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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Friday Evening Open Thread

Friday Evening Open Thread

by Betty Cracker|  September 26, 20145:33 pm| 45 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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The rain just keeps coming here. I hope you’re enjoying more pleasant weather wherever you are. Open thread.

ETA: Here’s one for the “self-awareness, lack thereof file” — “Rand Paul blasts Obama as arrogant ‘autocrat.'” Jesus H. God. That’s like Donald Trump criticizing, well, anyone’s hairdo.

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Reader Interactions

45Comments

  1. 1.

    shortstop

    September 26, 2014 at 5:35 pm

    Not trying to rub it in, but since we suffered mightily through the last winter, I will say that I am thrilled to be having such a lovely fall day!

  2. 2.

    pat

    September 26, 2014 at 5:37 pm

    Lovely warm fall weather in western Wisconsin. Just got back from a 20 mile bike ride on the Root River Trail. This weather is much too good to be wasted pulling weeds and pruning shrubs.

    Walking in the Octoberfest Parade tomorrow in support of Mary Burke for Gov. Would be wonderful to send Scotty packing.

  3. 3.

    Suffern ACE

    September 26, 2014 at 5:39 pm

    Will you recognize me? Call my name or just walk on by? Rain keeps falling down. Down. Down.

    Or something like that.

  4. 4.

    Mike J

    September 26, 2014 at 5:43 pm

    @Suffern ACE: I forgot about that.

  5. 5.

    BethanyAnne

    September 26, 2014 at 5:46 pm

    Our new war if the HTML renders right, that is.

  6. 6.

    Lizzy L

    September 26, 2014 at 5:47 pm

    Rain.

    WANT.

    (drought-stricken Californian here…)

  7. 7.

    Mnemosyne

    September 26, 2014 at 5:48 pm

    Looking at new apartments this weekend. Again. G had a bit of a freakout about moving to a more expensive place, but I think we’ve talked it through. I was very tempted by the house for rent in Pasadena, but it would have required buying stuff we don’t already have, like a washer/dryer and a dining room set. Still thinking, though.

  8. 8.

    Karen in GA

    September 26, 2014 at 5:48 pm

    Clouds, wind, no rain.

    Meanwhile, there’s no pleasing some cats.

  9. 9.

    gelfling545

    September 26, 2014 at 5:54 pm

    Here in WNY we are enjoying some of the most beautiful fall weather ever: warm, sunny days, cool nights, clean up the garden time; and we savor every minute of it because Dog only knows what winter will be like (although it’s rarely as severe as those in other areas seem to think.)

  10. 10.

    Betty Cracker

    September 26, 2014 at 5:54 pm

    @Mnemosyne: We’ve been looking at houses lately in preparation for an empty nest (kiddo is 16 but graduating early). We won’t be able to downsize much as we always want to have a place she can come home to; we’ll likely settle on something around the same size. But the mister wants more land even further out in the boonies.

    It’s been fun looking and dreaming about the possibilities, and we’re far enough away from taking action that there’s no immediate pressure. But the thought of moving fills me with dread. Just the logistics of it.

  11. 11.

    Amir Khalid

    September 26, 2014 at 5:56 pm

    The climate in Malaysia is rather like that in Florida, I’ve been told. Over here we have rain, which can get very heavy; sunshine; and haze, due to burning of trees in Indonesia in illegal forest clearing by locals/commercial plantations owned by Malaysian Big Ag. Sometimes all three on the same day.

  12. 12.

    Roger Moore

    September 26, 2014 at 5:56 pm

    @Lizzy L:
    This. We’d be more than happy to take that rain off your hands, Betty.

  13. 13.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    September 26, 2014 at 6:01 pm

    @Roger Moore: What is this rain that Betty speaks of?

  14. 14.

    Betty Cracker

    September 26, 2014 at 6:02 pm

    @Roger Moore: I’d send it your way if I could. I usually like rain, but we’re to the point now that you can’t walk in the yard without the mud sucking the shoes off your feet.

  15. 15.

    Roger Moore

    September 26, 2014 at 6:05 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA:

    What is this rain that Betty speaks of?

    It’s God’s sprinkler system. Unfortunately, there’s a drought in California right now, so He’s switched it off to conserve water.

  16. 16.

    srv

    September 26, 2014 at 6:05 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: It’s a liquid that falls from the sky! Literally!

