Time to relax. What is on the agenda this evening?
Reader Interactions
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?
Let me eat cake. The rest of you could stand to lose some weight, frankly.
If you are still in the GOP, you are an extremist.
Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?
No one could have predicted…
And we’re all out of bubblegum.
Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity
Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.
Not all heroes wear capes.
Optimism opens the door to great things.
Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?
After roe, women are no longer free.
I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.
Everybody saw this coming.
Make the republican party small enough to drown in a bathtub.
Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.
I was promised a recession.
Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.
It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.
Black Jesus loves a paper trail.
if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.
I know this must be bad for Joe Biden, I just don’t know how.
They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.
Do not shrug your shoulders and accept the normalization of untruths.
Sarah in Brooklyn
it’s too hot to do anything.
cat48
Alter’s book came a week ago. I might read “The Promise” this weekend and pray it doesn’t have race baiting in it.
General Stuck
For those interested, a number of new Hummingbird pics fresh off the presses. Other than that, I got nothin’ but heat.
Adam Hyland
Inception, though more out of curiosity than excitement.
sputnikgayle
I’m drinking a Shiner and listening for the last canning lids to pop–I spent the last two days canning tomatoes, sweet corn, green beans, pickles, and pepper relish. The last dozen jars of tomatoes are cooling down. I haven’t counted yet but my pantry shelves are already full of the abundance.
My feet hurt from all the standing!
Wayner
Watching the three-hour Tour de France replay on Versus, then going out for 30 miles or so after getting sufficiently stoked. Maybe I can find someone on the bike path to challenge to a sprint and then head-butt repeatedly a la Mark Renshaw yesterday. I’m stoked.
ellaesther
Penne with zucchini, heirloom tomatoes, and garbanzos, with one of the best watermelons I’ve ever had as a chaser.
Not fancy, but not bad!
jeffreyw
I’m tempted to say “suck on this John Cole”, but that just wouldn’t be right.
ellaesther
@Adam Hyland: I just heard Leonardo DiCaprio talking about it on NPR. He seems like a lovely, well-spoken gentleman, but OMG – I will never in a million years be able to see that movie. I would never sleep again.
But you go, enjoy!
Maude
ALter said that Obama was slow to react after the bp explosions and it took a while for him to do something. THis is untrue. Obama was busy right off the bat, but reporters, if that’s what we’re calling them these days, didn’t report what Obama was doing.
Alter could have contacted the WH and found out what Obama did and when, but that takes the huge effort of picking up the phone, tapping in numbers and asking a question.
jeffreyw
@General Stuck:
You’ve been busy, General. I wish we got more than just the ruby throats. Sigh
TaMara (BHF)
Too hot to do anything. Some Hulu to catch up on what I missed this week. Anything else would be much too much effort.
beltane
@Maude: The media was slow to react because there were no dramatic pictures of oil covered birds initially. Why couldn’t Obama have produced some oil covered birds the first few days of the disaster?
Our brain-damaged nation can no longer distinguish reality from a Hollywood film.
MikeJ
The agenda?
Gonna drive past the Stop ‘n’ Shop with the radio on
Litlebritdifrnt
Lookit! Obama trying to do serious running the country stuff and Bo is all like “when you gonna throw that ball for me asshole, what is this running the country shit”
I LOVE this pic
ETA the dog is obviously not a prop, Bo actually likes POTUS and ditto. There is no way a dog would be waiting like that for his BFF to get done with the serious stuff if he didn’t actually like his boss.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/whitehouse/4800127990/in/set-72157624516514250/
Mike in NC
Cocktails with the neighbors and stories about our trip to Central Europe in June, plus plans for our next overseas vacation in 2012. If it’s a matter of dealing with a President Palin or Romney, we won’t be coming back…
ruemara
May I post whore for a bit? TIA. I’m trying to craft a bit of a law to submit regarding offshore drilling and as I am not a lawyer, just rabble, I’d love to hear some feedback on what is missing, what could be better, etc.
Those interested can read it here. https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1-nYX1Da6DBoDWrMslU071qT0cbtTyvzhsLn8Bef1Z_w
My idea is that if enough people get on board with sending it to their respective cogressid-persons, I mean, we might get something more progressive done. I don’t care for bitching endlessly, I like to do stuff. If people can craft legislation about ending signage that point out stimulus funded projects, why can’t we the people craft laws and harass our representatives endlessly too? Just my attempt at something crazy, that will at least keep me from running scams or hustling handball court games.
