I have deemed you worthy:
I think that sums up the general mood around here. We’ve had several beautiful days in a row- mid 70’s, sunny, no humidity, beautiful breezes. I’m loving it, and I love being able to have all the windows open with the ceiling fans on.
Had a really good dinner- I bought some wild caught salmon filets and dad turned them into this delicious salad he makes with rice, asparagus, peas, tomatoes. Also had some more tomatoes with basil and mozz., and am now having a glass of Aconga, a really cheap Malbec/Sauvignon Blanc I found at Kroger for 3.99 a bottle, which is a decent price for a servicable table wine. I think it will be a busy night of sitting on the porch and then on the lazyboy with the girls.
BTW- for those dealing with the IE issues and the site, I’ve scheduled another rebuild maintenance for the end of August.
MattR
TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUNNNNCCCCHHHHH
I am very jealous Mr Cole and look forward to finding a house where Ellie and I can partake of similar activities.
Cacti
I read this on Facebook today and had a good laugh:
Twilight is like soccer: Everybody runs around for a couple of hours, nobody scores, and when you get bored, a gazillion screaming fans will get mad and say you just don’t understand.
Mark S.
I don’t know what the fuss is about a Dallas Morning News columnist’s take on a priest allegedly molesting an underaged girl; it’s not like he brought up Matt Drudge:
In other news, Nate Silver’s latest Senate forecast is looking better for the Dems. It might have something to do with teabaggers nominating almost completely unelectable candidates.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
Only problem I have with FF is slow loading sometimes, other than the usual mystical shit of lost posts, comment numbers not adding up, and my cursor blinking rapidly on the site.
Comrade Mary is going to fall in love all over again with this erotic image of the expansive Tunchster in repose.
Josie
Just seeing Tunch gives me serenity. That and the fact that the cats are in the garage and all three dogs have pottied and been fed and are in their beds for the night. The hurricane/tropical storm can come and do its worst, but we are safe and sound in our little house with our flashlights and candles at the ready. I am about about 20 miles north of the Mexican border, so it is very close.
Mr Furious
Same weather here in Michigan. Phenomenal. Of course I’m on deadline, working round the clock while it’s nice out. Not to worry, we’ll be finished in time to enjoy the 95 degree weather forecast for the weekend…
There’s also a cute little yellow finch that’s been battling himself in our office windows the last couple days, so we can’t even open the windows to enjoy the fresh air for fear of him coming inside and getting trapped…
Mnemosyne
Well, until Tunch makes his next bid for freedom. But what did you think would happen when you started attracting delicious, delicious birds to his window and then denied him the right to go out and get some of them?
J.W. Hamner
I bought a bunch of games on sale from Steam this weekend…. but all I’ve been playing is ASCII art Dwarf Fortress. I stopped playing once they added the z-axis (too complicated!), but recently gave it another try and am addicted again. Should probably send them some money based on how many hours I’ve spent on it this week alone.
Rommie
You could fill him with Helium, put an LED crawlboard on his belly, and send messages to all the town from above. Tunch One.
lamh32
So I’m watching the video of the President’s townhall and it just got me to wondering, why this President doesn’t get morecredit for all these townhalls he’s had since his election? I mean, seriosly, how often did GWB “walk among the people”? Other than private fundrasisers (that Obama does as well), and trips to Crawford for his fake cowboy schick, how often did he leave the WH?
The Obama’s go out, they go to local restaurants, diners, events, schools, etc. Heck even when they visit other states, the President goes out and shakes voters hands?
I know some will say it’s all photo ops, but still, this Presidnet actually let’s voters touch him, (even as i cringe with each approach of a voter, they’ve got some really crazy people out there).
Am I wrong here? Did I miss all the times when GWB went out and shook the voters hands?
TaMara (BHF)
Thanks to Mr. Cole I’m reading Rain Fall by Barry Eisler. Enjoying so very much.
But now I’m hoping the eclectic crowd here might have a recipe for Yuzukiri. (A dish from the book) My google search has failed me.
EDIT: Oh and Tuuunnnchie! He is so very handsome, all the girls come a runnin’
trollhattan
@Rommie:
FTW (if a dangerous win).
The good airship Tunch, circling the eastern skies, keeping us safe from…illegal alien mice?
The Dangerman
@lamh32:
I think he did it once, which explains the Unitary Executive thing, I think.
So, if the dog is Snarls Barkely, the cat is the Round Mound of …
beltane
@lamh32: The Bush family does not mingle with small people. Obama is an elitist for doing so.
AhabTRuler
@Rommie: Something like this, mayhap.
lamh32
@Cacti:
Speaking of twilight, have ya’ll read Roger Ebert’s review of Twilight:Eclipse?
My God, I know the man can write a turn of phrase, but damn if that review ain’t one of the most funniest reviews I’ve read in a while. I swear it’s better than the movie.
