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Cole is on a roll !

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The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Joe Lieberman disappointingly reemerged to remind us that he’s still alive.

They think we are photo bombing their nice little lives.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Accused of treason; bitches about the ratings. I am in awe.

Let there be snark.

Bark louder, little dog.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

This isn’t Democrats spending madly. This is government catching up.

American History and Black History Cannot Be Separated

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

When do the post office & the dmv weigh in on the wuhan virus?

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

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You are here: Home / Garden Chats / Monday Open Thread

Monday Open Thread

by | 134 Comments

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Sorry for the lack of posts, but the others have you all covered nicely. Had some work work to do today, then I had some stuff to do in the yard that was irritating me.

Off my back porch, where I have hung the feeders, is a large white pine that had the bottom six feet of the side facing my house with nothing but dead branches and bramble. The only living thing that might have found that attractive would be turkeys, and the only turkey around these here parts got himself stuck on the roof the other day. So I hacked that all down and hauled it away, cleaned up about ten years of pine needles, repositioned the feeders, and then went and bought a couple trays of pachysandra, which is a nice ground cover, works really well in acidic soil, and is native to the SE United States (although not the kind I bought). I figure I will plant that there and it will serve as attractive cover, and I won’t have to spend the rest of my adult live trying to grow grass under a pine tree. I also transplanted a bunch of wild spearmint to some flower boxes to contain it until I can figure out where I want to put it.

How was your day?

Reader Interactions

134Comments

  2. 2.

    aimai

    I decided to do another fundraiser for OFA and sent out a request to all my acquaintance to choose one really good thing that they didn’t want (a wedding present, flea market find, mathom) to bring, along with a donation, to swap. The donation goes to OFA, the “thing” gets swapped for something someone else wants to get rid of. Also, other stuff.

    aimai

  3. 3.

    David in NY

    “native to the SE United States (although not the kind I bought)”

    If a Republican said that, Cole would nail him to the wall.

    The Japanese pachysandra Cole acquired was referred to by Bill Cullina, whose wonderful books on growing and propagating native plants I heartily recommend to all, as “the vinyl siding of ground covers.” Other nice ground covers that actually fit in with the ecology of the Eastern US are alum root (Heuchera americana), white wood aster (Eurybia divaricata), foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia) and partridgeberry (Mitchella repens). My tiarella grows fast and looks great right now.

  4. 4.

    Phyllis

    Pretty good, except for the end-of-the-day email from the superintendent calling a meeting tomorrow for pretty much the sole purpose of mediating a pissing contest between the IT director (who’s a humorless jerk-I think it’s a requirement for the position) and the instructional technology coach. Blecch.

  6. 6.

    Bhall35

    I got a chain email forwarded to me by my dumbass cousin (from Florida, who also told me we would never elect a black president) entitled “What is the US coming to?” with images of zazzle.com postage stamps with arabic characters on them.

    I promptly hit “reply all” and wrote:

    To Whom it May Concern:

    So, let me see if I understand the purpose of this email, since I actually bothered to read this one instead of deleting it without reading it:

    Is it to express dismay and outrage that our newly elected “Muslim” president would allow postage stamps to be made depicting a culture or religion other than good ole white Christianity? Is it supposed to be even remotely funny? I’m afraid I don’t understand.

    A few things:

    1. Zazzle.com (which is where the stamp image comes from) lets anyone create a custom-artwork stamp, and unless celebrating the religion or culture of your choice is now illegal and/or unconstitutional (and last I checked, it is not…yet), I fail to see the problem.

    2. Spreading this idiocy without comment implies you do not understand point number 1, and would instead prefer to wallow in xenophobic (keep a dictionary.com tab open if you need help with the big words) ignorance of the type typically found at Tea Parties and Sarah Palin rallies.

    3. If this is what passes for enlightened political discourse or humor amongst the mouth-breathers who originally forwarded this email, please stay inside your house, and please don’t home-school your kids, as it would be unfair to handicap them so early in life.

