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… gradually, and then suddenly.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Highway to Hell

Highway to Hell

by Betty Cracker|  May 31, 201512:15 pm| 157 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads, Religion, Serenity Now!

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Kinda surprising this number was allowed to slip past the DOT millennialists: 

 
The highway casts travelers into a paradise rather than a lake of fire: 

 
But once the sun rises over the yardarm, it’s every bit as hot as hell.

Open thread!

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Reader Interactions

157Comments

  1. 1.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 31, 2015 at 12:25 pm

    According to Wikipedia, US route 666 was renumbered in part due to concerns by the usual Jeebus-addled douchecanoes.

    Here in Oregon, they were going to number a local highway “OR 69” but decided to make it “OR 569” to avoid signage loss.

  2. 2.

    CaseyL

    May 31, 2015 at 12:26 pm

    Well, if there has to be a Route 666, Florida is the logical place to put it.

    (When I lived in Miami, lo those many years ago, I’d tell god-botherers trying to convert me that Hell couldn’t be all that bad because at least it was a dry heat.)

  3. 3.

    Corner Stone

    May 31, 2015 at 12:26 pm

    It got above 90 yesterday for the first time here this year (I think). And it felt like the devil Herself was breathing down on me. I just about wilted away, and was looking frantically about to see if FlipYrWhig may be near, so that I might borrow one of his fainting couches.

  4. 4.

    shell

    May 31, 2015 at 12:27 pm

    Thought some scholars said the Mark of the Beast is really 616. Not as snappy as 666 though.

  5. 5.

    the Conster

    May 31, 2015 at 12:28 pm

    There used to be a Hwy 666 in AZ – since re-numbered. It was referred to as the Devil’s Highway or some such. I took it from south to north, not realizing that it went past the copper mine at Morenci, which literally is hellish, but two hours later ending up in the Apache national forest watching eagles playing on an ice floe in pristine wilderness on a Tuesday morning in February. This country is ridiculously beautiful, if only the assholes would stop fucking it all up.

  6. 6.

    Corner Stone

    May 31, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    How can Hawaii be the least obese state in the union? Maybe because beef is too expensive to purchase there?

  7. 7.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    May 31, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    Getting ready to head off to Pasadena for today’s CicLAvia. June Gloom is making it a perfect day for it, since it’s overcast and cool. It’ll probably heat up quite a bit by this afternoon, though.

  8. 8.

    Poopyman

    May 31, 2015 at 12:30 pm

    Here in the paradise that is Southern Maryland we’re still a tad below 90, but the key number to watch is the dew point. That’s at 74 right now.

    Not pleasant.

  9. 9.

    NotMax

    May 31, 2015 at 12:30 pm

    No one who lives on this island ever uses the state or county designated road numbers. Practically no one who lives here could correctly match a number to a specific road if a gun were put to his or her temple.

    Always kind of funny whenever a visitor or tourist asks for directions to Highway [insert number] and is met with a blank or quizzical look.

  10. 10.

    Poopyman

    May 31, 2015 at 12:32 pm

    @Corner Stone: A lot of it is vertical, which makes a difference if one does much walking. A pleasant climate helps get people out to walk, also too.

  11. 11.

    Hungry Joe

    May 31, 2015 at 12:34 pm

    It was two years ago almost to the day that a car crashed through the wall of my wife’s office, slamming her desk into her abdomen and sending her to the hospital for a week. She lost her gall bladder and a slice of her liver, but she also re-assessed her life, cutting back to part-time and getting more into teaching Nia dance. Today she’s stronger and healthier than ever.

    Things DON’T happen for a reason (unless you call randomness a reason), and she WASN’T lucky just because she wasn’t killed (had she been lucky the goddam car never would have hit her). But she sure has make the best of a near-tragic situation.

    Later we found out that the kitten we rescued, now known as Phoebe, or Feebs, or The Feebster, was born on the day my wife was hit. This means … NOTHING. (See “randomness,” above.) But it sure is cool.

  12. 12.

    Fair Economist

    May 31, 2015 at 12:34 pm

    My zip code used to have “666” but somebody managed to get it renumbered in the ’90s. I had an acquaintance with the phone number 666-1234 and when the phone company tried to close down the 666 exchange because of all the superstitious types she refused to give it up because NOBODY ever forgot her number.

  13. 13.

    askew

    May 31, 2015 at 12:34 pm

    For the weird news of the day, Enrique Iglesias is recovering from getting his fingers sliced during a concert by grabbing a drone. He did finish the rest of the concert while bleeding.

    The show must go on I guess.

  14. 14.

    shell

    May 31, 2015 at 12:36 pm

    We have some interesting named roads in New Jersey. One is Shades Of Death road. Noone knows where the name originated and needless to say they have a devil of a time keeping people from stealing the street signs.

  15. 15.

