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Balloon Juice

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread

Open Thread

by John Cole|  March 8, 201110:19 am| 115 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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I feel like I’ve been in a real rut lately. Sure, there is lots going on, but I just have no desire to talk about it. Then, when I do find something interesting, someone else has already posted about it.

I think it has to be the weather. The last couple weeks of gray skies has pushed me close to my breaking point. Today and yesterday, though, I woke to the morning sun (my bed faces the northeastern sky, so in the spring I wake up to light creeping through the curtains), and it feels like it is time to come out of hibernation again. Brisk walk with the piglets in the cool air, some morning sun, little frost on the ground but the tulips (or maybe they are daffodils, I don’t care- GO PLANTS GO!) pushing through anyway, and then a hot cup of coffee.

Thank goodness this winter is slowly coming to an end.

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Reader Interactions

115Comments

  1. 1.

    Poopyman

    March 8, 2011 at 10:22 am

    Spring is coming, Cole. Down here in the Tidewater the Spring Peepers have been screeching for about a week already, despite the occasional frost. Maple buds are swollen and red, and willows are shading green.

    Pretty soon the geese will climb high in a southern wind and head away. Then it will really be spring.

  2. 2.

    Violet

    March 8, 2011 at 10:25 am

    Don’t get too used to the morning sun. Daylight Savings or “Savings” begins this weekend. That morning sun will now arrive an hour later. Stupid Congress and their thinking this will somehow save electricity or something.

    And if you’re not happy, you have plenty of company in your state. West Virginia is at the bottom of the Happiest States list.

  3. 3.

    Punchy

    March 8, 2011 at 10:25 am

    Honestly, I think you need a girlfriend. I’m not sure it’s pyschologically healthy for a 40-something to be living alone with 2 pets and a devil. Match.com works wonders….

    Or else you could spend copious time rooting for the Pirates this spring. Or Crosby to lose the purse and dress and strap on some skates.

  4. 4.

    Dave L

    March 8, 2011 at 10:29 am

    They’re daffodils. – The shoots have rounded tips, right? Daffodils show up before tulips.

    – The Pirates? Watched them lose a 5-0 snooze-fest on Sunday. Say what you will about them, they’re professionals. First week of March, and they’re already in mid-season form.

  5. 5.

    ant

    March 8, 2011 at 10:29 am

    how do you know if Cole is single?

  6. 6.

    donnah

    March 8, 2011 at 10:31 am

    Our weather here in SW Ohio has been similar. We’ve had a couple of warm days with some sunshine, but they have been few and far between. Last Tuesday my son woke up, came into the dining room where I had opened the shades, and he put his hands up over his eyes. I told him, “Welcome to daylight, Mole Man!” It’s like we’ve been in hibernation.

    I have a skylight in my studio, but it’s done precious little good. I find myself longing for a trip somewhere else, anywhere with warmth and sunshine. This IS depressing! I am holding onto the hope that spring really is right around the corner, but I have my doubts.

  7. 7.

    twiffer

    March 8, 2011 at 10:32 am

    crocuses usually come up first, then the daffodils.

  8. 8.

    Comrade Javamanphil

    March 8, 2011 at 10:34 am

    25 inches of new snow yesterday. What is this Spring you speak of?

  9. 9.

    Redshirt

    March 8, 2011 at 10:35 am

    Boston lost almost all its snow cover over this past weekend of mid 50’s temperatures. And there was a lot of snow! It was rather remarkable.

    We’re weeks behind last year though on first blooms.

  10. 10.

    Mike in NC

    March 8, 2011 at 10:35 am

    A little late to the party, but South Carolina has entered the GOP’s war on unions:

    Gov. Nikki Haley said she will propose plans to reduce state worker health care and retirement benefits, adding South Carolina to the list of states considering trimming public employee compensation.

    These clowns must all work from the same playbook.

    http://www.heraldonline.com/2011/03/04/2882908/haley-wants-to-cut-state-employees.html#ixzz1G1SjVQWY

  11. 11.

    Phyllis

    March 8, 2011 at 10:36 am

    While I’m a Braves fan thru and thru, I maintain a soft spot for the Pirates. They spring train in my hometown, and this time of year reminds me of how really wild and free my childhood was.

  12. 12.

    cathyx

    March 8, 2011 at 10:37 am

    Talk about long gray winters, try living in Oregon. If it weren’t for the perfect summers, I don’t think I could stand it. But one trick I found that works wonders is to take a trip in February to a warm sunny location, even for just a long weekend. It somehow revives me and I can make it until summer.