    4. Anyone who tells me to lighten up can kindly kiss my ass.

    Sincerely,
    Brian

    I’m hoping this might put an end to the chain emails.

    ETA: blockquote fail FYWP, etc…

  7. 7.

    MTiffany

    I planted some pachysandra interspersed with some hosta undulata on the side of my house. In the spring and summer the hostas cover the pachysandra almost completely — which pachy likes since they grow best in shade. In the fall and winter when the hostas die back, the dead leaves and flower stems fall back below the pachysandra, leaving nothing but a nice evergreen groundcover.

  10. 10.

    BombIranForChrist

    Man, I had a pretty rough day Saturday. I just returned from a longish vacation to find my cat dying from kidney failure. Literally 10 minutes from walking in the door, I was back in the car again taking the kitty to the vet. A couple hours later, the vet euthanized her.

    I guess this is just a pity post, because I feel pretty rotten. She was 18 years old, and I am very grateful for the time I had with her, but it just really sucks balls. I sometimes wonder why the hell I even have pets. This is the fourth cat I have lost in 2 years. Two ran away / were eaten by some mountain lion or something, and a third died of cancer.

    Rest in peace Lola Bird. I’m taking a break from pets for a while.

  13. 13.

    Randy P

    @Bhall35: From your description, it wasn’t even necessarily Moslem. Just written with Arabic script (which might not even be Arabic language. It could be Farsi or Urdu). It might not have been a religious text at all. It could have just said “I love puppies”.

    So this chain e-mail is up in arms at the very existence of that language. Whichever one it is.

    Maybe you want to point them to those Christmas cards that say “Merry Christmas” in many languages, including Arabic. That’ll set them off.

    Edit: Such as here. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year in many languages, including Arabic, Farsi (Persian) and Urdu.
    http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/christmas.htm

  15. 15.

    tisalaska

    Beautiful day in Alaska watching the ice melt on Wasilla Lake..funny though..still cant see Russia ice or no ice..

  16. 16.

    Violet

    @BombIranForChrist:
    So sorry to hear about your kitty. That’s really tough. It sounds like she had a long, happy life with you, but it’s still hard.

    My day was okay, but I’m struggling with some kind of stomach or intestinal bug I can’t seem to shake. It’s not bad enough that it keeps me from doing anything, but it’s bad enough that my energy is low and I can’t figure out what to eat because nothing stays down very comfortably.

    Figure I might be on soup tonight. Gotta get rid of this thing.

  18. 18.

    Bhall35

    @Randy P: Well, I wasn’t going in for nuance with my response, if you catch my drift, as it was pretty off the cuff. The distinctions would certainly be lost on that crowd anyway.

  19. 19.

    HumboldtBlue

    Remember, keep the pine needles out of your compost pile. You’ve been warned. Unless you want the bottom of your compost pile to be an acid bath, you’ll heed the warning.

  23. 23.

    Randy P

    @Bhall35: I know. But I was just wondering how their heads would handle receiving an explicitly Christian message in Arabic script. Since apparently Arabic script is fundamentally anti-Christian and un-American and all.

  24. 24.

    greennotGreen

    On Friday I was whining incessantly about the rain that was forecast for the weekend when I had work I wanted to do in the yard plus…weekend! And now I’m just thankful that I still have a yard and a house and all my animals because I live in Nashville, and everyone wasn’t so lucky. So my day was humble.

  25. 25.

    Mumphrey

    @BombIranForChrist:
    That sucks. The only bad thing about pets is that we outlive them. Other than that, they’re a godsend. I couldn’t live without my dogs.

    We have 2 guinea fowl that seem to have set up housekeeping on our street. They’re out wandering around every day. Our 3 year old daughter is jazzed beyond belief. She made my wife take her outside yesterday to see them again, and said “It’s so amazing I have to scream!”

  27. 27.

    Mark S.

    @middlewest:

    Wow, that is a nutjob:

    Just this past March, he was a co-author of a proposed state constitutional amendment that would, to borrow the words of Nigel Tufnel, turn the Tenth Amendment all the way up to 11, with Minnesota preemptively nullifying all federal laws unless a state supermajority consents to them.