The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
BY ROGER EBERT
Read the whole review, it really good!
Carrie
Well i’m disappointed. Found out about Memphis Beat from you lot last night (LOVE Jason Lee) only to find out i don’t get the channel it’s on. Then, i find it on youtube (yeay!!!) but it’s been pulled.
Je suis bummed.
jeffreyw
Great day here, too, highs in the 70s, light breeze,sunny. Here are a few puppies.
And that Aussie Shepherd that was adopted out a few days ago came back for the free checkup, he brought his new doggie daddy with
Cacti
@lamh32:
GWB might have been the most insulated President, dem or rep, in my entire lifetime.
Ironic, considering the librul media dubbed him “the guy you’d like to have a beer with.”
henqiguai
On the IE issues (right after emailing a note, I recalled you sort of wait then do batch email deletes when the numbers hit triple digits). So – I ran into the no-word-wrap problem at work and found a partial solution that worked every time; at home I use a sensible browser like Firefox.
If the no-word-wrap issue shows up, try going up to the menu bar: View –> Encoding –> Western European (Windows). Refreshes the screen and then displays all better. At least, it did today, and all day whenever I opened up the comments on a Balloon Juice posting, no word wrap was staring me in the face.
WereBear
@Josie: Good luck to you!
I haz a happy because our “rescued from a police case of neglect” kitten is now three years old and showing more signs that our interventions to help his brain are working!
For instance, he’s been hanging out on top of a bookcase we’ve moved into the bedroom, and Mr WereBear’s bolo tie collection is displayed on hooks nearby. Reverend Jim reached for it, and got busted mid-movement.
He immediately showed his Maine Coon savvy by converting the movement into a paw cleaning. “What? I was just about to lick my paw! That’s all, I swear!”
I love it when he’s a wiseass.
lamh32
Only in my hometown…As if I needed another reason to go back home!
Lenny Kravitz Crashes the Choir
The kids are singing across form jackson square and st louis cathedral in NOLA. it a popular spot where street entertainers perform.
Mike Kay
@lamh32: oh sure. he shakes you hand, then he stab you in the back by appointing a nazi like kagan to the court!
Litlebritdifrnt
a) I am related to Robert Pattinson, somehow. Pattinson is a strange spelling of a name (Patterson etc.,) and we are all alike heavy eyebrows, deep set eyes, one of my cousins is trying to figure it all out right now. I was mentioning this in court this morning and one of the lawyers who was at the premier last night said “you know now that I look at you, you look exactly like him!” I am not sure how I feel about that.
b) I am bleeding from all sorts of places (arms, fingers, thumbs) because I attempted to pick up a kitten who thinks I am the devil. You know the devil that provides the food, the kitten who was sleeping on a bag of cat food, when I picked up “Pootle” he went beserk and treated me as if I was trying to kill him. Hopefully the scratches on the veins on my wrist will not cause me to bleed to death. Sheesh.
Violet
@Josie:
Stay safe, Josie! Hope you come through it with no or very minimal damage. Hurricanes can be scary stuff.
So glad to see Tunch, the white cat with a tiger in his tank!
jeffreyw
@TaMara (BHF): Just sent ya a pie.
TaMara (BHF)
@WereBear: That is such a great story.
beltane
@Litlebritdifrnt: Some kittens go through a violent phase. I had one I was forced to lock out of my room at night because he would stalk and attack me. He still grew up to be a very sweet, friendly cat.
Josie
@WereBear: Thanks for the good wishes. I actually think we have already had the worst of it – the northwest quadrant – but I could be wrong. I love what you wrote about the kitty understanding the meaning of “something” that he wanted. I believe animals understand much more than they are given credit for. I talk to mine all the time, and I know they pick up on some of it. I am no scientist, but I am certain they make understand some words and that they make choices.
jeffreyw
Don’t y’all laugh now, but all I got tonight is a hot dog for ya.
Well, not exactly all, I also have a cool kitty, uh, too.
WereBear
@Litlebritdifrnt: I’m so sorry to hear that. I hope you both get over it.
Litlebritdifrnt
PS) just wanted you all to know that Beneficial (HSBC = Hong Kong Shangai Bank) has stepped up to the plate and saved me. I called them today in response to a “45 day pre forclosure notice” only to be told that I am up to date on my payments and my next payment is not due until July 15. I made that payment today. They tacked on the past due stuff to the end of the loan, cleared all of the past due stuff, picked up the property taxes and insurance and basically said “you are cool”. With regards to a personal loan we had with them, they reduced the interest rate from 29% to 9% and reduced the payments from $302 a month to $158.00 per month. I am expecting written confirmation of the above in the mail in the next couple of days. I was especting them to be dicks. They turned out to be princes. Whocuddaknowd?
ajr22
@lamh32: Yes Ebert was on fire today. The opening line to his review of M. Night Shyamalan’s new movie The Last Air Bender is great.