@sputnikgayle:
I don’t know if I want your pantry or your garden, but WANT.
Elizabelle
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Like that photo of Bo waiting.
As Harry S Truman said, if you want a friend in Washington …
[don’t say anything about the Palestinians possibly having some merit to their grievances — Helen Thomas corollary. Or maybe just say it more gracefully, and at a more opportune time. And younger and prettier too. Also.]
Comrade Mary
That was me last Sunday. Closer to 26 miles, really, but still, it was a little inspiration.
Hey, a REAL competitor would head-butt a Hummer. I’m just sayin’.
I’m going out after dark once it’s cooler. I feel like a complete dork in my reflective vest, but if you’re going to pile up the mileage in the city, you have to respect the odds.
jeffreyw
@Litlebritdifrnt:
I like the “By: the White House-no real name given” note in the corner. LOL
Rock
I’m going to watch the White Sox vs. the Twins till my son gets bored (smart money says 20 minutes till the demand for Cartoon Network is made) while eating Angus Beef hot dogs and drinking elitist Spaten Optimator beer.
And I’m going to imagine I’m not living in country in which the media thinks the NAACP was impolitic for calling out the “Tea Party Movement” and that I’m not living in a state that will soon attempt to defraud me of my pension after next November when we elect a Republican Governor who will make the hard decisions. The beer should help with that.
And if anyone is looking for book recommendations, I just finished reading Matterhorn and I think it was an amazing book.
Sarah in Brooklyn
Another city rider here. I’ll be out early early early in the morning.
Mark S.
@ellaesther:
Hey, thanks for your post the other day on the proposed Israeli conversion law. I’m surprised this story isn’t getting more attention; it seems like a huge slap in the face to non-Orthodox Jews. Even Jeffrey Goldberg is appalled.
cat48
@Maude:
I know, sigh. The press didn’t care about it much until it hit the Wetlands & residents started screaming on Tv. You know, conflict!
Wayner
@Comrade Mary: I have a nice headlamp and a flashing red tail light. I only hope the mountain lions that have been seen in the area recently will take heed and steer clear of me. Seeing the coyote’s eyes glowing at me in the dark in the willows also adds to the ambiance.
RedKitten
Heading to the city tomorrow to visit my sister. Looking forward to spending some time on the waterfront and visiting my old stomping grounds with SamKitten in tow.
QuaintIrene
Like others have said, too hot to do anything too ambitious. Got some new solar patio lights and am hanging around to see how they look after dark. The garden is woefully in need of weeding, but just can’t muster the energy.
JD Rhoades
Buffy, Season Seven, Disc Five.
jl
Agenda: Veg. Another weekend of long hiking ahead.
OT, but interesting news I just saw. I don’t put much stock in Greenspan’s opinion, but this will be an interesting addition to the debate.
Greenspan Calls For Full Expiration Of The Bush Tax Cuts That He Helped Enact
Pat Garafolo, ThinkProgress, July 16
WOODRUFF: On those tax cuts, they are due to expire at the end of this year. Should they be extended? What should Congress do?
GREENSPAN: I should say they should follow the law and let them lapse.
WOODRUFF: Meaning what happens?
GREENSPAN: Taxes go up. The problem is, unless we start to come to grips with this long-term outlook, we are going to have major problems. I think we misunderstand the momentum of this deficit going forward.
http://thinkprogress.org/2010/07/16/greenspan-bush-expire/
A Ghost To Most
Preparing and packing for a week of 4-wheeling around Ouray, CO.
OT, because this is an open thread: Can someone who has been in CO for a while (TaMara?) explain the differences between Bennet and Romanoff in the dem primary. I have not been here long enough (9 months) to have a good fix on who I should be voting for, and why.
The Dangerman
Hotter than Hell where I am in California right now; too hot to be outside, too poor to go out and do anything in someplace interesting (and air conditioned). Praying for no electrical outages!
