Speakeasy #11

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Welcome to the Speakeasy. I’m your host-the bartender with the mostest. Kick your feet up and relax with the gang. Have a drink (with or without alcohol). Hang out. Socialize. Vent. Share recipes or favorite books. Whatever you feel like doing. You’re not intruding on anyone, so feel free to drop a line. Just keep it civil and kind. Disagreements are fine, but I don’t want any fights (and of course bigotry of any sort is not welcome).

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Speakeasy #11
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384 thoughts on “Speakeasy #11

  1. 4

    Tony, is there a limit to the number of posts or number of days you can follow a blog entry before you stop getting email updates about new posts (without posting, I mean)? It seems that I have now twice stopped getting notices of new posts to the Speakeasy after several days.

    I admit to being more withdrawn the past few weeks, but I still want to read everything. Kind of a wallflower thing for me, I guess. I still have hugs for those as need them. I guess I’m more of a “Ask me if you need one” than a “Here, take it, take it” guy anymore.

  2. 5

    barkeeperin:
    Nothing wrong with just wanting to read along. AFAIK, there is no such limit. I’m not sure why you’re not getting email updates. Although my site seems to be having glitches again (grrr) which Jason is working on as he gets time. I’m not sure if any of those glitches are affecting your ability to receive email notifications, but I’ll see what I can find out.

  3. 6

    Also, Tony, if someone asked you for a Negroni, what goes in it?

    Got a book about bitters. Mark Bitterman’s (the irony is not lost on the author) “Field Guide to Bitters and Amari”. So I made some bitters. Followed his recipes for citrus (made lemon), herbal (made cilantro-lime), and shrub (see sour – made cherry-balsamic).

    The book has many cocktail recipes, and some food recipes, that use bitters, and several of them sound like they would be right up my alley. Since he has Negroni variations, I thought I’d ask what a bartender would make for a generic one.

  4. 10

    That explains everything!

    barkeeperin
    I have a minor email notification problem – emails tend to come several hours after the comment has been made. Otherwise the system works for me.

  5. 13

    barkeeperin: The standard Negroni is 1:1:1 gin, sweet red vermouth, and Campari, garnished with an orange twist. Personally I quite like to replace the Campari with Aperol… I also tend to use Martini Rosato for the vermouth, which is less sweet and more aromatic than the more typical Rosso.

  6. rq
    15

    My *hugs* have always been, and always will be, *free*. Except when I’m charging, of course. But those are *pounce*-type *hugs*, and people ought to just know to prepare for that.

    I think I might like a Negroni – with extra Campari. Of course. I do wonder at the name, though.

  7. 17

    rq: The name comes from the surname of alleged inventor… There are two competing claims to be the inventor of the Negroni – Count Camillo Negroni and General Pascal Olivier Count de Negroni. Whether either of them actually originated the drink is, as with most such things, debatable, but it’s definitely an Italian or Corsican surname.

  8. 19

    Both Negronis who may have been involved with the drink are a bit too late to be in the original Gothic novels, and apparently Camillo Negroni’s claim to the title of Count is rather shaky, but his grandfather Luigi was definitely a Count, and would have been around at the right time to be in a Gothic novel.

  9. 20

    Urgh
    I have to be mean to a class and I don’t like being mean but they really need me to be mean*

    *Mean in the sense of necessary discipline measures directed at a bunch of kids who think they can just do what they want.
    You know, there’s kids in these classes who walked a few thousand kilometres alone to get a chance at an education and a life and those privileged little brats** act like having to learn something is a human rights violation.
    Conversation today.
    Me: Homework is page XX number XX in the workbook
    Student: I don’t know where my workbook is!
    Me: Well, that’s your problem, it’s not my fault you lose your stuff.
    Student: That’s so unfair! You cannot talk to me like that! I’m feeling mistreated!

    **Many of them are good kids testing their limits. Some of them are going to grow into the dudes we all know: entitled lazy bros who go through life blaming everybody but themselves for the utter trainwreck that is their life.

    Yes, I still love my job. It’s just asking a lot right now

  10. 24

    Huh. I didn’t get email notifications of any of the replies after my last one. Do I have to click on the Notify box every time I post? Didn’t used to.

    Anyway, those bitters I made. The lemon one didn’t come out well at all. It was all bitter and no lemon, so I dumped it. The cilantro-lime one came out very well. And the cherry-balsamic one came out best, I think. Now I need to figure out what to cook with them.

    The Bitters book I have (Field Guide to Bitters and Amari) goes with Count Camillo as the originator. Claims His Excellency wanted something more robust than an Americano (listed as Campari, sweet vermouth, and seltzer). Gin was swapped for the seltzer. The author Bitterman (the irony of his name and his area of interest is not lost on the author) calls his variants “Embittered Negroni”. Because he adds some bitters, of course. His base recipe uses gin, Campari for the amaro, some sweet vermouth, and 6 dashes of grapefruit bitters. Some of his variants use bourbon or rye, and amari and vermouths I’ve never heard of. Being from Pennsylvania with way outdated liquor laws.

  11. rq
    25

    barkeeperin
    That sounds like a book worth having!
    Also, cherry-balsamic sounds like a wonderful combination. Not so sure about the cilantro-lime combo, but I’m not as offended by cilantro as some people around here. ๐Ÿ™‚

    *hugs* for Giliell

  12. 27

    Well, I think the 6th grade all hate me now, but the 8th grade was really cool.
    I’m afraid the other class needs to learn the hard way.

  13. 28

    giliell,

    The 6th grade will be grateful one day. I know that’s just one of those things that adults say, but they really will if they have any sense.
    Oh, the things I regret about past.

  14. 30

    beatrice
    If you aim for being universally liked, teacher is not the right profession. I hope that one day they’ll understand. Until then I’ll settle for just shutting up because else everything turns into a WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT

    BTW, final picture update

  15. 31

    Ten little hedgehogs somehow got into an open sewer/well-type opening in a semi-wilderness, so they called the police to fetch them out. โ™ฅ

    I’ll bite: How did the hedgehogs call the police?

  16. 32

    Checking in to subscribe and say hi! I have not had an easy time with my transitioning for the last couple of weeks and so I have been limiting my on-line time:/ My executive function seems to be on vacation or stalled out somewhere far, far from home and until it comes back I will be over here doing the one foot in front of the other shuffle.

  17. rq
    33

    It’s cal
    *hugs*
    Hope your executive function realizes its true purpose in life and returns to you A.S.A.P.

    Giliell
    I don’t know how the hedgehogs called the cops, but there must’ve been an old phone down there with them. ๐Ÿ™‚ And then they took selfies!

  18. 36

    Cal
    *hugs*

    giliell
    Tough but fair is by far the best attitude for a teacher. I’ve always despised the ones that were trying to be everybody’s best friend and “hip”. With the strict ones I knew where I stand, what is expected of me and that we’re all getting equal treatment and there is no “teacher’s pet” or popularity contest.

    dudes we all know: entitled lazy bros who go through life blaming everybody but themselves for the utter trainwreck that is their life.


    Yes. Those dudes. With their trainwreck of a life. Haha.
    Ugh, I need a drink, but I don’t even drink. I think I’ll settle on ice cream.

  19. 37

    it’s cal, [hugs offered] and there’s always a corner in the pillow fort or the nap corner for you, if the world is too big.

    Giliell, those kids are lucky to have you for a teacher, and someday they’ll realize it.

    Everybody, [hugs] if you want them.

  20. 41

    Thanks, Anne. I’ll have one now and take a couple on a road since I’m swimming again. I haven’t had time for that lately and now my entire body hurts. And I have a very long day tomorrow because the people at work are having a party. I’ve tried to explain that staying hours after work with the people you work with should still count as work, but my boss wasn’t buying it. I still have to go.

    rq

    Wow, everyoneโ€™s cancelling shows in North Carolina. Well done!

    That is a nice sign and a very interesting development. The cynic in me says that this quasi-boycott would be as effective as any other boycott in human history, but then a little voice says:
    Other boycotts were against different countries that had the benefit of local nationalism, closed borders and an independent monetary policy. A state could be more susceptible to this since it lacks any of those things.
    So I’m curious on how this turns out.
    P.S.
    Justin Trudeau rocks. He keeps surprising me.

  21. 42

    Mr. Trudeau made those remarks about two km from my apartment. I actually interviewed for a job in communications at the Perimeter Institute about ten years ago, but didn’t get the job.

  22. 43

    Sure, IKEA has some really nice stuff, but I find the whole ordeal frustrating. The store is huge, and I need to take breaks before it all overwhelms me. If not, I get whinier than an average 3-year-old.

  23. rq
    46

    Beatrice
    I thought they did. Or maybe they used to. I haven’t been to IKEA in a long time because the closest one here is in… Lithuania? Poland? I don’t remember. But it’s an international roadtrip at any rate. ๐Ÿ™‚

  24. 48

    Oh yes, definitely a labyrinth. My conversation with the friend I went with , on the phone:

    “Hey, where are you, I somehow ended up in the children’s section, and that was followed by the restaurant area so YAY!”
    “No idea… there are chairs”
    “Um, ok, I have no idea where you should go. Look for the blue sign”
    “I’m looking at the blue sign, it’s all a straight line*”

    * the actual sections are decidedly not in a straight line

  25. 50

    I’m not a fan of IKEA either (except for the food), but it has its fans. During one war a family got stuck in the store when it closed prematurely. They were for an entire day and described it as being stuck in paradise.

    Went to swim. There were lots of flowers blooming but only three bees and three bumblebees, and no butterflies. That is not a Good Omen.
    I went on the weight scale and it read, and I quote, “WEIGHT HIGH”. That is also not a Good Omen.

  26. 53

    *hugs* all ’round.
    If anybody finds that they do not want their *hug*, just throw it onto the heap—for someone who wants/needs extras.

    I have heard of this “IKEA” place….

  27. 54

    not enough *hugs* in the world…

    re: Tony and the FB ‘ Confederate supporting/ unemployment whinger’

    How do you stand these assholes (I know, YOU don’t have a choice given your pigmentation, geography and self-preservation instincts !!!) ?
    How does anyone NOT GET the stupidity of racism?
    How does anyone NOT GET the stupidity of one SKIN COLOR being better than the other ? [Not that I’m super-smart but jeez…. even I figured out that race/skin color was a non-factor BEFORE I was FORCED* to share my school with [EGADS !!]….. black kids !!!]

    Racism is so… IGNORANT ! EDUCATE YOURSELF !


    Brown vs. The … Board of Education (1954). Fastfoward to integration in the Louisiana schools (aprox.) 1967 or….

  28. 55

    cicely:
    Haven’t been ‘on’ at the same time for a while.
    Ya know I love ya,right ? No Horse (dang)…. I mean no hard feelings for the equine jokes (I HOPE), right?