  13. 13.

    cleek

    March 8, 2011 at 10:37 am

    Sure, there is lots going on, but I just have no desire to talk about it. Then, when I do find something interesting, someone else has already posted about it.

    ditto.

    i’ve been speculating that the web is getting smaller, in a way. maybe it’s just consolidation: the big sites only reference each other, and at the same time, they’re attracting more reader submissions, which ensures that we all see the same things no matter where we go.

  14. 14.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    March 8, 2011 at 10:37 am

    Other than a three week sunny respite from the endless drizzle in January, it’s been nothing but drizzle here on the Oregon coast. Still, it was nice riding the motorcycle every day during our weather break but now I’m getting ready for spring by…

    tearing the top end off of the motorcycle to replace a seeping base gasket and give the son a bit of an edumacation on them mechanical gadgets us guys like to thrash on. After that I have to rebuild the transmission in the wife’s car in time for a family reunion in western Montana in early July.

    At least we don’t have to shovel rain!

  15. 15.

    Cat Lady

    March 8, 2011 at 10:38 am

    I’m right there with you in spirit John. Jeebus, every day feels like an existential wrestling match, and I keep getting pinned by all the pointlessness. It’s hard out there for caring smart people who don’t understand why there are so many retarded fucking assholes. We all in the northern climes are color deprived and Vitamin D deficient, also too.

  16. 16.

    Raenelle

    March 8, 2011 at 10:41 am

    IMO, not the weather but learned helplessness. As a life-long Democrat, I have been a victim of this for a decades. That’s why the message of hope in 2008 was so powerful. It was like getting a gulp of air after being strangled. The hope fades, though, as we realize that the Dems can’t really deliver. All we have in the 2 parties is a choice between capitalism-lite and capitalism-unchained. So, we go back to ennui and things we can really do something about–like our own garden or our pets.

  17. 17.

    geg6

    March 8, 2011 at 10:41 am

    I’m with you, Cole. This winter has seemed, for some reason, especially brutal. And the few warmer, sunny days have inevitably been followed up with days of rain, sleet, ice, and snow, making travel of even the shortest distances treacherous and nerve wracking. A couple of weeks ago, it took me 40 minutes to get home from work due to ice covered roads. 40 minutes doesn’t sound bad until you know that the distance is less than 6 miles. I was shaking by the time I got home. Thankfully, when I move in with my John, I’ll be only about two miles from campus. I am so so ready for spring.

  18. 18.

    Persia

    March 8, 2011 at 10:41 am

    I like daylight savings because it’s light when I go home. I do hate getting up an hour earlier though.

    Winter doesn’t want to let go this year. We had a shitload of snow dumped on us yesterday and now it’s cold as hell.

  19. 19.

    cathyx

    March 8, 2011 at 10:41 am

    Perhaps along with the bad weather this winter is that there seems to be so much news of repression, recession, and changes in this country and the world that is of an extremely negative nature. I’m not generally a pessimistic person, but I don’t have much optimism about what the future looks like right now.

  20. 20.

    Face

    March 8, 2011 at 10:41 am

    @Mike in NC: Wait…I thought SC already banned unions (or is that NC?).

    At some point, one of these states is going to be hit with a general strike, where every teacher, road crew guy, bus driver, etc is going to strike in mass, effectively paralyzing the state. It’s a shame police and fire cant join in, because if they did, that strike would be settled in a matter of mere minutes.

  21. 21.

    J.W. Hamner

    March 8, 2011 at 10:42 am

    Dragon Age 2 is out today. I doubt it would actually make you feel better, but at least you wouldn’t notice that the weather sucks.

  22. 22.

    Rosalita

    March 8, 2011 at 10:44 am

    Certainly been a long and hard winter in CT. Now we’re so flooded only the geese get can around. However, I did see the beginnings of my daffodils, believe it or now. Tiny nubs, but there. It gives the heart a lift.

  23. 23.

    Alwhite

    March 8, 2011 at 10:45 am

    Coming from primarily Scandinavian stock and living most of my life on the frozen tundra of Minnesota I just assume this is normal. I found the constant green of Florida to be oddly unsettling.

  24. 24.

    draftmama

    March 8, 2011 at 10:46 am

    Winter started in Montana in October and was still here yesterday. This morning looks promising, maybe we are DONE!!!! And winter for us means minus up to 25F. Though at least the sun shines most of the time.

  25. 25.

    YellowJournalism

    March 8, 2011 at 10:46 am

    Why is an Amish Linda Hamilton telling me to get 59 dividend checks a month?

  26. 26.

    Poopyman

    March 8, 2011 at 10:47 am

    @Rosalita: Yeah, speaking of floods, we’re forecast for 2 to 3 inches of rain in the next 48 hours. I’m taking the view that these are the “April showers” come the usual month early.