Since some idiots like to use freak snowstorms as evidence Global Warming is fake, can I use these extreme heat events to tell those idiots to bite me? I don’t want to violate decorum.
cat48
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Too cute. When according to the press, he was “overexposed”, that Inside the WH thingy NBC did, he ran into Michelle & Bo in the hall. You should have heard that high voice he used w/Bo while he rubbed his tummy. Michelle told him, “Stop”. Too cute. Bo’s his buddy alright.
beltane
@jl: What would Ayn Rand think of all this? Alan has let her down.
beltane
@The Dangerman: It was 100 degrees in Berlin, Germany yesterday. It is hotter than normal just about everywhere in the US. We’ve been getting much less rainfall than usual, too, which is what worries me most of all.
Phyllis
Watching the Braves; Brewers are up 4-0. Don’t think Hansen has his good stuff tonight.
Having some ice cream to combat the heat and to help forget about the fact the air conditioner has run continuously for the past several….hours.
The Dangerman
@beltane:
Where is the “much less rainfall” occurring? Just curious.
Well, to expand on that curiosity a bit, it seems to me that California, when whether patterns continue to change, will have to get into desalination in a big way (since we have several of the largest cities in the country, yet half of the State is a desert). Then we’ll all have to drink shitloads of water to help keep the oceans from rising (hmmm, then we’ll have to build more piss processing plants; I’ll have to work on this theory a little bit, after another beer).
Litlebritdifrnt
@cat48: squee you got a link to a clip of that? I would love to see it. Gonna go trawling Youtube.
QuaintIrene
Have to laugh that some wingnuts have serious panty twists over the fact that Obama this weekend is **gasp*** on vacation. In Maine. For two whole days!! I mean, how dare he. When he’s got all this….stuff to do.
I remember back in ol’Bush Senior’s day. During Desert Storm, a war he initiated. He spent, what, almost a month up in Kennebunkport? There were scenes of him answering reporter’s questions while tooling around in his Bing Crosby-esque motor boat. Don’t recall a lot of outrage from the right back then.
asdf
“I’m drinking a Shiner and listening for the last canning lids to pop—I spent the last two days canning tomatoes, sweet corn, green beans, pickles, and pepper relish. The last dozen jars of tomatoes are cooling down. I haven’t counted yet but my pantry shelves are already full of the abundance.
My feet hurt from all the standing!”
sputnikgayle, I think I am in love!
Mark S.
Shorter Dr. Krauthammer:
asdf
OK, since this is an open thread, I’ll share something I think is funny. This is not for everyone but when Free Republic freaks out I am one of those who find it hilarious.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2553969/posts
MikeJ
@jl:
The Appalachian trial? ¡Hasta luego!
I was thinking about hiking to Otter Falls since I haven’t been this summer and it’s a fairly easy little walk in the middle of nowhere.
Kristine
@JD Rhoades: I need to rewatch some episodes after the current project is in the hopper. I tend to cherrypick among my favorites episodes. “School Hard.” “Once More, With Feeling.” Any episode with Spike.
Mnemosyne
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Did you see that picture of Obama with the Cub Scout in the same Flickr feed?
O – M – G !
Cutest picture ever.
Kristine
Not much tonight, but tomorrow night I’ll be at Ravinia to see Sting and the Royal Philharmonic aka The Symphonicity Tour. Very much looking forward to it.
bemused
I’m a little freaked out to see Scientology ads on MSNBC.
Violet
@MikeJ:
Roadrunner, roadrunner!
Ooh, I love Jonathan Richman. Saw him a few years ago. Excellent show.
I’ve got an exciting weekend of unpacking to look forward to. It’s been on the back burner because I’ve spent the better part of three days taking apart a washer and a dryer, cleaning the absolutely disgusting gunk from them (never EVER use fabric softener, you seriously have no idea how disgusting and toxic it makes your washer), and putting them back together. Good times.
Albatrossity
@asdf: My favorite comment about Sarah’s troubles vis-a-vis Levi and Bristol’s engagement
Yeah, but happens more often to hillbillies, I’d bet.
angler
My 4 month old puppy just ate a scrubber/sponge. My night is watching which end it comes out of.
Toast
Because of all the smart-phone nerding I’ve seen here lately. Enjoy.
bemused
I’m enjoying checking on a couple of bird nests as I’m gardening. In one nest the babies were cheeping away until I started walking by & then instant silence. I was walking toward the other nest & could see a little birdy head poking over the top of the nest but as I got closer, suddenly that little head went down like a periscope. Those babies know how to go incognito.
robertdsc
Doing nothing. The new job saps the life out of me so my weekends are spent trying to recharge.