  29. 56

    bluentx:
    I love (for certain values of ‘love’) that so many people think my being unemployed is some sort of indictment of me as a person. That it somehow informs people of the kind of person I am is so strange to me. I mean, these people know precious little of me, but they see unemployed and think that gives them some sort of insight into me. FFS, they don’t even know the circumstances of my unemployment. They have no idea if I’m disabled, if I injured myself on the job, if I was fired, if I quit my job, if I went back to school full time and moved back home…nothing.

  30. 57

    Guess it’s supposed to be inherent in da U S and A and o’ course in da South that unemployment = laziness = handout= ‘If you EVER ask for assistance (unemployment, food stamps, WICA, etc.) YOU ARE AN AUTOMATIC DEADBEAT !!’

    For all those who want to cry “Nobody helped me get what I got, I did it myself !”, I always want to ask them. “If NO ONE helped you… how did you survive to adulthood? Were you raised by wolves? Fed by chimps ? Educated by telepathy ?….”

  31. 59

    *hugs* to all.

    Tony
    Speaking of going back to college, have you picked what you’re going to study?

    chigau
    I love cherry blossom!
    Woe to it if it doesn’t bloom on time.

    We have another leak. This time it’s a leaky pipe over our bathroom. My mother told me that last year there was a leak in the same place. So round and round we go. The worst thing is that me and mom have to leave, so only my father will be home, which even worse than having my cat supervise the repairs (presuming the the repairmen would come) since at least my cat can’t sign off any liability.

  32. rq
    62

    Also, please help me: Husband is turning into a USAmerican political analyst, specializing in presidential elections. Help!

  33. 63

    rq, sympathies. Mine is a politics addict already*, and this election year is just feeding the beast. He’s looking forward to brokered conventions. Can we lock them in a room together until after November, perhaps?

    Hugs to all and sundry. I had a bad nightmarish night (I only wish it’d been horses!). I’ll be in the nap corner, hiding from the Sunday talk shows.

    *He watches Fox News. For giggles.

  34. rq
    64

    Anne
    Yeah, but he’s not even USAmerican! I’m not, either! He’s only been to the continent twice, and even then, on the wrong side of the border! Totally not fair. I’m good with locating him somewhere soundproofed with your husband, though. At least they’ll have a good time, and we can relax.

    *hugs* and *higs*

  35. 65

    rq, what else is your husband into? Perhaps we can find them enough shared interests to keep them busy, and we can take a nice nap in the pillow fort.

    Step one of the current crafty project, the armature, is complete. I’m taking a tea break before I start the next part, gluing strips of batting onto the armature. It’s a wrapped doll kit I bought years ago from an online class teacher. The class was mermaids, this one’s going to be a nature spirit, I think. I’ll see what she wants when she’s got her face on.

    Mermaids: https://anne-d.dreamwidth.org/27969.html

  36. 66

    Heya
    Gods I’m tired
    Went to a catholic communion today. Hell, church is boring. The little one discovered a painting of the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse. I taught her that Death’S horse is named Binky.
    Poor family. The middle child is in hospital with nasty inflamed insect bites and the parents are constantly running back and forth between the hospital and everything else.

    Alexander
    Fuck
    I don’t quite remember: Is the flat your parents’?

  37. 67

    City’s memorial park dedicated to the victims who were killed there during WWII has been “decorated” with nazi and ustaลกa symbols.
    Apparently, this was quite common during the 90s, but the park has been relatively safe from vandals in recent years. I think this happening again is quite telling regarding the state of this country right now.
    The government is in roundabout ways trying to rehabilitate the ustaลกa regime, rewriting history – there’s been a huge scandal regarding another memorial to victims of the ustaลกa regime, where the government, Jewish community and Serbian community are each holding their own commemorations. Seriously, if you organize an event commemorating Jewish, Serbian, Roma and other victims of mass killings, and Jews and Serbians (Roma community was still undecided from what I last heard) don’t want to join you to send a message that the current state of affairs is unacceptable… you really need to rethink your choices.

    What is also telling is that I never learned about this park until a couple of months ago when I visited the city museum with my mom, to watch an exhibition about our quarter (the park is about 20 minutes by car from my parents’).

  38. 68

    Gilliel, you are a most excellent parent.

    Armature is wrapped with batting and sitting while I decide if it needs another layer or not. Tomorrow, fabric wrapping. It’s hard on my hands, but doing something creative feels pretty damn good.

  39. 69

    Beatrice

    Good luck with the repairs. Could some phone-instructions help or is your father too stubborn to accept that?

    Probably, but I doubt he’d understand them or be able to follow through on them.
    It’s a moot point, however. The repairmen didn’t come and we don’t know when they will come. Hooray!

    rq
    There was a time when I didn’t want to get involved at all in discussions about US politics because I didn’t think I have the right to lecture people about something that will them, but not me. Then I remembered that we’re all living in Amerika. Amerika ist wunderbar.

    giliell
    I concur with Anne – you’re a good parent!

    Is the flat your parentsโ€™?

    Yes. Sad, isn’t it? I won’t be able to move out at least until my father finds a job, but probably not even then. Money is a bit tight all around.
    At least my cat likes this place – it’s roomy and has a real balcony.

    A co-worker had a breakdown today. She was crying saying that she actually cares about professionalism, but nobody in charge gives a fuck about her. And she’s right. We’re all peons. I think she was even hoping to get promoted before seeing just how little they care for her. Hell, her boss didn’t even let her take the day off an hour early when she was crying unstoppably.

  40. rq
    70

    AlexanderZ
    I have no objection to getting involved on the topic. I do have objections when it’s (a) the only thing he talks about for fun (i.e. is not included under the questions “how are the kids?” and “what’s for dinner?”) and (b) complete adoration for Bernie.

    *hugs*

    Also *hugs* for everyone else!

  41. 72

    Just checking in, as I’ve not posted for quite a while.

    The local authority has let parents know which school their children will go to. We are very fortunate that we have got our first choice for our daughter. *happy dance* However, I do appreciate how privileged we are, as others won’t be so fortunate.

    Here’s the latest Youtube video I’ve posted of my orchestra.

  42. 76

    bragimike
    Yay for getting the school of your choice. Sometimes I think our system based on where you live is not too bad.

    Alexander
    That sucks. I’ve come to the conclusion that owning a flat artfully combines the disadvantages of owning a house with the disadvantages of renting a flat.

  43. 77

    rq

    I do have objections when itโ€™s (a) the only thing he talks about for fun (i.e. is not included under the questions โ€œhow are the kids?โ€ and โ€œwhatโ€™s for dinner?โ€)

    Now image how much worse that would had this been the only thing he talked about when talking about any topic at all:
    rq: How are the kids?
    rq’s husband: They have a super majority.


    Tony
    I don’t know anything about anything, but is it possible to just start taking one course and then if you get bored switch to another with partial credit?

    bragimike
    Congrats for the little one!

    giliell
    Around here owning a house is reserved to Settlers, people in the middle of nowhere, moshavniks/kibutzniks (i.e. people who received agricultural land from the state when that was still possible) and the rich.
    For example: a two-room apartment in any major city costs about 135k USD. Many of the top politicians don’t own houses – just apartments (good, big apartments, but apartments nonetheless). The richest friend I had did have house, but it more like a cleverly made two-story apartment that used the local topology to look like a house, while being positioned above a chain of similar two-story apartments that were carved into the hillside. Another one also had a two-story house, but it was split between two families – they had a common wall and shared some of the infrastructure.

  44. rq
    80

    AlexanderZ
    Borderline NSFW. ๐Ÿ™‚ If you don’t look too closely, or your colleague isn’t peering intently over your shoulder.

  45. 81

    Hi everybody – love you, sorry I’m not around lately. Life is in the fast lane right now and I’ve had to sharply curtail all extra activities (including internet) in order to not end up strung out and in a bad place. But that’s good in a way – I think I’m finally getting a bit of a handle on how to do self-care that’s appropriate for me when things get really stressful. Where withdrawing from everything is usually a depressive symptom for me, right now it’s the way I’m managing my energy so as not to fall down that low, if that makes sense. I’m pre-withdrawing to conserve energy rather than flopping over after it’s all gone.

    I just wanted to pop in and share a bit of the useful side of twitter – this week the tag #whatyoudontsee is being used to highlight depression symptoms and descriptions to both let people with depression empathize with each other and to show other people how pervasively it affects those with it. If you don’t have a twitter account, you can see it by going to twitter.com/hashtag/whatyoudontsee. (that works for any hashtag you might want to check out – just replace the last part with whatever tag you’re looking for). There are tabs at the top for “top” posts that have been shared the most, “live” posts for everything in (reverse) chronological order, and “news” for stories about it.

  46. 84

    In keeping with the general ambiance: Science Hits The Bar โ€“ The Chemistry of Cocktail Foams.

    bluentx, I suspect that it’s not that they can’t “get” the stupidity of racism; it’s that they don’t want to—’cause then, they ain’t speshul, and might no longer receive the perks of their speshulness.
    (Also—extra *hugs*, with No Horses Added.
    I only add Horses—or peas—to pro-forma *hugs* given to people I don’t like.
    No zebra-shit!)

    AlexanderZ, condolences on your acquisition of a New Leak; may it cease to plague you as quickly as possible.
    (Later)

    rq: How are the kids?
    rqโ€™s husband: They have a super majority.

    *snortle*

    *puzzled expression*
    But, giliell, Death’s Horse is named Binky.
    Surely this is not controversial?
     
    (Suddenly-arriving joke: The only good Horse is (a) Death’s Horse.
    *snortle*
    I slay me!)

    Hi, bragimike!
    *pouncehug*

    carlie!
    *pouncehug&chocolate*

  47. 85

    carlie,
    *hugs*


    A colleague who doesn’t hang around with us much asked me today during after-work beer, what I actually do at this company, what’s my job.
    … that’s the first indicator.
    The second, worse >/I> one is that I can’t answer that question in a simple, concise way.

    I can’t read this in any other way than as an indication that I should start looking for another job now. If after two and a half years here, I can’t even define my job… what’s my future?

  48. 87

    carlie
    That makes a lot of sense. *hugs*

    Beatrice
    That’s one way to look at it, another is that you have your hands in every aspect of the company, making you a very important part of it. In this day and age being fluid and able to take on different roles is crucial.

  49. rq
    88

    Beatrice
    Also, you say ‘colleague’, but you don’t mention whether he’s management or anyone responsible for you or your duties, which kind of… just makes it a question from someone who doesn’t know you too well (after all, he doesn’t hang out with [plural] you much!). Not knowing anything more, I would just chalk it up to curiosity, seeing as (as AlexanderZ points out) you probably do all kinds of various things, and it’s hard to pin down one single job description for you.If you feel it is a signal to look for a new job, then that might be a message from yourself to yourself that this might be a good idea, but I don’t think you should base that on some random questions asked during beer-hour by some dude who doesn’t actually know you.