    Valdivia

    May 31, 2015 at 12:37 pm

    @Hungry Joe:

    glad to hear she is stronger and doing well.

    @Betty
    that is one amazingly beautiful view of hell :)

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    May 31, 2015 at 12:37 pm

    @Corner Stone

    Caucasian minority state.

    While there’s plenty of generously hefty sized folk here, there are also many, many thin, thin, thin people of Japanese, Chinese and Filipino extraction.

  17. 17.

    Botsplainer

    May 31, 2015 at 12:38 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    More expensive to ship non-native food, so people budget and eat more efficiently, accompanied by a climate that makes walking positive.

  18. 18.

    Felonius Monk

    May 31, 2015 at 12:38 pm

    The Road to Hell is lined with well intended road signs.

  19. 19.

    Tenar Darell

    May 31, 2015 at 12:38 pm

    It looks like it will finally rain. Which is good, because I got bit pretty good in my father’s yard (and my mother’s garden) just trying to water it a bit last week.

  20. 20.

    Corner Stone

    May 31, 2015 at 12:40 pm

    @NotMax: I was actually wondering what the demographics there were now, but not strongly enough to look into it. I remember a few years back reading that there had been a steadily increasing influx from Japan.

  21. 21.

    Corner Stone

    May 31, 2015 at 12:43 pm

    Although a friend of mine spent 30 days in HI a couple years ago. According to him, there were the most beautiful women all over the place. I took that to be tourists based on what I know of his beauty standards.

  22. 22.

    Corner Stone

    May 31, 2015 at 12:45 pm

    @Felonius Monk:

    The Road to Hell is lined with well intended road signs.

    I now feel a lot better about ignoring those “Obey Road Signs”.

  23. 23.

    Gin & Tonic

    May 31, 2015 at 12:47 pm

    Anxiously awaiting the birth of our first grandchild, which is taking his/her sweet old time coming into the world. Water broke at midnight, last update from SIL says 3.5 cm dilated – medical people seem content with the progress, even if my daughter is not. Maybe it’s karma, because her appearance also took a good long time.

  24. 24.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 31, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    @Felonius Monk: “Eat at Joe’s” “Only 850 miles to Wall Drug”

  25. 25.

    Iowa Old Lady

    May 31, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    @Hungry Joe: Good for Mrs. Hungry Joe. Glad she’s doing well.

    Yesterday, we took visiting family to the National Czech and Slovak Museum in Cedar Rapids. Along with molds for creating lamb shaped cakes, a la Betty Cracker, I found a description of the 1931 Iowa Cow War. Regulations had been passed saying cows had to be tested for TB, and a bunch of farmers resisted, saying the tests weren’t reliable and caused abortions in the cows. The governor wasn’t fooling around. He declared martial law and sent in the National Guard.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa_Cow_War

  26. 26.

    Karen in GA

    May 31, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    Open thread? The new girl learns her name, and Iggy is… well, he’s very Iggy about it.

  27. 27.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 31, 2015 at 12:50 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Has she tried legal methods? Like getting the county sheriff to execute an eviction notice?

  28. 28.

    Baud

    May 31, 2015 at 12:51 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Congrats!

  29. 29.

    dr. luba

    May 31, 2015 at 12:52 pm

    @shell: “Thought some scholars said the Mark of the Beast is really 616. Not as snappy as 666 though.”

    Interestingly, that is the area code of the Grand Rapids (MI) area, home of Amway, Eric Prince (Blackwater), the Michigan GOP and countless god-botherers. Quite appropriate, I have always thought.

  30. 30.

    NotMax

    May 31, 2015 at 12:53 pm

    @Botsplainer

    1) Beef cattle are still raised on ranches here.

    2) 90% of ALL food goods are shipped in, so everything is more expensive. We’re accustomed to that. Beef prices (even today) are still fairly reasonable compared to non-beef meats. Pork is generally a better value at the meat counter, price-wise, than chicken.

    People spend more time walking? Ha. Good one. Sidewalks – where they exist – are a fine place to go be totally alone. (Honolulu sidewalks are somewhat an exception, but that’s mostly tourist and military pedestrian traffic.)

  31. 31.

    jayboat

    May 31, 2015 at 12:56 pm

    I laugh at that sign every time I see it.
    It’s a very vibrant beach area, maybe it will keep those undesirables away.

    The heat here doesn’t really bother me, but you need to be prepared if you’re out in it.

    Here’s a nice sunset over Clearwater Harbor looking toward Clearwater Beach.
    It was a not hot.

  32. 32.

    NotMax

    May 31, 2015 at 12:59 pm

    @dr. luba

    Uncharacteristically, the area code of Hell, Michigan is 734.

  33. 33.