” The Last Airbender” is an agonizing experience in every category I can think of and others still waiting to be invented. The laws of chance suggest that something should have gone right. Not here.”
How M Night still makes movies boggles my mind. This film, The Happening, Lady in the Water, and The Village are his last four movies. That is the worst stretch of films by a director I have ever seen.
mr. whipple
I recall he did a bunch of townhalls when he wanted to privatize SS, but not much other than that. Plus, all the audiences and questions were screened.
It’s hard to believe how bad he was.
Josie
@Violet: Thanks, Violet. I have lived here all my life except when I was away at college, so I’m used to the hurricanes. We keep a cabinet with supplies all the time and pull them out when needed. I’ll take a hurricane over a tornado any time. The worst is getting the animals out to potty duty. My big akbash is afraid of thunder, and getting 140 pounds of dog out the door is no small feat.
TaMara (BHF)
@jeffreyw: Oh, if only that were a real pie and not a virtual one. Looks delish.
WereBear
@TaMara (BHF): @Josie: Thanks!
I know animals pick up more than they are given credit for, and some are simply amazing. I’ve told my cat, James Bond, quite complicated things, and he’s shown that he understands it by his later behavior.
For instance, we often use the show Jeopardy to time their dinner, and Mr. Bond will nudge me when the theme song plays, but if it’s not the end of the show, I will ask, “Is that Final Jeopardy?”
And he subsides, because he knows it’s not.
(And yes, it’s possible he has learned that when I ask him if it’s Final Jeopardy, he’s knows it’s not time yet. But that’s smart too, isn’t it? And he only asks during the musical interludes, which are all variations on the same theme.)
Mike Kay
Oh, for anyone who loves a deeeeelious train wreck, Elizabeth Edwards will be on larry king tonight.
poor larry, he’s so out of it, he was asked who should suceeed him, and he said, with a straight face, Ryan Seacrest.
CNN is in critical condition. Anderson Cooper looks like he’ll be the next one fired.
teak111
June gloom around here, thick too never burns off. Soon to be July gloom. Damned El Nino.
cathaireverywhere
@ John Cole: So does your dad share that salad recipe? It sounds good! I reallyreally don’t like fish, but make myself eat it because it is Good For Me and am interested in ways to prepare salmon that hide the salmonness of it. I make a pretty good southwestern salmon salad, if you’d like to trade recipes.
p.s. Did you help that beached whale back to the ocean?
(just kidding- Tunch looks like my dearly-departed Praline, (only double her size) so I am always a fan of his)
QuaintIrene
Ahhhhhhhh.
God is in his Heaven, all’s right with the world.
TaMara (BHF)
@jeffreyw: Oh crap, you just reminded me I haven’t fed the cats yet. My name is going to me mud around here and I’m sure they are plotting their revenge.
eemom
breaking: Weigel Meta IV — pissing contest between Sullivan and whatzisBart. Details at memeorandum. You heard it here.
Chat Noir
Today is the two year adopt-iversary of Hobbes, our little black cat. He was about 4 weeks old (and SO tiny) when we got him and now he’s 9 lbs. of pure delight and precociousness.
And thanks for Tunch! We are not worthy.
/bows reverently
@jeffreyw: Bea is such a beauty. Love that inquisitive look on her face. Moar plz.
TaMara (BHF)
@WereBear: I used to put my big girl Dane in time out (in the laundry room) when she’d do something she wasn’t suppose to. She hated being separated from the pack, so it was a great deterrent for a dog who had the attention span of a ADHD gnat.
One night I walked into the house to find she’d somehow gotten a chicken carcass out of the trash and was munching down on it. She looked at me, hung her head and walked into the laundry room. I never said a word.
WereBear
@Litlebritdifrnt: Awesome! I haz a happy for you, too.
@Josie: I was staying with my inlaws when the big hurricane hit DC, and they were all, “Oh, we’ll be fine, we have batteries, we have canned food.”
This was like my fifth hurricane, so I knew what to ask. Now, I know better than to believe them.
It turned out the batteries were the wrong size for the flashlight, so I juryrigged it but we only had the one. They had candles, but all scented, so you could close your eyes and know what room you were in… provided, that is, my toddler nephew wouldn’t yell “birfday!” and blow them all out. And if not for my insistence that we get a rotisserie chicken and some cheese that day, we’d have had lean pickings, because they had plenty of canned food… and an electric can opener.
However, we did have a gas stove, and my fil put the coffee beans into a ziploc and pounded them with a hammer. Yes, they had an electric coffee grinder and only beans.
Like I said. Not trusting them again. I’ll grind the dang beans before the power goes out, next time.