    It’s so nutty it just might work. Oh wait, no it won’t.

  28. 28.

    Mumphrey

    @Randy P:
    Try telling them that Lebanon is full of Arab Christians, and see if they begin writhing in spectacular agony of death, as their their brains boil and blood sprays out their ears.

  30. 30.

    El Cid

    The Confederacy ain’t just fer the Souf no more!

    The Minnesota Republican Party’s official candidate to succeed Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who is looking ahead to a 2012 run for President, is a staunch conservative well to Pawlenty’s right who has a long history of “Tentherism,” the attempts by the far right-wing to invoke the Tenth Amendment and nullify federal laws on various liberal initiatives. He has even proposed a state constitutional amendment that would allow federal laws to operate in Minnesota only if they were consented to by super-majorities of the state legislature.

  31. 31.

    The Main Gauche of Mild Reason

    I have a question for legal mavens: I’ve heard a lot recently about this “tenther” movement, which attempts to claim that the federal govt imposing new policies on states without their consent is unconstitutional. From the literal text of the amendment,

    The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

    it would seem to allow secession or nullification since these issues are not explicitly mentioned in the constitution. Clearly, there’s some case law/interpretation that I’m missing here, and I’m wondering what the current legal argument against this interpretation is.

  32. 32.

    Omnes Omnibus

    Beginning final preparations for EuroTrip 2010 which begins next Tuesday. So busy.

  33. 33.

    MTiffany

    @HumboldtBlue: It’s not so much the acidity from the pine needles that suppresses bacterial action (all organic matter produces acidic decay products), it’s the pine oils (terpenes) and waxes which coat the outside of the pine needles which slow down their decay.

    I also transplanted a bunch of wild spearmint to some flower boxes to contain it until I can figure out where I want to put it.

    You’ll want to keep it in the flower boxes, unless you like the idea of having mint plants take over your garden/yard/planet.

  34. 34.

    Cap'n Billy

    On topic, but if your spearmint is like mine, it’s wildly invasive, sending horizontal runners out in every direction after the first year. Ditto with the pachysandra, which will start slowly but eventually take over everything you let it.

  35. 35.

    joe from Lowell

    My day?

    School gets out at 2:05.

    I had a fight break out in the classroom where I was subbing at 1:59. Fifth grade boys. They both cried afterwards.

    It’s like blowing an Achilles ten feet from the finish line.

    But no turkeys.

  36. 36.

    Josie

    @BombIranForChrist: So sorry about your kitty. The last good thing we can do for them is save them pain, and you did that for her.

    I had a good productive day – got all my errands done and made two more batches of soap for the farmer’s market on Saturday. One is scented with Yerba Buena ( a type of spearmint) and the other is Spiced Rum (yum). Yesterday was Pink Grapefruit and Fresh Lemon. My house always smells so good when I am making soap. I love to walk in and be greeted with all the scents.

  37. 37.

    El Cid

    @The Main Gauche of Mild Reason: One of the powers delegated to the U.S. government by the Constitution is to have a legislature which can make laws. Otherwise, there would be no need for a legislature or federal laws, just the Constitution.

  40. 40.

    demo woman

    BombIranForChrist, I’m sorry about the kitty and I hope that you realize the kitty was better with you than without.

  41. 41.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @BombIranForChrist: I am so sorry. It’s always sad, always tough to lose a kitteh. You have my sympathy.

    @Thread: Was very saddened just now to see that Lynn Redgrave has died at 67. Vanessa must be feeling quite battered: it’s been only a year or so since her daughter Natasha Richardson died from head injuries, brother Corin Redgrave died just about a month ago, and now Lynn. I always liked her, going back to “Georgy Girl” days.

  42. 42.

    Bobby Thomson

    Something else that doesn’t just thrive in acidic soil, but demands it, is genus Rhododendron (including azaleas). I’d go with some of those and a few native perennials.

  43. 43.

