We stopped at some roadside joint for a burger and ordered beer to drink. It was 11:45 PM on a Sunday and the guy told us he couldn't serve beer because it was Sunday. We just had water. A little while later the guy came back, announced that it was now Monday and asked if we still wanted beer. Blue laws are wonderful.
- The worst mudslide in recent memory was in 2005 in La Conchita, Ventura County just up the coast from L. A. There have been many others. http://www.beachcalifornia.com/seacliff.html One of the guys in our group is doing the slope stabilization contract there even as we speak. Some years ago there was a large slide on Angel Island in S. F. Bay. I had the fixit job then. It was basically "See that road and hillside sitting in the Bay? Pick it all up and put back on the hillside." Sunday and Monday Angel Island partially burned down. Check out the link and click on "view more images": http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/15/BASC13H3IJ.DTL Now you know why I remain so nervous about my former spouse who still lives in the woods in Auburn.
- There'll be a big fight over water between NoCal and SoCal. It's been simmering for years. It's called the peripheral canal. You know you're a CA resident when you have pix of water bombers taken from your front porch. When you have to clean the ashes off your car.
- I asked that question of John Kerry last time around, Nance, and voted for him anyway. Holding my nose. In CA Joe could work as a plumber for somebody else but couldn't open his own shop without a contractor's license. Most "plumbers" are roto-rooter type guys anyway, not real plumbers. By the way, in NoCal the plumbers and electricians unions have excellent, rigorous apprenticeship programs. A person with a union journeyman card knows his or her stuff.
- The Trib used to have its own way of spelling and phrasing. Is that what they mean by a "style book"? I would like to have a good look at USA Today's growing circulation figures. I don't know anybody who actually gets it delivered to their home. I see it in vending machines and each one of the many hotels I frequent strews the thing up and down the halls every morning. I wonder if they count me as a reader. I don't look at it, I just kick it out of my path on my way out of the room. I wonder how the hotels pay for USA Today. By the pound? Of course circulation is growing. Every time a new hotel opens that's X number of new pounds of oops, I mean issues of the paper.
- I dunno, Cooz, I think what you have maybe isn’t vegetarian flower any more. Just so happens Ruhlman has good takes on Pollan and on dumbing down recipes. Read about Pollan and then scroll down. http://blog.ruhlman.com/ It seems that the big thing here is building high end food stores with big take out departments offering lots of gourmet entrees. Some fully cooked, some take home and cook.
- When I lived in Auburn we used to have an occasional mouse in the house. It was usually a field mouse that a cat had brought in. “What the cat drug in” had meaning in those days. Anyway, I was prevailed upon to use those catch and release traps. When the mouse was in the trap, I’d take it all the way to the end of the property and let it go. There were a couple of cold, rainy days when I really had to force the little devil out of the trap. I’ll bet he beat me back to the house.
- When the Food Network started it was all about how to with lots of great shows telling folks how to cook. They’ve completely lost their way. Now it’s all one stupid “challenge” after another, one stupid gimmick after another. They seem incapable of putting on a straight, informative cooking show anymore. I still like the Iron Chef, though, and Good Eats although Alton Brown can get a wee bit full of himself.
- I dunno. I can’t get too worked up about La Palin’s make over just as I couldn’t get excited about John Edwards’ haircut. What would people be saying if she showed up on the national stage in the same rags she schleps around Wasilla in? This is a no win situation for her. The deal with Clinton’s haircut was that he held up traffic while he was getting barbered. That’s different. What I can get bothered by is Palin fiddling her expense account. That’s just a no-no. I understand her wanting to have her kids around but she needs to pay for that herself. Nobody made her run for public office or get pregnant once there. The worst is the hypocrisy. Mary, that Bobby Flay show is an example of precisely what I was talking about. Why does cooking always have to be competitive or against a clock or have some other hook? TFN has been losing viewers in droves (including me) and still can’t figure it out. I like Bobby Flay well enough in his straight cooking shows. He and Mario and especially Emeril put TFN on the map.
- I agree with everything you say, Gasman, but I can’t imagine getting upset because the RNC bought some clothes for Palin. The amount spent may be arguable but then it’s RNC money and I didn’t contribute to them. They’ve spent money on worse. As I said, I can’t get worked up about it. There’s plenty to detest about the woman and about the RNC. This is small potatoes. I don’t know if Sen. and Ms. Obama had any assistance from campaign funds in spiffing up their wardrobes. I hope so. I believe it’s a legitimate campaign expense. I never heard the roving hands stuff about Bobby Flay but if true it's despicable and he should be brought to task for it.
- Gawwwd. I bought some Italian sausage a couple of weeks ago intending to freeze them. I discovered them in the back of the refrigerator last night. What a waste.
- Off the subject, but here's something scary for you L.A. folks. I needed to know the depth below ground surface for groundwater at a site in Van Nuys. According to my consultant, the ground water in 1983 was 52.7 feet bgs. In Sep 2007 it was 173.7 bgs. The calculated depth to water at the site was 184 feet in Sep 2008.
- Mark, you claim to be a lawyer. That suggests you also claim a certain level of intelligence and education. I simply cannot imagine any educated person, especially one trained to follow the fine print believing that Obama is espousing communist ideology. He may use the phrase “spread the wealth around”. So what? The rich have had benefit of mind boggling tax breaks over the last 10 years -- at the expense of the middle class. The gap between rich and poor has widened dramatically over that same period. This is a serious and continuing redistribution of wealth that needs to be halted and reversed. The rich need to pay their fair share. The opposite of “spread the wealth around” is “restrict the accumulation of wealth”. It’s plain that you and the rest of your Republican elitist friends are and have been in favor of restricting the accumulation of $$ for some time and have been extremely successful in your efforts. You’ve turned it all on it’s head. What we have now is socialism for the rich and free enterprise for the poor. As for Joe’s plumbing business, the figure was $250,000 to $280,000 as a purchase price for the business. A business with two employees that has a net worth of two hundred some grand is in no danger of paying either of them a $250,000 annual salary.
- Seen the latest? The bullshit bidding process on Palin's Pet Pipeline?
- Those'd be some shoes to fill.
- That's one of the great mysteries, Mary. How have the Republicans bamboozled the working class into voting against their own interests for so many years?
- With Halloween in mind, here's a great place to shop for your loved ones. The L.A. Coroner's gift shop: http://lacstores.co.la.ca.us/signpost.htm Thanks to Ken Levine for the link.
- Dexter is right. Maher sucks. He's many things but funny isn't one of them. Miller is beyond description. What's this "your comment is awaiting moderation" stuff?
- You're right! It's early and I was just on the first sip of coffee. "J" is my minniminisha. Really, it's probably the dementia.
- You can imagine how my daughter, who used to live nearby, refers to a certain North Carolina ville named Fuquay-Varina. The female sports teams at Oregon State Univ are reduntantly referred to as the "Lady Beavers." Boy, I guess I really have gotten tired of the election.
- That's alot of the population, Dexter. Back from my brief sojourn as MichaelJ. Just checking out an alternate identity.
- Sad about Studs Terkel but he was 96. That’s all you get. He was one of the truly greats. “Male Pattern Optimism” is a terrific phrase. I love Lisa de Moraes. I like peanuts and I like peanut butter. Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are too sweet for me. My teeth curl up in the fetal position when I eat one. Mark, it’s amazing how you and your Republican brethren willfully miss the point. Morality to you folks means “If you don’t go to jail, it’s OK”. Nothing about legality, nothing about what’s good or bad, right or wrong, nothing about what’s honorable or not. Simply jail or no. Just ask that brave and honorable American I. Lewis Libby. No modern Republican would ever do anything merely because it was the decent thing to do. The right wing ideology has to be served first. To explain: Nancy’s point was not that it was legal or illegal to toss suspected Obama supporters; it was that the Republicans were shooting themselves in the foot in any effort to attract college age voters in a college town. But that’s OK. You don’t ordinarily go to jail for shooting yourself in the foot.
- Yeah, you're right about the timing, Linda. Interesting how as I've gotten older, the things I find attractive in women have grown and changed.
- I'll stick by what I said concerning Nancy's original post, Mark. Things became muddied when you started wringing your hands about poor Sen. McCain's First Amendment right to speak only to people who love him. I somehow missed the change of topic to Darfur, prison racism, drugs, etc. As far as Republicans and decency go, you’ve created your own reductio ad absurdum. Once again here as above, in a typical burst of Republican rhetoric, you throw out clouds of BS to both avoid and fog the issue. Again: you say you are a lawyer. The way you constantly require somebody to draw a picture for you makes me glad you’re not mine. I was talking about Republican politicians, Mark, not cops, not G.I.s , not firemen. But you really knew that, didn’t you.
- Here in the Sacramento 'hood it has been cool (mid 60's) and rainy for the last two days. It did stop last evening for a dry T or T time. I had exactly one child stop here. He was a little black kid about 6 or so sans costume. Pop was out on the sidewalk. He politely thanked me for the candy and then told me that I had a nice house. My guess is that all the local kids went to up scale neighborhoods. You know, like all the kids who migrated to Nancy's place? The area they vacated? That's where I live. I'll just bring all the left over candy to work.
- I watched it and I'm still not sure if Glock let them (Hamilton and Vettel) by or whether they passed him straight up. It was a good race for once though so much of the drama resulted from external factors. I'm still not the F-1 fan I was thirty years ago. Don't know if I will ever be.
- I'm one of those lazy types who voted absentee. I dropped it off at the post office last Wed. I do kinda miss voting in person. Filling out a form and dropping it at the post office doesn't really feel like voting. I think maybe for next time I'll switch back to doing it in person. I am looking forward to watching TV without every few minutes some dweeb talking about how he's going to fight for me or somebody who sounds about ready to cry trying to scare the crap out of me about gays getting married and on and on and everlasting on. Brian, with respect to your quote: “They’re* gonna have thier own paramilitary”. The administration already has its own paramilitary with Blackwater et al. It's a real issue and it's real scary.
- At 8:00 sharp the networks will declare California for Obama and a 55 electoral vote hammer will fall.
- Boy am I with you on that one, Jeff.
- Coozledad, please accept my sincere and heartfelt thanks. I’m a lazy bastard who’s been rooting from the sidelines but it’s you and people like you who really made this happen. At this time I don’t know where North Carolina will fall, but your work (and I mean here the work of all those who got out there in the streets for Obama) has made the difference. Whichever way NC goes in the presidential race, you at least dumped the detestable Liddy Dole. That’s a big reward all by itself. Thank you again.
- THAT WAS A SPEECH.
- And thank you too, Linda. I think you’re going to be pleased over the next couple of years, Danny and Jeff. And yeah, you too, Mark. This guy is clearly taking charge from day one. I feel good about our prezelect in a way I have wanted to for many, many years. I can’t remember the last time I voted FOR one presidential candidate rather than against the other guy and my first presidential election vote was in 1968. I have real hope tonight. Shit, I smoked two cigars (on a week night!) and drank a shit load of wine. From the early returns it looks like the bigots are going to win on Prop 8. Can’t have everything I guess.
- Mary, I think that this might have been the last election in which the bigots (spelled M-O-R-M-O-N-S) could have passed Prop 8. Unfortunately their timing was excellent. I just hope it's revisited or overturned soon. My old district, always the most right wing in the state, looks to have replaced John Doolittle with creepy Tom McClintock. Other than these two results, I'm a happy boy.
- How about this for fun? I've heard speculation about Hillary Clinton for the Supreme Court. Can you imagine the screams?
- Danny and Nance -- point taken to a point. The Mormons were the financial backers and the impetus to both get the prop on the ballot and finance it once there. And a bigot is a bigot is a bigot.
- Years ago I was redoing the floors in a place where I used to live. Pulling up the ancient linoleum revealed a sort of underlay of old newspapers from the 1920's. No special days or events, just old papers. Reading through them was a lot of fun and killed progress on the job for an hour or so.
- Looks to me like they're thinking outside the box.
- When I lived in Auburn my next door neighbor shot them now and then. I was always amazed by how big and fat and sleek they were. No starvelings there. Our property was fenced and cross fenced so we never had problems with coyotes eating chickens, etc. We did lose a couple of cats to them, at least one of which should have known better. I used to enjoy listening to them sing at night. They won’t bother you, Brian.
- It's interesting to hear the differences between urban and rural coyotes. Rural ones are nocturnal and secretive and the urban ones seem to be very different.
- Several months ago I made a remark about one of Senator Clinton’s pant suits. Nancy called me on it and added some explanation of the difficulties of dressing for women in the public eye. It doesn’t pain me to admit she was correct. I also noted that I didn’t have any particular objection to the Rs buying some threads for Gov. Palin. I still don’t. The objection is to the abuse of the benefit and excesses that followed. I also figured that campaign funds probably furnished some clothes for the Obamas. So what? It’s a legitimate expense. I saw Ms. Obama’s dress the other night and didn’t particularly care for it but I figured that that was a reflection of my taste and besides, it was just a dress. Next time she’ll wear something else. The slide show link that Jolene posted shows, I believe, that Ms. Obama generally dresses very well. I think we all have greater concerns for the future than what Ms. Obama decides to wear on a given occasion. She’ll manage just fine.
- Was in Hollywood yesterday. There's room for another star on the sidewalk. I'll watch the movie when I get home this evening. Who are all these people at the airport talking to on their cell phones at 5:30 in the morning? There's a guy who parks one of those Bombardier Can-Am trikes next to me at work. I guess it would make a pretty decent commuter although I prefer four wheels and a roof. To handle properly a trike needs to have the two wheels in the front and the single in the back. A trike with the single wheel in front is a death trap.
- Late comment. Finally saw the movie. Teriffic! Hugely entertaining. More, More! Loh is great. I've heard her on NPR many times. Didn't she get sideways with KPCC or something? Or that other station in Santa Monica? I bought some Spam a few weeks ago just for the helluvit. I hadn't had any in years and years. It's a big wad of fat with no taste.
- Seven here. I saw Barbra Streisand close up at the San Francisco airport back in 1969 shortly after I got out of the Army. She was a lot smaller than I would have expected and she was also a very beautiful woman. Far lovelier in person than she ever appeared to be on TV or in the movies. Thanks, Mary. I didn’t get to try one of the delis you recommended but I’ll be going down to that area a lot over the next year or so. A friend took me to a very good Lebanese place for lunch. I really enjoyed it. Next week is Riverside/Berdoo. In that neighborhood I guess I’ll look for an In-N-Out. My daughter went to a Montessori school in SF for pre-school. We were very happy with it. It was a private school. I had never heard of a public Montessori school before the comment above. She then went to an excellent SFUSD magnet school for a couple of years before we moved to Marin County. My wife had to spend the night in line to get her in. It was worth it. I seem to be running a day behind.
- Mary, Tony Bourdain quit smoking six months or so ago. Monica Bellucci.
- I still don’t understand what difference the issue of who gets married or doesn’t get married makes to anybody. Marriage as recognized by the state is a civil matter. Some may elect to celebrate their marriages with a religious ceremony, some may elect to go to city hall or to Vegas. I don’t know if the two nice gay ladies up the street are married or not. It’s none of my business. I still don’t understand how two gays getting married imperils anybody’s straight marriage. Why can’t religions content themselves with minding their own business? Why do they have to bother everybody else? This is the part of religion that drives me nuts. You can certainly hear the shrill screams when any religion feels it’s being impinged upon. Hypocrisy and self delusion are rampant here. People, freedom of religion includes freedom from religion. The right to not be bothered by religion is just as valid as the right to practice religion. The points Moe cites are very valid. I’ve heard too many horror stories about gay couples getting screwed because they’re not married. Jeff Borden is also right that this will all be moot in a few years. I still don’t get it. Why is it so necessary to meddle in other peoples’ lives? And yes, I’d be for revoking tax free status for Mormons, Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims -- any of them who abuse the privilege. Why should my taxes subsidize hate and intolerance?
- As several folks have noted, marriage is a civil matter in this country. Nobody is suggesting that religions or clerics be required to marry anybody. To assert so is just more of the right wing BS cloud. I could give a rat’s ass if clerics elect to deny their services and the services of their religions to selected groups. That’s their right. What people are after is the right to get married at city hall with the whole list of 1100 things that Moe alluded to included so are all equal under the law. The world is not all about posters at nn.c and whom they piously feel may or may not be worthy of their attention. God will sort all that shit out later.
- That was good stuff, Alex. Never thought I'd like a Parker column. JGW, you sound like an up for a Tata Nano.
- The Roseville yards outside Sacramento are the largest rail yards west of the Mississippi and one of the largest in the world. The vast majority of automobiles, domestic and imported are transported from point of origin via rail. As of this writing there are over 100 locomotives idled at the Roseville yards along with their operators. I think there's a lot to what Mary says. You should have seen the fabulous meals my ex-mother in law, who lives in Brussells, would conjur up from a teeny kitchen the size of my closet.
- I agree with Joe that business aircraft can pencil out. I used to own an airplane and I did everything I could to justify it. I've studied that stuff. It was a teeny little plane called a Citabria and I had a partner, but that’s another story. There are many occasions and many applications where privately owned aircraft work far better than air carrier aircraft. That doesn’t mean that every use of a corporate aircraft benefits the bottom line. Perqs, for example, don’t pencil. Thumbing noses at the senate and the public doesn’t pencil. The Big Three bosses should have been more sensitive to appearances for all the obvious and already stated reasons. One question that I have is how can their time be so valuable when all they’ve done with it is run their businesses into the ground? As far as I’m concerned they can all walk. Whaddaya mean they don’t have a plan for the bail out money? It seems they‘d just drop it into the old bank account and continue business as usual until it was exhausted. I’m not against a bail out in principle, but there has to be some thought and planning and an end in mind and some serious strings attached. I’ve never been to Teterboro but I have heard about it. For those on the left coast, I would direct your attention to Van Nuys or John Wayne airports for superlative selections of corporate barges.
- Dexter, you discovered correctly. Van Nuys is strictly a general aviation facility. However, Burbank (now officially called Bob Hope Airport) is just down the street. It is one of my favorite airports. Built back when the earth had barely cooled, BUR is a throwback. It looks and operates like a '50s airport. No jetways, narrow cramped hallways, tiny departure lounges and the shortest taxi from landing to gate of anyplace anywhere - fifty meters maybe. I was there last week. Check it out. EDIT: I had posted the URL but it was way too long and didn't fit. Look at Microsoft's local.live site, enter BUR and use the bird's eye function. It's like you are there.
- I'm going to be having jobs in Hollywood, Glendale and Newhall over the next year and a half or so. I'll have to try Porto's and those recommended delis.
- Have a happy birthday, Nancy. I'll tip a glass (not Two Buck Chuck) to you later.
- Two food things: Mary, I do a green pork thing very much like you do. The jalapenos must be charred for that great flavor. I brown the pork, add the very thinly sliced onions, jalapenos, and a couple of finely chopped tomatos. Some stock and I put in some barley. It all comes together into a great savory dish. Oh and can't forget the garlic. I'll try with tomatillos next time. The barley pulls it together, like beans in chili. Freezes great for quick dinners later, though I would guess with two teenage boys and a Brit there's not much left. Nancy, we got a great and simple recipe for carnitas from a guy who owns a Mexican restaurant. Put your bone in pork shoulder in a big pot in one piece. Add salt, pepper, garlic, a couple of bay leaves and cover with cherry coke. Yes, cherry coke. Simmer on top of the stove all day. You'll know when it's done. Don't let it run dry. The cherry coke tenderizes the meat and imparts a rich, deep flavor. Ummmmmm, yum. I laughed at first but it's not a joke. Give it a try.
- Happy Thanksgiving to Nancy and family and to all the nn.c habitués! Eat happy, eat hearty and drive safely.
- You’re gonna go to a potluck at noon and then come home and cook “ beets, turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes”? I wanna know how this comes out and when. I’d be glad to help, but I don’t think I could get there in time. Seriously, best of luck.
- Sometime back I commented about a long time TV anchor woman named Lois Hart. Her published age varies but she's pushing sixty with a very short stick. She's co-anchored the evening news at KCRA Channel 3 here in Sacto with Dave Walker, her husband of 29 years, since 1990. Before that they anchored the very first newscast on CNN and were there for some years. You may remember them. They retired last week and were given a great send off by the station. The linked article makes me wonder if maybe management suggested it was time for them to go. Hart and Walker were both excellent, professional TV journos of the old school. In fact, KCRA puts on one of the very best TV newscasts anywhere. I would stack it up against any news show anywhere, New York, LA, Chicago, anywhere. I've had occasion to watch Rick Rodriguez and the KSEE news in Fresno. One word covers both: abysmal. He is (or was) an arrogant sourpuss. I recently read somewhere that TV stations were in for a long hard time now that the elections are over. They made tons of money from political commercials - until Nov 4. One of their biggest money makers has always been car commercials and that revenue has diminished considerably along with the rest of their retail advertising $$. Things are gonna be interesting after the first of the year.
- I've had blended (lineless) trifocals for years. I still use cheap supermarket type readers for the computer and for reading in bed. As Julie R. noted, it's tough to do with trifocals. As it happens I'm going to the eye guy this aft. If I can find the place in the fog.
- No political hacks at Justice? How about starting right at the top with Gonzales. Rachel Palouse? Hans Von Spakovsky? Monica Goodling? Comparing Liberty to Notre Dame? Notre Dame (last Sat. night notwithstanding) is a legit, well respected educational institution. Liberty is a thinly disguised match book cover. At the eye dr today I asked about Sarah Palin glasses. They said interest died after the election. Gasman, did you check to see if Domenici maybe made a quick trip to Lourdes?
- Gasman, that was moi, MichaelG, who raised the Lourdes query. This is the second time you've confused me with Mark and I can't imagine how you do it. We are not all that similar in our commenting.
- I get those non-sales people as well, at my door and on the phone. "Oh, I'm not selling anything, I'm just here to help you." But everything's come up roses! Yesterday evening I checked my messages and learned that I've won a free five day vacation to Costa Rica. Now if I could just find that number . . . I find this Alex K. more interesting than than Ms. Self Parody of 2008: http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=4335&SPID=238&DB_OEM_ID=500&ATCLID=925195&Q_SEASON=2007
- No sweat, Gasman. Basset, read Stephenson's "The Baroque Cycle". It's a big three but you'll be amazed at how fast it goes. I need to read it again.
- Plaxico who?
- Quickies: Lance has an excellent take on the auto industry bail out. Nancy has the link on her blog roll. It's the current post. Caliban is absolutely right about the starwars boondoggle. Feral peacocks are a horror I wouldn't wish on anybody. How much money are we giving to agribusiness every year? To the oil companies in the form of tax breaks and incentives?
- From a recovering Catholic and fellow abstainer: Great shot, Basset.
- Fran Drescher hot? Sorry, can't see it. For openers, as Connie said, I can't get past the voice. I also don't like the idea of Caroline Kennedy being named senator. Haven't you seen that grainy picture of Hillary standing on the MV beach with a smoking stinger launcher?
- I have Dwight Eisenhower, Lillian Gish, e. e. cummings, Roger Moore and Ralph Lauren. You’re right, Brian. Joan of Arc was pretty hot there toward the end. Hillary has Bill to panhandle for her.
- I like it, Moe! I think the point is not whether Ms. Kennedy would be a teriffic senator. The point is that she shouldn't be able to just whistle up an appointment to the club whenever she gets the urge.
- Imagine holding hands with Rod Blago. Watch him fumble for the check. I'll bet he's a real artist at that.
- Jeez, I've been boycotting Coors and Cracker Barrel all my life and never even realized it. Anybody remember those "finger effer" cans Coors tried out for a while many years ago? The ones with the two little holes in the top and you had to stick your finger into one to open the can thus immersing your greasy fingertip in the beer? Especially nice when working on your car which people used to do in those days.
- Jeez, Alex. I need all the brains I've got. I'm barely getting by as it is.
- Politicians have been known to withstand sex scandals, $$ scandals, nepotism, influence peddling, doofisism, you name it. The one thing a politician cannot survive is becoming a laughingstock. Blago is a laughingstock. He’s toast.
- Some thoughts about cars: I’ve been a car enthusiast for fifty years. At present, my job has had me driving a minimum of three or four rental cars a month for the last five or six years. That means I’ve tried lots of cars. Advances in safety and fuel efficiency in autos have come about because congress mandated them. Detroit fought each advance tooth and nail. The Japanese and the Europeans (where European is spelled G E R M A N Y) just buckled down and made the cars. Detroit made shrunken versions of their full sized cars rather than genuine small cars and then discovered that they could sell pick ups and SUVs. Review ads over the last twenty years and look at the ratio of ads for large vehicles to cars. Uh-huh. Detroit was committed to the big stuff and only made the small stuff as required. Does anybody even know how many SUVs Ford makes? Other than the Focus, Ford doesn’t even have a Ford car in its inventory anymore. All the other cars in the FOMOCO line-up are tarted up Volvos or Mazdas. Honda and Toyota have been making Accords, Camrys, Civics and Corollas for what? Twenty, twenty five years? In that time Ford and GM have introduced and discarded dozens of models. When you bought a GM or Ford auto in the last couple of decades it was guaranteed to be an orphan by the time you wanted to sell it. So much for resale value. So much for brand loyalty and continuity. Oh, and yeah, check the prices for used Hondas and Toyotas. Too bad about the resale value of your Detroit iron. Both Ford and GM manufacture excellent cars in Europe and Australia. Why aren’t they taking advantage of those autos and saving zillions of dollars by developing a car for all markets and making regional modifications as necessary? Every other manufacturer in the world does. I saw an article a few years ago that featured a comparison of dollars spent on engineering versus marketing. It was astounding. The small three were spending far more money on peddling the cars (this includes rebates) than on designing them and making them right. Over the last couple of years it seems that GM has been beginning to get it but we’re talking about turning the Titanic a quarter mile before the berg. This has to be the influence of Bob Lutz. A car guy. Waggoner’s a finance guy. Nardelli at Chrysler is a guy who was fired for running Home Depot into the ground. Mullaly at Ford is a production guy who is noted for taking the Boeing 777 from the drawing board to the air. None of these champs has a background as a business manager or as somebody who has any knowledge about or interest in cars. My point? Detroit has done everything possible to shoot itself in the foot. Over and over and over. In recent years GM has started to get it and has begun to field a range of cars that is respectable on the world stage. They still need to dump two or three dozen SUV models. Ford needs to develop a car. A FORD that is competitive on the world stage. They need something analogous to the wonderful “shoebox” they debuted in 1949. Chrysler was a prosperous and forward moving auto company when it was sold to MBZ. A tale all by itself. MBZ raped the company and dumped it. The current owner of Chrysler is a corporate disposal outfit, not a car company. Chrysler’s demise is a foregone conclusion. There has been a certain interest in Chevy’s Malibu expressed here in NN.c. Particularly in the hybrid model. In my unceasing efforts to serve the NN.c community, I undertook this week to test a 2009 Malibu. It was the cheapo model with a four banger gas engine. The car has the current arched body style that looks so gorgeous in the one MBZ model but does not work well on a cliche basis. The A-pillar is thick, the top is low and the sill high so that one has the feeling of being in a tank. Other than the basic criticism, it is a particularly attractive example of the genre. The proportions are right and it has a good stance. Inside, the drab, monochromatic GM gray has given way to a three toned gray. The once glaring dash-top is now non-glare (a big deal, believe me). There has been a conscious effort to style the interior and it shows. It has gone from stupidly cheap to merely chintzy. Drive one and check out the green highlights on the gauges, the plastic chrome on the heater controls. Whatever, it’s a major improvement. The driver’s seat was excellent. Let me repeat that. The driver’s seat was excellent. It was comfortable with good lumbar support and just the right degree of firmness. The driver’s position was also excellent. The wheel was large for a contemporary car but that’s fine with me. I like a big steering wheel. The radio had real knobs. The car tracked well and felt comfortable, smooth and quiet on the freeway. The steering was weighted to provide feel but what felt great in town felt heavy on I-5. I wish I had had the opportunity to try the car on the twistys but from what I did feel, I would expect the Malibu to be very competent on a winding road. I didn’t check the back seat or trunk. Bottom line? The car was a dramatic improvement on previous iterations of the Malibu. Beyond dramatic. This car is worlds beyond previous Malibus in looks and performance. I’ve driven them all. And yet, GM still can’t help themselves in cheapening the product. No passenger grab handle. The door, when open, requires the driver to lean way our or to put a foot on the ground to retrieve it and . . . All I can say is drive a small three product and then drive a Honda or Toyota. You’ll see what it’s all about. There is much more to a car than simple reliability which all cars have these days. There is the list of amenities, of comfort features, of things on which the small three has decided to save three dollars per car. I recently drove the current generation VW Passat which looks exactly like a Malibu. Between the Malibu and the Passat, I’d take the Passat in a heartbeat. Sorry to take up so much space. I try to keep my comments light but every now and then I can’t help putting my two pence in.
- C-girl has the A-pillar, Danny. Rear vision in virtually all cars is obstructed by the rear seat head rests. I would remove them. The C-pillar (the rear most roof support at the back widow) tends to be wide on these cars as well and the roof slopes down and with all the headrests tends to impede views over one's shoulders, right or left. Like peering around trees. One thing the manufacturers could look back to the '50s and early '60s for is the design of the greenhouse and interiors. In those days they strove to make all the roof supports (the pillars A through C) as small and unobtrusive as possible. Interior colors on upholstery, door panels and dash were bright and varied. The result was bright airy and cheerful interiors. Go here http://www.brockersbeautys.com/ or any of dozens of other sites and look at the ‘50s cars. Then the late 60’s. You can see the change. I’m not suggesting any slavish retro stuff, but the idea of lightness, color and airiness (are those words?) is certainly worth considering for future designs. And yes, I favor the auto bail out and yes I think Caliban reflects my feelings about the Wall St bail out. My only problem with the auto bail out is my fear that the boys will just put the money in the checking account and continue on until that money is gone and what then?
- I’ve seen the Ford Ka when traveling in Europe. Very nice looking little car with real styling. I think Ford is considering selling its successor here (which may be called the Eos – remember the orphan cars I mentioned?). They dropped the Taurus label in favor of a warmed over Volvo called the 500. A total dud. Ford must have sold tens of them. They resurrected the Taurus name after two years or so and pasted it on the now defunct 500. The whole episode was yet another bullet hole in the foot. At this time I drive a 2003 Taurus. When I went to buy a car in 2005, I only had so much money to spend and didn’t want car payments. I found this car on eBay. It was located here in Sacto. I bought it directly from the dealer. It has bucket seats, leather, the four cam engine, mag wheels, sunroof, cd player etc. All the loads. It had 24,000 miles and I got it for $9000. I couldn’t have touched a comparable Accord for twice that. I’ve been very pleased with it. It has ample power, handles decently has lots of room and I haven’t done anything but maintain it – religiously. A year later my now erstwhile wife wanted a car, communed for a few days with the net and decided she wanted a PT Cruiser. We went to the Chrysler store, they showed us what they had, Tereza said “I’ll take that one and I’ll give you $13,000 for it”. They said OK and away we went. This was a brand new car. The PT Cruiser turned out to be a nicer car than I would have expected if a tad underpowered. It’s a good fit for her, she can put the dogs in the back, pick up sacks of feed, etc. Her bike fits perfectly. The bonus? It came with three years or 36,000 miles of free service included. Again, to sit in a comparable Toyota or Honda would have cost twice the money. She’s been very happy with it. Had an MGA once. Love to have it back. Would love to have a Mini Cooper S. Tata motors can set up shop here selling Jags and LRs. They can call them Bodacious TaTas.
- And, oh Lord yes. What Brian said. I surely hope everything turns out OK this week, Nancy.
- I've got my fingers crossed, Nancy. What a horrible thing to go through.
- President Truman (you grossly underestimate him, Brian) had a very clear understanding of the difference between the Office of the President of the US and the man who occupied it. He didn't much care about what people wrote or thought about Harry Truman but he was fiercely protective of the office. This leads to the way I feel about the shoe throwing incident. George Bush is beyond contempt and deserves all the rotten eggs people can throw. However, that was the President of the United States, good or poor, having demeaned the office or not, at that presser in Bag City and I don't like people throwing stuff at him.
- The McCoys - wow. One afternoon in college I was playing house with the landlord's daughter when himself came calling to inquire after the whereabouts of his rent money. Poor girl was a bit spooked. "Hang on Sloopy" was playing at the time. From that day her nick-name was "Sloopy". Dexter, I can't believe you never heard of Betty Page.
- How does Josh Marshall do it? He seems to be making money.
- I don't know, Dorothy. That rug's no prize either. What a horribly cold room. The idea of eating on that little table in the middle of that huge room is creepy and I can believe that the Nixons actually ate that way. But then the Nixons were creepy in a way that no presidential family I've seen has ever been. Nance, you turned me on to the Detroit Blog several years ago and I've been checking it weekly ever since. It's a wonderful spot. Relieving stress? Many, many years ago I worked in the Oakland unemployment office. One morning a woman who worked for me came in about a half hour late. I kind of raised an eyebrow at her and she explained: "Well, when I woke up, my husband rolled over and said 'Wanna have a good time?' so here I am. Late." She was my best producer. What could I say?
- I saw Reagan when he was gov here and he wore pancake. Tony George is evil. That whole CART, IRL thing was about nothing more than his little rich boy ass. Also Bernie E.
- No wine glasses. What's that by David's right hand? Could it be a bell to summon the help? I like it, Kirk.
- What kind of salad is that?
- If you like Frank Frazetta you'll probably also like Boris Vallejo. Just Google. There are a million sites. His women, though, tend to be a tad more devoid of covering than Frazetta's.
- We've been suffering through a cold spell here as well. The bank thermo I pass on the way to work in the morning read 28 degrees yesterday at 5:00 AM. That stuff should be illegal.
- At least those cute girls aren't wearing socks with their sandals. And Deb (deb?) in the second picture looks more freezing to death than interested in the mysto guest. Who would want to jump Dawn Eden's bones? Sex is as much mental as anything else and even when she condescends to allow some "lucky" gent to worship at her holy temple it's not gonna be any fun because her head's all twisted. By the way, I couldn't get that video to start. The Governator sent us a letter this AM outlining a plan for layoffs and furloughs for state employees. Merry Xmas from him. Michigan may be number one, but CA is right up there at eight and a half points and rising. I grew up in Chicago and I don't miss that weather or the "hawk" one bit. I'm proud to be a wuss. The WaMu thermometer I pass on the way to work showed forty degrees at 5:00 AM today. That's cold enough for me.
- Link doesn't work, Dorothy. I'd love to see it.
- Very nice, Dorothy. Thanks. What's a lifestyle mall? It might be fun shopping for a new lifestyle. Moneyback guarantee? I went to Home Depot on Sat. It was stone empty. I thought maybe I had missed the anthrax alert or something. Employees were standing in clumps here and there talking among each other. I had them stopping me on every aisle asking if they could help. They sincerely thanked me for buying what I did - some light bulbs, a window squeegee, a couple of filters for the heater and a mop. It was scary.
- Home Depot has plenty of lights, Mary. On sale too. "Smith & Hawken liquidating" Really? That's too bad. They started in Mill Valley which is too hip to have real businesses in it and then moved up to Novato. When people talk about peacock feathers in Marin County, they mean Mill Valley. S&H was the new age darling of cool business people some years back. Books were written.
- Well, it's nice to hear not all Home Depot stores are abandoned although I can certainly understand why those wire deer were left behind.
- Before Cooz beat me to it I was going to note that you can tell they're Germans because they wear socks even when barefoot.
- Merry Christmas to all and, please, everybody, make it home safely from whever you go.
- I delivered papers for years when I was a kid. The Chi Trib and Sun Times in the AM and the Herald-American and Daily News in the PM. No tip this year for my delivery person, whomever he or she may be. A 96% Sunday delivery percentage is not good enough. Especially when two of those misses have been in the last five weeks. I had to walk down to the corner in the rain to buy a paper. Not so bad in itself, but I had thought that that was what I was paying someone else for. Worst Christmas song? The Little Drummer Boy. Gives me chills. The wrong kind. I did hear a country version of Oh Holy Night but that wasn’t the song’s fault. Nice looking table.
- Bernie Madoff would like to apologize to every American who suffered as a result of his machinations. He realizes that a blanket apology may sound hollow so Mr. Madoff would like to offer to each and every one of you a personalized, engraved apology. To receive yours, simply send $59.95 to … Stolen from NPR.
- In addition to a sunrise serenade, “Aubade” is also a line of lovely lingerie. I used to be married so I know these things.
- There's one guy out there who seems to be doing the digging and the original reporting that papers have always done and that's Josh Marshall. As successful as his growing TPM empire seems to be he's only one guy. It would take thousands of him to replace all the local papers and I can guess that's not going to happen. Best way I can figure for news people to make money on the net is to have a couple of porn sites on the side.
- A couple of weeks ago the SF Chron went from $0.47 to $0.75 for a daily paper. Legal notices are a big income source for many papers. We (the State of CA) publish ads in a local paper and in a trade paper for each contract that we put out to bid in addition to putting it on our web site. Brian, that's what inspectors are supposed to be for. Each one of my jobs has an inspector and I work very closely with him or her to make sure we don't get into any situations like your hotel wound up in. Sounds like the inspectors in Ft. Wayne were a tad slow but that they finally got there.
- A Brit shifting from a lower to a higher gear in his car is said to be changing up although that's probably not where the phrase at hand originated. I like "basis points" as a new term used to replace tenths of a percentage point. A lot of this crapola verbiage seems to me to be intended to add mystery to what somebody does, thus making that person smarter than I. I'll leave Coozledad to his own naming. His will certainly be better than mine. For athletic teams I like the Lady Beavers of Oregon State and the Banana Slugs of UC Santa Cruz. Did somebody really say Condi Rice and Emma Peel in the same sentence a little while ago? Lord. Happy New Year all!
- Maybe we can take up a collection and send Gonzo a dollar so he can buy himself a clue: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123068159621944041.html
- I don't get the references, Basset, 'though I did spend a few months at Campbell in '67 before being reassigned to Ft. Bragg and visited again four or five years ago when my son-in-law was stationed there. It's not lack of years, it's lack of place.
- Basset, I knew about the German women at Campbell when I was stationed there in '67 with the 101st. I just thought your reference was something more complicated. Does that Prine song specify which Clarksville? Clarksville, TN is adjacent to Ft. Campbell. My daughter lived there and went to Austin Peay while her hubby was at Campbell with the 160th SOAR.
- I'm not worried about the NYT at the moment. I'm worried about the State of California. If the dolts under the dome don't get their act together in the next very few days the State is going off the cliff. Employees will not be paid, vendors, contractors - nobody gets paid. Mega bucks construction projects have already been halted in mid work. This is serious as a heart attack. We are in a fix far beyond anything ever contemplated and the elected dipshits are still posturing. We may still avoid catastrophe but it would require the folks in the State Senate and State Assembly to actually negotiate and to actually compromise. I'm hopeful but not overly optimistic. We shall see.
- That's the gate to Old Folsom. There are two joints on the same property. Folsom State Prison from the 1880's and California State Prison, Sacramento from the 1980's. Oh yeah, and they're going to send out IOUs instead of tax refunds. That'll definitely get folks attention.
- I know it’s not nice to laugh at other people’s misfortunes but I almost lost my coffee when I heard the kidney story on the TV yesterday AM. Somehow it’s even more amusing that the guy’s a surgeon and the woman has a trailer trash name. I’m eagerly looking forward to the dispatches. The ones last time were excellent. How do you like your Flip? I’m thinking of getting one.
- Jesus, that shit is beyond tasteless. Anybody check to see if it was lead free? 320 place settings? And Hillary’s probably just as ugly stuff and Nancy Reagan’s probably just as ugly stuff and so on and so on. Where do they keep all this drek? First Ladies obviously have time on their hands. And there are people out there who think we should pay them to inflict these horrors on us?
- I get your point, Catherine. Hillary Clinton had, I believe, an exceptionally tough time as first lady. I’m not going to go into all that slime machine stuff here. She also had to stifle her ambition and her natural instincts to jump in and stir things up. The position was just too subordinate for her. I can only guess at the feeling of freedom she felt getting out from under it. Maybe bequeathing horrible china to the American people, not to say the incoming first lady, is a sort of departing freeway salute to the whole thing. Still, I think there are other people in tougher situations who are more deserving of my sympathy. I was out of town the other day when you mentioned lunch with Leon Panetta. When I lived in SF and she was the Mayor I had lunch a couple of times with Diane Feinstein, the incoming head of the Senate Intel Committee and Leon’s sort of gonna be supervisor. Not one on one but fairly intimate. Each time there were six to eight other people around. Interesting woman. My then boss was my entre. He had dated her back in the ‘50s.
- I think you've pretty much got it there, Brian. I’d hate to face Grant’s plates with a hang over. Polk’s also came from a Chinese restaurant. FDR’s seem about right. I like simple. DiFi, as she used to be known back in the day, is a very intelligent woman. She came from $$ and I think she went to Stanford. She was well informed and thoughtful on SF issues and very obviously well read and conversant with world affairs. She was thoughtful and spoke in full, well considered sentences. That said, she was also very cagey and doled out opinions very sparingly. Kind of the flip side of a certain other female former mayor. She was a very charming and amusing lunch companion. But then a politician of her stature would be.
- I like the look of the "Converj". It's built on the Volt platform. Why do car makers insist on using Ebonics when they name their cars? Ebonics is so '90s. A friend and myself have had a long running joke about car makers getting their model names from a consultant called "The Department of Stupid Names Department". I've long thought that a high MPG small gas powered car is a great alternative. The Europeans and Asians have been building them for years. I once rented a two cylinder, 600cc Subaru in Europe. It was perfectly acceptable in town. Not so much on the road. Go to ebay and look at the prices for Fiat 500s. As always, Autoweek has good coverage of the cars: http://www.autoweek.com/section/detroitautoshow02
- The models (female, human) are a part of auto shows. Auto shows wouldn't be auto shows without them. Jalopnik typically has a feature on them after each show. The price of electros and hybrids is one reason I keep thinking of cheap little gas cars. While I was married I used a Geo Metro to commute. When driving eighty miles a day, the big gas mileage was a great relief from my Taurus. I tried not to think about the death trap part. See earlier post. For the difference in price between a Toyota Yaris and a Toyota Prius, both available today down at the corner Toyota store, you can buy a helluva lot of gas. Then there are the maintenance costs with a hybrid. Do you know what they are? How long does the battery pack last? How much to replace? It ain't gonna be 50 bucks at Pep Boys. Do you want to get in a wreck with a thousand pounds of batteries in the back seat? I still have serious questions about hybrids and their costs for a teensy mileage increase. People seem mesmerized by the word "hybrid" without examining the actual benefits for a specific vehicle and comparing them directly to a target vehicle. At this time fully electric cars are little more than glorified golf carts. There are reasons why the auto companies didn't like making them and why they offered them on a lease basis only. I hope the battery technology will be here soon, but it's not here now. Wonderful stuff, Nance. I greatly enjoy your excellent reporting.
- You mean Caesar Casaba?
- I think he pronounces it something like Chubba Cheda.
- JC, your Hindenburg reference isn't a joke at all. It's the plain truth about hydrogen. Hydrogen is one of the most volatile substances there is. One of the big questions about powering automobiles with it is where do you make it? Do you have some kind of hydrogen generator on board to make it as you use it? This increases weight, complexity and cost of the vehicle. Do you make it at some sort of distribution point and sell it? Can you imagine filling a car with this stuff? Carrying a load of it around? Your car would be nothing more than a bomb. What percentage of cars on the road today is powered by an alternate (including hybrid) energy source? Two percent? Three? They're niche vehicles today. All the emphasis, all the hype about electric, etc. cars at the Detroit show scares me. They are not Detroit's bread and butter. They are not the cars that people buy and more to the point they are not the cars that earn $$ for Detroit. I don't want to be a nay sayer and I certainly applaud Detroit for aggressively researching alternate automotive power sources. The fact is, what Ford, GM and Chrysler need this minute are cars to compete with the Civic and the Accord. The Camry and the Corolla. These are cars actual people actually buy. I don't have the time or the space here to go into this in detail but what we have at the Detroit auto show is a classic example of the automakers selling the sizzle, not the steak. At the end of the quarter, the electro hypo research and development vehicles are an expense. What's on the showroom floor that's going to bring in the profits? Where's the bread and butter vehicle that's going to support the Big ____ (fill in the number)?
- OK, one last word, Nance. I don't want to drag this out too far. Of course the Auto Show circuit is about sizzle. But this year the sizzle is different from other years. This show has an entirely different character. As you say, the customers are different from other years - the people who populate the dome in DC. To date they haven't shown themselves to be very informed consumers. Look at the $350 Bil they shelled out a few weeks ago for nothing. The auto companies don't have anything to compete against Honda and Toyota and VW. That's the whole point. These outfits have been eating Detroit's lunch for years. Having some product available for sale in a market segment is not the same as competing in that segment. Let me repeat: "The fact is, what Ford, GM and Chrysler need this minute are cars to compete with the Civic and the Accord. The Camry and the Corolla." Go rent a Honda Civic and then rent a Chevy Cobalt. You'll see a major difference. The American consumer certainly does.
- They use Impalas for cop cars back there? It's still all Crown Vics here in California with the occasional Dodge thrown in. You can bet that Obama is sorely pissed at Geithner. I mean the first question they ask one of their prospective nominees is "Do you have any turds in your pocket?" This guy has both IRS (he wants to be Sec Treas?) and alien nanny problems. What a dolt.
- I did two tours in Vietnam during the war and spent three very enjoyable weeks there in 2000. It's a beautiful country populated by friendly, hard working people. I love the place. While in the army I passed through numerous airports and never got spit on, never had any conflicts with anybody. I'm inclined to believe that such incidents probably happened, but were rare and over reported.
- A while back there was talk among the Rs about killing the citizenship requirement so Arnold could run for POTUS. Haven't heard any of that stuff lately. He's hiding from lynch mobs now. At least in this town.
- What's so great is the series of good decisions Capt. Sullenberger made. Long Island Sound or the River? The river. Just where the water is calm and relatively sheltered and there's a large concentration of ferries, tour boats and what not to pick up survivors. Some really smart thinking on top of some really great flying. Also he was the last person off the airplane. Sullenberger isn't qualified to be a NY senator. He's a resident of Danville, CA.
- Tell me again, where do stereotypes come from?
- Well, I understand there is a peak in Yellowstone that is scheduled to go all Mt. St. Helens, but 3.8? C'mon, Mark, get a grip.
- It's only January, Brian, and it looks like somebody has earned a stocking full of coal already. But I had to laugh. jeff b, you referred to the "Chicago region". It reminds me that when I was a kid there we had a TV weather individual who insisted on referring to the "Chicagoland area".
- I'll defer, beb. I was passing along what somebody told me the other day. But I think the basic point seems to be there. Jellystone is on the schedule for a big blow up. As far as hard drive disposal goes, I think that was Dexter's question not mine. God help me, I seem to have gotten sucked into watching the endless parade of Chevys at the Barrett-Jackson Auction.
- Put me on the Dennis Miller is a jerk bandwagon. Terrorism is not dead. I've heard on good authority that the birds that brought down US Air 1549 were renegade Al Queda trained avian agents. They're all around us. Whoops, time for Tony Bourdain.
- Letters of the day: W, AMF.
- JC, you just identified a big problem in this country. Millions of people in rural areas do not have access to highspeed internet. They are condemned to a life of 56K minus dial up modem speed. It wasn't until I split with my wife and moved from Auburn to Sacto that I was able to get a dsl line. Something needs to be done.
- Anybody else think the poem was poor? Somebody called it “bureaucratic verse”. I liked the occasional shots of the Ex-Pres (that sounds so nice) sitting amid all those Democrats, listening to the President criticizing his administration. He looked like he was in the middle of a root canal.
- I'm very sorry to hear about people here at nn.c losing jobs or as in Mary's case being threatened. We're on edge where I work as well. Lay offs are threatened and we are all getting a 10% pay cut as of Feb first. The state is in the midst of the worst financial crisis in its history, on the brink of catastrophe and the deep thinkers from under the dome have all been in DC partying instead of here in Sacto working on a budget that should have been wrapped up last July 1. There are reasons to live in California, however. This past weekend I mowed my lawn wearing tee shirt and shorts.
- How 'bout a frittata? Chop and saute whatever you got, or whatever you feel like, throw in as many beaten eggs as you need, when set sprinkle some green onions and Parmigiano-Reggiano on top and stick in the broiler. Quick, feeds as many or as few as you want and yummy. A nice salad, some sour dough or other good bread and a nice glass of wine. Terif dinner. Maybe I'll do that tonight.
- I've been grinding my own burgers with my Kitchenaid for years. A mixture of chuck and back ribs gives just the right blend. I look for what's in the used meat section and buy on sale. The fresh burgers go in the freezer. I do my own fries from real potatos as well. I started making butter a few weeks ago. I'm not saving any money doing it but it sure is good. It's amazing how simple and quick all this stuff is. I can work in the kitchen on a Sunday afternoon, smoke a cigar, sip some wine and watch the football game. Multitasking to the max. A single guy seems to have more time on his hands.
- Of course by "used meat section" I mean the mark downs. We've just always called it that. Bread too. Fresh & Easy was scheduled to open a half dozen stores in Sacto in 2009 including one about three blocks from my house but they've deferred everything because of the depression. Darn. I like b. sprouts. There are a lot of good ways to cook them. I've never had the frozen variety. The first time I flew into Brussels, as we left the airport I was looking all around for the sign. "Welcome to Brussels - Home of the Sprouts". Still haven't found it.
- The Dum Dum sucker. We got a lotta them around Sacto. The Hills Bros coffee plant used to be located on the Embarcadero in San Francisco right under the Bay Bridge. Motorists approaching the City were welcomed by the wonderful smell of roasting coffee. It's a crime to put ketchup on hot dogs. Brown mustard, onions, maybe some kraut, Ummm. Halve or quarter your petite choux (see, they taste better already). Throw them in the pan with some chopped pancetta and a bit of olive oil. When it looks right, add some chicken stock, not too much, and cook it down. There you go. Hedge balls. I love it. I don't use a food processor to make burgers, Bassett. I use a KitchenAid with a meat grinder attachment. A grinder forces meat through a screen and a food processor chops it up. They're two different things. I've never had (to my knowledge) a burger made in a food processor, but it ought to work. When we split my wife got the Cuisinart, I got the mixer. All I can say is try it. Put on a game or some music, pour yourself a glass of wine and experiment in the kitchen. You'll mostly come up with something pretty decent, now and again there will be a disaster and occasionally you'll surprise yourself with a masterpiece. Lemme know how the burger turns out.
- Send this post to QEII. She needs all the help she can get.
- Yeah but with bowties there're reasons.
- Sorry about the bowtie cheap shot, Jeff. Just pandering to the base. That KL column is so bad in so many ways I wouldn't even know where to start. I don't get the Aretha Franklin hat thing. I wouldn't even have noticed it. Just another old lady with a hat.
- Can you spell that for me, Brian? In my case, Jeff, that would be a lot of shirt.
- Jeff (tmmo), you repeatedly refer to Obama as “very adept politician”. Is that a compliment? Moe, when I was at the University of Illinois, there were any number of upper division classes and seminars that were attended for credit by both graduate and undergraduate students. There are many, many words that have or had different meanings in the South vs. the rest of the world. I encountered a lot of them when I was in the army. My guess would be their number is diminishing with the continuing years of mass communication and homogenization. Breakfast, dinner and supper vs. breakfast, lunch and dinner. I remember “commode” well and it was as stated elsewhere. I used to have a very funny book entitled “How to Speak Southren”. I wish I could find the damn thing. One example from the army: The word “cock” which most of us would agree refers to the male genitalia. In some parts of the South, it referred to the female genitalia. I have no idea how or why that was but the two different meanings for the word certainly engendered some confusion and hilarity in the barracks.
- Whoops! Got myself sucked in! U of I is out in the middle of a cornfield. Nobody there but me and Roger Ebert. I don't know, Moe. Various institutions of higher learning have relationships with various other ones that do allow some, if you will, cross pollination. My daughter, for instance, attended College A for three and a half years. After she had to move when her service member husband was transferred she was allowed to take a combination of internet courses from College A and live courses from College B to qualify her for a degree from College A. I don’t want to get in the middle of any disputes here. I voted for Obama but I neither know nor care much about his relationship or lack thereof with Mr. Ayres. I merely wanted to point out that it is not implausible for a person who is registered at one school to take a course at a second place. People transfer from one U to another all the time dragging their credits behind them. No reason some sort of concurrent deal couldn’t be worked out. I feel especially stupid here because I seem to be taking mark and Jeff’s part against you when my natural place is by your side.
- Just got home after spending the last four days at a conference in Orange County. Eventful times in L.A. A guy killed himself and his wife and five kids. There was a wreck on the freeway that killed two. Some kids (14 year old driver) got hold of a car and crashed. Three more dead. Some crazy woman stole a U-Haul van and led the CHP on a merry 100 mile plus chase. I watched the last hour live in my hotel room. A single mother of six who lives with her mother gave birth to octuplets. That’s eight, count em, eight more kids bringing her total spawn to, if my rudimentary math serves me, 14 kids. Whew. And yeah, Catherine, I win a 10% pay cut which in the context of other folks’ misery here on nn.c is not as bad is it could be. I’ve got an L.A. question. A year or so ago Rachel What’shername, the AM weather person on Channel 4 departed and was replaced by a young woman with an improbable chest. What happened to Rachel? She was kind of goofy and I liked her. Another good thing about L.A. (I speak heresy for a Northern CA type in saying that I really like the L.A. area) is listening to Sandra Tsing Loh on KPCC.
- I found a dead guy once about 10 years ago. I was on my way to work at 0500ish and stopped to buy a paper on the corner by the main PO here in Sacto. There was someone lying on the steps. I walked up to see if he needed help. There was another guy walking toward me. One good look at the body on the steps served to tell me that it was indeed a body. The other guy whipped out his cell and started calling the authorities. Figuring there was nothing I could do to help and not wanting to be caught up in hours of questions and cops, I discreetly departed the scene.
- There are all these people sporting super cool Chinese writing tatoos and when I see them I wonder if the tattoo says "Shrimp Chou Mein" or "I'm a dumbass gwai lo" or something like that.
- The pay cuts and lay offs hitting nn.c'ers lend a nice perspective to the sight of the Wall Streeters paying themselves huge bonuses from the billion dollar bailouts that the gov’t is giving the people who stole the original money in the first place. It’s the American way: Welfare for the rich and free enterprise for the poor. Jeez, I don’t mean to sound whiney or bitter it just sort of comes out that way.
- I don’t think blame for the octuplets debacle should go to the mom. Given my strong background in the head sciences, my considered professional opinion is that she’s crazy as a shit house rat. Besides, she has enough problems as it is. Blame goes to whomever provided her with the impregnation services. Kaiser has made it clear it wasn’t them. No reputable operation would implant eight embryos in any woman. No reputable operation would implant any embryos at all in a single jobless woman with proven fertility and six existing children without at the very least some serious psychological evaluation. What we have here is something that is certainly stupid and irresponsible on the part of the provider, very arguably unethical and very close to malpractice given the unfortunate health consequences suffered by many children of extreme multiple births. I wonder who paid for the clinic. This stuff isn’t cheap. Kaiser and the State and the County and whomever is paying for the end results should go after the clinic Ms. Suleman was visiting. I also don’t think you can criticize Kaiser for having so many staff members dedicated to ensuring a healthy outcome for all concerned. An over response to a situation like this is preferable to a too casual response. Past experience has showcased an outpouring of help in the shape of goods and money for parents of extreme multiple births. Ain’t gonna happen here. Given the amazing circumstances and the mother’s Islamic sounding name she’ll be lucky some asshole doesn’t burn her existing house down.
- BUMMERRRR!
- I live in California and morn the passing of the Acme. One more old time neighborhood joint joining the growing numbers of closures all over the country. It's a shame and it represents more than just the loss of a nice place to have a drink or a burger. There are fewer and fewer of these places every year. Here in Sacramento we're fortunate that there are still quite a few of them. For me it's Jamie's a nice, dark, friendly, neighborhood bar, a great place for a drink on Friday night, a wonderful lunch joint. Clean and safe? I took my daughter and grandson there for lunch. One of the best burgers in town. Calimari to die for. These kinds of places will always be more attractive to me than chain restaurants. You can keep your TGI Friday's or Hungry Hunters or whatever. I can't see getting fired up about the womyn and their communes. I'm sure they're all nice persons, they seem happy and they aren't bothering anybody. What's the harm? Guys like Dreher need to get a life. And, as Nance points out, communes are part of an old American tradition.
- Another journalistic word: whisked. People are forever being whisked away. I'm kinda promacassar myself. I don't know why all you people are against those harmless little scraps of fabric. Daschle is a total dweeb. A complete weenie. A weak, mealy mouthed little twit. He makes Harry "the Lion" Reid look like a hero. Know what Daschle's wife does? She's a big time DC lobbyist. Makes zillions.
- Mistakes were made. I'm sorry for what happened. I accept complete responsibility. We need to put this behind us and move on.
- I'm already tired of the Obama admin kissing Republican ass. Read Josh Marshall or don't if you don't want to get depressed. More. And the situation her in Calif is rapidly approaching the cliff and the geniusesses (what is that plural anyway?) under the dome are just whistling. They lack the talent to fiddle. I think I'll turn to drugs. Maybe I can bum a hit from Phelps.
- I hope you're right, Jeff. It just looks like a familiar old pattern to me.
- Teens who `sext' racy photos charged with porn Feb 4, 3:38 PM (ET) By MARTHA IRVINE CHICAGO (AP) - Though youth is fleeting, images sent on a cell phone or posted online may not be, especially if they're naughty. Teenagers' habit of distributing nude self-portraits electronically - often called "sexting" if it's done by cell phone - has parents and school administrators worried. Some prosecutors have begun charging teens who send and receive such images with child pornography and other serious felonies. But is that the best way to handle it? "Hopefully we'll get the message out to these kids," says Michael McAlexander, a prosecutor in Allen County, Ind., which includes Fort Wayne. A teenage boy there is facing felony obscenity charges for allegedly sending a photo of his private parts to several female classmates. Another boy was recently charged with child pornography in a similar case. In some cases, the photos are sent to harass other teens or to get attention. Other times, they're viewed as a high-tech way to flirt. Either way, law enforcement officials want it to stop, even if it means threatening to add "sex offender" to a juvenile's confidential record. "We don't want to throw these kids in jail," McAlexander says. "But we want them to think http://apnews.myway.com//article/20090204/D964VRQG0.html This is incredible. Does that numb nuts prosecutor have any idea what charging kids with child porn can do to them? Forever. What is he thinking? Whence this perennial impulse to criminalize kids? Allen County, IN must be the most peaceful, crime free place on earth if this is all the DA’s office has time to do. It must be wonderful. No murder, no rape, no robbery. No white collar crime. Gosh. What a utopia. Nothing but those awful hormone ridden kids.
- I'm not quite sure what you, Beb and Brian, mean here. Are you in favor of prosecuting these youngsters for what are extremely serious crimes, in the interests of somehow maybe possibly hopefully preventing the further dissemination of pictures that are already out there? Please clarify. I see some irony with Beb but none with Brian.
- Lord, JGW, I know. I've also replaced water heaters a day after they should have been replaced. I was lucky that the last one was in the garage so clean up was minor. We brought the new water heater back from Home Depot in a Geo Metro. Yep, one of those little shit boxes. I dropped the rear seat, ran the front passenger seat all the way forward and reclined the back all the way. Then I cut a piece of plywood to fit. The new water heater lay on the plywood and the hatch even closed in the back. We had to take two cars. Pretty lucky. They had plum trees on sale that day and I stuffed one down the sunroof on the Ford.
- Pilot Joe, I once wanted to leave San Carlos airport (just south of SFO) in my Citabria. The tower cleared me for take off and threw in a warning about wake turbulence. I looked at the big blue sky, saw nothing and before I could key the mike with my query, the tower was back “ That buzzard. He’s huge.” San Carlos is not real busy. I slept in this AM. My first fur-low day. Slept under my IKEA down comforter and cover. Nice. Yesterday I went down to the San Luis Reservoir (find it on any map site at the intersection of I-5 and 152) to inspect a spill clean up site. Bad enough but none got into the water. The reservoir is LOW. The water is about 40 feet above the intake which is zilch. San Luis feeds into the Calif Aqueduct. The water goes south to Ellay. We’re looking at serious long term water problems. God, I feel like Dr. Doom.
- I'm not particularly critical of scenery. Just about everything looks good to me but the Salton Sea area is one of the most desolate, ugly spots I've ever seen. The San Luis Reservoir is a very hot spot for wind surfers. The water is smooth as glass, there are miles to run and the wind is high. They really haul ass. Our friend Nadia (she's not plug ugly but I don't see hot - maybe the plastic surgery is at fault) has what have been described as "trout lips". So she plans to start school in the fall and plans to drop 14 kids, eight of them infants with special needs, on the school day care center. Um hmm. She also wants a master’s in counseling. Oh yeah. She’s qualified. Her orientation is the Me, Me, Me school of thought.
- As you wrote, Caliban, some people see beauty in a comma. I’m guessing you mean that nature is beautiful wherever. Truly said, but some places are more or less beautiful than others, at least in the eye of this beholder. I’ve seen that failed development you link to and the reality is much worse than the photos. I’m with Deborah. Nothing to do there other than get drunk, tell fart jokes and wait until you can leave. Bring plenty of booze because it’s a long way to the store.
- Altogether I like the new design. The numbered comments are handy. I do prefer the old font. Yes Dexter, as I've said several times recently, we need water and we need a water policy. The legislature can't even agree on last year's budget let alone a comprehensive, long term water policy. The way we're going, it won't take 90 years for Calif agriculture to disappear. The current fiscal year is up at the end of June. Then the budget horse shit will start over again or be squared.
- Looked for a Travis McGee novel at the library last week. None to be seen. Guess I'll have to haunt the used book stores. I read them all long ago. I'm ready to try one again. Depressing sign of the times: The woman ahead of me at Safeway paying for groceries with a credit card.
- Several people here at work said they pay for everything with credit cards to gain airline miles and then pay the cards off monthly. Hoorah for all who do. The last solicitation I got for a card that saved airline miles had a $59 annual fee and I canned it. Maybe I should take another look at the numbers. I'm sure I'll get another one in a day or so. Virtually all debit cards that I have seen carry a Visa or MC logo. I can tell the difference between the lady in front of me punching in her PIN or signing her credit card authorization. The lady I saw was definitely using a credit card. I hope she was going for the airline miles.
- Seen that PBS show about traveling in Spain starring Mario Batali in full ham mode, Bittman, Gwyneth Paltrow and (sigh) Claudia Bossols? It's pretty good. Mario has been one of my faves for years. I've long seen Bittman in the NYT but never before on TV. He's excellent. A natural and there's good chemistry between he and La Bossols. Claudia B. has tons of personality and along with being a goddess looks like a truly delightful woman to hang out with.
- I'll go with what Mary said. As usual. I find myself eating a surprising number of meatless meals mostly in the form of soups or omelets. I have no intention of cutting out meat altogether and I refuse to use meat substitutes. There's plenty of excellent non-meat food around without I have to fake myself into vegitude. As far as I am able to scare up, Brian's girl friend, Octomom, had a job with the State Department of Mental Health as a psychiatric technician. She earned $56,880 per year in base pay. She also had what is called in California "Safety Retirement" which is a method of computing retirement for those who work in specified hazardous positions such as cops, firemen, some prison personnel and some personnel in loony bins that house the criminally insane among others. People with "safety" don't pay SS and they get a higher rate of base pay computation for their retirement. Reviews are mixed but generally pro-safety. Given the locations of DMH facilities in Southern California, she probably worked at Metropolitan State Hospital in Norwalk. She could possibly have worked at Patton State Hosp east of San Bernardino, but Norwalk is more likely. At any rate, I don't have her employment dates or the amt of overtime she worked although people in those psych tech positions typically can earn lots of OT. I think she lives in her own little world in a parallel or maybe divergent universe somewhere. She now says her fertility doc is a California guy. Kaiser and LA County and whomever else should sue the guy for the money to pay for his follies.
- I lurve the Binh Thanh Market. I'd shop there every day if I could. Our SundayUnderTheFreeway market in Sacto is about as close as you are going to get around here. Very Asian. The older people don't speak English. The youngsters (almost all female) look ethnic as hell but all sound like valley girls. Great place to shop and will be in good form in another month or so.
- Bob del Grosso writes an excellent food blog. He covers a lot of "ethical eating" ground. http://ahungerartist.bobdelgrosso.com/
- Vietnam Town here in Sacramento is along Stockton Blvd. Malls, supermarkets, office parks, you name it. People from out of town have never seen anything like it. It's not quite Bolsa in Westminster, but very close.
- I thought Sam Adams was a faux artisanal beer. I loved "Body Heat" when it first came out. It was a very sexy movie. I thought Kathleen Turner was the hottest thing around. For some reason my former wife never liked Ms. Turner. She delighted in recent years in calling me to the TV whenever Ms. Turner showed up to point out the bloated caricature that Ms. Turner had become. She, in truth, has not aged well. My once wife, a stone head turner and a year older than Ms. Turner is absolutely in a position to throw rocks. I should rent the movie and relook. As a devoted race fan I'm sure Brian will appreciate the recent photos of Danica Patrick and a Cobra of the four wheeled sort. I'm not picking on you, Brian. I'm in full appreciative mode myself. I'm looking at a five day weekend. Hoo hoo! The Tour of California begins here on Saturday. It'll be televised on VS. See your local listings. The Saturday weather is progged to be the worst weekend of the year so far. Thanks a lot. I'm a volunteer with the tour. This year I'll be working in "security". Haven't the faintest idea what my job will be. They'll tell me Saturday. I hope, whatever it is, I'll be in a position to get some good pix. For you bike folks, this is the biggest non-European race of the year. Lance, Landis, Leipheimer and the rest of the Amis along with the full cast of Euro riders will be on hand. It starts here in Sacto. on Sat and ends on Feb. 22 in Escondido. Check it out.
- Sniper-in-Chief here. I was unaware that Kathleen Turner's appearance was attributable to illness and medication. Consider this an official retraction. I certainly wouldn't have made negative comments had I known.
- Clearly peoples' looks change as they age. Some peoples' change to a greater or lesser degree than others, whether from factors beyond their control or otherwise. My comment made reference to two women of similar age. I noted my years ago attraction to one of them and further noted that the other woman did not share my attraction to the first one. At the present time, one of the two women retains her physically attractive appearance to a greater degree than the other and was not unpleased at that fact. I agreed with her observation and praised her looks. I further commented that the first woman had not aged well. People make such observations every day. It's a human thing to do. In rereading my remarks I fail to see anything creepy or "disturbing". Further, I retracted my comments when presented with additional information. You, of course, are free to disagree with what I wrote, Jolene. But can you truly say that you have never noted that somebody - anybody - has failed to benefit from the effects of aging? I detect the sanctimonious scent of the holier than thou.
- Dick Fosbury? He flopped.
- The Amgen Tour of California kicked off today in Sacramento. Those who count such things tell us more than 100,000 people showed up to watch the race between the bicycle people and the impending storm. The bicycle people and the rest of us won. The race was a prologue. 136 riders started at one minute intervals to race the clock over a 2.4 mile course around the State Capitol. There were some fast cyclists in the first 118 riders and 118 minutes (notably the Marks Renshaw and Cavendish) but the last 18 minutes and riders were the cream. Zirbel, Hushovd, Kirchen, Boonen, Hincape, Tyler, Zabriskie, Armstrong, Vandevelde, Cancellara, Basso, Rogers, Landis, Leipheimer. This was where the racing and the times got serious. The suspense all day, the waiting for the arrival of the storm and the elite riders had the crowd greeting the late riders and the persistent good weather with cheers of approbation and relief. The cheers grew louder and louder as rider after rider lowered best time only to be shunted aside by a succeeding rider. It was a great day to stand on a curb in Sacramento. I was a volunteer worker and my station was right at the finish line. The time clock on the arch over the line provided a rough idea of when to expect a cyclist and the cheering of the people a block up the street lent another visual signal to a rider’s arrival. They crossed the line and flashed past me at whatever speed a world class cyclist attains with an eight block run on a flat street. Taking pictures proved futile since they were going so fast and also since they tended to hug the fence upon which I was leaning. I could have picked one off with a seven iron. The same with watching, as the best view I could see was the advertising plastered on their asses as they slowed after the finish. The collegial happiness of the crowd, the electricity generated by a world class event, the spectacle and the general all around fun made for a terrific day. The whole thing was capped by the news that the dipshits in the big white building across the street had finally reached a deal. In the end I was standing right before the stage. I was in front of all the print people and photogs and behind the VS camera guy. I had a fantastic view of all the jersey presentations and my boss the Governator and got a ton of great pix. I have one of Cancellara (the winner) being interviewed. It’s a mega close up since in the crush he was actually leaning on me. After the interview he was mobbed by young women. I’m not jealous. Leipheimer had his bike with him and showed it to me. No pix here but I’ve never seen anything like it. It was the most beautiful bike ever. I’m not jealous. Other than Armstrong who is a professional celebrity, the riders seem to be pleasant, down to earth guys who are embarrassed by the media attention and are amazingly accessible. Cancellara in particular seemed overwhelmed and almost frightened by the press of the press. At one point I thought he was going to throw up. You should have seen his face, his throat working and his hand over his mouth. I’d also like to see his paycheck. A most enjoyable day. Afterwards, I fell into a pub down the street with a friend for a pint of Anchor Steam. It was delicious. Details and pix available on dozens of web sites. KCRA, SACBEE and VS (all dot com) are three good places to start. The rerun on VS starts in about 10 minutes. I can’t wait. Live coverage and reruns will be on VS for the next 10 days or so. Davis to Santa Rosa tomorrow. It’s as good as the Tour de France. Same cast on the road and on the TV including Liggett, Sherwen and Roll. Don’t miss it.
- The Governor's hair is indeed a shade not known to nature, though he didn't appear to have been spending his days in the tanning booth. Cancellara appeared sickish to me on Sat. not because he was nervous about the press, but because he was sick. He was forced to withdraw the next day because of the flu. Turns out the optimism about a budget deal was premature.
- Absolutely, Catherine. That's one of the charms of the event. Saturday was a big family day. The start and finish lines can get crowded so you will end up standing for quite a while but other then those areas find a spot and bring a picnic. If it's not raining. Jeff B. - Gov.Schwarzenegger has his own home grown Republican collegues to worry about. With our 2/3 majority budget requirement, we are down to just a single Republican Senate dead ender holding up the whole shoot'n match. One can only wonder at what these folks have going on in their heads.
- Raise the bridge or lower the river. Cut spending/services or raise revenues. In California the budget is roughly 90% cast in concrete with that much mandated by the legislature or by voter passed propositions. That leaves 10% of the budget subject to legislative discretion. I'll leave it to you to guess which children, sick people, poor people and old people this 10% affects. There is simply not enough meat in that discretionary spending to cover the budgetary problems faced by the state. We have to raise revenue. Period. The budget requires a 66 2/3 majority to be passed. There has been a 66% majority for some time now. We need the other 2/3 of a percentage point. The trick is getting (at this time) one Republican Senator to vote yes. Jeff B, you mentioned three. Two are on board (for the moment). We have here the 33% minority ruining the state. First we need to instill a measure of sanity by instituting a simple majority budget and taxation set up and second we need to make it more difficult for rich guys to get their pet projects on the ballot. Then we can start to work on details. Jeff B is making a lot of sense.
- You wanna go to downtown LA from LAX, just drive down Manchester to Broadway and up Broadway. Probably take you no longer than any other way. This is the scenic route and it will quickly disabuse the traveler of any notion that LA is an enclave of the rich. I get your point Beb, the 2/3 thing is insane. Don't forget, however, that Calif kicks into the US Treasury a helluva lot more money than all the car companies together and gets a damn sight small percentage of it back.
- Thank you, Nancy for being so kind yesterday. We all know who the best writer around here is and we all know why we continue to come here. Right you are, Mark. Crossing streets in Saigon can be very scary -- starting with that circle in front of the Binh Thanh market. Never been to Oz or GB, Moe, but I get the drift. I almost killed myself looking the wrong way before crossing in Singapore.
- I’ve been to Vietnam three times. The first two times were during the war and we don’t need to go over that other than to say that on several occasions while there I was able to be alone in Saigon or elsewhere for a day or three enjoyed myself. The third time was in 2000 when I stayed almost three weeks. So that’s twice on business and once on vacation. The people then and now are warm and friendly. They work hard, smile and, unbelievably, like Americans. The people and the country are very clean. Saigon is an amazingly clean city. The smells. It is a sub-tropical place. You will smell the jungle and you will smell decay. Go to New Orleans. In Saigon you will smell the tropics, the decay, exhaust, the river, unfamiliar spices and cooking smells, people -- life. It is different from where you live. Some folks don’t like it. I love it. The heat and the humidity. I spent 15 months there in my youth, and I live in Sacramento now. I am not unfamiliar with heat. Vietnam is hot and humid. You will sweat. Most people end up in loose clothes and no underwear which tends to bunch up and chafe. I love the hot and humid climate. It’s great for your skin. When you walk you feel as if your joints have been oiled. I love that feeling. What do you do there? That’s up to you. There are guide books that will tell you what sights to see. There are tours. I’m a city junky. I always figure it’s the local people’s city. I’m just a visitor so it’s up to me to adapt. I don't expect American things or customs. I don't compare things I see to American things. They are not going to be better or worse, they're going to be different. I take them for what they're worth. I get up early and walk for hours. When I’m hungry I eat. There are food stalls everywhere in Saigon and they have some of the most delicious food in town. I’ve never had trouble with eating things that are not on the menu at Mc Donald’s but by no stretch of the imagination am I Andrew Zimmern. Vietnamese food is a delight. It’s very light, gently handled and tasty. The national dinner is a sort of beef and noodle affair called Pho. Roughly pronounced “fuh”. It is accompanied by huge plates full of fresh greens that you pile into your bowl. There are web sites devoted to Pho. You can check it out. The Vietnamese make the most wonderful beef salad, prawn rolls etc. etc. The food is wonderful. There are plenty of excellent restaurants for evening eating. Try one where you live. So where does that leave us? I don’t know. Clearly Vietnam is a third world country at this time. Saigon does not have an NFL, NBA, NHL or even big time soccer team. Few theaters, not so many movies; not a lot of the stuff we are accustomed to in US cities. There is golf and tennis and there are beaches. The streets teem with life. It’s a big (seven mil or so) throbbing, river and port town with food and it’s own sophistication and charm. It is or was 10 years ago a window into the past, a peek at old French colonialization, an unspoiled place with a mixture of the old and the new. Think cell phone in a farmer’s hand while tilling his rice paddy with a water buffalo. I guess it’s not a place for everyone. I love it. I could live there. Mark loves it, Bourdain loves it. Many of you might not. It is my good fortune that Sacramento's Little Saigon is just around the corner and a mile or so down Stockton Blvd.
- Fish sauce is nowhere as nasty as some people would have others believe. It's used in cooking and dips. You don't drink it. Cilantro is hard to avoid in California since it is a staple in Mexican cooking. I think fresh cilantro is delicious. I'm not crazy about it cooked. I must admit I'm not crazy about durian either although I think its awfulness is exaggerated. My experiences with Pilipino cooking are about the same as Mary’s. There are not a lot of Pilipino restaurants. Probably for the same reason there aren’t a lot of Irish restaurants.
- I agree that Julia Child’s recipe is the best. I’ve used it for thirty years. A little attention and care and Nancy’s success will be yours. You can put anything (within reason) in a soufflé. I like to use pepper jack for the cheese – lends a touch of warm. Sometimes I throw chopped shallots into the roux while it’s cooking. I’ve made it with salmon, asparagus, ham, whatever. It’s a great user of leftovers. Just stick with the proportions. Sometimes it will come out flat without the beautiful hat that crowns Nancy’s soufflé. So what? It’ll still taste great and next time it’ll look great as well. Go for it. A simple salad with a vinaigrette, some crusty French bread and a nice white wine. Yum. Leftovers are good for lunch the next day. The Speech: Tears of hope feel so much better than tears of rage. I couldn’t hang around for Jindal’s rebuttal. Any bets on whether he and Sanford, Crist and the other numb nuts Republican governors take the money? The Republican Governor of California has made it clear that he’ll be happy to take their share if they don’t want it.
- I'll second LA Mary. There is no evidence that Bush was anywhere but in the wind during the last year of his "service". Everybody knew in those days that the Guard was for those who had juice. For my money he demonstrated his cowardice on 09-11-2001 when he spent the day cowering in a bunker in Nebraska instead of heading immediately back to DC from Florida. For Mark's record I did two tours in Vietnam. About half of that time was in the field. There were plenty of bodies strewn around for one's viewing.
- Add my concurrence to those who are tired of presidents introducing members of the audience. It wore out after the first time back whenever. Drop it. Please. It's sooo Ed Sullivan.
- It looks like the Seattle P-I and the (sob) SF Chron will possibly bite the dust in the next few weeks. If they do, I wouldn't be surprised to see an avalanche.
- Paul Harvey was as full of shit as a Christmas goose but he was one of the greatest radio guys of all time. He was the master of timing. Great eval here: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- Hah! And I thought I was the only one to get the tea-bagging ref. For sure the lady with the sign doesn't. I commented a day early on Paul Harvey. See #66 yesterday and check out Ken Levine's thoughts.
- My (former) wife is Portuguese from Lisbon and we have one or two people of Hispanic origin here in California. Can't tell you the last time I heard "Eva" pronounced EVEa. It's always EH-va in these parts.
- Are you at home today, Mary? I thought you couldn't watch movies at work. Reason I mention it is I saw what you linked to but I can't watch it until I get home this Eve-ning.
- Today is Casual Thursday since tomorrow is Furlough Friday. I'm sitting here in my Sacramento aerie wearing Levi's 501s and a Norm Abram shirt and my $15 running shoes from Big Five. I liked those fashion pix to which Nance linked. Especially the cave girl on the right.
- Yeah, Colleen, what's with all those people who look like they haven't washed their hair in a month. That's nasty. The period thing never bothered me. Women I've lived with have always been pretty matter of fact about it. When going to the store my ex wife would holler at me as I left "and pick up some pampers for me". She called the whatever brand it was "Pampers". What else would the person at the store think I was buying the things for if not my wife?
- "Uffda"? Guess I haven't spent enough time in the UP. I was there once when I was a kid.
- Here in California we just say "shit". Or my ex would say "merde". She also dreamed one up. Something had gone wrong one day and she was staring at it all pissed off and frustrated and said "It's - it's - gondolian!" "Gondolian" just came out of her mouth and everybody hit the floor laughing. Ever since, "gondolian" has been a substitute for "screwed up".
- On a whim, after reading Randy's comment, I looked up Winnipeg on the Weather Channel. My God! And I was whining about the cold this AM because the morning temps are ten degrees below average here in Sacto. http://www.weather.com/outlook/travel/businesstraveler/local/CAXX0547?lswe=Winnipeg,%20CANADA&lwsa=WeatherLocalUndeclared&from=searchbox_typeahead
- I've been to lunch with people like Sue describes. That person will want to split the check evenly five ways when he/she had two glasses of wine and the steak platter while the rest of us had iced tea and a burger. Mark, Jeff, I agree with what Jeff says. JSOC, however, has been around for a while. My son-in-law spent years in the 160th SOAR (google it) which is the rotary winged aviation arm of JSOC - the proverbial black helicopters. He was on the first chopper into A-stan after 9-11. He was based at an old Soviet base in Uz-stan. They flew CIA people. He has a picture of him drinking beer with that CIA guy who was killed early in the proceedings. He showed me a disk with a lot of pix but wouldn't let me copy them. Later he was at JSOC HQ at Ft. Bragg. His money quote: All the Stans are shit holes. He was in Iraq last Sept and was awarded a Distinguished Flying Cross for actions there and he just left to go back to Iraq day before yesterday.
- What JB said at # 34. Gasman, the “actors at Fox get their talking points directly from the Republicans” is close. More to the point is that they function as an in house propaganda arm of the Rs. Roger Ailes, boss of Faux news, is a Republican dirty tricks operative of the nastiest sort and has been for decades. Folks can argue about what’s being done to fix the economic crisis but from my personal perspective I see this simple juxtaposition: I have taken a 10% pay cut, the value of my house has dropped significantly and AIG, BofA and all the other financial biggies who stole the money in the first place are receiving billions of dollars from the G’ment. No plan, no accountability, no nuthin, just $$$ and more $$$. But, hey, I’m not upset. Bill at # 8. The University of Illinois Assembly Hall in Champaign was completed while I was a student there. I lived for two of those happy college years in a dorm not far from it. I attended many basketball games, concerts, shows, etc. there. It was a wonderful facility. The interior has no columns so there are unobstructed views from every seat. The place can be closed off into smaller halls or theaters or whatever to provide more intimate venues for concerts, lectures and so forth. Haven’t been there in about 40 years.
- Damn, Mary. I had planned to go to the farmers market today for the first time this year but it was raining so I rolled over and pulled the covers over my head. Next week. My grandson the Cub Scout and his mom the den leader notwithstanding the blue and gold is Cal.
- Brian, Agent Orange was sprayed wholesale all over South Vietnam. The operation was known as "Ranch Hand". You must have seen those pictures of C-123s wingtip to wingtip spraying that stuff at about 500 feet of altitude. We used to spray it on fence lines and perimeters and barbed wire to keep everything clear. Here you go: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Ranch_Hand Given our history, I have no reason to doubt that the same crime is being repeated in Columbia. Don't forget that drug profits finance terrorism. One thing in that Jack Welch post really got my notice. That is the apparent fact that a few mutual funds seem to own a huge chunk of Fortune 5oo stock and don't exercise any oversight or vigilence over the companies they own leaving management to their own devices - and machinations. I've wondered for a long time where the board of directors and shareholders were in these outfits and now I know. Absent.
- Sue's ref to a hippie chick and her flat tired VW reminded me of an old Berkeley story. Telegraph Ave at Durant, about 1970: A hippie looking chick was opening the gas cap on her Mercury Comet with one hand and holding a quart of oil in the other, clearly intending to pour item two into item one. I said, "Um, Ma'am?" And she combusted, screaming stuff about men, blah, blah, and women were capable, etc., etc. and being patronized, yahda, yah and I tip toed away and watched her pour the oil in her gas tank from a distance. Maybe she did know something I didn't.
- I could almost match you, Mary but everybody here is a member or fee paying non-member of a state employee union. Otherwise . . . Easy on us white guys who ain't sylph like, Jeff.
- Best bunch of comments on NN.C in a long time. Some fun and some humor and maybe a little break here and there from the ernest. Thanks, y’all. Me? I was up in the high country today at one job and tomorrow (Wed). I’m on the 6:00 AM flight to Barstow for another. Well, Ontario, actually. You do ground transportation to Barstow. Lovely town. You can stand on a street corner and amuse yourself watching the sand blow by on the sidewalk. Last trip to Barstow the rental car company “upgraded” me to a Lincoln Town Car. You don’t drive a car like that, you herd it. Cajon Pass is not for the faint of heart. Sweet smelling mountain evergreens to desert in one day. I’ve had worse jobs. As far as this douthbag guy goes, I’d love to hear the young lady’s account of the evening.
- Tomatoes - some heirloom variety whose name escapes me and Romas. Zukes and Jalapenos. None of which I see on the Obama list. I keep it simple. Bought the stuff the other day and had planned to do the garden this weekend but it looks like rain now. We'll see. For Herbs I have rosemary, sage, oregano, thyme and chives back from last year and new basil that I just bought. I still haven't made it to the farmers market yet this year.
- Catherine, how long ago did you plant your lime? What size is it? Where did you get it? I want one!!
- Bourdain’s remark about Alice Waters and the Khmer Rouge dates to January. It has nothing, I repeat, Nothing to do with the White House garden. It has nothing at all to do with eating or growing garden fresh food. His comment refers to the way certain food type people would push their way of eating on folks in general, it refers to the way they can’t seem to understand that not all people have organic, garden fresh food available to them and that not all people desire to eat organic, garden fresh food even if they could afford it. His comment has everything to do with Alice Waters’ elitist attitude. For, despite the excellence of her cooking, her restaurant, her writing and her contributions to American cooking, Alice is an elitist. People who are familiar with Bourdain also know that he is often given to hyperbole and exaggeration to make a point. See the following link. The Khmer Rouge remark is at the end. http://dcist.com/2009/01/chewing_the_fat_anthony_bourdain.php I have a billion dollars in bail out money I’ll give to anybody who comes up with something new or amusing about Limbaugh. I keep getting the feeling I’m reading the same comment over and over. I have another billion dollars in bail out money I’ll give to anybody who can explain why the weather is sunny and 70’s all week long and when the weekend comes it’s 50’s wind and rain. This seems to happen all too regularly.
- Well, the Opera House is just across Van Ness from City Hall. I don't know where in the building Milk's office was, though. The thing about Milk was that he was very conscious of the fact that he had been elected to represent everyone, not just gays. He was an excellent supervisor (SF is a combined city and county and the elected leaders are called "supervisors" as in board of) and was well liked by all. The mayor, George Moscone was from one of the old time Italian families. Also a fine man and well liked by all. I have no intention of watching the movie mostly for reasons already cited. I lived in SF at the time. I've never enjoyed movies made about times and or places where and when I was present. They just never work out. In Sacto they've replaced all the downtown meters with central, middle of the block things the size of vending machines that take quarters and credit cards. You pay for a dollar's worth of time with your Visa because you don't have enough quarters and the stupid machine doesn't take dollar bills even though every coke machine in the world does. It spits out a little ticket that you put on your dash. Walking a half block to the meter thing and back to your car with your stupid little ticket and then back up the street to your destination is especially enjoyable in the winter rain. The whole deal pisses me off. I can just envision the salesman peddling the cursed things to a bright eyed city official citing all the advantages to the city. There are certainly none for the citizens. Time to lighten up. Great post about crime in New Jersey by the incomparable Ken Levine: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- I work for the State of CA. We don't get anything. Nobody has ever tried to bribe me. Makes me feel worthless, insignificant and unloved. How do I know what my price is if nobody even tries me? Seriously, the State of CA is death on freebies. They don't even want you to pick up a pen at a trade show. Lunch? Unthinkable.
- I know some state agencies give away merdinhas at trade shows etc, Mary. They just don't want us to pick up anything. We all have to attend mandatory "ethics" training every year where they go over case studies about people who have been fired for eating a cookie and give us all kinds of terrifying examples of things that could get us canned and the auditorium stage is covered with bosses and managers and attorneys with very serious faces and you're scared to fall asleep and wondering if anybody saw you nip that piece of candy out of the bowl on the receptionist's desk at the consultant's office and if so will you get fired for eating it and in general it's a happy and wholesome half day of dreadfulness. We're not talking common sense or constancy here. And yes, morale has been higher.
- "Costa Rica, Hong Kong and Thailand all have great potential." They used to tell me that I had lots of potential. Boy, that was a long time ago. I tend to agree with Rana as well. Here's a match, Rana. Flame away.
- I don’t know about New York, but in CA that nutball architect would run into some serious code issues with his hamster habitat. I’m a recovering Catholic. My first wife was a divorced Methodist. We went to the Archdiocese of San Francisco to see about an annulment of her first marriage so we could get married in the Church. This was 1970. They quoted us a year’s worth of paperwork, counseling, yada, yada. We got married by a Unitarian minister. My second time, we were both divorced Catholics. The SF ArchD sneered at us again. This was ’78. This time I got married by an Episcopalian priest. That one lasted thirty years until recently. No more marriage. No more papists. Eat your hearts out, nn.c ers. I got my annual case of asparagus this aft. 18 pounds of gorgeous, prime Sacramento River Delta best grade asparagus. The best asparagus in the world. Picked this morning. I don’t like Bill Clinton either. I agree the Lewinsky affair was shameful. I don’t see it as an impeachable offense and I certainly can’t understand how it was worse than the multitudes of crimes and deaths attributable to the Bush administration. And I still say that two of the defining characteristics of the Republicans are hypocrisy and self delusion.
- That's the thing, Mary. They not only have these beliefs, they feel compelled to tell everybody. That shit is really objectionable. Talk about your hostile work environment.
- It's not the green, Basset, asparagus makes your pee smell strange.
- By the time you see the stuff in the stores it can be ancient. This is especially so as the distance between you and the source increases. What I have here will last a good four to five weeks. The secret is that you do not refrigerate. I can't eat all of it so I'll be sharing with other folks. In past years I have consumed an amazing amount of the stuff, though. I'm going to try pickling some this year. I've eaten Peruvian and Mexican asparagus and truly, none of it can compare with Delta asparagus. The best, like I have here (admittedly through dumb luck), is sweet, tender and flavorful, the thickness of a finger without that unfortunate grassy taste or any of those strings or toughness that you see in some asparagus. It's too bad the cheap Central and South American imports are killing the local farmers and developers are buying up the land. There are lots of ways to cook it. However you prepare it, just don't overcook it. You want it still deep green and with a tooth. Mary and Danny and Catherine should see it in the store this weekend. It's worth the $3.99/lb it will likely cost at first. The Delta is located between San Francisco and Sacramento and the land has become immensely valuable. If I wasn't such a lucky mooch, I would pay the $3.99 myself. I've learned that the growers lose money at lower prices and are selling their valuable land rather than lose money at $1.99. I can’t blame a guy for wondering why he should knock himself out for pennies when he can sell his acreage for millions and retire to the South of France. This is one more disappearing American treasure.
- Sell the sizzle, not the steak. "I will invite your opinions, especially from you journalists". Why is that? Is the site intended for journos only? If it's intended for GP folks in general, maybe the opinions of average users might be of some value. So much of our software is crap because the developers and code writers and so on write it for themselves instead of users. My (free and probably flawed) advice? Check out your peers' opinions of course but don't ignore the thoughts of the users.
- I saw a sign in a john once that said "Please don't eat the urinal cakes." I like Nancy 19 (sounds like some kind of biblical quote). It does nicely demonstrate content and package.
- Thanks for the link to the "Flour Girl" blog, Nance. I like it. I also read a story about cities shortening the yellow light interval in order to trap people into running the red. It led to a dramatic rise in rear enders. Don't like the cameras, and meters and such? Wait until they start tapping into your "On Star" and other similar devices. Pretty good, Mary. Gonna have an asparagus flavored one?
- Wait a minute, beb, do I understand you to say that Kwame Kilpatrick claims to be paying $240 per month for student loans? I sat here for a long time and tried to come up with something clever to say about that and couldn't.
- My front porch thermo says 71 in the shade. I guess I can tolerate Danny and Mary.
- I have a 2003 Ford Taurus. I bought it in 2006 as a lease return. It had 22,000 miles, the optional four cam engine, mag wheels, sunroof, leather -- you name it. I paid $9,000 even for it. A comparable Camry or Accord (either of which I would rather have had - I've driven both) would have been more than double the 9 Gs I paid for the Ford. It's called bang for the buck but it speaks volumes about American cars. In fairness, the Ford has, to my surprise, turned out to be an excellent car. I've been very pleased. No service problems to date. Wanna know what the shouting's about? Test drive a Honda Civic and then go test drive a Chevy Cobalt. It's still all about product and the General still has a hill to climb even though Lutz (not Wagoner) has done or did yeoman service in leading GM out of the product wilderness. The car biz should also have been as diligent as the finance people at hiring lobbyists and infiltrating their people into g'ment agencies.
- The other day your comments section swelled up to twice its normal size. Now the whole blog is swollen and all the side bar stuff is gone. Got blog mumps?
- Go for it, Alex. My marriage is already down the tube. You can't hurt me. Isn't there some sort of age requirement at Branson? Don't you have to be at least 60 to get in?
- Greene is pretty awful but after all, it was he who brought me to nn.c several years ago. He's one of Nancy's faves along with Rick whatshisname who got canned from the NYT a few years back.
- 'I knew the cold-dead-fingers contingent had passed a milestone when, after one of these slaughters, the talking points became “well, if only one of the potential victims had been packing, s/he could have expertly returned fire and taken the maniac out.” ' The gun nuts are always saying that and it simply doesn't match up with the realities of life. And death. Possession of guns, even with training and experience to back up said possession provides no guarantee that the good guys will prevail. Life is not an episode of the "Lone Ranger". Consider the seven cops from Oakland and Pgh. and however many other have been and will be killed while on duty. They were all packing. Don't have a dog in the MSU/UConn fight. It'll be a fun game to watch. I was sad to see Stanfurd so badly beaten by the other UConn last night.
- Nancy #7 -- Of course I knew that MSU was playing UNC tonight. I watched them beat UConn the other day and have had to listen to the guy two cubes down talk about North Carolina all morning. I just had UConn on the brain after the Stanfurd collapse.
- Many years ago, like 40 or so, a woman of my acquaintance was single and living in an apartment in the Hashbury. She had a pistol in the drawer of her bedside table. An intruder came in through her window and beat her to the bedside table. She was extremely lucky that he panicked and ran when she screamed. Only thing he got was the gun. Having a gun for protection is one of those things that always sounds like such a good idea, but the reality is a whole lot more iffy and a whole lot more complex than the gun lobby would have us believe.
- I saw that GM Segway thing on Jalopnik. I think it has potential. The idea of people riding current generation Segways at 12 mph on the sidewalks gives me the lamadamas. They're worse than bicycles.
- What Jean S said. Get an accoutant. My ex and I (we're legally separated, not divorced for exactly this reason and also so that I can keep her on my health insurance)use one and over the years he's saved us far more money than he's cost. One of the best investments we've ever made. Mary, many years ago when I was living in Berkeley and Angela Davis was a cause celebre there was a bumper sticker floating around: "Free Angela Davis -- with every 10 gallons".
- Dexter -- I don't know but I'm gonna guess: Nixon, Christian Herter over Ike's left shoulder and the guy next to Nixon looks like Al Haig but that's kind of iffy.
- Dexter, time to identify the people in the picture. Who were they?
- Thanks, Dexter. I got Herter but it was Mary who got Lodge. My son in law was in line to be assigned as a recruiter a couple of years ago and was scared to death at the prospect. He told me some horror stories about the duty. He dodged that one but now he's on one of his six week training and eval trips to Iraq. He should be home by the end of the month. Sue’s questions relate to the lack of outrage on the part of the general public concerning the Army’s treatment of some of its wounded soldiers. There have been stories here and there about it, particularly in the WAPO and, even worse, stories about how reserve soldiers have been treated like red headed step children compared to RA soldiers. I think part of the answer is the draft. During the Vietnam war a large number of people were drafted from all over the social and geographic map of the US. There was widespread participation in a much bigger war. Something like 50,000 Americans died in Vietnam. The death toll in Iraq is something over 4,000 Americans. Further, the Americans participating in Iraq are relatively very small in number. Instead of large numbers of people doing one tour in Vietnam, we have a small number of people pulling multiple tours in Iraq. The personal and social cost of the Iraq war is concentrated in a very small group of professional soldiers and their families and their communities and their tendency is to keep their grief and their feelings within the group rather than air it in public. The Vietnam war was much larger and the participation was much wider and everybody had a friend, neighbor or relative who was involved and the impulse to go public was much greater. Last, medical advances, even over the Vietnam war that so occupied my youth, and the types of wounds incurred by the fighters in the Iraq war have left us with a group of survivors who are battling the horrible effects of shattered limbs, amputations and brain injuries that we just did not see in the Vietnam war. PTSD? You mean like the time I took a swing at my mother when she woke me up one morning while I was home on leave from Vietnam? You mean how it was almost twenty years before I could go camping? How I couldn’t bring myself to go sleep in the woods? What can you say about PTSD? I’m sure it’s been a part of the aftermath of every war in the history of mankind. Some people don’t get over it, most do. It’s always been there. Anyway, some thoughts. I don’t know if this helps you, Sue. In the end war is a very serious, very messy and very non-romantic activity. I’ll be goddamned if I can see any little bit of any good at all that this Iraq affair has done us or anybody else.
- That animation was pretty funny. It reminds me of some of the kiddy kartoon shows. No awards for NBC for that coverage. Everybody keeps saying that the Maersk Alabama incident is the first experience with piracy for the U.S. in two hundred years. That ignores the Mayaguez debacle of 1975 which, while it may or may not technically have been piracy, must certainly have been on the minds of those who were running the show off Somalia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayag%C3%BCez_incident
- That'd work, Mark. She could wear them out with her liberal guilt.
- Rachel Maddow and Ana Marie Cox had a giggle fest last night about the teabaggers. Arcata is a great town along with its neighbor, Eureka. It's on the coast about 80 miles south of the Oregon border. It combines fishing, tourism, logging, cattle ranching and illegal stuff growing with a nice little U (Humboldt State) and a ton of old unreconstructed hippies. I've done a couple of jobs in the area. One was at the CHP field office in Arcata. Very nice people. I was again struck by the observation that CHP officers are a cut above other cops in every way. Anyhow, Arcata has an airport with several flights per day to SF and Sacto, beautiful mountains, the ocean, excellent restaurants, nice bars and a mild, if damp, climate. The drive to get there is spectacular, whether up 101 through the redwoods or over 299 through the mountains. The Arcata Eye fits. Worth a trip.
- UC Davis is an excellent school. The People's Republic of Davis is a very nice town. It's a college and agro town. Again, good food, good bars, good theater and concert town, not as colorful as Arcata and it's a hot, dry place. Lotsa libruls. It's also known as one of the most bicycle friendly towns in the U.S. Easy freeway access to the Bay Area and Sacramento and to I-5 and thence L. A. It's only a few miles from Sacto airport with a dozen or so daily flights to Burbank. Probably fewer now with the slow down, but still. Your son could do a whole lot worse than Davis, Mary, and if he's interested in oenology or viticulture, Davis is the best there is.
- I love Sandra Tsing Loh. She's making a joke. She doesn't really hate bolo wearing 80 year old geezers. The example is a device to illustrate her point. I'm going to throw out all my bolos when I get home tonight. I kind of agree with Mark about the poor girl in Ohio. The part about the dead beat boyfriend. Why should she be supporting that parasite? All he's doing is dragging her down and since he's not going to succeed at anything, he's going to do everything he can (craftily, of course) to ensure that she doesn't succeed. Next thing she's going to turn up pregnant and it'll truly be over for her. At this point it looks like she still has some control over her future -- if she dumps Mr. My daughter's best girl friend is married to a jobless loser. He calls himself a stay at home dad in an effort to cloak himself in some shred of respectability. Fortunately my daughter's friend makes enough money to afford to carry this bum (she's a dentist) but she still has to come home every night and cook dinner, take care of the kids, clean house, do the laundry, etc. etc. while Mr. watches sports on TV. And my daughter's all "but Dad, he's not really a bad guy". And my tongue is now sore and bleeding from my biting it. I agree, Brian, KERS is a curse. Bernie E'stone makes Don King look like Mother Teresa.
- JC, I'm not sure trading youth for insight is such a deal. All those idiots out there are giving teabagging a bad name.
- I've had a letch for Cat for years. She and her honey used to live near here until they moved down near Santa Barbara last year. They're both pregnant -- with each other's kids. Oprah? I didn't know she played for the other team. Has anybody told Stedman?
- Padma's a goddess. EVOO is Rachel Ray, right? She's kinda cute herself.
- You mean Oprah's a beard? Jamie Lee too? Man, I live a sheltered life. I know what EVOO is. Point was Rachel Ray's always talking about EVOO.
- Mary, I was in my car earlier today when I heard there had been a shooting in an L.A. area hospital. I thought of you right away until they elaborated and revealed that the incident had taken place in Long Beach. I think there's a deep vein of craziness in this country and it will profit nobody to tap into it. I fear we're going to see more of these kinds of shootings over job and property loss.
- I lived in Berkeley for years. The City Council has been in the self parody mode since Moby Dick was a minnow. It's this kind of crap that gives Berkeley residents a reputation as Volvo driving, pipe smoking, tweed jacket with patches on the elbows wearing, elitist, limousine (those who don't drive Volvos) liberals. Unfortunately, the reputation has a very large, very irritating grain of truth to it.
- I can't sing at all. I even lip-synch in the shower. Can't play any instruments either. In fact, I can barely play the radio.
- Jeez, Mary, I never thought of what they looked like. I just checked with my fingertip and it seems like I do have two of them. Which is good because I remember burning them off one time years ago when I was still stupid enough to use starter fluid on the BBQ. I'll try to remember to look next time I go to the can. They're probably gray. Everything else is.
- Congrats on the teaching offer. I hope it grows into a bigger thing. You're gonna do a great job. Love the Lions thing. When you're in the dumper, hire a consultant to change your logo, upgrade your corporate image.
- That's fantastic about the grant, Nance. I know it was nn.c and the fellowship that impressed the judges. Dog fighting bait. Lord. Strip searching high school kids. What a bunch of sadistic pervs. When Boalt Hall shitcans John Yoo he can get a job at a high school somewhere. Brian, go back and finish the Dowd column. It's hilarious. Her one leg must be twice as long as the other from the guy pulling it. She still doesn't understand what an idiot she is.
- I'm off tomorrow. Furlough. I think I'll go home tonight and self medicate with a nice G & T. Maybe two.
- Don't knock it Gasman. It works. Every day I put a little mark on the sidewalk in front of the house to keep the elephants away. So far, in all these years, I've never seen an elephant in front of my house. Catherine, sounds interesting. Next time I'm at the store I'll try to remember to get some kumquats. I'm pretty conservative about changing my drinks but I'll try it.
- I agree about Ms. Waters. Does she live in Marin? Her joint is in Berkeley which is in Alameda county. I’ve lived in both and, some annoying people aside, there are lots worse places to live than Marin County. Kingsolver is just as big a twit. The hundred mile thing is simply not possible for other than a few dedicated souls. How many people live in NYC? How many people could the produce of a hundred mile radius support? What about Key West? Fargo in Feb? Of course people ate locally in years past. Trucks, railroads and refrigeration changed all that. That said, there certainly is merit in trying to eat local stuff. It’s fresher, often better and supports the local, usually small business economy. But let’s not make a fetish of it. Maybe that’s what Kingsolver really means. Here in Northern California I could, for most of the year, live on stuff produced within a hundred to a hundred twenty five miles. That includes wine, brandy and vodka. In fact I do get a significant percentage of my food from local sources. Not because I’m such a great guy but simply because I live in a place where locally produced foodstuffs are fresh, cheap, plentiful, high quality and readily available. Easy on us 64 year old and up folks. I’m neither an alky nor demented yet. At least I don’t think so. I could ask my daughter but maybe she’d be too polite to be honest.
- Yeah, I know, Mary, but what I was wondering was whether those farms had the capacity to feed the umpty zillion people who live in New York.
- When I used the term “fetish” I was thinking of Linda’s reporting that Barbara Kingsolver refused to let her kid(s) eat fruit in the winter months on the grounds that the produce came from more than 100 miles away. For my money that’s pushing it. I wasn't referring to local purchasing in general. Locavorism. A charming word that makes a worthwhile practice sound like a disease. I’m all for it in principle and I even practice it to a very great extent. I’m not going to give up Indonesian coffee, Scotch whiskey or English gin, though as I sit here I’m enjoying a very nice glass of Zinfandel that was vinted, according to Google Maps, a grand total of 17.9 miles from where I live. I probably consume more local stuff than most nn.c denizens. The point was that it is easy and delicious for me. It’s not thus for everyone and nobody should look down on folks who buy food from farther afield. That’s reality, that’s commerce. Linda touched on something else. I don’t know where she lives, but here in California there is a whole byzantine system of water rights and allocations and fees for agriculture that outrageously favors corporate farmers over anybody else. We have a huge, simmering basic water problem here in the Desert State that has been shoved aside, avoided, shirked and run from by the State Legislature for decades. The whole thing is going to come home to roost in the not too distant future and it isn’t going to be pretty.
- Anybody drink beer and tomato juice? "TomatoBeer". It's not bad. Only place I've ever really seen it is L.A.
- Jeff (TMMO), I don't know where or when you attended boot camp or basic training. What you describe bears no resemblance to the Army basic training I attended in 1966. The training was all about building one up, physically and mentally. There was none of the brutality or "breaking down" of people that you describe. Yeah, the training was tough and yeah, the hours were long but whatever the source of your fantasy might be it wasn't Army basic training. The Army knows training and they do it very well.
- The cover is great too. Look at what the poor little bear cub is eating.
- Between the fabulous Nina T. on the radio and the ever wonderful Dahlia Lithwick on Slate we have excellent SCOTUS coverage. I’m a member of a State employees’ union. Professional Engineers in California Government - PECG. I’m not an engineer but I play one on TV. A lot of people in the union are not engineers. There are jobs that don’t require engineering degrees or licenses. Standing around job sites with one’s hands in one’s pockets is one of them.
- Yeah, but what degree of ass?
- Davis, CA, about 10 miles down the road, is rated as the #1 bike friendly town in the country, for whatever those rankings are worth. Sacramento works well for biking too. It's flat and there are plenty of side streets where one can ride parallel to main streets without being exposed to heavy traffic. Also even the main streets have bike lanes. It can get warm here in the summer. All right. Not "can get warm". It will get warm. Probably even hot.
- Terrific job on Dwight, Sue. You made me laugh. Dexter, you’re welcome to try Inverness, CA for biking, although what they advertise is mountain biking. Inverness is in West Marin. Marin is a real hotbed of mountain biking. If you want hot, Sacto and Davis in the summer will fill the bill. Danny is right that San Diego is a wonderful town. All the “yeah, buts” and “whoevers” aside, the whys and wherefores aside, global warming is real and it’s coming to your house. We’re not talking about radical rises in temps. A couple of three or four degrees will wreak havoc on ice caps and climates. Animals and plants will migrate toward the poles. I’d advise speculators to buy some of that great new wine country coming up in Washington and B.C. Some coastlines will get wet. Changing ocean temps likely will seriously affect the gulf stream. London’s weather will resemble Moscow’s. Sell your Northern European resort properties to finance your Washington vineyards.
- Mine rings like an old time phone. Joe, is your 310 called the Songbird? Got Penny with you?
- I was at Kaiser Monday for my annual and they surprised me with a booster vac for tetanus, pertussis and something else that escapes me at the moment. While the young lady with the heavy Russian accent was poking my arm, the Dr. was wondering out loud about tetanus. He said he hadn't heard or read of a case of it in years. Nice that the Suthren Baptists are against torture. Have they changed their stance vis-a vis women?
- Gosh, Linda, I can't for the life of me imagine why your dad never wore those blue alligator shoes.
- I once was selling a ’67 Dodge convert for $50. It had some collision damage. This was in the late ‘70s. The dipshit asked me what kind of gas mileage I had been getting. I told him that for fifty bucks he wasn’t authorized to ask about gas mileage. He forgot to ask about the hole in the radiator. I wish I had that car back. Along with several others. I’ll bet we all have cars in memory that we’d like to have back.
- Can't help but notice the contrast between the two beauty queens who have been much in the news lately: The former Miss North Dakota and the current Miss California. And with reference to the latter, nobody can make her look bad. Only she can make herself look bad. And doing a good job of it. Who can outawkward that sentance?
- I don’t really give a rat’s ass about Miss CA. She’s within her rights to say what she said and I’m within mine to think she’s a jerk for having said it. And yes, she certainly seems to have become a dupe of the professional bigots. I’m no big fan of breast enhancement but many people are. That’s fine. I do, however, reserve the right to be amused by the fact that the Miss Whatever people paid for Miss CA’s pectoral enlargements just a short time before the contest. I wonder what other contestants think about that. On the other hand, I’m very happy to see Roxana Saberi, the former Miss N. Dak. released from an Iranian prison. She seems to me like a very nice kid who was trying to pursue a dream and to do a good job as a foreign correspondant. She’s very lucky to have a father with the brains, the money and the P.R. savvy to get her case on the front page and the love and persistence to keep it there.
- A bit off the topic. I spent the last couple of days in Hollywood and Glendale. LA Mary - Based on your recommendation, I had an excellent corned beef sandwich for lunch at Billy’s in Glendale. Terrific old timey place. Dark wood walls, high backed booths and even an elderly waitress who called me “Baby” and “honey”. The pickles were fabulous. Which Cantor’s should I try first? North Fairfax or south? Then there’s the other side of women buying cars. My wonderful daughter who was eighteen, just out of high school and in her first real job decided to buy a new car for herself without telling us. She simply drove her brand new Geo Metro (yep, she’s cheap) home one evening convulsed with laughter at the way she had worked the poor schlub of a Chevy salesman. Her story was a little sketchy but it involved a few undone buttons on her blouse, some vague promises, etc. I don’t know how the deal got past the sales manager or the F & I guy or whomever but I saw the paperwork and she did steal the car. That was 12 or 13 years ago. Her husband still drives the thing while she tools around in the new soccer mom van. One of the many things I love about her is that she’s a great story teller. She got all the good stuff from her mom. The potty mouth came from me.
- I'll take a stick as well although my Taurus is auto. Many things went into selecting that car, not the least was bang for buck. My '70 F-250 is a stick. My Ex has a stick PT Cruiser and a stick Geo Metro. Yeah, her too. Daughter's Geo is a stick as well. I taught her how to drive in an old VW. I think everyone should learn to drive a stick. It makes you a better driver and greatly enhances your all around driving skills and understanding of how a car works. Also you're prepared if you have to drive somebody else's car in an emergency.
- Check out today's weather forecast for Sacto. Scroll down. http://www.weather.com/weather/local/95814?lswe=95814&lwsa=WeatherLocalUndeclared&from=searchbox_localwx It's going to get warm.
- I’ve used and abused credit cards for forty years. There have been several periods during which I hoisted balances to over $20,000 and then managed beat them back down to zero. I’ve had a whole pocket full of Masters and Visas and a couple of Discovery’s and AMEXs. I cancelled AMEX many years ago because I didn’t like paying fees and couldn’t see any advantage to AMEX over the others. I had two AMEX cards for a while there. A regular one and one that was colored black and allowed me to accrue a balance a la Visa or MC. I even had a Diners’ Club card once and several others whose names escape me. Oh, and some oil company cards. In the past two years, after splitting from my wife, I let things balloon back up to around $17,500. I had, oh, I can’t remember how many cards and they all had frightening limits that ranged from $25,000 to over $50,000. Talk about the potential for problems. I never got into the airline mileage thing, although I probably should have. Or maybe not. I did get an Amazon card and they toss me an occasional $25 credit slip good for purchases from their site. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to keep up with payments and even wipe out balances. I’ve also never gotten crosswise with any of the credit card companies. As a result, I’ve had a steady deluge of offers from card companies offering zero percent interest with balance transfers. Even up to today. Right after splitting up, I bought a rather pricey new computer from Dell. I reluctantly agreed to finance it through them to gain a favorable discount. Around this time I had a “Holy Shit” moment and realized that my spending was out of control. It was a wonderful computer (still is) and I love the new stove. But I came to the conclusion that I had to rein things in. The Dell account was interest free for a year and I paid that off well before the time was up. One point for me. Then I took advantage of those interest-free-for-six-month-with-balance-transfer offers from the credit card companies. I’ve been transferring balances and cancelling cards back and forth for the last 18 months until I now have the whole nine yards down to around $6,000. I plan to kill that off by the end of the year. I can’t envisage a life without cards, but I can sure imagine a life without a balance. I’ll freely admit that it is easier for a single person with a decent job to economize and to pay cards off. At the same time, being single with a decent job is a situation that can easily create the illusion that one can charge anything one wants. I pay cash, as in greenbacks, for a lot more stuff now and use my debit card. I do not, however, use my debit card for internet purchases. Lesson? I dunno. I’ve been lucky in my stupidity, I guess. Very lucky. I was an eyelash away from getting into some really horrific debt. Credit cards are a useful tool, like a sharp knife, and should be kept and used with great care. I can’t believe I just spilled all this personal stuff out onto the web.
- Yeah, Alex, but they're playing for the other team.
- It is a great picture. Attractive people in a wonderfully lucky composition. Jeff's left hand on his coat provides a framing counterpoint to Jeanine's hand with the cigarette. The flat, almost used up champagne bottle is perfect. A new one would seem contrived. I like it a lot. I don't think I even knew gay existed when I was in high school. This was a suburban Chicago, all white, almost everybody goes to college school. I graduated in '62.
- TPM's take on the Rosen article: http://tpmdc.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/05/anatomy-of-the-unsuccessful-sotomayor-whisper-campaign.php?ref=fpblg It's great to hear the little guy's OK. This is the part of having pets that I hate. The Ex has custody of our dogs but I love them still. One of them, little old Jack, is also 17 and is getting infirm. It is good to know that both Jack and Spriggy have such great homes.
- Maybe if the esteemed nominee had a preppy nickname like "Muffy" or something. . . Yeah, that's it. Muffy Sotomayor. A lot of Asian immigrants' names were homogenized at Angel Island. Lysol? Just the thing. A woman who smells like a gas station restroom.
- OK, "Sissy" it is. Brian, wait a couple of generations. Instead of walking law firms, they'll be walking rosters. Joking aside, there's a guy here at the office who is going through a prolonged, hellacious and brutal divorce. One of the big bones of contention is the kids' names. The guy will sign them up for swimming with one name, the wife will sign them up for soccer under another. I've heard him on the phone arguing with her about it. As is so often the case, both parents are prime assholes and the poor kids suffer.
- A guy at work picks his nose. And looks at his newly mined treasure. While talking to you.
- I've written before about the wonderful farmers market here in Sacramento. The food is all locally produced, is fresher and of a higher quality than anything you can get in the supermarkets (and they have excellent produce in the supermarkets around here) and the prices are competitive. OK, a cabbage recipe for the proprietress. Had this last Saturday with fried chicken, mashed potatoes and pan gravy. I make it in a large wok. Quarter a small cabbage or a big one. Lose the thick, white butt ends and thinly slice each quarter lengthwise. Then chop across the slices. This will give you a coarse chop. Peel, core and coarsely chop three Granny Smiths. Chop a small to medium onion. Any kind. I used a red one Saturday. Melt a stick of butter in the pan and add all the chopped stuff. Mix and cover. Add salt. Stir occasionally and cook until softened. While the above is cooking, pour a quarter to a half cup of cider vinegar into a container (I use one of those little Pyrex one or two cup pitchers), add sugar to taste, add a little cayenne or red pepper flakes or don't, but a little adds some piquancy. Also add a little nutmeg. Beat all that up with a fork or something. Taste it and modify as you desire. Dump into the cabbage mixture and stir it all up. Set it aside for an hour or several for the flavors to meld. You should end up with a sort of tart, sweet and sour tasting dish. Measures for the vinegar mixture are vague because it's to taste. This is one of those things that's better the next day and can be kept in the reefer for several days. It also goes great with pork. I'll be working on the leftovers this evening. Nance, your old cookbook with all the canned stuff in it sounds like Sandra Lee cooking. Far from disappearing, that sort of cooking is alive and well on the Food Network. Lee is amusing to watch in very small doses and she drives Anthony Bourdain crazy. I don't know about the Julie/Julia movie but I used to follow the blog and it was well written, hilarious and profane. I loved it.
- Mary, is Eagle Rock just below Glendale? Tell me where Oinkster is and I'll try it. I think I'll try one of the ketchup recipes. I have a dill pickle recipe. I put them in jars in the refrigerator and don't make any more than I can use in a month or so. I don't even want to know about dandelion wine. Sounds like some desperate person's version of pruno. Yuck.
- Thanks, Mary. For me a "spring tonic" is Schweppes with Tanqueray and a sliver of lime in it. Right you are, Cooze. Justice Ginsburg's move could torpedo both Chrysler and GM. Why would the South want Chrysler and GM to fail? Where would NASCAR be then? Here's the latest from our Gov: http://www.gov.ca.gov/index.php?/executive-order/12460/ It looks to me like a desperate attempt to pick up some pennies to make the July bills and payroll. Just when the economy looks like it might be trying to struggle to its knees, this is another blow to the back of the head by the State. To date there still hasn't been a single word from the genius's under the dome that addresses the systemic budget problems.
- Harry Bosch wouldn't have missed that bite clue.
- Here in Sacto it's 68 moving toward a progged 76 against an average for this date of 87. Catherine is right. Some places like Northern Europe are going to get colder, a lot colder. The West Coast is expected to get warmer. The Napa Valley wine climate is scheduled to move to WN. Buy some vineyard property now, Moe. Beat the rush.
- We used to have a dove couple that hung with the chickens. They would spend all day wandering around scratching and pecking. That was a pretty amusing post. I never heard the grilled cheese metaphor before. I do know what tacos and fudge packing are. Mood, love, gentleness and reciprocity are all.
- Jolene, you have the pictures backwards. I can’t speculate on the occasion of the first picture. To my knowledge there was never any picture taking to mark one’s discharge but this is not a basic training picture. Several things. He is a corporal, he has several ribbons and he is sporting a unit patch. Looks like the First Armored Division maybe, but I’m not a tread head. He is also wearing his uniform like he belongs in it. The one on the right would be from basic. No rank (he’s a slick sleeve), no unit identification, no decorations. Also the uniform just doesn’t look right on him yet. He and the uniform too newly acquainted. Nice pictures. He looks like a great guy.
- A little trouble with the edit function there. Probably a loose nut behind the wheel.
- Been scanning back issues of Readers Digest, eh, Jeff?
- They're running those Michigan commercials here in Sac too. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make it to MI this year.
- I heard you gotta watch your driving. You can overrun Delaware. Nyuk, nyuk.
- Hey, Mary, Catherine (or anybody else in CA). You got a tamale lady where you work? A tamale lady is a usually older Mexican lady who sells fresh, homemade tamales. Used to be ten bucks a dozen but it’s up to fifteen now. We’ve had a tamale lady for every larger building where I’ve worked. Is it a tradition everywhere or just here in Sacto? It was on my mind because I was just wrapping and freezing today’s delivery. Guess what’s for dinner. They’re delish. A glass of wine, a big salad and that’s it!
- For many years I've listened to Sandra Tsing Loh on NPR and read her essays in various publications and I've always loved her. Still do. The point is not whether she is or is not a beautiful physical specimen of femininity (those were not glamour pictures and she's not an ingénue, though she doesn't look all that bad to me in a sort of in the middle of moving her shit out of the house way). The point is what she says. The piece had a melancholic feel to me. She seemed sad at developments and while not regretting her actions. She was sorry that things had come to her having resorted to taking a lover. I think she did a good job of using the other women's predicaments to present her own reasons for arriving at where she has come to be at forty seven years of age. I think all the people who populate her piece are in tough situations and while it's easy to be critical of one or another party I don't really see any bad people here. Just people who are not who they were twenty years ago. I'm sure not throwing any stones. I think Loh's assessment of how things go in a large number of marriages is spot on. Not nice, not fun, not pleasant to think of, but accurate. The specifics in her piece may seem a bit California or a bit yuppie to some, but the basics are valid. There are some things in there that hit a bit close to home for me. When I first broke up with my wife or vice-versa, as she was the moving party, I encountered an amazingly large number of men who expressed a kind of jealousy at my new single status. Many of them spoke of their wives in the most disparaging of terms. All of them noted that it was the financial horror associated with breaking up and that alone which was keeping them together with their wives. I can personally attest to the fact that the financial realities attached to breaking up a thirty year marriage are not enjoyable for either party. I wonder about the conversations these men's' wives would have if they were talking together. Follow Catherine's links. You won't be disappointed. Notes from my 'hood. I saw the electric meter reader the other day. He was motating down the street on one of those little kick scooters with skate board wheels. Made good time too. There are now hookers on Broadway in Oak Park. They've popped up in the last few months. Not many and they're spread over several blocks but they're there. Sometimes even at five in the AM when I'm on my way to work. What a tough job.
- Kincaid's a local guy (Placerville) so he gets a lot of play around here. Talk about somebody with a ton of bucks.
- I've been so seriously scared so many times in real life that I can't conceive of a book wigging me out. I guess you never know, though. Alex, it sounds like you have something rare and beautiful going. Best of luck and - - wait a sec - - I just raised a glass.
- I had a neighbor out there one day for over an hour trying to blow wet leaves. We had goats in Auburn. My former still has them. She always felt they should be fed nice stuff. This was all well and good, but they refused to eat any crap like grass and weeds. I called them the welfare goats. Burning stuff in CA is just not on. You can do some burning in rural areas, but the drill is to call the county hot line first to learn if the day is a burn day. Be quick. There aren’t many. Usually cool drizzly days. Also what you burn and how you burn are regulated. They do watch and they do enforce. This is one area where rural neighbors will inform on you. The stakes are just too high.
- Nicely done, Nance.
- My former wife once lived with Ian McShane in the South of France. We never talked about it much but she did say that he was a "wonderful man". I'm still trying to think of something to say about MJ other than to note that I do not own any of his records. I always liked Farrah Fawcett. She was a lovely woman who deserved better than Ryan O'Neal.
- The media’s orgy of adulation and revisionism over the barely cool corpse of Michael Jackson continues apace. The autopsy results are not even in yet and Jesse Jackson is already demanding a recount. He may not know anything about forensic medicine but he knows a photo op when he sees one and he’s certain, as are we all, that the County of Los Angeles is determined to bury the truth about poor St. Michael’s victimhood.
- You can go to MS's Bing thing (I use local.live.com) and see that toxic dump pretty close up. It isn't very attractive. But right near by is a huge tennis facility. As part of the continuing commentary on things newspaper, I noted that the writer got a byline and at the end of the piece five other people were credited with having helped. Is the NYT sensitive about this stuff after the scandals of a few years ago? http://www.bing.com/maps/#JnE9eXAuMTcyK2RvdWdsYXMrYXZlJTJjK2phbWFpY2ElMmMrcXVlZW5zJTJjK255JTdlc3N0LjAlN2VwZy4xJmJiPTQwLjcxNDM0NjE3MDQ4NDklN2UtNzMuNzczODgwMDA0ODgyOCU3ZTQwLjY5MjEyNTQzODI0NSU3ZS03My44MDk4ODU5Nzg2OTg3
- Great cartoon, James. I've been thinking that same thing about Sanford, Nance. He's gonna end up losing his job anyway. He may as well just do all of us (including himself and his tango honey) a favor and split for B. A. Not only is Jackson not buried yet, they still have no idea what to do with him other than that it was made very clear that his mortal remains were most emphatically not welcome in Santa Barbara County. Shudder. Now there are vague plans for some kind of memorial event at Staples Arena on Tues which I'm sure is just wonderful news for LAX and anybody who wants to get in or out of there. I'm scheduled to fly down that way on Tues AM but I'm going to Burbank so things should be OK. What bizarre people they are and what a bizarre story. The coroner or the funeral home or whomever is going to start charging demurrage.
- Yeah, the swells like to fly into Santa Monica and Van Nuys too. I'm not going to sweat it. I see there's also a Porto's in Glendale. Is one better than the other? I had malaria twice when I was in the service. That used to raise some big red flags with the blood people.
- Here's a story about the cars in the river complete with video. http://jalopnik.com/5306306/fifteen-mysterious-cars-pulled-from-detroit-river Nance, were you wearing a blue tank top and white shorts? Check the woman at about 1:14 -- 1:12.
- Oh shit. I just read the funeral is going to be at Forest Lawn at 10:00 AM with the Staples Center memorial to follow. I gotta be in Hollywood at 10:00.
- In the army they used to get guys to give blood in the AM and then give everybody the rest of the day off. They would all run down to the club and get drunk for cheap. Very drunk and very cheap. I say "they" since they wouldn't let me donate because of the Malaria history.
- Sort of like hiring that phone company guy to run GM and the failed Home Depot guy to run Chrysler, eh, Danny? Both companies' best times were when they were run by car guys.
- I heard she's pregnant with Mark Sanford's love child. I watched her whole statement on CNN and I honestly don't have the faintest idea what it was she said.
- I landed at Burbank at about 7:30 on Tues. To get to Hollywood I made an end around through Glendale down San Fernando Rd. and over Los Feliz Blvd. I was due at the Hollywood DMV at 10:00. There were no traffic problems at all and I got there about 8:45. The Spectacle was on the TV in the break room. Thankfully we were able to turn it off for the meeting. Later had an excellent lunch just a few blocks away at Canter’s. Only sour note there was that Canter’s had the Spectacle on the tube. Thanks, Mary. Canters was as advertised. No traffic problems leaving Hollywood either. I agree fully with Nance’s observation on the little girl’s TV appearance. The whole revisionist St. Michael thing is disgusting. He didn’t discover the cure for cancer, he didn’t relieve world hunger, he didn’t bring about world peace. He was nothing more nor less than an entertainer. The sight of those two money grubbing, self serving frauds, MLK’s son and Al Sharpton turns my stomach. Strong words but I am beyond sick and tired of this whole thing. When and where are they going to bury the poor bastard?
- Years ago we had a schnoodle named “Jack”, a golden retriever named “Blondie”, a couple of cats and a large bunny named “Rafael”. They all got along fabulously together. One day I went rabbit hunting with my brother in law and another fellow in the quarries down near Tracy. We took with us the mighty golden retriever hunting dog. Blondie had never been hunting before and while she enjoyed the outing tremendously, she was totally useless as a hare hunter. Since she lived with a bunny she wasn’t familiar with the concept of chasing and killing them. She walked around a large bush and surprised one that froze with terror. The mighty hunter amiably flopped down next to the hare that, scarcely believing its luck, recovered quickly and bounded away. We didn’t kill any hares that day but we did shoot a lot of beer cans. I was just as happy. Jack, now seventeen and blind still lives with my Ex. Harry Reid is a weenie.
- My condolences, Dexter. I know what a loss that is. Congrats, C-Girl. Don't worry about justifying it. Getting a job today is a major achievement and a major need. Have bit of the bubbly tonight.
- If it's in my district it's public works. If it's in your district it's pork. I'd like to think there's a difference between someone like C-Girl who is signing on as an employee to do an honest day's work for a day's pay and Halliburton, an organization which seems to exist for the purpose of scamming as much money out of its corrupt Govt contracts as possible for as shoddy and as little work as possible.
- God, what a bunch of old farts. I was seven months out of the army and Driving a bus for Greyhound. That night I was at the Top of the Kip, an old Berkeley watering hole that, by the way, still exists.
- Well, a shout out at Roy's this AM.
- One day a year and a half or two ago I was reading Lileks when my brain suddenly called a halt. "Why are you reading this precious twit and his stories about buying toilet paper at Target and his rants about how it's so good that the US is bombing the shit out of Iraq because he's so manly?" Well, that didn't exactly track, but I got the point and I couldn't think up a quick response so my brain took control of my right hand and clicked the screen somewhere else. I can't remember where, but I haven't read Lileks since. Thanks for directions to the "Tonsil" blog.
- WLS in Chicago with Dick Biondi, the Wild I-tralian (not a typo). Also Dan Sorkin on I don't remember what station. He was for the hip and cool. I was out of there by the early '60s. Sorkin has also been in SF since about then.
- I looked on their site and there's two BdBs here in Sacto(one is in Roseville). Never even heard of the place before this string. No hurry to go there after what I've heard. Sacto has a huge and vibrant restaurant scene. No need to hit the chains.
- Call CC Myers. He'll fix your freeway. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._C._Myers I kinda wonder about Ms. Sandrow and her rooster and the "rooster’s elaborate needs". Sounds a tad kinky. Madonna looks worse than awful.
- There was a tanker truck blow up a couple of years ago on the 580 Bay Bridge approach which took down an overpass. CC Myers got it fixed way ahead of schedule. He made big money on bonuses for both jobs. Also he redid a big section of 5 here in Sacto last year with similar ahead of schedule scoop up the bonus results. "Stew bird." Nail on the head as usual, Cooz.
- My Ex is 56 and doesn't have any flappy areas on the undersides of her upper arms. She's pretty active, though. There are plenty of others. On the other hand, you will see the phenomenon on many men as well.
- There’s nothing wrong with “first annual”. It’s a perfect example of the hopeful tense. My daughter has had long curly hair all her life. Most of it anyway. There was a short exception. One warm summer when she was around five it took us weeks to persuade her to let Mommy cut it short. Finally, reluctantly she acquiesced. Later that day we went to Safeway. An old lady looked over the newly shorn Steph and, in that old lady way, said “What a handsome little boy you have.” Life was miserable around the house for a while after that. Hair’s been long ever since.
- Ken Levine has a short and wonderful obit on Walter Cronkite. http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- Where's Michael Jackson? Did they ever bury him?
- Thanks, Mary. For a minute there I was worried.
- I don't get it. The whole thing past me by.
- Did you get clean sheets?
- Thanks, Dexter. VS comes on with coverage of the Tour here at zero dark thirty in the AM, at some time during the day and then again at 5:00 PM. I’ve been watching the five o’clock version with Roll and Hummer during the week. Roll is great. Hummer has a way to go. On weekends I have been getting up early to watch Liggett and Sherwin who are the best of them all. Great performance today by Armstrong sandbagging the shit out of the field. Contador has to be thinking. Lance is the master of the psych. Caliban’s comments were right on the mark. As a timely item, I touched the health care world today at Kaiser. Saturday I bumped a chef’s knife off the counter and it fell on my foot. This AM I finally called Kaiser at about 6:00. They gave me an appointment for 10:00. Not with my regular doc but with a Dr. Patel. I didn’t care. I just wanted to see a doc. I sort of had vague expectations about a Dr. Patel. I was a little off. I was called at about 10:05. Dr. Patel turned out to be an extremely attractive young lady, a confident kid of about thirty. Clearly born, raised and educated in this country. She was very professional but with an easy, relaxed, personable and confidence inspiring manner way beyond what one would expect from one of her age. Her lecture about my not coming in on Saturday for stitches was light and well done without patronizing or hectoring me. “Sunday, Monday, Tuesday” she said popping fingers at me one by one with a smile on her face “That’s three days. You know you should have come in.” She knew I knew and didn’t rub it in. She did the foot and then the whole thing became a session about my blood pressure which has jumped all of a sudden. She even had a sense of humor and was very gentle in her blood pressure spiel. I was extremely favorable impressed. Did I mention she was a babe? Then I went over to the pharmacy across the courtyard where my new blood pressure pills were already waiting for me. No waiting. I had a consultation with the pharmacist. She was a very young Vietnamese woman whose name I forget, also clearly born, raised and educated in this country. She was happy to take a good ten minutes with me to discuss the medication, side effects, alternatives, results, etc. She answered all my questions and provided information in a professional but personable fashion, again with no hint of condescension. Altogether it was an excellent encounter with the health care establishment. I have nothing but the highest praise for the way I was treated today. The whole thing left me twenty co-pay bucks out of pocket. Things can work for those of us lucky enough to have good coverage. There’s no mystery here. Just a good system.
- Lance is nothing if not entertaining. He does great interviews too. Saturday's climb is, they say, supposed to be a big deal as well. I'm certainly enjoying the show.
- 4d, kids like yours are automatically American but as far as I know they are supposed to be registered at birth. I once had a friend who was born in Great Britain. The usual, his dad was in the Air Force. However, his parents failed to register him when he was born. As an adult he wanted to go to Europe and applied for a passport. He was shocked to learn that, as far as the Feds were concerned, he was a British subject. He got it worked out but it took him a couple of months.
- 4d, my friend flew with his parents from an Air Force Base in Blighty to an AF base in this country aboard an AF aircraft. He was an infant at the time. In those days little kids could travel with their parents on their parents' passports. Also at this time, 40 or 50 years ago, the feds weren't searching AF transports carrying AF personnel from one base to another for terrorists and wetbacks. Things were a lot looser then, especially in such a closed environment. While in the Army I went from this country to Vietnam and later from Vietnam to Singapore for R & R all without a passport. Arrangements can be made.
- Jeez, 4dbirds, I wasn't thinking of my friend in terms of the birthers until you pointed it out. I'm kinda slow, I guess. The incident with my friend occurred about twenty years ago and seemed like a big joke at the time. He went around affecting a Briddish accent. While it did take a couple of months to clear up the glitch, the time was paperwork, inbox, etc. time. The gov't never gave him any difficulty about the situation and the whole process was painless and costless except for the red tape time.
- I was going to make a comment about getting personal, but things seem to be smoothing out. Maybe it has to do with people being adults or something. The fact that a target is easy or obvious makes it no less valid. Glad Arnold doesn't qualify, although the presidential talk we used to hear has pretty much stopped.
- The arrest of Gates took place after it was established that he was not a burglar. I get a picture of two hot heads looking for something to light a fuse. Cops should be peacemakers not enforcers of their own dominance The picture includes two people who are accustomed to having others tug their forelocks in their presence. Regardless of whether Gates was a loud mouth ”do you know who I am” jerk or not, it’s the cop’s job to be the peacemaker and defuse things. He was on the payroll, there to do a job. Gates was in his own living room doing nothing untoward except failing to kiss Crowley’s ass. There was nothing going on here that Crowley couldn’t have walked away from. The report indicates that Crowley arrested Gates basically because he didn’t like his attitude. What would have happened if Crowley had walked away? Nothing, starting with the media frenzy which reflects credit on nobody, including Gates and Crowley. They had to cut Gates loose anyway because he wasn’t guilty of anything. Sometimes it’s not unmanly to back down. I think the cop was wrong. “Unprofessional” is a grossly overused term but it seems apt here. I live in Sacramento where the average July and Aug daily high is in the mid nineties. Not Phoenix, but not arctic. We had five or six days in a row in triple digits last week. I am not a masochist. I run my A/C. What makes Sacto habitable are the night time temps. Average low in July and Aug is 61 degrees. http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/95814 In the Bay Area it was a different story. In all my years in Berkeley and San Francisco, I never lived in a house with A/C. Somebody in the article that Nance referenced claimed to have saved $2100 last summer by turning off the A/C. My total gas and electricity cost for May through September, 2008 was $374.14. That’s everything, lights, hot water, cooking, A/C, washer, dryer, etc. I’d sure like to see some back up on that $2100 claim.
- I still think Gates probably behaved like a jerk and I still think it doesn't matter. What people are saying about cop training is that it is all about dominance and statistics. I don't see anything about people skills and common sense. Everything is about defeating a threat rather than defusing it. The whole thing about cops is that as an institution, as a group they have become increasingly alienated, insular and defensive. Also scared. They should be part of the community rather than a body elevated above or to the side of the community. Their interests should be the community's interests rather than their own which may or may not coincide with the community from time to time. Cops should be peoples’ friends, not their adversaries.
- I once had a job at a Humboldt County CHP field office in a hamlet up in the Golden Triangle. There was an absolutely mind boggling number of Cadillac Escalades in that little town. It seems to be the Official Ride of the Growers. I had a conversation with one of the officers about the town and its economic engine. The cops didn’t much bother with a force that was much greater than they and also accepted the reality that cannabis is nowhere near the horrible drug some would have us believe. Common sense prevailed. The CHP officer, who was a single mother, had other issues with the growers. “They’re bad citizens” she said. (I need help with punctuation here) They made lots of money but didn’t participate in PTA or other school or community functions. They had a contempt for law abiding citizens and their kids all seemed to be little snots with attitudes. The officer wasn’t bitter or pissed off, just matter of fact in her description of things. By the way, I have been to CHP field offices from Crescent City to El Centro and I find CHP officers to be intelligent, sensible and professional. In the world of police officers they’re the cream of the crop for my money. There is a bill working its way through the legislature that would legalize marijuana. The Gov has expressed tepid support. We’ll see. I loved the marriage video. The clown one not so much. I’m not a big fan of pratfall humor, especially when it appears someone might have hurt them self. Had a Mercury Grand Marquis once that I drove from San Diego to El Centro and back. One didn’t so much drive it through the mountain curves as herd it. Also a Lincoln Town from Ontario to Barstow and return. Same thing. It was not a joy to drive up and down Cajon Pass. Two questions: Where’s Gasman and has Michael Jackson been buried yet?
- My daughter got married in a lovely old Portuguese Catholic church in Sacramento. We had the reception at a private club in Auburn. Sit down dinner for many and open bar and all the trimmings. They did the bouquet and the garter thing which both seemed a little staged to me but it’s customary and it was Steph’s wedding and I wasn’t about to object. Nobody even suggested that stupid cake in the face thing. The DJ got a little out of hand thinking it was all about him and I had to do a bit of serious counseling but he came around when I reminded him who was paying. In my experience these DJ guys are all assholes. In the end we had a great and memorable party which should be the whole point of a wedding. I don’t want to think of the cost. My original idea had been to provide $50 and two bus tickets to Reno but that didn’t go over so well. My lovely wife did, however, caution Stephanie that this was the only one. Next time she wasn’t even getting the bus tickets. They’re still together after eleven years or so. Tomorrow (Sat) I’m going to the zoo with my once wife and the two grand kids. I’m looking forward to that. More than I want to admit to myself.
- Had a terrific day with my once wife and the grandkids at the zoo. Best of all the two young ones had a great time as well. Sofia,the almost two year old, was absolutely captivated by the flamingos. You should have seen her stuff her face with the zoo's crappy fast food mac and cheese. Dominic (and yeah, I bought him the dumb stuff he wanted at the zoo store, so what?) was a perfect big brother. T had a good time as well and we have a repeat get together in Auburn with the kids in two weeks. May seem like small stuff but it's large for me.
- You can see my posts on this subject from the other day. Forget all the technical bullshit about who was where. I still see Gates as one of those assholes roaming around out there with his antennae fully deployed, quivering for any hint of racial slur, real or imagined, ready to react, secure in his elite Harvard professorhood. Crowley as one of those cops estranged from the people he is supposed to support, living in an us vs. them world who was sensitive to any hint of disrespect to his cophood or manhood. I see a pair of jerks on a collision course whose impact does no credit to blacks who have a real beef or to cops who, in the tough job they do, also have their beef. I think the incident needs to be seen in this light. Hysterical screeds on either’s behalf do nobody any good. They’re nothing but a couple of chumps who deserve one another. Obama’s beer fest should be BYOB.
- The way I heard it was "You drive like old people fuck. Slow and jerky." It's a shoulder shrugger.
- When the serious penalties are handed out in the next place Eccelstone and Tony George will be at the head of the line.
- I see the Feds in their tireless efforts to protect America have rooted out yet another nest of terrorists. This evil North Carolina cell apparently had no less than world domination on their mind. Thank God for our Homeland Security protectors. Or will it come out that these are another bunch of drooling inbred wannabes like the rest of the mopes the Feds have scooped up? These people neighbors of yours Coozledad? I have to confess that I am not familiar with Trixie. Whoshe?
- Sorry, Trixie doesn't do it for me. She seems a little - limited.
- What, Joe? Not Penny to go with your C-310?
- Vending machines that sell used panties? I feel like a hayseed. Although, now that I think of it, I can see the work at home opportunities for a busy stay at home mom with several kids. There's all kinds of branding . . . Maybe I'll just quit.
- When I was at the Univ. of Ill. there was a joint called Prehn’s on Oregon. The trick there was to peel the label off the beer bottle (Alex has the method), lay it on your wallet and underhand your wallet at the ceiling. The label was supposed to stick on the ceiling. I got to be pretty fair at it. Practice. I’m doing the eyeball and tongue thing now. Can you see? On the ride down to Burbank the other day, the flight attendant sounded exactly like Paula Deen. My gag reflex almost started before I could suppress it. She was also as old as Paula Deen. I like older flight attendants. So many of them have that salty diner persona. On the flight back that aft the captain was a short, chubby, white haired, little old lady with those gold wire earpiece - frameless glasses, if you get what I mean, and a big, smile, and a big, witty, wisecracking voice when she stood in the cockpit door saying goodbye to the pax. She clearly loved her job and I loved her. Airplanes really have, changed since the seventies. The first female airline pilot I had was many, many years ago on the old Texas International Airlines. She was a tall, lanky blonde. Time for my weekly question. Where is Michael Jackson? Did they bury him yet? Maybe they should cremate him. Sell him off a few grains at a time like a medieval Catholic relic. They could put the grains in expensive designer reliquaries and make tons of money and create a nice black market in fakes.
- The Indy race in Kentucky this evening was excellent entertainment. Ed Carpenter and Ryan Briscoe did it wheel to wheel for the last several laps to the finish. Briscoe won because his car was a tad better out of turn four than Carpenter’s. Great racing and great driving by the two of them. Then in the post race interview, that puke, that total piece of shit Tony George had this to say about his driver: “I hope Ed didn’t leave anything on the table.” The only reason Bernie E. deserves a deeper place is that Bernie plays on a bigger stage.
- Well said, Linda up in No. 10. Also I was married for thirty years to a Portuguese woman. Real, came to this country from Lisbon in her twenties. I've soaked enough bacalao for a lifetime. Eaten it over there too. Some of it's pretty good but I have to admit bacalao is not my favorite. I made a great ratatouille Saturday using my ancient, beat up copy of Julia. Boy was it good. Still eating it. Simple tomato thing: Thinly slice tomatoes. Put on plate. Slice mozzarella on top. Top with basil whole or chiffanade. Salt, pepper, drizzle with good olive oil. It's wonderful with back yard tomatoes. Not so much with store bought.
- I just got home this evening after spending the last couple of days in the L. A. area. Flew back from Burbank. I looked around the airport, but didn’t see Bill Clinton in the bar. I’m sorry about Spriggy, Nancy. You all did have a lot of great years together. This is the bad part about having pets. By the way, with all the manly part jokes going on, I assume everybody’s heard the legends about Dillenger?
- OK so I spelled it wrong. Snopes was on the waffle. Thing about stuff like Dillinger's dill is that the legend itself is enough. Who cares if it's true or false? It's a good story. I maintain a huge don't care file. I'm happy to smile and nod and enjoy a story. You don't have to believe or disbelieve.
- I have an ancient three qt sauce pan. It hasn’t been used for anything but popcorn for over 20 years. It and the lid are pretty popcorn specific. I couldn’t use it for anything else. I use the microwave as well sometimes. Ever look at the prices demanded for those old Wedgewood, Chambers, O’keefe & Merritt, etc. stoves? You could buy a Viking or Wolf for that kind of money. They certainly are beautiful, though.
- Congratulations on the film win! There's nothing as romantic as April in Vegas. You're gonna love it. Kate is really growing up. Saw my grand kids this weekend and the same thing is happening to them. So when do we get to see the film?
- I was also really tickled by that "untrained eye" comment, Mary. Brian, I never could stand Michael Schumacher, although I give him full marks for his talents and skills. He always seemed like an asshole to me. I’m willing to be convinced otherwise but I’ll take a lot of convincing. When they get around to blowing up the Packard plant, maybe they could hire that Turkish demo outfit. I’m sure that after the other day they’ll be willing to work cheap.
- Everybody’s had those pestilential Amway people plucking at their sleeve. The whole point of their pyramid is to sell the memberships. The products are just the come on.
- Is this the type of high speed chase disaster you were afraid of reading about, Nancy? http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_13047148?source=rss CHP gets high speed training but I don't know about anybody else.
- What kind of car does Patino drive?
- The Alvarez article about women in combat appeared in today's Bee under the headline "Breaking Barriers". It's like a joke, Jeff. If it has to be explained . . .
- I have the Sacramento Bee delivered on weekends. Last week I got a letter attached to my Sat paper exhorting me to view the Bee's on line presence and to join their "V.I.P. Club". The letter was signed by somebody who bills himself as the Bee's "Senior Vice President, Audience Development & Membership services".
- Brian’s pal once said something about fooling some of the people all of the time . . . He forgot the most important part, though. It’s possible to fool enough of the people enough of the time. The Republicans have exhibited genius beyond measure at this technique. I’ve been baffled for years at their ability to convince so many Americans to act and vote against their own interests.