  27. 27.

    WoodyNYC

    March 8, 2011 at 10:47 am

    My daughter and I do daffodil watch on the way to school here in Brooklyn. Which of the flowers in all the brownstone front yards we pass will bloom first? Excitement! Also snowdrops and crocuses.

  28. 28.

    shortstop

    March 8, 2011 at 10:47 am

    There’s a reason suicide is so prevalent in Scandinavian countries between November-May.

    Actually, I don’t know that it is, but it seemed like a good thing to type with brazen confidence.

    I freaking hate winter. Why do I live in Chicago? Why, why, why?

  29. 29.

    Rosalita

    March 8, 2011 at 10:48 am

    is anyone else having trouble editing posts?

  30. 30.

    geg6

    March 8, 2011 at 10:48 am

    And by the way, as a lifelong Pittsburgher, fuck the Pirates. Talk about depressing.

    Meh. I’m in a bad mood. I’m home sick, with chills, a headache, and the joint aches of a hundred year old. And this despite the goddam flu shot. Pisses me off.

  31. 31.

    merrinc

    March 8, 2011 at 10:49 am

    @Face:

    This is similar to what I posted on my FB page last week: Every single teacher in this country should walk out of the classroom. Every last one.

  32. 32.

    ThatLeftTurnInABQ

    March 8, 2011 at 10:49 am

     

    Sure, there is lots going on, but I just have no desire to talk about it. Then, when I do find something interesting, someone else has already posted about it.

    It feels like the pause before a big storm. You can almost smell the ozone in the air, but there isn’t much to do but wait for it to arrive.

    Hmmm, let’s see what Rupert Brooke had to say about this feeling of ennui on the eve of larger events:

    Now, God be thanked Who has matched us with His hour,
    And caught our youth, and wakened us from sleeping,
    With hand made sure, clear eye, and sharpened power,
    To turn, as swimmers into cleanness leaping,
    Glad from a world grown old and cold and weary,
    Leave the sick hearts that honour could not move,
    And half-men, and their dirty songs and dreary,
    And all the little emptiness of love!

    Of course in practice that didn’t work out quite the way he had in mind, so perhaps it would be better if we all just took a pass. There are worse things that wintery blahs.

  33. 33.

    kdaug

    March 8, 2011 at 10:49 am

    @cathyx: Word.

  34. 34.

    dmsilev

    March 8, 2011 at 10:49 am

    Installed one of these this morning. Definitely a “why didn’t anyone think of this earlier?” products. Eliminating a pair of wall-warts is well worth the minor effort of installation.

    dms

  35. 35.

    shortstop

    March 8, 2011 at 10:50 am

    @Poopyman:

    Down here in the Tidewater the Spring Peepers have been screeching for about a week already, despite the occasional frost. Maple buds are swollen and red, and willows are shading green.

    I can’t be the only upper Midwesterner who found this passage hawt hawt hawt. Damn, I’m shifting about on my chair now.

  36. 36.

    martha

    March 8, 2011 at 10:51 am

    @shortstop: Because Chicago is a great city and you’d hate living in a lot of other places. Trust me. Even though I’m a cheesehead and only visit your fair burgh and curse your brethren when you drive our freeways like maniacs. But, you’re sheltering our Fab 14 right now, so all is forgiven.

  37. 37.

    Trinity

    March 8, 2011 at 10:51 am

    I hear ya Cole. I’ve got a bad case of the ‘blahs’. Even though it is still cold here I have been walking the last miles into work so I can get the fresh air and some sunshine. I will be damn glad when this winter is over.

  38. 38.

    Uloborus

    March 8, 2011 at 10:55 am

    @shortstop:
    Light levels. How much direct sunlight you receive. Biologically it’s a hugely important mechanism.

    @John:
    You’ve been obviously depressed and irritable lately. I don’t know why it is. It could be the season. But WHATEVER it is, I think it’s important for you to figure out the cause and do something about it. Just make sure you find the cause, and not something that merely pushes you over the edge when you’re already in a bad mood.

  39. 39.

    Poopyman

    March 8, 2011 at 10:55 am

    @shortstop: According to these suicide stats, Finland is 14th, Sweden 26th, and Norway 36th. The US is 39th.

    The FSU states, S. Korea, Japan, Guyana, and Sri Lanka make up the Top Ten.

  40. 40.

    geg6

    March 8, 2011 at 10:55 am

    Okay, so to indulge in glass half full moment, I saw a couple of willow trees with buds last Saturday.