    I saw it once, nobody knew what to do. Cars crashing, people slipping, all sorts of chaos. Apparently it’s good for plants.

  17. 17.

    Mnemosyne

    September 26, 2014 at 6:15 pm

    @Betty Cracker:

    We move about every 10 years — we moved in together in 2004, and before that, each of us had lived in our previous apartments for 10+ years. I think it’s safe to say that neither of us likes to move.

    Though at least this time we have enough money that we can hire people to move the big stuff rather than seeing if anyone has a buddy with a pickup truck who’ll do it for beer money. I do NOT want to try and maneuver our couch down those friggin’ stairs.

  18. 18.

    Violet

    September 26, 2014 at 6:16 pm

    @BillinGlendaleCA: I was in southern California quite a few years ago now and it rained. My friend who lived there had invited me out to experience the great weather and it rained the whole week. Not the entire day every day, but we did have rain every day. It flooded and on one sightseeing drive we noticed that people had pulled over to look at something. It was a creek or small river that was overflowing and creating a huge waterfall.

    So yeah. It happens. I’ve even seen it!

  19. 19.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    September 26, 2014 at 6:16 pm

    Beautiful and cool in Southern Minnesota. Took a run in the woods today. Very nice.’

    Kind of wish we’d get some rain. Just added another down spout, and hopefully killed off the last damp spot in our basement. Need proof.

  20. 20.

    Smiling Mortician

    September 26, 2014 at 6:16 pm

    @BethanyAnne: That’s terribly good.

  21. 21.

    thruppence

    September 26, 2014 at 6:20 pm

    @srv: California is becoming Arrakis with medical spice dispensaries.

  22. 22.

    Trollhattan

    September 26, 2014 at 6:20 pm

    @Lizzy L: Got a whopping quarter-inch yesterday–first we’ve seen since…May? April? Everything looks a little greener today, on account of four months of dust being washed off.

  23. 23.

    Roger Moore

    September 26, 2014 at 6:22 pm

    @Violet:

    So yeah. It happens. I’ve even seen it!

    Pics or it didn’t happen!

  24. 24.

    Mnemosyne

    September 26, 2014 at 6:23 pm

    I can’t quite tell which party is more delusional in this Newsmax headline:

    ISIS: We’ll Attack NYC Soon

  25. 25.

    Howard Beale IV

    September 26, 2014 at 6:28 pm

    From a young Rand Paul:

    “To the editors: After reading Mr. Wilzrkarth’s editorial (Feb. 2) condemning President Reagan’s plan for a ‘New Federalism’, every national person should contemplate the essence of the system that has created such a controversy. The main thrust of the article lies in the assertion that neither state governments nor private charity can absorb the immensity of the welfare system. We have been taught as Christian people that it is wrong to steal. But underlying the whole welfare concept is the principle of theft. Money in the form of taxes is confiscated from the producers in society and redistributed to those who can’t or won’t produce. The immoral act of stealing, thus, has become moral in the eyes of society. Immediately, I sense the horror stricken faces of those persons finishing the previous paragraph. Why, he would let the needy starve! My reply would be: How many realistic people believe there are 22 million Americans who need food stamps to survive? How many open-minded people believe 11 million Americans actually need sustenance? Let us assume a highly unlikely percentage, such as half, truly need some support. If individuals were not burdened by taxes incurred by this wealth transfer system, the truly needy would surely be supported. Randall H. Paul; Biology, ’85”

  26. 26.

    Karen in GA

    September 26, 2014 at 6:28 pm

    70s in Georgia. Pleasant, from what I’ve been told. I’ve been in the house all week with a nasty cold I started coming down with the day I left London — woke up Sunday morning with a sore throat just in time to spend 9 hours on a plane, which I’m sure was a huge help.

    Last time I got sick after a trans-Atlantic flight, it became full-blown bronchitis, which led me to quit smoking. So I actually have a weird fondness for plane-aggravated illness.

  27. 27.

    Violet

    September 26, 2014 at 6:29 pm

    @Roger Moore: You know what, I’ve probably got pictures somewhere. It would be kind of sad for me, though, because this friend is no longer with us. Sad loss for me.

  28. 28.

    Scamp Dog

    September 26, 2014 at 6:31 pm

    @Karen in GA: Yay, the Iggy Dialogues have returned!