- I’ve been in Hollywood and Burbank for the last couple of days and is it ever miserable down there. It’s a rare day when I come home to Sactown from Burbank to cool off. The smoky air is awful. While I worked for Dept of Corrections for ten years, I don’t have any special feeling for paroles. I was in the Planning and Construction Division which is a long way in every sense from the custody folks. The street folks are not called parole "officers”. They are parole "agents". I always did hear, though, that they had very heavy work loads. James above has some numbers. Jaycee was kidnapped from her home in a town on Hwy 50 called Meyers. Meyers is right on the outskirts of South Lake Tahoe. South Shore and Meyers are in El Dorado County where the assholes will be prosecuted. Placerville is the county seat of El Dorado Cty. The house where they all lived is in Antioch in Contra Costa County. The home is in the farther reaches of San Francisco’s East Bay. Garrido didn’t exactly give an interview to KCRA (which I have extolled before as having an excellent newsroom that I would match against any TV news operation in the country, major markets included). What happened was that Garrido called Walt Gray, the senior anchor at the station, Thursday afternoon while Gray was having a cup of coffee at his desk. This surprised the hell out of Gray and KCRA. KCRA taped the call and bits have been aired all over during the last twenty four hours. I assume KCRA is working on a plan to maximize their return on their good fortune. It’s interesting that in these cases the victim is so often reluctant to run or scream or otherwise work to end his or her captivity. Let’s just hope that Jaycee and her daughters get a gentle and easy introduction into a tough world. They deserve a break.
- My present neighborhood used to have a fine congressman named Robert Matsui. He served long and honorably and, unfortunately, died four years ago. His wife, Doris, ran and won the special election against token opposition. Doris is a very nice lady but she’s yet another argument against electing surviving spouses to vacant seats. She won’t do a lot of harm in D.C. but that’s about all that can be said for her. Anyway, when I got back from Southern California there was a message on my machine to call a given number to participate in a telephone town hall meeting with dear Doris. The drill was that I was to call the number Doris left on my machine (for it was Doris’ voice on the message) and they would then give me the time and the phone number for the town hall thingy. Doris’ corporal being, I’m sure, will be on a cell phone in an Embassy Suites in Albuquerque or Amarillo. She’s going to do a telephone town hall with selected and screened Democrats. Whoopdee fucking doo. Time to go, Doris. And the Dems wonder why everybody makes fun of them. At least your congressman showed up, Brian. I’m about ready to give up on the whole fucking thing and start reading comic books.
- Leon’s Ribs? There used to be an excellent rib joint in San Francisco called Leon’s. It was in the ‘mo – the Fillmore District. My wife and I were there one night when the big fire they maintained got loose and started to spread. No panic. The customers kept eating, business kept businessing and one of the cooks chased it down with a garden hose. The place, always smoky to begin with, got really smoky that night. That was twenty five or more years ago. Leon’s was not a yuppie joint but the ‘mo is yuppified today. Come to think of it they also had a branch on Sloat out by the zoo but it wasn’t as good as the original. Speaking of smoke, things sound very scary in the San Gabriels, Mary and Catherine. Hope your son is OK, Mary. That sounded like a really bad fall. While I was down there last week the rental car people at the Burbank Airport gave me a Nissan Cube. It was the first time I had seen one in person. The thing is tiny and roomy, kind of kinky looking and a great urban car. I liked it a lot. The CVT, or whatever they call those belt drive transmissions, is a bit disorientating. It always feels like it’s slipping. I’d rather have the stick. It’s great in city traffic, gets good but not great mileage and you can park it in the smallest space with ease. The price is not bad. I’d encourage anybody who’s in the market for a small car to look at it. I’d consider it if I was looking for a car. Dexter, just after WWII my father was a grad student at the Univ of Chicago and we lived in a student housing shack right on the corner of 59th and Cottage Grove.
- Fuck. There’s a big fire In Auburn. It’s burned a bunch of houses and businesses and they are evacuating the area. From the aerial shots on the tube it looks like they are having to run like hell. It’s on the other side of town from my Ex and headed away from her and most of my old friends. We all had lunch last week just where the fire started. She’s safe for now. But still . . . Shit.
- KCRA has excellent non-stop coverage on the ground and from their chopper. It appears that the fire started in open ground and raced over it to a subdivision. It’s in the subdivision and many if not most of the houses are gone. The shitty good part is that the fire spreads slower in a built up area and the fire people look like they are getting a handle on it. I watched live drops on the 84 Lumber where I used to shop. It looks like the structure which is a series of metal buildings may be OK but the stuff piled outside is burning. I have a feeling they are going to contain this thing before dark – I hope. The numbers so far: 500 to 600 acres, eight aerial tankers, six choppers and several hundred fire fighters on the ground. One thing here in California is that we have the very best people in the world to fight these fires. Of course, they get plenty of practice.
- They're talking a minimum of 50 to 60 houses gone at this point. You’re in luck, Deborah. Sacramento has a large and vibrant restaurant scene. What do you like? Type of cuisine? Expensive? Neighborhood? Sizzler? Red Lobster? The last two were jokes. How many dinners, lunches, breakfasts? Some killer but not cheap pizza?
- The fire news is good. The whole thing has been downgraded from 500 – 600 acres to 275 acres and they are now saying that “only” 30 or so homes have been lost and they are down to 300 fire fighters on the ground from over 500 and the fire is over 50% contained. My Ex tells me she received a call to evacuate but she was never in any danger. This time. This is a tribute to California fire fighters. Anywhere else in the world this would have developed into a catastrophe. One of the things CalFire does is to hit the first flicker with everything they have. There is no waiting to see what develops. It’s all out from the first call. All of this goes to illustrate what a horror is taking place in L. A. County. Despite the best efforts of the best the fires there have become monsters. For what it’s worth, the temperature here yesterday (Saturday) was 105 and today it’s 90. That had to have helped.
- The fire in Auburn is pretty much over. The area burned estimate remains the same but they have revised the estimate of houses lost back up to 60 or so. It happened fast and people barely had time to get out. Fortunately, there appear to be no injuries or fatalities. I don't know about the toll on pets which can be rough in these kinds of things. Sorry to be so boring on this but Auburn is a part of me.
- TJ's was in the Bay Area at least back in the early eighties. I shopped in the East Bay and in San Rafael before I moved to Sacramento in the late Eighties. I don't see the point without the wine. And Two Buck Chuck is still $1.98 here. I think a lot of the shoppers at my local TJ's give off a sort of new agey, crunchy, greenish vibe. Of course the store nearest me is located in a rich area. Amazing how quickly you can get from the million dollar houses to the hood. I wonder if they even know my neighborhood exists.
- Reminds me of Shelly Berman's line: "My parents sent me out for a loaf of bread and when I got back they'd moved."
- I'm on board with the organ donor thing as well. Not that any of mine will be worth a damn by the time I'm done with them. They'll be like the rusty used up crap you find at the farthest corner of the pick-n-pull lot. It's easy and doesn't cost me anything. As long as I don't wake up in the hotel bathtub minus a kidney. We're lucky here to have a very competitive grocery market. Competitive both in price and quality. In addition to the majors like Safeway, Raley's/Bel Air and Winco we have a bunch of fine locally owned stores of varying sizes. Excellent local meat, produce, wine and fish don't harm the equation either. It's a great place to eat and drink.
- Deborah, Little Bird, A lovely indoor or outdoor Spanish style tapas joint is Tapa the World at 2115 J St. Classic, superb Italian at Biba’s where she does work the floor, 2801 Capitol. The Waterboy, California restaurant at 2000 Capitol. Excellent Chinese, expensive linen napkin place, eat with the politicians Frank Fat’s 805 L St. Killer pizza in a minimalist setting, concrete floor, bare walls, expensive, Masulo’s 2711 Riverside Blvd. There are dozens more. I would recommend getting to 16th and J St and walking east to about 28th. You will pass many fine eating joints and bars in the course of a nice stroll. Have a drink here and there, pick a place and eat. Mid town is a terrific walking and eating area. Great scene. The weather is progged to be in the mid eighties this week end. Best of luck and have a great time. You’re gonna love it. Reviews next week.
- I finally waded my way down to your post 79, Deborah. Wow. Breakfast. That’s the most personal meal of them all and the easiest. I tend to eat breakfast in joints. There’s an excellent one at 24th and J called the Cornerstone. Old, kind of, well, kind of shabby chic. They have outdoor tables and a fine breakfast. The Pancake Circus at 21St and Broadway is another ancient place that I like. Jeez, there’s a place at about 21st and L that I ate at last week and I’m blanking on the name. I’m a basic bacon and eggs kind of breakfast guy and can be happy just about anywhere. All I want is good bacon, well prepared eggs, nicely browned hash browns, actually toasted toast, coffee and that’s it. Pass on the kippers, pass on creativity. Catch me for lunch or dinner and I’m game for anything. But for breakfast, I’m in a comfortable fifty year rut. If you can make it, I really recommend the evening J Street stroll. Shit, walk down J in the AM. Somebody will give you a good brekkers.
- Jeez, I’m in a morally bankrupt incarnation, myself. After reading a hundred comments I am so full of stuff I’d like to say about that fucking piece of shit MS Word and the wackabilly Repubs and that narcissistic JTMMO and his bullshit "I'm so brilliant, hard working, helping the little people" holier than thou act complete with ostentatious, self indulgent lower case “I” that I’m speechless.
- TKS, Mary.
- Excellent, Deborah! Glad you had a good time in Sactown. I love tapas. I could nibble all night. Cooze - I saw people of all sorts carrying ears. They dry up real fast. It wasn't my thing. I got your Australian stories and your Korean stories including eating Korean mess hall kim chee. Maybe one of these times I'll post something.
- Plenty of scumbags, sell outs and incompetents on both sides of the aisle here in Sacto. At this point I wouldn't give you a dime for the whole lot of them. When jumping a C-130 you have to make a strong exit (jump real good) to avoid bumping the side of the aircraft as it passes you by. There are no consequences other than your fatigues picking up whatever dirt and oil are on the side of the aircraft for all on the ground to behold. And hearing about it. When jumping a C-141 it's possible for jumpers from the opposite doors to get sucked together in the wake of the aircraft. It happened to me at Ft. Bragg, NC. I was third man right door and he was second man left door. Right and left are reversed when looking to the rear of the plane. We came together, my foot and his face. The impact was the first I knew of it. I never saw him until he popped up in front of me and ended up in my rigging above my head. He climbed down and we hugged to avoid being bounced into each other on the way down. Then I fell on top of him. He was second man. He should have been gone by the time I got there. On the other hand we tended to unass an airplane rapidly since the trucks were parked at the entry to the drop zone and the aircraft flew over the entry through the DZ and every second aboard the A/C carried one that much farther from the trucks. The chutes were hopelessly tangled and I got him to carry them back to the trucks since he was a rigger and supposed to know better. These were static line jumps.
- Jeff B., Karen Bass, Speaker of the Assembly, says she is going to start an investigation into Duvall's activities because of the ethics issue.
- The movie was a lot of fun. The star was excellent (though I had reservations about her hairstyle). You guys do a really professional job.
- Geez, Nance, take it easy on that "old man" stuff. KCRA played the whole tape without editing or black outs. They also identified the guy to whom Duvall was talking and the date and purpose of the meeting. I was not surprised to hear Duvall's seatmate say that he wasn't listening and that he doesn't remember what Duvall was saying. "Who, me?" This has to be a world record for the shortest sex scandal ever.
- I was most pleased to see USC beat OSU. Among other reasons I went to Univ. of Ill. and believe me, the Buckeyes are not popular in Champaign. I was also happy to see UCLA beat Tenn. Lane Kiffin showed me jack shit when he was with the Raiders. I grew up in the Chicago area and on Fridays before football games the grade school nuns used make us pray for Notre Dame. I’ve disliked ND ever since. Congrats, Michigan. Good stuff, Deborah, I’m glad you got your purse back.
- I thought it was just us old folks who were set on ice floes and left to drift off into the mist.
- I kinda liked the cute haircut. No, I didn't watch the whatever award show. I saw it on the news. Brian, if you bake a pie does that make you a Stouder-baker? Nyuk Nyuk. OK. Shoot me. Or set me out on an ice floe.
- It's come to this? All I've got left is maybe being on the hawt side of 70?
- Put some sliced garlic in olive oil. Heat it. Don’t burn it. Quarter or make smaller some tomatoes. Toss into pan. Everything, including skin, seeds and that crappy looking core. There’s lots of flavor and goodness here. Hit tomatoes with the potato masher. Cook on pretty high heat for 10 minutes. You’ll need your lid. Add fresh basil, salt and pepper. Puree with immersion blender. If no immersion blender, let cool and put in regular blender. Amounts/proportions of ingredients are up to the cook. Now you have your basic sauce. Very fast, very easy, very good and low waste. I wear dress shirts or collared shirts and Levis or wash pants. Loafers, boat shoes, desert boots, tennies.
- First record I ever bought was “Rock’n ‘round the Clock” by Bill Haley and his Comets. “Rock’n Through the Rye" was the flip. You tell me the date. When you say the words “folk music” in this country you must also say the words “Pete Seeger.” I love Joan Baez. There was a nice thing and an interview a couple of weeks ago on NPR. In the summer between HS and college I went to a Joan Baez concert at Ravinia Park in Chicago. She had begun singing “Freight Train” when a train went by. She stopped and put a hand to her ear. The crowd went wild. The train’s blowing its horn was perfect. Then she resumed the song. What a moment. I have that Seekers album that Coozledad sampled for us. It was great. I can’t remember the woman’s name but she sure could sing. PP& M sang several songs that were written by Pete Seeger, Never forget that name. Their first album came out when I was in college. We listened to it a lot. The associations with the album and individual songs and time and place and friends alive and dead and school and my times in Vietnam are almost overwhelming. I found a cherry copy of the album about seven or eight years ago. I put it on and listened to the whole thing with tears streaming down my face. Somebody mentioned Mary Travers tossing her hair. What a signature movement. They did other albums and some appearances on Public TV but that one album was all it took for me. Who didn’t have the hots for Mary?
- Here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwB2A9HHaCU
- F-1 is rotten from the top down. Start with Bernie E. and Max M. What a pair. I'm not surprised by Flavio's follies or by the McLaren foo foo a while ago. I'm just surprised that there isn't more scandal. Schumacher is undeniably a great driver but an asshat. I was once a great fan but I haven't given a rat's ass about F-1 for years. The drivers are mostly rich kids whose daddies bought them their rides. I look at it now and again but can't decide whether to laugh or gag at driver interviews. Yes, I know. "It was a very technical corner." What a bunch.
- My favorite mondegreen (I even sent it in to Jon Carroll one time) is Neil Diamond's "Cracklin' Rosie Peed on the Floor". The Sacto Bee is calling the Redskins "The Raiders of the East Coast" and goes on for a column with reasons and comparisons.
- Brian, you're driving 600 miles each way on a bidness trip? Holy smoke! I'm going to Barstow tomorrow and Riverside Thursday and I ain't driving and they ain't 600 miles. Also I note your interest in cows grazing. Here in the western part of the country where we have mountains and stuff, cows have legs on one side of their bodies longer than on the other to make it easier for them to graze on slopes.
- Haggis hunters, Mary? I thought the haggis, like the nauga, was an endangered species.
- That's right, Mary, and Susan Atkins just died the other day.
- Peter, what you are referring to is called "MB Tex". They are an obscure species of miniature vole that lives in the mountainous tundra of western Guinea-Bissau.
- I was in Barstow yesterday. The beach is pretty big there. So big I couldn’t see the water. What mark said. I was in Vietnam a few years ago (Saigon). The people are wonderful, the city is big, clean and alive. Don’t worry about not speaking the language. I don’t and had a wonderful time. I could live there. The food is fabulous and despite our best efforts to destroy the country (my efforts included), they love us. That astonished me. It seems like everybody with whom I spoke had a relative in Orange County or Sacramento. It’s a great place but it’s changing fast. Go soon before Ho Chi Minh City turns into L. A. West. I can’t get fired up about what Scott Simon makes. I always think it’s not that somebody is making too much but that the rest are making too little.
- Holly, you've just defined a "New York minute" - the interval between the light turning green and the guy behind you hitting his horn.
- I've been grinding burgers for years. They are fresh, juicy and taste excellent. Also I know what I'm eating. It's easier than one might think. I like chuck or beef short ribs. I buy what's on sale at the used meat counter for 30 to 50% off. You have to use or freeze this stuff right away. Cut the meat in 3/4 inch pieces and put it in the freezer for an hour or so. Also stick your grinder in the freezer for an hour or so. The cold and stiffness makes for a much easier grind. I use the larger die of the two supplied. You can also season the meat after cutting but before grinding. I use a scale to measure out 1/3 lb balls and freeze what I don't eat. Don't make too much of forming a patty or you will ruin the burger - it'll be dense and cardboard tasting. I make a loose ball and smash it on the surface of the pan. Let it cook for a bit and turn it. Burgers done this way cook faster than store bought grinds and boy, are they good. You'll see after a little experimenting.
- Most of the fresh hamburger we see around here is ground on site. What is not, is easily identifiable by its packaging. Assuming the people behind the counter clean the grinder and the dies between batches we should all be OK with local stuff. Gulp. After all, millions of people eat millions of pounds of meat. I'm not trying to make light of this but it does seem to me that most if not all of the E.coli problems stem from the factory patties and chubs. Preformed burgers, frozen or not and the big chubs of burger sold around here are produced - wherever. If we buy in-store ground beef and especially if we buy whole meat and grind it ourselves we should be alright. If we are going to buy food at all we have to trust someone. Fortunately, horrible things like the tragedy that befell Ms. Smith are rare. Fast food burgers? I just don’t know. I do eat them but rarely, like three or four times a year. Not because I’m a holy guy but because they’re just not my kind of lunch. However, if a problem develops in the corned beef chain, I’m fucked. And , Mary, I found a very nice deli in Burbank at Third and Palm. Barstow is a skip lunch kind of town. I had a nice dinner at the Mission Inn in Riverside. Besides, grind them yourself burgers really do taste infinitely better. All we can do is take the elementary precautions. I plan to continue to religiously clean my plastic NSF rated cutting boards (I have three) and run them through the dishwasher and, yes, I do bleach them. What’s the alternative?
- Worse still, they're killing Gourmet and saving Food and Wine. I guess Gourmet didn't have enough reality shows going. I had a whole closet full of Gourmets, some of them dating back to the '50s. Kind of feel a little bad about getting rid of them when I moved two years ago.
- Junior high? I went to a Catholic school. We just had eighth grade. I used to envy the public school kids.
- Here in Calif, where it is raining for the first time in months, we who have dedicated our lives to the well being of the State have been rewarded with three furlough days per month (a 15% pay cut) and they cut Lincoln's Birthday and Columbus Day from our holidays. And they are chiseling the shit out of our travel claims. Some gas stations charge 0.45 for using a debit card. The scrooges in accounting disallowed the 0.45 on a gas bill because it wasn't gas. It cost the State more than the 0.45 for the asshole to write me the email and to make the adjustment. That's really cheap and that's just the start of their work on our travel pay. It costs me an extra $20-$40 a day to travel. Where did the legend about getting rich off travel pay start?
- When I want to know if such and such a place is open I phone and ask what time they close today. That way I maybe don't sound as stupid as I would asking if they are open. Maybe.
- Somebody was complaining about standing in line at the DMV. I just finished a job at the Hollywood DMV. If you live in the area you might have noticed they were closed for a month. The manager there was telling me that they have roughly the same number of employees as they did 15 years ago but the population of the state has increased enormously. Automation helps but the federally mandated citizenship check takes a lot of time and they struggle to keep up. The three furlough days every month are killing them. I was at the West Covina DMV a month or so ago and the lines there were way out into the parking lot. Make an appointment before you go. The old trade off is true. I make a lot less than my private sector analogs but make some of it up in stablity and benefits. Take that away and what's the point?
- The trick with the California DMV is to make an appointment. You can go two cycles with on line or through the mail renewals. The third cycle you have to appear in person. I had to appear this time so about a month ago I made an appointment on line for a date at the Carmichael office. I was in and out in about 15 minutes $25 lighter with a new photo and a new eye test. I already have my new license. If you walk in it will be more like two hours minimum.
- You've got it, Rana. It's not that person A is making too much money, it's that person B is not making enough.
- Celebrity photos? Nice timing. There's one of Maria Shriver talking on her cell while wheeling her Escalade through the streets of Ellay and one of the new and improved Jaycee Dugard.
- The H1N1 flu vaccine is a flu vaccine just like every other flu vaccine. It is made using the same methods, equipment etc. as every other flu vaccine. The only thing different is the specific strain of flu the manufacturers are aiming for. Every year, sometimes more than once, the vaccine mix is changed to target new strains of flu. H1N1 is just another one, albeit a bad one. The delay in manufacturing the product comes principally from the fact that the H1N1 strain is a slow grower and requires more lab time to make than what we have had before and because the H1N1 flu has come into season now instead of after the first of the year like classic strains. Two things then: There is nothing new or different or weird to make the H1N1 vaccine harmful to folks and there is no secret CDC plot to delay its delivery. I've always thought that it would be easy to run a university without those damn pesky students around to get in the way.
- I graduated in '62. Haven't been to any reunions. They never contacted me. They'll be having a 50th soon. Maybe I'll go. For you Detroit people I have two words: Marion Berry.
- I don't know if there's anybody around here older than me (I'm 65) but I find that I'm mellowing as I get older, although idiot drivers do pull my string. For some reason I have less patience with old people than I did in years past. I used to require that I drive any time I was in a motorcar but in recent years I've gone the other way. I now try to chump the other person into driving. You'd be amazed at the stuff I see along a route that I've driven for years and never saw before while driving. I have a simple cell phone like Jeff B's. It's good enough for me. I am able to survive without twitter so far but there are some interesting applications coming up so I might get interested. I have internet access at home and at work. That seems to be enough so far. I have a Canon camera that works very well for me. It's my fourth digital camera and I've pretty much figured out what I need and like. It's small and is no problem to carry along with a phone. I guess I'm sort of a medium tech guy.
- Sue, the message was in a veto letter the Gov sent to a gay legislator from San Francisco with whom he has been sort of feuding. http://gov.ca.gov/pdf/press/2009bills/AB1176_Ammiano_Veto_Message.pdf Read the first letter of each line going down. Congratulations Crinoid Girl!! It sure do. If the money's real, you're real.
- Get well, Moe. We're all pulling for you. I saw young Levi on the TV while getting ready for work this AM and for the first time found myself in agreement with Sarah Palin just like our hostess. I can see this kid rooming with Kevin Federline. He looks to be the same kind of narcissistic parasite.
- I like the way you grade papers, Rana. It's good for both parties.
- I saw Oswald killed live. I was going to the U of Ill. in Champaign. My then girlfriend and I ended up spending the whole weekend with friends numbly watching TV. Jeez, the girl's name was Claudia but I can't remember the guy's name. He had a gorgeous Ducati though. Funny the stuff you remember. I can't get fired up about the John John salute. Besides it was like 46 years ago. Things and people were different then although I can imagine the hoots from the Republican noise machine were it to occur today. I was out to dinner at a friend's house Saturday night. Halloween. I got home just after midnight to find that I had been robbed. They took the TVs from the living room and my bedroom, my little shelftop stereo, some bottles of liquor and - get this: four or five flash drives and my back up hard drive and a knife that I had in my desk drawer. They didn't bother my computer (complete with 22" monitor) or my expensive bike. I don't get the theft of the memory. The thumb drives are a few bucks apiece at Target and the back up is less than a hun new. Oh, well.
- Mr. Roig-Franzia sounds like a prime jerk. I'm always leery of people who fiddle with names. Mr. Allen sounds like a man who has reached the end of his rope. Mr. Wemple has given us a very poorly written story. He needs Mr. Allen's help. I'm with Sue and Scout. WTF?
- Yeah, there's really no way around it. Joe Lieberman is a total scum bag. Has been all along. I loved his moral superiority when Bill Clinton was in trouble. I've also seen "health care reform" all along as nothing but welfare for the insurance companies. Especially without the "public option".
- From yesterday: I also arrived here at Bob Greene time, directed by what blog I can't remember. I also quit reading Lileks several years ago. He got a bit too loopy for me and a bit too twee. And he, like Jonah Goldberg and the rest of those sissy neocon war lovers was a bit overly brave with other people's asses while carefully staying out of the line of fire themselves. I'd forgotten about that 1995 Ft Bragg shooting. When I was stationed at Bragg I was right across the street from the stadium. Corner of Bastogne and Ardennes. Lived on one side of Bastogne and worked on the other.
- When I lived in Auburn we would occasionally lose a chicken to death from above. You could always tell when it had happened while coming up the drive. The girls would all be huddled under trees staring fearfully at the sky. How did we win the cold war? We spent their asses under the table.
- Given the information that's surfaced over the years, anyone who sails or sailed on a Soviet nuculear sub will glow in the dark.
- Good luck, Crinoid Girl. We're with you. My father used to be an instructor at Loyola back in the 50's. He taught most of his classes at Lewis Towers. That would be the 1950s.
- So who counted all those birds? Not Sean Hannity I hope.
- Happy Birthdays Alan and Kate!! I generally do a face plant by the time food is served. That takes care of the potato cavity.
- Gee, geese as aerial rats? I think some of you have them confused with pigeons. Can be aggressive? Yes. Poopalot? Yes. Eat them? Hell, yes. They're great eating. Also great guard dogs. My guess would be that C-Dad wouldn't have a gang of them on the property if he didn't like them. That last sentence may be presumptive. If so, I apologize, sir.
- Here in Sacto we're looking at sunny days, lows in the high 30's and highs in the mid to upper 60's through the weekend. Last week I was in Barstow and Burbank for a few days. It was quite warm and beautiful there. Clear skies even. It seemed freezing when I got back here to Sacto. I think Alex is right. I've seen a lot of little old beige haired ladies. It makes blue look good.
- HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
- Those stars must be a Midwestern thing. I've never seen one around here (Northern CA).
- I remember a mangle the way Mary describes it - as a sort of macro ironing device for table cloths and sheets, etc. The other thing is a ringer - a pair of unheated, rubber coated rollers to squeeze water out of the freshly washed clothes. My mother had an old Speed Queen washer with a ringer on it. There was a panic quick release thingy to free any trapped body parts. In time, one hopes. My take is that the vituous Elin teed off (nyuk, nyuk) on him and he was running for his ride and jumped in and she was chasing him down the drive beating on his Escalade with the iron. Hence the busted face and busted window. A Kobe Special from Zale's. She needs to smack him again.
- Wow! Mary beat me to it!
- I was just trying to reconcile "Tiger’s level of wealth and accomplishment" and your "small pool of cultivated, beautiful and intelligent bridal prospects" with Zale's. Maybe Zale's is what happens when you skip your last two years at Stanfurd.
- Watching the football game this evening I kept thinking about Ashley and about how he loved his Saints. He must be a happy guy. 11 and 0. Wonderful pix, Moe. You must be a very happy and proud mom to have such wonderful kids. You're a very wealthy woman.
- Been out of touch for a while and it looks like I missed lots of interesting stuff. It's all what keeps me coming back to nn.c. I can't even think or talk about the Health Care Bill without my blood pressure spiking over that smarmy puke from Conn and the gutless, gormless Dems. Re that Lane cake. People would substitute grape juice for bourbon? Shudder.
- Moe, how about trying those bourbon balls again with grape juice? Woo Woo Welches!
- "Ordnance absorption technicians" I love it. One of the things about working for the State of CA has always been that the employee trades a lower salary than paid in the private sector for stability and good health and retirement benefits. There are a lot of talented and dedicated folks working for the State of CA despite what the right wing noise machine would have one believe. They've cut our already marginal pay by 15% and now there are moves afoot to cut retirement and health bennies. And it looks like our pay may be cut again next year. As Cooze notes, we're well on our way to the third world.
- By the way, one of the reasons my wife and I did a legal separation rather than a divorce was so I could keep her on my health insurance. It costs me every month, but what the hell, we're still friends.
- Well, ROgirl, I'm not running any kind of scam on young women. Not at my age (65). There is one other thing about being separated rather than divorced and that is that our tax situation is better. Single people pay more than married. Also I have no desire to remarry. Anything short, OK. We have lunch every couple of months. She lives in a lovely redwood post and beam house in Auburn, I live in a high water bungalow in the ghetto in Sacramento. The bad part is that at this point I can't retire. Maybe one day.
- I'm the Deltoid. I have no idea what to make of that.
- Here's a heart warming story from my pal, Ken Levine. http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/ Look and laugh.
- I haven't got one, Holly, but I'll bet Google does. It's easy to pot shot airlines. Especially when the weather is bad. I fly Southwest a lot. Enough to score a couple or three free flights per year for the last ten years. You know you've flown them many times when you recognize flight attendants and pilots from previous flights. I like SWA. A lot. Their seats have a larger (longer?) pitch than United, American or Delta. They don't have a lot of amenities (OK, none) but then they've always pitched themselves as a no frills operation. Bring a book and bring a lunch on a long flight. I do. Check in on line in a timely fashion and you will have a good seat. Obviously most of my flights are from Sacto to one of the SoCal airports but I have flown SWA to the East Coast a number of times. In my personal experience they have a superb on time record. I got hung up after boarding at Midway one day. They offered updates every few minutes and let people off the plane with the caution that leaving might be sudden and those who left the aircraft were on their own. The plane left about an hour late because of the weather delay with all pax. The point is they made a very obvious effort not to imprison folks. The flights out of Sacto are always spot on because I take the first flight out and the plane has overnighted in Sacto. The afternoon flights out of SoCal are almost always on time which is kind of surprising because they all come from the east coast. No, SWA is not perfect and yes, as with everything in the travel world these days you have to make accommodations. Mentalize yourself in advance to be in tune with what the travel world wants and things will be easier for you. You are going to have to make the accommodations one way or the other, like it or not. That said, Craig What'shisname has an amusing riff but I never heard of people being hauled off a plane because it was overloaded. I never heard of people giving up seats in an overbooking situation without compensation. Airlines do commit egregious wrongs and should be brought to task for them but my guess is that the rate of these problems is not all that high as a percentage of flight operations. Especially if you avoid United, American and Northwest.
- Dexter mentioned Flying Tigers. I knew some Flying Tigers people. One guy was a navigator on an old Canadair CL-44 (what Flying Tigers used before DC-8s). He once turned the aircraft 90 degrees left for a few minutes in the middle of the Pacific, then right, then right again and finally left onto their original course. The captain wanted to know what was up. The navigator (I forget his name) pointed to a tomato seed that had fallen from his sandwich onto the chart. "You wouldn't want to hit that, would you?" There used to be several airlines based at North Field in Oakland back in the day. World (remember Ed Daley?) Saturn, Trans American, Air Cal and some others I forget. The 60's and 70's and into the 80's were fun and exciting days at OAK. Trivia question still current: What airport has two concurrently operating control towers on the same property? OAK.
- For once I'm in full agreement with MMJeff. A drinking age of 21 years is just stupid. Abstinence and prohibition don't work. Never have, never will. I remember guys coming back from a year of combat in Vietnam who couldn't legally buy a drink. Colleen is also right. A combination of stupid laws and misbegotten righteous religiosity have given rise to the situation she describes.
- "They'll drink at 18" is not an argument, it's a fact. I don't know how we made the leap from drinking legally at 18 to 18 year olds passing alcohol on to 14 year olds. I'm not buying it. Also at some point parents are going to have raise their own kids and be responsible for how they behave instead of passing it off to the g'ment. It might save a life. All kinds of things might save a life. Doesn't make them good ideas.
- My glass is rose, Jeff, but not rosé. Maybe a nice zin.
- My erstwhile wife once went to lunch with her boss at a Chinese restaurant in the SF Financial District. He spotted a rat on a water pipe near the ceiling and pointed it out to the lady who owned the place. Her response: "Oh, that not ours. He belong next door."
- "Drinker" and "Drinking" are two very big, very colored, scare inducing words that cover vast amounts of territory. Just what or who is a "Drinker"? What is "Drinking"?
- "Decimate" merely refers to one in ten. As with everything else, procedures varied from place to place. Read/watch the media today and you would think "decimate" means wipe out.
- Go ahead and legalize drugs. All of them. Would we really have more people abusing them than we do now? Use the money saved for education and treatment. Problem is the drug enforcement machine would never let their livelihood go away. Think of all the people who would be out of work if we legalized drugs.
- Merry Christmas to Nancy & family and all the wonderful people at nn.c.
- Here is the new TSA Reg. It's on lots of web sites. http://jalopnik.com/5435326/new-tsa-security-rules-for-a-post+underwear-bomb-world Read'um and weep. It's comforting to know that out safety is in the hands of such idjits.
- Wow! President Kennedy entertains nude women on boat (or vice-versa). Check it out! http://www.tmz.com/
- Knowing his reputation, I'm guessing he wasn't oblivious, Brian, just tired.
- Pretty cool, Dexter. A true Flying Pigeon.
- Not impossible to be a cougar, I suppose, Brian, but probably a bobcat.
- Grind your own, Alex. It's better anyway. I was wondering about links too, Chris. I mean I can cut and paste but why should I have to? ROgirl said it. It's been tough but let's hope for better in 2010. Happy New Year, all!
- Geez, Whitebeard. I'm sorry. We're all behind you and Moe and you're in our thoughts and prayers.
- Ken Levine had good stuff on Warren Beatty. http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/ Our Governator does his State of the State Wed and issues the new budget in draft form on Fri. Can't wait. I have a feeling we're going to make MI look like paradise. Didn't we have a big thing on ground beef a couple of months ago? It's plain that you have to be self destructive to by frozen burgers.
- Somebody stole the "U" out of "buy" in my earlier post. Beatty is 72. To make it with 12,000 women he would have had to have been with a different woman every other day starting on the day he was born. A different woman every two days, no breaks, no calling in sick. Don't know when he was able to fit in seconds with any of them. Gotta admire that dedication.
- Henry Waxman, the only honest man in Congress, has done some chasing after obscene war profit makers, but he's only one man trying to climb a mighty steep slope.
- I agree with Jeff Borden. No, Mary, I didn't make any assumptions. I just pointed out that that the one every two day requirement would be there if you averaged the conquests out over every day of 72 years starting at birth which I'm guessing even Warren didn't do. The practical application can have been made any way Warren wished. By the way, I'm neither envious nor appalled. This is amusing gossip and as somebody pointed out, an old story. There's enough bad stuff out there to get het up about without letting this ruffle your hair.
- Thanks for all the encouraging talk about Texas. My daughter and son-in-law are getting transferred to Ft. Hood this year. I'll let them find out for themselves. You're a nice person, Mary.
- Happy Birthday, Mary. There's worse things than dog cooties.
- Loves Baby Soft. Wasn't that a toilet paper?
- I don't shop at Whole Foods very often and when I do I always come away feeling vaguely icky. They don't have anything that I can't get somewhere else for a lot cheaper. Their prices are confiscatory. There is a natural foods co-op not far from where I live but the people in there are even worse than those who shop at Whole Foods. The place is a religious shrine for them. I go there rarely as well and each time vow never to go again. They're a bunch of weedy, self important, self loving, aging hippy types who are smugly self satisfied, aware that they're superior to everybody including yours truly. They're the same dweebs you see pimping pledges on your local public TV station during the never ending pledge weeks. It feels like everybody is staring at me in there. Their prices are sky high as well. I feel like I need a shower after shopping there. Why do those health food freaks always look so unhealthy and unattractive? Why are their meat and produce so shitty looking? I think Cooz and J. C. have pretty well described the schizo nature of the Whole Foods shopper. The store seems to have a following based on its brand name and based on its providing products that aren't available in all areas. Food is a very competitive business here in Sacto. There are plenty of locally owned supermarkets and smaller stores where I can get a full range of very high quality stuff for reasonable prices including TJ's (OK, so Pasadena isn't really local). The big one is Corti brothers. The huge Asian supermarkets are a whole world unto themselves. Then there's the Farmer's Market which I would stack up against anyone's. My favorite is the smallish, locally owned Taylor's Market which is one of the best grocery stores I have ever seen. Very upscale and gourmetish (want pheasant stock? truffles?) but the people who work there are so friendly and down to earth and the building is so old and so not quite run down that one is immediately disarmed. I love the place. Great butcher shop as well. The kicker is that their prices are very competitive with Safeway. The Briddish chain, Fresh and Easy acquired some dirt in my ghetto neighborhood and was going to build a store for a 2009 opening but that got deferred because of the economic meltdown. I don't know about this George Clooney guy, but I can tell you that I have had a serious letch for the beautiful Gina Gershon for many years. I heard her on an SF talk show one time. She was very smart, very quick and very funny. Yum.
- I've seen both Showgirls and Bound. Showgirls was truly an awful movie but there were some pretty girls to see. Bound was an excellent movie
- I used to work with a guy who was born in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. He was well into his thirties when he moved to this country and became a citizen. He was -is- white. His family had come from Great Britain. Being an African-American, he used to laugh at the various tortured characterizations. As is so often the case in this country, we seem to worry more about the sizzle than the steak.
- I kind of like the idea of electronic books in principle but I'm a long way from actually buying a reader. Look at this: http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/21/effs-ebook-buyers-gu.html#comments Maybe the new Apple notebook thingy will be better.
- We are all behind you Whitebeard. Our hearts are with you. Video images flow by. Play them over and over and they still flow by. A still photo captures a single moment and allows the viewer to absorb all the nuances of that moment. Jeff (tmmo), it's wonderful that you are operating a clinic in Calebasse, Haiti! You have my admiration. Perhaps you could share a little insider's experience and atmosphere with us?
- Bob Greene was in 2002? I've been following nn.c that long? Man. Happy blogaversary! This is my firstthinginthemorning thing. Don't know what I'd do without it. Thank you, Nance. The SacBee used to carry Dexter's column. I liked him but he used to piss me off a lot. I remember his last column. Somewhere around '95? It was kind of a "screw you" thing. Apropos the trial going on in SF, He once wrote a terrific column about gay marriage. I'd like to see it again.
- The widespread structural failure found in Haiti is sad but very predictable. You see lousy building in every third world country. Concrete is a perfect example. With no building codes or inspection to speak of, with uncaring contractors and developers you're guaranteed to get a substandard building. Thus lots of cheap sand vs expensive Portland Cement in the mix. Clean, properly sized aggregate? Catch as catch can. Rebar? That looks about right. I was in Puerto Vallarta one time watching construction of some oceanfront condos. They were using sand right off the beach for their concrete. I don't know what their mix design was bit the rebar was clearly rusty and substandard in size and installation. Ocean beach sand has lots of salt in it and that salt will leach out of the concrete as time goes on weakening it and dissolving the rebar. At least the builders in Haiti don't have to put up with any of that awful govt interference or have any of those stupid codes to worry about.
- Good Lord, Basset. Pancetta is pork belly, it's a type of Italian bacon that's salt cured and rolled but not smoked. If it looks raw it is raw. Of course it should be on the pizza, not served as a side dish. Who knows what those people were thinking. But then I remember when my daughter lived in Clarksville. Things are different from where I live. Stay away from that "restaurant". Don't even drive past it. Go around the block.
- Harking back to yesterday's thread, Basset, I have, in fact, been to the Blackhorse Pub. Not a bad place at all. I enjoyed lunch with my daughter. Hubby was at work I'm not eating raw pancetta. I am a big fan of Prosciutto, though.
- There are any number of good to excellent locally owned pizza places here in Sacto and probably most everywhere else. I can't think of a reason to patronize a chain other than maybe delivery. Chuck-E-Cheese anybody?
- Nancy asked who was going to be number three and Brian weighed in first with Erich Segal. A genuinely fine author did die in the person of Robert Parker. I, for one, will miss him.
- After a day of pizza stuff here on nn.c I had to go out this eve and get me some. It's been several months since I had any. I went to Masullo's on Riverside and 2d Ave. The pizza (thin crust, the way I like it) was very good: tasty, crisp and yummy. A glass of a really nice wine and I'm back home. OK, two glasses. Without going into the numbers, it was expensive. Your travel education is amusing and right on, Deborah. I learned in college to go for breakfast as road food when traveling. No matter where you are, you can usually scare up some good breakfast.
- As a firm champion of the First Amendment, I support the right of every individual to purchase the very best legislator money can buy.
- McConnell is the guy I had in mind with my #25 post. I'm very sad to say that I agree entirely with Moe. Thinking of the Calif Gov and Legis and the US G'ment is enough to drive one suicidal.
- Sacramento is located in an enormous valley. It's flat here and the elevation is just a few feet above sea level. The mountains start just to the east and in two hours or so you can be at 7000 feet, though it will take much longer than two hours on a snowy January Friday when the roads are packed with skiers. It doesn't rain here from roughly mid April until around Halloween so the winter rains and snow have to last us all year. We had a lot of rain here this past week with a little street flooding but nothing like SoCal. On the other hand, the high country got a huge amount of snow which is great because the snowpack is what we drink. The ski resorts are ecstatic. Also depleted reservoirs have been filling up so we're hoping to see the end of the drought. Today will be a rainy one but Sat and Sun will be dry. It's been chilly (for us) with highs in the 40's when the avg high is in the mid to upper 50's. Rain is scheduled to resume on Mon and Tues. I think SoCal's weather will be similar. Here's one of the greatest radar maps going. You can see the whole country: http://radar.weather.gov/Conus/full_loop.php I'm so disheartened by the venal and incompetent politicians and the willfully stupid voters that I don't even want to think about the SCOTUS decision or health care. Speaking of health, anybody know how Whitebeard's doing?
- I'll be rooting for the Saints but I suspect Indy is the better team. Of course the Saints have Ashley on their side. I have a Herb Caen signature martini glass. Really. His sig is etched below the rim. The Chron had some made years ago as a promotional item. My brother in law, who worked there at the time, scored me one.
- I don't know who Cooz has in mind, but the last time I listened to Limbaugh was when Clinton had just come into office. Limbaugh was going on and on about what an ugly little girl Chelsea was. I was appalled that he was being so nasty about a 12 or 13 year old kid. I also love the way he claims to be an entertainer and then attacks Hollywood types who express a political opinion as stupid entertainers whose opinions aren't worthy of attention. Somehow MM Jeff, your moralism reminds me of Honest Ave the hair splitter.
- I simply cannot imagine crashing my car the way the off duty CHP guy did. I don't understand how that crash happened. Stand on the brakes, turn off the ignition, pop it into neutral, pull the accelerator back with your toe. The CHP does train its people in high performance driving skills. They have a track and a skid pad here in West Sacramento at the CHP Academy. You can see it here off Reed Ave in the western part of West Sacramento. It's just west of I-80. http://www.bing.com/maps/#JnE9eXAud2VzdCtzYWNyYW1lbnRvJTJjK2NhJTdlc3N0LjAlN2VwZy4xJmJiPTM4LjcyNzAwNjUyMTI2NjMlN2UtMTIxLjA0NTAyMzcyNDQzNyU3ZTM4LjMyMzA0MzMyMTQ5NSU3ZS0xMjEuNjc4Nzk3NTI4MTQ4 I always drove a stick until I bought my present car. My ex refuses to drive an auto. She has a 2006 PT Cruiser. I ended up with an automatic on my car because stick shift cars are getting harder to find, especially beyond the entry level. I would prefer one. Neither my ex nor myself have ever replaced a clutch. I put 125,000 miles on an '81 Corolla in San Francisco and the clutch was fine when I sold the car. I got rid of it because it didn't have A/C which isn't necessary in SF but is in Sacto where I was moving. If you drive properly a clutch will last forever. Simply don't slip it. I made sure my daughter learned to drive on a stick shift. Today she and hubby have two cars, one auto and one stick. I've been sort of fascinated with the new Nissan Cube ever since the rental people gave me one for a few days when I was in Hollywood last fall. It's a hoot. When was the last time anyone here changed a tire? I had a flat this AM when I left to go to work. I have a compressor and I tried to blow it up but no go. So I put on the little space saver thingy and went off to the tire store to spend $250 on a pair of skins for the front. The rears have lots of tread still. They don't do anything but keep the back bumper from dragging on the ground anyway. Way to start the week. I can't remember the last time I changed a tire. It hasn't gotten any more fun.
- Jeff B., I had a couple of those old spider wrenches at the house in Auburn but forgot to take one when I moved down to Sacto. Since the car was in front of my house I had access to a 3/4" deep well socket and a nice breaker bar. That little scissors jack sucks though. My insurance covers this stuff but I couldn't see the wait or the hassle. We saw one of those gruesome movies in Driver's Ed with all the icky bodies. As almost 16 yr old boys we had to act like it was cool.
- There is an ad for "The Office" (I think it's "The Office" - somebody correct me) that has a supposedly pregnant guy going into labor, standing over a waste basket claiming his water just broke while the laugh track howls in the background. I took it as an absolute warning to stay away from the piece of shit they were advertising.
- Brian, MarkH, you two couldn't be more right about Speed. It's been ruined by lowest common denominator shows the same way the Food Channel was. The British and German touring cars are lots of fun, F-1 guardedly so (the whole program and Bernie E piss me off so much I can't really get into F-1) and last weekend's coverage of the Daytona 24 hours was superb. I miss the Aussie V-8 supercars and the Rally coverage. Do we really need a thousand hours of watching identical '69 Camaros auctioned for obscene prices? NASCAR was good twenty years ago but I don't like the spec racing series for a few hyper rich owners into which it's devolved. Bring back real cars. Also, Brian, don't get rid of all the ovals. I like a few of the big ones where the cars can really get out and roll. Over the years I've seen them at Sears (now Infineon) a half dozen times. Watching those big cars bumping and grinding their way around a road course is a great show.
- I haven't ever been told that I have a Maine accent. Of course I've never been there either.
- We have two big time corporate women running for Statewide office here in California. Carly Fiorina, former HP honcho is running for Barbara Boxer's senate seat and Meg Whitman, erstwhile E-Bay Boss, is running for governor. Both are conservative Republicans, both offer further proof that prowess in the corporate boardroom is not an indicator of political potential. Whitman, in particular, is running an odd campaign. Her plan to solve California's fiscal crisis has three points: Fire 30% of State employees, create new jobs and lower taxes. No matter that the points are total fantasy, they resonate with pissed off voters. She appears only on radio and occasional TV commercials, won't do interviews or talk shows and refuses to debate her primary opponent. In short, she does nothing but repeat her mantra over and over in paid ads while hoping to be anointed governor from above. The other day she was busted trying to bribe her primary opponent into quitting the race thereby giving her a free pass to the general election. The fur still hasn't settled from that one. It is being bruited about that she has spent $30 mil of her own money on the campaign so far. It's interesting times when Jerry Brown is the sanest looking candidate on the block.
- Don't forget that when "buying" a Kindle E-Book from Amazon that you are only buying the opportunity to look at the book on your reader for a limited period of time. The period runs from when you make your purchase to when Amazon decides it will cut you off. They can erase it from your Kindle at will. They can see how often you access it and when. You can't copy it, print it or loan it or sell it to another party. There are other strings attached as well. It will be a long time before I pay good money for something like that. I'm sticking with the library and used book stores.
- Whitman is trying to avoid the public and the media and their nasty propensity to ask questions. She wants to run for gov and then run the State from her aerie. She wants to be queen. Her talking points, if that's what we can call them, show her to be indisputably either totally uninformed about how things work or a lying sack of shit.
- In my post at #14 I brought up the question of just what you actually get when you "buy" an E-book. Before I think about how much I want to pay for something like that, I want to see some serious thought on the part of all parties about just exactly what an E-book is. I wouldn't give you a plugged nickel for the Amazon model. There are lots of small publishers and purveyors all over the net offering E-books in Adobe and in many other formats with many different strings attached from $3.95 up. I don't know if these would be readable on Kindle, I suspect not, but I'll bet you will be able to read them on your IPad. Like VHS and BETA, there will eventually be a single basic format. I'd like to see something analogous to today's actual book book. I can loan it, resell it, burn it because it was written by a commie or whatever else I want to do. I hate the Kindle model. Talk about corporate totalitarianism. Amazon makes Bill Gates look like Mother Teresa.
- "When you have to take your shoes off to count the number of women you’ve slept with, perhaps its time to stop counting. And time to keep the pants zipped." Why?
- I think suggesting there is something sexual about the SI cover says more about those making the suggestions than it does about the picture. Rana, I can see your point but I still have no objection to the way SI posed the cover picture. It seems to me that the idea was to give the readers a good look at a star rather than to present a skiing picture. One of the swimsuit issue stars is doing pretty well in the NASCAR ARCA race which is gracing my tube right now.
- Jeff B, I've been saying for years just what you've pointed out about the Dems peeing their pants. The total lack of a spine anywhere in the Democratic party is one of the things that has me depressed about the state of the country.
- Pork jowl is often cured and made into a type of bacon called guanciale. It's excellent - tastes pretty much like regular bacon.
- Saints win and Ashley smiles.
- Mary, it's also great in Carbonara. And I don't think I've ever seen two posts with the same time stamp. Must have been a bittersweet moment for Archie Manning, who, by all accounts, is one of the true nice guys of the NFL.
- First: Been out of town for a couple of days. So - glad to hear you are doing OK, Whitebeard. Also, enjoy the isles, Moe. When in the Army I vowed to never eat any of those Jello dishes again. Only vow I've ever kept. The stuff is beyond gross.
- One day back in the '70s when we lived in San Francisco, I, along with my then wife and a girl friend of hers, took the N Judah line to a garage to pick up our car. There was a bar across the street and the women decided to go have a beer while waiting for me to ransom the car. When finished, I parked the car on the street and went into the bar to join them. The female bartender's orientation was obvious in her husky build, DA, man's tee shirt with sleeves rolled, levis and attitude. The girls sat at the bar grinning at me. The bartender pointed at the door and 86'd me. No men allowed in the bar. I had to stand out on the street waiting for the smirking sisters to finish their beers. They were still grinning when they came out and they hadn't hurried either. While none of us had known the place was a lesbian bar, my wife and her (straight) friend sure derived a lot of amusement rubbing my face in it.
- See my earlier post up at 18. Alex, Cosmo, Rana, the incident related there took place in the early afternoon. There were only a couple of other customers in the bar. Business models or whatever aside, I can tell you that I was tossed from the place within seconds of entering simply because I was male. Did I put up a fuss? No. I knew about gay and lesbian bars, had even drunk in gay bars and I understood what they were about. I'd also been in places that were male bastions. I could respect the owner's desire and when asked to leave, I did so quietly.
- Oh, Rana. I wasn't disgruntled or put out in the least at being thrown out of the lesbian bar. I thought I made that clear above. I said that I understood and respected their position. I guess the point, if there was one, was the way my wife and her friend were so entertained by what happened to me and how they took their time finishing their beers and the big grins they sported as they watched. As soon as they sat at the bar they knew what was going to happen when I showed up. After all, they were women too, even if they were not lesbians, and they had been subjected to the type of treatment to which you allude. And my wife's reaction didn't bother me. I found the whole thing kind of amusing too. We all went home happy. By the way, I know a thing or two about bars. I've been going to them for over forty years. I can't tell you how much we treasured a nice, quiet place where we could have a drink and talk.
- Wait a minute, wait a minute! I know my biology is a bit sketchy, but how does that love child of Tark and Moe thing work, Cooz? And she sure does look like it.
- I've traveled for good dim sum. I'd do it again. But only for good stuff. Somehow bad Chinese food is worse than bad any other kind of food. You want a place that has those circulating carts so you can see and grab what you want not a place where you have to order off a menu. Also a place that's busy so all the stuff is fresh. Best I've had was in a joint on Pacific between Stockton and Grant in SF. I forget the name but I know where it is.
- Great news, Whitebeard. Eat hearty.
- "smug self-effacement" Great phrase. It sure do exist.
- We have those kiosk/central parking meter things here in Sacto as well. There are two per block so the walk isn't really that far but it is a pain in the ass on a cold, rainy day. The instructions are to peel off the backing and stick the ticket to your window. Sure. I just leave the ticket on the dash. They take quarters and credit cards. I started out hating them. Now I don't exactly like them but I've gotten used to them Deborah, also read Ken Levine before you go: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/ Brian, don't they sell beer in the grocery store? You need to hang out more at liquor stores and bars. Sounds like you had a misspent youth.
- Deborah, Levine's site had a funny thing about movie goers, not a review of Shutter Island. It was meant to be amusing.
- Thanks for the great news, Mo. Keep it going. My God! Corn holing, Brian? Gonna add tea bagging too? Or is there another kind of corn holing? I still say "skiing" back and forth through a ditch or over a bunch of bumps is trash sports. Watch this for a minute or two and then look at the downhill. Tell me there's an equal thrill there. They're sports invented to include those who couldn't make the real team.
- Ease up MarkH? That was a joke though you obviously didn't understand that. I guessed that Brian had something else in mind though I no idea what. I'm sure he was aware that there was nothing malicious pointed at him in the post. And I had never heard of that game. You have to wonder who dreams that stuff up.
- Hey, I fit that Concordia profile. Except for the part about young. Or polite and maybe I'm not so neat and I know I wouldn't have felt at home in the Nixon admistration and . . . oh, well. I tried.
- Did the earth move? I read somewhere yesterday that the Sumatran quake at Banda Aceh was good for 7" plus or minus. I didn't feel anything then either. I wonder if quakes on the other side of the world cause movement in the opposite direction.
- "at the shore." I love the way you guys talk back there.
- Last year the Gov and Mrs. Schwarzenegger were featured in several ads promoting California tourism. The State Trade and Commerce Agency paid them $250,000 for the honor. Last week they returned the money saying all their bucks were in a blind trust (along with the Democrats' balls, but that's another story) and they had had no idea that the money had been paid. Can you imagine having so many bucks that you misplace the odd check for 250 grand?
- Jeff, call me back when you have Elisabetta Canalis on the list.
- Eagles Quarterback and noted dog lover Michael Vick was one of 32 NFL players to receive the Ed Block Courage Award. The award is presented to players who exemplify commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage. Somehow this fits right in with today's comments.
- Y'all's own Ohio congressman, George Hamilton Boner is hot after Massa, demanding an investigation.
- You gottit, A. Riley. "One of their own" gags me. When I was a kid, before the ice cooled, WLS in Chi was a great music station. Great jocks like Dick Biondi, the Wild Itralian, and Dan Sorkin. Yes, that's "Itralian". Used to hear on TV, on the weather particularly, "the Chicagoland area". Repetitively redundant.
- I'm particularly enchanted by the toenail fungus commercials they seem to show only while I'm preparing dinner. TV is wonderful. They'll show torture, beatings, murder and other felonious activity in loving detail. But sex, (which is still legal in most places as far as I know) oh, no. That's evil. Boggles the mind. My house was burgled last fall. They took TVs, stereo, computer, etc. I was very concerned after I had replaced everything that the bad guys would be looking for the brand new stuff as Jeff B. notes.
- That writing has a definite "Dick and Jane" quality to it. Want lat and long on somebody's house? Check Google Earth. Those wing nut idiots really do live in an alternate universe.
- From what I see here and there Stupak is fast moving up in the laughingstock sweepstakes.
- Well shucks, Happy Birthday, Brian. She Who looks like she's wearing one of the late Fess Parker's old coonskin caps.
- Loved Molly Ivins and miss her greatly. Also had a serious letch for Ms. Turner twenty some years ago. Crimes of Passion, Body Heat. And thanks, Dexter for that Friedman link.
- Cooz, I wasn't sure which dwarf you had in mind until I clicked your link. I kind of had a mild letch for Ms. Lopez about 15 years ago when she was new on the scene. She wore that out quickly. Very. Back when that name shortening thing began, first initial of the first name and first syllable of the last name (J-Lo), I immediately thought of a certain Russian figure skater. She won a couple of Olympic medals, maybe gold, maybe not. Anyway, she had the greatest name: Irina Slutskaya -- I-Slut. It's easy to see why the thing never really caught on. Just think of POTUS.
- I'm kind of surprised that as literate a crowd as this wasn't familiar with the term "to ferret" or "to ferret out" as an expression meaning to work out or to dig out or whatever out a bit of information. I've seen it in literature for years. I don't know whence it came, but in Briddish spy stories intelligence agents are sometimes known as ferrets.
- You're right, ROgirl. Maybe she meant "fete"?
- I've been down south for the last couple of days. I flew out of Burbank this afternoon and I can report there was no snow there. This beautiful college campus thing seems to come up a couple of times a year. I've visited a ton of college campi over the years and somehow find all of them beautiful. I can't see any profit in trying to decide which is the most beautiful. People see things differently, people have different tastes. The beauty of the moment is too much tied to other factors. The University of Illinois at Champaign will never be a contender in the most beautiful sweepstakes but it has its moments. The most beautiful sight on a college campus for me occured on a winter evening in Champaign in about 1963 when I was walking down a tree lined street in the midst of a snow storm holding hands with my girlfriend. It was one of those snows when the temp seemed warm, there was no wind and the snowfall was so heavy that things were instantly covered with a silent white blanket. I was young and in love and the night and the girl were beautiful. I think the true beauty of college campuses is the vitality, the optimism and the hope of the young people. I like the warm feeling I get when walking on a campus.
- I did a typo that came out "MIchaelG" I'm really "MichaelG".
- Dorothy, I have the browser remember it but I delete all that stuff periodically. The last time I entered I didn't notice the typo. I finally got around to fixing it. Maybe it's superstition, but deleting everything and running a scan makes me feel safer. I've had my problems with a virus here and a virus there. I've edited before (you wouldn't believe) but I didn't try to edit the heading or whatever you call it. I'll try to avoid a next time.
- A while ago you newspaper types were talking about bloating your output. How about Linda Holmes telling us of the twenty some exclamation points and other multiple uses of punctuation or the use of all caps - are these legit output bloaters or are they cheating? How about your new mayor's plan to tear down 10,000 buildings?
- We haven't heard from Whitebeard in a while. Anybody know how he is? I filled out my census form today. Just to be safe I wore rubber gloves and a tinfoil hat. I used a sponge to moisten the envelope flap. So that's me. Still one step ahead.
- Good Lord, Cooze. Just look at Wendy Linebacker's picture. I wouldn't want to get close enough to find out if she snores.
- Yeah, John, but some are the little shu shus and some are step children.
- Here's the low down on both the insurance industry dust up over covering kids and strip club Repubs. http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/
- I almost didn't click figuring it would be a link to the Petal Pushers about whom I had read the other day. Glad I did. It's a great story.
- Wow! Poultry and rabbit stories. We had rabbits once when we lived in Marin County. Two became 24. Believe it or not they crapped in a box with newspaper in it. We posted a sign on the wall down low next to the box that said "No Cats Allowed". It seemed to work. I trotted momma down to the San Francisco animal shelter (at the time they didn't kill animals) just a day or two before she was scheduled to drop another litter. I gave them a phony name and phone number so they wouldn't call and bitch at me. Then we somehow ended up with a little golden lop that was gay. He tried once too often to rape the A rabbit, a medium sized Dutch who was named Rafael. Rafael tore the little lop up so badly that we had to get $500 worth of work done at the vet before we could give him away. We were able to lay most of the rabbits off on pet stores and gave the rest away except for Rafael. He lived to be almost 10. When we (I - my ex is still there) lived in Auburn we had lots of chickens. The girls were always an amiable bunch, smarter and with more personality than you would expect. To this day I miss those wonderful fresh eggs. One day we acquired a giant rooster. A Speckled Hampshire or a Spotted Whatevershire or something like that. He was young and just beginning to grow his spurs, thank God. Sucker stood higher than my knee. He terrorized the girls and me equally. I had a length of 2 x 2 that I carried with me. I was only able to clobber him the first couple of times before he got wise and started in with his rooster fu. He was very quick and evasive and I couldn't hit him. He would stalk me from behind trees and bushes and stuff and jump out at me. Then he'd stand there, bobbing and weaving and looking at me as if saying "Come and get it, Motherfucker". Gahd, what a beast. We snatched him when he was sleeping and put him in a box. I took him down to the feed store and gave him to a chicken feed salesman from Oregon. We ended up with a chocolate runner duck. Seems like we were always acquiring odd animals. She was a nice girl but messy as hell. She would shit copiously everywhere all the time. I think ducks and geese have some kind of internal multiplier so that they shit three or four times the volume of what they eat. We kept a kid's wading pool for her and every week or so tossed a dozen goldfish in for her dining pleasure. She'd snaffle them up in no time. She had a habit of carrying dirt to put in the pool when we changed the water. Lord, she was filthy. One night she got out of the shed and a fox ate her. Most of her, anyway. I tried her eggs, but never really liked them. They have a taste very different from chicken eggs. One of my ex's goaties died a few weeks ago and T got a replacement. Of course the new goat turned out to be preggers. Fortunately the baby was a girl. Cute as can be. Male goats are as filthy, smelly and nasty as ducks and geese.
- Hope Mrs. Basset is feeling better soon. Don't tell her about DiCaprio as McGee. It'll cause a setback.
- Prospero, Dave Robicheaux would make a poor Travis McGee. Too angst ridden and too crazy when provoked.
- We felt nothing of the quake here. It was covered on TV and it seems that damage was, I hope, minimal, but let LAMary tell the story. It was a spectator thing here. It does seem like we're about due for a another big one. The weather has been miserable for the last two weeks and looks to be awful for at least another week or so. Cold, wind and rain. It's raining like crazy right now. High temps have been in the fifties when avg April temps should be in the seventies. I sat here and stared at the 10 day forecast hoping something would change, but no luck. Then I went to another site and quickly clicked back to the weather site hoping to catch a break but no change. Stanfurd vs. UConn Tues. Stanfurd needs to pick it up.
- Meg Whitman says she will balance the budget and gel the recovery by firing 40,000 State employees, building new prisons and creating new jobs. Whatever "creating new jobs" means. I'll leave it to somebody smarter than me to figure how all that works. Poizner is going to balance the budget by cutting all services to illegal immigrants, despite the fact that the Federal Courts have already said that such cuts are not permissible. I can't imagine that services to illegal immigrants amount to all that much anyway. Certainly nothing close to $21 Bil. So we have two candidates building their platforms on fairy tales. I don't know who first called Jerry Brown "Moonbeam". He's a very smart guy, if a tad quirky. He does have personality and can be an excellent and entertaining speaker. And he can be charming when he wants. I've heard him several times. It's interesting days when he's the sanest of the candidates. I'm voting for him too. Might as well. I did last time he ran for gov. Look at one of the sat maps, google or bing. Mexicali is a huge place with about a million people. I had never realized that until I had a job in El Centro and was traveling to the area regularly. If there's anything that demonstrates the good side of govt presence, it's the contrast between places that have seismic building regulations, building codes and genuine inspections and those places that don't. I would offer Chile vs. Haiti for your edification and also, I would suspect, Mexicali vs. the California side.
- Gawd, I'll also fess up to peeking at APS for the last several years. My only reaction to the whole half hooker business is "So what's new"? Also a "So what's new?" to all the eminently predictable moralistic reactions. The term "knee-jerk" comes to mind.
- John G. Wallace, yes, that was Coors' "finger fucker" can. You always ended up with the tip of your finger getting wet. It could get a little perturbing when you were working on your car and your hands were greasy. I have no idea what Coors was thinking but the can didn't last long. When I was in the army I had a friend who swallowed a poptop. He had pulled it off and dropped it into the can as was his custom. He had been doing it for a long time before he finally swallowed a top. We went to the e-room at Ft. Bragg. When the doc stopped laughing he told my friend to look for it in the bowl next time and if it didn't show in a day or so to come back. It showed up or so I was told. It's one of those things where you take people's word.
- Here's a blog by a friend of mine. A guy I used to work with. He's always been a very funny writer. California folks will appreciate his picture of Meg Whitman. Steve has an irreverent take on everything. http://unexpectedmushroom.blogspot.com/
- On the face of it the crash at Smolensk seems easy to evaluate. There was a memorial service scheduled to take place at the site of a WWII massacre. People were already waiting on the ground at the memorial site, presumably shifting from foot to foot in the lousy weather. The Polish military pilot had already made several approaches in extremely poor visibility without being able to land. The tower was telling him to divert. He had the whole Polish govt. in the back, including his big boss. The pressure to land must have been overwhelming, possibly with bigwigs telling him they didn't give a shit about any stupid fog, just get the goddamn plane on the ground. So he did. It doesn't seem the aircraft type was an issue at all although some aircraft are equipped with Cat (something or other - help me here, Joe) electronics that can facilitate a zero visibility landing assuming the airport was similarly equipped. I kind of doubt Smolensk is so equipped. So I would guess human problems rather than Tu-154 problems caused the accident.
- If it ain't Boeing, I ain't going. LAMary, check the pix of Meg Whitman on my comment above. Going away. Back Friday.
- Got home from Fresno an hour or so ago and first thing was, of course, nn.c. Rana, there is a big dif between filing as two single persons and filing as a married couple. When we split we elected to go for a legal separation rather than a divorce. This allows us to file taxes jointly. She had the accountant prepare it both ways last year and the difference was major. At least for us. Also, as separated but not divorced, I can keep her on my health insurance. That only costs me a hundred something a month. I simply could not cut her off without insurance. Also some more, neither of us has any particular desire to get married again. Also yet some more, I still . . . oh, never mind.
- LAMary, where is Oinkster? Sounds great and if it's not too far away, I'll stop there for lunch one of these days soon.
- Yeah, Crinoidgirl, that was great news. I've had friends for whom this has been an issue and I'm very pleased there is progress on this front. I feel so stupid, LAMary. As soon as I posted that request about Oinkers I slapped myself on the forehead and looked the place up on the net and of course it is all there, maps, photos, directions, the whole thing. Thanks for the directions. You must have been thinking "What a dolt!" while posting them. It may be later this summer before I can get there. I'll have a pretty good sized job at the Glendale DMV on Glenoaks Blvd. going then. Oh, and Mary, check out my friend's Whitman Sampler: http://unexpectedmushroom.blogspot.com/
- Unfortunately, Whitman is not funny. Her platform and campaign promises are pure fantasy. She is pandering to the worst of the tea baggers' flights of fancy, her commercials are vicious, full of lies and airing all the time. She stays mostly out of sight, refusing to appear in any but the most orchestrated and restricted of rallies.
- There's a place right nearby where they cure their own bacon. You buy it in slabs and slice the skin off and then cut it yourself. The pieces are smaller than supermarket bacon but it sure is good and the price is competitive. No water and no two inches of grease in the pan. I don't mean to sound like a snob. The stuff is just down the street convenient. And when I was a kid my mom used to cook eggs in bacon grease. She always saved the grease in an old coffee can. I haven't had bacon fat fried eggs for years. Maybe I'll try it this weekend. I have also heard of people making bacon grease sandwiches back in the day. I never did watch The Wire. For whatever reason. Tonight I looked at Treme for the first time. I don't look at a lot of dramatic TV but I felt invested in Treme because of Ashley. My usual act is to read a book while watching news or sports or entertainment on the tube. A few, a very few, minutes of Treme served to disabuse me of any thoughts of multi-tasking. Treme commands your full attention. I don't know what episode I watched; it's the one that ends with the carpenter/musician older guy beating the shit out of the robber and maybe killing him. It's great and riveting TV and I'll continue to watch the show. I'm also falling in lust with the woman who owns the restaurant. I must say, however, that the black people who inhabit the ghetto where I live are tad different from the people on the TV show. It's not quite so brotherly and heart warming here in the real world.
- The Pope's Cologne - perfect for attracting that special pubescent someone.
- Gotta second Pilot Joe and Dexter on the Meigs Field issue. Maybe I'll try the bacon fat popcorn thing. Sounds just awful enough to maybe be good.
- Peter, lots of pilots have made the move from the Air Force to the airlines. I don't know how things are today, but that's an alternative worth exploring. Flying C-17s isn't a bad life.
- Rana, I had a girlfriend many, many years ago who had bright rainbow colored wool socks with five toes in each - like gloves. She would wear the goofy socks with clear plastic sandals. Actually looked kinda cool. I buy my sneakers at Big 5 when they have one of their great $14.95 sales. Have done for years.
- Y'all and your WFS amuse me, given where I live. It's spring and the hookers are on the corner again. Music? There isn't any. Just that soul killing rap shit pouring at full volume out of home windows and throbbing car windows. Nancy covers my reaction to the stuff pretty well.
- My speed: When I was in Phoenix last Dec I got dragged to a Glenn Yarbrough concert. Guy looked like he was on a 60 minute pass from life support.
- Flash back to that Polish jet crash. Joe and any others who might be interested. Here's a video of a CAT III autoland at San Francisco. I think I might be a tad nervous. Scroll down. http://ryanthepilot.blogspot.com/ Actually, youtube has a bunch of them.
- So Skip Bayless is Rick's brother. I didn't realize that, Sue. I used to read his column in syndication when he wrote for a Dallas paper. I thought he was quite good. I haven't seen him on TV.
- What I like is that the bill includes a provision encouraging people to sue law enforcement if they feel the cops are not enforcing the law strictly enough. And of course, they're going to get sued by everybody they enforce against. Talk about both ends against the middle. So all those little border towns are going to be squashed between the ACLU etc on one hand and the Minute Men et al on the other. How nice of the AZ state gummint. Did you ever see a law, rule, regulation, whatever that law enforcement didn't abuse when they felt it convenient to do so?
- Illegal immegraton doesn't exist in a vacuum. It's tied into a whole economy that requires an indentured sub-class to fill shitty jobs at sub-par wages in one place and another, worse place that people need to leave to make a living. You don't see Canadians picking tomatoes or cleaning hotel rooms. I don't care how how many laws and walls you create. You ain't gonna stop it. The whole thing needs to be dealt with as a package and dealt with honestly. Fat chance.
- In the '70s a former girl friend of mine jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge. Girl friend, shit. We were lovers and lived together for several years before we broke up. I then had various short term relationships before meeting T whom I married and from I just split a couple of years ago. Even after I married, R and I would have an occasional lunch, sanctioned. R went off the bridge about two years after I married T. She died some hours later in Letterman Hospital. The whole thing was just an unspeakable horror. The memorial service and facing her father and sister, both of whom I had known well when we were together, was awful. I still have bad moments because of R's death. It isn't any consolation that R's mother had also ended her own life. In the end, it was the suicide itself and the damning knowledge that I was a contributor, not the method she chose that was the overriding thing. I hope they don't put up any barriers. People will always find a way. Suicide didn't begin with the Golden Gate Bridge. One point, jumping off the bridge isn't a bid for attention. It's the real thing. I've heard about that movie. I'll never watch it.
- We're with you, Moe. Best wishes. My fingers and toes are crossed.
- I kinda like the kiss marks tattooed on his cheek and neck. Next time you're in Milano, check out the Via della Spiga. The store windows there are full of 500E tee shirts and 1000E pants. There's even a boutique deli with designer pasta for many many Euros per kilo. I forget the exact prices but they're eye watering. I have pix at home. It's a lot of fun to window shop, though.
- We used to frequent SF playgrounds 25 years or so ago. It wasn't as bad as Jim portrays it but maybe things have changed. I always figured there was something wrong with a kid who didn't have a scab on his or her knee. My daughter used to eat green peppers and carrots instead of candy. We never put that on her. It was her own wierdness. She also doesn't drink. She certainly didn't get that from me. I'm proud and happy with the way she turned out. Licking Valley High? That's like Oregon State where the womens' athletic teams are known as the Lady Beavers. Hoping for the best, Moe. We're all with you.
- LAMary, you forgot about the separate checks.
- Spot on, Dexter. I travel a lot and am a member of all the hotel chains' club deals. They often pass out drink tickets on check in. The bartender isn't part of that. He works just as hard whether the drink is free or not. I always tip.
- Good luck, Basset. It's about your turn for a break.
- I kind of wondered when we hadn't heard from him. Don't feel badly about not knowing, Nance. I don't think any of us really thought to check the Hartford papers until Sue did today. Here's hoping this all the bad news for a long time.
- Jeez, Mary, you're in great form today. I've just gotten home from a couple of days in Barstow where the best restaurant in town is Denny's. Your post on El Atacor really hurt. Dinner tonight was cheese and crackers. OK, goat cheese and flatbread but it's still cheeze and crackers. I still feel bloated from the shit I've eaten for the last couple of days. I need to be smarter when I order. Even in a dump. Boy, the cats are really going at it tonight outside my window. Sounds like true love. I joined FB a year or so ago and haven't really updated or sought friends since. Now I just kind of lurk. It's something that takes a whole lot of work and a whole lot of time and I just don't feel motivated to spend my life there. I never heard Ernie Harwell but some of you Midwestern folks may remember the great Jack Brickhouse who did Sox and Bear games when I was a kid. There's a real art to doing sports on radio. Here in the (extended) Bay Area the legends are Bill King and Lon Simmons. Best of luck, Basset. Starting over is tough, I don't envy you but my best wishes are with you.
- Alex, I remember fifteen years ago or so when every joint had lingerie Wednesdays. Models with bras and panties between beers at noon. Heavily attended. They do that back East?
- Cooz, who gets to hold the remotes?
- Ken Levine had a good Harwell tribute here (scroll down): http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- Cooz, I don't know what Miller would be doing in Turkey other than making a misguided visit seeking relatives. Whatever he would be doing there, I'm sure he'd be doing it in a cave. Maybe looking to add to his coprolite collection. Boy, you're on this week, Mary! That restaurant review is probably the funniest one I've ever read.
- That's wonderful, Moe. I'm so pleased to hear some encouragement.
- Jesus, Moe. How depressing. It's not enough that you have to fight a horrible disease, you also have to fight a bunch of mindless, heartless assholes to get the right treatment. And fight them when you're deathly ill. It really brings home the fucked up state of health care in this country.
- The first troops sent to Detroit to quell the riots were NG. They were unable to gain control of the situation so troopers from the 82d Abn were deployed. Things immediately quieted down. I happened to be out of the country at the time but I had a lot of friends who went to Detroit and to D.C. as well. They had a lot of stories to tell.
- Three words for Lena: Beauty, class, talent.
- My toaster just broke. The catch won't catch. Push it down and it pops right back up. The average high for May 10 around here is 80. Yesterday it was 47, rainy and windy. This morning it was 39. It's been a really shitty spring. The Tour of California starts this Sunday. First leg from Nevada City to Sacto. I'll be there. It's on VS with Liggett and Sherwin et al. It's supposed to be warm.
- I've got one of those stovetop espresso pots. Also I've used paper towels for filters. It can get sloppy, but it works in an emergency.
- My busted toaster is a Cuisinart. Does that mean something? I get my coffee at Peet's. I let them grind it. I'm too lazy. Two mason jars will swallow a pound and keep it reasonably fresh in the reefer. I use a Mr. Coffee - the cheapest one they make. Works great with no frills; just hot water through a cone with a warm plate. . I paid $17.95 at Target. I had my eye out for Lileks when I was there but didn't see him. I have a French press but I don't like it. It's a pain in the ass. Too much work, too messy and I don't see the big improvement over the Mr. C. Nice scratch and a pig's ear for Eli and Lexi. Get better quick. I pushed the "submit" button by accident.
- You're up early this AM, Mary. I don't even want to think about losing pets. It sure is the huge downside to having them.
- $30? The TV this AM said $200. At my age I'm up for any and all diseases. Who cares? I'll spend the money on a bottle or a case of wine. Much better ROI. I agree with McCain and Souder. Y'all need to build a fence to deter those hordes of maurading Canucks.
- I must admit that “You guys” drives me nuts. Check too late also bugs me. I feel as if I’m being held hostage to the check. I’m ready to leave and can’t. Too early? Doesn’t bother me. If I want something else it’s their problem to refigure the check. Don’t ask about change. Just bring it. And break that large bill while you’re at it. I had breakfast in Barstow the other day and the tab was nine bucks and change. Dumb ass waitress brought me a few coins and a ten dollar bill. How was I supposed to tip her? I had to ask her to go break the ten. I wonder if she’ll ever figure out why her tips are so low. I lived for years in San Francisco’s Marina District at Francisco and Broderick and later at Francisco and Diviz. It is truly one of the world’s great neighborhoods. What a wonderful place to live. Loma Prieta sure did demonstrate liquefaction. All our best, Moe. We’re pulling for you.
- Yeah, Paddy. That "How ya doin" thing gets me as well. Invariably they ask when your mouth is full. If they would pay attention to their tables they would know when somebody needs something. That other stuff about the grocery store is true to. It's a forced bonhomie that always rings so false. It can't be done to a script like restaurants and grocery stores, etc. impose on their employees. They'll never learn. Cheer up, Mary. It's going to be a nice weekend. And believe me, I know about financial issues with the ex. My sympathies.
- Good for you, Mary. As long as he doesn't come sucking around for alimony or something. The cold rainy weather was the reason they moved the Amgen from Feb to May this year. It should be low 80's. I got some good pix last year. We'll see how it goes on Sunday.
- Nice call, Rana. And thanks, Mary and Sue. Nice to see some comic relief from other states. What’s happening in CA is way too depressing. I’m one of those hated State employees and I work hard and pay lots of taxes. So do illegal immigrants. My favorite politician’s response to a scandal was that of State Sen. John Burton who was, at the time, President Pro Tem of the Senate (majority leader). Upon return from a stay at the farm for drug and alcohol problems, his stance before the inevitable news conference was “So the fuck what? It’s nobody’s Goddamn business.” No hypocrite, he, although he was famous for being just a tad colorful in his language. He was reelected in a landslide. Burton was, of course, from San Francisco. He was also an excellent legislator, smart as can be and hard working. He’s quite old, now, and retired. We could use a couple of dozen of him under the dome today. Edit: The Burton quote is close. Not word for word but the "fuck" and the "Goddamn" were there. This was years ago before term limits.
- Send a copy to the Pope.
- Dexter, I absolutely agree with you about the jerk who claimed to be a Viet Nam Vet. That’s a mortal sin. Period. I just looked at that Leininger article and there’s nothing about “cornhole” to be seen. Maybe somebody told them. What these jerks never seem to get is that it’s the hypocrisy. I don’t give a hoot who is bonking whom. It’s none of my business. It’s the bloody hypocrisy and the “that stuff only applies to the little people” attitude.
- Brian, I like the way the text the Lincoln statues was supposedly reading changed. Now I guess he would be reading an apology for something or other. There’s something about hyphenated names that just reeks of narcissism. I don’t like them. Suppose Nigel Smith-Jones marries Gemma Cholmondeley-Bates and they become Nigel and Gemma Smith-Jones-Cholmondeley-Bates. Then suppose their child, Thomas Smith-Jones-Cholmondeley-Bates, marries -- well you can see the problem and can see why hyphenating is essentially selfish.
- Jeez, Two Buck Chuck (still $1.95 here in SacTown) has to be cheaper than Listerine. The Brits do some strange things, Mary. You must know, having one in house. Beaulieu is pronounced "Bewley". Or maybe they think we do some strange things. I used to know a couple named Janet Jones and John Jones. They were not married but had lived together for years. Both were born "Jones". When they bought a house the bank never blinked or asked about their marital status.
- Now that I've moved from Auburn to Sactown my rep is Doris Matsui, a Dem. Doris is a 65ish woman who acceded to the seat upon the death of her husband Robert Matsui and then was elected to the seat. Bob Matsui was a well respected and honest guy who represented the district well. Doris is a nice woman who votes the right way and says the right things but isn’t a ball of fire. She’s good enough as a place holder until she decides to retire. I have the same two Jewish mothers for senators as does Mary. We could do a lot worse although DiFi pisses me off some times.
- The times are so goofy and the mood is so anti-incumbent and campaigns so viscious that I really don't have a feel at this point for how well Fiorina will do against Boxer or how Whitman will do against Jerry Brown - assuming the races shake out this way. The Reps are in a headlong dash to the right.
- LAMary, Meg knows what to do with the money. Give it to Goldman-Sachs.
- Good ones? One of the best is Henry Waxman from, I think, Santa Monica.
- My daughter went to Austin Peay State U. in Hopkinsville TN. Hubby was stationed at nearby Ft. Campbell. I have a bumpersticker around here somewhere that says "Let's go Peay!" Mary, was that Rogue JC located in Oregon whence flows the Rogue River? When I was at the U of I in the mid 60s a friend of mine was busted in the back seat of his car receiving oral favors from a young woman. The university authorities sentanced him to see a shrink every Thursday at 3:00 PM for six months. So the first day Dwayne went to the shrink and the shrink asked what his offence was. Dwayne told him. Shrink pondered a moment and then said "Let's go to Stan's and get a beer." So every Thursday Dwayne and the shrink would go to Stan's.
- You're absolutely right, Basset. Austin Peay is in Clarksville and that's where S. lived. I've got pix of it all. It seemed like a nice campus. It's Campbell that's listed as being in Hopkinsville Ky. even though it straddles the state line. I was stationed there for a couple of months in fall of '67. Daughter now lives in Austin Tx and hubby is packing to leave in July for a year long all expenses paid tour in A'stan.
- Another credit union guy here. When I was with my wife, we maintained a couple of CU accounts and an account with what used to ba A. P. Giannini's Bank of Italy but is now headquartered in Charlotte. We kept the acct there because my wife was European and we transferred money back and forth. Most American banks are totally useless when it comes to international dealings. This includes CUs. I'm happy with my CU for the most part but they mostly look so good when compared with the abysmal "service" provided by banks.
- I remember when gas stations used to give stuff away. The thing became absurd to me when I saw a bumper sticker in Berkeley (where else?) that said "Free Angela Davis with every ten gallons." You remember Angela Davis, don't you?
- Boy, Nance, that picture looks kind of like a pizza. Mid eighties here which is avg. Several things, Dexter. I am entirely with you on Ashley Judd. She's a beautiful woman. I watched her yesterday after the race. Laughing, crying, sweating, happily running barefoot down the pit lane totally being herself and totally not giving a shit that she was on national TV. I can't think of very many women who would behave so wonderfully. Dario's a very lucky man and not a half bad race driver. I was in the service from Jan '66 to Jan '69 so the Angela Davis etc. stuff all happened after I got out. Other than basic, AIT and jump school, my entire army career was spent in the 82d Abn and the 101st Abn. Race relations in both units were very good. We got along and we talked about it. Whites were called "Aces" and blacks were "Deuces". The 82d was called the Eighty Deuce because of the high proportion of black troopers. We used to share Oreo cookies. I shit you not. We kidded back and forth about a lot of things, food, sex, urban vs. rural living and all learned a lot about each other. It wasn't any Garden of Eden but it was pretty good for what it was. My first trip to the RVN was with the old 1st Bde of the 101st. It was an all Regular Army, all Vietnam volunteer unit at that time and a very professional outfit it was. Maybe it was the collective feeling that we were all airborne first and whatever else second that was a major factor. A very real shooting war also has a way of focusing things. I know that race relations deteriorated badly after the sixties. Too bad. My father served during WWII, I went to Vietnam twice, my son in law will be leaving for his second trip to Afghanistan in July and my daughter will be a single mom again for a year. I am righteously offended by fatuous assholes who have never served urging me to "remember the troops this Memorial Day". Sorry. I'll get off my soap box now. And yes I'm a liberal Democrat and yes the various Republican candidates here in CA have been saying some remarkably stupid things in their campaign ads and, sickeningly, people are eating it up.
- Who cares?
- I didn't mean to sound dismissive with my curt "Who cares?" a while ago. It was just that Dexter and I were only agreeing that she was a beautiful woman and I was expanding that into an observation on her reaction to her husband's success in a most difficult endeavor. With Ms. Judd, as with any other performer, there are detractors and those who would praise her. I've seen her in several movies and have always thought she was more than competent without being the greatest actress who ever lived. People can argue either way. What else do we want? I am still taken at her unbridled joy the other day; the pure, unselfconscious Ashley Judd she revealed. Great actress or not, it was a wonderful moment and I loved her for it.
- BP has a record of shoddy maintenance and operation. Look at the Houston refinery blow up a few years ago. Look at the Alaska pipeline problem a year or so ago. Look at all the citations BP has received from oil friendly oversight agencies. It’s clear that they did a lousy job of constructing the casing and well head of the blown out well in the Gulf of Mexico. It’s clear they didn’t install or maintain the blow out preventer properly. A dead battery. Give me a break. There were warnings a day or two before the blow out and BP ignored them. See a pattern here? I wonder how many other wells are on the verge of disaster. The Feds are complicit here. There is no standard spec for constructing well heads, casings or blow out preventers and no standard spec for the materials used. The type of concrete to use and the method of installation are widely debated. Where’s the research? This is the stuff the Feds should be on top of. There are no regulations and no inspections. I don’t know how you would inspect these things but they should know. Worse, it has become clear that neither the Feds nor BP had any plan to deal with a disaster and no back up to their no plan. Today, 6 weeks or so after the blow out both BP and the Feds are stupidly, blindly fumbling around trying to fake a solution. Neither knows how to stop the well and neither knows how to clean up the spill. Here is where I would hold Obama accountable. The day after the blow out he should have appointed a Czar and convened an ongoing symposium to develop solutions to the leak problem and to the spill problem. He should have recruited people from the North Sea, from the Middle East, from Asia, from colleges, universities, labs, consulting companies, oil companies, geologists, oil service people from countries all over the world. There is a lot of brain power out there and there are a lot of experienced people with lots of ideas and all I see is Thad Allen and those dweebs from BP. Then when solutions presented themselves they should have been applied with no time or expense spared. They could worry later about settling up with the oil companies involved and not bother at all to worry about stepping on toes. Instead, I see nothing. I don’t see any sense of urgency or any sense that anyone is really trying to fix things. This is where Obama has failed us. That Kos article to which Catherine linked is interesting, if a bit profane. I missed the connection to Ms Judd, though. “The best way to honor our troops is to stop killing them.” Absolutely right, beb. Thanks, Kim. The Daughter and the Sergeant and the kids moved to a suburb of Austin, TX a month or so ago. He’s at Ft. Hood in a helicopter maintenance company. He’s the First Sergeant, so I’m crediting him with enough sense to know how to watch out for himself. They’re already beginning to deploy and the Company Commander is going with the first group. Son in law will stay at Hood until just about everybody is gone and then he’ll bring up the rear with the rest of the troops. Cooz, we miss you.
- That scheme with a bunch of tankers out there sucking up oil seemed to work in the Persian Gulf. Maybe it would work here. Those pictures of dozens of little fishing boats and shrimpers trying futilely to make a dent in the tide of oil break my heart. This is the best the US can do? We'd be a laughingstock if there was anything to laugh at. Thanks, Joe.
- I saw that earlier. He does have a nice take on BP. Nice shout out at Roy’s. I like your thoughts about Al and Tipper. The running out of gas and the not knowing what goes on in other peoples’ marriages. So, so true. Don’t judge, don’t over analyze, just take the situation for what it is. I experienced something very similar. I don’t want to go into it very much, it’s personal and something I’m still working through, but I can sure sympathize. Can’t stand Bill Maher. Never have. I’d send him off to an island with Dennis Miller. They could amuse each other.
- Wow! I wrote my comments before seeing Mary's and the pic of Bourdain. I've always liked him and have all his books. And I agree about travel. The little I have done has made me think differently about where I live. That picture does nothing for me. Post one of the Goddess Padma and call me back.
- Bourdain quit smoking two or three years ago.
- I back my HD up regularly. I write some not so edifying fiction and back that stuff up every day to one of those little USB port memory sticks. When I was robbed late last year they went through my desk drawer and took my thumb drives along with the computer. The portable hard drive was in a file cabinet. So I lost a fair bit of stuff that I had written. No great loss to the world but, still, I was pissed. Lesson is to keep back up away from computer area when not actually transferring data. I bought a laptop a few weeks ago and have had a devil of a time getting it linked. After hours spent talking on every help line under the sun, the laptop works fine now with internet hookups but won’t print. The desk top is having trouble loading pix. More help time coming up. Both boxes have Win 7. You might be right, Cooz. I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there were some kind of flaw in 7.
- I've seen couple of dead dolphins - on video. I can't watch that stuff anymore. It's too sad.
- Well, Dorothy, I never really thought of myself as elderly, but if you say so . . . I work for the same reason the rest of you do. I need the paycheck. I found your comment offensive and patronizing.
- Dorothy, my comments reflect what I read in yours. If I misunderstood or misinterpreted your meaning, I’m sorry. This is a sensitive issue with me. I would love to retire but circumstances (a marriage that ended a couple of years ago) have foreclosed that option for the immediate future. I am very cognizant of the attitudes mentioned by Sue @ #28. It’s a real issue among employees of the State of California. Our pay has already been shaved by 15% and who knows what wonders the new budget will hold if and when the geniuses (that doesn’t look right, but spell check says it’s OK) under the dome get around to passing one. As a result, there is pressure for us expensive old folks to leave. Pressure but no incentive. I’m sick of people asking me when I’m going to retire. The results are mostly in and it looks like maybe, just maybe, some really boneheaded propositions are going to fail. Keep’em crossed.
- We won't any more, Mary if Prop 14 holds up. It's an open primary proposition that was passed on Tues. Both Democratic and Republican leaders predicted the end of the world if it passed. It won handily and I'm sure there will be court battles before it either comes into play or is tossed for good. If everything goes well the 2012 primary should be a lot of fun. I'm hoping for a bit of peace on my TV before the fall campaign gets into full swing. I'm sick of all the viscious commercials and know that the ones coming up are going to be worse. My phone is also quiet now.
- Amen about Meg, Steve and Carly. I wonder what Meg and Carly are going to do about trying to recover the large and growing Hispanic vote. That was great, Cooz. I laughed out loud. The system voted in last Tues is different from what has been described in comments here. There will be only one ballot. It will have all the names. Here in CA there could be thirty or forty people running for senator. After the votes are counted, the top two will be on the ballot for the general election. Could be two Dems or two Reps or one of each or neither. A lot of things have been predicted for the new system, but one thing is sure. Incumbents in "safe" seats will start sweating.
- Looks like he or she keeps the car clean, though. I wouldn't put a bumper sticker on my car at all, let alone on the paint. It's asking for trouble. The ones I really don't understand are the people who put those gay rainbow things on their cars. Too many gay bashers out there. Around here the Peoples' Republics are Davis and Berkeley. Is Madison in the confederation?
- How about "Baby carries no cash".
- For Sunday dinner I generally like to select a twenty year old bottle from my collection of vintage Beaujolais nouveau.
- A couple of years ago when I spent some time in Milan I shopped in a supermarket where one had to leave a deposit for a cart. One Euro, I think. My first thought was that this would be in the States in no time. I haven't seen it, but obvously it's here. Also in the produce dept the shopper was required to bag his or her selection, weigh it and push a button which caused the machina to issue a price label to attach to the bag. The checker then just ran it over the reader. No flipping through cards for the look up. And the checkers sat. I don't think I'd want to give you any crap, Mary.
- We have the dog fence carts and carts with a stirrup attached near a rear wheel so the fronts cannot be lifted off the ground. I'm expecting the twenty five cent carts any moment but I'll wager we don't get our quarter back. I don't visit TJ's so much anymore myself. Lots of great places to buy wine, much better places to buy cheese, etc.
- Sounds great, Mary. In fact, I know it's great because I make a thing like that except I add chopped fresh jalapenos and red onion. Red for color. By the way, jalapeno and corn are two flavors that come together superbly - one of those flavor marriages made in heaven. Add jalapeno to your corn bread. Muy bueno! For the worried, cooking cuts the hot. Dinner tonight was an asparagus frittata: Five nice finger thick delta stalks cut in half inch rounds briefly done in a half inch of boiling water in a small pan. Chop and sauté a shallot in butter and olive oil in an eight inch fry pan, add the drained asparagus, sauté for a minute or so and add two beaten eggs. When mostly set, stick under the broiler until done. Watch like a hawk. Garnish with chives or flat leaf parsley or whatever you have. Start to finish is like fifteen minutes. A thick slice of Acme Pain au Levain http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acme_Bread_Company and a glass of Bogle old vine Zin to complete. Serves me. Scale for your needs. I know it sounds snobbish but all of the above is available at the farmers' market and at Taylor's and Safeway (believe it or not the local Safeway is an excellent food and wine source) and costs the same as or less than prepared crap bought for convenience. Dinner tomorrow will be at some restaurant on San Fernando Blvd. in Burbank.
- I’ve been in Riverside and Burbank and Glendale for the last couple of days. Just got caught up. My post about a certain new French wine was meant as a joke. I buy a bottle every year and drink it within a week or so. I don’t really know why. It’s never rung my chimes, but it's fun to talk about. I have a copy of Ulysses and have gotten beyond page ten but by not much. I’ve tried several times but I must concede failure. Dubliners (short stories) and Portrait of an Artist I have read and they are great books. In California, Lancaster, pronounced as it looks, LAN cas ter and La Canada, pronounced as explained earlier are not far from each other. For what that’s worth. Then there’re the guys who refer to it as their “unit”. There is a fantastic used book store on San Fernando in Burbank called Movie something. It has amazing and not cheap movie memorabilia (this is Burbank, after all) and a fantastic collection of paperbacks piled everywhere. I know I can find whatever mystery I want there. I searched Sacto in vain for months for the Parker wherein Susan stepped out on Spenser. Found it on the first shot in Burbank. Heinlein’s another author beloved by the libs. Speaking of YA, I read him as a kid and loved the stories. No philosophy sunk in. Breaking news: Daughter Steph just called. She’s been accepted into Univ of Texas for the fall. A miracle itself at this late date. She wants to go back to school to get her PhD in math. I’m over the moon. She says she has all the child care, etc. issues worked out while hubby is in A’stan. He leaves after the July Fourth weekend. I’m a happy dad.
- Prospero, I listened to that guitar solo and it was nice. How many guitar players are out there? How many genres are there? Joe Montana was a great quarterback. So was Y. A. Tittle. Who was better? Best ever is a mug’s game. Too many qualifiers. Take excellence for what it’s worth and let it go at that.
- Shit,Prospero. You busted me on that thesaurus thing. I'm glad you're back. I love outrage. We need more of it.
- Excellent, Rana. A voice of reason. A perfect example of the iodicy: Pols around here are exhorting people to save gas and use their cars less while at the same time cutting bus schedules, trimming routes and laying off bus drivers.
- Obama needs to fire McChrystal the moment he sees him. Anybody who has ever been in the service will tell you that. He (and the other idiots) have to be fired decisively, not allowed to resign. Anything short of this and Obama will entirely lose the respect of the military.
- This isn't about the wingnuts. This is about the military. All members of the military recognize that Stanley Mac and friends crossed way over the line and they know there can be only one result. They may not like Obama and they may love McChrystal but they know the score. If Obama waffles, he's toast as far as the military is concerned.
- Paddyo has it. Grow some balls. The admin is never going to get anything but grief from the right no matter what they do. So go ahead and do the right thing. The Dems have never understood this simple truth. USA beats Algeria 1-0 in 91st minute to advance to 2d round.
- Yes, Jeff B. Drop the bipartisanship and make the bastards actually filibuster everything. Call their bluff and make them vote.
- I was at work and didn't get to watch any of the game, let alone see the Goal. I dipped in now and then to get the score. I hope I'll see the Goal on the news tonight. I think I missed something, Dexter. Why is Clinton more likely to get laid in S. Africa than anywhere else?
- I just had another long phone conversation with my son in law. He’s the first sergeant in a helicopter maintenance company that’s in the midst of deploying to A’stan. His tired, matter of fact discussion of the things that he’s responsible for and that he has to make happen left me with a new and renewed respect for what senior NCOs are expected to accomplish. I’ll spare the details, many of which I can’t even remember, the rest are way too many to relate here. The CO is gone and it is up to R to see that everything and everyone and all the details (of which there are many) in Texas are in the pipeline to Afghanistan before he leaves around July 15. The brigade has a Chinook company, a Blackhawk company and an Apache company. R is the 1Sgt of the Maintenance company. It’s up to him to keep all the birds in the air. And I mean up to him. He answers all questions. His unit is being deployed to a new spot in northern A’stan. They will be creating a new base on bare ground. There they’ll support conventional US units, Germans, Norwegians and Special Operations people. This is a whole new front for the war and a high profile one at that. R is a serious right winger. I avoid certain discussions with him for our mutual comfort. He related this evening that he had spent an hour and a half today with the brigade commander (a bird colonel) and that the subject of McChrystal had come up. Their take was exactly as I had expected. They don’t like Obama but McChrystal had crossed the line and had to go. R feels that the incident will disrupt things in A’stan for the next couple of months. I’m not qualified to comment. R is a guy whom I would never have encountered let alone have long discussions with but for his relationship with my daughter. All I can say is that he’s a fine father and a fine husband and that my daughter is in love. Brian, I’ve been through several good earthquakes and even knowing what was happening, it was always disorienting.
- The State public health people have reported that whooping cough is at epidemic levels in CA, that at least a half dozen children have died and that we are on pace to break the record number of cases reported in 1958. 1958. And here I thought that we had vaccines and shit that were wiping out all these old childhood diseases. What? Oh. Vaccines are only good if they are administered and if the idiotically superstitious refuse to let their kids be vaccinated . . . We truly are on the road back to the 12th century.
- It's not particularly life threatening to adults but it's very dangerous to infants and toddlers. The hell of it is that, absent a bunch of half wit parents listening to Jenny McCarthy and some wing nut radio personalities, this wouldn't have happened. It was totally avoidable.
- Julie, that’s exactly the kind of intrusion government should make. Catherine, point taken. I was generally aware of the booster situation but hadn’t really thought about it. It’s obvious your work is desperately needed.
- Oh, Brian. I agree with your thought that war is mostly a costly rather than productive enterprise. Especially post WWII war. But no infrastructure from WWII? How about hundreds of airfields, ports, shipyards, railroads and factories and lord knows what else? Most of which are still in use today. Zillions of dollars worth of machine tools, equipment, planes, trucks and other stuff provided cheap start ups for untold numbers of companies after the war. WWII was a bonanza of infrastructure improvements.
- The French like mayo on their pommes frites. Those Texas Goppers are truly nuts. One point I did agree with is the abolition of red light cameras. I hate those things. They mentioned sodomy but I didn't see anything about oral sex. Are there people who consider oral sex to be sodomy?
- I dunno, Mary. My wife was European and I spent years watching her eat fries with Mayo. I'm not sure I'm up for that. I will say that frying them twice in the Belgian fashion makes for the best fries. Put them in your whatever (I use a large wok) with the oil at 280 for 10 - 12 minutes. Remove and drain. Bring oil up to 375 and fry them again. Takes just a minute or two. Or you can keep them until company is ready and refry them then. Yum.
- Been in Monterey for work the last couple of days. Wonderful place and wonderful weather. Easy on us old white men. Some years ago we bought a beautiful used crib for when my daughter visited with the grandchild. It was a beautiful, very expensive crib. We got it for next to nothing because there was a plastic part that had broken. I took the crib outside, disassembled it and thoroughly cleaned it even though it appeared immaculate. Of course, we bought new bedding. I got a new plastic part from the manufacturer in a matter of a couple of days for five or six bucks via the internet. Gotta go for Brazil in the Cup. Too many friends and old associations with Brazil. Herb Caen, the greatest three dot columnist of them all was always posting "overheards". One of his funniest gigs was "Overheard in Marin" which skewered the folks in Marin County. I loved that young mother in Lance's post. I might have mentioned this once before. One day I was in Safeway and came around the corner into the paper goods aisle. The toilet paper section had been picked over and there was some empty shelf space. A young mother had her year or two old kid on the shelf and was walling him in with toilet paper packages. The two of them were laughing absolutely fit to bust. It was a beautiful, intimate moment and I turned around and tip-toed out of there so as not to intrude.
- I couldn't get any farther than four paragraphs or so into that ax story. My ex goes to Brussels every year to visit her mother. When we were still together she would bring home 12 lb of mixed pieces (you know, like you would see at Fanny Mae's or See's). We would put in the garage freezer and make it last for a year. Somebody else mentioned not sharing. We never told anybody that we had it nor did we share it. Evil us. I can't grow a beard. I suffer from "baby's ass syndrome".
- There's lotsa moral obligations out there, MMJeff, but rooting for Ghana ain't one of 'em.
- I had a friend who raced go-karts. He would load shot into frame tubes to meet weight and also to balance the kart for the track he was going to run. Remember NASCAR driver Dick Trickle? The guy who used to smoke during cautions? My favorite name.
- Agreed. The Versus TDF coverage is superlative. I’ll watch it when I get home but I peeked in on the written updates on VS’ web site so I am generally up on what happened. I never saw so many wrecks before. I hope today’s crashes are pretty much the end of the pile ups. I was very impressed by Cancellara yesterday. He restrained the wild men after the chaos, organized the peloton, got things running properly, organized the protest, registered it with the authorities and led the protest to the finish line while still keeping order in the peloton. All at the expense of his yellow jersey for the day. Yeah, he helped the Schlecks, his teamates, but his actions were far above and beyond. Good show, Fabe. There you go, Mary. The Dutch are in the finals.
- My first 45 had Bill Haley and his Comets doing "Rock Around the Clock" on one side and "Rock'n (that doesn't look right) Through the Rye" on the other. Bought it new in 19__ and paid __cents.
- Average mid July highs around here are 94 -96. The record for today is 110 set in 1989. Today and the balance of the week high temps are going to be mid to upper nineties. Humidity is low. The key to living here is that the average temp at night is down around 60. That’s right. 60 degrees F. We sleep very comfortably in Sactown and mornings are glorious.
- Wait a minute, Mary. I'm probably your greatest supporter/fan here on nn.c (not, I'm sure, that you need any support) but how can you be your own MILF? I used to be five foot eleven and a half hoping in my youth to make the other half inch but in my dotage I've shrunk. When in Europe I've been staggered by Dutch women. They all seem to be 6' 2", blonde and beautiful and wearing little bitty, ass shorts and braless tank tops. Makes me want to revert to the fetal position. Been to West Covina this past week. It's a totally generic L. A. area place. It's completely indistinguishable from any of the towns in a 360 degree radius. Civic pride? In what? The West Covina DMV office is the busiest one in the State of California which must make it the busiest one in the world. The lines, yes, lines plural, for there are multiple lines for different services, and they wrap around the building. The crowds are unreal. Upon arriving one would think that Elvis was in the place. The parking lot is full and that includes all the lanes and the people cursing and yelling and screaming at each other. The inside of the building resembled a sardine can in a pressure cooker. Anybody who denigrates State employees should come and spend a day working in this place. The weird ass State pay structures are such that the people who work here are paid absolute shit wages. That includes the manager. The manager. She's an amiable, friendly black woman of about thirty five with the command presence of a sergeant major, the decisiveness of a ship captain and the brains of a professor. On top of all her problems here I come with sixty six contractors who want to do a pre-bid inspection in her office. The building is going to be totally remodeled next year. My contract alone for HVAC, ceiling replacement and lighting will be a million bucks. There's a hundred thou in hazmat abatement by itself. The contractors, to be fair to them will need to see what they are going to be bidding on. So here I am with a herd of folks blundering into her DMV office and Debbie is smiling bravely, saying, "It's OK, I know you have to do it." There are only ten bazillion tense people demanding driver's licenses and license plates and lord knows what else in this place and she's being nice to me. And then the contractors are all on the roof where the bulk of the air handling stuff is and I'm thinking of the of the load factor of a bunch of people on the roof (around 12,000 pounds) and telling Debbie that I'm going to wait in the parking lot until they all come down and she's not sure whether to believe me or not, but she's not going to leave no matter what and I suddenly realize that my joke was really stupid and tell her that I'm only kidding and that I'm sorry. In the end I hustled all of the contractors out of there, passed out my bid packages and called it quits for the day. I'll do another walk in two weeks for qualified bidders in the very early morning so as to give the contractors a fair look and to not burden Debbie any more than I have to. I worked out all the details of the coming walk through with Debbie and the DMV facilities people. My job is so easy when I get to work with people like her. Assholes who talk shit about State Employees make me see red. They have no idea of the competence and dedication of people like Debbie and the staff of the West Covina DMV office and the hard work they do under the most adverse conditions. There isn't enough money in the world to induce me to work in one of those offices. As far as I am concerned those people are heros. West Covina on the other hand boasts all the conveniences and hotels that a visitor (and I emphasize "visitor" would want). It's not bad, it's just not much. Still, there are worse places. I've gotta go to Glendale on Tues, Riverside on Wed. I like Burbank and the Valley. Also other places in L. A. (Silver Lake and the area where Mary lives and Pasadena and other places and parts of Orange County). The Los Angeles area is a wonderful place. This from a guy who truly likes Sacramento.
- Mary, I have no idea what you look like other than you mentioned the other day that you are 5' 10" tall. From the wit and self confidence I see here I have no doubt that you are a very attractive woman and are, indeed, a MILF. My MILF comment about you had to do with the location of the perception. That is, my take on MILF is that it means "Mother I'd Like to F..." As such, it seemed to me that a second party would use the term. I'm sorry if you took it as a criticism. I certainly intended none. I wouldn't dream of down grading you to a mother someone might possibly etc. Unbelievably only ten or fifteen percent of customers make advance appointments at the DMV. I had to go the Carmichael office last fall. I made an appointment and it was only twenty minutes from the time I left my car until I returned to it. I have a meeting at the Glendale DMV on Tues. We're going to close it August 23d for a couple of months. I work for DGS, DMV is the client.
- Smuggling smokes to NY has been a major industry on the East Coast for the last fifty years or more. Boy. Fifty years ain't what it used to be.
- Maybe they could fit Cheney with the heart from that cursed little gecko
- Last week the Catholic Church declared that people who advocate the inclusion of women into the priesthood are committing crimes equal in severity to those committed by pedophiliac priests. Their continued intransigence regarding birth control should be no surprise.
- That's an oldie but goodie, Deborah, and so true. It's playing sexual roulette. Nance mentioned "diversity" at the beginning. Diversity is one of those made up do gooder concepts that drives me nuts. The fact is that diversity (and I mean the real thing - all racial and cultural groups, bowlers, Moonies, rattlesnake reverends and polka dancers included) is a neutral condition. It is neither good nor bad. It exists in varying degrees in varying locations. Some people like it in big doses, some people are comfortable with a more homogenized existence. There's nothing right or wrong with either. Some places like New York and San Francisco have large, very diverse populations, some cities have smaller, less variegated populations. So what? Are the people who live in Duluth less valuable and less worthy because they don't have Thai and Ethiopian restaurants on every corner? Are they to be condemned because the local college isn't 50% populated with people of whatever? Diversity is something that simply is, it just happens, it's not something to create as a theme park or a nod to current fashion.
- Been at San Luis Reservoir, Riverside and West Covina the last three days. Basset, good to hear of the progress on your house. We're gonna need pix when you're done. A used bookstore in an airport? Wow.
- And California gets ravaged, paying far more into the federal coffers than we get back.
- My Ex has a purple PT Cruiser - stick. She puts the dogs in the back, she can carry sacks of feed for the goaties in it and she carries her bazillion dollar Specialized "S-Works" bike in it. Price one of those things. Your eyes will water. She got it used, one year old, in a steal of a deal from a women's' pro team out of Athens, GA that had changed sponsors and hence found the Specialized bikes surplus. It had been professionally maintained and was in pristine condition when she got it. It even had new tires, pads, chain, sprockets and cassette, etc. on it, all SRAM. Lucky girl. It was the deal of a lifetime She'll put a hundred or more miles a week on it so it's not that big of an extravagance. Anyway, back to the PT. I've driven it a number of times and it's a nicer car than I would have expected. I like it. It was cheap and the dealer tossed in three years or 30,000 miles of free service. She likes it a lot and I think the car has been seriously under rated. I kind of like the KIA Soul. There are several of them around here. I've had a rental Nissan Cube: http://www.nissanusa.com/cube/?dcp=ppn.28434549.&dcc=0.205796030 I liked it. It was a fabulous city car with a microscopic turning circle. You can park it in amazingly small spots and it has enough power to get out of its own way. I drove one with the CV tranny. It's a little disconcerting at first but you get used to it. I might consider one but my biggest doubt about it is it's maybe too small. I don't know if you could easily fit a bike into one.
- Hear, hear, Rana. I've had a couple of SSRs inflicted on me. They are indeed ugly. The proportions are grotesque. They're also lousy drivers and you absolutely can't see out of one.
- WOW, Rana. Just Wow. You knocked my socks clear into the next state. I always liked it when Norman Mailer described himself as a "left conservative".
- So Brian, when you get your 25% of the 15 Mil, which is 3.75 Mil, you're buying lunch. Let us know.
- The old lady across the street sells prescription drugs. There's a steady procession of customers in and out of the place all day which can be annoying at times. Oh well. She needs to make a living somehow. MarkH, "Boffin" is Brit speak for "Scientist". I got as far as the 2182 impact date and stopped reading. Ain't my problem.
- The Guv has reinstituted furloughs for State Employees. Three days per month until the budget passes. Furloughs for some employees that is. Those who work for revenue producing agencies are exempt. Rank and file employees who are in bargaining units that have signed MOUs with the Gov for new contracts will be exempt and will be required to work on furlough days but their supervisors and managers will be furloughed. Go figure that one. I think I'm getting sucked into that alternate universe.
- Ken Levine's take on Betty Draper: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/ Scroll down to Mon, 07-26. I live by myself in a thousand sq ft high water bungalow. Three beds two baths. I sleep in one bedroom, one is storage and the third is an office. Living, dining and kitchen is one big space. I like it. Cigar room is all around you.
- Schlafly’s hair? Same place as Pat Nixon and Nancy Reagan. Our public TV station (KVIE) still shows Lawrence Welk reruns. And they wonder why their contributions are tumbling. We used to watch Mitch Miller when I was a kid. I still don’t know why. It didn’t fit my parents’ tastes. They had lots of classical stuff and every folk album ever made including Pete Seeger albums and Weavers albums. I got to know Ronnie Gilbert of the Weavers a little many years ago. It was after the Weavers and before she became acquainted with Holly Near. She was kind of between things and was training to become some kind of counselor. I was working in the Unemployment Insurance office in Berkeley at the time. I was an “Adjudicator” which meant that I interviewed people and decided whether they got paid or not. This would have been around late ’72 or so and everything was done in person. I recognized Ronnie from all those Weavers album covers as soon as she walked into the office and made sure it was I who interviewed her. The issue was that she was going to school while claiming UI. So I ended up interviewing her with regard to her eligibility every two weeks for, I don’t know, four to six months. The interviews ended up being half hour to 45 minute gab fests. Her eligibility was a foregone conclusion as far as I was concerned. It was a great experience for me and after the initial meeting when she was understandably nervous, she seemed to enjoy herself as well, especially after she realized that I was a fan and would never cut her off. What a smile. Eventually she stopped coming in and I lost track of her. She was a lovely, kind, good humored woman about the age of my mother. I liked her a lot.
- Never seen any recipes for basil tops but I've got lots. I've always cut them off. I'm open to suggestions. Mary Woronov. "Eating Raoul" has always been one of my faves.
- The cow that was killed at the Calif State Fair last week was one of the birth exhibit animals. She broke loose very early in the AM before the fair opened. The only people around were employees. TV showed footage of the idiots chasing her with a car. Chase an animal and what happens? Right. They run. The accounts are a little vague. Some say that the animal tranks didn't work. Others say they (whomever "they" were) didn't want to use tranks for fear of hurting the very soon to born calf. Whatever, the cops comprehensively perforated her with their pistolas killing her and the calf. I'm not an expert and I wasn't there but it sure has all the feel of one of those scenes that was very poorly handled. I read some Vachel Lindsay years ago and once heard a recording of him reading "The Congo". Don't play it at an NAACP gathering.
- OK! Winner in the great male vs. female sporting debate wins a date with Tamara or Irina Press. Your choice. One size fits all.
- I was down the valley a couple of weeks ago and got some peaches from a road side stand. They were warm from the sun and so juicy and sweet and tasty. The best I've ever had. It's been cool here this summer. Will be mid eighties here today against a mid nineties avg. We've had only one or two triple digit days. No complaints.
- Actually, Dorothy, you're right on it. Much time and effort and money have been expended to develop steroids, hormones, suppliments, whatevers that are not detectable by ordinary testing methods. There's a constant arms race between developers and testers. I wonder, MMJeff, just how many locally produced kids' programs were aired during the fifties and sixties over the breadth and depth of this great land of ours.
- What I noted in the Alaskan plane crash story was that Sean O’Keefe, former NASA chief is (was?) now a big wig with EADS, a European aero-space operation. Funny how those things work. I’ve flown 32 trips during the last 12 months according to my account. That’s only a fair amount but it does give one a good look at flying. There are lots of people who fly several times a week. Most of my flights are the one hour shots between Sacto and SoCal so we aren’t on the plane long enough for the true awfulness of contemporary flying to set in. Also I sleep. The flights are 90% business travelers which is nice. They know the drill. I avoid flights to John Wayne (Orange County) because they’re all loaded with families going to Disney Land. I’ve seen all the people described and more (with the exception that I’ve never seen flight attendants have to hustle people off the plane – the folks I’ve seen need no encouragement to unass the aircraft) and several things stick out. I am amazed at the amount of pure stuff and the size of the suit cases people bring aboard. I guess SWA encourages it because the more shit pax schlep on and off the aircraft the less their people have to move and the quicker the turn around. The worst problem is on boarding where so many people want to sit in the front of the cabin and clog things up selecting their seats, settling and stowing their garbage in the overhead bins. This causes everyone else to stand in the jetway waiting for them. You also can’t believe how many people will stand in the aisle and chat, obstructing a whole line of people. I just zone out and go with the flow. Being in a hurry will only raise your blood pressure. It is in the nature of people to stand up the second the plane hits the jetway. There must be a gene for it. Except for Burbank where there are no jetways but people stand up anyway. This includes seasoned travelers. I don’t understand it. Also, like a reflex, they all have to call somebody on their cell phones. I’ll see many of these same urgent callers at the rental car stand so they’re not calling for a ride. Don’t know what those must make calls are about either except there seems to be an “I just flew in from out of town, aren’t I important” element involved. The Wednesday midafternoon flight out of Ontario always has a number of recent prison releases on board. Recent as in that day. They can put down three or four beers between ONT and SMF. Getting people on and off the A/C takes a lot of time and affects the turnaround of a fast operator like SWA. SWA is after Boeing to come up with a replacement for the 737 – a real replacement, not an upgrade. One of the things they want to work on is getting folks on and off the plane. They’re even willing to explore twin aisles for a 150 seat A/C. Boeing and Airbus now share the market for A/C in that class which, by the way, is the largest selling class of airliner there is. An astounding 6000 plus 737s have been sold. Boeing is dragging their feet on a replacement because they have huge investments in the late blooming 787 and the 747-8 freighter which they want to start recovering and because they are looking for a next generation engine which isn’t on the horizon just yet. Airbus has their own problems with huge investments in the giant A-380 and the A-400M which is a military transport. In the next few years manufacturers in Canada, Brazil, China and Russia will begin to challenge Boeing and Airbus and both are going to be forced to respond. You can bet that some of these new entries will be sold at deep discounts. Gonna be interesting.
- All those rules about sitting, standing, kneeling, genuflecting, bags, etc. on airplanes are FAA regs, not something dreamed up by Strato Lines, Inc.
- The bride is an attractive looking woman. But a color guard? At a wedding? How about the marching band? Did the attendees do the wave in church? Star Spangled Banner before the preacher said 'I now pronounce you ..."? Honor guard outside the bedroom door. EEEWWWW Time to stop.
- Adrianne, I really enjoy Burdette's Bangkok books though I've never been there. I've read three. The library doesn't have the fourth and I'm thinking about buying it. Other good stuff? LL (above), James Lee Burke, Michael Connelly, John Sandford for a start. There are others.
- Here's a great web site that will tell you about just every popular author (and many who are not so popular) and their books. Just hit a letter, scroll down and select. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/
- I once read a thing of Kilpatrick's about toilet seats falling down while he tried to piss. He named this kind of evil seat a "Bijuna or Bijoona". Don't remember the spelling. It was pretty funny.
- Yeah, I kinda liked the gourd bra to, 4dbirds, but what were those other accessories?
- Jesus Christ, Prospero! What was with that attack on JCBurns (@58 yesterday) all about? If you were serious it was appalling. If it was meant as some kind of joke it was also appalling. Your absolutism, your anger and your bitterness can be interesting to read but can also wear awfully thin awfully quickly when not controlled. Get a grip. You owe JC an apology.
- The CHP has tested Chargers and generally doesn't like them. CHP feels they are too small inside but they do prefer rear wheel drive vehicles. They've tried Volvos, Mustangs and Camaros and I don't know what else. They didn't like the Camaros. The criticism was that they were unstable and had no brakes. They wrecked most of them. You'd be amazed at how many cars they wreck. They liked driving the Mustangs which had four speed standard transmissions. But all three, Volvos, Mustangs and Camaros were too small. As the CHP has been driving Crown Vics since around 1992, the Crown Vic is about all anybody remembers. I've read about the Carbon. The articles I've seen have several reasons that the authors are skeptical about the venture's success. A big one was the high cost. I wouldn't buy stock.
- I fly reasonably often but it's all with Southwest. They don't do miles and they don't do upgrades. They do pass out free round trips to frequent fliers. I have three round trips in the bank right now. Time to go someplace. They also give preferred seating and a free beer to those with X number of trips per year. Preferred seating is an aisle seat. Also all my flights are only an hour in duration so one is getting off the plane before the awfulness of air travel really sets in. In addition, it seems like about 80% of the pax are business travelers so everybody knows the drill. Just avoid Orange County if possible because that's where Disneyland is and the plane is full of screaming kids and excited parents all flying for the first time. Any flying outside CA is done on SWA for free so there is no first class. I can't complain at the price. I did a lot of air travel in the late '70s. A very lot. That was between San Francisco and most often the Southeastern US - like Atlanta and Miami. I became fairly skillful at promoting upgrades to first class then but things are very different now. Upgrades are most valuable on long flights. Say the obvious, Mike. I flew Business Class to Saigon several years ago and was happy that I paid the extra $$ which wasn't all that much. Happy birthday, Dorothy!
- I dunno. A drive from here to Burbank is around six hours, Ontario is close to seven. Flying, my house to BUR or ONT, is a comfortable two and a quarter hours, about 45 minutes of which I'm sleeping. I've done both lots of times and have it down to a science. I've taken the train from here to Fresno and Bakersfield many times and highly recommend it. Once when in college I took the train from Chicago to Oakland. It was nice enough, I guess, but I was dirt poor and couldn't afford beer or burgers. It was a long ride. After seeing all those James Bond movies I have long entertained the fantasy of traveling first class on a train with my honey.
- Cooz, "mystic Danish nipples". I love it (or them).
- Enjoy yourself in STL, Deborah. Nighty night, don't let the bed bugs bite! I read the other day that there is a study showing bedbugs had actually become immune to DDT which, if true, would contradict the wingers and their call for removing the ban on DDT. But who knows what current generations of the bugs are susceptible to. As long as they stay in NY and Ohio ... For me, Rana, an “unusual and frequently used” bed would be located in a hotel. Gulp.
- Yeah, Mary. As Julie says, don’t forget food. And parking. And the goddamn tchotchkes or as my wife would call them “merdinhas”. And Joe, you’re right about loops and rolls and spins. When we had the Citabria it was fun when I was driving. Not so much when my partner was. Although I never did number three I felt a tad green on occasion. One time a young woman got sick in the back of the Citabria. I didn’t have any barf bags and had horrible visions of cleaning up a foul mess but she came up with an inspired solution. She used a sock. Then she wanted to know what to do with it. I told her to toss it out the window. We were over the bay at the time. I flew very carefully back to Oakland. I remember the Bobs and the Shoot the Chute (is that right?) at Riverview from when I was a kid in Chi. Much later we were with friends and the kids at a little amusement park near San Jose called Frontier Village. I learned not to go on rides after drinking a few beers. It was a near thing. Oh, and I wasn’t driving.
- I suspect, Rana, that "number three" is not so much regional (after all, Joe lives in the Midwest and I live in California) as simply relatively little used. None of the basic words used to denote or describe regurgitation are proscribed so other terms referring to that unpleasant activity tend to be just slang rather than euphemisms.
- We've had a cool (for us) summer this year. Avg # of days in triple digits is 22. This year we've had 12. Avg temp in July and Aug is mid 90s. We've had many days in the 80s. I'll take it. No catastrophic fires in Northern California so far this season although Oct is the scariest month.
- Prospero, the latest Dave Robicheaux is the Glass Rainbow, published this year. I haven't read it yet. It's buried in the reserve lists at the library.
- Well, Mary, I had a nascent project at the Arleta DMV wherein they were going to replace and upgrade the parking lot lighting, but it sort of died. Like all the rest of the offices, it's way overworked and parking is difficult. Maybe just stay out of the lot and find a spot on the street and walk a half block. Look out for parking restrictions. I got a ticket in Fresno a month or two ago. Since you made an appointment, you'll be avoiding 90% of the grief. The Glendale office on Glenoaks is closed which you probably noticed. The place has been gutted and they are redoing all the interior and the HVAC which is my part of the job. New units going on the roof tomorrow. I can't make it but I'll be there next week. Nance, tell us more about that firestorm business that destroyed 85 houses overnight. That sounds awful. And good luck with the interview. Whether you are the 'er or the 'ee we are all behind you.
- Excellent, Mary! Last time I was at Arleta I bagged one of the employee spots. I had to go to the Carmichael office here in the Sacto area to get a new license last year. Same as you I had gotten an appt at the DMV web site and was in and out in 15 minutes. I've asked DMV people why so many customers wait in line rather than get appointments and they're at a loss to explain. So to any of you here in CA: Get an appointment at the DMV. Trust me, you don't want to stand in those lines. Just filed for Social Security retirement bennies on line. I'll be 66 next month. The whole process took me about 15 minutes. I couldn't drive to a SSAN office in that time let alone accomplish anything.
- I don't know where you live, Dexter, but that wouldn't fly in an urban office in CA. There are rural and small town offices where you could do that. Wish I could register two cars for eighty nine bucks.
- I was in Boise once - to visit M-K, as a matter of fact. Seemed like a nice enough place the taxi I took from the airport was an old Cadillac. What I particularly like about Boise is the nicely understate blue turf field at Boise State. Boise is a dirty word in Virginia.
- Nice, Rana. Well done, Sue. Goes to prove that God is a man.
- Yeah, but he doesn't have an MBA from Harvard.
- Interesting post, Dexter. I have both similar and different memories. It was July, 1966. We were on a Braniff 707 out of Travis for Bien Hoa. I vividly remember the heat and the humidity and the incredible activity on the airbase. We debarked from the plane and loaded on those buses with screened windows to repel grenades for the trip to the 90th Replacement Detachment. I wasn't bothered by the heat and humidity so much as intoxicated by the exotic sights and smells and sounds. There was a jungle smell and that tropical smell that includes flowers and decay and earthiness overlaid with exhaust and people and strange things cooking. The sights were equally exotic. People were dressed strangely, traffic was largely military, buildings were oddly made and finished, signage was indecipherable. There were huts and people cooking by the side of the road and women with conical straw hats trotting along with bars across their shoulders supporting unbelievable twin loads of rice or water or whatever. Horns were blowing, people were shouting at each other, semi nude children were playing on the sidewalk and in the street, chickens ran across the road (to get to the other side, of course) and little boys guided huge water buffalo down the street with sticks. My eyes and ears and nose were on sensory overload and I was entranced. I fell in love with Vietnam that day and love it to this day. Walking in that humidity makes a gringo sweat but my joints always feel oiled and I seem to move so easily and comfortably in it. You soon learn to lose your undies because they just get wet with sweat, bunch up and chafe. Women's complexions are so soft and so smooth because of it. The monsoons are, indeed, a trifle damp but somehow the warm rains are less bothersome than the cold winter rains we get here in Sacramento. It was amusing, though, to see locals shivering and hugging themselves and feeling chilly oneself and discovering that the temp was 75 degrees. I can't believe it's been since 2000 that I was last there. I have to go back again soon.
- Thanks, Dexter. I had forgotten the shit buckets and the morning columns of smoke on every compass point. We often used the Stars and Stripes for TP. At one point there was some bastard who would use the sports pages first. We never did catch him. The shit burning was a U.S. military thing. You don't see that today. By the way, if you are at all interested in Vietnam, there is a wonderful show on the new Cooking Channel called Luke Nguyen's Vietnam. It's terrific with great videos of Vietnam and excellent recipes. I never miss it.
- I read that NYT article on older workers the other day and was thinking of it this AM as I scampered up the ladder to the roof of the Glendale DMV. I might have lost a step. Never could stand G. Paltrow. She ruined that otherwise cool Mario Batali romp through Spain that was on NPR the other year. Mary, what kind of boots does a vegan wear? Rubber? I've always figured that the clothes one sees in the fashion stuff and the models and their expressions and the half dead skag whore makeup were all produced by men who hated women. But why do the models all walk down the runway in that horrible hunky, clunky manner? I dunno, Jolene. You really think I'm dumber than I was 20 years ago? Who told you I haven't taken any classes at the U in the last 10 years? Who said I don't keep abreast of current happenings in the industry and hadn't taken any recent training? You happy to discount experience? Rather have some rookie at the controls of 1549 than Sullenberger? Really think I should step aside for a younger person who will cost less than me? You gonna pay my bills if I do quit? You really believe I was happier clambering around on the filthy roof of the Glendale DMV this morning than I would be strolling down a leafy Saigon boulevard or browsing fish restaurants for lunch on a Greek isle or even dawdling over the paper and my coffee down at the Cornerstone Cafe? By the way, my contractor - one of the best I've ever had is 60 and his terrific electrical sub is 79, Y'all need to take a course in real life. Besides, rookies are no fun to drink with. They got no stories. Social Security is not in any kind of emergency mode yet. Removing the $106,000 or whatever it is today contribution limit will go a long way to helping. Let everybody contribute. Notice how SS contributions are heaviest on the lowest wage earners. Raise the take a quarter of a percent maybe, but the system works. The problem, however big it may be, will only last for another 20-30 years. When the baby boomers die off the balance of payers and collectors will shift. And by the way, I've been paying in along with my employers for over 50 years. I'm not getting any freebies here. Jeff B @ 21, that's the saddest post in this whole string and sadly, I am afraid you are entirely correct. Yeah, Brian, but 27 in what kind of years? Her "Love is a Losing Game" absolutely knocks me on my ass.
- I didn't look at the Inez Sainz pictures. I just read the story. That "If he can please himself ..." question seems to me like a double edged, er, sword.
- "Catholic schoolgirl uniforms"? We are getting out into fetish land.
- Hope your ankle is better quickly, Nance. Enjoy the rest. Years ago T, my ex, slipped and fell flat on her face in the kitchen. She ended up with a very nice shiner. At a party a day or two later somebody asked her what had happened. She pointed at me. "Asshole punched my lights out." Talk about a conversation stopper. For some reason I can't remember, I was selected to attend a special showing of "The Green Berets" in Fayetteville, N.C. (home of Ft. Bragg). This was in '68 not long before I got out of the Army. There were a few minor actors and some behind the camera people and a bunch of generals on hand. As is their wont, the generals gave speeches and handed each other awards before the screening. The movie sucked. Off to lunch with T.
- Had a very nice lunch with T today at P.F. Chang's in Roseville which is mid way between Sactown and Auburn. She works for a very small company that does a lot of business with the State of California. They haven't been paid in weeks now and things are getting difficult. To top things off, the Board of Equalization (they collect sales tax from businesses) wants their quarterly payment. T has an appointment to see them on Monday to tell them she can't pay the taxes because the State hasn't paid its bills but that she will be glad to pay B of E as soon as the State pays her what it owes. And they wonder why tax revenues are down. You can't make this shit up. I wonder how many people our brilliant Gov and legislators are going to put out of business this year. There are so many things the State could do to help ease the effects of the depression, but instead, it's actively working to drive businesses under. Happy birthday Dexter and happy house Basset! It's not so bad, guys. I'm more than halfway through my sixties and I don't feel old or crappy or anything. Don't worry about it. Just continue living as always. But it sure got here fast.
- It has been suggested that there is little reason to travel abroad as there are so many lovely sights to see in this country. There's truth to this. After living for years in California I came to the conclusion that it was "God's Country". Then thirty some years ago I started traveling in this country for work. Each place I visited amazed me with the beauty of its forests, beaches, charming cities, historic sites and museums. Turns out it's all "God's Country". There are many cultural differences to absorb as one moves from here to there in the U.S. Yet, while Los Angeles, Memphis and Miami, Marin County, Bexar County and Cook County are each very different, all are fundamentally American. To travel abroad is to truly experience something very different. People, culture and language are all very different from what we are accustomed to here. Folks over there think differently, live in different kinds of domiciles and eat different and sometimes odd food. They get around differently, shop differently and remove the trash differently. All traveling is broadening but visiting a foreign country will open one's eyes to new and strange things as well as providing another perspective on the way we live. Please don't discount foreign travel. That said, all travel is enlightening. Day trips can provide wonderful experiences. I know that foreign travel is expensive and that not everybody can trot off to Paris at the drop of a hat. But if you can manage it, a vacation in a foreign country is a wondrous experience. Canada and Mexico are nearby for some of us. Otherwise please spare the time and a few bucks and go down the road just a hundred miles. There's a world of wonder to be seen a few miles away as I can attest and as Brian has so ably described. I live in Sacramento but San Francisco is 80 miles and a world away. Go someplace. It's one of the best things one can do for one's self and for everybody else.
- Reading over my comment above, it occurs to me that I've used up this blog's allotment of the word "different" for the next two weeks. It also sounds kind of mawkish. Oh well. I may have had a little of what makes Prospero hum.
- How about "drownded" and "realator"?
- Jeff B., "weak-kneed Democrats" is repetitively redundant.
- Unfortunately, Cooz is right. Those people are being exploited. I can't wait for the rapture and for them all to leave. Over 100 lap tops for $158,000. How much did DPS pay for the computers in the first place? Maybe the person who sold them and the purchasing person are the real thieves.
- Don't forget the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.
- My dad was on the board of the Oakland, CA public library and I’ve been and still am a heavy library user. There’re library books sitting on my counter right now. I’m also a State employee and very sensitive to the constant efforts of exploiters to privatize government activities. I’m astounded and appalled by the voters who will vote in favor of a government supported athletic palace to the benefit of zillionaires while nixing a minor issue to fund libraries. There must be something somewhere that benefited from a private take over, but I’m not aware of it. Whence did the legend arise that private enterprise would automatically perform better than government enterprise? Business and government are two very, very different animals. Anybody look at the failure rate for businesses? How many businesses have been bailed out by government? How many governments have been bailed out by business? I agree with what everybody has been saying. I also don’t get home schooling. In most cases, it seems to me, it’s the parents satisfying some contrarian need in themselves rather than a true concern for the betterment of their unfortunate offspring that motivates it. It was 99 here today. Get me another one while you’re up, will you?
- Cool, Mark. All the stuff you talk about happened over a hundred years ago. There may be an exception here or there but corporate America today is rapacious not philanthropic. Main stream religion is in no position to do the things they did a hundred and fifty years ago and the new religious wealth will never be spent on anything constructive.
- TEDx sounds like a merger between a failed United Airlines subsidiary and a package carrier. Ken Levine often has interesting things to say about radio. Today for example: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- Wow, Mary. 115. Glad I don't have to go to Burbank this week although it's 103 here today. When I lived in Auburn we had a neighbor with a labyrinth in her yard. We would walk it from time to time. I never felt anything from it but E claimed it did her some good. Re your “on brand look”, Nance: When I had lunch with T a few days ago she was wearing jeans, silk tee shirt, blazer and scarf. She looked like a million bucks and knew it. She certainly drew enough stares. Sigh.
- Prospero, I argee with msot of what you wirte. I might point out, however, that the Obama administration has, if anything, tightened up on the spying and secrecy policies initiated by the W administration. This to my great dismay. Ended wars? My daughter and her two kids are long sufferingly waiting along with T and I for her husband's return from Afghanistan where, as far as he can see, the war goes on. Obama has gotten himself mired in the same morass that claimed LBJ. Moe, I have said exactly that same thing many times. I staple my ballot receipt to a piece of paper, label it "License to Complain" and hang it outside my cube. Done it for years. I've been voting without a break since '66. And, Moe, how are you doing?
- I was driving down Broadway this morning on my way to work when I saw a pick up slow and pull over. The girl working the corner crossed the street toward the truck. She looked small and vulnerable and alone and had to be scared to death. I would never have enough guts to do that kind of job. I enjoyed Tony Curtis in "Ivanhoe". Great line : "Yonda is the castle of my fadda." Yeah, you gotta wonder about a guy who gets so worked up about what team somebody else plays for. Fire the jerk.
- Fifteen for this recovering Catholic. It's been a long time since I saw "Ivanhoe" or "Black Shield". I wonder how I came to believe in the castle line. Funny how the mind works. I was unable to see the Shervill clip. Our lovely IT people dropped a large wet blanket of a filter over our internet access. Now there's all kinds of stuff that we can't access. It seems random. I don't know how they choose what to block. I sure they think they have a system. It's a pain in the patoot.
- Yeah, my daughter's 32 and the difficulties still pop up. I spent two hours on the phone with her the other night.
- I see something like the Volt as a niche car. I understand that the battery may be partially charged by the engine but I am not certain if it can be fully charged by the engine. Further, it is apparently charged in its plug in mode by a standard 110 volt outlet and power cord. How many hours does this take? Is there a three phase adaptor to plug into your dryer or other 220 outlet? This would halve the charging time. How do you charge one if you don’t have a garage? Many people park their cars on the street. They will not be Volt buyers. What about apartment buildings? If mgmt doesn’t provide outlets for all, these folks won’t be Volt buyers. I see some limited applications for these kinds of vehicles and for full on electric cars but not as general usage vehicles. Not yet. The Cruz may be built on a different platform than the Volt but it’s the same class of vehicle. For the difference in price you can buy a hell of a lot of gas, even at $4 per gallon. I also don’t approve of the federal subsidy. As noted above, only some people will be able to even consider a Volt. Why should those of us who can’t pay for those who can? Maybe I should pay more attention to fashion issues.
- Beb, ease up a tad. I wasn’t attacking the Volt, merely pointing out that it is a niche car. It is. I’m fully aware that many people don’t have electric driers or stoves but many do and I only asked if the car came with a 220 volt adaptor. That’s all. The rest stands. Many people, myself included, in fact, have no practical way to plug in a car. The Volt is expensive. Many people may feel it is too much so to justify their dollars. Many people will buy one and California environmental laws do not preclude the sale of any of the small high mileage cars that are on the market. I have no idea what the Iraqi war and the Volt have to do with each other. I too, opposed the war there and the war in A-stan and still do. That doesn’t mean I can’t also dislike those federal subsidies for selected automobiles. You are fully welcome to love ’em to death. I agree, Jeff B, that less is more in the medal dept. Those US generals and the inbreeds on the tomandlorenzo site have no idea how self-parodying they are. I’ll pick Princess Madeleine. She’s kind of cute, has a twinkle in her eye and looks ready to party. Her escort, Carl Phillip looks a little shaggy around the edges. Grooming standards must not be too tight in the Swedish Navy. Maybe he’s a hotel doorman, not in the navy at all.
- My pal Steve has some great stuff here. http://unexpectedmushroom.blogspot.com/
- "extenders" Yeah, Bassett, there was a woman across the aisle from me the other day who needed an extender for her seat belt. Open invitations? I've got a whole sack full of free roundtrips from Southwest. Actually only three, but I'm liable to show up anywhere. And happy birthday, Deborah. Welcome to today's sixties. I've loved those Mies apartment buildings since I was a kid. I'm jealous. And IIT too. You guys are Mies all the way.
- Happy birthday to all and to all a good weekend!
- I was in the car a while ago listening to Click & Clack on NPR. They were passing out entertaining snippets of advice. One bit of advice for little girls amused me: "Don't let Mommy brush your hair when she's mad at Daddy."
- What a great picture. You could call it "Bood bye cruel world"!
- Whoops. "Good bye cruel world."
- Mary! Sounds like you're caught up on your Prospero lessons. Nevertheless, I agree.
- You look good, Moe. Must have been a nice party. Prospero, your comment at 33 looks the way my car radio sounds when I get too close to high tension lines. It is fun, isn't it ROgirl?
- It's not raining here, Mary. You are, unfortunately, correct about miners in the US, 4dbirds.
- Questions: No on the Price, I have seen Oprah, No on the reading but I've probably read the male equivalent of an H romance. And when is the rapture going to come so all those assholes will go away and leave the rest of us in peace? Cruise ship or RV? Never have, but why not? Branson? I've heard of it, of course, but simply can't imagine going. I'd have to pass Reno, Tahoe and Vegas to get there. If I want to see some has been or other fourth tier act I can go to an Indian casino around here. I was in Springfield. MO once thirty years or so ago on bidness. Flew in on Sunday evening and stayed at a Holiday Inn. People were drinking coffee with (that's WITH) their dinner. I asked for wine. "What kind?" "Do you have a wine list?" "No we just have red or white." "OK, gimme a glass of red, please." "Do you want red red or rose' red?" That kind of meal. At breakfast I asked for an English muffin. The waitress brought me an English muffin. I asked if maybe they could split it, toast it and butter it and asked with a straight face. They were happy to accommodate my desires at no extra charge. Never been to one of those club meetings.
- No kids at my house last night either. I live in the ghetto so I guess all the local kids went to Nance's house.
- Whatever the Repubs gain this election day, they will have well and truly earned. They've kept their message short and simple and constant and they've kept it in people's faces. Truth? Doesn't matter. Say it often enough and it becomes true. When I was a kid, our tiny, flickering, black and white TV beamed the presence of Sen. Everett Dirksen and Rep. Charlie Halleck into our house - the Ev and Charlie show. From those days in the fifties to the present with Rep. Boehner and Sen. McConnell we've had appearances several times a week by the Republican Senate and Congressional leaders. Remember Dole's Dr. Doom Demeanor? Newt? Lott? And the others. A couple of times a week for fifty years the Republican Congressional leadership has been on the TV telling us over and over and over that the Democrats are wrong, wrong, wrong. Fifty years. Where have the Dems been? Nowhere. Silent. Why haven't we seen a steady diet of Rep. Pelosi and Sen. Reid and decades of their predecessors beating their own drums? Yeah, why? And when we do see the leadership, it's Reid haplessly responding in his reedy voice to some Republican insult. The last two Democratic Senate Leaders have been real winners. Reid and Daschle. A pair of strong, granite like, charismatic, inspiring, compelling orators who couldn't even hold on to their own seats let alone lead the congress. Then there's talk radio and more recently TV talking heads where again the Rs have been pushing their message for years and years. Again the message is short and simple and repeated over and over until it becomes gospel. The Ds? Who knows what they think other than what the Rs tell us they think? In the last fifteen years another front has opened up. Email. For the twelve or thirteen years I've been on line, I've received daily emails from the Republican hate machine. Cartoons, inspirational shit, stories, jokes, pictures, caricatures, you name it. Hate stuff against libruls, Hillary, Bill, Pelosi, Obama, Mescans, blacks, etc., etc., etc. A daily, steady drumbeat of the stuff. It's professionally done and much of it's very good. I don't know where it is all sourced, but somebody is out there creating this material and being paid to do it. Where are the Dems? Not present. If anyone doubts me, send me their email address and I'll be happy to forward my daily dose of drivel. Fifty years of repeating their message on the TV, the radio and now on email. It's compelling, it wears on people and it starts to take hold, especially when you hear your neighbors and work mates parroting it. Don't believe me? Look around. They even have the main stream media going. The MSM takes so much Republican BS at face value precisely because of the fifty years of uncontested weight behind it. Fifty years. When are the Ds going to wake up? The fact the Ds get anywhere at all is a compliment to the power of truth and common sense. If they worked half as hard as the Rs do to get their message across they'd be invincible.
- This afternoon I was up I-5 at one of the "W" towns in a CHP field office briefing room watching the SF Giants victory celebration at SF's Civic Center Plaza on the tube. The Governator appeared and was roundly booed by the happy, good natured crowd. If one could call boos friendly, these were friendly boos. Everybody knew the role was over and he was returning to where he belonged. Go Giants, bye-bye Ahnold. I love SF. Things could have been better on the proposition side of the ballot but given the state wide election winners and the few props that did fall the right way, it could have been a lot worse. Given the nationwide context, we have little to complain about here in CA. I don't know what it means but it's interesting to reflect that Dianne Feinstein is from San Francisco. Barbara Boxer is from Marin, Carly Fiorina is from the San Jose area, Meg Whitman is from Atherton, Brown lives in Oakland. Almost all of California's statewide officeholders are from the Bay Area. While maybe not as strongly worked up over that poseur's faux claims to Vietnam veteranhood as Dexter, I share his feelings 100%. Dexter stated his time in country, so I'll state mine: July '66 to July '67, 1st Bde, 101 Abn and Feb through May '68, 3d Bde, 82d Abn. I ended up vehemently opposing the war but I'm fiercely proud of my service and anybody who falsely claims to have served is the lowest piece of shit in the pond.
- I've been reading in the comments about what a fine, high toned bunch we are. And truly, we are a gentile, civil lot. However, Tom M's "Oh, Dexter, you poor silly boy." comment had me closer than you will ever know to drastically lowering the tone of this place.
- Moe, the GI Bill was alive and well during the Vietnam era. It helped me to finish school and later to buy a house. mmJeff we have the same budget problem here in CA. You can't cut your way out of the problem and you can't raise taxes. The voters just passed a measure that removes that horrid 1/3 majority budget rule and replaces it with a more rational 51% rule. But they also passed two more props that limit the govt's options for raising revenue. Win some, lose some.
- What a clusterfuck. They've sent out lay off notices to 1000 people here at DGS where I work and intend to actually can 500. Furloughs? Who knows. As now (2:18 PM) I don't know if I am working tomorrow or if I will be furloughed. Your State of California - a jack leg operation.
- Nice Sparky Anderson thing by Ken Levine (scroll down): http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- They must rotate ads. I didn't see any Big John ad. I must have done something with that extra hour, but damned if I can remember what.
- I saw some of the Lauer - W interview here and there on the tube. Well, I guess it's not a tube any more. I saw it on the flat. That doesn't work either. Anyway, I saw it. Some of it. The part about the waterboarding was instructive. W ordered it. The lawyers said it was OK. What's the problem? It's just that there seemed to be no thinking about the process, what it represented, mostly a fishing expedition with Mohamed Cagada or whatever his or their names were. No thought of where it took Bush or the U.S. in the moral realm, what international reactions would be, of whether it would really gain any useful intelligence, no thought or introspection or consideration of anything. "Un, oh, sure. Go ahead." I'm just taken by the sheer, empty, vapid stupidity of the whole thing. Mom with bro in a bottle? I have no idea of what to think or to say. I think I'll leave that one. Purfuckt potluck, Cooz. I still have tears in my eyes. Truly, the imagination in your writing is fabulous. Mary, I had an excellent corned beef sandwich for lunch at Billy's in Glendale today after very good asparagus chicken for dinner last night at Somethingorother 88, a white table cloth Chinese restaurant on San Fernando Blvd. in Burbank. The waitresses at Billy's can be a tad aggressive but I was happy.
- Happy anniv, Dexter. The good plane ride was the one headed back this way. We called the airplane a seven-0-fast. We were young then. I remember WLS from High School. Dick Biondi and others whom I forget. I graduated in '62.
- I liked the Hillary interview. She seemed so amazingly accessable.
- Thank you, Dexter, for your gracious comment, although I doubt I spent anywhere near twice as much time as you in the other country. And you’re correct about the toll on those left behind. When I got out of the army I used to hang out at a bar in Berkeley just off Telegraph, about a block from campus. Kip’s, if anybody is familiar with Berkeley. Anyway, there was a gathering every week to watch the Avengers. Everybody reckoned Ms. Rigg a goddess. She once starred in some TV version of a Shakespeare play. The bar passed on a sporting event to watch the play. Kind of unprecedented but this was Berkeley and it was Diana Rigg. Ken Levine had a piece about the death of TV themes and intros a while back. He pretty much said the same thing Prospero did. I think dropping them is a mistake. The theme gives a show an identity that persists well beyond the half hour or so that it takes on air. You still hear the theme from Peter Gunn even though it’s been fifty years since the show was aired.