  41. 41.

    shortstop

    March 8, 2011 at 10:55 am

    @martha: Our city is at your fine legislators’ disposal for as long as they want to grace it. And thank you for reminding me that this place is great at times other than this one. This time of year, I always lose my grip a little and start casting panicked looks of desperation.

  42. 42.

    R-Jud

    March 8, 2011 at 10:56 am

    @shortstop:

    Why do I live in Chicago? Why, why, why?

    Because Chicago is awesome?

    I’ve had broken sleep all weekend thanks to a barking kid (coughing, mostly, but last night she was literally barking like a dog in her sleep), but the sun is up, so I’m so happy I could scream.

  43. 43.

    Corner Stone

    March 8, 2011 at 10:56 am

    @ant:

    how do you know if Cole is single?

    This might be the funniest thing ever posted on this blog.
    Or the most rhetorical.

    Either way, nicely done!

  44. 44.

    cleek

    March 8, 2011 at 10:56 am

    @J.W. Hamner:
    this.

    and i just installed my new video card last night. which i bought especially for DA2.

    happy day.

  45. 45.

    merrinc

    March 8, 2011 at 10:56 am

    I think it has to be the weather. The last couple weeks of gray skies has pushed me close to my breaking point.

    My mother moved back to WV summer before last after a few decades in the south and has been shocked at the ferocity of the last two winters. It doesn’t help that she lives on steep hills and roads that could be confused with goat trails and can’t get out of her neighborhood when there’s snow on the ground. Seriously – less than a mile from I-79, people are driving on unpaved roads with potholes that I feared might eat my Prius. I’ve hiked on nicer trails than my relatives drive on.

  46. 46.

    kdaug

    March 8, 2011 at 10:57 am

    @ThatLeftTurnInABQ: Turning and turning in the widening gyre
    The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
    Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
    Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
    The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
    The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
    The best lack all conviction, while the worst
    Are full of passionate intensity.

  47. 47.

    David Brooks (not that one)

    March 8, 2011 at 10:57 am

    The OP here is in a good mood. I feel utterly disoriented. Who are you, and what have you done with JC?

  48. 48.

    piratedan

    March 8, 2011 at 10:58 am

    maybe i’m just gettin’ old….

    books – waiting on new titles from my favorite authors on both the mystery and SF fronts

    music – any time I crank on the radio its the same old shit, so i’ve devolved back into the music of my youth

    movies – it seems like all Hollywood wants to make are comic book adaptations and lame excuses to blow crap up with nary a story thread to be found

    tv – I watch a few things but I tend to grift most of my stuff from cable than the networks, excepting Castle and Amazing Race.

    Politics – Rethugs are still without soul and compassion and Dems appear to be aimless, afraid to say anything that might deflect from the Rethugs and their current inclination towards self-inflicted wounds

    perhaps this is a good day to rediscover my own blog and update some favorite lists and offer personal anecdotal truths

  49. 49.

    Poopyman

    March 8, 2011 at 10:59 am

    @shortstop: You people are weird. But thanks, anyway. I think….

  50. 50.

    cathyx

    March 8, 2011 at 10:59 am

    @R-Jud: Give her children’s ibuprophin, it works wonders for croup cough, which sounds like what she has. My daughter got that every time she got sick. It takes the swelling down in her throat which is why it sounds like a bark, because her throat is constricted.

  51. 51.

    Corner Stone

    March 8, 2011 at 10:59 am

    @Violet: That list has Alaska as the fourth happiest. That can’t be right.

  52. 52.

    AdamK

    March 8, 2011 at 10:59 am

    Note that the evil JRT has morphed back into a piglet. Spring thaw?

  53. 53.

    Rosalita

    March 8, 2011 at 11:01 am

    @piratedan:

    books – waiting on new titles from my favorite authors on both the mystery and SF fronts

    Who you waiting for? I love spring for the same reason…John Sanford is one of my favorites

  54. 54.

    shortstop

    March 8, 2011 at 11:01 am

    @Poopyman: Guyana?! The hell? Maybe Jim Jones had more of a legacy than we thought.

  55. 55.

    R-Jud

    March 8, 2011 at 11:01 am

    @cathyx: Thanks cathyx. We’re doing that. Will it stop her yelling “WOOF WOOF WOOF!” at 3 am?

  56. 56.

    Cat Lady

    March 8, 2011 at 11:02 am

    Maybe we should start a pool on who and when the first gooper will jump in for 2012. I say Ratface Pawlenty on April 1, completely missing the symbolism.

  57. 57.

    joe from Lowell

    March 8, 2011 at 11:02 am

    Q: Why is February the shortest month?

    A: Because it sucks.