Violet
@cathaireverywhere:
If you put this stuff on salmon it can cover the flavor. I like it on halibut. I love raspberry-chipotle sauce and use it on lots of things.
madmommy
@lamh32:
Very cool! Wonder where that choir is from? Not a school that has a dress code, judging from the length of the guitar player’s hair.
Eeek, I’m turning into my mother!
Linda Featheringill
@Josie:
Keep us posted on what is happening. We love first-hand accounts.
According to my maps on the computer, you will probably miss the center of hurricane but I would bet money that you have a VERY IMPRESSIVE rain storm.
Be safe. Keep in touch.
WereBear
@TaMara (BHF): That’s awesome. I love Danes.
They were bred to hunt wild boar. And now, I think, they just go around thinking, “Damn! I’m not hunting wild boar!” And they’re so happy about it.
AhabTRuler
@Litlebritdifrnt: Well, to be charging you 29% in the first place, they’d kinda have to be dicks.
That they would take a little less so that they don’t drive you to default merely makes them sane.
wonkie
TaMara, That story about the great dane made me laugh out loud.
TaMara (BHF)
@WereBear: I always tell people that after they were no longer needed to hunt, they became palace dogs, sitting at the side of the royals. And they have not forgot that. EVER.
South of I-10
It’s been raining here all day, and I have this in my head .
Steeplejack
@TaMara (BHF):
Can’t say I found any good recipes, but I got better results searching on “yuzu-kiri.” I think yuzu is a (citrus?) fruit and kiri is an adjective that seems to occur frequently in kiri kombu, which is an edible seaweed.
Interesting blog here (with a picture of yuzu).
AhabTRuler
@ajr22: Yes, fortunately we have reached a point where I no longer have to bag on M. Night Shyamalan, his work does that for me.
TaMara (BHF)
@wonkie: We had to leave the room, because we were about to burst out laughing. And she DID NOT like to be laughed at, she’d mope around for days if you laughed at her. We always said she had Great Big Great Dane Feelings.
Josie
@WereBear: Too funny. People don’t realize what it means to be without electricity unless they have experienced it for a length of time. One of my sons said he would just turn on the ceiling fan if the air conditioner was out, not realizing that we wouldn’t have that luxury. Most of us here have all sorts of non-electrical can openers, cookers, etc., having been through this many times before.
Comrade Mary
@Litlebritdifrnt: W00t! That’s great news! I didn’t even know you were going through the wringer on this.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I actually dreamed last night that John took pity on me and posted TWO pictures of Tunch. When I got out of bed, I ran to the computer, refreshed BJ — and started a sad that lasted all day.
But now I see that we are worthy! I am worthy! John thinks we’re worthy!
And I won’t even bitch about the lack of a second picture. <== Not bitching, just making an observation.
SIA
@lamh32: Poo, I’m on a bidness trip and missed that. Do you know if I can view that anywhere? I enjoy O’s town halls. And in my opinion, he hasn’t rec’d near the credit he deserves for a lot of things. WTF is up with that?!
Steeplejack
@Cacti:
Regrettably, he just wasn’t a guy who wanted to have a beer with you.
madmommy
@South of I-10:
It’s been wet here all day, but not raining hard. We’re only getting the outermost bands, so it’s just cooling things down a bit. You’re farther west than me, are you getting downpours or just off and on sogginess?
Kered (formerly Derek)
@Carrie:
You aren’t missing anything. I watched it, and it was beyond awful. (And I like Jason Lee.)
AhabTRuler
@WereBear: I assume you mean the most recent hurricane to hit DC. As a rule, we also lose the ability to function in heavy summer T-storms, any amount of snow, and, if you ride Metro, any day, really.
Sadly, it is the large number of trees in and around the city that tend to cause the most problems.
SIA
@beltane: Actually Barbara Bush is all about the small people, ‘specially those victims of Katrina. Compassionate conservatism, ya know.
TaMara (BHF)
@Steeplejack: My search at the Asian market today for yuzu was, ahem, fruitless. I was prepared for it to be difficult, but I kind of expected to find yuzu juice or yuzu powder. I did find a ponzu made with yuzu, so that was good. But until I know what I’m doing with it….
So far, I’ve gleaned from my searches, it sounds like you make either a sauce or broth with yuzu and serve it with soba.
I may have to email my Aunt, who is Japanese and see if she has ever made it.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Comrade Mary:
I rarely remember my dreams, likely for the best. The last one I recall was being chased by a giant zombie woman. I shudder to think what deeper meaning therein laid.
jeffreyw
@Chat Noir:
She has an unusually expressive face.
South of I-10
@Josie: Good luck to you! Having no power for a week or so really sucks, hopefully it won’t be too bad. It’s going to be a really long hurricane season.
Steeplejack
@lamh32:
Er, Dubya didn’t actually thrive in those situations.
(In his defense, these weren’t voters.)