- Rana, my point exactly @21. Thanks, Moe. What an incredible cast! How about Oral Roberts and his brother?
- Coozledad, you can do a collection of your stuff, call it "Cruize'n with the Cooze". Auburn is where my Ex, with whom I lunched yesterday, lives. I live in Sacto, in the hood.
- Weather's been beautiful here over the last couple of days. I'd like to watch the F-1 race, Brian but I'm not getting up at 4:30. That's week day stuff. Maybe they'll replay it later. Sometimes they do. I went to one of those GoodGuys car shows today at the Alameda Cty fairgrounds. Lots of cars, all American. One can only look at so many Camaros and Chevelles. I think I'll pass next time. Highlight of the show for me was a '61 Plymouth Fury Sonoramic Commando (I have a picture of the badge) that even the owner cheerfully agrees is the ugliest car of all time. http://www.pbase.com/image/43083861 It's all original, even the paint (which is to say, slightly tatty) with a huge original equipment 413 engine sporting a pair of four bbl carbs on sweeping cross ram induction intake manifolds and three, yes, three on the floor. And a square steering wheel. The owner intends to preserve the car as a driver without restoring it. It's an extremely rare car that would be worth a lot of money but the guy loves it and enjoys driving it to shows all over the west. He recently drove it to Idaho for a show. We need more guys like him and fewer Barrett-Jackson Auctions.
- Lord, MaryRC, those comments were the best ever. I'm still giggling. I'm gonna email that to everyone. Brian, what you posted is a '60 Plymouth. No prize to be sure, but no match in ugly for the world beater '61. The Exner years started with the '55s. The '55 through '57 cars were the best for my money. The '62 through '64 are starting to look nicer to me nowadays. I saw a couple of them yesterday. I've only been to one F-1 race. That was in Long Beach back in '76. The race was won by Clay Regazzoni in a Fazzaz. The paddock area was quite accessible, no drivers though and I had a great time. I've been to a number of Indy Car races at Laguna Seca. I find Indy Car/CART to be a more entertaining and competitive series than F-1. It's been six or seven years since I last went. The paddock there was very accessible and the drivers were friendly, hanging around after the race to sign autographs and meet the fans. I'm sure you'd appreciate, Brian, the staggering number of beautiful women in attendance at Laguna. I don't know what it is about high dollar racing and the way it attracts women, but wow. Laguna, by the way is a wonderful track. I've been to dozens of races there, club races, Indy Car/CART and the old Can-Am races. The corkscrew is everything people say it is. The wildest sight I've seen there was the late Mark Donohue wrestling that huge Penske SUNOCO Porsche 917/30 panzer through the corkscrew, fighting turbo lag, flames coming out of the exhaust on the overrun, a loud bang ensuing when he got back on the throttle, the car sideways heading for the next turn about 200 meters away and Donohue upshifting (!) with another bang in the little chute there before disappearing downhill around the left hand turn. I have no idea how he did it but he did it lap after lap. In traffic. I had a driver tell me once that the corkscrew was easy. You merely arrived at the top of the hill, closed your eyes, jerked the wheel left, then right, reopened your eyes and everything would be fine. If you missed, you'd end up in Salinas. Sears Point is a terrific track too. Speed will replay the F-1 race in ten minutes. Bye.
- The race just ended. That was a scary crash for Schumacher. For a second there, I thought Vettel was going to do a Carl Edwards back flip. You just brought out the charm of watching sporty cars as opposed to the roundy rounds. Strolling here and there around the track, checking out different viewing areas, checking out the crowd. I once went to a race at Sears. Later I was comparing pictures with the friend I had gone with. He had taken pictures of nothing but girls.
- Only jerks would pile all that junk including liquids on a pool table. At least cover the damn thing. I used to live in San Francisco's Marina district not far from the Golden Gate Bridge. We'd lay in bed almost every night and listen to the fog horns. Also they used to fire an old artillery piece over at the Presidio every morning when the flag was raised and every evening at taps when it came down. Great old memories. I loved it there. It was a romantic time and a romantic place. From the emails floating around here I'd say that some of that writer's clients work in my building.
- He made a big point in the course of the piece about how he could stretch a few words to many. He was quite proud of it.
- Mary @14, you posted what I was going to say about bog vs. loo. I can't see Gawker here at the office. The new filters have eliminated a lot of ordinary sites.
- The last time I listened to Rush Limbaugh was back when Clinton had just taken office. I remember two things, one in general: Limbaugh claimed to be "just an entertainer" not a political commenter, so people should cut him some slack. The second thing, the one that enraged me and made me turn him off forever was when he began talking about the ugly kid in the White House, the ugliest kid he had ever seen, the one with the frizzy hair. Poor Chelsea must have been around 12 at the time. That was almost 20 years ago and was so over the top disgusting I haven't forgotten it to this day. I was in Burbank and Glendale yesterday and earlier today and had KPCC on the car radio. They were in their begging mode and were touting their "fair and balanced" news casts. That hit a nerve. News isn't supposed to be "fair and balanced", it's supposed to be honest. I thought lots more but I'm too hungry for dinner and too lazy to go on. Mary, I almost spit wine on my keyboard at the turducken comment. I've been a turducker at the S. F. Zoo. I'm still coughing from inhaling the wine.
- By the way, I liked that little Cad. I'm always willing to give some slack to somebody who's willing to try some real style with a car. It's gotta be better than that Cimarron from 20 years or so ago. If ever Cad had a low point, that had to be it.
- It's good and green for William to use his mom's ring. You know, recycling. As an alternate, he could always pick up something nice at Zale's. I'm sure they'd give him credit.
- Deborah, did he ever give you a vacuum cleaner for Christmas?
- I just googled Scumbuster. They're expensive. How does it relate to Valentine's day? I've got that "my finger is being pulled feeling".
- Well, OK, but I still can't see the Valentine's connection. I just pour in a shit load of clorox, swizzle it around, come back in a few hours and flush. Don't piss on the clorox. Also, I'm the only one who uses the potties. I have two.
- Happy Birthday, Moe. Lascivious is good, Prospero. I got no problem with a couple of old letches sitting together watching that dance show. And if you have a septic tank rather than a sewer hook up, there are a lot of other things you shouldn't put down the disposal.
- A Happy Birthday to you, Nance! And a Great Thanksgiving to all! It's friggin cold here. Low thirties last night and into the twenties tonight. Supposed to have record lows. Double Brrr.
- Hillbilly Hand Fishing, Mary? Sounds like some secret ritual that takes place out behind the Pastor's out house.
- I’ve heard lots of weapons of every caliber – far too many of them fired in my direction. I still hear shots fired at night here in the hood. The difference between the sharp sound of the round breaking the sound barrier as it passes by and the lower sound of the weapon being fired is easy to discern. None of them sound like a backfire. We used to do the shut off the ignition thing when we were kids – just for a bang. Nyuk, nyuk. It was especially fun to do while going through an underpass. Krugman has a devastating column. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/opinion/03krugman.html?_r=1&ref=columnists
- Absolutely, Alex. It pretty well sums up why I've come to dislike the spinless Dems almost as much as the Reps. Between the two of them we're absolutely screwed.
- Is Helen a Moslem or a Christian? Danny and Marlo were/are Lebanese Christians.
- Cub fans, Ken Levine demonstrates how to write an obit (scroll down to Fri, 12-3) http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- Mary (way back at the beginning) that hat was lurvly but I really liked the shower curtain in which the lady was wrapped. Wi-Fi? New ways of working? My ass was on the 6:00 AM plane to Ontario to make a meeting at the Unemployment Insurance call center in Riverside this morning. We're doing a renovation on the building. Somebody saved some money by snaffling up a 1995 spec built tilt up. Wanna see some shitty construction? Water intrusion? I got home at 5:30 this evening. That's a long day and I'm sure the State of California is grateful for my efforts. They employ over 200 people at the call center. Ever see one of those places? They're something. Every time I get bummed about my job, a visit to a place like this makes me realize how lucky I am. That pre-dawn flight suddenly looks pretty good. I asked the manager why they didn't just outsource the whole thing to India. I thought it was funny. He didn't. I'm already gonna work until I'm seventy which is only four short years away. So are a lot of you and a lot of other Americans. That's simply the new reality. Sorry Brian, Julie and the rest of you hopefuls. Obama and the Dems have caved. The Reps and Boner only have the high hand because it has been ceded to them. What we saw today really happened months ago and was entirely predictable. Read Krugman. He speaks truth. At my age I can't start over. If they screw social security and my pension which I still hope to enjoy one day, I am fucked. Wish I made $250,000. Shit, I'd take half that. I have Pergo flooring in my place. I just vacuum and then use your basic sponge mop and a squirt bottle filled with white vinegar. Cheap and works fine.
- Another Sothrenism for that fizzy brown stuff in a bottle is Co-Cola. I heard that a lot. You mash the button. Grandpa drove either an Oze or a Chivrolet. Then there's the places where you go to the family reunion to pick up girls. You know, where the family tree looks like a telephone pole.
- paddyo - remember the Emeryville mud flats well. There were truly some wondrous sculptures there. I've passed through some towns in the South that had paper mills. God, the smell.
- I had a friend who served aboard the Oriskany during the Vietnam war. He said they used to call it the USS Zippo because of its propensity for catching fire.
- Dark, gloomy and mid fifties here in Sactown. Much rain forcast for later this week. I'm not planning any travel for the balance of the year if I can avoid it. Airports are no fun this time of the year.
- Directly from a solid to a gas. That's called sublimation, right? I saw that Metrodome video earlier and then again on Sunday Night Football. It's gonna be a while before they get that fixed. Cowpersons lost. Heh, heh.
- "wife getting haemorrhoid surgery" and he wanted it done now. Boy, that conjures up some marital images. I'm an Irish drunk and get neither mean nor morose. Maybe a little sincere. My grandfather was a gen-u-wine IRA member before he emigrated to this country. Wait, he emigrated from Ireland and imigrated to this country? I guess it's all in your point of view.
- Dorothy, my thoughts and hopes are with you and your husband. For what it's worth, I have a very good friend who had the same thing seven or eight years ago and is in fine shape today. There is cause for optimism. A bazillion years ago when I was in the Army, I was driving down Bragg Blvd in Fayetteville, N.C. in my VW when it died. I coasted into a gas station, right up to the pump. Pretty lucky. Your house looks lovely, Nancy, and I like that light tree, Alex. Hate crime indeed.
- Lucas electrics, Deborah. Brought to you by Joseph Lucas, the man who invented darkness. Why do Brits drink warm beer? Because they have Lucas refrigerators. Apologies, Mary, if the above offends the in house. Those are ancient jokes.
- Never could stand Gwyneth. Mario and Mark were way patient with her on the Spanish Road trip. However, Claudia Bossols is a goddess.
- Denise from yesterday's comments, are you referring to Roseville, CA? That lady suing McDonald's is here in Sacto and the story got quite a bit of play here. She's claiming that her kids aren't sophisticated enough to discriminate between programming and advertising and that McDonald's . . . I don't know what. I hope she doesn't mind being a laughingstock.
- That's terrific, Dorothy. Just terrific. I'm so pleased. The Roseville question was because we used to foster kittens and volunteer at the adoption center at the Roseville, CA Pet (co or smart, now I can't remember which it was).
- I don't know about "cubic money" but "cubic bucks" is an old, old phrase that I've used and heard for decades. Maybe it's a West Coast thing.
- Maybe he bought it at Jared's.
- Here's some cute. Who says you can't make a bird poop on command? This is my erstwhile wife and Murphy the burd at the Auburn house. Murphy is a 29 year old Yellow Naped Amazon. Somewhere around here I have a picture of Murphy eating a chicken drumstick. It's pretty funny. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qugMpR-l59g
- You guys have me all frusteracated because the filters here bar Gawker and have barred whatever site that is with the no heel shoes. They're filtering more and more stuff all the time. The most irritating Christmas song for me is "The Little Drummer Boy".
- That poor Marc Jacobs model. The one on the runway. She has the zombie look down just right, plus it looks like her hips are down around her knees. She probably feels crappy because she doesn't look a tenth as good in that dress as the First Lady. I must say, Ms. Obama certainly wears clothes well. Stuff just looks great on her. Ms. Roberts and the kids look like props out of some catalogue. And a fifties catalogue at that. What is peppermint bark? And what does one do with it? Happy Holidays, everyone! Hee,hee.
- Unbelievable. Was that real? The Vats get creepier and creepier. I kinda liked the slinky chick in the black outfit, though.
- Cleavage was on folks' minds a while ago. For anyone who's wondering how all those TV and movie women develop such remarkable assets, here's the answer: http://tv.gawker.com/5721330/chinese-scientists-invent-electro+abs-for-womens-chests
- We’ve had our share of senatorial lulus here in CA. Remember George Murphy, the tap dancer? S. I. Hawakawa? John Tunney? I recall when Tunney was said to campaign for Sen. Hruska because as long as Hruska was in the Senate, Tunney wouldn’t be the dumbest Senator under the dome. It’s freaking cold here. Early thirties. That’s just unnatural. Humans can’t survive long under these conditions. Happy New Year, everyone. May all have happiness, health, love and financial pleasantry.
- Great web site, Cooz. I particularly liked the valkyrie in the collared, fur lined bustier, armored loin cloth and dual swords. The terris chick isn’t too bad either.
- Right, MarkH. Hayakawa wore a Tam. He was a semantics prof at SF State and later Pres there. I have no idea how he came to be elected to the senate. As I recall, he was famous mainly for spending his time on the senate floor sleeping.
- Hayakawa's anti-student activities largely revolved around his quashing student anti-war protests in the late sixties. I don't remember the details, I was in the Army at the time, but he was a particularly vicious sort. He was not loved and certainly was not the cuddly sort he tried to pass himself off as. He was a prissy, simpering, self loving, little twit. I didn't start attending SF State until spring 1970 as a transfer senior. It was an interesting school at the time with a lot of recently returned vets and a lot of life. "Streetcar State" out there on the M-Ocean View line at 16th and Holloway. The closest bars were some joint at Stonestown Mall and the Boathouse on Lake Merced. I met my first wife there in an English Dept study lounge. We lived in a flat on 4th and Hugo and later moved to a townhouse in Pacifica off Skyline near Serramonte. I graduated in '71. Those were the days. Wow. It sure was a long time ago.
- So Mary, no ingredients with more than 16 letters? Stuff that might have been prepared in a kitchen rather than in a laboratory?
- Mayo in guacamole would make me do a reverse guacamole enema. I think you're right about vegans et al,Jtmmo. It's been a while since my daughter was in school here in CA, but the school nurses I saw were harded, practical and no nonsense. But, Mary, that was A Riley's ped, not a nurse.
- The deficit here starts at $25 Bil. At some point something is going to have to be done to increase revenue. Raise taxes, have a bake sale, I don't know what. Maybe even, horrors, make corporations pay a little. It's not just men. There are also women out there who seem to marinate in stinkwater before coming to work. There's one who smells like insect killer. I've been in the elevator with her several times. I can hold my breath for four floors but my eyes still water.
- I once got on an elevator on the first floor with a guy who had been drinking. He got off on the second floor but the elevator still stunk of booze. Then a woman got on on the third floor. I got off on the fourth with the woman staring at me. I couldn't imagine what she might have been thinking.
- Moe, you correctly identified the difference between public and private sector employment. As with your job, private sector people who do what I do get paid a whole lot more than public sector folks. The public sector attraction over past decades has been that employees have stable employment (no layoffs and no required moving around the country), good health care coverage and a decent pension. Talented people have long accepted lower wages in return for the benefits. The stories about huge pensions are just that - stories like the welfare Cadillac stories. Yeah there are a few. There are always exceptions and abuses but I can tell you that your average CA State retiree is most assuredly not living in a villa on the Cote d' Azure. Now the Repubs are attempting to cut the benefits so that public employees will get both lousy wages and lousy benefits. Guess who will be staffing all those public jobs in the future. That's right. People who can't get anything else. Even as it is, we have long had chronic shortages of architects, lawyers, engineers, etc. because the State compensation package just hasn't been competitive. The notion that State employees are the cause of the CA budget problems is simply ludicrous. You could fire each one of us and the savings wouldn't be a drop in the budget crisis bucket.
- Throw in a few oysters, Nance, and you've got a hangtown fry.
- Thanks, Moe. That was an enlightening read. I'm saving it and am going to pass it around. I agree with Prospero. From the enlightened perspective of my 66 years, all boobs are good boobs although, for several reasons, I'm not so fond of the store bought variety .
- The thing you have to keep reminding yourself about with Hg is that it's cumulative. Other bad shit you get a little trace dose and your body flushes it out. Next time you get dosed you're starting from zero. With merc the stuff never goes away, those traces keep adding up. Pretty soon your eyeballs turn inside out. Prospero's not paranoid, he's spot on. Like vino. I'm carrying more than a trace amount now at ten pee emm but in the morning it'll be gone. God, what if wine was cumulative like Hg.
- I’m just appalled and can’t stop thinking about how this all might spread. People read about stuff like this happening in places like Pakistan and the Ivory Coast and Iraq and Afghanistan and sneer at the third world savages but here it is. I don’t have anything to add that hasn’t already been better said by somebody else except to note that I read earlier that AZ has outlawed the teaching of Mexican studies in schools while preserving Asian studies and Black studies. It’s getting brutal there. I keep hoping that people will have to wake up but they don’t. We’re truly in the grip of insanity.
- It’s easy to simply dismiss Loughner as a nut job. Thing is, today’s steady, continuous, pervasive drumbeat of hate speech is exactly the sort of stuff that provides the impetus and the direction to push a nut case past the tipping point.
- Gawker provides a lot of amusing items along with some thought provoking ones. LAMary’s link to the wacko woman is amusing but there are people listening to her seriously. The Stephanie Seymour and her kid pictures are amusing. Gawker has featured the story daily for three or four days now and I have – er – forced myself to look at the pictures. She’s a beautiful woman, but as somebody said, “If she were any dumber, she’d have to be watered twice a week”. What I really wanted to point out, though, was John Stewart’s comment on the Tucson affair. It’s the best I’ve seen yet. Please watch. http://tv.gawker.com/5730178/watch-jon-stewarts-poignant-speech-on-the-arizona-shooting And Ken Levine has a comment on Ted Williams. Scroll down. http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- Hubert Humphrey used to shed a tear now and then.
- I knew about merkins all along. LBJ used to talk about them all the time. "Mah Fellow Merkins . . . I can't follow any of those links until I get home. They have so much blocked now and some kind of nasty report goes to I don't know whom everytime somebody hits a blocked site. I wonder how many people they have policing this stuff. Helluva job. Ten years. That's a long time. I know how tough it is to do something like your blog every day, roughly anyhow, and it's damn tough. You are to be admired, Nance, and thanked. I haven't missed a day in - how many years has it been since Bob Greene? Thank you and congratulations. Alex, I remember your blog. Bring it back. There were a couple of women out there today on 43 degree, foggy, 5:15 AM street corners. What an awful way to make a living.
- I just took a look at Pioneer Woman's blog as I do every week or so. She has a book out and is giving away five copies. The post had over Twenty Two Thousand comments. 22,000. Holy smoke. It was yesterday's post. With that kind of circulation or whatever you call it in the blogosphere she must be worth something to somebody. I'd be after her to endorse whatever I was selling.
- Same thing here in CA. It says "Donor" on my license. It's an easy block to check on the app. Costs me nothing. Unfortunately, anything I have to offer is gonna to be pretty high miles when I'm done with it. Certainly nobody's going to get any bargains when they part me out. I've liked P Woman for her portrayals of contemporary ranch life. The rest you can have. It's a bit, well, too much for me. And like Prospero, I'm deeply suspicious of home schooling. I've always kind of liked Nigella. Her recipes are so-so but I think she's quite an attractive woman. Some might think her a tad full figured, but she's most certainly an unabashed, card carrying woman and I like that. My current lust object is Laura Calder who does French stuff on the Cooking Channel. Another genuine female. Maybe her act is a bit coquettish but she's got me hooked. Whew!
- I don't really know what drives peoples' eating habits but I do have a couple of observations. Linda @53 has an important point. Poor inner city people (read "minority") have less access to good, healthful food than the more affluent. They don't have cars and there aren't a lot of supermarkets in the hood. There is a supermarket not far from where I live but it has a surprisingly small produce section and a surprisingly small meat counter. The frozen food section is huge. The junk food variety is mind boggling. I don't even know what half that stuff is. I watch food programs, but they are all on cable or NPR. I'm not aware of a lot of food programming on network TV but am aware of an awful lot of prepared food advertising there. The array of stores selling wonderful fresh foods of all kinds here in Sacramento is truly astounding. Unfortunately, I see relatively very few black people at the many, many Asian, Hispanic, specialty food or open air markets. Why? I don't know. I always thought of chittlins as more of a rural south thing. By the way, is there anybody who understands Wikipedia's pronunciation scheme? They say we should pronounce chittlins " /ˈtʃɪtlɪnz/". It looks like some weird Turko-Bulgarian curse. My tongue is in a knot. And I must say that Camilla Belle looks delicious and that that guy Mary linked to looks worse than the deer.
- The torture heads always seem to want to justify their jones by saying that it would be necessary to get that guy to tell us the codes to inert that nuke-u-lar device at the airport. The fact that this has never happened and the fact that the cops or whomever could always make an exception if they wanted never seem to be noticed. As Rana says, "what's wrong is wrong". To debate it drags it from the realm of the wrong to the realm of the let's talk about it. I guess that's where they must be on the issue of Abortion.
- Yeah, I knew that, Rana. I was trying to make a lame joke and I also think that that's too complicated a means to demonstrate pronunciation. There are easier, more accessible ways.
- People are writing blog comments here, Kirk, not a PhD thesis. Wikipedia is a quick and easy info source. I’m sure everyone’s aware of its weaknesses but, your thoughts aside, it’s usually pretty accurate.
- I agree with Beb that adding a means test to SS changes things big time and once there, who knows what's next. You know, the camel's nose is in the tent. That's what bothers me so much about this current ill conceived contribution "holiday". If you want to talk about means, what SS should do is raise or eliminate the max contribution level. At present earnings above, I think it's $125,000 are exempt from SS. What this means is that mid and lower income people are disproportionately funding the program. Why should people who make lots of money be given a free pass on earnings above 125 grand? Also retirement and SS money woes will substantially subside in thirty years or so when all the boomers have died off. Not that I give a shit but my grand kids will be happy.
- As long as I'm here, I'll agree with Prospero. $106,000?
- You mean there really is or was a "Harry Baals" in Ft. Wayne?
- God, now I feel like I just bit.
- I read that haggis article. I had never thought of England as being south of the border before. After seeing places on TV described as compounds (like the Kennedys in H-port) I once thought to describe our place in Auburn as a compound. Then I realized that with the exception of the Kennedy place, almost every property so described on TV also included views of helicopters, blue FBI jackets, gates being crashed, perp walks and all the rest. That's when I dropped the idea.
- My daughter taught eighth grade math for two years in a public school in VA. She told me stories just like the ones in Big Hank's link. She told me about how she would come home from work and cry. About how she ended giving her lunch away and eventually bringing food and other things to kids (Ms. C., I'm bleeding down there. What's happening?). She did lots of things above and beyond and ended up in despair knowing that all she was doing was shoveling shit against the tide. She ended up poisonously full of disgust and hate for the vicious and corrupt administration. She's a great and compassionate kid and she'll never teach school again.
- Re Jeff @78: Hence the birth of the hourly wage. Also what happened the next time the guy wanted help in his vineyard?
- I just got home from Orange County where I've been since Sunday. I won't make anybody feel badly about the weather other than to say I wasn't suffering. Thank you, Jolene, for those pix. They were absolutely wonderful. And there's more on that site which I need to explore. I've eaten at a Macaroni Grill in Roseville. It was so-so. Sacramento is a great town for local restaurants which makes it tough for chains to compete in quality. There is fabulous food of every description. The markets as well. I would stack Sac Town up against any town in the country for food. Especially a place of similar size. New York and Chicago keep quiet. L.A. too. This is also a great place to be a locavore. You don't have to make any sacrifices.
- I went out and bought a Honda this morning. I traded my old Ford on a new Element. Orange. I'll get the new car tomorrow or Monday. It's in the pipeline, hasn't even been delivered to the dealer yet. The tranny on the Taurus was getting wonky and it needed brakes and I've recently done the fuel pump and the water pump so I figured it was time. Lots of Zubies here as well. No problem getting them worked on.
- Holy shit, Dexter. I barely spent three times that for a brand new Honda still on the truck with a 100K mile extended warranty. I know this is the last year for the Element and it's 2wd but good Lord . . .
- I don’t mean to be a smart ass and I’m not a used car expert, Mark, but after a brief glance at eBay, $7000 seems like all the money for the car Dexter referenced, especially from a rust belt city. For that kind of money I’d expect the car to be clean, well maintained and totally dry. I’m not criticizing Subarus at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. By all accounts they’re great cars and I’ve never heard a negative word said about them. I considered one while shopping over the past few weeks but a new Outback costs significantly more than a similarly equipped new Element, although the hefty resale value does offset the price. Hondas also have excellent resale value. In the end, price, the cavernous interior of the Element and the fact that I have no use for 4 wheel drive drove my choice. Especially the first two. Twenty one grand is a good price for an Element EX in Sacto. If you can find one cheaper, I congratulate you. I have heard that Honda had a pretty fair clearance sale in Dec. Don’t tell me any details. I’ll just feel bad. Scary stuff, beb. Keep your head down.
- At my age I'll take any magnetism I can get, Mary. Besides, I'm above all that petty stuff. What do you think I should wear? San Francisco is in the seventies this weekend, Dexter. Same here. Chinatown's a wonderful place. I used to shop there all the time and the Chinese New Year's parade is a great event. My daughter used to march in it when she was attending the Choy Lay Fut kung fu school. It's an evening parade, run in the dark, and a nice Chinese dinner was always part of the night. There's a bus route, the 30 Stockton, which goes through Chinatown. Everybody used to call the 30 Stockton the "Orient Express." I took it all the time when I lived in the Marina. It stopped right on my corner and ran downtown. It's a trolley bus. Trolley buses were fun. Kids would run behind them and pop the poles off the wire. The driver would then have to go back behind the bus and get the pick-up on the end of the pole aligned with the wire and connected. That had to be enjoyable, especially in the rain. Sometimes the driver would go around a corner too fast or at the wrong angle and lose the wire himself. I wonder how much those Marina apartments run today.
- The San Francisco Marina District has some of the best apartments anywhere. They are on the corners of streets like Francisco. I lived in two different buildings there, one at Francisco and Broderick and the other at Francisco and Divisadero. The buildings are all three storey walk ups with garages for the tenants. The stairs are very wide, making it easy to haul mattresses and couches in and out. The apartments were very large one bedroom and studio units, bright and airy with huge closets and separate kitchens. The place was fantastic and altogether, the Marina is probably the best place I’ve ever lived. When I lived there in the seventies and eighties rents ran about $750. Single family homes have been seven figures for decades. For urban living, I’d stack the SF Marina up against any city in the world without reservation. http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&tab=wl
- Well, that link doesn't work worth a hoot. One was 2295 Francisco although on Google street view it shows as 2297. Later when we got married we lived at 2395. I remember our first Christmas tree - a little Charlie Brown thing. We had just gotten married on 12-21. Jeez, we had a small second hand TV. Sorry for inflicting my memories on you but I had great times there.
- My office is in a building on the west bank of the river, just opposite Sacramento, called the Ziggurat. It's a stepped pyramid, a ziggurat, actually, ten stories high. http://west-sacramento.blogspot.com/2007/11/ziggurat-est-1998.html It was built in the nineties to house a second tier mortgage lender called the 'Money Store'. My daughter worked there and she managed a data base. That the place was failing was obvious and Stephanie prudently removed all of her personal stuff. She was planning to quit soon to get married anyway. The Money Store kept having layoffs and one day they got to her. They canned a ton of people that day. As Dexter noted, security people escorted folks out the door on the spot. Didn't bother Stephanie as she could carry everything in one hand. They gave her three month's severance and continued her medical coverage for three months. The catch was that, if required, the laid off employee would come in and work. Stephanie was asked and dutifully presented herself for two or three days. She was amazed. "Dad, they just fired me and now they want me to come back and update their data base." She was laughing her ass off. "I could kill the whole thing with a single key stroke while the boss was standing there. You know. 'Whoops. Oh gosh. I'm sorry.'" She couldn't get over how stupid they were but didn't sabotage anything. It worked out perfectly. The three month's pay carried her to the time when she got married and moved to Tennessee. The place was vacant for a year or two until we moved in.
- My daughter went to Austin Peay (pronounced "P") State U in TN. I still have a bumper sticker around here someplace that says "Let's go Peay". The Oregon State men's athletic teams are called the "Beavers". The women's teams are redundantly called the "Lady . . . Then there are always the UC Santa Cruz "Banana Slugs".
- Wow! I didn't know all that about glee clubs. I had some vague idea about band and cheerleader competitions but that was about it. That stuff was never on the radar when I was in high school nor was it there when my daughter was in highschool. There's a big world out there.
- This show choir thing is a new world for me. I had no idea. I'm not sure who gains what from the whole experience. What do the kids and the school take away from all this other than having stories to tell over beers for the rest of their lives? I'm inclined to agree with Prospero. It sounds horrible and the idea of having to regularly pick up my kid from an after school event at some to be established time between 8:00 PM and 11:00 PM after six or eight hours of "practice" is a total nonstarter.
- Sidewalk? Here in the 'hood where I live everybody just strolls down the middle of the street. Those dresses on T & L are awful. I also don't get the men's clothes. But then I never heard of half those people before, either. This all says something about me. I'm not sure what.
- One time in Safeway there was an old lady blocking the whole aisle in front of the dairy case while she memorized the label on a carton of milk. I politely excused myself and asked to get by. She just looked at me, said "Fuck you" and returned to her task. I wish I could have seen my face. Happy B'day, Mr. C.
- Well, mark, I'll think of you. I'm on the 12:25 to ONT and am leaving for SMF right now.
- Busting unions is striking at the very heart of what has made this country great. Unions embody the idea that every working woman and man has the right to a life of dignity and prosperity. Unions achieved a level of status and honor for all working people, members or not, that would not have been possible without their efforts. Instead of trying to help all Americans to attain a living wage with good working conditions and health benefits and an honest retirement, the Republicans are trying to return the working people of this country to an eighteenth century serfdom. And by working people I mean every person who draws a salary regardless of type of job or number of $$ on the pay check. As it stands now, we are on a very fast track to the third world. Don't tell me about the excesses or abuses of some unions or some union bosses. They aren't a wart on the ass of the abuses of big business or Wall Street. Here's one for the late evening after a few glasses of wine and thoughts of a blown relationship from a poor, crazy, self destructive woman. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfC6CCtZjxk And yes, it has caused me to weep.
- “Breaking public service unions? I don’t see how this even cracks them around the soffit and fascia, let alone damages the foundations. “Collective bargaining” is not the principle in danger here.” What kind of fatuous comment is that, MMJeff? It sounds exactly like the semi-literate, red necked idiocy one sees in the SacBee’s comments only with better spelling. The business in WI is most assuredly about doing away with the unions and collective bargaining. What else do you think the fuss is about? I love the crazy legends that float around the countryside concerning state employee retirements. Get more money retired than when working? Why the hell are any of us working? I would have retired long ago. There’s also a story going around that has the State supplying us with free gas. Even after all these years I’m still amazed at how much hatred for public employees there is.
- Thanks for the great link, Brian. Don't play the victim here, MMJeff. A couple of people have disagreed with you but you have not been flamed. What JC said @80 is very true. Certainly it is in California. The deal has always been that people take a public sector job for lesser pay in return for better benefits and job stability. Absent the latter two factors and it's not hard to guess what kind of employees the public sector is going to saddle itself with. The WI employees have indicated that they will agree to wage and benefit cutbacks. What they are fighting is the Governor's imperial attitude and the planned destruction of the union and collective bargaining. They have this weird thing about wanting to be treated like real people, not serfs. We've given up lots here in California without folks hitting the streets. Why? Because everything was discussed or is being discussed at the bargaining table.
- I wouldn’t tip at a take out place. Yes I leave a tip on the bathroom vanity in motel rooms and I tip sky caps on the rare occasions I use them and yes $5 seems right to me. Maids and sky caps work hard and are paid squat. I keep my land line because I need it for my DSL, because the Sat TV provider requires it and because my alarm company requires it. I haven’t talked on it or answered it for years.
- Several years ago I wrote a strong and somewhat scathing post directed at Brian. Whatever I said, I was wrong. Brian’s comments are consistently the most thoughtful, honest and genuine comments on this blog. Of course, that’s easy because he comments so prolifically. To be serious, he sets a high standard and I believe he is a big reason why the comments on this blog are so well considered and civil. So, Brian, a belated tip of the hat. But I still think Bernie Eccelstone is the devil incarnate.
- My teeth are firmly compressed on my tongue. Consider it gone, MMJeff.
- Snowed in in Ellay, Mary? That should be fun. I want pix. On the other hand, I spoke with my erstwhile one a little while ago and she says she's seeing it at about 1150. I was up in Truckee (6000 ft) on Wed and 80 was clear and dry and the weather was beautiful, temps in the early twenties, bright sun, low humidity and no wind. Stay out of the shade.
- Here's a not bad summation of the public employee wage and retirement situation. It shows how public employment has worked to provide some simulation of a living wage to lower echelon employees while professionals have opted for the job stability and benefits package over wages. It also reflects the thrust of union efforts over the last few decades. I have a more detailed scholarly study that says the same things. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/26/us/26salaries.html?emc=eta1
- A couple of observations: The Hollywood remembrance thing tagged the luminescent Susannah York. I was a kid in college when “Tom Jones” came out and fell in love with her. Gwyneth Paltrow does a lousy Emmy Lou Harris imitation. I’m not a big Anne Hathaway fan but as somebody pointed out, she worked her ass off carrying that lump Franco around. There is a guy two cubes down from me, calls himself Conrad the Barbarian after our former governor, who went to PS 13 on Staten Island. He knows of PS 22. I guess their choir is a big deal.
- Duck eggs do taste differently from chicken eggs and I'm not crazy about them. I have heard and LAMary seems to confirm that duck eggs are great for baking. I haven't tried them there. It seems like most of Gawker Media's web sites underwent makeovers. They all suck. They are ugly and user unfriendly and just plain don't work. Why do so many web sites change themselves so often? Take Microsoft's Bing Maps. It used to be an excellent site. Now it's totally unusable. I guess it's the old saying: "If it ain't broke, break it."
- I had a balut egg in Vietnam a few years ago. More like ten years, I guess. It took a whole can of beer to wash it down. Thing is, that stuff is all in the mind. Lots of people love balut eggs and eat them every day. Nothing to it. It's a delicacy. At least that's what I told myself. I'll never do it again. I didn't gag but maybe I was sweating a little bit. Lovely picture, Moe. I'm not a fan of tattoos on women or much of a tattoo fan at all. Most are muddy and poorly done. Multiples look like graffiti on a subway station wall. One day, however, I was having lunch at a cafe in Little Saigon on Bolsa in Westminster when a Vietnamese woman sat down with a friend at the next table. She had on a loose white, sleeveless blouse over a dark skirt and an incredible tattoo. She was a lovely and classy looking young woman with long black hair that flowed down her back. From under her blouse, covering her shoulder and down her right arm flowed the most incredible tattoo. I wasn't close enough to see the details; much was covered by her blouse and her arm moved in her animated conversation with her companion but I was able to discern scales and shapes of an incredible delicacy and in a series of brilliant and subtle shades of reds and pinks and greens and blues. It was an astounding, erotic and captivating vision and I wished I could have seen her nude to partake of what was truly a work of art that had been applied to her skin. From what I could see it looked to have covered much of her back. She and her adornment were gorgeous. What will they look like in thirty years? Sadly not all art endures.
- Best I could do with taxes due, VG. Hope Phoebe has a great time!
- Was just down at one of the Vietnamese supermarkets in Sacto's Little Saigon, one on Stockton Blvd. and 65th. There must be eight or so of them along Stockton there. I'm not talking little corner markets; these are supermarkets as large as any Safeway or Kroger or Food Lion or whatever's in your area. After all these years the incredible variety of exotic stuff sold in those places still amazes me. Also, looking around and noting that I'm the only gringo in sight is different. I saw an attractive woman whom I took to be Indonesian, maybe mid thirties, with a Muslim type wrap around her head obscuring her hair and neck. Below that she had on a very thin, very tight cotton sweater that boldly highlighted her rather sizeable assets and a pair of jeans in a thin fabric that looked to have been sprayed on. The contrast was startling. I had to look again just to be sure. Oh, and they had duck balut eggs for eighty nine cents each. I managed to struggle past the display without buying one. What a story Stockton Blvd. is. Just a few years ago it was a wasteland. A couple of miles of deserted, falling down commercial buildings, empty, weed infested lots, bums, gang bangers, a couple of sad looking used tire stores. You've all seen urban blight. Now it's block after shining block of Vietnamese malls, supermarkets, office buildings and restaurants. It's crowded, thriving, alive and a generally wonderful area. I don't know where all the money came from but I'm glad it came. Brian, Hank the deuce came within an ace of buying Ferrari back in the seventies. I saw that F-150 controversy a while ago. It reminded me of when Chevrolet, back in the eighties, fielded two models, one called a Corsica and the other called a Beretta. For the first, I couldn't see why they would name a car after a French island known principally for its gangsters. For the second, the story was that the Italian gun manufacturer planned to make a cheap Saturday night special and call it a Chevy.
- Hey, VelvetGoldmine, nobody has "claimed" (paypal's word) the money I posted the other day. I sent it to mjordanreilly@aol.com. Is that wrong? Lemme know.
- I've spent the last few days in SoCal. I had occasion to pass through the Fullerton State campus early Wed. The spring co-eds were in bloom in short shorts and tee shirts. The view and the weather were just great. The last couple of nn.c days were vintage. Sous vide and Molecular Gastronomy are really two different things. Sous vide is nothing more than a method of slow cooking. Grant Achatz has several videos on YouTube showing how easy it is to cook this way with a simple plastic freezer bag, a candy thermometer, a timer and a pot full of water. In other words, nothing you don't already have in your kitchen. The perceived problem is all the whiz bang special packaging, immersion circulators, high priest mumbo jumbo and other stuff that will intimidate one and set one back a zillion bucks. Molecular Gastronomy, which is what that type of cookery is known as but not really the name of the method if it can be called a method. I know. I know. Anyway MG is the one with all the magic powders and the deconstruction and the foam and the liquid nitrogen etc., etc. Haven't tried it and am not breaking my leg to get there. Maybe one of these days. Check out http://alineaathome.typepad.com/ . She's an excellent and amusing writer with a good slant on this kind of cooking. If you are interested in the hows and wherefores of cooking, how the biology and chemistry of food work and all the reasons why food is prepared the way it is, read Harold McGee. His "On Food and Cooking" is the bible and he's the guru. His book is required reading at the CIA (the other one, where they learn to cook) and is the go to reference work for the professional chef. McGee has an interesting and erudite blog: http://www.curiouscook.com/cook/harold.php I have amassed a rather large collection of recipes on my computer. I need to get them better organized but as someone suggested earlier, I put my laptop on the counter and pull up what I want to see. Works great. I just have to keep the wine glass away from the computer.
- I know, Mary. There's a kind of creepy feeling in the air. We are big time due. Over due. Whether it's L.A. or the Bay Area or up north, it seems like there's one looming over our shoulder. I don't recall a really big one ever happening here in the Valley but who knows? Quakes keep occurring along "heretofore unknown faults". The Santa Cruz and especially Crescent City harbor areas have sustained some pretty serious damage from the tsunami. The tsunami clips out of Japan are incredible and horrifying.
- I'm Irish. My grandparents were born over there. I even used to go out and get drunk on March 17. It's been a while, though. What's the story with the 'Detroit News' and their now ex-auto reviewer? Hmm. auto reviewer. http://jalopnik.com/#!5782691/how-the-detroit-news-sold-its-soul
- Danny Boy? Shane Macgowan will show you a non-treacle version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5X5IrA0zEs
- After UCLA did their best to give it away to MSU last night I ended up pawing through YouTube listening to old music, smoking a cigar and drinking a couple of glasses of wine. Among other things I watched and heard several Joan Baez songs. It'd been a while and I had forgotten how great she is and what a stunningly beautiful woman she is even now at 70. Then today I watched Rebecca Black.
- Count me in with the NPR and PBS fans even though the smug, self righteous fund raisers on Channel 6 make my teeth hurt during their everlasting begging sessions. I love KXJZ, the local NPR station. Also, a lot of NPR stations are associated with librul colletches.
- Happy Birthday, Brian and fifty more!
- Holy shit! The wind is roaring and the lights are flickering. I opened the door and it was almost sucked out of my hand. It's raining but the rain is skipping over the street sideways and it doesn't really seem like rain. They were talking about 65 mile an hour winds and I can believe them. My house is tight and I normally can't hear the wind, but tonight, wow. It's scary. The trees are moving dramatically, I mean the whole freaking tree trunk. As long as one doesn't fall on the house I guess I'm alright. I'm going to go to bed and pull the covers over my head. We're all getting older, and at sixty six I feel like one of the senior citizens at nn.c. At this age, acquaintances are starting to sicken and die all around me. Days, months and years are coming faster and faster. None of my closest are gone but some are getting fragile and I know it won't be long. Yet I feel strong and loose and easy and not old at all. I don't know what any of it means but all I can say is that age happens amazingly fast. Yesterday I was eagerly waiting to turn sixteen so I could get my license. Today I'm an old man. Jeez, the house rocked to that one. The wind is really roaring - that subway sound. Yesterday I had lunch with my once wife. In the darkened restaurant she looked young and beautiful. She also dresses for our lunches. In the rain soaked daylight outside she looked impossibly young and lovely at fifty nine. That competitive bicycle stuff really works. No wisdom here other than to say that family is important. Don't ever fuck it up. Any more and I'm gonna get maudlin.
- Thanks, Brian and yeah. We're still here and the wind has died down. I might point out that while I was writing maudlin shit last night I was listening to some really nice classical jazz on an NPR station. None of that on Clear Channel.
- Nice pictures of Kate yesterday. She's looking like a young lady now, not like a child anymore. I could read the pride in your post. That's so nice. Holy smokes, Mary. In Sacto I pay about $932 a year for full coverage on a brand new 2011 Honda Element. When I was married and living in Auburn we paid even less for three cars, a pickup and two drivers. Wait until your kids move out and start their own lives. Your auto rates will plummet. I can't remember what I pay for insurance on the house but it never struck me as a whole lot, maybe another $900. Tax and insurance are paid out of an impound account so I don't write the check. I don't carry flood or earthquake insurance. Sacramento has never been hit with an earthquake, but who knows. Maybe tomorrow. I can't imagine a scenario in which I would get flooded, although, looking out my office window at the Sacramento river flowing under the tower bridge, the river is as high as I've ever seen it and moving fast. The reservoirs are all full and there's record snow in the mountains. A couple of 60 degree days in the high country along with a bit of rain and it could get wet around here. But still not at my house.
- Happy b'day, 4dbirds! Have one on me.
- Prop 13 from back in the early seventies is one of the root causes of our current budget problems in California. Among the provisions was one that froze property taxes at 1974 (I think, somebody help me) levels for people and corporations that have not sold their property since then. So along with not paying any income tax, corporations are paying property tax based on long ago property values for property they've owned since before Prop 13. Take Disneyland for example or Standard Oil or any of those huge land holders, all paying pennies on every property tax dollar. It's obvious that all of our financial problems would go away if corporations paid their share of taxes. When will the American public wake up?
- A. I have low flow toilets. When one flushes after peeing, the refilled bowl has a definite yellow tinge. One must flush at least twice to have clear water in the bowl. Otherwise, everything goes down fine. B. When I bought a new washer and dryer a couple of years ago, I did the usual internet research and saw lots of complaints about leaky washer doors. So I bought a top loader. The front loaders were also lots more expensive. I haven't priced them recently. My mid-range Kenmore works just fine even if it doesn't have digital controls. I've always had gas driers and my house is plumbed and wired for your choice. Again I did my research and was surprised to find that electric driers have become much more efficient. According to what I read, gas is still more efficient but it would take an average family doing their eight loads per week (?) two years to make up the price differential between a gas drier and an electric drier. I don't do eight loads a month. I bought electric. C. I rinse stuff before putting it in the dish washer. It sure seems to me that if you don't rinse there's going to be a great agglomeration of crap in your appliance after a while. I've always rinsed. It just makes sense. Was at Trader Joe's the other day. Two Buck Chuck is still $1.99. I went for the $7.99 Bordeaux. and the $2.99 Pinot Grigio. Sad to hear about DED. I've read him and enjoyed him for too many years to count.
- A buck ninety nine for a bottle of wine. How do they grow the grapes, crush them, process and store them, bottle and label them and provide all the assorted cartage necessary and make a profit? We don't have water meters here in Sac Town so I have no idea how much water I use. I pay a single monthly bill of $111.72 to the City. It covers water, garbage, sewage, storm drain, street cleaning, garden waste pick up and recycling. I thought Cal won the NCAA Men's swim title. Another big appliance brand that has popped up in recent years is LG out of Korea. Never heard of them until relatively recently. All my appliances are from Sears. Washer, dryer, stove, reefer, dish washer. Boy, did I make them happy that year. Also a lawn mower, a string trimmer and a shed for the back yard. We had a new Bosch dish washer in Auburn when I left. That was a really nice one. Totally silent, easy on water and fast.
- Last night after the ND - Tenn game I saw a brief interview with Pat Summitt, the Tenn coach. With that horrible expression on her face, the one that could curdle milk a block away, what she had to say about her team was that they couldn't overcome being tired, that they lacked intensity, that they didn't come to play, etc. and etc. All bad, mean spirited stuff about her own players. What the hell was that? OK, so it was a tough loss. Too bad. The coach should put on a public face and praise her troops for trying hard, for having a good season for something nice for God's sake. Any respect I might have had for this woman went right out the window. Or is it just me?
- I was at the Santa Ana / Orange County Civic Center and had time to kill before an appointment. I happened to be reading a T. Jefferson Parker novel. There was a scene in the OC Sheriff's office and lo and behold, I looked up to see the OC Sheriff's office just across the street. It's also fun to follow Harry Bosch in downtown LA and in the Valley. If you are going somewhere it's easy to take a little detour. Chez Pannise is in the heart of the Berkeley Gourmet Ghetto. I used to live two blocks away on Bonita St. The original Peet's coffee is just around the corner from CP. Great neighborhood. I miss it.
- The Bradbury Bldg is one of the places I looked up while following Harry Bosch. I had a job at the Reagan Bldg just a block away and managed to wander over during the course of one of my trips to Ellay. It's beautifully restored and what a building. Much money spent on architectural details that you wouldn't see today and billable square footage wasted. Developers would hate it today. There's even a souvenier shop.
- I was given a refurb Royal HH for graduation from High School. I used it all through college and left it with my parents when I quit school in 1965. It had to have weighed 25 lb. For my last and a half year in the Army I sat behind an R. C. Allen as a personnel NCO. It was a world of correction fluid, correction tape, erasers, carbon paper, manifold paper and tension. Tension because there were some items, like officer efficiency reports, that had to be typed without error and had to be typed by an NCO. I couldn't shine them off on one of my clerks. The pressure rose with every line. If there is any nostalgia for those beasts here, it's the type one feels when provoked by memories of walking 20 miles barefoot through the snow to school. I got the Royal back when I returned to college after the Army. Later I had an IBM electric with keys, not that ball thing, and last was a Brother, light and plastic and with some kind of back up erase feature. No,. I don't miss typewriters but I am glad there are enthusiasts who are working to preserve them. I don't know Jeff B. I kinda like "squirmish". Here in California the conservatives (who don't seem conservative to me at all but rather to be some species of right wing radical) are working just as hard as those in the Midwest to turn working people, especially public employees, into serfs. Evidently we're responsible for everything from world hunger to the disaster in Japan. We have a Democratic governor in Jerry Brown and a Dem majority under the dome but we also have that stupid two thirds majority requirement for a budget that leaves us perpetually in thrall to the tyranny of the minority. They're not FOR anything. They're just a bunch of rock throwers. So the waterhead Republicans have brought the whole process to a halt. I don't know what's going to happen but it's not going to be good. My first meeting with the word "concupiscent", at least as far as I can recall at this distance, came when I read Wallace Stevens' poem "The Emperor of Ice Cream".
- Kirk, you mean like donate $7Mil to NASCAR? We used to wear the garrison cap with a glider patch on it. It was called a c**t cap. As noted in the article it was easy to stow. What the hell would a bunch of GIs do with cowboy hats on an airplane? It's a 4/1 joke. In the 'Nam people ended up wearing all kinds of stuff. One time when we had been out in the field for a long time and hadn't been resupplied with anything but food and ammo for a long time our clothes started rotting off. We ended up cutting off sleeves and lower pant legs. We must have looked pretty rag tag and smelled worse.
- Dexter, what 4dbirds said.
- I took typing in high school and then typed all my stuff through college and then the Army sent me to typing school after I came back from the ‘Nam. I’ve found my typing skill to be one of the most valuable things I’ve acquired. That said, why is it on TV and in the movies that everybody types real fast and nobody ever uses a mouse? Most of what you see on the screen would be done with a mouse. I know. No noise and no urgency.
- Medical marijuana is big business here in California. The Sacto alternative paper has page after page of four color, full and half page ads for medical marijuana outlets. They’re on every corner. There are battles going on in counties, cities and under the dome over taxing, licensing and regulation of this lucrative enterprise. I agree that marijuana should be legalized, regulated and taxed. Unfortunately there are powerful interests fighting legalization. Think of all the cops, judges, dipshit drug agents, lawyers, prison guards, pharma drug manufacturers and lord knows who else that will be diminished if weed is legalized. I think MM Jeff is right about local TV news people. They are poorly paid and work under pretty poor conditions. I don’t mean slaving in salt mines, I mean being on call 24 hours and then maybe not being called for days on end. Then the stations regularly recycle a certain percentage of them. It’s amazing how many of them turn up as spokes persons for various State agencies, corporations, utilities and foundations where they can earn a steady pay check.
- Lip-syncing etc. Those people aren't singers, they're performers. You want a singer, call Ella. My favorite Joan is still Baez.
- (Carry over from yesterday - I couldn't resist) Bitter, is that the Fecal Finger of Fate?
- See, Dexter? It was the fecal finger of fate.
- I don't know about back there but the Spanish language channels here carry Mexican and Brazilian soaps which are the greatest ever. My erstwhile wife and daughter are hooked. I even used to watch.
- I'm generally fine with the new format assuming the edit feature will be restored. The bouncing sidebar is very distracting, especially when one wants to read through a large number of comments. The column is kind of wide as some have noted but if one hits that half size thing up there in the corner next to the red "X" it comes to a nice readable width. Mostly that bouncing side bar is bad.
- Hello? Hello? Anybody there? I don't see any Friday post from Nancy and I don't see any comments after number 89 Jakash at 12:28 AM. It's like I've been disconnected.
- Wow! After I posted, suddenly all the comments up to Prospero at 94 popped up. The side bar is still bouncing for me but now the words are all muddy like the thing had too much ink on it when it hit the paper. Did you get this stuff second hand from some haunted web site?
- Comment.
- I hope things improve soon, Moe. We're all thinking of you.
- I'm not ordinarily one to pile on, but I see that Mr. Caswell is a member of the American Legion. I can see him wearing his little hat at the Friday night smoker deflecting questions about his service record while staring open mouthed at the girls on the screen. This just confirms my opinion of the AL as a scumbag organization which will accept just about anybody who has the price of admission.
- Lord Patrick Smoky-6th Avenue
- That "Birth Certificate" is an obvious fake. ROgirl, yes, Smokey was a cat. I once read somewhere that "Smokey" was one of the two or three most common cat names.
- I don't know what the procedures are but I am certain that Mr. Obama's background was very thoroughly checked by the FBI or the Secret Service or some government agency the moment he chose to run for the senate and more thoroughly rechecked when he decided to run for the presidency. It's just incomprehensible that he and everybody else in the mix isn't vetted for a whole laundry list of things that could cause problems the moment their hat goes into the ring. I remember when I was a twelve year old kid we had an army colonel as a neighbor. He was up for promotion to general and the FBI interviewed my father in the course of a background investigation. Shit, they even investigated me for the secret clearance I had while I was in the army. Hasn't it occurred to any of these dolts that Obama's legitimacy was well and thoroughly investigated and established long before his name appeared on the ballot? Brian, don't grocery stores in Indiana sell booze? Every store in California has all the beer, wine and hard stuff right out on the shelves. I buy wine at Safeway and at Taylor's market all the time. Also Cost Plus, Trader Joe's and Raley's and others. Just a plug, but in California we probably have the largest selection of foreign and domestic wines and the lowest prices anywhere in the world. Filling up my car is another story.
- Yeah, I know, Mary. I was down in Riverside the other day. It's a tad less here, but I'll have to check tomorrow. As you say it's going up day to day. The oil companies just announced their usual obscene record profits, but Boner says we shouldn't tax them because they'd just raise prices more. So I guess what he means is that record profits on top of record profits for the oil companies are good for consumers if not for airline and trucking companies.
- Interesting that gas prices seem to be going up relatively uniformly this time rather than spiking some places and only rising moderately in other places. How come I never hear of tornados occurring in other countries? The Supremes just overturned a California law allowing consumers to sue businesses like phone companies, credit card companies and so forth without going to arbitration as the business interests wanted. The result totally denies consumers access to the courts in this area. This is another direct, obvious and outrageous screw the consumer action by the Court. We really are on our way to the 19th century third world.
- Alabama sounds horrible, Mark. Post apocalyptic. Good to hear that your family is OK. Numbers for Sacramento: Largest year over year employment decrease, 260 metro areas: Rank 1: Sacramento Largest year over year pctg employment decline: 36 largest metro areas: Rank 1: Sacramento Highest unemployment rates for the largest 49 metro areas: Rank 1: Riverside, 2 is Vegas, 3 is Sacramento. Pretty encouraging news.
- A miracle, Nance? Notify the Vatican right away. They can add it to JP's sainthood portfolio.
- Am I the only one here who was treated to a local news person advising the world that tomorrow Pope JPII will be "beautified"?
- I thought so too, but you never know what folks might be up to.
- He enabled the rise to power of the very powerful, ultra right wing Opus Dei cult and the rush to sainthood for Josemaría Escrivá. He presided over a radical right turn for the Church dashing any hope of advancement toward equality for women. He reinforced the Church's ban on contraception, guaranteeing that more poor women would bear unhoped for children and failing to participate in the battle against AIDS. He crushed any dissidence and open discussion within the Church. There was financial scandal after financial scandal during his years. He did his level best to stonewall and bury the horrid child abuse scandals that have and still continue to rock the Church. He selected his right wing pal, Ratzi, to run the Church on a day to day basis while he traveled the world acting holy and anointed Ratzi as his successor. Elevating Ratzi along with appointing a record number of Cardinals, all of them in his right wing mold, ensured that the Church will continue on its misbegotten course for years to come. Such is the legacy of Pope John Paul II. Is the Church as an organization, as a religion, as a center of benevolence better off today than it was before JPII took over? Assuredly not. If any Pope in recent history should be sainted, it would be Pope John XXIII. The rushed beatification of JPII is nothing more than a cynical ploy on the part of the Vatican to try to capture the sympathy of the poor and the gullible with a little pomp and pageantry.
- I too feel somewhat conflicted on the kill vs. capture question. I wasn't in any mood to take to the streets and I know this is only one day in a long conflict. But I'm not sad that bin Ladin is gone and I have a nice feeling of pride in the the small unit guys, Seals I guess, who pulled it off, and whatever one feels about this kind of operation, it's better than starting a war, killing untold thousands and squandering billions of dollars, not to mention squandering a whole country. That's what we did to get Saddam Hussein. I also agree that if bin Laden had been captured it would have led to years of bickering and political posturing and finger pointing and and and. This was so much cleaner and more decisive. Also I can tell you this: A small unit on an operation behind the lines has a very tight and unforgiving time schedule. They also have very few resources against the other guy's many. They don't have a lot of space for baggage. The whole thing has to happen very quickly to preserve their only advantage which is surprise. Life and death decisions have to be made and executed instantly. In, do what you're there to do and out. Now. No talking. No negotiations. No fucking around. It's called "You Bet Your Life".
- With reference to John G. Wallace's comment yesterday at #53, yes those were rather special models of the Blackhawk called (if I recall correctly) MH-60s. They would have been operated by the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment. The choppers have augmented avionics suites including an absolutely dazzling Forward Looking Infrared Radar. They are quickly convertable from slick to gunship and back. They carry booms for mid-air refueling. They can be equipped with air to air missles and carry flare and chaff dispensers for air defense. And other stuff. So yes, they would have destroyed a disabled helicopter. My son in law was with the 160th SOAR for ten years. They provided transportation for the Seals and for Delta Force. All their stuff was secret. He would get a call in the middle of the night and disappear for two weeks. I have no idea what all he did. I do know that in late 2001 he and another chopper were the first ones into A-Stan and that they operated with CIA operatives while there. Join the Army and see the world.
- St. Padddy's day, Alex. St Paddy's. He's a boy. Paddy is a diminutive of Patrick. Sorry for being strident.
- John G., the MH-60 I described is what I saw when I visited the 160th SOAR at Ft Campbell about 10 years ago. Sounds like what they are using now is an updated version with all that stealth stuff added. The 160th also uses CH-47 Chinooks and MH-6 "Little Birds". The latter two are updated Vietnam era choppers. I rode on 'hooks when I was in the Army. The MH-6 is a development of the old Hughes 500 which we called loachs. I think it was for light observation helicopter or something.
- Crudity and poor taste are one thing but animal cruelty is something else entirely. Somebody needs to go to jail for what they did to that poor donkey. There used to be a restaurant named "Squid's" in San Francisco. It was all pink decor and served guess what and only that. Too bad if you wanted a burger. The food wasn't bad and they lasted a year or two. No vertebrates were harmed in the production of their meals.
- Wow, I guess I've been living in a bubble. I had no idea about Tyler. Yeah, he should be making little ones out of big ones but so should the girl's parents. Makes you wonder what else Tyler's been up to over the last 40 years. I never thought that Stroh's was the world's greatest beer but Pabst was certainly no better and I never had any idea that it was iconic anywhere. When you're a kid any beer is good and 99 cent beer is excellent. I agree. "Free" mugs are the best.
- I don't know anything about the movie, but the book 'The Lincoln Lawyer' was written by Michael Connelly who is a very fine novelist and one of my favorites. I recommend his books to anybody without reservation. His stories are mostly set in Downtown Ellay and the San Fernando Valley. Connelly worked for some years as a police beat reporter for the L. A. Times. Now he's rich and lives in Florida.
- MarkH, a few years ago I would have been appalled. Today it's just business as usual.
- Brian, it's not just the resistance thing, although I disagree with you there, it's that they have the court's blessing to enter a person's house without permission or warrant. That bothers me. I hope SCOTUS dumps this horrible decision but my confidence is frayed.
- Dexter, I'm sorry to disappoint. For the first time in my history with the Amgen, it's coming to town on a weekday. I've been a volunteer the last three years but not this time. I have a most important meeting at a job site out of town on Monday and I just won't be able to be on hand for the race. It's a wonderful spectacle and I'm unhappy at having to miss out but there's not much I can do. I plan to be home for the evening replay. I still can't get over just how bloody FAST those riders are traveling. The finish line here in Sacto has always been set up so that they get four blocks of straight riding down a very broad, straight and smooth L street to the line at 11th and L. Sprinters rule and they seem to be going a thousand miles an hour. They're blocks away and suddenly, in a blaze of color and confusion and screaming they're past. The excitement, the electricity are unreal. You just have to go home and see the replay on TV to make sense of it. The reality of the live finish is so quick and so crowded with riders and fans and sounds and exhilaration that you simply can't process it. I hope the folks here at nn.c get Versus. VS provides excellent coverage with, what is for my money, one of the very best crews covering any TV sports event anywhere: Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwin and Bob Roll. The same people and the same quality you see at the Tour de France. Watch it if you can. I will. The other bad thing is that the Lake Tahoe area is scheduled to see some freaky, off season weather on Sunday. Yes, snow and rain and misery and temps in the 30s. We're expecting temps in the 60s here. Brrr. Average here in mid May is in the low 80s with 60s in the high country. Then CalTrans goes and closes Hwy 50 for repairs, effectively shutting out thousands of fans from the Tahoe stage. What a kick in the rear. I don't know what the organizers will do. It's a shame because they've shown great confidence in the Sacramento area as a real hot bed of cycling. Three of the eight total stages are here in the Auburn - Sacto - Tahoe area. Maybe if somebody sacrifices a midnight chicken at second base. No, wait, that was BroomHilda rooting for the Giants. Sigh. California could sure use a break. I've heard it suggested that maybe we should outsource our budget problems to India. They couldn't do worse than the empty suits that occupy the dome now. At least our State Supreme Court isn't as loony as Indiana's. And our Chief Justice is cuter than theirs. http://www.law.ucdavis.edu/blogs/Deans/posts/confirming-the-new-chief-justice.html
- There are several inches of new snow up at Tahoe this morning. The hope is that things will improve as the day goes along. To that end, the start of the Amgen has been pushed back from Ten to One. I hope it goes well. It sure is cold and dark here in Sacto. Temps are in the forties here right now. Avg high for this date is 81.
- Temps in the area are running 30 degrees below normal. It hasn’t been this cold since mid March. It looks like we’ll have record low max temperatures for the date. Pictures of heavy snow falling in Tahoe grace the TV along with the universal agreement that the only choice was to nix the day’s bike racing. The organizers cancelled the stage but apparently the riders had made clear their lack of enthusiasm for competing in 28 degree weather with five inches of snow on the ground and who could blame them. They will ride tomorrow but there is some question about just where the event will start. Here we had hail, thunderstorms and heavy rain. What a day. What a bummer. I bought a dresser for my daughter and ran it up the hill to Auburn and dropped it at my erstwhile wife’s house. It was freaking cold. My car was covered with hail. It was the first time in four years that I had been in what had been my, our house. It looked different. T looked beautiful as always. We’re looking at rain and very low temps Monday and Tuesday. Monday’s second Tour stage will start – somewhere – and end in Sacramento. Earlier I noted a four block straight run to the finish in Sacramento. It’s actually seven blocks. Tuesday the third stage will start in Auburn and run through the eastern suburbs of Sacto to end in Modesto. Sacramento is the only city to be visited by the race each of the five years of its existence. Assuming they get here tomorrow. The turn out and enthusiasm have been phenomenal. The Tour of California is a very big deal around here but I don’t know if it rates a mention in papers or on TV elsewhere. Dexter?
- I'm sure the maid will surface any day with Gloria Allred clutching her arm.
- Are these the same deficit hawks who just voted down an attempt to cut billions in subsidies to oil companies who are charging us $4.00 plus for gas and making further billions every quarter doing it? That's quite a chart, Moe.
- John G. Send us your URL, please. I would like to see your site.
- Sounds great, Mary. You can come to my house any time and I won’t talk to you. Prospero, first time anybody has ever agreed with me that Lynn Swann was a weenie. Also I pretty much agree with you about the right wing religious thugs that run Israel.
- Diver was using a work computer to access and exchange pornography? Right or wrong aside, this is terminal stupidity. He was a school principal? Using a work computer for this purpose in a work environment that includes youngsters and where he was an authority figure for the kids somehow seems to compound the offence for me. His accessing porn doesn't especially bother me, it's how and where - and what kind. I don't have any problem with his being fired. And being asked to resign has long been accepted to be the same as being fired. The comments seemed few and fairly genteel. You should see the rabid ravings on the SacBee web site. If that story were posted about a local Sacto principal on the Bee's site there would be hundreds of comments by now. Most of them unprintable and a very few of them even readable.
- Jeff B, for many long, sorry years the Dem's motto has been "We have not yet begun to fight". Regrettably and unlike J. P. Jones, it seems they have no intention of beginning.
- Bill E, the Sacto Bee today announced 44 additional layoffs to raise their body count to over 400 in the last couple of years. The product looks like it. Fry's electronic store and a couple of car dealerships are all that are propping the endeavor up now. The Bee was a decent paper a couple of years ago. Now ...
- I can't speak for the balance of the country but the Joplin disaster has been receiving extensive coverage on local TV here in Sacto and the NBC evening network news has originated from there with, again, extensive coverage. I don't think it's being ignored. From yesterday but ever timely: I was wondering if Prospero had a decoder ring he could sell me.
- On looking at your post again, Judy, I guess you were talking about a twister in Mpls. No, that didn't get much national coverage - here at least. We've had a lot of rain this year and temps have been ten degrees below normal for the whole year so far. It's cool and rain is forecast for today.
- Well, Brian, here's Audi's take on F-1: (from Autoblog) "Though rumors persist that one of the Volkswagen Group's brands could make the jump into Formula 1, Audi is adamant that it won't be the one to do so. According to the company's motorsport boss, F1 bears "no relevance to the road." The German automaker most prominently races Le Mans Prototypes, like the new R18 TDI pictured above. Is that really so different from F1? Audi points out that over the course of a 24-hour race like Le Mans, just one of its cars covers more distance than an entire F1 season, its average speeds are 20 mph higher than in F1 and they use 42 percent less fuel in the process."
- It rained all day here although it seems to be tailing off now. Watered my lawn. Average temp here for this time of the year is mid eighties. Today it reached 54 degrees. That's thirty degrees back of average. Brrr.
- Good toughts and crossed fingers, Moe. It will be so cool when it works. James M. So another Sacto guy here. You stole my thunder. I was all set to whine about the fifteen degree below normal days we have been having around here. Of course it will be pretty OK when normal highs reach the mid ninetys. ROGirl, I had no idea about that E and pacifier business. I'm embarassed to admit that I don't even know if you're pulling my finger. Next I'll be buying Easter Island gold over the phone from some silver tongued slickster.
- A pipe, a tweed jacket with patches on the elbows and a Volvo. Can't miss. My experience with multi- focals is that the distance area is in the upper portion of the lens and the reader part is on the bottom. As a result, a person might have to raise his or her head up a bit to read. The larger the top to bottom dimension of your lens is , the less pronounced this tendency is. I've got it worked out over many years so that I'm comfortable reading with my multi-focals but I have to raise my head uncomfortably to use the computer. The distance from my eyes to the screen is different from the distance between my eyes and a book or newspaper. I use supermarket readers to work on the computer. So if you've had a bad experience with multi-focals and you had fashionably teeny glasses, lens size might be your problem. Revisit multi-focals with larger lenses. No beard. I just can't grow one. I tried sitting in the corner in the dark and pushing real hard and it still didn't work. No inclination to try contacts.
- Thanks, Julie. I'll be looking out for the Avon lady. I should probably get some of that orange dye for my hair while I'm at it.
- Me neither. Priceless, Moe.
- I don't know what to think about the weather. Here in Sac Town it's in the sixties and has rained steadily all day. It's still raining. We usually just don't see rain from May to Dec other than an oddball little dribble here and there. It's supposed to keep raining through Monday. Avg temp on this date is 86. It's 62 right now. We've been running fifteen degrees or more below normal all year along with getting unbelievable rain. I just hope Ma Nature doesn't decide to make it all up to us in July and August.
- Thanks for yesterday's compliment, Dexter. What is this “stiflingly hot”? What is this A/C? Yesterday it almost reached 70. Sunshine? It’ll only be a little cooler here today. The quality of our representatives in DC and in the Statehouse, Rs and Ds both, has got to be the lowest in history. This has, particularly, to be true given the broad scope of things these creeps control and the effects on everyday life. I despair.
- Jeff B., your post made me shiver. Heal up quickly and get back on that bike. All us old guys are pulling for you. I simply can't imagine what goes on in the minds of those politicos who do such stupid things. Is it arrogance, some kind of total pussy captivation, a self destructive impulse, what? Weiner and Edwards are not stupid guys.
- Cong. Weenie Wagger probably wonders why it’s OK for Vladimir Putin to publish weird pix of himself but not OK for him. Putin. Now there’s a truly creepy dude for you.
- Finally, Dexter, a lovely day in Sacramento. About 75, sun is shining. Still 12 degrees or so below normal but no complaints here. Every door and window is open. It’s supposed to reach the 80s by the end of the week. Summer’s coming. I remember those huge 4 X 5 Speed Graphix cameras and those plates and the actual flash bulbs used with them. When I was a kid I badly wanted one of those 2 1/4 Rolleis. Edit: The TV says it was 77 today and will be 82 tomorrow. The guy pointed out that 77 would normally be considered a cool day.
- It's funny how taste may vary with one's gender. For example, I can't get at all concerned about men plucking their privates. I'm certainly not going to do it but otherwise who cares? Then again I have stronger preferences when it comes to women. Tattoos don't do it for me. Maybe something small and discreet but today it seems like half the women I see look like fugitives from the tattooed lady freak show. I'm less concerned about piercings but I'm tired of belly button jewelry. I like women's navels and those stupid piercings get in the way. What really does bug me is the number of teenage girls getting tattoos, piercings and, God help us, plastic surgery. This stuff is all tied to fashion. In ten years tattoos may be passé and then what? They should at least wait until they're old enough to make an informed decision before doing anything. And don't I sound like a pursed mouth old fart.
- Thing about so many of these women is that they seem to have random tattoos splattered here and there and, in some sad cases, everywhere. They look like graffiti on subway station walls. They could at least try to coordinate the artwork. Can you imagine what they’re going to look like when they’re my age? I mean this isn’t any moral or religious stuff. I love women’s bodies and these people are fucking theirs up and I hate that.
- Your explanation is perfectly clear as I read it, Jolene, except that as soon as I look away it drains out of my brain and I'm back to square one. It's kind of like math that way. And it's not getting any better as I get older. Florence Nightingale on the right hand side was interesting too, Prospero. Poor Brian. They finally have a F-1 race on at a decent time and it's raining. I enjoyed the Indy Car race(s) last night. Shitty for some of the drivers but fun to watch.
- In my view zero tolerance equates to zero brains. With it (as someone noted) we don't need administrators. Just clerks. No judges. Just clerks. Even murder prosecutions are nuanced, for heaven's sake. Circumstances are carefully considered before charges are leveled. Murder, manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, etc. The same goes for sentencing those convicted. Zero tolerance is in the same sack as "tough love", that punishment category beloved of sadists and the 'one kid fucks up so all kids suffer' school of justice. You know, "Johnny farted so none of you get to go on the circus field trip". Parents blowing horns at graduations and otherwise misbehaving are another category altogether from cap and gown discipline. You can't compare them to the Marine kid. Those louts are not subject to school rules or school disciplinary procedures. The administrators should have called the cops and had the jerks removed. That said, I am truly conflicted over what to think about decision concerning the ill-advised Marine girl who wanted to wear her uniform. She seems to be a narcissistic exhibitionist but who knows who else is pushing her. Sadly, this doesn't seem to me to be a hill to die on for either party. There are those who don't think Marine uniforms are the coolest thing around. I mean bright blue pants with red stripes. White hats. That's high school band stuff. When I was in the 101st Abn we called them clown suits. We thought our simple, tightly tailored khakis with spit shined jump boots and glider caps were it. We weren't the least bit opinionated.
- Well, I can see why Foote might have been scared off pussy.
- Talk of hot is timely. The TV tells us that we'll hit triple digits for the next couple of days. Yes, I have A/C.
- I haven't met her, but La Canalis if pictures are to be believed, is a goddess. Not quite Monica Bellucci but very close. Bring a badminton racquet with you on your rides, Nance. My ex tells me that crows are quite easy to teach to talk.
- I’m guessing it wasn’t rutabaga, Cooze. He and his secret boyfriend were probably playing figgy wiggy. It was most likely ginger. Rita Tushingham. ‘The Knack and “ Haven’t thought of her for years. Great movie and she was an excellent actress and a babe. I have the Indy car race in Iowa on the TV live. They just had the singing of the National Anthem. It was sung by some woman representing the Iowa cornholer's coalition or some such. Best I’ve heard in years. The Anthem is not a cover song, it is not a country and western song. I’ve thrown curses at the TV for so long that I almost muted this latest attempt. It was very good. Was she a terrific singer? No. Was it excellent? No. But she gave it a helluva try. She sang it straight and she stayed within herself and it came out just fine. I was happy.
- Just got around to reading Sweet Juniper. His 06-21 post on e-reading is a classic. He's on Nance's blogroll.
- One of the awful things about floods is the slow motion aspect of the disaster. Those poor people in Minot are looking at several weeks of flooding before they can get back into their ruined houses.
- Some years ago when I owned half an airplane (a '69 Champion Citabria 7ECA) my partner ran dry somewhere east of Reno and landed on I-80. A kind person went and got him some gas, the cops closed the freeway for him and he took off. He always did have a tendency to push the envelope. MarkH and BHD make very valid points about pilots keeping current and active. The doctor/Bonanza thing was widely talked about here on the West Coast as well. Here it was "What's the most dangerous thing in the world?" "A doctor in a Bonanza." There is a prescribed method for making an approach to an uncontrolled airport which involves calling your pattern legs (downwind, base, etc.) on what's called a unicom frequency. It wasn't so important to identify your tail number as to give an idea of what you were so another pilot would know what to expect to see. I would identify myself as "the yellow Citabria". One day I was making a pattern approach to Gnoss Field in Novato, calling my legs, when I caught a flash of light straight out from the runway. I simply extended my downwind. Sure enough. What I had seen was sunlight reflecting off a Bonanza that was making a long, straight in approach without a single radio call. And yes, the guy turned out to be a doctor.
- Just back from Riverside and another night at the lovely Mission Inn. Don't have an indian name. Nobody ever offered me one. I agree that sports owners are mostly a bunch of greed heads and deserve whatever grief comes their way. However, with so many zillions of people slaving away at jobs for menial wages, the effort to feel sorry for poor, oppressed pro athletes is way, way back there beyond the back burner. How horrible that they might have to work for fixed wages. Tough shit if they blow all their $$ on pussy and cars and possies. Dexter, I do indeed remember the fuck you lizards. I thought it was a joke at first, then we thought it was a bird and then discovered it was a lizard. One time when I was in the recon team we were set up on some hill top. It was night. One of the guys had an urgent call. He advised that he was going outside the perimeter to do what he had to do. "When you hear the fuck you lizard three times, that'll be me coming back. Don't shoot." A little while later we heard a crashing in the brush and then this deep voice. "Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you." We fell about laughing hysterically. I guess you hadda been there. Just remembered his name. Corporal Stock. Nobody ever knew his first name. Just Corporal Stock. Corporals were rare in those days. Only way one became a corporal was to be a sergeant first. Stock was always wanting to show off his genital warts. Everybody was "um, no thanks." or "that's OK, Stock, I'll take your word for it." God, it was another world.
- I got the impression that the changes to the teachers' deductions, working conditions and so forth may have been offered at some point by the teachers' union but that in the end, with the new legislation, they were simply imposed by the cheese pot district. The changes as presented in the comment by Cynthia don't seem that unreasonable on the face of it. What must be scary for the teachers is that it appears as if the district can impose whatever new conditions they wish next year or next month and those may not be so reasonable. Please correct me if I'm wrong. Driving in Vietnam certainly is an adventure. I drove there during the war a hundred years ago. A lot of the roads are very narrow so that driving is a constant game of chicken. The protocol is supposed to be that each oncoming vehicle puts two wheels off the pavement onto the shoulder. You can guess how that worked with a bunch of testosterone loaded GIs. In those days the locals drove a lot of ancient, clapped out French stuff and surplus American military vehicles, some dating back to WWII, along with a potpourri of later model European and Canadian things. Japanese rolling stock was just starting to show up. There were colorful buses loaded with people, pigs, chickens and stuff, American civilian contractors driving eighteen wheelers, Army transportation and supply units also driving big rigs and a large assortment of other military folks driving five tons, deuce and a halfs, three quarter tons and jeeps. Every mile or so there would be an elderly truck by the side of the road with the rear resting on blocks while the rear axle was changed. I have never figured out why or how they busted so many differentials. I was young and goofy and it was lots of fun. I loved the competition. I was riding with a friend in a deuce and a half one day when we banged mirrors with an oncomer. The busted glass flew behind our heads, across the back of the cab and out the window on my side. When I last traveled to Vietnam around ten years ago things seemed mostly the same except that there are a lot more cars now and a bazillion 50 and 100cc bikes. The cars are Korean and Japanese as are the bikes. Make that two or three bazillion bikes. At that time there were lots of old Russian trucks dating to the eighties. Heavy, crude and ugly. The balance of trucks are mostly Korean and Japanese. There isn't much of a car rental business. Or wasn't ten years ago. The drill is that you hire a car and driver or take a taxi. Taxis are cheap. Interestingly, I made that trip from Saigon (HCMC) to Can Tho in a minivan. It was every bit as wild and chaotic as Bourdain relates. You can't exaggerate. I thought it was fun. It was on that trip that my brother in law talked me into eating a balut egg while we were waiting for a ferry.
- I dunno, Dexter. It was one of those moments. My Brother in law ate one, pushed one on me and I did it. Washed down it with a can of Heinekens. Or two. I do know that I have no intention of ever eating one again. Bleagh. A couple of weeks ago balut eggs were on sale at one of the Asian supermarkets on Stockton Blvd for eighty five cents each. I could have sent a couple of dozen to NN.C central for sampling. I don't see the point of these everlasting comparisons; of these everlasting assertions that someone is the best or that somebody is better than somebody else. I've read everything that Hemingway wrote and everything that Chandler wrote and had many hours of enjoyment from both. Isn't that enough? And, MMJeff, I'm not quite sure I follow. Maybe you could elaborate on the distinction between voice and tone.
- I haven't followed the case of the young woman in Florida who was accused of killing her daughter and don't have an opinion as to her guilt or innocence. The story I just read does say that she has been in jail for the last three years. I've always seen lying to the cops as a kind of bullshit charge (heh, heh). If there's any justice, she'll be sentenced to time served on the lying charges and cut loose.
- Jeez, Alex. Go easy on us poor old liver spotted geezers. After months of dodging it in favor of the old scanner, the TSA people at Ontario finally stuffed me through the naked machine yesterday. The scanner part wasn't bad, I didn't feel my molecules become disassociated or anything and I was still in Ontario when it was over. I don't suppose the experience was a pleasant one for the observer, wherever he or she was but that's their problem. What I hadn't realized was that when you exit the machine there is a TSA Troll to hold you up until he gets the OK from the observer to let you go. I stood there stupidly for over a minute in front of the mute troll with my feet on the yellow marks. Nobody said a word. Finally the head set spoke to him and he asked me if I had anything metal on my right ankle or calf. "No." I told him. I badly wanted to make some kind of stupid remark but figured I had better keep quiet. The guy behind me in line was grinning and rolling his eyes. So the troll squatted and vigorously massaged my leg with his purple gloved hands from mid thigh to the top of my shoe. "OK, you're good to go." I could have told him that. If the sample I experienced is any indication, I can certainly see why people are livid at being exposed to a full body TSA "pat down". It would truly leave anyone shaken.
- I’ve been hearing horror stories about heat and drought all over the country. I hope all of you who are in the hot zone are safe and comfortable. We’ve somehow caught a break here in Northern California. With record rain and snow levels last winter we have plenty of water. Temps this year have been low. We had five days of triple digit temps ten days or so ago but it’s been a cool mid 70’s to 80 since then. Today’s avg is 94, the temp was 79. Given the very low humidity here, things are quite comfortable. I haven’t run the A/C in almost two weeks. It’s going to be in the mid 90’s late next week but that’s simply average. Nights are in the 50’s and low 60’s. We are so lucky here. I’m appalled and depressed by the Republicans and their willful stupidity. Krugman comes right out and calls them “crazy”. McConnell is a maggot. What the Rs are doing is unprecedented. They are gleefully pursuing nothing less than the destruction of this country. I hear people on TV calling Murdoch’s operation “News Core” I know that the word “corps” as used in a military context (Corps of Engineers) is pronounced “core” but as far as I know “News Corp” is a contraction of ‘News Corporation” and it seems to me it should be pronounced “News Corp”. Can anybody enlighten me? Also in the second sentence above I wrote “I know that the word “corps”. Should it have been “I know the word etc”?
- Pink Flamingos was fun but I lurved Lust in the Dust. I recommended it to my very Catholic parents. What the hell, I thought it was funny. They didn't speak to me for a month. My wife was all "I told you not to recommend it."
- This has always been Amy Winehouse for me. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfC6CCtZjxk I used to play it late at night after I broke up with my wife. Half drunk, tears in my eyes like a teenager. I always kind of guessed it would end this way. Poor kid. I hope she finds some peace now.
- Pioneer Woman has very good portraits of family ranch life. All the kids work all the time and these are very prosperous people. You have to wade through a lot of her cutsy wutsy stuff but the working day posts are kind of worth it. Scroll down to July 18 for example. http://thepioneerwoman.com/confessions/
- All this talk about tasseling and bean walking is a real revelation. I’d never heard of either. I had no idea. When I was a kid I delivered papers, worked in the hobby store and later in the drug store. It was one of the original drug superstores. I feel kind of silly for asking, but what is bean walking?
- I had a project in Susanville a couple of years ago. A Cabela's had just opened in Verdi, NV. Verdi is a hoot. It's a tiny place on I-80 just across the state line from CA. It has two things: the Boomtown casino and Cabela's. I stopped in a couple of times while passing by on the way back from Susanville. It certainly is a huge and spectacular place. I don't know anything about the owners but am not surprised to hear that they're righties. I wouldn't make a special trip to one (I'm not much into that stuff anyway and REI is right close to where I live) but if you're ever in the neighborhood, it's worth looking at. Very nice to hear Mary. I was out of town the last couple of days without a computer so I, regretfully, didn't get to vote. I'm really pleased you won.
- Don't forget Cairo, IL. We have a park here in SacTown named Goethe Park. Spoken Gaty Park. Then there's that Congress Troll from Ohio. Boner or something.
- That cops vs. cartoonist conflict reminds me of the time the President of the California Bar Assn. lobbied to get lawyer jokes classified as hate crimes.
- I agree, Brian, with both the eating and the credit crooks comments. No beard here. I suffer from baby's ass syndrome.
- I wish Molly Ivins was still around.
- I'm sorry about your dog, Alex. I know how difficult it is. Our thoughts are with you.
- Mary, I sympathize with your problem, Once when I had to fax something to six people I first made six copies. You know, one to fax to each. Is there a Kindle koffee table book for those art prints and architectural renderings? How does that work? Here's your daily, heart warming animal story. http://www.sacbee.com/2011/08/10/3829611/calif-woman-wont-get-jail-for.html
- Robbery is a great upgrader, Mary. Every time I get burglarized, I get a bigger TV and a faster computer.
- Enjoy your vacation! Send us a picture.
- I'm not aware of anyone selling pasties around here although the Streets of London pub may. We do have a Mexican version of a pasty called an "empanada" and an Italian version called a "panini". Hold the rutabaga. It's interesting to hear of groups of grandmas making pasties in the UP. Here we have the same things with groups of Mexican grannies making tamales. Various people sell them around office bldgs and take orders every few weeks. You give your order for a dozen (chicken, beef or pork) and they deliver in a few days. They are always excellent eating. Used to be ten bucks a dozen. Freeze 'em two to a plastic bag and when hungry add a few drops of water to the bag and microwave them. Yum. I gotta order some.
- There are some straw bale houses in this area. The local rice straw is said to be excellent for them. I took a good look at one at the State Fair a couple of years ago and was impressed. Hope you don't mind two foot thick walls. There is very often another party in the owner, architect, contractor let's put up a building group. That's the construction manager. The CM is the conductor of the orchestra. He (for the sake of brevity) coordinates the activities of all the other parties, makes them play nice and is in charge of the three Ss - Scope, Schedule and $Budget. It's his job to shepherd the architect and client through the design phase ensuring that everybody understands just what is and is not going to be done. It is the CM's role to manage the contractor when the construction phase begins and to oversee submittals, requests for information, schedule, pay and the like. The architect is a poor project manager because, as Prospero noted, he is an interested party, having done the design, and might tend to make decisions based on self serving reasons. Here at the State of CA, copies of a new planset are given to reviewers. The marked up sets are then given back to the designer so that she can incorporate the comments in a new plan set. When that's done a set of the new plans goes to the inspectors for a constructability review. Plans are also reviewed by the State Fire Marshal for Fire Code compliance and by the Office of the State Architect for Access compliance. We still end up with lots of problems on site. In the case of all those dream houses that leak, etc., it's my opinion that the contractor is at fault. The contractor needed to coordinate with the architect and work to solve gaps and deficiencies in the design. A PM would help! Somebody made my argument for me when they noted that the roof of the Snyderman house was done by a carpet layer. ??? My argument was made again several years ago when the "This Old House" people restored Wright's Falling Water property in PA. It was a PBS special. They noted the design problems and the construction problems and went about solving all of them. The finished project was indistinguishable from new but sound and tight and fully functional. If the original contractor had been worth his salt, he would have noted and solved the problems then.
- Here in CA we have a new "Green" building code that took effect this year. The requirements are graduated with the size of the building and the type of project (new or remodel) but they are very stringent including a tough commissioning process. I'm not a fan of LEED. It seems a little too points and guys getting their picture in the trade rag shaking hands. I know we need a standard, but here we have the new code. For me, LEED is too much those two guys in MA or wherever milking a cash cow. Writing specifications is indeed an art. I don't do tech specs but I've written many a front end.
- A fellow state employee slug two cubicles down is black and spends two weeks at Martha's Vineyard every year. For whatever that's worth. He was gone last week and this week. I guess he just missed POTUS and family. It do go fast, doesn't it, Julie.
- Here, here, Mary on the culture vulture remark. And those winter tomatoes don't come from California, they come from Mexico. Good tomatoes are available if one takes the time to look. Below is a recipe for pissaladiere from the delicious Laura Calder. http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/laura-calder/pissaladiere-recipe/index.html
- Basset, my daughter graduated with a degree in math from Austin Peay in Clarksville. Let's go Peay! Her choices were limited with hubby being stationed at Fort Campbell but AP turned out to be a decent little librul arts school. The kids covered the costs with some help from us. God. She and her husband just officially separated two weeks ago. I went to U of Illinois at Champaign - Urbana with the assistance of a National Merit ride and my parents' money. I worked at various jobs during school and in the summers. I had a wonderful time partying too hard. For a number of reasons I left in Dec of my senior year and joined the Army. When I went back to school at San Francisco State four years later things were a tad different. I was married and had a step kid. No partying this time. I still worked and had the G. I. Bill for help. It only took a year to graduate. In those years SF St was mostly a commuter college. They called it "Streetcar State" The "M" car stopped right there. I started college in fall of '62 and graduated in June '71. At UI and at SF I had no trouble getting in (though I had to be a little aggressive at SF) and the costs were very reasonable. I shudder at what the poor kids are paying today and the crippling debt they assume. I don't know what's going to happen to my grand kids.
- Mary, are you referring to Azusa Pacific? I really don't know anything about the place.
- Prospero, I have that Leadbelly album. How about drinking a Hurricane NO Style? 1 oz white rum 1 oz Jamaican dark rum 1 oz Bacardi® 151 rum 3 oz orange juice 3 ozunsweetened pineapple juice 1/2 oz grenadine syrup crushed ice Combine all ingredients, mix well (shake or stir). Pour over crushed ice in hurricane glass. Best enjoyed through a small straw. Garnish with fruit wedge if desired.
- C'mon, Prospero. Just blurt it out. Alex, I'm sure we'd both agree that disemballing is a pretty extreme step but what you're describing is disemeverythinging.
- God, I know whereof you speak, Brian. I would sometimes act stupidly with my wife in the car. Didn't help the marriage. I think I've pretty well grown out of that stuff but still have to stifle impulses. I wonder how many people are dead behind that kind of thing. Moe, I could have gone all day without looking at that guy's pussy. Nance, He's got it stuffed backward or . . . Naw. Ed's not still in bidness. Is he?
- Happy birthday, Dorothy and Connie! I've lived in the city, in the suburbs and in the country and, in the end, my vote goes to city living for all the reasons Borden lists and more. Danger? A woman was killed a couple of weeks ago in San Francisco by a bicyclist who ran a red light. Crossing streets? Try Le Loi in Saigon in front of the Binh Thanh Market. Luke Nguyen even did a feature about it on his Cooking Channel show. Deborah, it shouldn't be so difficult. We have a similar scheme. Every project has a number (my West Covina DMV project is 128595) and a folder by that number is located on the server. We can add sub folders for plans, specs, pix, correspondence, etc. Works beautifully. Bobby Fuller fought the law and the law won. I went to Kaiser this AM to see the eye doctor for my cataracts. Suddenly I can't see for shit. The appt was with "C. Leng, MD". First I saw a very nice young woman who was some kind of tech. She did a bunch of tests and disappeared to consult with the dr. C. Leng, MD turned out to be Cheri, a young, totally American, Chinese woman made up and dressed to the nines. She was extremely attractive and straight out of a movie or TV. I couldn't believe my dim eyes. She was better looking than several of the actresses on the medical shows. Also single. A nice catch for somebody. One glance through her magic eye doctor scope at my failing peepers and all she said was "God, are you ready." Unfortunately, no surgery slots until late Oct.
- I know, Deborah, but as they say, it beats the alternative. And a Happy Birthday to Basset as well!
- Jason T. has hit on something. I get a steady flow of emails similar to the ones he describes as well as an equal number smearing Mexicans. I deleted seven or eight just from today’s email load. There is an enormous volume of this stuff and most of it is professionally crafted. It’s not the work of some strange, twisted fuck sitting in his dirty underwear and drinking Ripple in his mother’s basement. This stuff is being manufactured and distributed by pros with a large budget. There's a program here. It’s evil and disgusting. That said, I’m sick and tired of Obama’s trying to work in a bipartisan fashion. It doesn’t work; never has and never will. At this point he’s simply caving to every Republican demand. I cannot understand why the Democrats are so terrified of standing up to these people. When I voted for Obama I hoped he would be a scrappy guy with a spine who would make every effort to represent the interests of the people. I’m woefully disappointed but will, obviously, vote for him over any of those mindlessly destructive Republican candidates. I contemplate the future with little hope and much despair. I’m pretty cranky today as well. I’ve just laid out a fortune to fix my front door which was kicked in, to install steel security doors and buy a new TV. The new TV is nice, though. It’s huge and state of the art and I got it for a great price at Fry’s. Cheaper than any number I could find on the net even with sales tax added. No delivery. I stuck it in the back of the Element and be-bopped home. I have TCU and Baylor on as I type. Don't ask why. It's one of those games where I which they could both lose. Esp TCU. Tomorrow is the day all the little guys go out to get creamed by the big guys for the sake of their athletic dept budgets.
- If you remember, in early September of 2011, Bush had only been president for something over seven months. He had done nothing and his numbers were tumbling. The press was starting to get on him and he was starting to look like, well, George Bush. Then came the eleventh. I was at work when one of the women in the place told me with some tension in her voice that a plane had crashed into the World Trade Center in New York. This was very early in the morning in Sacramento. We showed up at work at about 5:30. Shit, I still do. My first thought was of the B-25 that had hit the Empire State Building many years ago. I assumed that some lost soul in a Cessna had crashed into a WTC tower. The web was a little slower to show events then and there was no streaming video, but it soon became evident that something serious had happened. We followed as best we could on the radio and searching the net until the big boss showed up. He had a small TV in his office. Then we could see. We watched for a time and the boss said "Fuck it, everybody go home." or words to that effect. The "Fuck it" was there, though. About that time he got a call from the big bosses in the main building sending people home. As usual, Bob had been ahead of the curve. On the ride back to Auburn I got a call from a friend. We met in a bar in old town and over several beers watched the towers collapse live and watched the planes hit the buildings again and again on tape. Then I went home. My wife and I watched for I don't know how long, with things repeated over and over and the experts and pundits speculating until their tongues got thin. I saw our President in that Florida classroom looking like the proverbial deer in the headlights. Doing nothing. A few hours later I found out that he had been hustled out of the classroom to AF-1 and flown to a SAC base in Nebraska or Colorado, I forget which. That was when I came to know who George Bush was. Our President, in a time when his leadership was needed, could be found cowering in a secure AF base out west when he should have been in D. C. taking charge and, most importantly being seen to take charge. If I had ever had any doubts about Shrub, that day killed them. I had, at that time, no idea about who or what or how. I just knew that I wanted our leader to lead and he was absent. In hiding. The cowardly motherfucker. A few weeks later, my son in law, who was in the 160th SOAR, was the crew chief on the first response helicopter into Afghanistan. He was there until just before Christmas flying CIA operatives (including the one who was famously killed) on their secret missions. In the aftermath of the horrible events of that day the U.S. had a sudden and large swelling of good will and sympathy directed toward us worldwide. It took the Bushies no time to kill it. When my son in law got home, he was promoted and reassigned to a slot at the Special Warfare Command headquarters at Ft. Bragg. His old chopper and crew were sent back to A-Stan where they were shot down and all perished. That happened about the time the Shuttle crashed. At the time, I did a post in the nn.c comments about those events. I can't find it or I'd repost it. Sorry to sound so negative but that's what I took away from that day.
- I disagree with most folks. I still think that the place for a leader is out front, not cowering 2000 miles from the front lines. The President of the United States needs to stand up and be seen and to provide inspiration and leadership. Something sadly lacking for lo, these many years. I missed one, the obesity question.
- Point taken Jeff B and Mary.
- Feel better quickly, Alex. Glad to hear it's not as bad as it could be. Take care of yourself.
- I kinda liked "ricotta rump".
- I don't care either about La Palin and with whom she may share sheets. Tahd might though. I don't know, Dexter. I'm kinda of a Monica Bellucci guy myself.
- Hattie, I lived in that neighborhood many years ago. In the '70s it was Berkeley's Gourmet Ghetto. Chez was two doors or so down from the corner of Shattuck and Vine. A few years later I had a girlfriend who worked at Chez. Across Shattuck was the Cheese Board, the Pig by the Tail Charcuterie and the produce store. Can't remember the name. Across Vine was Cocolat, Sal's Deli and Lenny's meats. That was Leonardo d'Meatchi, butcher to the gods. Around the corner was the very first Peet's coffee, then operated by Alfred Peet hisself. Also the Egg Shop and Apple Press. Great omelets. There was a Safeway, a Lucky's and the Co-op, that great bastion of politically correct librulism. Virginia bakery was down Shattuck and there was a nice collection of other restaurants and markets. It was a wonderful place to live in those days. It also didn't hurt that I was young and in love.
- So happy to have you back, Alex. You know the old saying, "Find a niche and fill it." Maggie, by the '80's I was living in SF myself. I'm not familiar with the gelato shop.
- My first wife remembered being indoctrinated by WCTU people when she was a kid. The refrain she recalled was "Lips that touch liquor shall never touch mine." That was all fine and good until she reached puberty. Cooze, I had some Wild Irish Rose one time. All I can say is "Whew!". That was the night a guy ran a stop light and I T-boned him with my VW. As a matter of fact, it happened in Laurinberg, N.C. One of the things the right wing nasties are very good at is playing the victim. The uglier they get the more they wail and moan beg for relief from the oppressive forces of the socialist left.
- There are reasons inbreeding is frowned upon.
- Happy Birthday, Deborah! And have a sip of some nice champers. May you retire at 62. I think I missed the boat on that one. You can add Bruce Jenkins of the SF Chron to the ranks of good sports writers.
- Speaking of drinks, I was out with my first wife one evening many years ago and ordered sweet vermouth with a twist for an aperitif. I was feeling all sophisticated until Donna tasted hers, made a face and declared "Jeez, this stuff tastes like flat Coke". The balloon went down pretty quickly. Hmmm. I wonder what she's doing today. She certainly was a beautiful young woman back when we were in our twenties. Do you suppose she's still a year older than I am?
- Deborah, I seem to recall you mentioning being involved with sculpture in public places. Have you seen any pictures of the immense red rabbit sculpture at Sacramento airport's new terminal B? http://stuckattheairport.com/2011/09/20/giant-rabbit-joins-baggage-towers-at-sacramento-airport/ I passed through last Thurs, the first day it was open, and took a couple of pictures. Then I passed through again yesterday and today. I've decided after three passes that I like the rabbit and that I like the new terminal. They spent a billion on the place and erected a huge, monumental edifice. I wondered about spending so much money and building something so big and so vulnerable to criticisms of being pretentious but I like it. Public buildings used to be big and imposing and then we started building city halls that look like bank buildings, other buildings that look like shopping centers and too many of them that look like nothing. In the end I'm happy that Sacto built a big ambitious airport terminal. It's SMF its own self and not some generic joint. Tomorrow's my turn through the birthday turnstile. I'll be 67. Jeez. That makes me positively elderly. The other day I was laughing on the phone with somebody. I had forgotten something and mentioned that I must be coming down with early onset dementia. Then I relized that it's a bit late come down with early onset anything.
- Harking back to yesterday: Joe, I'm aware of the ADAP - the govt fund that collects money with the stated aim of funding airport improvement projects. I haven't followed it lately but it used to be famous for being a huge pot of money that sat there buried in the back yard to help make the budget look balanced. I'm happy if the money is being spent now. And yes, the work at SMF cost a billion smackers. It would have cost more but they deleted a parking garage and a hotel because of the shabby economy. Oh, and the red rabbit. From some angles it looks unfortunately like a rabbit that has been kilt, skinned and hung up to await dinner. I don't know any more than anybody else about Mr. Jobs' fight with cancer. Certainly the good doctor's speculations are plausible but it does seem to me that Steve Jobs lasted longer than most people who have pancreatic cancer. At least longer than people I've known. I've always been suspicious of oddball cures. If they're so good why isn't mainstream medicine using them? It always seems to me like the Fish carburetor or that perfect battery that the auto companies quashed.
- Thanks, Mary. That was cute.
- That article hit the California nail on the head. The view from close up here in Sacramento is pretty ugly.
- Be well, Connie. The books miss you.
- That picture of you and Alan is fab. Especially the Facebook version. The goat girls are cute but I told them not to run through the briar patch nude.
- I buy my kitchen stuff at restaurant supply stores. Good, solid stuff for very reasonable prices. Ross and Marshall's are also good sources. You can get a white plastic cutting board like they use in restaurants for about $6 at Ross. Buying that designer stuff is a fool's game. In keeping with the medical theme that has floated around here over the last few days, I'm going to have a cataract operation tomorrow. Supposed to be a piece of cake. I'll let you know.
- Forgive me if this is a bit lengthy but I think, that given the demographic here at nn.c, several of my fellow devotees will be facing cataracts before too long. So yesterday a friend drove me to Rancho Cordova for my cataract operation. I registered, filled out some papers, signed some things and was relieved of my $15 co-pay. With previous visits and the purchase of no fewer than five different types of eye drops I figure that I'm out of pocket about $100 over the last two months for this operation. The next eye will be cheaper because there will be fewer visits and I already have the eye drops. After a brief wait, an attendant led me back to a large room where there were six or eight curtained booths, each with a reclining mobile chair. I was directed to a co-ed restroom and told to remove my shirt and replace it with a smock. There was a hand written sign on the inside of the door informing the occupant that he or she should exit the restroom when properly clad. I guessed that some people had changed and then just waited to be called. Oh well, there were lots of old folks about. I was greeted by a nurse upon my exit and directed to a chair. There she asked me a series of questions, confirmed the eye of the day and fitted me with an IV and hit me with repeated doses of eye drops. After a bit of briefing I was rolled to a booth that had behind it a door leading to the operating room. The on deck circle. Every person with whom I spoke confirmed the eye to be operated on that day and they even noted it on my forehead with a sharpie. More eye drops for numbness. There the anesthesiologist introduced himself and his assistant before leaving me alone for a moment. Then another woman introduced herself as the nurse for the procedure. Finally the surgeon, Dr. Leng came out to speak to me. I had met her before. Dr. Leng is a very young, very attractive woman of Chinese descent. Seriously attractive. Whew. She would be in the TV show. That she was born and raised in California was obvious the first time she opened her mouth. She explained some more of what was about to happen. When she was done she initialed my forehead to indicate that she had spoken with me and had confirmed the subject eye. The care they took to ensure they were going to do the correct eye seems elaborate but I certainly appreciated their thoroughness. At that, the anesthesiologist's assistant wheeled me into the OR. He obviously opened the tap on the IV because things became a bit vague after that. There was a very bright, very red light with a white center shining in my eye and I felt pressure and what was obviously cutting and then a curious nibbling which was explained to me as something akin to a power chisel chipping away at the cataract. I was totally relaxed without any of the tenseness one might feel during a root canal. I heard Leng murmur "That's really good so far." and the strange feelings on my eye continued. Finally she finished with a happy sounding "That's great." They wheeled me back to the booth where I had started and after a moment the nurse told me to put my shirt back on. I was done. There's stuff I don't remember and I think I lost a few moments here and there but only a few. Walking out of the place I felt fine, if a little drunk with my movements and my talking. There had been only a minor discomfort when the surgeon was poking at my eye. After about an hour the drunken feeling abated and I felt as good as ever. I could have gone back to work. The whole thing was amazing and all the Kaiser staff members were friendly, informative and professional. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. This morning I went to Dr. Leng's office in Roseville for the unveiling. It was unbelievable. Things were so bright, colors were so vivid and intense. Everything was so clean. I had been told what to expect but the reality was so far beyond the expectation that I was truly astounded. The other thing that amazed me was the discovery that my left eye, the one that I had thought of as the good eye was horrible. Dark and murky with serious color distortion. It still is. I could go on. It's not over. I will have the left eye done on Nov 30 and then I will still need to get new glasses but the whole thing is simply miraculous. I'm still amazed sitting here at the computer. It's so much brighter in my eight o'clock room; the colors are so clear and clean that I find hard to believe the dim existence that I had endured until this morning when the patch came off. So for any of you who experience the onset of cataracts, and a bunch of you will, I can only tell you that relief is at hand and that the sooner you get your eyes attended to, the happier you will be. I, a medical procrastinator, put it off too long and ended up for the last few months inhabiting a dim, color distorted, curiously unfocussed world. It happens gradually so you don't realize how bad it is until you see the light. Literally (God, did I use that word?). The walls in Dr. Leng's office were yellow. Then the patch came off. They were white. I closed my right eye. They were yellow again. Jeez. Where had I been for the last few months. The deterioration happens fast. Another couple of months and I would have been walking into walls. Get it done right away. The process takes a bit of time but it's less painful than having a tooth filled. I was reminded of how truly precious my sight is. I bought a large dutch oven at Marshall's two years ago for $40. It is not a LeCreuset but what's the diff? Works fine. The old LeCreuset is with my erstwhile wife along with a couple of wonderful terra cotta analogues that provide great cooking.
- The lovely Dr. Cheri did talk about corrective implants. You end up with one eye set at near and one set at far. She also cautioned that the rate of 100% success (no glasses needed) was not that great and a lot of people ended up wearing glasses at least part time anyway. For some reason I wasn't enchanted by the idea of having two different eyes. I don't know why but I just prefer the idea of having both work together. Maybe I'm some kind of superstitious or old fashioned here. Also, I've been wearing glasses for years and am not bothered by them so I just told her to go with the basic model. By the way, there was no residual pain that day or the next. Not even a small ache. Also the drugs wore off in an hour or so without a trace of hangover.
- Happy birthday, Julie. May you double the double nickel. Mary, your movie on a sheet story reminds me of movie time in Vietnam. We would get to the rear area now and then and there would be nightly movies on a screen made of four sheets of four by eight plywood affixed to some sort of frame and painted white. Everyone's fave was the old Combat TV show. Projector clattering way, lots of action, lots of shooting. Guys loved watching that old WWII combat action. We drank beer and cheered and hooted and enjoyed the flicks to the max with airborne flares in the sky and our weapons leaning against our legs. The war on the screen was so different from ours that it would divert our attention from our own reality. God, we were so young and immortal and too many of us weren't. Now, several days after my right eye was fixed, the vision in it is surprisingly improving to the extent that that I can close my left (heretofore dominant eye) and work on the computer without glasses. I think that in a few days my right eye may take over as dominant. Can't wait until my left eye is fixed. I still can't get over how dim and yellowed and distorted vision is in what I had thought of as my good eye. Paddy, it seems cruel to me that your health care provider is making you wait before fixing your second eye. It's going to go bad anyhow so why wait? My second eye is seriously bad now so there's no question about fixing it. I wonder if Kaiser would make me wait if it wasn't fucked. Anyway it seems to me like those assholes are just stalling and hoping that you'll be run over by a garbage truck so they won't have to pay. I made a seriously killer pot of hot and sour soup this evening and sucked down some wine. Fresh wood ear mushrooms don't have much taste. Life is OK.
- I've been out of town for the last clouple of days. Pardon me for dragging things over from yesterday but I thought I'd throw my educational background into the bag with everybody else's. I started at the U of I in Champaign in 1962. Sounds like I may have been there at the same time as a couple of other nn.cers. I was an English major but quit in Dec of my senior year (12-65) and joined the Army. I went back to school at San Francisco State in Jan '70 and graduated in Jan '71 with a degree in English. I picked up the same $175 a month from the VA that Dexter received. It doesn't sound like much now but it sure helped forty years ago. When I split up with my first wife I went to grad school at Hayward State for a couple of semesters while working full time. I rediscovered girls during the first semester and interest in one sort of supplanted interest in the other until school fell by the wayside. Thus ended a long but quite undistinguished academic career. I did have a lot of fun, though. Here's to Kam's and Stan's and all the other Champaign-Urbana watering holes. Also the Boathouse at Lake Merced in SF.
- Had a great lunch as well. A couple of soft tacos at Taqueria Jalisco in West Sac. Yum. Killer salsa fresca. I well remember poppies but I haven't seen any for years.
- Cooz, I'm not sure I follow you. Forgiveness has been a part of Christianity since the beginning. The ancient Christian concept of forgiveness, indeed so many concepts of forgiveness, include the requirement that a penance be served. A few Hail Marys from the confessional, a pinky for a yakuza, other offerings for other groups according to the offense. But penance is required to obtain forgiveness. There has been talk of blood money, of eyes for eyes. Sometimes the results of revenge and penance are hard to differentiate, although I guess one is offered and the other is taken. As I sort of get your Neochristian concept of forgiveness, I see all those various contemporary American sexual deviants, all those white collar thieves and assorted crooks and liars, war criminals and shitheels wanting forgiveness without penance: "Mistakes were made. I'm sorry for what happened. It's time to get on with things." That close to what you mean? I'm a little uncomfortable here. My feeling is that Joe isn't quite the homophobe that he might seem to some. I would guess that he didn't express himself quite as clearly as he might have wished. Believe me, I know the feeling.
- Alex, I'm really sorry for the situation you find yourself in with your spouse. The illness is terrible enough without the added insult of threatening financial woe. I hope the figure it out soon and that's it's not anything serious. I'm appalled by that Sandusky story. They've known about this guy for almost fifteen years and nobody has done anything about him. Of course all those senior university people including Paterno know about him. How could they not? Just like the Catholics. It's a small inbred organization and everybody knows everybody's business. Disgusting.
- No election here today. So what if they make Paterno retire? He's a hundred and fifty years old. I'm sure they'd let him sit in the pressbox to watch the games which is all he seems to do anyway. Cutting his pension and bennies and all ties to the university would do it. I simply can't fathom how it could be possible for him not to know about Sandusky's proclivities. He says he thought they were just taking a shower together. Even if true why did it not seem odd to him that a sixty year old guy was taking a shower in the locker room with a ten year old boy? I always thought that creep Brent Musberger was the only one who called him JoePa. On second thought, Musberger doesn't have enough imagination to dream that one up. He had to have gotten it from somewhere.
- At Caliban's Virtual SF you are looking at the Presidio with the GG Bridge in the distance. I used to live in close walking distance. My friend and airplane partner worked at the Explo and I spent many wonderful hours hanging out there. That was in the days when Frank Oppenheimer ran the place. He was a quiet, gentle man. The brother of J. Robert. Boy, those were the days.
- You're too gracious, Dexter, thank you. I didn't know that show on the History Channel was coming up. I'll look for reruns. Brian, I too had that cynical thought about things breaking just after Paterno became the "winningest coach". What I want to know is if this so called firing has any downside for Paterno. Will he be Emeritus? Still have an office, a phone, a parking spot, all retirement pay and benefits? A seat in the press box? Will he be barred from practice? I wanna know more. My feeling is that he should be banished from campus. I'm sure we'll see more victims when the law suits start flying. Penn State is going to pay for this big time.
- Somebody here at the office just pointed out that institutions that accept federal funds are obligated to report all instances of sexual misconduct to the feds.
- I’m with Brian. I watched the start of the production on ESPN. The thing was a quasi religious paean to the creaky ghost of St. Joe of Happy Valley. Where did that name come from? Prayer vigils in front of his house. Penn State players marching onto the field in a military formation. Holding hands. Big prayer scene involving both teams. Reverential commentary by the TV boobs. Poor St. Joe, victimized by the illegal alien, comminiss, tree hugging, do gooder, librul Democrat fags. It was disgusting and I had to turn it off after a few minutes. Sorry, Alex and others, no offense intended, I’m just trying to present the attitude.
- Nepotism's been around since Adam hired whatshisname. Anderson Cooper's Gloria Vanderbilt's kid? How did I miss that? Don't answer. Love the cover, Nance. You look great.
- TaTa motors makes great cars. They're bodacious TaTas. I think the OWS people started out with a lot of good will from everyone for the first couple of weeks. I mean I'm certainly in favor of the things they seem to want, who wouldn't be? Then the lack of focus and the lack of message or leadership started to tell and the demonstrations seemed to become stale and pointless. At this stage I think the demonstrations are more about the right to demonstrate and to see whose is biggest. It's about something else altogether different from what it was when they started. The demonstrations have now become their own end. I think the OWS people need to call things off, fall back, regroup and start over when they get some of their problems worked out. Also demonstrators absolutely lose me when they get destructive or violent or start to do things that inconvenience everyday folks like shutting down bridges or public transportation. That's just stupid. I can see the fat cats sitting back with big smiles when they see that shit.
- Buffy Poon. Wow. I'd never heard of the Twilight books before today. I don't feel like I've missed a whole lot.
- Ahh, Caliban. You bring up Joan Baez. A truly great person, a wonderful singer and a sublimely beautiful woman in her youth and to this day. I’ve been in love with her for fifty years.
- Ahh, nothing like a nice vintage Beaujolais Nouveau. That's hilarious, Mary. I've seen Gorillas pitching at the SF Zoo. It does tend to scatter the crowd.
- A friend of my girlfriend’s told me about Kennedy’s shooting on the front steps of the library at the University of Illinois where I was a sophomore. I went to my dorm room and watched TV with my roommate for a while and then gathered my girlfriend and we went to the house of some friends where we lay around holding each other and watching the tube for the next couple of days. Cronkite was great and yes we did see Ruby shoot Oswald live. I agree that Bobby would probably have been president had he not been killed and that things would likely have been different today had both brothers served their full terms but that kind of speculation solves nothing. Happy Birthdays, Nance and Moe!
- Brokaw piss you off yesterday Dexter? Numbah 10? Or numbah Sau Muoi Chin? Feel better, please. Lots of people side stepped the military in those days. I don’t even worry about it anymore. Especially if they were honest about it. I just took a walk around our floor here at work. The place looks like it was evacuated. Humm. Maybe it was and they didn’t bother to tell me. Have a great Thanksgiving and a happy weekend, everybody. And Happy Birthday to all of the Birthday folks.
- That bee stuff is scary. I had no idea. Wonder what else is out there. There is a bee store nearby where I buy my honey. It's a very interesting place to spend a half hour or so browsing. They have all the paraphernalia to raise bees and harvest and package honey. All the hives, trays, dividers and lots of other arcane stuff. Also centrifuges, filters, bottlers and so on. They have lots of books and friendly knowledgeable staff. They also have honey. Tons of the stuff in every flavor and it's all available for tasting. Bring your own container or they will fill one for you. Prices are reasonable as well. Great place. I saw a trailer for Big Bang this AM while watching the news. It looked pretty God awful. I sure as hell wouldn't watch it.
- Deborah, hang it on the inside of the front door. I bought a live rosemary tree with lights on it last year. It stood a couple of feet high in its pot. After Christmas I planted it out back. Now I have a nice rosemary bush out there.
- Love those turkey vids. When I lived in Auburn we used to see turkey gangs all the time like those in the last two vids. I’ve waded through them and shooed them off many times and none of them ever attacked me. Just lucky I guess. A gang like that can really tear up a lawn. A neighbor put in new sod for their front lawn and a few days later a gang showed up and started scratching at their new sod. She got so pissed that she went inside and got a shot gun and killed a half dozen of them. Then they ate them. I’ve never thought wild turkeys looked particularly appetizing. Kinda long and stringy looking to me. The neighbors reported they weren’t too bad. Airports are great places to observe phone behavior. There’s the important guy who is “solving” problems with his voice turned up to nine. There are the ones who call from their seat on the plane to report to somebody that they are on a plane and about to take off and then the ones who are on the phone reporting their landing even before the thrust reversers are stowed. It sometimes seems like everybody is walking along with their head down communing with their phone and I don’t see how they avoid all running into each other or walking into walls. My five year old dumb phone – one of those bend it in half sorts that has no apps and does nothing but act as a phone – is dying. It will barely hold a charge any more. I had to do something, so on the advice of thousands I ordered an I-Phone. I ordered it from Verizon and they gave me a hundred off the published price and some other concessions and I guess it will be an OK deal. It should arrive in mid Dec. We’ll see. I guess if all those other people can figure out how to use it I can.
- Yeah, I could have gotten a new battery, Dexter, but reception is deteriorating as well for reasons I don’t know. My monthly bill certainly won’t be going down. I don’t know about delivery times, Dorothy. It probably has something to do with where one is located. All I could get immediately was a white 16 Gig phone. I went for a 32 Gig black phone from Verizon for $199. I don’t know how that price looks back east but it’s pretty good around here. I don’t mind the wait. I’ve had the old phone for five years. Another couple of weeks won’t hurt.
- Caliban, I've always liked that web site. Something about that nurse over on the right side rings my chimes.
- I'm a day late and a dollar short here but I'm sorry for your respective losses, Julie and Dexter. My thoughts are with you. That's really ugly, Dorothy. People need to think before they put something in email. It's forever. A couple of months ago I got a piece of hate email from a woman I don't even know - a lawyer at that. The thing was about somebody else I don't know. I have no idea how it ended up in my in box except that Alex's theory is probably correct. And, Peter, did your boss look like Mitt Romney? Vietnam cured me of any hunting notions. In fact, it was years before I could even go for a walk in the woods. To this day I don't own a gun. Had my fill. On my first trip there we left out of Can Ranh. They drug tested everybody beforehand but didn't police the mens' room. As a result guys were saying "I'm clean, anybody need a bottle filled?" At SeaTac the customs people asked one guy what his bottle of pills was. He told them they were his "no sweat" pills. They took him away and interrogated him for an hour. The bottle contained salt tablets which we used to call "no sweat" pills. You wouldn't believe the shit they missed. Guys had grenades, mortar rounds, ammo, knives, weapons, you name it. I'm amazed the place didn't accidentally blow up.
- Dexter, I had the bug twice when I was in country. The medicines they had, even more than forty years (sheesh!) ago, were quite effective. I've never experienced any subsequent effects from the disease and I don't know anybody else who has. So I doubt that your friend did. Something else like 2,4,5-T known as Agent Orange could have quite possibly been harmful to him. And God knows what other shit was floating around although it couldn't have been as bad as the toxic hell created during the first Iraq war. I'd be happy to sip something with y'all, Brian, but I doubt it would be diet cola. Cheers!
- Bitter @ #2, is that where the seven dwarves came from? Dwarfs? Oh, God. Which is it? When you start to think too much about something like that . . .
- Mary, it’s been windy here with lots of downed trees and power outages but nothing like L. A. Glad to hear you and your boys are safe. My power was out for around 56 hours a couple of years ago and my freezer contents were fine. Just don’t open the door. I know the temptation to open it and check can be almost irresistible.
- Mary, I remember when you got the job you have now! Good luck on this upgrade. Fingers are crossed. Glad your freezer is safe. Deborah, that sounds really good. Can you share the recipe for the fennel potato hash
- Thanks for the recipe, Deborah. I'll have to try it. That pole woman was pretty amazing. I wouldn't arm wrestle her.
- When she was in eighth grade my daughter came to me for help with an algebra problem. I looked at it and fiddled with a pencil and mumbled and suddenly she interrupted with “Oh, I see it now.” Thanked me for my help even though she had figured it out herself and went back to her room. She later graduated with a degree in math. Navigating and building are also math intensive. Some time take a look at the calculations behind a structural element in a building. Whew. That practical course is a great idea, Nance. I would expand it to include basic living things like paying the rent, having to pay for utilities and groceries and cable and phones and all the other things in life. Also that when you move into your own place you have to get mops and sponges and etc. and etc. I think kids really have no idea of the real world when they get out of school.
- Maggie, please be well. We're all pulling for you.
- I wouldn't compare any of those weasels to Martha Stewart. I was never a fan until she was convicted on that bullshit charge of lying to the Feebs. When convicted she never whined, shut her mouth, sucked it up and did her time with grace and dignity. She showed them all how to do it. Great work, Dexter. I'm proud of you.
- Stewart was actually found guilty of four counts of obstructing justice and lying to investigators. Other people were found guilty of insider stuff but not Martha. Pallets of cash.
- I don't know how it works, Dexter, but if I were there I guarantee you that it would feel like 12 below to me. I don't like the cold. The 34 degree temp we have here this AM is enough to get me whining.
- When I was a kid going to a Catholic school in a Chicago suburb the nuns made us pray for ND on football Fridays. I've been happy to watch them lose ever since.
- It's great to hear that you're feeling better, Maggie, and that the future is looking up.
- I've been out of town the last couple of days. Sorry to hear of your loss, Little Bird and Deborah. Depression is a terrible thing. Great stuff, Maggie. I love your attitude. Keep up the good work! The facts were out there back when the Iraqi war was launched. If you took the time to look it was evident that there were no nukes, no stockpiles of horrible chemicals. There was no delivery system for the nukes that didn't exist and Iraq wasn't involved in world terriss activities. Bad as Saddam was he was still better overall for Iraq than the hard core Islamists that are going to end up in charge and the sectarian conflicts we are going to see. Somebody please explain how the last eight years have been better for Iraq and the Iraqi people at large than the eight years that proceeded them. Once things started it became abundantly clear that nobody in D.C. had planned what to do after H hour and nobody had a clue as to what to do. I've read a number of books on the war but "Imperial Life in the Emerald City" was the true mouth opener. I knew things had been bad but my chin was on my chest as I read that one. I still can't comprehend the sheer mind boggling stupidity, incompetence and venality of the whole enterprise. I am still amazed at the huge numbers of otherwise intelligent people who bought into and continue to believe in the bill of goods sold to the American people. Bill Maher is funny as a rubber crutch. I never could stand that guy.
- How about "Moby Dick"?
- RIP Cesaria. The Queen of Cap Verde. She was wonderful, such a rich voice and she could just flat sing. I really love listening to her. I'll miss her. Imperial County is an interesting place. Rich farming, two state prisons, vibrant border town, even a Naval Air Station where the Blue Angels are based. Cher hails from El Centro which seems more like a Mexican town than an American one. Come to think of it, maybe she's from Holtville. Just across the border is Mexicali which is quite a large city. That whole area east of the Salton Sea is a back of beyond desert armpit. In fact, the whole Salton Sea area is just plain ugly. Slab City can exist because it's so out of the way. People don't just pass by the place so there are no innocent eyes to offend. They have to be going to the area as a destination. I have no desire to make it one of mine.
- Congratulations, Nancy. You are exactly what they’re looking for and will do a fabulous job. Sounds like a really busy schedule and we’ll understand a cut back here. What year was that Bob Greene thing that drew so many of us here? I wonder how many blogs have had faithful readers who have lasted that long. I made that pork stew yesterday. It did turn out very well. Good thing it was good because I’m going to be eating it for a long time. When I went to the prune department at Safeway, they were almost sold out. What was left was all labeled “Dried Plums”. They looked and tasted like prunes to me.
- I was quite pleased with the 49ers last night, Dexter. They would be dangerous if they had a quarterback. I've always thought Whole Foods a strange place and I only visit on rare occasions. One time I asked for slab bacon at the meat counter and the guy behind the counter treated me like I was an idiot. "Whaddaya want that for? We don't carry it. Sliced bacon is just as good."
- I think Cathy C is a very attractive young woman who could stand to gain a few pounds. It seems that the primary argument against outlawing cell phone usage; texting or talking, is that it's hard to enforce. That's a way stupid argument and that argument certainly hasn't deterred our esteemed legislators from declaring things illegal in the past. Think of trans racial sex. Think of alcohol sales and consumption. Think of intra gender sex. Grass. Think of many, many other like prohibitions that never made any sense and were unenforceable. Didn't stop brilliant minds under assorted domes from declaring a plethora of activities illegal. Oral sex between consenting males and females was illegal in many states. Shit, maybe still is. The proposed ban is enforceable to the extent that observed transgressors can be arrested and it's a tool to be used against those who cause accidents. A prohibition against cell phone usage while driving, whether as a phone or a texting device, makes absolute sense. I can't tell you how many times I have seen people talking or absorbed in their screen doing stupid things while driving. Yes, I think it's as bad as or worse than drunk driving. I think it needs to be declared illegal now. Y'all can live for twenty minutes without your phone.
- Merry Christmas to all here at nn.c. May you all be warm, snug, and full of love and good food.
- I'll never be the DJ that Caliban is but here's a happy Christmas song from some Brits. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDZcGz4vmJc&feature=share
- Here's another take on the same song with a slight modification. Presented by Ken Levine. Scroll down a tad to "All I want for Christmas ..." http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- I have a land line for three reasons: 1. My satellite provider requires it, 2. My DSL provider requires one and 3. My alarm company requires a land line. Absent those three reasons I would not have a LL. I haven’t talked on it for years. When it rings I just let it go to the machine. I wonder how many people have cell phones with area codes from areas where they don’t live. I got my cell account when I lived in Auburn where the area code is 530. Now I live in the 916 area but still have my old 530 number. I know at least two people who live in 530 and have cells with 916 numbers. Never heard awry pronounced aw ree before. List is too short. How about “realator” for realtor. Drownded. Amblience. There are tons more.
- I dunno, Rana. Bush was the President of the United States of America. He dealt with nuclear on a policy level. When he spoke in public representing the United States in front of the country and the world he needed to pronounce correctly words like “nuclear”. How is he supposed to demonstrate that he has a grasp on policy, how is he supposed to sound credible on the world stage if he can’t even say the word? No, he needed to have one of his entourage explain the proper pronunciation.
- Connie, Penelope is a Greek name. I don't know how the Greeks pronounce it but my Portuguese erstwhile wife pronounces it "Pen el lope" with the accent on the last syllable. So there you are, not dumb but sophisticated and European.
- Cooz, you bet I have. I have a ton of old Brazilian music on vinyl and CD. I love the stuff. Gal, and Maria and Gil and Veloso and Jobim and Gilberto and the rest whom I can't think of with my zinfandel befuddled mind. Rana, I must confess that I love your comments and think that you are a lovely and gracious woman and I concede.
- As long as we're still here, there's a town in Illinois named "Cairo" and one in Egypt named "Cairo". Pronounced differently. I seem to live in Sacramenno. Listen to how all those people on TV pronounce Washington.
- Further small talk. I'll see your Perus and raise you one Piru. There's a Piru in CA pronounced "Pye-rue". Funny you should mention it, Nance. I've got several boxes of vinyl with a lot of stuff I'd like to hear. I'll have to try to resurrect my old system and see if I can make some sounds.
- Good to hear about Maggie. I was thinking of getting one of those turntables that will send vinyl directly to your computer so you can download it to your i whatever. It just seems like so much work and time but there's a lot of stuff on those old records that I don't know if I can replace.
- Geez, Cooz. I actually have Guanciale in my reefer. But not from N.J. Happy New Year, everyone. May 12 be better than 11 and may everybody see health and prosperity.
- Thank you, Moe. A well written obit and a well lived life.
- Can’t read the Charles Pierce piece. That site is blocked on my work computer. Traffic jams are bad everywhere. I don’t know that it profits anyone to try and name the worst. They’re all bad. We even have some tough ones here in Sacto. However, Sacramento doesn’t have the sheer numbers of people and cars to build a jam the likes of which you can see in a major city like L.A. or Chicago. That seems to me to be the key. You need to have the population to stage a truly horrific jam. We’ll get a good one here but it won’t last any near as long as one you’ll see down south. I suspect that’s the case anywhere. One morning last fall, I had a flat in a rental on the Ten about eleven miles west of Ontario airport (ONT). I managed to get the thing over and stopped in a gore point by the Garey Ave onramp. I went to get out of the van and climbed right back into it. The traffic was terrifying. After only a minute or two a CHP officer pulled up behind me. He shepherded me across the on ramp to a spot up against the wall. After another two minutes or so the freeway patrol truck showed up and the guy changed my tire. No charge. I gave him a $10 tip. The whole thing from when the tire blew to when I was on my way again probably took twenty minutes. I can certainly see how easy it would be to get killed trying to change a tire by the side of the freeway. That spot is dangerous beyond belief and extremely frightening. One thing nobody seems to mention is the sound. Five lanes of traffic each way, thousands of cars blasting by on the Ten at that point. One has to shout to be heard. The sound is a physical thing beating on you and certainly adds to the terror. You're simply sitting in the middle of pure violence. I don’t know what I would have done if that freeway guy hadn’t come. I probably would have called Enterprise and told them to bring me a new car and let them worry about the flat. Fifty or sixty MPH doesn’t seem fast but when you’re standing four or five feet from a steady procession of big rigs traveling at that speed . . . Now that I live near downtown Sactown, I take surface streets during my, ahem, fifteen minute ride to work. Twenty minutes if I’m going to the airport and that’s on the freeway. No traffic there at 0500.
- Dexter, the problem with the unseasonable weather in the high country is far broader than the lack of snow for skiers. The snowpack is what much of California drinks. No snow, no water. We could be looking at problems later in the year. Fortunately, last year was a record one and the reservoirs are plump. Also with the sixty degree temps and the high winds we've been having, the fire people are very nervous and very alert. We need snow and rain very badly. The Saints will be in town (SF) Saturday against the 49ers. The 49ers have a very good defense but I, sadly, am picking the Saints to win for one simple reason. They have a quarterback and the Niners don't. I agree that Cabela's and IKEA are worth a visit. One could spend hours at either. There is also the Bass Pro Shop. It seems to be a clone of Cabela's. There might be one near somebody who doesn't have a Cabela's in the neighborhood. I've driven past the one that's off the 15 just above the 10 near Ontario airport and it's every bit as big as a Cabela's.
- They offered me a Smart Car once at Ontario. I was going to Barstow that day. A hundred miles of three and four lane freeway over Cajon pass and out into the middle of the desert toward Vegas with 85 and 90 MPH traffic. Ever stand next to a Smart Car? I opted for something a tad more substantial. I do think, however, that a Smart Car would be a good alternative in a large city urban environment. I once drove a Nissan Cube around Hollywood and Burbank for a couple of days and loved it.
- I can buy Swiss chard, aurgula, kale and fennel bulbs at any supermarket. Always have. I didn't realize they were in any way special or wierd or exotic.
- Ice Pilots? Never heard of it. Tell me more JW. Where and when? I like "Top Chef". But then I've always thought Padma Laxmi was a goddess.
- It was 24 freaking degrees this AM. I thought I was in Duluth. This is simply too cold for human habitation. Good thing for the Niners that they don't have to go to Green Bay Sunday. We're scheduled to get rain on Thursday. The first rain in two months and this is allegedly the rainy season. Bad thing is two drops of rain and Candlestick turns to slop. That 49ers - Saints game on Saturday was one for the ages. Especially the last four minutes or so. Great game! We'll see if SF can do it again on Sunday.
- Sammy’s chili sounds good. A suggestion: take your jalapenos and blacken them in the fire on your gas stove. Scrape the black stuff off on a paper towel. You won’t get all of it but don’t worry. You can do it with a torch but that blackens the chili without cooking it. The gas range blackened chili is very different from a raw one and adds a really good smoky taste. Don’t know what to say about an electric stove except try a torch. Cumin can quickly take over. It must be used sparingly. Use just a teeny touch to start. You can always add more but if you put too much in, you’re screwed. I love the idea of the non-oily sun dried tomatoes. I’ll have to stop by TJ’s and get some. I eat sautéed spinach as well – garlic and maybe a little crumbled bacon, guanciale or pancetta. For raw, it mixes well with arugula and a nice mustard vinaigrette.
- I came back to say that the broiler of an electric stove would work for roasting a chili but Jolene beat me to it. Also a comal or black iron pan would work. Here's a wonderful web site with some hints: http://www.tazadechocolate.blogspot.com/2008/09/roasting-chilies-if-chili-were-woman.html
- If we were all legislated into wearing similar stuff what would happen to that website that publishes pix of weird Wal Mart shoppers?
- I remember when Gest and Minnelli divorced and he sued her for beating the shit out of him. That was truly funny. Etta James had some good songs but I was never a fan and am still not a fan of screaming being substituted for singing. Ella Fitzgerald, the greatest of them all, , never screeched. Paterno was eighty five. The media didn't kill him, the exposure of his disgusting secrets didn't kill him. He died of lung cancer. There's no way to get around his being complicit in the hushing up of Sandusky's activities. The press keeps talking about "molestation" as if Sandusky ruffled the hair of a cute little ten year old boy. If what I have read is correct, the proper term is "rape", as in Sandusky penetrating those cute little ten year olds anally long after Paterno had been alerted. There's a world of difference between simple molestation and rape and a world of shame on Paterno's head. Sorry. No compassion here. If the 49ers had a quarterback they'd be dangerous. I'd say there's an opening for a punt returner but Williams was a fill in for the injured Ted Ginn. I wonder where Williams will be next year.
- Palo Alto High produced Jeremy Lin. Sorry, Cal. Couldn’t resist. Local angle you know. I once had a friend who lived on a boat. Twice he cruised to Tahiti with his wife. In each case his wife delivered a baby the requisite number of months after returning to Oakland. I smiled at that and he shrugged. “Nothing else to do out there.” What is this stemware? I use an old peanut butter jar. Kidding aside, it's a miracle that I haven't dumped a glass of wine on a keyboard.
- That’s truly disgusting, Minnie @ #43. Truly sick. I’m continually amazed at the wide spread hatred of women. Thankfully for them, Caliban, I am not in charge of Stanford recruiting. Also I think that Lin generally slipped past the radar of college recruiters. Poor kid. Condemned to settle for a Harvard education. One of the terribly tragic elements of the Iranian situation is the fact that there are very close ties between Iran and the US. We have so many Iranians living here and they have family in the old country and travel back and forth all the time. There are over a dozen Iranians on the floor where I work alone. Some of them are close friends. The effects of a conflict on them and on their families would be devastating. And I’m not sure the Israeli g’ment could get much farther right than it is now.
- It’s my impression from talking with Iranians here in Sacto that large numbers of Iranians are secular at heart and sympathetic to the idea of normalizing relations with the west and the US. For whatever that’s worth. They’re just as much unhappy bystanders in this affair as we are.
- There are (or were) nudist beaches in the Bay Area that were A. Not freezing and B. Well stocked with attractive females. Very attractive females. They weren’t pick up places. It was a BYOG deal. I always went with a girlfriend. It seemed too pervy to go alone or with another guy. One I’m thinking of in particular was on the Russian River. Very nice place but no amenities. Bring whatever you need. Wonder if it’s even still in operation. I was last there many years ago. Also there were the hot springs up at the Geysers near Healdsburg. Again many years ago – like over forty. There was another at a reservoir over near Orinda and another near San Rafael. The ones on the ocean in SF and West Marin were just too cold as someone noted. I’m not familiar with Kate Upton and can’t follow the links here. I’ll look when I get home. I’m no fan of fake boobs, Julie. Never have been. I know about the grand dad thing, Dexter. I keep thinking of what one of those young ladies must see and think when she looks at an old man like me. And I’ve also found that my tastes and ideas of what an attractive woman is have changed as I’ve aged. I find the young ones are too young and have discovered many lovely women in their forties and fifties whom I previously never knew existed.
- Bitter, not really. We were all a lot younger and looser in those days. This was like '71 or '72. I don’t recall it being a problem. You guys are killing me. I can’t follow any of those links here at the office. So the Chinese can make a fair fake F-150. How are they at fake boobs? Roselawn sounds like a cemetery, Dexter.
- MarkH you're close but here is the acme of AMC performance for my money: http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2010/07/29/a-vintage-racer-with-an-unfair-advantage/ AMC also had some success at the drags but that was never my bag. I'm teetering on La Upton's assets. The slo-mo indicates real but the cover pic is tough to get past. I actually kinda liked her walking (if it can be so described) away. Did someone say she was nineteen? I'm way more than three times her age. I'm going to hell. I know it sounds self serving because of the age thing but I honestly think Monica Bellucci is a better looking woman. Shit. Kate's cute. Monica's a goddess.
- MarkH, you are, of course, right about the AMX and about Penske/Donohue.
- I'm very sorry, Moe. All the best. I'm thinking of you.
- I was in a joint in Can Tho, RVN several years ago when the scantily clad Heineken girls showed up. Booze girls are neither new nor unique to the US. I certainly had no objection to pouring down a few free beers even though I don't quite represent the yoot market. 1964. Goldwater seemed a bit out there to some at the time but compared to the current GOP pantheon he would be a lefty. He wasn't a full on 'bull goose loony' like Santorum. At least not in today's context. "Back to the store in '64!" And this other oldie just popped into my twisted mind: "Don't change Dicks in the middle of a screw. Vote for Nixon in '72!" I don't remember cakes from when I was a kid either. My mom was also a horrible cook and so was my dad until fairly late in his life when he finally started to learn. While I can't remember birthday cakes I can recall some memorably horrible meals. Chop suey was one example. The old man's interpretation was a stew pot filled with chopped celery, a gallon of soy sauce and who knows what else and simmered for an hour. Just thinking about it almost makes me gag. Second hand smoke certainly causes physical discomfort and potentially causes illness for bystanders. Abortion doesn't. Maybe a better analogy would be helmet laws. The argument there is that people with scrambled brains suck up a lot of money and medical resources in the form of long term care and are a social drag as they cause much sadness and anguish to friends and relatives. I agree that a reasonable solution is to have smoking and non-smoking areas in casinos. Too bad if that special machine is in the wrong area. Dexter, that link you posted in yesterday's edition doesn't work. Repost?
- Easy, Bitter Scribe. I wasn’t nostalgic for Goldwater. Somebody else mentioned him and I merely noted that he wasn’t as far out crazy and inhabiting an alternate universe like the current crop. Yes he was a bad guy and no I never voted for him.
- That Indiana guy is right. The girl scouts are absolute loaded with ten year old transexuals.
- "absolutely"
- What is this snow of which you speak? The high country here is pretty bare. In Sacto we’ve had about 6.25 inches of rain since July 1 when the season began and there’s none on the horizon. I never met Jobs and don’t much care about his personal habits one way or the other. There are plenty of assholes to go around and one more doesn’t make any difference to me. I'll let his accomplishments speak for themselves. I remember having a tour of the original Apple manufacturing facility in Fremont. Boy was that a long time ago. The sight of hundreds of those things sitting there silently with their screens on was something. That was the first time I heard of “burn in”. I’m with Bitter on the pit bull subject. Nobody’s saying that every example is a vicious killer but there’s no denying that the breeding and the proclivities are there.
- I don’t know where that sexy broads in jail thing started. I’ve had occasion to visit several women’s prisons and I never saw it. Mostly it’s overweight women (prison food tends to do that) in mu-mus or in baggy jeans and blue work shirts. Believe me, there’s nothing remotely sexy about prisons. They’re awful places.
- "A woman's periwinkle" Never heard that one before. I had a really nice and easy work day today (Friday). We drove up the road to Oroville and the local DMV office. We passed a very visible in the clean air Sutter Buttes (the world's smallest mountain range) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutter_Buttes. We traveled into the land of fruits and nuts, truly. The vast, fertile northern valley is devoted to the cultivation of those products and on Friday the almond trees were in bloom and the temps were in the mid seventies. We, the architect I dragged along with me and jammed into the driver's seat, met with the DMV's departmental facilities guy and the DMV analyst who will be in charge of the remodeling project. The main guy, DMV's departmental construction and maintenance supervisor showed up on his Harley. It was Friday even for the big wigs. We had an easy three hour session and settled on the scope of the project. Easy day for me. Later I'll have to sell the plans to the State Fire Marshal and the State Architect (ADA access compliance) and bid the job and oversee the construction and account for the pennies but today I stood around with my hands in my pockets nodding sagely while the DMV guy told the architect what he wanted. Then the architect and I stumbled onto an ancient burger joint and had lunch. My patty melt was excellent. The ride home and the conversation were equally so. I guess it's my turn to drive next time. Great way to wind up the week. Next week is tough stuff.
- I just got my cookies this AM. The ones from the transexual abortion lovers. A tip of a thin mint to you all. MMJeff, I have noticed that strange time compression thing. For example there were 52% more Mondays in 2011 than in previous years. 2012 is trending the same way.
- It’s like a hair dryer, Deborah. There’s a small gas turbine engine mounted on the back of a truck that drives a couple of fans and blows a lot of hot air to dry a wet race track, also to blow garbage off the track.
- Fingers crossed, Mow. I hopw everything comes out OK.
- Malvolio, tell me more about that turntable. What model? Can you use it to transfer tunes from vinyl to your hard drive? Are you happy with it? Maggie, I hope that your recovery is proceeding and that your strength is growing. Moe ditto, may that last procedure be the one that does the trick and may you not need any further ones. I last listened to Limbaugh one day right after Clinton was elected the first time. Limbaugh for some reason took off after Chelsea, blabbing on about how she was such a fat ugly girl with frizzy hair and so on and on. The kid was all of like thirteen or so at the time. Go after Bill or even Hillary, but a barely teenaged girl? Jeezuz. I turned him off that day and have never listened to him again. Except when I see cuts on TV as I did last night when the network news played him and his free contraceptive and put it on YouTube routine. Just goes to show that he wants to watch for free. What a despicable puke. What these assholes don’t understand is that contraceptives aren’t all about the woman involved. Contraception or its opposite involve the participating male just as much. Contraceptive usage or nonusage isn’t about women; it’s about all of us. This is why their Jihad against women is so awful. They’re prepared to cut off their noses to spite their faces.
- Well said by Coates. Do any of you live in or near the area where those horrible tornadoes struck last night? Sleep Train dropping Limbaugh is bigger than the average sponsor abandonment. Sleep Train is a Sacramento based operation and was just a small start up in the early eighties when they first sponsored a fresh local talk show host on a Sacto radio station. They have been a sponsor of Limbaugh’s ever since even as both grew and prospered. That’s a thirty year relationship Sleep Train just terminated. Reaction here in Sactown is overwhelmingly in favor of the severance. There’s a trial going on in Cleveland that a TV station there is covering in a unique and very amusing way. Check it out: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- Jolene is right in her general characterization of public vs. private employment. At the clerical and other entry or lower paying level of employment, the public sector pays a little better and provides benefits much better than those provided by the private sector. At the professional and senior management level private sector folks get paid a lot better than those of us who recline in our public sinecures. The classic choice has been as Mark P put it in a comment above. (This computer doesn’t see the comment numbers.) Professionals have given up cash in their pay envelope to get better benefits, working conditions and stability. The problem now is that the better benefits are being eroded, the stability is toppling and the working conditions are worsening. Soon it will be low pay, marginal bennies and no stability. It’s heading to the point where the only people in public jobs will be those who can’t get hired anywhere else. And won’t that be nice. I’ve gotten my info from several studies that I’ve seen including the one Kevin Drum featured. Also take a look around at job offerings and you’ll see enough anecdotal evidence. The studies are not accurate down to the last penny but are certainly more than accurate enough to show what is generally true.
- Catching up here as I’ve been out of town for a couple of days. West Covina is beautiful this time of year. I know Dwight is a jerk but I’m also kind of leery of banishing, although if you feel personally insulted, Nance, go ahead with my support.
- I’ve eaten at the Olive Garden a few times while on the road. At the end of a long day in an unfamiliar place I don’t usually feel like searching for a wonderful restaurant. At times there has been an OG right there near the hotel which makes it an easy choice. The food isn’t great but it isn’t bad and they have wine for a reasonable price. It’s not Biba’s but there are worse places to eat and I’ve been to more than a few of them. Never been to Bob Evans but it sounds ghastly. I’ll have to watch that straight/gay vid when I get home.
- Thanks, Mary. I’m mostly ending up in the Ontario and West Covina areas these days. I’d love any suggestions. I liked it better when I had jobs in Hollywood, Van Nuys and Burbank. Lots of good places there. When I had a job in Barstow I’d have killed for an Olive Garden. There’s a place across from the DMV in WC that bills itself as a shrimp restaurant. I went over there one day with my inspector for lunch. They served some kind of brown beef gravy over the shrimp. We’re still laughing about it and no, we haven’t gone back. Preferring to eat someplace other than the Olive Garden is not elitist. I happen to live in Sacramento, CA where there are dozens of excellent, first class, white table cloth type restaurants. Most are reasonably priced as well. Then there are dozens more smaller less ambitious restaurants. All these places are locally owned and all serve wonderful food. Fresh, creative and, yes, better than the formulaic fare at the OG which is part of a large chain. I don’t see why it’s elitist to want to spend my money for superior food served by a local small business. I’ve been a faithful reader of both Capt. Dave and Sam for several years now. Great blogs, especially Capt. Dave’s. What is a scholarship if not a hand out? A competitive one but a handout nonetheless. In CA, State colleges and universities have been disproportionately targeted for very deep budget cuts. Perish forbid that subsides to business be cut. There has been an ongoing scandal about administrators at both the State colleges and universities granting themselves generous pay raises while screwing the students and faculty.
- Don’t worry about qualifiers and clauses, Rana. You made the point about administrators better than I did. I’ve been to places where even Applebees looks good. I remember they had a ruben that was almost edible.
- In 1970 I was married, going to school and working part time. My wife was working full time but we were still very, very tight on money. The couple of hundred bucks I received from the VA every month were most welcome. I don't recall anyone having their knickers in a twist over the North Dakota restaurant review. I must have missed something.
- I’m watching the 5:00 PM news and just saw Willard Windsock stand up before an audience and say “Morning, y’all.” He was talking about grits yesterday. The guy truly has no shame and it suddenly occurred to me what a patronizing bastard he is. His remarks about going to a cheaper college if you couldn’t afford your first choice were beyond disgusting. Krugman had a very smart column in the Bee today about the Rs and college. I read it on paper and I'm sure it appeared in the NYT a day or two ago. Somebody smarter than I am can probably find it.
- Fantastic, Rana. Just freaking fantastic. I hadn't thought of it that way. Wow.
- I didn’t realize that about Charles Eames. It happened to a guy at Dept. of Corrections twenty years or so ago. He was supposed to be in Chino when it turned out he was in a hotel in San Francisco with his girlfriend. It wasn’t a bad heart attack and he was back to work in a couple of weeks. I’m guessing things were a little frosty between he and his wife. Anybody else out there? I didn’t find that cartoon particularly offensive. On the other hand I didn’t find it especially amusing either.
- You guys are killing me with the links. My work computer blocks most of them and tattles when I try to connect with one of them. Trouble is that Big Daddy is blocking new sites so fast that I can’t keep up with what’s just been blocked. Then by the time I get home I forget to go back and follow your links. Like I meant to check out that onion/egg one yesterday and forgot. There used to be a combination liquor and gun store in Roseville. Wonder if it’s still there. I regret never having taken a picture. “Gimme a quart of MD 20-20 and a shotgun, please.”