    *HUGS* for carlie!!!!

  50. 89

    Addendum: I’m at my job for about 5 months I think and I went from tech stuff to debt payments to full customer support to dealing with specific clients (mostly Russian speakers). I like being the jack-of-all trades and it gives me some advantages over many others, including some people higher ranked than me.
    On the other hand I’m not thinking of a career, so there’s that too.

  51. 93

    Beatrice, [hugs], and of course you can vent your anxieties here, we’re your friends.

    I saw something cool while I was out this morning – the local Universalist Church has a sign board out front, which usually has a zen-ish saying on it. The current one is “Live your life like a work of art”. I like that. Maybe I’ll try to do something with it.

  52. 100

    rq it’s about a family with an Autistic child. I’ve been enjoying it, on the whole. I was wondering what people who had experience of relatives on the spectrum felt about the portrayal. It’s also quite funny in parts and has Christopher Eccleston in it.

  53. 101

    Heya!
    Urgh, I seriously need a weekend. I’ll have an “inspection” by my boss-boss on Wednesday so I can get my “well done” so I can get my bonus for the actual training position. Yes, I’m literally literally doing a job I’m not qualified to do. I don’t need impostor syndrome, I have it black on white.
    But I don’t think I’m doing too badly.
    Also, some times you despair at the kids. I think I need a thicker skin.

  54. 102

    *sets a pile of hugs on the floor*

    Feel free to help yourself.

    Work is very busy plus I’ve got the 3rd of 3 out-of-town weekends coming up tomorrow, so not a lot of time for writing. Which means I’m sort of back to “lurker” mode for the moment, but I’m still around, reading when I can.

    Cheers all!

  55. 103

    Hey everyone, news outlets are reporting that Prince died today at 57 years old. Reputable news sources like the New York Times. I’m watching something on CNN about it right now.

  56. 108

    Thanks cicely.
    ****
    Found out today that my opinion on trans people (that they deserve the same rights and dignity that cis people receive) is invalid bc I don’t have a job. I’m still trying to understand the logic there.
    .
    .
    .
    Maybe that’s what I’m doing wrong.

  57. 109

    Iโ€™m still trying to understand the logic there.

    Bad mistake here, mate, bad mistake.
    Unless you fill in the missing pieces. I all goes back to the good old days. In the good old days you had to have money to have the vote, right? And only the opinion of people who have the vote counts (fuck those bastards who betrayed them and gave to vote to people who formerly didn’t have it like blacks and women and have-nots).
    Therefore, some people feel that poor people having an opinion is a crime against the order of god.

  58. 110

    Tony
    Fuck them. They’re hateful little asswipes that’ll say anything stupid so long it somehow confirms their worldview.

    Went swimming again. Has it ever happened to you that you were swimming behind someone and then suddenly got a facefull of bubbles?
    Good news: I’ve seen three butterflies, a few more birds and the same number of bees and bumblebees. There are still no migratory birds that usually arrive in this season, but at least the locals are back.

  59. 112

    Hmm, we had some nice spring days. Sadly tomorrow the weather will turn, in time for the weekend. But I uploaded some pics, in case you need some flowers

  60. rq
    113

    Can I ask a small favour from y’all?
    Friend of mine’s son is participating in a brass instrument competition next week (you can hear him here). It would be nice if he could get some more thumbs up for that video – it doesn’t reflect on his results, but it would be good for his self esteem. He’s always entered these sorts of competitions with his twin brother, and apparently he’s been feeling a bit lost and uncertain. It might do wonders for him psychologically.

    In other news, I’m still feeling anti-social in the real world. I still have no good explanation for this. Oh well. At least I went.

    *hugs* and *higs* for the crowd here! Even if it is only crickets. I can give very small *hugs*, if needed.

  61. 117

    I’ve been watching British crime shows again – this one is about young inspector Morse . The series is great and the young version is pretty cute.
    Anyway, I wasn’t sure so I checked online and yes, they did a shout out to another great police officer. It was done brilliantly : a senior officer offers a newbie cigarettes, mentioning that one of his old seniors told him the trick was to hide the cigarettes in his notebook. His old sergeant from Cable street. It rang so familiar, did you guess?

  62. 118

    Beatrice

    It was done brilliantly : a senior officer offers a newbie cigarettes, mentioning that one of his old seniors told him the trick was to hide the cigarettes in his notebook. His old sergeant from Cable street. It rang so familiar, did you guess?

    Brilliant! Too bad Pterry can’t see that (I still can’t believe he’s gone*)
    Shame I never managed to get into Morse. His plots were always so convoluted and considering they all happen in the vicinity of Oxbridge, you’d think that place has the highest crime rate in UK.
    I was always more of a Colombo guy – straightforward and down to earth.

    *Pterry is an example of a celebrity who somehow managed to live his life without Problematic Incidentsโ„ข. Just saying.

    rq
    I have a sudden desire to visit all of those places. I do wonder whether Vulcan’s popularity is waning due to it being destroyed in the reboot.

  63. 119

    AlenxanderZ,

    thanks, now my TO DO list has the item: find out whether someone ever counted numbers of deaths on Morse compared to Midsomer Murders.
    In later seasons, Midsomer Murders started going meta and joking around with huge death toll in Midsomer villages so that’s a plus for them.

    How about inspector Frost? He’s a down to earth kind of guy.

    What I hate -except for friday, which is apparently British crime series evening on national television, some great European crime shows pass unnoticed after 23 hours on weekdays. There’s something I might like starting on Monday (also British, but featuring 2 women detectives for a change), but I just can’t watch a show that starts at 23:30. That’s the time I’m usually already sleeping.

  64. 120

    Beatrice

    How about inspector Frost?

    Never watched him. His show never aired here so I’ve missed out on him entirely.
    I’ve missed out on lots of good TV. I watch so little of it that I’m proud that I’ve finished HBO’s Rome (yes, all two seasons of it).

    Had a crappy diem. This holiday means that that I’m working even more than on regular days. I’m off to bed early.

  65. 121

    Good evening!
    Done grading. The good the bad and the fucking lazy.

    +++

    Pterry is an example of a celebrity who somehow managed to live his life without Problematic Incidentsโ„ข. Just saying.

    I don’t even mind “problematic incidents” as such so much as I mind the lack of showing some fucking understanding. Bar some serious crimes I think most people have fucked up some way or the other, most of us have cringe-worthy episodes in our past. Celebrities are only much better “researched”. But most of the times something comes to light they either try to brush it off as “I was young (and therefore any harm magically disappears)” or “stop making a mountain out of a molehill”.

    +++
    rq
    Done

  66. Nat
    122

    My rule of thumb for problematic stuff in fiction is based on how the behavior is rewarded/punished/ignored by the narrative.

  67. 123

    Checking in… What can I say, I’m an unpredictable Speakeasy addict.

    *hugs* on offer as needed.

    Mostly wanted to say “Hi !” and on a darker note … express my pop culture condolences for the ‘passing’ of Prince AND Victoria Wood !!! *sniffle,sniffle *

  68. 124

    Of course, some here may be too young to get the humor of this (my favorite VW excerpt) but….. just you wait ! You’ll get it eventually . *smiles knowingly, sneezes carefully*

    https://youtu.be/oZjAmOwB8NQ *

    —-
    * Watching this (yet again ! ) is how I (a USAin fan) found out (2 days after) that Victoria had died. The recent comments clued me in, then I confirmed the bad news with more Google-fuing !….. Bummer !!! ๐Ÿ™

  69. 125

    Nat
    Oh, I don’t mean problematic in fiction*, but problematic IRL (though writing problematic things in fiction is an IRL problem…)
    Somebody who said something fucked up, did something fucked up. Did they take the criticism to heart and change or did they huff and puff and carry on as if nothing happened?

    *That is complicated. Sometimes fiction can be a valve to let off pressure you cannot release IRL because it would be bad. I mean, many movies, especially those involving superheroes deal with vigilante justice, with some people just being above the law. Problematic, right? But also deeply satisfying when the bad guys get dealt with for once, unlike IRL

    ++++
    Peak whiteness: The supermarket now has humus “Falaffel taste”. It’s tasty, though

    Peak man?splain? (It’s not really a splain, more of a, well, you’ll see):
    #1’s school has its 55th anniversary and they’re doing a revue through those years. Her class does the 50’s so they need something to wear and I decided I deserve a sewing project. Full circle skirts and petticoats for both kids.
    Mr: Can you sew a petticoat? I wouldn’t have the slightest idea how to do that!
    Me: Well, your biggest sewing project was a cushion back in middle school. Mine was my wedding dress….

  70. rq
    127

    Not today, maybe tomorrow.
    Yesterday was someone else’s birthday, though!!
    (Happy belated, Dali!!!!! *hugs*)

  71. 128

    One more thumbs up from me rq .

    It was my daughter’s birthday on Saturday. She’s now four! We had a party at a soft play place nearby. 19 children from 1 to 7 years old. All a bit chaotic, but my daughter enjoyed herself. She almost spoiled it all yesterday, but that’s kids for you!

  72. 129

    Dang ! I did mess up the dateline/ time zone thing then , huh ?
    Sheesh!

    Anyways, Happy additional Annual Rotation to Dali (and anyone else who shares the date but may be to shy to admit it) !!! : )

  73. Nat
    130

    Gilliel

    Gotcha, fair enough. Yes, I tend to be a harsher judge when someone tries to just let an issue die down rather than address how their behavior was harmful.

  74. Nat
    131

    Does anyone know of leggings that look like black male business socks at the bottom but pretty up above where they can be seen with work slacks on?

  75. 133

    I’m heading off to Jesusland today, driving to Buffalo and flying to Baltimore. The family (my partner, her partner’s and their partners – a group of six adults) are going to a small fire-spinning festival in Virginia this weekend, camping out in the woods. I’ll be reading until Thursday, but away for the rest of the weekend. Back to Soviet Canuckland in early May.

    For those looking at British crime shows, may I suggest Scott & Bailey, as well as Ripper Street, hinterland, and Inspector Gently? They are, respectively, set in Manchester, Whitechapel 1890, rural Wales, and 1960s Northumberland. I *loved* Scott & Bailey.

    See you all again soon! Hugs and higs and the elementary particle of your choice.

  76. 136

    I love Scott and Bailey as well, but it’s quite late here, too. And I love Ripper Street. I mentioned before that they managed to have a more diverse cast, tell more diverse stories set in 18fucking90 than many “modern” series.

    +++
    BTW, rq and Caitie
    How do you feel about the last week of June for your interviews?