  58. 58.

    shortstop

    March 8, 2011 at 11:03 am

    @Poopyman: One person’s light verbal utterances are another’s porn. It’s all about the respective average temps.

  59. 59.

    bemused

    March 8, 2011 at 11:03 am

    @Alwhite:
    Me too, also. Lifelong northern MN resident with all Scandinavian genes. Winter up here is always long. John is just experiencing a mild MN winter.

    Still, cabin fever is a bitch. Upping the vitamin D has made a huge difference for me. I haven’t even joined in on the ‘when will this damned winter ever end’ grousing I hear everywhere I go.

  60. 60.

    jwb

    March 8, 2011 at 11:04 am

    @Rosalita: Open the edit function in a new tab or window (right click or control click, depending on your platform).

  61. 61.

    shortstop

    March 8, 2011 at 11:05 am

    @shortstop: “Verbal utterances”? You guys see the shape I’m in?

  62. 62.

    Paul in KY

    March 8, 2011 at 11:05 am

    @Phyllis: I was a Pirates fan back when Roberto Clemente patroled right field. I was so happy when they won the series, and then a few months later…

  63. 63.

    shortstop

    March 8, 2011 at 11:06 am

    @bemused: I’ve been upping the D at a researcher friend’s insistence but my levels don’t seem to be budging. Just how long does it take to frontload this stuff?

  64. 64.

    cathyx

    March 8, 2011 at 11:07 am

    @R-Jud: Yes, she’ll still cough, but it will sound like a normal cough.

  65. 65.

    Josie

    March 8, 2011 at 11:08 am

    @Raenelle: Exactly. Last week I decided not to think about politics, the world situation or even my own precarious financial mess and just to concentrate on the things I could actually control–taking care of my pets and garden, cleaning my house and emptying my nightmare of a garage. That is enough to keep me busy for a couple of months.

  66. 66.

    AliceBlue

    March 8, 2011 at 11:10 am

    Not an especially bad winter in Georgia, as winters go–now the Bradford pears are in full bloom, redbuds and quince are blooming and jonquils are everywhere. But it’s the wisteria that I’m waiting for. It’s all over the place in my area and it looks and smells so beautiful. That’s when I know spring is really here.

  67. 67.

    shortstop

    March 8, 2011 at 11:10 am

    @AliceBlue: Keep talking. Tell us more.

  68. 68.

    cleek

    March 8, 2011 at 11:14 am

    @AliceBlue:
    Bradford pears smell like the inside of a bike tire. pretty, tho.

  69. 69.

    singfoom

    March 8, 2011 at 11:14 am

    It’s sunny today here in Chicago. Sunny and coldish. Now I am set to be disappointed again after a decade here when my birthday rolls around at the end of March. Every year I hope it’ll be above 65, and every year I am disappointed.

    As others have said, Chicago is an awesome city, but the whole lack of an actual spring thing sucks.

    John, buck up. When you’re feeling blue, just say Wolf Blizter 3 times. I assure you you will laugh after the third time.

  70. 70.

    Sentient Puddle

    March 8, 2011 at 11:15 am

    Dude, Dragon Age II. Get it and go play already. It’s arriving at a perfect time for me because (a) WoW seems to be filled with a lot more morons than usual, and (b) the other game I’ve been trying to keep myself occupied with (Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors) just doesn’t sit well in my stomach. Jesus Christ what a depressing game.

    Also too, I got a skip in my step because R.E.M. has new shit out today!

  71. 71.

    BGK

    March 8, 2011 at 11:16 am

    Entering our third week of consistent low 80s here. The Black and White Cats are especially happy as I can leave the front door open whenever I’m home, allowing for scenes of advanced lounging.

    Just sayin’.

  72. 72.

    RossInDetroit

    March 8, 2011 at 11:16 am

    I’m with John. I can usually just bear down and power through a bad winter, but this one really blew. Just one storm too many.

  73. 73.

    Origuy

    March 8, 2011 at 11:16 am

    So the theme is depressing poetry? West Virgina winters can’t be worse that Scotland’s.
    Robert Burns, Despondency; an Ode

    Oppress’d with grief, oppress’d with care,
    A burden more than I can bear,
    I set me down and sigh;
    O life! thou art a galling load,
    Along a rough, a weary road,
    To wretches such as I!
    Dim backward as I cast my view,
    What sick’ning scenes appear!
    What sorrows yet may pierce me through,
    Too justly I may fear!
    Still caring, despairing,
    Must be my bitter doom;
    My woes here shall close ne’er
    But with the closing tomb!