How is Tunch’s injury?
John Cole
So I’ve settled on mojitos and Physical Graffiti.
I’m just spent today. Re-seeded the yard, weeded the garden and watered it, cleaned the house, did laundry, put in a new shower head, put together one of those faux antique standing metal fans, cleaned the kitchen.
And of course, the dogs.
Mark S.
Bobo on Mel Gibson:
Well, Mel does adhere to an ultra-right wing strain of Catholicism. But Dr. Bobo’s diagnosis is narcissism, and how kids these days think they’re so damn special, the little shits.
General Stuck
@John Cole:
I made plans to do all of those things, tomorrow.
Tom Traubert
More and more studying for the bar. Please send someone to kill me.
jl
@John Cole:
Cole is trying to make us feel like slackers.
Edit: I still recommend z * * * * * * i.
Cacti
We’ve reached the time of year here in AZ where it’s still triple digits at midnight.
Come on October.
burnspbesq
Just finished watching the Springsteen Hyde Park DVD.
I may watch it again. Or I may watch the Mets – Giants game in an hour.
Cacti
@Tom Traubert:
The best thing about the bar is, after an exhaustive 2-3 months of studying for a 2-3 day exam…
You get to wait another 2-3 months to find out if you passed!
Litlebritdifrnt
Oh my FSM – I was trawling Youtube and I found this… can you believe it? Regular tours through the WH and Michelle is there greeting the tourists. Hi, welcome to the Whitehouse. Oh and this is Bo. The youtube vid keeps going nasty on me at about the 4.37 mark but if the youtube vid thing is to be believed she did this for 45 minutes or more. I am besides myself. The First Lady welcoming tourists to the WH, herself, with her dog, and they are besides themselves with glee.
And of course I completely forgot the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nj9Q11zuyfo
MikeJ
@Tom Traubert: I would gladly send someone to kill you, but first I need to sign a contract with that person. When I do, what are the essential elements of a contract?
burnspbesq
@Tom Traubert:
No, no, no, no, no. Those of us who’ve been through it are going to point and snicker and say thank God that’s not me. You gotta suffer if you want to sing the blues.
Toast
Drunk. Put back a 60 oz. growler of Hooker Brewing’s American Pale Ale before 5 PM. Worked in a couple glasses of whiskey. Drinking white wine that we had with dinner (grilled salmon on our new salt slab). Back to whiskey soon.
Toast
Oh, and we’ve got this week’s Louie on DVR. So that will be awesome. Louis C.K. is the best comic alive today.
General Stuck
@Toast: Watch out for the whirlies.
jl
@MikeJ: Ha ha. No, I refer to ‘hiking the Appalachian trail’ by ‘driving the Rio de la Plata’.
I assume you mean Otter Falls in WA. I want to go visit some of them cool and scenic falls in OR and WA someday.
MikeJ
@Toast: You must be drunk. White wine with salmon?
I’m having my pre-dinner martini, and I’m going to throw a burger on the grill in a little while. And then I have some code to test to free up the rest of the weekend.
burnspbesq
@MikeJ:
And after that, he/she can explain why the cops going through your garbage is a violation of your Fourth Amendment rights if it’s in your back yard, but not after you wheel it out to the curb.
Tom Traubert
@MikeJ:
The contract runs with the land via dependent relative revocation and equitable estoppel. Or a vested estate subject to complete defeasance. One of those, I’m sure. Maybe.
This is a mid-life career change at 40 years old. No fun. NO FUN.
jank_w
Just got done working on a test of a camera mount for a bike… the design is solid, the prototype not so much.
Does any one know if releasing a simple mechanical design under a Creative Commons license, as I did with this, holds any weight in court? It honestly wouldn’t matter for this contraption because there is no market, but it would be cool to know if you had something tremendous and attached CC to it so that the idea couldn’t be appropriated by the big money boys with impunity (mainly I’m thinking of the non-commercial clause in some CC licenses).
Anyhow, that’s what I’ve been messing with for longer than I should have today.
Cacti
@Tom Traubert:
Since we were discussing this the other night…
Please explain the Rule Against Perpetuities and give several examples.