SIA
@jeffreyw: Just like Obama: “I’m skinny, but I’m tough!”
Litlebritdifrnt
@AhabTRuler:
True but at the time we were in a bad place. Defaulting on all our credit cards (thanks to DH’s medical issues) and behind on the SBA loan (thanks to Hurricane Floyd), they pulled us back from the brink and now have given us another life line. I know that banks are basically given a shit reputation right now, but I have to say that HSBC have done everything they can to help me out. (Funny, I used to bank with them when I lived in Hong Kong) They have been as helpful as anyone could be, and even though the guy I spoke with today was named “Mohammed Asif” and obviously not here in the US, he was absolutely great. He went over all of our finances, he walked me through the process, he was brilliant. I know that the general wisdom is to vilify banks, but in my case HSBC have done stellar work.
John Cole
@Litlebritdifrnt: What happened? I missed the backstory on this…
gillb
nice kitty
IndyLib
@jeffreyw
That is a good looking pie.
Very 4th of July.
South of I-10
@madmommy: It’s off and on. We needed the rain, I just hate that someone else has to have a hurricane for us to get some rain. I am just amazed by how big this storm is this early in the season.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@Litlebritdifrnt:
This is a minor miracle. A bank with a soul. I did notice the address however. Not made in Greedville, USA.
beltane
@eemom: Any video of that pissing contest?
Keith G
@Josie: Hope you stay safe. Here in Houston, I am enjoying the (almost) cool rains.
Josie
@Linda Featheringill: Thanks Linda. I suspect you are correct about the level of the storm. According to the local radar, the eye is close to hitting the Mexican coast, so we will just be getting the outer bands with 30 – 40 mph winds and lots of rain bands, similar to what we have seen all day. We can use the rain, but some areas will flood due to how fast it comes down.
Josie
@South of I10 and Keith G – You must both be in the Houston area. You know a lot about doing with power. My son goes to law school in Houston and went through that his first year. This won’t be anywhere nearly that bad. I think you are right that this will be a long hurricane season. I hope none are as bad as the one you experienced.
Litlebritdifrnt
@John Cole:
DH had a heart attack in November, in addition step child stole checks and wrote them out to her marine buddies. I think that had something to do with DHs heart attack) Thanks to the co=-pays and deductibles we got hopelessly behind on the mortgage. I kept paying and paying and yet the mortgage company kept sending me “pre foreclosure” notices. As of today they said “no probs you are up to date and everything is cool” They tacked the past due payments onto the end of the loan, said I was completely up to date, and I actually made a payment today that wasn’t due til July 15. Everything is cool.
jeffreyw
@IndyLib:
That’s the name on the recipe: 4th of July Buttermilk Pie
Steeplejack
@TaMara (BHF):
You keel! You keel with your statements of humor.
Steeplejack
@TaMara (BHF):
Yeah, that’s what I got from my own brief search. And I sort of got the vibe that you could substitute lemon or lime juice in a pinch. But, since I’ve never had yuzu, I don’t know what you’d be giving up in unique yuzu flavor.
I lived in Japan for two years way back when, don’t remember running across yuzu (at least wittingly).
TaMara (BHF)
@Litlebritdifrnt: This is such great news. It’s amazing how the bank actually doing the right thing helps everyone, including the bank.
But what do I know, I’m a life long Democrat, so I don’t have that, pull yourself up by your bootstraps when you don’t even have shoes school of thinking.
Chat Noir
@jeffreyw: Yeah, I get that look, too, from my cats. Maybe it’s a girl cat thing; my Natalie looks at me like that when I hug her (“mom, let me gooooo!”). And yet it is totally deelish.
Violet
@Litlebritdifrnt:
So happy for you that the bank did the right thing. I had no idea you were dealing with this. Sheesh. Glad it’s all working out now. Three cheers for a helpful bank. Rare breed.
amorphous
OK, who among you still uses IE?
Josie
@TaMara (BHF): I use the essential oil of yuzu in my soapmaking, and it smells just like pink grapefruit.
SIA
@Litlebritdifrnt: So good to hear a positive story about a lender like this one. Hope your DH has a full recovery and things calm down a bit.
IndyLib
@lamh32:
Just for info, there were three times as many people in line for the townhall in Racine as got tickets. I was in line at 7:20 AM and they started handing out tickets at 10:00 AM. They ran out of tickets about 80 people in front of me. According to local news they gave out 1300 tickets (they originally said they’d have 1000), so that means there were at least 3000 people in line, on a Tuesday morning in a town of 70,000. Not too damned shabby for a POTUS that is supposed to have let down his base at every turn IMO.
The crowd was really mellow and there was hardly even any moaning and groaning when they ran out of tickets, absolutely no one acted up.
Of course this is Wisconsin, where politeness is so endemic that I sometimes miss California, just for the fun of watching the assholes.