  74. 74.

    piratedan

    March 8, 2011 at 11:18 am

    @Rosalita: Lois Bujold, Glen Cook, David Weber, and Carl Hiaasen are some of my favorites… Got blessed at Christmas now have to wait for new stuff or discover other authors

  75. 75.

    Nick

    March 8, 2011 at 11:21 am

    LOL

    Strangely enough, our survey also showed that 14% of Democrats say they do (want Obama impeached), too (78% are opposed). That last finding struck us as quite unexpected, so Tom ran an additional crosstab. We learned that among those who claim they support impeaching Obama, 11% approve of his job performance! Like peanut butter and mayonnaise, these two things clearly do not go together. Our only explanation is that some portion of voters simply aren’t familiar with the term “impeachment” actually means.

  76. 76.

    J.W. Hamner

    March 8, 2011 at 11:22 am

    @cleek:

    If your new FX card is at least 1GB there is apparently a highres texture pack you can download here to give it a work out. I thought the demo looked fine, but there have been complaints that it wasn’t purty enough, so that might help.

  77. 77.

    catclub

    March 8, 2011 at 11:23 am

    @dmsilev: Interesting!
    but aren’t most wall warts for 12V things – mine seem to be.
    Not USB, but for the electronics in exercise machines.

    Maybe I could do some splicing of a USB plug with the round
    DC plug — if it is only 5V, of course.

  78. 78.

    catclub

    March 8, 2011 at 11:27 am

    @Nick: Could also be the civil liberties still matter part of the democratic party.

    Many of those people could say Obama is doing a good job,
    except for violating the international treaty on torture that says any signatory nation should prosecute any of its citizens who have committed, condoned or made possible, torture.
    Looking forward, not back, is not a legal option under the treaty.

  79. 79.

    bemused

    March 8, 2011 at 11:27 am

    @shortstop:
    How much are you taking? I’m taking 1,000 to 2,000 IU of D-3 a day. Maybe try a different brand if the one you’re taking doesn’t seem to be doing anything. I buy mine at the health food store.

    I started this a couple of years ago early in the fall so I don’t know how long it took before I noticed a difference. What I did notice is that when it got to Nov-Dec, the worst months for me, I definitely wasn’t dragging my ass around like before.

  80. 80.

    Alwhite

    March 8, 2011 at 11:29 am

    @RossInDetroit:
    I don’t know if it is the creeping old age or this is a particularly rotten winter but I really reached the end of my rope a couple of weeks ago. I hope it is not a sign of winters yet to be as moving to a warm hell-hole is the only thing more depressing.

  81. 81.

    cckids

    March 8, 2011 at 11:29 am

    Here in the Southwest, we’re dealing with 50-60 mph winds, all day yesterday, all night (trees lashing the windows, yay). But walked out this morning to the most amazing scent–the jasmine is starting to bloom!! Woo-hoo!

    Being originally from the plains of Nebraska, I feel your cabin fever pain. We get it here in Nevada in August-September. . . please God or FSM, let there be ONE FREAKING CLOUDY DAY!!! Just one day when it isn’t 105 at 9 am. That sort of thing. Makes me depressed thinking about it. There is such a thing as too much sun, and we has it.

  82. 82.

    Marmot

    March 8, 2011 at 11:31 am

    @cleek: Heh. That ain’t what they smell like!

    I just cut one down, and I’m replacing it with a Live Oak. Not as pretty, but at least it’s not going to drop big limbs where I was standing 5 min. before.

  83. 83.

    shortstop

    March 8, 2011 at 11:33 am

    @bemused: 2,000, but I’ve only been doing this since Christmasish. Do you mean that you take 1,000-2,000 year-round, or just start early in the fall every year? Thanks!

  84. 84.

    Paul in KY

    March 8, 2011 at 11:33 am

    @Sentient Puddle: The band says it’s their best record since ‘Out of Time’.

    I hope that’s true.

  85. 85.

    Nick

    March 8, 2011 at 11:34 am

    @catclub:

    Many of those people could say Obama is doing a good job,
    except for violating the international treaty on torture that says any signatory nation should prosecute any of its citizens who have committed, condoned or made possible, torture.

    He can’t be doing a “good job” but also be a war criminal, that’s ridiculous. You don’t want to kick someone doing “a good job” out of office. If this is the case, they’re even stupider than I thought.

  86. 86.

    chopper

    March 8, 2011 at 11:35 am

    yeah, this winter sucked the bag. december wasn’t too bad but january just shit the bed entirely, and february wasn’t much better.

    the gray/overcast shit i’m fine with. i’ll take cloudy, misty and mild over clear and cold any day. i’m sick to death of cold weather.

  87. 87.