    Mnemosyne

    @BombIranForChrist:

    Ugh. It’s probably not any consolation, but when our Boris’s kidneys finally went out, he crashed within a day or two, so there’s really no way you could have stopped or prevented it even if you had been home. At best, it would have been a matter of putting her to sleep a few hours earlier.

    We have three young cats now, but we lost two elderly cats in two years, so I get very paranoid about something going wrong with them sometimes.

  45. 45.

    taylormattd

    Hey John, you had contacted our guild leader a while back (before your accident I think) about transfering some of your WoW toons to our server. Are you still interested in doing that? Also, do you have any tanks? :) We have two ICC 10 mans going, but tend to run short on tanks when folks can’t make it. For some reason, all of the people who have tanks are also our healers, so it doesn’t really matter that they have a bunch of alts. Anyway, hope to see you around the coral at some point.

  46. 46.

    demo woman

    Does anyone find this comment by the blog boss @11 odd.
    Send a picture, BIFC
    I’ve had a glass of wine already and am starting on my second but all I could think of is what picture do you want…

    SiubhanDuinne, Are you having fun on your vacation?

  47. 47.

    Splitting Image

    Well, I did my taxes last night and discovered that I’m getting a refund of $12.19. It seems that my corporate overlords overcharged me again throughout the year and robbed me of the chance to invest it myself on my own behalf.

    It’s an outrage, I tell you. I feel like an investment banker. If this isn’t a reason for going Galt, I don’t know what is. Wake up, sheeple.

  50. 50.

    BombIranForChrist

    Thanks for the condolences, everyone. When I return home, I will send a picture along. She was my bud.

  51. 51.

    JK

    U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor wants everyone to cool the hell down regarding the Gulf oil spill

    U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor on Saturday said people shouldn’t be so scared about the massive oil spill in the Gulf; he said after flying over it…“At the moment, it’s not as bad as I thought it would be,” he said, shortly after returning from the three-hour tour… “This isn’t Katrina. It’s not Armageddon,” Taylor said. “A lot of people are scared and I don’t think they should be.” He described the spill as a light, rainbow sheen with patches that look like chocolate milk.

    h/t http://www.sunherald.com/2010/05/01/2146383/taylor-expects-spill-to-break.html?storylink=omni_popular?storylink=addthis?storylink=addthis

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne

    So it looks like the murder in Arizona that seems to have driven the passage of that ridiculous bill was not quite what it looked like at first …

    Focus in Krentz killing on suspect in US

    So much for the claim that the law had to be passed to keep law-abiding citizens from being randomly murdered by illegal migrants.

  53. 53.

    tesslibrarian

    @BombIranForChrist: I’m so sorry. Josie is right that easing them out of this world with as little pain as possible is our last gift to them, but for now, for awhile, it will just hurt like hell. I lost my two old girls last year, and it doesn’t feel as though my heart will ever heal sometimes. But it’s part of living, and we are blessed to love and be loved so completely as we do with our animals.

    My day was mildly annoying, since the air conditioner is broken at work, except for the archival area where I usually spend about half the day, which never got above 66.7 degrees. There is no way to properly dress for going between 88 and 66 degrees. And it’s just so warm and muggy here, and people were STILL coming into the library. I was worried patrons would be cranky, but it was hot enough that they just lost all will to argue. I guess that’s an upside.

  55. 55.

    KDP

    @BombIranForChrist:

    Sorry for your loss. It can be devastating to lose a much-loved companion of any species.

    @demo woman: Not odd at all, to BombIranForChrist, request for pic of recently deceased feline.

    My day was reasonably productive. The assigned project from the last two weeks was abruptly terminated last Friday. New assignment today.

    Off to Costco, then the gym, and then to begin revision on the research proposal that will ultimately become my senior project research report.

    Oh, and began preparing graduation announcements to be mailed in a couple of weeks.

  56. 56.

    Bhall35

    @JK:

    He described the spill as a light, rainbow sheen with patches that look like chocolate milk.

    I think we’ve found our new Poet Laureate!