Toast
@General Stuck:
Haven’t had those in years. I’m just looking out for the Oh Shit Why Am I Doing This Agains.
cat48
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Had to check dinner, it was called “Inside the Whitehouse” with Brian Williams, NBC. They had a section for it on MSNBC for a long time.
@QuaintIrene Well, according to Knowler, CBS, at this point Bush had twice as many vaca days. Something like 30 days for O and 60 for Bush at this point. He tweeted it this a.m.
Bo went to Maine with them.
cat48
@Mark S.:
I laughed at that Krautie column this a.m. I love the smell of wingnutty fear in the morning!
Gatsby
Tunch, Lily, and Rosie… I can’t wait for the next episode of their antics. Pics please!
dan
Wow, Weigel really sucks. Did he, in any way, deserve a Wapo spot?
Cat Lady
@cat48:
We think it’s a joke when we say pics or it didn’t happen. The press corps uses that as an operating principle, with no irony or pushback. Our fucking media is FAIL!1!1!
Having said all that, the cool rain here west of Boston has temporarily stopped me from committing sepukku because the day after day after day after day of heat and humidity has drained my bodily fluids, turned my hair into an uncontrollable force of nature and sapped my will to live. I’ve decided that I hate winter and summer. Here in New England, climate change has left me to love May and October, and that first snowstorm. Oh lordy, get me out of here.
eemom
just watched a very old, very very weird movie on TCM called “The Freaks.” Yikes.
dan
What is the point in reseeding? It’s never going to rain again. And it’s going to be over 90 until September. I live on Long Island, but I’m pretty sure I saw tumbleweed the other day.
lamh32
Watching last week’s tru blood. A couple of half naked werewolves, throw in a few half-naked vampires, and Peter Skarsgaard naked or not, and it’s always a good ep if tru blood!
Having said that, if Sookie Stackhouse ain’t the dumbest character on television right now, then I don’t know who the hell is!
Can’t wait for Sunday’s ep, it looks like it gonna be good!
Redshirt
@JD Rhoades: My least favorite Kennedy. By a lot.
TrishB
@angler: How big is the puppy and how big was the sponge? That sounds more like surgical removal since it won’t digest at all. Said by the woman who had to watch for styrofoam packing peanuts in stool.
cat48
@asdf: Hmm, if the Freerepublic folks feel this way, doesn’t look like Palin’s going to be Presnit!
eric
@Cacti: then you have 30 years of dealing with opposing counsel, judges and clients and partners. good luck with that
beltane
@dan: The fact that he sucks proves his true home was with the WaPo. Sully owes us all an apology.
dan
@beltane: You ain’t kiddin’. That was an awful week of Sully’s blog.
Corner Stone
@dan:
Besides him being a really bad writer and raging winger?
Nah, nothing beyond that. But that’s enough these days.
MAJeff
@sputnikgayle:
I just finished 8 pints of dill beans. We’ve got a while here (ND) until the tomatoes come in, and since three of my five plants had to be yanked for blight, I’m gonna have to buy tomatoes….but I can’t wait for tomato season!
Davis X. Machina
@Mark S.: To the vontzes running the show over there, there’s no such thing as ‘non-Orthodox Jews’. They’re twenty years away from becoming Haredistan, hemorrhaging human capital as they are….
cat48
@Cat Lady:
We had to relocate from IL to SC a few yrs ago & every summer, I look forward to Oct-Feb. I do most of the yardwork then so I don’t have to do a lot in the Summer. Summer evenings are often nice here though as we live about 7 mi from the beach & we get a breeze w/ or without showers often in the evening in July & August.
PurpleGirl
@cat48: GWB spent 487 days at Camp David, and a 1,000 days or so on vacation total. That’s a third, a third! of his presidency away from the White House. Did he think he was living in Europe and worked for one of their governments or corporations….
cat48
@dan:
Double Awful. I couldn’t read the blog. I started to dislike him when he was at WashPo because he vigorously defended Rand Paul as did some at this blog so I just waited and wasn’t surprised one bit with his disregard of all things NAACP, etc.
ChrisNBama
I don’t know if you will read this, John, but I wanted to bring something to your attention.
You’re blog posts about your love for your pets has inspired me. Being a bachelor of a certain age myself, the notion of having a little dog around the house has been growing for quite sometime.