    Corner Stone

    March 8, 2011 at 11:36 am

    @Nick: So 11% of the 14% of the Democrats polled both approve of the job Obama is doing and also want to start impeachment?
    Get back to us when that number can fill a roadside diner.

  88. 88.

    R-Jud

    March 8, 2011 at 11:37 am

    @cathyx:

    Yes, she’ll still cough, but it will sound like a normal cough.

    Hee hee, I was referring to the fact that she’s been talking in her sleep as well as coughing. Last night it was dog noises and something about cookies.
    @ singfoom:

    As others have said, Chicago is an awesome city, but the whole lack of an actual spring thing sucks.

    True that. I can remember standing in line for a movie one May 10th, brushing snow flurries off my coat. And it’s never a good idea to buy tickets for either baseball team’s season opener: the weather is nearly always terrible.

  89. 89.

    RossInDetroit

    March 8, 2011 at 11:38 am

    @catclub:

    Maybe I could do some splicing of a USB plug with the round
    DC plug—if it is only 5V, of course.

    Kind of, but you have to do it like this

  90. 90.

    Marmot

    March 8, 2011 at 11:39 am

    You guise all need to move somewhere warm. If everyone chooses a so-so city in NM, for example, it’ll become an awesome city! Beats trudging through the snow and moaning about cloud cover each year, amirite?

  91. 91.

    bemused

    March 8, 2011 at 11:40 am

    @shortstop:
    Year round but Im not a spring chick anymore and feeling it so I figure I need all the help I can get. I take a good multivitamin plus flaxseed and fish oil capsules. Fish oil is great for so many things. We give our older arthritic dog fish oil and it really helps her mobility. She loves her fish oil capsules, begs for them.

  92. 92.

    debit

    March 8, 2011 at 11:43 am

    @dmsilev: That is an awesome idea.

  93. 93.

    Nick

    March 8, 2011 at 11:44 am

    @Corner Stone:

    So 11% of the 14% of the Democrats polled both approve of the job Obama is doing and also want to start impeachment?

    you misread…11% of EVERYONE POLLED approve of Obama and want him impeached, not just Democrats. Based on the number of responses, that’s about 55 people out of the 1002 they polled.

  94. 94.

    cleek

    March 8, 2011 at 11:46 am

    @Marmot:
    the internet thinks they smell like all kinds of horrible things.

  95. 95.

    RossInDetroit

    March 8, 2011 at 11:46 am

    @Cat Lady:

    Maybe we should start a pool on who and when the first gooper will jump in for 2012. I say Ratface Pawlenty on April 1, completely missing the symbolism.

    Fun contest, but it might be tough to judge. As of now all of the hopefuls are hiding behind their fans, giggling, blushing and flirting with the media. They don’t want to announce that they want the presidency. They want to be wooed – to be begged to be our president.
    They don’t want to decisively jump in. They want to be led by the hand.

  96. 96.

    Rosalita

    March 8, 2011 at 11:47 am

    @piratedan:

    I recently discovered Andrew Gross; give him a try if you haven’t already. He co-wrote with James Patterson and then started writing his own.

    Love Carl Hiaasen.

  97. 97.

    Josie

    March 8, 2011 at 11:48 am

    @bemused: How much per pound of dog weight do you give her and how do you administer it? My big dog Teddi is eleven years old and really crippled up, even with the prescription meds.

  98. 98.

    Marmot

    March 8, 2011 at 11:53 am

    @cleek: Hahaha! Awesome. Fourth one down is what I always hear (and what pops into my own mind).

  99. 99.

    RossInDetroit

    March 8, 2011 at 11:53 am

    For years the only thing that saved me from paralyzing winter blues – the really bad life ruining kind – was brutal gym workouts 4 days a week. Better than Pr**ac or We**utr*n.
    Now I have a job that leaves me physically exhausted 5 days a week. Seriously, after 30 years of fighting depression every damn winter the only thing that consistently works is to be knocked out from physical effort every day.

  100. 100.

    Sentient Puddle

    March 8, 2011 at 11:55 am

    @Paul in KY: First, I hope they meant Automatic For the People. Because really.

    Second, I’ve listened to a bunch of individual tracks that they posted on YouTube, and based on that, I think they might be right. I haven’t heard it all sequenced as an album and I don’t know how well the album will wear on me with time, but I have really enjoyed what I’ve heard. Might be safe to call it their best post-Berry album, at least.

  101. 101.

    Maude

    March 8, 2011 at 12:00 pm

    @shortstop:
    I’m on a prescription Vit D. 50,000 units once a week. Under $24 for 3 months.
    It costs less and I figured, why not when the Doc said to take it. The level was taken with other blood tests.