  58. 58.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    @Bnut: LOL, You are most welcome. I guess we could waste our time in worse ways watching this again. I haven’t seen it since it aired back in the 90. I remember it being utterly mesmerizing then, though now we won’t have to wait till next week for the next episode.

  59. 59.

    PurpleGirl

    The day started out not that great. [The weather in NYC was patchy — cloudy, humid, rain was promised.] But mid-morning I got a phone call from an old friend. We spoke for maybe an hour or so. It was really nice that he thought to call. It made my day much brighter.

  60. 60.

    burnspbesq

    I’ve been in a cruddy mood for days. Waiting to see if I’m going to be offered a new job. And other stuff.

    I apologize to anyone around here that I have been mean to.

  61. 61.

    daverave

    “…the others have you all covered nicely.”

    Should that be capitalized… like they’re all some kind of Pod People?

  63. 63.

    Nicole

    @BombIranForChrist: I’m so sorry. Grief is truly the price we pay for love.

    I am going to PA this weekend to watch my aunt and uncle’s menagerie so they can go to my cousin’s graduation. Three horses (including my beloved Cosmo), 2 dogs and 2 goats. The goats and the dogs are all in the twilight of their years, and, as well as they’re all doing for their ages, they are aged and show it, and you can feel the pain of parting creeping up.

    The one goat is particularly arthritic in one leg, and, on my suggestion, my uncle has added baby aspirin to her diet, which is helping. I haven’t had the nerve to suggest adding in a little massage to the stiff leg (I think he’d laugh me out of the barn) so I’m hoping to do a little gentle rubbing on her while he and my aunt are out of town, under the belief that sometimes it’s better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.

    Assuming the goat gives permission, of course. She could give a good thwack with those horns in her younger years.

  66. 66.

    eastriver

    @General Egali Tarian Stuck:

    And while you’re out and about, General. Try finding some human companionship. Sex with animals is fine 1) in Scotland, or 2) in certain counties in Kentucky. Otherwise, eeuuww.

  69. 69.

    JK

    Dana Perino has ascended to peak wingnut status regarding the Gulf oil spill

    On the May 3rd broadcast of Fox News’ Fox & Friends, Fox News contributor Dana Perino said of the spill: “I’m not trying to introduce a conspiracy theory, but was this deliberate? You have to wonder…if there was sabotage involved.”

    h/t http://mediamatters.org/research/201005030027

  73. 73.

    RedKitten

    My day was long and tiresome. Sam had a post-fever rash yesterday, and seemed a bit better today, but the sitter called at 2 and said it was getting worse. So, I left work to pick him up and brought him to outpatient’s. I have an appointment tomorrow for him anyway, but wanted to see if I could get him seen sooner, in case the rash is gone tomorrow.

    Anyway, after 3 hours post-triage, sitting in the waiting room, with an absurdly patient baby (bless his wee small heart), I said “fuck it.” It can obviously wait until his appointment tomorrow if our case was that non-urgent that we were waiting that long.

    And that’s after two meetings this morning, one at which all of our department heads basically let me know how craptacular our up-until-now communications efforts are (in all fairness, I DID ask), and how I’m going to be expected to fix them while having one hand tied behind my back from H.O., who slap the wrists of anybody who deviates from the status quo.

    Good times.

  74. 74.

    Bnut

    @Nicole:

    Had a buddy in Miss. who had a couple fainting goats. Hours and hours of laughter. I’m sure the bourbon didn’t help. Poor goats.

  76. 76.

    Betsy

    @BombIranForChrist:

    So sorry for your loss. A dear friend of mine is going through that with one of her two kitties (brothers), who she’s had for 16 years, and it’s just heartbreaking.

    My day has kind of sucked. My cat allergies have decided to kick it up a notch and have started manifesting as hives. They itch like HELL.

  77. 77.

    RedKitten

    @eastriver: Good one, Beavis. Way to make fun of that pussy for actually consoling someone on losing their pet.

    Don’t you have to go pull the wings off of flies, or whatever it is that you people do for amusement?