- Here in Sacto it's mid fifties, foggy and raining.
- I'm sorry for your cat, Deborah. It's the unfortunate downside to having pets.
- I'm not buying it, Mary. The power to accomplish what the clip purports to show simply doesn't reside in the human form. Also the glide ratio after the guy stopped flapping is a joke. He'd drop like a rock. And lots more. Sorry. It's just not on.
- Going back to yesterday: You’re absolutely right, Mary. I missed the magic feather. I humbly withdraw my comments. Yes, Prospero. Just so. And the problem with Reich is that he has a brain and knows how to use it.
- I knew a girl named Penelope Chalupka when I was in collitch. Kinda rolls off the tongue, huh? Penelope Chalupka.
- A heart "transplant" for Cheney? I'll leave the obvious comments out there.
- Linda, my dad showed me that Land O Lakes trick when I was a teenager. I've passed it on many times over the years to the amusement of all. Glad to hear that it's alive and well in your neighborhood.
- Here’s a nice feature for those who like Formula 1. Lots of good info. http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/24/infographic-breaks-down-the-intricacies-of-formula-one-in-2012/#continued
- I'm just wondering how many dollars in political contributions Gannet Corp has made and to which candidates and causes it has contributed.
- Apparently there is no social contract. Let ‘um bleed out at the curb. See what the ever wonderful Dahlia Lithwick has to say: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/supreme_court_dispatches/2012/03/supreme_court_and_obamacare_why_the_conservatives_are_skeptical_of_the_affordable_care_act_.html I paid $4.20 the other day. That’s about as good as it gets around here. Most places are more. Edit: Wow. Look at how that link stretches clear out to the right and falls off the screen.
- We had a tractor/mower in Auburn. It had a cup holder that was perfect for a beer can. Drinking beer while mowing is nice.
- Better than most, Mary. Better than most.
- Basset, I don't like licorice either. But fennel doesn't really taste like it and adds a certain - something to the dish. I used it and was glad I did. Try it next time. I think you'll be pleased.
- I remember Werner Earhard (Sp?) and his estholes.
- Not to brag, but the best asparagus in the world is grown down in the delta about forty miles from here. It’s in season now. Yum. You never see stalks that are woody or stringy or tough. It’s all fresh, sweet and tender. The Sunday farmers market has stuff that was caught yesterday. The supermarkets sell asparagus that is only a couple of days old. I love the stuff and eat lots and lots of it. And yes, it makes my pee smell funny. Sacramento is a locavore’s heaven.
- "Candy" had one of the greatest lines in all of recorded literature. "Give me your hump! Give my your hump!"
- At least folks back east got that warm spell. It's been ten to fifteen degrees below normal all year so far. I'm beyond ready for a warm day. I'll confess to taking off today. Got some things to do. Have a good one!
- I generally agree with MMJeff @21. Two things. There are way, way too many school districts. At least in California. They expensively duplicate efforts and employ way too many administrative personnel and provide way too much ego stroking for local, self important school board officials. Here in California we have term limits so legislators vote for the issue of the moment with no concern over the possible effect their vote will have a year or two down the road. They'll be termed out by then. The weather here isn't bad, it's sunny and clear. The problem is that it's ten degrees cooler than it should be. The difference between 62 and 72 is very noticeable. And, yes, I am whining.
- The “nuclear shadow”, as MMJeff puts it, is an excellent and descriptive phrase. Only thing is, for me it was in the fifties when I was a little kid. During the early sixties I was in college at the U of I and in July of ’66 I went to Vietnam. I remember the Spec murders but had other things on my mind at the time and was away from the news. Living in Berkeley and spending a lot of time in SF during all of the sixties, I have many and fond memories of the hippies. School year in Champaign and summers in the Bay Area. It was a fun time for me until it got serious.
- That was hilarious, Mary, and spot on. I was on a criminal jury once. In SF about 30 yrs or so ago. We convicted a guy of selling drugs. They had him so dead to rights that we must have deliberated all of fifteen minutes. Here they send you a letter with instructions and an assignment to a panel. Panel Twelve for example. All you do is check their web site every evening for Panel Twelve instructions. Clean and simple. It’s been five or six years for me. I’m feeling kind of ripe for the plucking.
- Yesterday I had to drive up to Truckee. Good thing I specified a 4wd SUV for my rental. It snowed to beat the band on the drive up the hill. Visibility was terrible until we got over the summit. Luckily the snow wasn’t sticking to the road. Santorum isn’t a real dick. He’s just a dildo.
- May things be peaceful and pain free, Moe. I've admired you for several years for several reasons. I'm going to miss your wonderful comments.
- It was assuredly more frustrating and patience fraying teaching my daughter to drive in a stick (the old ’68 Vee Dub). But it was worth it. Her first car was a three banger Metro with a stick. Her ex-hubby still has it. My ex has a four banger Metro and a PT Cruiser, both stick. My Honda is auto but my old ’70 F-250, which I just sold, had a manual tranny. Definitely more fun to drive than an auto and more engaging. I think everyone should learn to drive one. Rana's situation is a perfect example. What if she hurts a leg and hubby needs to take her to the E-Room?
- My '70 F-250 had a four speed with a floor shift. A great big long substantial thing with a huge black knob. First gear was a granny so it really only had three usable gears. It had a 390 and would do 60 mph up the hill to Auburn empty and 60 mph up the hill to Auburn with 3000 lb of tile, thinset, grout and backerboard. Also 60 mph down the hill from Auburn. It was a great truck but I simply have no need for it and it was just sitting. Last thing I had with three on the tree was a '62 Falcon wagon. I'd love to have it back.
- I sadly have to echo Dorothy @ 106. She describes me perfectly. Of course I knew Moe's passing was at hand but the sudden reality was a bit of a surprise. I had come to like and admire Moe very much. This whole electronic media thing is fairly new. I've been here and there on the internet for about fifteen years which doesn't make me any kind of early guy but the whole thing still seems wondrous to me. At my age fifteen years really isn't that much time but in those fifteen years or so I have observed and experienced things I would have never have dreamed of in my youth. The connections I have made with people all over the world through the wonder of the net are amazing and are still a wonder to me. I felt I had come to know Moe - Regina - to some degree through her comments here at nn.c and at her blog. I was amused by her comments about her ex running for office in Washington, stirred by her pride in her children, impressed by her passion for justice and above all, taken with her strength and grace in coping with the horrible affliction that finally overcame her. We've lost Moe and Ashley and Whitebeard. Somehow that seems, sad as it may be to say, just like a regular, in person, human community. I guess that's life and I guess that it speaks to the wonderful community that nn.c has become. It's because of wonderful people like Moe and Ashley and Whitebeard and all of the rest of you that nn.c has become a kind of second home to me. Thank you, all of you, shit, even Dwight, for making this a second home for me. Tonight I'll weep for Regina.
- I've had '62, '66 and '68 bugs. Not at the same time. I taught my daughter to drive in the '68. I've had a couple of the current iteration as rentals and was favorably impressed. I'm not favorably impressed by the faux confidante, insider wanna be, cutesy, butt kissing, ingratiating prose written by that Palm Beach Shannon person. And fie on those mere mortals who have the nerve to be unhappy at having to wait for hours while Mrs. Romney did her shopping. And talk about patronizing your readers. I've never been to Palm Beach FL but I've been to Palm Springs, CA. Must be about the same if you substitute sand for water. Palm Springs has a Rolls Royce dealer, Jaguar, Mercedes Benz, Ferrari, Porsche, Bentley dealers and so on. All the big designers have boutiques on the Paseo. You get the idea.
- MMJeff says “you know Michigan, always selling that tourism). The Michigan Tourism Board or whomever has been running “Vacation in Fab Michigan” commercials on TV here in Sacramento for several weeks. Among other things, they’ve featured some attractive shots of the Henry Ford Museum. When I went to school at the University of Illinois in the early sixties and San Francisco State in the early seventies tuition and fees ran about $300 per semester. I haven’t closely followed dollar amounts lately but it seems to me that things cost more than $3000 a semester at a state school these days.
- A couple of years ago I spent a lot of time at the State Veterans Home in Barstow. I had a project there. The place is clean, the food good, the sponsored activities plenty and the management and staff work very hard to provide a good place for their residents. I have to give them all the credit in the world for their efforts. But in the end, the place is what it is and I concluded that there was no way I would ever want to live in such a home. I have no idea what I'm going to do when the time comes. I do know that I'm still working at age 67 and won't be retiring any time soon.
- I don't know. Hummingbirds make me nervous. I always imagine one stuck in the middle of my forehead like a dart.
- My name is Michael G., though I only had my parents' word for that. I am a State employee here in CA and I participate in SS. As a matter of fact, they send me a check for a couple of grand every month. I would be very unhappy if they changed the retirement benefits for those already retired or those who are old but still working like myself.
- I really liked that bookstore story. It sounds like a great place and Dorothy's niece sounds like a fine woman. Dorothy has much to be proud of.
- I think I've said this before and I think that others may have said similar things. Clerical and other lower paid employees of the California State Government typically make more than their counterparts in the private sector. And that's as it should be given the wages offered by so many businesses. The State needs to show leadership. Employees at a professional level typically make significantly less working for the State than those in private enterprise. I work for the State of California as a construction project manager. In the private sector construction project managers make a helluva lot more money than I do even though I make a fair dollar. In this profession, the deal has always been that private sector folks have moved from job to job, place to place, project to project and have been vulnerable to layoffs in exchange for a large dollar. Working for the State has traditionally offered a significantly lower salary in exchange for job stability, benefits and a strong retirement. You make the choice. That equation has always attracted talented individuals to private enterprise and attracted talented individuals to the State. Different folks have split the cost/benefit analysis in different ways. It has worked just fine for decades. Now we are seeing a drive to cut benefits and job security for public employees without any effort to bring wages into parity with private sector employees. You can't have it both ways. When the GOPers have their way, guess what kind of ash and trash we'll have working for the State. The sad thing is that instead of trying to raise wages and benefits for all, the politicos have chosen to follow their masters and work to curtail if not destroy wages and benefits of a lucky few union and state employees so as to enrich their billionaire masters.
- Gawd, Rana. The first girl I kissed was the sublimely beautiful Sandy Schechter. The fun thing is that my father had a serious but unconsummated thing for Sandy's equally beautiful mother Kit Schechter. Kit was the first older woman whom I realized was attractive. They were a pair of tall, slim but curvy honey blondes. Kit must have been all of thirty five to forty at the time. Shee-it. That would put her around ninety today if she were still alive. Fuck, I'm old. I'm sure they're not related to the people in your attachment.
- Some years ago I had a job in the area. On the occasion of one site visit I had some time so I decided to pass by the intersection of Florence and Normandie. What an absolutely undistinguished spot. It could have been anywhere. I wasn't surprised.
- I've long thought the Olympics were more trouble than they were worth, beb, and that they were more about greed and self aggrandizement than anything else. There's a lot of talk about trying to get the winter games back to the Tahoe area. I hope it doesn't happen.
- I agree about the Daley pension games. They're probably legal but they shouldn't be. I agree about Romney's money games. Probably legal but shouldn't be. And I certainly agree with you about Meigs field, Joe. However, I can't see how you can hang Daley around Prospero's neck. He's made his distaste for Daley pretty clear.
- Ninety degrees in Detroit. The average temp for Sacto on this date is 78 degrees according to the TV weather last night. Yesterday we reached all of 60 degrees. We've been running ten or more degrees behind all spring. It's supposed to warm up this weekend. Maybe we're finally going to get there.
- Love it, Charlotte.
- Here's a little film clip about a woman who started working for the State before I was born. I’m 67. She works just down the aisle from where I sit. I know her and all the folks in the film. http://blogs.sacbee.com/the_state_worker/2012/05/guy-with-70-years-of-service.html
- Happy birthday, Ic. Prospero beat me to the warning. I know what you mean, Mary. I find myself in Safeway mostly to by wine since they are so cheap and have such a great selection. For the rest, there's Taylor's Market, Morantz for prepared meats (bacon, sausage, etc.), Freeport bakery, the farmer's market, TJ's and others. It's fun to shop those places and the prices are competitive with the supermarkets.
- Whoops. Went to Safeway to BUY wine.
- That was a well done obit. I can't remember the last time I posted anything on FB. I sort of lurk once a week and maybe drop a comment here or there.
- Way to go, Barry O! I've never heard of these five guys burgers but I can tell you that the best fast food burger is In and Out. And they also fresh cut fries daily in each store.
- Cooz, your friend is wrong about Mitt and Flashman. Flashman may have stumbled here or bumbled there but he was basically well intentioned and a good guy. Not true for Mitt, as today's comments will show. As Lloyd Bengtson said: "I knew Harry Flashman and you are no Harry Flashman". Or something like that.
- Happy Mothers' Day to all who are!
- Gas prices have gone up by a lot at the station I patronize. It was reasonable but now it's over $4.25. I can see the oil companies engineering the refinery slow downs. They will be in no hurry to fire things back up given the obscene profits they will be taking in. I don't like the idea of using gas prices or automobile taxing as social engineering tools. People shouldn't have to be clubbed into using public transportation. Look at the inconvenience to LAMary as an example. Yes there is excellent, convenient and comprehensive public transportation in Europe. So what. We simply don't have it here and it's unrealistic to act as if we do. The Europeans have also been developing and nurturing their systems for well over a hundred years. Like it or not, the public transportation system in the US is the highway. Money here has been spent on roads and automobiles and not on a European style of mass transportation. As a result of priorities (it doesn't matter if they were misaligned or not, the fact is we are here with the auto as our main transportation option) efficient and convenient mass transportation does not exist for most people in this country. Forcing people out of their cars with no good alternative is wrong. Besides, if everyone suddenly decided to take the bus, the train or the street car, the system would be overwhelmed and the transit authorities don't have the money or the will to cope. There is also no fed or state money for public trans. Look at the way the Republicans (yes them again) are always trying to kill AMTRAC.
- "Reasonable economists." Speaking of whom, Paul Krugman has been writing a series of columns for the last few weeks about the futility of the German austerity policies. Sarkozy was with Angie on this but the new French president is not. Will be interesting to see what happens. A normal thing for a country in Greece's shoes would be to devalue their currency. Greece can't do that since they are part of the Euro.
- The Food Channel has well and truly gone down the tube and the Cooking Channel is following right down the same road, although they still have Laura Calder, Lorraine Pascale and Ching-He Huang on Saturday AM. If any of you guys like Giada's goodies, check out Laura. Giada has 'um but doesn't seem to know what they're for. Laura knows. The best peaches I've ever had come from a roadside stand off I-5 down in the Valley at Patterson just below Stockton. Right off the tree, still hot from the sun, the juices running down my chin and my arm, so sweet and flavorful, mmmmmmmm. One feature of European public transportation that nobody seems to mention is the gypsy singers and beggars who inhabit subway cars.
- I saw something new at the farmers market today. Garbanzo beans. No, not in a can or dried in a little plastic bag or in a bulk bin. Garbanzo beans on the hoof. They grow on long, kind of frondy almost dill looking branches but with woody stems. The vendor sells the branches in bunches for a buck and a half each. The branches carry little green, oval almond sized pods and the garbanzos reside inside. One worries the pod open and lo, there it is: a pea sized, miniature green garbanzo. The old lady ("old lady", listen to me) at the booth was really pushing them, raving about how good they were in salads and so forth. I ate a couple and they seemed a tad too green and grassy to me. Besides, persuading them all out of their pods was going to be a helluva lot of work, much worse than shucking peas. Pass. I'll stick with the dried ones. If anybody is interested in the annular eclipse that's taking place today, a Sacto TV station will be streaming it live at KCRA.com . It will be at around 6:30 PDT. I'd recommend tuning in fifteen minutes or so early. kcra.com Edit: I don't know why that isn't coming up as a link but it's an easy URL.
- We’re five minutes or so from the full eclipse. It’s gotten a little dark and the light is weird. I took a quick look at the sun and got a glimpse of the incursion. The TV is doing a good job of covering things.
- Suddenly, it's really starting to get dim. Strange light. Outside. Moving fingers back and forth I can see the crescent sun. Kool. It's getting a bit dimmer but not really dark. Still, TV has good coverage.
- We’re about 150 miles away from a perfect view but we get about 99%. The thing is at its peak and there are folks on the streets looking with fingers waving (it works) and pinhole cameras and glasses. It hasn’t gotten as dark as I had thought it would.
- Well, now it's basically over and the moon is sliding off to the upper left. It looks that way outside as well as on the TV. I'll plan for the next one like I planned for this one. Not at all, but it worked out.
- The light is getting brighter at almost seven PM. If you're ready for that.
- No firearms in my house. I remember when I was stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC during the late '60s there would be guys who would take guns to town on the weekend. Most of them ended up using them. The rest of us somehow managed to stay out of any gun related incidents. I think carrying them with some kind of self protective mind set leads to ill advised usage. I shop at a lot of Asian supermarkets (including Ranch 99), Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese. They all have different stuff. I've never seen anybody but an Asian working in one of them. They cut their meat differently so there are a lot of unfamiliar cuts in the butcher case. Produce does tend to be cheaper than at traditional supermarkets but no better. Produce at the Asian farmers market is outstanding, as the produce at the traditional farmers market. The many types of soy or fish sauce can be overwhelming but I cope. I mean, just buy one. If you don't like it, buy another kind next time. The lack of cheese is no biggy. I shop at several stores every week anyway. Some of the Asian markets are not as clean as one might prefer and do have a, um, heady aroma. It doesn't particularly bother me but I can see how it might offend the fastidious. Inspect your fish carefully. Mostly I buy my fish at Oto's, the Japanese supermarket. Every item is displayed, jewel like, on a bed of crushed ice. There is no, let me repeat that, absolutely no fish smell at Oto's. The display is incredible. Their fish is superb if not the cheapest around. Want Kobe or Wagyu beef? Oto's has both but be prepared to pay. The Japanese have lots of prepared, frozen foods. Oto's is the cleanest supermarket I've ever been to. Amazing place. Their wine selection is the shits, though. I guess that since I've been shopping at these places for years (don't forget the Spanish markets) and am accustomed to them they don't seem strange to me. Familiarity breeds familiarity. One thing at the Asian markets is they all have plastic bags only and the bagger always ties the top in a knot. Drives me nuts. All in all I remain convinced that Sacramento is one of the best and most reasonably priced places anywhere to buy food and wine.
- I'm not aware of any Armenian markets around here. I've had Armenian brandy which is excellent. What do their stores offer, Mary?
- This will be close to home for some of you. The incomperable Dahlia: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2012/05/ohio_republicans_want_to_disallow_ballots_with_errors_caused_by_poll_workers_.html
- Couple of Muslim world stories: I have a friend who was in the Air Force reserve. She was the First Sergeant in a reserve tanker unit out of Beale. Nadine is black, about 5'10" tall and a straight talking, take no shit woman. Not unexpected in a first shirt. Nadine ended up spending a year in Saudi with her unit during the first Gulf war. Months after coming home she was still seething at not being able to drive, having to be escorted by a man to go anywhere, dress restrictions and the dozens of other indignities to which she was subjected even as a non-Islamic American woman. About twenty years ago when we were living in Midtown, we had Pakistani neighbors two doors up the street. Father, two teenage sons, mother and teenage daughter. The father and the sons wore robes and those little hats exclusively. In the couple of years we were there we never saw the daughter and only saw the mother once or twice. The daughter stayed in the house 24 - 7. She never came outside, didn't go to school, didn't go to the store, nothing. Lord knows how they treated her in the privacy of their home. I still wonder if maybe we should have reported them to child protective services or something. I see no merit in a religion that treats half its members the way Islam does.
- Basset, I've always been under the impression that news was very profitable for a TV station. It had (I understood) a relatively low production cost against a high viewership and as a result the TV station could charge a good dollar for commercial time. This is a pretty much uninformed impression. Please set me straight.
- Mr. Judd? Not hardly. Franchitti is nobody’s boy toy. The only controversy about that last lap pass attempt is in Sato’s mind. He was overly aggressive all day with even Rahal (his car owner) telling him to cool it at one point. He was pushing it in his attempt to get by Franchitti. He also seemed to be in the grip of some sort of empty fantasy that Franchitti should move over and wave him past. They were racing for the win on the last lap of the Indy 500. That wasn’t even going to happen. Dario may not have given Sato the pass but he didn’t block him either. Nobody, not the officials, not the TV commentators, not the other drivers, nobody other than Sato had any criticism of Franchitti.
- I can certainly understand that, Prospero. Ms Judd is a very attractive and very sexy woman. I wrote an admiring comment about her here two years ago when Franchitti last won the 500.
- Courtesy of Nancy's archives, here is what I wrote on 05-31-10: "I am entirely with you on Ashley Judd. She’s a beautiful woman. I watched her yesterday after the race. Laughing, crying, sweating, happily running barefoot down the pit lane totally being herself and totally not giving a shit that she was on national TV. I can’t think of very many women who would behave so wonderfully. Dario’s a very lucky man and not a half bad race driver."
- I don't know about steampunk as a lifestyle but there are lots of neat artifacts around. The Nautilus (SSN-571) was tied up and semi derelict at Mare Island for years. I used to see it all the time. There was always an old WW-II era destroyer or two tied up adjacent on its way to the breakers. The Nautilus was eventually towed back east somewhere to be put on display.
- I just looked it up. Groton, CT.
- Yes, Prospero, it was indeed built at Electric Boat in Groton.
- Don't forget Robert Reich. He's every bit as sensible, sane and grounded as Krugman.
- Deborah, thanks for that link to the Paul Krugman discussion. You could talk to those idiots until you're blue in the face (I'd more likely be red in the face) and never get through to them. I've been through a few sothren towns that sported paper mills, including Savannah. Ugh. Chino (just south of Ontario) is home to a huge dairy industry that dates to the nineteenth century. The smell of the animals and their pee is, or was, overwhelming. I have to admit that I haven't been to Chino in ten years or so but you can still get a healthy whiff of it at the Ontario airport when the wind is right. The cows have been pissing on the ground for so long that it's saturated. I've driven down a two lane road there in the rain and the ditches were filled with a mixture of piss and water. I understand there are similar problems with pig raising operations in Virginia and the Carolinas. Ugh again. Also, I remember the Sherwin-Williams paint factory on the south side of Chicago dumping paint into the Calumet river back in the fifties. One day the river would be red, another day it would be yellow and so forth. Three ughs and I'm out.
- Indeed, Brian. Franchitti's two brilliant restarts at the end lifting him from sixth to second were fun to watch and I'm never sad to see Scott Dixon win. Softball not so much as the vaunted Pac-12 contingent led by Cal stumbled and bumbled their way out of the tourney. Tonight is the final between Oklahoma and Alabama. It's gonna be a great game. A good friend of mine has a daughter who plays for Oklahoma. He's there now. I guess I'll root for them. I can't get that link to the Breitbart portrait. Management has the site blocked. Also when one clicks on a blocked site the system tattles. There are more and more blocked sites all the time. It's getting to the point where I am not going to click on anybody's links any more.
- Feel better quickly but get plenty of rest anyway.
- People serve in the military for many different reasons. The fact that they serve in a war zone and even participate in the fighting doesn't make them scumbags; nor does it make them heros. They're people just like everyone else. I'm an airborne veteran and did a tour in Vietnam with the 101st Abn and a second three month trip with the 82d Abn. There have been many thousands of wars for many thousands of years and people have fought and died in them since the beginning of time. In that context there is nothing special about Iraq or Afghanistan or Vietnam or even WWII. They are just more recent and we know people or are people who participated. I have no problem with quietly honoring people who served. I do find something creepy, smarmy, sanctimonious and self serving with all this "Thank you for your service" bullshit that's going around these days. Current vets and serving military are no better and no worse than those who served with Alexander. PTSD is a 21st century phenomenon? Guys didn't get just as wiggy after twenty years in the XVII Legion in Mesopotamia as recent guys in Iraq? I'm kind of groping here but the sense that today's vets are somehow different or special offends me. I've been to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) in recent years. There are several very interesting museums and memorials around town. It's educational to see things presented from a different view point. I was slightly amused by some of the captured aircraft and vehicles. The paint and the lettering was just that much off. The lowest gas price in this area is still around $4.09. I can't stand Bill Maher. Never could. Whatever he is/was, he isn't funny and his commentary sucks.
- I luckily was never cursed, spat upon or vilified during the many times I passed through airports (mostly SFO and ATL) back during the Vietnam era. Nor did I experience any job related difficulties, thank goodness. It was the case, however, that Vietnam vets seemed to be demonized as a bunch of homicidal, drug crazed loonies who were best avoided. I'm not sure that attitude has entirely faded. I had a bunch of stuff I saved - a sweatshirt, Chicom Mao cap, and a pair of pants and a belt, all too small to wear. I also had a lot of pictures. That stuff all burned up in a fire. I wish I had the pix. All I have left are a half dozen pictures and an M-16 magazine with a ragged hole in it. That was a close one. I never saw much of those boats. We operated in the central highlands and central coast and later up near Hue. The boats were down in the delta. Oh, and our mode of transportation was by LPC - Leather Personnel Carriers.
- We used to sit around and drink beer and fantasize about putting all the big bosses from Hanoi and D. C. in an arena with clubs and let them settle it while we drank beer and ate popcorn with the PAVN guys while watching the show. Didn't work out that way.
- I've had a ride in a 421. Talk about a large limo. It's a really, really nice cabin class airplane and a big step up from a 310. No Penny, though. Back in the early eighties when I, with a partner, owned a Citabria out of Oakland, there was a Polish guy at the field who did banner tows. He was older, a vet of the Polish air force in WWII where he was said to have been some kind of hero who later escaped to England and flew for I can't remember whom for the balance of the war. Anyway, he had a beautiful blue and yellow (what else?) Stearman with a big non-standard Pratt that I was told made 950hp. Who knows? I've been told lots of things but this one I believed. My instructor flew it a few times and said it was bad ass. He also said he damn near froze to death in that open cockpit on a banner tow trip to San Jose. http://www.warbirdalley.com/pt17.htm They would lay the banner out on the grass by the aircraft parking area with the end strung up between two poles that looked to be about twenty feet high. The Polish ace would then take off in the Stearman, circle around and swoop down at full power to pick up the banner with the hook on the tail of the aircraft. It was an incredible sight to see that big biplane barrel down at us, snatch the banner and head back up into the sky with that big engine roaring and the whole airframe straining against the sudden drag of the banner. Then he was gone to the Oakland Coliseum a mile away where there would be an A's or Raider's game with a huge captive audience or maybe he would fly the three miles or so across the Bay to Candlestick where there would be a Giant's or 49er's game. OAK was a great place for a banner tow operation. After a maybe a half hour he would be back, settling gently toward the grass with that huge engine idling and the banner fluttering behind him and he would release the banner which would fall softly to the grass where his guys would quickly change the message while he was out circling over the golf course before coming back, power full on now to dive down to pick up the banner again with its new "Cindy will you marry me" message. Great times. I was so stupid not to have taken a ton of pix. It was exhilarating to stand right there, head back and mouth open, hearing and watching that big airplane barreling down at us, buffeted by the wind of it as it passed just overhead, inhaling the aroma of airplane and oil and exhaust as it passed twenty feet above us, the roar of that huge round engine blotting everything out but still audible was the click of the hook engaging and the snap as the banner pulled taut and then the engine screaming as it was past us and loaded up with the increased burden of the banner drag, the Polish ace grinning over the cockpit coaming with his leather jacket and his old time leather helmet and goggles. The souped up Stearman was a wonderful banner tow aircraft. There was another guy, maybe out of Hayward, I don't know where, who towed a smaller banner with a Cessna 150. That thing would be struggling along at a high angle of attack and I don't know how he kept it in the air with its bitty 115hp. He struck me as a bit of a fool trying to tow banners with a 150. I mean he was on the edge the whole time. God, I wish I could remember the name of that Polish guy. He was polite but aloof, like a count or something, but boy could he fly. Such a delicate touch on the controls.
- I don't know, Dexter, but it's not just Sacramento. It's this country which is heading somewhere awful fast. Did you see that stuff about three people being killed and three others wounded at Auburn Univ.? By the way, the people in Sac are Hmongs and the police are saying that it was some kind of Asian gang thing, not a random home invasion.
- You wanna see 85 mph, beb, check out the 15 north of Victorville, through the desert and on to Vegas.
- beb, ain't nothing between Victorville and Vegas but miles of wide open, flat desert crossing freeway with visibility to the horizon. The other way, from Victorville down to Berdoo, sharply curving mountain driving with a several thousand foot drop, three and four lanes wide is the sporting part. Saw this once: 'What do you call a woman without an asshole? Single." Have I said this stuff before?
- Wow, that is a great picture, Deborah. You look all urban and classy and mysterious.
- Good to see you, Maggie and I like your post.
- Just got back from Chicago (Tinley Park) where, over the weekend, I attended my 50th High School reunion. Interesting and a good time. Gotta love the TSA. On the tram heading for the security check point at SMF last Thursday, I noticed a very attractive forty something woman dressed nicely in dark slacks and a form fitting, white patterned blouse. I know, I know, but while I may be old, I'm not dead. I lost sight of her until I was tying my shoes after clearing. I looked up and there she was, about ten feet away being frisked. The TSA slag was feeling her up quite intimately with both hands under the woman's arms, the woman standing stoically with her hands in the air and her eyes closed. Then the slag grabbed her breasts from behind and I had to turn away in embarrassment and finish tying my shoes facing the opposite direction. I saw maybe two or three seconds worth of the humiliation. It was horrible. God knows what the poor woman was thinking while she was being groped so brutishly and intimately right out in public. I don't even want to know what the TSA slag was thinking. Then when I got to my hotel and opened my bag, which I had checked, there was one of those stupid notifications from the TSA stating that they had creeped my luggage. The jacket, slacks, tie and shirts that I had so neatly, so carefully packed were piled in a tangled heap. They creeped my bag again on the trip home but the clothes were used by that time so it wasn't so bad. Thank God for the TSA and their eternal vigilance. I feel so safe.
- I've never seen an Adam Sandler movie and based on what I've read here, never will. I saw Ken Levine's take down of Adam Carolla today. What a jerk. Carolla I mean.
- I don't know anything about Carolla other than what is presented in Levine's blog. I do know that Levine is a very highly respected comedy writer and that his daughter is also a comedy writer. It seems Carolla hit a nerve.
- Given that the jury had to review 48 counts this seems like a bit of a fast verdict. Not that I'm surprised. None of the TV experts seemed to have any doubt about what the outcome would be. One noted that a good defense might cut a few guilties off the 48 but that would be like "getting an upgrade on the Titanic". I have the feeling that Sandusky still doesn't get what all the fuss was about. Along with the strangeness that seems to reside in his head, I'm guessing that Sandusky isn't all that bright. I hope the fall out keeps on falling out. The normal temperature around here in the latter part of June is 90. We had mid seventies today and are looking at mid seventies for the next week. See? All those librul global warning freaks were wrong.
- MaryinIN, I do my own pickles. I put them up in Mason jars, about four jars at a time. It's a pretty light cure with brine, dill, pickling spices and garlic. No vinegar. I like them.
- Dexter, I just saw that KFC commercial. It is very creepy on several levels. I always wonder what goes on in meetings at the ad agency where something like this is worked out. And then I would like to be there when it's presented to the client and see how the agency sells it. I can just see all those dolts laughing and slapping each other on the back, congratulating themselves on producing a great commercial. Whatever are they thinking?
- Dan B, easy on the "crap from California" cheap shot. What you see in Michigan is stuff that is grown on industrialized strawberry farms and shipped a very long distance. Shelf life is everything. What we eat here are strawberries grown on small patches by Hmongs and sold both at roadside stands and in supermarkets. Fresh grown local produce is always going to be superior to produce shipped thousands of miles.
- My hat is off. And just my hat.
- The weather here in Sactown has been beautiful and is scheduled to be so for at least the next week. Fifties nights and ninetyish days. The final spot for the women's 100 meters team will be decided this evening with a run off. Check your local listings. I think it's around 5:30 somebodie's time. No idea what net. NBC has been carrying the trials. I like Brazilian music a lot. Have ever since as a kid in College around '64 or so. I saw Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto and heard her sing "The Girl From Ipanema". She was young and dark and impossibly beautiful and her voice was girlish and vulnerable and perfect for the song and I fell in love. She had her hair up and was wearing a white dress that came almost to the floor. She stood sort of at an angle so the dress looked all demure until she turned the other way and the audience could see it was slit up to the hip. Whew! Getz was a terrific musician and really introduced Brazilian music to this country. To me, anyway. Astrud was an entertaining singer if not the most gifted musical talent around.
- If I recall correctly, Gasman lived in Santa Fe and was a professional musician.
- I watched the Tour de France yesterday. It's been a great race this year and the TV is wonderful with the good race coverage, the spectacular scenery and the soothing but compelling voice of Phil Liggett. Liggett and Sherwin are one of the best announcing teams in sports anywhere, if not the best. They make the Tour come alive. Yesterday, sprinter Mark Cavendish crashed. His helmet was badly broken. Had he not been wearing it . . .
- I've seen the Amgen several times but I don't think there's any comparison to the TDF. One thing to be prepared for is the astounding speed of the riders. It blew me away the first time I witnessed it. You will want a spot with a clear view because they only go past once and it takes just seconds and that's it. Over. Other than that it would seem that a knowledge of local geography would be important. Study Google Earth maybe. Maybe someone local will have a hint. It's that snapshot aspect that would make me reluctant to make too big of an effort to see. The finish area might be good. The finish is fun if you can see it and then there are all the presentations and celebs and team buses and riders hanging around. There is usually a big festival thing going on at the finish area with refreshments and booths and stuff for sale and all. It can be fun.
- So advertising does work, Prospero, even if negatively. It's kept you away from Bic. Who knows? Maybe there is a product that you were influenced to purchase by advertising without realizing it.
- I was pulling your finger, Prospero. I have seen plenty of ads that convinced me to avoid whatever produce or service they were pimping. It's eighties here in the big tomato, sunny, very low humidity and nice breeze. A/C is in sleep mode.
- Good to hear from you, Danny. Prospero, Sacramento has been known for years as "The Big Tomato". The area used to produce more canned tomatos, soup and concentrate than any other place in the US. But with all the cannery closures in recent years, I don't know if it's still so. Here's a great video of an Air Guard C-130 dropping retardant on a Colorado fire. The comments are also excellent and informative. http://jalopnik.com/5923978/amazing-video-of-plane-dropping-fire-retardant-on-a-wildfire
- Sorry to hear about Ruby. The point, as Cathy noted above, is that Ruby was well loved and lived a good life. I wonder if those "Christians" were visiting neighbors of Coozledad.
- I think we've all had the experience of visiting some famous place and finding it underwhelming and smaller than expected. My experience on first seeing the Grand Canyon was the opposite. It was far bigger, vaster than I could have imagined. I've also had the good fortune to fly over it several times. It's just as majestic from 37,000 feet. I used to think that Northern California was God's country. Over the last thirty years I've done enough traveling and been to enough places to appreciate that there is beauty all over. Places aren't better, they're just different. Every spot has its devotees.
- Deborah, a dash of vodka in each bowl of gazpacho is nice. Just a dash, as in "boop, that's enough", not a shot. My Ex used to make a super tomato jam. I never paid attention to the recipe. No sense in it since I wasn't going to compete with her. Never been much of a Mosley fan but I am a charter member of the James Lee Burke fan club. He's simply great. I also like T. J. Parker a bunch. His Orange County novels are his best, better than Charlie Hood. Somehow they evoke the OC atmosphere of eucalyptus, citrus, ocean and city along with the geographic and human diversity of the place. He really brings Little Saigon to life. When I read them, I'm there. He creates excellent female characters. See Mercy Rayborn. And please don't forget the great John Sandford and the equally great Michael Connelly. Both also have some excellent female characters as in Sandford's Marci whatshername. From Connelly we have Harry Bosch's ex-wife Elinore along with Rachel Walling, his sometime FBI lover. It was in the hundreds for a few days mid-week. It was eighty yesterday and will be in the eighties today. Nice. I had to go up I-80 to Truckee to visit a site on Wed. On the way back I had lunch at a place in Colfax. It was about 1:00. Around 3:00 or 4:00 a fire broke out in the canyons east of I-80 and Colfax. As of now it's a big, scary thing that they are trying to keep from breaking loose to the west. That would be a catastrophe. Fingers and toes are crossed. Colfax is just above Auburn.
- Thing about the vodka is that it's very subtle. I like the idea of tequila. I'll have to try that. Sounds like I should maybe give Mosely another read.
- "Linda Ronstadt is 66 today." I've had a major crush on this woman for over forty years. I first encountered her in a club in Berkeley called the New Monk. I had just gotten out of the Army and it was 1969. The joint was a store front dive on University Ave. just before it dead ended at Oxford. The band stand was about a third of the way in on the left with the street at your back. The booths on the right and the bar was in the back. Linda wore a scanty pair of cut offs and a bandana print blouse unbuttoned and tied. Like on that album cover. She was maybe twenty feet from where I sat. She sang and undulated and was incredibly beautiful and incredibly sexual and incredibly entertaining and I knew she was going to be a star. When she introduced the band she introduced one member as "Dick. Balloon Dick." Everybody in the place laughed guessing at the genesis of that comment. I have maybe ten of her albums. The other times I saw her were in big - well, you know what shows are like. I've always wondered about what transpired between her and Jerry Brown. Sex or no sex it had to have been a very cerebral relationship. I doubt that there has been a singer who has stretched and explored and tried more things than Linda Ronstadt. I still have the hots for her today.
- Beautiful picture. I'm a sucker for those reflection photos. Well done.
- I bin to Guff Sho. It's in L. A. (Lower Alabama). Kenny Stabler used to have a bar there. I had a beer. Red pepper jelly is very popular here in CA. People here at the office are always giving me jars of the stuff. I've got two of them now. It's great stuff. You can do all kinds of things with it.
- My people all came from Ireland so I'm not Anglo-Saxon at all. I'm a Celt.
- I just tossed this in because it's in Indiana. Anybody familiar with this place? http://jalopnik.com/5929059/an-indiana-mayor-made-his-own-gigantic-parking-space-after-getting-a-20-parking-ticket
- My problem with the refrigerator is the opposite. I've opened the door and then stood there stupidly looking at the shelves wondering what I was supposed to be looking for. Sorry. I disagree with the "Idaho stop". I think everybody should stop at signs and red lights. I've been hit and almost hit by bicyclists too many times and had too many close calls in my car with knuckle heads busting through red lights and stop signs and going the wrong way on one way streets. If people on bikes can use their discretion about stopping why can't people in cars?
- We have plenty of those damn red light cameras here in Sacto. I agree with what everybody else is saying about them. Another thing that bugs me about them is that they are operated by for profit contractors, not the city. I can't stand the idea of private contractors making a profit from traffic tickets. I've also heard that in a lot of places yellow light duration is cut when the cameras are installed. I can't say that with certainty since I haven't bothered to time yellow lights. One thing Hitler is credited with doing is delaying the deployment of the Me-262 jet fighter. He wanted it to be a bomber and his dithering caused something like a two year delay in getting the 262 out there to attack Allied bombers. The Allied bomber crews were immensely grateful for this. I once heard some commentator asked what he thought the biggest problem the Germans had that contributed to their loss in WWII. "No bench" he replied.
- Thanks for that link, Basset. (From yesterday's thread.) I had no idea that there was a project to create replicas of the aircraft. The video was very good and the Me-262 is a very pretty little airplane. The porn music background didn't help, though. Unfortunately the group's website appears to have been last updated in 2009, so it looks like the effort may have died out. I had a girlfriend once whose father had been a test pilot on the original P-80 program back in the late forties. They flew out of Burbank where the old Lockheed factory was located. He told me something that I had never realized. The engines on these very early jet aircraft would last only three or four hours. That's a pretty scary prospect. He told me that they lost a couple of aircraft and pilots. He had a P-80 quit on him once when he was on short final for Burbank but landed all right. Fortunately, progress in engine reliability was dramatic and things quickly became much safer. The P-80 (renamed the F-80) went on to have a very long and honorable career. A stretched, two seat version was produced as the T-33. Refurbished and modernized T-33s are still in service fifty years later. Since then I've wondered about engine reliability in the early German and British jets. Later in his career, The Colonel was the project officer on the program to transition the F-104 to the Luftwaffe. He strongly recommended against selling the plane to the Germans because he felt it was a very touchy and dangerous aircraft to fly, especially in the mission for which the Germans intended it. For his efforts he was replaced and never received the big promotion he was in line for. He retired as a bird colonel. The Colonel was vindicated when the Luftwaffe widows association received a huge settlement from the US Government.
- I was going to buy one of those bug-zapping salt-guns but the sign up, sign in, password etc. process was a bit offensive to me so I blew it off.
- Yeah, Basset, I've read a bit about the He-162 in the past. It wasn't plywood because they thought that it was the greatest stuff for building jet fighters but because they were pretty desperate for materials in those days. Still, one had to be pretty ballsy to fly a jet of any stripe in the mid forties. The constructors were kind of groping around trying to figure how to make the things work. It didn't take them long, though. Look at what was flying just ten years later. In fifteen years folks were sipping martinis in the first class section of a 707 on their way to Paris. After I posted about my girlfriend's (girlfriend, we were both in our thirties) father testing P-80's I went and googled the airplane. I should do that first. Given the time frame The Colonel was talking about and given the location - Burbank rather than Muroc, and given that he was Air Force rather than civilian- my guess would be that he was involved in acceptance testing rather than initial prototype testing. Still. The California Republican Party is deeply in debt, laying off staff and closing its Sacramento office. In a general election year.
- Brian, I hope you had a good time watching the Rolex race in Indy today and were able to keep dry. I looked at it from time to time but at three hours didn't sit down and watch the whole thing. I got the impression that several people were not pleased with Montoya. And the ever fast and reliable Scott Pruett (a home boy from Auburn) brought his car home in second. Just to further splatter the thread.
- It is lovely. I'll be at the market early tomorrow! No comments on the opening ceremonies? OK. Over produced, over complicated, over boring, over long. And what was NBC thinking? It was tape delayed, yes (NBC seems to have some horrible allergy to live Olympic programming)but here it came on around eight and lasted to midnight. Why so late? How are kids supposed to watch it?
- Great story about Suryani, the pregnant Malaysian shooter. She sounds like a really neat lady. NBC is as notorious for bad coverage as they are for turning a deaf ear to criticism. This year we do have a huge improvement with them showing events on five channels. Whole soccer games are being telecast and the entire bike road race was carried. I managed to catch quite a bit of the American women's victory over Columbia (the last thirty minutes or so) and the last twenty or so clicks of the road race. I didn't even mind having to jump back and forth. I agree that the best part of the opening ceremony is the "Parade of Nations". I like to watch all the teams. Somebody mentioned the happy faces of the competitors. Yes. However NBC managed to hamburger that coverage with their incessant commercials. I'd swear that there was more commercial time than actual coverage. I wondered what the hell that Phelps interview was all about. Thanks, Sherri, for the tip. NBC truly sucks. I'd like to see an opening pageant that was crisp, concise, classy and short. Ken Levine had a good review. http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/ The money shot: "I thought the Opening Ceremonies were the world’s longest graduation ceremony combined with the most overblown Orange Bowl Halftime Show ever."
- Yes, Sherri, that tape delay thing on the west coast drove me nuts.
- I watched that beach volleyball match last night and I caught the “stud” remark and couldn’t believe my ears. However, I’m not ready to concede that it’s going to be the most idiotic remark of the coverage. It is a contender but it’s early days yet. There are plenty of deeply talented dolts over there. Misty May’s performance on match point was incredible. She simply wasn’t going to lose that point. Period. Just watch a replay of that point and you’ll see why May and Walsh win all the time. I agree that synch swimming is a trash sport and doesn’t belong in the Olympics. Another is that gymnastics thing where the young women run around waving ribbons and stuff. There are others and I’m still pissed that they deleted softball.
- I too was struck by how joyless and tense the women's gymnastics competitors were last night. Those perfunctory little hugs and air kisses. None of them talking to another one. And they all look like a bunch of little meat balls. I don't know if they're born that way or if years of practicing gymnastics from the prenatal state causes that. I do understand that the kid who didn't qualify for the all around championship competition scored high enough to make it but her team mates scored higher and each team is only allowed to send two people. Hope Solo, who was termed "prickly" up thread does have a tendency to intemperate speech. She claims Brandi Chastain doesn't know anything about soccer. I definitely preferred Scurry. In one interview I heard Ms. Rhode talking about cleaning house and doing the laundry. I always guessed that jc was a closet Dodecahedronist
- Well, I let myself get sucked into the Olympics and now I'm pissed. On week nights NBC shows things on a single channel from eight to midnight. First, one has to ask "Why so late?". Many people, myself included, can't watch more than an hour or so before having to go to bed so as to make an early start time at work the next day. Children? Not this year. How many kids can watch an eight to midnight program? Then to rub salt into the wound, NBC chooses to lead off the few minutes I do have to watch with that stupid synchronized diving. Men this time. And, of course they are all full of how one guy's father just died. I'm sure the golden retriever has cancer too. I don't know where this alleged sport came from but it seems like nothing more than a ploy to give those who weren't good enough to make the real team a second chance. Whatever. I don't want to watch it. They are saving what good programming they chose to ration out for later. All this stuff happened hours ago so that what we are now seeing is a deliberate and calculated bit of scheduling on the part of the network. They showed a lot of stuff during the day? Really? Remember that work stuff I mentioned? Good old NBC. Doing their best to destroy the Olympics. I turned it off. I have an old "Iron Chef" on in the background while I read Grisham's latest that I scored from the library the other day. Rachel was there on MSNBC this eve.
- Solo also took off her clothes on a Brazilian web site I sometimes look at. Nothing worth seeing. All the girly bits were covered by arms and twisted hips.
- Gawd, Cooz. You had me laughing out loud here at my desk. Intractabladda. Whew! More!
- I heard Mayor Johnson interviewed on NPR a couple of weeks ago and really liked him. He's funny, engaging and very bright. And a helluva salesman. What Basset says about the AK is true. The thing is simple and stone reliable. The SKS on the other hand is a piece of cap with its tinny little fold out bayonet. It's light, inacurate, unreliable, cheap and prone to blow up in the users' hands. I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole.
- Are you folks back east not familiar with the day laborers looking for work in Home Depot parking lots? There are a lot of them at each location; they're immigrants and hard workers, not transients and bums.
- Is that what the old Ft. Wayne column was called? I seem to recall some reference to that. I visited Ft. Wayne once back in about 1975 or so when I worked for IH.
- Does it seem to anyone else that those gray outfits the American Olympians are wearing to the medal ceremonies are just plain drab?
- I don't understand this concern with who might be the "best ever". And Missy Franklin is only seventeen years old for heaven's sake.
- It's warm here too, Mary. We're getting our Phoenix on. It's progged to be in trippple digits for the next week.
- And to add insult to injury, they had a big fire at the Chevron refinery down the road in Richmond. There go gas prices.
- Yeah, those two really took off after poor LoLo, Joe. My Ex, a Portuguese from Lisbon, calls it her pashasha. I'm not sure if that's some Portuga thing or what. The news mentioned that there was some hellacious rain in Indiana last night. Anybody here get wet?
- I'm a sort of once every four years fan and I'd never heard of LoLo before the last few weeks. I don't know anything about the woman and have no opinion except that she sure seems to provoke comment and that it will all fade in a couple of weeks as football takes over.
- Back in the early seventies I worked in the unemployment office in Berkeley. One of the counter people sent an older guy back to me to determine his eligibility for benefits because he had written on his card "bed wetter" as a reason for not working or looking for work. I sat the old guy down at my desk and looked over his paper work. He was a member of the construction laborers' union. Members don't look for work, they're dispatched by the union. I looked out the window. It was raining quite hard. I looked back at the guy. "Bad weather, huh?" "Yeah," he agreed. "Bed wetter."
- I first heard a woman's sex referred to as a 'cock' when I was in the Army. For most of us the word 'cock' referred to something else. This confusion over nomenclature led to some interesting misunderstandings and discussions before things were resolved. I still can't figure out how people in the south came to use that word in that way.
- I delivered papers for four or five years when I was a kid. I had various morning and afternoon routes delivering the Sun Times, the Trib, the Daily News and the Herald American. Remember them? I'd say delivering papers is character building but since I don't have any, it must not be. Boy there were mornings I didn't want to get out of bed and face that freezing cold. I gave my paper guy $20 last year. He's a Vietnamese immigrant. I love my mail delivery lady and I miss her. She's off on maternity leave. I don't know when she'll be back.
- Mary, how do you cook your carnitas? My Ex used to simmer the shoulder for hours in cherry coke. Yep, cherry coke. Sounds weird but it was excellent.
- Good thing you put up that gate, Connie. Otherwise the deer might get your stuff.
- Sally’s hillbilly cheeseburger: Where's the beef?
- Basset, I don't think anyone under 65 is allowed to wear those shoes. Count me as a vote for Linda.
- Congratulations, Jeff. A coal fired pizza oven?
- I've got one for all you architects and engineers and designers out there. One of the guys here has a project to do a seismic retrofit on a building in a Southern California prison and is on vacation in New York at the moment. The job is out to bid. Something (I don't know what, it's not my project) provoked some changes and the design consultant (some firm from Irvine) produced an addendum with thirty two drawing sheets. The boss asked me to get the addendum dwgs signed off by the State Fire Marshal. So before taking the dwgs to the Fire Marshal I thought I'd take a look at them to make sure they were done right. Boy. They had no current issue date, there were no deltas, the dwgs were not marked as addendum number whatever,, there was no statement telling the viewer to exchange it with the original, there were no clouds for the changes, the signature was black and looked like a copy … Except for the changes, whatever they may have been, the drawing sheets were identical to the original ones. There was nothing to identify them as different. All I could think of was WTF? I showed the stuff to the boss and let him call the design firm. They wouldn't have wanted to take a call from me. Have any of you ever gotten any crap like that? Why wouldn't a big time firm conform to basic standards?
- I'm sorry to hear about the discord with the Ex, Mary. Break ups are tough enough without that unhappiness. I hope something can be worked out next week. Thanks, Peter. I don't work for a firm, I work for the State of CA. We don't have permit drawings, we have working drawings that are signed off for construction. An addendum changes the original drawing so it has to be certified as if it were the original and it has to be identified as an addendum and the changes have to be identified. We have contractors maintain an annotated set of drawings as the job progresses and at the end provide us with a set of "as builts". There can be lots of changes between the issuance of construction drawings and the finish of a job.
- A fried bologna sandwich. Hmm. Did they heat it in a coal fired oven?
- Starting over's a bitch when you're not so young, Mary. I split from my wife when I was 62 and had to move move to a new place. That was pretty bad (very bad, actually) but I still had my job. I remember when you got your job at the hospital in Burbank (?) some years ago. I hope things work out so that you don't have to start over. But whatever happens, it sounds like you have a couple of great young men for support. You've always had my admiration. All my best. Prospero, you exactly have it about changes to plans and specs. I don't know how people do things back East. Do you use CSI standards and templates?
- Much happiness and many more years to those who are celebrating long term marriages. On the other side of the coin, one time Playmate Jenny McCarthy and Chicago Bear linebacker Brian Urlacher have broken up.
- I too had many thoughts that I considered posting over the last few days. Then I figured that I wasn't going to say anything that somebody hadn't said better (Rana) and I also didn't want to seem like I was piling on. I remember criticizing mm Jeff a year or so ago and he called me a prick. When I was in the Army they used to give us the rest of the day off if you gave blood. So guys would give blood in the AM and go to town and get a cheap drunk on being a pint low and all. They wouldn't take mine because I had just had malaria a couple of times. Now I do it every once in a while. Their phone calls drive me nuts.
- Where do you live, Rana? What you wrote reminds me of when we used to live in San Francisco. Usually to go out to eat we'd just walk up the street past dozens of places for a block or two or three until we saw one that touched our fancy. Those were the days. Thai places? God, I remember one where we could get great food and a couple of Singhas and get out for less than $10. That was a couple of years ago. Well, more than a couple. We didn't drive anymore than we had to because parking places were few and far between. If we had a crappy one, three or four blocks away we would be more inclined to drive somewhere. If we had a great one out front we were more reluctant to give it up. Rabbit isn't gross, it's good. Just beware of the bones which are brittle as hell.
- Chicago's North Side is a wonderful place, Rana.
- When T and I were married and lived together we had dogs and cats for 30 years. They all got along famously, we all got along famously and slept together in a big bunch except when they were regularly and temporarily evicted. We never had problems with dogs eating stuff or chewing stuff. I feel kind of innocent and not at all left out. Also I had never heard of the canine penchant for chewing feminine underware. I thought that I - well never mind. Mary, not long ago you indicated that a crucial week was at hand. That there was a crisis with your Ex and that you were looking at potential problems at work. Can we take it that things turned out OK? He said with hope.
- "Also, you can tweet using hashtag fundnasa." Boy, there's a sentence that would have been incomprehensible to a reader in 1969. I guess the great Ron Paul Challenge at the R convention has fizzled out.
- That's the thing about stripping Armstrong of his titles. To whom do you award them? You gonna tell me that the second or third or whomever riders are any cleaner? It seems like this Anti-doping group (who are they and who made them God anyway?) had some kind of thing for Armstrong. Why, I don't know. There are lots of dopers out there. How and why do they pick their victims? The conventions used to be fun to watch when they meant something. When you didn't know for sure who the nominee was going to be and the roll call meant something. When the veep candidate was chosen around Wednesday midnight. Now it's nothing but a party, photo op and campaign rally. I don't watch them. I did see a clip of Ann Romney on the news this AM. Did I really hear her say "And he's an American"? They just can't help themselves. Had to throw a bone to the birthers.
- Blue Kung Pao Shrimp
- That sounds really awful, Charlotte. I know how you feel, having watched the tankers from my front porch. The worst part of the season here in Calif. is Sept-Oct. Starting now. I'm not worried for myself but I am nervous in general and especially for my Ex who still lives in the woods up in the foothills. You probably already know this but tomato juice or sauce provides amazing relief to skunk victims. Just pour it on.
- I'm sure there will be some smiling faces among nn.cers who attended Ohio as their alma mater knocked off Penn State.
- In line with those Jellystone stories: Why is it that so many folks feel compelled to touch other peoples' dogs? I think I might have mentioned this before but hummingbirds make me nervous too. I always imagine one stuck, quivering, in my forehead like a dart. Basset, if you enjoy putting out cameras out to photograph animals, here's a website you might like: http://cameratrapcodger.blogspot.com/
- Mary, I feel terribly about your situation. It makes me ashamed of my gender. My thoughts and hopes are with you.
- Count me as another Greene guy. Been here ten years now! Sure went fast. Who's michaelj?
- I'm really pleased to hear that, Mary. I hope you're starting a roll here. My thoughts are with you. Maybe that Mohammed video was inflammatory. Maybe releasing it in the Middle East was inflammatory. But it was a gesture with a readily predictable reaction. It was like poking a stick at a caged mad dog. I've long had a profound distaste for Islam. It's a religion that consigns half of humanity to a vastly lower tier existence, almost a life of slavery in many places. Yes, I know about the Southern Baptists and I know about the Catholics and the rest and their sad attitudes toward women and I condemn that but none are as harsh and as brutal toward women as the gentle, peace loving Muslims. The reactions of gentle, peace loving Muslims to supposed insults to their book, their prophet and their religion are simply stark raving mad. From the cartoons in Denmark to the treatment of that poor girl in Pakistan to the present idiocy and the thousands of other irrational attacks on their own and others, the gentle, peace loving Muslims have proved time and again that their religion is one of hate and violence and intolerance. How is it that a stupid video lampooning their prophet is worse than burning, looting and killing? I might also add that I have seen no statement from any gentle, peace loving Muslim organization in this country or elsewhere condemning the violence. They only seem to surface to claim victimhood when somebody beats up a gentle, peace loving Muslim person. If this is religion, I want no part of it.
- Jim Neil at the previous post. Very good. I saw nothing in the local paper and nothing on local TV. It's nothing more than they should do.
- Mary's right. We get excellent local citrus here, especially at the farmers' market. Honey? There's a store nearby that sells nothing but beekeeping supplies and honey. They must have fifty varieties, all of it local. How to select? Well they let you taste until you find what you like. You can buy it by the jar or bring your own container and they'll fill that. They're wonderful, friendly people. There's also plenty of local honey at the farmers' market. And yep, it's cooling down. Mid nineties today and eighties for the week.
- By the way, none of what I posted is in any way intended to denigrate the citrus available to you, JW. I'm aware of the lovely smells one experiences driving through an orange grove and being able to buy fresh fruit right from the grower. I just meant to point out that there is great stuff available in many places.
- I remember my parents mixing that little color thing into the margarine and the oleo smuggling into Wisconsin. Even at the time people thought it was amusing. I haven't bought margarine in years. Can't stand the stuff. One time we spent the night at a friend's place. She had bought some kind of special margarine that was supposed to have I don't remember what benefits. She was going to cook eggs for breakfast and dropped some of that margarine in the pan. It was hilarious. The stuff absolutely refused to melt. The lump just kind of slid around in the pan. I don't know how people can eat that synthetic crap. I think you have a real point there, ROGirl, about margarine being the modern thing back in the fifties. That's funny, Alex.
- I like peanut oil for Chinese and for deep frying. You can get a gallon jug at the Asian markets for a very reasonable price. Panko is my favorite breading. I also use several other types of oil. Clarifying butter ups the smoke point as does mixing butter with olive oil. Panko breaded sole done in a mix of olive and butter. Food for the gods. I use a lot of olive oil. Canola is another very good neutral oil with a high smoke point. So is grape seed oil. I picked up a couple of cans for almost nothing off a remainder table. Corn oil is horrible stuff. I got some duck fat at Taylor's Market and it's wonderful for potatoes. Peel a medium Yukon Gold, make little disks with the mandolin, do the same with onion, add some duck fat to the pan, alternate layers of spuds and onions and salt and pepper, cover and cook. Take the lid off after a minute or so and follow your instincts. Yum. Good for two meals for me - dinner or breakfast. I make my own butter from time to time. Well, about three or four times a year. The yield approaches two pounds from a half gal of cream. It's always been yellow. I have never seen white butter. Put me down as another who prefers his spinach raw. Although there is a very good spinach and Italian sausage thing that is excellent over pasta.
- Ahh, Deborah I like your posts so much. I'm so happy for your retirement and can't wait until I'm able to follow.
- The Endeavor will be doing a fly by of the Capitol about 9:30. The roof of the parking garage should be a great place from which to watch. Unfortunately I have a conference call at 9:00. Hope we can get it done quickly or that the shuttle is late!
- Our building is located on the river bank in West Sacramento just across from downtown Sacto. (Enter 'Ziggurat in West Sacramento, CA' in Google Earth to see all.) I-5 is on the East side of the river. We went out to the sixth floor roof of the parking garage next door at about 9:00. From there we could see the STRS Building and garage next door to the north and the skyline (such as it is) of Sacramento across the river. It was plain that the top of every building was crowded with people. South of the Ziggurat (our building) is Raley Field, a triple A baseball stadium. The parking lot was filled with cars and people who turned out to see the show. In fact, there's still an almighty traffic jam as I write this forty five minutes after the show ended. Sacramento came to a total halt with the whole town in the streets to see Endeavor. At about 10:40 the shuttle aircraft, with its companion T-38, flew in a northerly direction right up I-5, 200 mph at 1500 feet. It was slow, beautiful and majestic, so slow and close that one felt that it could almost be touched. The 747 with the Endeavor on its back seemed almost to be bowed in the middle. The two mated aircraft make for one very large flying contraption and yes, majestic is a good word to describe it. The aerodynamics must be beyond goofy. The engines drowned out the clicking of the zillions of dollars of camera equipment that people had set up on the garage roof. If you've seen a large aircraft do a flyby at an airshow, you will know what I mean. People cheered as it flew past. It continued north for some minutes disappearing into the haze. Then it reappeared in the northeast flying back toward us, passing over the Capitol and downtown before heading off to the southwest and San Francisco. What a spectacular sight. It was a wonderful Friday event, we had a perfect spot and I'm glad we took the time to see it.
- By the way, that 747 was delivered to American Airlines in late October 1970 and sold to NASA four years later. It's hard to believe that it's 42 years old.
- Simple, Kaye. The shuttles were designed in Los Angeles and built in Los Angeles. All of them. And the testing was conducted at Edwards which is just a few miles from Los Angeles. Houston was merely involved with control activities once the shuttles were operational. There is no place in the country that deserves a Shuttle display more than Los Angeles. And I am as unhappy as anybody about the trees. Those are (were) beautiful, mature trees. So plant twice the saplings. It will still look skinned for years to come.
- I agree that Florida would merit a shuttle for display purposes but that's not Los Angeles' problem.
- Tell you how old I am, when I make a pie I use the crust recipe out of my tattered old 'Joy of Cooking'. I still have the old book I got over forty years ago and it is tattered but it's retired now. I found an almost pristine one in a used book store for five bucks or so a few years ago.
- Things are really picking up in Sacramento. Two days ago Comcast announced they were going to close a call center here laying off 300 people. Today Campbell's Soup announced the closure of a soup plant which will put another 700 people on the street.
- Kim, I live in CA not VA. California's First Cong Dist runs along the north coast. I live in the fifth which is Sacto. There are several Valley Congressional seats in play. The TV ads are interesting. None of them mention the candidate's party affiliation either verbally or in the graphics. One race in particular is amusing because the Rep. candidate accuses the Dem. of standing for all the things the Tea Baggers espouse while pretending to sound like Nancy Pelosi. There is no race in my district. Doris Matsui may have a challenger but I certainly don't know who he or she may be.
- My daughter's name is Stephanie. Her kids are Sophia and Dominic. I've long held the opinion that the name is the child's not the parents' and that it is irresponsible in the extreme to hang a stupid moniker on your offspring to be cute or to feed your ego or for whatever reason. It's the kid who will have to do all the fighting in grade school, will have to forever put up with the raised eyebrows and (I hadn't thought of this before) live with the job discrimination mentioned upstream. There are desirable ways in which to see your child stand out, giving him or her a stupid name isn't one of them. "Katharine" certainly does not qualify as a goofy name or spelling. I wouldn't even have noticed if it hadn't been pointed out.
- I love it, Mary!
- Is there another link to the Ann Romney photo? When I hit Prospero's link, Facebook tells me the photo is no longer available.
- Sorry, I just don't find Ms. Romney attractive. At all. There is just something about her that puts me off. I love women. All women. Really. The more so as I get older. Shit, I'll be sixty eight two weeks from today. I am continually astounded at how many truly lovely sixty something women there are. I would have never guessed it when I was young. Guys, that's one thing you don't have to worry about when you get old. Women are still beautiful. My Ex is a year or two younger and a magnitude or twelve better looking than Ms. Romney. I loved that picture of Deborah. She's an extremely attractive woman. Sorry, Deborah, for the third person phrasing. Ms. Romney? No. The get up? She's doing whatever she has to do for the cause. I'll leave it to you to judge what merit there is in her dressing up in that costume for the cause. Prospero has it right that she looks like the Rep's D/S icon. Those shoes are to die laughing for. I mean the official portrait of a presidential candidate's wife includes that footwear? C'mon. Ms. Obama is a very attractive woman but more important is that she has a sense of style and a sense of what is right for the occasion. I simply could not imagine her dressed in something as tasteless as Ms. Romney's get up.
- An exit interview for a retiree? At 4:30 on a Friday afternoon? What kind of people are they? Maybe it's some kind of ruse to get you to a surprise party. The refs are a unique case. There are very few of them compared to members in other trades. Their cost and the cost of any raises is piddling and will pose no hardship for a very wealthy employer that is simply coining bucks. Another thing is that they all have day jobs so they don't need the ref job to eat That factor leaves the NFL with little leverage. It has been warm, Mary. We just set a record with 26 days over ninety during September. It's supposed to hit trippple digits here in Sacto today too. Yesterday I stood on my front porch in a ninety plus afternoon and watched leaves falling from the trees.
- Thanks, Brian.
- Excellent if somewhat long (15 min) tape of the shuttle aircraft touring Los Angeles. http://jalopnik.com/5947983/watch-the-last-flight-of-the-space-shuttle-endeavour-from-the-cockpit-of-a-fighter-jet
- I couldn't see the video. What did he say about the finish? A hint of (*&^? The nose? A touch of @#$^%$? Do they now have a butt sommelier?
- Kath, it seems that someone may have chosen to prosecute under the wrong statute. I know the law revolves around technicalities but this one appears to be a triumph of bureaucracy over justice. I remember guys lighting farts in college. That seems so innocent now.
- There are three debates. Romney seemed to me to be full of platitudes and emptiness, despite what the heads on NBC think. For a guy with that much money, one would think he could score a better hair cut. A Supercuts walk in at 4:30 doesn't get it. That continuing smirk while Obama was talking was a real turn off. I think Obama did just fine. He moved things along. There was no need to swing for a knock out with two debates remaining. I can't wait for the third one. Cooz, I couldn't agree more. He looked like a frustrated old lady who hadn't turtled in over fifty years and was stone jealous. Maybe placing him under the turtle would motivate him.
- How wonderful, Deborah and how well earned. Congrats and I can’t wait to join you. Another year or so. It was playing cards when I grew up in suburban Chi-town. Lots of stuff in the Bay Area this weekend. UCLA at Cal, Ariz at Stanford. Giants playoff games, Niners and Bills, Americas Cup racing, Huge bluegrass festival, Columbus Day Parade, Fleet week and lord knows what else. The As won’t be in town, though. They’ll be back east somewhere playing I forget who.
- Prospero, what Deborah will be receiving and what I draw are not SSI. SSI is disability insurance paid to children, survivors and those who can't work. It's a type of welfare payment, not something they've earned. Deborah will and I already draw plain old fashioned social security. That's money we've paid into for decades and which we have earned through the sweat of our honest labors. I got kind of sensitive to the distinction when I went into the SS office one day and it was full of fresh off the boat, (OK, plane) immigrants wanting to draw SSI. I was the only person in the (admittedly small) SS office who had well and truly earned my benefits. I must confess that we never had a party like that for our daughter. Just had lunch today with the Ex. Very pleasant. She sure was looking good. Sigh.
- Welcome, redoubt. We'd love to hear more from you. Happy birthday, Deborah! From what little I've seen, you are a lovely woman and I'm sure your husband more than agrees with me. I had lunch with my Ex yesterday and I marveled at how attractive she is. She’s about the same age as you. The key is that she’s also very active although on wheels rather than heels. Us older guys truly appreciate mature women. Don’t worry about the younger guys. I mean, I can’t imagine Kate Upton lusting after me any time soon. South Carolina cheated. That rat Spurrier.
- Happy birthday, ROgirl and Dave! Who else this week?
- With the Giants and the A's both starting to look like toast, I guess there will be no Bay Bridge series this year. Oh well, I suppose it's for the best. Last time they played, there was an earthquake. Jeff B, we are getting the same riff in ads for congressional candidates here. I'm sure that stuff is all written and coordinated in some central clearing house. I'd bet they're using the same narrators as well.
- Happy Birthday, Jolene! It's a vintage week.
- What's a Frito pie?
- Frito pies sound horrible. Huevos rancheros are wonderful.
- Dexter, it's not the end of Midwest civilization. The Reds and the Tigers are each still up two games to one. Dusty Baker is from Sactown.
- That's great to hear, Mary. I'm so happy that things are looking up. Good luck with the job. I've never met Dusty Baker but he comes around Sacramento regularly. He has family here. He is apparently a very nice guy from all I've heard. I guess a few of us have seen Doonesbury lately.
- Peter, U of Ill used to have an excellent aviation program. Don't know if they still do. Also Purdue and N or S Dak. The private places like Embry-Riddle have aid packages.
- Giants won game 5. The radio guy says it's the first time a team has dropped both home games and swept three on the road. Wonder how the A's will do against the Tigers tonight.
- My daughter went to Austin Peay which is a small state school in Clarksville, TN. Her hubby was in the Army and stationed at Ft. Campbell. I don't know what it cost but it wasn't much. It was also ten years or so ago. We just gave them money when they needed it, and they didnd't need much, no specific payment.
- Oh, and the school's cheer was "Let's go Peay".
- Yeah, Mark. Sherri's got it.
- Those pix of Ryan playing muscle boy remind me of Vlad Putin, world famous narcissist.
- We had our own Austrian here for several years.
- I wonder if the full content of what was said at the debates is as important as the bites that get replayed over and over on the news and elsewhere.
- I keep a land line for three reasons. The satellite people require it, the alarm people require it and I need it for my DSL line. I don't answer it and I don't talk on it. Anybody who calls is selling something or is a wrong number. All my friends, etc. use my cell. Around here we have three area codes so having a home number with one area code and a cell with another is common. I expect this is true in lots of places. In LA you need a program to keep track of area codes. I live in 916 but my cell number dates to when I lived in Auburn which has a 530 area code. Since I only talk on my cell, I don't have any of those annoying phone callers other than the occasional wrong number. Nothing you can do about that. I would have been sympathetic with that table woman but then she had to come all victim at the asshole. That's when she became just as bad as he and lost me. U. of Phoenix is closing three branches here but has another five or six that are going to remain open for the time being. Why and how do they have so many branches in this area? I know their business is all about milking student loans but they seem to be fairly inefficient at it. What education? Privatization is all about sending money to cronies.
- So Nance, that Denise person has a binder full of the 100 women . . . And that woman in Maine has a binder ful of men.
- Here it's Masulo's or Zelda's or Hot Italian. All one offs. I'm not much of a chain guy.
- I dunno, Alex. That octopus article is unsettling on several levels.
- Dexter, I had several opportunities to spend time at Nha Trang. It was a beautiful city and lots of fun. Remember the big Buddha up on the hill? The Corniche and the way they would close it when a Pan Am 707 would come in over the water? On take off the 707 would taxi to the end of the runway facing the sea to depart in the direction from whence he had come and back up several yards until the tail was hanging over the fence. Then they would advance the throttles against the brakes until, at full thrust, the nose would be jacking up and down on the nose gear. They’d release the brakes and the aircraft would thunder down the runway and just barely clear the fence at the other end to slowly climb out over the South China Sea. Talk about a max performance take off. There was absolutely no margin for error. My jaw was on my chest when I witnessed that. It was something you’d never see at an airport in this country. In my unit they pretty much reserved the Honolulu R&R trips for married guys so they could meet their wives there. I went to Singapore and had a wonderful, if very X-Rated time. I was at Bonneville several years ago to watch the speed record cars. This, by the way is a fabulous event that everyone who cares at all about cars should attend at least once. Anyway, a couple of missionaries on bikes with their white shirts and skinny ties showed up. They were greeted with polite amusement. I still wonder what missionaries were doing in Utah. I too went back to school on the GI Bill when I got back from Vietnam and later bought a house with a GI loan.
- And, oh yeah, that 707 would smoke like it was burning coal as it roared down the runway.
- After being in at least the 80s and 90s since forever, today it's barely 60. Brrrr. It's supposed to rain late tonight. Haven't seen rain in months. The report of George McGovern's death today and the campaign remind me of one of the greatest campaign jingles of all time: "Don't change Dicks in the middle of a screw. Vote for Nixon in seventy two." Every time I traveled to Nha Trang but one, Dexter, it was by 3/4 ton or deuce and a half. The exception was the time I flew up there from Phan Rang in a C-47. Cool.
- Nobody gonna watch the Giants?
- The meteor didn't hit around here, Deborah. I think it was somewhere in Southern Cal. I heard in passing that they did find some piece(s) but don't know any details.
- Fun night! I was looking and switching between the Bear's game, the debate and the (GO) Giant's game. Romney's smirk looked a little thin and strained to me and I still think he has a horrible hair cut. It looks like he was shorn by a GI barber Obama cleaned his lying ass clock. That super slo mo camera at the Giant's game was way cool showing the multiple broken bat hits but the view of a fast ball pitcher's arm seemed a little creepy. No wonder these guys all end up with arm and shoulder problems. That ninth inning in the monsoon was fabulous. I've never seen anything like that. The home plate ump was going to call anything that reached the catcher's glove without a bounce a strike. Great game. I just hope the Giant's aren't too tired and that they don't have a let down when they play Detroit.
- Dexter, the ninth inning was (visualize 'was' in italics) a travesty, that's the great thing about it. The game was over by the time the ninth started. The Cards knew it, the Giants knew it, the TV people knew it, the crowd knew it and the umps knew it. The strike zone was as far as Posey could reach. Everyone was happy that the umps simply let the thing play out. You saw no protest from the Cards. They were as happy as anybody to see it end. I loved it. It will be talked about for years. All the people in my neighborhood are happy that Obama is president. 'Course I live in the hood.
- I saw your friend Mourdock on the local news here this AM. Inspiring guy. Mourdock aside, Rana, the young man's comments you posted yesterday truly were inspiring.
- Happy birthday, Alex and Julie.
- We've got 'em all here. Civil, structural, mechanical and electrical and I work with them all. Well, all types, not necessarily all of them individually. Interestingly, two of our three structural engineers are women including the supervisor. The piles of abstruse figures in their 'calcs' are mind boggling as is the structural engineer's liability. Our big, big, boss is a civil engineer by trade, an Iranian by nationality and a wonderful guy. You couldn't ask for a better, more forward thinking boss.
- Whoops, clicked submit too soon. I agree about structural engineers, although I like civils too. One odd thing about the structurals concerns money. I have to control the budgets for my projects and the structurals are always the least expensive of them all and usually end up returning money at the end of the design phase. I get fabulous value for my bucks. The architects and electricals are always whining about needing more money.
- Yes, engineers have all kinds of tables and manuals and texts to assist them in their endeavors. But there is a lot more to a design than consulting a table. I’ve watched a lot of projects in the design phase, observed engineers good, bad and excellent. There’s a lot of thought and experience even in something as mundane as designing a multi-zone HVAC system and ductwork for a public building. I’ve seen elegant, smooth and simple designs and I’ve seen buildings where a couple of package units had to be installed two years after a bad design to take up the slack.
- Manufacturer's cutsheets are intended to be used as specifications. All the pertinent information is presented in a neat, comprehensive form. A designer would be a fool not to take advantage of this resource. The trick for the engineer is to write his or her spec in a generic fashion so as to allow for possible substitution. I write front end (Div. 1) specs all the time. At our place all technical specifications are written by licensed engineers and architects.
- Certainly manufacturers write their specs to exclude other manufacturers. That's a startling observation? I thought, Prospero, that I was clear in saying "The trick for the engineer is to write his or her spec in a generic fashion so as to allow for possible substitution." Of course I'm aware that it's wrong and illegal to write sole source specs. I'm the guy who has to make sure the whole enterprise is straight and legal. I happily invite the Sac Bee or Channel Three or Mom or anybody else to inspect any project that we undertake. Believe me, there are plenty of second place contractors, union reps and rump groups scrutinizing our plans, specs and contracts. You're welcome to inspect them as well. Our design professionals do, indeed, write original specifications and are not "bloated on free meals" or under any other influence when they do their work and I find that insinuation insulting. We don't do rocket science here, we merely try to construct public buildings or upgrades to existing public buildings to the best of our considerable (I believe) abilities. I'm not a big time baseball fan anymore and haven't been since the ninety four (?) world serious. I've been drifting away from major league sports over the years because of the almost total emphasis on the almighty dollar. That said, I have to admit that I am a fair weather fan of the Giants and their post season performance this year has blown me away. Talk about a team of destiny. As of tonight they've won what, six in a row? Gonna bet against them tomorrow (Sunday)? I've even forgotten who the 'niners are playing. And Blanco's ninth inning catch in the corner says it all.
- Danny, a couple of years ago I was on a job site in Fresno. A 12,000 gallon underground fuel tank had recently been removed and we had a geo tech consultant there testing for contamination along with the county environmental guy who was along to monitor things. We had each helped ourselves to samples of soil from the excavator bucket and were smelling the soil for petroleum traces when the county guy suddenly burst out laughing. “My wife will never believe me when I tell her that I sniff dirt for a living.”
- A woman who works a couple of cubicles down from me and lives in the nice neighborhood about a mile away from me on the other side of the freeway tells me that my whole neighborhood kid population was at her place to trick or treat. They sure weren't at my house.
- Deborah @ 22. You've got it in a nutshell. I've never figured out that soy fake meat shit. If you're a vegetarian, eat veggies. There are zillions of great veggie meals out there. I eat lots of them. If you want meat, eat meat. If you don't, don't. If you like vegetarian food get an Indian cook book. The Indians have tons of wonderful veggie dishes. Yum. And sorry, I also eat meat.
- On second thought I was a little harsh. Who am I to tell anybody what to eat? If you enjoy a dish, by all means, eat it. I'm guessing my dining habits wouldn't please everyone. I'm sorry if I insulted anybody.
- There are fingerprints all over that lake picture.
- I mailed it in last week.
- That is a lovely old house even if it's not quite to my taste. The owner may have paid 'only' $125,000 for it but he certainly spent a fortune restoring and furnishing it. I shiver when I look at those huge antlers mounted above the bed and think of the bed's poor occupant as the earthquake arrives. I stopped by the post office yesterday to pick up a package. There was a fair line but Paula, the black woman behind the counter, was handling things just fine. An ancient and wizened Filipino man had a package to send. His face was brown and seamed under his pork pie hat. He was stooped and frail (if a guy five feet tall can be said to be stooped) and had trouble with English. Paula put his package on the scale and gave him her rote question about whether the package contained firearms, dangerous materials or explosives. The old guy made an inarticulate sound indicating that he didn't understand. Paula: "Anything go boom?" Old man: "Ah! No." The whole line absolutely fell out. You could have recorded your laff track there. It was one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.
- Google Maps has a cool new 45 degree view. So far there are only a relatively few places included but Ft. Wayne is one of them. For a list of cities with the view go to help on GM. It's worth a look.
- The 37 year itch.
- I kinda like Ms. Paula. She's smart, attractive, articulate and laughs easily. Check out her bio. Ms. Broadwell is quite an accomplished woman and one could easily see how a mutual attraction developed between she and General Petraeus. She was also married, it seems, while boffing Petraeus. Oh well. She wasn't married to me. It gets weird as it appears hubby Scott may have written a letter back in July to the NYT advice columnist asking what he should do. This is gonna make a good TV movie. I'd imagine things are a tad strained around the Broadwell household at the moment.
- You've got it, Deborah. Especially now with the stories about Ms. Broadwell sending harassing emails to some woman at the CIA. The competition.
- Nicely said, Bob (nG). I watched the end of that game and it looked like a good call to me. More recently, the Ducks just lost their quarterback to what looks to be a fairly serious shoulder injury. Still second quarter against Cal who really needs to replace Jeff Tedford. In that vein, there is a web site that shows the pay of every employee of the State of CA. Tedford is ranked number one with a base salary of 2.8 Million. My salary is somewhat lower.
- When I was in Vietnam we had a saying: Happiness is a dry fart.
- I'm not the biggest fan of tattoos on women. Part of it seems to be because so many women seem to go out and get any old thing plastered on their - self. Then they get another one and another and before you know it they look like a graffiti spattered wall. Plus, so many tattoos have become stupid me too clichés. Take the tramp stamp. Please. Then where will you be in ten years when fashions swing and tattoos are out? I think this is a case where a little thought, shopping and planning would go a long way. I've seen few well designed, well thought out and well placed tattoos. The case of that woman in Ireland is beyond appalling. How could supposedly educated and compassionate people torture someone to death that way? The hospital spokespeople didn't seem to care at all. And all in the name of religion.
- Happy birthday(s) to the Derringer household! Have yourselves a great celebratory weekend! I had a friend who owned a large sailboat. He bought it in Tahiti and flew down there with his wife to pick it up and sail it back to Oakland. Their first child was born the requisite number of months afterward. Later they sailed to Hawaii and back and had a second child. "Nothing else to do out there." He shrugged.
- How bout dat, Dexter? I've got eggs on for egg salad. Great minds think alike. I'm making it for my lunches next week. What do you put in yours?
- Brian, you've got an F-1 race in your time zone tomorrow for the first time in several years and you're going to a movie?
- Hmmm. The olive oil sounds interesting. I add a little chopped pickle, chopped celery, green onion, capers and mustard. Also, yes but I'm making this for myself, a bit of curry powder. Mayo but only enough to bind well. I agree. Too much will ruin things. I serve it on french bread.
- I used to shop at Green Apple in SF. It was a pretty decent store and was only a couple of blocks from my house. I always thought the owner, Richard Greenapple, was a jerk. There was a better store across the street from me called 'Jabberwok'. It was owned by a friend of mine named Bob Halsey. He was a nephew of the Admiral. Bob only sold used, though. I've never eaten Twinkies.
- You have a can of what, Basset? It makes you sound like some kind of perv.
- Or maybe the dominent male stuff will attract . . . Does Mrs. Basset know what you're up to?
- I don't never need no edit button. Connie, that's appalling.
- I always thought of Rutgers as Jersey State. All this conference shuffling shit is really bad. It fucks up tradition and traditional rivalries. It's about nothing more than short term greed. Haven't heard a word from that great bastion of college integrity called the NCAA. With all this realignment I expect to see thirty teams in the Big 10, thirty in the Big 12 and thirty in the SEC and the BCS, whoever they are, collecting dues from all of them while taking another dump on the NCAA who, meanwhile, will be scragging some poor third string defensive tackle from South West Dakota State Teachers' College for selling tee shirts.
- Make that the Pac 12. See? I don't need no edit nohow.
- And I don't like 'LIKE'.
- 11:59 and 12:01. Not a bad bracket.
- Happy Thanksgiving to all. I have the feeling that most of us are pretty lucky and have a lote to be grateful for. Eat hearty.
- I use dish towels for dish towel type stuff. I use car rags for car rag type stuff. Otherwise, I don't use rags much.
- That's really horrible, Deborah. I could have gone all day without reading that. I guess we're closer to being a third world country than I realized.
- I’m another one who’s doing Thanksgiving tomorrow. My daughter and the grandkids are coming over. I’m cooking. It’ll be nice. Sunday mornings for me are Rachel Martin on NPR, the paper and the crossword and a big leisurely breakfast. I don’t like Mo Rocca either. He makes my teeth ache. I once had a flash of he and Sandra Lee cooking a meal together. I might even break my vow and watch that. And boy howdy, did Kaepernick bring a new vitality to the 49ers on Monday.
- Sherri, how does a dry brined turkey work? A salt rub? Wow, JW. I've spatchcocked a chicken and cooked it on the grill but I've never heard of a spatchcocked turkey. That must have been a job but it sounds delicious.
- He must have been reading Prospero.
- Highbrow comments! Nothing like you see in the SacBee. Speaking of which, my paper delivery person was killed in an auto accident the other morning. Man . . . Back to the comments, my Ex is Portuguese and came to this country when she was in her twenties. Same for her brother who has spent a lot of time in Brazil. Many months. I’ve never heard the word ‘xoxota’ as a slang term for the female part, nor have I heard ‘buceta’. My Ex did call it a ‘pashasha’, though. You learn something new every day.
- Movies on Southwest? That's a good one. You can ask for a second bag of peanuts though. Seriously, I would recommend bringing a sandwich and some chips. They'll sell you a beer to wash it down. I've flown WN from Virginia to Vegas and a sandwich is a nice thing to have along and it's perfectly acceptable to the cabin crew for you to bring one. MarkH, Cal fired Jeff Tedford the other day leaving him with a $6 Mil payout. Word was that the money was raised from alums who wanted him gone. I would suspect something similar at Auburn. Tedford was the highest paid employee in the State of CA at something like $2.8 Mil per. That's just the cash. I should get so fired.
- Happy Birthday, Nancy! I had a girl friend once who had a bikini with a brass ring joining the bra cups in the middle of her chest. We went I don't remember where and the sun heated that ring to such a degree that she ended up with a horrible circular burn from it. I would recommend not having any metal parts on a bathing suit.
- I'm sorry to hear about your cat, Judybusy. Their relatively short life span is the downside to having pets. Deborah and Mary, I agree about the jokester flight attendants on WN. Sometimes I just want to scream "Enough Already". But most folks seem to enjoy it so I guess I don't mind too much. I've go my timing down so well on Ontario trips that I Z out when we hit 10,000 feet and the chime goes off so I can recline my seat and wake up just in time to see the Fontana Speedway going past out the window.
- Dorothy, Deborah, Sorry to seem so cavalier about WN which is the two place industry identifier for Southwest. I fly them 30 to 40 times a year and can get pretty blasé about it. I actually like the airline. They deliver exactly what they advertise: reasonably priced travel without frills or hidden costs. In my experience they are very reliable and very good at meeting their schedules. Their frequent flier program is simple and honest and I’ve flown myself and my family all over the place for nothing. The flight attendants are generally very friendly although they really don’t have all that much to do since there are no meals. Really, it is perfectly OK to bring food on board whether it’s something you purchased at the airport, at a deli on the way to the airport or something you prepared at home. I’m talking sandwich. Be reasonable here. I encourage you to bring something since you will probably get hungry and since it gives you something to do. The other people will envy you. Drinks must be purchased inside the security line or on board the aircraft. I always have a fist full of drink coupons so that’s never a consideration for me. Soft drinks, coffee and water are available for no charge. WN has open seating. So what you want to do is to jump on line 24 hours and one minute before your flight and prepare to check in. Pounce at exactly 24 hours. If you do this you should end up with a boarding pass in the high A 20’s. This will let you pretty much pick out your seat. If you can’t print your boarding pass right then, that’s OK. Just check in again when you can access a printer or at a machine or the counter when you get to the airport. You will have already reserved your boarding number. There is an app that lets you do it on your phone. So that’s it. You will arrive at the airport secure in the knowledge that you have a decent seat waiting for you and lunch waiting in your bag. Leave yourself an extra hour for clearing security and you will find that there is virtually no wait and you can spend time reading your book while waiting for your flight. Leave it to the last minute and there will be a long line at security and your heart will beat fast and your stomach will knot up and your experience will be a miserable one. Happy traveling.
- I don't know about "only 20 mph" in the snow. There are some pretty wild and wooly wrecks in the snow on 50 and 80 here in Northern CA with people doing 2 and 3 X 20. Mostly jerks heading to or from the ski slopes. There's a matching one here, Bitter Scribe, with someone describing the sun rising over the Golden Gate Bridge. I had a view of the bridge for years from our place in Berkeley and never saw it happen once.
- Yeah, I tried some "organic" laundry detergent and dish soap. Didn't work. Back to Tide and Dawn. Here's Ken Levine's take on the Lincoln movie: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- I think I'll sit this one out.
- I just got a new computer with Windows 8. I liked 7 and wanted to get it with my new box but the manufacturers are forcing purchasers into 8. The most desirable options are only available with Windows 8 machines and I finally capitulated. Windows 8 has the feel of an interim system. Microsoft is trying to fit small machines with touch screen action and desk top and lap top machines with device (mouse) inputs into the same system and the result is a kluge. It seems to have one foot on the dock and one foot on the boat. I have a desk top machine and 8 takes more mouse clicks and more movement to accomplish a desired action than did 7. It frustrates the shit out of me and I’ve said many bad words. It’s going to take me forever to get all the extraneous bullshit cleaned up and cleaned out and to get the machine configured as I like it. Progress.
- “. . . but it takes getting used to” Exactly. Why should a long term Windows user have to go through a complete re-education process to use an upgraded operating system? I never used Vista but have heard the stories. At least 8 works, however clunky it may be. I’ve had no lock ups, punts, failures or genuine problems. Yet. And don’t get me started on Office 2010.
- Georgia looked rushed and confused on the last play. Bad call not to have spiked. Cal lost a game to Oregon State on a similar play several years ago. It was the beginning of Tedford’s decline. That's going to be a hell of a long layoff between yesterday and the championship game. We have had a pretty good storm over the last day or so. Gusts to 50 MPH, heavy rain. At one point this AM (according to the Channel Three weather people) it was raining at the rate of ½ inch every ten minutes. My sat TV reception was totally attenuated (washed out) for several minutes. In the midst of all this is the running of the California International Marathon which was expected to draw 15,000 runners. Wonder how many are actually out there. The winner is expected at the finish in another ten or fifteen minutes.
- Little Bird, I'm with you. I pray to the music gods every year to not hear the Little Drummer Boy. Sorry you had to lose so soon. Hope it's the only time. Bottom line. Alabama rushed for over 300 yards. A couple of tackles here or there and GA might have won. Learn to stop the run and come back next year.
- JeffB the Rs really do think that way about Hispanics. They are conservative, quiet, hard working and religious. They need to be Rs. Can you imagine what the landslide would have been like if Obama had been white?
- I went to school on the G.I. Bill after Vietnam.
- We've had plenty of precip this year. Way more than normal. However, storms have been from the south west and as a consequence have been warm. That means snow levels mostly at 7500 to 8000 feet and too bad about those lower elevations. The one coming in this afternoon is more of the same.
- Happy Birthday, Kirk!
- Happy Birthday, Kirk and everybody else! So if Dorothy cruises through PT, I suppose that makes her a PT Cruiser. Nyuk, nyuk.
- ... and many more, Mr. and Mrs. Pilot Joe.
- Somebody gave us a disc of those Irish River whatever dancers. I opined that they were talented and so forth. My Portuguese then wife laughed and said that they were the stiffest, most repressed dancers she had ever seen. On second thought I had to agree with her. They, in the end, sucked. But there is hope for the Irish. The Pogues. Always thought that ‘Danny Boy’ was a mawkish, syrupy song? I give you the Pogues: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5X5IrA0zEs When the cup comes around, I’ll toss in a buck to help get Shane McGowan’s teeth fixed. Replaced. Whatever. I played football in HS. Third string. At 68 years old I can still do the 16 oz curl. Can’t swim for shit. Danny, looks like you’ve had a cup or two of Prospero juice. I know I have.
- Dexter, there are a bunch of sites that compare rental prices. Go to a place like Orbitz and start noodling around or google car rentals. You should get a pretty good look at what pricing is available when. I don’t know that you will find cheap but you should be able to find cheapest.
- I have a new computer with Windows 8. Don't ask. I wanted to download Google Earth but in its system requirements it doesn't mention anything about 8. I don't want to screw anything up. Anybody know if it's OK to just go ahead and download it?
- I lived in Marin for a few years and never noticed that it was particularly conservative. Quite the contrary. If you're looking for left over hippie asses, may I suggest Arcata? I like the divergent opinions and don't even mind the occasional spat as long as nobody messes up my living room. I tend to stay out of disputes although I've had a couple of dust ups. MMJeff, twenty year old equipment on a fifty year old body? Please share your secret.
- Belated Happy! to Mark and Charlotte.
- Maybe a tad off topic but check out this feature on the Packard plant. http://www.freep.com/article/20121202/NEWS01/120814080
- While I wasn't in Marine Force Recon like MMJeff, I was in an Army five man recon team in Vietnam. I saw the results of gunfire often and at first hand. I finally came to the naïve hope that if we were doing it there we wouldn't have to do it here. Ha. Back in this country at Ft. Bragg there were guys who would carry a gun when they went to town. Several of them used their weapons. I came to the conclusion then and still believe now that people carrying guns are always conscious of their presence and have a tendency to use their guns. I think carrying a gun is a form of provocation as much as protection. I don't own one and don't carry one. My army time was enough. I'm glad to hear your decision, Nance. A little back and forth can be fun and I haven't seen anything vicious yet. You want ugly, look at the comments sections in the Sacto Bee. Those assembly line photos in the Packard plant feature are wonderful. I hadn't really understood just how labor intensive the old auto assembly lines were.
- As David noted, a semi-automatic weapon fires once for every pull of the trigger. It is obvious that the size of the ammo supply (clip or magazine or cylinder) is an important part of the equation. A fully automatic weapon fires when you pull the trigger and keeps firing until you release the trigger or the ammo runs out. Like a machine gun. MMJeff astutely noted that a double action revolver is a semi-automatic weapon. There really is no such thing as an “assault weapon”. Instead of using essentially meaningless non-specific, generic terms we should develop a specific list of all weapons, accessories and manufacturers. Once a list is developed, any modification or new model to be offered by a manufacturer will have to be approved. Simple. Then when you want to buy something it’s an easy matter to check your potential purchase against the list. It’s legal or it’s not.
- Talk about a real palate cleanser! The tamale lady showed up today and I got a dozen of the best. It's been several months. Mary, Catherine, Danny, you guys have a tamale lady come to the place where you work?
- Here's a very amusing TV ad for the FIAT 500L: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eNVde5HPhYo
- 4dbirds' post about being a pay officer tickled me. I remember when I was in a line company in Vietnam and pay day rolled around. We would be out in the boonies in the middle of nowhere and the war would come to a temporary halt. We would gather, a chopper would land and the pay officer would disembark accompanied by his guard. No women out there in those days. He would set up a folding card table and, taking a seat, place his forty-five on it along with a pile of scrip and a stack of pay vouchers. Then we would get paid in cash just like state side. Most guys would get $25-30 bucks and have the rest deferred or sent home so there wasn't really that much money. The amusing part was the officer and his pistol and his lone guard. Ritual is ritual and the fact that his 60 or 70 payees were armed to the teeth didn't matter. Nor did it matter that the only possible other people in the neighborhood, NVA or Viet Cong, would also be armed to the teeth. It seemed so normal that nobody even bothered to comment.
- It is most definitely ‘Bird Colonel’ or ‘Full Bird Colonel’. And yes, the term derives from the eagle insignia. Pros at 77, I recall seeing that ‘Deck us all’ in Mad Mag when I was fourteen or so. My sympathies, Connie. Please be better soon.
- Merry Christmas to everyone!
- Big storms with plenty of wind and rain here in Sacramento the last few days. Lots of snow in the high country.
- It's raining really hard now and snowing a lot in the Sierra.
- Crinoidgirl, that link doesn't work so I don't know what avalanche it refers to but two people have died in avalanches just up the hill here in the last week.
- Somebody broke into my car last week and stole my briefcase. Among other things that were in it was a library copy of Neal Stephenson's 'Reamde'. When I went to the library to fess up, I was told there would be no charge since the book had been stolen. How about that? I was only half way through. 'Reamde' is a really good book. I gotta get hold of another copy and finish it.
- That's wonderful, Dexter. I'm proud and happy for you.
- Happy New Year to all!
- I know what a mangle is. Big long thing with rollers. Never operated one, though. I remember my mother washing clothes in the basement in a Speed Queen washing machine with rollers. After washing, everything would get squished through the rollers and hung up to dry. It would take forever in the winter. I don't recall her ever getting her finger caught in the contraption. Maybe there was some kind of safety device. I can't imagine anybody actually reading that whole cruise thing. I skimmed down to the bottom of the page only to discover that it went on for five more pages for a total of six pages of drivel. No thanks. I had never heard of pull-on ice cleats. Had to google them. They make sense. Actually I'm just as glad that they're an unknown commodity around here. Fiscal cliff? My paycheck today was almost $300 lighter because of the payroll tax cut roll back. Happy Birthday, Little Bird!
- Whoa, Sue. I hope everything rights itself and soon.
- Pros, Oregon was simply better than K State and flat out beat them. I was also a bit surprised by the one point safety. Two games where I love to see both parties would lose: OK vs. A&M and Notre Dame vs. Alabama. I have no general problem with voice mail other than, as MMJeff observed, we have to listen to what seems like an hour of options and sales crap from the provider. I also wish that people would slow down when leaving their numbers on vm. So many of them have their numbers blocked and then recite them so fast that I can’t understand what they are saying and I’m not going to spend twenty minutes chasing around trying to dig up the number. This is a problem on my work cell, not my personal one.
- Two games where I would love to see both parties lose:
- I'm sorry for your loss, Brian. Knowing that it's coming doesn't diminish the hurt.
- So Alabama isn't insufferable? I noted yesterday that my preference would be for both to lose. I can't stand either one of them. That prison picture that MMJeff posted was taken at a California reception center. I can't tell which one. The orange jump suits are the give away. Those guys will all be somewhere else pretty soon.
- Just curious but what does the "CDC" on the jump suit stand for?
- Yes, they vaccinated us against the plague when I was in the army. They shot us full of all kinds of stuff I can't even remember before sending us to the other country. I had a flu shot one year while I was in the army and got sicker than I had ever been other than with Malaria. It might have been a coincidence but it was forty years before I got another flu shot. I've never heard of Richard Marx. Doesn't seem like I've missed anything. Tell me where, Mary. Not sure when I'll get to that neighborhood but I'll make it. Right now I have jobs in Santa Monica, Fullerton and Hemet. Ever been to Hemet? Whew. I guess it is better than Barstow or Needles. Some.
- Deborah, if you mean Niland on the East side of the Salton Sea, then you've got me for sure. I've had jobs in El Centro and have traveled up and down the West side of the Salton Sea and I know that the East is worst. Niland must be a real hell hole. What on earth were you doing there? Thanks, Mary. I'm going to be driving from Santa Monica to Hemet in a couple of weeks. Maybe I'll stop for lunch. It sounds like a really good spot. Was it here that someone made the point that Shanahan was a bad guy for continuing to play Griffin even after he reinjured his knee and was limping badly? I agree totally. What a jerk for not pulling Griffen.
- Joshua Tree / Morongo Basin was a pretty rag tag place until recently. I was once persuaded to stay at some ancient but historical motel that catered to the movie star set in the 1920s and 1930s. What a dump. My only consolation is that my friend stayed there too. You wouldn’t recognize the place now. Wal-Marts, Home Depots, car dealerships, supermarkets, housing developments. It’s Southern California, baby. If visiting, I recommend staying in Palm Desert only about 60 miles away or Palm Springs which is closer. There’s an Embassy Suites in Palm Desert that I particularly like for some reason. Joshua trees are strange looking but cool things. They grow only in a relatively small and defined area roughly on a line between Joshua Tree and Mojave. There might be some in nearby Arizona or Nevada but I’m not sure.
- My Ex makes a great kale soup with chorizo. As you note, Pros, it's a Portuguese dish. They call it Caldo Verde. There are lots of Portuguese here in the valley. In fact there is a bull fight circuit with several bull rings and bull fighters imported from the old country.
- There were two things about Colin Kaepernick that impressed me last night in addition to his sterling play. One was the easy, unaffected way he interacted with the other 49’ers after scores. His players clearly love him. The second was that after the game he was on the Green Bay side of the field talking, shaking hands and sharing hugs with Green Bay players. He looks to have a long, successful career ahead of him.
- Thank goodness I'm not subject to a HOA. That Hess guy was too funny. Maybe one of you newspaper people can explain. The SacBee has a column headline on the front page this AM that reads: "France jets hit Islamist havens". Why 'France' and not 'French'?
- You see gardens in vacant lots all around here in Sacto. I wouldn't call them farms, just neighborhood gardens. Since houses used to exist on the properties, there is a fair bit of cleaning involved before you can plant but some people are growing some pretty nice produce.
- I'm on my second immersion blender. The first one just quit after many years. It sounds to me if most of those people who hurt themselves with them were misapplying the tool. Chopping greens? Creaming butter? Frothing drinks? Jee-Zus. It's called an 'immersion blender' for a reason. I've never had a problem other than the one Deborah experienced and I think everyone's seen that one. Unplug before getting your hand anywhere near the blades. I also use a mandolin and am a sissy so I use a holder thingy when I get close to the blade. Haven't cut myself yet and don't intend to. Oh, and frothing drinks? I bought a little battery powered mini-whisk at IKEA. It's great for mixing salad dressings in a Pyrex pitcher or any other small mixing job. Wonderful little tool and IKEA charges all of $2.98. Now I gotta copy a bunch of soup recipes.
- After having read the piece it's pretty difficult to think anything other than that Teo was part of the deception. My first thought was that it was part of the Heisman publicity drive given the timing of the start and end of the business but I like the gay thing too. There's no reason that the two have to be mutually exclusive. ND's weaseling amuses me.
- Where I come from a fake Rolex is called a 'Nolex'. Alex, I think it's a mite harsh to call all sports journalism fluff. I don't think it is, although I'm not going to go into a long thing about it. I can't see the attraction of Megan Fox. She's always left me cold. There's something really scary about her facial expressions.
- I'm the opposite, Danny. I have an I-Phone but half the time I leave it on my desk or on the kitchen counter when I go out. I don't see a need to be connected all the time. I do wear a watch. I have on a 20 year old Swiss Army watch that my wife gave me all those years ago. I also have a Seiko that dates way back. Heard a good one about Manti Te’o a while ago: He should do well in fantasy football.
- I’m sorry to bleed into the auto show thread with stuff from yesterday, but I was late in reading the comments. I don’t own a gun and I don’t consider myself an expert on guns. There was, however, a time in my youth when I carried a gun as part of my job and fired it at other people as other people fired their weapons at me. This was in 1966 and 1967 and the weapon I carried was a very early version of the M-16 called an XM-16E1. The serial number was 117872 and that number is burned into my consciousness. For many months I witnessed frequently and first hand what these kinds of weapons can do to the human body. It was only through the most extended and lucky of circumstances that I didn’t suffer an injury myself. Without going into detail, I can tell you that gunshot wounds aren’t as you see on TV and that they aren’t pretty. The M-16 and it’s civilian clone, the AR-15 fire a round with a very high muzzle velocity. At close ranges, up to about eight feet, (I’ll let somebody else do the exact measuring) an M-16 round will drill a .223 inch hole through whomever is so unlucky as to be standing in its path. Beyond that the now molten lead inside the brass jacket shoves to the forward part of the brass jacket upon impact and the jacket splits open. Suddenly the 223 caliber round has become much bigger and, still spinning, hits the victim with a punch far bigger than its original size would suggest. Hence the phenomenon suggested by Jeff wherein the round might enter one spot on the victim’s body, scythe its way through things and exit (maybe) somewhere far away. The results are lethal and gruesome. For me this debate is not an academic one. Yes, the toothpaste is out of the tube at this point and there zillions of guns out there. The fact that there are lots of guns on the street is not a reason to throw up one’s hands and say “Oh well”. If we regulate sales now the immediate effect will be negligible but over time the regulation will tell. We can only start trying to stem the sales of weapons that have no business in the civilian market. The fact that there are lots of them available now and lots on the street now are not rational arguments against trying to stem the tide now. I cannot think of a single reason for there to be a magazine that holds more than ten rounds. There is no excuse for any type of fully automatic weapon in civilian life. All weapons should be registered and licensed. Owners should be qualified. Why should lethal weapons, devices that were constructed with killing in mind be different than automobiles? The hell with the NRA. Ask any police chief. He or she will tell you.
- I thought the speech was good and mercifully short. I could have done without James Taylor and that blonde who butchered ‘My Country Tis of Thee’ by singing it as a country song. And why can’t we get somebody to sing the National Anthem straight? Why does everybody have to do their own interpretation? It’s not a cover song. I hate that stuff. Sad to say the best rendition I have heard of the Anthem was sung by a foreigner: Luciano Pavarotti at a Giant’s game.
- Jolene, I can certainly appreciate your thoughts about Marvin Gaye (although I don’t have anything to say about his being the most handsome man ever) and Jimi Hendrix. It’s a matter of personal taste, I guess and I’m a traditionalist. I didn’t like Gaye’s interpretation. I must confess, however, that I’ve liked the Hendrix instrumental for many years. I did not like the Beyoncé version today. Perhaps it’s as beb noted that talent and quality of work have a part. Too many of the covers are pure crap with no merit whatsoever. It’s been so long since I’ve heard a good, traditional version that maybe I’m simply starving for one. That blonde woman whose name I didn’t catch is a classic example of a singer’s ego or something causing her to slaughter a fine traditional song when she abused ‘My Country Tis of Thee, Sweet land of Liberdee’ indeed. Dull old man, I spent a considerable amount of time behind the wheel of a 1968 Chevelle 396 Super Sport back in ’68 and very early ’69. Whew! What a rush to slam that thing through the gears with my right foot planted on the floor, speed shifting all the way. The grin would last for days. I love the sound of a 12 cylinder Ferrari, the ripping sound of a highly tuned ALFA, the Teutonic roar of a highly tuned Porsche, the scream of an F-1 car hitting a bazillion RPM but there is nothing like a huge American V-8. I can remember back in the day standing in the pits at Laguna Seca when a very pissed off Denny Hulme slammed into that brutal orange McLaren M20, jamming it into gear and departing the pits sideways without even fastening his seat belt. I’m sure he bent the gas pedal. The sound was visceral, the ground shook (I hate to say ‘literally’ but you could feel that thing through your feet and feel the buffet in the air) and you felt as much as heard that car. Only the dead failed to feel goose bumps from that engine. The all-conquering Porsche 917/10 broke McLaren’s dominance that year. It was probably the greatest racing car ever but with its twin turbos didn’t sound like much of anything.
- Thanks for the pictures link, Jolene. In picture 23, is the deeply tanned woman next to the equally deeply tanned Boehner his wife? Mrs. O looks fab as usual and I think Jill Biden really looks terrific. The Romneys were spectacularly graceless yesterday. They would have danced to Lawrence Welk. Well said, Jeff B.
- I remember shopping at Carson's. That's a lovely workplace, Deborah.
- Well, I'm familiar with all those terms. Maybe it's because I'm old. Don't like Paddy Wagon? How about a Black Mariah? Paddy is a contraction of Patrick. I still can't understand how those dolts, hearing St Paddy's day spoken can write it out as St Patty's day. I've been shaking my head over that one for years.
- I'm aware that c**t is pretty much a gender neutral term in Oz. Not so sure about GB. Another term they use in GB for the female part is 'fanny' which means something else here. I'm at the office using an office computer. The Brits call or used to call Egyptians 'gyppos'. I'm not sure how Roms came to be called Gypsies but that was the term I was always familiar with. Rom seems to me to be a relatively late coming term.
- I remember Jay's Potato Chips from when I was a kid in Chicago. They used to come in those huge (they seemed huge then) cans that you can see in ROGirl's post at 70.
- Deborah, when I saw the place where you used to work, I was tempted to post a picture of where our designers work. They and the rest of us in the construction bidness work in six foot cubes. There are small rooms as described by Deborah that are called ‘quiet rooms’ where people can go to talk or review stuff. What I find amusing is that people will email someone three or four cubes away instead of getting up off their hips and walking over there. We have pretty good natural light. Here’s a picture of the place where we work, everyone calls it the ‘Zig’: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ziggurat I kept hearing that business about Beyonce lip-synching and kept thinking I was missing something because, like Nance, I couldn’t bring myself to give a rat’s patoot. Glad to hear I wasn’t alone. I’ll bet that violin dancer was violin-synching. I was in Riverside, CA last night (stayed at the ever wonderful Mission Inn) and left this AM. Didn’t see any of the Abaddon stuff, though I did see lots of tilt ups. The weather was wonderful.
- That's cubes six feet high. The footprint is much bigger.
- You have a point, Mary, but I am speaking of casual emails. You bet there are many times that one wants the conversation on the record. The Zig was a building conceived and built by an ego guy who wanted it to reflect, well something, but something personal to him. His name was Mark Turtletaub and he had created and built a secondary real estate lending outfit called the Money Store. It quickly failed and left the city of West Sacramento holding some kind of bag. The State, in the form of the Department of General Services leased the building and took the heat off W. Sac. There are many reasons why it is not a very good design. The foot print of each floor is all screwed up and there is just no way that space can be efficiently utilized. There are stupid blank spaces all over the place. There are all kinds of structural elements intruding in the space. The lighting is fashionable looking but not at all workable. Most people who don’t have a window seat have task lighting on their desks. It’s fortunate that natural lighting is so good. It’s one of those places that is one man’s ideal building but he’s the only one who holds that ideal and it’s a horror for anybody else. The one thing they did right was the HVAC and that’s a big one. Thankfully, the place is comfortable in all weather and the air is changed often enough so that it is always fresh. My window seat is large and comfortable. I’m just glad that I don’t own or manage the place.
- I started watching the original Japanese Iron Chef back in the ‘90s. I still watch it now and then and I like Top Chef. Padma Laxmi is a goddess. The Food Channel and the Cooking Channel have both absolutely gone down in flames with all the competition shows and with idiots like Guy Fieri. I also have to confess to looking at those house shows. House Hunters International gives a fascinating look at how people in other places live when the show isn’t featuring Caribbean condos. And, Cooz, it’s just the Ding Dongs, not the pork skins. I like pork skins, make them myself. Well, maybe it is the pork skins. That $400 grand Tater Peeler palace looks like a double wide with vinyl siding.
- Basset, it's on some deep cable channel. I notice the show when surfing without noting the channel it's on. Next time I see it I'll let you know.
- The abominable snow squirrel.
- I travel a lot which is very difficult to do without a credit card. Airlines, hotels and rental car places are simply not set up to deal in cash. I suppose it can be done but it sure would be a pain. Also one would have to carry a huge amount of cash or traveler's checks. Traveler's checks have their own pain in the assedness. No thanks. I'll continue to use a credit card. I just pay it in total every month. Also paying bills on line is so quick and easy. I'm spoiled.
- You can pick up the carnations you've been throwing to the Boy Scouts. They've delayed until May their vote on making gay acceptance a local option. Even then passage is questionable.
- I'm glad you're all right, beb. What a crappy thing. I agree that 'orientate' and 'preventative' are old sins. There are lots of other ones. How about 'drownded' or 'real a tor'? 'Beg the question used to mean 'avoid the question' now it's gone 180 degrees. How about using 'that' to refer to a person rather than 'who'? You know, 'The person that went to the store.' Also 'and' instead of 'an'. As in 'He peeled and orange'. I'm getting very tired of the cold weather around here. 30s and 50s. Brrrr. At least we do see the sun and it isn't windy. Yes, I'm a sissy.
- Years ago when my daughter was a little kid there was a TV commercial for Reno tourism. The ad featured a group singing a jingle that ended with 'Reno, Reno'. For some time after that S. persisted in calling the place 'Reno Reno'. Breathe and breath. So and so fell into the water and couldn't breath. Also clothe and cloth. She took off her cloths.
- As in 'Are we going to Reno Reno?'
- Danny @ 63, see my comment @ 21. OK, so who is Kate Upton? She surfaced a year or so with pix of her being posted on the net or being published somewhere or something. But what has she done or said that makes her a - well - whatever she is. Maybe some kind of new species of celebrity. I mean, has she done anything other than have her picture passed around? I think Nance tabbed her pretty well a week or two ago. She has a nice torso, a cute face and the rest is OK. Not in goddess territory. Want a goddess? Check out Monica Bellucci who is old enough to be Upton's mother.
- I agree with your taste in more mature women, Dexter. I mean what must a youngster like Kate Upton see when she looks at an old man like me. That's why I encouraged folks to check out Monica Bellucci. Just google her and look at images.
- Linda, I have to confess my ignorance. What does 'she is not a bone' mean?
- Audrey Hepburn was beautiful but she was a bit too waifish for my taste. I sort of disagree about Grace Kelly. I mean she was a supremely beautiful woman but for my money she seemed every bit as sexual as Monica Bellucci. Different style, maybe not as earthy, but it was there. And, from what I’ve heard, she was happy to enjoy her sexuality. Also the point I wanted to make about Monica was that she is so lovely in her maturity. She’s pushing fifty with a very short stick.
- Prospero @76, I don't know about the new one but I'm sure the current one is.
- It's supposed to hit 70 here for the next couple of days. Whopee! Congrats, Pilot Joe.
- I read Garp a long time ago and enjoyed it. Also a long time ago, before I was married to T even, I dated a woman who had gone to Cornell. Turns out she was a very close friend of Carl Sagan's wife. I heard many juicy stories about Sagan. None of them favorable to him.
- The weather here is gorgeous. Seventies and lots of sun. Every door and window in the house is open. I just came back from a lovely lunch with T, my Ex. She’s as beautiful as ever. Yeah, I miss her. People where I work are forever going on cruises and they all seem to like them. One guy went on a European river cruise with his wife and loved it. It wasn't inexpensive, though. The only cruise I’ve been on was aboard an old WWII LST from Nha Trang to Qui Nhon, RVN in spring of 1967. It was just our company (B, 2/327, 1st Bde, 101st Abn). They picked us up out of the woods on choppers, flew us to Nha Trang and trucked us to the docks. Off the trucks and on to the LST which was a MSTS ship operated by a Chinese civilian crew. As we boarded we were each handed a case of C rations. We weren’t told where we were going but we were told that we were not to go below other than to use the head. The weather was beautiful so that was no big deal. It wasn’t long before someone discovered that the hold of the ship was loaded with pallets of beer. That’s when the party started. The crew tried to keep us away from the beer, but what chance do a few unarmed non-English speaking civilians have against a company of heavily armed crazy men? It was a mellow party, though. People just three or four hours out of the field aren’t violent types though they might be a little insistent. Nobody did any damage to the ship or harmed any of the crew. Well, the only damage was to the deck where our little cook stoves burned the paint. Too bad. What else were we supposed to do? People had a tendency to throw grenades and shoot at anything that floated past but that was about it. The crew locked themselves inside for the duration. Our officers? They were just as young and crazy and heavily armed as the rest of us. They were wise enough to let things play themselves out and there were no disciplinary problems. You know. Sort of like there are no flags on the last play of the Super Bowl. The cruise was a couple of days and nights and all management did was set us ashore and move us back out to the boonies in a new area. I still haven’t figured out what the whole thing was about.
- It occurred to me that my previous post may have been a little cryptic what with all the initials. An LST is a Landing Ship, Tank. It is an ocean going ship that has the ability to beach itself so that tanks and other vehicles may drive directly ashore without being crained or lightered. MSTS was the old Military Sea Transportation Service which operated ships owned by the US Navy but were crewed by contracted civilians. As such, the ship would not be called the “USS Mayberry” but rather the “USNS Mayberry” were the initials stand for U. S. Naval Ship. Sorry if I’m boring you. I don’t know which is worse. Boring or cryptic. Here are some pix which basset will appreciate: http://www.wsmv.com/story/19582583/ship-used-in-normandy-invasion-on-display-in-nashville
- Where
- Pros, calling somebody an absolutist? I love you, man, but sometimes you do amuse me.
- Jim Griffioen does Downton Abbey: http://www.sweet-juniper.com/ OK, I'll shut up.
- Right on, Catherine! We’re all with you, Mary. If there’s any such thing as justice, you’ll prevail. You’ve got it, Charlotte. I don’t drink soda either but wine, well, that’s another story. I feel like I should own half of Bogle vineyards. Everyone was on a cruise the other day. Here’s Ken Levine: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/2005/12/ship-of-fools.html
- Neither USC nor UCLA have a stadium. SC plays home games at the coliseum and UCLA plays them at the Rose Bowl. I found it amusing a year or so ago when I found out that U of Phoenix paid for naming rights to the place where the AZ Cards play. Still do. I can't even remember what they are now calling the place where the 49'ers play. Used to be called 'Candlestick'.
- Sherri @42, thanks but I knew all that. I was just trying to make a lame joke.
- My old man did his graduate work at the U of C. When I was a little kid we lived in student housing right smack on the corner of 59th and Cottage Grove. The North East corner just across the street from the Midway. Back then (1946 – 1950) it was just the “Midway”. There was no “Midway Plaisance”. The student housing, called “The Prefabs” for obvious reasons, was torn down years ago. That prefab had coal heat and an ice box. That’s right. A guy delivered ice and that’s how we or my parents, really, kept food cool. Now it’s a parking garage. Look on Google street view and there are a couple of white what look to be some kind of cryo tanks right where our house used to be. My sister was born in Lying-In hospital in June of 1950. I remember the area as a beautiful and happy place. Is Evanston still dry?
- I'm sixty eight, Pros. I can remember when I was five years old but I can't remember what I had for dinner last night. My old man never did get his PhD. I think it ruined his life but he never was a very communicative person. He ended up with an instructor's position at Loyola in Chicago, off Michigan Ave., right behind the water tower. He made crap wages there and we were always poor but he refused to take a better paying job in industry somewhere. I ended up going to U of I at Champaign. I had a National Merit scholarship that paid tuition and fees. At that time the tab was less than $300 a semester. Somehow, between my working and my parents' contributing, I survived until I quit school in Dec of my senior year and joined the Army in Jan. Later I finished up at San Francisco State. U of I was a very good school and I had a great time there. Probably too great to the detriment of my grades.
- By the way, I have no idea what happened or why he didn't finish his degree. By the late fifties my mother was working full time and he sort of didn't do too much. This continued until he died in the mid nineties. They moved to Berkeley in 1964 and my mother started working at Cal as a secretary. She retired shortly before my father died. I don't know what was behind it, but he just basically lived off her for the last thirty years of his life.
- I had been out and about and when I got home I turned on the tube to watch the end of the race. I saw the crash live. ESPN went a long time after the wreck with interviews and the usual tap dancing and the rest. They showed very clear and close up pictures of the engine and a wheel lying next to it in the spectator area adjacent to the fence again and again but never panned up the stands to show the effects on the spectators. It was at least a half hour and probably more before they showed the first replay of the crash. Usually they have replays from multiple cameras within seconds. The announcers spoke in the quiet, hushed tones usually reserved for a situation where somebody has died. So I could tell without their saying anything that things were serious. At long last they had some big wig from NASCAR on to report that there were injured spectators, many of whom had been transported to hospitals. As of the time they signed off, they still had not given the order in which cars had finished other than to show that Tony Stewart had won and that drivers they interviewed had finished here or there. Other than reporting the final standings, I really don't see what else ESPN could have done. They certainly had the ability to show clear and close up pictures of the carnage in the stands. There is no question of that and I’m sure tape (do they still use tape?) of that exists. But what purpose would showing the suffering in the stands have served? I believe there is stuff we really don’t need to see. The commentators were in a studio above the track and what with the confusion inherent in an incident such as had just taken place would have had nothing more than random reports and rumors to report. I can’t fault them for tap dancing. So, as far as the live ESPN broadcast goes, I really can’t say that they suppressed anything or that they tried to sugar coat anything. They were in the midst of a developing scene and did the best they could with the fragmented reports they must have been getting. Understand that I’m not throwing carnations at the network but I’m certainly not throwing brickbats either. I really don’t see how else they could have handled the live broadcast. Did NASCAR or ESPN try to suppress a fan video? I have no idea.
- I get your point, Brian. I’ve been a race fan for years and years. I attended my first NASCAR event long ago at the old Ontario Motor Speedway and have been to three NASCAR races at Sears Point or whatever they are calling it today. I have seen several Indy car races at Long Beach and Laguna Seca and one F-1 race at Long Beach along with dozens of club races at Laguna, Sears and other venues. I saw a couple of Can-Am races at Laguna that were mind boggling. I spent two years as a crew member on a BMW 1600/2002 B-Sedan at club races. Mostly staying out of the way of the guys who really knew what they were doing. I guess it’s not all that much but I do enjoy motor racing. All of which is to say that I’m as big a race fan as anybody. NASCAR has been losing me steadily over the last years for a variety of reasons. The result is that I dip into races on TV from time to time as they progress. If I’m interested in the venue. F-1 lost me years ago for many reasons which I don’t feel like addressing tonight simply because I’m too lazy to do so and it would be an imposition on nn.c to elaborate. ESPN and Fox do tend to sell crashes and I don’t like it. I fully agree with you on that point. I suppose you’re right that the live broadcast people on ESPN should have reported that spectators had been injured but that they didn’t know the number of injured or the extent of the injuries. It was a fluid situation and somebody had to make a call on the fly. I guess that NASCAR was probably leaning on them to be discreet. At any rate, the live broadcast wasn’t that bad. They extended their broadcast in an attempt to get a coherent account of the events in the stands and it all ended with the appearance of that NASCAR official. Maybe they were following the party line. What the follow up is will be more telling. I will say this: After having seen many kinds of racing from the biggest leagues to the smallest, the most enjoyable, the most thrilling and competitive events can be seen at your local SCCA venue. I happen to like sports car racing so SCCA is my brand. If there is a track anywhere near you that hosts SCCA amateur racing I would recommend that you head thattaway and bring your offspring. The events are family friendly. The paddock is open and the racers are happy to bore you with all the details of the things they have done to their cars and to share their happiness with you. Vintage racing is the same. Sometimes they even need somebody to help work a corner. The racing is fully as thrilling, as competitive and cut throat as any big time F-1 or NASCAR race if at a somewhat reduced speed. At any rate, I guarantee that you and your kids will have a very enjoyable day and the cost is miniscule. An afternoon with SCCA amateur or vintage racing will make you forget all those twits in F-1.
- Brian, that horrendous Mercedes Benz accident you refer to actually occurred at Le Mans. M-B retired from the race and from the sport for a while. The retirement from the race has been the subject of a continuing dispute between two of the participants. John Fitch, an American who was driving for M-B convinced management to withdraw from the race. Stirling Moss, a British driver, wanted to continue. The dispute continued even unto this past summer when both aired their positions in interviews. Fitch recently died at ninety something and Moss, at eighty something continues his amazing career. Unfortunately, I read all of the above stuff on paper and don’t have a link to share.
- God, now you’ve got me reminiscing. One of the secret reasons guys like to go to races is that there are scads of beautiful women to behold. After one race at Sears, a friend and I compared pictures that we had taken. I had all these pix of cars and all he had was pix of women. After years of surveying and many serious hours of deliberating I long ago came to the conclusion that the most beautiful women were at Indy Car events. My one shot at a F-1 race was inconclusive but, even in those days, F-1 races were restrictive and exclusionary. I’m talking about the attendees as well as the groupies here. At one Indy Car race at Laguna Seca I turned to see a lovely woman clad only in a lacy white crop top and a pair of very small cut offs. That wasn’t the news. What attracted the eye was the slim chain that ran from under her tiny top to disappear into the cut offs below. After all these years I’m still wondering.
- I love apologies. "Mistakes were made. I'm sorry for what happened. We need to move on and put this behind us."
- Amazing pair of letters. I just looked at the Oscar runway pix. T-Lo is blocked at work. There is a celeb named Fan Bingbing? Seriously? Who is she? What does she do?
- Death? The 24 year old daughter of a friend died the other day. It was an accident, but fuck.
- That CL bike ad is hilarious. Bikes are a big part of the transportation scene in my neighborhood. As Jeff B notes, it's because so many people are too poor to afford cars. No brightly colored spandex riding suits, no zillion dollar carbon fiber frames here. Just bikes cobbled together and maintained with whatever is available. There are a lot of real 'mutt' bikes assembled from disparate components and lots of home built trailers. I’m sure many people around here would give their left whatever for a cargo bike. On second thought, for that cost they’d probably go for a pick up truck.
- I've also read all the John D. McDonald McGee novels and liked them. Haven't read any recently. I'll have to go pick one up. I read recently that they were going to be reissued soon in the order in which they were originally published. Couldn't disagree more with you about John Sandford. He might have described one woman in a way that clashes with your view but Sandford has always treated the women in his novels exceptionally well. He also has had a number of very strong women as primary characters. Think of Marcy Sherrill or RoseMarie, Weather and several others. Also he had a couple of novels with women as serious and dangerous villains. There are authors out there who do poorly by women but Sandford is one of the best. Michael Connelly and James Lee Burke have very strong female characters. T. Jefferson Parker is another one with his Mercy Rayborn novels. I strongly encourage you to pick up Sandford and give him another chance. He's one of the very best.
- It's a problem, Pros. Americans and Europeans are leaving the church in droves while membership is strong in places like South America. Unfortunately it's the Americans and the Europeans who have always bankrolled the Church, especially the Americans. So the Church's 13th Century policies are severely alienating Americans and at the same time strangling the Church's own money line. South Americans and others from Third World countries don’t contribute the big bucks. How to get the Americans and Europeans back on the money train - that's a very big question for the Cards.
- Rain last night and today lots of snow in the high country.
- I use Mason/Ball jars for storing stuff. They come in several sizes and shapes and you can get a dozen anywhere for $8 to $10 bucks. I don't heat stuff in the microwave. I put it in a pan and heat it on the stove. My microwave is basically a popcorn popper.
- Weather’s beautiful here in Sacto. Warm (68) sunny and no wind. It’s going to be warmer all this coming week. Brian @ #4, that reminds me of the gypsies in Milano. You’d see them all the time - girls carrying infants and standing by the inter car door singing for money.
- You’re quite the modest guy, Dexter. I never realized you were such a hunk. Reception problems are such a big deal and a pain in the rear these days. Where I am things are great. I have Sat TV and dsl for the internet. Both are fast, clear and anvil reliable. Smart phone reception and sound quality are excellent. My ex, however, living in a rural area, is relegated to a 56k dial up modem for the internet and her Sat TV is quirky. A lot of people don’t realize that there are vast areas of the US that have, at best, very slow and unreliable access to the internet. That’s really shameful.
- The guy “had no discernible threatening behavior”. Walking down the street with a gun in your hand isn't “discernible threatening behavior” ? We really have become numb to this stuff.
- What? Obama wants to confiscate my dryer and dishwasher? From my cold dead hand. I saw a guy riding one of those cargo bikes the other day. The long wheelbase type with an enclosure in front of him containing a child. It looked stable and easy enough to ride. If it weren't for the expense, I think we'd see a lot more of them.
- I like it, Brian. They added some style to what could have been just another boring bridge.
- I was raised Catholic. I even went to a Catholic grade school and was an altar boy. When T and I wanted to get married, I went to see the local priest about doing the wedding just to make my parents happy. T and I were both raised Catholic but we were also both divorced. The Catholics told us to take a hike. We were married by a Unitarian minister. God, that was a long time ago. December of seventy something.
- Wow! It's been ten years? I woke up today and thought it was Friday. Doesn't matter this week anyway. I have a job in Fullerton and will have to spend Sat, Sun and Mon at the job site. That's what you call a lost weekend. I saw two young women working corners on Broadway this AM. First ones I've seen in months. Altar servers? Is that what they are calling them now? Sheesh. When I was a kid I was an altar boy. I left the Church years ago. Francis the talking pope is not going to be a reformer. All the current cardinals were appointed by JPII or Benedict. All the ones appointed by JPII were vetted and approved by Benedict when he sat at JP's right hand. They were all carefully chosen as conservatives who would not bring any reformist nonsense to the party. Francis is also 76. The average of the cardinals is, I think, 72. They don't even have a young guy. Has anyone noticed that fax machines have gone the way of the 8-track and the Beta Video?
- I've been out of town and without a computer for the last three days. I had a job in Fullerton. Unwisely, unthinking, I booked myself into an Embassy Suites only three blocks or so from Disneyland. What a horrid experience. You have to see some of these Disney freaks to believe them. I wish I hadn't. My condolences, Peter. The down side of having pets really is a downer. I think you're cool, Mary. I really have no idea of what the best way to deal with your son is but I hope everything works out well and soon. Dexter from yesterday. That track in Marysville is a little 1/4 mile dirt bullring. I've never been there. There were plans for a while to build a big track to include both oval and road racing but it died out. The local oppo was too much. Mi Lai. I was up near Hue in March of 1968.
- Dexter, that casino at North Shore sounds like the Cal-Neva. It was a storied old place. I really used to like it. Sinatra was once a major partner. Google it. The gulls will be coming inshore for shore because there is a storm brewing. Also they turn up in the late innings because of the good pickings. Lots of peanuts etc. And a sigh of relief to you, Deborah.
- Julie, look for a Courtyard by Marriott, or a Residence Inn or an Embassy Suites. All have reefers and micros. All are very nice and not likely to be located in bad neighborhoods. When you locate a place that seems to work, you can always call and confirm the amenities and locale. Also when you have an idea of what you want you can try Hot Wire or one of those other internet booking spots for the best pricing.
- That’s a really cool story, Mary. I’d send you my wedding ring to melt down if I could find it. I think LinGin and Alex have some good things to say about SS and SSI. The cap for deductions should be lifted totally. That should go a long way toward solving the problems that loom. Also why the hell don’t we tax capital gains? How is it that money earned as a result of honest work is taxable and money earned from investment and other sources is not? That simply fails to compute although if I were a rich coupon clipper I suppose I would pick it up quickly enough. I wonder about SSI. I can’t help but agree with the people here who have argued that it is necessary, but I believe it is being widely abused and that nothing is being done about it. I have been to a SS office here. I was the only person in the whole building pursuing benefits I had actually earned. By that I mean I was over 66 and had been working and contributing since I was 15. The rest, all of them, were eastern European immigrants in their thirties and forties seeking SSI and none of them had worked in this country. It does make one wonder. Scandinavian countries are all small, homogeneous, have no huge military establishment, no huge foreign adventures they must support and have huge oil revenues from the North Sea fields. I am very suspicious of any comparisons between them and the US.
- So what’s your point, Jolene? A gotcha? Norway and Denmark have oil. Sweden and Finland not so much. OK, half a gotcha. Bully for you and bully for you for missing the point. Finland, a mom & pop country by any definition, has a population half the size of L. A. and an area smaller than California. Sweden is slightly larger than California and has a population about the size of L.A. Yes they have health coverage and all kinds of social amenities and yada yada. The fact remains that you cannot begin to compare one of these small enterprises to the US. They have ordered populations and ordered economies. We have an incredibly varied, disparate and ever interesting population. We have an unfathomable economy. Unfathomable? Yes. There’s the economy the Government knows, reports on and regulates. But how many people are fixing cars for how much annual under the table money? Babysitting? Cleaning houses? Mowing lawns? Remodeling kitchens? Doing any one of a hundred other things that aren’t licensed, certificated or otherwise on any books? How much marijuana is being grown and sold? The underground economy is huge and undocumented and surely larger than Finland’s. What in Scandinavia compares to that? How many rogue Wall Streets do they have in Scandinavia? We have problems of every sort and of every magnitude. The number of people we have in need, the poor the destitute, the elderly, the disabled far exceed the populations of those blessed countries and yet, even those paragons of comparison have their problems. Our legislatures are nonfunctional, riven by religious, cultural and ideological differences. At this point the California legislature along with the folks under the D.C. dome can’t even agree on what day it is. I have no idea of how things are wherever you live but I suspect that things aren’t much better. Yet still, our economy rumbles on, leagues better than the economies in the warmer parts of Europe, our social programs struggle and could be better, much better but people are striving to improve things against confused and wrongheaded opposition. We can look to small European countries for inspiration for the things they provide their citizens and we can work toward providing those benefits to our fellow countrymen. The concepts are terrific. The nuts and bolts of things are orders of magnitude more complex in this country than they are in places like Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland and all of the other countries that are held up as shining examples of perfection. I mean, think of the complexities of job the PM of Sweden has and compare them to the complexities President Obama has to deal with. I’d rather be president of Finland. It’s slow and frustrating but I believe we’ll get there one day.
- MMJeff, were you ever stationed in California when you were in the Marine Corps or where you exclusively on the East Coast?
- Condolences to Mary and Dorothy and a cigar to Pros. Wait - it's the other way around. Don't buy a Honda Element if you're looking for gas mileage. It gets lousy mpg even though it's a great car otherwise. Although, since I have only 9000 miles on it after a little over two years, gas mileage doesn't much matter. On the other hand I drive tons of miles in rental cars. Most any small car will give you pretty good mpg. Small cars today are mostly very good. They are tons better than they were even ten years ago. I had a Ford Focus on Tuesday and I liked it
- Any Friday is a good Friday. Maybe, if one wants to distinguish this one, it should be called a better Friday.
- Well, there's that idiot wetback, Don Young from AK.
- "Knowbody ever meant anything mean about wetback." ???
- The weather has been fabulous here for the last few days. Last night (Friday) I sat with a couple of friends outside on the patio of a bistro and had drinks and appetizers. What a pleasant evening. It was the first time this year that I’ve left the house without a jacket. Rain is on the schedule for Easter.
- It's a birthday for the old lady across the street who sells drugs. She's 82. They're having a big party and bbq and there are lots of kids in the yard hunting Easter eggs. The Skunk Train. God, I haven't been on that in 35-40 years. Haven't even thought of it for years. I used to have friends who had a ranch just outside of Willits that fronted on the rail line. We would wave beer cans at the people on the Skunk when it passed. I spent July Fourth of 1976 there. My then girl friend and I slept in the hay loft in the barn. Our activities that night got the horses all riled up. I haven't thought of that night in a long time.
- I agree with you about art, Nance,. I have a number of nice things on my walls that I haven’t spent a lot of money on but framing - holy shit. Getting something nicely framed these days costs a fortune. As I ‘ve gotten older, I’ve dropped thoughts of having property. I wish I could sell out and move to a condo. Fuck mowing the lawn. I’m not under water in my house anymore but I don’t have the bunch of equity that I had hoped to have by this time. So I’m stuck here for the foreseeable future.
- Licking County, Ohio. If there were a Licking County here in California the country would be papered with jokes. It occurs to me that we haven't heard from Rana in a long time. Rana, you out there?
- No way that pipeline would create tons of jobs. There will be a bunch of temporary construction jobs but that’s it. My guess is that there would probably be more than 39 permanent jobs for administration, inspection, maintenance and repair, but not that many more. And don’t forget, as of now, all of that oil is transient oil that will end up in Asia. Some may be refined in the US before being shipped out but it will still be shipped out.
- I used to use St. Ives shampoo but I haven’t seen it around in some times. Now I use Suave. A couple of years ago PBS had a foodie series that featured Mark Bittman, Mario Batali, Gwenyth Paltrow and a Spanish star whose name escapes me but who was sublimely beautiful and obviously a very fun and amusing companion. They drove around Spain and ate. It was a very good series but Gwenyth was a major drip. I’d be screaming and pulling my hair out after ten minutes with her.
- some time
- I’m truly saddened but not surprised by Roger Ebert’s death. I’ve been reading his blog - journals for some time as I suspect numerous other nn.cers have been. He made my eyes leak many times as they are now. He was a great man and a great writer and I will sorely miss him.
- I remember reading Roger Ebert’s reminiscence several years ago. What a wonderful little piece. I had forgotten Royko’s softball stories. My uncle played for a team called the Lawndale Hams. There was a neighborhood called Lawndale and I suppose the team must have been sponsored by a packing house. I attended the U of I during the time Ebert was there. He was a senior when I was a sophomore. I ran into him several times but was never a friend or anything. The best story I can remember occurred one Saturday night at a party. I may have told this before but anyway . . . The cops would raid a party with little or no provocation. Probably a neighbor would call them complaining about noise. They would descend on the party with a big net looking to catch all the underage drinkers. Like me. This night, the cops were spotted when still approaching the place and the alarm was sounded. Ebert, who as editor of the Daily Illini, enjoyed some prominence and didn’t want to be caught up in things even though I’m pretty sure he was over 21. The last I saw of him that night was his big ass disappearing out a window in his successful effort to escape. I was lucky enough to get away as well. I read the Dan Wetzel tee shirt story just now after reading Roger Ebert's story. What a contrast. Wetzel is a piss poor writer.
- Joyce once said “It’s not that I believe in God, it’s that I’m afraid there might be a God.” I’m pretty much the same as Nance. I was once an altar boy but haven’t been to church in years and years. Ken Levine on Anette: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- That should be "Annette" I remember all the "Free Angela Davis" bumperstickers back during my Berkeley years. Then one day I saw one that read "Free Angela Davis with every ten gallons". I don't think the bunnies are overweight although some of the hair and makeup is a little iffy.
- It’s a sad commentary on the current state of Catholicism that there are so many former Catholics in this small group of people. My guess is that the majority of those who remain with the Church go their own way on the subjects of birth control and tolerance towards gays, not to mention choice and equality of women. You’d think the clergy and the bishops and Rome would take the clue and act accordingly.
- Characterizing all ex-Catholics as having whatever attitude reminds me of those who felt that all Vietnam vets were luny ticking time bombs.
- Happy Birthday, Jeff.
- I had no idea that wild turkeys were ever an endangered species. There were tons of them around when I lived in Auburn. And they didn't travel in flocks. They traveled in gangs. I saw a great comment yesterday and I can't remember the site. Somebody had posted a very funny comment and the next one up simply said "You owe me a keyboard."
- Nance, after my two cataract trips, my guess is that the operation won't be bad at all. They will probably have you about half conscious and drugged and they arrange the lighting so that you will never see the needle. I never saw the scalpel when they did my lenses and never felt a thing other than vague pressures. The recovery period from the surgery was instantaneous and the eye patch came off the next day. There never was any pain. So I wouldn't expect any big problem with your surgery. Now that recovery, however, period sounds horrible. I have no idea how you're going to get through that. Best of luck.
- Now that recovery period, however. sounds horrible.
- I heard the interview of the bombers’ aunt on KPCC while driving down the freeway in Orange County this AM. She did say that they took up praying five times a day several years ago and she also allowed as how they were Muslim. She explained the Chechen connection by saying that many people had been run out of Chechnya during the forties and had taken refuge in K’Stan. So, while the brothers are ethnic Chechens (is that how you say it?) and Muslims, it isn’t clear if either ever actually resided in Chechnya. Let’s hope they catch the kid alive and that he provides some answers.
- The SacBee has a story this AM about a Sacramento couple, newlyweds, who moved to Boston not long ago. She is a nurse and he is studying for his PhD in Psych. Both were at the finish line. Each lost a left leg.
- Rest in peace, baldheadeddork. We'll miss you.
- Gwyneth Paltrow the most beautiful woman in the world? First of all, there is no such person and if there were, it certainly wouldn't be that skinny twit Paltrow. I've liked Diana Rigg for many years but have always and still do have a letch for Monica Bellucci. Brian, Michelle Rhee is married to Kevin Johnson, former NBA star and current mayor of Sacramento. I've run into them at the early morning airport several times. She favors a pony tail, baggy sweats and no make up when flying. Oh well, KJ's married to her, not me. Speaking of airports, the news has been full of the delays resulting from ATC furloughs. One idiot on the TV news advised that since there were projected to be delays of two to three hours, travelers should show up at the airport an hour or two early to ensure that they didn't miss their flight. I'm still trying to figure out how that works. And talk about a nonsequiter, Brian. That welfare thing. It's like the old "Did you know that over 99% of people who die of heart disease cut their toenails".
- Cunt punt?
- Pros, I agree with you about those horrid pink, hard, dry supermarket tomatoes but isn't there a farmers market near you? Here there are beautiful, red, juicy flavorful tomatoes available if you look for them. In season, of course.
- I’ve never seen a blue tomato. There are some brown ones around here. They’re red inside when you cut them. I spent some time in Milano a few years ago and visited a couple of farmers markets. The produce was fabulous. It looked like something out of Sunset Magazine. I was told that a lot of it came from Sicily and Sardinia. The produce in the Supermarket I frequented was also excellent and cost about the same as here in Sacto. You had to weigh and bag your own produce. They had the same type of machines that we see at self-serve checkout counters here in the US. You didn’t pay though. The machine would spit out a tag that you attached to the bag and took with you to the check out. No self-serve checkout counters though. All were staffed. The shopping carts were all attached to a rail. You would drop a One Euro coin in a box to free one. When you replaced the cart after shopping you would get your coin back. This place was brand new, having opened about four months before I arrived. It’s still the best supermarket I’ve ever seen. I think Lebovitz is very good. I've always liked him.
- Very nice verbal abuse directed toward a deserving subject. I liked it. And Albom never fails to live down to expectations. Here's an excellent take and explanation for the delays that result from ATC furloughs: http://fromthecontroltower.blogspot.com/
- The SacBee's editorial page editor replied to Perry basically telling him to go pound salt, that the cartoon was meant to illustrate the lack of regulation and inspection in Texas. Perry has been in California lately trying to recruit business to move to Texas. Gov. Brown had a few choice words for Perry as well.
- God, Prospero. I hadn’t thought of ‘Candy’ for years. “Gimme your hump!” There’s a fundie where I work. It’s “Thank Jesus” this and “The Lord meant for that to be” and “Blessed be this” and on and on with little homilies here and there. However, she’s so sweet and so helpful that I can’t bring myself to be annoyed. No more “Talk of the Nation”, huh? That’s too bad. I’ve never heard of that other show.
- Oh, Cooz. I love your stuff. You should rename your blog “Cruisin’ with the Cooz”. Suzanne, you just reminded me of one. The guy in the cube next to me, whom I love dearly and with whom I had lunch today, goes nuts when somebody leaves his trash can in the wrong place. So once in a while, no more than every three or four months or so, either Conrad, the guy in the cube on the other side of Steve’s or I will relocate his trash can. Then we stand back and let Steve rave. He hasn’t twigged yet but he will one day. He’s a very bright guy. The woman on the other side of me is a trip as well. She’s a civil engineer by trade but is now a project director with the rest of us. One year in college she took her scholarship money and had her tits done. We were drinking in a bar near SFO when she told me that and neither of us could stop laughing. I guess you hadda been there.
- I think the above needs some comma management.
- Jeez, Guys. Easy with that "on the other side" stuff. Best wishes, Nancy. I'm confident the surgery will be just fine. It's the recovery period that will be rough. How long was that again?
- As Mary says, there are a lot of ways to end with your eyes looking like two cherries in a bowl of buttermilk. There was a time when it was a regular Sunday morning thing. I'm glad to see you're making progress. Keep your chin up, er, down.
- Wow! Suddenly it's raining like a bastard here. It's so hard that the Satellite has been wiped out for the last 15 minutes. And it's May and we've been having fires. I hope this calms the fire danger for a while. It certainly has watered my lawn.
- I'm sorry about your Poppy, Mary, but I know she had a loved and loving live and yes, I agree that they know. Jaycee Dugard, the three women and a child in Cleveland, you have to wonder how many more are out there.
- The best for you, Jolene. We're all pulling for you. What a great family this place is.
- Your story sounds exactly like my cataract surgery, Nancy, but I saw red light and some movement but nothing I could distinguish, certainly no needles. They talked about shopping. My surgeon was a young woman of Chinese ethnicity but born in this country. Very young and very attractive. Kind of gothish. Short cropped sort of gamin hair, pencil skirts and silk blouses. She painted her entire eye lids black. I liked her. The other differences were that when I left the post op cubicle, I felt fine if a little loaded and the next day my eye was fine and my vision radically, unbelievably improved.
- Mary, my grandparents waltzed off the boat speaking English. Of course, they came from Ireland. It’s my understanding that back in those days (v early in the 20th cent – like the oughts) that Europeans could simply board the boat in a European port, float over to Ellis Island and sign in. Does anyone know the actual procedure?
- Thanks, Jolene. That's pretty much the way I understood things.
- Marie baby had one in the middle of her back. It made for great dancing. Sorry. Old joke.
- Boy, California looks like crap here with our defense of marriage act and the rest of the states OK'ing gay marriage.
- And a Happy Mothers' Day to all you moms out there.
- Jolene, belated best wishes for a speedy recovery.
- That geo site is blocked here at work. I'll have to wait until I get home.
- Tomato juice most assuredly works. I saw poor Aimee get it from a range of about three inches. It was the first time she had seen a skunk and had no idea of what was on the horizon. I was about 50 feet away and headed for the kitchen as soon as it happened. Poor dog was in agony having caught it right in the face. The tomato juice provided instant relief. It wasn't 100% but nothing would be. Aimee looked like I'd cut her throat.
- Benedict Cumberbatch - wasn't he Pope or something. Basset - the 500 does indeed have three women entered but only one of them, Katherine Legge is a Brit. Ana Beatriz (not to be confused with Ana Beatriz Barros, professional babe)is from Brasil as you noted but Simona de Silvestro is Swiss.
- I agree, MarkH. Simona is the class of the woman drivers and will be a genuine competitor this year. Poor woman spent a season in purgatory last year driving that stupid Lotus. Sarah Fisher was a lot better driver than her record shows. She was simply unable to get into any good equipment. She was about five years too soon. Milka Duno was a joke and didn't belong on the track. For me, the jury is still out on Danica. I think she has smarts and ability. The team is having car problems this season so far. Look at how poorly Stewart's been doing. Too bad for her she left Andretti just when the cars got good. I saw an ad on NBC this AM for their presentation of the Monaco F-1 race this weekend. It was heavily and loudly backed with rap stuff. Who in the world would associate rap with F-1? Talk about incongruous.