TaMara (BHF)
@Steeplejack: If I never find a recipe, I did discover soba, which is wonderful with a bit of ponzu on it. So all is not lost.
madmommy
@South of I-10:
The temps in the Gulf are already in the very high 80’s, which is unusual this early. I heard the other day that the hurricane forecasting guy, the one that predicts how many storms will be in the season, has revised his count again-upwards.
Hubby is a weather geek, and would have the Weather Channel on 24/7 if I let him. I can’t take it this time of year, especially. Katrina just wrecked me, and we didn’t fare nearly as bad as many of my friends.
I’ll be anxious till October.
lamh32
@IndyLib:
wow that pretty cool
SIA
@amorphous: I am, on my vaio, but on my other computer had to switch to FF (which I always have glitches with) because of the infinite run on sentences that run past the margins on this site.
debit
@TaMara (BHF): I had a Border Collie that, I swear, would think about the pro and cons of getting in the trash while I was out. I always knew when the pros outweighed the cons because he’d be up my room, pretending to be asleep when I got home, not at the door. “Snort, huh what? Trash? What about the trash? I was up here sleeping the entire time!”
@thread: Well, I guess Animal Control did something because now I can hear my neighbors scream at the dogs when they bark. That really wasn’t what I wanted either, since screaming is just going to make them more neurotic and hysterical. But for now it’s at least a little quieter.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Violet:
It is another example of how co-pays and decuctibles are killing the average citizen. You have health insurance, but a doctor will not even see you until you pay the co-pay. This is what is killing us right now. We have about $5,000 in co-pays and deductibles right now, however, there are doctors and/or clinics that will not even admit you until you pay the co-pay/decutible up front.
That's Master of Accountancy to You, Pal
@IndyLib: I tried to say, “Fuck all those cheeseheads, and the Californians, too,” but I’ve lived in Minnesota for 25 years, and it came out, “I’m not entirely sure those are the best people you’re hanging out with.”
South of I-10
@Josie: I’m in SW LA. My dumb ass sat out on a screened in porch the whole night when Andrew went through in 1992 and we had an awesome block party after where everyone brought whatever food they had in their freezers and we cooked it all before it went bad. Hurricane Lili in 2002 was probably the worst one I have been through, we took the dogs out when the eye went over. It is so insane to walk out and see blue sky knowing that the storm is about to rage again. We have our little girl now, so Little South and I leave if it looks like it is going to be bad. Mr. South always has to work, so we are on our own during hurricanes.
Steeplejack
@TaMara (BHF):
I love soba. And @Josie said yuzu is like grapefruit–at least in soapmaking–so maybe grapefruit would be a viable substitute.
IndyLib
@That’s Master of Accountancy to You, Pal:
So, so apropos.
Sentient Puddle
So after a shitty day at work, I got home, decided I needed to beer myself, and for no particular reason pulled a Raison D’extra out of the fridge.
If I knew what I was getting myself into with this, I would’ve saved it for a more momentous occasion…
Patty K
Not to make South of 110 and others near the Gulf even more apprehensive — or maybe to make them more so, I have trouble understanding my motives sometimes — here’s a scenario for you. A hurricane picks up oil from the Gulf and drops it with accompanying rainfall onto a city which later catches fire and totally incinerates. A physicist tells me that the science in the article describing this looks pretty good:
http://energybusinessdaily.com/power/bp-oil-catastrophe-could-destroy-a-major-u-s-city/
South of I-10
@madmommy: I am hooked on Dr. Jeff Masters blog on Weather Underground, there is a lot of good information, once you figure out who knows what they are talking about and who are “wishcasters”. Here’s hoping for a lot of fish storms this year.
catclub
@cathaireverywhere:
Ever had Fish Tikka masala made with salmon? delish…
I think the sauce definitely cuts whatever oily fish effect that you might not like.
jeffreyw
@Patty K: http://xkcd.com/748/
madmommy
@South of I-10:
I just can’t watch it too much. My anxiety level goes off the charts. I was never too wiggy about storms until that bitch K came to town. Between leaving town with three days of clothes and being gone 8 weeks, to spending a solid year fighting with the insurance company afterward, I just dread this time of year. My hubby is a first responder so the kids and I are on our own as well.
catclub
@Patty K: I think the physicist is one who never learned about fractions.
I.e. the hurricane might pick up millions of gallons of oil, but only if it has also picked up billions of gallons of water.
How does the oil know to concentrate on a city instead of, say
ocean, or empty land?
I am also available to insure you against being gored by a unicorn.
WereBear (itouch)
@AhabTRuler: It was about five years ago. I was in Laurel, MD. They did tell me DC shut down over sudden sprinkles….