  78. 78.

    stuckinred

    Ya’ll catch this punk Kirkland from Tennessee talking about how he “took care” of any gays in his outfit in the Nam? Here’s a bit from his bio

    Ron Kirkland is a lifelong Tennessean. Born and raised in Union City, he served as a Sergeant in the US Army, including a tour in Vietnam as a counterintelligence agent.”

    I don’t know what the fuck an enlisted counterintelligence agent was but fuck him either way

  81. 81.

    arguingwithsignposts

    @JK:

    “I’m not trying to introduce a conspiracy theory, but was this deliberate? You have to wonder…if there was sabotage involved.”

    It would be irresponsible not to speculate…

    Sorry for your loss, BIFC.

  83. 83.

    Bhall35

    @jwb: Eh, I’m afraid it will go over most of their heads. I have not gotten a reply from anyone yet, and I’ll be seeing my aunt (his mother) tomorrow, but I don’t think she likes him too much either…

  84. 84.

    demo woman

    @RedKitten: Sorry, at least you have reasons for your mood. I’m just pissy today for no particular reason. I missed what caused Sam’s fever. If it’s a virus, rashes are not uncommon.
    Chuck is on tonight though and that makes me happy.

  85. 85.

    Martin

    @burnspbesq: Meh, that’s just how we roll. Stuck summed it up properly.

    I’m waiting on a new job too. Not that I don’t like my current one, but new opportunities are new opportunities. Good luck with yours.

  86. 86.

    Alice Blue

    It rained all day here. I did a little housecleaning and not much else.

    @General Egali Tarian Stuck: Of all Ken Burns’ documentaries, The Civil War is my favorite. It haunted me for weeks after I saw it.

    @BombIranforChrist: Peace and healing to you.

  88. 88.

    ruemara

    Never move the spearmint from the box, just never. get it a nice huge planter and snip it often.

  89. 89.

    Steeplejack

    This is my Sunday (second day of my weekend), so I have been doing not much. Just got up from a short nap a while ago and am thinking about something for dinner. Probably leftover Chinese from lunch. Those dumplings won’t keep long.

    My brother Amberjack is off work for a month, recuperating from a hernia operation, so we had lunch today and then drove around and looked at houses. Nothing formal; we just like to drive through an interesting neighborhood and check things out. Last week we did a section of high-end houses in Washington’s “leafy northwest.” Today was a more modest neighborhood in NoVa. Most of the houses from around 1960. Some nice ones, but a lot of clunkers. The draw of the neighborhood is that it’s on a small lake.

    Looking forward to Chuck and Castle later. Someone at work lent me the first two seasons of Chuck on DVD, so now I can get caught up on the back-story.

    And I’m girding my loins for a tough day at work tomorrow. Have to go in at 7:00 a.m. (!) for a rare day shift. It’s the big monthly changeover in one department, and I’m covering for the department manager, who is out of town on a family emergency.

    It was really muggy today–shades of the summer to come–but a little rain late in the afternoon has cooled things off. Going down into the low 60s tonight. Cool.

  90. 90.

    SIA

    BHall dood you made my day.

    Flew into Tampa to work with some clients who are also friends. Going to get some seafood before its too late.

    Hot as sh*t in the south today.

  91. 91.

    Elisabeth

    @JK:

    Brownie joined her:

    He continued: “This president has never supported big oil, he’s never supported offshore drilling, and now he has an excuse to shut it back down.”
    …
    Brown noted the potential damage the oil slick will cause, and added: “This is exactly what they want, because now [Obama] can pander to the environmentalists and say, ‘I’m gonna shut it down because it’s too dangerous.'”

    Video at link

    http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/05/michael-brown-obama-wanted-the-oil-spill-to-happen.php

  92. 92.

    demo woman

    Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of the Kent State killings. I was twenty when it happened and the pictures still haunt me.

  93. 93.

    Keith G

    @BombIranForChrist:

    Five years ago, the 18 y.o. kitty who organized and ran my life passed on. I still miss her wise companionship.