  77. 139

    I heard about Hamilton but never really bothered enough to look it up. Now that I’ve heard Lin-Manuel Miranda on John Oliver’s show…. WOW.
    Wow.
    Also, the whole clip about Puerto Rico’s financial troubles or how US fucked them up:
    John Oliver: Puerto Rico

  78. 140

    Happy belated birthday to Dali, and one in advance for rq!

    Congrats to bragimike on your daughter’s birthday.

    CaitieCat, enjoy your trip!

    After prolonged talks with Russian speaking clients, one (non-Russian) co-worker learned the phrase “ะดะฐ, ะฑะปัะดัŒ”. And people like Russian “culture”.

  79. rq
    141

    AlexanderZ
    Well, it is the favourite part of Russian culture for many people here, too…

    Giliell
    By then, I’ll be working nightshifts again due to Summer and a lack of daycare, so yes, I’m pretty sure I can do morning, seeing as I’ll be home. It would be a lot harder if I was at work, actually. So that works for me. I guess we can co-ordinate more specific times as the actual date approaches? I’ll have to figure out where to stick the children for the duration. ๐Ÿ˜›

  80. 142

    Beatrice
    I think they had a hand at fucking themselves up as well. It looks like a consensual screwage. Not that US doesn’t have a lot of responsibility, but they aren’t the only culprit here, and the funny part is that even if USA decided to grant statehood to Puerto Rico with all the benefits and protections that come with that, it might not be what Puerto Ricons want.
    The best case scenario is similar to what is best for EU periphery – stay as a US territory, but have your own currency which you can debase endlessly, effectively filling bankruptcy without filling bankruptcy.

  81. Nat
    144

    Can I get other people’s thoughts on something?

    Every time I start to see vaguebooking in the periphery of my FB network about “ideological purity”, “bad ally behavior”, “scorched earth tactics”, “unreasonably high expectations” etc, it always comes out later that the issue surrounding the vagueposts is something that’s actually been festering for months or years.

    I know my network is very small…my friends list is comparatively tiny and I only follow a small number of public pages. Is this just a consequence of the size of my network?

  82. rq
    146

    Nat
    I don’t think it’s a consequence of the size of your network, but then, mine’s not exactly huge, either.
    I think the vagueposts are a response to the fact that the issue has been so narrow for a long time (such as between two or three people over several months), and there’s just too much tension to get it out in the smaller scenario. If that makes sense.
    Are you okay? Are you requiring *[random gesture of friendly support]*, such as a *higs*? Or *hugs*?
    (Can’t help you with the leggings either, sorry!)

  83. Nat
    147

    I’m…okay. I’m just tired. I’m really starting to feel like “ally” is a word that people just shouldn’t use. Cuz everyone who calls themself one or tries to speak out on what it means to be one winds up showing their ass on an axis of oppression. Maybe it’ll be trans issues…maybe it’ll be race issues…maybe it’ll be disability issues.

    I gave a friend a recommendation for a show and they couldn’t get halfway through the first episode before putting it down in abject irritation and I feel really odd about it because they love a couple shows that I found even more irritating and problematic than the one I recommended and I just…don’t get it? And I’m not sure why I’m letting it get under my skin so much.

  84. 148

    Happy Birthday to all appropriate. Have some cake! (Did I mention the Oreo cupcakes I recently made.

    +++
    I find “ally” a very useful word. Just not in its literal meaning.
    Somebody declares themself to be an ally? Run. Run faster, run further.
    Somebody opposed to group X calls you an ally of X? You’Re doing something right.

  85. 149

    Thanks for the birthday wishes. We planned a little celebration yesterday, but then one of the guests (of 2) blew it off, which upset me to the point that I really couldn’t enjoy the rest of the evening. Meh.

  86. rq
    152

    Dalillama
    Sorry to hear the evenings didn’t go as planned. ๐Ÿ™ I hope you get a chance to celebrate, at least a little bit, sometime soon!
    *hugs*

  87. 158

    Dalillama
    Sorry it didn’t go as planned. Here, have a Happy Birthday song.

    Nat
    I can’t stand the word “ally”. It’s nonsensical and stupid and it doesn’t mean what the its users want it to mean. Seriously, what happened to “supporter” or “proponent”?
    Bah. Stupid quasi-militaristic pompous sounding word. A tinny word. Tin, tin, tinny!
    Oh, and the people who through it around are annoying at best.

  88. 159

    Tony @ 156
    Here’s the link, what I did was copy the link then paste it here.
    http://loweringthebar.net/2016/04/shareholder-extra-sausage.html
    in the preview it just shows up as text. We’ll see after it’s posted.
    If I use — left wedge,a href=,”,link,”,rel=,”,nofollow,”,right wedge,text,left wedge,slash,a,right wedge — the text only is printed. Everything from the first left wedge through the right wedge just before text simply disappears.
    I will compare what I actually wrote here, which shows properly in the preview, with what appears.

  89. rq
    162

    Whew! The lab just received a shipment of office supplies. I am alive; I got out with two staplers (different sizes), binder clips and three black gel pens. Win!

  90. 165

    vereverum
    There were more than enough. We had 14 cakes (counting 2 dozen cupcakes as one cake) for about 30 people.

    BTW, that article would have been perfect if the author hadn’t used “Saitenwurst”, a very uncommon word, but “Extrawurst” which means “an excessive demand , usually on top of something else”.

    Dalillama
    I’m sorry you had to cancel the party. I hope you get a nice evening soon.

    rq
    If you have surplus pens, just ship them here.
    Which reminds me: I still have some Barcelona Metro tickets. If you want them, drop me a mail with your address.

    +++
    Yayyyyyyyyyyyy!
    I had my “suitable for teacher” examination today and it went more than well. I probably need to explain a few things: As you know I still have to complete the second part of my teacher training. If you work in a school before you get a place you get a bonus, but only if the principal says you’re suitable. So this was important.
    Also, my school is tiny, at the brink of extinction. There’s only 9 classes total and we’re part of a bigger school which is somewhere else, so the principal works there. She wanted to come but couldn’t and the vice principal who’s at our school did it.
    Of course I chose the class I like best and planned a lesson that could hardly go wrong. Very sweet: Before we started and the vice principal arrived the kids said: at least you’re not as nervous as the last teacher who had to go through this!

  91. 166

    Sorry for slow answer, Giliell, June should be fine, and I can be available at whatever time is suitable. Anything I can prepare for? Would help my social anxiety to have an outline of what we’ll be discussing. ๐Ÿ™‚

  92. 167

    Giliell, well done!

    I have vacuumed the front of the house (except the girls’ rooms because they do their own vacuuming). That’s my exercise for the day, what with moving the lighter furniture and all. Ouch. Time for ibuprofen and more tea. Now I just need to update the checkbook (woe, woe), then I can work on my doll project a bit.

  93. 169

    giliell
    Congratulations!

    Based on various observations I hold these truths to be self-evident: that AT&T is a shitty mobile network and that Israel has about three to four times as many mobile networks as most states in US.

  94. 174

    I’m ‘rupt after being sick for 2 days – flu-like symptoms, upset stomach, body aches. But, better now and back to the usual daily routine.
    —-
    Son has completed 2 of 3 driving lessons and has been driving himself & MrsB home from school/work on occasion. Seems to be going well.
    —-
    *hugs* and *higs* to all.

  95. 175

    *hugs* to cicely and JimB

    BoJo’s remark about Obama’s “part-Kenyanism” is quite telling. I can’t believe I’ve only heard of it recently. I’m not surprised he thinks that – he always looked like the British version of Trump to me, but I’m surprised he actually said it. I guess the EU crises bring the racism out of woodwork.

    P.S.
    It’s getting quiet around here again and it’s not even the weekend!

  96. rq
    177

    *hugs* for everyone, computers were being weird for me last night. :/ And now I forget what I was going to say.

    *higs*!

  97. 178

    Heya
    Higs and hugs all around
    Chicken soup for Jim B

    +++
    Ha!
    I got the written evaluation. Couldn’t have written it better myself. Actually, I would write it a lot worse because I’d never dare to praise myself so much.
    Also, one kid said I was her favourite teacher, all for remembering how to pronounce her name correctly ๐Ÿ™‚

  98. 179

    Giliell, yays!

    I’m fighting the big black cloud again, so I’m going to hide my grumpy self away in the pillow fort until I feel more social. I’ll just leave a pile of hugs over here where they’ll be handy.

  99. 180

    Tony!—a follow-up to the link I posted at 107:
    Tweets Spur Action As DC Comics Investigates New Sexual Harassment Claims [Updated]

    JimB: The flu has been one of the Featured Performers of Suck-Week. You have my whole-hearted sympathies.

    All *hugs* gladly accepted, and reciprocated.

    giliell, hurray/congrats on the written evaluation!

    *extra-large hug with choice-of-beverage* for Anne, and may your emotional/mental/other-applicable weather improve soon.

    My grand-kitteh has died, of complications following a drop in blood sugar to as close to nil as apparently made no difference at all, and despite the vets’ best efforts. This is the cat whose name was one of Grandson’s first identifiable words, his favorite; and this happened while Grandson was already occupied with the flu, and an ear infection, and teething. Now, he keeps asking for his kitty…and it breaks my heart. He’s 18 months old—how the hell are we supposed to deal with that? He doesn’t even have the vocabulary to understand a soothing lie, let alone a watered-down version of the truth.
    ๐Ÿ™ ๐Ÿ™ ๐Ÿ™ ๐Ÿ™ ๐Ÿ™ ๐Ÿ™ ๐Ÿ™ ๐Ÿ™

  100. 181

    cicely
    I’m so sorry for your family and especially the little one. Good thing is that at that age they also quickly forget. Bad news is that he’ll probably be inconsolable for a while.

  101. 183

    Thanks for the well-wishes everyone. Fortunately it was a short illness and I’m pretty much back to normal, aka “Not giving a fuck”. ๐Ÿ™‚

    *hugs* to Anne and cicely – *hugs* have been sanitized for your protection.

    Hope everyone has an enjoyable weekend.

  102. 185

    Achievement unlocked!
    In my forty years on this planet, I’ve never grown anything in the yard. A little over a month ago, my cousin decided she wanted to grow a bunch of stuff-basil, rosemary, strawberries, tomatoes, bell peppers, and more. I had the idea to grow some edamame (the local supermarket doesn’t sell bagged edamame to buy). She showed me how to plant the edamame plant and a little over six weeks later, I had a handful of pods. Just ate them and NOM NOM NOM. I’m kind of excited. Now I want to grow more stuff. This is kinda fun!

    ****
    cicely:
    Thanks for that link and I’m sorry about the kitty ๐Ÿ™

    ****

    rq:
    Did you see my post?

  103. 186

    Does anyone have a way to contact Crudely Wrott. His name just popped into my head, and I don’t recall the last time we heard from him. It was back in the Lounge, wasn’t it?