Steeplejack
@debit:
I’ve been reading your comments about the barking neighbor dogs. I live in an apartment building, and almost every time I go in or out of my apartment the dog in the apartment right across from mine starts barking. And that is followed immediately by a loud “Shut up, Mickey!” Useful. Very useful.
Anyway, just by chance I happened to come home early tonight and got on the elevator with Mickey and his owner. (I know them by sight.) Mickey is a beagle-ish mix with a worried look. I put my hand down to let him sniff it, with the crazy thought that maybe he would somehow come to recognize me and not have to bark all the time. He barely sniffed my hand but used his nose to flip my hand over his head. Skritch me.. Which I did.
When we got off the elevator and started going in the same direction, Mickey started straining at his leash like a sled dog, like I was beating him in some race. When we turned the corner in the corridor and it was apparent that we were going to the same place, he was like ZOMG! and practically pulled his owner off his feet and dragged him into their apartment. (The door was ajar.)
I don’t really have a point, except that Mickey seemed like sort of a sweetie, and it’s too bad that he’s this Pavlovian barker. When I was skritching him in the elevator I said something like, “Mickey, I’m a good guy, why you want to be barking at me all the time?” And his owner sort of sheepishly said, “He does that to everybody. It drives me crazy.” Which is hilarious, because we live on a short side corridor with only three apartments–our two, across from each other, and another one at the end whose residents I have seen only a handful of times in about four years. Maybe the undead. I don’t know. Just sayin’. So Mickey doesn’t really get a lot of people to bark at.
Seems like there should be some good, Monks of New Skete-ish solution to this, but I don’t know if my neighbor is the kind who could accept any advice. He seems like much more of a dick than Mickey. Maybe that’s part of the problem.
Steeplejack
Ooh! Bell, Book and Candle is on Turner Classics. Cheesy ’50s movie, and yet I like it. James Stewart and Kim Novak have good chemistry. (And yet it went so wrong in Vertigo.)
Mayken
@lamh32: Holy crap! That is made from awesome! Thanks for the link.
South of I-10
@madmommy: Katrina was not bad here, westside of the storm. I watched in horror like everyone else and Mr. South went down your way to help our friends clean out (Little South was barely a year, I stayed home with her). The worst was friends that had a fridge in their “basement” (that’s first floor everyone else) full of deer sausage. They basically uprighted it, duct taped it shut and put it in the neutral ground. They had about 4 feet of water. The worst part was they lost an infant daughter in the spring, and a lot of her things were flooded.
Keith
I guess I could offer up a solution to the IE word wrap issue, but there’s something amusing about the notion that BP can get a relief well dug first :)
debit
@Steeplejack: See, I don’t even think my neighbors are dicks. I think they just don’t even hear the barking anymore. I mean, otherwise how could they live with it? I’ve talked with the husband, and he also does the sheepish apology, then shrugs, like, “Eh. What can you do?” When I mentioned training, he said they’d been to Boot Camp, whatever that is. I didn’t know how to put it without being offensive, that perhaps it wasn’t the dogs that needed training.
I really lucked out with Chloe. She barks appropriately; once when someone’s at the door, and once again if she’s outside and someone comes in our yard. Other than excited barking during our walks (I get chewed out when we go the “wrong” way), that’s it. Neighbor guy didn’t even know we had a dog until a month after we’d adopted her.
Mickey does sound like a sweetie. Aren’t beagles high energy dogs? Maybe being an apartment dweller isn’t giving him the chances he needs to burn off some energy.
frankdawg
@Litlebritdifrnt:
DH? Designated hitter??
madmommy
@South of I-10:
A girlfriend of mine had just cleaned and packaged up 40 pounds of shrimp the Friday before the storm. She bitched about losing that shrimp for the longest! I was watching all of it from north Alabama, and couldn’t get through to hubby for several days. It was more than a week before he could get to our house to see the damage. I’ll never forget seeing people launching boats from Bonabel Blvd. in Metairie. I couldn’t stop watching the news coverage, and the more I watched it the sicker I felt. Then when we finally went home I cried all the way from Slidell to our house. I couldn’t believe how bad it was, and this was weeks afterward. So many fridges and freezers on the neutral grounds, so many houses with water lines and big “X’s” on the front.
Steeplejack
@frankdawg:
Dear husband, I think.
cathaireverywhere
Thanks for the salmon-disguising ideas! I love chicken tikka masala, so will try it with fish, and that raspberry-chipotle sauce looks great.
inkadu
@J.W. Hamner: On your recommendation, downloaded DF(G) and am reading the Wiki while the world is generated. Damn but it does take a long time to create a world.
Steeplejack
@debit:
On reflection, I think Mickey is more to the mix-y end of the spectrum than the beagle-ish. He’s about the size of a beagle, and he has the black, white and tan coloring, but his fur is not smooth and he has stand-up ears–well, sort-of-stand-up ears–and a long snout. Probably some terrier or maybe even some collie in his lineage somewhere.