    This weekend was pretty rugged and I was frazzled. What got me through are the two 4 y.o sisters curled up next to me right now.

    I rescued them once, they have rescued me many times.

    Bomber, when your heart has healed (a bit), I hope you’ll think about letting another rescue you.

  94. 94.

    SIA

    @ BombIranForChrist

    Man that is rough. I am so sorry. Losing them is bad enough, but when there’s no time to adjust its really brutal. Thoughts are with you.

  95. 95.

    Chuck Butcher

    Cold, windy, rainy here to day – April showers bring May … more of the same. NE OR does not have mich of those beautiful Mays other people brag about. We do get some days that are spectacular, but…

    I do make my living outdoors and most of my hobbies involve it, also.

    I’m pouting.

  96. 96.

    robertdsc

    Recovering from pink eye and a fucked-up cough. It’s hard to look for work when you’re heavily contagious. /eyeroll

  98. 98.

    scav

    @stuckinred:

    counterintelligence agent?

    well, I’m personally voting for as intelligent as a counter, probably granitic but given the period linoleum might be a better bet. or his actual role in a unit was to counter-act, that is, to lower, the general intelligence of the unit.

  100. 100.

    Mumphrey

    @Professor:
    I didn’t know Issa was. From his name, I had guessed he might be Italian or Portuguese. Guess I was off by a thousand miles or so…

  101. 101.

    demo woman

    @stuckinred: My father was on the Nevada during Pearl Harbor and he spoke about the courage and strength of the black sailors. He became color blind that day. Kirkland obvious did not learn that lesson.

  105. 105.

    FreeAtLast

    @David in NY: Regardless of its lowly status, pachysandra is one of the few things deer don’t eat. That and daffodils are about the only thing worth planting in our area where the deer population keeps growing exponentially. For a few weeks a year the daffodils blooming in the pachysandra look lovely. The rest of the year – not so much.

  107. 107.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    @MTiffany:

    I have Lemon Balm all over my patio, not only does it send out roots but it reseeds like nobodies business. Ditto chocolate mint, I have actually had chocolate mint come up through the drainage holes of planters on the patio. All of the mints are relentless, I love em!

  109. 109.

    YellowJournalism

    Crappy. Sometimes literally.

    I’m having one of those days where I really don’t want anyone to talk to me or look at me funny because I’m quite tired and cranky. This does not work when you have a two-year-old and an eigth-month-old to look after. This especially doesn’t work when the oldest one wants to play “poke at Mommy’s belly fat while she nurses baby”.

    @RedKitten: I hear you on the part about wanting to get something diagnosed before it “magically” goes away when you finally see the doctor. I am paranoid that my boys’ doc thinks I’m some kind of hypochondriac when it comes to their health since I’ve visited four times since the new year complaining of symptoms in them that either cleared up by the time we got in or lessened to the point of him wondering why we bothered to come in in the first place. Right now, they both are still slightly congested and have coughs at nighttime. I can just hear the “you have to ride it out, watch for discolored mucus, lots of fluids” speech now.

    And my left side shift key isn’t working, so it’s a pain trying to use the one on the other side.

  110. 110.

    sashal

    @BombIranForChrist: my cat just died 3 days ago from kidney failure.
    Wife is devastated, me too…

    I still look for it in the morning to get petted and fed.
    Old habit

  112. 112.

    David in NY

    @John Cole:

    Sorry, John. I’m obsessed. A better person would just have congratulated you for even knowing your pachysandra wasn’t from here. But I’m not that better person.

  116. 116.

    Jim, Once

    My day . . . herniated disc ( but can walk today. Yea!), root canal and crown (not so bad, actually, except for the cost), and the same mal de digestif mentioned above. But you know what, it’s all OK, ’cause Baby
    Bea (eight month old grandaughter who’s just starting to walk and talk) made a surprise visit today. She made my day beautiful.

  119. 119.

    Platonicspoof

    . . . will plant that there . . . under a pine tree.