  104. 187

    Hello.
    Can I please get some advice?
    My best friend is going to start living with her boyfriend. They found an apartment, and now they are cleaning it and getting ready to put their stuff in.
    I didn’t offer to help her clean it up. She offered me when I was moving, but I felt like it was unnecessary because it’s two of them in their place together.
    Should I offer? I don’t want to be a bad friend.

    I just feel it’s unnecessary for 3 people to clean one regular-sized apartment that wasn’t a disaster area to start with. And besides… every time she texts, the context is “I’m cleaning” and not “we’re cleaning”… If I can read that literally and not as just as unfortunate turn of phrase, I’m not going to going to go tidy an apartment that her dude isn’t willing to clean.

    I don’t want to be an ass but i also don’t want to clean up for him (if that is the situation).. and if I say anything she’ll roll my eyes at my extremely feminist ways.

    Should I offer?

  105. 188

    beatrice
    How desperate do her texts sound?
    At some point all the feminism isn’t doing any good when your friend is near break down because he’s an asshole.
    Depending of course on your friend’s gender ideas she might be totally OK with him playing football instead of helping but angry with you…

    Tony
    I remember him posting in the Roost

  106. 189

    Giliell,

    She doesn’t sound desperate at all. We’d text about other things, and somewhere in that would be an occasional “oh yeah, and then I’ll go clean the apartment” while discussing plans in general.
    I don’t know.


    I’m also sorry I haven’t been around much. Being an adult human and interacting with others of the same persuasion can get difficult sometimes. Especially when you realize that some basic things somehow escape you while learning to adult.
    *hugs*

  107. 190

    Update: asked, got an answer that they are doing fine by themselves. I just have to come and visit when they’re settled.
    One source of anxiety: gone.

  108. rq
    191

    Adulting can be hard.

    *hugs* and *higs* for everyone, congrats where appropriate, condolences likewise.

    Seriously, though, I am not competent to lead a discussion group on best practices in policing at the European level. Why did I sign up for that? Oh, right, by accident. And it gets me a work-funded trip to Bucharest in June. Damn you, impostor syndrome, I’m going to trick you!

  109. 192

    rq,
    I’d like to personally tell your impostor syndrome off, but I really have no other excuse to visit Bucharest in June.
    And now I’m imagining our impostor syndromes ditching us and having a beer together. “Those two? They’re no fun, feeling all incompetent and self-doubtful in their hotel rooms. I’m going to go get myself another beer. You?”

  110. 195

    Death to Imposter Syndrome, and while I’m at it, my Inner Critic can just shut up. [hugs to all and sundry]

    I didn’t leave the house yesterday at all, just stayed home, read, and slayed usefuls. So today Husband and I went out to breakfast and did the grocery shopping, and just now the Daughters and I walked to the shopping center. They shopped at Cost Plus, I honorably did not peek. ๐Ÿ™‚ I shall now attempt to spend the rest of the day doing mostly what I want. So there, life.

  111. 197

    Anne
    I like your plan!

    I was very good this weekend. We put up a new shelf in the hallway because fire regulations are now that NOTHING must be in the central hallway, not even a shoe rack.
    And I cleaned the balcony and planted things, mostly flowers, but also chillis. I should have worn gloves. For day and a half I needed some milk whenever I touched my lips or mouth…
    *Fistbump* to Tony

    Caitie
    I’ll give you a headsup on the questions. Maybe you and rq could provide me with some basic biographical info like your age and where you grew up?

    beatrice
    Yay for friends doing fine.

    Also, you know clothing sizes are fucked up when you can buy the smallest adult size for your underweight 8 year old.

    BTW
    Does anybody here have experience with fleas? This morning #1 got up covered in nasty bumps. She says they started itching over night. She cannot remember if she already had them before going to bed….

  112. rq
    198

    Giliell
    All clothing (yesterday’s, PJs, bed clothes) go straight into the wash. If she has bites around her ankles, soak her shoes/boots as well. Then vaccuum.
    It’s a bit trial-and-error, but that should take care of the immediate problem; if they turn up again, change clothes again, and also wash everything in her closet (because then she’s getting them from the clean clothes, not the used clothes). Hopefully you can get rid of it with the first round (and you could probably get away with not washing the bed clothes, but that’s a bit of a gamble), it’s a lot less labour-intensive. ๐Ÿ™‚ Good luck!

    I’ll email you a biography.

  113. 199

    Thanks, rq
    I decided to gamble on not washing the plushies. I don’t even know if it is a flea, but the fact that she has so many bites on her body and not her arms and legs made me suspicious that it may not be regular mosquitoes

    The fuck? I just spent 2 hours sorting, saving and printing college documents the ministry of education managed to lose…

  114. 200

    giliell
    First of all determine whether you’re dealing with fleas or bed bugs.
    In addition to rq‘s suggestions make sure to wash all bed sheets. If she has a soft mattress wash it as well. Look at any wooden furniture to see if you spot lots of small black spots. It they do then you need to take the thing outside and smoke the critters out.

  115. 201

    Ok, looks like we took care of the immediate problem. I circled all old bites with a pen last night and this morning there were no new ones.
    I ruled out bedbugs because it came suddenly and only #1 was affected, not her sister who sleeps right underneath. I hope I didn’t miss any eggs so we start this fuck again in a few weeks…

  116. rq
    202

    Giliell
    This is why the vaccuuming part is important. Plus, theoretically, even if there are eggs, they should hibernate if you don’t have any animals in the house (dogs and cats, not sure about bunnies). On the positive side, even if more hatch, they can’t actually reproduce on human blood, so they’ll all die off anyway… eventually.
    (The above information subject to new scientific studies, my knowledge may be a couple of years out of date.)
    Either way, fingers crossed that that was it!

  117. rq
    205

    There’s probably a whole list of songs along the same theme…

    Anyway, I’m here, feels like a Saturday – because it’s quiet here, but also because it’s a holiday here (second independence day), but I’m at work because I’m taking Friday off.
    The weather is gorgeous, though, looks like we’ll have our typical summery, sunny May, only to have a memories-of-winter June!

  118. 207

    Hi rq . The weather’s lovely here too. After a couple of weeks of cold weather and the occasional snow flurry, we’re getting some decent spring sunshine and higher temperatures.

    At the weekend my daughter stayed over with her grandparents for the first time (we went to a do). She loved it and the GPs were happy with her too. So maybe we could do it again!

  119. rq
    209

    I’m going to have to find some ways to incorporate the Star Wars into general conversation when I get home. Thanks for the reminder, I’d forgotten!

  120. 213

    Today is also Greenery Day in Japan and Jane Jacobs’ birthday. Jacobs got today’s Google doodle. Tomorrow is a very special day in our family; it’s Gatos de Mayo, the day we adopted our kittens. They were six weeks old and just weaned. They are now fifteen, and senior cats according to their vets, not that the cats care.

    I have successfully* embossed velvet – you use a dry iron, a spray bottle of water, and a rubberstamp. Tomorrow I will start excavating my sewing machine so I can put the pieces together. Ha. I did it. I’m not sure it’s worth all the effort, but I have done it, so I can cross that off my list. Ha.

    *mostly successfully – a stamp came unstuck and I caught a bit of the foam cushion underneath on one impression, but it’s small and on the bottom of the drawstring bag to be, so I am ignoring it.

  121. 214

    *waves*

    Camping was a bust because of the weather and illness in the family, so we had a quiet weekend all together here at home.

    Tomorrow I head back to Soviet Canuckland, flying to Buffalo before driving the last three hours home.

    Hope you’re all doing well!

    *tosses gentle hugs to the pillow fort*

  122. 215

    *raises Scotch glass in greeting*

    Not much going on at the moment, which is nice after lots of activity the last few weeks. Pretty much just focusing on work & home stuff.

  123. 218

    Spring has sprung with a vengeance, my allergies are going wild, and the cough syrup sets off my ulcer so I can’t take it. And I can’t buy decent fucking allergy meds without a prescription, and my clinic can’t give me that prescription, and I hate the fucking drug war so fucking much. (And the clusterfuck that passes for health care in this pisshole of a country, and…)

    *hugs* for all, though.

  124. 220

    Dalillama
    *hugs*

    My cat woke me up by puking directly on my face.

    Congratulations for all USAians for having a bona fide fascist as the presidential nominee, supported by roughly half the population. Fun times ahead.

  125. 222

    I’m just going to sit in the corner and wave at everyone.

    AlezanderZ – and I thought my cat was a jerk. Yesterday I got home, sat down and thought “this was the worst day possible.” And then, right on cue, my cat walked over and puked on the floor right in front of me. Now I guess I have to commend her on her restraint.

  126. 223

    I’m fine rq. Thanks for asking.
    We’re nowhere near the big conflagrations but we’re getting a wee bit of smoke.

    I will try to remember to not just lurk but toss an occasional cushion.

  127. 224

    Hi folks
    *gentle higs and hugs* for all to share

    I had a pretty nice day yesterday because it was the yearly staff trip. It’s an institution many public service workplaces that can be closed down have.
    Today is a holiday and tomorrow we all have a day off and will go to a graden exposition with life-size dino sculptures and a water playground. We pretty much skipped Spring (there was snow last week) and moved into early summer (25ยฐC).

    +++
    Gentle *hugs* for Dalillama. I’m sorry I can’t mail you something via the net. ๐Ÿ™

    +++
    rq
    Pretty!

  128. 226

    Morning Anne . Looks at watch……….afternoon Anne . Thanks for the offer of tea, but I’ve just had a coffee. Thanks for the *hugs* and here are some of my own.

  129. rq
    228

    I think it’s photo 10 in this series that really puts the wildfire into perspective – that helicopter looks so tiny compared to the fire that needs to be slowed down and put out…

  130. 229

    Tony
    Oh, it was wretched. The worst part is that it got not only on my sheets, but also on the various cloths I keep under my neck (it’s to prevent the neck vertebra from sagging or locking) and it was an ordeal to clean it all.
    Cats can be assholes sometimes.

    carlie
    I think she was trying to make feel better. She was saying: “don’t feel bad – it could always get worse. Here, let me give you an example.”
    I repeat – cats can be assholes sometimes.

    rq

    Fuck this shit. Whereโ€™s the sledgehammer?

    That’s bad, but given that Estonia is becoming the Mecca for Waffen SS, I’d say they have some cleaning up to do in their backyard as well.

    This winter a taxi driver and his family has moved into our building (I think I’m attracting them like a magnet). After breaking the front door of the building (because making keys for it was too much of a trouble for them) and parking in the most atrocious of ways, they set up their newest project: they have been drilling non-stop until 23:30 to install cameras inside and outside the building (yes, they now have a camera in the hallway) and various lamps to accompany them.
    I have no idea whether they’re using their own electricity for this, but I find the abundance of wires going from the building’s hallway into their apartment suspicious. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re siphoning the buildings electricity.