- God, Cooz. And because of the seeds, the tornados have spread beyond the trailer parks. You're right, Basset. I forgot Pippa Mann. She do keep a low profile and she received zero coverage on TV over the weekend. I think it's going to be a fun race.
- A couple of late replies for yesterday – sorry. I think are a bit hard on Danica. She’s a pretty fair driver and certainly better than most of them out there. While she was with Andretti the cars weren’t so good. Nobody on the team was making strong finishes. Now the cars are good and the team is doing fine. Now it’s Stewart’s cars that aren’t so hot. As I said the other day, the jury is still out as far as I am concerned. I like DeSilvestro and I was also very impressed by Legge. Prospero, I agree totally about The Rockford Files. Also I have always been a fan of Garner’s. He came to Vietnam once while I was there and flew right out to the field. He spent a good hour just walking around, hanging out and talking to the troopers. Great guy, very pleasant, modest and unassuming. I really respect him. Also, Pros, Governor Moonbeam? C’mon. That’s so stupid and so seventies. “It don’t mean nuthin.” Boy, I haven’t heard that in a long time, Dexter.
- There are a lot of sculptures at the Sacramento airport (SMF) as well. This link has a couple of them. Scroll down for the baggage ones. You may have seen them before as they seem to make the rounds in email photo collections. http://stuckattheairport.com/2011/09/20/giant-rabbit-joins-baggage-towers-at-sacramento-airport/
- The nuns made us diagram sentences. It helped me immensely. It gives you a feel for the structure of a sentence and how it works. Mary, I guess you mean the L.A. Kings. As far as I am concerned the Sacto Kings can GO. It's supposed to hit a hun here over the weekend.
- I never heard a pepper called a mango.
- It's going to be upper 90s here this weekend with brisk winds and very low humidity. CalFire has all their people on site and ready to deploy and they are very nervous. Let's hope nothing happens. Durian is sold at Asian markets here. They freeze it first which somehow kills the smell. I've tasted it and it's nothing special. I'll stick to oranges and apples and bananas. And mangos, sorry Little Bird. Mango salsa is delish. It's tough when you are allergic to some food items. My Ex is allergic to lobster and crawdads. I felt for her when we would all feast and she couldn't have any.
- I'm sorry to hear that, Bitter Scribe. My sympathies are with you. I hate that smoky stuff, Deborah. It gives such a bad feeling. We haven't experienced it yet this year but Nov is a long way off.
- The Central Coast, Pizmo, Atascadero, Paso, is a wonderful place but don’t kid yourself. It does get hot in the summer. Also it is very expensive. Monterey is considered more Northern Calif than Central Coast and has the climate to show for it. San Diego has the best weather in the state but really, the weather isn’t bad anywhere. Even Sacto isn’t bad although, according o my IPhone, it’s supposed to be 104 on Friday and 106 on Saturday. It always cools down at night to allow for good sleeping.
- We were talking about that Michael Douglas cancer from cunnilingus story and started to wonder what his wife might have thought. I mean people would have looked at her thinking “eeewww, she’s nasty”. And then he made it worse by saying the cancer was caused by the HPV. Now where is she supposed to have caught that? Or where did he get it? Things must be a tad frosty at the old Douglas homestead. Or is he even still married to C Z-J?
- What a terrible thing! I am so sorry for you 4dbirds. All our thoughts are with you. And Jolene, please heal quickly and get back to 100% very soon.
- That's a wonderful video, Deborah, and very professional looking. Not that I'm the least bit surprised. It looks like a singular honor to be selected. You've got to tell us all about the class. I'd say it's a fantastic value at only $1500.
- This is basically the first time I find myself in disagreement with you, Alex. You are comparing apples and oranges. Sexual orientation is not a physical condition nor is it in any way a physical disability. Deafness is a physical condition and a disability despite what the idiot ‘diversity’ enthusiasts say. I think Julie illustrates it well. Any parent who wilfully decides not to help his or her child to realize the child’s full physical abilities is seriously delinquent if not criminally so. Refusing to help your child in the name of ‘diversity’ is child abuse plain and simple.
- All the best to Maggie. I have the impression that she's had a tough life. I hope things improve. Get better, Maggie!
- A big welcome to Miss Wendy! It's mid 70s here and rainy. Normal is upper 80s and sun, sun, sun. Weather patterns are for sure changing.
- It's kind of warm here. The last four days have all been over 100. Weather.com says: Today 108, then 109, 110, 106 and 101 for the balance of the work week. I can't imagine what PHX and LAS are like. Scout? That debit card scam is truly evil. It's precisely the sort of thing that should be legislated away. I've been getting paid via direct deposit for many years and love it. I too found myself away from home on a vacation and the convenience of the direct deposit was a real comfort. Horrible about the AZ firefighters.
- I remember George Kell playinbg third for the White Sox.
- It's 109 today, the seventh straight day of temps above 105. My A/C is falling a little behind and it's 82 here in the house. My system is good to about 100 but is seriously taxed at 109. Tomorrow is expected to top out at 93. Whew! It ain't Scout's Phoenix but I'm a big wuss.
- Whoops, the TV weather just said it hit 110 today.
- Too much! 110 yesterday and 82 today. Feels great. It's been a very pleasant day.
- I used to spend a lot of time at SFO and used to fly in and out of there a lot. A whole lot. I'm very familiar with the area. As a result, I was drawn to the coverage of the incident and have followed it closely. There's already a lot of discussion about Cockpit Resource Management (CRM) with some saying Asians are not so good at it for various cultural reasons and how CRM may go to the heart of the accident's cause. Then I opened your page and that headline leaped out at me. I caught the Asian slur immediately. I don't know if the Sun Times meant it but it is most certainly there. I don't know what the Asian population in Chicago is but if a headline like that appeared in a Bay Area paper there would be an ungodly uproar.
- The runway lengths at SFO are adequate and certainly presented no issue for the 777 that crashed on Saturday. Fog can be an issue and an inconvenience but the weather Saturday was very clear with severe blue sky, essentially unlimited visibility and an almost non-existent 6 kt wind. The bay presents a long clear and unobstructed approach although I can understand that it might make some people uncomfortable. The bottom line appears to be that somebody simply flew a perfectly good airplane into the seawall off the end of the runway. The NTSB has indicated that there were no apparent or reported problems with the aircraft or its systems and that the engines were performing normally. It has been reported that the pilot at the controls was new to the 777 and had only 43 hours in type and that this was his first landing in San Francisco at the controls of a 777. I’m not sure that this really means anything. After all he had thousands of hours in a 747 including many landings at SFO and a total of 10,000 hours overall and every pilot out there made a first landing. The guy was by no means a green, rookie pilot. In any case, the NTSB will examine this factor. As Pilot Joe notes, Asiana 214 was low and slow. The pilot apparently had been having difficulty maintaining a stable approach. The attempt to remedy things was initiated way too late to avert the crash. Also it appears that no one in the cockpit spoke up about the poor approach. The question is why none of the non-flying pilots said anything until the last minute. This is the Cockpit Resource Management area that is under discussion by some. If, for example the flying pilot, misses something like a lack of airspeed or altitude, another pilot is expected to bring that anomaly to the attention of the flying pilot. There are any number of possible explanations for this apparent lack of discussion among the pilots at the end of a very long flight. Back off, mark. You grossly misread my comment. The site I was looking at that had comments about CRM and Asian characteristics relating to it is airliners.net The thread about the incident is hundreds of comments long. You’re welcome to read it. I was not espousing the Asian/CRM thing but merely reporting what I had been reading not long before I came to nn.c this morning. Hence my quick reaction to the Sun Times’ stupid headline. Some of the comments may have been racist, some were inquiring. It is my understanding that, these days, airlines (presumably including Asiana) spend a good deal of time training their personnel in CRM. The NTSB people will be looking at this. In fact, they are interviewing the pilots today. I expect the NTSB to produce their usual thorough and superb report.
- has made a first landing. Thanks for that link, Paddyo'. I read the Slate article after posting my comment and feel that the article was excellent. He makes some very good points, particularly about training.
- Count me in, Kim. I find Ms. Hersman rather impressive. She manages a press conference very well. She is personable while maintaining complete control over the proceedings. She doles out information very surely and succinctly while refusing to get drawn into revealing more than she is prepared to reveal. I think there is a lot of unprecedented stuff here with this accident. First of all, there is a video of the plane crashing. When has the actual crash ever been seen before? Then there is a very clear video of the slides deploying and people evacuating on them. There are pictures taken by survivors immediately upon exiting the aircraft. The video taken from a chopper very shortly afterward shows the crash site with what must also be unprecedented detail. Finally, the quality and clarity of the images is surprising. The fact that the crash occurred in a major metro area, in a wide open area with clear sight lines and that the weather was perfect are, of course contributory factors. I know there is video of the DC-10 crashing in Iowa(?) some years ago but it is short, incomplete and indistinct.
- Again, mark, you have grossly misread my comments and are way out in left field. Maybe you're at home there.
- Interesting article about the rich boy district shoppers. I liked the carefully posed picture with them looking all clean cut and preppy. Like a Ralph Lauren ad. Chris Hughes is an odd looking duck. He appears to have been assembled from a spare parts bin.
- Yeah but little Richey Rich still has to pick a spot to register. With a guy like that I always want to know how many elections he's voted in and where over the last five years.
- No, MarkH, I didn’t see that. I live in Sacramento and we don’t get KTVU here. KTVU is in Oakland right by Jack London Square or used to be. I find it absolutely astonishing that a major market TV station would go live with such obviously made up names. How many people read that copy before it goes on the air? How could any sentient being read those names and not see the problem? Also, the real names of the aircrew were released several days ago and have been in the press ever since. Where have the KTVU people been? And, by the way, I don’t find it the least bit funny. It’s 1950s fifth grade humor, although I am both amused and appalled by the idiocy of the station. I wonder if the NTSB intern figured that the KTVU person on the phone was joking and his or her response was on the order of “Yeah, sure, Buddy. You got it. Those are real names.”
- Here's their lame apology. http://www.ktvu.com/news/news/ktvu-apology-friday-noon-report/nYpSg/
- I make my bed every day. Otherwise I’m pretty much of a slob. OK, I keep up with the dishes. In the summer, I sleep with only a top sheet even though the night time temps here are in the upper fifties and lower sixties. Timing, Nance. I just washed the cover for my down comforter as well. Serve food from a bowl? I live alone and that ain’t gonna happen. I’ll do it when I have company. I don’t think there’s any way to escape the conclusion that Zimmerman precipitated the whole thing with his unwise actions. The consensus seems to be that the prosecution didn’t prove anything and that Florida law is a curious thing. I also don’t get the six person jury. I guess it saves money for the lawyers. They don’t have to spend as much on their jury consultants. Doesn’t Zimmerman have about the beadiest eyes ever?
- I used to be majorly in lust with Linda Ronstadt. The first time I saw her was in Berkeley in 1969 at a store front dive called “The Monk”. She wore tiny little blue jean cut offs (no such thing as jorts then), a blouse made out of red bandanna material with the bottom open and tied off across her midriff. Here hair was in those little girl pony tail things. She was young and beautiful and radiated sex and boy could she sing. When she introduced the band she introduced one of them as “Balloon - Dick”. There was complete silence in the club for a moment while everyone stared at the guy. I have a lot of her early albums on vinyl, including Simple Dreams. One thing I’ve always loved about her is her willingness to try anything musical. It must have taken a lot of guts. I still wonder what kind of relationship she had with Jerry Brown. He just didn’t seem to be her type.
- Her hair. Yeah, I remember army bed making. Hospital corners and bounce a quarter. Much of the time in Vietnam we were out in the boonies somewhere and just slept on the ground. No bed to make there.
- I'm happy to hear you're enjoying yourself, Brian. The brother of a friend of mine used to be the head guy at the Midway museum. He is retired navy. Then he retired from the museum. I've heard LAX described as many things but never cool. Glad you like the place. One thing, up your alley is the great girl watching there.
- I must have missed something, Pros. When did Zimmerman testify?
- What Scout said at #24, Prospero. I was merely (and lamely, I guess) trying to make the point that Zimmerman's remarks were taken from an interview rather than from sworn testimony.
- A bit of coolth. It's 77 here today! Not to fear, we'll be back in triple digits by Friday. Avg temp for today is 94.
- I'm having the word break problem but only on some comments. It just started but I looked back a few days and it's now there retroactively.
- He doesn't do anything for me.
- Sounds rough, ROGirl. Nice neighbor. Where do you live?
- I disagree, Brian. I think there was racism involved with Zimmerman's decision to continue his stalking of Martin. If he had seen an unfamiliar white kid walking down the street he would have thought nothing of it and there would have been no incident. Instead he saw an unfamiliar black kid and we all know what the result was.
- Weiner is just a pathetic weenie wagger. I sure as hell wouldn't want him as my mayor and he sure as hell doesn't deserve Huma Abedin.
- I think the Weiner campaign should issue Tee-Shirts that say "GOT WEENIE?"
- Carmelo Death here.
- I had no idea who Stacy Kiebler was. I had to look her up: "Stacy Ann-Marie Keibler (born October 14, 1979) is an American actress, model, and retired professional wrestler and valet" Quite the resume. We share a birthday (not the year).
- Weapon owners and particularly parents have an absolute responsibility to store weapons in an unloaded condition and to store weapons in a place such that they would not be accessible to youngsters. I can think of a whole list of charges. MM Jeff, you're just too cute for words.
- Cat didn't like the skunk smell any more than you did, ROGirl! Brian @22: Jiffy lube! Haw! I don't think anybody here is advocating summarily tossing people into jail for any of these gun or pool or automobile related deaths. But there are laws relating directly to these things in some places and there are generally laws relating to child abuse, child endangerment and so forth. If a child gains access to a firearm, it having been left around where the child can get hold of it is child endangerment. I believe that parents in these situations need to be investigated and, if warranted, prosecuted. You can't just walk away, shrug your shoulders and say "Oh well". Folks are always talking about accountability until it comes time for somebody to be held accountable.
- Truly said, Sherri.
- There really is a country called Bosnia and Herzegovina. https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en
- The site snatched my comment off my computer before I finished it. I wanted to add that one of our civil engineers hails from there. He has a place on that tiny little bit of land that touches the Adriatic.
- I get Witnesses and Black Muslims at my door. It's a fun charade. The Mulims politely invite me to attend their doings knowing full well that I'll never do so and I politely say that I'll consider it also knowing that I'll never go. No Mormons here.
- Oh yeah, I give. What's UDF?
- My front yard hose, nozzle and sprinkler went missing Thursday night. Well, I thought, that’s only the third time in the last five years, so I might as well replace them. So today after work, I stopped by Target. No hose or any other yard type stuff in stock. They traded the garden dept. for food. I should have checked with Lileks before stopping. Anyway, I’ll go to Sears tomorrow. It’s closer than Home Depot or Lowes. The sprinkler really pisses me off. It was perfect and I only paid $1.95 for it at Winco.
- For sure those parents who don’t vaccinate their children to the later detriment of another person’s child should be held accountable. So, Nance, now you’re getting a cataract on your affected eye? And you will have to have cataract surgery in a year or two? Why didn’t they just eliminate the middleman, pass on the procedure you just underwent and go straight to a lens replacement which is what cataract surgery is? Would that have solved the problem?
- Put me down with Dave as having read almost all of Leonard’s crime novels over the years but none of the westerns. I’ve read everything I could find at the library. I guess I’ll start looking elsewhere and also read the westerns. He was a great writer as is James Lee Burke who is quoted in the obit. Burke isn’t getting any younger either.
- I like your voice. Your tone and pacing are just right for the type of piece you did. You've got a nice intelligent urban sound. More please. Ken Levine had some nice things to say from a little different perspective. Ten rules warning: http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- You look just fine, Mary. I'd never seen that show before. Unlike Mary, that show looked obnoxious and ugly. That hostess, whomever she was, is a raving bitch. I don’t know how long it lasted but I wouldn’t have gotten past the first episode.
- No Hawaii, No Dak, Del, Rhode Island, New Hamp, Vermont, Mass and Maine. I’m kind of New England challenged. I’ve been in all the others.
- My lawn is practically all crabgrass now. At least it’s hardy. If you cut it, go across the street, look back and squint, it doesn’t look bad. I attended an marathon extra-inning game at Candlestick one night. I was with my girl-friend of the day. My thought was to hurry home after the game and – well - you know. This thing went 16 innings and we didn’t get out of there until way after midnight. I think it was two o’clock or so. So much for my plan. Fortunately, we had both been there before and knew how to dress. For some reason, the weather never seemed to be a bother at 49er games. It was amusing, though, to watch guys trying to field punts and kick offs. It’s sad to hear that there are older people being ripped off by “contractors”. I’m an older people myself. I’m having stuff done at my house. They should be finished today. The contractors are a father and son who live just up the street. They’re very nice guys who really care about their work. I’m very, very happy with the results (including exterior painting). And yes, their license, bonds, insurance and workers comp are all current and active. I guess I’ve been pretty lucky here.
- There was an excellent place here in Sac called Capital Dog. Only stuff that belongs on a hotdog are dark mustard, chopped onions and sauerkraut Anything else is a felony. Ms. Cyrus isn't anywhere near as cute as she thinks she is. What is with this fad for people getting inspirational sayings tattooed on themselves?
- I was just going to link to those videos, Sherri. They are, indeed, terrific.
- I hope you looked at the videos to which Sherri linked. The big aircraft are staging out of three bases, McClellan here in Sacto, Castle in Atwater and I forget the third. The C-130 in the video, MAFF 6 is working out of McClellan. I’ve seen video on the news of it being serviced there. There are nine MAFF C-130s and two big DC-10’s working the fire. I don’t know how many CalFire S-2s and helicopters are working and I don’t know how many other contractor aircraft are also working. As you can see and hear in the videos, each large aircraft has a lead in plane guide it to the target. In the videos, the lead in plane is visible at the end of the sequence when it drops smoke to mark the target and then departs upward and to the left. I’m guessing that the lead in aircraft are CalFire OV-10 Broncos. Air traffic control must be interesting. The fire is huge at 180,000 acres or about 280 square miles. The area is remote and is a series of very steep canyons. There are no roads to speak of. It simply isn’t possible to position hand crews to fight much of the fire. Even if it could be done it is too dangerous. The main effort is to the west and northwest where there are populated areas and to the east. As one CalFire spokesman put it, they aren’t trying to fight this fire so much as to herd it away from populated areas. Still, there are almost 4000 people on site fighting this thing. Altogether, the numbers are stupendous. San Francisco derives its electric power and its water from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir on the east end of the fire. The fire has burned right up to the reservoir and a major effort is being expended to save power generating facilities and lines and to save water lines. Hence the emergency declaration for the City of San Francisco. SF could potentially lose water and power although the firefighters seem to have the upper hand here. The only good thing about this monster is that it is in such a remote area. The inciweb link: http://www.inciweb.org/incident/3660/
- Great pictures, Deborah and you're looking awfully good yourself. The food looks delicious.
- Happy Birthday to all! Indeed, Mark, those Giulias are wonderful cars.
- Headline in the Bee today: Sluggish pace for new jails. The story is that the State came up with some $$ to help locals build jails six years ago but to date no new jails have been completed. Now you all know why I wear a tinfoil hat.
- "Gift" is a noun. Period. I've never heard of bun tacos. How can they be tacos if they're on a bun? It sounds like some kind of sloppy joe. I wasn't allowed to give blood for years and years because I had malaria a couple of times when I was in the army.
- I'm guessing Mark was just having fun.
- No, Dexter. I saw the event advertised but I didn't go. I had visions of drunken animal scenes. There have been too many of them. It looks to have been pretty tame.
- I never heard of anything like that insurance requirement you mentioned, Dexter. It really sounds strange. I flew down to LAX yesterday. The date, 9-11, didn't occur to me when I called the meeting and booked the trip. There was nothing out of the ordinary though. Mary, what is this train they're building through Santa Monica? The place has been torn up the last six months or so and it's getting worse.
- Thanks, Mary. Sounds like a great project. What chapped my ass a bit was that Norm's, my favorite breakfast place in Santa Monica, was closed when I got there. Closed as in done in by the rail line which needs the space. I had to eat at some other joint. The traffic problem really isn't that bad. Yet. Alex, I've had that same issue lately and on more than one computer. That is clicking from a site to a story or feature and not being able to click back to the main page but having to reopen the site from the beginning. I don't like ads anymore than anybody else but i put up with them. How else are these sites going to pay for themselves? Better the ads than a pay gate.
- My divorce from my first wife was painless. We were young with no kids or joint assets so we just split up. I did a do it yourself divorce in Marin County from that book that was popular then. Nothing to it. Cost me something like $50. My recent split up isn't actually a divorce. We're legally separated. That way I can keep her on my medical insurance and we can file joint tax returns. I didn't come away financially unscathed this time. I will be making payments through March. Then I can retire. Whoopee!
- Deborah, I liked your old avatar - that photo of you. Now I don't see any avatar, just one of those quilt looking generic things.
- Deborah, your avatar shows now but I'm on my home desktop, not my laptop.
- Thanks for the John O' breakfast tip, Mary. I'll have to try the place. I know I liked the corned beef sandwich tips you gave me a couple of years ago. We have skunks here in Sacto as well. I also saw a great big coon on my front sidewalk yesterday AM. He was between me and my car so a paused a moment to let him mosey off down the street.
- Sounds like a mixed blessing, Dorothy, but best wishes. Good stuff for your husband. Here at the State, a memo was just sent out by our personnel people announcing an open enrollment period for health, eyes, teeth etc. insurance for same sex couples. In another area, the State is making a big push to get people enrolled in health insurance through the ACA. TV commercials, etc. Obamacare thrives in CA.
- Yeah, that Alabama/A&M game is one of those I wish both could lose. Boy, did Michigan sneak by.
- Next time try simmering a boneless pork butt (really a shoulder) in cherry coke for hours. My Ex would do that. The first time I couldn't believe it when she added a couple of jugs of cherry coke to the shopping list but the results were amazing. Try it and you'll thank me.
- Probably, Deborah. It will take several hours. Just don't let it run dry. Check a generic recipe for shredded pork. I think she put some herbs in but I didn't really watch. Now I feel responsible. My fingers and toes are crossed. I'm in a Best Western in beautiful downtown Alturas, CA, which is way past the back of beyond in the upper right corner of the State where CA and OR and NV come together. There is some kind of old car thing going on and the parking lot is full of ancient cars. Nothing newer than about 1925. I counted eight Pierce Arrows. Beautiful old cars. They're on some kind of tour. These are all driving cars, not museum queens.
- Ahh, Linda Ronstadt. I wrote a long comment about her a month or so ago. Including Daisy Dukes. I’m getting old. I’ll be 69 in a couple of weeks. Mid October. It looks like I’ll be able to retire in about April or so of next year. I’m ready. I had meetings, etc. until noon today and then drove back from Alturas. That’s a long hike – 150 miles on a two lane winding mountain road from Alturas to Redding and then another 170 miles down I-5 to Sacto. When they fired up all those old cars this AM it sure made one understand why there are smog laws. The smoke and stink was unbelievable. I carried and used a weapon during the Vietnam war. The draft was in effect at that time and lots of Americans saw and used weapons and witnessed the effects of such usage. For the last few wars (what a horrible concept – the last few wars) we have had a volunteer military and the exposure to war and its effects has been confined to a very few people relative to the population. I haven’t owned, used or even touched a gun since I left the army. I wonder if seeing all the footage of weaponry and its usage has fascinated lots of young and now not so young people who have no real experience of guns. Nobody whom I knew in the army would have ever pranced through a farmers market with an M-16 on a sling and a pistol in a holster. What a couple of strokers. Truly, I wonder what effect the lack of a draft has had on there being all these idiots out there who romanticize guns. If we still had a draft there would surely be fewer big starry eyes looking at weapons.
- Happy Birthday, Dexter! The story of that poor woman at Duquesne is appalling. Deborah, I didn't really have a recipe, just the concept of using cherry coke. Jolene suggested looking for 'pulled pork cherry coke' on google. There are several recipes there. Sorry if I misled you. My Ex's cherry coke recipe was really good, though.
- Fantastic, Deborah. I’m glad it came out well. Good to hear you had a happy trip, Sherri. Those idiots who shot each other occasion a real ‘I told you so’ moment. The guy next to me here at work just upgraded his phone with the new operating syst. He isn’t ecstatic. I guess I’ll do it but there’s no hurry.
- Competency? What happened to competence? All kinds of words are being changed around. Is it the Republicans?
- God, basset, how many of those things have I sat through with idiots reading slides at me.
- I went to lots of football games when I was at Univ of Illinois and always had a great time. Maybe it was even when your hubby was there, Deborah. Anyway, Bacon's article was really sad. He is entirely correct. Michigan football is leaving the students. I'm guessing it's the same just about everywhere.
- I agree, Sherri. Hockey is a perfect sized game to see in person. You can see it better than on TV. Football is best watched on the tube for a lot of reasons. Still, there is the life, the electricity of a real game to be appreciated in person.
- Deborah, I started at U of I in the fall of '62 and left at the end of the fall semester in '65. I joined the army in Jan '66. Later I finished and got my degree at SF State. So it appears that your husband and I were at Champaign at the same time.
- I have to say that I am extremely lucky to have the health care coverage that I have as an employee of the State of California. I have Kaiser and have had Kaiser for years and years. I think they are fabulous. Coverage for myself costs nothing and I pay about $100 per month for my EX. We are legally separated, not divorced, and this is one of the reasons. The other is my taxes which would be much higher if I were not married. I let her keep the refunds. There is no deductible. I have a $10 copay for visits and the same for scrips. For some follow up visits there is no copay. Copays have doubled from $5 over the last couple of years. As an example, I figured that the total cost to me for the two cataract operations I had a couple of years ago was less than $150 – more like $135. With Kaiser, if something comes up and you feel the need to see a doc, you merely make a phone call. If your regular doc is not available, they will make you an appointment with another doctor. The appointment time will typically be about two hours after the phone call. That’s less than the waiting time in an emergency room. I could go on but I’ll just repeat. Kaiser is fabulous. I have coverage for eyes and teeth. Those insurers pay a percentage. I don’t recall the details but I really don’t pay that much for glasses and dentists. The State also covers same sex partners. Oh, and Brian. I've been flying to LAX weekly for the last several weeks and will be doing so through the rest of this month and Nov. Lots of very attractive young women. Just thought I'd make you feel bad.
- A lot of people don't like LAX for a variety of reasons not the least of which is where to park the car when you want to fly off to Granny's. I fly in, wander out to the curb and catch the rental car shuttle. On return I drop the car at the rental car place and catch the shuttle back to the airport. Easy. In LA all the rental car places are off campus. A tip for anywhere: If you have any distance to drive and you plan to be gone for a week or so it is often cheaper to rent a car at home, drive it to the airport, drop it and catch the shuttle. Do the reverse coming home. It may or may not be cheaper but it is certainly easier than wrestling with parking. Check it out next time you travel. It works here in Sacto because so many international flights originate at SFO and you have to get there somehow.
- I like the red dress and I like this year’s hair better. Kate seems to have gone from big girl to young woman. I see you also cram books sideways in an overcrowded bookcase.
- I looked at those pix of Miley Cyrus. Here’s hoping that those stars are not tattoos. No leaves yet. Here we can’t burn yard waste. Bad air. The city picks it up. John Sandford is a great writer and I don’t remember him as being hooked on torture. Why would anyone even want to get next to a bison? Mary, I had lunch the other day at a place in Santa Monica called el Cholo on Wilshire at, I think it was 11th. Very good. Are you familiar with it?
- That menu looks fabulous! I've got to try it. Thanks, Mary.
- I was watching a Bears game on the tube years ago. McMahon was Qback and the time was inside two minutes before the half. The Bears called time out and McMahon trotted over to the sideline to consult with his coach. Ditka stood there, looked McMahon up and down , then turned and walked away leaving a little lost McMahon standing there by himself. It was funny as hell.
- Left over from yesterday: Macgowan may have bad teeth but he does a great Danny Boy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5X5IrA0zEs Work until you’re 70? Today is my 69th birthday and I'm still working. I don’t know why good computer apps are so hard to do. ACA? What about Windows 8? What a disaster that is. Here in California the Employment Development Dept was crippled by a new system that delayed unemployment benefit checks for thousands for weeks. They’re just now getting caught up. The weather has been beautiful, hasn’t it? Gotta go to Alturas tomorrow. I'm not looking forward to that.
- Happy Birthday, Alex! Hope you aren't feeling too awful this AM. Not everybody has to go through the Federal site to sign up for health care. Many states operate their own sites where residents can enroll.
- Good news, Judy. And it sounds like Julie has a 'Happy Birthday!' coming.
- Actually I think it was Truman who refused help to Ho in ’45 or’46. Truman didn’t want to piss off the French. I also heard a story that Ho visited the US some time around there and Truman refused to meet with him. I don’t know if this is true or not. That wedding story was wonderful. I laughed out loud. I have to think the Times writer was laughing his or her (Kim?) ass off while writing the thing and having great fun at the expense of the loving couple. They’re just too precious to be true. I hope you are better soon, Nancy.
- Mary, Wolfman Jack was on XERB.
- Memories. I remember Nha Trang well. It’s a very beautiful city with the corniche and the villas along the coast and the big Buddha up on the hill. I spent a couple of weeks in the 6th Con one time when I had malaria. I witnessed many brave and heroic acts by dust off crews. They were incredible. They would get a wounded guy out or die trying. I mean that in the most literal sense. I’ve seen it numerous times and, yes, I've seen them die. They inspired awe. What their actions meant to the guys on the ground was valuable beyond calculation. Thank you, Dexter.
- My EX had a great Brazilian recipe for kale that she used to serve with feijoada. It was yummy. Yellow Tail is cheap Ozzie plonk, They have a premium brand which is OK but that’s about it. I love cilantro and I love snatch. Where does that put me? Deborah, there is no doubt in my mind that you are the loveliest and most elegant woman at that function.
- A while back Cooz posted a video of twerking on his blog that sets to rest forever the false impression that Miley Cyrus is able to twerk. She has no booty. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KP9GmIKefL8 Kale is loaded with all kinds of healthy stuff, it's a relative of cabbage.
- Re Prospero's free Kale: We used to have watercress growing in the creek by our house in Auburn. It was very good but we had to be quick because Vietnamese women would materialize from thin air, coolie hats and all, and pick the place clean. Three or four of them standing in the creek, butts in the air plucking away. I never knew how they found our creek or where they came from.
- I was a sophomore at the Univ of Ill. I was walking past the main library when a friend of my girlfriend stopped me and told me that the president had been shot. I went straight back to my dorm room and sat in front of the TV with my roommate. Later that evening my girlfriend and I went over to some friends’ house where we spent the weekend in front of the TV. We’ve become sadly accustomed to horror stories on the TV now but this was the first one ever. It was new ground for everybody from Cronkite on down. What a weekend. And yes, we saw Ruby shoot Oswald live.
- I was in Vietnam when MLK was killed and the immediate effects of that were blurred by distance and the immediacy of my own situation. I was in L. A. on the evening of June 6, having driven down from Berkeley earlier that day. We (myself and two friends, each in our own car) had set off for Fort Bragg, NC late that afternoon with the idea of stopping in San Bernardino for the night. I heard about RFK on the radio as we drove. Saturated with death as I was immediately after two tours in Vietnam, RFK’s assassination didn’t affect me the way his older brother’s had. I remember playing shuffleboard in a bar in Berdoo later that night.
- Happy Birthday! Very nice catapult. When my daughter was a kid the project was to build a model of a mission. Same deal. Kids with handy parents had nice models. Those without didn't. Fortunately the grade was a pass/fail. If you brought in some attempt you passed.
- Just a random thought but how do you press flowers with a Kindle?
- If butterfly is the same as spatchcock, it’s a great way to grill a chicken on your barbecue. One year when I was still in Auburn my wife got a wild hair and bought a food turkey chick at the feed store. The poor thing grew and grew and grew blowing up like a balloon. Finally it could barely breathe and couldn’t walk anymore. It was huge. It just lay there wheezing and died – exactly as Cooz describes with his chickens.
- Right, Deborah. The Southwest Airlines A-List is a great deal. It's saved me untold hours of waiting in line and sitting in middle seats. I've got lots of free flights stacked up and plan to start using them soon. People put them down all the time, calling them "Southworst" and all but I like the airline. They deliver exactly what they promise which is reliable on time flights for a reasonable price. It may be because most of my flying these days is within the State of California but their on time performance in my experience has been stellar. Boarding early I can always get the seat I want and rarely have someone in the middle seat next to me. The only thing I don't like is that they constantly fiddle with their schedules in an effort to keep their load factor up but I can't really fault with them for that. It's just a pain sometimes that the flight I take one week is scheduled an hour later the next week. Or an hour earlier.
- That's the way I do it, Mary. I wrap a brick in tinfoil and use it to mash the chicken on my Weber. It yields a truly delish dinner. Also I have to confess that I peeped at Google to see what butterflied chicken looked like.
- Weather here is great. Low 40's night to sunny low 60's during the day. That shooting is very sad. Especially since the poor loyal horse apparently brought its family home before dying. The listed crimes carry penalties of what? Six months at the county farm? A year's sentence suspended?
- Happy Thanksgiving all!
- So Michigan goes for two . . .
- Judybusy, you can Boeing to your list.
- You guys are pikers. I lost the Drummer Boy Challenge two weeks ago. Belated Happy Birthday, Charlotte. I’ve been out of town the last couple of days and didn’t bring a computer with me. How old are you MarkH? Happy birthday to you too! I’m 69 and think Dexter is 64 or so. For sure I’m not getting any younger. President Obama shaking hands with Raul Castro is exactly the sort of thing that Mandela was all about and couldn’t be a more appropriate thing to see at a Mandela memorial service.
- I still haven't forgiven Regan for firing the Air Traffic Controllers.
- That was wonderful of you, Dexter. Thank you. I have also heard horror stories about professional foster parents. Really makes you feel sorry for the kids.
- I’ve always been very happy with Sears and have bought tons of stuff from them – stoves, refrigerators, dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers. lawn mowers, etc. Maybe it’s the local branch with which you deal. Also I’ve bought stuff on line and gone over there to pick it up. Works nicely. I always leave Sacto very early so my plane is never late. Wrong. Last week I was on a 6:00 flight to Ontario. We pushed back on time but then the pilot announced that we had to be de-iced. That took a taxi over to a remote area where the de-ice truck sprayed the aircraft. Then the next announcement: The de-ice people had bumped into the wing of the aircraft and we had to go back to the terminal to have the wing inspected. Everything turned out all right but we ended taking off an hour and a half late. That plane’s flights for the rest of the day were late. And by the way, that new TSA special line is terrific. No waiting and you don’t have to take off your shoes or your coat and you just walk through one of those old pass through security things, not the full body scanner. Both ONT and SMF feature the new line. I love it. Happy Birthday, Joe!
- Leopard print, Mary! Lord. The manager of the Santa Monica DMV office is into leopard print. Her office has leopard chotchkies all over the place and she wears leopard print stuff. She's from Panama. Maybe they have leopards there and she's homesick. No North Face here. Current jackets are by Barbour, Carhartt and Orvis.
- Mary, I think your sons have a pretty cool mother. Tomorrow is your big day, Nance? Good luck. It'll be a piece of cake.
- Surprising that they didn't make you wait until tomorrow to peek, Nance. You are going to be so happy. It's a revelation. Mary, you're a hoot. I'm looking for a top hat to send you. Don't delay. Have your surgery now. The improvement is a mind blower. Your sight goes from dingy to brilliant. Just ask our leader. Sorry to be such a salesman for this stuff but it was a real changer for me.
- My condolences, Dexter. Also, best wishes to all who have ailing relatives. Interesting anesthetic stories. I had my cataract surgeries done in an eye surgery center that Kaiser operates here in Rancho Cordova. It’s a beautiful, state of the art facility, bright and clean and cheerful. All the staff are upbeat, friendly and professional. One feels upbeat and optimistic there. I was semi-conscious through both surgeries, felt no pain and fully recovered from the anesthetic in about an hour. I wore an eye patch until the next day when the Dr. took it off at her office. I couldn’t have asked for better treatment or a better place. The outcome was far beyond expectations. Oh, and that’s the only time I’ve ever been knocked out.
- Merry Christmas to everybody! The crease. Very good, Brian.
- What a truly beautiful woman. And I’m not saying that simply to go along with the group. Something about her really rings my chimes. I’ve long thought that declared opposition to gay marriage was a mile wide and an inch thick. For the most part, people didn’t really think about it a lot and didn’t perceive a threat from gay marriage. If asked by a pollster they would say ‘No’ but didn’t really have a strong opinion. This transferred to the voting booth where there was no incentive to say ‘Yes’. In recent years there have been more and more gay people coming out and the general population has had more and more acquaintance with gays. Lo and behold, gays are just folks. People have always known that, despite what the Rev says, gays aren’t a threat to straight marriage and especially married gays aren’t a threat. The threat is Betty Sue down to the bowling alley or Jim Bob in shipping, just like always. People, other than die hard religious whack jobs have never given much thought to gay marriage or given much of a shit. It’s just not a factor in their lives. Now the tide is rapidly rising. The battle has basically been won and the mopping up goes on. From the tone of the linked article, even the pols in Indiana are conscious of that.
- I have what I guess could be described as a ‘Cadillac’ health plan. The Kaiser coverage I have is truly wonderful. I remember signing something in my Social Security paper work concerning Medicare but can’t remember what other than it was to protect my current situation. Sixty Five is a dim number in my rear view mirror, I’m planning to retire in the next few months and now there’s the ACA. I guess I had better get on the stick and find out what I need to do.
- RE Yesterday's post: Brian’s McDonalds burger photo is rather gross. Check out those fingernails. Or, better yet, don’t. Deborah, please not so hard on those of us who are over 65. Next somebody’s going to want to cut me loose on an ice floe. Finally: Prospero, I’ll even you out. You cohabit with a woman to whom you are not married. I’m married to a woman with whom I do not cohabit. I could fill a dumpster with all the stuff I need to get rid of around here.
- Prospero, in regards to marriage yesterday, I'd say neither of us is damaging the institution. People can screw up their own lives without help from us and as for the institution, somebody (Jeff) covered that yesterday with a little economic analysis.
- Well done, Dexter! Night Train? Whew.
- Brian, it looks like Schumacher was hurt a lot worse than original reports indicated. Dexter, I never had anything against the Packers and I like Rogers but now's our chance to both root for the 49ers. I was quite pleased to see the Cowboys lose last night.
- Organize? Nope. My cleaning lady organizes. She comes once a month and it takes me a week afterward to find stuff. My one word for this year is Retire.
- Happy New Year, everybody!
- Happy Birthday, Little Bird! Count me as a Costco liker as well. They have La Brea bread here although I prefer the Acme bread I get at Taylor's Market. Costco actually has pretty good meat. I'm not a fan of Keurig coffee for all the above stated reasons. Also, you have to buy one of a very few brands. I prefer to get what I want and make one pot.
- Not much to say about winters here in Sacramento. This year we've been unseasonably warm with temps for the last month and for the forecasted future running mid 30's at night to mid 60's during the day. The bad thing is that we've had no rain and things are starting to look serious. The ski slopes are dying for lack of snow. The reservoirs are shrinking - radically. But the 49ers won! I can appreciate that earring story, Nance. Years ago I went to the beach with my then girlfriend. She wore a bikini with a brass ring connecting the bra cups. After a day in the sun she had a very serious circular burn right there between her breasts from that ring. She was very sore for a couple of days and very lucky not to have a scar.
- If you leave a tap or two dripping it will keep a minimum water flow going through your pipes and will go a long way to prenting your pipes from freezing.
- No, I didn't kiss her circular burn. It was really serious, all swollen and blistered and everything. There were plenty of other spots to kiss, though. Mary, the Air Force used to have those parkas. Maybe still does. The Army didn't have anything like that, at least that I ever saw. I almost feel guilty about the weather here. Almost.
- I remember below zero temps when I was a kid in the Chicago area. But thank goodness we didn't have wind chill in those days or it would have been colder. No lake effect snow either and no black ice. Just plain ice. We had it easy.
- I’ve been out of town for the past few days and came home to discover that Prospero – Michael is gone. That hit me like a punch in the gut and I have to say that my eyes got moist. I’ve just read the last couple of day’s comments. I won’t try to say much as you have all spoken so eloquently and as the time for saying things has pretty well passed. What I suddenly remembered were the several times he felt that he was unwanted here and threatened to leave. I am glad that he didn’t and I hope that he felt some of the love people here had for him before he did, indeed, leave. Rest in Peace, Michael. I miss you.
- Scout, I'm so happy to hear there is hope. I know how you feel with such a big break up and it isn't good. Best wishes for reconciliation.
- I was struck by the comments from Michael's relatives. They seemed to have had no idea that he was spending time here at nn.c for one thing. For another, they apparently knew that he was tortured and difficult to be with and were delighted to find that he found some measure of happiness and peace commenting here. At least that's my take. His family seems like a lovely and gracious group. He appears to have been very lucky in that regard as well. Dave, railroad engineer is way cool. Look at me: State Employee. Speaking of which, I think it's time to hang it up for the week.
- That was a wonderful, sweet story yesterday, Della. I liked it a lot. Seattle Seahawks join bush league. The Seahawks are refusing to sell tickets to Sunday's game to anybody whose credit card has a California address forcing 49er fans to buy exclusively from scalpers. Lotsa class there.
- Re Gates: Once again Obama's efforts at bipartisanship bite him in the ass.
- I'm aware of the six state thing with the Seahawks, Sherri. They are also allowing buyers from a couple of Canadian provinces. What I said stands. They are pointedly not allowing ticket sales to 49er fans. As I said, the Seahawks are bush. Fans complain. It's the nature of the beast. There's always an idiot who writes a letter to the editor. My favorite complainer was the Head of the California Bar who wanted to make lawyer jokes a hate crime.
- Sherri, I get it that you don't like the 49ers and don't like Harbaugh. Yes there was only a small number of tickets and no, I didn't have any plans or desire to buy one. Not allowing any tickets at all for the opposing team's fans is indicative of an attitude that I cannot respect. I guess we'll just agree to disagree. "unless you’re looking for something to complain about." That really raises the tone of the discussion.
- Was in L.A. area for a few days and didn't have a computer. That was a big, ugly, dark gray smoke cloud blowing west from Glendora toward Mary. And congrats on the new car. You'll like the Golf. Go Niners!
- I saw the Beatles on the Sullivan show in my dorm at the Univ of Ill. Lord. Fifty years. I lived with my first wife in Berkeley. We had a friend whose family owned a motel in Santa Cruz. We used to spend weekends there in the "Bridal Suite" for free. It was a horrible, garish red plush with mirrors all over and a round bed. We were young and it was fun. One Friday we were almost at the summit on 17 between San Jose and Santa Cruz when I was pulled over by the CHP, My wife and her girl friend had been sharing a joint. I hadn't partaken but we were scared that the cop would smell it. I guess he didn't since he let me go with a warning. My friend was kind of an odd guy. He declared his dog as a dependent on his taxes and wouldn't drive anything but Corvairs. He would buy one, drive it for several months, wreck it and buy another. This happened several times. He was Italian but liked to pretend that he was Puerto Rican. I never did figure that one out. I once bailed him out after he was popped for driving drunk. He later took his own life.
- I agree that that Honda will never be produced in its present form for the reasons you stated. Also, think of the nightmare costs for even a simple small rear ender. Carmakers often throw several design ideas together in a single car. You may see several details from this car on several different Hondas in the future. Go look at some old GM “dream cars” from the late forties and early fifties. You will see how this works. Here’s one: http://deansgarage.com/2011/harley-earls-1951-lesabre/ You can see all ’55 and later GM cars in the windshield, Corvette cove behind the front wheels, Caddy tail fins, several cars in the kicked up rear fender, several in the dagmars, Caddy in the tumblehome in the door and the rear fender cut out etc, etc. I’m sure there is a lot more but you can get the idea.
- Been down south for the last few days again and just got back. I’m glad to see that things may be looking up for your partner, Alex. Here’s hoping for the best. I think this might have been my last trip. I’m planning on retiring in a couple of months and have been shedding responsibilities in preparation. If you are looking for a big read, try the Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World) by Neal Stephenson. It’ll make your bedside table groan. I don’t know, Dexter. I don’t believe those chopsticks were intended to be reused. For sure I wouldn’t go back to that place.
- I’ve mentioned before the considerable benefits of living in the Sacramento area for those who like food and wine. These benefits extend themselves to olive oil. I buy oil at the farmers market on Sunday. There are local producers there who will let you taste several varieties and the product is very fresh and surprisingly affordable. All you need to know about olive oil: http://olivecenter.ucdavis.edu/
- This is what I meant to link: http://lifehacker.com/the-most-and-least-fake-extra-virgin-olive-oil-brands-1460894373
- Dexter, us toney folks call that polenta. Mary, from yesterday, yes, I shop at Corti Bros, but more often at Taylor’s Mkt which is closer. Corti Bros has a great wine dept, great deli dept and just in general a fine selection of stuff you can’t get elsewhere, including some interesting frozen food. Cooz @ #7: Wouldn’t that be tail lights?
- Jalapeno goes very well in polenta. Chopped. There is something about corn and jalapeno that just weds them beautifully. I make a nice shrimp and polenta with a sauce thing that I first encountered in South Carolina. We're expecting to get some rain here today for the first time in 46 or 47 days. And this is the rainy season. Sacto is in a very serious drought situation right now.
- We used to get field mice in Auburn. Cute little brown furry things with huge eyes. My wife used to put out live traps. They were real suckers for peanut butter. When we caught them I was assigned to carry the little buggers to the property line and turn them loose. They probably beat me back to the house. The cats were useless. They seemed to be going through some kind of being one with nature phase at the time.
- I sort of tend to agree with Sherri on this. I think Michael Vick is a pos but he has been singled out. What about all the spousal abusers? Look at Bonds and ARod. Why were they singled out for such strong prosecution with all the dozens of other offenders in MLB who are skating?
- Off topic but great photos. http://extras.denverpost.com/archive/captured.asp
- I was in the Nam relatively early, '66, '67 and '68 and was in regular army units (no draftees). People smoked some weed but it wasn't a big deal. I guess things really changed after I left. The Seahawks flat beat the crap out of the Broncos. I didn't see it coming but whew! Hats off to Seattle and to Pete Carroll.
- Sherri, what are you saying? That scares me. Are you OK?
- I'd never heard of Bruno Mars which sounds like a made up name. Half time came at 5:00 so I switched to the news. I've never seen a super bowl half time show that I liked. I do, however, like the $131.25 that I won in an office super bowl pool. Slate has a good write up on the commercials and they have about a dozen of them available for your viewing pleasure including that Jaime Casino one that Cooz links to. According to Josh Marshall's TPM, the Coke America commercial pissed off the right wing nut jobs. No surprise there. The one I couldn't follow was the one that used a little black girl to sell Maseratis. It was a real "Huh?" moment.
- That’s hilarious, Mary. I think with Christy they still have up yours, people. I remember Radio Shack from when I was a kid way back in the ‘50s. At that time it was a mostly mail order place in Boston, I think. They used to send out a catalogue in the form of a black and white tabloid. I would paw through it in wide eyed wonder gazing at tubes and resistors and switches and ham radios and all the electronic stuff that existed in the world in those days. I really wanted a ham radio but they cost real money,
- Lip synching. I remember years ago reading a review of some singer in the SF Chron in which the critic took the singer to task for lip synching, commenting that he probably even lip synchs in the shower.
- Mary, what burger place is that?
- Thanks, Mary. The other day somebody was looking for a bagel recipe. This was in the Bee today: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/02/04/6118586/whats-cooking-make-your-own-bagels.html
- I like Emily’s take that it sort of doesn’t matter whether Allen is guilty in this Dylan thing or not. There is enough documented sleeze in his background to qualify him as a bad guy without it. And, of course, his track record might cause one to be inclined to believe the Dylan stuff. The whole tribe of them seems rotten. A pox on them all. What is the “ILF”? We’re getting some rain today, finally, and look to get more over the weekend. A drop in the bucket but all contributions are gratefully accepted.
- Thanks, Brian. I got icy lumpy fuck, I just didn't connect it with ILF. Duh. Jeff B, I don't know how accurate that no fish in 50 years business is, but it does give pause. What we should be worried about is all the debris and the huge rafts of plastic and garbage and stuff floating around in the Pacific along with half of Fukushima/Sendai.
- That’s fantastic to hear, Dorothy. What a horrible thing war is for a mother. That weather thing shows Sacramento as having, variously, 57, 59 and 72 nice days per year and West Sacto (same thing) as having 69 nice days. I guess somebody must have taken temps at various locations but the disparities are rather large. Plus Sacramento has a ton of days with temps between 85 and 90. I think the range is a tad tight. No way St. Paul, MN, 69 nice days, has better weather than Sacto. I like Big Hank’s take on cleavage at #10. I’m not certain that the three pix shown in the article show cleavage. Breasts, yes, cleavage not so sure. I must say, I sympathize with women athletes and the problem they face.
- It’s a quarter after eight here in Sacto and NBC is still assing around with their stupid interviews and features. The TV listings advertised the Sochi opening ceremonies showing at 7:30 our time. Earlier today I had lunch with my (Ex) wife. God, is she a beautiful woman. I left the restaurant around 2:00 PM and listened to the reviews of the opening ceremonies on the radio while driving home. The reviews seemed fairly favorable. That was over six hours ago. I have no idea when fucking NBC will finally deign to allow we west coast suckers to see the event. I don’t know what their thought is but it sure seems that they don’t want youngsters to watch the Olympics. They could have easily put this on at five or six o’clock.
- It's finally on and there's a choir of men in ill fitting suits singing the Anthem while . . . well, I guess you've all seen it.
- I enjoyed watching that old Norwegian guy win the ski 'n shoot. Miller was clocked at 90 miles an hour in a practice run. Holy shit.
- There are several other regular cable channels that are airing Olympic coverage. For example, I'm watching live figure skating now on NBCSN. They're showing it fully, start to finish. The highlights will be on NBC tonight.
- That was the team figure skating, by the way. Now they’re showing men’s ski jumping. Also live. I know that Sochi is 12 hours ahead of PST. The announcer noted that it is 10:00 PM local time and it is 10:00 AM here. That makes it live. So for those who have cable or satellite, search around all those channels. Chances are you will be able to see something live and in its entirety. The announcers are mostly second stringers but that’s fine. Seeing an event live and complete is most definitely worth it.
- I guess that woman who slipped on the street in Portland now knows to stay off paint stripes. They are the worst. I started out disliking her but ended up on her side after the follow up interview. She seems pretty cool. For some reason I can't get into snow boarding or any of that trick stuff. I'm squicked out by the old Yoko.
- Brian, rent "Lust in the Dust". A very funny movie. You'll see what the boss lady has in mind. You can check it out on IMDB.
- Nice looking boat and well done! Great take down of the bike guy. That was a fun video. That was on Freeport, just down the street from Taylor's Market about which I'm always blathering. Here's a fantastic, hilarious interview. Some dweeb at KTLA talking with, well being talked to by Samuel L. Jackson. Scroll down to second entry. http://kenlevine.blogspot.com/
- I have to laugh, Charlotte. A while ago he was "my sweety". Now he's "himself".
- You’re absolutely right, Basset, however there’s always a tag story: http://www.examiner.com/article/sole-survivor-1983-corvette Gun oil. I’ve never heard of the stuff and I must admit the NRA ad through me so that I was scratching my head while watching the commercial until the very end. I still don’t get why the NRA ad was tagged on there. Gun oil. I don’t know whether it’s gross or clever.
- Threw me.
- It's 66 here in Sactown.
- I'm not sure whose birthday it is (Bill, Cooz?) but happy to all. I had experiences similar to Dexter's on red eyes. Mainly SFO - ATL. Once I was the only passenger on a flight from RDU to ATL. I was in first class on a Friday flight from MIA to SFO. We taxied out and waited in the 5:00 PM rush hour traffic until we were like number 2 for take off and somebody got sick and freaked out and so we taxied back to the terminal and let the person off and got back in line for take off and were over an hour late out of MIA. Then there was fog at SFO and the plane was running low on fuel so we landed at Vegas buy gas. Nicely bombed by this time, I ordered another brandy from the flight attendant when we were airborne again. "Sorry," she said, "there's only one left and I'm drinking it." It had been a tough flight so I ordered something else and it was like 2:00 AM when we got to SFO. And yes, I took a taxi home.
- So happy for you Dorothy. Let's hope he doesn't have to deploy again!
- I went twice, Dexter. And the second time was most assuredly not voluntary. At the time of the 1968 Tet offensive Westmoreland asked for an additional 10,000 men. Men who were experienced and men who could deploy immediately. That’s what I got caught up in and that’s how I found my ass back in the Nam a mere six and a half months after leaving. Too many guys ended up getting killed in what we all regarded as a humbug and I knew too many of them. It certainly is a different world today. My son in law will be leaving in a month or so for his fourth trip to A-stan on top of all his trips to Iraq. So I’ve had some small experience in how this current war works for us stay at homes. In the immortal words of my son in law, “All the Stans are shitholes.” It may not be apparent to a lot of folks but the Vietnamese are a very cultured and civilized people. A-stan, not so much. Iraq is an ancient and civilized country but they live under the curse of their tribalism and Islamic sectarianism. I believe that in many ways things were not as bad in Vietnam as they have been in the last two venues. I’ve been back to Vietnam in recent years and it’s a lovely place. I could live there. Dear John letters. Yes they certainly are/were a scourge. Most of the people in the army when I was there were kids and so were their wives and girlfriends. None of them were really ready to cope with such a prolonged and stressful separation. Things have to be worse now with the repeated deployments. But even back in the Nam casualty rates among guys who had been the recipient of Dear John letters soared. They just didn’t give a shit anymore. I can’t tell you how thankful I was that I didn’t have a wife or girlfriend at home to worry about. It really made a difference. My daughter has been married 1Sgt C. for eleven or twelve years. Shit, I had trouble with my own anniversary, don’t expect me to keep up with hers. They have two lovely children – my sweet grandchildren. After several deployments to Iraq (a half dozen six to eight week affairs) and a few yearlong ones to A-stan she found that the man she was with was simply not the man she had married. The many huge changes in him and his character were all for the worse and she is in the process of divorcing him. No, it wasn’t a ‘Jody’ thing. She had been totally faithful and didn’t go out on a date until after she filed for the divorce. Their marriage is clearly a casualty of the everlasting war that morphed her husband from the loving man she married into a new, alien, bitter and ugly person with whom she simply could no longer live nor even recognize. I don’t know that there was any thin edge to the circumstances that broke them up. I think it was more like blunt force.
- We had a huge old tractor tire partially buried upright at the place in Auburn. The goats used to hop up there all the time.
- I think you are being a tad hard on the ladies, Dexter. Don't forget they did two years in jail on a total humbug. They were picked up the other day on a bogus charge of having stolen something at their hotel. They are very much a part of what is happening in Kiev. Our local station won't even mention Pussy Riot. It just refers to members of a rock band.
- Sarah Palin is a sometime celebrity and sometime TV commentator. Mr. Obama is the President of the United States. I think there is a difference.
- The Amtrak Capital Corridor is a very nice ride. Taken it many times. The American River Trail is everything that Dexter says it is, though there are the inevitable racer assholes who make things unpleasant as they rudely overtake everyone from toddlers on up. So I have this large tumor on my right thigh. I had an MRI and a biopsy and it turns out to be a sarcoma. Then I had a chest X-Ray and there is a small spot on a lung. Now I have a consultation with a radiation guy on Monday to develop a course of radiation treatment before surgery and an appointment for a CT scan of my lung. I don’t think this is fatal type stuff but the next couple of months look to be kind of rough. And to think that I had decided to retire at the end of March and had put in my papers. Oh well. We’ll see.
- Thank you. One that I have to be thankful for is that I do have excellent medical coverage. This is all a bit of an unpleasant surprise.
- Good on you, Sherri. I’m very pleased for you. Thanks for the concern, Deborah. I had surgery on Friday. I had a large mass on my right thigh and that was removed along with a good part of my quadriceps. I’m home now and am feeling pretty good. No pain but I have a couple of large drain lines that are a pain in the ass. I’m not sure when they will come out. I am up and about. I’ve worked for the State of California in a job that afforded me a lot of latitude and independence. It also paid me a living wage. I had already planned to retire as of March 31, and then this other stuff came up. I went in to the office last Wednesday and finished up, putting myself down for sick leave for the balance of the month. So now I’m retired. I have been lucky enough to have an excellent if not fabulous health plan. It’s Kaiser and it will continue through my retirement. The cost is $150 per month for me and my Ex. During the last few weeks I have had an MRI, two CT scans, a biopsy, a chest X-Ray, have attended a two hour chemo class and been to innumerable consultations with radioactive people, chemo people, surgeons and others. Not to mention an extended surgery and a three day hospital stay. My total out of pocket cost has been four or five $15 co-pays. That’s right. $60 or $75 bucks. And, oh yeah. Another $20 or so for drugs. I sit here in awe at my good fortune. Maybe Mary has some idea of the market cost for all this but it has to be a bundle. The people and facilities at Kaiser are the best. Everyone is pleasant, friendly and very professional. I have been blown away by the competence of virtually every person I have encountered and their good humor and patience. Everything has been explained as it went along, even their “I don’t knows”. They really try hard. When was the last time you had an actual doctor call on your cell and tell you that after several of them had talked they were changing their approach and that I should be at such and such a place that afternoon for another consultation? I am humbled and grateful for this health plan and for the fact that I don’t have to worry how or where I will get care or how I will be able to pay for it. That in itself goes a long way to a cure. Sorry for the long post, but this is where I am today. When I checked in for surgery on Friday AM, the lady asked me for a $15 dollar co-pay. I told her that as I had been told not to bring any valuables, I didn’t have my wallet or any money. She told me they would catch me later. So I owe Kaiser $15.
- The weather here for the last couple of months has been wonderful. Dry but great. Today we topped 80 and all the trees along the street are May green. At almost 7PM it is still very warm and all my doors and windows are open. I suspect we are in for some big water problems in the coming months but, in the meanwhile, the weather is terrific. OK, there are some things that are difficult to find here in Sacto and one of them is corned beef. Although I'm Irish and grew up in Chicago, for me corned beef has always meant huge thick sandwiches on rye with great spears of half done pickles. That's the Jewish side of corned beef. Unfortunately, there just isn't the Jewish population in Northern California to support specialty purveyors. I'm still looking but there are more places every year doing corned beef cures and I'm looking. Good stuff is available but not the truly yummy stuff. Soon I hope.
- I'm Irish. My grandparents on my father's side were from Ireland (Swinford, County Mayo) and my mother's folks were a generation back. A $3000 Tata? Love those bodacious Tatas.
- Sorry to have stayed away so long. I know I wrote something about cancer but I can’t recall just when or what exactly I said. I had surgery on 03-07. They excised a large mass on my right thigh along with a large part of my quadriceps. I’ve been recovering from that and just this last Friday (03-28) had all the stitches and drains removed. So I have a Frankenstein scar and a big dent in my thigh but I’m walking and driving and feeling good. One of the characteristics of this type of sarcoma is that it propagates to the lungs. I had a PET scan yesterday which confirmed that I have “abnormalities” on my lungs. A biopsy is scheduled for Thursday and I have a consultation with the chemo Dr. on Friday. So that’s where I stand. Chemo soon.
- Happy Birthday to Pam. I like that gray paint on the walls. How about a scan review? In the last month or so I’ve had an MRI, two CT scans and a PET scan. All involve the victim lying on a table which gets shuttled in and out of a circular (annular) assemblage. There the similarities end. The MRI took place in a trailer out back of the main facility. Given the tight quarters I wasn’t able to get a really good look at the apparatus. It was tubular and narrow. I laid down on the table; a long and narrow thing. Next thing I knew was that I was tied to it hand and foot and chest and waist. The tube was exceedingly narrow, so much so that it actually touched me when I was inside. As a rule, I’m able to zone out if not fall asleep. Oh no, not with the MRI. This bastard made extremely loud, irregular noises. It went on for forty five minutes at the end of which I was well and truly shaken. This shit is genuinely claustrophobic. With the noise added in, an MRI is well and soundly a torture machine. I NEVER want to experience that again. It’s simply awful. Between being tied down and the tight quarters in that tube I was ready to freak. Fuck. Another five minutes . . . The CT scan, on the other hand, is a donut with a table similar to the MRI. You lie down and the techs arrange you with pillows and foam so as to secure the best view of what they want to see. Then the table scoots in and out and you’re done in a minute or two. Piece of cake. I had two of these CT scans and the techs were professional, friendly and a delight to be with. The CT and MRI are designed to concentrate their peeping efforts on specific areas or spots on your poor self. These scans took place before my surgery. I had the PET scan on Monday, the day before yesterday. Or whenever Monday was. A PET scan is a whole body scan. I showed up at 7:30 in the AM and was escorted by a tech to a small room where I discarded my pants in favor of the pants from some scrubs. All my belongings went into a plastic bag. You can’t have any metals during any of these scans. That means keys, change, watch, glasses, wallet etc. I should have asked what they did about piercings but was too self-absorbed to think of it at the time. The tech, a great guy named Guy, had me lie on one of those hospital tables in the exam room and inserted an IV into my left arm. Then he wheeled in this big cart and hooked up some kind of isotope containing stuff to the IV, metered it out of the cart, which was heavy with shielding, into my arm. I was directed to relax for the next half hour to let the stuff spread. He turned out the lights and I dozed off. Then it was scan time. He led me to the room with the machine which turned out to be a big double donut. On the, now familiar, table he informed me that the scan would be about forty minutes. It turned out to be easy as pie. The donuts had plenty of room inside and they emitted a nice soothing hum and I zoned out and the time passed quickly. As a cap to the whole thing, Guy provided me with a recommendation for a really nice breakfast place on Douglas Blvd. that I hadn’t tried before. So, there’s a scan of the scans. Fuck, that MRI is evil.
- My MRI wasn't 45 minutes straight. It went for a half hour, then they pulled me out for a minute to shoot some kind of dye into my arm and put me back for another 15 minutes. A veeery long 15 minutes. A mask and some music or NPR would have helped. Also good drugs.
- We haven't heard from Rana in a long time. Rana, you there? Give us a heads up.
- Here’s a terrific time lapse video of Sacramento. It lasts something over 2 minutes. The ziggurat building about 13 seconds in is where I have worked for the last 13 years or so. I was there yesterday to pick up my last check. It is also in the last scene when visible as the Tower Bridge rises for a fireworks display. http://vimeo.com/90509954
- Cars still have radio buttons. Most of them. I've rented tons of them over the years. My 2011 Honda has radio buttons. I've never been to Chick-Fil-A. I don't think there are any in our area. I saw a Hobby Lobby store once but have never been inside. That's the thing about boycotts. Years ago I realized that I could end up boycotting every business around. And it would be a meaningless gesture. The business would never miss me. A specific and focused boycott would be a different animal.
- I'm sorry for your losses, Charlotte. That was a very moving tribute. The horrible thing about pets is outliving them. I always liked Doris Day. She was a very fine singer before she got into the movies. I read Tales of the City on a day by day basis when it was first serialized by the Chron. It was quite good as I recall.
- Dexter, didn't the Army have amyl nitrate around as a counter to some chemical warfare agent or other? I vaguely remember them demonstrating poppers in training.
- Fifty five grand? That’s an interesting salary point. It comes out to somewhere around $26 an hour. Some people make more and some people make less. It used to be a nice comfortable number but now not so much and less so with each person who is added to the family. Depending on where one lives, housing and other fixed costs will eat up a large chunk of it. $26 an hour. There is talk of raising the minimum wage to $10 an hour. It has to be tough to raise a family on $26 an hour let alone $10 which is unimaginable. $10 is less than $21,000 a year. I don’t know where I’m going with this other than to say that recently I’ve been forced to confront my mortality. This has caused me to suddenly understand and become grateful for the generous salary that I have been earning for just myself (I was making double that 55 grand which seems a wondrous amount to me) and for the generous and wonderful health insurance I have and for my nice retirement. I had kind of taken all of this for granted and now I see how lucky I’ve been. For it certainly hasn’t been the result of brilliant planning. I live here in the ghetto and I see daily how poor people live and it never really came home to me until I got sick and had access to all the health care in the world. Then I’ve begun to realize how, while I live here, I don’t share the worries and privations of my neighbors. I’ve learned which food bank has which kind of food on Wednesday and which place has something else on Friday and which place has flu shots and where they are passing out school materials for kids on the other day and many other basic survival things that are the every day routine of life here in Oak Park. What I’ve also learned after living here for six years is that while a few kids have hope, most people around here are just enduring, just living from day to day. $10 an hour would be nice. $26 is beyond the horizon. Twice that? The lottery. I have been so lucky and now feel so humble. The whole thing made me weep with gratitude and guilt the other day. When I get better I will begin to do what I can to help working with a friend who is a community activist.
- I was pawing through some old papers the other day and found my old army shot record. There were a dozen or so vaccines. They really shot us up before sending us overseas. We would walk a gauntlet. They had guys with needles and those air powered things along a hall and we would walk down the middle getting shot after shot in each arm. That would really drive those anti-vaccine nuts crazy! I think I mentioned this once before. One morning at about 0530 I was driving to work along Broadway. Sitting at a light I saw a car pull up to a hooker standing on a corner. She talked with the driver for a sec and then climbed into the car and they drove away. It hit me then how brave or foolhardy or desperate that woman had to be to climb into a strange car on a deserted corner at zero dark thirty. She had to have been terrified. No, I don't think street hooking is a number one career choice.
- Deborah, I've had that meat grinder attachment for years. It is great for hamburger. I get beef ribs and chuck at the used meat counter. Yum.
- Most supermarkets have a spot where they feature meat that has just passed the sell by date and offer it at reduced prices. We've always just called it the used meat case. I guess it sounds kind of bad.
- Thanks, Charlotte. That was a very fine Detroit story. The account of the author's neighborhood makes Oak Park, where I live, look like paradise. I had my lung biopsy yesterday. It wasn't anywhere as bad as I had anticipated.
- Left from yesterday's comments. Sorry to be a damp hanky but I was referring to the procedure. I'll get the results next Thursday when I have an appointment with my oncologist. We already know pretty much what the results will be and chemo is scheduled to start on the 21st. The doc doing the biopsy noted that the spots were very small and that the biopsy was difficult because of that. Good. Anyway, I have a week off. First time since I retired. This being sick stuff is a full time job. Once again, all praise to Kaiser and thanks to the wonderful health plan I have. The biopsy cost me $15. I'm out of pocket somewhere less than $200 for three or four CT scans, an MRI, a PET scan, two biopsies, a major operation including three days in the hospital, innumerable consultations, two chest X-Rays, a two hour class and God knows what else. The lung biopsy involved forty five minutes of CT scan time (what does that shit cost?) as the doc moved me in and out lining me up for the ultimate stab of the core sampling effort. The happy juice in the IV and the local anesthesia made for a painless procedure. The concern here is that since the thorax is punctured and the lung penetrated, there may be a partial lung collapse. That apparently happens about 30% of the time. They require you to remain for two hours in the recovery room to ensure that no collapse has occurred and at the end of the time they take a chest X-Ray to confirm that all is well and it was with me. Then I was good to go. My wonderful neighbor Patricia was my driver as usual. Kaiser requires that you have a driver for this procedure and they want to see the driver live and in person before they will allow the procedure to go ahead and they want the driver’s name, address and phone. Afterwards, Patricia and I went to a sushi place for lunch. I protested that the happy juice hadn’t really affected me but after the third time I dropped my sushi into the wasabi/soy mixture and with Patricia unable to control her mirth I had to admit that maybe I was a tiny bit under the influence. I can't get particularly exercised about the Jesus and his wife thing. He was 33 years old and a virgin when he died? And people wonder why I can't get worked up about religion.
- It took less than a day to sell out over 100,000 seats at Michigan stadium in Ann Arbor for an Aug 2 exhibition game (match?) between Manchester United and Real Madrid. Guess they's some footy fans in your area.
- Thanks for the info, Kim. I don't follow European soccer and know very little about it. I did once take a subway train in Milano that was packed with AC Milan fans. They were a polite and friendly bunch but this was on their way to the game.
- My condolences, Heather. We may not have any water here in California but we have a consolation prize: a beautiful, sunny 80 degree day.
- Should that comma between 'beautiful' and 'sunny' be deleted?
- Sounds like congrats are in order, Nancy. Here's a good story. Especially for all you Ohio folks: http://www.buzzfeed.com/amyksaunders/the-untold-story-of-the-first-woman-to-fly-around-the-world
- I've turned into a sissy. After all the appalling death and unimaginable violence and mayhem I witnessed and, God help me, participated in during my time in Vietnam I have no stomach to watch TV and its romanticized and puny attempts to showcase violence. They simply have no idea. I simply have no tolerance. I just can’t watch it. I have two Ernie Pyle books which are collections of his columns. He was a wonderful correspondent and writer. I also have several of A. J. Liebling’s WWII books which are equally wonderful.
- I'm starting chemo on Tuesday. My daughter will be with me at the hospital and will drive me to my Ex wife's house afterwards. Yes, I'll be staying with my Ex next week. My illness has brought all of us closer and while I don't see reconciling with T, this is the silver lining in the cloud. I'm hoping that this summer all of this will be behind me (us) and that I will be able to resume my life. I got a hair cut (short) today and told my barber that it would be several months before I would see him again. I've been seeing Gary for twenty years and he's over 70. You think things are going to go on forever but there comes a point when you realize they aren't. It isn't just your own mortality that you're facing but that of all those around you.
- I was very sick for several weeks as a result of a very aggressive course of chemo therapy. I’m not going into any details but my EX and my daughter were life savers. Now things are improving and I should be back to pretty much normal in a week or so. Minus my hair. Thanks to all of you for your good wishes.
- Nowadays I have chemo hair. I have about three white hairs left on my head and few elsewhere as well. Can’t wait until it grows back. I feel like people are staring at me. My daughter finally got a real teaching job in Auburn with benefits, retirement and all. It’s so close she can walk. I’m a happy camper.
- I heard that, Jolene. I'm curious to see what it'll look like.
- I'm sorry to hear about Hans, Dexter. I know how that can hurt.
- Doesn't that bald stuff descend through the female line? Look at Brian, his Mom's people were bald and so is he. Mary, what do your brothers look like? Do they have hair? My Dad was bald but my Mom's people had hair. I have (had until chemo) hair and expect to have it again one day.
- It's conclusive, Mary. Flip a coin.
- I just picked up ‘Tatiana’ the latest novel by Martin Cruz Smith. It’s set in Kaliningrad, Russia which is situated in a little disconnected part of Russia on the Baltic in a corner between Lithuania and Poland. I never knew about this little sliver of Russia which is a couple of hundred miles from the main part of the country. Live and learn. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Kaliningrad/@55.6934897,20.3424995,6z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x46e33d8d4b7c21a9:0x5050960016126ed3?hl=en Deborah, that express lane at airports started up six or eight months ago. As far as I know it’s a frequent flyer thing and I was able to take advantage of it the last few months I was travelling. Great, isn’t it?
- Whatever, there certainly appear to be serious questions about the circumstances surrounding Bowe Bergdahl’s falling into Taliban custody. I am sure those questions are being explored vigorously in Landstuhl even as we speak as Sgt. Bergdahl is “debriefed”. You pose good questions, Brian, but I think they will have to wait a while for answers. I am sure there will be several opposing opinions expressed. Very cute picture, Nance. Kate is very charming.
- There are zillions of books published every year and way too many of them are poorly written. I simply can’t get past shitty writing (other than my own). I reserve and regularly exercise the right to bail on a book if it doesn’t entertain or inform me to the degree I wish. I read a work for my own entertainment and have no obligation to the author or the book or to anyone else to finish it if it becomes a drag to read. A big thanks to the library for providing free books. Speaking of libraries, I voted yes today on a proposition to tax every parcel $12 to benefit the Sacramento library system. I doubt it will pass.
- Need to peel a bunch of apples? Or something else? Help is at hand. https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=335893426565493
- I would like to know more about his story before I form an opinion. I remain to be convinced either way on the exchange and the potential fall-out and increased vulnerability of GIs in the field. Right now I don’t view this as a triumph but as a deal that may be flawed. Again, I’m open to being convinced. The plural of ‘court-martial’ is ‘courts-martial’. I sincerely hope the Obama administration isn’t surprised by the shit storm surrounding the Sgt. Bergdahl exchange. It was as predictable as the sunrise and I share Jolene’s thought that a Rose Garden announcement may have been a little over the top. I wonder if those five guys are sneaking glances at the sky every few seconds, looking for the drone carrying the Hellfire with their name on it. The Rihanna dress is totally tasteless and not appropriate for viewers under some age or other. Somehow I found myself liking it – a lot. It really is well done and Lord knows, she does it justice. Whew!
- Whoops! Lost the first paragraph from the comment above. I think we are going to be seeing Sgt. Bergdahl for a long time. As of today he is free of the Taliban but he’s not free. He is in military custody. There will be an investigation and tons of speculation and opinion airing concerning the circumstances of his coming into Taliban custody and the prisoner exchange. After the Army reaches its resolution there will be tons of opinions and recriminations about that. There will be a frenzy when (if) he is released from military custody and interviewed on Today and all the other shows. Then the movies will come out. This isn’t going to go away for a long time.
- I was thinking something like that, Sherri. I mean if he's going to stick his ass into the lawnmower like he did with the Bergdahl thing, maybe he should do it for something that has a bigger national meaning.
- In Dec’63-Jan’64 three of us drove from Champaign to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl in a ’63 Olds Starfire (UI beat WN 17-7). Wonderful car. We made it home in 36 hours. We’d stop for gas and a piss and buy a loaf of bread, a package of bologna and a jar of mustard. Our needs were simple. Eventless trip driving straight through. Maybe a touch of white line fever. In June of 1968 three of us drove from L. A. to Ft. Bragg, NC in three cars. I had an almost new VW and my pals each had a brand new ’68 Chevelle 396 Super Sport. We left L. A. on June 6, the night Robert Kennedy was assassinated. I listened to the coverage all the way to Berdoo which was our first stop. The trip took us two weeks and we basically drank our way across the country. There were lots of adventures. It was a cool trip. I bought two cases of Coors in OKC and sold them for a dollar a can warm when we got to Ft. Bragg. Basset mentioned Wheeling WV. I once drove the same V-Dub from Ft. Bragg NC to Wheeling for a weekend. Yes, this trip involved a girl. They’re not ‘grits’ in the south, Deborah, they’re ‘gree-its’. I still remember my first encounter with them in a diner somewhere down there. I had no idea of what they were or of how to eat them and had to peek around at other peoples’ plates to see what they were doing. Great story, Wim.
- Not big road stuff but aggravating – and amusing in retrospect. One time I had projects going at Mojave and Victorville at the same time. We started the day at Mojave. When we were done there, the idea was to drive to Victorville for lunch at a certain Mexican place. My inspector said “Follow me!”, hopped into his Chevy and took off down Hwy 58. This was fine until he blew right through the Four Corners at Hwy 395. We went from Mojave to Victorville via Barstow. Only 30 miles out of the way. Another time I was traveling from Joshua Tree to Mojave with the client rep from the CHP in my car. We took some back roads out of Joshua Tree headed for Victorville. I told her that I wanted Hwy 395 when we got to Victorville and wasn’t sure how to get to it from Hwy 18. “No problem.” she said. “I know this area like the back of my hand.” Next thing I knew was that she had me on the 15 headed guess where. Yep, another 30 mile detour through Barstow on the way between Victorville and Mojave.
- Here are some great pix: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/wild-party
- Dexter, I haven't seen the Hare Krishnas anywhere for years. Nor the Moonies. Back in the '70s there were lots of Krishnas at airports along with those pro-nuclear/anti Jane Fonda people. Anybody else remember them? They were pretty vocal, I particularly remember them at Atlanta. I can't imagine any of them in the current high security airport environment.
- Is ‘Power Mix’ some sort of dietary supplement? It was 104 here yesterday and is predicted to be 106 today. Warmish. Lord knows what it must be in Phoenix. Here is a great stat guaranteed to make everybody in the top 1% happy. Univ. of Cal. researchers conducted a survey of 383,900 grocery store workers and have discovered that their average wage went from $19.38 an hour in 2000 to $15.17 in 2012 with non-union people now earning less than $10 an hour. It was noted that Costco was an exception and pays its workers relatively well though no figures were cited.
- The 86 year old lady across the street does a thriving business in drugs. She buys and sells pharmaceuticals. The cops know about her and stop by every now and then to tell her to cool it. She’ll do so for a couple of days, then it’s back to business as usual. There is a steady stream of cars briefly parking out front – as many as a dozen or so an hour during peak times. It’s fun to watch the hesitant newbies. I just marvel at the whole thing.
- Hey, hey, easy on that Irish stuff.
- Great picture! That's Kate's mom for sure!
- There’s nothing military we can do about the business in Iraq. Boots on the ground? You must be kidding. Anybody recall the months of build up before the last adventure? The ship load after ship load of war material? The huge logistics effort and base in Kuwait? That won’t happen again. By the time we had any meaningful force in place things would be over. Even if we could put people there, where would we put them, what would they do? Flounder around like they did in 2003? Air strikes? Sure. In support of what? Who’s going to do the intelligence, select targets and provide the guidance for air strikes and do the evaluations post-strike? Iraqis? Right. I sure trust their target selection. Air strikes must be in support of something, not just for the sake of making noise and big flashes. There are no strategic targets like factories or airfields to destroy. Bombing supply lines or troops are tactical activities and when done in a void accomplish nothing and there is no tactical effort to support. Besides, this kind of strike done only sporadically and in a vacuum is worthless. Even when sustained there is no guarantee of success. We bombed the Ho Chi Minh trail nightly for years and still lost. So. What are we going to bomb and to what end? Provide arms and vehicles? We already did that. ISIS says ‘thanks’. Provide training? We did that too. And how did that work out? As has been pointed out probably the best we can do is contact concerned neighbors like the Saudis, the Turks and Iran and hope they can do something, anything. Kerry has already broached the possibility of talking to Iran. Otherwise we are stuck watching and contemplating our past fuck ups.
- I was off by 163 miles for Benghazi. I knew it was on the coast and near Egypt but still missed. The where should I live thing puts me in San Francisco, specifically in the Castro. Not sure how it picked that neighborhood. I'd love to read that Tom Ricks piece but they have it protected by a firewall. I don't think there is anybody who plays the victim better than fundamentalist Christians.
- Alan did that beautiful brickwork? Wow! My hat’s off. Vary comfortable looking yard. I like it. Dexter, I once lived in Half Moon Bay. Years ago when I was still married to my first wife. It’s right on the ocean and has the saltiest air you could imagine. A popular amusement was to sit on the curb with a beer and watch your car rust before your very eyes.
- So the Administration is going to send advisors to Iraq. That's how Vietnam started. We sent advisors who were called "Military Assistance Command, Vietnam" or MACV. Pronounced "Mack Vee". At one point in '66 I had a gig that required me to visit a lot of MACV compounds. I wouldn't have wanted to be at one when the shit hit the fan. First they needed just a little logistical support. Then they needed some air support. Then a few artillery tubes. Then just a few troops to help out. Next thing you know . . . Remember MACV, Dexter?
- I bought a rosemary Christmas tree once. After new years I stuck it in the back yard. It's a huge bush now and I never water it. That's here in Sacramento where it's hot and dry so (esp after seeing Mary and Scout's comments) I'm guessing it likes lots of sun and heat and not a lot of water.
- I was in Nha Trang several times during the fall of 1966 and spent Thanksgiving there in a very nice restaurant. I don't specifically remember that 1FFV building. Nha Trang was a beautiful city built on the water with a lovely corniche curving along the waterfront and hills in back of the town. There was a huge Buddha on the hills above the town. I'd love to go back and visit it today. I bought my rosemary Christmas tree at Safeway.
- Saturday night the Sacto cops and a Fish and Wildlife warden tranked and captured a mountain lion about a mile from my house. Went out for a very nice lunch Sunday with my daughter and the grandkids and then watched The soccer game. Yes I said a bad word.
- I agree that a lot of the words in that test were weird. I got 91 but I hit 'NO' on blonde when I was moving too quickly. Oh well.
- I agree, Sherri. I think it should be 'orient'. I don't think 'orientate' is a word. Same with 'preventive' and 'preventative'. What is this add a syllable stuff?
- Congrats, Dexter. A Great Grandfather. Wow. Best I can claim is that my parents were born in this country. The rest were from Ireland which I don't recall as ever being a great soccer power. Maybe being Irish makes them small 'a' aliens because they already spoke English when they got off the boat. I read that Ann Coulter thing and am still half convinced that it was an Onion take off or something. I've envied Keith Olbermann ever since I learned that he used to live with Katy Tur.
- Maybe businesses owned by Christian Scientists won’t have to pay anything toward health care. Just give the employees a tract and a subscription to the ‘Christian Science Monitor’. You take your red chard, eat the leaves and sell the stalks to suckers as rhubarb. I always hated peas in the shell. It seems like most of the weight you’re paying for is garbage, shelling the things is a pain in the ass and you always end up with less (fewer peas?) than you expected out of that mountain of pods. That said, fresh peas are sooo good. Happy birthday, Judy. I like Ruth Reichl and have read several of her books.
- If you all like Ruth Reichl, you should read Bourdain (really!), Michael Ruhlman and M. F. K. Fisher among others. Especially Ms. Fisher. I don't even want to think about SCOTUS. I have enough downers going as it is.
- Excellent comment from Amanda Marcotte: http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2014/06/30/hobby_lobby_decision_the_religious_right_won_the_contraception_fight_but.html
- Nance and others, check with your insurance provider for things like canes. Kaiser gave me a brand new walker when I had my leg operated on. I used it once and still have it. I feel good these days, by the way, and my hair is starting to grow back. I have a bit of fuzz going. An X-Ray last week says that things are stable for the moment and not advancing. Those idiots who fired the 105MM field piece in OK should be prosecuted. A range where you fire rifles and shotguns and even machine guns and the like is not a place for firing artillery. The OK jerks were not professionals almost by definition. The only professionals are in the military. The result speaks for itself. I couldn't see anything other than a yellow smear on that apple. Mary, I bought a Mr. Coffee 12 cup coffee maker for $14.95 at Target. It lasted for five or six years. Then I bought another one for $17.95. It has no clock or timer or any other features. Just put coffee in the filter in the basket, add water and push the button. It's basic but it works.
- My (Ex?) wife was on a plane to Brussels today to visit her mother. The game was played while she was in the air so I don't know if she heard the score before she landed. I (and probably Tim Howard) think the US team could use a leetle more offense. The whole freaking game was played right in his face.
- For the next week it will be upper nineties and low huns here in SacTown. There’s a big fire near Pope Valley in upper Napa County, just above the wine country but the winds are such that we aren’t getting any smoke like we do from Sierra fires. I’ve always thought, Dexter, that at least half the fun of the TdF is the beautiful scenery. I watched the AMGEN Tour of Calif in May and the scenery really falls flat next to that of France. The whole TofC looked like Fresno. I mean Fresno’s a nice enough town but it ain’t eye candy. And another thing: Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen are about the best sports announcing duo anywhere.
- Brian, this is not to say that California doesn’t have lots of beautiful scenery. It certainly does and is a match for anywhere. What I was thinking of was the camera on the chopper and on the ground passing through all those picturesque villages and past all those estates and castles and ancient bridges and so forth. All the manmade stuff. The outskirts of most California towns are pretty much all similar and not as scenic as the centuries old stuff in France. Spend an hour or so with the Tour and you’ll get what I mean.
- I totally agree, Nance. Dahlia Lithwick is far and away the best SCOTUS writer. I’ve loved her stuff for years. However, don’t forget Nina Totenberg on NPR. She’s equally great as a radio reporter specializing in SCOTUS. Her lucid, knowledgeable and to the point reports are a lesson in how such reporting should be done.
- beb, you’ve captured the feel of the hood with your comment about the nightly gunfights. Some of them are a tad close and some are interesting as you listen to the cars moving down the street on the block behind you and the shooting moves off into the distance. I guess if you hear enough of that stuff and it’s at a certain distance you become numb to it.
- Cabela's is an interesting place and worth a stop if one is in the area but I wouldn't make a special trip. I've been to the one in Verdi, NV (I-80 at the CA-NV state line) a couple of times when passing by on my way from Susanville or Alturas.
- For me Tammy has always been Debbie Reynolds. I made a half jocular reference to shootings and gun battles the other day but last weekend in Chicago, my God. I've also been following the T de F. Christian Vande Velde is a good find and is doing a fine job of commentary, especially as a rookie. Tomorrow's "cobble stone" stage looks like it should be entertaining. The crowds in Great Britain and France sure make California's crowds look sorry. The Brits are scary.
- Lord, Dexter, Fabian Cancellara do go on. I thought he’d never shut up. Yes, there was a lot of breast beating over the cobble stone question. Two things the breast beaters seemed to miss are worth noting. One, it rained quite hard and the cobble stones were, as a result, quite slippery. Two, the rain made the paved roads very slippery and most of the crashes were on the wet pavement before the riders even encountered any cobble stones including both of Froome’s falls. After they figure out how to banish the rain I’ll be willing to talk about eliminating the cobble stones. Bob Roll had pretty much the same attitude I do. Mary and Connie, the Netherlands got past Mexico on a penalty kick that resulted from a fake fall by one of the Dutch players. (Robbens I think it was.) He even admitted that he took a dive in an effort to provoke a penalty. That pissed me off and I’ve been rooting against the Netherlands ever since. That whole business of pretending to be mortally wounded every time one of those players falls down really detracts from enjoyment of the game. I saw one guy fall down without being touched and writhe around on the ground as if in pain. Fortunately nobody paid him any attention.
- See, that's the thing, Sherri. Why would the officials allow such an important game to be decided by a bogus action on the part of a known actor? FIFA needs to clean that shit up. It's like drugs in cycling.
- Sue, google Vuillard and then click "Images". You will see tons of his stuff. The images aren't the best but they are a place to start and it is well worth your while. Vuillard is wonderful.
- I just don’t know what to say about the MH17 shoot down. It seems clear that the Russian backed separatists and their Russian mentors thought they were going to shoot down another Ukrainian military transport and goofed. It also seems clear that Putin was in the know from the start about the pending shoot down and was as surprised as anyone when the Ukrainian AN-26 turned out to be a Malaysian 777. He still hasn’t figured out what to say. Other people will have a lot to say starting Monday. I think the American satellite traces will pretty much cover the basics of the investigation into the cause of the crash. In defense of the Malaysian decision to overfly Ukraine, the Notice to Airmen closing the airspace below 32,000 (?) feet was just issued that day or the day before and the intelligence that there may be high altitude capable SA-11 missiles in the area was also new. MH 17 was flying above the closed airspace and, in theory, should have been safe. In addition, many other aircraft traveled the same airway that day. It was just pure dumb luck that the plane shot down was Malaysian and not something else. Also on the sad side, James Garner just died at 86. Continuing with the downer theme, the ending of today’s Tour stage was a real heart breaker for Jack Bauer the New Zealand rider who led the stage for the entire 222 kilometers less a morale crushing meter or two at the wire.
- Thanks for the excellent links, Jolene. David C., I haven't read any bios of Garner and wasn't aware of the fighting. I did meet him once in Vietnam. He was on a USO tour and actually came out into the field to meet with us. He's the only star to do so that I am aware of though I am sure others did as well. He seemed like a great guy and like a regular person. I liked him.
- Why stop with mealy mouthed Tony Dungy? Let's find out what Joe Gibbs has to say.
- I know that, Sherri, but Gibbs did coach the DC football team to three super bowls and did function as a TV analyst for several years (although it was some time ago) and I cited him as a joke because he’s probably the most radical winger of all those folks.
- Good luck, Dorothy. Looks like this might truly turn out to be the cloud with the silver lining.
- Judybusy, just for the sake of curiosity, I would be interested to know what that resource director job pays.
- Dexter, Oregon’s athletic teams are known as the Ducks. The Beavers are from Oregon State. I wonder what they call the women's teams. I grew up in Chicago. Jack Brickhouse was the man. He did the Sox, the Cubs and the Bears.
- Feel better, Dexter. Better living through chemistry! Brian, I once had an '81 Toyota. It suddenly started puking oil. I was adding a quart or two per day depending on how much I drove. Scared the crap out of my wallet. Finally I investigated and discovered the oil was coming from what turned out to be the oil pressure sending unit. The replacement was in a blister pack on a rack at the dealer's. It cost me like $6 and took ten minutes to replace. I wasted a lot more money on oil. Good luck with the car, Nance. For some reason I was thinking your Passat was relatively new.
- Wow. And Friday it was 107 here in Sacto.
- Do any nn.cers live in Toledo? It sounds confused. Do they have water or not? Or do just some have water? The source of the problem doesn't sound like something that can just be removed in a few hours.
- It’s not so late here but I guess it is there on CDT. These responses are left over from yesterday’s post. Goodness, Deborah. I hope things are resolved quickly and you feel better soon. I’ve never had to pass a stone and hope never to have the experience. My thoughts are with you. So you’re finally reaching 65, Dexter. Welcome. If you haven’t already, go online (or is it on line or on-line?) and file for social security. It’s incredibly easy. My dealings with the SSA folks have always been very pleasant and very productive. I’ll raise a Thai iced tea to your day. So, another Irish music adventure. I recommend Shane McGowan and the Pogues. Here is McGowan’s strong, bullshit free take on Danny Boy. It’s a very masculine (I sort of hate to put it that way but it’s true) rendition. It’s an eye opener. Scroll down a tad for the words. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5X5IrA0zEs
- Great picture, great smile!
- I remember Jay’s potato chips from when I was a kid in Chicago. They came in a great big can. As usual, Dahlia hits it out of the park. Robin Williams was famous for dropping in at comedy shows and delivering an impromptu set. I benefited from this once. This was years ago. I had taken the woman whom I was dating in those days (the lovely Anne) to a small comedy club on Clement St. in SF. I have no idea who the advertised performer was but all of a sudden Robin Williams showed up and proceeded to give us an hour of the most incredible performance of any kind that I have ever seen. He was screamingly hilarious. I mean funny in a way I have never experienced before or since. By the time he finished, the whole audience (50 people?) was totally wrung out. Somehow he pulled everyone in to his hyper energetic, hyper funny and unbelievably creative alternate universe and held us there for the whole time. And the entire thing came right off the top of his head. The laughter never stopped. I mean that in the most literal sense. If I hadn’t seen this performance I would never have believed it possible. I know it’s a cliché but Robin Williams was, indeed, unique. Truly one of a kind.
- One of the most disturbing aspects of this whole Ferguson situation is the mantle of secrecy the police are attempting to draw over the thing and the somewhat successful effort to suppress reporting. I’m not going to repeat all the stories, this (somewhat poorly written) story from Jezebel is a good start: http://jezebel.com/anonymous-doxxes-the-cop-who-killed-mike-brown-1621535186 I find this news suppression just as disturbing as the militarization of the cops. I’ll also say this, if I were the cop who killed Michael Brown, my ass would be on a plane to a place far, far away.
- In California unemployment insurance is based on earnings not hours. I don’t have a citation but I think that’s a federal standard. Did I just read the other day that Cisco is laying off 6,000 people?
- By the way, I had a chest X-Ray the other day and a visit to my oncologist and there was no change and I feel great. I finally feel back to normal after that horrible chemo and my hair is even growing back. I’m a happy camper.
- Far out, Dexter. Tell her she owes you lunch.
- This video seems to indicate that Michael Brown was walking away from the cop when the cop opened fire. At that point, Brown turned around and faced the cop and was shot in the front of his body. http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/video-cell-phone-michael-brown-shooting
- There is a patient in an isolation area here in a Sacramento hospital who is being tested and treated for exposure to the ebola virus. The facility is a Kaiser hospital in South Sac but no details have been released about the person. I guess, as noted by the head of the NGO for which the two victims in Atlanta worked, the cat is out of the bag.
- Want some canned tuna? Try Spanish products which go for prices from $10 to over $100 per can. Here in Sacto’s Oak Park everybody walks down the middle of the street. I don't like to see a kid get hurt but you'll never catch me shedding tears for any misfortunes suffered by the Ohio State football program.
- It hit 77 degrees here today. The average for August 20 is 92 degrees. What a beautiful day it’s been. Alex, Barbara Eden, during the I Dream of Jeannie days, was selected as the woman with the most beautiful navel. I didn’t argue. That observation about early criminal records foreclosing a whole life and career was really spot on, Jolene. How many people think of that? How do you tell kids? I see a lot of police activity in my neighborhood and they really seem to try to work with people. I’ve talked with them any number of times and have observed how they interact with my neighbors. Of course I’m an old white guy.
- I didn't see any reason for the cops to shoot Powell. It seems like shooting has become the solution of first resort. So many cops have killed so many people in the last ten years without consequence that it’s become no big deal to them. Just shoot the fucker and forget about it. Also, I noted that tons of cops seemed to show up very quickly but I didn’t see an ambulance or fire truck. Why not? (I don't know about other cities but in Sacramento fire trucks respond to medical calls.)
- The earthquake happened about 0320 this AM. I certainly didn't feel anything being fully occupied sawing logs at the time. Neighbors I've spoken with here in Sacto didn't feel anything either although had I been awake I probably would have felt it. Napa's less than 50 miles away as the google earth flies. It seems, from the stuff I've seen on TV, that things were pretty much confined to the Napa/American Canyon area even though a six is fairly strong. It appears there was a lot of damage in Napa.
- Under the picture of that poor Chinese girl who apparently drank too much are 33 ‘likes’. What does that mean? Do 33 people somehow like the story? Do 33 people think she was cute? What? Anyway, it strikes me as creepy.
- It appears that fire arms “instructor” had the little girl fire once on semi-automatic before setting the weapon on full automatic. Everybody knows automatic weapons have a tendency to climb up and to the left and the guy was standing in exactly the wrong place. What the film shows is a man acting in an unprofessional and stupid fashion. I’m sure a real firearms instructor would come up with a very lengthy list of things that were done incorrectly during that incident. The guy was an accident waiting to happen. My wife and I split up when I was in my sixties and after thirty some years. These things do happen. There was no hate and there were no arguments. We did not divorce because neither of us had any intention of getting married again and because, with a legal separation I could keep her insured for medical, teeth and eyes and because being married would save us money at tax time. These days we are getting along better than we have for years. We talk several times a week on the phone and get together at least once a week. She’s still a very beautiful woman. Me, not so much. I was appalled but not surprised by the incident recounted by Dorothy @#12. It’s funny. My wife always said she was going to get rid of me when I got old because she didn’t want to take care of some old sick guy. Turns out that when I got sick, she was the first one there.
- Happy Birthday, MMJeff and Happy Anniversary, Mark. Hope you're feeling better soon, Deborah.
- Maybe it's actual core drilling. Careful, Dexter. The Brits have a number of really strange things which they eat. Don't hurt yourself.
- Boy, Mary. That's a pair to draw to. Seventeen years. How many is he likely to actually drill, I mean serve?
- Cretaceous period? I thought this was the Cretaceous period. I mean given the large number of Cretans and all.
- Agreed, Jeff B. I too found it impossible to get over the contrast between the guy who got a whole year’s suspension after having tested positive for cannabis and the two game suspension for the guy who beat a woman into unconsciousness. Thing about the elevator video is that it doesn’t change or add to the story in any fashion at all. It was known all along that there was an argument and that Rice knocked out Ms. Palmer in the elevator and was taped dragging her insensate body out of the thing. All the newly released elevator tape does is provide a graphic portrayal of a, by now, well known event. And now Roger the Dodger is suddenly appalled, appalled I say, about the KO. That gets me. Why now all of a sudden? Also did anybody note the follow up? Watch the way Rice drags her half way out of the elevator car and drops her like a sack of shit. He kicks her in the leg, drags his foot over her rear, makes no attempt to cover her exposed legs and rear. Just look at the second half of the video. Rice sure doesn’t look like a guy in love with his female companion. I’m saddened by Ms. Rice’s comments. I wonder how much support she’s gotten from friends and family. By the way, was she pregnant? I hate the “Anybody can make a mistake. I said I’m sorry, why are you still bugging me?” act. And yes, Goodell probably should go but I don’t think he’s any different than any other NFL execs.
- Take a deep breath, MarkH. I wasn’t wrong, I was being sarcastic. Sorry you didn’t pick that up. One shouldn’t have to explain one’s jokes or one’s sarcasm. One expects others to get it. Sorry if I missed the boat but the sarcasm seemed obvious to me. And no, I didn’t see this afternoon’s presser. What do you think, MarkH of Rice’s behavior on the video after knocking Janay out?
- Well, Rice has hired a PR firm so we can expect some self-serving drivel in the near future. Does the NFL have any kind of program to assist abused wives or to counsel wives or to provide counseling for the players or is there any kind of mandatory domestic violence class or etc., etc.? Is any such contemplated? How many of these people are beating their wives/girlfriends and haven't been caught. Is there any statistic that shows this for the general public? That is total pct. of abusers vs. pct. of abusers exposed. http://deadspin.com/the-only-thing-unusual-about-ray-and-janay-rice-is-that-1633583402/+Jessica
- It was 103 yesterday and today it'll be one oh something again. I drove past a high school a while ago and they were out there getting ready to play football. Better them than me. Me? Monday I'm off to Spain for two weeks. Looking forward to it!
- That's it. Barcelona and Madrid. I plan to spend two weeks eating, drinking and walking around looking at stuff.
- And I'll take the Spanish version of Jerry Brown's crazy train from Barcelona to Madrid.
- I've read that there is a lot of domestic violence among law enforcement personnel. True? So Air France is going on strike tomorrow. They claim that half of their flights will still operate. My ride from Paris to Barcelona is on AF. Flip a coin. Maybe I'll end up hitch hiking from Paris to BCN.
- I feel good, Julie. Like back to normal. Hope it lasts. I called AF and they don't really have anything to say. My AF flight is actually on Tues. The trip from Sacto to Paris is an overnight deal arriving in Paris just after 12 noon on Tues.
- Oh, and my hair grew back all weird. I now have crazy hair.
- I did a report about getting from Sacto to BCN but it’s quite long because of the Air France strike. I don’t know if it would be approved. I’ll keep this one short. Please let me know, boss lady. Barcelona is a wonderful city. It has a warm and inviting vibe and one feels welcome here and the weather is perfect if a tad humid. OK, I’ll cut to the chase. The jiggle lives, legs are long and shorts are short. Women here are very attractive. Very. And dressed to show it. This being very attractive includes women of all ages. Women seem to age extremely well here. I wouldn’t recommend Barcelona for Stouder. His fifty something heart wouldn’t stand it. Many years ago I developed a theory about European women. They don’t get fat because they walk a lot. It’s that simple. People don’t all own cars as we do in the States. So they hoof it. Walking does wonders for the hind quarters and it shows here. What with age and illness, I’m retired from that stuff now but it sure would be nice to be forty years younger. Sigh. I would advise folks to travel when they’re young. Tell your kids. Spain is all about the ham. I stumbled into a ham store earlier today. It wasn’t a huge place but it didn’t need to be as all the place sells is that famous Iberian ham. One of the very nice ladies who works there took a lot of time to talk with me. Barcelona is a very friendly town. People are happy to speak with you, are all very polite and friendly and everyone seems to speak English. A stroll is a delight and restaurants are fun. They have a number of different grades of the ham. Prices range from around 25E per kilo to around 60 – 75E per kilo. A ham runs to about seven or eight kilos. Do the math. That’s like around a hundred bucks per kilo for a seven or eight kilo ham. This is not poor people’s food. Ever seen a prosciutto? Iberian ham is the same thing although nobody in this country would admit it. A ham is set on edge on a special stand and shaved with a very long, very skinny knife. The lovely young lady shaved off a paper thin slice of an average grade ham for me. Free hand. It was truly all that this stuff is cracked up to be. When I finished that slice, eyes rolled back, sighing with pleasure, she shaved me a slice of the best. Lord. Talk about learning what all the shouting is about. Even I could tell the difference between a cheap ass $500 ham and an $800 one. This stuff is absolutely beyond belief. I was kind of surprised but very grateful that she would be giving away samples of mega buck ham. I should have been born rich. As it is I purchased a few slices of the best to take with me. A couple of slices cost 12E. OK, that’s it for today. And, yes, Brian. The draft should absolutely be reinstated.
- And a lesson. There's a difference between the theoretical price of a Euro (around a buck thirty) and the real world. I found myself in Paris Orly the other day (God help me) and desperately needed some Euros. I paid $1.56. The best I've found here in BCN after some shopping is $1.42. Bring more money.
- The deal about this trip is that I've worked for around 60 years (counting paper routes), was making decent money for the last ten years, have a decent retirement between pension and SSA and have saved a few bucks. I'm old(er) now, am enjoying a respite from my lung cancer and at this point can easily afford to fly first class, flop at a nice hotel and can spend whatever I feel like while on the road. My wife and daughter have already been seen to. I realize and am grateful that I have been extraordinarily lucky but here I am. I've got nothing to save for so, fuck it. I'm spending the money. I'm hoping to take another trip soon. And another after that if I'm strong enough.
- The only worm in the apple is that my beautiful wife is not with me. We're still separated. I do know that she could compete straight up with the women here in BCN.
- Put me in the No on Scotland camp as well. I love the talk of the California secessionists. I was in Alturas last fall and they had posters up in the bar of the Niles hotel seeking idiots to join a militia. Modoc county, one of the secessionist counties, has a very high welfare rate. Half of the people there are on welfare and the other half work for the State or the feds. If they seceded, they would all starve. What a bunch of idiots. No big report for today. Went to a couple of museums and enjoyed them. The walking is building up and the legs are getting stronger. Guess I’m sort of playing myself into shape. I’m going to post the mammoth airplane ride thing. Nance, delete or cut or whatever if it is too big or offensive.
- So on Sunday night, the 14th, I got an email telling me that my flight from Charles de Gaulle (CDG) to Barcelona (BCN) had been cancelled and that heaven and earth were being moved to secure me an alternate ride to BCN. Monday AM I left early for the airport so as to have plenty of time to snivel at the Delta person about rebooking. They were very nice but the best they (the agent and her supervisor) had to offer after over an hour of floundering, was to have me come back the next day and try again. I wasn’t about to do that. What we ended up doing was checking my bag to CDG. I would fly there and figure out what to do next after arriving. I flew as scheduled to Salt Lake City (SLC) in first class. It was a nice, if unremarkable flight. When I decided to travel To Spain, I thought I would look at first or business class. Turns out Delta only has two classes on their int’l wide bodies to Europe, steerage and business plus or business elite. Something like that. On the narrow bodies it’s first class. The whole shooting match, SMF to Spain and back to SMF was only $4000. I grabbed it. This was two months in advance. The price goes up quickly as the day approaches. I sat right in front on the way from SMF to SLC. The connection was tight. I was the first one off the plane at SLC and hustled to the other pier where my flight to CDG was already boarding. In addition to the seat, first or business class gets you through a special line at security where you don’t have to disrobe and all that. Saves lots of time. There are special lines at the counter and for boarding. The ride to CDG was on an A330 which is a French built wide body. My seat was right in front again. The seat is in a little box so each person is pretty well isolated. There is a seat at each window and two in the middle. The seat reclines totally so that you are actually in a bed. There are buttons just like for your car seats. Blanket and pillows are provided. They made a real effort with the nice wine in a real glass (I won’t tell you how many glasses I had) and food was served on china and all. It really is a great way to fly. After a 10 hour flight we landed at CDG feeling good after sleeping well. Not especially tired. Jet lag is easy East bound. The airport was quite a sight. Air France metal every where. There was one taxi-way that had a line of what must have been 20 ea A-320s parked nose to tail. At another terminal there was a line of four huge whales – double decked A-380s parked at the gates. The odd looking thing was that they were deserted. No catering trucks, no fuel vehicles, no honey bucket trucks, no baggage carts no nothing, nobody. Inside, the terminal was deserted. Empty - you could have shot a cannon through it. Given my elevated class status, we had a special exit door and again I was first off the aircraft. I walked down a huge long hall, turned left, walked down another huge hall, turned left again (there was nothing in these halls which were long, wide and high ceilinged). This was all in order of following signs for baggage and connections. A long walk led to a small Air France counter near the stairs leading to baggage and connections. Again a special line for first class passengers. The young lady was very nice and spoke fairly good English. She was also extremely attractive. Blonde and six feet tall. Unfortunately she must have also been new because during the whole interaction she kept asking questions of the woman next to her, of her supervisor and of somebody in the back room. Oh well, she was trying. When finally hand writing a ticket for me she kept looking back at the carbons to see what to do next. What she did was find me a two hour bus trip to Orly and a seat on an airline called Transavia out of Orly. With ticket and bus voucher in hand, I went down the stairs, along another long hall, down some other stairs and down another hall and arrived at a typical airport tram. Down two stops, off the tram, down another hall, down another stair, left down another hall, right into the baggage area. The only people in these long hallways were people who had been on my SLC flight. Picked up my bag and headed through the baggage area to immigration where a bored guy stamped my passport, down a hall to customs where two other bored looking guys were bullshitting while they watched me walk right through to the exit. As far as I know, CDG consists of nothing but long hallways. Once outside, I found the bus stop followed by a tour of Paris freeways. Not bad in my direction but traffic going the other way was at a stand still. If, as some people have described it to me, CDG is a toilet, Orly is where things end up when CDG flushes. What an absolute third world horror. Orly Sud is a huge, long, narrow, low ceilinged, dimly lit hall with something like 150 stations along the back and right walls guarded by miles of mazes of that barrier tape stuff that they use in banks. The front wall has booths for all sorts of African and Arab airlines including Syrian, Iraqi and others. The place is packed with a seething mob of people including zillions of Africans and Arabs wearing the most outlandish costumes right out of National Geographic. It’s a wild and colorful place. By then I just wasn’t in the mood for colorful. Boring would have been just fine. Did I mention that there is no place to sit? No chairs no benches, no nothing. Everybody stands. It took me an hour and a half to check in. No first or business class on Transavia. Only cattle class. After another hour or two, the plane boarded. Everybody had assigned seats but the whole plane load charged the gate at once with everybody pushing and shoving to be the first on board. What a bunch of idiots. I hung back to the very end and then just walked on. I mean the plane wasn’t going anywhere before everybody was loaded and everybody had an assigned seat so …? It took twice as long as boarding a Southwest flight in California. By this time I was pretty tired and slept all the way to BCN. BCN is a nice airport, clean and like a huge shopping mall. Taxi to the hotel was pleasant and I got to the hotel at about 8:30 local time Tuesday evening after leaving the house at 10:00 in the morning Monday.
- Peter, I was at a wonderful small museum today that had a lot of stuff about Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada. Hyperbolic parabaloids and all that and how the place is a carefully planned series of arches. I don’t know the back story. Please enlighten. Jolene, I’ll be seventy in a couple of weeks and don’t have a prayer of making 75. Forgive me if I pass on your link. Excellent link, fuzzbo. It looks like the ham you encountered is even more rarified than what I saw. The article describes the taste, though. It is subtle and very satisfying. It’s a taste that makes you sigh and recognize that you have just had something rare and wonderful. They have a new terminal at LHR, Deborah. I don’t know how big a change it makes. The first time I landed at JFK from Europe many years ago I had the same thoughts you did. “What a toilet! And this is the first impression millions of foreign visitors have of the US.” I thought it was a national disgrace. Parc Guell is on the agenda for tomorrow. I’ve been advised that it’s pronounced “Nguyen”. And finally, Dexter, my RVN brother. Have a Happy Brthday. File for your SSA. It’s really easy. Lord knows you have it coming. Boy, am I a Chatty Cathy these days.
- Jolene, I just reread what I posted. It made me sound like a churl. Sorry. I didn't mean it that way. The link just pushed my "Elitist" button.
- Talk about weasel words. That judge's "apology" is a joke. “This incident has been very embarrassing to me, my family, friends and the court,” Judge Fuller said in a statement. “I deeply regret this incident and look forward to working to resolve these difficulties with my family, where they should be resolved.” That's the thing that pisses me off. Other than a little touch of lung cancer, I'm in great shape. Heart, blood pressure, cholesterol, joints, everything. I do take a thyroid pill. That's it. I've always felt great. But I'm still suffering from that chemo. I can't believe how that stuff kicked my ass and continues to do so five months later.
- Went to the Sagrada Familia this AM. My God. It was like Elvis, the Beatles and the Stones all showed up along with a seventh world series game between the As and the Giants. What a mob. Unfortunately, there was no chance of my getting inside. I did walk all the way around the building taking pictures as best I could what with the sun, the crowd and the trees. I wouldn’t want to live in that apartment bldg. across the street. First impression was that it is much lighter and cleaner than the pictures I’ve seen would suggest. The old part is darker but not anywhere as dark as I had expected. Second impression is that I wasn’t prepared for the scale of the current construction or the amount of work that remains. Overall impression is that this is a stupendous building. A cathedral (if it were) worthy to stand next to any in Europe. Chartres, the Duomo, the Barcelona cathedral, you name it. I wish I would be able to see the finished work. I won’t go into any detail here about the place, you can look it up. It’s funny that so many famous buildings or places, etc. seem so small when you see the real thing. The Sagrada Familia was much larger than I had expected. It’s magnificent. I also hit the Picasso museum today. The Spanish seem to have a knack for repurposing old and ancient buildings. Here they sited a new, modern museum inside an ancient stone building. It was very well and very sensitively done. The problem I had is that the place was packed and any sort of atmosphere conducive to looking at pictures was regrettably absent. How can you look at a painting when three people are parked in front of it with those self guided tour things stuck in their ears. It was like looking at advertising posters on a rush hour subway platform. Still, Picasso is Picasso. Two things struck me. One was the progression of his ‘style’, for lack of a better word, from an almost Norman Rockwell realism to a sort of impressionism to cubism. Don’t shoot me for misnaming things, my ignorance betrays me here. You could almost see his progress and growth from painting to painting. The other was the concentration on a particular subject, from pigeons to Las Meninas by Velasquez. Excellent museum. I only wish it had been less crowded. I found myself as interested in the building as the paintings.
- A few observations: The cost of things seems to be generally a bit higher here in Spain. Some things, however, are cheaper. Wine, for instance. Thank, you Lord. A decent wine can be had for E4 or E5. Add your exchange and it’s still reasonable. Food in restaurants is also reasonable. And very good. On the other hand, I was scoping out a department store the other day and they had a Kitchen-aid mixer, the less expensive one with the pointy bowl that sits on a metal plate, not the one with the bigger bowl that fits on the cradle you raise and lower with a crank. It could be yours for 599. Euros that is. $800 for a mixer. Think of that next time you’re at Costco. I don’t know about the price of housing and utilities but I have my suspicions. I saw a pair of Clark desert boots for E149. The exact shoes I bought at Arden Fair Mall a couple of weeks ago for $110. One more thing about the women. Posture. They walk and stand erectly, shoulders back. They walk with a real stride, like they are heading somewhere. I suppose it goes back to the walking all the time rather than riding in the car. That posture adds several percentage points to a person’s attractiveness and it’s free to all. Men and women. I’m trying. I’m walking my ass off here, something I don’t do at home, and I feel better and stronger every day. There’s definitely a lesson there. I read someplace that walking is the best exercise. If so, Deborah holds the secret to perpetual life. I will do my best to emulate her when I get home. This place is overrun by Ozzies. I remarked on this to one the other day and he responded with a grin, “Yes, we travel well.” You see almost exclusively European cars. Mostly Skodas, SEATs, Opels, Renaults and Citroens. With some Peugeots thrown in. Not a lot of the German premiums and not a lot of Japanese cars. The exception is that there are a whole lot of Prius taxis. Skoda is a very old and honorable Czech brand and SEAT is an old and honorable Spanish car maker. Both are owned by VW which probably explains why there aren’t a lot of V-Dubs to see here. I stumbled into a mask store and bought a mask for my grand-daughter. It’s an all white thing with a long snout – from some play I think. I had it shipped because I was afraid to carry it myself. The store was full of really fabulous masks and puppets and that sort of thing. The thirtyish young woman who helped me was friendly, smart and engaging. Next, I fell into an official FC Barcelona stuff store. None of these store visits was planned. They just happened within a couple of blocks. I bought some stuff for my grand-son. A hoody, a tee-shirt … The clerk was an 18 year old air head. The exact same girl you would see in the States. There really is a difference between a girl and a woman. SoCalian? Jeezuz. I retract all the nice things I may have ever said about you, Dexter. That’s wonderful, Deborah. You’re one of my heros. Do you have any renderings of what you plan to build? Tell me to stop if I'm imposing. I'm kind of having fun.
- That’s E4 or 5 for a glass of wine in a bar or restaurant. Decent wine. You can get E2 or 3 stuff. I love the European bar and restaurant format. Have a coffee or mixed drink or glass of wine and small plate or sandwich at the bar or sit at a table and have a full meal. They have the sandwiches and the makings for small plates there on the bar and the bar tender serves it right to you. Or even have a full meal at the bar. It’s a very comfortable format and I would love to see it in the States. Things run all night here but I tend to poop out around eleven. Which it is now. We’ll see next week. This weekend is the festival of Barcelona’s patron saint. Merse’ There are free concerts, etc. everywhere. It’s a big deal. The very nice young lady at the desk here recommended the Flamenco dance performance scheduled for 12:30 AM on the huge temporary stage in front of the cathedral which is about 100 meters from here. I think I’ll go to bed.
- The Museo de Miró is on my radar. I've always liked his stuff and read about the museum the other day.
- The Spanish don’t believe in toothpicks. Bring your own. I also just realized today that there is no street food. I went to the Joan Miro Museo this AM. It was a very quiet, peaceful place. There was hardly anyone there and wandering through it was a joy. Both this place and the Picasso Museo were very well laid out so you could follow a nice, coherent way through the collection. I’m not entirely sold on the Sert building. The architectural models look good as you can see the building in its entirety, but on the ground all you can see is a bit here and a bit there and the bits don’t look so good out of their context. The view from there out over the city is spectacular, though. I loved the museum and you have to respect a guy like Miro who relentlessly followed his dream. There were a couple of his things that I really liked. The museum also featured an exhibition by an American artist named Roni Horn. Her stuff left me cold. I just couldn’t bring myself to like it. I’m not usually a museum gift shop type of guy but the one here is wonderful, far and away the best I have ever seen. It features a lot of really clever stuff and a lot of really nice things. The place is decidedly up scale. I, who have never bought anything in a museum gift store, bought a bracelet for my wife. I’m embarrassed to think of how much I paid for it but what the hell. It’s a gorgeous bracelet and I still love her. I wandered around up on the mountain for a while and then took the underground cable car back down to town. The idea was to go have a late lunch and then walk back to the hotel. There are two similar sounding streets and, of course, I took the wrong one. Pretty soon I lost track of where I was. It was very hot and I was sweating like a pig and had been walking too long when I stumbled onto the St. Antoni market. It’s one of those very large markets with zillions of stalls selling everything. Fortunately, it’s indoors and air conditioned like everything in Barcelona (thank God). I realized it was time to do something smart before I got heat stroke or something. It wasn’t there yet but I could see it on the horizon. So I wandered through the market. The produce was excellent, looking as good as what we have in Sacto., which is the best. They cut their meat differently but the beef seemed awfully lean. The place was very clean and, in fact, smelled clean and sweet. I wish we had a market like this at home. I love these places. I stopped at one of their little bars and had a bottle of water and rested for a bit. Then I did something else that was smart. I went outside and grabbed a taxi back to the Cathedral, fell into a restaurant and had lunch. I don’t particularly speak Spanish but I am from Sacramento and get my daily earful. I’ve noticed that the Spanish here is different and sometimes very different. Then I realized that some of what I’m hearing is not Spanish but Catalan. In the museums the little explanations next to the paintings are in three languages, in a specific order. Catalan is first, followed by Spanish and English. There are Catalan flags everywhere. The big vote is in Nov. I have a feeling they’ll vote to secede. Especially since it’s advisory only and has no immediate consequences. One night at dinner, after having eaten at a table, I moved to the bar for another glass of wine. The place was crowded so I sat right next to a gent who was reaching for his wallet to pay his bill. He laid his credit card on the bar next to me. It was a Southwest card with a picture of the airplane right on it. “I see you’re American, where are you from?” I asked. “Sacramento” he responded. We only spoke for a moment since they were leaving. Next up was couple who spoke English with a strange kind of English accent. “Australian?” I enquired. “No.” said the nice lady. “We’re from Wales.” I had to ask if they were from a town with a name this long, spreading my hands. “Of course.” She said. “Can you say it for me?” I asked. “Cardiff.” She said with a grin. Got me!
- A word popped into my head to describe BCN. Civilized. It’s a very large city and I’ve only visited a small part of it, but still. There are so many ‘must see’ attractions here that one can never see them all. My foreign travel has been limited compared to some of you and has been done a little differently. I’ve always spent a couple of weeks in the same place and walked and taken public transportation around town. Milano, Lisbon, Brussels, Saigon, Puerto Vallerta (public transportation there is, or was, taxis and busted up old VW vans with no door. Hop on and hop off. Then there are or were the ancient, clapped out school buses). Also other places but the point is that I’ve always simply wandered around for a week or so and happily gotten a feel for the place and how it works. All of a sudden here in BCN I realized that I’m spending too much time chasing ticket punches and not enough time just wandering and enjoying. It’s taking some of the fun out of things Tomorrow is my last day here. No goals. I’m just walking out the hotel door and wandering. Monday it’s the Jerry Brown Crazy Train to Madrid.
- Oh, and the guy from Sacramento informed me that one can purchase a ticket for the Sagrada Familia in advance and get right inside without waiting in line. Smacks forehead.
- Please buck up, Basset and have a PBR or something else if you prefer. Colt 45? Not me. And don't forget, the Belgians bought Budweiser.
- Judy busy, zip lines sound like fun but I'll pass on the monkey. I saw the Palau Guell today. Pronounced. ”Palau Way” Don’t ask. It’s gorgeous, sumptuous and luxurious in a way that wouldn’t fly today. I couldn’t live there and it’s only a hundred and twenty years or so old. I mean one toilet? And the walking up and down. They do have two, count ‘em, two built in organs. I honestly don’t know how one would update the place without destroying it. Guess it’s going to stay a museum. This weekend is the festival of Merce’. The celebration of la Mercè has religious origins, honoring the Virgin of Grace (Mare de Déu de la Mercè), patron saint of the archdiocese of Barcelona, and co-patroness—along with Saint Eulàlia—of the city. Stolen from Wikipedia. This is a Big Deal here in BCN. There’s stuff going on all over with stages and action in front of the Cathedral and in other venues. Including the CERCAVILA DE CASTELLERS I FESTA CASTELLERA in the Plaza del Saint Jaume. Means human pyramids or castles. Run the capitalized stuff through Google and hit images. My favorite lunch place for last few days is just off the plaza and somehow wasn’t overwhelmed with people when I snaked through the crowd to the door. From my table I could see (barely) that big official looking building with the banner in front and the swells observing from the balcony but I couldn’t see the pyramiders themselves. But! There was a big screen HD TV carrying the proceedings on the wall in front of me. They had great pictures and replays and it perfectly captured the same point of view I would have if the wall had been eliminated. I would watch for a while and then step outside to see the real thing, then back inside. Only once did I have to evict a fat German lady from my seat. Screw her. She was obviously having a crappy time anyway. She and her mousy little hubby guzzled their beers and left. The Plaza was filled with thousands of people. The pyramids are put up by various groups. Each group wears its own colors. I don’t know if there is any competition or if there is a winning group but I spent a wonderful hour and a half watching the Castellers. There must be 50 people involved in each group’s pyramid or castle. They all make the same castle as if there is a standard or as if there are rules. It’s quite broad at the bottom and the lower levels are all men. As the levels rise, women and youngsters (there is a surprising number of women involved) take over and the final level is kids wearing helmets. They go to six levels or six humans high. That would be thirty feet if everyone was five feet tall. The youngsters at the top level look to be around six or seven years old. Three of them huddle together and a fourth crouches on top. The last is a little kid of about five who shins up the whole thing, crawls on top of the last sixth level kid and over him or her while raising an arm in triumph and down the other side as the crowd roars and applauds. Then he or she slides down the whole shebang to the bottom followed by the other youngsters and finally the adults. It’s a lot of fun, quite stirring and, really, rather dangerous. As a family activity, I think it’s passed me by. I especially enjoyed watching the kids climbing their elders like monkeys with such determined looks on their little faces, some of them obviously scared shitless but climbing anyway, and then the looks of triumph and relief as they reach the top followed by the big grins as they slide down. About two minutes after the castle was all on the ground the men and a few of the women would come swarming into the bar, high on adrenalin and fun and all loud and needing beer. I told one guy it was beautiful and he hugged me saying, “yes, yes, beautiful”. Talk about your happy people. After I finished my second beer, I wandered outside and weaseled my way toward the front to take some closer pictures of the real thing. Then back to the hotel for a nap. I also saw a wonderful, very medieval looking procession with those big figures on sticks and dwarf figures and marchers and ancient sounding bands with squealing pipes and drums and the whole thing. The human pyramid thing and the procession are the kinds of things that reward wandering around. Museums are terrific in their way but this was genuine fun
- A couple of ‘Where the hell are we?’ vignettes: An Australian woman with a hubby and two kids: “Let’s find a clear spot where we’re not blocking anybody and I’ll show you.” They all stopped behind me while she whipped out a paper map and proceeded to explain to hubby that they were here at the corner of this and that and were going to go this way and so forth. She had the right corner. Next there was an old (as in even older than me) Australian couple. She had a full sized iPod and was instructing hubby as to their whereabouts and destination stabbing a finger at the map on the screen. Finally, I was sitting in a corner restaurant and an older couple approached a cop. Hubby hung back while the wife spoke to the cop. The cop nodded and pointed down the street to the East, waggling his hand, probably telling her to turn this way at that spot. She thanked him. Hubby took her hand and led off to the North. She held back but they moved out of my field of vision. Seconds later they reappeared with her resolutely leading him by the hand and they turned the corner heading East. That’s it. Off to Madrid tomorrow.
- If nothing else, the Wingers have the victim act down. I don't like Chuck Todd. There's just something ... smarmy about him. I've never been to Chick-fil-a. I have the impression they sell some kind of gimmick chicken? Across the street from my hotel here in Madrid is a Domino's Pizza.
- J. C.’s reporting is superb. Well written, great design, great pix. The Estacion Sant is a large, boxy place, probably twenty or more years old. It has no architectural or other interest that I could discern, not that I am particularly discerning, but it is clean, well kept and efficient. There was a good sized crowd on hand for the 11:00AM to Madrid (more than the 3:10 to Yuma) but the station people acted like they’d been there before. They opened a second line. Then a third and a fourth line to handle the crowd. Things moved very smoothly. Once again, being an upper class sort, I had an assigned seat so there was no need for me to join the scrum. The coach was, indeed, first class. There were two seats on one side and a single seat on the other. The seats were a charcoal leather and very comfortable. The whole coach was sumptuous. The seat back went sort of down and back when reclined so it didn’t bother the person behind one. Not that it would have mattered as there was oodles of leg room. There was a display on the bulkhead at the end of the car that displayed, among other things the train’s speed and the time. When the digital clock turned to 11:00, the train began to move in that way trains do and this one was dead on time. You don’t feel anything, the station just seems to move backward. We glided out of the station and down the track. The train was silent and very smooth. Between the silence and the smoothness if felt as if the train was floating down the track. There wasn’t really any sensation of speed. It’s a little eerie. We seemed to move at somewhere around 200 KPH on the way out of town. The attendant came by offering newspapers. Yep, it’s just like on the airplane. The attendant brings a hot towel (paper), then drinks and then a snack. The snack was inedible. Slowly the speed increased until we topped out at 300 KPH. The highest I saw was 301. This was about 186 MPH. Fastest I’ve ever been on the ground. Still no sensation of speed. It was all so smooth and quiet. What a way to travel. The whole thing is simply quiet, understated and relaxing. I can’t believe that we don’t have this in the US. Here rail travel is not an afterthought for the underclass. It’s a genuine and luxurious alternative to the airplane. You don’t feel the rocking and the clack, clack that is there on an American train. Until you try to pee at 300 KPH. Then you notice it. You really see the speed when you want to take a picture out the window. A desired item appears, you raise your camera and zip, target is gone before you can focus and shoot. I gave up trying to take a picture other than a panoramic few to set the scene. As I said, what a way to travel. Super comfy leather seat, lots of room, beautiful scenery, a nice glass of wine, 300 KPH and the smoothest, quietest ride ever. The US is sooo deprived. To top it off, we pulled into Madrid Atocha and stopped at exactly the advertised 1:45 PM. Restaurants: In one place I sat at the bar next to a guy and his wife. He was German, she was Thai and they communicated in English and lived on Minorca. She was a lovely woman, both were in mid forties. In another, I had paperdelle del mare. They called it papa d’ mare. A broad noodled pasta with mussels, clams, shrimp and calamari. The sauce was to die for. The sea food was cooked perfectly and so sweet and tasty. The only sour note was that the shrimp was fully clothed. Head and full shell. I don’t mind this in principle, but the shrimp was in sauce and the eating of it was a mess. I licked my fingers and used a whole napkin. It was good, but kind of a pain in the circumstances. Waiters and waitresses use an I-Phone sized thing to take your order. It’s all touch screen stuff bringing up menu items and selecting them. When you want your bill the waitress just pushes print and a supermarket type receipt prints out at the bar It’s late and I’m sitting in the hotel bar. There’s a soccer game on the TV. I swear, before they give these guys the first lesson in how to kick they have weeks of instruction on how to grab a knee or ankle and writhe around on the ground every time they fall down. Wait! Here’s a guy grabbing his shoulder for a little variety. Nobody buys it, I don’t know why the bother.
- Happy anniversary, Deborah. Bummer on the separation.
- Basset, guys, I've made many comments to which there has been no response and some to which there has been a negative response. To everybody, all comments are read and are valuable. Assume your comment has been accepted and smiled at unless someone says otherwise, in which case you have the opportunity to respond. I still remember the day when MM Jeff called me a prick. Every body gets over everything.
- A little different day. I started out taking the subway. The metro. I rode a few stops up and the same few stops back. Not much to see in a tunnel. The metro is where they sell the pass and now I’m familiar with how the metro and the pass business work. Next I hopped on the #32 bus and rode it to the end of the line. Somewhere way out in the middle of apartment building heaven boondocks. There I had a crappy lunch. Spain isn’t perfect. The bus ride went for about three hours round trip and provided an excellent, if unguided, tour for like three bucks. Remember, you can’t get lost. All you have to do is hail a taxi. I enjoyed the tour and all the people riding the bus. Several thoughts: Spain isn’t perfect. It is a delight for a visitor, but who knows what it’s like to live here. I’d guess that the rate of automobile ownership is far lower here than at home and that the percentage of folks living in single family homes is much, much lower. I’ll leave you to decide if that’s good. I’d also bet that living quarters are much more cramped than in the U. S. And who knows what housing costs and taxes are. Unemployment is brutal and the civic debt is hellacious. Again this stuff is not a bother for a tourist but for those who live here … I wish all the Euro dollar bills, or whatever you call them, were the same size. Making them different sizes according to denominations is, to me, a perfect example of overthinking things. The different sizes just get jumbled in your pocket. It’s 10:00 PM and I’m in the bar at the hotel. Real Madrid is kicking the shit out of somebody 5-1 and Ronaldo just scored another one. Oh. That’s now the final. They all have hair cut short on the side and greased, fairly long on top and combed up. Looks like crap but I don’t make E50 Million a year. Now they’re interviewing Ronaldo who is actually Portuguese and whom my wife can’t stand. She says. Tonight’s dinner was in a relatively up scale joint near a delightful little plaza. The boss showed me to a table and wanted me to sit in a particular chair. I preferred another one so I could see the street traffic. He was a little huffy. I hate these seat Nazis. He’s not the first one. The breaded pork cutlet was way over cooked but the potatoes and the veggies were outstanding as was the wine. At the end of the meal the boss brought me a dessert menu that featured a E15 “Constitution Brandy”. Taken with a wild hair I ordered some along with a coffee. The boss brought an ancient bottle and a huge snifter. He then poured a very healthy four or five shots into my snifter. Holy shit! Boy, I really like Spanish women. Local traffic in the bar is just passing by. Maybe in their fifties. Lovely. Remember, my wife is Portuguese and it’s a physical type to which I’m attracted anyway. Back to the brandy. It was nectar of the Gods. Smooth and rich and deep and just wonderful. I had another cup of coffee. You have to remember that a cup of coffee here is a shot of espresso in a teeny cup. It’s also excellent. Boy, that brandy was incredible. I dallied over it for about 30 minutes. Yummmm. I asked for my bill and when it came it didn’t list the brandy. There’s another game on the tube. CEL leads DEP one zip. Those boards around the perimeter of the field are all electronic at this field and the ads are moving at a brisk pace from left to right from my vantage point. It’s disorienting to me but I guess the players are used to it. Now the signs are going the other way. Maybe this evens things out. After looking at the bill, I summoned the boss. The brandy wasn’t included and he was acing himself out of E15. He came over to my table with that look. You know the one: “Fucking gringo wants to whine about his tab.” I pointed at the bill and at the, now almost empty snifter (God that shit was good). He looked back and forth for a long moment before the penny dropped. “Ah, si, si.” He was back in record time with an amended tab. I tipped appropriately and by the time I left, I was his best buddy.
- Wow, Alex. I don't remember that. I do agree with what you just said about Reagan. I even remember when I knew it. It was when he fired the air traffic controllers.
- Thank you, Mary. That was a really nice thing to say. Kind of a slow day. I woke up late feeling a tad fragile after talking late with a lovely Irish couple. Had a late breakfast and took another bus tour. Among other things, this one took me past the Congress where they are (I think) debating easing abortion laws. Tons of security with those guys in the deep blue almost black uniforms with the pegged pants and combat boots and automatic weapons. Traffic was heavy and slow and I watched some important white haired guy being interviewed by a TV crew. Pretty thrilling. I’m sitting in the bar at the hotel again with the inevitable soccer game on the tube. ATM leads ALM one – zip at 42:57 in the second half. Another guy fell down with a grievous injury but recovered miraculously and is now going full speed. ATM just won. Some news stories say the AF strike is set to end on 09-30 and others say the whole thing is up in the air. 09-30 does me no good since I’m leaving on the twenty ninth. Up in the air doesn’t work either. So I spent an hour and a half this afternoon with a very nice desk guy here at the hotel working out an alternative way home. This will be Delta from Madrid to ATL and ATL to SMF. I checked Delta’s web site back in my room and there are only two or three seats on each flight. I’m sure they will be gone by Friday. Glad I decided to change flights now. If I waited until the weekend I’d probably be screwed. Now it’s Malaga vs. FC Barcelona – ‘Barca’. I understand they are supposed to be one of the best teams. Seems like 24 hour soccer (futbol) here. I was watching BBC news earlier. I swear that their whole deal was designed and produced by some Las Vegas show guy. They have a huge circular set with the anchor person in the middle and giant screens around the periphery. The anchor is actor as much as news reader, gesturing and waving his/her arms in the most theatrical way. They are long on features and short on hard news. However they do it, the world situation is depressing.
- Judybusy. What a horrible thing. Absolutely report that jerk. I'm very sorry about your beloved cat.
- Disclaimer: I ain’t got no training or edumacation about art but I know what I like. The Prado is a very large museum housed in a beautiful old building in a lovely park like setting surrounded by other beautiful old buildings. It’s been an art museum for hundreds of years. Each story has a long central hall with dozens of rooms off it. It’s organized pretty well. There are stairs, potties and elevators. Seating? There are boxes here and there for your seating pleasure. I mean boxes. Like stuff comes in. The first floor has the inevitable café and the gift shop which is full of art related stuff. No trinkets here. I hate to pass out advice as it makes me sound like I know what I’m talking about and always sounds arrogant but if you are going to a popular attraction, get your tickets on line. That would have saved me a half hour of standing in line today. It would have gotten me into the Sagrada Familia last week when I had to settle for just seeing the exterior. I was lucky in that there was a temporary El Greco exhibition going on. It closes on 10-04. I have no idea who created, who designed this exhibit but he or she deserves a big cheer. This is an extremely well done, extremely clever show. There are lots of those huge, monumental El Grecos on view. I had to wonder how they move those things around and how they hang them and more to the point, how they did it hundreds of years ago. The slick stuff is that they showed El Greco’s influence on succeeding generations of artists. An El Greco would be hung and on each side would be a painting (most from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.). There had to have been a couple of dozen of these later artists and juxtapositions. Especially there were lots of Picassos. One trio showed an El Greco painting of a guy with short hair, a spade beard, a white ruff around his nick and a black shirt. It developed as I moved through the museum that he had painted lots of portraits of Steve Jobs with a ruff and a spade beard. The second painting was in an impressionist style done by Modigliani and a third was a cubist offering by Picasso. The similarities were astounding. So it went. I probably should have bought the book that accompanied the exhibit. This was a truly unique show. A lot of thought and organization went into it. They didn’t just throw a bunch of the star’s stuff up on the wall. El Greco pushed the envelope that existed at the time. He seems to me to have done a lot of impressionistic stuff (forgive me if I’m abusing terms, I’m not schooled in this business). He tried a lot of what looks like it had to have been new stuff at the time. I’m guessing that he may have liked to go further but he had a living to earn and knew that the clients would accept only so much. Above is conjecture. There are zillions of individual and family portraits in the museum. I suppose that was one way these guys earned their livings. There were some by Goya that tickled me. Most of his portraits were excellent stuff, flattering to the subject as I imagine was desired. There was one of a hunter that portrayed the subject as a stupid looking, pin headed geek. Another showcased a husband, wife and four kids. The wife and kids all had these identical, really strange eyes. I can’t believe Goya wasn’t sneering at those people. Then there were his clothed and naked majas which hang right next to each other. He clearly spent more time and energy on the naked one than on the clothed one. The notes posted on the wall confirm this. One school claims that the woman who posed for naked picture was the Duchess of Alba, another claims she was Goya’s girl friend. I find the coyness curious since all of Goya’s other subjects are so clearly identified. Whoever she was, she was a lovely, curvy, sensuous girl. She radiates a warm, post coital bliss. I’m sure Goya made a thorough brail exploration before committing paint to canvas. I’m also certain that whomever she may have been, she and Goya were lovers. How many days of her posing like that could either of them endured before the inevitable happened? There were a couple of curious, decidedly un virgin like pictures of the Virgin. In the first one I saw she was standing bare breasted above a bunch of tortured souls. Her feet were indistinct. In her left arm she held the Christ Child. Her right hand cupped her right breast and two fingers touched her nipple forcing out a stream of milk which fell at her feet in the inferno consuming the poor souls. The Child had the fingers of one hand on her other breast causing a second stream to arc into the inferno. The description stated that she and her son were providing relief to the souls burning in hell with the cooling affect of her milk. I ran into the second one a few rooms later on. I had to laugh when I saw it. I hope nobody saw me. In this one, the again bare breasted Virgin was a statue come to life. She stood on a small shelf up on a wall and a guy, identified as St. Bernard, (the man, not the dog) wearing a gray hoodie, knelt below her with his head thrown back and his mouth open. The Virgin held the Child in her left arm and with her right hand was directing a stream of milk from her breast in a perfect arc down to the waiting mouth of St. Bernard below. There’s some kind of curious eroticism at work here. Lord knows what went through waiting those peoples’ minds. Then there are those Reuben’s nudes. The paintings are huge. Like 10 X 10. Feet. The girls certainly have plenty of what it takes. More than would be fashionable in a present day runway model. Yet there’s an overweening sensuality there. The knowing smirks on their faces (I’m covering four or five paintings here) and the obvious message that they are happy, sensual girls, proud of their bodies and would be happy to share with you to your everlasting delight is clear. There are some really fetching details that I won’t go into. It’s also evident that Reubens knew him some sexy girls. At least it’s certain to my fevered brain. There are tons of other paintings. There’s a whole genre of little cherubs floating around in the sky. Tortured souls is a big one. Old ladies taking Christ down off the cross. People being brutalized. Overall, there were many paintings that simply dropped my jaw. Portraits of a stunning quality and representation, including character. Self important cardinals, princes, generals and the rest. There is amazing photographic realism and surprising forays into what, for the lack of a better term I am calling impressionism. Most of these guys display an amazing talent, a few not so much. There’s a lot of fanciful stuff. So much that I got a sneaking suspicion that the artists were painting whatever their patron wanted to see. “OK, asshole, you wanted another crucifixion, you got it. You’re paying for it.” One thing that struck me throughout the whole museum was that nobody on canvas was smiling. It must have been illegal to smile while sitting for an artist. OK, that’s enough. I could go on and on about the Prado. Once again the reality exceeds the expectation. The Prado is one of the great museums in the world. Don't miss it.
- Deborah, I had cataract surgery a couple of years ago. They replaced both lenses. Kaiser wouldn’t do both eyes on the same day, they make you wait a month between eyes. Which, I suppose, is prudent. Other than that I had the surgery one day and the surgeon took the patch off the next. No muss, no fuss, no pain, no restrictions no nuthin’ except amazing results. Tell your husband to go for it soonest. There’s no down side. He will be very pleased with the results.
- Sorry, Dorothy. I mistyped. With all the restrictions you mention, it sounds like there is something more than simple cataracts at work here. Best of luck. I hope everything comes out OK.
- Today it was the Thyssen Museum which is pretty much across the street from the Prado. It’s big, three floors, has all the stuff: elevators, potties, café and store and excellent, coherent organization. It develops that, while the Thyssen has it’s share of older stuff, in large part it picks up where the Prado leaves off. This is not to say that it doesn’t have its share of old masters. I passed through some rooms full of them into a room full of portraits by Dutch masters (not cigars). There must have been 25 of these paintings, all roughly 18 inches square, all seemingly featuring the same subject. He was a 40 or 50ish guy in black clothes on a dark background, wearing a ruff around his neck, a gangsta hat and a severe expression. I don’t care if the guys were past recipients of the Exploiter of the Year of Colonial People award and that the guy who painted some of them was Rembrandt (he was). I backed up, turned and left the room. Normally I’d do anything for my nn.c friends, but spending time in this depressing room was above and beyond. The progression from the old stuff to the present day was really fascinating. The first thing one notices is the growth in subject matter. It seems like five or six hundred years ago it was all religious and portraits with a few landscapes and still lifes (not ‘lives’, surely) thrown in. Eventually, people came to be painting everything. Something else that occurred to me was that there must have been growth in pigments, paints, brushes and canvas. Altogether, it’s like they finally got the go ahead to use their imaginations. Jeez, a guy actually got hurt in tonight’s soccer game. Two players went up to head a ball and headed each other instead. One on them got his forehead banged and was bleeding. I haven’t been a fan of cubists but there is a room with a bunch of Russian cubists of whom I have never heard. Eight or ten of them with four or five women included. Which brings up something else. I don’t recall seeing any other women painters at all. I liked the Russian paintings a lot. They were bright, colorful and cheery, at least to me. And, amazingly, they were all done during the Stalin regime. I liked them a lot. There was an impressionist painting of a lovely blonde lying on her side facing away from the viewer. No background, just the girl. It seemed like she was the first blonde I’d seen. The collection of impressionists and other ists from the 19th and 20th centuries is more than worth the price of admission. Lord I love that stuff. The only disappointment is that a good dozen or so were out on loan. That’s great in principle but not while I’m in town. OK, enough. I could bore you a lot more but I’ll give you a break.
- Making change is another of those things I would include in my how to live life class for high school kids. It's so easy that I'm always surprised at how flummoxed people get trying to do it. How could a person have so little pride in him or herself and in their job that they can't learn something so elementary and necessary as making change. " Four Seventy five, five, ten and twenty". How hard is that? Give 'em a twenty and after they've already entered the twenty in the register, give them the two pennies and see them shit. I only do that if the clerk is an asshole.
- Deborah, I was quite taken with that Saturn painting. It somehow genuinely captures the insanity of the deed. The other one didn't load and I can't recall the title. I remember those spinners too, Mary, although they didn't have the impact as the Saturn painting. There were a couple of other spinner paintings by various artists. That's call snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, Dexter.
- ROGirl, there's a lot of creepy shit in that old inquisition business. Sad to say, religious fundamentalism hasn't changed a whit since then. I’ve been seeing a lot of soccer lately. OK. Futbol. Atletico Madrid has just kicked the shit out of Seville 4-0. A while ago, I was in a bar/restaurant eating a very nice rib eye with some excellent French fries and a bunch of tiny, sweet little jalapenos when ATM scored their first goal early in the first quarter and the place erupted. I have to warn you, in soccer, OK. Futbol, they only play two quarters with a break in between. Some kind of European thing. I don’t know where the second half goes. Maybe they have some kind of deal with hockey which has three halves. There’s a lot of love in this game, since they are all constantly hugging, grabbing at each other’s clothes, getting their heads together and so on. Another thing: they touch the ref. They’ll put an arm around his shoulder, pat his back etc. In the NFL that would be a certain bye-bye. Now a new game is starting. I swear they have this stuff 24/7. Easy day today. No museums. I walked around and stumbled into a place that sells sheets and table cloths and so forth. They had some truly beautiful table cloths for about E75. There was one I would have bought in a heart beat if I had had a use for it. As it was, I bought a bunch of six very nice linen napkins for E18. They were marked down from E47. My metro side. I also discovered a place that sold things for a Catholic church. I have never seen a place like this. Chalices, monstrance’s, ciboria, tabernacles – all the stuff you would need to open your very own Catholic franchise. They had vestments, they had those kits priests take to hospitals to administer the last rites, they had statues floor type candle holders and the whole rest of the kit. There was even a huge six foot by eight foot by a good four feet high shrine to the Virgin. No, not Richard Branson. None of this was cheap. The prices I did see showed chalices running at E2,500 and up, a tabernacle was E26,000 and so on. The top price was tagged on an organ. It was built, if that is the correct word, in Poland in 2008 and was so dated, burnt into the wood near the keyboard. It was quite large, a full sized, well, not cathedral sized, organ. Maybe ten feet high by eight feet wide by four feet deep. It was gorgeous. Made of the finest wood and metal. The tag was E98,300 and I suspect it was a deal at that price. I wish I could have heard it play but it wouldn’t have sounded vey good in that tiny little shop. It needed a space to spread its wings. Oh! Nice take down! Yellow card for daddy. And he was the dweeb whining because his shoe fell off. This is great entertainment. There’s something for every body. That kind of shop, needless to say, doesn’t have a lot of walk in traffic. So as I walked in an old man picked me up and followed me around. Like I was going to steal a chalice. Well, maybe it happens. So I began pointing to things and naming them (not every geek knows what a ciborium is) and smiling and saying that everything was beautiful and so forth. Pretty soon he was smiling and nodding along with me and then he went to answer the phone and that’s when I should have stolen the chalice. Oh, well. Another yellow card. Maybe it’s really an invite to a party after the game. Now there’s another player down writhing around, holding his knee and no doubt crying out for his mother. Except the replay clearly shows he’s holding the wrong knee. Oh, now he’s up and moving around smoothly. The Lord is merciful, the Lord is good. That’s it for today. Tomorrow is my last day. My dirty little secret: If I were to do it again for fourteen days, I would book ten days in Barcelona and four in Madrid. If they call people in Madrid ‘Madrilenos’, what do they call persons from Barcelona? Barcelonionians?