  102. 102.

    stuckinred

    March 8, 2011 at 12:09 pm

    @Maude: My wife is buggin me to take that stuff!

  103. 103.

    bemused

    March 8, 2011 at 12:15 pm

    @Josie:
    She is 60#, will be 12 in a couple of months and has arthritis only in her back legs. (She had a plate put in one knee when she was four.) We started her on the fish oil when she was 10 at the recommendation of the owner of the kennel our dogs stay at when we are away. We started with 500 mg Omega 3, softgel, once a day and in just 2 weeks, she was moving around so much better. Now we are giving her 1000 mg a day.
    She is used to taking pills because for quite awhile, we have given her Glucosamine/Chondrotin daily. She just chews up G/C because she knows she will get her fish oil right after. She loves the taste of the fish oil. We think the fish oil has done more for her than the G/C but I guess dogs vary in the results just like humans.
    We just pick up both of these otc at Walgreens or wherever is cheaper. Your dog sounds like he has much more severe arthritis than our dog but check with your vet on the fish oil &/or G/C. Our vet definitely approved.

  104. 104.

    patrick

    March 8, 2011 at 12:23 pm

    Honestly, I think you need a girlfriend. I’m not sure it’s pyschologically healthy for a 40-something to be living alone with 2 pets and a devil. Match.com works wonders….

    yeah, I blame it on lack of sex also. at least that’s the excuse I give my wife for any negative issue in our lives….

  105. 105.

    Paul in KY

    March 8, 2011 at 12:25 pm

    @Sentient Puddle: That’s what one of them said in Rolling Stone. Personally, I think ‘Eyponmous’ is their best album. ‘Automatic for the People’ is right up there, too (along with 3 or 4 more).

    I haven’t listened to any of the new tracks yet. plan to get the CD.

  106. 106.

    Poopyman

    March 8, 2011 at 12:28 pm

    @shortstop: I do 2000 IU/day year round. Seems to help.

    Reminds me that I have 3 capsules left. Need to get some D3 next time I’m at the store.

  107. 107.

    Rick Taylor

    March 8, 2011 at 12:29 pm

    Just make a solid decision, and announce you’re not going to doing any blogging for some period of time, say a week. If the past is any indication, within one hour you will follow up with a long passionate series of posts on some outrage or other.

  108. 108.

    dmsilev

    March 8, 2011 at 1:28 pm

    @catclub: It varies. A lot of stuff is 12V as you say, and this won’t work for those. On the other hand, an increasing number of widgets are designed to charge off a USB socket; cell phones, iPods, some cameras, etc. I have an iPad and a cheapie cell phone hooked up to this; that’s two wall-warts down.

    dms

  109. 109.

    Josie

    March 8, 2011 at 1:46 pm

    @bemused: Thanks much.

  110. 110.

    Arclite

    March 8, 2011 at 2:09 pm

    I feel like I’ve been in a real rut lately. Sure, there is lots going on, but I just have no desire to talk about it. Then, when I do find something interesting, someone else has already posted about it.

    1. This is a sign of success that you’ve got a bunch of intelligent folks on your blog who can smell a pile of shit when they step in it.

    2. Post about it anyway, you’ve got a unique perspective. At the bottom you can always post a disclaimer “Consider this an open thread”

  111. 111.

    HyperIon

    March 8, 2011 at 2:10 pm

    cole wrote:

    I think it has to be the weather.

    I think it has to be that you have been doing this for a long time. I can hardly force myself to read blogs these days. I can’t imagine what effort it takes to write posts every day for 7 years.

    But we’ll know more when spring finally arrives.
    I predict your funk continues.

  112. 112.

    piratedan

    March 8, 2011 at 2:17 pm

    @Rosalita: I’ll check him out, thnx!

  113. 113.

    quaint irene

    March 8, 2011 at 2:36 pm

    Can’t come fast enough for me. And I hope it does come on fast. Judging by other harsh snowy winters. The call snow, ‘the poor man’s nitrogen.’

  114. 114.

    Gus

    March 8, 2011 at 4:58 pm

    @cathyx: Yep, that strategy always works for me, too.

  115. 115.

    CaliCat

    March 8, 2011 at 7:19 pm

    And it didn’t help that your Steelers lost. Look, don’t be too hard on yourself. You still make this blog! In fact, YOU, Mr. Cole, are the main reason I come here just about every day. Your fellow contributors are great but I come here for the Cole (and Mike Kay, super commenter). I admit I’m hooked on your clever charms…don’t go changin, rut or not.

    Love,

    CaliCat

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