  131. rq
    230

    Did you just… point at something the Estonians are doing wrong to remove attention from something that they think is wrong…? Thanks for validating my disgust.

  132. 232

    I wasn’t “removing attention”. I don’t think that I need to reiterate my disgust of all things Soviet. I think I’ve made my position very clear over the years.
    However, in a time where even people on this network have no problem with proclaiming their love for communism and when Mao and Che shirts are popular items, Soviet nostalgia is hardly as bad as Estonia loves to portray it. Given that the history of their independence is in lockstep with extreme nationalism and antisemitism, I think my comment was apropos.

  133. rq
    233

    AlexanderZ
    It’s the Estonian community in Canada trying to educate people about the Soviet regime.
    Everybody knows Nazis are bad. It’s the Soviet apologists that piss me off, nostalgia and all. I don’t find it acceptable here, and I don’t find it acceptable in Canada. And in fact I think due to it’s more-acceptable-ness factor, it is actually a lot more insidious and a lot more bad than some people would like to think. Because guess what, under that Soviet nostalgia, there’s a whole new intolerant, ignorant and right-wing generation growing up, proud of being homophobic, xenophobic and believing that the Soviet era was one of sunshine and goodness. I don’t even know if they’re nazis or fascists but I do know they bring nothing good.
    That is all.

    Raccoons.

  134. 234

    Good evening folks
    I bring you all some cute to deal with whatever gets you riled up atm.

    +++
    Pagin’ English native speakers: Is over-exaggerating a word or is it just a smart boy’s description of his little sister’s tantrum? Anyway, it’s my new favourite word…

  135. 235

    Giliell

    Paginโ€™ English native speakers: Is over-exaggerating a word

    It is as far as I know.

    But then, I speak “American” English, so…..:-)

  136. 241

    Waitโ€ฆ today is Masturbation Day?

    That’s like needing a Straight Pride Parade, only much more harmless.

    Jim B
    Thanks. That word would be un-possible in German because the word root is German as well so you’d have รผber-รผbertreiben. It’s still a bit of a funny idea, I think.

    Alexander Z
    I guess the critters learned that humans = basically safe and scaring away predators. I mean, just imagine a cat among small children!

  137. 243

    Any other fans of The Flash here? I got caught up with the series and now I can’t wait to see the end of season (but noooo, why is it ending?!).
    I’m also thinking about rewatching the first season. Now that we know some things about things and people and stuff, it should be interesting to watch.

  138. rq
    244

    Sometimes, you have an awesome plan, and then your boss walks in on you.
    So instead of being all relaxed and happy Monday morning before my trip to Barcelona (BY THE WAY Giliell, thanks for the metrocards, they have arrived, and they made me feel excited!!!), I have to come in to work to tie up the loose ends that were supposed to be tied up today but noooooo, Boss needed some other things done. And this is going to be on my mind all day tomorrow, when I was planning on not thinking about anything but the weather, some random weeding, and spending time with the family.
    And I have to buy some shoes.
    Also the great-aunt that spent the last several months trying to die finally died. *flail*
    Really, really, really looking forward to quiet time away from it all at some stupid convention in lovely Barcelona next week. There will probably be a crisis.

  139. 246

    rq, hugs and empathy, I know that “next shoe of Damocles” feeling.

    First world problems – what I really want to do today is work on my sewing project. What I’m going to have to do today is sort and package all the stuff to take up to Aged Mum’s tomorrow, wrap her gifts, etc etc. I did go out to breakfast before doing today’s shopping, and later on I’ll be running over to the library, so that’s something anyway. Maybe I’ll check my seed beads to see if I need anything for the project; the bead store is on the way to the library.

    Hugs are here in a heap for all and sundry.

  140. 248

    rq
    Glad they arrived in time. I hope you have a great trip and get a few hours to see things in the city.
    Silly boss!

    Anne
    I took yesterday off as a sewing day. I made petticoats for the girls. #’s school festival is “a voyage through the history of the school” and their class is the 1950’s. I’m still waiting for the polka dots fabric to arrive to make the skirts, but the petticoats are done. I wished I had a ruffler….

    ++++
    Annnd we looked at a house today. I’m a little bit excited. Sure, there’s nothing fixed yet. We haven’t decided that we want it and then still we might not get it, but location and size would be just right.
    While it is stupid to enthusiastically buy the first house you visit, it is also stupid to simply dismiss the first house you visit because it’s the first house, right? That’s not a quality of the house but a matter of your timing…
    There’s some things that needed to be done about the house, some sooner, others later, but that also means the price of the house itself is lower which means lower taxes etc. And, when you renovate things yourself you can do them the way you like them. The bathroom, for example, needs an overhaul. But not urgently.

  141. 249

    Giliell,

    REmember how I regretted not choosing the first apartment I saw when I was moving out from my parents’ because it was the first? Yep, I still regret that.
    Of course, buying a house is a bit more serious and long-term than renting an apartment but still. Don’t dimiss the first.

  142. rq
    250

    Happy dance for Giliell!
    Well, see you all in Barcelona, as it were – logging off now and packing up the computer for my extra-early start tomorrow! Key: eat something during the day, otherwise I will not be a happy traveller. But *snickersnicker* Boss gets to travel with me, so either (a) sucks to be her or (b) sucks to be me (still gotta put my best face forward). ๐Ÿ™‚

    *hugs* and *higs* for everyone, and a special *wave* for all you parents out there on this summery mothers’ day!

  143. 251

    Hello c: This is a very serif place! Just decided to drop by and say hello from WHTM, though I’m also a long time Pharyngula reader.

    Ft Mac Update, sort of – I have a friend who’s up at the CNRL camp, north of the city and the fire path. Air quality is horrendous up there, and there are a few thousand evacuees still there along with the full compliment of workers. CNRL itself has them working regular shifts (and apparently threw in a “don’t be too sad you’re expected to stay and work, you’re lucky to have jobs in this economy”). But, oh god, the smoke is thicker than London fog right now. They should all be wearing filtration masks.

    All in all it looks like it’s similar devastation to the Slave Lake fire a few years ago. Town was half burned down, and his house was right on the edge of the fire – his house got some smoke damage, his neighbour was burned down to the foundation. Fort McMurray’s in a worse situation, though, since it’s so isolated. Slave took months and months to rebuild, I’m sure Fort Mac will take longer.

    This province sometimes, I tell you. It’s like it’s trying to kick us out. At the least we’ve become pretty good at pulling together and providing donations, food, shelter and essentials in these crises. Lots of restaurants providing free meals, hotels and private homes opening the doors for people, government is providing emergency funds for evacuees, and a lot of the businesses around here are providing pretty deep discounts for essential items alongside running donation drives. It gives me hope.

  144. 253

    beatrice
    Oh no, we do not dismiss because First!
    For one thing, we’ve been watching the market for a while now. There aren’t many houses sold here “on the open market” and this one would be really great for us.
    So, provided they move a bit with the price (as they already said they would) and people more knowledgeable than us don’t yell “are you mad???!!!!” we’ll make a serious bid.
    The current owners are moving out right now. They’re a couple in their mid 70’s and it’s probably breaking their heart to sell it, but she can’t get upstairs any more. Of course we shamelessly pulled the “kids cute as a button running in summer dresses through the garden” and the “local lad and family wanting to stay local and within the community” card.
    I think there’ll be news in the next week(s). Of course those news could still be “we sold to somebody else”.

    Have fun, rq

    Welcome Scildfreja
    Hope folks in Canada are safe. Houses can be rebuilt, but humans can’t be remade.

  145. 254

    Thanks Tony and giliell ๐Ÿ™‚ Everything is as it ever was here. No fire related fatalities, only one situation with a car accident during the evacuation. All considered, excellent. We have wildfires all the time up here, but, well… they’re a bit bigger than they used to be, with the weather being so dry and season so long. Thanks global warming!

  146. 255

    Aaaaargh
    I know why we don’t just lock up people here and I generally agree, but where on earth is it in any way just or right to let my cousin continue to terrorize his father, allow him to ignore court orders and veto the sale of the house?
    And why the fuck does a court declare that he does not need to have certain rights removed because “he’s in the care of his father” without ever hearing the father who is 78 years old and chronically ill?
    That’s not helping nobody!

  147. 256

    Oh fun. Now my uncle’s in hospital (maybe we’ll find out why…) and Police are searching for my cousin with helicopters. NYCPD life or something like that. I just hope he doesn’t remember where I live…

  148. 258

    Thanks.
    Apparently they found my cousin, told him he’s a bad boy and sent him off with a 500โ‚ฌ fine which he’ll force his dad to pay.
    Can we have some balance between police shooting mentally ill people and this shit? There must be a balance, right? Because other people must have the right to live their lives as well, right?

  149. rq
    259

    Giliell
    *hugs*

    Scildfreja
    Welcome in, and thanks for the Fort McMurray update! I got caught up on the news during the flight out – 200 000 hectares, holy shit! If there’s a rain god out there, xe better get back from vacation soon. :/

  150. 261

    giliell
    Data point of one country, but all homes need to have their bathrooms and plumbing repaired or replaced. You really don’t want to see a problem come up a couple of years after your purchase and being forced to tear down your tiles and so on. Fixing a home after you’ve moved in is more expensive, slower and more inconvenient than doing it before hand.
    The same is true for electricity, window replacements, kitchen and so on. The “we’ll do it later” rarely works and tends to cost more and being a huge pain in the ass.

    rq
    Have a pleasant vacation and safe travels!

    Scildfreja
    Welcome!

    Beatrice
    Russia has celebrated the day by exploring how the separation of Germany was a US conspiracy all along.

  151. 262

    I remembered what I wanted to say:
    I had this weird dream where I was captured by the cause-and-effect fairy and was forced to power her reality engine, which meant having to run in circles in a huge circular glass tube. Every time I was slowing down she would appear and scream at my to pick up my pace because “causality is acting up again”.

  152. 263

    @rq, Bareclona, oooo. I am super jealous. I was hoping for work to fly me off to Romania last year, but it fell through. Would love to go visit some of Europe- well, all of Europe – but I’m very bad at taking time off. I hope you have fun!

    The current state of the fire in Fort McMurray is 162,000 ha, or about half of a Rhode Island. There are two other fires as well in the same area – one out of control at 11,000 ha, and one under control and smaller. The big one’s set to double daily, apparently.

    http://wildfire.alberta.ca/reports/sitrep.html <— the most recent fire info for the province.

    The really heartwarming thing has been the public response, though. $60 million has been raised to help them, and $50 million of that was from in-province. And that's just the cash donations, not counting the warehouses of physical stuff being given! It's really fantastic.