    MomSense

    May 31, 2015 at 1:00 pm

    Well if any one wants to take a road trip north on Route 1, the Norh Atlantic Blues Festival is July 11th and 12th in Rockland, Maine. I’m looking forward to hearing James Cotton and Eddie Shaw perform.
    I bought tickets for Saturday but will listen from my kayak on Sunday.

  34. 34.

    NotMax

    May 31, 2015 at 1:01 pm

    Early-ish notice for those in the NYC/Long Island area.

    This June 7 event looks as if it might be fun: World’s Fair Anniversary Festival.

  35. 35.

    Brachiator

    May 31, 2015 at 1:06 pm

    Who are the top 1 percent and top 10 percent? Some numbers from 2012 IRS data.

    To be included in the top 1 percent of returns for 2012 required an AGI of $434,682 or more; the top 0.001 percent required an AGI of $62,068,187 or more. Returns in the top 10 percent (returns with AGI of $125,195 or more) accounted for nearly half of AGI and paid more than two-thirds of all individual income tax for the year.

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    May 31, 2015 at 1:07 pm

    @Betty Cracker

    Florida also has parking lot highway A1A, a designation I’ve never quite grokked.

  37. 37.

    Valdivia

    May 31, 2015 at 1:10 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:

    he/she knows how to make an entrance. Congrats on grandfatherhood!

  38. 38.

    SRW1

    May 31, 2015 at 1:14 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    How can Hawaii be the least obese state in the union?

    Must be the hoola hoola dancing the people there do all the time!

    Oh wait, that’s Tahiti!

    I got nothin’.

  39. 39.

    Tommy

    May 31, 2015 at 1:17 pm

    @NotMax:

    People spend more time walking? Ha. Good one. Sidewalks – where they exist – are a fine place to go be totally alone. (Honolulu sidewalks are somewhat an exception, but that’s mostly tourist and military pedestrian traffic.)

    I have this fitness bracelet. I try to walk 15,000 steps a day. That is my exercise. People that live around me used to stop and ask if I needed a ride. Walking was foreign to them it seemed.

    Oh maybe about 75% of my town does not have sidewalks.

  40. 40.

    jharp

    May 31, 2015 at 1:17 pm

    And I have the gout today.

    Jesus Christ is it ever painful.

    How people got along before God invented Vicodin I have no idea.

  41. 41.

    Brachiator

    May 31, 2015 at 1:19 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: I thought that the Cow War involved Red Holstein vs Black Holstein sectarian violence.

    The real thing is interesting stuff. Sounds like that governor wasn’t having any junk science. Ah, if only we could call out the National Guard on anti-vaxxers.

  42. 42.

    Corner Stone

    May 31, 2015 at 1:21 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Returns in the top 10 percent (returns with AGI of $125,195 or more) accounted for nearly half of AGI and paid more than two-thirds of all individual income tax for the year.

    Any interest in unpacking this a little further?

  43. 43.

    Schlemazel

    May 31, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    I was in a drug store near Titusville and the woman in front of me was buying a few small things, the total came to $6.66. The woman lost her shit and made the clerk void the transaction. She added a pack of gum to the mix so that the total was not that number!! I found the amount of superstition amusing.

  44. 44.

    Iowa Old Lady

    May 31, 2015 at 1:24 pm

    @Brachiator: I thought that same thing. The test was required because TB was passing through the milk to people.

    I also noticed that the objection to regulation is apparently nothing new.

  45. 45.

    Brachiator

    May 31, 2015 at 1:32 pm

    @jharp: I imagine that some people just drank wine until they became unconscious. But oddly enough there were effective treatments early on.

    Although there is evidence that colchicine, an alkaloid derived from the autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale), was used as a powerful purgative in ancient Greece more than 2000 years ago, its first use as a selective and specific treatment for gout is attributed to the Byzantine Christian physician Alexander of Tralles in the sixth century AD. Although colchicine was useful for the treatment of acute gout, it was recognized from earliest times that it could cause severe gastrointestinal side effects. Because of the great influence of Thomas Sydenham (‘the English Hippocrates’), who rejected all medications that were purgatives as being too toxic for use, colchicine was not used for the treatment of gout for about 150 years until its rediscovery in 1763 by Professor Baron Von Stoerk in Vienna.

  46. 46.

    Jim

    May 31, 2015 at 1:37 pm

    I just took Virginia Rt 666 today. It runs from the Jonesboro Baptist Church (!) over to Crabtree Falls Highway. Here’s a Google street view, with the church in the background.

    http://tinyurl.com/ogx7pqs

  47. 47.

    Karen in GA

    May 31, 2015 at 1:37 pm

    @Hungry Joe: Very glad your wife is doing well.

    And Phoebe is a great kitty name.

  48. 48.

    Thoroughly Pizzled

    May 31, 2015 at 1:38 pm

    Big Beaver Road in Michigan is off of Exit 69 on I-75.

  49. 49.