- So the Michigan AD was head man at Domino's Pizza. And while there he helped things to work out so that somebody became president of UM. And then his kindness was repaid with an appointment to the position of AD. So a pizza salesman is AD at Michigan. Jeez. A guy goes to the ER at a hospital in Dallas and tells them he's sick and feels poorly and has just come from Liberia and they tell him to take two aspirins and get some rest. Two days he's back in an ambulance with full blown E. And our country is ready to deal with ebola.
- There have been several references to difficulties with medical care in the last day or so, including references to problems in getting people to coordinate, getting appointments and getting test results. I’m now back in the arms of my provider, Kaiser, since the thing on my thigh has started to grow back with a vengeance. We went to see my surgeon on Wednesday. Turns out his family comes from Madrid and I was just 36 hours off the plane from Madrid. Also my wife (Ex, sort of) is from Lisbon. We had a nice chat before getting to business. After examining me, he ordered up a CT scan which I will have today, an MRI which I will have next Wednesday and blood work which was completed yesterday. I have an appointment with my oncologist on Monday the 13th. He also noted that he and the oncologist will be discussing matters before my appointment on the 13th. My appt. with the surgeon was for 11:10 Wed. morning. At 11:10 we were talking to Dr. Perez. I had the lab work done yesterday morning about 10:00. The lab is a walk in deal and the wait was around 15 minutes. By around 2:00 PM the full lab results had been emailed to me (and the Drs., obviously). All of this done with a smile and a pleasant word from everybody concerned. This is the kind of care to which I have become accustomed at Kaiser. I think it makes a very large difference when everyone and everything is together under one umbrella. Since I’m now an old codger, Medicare is paying the Kaiser premium that I used to share with my employer and covers my co-pays. I just fell into all this. Truly, I’m a lucky guy and am grateful. Medical records? Kaiser will give you a copy of yours on a thumb drive. The first time costs $5 and that includes the drive. Updates cost nothing. I got it updated a couple of weeks ago, made a copy and took it with me to Spain. I also saw earlier that Little Bird is having surgery for a tumor on her thigh soon. Be optimistic, Little Bird. The incision on my thigh was 21cm long and has healed into just a skinny pink scar. Nothing scary looking. There is quite a depression because a large part of my quadriceps was removed, let’s hope that that won’t be part of your treatment. But think of the alternative. It doesn’t really look that bad. Best of luck. I know you will be just fine. Also, Jolene, please feel better too.
- Cataracts, Deborah? Do get checked and be safe. Well, Brian. I'm going to bed. Yellow flag laps in the rain. On the plus side, Cal has just beaten Washington State 60 to 59 in a titanic defensive struggle up in the Paloose. Wazoo missed a 19 yard field goal with seconds left to give it to Cal.
- Palouse.
- Wow, Deborah. You're the client from heaven.
- My thoughts are with you, Little Bird. Smiles too.
- Great news, Deborah, Little Bird! Happy birthday, Jolene!
- That "m" at 31 is MichaelG. I don't know what happened to my name. Although I turned in my baseball fan papers some years ago, I sure don't like the idea of a no pitch free pass. Good news, Jolene. Had an MRI this am. God, I hate those things.
- There was a time 35 or 40 years ago when I was very sexually active and I experienced women who ... well, I think I'll just quietly walk away from that one. I'm glad to hear that your wife is OK, Basset. When I was a kid a baseball game ran about an hour and a half. Now it's as Sherri says. There is so much time between pitches spent preening by the pitcher and the batter that games have become almost unwatchable. I find myself doing something else or looking at a book or something and missing the next pitch. There's no sense of immediacy any more. The dragging time also affords the director too much time to concentrate on the pores on the batter's nose.
- And don't get me started on those pants dragging on the ground when they should be tucked into the socks.
- Kirk @ #7, yeah, I knew that, I was just having fun writing it. That was funny, Brian.
- I just got a fantastic call from my surgeon with results from the CT Scan and the MRI. The spots on my lungs have shrunk and what I have with my thigh is just fluid build up. The sarcoma is not recurring. He wants to keep an eye on things but no action for now. I will be seeing my oncologist on Monday. Whew!!
- Good, Dexter. I'm glad that someone besides me sees Maher for the pos that he is.
- That's fantastic, Basset!
- Gosh, Heather, I feel terribly but I’m certainly the last person to give advice about relationships. I hope everything works out all right. Dexter. what do you have against Needles? And yes, there still is sand blowing through the streets. I’ll try New Orleans, Miami, New York, Boston, Seattle, Portland, L.A., San Francisco and San Diego. I have several places in mind for the last few spots and none of them is Needles. Or its neighbor Barstow. Maybe Savannah, Wilmington, NC and Charleston. Nothing's cast in stone here.
- Come to think of it I suppose they don't cast stone. Stones maybe but not stone. I better quit.
- Adrianne, I’ll cut the pancetta into ¼ inch bits, sauté in olive oil until right, add quartered Brussels sprouts, sauté them for a minute and finally add some chicken broth and simmer until done. I know it’s easy to throw stones, and maybe it’s no better or no worse than any other hospital, but I sure would have no desire to go to that Texas Health Presbyterian establishment. They haven’t looked all that sharp over the last couple of weeks.
- Consumer Reports rates Avast very highly. Better than a lot of pricy protection including McAfee. I'm a user.
- I have a CalPers pension and I believe that CalPers is probably the best managed of any large pension fund in the US. At the same time, I can see the sense of the Dutch pension system. I am fortunate and comfortable with what I’m paid between my pension and Social Security. The Dutch system requires the pensioner to be flexible and open to ups and downs in what the system pays but it is all much easier to control in a small, closely managed economy like the Netherlands. Thing is, that this is a very small country. It’s about the same size and population as L.A., San Diego and Riverside Counties combined. There are things you can enact and things that you can manage and control in a mom and pop country like the Netherlands that don’t necessarily scale to a country like the US. Looking at solutions that work in other countries is a very good thing to do but one must keep everything in proportion. What caught my eye in the article was the statement that “Social Security, which is intended to provide just 40 percent of a middle-class worker’s income in retirement”. That may have been the intent back in 19 thirty whatever but the fact is that today SS is close to or dead at 100% of so many peoples’ retirement. That’s a disconnect that is very telling in today’s environment.
- Little Bird, glad to hear your are so up and about. I would caution you to be gentle with the rabbit and not over cook it. The meat has no fat and can dry up and turn to jerky very quickly. I enjoyed hearing Buckley and Vidal. What a pair of pompous asses. Notice how much more English Vidal sounds in the Mailer tape. Smith did handle things nicely. Who was the Briddish lady in the Mailer tape?
- Interesting, Sherri. I had never heard of bartenders and servers having to be licensed. I've had numerous encounters with strange liquor laws over the years. I've always marveled at the ingenious ways people dream up to make life inconvenient for themselves.
- Sounds good, Deborah.
- One birthday. Think you have it tough, I hit the big Seven Oh yesterday. Wow. 70.
- 70 May not be old but it's the oldest I've ever been. It was a nice day. Had a nice lunch with my (Ex?) wife with another the next day with several old work pals followed by yet another lunch with my neighbor. Daughter and grand kids are taking me out Sunday. Another old pal is coming over Sat to look at football and (he thinks) to fill me with wine. Lunch with yet another old work buddy coming on Monday. Dance card is pretty full right now.
- Sherri, I just took a look at your neighborhood on Google Maps. What a confusing maze! There are also several streets named 177th Circle NE. Good luck calling the fire dept.
- He is speaking Portuguese. That's the biggest hummingbird I've ever seen.
- Deborah (from yesterday), I don’t speak Portuguese but, married for many years to a Lass from Lisbon, I certainly have a familiarity with it. It’s interesting that 90% of the ebola fright in this country has been caused by a single hospital in Dallas. It’s easy to talk about their incompetence and easy to say that one wouldn’t even go there for a flu shot. Yet, I suspect that the health care people there are no better and no worse than those at your average large metropolitan medical center. And I suspect that management in other, equivalent hospitals is quite similar in their disdain for health care standards in their single minded pursuit of the almighty profit. I mean, why spend perfectly good treasure to purchase the appropriate equipment, to develop protocols to treat victims, to provide training for staff and to develop further protocols for dealing with staff who have been exposed to victims when it’s highly unlikely that one of those horrible Africans will ever show up on our doorstep here in deepest Dallas. Leave that stuff to hospitals in those dirty coastal places like New York, Los Angeles or Miami. It’s fun to note that, while these management types can’t find the money to do things right, they can always find the money to hire flacks as Texas Health has done. If things go sideways they can always blame any problems on CDC or the Obama administration. Now that the 21 day “quarantine” period is up fear seems to be ebbing. Not that there appears to have been much of a quarantine except for certain select folks. Wonder what NBC’s going to do with Nancy Snyderman.
- Mary, I just realized that the above might sound insulting to you. If so, I'm sorry. What is your take on your hospital's state of readiness now and several weeks ago at the time when Duncan first showed up. I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that you were miles ahead of Texas Health.
- Thanks, Jolene. Just signed up. That potato tart sounds good. I'd try it with a puff pastry.
- Well played, Deborah. Judybusy, I clicked on your page and was politely informed that it was unavailable.
- When I do my AM walks I smile and say “‘morning” to people I encounter. Men, women, etc. About 90 % of the time I get a smile and a greeting back. I watched that video the other day and was appalled. I never considered that some women would feel threatened or offended by my greetings. Now I don’t know what to do.
- It’s supposed to start raining any minute and there is snow expected in the high country. Whoops, it's raining now. Thanks for that link, Brian. I remember Greg Moore well and unfortunately was watching on TV when the wreck occurred at Fontana. There was no question that he was destined for greatness had he survived. That was a great cartoon, Scout. I’m 100% behind Kaci Hickox as is the judge who decided the case in Maine this AM. The State of N. J. got off on the wrong foot with her when they confined her in a tent with no heat, no bathroom, no phone, no computer, no books, no nuttin. Of course she was pissed. Of course she lawyered up. As far as I know, she’s behaved responsibly since she has been home in Maine and hasn’t really gone anywhere other than for a bike ride which was approved (after the fact) by the State of Maine. She is a health care professional, after all. She just doesn’t want any shit from a bunch of flat earther politicos. She’s conscious that she’s helping set precedents for other returnee. Go, Kaci.
- returnees
- I know, Brian. There's no doubt that Tony George is one of the worst, most narcissistic, most destructive pieces of shit who ever existed.
- MarkH, I don't see that Ms. Maynard has "rethought everything". It appears to me that she hasn't at all changed her decision to go but merely feels that the time hasn't arrived yet. What have I missed?
- Given that I have Stage IV lung cancer (which has miraculously gone into suspension) it should be no surprise that I have more than a passing interest in Brittany Maynard and her story. As of now, I have an excellent quality of life. I have no pain and am able to do most anything I have ever done – minus a step or two. I am 70 after all. The extremely aggressive chemotherapy regimen I experienced left me with very diminished strength and my – well - my procreative abilities seem to have been left by the wayside. To put it indelicately, since chemo, I haven’t been able to get it up with a crane. Having said all that, I am happy with what I do have and am able to live a very good life. I’m planning to go back to Barcelona and over to France in mid-January. I would go sooner but for the holidays. I plan to go somewhere else shortly after that. I’ll figure out where later. At some point the cancer may (will? – I’m trying to be optimistic here) kick back in and I will be faced with all that end of life stuff. I have no desire to spend my last couple of months in extreme pain and struggling to gasp for a breath. You better believe there will come a time when I plan to go all Brittany on folks and check out on my terms. As an ever lazy sucker, I haven’t yet started researching the ways and means but when the time comes it won’t take long.
- I had to look up the sitting on a tree picture to which Connie referred. Ms. K certainly does have quite the booty. The eye tends to linger. I attended the U of Ill from fall of '62 through Dec of '65. The Greek stuff certainly was a major presence but I didn't feel that it was overbearing or that it impinged on my life at all. It was just part of the landscape.
- I don't know, Sue. Your descriptor seems a tad literal for me.
- Our thoughts are with you 4dbirds. Best of wishes to you Peter, as well. I one time got drunk at an Army chopper base adjacent to Cam Ranh (the name of the base escapes me). Would have been in 1967. Somehow missed Wim’s dad. We were passing through. I can’t stand shows like that concert for fake flag clutchers and chicken hawks. I also can’t begin to express my disgust at all that phony “thank you for your service” crap. People don’t mean it, don’t give a shit about GIs and are just saying it because they feel obligated. At least the reaction to returning Vietnam vets was more honest. Good story, Wim. It's a wonderful thing to have family when a health issue comes up. Interesting that when I got sick last spring my Ex was the first one there. She's provided fantastic help and support. We're having lunch tomorrow and Thanksgiving is going to be at my house with her and our daughter and the grand kids.
- Happy Birthdays!!
- Loved that clip, Nance. The fans were not impressed by the large, spoiled rich children. Shows how dumb a basketball player can be that they kept wanting to go back out on the floor. The fans were not in a charitable mood and would have eaten them alive.
- To end the local election story, a winner has finally been declared in the race for California’s Seventh Congressional District in Sacramento. At an estimated cost of $13.1 million dollars, this has been called the most expensive 2014 congressional race in the country. Ami Bera, the one term Democratic incumbent beat back his Republican challenger by a razor thin margin after two weeks of painstaking counting. It must be noted that the Republican candidate is a former member of congress who is (for these times) a moderate. For example, his TV ads noted that he was pro-choice. I live in the Sixth District. The Democratic incumbent, Doris Matsui, cudgeled her Republican challenger by 72 points. The Republicans are going to be all over Obama for his “amnesty” but, in any world of reality, how the fuck are you going to deport over 5 million people? It’s time to get real about the whole immigration business.
- Here’s an interesting, if scanty, article for you, Brian: http://jalopnik.com/how-formula-one-actually-works-a-guide-for-confused-am-1661109693 It’s long on name calling and short on details. Yesterday, the county voting people declared the Democrat the winner in the Seventh Congressional District. Today the Republican conceded, sparing us all a long ugly recount drama.
- Dexter, I'm also in the process of trying to claim some benefits from the VA. My daughter filed the paperwork while I was sick last spring. A month or two ago I got a letter from them requesting proof that I had served in Vietnam. My first thought was "You don't have a record of that? Two trips?". Anyway, next thing, they sent me an appointment date for a consultation with a nurse practitioner. This was a couple of weeks ago. She seemed to have no trouble believing that I had served in RVN and raised no questions about proof. Now I have an appointment tomorrow for some kind of pulmonary test and another one on Monday to test my ears/hearing for tinnitus. The nurse said that lung cancer was common among people who had been exposed to Agent Orange and I was exposed to the stuff in spades. I also brought along my little flash drive that Kaiser gave me with my medical records on it. She appreciated that and said that it would save a lot of time since she wouldn’t have to arm wrestle Kaiser for a copy. So good luck to both of us, Brother. Keep us posted.
- My first car was a '66 VW that I bought in '68 while I was in the Army. Wrecked it at Ft Bragg NC. Actually Laurinberg, NC. Favorite car to this day was a '69 BMW 2002. I also had a 62 Falcon four door wagon. It had their smallest six and three on the tree. That was a very nice little car. I drove a stick all my life until just recently. When I was in Spain in September, I noticed that everything is stick. I can't recall seeing a single automatic although there must be some.
- Fantastic news, Dexter. I was at the VA today as well to take a pulmonary function test. I'm also looking for Agent Orange compensation. Should have done it years ago. I got soaked in that shit at one point. I worked for a month or so driving around a Vietnamese crew in a 3/4 ton with a trailer filled with drums of the stuff. They were spraying it on perimeter fencing and razor wire and so forth at MACV compounds around the the Phang Rang area. I was a kid and too stupid to realize how bad that shit was.
- It was me, Joe. I regularly shrink cheerleaders' sweaters. You should be grateful instead of kvetching. This is where we part ways, Dexter. Any day Notre Dame loses is a good day. This is just a lost season for Michigan. And Cal. I will root for Stanfurd most times except when they are playing Cal. I'm ready to start Sonny Dykes' packing for him. How many teams are in the one time Big Ten these days? Can anyone name them? The Pac Howevermany is just as bad.
- Thank you, Sherri for an excellent summary and a lucid cataloging of things. I actually haven’t totally given up on Dykes. I’d give him another year but I’m doubtful. The Golden Bears don’t seem to be playing up to potential and are inconsistent. Both of which are coaching problems. I haven’t actually started his packing yet (my fingers are itching) but I wouldn’t advise him to buy a house. After what they paid to get rid of Tedford the alums are going to be sorely pissed if there isn’t significant progress next year. Boy, Dexter. You and I are on different sides of the stadium again. I went to U of Ill. That means a deep serious dislike of Ohio State is ingrained. I will certainly root for Michigan against OSU.
- I heard the NPR Cosby interview a week ago Saturday. By that time I was not surprised by the non-response from Cosby. I was struck, though, by how lady like and serene Camille sounded as she sat with him. Take Mrs. Clinton’s situation and multiply it by Lord knows how many instances and by many, many years and here was this woman, still sitting by her man calmly supporting him as if nothing had happened, as if she hadn’t seen a thing. I’m not sure just what this says about her. It has to be more than obvious that what we’ve seen is merely the tip of the iceberg. That Mitch Albom thing is one of the most, well, I can’t think of an adjective that describes the piece. His brain is in some kind of horrible fibrillation. I can see him blinking rapidly, his cheek twitching, drooling, his tongue protruding. I was so gob smacked that I went back and read it a second time and then a third time. I don’t know a time when I have read a column whose author was so disconnected from reality, from what was happening before his very eyes as Albom was today. Yesterday. Whatever. I don’t know if he was drunk, stoned, whacked out on some kind of internal visions or voices from space or what. I’ve heard of people having difficulties comparing apples to oranges but this guy was comparing apples to garbage trucks. Doesn’t that publication have any kind or editor? Am I the only one who’s appalled by this column? Maybe it just hit me in a mood. I just see the Ferguson people as having voted not to indict but not having the balls to make it public.
- Happy Birthday Nancy and Jerry!
- Wow. The Great Dahlia hits the nail on the head once again. I remember a quote from somewhere (I wish I could remember who said it): "Justice must not only be done, it must be seen to be done.)
- Edit: Missed a "
- Thanks, beb. I finally got the turkey in the oven but there’s no room left in there. I’m going to have to cook some stuff in the microwave. I’ve never done that. I guess you just put stuff in there and keep checking. My erstwhile wife, daughter and the grand kids are coming over. I’ve never roasted sprouts. I guess I’ll have to try it. Here’s another F-1 tidbit for you, Brian. http://blackflag.jalopnik.com/red-bull-racing-is-like-the-nasa-of-cheating-1663441969/+matthardigree Thing about cops killing kids is that you can’t look at each one in a vacuum. There are a whole shitload of them that have happened over the last few years. There’s a whole great big context. It seems like they all have shoddy, secretive investigating in common, that the cops’ reactions are from fright (shooting tons of rounds) and that there doesn’t seem to be any thinking or any real attempt at another solution. The action of first resort seems to be to just shoot the bugger. After all, there won’t be any consequences. Seen from the perspective of the neighborhood, it’s just one more killing piled on a heap of them as the privileged cops exercise their right to kill annoying kids.
- I don’t think that anyone here is starting from the position that cops are bloodthirsty idiots. What I tried to articulate @80 is that cops, like everyone else on a job, are inclined to take the easiest course of action when confronted with any kind of situation. In these many situations spread over the whole country and beyond race, a tradition has developed that the easiest course when confronted with a problematic person is to shoot the suspect. Shooting has become the default solution to dealing with difficult individuals. Cops have had de facto training that shooting is the easiest course of action because it is and because there are no consequences. I don’t care what the chief says at the news conference. I don’t care about mayoral hand wringing. I don’t care if the governor appoints a blue ribbon commission. In the end the investigations are largely conducted by the cops themselves, are shoddy, secretive and pointed toward exonerating the shooter. Shooting is quick and clean and the shooters walk.
- We had a great Thanksgiving for our small family, my Ex-wife, our daughter and the grandkids. The turkey was tasty and moist and the gravy came out superbly and everything was wonderful. The sandwiches the last couple of days have been heavenly. But after three days of turkey I’m beginning to flag. Dexter, go in and get a full work up. Something is going on and the worst thing you can do is shrug it off. Believe me. I know. I won’t go into details but I could have saved myself a whole lot of grief and gained a whole lot of years if I had done so. Go now. Basset, on some Saturdays my wife would say “Take me to lunch.” That was code for take me to Costco for the samples. Al Sharpton should have gone to jail for a very long time after that Tawana Brawley business. He’s nothing more than a contemptible, cynical, self-serving, self-aggrandizing, publicity seeking piece of shit. I despise him and his designer suits.
- It was a beautiful day, Mary. Thursday was over 70 and we had every door and window in the place open. I forgot to report, although not observe, how thankful I was to spend Thanksgiving with T for the first time in almost ten years.
- Be strong, Heather. As Mary says, it will get better even if it seems hopeless now. The holidays are a horrible time for this stuff. Hang in there. I hope you have some friends you can hang out with. Jenine! You could have used the broth in your stew! I know, Brian. The more you look at that Ferguson stuff the more lace like it looks. I can’t believe the crime scene guy was so stupid as to leave the office without a spare battery. C‘mon. Have one run out from HQ for heaven’s sake. Send someone to the store. What a bunch of lame brains. Every single thing they said and did causes the eyes to roll. That whole Chicago street preacher thing reminds me of Holy Hubert in Berkeley back in the late ‘60s. I had a turkey sandwich for lunch today for like the fourth time. I’m about turkeyed out.
- Great news, Dexter. I’m very pleased to hear that you are just about all the way back. Also glad to hear that you will be getting some pension benefits. We both should have filed years ago. It’s stupid to be too proud to file for benefits that you have well and truly earned.
- A little note about water in California. The water supply here in Northern California is primarily dependent on reservoirs like Folsom Lake, Lake Shasta, Lake Oroville, the San Luis Reservoir and so on. These once fine bodies of water are down to almost puddle status. What we don’t get from reservoirs comes from wells, community or personal. There are now lots of dry wells. But, thankfully, not my wife’s. Southern California is somewhat different in that it gets a lot of its supply from imported river water along with wells and from NorCal via canal. (Remember those NorCal reservoirs.) The largest reservoir in CA is the snow pack which largely supplies the other reservoirs. That’s right. The snow pack. Rainfall mostly runs off to the ocean. Some sinks in to the aquifer and some runs into the reservoirs but not anywhere near enough. So we can have all the rain in the world, but without a good season of snow and the resultant pack, we’ll be dry. The rain and snow season in CA runs from November through March. There is essentially no precip during other months. What we get during the season has to last all year. There is some taper on at the beginning and some taper off at the end but if we don’t get sufficient snow during those five months, we’re cooked. That is what has happened over the last few years. We gotten some snow, enough flow through to eke by, but not enough to replenish the reservoirs. We’ve pretty much gone through our reserves and are looking for a good season this time or we will have serious, widespread problems next year. The Department of Water Resources (DWR) conducts snow surveys a couple of times each season. I think you can see why the DWR guy walking out into a snow field on his snow shoes, carrying a long rod is followed by tons of cameras and is the lead story on the news that evening. We’ve had a lot of rain and more to the point, a lot of snow during the last 24 hours. It seems like we may have a good start on this year’s snow pack. He says, crossing his fingers and toes.
- I'm sorry for your poor kitty, Deborah. My thoughts are with you. Talk about the downside of having pets . . .
- Kirk, I’ve already heard Marco Rubio hyper-ventilating on the radio. All the old dead enders in South Florida are going to have heart stoppages. And of course all the Republicans and especially the teabaggers will go apeshit. Meanwhile, all the resort and hotel operations will be salivating. I expect the tourist boom to start within minutes.
- One thing that surprises me about the Republicans, the party of business, is how they are so willing to totally blow off the enormous $$ potential this Cuba thing represents. I think they truly do inhabit an alternate universe. In particular, the money on offer for South Florida will be very large, very quickly starting with the cruise ships. Havana is a perfect three or so day cruise from South Florida. No need for much infrastructure. They could start in ninety days. I’m sure the hotel, restaurant and casino chains have had plans in the works for years now.
- I think the anti-Cuba crowd is just like the anti-gay marriage crowd. Dead enders. I think that with Obama pulling the string, the whole thing is now a fait accompli. The dead enders, Rubio, Bush and the rest can whine all they want but the tide of history is on its way. This thing is a done deal just like gay marriage and what remains is cleaning up the details. I still can’t believe Bush and Rubio. I mean it’s their state that is going to be the principal beneficiary. What planet do those two live on? The ancient, creaky malcontents in Miami’s Little Havana are nobodies. They have zippo influence any more outside of a few cafes.
- Off topic, my daughter is taking me to dinner at the French Laundry this evening. I'm really looking forward to it. I persuaded her to let me pay. She made the arrangements and she's driving. That's enough.
- Michael Griese here. So to get the most important part out of the way, the restroom was pristine. Yes, that’s ‘restroom’ singular. The French Laundry has a single, one for all and all for one restroom. I used it when we arrived at about 5:30 and again around 9:00 when we left. It was as clean and shiny at 9:00 as it had been when the place opened. They must clean it every ten minutes. The restaurant is a fairly small place on a ruralish road just north of Napa and across the street from its own large garden. This is all readily viewable on Google Maps or Google Earth. The place is fairly intimate with tables situated in several rooms on two floors. It has a warm and welcoming ambiance and I immediately felt at ease. The staff is smiling and friendly. There is no trace of the snottiness or snobbishness that one might expect in a world class restaurant that has several times been called the best in the world. We were met at the door by a smiling woman who seated us immediately. The tables seem to be each as good as any other. I didn’t see any tables that would be more or less desirable than any others aside from the usual one or two next to the restroom. The wine list is presented to you in the form of an I-Pad and is 83 pages long. No, I didn’t buy any of the $12 or $13,000 bottles of Bordeaux. Wines by the glass aren’t cheap but then, nothing here is. I went with the glass. My daughter stayed with non-alcoholic stuff. She was the driver. The menu is a prix fixe deal with two choices: the ‘Chef’s Menu’ or the veggie menu. We chose the ‘Chef’s Menu’. Our parade of courses began with the French Laundry’s signature appetizer: salmon in a teeny ice cream cone. The salmon set the stage for the balance of the menu. It is an explosion of cool flavor in the mouth. Delicious. One can’t help saying it out loud. Mmmmmm. I was reminded that most restaurants serve food that has little flavor. I’m sure this blandness is deliberate in an effort to appeal to as many people as possible and to offend as few as possible. Too bad. Real flavor is wonderful. I won’t catalogue the courses but a couple stood out. One was a truffle risotto covered with shaved white truffles. The lovely, smiling waitress showed up at the table with two assistants. She and one of them each carried a covered dish which proved to contain the risotto. They placed and uncovered the dishes simultaneously and the first assistant withdrew with the lids. The second assistant bore a red box. The waitress opened the box to reveal a large white truffle and several good sized pieces of truffle. She had a little shaving gizmo and proceeded to shave an astonishing amount of truffle onto our risottos. There must have been an ounce or two. I mean there was a lot of truffle covering the risotto and spilling off the plate. This dish reduced me to a quivering mass, slumped back in my chair moaning with the pleasure of the tastes and textures. Again I said it. In a whisper. “Holy Fuuuccckkkhhhh.” This one was simply beyond words. Another dish was a chicken thing with a small slice of white meat with sausage on one edge (as if it were fat), some green stuff and a bit of mashed potato. Simple but once again, the explosion of pure flavor, chicken this time, was beyond anything I have experienced. It was so soft, moist and flavorful. I have no idea how it was cooked. Maybe sous vide. The meal ended with three tiny little deserts. Just when I had finished, was sipping the last of my cappuccino and thinking of letting my belt out a notch, the waitress and an assistant showed up with a blizzard of treats. Donut holes fresh from the heat, more ice cream, several other types of there made candies and I can’t remember what. I was overwhelmed and couldn’t eat anymore. We brought it home and I gave it all to my daughter for her kids. The many small courses add up and take you by surprise in the end. I was flat stuffed. I had been expecting dinner to consist of a raft of strange looking deconstructed stuff, and that was there but there were other, relatively standard things also. Altogether, it was a most pleasant, relaxing and comfortable experience. The staff showed us a world class experience rather than telling us how wonderful they were. They didn’t act superior, they were superior. The whole package is there. The ambiance, the décor, the staff, the food. All of it. It’s easy to see where the reputation comes from and the place exceed my high expectations. It was a wonderful, relaxing and flavorful evening. There is nothing intimidating or overwhelming at all. I was really taken by how comfortable and easy the whole thing was. It’s also stupendously expensive. I loved it. No buyer’s remorse here.
- The only sour note of the whole French Laundry evening was the couple who insisted on taking pictures of each other and the food. I think the nasty stares from the other tables got to them because after a little while they quit. C’mon, people. Taking pictures in a restaurant (a good restaurant - nobody gives a shit about McDonald’s) is gauche, rude, disturbing to other diners and just plain bad manners. Please don’t. We did get to see the great man. There was an elderly single diner sitting behind my daughter. All the staff stopped by to pay their respects at one time or other. Finally, Chef Keller showed up and spoke with the old man (old man, listen to me) for a couple of minutes. Then he walked right past me and smiled. I could have spoken to him but was tongue tied.
- Under $2000.
- Jolene, I saw this police union guy after the Garner choke hold killing. He's one of those unstable, bug-eyed, twitchy, over loud assholes. He was screaming that there was no choke hold and that the guy who killed Garner was perfectly justified etc., etc. He’s a stone loon. Doesn’t make him any less harmful, though. Dexter, you can get a large monitor for a couple of hun, a keyboard for $15 or less and hook them to your laptop. I don’t know about a tablet. Less than $2000 means a bill of closer to $1500. Plus tip. Sorry to be misleading. I’m not watching my expenditures as if I plan to live for another twenty years. I don’t. So far I’m not dipping into savings. My income has been sufficient to cover things. The way I’m going, though, I don’t know. I’ve got bucks put away so there’s no worry. What’s to save it for when I have stage four lung cancer? I feel perfectly healthy now and plan to have as much fun as I can while I’m still feeling good. I’m starting another round of chemo in Jan.
- You are correct, Basset, and there were other upgrades like the $75 for caviar, all times two plus wine for me. And the wine was very good. Yes, I could have shaved a few hundred off the price by taking every opportunity to save a buck. But why? I don't see the point of going to a place like the French Laundry and then trying to economize. You need to understand in advance that it's going to be expensive and be ready for it. I would have felt really badly the next day if I had passed on the risotto. It turned out to be the highlight of the dinner and for my money worth every penny of the $175. I've never really had truffles before and have read about them for years and years. The plate was beyond fabulous. Everything good you have read about truffles is true. The amount shaved onto the risotto seemed enormous and given the price of truffles, I'm certain I got my $175 worth. The whole experience had a value for me that exceeded the dollar price I paid for it. Trying to cheapen the price would have cheapened the experience. And, OK, I hadn't planned on doing this but the tab was $1589.76. Plus tip. Do your own math.
- I've gone back and read the whole of Regina's posts regarding her lung cancer experience. It was very moving and when it gets bad, I hope I have a tenth of her grace. But the thing now is that I feel just fine. I had that large sarcoma removed from my leg and that's it. The lung cancer is spots on an X-Ray and gray shades on a CT Scan. What I fear is that when things go bad, it might happen fast. I had planned to go back to Spain in Jan but now I have to do more chemo and the doc had me postpone my trip. God, I feel like I've hijacked the whole thread. Sorry.
- Congrats to Kate! It's great to get a first choice, it's great to end up with actual choices and it's great to have the news this soon! A trifecta and no cliffhanger. Think Harbaugh will end up at Michigan? I would guess the pros somewhere. He wants a super bowl ring. Thank you, everybody, for your patience and for all the nice things said in the last thread.
- Well, I guess we're just a big puddle of agreement, Sherri. I also had in mind that he would use the Michigan offer as leverage.
- I'm very sorry to hear about your partner, Crinoid Girl. Brian said it well. Our thoughts are with you.
- Merry Christmas to all. Sunny and 50s here.
- Sherri, I've seen several sources saying that it's a done deal that Harbaugh will go to Michigan. I am a bit surprised that he would leave the NFL. I was kinda thinking that he might go to Oakland. You calling Pete Carroll's best pal insane? I must say, Pete sure knows how to needle him but insane? Well, he certainly is a tad quirky. I hope he does well at Michigan. There was something going on between he and 49er's mgmt and there was tension between him and the players but I'm not sure what it's all about.
- I hope he does well, Dexter. Remember though, it's not 49M vs. nothing. It's 49M vs. whatever fortune some NFL team would have offered.
- David Simon’s remembrance was wonderful. What a lovely piece of writing and what a nice tribute to a loved one without getting embarrassing or mawkish. Loved the bloopers. We’re gonna miss Rob Ford. I don’t need to bring up all the stuff that the Repubs are going to say about the insemination express but if it helped further the cause of normalization, all I can say is Mazel Tov!
- Wonderful link, Sherri. There's another link within that one concerning the M-16 and its successors. http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/01/gun-trouble/383508/ I can personally attest to the author's accuracy concerning the problems with the M-16 when it first hit the 'Nam. It's interesting and informative.
- I think the most important point of the Fallows piece is that Americans are no longer vested in the military or its activities. There was a draft during the Vietnam war and because of that people from your family, people from your block were roped in and exposed to the full experience. There were anti-war demonstrations that were effective because they were large and were populated by plenty of white, middle class (we still had one then) people who had influence in their communities. I know my parents marched in demonstrations while I was on my second tour in RVN. As Fallows points out, the Capitol building was full of veterans during that era. In the Vietnam war military units were assigned to Vietnam and replacements rotated through in-place units. This had the effect of broadening the experience, of exposing more people to the loveliness of the combat zone. During the last few adventures the Pentagon rotated units in and out of the zone, keeping the experience to a very few persons who ended up suffering several rotations through the war. Look at Fallows’ numbers and percentages. They clearly show that when so few people bear the brunt of service they become a separate tribe. I never thought I would say this, but we should bring back the draft. Somewhere in the last 25 years we seem to have lost the concept of the citizen soldier. FDChief makes the assertion that a soldier’s equipment is made by the lowest bidder. I would respectfully beg to differ and say that in many cases there are far bigger factors involved in the procurement process than a low bid. Just look at the F-35, the KC-46 and any other big ticket item. Worse and tragically, look at the history of the M-16. Here’s a link within within the Fallows piece concerning the M-16 and its successors: http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/01/gun-trouble/383508/ I can personally attest to the author’s accuracy concerning the problems with the M-16 when it first hit the ‘Nam in ’65 and ‘66. It’s interesting and informative.
- The weapon I had was so new it was labeled “XM16-E1”. It was SN 117872. It had the old silver bolt carrier and the three point muzzle. At first we had no cleaning kits. Guys sent home for ramrods, we used torn up tee shirts for patches and diesel for gun oil. We had ammo with this incredibly filthy black powder which would cake up on your weapon. What a nightmare. Under heavy usage the thing would heat up and expand causing jamming. The thing to do was to just pour oil on it and into magazines. And keep pouring. There was one species of catastrophic jam wherein a round would somehow get chambered between the gas pipe and the roof of the chamber. That jam had to be cleared by an armorer at a repair station. If it happened to you, you were screwed. I knew several people who died as a result of jamming. What a fuck up. Somebody should have gone to jail.
- And sorry, FD. I guess I was just a little slow picking up on the GI humor. I certainly heard that sentiment often enough.
- Sorry to take up so much space but this is a subject that is very close to me. I only spent three years in the Army. I am emphatically not an fta type. In 1969, the year I got out (January 17), even during a war, the Army offered lots of opportunity. If you were interested and motivated, you could advance. It was all there. I’m not sure how things are now. Is the M101-A1 howitzer the one that was the last split tail 105? I remember them. They were being replaced by a new piece that had a fixed tail with a big rubber donut that allowed it to traverse. Damn. We’re just an eyelash from this stuff being 50 years ago. Harbaugh now officially belongs to you guys. The hand off was completed today. Last night I saw an interview with Jed York, the owner (family front man) and GM Trent Baalke of the 49ers. It was the first time I had seen an interview with York. He comes across as a raging, raving, egotistical, dim witted and complete and stupendous asshole. The guy is totally insufferable. I have a new sympathy for Harbaugh. I’m sure he was ready to go anywhere to get away from that shithead York. During the 49ers glory years they had an excellent owner in Eddie DeBartolo. Too bad he did a few stupid things and got crosswise with the family.
- Happy New Year to all! Judybusy, I hope your partner is OK.
- Mmmmmm boy, Sherri. This stuff sure is good.
- Sid Caesar was one of the seminal guys in early TV with Ernie Kovacs. And yes, his partner was Imogene Coca. They were great. My mom had a Speed Queen wringer washer. There was no such thing as a dryer in those days that I am aware of. Jolene, you are several years older than Joe Cocker? That makes you – I blush. Our first TV was seven inches. My dad used to spend Saturday mornings bent over the tube tester at the Rexall. I remember ALL of those early TV shows. Remember flop over? That pulsing diagonal stripe crap? My grandmother had a huge TV. Must have been all of 14 – 15 inches. Maybe 17”? Wrestling, bowling. Wow. First color TV I owned was a used one I bought when I married my first wife. I’m guessing 21”. Now I’m thinking my 65 incher may be a tad small. Like Brian, I was blown away by my first look at a color TV. It was to be a long time before I owned one. The Oregon FSU game was pure pleasure. The Ducks really got into the FSU team’s head. Especially into Winston’s head. I loved it. Whatever they teach at Florida State, they don’t teach Sportsmanship. As a U of Illinois guy I am a born hater of Ohio State but I was still most pleased to see them beat Alabama. What’s with all those cops in Smokey Bear hats at games in the south? Standing there glowering during post-game interviews.
- (From last thread) Yeah, I know about cops in Smokey hats at football games. They’ve been there for years. The FSU guy even brought a couple of them with him to the Rose Bowl. Wonder who paid for that trip. I was just making a comment. Who am I to over analyze somebody, but it sure seems like this overwhelming desire to possess and carry weapons when there is no apparent need approaches the fetishistic. Then to leave the purse in the cart with a curious two year old is not a moment of carelessness, it’s a whole life style of carelessness. Where did she keep the purse at home? I’m sure that that kid must have seen her take the gun out and put it back – how many times? A two year old child personifies ‘monkey see, monkey do’. And as several have noted about themselves, my wife would never, ever leave her purse in a cart. When I mentioned it once, saying that I was pushing the cart and that nobody was likely to take it, she grinned and said “I don’t trust you either.” She wasn’t serious about that but she was making the point that she wanted to maintain the habit of keeping her purse on her person. Very interesting link, Sherri. I hadn’t considered that the purses would be designed for easy access and a quick draw rather than safety. So Wisconsin beats Auburn, OSU beats Alabama, State beats Baylor and the Ducks cream Florida State. It was a good day. No SEC or other sothren team in the big game. They must be eating their livers down there. I’m sure it’s Obama’s fault.
- Happy Birthday, Mary!!
- Make that MichaelG.
- That was a great picture of Chicago at the end of yesterday’s thread, Jeff. I saw the story of that dope in MD yesterday and thought the usual. “What are these idiots thinking when they do this shit?” Now he’s pissed at the paper but he’s the one who made his own self a laughing stock. Sad commentary, Jerri, There has been some talk on here over the last few days about medical costs and plans. I went in this AM for another round of Chemo. There was no co-pay. I don’t know what other people paid but I do know that that Kaiser has a number of different plans and I have seen some people fork out some pretty hefty co-pays. I also had to pick up a prescription. Cost me $1.12. The cash register displays are situated such that it is easy to read them from the pick-up line. One elderly lady had a total of $1387.30 showing for her scrips. She walked away. Another elderly lady walked away from her medicine which showed a charge of $77 and change. That’s two in ten minutes or so at one window at Kaiser. How often does this happen at Kaiser? How often across the country? How awful. Again, I can't believe how lucky I've been.
- I can't believe the US didn't have a representative at the Paris march. That's inexcusable.
- Of course the US Ambassador was there. That’s his post. He’s always there. The G’ment should have known how big the deal was. Everybody else in the world did. Lord knows they have enough analysts, entrail pokers, tea leaf readers and the rest. Of course all those people said what they had to say. Of course we are going to provide intelligence (assuming we have any). I’m not sure it’s time yet for us to take our diplomatic cues from India. Bottom line is that the whole thing was symbolic, a matter of showing up. That’s all, just showing up. And we didn’t show up. The US has hosts of geniuses on staff. They could have worked the logistics. Everybody else did. Including the Israelis. Not our finest hour. We blew it.
- I'm sorry, Crinoidgirl. My condolences.
- The VA just declared me to be 100% disabled. They're gonna send me some money! I'd rather have a cancer cure. But a few benefits will be a consolation. My last pickup was a '70 F-250 with a 390 and a four speed. You know, the one with a granny first gear. What a wonderful old truck. All the torque in the world. 60 mph up the hill, 60 mph down the hill. Loaded or not loaded. Mpg? What is this mpg? I sold it two or three years ago.
- I’m new at this VA thing, Jolene, so bear with me and understand that I may include an inaccuracy or two. I had several complaints going when I applied to the VA. They scheduled me for an interview and I brought along my little memory stick with my Kaiser records. The nurse copied the records and listened to my sob story. Then she scheduled me for a couple of tests. The results are that the VA determined some of my ailments are service related (I once had a job that involved a whole lot of close contact with Agent Orange) and some are not. They will pay me a cash monthly benefit and provide medical benefits as 100% disabled based on my sarcoma and lung cancer. They specifically denied any benefits for an ailment they considered non-service related although that doesn’t matter at this point. To the best of my knowledge they don’t pay benefits or provide care for non-service related conditions, although I could be off here. There are no co-pays, no deductibles, no nuttin. It’s free including hospitalization and long term care. There are lots of other bennies, such as access to the commissary, in home nursing care, etc. that I have to explore. I understand that the VA and Social Security and Medicare all work with Kaiser to divvy up who pays how much for what.
- I once had an MG, Deborah. The best of 1920's Briddish engineering.
- The Miata took all the fun out of life for all the thousands of people with unreliable British sports cars.
- Sorry, Mary. Cheap shot.
- So Susan, I was just curious. What did you think of your Vega? Dexter, the VA has already started sending me money. I got my lump sum back pay on Tuesday and will get my first regular check on Feb 1. Why are they holding out on you? I’m not quite sure I understand this pickup stuff. I bought one when I moved to Auburn because I lived in the country and I needed a truck but what’s the point of having a pickup just to drive around in? I also wanted a big one. How much plywood can you carry in a little truck? Where would you put it? I could stack many sheets of plywood, or greenboard or a load of sand or topsoil in that thing. Its weight and cube capacity was amazing. But now that I live in Sacramento, I have no earthly use for a truck. So why do so many people buy trucks? They’re all around me here and I never see anybody put anything in the back at all for years on end. And that Hyundai concept. All you could put in the back of that is your lunch . I’m sure there will be plenty of buyers. Not all dealers are bad. I like my Honda dealer. My element suffered a dead battery a couple of times last summer so I took the car in. When I returned to pick it up the service guy told me they couldn’t find anything wrong but he said that he had seen a couple of cases of faulty air conditioner relays that would click on and let the compressor run until the battery died. So he had the relay replaced and told me to call immediately if the thing died again and sorry for the inconvenience. No charge. That was six months ago and no problems since. You gotta like a guy who keeps tidbits like that a/c relay thing in the back of his mind. He could have easily gotten me for a battery or an alternator.
- Oh, jeez, Dexter. I'm sorry. I had no idea. I really assumed you would be getting the whole thing. Can you get a reevaluation or something?
- Alex, my EX is on her second PT Cruiser. She loves it. Hers is absolutely pristine. She drove me around in it the other day. I’ve had several HHR rentals and that thing is a real pos. Very uncomfortable, horrible ergonomics and you can’t see out of it. Great story, Basset. Reminds me of the time I went to Bonneville to watch cars go fast. I was peering through my murky Macy’s binoculars when a guy said, “Here. Try these.” Turns out he was a salesman for some Swedish company that produces high end binos. Can’t remember the name. He wasn’t working that day but had a couple of different pairs of them with him. They were unreal. The magnification, stability and clarity were astounding. The prices were eye watering. I am so with you on current car styling, Deborah. It seems as if automakers are all competing to see who can make the ‘baddest’ looking car. Nobody appears to want to make a beautiful car. Witness the ghastly front ends on Audis and Lexus’. Lexuses. Lexi. What is the plural of Lexus? The Corvette suffers from this malady. It is not a particularly attractive car to my eye but its performance places it firmly as a world class sports car. It’s absolutely one of the best in the world, especially at its price point. Now if they could just make it pretty . . .
- Connie, I hope everything is all right. Get well soon.
- No bags when I was a kid. Those were cellophane days. I don't pretend to be an expert on the Keystone pipeline but my understanding is that it's intended to transport Canadian oil to the Gulf for export. $$ to Canadian producers. Oil to Asia. Some bucks to refinery operators near the Gulf. Speaking of pipelines, anybody here live near the new Montana spill? Still believe these guys are going to construct a safe pipeline? I can just see the Keystone disaster coming.
- Great news, Dexter! So glad to hear you’re catching a break from the VA. The Mayor here in Sacramento is Kevin Johnson, former basketball star. His wife is – Michelle Rhee. Prominent education “reformer”. You must have heard of her, eh, Brian? Today is Jan 24. We have had no, that’s no as in none, rain this month. December was a promising month but nothing since then. Ski resorts are closing. January is normally our wettest month. Things are not looking good.
- That's the one.
- I don’t know what y’all’s problem with the ‘Iliad’ is. I have an original cast recording of Handel’s ‘Messiah’. That was a very sweet article about the marriage in OK. I can only shake my head over those Jesus freak hypocrites the boss and father. Living in a sane place like Sacramento, it’s hard for me to realize the way things are for so many people. Both my lovely EX and myself were raised Catholic. Both of us had been married and divorced before we met. We thought to get married in the Church (why, I’m not sure, but it was a long time ago). Went to see a priest at the Cathedral in San Francisco. Annulments required: reams of applications and forms to fill out. Testimony before priests including testimony from ex-spouses. Money required to change hands. Months of evaluations. Then months of counseling. We told the kind priest that we would think about it and left. We were barely out of the building before we busted out laughing to beat the band. Those people haddabe out of their rabbit assed minds. We were married by an Episcopalian priest.
- They gonna call that Indiana news agency ‘Tass’? The NFL has punted. They have declared that the inflation controversy will take two more weeks to “investigate” which puts off any outcome until after the Super Bowl and well into the dark off season. Problem solved.
- Dexter, what you say is entirely beside the point. Rules say no fooling with pressures. You fool, you cheat and should pay. That link to the fumble statistics is very instructive and indicates that pressures may, indeed, have a large effect.
- Governor Jerry Brown's approval rating is at 61%. Imagine that. Today is snow check day in the Sierra. They're expecting about 25% of normal. Finished a round of chemo today. Feel good. Hair is gone. Again.
- Now the Repubs have become a public health menace. What's next?
- Sorry, but I had to laugh at Reynolds’ screed. It tickled my funny bone. You can tell us, Nance, how many times did you steal his lunch? Including his Snickers bar? Did I see somewhere that Walker, in addition to attempting to destroy the university, has endorsed a plan to commit $220 Million in public funds toward building a stadium in Milwaukee?
- Sorry, Brian. 99% of the time I’ll agree with you but not here. People can “lose specificity in their recollections”. That simply doesn’t happen in these kinds of situations. That didn’t happen here. Mr Williams has, to put it gently, padded his story. He’s guilty and has pissed any credibility he might have had straight out the window. I have no time and no tolerance for these kinds of people. NBC will swallow their pride and their integrity and let things go. What a world.
- We’ll see how long Williams stays away. For now it’s not scheduled to be very long: “I have decided to take myself off of my daily broadcast for the next several days” Anybody remember Adm. Jeremy Boorda, the Chief of Naval Operations who took his own life over an issue arising from his wearing of unauthorized decorations? He was outed by David Hackworth, a man who truly earned every decoration he wore. Sorry if I seem to be a hardliner on this issue. This is something that is very close to me and very personal. It's a matter of honor and I believe it goes straight to the worth of a man. I have no use for a man who does this kind of thing. Unfortunately, honor seems to be a rapidly vanishing concept.
- Allseas has agreed to rename the ship. It will be called the Pioneering Spirit Guacamole should be chopped. The size of the chopped pieces is up to the chopping person but the avocado should never, ever, be put into a blender or food processor. Yuk. It should be eaten immediately upon being made but, as noted, lime will help forestall browning for a little while. Tomato, maybe some finely chopped onion or shallot, some finely chopped jalapeno and cilantro and lime. Yum. Green room refreshment demands and other contract items for traveling performers have been a staple of internet amusement for years. Can't understand why this guy is so shocked.
- One of the points is that Williams was supposed to be better than and above the antics of a lot of the other news readers. Turns out he wasn’t. He was supposed to set the standard. Turns out it was a low one. I think NBC was about ready to let things ride until it suddenly became clear that their credibility and integrity were on the table as well as their star’s. Somebody, I forget who, coined a term for Williams’ offense. It’s called stolen valor. What an apt term. I like Holt just fine and I’ll be just fine if Williams fades off into the sunset. Ta, Brian. Great stuff about Kate and the band. It must be so gratifying and make a mom and dad feel so proud. It makes me feel good. I loved that Laurel Canyon piece. I had occasion to see Linda Ronstadt several times in ’69-’70. Up close too. There’s just no saying what a beautiful, sensual woman she was in those days. My God. I was in lust with her for years. Still kind of am.
- Deborah, I think I indicated earlier that my feelings about Brian Williams and his situation are very personal and I respect that yours may vary. Like everyone here, I'll miss Jon Stewart a lot.
- Sorry if I seem a little self-absorbed. There is a very old Chinese restaurant in Sacramento called Frank Fat’s. It’s on L St. near the Capitol. Fat’s is an upscale place with a famous bar that attracts legislators and lobbyists. It’s been owned by the same family for many, many years and has several branches in the area. Yesterday, before a scheduled Dr.’s appointment, T and I were having lunch at the Roseville branch. They have had a promotion going on called Fat Tuesday. They have ten various specialty items that are available for $10 each. After the bubbly, smiling waitress gave us the card which describes the promotion, I, in another of my hopeless attempts to be amusing, pointed out to her that the day was in fact, Fat Tuesday. “Yes,” she said, “ we have this every Tuesday.” “No,” I said, “I mean the real Fat Tuesday, you know, Carnival, Mardi Gras, tomorrow is Ash Wednesday.” I looked at T who was struggling to conceal her mirth. Then back to the kid. The blank look on her face was priceless. She had heard of none of them. The appointment was with a thoracic surgeon. I will be having my last round of chemo today and tomorrow and then there will be an operation to remove a couple of thingies from my left lung. The operation will probably take place on April 10 or 13, right after I come back from Spain. The chemo-therapy I have had has apparently worked to a good degree and the hope is that the operation will put an end to things and that I should be OK for some time to come. It’s a hope, anyway. So I’ve got my toes crossed.
- Thanks for the concern. I had another round of chemo which I hope will be the last. I feel good now and am waiting for my hair to grow back. I'm leaving for Barcelona on 03-24.
- Had lunch with the lovely T today. (my one time wife) I asked her if she had had any email from Hillary Clinton lately. Her response? "I'll never tell." Just ordered me one of those $17,000 Apple watches. I was going to get a Rolex but the Apple seemed more with it. You know?
- Alex, do you mean the Dr. Nancy Snyderman of NBC who resigned today? Don't know whether she jumped or was pushed but Mr. O'Reilly is still smugly going about his sleezy business. Doctors without Borders is at the top of my list. And beb, buying back stock is a popular activity these days among megas. See BofA. Don't get me started on GM's pissing away of money and that incompetent boob Roger Smith.
- I always liked Nancy Snyderman and couldn’t understand why she broke her quarantine. It was one of those willfully stupid things like Hillary Clinton’s email debacle. I only got halfway through the peanut presentation before I bailed out because of embarrassment. That excellent article on Paul Kalanithi really struck home. It’s been a little over a year since I was diagnosed with lung cancer and I recall how sick I was for a large part of last year. In truth, though, my sickness resulted largely from the incredibly aggressive chemo regimen my doctor put me through. Then I did more chemo this past January and February. After I learned of my situation, I went back and read through all of Mo’s posts. What a lovely and very smart woman she was. Wasn’t her name Regina? I deeply admire her smarts and her strength and her wisdom. When I was first diagnosed, my surgeon and oncologist both had long faces and spoke very softly. Though neither was explicit, it was clear that neither expected me to last all that long. My X-Rays and scans showed numerous spots on my lung. Too many to make operating a viable option. Hence the banzai chemo. Well, it seems to have worked to a large degree. My latest scans (yes, one of each, PET, MRI, and CT along with a couple of chest X-Rays) show I’m down to one so-so sized spot and two smallish ones. The surgeon is smiling and the operation is scheduled for 04-13 just after I get back from Spain. My oncologist was happy and smiling when I saw her last Wednesday. I’m even feeling excellently! There’s hope! Now I just need my hair to grow back.
- Deborah, last trip to Spain was in September. So it's only been six months. I left a really nice North Face hip length, lined wet weather jacket on a seat by the gate at Ontario Airport. Remembered it as soon as I got on the airplane. Leaving for Spain on the 24th.
- Not only that but they lost a sock.
- It’s surprising and disheartening to see how many people and businesses refer to next Tuesday as “St. Patty’s Day”.
- Good for you, Dexter. It’s a start. I’m pleased you’re getting some of the benefits you have coming. In a while you can apply to have your allowance increased. I’ve recently been exploring the idea of going to Cuba. To do it legally one has to sign up for a tour with some kind of cultural exchange group. There are bunches of organizations selling tours to Cuba now. It sure didn’t take long. Look on the net. To go by yourself is illegal so you have to go to some third country like Canada or Mexico and travel from there. I’m too old and tired to deal with that kind of adventure. Even with one of the legal groups you have to bring along all the cash you think you will need. Credit and Debit cards don’t work in Cuba and there is no source of cash on the island. Yeah, it makes me nervous. Still, it seems like a charming place and I love the music. I despair of the Democrats ever growing a pair of balls, the Republicans are growing increasingly unhinged, Bibi seems to want to destroy Israel and anything else he can get his hands on, ISIS is getting stronger, the whole world is going to hell. Fuck it. I’m off to Spain on Tuesday to spend my kid’s inheritance.
- Jamon and Rioja. You bet. You can get decent varieties of both for very reasonable prices. You can also pay astronomical prices for the very best. I saw a whole ham said to be about eight kilos that cost E850. Yeah. Almost a thousand dollars for a ham. I still have a landline. The satellite people and the alarm people demand it and I need it for my DSL. I haven’t talked on it in years. I could get all that stuff on cable but I’ll be fucked if I’ll ever do business with those evil trolls at Comcast again.
- When I worked for the State, we had interns who were called student assistants. There were no particular rules for how we treated them or related to them. If we went to lunch, we went to lunch. Nothing out of line ever occurred in all the years I worked there. It was an excellent program that benefitted everybody concerned. Ted Cruz is kicking off his campaign today at Liberty “University”. That tells you all you need to know right there. Here’s what California Governor Jerry Brown thinks of him: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ao82T91ZA-c
- Well, I’m in Barcelona. I arrived Wednesday on, yes, an Air France A-320. BCN is a lovely airport. I flew from Sacramento to Seattle and from Seattle to Paris, CDG. CDG is a huge airport. A lot of architectural thought went into its design. Maybe less into its functionality. It’s getting older now and needs a major cleaning and refurb. My bag was checked from SMF through to BCN. I had to clear immigration at CDG. At BCN I got off the plane, hit the men’s room and went to the baggage claim. My bag was already there. I picked it up and walked out and caught a cab. I never did clear customs either in France or in Spain. Not that I’m complaining. Somehow I had convinced myself that the weather in BCN was about the same as that in Sactown. My mistake. I came from 70s at home to 50s here. Shit. It’s cold. Barcelona is it’s same lovely self. What a walking town. A pleasant surprise awaits around every curve in the narrow old streets. I pretty much stayed around the neighborhood today. What charms me is the way stores are so much more than they appear. From the ancient, narrow (maybe twenty feet between buildings) street, a storefront will be a few feet wide with stuff in the windows. This one was a bookstore just across and up a little bit from the hotel. Then you walk in and the interior blossoms and there are rooms and rooms, all under and between arched columns. The whole thing is a delight. I also stopped at a similarly arranged hardware store. Then there’s the Museo Moto. Catalonia, and Barcelona in particular, have a rich history in off road motorcycles. The museum, a few steps from my hotel, is dedicated to local manufacturers including Ossa and Montessa and especially is a shrine to Barcelona’s premier moto builder, Bultaco. It details the history of the marc richly illustrated with photos and the actual motorcycle being described. There must be thirty or so Bultacos. It’s quite striking and a wonderful example of a museum that recognizes its niche and spends its efforts accordingly. Bultaco closed its doors in something like 1981 but it is said that they are coming back. There was a splendid example of an electric bike that they are proposing to manufacture. I wish them well.
- its same old lovely self
- Old story. I drifted to the U of Ill because it was cheap and my parents could almost afford it and I got a small scholarship and I agreed to work. Later (much) I drifted into a job and was in my fifties before I finally figured out what I wanted to do when I grew up. The high school guidance councilors (right spelling?) were utterly worthless. I had a beef with a cab driver this morning. On the way back to my hotel he blew right past where he should have turned and was all the way to the port before I spoke up. I may have raised my voice a little. I may have said the F-word. As in “I just want to go to my fucking hotel, I don’t want a fucking city tour.” He was quite abashed and apologized profusely and refunded part of my fare. I guess it was as much my fault as his since my Spanish isn’t the greatest. He claimed that I said “casino” rather than “cathedral”. I don’t feel bad. This weekend is daylight savings time. Didn’t we just do that? I guess they didn’t get the word here in Spain. I get to do it twice this year. There’s a gallery near here that has several sculptures by Michael James Talbot. His thing is sculptures of women. They are rather realistic, somewhat erotic and, to my eye quite beautiful. https://www.google.es/search?q=michael+james+talbot&biw=1097&bih=502&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=cNQVVZiuBcH4UpSRgvAN&ved=0CCMQsAQ&dpr=1.75 There is an edition of 12 three foot high bronzes of the one I like. The name is Ophelia. Pictures give an idea of what the sculpture looks like but are a very pale representation. The real things have a life, a feeling to them. I am so tempted to buy Ophelia. It’s several tons of money. Deborah. Help. Are you familiar with Talbot? Do you have an opinion? I’m smitten. This is Ophelia: http://www.calkengallery.com/wp/ophelia/
- Yea! Amanda Knox is free!
- Yeah, I know. She's into some kinky shit. Imagine what her legal bill must be.
- A bitch? No, Deborah, you are a most civilized and cultured woman. I admire you greatly. Accuracy is as accuracy does, Danny. You can’t brush it off. The Khmer Rouge had nothing to do with the fall of Saigon. Poverty is a huge boat anchor tied to the ankle of a poor person. There are always exceptions such as the people to whom you refer but the rule still stands. My hat is off to your friends for their persistence and their success and their exceptionalism. When I was working for the State of CA we required that contractors pay prevailing wages. Among other things, it removes a variable when evaluating bids. It means that every bidder would be using the same numbers for their payroll calcs. The numbers of hours would be part of their estimate but the dollar per hour amount would be the same for every bidder. It also insured that all workers would be paid a living wage which also meant that those dollars would be spent on the local economy. Believe me, prevailing wage contracts are a good thing. The Dept. of Industrial Relations publishes a list of job categories, counties and wages that is the bible. A roof tear off guy gets paid X dollars per hour in Riverside County and Y dollars per hour in Humboldt county. At award time, contractors specifically sign off that they have read and understand the whole prevailing wage thing. I would go over it again with them at start meetings and tell contractors that I wouldn’t require prevailing wage records for every pay day (that shit adds up to boxes full of records by the end of a project that I really didn’t want to see much less store) but that I would reserve the right to call for records for a specific period at any time during the project. This proved very useful during change order negotiations when a contractor would claim that he had expended so many hours for such and such categories of employee to complete a change order. I could require and evaluate the prevailing wage records for the appropriate week. Sometimes things would match, sometimes they wouldn’t. The records sure helped while negotiating that change order cost. It’s a great tool to assist in managing a project during the construction phase. It finally got nice today. The women are looking classy and sensational as usual here. I love watching them walk with that erect posture and that stride and that . . .
- The Barcelona Cathedral has never been a stand out or, really, even noticed in the great pantheon of European cathedrals. I’ve spent some time looking at it inside and out and the best I could come up with was a shrug. That’s a shrug in context, of course. A context that includes Chartres, Notre Dame and the Duomo. It may not be able to hang with them but it still brilliantly outshines your local church. I recently got a look at a couple of telling aerial photos It’s clunky – compared to the greats. Oh, it has all the required features of European cathedrals (minus, significantly, those gorgeous flying buttresses). But the features are all there as if they were checked off a list. The workmanship is wonderful as usual but there is no design to the thing. No imagination, no genius, no inspiration, no majesty. It’s just a nice, workmanlike church. These days it seems to cringe in the shadow of its wonderful, soaring younger sister that is abuilding a couple of miles away. The magnificent Sagrada Familia is everything the old church isn’t. The Sagrada Familia may end up being the best of them all even if it isn’t a cathedral. I haven’t noticed a lot of beggers here other than a few who hang out around the cathedral. The same with sellers of stuff. Other European cities I’ve visited seem to have Gypsies all over selling junk of every description. Not here. Just a couple hanging around the Cathedral. Until today. They were out in force selling palm leaf chotskies. The women were the main sellers, dressed in black, shouting their spiel. The men were in the background with the kids still trying to peddle a handful of palm stuff. Today was Palm Sunday. Then there are the buskers. The talent level is high here. Some of the best I’ve ever heard.
- Joe, you don’t have to “understand the gay lifestyle”, whatever that means. Just respect it and live and let Iive. And, Joe, please show an attribution for the stuff you paste in your comments. Also please explain to me why income derived from investments and sales and whatnot should not be taxed when income derived from the sweat of your labor should be taxed. If that isn’t the ultimate fuck you to the working class and a fine illustration of the difference between the 1% and the rest of us I don’t know what is. What accounts for the difference? Please explain to me which group of people tend to receive which type of income. Boy, Brian. That car is toast. So glad everybody got out OK. You’re right, Charlotte. In California the fire season now runs pretty much 12 months. There’s a lot of remodeling, upgrading and so forth going on here. I’ve seen demolition going on at lots of sites. They just tear stuff down and toss it into little bins or bags. Nobody seems to care about asbestos or lead or any of those bad things. I know there wasn’t a lot of asbestos and lead in 15th Century construction but surely there must be some old 50s and 60s construction in those buildings. They do things differently here. There are more people on a construction site and fewer machines and the machines are smaller. I’m sure part of it is the constricted work area. My guess would be that construction takes longer here than in the US. I’ve probably bitched about this before but the European system of posting street names on almost legible plaques up on the sides of buildings somewhere almost close to the corner sucks. Sure, there is better signage on large streets at major intersections but that’s a consolation prize. I don’t know how people drive around here. I sat at the bar in a joint for dinner this evening. I had what was described as an “entrecote of veal” which looked like a filet. It was pretty tough but tasty. It was accompanied by some scalloped like potatoes that were excellent. The place was pretty quiet. I guess it’s Monday. There are lots of restaurants that don’t open until eight. Writing that other stuff seems to detract from my travel mood. Oh, well.
- It's OK, 4dbirds. You're also the only one to get an email from that Nigerian prince.
- Sorry to skip a couple of days. There have been bus tours and stops at wonderful places but I don’t have the time to recount all. Also I’ve been shopping. I bought my granddaughter a pair of pearl ear studs and my grandson a Bultaco watch at the Moto Meseu. I thought about kid stuff and suddenly realized that maybe it was time to start treating them like real people. I got my (Ex) wife a Miro print that cost a few bucks but really not that much. It is lovely and not signed. I have pictures from a book and a bunch of other stuff to attest to the fact that it really is a Joan Miro print but without the signature and the number and total it’s basically worthless next to other signed prints from the same series. Those were going for E5,000 to E7,200. I have to give the gallery props for selling me the print for a couple of hundred Euros when they could have easily faked it up to seven grand. God, this reminds me. There are a lot of lingerie stores in Barcelona. Don’t call it “Barca”. That’s the football club. The city is Barcelona. Like Frisco and San Francisco. Anyway, I used to shop in lingerie stores and buy stuff for my wife who was (still is, for that matter most eminently qualified to wear sexy lingerie. Years of very serious bicycle riding do wonders for a 60 year old woman’s self.) Now I would just be a creepy old guy peeping the store. I went to the Castel Mont Juic today. It’s pronounced Mont Jew-ick. Yeah, they say some Jays here. It’s a big old masonry fort with a ton of history on top of the highest point in Barcelona. I’ve seen a bunch of old masonry forts and, looking from a contemporary standpoint they are sure stupid and tend to be rather similar. The Castel here is larger than average and well preserved but the real treasures are the views of Barcelona. Wow. I took a taxi up there and took the aerial tramway down. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montju%C3%AFc_Cable_Car Beautiful views, a fun ride and absolutely worth the cost. I boarded at the top and there was no line. I paid my $10 and walked right on to a car. They don’t stop, they just slow down. At the bottom there was a humungous line waiting to go up. Lesson: Taxi cost $10. Take one to the top and skate down. The line going up looked to be a good 45 minutes. Either way, $10 up and $10 per person down. I had dinner in a wonderful restaurant this evening. It was in an ancient stone building. My table was on a mezzanine that was constructed some time in the last X number of years. The place was perfectly lit with stone walls, tile floors, ancient beamed ceilings and a ton of atmosphere. None of this was artifice. It simply was what it was. It was also very sympathetically decorated. I wished I could have shared the experience with a lovely woman. The food and service were superb. Wine? By the bottle only. Hic. Screw it. I’m on vacation and not driving. I paid E20 for a bottle of Rioja that was simply excellent. I drank almost all of it without feeling any of the bloat or drunkenness one might feel after consuming that much wine. I’ve noticed that before when drinking the very best quality stuff. It started off a bit rough. My fault. A place like this may not be ready for a crotchety looking bald headed old man wearing Levi’s, an untucked plaid short sleeved shirt and a khaki windbreaker. I guess they have higher expectations. I had to sort of talk my way into the place. Basically I played dumb as they gently tried to throw me out. It all worked out. They gave me a table. I showed them I knew how to behave in a nice place. By the time I left we were all grinning buddies. The place truly was stunningly beautiful and the food and service were first class. There was a couple at the next table. The woman was very attractive but I thought she was a little old for her escort. We all finished at about the same time and I heard the word “Mexican” a couple of times. It turned out that they were Mexican, from Vera Cruz, spoke excellent English and were familiar with Sacramento. We chatted for a moment. The lovely woman was the mother of the young man who accompanied her. One last thing. In Barcelona, when paying with a credit card, there is no provision for tipping which means you have to leave cash. It was several minutes after I paid that I left and I forgot to leave a tip. Shit, I really feel badly. I have to go back tomorrow and make it up. Bathrooms in bars and restaurants are very clean here. In fact, the whole town is very clean. Especially for a major city. The air is very clean here as well. OK, I’m nattering on. Ciao.
- Lots of people don't tip. I feel compelled to do so. The restaurant was El Pintor in the Bario Gotic near Placa de St. Jaume. Sorry, I don't have the address. I'll get it if I can. When I first started working for the State back before the earth cooled, we got a half day off on Good Friday. Then some Jewish woman sued because Christians got a special day off. Everybody was like "You stupid idiot, it's not about religion, it's about getting Friday afternoon off." Sure enough, the State and the court agreed that they would just rescind the day off. We all hoped she was happy.
- I went to check out the Casa Mila today. It’s a beautiful place and the proportions are just right. I took pictures, which is a feat in its own right, but didn’t get in line for the tour whatever it does or wherever it goes. The Casa Mila is located on Passeig de Gracia, one of the most exclusive streets in Barcelona. Like Michigan Ave. in Chicago or the Via della Spiga in Milano. As with everything Gaudi, the Casa was mobbed. It’s a big place, seven stories or so (who knows about elevators) but I wouldn’t want to live there. Talk about being under siege. Another thing, if you look at pictures, you’ll see that you won’t be setting your drink on the balcony rail any time soon. Passeig de Gracia is a hugely wide street with exclusive hotels and apartments and featuring every high end boutique you can imagine. Hugo Boss, Cartier, Prada, Gucci, Buvgari, Dolce etc – each and every one of all the big famous names. You know the names. I can’t remember many of them now. I dropped into a couple of them. The prices are eye watering. I must admit that when I passed La Perla, I walked very slowly and my eyes lingered on the window displays. Brian’s would too. I like to look at all the different cars there are to see in Europe that one doesn’t see at home. Two I was looking at today come right to mind. Alfa Romeo and Range Rover. The Alfas (I’m talking about their range of sedans, here, not sports cars) are simply beautiful. In a time when cars all seem to have fallen out of a Hot Wheels box, in a time when manufacturers seem to be competing to see whose car is the baddest looking, when they are striving to produce the largest, ugliest fish mouth front end, the Alfa is a throwback to the days when designers tried to make pretty cars. What a refreshingly beautiful ride. The Range Rover on the other hand is – butt ugly. Their designers have totally swallowed the Hot Wheels cool aid. A vehicle that should be classy and elegant is miles from either. They have totally embraced the scrunched up, folded, stupid looking bad ass look. Too bad. I love going to markets. There are any number of them in Barcelona, Boqueria for the most famous example. I like the Santa Caterina market. It’s smaller and not packed with tourists. Here the fish and seafood are surprisingly fresh. Maybe not surprisingly. Everything is very fresh and the seafood area has no fishy aroma. The meat all looks excellent as well, though they cut a lot of stuff differently. The only criticism I really have is that the beef seems rather lean looking. The produce is also excellent. I saw the most beautiful baby artichokes. The best I have ever seen. I also hate markets like this because I want to take all that stuff home and cook it and I can’t. Last night there was a big procession at the Cathedral. The place was very crowded. It was dark and there were candles and torches. Groups of maybe a dozen men carried what amounted to floats with religious artifacts on them. I really don’t know what it all was or what it meant. There was lots of incense and smoke from incense. There were men carrying crosses and there were bands, brass and drum heavy, playing medieval sounding music. There were scary looking guys marching in black robes with their faces covered and wearing very high pointy hats. All marched at a slow, measured pace. The whole thing was eerie and kind of creepy. What came to mind was the inquisition and all the awful, scary things that one associates with it. It seemed all about the dark side of the Church and not at all about Jesus and His Good Friday sacrifice. This is a big holiday weekend here. Most of the stores will be closed Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I’m just glad I got my shopping done before Friday. Pure luck. I’ve gone on long enough. Later.
- It's 81 here and beautiful. I have my lung operation tomorrow. Wish me luck!
- I’m back home from the hospital and feel pretty good. I hope this is the end of it. Here’s a cargo bike similar to your friend’s. A lady rode past my house the other day with a kid in the box. The bike is way big. https://metrofiets.com/
- When I was in training in the Army in Fort Gordon, GA, they had us try some experimental shit that involved wearing a helmet with a little eight inch antenna sticking up on top. Every time that antenna would move, one's head would move in counterpoint so that your head would be moving like a bobble head. Boing, boing. It was awful. I've often wondered if stuff like those brushes one sees on Roman helmets in movies would cause a similar reaction. Also I agree that calling attention to one's self in combat as a leader would be dangerous. Look at contemporary US Army uniforms. Those two factors would incline me to believe that the brush stuff would be for dress or parade uniforms.
- Informative stuff, FDChief. And hence the sneering term "Garritroopers".
- You two are absolutely right about the Mauldin cartoon. I can just see Willy and Joe sneering at the garritrooper. I've even got the book around here somewhere.
- That Amy Schumer thing was funny. I've always thought that Julia Louis-Dreyfus was very - attractive. I can match you, Jolene. I used to go to Peet's when there was only the one store on Walnut and Vine in Berkeley. I've even met Alfred Peet!
- I bought an espresso machine and make my own coffee now. It's wonderful. My last two lawn mowers and last three weed whackers were stolen. Now I have my lawn done. With my physical situation over the last year I'm just as happy not to have to cut the thing myself. Also, I'm not getting any younger. I am very glad to hear that you are getting the medical attention you deserve, Dexter. It's just too bad you have to travel so far. I also hope they will declare you disabled and start sending you a check every month. The Doc told me that it would be a four to six week healing process after my lung operation. I scoffed. No more. Ten days on and I'm still very sore and moving gingerly. They didn't break any ribs but they slit the cartilage and spread the ribs way wide and basically fisted my chest. I could feel the huge drain line up under my sternum before it was pulled out by the resident who impressed the daylights out of me. She was an attractive blonde young woman with the beautiful name of Nalani Grace. Scary smart and very competent. She is going to be a great surgeon. Anyway, this is going to take longer than I had thought but I think it's going to be worth it. I feel great, no more coughing and blowing my nose, breathing is not back to my teen years but is better than it was. They tell me that they got everything (I think they tell all the girls that). If so I should be done. No more surgery, no more chemo. That would be nice to think. We'll see. I'm not holding my breath. Cough, cough.
- When I was a kid we had orthodox Jewish neighbors. On Saturdays they would pay me a nickel or a dime to go into their kitchen and turn on the stove. My father explained the Kosher thing to me, but being only ten years old I failed to get the distinction between turning on the stove oneself and doing it by extension through the person of a ten year old neighbor kid. For that matter, I still don’t. There isn’t any single transgender cause or root or story. There are the crossdressing fun seekers that Maggie alluded to and there are people with serious physical anomalies that need to be addressed and everyone in between. It’s a large and complex subject that needs to be approached with openness and wisdom. I’ve seen some of the transgender child reporting on NBC. The parents seem sane and reasonable enough. I didn’t get the feeling they were pushing any agenda on the child and they seem to be seeking good advice. My only hope would be that they keep it on a counseling/discussion basis until the child is grown. I may be wrong but, absent any physical anomalies, I think it is probably best that nothing irreversible be undertaken until the youngster is grown. There was a situation in a small Valley town a year or so ago that involved a young boy who wished to become a girl. This was serious, not some spur of the moment transient thing. The school board tried to do the right thing and protect the kid and require equal treatment and so forth but then a lot of young females pushed back. They didn’t want a penis in the ladies room no matter what. This is truly a tough thing to deal with. Maggie, we hear from you all too infrequently. You can be depended upon to toss out a full ladle of the cold truth. I was reading the Michigan Womyn’s Fest postings and thinking that it seemed like maybe being a little overwrought and that after, all, I never did any bad stuff to women. Then I read your post. It made realize that I probably have done stuff. That just being around, just being part of the male gender I can be perceived as a threat, never mind that I would never intentionally hurt anyone. Your post made me really see some things that had passed me by for almost 71 years and I think I have a little better understanding of women because of it. I can truly see (to the limited extent I am able) what the festival means. I hope your physical travails pass soon.
- Good to hear that the Cooz is fine.
- Very well said, Wim. That's basically what I was trying to say.
- Basset, I think Jakash says it well. It's nothing personal. It's just that you're a male.
- Not entirely true anymore, Jeff. Prime Minister Abe owned up to Japanese guilt without going the full apology route. I’m not fully up on the details but progress was made today. Deborah, one of the few good things about getting older is a lifetime’s perspective and a lifetime’s worth of contacts.
- And complimentary prayer rugs.
- Jeez, Dexter. Have you checked out the prices for old VW buses lately? Some of them are into six figures. Haven’t really had any bad, bad hotel experiences. I let L., my CHP counterpart at that time, talk me into some supposedly famous, all the Hollywood stars stayed there in the Twenties and into the Fifties dump in Joshua Tree. I knew what was coming and wasn’t disappointed. A hundred years old, no hot water or heat, TV inop, on and on. Fall in the high desert can be cold. Oh, well. I had that one on her, like the time she detoured me to Barstow on the way to Mojave. One time we booked into a motel in Mariposa and when I arrived and went to check in the motel lady told me she had booked us into adjoining rooms with connecting doors. Wink, wink. Fuck, did I blush. I love Lagaya dearly but not that way. She’s a little Filipina grandma, older than me, five feet tall and five feet wide with a CHP officer for a boyfriend. Scary smart and has an incredible memory. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen her in a year or two. Time to call her for lunch. On the other hand, I’ve had tons of great hotel experiences. I traveled very heavily for years before I retired. The State has a flat rate of $84 that it will pay for hotel rooms. You can’t stay everywhere everyday but I stayed in a hell of a lot of three and four hundred dollar rooms for that $84. Life was good.
- I stay at Embassy Suites a lot. I like them. I never worried about the “suite” part since I travel alone (or at least always book my own room). I used to love the one in Palm Desert. Talk about an upscale neighborhood. I screwed up once about two years ago and booked myself into an Embassy Suites on Harbor Blvd in Anaheim just down the street from Disneyland. I had a job in Fullerton and wasn’t even thinking about Disneyland. The place was full of screaming children of all ages. It was awful. I’m staying at an Embassy Suites in Miami in December the day before and the day after my trip to Cuba.
- At the beginning of the current school year I gave my daughter $500 for her classroom. She teaches junior high math. Her mom gave her I don't know how much but probably about the same. Her mom also helped her clean and set up her classroom. Under these conditions and with the lousy wage she receives I wouldn't be a teacher for all the dim sum in China. Well, maybe if - nah I couldn't. But if my they bought me some siu mai . . .
- 286 with a lot of blind guessing. I enjoyed high school and enjoyed college even more. Beer and girls. One of the joys of watching the Tour de France is the gorgeous French countryside with all the chateaux and picturesque villages. I had to laugh yesterday as the Tour of California approached Lodi passing some trailer parks. The only song about Lodi I can remember is "Stuck in Lodi Again" by Creedence Clearwater. It's apt.
- I went to both junior and senior proms. I wore a tux and the girls wore strapless dresses with minor décolletage and just above knee length flared bottom portions. Skirts? The proms were held in the Gym. Everybody was driven by parents or somebody because: When the dance was over, all participants were bused to a chartered train. The train had hot dogs and soda pop etc. and dancing to a real DJ. Dick Biondi, the Wild Itralian from WGN radio. And yes there was plenty of necking as well. One year the train went to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale where we spent much of the day walking touring, doing stuff and having a nice lunch. Then back on the train to home where parents picked up everyone at the train station. The other year we went to Indiana University at Bloomington. I have no idea what it cost but it couldn’t have been that much if my parents sprung for it. It was a wonderful, happy time and it served to keep the kids out of cars, out of the booze and out of trouble.
- The years were 1961 and 1962. A while back,eh?
- James here. No exotic names. I would have been Edward in 1900 and George if I were born again in the forties. Michael has always been one of the most popular names.
- There’s a place on Broadway not far from where I live called the Iron Grill. It’s a good restaurant and bar. The food is excellent and they regularly receive kudos on line and in print. So I was there tonight and had some crab cakes. A light dinner. Next thing I knew a woman sat next to me on my right. A bottle blonde, quite attractive. I had finished eating and was enjoying what I had thought was my last glass of wine. Ended up, we talked for a while, I ordered another glass of wine and paid for her cosmo. We talked through another drink and as talk became more intimate she began to run her hand over me in a caressing manner. Then she needed to go to the women’s room and I (of course) observed her progress. She was tall and slim and very attractive with an excellent figure. I paid for a second glass of wine and another cosmo. From our conversation I guessed she was in her mid-forties. My eyes said lower forties but who cares. She returned, we talked some more with her hands roaming. My brain was going “holy shit, what is this”. She wondered if I would take her to my place and show her around. I had experienced aggressive women some years ago but this knocked me a little sideways. Truth to tell, at one time I would have been happy to take her home. But I had to tell her that the chemo I had had over the last year had rendered things, well, inoperative. I also told her of my sweet relationship with my (Ex?) wife. She finally got the picture. She opted to leave but not before enveloping me in a great hug and kissing me. I have to admit I kissed her back and we kissed again and maybe again and I started to get into it. She was a great kisser. Sigh. Then I was thinking, “Shit, I’m seventy years old. What am I doing kissing young a woman in a bar?” Then it seemed like the coolest thing in the world. I didn’t know whether to be happy or embarrassed. I chose to grin with enjoyment. When she had left, I turned to Marianne, the bartender, and asked what the fuck had just happened. She said she didn’t know the woman and was as surprised as I at the happenings. She had a huge grin on her mug. So here I am. On one hand I’m over the moon that the old mojo seems to be there after a hundred years. A sexual kiss from a young woman is always a wonderful thing. On the other hand I have to wonder why an attractive woman would come on so strongly to an old man. I mean, what the fuck was that all about? Oh well. It sure was a fun evening that came out of nowhere.
- I still have my wallet. I did wonder what that was all about. What, if anything, was the underlying motive. I've decided not to over think things. I mean, who gives a shit why. It was fun and I'm going to leave it at that.
- Congrats, Dexter. You've earned it.
- I hear you, Dave, but if I was going kidney shopping I don't know that my first choice would be an old man in a bar.
- Happy Anniversary, Derringer's!
- Derringers. If you're looking for a place with good food and drinks and where you can converse quietly, I can recommend the Iron Grill in Sacramento.
- Happy yesterday thirty years, Jeff!
- I had to Google these Duggar people. The mom is 48 and the dad is 49. The mom has given birth to 19 children and has had some (I don’t know how many) miscarriages. The house they live in was basically paid for through donations. The molester is 27, his wife is 26. They have three children with a fourth due in July. Lord. Why do these people get all the approbation and good stuff when the, certainly no more wacky, Octomom gets shunned? Nineteen kids? Can you imagine? How can she not say anything to Mr. but “Don’t you be waving that thing at me!”
- I have been going to the same optometrist for years and years. I have two identical frames and have switched back and forth with new prescriptions in alternate years. Until this year. The Dr. told me there wasn’t any appreciable change this January and that I didn’t need to get new lenses. How ‘bout that! The local NPR radio station, KXJZ, does a pretty fair job of state house reporting. In fact, it’s a very good station. The SacBee, not so much. The Bee strikes me as being on its last legs. It was once a decent paper. Now it’s nothing but a dried up husk of its prior self. I don’t think it’ll be too long before it blows away. The local Public TV station, KVIE, is horrible.
- I don’t know, Deborah. I drive down the street in my four old Honda that cost me something like twenty two grand new and see all these kids in really expensive rides. I’m talking twenty somethings in Audis and BMWs and Benzs and Suburbans and all that stuff. How do they do it? I mean I know what I get per month and it ain’t small. What must they be scoring? Also when Mexican girls turn sixteen they get a sweet sixteen party called a Quinceañera. Parents are paying tons of thousands of dollars for this stuff only to have to do it again when the daughter gets married. How do they do it? For sure these are not rich people yet it’s all over Sacramento. I’m guessing that there is some serious pressure on the poor parents to provide this confection to the kid. How do you say no?
- Peter, Deborah, one thing I bet you didn't miss was the ammonia smell. I know I didn't when we went to plotters and copying machines.
- I dunno, Alex. When you're stuck in a strip mall desert in West Covina, an Applebee's can look not so bad.
- Two couldn’ts. I couldn’t get through more than half of the first Walmart video. Jesus. Why didn’t anybody try to stop things? So much anger around. And when I went from Ana Marie Cox’s comments to the Palin page I couldn’t bring myself to spend the time to read Palin’s drivel. I know the Phoenix folks (Scout?) will yawn but it was 105 here yesterday. That’s warm enough for me.
- What a fine writer and correspondent your daughter is, Brian. You have every reason to be an extremely proud Papa!
- I know the feeling, Brian. Same story with my daughter.
- I second Deborah. Also I second Mary. Some of that stuff is truly gagworthy.
- Brian, she sounds like a very steady kid with a very open mind. Wonder who she has to thank for that. Pam also sounds like a wonderful woman. More reports please.
- I’ve wondered the same thing as beb. What’s with all the veggie and vegan fake meat? Soy burgers and shit like that. There are plenty of wonderful vegetarian meals out there. I’m waiting for some black guy, obviously black, not someone who could pass, to unilaterally declare that he is now white.
- Congratulations to Kate! And best of luck at Michigan. What a smile! Interesting article, Alex. La Dolezal sounds like a delightful person.
- I guess you mean me since I tossed two ex points into my post yesterday to emphasize my congrats. Sorry. I imagine I’m done for the year. Don’t sweat it, Deborah. You’re a fine writer. I’ve been watching the Women's World Cup. The announcers are doing something that annoys and puzzles me. In referring to a particular team, they will say “the China goalie” or the “Canada team” or “the England coach”, “the Nigeria defense”. What the fuck? Why don’t they say “the Chinese goalie” or “the English coach” etc.? They’re all saying things this way throughout the country. This means it’s some kind of corporate rule from Fox. Is this some kind of asinine, misbegotten attempt at political correctness? It sounds awkward and stupid. What gives? Someone help me.
- Two things strike me this weekend about the shootings in Charleston. One is the quiet and peaceful dignity exhibited by the Black Community in Charleston and the other is the tone deaf idiocy of the South Carolina Governor forcing a tear while demanding the death penalty as she stood in the shadow of the traitor flag.
- That Chuck Todd thing is absolutely jaw dropping.
- France and Korea are playing in the Women’s World Cup. When they played the French National Anthem the whole stadium sang along. Then the cheer at the end. Wow. You’d have thought France was the home team. Well, the match is in Montreal. That sounds terrible, Brian. I hope the insurance covers everything and that you are back in the house quickly. It's probably lucky that school is out.
- Brian, Emily Bazelon says next Monday or maybe Tuesday if they extend things a day.
- What beb said. Doesn’t matter if the segment was filmed a week ago. Todd and NBC dodged their responsibility and sided with the weasels on this one.
- Never heard of a “derecho” storm. On the news this evening there was a shot of the South Carolina State Capitol with the US and South Carolina flags at half-staff and in the same shot was the Confederate flag at full staff. Shows their heritage. Why are all the TV people calling it the “State House” rather than the “Capitol”. Why do they keep calling it the “Confederate Battle Flag” rather than just the “Confederate Flag”?
- Congrats, Joe. May you have 32 more. A very interesting take on Roberts’ vote from Josh Marshall: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/the-mick-jagger-reality-of-justice-john-roberts
- I saw this and thought to post it here and saw that Cooz had already posted a video. However, this one is much better. It's longer, clearer and the sound is better. http://jezebel.com/badass-bree-newsome-climbs-s-c-flagpole-to-remove-conf-1714372554
- I was amazed by Alito’s assertion that it would henceforth be incumbent upon the prospective executee to present a suitable and commonly accepted drug to facilitate the carrying out of his own death sentence. SCOTUS is turning into a clown car.
- Deborah, I had read Amanda Marcotte's piece before you linked to it. I thought it was fantastic. She really nailed it.
- We had a fireworks self-immolator last week. Maybe this guy doesn’t strictly count since he wasn’t setting off fireworks. In the blithe, optimistic spirit of all the do it yourself networks, he was busy making them in his garage to set off later. Maybe the recipe was unclear or something. The results weren’t, however. Burns over most of his body, hands . . . Well, you get the idea. You just have to shake your head. I mean there’s no lack of volunteers.
- Alex @#6. Don’t underestimate those people’s ability to play the victim. Brian, I’m not usually superstitious but for some reason I can’t bring myself to read the obits.
- Happy Birthday, Judybusy. (I'm out of exclamation points for the year) Nice brother.
- Governor Brown signed the vaccine bill this AM.
- I went to my Fiftieth Anniversary reunion a couple of years ago. It was OK but not great. Same cliques same looking for same status. Bunch of old people. It was interesting to see the old town. I hadn’t been there in almost fifty years. Judybusy, please convey my (our) greetings to Maggie. Maggie, I just wish you would post more often. I miss your wisdom and quiet strength and hope you are healthy and prospering. I had to go to Google Maps after Nance quoted that idjut in Bastrop, TX. Check out this happy insurance office that proudly sells “Liabiliy”. What a hoot. Sorry for the world record link. http://nancynall.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/liabiliy.jpg
- Thanks, JC. That was a huge link.
- I’ve been reading at this corner since Bob Greene. Thanks, Bob. I guess that makes me about an average termer. I have long appreciated and admired the discipline it takes to make a daily blog work. Thank you, Nance, and my hat is off. Whatever you choose to do is OK by me. Please, though, don’t just go away. As others have noted, I (we) wouldn’t miss just your wonderful writing, we would all miss one another. What me selfish?
- Hot homemade bread with fresh homemade apricot jam? Lord.
- App. Jimmy Carter is a wonderful man.
- To what Sherri said: That flag in SC went up 50 years ago. Not 150 years ago and it was raised in 1962 as a protest against integration not as any “heritage” thing. Those people are full of shit.
- The casino business is like the stadium/arena business. Cities keep drinking the cool-aid even though it’s been proven over and over again that municipal investment in a stadium or arena is an exercise in stupidity. The rich guys pluck the city like the dumb, jock sniffing rubes they are. It’s happening right now in Sacramento as a hastily conceived, poorly planned arena is half way completed. Of course with tons of City money. In five years Sacramento will bitterly regret the folly. I couldn’t read that cancer thing. Having just finished a course of radiation and after a year of, well a year of stuff I just couldn’t. It’s funny. I’ll research and read reviews and ratings and specifications and so forth forever just to buy a toaster. But I can’t read up on cancer, sarcomas, treatments and the rest. I can’t bear to read that shit. Strange, huh? “I’m not white, technically. I’m mostly Irish.” Not sure I follow that, Cooz.
- I’m aware of the problems experienced by the Irish finding jobs after the Civil War. I’m also not aware that those problems lasted for an extended period of time. I’m of Irish extraction. My grandparents emigrated from the old country to Chicago at the turn of the last century. My Grandfather ended up as a union electrician and my Grandmother was a housewife. GrandDad went from the IRA (yes he was) to the IBEW. None of my four grandparents nor any of my great aunts or great uncles nor any other relative including my parents or aunts or uncles ever expressed the slightest hint that they had ever experienced any prejudice as a result of being Irish. I know I certainly haven’t. My question to Cooz still stands. Talk to me, man, you know I’ve always been a supporter. I need clarification.
- I really liked the Sandi Doughton interview. She sounds extremely smart, extremely well informed and has a great sense of humor. There’s a town east and north of Paso Robles called Parkfield. It’s in the middle of nowhere on what, toward Coalinga to the north, is basically a one lane road that goes over a mountain. It’s located smack on top of the San Andreas fault and sports a permanent (if unmanned) USGS research station. Driving through Parkfield is weird. You can see the fault. The ground on one side is higher than that on the other side and there is a gap of up to a foot or more along the fault. I had heard about the place and one day driving from Atascadero to Sacramento I decided to pass through it. I guess it was worth it since I was sort of going that way anyhow but it added about two hours to my trip. I don’t think I’d do it again. People seem to overanalyze things like the Trump butt plug. My reaction was to laugh. It’s a joke and an insult. Sure. Take it for what it’s worth. We really don’t need that lady’s take on anal sexual politics.
- Oh, and Deborah @31. That's been around for years and still is. The idea is that it would be a good investment to buy beach front property in AZ.
- I agree with Cooz about Sternberg. Why, in his column about Trump, does Sternberg need to take a gratuitous slap at California? “I keep thinking of Ronald Reagan, the guy we want to add to Mount Rushmore. The country forgets what a joke he was, at first, the Bedtime for Bonzo B-grade actor who paused from selling Borax to run the nuthouse of California”. Do cheap shots at California, calling it a “nuthouse”, make him feel good? Does that stuff make him feel superior because he lives in Illinois, the state that elected such gubernatorial luminaries as Rod Blagojevich and Bruce Rauner? Call me touchy but there’s no need for that kind of stuff, especially when Sternberg is criticizing another’s intemperate utterings.
- Wrong, Brian. California is one of the states that contributes more to the federal treasury than is spent here. California receives $0.68 in fed money for every dollar it contributes. Indiana, by contrast, receives $1.81 from the feds for every dollar contributed. http://wallethub.com/edu/states-most-least-dependent-on-the-federal-government/2700/ I've never had anything particularly good to say about Reagan. In fact, quite the contrary. But he sure couldn't have done a worse job in California than some of the incumbents floating around today.
- Also: "Republican conservatives like RWR is their self-serving incoherence (if not out-right ignorance)". I'll certainly grant you that as far as Reagan was concerned. But for heaven's sake, look at the group of people running for the Republican presidential nomination today. Doesn’t your comment apply to them? And it’s not like California was the first or only state to have an idiot governor.
- Law suits, law suits and more law suits. I've seen it work. When the city or the county takes a few million dollar hits because of bad cops it gets their attention in a way nothing else grabs it. Also daylight in the form of all those videos. I've seen all the horrible Sandra Bland videos but in the end one thing grabs me. She was in jail for three days before she died. Three days. For what? What's wrong with these people?
- "Just saying." Whatever does that mean? I've seen that before. What does "Just saying" mean?
- Jolene @29, I’m aware of all that. My point was that the cop and his friends knew that Ms. Bland had done nothing and that she was no threat. They also knew that a trip to jail would be for several days since it was Friday. My question still stands and the answer is that the cop was a mean, nasty, vindictive asshole and his partners all went along with him.
- Stopped for not having a front license plate? And have you listened to that poor girl on the 911 tape from Albuquerque having the jerk hang up on her?
- It doesn't seem complicated because it's probably commonplace. Ivory, rhino horn, big cats, whatever other animals cause a gleam in these people's eyes and in poacher's eyes. It's been going on forever. It's a hundred something - three or four - and the sun feels absolutely searing. The humidity is 13%. That's very low. You can feel the moisture being sucked out of your body. Whew!
- Wow! I haven’t heard or thought of that vacation song for decades. I was a real Connie Francis fan when I was a kid in high school. It’s been very hot and very dry around here. 108 the other day, 104 yesterday. Today it’s supposed to be cooler at around 98 but I suspect that it may be a bit cooler than that because it’s so hazy with smoke from the fires. Fires are all around. There was one in the Delta in the south part of Sacramento County yesterday afternoon and last night that burned 13 mobile homes. There are 10 – 20 - 40 acre grass and brush fires daily. this web site lists the major fires: http://yubanet.com/fire.php If you scroll down to the map, Sacramento is located between red circle number 7 and red circle number 9.
- Uh, Oh. My comment is in moderation. Did I do something to offend somebody?
- I used to have regular hair, cut short in a conservative fashion. Then I had chemo and it all fell out. Then it grew back. Now I have Rand Paul hair. I’m mortified. Another thing I like about Kaiser. Records access. I dropped by today to have my little memory sticks updated. These records include everything. Every visit, every evaluation, every surgery, a full copy of every scan and every X-Ray. All of it. I’m going to Spain in less than two weeks and I wanted one to bring with me and one to leave at home No problem and no cost. And now there’s a web site where you can do it yourself and don’t even have to stop at a Kaiser facility. The nice lady gave me a poop sheet.
- God, I hope not, Deborah. I simply think it's a good idea to have my medical records along just in case. I'm not anticipating any difficulties. Medical care couldn't be any cheaper for me than it is now. My health plan is beyond excellent.
- You're falling behind in your euphemisms, Charlotte. They would “harvest” or “take” the bear. But they would pay for all permits and if there were to be any irregularities, it would be the fault of the guide. When she accepted her appointment as Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton was fully aware that she would be running for president this cycle. She, very experienced in being inundated with right wing hate stuff, would have known that every move, every decision, every thing would be the subject of intense scrutiny. With this in mind, I can’t for the life of me understand why she couldn’t just go along with the program and use the G’ment’s email system. No. Hillary had to use her own private system and her own private server. Then she had to delete 30,000 or so emails. She had to have known that this would be a red flag for the frothing at the mouth Republicans. That this would raise an issue that could easily have been avoided. But no. Ms. Clinton had to go her own way. I can only think that her decision to employ her own email system instead of the G’ment’s was arrogance. Pure and simple. She brought this whole email thing on herself and richly deserves it. I believe that she did nothing illegal, I believe that retroactively classifying some emails as top secret is bullshit, etc. etc. However, none of that changes the fact that she stupidly created the whole problem. The more I see of Ms. Clinton and her smug arrogance the less I like her. Nevertheless, she will still be head and shoulders above any of the Republican pretenders and I’ll vote for her. Sigh.
- I deliberately separated every and thing. Thing was supposed to be italicized. Oh, well.
- That’s the point, Alex. It’s not that she was necessarily doing wrong, it’s that she was doing something that she had to have known would wave the red table cloth at the Rs. When there’s already going to be a ton of shit coming down why add to the problem? Why give the assholes a truck load of free ammunition?
- I just finished reading ‘The Oregon Trail’ by Rinker Buck. It’s an account of two brothers who drove a covered wagon across the trail in the summer of 2011 pulled by three mules who sort of become lead characters in the story and a charming Jack Russell terrier named Olive Oyl who turns out to be a surprisingly productive member of the team. It’s an excellent story and I learned a lot. There’s plenty of social and economic history included. Buck has plenty of opinions and isn’t shy about sharing them. I highly recommend it.
- Tow Path Trail. Is or was there a canal nearby?
- Thanks, Alex. That's very informative. Joe, I'm aware of Rinker Buck's trip in the Cub and that he wrote a book about it. Thanks for the favorable hat tip. I'll have to read it now.
- I once asked my 72 year old barber what he thought of comb overs. He said he doesn’t do them. “I just tell the guy that he’s the only one who doesn’t know he’s bald.” My barber is an irascible semi-retired fuck and does pretty much what he wants to do. Hats? Don’t own one. Have never worn one. Will never wear one. I got in trouble in the Army a couple of times for being uncovered. With all the fire coverage on TV these days maybe you’ve seen California fire fighters in orange jump suits? They’re inmates. California has long used inmate crews to supplement CDF crews. The inmate crews get paid like a buck or a buck and a half an hour. They live in fire/forestry camps and do forestry maintenance work in the off season. Which basically doesn’t exist anymore. The jobs are very highly sought after in the inmate population and are essentially trustee positions.
- OK, I have to admit that, other than a couple of chemo induced interludes, I have always had a full head of thick hair. This thicket of curly stuff does get me, though. I don’t use a comb any more. I just run my fingers through it after the shower and go. Hard to feel sorry for you young folks. I’ll be seventy one in a month or so and I know there are a couple of folks here older than I am. Airplane ride in a couple of days. Starting to get my stuff together.
- That Kansas story is truly unbelievable. What a fucked up state. I used to think Texas was bad. Still do, I guess.
- So I’m back from Spain. I didn’t do any trip things. There were one or two minor health issues and I ended up sleeping a lot and didn’t feel like writing stuff. I feel good now and everything is OK. The trip actually turned out rather well.
- Where did this “THE Ohio State University” bullshit come from? Guess you can tell that I’m not an OSU fan. Nor am I an Urban Meyer fan. There was also “Tickle Me Elmo”. I remember one day at work someone was enthusing about some deal someplace they had a promo to give away a free TME doll. A friend spoke up and said “I don’t know about that but I’d sure like a Tickle Me Cindy Crawford.”
- where they had a promo
- Left over from yesterday. Dexter, here in California a disabled vet gets relief from property taxes and from annual auto license fees. That’s right. Free tags and no property taxes. Maybe you should check to see if Ohio also has these bennies.
- Thanks, Linda. What you have linked to appear to be general veterans' benefits. I was suggesting that there may be additional disabled veterans' benefits which might be available to Dexter.
- I wonder if Ratzi is sitting in his villa in Castel Gandolfo or wherever he is, watching Francis on the tube and eating his liver.
- I took the high speed train while I was in Spain a few weeks ago. It was fast, quiet, smooth and luxurious. Two hours and forty five minutes for a trip of 350 miles or so. That's an average of almost 130 MPH which includes all the slow speed stuff through the big cities and a stop. They run these things all over Europe. It’s crazy that we don’t have high speed rail here. Then I look at the greedhead dolts running the high speed rail authority here in California and just shake my head. It’ll never happen.
- I just clicked on Jeff’s link to the MacArthur fellows. Forty plus years ago I used to date a woman named Mimi Lien. Not the same one. I sort of sat there with my mouth open while reading Nance’s Bridge story. I went to the University of Illinois at Champaign and it wasn’t exactly a dry school and football Saturdays didn’t much resemble temperance meetings but holy shit! The stuff that goes on today is way beyond anything I saw or experienced and, believe me, I was drinking it up with the best of them – in that early sixties context. It didn’t seem to be anywhere near as self-destructive as the activities Nance recounts. Lordy!
- I’m really unhappy that the Pope met with Kim Davis. This meeting lends her an air of legitimacy which she desperately needed. For me it really takes the shine off the Pope’s visit to the US. She claimed to be a believer in some non-specific fundamental religion. To my knowledge she has never mentioned any particular church or group of which she was a member. I don’t recall ever seeing or hearing any rev or bishop or whatever saying anything about her or associating with her or even being seen in the same county with her. Then when she finally meets with a clergyman, its – the Pope. I’m just shaking my head.
- I like what Jakash and Deborah said. I read that Charles Pierce thing this morning and I liked it. Good theory. Some commenters have alluded to Kim Davis’ “sect” or “church”. Has a specific church, organized sect or religion with which she is associated been identified? Has anyone identified a pastor, bishop or other sort of clergy person who provides her with guidance, comfort and counseling and gratefully accepts her contributions? As far as I have been able to see she is a religion of one. Somebody please help me out here. What will it take to bring about gun control? It's not going to happen in my lifetime.
- That's exactly what it is, Alex. The Vatican now realizes they stepped in it and they're trying to put the best face on things.
- Getting old may indeed suck but it, in the words of the ancient cliché, sure beats the alternative.
- That's wonderful news, Alex. I'm really pleased to hear it. Off to New Orleans tomorrow to be a tourist. There's a Briddish company called Barbour that makes waxed coats. I have one and they're great. They also sell wax. http://www.barbour.com/us
- I watched Rachel last night. She played a bunch of clips of McCarthy’s amusing manner of speaking. No wonder he backed out. There always seemed to me to be something off kilter about Carson. Roy solved it for me a week or so ago. He always seems to be in a daze.
- Yeah, ROGirl, McCarthy did come off as pretty dumb. Maybe he's been inhaling all those oilfield vapors in Bakersfield for too long. That place is kinda fragrant. I'm not surprised, Cooz. I guess you could at least say he's having it off with a consenting adult rather than some 12 year old.
- So I’m New Orleans. The streets are in bad shape. I don’t know if the city has the money to do anything about them. I haven’t seen any ATMs or gas stations. Who knows how people get money or gas around here. Bar bands here are excellent. Real music with bands having trumpets/clarinets/trombones/saxes and real bass’ huge and wooden and full of sound. The singers actually sing real songs. What an improvement over the mindless rock and roll I hear at home – all noise and volume. Absinthe. I partook along with my new bar friends, a couple from New York. The bartender sets a glass samovar looking thing on the bar. It contains ice water and there are four spigots arranged around the base of the vessel. A glass containing the absinthe is set under each of thee spigots. There is what amounts to a slotted spoon resting on top of the glass. It holds a sugar cube. The bartender cracks the spigot so that it drips ice water on the sugar cube until the cube is fully melted into the drink. He lets the spigot drip for another moment until the absinth reaches the desired degree of cloudiness. Then: stir and serve! I expected the drink to have a very strong anise flavor. It doesn’t. It does taste very herbal, though. It was good. Really good! I liked it a lot. Although, at $15 a drink, there’s no danger of consuming too much of it. http://www.absinthefever.com/absinthe/fountain
- Learn stuff all the time.
- Happy Birthday, Deborah!
- In New Iberia today. Back to NOLA tomorrow. Tomorrow is also my birthday. Number 71. I feel pretty good considering. Next week I have a PET scan and an appointment with my oncologist. Fingers are crossed. Cajun country is a different world. The landscape, the people, the food, the architecture, all of it. It’s fun and charming but I guess I’m just a California boy at heart. Don’t even think of ordering a glass of wine here. People’s political and social beliefs are … well … I mean folks are nice and all that.
- I'm sorry to hear about your brother-in-law, Dexter. I wish the best for both of you.
- A risotto with scallops and leeks. Somehow that just sounds wonderful, Deborah. What a nice husband.
- Wow. I can hear the air leaking out of Ann Arbor from here.
- To take off from Dexter’s post @#2. When I was in the service they did blood donating the opposite way. The blood letting was done in the early morning and those donating got the rest of the day off for free. There was a belief that with your fluid level a pint low, you could get drunk cheaper. Thus, there was a long line to donate. The carrot vs. the stick. Also, later on when I was in country during my second tour there was a situation that required a lot of donated blood right now. They wouldn’t take mine since I had recently had malaria. That happened again several years later. Eventually, ten or fifteen years on, I was able to donate. Thanks, guys. I’ve got broccoli in my refrigerator. And that romenesco is a little too scary and hairy for me.
- By the way, I got a flu shot the other day and no pain or other symptoms.
- Happy birthday to Alex and Julie and happy anni to Dorothy! Roy Edroso commented a few weeks ago that Carson seemed to be in a daze. I had long thought that there was something off about him and Roy’s comment brought it right home. What I’m wondering is when Carson’s going to start getting all the racist shit that has to be hovering out there like a time bomb. Obama always comes across as well spoken and well educated which makes him uppitier than Carson who is a dolt and with whom the Republican masses can identify. But still.
- Happy birthday to Alex and Julie and happy anni to Dorothy! Roy Edroso commented a few weeks ago that Carson seemed to be in a daze. I had long thought that there was something off about him and Roy’s comment brought it right home. What I’m wondering is when Carson’s going to start getting all the racist shit that has to be hovering out there like a time bomb. Obama always comes across as well spoken and well educated which makes him uppitier than Carson who is a dolt and with whom the Republican masses can identify. But still. Your comment is awaiting moderation.
- I'm very sorry to hear about your brother-in-law, Dexter. Best I can say is that it happened quickly. Good luck and fingers crossed for your coming experience.
- From yesterday: Thank you for your concern, Jolene. I had a PET scan the other day and the stuff is back in my lungs and leg. So I’ll be starting another round of chemo. As of right now I still feel strong and I feel good. But I can tell the stuff is there. The aim is to maintain a decent quality of life for as long as possible. I did have a brief discussion with my oncologist about end game strategies but will talk more about that later. I’m still hoping to make my trip to Cuba in December but we’ll see. I had been thinking of a trip to Buenos Aires in March or so but now . . . A while ago somebody mentioned Moe. Regina. Last year I went back and read all her posts and did it again this past spring. What a wonderful woman. I admire her deeply and hope that I can demonstrate a fraction of the grace with which she blessed us.
- Just wondering if he has an autographed picture of Jesus.
- Boy, you sure skewered me with that one, Cooz. Yes I liked the Seekers back in the day. I never saw a video or a picture then or even knew that they were Ozzies until a year or two ago when I ran across something and googled them. Here is a video of their 50th Aniv concert from last year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zgl2jI8q814 Unlike the poor late Mary Travers, Judith Durham hasn’t lost her voice. God, the music was so different and the times were so different. I was also a big fan of Peter, Paul and Mary. I was so young and in college at U of I and then in the army and in Viet Nam. So many years ago. I listen to this stuff in my present state in 2015 and I have to admit that my eyes leak. Fuck. 50 years ago.
- As I type this, Mary Travers is singing 500 Miles in my head set. I don't do buds if I can avoid them. Like Dexter, I first saw squatters in Viet Nam. I wasn’t amazed. I guess the whole whirlwind of training and shipping to the war zone dulled that. It was one of the early markers that made me aware that things were tougher for women than for those of the male persuasion. I mean it’s easy for a guy to piss. Just point it down wind. So Monday I start some more savage chemo. Six hours a day of infusion for three days. By Thursday I’ll be sick as a dog. Last year it took me damn near six months to fully recover. Who knows what this session will hold. My oncologist says this is not as bad as that was. Chemo is awful. I guess there are a few of you who know what it’s like, Jolene.
- Then there’s Joan Baez. She’s both a staggeringly beautiful woman and an staggeringly beautiful singer. She can do it all. Still, today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjgzSGsjTp0&list=PL23412C3E5E703010&index=7 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dU1Gz_i5aXQ&list=PL23412C3E5E703010&index=9 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQ6cz08pzNI&list=PL23412C3E5E703010&index=113 I’ve only seen Joan Baez in person a couple of times and one of them was at Ravinia Park in Chicago a bunch of years ago. Yeah, like 50. Among the songs she sang was ‘Freight Train’. Magically, just in the middle of the song a train came by, blowing its horn and all. Joan paused for it to pass and then resumed the song with a huge grin on her face. The applause was off the meter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_wrFI-Kbxk
- I’m on a roll tonight. Now for the greatest, the one, the only, the greatest, pop, jazz, blues and everything other than operatic singer: the one, the only Ella. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ahbE6bcVf8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXYKGL6MgKM
- Thanks for the words of encouragement. Sorry for all the posts last night. I was in my cups.
- Damn, Dexter, you're looking for a nickel on a cup of coffee at KFC (which coffee I would pour on the ground) but you will pay 26 bucks for a gallon of cider. That's $5.20 a fifth. Must be good stuff. Chemo is over until 11-30 when I do it again. Meanwhile, I feel OK now. About normal. But shit, that stuff kicks my ass for a week or so. I'm feeling a bit shaky about my Cuba trip. Alex, do a police report accompanied by a letter from lawyer. Or maybe nothing works with some people. Can't believe that business about not accepting Syrian refugees. A terrorist will find a way. Stupid compounds stupid and attempts to find the lowest common denominator. Have any of those assholes actually thought about this?
- Have another glass of wine, Big Mike.
- As you might expect, there are tons of places that serve sushi and sashimi here in California and there have been for years. Not to put too fine a point on it but the photo above depicting raw salmon appears to show sashimi, not sushi. Sashimi is simply the raw delicacy sliced thinly and presented. Sushi includes rice as a base or backing for the fish or seafood and is often presented in the form of an elaborate roll. There markets that sell "sushi grade" fish and seafood. It's wonderful stuff but bring $$. Since there's just me and since I don't have anything to save money for, I have no problem paying $24.95 per pound at Oto's for scallops. I only need a third of a pound or so for a meal. Damn, are they good. And no, they aren't shot up with that additive so they brown beautifully. Fresh tasting, flavorful, briny, yum.
- There are markets.
- Wow would I love to have some good abalone. The only way you can get it now is to dive for it yourself. The Dungeness crab season is in jeopardy. It's already been delayed and is in danger of being cancelled. Some kind of algae stuff.
- I know what we all think about skateboards but this will leave you with a smile: http://sploid.gizmodo.com/seeing-this-girl-dance-on-a-longboard-is-beautifully-mi-1743461802
- I absolutely can’t stand Susan Stamberg or Linda Wertheimer. I turn the radio off instantly when I hear one of them. Never could take Garrison Keillor. He’s another instant offer. I love me some Nina Totenberg and I especially like Rachel Martin on Sunday morning. Our local station is a jazz station when it isn’t playing NPR programing, although it does have some local programming. There is a sister station that plays classical.
- Happy Birthday, Nance! And Happy Thanksgiving to all of us!
- Basset, I have no particular objection in principle to deer hunting for meat. I do have a major objection to freezing my ass off in a tree or somewhere. Fuck that shit. When I see G & T all I can think of is gin and tonic. My wife and daughter and her honey are coming over tomorrow. The grandkids are with their dad for the holiday. The wine is a Rioja and a nice Viognier. Since I’m old and infirm, I’m cooking one of those frozen turkey breasts along with the stuffing. My wife and daughter will bring the rest. I’m afraid that the Dr. informed me that I will have to cancel my Havana trip in favor of Chemo. Great choice. Bummer. Oh well.
- C'mon, it's a holiday. Jolene's right. Treat everyone to a nice looking table. I don't have "fine china", my wife has all that stuff, but for sure there will be no paper plates, cups or paper napkins here tomorrow.
- I forgot the candles.
- Thanks for the best Havana wishes. This trip was specifically structured around the Havana Jazz Festival which, obviously, is not a moveable feast. I'll see what I can arrange after the first of the year. There are all kinds of tours. Not up on the fine points of china. Just that it's not paper or plastic. What kind of stuffing are y'all doing? I'm making a bread stuffing with sausage. Alex, that pork tenderloin sounds delish. Can you share the recipe?
- Ezra's sort of correct but turkey is a tradition and once a year is about right and I like it so . . . That Chang recipe looks good and I've always really liked David Chang. I'll have to try that. Thanks, Alex. That looks really good. I think molasses is a way underutilized ingredient. I'll have to try this as well. When I was in St. Martinville, LA a month ago, the proprietress of the B&B served pancakes with cane syrup. I can't recall having had cane syrup before and it was very, very good.
- I had no idea mules lived that long. I'm sorry for the loss of your mule, Cooz. I know how you love your animals.
- Another round of chemo starts Monday. So after an excellent breakfast of huevos rancheros at Tres Hermanas I ran up to Kaiser to give the lab some blood and to pee in a little plastic jar. Then I went and spent $100 on a pair of shoes. The brand is NB, whatever that means. I know, you’re all wondering what this guy is doing buying new shoes, but hope springs eternal. And blame it on my wife. After decades of spending $19.95 for shoes at Ross, she convinced me that I would be happier if I went to a real store and bought real shoes. I was very pleased with the store and the guy was very pleasant and seemed to know what he was about. It was a novelty to have somebody actually size each foot and talk knowledgeably about sizes and about what I would be doing with these shoes. Hints: no running, no mountain climbing. He brought shoes for me to try, put them on my feet, I walked around, we talked about how they felt, the whole thing. I was most pleased with the service and we’ll see how the shoes work out.
- Yeah, yeah, NB is New Balance.
- And my shoes are white. I wasn’t having any green, red, gold, purple or whatever shoes with stupid stars, comets, lightning bolts or other crap on them.
- Enjoy yourself, Heather! Lisbon is a great town. My wife is from there and I've had some good times there. Wonderful wines to go with the wonderful food.
- Somebody mentioned shaving. I'm in the middle of round two of my chemo. Three and four to come through mid Jan. I've lost my hair (again) and haven't shaved since last Thursday. Probably won't shave again until March or April. Dahlia's a love.
- The M-16 is a military weapon (the one I had was an XM16-E1, 117872, and was even crankier than the A2 model. It even still had the original chrome bolt carrier) and, as I understand hunting and other such sports, has little value in these endeavors. If you want to protect your house and must have a weapon, get a short barrel pump shotgun. Just the sound of that thing racking should be enough to stop an intruder cold. Why would anybody want a fully automatic weapon? Read this, especially the LBJ quote: http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a40162/three-multiple-shooting-events-one-day/
- Didn't see "The Wiz". I was watching "Top Chef". Padma's still a goddess at 45. And I did catch the end of the Lions/Packers game. First Hail Mary I've ever liked, I think. I've hated them ever since Billy 'Whiteshoes' Johnson and the Falcons stole a game from the 49ers a thousand years or so ago.
- Happy Birthday, Kirk! I commend your attention to FDChief who is a reader and sometime commentator here at nn.c. Read down through several posts. I think he has a good grasp on things. http://firedirectioncenter.blogspot.com/
- Altitude definitely has an effect on baking. I don't know exactly how or how much but you should check it out, Deborah. Maybe some of our higher level nn.cers would know.
- I'm very pleased that you have a new job ROGirl and hope that you have peace and happiness for the coming new year.
- What I remember from Dr. Doolittle is something about “the great, gray, green greasy Limpopo River”. I need good writing in books I read. I can’t tell you how many books I’ve taken out of the library, read three or five pages and put down. Cooz, of course all those people loving them some Trump (and Cruz) have been there all the time. They didn’t just materialize out of thin air. They’ve been sitting there waiting for someone to say the things they want to hear. Trump is . . . I don’t know what. Cruz is stark raving mad.
- That big dog is a hoot. He looks like he's thinking "OK, I'll do this for you and your stupid little exhibition, but there better be a big steak in it for me at the end". He has the long suffering look down pat.
- Jerry @#7. You are so right. The quote regarding the great etc Limpopo river does indeed come from Kipling’s ‘Just So Stories’. I read both the ‘Just So Stories’ and ‘Dr. Doolittle’ when I was a kid and misremembered in my dotage. Good catch.
- In college I was acquainted with Penelope Chaloupka. Say it out loud. Rolls out kinda nicely.
- What Jeff at #40 is articulating is the classic sales pitch for the community college system and I’m buying 100%. So you didn’t get into Ace State the first time around. Spend two years at Dog Bone Community College and try again. That’s a large part of what the CC system was designed for in the first place. And you still have your first class degree. But sorry, I’m not letting Scalia off the hook. Screw trying to spin this and take it at face value as he said it. He’s a racist.
- I really like that dress. My retirement comes from three sources. One is my state pension, second is social security and the third is from the VA. In total, I have a comfortable situation. I also have an excellent health plan. Given my situation, if they took away my health plan, I don’t know what would happen. Cat food and Top Ramen for sure. Totally agree with Bitter Scribe @11. Best for Julie’s sister.
- I was looking at today’s TV sports listings. There are four soccer games and one NHL game on TV today. I guess things have changed over the years. I live in Northern California. What do your TV listings show for soccer and hockey? It’s windy as hell today. In the forties.
- Merry Christmas to everybody!
- Happy New Year from another who was brought on board by the Bob Greene post.
- I’m another one who liked Prospero. He had, I suspect, a lot of demons and a lot of pain. He was a very bright guy and his flaws were easily ignored here in a way they wouldn’t be in a bar or in someone’s living room. I miss him. I remember reading nn.c daily during the run up to the award of the K-W Fellowship. I believed then and still believe that it was Nance’s work here on the blog that was responsible for her getting the award.
- Happy Birthday, Little Bird!
- Why not? And a Happy Birthday to NN.c!
- There was a pair of twins born in, I think, San Diego over the New Year. One was born just before midnight New Year’s Eve and the other was born just after midnight on New Year’s Day. That means that, although born just minutes apart, the two kids were born on different days, in different months and in different years. Far out! Two excellent takes on the Oregon business: http://firedirectioncenter.blogspot.com/ http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a40914/oregon-bundy-militia/
- I have absolutely no pity, compassion or any feelings of sympathy or good will toward Bill Cosby. He traded for years on a false image of goodness and honesty and all the while he was, in fact, a horrible predator. And don’t give me any of that reasonable doubt or ”let the man present his story” crap or “maybe the women have some hidden agenda” bullshit. Over fifty women have come forward. That means there are many, many more. It’s just too much weight. There’s no other way to see Cosby than guilty as hell of many things. And I had to laugh at that sweater gambit the first time I saw it the other day.
- My wife was born and raised in Lisbon and I have traveled there with her several times. I never witnessed nor did I ever hear anything from her about rude male conduct toward women. On the other hand, I see it every day here in my neighborhood. “Hey, Baby…” From pedestrian males and from car windows. I don’t know how the women and girls put up with it.
- I'm with Basset. Can't stand that stuff.
- It’s easy for young healthy people to sneer at right to die legislation. Believe me, when the time comes I will certainly consider it as an option.
- I get it, Jeff. It’s easy to see greedy descendants wanting to hasten old Grand Dad’s move to the grave. I mean, they’ve waited all these years for the old coot’s money and it’s time for him to go. Or maybe it’s just time to get rid of that old cuss. That sure is a legitimate concern. Nevertheless, I’m in my right mind (as much as I’ve ever been) and I want my option. I’ve participated in my treatment options and decisions with my oncologist ever since this shit attacked me and she has been as fully supportive of my thoughts as I have been of hers. We’ve briefly discussed the end game and agreed that we will wait until it is upon us before exploring it further but she has noted that she will participate in my final wishes. My wife has been present at all discussions and it is clear that we don’t have the killer kids syndrome going here. I agree that a doctor has to be very certain that the decision is the clear and considered wish of the interested party and not get over run by folks other than the most interested one.
- I discovered Colatura di Alici while browsing on line a couple of months ago. It’s available at Amazon. I forgot what I paid for the stuff but it’s not cheap. Colatura di Alici is a modern interpretation of garum, the ancient Roman condiment. Garum was a big deal to the Romans and apparently they used it in everything. It is similar to Asian fish sauce but has a stronger, fuller flavor. I use it in all the ways you describe above. Excellent stuff and a little goes a long way. You want it as a background rather than as the major flavor.
- This is chemo week at my place. Five hours a day for three days. Today is day three. I sat down to watch the State of the Union speech yesterday evening and fell asleep about ten minutes in. Didn’t wake up until around nine. Just in time to go to bed. I was also feeling a bit of David Bowie survival guilt. At the infusion center yesterday I read a scary story in the 12-28/1-1 (I think it was) edition of the New Yorker. It was about rising water in Florida. The take away is that Florida is basically fucked. All the advice in the world from the Netherlands and Venice won’t help. All the pumps and dams and levee systems in the world won’t help. Florida is limestone and the water is coming up from underneath. It’s just rising up from down below, as well as encroaching seaward as it does in other places. Projections are that the water will rise at least six feet by the end of the century. At least. The highest elevation in South Florida is six feet. Many people, including some officials are saying that the only option is retreat. The gov and all the rest of the conservatives are standing around with their fingers in their ears and going Wah, Wah, Wah. They are so screwed. Don’t buy any property down there.
- Sorry to be so late. As I noted, this is chemo week and I am slow. I ate at the French Laundry in Yountville, the reviews you have are of Per Se in NYC. The menus and the whole shtick sound very similar, one locale to the next. The Wells review sounded honest to me and he did point out several legitimate complaints. The other review, well. The French Laundry is in a rural setting in a rural area not in downtown New York. I don’t know if that makes any difference. I don’t know about the ambiance in NYC. I don’t know about the crowd, the décor, the house, the servers, the pace or the many other things that add up to a place that feels good or does not. I believe that when I wrote about my experience here, I took pains to indicate that the French Laundry was a very comfortable, laid back place. The wait staff was smiling and eager to help. They all seemed to be college kids. No napkin would be left on the floor there. I know. Mine floated off and was immediately replaced with a new one. The food flaws that Mr. Wells noticed at Per Se did not occur during the evening I was at the French Laundry and I, determined not to be bamboozled by the scene, was looking. I stand by my original review. It was a magic night with great food that had great flavor. Still worth every penny. I’d go back in a heartbeat.
- Deborah, I wasn't responding to Nancy, I was responding to the reviews.
- You really look good, Nance. The work has paid off. When you find out, beb, let me know. I've been wondering the same thing. Why the kid gloves approach?
- Dexter, beb, do not fear cataract surgery. It is totally painless and only a very little inconveniencing. You won’t see horrible medical things approaching your eye as you will be in La-La Land. There is no recuperation. As soon as the drugs wear off you’re done. The patch will come off the next day and you’ll be amazed at the brightness, clarity and color of your vision. They’ll make you wait a month for the second eye as they don’t like to do both eyes at the same time. The sooner you get it the better. Your vision goes away smoothly and slowly and it begins to snowball and you don’t notice it. I let it go too long and was damn near blind in one eye before I finally got the surgery. It’s a miracle. Take advantage of it.
- I’m not sure what your definition of La-La Land is, Connie, but believe me, you were being fed some serious drugs. No, I didn’t mean that one is totally anesthetized. The patient is given enough drugs to ward off pain and anxiety. I think we mean the same thing. I certainly wasn’t drug free and chose to describe my state as La-La Land. If your cataract operation was conducted without any drugs, and without the presence of an anesthesiologist I sure would like a more detailed description of the experience. It must have been something.
- With regard to Mr. Jones and his unfortunate accident, I wonder if there was any indication of Cheetos involvement. (Old joke) From FDChief’s final post on the last thread, the money quote: “Two days after the Malheur Refuge was taken over, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors extremist groups in the US, said that the far-right, anti-government militia movement has been expanding. It identified 276 militia groups, up from 202 in 2014, representing a 37 percent increase. The militia groups typically adhere to extreme anti-government doctrines and subscribe to “groundless conspiracy theories” about the federal government, said the SPLC. The Center also pointed out that no one has been held accountable for taking up arms against the federal government at Cliven Bundy’s ranch in Nevada – a fact that it claims has just emboldened extremists. “When the federal government was stopped from enforcing the law at gunpoint, it energized the entire movement,” Heidi Beirich, director of SPLC’s Intelligence Project, said. “The fact is, Bundy is still a free man and has not paid the money he owes to the federal government – and the militiamen who aimed rifles at federal agents have gotten away with it.”
- With regard to Mr. Jones and his unfortunate accident, I wonder if there was any indication of Cheetos involvement. (Old joke) From FDChief’s final post on the last thread, the money quote: “Two days after the Malheur Refuge was taken over, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), which monitors extremist groups in the US, said that the far-right, anti-government militia movement has been expanding. It identified 276 militia groups, up from 202 in 2014, representing a 37 percent increase. The militia groups typically adhere to extreme anti-government doctrines and subscribe to “groundless conspiracy theories” about the federal government, said the SPLC. The Center also pointed out that no one has been held accountable for taking up arms against the federal government at Cliven Bundy’s ranch in Nevada – a fact that it claims has just emboldened extremists. “When the federal government was stopped from enforcing the law at gunpoint, it energized the entire movement,” Heidi Beirich, director of SPLC’s Intelligence Project, said. “The fact is, Bundy is still a free man and has not paid the money he owes to the federal government – and the militiamen who aimed rifles at federal agents have gotten away with it.”
- You’ve probably seen that apartment complex in Pacifica on the news. The one where the place is falling into the ocean. I lived in Pacifica for a while when I had just married my first wife. Not at that spot on the bluff but a couple of blocks inland. It’s cold and gloomy. You see the sun maybe three times a year. The foggy air is so full of salt that the local sport is sitting on the curb watching your car rust. I swear. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. Pacifica is just a few miles up the coast from Half Moon Bay where the big Maverick’s surf competition takes place.
- Hattie, I lived in Pacifica in probably ’72 or ’73. I would guess it wasn’t much different from when you lived there. It sure was no Berkeley and I didn’t like it there. Funny, like you, when we left Pacifica, we moved to Berkeley. Deborah, Colatura di Alici is very definitely different from Thai fish sauce. As Alex notes it’s made from anchovies to start with. It’s clear and thicker. Drizzle a little on pasta. Yum. You can get it on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Cetara-Colatura-di-Alici-100ml/dp/B00IV29N02/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1453932027&sr=8-1&keywords=Colatura+di+Alici
- Deborah, the 49ers have moved to Santa Clara. They train there, they play there and their HQ is located there. They are not the San Francisco 49ers anymore. The super bowl will be played at the stadium in Santa Clara which, by the way, is situated 54 miles from San Francisco as the 101 flies and 5 miles from San Jose. It’s easy to see why the residents of San Francisco, who have supported the team for decades, are upset. The NFL is cynically claiming that the 49ers are a San Francisco team after allowing them to move over 50 miles away from SF. The NFL doesn’t give a shit about anything except money and short term gain at that. I’m an old time San Franciscan and to my mind and to the minds of the people in SF, the 49ers have severed their ties with the City. I’ll watch the game out of habit, but as time goes by, I’m getting less and less interested in the greed head NFL.
- I drove past Trader Joe’s this AM on my way to Corti Bros. and was reminded of the other day’s comments. One reason I don’t go there the parking lot which is insane. It’s just impossible to get in, park and get out. The other thing is that TJ’s really doesn’t have anything that I can’t get elsewhere cheaper and fresher. Their wine prices and selection are nothing to write home about. I think Sacramento must be one of the best towns around in which to shop for food and wine and all the other stuff that goes with them. For price, selection and freshness it’s hard to beat.
- That may be true about taxes, Sherri, but consider what a major agricultural product and export wine is for California. And the relatively low prices also hold true for imports from other states and countries. I would guess that high taxes on wine in most states would be one of their sin taxes.
- When did the National Anthem become a country and western song? Why can't anyone sing it straight? It's not a friggin cover song.
- MVP(person) has to go to Bum Jr. Nobody will accuse Kubiak of clever play calling. Of course, it looks as if there’s nothing clever in the play book. Elway needs to hire somebody who has a clue about offense. Still, they won.
- Wow, Dexter. 45 miles for a pizza. Aren’t there any good local pizza places? Cam Newton is a classic bully. He can dish it out but he can’t take it. If he can spend all that time after a game laughing and going on about how great he is etc., he can show a little humility when he’s been beaten. Screw Cam Newton. He’s a no class jerk. Quit making excuses for him. It's time for him to grow up. And piss on Peyton too for the beer and pizza stunts. It’s time for him to go. But I’m not sure that the sad Denver offensive performance isn’t more down to piss poor play design and piss poor play calling by the Denver bench than any flaws of Manning’s. Wade Phillips deserves a lot of credit.
- The point about Newton was that he’s so happy to laugh and brag and carry on when he wins but turns into a sullen, disappearing kid when he loses. As I said, he’s a bully who can dish it out but can’t take it. Are you telling me that, because he’s black, I shouldn’t criticize him?
- I read somewhere (I’m sorry, I can’t recall where) that there has yet to be a meeting in which all the entities involved in this Flint water debacle: the State, the City, the Water District, whomever, all come together to discuss the problem and explore solutions. Could this possibly be true?
- Beat me to it, Susan. So whence comes this stuff that Bernie is an outsider? He's been in D.C. as a congressman or senator for 25 years? What could be more inside than that?
- Second question mark should have been a period. Who is Jim Gilmore?
- This is an honest question. I don't mean to come off as a smart ass but what has Sanders done to distinguish himself during his last 25 years in D.C.?
- OK, so Sanders has voted his conscience for 25 years with principle. What transformative legislation has he introduced, promoted? What investigation has he led? What cause has he championed? What leadership has he demonstrated? There’s more to being in congress than voting. Very good, Diane. Very good. Same to you, Deborah.
- How was POTUS day? It was 76 degrees here Monday. The big news is that I seem to have some fuzz growing on my head that I hope means I’ll have hair in the next month or two. Annnd, I finally feel something like normal after all that chemo. That shit really kicks one’s ass. Nice day all around. I saw the pictures of Ashley Graham and she is a lovely young lady with a truly gorgeous body. She’s a lot of woman. Talk about beggars, look at that Kanye West creep broke and sniveling for Mark Zuckerberg to make him a gift of 53 Million bucks.
- Thank you for the good wishes, everybody.
- Never heard of bacon grease popcorn. I remember when I was married to my first wife a zillion years ago and living in Berkeley we used to make up a huge bag of popcorn, get a jug of wine, hop into the old VW and head for the Alameda drive-in. Deborah @36, those sure are some good questions. I’m also not sure why the lack of any real examination of Scalia’s body and why no autopsy, what else can one be but suspicious? As I understand it, the FBI wants Apple’s software key to unlock phones in general. They are not simply asking Apple to open that one particular phone for them. I don’t know that I would object so strongly to the latter but I don’t like the former.
- I know, Jolene. I read this the other day. Thing is, the JP is not a doctor and never saw Scalia’s body in person. A U.S. marshal who is not a doctor either but who is subject to orders from above told her that there was nothing to see with Scalia’s body and she took his word and signed off. Also there was some stuff about the regular JP not being available to sign so the JP who did sign was brought in as a substitute. Scalia’s personal doctor was also not on site and did not examine the body. This could all be perfectly innocent but it does raise questions among those who have nasty suspicious minds. And no, I’m not suggesting that Obama had him killed. This is certainly turning into an entertaining year. It appears that Tail Gunner Ted is now in the lead.
- Thank you, Sherri. We'll take it. At present, we seem to be running about normal for rain and for snow pack. It rained today. We'll see where we stand for the moment on the news tomorrow. I think Mary and SoCal have been getting more rain than we have.
- Toobin's article was excellent. In thinking about Scalia’s “originalism” I can’t help but wonder if the guys whom a lot of people call the “framers” didn’t consider that other people would be looking at and referring to and relying upon their work in at least the foreseeable future. Maybe they would have even thought that people would have looked at the constitution fifty or a hundred years up the road. I mean they were that kind of thinkers. The more I look at it the more I think that Scalia’s viewpoint as an “originalist” was constructed as a cover for his personal opinions which I won’t attempt to characterize. Looking forward is not so hard. Thinking about where one will be when forward arrives is more difficult. There’s a genuine question as to whether I will be around for the next inauguration or even the election. I think not so much of nostalgia as of the present and my hopes for the immediate future. For example, I’ve scheduled a cruise for mid-April and hope I’ll be able to make it. After all, I was obliged to cancel my Cuba trip in December. No, nostalgia isn’t my problem.
- Glad to see you're home safe, Deborah. Stay warm.
- Every time I see something about Iceland, I think of the Anthony Bourdain program he did about Iceland and Icelandic food. I’m eagerly waiting a report. It should be a fun trip. That link to the story about the Vets’ home in Michigan is, unfortunately, an all too common story about privatization. Notice it’s not just the vets who get screwed but also 170 state employees who got fired.
- Dexter, they wanted you to give your whole stipend or just a part of it? How much? Why try to suck off you rather than going to the source?
- My post in reference to Dexter's about the Wounded Warrior mailer was, to say the least, rather poorly worded. Sorry. I was wondering why the WW people would go to individual vets rather than approach the g'ment. It pretty much answers itself. I haven't received anything from them and they won't receive anything from me.
- Yet another sunny day in the seventies. Downside is that Feb was virtually dry. We are now behind in our rain again and staring at a fifth year of drought. I had heard nothing of the three kids being murdered in Ft. Wayne. We also don’t get the coverage of the primaries here the way other places do. There is no campaigning here. Our primary is in June and things are usually decided by then. California is too big for retail campaigning and people here are google eyed by then from the non-stop ads aired by all the local and state wide pols. Everybody knows the Dems are going to win any national contest and so they only stop by Calif to pick up change at soirees in Atherton, SF and Hollywood. The Reps know they can’t win so they only stop by for fund raisers in Orange County. I didn’t watch the award show last night. The only movie I saw was the Mad Max one and that was on an airplane.
- Josh Marshall has a very good take on the Republican Party and their difficulty in campaigning against Trump: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/gop-overwhelmed-by-debt
- Another thing is that Debbie Wasserman-Schultz is the absolute shits as somebody running a campaign. Secty. Clinton’s campaign is one of the worst ever. The absolute worst was the campaign of Kathleen Brown (she’s Jerry’s sister) against Pete Wilson for governor some years ago. Wilson absolutely buried her. DWS needs to go for a variety of reasons. I think this all out assault on Trump by the GOP and spearheaded by the Mittster is a way dangerous move. They’re doing Secty. Clinton’s campaigning for her and doing a way better job than DWS. It is also paving the way for a possible third party candidate. I remember being vaguely aware of Erin Andrews but never paid any attention to her. I’ve seen some of the trial stuff on the news and she comes across as very human and as somebody truly in pain. She has my vote.
- Here’s what Romney has to say: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/romney-do-not-nominate-trump Cruz is stark raving mad. Period. Trump is a narcissistic megalomaniac. Trump scares me less than Cruz does.
- Good point, Sherri.
- I saw some clips of Romney’s speech yesterday and saw him on the Today Show this AM. I had almost forgotten what a loathsome little toad the guy is. That stupid little smirk. Everything the jerk says is either flat out wrong or a lie. And I’m trying to keep my blood pressure down. Oh well. Off to lunch with my (ex) wife who is just back from Brussels. Home of the sprouts.
- No, MarkH @15. He didn’t lie about Trump. You’re taking things a little too literately. He was wrong or lied about what is or isn’t out of the Republican mainstream, he . . . Hell. I shouldn’t have to explain Romney to you.
- Lord, they're just having a Nancy Reagan orgy on TV and radio. I'm talking to you, NPR. Nobody's mentioned the astrologist though.
- Dexter @19. The Rs aren’t banging Bernie yet. You can bet that if he ends up being the nominee that there will be Commie this and Commie that and all sorts of anti-Semitic shit. You have to know that they are digging like hell for anything they can throw at him and will make up plenty to augment whatever they find.
- Boy, do I ever agree with Sherri on this one. Cruz (crazy as a shit house rat as he may be) scares the crap out of me. What a lizard. Trumps wins FL and NC and Kasich appears to win Ohio. With, it seems, a lot of help from cross voters.
- Scalzi has a pretty good take. He voted for Kasich as well. http://whatever.scalzi.com/ It sure seems as if cross over voters put Kasich over the top in Ohio. That's not going to get him the nomination. Rubio's young. He'll be back.
- Obama made a great speech this AM. So did Garland. They really laid it out for the Repubs in the senate. Also Garland put it right out in front that he's Jewish. That should forestall whispering campaigns. How can the Repubs be for Israel and against Garland? I hope the Dems really keep the pressure on. This is going to be fun and a real vulnerable issue for those Repubs who are running this year.
- I’ve had a couple of surgeries what with this cancer business. They always send me home with a jar of pain pills. For whatever reason, I haven’t had a pain problem and haven’t taken any of the pills. Several years ago I broke some ribs and I took pills then and they worked exactly as advertised. They relieved my pain but didn’t get me high. The docs always ask me if I have pain and offer me pills. I always decline. I’m sure that in a while when I get towards the end stage I’m going to want lots of pain relief but in the meantime, I’ve just flushed the pills down the toilet. I know, I know. So sue me.
- Hanging in there, Jolene. We'll see how it goes. Here’s your good guy, the reasonable John Kasich: http://gawker.com/reminder-john-kasich-is-also-evil-1765357335
- “pigeon heads lying around on the ground” You kill me, Deborah. McConnell has four years left in his term at which time he will be 78 and will possibly retire. He almost got his ass beat last time. I don’t think he made a lot of friends with republican senators who have to run this year by committing all of them to his ridiculous refusal to consider the Garland nomination. If the dems keep up the pressure I’m sure there will be some serious fraying. And Sherri @24, that’s exactly what the repubs are saying and Sen. Hatch is fully aware of it. You can see how uneasy he is.
- Well, Deborah, you’ve pretty much presented it. Can they be loyal to the turtle or do they respond to the people in their states who are going to vote for or agin them.
- Isn't Grassley a thousand years old and up for re-election this year? That could be a fun campaign. There are some finches in a tree in the vacant lot next to my house. I don't know how those little things survive the winter. I guess it just isn't that cold here.
- I'd be after Pam to buy lunch.
- It wasn’t all that long ago when we were treated to what ? Three or four soccer matches a year on TV. Now on the weekend there are six or eight shown. No presidential primary goings on here either. No signs, no TV ads, no appearances, no nothing. There isn’t even anything about local issues that may be on the ballot. It’s like all that primary stuff is going on in some other country. And both senators are democratic so there’s no issue with Judge Garland either.
- Should be TV? And six or eight shown each day.
- A long but fantastic article, Sherri. It gives me new admiration for Obama. I simply can't imagine any of those Repubs being a fraction as thoughtful.
- I sort of got into watching soccer with all the time I spent in Spain over the last two years. It’s on 24 hours a year there. I guess I’ll watch more of it. If anyone is interested, Philip Kerr, the Briddish author, has a fairly new mystery series with a main character who is the manager of a fictional soccer team. Veddy good stuff.
- My (sort of EX) wife was just in Brussels a couple of weeks ago. Phew. Her mother, who lives there, is OK as is her sister who lives in a suburb of Brussels and who had taken a day off work today. Scary stuff. I was in Old Folsom Prison one day (I worked for CDC at the time). We were looking at some of the young jerks who were in there for some mindless violence. An old guy who had been in there forever said, "They don't be about nuthin." That pretty much covers ISIS and Republicans.
- Gawker's response to the Hogan verdict: http://gawker.com/the-hogan-verdict-1766460791
- Thanks for the sentiment, Julie. Nance has it right. T and I are close, legally separated but not divorced. She lives in Auburn and I live in Sacramento. We have lunch every week and we do Thanksgiving with our daughter and the grandkids, she’s on my health plan and her accountant does our taxes. We’re on for this Friday and I need to bring her a check because I’m going to owe on taxes. We also talk on the phone. I called her first thing yesterday when I heard about the business in Brussels. Her mother and sister live there. She spoke with both of them. Sis was OK. She lives out in Charleroi and had taken the day off anyway. The old lady was kind of freaked out as she lives not far from NATO and was hearing Hoo Ha-ing all day long. She has a corner apartment on the 14th floor with fab views. She can even see the Atomium. Basset, I worked for IH many years ago. Many, many. I even got a trip to Fort Wayne out of the deal and a tour of the factory. They made scouts and large trucks there at the time. This was after they had dropped pickups and Travelalls. I don’t know what they made in Ohio. Maybe Ohio just duplicated FW efforts. There’s a really nice Scout for sale just a couple of blocks away from here. Don’t know what they are asking.
- Mary, when I think of faith based hospitals I can only think of the Catholics and those horrible nuns who are performing as catspaws of the right wing radicals. What do they care if the Feds are willing to pay for their employees’ birth control? This isn’t religious freedom, it’s a bunch of arrogant, self-entitled assholes trying to impose their small minded antiquated beliefs on the rest of society. That’s not religious freedom, that’s religious tyranny. Remember and remember clearly: freedom of religion includes freedom FROM religion. I don’t give two shits about their-self-serving Brussels tripe.
- Sorry for the strong post, Mary. As you well know, I'm with you 99.9% of the time but I've had it with the hypocritical asshole Catholics who run these huge health conglomerates. That from a guy who had the Sisters of "Mercy" for grade school and who was an altar boy.
- “Les banlieue”. I’ve got another one for you. Bidonville. That’s a type of shanty town classically inhabited by pied noirs. Pied noirs are North Africans, mostly Algerians who moved to France. Lots of friction and racism there. Now bidonvilles are inhabited by later Muslim immigrants. I got the term from T. Plastic bags are banned here in the Big Tomato. So it costs me an extra dime or two to shop. I usually forget to bring an old one. And they used to call California the land of fruits and nuts. And Jerry Brown was Governor Moonbeam. I’d sure as hell rather be here in California than in some of the states you all mention with their genuine nutbag legislatures and governors. California looks pretty damn sane to me.
- Designers have forgotten how to do automobile front ends. They are so caught up in the Hot Wheels idiom, so caught in trying to make cars look badassed and aggressive that they are designing shit. Here’s one: https://www.google.com/search?q=lexus&biw=1280&bih=679&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiR5Pjf2tzLAhUHw2MKHTI2AgcQ_AUIBygC Looks exactly like an electric razor.
- Naah, Basset. It looks like the clippers the barber runs up the back of your neck.
- There’s an automotive site that I like called “Curbside Classics”. http://www.curbsideclassic.com/ Go back over the last two weeks and there is a half dozen or so excellent articles on Studebaker and Loewy. Great site.
- Is a half dozen? Are a half dozen?
- Missed that one, Basset. I agree. I'll watch the video.
- Mark P, here’s a nice article on the Canadian Stude plant from the site I referenced above. http://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/the-canadian-studebaker-plant-the-last-studebaker-ever-rolled-off-the-lines-here-plus-studebaker-curbside-classics/
- Deborah, I once knew a guy whose hoped for way to die was to be shot out of bed by a jealous husband at the age of one hundred one.
- Jeez, Basset, can you imagine walking in that neighborhood. Bring your boots.
- People (not including me) have been camped outside the local Tesla dealership in Rocklin since yesterday AM to sign up for a Model 3 that may be delivered next year.
- I saw some baseball stuff on TV this AM. Isn't baseball over? I mean didn't they just have the world series?
- I swear. Those anti-vaxxers have to be the dumbest, most self-involved assholes in the valley. You’ve probably heard about the school that is experiencing a measles outbreak. Somewhere near half the kids haven’t been vaccinated. The county health people finally said that only those children who have been vaccinated and have the certificate to show will be allowed to attend school. You’ll love this, Brian. Yes, it’s a charter school. But wait, there’s more. Some of these brilliant, community minded, shit for brains idiots have taken their kids out to eat. As a result, patrons in a couple of restaurants have contracted measles. This kind of conceited, narcissistic dumbassery leaves me speechless.