    @Giliell, uuuuugh. That sounds particularly awful. I'm sorry you're coping with that right now :c The problem with authorities is that they aren't all that good at authoritatin', I guess.

  153. 266

    Great, not only am I tired – fell awake at 4AM – I’ve got one of those headaches that sits right behind my eye, not going away.

    I think I’ll be in the pillow fort where it’s soft and quiet.

    Belated “Hello” to Scildfreja.

  154. 267

    Huya
    Happy anniversary to me and Mr Giliell.

    I’m currently wondering whether you can bleed to death from your period. I think I need to call my OB Gyn because I lost about the maximum amount of liquid for an entire period in about 2 hours yesterday and again about half the amount again this morning.
    Not cool.

  155. 268

    Happy anniversary, Giliell and Mr! Your extreme bleeding could be a harbinger of menopause – I had a real problem with that when I was perimenopausal. I agree, best to call the doctor and have it checked out.

    Hugs for all and sundry. The pillow fort nap corner is always open, and always quiet. Pillow fights take place in the other corner of the fort.

  156. 270

    Happy Anniversary Giliell! I hope your loss of blood stops soon.

    *hugs* to everyone.

    I hope rq is enjoying/enjoyed her Barcelona trip. It’s a lovely city.

  157. 271

    giliell
    Happy anniversary!

    RTT:
    Sanders slams corporate media, calls for Democratic Fox News
    This is the quintessential reason why I dislike Sanders. He’s a demagogue. Despite his protests he has no “real issues” – when then numbers are against his agenda (be it the delegate count or the economic proposals) he simply ignores the numbers. No wonder he wants a Dem FoxNews, he needs something to ignore reality in his favor.
    The saddest thing of all is that he does have many good proposals and his loss will be seen as a “proof” that USA isn’t ready for social democracy.

  158. 273

    Thanks, everybody
    My body apparently decided that not bleeding out is a cool idea.

    +++
    House news:
    This is crazy. I talked to Mr.’s aunt cause she works at a bank if she knew somebody who’d take a professional look at the house. She talked a colleague who said “oh there’s a house being sold in our street”. Guess which house it is… That would be our right door neighbour.
    Mr.’s aunt gave us the number of an architect. I called the architect, introduced myself and the lady at the other end says “Ms. Giliell, is that you? Here’s Ms. B from your Spanish class!”
    She works for that architect. I told her why I called, she asked where the house is and she said “Oh, the other half of the house is where my parents live!” It’s a semi detached house. That would be the left door neighbours…
    On Tuesday her boss and I will take a look at the house and if we then can get a decent price we’ll buy it.
    PANIC

  159. 274

    Happy anniversary, Giliell!

    So if the professional opinion about the house is positive, it will turn out that the opportunity is perfect is what you’re saying right?
    Good neighbors are important.

    I have just spent 4 days in Podgorica, Montenegro. Found a great restaurant, not too expensive either (Pod Volat – if you ever visit Podgorica, go there. The food is great, but vegetarians should probably look elsewhere. The menu is meat meat and more meat.. but if you’re not vegetarian, that meat really is made to perfection. And the greatest praise I can give: tomatoes in the salad tasted like real tomatoes, really good real tomatoes, not that crap we get in stores and recently even outdoor markets).
    And all the people I met were really nice, even though some of them warned me about (other) Montenegrians being rude people. A taxi driver even gave me a bit of a tour while driving me to the airport, showing me some sights and telling me some interesting things about places.

  160. 276

    giliell
    That’s great! Seems like you’re going to get a good house and neighbors!

    Beatrice
    Judging by the pictures it looks heavenly. I like the large portions too.

  161. 277

    Hmmm, talking about meat, we had some delicious lamb and beef tonight. I also graded a bunch of class tests.
    Let’s call it a day.

  162. rq
    278

    Barcelona was rainy until the very last day (when there was no time left to do anything particularly touristy). But we (I) did manage an evening for a ramble downtown, plus a fine dinner at a seafood restaurant, courtesy of an unofficial corporate sponsor from Lithuania (had octopus for the first time, yum!). The science stuff was extremely interesting (because Advances! in Science!) yet depressing (No Budget For Shiny New Things or The Space to Put Them). Altogether a trip worth having. Thank you again to Giliell for saving worry about bus tickets on the first evening there – I didn’t use the orange ticket, so if you want, I can send it right back to you, maybe you know someone else who can use it! ๐Ÿ™‚
    Came back for a funeral yesterday, but it turned into a rather pleasant social evening with some distant relatives with whom we’re always trying to meet up with more often (weddings and funerals are spaced too far apart, as it were…). Drove my mum and siblings back downtown in the evening, and hydroplaned all the way home (hello, prelude to summer thunderstorms).
    Also, all the lilacs.

    *higs* and *hugs* to everyone.
    I hope you get good news on the house, Giliell, this is le exciting!!! Also Happy Anniversary, and best wishes on dealing with your body’s idea of appropriate amounts of bleeding!

    AlexanderZ
    Hope you managed to escape the reality engine without screwing causality up!

  163. rq
    279

    Also cicely, thank you for that extremely educational post on malachite. I am especially impressed with the final biological analysis on that. ๐Ÿ™‚

  164. 280

    Look! rq is back!
    I’m glad you had a nice trip. Don’t worry about the tockets, looks like we won’t need them this summer and for a good reason (please, hopefully)

    +++
    Also, my FIL is angry with us, but I can’t help it. He wants to go with us to inspect the house but we sure as hell won’t take him with us, especially not when I’m paying an actual architect to do so.
    There are things he’s really knowledgeable about. And there’s things where his knowledge wasn’t updated within the last 30 years. And there’s things he never had a fucking clue about but he’ll loudly opine in each of the cases mentioned…
    We’d end up on the black list of real estate agents…

    +++
    this is what the Richard Dawkins Foundation Germany has sunk to. Dunno how well Google translates that crap but main points:
    -Gender roles are based in biology as Darwin said (yes, honestly, they’re mentioning Darwin as if he were Jesus)
    -Heterosexual couples with children are living a natural lifestyle
    -that’s something a gender scientist in her “germ free homo lifestyle bubble can’t grasp”
    And more…
    Oh, the title? “Gender studies is the cancer of modern society”

  165. rq
    281

    โ€œGender studies is the cancer of modern societyโ€

    Common thread throughout Europe of late, I believe (at least, heard locally in reference to a convention meant to combat abuse against women and children and familial abuse). Collective cultural roots and all that. *barf*

  166. 282

    Well, google translate works well enough.
    So, feminist ideology leads to:
    1. fertility decline – so, what’s so bad about that? Oh of course, they are talking about educated, self-sufficient women in developed countries having less or no children. I bet the same folks are worried about Islamisation of Europe
    2. destruction of families – if they were capable of recognizing any structure besides mom, dad & 2 and a half children as families, they would realize that people are becoming more and more free to choose their families, enriching cultures instead of destroying anything. But of course, what they mean is that destroying patriarchy = destroying “family”
    3. devaluation of mothers – I think that’s the evil career woman stereotype raising its ugly head. Putting mothers on a pedestal as a form of enforcing patriarchy is nothing new. Of course, those same mothers are also supposed to clean and vacuum the pedestal, right after making their man a sandwich.

  167. 283

    [waves] I’m making tea, anybody want some?

    So, MRAs say that feminism is cancer, now someone says gender studies. Nothing changes, it just gets louder. Pretty soon it’ll be anything to do with social justice, humanism or anything else that cares about others in need.

    Beatrice, way back when I was a working mother with a new baby, all the studies said that she’d be better off if I stayed home full time. When I quit working outside the home because we couldn’t afford daycare and she was getting too active for my parents, suddenly all the studies said that children with stay at home moms grow up miserable with low self-esteem. The truth of it is, no matter what women do, it’s the wrong thing. We can’t win.

  168. 289

    I see the Dawkins Foundation lives up to the ideals of its founder.

    rq
    Welcome back! It’s great that you’ve enjoyed your trip.

    Beatrice

    you shouldnโ€™t accept anyone as your overlord

    If I call myself (when step 192 of The Plan is finally achieved) The Omnicron or Potentate, would that be OK?

    I bought some shoes because the old ones were falling apart. Not my favorite design, but they were nice enough. Then I went to have my sole adjusted to my foot and now the shoe is tearing my foot something awful.
    It might also be because my feet swell in the summer and now there is a massive heat wave.

  169. 292

    Well, when my students complain with “oh god!” I usually tell them that it’s “Goddess” but on weekdays I accept Ms Giliell.

    ++++

    devaluation of mothers โ€“ I think thatโ€™s the evil career woman stereotype raising its ugly head. Putting mothers on a pedestal as a form of enforcing patriarchy is nothing new.

    Yeah, I always feel so very special when I’m told my only real contribution to society is raising kids who, because of their plumbing, have no real worth besides making new babies and raising them.
    That’s what every woman wants to hear, right?

    +++
    Talkin’ about parenting…
    Right now #1 has a big interest in kissing her girl friends. Now, she’s 9 so I’m not putting anything to this, but it made me briefly wonder if there’S a coming out in our future. Then I thought “Fuck, I don’t want any of my kids to “come out”. If they come out to me it means I somehow transmitted the expectation that they’re straight until they tell me otherwise.

  170. rq
    293

    So this always happens: Husband and I manage to finnagle ways to save up a small amount of cash (we’re talking in the hundreds here, never more than a thousand) for something, you know, fun, or at least something that we choose to invest in (like a new bathroom), and pretty much as soon as we have this money, something else turns up, and we have to spend it on that. I mean, the first time it was for the bathroom and then it turned out the chimney needed replacing; then it was the bathroom, but then the roof tiles fell off, so guess what had to be fixed; and etc.
    So I’ve just managed to put away a small amount of savings for my trip to Canada, pretty much a bare minimum of self-sufficiency that won’t allow for any indulgence but a decent enough survival, and the washing machine breaks. I have crossed all the tentacles that it is a repairable error, and not a replacement error. Because this on top of the unexpected retroactive electricity bill, I just won’t have any money for Canada. ๐Ÿ™

    On the positive side, these things tend to happen around when we do have the money, so there’s that, at least.

  171. rq
    294

    Shout-outs and *hugs* (or *higs*) to Cal, YOB, JimB, carlie, Cait and anyone else who has been absent due to [reasons]. Hope you are as well as can be!

  172. 297

    I’m here, just bored spitless with my life as it stands, wishing I didn’t live at the corner of Chronic Pain and Major Depression. Newer more powerful meds since Cthulhumas have taken the edge off the pain some, but the brain continues to struggle to find a grip on the mood disorder.

    And since it feels like this is all I say anymore, it’s hard to get the impetus to post much. So I appreciate the shout out, rq.