Anyway, someone from work announced that they were giving away Chihuahua puppies and asked me specifically if I wanted one. This was about a week ago. I’ve been debating with myself about it, and finally went ahead and reserved one (they won’t be ready for new homes for another two weeks).
The problem I’m having now is something that I see in your posts quite a bit. You seem to take your pets to the vet quite a bit. I can afford the usual stuff like food and annual check up’s, but are there other costs I should be aware of? I live pretty much paycheck to paycheck (although I can afford the food for my prospective pet). Is this going to be an expensive venture?
In short, I really want the dog, but don’t want to break the bank by burdening veterinarian costs. Any advice?
Cheers,
Chris
Something Fabulous
@Litlebritdifrnt: Gosh, look how big he got! (Bo, not Jack Lew.)
cat48
@PurpleGirl:
He obviously was on the European plan. I’m sure Knowler has all that too! I don’t think O can break his record though since the kids do have school & all. : ) Hell, Knowler probably knows how many cigs O has had since moving in. I’m sure he’ll tweet it someday!
John Cole
@ChrisNBama: Budget 300 a year per pet on vets and you will be fine, unless your asshole cat runs off and gets attacked by the neighborhood cats and gets an abcess. Other than that, Tunch and Lily would go once a year and it came to about 180. Tunch got his teeth cleaned this year, which was an extra 100 bucks.
It really is not much. But I would recommend a mutt from the pound over puppies. Anne Laurie knows a lot about lapdogs and can probably help more, especially with knowledge about chi. pups.
Litlebritdifrnt
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Screw youtube. Here is the whitehouse link
Michelle is da bomb.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/20/streaming-live-first-lady-michelle-obama-surprises-white-house-tour-visitors
asdf
The thing that bothers me about Levi and Bristol is this, not one person was cool enough to quote,
“C’est la vie say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell.”
cat48
@Litlebritdifrnt:
Love Michelle! Did you find that other one? I left his name out of the title. It is “Inside the Obama Whitehouse” It comes up by googling that. I haven’t learned to link yet or I would. Sorry./Technically challenged here.
PaulW
i went job hunting a job fair today. 28 tables. 200 people in the first hour. Oy.
General Stuck
@ChrisNBama:
You have no idea what a good idea this is. And as for cost, I don’t have a lot of money either. I will do regular checkups and booster shots, and what I possibly can if anything serious comes up. The way I look at it, giving a rescue a home and love when it had neither is the bottom line.
ChrisNBama
Thanks John and General Stuck for your thoughtful posts. I can budget three hundred a year, so that’s a sigh of relief!
I was considering a shelter dog. But I guess it’s synchronicity or something that I was mulling getting a dog and then one is offered to me free of charge. Since I’ve already committed to it, I would feel somewhat like shmuck if I backed out at this point (although I’m sure they could find another home). Nothing’s finalized yet. We’ll see what happens.
Again, thanks guys. I really love this blog, although I’m more of a lurker than a regular poster.
Cheers,
Chris
Kristine
@ChrisNBama: Insurance isn’t a bad idea. I have accident/illness coverage for both my dogs through ASPCA. It costs $38/month, and so far it’s more than paid for itself. Gaby had about $1500 worth of bills when we were getting her IBD diagnosed last fall, and I received more than half of it back. Then she cut her foot on some ice in February, and King had some minor surgery to remove a benign growth. Close to $1000 in bills again, and I received more than half back. Every bit helps.
Some folks have issues with pet insurance, and you can run into the same pre-existing conditions/refusal to pay/you name it that you get with people insurance. It’s possible that if Gaby has further lower GI trouble down the road, ASPCA may label it pre-existing and refuse to pay. We’ll see. I originally bought the coverage because King was getting older and I was worried about cancer and chronic illness. He’s 9, and though he’s slowing down, he’s in decent shape so far. May it continue.
asdf
Best wishes to you Chris. I tool am a gentleman of a certain age and I’d kill for a nice cat. Can’t have one.
Just wait. Good days are coming.
asdf
Typo.
Platonicspoof
@cat48:
Linking and the other comment buttons (maybe not right away for block quoting-FYWP) are straightforward enough (if I can figure them out, you will).
Lots of people here have helped each other (sockulist bug), but you can also practice on older posts if you’re shy.
Got to get in a bike ride myself now.
Weather in the 70’s with sunshine is just a daily hell.