- Sue, I don't think the revelations caused an outrage because they are nothing more than what people assumed anyway. Just business as usual. Nothing new to see here. Been beautiful, sunny and 70s here. Should hit our first 80 today. Fun basketball game last night. Tonight's? Not so much.
- Great news, Connie. Just in time for Spring!
- The rumor that I turned on my A/C today is false. But it is 81. That meet and greet Sanders did with the NY Daily News was really horrid. This guy's been in congress for 25 years?
- I haven’t seen the recreation of the O.J. Simpson trial and don’t intend to watch it. I did see much of the original cast presentation 20 years ago and wasn’t impressed with the judge or the prosecution. I’ll go with the apologize immediately folks. The longer you wait the harder it gets. See Alex @ #10. I can sort of see passing a bib on to another person if one is unable to run but it’s a lot tougher to justify if it means falsely qualifying somebody. I mean what’s the difference between giving your bib to somebody else who has not qualified so they can run and using somebody’s qualifying time so you can run? Seems to be pretty much the same thing. How much money does an entry cost anyway? I hadn’t heard of Gia Alvarez or this incident before today. So she’s a coach, has a blog and enjoys or enjoyed some prominence in running circles? All the more reason for the scorn and the ban. Someone like her should know better and especially present better. Hard to work up much pity for her. This is like “Fuck Sportsmanship”, everybody else does it, why not me? Good example for a coach.
- Well, Jeff, I left the church years and years ago. I guess I could be called an agnostic although I don’t like to be labeled. Like the man said, “It’s not that I believe in God, it’s that I’m afraid there may be a God”. Maybe. Anyway, after years of being non-religious, I’m still uncomfortable at seeing the word not capitalized. So, non-believer as I am, I have to say that I would prefer to see “God” capitalized.
- Man, as many times as I have been to Palm Springs, I had no idea that this Dinah festival existed or that PS had such a large gay population. Palm Springs is a very, very very upscale place so gay or not gay this is an extremely prosperous population. There is a Rolls Royce dealer, a Bentley dealer, Porsche, BMW, Land Rover, etc. These are not the poor folk. I’m not going to go into the economics of the place but from the looks of things, to live there you have to have money that you brought to town. The only ways I can see to make money are to sell real estate or to be some kind of financial planner type. Your working people seem live in Cathedral Springs or Desert Hot Springs. I wouldn’t want to go to Palm Springs during Dinah week not because I disapprove but because I wouldn’t want to intrude. But, wow, I’ve always enjoyed my times there. I like to stay at the Embassy Suites in Palm Desert. That’s at the state rate of $90 bucks a night. Reimbursed.
- I'm another one who doesn't feel badly about living where the weather is mild. We've had our first 80s this week. I don't miss Chicago winters at all. I had a PET scan Wed and have a Dr's apt on Mon. We'll see. I'm going on another trip to Europe next Tuesday. Don't want to sound like a picky old man but 'The Stranger' was written by Albert Camus. It's a book I've always liked. I never realized that Palm Springs was so gay. I guess it's been three or four years since I last had a job down there but still. I usually notice that kind of thing. One thing about the place, it's freaking HOT there in the summer.
- The more I see of Bernie Sanders, the less I like him. He's also becoming more and more Naderesque. That business of his followers refusing to vote for down ticket issues and people really torques my jaws.
- Today I called the Sacto Bee to put a vacation hold on my subscription. The young lady with whom I spoke asked me if I wanted to donate those two weeks to I don’t know who. I told her no, just add them on to the end of my subscription. She replied that with the vacation hold I forfeited those two weeks. They would be just lost, the Bee no longer adds vacation holds on to subscriptions. I am now in the midst of an email back and forth with the Bee and with McClatchy. I believe they are flat ripping me off for two weeks of a subscription that I’ve already paid for. Unfortunately, I will be gone and won’t be able to pursue this. Vacation hold. Remember? Anyway, is this common practice now? Do other papers do this? Has anyone here at nnc.com experienced this kind of piracy? I’m really pissed. And yes I told them not to renew my subscription after it expires.
- So I've filed complaints with the DA's office and with the BBB. The money's nothing. Maybe $10 or $20. It's the attitude and the sneaky, sleazy theft that got me. They really popped my cork. And I took great care to note to the DA's office and to the BBB that when any of them choose to go on vacation the SacBee will happily relieve them of a week or two worth of their money. I may have some health problems but high blood pressure isn't one of them.
- Happy birthday, Dave! I enjoy taking a walk through Ikea every six months or so. I’ll go at ten on a Tuesday morning. No crowds then. I’m overdue.
- Happy Birthday, J.C.! Deaths. Sure don’t need the WaPo to remind those of us who live in the ‘hood that life tends to end. The number of people with whom I’ve been acquainted, however briefly, however obliquely, most but not all black who have died since I’ve lived here is mind blowing. Male, female, young, middle aged. Not so many old. Cancer, heart disease, kidney disease, GSW, diabetes, liver problems. Can’t afford doctors, drugs, dialysis, a means to ward off bullets, throw in poverty and social indifference. . We don’t need sob stories in the Washington Post to remind us that life is hard and that people die. Sorry, Nance. This isn’t on you. It’s just been tough around here.
- Julie, I have a stage four carcinoma problem. It’s in my right thigh and in my left lung. It’s been over two years now and I’m still here. I’ve had surgery both places and radiation on my lung. And fucking chemo. That shit’s awful. I had a scan on Wednesday last and had an appointment with my Oncologist this morning. There is stuff in my lung but it has been pretty stable for the last few months. There is stuff on my thigh and it’s growing. We agreed to let things ride for a month and revisit in early May. Thank you very much for your concern. When I said “tough around here”, I was referring to the neighborhood and its inhabitants. As noted in comment one. I bought this place just as the bubble popped. One of the reasons was that gentrification was well under way at the time. I was looking to have an increasing property value. Then the crunch. Well, now values are rising again and gentrification is well under way again. It’s very evident and it’s good for me but not so much for some of the less prosperous folks around here. I’m ambivalent. In the meanwhile, I’m going on vacation again. Tomorrow. I’m flying to Lisbon where I’ll spend a few days, then taking a cruise from Lisbon to Barcelona, spending a few days there and coming home. I never thought I’d take a cruise but here I go. I can’t walk as well as I used to (I used to be like Deborah, miles and miles) so here I am with the geriatrics on a cruise. It’s a small ship, only 148 passengers. You will be able to find me at the bar.
- Well, here I am in Lisbon. The plane ride(s) were not bad but the turn times were insanely short. An hour each in Seattle and Paris. Now I’m in this hotel I picked off the internet. Beautiful old place and nicely located. The people are extremely pleasant. Really nice folks. But the place is ancient. The room is small, the bathroom tiny. The light switches are rotary types that must date back to the 1930s. There are two outlets scattered throughout the room. One here, one there. Oh, and one in the bath. Speaking of which, the ancient bath tub has wood covering its side and it’s a good three feet high. I have no idea how I’m going to get in and out of that thing without killing myself. The tub is completely walled in with the exception of a couple of feet that are open to allow the victim to clamber in. I’m going to check out the bar, get a bite to eat and crash. Back in the days when I was employed, I had a female friend who sometimes dated people she met on some web site or other. One day she went out with a guy. They had a decent time even if no sparks were struck. A week or two later the guy turned up as Sacramento’s new chief of police.
- Congratulations! That'll look great on your wall. The picture of that pack of girls is terrifying. Things worked out all right in the tub. I should have mentioned that there was a shower included therein so I didn’t have to endure the horror of wallowing in my own dirty water. Of course the drain is slow so I ended up with water sloshing around my ankles. There’s enough stuff to hang on to so I was able to make it in and out just fine. I’d forgotten how good the bread here is. Rolls, loaves, croissants, it’s all superb. I don’t know what it is or how they do it. Also the wine is so good too. Just order a red, Dao, Duro, Alentejano, it doesn’t seem to matter. Slept like a log. It’s chilly (58 – 60) and rainy. I wasn’t able to make out the numbers or writing on the thermostat in my room. The fan part was easy. An engraving of a big fan next to one button and a little fan next to another button. Two buttons for temps. In my experience the right button will up the temp and the left button will lower it. I kept pressing the right button and it never warmed up. I still slept well. This AM I was able to see the thermostat in daylight and the buttons are reversed. I pushed the left one and warmed the place up. It’s still raining, not hard, but still. I’ve been lagging, but I guess I’ll go out and see how things are. I can always flee back here. What Bill said yesterday about tickets to museums and cathedrals and so on. Order up your tickets on line. Your hotel desk can do that for you. This applies everywhere. I can’t speak to Rome but Venice is a wonderful, atmospheric place. Crossing a canal you can just see a veiled, robed woman stepping into a gondola in the midnight mist. Just walk. There are wonderful little squares and bars (which are different in Europe) and things everywhere. I have a reservation tonight at Gambrinus which T tells me is supposed to be the best restaurant in town. I never believe that there is such a thing as the very best of but I’m hoping for a pretty good dinner. Here goes. Out into the rain.
- So I went to dinner at Gambrinus. It’s a very old place with that wood paneled men’s club feel. My res was for 6:00. I don’t know what I was thinking, if anything, when I made the res via email. I knew that Europeans ate later than us but I really didn’t take it into account. After I got here I discovered that, in Lisbon, most restaurants don’t even open before 7:30 PM. I took a taxi and couldn’t see a damn thing because the windows were fogged up and it was raining and the driver kept swiping at the windshield with a rag and we got there in one piece. The waiter (no women here), a middle aged guy, was very pleasant and welcoming. I confessed that I felt kind of stupid for being so early but he wouldn’t hear of it and I was soon seated. I was presented with the liquid menu and the solid menu. I first ordered a G & T. The waiter brought the stuff out and made it at my table. I ordered clams as a starter and lobster pie as a main course with a Dao tinto. (red wine from the north) Although I never learned Portuguese, after thirty years of marriage to a Portuguese woman I had picked up a few things. It was all coming back. The clams. The clams. Little guys steamed in white wine and garlic and parsley and maybe butter and I don’t know what else but something. They were served in a soup dish with the pot liquor. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had this preparation. But this was flat out the best I’ve ever eaten. I think I might have made little sounds of pleasure as I ate them. Moans and sighs. The clams were so good. It was fantastic. I dabbed up all the pot liquor with the bread. I don’t know if I will ever order steamed clams again. This dish was that good. Lord. Then he brought out the lobster pie. Understand, that all this took place over time. This isn’t a fast food place. By the time the lobster pie showed up, I had been there for over an hour. The lobster pie had to be two feet in diameter and because I was so early I got the first piece, fresh out of the oven. It was excellent, tasty and chock full of big chunks of lobster. I was barely able to finish it. For dessert, I had crepe suzettes. I know but T told me to order it. The waiters were looking at me funny and smirking and the guy making it was amused and all I could do was shrug and tell him my ex-wife had told me to order the damn things. He made them at table side with all the flaming and flourishes. They were good but not worth the cost. The fun is in the show and for an old single man, the show was, well . . . Anyway, the dinner was superb, exceeding my high expectations, even if it was rather pricey. OK, more than rather. The whole thing took about two and a half hours and was a very pleasing and relaxing experience. Coming back to the hotel, the weather was balmy with no wind and no rain. A very nice evening.
- It has come to my attention over the last several years that Europeans don’t like to make change. Especially from what they consider ‘larger’ bills. I bought a book the other day. Brought it up to the counter to pay. I pulled out a fifty Euro note. The kid hyper ventilated. I pulled out a twenty. “Don’t you…” She sniveled. “No.” I said. Mumbling to herself she made change for the twenty. The book cost E11.95. I don’t think a twenty was fooking unreasonable. After all, the ATM machines give out fifties. What am I supposed to do? At least it is nice to stick my card in any ATM slot and suck out money. Good luck to a European who sticks her card in an ATM slot in my town. Today it’s not just drizzling. It’s flat out raining and I’m staying in the hotel doing not much of anything. Reading mostly. Those clams were otherworldly, Alex. I’ve used those frozen Manila clams and they are all right but there is nothing like fresh. Sorry, I don’t feel the Bern. He’s too limited, he’s done nothing in 25 years in DC, he’s preaching a fantasy. That business in Wisconsin where his voters couldn’t be bothered to vote on down ticket candidates and may have cost that supreme court seat really turned me off. He’s just another Nader as far as I am concerned.
- Charlotte, there is a Ranch 99 here - along with a dozen other Asian supermarkets. I've bought the frozen ones on impulse. I need to plan my meals better.
- That's horrible, Dexter. I hope everybody is OK. It’s been a while but I’ve been kind of busy. The ship is called the Windstar. http://www.windstarcruises.com/Yachts/ It’s fairly small as cruise ships go. We have about 140 pax on board. The captain is Briddish and – are you ready? She’s a black woman! Can’t be a whole lot of black female cruise ship captains floating around out there. I had the opportunity to talk with her one on one the other day. She’s a delightful person. I spoke with her again last evening as we were about to depart Tangier. She was a tad annoyed about having to have a pilot aboard although she expressed it obliquely, not in an outright complaint. The departure didn’t look all that difficult to me. I also found myself having a glass of wine at the bar with what appears to be the only lone female guest on board. After the “where are you froms” I learned that she was from Seattle. The cruise director came up to speak to her. I thought the tenor of the conversation a bit odd until the penny dropped. She’s from Seattle. Windstar is headquartered in Seattle. I looked at her and said “You’re the Lady From Seattle”. She it although she said that she was the manager of shore stuff for the Med. She arranges all the tours and excursions etc. She also admitted that, while she didn’t have any specific brief, she would be observing things on the cruise. Again, a delightful, reasonable woman. I had dinner with her that evening at a two top. I learned a lot. That’s it. More later. In Malaga now and it’s time to go and look at the place.
- Seattle is HQ. She's the lady from the head office.
- The Lady From Seattle is not a big deal. All the crew know who she is, there’s nothing secret and she’s not writing evaluations or anything like that. Her job is to meet with all the tour operators along the way and she spent a couple of hours doing that yesterday in Tangier and will meet with people in Malaga today. Anything else would be noted if there were something out of the ordinary. She’s really a very nice person. Still . . . Big drills this AM for the crew. The lifeboat drill included lowering two boats into the harbor here in Malaga. All was observed by a Spanish Maritime inspector. Female. And my Air France flight down to Lisbon from Paris had a female captain. These women are everywhere! Yesterday was Tangier. Enormous amount of construction going on. I don’t know where all the money is coming from but there’s a lot of it. The place was cleaner than I expected, there were some very interesting architectural examples and details, but meh. I wasn’t much taken with the place. There were people around but not smiling. There was just this air of, I don’t know, - oppression hanging over the city. And there’s something downright creepy about all the women being in vails, some of them totally covered face and all. Everything was just a degree or two off into another dimension. It’s not the third world aspect. I didn’t feel any of this in, for example, Vietnam. Suffice it to say that I have no immediate plans to move there. Malaga! Malaga on the other hand is spectacularly beautiful and sparkling. Especially having just come from Tangier. I swear, the light is brighter here and the colors richer. What a breath of fresh air. The streets are covered with trees and filled with people and cars. Had a very nice, uneventful time except that my camera battery died suddenly and I couldn’t fine a replacement in town. I didn’t feel like going to Corte Ingles the big department store which was a tad far anyway. There are three cruise ships here. One is Windstar. A second is the smaller French one that looks like a racy Windstar It’s called Le Ponant and according to the web site carries 64 pax. The third is a monster called the Celebrity Reflection. It’s 1047 feet long and carries over 3000 pax. A couple of people mentioned in the comments that they don’t care for cruises. I was one of them. Things have changed. With my health issues I decided to try one. It would be a way to see several places without a lot of effort on my part. So far I couldn’t be more pleased. I went for a small ship for a lot of reasons. I just couldn’t see one of those large things. Getting on and off must be a real bitch. I could see standing in line for everything. Here you wait for nothing. Not a drink, not a waiter. How many people on those monsters get to have a genuine conversation with the Captain? With a company exec? The pax here are all experienced travelers and around 75% are on their second, third or fourth Windstar cruise. They know how to behave and a friendlier bunch I couldn’t imagine. I would not travel on one of those huge ships. Fashion note: Two tone paint jobs on new cars. They look quite nice. Travel tip: Restaurants don’t hand out glasses of water in Europe. If you want water you order it and pay, typically, a Euro for it.
- I'm glad you're feeling good, Dexter. I'm not glad to hear your news, Alex. Bummer. I hope everything turns out well.
- I'm not clicking links Nance. The Wi-Fi here is so slow and I keep getting dropped. It's a pain in the patoot.
- Good to see you, Beth. Don’t be a stranger. Heard a good interview on KXJZ with a doc who’s in the biz. He says the number one cause of diabetes is soda pop. Period. The super-delegates, in the context of a presidential campaign, are all down ticket officials. When has Bernie ever done anything for them? Ever? Just look at Wisconsin. Why the hell should any super-delegate lift a finger for Bernie Nader?
- When we passed the breakwater on leaving Tangier, the sea was very busy and confused. Windstar was rolling heavily in the swell and the pilot boat was bobbing around furiously. People gathered at the rail to watch the death defying (seriously) leap of the pilot from Windstar to the pilot boat. He made it. I wouldn’t have tried. The pilot ended on the deck of the boat waving his arms in victory. No drama in Malaga. Yesterday in Almeria Windstar was tied up at the dock preparing to depart. The pilot boat came alongside, the pilot reached for the ladder and – sploosh. He fell into the fooking drink. From a stationary pilot boat to a tied up cruise ship, go figure. So they fished his ass out of the water and took him someplace where he could dry off and get some new clothes. That delayed us an hour. People are still laughing. I know the poor guy will never live it down. Today, Cartagena. I watched the pilot come aboard so we’re OK. I’m sure that if he hadn’t already heard the story, he has now. Seems like they should call this coast the Costa del Clouds and Rain, but it’s sunny and beautiful this AM.
- I got here to Barcelona maybe a week or two early. The women are just transitioning from jeans to shorts and just beginning to leave their coats home. For some reason I’m attracted to Spanish women. The other day I went to buy a bus pass. One does so at a subway station where there are machines. I fiddled and fiddled with the goddamn thing trying to get it to take my money. I couldn’t figure out which end of the bill to lead into the slot. The picture on the machine was different from the bill in my hand. I appealed to the guy at the machine next to me for help. He didn’t speak English and I didn’t speak Spanish but it was easy to pantomime my problem. He fucked around with the bill and the slot with no success until his 10 year old son explained the problem to him. There were six or eight different types of tickets costing varying prices. One has to select a ticket before trying to stuff money into the machine. I did so and voila! There is no ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) in Spain or Europe, for that matter. Thus no grab rails in tubs or toilets or several other things that make things easier for some people. There are ramped cut outs at street corners and lifts for buses. A hamburger is not necessarily fast food. There are plenty of good places serving excellent burgers. Shaving is fine, it can always grow back. It’s the permanent stuff like tats and piercings that I question. And that genital mutilation, my God!
- My TV is telling me that Cruz has dropped out.
- I also have the feeling that the big question of the Tailgunner’s eligibility to serve as president has been sort of taken up in a deep breath by a lot of people and if he were to become the nominee or the presumptive nominee there would be a great exhalation of lawsuits and controversy.
- konTRAversy as the Brits apparently say it.
- Brian @12: Like Debbie Wasserman Schultz? I’m scared.
- Well, Jeff, if you’re going to let a stupid slogan, a video bite thing like that determine your vote, so be it. I had taken you for a more thoughtful guy.
- My house is around 980 Sq Ft and comfortable for me. 1200 seems about right for two and 800 seems a might tight. I think my problem is that I need to get rid of a lot of crap. A lot of it. I saw my first campaign ad yesterday. It was for an incumbent who is running for the Assembly. It was strictly positive. “So and So is a great guy, blah, blah, blah.” Also Bernie Nader is going to make an appearance in Sacramento this evening. No, I won’t be attending. The 2016 campaign finally arrives in California. Deborah, I read your book arranging question and immediately came to the same conclusion that Jolene reached. She beat me to posting it. It’s your library and you can arrange the books in any fashion that suits you. It doesn’t have to be according to any system nor does it have to be intelligible to a visitor. Just put them up there in any order that makes you happy.
- I guess between you and your husband there's always rock, paper and scissors.
- That's wonderful, Mary. I'm so pleased. I know the Ex. has been a source of problems for you over the years. Congratulations!
- Those covers on that Spanish magazine are wonderful. From what I’ve seen in Spain, the magazine has a lot to talk about. They’re doing some very nice things. I have four 30” X 7’ bookcases and several small ones. And books aren’t my biggest problem. I’m getting really, really sick and fucking tired of Bernie Nader. At this point it’s all about him. He is doing nothing for the good of the Democratic party, for down ticket races or for the American people. It’s all about him and his huge, sorry ass geriatric ego. He’s doing harm to Secty Clinton and to the party. But then again, he’s not a Democrat anyway. What a colossal asshole.
- I was thinking the other day, Sherri, about what you just said. Nobody has gone after Sanders. He has been ignored by Trump and by the right wing noise machine. And Ms. Clinton has treated him with kid gloves. If push comes to shove, he’s in for a very rude, very uncomfortable awakening. It would not be pretty. Bernie’s stuff about revolution, about free tuition, fixing medical coverage, breaking up the banks is all pie in the sky. It’s absolute bullshit right up there with Trump’s intent to deport millions of people and have Mexico build him a wall. It just ain’t going to happen. Bernie whines about the super delegates. Why would they go with him? What has he done for a single Democratic state official or candidate in any race in any state in the US? Not a fucking thing that’s what. He’s not even a Democrat. His Democratic identification today is merely a flag of convenience. I got my absentee ballot in the mail today. There are thirty four (34), count them, 34 people listed as candidates for Barbara Boxer’s senate seat. 34. Only seven running for president as Democrats. I went to the Dr. yesterday. I’m going to have to have more surgery or radiation. I need another MRI and a CT scan. Then the brain trust will decide.
- I can understand why Ryan hasn’t endorsed Trump yet after this morning’s meeting. You just don’t endorse on the first date. You don’t want to be known as a slut.
- Sounds like we could use an Eataly here in Sacto. Hey, Dexter. Isn't it supposed to be THE Ohio State Univ? Seriously, that student loan odyssey is horrifying. My hat's off to you for being such great parents for your kids.
- Joe, I'm overwhelmed by your kids' empathy.
- You got it, Joe. All extreme and no middle ground. I’ve been reading all the chest thumping and hand wringing about transgender kids using school restrooms. One would get the impression that there are hoards of transgender folks conducting human wave attacks on these beleaguered restrooms. Does anybody have any idea of how many transgender students there really are out there?
- Just back from my Friday evening at the local so … When I went to college the tuition and fees were nominal. Something like $270 per semester. This was at the Univ of Illinois in 1962. Of course room and board and etc. were on top of this. I worked and my parents fronted some money and somehow I survived. Actually, I had a couple of pretty cool jobs. I left during my senior year for whatever reason and joined the Army. After the service I went back to school on the GI bill, worked and made it through to the end. No debt. Daughter (Steph) made it through JC and then Austin Peay Univ in Tenn without incurring any debt. OK, we paid a few bucks to help her (maybe more than a few) but that’s what parents do. She was married by then and things somehow worked out and she got out of school with a degree and no debt. I’m still not sure how that worked but I remember thinking at the time “OK, now she’s numbnutz responsibility.” Well, not really but those of you with married kids know what I mean.
- While I worked through college, and tuition and room and board and etc. were cheap compared to today, it was also my parents’ financial help and a little scholarship money that got me through to my senior year. After three years in the Army, I got a real adult job and had the G. I. bill to help me. I was poor but I survived. It didn’t seem so bad at the time. It was just the student life. I don’t know what I would do today. Between the dearth of research money and tight fisted state legislatures I don’t know what’s going to become of our once proud college and university systems. Soon (very soon) a college education will become the exclusive purview of the one percenters. I also wonder what affect all those loan scamming University of My Asshole operations one sees advertising on TV have on the supply of federal loan money. They’re nothing but contemporary versions of match book covers and they should (mostly) all be shut down.
- Happy anniversary! I saw that Amgen finish yesterday, Dexter. It was a great sprint and a bit disappointing that Cavendish got boxed out. I was surprised by the small crowds on the streets in San Diego. The Tour will be spending three days in the Sacramento area. Stage 5 from Lodi to Tahoe, Stage 6 entirely in Folsom which is a suburb of Sacramento and the Stage 8 finale in Sacramento proper with the by now fairly traditional several laps around the Capitol finish. http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/stages
- Ralph Nader needs to crawl back under his rock and take his pal Bernie with him.
- beb, what Sherri said. Bernie is not a Democrat. He’s using the Democratic party as a convenient way to run for president. He has no entitlement to any consideration at the convention other than what he can force through his loudmouthed, boorish shouting and with his loudmouth, boorish fans. He brings nothing to the table, he helps the party and the American People in no fashion and is doing harm to Hillary. As I’ve said again and again he’s done nothing for down ticket candidates and has no right or reasonable expectation of help from super-delegates. At this point it’s all about Bernie and his colossal ego. It’s way past time for him to go. He and his jerk off buddy Nader.
- Interesting piece on Bernie and his wife: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/daily-202/2016/05/17/daily-202-failure-of-burlington-college-is-a-big-problem-for-bernie-and-jane-sanders/573a388c981b92a22d837b46/?wpmm=1&wpisrc=nl_daily202
- More interesting stuff on Bernie.: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/it-comes-from-the-very-top
- Jolene, that link isn't working. Deborah, I had a really nice asparagus and parmesan pasta last night. With fresh, new Delta asparagus. The best there is. I'm getting increasingly scared that Bernie will undertake an unhinged third party run and thereby . . .
- Basset, sorry for any confusion. The Delta referred to is the Sacramento River Delta which is just down the road from my house. Everybody around here refers to the area as the "Delta". Asparagus grown there is the best anywhere.
- Speaking of that part of the country, Dexter, did you see the end of yesterday’s Amgen stage? They finished up at Laguna Seca. Fun finish. California is still #1 in the tomato world: http://www.farmflavor.com/at-home/shopping/united-states-of-tomatoes
- Julie, agreed. Many gates in many airports can't even hold one flight's worth of people. Things can get awfully crowded and awfully confused awfully quick. I also can't believe the shit that people are hauling on board these days. Two and three bags. Huge rollers. Can't believe the airlines allow it.
- MMJeff from the other day’s post. Alan Furst looks very intriguing. I’ll try him. Meantime, if you like him, I’m sure you’ll like Philip Kerr’s Bernie Gunther novels set in wartime Berlin. Excellent. I agree that Laguna Seca’s a great track, Dexter. I’ve been to many races there. And again agreed that the commentariat on the cycling coverage is the best.
- Placerville is only a few miles up 50 from Sacramento. You're on the money, Deborah.
- River rats. Huh. For what it's worth, the AAA baseball team here in Sacto is called "the River Cats". There is an excellent site for those who are interested in fiction. It has a bio and bibliography for just about everyone who ever wrote a novel and is very up to date so you will know when your favorite author will be coming out with a new book. Check it out. https://www.fantasticfiction.com/
- No Bernie for veep. See above. Elizabeth Warren is already 66 so she would be kind of old in eight years. Besides, as noted, she is way to valuable in the Senate. And, no, I won't run for VP. I'm already retired.
- Off topic, but. I just read the report on the CT scan of my lungs I had this AM. It’s better than the one I had a month ago and that one was better than the one I had in January. I don’t know what’s going on but I’m not complaining. I had an MRI last week and read the report which didn’t seem too awful to me except that there is stuff growing on my thigh. I have an appointment with the surgeon on Friday. I guess I’ll find out what’s going on then. So the lungs seem to be improving (!) and the thigh is – we’ll see.
- Thanks, Deborah. Dexter, Kaiser has been doing the mail the poop sample test for years. With Kaiser, you use a supplied stick to scoop up a small sample and mail it back to them. They don't need the whole load. Sheesh. I don't bother when they send them to me. I've had enough MRIs and CT and PET scans over the last couple of years so that any colon stuff would have been seen and enough chemo so that it would have been treated.
- You got it, Sherri @31. I’ve often wondered why income I earn from the sweat of my labor is taxed and income earned from coupon clipping or interest or whatever isn’t. Capital gains (no) taxes have been a big bugaboo for me for years. And of course eliminate the maximum for SSA contributions. Don’t even get me started on corporate stuff. Hillary Clinton would be a God Damn fool to go on TV (esp Fox) to debate Sanders. There is absolutely no potential good to come of it. I think Sanders is becoming increasingly unhinged.
- Yeah, but he still has to live in Waco, Texas.
- I also think that the email thing was an own goal. She's been at this for a long time and had to know that it would cause a shit storm. Yes, Deborah. Pictures please - of both Chicago and Abiquiu. What ever happened to Chelsea? Did she move to an ashram in Tibet or something?
- You're all gonna love Windows 10.
- I also liked Windows 7 and hated 8. 10 insinuated itself into my computer through a subterfuge. For months a big box would appear on the screen urging me to install 10. One day it presented two choices. Install now or get back to me later. I clicked on get back to me later without really thinking about it. Sure enough, one day it suddenly started installing itself. It is better than 8 but I still dislike it a lot.
- Julie, as your resident cataract surgery salesman, I urge you to run, don't walk, down to your doc and get the surgery done. The results are dramatic. Miraculous. Especially if, as it seems from your post, your cataracts are getting fairly advanced. My eyes are fine now but I definitely prefer my big 23" hi-def screen. My computer is an old fashioned tower type. It sits on the floor. I like it because it has tons of ports of all kinds, a gazillion USB ports and ports for every kind of memory card there is. Plus the controls are on top so I can reach down without even bending over. There are also two DVD drives which I never use and a huge solid state hard drive.
- Judybusy, CDG is a huge airport and you may have to do a bit of walking and even take a bus to get to your next flight but, as long as the French aren’t on strike I don’t think you have anything to worry about. It’s like walking through a big shopping mall. Just relax and go with the flow.
- C’mon, Sherri, go easy on my pal Jerry. He and I go back a long way. Besides, he hasn’t been Governor Moonbeam since the ‘70s. I like the old guy. Bernie excoriating the Democratic establishment is a hoot. Bernie’s problem is that he’s not a Democrat. He’s some kind of goofball Vermont Indie. Establishment? He’s been in fooking Congress in Washington D. C. for 25 years. How is that not establishment?
- It's a hun here. Supposed to be 105 on Friday. I know, I can see the tolerant smiles on the AZ contingent.
- As Basset notes, that’s quite the itinerary. Looks like they’ll be passing right by here today on the way to Reno. I’ll wave. I’d imagine that starting 06-04 they’ll want to sleep for a week.
- Years ago, when daughter was about 10 we lived in San Francisco. During the summer she went to a YWCA for child care. This was quite convenient since the Y was across the street and up a little way, but still in the same block. One day they went on a field trip and during the return trip Steph fell asleep on the bus, as she is wont to do when riding in a motor vehicle. This was a regular Muni bus, not a charter, and when the bus arrived at their stop, all the Y people got off forgetting and abandoning the blissfully sleeping Steph. The driver found her and woke her when he reached the end of the line. No big deal. He just carried her back on his return trip and let her off at her stop. The Y people were crapping their pants and running in circles about the missing child when Steph wandered in after having been missing for 45 minutes or an hour. I have no idea what happened at that zoo in Cincinnati , but I must agree that it’s easy to misplace a kid and that it can happen in the blink of an eye. Brian looks to be correct in that that barrier seems to be very insufficient. I can’t see how it would deter an enterprising kid for more than a couple of seconds.
- Double header in the area this evening. Trump speaks at the airport at 7:00PM (scheduled) and Bernie Nader is scheduled to speak at UC Davis at 8:00 PM. The airport is completely, solidly blocked and I-80 is backed up forever in both directions. Sure glad I’m not traveling today. Wonder how old Bern plans to get to Davis with the airport so fucked up by Trump. He’ll have to charter a chopper.
- There’s only one reason that I can think of for Trump to be campaigning here in California. That’s to fuck Hillary up in next Tuesday’s election and help Bernie Nader. Poor Hillary is fighting a two front war against a couple of assholes while not running the smartest campaign in history. She’s been screwing around in Jersey for the last week instead of campaigning here. Suddenly, her pants on fire, she’s dropping Jersey to hurry out here to get her oar in. She needs a campaign manager. Tuesday can’t come soon enough. If Bernie Nader were to win the nomination or run as the VP nominee, he would be inundated by a tsunami of shit the likes of which nobody has ever seen. So far the Rs have barely acknowledged that he exists and haven’t said a bad word about him. The California State Attorney General, a woman named Kamala Harris, is running for Barbara Boxer’s senate seat. Ms. Harris is the front runner. I just saw a TV ad which prominently features Elizabeth Warren endorsing her. Has Bernie Nader ever endorsed anybody?
- Thanks for the info, Jolene. I did notice that the three named women endorsed him first. Certainly no quid pro quo there. Sherri, I was aware of the Canova "endorsement". I just saw it as not so much an endorsement of Canova as a disendorsement of Schultz.
- Tribune Publishing Announces Corporate Rebranding, Changes Name to TRONC Rebranding with Content Curation and Visualization Focus I opened Heather's link and this is as far as I got.
- I think I'll spend Saturday curating my car.
- Safe travels. Have a wonderful time!
- Hmmm. Let's see, Brian. Nope. Can't find that place on my bucket list.
- Slippurinn(?)(!)
- I just watched the speech of Bernie Nader, dead ender. He said all the right things right up to the end where he promised to continue his doomed contest against Ms. Clinton. At this point (11:00 PM here) he’s trailing 60 – 40 in the California vote. I don’t believe that that will be the final tally but it’s an indication. Tonight was his big chance to be a man and to do what’s right. He blew it. Here in Sacramento we have seen a Democrat blow another Democrat out of the water in the mayoral race. The senate race will see a Democrat face off against another Democrat in the November election. That will be historic as it will feature a black woman from Northern California running against a Hispanic woman from Southern California. My congress person, a Japanese woman, a Democrat, is running basically unopposed. I know I live in a nice place. I’m disappointed but not surprised by Sanders. He seems to suffer from some kind of messianic thing that blurs his view of reality. The polls that show him doing so well against Trump are totally worthless. Ms. Clinton is leading him in California despite having to fight a vicious two front war against he and Trump. He has not heard any negative words from the Republicans. None. And few from Ms. Clinton. Of course his uncontested poll numbers against Trump are high. I can’t understand how he is so stupid as to believe them. It’s like Bernie just fell off his own turnip truck.
- The polls had Sanders and Clinton running virtually neck and neck in California and many expected Sanders to win. Clinton won by 12 points. I realize that there are still a bunch of mail-in ballots to be counted and that the margin could close some but still. How could the polls be so far off? Sacramento made me feel good with this one: A measure to fund the library pulled 78 points.
- I always loved those potato sticks. Pik-Nik. https://www.google.com/express/product/9466190386707401950_1705736023348213693_11268992?mall=Nevada&directCheckout=1 I think I’d be intimidated in that museum. I just looked up the weather for Reykjavik. You can keep it. Sactown will be nice and warm when you get back to the US.
- Gosh, Joe. You’re absolutely right. I was going to vote for Ms. Clinton but since you pointed out her sartorial sins I have seen the light and will vote for Mr. Trump. Seriously, Joe, just what the fuck do you expect a 68 year old woman to wear? Please give us some idea of what her wardrobe should look like. I mean that. Tell us.
- We're with you, Jeff. As I noted yesterday, Sacramento's already voted Librarian!
- Brandon, I'd pay a dollar to watch you eat that.
- Maybe two.
- I guess I'm not really an omnivore. I'm a somestuffvore.
- Not to mention that poor singer who got killed in Orlando the other day. I went through CDG in Paris in mid April and had heard about all the extra security but I sure didn't see it.
- No Herald-Trib, ROGirl. But there is a daily European version of the NYT that serves the same purpose and there seem to be English language publications available in most larger cities .
- There’s another story that has been pretty much submerged east of the Sierra but which continues to get ink and air time here in California. That’s the story of the Stanford rapist who got sentenced to only six months in the county jail. People are outraged and the State Assembly is outraged. Over a million people have signed a petition to have Judge Persky removed. Over a million. Thing is, the sentence is even worse. The Santa Clara County jail is rather overcrowded. Policy is and has been for some time, that all county jail sentences are halved. This means that Turner will, in fact, only serve three months if he isn’t out already. Persky is a Santa Clara County judge. Has been for years. He had to know about the county sentencing policy. It’s absolutely inconceivable that he didn’t. Thus he was fully aware that he was really sentencing Turner to only three months, not even the advertised six. So. I don’t know what he was thinking but he sure asked for the shit storm he’s getting.
- That was rather moving, Charlotte. My condolences.
- Iceland is playing Portugal in the UEFA tourney in Saint-Etienne live right now (noon PDT). I read that 10% of Iceland's entire population is there to watch footy.
- More fun in Orlando. Do they have alligators in Iceland? Here's all you could ever want to know about that Sig Sauer: http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2015/10/foghorn/gun-review-sig-sauer-mcx/ Also it costs almost $2000.
- Forgot the other link. http://www.cnn.com/2016/06/15/us/alligator-attacks-child-disney-florida/
- Had an EKG and blood work this AM. Total time out of car, return to car, 30 minutes. I love Kaiser. Surgrey on Monday. My hair has grown back but is all curly. I look like one of those idiots who spent a zillion bucks on a perm.
- I don't know what those people look like and I'm not going to Google them but the curly hair thing wouldn't be my first choice. I guess it's better than no hair at all.
- So this “risk based assessment” sentencing is grounded on such things as the perpetrator being a Stanford student, an athlete, white, with no sheet, etc. Isn’t this exactly what the Black Lives Matter people are upset about? How could a kid from the hood compete with this? There has to be another variable included here. A guy embezzles money from XYZ company. The numbers above apply. OK. Here the defendant hasn’t personally harmed anybody. The victim is a large corporation. Is the perp likely to do it again? But in the Stanford case, there was very serious, maybe irreparable harm done directly to another human being. The crime was very personal. Are the sentencing criteria to all be the same in all your algorithms? Is the only criteria to be whether Turner is a continuing threat to society? And that’s an iffy proposition. Shouldn’t there be some redress component applied? The victim deserves to see justice being done. Remember my previous post. Persky knowingly sentenced Turner to what amounted to only three months. Don’t the judge and your algorithms understand what an insult this is to the victim? I think if I could go back in time I'd like to go back and try to be a better, more living husband.
- Loving husband.
- Well, your Icelanders beat the Austrians in the battle of the blondes to advance in the UEFA. So I had my surgery, am healing well and actually took a shower this AM. I’m walking around and should be back to somewhat normal in the next few days.
- Thank you for the good thoughts. Dexter, the Roseville outage was just a small local thing. I don't even know what caused it.
- Well that’s one of the things, Sherri. Free movement of labor (labour?) throughout the EU has been one of its successes. Now that’s a question. Will Brits be able to work elsewhere? There are a couple of million Europeans in the UK. Will they be kicked out?
- MESSI GAGS AT COPA!
- The Argentina-Chile championship at the Copa America ended in a shootout. Lionel Messi blew his shot and Chile won for the second year in a row. Over Argentina for the second year in a row. If I were Messi I would be on a plane to Barcelona, not Buenos Aires.
- Little Bird and Deborah, my best wishes for good things with the surgery. Good luck.
- Shit! Shit! My A/C just quit. It's forecast to be 105 or so today, Tuesday and Wednesday. I can't get anyone out here before Wed. AM. Welcome to sauna city.
- I've got a whole house fan and a floor fan. The floor fan isn't doing too bad just now. I'll run the whole house fan every now and then to change the air in the attic. That might help a little. The lake will be great, if a little crowded this weekend, Danny. Enjoy.
- I'm happy to hear that medical needs are being seen to, Little Bird and Deborah. I (regrettably) saw numerous hay fires in Vietnam during the war. They can go on for days. Yesterday was 107. The TV says today will be 108. The A/C guy is supposed to be here first thing tomorrow. Can't wait. Meanwhile, it's 66. I have every door and window open and the whole house fan going to suck air through the place and to replace the hot air in the attic. It's the fact that Sacramento cools off at night that makes it livable.
- You're killing me, Deborah. We need to see pictures.
- So $560 later I have A/C. Also at 95, it's 10 degrees cooler than it has been so things are comfy here. Went to the Doc this afternoon and had the drain and stitches out. Feels pretty good.
- Freedom of religion also guarantees freedom from religion. So, while you are free to practice your religion, your freedom to do so should end when your practice affects me. So, as in the Washington case, why should a customer suffer because another person feels that his self-important religious beliefs trump (pardon the word) the customer’s needs? It doesn’t take much imagination to see how this could spiral off into La-La land. Jeff and Sherri, I’ve been wondering for years why so many people are so insistent on voting against their own best interests. I still wonder. And look where it’s gotten them/us.
- I really like your cabin, Deborah. Lots of imagination! I hate to be pushy but you don’t happen to have some sort of rendering that shows the concept of the completed project do you?
- I had heard about dowsing and all that but, living in the city, I had never really thought about it. Some years ago, when we were about to move to Auburn, it developed that the property needed a new well. I went up to watch when the guy was going to site the well. Curious, I asked how he was going to pick the spot. “I’m gonna witch it.” he said. “Huh?” I said. “You know…” he said, holding out his sticks. Mouth open, I had nothing to say. The well went 525 feet, fully cased and has pumped like a champ ever since, even through a drought that has seen many dry wells. I was there last week and the water is as sweet as ever. It was expensive, $15,000 was the number I heard, but I wasn’t paying. Who’s to naysay dowsers?
- It sounds like a real adventure, Deborah. I’ve seen demo rammed earth dwellings and they seem very impressive and to work very well.
- All I can do is shrug my shoulders about dowsing. My instinct is certainly to go with the scientific explanation but… In the end who cares? The guy found a spot and we got an excellent well. Wells can be really expensive. The $15,000 number I mentioned was from almost 20 years ago. Iceland will be playing France in Paris in an hour or two. I would guess that they will finally run out of luck. The French will be playing at home and they sure will not want to be humiliated. Fun interview with the new, incoming First Lady of Iceland: http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_spot/2016/07/01/iceland_s_new_first_lady_elect_eliza_reid_on_iceland_s_soccer_team.html
- Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State for almost exactly six years. She asserts that she has released in excess of 55,000 emails that originated during her term. I don’t know if that includes both emails she sent and emails she received or just ones she sent. I’m also not certain if 55,000 is the sum total of all the emails she sent or sent/received – I would guess that it’s far from the total. At any rate, I’ll do the math for you and reveal that 55,000 emails per day for 2190 days (6 years X 365 days) comes to 25 emails per day. Every day, seven days per week. That’s more than I sent/received during the period but, I would guess, not outrageous for a senior administration official. Too bad this shit was on the verge of dying down until Bill and Loretta decided to have a beer in someone’s parked airplane. Now what? MM Jeff, I just finished an Alan Furst novel. It was excellent. I’ll be reading more of them. And yeah, Iceland got smoked. Sadly it wasn’t the gods on hiatus, Sue, it was just reality setting in.
- Well I certainly can’t contest any of the email numbers. But I do sort of wonder where we are when we are counting a senior cabinet member’s emails to what end I don’t know. This whole thing just seems to go around in a circle. My first thought was that Hillary was arrogant and maybe bit stupid to use a personal server instead of the company one, but then I hear that the State Dept email was a pos and that nobody used it. Was there a better way to handle things? Probably, especially since she knew that she would be running for POTUS and that the spot light was glaring on her. She sure is being held to a different standard than the other fellow.
- Yeah, Alex, I've been getting those bullshit IRS calls too. I've just deleted them.
- I think that story to which Sherri linked may be the most disheartening thing I’ve read all week. It’s all over the net now but I haven’t seen comments on it yet. It puts paid to the idea that there are a few bad apples in the cop shop who are the beaters, killers and racists. These guys are as mainstream as it goes and have the full support and even the praise of their union head. There needs to be a major cultural shift in the police. They need to get off the militarist and us against them mind sets. They need to stop acting like an occupying power. They need to stop remembering that they live in the community and start remembering that they are part of the community – for good or bad. FDChief – here: http://firedirectioncenter.blogspot.com/ and gin and tacos – here: http://www.ginandtacos.com/ have excellent takes.
- David C.: HUH?
- Great news, Little Bird! Geez, Mark P. Easy on us “old, tubby, white-haired white guys”.
- I'm not sure what that has to do with me, Jeff.
- Truck runs into crowd in Nice, 60 dead. WTF????
- I'm looking to head back to Spain in Sept depending on what the doc says next week. I seem to remember the term "biz trip" from somewhere in my dim past. Trying to forget it, though. You can't let this stuff make you curl up in the fetal position. Life has to go on.
- I agree that the plagiarism is serious and not a “nothingburger”. It only looks meaningless in the context of all the outrageous things being said by this campaign. Will there be consequences? Probably not. Melania’s not looking for a job nor is she in danger of being fired from one. The people who care wouldn’t vote for Trump anyway and those who will vote for Trump don’t care. Melania may be a beautiful woman, but, damn, she’s the coldest, most calculating person I’ve seen lately. I don’t see an ounce of charm, compassion, warmth or appeal in the woman. She’d gut you without a second thought. What’s with that duck guy? Wearing an American flag to sop up his sweat? Where’s the respect for America in that?
- Deborah @33 re “bodywork”: it’s been alleged that Melania has had breast augmentation. Se the GQ article below: http://www.gq.com/story/melania-trump-gq-interview Doctor’s appointment this AM. Slight progression in spotting on my lungs but no new chemo yet. PET scan in Sept and another appointment. Probably chemo then. I’m gonna go back to Spain in the meanwhile. Good one, Kirk.
- Fucking Bernie just won’t quit. He needs to just STFU and go sit in the corner. How do you tell a 74 year old man to grow up? Doesn’t he realize what a cancer he is on the Clinton campaign? God!! I just want to smack the shit out of him.
- I know a couple of people (three women, two commercial property management types and a lawyer) who say they are planning to vote for Trump. I thought about asking them why then decided I’d rather keep them as friends. I recall that in 1980, when Carter and Reagan were running, the Iranian hostages were an issue. There was a bungled rescue attempt while Carter was POTUS and talks were nowhere. Suddenly when Reagan was elected the hostages were freed. Afterward there was talk that the Reagan people and the Iranians had made some kind of back room deal prior to the election. This would have involved non-g’ment people making a deal with a foreign government to jigger the election. Anyone remember that?
- I’ve never had gooseberries but I’ve had goose bumps. Brian, have you heard about Bernie Ecclestone’s mother in law being kidnapped?
- NBC Olympics coverage is beyond abysmal. They did, however provide start to finish coverage of the US women’s soccer match. Of course there wasn’t anything else going on. I’m going to Barcelona next Tuesday. I guess I’ll see the Olympics on a mixture of the BBC and Spanish channels. When I’m watching.
- The grabbing the luggage thing was a big point of discussion after there were videos of people carrying theirs away from the burning 777 that Asiana splattered on the seawall at SFO. It's an easy thing to condemn but who knows what one thinks when standing in a slowly moving aisle on a downed aircraft while desperately wanting to leave.
- Schweppes? It's what I use but if there's a better altenative, I'm all ears.
- ROGirl, without wanting to sound like a jerk, your comment that “competition pulls people away” is telling. Maybe if wages and benefits were improved a little there might be a tad less turn over. US team looked like a bunch of French sailors on leave.
- When I was in the Army in Vietnam in ’66, ’67 and ’68, there were three varieties of Japanese “bourbon” available. Nika, White Bear and Suntory. They were awful. Real paint remover. Nika bought another “K” and went upscale as you noted and so did Suntory which now sells premium booze. Don’t know anything about White Bear. NBC really does its best to ruin the Olympic viewing experience. We’ll see how Spanish TV and the BBC do. I’m leaving tomorrow. I hope. Delta has some big computer fuck up going. I checked on my flights for tomorrow, they’re still listed as being on time and I haven’t received any notification. All I can do is trot down to the airport and see how it goes.
- Finally arrived in Barcelona after three days of cancellations and re-routings. One full day spent in Salt Lake City and all day Wed and Thurs spent at JFK. Left JFK at midnight on Thurs/Fri and arrived here in BCN about 1:30 Fri aft. What a slog.
- In many intersections in BCN the corners of the buildings are cut off and set back 20 feet or so. This really opens up the intersection and humanizes it. It’s very nice. The young women are wearing short shorts that show the bottoms of their bottoms and also nice airy frocks. All quite fetching. Girl watching is very nice here. I also feel like a dirty old man. It reminds me of one day in the army. We were standing in formation and a young lady walked by on the street. This was at Ft. Bragg. The First Sergeant looked at us and at the young lady. “You men are like a bunch of goddamn dogs chasing a car. If you caught one you wouldn’t know what to do with it.” I walked past a beautiful old restaurant this afternoon. It’s in what I learned is a 14th Cent building. It’s rather up scale. Anyway there was an ancient but lovingly maintained Royal Enfield bike parked in front. I walked in and an older (late fifties looking) guy asked if he could help me. The place was closed so he wasn’t exactly welcoming. I asked if I could make a reservation for this evening and mentioned that I had noticed that beautiful bike out front. He said it was his. It’s a 1950 500cc thumper. Next thing I was sitting at the bar having a beer and some olives and we were talking. He wouldn’t let me pay for the beer. More about my three and one half day trip to BCN later. Just looked up thermapen on Amazon and my price was $118.76. https://www.amazon.com/ThermoWorks-Super-Fast-Professional-Thermocouple-Thermometer/dp/B002FYS5BA/ref=sr_1_19?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1471094071&sr=1-19&keywords=instant+read+thermometer Contact me. I’ll get you a deal.
- As I understand it, the cut away corners were part of a larger urban design for Barcelona that was concocted by a chap named Ildefons Cerda. http://archivesma.epfl.ch/2012/039/hefti_planche/20120608_layout_low.pdf The cut away corner concept makes for an excellent pedestrian experience but I can see property owners screaming. It certainly does cut down on billable square footage. Here’s a look at how the intersections appear. https://www.google.es/maps/@41.393025,2.1586924,399m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en You can play around with the various views if you are so inclined. My favorite Barcelona bookstore is at the corner of Carrer del Rosello and Carrer de Balmes in roughly the center of the screen. The change from square corners dramatically alters the character of the neighborhood. If it could be worked out (I’m not going to try to convince property owners) it would be wonderful. So I had heard about Delta’s woes and left home early on Tuesday. My scheduled route was from Sac to Salt Lake City to Amsterdam to Barcelona arriving on Wed. Delta said all my flights were good. Everything was smooth at SMF and my flight to SLC took off and landed on time. Trip to AMS was scheduled for 2:10 PM. It was shown as on time for the longest time until it started to slip an hour at a time. At about 6:00 PM it was cancelled. It took seemingly forever to get rebooked but I finally ended up with a redeye leaving SLC at midnight Tues and arriving JFK at 6:30 Wed morning and departing for Barcelona at 10:30 that evening. So after spending a whole day cooling my heels at SLC, I was looking at a long day of nothing at JFK which I spent in Delta’s Sky Lounge. At 10:30 Wed night, Delta announced that that aircraft had gone tech and that my flight was cancelled for the second day in a row. The whole planeload of loudly disgruntled passengers was rebooked on a special flight Thursday night at 9:00 PM At least I got a night in a fleabag out of that. Thursday AM I was back for another day at the Delta Lounge at JFK. What else was I going to do? I learned that my checked bag had somehow gotten airborne and was waiting for me at BCN. A third whole day at the airport. Come Thurs evening, the board showed our 9:00 flight delayed until 10:00. A half hour later it was 10:45. Fuck, I thought. So it starts. I ended up talking to an agent who informed me that a first officer was on a flight from Raleigh-Durham and was due in 15 minutes and that the aircraft was being flown up from Atlanta and was due at about the same time. In the end, we ended up leaving JFK at midnight Thurs and arriving here at BCN about 1:30 in the aft. Three long days of sitting at airports reading and staring out the window and vegging. The Delta club serves free booze and people all around me were getting liquored up. For some reason, I didn’t feel like partaking. Part of it was I just didn’t feel like it and part of it was I felt like I should keep a clear head. Three days without even a glass of wine. Not my usual MO. Barely ate anything as well. A couple of carrot sticks. I think I’ve taken up enough room.
- I hear the catcall thing all the time at home in Sacramento. I honestly don’t know how women put up with it. Clothes? Lots of young women here in Barcelona are wearing those ass shorts. There was a gorgeous young woman on the bus this AM who had on a pair of loose shorts which was cut so that her butt cheeks were vividly on display. She seemed oblivious, just carrying on a conversation with some guy. I haven’t heard any catcalls nor observed any untoward behavior here but that sure doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Nor have I seen any hostile behavior toward Muslims but, once again, the fact that I haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it doesn’t occur. I was in terminal B4 at JFK on Thursday night. Just across from the gate was a bar over full of people watching the Olympics and it got quite loud with cheering and clapping. But there never was any thought that the din was anything other than partisan crowd noise.
- I came home from Barcelona last week. I already had appointments for a CT scan and a meeting with my oncologist scheduled for late September. There were a few aches and pains evident so I contacted my Dr. to try and get earlier appointments. I had a CT scan on Wednesday (08-31) and an meeting with my Dr. yesterday. It develops that the cancer has grown and spread and that there are traces all over (liver, pancreas, lymph nodes etc.) and that the stuff in my lungs has grown quite a bit and the tumor on my leg has returned. Bottom line is that I’m fucked. I’m going to start another round of chemotherapy. Dr. L is encouraging because of the excellent response I’ve had to chemo in the past. She hopes this will buy me another six months of decent health and a good quality of living. Me too. We also briefly discussed end game alternatives but I think I’ll leave that for another time except to note that she said that she would fully cooperate with whatever the law allows. People in California don’t say “Cali”. People in San Francisco don’t say “Frisco”. Or at least they didn’t used to. People in Southern California do say “Berdoo”. Don’t know about your corner, Sherri, but I’ve had some wonderful tacos off trucks in Anaheim and for very low prices as well.
- Thank you all for your good wishes. I'm humbled.
- I have sampled the hot chocolate in BCN and it's excellent.
- So far no Trump or Clinton ads or signs or bumper stickers here. Not much at all except for a couple of ads for props on the TV. I don't even know how many props there are or what they are. I could easily look on the Secretary of State's web site but I'll wait until I get my mailer. My congress person is Doris Matsui, a Dem who is essentially unopposed. The senatorial race? It's between a Democratic Hispanic woman and a Democratic Black woman. So no matter what, we will have a minority Democratic woman replacing Barbara Boxer.
- Between Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein we have to be the only state in history to have two Jewish mothers for senators at the same time.
- And a woman of Japanese descent in congress. Tell me I don't live in California.
- I had kind of a rough month or so but I’m feeling a lot better now. Starting chemo again this week. No, Sherri, it seems from the story you linked to that the superblock in El Born was introduced just this September. I didn’t see it when I’ve been there. However, the Av de la Catedral, Carrer dels Arcs and the Portal de l’Angel all of which lead from the Catedral to the Placa de Catalunya, a distance of maybe a half to three quarters of a mile is all pedestrian friendly. That is, there is no auto traffic in general but taxis and delivery trucks are permitted. People just cover the street. It seems to work all right but that’s a limited area and there are lots of easy alternatives for vehicular traffic. https://www.google.com/maps/@41.3858412,2.172801,3a,75y,165.16h,95.19t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s2tunRkc2WcK24yisXA72wA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en I’m a bit leery about closing down streets. I think it should be phased in carefully and slowly and observed. Remember, places like Barcelona generally have better public transportation than US cities.
- Did labs this AM for VA and for Kaiser. Chemo tomorrow. Had lunch with T at a Mexican place called La Venadita. They had a very nice Día de los Muertos altar. We sat at a table next to our esteemed mayor, Kevin Johnson.
- Chemo is chemo. That was an ironic "esteemed", Sherri. Johnson's a crook and a molester.
- Oh, LAMary, that makes me so sad. My thoughts are with you and I hope you find a new position very soon.
- Thanks for asking, Jolene. I’m hanging in there. My Oncologist can’t believe me. She expected me to die back in 2014 but after three years, three surgeries and Lord knows how much chemotherapy, (more tomorrow), I’m still here. I had a period during October during which I was pretty sick but they adjusted my meds and I feel very good right now. My wonderful Ex, the lovely T, has been so good to me. She’s a life saver. When I got sick, she was the first one there. Jeff B, forget the Canadian stuff when you go to Spain. They can spot an American a block away. You’ll see what I mean after a few days. Just be yourself. Spain is a great country. I’ve never felt threatened, concerned, worried or anything else but safe and happy and I’ve been all over Barcelona and Madrid and several other cities– and I’m a 72 year old man with cancer. Elevators are everywhere even Metro stations. Prices are reasonable, food and drink are excellent, the streets are full of life and people. Spain is a walking country. Strap on your walkers and hoof it. Or take the bus. I’ve learned to take the bus all over town. You can get multi ride tickets at any Metro station. The machines are all in Spanish and can be a bit confusing. I just stand there and look stupid (comes naturally for me) and someone always comes up to help. It’s that kind of place. For money, stay away from the cambios and use the ATM. They’re all over the place and they have screens in English. If you have a problem or question, go inside the bank. They’ll be pleased to help you. Just remember to call your ATM and credit card providers to inform them that you will be in Spain and of the dates you’ll be there. Otherwise, they’ll lock your card the first time you try to use it. Get several maps and guide books and look them over before you go. Some maps are good and some are crap. You’ll see. For major museums and tourist attractions have the hotel desk get you tickets in advance. You can get them on line before you go if you know dates, etc. Walk and take the bus. I don’t use the Metro because, while it’s clean and safe and on time (as is the bus), it’s underground and I can’t see a thing. The reason I’m there is to see stuff so it’s the bus for me. Also the taxi. They’re cheap. You can’t really get lost. If you misplace yourself or find yourself pooped, simply hail a cab and show the driver the hotel business card you picked up at the desk. He’ll take you home. Smile, be polite, say “please” and “thank you”. Don’t worry if you don’t speak Spanish (I don’t to my shame). You’ll work things out. Open your mind, go with the flow and you’ll have the time of your life. I know you’ll love Spain. I do.
- So today, after a visit to Kaiser’s lab, I had a (very) expensive lunch with T. We ate at Mulvaney’s B&L if anybody is familiar with Sacramento. It was an excellent lunch with real flavor (notice how many restaurants serve food that doesn’t really taste like anything?). I even had wine for my first drink in two months. Great food. Yummy. Great service.
- Persuaded by my present situation, I've gone back and read all of Moe's (Regina's) posts. She's an inspiration.
- Good on you Kathy t. Hope you're feeling good and that you make that trip very soon.
- A happy and healthy Thanksgiving to all.
- Sounds great, Mary.
- Commenting sure fell off the cliff.
- When I lived in Auburn there were gangs of wild turkeys everywhere. They would block the road and they would tear up lawns. I don't see how you can see them as attractive, beb, they always look ugly as hell to me.
- Hey, Dexter. Go easy on that "clearing out the old folks" business.
- Happy Birthday, Nance! Like noses, Brian? That's not the way I heard it. Anybody read Mr. Trump's classy comment on the death of Fidel Castro? Looks like I'm gonna be embarrassed for a long time. I know, Jolene. You have to wonder what's up those people's brains.
- Happy anniversary, Sherri! Hope you get to meet Nina Totenberg and Dahlia Lithwick while you're there. They're the best.
- Wonderful T-shirt, Deborah. Just bought two. I had that experience as well back when I was in the Army, Dexter. One time was on a Delta red eye from SFO to ATL. I ended up in first class drinking free booze and playing cards with a stewardess all the way across the country. Another time I was on a flight from someplace in North Carolina (Ashville?) to ATL. I was the only passenger on the plane. Yep, I had the whole thing to myself.
- I started working as a stockboy in a sports and hobby store when I was 15. I retired in 2014 when I was 70. In four years I’ll be . . . I must admit that through a series of fortunate circumstances I am very financially comfortable and have a wonderful, comprehensive and extremely low cost health plan. In fact, I can’t imagine a way to improve it. I have been so fucking lucky the last few years. And yes, I am very thankful. Except for having cancer that is. Even so. I agree, Danny. I still like Kaepernick as well. I think his heart is in the right place.
- My Ex, (T) makes an excellent broccoli or zucchini soup in minutes. It’s very tasty. I wrote yesterday of my good fortune in ending up fairly prosperous in my old age. One of the major factors in my financial good fortune was working from 65 to 70. If I had retired earlier, I wouldn’t have had the retirement and SSA income I have now. Plus I really liked my job for the last 10 years. If I had retired in my mid-fifties like a lot of people do I’d be eating cat food now. So. Just my good fortune all around, I guess. I’m a lucky guy. Had another great lunch with T today. Ate at the Waterboy here in Sacramento. Great food, great service, great wine. Left a very happy camper. Sarah Palin at the VA? Jesus. What an insult. These people are beyond belief. It’s become apparent the Trump and his advisors know very few people. What’s the deal with Secretary of State? Why is Trump leaving all these guys hanging? What’s going on? Why hasn’t Romney told him to go fuck himself?
- I sincerely doubt that I will be around in four years or even two years. So I am selfishly trying to enjoy life as much as possible while I’m still able and not agonizing over our new president and the ship of fools he’s assembling. Lunch today with an old gal pal of mine from work. The lovely (and she sure is) Miss A. Connie, I once moved the California State Library. All the bazillions of books, maps, artifacts (many of them rare, antiques, etc.) were in a warehouse in Roseville. The Library and Courts building had just been remodeled and brought up to current seismic standards and I had to bring the books back to their home and have them all put on the proper shelf (or safe place) in the proper order. Needless to say people were very nervous about damage and/or loss. Somebody else had handled the move from the Library and Courts building to the warehouse a couple of years prior. There are specialty operations that do this stuff and I ended up contracting with some outfit from back east. It cost several hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sure was interesting though.
- Jakash, I’m certainly dismayed, disgusted and dis-everything else about current events. But I’m damned if I’ll spend the little time I likely have left beating my breast rending my remaining hair and crying “Oy, oy…”
- Fingers and toes crossed, Mary.
- Very interesting take on SecDef nominee: http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a51199/mattis-trump/
- Suzanne @10, in the army cream chipped beef on toast was called "shit on a shingle". For good reasons.
- My heart's with you, Dorothy. It never gets easier. Had a non-school lunch today with T. We ate at Biba's. Excellent food, excellent wine and excellent service. I was a happy camper.
- Sorry to be so self-absorbed during this difficult time but that’s the way things are when one is sick. The chemo over the last month or two seems to be working surprisingly well. I feel so much better in general. Also the shortness of breath has eased a whole lot. Walking across the street would leave me leaning against a lamp post and panting. Now moving around is almost normal provided I don’t get too frisky. Pain in my upper thigh and in my chest is almost totally gone. Saw my doctor, Mother Lisa, as I’ve taken to calling her, the other day. She can’t believe not just that I’m still kicking but how well I’m doing. I’ll take it. I’m planning to go to Mexico with T in January. We’ll see how that works. I do admit I feel kind of like the miracle kid having survived so long with stage IV cancer in my lungs and leg and not only survived but survived feeling so well. I’ll go with it as long as I can and try to live as well as I can in the meanwhile. Hence the expensive lunches with the lovely T.
- I’m not sure what password to change where, Nance. Maybe someone can help me. Lunch today with T was at Mulvaney’s. Wonderful. There are four seats on a sort of bar that faces the kitchen. The place was packed so we sat there since it was the only place left. During lunch we ended up bullshitting with the owner (Mulvaney). A great guy. We’re sitting at the bar from now on.
- Thanks for the idea to call ATT, Mary. I should have thought of that myself. Today was chemo day and I was out all day. I’ll call them tomorrow. I too like Jerry Brown a whole lot. I remember when he was Gov. the first time. I had occasion to meet him a couple of times back then. Now he’s 78, will be Gov. for two more years and has (according to the Field Poll) a 60% approval rating. So he has no planned political future when his term is up, he’s a feisty bastard and can afford to take on the feds. I’m happy to live in California. Also, as of yesterday evening, Kevin Johnson is officially history and Darrell Steinberg is now our mayor. He’s another good guy with a big agenda of stuff to grow Sacramento and to help the needy. At least there’s light here. With the horror show in D.C, it must be double depressing to live in Ohio, Michigan, NC, Wisconsin or another one of those states and their awful Govs. and legislatures.
- So you all know I’ve been hanging more and more with my (ex) wife, T. We had lunch today at Mulvaney’s. It’s the fourth time in the last few weeks and it ain’t cheap. There's a small bar overlooking the prep kitchen and I reserved seats there. Lucky because the place was packed beyond 2:00. They had a fois gras appetizer which we ordered and they comped. We’re officially regulars now! T suggested Christmas Eve at her house so there will be a full family at Christmas for the first time in nine or ten years. Yea! Also we will be going to Mexico (Todos Santos) in January. Me for about five days and T for a couple of weeks. I know I sound awfully selfish and self-absorbed but I feel so much better than I did just a little while ago that it’s almost miraculous. Back in October I honestly thought I was dying. Right now I’m a happy camper. Who knows how long I’ll feel good but I’m going to take every advantage of it. Fantastic news, Mary! Wonderful. That just completes my Christmas.
- Thanks for all the good wishes. This is turning out to be one of the best Christmases (sp?) ever. I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed all the time I've been spending with T lately. I've been screwing with my email but got some more goofy shit yesterday. I have a guy coming out tomorrow so everything should be good then.
- So the computer guy (he calls himself Geekman) was here at 7:30 sharp this AM. I guess he’s fixed everything. One casualty is that my faves list is scrambled and who knows what’s gone. Another is that all the passwords that Internet Explorer was saving for me are gone. He taught me a lot about passwords. A couple of very simple things that will make your password much more difficult to hack: Everybody capitalizes the first letter and starts a number sequence with 1 as in Joan123. Capitalize a different letter and rearrange the numbers as in jOan231. Basically the same password but much stronger. Stronger still, two words: haPpyjOan231. Very strong. It’s supposed to drive password busting software nuts. At least it makes the search much longer This below freezing stuff is too much. I know it’s only for a couple of weeks but sheesh.
- Just had the best Christmas (Eve) in many years. At T’s house with our daughter, her sweety and the grandkids who aren’t so much kids anymore at 15 and nine. T made her usual fabulous dinner. Pork loin, salmon, her special green beans, mashed potatoes a salad with her incomparable Crème Brulee for dessert. A wonderful afternoon and evening. Merry Christmas, everybody.
- Jerry, that Christmas Eve dinner sounds delicious. Can you tell us what type of sausage, how cooked and especially how to make that glaze? Also how the cabbage was cooked. I love that kind of stuff.
- Basset, I heard a feature the other day on NPR that characterized Nashville as the world capitol of women’s pre-nup parties. According to the feature, there are hundreds of young women and their bride’s maids wandering drunkenly around Nashville prior to their weddings and spending lots of bucks. Supposedly they come from all over the country – California included. Sounds like a nice opportunity for an enterprising young man. Or men. The NPR program claimed that they accounted for 20% of Nashville’s tourist income. Wanna see a Cadillac health plan? Here’s my 2016 accounting from Kaiser through November: Value of services provided: $85,699.08. My cost: $145.00 Drug costs: $4469.3 My cost: $141.66 The plan cost is something like three hundred bucks a month and Medi-Care pays for it. I did not plan this or orchestrate this. I’m just the luckiest fucker on the planet. I had a meeting with my oncologist, Mother Lisa as T and I call her (Dr. Law), today. She’s a teeny little 35-40 year old Taiwanese who is whip smart. Scary smart but open minded and able to think on her feet. The first few times I met with her in 2014 she had a poker face and displayed no emotion. It didn’t occur to me at the time that she was expecting me to die in the near future. Today she was practically giggling. She kept repeating that I was amazing. She explicitly told me that she had expected me to croak (not her word) some time ago. She told me that I was very special because the type of cancer I have usually spreads throughout the body and the victim dies fairly quickly. She said that she is amazed at my response to chemo-therapy and at my spectacular recovery from my illness in Sept and Oct and Nov. I told her that it was because of her. The grin on her face was wonderful. She’s happy about my trip to Mexico next week. I’m even thinking about another trip to Barcelona. I must say that I feel really good. I’ve been driving again and things are like they were a year or two ago. Of course this is all subject to change on a rapid basis but I’m very happy for now.
- Are you serious, Icarus? Of course they were and still are. I hope I don't have to explain the why of it.
- Debbie Reynolds too. Shit. She was one of my early crushes. Very early. I was 13 or 14. There was some talk the other day about early recordings that people liked. This is one of mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew3mtNZFrMY I just played it and I must admit that I shed a tear for Debbie and Carrie. I’m also kind of goofy since I had chemo today. My current chemo does strange things for a day or so.
- Also there are thoughts of my own impending mortality. As good as I feel and as much as I want to get in a couple of more trips, I know that I am slowly getting sicker and weaker. So, maybe I can be forgiven a few tears.
- Thanks for the recipes, Jerry. They both look yummy.
- I sure agree with you about the Barry Goldwater observation, Alex. Also, don’t forget that the evangelicals and their ilk have always associated being gay with automatically being a sexual predator.
- My condolences, David. Happy New Year, everyone!
- Little Bird, I hope everything goes well with your surgery. Deborah, I had a (too) long phone encounter with a dear friend with whom I hadn’t spoken in a long time. He is now deep into dementia. Once one of the smartest people I ever knew, he’s, well, it’s just pathetic and depressing.
- I got 47 but the explanation completely mischaracterized me and my background. It's bullshit. I'm familiar with both Richard Branson and Branson MO, though I've never been there and don't intend to travel there. You must pick only one. I picked Richard but I bet I would have gotten more points if I'd picked MO.
- I'm sorry, Brian. I hope the year picks up. Never heard of the dry January thing. I’ve quit drinking several times for months at a time over the last couple of years because of my illness. I just didn’t feel like drinking. Tonight I’m sipping a nice zinfandel.
- Which was the bubble again? High score or low score? Why does one have to be one or the other? I graduated from a state school (SF State) and live in the hood. But then I had lunch at Mulvaney's today. The place is owned by Patrick and Bobbin Mulvaney. It's a wonderful restaurant with superb food, service and ambiance. A couple of weeks ago we got to talking about cancer and Kaiser and discovered that we knew several people there in common. See the video below. It has some nice Kaiser footage and some nice video of Carlos Perez, the surgeon who operated on me twice. My visits with him always end up lasting a half hour during which we just sit around and bullshit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wum-9gQH1n0&feature=youtu.be
- I buy jumbo eggs at Safeway or Taylor's Market and see about a half dozen double yolks a year. So this is going to be the Trump presidency? Daily bickering about minutia? About who had the most folks at their shindig and other meaningless crap?
- Basset, shop all the varied ticketing sites for airline tickets. Do the same for hotels and then, when you have picked out a hotel you might like, call them direct. Talk to them, tell them what you want and you should be able to get a rate as good as any that is offered on line and you might even get a better deal. I always do that and have been very happy. Your ATM card is the best way to get money. ATMs are everywhere and you get the best rate. I've used my card all over the place with no problem. You will notice a couple of odd fees on your next bill but you are still ahead. Definitely notify your credit card and ATM people that you are going overseas. Otherwise they will certainly freeze your card. You will get charged 1 to 3% for using a credit card in Europe. There are cards available that don't nick you with that surcharge but what other gimmicks do they have? Do not rent a car if you are going to stay in London and the immediate area. There are plenty of buses and trains and taxis. A car is a big stone tied around your neck. You are stuck with it. What do you do with the damn thing when you aren't using it? Where do you put it? I would consider one if I were contemplating a leisurely trip from London to Glasgow or wherever but for around town, nope. I rented a car in Lisbon once and traveled all over Portugal from Nazare' to Portimao. It was fun. Otherwise, no. I buy two or three guide books and a couple of maps and study them before going to a new city. Even for return visits. I tend to like the Lonely Planet and Rick Steves guide books. I buy a map from International Travel Maps for a large, complete overview and ones from National Geographic and Streetwise. Streetwise is that plastic fold out thing that I find very handy. It and the Nat Geo map are a little focused but are excellent for downtown and touristy things. Stay loose, be flexible, keep a big smile and go with the flow. You’re in their country and they do things differently. Differently is not better or worse. It’s just different. I love the differences and have a great time. You will too.
- IOKIYAR?
- I just had my Honda in for service this AM. The dealer replaced recalled airbag actuators. Not really news except that it's the second time. There was a first recall and the actuators were replaced. Then the replacement ones were found to be defective. I wonder how good my new ones are.
- I had a bunch of Elantras when I was still working. I liked them a lot. They were comfortable, had reasonable handling and performance for an economy car. Since they were all rentals, I have no idea about reliability. Also this was three years ago. Boy, time flies.
- Remember, this “ban on Muslims” applies to a small, select list of countries. It doesn’t apply to the Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and a number of other countries. Among other things these are said to be countries where Trump does business. This really illustrates the essential emptiness and meanness of Trump’s actions. I also wonder how long they will try to maintain the fiction that a 20% tax on Mexican imports will result in Mexico paying for the wall. We are going to pay for it.
- I don't find the Zunger column far-fetched at all. Frightening, yes. But not far-fetched. This whole business is making me pause any plans for a future trip. To piggy-back on yesterday’s talk about LAX, there is construction underway at the airport. You can expect virtually all flights out of there to be delayed 30 - 90 minutes. This can also cause gate hold delays upon landing as the aircraft occupying the gate your aircraft is scheduled into may not have departed yet. I've experienced both in the last few weeks.
- He do love videos of him signing stuff.
- I’m very sorry to hear of your diagnosis, Hattie. Best of luck and here’s hoping for a successful course of treatment. http://www.ginandtacos.com/ today says it very well. I’m so sick and tired of the spineless and disorganized Dems. Also they do such a lousy job of explaining themselves. They let the Repubs talk shit about them and simply sit in the corner with their heads down. What a bunch of losers.
- Deborah @ 15, Kevin Drum has some thoughts on Trump’s early $$ call. http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum Scroll down to “Trump’s Staff…” A million six? Of course I could live on that. I’ll be 73 this year and the cancer is advancing so who knows how much longer I’ll be around. Also there’s that aortal aneurism I have some money put aside (less than a tenth of that mil six) but some and with the checks I get from the State, the VA and SSA I have a pretty decent monthly income. I was reasonably poor most of my life and now suddenly find myself in good financial shape. Given all the circumstances listed above, I’m treating myself to all the things I didn’t have before. I drink good wine, I go to good restaurants, (lunch at Mulvaney’s with T again yesterday finished off with a $25 shot of grappa) if I want something I buy it. It’s fun for now but I don’t know about any future trips. I have a scan next week and a visit with the Doc. We’ll see how things are then. I might need to have somebody go with me on any trips. I’m slowing down, slowly but inexorably. Some idiot at Kaiser keeps sending me those “send me a sample of your shit” kits for colon cancer screening. As if all the CAT scans, PET scans, X-Rays and MRIs wouldn’t notice something. Plus there’s all the chemo I’ve been loading up on over the last couple of years.
- Period after "aneurism".
- Yeah, Sherri. Kaiser moved from colonoscopy to FIT screening about 10 years ago. It’s much cheaper, does a good job of initial screening and is (obviously) much less invasive. If indicated by the FIT screen, they can move on to a c-scope or whatever else is indicated. For myself, all the scans, etc. that I’ve had obviate the need for any butt specific screening. I just don’t know what to say, Joe. You make such huge, breathtaking, non-sequitur leaps from point A to some point off in space that I’m left speechless.
- I'm guessing that 'blow outs' have something to do with hair?
- Hate to be so self-absorbed, but I can’t help it. I had a CT scan and blood work yesterday. The cancer is advancing, which I knew. You can feel that shit inside you. Then I had a visit with my oncologist today. The wonderful Mother Lisa. The chemo I have been taking has stopped working and is killing platelets. So no more chemo at this point for the obvious reasons. Plus I have to build up my platelet count. Mother Lisa is looking for an alternative ‘cocktail’ but I am starting to get pain and things are beginning to look like I’m basically fucked. The only thing is to live as good (sybaritic) a life as I can for as long as I can. So we, the lovely T and I had a great lunch at Mulvaney’s again today and I capped it off with two shots of $25 a hit grappa. Smooth as silk. Jacopo Poli Amorosa di Settembre from the area around Venice. I’m still following everything but it’s hard to focus on the long term when there pretty much isn’t a long term here. Sorry to throw negativity into the mix, but I’ve been around nn.c for a long time and I feel that I should be truthful about things
- Thank you all for your good wishes. Please don't take a break from politics on my account. The current happenings in D.C. are amazing. I think Coozledad is correct in calling a lot of these people traitors. I don't know if they meet the legal definition of what constitutes traitorous behavior – that’s for legal types but they certainly seem to be acting or to have acted in consort with a foreign power against U.S. interests. Republican hypocrisy is breath taking.
- Deborah @73 is correct. I very much enjoy the political talk here.
- Grappa is a clear grape distillate. There are lots of clear fruit distillates out there that are covered by generic names like aguardiente or eau de vie. They range from pear liqueur to slivovitz to cachaca and others. Grappa is an Italian one made from the very last bottom of the barrel stuff that’s left over when the crop has been squeezed dry of all the wine and brandy it contains. It is historically a cheapo peasant drink made for local consumption. Like so many other things now, it has been raised to a new level by enthusiasts. There are a number of producers. These guys make several grappas of different quality at their facility near Venice: http://www.poligrappa.com/eng/product-lines/ I bought some from this place: https://www.missionliquor.com/ What I bought is called Amorosa di Settembre on Poli’s web site and Poli Vespaiolo Grappaioli on Mission’s web site. It ain’t cheap, but, as I think I pointed out, I don’t have any reason to save money.
- Thank you all so much. I didn’t mean to hijack the thread. I don’t know what my next trip will be or if there will even be a next trip. I feel selfish thinking so much about myself when there are such important things happening in our wonderful country. We have allowed ourselves to be hijacked by a bunch of racist, money grubbing greed heads. The Republicans could care less what Trump does as long as they are free to pillage the treasury and the populace and the countryside for their own interests. Trump could suck Putin’s dick on the Today Show and hand over the nuclear suitcase after swallowing and the Republicans could give a shit as long as they were free to pursue their twisted America hating agenda. I’m sipping a nice shot of JP grappa. This is not to say that I’m becoming a drunk. I’m not. But that certainly is an option.
- My best wishes, KathyT. The whole point is to try to retain the best quality of life possible. Keep your head up. I'm with you.
- Danny @6, thanks for the sensitive and welcoming reply to del’s comment. That was just an unprovoked piece of nastiness. What were you thinking?
- Thank you for your concern. I’m still here. It was a rather rough week but I’m feeling a bit better now. We’ll see how it goes.
- I tend to agree with Sheree @23 about the electronics ban. The big three American carriers, American, Delta and United (especially Delta) have been grousing for some time about the perceived unfair advantage afforded to what are called the ME3. That is Qatar, Emirates and Etihad airlines. The electronics ban seems more like a response in this area than any real security concern.
- Sherri. I'm sorry for the bad spelling.
- I pretty much quit drinking some time ago but ended up having some wine and some grappa at lunch today. This was at the wonderful Mulvaney's here in Sacramento. T has developed a relationship with Ms. Mulvaney and the two have become thick as thieves. Today Mulvaney's received a secret stash of abalone which they plan to highlight at dinner tomorrow. They'll save some for us for lunch tomorrow. Can't wait. Haven't had abalone in years.
- This abalone is, by the way, legal. Lord knows what it's going to cost.
- In the area where I worked at the State of California we had plenty of female architects and engineers and project directors. And in supervisory positions as well. For example, our principal architect was a Japanese woman. We had lots of Asians, Hispanics and Islamics (mostly Iranian). But there were no African-Americans. This was not because of some discrimination on the part of our agency. There simply are very few African-Americans in this field. For a solution we have to look to education and recruit people early in school. It has to start with the young ones. We have to look at the big problem of racism in general and not simply address it by attempting to attract African-American architects and engineers. While good to do, it is only a start. I’m feeling pretty OK, but the problems with my leg are starting to get pretty serious. I had to quit chemo because my blood chemistry was getting all screwed up. Now I’m starting radiation next week. Hope it helps.
- Sherri, I wasn’t making a pipeline argument, although the pipeline doesn’t runneth over. What I said was “We have to look at the big problem of racism in general”. The solution to finding people to fill specific types of jobs is bound up in the general problem of attacking racism.
- I had an encounter with sciatica once. It was 10-12 years ago. Same thing. Hellacious pain down right leg. After a couple of days I went to the doc and was referred to some kind of specialist. I forget what he was. First question he asked me was “Where do you carry your wallet?”. Of course the answer was right rear pocket. He nodded sagely, prescribed a muscle relaxant and told me to carry my wallet elsewhere. I took the pills for a couple of days and immediately got a super thin wallet, dumped most of the junk I had been carrying and stuck the wallet in my shirt pocket where it remains to this day. The pain was gone in a few days and has never returned. I turned out that my problem had been caused by sitting with my right butt cheek sitting high on that fat wallet. I removed the cause and the problem went away.
- I know I must have said it before but Sacramento is a wonderful town in which to shop for food. By far the majority of produce, meat, eggs, etc. and even wine comes from within a hundred or so miles. The Safeway I frequent (at 19th and S if it matters) has a bigger wine selection than most liquor stores in places like KY, TN or NC. The produce is wonderful, always right now fresh with a huge selection. Their meat is OK. Chicken? It’s all there, drums, thighs and breasts of every description along with whole chickens. Mostly I buy meat at Taylor’s Market or at Corti Bros. Both have local free range chickens. They have both choice and prime meat. Meat and fish are excellent. Wines? Corti Bros is legendary, otherwise pick a store, including the internet. I don’t shop at Trader Joes. They don’t have anything I can’t find a superior local version of in another store. Yeah, we’re lucky here. This doesn’t even count the farmers market which is huge and has lots to offer even this early in the year.
- Happy birthday, JC! I guess I'm about 2400 miles away from lunch. Maybe one of these days.
- I know I'm a little late, but good luck with your surgery, Deborah. I hope it comes out perfectly.
- Thanks for asking, Deborah. I’m still here and doing both chemo and radiation. The problem with chemo is that the bad stuff grows a resistance quite rapidly and the chemo drug loses its efficacy quickly. So there’s a search for something that might work among a dwindling number of available drugs. And it wasn’t a large number to start with. Anyway, I’m not getting around the way I used to so there aren’t any trips to Europe on the books although I’m hoping to go to Todos Santos for a week with T in the latter part of May. I just don’t have much energy. The drugs will do that to you.
- Sherri, I bought a loaded 13” Dell XPS several years ago. I added everything they had and it was pretty pricey. The screen is fab, in fact the whole thing is wonderful. It’s been all over this country and to Europe how many times? I’ve never had a single problem. I love the thing and can’t recommend it highly enough. The only catch is that for the top of the line model I have you need to bring money. I would guess the current model is improved. Good luck.
- Thank you for expressing your concern. After three surgeries, two rounds of radiation and countless rounds of chemo, here we are. My surgeon recently said there would be no more surgery as the crap had become too invasive. The radiation lady said a couple of weeks ago that there would be no more radiation. Yesterday we had a meeting with my wonderful oncologist who informed me that there was no chemo left to try. The radiation earlier this spring did squat and the chemo just made me sick without doing any good. Last week I canceled my trip to Mexico because I didn’t feel well enough to go. So. Here I am. Only one lung is functioning and my leg is rather messed up so I don’t get around as well as I used to. I can, however, still go to lunch and I can drink. I haven’t been drinking but it’s time for a few glasses of wine, my favorite Straight Line Zinfandel and a few hits of Jacopo Poli’s Vespaiolo Grappa. I had lunch at Biba’s the other day with an old pal, lunch yesterday with the lovely and giving T at Mulvaney’s and tomorrow with another old pal at a new place that has just opened. I’ll try to comment a little more instead of just lurking. So there’s the update.
MichaelG on Thanks be to Zorn.
March 15th, 2007 9:27 pm
MichaelG on Thanks be to Zorn.
March 15th, 2007 9:28 pm
MichaelG on Thanks be to Zorn.
March 16th, 2007 4:13 pm
MichaelG on Phoned in.
March 16th, 2007 9:52 pm
MichaelG on Speaking in tongues.
March 19th, 2007 4:52 pm
MichaelG on If these chairs could talk...
March 21st, 2007 10:42 pm
MichaelG on The rehabilitation.
March 22nd, 2007 10:00 pm
MichaelG on The rehabilitation.
March 23rd, 2007 11:36 pm
MichaelG on Daisy, Daisy...
March 23rd, 2007 11:55 pm
MichaelG on Daisy, Daisy...
March 25th, 2007 1:36 am
MichaelG on Daisy is in the house garage.
March 26th, 2007 5:16 pm
MichaelG on Our colorful language.
April 2nd, 2007 5:09 pm
MichaelG on Our colorful language.
April 3rd, 2007 1:56 am
MichaelG on The fiercer sex.
April 3rd, 2007 5:13 pm
MichaelG on Bitter cold.
April 6th, 2007 6:20 pm
MichaelG on Rashomon in the kitchen.
April 6th, 2007 6:30 pm
MichaelG on Rashomon in the kitchen.
April 7th, 2007 2:01 am
MichaelG on A note on readership.
April 9th, 2007 5:28 pm
MichaelG on A note on readership.
April 9th, 2007 8:10 pm
MichaelG on High-def guilt.
April 10th, 2007 9:35 pm
MichaelG on Happy birthday to you.
April 11th, 2007 10:44 pm
MichaelG on Happy birthday to you.
April 12th, 2007 12:22 am
MichaelG on The very expensive trash can.
April 16th, 2007 6:48 pm
MichaelG on Iggy.
April 16th, 2007 7:32 pm
MichaelG on The very expensive trash can.
April 16th, 2007 11:55 pm
MichaelG on Rude, thoughtless, c'est moi.
April 21st, 2007 3:18 am
MichaelG on Ahead of the curve.
April 24th, 2007 8:51 pm
MichaelG on Drive.
April 25th, 2007 7:31 pm
MichaelG on Drive.
April 25th, 2007 10:55 pm
MichaelG on Adam and Ben-Hur.
April 27th, 2007 10:24 pm
MichaelG on The silver-tongued devil.
April 28th, 2007 5:42 am
MichaelG on Sekhu, the Remains.
April 30th, 2007 10:01 pm
MichaelG on Four more years.
May 2nd, 2007 3:44 pm
MichaelG on Ow.
May 2nd, 2007 4:46 pm
MichaelG on Ow.
May 2nd, 2007 6:21 pm
MichaelG on Four more years.
May 2nd, 2007 8:22 pm
MichaelG on Ow.
May 3rd, 2007 2:14 am
MichaelG on Ow.
May 3rd, 2007 2:21 am
MichaelG on Ow.
May 3rd, 2007 3:42 pm
MichaelG on What a boob.
May 3rd, 2007 9:39 pm
MichaelG on No man is a hero to his valet.
May 8th, 2007 9:30 pm
MichaelG on Let us give thanks.
May 11th, 2007 5:05 pm
MichaelG on Let us give thanks.
May 11th, 2007 6:11 pm
MichaelG on Let us give thanks.
May 13th, 2007 1:57 am
MichaelG on Cn u rd ths?
May 17th, 2007 2:54 am
MichaelG on The state boys.
May 17th, 2007 7:52 pm
MichaelG on The state boys.
May 18th, 2007 12:59 am
MichaelG on The state boys.
May 18th, 2007 6:54 pm
MichaelG on Trend story in the hole!
May 21st, 2007 7:31 pm
MichaelG on That special day.
May 22nd, 2007 4:15 pm
MichaelG on That special day.
May 23rd, 2007 4:58 am
MichaelG on Peanuts and Cracker Jack.
May 24th, 2007 5:09 pm
MichaelG on Blowout, and blowoff.
May 28th, 2007 4:41 am
MichaelG on Your tax dollars.
May 30th, 2007 8:55 pm
MichaelG on "You've got gonorrhea, Baker."
May 31st, 2007 3:28 pm
MichaelG on Got a match?
May 31st, 2007 5:16 pm
MichaelG on Got a match?
May 31st, 2007 5:17 pm
MichaelG on "You've got gonorrhea, Baker."
May 31st, 2007 10:22 pm
MichaelG on Crabby.
June 5th, 2007 4:18 pm
MichaelG on Crabby.
June 5th, 2007 6:12 pm
MichaelG on Soccer-momitude.
June 7th, 2007 11:38 pm
MichaelG on Nobody asked me.
June 8th, 2007 6:50 pm
MichaelG on See, a Prius couldn't do that.
June 13th, 2007 3:17 pm
MichaelG on Karma-buffing.
June 19th, 2007 5:41 pm
MichaelG on The living will envy the dead.
June 20th, 2007 3:10 pm
MichaelG on Little Miss Rantypants.
June 25th, 2007 5:49 pm
MichaelG on Little Miss Rantypants.
June 25th, 2007 5:53 pm
michaelG on In a whiner key.
July 6th, 2007 3:51 pm
michaelG on Room for one more?
July 6th, 2007 8:53 pm
MichaelG on Room for one more?
July 7th, 2007 6:20 pm
MichaelG on Room for one more?
July 8th, 2007 12:06 am
MichaelG on Mixed salad, today.
July 12th, 2007 8:11 pm
MichaelG on Mixed salad, today.
July 12th, 2007 9:29 pm
MichaelG on "Beaverton, cut to the chase"
July 13th, 2007 6:52 pm
MichaelG on "Beaverton, cut to the chase"
July 15th, 2007 5:12 am
MichaelG on "Beaverton, cut to the chase"
July 15th, 2007 7:11 pm
MichaelG on "Beaverton, cut to the chase"
July 15th, 2007 9:28 pm
MichaelG on "Beaverton, cut to the chase"
July 15th, 2007 11:25 pm
MichaelG on "Beaverton, cut to the chase"
July 16th, 2007 4:27 am
MichaelG on "Beaverton, cut to the chase"
July 16th, 2007 5:30 am
MichaelG on They all look alike.
July 17th, 2007 11:27 pm
MichaelG on Hiatus.
July 18th, 2007 4:30 pm
MichaelG on Hiatus.
July 18th, 2007 6:28 pm
MichaelG on Hiatus.
July 18th, 2007 10:34 pm
MichaelG on Hiatus.
July 19th, 2007 2:39 pm
MichaelG on Hiatus.
July 19th, 2007 3:04 pm
MichaelG on We're back.
July 25th, 2007 10:14 pm
MichaelG on We're back.
July 26th, 2007 5:37 am
MichaelG on A good read.
August 3rd, 2007 4:39 pm
MichaelG on How insensitive.
August 3rd, 2007 7:46 pm
MichaelG on How insensitive.
August 3rd, 2007 9:41 pm
MichaelG on Movie post.
August 8th, 2007 12:52 am
MichaelG on Movie post.
August 8th, 2007 3:05 pm
MichaelG on Movie post.
August 8th, 2007 4:50 pm
MichaelG on Movie post.
August 9th, 2007 12:36 am
MichaelG on One more movie post.
August 9th, 2007 8:18 pm
MichaelG on Languagecrime.
August 9th, 2007 8:27 pm
MichaelG on Languagecrime.
August 10th, 2007 5:41 am
MichaelG on Sic 'em.
August 13th, 2007 2:55 pm
MichaelG on Sic 'em.
August 13th, 2007 4:42 pm
MichaelG on Sic 'em.
August 13th, 2007 7:21 pm
MichaelG on Fluffy little lamb.
August 15th, 2007 4:05 pm
MichaelG on Academy of the Overrated.
August 21st, 2007 4:44 pm
MichaelG on Bad browser.
August 23rd, 2007 4:46 pm
MichaelG on Bad browser.
August 23rd, 2007 6:29 pm
MichaelG on A must to avoid.
August 23rd, 2007 9:23 pm
MichaelG on A must to avoid.
August 23rd, 2007 11:18 pm
MichaelG on A must to avoid.
August 24th, 2007 4:19 am
MichaelG on Shocked, shocked.
August 28th, 2007 4:00 pm
MichaelG on Shocked, shocked.
August 28th, 2007 7:44 pm
MichaelG on Shocked, shocked.
August 28th, 2007 10:07 pm
MichaelG on Shocked, shocked.
August 29th, 2007 2:46 pm
MichaelG on What's your stance?
August 29th, 2007 4:31 pm
MichaelG on They are not OK.
August 30th, 2007 5:24 am
MichaelG on They are not OK.
August 30th, 2007 2:47 pm
MichaelG on This is the end.
August 31st, 2007 8:07 pm
MichaelG on First of the fall...
September 4th, 2007 9:29 pm
MichaelG on First of the fall...
September 5th, 2007 3:36 pm
MichaelG on Hybrid life.
September 5th, 2007 11:01 pm
MichaelG on Hybrid life.
September 6th, 2007 2:47 pm
MichaelG on Hybrid life.
September 6th, 2007 4:24 pm
MichaelG on Bravo.
September 7th, 2007 12:50 am
MichaelG on Now we are 16.
September 7th, 2007 7:33 pm
MichaelG on The Nalls.
September 8th, 2007 1:54 am
MichaelG on Subprime blues.
September 10th, 2007 2:59 pm
MichaelG on Headlines.
September 13th, 2007 5:47 pm
MichaelG on Headlines.
September 13th, 2007 6:42 pm
MichaelG on Headlines.
September 13th, 2007 11:12 pm
MichaelG on Animal Cops: Detroit.
September 15th, 2007 10:20 pm
MichaelG on What the--?
September 19th, 2007 1:16 am
MichaelG on That kind of Catholic.
September 19th, 2007 7:43 pm
MichaelG on That kind of Catholic.
September 20th, 2007 1:37 am
MichaelG on The Selectric years.
September 21st, 2007 3:45 am
MichaelG on Be helpful.
September 26th, 2007 9:05 pm
MichaelG on Company town.
September 27th, 2007 5:50 pm
MichaelG on Here's a hoop. Jump.
September 29th, 2007 6:24 pm
MichaelG on Sport or game?
October 3rd, 2007 8:00 pm
MichaelG on HBOver.
October 3rd, 2007 9:48 pm
MichaelG on Sport or game?
October 3rd, 2007 9:55 pm
MichaelG on Sport or game?
October 4th, 2007 4:12 pm
MichaelG on The afghan of death.
October 4th, 2007 6:32 pm
MichaelG on The afghan of death.
October 4th, 2007 6:42 pm
MichaelG on The afghan of death.
October 4th, 2007 11:28 pm
MichaelG on Still summer.
October 6th, 2007 10:52 pm
MichaelG on The disappearing necktie.
October 10th, 2007 8:49 pm
MichaelG on The disappearing necktie.
October 11th, 2007 4:24 pm
MichaelG on Twittery.
October 12th, 2007 2:41 pm
MichaelG on I'd go into hiding.
October 12th, 2007 4:37 pm
MichaelG on Dear Gov. Richardson:
October 15th, 2007 4:04 pm
MichaelG on Dear Gov. Richardson:
October 15th, 2007 6:52 pm
MichaelG on Fashion is all about influences.
October 16th, 2007 4:13 pm
MichaelG on Win the costume contest.
October 19th, 2007 8:41 pm
MichaelG on Win the costume contest.
October 19th, 2007 11:51 pm
MichaelG on A man of many facets.
October 24th, 2007 5:34 pm
MichaelG on As seen on "Mad Men"
October 25th, 2007 4:07 pm
MichaelG on As seen on "Mad Men"
October 25th, 2007 4:52 pm
MichaelG on As seen on "Mad Men"
October 25th, 2007 9:47 pm
MichaelG on As seen on "Mad Men"
October 25th, 2007 11:20 pm
MichaelG on As seen on "Mad Men"
October 26th, 2007 3:11 pm
MichaelG on Where were we?
October 26th, 2007 9:00 pm
MichaelG on Dogworld.
October 29th, 2007 3:48 pm
MichaelG on Dogworld.
October 29th, 2007 5:16 pm
MichaelG on Area man.
October 30th, 2007 5:55 pm
MichaelG on The haul-out.
November 3rd, 2007 4:33 am
MichaelG on Sawdust.
November 6th, 2007 1:22 am
MichaelG on You are Miss Citizen Fair.
November 8th, 2007 4:45 pm
MichaelG on Tighten that belt.
November 8th, 2007 7:26 pm
MichaelG on Tighten that belt.
November 8th, 2007 10:39 pm
MichaelG on Ouch.
November 9th, 2007 10:42 pm
MichaelG on Ouch.
November 10th, 2007 12:58 am
MichaelG on Sea to shining sea.
November 20th, 2007 7:08 pm
MichaelG on What I'm thankful for.
November 21st, 2007 10:54 pm
MichaelG on Type A, positive.
November 26th, 2007 6:42 pm
MichaelG on Type A, positive.
November 26th, 2007 10:29 pm
MichaelG on The whole world's a graveyard.
November 28th, 2007 11:53 pm
MichaelG on The Bucks and the Blue.
November 30th, 2007 2:57 am
MichaelG on The natural diuretic.
November 30th, 2007 9:56 pm
MichaelG on Call it, friend-o.
December 3rd, 2007 5:08 pm
MichaelG on Call it, friend-o.
December 3rd, 2007 9:09 pm
MichaelG on Call it, friend-o.
December 4th, 2007 7:22 pm
MichaelG on What's it worth to you?
December 5th, 2007 6:23 pm
MichaelG on Advent for sinners.
December 5th, 2007 8:57 pm
MichaelG on Advent for sinners.
December 5th, 2007 10:47 pm
MichaelG on What I saw at the execution.
December 10th, 2007 7:55 pm
MichaelG on What I saw at the execution.
December 11th, 2007 3:14 am
MichaelG on The classics endure.
December 11th, 2007 9:56 pm
MichaelG on The classics endure.
December 11th, 2007 10:42 pm
MichaelG on The classics endure.
December 12th, 2007 1:14 am
MichaelG on Someone needs some juice.
December 15th, 2007 11:01 pm
MichaelG on Someone needs some juice.
December 16th, 2007 1:12 am
MichaelG on In the lane, snow is glist'nin'...
December 17th, 2007 6:53 am
MichaelG on In the lane, snow is glist'nin'...
December 17th, 2007 4:56 pm
MichaelG on In the lane, snow is glist'nin'...
December 17th, 2007 6:03 pm
MichaelG on Soup for one.
December 17th, 2007 10:49 pm
MichaelG on Soup for one.
December 18th, 2007 12:07 am
MichaelG on It's a Fort Wayne Christmas...
December 24th, 2007 7:39 pm
MichaelG on It's a Fort Wayne Christmas...
December 27th, 2007 11:37 pm
MichaelG on On the first day of Kwanzaa...
December 27th, 2007 11:38 pm
MichaelG on Cancel my subscription.
December 27th, 2007 11:47 pm
MichaelG on Cancel my subscription.
December 28th, 2007 10:20 pm
MichaelG on The last word in 2007.
December 28th, 2007 10:24 pm
MichaelG on Our communities, ourselves.
January 2nd, 2008 5:24 pm
MichaelG on Our communities, ourselves.
January 2nd, 2008 10:20 pm
MichaelG on What's for lunch?
January 3rd, 2008 4:55 pm
MichaelG on Our communities, ourselves.
January 3rd, 2008 5:29 pm
MichaelG on And sometimes, just drunks.
January 4th, 2008 5:02 pm
MichaelG on Little extravagances.
January 7th, 2008 5:13 pm
MichaelG on Little extravagances.
January 7th, 2008 6:20 pm
MichaelG on Little extravagances.
January 7th, 2008 8:44 pm
MichaelG on Little extravagances.
January 7th, 2008 10:37 pm
MichaelG on Michael's world.
January 8th, 2008 12:15 am
MichaelG on Michael's world.
January 8th, 2008 1:29 am
MichaelG on Michael's world.
January 8th, 2008 3:48 am
MichaelG on Michael's world.
January 8th, 2008 4:47 pm
MichaelG on Michael's world.
January 9th, 2008 3:06 am
MichaelG on The un-election.
January 12th, 2008 2:40 am
MichaelG on The un-election.
January 14th, 2008 5:15 pm
MichaelG on Rolling with the bulls.
January 14th, 2008 7:07 pm
MichaelG on Rolling with the bulls.
January 14th, 2008 7:48 pm
MichaelG on Rolling with the bulls.
January 14th, 2008 8:51 pm
MichaelG on The Mitten takes off the gloves.
January 14th, 2008 11:22 pm
MichaelG on The Mitten takes off the gloves.
January 15th, 2008 1:01 am
MichaelG on Mitt's mitten.
January 16th, 2008 8:51 pm
MichaelG on Mitt's mitten.
January 17th, 2008 4:43 pm
MichaelG on Is anybody there?
January 18th, 2008 5:19 pm
MichaelG on The cold is coming.
January 18th, 2008 10:40 pm
MichaelG on The cold is coming.
January 19th, 2008 8:23 am
MichaelG on The cold is coming.
January 20th, 2008 1:53 am
MichaelG on Live capability all over the place.
January 21st, 2008 8:57 pm
MichaelG on Digital lipstick on his collar.
January 24th, 2008 11:36 pm
MichaelG on Digital lipstick on his collar.
January 25th, 2008 8:57 pm
MichaelG on Shoot him 'fore he run, now.
January 26th, 2008 11:46 pm
MichaelG on A tough town in January.
January 31st, 2008 5:32 pm
MichaelG on Our paperless society.
February 1st, 2008 1:00 am
MichaelG on We dabble in the arts.
February 5th, 2008 5:18 pm
MichaelG on We dabble in the arts.
February 5th, 2008 8:09 pm
MichaelG on We dabble in the arts.
February 5th, 2008 9:46 pm
MichaelG on Fat Tuesday.
February 6th, 2008 5:13 pm
MichaelG on Fat Tuesday.
February 6th, 2008 10:57 pm
MichaelG on Drug-seeking behavior.
February 7th, 2008 6:40 pm
MichaelG on Drug-seeking behavior.
February 7th, 2008 7:15 pm
MichaelG on Drug-seeking behavior.
February 8th, 2008 2:31 am
MichaelG on The local landscape.
February 8th, 2008 7:46 pm
MichaelG on The local landscape.
February 10th, 2008 10:07 pm
MichaelG on Our changing language.
February 12th, 2008 7:40 pm
MichaelG on Hello, dolly.
February 12th, 2008 7:50 pm
MichaelG on Hello, dolly.
February 12th, 2008 8:28 pm
MichaelG on Hello, dolly.
February 13th, 2008 4:56 pm
MichaelG on Are editors necessary?
February 19th, 2008 12:19 am
MichaelG on Are editors necessary?
February 19th, 2008 1:02 am
MichaelG on You shoulda been there, Brian.
February 25th, 2008 5:06 pm
MichaelG on All-trivia edition.
February 27th, 2008 1:31 am
MichaelG on To catch a self-abuser.
February 28th, 2008 6:15 pm
MichaelG on To catch a self-abuser.
February 29th, 2008 1:44 am
MichaelG on Copycat.
March 1st, 2008 9:06 pm
MichaelG on Copycat.
March 1st, 2008 9:38 pm
MichaelG on Notes from the crater.
March 2nd, 2008 9:55 pm
MichaelG on Notes from the crater.
March 3rd, 2008 12:49 am
MichaelG on A house divided.
March 5th, 2008 11:44 pm
MichaelG on A house divided.
March 6th, 2008 7:31 am
MichaelG on A house divided.
March 6th, 2008 4:37 pm
MichaelG on Phoned-in Phriday.
March 8th, 2008 11:26 pm
MichaelG on A little interlude.
March 13th, 2008 1:19 am
MichaelG on A little interlude.
March 13th, 2008 2:52 pm
MichaelG on The whore's look.
March 13th, 2008 5:44 pm
MichaelG on The whore's look.
March 14th, 2008 3:06 pm
MichaelG on Ripped from the headlines.
March 19th, 2008 3:49 pm
MichaelG on Friday talkies.
March 21st, 2008 9:45 pm
MichaelG on Have at it, you vultures.
March 22nd, 2008 7:25 pm
MichaelG on Have at it, you vultures.
March 22nd, 2008 7:37 pm
MichaelG on I missed the memo.
March 25th, 2008 3:32 pm
MichaelG on I missed the memo.
March 25th, 2008 5:16 pm
MichaelG on Breaking Bad.
March 26th, 2008 6:33 pm
MichaelG on Breaking Bad.
March 26th, 2008 10:06 pm
MichaelG on Open for business.
April 3rd, 2008 12:00 am
MichaelG on Yes, he's a DEMOCRAT.
April 3rd, 2008 12:12 am
MichaelG on Very bad news.
April 3rd, 2008 3:47 pm
MichaelG on Excitable boy.
April 3rd, 2008 5:46 pm
MichaelG on We'll drive.
April 4th, 2008 7:40 pm
MichaelG on We'll drive.
April 4th, 2008 7:52 pm
MichaelG on We'll drive.
April 4th, 2008 11:29 pm
MichaelG on We'll drive.
April 4th, 2008 11:29 pm
MichaelG on We'll drive.
April 5th, 2008 7:17 pm
MichaelG on We'll drive.
April 5th, 2008 8:19 pm
MichaelG on Forget it, Jake.
April 13th, 2008 8:34 pm
MichaelG on Forget it, Jake.
April 14th, 2008 1:26 am
MichaelG on Forget it, Jake.
April 14th, 2008 5:38 am
MichaelG on Forget it, Jake.
April 14th, 2008 4:07 pm
MichaelG on Stupid things, facts.
April 14th, 2008 8:33 pm
MichaelG on Stupid things, facts.
April 15th, 2008 12:21 am
MichaelG on Stupid things, facts.
April 15th, 2008 5:32 pm
MichaelG on Our Hillary problem.
April 15th, 2008 5:45 pm
MichaelG on Our Hillary problem.
April 16th, 2008 2:12 am
MichaelG on Bonehead.
April 16th, 2008 7:23 pm
MichaelG on Bonehead.
April 16th, 2008 8:23 pm
MichaelG on Oh, totally.
April 17th, 2008 9:31 pm
MichaelG on To the plastic mattresses.
April 21st, 2008 6:26 pm
MichaelG on Busy busy busy.
April 22nd, 2008 7:54 pm
MichaelG on A nation turns its eyes...
April 24th, 2008 6:16 pm
MichaelG on A nation turns its eyes...
April 24th, 2008 10:37 pm
MichaelG on Off the Florida keys.
April 24th, 2008 10:41 pm
MichaelG on The naughty bits.
May 1st, 2008 1:49 am
MichaelG on The naughty bits.
May 1st, 2008 3:54 pm
MichaelG on Glorious freedom.
May 1st, 2008 6:22 pm
MichaelG on Glorious freedom.
May 1st, 2008 6:26 pm
MichaelG on How it went.
May 9th, 2008 4:30 am
MichaelG on How it went.
May 9th, 2008 3:44 pm
MichaelG on Marital aids.
May 13th, 2008 4:45 am
MichaelG on The service economy.
May 13th, 2008 7:37 pm
MichaelG on The service economy.
May 13th, 2008 10:59 pm
MichaelG on Today, I'm Pat Parsley.*
May 15th, 2008 6:36 am
MichaelG on Today, I'm Pat Parsley.*
May 15th, 2008 6:48 am
MichaelG on Two for the road.
May 19th, 2008 3:47 pm
MichaelG on Beyond the fence.
May 20th, 2008 7:37 pm
MichaelG on They talk funny.
May 21st, 2008 3:51 pm
MichaelG on You guys can drive.
May 21st, 2008 11:40 pm
MichaelG on It's just fun to say: Mulch.
May 22nd, 2008 7:16 pm
MichaelG on It's just fun to say: Mulch.
May 23rd, 2008 3:47 pm
MichaelG on It's just fun to say: Mulch.
May 23rd, 2008 5:07 pm
MichaelG on Internal derangement.
May 23rd, 2008 10:38 pm
MichaelG on Don't count them out.
May 27th, 2008 8:58 pm
MichaelG on Less pump pain.
May 28th, 2008 8:53 pm
MichaelG on Less pump pain.
May 28th, 2008 10:32 pm
MichaelG on Less pump pain.
May 29th, 2008 4:09 pm
MichaelG on The long drive.
June 1st, 2008 9:11 pm
MichaelG on Sunday fried fish.
June 2nd, 2008 6:10 pm
MichaelG on Sunday fried fish.
June 2nd, 2008 7:00 pm
MichaelG on The end, finally.
June 5th, 2008 7:00 pm
MichaelG on I love you guys.
June 6th, 2008 9:02 pm
MichaelG on I love you guys.
June 8th, 2008 5:19 am
MichaelG on I love you guys.
June 9th, 2008 6:14 am
MichaelG on I love you guys.
June 9th, 2008 3:36 pm
MichaelG on The props.
June 9th, 2008 5:35 pm
MichaelG on Just keep driving.
June 10th, 2008 5:25 pm
MichaelG on Just keep driving.
June 10th, 2008 8:13 pm
MichaelG on Just keep driving.
June 11th, 2008 12:23 am
MichaelG on No more pencils.
June 11th, 2008 5:06 pm
MichaelG on No more pencils.
June 11th, 2008 6:24 pm
MichaelG on No more pencils.
June 11th, 2008 11:54 pm
MichaelG on No more pencils.
June 12th, 2008 4:08 pm
MichaelG on Baby mama drama.
June 12th, 2008 10:27 pm
MichaelG on Brief hiatus.
June 16th, 2008 10:32 pm
MichaelG on Brief hiatus.
June 17th, 2008 3:59 pm
MichaelG on Get you six mo'.
June 17th, 2008 9:59 pm
MichaelG on If it keeps on rainin'...
June 20th, 2008 7:09 pm
MichaelG on If it keeps on rainin'...
June 20th, 2008 9:28 pm
MichaelG on If it keeps on rainin'...
June 21st, 2008 7:01 pm
MichaelG on If it keeps on rainin'...
June 21st, 2008 10:38 pm
MichaelG on If it keeps on rainin'...
June 22nd, 2008 2:24 am
MichaelG on If it keeps on rainin'...
June 22nd, 2008 4:54 am
MichaelG on If it keeps on rainin'...
June 23rd, 2008 9:05 pm
MichaelG on Revenue streams.
June 26th, 2008 1:35 am
MichaelG on Revenue streams.
June 26th, 2008 3:07 am
MichaelG on Revenue streams.
June 26th, 2008 4:27 pm
MichaelG on A way of looking at things.
June 26th, 2008 9:11 pm
MichaelG on We can do it.
July 1st, 2008 5:15 am
MichaelG on A little levity.
July 1st, 2008 5:47 am
MichaelG on A little levity.
July 1st, 2008 3:48 pm
MichaelG on We can do it.
July 1st, 2008 3:50 pm
MichaelG on Where I'm calling from.
July 1st, 2008 5:27 pm
MichaelG on Mixed grill on Wednesday.
July 3rd, 2008 9:45 pm
MichaelG on At last.
July 9th, 2008 6:41 pm
MichaelG on At last.
July 9th, 2008 10:03 pm
MichaelG on You can't fire me...
July 10th, 2008 4:31 am
MichaelG on You can't fire me...
July 10th, 2008 4:05 pm
MichaelG on No, I am Bossy.
July 11th, 2008 2:24 am
MichaelG on On hiatus.
July 12th, 2008 11:24 pm
MichaelG on Postcard.
July 16th, 2008 3:55 pm
MichaelG on Postcard.
July 16th, 2008 9:28 pm
MichaelG on Postcard II.
July 16th, 2008 9:33 pm
MichaelG on Postcard II.
July 17th, 2008 6:29 am
MichaelG on Postcard II.
July 17th, 2008 3:42 pm
MichaelG on Postcard II.
July 17th, 2008 5:18 pm
MichaelG on Postcard II.
July 18th, 2008 12:14 am
MichaelG on Postcard II.
July 18th, 2008 2:42 am
MichaelG on Postcard II.
July 20th, 2008 12:31 am
MichaelG on DTW.
July 21st, 2008 3:57 pm
MichaelG on DTW.
July 21st, 2008 5:28 pm
MichaelG on Refill on that?
July 22nd, 2008 5:31 pm
MichaelG on Refill on that?
July 23rd, 2008 8:47 pm
MichaelG on Parasites.
July 24th, 2008 7:23 pm
MichaelG on What election?
July 31st, 2008 6:10 pm
MichaelG on Almost famous.
August 8th, 2008 12:47 am
MichaelG on What gets left.
August 13th, 2008 10:56 pm
MichaelG on What gets left.
August 14th, 2008 12:36 am
MichaelG on Saturday sailbloggimg.
August 18th, 2008 6:59 am
MichaelG on Saturday sailbloggimg.
August 18th, 2008 4:06 pm
MichaelG on Saturday sailbloggimg.
August 18th, 2008 5:49 pm
MichaelG on Procrastination.
August 18th, 2008 7:50 pm
MichaelG on Write like Mitch.
August 19th, 2008 2:16 am
MichaelG on Items in search of a blog.
August 21st, 2008 4:02 pm
MichaelG on The kids are alright.
August 21st, 2008 8:49 pm
MichaelG on The kids are alright.
August 21st, 2008 9:15 pm
MichaelG on The kids are alright.
August 22nd, 2008 12:35 am
MichaelG on The transitional period.
August 22nd, 2008 7:02 pm
MichaelG on The transitional period.
August 23rd, 2008 4:38 am
MichaelG on Biden?
August 24th, 2008 1:41 am
MichaelG on Biden?
August 25th, 2008 6:55 pm
MichaelG on The Foob wedding.
August 25th, 2008 11:48 pm
MichaelG on The Foob wedding.
August 25th, 2008 11:58 pm
MichaelG on The Foob wedding.
August 26th, 2008 1:43 am
MichaelG on Mr. Segretti, call your office.
August 27th, 2008 8:23 pm
MichaelG on Mr. Segretti, call your office.
August 27th, 2008 11:08 pm
MichaelG on Mr. Segretti, call your office.
August 28th, 2008 2:33 am
MichaelG on Mr. Segretti, call your office.
August 28th, 2008 2:53 am
MichaelG on Mr. Segretti, call your office.
August 28th, 2008 2:54 am
MichaelG on Mr. Segretti, call your office.
August 28th, 2008 3:45 pm
MichaelG on Street smarts.
August 29th, 2008 2:16 am
MichaelG on Whew. I need a cigarette.
August 29th, 2008 8:15 pm
MichaelG on Whew. I need a cigarette.
August 29th, 2008 8:39 pm
MichaelG on Whew. I need a cigarette.
August 29th, 2008 11:07 pm
MichaelG on What a weasel wants.
August 30th, 2008 1:42 am
MichaelG on A small rant.
August 31st, 2008 8:59 pm
MichaelG on A small rant.
August 31st, 2008 9:07 pm
MichaelG on Labor Day parade.
September 1st, 2008 8:11 pm
MichaelG on Labor Day parade.
September 2nd, 2008 3:41 pm
MichaelG on Creative differences.
September 4th, 2008 1:40 am
MichaelG on Creative differences.
September 4th, 2008 9:17 pm
MichaelG on The end of everything.
September 5th, 2008 1:47 am
MichaelG on The end of everything.
September 5th, 2008 7:11 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 6th, 2008 11:01 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 6th, 2008 11:31 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 7th, 2008 8:28 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 7th, 2008 8:37 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 7th, 2008 9:55 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 8th, 2008 5:49 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 8th, 2008 3:47 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 8th, 2008 3:48 pm
MichaelG on Home of the losers.
September 9th, 2008 6:55 pm
MichaelG on Home of the losers.
September 9th, 2008 11:15 pm
MichaelG on Home of the losers.
September 10th, 2008 3:50 pm
MichaelG on Like this.
September 10th, 2008 4:04 pm
MichaelG on Like this.
September 10th, 2008 6:29 pm
MichaelG on No comment.
September 10th, 2008 6:46 pm
MichaelG on The silent minority.
September 11th, 2008 3:55 pm
MichaelG on Not about cathedrals.
September 11th, 2008 6:05 pm
MichaelG on Not about cathedrals.
September 11th, 2008 7:36 pm
MichaelG on Not about cathedrals.
September 12th, 2008 4:03 pm
MichaelG on Hi, neighbor.
September 12th, 2008 8:31 pm
MichaelG on The squared circle.
September 12th, 2008 8:37 pm
MichaelG on The squared circle.
September 13th, 2008 7:38 am
MichaelG on The house with the tarp.
September 17th, 2008 9:58 pm
MichaelG on The house with the tarp.
September 18th, 2008 2:28 am
MichaelG on The house with the tarp.
September 18th, 2008 2:40 am
MichaelG on The house with the tarp.
September 18th, 2008 3:53 pm
MichaelG on The house with the tarp.
September 19th, 2008 1:22 am
MichaelG on Sigh.
September 19th, 2008 1:25 am
MichaelG on Arrival.
September 20th, 2008 8:02 pm
MichaelG on The threatening cloud.
September 21st, 2008 2:22 am
MichaelG on The threatening cloud.
September 21st, 2008 3:09 am
MichaelG on Slouching toward Wall St.
September 22nd, 2008 7:33 pm
MichaelG on Two this and a that.
September 24th, 2008 2:24 am
MichaelG on Testosterone poisoning.
September 26th, 2008 3:46 pm
MichaelG on TEOTWAWKI.
September 27th, 2008 6:58 pm
MichaelG on TEOTWAWKI.
September 28th, 2008 2:20 am
MichaelG on Send caffeine.
September 29th, 2008 6:08 pm
MichaelG on Send caffeine.
September 29th, 2008 7:42 pm
MichaelG on Send caffeine.
September 30th, 2008 1:47 am
MichaelG on Urban renewal
October 3rd, 2008 2:57 am
MichaelG on Paging Tim Gunn.
October 3rd, 2008 8:04 pm
MichaelG on Paging Tim Gunn.
October 4th, 2008 12:17 am
MichaelG on Paging Tim Gunn.
October 4th, 2008 9:01 am
MichaelG on Paging Tim Gunn.
October 5th, 2008 1:15 am
MichaelG on Just doing our part.
October 6th, 2008 6:56 pm
MichaelG on Just doing our part.
October 6th, 2008 11:56 pm
MichaelG on Advantage: That one.
October 9th, 2008 12:58 am
MichaelG on What are the odds?
October 9th, 2008 3:58 pm
MichaelG on A few words about moose.
October 9th, 2008 7:27 pm
MichaelG on A few words about moose.
October 10th, 2008 3:51 pm
MichaelG on Swallowed up.
October 13th, 2008 9:16 pm
MichaelG on Bye.
October 15th, 2008 2:14 am
MichaelG on Don't light a match.
October 15th, 2008 7:54 pm
MichaelG on Don't light a match.
October 15th, 2008 9:49 pm
MichaelG on Caught up.
October 16th, 2008 8:55 pm
MichaelG on The continuing crisis.
October 16th, 2008 11:14 pm
MichaelG on But, but...it's organic!
October 21st, 2008 9:38 pm
MichaelG on But, but...it's organic!
October 22nd, 2008 1:30 am
MichaelG on But, but...it's organic!
October 22nd, 2008 1:36 am
MichaelG on Look sharp.
October 22nd, 2008 8:50 pm
MichaelG on Look sharp.
October 22nd, 2008 10:51 pm
MichaelG on Old man smell.
October 23rd, 2008 9:01 pm
MichaelG on Old man smell.
October 23rd, 2008 9:51 pm
MichaelG on Old man smell.
October 24th, 2008 2:25 am
MichaelG on Tawana told a lie.
October 26th, 2008 6:52 am
MichaelG on The pink heels.
October 27th, 2008 9:58 pm
MichaelG on A silver lining.
October 30th, 2008 2:23 am
MichaelJ on A silver lining.
October 30th, 2008 3:51 pm
MichaelJ on A silver lining.
October 30th, 2008 4:03 pm
MichaelJ on A silver lining.
October 30th, 2008 5:04 pm
MichaelJ on Shopping list: Sugar.
October 30th, 2008 11:36 pm
MichaelG on They haven't changed.
October 31st, 2008 1:12 am
MichaelG on Spooky business.
November 1st, 2008 5:46 am
MichaelG on Spooky business.
November 1st, 2008 7:32 am
MichaelG on Spooky business.
November 1st, 2008 6:43 pm
MichaelG on Yes we carve!
November 1st, 2008 10:35 pm
MichaelG on The witch on the block.
November 3rd, 2008 6:59 pm
MichaelG on Sleeping in.
November 4th, 2008 7:11 pm
MichaelG on Polls-closed/closing thread.
November 5th, 2008 6:20 am
MichaelG on Polls-closed/closing thread.
November 5th, 2008 6:24 am
MichaelG on Polls-closed/closing thread.
November 5th, 2008 7:36 am
MichaelG on Polls-closed/closing thread.
November 5th, 2008 8:21 am
MichaelG on Polls-closed/closing thread.
November 5th, 2008 9:04 am
MichaelG on Now let's see the puppy.
November 5th, 2008 7:04 pm
MichaelG on Now let's see the puppy.
November 5th, 2008 7:46 pm
MichaelG on Now let's see the puppy.
November 5th, 2008 10:37 pm
MichaelG on Slash and burn.
November 6th, 2008 9:07 pm
MichaelG on A question for the room.
November 8th, 2008 12:29 am
MichaelG on Let's ask the group.
November 8th, 2008 2:28 am
MichaelG on Let's ask the group.
November 8th, 2008 7:46 am
MichaelG on Let's ask the group.
November 9th, 2008 10:02 pm
MichaelG on Street-legal.
November 13th, 2008 6:12 pm
MichaelG on Carb-loading.
November 14th, 2008 4:00 am
MichaelG on Look, a shiny object!
November 14th, 2008 9:05 pm
MichaelG on Look, a shiny object!
November 15th, 2008 9:13 am
MichaelG on What the market wants.
November 20th, 2008 3:31 am
MichaelG on What the market wants.
November 20th, 2008 4:21 am
MichaelG on What the market wants.
November 20th, 2008 5:02 pm
MichaelG on Link hors d'oeuvres.
November 20th, 2008 8:40 pm
MichaelG on Link hors d'oeuvres.
November 21st, 2008 5:52 am
MichaelG on Friday, finally.
November 21st, 2008 4:53 pm
MichaelG on Friday, finally.
November 22nd, 2008 2:19 am
MichaelG on Another one gone.
November 25th, 2008 4:41 pm
MichaelG on Another one gone.
November 25th, 2008 9:07 pm
MichaelG on Some side dishes.
November 26th, 2008 7:53 pm
Michael on Some side dishes.
November 27th, 2008 1:29 am
MichaelG on It's not you, it's me.
December 1st, 2008 6:52 pm
MichaelG on It's not you, it's me.
December 1st, 2008 9:17 pm
MichaelG on It's not you, it's me.
December 2nd, 2008 2:50 am
MichaelG on It's not you, it's me.
December 2nd, 2008 4:42 pm
MichaelG on Pushing the buttons.
December 2nd, 2008 5:09 pm
MichaelG on Pushing the buttons.
December 3rd, 2008 6:03 pm
MichaelG on A fellow of infinite jest.
December 3rd, 2008 9:49 pm
MichaelG on Street justice.
December 6th, 2008 7:52 pm
MichaelG on Religi-tainment.
December 9th, 2008 5:19 pm
MichaelG on My doppelganger.
December 9th, 2008 10:27 pm
MichaelG on My doppelganger.
December 10th, 2008 3:08 am
MichaelG on My doppelganger.
December 10th, 2008 4:49 pm
MichaelG on Captain, we have a problem.
December 10th, 2008 6:23 pm
MichaelG on Captain, we have a problem.
December 11th, 2008 4:41 pm
MichaelG on On generosity.
December 13th, 2008 12:00 am
MichaelG on On generosity.
December 13th, 2008 7:43 am
MichaelG on On generosity.
December 13th, 2008 9:29 am
MichaelG on On generosity.
December 13th, 2008 8:23 pm
MichaelG on On generosity.
December 14th, 2008 3:32 am
MichaelG on On generosity.
December 14th, 2008 3:33 am
MichaelG on Little luxuries.
December 16th, 2008 4:55 pm
MichaelG on Little luxuries.
December 17th, 2008 1:22 am
MichaelG on Little luxuries.
December 17th, 2008 4:59 pm
MichaelG on Paper cuts.
December 17th, 2008 9:21 pm
MichaelG on A few of my favorite things.
December 18th, 2008 7:03 pm
MichaelG on A few of my favorite things.
December 18th, 2008 9:19 pm
MichaelG on A few of my favorite things.
December 18th, 2008 9:36 pm
MichaelG on A few of my favorite things.
December 18th, 2008 11:51 pm
MichaelG on A few of my favorite things.
December 19th, 2008 3:02 am
MichaelG on A few of my favorite things.
December 19th, 2008 9:14 pm
MichaelG on Every picture tells a story.
December 22nd, 2008 5:24 pm
MichaelG on Every picture tells a story.
December 22nd, 2008 5:25 pm
MichaelG on Every picture tells a story.
December 22nd, 2008 6:05 pm
MichaelG on Every picture tells a story.
December 22nd, 2008 10:05 pm
MichaelG on Every picture tells a story.
December 22nd, 2008 10:22 pm
MichaelG on Every picture tells a story.
December 23rd, 2008 3:33 am
MichaelG on Happy holidays, heathens.
December 25th, 2008 12:29 am
MichaelG on Boxing Day.
December 26th, 2008 9:02 pm
MichaelG on Boxing Day.
December 26th, 2008 9:15 pm
MichaelG on Boxing Day.
December 28th, 2008 9:53 pm
MichaelG on Doing the job.
December 30th, 2008 6:28 pm
MichaelG on Doing the job.
December 31st, 2008 1:25 am
MichaelG on Please, less.
December 31st, 2008 10:23 pm
MichaelG on Please, less.
December 31st, 2008 10:30 pm
MichaelG on Happy new year.
January 2nd, 2009 5:44 am
MichaelG on Happy new year.
January 3rd, 2009 12:23 am
MichaelG on The distant thunder.
January 8th, 2009 11:54 pm
MichaelG on The distant thunder.
January 9th, 2009 2:50 am
MichaelG on Start your engines.
January 10th, 2009 12:33 am
MichaelG on Start your engines.
January 10th, 2009 5:45 am
MichaelG on Start your engines.
January 10th, 2009 9:22 pm
MichaelG on Start your engines.
January 10th, 2009 11:12 pm
MichaelG on Rocky rises again.
January 11th, 2009 9:11 pm
MichaelG on An album.
January 12th, 2009 5:04 pm
MichaelG on An album.
January 12th, 2009 6:22 pm
MichaelG on An album.
January 12th, 2009 6:22 pm
MichaelG on Best-laid plans.
January 13th, 2009 7:19 pm
MichaelG on Best-laid plans.
January 13th, 2009 8:48 pm
MichaelG on Dumb and dumbererer.
January 14th, 2009 5:20 pm
MichaelG on The Roman way.
January 15th, 2009 6:01 pm
MichaelG on The Roman way.
January 16th, 2009 5:13 pm
MichaelG on Popping out.
January 16th, 2009 5:28 pm
MichaelG on It could be worse.
January 16th, 2009 6:29 pm
MichaelG on It could be worse.
January 16th, 2009 11:52 pm
MichaelG on It could be worse.
January 17th, 2009 2:47 am
MichaelG on It could be worse.
January 17th, 2009 6:11 am
MichaelG on To the New York island.
January 20th, 2009 6:02 am
MichaelG on 1.20.09
January 20th, 2009 6:17 pm
MichaelG on 1.20.09
January 21st, 2009 2:30 am
MichaelG on 1.20.09
January 21st, 2009 2:51 am
MichaelG on 1.20.09
January 21st, 2009 4:53 pm
MichaelG on Byproducts.
January 21st, 2009 6:13 pm
MichaelG on Byproducts.
January 21st, 2009 8:03 pm
MichaelG on Byproducts.
January 21st, 2009 9:51 pm
MichaelG on Byproducts.
January 22nd, 2009 5:01 pm
MichaelG on The hat.
January 22nd, 2009 6:35 pm
MichaelG on The hat.
January 22nd, 2009 8:06 pm
MichaelG on The hat.
January 22nd, 2009 10:12 pm
MichaelG on The hat.
January 22nd, 2009 10:42 pm
MichaelG on Refreshing.
January 24th, 2009 11:18 pm
MichaelG on Refreshing.
January 25th, 2009 1:49 am
MichaelG on You haven't seen it all.
January 30th, 2009 4:31 am
MichaelG on You haven't seen it all.
January 30th, 2009 5:16 pm
MichaelG on A Raymond Carver story.
January 30th, 2009 6:46 pm
MichaelG on A Raymond Carver story.
January 31st, 2009 9:59 pm
MichaelG on A Raymond Carver story.
January 31st, 2009 11:22 pm
MichaelG on A Raymond Carver story.
February 2nd, 2009 6:10 am
MichaelG on Say goodnight, womyn.
February 2nd, 2009 6:32 pm
MichaelG on One more time...
February 3rd, 2009 9:42 pm
MichaelG on One more time...
February 3rd, 2009 10:08 pm
MichaelG on Miss? Another cocktail.
February 5th, 2009 2:55 am
MichaelG on Miss? Another cocktail.
February 5th, 2009 3:46 am
MichaelG on Miss? Another cocktail.
February 5th, 2009 4:53 am
MichaelG on Miss? Another cocktail.
February 5th, 2009 7:15 am
MichaelG on Miss? Another cocktail.
February 5th, 2009 7:22 am
MichaelG on What fresh hell?
February 7th, 2009 7:23 am
MichaelG on What fresh hell?
February 7th, 2009 11:16 pm
MichaelG on What fresh hell?
February 8th, 2009 6:43 am
MichaelG on What do we think?
February 8th, 2009 9:30 pm
MichaelG on Whinypants.
February 9th, 2009 7:42 pm
MichaelG on Whinypants.
February 9th, 2009 10:56 pm
MichaelG on The ick factor.
February 10th, 2009 5:58 pm
MichaelG on The ick factor.
February 10th, 2009 8:17 pm
MichaelG on The ick factor.
February 10th, 2009 9:18 pm
MichaelG on The ick factor.
February 10th, 2009 10:59 pm
MichaelG on The ick factor.
February 11th, 2009 3:10 am
MichaelG on Three old movies.
February 11th, 2009 7:10 pm
MichaelG on Three old movies.
February 11th, 2009 8:41 pm
MichaelG on Three old movies.
February 11th, 2009 10:30 pm
MichaelG on Surly bubble.
February 12th, 2009 10:29 pm
MichaelG on Is this war?
February 15th, 2009 9:02 am
MichaelG on He was there.
February 17th, 2009 7:32 pm
MichaelG on He was there.
February 17th, 2009 10:24 pm
MichaelG on He was there.
February 18th, 2009 12:17 am
MichaelG on He was there.
February 18th, 2009 2:43 am
MichaelG on Sticky fingers.
February 18th, 2009 9:08 pm
MichaelG on Sticky fingers.
February 19th, 2009 7:40 am
MichaelG on Sticky fingers.
February 19th, 2009 7:51 am
MichaelG on Stiff peaks.
February 25th, 2009 6:48 am
MichaelG on My civic duty.
February 25th, 2009 11:57 pm
MichaelG on Duty done.
February 26th, 2009 8:38 pm
MichaelG on Duty done.
February 27th, 2009 12:09 am
MichaelG on Alone with oneself.
March 1st, 2009 11:36 pm
MichaelG on Carry on, all.
March 2nd, 2009 6:22 pm
MichaelG on Going John Galt broke.
March 4th, 2009 6:51 pm
MichaelG on Going John Galt broke.
March 4th, 2009 9:52 pm
MichaelG on The funnies.
March 5th, 2009 11:48 pm
MichaelG on The funnies.
March 6th, 2009 1:20 am
MichaelG on Here come the tycoons.
March 9th, 2009 9:55 pm
MichaelG on Here come the tycoons.
March 9th, 2009 11:48 pm
MichaelG on Money problems.
March 10th, 2009 4:08 pm
MichaelG on More money problems.
March 12th, 2009 8:48 pm
MichaelG on I ♥ J.S.
March 14th, 2009 1:41 am
MichaelG on Well, I'll be damned.
March 16th, 2009 6:11 am
MichaelG on Business geniuses.
March 16th, 2009 6:36 pm
MichaelG on Business geniuses.
March 16th, 2009 8:01 pm
MichaelG on Business geniuses.
March 17th, 2009 2:38 am
MichaelG on Green.
March 18th, 2009 5:44 am
MichaelG on White House, green thumb.
March 20th, 2009 5:18 pm
MichaelG on White House, green thumb.
March 20th, 2009 10:47 pm
MichaelG on White House, green thumb.
March 21st, 2009 11:57 pm
MichaelG on I smell Oscar.
March 23rd, 2009 5:21 pm
MichaelG on Freebies.
March 24th, 2009 7:53 pm
MichaelG on Freebies.
March 24th, 2009 11:32 pm
MichaelG on Freebies.
March 24th, 2009 11:38 pm
MichaelG on The bankruptcy of Art.
March 26th, 2009 2:47 am
MichaelG on The bankruptcy of Art.
March 26th, 2009 3:08 am
MichaelG on The bankruptcy of Art.
March 26th, 2009 4:19 am
MichaelG on The bankruptcy of Art.
March 26th, 2009 6:00 am
MichaelG on V. 2.0.
March 26th, 2009 5:14 pm
MichaelG on V. 2.0.
March 26th, 2009 8:29 pm
MichaelG on Apples in search of a barrel.
March 28th, 2009 12:19 am
MichaelG on Apples in search of a barrel.
March 29th, 2009 6:14 am
MichaelG on Calling customer service.
March 31st, 2009 2:43 am
MichaelG on A little help from my friends.
April 1st, 2009 11:30 pm
MichaelG on A story for Friday.
April 3rd, 2009 5:22 pm
MichaelG on A story for Friday.
April 4th, 2009 8:03 pm
MichaelG on What it was like.
April 6th, 2009 3:57 pm
MichaelG on Basketball weather.
April 6th, 2009 6:21 pm
MichaelG on Basketball weather.
April 6th, 2009 10:41 pm
MichaelG on Basketball weather.
April 7th, 2009 2:10 am
MichaelG on The reckoning.
April 7th, 2009 9:42 pm
MichaelG on Miscellany.
April 9th, 2009 12:36 am
MichaelG on Miscellany.
April 9th, 2009 1:47 am
MichaelG on Officer Considerate.
April 10th, 2009 12:19 am
MichaelG on Officer Considerate.
April 10th, 2009 7:25 am
MichaelG on First a hologram, now this.
April 13th, 2009 5:25 pm
MichaelG on First a hologram, now this.
April 13th, 2009 6:50 pm
MichaelG on Boats against the current.
April 14th, 2009 5:00 pm
MichaelG on Boats against the current.
April 14th, 2009 6:42 pm
MichaelG on A break more ordinary.
April 15th, 2009 10:31 pm
MichaelG on O.D.
April 16th, 2009 8:54 pm
MichaelG on O.D.
April 17th, 2009 12:46 am
MichaelG on O.D.
April 17th, 2009 12:47 am
MichaelG on O.D.
April 17th, 2009 1:57 am
MichaelG on My Edie problem.
April 18th, 2009 2:05 am
MichaelG on To 'come a cropper.
April 20th, 2009 5:37 pm
MichaelG on To 'come a cropper.
April 20th, 2009 6:27 pm
MichaelG on To 'come a cropper.
April 20th, 2009 7:55 pm
MichaelG on Notes and clarifications.
April 21st, 2009 8:24 pm
MichaelG on Gimpy.
April 22nd, 2009 7:36 pm
MichaelG on Eyes wide open.
April 23rd, 2009 7:09 pm
MichaelG on Eyes wide open.
April 23rd, 2009 9:42 pm
MichaelG on Drunks, again.
April 25th, 2009 12:15 am
MichaelG on Drunks, again.
April 25th, 2009 2:00 am
MichaelG on Drunks, again.
April 25th, 2009 6:26 am
MichaelG on Drunks, again.
April 25th, 2009 7:40 pm
MichaelG on Drunks, again.
April 27th, 2009 5:01 pm
MichaelG on Garbage in, garbage out.
April 28th, 2009 9:30 pm
MichaelG on Exit, leaving no footprints.
May 2nd, 2009 1:14 am
MichaelG on Exit, leaving no footprints.
May 2nd, 2009 2:09 am
MichaelG on On wheels.
May 4th, 2009 6:45 pm
MichaelG on On wheels.
May 5th, 2009 1:23 am
MichaelG on Snow Flu day.
May 5th, 2009 6:27 pm
MichaelG on Inoculated.
May 8th, 2009 12:30 am
MichaelG on The vasectomy sale.
May 9th, 2009 5:43 am
MichaelG on The vasectomy sale.
May 9th, 2009 7:40 am
MichaelG on Hallelujah.
May 12th, 2009 3:58 pm
MichaelG on Onward, Don Quixote.
May 13th, 2009 2:40 am
MichaelG on Closeout sale.
May 15th, 2009 11:54 pm
MichaelG on Closeout sale.
May 16th, 2009 9:38 pm
MichaelG on Closeout sale.
May 16th, 2009 9:47 pm
MichaelG on The plastic confessions.
May 20th, 2009 5:30 am
MichaelG on That Irish twinkle.
May 21st, 2009 8:57 pm
MichaelG on Ah, memories.
May 22nd, 2009 9:00 pm
MichaelG on Poor pup.
May 26th, 2009 9:05 pm
MichaelG on Closed systems.
May 28th, 2009 4:21 pm
MichaelG on Closed systems.
May 28th, 2009 5:18 pm
MichaelG on The Challenge, the sequel.
June 4th, 2009 6:23 pm
MichaelG on Good country cookin'.
June 8th, 2009 5:45 pm
MichaelG on Good country cookin'.
June 8th, 2009 9:31 pm
MichaelG on Good country cookin'.
June 9th, 2009 2:35 am
MichaelG on Leftovers and mixed grill.
June 9th, 2009 6:07 pm
MichaelG on Leftovers and mixed grill.
June 9th, 2009 10:07 pm
MichaelG on Trouble is gone to.
June 10th, 2009 9:59 pm
MichaelG on He was a soldier.
June 13th, 2009 9:34 pm
MichaelG on He was a soldier.
June 13th, 2009 9:40 pm
MichaelG on He was a soldier.
June 15th, 2009 5:32 am
MichaelG on 'The '90s sucked, man.'
June 15th, 2009 9:16 pm
MichaelG on 'The '90s sucked, man.'
June 16th, 2009 2:10 am
MichaelG on 'The '90s sucked, man.'
June 16th, 2009 2:27 am
MichaelG on Conversations with myself.
June 18th, 2009 6:26 pm
MichaelG on Conversations with myself.
June 18th, 2009 9:04 pm
MichaelG on On the other hand...
June 19th, 2009 5:45 am
MichaelG on Scree scree scree.
June 24th, 2009 2:10 am
MichaelG on The sex symbol.
June 25th, 2009 10:33 pm
MichaelG on 'Shocked and saddened.'
June 27th, 2009 12:26 am
MichaelG on 'Shocked and saddened.'
June 28th, 2009 7:11 am
MichaelG on Hung up.
June 30th, 2009 7:14 pm
MichaelG on Diving for beaters.
July 2nd, 2009 7:06 pm
MichaelG on Diving for beaters.
July 2nd, 2009 10:38 pm
MichaelG on Diving for beaters.
July 2nd, 2009 10:46 pm
MichaelG on Diving for beaters.
July 2nd, 2009 11:00 pm
MichaelG on Diving for beaters.
July 3rd, 2009 1:52 am
MichaelG on No, some, or lots of pulp?
July 3rd, 2009 9:06 pm
MichaelG on No, some, or lots of pulp?
July 4th, 2009 12:35 am
MichaelG on Popculch Gulch.
July 9th, 2009 2:45 am
MichaelG on The Committee at work.
July 10th, 2009 7:58 pm
MichaelG on This year's model.
July 13th, 2009 9:47 pm
MichaelG on This year's model.
July 14th, 2009 12:37 am
MichaelG on Lie, memory II.
July 14th, 2009 6:12 pm
MichaelG on Lie, memory II.
July 15th, 2009 4:04 pm
MichaelG on Turn your radio on.
July 15th, 2009 5:19 pm
MichaelG on Turn your radio on.
July 15th, 2009 7:16 pm
MichaelG on Turn your radio on.
July 16th, 2009 6:49 am
MichaelG on Fire.
July 16th, 2009 5:21 pm
MichaelG on Fire.
July 16th, 2009 6:03 pm
MichaelG on Fire.
July 16th, 2009 8:48 pm
MichaelG on Glad that's cleared up.
July 17th, 2009 8:00 pm
MichaelG on Glad that's cleared up.
July 18th, 2009 9:28 pm
MichaelG on Glad that's cleared up.
July 19th, 2009 8:19 pm
MichaelG on Glad that's cleared up.
July 20th, 2009 2:29 am
MichaelG on Refreshing Friday.
July 20th, 2009 9:15 pm
MichaelG on Refreshing Friday.
July 21st, 2009 5:15 am
MichaelG on A personal friend.
July 22nd, 2009 6:26 am
MichaelG on A personal friend.
July 22nd, 2009 4:21 pm
MichaelG on Lost causes.
July 22nd, 2009 6:58 pm
MichaelG on Lost causes.
July 22nd, 2009 9:16 pm
MichaelG on Lost causes.
July 23rd, 2009 12:29 am
MichaelG on Lost causes.
July 23rd, 2009 5:00 pm
MichaelG on Justifying ourselves.
July 24th, 2009 2:07 am
MichaelG on Justifying ourselves.
July 24th, 2009 5:11 am
MichaelG on Stops at all donut shops.
July 24th, 2009 8:53 pm
MichaelG on Stops at all donut shops.
July 25th, 2009 5:29 am
MichaelG on Stops at all donut shops.
July 26th, 2009 7:50 am
MichaelG on Stops at all donut shops.
July 27th, 2009 5:41 am
MichaelG on Falling headliner standard.
July 28th, 2009 2:07 am
MichaelG on Falling headliner standard.
July 28th, 2009 5:06 am
MichaelG on The helping profession.
July 28th, 2009 6:41 pm
MichaelG on The helping profession.
July 28th, 2009 9:59 pm
MichaelG on The helping profession.
July 28th, 2009 11:45 pm
MichaelG on The helping profession.
July 29th, 2009 5:49 am
MichaelG on Hey ever'body, watch this.
July 31st, 2009 10:38 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market
August 2nd, 2009 5:34 am
MichaelG on Hands off the Hellman's.
August 4th, 2009 3:15 am
MichaelG on My old friend.
August 6th, 2009 3:27 am
MichaelG on My old friend.
August 6th, 2009 6:33 am
MichaelG on Kitchen veterans.
August 7th, 2009 1:41 am
MichaelG on The red carpet.
August 10th, 2009 5:11 pm
MichaelG on The red carpet.
August 11th, 2009 4:42 am
MichaelG on Sails at sunset.
August 11th, 2009 6:21 pm
MichaelG on Just desserts.
August 13th, 2009 8:52 pm
MichaelG on Just desserts.
August 14th, 2009 1:40 am
MichaelG on A quick bite before I leave.
August 17th, 2009 12:09 am
MichaelG on A fresh thread.
August 21st, 2009 10:05 pm
MichaelG on A fresh thread.
August 22nd, 2009 8:48 pm
MichaelG on Tents, shacks and salvation.
August 29th, 2009 1:55 am
MichaelG on Tents, shacks and salvation.
August 29th, 2009 8:10 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market
August 31st, 2009 12:15 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market
August 31st, 2009 3:17 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market
August 31st, 2009 4:03 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market
August 31st, 2009 4:34 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market
August 31st, 2009 6:43 am
MichaelG on Green.