  173. rq
    299

    CaitieCat
    I think of you often, if that helps.

    bragimike
    Current diagnosis: electronics. Which usually means Not Cheap. But we’ll see, the guy’s some old geezer with like 50 years’ experience with washing machines of all kinds, plus he might be amenable to a deal since he’s a near-relative of our neighbours. We’ll see tomorrow. :/ So far so good, I guess…

  174. 301

    Shout-out back at you, rq! Another weekend enjoying horse(power) ๐Ÿ™‚

    Good luck with the washing machine. We had ours break a few years ago, right at the start of “laundry day”….during the Xmas holiday. Mild panic ensued.

    Hi CaitieCat, *hugs* offered.

    General salutations to the Pub – sort of fallen back into “lurk” mode.

  175. Nat
    302

    Spouse and I are now both unemployed. Not quite as bad as it sounds for me since I was working on leaving my job in the near future. I had just wanted to have a new job locked down first.

    I’ve applied for unemployment but I don’t know when that will start paying. Fortunately, my boss has simply “terminated an at-will employment” so I haven’t quit or been fired for cause, which should help.

    I’ve set up a gofundme here hoping to cover some incoming bills to last until I have money coming in again.

    Sorry I’ve been quiet. Been really low on spoons lately.

  176. rq
    304

    Nat
    Good luck with the job, hope your spouse has some prospects to look into, as well!!

    +++

    Speaking of spoons, I returned from Barcelona with a grand total of 8 new *khmhkm* acquired teaspoons. I consider that a successful trip (thus expanding my collection; spoons on loan, as it were).

  177. 306

    CatieCat I’m with rq : you are in my thoughts, as I’m aware that your situation is not good.

    I consider everyone here at the speakeasy to be a friend, only separated by distance. Which is why periodic hugs are the order of the day.

    rq now I know why I can never find tea spoons at restaurants!

    We had a busy weekend: we took my daughter to Disney on Ice on Saturday, which she loved. Then I had a Prom concert on Sunday afternoon and my daughter had a birthday party to go to. If you’re not familiar with the idea of a Prom concert, it involves a lot of jingoistic flag waving and playing stirring national music. Not my favourite type of concert! Oh well, the next one is the Russian music concert.

  178. 308

    Help/advice wanted.
    I haven’t mentioned this yet, but I’m on the advisory committee for the American Humanist Association’s LGBTQ Humanist Alliance. I need to come up with a short bio (just a few sentences) and I’ve never had to do that before, so I thought I’d ask for advice with all you folks.

  179. 309

    *hugs* to everyone. Best wishes, too. That’s all I can offer at the moment.

    Dalillama
    That’s generally how I feel about the people here ๐Ÿ™

    CaitieCat
    It’s great that at least you have working painkillers. For me the painkillers were pivotal in fighting my depression, more so than the anti-depressants.

    rq
    Are the teaspoons stamped? Over here the custom is to collect towels, bathrobes, door handles and pretty much anything else as long as it has a logo.

    Tony
    You’re a long time blogger, you’re currently part of professional collective of atheist humanist bloggers and you have a lifetime of experience of living as a liberal atheist queer POC in the deep south.
    It’s just a question of which aspects of yourself you want to emphasize.

  180. 312

    Heya

    Glad to hear from you, Caitie and YAY for painkillers

    Jim B
    Nomnomnom.
    And guaranteed to piss off the right kind of people

    +++
    I’ve found out that having a job doesn’t just mean you earn money, you also save a lot of money by being unable to do the shopping

  181. JAL
    316

    *waves*

    Long time no speak, everyone. Sorry about that, just busy busy busy. Getting shit done that’s been neglected and trying to take care of myself.

    We’re doing alright here. Still have the same job and just received another raise so I’m up $1.50 in 9 months. 0.75 is because they had to raise the rate to get people to apply and stay, so it’s not all due to merit, but I’ll take it, lol. Not a living wage yet but much better and I’m thankful for it all.

    Just came home from another dental appointment. All my teeth are going to have to go ๐Ÿ™ I have weak teeth apparently so it’s not all my fault. Implants would be nice but that’s 50 fucking k so NOPE. Oh well, dentures it is. I’m freaking out though. I’ll be 26 and have to take my teeth out at night. :(((

    But hey, I’m on medication for my mental issues at least! Still working on getting the right meds & doses but I feel so much better already. Finding a doc is hard, still looking for a permanent one to stick with. Loved the last one but she’s sensitive to cig smoke so it didn’t work out.

    I didn’t realize how bad it was until I started getting better because I’ve always been like that, you know? It’s like a miracle, but not because it’s just doing everyday shit like cleaning and laundry reliably and appointments but…it is. It’s even weirder because the newest mix is for bi-polar, which I swear doesn’t feel right for me but they think it might be? Like where are my highs at? I don’t get it but it’s better than the last round. Soo…*shrug*

    I’m also trying to start book reviewing online again. Writing is hard and I fucking suck but whatever. Right now I’m just getting free books and it’s worth it XD I hope I can keep it up this time and not fuck it all up again with dropping out b/c of my issues.

    Little One was in the talent show today (she made it pass the auditions with a friend) and the winners will be announced tomorrow. She’s doing great except for some asshole kids being jerks and bullies. One brat took her phone (for emergencies/contact while we’re working) broke it and threw it over the fence. And the parents refused to pay for it. Siiiigh. It’s also her birthday on Tuesday! She’s getting a replacement phone (because siiigh) but I upgraded it a bit to make it an okay present. I hope anyways.

    Working on finding another apartment so we can move when the lease is up but it’s hard, long and honestly depressing. Having 4 cats is NOT helping but we can’t give them up. I hope starting it this early will fucking help. Otherwise, I’m dragging myself through hell and headaches for nothing.

    Roomie’s good. Same crappy job but he’s working on getting certified in different things to get a better one. He was on mental meds, but stopped because when he went to get more the doctors threatened to keep him due to his high blood pressure. Doctors freak and stress him out. I got him on state insurance though finally so I’ll be nagging to get him going to get it all worked out. He’s doing alright otherwise, started working out which helps him. I swear with me, I just want to curl up and die when I try exercising. No feel good feelings at all so stop looking at me like that doctors
    >.<

    Ummm, I don't know what else. It's been so long I don't remember if I told ya'll about my mom and whatnot.

    Anyways, I hope ya'll are doing well. I'm sure I've missed a ton. I'm sorry ๐Ÿ™

  182. 321

    Hi JAL *hugs*

    Do they play in the rain in their pretty white clothes?

    Why, yes they do rq but only if the rain is not heavy. I’ve played in thunderstorms, but that’s not recommended!

  183. rq
    322

    bragimike
    Considering the wide-open space of the field, probably a wise idea!! (That, or have teammates much, much taller than yourself…)

    What’s on the menu for the Russian concert?

  184. 323

    Most of my team mates are taller than me!

    Whatโ€™s on the menu for the Russian concert?

    Good question rq , thank you for asking! I don’t know yet. I should have a better idea after this weekend’s rehearsal.

  185. rq
    324

    bragimike
    I get the feeling there’s somebody in your orchestra fond of last-minute decisions, but then, I don’t know how much time you have until the concert.

  186. 325

    rq the concert is in July, so we have a while. I think a lot of the pieces have been decided (we need some composers’ names to put on the publicity), but there’s still a bit of leeway with a few items.

  187. 328

    JAL
    It’s good to hear from you and it’s good to hear that things are looking up for you.
    If it’s any consolation: my grandpa had all his teeth out by 30 and he was the happiest guy with his dentures. Whenever any of us complained about problems with our teeth or appointments with the dentist, he’d positively gloat…

    +++
    Wish us look , folks. We made a bid on the house. The architect found out they overestimated the square metres so that was money well spent…

  188. JAL
    330

    If itโ€™s any consolation: my grandpa had all his teeth out by 30 and he was the happiest guy with his dentures. Whenever any of us complained about problems with our teeth or appointments with the dentist, heโ€™d positively gloatโ€ฆ

    It does. Thank you. They told me lots of people love their dentures and it’s not a big deal.

    I’m trying to talk myself up like “You could smile! And really chew!” I think it’s just going to take time and have to see how it goes.

  189. 331

    JAL
    It’s great to hear from you again!
    I can add to giliell‘s example – my own grandfather also got his dentures at about that age. It was very common for those who survived the war. It didn’t affect his life noticeably and he was never self-conscious about having them.

    giliell
    Good luck with the house!
    Just so you know, when my mother finally did find the apartment that she liked it took her less than a month between first setting foot in there and finalizing the purchase. She still considers that the best decision of her life.

  190. 332

    Hi JAL.
    It’s great to hear that you are doing well.
    After you have your teeth done I’ll tell you the story of my sibling’s teeth.

  191. 335

    Prime minister’s wife in an anti-abortion walk Walk for life. Says that every reasonable person would support Walk for life.

    At the same time, new government put a stopper on plans to build a new children’s hospital (it was even supposed to be self-sustainable, using green energy!, it was to be built with EU funds), forbids therapy dogs in kindergartens citing that there should be assistants in kindergartens instead, but also cuts down money for programs like assistants for children with developmental disabilities and non-government organizations in general (the latest story: a coffee shop where all the waiters would have been people with Down syndrome won’t be able to open because the association opening it got their funds cut in half).

    *spits*

  192. 336

    beatrice
    Pro life my ass. Only as long as it’s leeching off a woman or other pregnant person’s resources. They can happily die in childbirth or be totally miserable afterwards….

  193. 340

    Thanks everybody
    I’m soooooooo happy. Finally my own place, my own garden, no more loud people underneath with horribly smelly cigarettes

  194. 342

    Congrats, Giliell!

    Related to my earlier post about friends in need, if anyone here is in the vicinity of Ypsilanti, and has any type if crash space, I have a friend there who’s in a bad situation, and all I have to offer anyone right now is that I have friends here and there.

  195. 344

    I finally set up a Gravatar (no, spellfixer, not Trafalgar) account. If I did it right, I should be Susan Sto-Helit. I rather identify with Susan, because like her, after everyone panics, I’m the one who’s always got to tip the wee out of the shoe.

    So let’s see if it works, shall we?

  196. 347

    It’s from Thief of Time – Susan explaining why she can’t just relax and go with the magic, because she always has to be the practical grownup one. She’s a teacher of small children in this one, and one of the kids has accidents, hence the wee in the shoe. I was rereading the book a while back, and that scene just hit me as the story of my life.

  197. 349

    rq
    Not quite as impressive, and less windows to clean ๐Ÿ™‚
    I’ll do a first scouting tour to Ikea tomorrow. I will have a practical office/craft room with all closed cupboards, damn you!

    Yes, I identify with Susan as well, most of the time.

    Tony
    It literally means tip the wee out of the shoe. It’s amazing how normal icky body fluids become when you have small kids….

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