  29. 29.

    El Caganer

    September 26, 2014 at 6:34 pm

    Betty, do you have any details on the bomb threats in Sanford schools?

  30. 30.

    Turgidson

    September 26, 2014 at 6:41 pm

    @Howard Beale IV:

    But duuude, did you see his filibuster on drones, maaaan?

  31. 31.

    Trollhattan

    September 26, 2014 at 6:43 pm

    @Howard Beale IV:
    Am shocked, shocked young Randall was a douche all the way back in the ’80s. Do you suppose he gelled that head-badger back then and hung out in discos? Aqua Buddha didn’t light itself.

  32. 32.

    Cacti

    September 26, 2014 at 6:47 pm

    It’s the final week of September here in greater Phoenix, and we still hit triple digits in 4 of the last 7 days.

    Looking forward to the dip into the 80s projected for next week (finally!).

  33. 33.

    Howard Beale IV

    September 26, 2014 at 6:54 pm

    @Turgidson: @Trollhattan:

    The reality is that Paul the Lesser is in actuality no different than Grover “Drown the Government in the Bathtub” Norquist-and worse-he’s a fucking US Senator-who tries to curry favor by appearing to be for civil liberties, when in reality he’d shred them faster than Arthur Anderson during L’affaire Enron.

    He’d be another person for the ‘Render no assistance to’ list.

  34. 34.

    Roger Moore

    September 26, 2014 at 7:10 pm

    @Howard Beale IV:
    Personally, I think the government needs to put Grover Norquist on a diet; we need to shrink him until he’s small enough to drown in a bathtub.

  35. 35.

    NCSteve

    September 26, 2014 at 7:23 pm

    “arrogant” is just Wingnut for “uppity.”

    The election season is upon us. It’s all dogwhistles and Blair Witch Project meltdowns from here til November.

  36. 36.

    tybee

    September 26, 2014 at 7:25 pm

    the weather “services”, both public and private, have predicted the biblical deluges here for a week. so far, they have not delivered. since i have obligations this weekend and cannot venture out upon the briny, despite the 80% chance of precipitation, i anticipate sunshine and zephyrs.

  37. 37.

    El Caganer

    September 26, 2014 at 7:36 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Then they take Berlin?

  38. 38.

    Betty Cracker

    September 26, 2014 at 7:39 pm

    @El Caganer: First I’ve heard of it!

  39. 39.

    El Caganer

    September 26, 2014 at 7:42 pm

    @Betty Cracker: Saw it when I turned on my computer:
    http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/8-florida-schools-evacuated-after-bomb-threats

  40. 40.

    Karen in GA

    September 26, 2014 at 7:47 pm

    @Scamp Dog: Aw, gosh.

  41. 41.

    Frankensteinbeck

    September 26, 2014 at 7:49 pm

    Rand Paul blasts Obama as arrogant ‘autocrat.’

    Arrogant autocrat = Black man who successfully does things White People (as opposed to white people) don’t want.

    It’s rationalization. They’re SURE they’re not the racists, so what else could these feelings of frustration, anger, and inferiority mean?

  42. 42.

    Jay C

    September 26, 2014 at 8:19 pm

    Looking forward to our (again) Last Pool Day Weekend here in the Scenic Berkshires: late Sept. is usually the start of Fall: but the forecast is for two more sunny days in the mid-high 70s: no complaints, mind: today (Fri) was lovely – sunny, low 70s – just have to remember to hit poolside early: the sun goes in a lot sooner than it does in July…

  43. 43.

    Linnaeus

    September 26, 2014 at 8:39 pm

    Fall started very quickly here in the Puget Sound area: we went from sunny and low 80s on last Sunday, to low 70s and a mix of clouds and sun on Monday, then to showers/rain/showers/some sun/showers/cloudy from Wednesday through today with temperatures in the upper 60s to around 70.

  44. 44.

    Howard Beale IV

    September 26, 2014 at 9:11 pm

    @Roger Moore: No. we just need to always cite their type as to what they really are: anarchists.

  45. 45.

    Chris

    September 27, 2014 at 3:45 am

    @Howard Beale IV:

    I… just… fucking… LOATHE this guy, and everyone like him. That is all. I really would feel zero compassion at seeing him guillotined in front of an entire crowd as he so richly deserves.

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