    To readers generally, “gently, please” if the idea is to plant in the root zone of trees. Most of the feeder roots of trees are in the upper 6″ of soil (see ‘Competition”).
    Flower blight is a common name for actual diseases, but arboriculturists have also used it, snarkily, to describe damage to trees caused by overzealous planting under the trees.
    Please also check out “branch bark collars” before pruning so I can shut up.

  121. 121.

    Anne Laurie

    @Violet: Have you tried yogurt, or even acidopholus capsules? Half the battle recovering from ‘stomach problems’ is giving the good bugs a chance to regroup. Once I’m past the BRAT (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast) stage, I alternate between soup & yogurt to get my energy back…

  122. 122.

    Jim, Once

    @Anne Laurie:
    I’ve tried all your good suggestions – I’m on the fifth day of this thing. I suppose I could go the doctor, but meh….

  123. 123.

    Jim, Once

    @Anne Laurie:

    Forgot to mention – I recently got over a miserable cold/sore throat/ear infection, which required augmentin, the first antibiotic I’ve been allowed in ten years. It was a two week prescription, and just tore. me. up. I’ve been off the meds for ten days now, but I s’pose what I’m going through now could still be the consequence.

  124. 124.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @demo woman: Nice of you to ask! I’m having a great vacation. Weather has been gorgeous, I had no problems on the drive up (1100 miles!) and the surprise 60th birthday party for my cousin went off without a hitch on Saturday. Today is her actual b’day. I was prepared to take her and the whole extended family out for a nice dinner, but she opted for pizza at home. What else? Oh yes, I have learned to play croquet and several dice games, and I seem to be the new Trivial Pursuit Champion of Southern Ontario — me against 6 last night, and I won decisively :-)

    All in all, it’s a nice relaxing holiday. Hope y’all didn’t get too soaked in Atlanta, and hope all Juicers in and around Nashville are safe.

  125. 125.

    Anne Laurie

    @sashal: Condolences for your loss. You’re right, it’s hard to break the habit of reaching down to fondle a fuzzy head, or to check that the kibble dish is full enough every time you pass it…

  127. 127.

    Anne Laurie

    @Jim, Once: Ugh, yeah, I’ve learned from experience that whenever I’m prescribed an antibiotic (not very often, thankfully) I should just pick up a package of the acidopholus tablets while I’m at the pharmacy because I will need them. The other helpful little thing I always forget is that drinking tons of fluids is essential, if only to flush stuff out faster, even if that means temporarily switching to something higher-calorie that will encourage me to keep sipping. Hope you feel better soon!

  128. 128.

    4jkb4ia

    At least John had a productive day.

    Intentionally walking Matt Holliday to get to David Freese was not smart. Freese proceeded to hit a bases-clearing double.

  130. 130.

    Jim, Once

    @Anne Laurie:

    Thanks so much. I will take your advice re the acidopholus and fluid – and, as I said, never take augmentin again.

  131. 131.

    Comrade Darkness

    I also transplanted a bunch of wild spearmint to some flower boxes to contain it until I can figure out where I want to put it.

    Dude, I just totally figured it out . . . you’re my neighbor lady.

  132. 132.

    2th&nayle

    @Anne Laurie: Hah! Two great minds…! I’ve never really been a big fan of yogurt, but recently I’ve keeping a large tub in the fridge as a sub for buttermilk in things like pancakes and cornbread. It works great! Just the other day I was experiencing some stomach troubles and tried some yogurt to see if it would help. Smoothed it right out! By the end of the day, I was good as new. Good advice there, Anne!

  134. 134.

    jaxtra

    started a local guerrilla gardening group that focuses solely on planting trees, we will plant tomorrow (actually formed in november but hey, cant plant in the snow). as luck would have it, we found? 50 oak saplings. gonna surround them in chicken wire @ local park. made up some official looking signs (assoc.american reforestry project {aarp}) to hang on the wire to make it look official, and wait to see if the powers that be are too confused, thought it was someone else’s thing or is just to lazy or react. oh yeah, cleared about 100 buckthorn from behind the property (in different park) and planted 1 maple and a couple of oak. peace, love and bobby sherman.

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