August 31st, 2009 5:04 pm
MichaelG on People of the state fair.
September 1st, 2009 9:08 pm
MichaelG on People of the state fair.
September 2nd, 2009 12:30 am
MichaelG on People of the state fair.
September 2nd, 2009 4:23 pm
MichaelG on Farewell, Bill.
September 4th, 2009 6:13 am
MichaelG on Farewell, Bill.
September 4th, 2009 7:11 am
MichaelG on Farewell, Bill.
September 4th, 2009 7:20 am
MichaelG on Budget cuts.
September 5th, 2009 5:30 am
MichaelG on Crazy people.
September 9th, 2009 1:33 am
MichaelG on Crazy people, part deux.
September 10th, 2009 12:54 am
MichaelG on Crazy people, part deux.
September 10th, 2009 1:42 am
MichaelG on Crazy people, part deux.
September 10th, 2009 1:43 am
MichaelG on The toy department.
September 10th, 2009 5:19 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 13th, 2009 11:09 pm
MichaelG on Fun with numbers.
September 14th, 2009 4:32 pm
MichaelG on Fun with numbers.
September 14th, 2009 5:57 pm
MichaelG on Fun with numbers.
September 15th, 2009 2:21 am
MichaelG on New for fall.
September 17th, 2009 2:42 am
MichaelG on Help me find a way.
September 18th, 2009 5:45 am
MichaelG on Help me find a way.
September 18th, 2009 7:47 am
MichaelG on Data-mining the past.
September 25th, 2009 10:32 pm
MichaelG on Free crack.
September 28th, 2009 10:02 pm
MichaelG on Guilty, guilty, guilty.
September 29th, 2009 7:08 pm
MichaelG on Guilty, guilty, guilty.
September 29th, 2009 8:39 pm
MichaelG on Guilty, guilty, guilty.
September 29th, 2009 10:46 pm
MichaelG on Guilty, guilty, guilty.
September 29th, 2009 11:38 pm
MichaelG on Wild kingdom.
October 2nd, 2009 3:21 am
MichaelG on Oh, Dave.
October 4th, 2009 7:25 pm
MichaelG on Mystery meat.
October 5th, 2009 5:30 pm
MichaelG on Mystery meat.
October 6th, 2009 5:45 am
MichaelG on Blowed up real good.
October 7th, 2009 6:48 pm
MichaelG on Steaming the windows.
October 12th, 2009 9:16 pm
MichaelG on A day off since 1492.
October 13th, 2009 4:47 pm
MichaelG on A day off since 1492.
October 13th, 2009 4:50 pm
MichaelG on A day off since 1492.
October 13th, 2009 7:02 pm
MichaelG on A day off since 1492.
October 13th, 2009 8:41 pm
MichaelG on A day off since 1492.
October 14th, 2009 12:27 am
MichaelG on Another mixed grill.
October 14th, 2009 4:35 pm
MichaelG on A day in Collegeland.
October 23rd, 2009 5:55 pm
MichaelG on Deadbeat.
October 27th, 2009 4:40 pm
MichaelG on Customer service.
October 27th, 2009 6:08 pm
MichaelG on The writerly stuff.
October 29th, 2009 12:12 am
MichaelG on Bad men.
October 29th, 2009 5:28 pm
MichaelG on Bad men.
October 29th, 2009 9:43 pm
MichaelG on Halloween tourism.
November 3rd, 2009 4:31 am
MichaelG on Going down swinging.
November 3rd, 2009 9:48 pm
MichaelG on It's all local.
November 4th, 2009 10:03 pm
MichaelG on Let's wait and see.
November 6th, 2009 11:42 pm
MichaelG on Red in tooth and claw.
November 9th, 2009 11:26 pm
MichaelG on Attractive nuisance.
November 10th, 2009 10:57 pm
MichaelG on Art by committee.
November 13th, 2009 12:43 am
MichaelG on Early meeting bugout.
November 13th, 2009 9:26 pm
MichaelG on The birthday kids.
November 16th, 2009 10:24 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
November 22nd, 2009 9:20 am
MichaelG on Swamped.
November 24th, 2009 10:42 pm
MichaelG on Don't assume.
November 25th, 2009 7:59 pm
MichaelG on Don't assume.
November 29th, 2009 11:11 pm
MichaelG on Back to the mangle.
November 30th, 2009 8:37 pm
MichaelG on Back to the mangle.
November 30th, 2009 8:37 pm
MichaelG on Back to the mangle.
December 1st, 2009 12:47 am
MichaelG on Back to the mangle.
December 1st, 2009 8:41 am
MichaelG on Cake 'n' cookies.
December 16th, 2009 6:57 pm
MichaelG on Cake 'n' cookies.
December 16th, 2009 6:59 pm
MichaelG on Cake 'n' cookies.
December 16th, 2009 8:16 pm
MichaelG on Cake 'n' cookies.
December 16th, 2009 8:50 pm
MichaelG on Cake 'n' cookies.
December 16th, 2009 10:23 pm
MichaelG on Binning it.
December 17th, 2009 6:24 pm
MichaelG on Unplugging.
December 20th, 2009 2:21 am
MichaelG on Unplugging.
December 20th, 2009 8:25 am
MichaelG on Unplugging.
December 21st, 2009 6:09 am
MichaelG on Poor Brittany(s).
December 21st, 2009 7:34 pm
MichaelG on Poor Brittany(s).
December 21st, 2009 8:49 pm
MichaelG on Poor Brittany(s).
December 21st, 2009 10:02 pm
MichaelG on Take your vitamins.
December 22nd, 2009 8:30 pm
MichaelG on Take your vitamins.
December 23rd, 2009 1:35 am
MichaelG on The hero's fate.
December 23rd, 2009 7:58 pm
MichaelG on The hero's fate.
December 24th, 2009 1:24 am
MichaelG on Merry Christmas.
December 25th, 2009 10:19 pm
MichaelG on Come fly with us.
December 28th, 2009 6:46 pm
MichaelG on Come fly with us.
December 28th, 2009 6:54 pm
MichaelG on Come fly with us.
December 28th, 2009 8:33 pm
MichaelG on The fool's errand.
December 29th, 2009 6:56 pm
MichaelG on The fool's errand.
December 29th, 2009 7:00 pm
MichaelG on Oysters, snails, champagne.
December 31st, 2009 6:21 pm
MichaelG on Oysters, snails, champagne.
January 1st, 2010 6:35 am
MichaelG on Interesting times.
January 4th, 2010 6:45 pm
MichaelG on Interesting times.
January 4th, 2010 7:58 pm
MichaelG on Interesting times.
January 4th, 2010 8:55 pm
MichaelG on Interesting times.
January 4th, 2010 10:59 pm
MichaelG on Just being supportive.
January 5th, 2010 10:50 pm
MichaelG on Flakeout.
January 6th, 2010 6:17 pm
MichaelG on Flakeout.
January 7th, 2010 6:07 pm
MichaelG on Screen gem.
January 11th, 2010 10:27 pm
MichaelG on Screen gem.
January 12th, 2010 1:02 am
MichaelG on Watch your language.
January 12th, 2010 11:40 pm
MichaelG on Watch your language.
January 13th, 2010 6:32 am
MichaelG on Faults and other problems.
January 14th, 2010 6:05 am
MichaelG on There will (not) be cake.
January 14th, 2010 7:21 pm
MichaelG on There will (not) be cake.
January 14th, 2010 11:36 pm
MichaelG on More misery.
January 17th, 2010 9:37 pm
MichaelG on This is a holiday?
January 18th, 2010 9:36 pm
MichaelG on You still suck.
January 19th, 2010 9:32 pm
MichaelG on You still suck.
January 20th, 2010 2:31 am
MichaelG on You still suck.
January 20th, 2010 6:20 am
MichaelG on Baby it's cold inside.
January 21st, 2010 10:51 pm
MichaelG on Baby it's cold inside.
January 21st, 2010 11:34 pm
MichaelG on Nowhere but up.
January 22nd, 2010 8:58 pm
MichaelG on Cocktails in Brobdingnag.
January 25th, 2010 6:10 pm
MichaelG on Cocktails in Brobdingnag.
January 26th, 2010 6:20 pm
MichaelG on Stuck in neutral, or not.
February 1st, 2010 10:15 pm
MichaelG on Stuck in neutral, or not.
February 2nd, 2010 2:34 am
MichaelG on My HBO problem.
February 2nd, 2010 7:30 pm
MichaelG on My HBO problem.
February 3rd, 2010 6:08 pm
MichaelG on Detroitywood.
February 3rd, 2010 7:42 pm
MichaelG on Frozen.
February 4th, 2010 10:44 pm
MichaelG on Frozen.
February 4th, 2010 10:53 pm
MichaelG on Frozen.
February 4th, 2010 11:36 pm
MichaelG on Frozen.
February 5th, 2010 1:26 am
MichaelG on Thawing.
February 5th, 2010 9:45 pm
MichaelG on Thawing.
February 7th, 2010 1:32 am
MichaelG on Thawing.
February 7th, 2010 1:35 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
February 7th, 2010 2:29 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
February 8th, 2010 5:57 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
February 8th, 2010 6:42 am
MichaelG on It's all in the angles.
February 12th, 2010 12:51 am
MichaelG on Dull and duller.
February 12th, 2010 10:21 pm
MichaelG on Dull and duller.
February 14th, 2010 9:48 pm
MichaelG on Dull and duller.
February 15th, 2010 1:07 am
MichaelG on Thirty-six hours of fun.
February 15th, 2010 6:53 pm
MichaelG on Lunatic fringe.
February 16th, 2010 7:43 pm
MIchaelG on Lunatic fringe.
February 17th, 2010 3:23 am
MichaelG on This halo, it chafes.
February 18th, 2010 8:42 pm
MIchaelG on The heemanee.
February 21st, 2010 9:37 pm
MIchaelG on The heemanee.
February 22nd, 2010 7:31 am
MichaelG on Among the dead.
February 23rd, 2010 12:16 am
MichaelG on Among the dead.
February 23rd, 2010 4:44 pm
MichaelG on Dear Prudence.
February 25th, 2010 10:39 pm
MichaelG on Linkfest.
March 2nd, 2010 8:29 pm
MichaelG on Linkfest.
March 3rd, 2010 12:21 am
MichaelG on The beauty shot.
March 10th, 2010 1:26 am
MichaelG on We are not amused.
March 10th, 2010 6:10 pm
MichaelG on We are not amused.
March 10th, 2010 11:26 pm
MichaelG on The good stuff.
March 12th, 2010 12:46 am
MIchaelG on Wrongspeak.
March 13th, 2010 10:48 pm
MichaelG on Evolution and solar radiation.
March 16th, 2010 6:30 pm
MichaelG on You and you and you.
March 17th, 2010 5:45 pm
MichaelG on Who smells smoke?
March 18th, 2010 7:00 pm
MIchaelG on Go Bobcats.
March 19th, 2010 10:26 pm
MIchaelG on Go Bobcats.
March 20th, 2010 7:48 am
MIchaelG on Go Bobcats.
March 21st, 2010 7:56 am
MIchaelG on Go Bobcats.
March 21st, 2010 8:01 am
MIchaelG on Go Bobcats.
March 21st, 2010 7:41 pm
MIchaelG on The way they did it.
March 25th, 2010 4:25 am
MichaelG on The way they did it.
March 25th, 2010 4:26 am
MichaelG on The way they did it.
March 25th, 2010 6:19 am
MichaelG on Let's try on rings.
March 25th, 2010 6:12 pm
MichaelG on My labor today is elsewhere.
March 27th, 2010 9:06 pm
MichaelG on My labor today is elsewhere.
March 28th, 2010 8:13 pm
MichaelG on My labor today is elsewhere.
March 29th, 2010 5:11 pm
MichaelG on You don't have to be Jewish...
March 30th, 2010 4:26 pm
MichaelG on He's done it again.
March 31st, 2010 6:40 pm
MichaelG on The bad duck.
April 2nd, 2010 12:55 am
MichaelG on Happy Easter.
April 2nd, 2010 9:24 pm
MichaelG on Happy Easter.
April 3rd, 2010 9:05 pm
MichaelG on Happy Easter.
April 5th, 2010 7:17 am
MichaelG on Unforeseen consequences.
April 5th, 2010 9:50 pm
MichaelG on By any other name.
April 7th, 2010 4:33 pm
MichaelG on American ingenuity.
April 10th, 2010 7:04 pm
MichaelG on American ingenuity.
April 10th, 2010 9:26 pm
MichaelG on American ingenuity.
April 11th, 2010 8:41 pm
MichaelG on American ingenuity.
April 12th, 2010 6:33 am
MichaelG on Tax day.
April 16th, 2010 4:20 am
MichaelG on In which we loaf.
April 16th, 2010 9:40 pm
MichaelG on In which we loaf.
April 17th, 2010 6:41 pm
MichaelG on In which we loaf.
April 17th, 2010 10:45 pm
MichaelG on The greasy stuff.
April 20th, 2010 7:31 am
MichaelG on Fail.
April 20th, 2010 5:42 pm
MichaelG on Fail.
April 21st, 2010 6:23 am
MichaelG on Curse you, Craig.
April 22nd, 2010 2:10 am
MichaelG on Caught some Zs.
April 22nd, 2010 9:24 pm
MichaelG on Are you not entertained?
April 26th, 2010 8:15 pm
MichaelG on Are you not entertained?
April 26th, 2010 9:33 pm
MichaelG on Are you not entertained?
April 27th, 2010 5:43 am
MichaelG on You're eating fungus.
April 27th, 2010 8:07 pm
MichaelG on You're eating fungus.
April 28th, 2010 2:47 am
MichaelG on You're eating fungus.
April 28th, 2010 2:54 am
MichaelG on You're eating fungus.
April 28th, 2010 6:10 am
MichaelG on A dangerous man.
April 28th, 2010 6:25 pm
MichaelG on Sore. But a good sore.
April 29th, 2010 5:37 pm
MichaelG on The people parade.
April 30th, 2010 8:24 pm
MichaelG on The people parade.
May 1st, 2010 6:45 am
MichaelG on The people parade.
May 2nd, 2010 12:39 am
MichaelG on Funny guy.
May 3rd, 2010 5:50 pm
MichaelG on Funny guy.
May 4th, 2010 2:05 am
MichaelG on Neck-deep.
May 6th, 2010 6:34 am
MichaelG on Neck-deep.
May 6th, 2010 6:37 am
MichaelG on Neck-deep.
May 6th, 2010 6:38 am
MichaelG on Neck-deep.
May 6th, 2010 4:19 pm
MichaelG on Drinking Miss Daisy.
May 6th, 2010 10:43 pm
MichaelG on One pill to change it all.
May 8th, 2010 4:50 am
MichaelG on One pill to change it all.
May 8th, 2010 8:57 am
MichaelG on Cold, cold sunshine.
May 10th, 2010 7:35 pm
MichaelG on Cold, cold sunshine.
May 10th, 2010 11:09 pm
MichaelG on Disaster.
May 11th, 2010 5:12 pm
MichaelG on Disaster.
May 11th, 2010 6:56 pm
MichaelG on Disaster.
May 12th, 2010 1:32 am
MichaelG on Disaster.
May 12th, 2010 4:25 pm
MichaelG on The annotated She-who.
May 12th, 2010 5:58 pm
MichaelG on Swallowed.
May 13th, 2010 6:52 pm
MichaelG on Swallowed.
May 13th, 2010 9:46 pm
MichaelG on Swallowed.
May 14th, 2010 12:14 am
MichaelG on A tortured man.
May 19th, 2010 2:59 am
MichaelG on A tortured man.
May 19th, 2010 6:56 am
MichaelG on You won't be missed.
May 20th, 2010 2:21 am
MichaelG on Odds and ends.
May 20th, 2010 8:24 pm
MichaelG on Odds and ends.
May 21st, 2010 2:17 am
MichaelG on Who speaks for you?
May 25th, 2010 6:59 pm
MichaelG on Who speaks for you?
May 25th, 2010 8:27 pm
MichaelG on Who speaks for you?
May 25th, 2010 11:22 pm
MichaelG on Who speaks for you?
May 26th, 2010 1:40 am
MichaelG on Blotto.
May 27th, 2010 1:28 am
MichaelG on Blotto.
May 27th, 2010 4:48 pm
MichaelG on I miss the free toasters.
May 28th, 2010 8:20 pm
MichaelG on I miss the free toasters.
May 30th, 2010 9:22 pm
MichaelG on Happy holiday.
May 31st, 2010 9:35 pm
MichaelG on Happy holiday.
June 1st, 2010 1:44 am
MichaelG on Happy holiday.
June 1st, 2010 7:12 am
MichaelG on Acting childishly.
June 1st, 2010 4:44 pm
MichaelG on Acting childishly.
June 1st, 2010 8:23 pm
MichaelG on Out of gas.
June 2nd, 2010 6:22 pm
MichaelG on Out of gas.
June 2nd, 2010 6:28 pm
MichaelG on Out of gas.
June 3rd, 2010 1:32 am
MichaelG on Disaster, the sequel.
June 3rd, 2010 5:37 pm
MichaelG on Think of England.
June 7th, 2010 2:39 am
MichaelG on To the glue factory.
June 8th, 2010 7:00 pm
MichaelG on To the glue factory.
June 9th, 2010 4:03 pm
MichaelG on Fun with numbers.
June 11th, 2010 10:24 pm
MichaelG on Fun with numbers.
June 12th, 2010 2:03 am
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon Ann Arbor.
June 13th, 2010 2:27 am
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon Ann Arbor.
June 14th, 2010 6:16 am
MichaelG on A day away.
June 14th, 2010 5:07 pm
MichaelG on A day away.
June 14th, 2010 8:24 pm
MichaelG on A day away.
June 15th, 2010 12:10 am
MichaelG on A day away.
June 15th, 2010 5:00 am
MichaelG on Bloomsday.
June 17th, 2010 7:00 am
MichaelG on Bloomsday.
June 17th, 2010 7:17 am
MichaelG on Pound! Pound! Pound!
June 18th, 2010 6:31 am
MichaelG on The cleanup.
June 18th, 2010 7:53 pm
MichaelG on The craft of assembly.
June 23rd, 2010 4:54 pm
MichaelG on The craft of assembly.
June 23rd, 2010 6:30 pm
MichaelG on The craft of assembly.
June 23rd, 2010 7:25 pm
MichaelG on The craft of assembly.
June 23rd, 2010 9:25 pm
MichaelG on The craft of assembly.
June 24th, 2010 1:35 am
MichaelG on Because you asked...
June 24th, 2010 6:07 am
MichaelG on Because you asked...
June 25th, 2010 9:31 pm
MichaelG on Because you asked...
June 26th, 2010 4:43 am
MichaelG on Because you asked...
June 26th, 2010 7:59 pm
MichaelG on Because you asked...
June 27th, 2010 7:45 am
MichaelG on Reconnaissance.
June 28th, 2010 5:55 pm
MichaelG on Reconnaissance.
June 28th, 2010 10:40 pm
MichaelG on Eye-catching.
July 1st, 2010 1:26 am
MichaelG on G&B = good.
July 1st, 2010 10:38 pm
MichaelG on In which I mutter.
July 2nd, 2010 9:53 pm
MichaelG on Motown in Motown.
July 6th, 2010 7:33 pm
MichaelG on Motown in Motown.
July 7th, 2010 12:36 am
MichaelG on Motown in Motown.
July 7th, 2010 7:33 am
MichaelG on The motorcycle gang.
July 7th, 2010 8:23 pm
MichaelG on Dream houses.
July 10th, 2010 7:49 am
MichaelG on Dream houses.
July 11th, 2010 9:37 pm
MichaelG on It's a flat-tax life.
July 15th, 2010 7:46 pm
MichaelG on It's a flat-tax life.
July 16th, 2010 1:36 am
MichaelG on Different colors.
July 19th, 2010 6:43 pm
MichaelG on Different colors.
July 20th, 2010 1:36 am
MichaelG on They were holding his cell.
July 23rd, 2010 9:21 pm
MichaelG on They were holding his cell.
July 24th, 2010 4:17 am
MichaelG on They were holding his cell.
July 24th, 2010 9:46 pm
MichaelG on They were holding his cell.
July 25th, 2010 1:58 am
MichaelG on Hot time in the old town.
July 27th, 2010 8:07 am
MichaelG on Hot and crushed.
July 28th, 2010 5:42 pm
MichaelG on Ghetto economies.
July 28th, 2010 9:52 pm
MichaelG on Ghetto economies.
July 29th, 2010 12:25 am
MichaelG on The world is watching "Cribs."
July 29th, 2010 8:23 pm
MichaelG on Follow the bouncing ball.
August 4th, 2010 5:20 am
MichaelG on Spilled tea.
August 4th, 2010 6:51 pm
MichaelG on Word by word.
August 6th, 2010 2:31 am
MichaelG on Mind-shopping.
August 8th, 2010 8:02 pm
MichaelG on Right here in the toy shop.*
August 9th, 2010 6:33 pm
MichaelG on Right here in the toy shop.*
August 10th, 2010 6:17 am
MichaelG on You can't fire him, he quit.
August 10th, 2010 8:07 pm
MichaelG on You can't fire him, he quit.
August 11th, 2010 6:30 am
MichaelG on Queuing in Purgatory.
August 12th, 2010 11:15 pm
MichaelG on Fly-by.
August 16th, 2010 8:57 pm
MichaelG on Fly-by.
August 16th, 2010 11:55 pm
MichaelG on The old conservative.
August 17th, 2010 5:33 pm
MichaelG on The old conservative.
August 18th, 2010 12:07 am
MichaelG on Daddy's girl.
August 18th, 2010 7:10 pm
MichaelG on Buggy.
August 25th, 2010 10:45 pm
MichaelG on Upgrade.
August 31st, 2010 10:12 pm
MichaelG on Upgrade.
September 1st, 2010 7:03 am
MichaelG on Whiny little babies.
September 1st, 2010 8:41 pm
MichaelG on Whiny little babies.
September 3rd, 2010 6:50 am
MichaelG on Good weekend, all.
September 4th, 2010 1:33 am
MichaelG on Good weekend, all.
September 4th, 2010 7:35 pm
MichaelG on Making more time.
September 7th, 2010 5:29 pm
MichaelG on Making more time.
September 7th, 2010 6:40 pm
MichaelG on Breaking breeze news.
September 8th, 2010 5:47 pm
MichaelG on Breaking breeze news.
September 8th, 2010 11:23 pm
MichaelG on Breaking breeze news.
September 9th, 2010 1:27 am
MichaelG on Imperfect humans.
September 9th, 2010 5:41 pm
MichaelG on (more).
September 10th, 2010 10:21 pm
MichaelG on (more).
September 11th, 2010 12:09 am
MichaelG on (more).
September 12th, 2010 9:47 am
MichaelG on (more).
September 13th, 2010 2:50 am
MichaelG on The dresses speak.
September 15th, 2010 5:08 am
MichaelG on Old times there: Not forgotten.
September 15th, 2010 5:24 pm
MichaelG on Old times there: Not forgotten.
September 15th, 2010 7:55 pm
MichaelG on Kwazy.
September 17th, 2010 7:32 pm
MichaelG on Kwazy.
September 18th, 2010 12:17 am
MichaelG on Kwazy.
September 20th, 2010 5:30 am
MichaelG on Kwazy.
September 20th, 2010 5:35 am
MichaelG on Scrapping.
September 21st, 2010 8:53 pm
MichaelG on Scrapping.
September 21st, 2010 11:10 pm
MichaelG on On the menu.
September 22nd, 2010 5:37 pm
MichaelG on On the menu.
September 23rd, 2010 1:50 am
MichaelG on Invisible-hand jobs.
September 28th, 2010 3:57 am
MichaelG on Invisible-hand jobs.
September 28th, 2010 6:45 am
MichaelG on Tedding tomorrow.
September 28th, 2010 7:08 pm
MichaelG on Tedding tomorrow.
September 28th, 2010 11:43 pm
MichaelG on Tedding tomorrow.
September 30th, 2010 7:15 am
MichaelG on Calm down, Dorothy.
September 30th, 2010 5:47 pm
MichaelG on Calm down, Dorothy.
September 30th, 2010 10:57 pm
MichaelG on Shocked. Awed.
October 1st, 2010 6:39 pm
MichaelG on Shocked. Awed.
October 1st, 2010 10:28 pm
MichaelG on Shocked. Awed.
October 2nd, 2010 7:55 pm
MichaelG on That boy ain't right.
October 5th, 2010 1:29 am
MichaelG on Bad boys.
October 8th, 2010 6:51 am
MichaelG on Rough cuts.
October 8th, 2010 8:45 pm
MichaelG on Rough cuts.
October 9th, 2010 9:26 pm
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon sailing.
October 10th, 2010 8:24 am
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon sailing.
October 10th, 2010 7:06 pm
MichaelG on Lost weekend.
October 12th, 2010 12:28 am
MichaelG on Lost weekend.
October 12th, 2010 5:56 pm
MichaelG on Make it un-snappy.
October 13th, 2010 7:38 pm
MichaelG on Consider yourself trolled.
October 25th, 2010 10:03 pm
MichaelG on The pumpkin debrief.
November 1st, 2010 6:48 pm
MichaelG on Come wade in the sewer.
November 2nd, 2010 6:26 pm
MichaelG on The mop-up.
November 4th, 2010 7:13 am
MichaelG on The mop-up.
November 4th, 2010 7:26 am
MichaelG on The mop-up.
November 4th, 2010 3:49 pm
MichaelG on The hospital of you.
November 5th, 2010 12:19 am
MichaelG on Life's rich banquet.
November 6th, 2010 12:41 am
MichaelG on One sweet hour.
November 8th, 2010 9:24 pm
MichaelG on Calling in.
November 10th, 2010 7:13 am
MichaelG on Catching up.
November 11th, 2010 12:50 am
MichaelG on Catching up.
November 11th, 2010 3:27 am
MichaelG on Self-destructing in 60 seconds.
November 11th, 2010 8:59 pm
MichaelG on Self-destructing in 60 seconds.
November 12th, 2010 12:39 am
MichaelG on Counts, recounts.
November 13th, 2010 8:03 pm
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon market.
November 14th, 2010 10:09 am
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon market.
November 15th, 2010 12:26 am
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon market.
November 15th, 2010 2:32 am
MichaelG on The senior portion.
November 15th, 2010 6:55 pm
MichaelG on The senior portion.
November 16th, 2010 1:48 am
MichaelG on God save the marriage.
November 16th, 2010 8:08 pm
MichaelG on Adults like to fret.
November 18th, 2010 5:03 am
MichaelG on Adults like to fret.
November 18th, 2010 6:55 am
MichaelG on Dash out.
November 18th, 2010 11:25 pm
MichaelG on Dash out.
November 18th, 2010 11:26 pm
MichaelG on Dash out.
November 19th, 2010 1:19 am
MichaelG on Dash out.
November 19th, 2010 2:54 am
MichaelG on Under the sink again.
November 23rd, 2010 8:26 pm
MichaelG on The countdown.
November 24th, 2010 6:43 pm
MichaelG on Who ARE these people?
December 1st, 2010 9:30 pm
MichaelG on Bad news on the doorstep.
December 4th, 2010 8:31 pm
MichaelG on Bad news on the doorstep.
December 4th, 2010 10:27 pm
MichaelG on Bad news on the doorstep.
December 4th, 2010 11:33 pm
MichaelG on Bad news on the doorstep.
December 5th, 2010 9:11 pm
MichaelG on My virtual office.
December 7th, 2010 5:45 am
MichaelG on Starbucks cracker barrel.
December 9th, 2010 9:26 pm
MichaelG on Starbucks cracker barrel.
December 10th, 2010 12:54 am
MichaelG on Starbucks cracker barrel.
December 10th, 2010 2:43 am
MichaelG on Your holiday DJ.
December 13th, 2010 1:31 am
MichaelG on Your holiday DJ.
December 13th, 2010 9:15 am
MichaelG on Yo, snow.
December 13th, 2010 6:39 pm
MichaelG on Yo, snow.
December 13th, 2010 9:14 pm
MichaelG on Yo, snow.
December 13th, 2010 9:54 pm
MichaelG on Look at the bones!
December 16th, 2010 7:42 pm
MichaelG on Gamesmanship, part 2.
December 17th, 2010 9:04 pm
MichaelG on Gamesmanship, part 2.
December 18th, 2010 3:55 am
MichaelG on Gamesmanship, part 2.
December 19th, 2010 9:23 pm
MichaelG on Homewreckers.
December 20th, 2010 6:27 pm
MichaelG on Homewreckers.
December 20th, 2010 11:35 pm
MichaelG on Don't look too close.
December 22nd, 2010 10:11 pm
MichaelG on Days ahead: Merry, bright.
December 23rd, 2010 11:51 pm
MichaelG on Days ahead: Merry, bright.
December 24th, 2010 8:36 pm
MichaelG on For auld lang syne.
December 30th, 2010 10:31 pm
MichaelG on For auld lang syne.
January 1st, 2011 5:44 am
MichaelG on For auld lang syne.
January 1st, 2011 8:36 pm
MichaelG on For auld lang syne.
January 2nd, 2011 9:53 pm
MichaelG on For auld lang syne.
January 3rd, 2011 3:15 am
MichaelG on Movie nights.
January 3rd, 2011 8:01 pm
MichaelG on Movie nights.
January 4th, 2011 1:37 am
MichaelG on That stinks.
January 4th, 2011 7:24 pm
MichaelG on That stinks.
January 4th, 2011 9:27 pm
MichaelG on That stinks.
January 5th, 2011 2:47 am
MichaelG on Leave the lights.
January 5th, 2011 6:23 pm
MichaelG on A house for the girls.
January 7th, 2011 11:50 pm
MichaelG on A house for the girls.
January 8th, 2011 9:02 am
MichaelG on Gabrielle Giffords.
January 9th, 2011 7:36 am
MichaelG on Gabrielle Giffords.
January 9th, 2011 9:51 pm
MichaelG on Mommy dearest.
January 11th, 2011 10:51 pm
MichaelG on A dog's life.
January 14th, 2011 3:17 am
MichaelG on Tin for the 10th.
January 19th, 2011 10:19 pm
MichaelG on The First Closet.
January 20th, 2011 8:27 pm
MichaelG on The First Closet.
January 21st, 2011 8:09 am
MichaelG on Venison stew.
January 22nd, 2011 3:22 am
MichaelG on Venison stew.
January 22nd, 2011 3:31 am
MichaelG on Venison stew.
January 22nd, 2011 3:33 am
MichaelG on Venison stew.
January 22nd, 2011 8:07 pm
MichaelG on Venison stew.
January 23rd, 2011 9:41 pm
MichaelG on Venison stew.
January 23rd, 2011 9:46 pm
MichaelG on Strength and fitness.
January 25th, 2011 3:02 am
MichaelG on Strength and fitness.
January 25th, 2011 3:03 am
MichaelG on Down Downton way.
January 25th, 2011 6:30 pm
MichaelG on Waiting for Oscar.
January 28th, 2011 3:13 am
MichaelG on Caffeine and bloggage.
January 30th, 2011 9:48 pm
MichaelG on Severe. Clear. Cold.
February 4th, 2011 4:16 am
MichaelG on She's got the look.
February 5th, 2011 2:08 am
MichaelG on She's got the look.
February 5th, 2011 10:43 am
MichaelG on She's got the look.
February 6th, 2011 4:59 am
MichaelG on She's got the look.
February 6th, 2011 9:27 pm
MichaelG on She's got the look.
February 7th, 2011 1:03 am
MichaelG on She's got the look.
February 7th, 2011 1:11 am
MichaelG on Day two of dullness.
February 11th, 2011 10:44 am
MichaelG on Harry Baals.
February 12th, 2011 1:34 am
MichaelG on Gleeful.
February 14th, 2011 7:35 pm
MichaelG on Gleeful.
February 14th, 2011 9:32 pm
MichaelG on No toddling zone.
February 15th, 2011 6:38 pm
MichaelG on No toddling zone.
February 15th, 2011 7:57 pm
MichaelG on No toddling zone.
February 15th, 2011 10:01 pm
MichaelG on Fed up.
February 19th, 2011 10:23 am
MichaelG on Fed up.
February 19th, 2011 7:55 pm
MichaelG on Fed up.
February 20th, 2011 3:20 am
MichaelG on Fed up.
February 20th, 2011 5:22 am
MichaelG on Fed up.
February 20th, 2011 8:16 am
MichaelG on Fed up.
February 21st, 2011 7:00 pm
MichaelG on Thousands strong.
February 25th, 2011 10:10 pm
MichaelG on Thousands strong.
February 26th, 2011 7:13 am
MichaelG on Pretty in pretty much everything.
March 1st, 2011 2:54 am
MichaelG on Ruminations with eggs.
March 1st, 2011 11:34 pm
MichaelG on Ruminations with eggs.
March 2nd, 2011 8:05 am
MichaelG on Pleased to meetcha.
March 4th, 2011 9:46 pm
MichaelG on Pleased to meetcha.
March 6th, 2011 1:01 am
MichaelG on A 24-hour fly-by.
March 8th, 2011 3:30 am
MichaelG on It's his money.
March 11th, 2011 3:33 am
MichaelG on Swept away.
March 11th, 2011 10:23 pm
MichaelG on Nancy Whiskey? I'll take it.
March 17th, 2011 9:03 pm
MichaelG on Nancy Whiskey? I'll take it.
March 17th, 2011 10:26 pm
MichaelG on Friday.
March 19th, 2011 1:46 am
MichaelG on Friday.
March 19th, 2011 9:46 pm
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon birthday.
March 20th, 2011 3:54 am
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon birthday.
March 20th, 2011 10:17 am
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon birthday.
March 20th, 2011 8:14 pm
MichaelG on Virtual travel.
March 22nd, 2011 6:32 pm
MichaelG on A girl and her bijoux.
March 24th, 2011 10:37 pm
MichaelG on They keep us in the dark.
March 25th, 2011 8:13 pm
MichaelG on Housework for dummies.
March 28th, 2011 5:59 pm
MichaelG on Housework for dummies.
March 29th, 2011 2:05 am
MichaelG on Among other things.
March 29th, 2011 5:37 pm
MichaelG on Dutchday, anyone?
March 30th, 2011 8:26 pm
MichaelG on Dutchday, anyone?
March 30th, 2011 10:38 pm
MichaelG on The clatter of the keys.
March 31st, 2011 7:34 pm
MichaelG on Mint condition.
April 1st, 2011 7:38 pm
MichaelG on Mint condition.
April 1st, 2011 9:52 pm
MichaelG on Mint condition.
April 2nd, 2011 7:19 am
MichaelG on A little foggy.
April 5th, 2011 5:07 am
MichaelG on Tuesday mornin' coming down.
April 6th, 2011 7:05 am
MichaelG on Empty shelves.
April 13th, 2011 5:35 pm
MichaelG on Empty shelves.
April 13th, 2011 7:06 pm
MichaelG on Farewell, Erica.
April 15th, 2011 11:41 pm
MichaelG on So what's new?
April 21st, 2011 5:27 pm
MichaelG on So what's new?
April 22nd, 2011 8:08 pm
MichaelG on So what's new?
April 22nd, 2011 8:13 pm
MichaelG on So what's new?
April 22nd, 2011 9:19 pm
MichaelG on Good Friday.
April 22nd, 2011 9:23 pm
MichaelG on He was just the stenographer.
April 26th, 2011 6:20 am
MichaelG on A thin line, etc.
April 27th, 2011 5:23 pm
MichaelG on The wait is over.
April 27th, 2011 9:11 pm
MichaelG on The wait is over.
April 28th, 2011 2:08 am
MichaelG on The wait is over.
April 28th, 2011 5:12 am
MichaelG on Big government II.
April 28th, 2011 5:55 pm
MichaelG on Big government II.
April 28th, 2011 8:32 pm
MichaelG on All the silly ladies.
April 29th, 2011 5:32 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
May 1st, 2011 3:49 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
May 1st, 2011 5:07 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
May 1st, 2011 9:39 pm
MichaelG on Osama bin Hidin'.
May 2nd, 2011 4:21 pm
MichaelG on Park bench.
May 4th, 2011 11:59 pm
MichaelG on Kremlinology for dummies.
May 5th, 2011 7:10 pm
MichaelG on Kremlinology for dummies.
May 5th, 2011 9:21 pm
MichaelG on Urban explorer.
May 6th, 2011 7:08 pm
MichaelG on Repeal!
May 9th, 2011 5:52 pm
MichaelG on Repeal!
May 10th, 2011 1:59 am
MichaelG on King Robert, fleur de lis and rain.
May 13th, 2011 11:13 pm
MichaelG on King Robert, fleur de lis and rain.
May 14th, 2011 1:07 am
MichaelG on King Robert, fleur de lis and rain.
May 14th, 2011 5:39 am
MichaelG on King Robert, fleur de lis and rain.
May 15th, 2011 7:34 pm
MichaelG on King Robert, fleur de lis and rain.
May 16th, 2011 4:02 am
MichaelG on Splitsville.
May 17th, 2011 10:57 pm
MichaelG on When egos collide.
May 19th, 2011 2:30 am
MichaelG on I can hear music.
May 21st, 2011 6:21 am
MichaelG on I can hear music.
May 23rd, 2011 3:48 am
MichaelG on What weekend?
May 23rd, 2011 5:37 pm
MichaelG on No one's as Irish.
May 24th, 2011 8:36 pm
MichaelG on No one's as Irish.
May 24th, 2011 10:59 pm
MichaelG on Waiting out the rain.
May 25th, 2011 5:36 pm
MichaelG on Waiting out the rain.
May 25th, 2011 5:42 pm
MichaelG on Waiting out the rain.
May 25th, 2011 10:44 pm
MichaelG on Waiting out the rain.
May 26th, 2011 1:45 am
MichaelG on Movement.
May 31st, 2011 7:11 pm
MichaelG on I can see clearly now.
June 3rd, 2011 2:08 am
MichaelG on Trendy, trendy, trendy.
June 3rd, 2011 5:53 pm
MichaelG on Trendy, trendy, trendy.
June 4th, 2011 1:43 am
MichaelG on Trendy, trendy, trendy.
June 5th, 2011 2:06 am
MichaelG on Faking a little blogging.
June 6th, 2011 7:53 pm
MichaelG on Faking a little blogging.
June 7th, 2011 3:18 am
MichaelG on Battle of the bulge.
June 7th, 2011 5:44 pm
MichaelG on Battle of the bulge.
June 8th, 2011 3:21 am
MichaelG on Butt rock for beginners.
June 10th, 2011 6:18 am
MichaelG on Butt rock for beginners.
June 10th, 2011 9:43 am
MichaelG on The blaming of the shrew.
June 12th, 2011 9:14 pm
MichaelG on Authority problems.
June 15th, 2011 5:38 am
MichaelG on Insomnia.
June 16th, 2011 6:56 pm
MichaelG on Dead fans tell no tales.
June 20th, 2011 5:29 pm
MichaelG on Dive-bombed.
June 24th, 2011 8:06 pm
MichaelG on Dive-bombed.
June 26th, 2011 4:02 am
MichaelG on Dive-bombed.
June 26th, 2011 8:41 pm
MichaelG on If it keeps on rainin', the sequel.
June 27th, 2011 5:53 pm
MichaelG on If it keeps on rainin', the sequel.
June 28th, 2011 1:46 am
MichaelG on Writes too much.
June 30th, 2011 2:17 am
MichaelG on Rules of the road.
July 2nd, 2011 11:13 pm
MichaelG on Rules of the road.
July 3rd, 2011 7:04 am
MichaelG on The runaway bride.
July 6th, 2011 1:42 am
MichaelG on Mr. Swish and Mrs. Beard.
July 14th, 2011 11:01 pm
MichaelG on Going to the mat.
July 17th, 2011 4:23 am
MichaelG on Pleased to meet you.
July 21st, 2011 1:35 am
MichaelG on Playground rules.
July 24th, 2011 2:29 am
MichaelG on Work-related casualties.
July 30th, 2011 12:19 am
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon Maker Faire
July 31st, 2011 6:42 pm
MichaelG on The expensive blue line.
August 4th, 2011 1:03 am
MichaelG on The expensive blue line.
August 4th, 2011 5:44 pm
MichaelG on The slow spiral.
August 4th, 2011 11:04 pm
MichaelG on Bearded.
August 6th, 2011 6:15 pm
MichaelG on Gnashing.
August 8th, 2011 7:37 pm
MichaelG on Help. (I need somebody.)
August 11th, 2011 5:18 pm
MichaelG on A new way to read.
August 11th, 2011 10:54 pm
MichaelG on A new way to read.
August 12th, 2011 1:50 am
MichaelG on Who wants yesterday's papers?
August 12th, 2011 5:35 pm
MichaelG on Who wants yesterday's papers?
August 12th, 2011 7:48 pm
MichaelG on The Snyderman house.
August 15th, 2011 11:00 pm
MichaelG on The Snyderman house.
August 16th, 2011 12:12 am
MichaelG on Go for it.
August 19th, 2011 9:19 pm
MichaelG on Land of the raven and loon.
August 22nd, 2011 10:57 pm
MichaelG on The University of Insanity.
August 25th, 2011 2:34 am
MichaelG on The University of Insanity.
August 25th, 2011 2:36 am
MichaelG on The Reaper and the cutting-room floor.
August 27th, 2011 1:36 am
MichaelG on Ed the knife.
August 30th, 2011 12:17 am
MichaelG on Animal-watching.
August 31st, 2011 6:25 am
MichaelG on Back to school.
September 1st, 2011 4:16 am
MichaelG on Back to school.
September 1st, 2011 5:23 pm
MichaelG on Moms like who?
September 3rd, 2011 3:11 am
MichaelG on Crazy talk.
September 7th, 2011 6:31 am
MichaelG on Rah rah monkeys.
September 7th, 2011 10:45 pm
MichaelG on Rah rah monkeys.
September 8th, 2011 1:50 am
MichaelG on Get well soon.
September 13th, 2011 5:40 pm
MichaelG on Bikes and bagels.
September 15th, 2011 5:54 pm
MichaelG on Bikes and bagels.
September 15th, 2011 11:14 pm
MichaelG on Bikes and bagels.
September 16th, 2011 1:38 am
MichaelG on Bikes and bagels.
September 16th, 2011 5:11 pm
MichaelG on Wasted.
October 3rd, 2011 6:18 pm
MichaelG on Leftovers, today.
October 10th, 2011 5:27 pm
MichaelG on Rocktober.
October 11th, 2011 6:46 pm
MichaelG on Rocktober.
October 11th, 2011 11:53 pm
MichaelG on Literally.
October 14th, 2011 12:24 am
MichaelG on Clutch work.
October 14th, 2011 4:19 pm
MichaelG on Clutch work.
October 15th, 2011 2:16 am
MichaelG on Costumed.
October 18th, 2011 7:49 pm
MichaelG on The un-genius bar.
October 22nd, 2011 5:08 pm
MichaelG on A night to remember.
October 25th, 2011 1:58 am
MichaelG on Scary germs.
October 26th, 2011 12:12 am
MichaelG on Beef therapy.
October 28th, 2011 6:41 am
MichaelG on Beef therapy.
October 28th, 2011 6:40 pm
MichaelG on Priest-killing' time.
October 30th, 2011 9:07 am
MichaelG on Details, details.
November 4th, 2011 6:01 pm
MichaelG on Details, details.
November 5th, 2011 12:33 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
November 7th, 2011 6:25 am
MichaelG on Another one.
November 7th, 2011 6:37 pm
MichaelG on E-day, fog day.
November 8th, 2011 8:42 pm
MichaelG on E-day, fog day.
November 9th, 2011 1:22 am
MichaelG on Ten November.
November 10th, 2011 8:18 pm
MichaelG on Ten November.
November 10th, 2011 8:22 pm
MichaelG on Eleven eleven eleven.
November 13th, 2011 12:04 am
MichaelG on HAL takes pen in hand.
November 15th, 2011 1:27 am
MichaelG on Link salad.
November 18th, 2011 3:26 am
MichaelG on The SparkleBaby Chronicles, Part 1.
November 19th, 2011 1:00 am
MichaelG on The SparkleBaby Chronicles, Part 1.
November 19th, 2011 10:55 am
MichaelG on Create the problem, sell the cure.
November 22nd, 2011 3:13 am
MichaelG on This was this, but that was that.
November 23rd, 2011 12:12 am
MichaelG on Fatheads.
November 23rd, 2011 7:26 pm
MichaelG on Fatheads.
November 25th, 2011 9:32 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
November 27th, 2011 8:11 pm
MichaelG on Contents under pressure.
November 28th, 2011 7:00 pm
MichaelG on Contents under pressure.
November 28th, 2011 11:39 pm
MichaelG on Contents under pressure.
November 28th, 2011 11:43 pm
MichaelG on Powerless.
November 30th, 2011 10:46 pm
MichaelG on Powerless.
December 1st, 2011 3:08 am
MichaelG on Who are you?
December 1st, 2011 7:40 pm
MichaelG on Dried-plum face.
December 3rd, 2011 6:57 pm
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon walk.
December 5th, 2011 12:21 am
MichaelG on Mostly cloudy.
December 6th, 2011 2:54 am
MichaelG on Send friend request.
December 6th, 2011 8:12 pm
MichaelG on That left a big hole.
December 10th, 2011 1:43 am
MichaelG on That left a big hole.
December 10th, 2011 10:38 pm
MichaelG on That left a big hole.
December 11th, 2011 12:23 am
MichaelG on That left a big hole.
December 11th, 2011 6:49 pm
MichaelG on A few kitchen notes.
December 12th, 2011 9:59 pm
MichaelG on A few kitchen notes.
December 13th, 2011 1:31 am
MichaelG on Mission accomplished. More or less.
December 16th, 2011 3:16 am
MichaelG on Gone now.
December 16th, 2011 10:57 pm
MichaelG on Gone now.
December 18th, 2011 10:24 pm
MichaelG on The lead today is buried.
December 19th, 2011 8:14 pm
MichaelG on The lead today is buried.
December 20th, 2011 6:20 pm
MichaelG on Darkest day.
December 22nd, 2011 7:40 am
MichaelG on Festivus for the rest of us.
December 24th, 2011 10:43 pm
MichaelG on Festivus for the rest of us.
December 25th, 2011 9:09 pm
MichaelG on Festivus for the rest of us.
December 25th, 2011 9:17 pm
MichaelG on Hanging up.
December 28th, 2011 8:08 pm
MichaelG on Hanging up.
December 28th, 2011 10:33 pm
MichaelG on Hanging up.
December 29th, 2011 2:39 am
MichaelG on Hanging up.
December 29th, 2011 7:56 am
MichaelG on Hanging up.
December 29th, 2011 6:08 pm
MichaelG on And a parrotlet in a pine tree.
December 29th, 2011 7:45 pm
MichaelG on And a parrotlet in a pine tree.
December 29th, 2011 9:50 pm
MichaelG on And a parrotlet in a pine tree.
December 31st, 2011 11:07 pm
MichaelG on A new gear.
January 6th, 2012 5:45 am
MichaelG on From the East German judge, an 8.
January 6th, 2012 7:34 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning WTF?
January 8th, 2012 8:17 pm
MichaelG on Talk amongst yourselves.
January 10th, 2012 6:48 pm
MIchaelG on End of a long week.
January 13th, 2012 7:02 pm
MIchaelG on End of a long week.
January 13th, 2012 9:35 pm
MichaelG on The drear.
January 17th, 2012 8:29 pm
MichaelG on Is that cheddar old enough to vote?
January 18th, 2012 11:36 pm
MichaelG on Is that cheddar old enough to vote?
January 19th, 2012 12:10 am
MichaelG on Never darkened, but today? Dim.
January 19th, 2012 7:15 pm
MichaelG on Second opinions, please.
January 23rd, 2012 7:53 am
MichaelG on Have a heart.
February 14th, 2012 8:23 pm
MichaelG on Have a heart.
February 15th, 2012 4:26 am
MichaelG on Have a heart.
February 15th, 2012 8:27 am
MichaelG on What's your racket?
February 15th, 2012 6:55 pm
MichaelG on What's your racket?
February 15th, 2012 10:56 pm
MichaelG on What's your racket?
February 16th, 2012 7:24 am
MichaelG on And away we go.
February 16th, 2012 6:35 pm
MichaelG on Friday afterthoughts.
February 18th, 2012 11:14 pm
MichaelG on In da club.
February 20th, 2012 9:04 pm
MichaelG on In da club.
February 20th, 2012 11:33 pm
MichaelG on Cookies and nuts.
February 21st, 2012 6:45 pm
MichaelG on Cookies and nuts.
February 21st, 2012 7:50 pm
MichaelG on Spleen with a side of bile.
February 23rd, 2012 6:37 pm
MichaelG on Waiting for whatever.
February 24th, 2012 6:29 pm
MichaelG on Waiting for whatever.
February 25th, 2012 10:41 am
MichaelG on Award season.
February 27th, 2012 9:17 pm
MichaelG on E-day.
February 28th, 2012 6:28 pm
MichaelG on E-day.
February 28th, 2012 11:31 pm
MichaelG on Sown. Reaped. Etc.
March 2nd, 2012 7:16 pm
MichaelG on Sown. Reaped. Etc.
March 3rd, 2012 7:45 pm
MichaelG on A mixed grill.
March 6th, 2012 11:46 pm
MichaelG on Hump-tastic.
March 9th, 2012 4:29 am
MichaelG on The soup-and-salad lunch deal is very nice.
March 9th, 2012 6:54 pm
MichaelG on The soup-and-salad lunch deal is very nice.
March 9th, 2012 11:52 pm
MichaelG on The soup-and-salad lunch deal is very nice.
March 10th, 2012 1:12 am
MichaelG on The soup-and-salad lunch deal is very nice.
March 10th, 2012 11:22 pm
MichaelG on The soup-and-salad lunch deal is very nice.
March 11th, 2012 4:12 am
MichaelG on How it happened.
March 13th, 2012 12:19 am
MichaelG on A margarita to celebrate your independence.
March 13th, 2012 5:56 pm
MichaelG on Took shelter.
March 16th, 2012 6:13 pm
MichaelG on Took shelter.
March 16th, 2012 10:38 pm
MichaelG on Truth vs. facts, a continuing series.
March 19th, 2012 9:21 pm
MichaelG on The artists.
March 22nd, 2012 12:03 am
MichaelG on Thursday 'n' stuff.
March 22nd, 2012 5:55 pm
MichaelG on City of lights, city of magic.
March 24th, 2012 6:54 am
MichaelG on City of lights, city of magic.
March 25th, 2012 3:06 am
MichaelG on City of lights, city of magic.
March 26th, 2012 4:45 am
MichaelG on The smell test.
March 26th, 2012 5:31 pm
MichaelG on The smell test.
March 26th, 2012 10:34 pm
MichaelG on Karma carries a gas can.
March 28th, 2012 5:30 pm
MichaelG on Luck. Or something else.
March 30th, 2012 6:17 pm
MichaelG on Luck. Or something else.
March 31st, 2012 11:09 pm
MichaelG on Luck. Or something else.
April 1st, 2012 2:39 am
MichaelG on Divine? Not me.
April 2nd, 2012 7:47 pm
MichaelG on Feeding from the tap.
April 5th, 2012 5:32 pm
MichaelG on Feeding from the tap.
April 5th, 2012 11:10 pm
MichaelG on A diet plate.
April 6th, 2012 6:50 pm
MichaelG on A diet plate.
April 6th, 2012 10:10 pm
MichaelG on As we say: -30-
April 9th, 2012 5:59 pm
MichaelG on Kottage kitsch.
April 10th, 2012 11:31 pm
MichaelG on Sunk.
April 12th, 2012 5:36 pm
MichaelG on Peace and comfort, Moe.
April 13th, 2012 5:39 pm
MichaelG on Peace and comfort, Moe.
April 13th, 2012 10:34 pm
MichaelG on Peace and comfort, Moe.
April 14th, 2012 1:07 am
MichaelG on Peace and comfort, Moe.
April 15th, 2012 7:03 am
m on Gusty. Calm expected eventually.
April 18th, 2012 1:56 am
MichaelG on Almost...there...
April 18th, 2012 6:14 pm
MichaelG on End of an era.
April 19th, 2012 11:07 pm
MichaelG on Headwinds.
April 23rd, 2012 6:00 pm
MichaelG on This week, this endless week.
April 25th, 2012 10:28 pm
MichaelG on This week, this endless week.
April 26th, 2012 2:02 am
MichaelG on This week, this endless week.
April 26th, 2012 7:16 am
MichaelG on This week, this endless week.
April 26th, 2012 7:42 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning mystery spot.
April 30th, 2012 6:40 am
MichaelG on Madtown.
May 1st, 2012 6:51 pm
MichaelG on Oops.
May 3rd, 2012 2:20 am
MichaelG on Just the stenographer.
May 4th, 2012 5:57 pm
MichaelG on Just the stenographer.
May 4th, 2012 8:28 pm
MichaelG on Just the stenographer.
May 4th, 2012 9:20 pm
MichaelG on Don't primary me, bro.
May 7th, 2012 10:33 pm
MichaelG on Don't primary me, bro.
May 8th, 2012 2:12 am
MichaelG on A small victory.
May 8th, 2012 6:48 pm
MichaelG on Farewell to a few.
May 10th, 2012 1:02 am
MichaelG on Progress.
May 11th, 2012 10:03 pm
MichaelG on Progress.
May 13th, 2012 7:19 pm
MichaelG on Night-night.
May 15th, 2012 8:31 pm
MichaelG on Night-night.
May 16th, 2012 1:39 am
MichaelG on I dew.
May 17th, 2012 11:22 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
May 20th, 2012 7:59 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
May 21st, 2012 4:28 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
May 21st, 2012 4:31 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
May 21st, 2012 4:41 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
May 21st, 2012 4:49 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
May 21st, 2012 4:53 am
MichaelG on Who's shooting who?
May 23rd, 2012 2:24 am
MichaelG on Who's shooting who?
May 23rd, 2012 4:05 am
MichaelG on Snack platter.
May 24th, 2012 6:27 pm
MichaelG on Around the world.
May 25th, 2012 8:07 pm
MichaelG on Around the world.
May 26th, 2012 7:13 am
MichaelG on Around the world.
May 28th, 2012 6:13 pm
MichaelG on Around the world.
May 28th, 2012 10:49 pm
MichaelG on Around the world.
May 28th, 2012 10:55 pm
MichaelG on Holiday weekend.
May 29th, 2012 5:20 pm
MichaelG on Holiday weekend.
May 29th, 2012 5:24 pm
MichaelG on Holiday weekend.
May 29th, 2012 6:34 pm
MichaelG on Day two under the bridge.
June 1st, 2012 5:32 pm
MichaelG on Day two under the bridge.
June 2nd, 2012 10:10 pm
MichaelG on Martinis on Mackinac.
June 4th, 2012 5:27 pm
MichaelG on Sick day.
June 6th, 2012 12:11 am
MichaelG on Dulce et decorum est.
June 6th, 2012 5:40 pm
MichaelG on Dulce et decorum est.
June 6th, 2012 9:32 pm
MichaelG on Dulce et decorum est.
June 7th, 2012 1:53 am
MichaelG on Dulce et decorum est.
June 7th, 2012 6:43 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
June 11th, 2012 2:55 am
MichaelG on The human bobblehead.
June 11th, 2012 10:45 pm
MichaelG on The human bobblehead.
June 12th, 2012 3:20 am
MichaelG on Mad men, satisfied woman.
June 12th, 2012 7:35 pm
MichaelG on No showers, please.
June 13th, 2012 8:21 pm
MichaelG on Baked.
June 20th, 2012 8:09 pm
MichaelG on Baked.
June 20th, 2012 8:16 pm
MichaelG on Baked.
June 20th, 2012 10:22 pm
MichaelG on The early shift.
June 23rd, 2012 7:10 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
June 23rd, 2012 8:48 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
June 25th, 2012 2:09 am
MichaelG on The pie drought.
June 25th, 2012 6:37 pm
MichaelG on Fathead.
June 26th, 2012 7:06 pm
MichaelG on Steaming.
July 2nd, 2012 5:55 pm
MichaelG on A long, long time ago...
July 4th, 2012 1:26 am
MichaelG on Stars in his eyes.
July 5th, 2012 9:19 pm
MichaelG on Stars in his eyes.
July 5th, 2012 10:39 pm
MichaelG on Stars in his eyes.
July 5th, 2012 10:41 pm
MichaelG on Stars in his eyes.
July 6th, 2012 1:45 am
MichaelG on Blown to bits.
July 7th, 2012 9:23 pm
MichaelG on A weekend passing.
July 9th, 2012 7:15 pm
MichaelG on Too good.
July 11th, 2012 5:28 pm
MichaelG on Too good.
July 14th, 2012 10:17 pm
MichaelG on Too good.
July 15th, 2012 1:46 am
MichaelG on Too good.
July 16th, 2012 6:53 am
MichaelG on What the--?
July 16th, 2012 6:57 am
MichaelG on What the--?
July 16th, 2012 4:57 pm
MichaelG on Oops, I did it again.
July 25th, 2012 5:23 pm
MichaelG on The dull season.
July 26th, 2012 4:20 pm
MichaelG on The dull season.
July 26th, 2012 9:03 pm
MichaelG on The dull season.
July 27th, 2012 1:54 am
MichaelG on I hope the fishing's good.
July 27th, 2012 10:00 pm
MichaelG on I hope the fishing's good.
July 27th, 2012 10:01 pm
MichaelG on I hope the fishing's good.
July 28th, 2012 5:54 am
MichaelG on I hope the fishing's good.
July 28th, 2012 6:17 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
July 28th, 2012 6:29 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
July 28th, 2012 9:39 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
July 28th, 2012 9:40 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
July 29th, 2012 8:30 pm
MichaelG on What do the judges say?
July 31st, 2012 2:08 am
MichaelG on What do the judges say?
July 31st, 2012 6:43 am
MichaelG on What do the judges say?
July 31st, 2012 6:45 am
MichaelG on Leftovers.
August 1st, 2012 11:59 pm
MichaelG on Under the river.
August 3rd, 2012 1:34 am
MichaelG on Peachy August.
August 4th, 2012 12:39 am
MichaelG on Peachy August.
August 5th, 2012 12:02 am
MichaelG on Peachy August.
August 5th, 2012 12:55 am
MichaelG on Peachy August.
August 5th, 2012 3:02 am
MichaelG on Elections are entertaining.
August 9th, 2012 12:15 am
MichaelG on Elections are entertaining.
August 9th, 2012 1:53 am
MichaelG on A slide show of nothing much.
August 9th, 2012 5:38 pm
MichaelG on A slide show of nothing much.
August 9th, 2012 6:45 pm
MichaelG on A slide show of nothing much.
August 9th, 2012 7:38 pm
MichaelG on A slide show of nothing much.
August 9th, 2012 11:25 pm
MichaelG on Please pay at time of service.
August 10th, 2012 9:45 pm
MichaelG on Sunday on the road.
August 13th, 2012 6:31 pm
MichaelG on Sunday on the road.
August 13th, 2012 8:38 pm
MichaelG on Monday on the road.
August 13th, 2012 9:08 pm
MichaelG on Monday on the road.
August 13th, 2012 11:09 pm
MichaelG on Monday on the road.
August 14th, 2012 5:52 pm
MichaelG on Monday on the road.
August 14th, 2012 8:01 pm
MichaelG on Monday on the road.
August 15th, 2012 12:58 am
MichaelG on Monday on the road.
August 15th, 2012 1:00 am
MichaelG on Monday on the road.
August 15th, 2012 7:09 am
MichaelG on The angry-cycle.
August 18th, 2012 5:56 pm
MichaelG on Two musicals and a bleh.
August 20th, 2012 11:58 pm
MichaelG on What's for dinner?
August 24th, 2012 3:32 am
MichaelG on What's for dinner?
August 24th, 2012 6:53 am
MichaelG on Nice gams.
August 25th, 2012 7:32 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
August 26th, 2012 7:23 pm
MichaelG on Lance the imperfect.
August 29th, 2012 5:44 pm
MichaelG on Lance the imperfect.
August 29th, 2012 11:56 pm
MichaelG on Conventional behavior.
September 1st, 2012 10:13 pm
MichaelG on Conventional behavior.
September 1st, 2012 10:31 pm
MichaelG on That's very unwise.
September 10th, 2012 5:55 pm
MichaelG on Bow down. Then sleep.
September 12th, 2012 2:25 am
MichaelG on Still Bob, after all these years.
September 14th, 2012 2:10 am
MichaelG on All thumbs down.
September 15th, 2012 7:02 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 15th, 2012 9:31 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 17th, 2012 1:41 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 17th, 2012 1:50 am
MichaelG on Old family recipe.
September 17th, 2012 5:50 pm
MichaelG on Old family recipe.
September 18th, 2012 2:22 am
MichaelG on The elephant in the room.
September 21st, 2012 7:22 am
MichaelG on Waiting.
September 21st, 2012 4:48 pm
MichaelG on Waiting.
September 21st, 2012 8:39 pm
MichaelG on Waiting.
September 21st, 2012 8:44 pm
MichaelG on Waiting.
September 22nd, 2012 8:27 am
MichaelG on Waiting.
September 22nd, 2012 8:38 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 23rd, 2012 8:27 pm
MichaelG on What's playing in the East Room?
September 27th, 2012 6:03 pm
MichaelG on Waiting for something.
September 28th, 2012 5:44 pm
MichaelG on Waiting for something.
September 29th, 2012 7:08 pm
MichaelG on Waiting for something.
September 29th, 2012 7:10 pm
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon market.
September 30th, 2012 7:58 pm
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon market.
October 1st, 2012 7:18 am
MichaelG on Pixel-away.
October 1st, 2012 5:19 pm
MichaelG on Pixel-away.
October 1st, 2012 5:20 pm
MichaelG on Lop-siding.
October 2nd, 2012 4:23 pm
MichaelG on When the news is fun.
October 3rd, 2012 5:30 pm
MichaelG on When the news is fun.
October 4th, 2012 12:38 am
MichaelG on When the news is fun.
October 4th, 2012 6:04 am
MichaelG on Three points? Whatever.
October 5th, 2012 6:56 pm
MichaelG on Three points? Whatever.
October 6th, 2012 12:41 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
October 7th, 2012 6:51 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
October 8th, 2012 12:20 am
MichaelG on Mercury is fine.
October 8th, 2012 10:39 pm
MichaelG on Mercury is fine.
October 9th, 2012 3:19 am
MichaelG on The chariot race.
October 9th, 2012 5:46 pm
MichaelG on The chariot race.
October 10th, 2012 2:32 am
MichaelG on Pie-eyed.
October 10th, 2012 7:38 pm
MichaelG on Pie-eyed.
October 11th, 2012 2:58 am
MichaelG on College night.
October 11th, 2012 5:11 pm
MichaelG on College night.
October 12th, 2012 12:09 am
MichaelG on College night.
October 12th, 2012 12:12 am
MichaelG on College night.
October 12th, 2012 12:13 am
MichaelG on College night.
October 12th, 2012 1:42 am
MichaelG on Pulptastic.
October 13th, 2012 8:33 pm
MichaelG on A long fall.
October 15th, 2012 6:32 pm
MichaelG on Dry all over.
October 17th, 2012 5:35 pm
MichaelG on Ring ring ring.
October 18th, 2012 6:23 pm
MichaelG on Ring ring ring.
October 19th, 2012 12:48 am
MichaelG on Strange bedfellows.
October 19th, 2012 11:49 pm
MichaelG on Strange bedfellows.
October 20th, 2012 1:45 am
MichaelG on Strange bedfellows.
October 20th, 2012 10:41 pm
MichaelG on Strange bedfellows.
October 20th, 2012 10:44 pm
MichaelG on Strange bedfellows.
October 22nd, 2012 12:11 am
MichaelG on Pop-ups, two kinds.
October 23rd, 2012 12:42 am
MichaelG on Pop-ups, two kinds.
October 23rd, 2012 1:59 am
MichaelG on The neighbors.
October 23rd, 2012 5:32 pm
MichaelG on The neighbors.
October 24th, 2012 2:24 am
MichaelG on Cerebral blockage.
October 24th, 2012 5:29 pm
MichaelG on Times a-changin'.
October 27th, 2012 12:25 am
MichaelG on Times a-changin'.
October 27th, 2012 2:40 am
MichaelG on Times a-changin'.
October 27th, 2012 2:51 am
MichaelG on Times a-changin'.
October 27th, 2012 10:40 pm
MichaelG on Times a-changin'.
October 27th, 2012 10:53 pm
MichaelG on Times a-changin'.
October 28th, 2012 9:37 am
MichaelG on Times a-changin'.
October 28th, 2012 7:34 pm
MichaelG on Whoop-whoop.
November 1st, 2012 11:36 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
November 5th, 2012 7:59 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
November 5th, 2012 8:08 am
MichaelG on Pops and hisses.
November 5th, 2012 6:24 pm
MichaelG on Don't forget to vote.
November 7th, 2012 12:13 am
MichaelG on Blame the weather.
November 9th, 2012 8:16 pm
MichaelG on Blame the weather.
November 9th, 2012 9:06 pm
MichaelG on Blame the weather.
November 10th, 2012 12:14 am
MichaelG on Blame the weather.
November 11th, 2012 12:23 am
MichaelG on Blame the weather.
November 11th, 2012 2:30 am
MichaelG on Blame the weather.
November 11th, 2012 8:03 am
MichaelG on I deserved a break today.
November 13th, 2012 11:43 pm
MichaelG on Braaaains.
November 14th, 2012 6:49 pm
MichaelG on Busy girls, birthday girl.
November 16th, 2012 11:35 pm
MichaelG on Busy girls, birthday girl.
November 17th, 2012 11:26 pm
MichaelG on Busy girls, birthday girl.
November 18th, 2012 8:20 am
MichaelG on Busy girls, birthday girl.
November 18th, 2012 10:39 pm
MichaelG on Light the fuse.
November 19th, 2012 7:08 pm
MichaelG on Light the fuse.
November 19th, 2012 11:41 pm
MichaelG on Light the fuse.
November 20th, 2012 1:06 am
MichaelG on Light the fuse.
November 20th, 2012 3:24 am
MichaelG on Light the fuse.
November 20th, 2012 7:59 am
MichaelG on Light the fuse.
November 20th, 2012 8:01 am
MichaelG on Light the fuse.
November 20th, 2012 8:03 am
MichaelG on Light the fuse.
November 20th, 2012 8:10 am
MichaelG on Poor pups.
November 21st, 2012 9:38 pm
MichaelG on Poor pups.
November 22nd, 2012 1:29 am
MichaelG on Poor pups.
November 22nd, 2012 9:27 pm
MichaelG on Poor pups.
November 23rd, 2012 8:59 pm
MichaelG on Poor pups.
November 23rd, 2012 11:53 pm
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon market.
November 24th, 2012 8:46 pm
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon market.
November 25th, 2012 11:35 pm
MichaelG on The lazy-weekend roundup.
November 26th, 2012 7:13 pm
MichaelG on The lazy-weekend roundup.
November 26th, 2012 7:18 pm
MichaelG on The lazy-weekend roundup.
November 27th, 2012 3:04 am
MichaelG on The lazy-weekend roundup.
November 27th, 2012 7:50 am
MichaelG on Squeaky-clean.
November 29th, 2012 2:51 am
MichaelG on Predictable.
November 30th, 2012 2:47 am
MichaelG on White room, red hair.
December 1st, 2012 7:20 am
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon market.
December 2nd, 2012 6:21 am
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon market.
December 2nd, 2012 7:58 am
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon market.
December 2nd, 2012 8:11 pm
MichaelG on Saturday afternoon market.
December 3rd, 2012 8:27 am
MichaelG on Secrets of the industrial park.
December 3rd, 2012 10:06 pm
MichaelG on Secrets of the industrial park.
December 4th, 2012 1:47 am
MichaelG on The murk of Monday.
December 4th, 2012 6:38 pm
MichaelG on The murk of Monday.
December 4th, 2012 9:21 pm
MichaelG on The murk of Monday.
December 5th, 2012 3:19 am
MichaelG on The murk of Monday.
December 5th, 2012 8:00 am
MichaelG on The lame excuses.
December 7th, 2012 9:48 am
MichaelG on Fresh start.
December 9th, 2012 9:45 pm
MichaelG on Fresh start.
December 9th, 2012 9:48 pm
MichaelG on Sunday afternoon shopping.
December 10th, 2012 8:12 am
MichaelG on One long day.
December 12th, 2012 6:41 pm
MichaelG on Notes from the barkeep.
December 13th, 2012 5:02 pm
MichaelG on Notes from the barkeep.
December 13th, 2012 6:33 pm
MichaelG on Top-rack time.
December 15th, 2012 8:09 pm
MichaelG on Denial, grief, anger.
December 19th, 2012 2:57 am
MichaelG on Honest Abe.
December 19th, 2012 6:26 pm
MichaelG on Drop it.
December 20th, 2012 7:06 pm
MichaelG on Happy holidays.
December 23rd, 2012 8:16 pm
MichaelG on Happy holidays.
December 24th, 2012 11:59 pm
MichaelG on Hey.
December 25th, 2012 8:42 pm
MichaelG on Hey.
December 26th, 2012 4:37 am
MichaelG on A little light reading.
December 28th, 2012 1:51 am
MichaelG on A little light reading.
December 28th, 2012 11:36 pm
MichaelG on A little light reading.
December 30th, 2012 8:53 pm
MichaelG on Three Fs for 2013.
January 1st, 2013 8:57 pm
MichaelG on Back to work.
January 2nd, 2013 6:54 pm
MichaelG on Back to work.
January 2nd, 2013 6:55 pm
MichaelG on Don't fence me in.
January 5th, 2013 10:51 pm
MichaelG on Don't fence me in.
January 5th, 2013 10:53 pm
MichaelG on Don't fence me in.
January 7th, 2013 5:03 am
MichaelG on Couch movies.
January 7th, 2013 6:56 pm
MichaelG on Couch movies.
January 7th, 2013 11:31 pm
MichaelG on The sickly season.
January 10th, 2013 7:13 pm
MichaelG on The sickly season.
January 10th, 2013 10:10 pm
MichaelG on The sickly season.
January 11th, 2013 3:21 am
MichaelG on The sickly season.
January 11th, 2013 3:24 am
MichaelG on Shrinkage.
January 13th, 2013 8:43 pm
MichaelG on Zero Dark Thirty.
January 14th, 2013 6:53 pm
MichaelG on Cars, new and old.
January 16th, 2013 1:52 am
MichaelG on National Soup Month at midpoint.
January 16th, 2013 8:37 pm
MichaelG on A sad, sad song.
January 17th, 2013 7:15 pm
MichaelG on Sad, but sort of wonderful.
January 18th, 2013 7:38 pm
MichaelG on Sad, but sort of wonderful.
January 19th, 2013 10:51 pm
MichaelG on One night in Detroit.
January 21st, 2013 11:08 am
MichaelG on One night in Detroit.
January 21st, 2013 9:00 pm
MichaelG on One night in Detroit.
January 22nd, 2013 6:04 am
MichaelG on Inauguration.
January 23rd, 2013 3:18 am
MichaelG on The road to Crazytown.
January 25th, 2013 2:59 am
MichaelG on Paddy, stand tall.
January 25th, 2013 6:52 pm
MichaelG on Paddy, stand tall.
January 26th, 2013 12:01 am
MichaelG on Paddy, stand tall.
January 26th, 2013 10:28 pm
MichaelG on Is it real, or...?
January 31st, 2013 5:08 am
MichaelG on Is it real, or...?
January 31st, 2013 5:09 am
MichaelG on Is it real, or...?
January 31st, 2013 7:41 am
MichaelG on Bloody damn snow.
February 2nd, 2013 2:49 am
MichaelG on Bloody damn snow.
February 3rd, 2013 9:32 pm
MichaelG on Shooters.
February 4th, 2013 6:31 pm
MichaelG on Work will set you free.
February 6th, 2013 6:42 pm
MichaelG on Work will set you free.
February 7th, 2013 4:42 am
MichaelG on Drifting flakes.
February 8th, 2013 7:12 pm
MichaelG on Drifting flakes.
February 8th, 2013 11:44 pm
MichaelG on Drifting flakes.
February 8th, 2013 11:44 pm
MichaelG on Drifting flakes.
February 9th, 2013 6:57 am
MichaelG on Drifting flakes.
February 9th, 2013 10:58 pm
MichaelG on Drifting flakes.
February 10th, 2013 8:42 pm
MichaelG on Drifting flakes.
February 11th, 2013 4:09 am
MichaelG on Who's naked now?
February 12th, 2013 2:42 am
MichaelG on Do that in a designated area.
February 14th, 2013 7:49 pm
MichaelG on Do that in a designated area.
February 15th, 2013 12:53 am
MichaelG on Voyage to hell.
February 16th, 2013 1:54 am
MichaelG on Voyage to hell.
February 16th, 2013 2:05 am
MichaelG on Voyage to hell.
February 16th, 2013 2:13 am
MichaelG on Voyage to hell.
February 16th, 2013 2:14 am
MichaelG on Voyage to hell.
February 16th, 2013 2:21 am
MichaelG on A late winter weekend.
February 18th, 2013 9:05 pm
MichaelG on Tapped.
February 21st, 2013 10:00 pm
MichaelG on Tapped.
February 22nd, 2013 3:00 am
MichaelG on Higher education.
February 23rd, 2013 12:42 am
MichaelG on Higher education.
February 23rd, 2013 9:46 pm
MichaelG on Higher education.
February 23rd, 2013 9:51 pm
MichaelG on Higher education.
February 24th, 2013 6:01 am
MichaelG on Higher education.
February 24th, 2013 8:12 am
MichaelG on Higher education.
February 24th, 2013 8:22 am
MichaelG on Higher education.
February 24th, 2013 8:47 am
MichaelG on Back at it.
February 26th, 2013 6:35 pm
MichaelG on Back at it.
February 27th, 2013 3:02 am
MichaelG on A grand plan of everything.
February 28th, 2013 7:08 am
MichaelG on Still chilly out there.
March 4th, 2013 9:34 pm
MichaelG on A good thrashing.
March 5th, 2013 7:57 pm
MichaelG on A good thrashing.
March 5th, 2013 9:11 pm
MichaelG on Love is in the air.
March 6th, 2013 7:00 pm
MichaelG on Handle at your own risk.
March 9th, 2013 3:18 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
March 9th, 2013 11:27 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
March 10th, 2013 5:25 pm
MichaelG on Dietary laws.
March 11th, 2013 5:40 pm
MichaelG on Dietary laws.
March 12th, 2013 3:00 am
MichaelG on Dietary laws.
March 12th, 2013 6:37 am
MichaelG on The jury speaketh.
March 13th, 2013 2:06 am
MichaelG on The new guy.
March 14th, 2013 6:10 pm
MichaelG on Collateral damage.
March 19th, 2013 2:03 am
MichaelG on A chill.
March 20th, 2013 1:41 am
MichaelG on Marching guitars.
March 21st, 2013 5:41 pm
MichaelG on Looking up.
March 27th, 2013 2:22 am
MichaelG on Looking up.
March 27th, 2013 7:52 am
MichaelG on Looking up.
March 27th, 2013 7:55 am
MichaelG on Blurry.
March 29th, 2013 1:38 am
MichaelG on Semi-vacation day.
March 29th, 2013 5:43 pm
MichaelG on Semi-vacation day.
March 30th, 2013 12:25 am
MichaelG on Semi-vacation day.
March 30th, 2013 6:57 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
March 31st, 2013 6:56 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
April 1st, 2013 2:01 am
MichaelG on The flabby-thighs chronicles.
April 1st, 2013 8:18 am
MichaelG on The flabby-thighs chronicles.
April 1st, 2013 7:37 pm
MichaelG on The flabby-thighs chronicles.
April 1st, 2013 7:55 pm
MichaelG on In the steam.
April 4th, 2013 9:29 pm
MichaelG on In the steam.
April 4th, 2013 9:30 pm
MichaelG on In the steam.
April 5th, 2013 5:46 am
MichaelG on Roll credits.
April 6th, 2013 2:54 am
MichaelG on Picky, picky, picky.
April 9th, 2013 5:45 pm
MichaelG on Picky, picky, picky.
April 9th, 2013 6:40 pm
MichaelG on Picky, picky, picky.
April 10th, 2013 2:04 am
MichaelG on A long haul.
April 11th, 2013 12:27 am
MichaelG on Loose ends.
April 13th, 2013 1:08 am
MichaelG on White birds and snow.
April 15th, 2013 6:26 pm
MichaelG on Sick leave, eventually.
April 17th, 2013 5:45 pm
MichaelG on Sick leave, eventually.
April 17th, 2013 5:47 pm
MichaelG on The mystery men.
April 20th, 2013 1:20 am
MichaelG on The mystery men.
April 20th, 2013 9:27 pm
MichaelG on RIP.
April 22nd, 2013 5:26 pm
MichaelG on Dogs on the grill. In the rain.
April 24th, 2013 8:43 pm
MichaelG on Dogs on the grill. In the rain.
April 25th, 2013 6:25 am
MichaelG on The bleary moon.
April 28th, 2013 7:03 am
MichaelG on The bleary moon.
April 28th, 2013 9:17 pm
MichaelG on One big happy.
April 29th, 2013 6:00 pm
MichaelG on One big happy.
April 29th, 2013 11:01 pm
MichaelG on Moanday.
May 1st, 2013 2:00 am
MichaelG on Moanday.
May 1st, 2013 5:47 am
MichaelG on Moanday.
May 1st, 2013 5:48 am
MichaelG on Farewell until whenever.
May 1st, 2013 5:38 pm
MichaelG on Convalescence.
May 6th, 2013 8:09 pm
MichaelG on Convalescence.
May 7th, 2013 4:59 am
MichaelG on Convalescence.
May 7th, 2013 7:59 pm
MichaelG on Convalescence.
May 8th, 2013 3:05 am
MichaelG on Upright.
May 8th, 2013 5:57 pm
MichaelG on Upright.
May 9th, 2013 1:41 am
MichaelG on Upright.
May 9th, 2013 2:57 am
MichaelG on Upright.
May 9th, 2013 7:10 am
MichaelG on Upright.
May 11th, 2013 10:21 pm
MichaelG on Upright.
May 12th, 2013 8:06 pm
MichaelG on Chicky babies.
May 17th, 2013 1:25 am
MichaelG on Where in the world are you?
May 17th, 2013 6:46 pm
MichaelG on Where in the world are you?
May 19th, 2013 6:22 am
MichaelG on A great weekend.
May 20th, 2013 10:52 pm
MichaelG on A great weekend.
May 21st, 2013 2:18 am
MichaelG on A great weekend.
May 21st, 2013 6:19 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
May 28th, 2013 6:18 pm
MichaelG on Dirty books.
May 29th, 2013 11:27 pm
MichaelG on Same old.
May 31st, 2013 12:15 am
MichaelG on Not much to see here.
June 1st, 2013 12:04 am
MichaelG on Not much to see here.
June 1st, 2013 8:04 pm
MichaelG on Not much to see here.
June 2nd, 2013 8:19 pm
MichaelG on The weekend giveth.
June 3rd, 2013 10:41 pm
MichaelG on The weekend giveth.
June 4th, 2013 1:47 am
MichaelG on The weekend giveth.
June 5th, 2013 12:20 am
MichaelG on She said woof.
June 6th, 2013 11:30 pm
MichaelG on He hears.
June 10th, 2013 5:54 pm
MichaelG on Back.
June 18th, 2013 5:46 pm
MichaelG on The new girl.
June 24th, 2013 5:39 pm
MichaelG on Detroit summer.
July 1st, 2013 5:45 pm
MichaelG on The extra room.
July 2nd, 2013 9:01 pm
MichaelG on This just in.
July 5th, 2013 4:07 am
MichaelG on This just in.
July 5th, 2013 4:09 am
MichaelG on This just in.
July 6th, 2013 4:31 am
MichaelG on A weekend at the movies.
July 8th, 2013 7:40 pm
MichaelG on A weekend at the movies.
July 9th, 2013 1:19 am
MichaelG on A weekend at the movies.
July 9th, 2013 1:32 am
MichaelG on A weekend at the movies.
July 9th, 2013 4:46 am
MichaelG on A weekend at the movies.
July 9th, 2013 7:17 am
MichaelG on SHARKNADO.
July 12th, 2013 6:35 pm
MichaelG on SHARKNADO.
July 12th, 2013 10:39 pm
MichaelG on SHARKNADO.
July 13th, 2013 8:20 am
MichaelG on SHARKNADO.
July 13th, 2013 8:32 am
MichaelG on I make the beds around here.
July 15th, 2013 7:11 pm
MichaelG on I make the beds around here.
July 16th, 2013 2:27 am
MichaelG on I make the beds around here.
July 16th, 2013 2:32 am
MichaelG on B is for bingo, 37 is just a number.
July 16th, 2013 6:29 pm
MichaelG on B is for bingo, 37 is just a number.
July 16th, 2013 9:33 pm
MichaelG on B is for bingo, 37 is just a number.
July 17th, 2013 3:00 am
MichaelG on B is for bingo, 37 is just a number.
July 17th, 2013 3:21 am
MichaelG on Asking, but not.
July 18th, 2013 3:54 am
MichaelG on Asking, but not.
July 19th, 2013 12:08 am
MichaelG on We'll see you in court.
July 20th, 2013 9:33 pm
MichaelG on Fungus among us.
July 24th, 2013 1:47 am
MichaelG on On the rain-slick highway.
July 24th, 2013 6:06 pm
MichaelG on On the rain-slick highway.
July 25th, 2013 1:45 am
MichaelG on ZOMBIES.
July 26th, 2013 5:25 pm
MichaelG on The summer slump.
July 26th, 2013 5:40 pm
MichaelG on One for me.
July 31st, 2013 6:58 am
MichaelG on Fist, v.
August 1st, 2013 2:14 am
MichaelG on Fist, v.
August 1st, 2013 3:56 am
MichaelG on Oops.
August 1st, 2013 5:48 pm
MichaelG on Oops.
August 1st, 2013 5:50 pm
MichaelG on Doorbell ringers.
August 9th, 2013 6:19 pm
MichaelG on Doorbell ringers.
August 9th, 2013 6:22 pm
MichaelG on Doorbell ringers.
August 10th, 2013 6:29 am
MichaelG on Lonely pup.
August 14th, 2013 6:16 pm
MichaelG on Elmore Leonard, RIP.
August 20th, 2013 9:29 pm
MichaelG on Elmore Leonard, RIP, II.
August 21st, 2013 5:59 pm
MichaelG on Elmore Leonard, RIP, II.
August 22nd, 2013 3:34 am
MichaelG on The chicken gaffe.
August 23rd, 2013 8:56 pm
MichaelG on The chicken gaffe.
August 24th, 2013 10:44 pm
MichaelG on Insert local reference here.
August 27th, 2013 5:52 pm
MichaelG on Insert local reference here.
August 28th, 2013 1:53 am
MichaelG on Insert local reference here.
August 28th, 2013 4:42 am
MichaelG on Insert local reference here.
August 28th, 2013 4:54 am
MichaelG on The peaches are jealous.
August 29th, 2013 2:10 am
MichaelG on Death and Detroit.
August 30th, 2013 5:41 pm
MichaelG on Glowing.
September 4th, 2013 12:25 am
MichaelG on Glowing.
September 4th, 2013 1:30 am
MichaelG on Hare hare.
September 10th, 2013 4:11 am
MichaelG on Spotty service.
September 12th, 2013 6:12 pm
MichaelG on Spotty service.
September 12th, 2013 9:03 pm
MichaelG on Spotty service.
September 12th, 2013 11:21 pm
MichaelG on Spotty service.
September 12th, 2013 11:24 pm
MichaelG on Spotty service.
September 13th, 2013 2:21 am
MichaelG on You meet the nicest people at the O.G.
September 13th, 2013 5:56 pm
MichaelG on You meet the nicest people at the O.G.
September 13th, 2013 7:58 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 14th, 2013 10:26 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
September 15th, 2013 9:03 am
MichaelG on One more.
September 18th, 2013 6:16 am
MichaelG on Who's in charge?
September 19th, 2013 5:22 am
MichaelG on Another sketchy day.
September 20th, 2013 1:08 am
MichaelG on Stupid machines.
September 20th, 2013 5:55 pm
MichaelG on Stupid machines.
September 20th, 2013 6:52 pm
MichaelG on Old TV.
September 27th, 2013 6:31 am
MichaelG on A day away.
September 27th, 2013 6:17 pm
MichaelG on A day away.
September 28th, 2013 12:45 am
MichaelG on A day away.
September 28th, 2013 10:31 pm
MichaelG on Question for the room.
October 4th, 2013 1:58 am
MichaelG on Question for the room.
October 4th, 2013 5:45 am
MichaelG on Slippery when sweaty.
October 7th, 2013 4:21 pm
MichaelG on Listicle madness.
October 11th, 2013 12:07 am
MichaelG on Listicle madness.
October 11th, 2013 1:56 am
MGolden on A nation of tenderness.
October 11th, 2013 11:15 pm
MichaelG on Arts and culture and obsession.
October 14th, 2013 4:50 pm
MichaelG on Gimme the keys.
October 27th, 2013 7:59 pm
MichaelG on Don't spend it all in one place.
October 29th, 2013 10:56 pm
MichaelG on What's it worth to you?
November 5th, 2013 3:25 am
MichaelG on Home improvement.
November 9th, 2013 1:01 am
MichaelG on Home improvement.
November 9th, 2013 7:46 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning grocery.
November 17th, 2013 9:40 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning grocery.
November 17th, 2013 9:58 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning grocery.
November 17th, 2013 9:03 pm
MichaelG on White knuckles.
November 23rd, 2013 2:49 am
MichaelG on White knuckles.
November 23rd, 2013 6:11 am
MichaelG on The natal-day weekend.
November 25th, 2013 6:41 pm
MichaelG on The natal-day weekend.
November 25th, 2013 8:34 pm
MichaelG on Monday, Monday.
November 27th, 2013 12:20 am
MichaelG on Monday, Monday.
November 27th, 2013 12:30 am
MichaelG on Monday, Monday.
November 27th, 2013 10:01 am
MichaelG on Happy Thanksgiving.
November 27th, 2013 10:11 am
MichaelG on Happy Thanksgiving.
November 28th, 2013 9:16 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
December 1st, 2013 12:37 am
MichaelG on Stood it, by golly.
December 6th, 2013 2:16 am
MichaelG on The week of socializing frequently.
December 12th, 2013 3:09 am
MichaelG on The week of socializing frequently.
December 12th, 2013 3:10 am
MichaelG on Such an honor.
December 12th, 2013 10:58 pm
MichaelG on The blanket arrives.
December 16th, 2013 9:10 pm
MichaelG on The parka of misery.
December 17th, 2013 6:44 pm
MichaelG on The parka of misery.
December 18th, 2013 3:08 am
MichaelG on Get-well cards.
December 19th, 2013 7:54 am
MichaelG on Twice in one year.
December 20th, 2013 11:00 pm
MichaelG on A pop-in.
December 24th, 2013 11:18 pm
MichaelG on Happy Christmas.
December 26th, 2013 7:53 am
MichaelG on Happy Christmas.
December 26th, 2013 8:03 am
MichaelG on The minimizing of the crap.
December 26th, 2013 11:44 pm
MichaelG on Closet no. 1.
December 27th, 2013 9:09 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
December 29th, 2013 9:17 pm
MGolden on Saturday morning market.
December 30th, 2013 6:28 pm
MichaelG on Happy new year.
December 31st, 2013 8:38 pm
MichaelG on Happy new year.
January 1st, 2014 8:38 pm
MichaelG on Happy new year.
January 3rd, 2014 2:47 am
MichaelG on In my day, we were cold.
January 6th, 2014 6:46 pm
MichaelG on In my day, we were cold.
January 6th, 2014 6:49 pm
MichaelG on In my day, we were cold.
January 7th, 2014 3:04 am
MichaelG on In my day, we were cold.
January 7th, 2014 4:55 am
MichaelG on Midweek of the long week.
January 10th, 2014 2:38 am
MichaelG on Midweek of the long week.
January 10th, 2014 2:40 am
MichaelG on The fat guy talks. And talks and talks...
January 11th, 2014 1:20 am
MichaelG on Binning it.
January 13th, 2014 7:04 pm
MichaelG on Binning it.
January 13th, 2014 7:06 pm
MichaelG on Binning it.
January 13th, 2014 10:17 pm
MichaelG on Binning it.
January 13th, 2014 11:58 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
January 19th, 2014 12:30 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
January 19th, 2014 9:03 pm
MichaelG on The prom report.
January 20th, 2014 8:15 pm
MichaelG on The great works.
January 25th, 2014 1:44 am
MichaelG on A culture of deception.
January 29th, 2014 1:17 am
MichaelG on A culture of deception.
January 29th, 2014 1:52 am
MichaelG on One day at a time.
January 29th, 2014 6:45 pm
MichaelG on One day at a time.
January 30th, 2014 12:02 am
MichaelG on Sweetie.
January 31st, 2014 2:30 am
MichaelG on Car culture, with snow tires.
February 2nd, 2014 12:35 am
MichaelG on Car culture, with snow tires.
February 2nd, 2014 8:55 am
MichaelG on Car culture, with snow tires.
February 3rd, 2014 6:39 am
MichaelG on Car culture, with snow tires.
February 3rd, 2014 7:54 am
MichaelG on R.I.P. Scotty.
February 3rd, 2014 9:05 pm
MichaelG on R.I.P. Scotty.
February 3rd, 2014 10:20 pm
MichaelG on R.I.P. Scotty.
February 3rd, 2014 10:24 pm
MichaelG on Don't drink the water.
February 5th, 2014 7:10 pm
MichaelG on Don't drink the water.
February 5th, 2014 11:35 pm
MichaelG on Everybody said.
February 6th, 2014 8:21 pm
MichaelG on Everybody said.
February 6th, 2014 10:26 pm
MichaelG on Someone must have sang like a canary.
February 8th, 2014 2:47 am
MichaelG on Someone must have sang like a canary.
February 8th, 2014 7:26 am
MichaelG on Someone must have sang like a canary.
February 8th, 2014 7:37 am
MichaelG on Someone must have sang like a canary.
February 9th, 2014 7:44 am
MichaelG on Someone must have sang like a canary.
February 9th, 2014 8:49 pm
MichaelG on Someone must have sang like a canary.
February 9th, 2014 9:10 pm
MichaelG on Cabin fever with better TV.
February 10th, 2014 6:48 pm
MichaelG on Cabin fever with better TV.
February 10th, 2014 7:35 pm
MichaelG on The unsinkables.
February 11th, 2014 6:51 pm
MichaelG on The end of an overly perfumed era.
February 12th, 2014 11:55 pm
MichaelG on The singing dogs.
February 13th, 2014 8:47 pm
MichaelG on The singing dogs.
February 13th, 2014 8:48 pm
MichaelG on What's the matter with Kansas?
February 15th, 2014 2:41 am
MichaelG on What's the matter with Kansas?
February 15th, 2014 10:24 pm
MichaelG on What's the matter with Kansas?
February 16th, 2014 10:06 pm
MichaelG on What's the matter with Kansas?
February 17th, 2014 4:05 am
MichaelG on Photo op.
February 19th, 2014 2:20 am
MichaelG on Photo op.
February 19th, 2014 6:52 pm
MichaelG on Someone was here.
February 23rd, 2014 9:23 pm
MichaelG on Meanwhile, back here...
March 1st, 2014 10:53 pm
MichaelG on Meanwhile, back here...
March 2nd, 2014 2:12 am
MichaelG on The worst story ever.
March 11th, 2014 9:42 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
March 16th, 2014 4:53 am
MichaelG on St. Frozen's Day.
March 17th, 2014 11:03 pm
MichaelG on Here comes the fun.
April 1st, 2014 6:49 pm
MichaelG on Slide show.
April 2nd, 2014 8:15 am
MichaelG on Slide show.
April 2nd, 2014 6:51 pm
MichaelG on Slide show.
April 3rd, 2014 1:31 am
MichaelG on The hash of the day.
April 3rd, 2014 7:20 pm
MichaelG on Human relations.
April 4th, 2014 7:30 pm
MichaelG on Human relations.
April 5th, 2014 2:40 am
MichaelG on Human relations.
April 5th, 2014 6:53 am
MichaelG on Immune to reason.
April 7th, 2014 10:10 am
MichaelG on Immune to reason.
April 7th, 2014 7:41 pm
MichaelG on He kneaded her.
April 10th, 2014 1:10 am
MichaelG on He kneaded her.
April 10th, 2014 2:59 am
MichaelG on Alas.
April 11th, 2014 2:00 am
MichaelG on Fixed.
April 11th, 2014 8:13 am
MichaelG on Fixed.
April 11th, 2014 11:45 pm
MichaelG on Fixed.
April 12th, 2014 9:44 pm
MichaelG on Monday, Monday, Monday.
April 15th, 2014 11:09 pm
MichaelG on Monday, Monday, Monday.
April 15th, 2014 11:10 pm
MichaelG on Downward-facing bore.
April 17th, 2014 8:18 pm
MichaelG on Another reason to stay open all night.
April 19th, 2014 7:56 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
April 20th, 2014 9:04 am
MichaelG on See-bus.
May 21st, 2014 7:37 pm
MichaelG on It figures.
May 30th, 2014 1:18 am
MichaelG on It figures.
May 30th, 2014 4:58 am
MichaelG on It figures.
May 30th, 2014 7:09 am
MichaelG on It figures.
May 31st, 2014 12:46 am
MichaelG on It figures.
May 31st, 2014 1:56 am
MichaelG on A passing thing.
June 2nd, 2014 8:20 pm
MichaelG on A passing thing.
June 2nd, 2014 8:32 pm
MichaelG on Big doctor is watching.
June 3rd, 2014 8:29 pm
MichaelG on Big doctor is watching.
June 3rd, 2014 8:33 pm
MichaelG on Something rotten.
June 4th, 2014 8:55 pm
MichaelG on Something rotten.
June 4th, 2014 8:56 pm
MichaelG on Something rotten.
June 4th, 2014 10:47 pm
MichaelG on No! Sleep! 'til Warren!
June 5th, 2014 7:48 pm
MichaelG on No! Sleep! 'til Warren!
June 6th, 2014 12:43 am
MichaelG on Don't ever change, Cleveland.
June 6th, 2014 7:36 pm
MichaelG on Don't ever change, Cleveland.
June 8th, 2014 7:53 pm
MichaelG on Something God intended.
June 9th, 2014 7:36 pm
MichaelG on Salad, and leftovers at that.
June 12th, 2014 8:04 pm
MichaelG on Salad, and leftovers at that.
June 12th, 2014 8:04 pm
MichaelG on Down the drain.
June 13th, 2014 10:20 pm
MichaelG on Letting go.
June 16th, 2014 8:13 pm
MichaelG on Deadline linkage.
June 18th, 2014 8:57 pm
MichaelG on The new oasis.
June 19th, 2014 8:26 pm
MichaelG on The new oasis.
June 20th, 2014 6:54 am
MichaelG on The new oasis.
June 20th, 2014 9:16 pm
MichaelG on The new oasis.
June 21st, 2014 1:43 am
MichaelG on Summer.
June 24th, 2014 12:59 am
MichaelG on Vocab test.
June 24th, 2014 9:39 pm
MichaelG on Vocab test.
June 25th, 2014 12:47 am
MichaelG on Oh, Ann.
June 27th, 2014 9:59 pm
MichaelG on What's that green stuff?
June 30th, 2014 6:28 pm
MichaelG on What's that green stuff?
June 30th, 2014 8:04 pm
MichaelG on What's that green stuff?
June 30th, 2014 8:08 pm
MichaelG on You cannnn't have it.
July 2nd, 2014 12:49 am
MichaelG on You cannnn't have it.
July 2nd, 2014 4:24 am
MichaelG on The ageless.
July 3rd, 2014 7:29 pm
MichaelG on The ageless.
July 3rd, 2014 10:06 pm
MichaelG on A chill Fourth.
July 4th, 2014 9:09 pm
MichaelG on A chill Fourth.
July 5th, 2014 8:08 am
MichaelG on A chill Fourth.
July 6th, 2014 8:54 pm
MichaelG on Some housekeeping.
July 8th, 2014 9:04 pm
MichaelG on Come and sit by me.
July 10th, 2014 5:10 am
MichaelG on Come and sit by me.
July 10th, 2014 7:43 am
MichaelG on I been workin'.
July 19th, 2014 7:31 am
MichaelG on I been workin'.
July 20th, 2014 7:49 pm
MichaelG on I been workin'.
July 20th, 2014 9:09 pm
MichaelG on Everyone forgets you but the pigeons.
July 23rd, 2014 8:13 am
MichaelG on Everyone forgets you but the pigeons.
July 23rd, 2014 9:25 pm
MichaelG on Everyone forgets you but the pigeons.
July 23rd, 2014 9:26 pm
MichaelG on Everyone forgets you but the pigeons.
July 24th, 2014 10:54 pm
MichaelG on Cliff's Notes theater.
July 25th, 2014 7:47 pm
MichaelG on One chilly day.
July 29th, 2014 9:16 pm
MichaelG on Whining again.
August 3rd, 2014 7:34 am
MichaelG on What a wonderful weekend.
August 5th, 2014 1:40 am
MichaelG on The rogue.
August 6th, 2014 8:38 am
MichaelG on The katydids of August.
August 11th, 2014 10:19 pm
MichaelG on Chips, cashed in.
August 12th, 2014 10:11 pm
MichaelG on Urban unrest.
August 14th, 2014 9:28 pm
MichaelG on Rounding up.
August 15th, 2014 8:16 pm
MichaelG on Rounding up.
August 17th, 2014 3:44 am
MichaelG on Rounding up.
August 17th, 2014 7:18 pm
MichaelG on The throwdown weekend.
August 18th, 2014 9:59 pm
MichaelG on Up in smoke.
August 20th, 2014 5:04 am
MichaelG on Crickets in the evening.
August 20th, 2014 9:41 pm
MichaelG on Crickets in the evening.
August 21st, 2014 3:30 am
MichaelG on Parents and their toys.
August 22nd, 2014 4:49 am
MichaelG on Fetch her.
August 24th, 2014 9:05 pm
MichaelG on One too many.
August 27th, 2014 12:13 am
MichaelG on A little ragged around the edges.
August 27th, 2014 11:29 pm
MichaelG on Disconnected.
August 28th, 2014 10:34 pm
MichaelG on Scantastic.
September 3rd, 2014 8:39 pm
MichaelG on Scantastic.
September 3rd, 2014 11:17 pm
MichaelG on Scant entertainment.
September 5th, 2014 11:59 pm
MichaelG on Scant. Just scant.
September 10th, 2014 1:16 am
MichaelG on Scant. Just scant.
September 10th, 2014 8:03 am
MichaelG on Drenched.
September 12th, 2014 3:03 am
MichaelG on Drenched.
September 14th, 2014 12:26 am
MichaelG on Drenched.
September 14th, 2014 4:46 am
MichaelG on Drenched.
September 14th, 2014 4:46 am
MichaelG on Drenched.
September 14th, 2014 9:43 pm
MichaelG on Drenched.
September 14th, 2014 11:34 pm
MichaelG on Drenched.
September 14th, 2014 11:35 pm
MichaelG on Whew.
September 17th, 2014 11:13 pm
MichaelG on Whew.
September 17th, 2014 11:21 pm
MichaelG on Whew.
September 17th, 2014 11:35 pm
MichaelG on Whew.
September 18th, 2014 12:15 am
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 18th, 2014 5:09 pm
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 18th, 2014 5:25 pm
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 18th, 2014 11:04 pm
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 18th, 2014 11:08 pm
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 19th, 2014 3:30 pm
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 19th, 2014 11:41 pm
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 19th, 2014 11:52 pm
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 20th, 2014 12:10 am
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 20th, 2014 12:18 am
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 20th, 2014 11:23 pm
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 20th, 2014 11:42 pm
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 20th, 2014 11:50 pm
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 21st, 2014 4:10 pm
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 21st, 2014 11:18 pm
MichaelG on Flying up front.
September 21st, 2014 11:39 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market, two days late.
September 22nd, 2014 11:38 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market, two days late.
September 22nd, 2014 11:49 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market, two days late.
September 23rd, 2014 8:08 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market, two days late.
September 24th, 2014 12:53 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market, two days late.
September 24th, 2014 12:53 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market, two days late.
September 24th, 2014 11:24 am
MichaelG on Outta here.
September 24th, 2014 11:19 pm
MichaelG on Outta here.
September 24th, 2014 11:20 pm
MichaelG on Outta here.
September 26th, 2014 12:01 am
MichaelG on Outta here.
September 26th, 2014 12:10 am
MichaelG on Outta here.
September 26th, 2014 12:12 am
MichaelG on A bad case of Pretty.
September 26th, 2014 10:57 pm
MichaelG on A bad case of Pretty.
September 26th, 2014 11:03 pm
MichaelG on A bad case of Pretty.
September 27th, 2014 4:19 pm
MichaelG on A bad case of Pretty.
September 28th, 2014 12:09 am
MichaelG on It's heeeeere.
October 2nd, 2014 9:15 am
MichaelG on It's heeeeere.
October 3rd, 2014 8:51 pm
MichaelG on It's heeeeere.
October 5th, 2014 9:46 am
MichaelG on It's heeeeere.
October 5th, 2014 9:49 am
MichaelG on Size 10 revisited.
October 7th, 2014 7:17 am
MichaelG on Size 10 revisited.
October 8th, 2014 6:38 am
m on Our changing language.
October 8th, 2014 9:53 pm
MichaelG on Our changing language.
October 9th, 2014 12:24 am
MichaelG on The grand canyon.
October 9th, 2014 6:25 am
MichaelG on The grand canyon.
October 9th, 2014 6:27 am
MichaelG on The grand canyon.
October 9th, 2014 7:59 pm
MichaelG on The grand canyon.
October 10th, 2014 2:58 am
MichaelG on The grand canyon.
October 10th, 2014 7:48 am
MichaelG on The grand canyon.
October 10th, 2014 9:15 pm
MichaelG on The grand canyon.
October 11th, 2014 10:10 pm
MichaelG on The grand canyon.
October 11th, 2014 10:11 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
October 13th, 2014 12:59 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
October 13th, 2014 4:15 am
MichaelG on Bows.
October 13th, 2014 8:13 am
MichaelG on Bows.
October 15th, 2014 6:47 am
MichaelG on Bows.
October 15th, 2014 11:09 pm
MichaelG on Bows.
October 16th, 2014 4:15 am
MichaelG on The homestretch.
October 16th, 2014 6:31 am
MichaelG on The homestretch.
October 17th, 2014 9:50 pm
MichaelG on The homestretch.
October 17th, 2014 9:54 pm
MichaelG on The homestretch.
October 20th, 2014 2:30 am
MichaelG on It's a tragedy, not a comedy.
October 20th, 2014 8:48 pm
MichaelG on It's a tragedy, not a comedy.
October 20th, 2014 8:52 pm
MichaelG on It's a tragedy, not a comedy.
October 21st, 2014 1:37 am
MichaelG on Bad boy.
October 28th, 2014 4:18 am
MichaelG on Snack time.
October 30th, 2014 9:18 pm
MichaelG on Boo.
October 31st, 2014 10:13 pm
MichaelG on Boo.
October 31st, 2014 10:15 pm
MichaelG on Boo.
October 31st, 2014 11:41 pm
MichaelG on Boo.
November 2nd, 2014 7:55 am
MichaelG on Amateur hour.
November 3rd, 2014 6:11 am
MichaelG on A visit to the firehouse.
November 12th, 2014 11:55 pm
MichaelG on A visit to the firehouse.
November 12th, 2014 11:57 pm
MichaelG on It's always those people.
November 13th, 2014 10:07 pm
MichaelG on Happy birthday to us.
November 17th, 2014 8:11 am
MichaelG on You just don't hear Li'l Kim much these days.
November 19th, 2014 9:16 pm
MichaelG on You just don't hear Li'l Kim much these days.
November 20th, 2014 6:07 am
MichaelG on You just don't hear Li'l Kim much these days.
November 20th, 2014 9:51 pm
MichaelG on You just don't hear Li'l Kim much these days.
November 21st, 2014 1:56 am
MichaelG on Mike Nichols, RIP.
November 22nd, 2014 1:53 am
MichaelG on Mike Nichols, RIP.
November 22nd, 2014 2:11 am
MichaelG on Mike Nichols, RIP.
November 23rd, 2014 8:02 am
MichaelG on Mike Nichols, RIP.
November 23rd, 2014 9:00 pm
MichaelG on America's very bad dad.
November 24th, 2014 8:46 am
MichaelG on The gales of November.
November 26th, 2014 12:16 am
MichaelG on The gales of November.
November 27th, 2014 8:31 am
MichaelG on The gales of November.
November 27th, 2014 8:32 am
MichaelG on The gales of November.
November 27th, 2014 9:37 pm
MichaelG on The gales of November.
November 28th, 2014 8:52 am
MichaelG on Leftover turkey.
December 1st, 2014 5:28 am
MichaelG on Leftover turkey.
December 1st, 2014 7:53 am
MichaelG on Leftover turkey.
December 2nd, 2014 12:18 am
MichaelG on More unraveling.
December 12th, 2014 6:39 am
MichaelG on More unraveling.
December 13th, 2014 12:40 am
MichaelG on Always look on the bright side.
December 16th, 2014 2:54 am
MichaelG on Herd immunity.
December 17th, 2014 10:01 pm
MichaelG on Spring break: Havana.
December 19th, 2014 2:13 am
MichaelG on Spring break: Havana.
December 19th, 2014 7:21 am
MichaelG on Spring break: Havana.
December 19th, 2014 9:38 pm
MichaelG on Spring break: Havana.
December 21st, 2014 12:44 am
MichaelG on Spring break: Havana.
December 21st, 2014 12:54 am
MichaelG on Spring break: Havana.
December 21st, 2014 1:47 am
MichaelG on Spring break: Havana.
December 21st, 2014 5:48 am
MichaelG on Spring break: Havana.
December 21st, 2014 9:39 am
MichaelG on Spring break: Havana.
December 21st, 2014 9:47 am
MichaelG on The blur commences.
December 21st, 2014 11:30 pm
MichaelG on The blur commences.
December 22nd, 2014 3:23 am
MichaelG on The blur commences.
December 23rd, 2014 10:45 pm
MichaelG on The blur commences.
December 25th, 2014 9:53 pm
MichaelG on The blur commences.
December 28th, 2014 9:34 pm
MichaelG on The blur commences.
December 28th, 2014 11:38 pm
MichaelG on Crumpled wrapping paper.
December 29th, 2014 7:20 am
MichaelG on Crumpled wrapping paper.
December 30th, 2014 7:23 am
MichaelG on Needled.
December 30th, 2014 8:07 pm
MichaelG on Needled.
December 31st, 2014 1:42 am
MichaelG on Needled.
December 31st, 2014 1:59 am
MichaelG on Needled.
December 31st, 2014 5:20 am
MichaelG on End of the line.
January 1st, 2015 12:43 am
MichaelG on End of the line.
January 1st, 2015 6:28 am
MichaelG on End of the line.
January 2nd, 2015 8:50 am
MichaelG on Domesticated.
January 2nd, 2015 11:21 pm
m on Cozy evenings.
January 7th, 2015 4:53 am
MichaelG on Cozy evenings.
January 7th, 2015 4:55 am
MichaelG on 12 dead in Paris.
January 8th, 2015 1:47 am
MichaelG on Saturday night fire.
January 13th, 2015 12:28 am
MichaelG on Saturday night fire.
January 13th, 2015 5:36 am
MichaelG on Alternate reality.
January 14th, 2015 9:38 pm
MichaelG on Last of the week.
January 16th, 2015 8:33 am
MichaelG on Last of the week.
January 16th, 2015 9:04 pm
MichaelG on Last of the week.
January 16th, 2015 9:06 pm
MichaelG on Last of the week.
January 17th, 2015 1:45 am
MichaelG on Last of the week.
January 17th, 2015 3:23 am
MichaelG on Last of the week.
January 17th, 2015 11:51 pm
MichaelG on Last of the week.
January 18th, 2015 2:37 am
MichaelG on All the options.
January 18th, 2015 9:28 pm
MichaelG on The state of the union is chill.
January 22nd, 2015 5:11 am
MichaelG on The state of the union is chill.
January 23rd, 2015 4:59 am
MichaelG on The lonely curator.
January 24th, 2015 9:27 pm
MichaelG on The lonely curator.
January 25th, 2015 2:59 am
MichaelG on Linky salad.
January 27th, 2015 12:30 am
MichaelG on Linky salad.
January 27th, 2015 9:58 pm
MichaelG on Linky salad.
January 28th, 2015 1:57 am
MichaelG on Linky salad.
January 29th, 2015 10:14 pm
MichaelG on Fortunately, there's a vaccine.
February 3rd, 2015 6:10 am
MichaelG on Troll II: The entrollening, plus more.
February 7th, 2015 1:22 am
MichaelG on Troll II: The entrollening, plus more.
February 7th, 2015 6:01 am
MichaelG on Troll II: The entrollening, plus more.
February 8th, 2015 2:46 am
MichaelG on We want it chunky.
February 9th, 2015 9:50 pm
MichaelG on Pants afire.
February 12th, 2015 1:39 am
MichaelG on Pants afire.
February 12th, 2015 8:42 am
MichaelG on It was her party.
February 18th, 2015 7:39 pm
MichaelG on (More) dirty cops.
March 9th, 2015 4:16 am
MichaelG on A burden, lifted.
March 10th, 2015 4:49 am
MichaelG on The wrap, nearly wrapped.
March 13th, 2015 7:00 am
MichaelG on Blinded by the light.
March 14th, 2015 12:01 am
MichaelG on Blinded by the light.
March 14th, 2015 5:26 am
MichaelG on Blinded by the light.
March 14th, 2015 7:05 am
MichaelG on Blinded by the light.
March 14th, 2015 7:10 am
MichaelG on Low-rent lunch.
March 21st, 2015 7:13 am
MichaelG on Low-rent lunch.
March 21st, 2015 9:48 pm
MichaelG on The b.j. queen.
March 23rd, 2015 8:19 pm
MichaelG on Beep torture.
March 27th, 2015 12:50 am
MichaelG on Beep torture.
March 27th, 2015 12:53 am
MichaelG on Auguring in.
March 28th, 2015 1:21 am
MichaelG on Auguring in.
March 28th, 2015 1:24 am
MichaelG on Auguring in.
March 28th, 2015 1:50 am
MichaelG on Auguring in.
March 29th, 2015 12:50 am
MichaelG on Auguring in.
March 29th, 2015 11:06 pm
MichaelG on The $65 cocktail hour.
March 31st, 2015 12:10 am
MichaelG on A day downtown.
April 2nd, 2015 4:32 pm
MichaelG on Not exactly #crucifixionproblems.
April 3rd, 2015 10:32 am
MichaelG on Not exactly #crucifixionproblems.
April 3rd, 2015 4:53 pm
MichaelG on Not exactly #crucifixionproblems.
April 4th, 2015 11:13 pm
MichaelG on Wha gwan Internet?
April 13th, 2015 4:14 am
MichaelG on The circle of Stones.
April 16th, 2015 8:00 pm
MichaelG on Feed my dog.
April 22nd, 2015 12:27 am
MichaelG on Feed my dog.
April 22nd, 2015 7:25 am
MichaelG on Feed my dog.
April 22nd, 2015 10:00 pm
MichaelG on A little tapped.
April 24th, 2015 1:52 am
MichaelG on A little tapped.
April 24th, 2015 7:26 am
MichaelG on End of the lyne.
April 25th, 2015 1:28 am
MichaelG on End of the lyne.
April 25th, 2015 1:28 am
MichaelG on End of the lyne.
April 25th, 2015 4:41 am
MichaelG on End of the lyne.
April 25th, 2015 11:05 pm
MichaelG on TV explains it all.
April 30th, 2015 4:45 am
MichaelG on The new new thing.
May 1st, 2015 6:56 am
MichaelG on Where I am today.
May 4th, 2015 4:31 am
MichaelG on Where I am today.
May 4th, 2015 9:27 pm
MichaelG on Some clippings.
May 8th, 2015 7:13 am
MichaelG on Abandon all effort.
May 13th, 2015 12:47 am
MichaelG on You're going out in that?
May 14th, 2015 1:49 am
MichaelG on You're going out in that?
May 14th, 2015 1:52 am
MichaelG on Sleepless nights, Part 7 zillion.
May 15th, 2015 10:44 pm
MichaelG on Sleepless nights, Part 7 zillion.
May 16th, 2015 8:00 am
MichaelG on Sleepless nights, Part 7 zillion.
May 17th, 2015 5:19 am
MichaelG on Sleepless nights, Part 7 zillion.
May 17th, 2015 7:54 pm
MichaelG on Sleepless nights, Part 7 zillion.
May 18th, 2015 4:12 am
MichaelG on Another milestone, marked by food.
May 18th, 2015 9:35 pm
MichaelG on Another milestone, marked by food.
May 18th, 2015 11:46 pm
MichaelG on Honors.
May 20th, 2015 11:00 pm
MichaelG on Clams on the side.
May 22nd, 2015 11:42 pm
MichaelG on Exit through the darkroom.
May 28th, 2015 11:23 pm
MichaelG on Exit through the darkroom.
May 29th, 2015 6:03 am
MichaelG on Flush.
June 4th, 2015 11:32 pm
MichaelG on Full flower.
June 8th, 2015 5:05 pm
MichaelG on A long sit.
June 9th, 2015 5:54 pm
MichaelG on A long sit.
June 9th, 2015 10:59 pm
MichaelG on A long sit.
June 10th, 2015 4:29 am
MichaelG on Brainwashed.
June 12th, 2015 3:59 am
MichaelG on Brainwashed.
June 12th, 2015 6:53 am
MichaelG on Brainwashed.
June 14th, 2015 7:40 pm
MichaelG on Done and gone.
June 16th, 2015 12:24 am
MichaelG on Punctuated.
June 16th, 2015 6:04 pm
MichaelG on Bleak Friday.
June 21st, 2015 7:01 pm
MichaelG on Bleak Friday.
June 21st, 2015 7:01 pm
MichaelG on Bleak Friday.
June 21st, 2015 11:11 pm
MichaelG on Hostess with the leastest.
June 22nd, 2015 8:45 pm
MichaelG on Hostess with the leastest.
June 23rd, 2015 7:07 am
MichaelG on Sandy.
June 24th, 2015 4:11 am
MichaelG on Here comes Bobby.
June 25th, 2015 11:55 pm
MichaelG on Overcast.
June 27th, 2015 10:08 pm
MichaelG on We're gonna need a bigger news hole.
June 30th, 2015 1:39 am
MichaelG on We're gonna need a bigger news hole.
June 30th, 2015 5:31 am
MichaelG on Time runs in one direction.
June 30th, 2015 7:37 am
MichaelG on Time runs in one direction.
June 30th, 2015 5:37 pm
MichaelG on Time runs in one direction.
June 30th, 2015 9:43 pm
MichaelG on Time runs in one direction.
June 30th, 2015 10:06 pm
MichaelG on I was so much older then.
July 6th, 2015 5:42 pm
MichaelG on I was so much older then.
July 6th, 2015 10:43 pm
MichaelG on Things can't stay the same forever.
July 8th, 2015 10:13 pm
MichaelG on One great lunch.
July 10th, 2015 1:28 am
MichaelG on One great lunch.
July 10th, 2015 7:03 am
MichaelG on The trench out front.
July 13th, 2015 2:59 am
MichaelG on Blueberries and blues.
July 13th, 2015 8:02 pm
MichaelG on Blueberries and blues.
July 14th, 2015 4:14 am
MichaelG on Not what you think it is.
July 17th, 2015 4:38 am
MichaelG on Not what you think it is.
July 17th, 2015 4:40 am
MichaelG on Food over outrage.
July 22nd, 2015 7:59 pm
MichaelG on Food over outrage.
July 23rd, 2015 12:07 am
MichaelG on Food over outrage.
July 23rd, 2015 12:17 am
MichaelG on Bullies.
July 23rd, 2015 6:54 pm
MichaelG on Bullies.
July 23rd, 2015 6:56 pm
MichaelG on Bullies.
July 23rd, 2015 11:45 pm
MichaelG on Spilled.
July 29th, 2015 6:25 pm
MichaelG on Spilled.
July 30th, 2015 1:39 am
MichaelG on Break coming up.
July 31st, 2015 6:53 pm
MichaelG on Break coming up.
July 31st, 2015 6:55 pm
MichaelG on Having a lovely time.
August 8th, 2015 12:48 am
MichaelG on Having a lovely time.
August 8th, 2015 2:21 am
MichaelG on The beginning of the slog.
August 13th, 2015 4:52 am
MichaelG on The beginning of the slog.
August 13th, 2015 4:53 am
MichaelG on The beginning of the slog.
August 13th, 2015 7:14 am
MichaelG on The beginning of the slog.
August 13th, 2015 6:59 pm
MichaelG on The beginning of the slog.
August 14th, 2015 12:12 am
MichaelG on The beginning of the slog.
August 14th, 2015 4:04 am
MichaelG on Woolgathering.
August 18th, 2015 4:31 am
MichaelG on Woolgathering.
August 18th, 2015 6:52 am
MichaelG on Bearing down on me.
August 19th, 2015 6:56 pm
MichaelG on Notes.
September 11th, 2015 10:32 pm
MichaelG on Beanies, bandies and breezes.
September 15th, 2015 2:34 am
MichaelG on Beanies, bandies and breezes.
September 15th, 2015 2:35 am
MichaelG on Septembering.
September 22nd, 2015 9:24 pm
MichaelG on Septembering.
September 23rd, 2015 1:12 am
MichaelG on After Thursday comes Friday.
September 26th, 2015 9:08 pm
MichaelG on Girl's night in.
September 28th, 2015 8:28 pm
MichaelG on Cheers, it's done.
September 29th, 2015 7:28 pm
MichaelG on Another brick in the wall.
September 30th, 2015 10:12 pm
MichaelG on Leopards and spots.
October 2nd, 2015 2:01 am
MichaelG on Once more, with feeling.
October 2nd, 2015 10:18 pm
MichaelG on Once more, with feeling.
October 5th, 2015 7:02 am
MichaelG on Vanished.
October 6th, 2015 6:57 am
MichaelG on The sidewalk critics.
October 8th, 2015 9:07 pm
MichaelG on The sidewalk critics.
October 9th, 2015 12:58 am
MichaelG on Things are looking up.
October 10th, 2015 7:29 pm
MichaelG on Things are looking up.
October 10th, 2015 11:22 pm
MichaelG on Too many shiny objects.
October 13th, 2015 4:33 am
MichaelG on Too many shiny objects.
October 13th, 2015 5:11 pm
MichaelG on No way to be safe.
October 15th, 2015 7:05 pm
MichaelG on You're on camera.
October 17th, 2015 11:32 pm
MichaelG on You're on camera.
October 18th, 2015 2:24 am
MichaelG on Snoozeville.
October 21st, 2015 8:10 pm
MichaelG on Snoozeville.
October 21st, 2015 10:56 pm
MichaelG on Lucky me.
October 28th, 2015 3:00 am
MichaelG on Lucky me.
October 28th, 2015 3:01 am
MichaelG on Empty nurseries.
November 5th, 2015 10:07 pm
MichaelG on The toilet problem.
November 6th, 2015 7:24 pm
MichaelG on The toilet problem.
November 8th, 2015 3:40 am
MichaelG on The toilet problem.
November 8th, 2015 6:20 am
MichaelG on The toilet problem.
November 8th, 2015 7:18 am
MichaelG on The toilet problem.
November 8th, 2015 7:52 am
MichaelG on The toilet problem.
November 8th, 2015 10:46 am
MichaelG on The toilet problem.
November 9th, 2015 2:08 am
MichaelG on Worth a listen.
November 18th, 2015 8:44 am
MichaelG on Worth a listen.
November 18th, 2015 8:46 am
MichaelG on Bait.
November 20th, 2015 8:12 pm
MichaelG on Bait.
November 20th, 2015 8:13 pm
MichaelG on Bait.
November 21st, 2015 1:38 am
MichaelG on Bait.
November 23rd, 2015 7:14 am
MichaelG on The pace quickens.
November 24th, 2015 12:26 am
MichaelG on Sip Bacardi.
November 25th, 2015 6:34 pm
MichaelG on Sip Bacardi.
November 25th, 2015 9:28 pm
MichaelG on Sip Bacardi.
November 25th, 2015 10:28 pm
MichaelG on Sip Bacardi.
November 26th, 2015 8:20 am
MichaelG on Sip Bacardi.
November 26th, 2015 7:24 pm
MichaelG on Sip Bacardi.
November 27th, 2015 8:07 am
MichaelG on Best seat in the house.
November 27th, 2015 11:37 pm
MichaelG on Best seat in the house.
November 28th, 2015 10:16 pm
MichaelG on Best seat in the house.
November 28th, 2015 10:17 pm
MichaelG on Best seat in the house.
November 29th, 2015 12:30 am
MichaelG on Best seat in the house.
November 29th, 2015 4:55 am
MichaelG on Weirdness here.
December 2nd, 2015 3:35 am
MichaelG on Bad news on the doorstep.
December 3rd, 2015 9:46 pm
MichaelG on This guy.
December 4th, 2015 8:46 pm
MichaelG on This guy.
December 5th, 2015 3:23 am
MichaelG on This guy.
December 6th, 2015 3:21 am
MichaelG on No going back.
December 8th, 2015 2:12 am
MichaelG on Meta-work.
December 9th, 2015 11:04 pm
MichaelG on Meta-work.
December 10th, 2015 5:18 am
MichaelG on One long day, one wild night.
December 11th, 2015 1:15 am
MichaelG on One long day, one wild night.
December 11th, 2015 2:30 am
MichaelG on One long day, one wild night.
December 11th, 2015 8:08 am
MichaelG on It's a tough town.
December 11th, 2015 7:45 pm
MichaelG on It's a tough town.
December 13th, 2015 7:21 pm
MichaelG on Keep swimming.
December 25th, 2015 8:40 pm
MichaelG on The lazy train.
January 1st, 2016 9:32 pm
MichaelG on The lazy train.
January 2nd, 2016 9:12 pm
MichaelG on The lazy train.
January 3rd, 2016 8:50 pm
MichaelG on How we got here.
January 4th, 2016 12:44 am
MichaelG on How we got here.
January 4th, 2016 9:14 pm
MichaelG on One day at a time.
January 5th, 2016 7:53 pm
MichaelG on A break from craving bread.
January 7th, 2016 12:06 am
MichaelG on They still believe.
January 7th, 2016 7:23 pm
MichaelG on They still believe.
January 8th, 2016 4:03 am
MichaelG on They still believe.
January 8th, 2016 8:42 am
MichaelG on Our motley human family.
January 9th, 2016 6:55 pm
MichaelG on The state of the union is...
January 13th, 2016 6:46 pm
MichaelG on She contemplates her domain.
January 16th, 2016 1:11 am
MichaelG on She contemplates her domain.
January 16th, 2016 4:39 am
MichaelG on Shiny new models.
January 18th, 2016 7:01 pm
MichaelG on A whirl of a week, so far.
January 21st, 2016 7:04 pm
MichaelG on A whirl of a week, so far.
January 21st, 2016 8:50 pm
MichaelG on Bund-tastic.
January 27th, 2016 8:33 am
MichaelG on Not covered in drivers ed.
January 27th, 2016 8:33 am
MichaelG on Not covered in drivers ed.
January 27th, 2016 7:35 pm
MichaelG on Not covered in drivers ed.
January 28th, 2016 1:02 am
MichaelG on Dip?
February 6th, 2016 6:53 am
MichaelG on Dip?
February 6th, 2016 9:26 pm
MichaelG on Dip?
February 7th, 2016 7:25 pm
MichaelG on Dip?
February 8th, 2016 2:40 am
MichaelG on Dip?
February 8th, 2016 6:30 am
MichaelG on Sooper.
February 9th, 2016 10:42 pm
MichaelG on Sooper.
February 10th, 2016 12:30 am
MichaelG on Another snap.
February 10th, 2016 8:54 am
MichaelG on Another snap.
February 10th, 2016 7:30 pm
MichaelG on Another snap.
February 10th, 2016 7:37 pm
MichaelG on His list of grievances.
February 12th, 2016 10:06 pm
MichaelG on His list of grievances.
February 13th, 2016 7:03 am
MichaelG on Why does health taste so boring?
February 16th, 2016 8:39 am
MichaelG on Why does health taste so boring?
February 17th, 2016 4:50 am
MichaelG on Clearing the desk.
February 18th, 2016 1:59 am
MichaelG on Clearing the desk.
February 18th, 2016 5:11 am
MichaelG on Killed too late.
February 20th, 2016 6:21 am
MichaelG on The sword of truth.
February 22nd, 2016 9:09 am
MichaelG on Toxic guys.
February 24th, 2016 7:30 pm
MichaelG on The think pieces.
February 25th, 2016 9:07 pm
MichaelG on The think pieces.
February 26th, 2016 8:55 am
MichaelG on The think pieces.
February 26th, 2016 9:01 pm
MichaelG on Horses, not zebras.
February 29th, 2016 9:33 pm
MichaelG on Horses, not zebras.
March 1st, 2016 2:09 am
MichaelG on Farther ahead at the halfway point.
March 3rd, 2016 7:56 pm
MichaelG on Farther ahead at the halfway point.
March 3rd, 2016 9:05 pm
MichaelG on Farther ahead at the halfway point.
March 3rd, 2016 11:30 pm
MichaelG on Done.
March 4th, 2016 6:35 pm
MichaelG on Done.
March 5th, 2016 1:06 am
MichaelG on Naked brunch.
March 7th, 2016 8:52 pm
MichaelG on Cut from the same cloth.
March 12th, 2016 1:01 am
MichaelG on Another election day.
March 16th, 2016 3:59 am
MichaelG on Early bird.
March 16th, 2016 7:44 pm
MichaelG on Early bird.
March 16th, 2016 7:51 pm
MichaelG on Early bird.
March 17th, 2016 7:24 am
MichaelG on Early bird.
March 17th, 2016 8:57 pm
MichaelG on Birdwatching for lazy people.
March 19th, 2016 12:49 am
MichaelG on Birdwatching for lazy people.
March 19th, 2016 6:35 am
MichaelG on Birdwatching for lazy people.
March 19th, 2016 7:54 pm
MichaelG on Birdwatching for lazy people.
March 20th, 2016 7:26 am
MichaelG on Self-critical Sunday.
March 21st, 2016 7:16 pm
MichaelG on Self-critical Sunday.
March 21st, 2016 7:17 pm
MichaelG on Self-critical Sunday.
March 22nd, 2016 12:49 am
MichaelG on Self-critical Sunday.
March 22nd, 2016 7:30 am
MichaelG on Tuesday's roundup.
March 22nd, 2016 7:14 pm
MichaelG on Tuesday's roundup.
March 23rd, 2016 3:51 am
MichaelG on Tuesday's roundup.
March 23rd, 2016 7:31 pm
MichaelG on Tuesday's roundup.
March 24th, 2016 4:08 am
MichaelG on Tuesday's roundup.
March 24th, 2016 4:13 am
MichaelG on Potholes.
March 24th, 2016 8:31 pm
MichaelG on One letter too far, for now.
March 25th, 2016 11:49 pm
MichaelG on One letter too far, for now.
March 26th, 2016 6:09 am
MichaelG on One letter too far, for now.
March 26th, 2016 9:51 pm
MichaelG on One letter too far, for now.
March 26th, 2016 9:51 pm
MichaelG on One letter too far, for now.
March 26th, 2016 11:01 pm
MichaelG on One letter too far, for now.
March 27th, 2016 7:06 pm
MichaelG on One letter too far, for now.
March 27th, 2016 7:07 pm
MichaelG on Your digital assistant, and no-show.
March 31st, 2016 10:11 pm
MichaelG on Your digital assistant, and no-show.
April 1st, 2016 3:31 am
MichaelG on Your digital assistant, and no-show.
April 1st, 2016 6:47 pm
MichaelG on Your digital assistant, and no-show.
April 2nd, 2016 9:46 pm
MichaelG on Very, very successful.
April 5th, 2016 5:47 pm
MichaelG on Very, very successful.
April 5th, 2016 8:53 pm
MichaelG on Very, very successful.
April 6th, 2016 2:56 am
MichaelG on Ghost, with bullwhip.
April 7th, 2016 9:34 pm
MichaelG on Ghost, with bullwhip.
April 8th, 2016 6:34 am
MichaelG on Baby's first existential bleakness.
April 8th, 2016 7:59 am
MichaelG on Baby's first existential bleakness.
April 8th, 2016 11:40 pm
MichaelG on Baby's first existential bleakness.
April 8th, 2016 11:46 pm
MichaelG on Baby's first existential bleakness.
April 9th, 2016 6:21 am
MichaelG on Baby's first existential bleakness.
April 9th, 2016 6:56 am
MichaelG on Baby's first existential bleakness.
April 10th, 2016 6:56 pm
MichaelG on I know right.
April 11th, 2016 8:10 am
MichaelG on I know right.
April 12th, 2016 3:57 am
MichaelG on Kibbles 'n' b.s.
April 13th, 2016 6:43 pm
MichaelG on Bringing home the paper.
April 14th, 2016 1:17 pm
MichaelG on Open thread.
April 15th, 2016 11:00 am
MichaelG on Open thread.
April 15th, 2016 4:54 pm
MichaelG on Open thread.
April 17th, 2016 5:21 pm
MichaelG on Two glorious days.
April 19th, 2016 11:57 am
MichaelG on Two glorious days.
April 19th, 2016 3:41 pm
MichaelG on Two glorious days.
April 19th, 2016 6:16 pm
MichaelG on Paddled.
April 20th, 2016 9:30 am
MichaelG on Paddled.
April 20th, 2016 9:32 am
MichaelG on Paddled.
April 21st, 2016 12:20 am
MichaelG on Paddled.
April 21st, 2016 9:52 am
MichaelG on Halfway through.
April 27th, 2016 5:51 pm
MichaelG on Pounds, lost and found.
May 4th, 2016 3:41 am
MichaelG on Pounds, lost and found.
May 4th, 2016 3:45 am
MichaelG on Pounds, lost and found.
May 4th, 2016 3:46 am
MichaelG on Later, John.
May 5th, 2016 7:15 pm
MichaelG on Barrel's bottom.
May 8th, 2016 4:36 am
MichaelG on An agenda full of OMG.
May 9th, 2016 8:57 pm
MichaelG on An agenda full of OMG.
May 9th, 2016 8:59 pm
MichaelG on An agenda full of OMG.
May 10th, 2016 3:44 am
MichaelG on An agenda full of OMG.
May 11th, 2016 3:48 am
MichaelG on Send in the cupbearer.
May 12th, 2016 1:54 am
MichaelG on The new secondary.
May 13th, 2016 2:36 am
MichaelG on The new secondary.
May 13th, 2016 6:01 pm
MichaelG on The new secondary.
May 13th, 2016 7:08 pm
MichaelG on The new secondary.
May 13th, 2016 11:48 pm
MichaelG on The new secondary.
May 14th, 2016 6:58 am
MichaelG on The new secondary.
May 15th, 2016 6:47 pm
MichaelG on 23.
May 16th, 2016 7:32 pm
MichaelG on The reaper.
May 17th, 2016 7:31 am
MichaelG on The reaper.
May 17th, 2016 9:37 pm
MichaelG on The reaper.
May 17th, 2016 9:51 pm
MichaelG on Deep water.
May 18th, 2016 8:44 pm
MichaelG on Deep water.
May 19th, 2016 4:12 am
MichaelG on Deep water.
May 19th, 2016 7:22 am
MichaelG on Deep water.
May 19th, 2016 8:46 pm
MichaelG on Deep water.
May 19th, 2016 10:05 pm
MichaelG on This way to the weekend.
May 21st, 2016 12:28 am
MichaelG on This way to the weekend.
May 21st, 2016 1:54 am
MichaelG on This way to the weekend.
May 21st, 2016 6:48 pm
MichaelG on Sampling.
May 24th, 2016 7:32 am
MichaelG on Sampling.
May 25th, 2016 12:22 am
MichaelG on Sampling.
May 25th, 2016 12:32 am
MichaelG on Suddenly summer.
May 25th, 2016 10:02 pm
MichaelG on What's the matter with kids today?
May 26th, 2016 10:26 pm
MichaelG on Moving. Forward.
May 27th, 2016 7:33 pm
MichaelG on Moving. Forward.
May 28th, 2016 12:44 am
MichaelG on Moving. Forward.
May 28th, 2016 5:39 pm
MichaelG on Moving. Forward.
May 29th, 2016 6:15 pm
MichaelG on Moving. Forward.
May 30th, 2016 8:09 am
MichaelG on A few details.
June 1st, 2016 2:21 am
MichaelG on A few details.
June 1st, 2016 3:30 am
MichaelG on Motel music.
June 1st, 2016 6:18 pm
MichaelG on Motel music.
June 1st, 2016 9:49 pm
MichaelG on Motel music.
June 2nd, 2016 3:49 am
MichaelG on First blood.
June 2nd, 2016 5:44 pm
MichaelG on First blood.
June 2nd, 2016 7:30 pm
MichaelG on First blood.
June 3rd, 2016 3:59 am
MichaelG on First blood.
June 3rd, 2016 3:59 am
MichaelG on Some last notes.
June 3rd, 2016 7:27 am
MichaelG on Some last notes.
June 3rd, 2016 5:32 pm
MichaelG on Please shine down on me.
June 7th, 2016 5:34 pm
MichaelG on Please shine down on me.
June 8th, 2016 9:35 am
MichaelG on Please shine down on me.
June 8th, 2016 7:51 pm
MichaelG on Indoors and out.
June 9th, 2016 1:15 am
MichaelG on Indoors and out.
June 9th, 2016 7:47 am
MichaelG on Indoors and out.
June 9th, 2016 9:03 pm
MichaelG on Water. Falling.
June 11th, 2016 6:22 pm
MichaelG on Water. Falling.
June 11th, 2016 6:30 pm
MichaelG on Water. Falling.
June 11th, 2016 9:29 pm
MichaelG on Water. Falling.
June 13th, 2016 1:38 am
MichaelG on The swimmer, revisited.
June 13th, 2016 6:11 pm
MichaelG on The swimmer, revisited.
June 14th, 2016 3:51 am
MichaelG on The swimmer, revisited.
June 14th, 2016 6:57 am
MichaelG on The swimmer, revisited.
June 14th, 2016 10:22 pm
MichaelG on The luv cave.
June 15th, 2016 5:34 pm
MichaelG on The luv cave.
June 15th, 2016 5:35 pm
MichaelG on Just a few snaps.
June 18th, 2016 12:07 am
MichaelG on Just a few snaps.
June 18th, 2016 2:01 am
MichaelG on Just a few snaps.
June 18th, 2016 7:03 am
MichaelG on Just a few snaps.
June 18th, 2016 7:14 am
MichaelG on Let's go shopping.
June 22nd, 2016 9:49 pm
MichaelG on Let's go shopping.
June 23rd, 2016 9:29 pm
MichaelG on The end of a long week.
June 25th, 2016 2:02 am
MichaelG on The end of a long week.
June 27th, 2016 5:56 am
MichaelG on The end of a long week.
June 27th, 2016 5:59 am
MichaelG on These guys.
June 27th, 2016 7:22 pm
MichaelG on These guys.
June 27th, 2016 11:01 pm
MichaelG on These guys.
June 27th, 2016 11:26 pm
MichaelG on Sea and sky.
June 28th, 2016 5:42 pm
MichaelG on Sea and sky.
June 29th, 2016 7:28 pm
MichaelG on Sea and sky.
June 30th, 2016 2:44 am
MichaelG on More calming photography.
July 1st, 2016 1:16 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
July 2nd, 2016 5:52 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
July 3rd, 2016 7:26 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
July 3rd, 2016 7:31 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
July 3rd, 2016 8:42 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
July 4th, 2016 3:48 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
July 4th, 2016 7:44 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
July 6th, 2016 7:11 am
MichaelG on Can't trust that day.
July 12th, 2016 7:13 pm
MichaelG on Can't trust that day.
July 13th, 2016 3:49 am
MichaelG on Clips.
July 13th, 2016 11:35 pm
MichaelG on Clips.
July 14th, 2016 1:06 am
MichaelG on Clips.
July 15th, 2016 2:16 am
MichaelG on Clips.
July 15th, 2016 3:44 am
MichaelG on We're in a land with no maps.
July 19th, 2016 7:10 pm
MichaelG on We're in a land with no maps.
July 20th, 2016 12:34 am
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
July 25th, 2016 3:48 am
MichaelG on Make America suspicious again.
July 25th, 2016 8:53 pm
MichaelG on Saturday morning market.
July 31st, 2016 8:27 pm
MichaelG on Evicting the squatter.
August 4th, 2016 5:40 pm
MichaelG on Not him.
August 5th, 2016 6:14 pm
MichaelG on Not him.
August 6th, 2016 12:39 am
MichaelG on Not him.
August 6th, 2016 5:54 pm
MichaelG on A full dance card.
August 8th, 2016 6:55 pm
MichaelG on Let's dicker.
August 12th, 2016 5:35 pm
MichaelG on Let's dicker.
August 13th, 2016 4:19 pm
MichaelG on Let's dicker.
August 14th, 2016 1:18 am
MichaelG on That day is done.
August 16th, 2016 11:34 pm
MichaelG on Wrapping the week.
September 2nd, 2016 7:35 pm
MichaelG on Wrapping the week.
September 3rd, 2016 8:06 pm
MichaelG on Wrapping the week.
September 3rd, 2016 10:05 pm
MichaelG on Wrapping the week.
September 4th, 2016 7:15 am
MichaelG on Wrapping the week.
September 4th, 2016 7:18 am
MichaelG on Wrapping the week.
September 4th, 2016 7:20 am
MichaelG on Four more weeks of the crazy.
October 3rd, 2016 7:32 pm
MichaelG on Trick or treat, then trickery.
November 1st, 2016 11:57 pm
MichaelG on Trick or treat, then trickery.
November 2nd, 2016 1:03 am
MichaelG on Well, refilling.
November 11th, 2016 8:00 pm
MichaelG on Here comes the slouching.
November 22nd, 2016 8:09 pm
MichaelG on Here comes the slouching.
November 23rd, 2016 2:08 am
MichaelG on Here comes the slouching.
November 23rd, 2016 8:27 pm
MichaelG on Here comes the slouching.
November 24th, 2016 1:26 am
MichaelG on Dry turkey.
November 24th, 2016 8:35 pm
MichaelG on Dry turkey.
November 24th, 2016 11:58 pm
MichaelG on Dry turkey.
November 25th, 2016 8:23 pm
MichaelG on Dry turkey.
November 25th, 2016 11:33 pm
MichaelG on Dry turkey.
November 26th, 2016 6:47 pm
MichaelG on Cans to the curb.
November 28th, 2016 4:49 am
MichaelG on Cans to the curb.
November 29th, 2016 6:49 am
MichaelG on Cans to the curb.
November 29th, 2016 8:24 pm
MichaelG on Head case.
November 30th, 2016 8:35 pm
MichaelG on Soup and nuts.
December 1st, 2016 7:10 am
MichaelG on Soup and nuts.
December 1st, 2016 9:22 pm
MichaelG on Soup and nuts.
December 1st, 2016 9:28 pm
MichaelG on Soup and nuts.
December 2nd, 2016 1:44 am
MichaelG on Peeling and pulling.
December 3rd, 2016 6:39 pm
MichaelG on Three for the road.
December 7th, 2016 7:06 pm
MichaelG on Three for the road.
December 8th, 2016 1:37 am
MichaelG on Three for the road.
December 8th, 2016 2:30 am
MichaelG on Monday's Monday.
December 14th, 2016 2:45 am
MichaelG on A clipping file.
December 15th, 2016 5:50 am
MichaelG on We meet again.
December 21st, 2016 2:45 am
MichaelG on We meet again.
December 21st, 2016 8:28 pm
MichaelG on Ouch.
December 22nd, 2016 8:23 pm
MichaelG on Ouch.
December 25th, 2016 7:33 am
MichaelG on Ouch.
December 25th, 2016 7:31 pm
MichaelG on Ouch.
December 28th, 2016 7:57 am
MichaelG on Last days.
December 29th, 2016 12:55 am
MichaelG on Last days.
December 29th, 2016 8:48 am
MichaelG on Last days.
December 29th, 2016 8:57 am
MichaelG on Last days.
December 30th, 2016 11:04 pm
MichaelG on Last days.
December 31st, 2016 8:54 pm
MichaelG on Last days.
January 1st, 2017 10:30 pm
MichaelG on Pine needles.
January 2nd, 2017 8:06 am
MichaelG on Pine needles.
January 3rd, 2017 3:14 am
MichaelG on Sobriety doesn't suck.
January 3rd, 2017 6:52 am
MichaelG on Sobriety doesn't suck.
January 4th, 2017 1:43 am
MichaelG on The alternative fact is, this is genius.
January 23rd, 2017 7:17 pm
MichaelG on Bridges, all sorts.
January 26th, 2017 1:40 am
MichaelG on Bridges, all sorts.
January 26th, 2017 2:28 am
MichaelG on By the time I get to Toronto...
January 27th, 2017 9:49 pm
MichaelG on By the time I get to Toronto...
January 27th, 2017 11:44 pm
MichaelG on By the time I get to Toronto...
January 29th, 2017 8:48 pm
MichaelG on The mangle awaits.
January 30th, 2017 9:06 pm
MichaelG on The mangle awaits.
January 31st, 2017 2:41 am
MichaelG on The current situation.
February 2nd, 2017 7:49 pm
MichaelG on Who is shooting this train wreck?
February 8th, 2017 8:39 pm
MichaelG on Who is shooting this train wreck?
February 8th, 2017 8:41 pm
MichaelG on Who is shooting this train wreck?
February 8th, 2017 11:35 pm
MichaelG on Unconquered, as it turns out.
February 14th, 2017 8:21 pm
MichaelG on Unconquered, as it turns out.
February 15th, 2017 8:16 am
MichaelG on Unconquered, as it turns out.
February 15th, 2017 8:01 pm
MichaelG on Unconquered, as it turns out.
February 15th, 2017 8:03 pm
MichaelG on Unconquered, as it turns out.
February 15th, 2017 9:29 pm
MichaelG on Unconquered, as it turns out.
February 16th, 2017 8:32 am
MichaelG on A bit better.
February 16th, 2017 10:00 pm
MichaelG on The swing of things.
February 20th, 2017 9:46 am
MichaelG on The tape is broken.
March 17th, 2017 11:12 pm
MichaelG on Stuff happens, some of it big.
March 22nd, 2017 1:19 am
MichaelG on Stuff happens, some of it big.
March 22nd, 2017 1:20 am
MichaelG on Stuff happens, some of it big.
March 22nd, 2017 1:27 am
MichaelG on Stuff happens, some of it big.
March 22nd, 2017 1:29 am
MichaelG on So, so done.
April 7th, 2017 11:44 pm
MichaelG on So, so done.
April 8th, 2017 5:05 am
MichaelG on So, so done.
April 9th, 2017 11:39 pm
MichaelG on Frog music.
April 10th, 2017 8:22 pm
MichaelG on So, this happened.
April 12th, 2017 6:49 pm
MichaelG on Top model.
April 23rd, 2017 11:29 pm
MichaelG on Top model.
April 24th, 2017 7:04 pm
MichaelG on Bleached.
May 3rd, 2017 3:38 am
MichaelG on President Lear.
May 24th, 2017 6:56 pm