My read is that he is a rescue dog who got adopted by someone who doesn’t have all the dog skills he could have. Hence Mickey still feels a little worried and insecure.
SIA
@Steeplejack: Any time I see that on, I have to watch the whole thing. Query: What is the cat’s name? Piewacket?
SiubhanDuinne
@SIA: Yes, Pyewacket. I love love love that movie. And it has one of the great jazz sound tracks featuring the Brothers (Pete and Conte) Candoli. I used to own the LP soundtrack album, but afaik it’s never been released on CD.
James
I read this blog too much. My wife walks past and says “what are you looking at.”
“Oh, that’s Tunch.”
jeffreyw
@James:
Mrs J has been sucked into reading some of the threads. Hi Sweetie!
SIA
@SiubhanDuinne: Where do you learn all of this? :) I love the cool sets.
Steeplejack
@SIA:
Yes, Pyewacket.
I think what always gets me is the mise-en-scène. It’s this great slice of bohemian Greenwich Village New York that probably never existed in real life, and it all seems so comfy and attractive. All these little byways and side streets–the Zodiac Club, Kim Novak’s shop–and tasteful snow on everything. So nice to come inside and have a brandy with Kim in her backless dress. Oh, and Pyewacket, too.
Great acting job by the cat, by the way. And by “acting” I mean deigning to keep still for a few moments and not scratching anyone to pieces.
General Egali Tarian Stuck
@madmommy: Weather geek here too, though living now in the desert, there isn’t all that much to get excited about weatherwise. But when I lived in Biloxi, I just loved the strange weather at different times of the year, especially the thunder storms. I miss them dearly, as with the ocean. And in February and March, the deep fog banks that would settle in and stay for days and sometimes weeks. It would be like living in your own little world, that was only punctuated when someone came into your sphere of vision, which was often about ten yards or so.
But Hurricane season really got me wired up. I would take the Hurricane tracking maps they put in the paper, and plot the storms as they crossed the Atlantic and Carribean and into the Gulf when if they made it that far. In 1995, I think, there were 5 Hurricanes going at once. Kept me busy tracking them all. And we dodged a big bullet with Opal that year.
asiangrrlMN
TUUUUUUUNCHIE! Oh, how I love that cat! I don’t even care that he doesn’t fit my color scheme.
@Comrade Mary: I love your dream. It’s so very funny.
@Litlebritdifrnt: Thank god you ran into some good people at your bank. I’m glad that you can breathe.
@jeffreyw: Oh my lord! Milo is the cutest puppeh ever.
P.S. Good luck to all Southern BJ’ers who are keeping a wary eye on the storm.
hamletta
@Steeplejack: God, I love that movie. When I was little we even had a cat named Pyewacket.
Hermione Gingold was hilarious. She’s also great in The Music Man: “Balllzac!”
asiangrrlMN
@Mark S.: Fuck that columnist, by the way. Seriously. Just fuck him with a rusty pitchfork.
SiubhanDuinne
@SIA: LOL, from the album liner notes, I guess! And probably also from my then-husband, who was a big fan of cool jazz and owned a pretty impressive collection of records (as we used, quaintly, to call them).
One of the Candoli brothers (Conte, I think) was a member of the old Tonight Show band for years and years, and Johnny Carson would occasionally engage him in conversation. He was usually the one who ended up knowing all those obscure “Stump the Band” tunes when Doc Severinson didn’t have a clue.
hamletta
@madmommy: I feel you on the weather anxiety. The Great Tornado of ’98 did it for me.
My house didn’t suffer any real damage, but my neighborhood was a frickin’ war zone, and I all I could see was sky where there used to be trees. Every woman I knew burst into tears once or twice a week from frustration and grief, and going across town and seeing people be all normal and stuff made me want to punch them.
When we get “tornadic activity,” I’m parked in front of the TV. I remember one storm in late fall a while back, and I sat there watching the cameras on the Batman Building watch this low, massive cloud moving like The Blob across downtown Nashville.
I don’t think it ever goes away.
Ash Can
Yay, big mushy kitty! Tunch looks like a mountain of whipped cream with little pink feet. He’s obviously tuckered out from all that jail-breaking.
Allan
See you in September.
Jamey: Bike Commuter of the Gods
Was Tunch’s tail an after-market accessory? And is this sort of thing the latest trend in feline design? Because my cat, Jub-jub is a size S/M, but his tail is a size M/L. I guess the Bergen County shelter thought he’d grow into it…
pdf23ds
If you’re messing with the site, you might want to peek into the issue of blockquotes being kind of broken on RSS. Specifically, multiparagraph blockquotes only put the first paragraph in the block. (I think this might only apply to some of the posters.)
Elie
I would love that margin problem to get fixed… Its a real pain to read posts or read back my own comments before posting..major drag