CynDee
@Mnemosyne: and Litlbrit, thank you for sharing for the Obama pics. People need to see these. My day wasn’t much of a one until those two photos pulled it all together.
No work most of the past five years, and now I am feeling too old to keep up even the thought of returning to a cube farm but must keep trying to earn. Hoping my instinct will point me to some new ideas. The others is all wore out.
On another note, there was one success today. I finally found an overview of western philosophy that makes sense and is good reading. It is Fifty Major Philosophers, a Reference Guide, published in 1987 by Croom Helm Ltd. Found it for 25 cents in the thrift store in a little Florida town of 2,900.
The author is Diane Collinson (with an accent on the “e”.) She is a fine scholar who knows how to choose and maintain a particular level of illuminative instruction. Not easy when the subject is philosophy. Her books are still readily available online, some in e-reader versions.
The Mr. has been enjoying a new India ale that is just wonderful if you get past the dreadful name and disgusting label art. It’s called Snake and Dog — really repulsive marketing approach. But Mr. says that it’s an excellent brew so interestingly complex that he calls it a Cecil B. DeMille production.
Yes, hot here in Florida, too, but plenty of rain so far this season.
Struggles and frustration on many of our days; general worry all around, but still much to be thankful for.
Anne Laurie
@ChrisNBama:
A young, healthy Chihuahua should not be a budget-buster, although the standard annual checkup-and-shots will vary considerably by region, just like any other expense. (Here in the expensive Boston area, we pay almost twice what Cole does in WV.) My advice would be to harden your heart and treat that puppy just as you would any other long-term consumer purchase… do some research, pick out a veterinarian or vet clinic that’s convenient for you, and take the puppy in for its first checkup before you’ve bonded. Be up-front about your qualms, so s/he knows not to gloss over potential red flags, for fear that you’ll be offended by any suggestion that Spike is not the most perfect specimen of the most perfect breed ever produced. (Luxating patellas, for instance — bad knees are to small dogs what bad hips are to big ones — or an open fontanel, or possible trachea issues. Mild inherited problems may not be a deal-breaker, but you want to know about potential problems in advance if you can.)
A good vet should also be able to give you advice on stuff like proper nutrition, grooming, leads for puppy training, when you’ll want to get your little guy fixed (another expense to budget for) and where the local dog parks are.
Oh, and don’t forget the cost of an annual dog license, if your city or state requires one. Usually it’s not expensive (our town charges $15 a year for neutered dogs & $25 for non-neutered) but if there’s some weird anti-breeding regulation in your area, you want to know up front. And if you’re a renter, I’m assuming you’ve already checked to make sure that your landlord is okay with the idea, and your lease doesn’t demand some kind of outrageous ‘pet deposit’ up front.
mcmillan
Apparently some of the Republicans have decided to not even try to pretend that they have ideas of how to govern:
Republicans divided on the importance of an agenda for midterm elections
I’m off to watch some Doctor Who, if I’ve lost faith in humanity maybe I can gain faith in a Time Lord.
asiangrrlMN
@ChrisNBama: Congrats! One of the best decisions you will ever make. Animals are the best thing ever.
@Litlebritdifrnt: Simply amazing. I cannot imagine any of the recent past FLOTUS doing this and being so warm and welcoming.
Tonight, I sat on the nephews. I have written two blog entries and am going for the trifecta. It’s fucking hot. That is all.
@mcmillan: Yep. They just want to confuse matters enough to have voters vote against the Democrats, really. The sad thing is that it has a good chance of working.
ChrisNBama
@Anne Laurie: Great advice, Anne! I will do the legwork now of finding a vet and all that sort of thing before I pick the puppy up. My friends at work are a great resource in this regard. I live in Alabama, so I suspect vet costs are going to be lower than in your town of Boston and may be comparable to WV. I’m also going to Walmart and purchase a “baby pen” so I can leave my puppy in it while I’m away at work during the day. This should suffice, I think, until the puppy becomes an adolescent. Hopefully at that point, I can have her trained to use the “puppy pad” to do her doodee on instead of my hardwood floors ;-)
I will have her inspected for any genetic issues that are common to Chihuahua’s to make sure my Chi is healthy for the breed.
Thanks to all of you for your kind mentions: Asiangrrl, ASDF, etc.
Cheers,
Chris