    Brachiator

    May 31, 2015 at 1:41 pm

    @Corner Stone:

    Any interest in unpacking this a little further?

    What else would you like to know? I can wade through some of the report.

  50. 50.

    Corner Stone

    May 31, 2015 at 1:45 pm

    @Brachiator: You dropped it without comment and I wanted to see if what I took away from the blurb was the essential piece of info there. Or if I was missing something.
    Because if half of all AGI is in the top 10% and paying more than 2/3rds of all income tax then what the hell are the rest of us doing?

  51. 51.

    scav

    May 31, 2015 at 1:47 pm

    @Corner Stone: surviving on a lot less?

  52. 52.

    raven

    May 31, 2015 at 1:58 pm

    @NotMax: Read about the guy killed by the swordfish on the Big Island?

  53. 53.

    JGabriel

    May 31, 2015 at 2:00 pm

    Betty Cracker @ Top:

    The highway casts travelers into a paradise rather than a lake of fire …

    Oh, sure, it looks like paradise. That’s how Satan draws them in.

  54. 54.

    Karen in GA

    May 31, 2015 at 2:00 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Congratulations are in order (or will be any minute now)!

  55. 55.

    Brachiator

    May 31, 2015 at 2:06 pm

    @Corner Stone:
    The main thing I wanted to do was to post some figures on what income level constitutes the 1 percent, etc. When you get into who pays taxes, it gets more complicated. At most income levels, single people, especially single people without dependents, pay more in tax than other groups. Also, this data does not include social security taxes, state taxes, or sales taxes, which hit lower income groups harder. And although the 10 percent may pay more federal income taxes in the aggregate, the remainder paid by everyone else may be more of a burden, and more of a hit on total available income. This is harder to tease out just by looking at the data.

    But when you take deductions and credits into account, the 10 percent end up paying a large chunk of federal income taxes.

    The SOI Bulletin articles are available for download at IRS.gov/taxstats.

  56. 56.

    PhilbertDesanex

    May 31, 2015 at 2:06 pm

    @Brachiator: How about the same for the .1%? I wonder where the cutoff is, where some line on a chart heads for the Moon.

    Also 6.66 was my starting wage at the Post Office. So be nice.

  57. 57.

    fuckwit

    May 31, 2015 at 2:07 pm

    Oh great, now I have that fucking song stuck in my head. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOTMw0o1ELM

  58. 58.

    Big ole hound

    May 31, 2015 at 2:11 pm

    @Jim: Nice that it runs between the church and graveyard. Wish I could read that name on the signpost.

  59. 59.

    Corner Stone

    May 31, 2015 at 2:12 pm

    @fuckwit: I thought that based solely on the title, if the byline were John Cole it would have been a thread about HRC’s WH run.

  60. 60.

    elmo

    May 31, 2015 at 2:16 pm

    @Poopyman: I was just outside grilling burgers. It’s fine in the shade, and there’s a nice breeze most of the time.
    I like SoMD way, WAY better than my former home in East TN.

  61. 61.

    bemused

    May 31, 2015 at 2:16 pm

    One of the area codes in my region is 666. At my last job, there would be the occasional out of area caller that would comment on the 666 number but I would laugh and say that neither I nor anyone else ever heard of any satanists around past or present. I think the 666 number comes from way back in telephone number history when the 3 digit number originally was a name. iirc, 666 was Clearwater followed by residents’ last 4 phone numbers.

  62. 62.

    fuckwit

    May 31, 2015 at 2:25 pm

    @bemused: If it were me, I’d laugh when asked about it too, but I’d laugh like MUAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!!!

  63. 63.

    satby

    May 31, 2015 at 2:26 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Exciting! Good luck to your daughter and SIL, and congrats to all on the new arrival.

  64. 64.

    fuckwit

    May 31, 2015 at 2:27 pm

    @Corner Stone: On our hands and knees sucking off the “job creators”?

  65. 65.

    bemused

    May 31, 2015 at 2:27 pm

    @fuckwit:

    That definitely would have been more fun! I doubt the boss would have been amused though.

  66. 66.

    Shakti

    May 31, 2015 at 2:28 pm

    Hilariously, FL Route 666 is mostly the Tom Stuart causeway, formerly Welch. Nobody, including old time locals and librarians has the faintest idea who Tom Stuart was. As best as I can tell there was a contest to rename the bridge about a while back ago, and this anon won. Route 666 starts at the VA, which houses an enormous national cemetery. Right before the road terminates you see a 7-11 on your left. 7-11 gets theological, inviting you to “thank heaven.” Now, I think this is perfect. A bridge leads you to places that have lots of transients and a few people that are there year round to serve them. Gas stations and convenience stores are like this (Shells anagrams to “hells” and every Mobil is a “limbo”). Gulf Boulevard is dotted with big hotels and small ones, and the small ones are run by families that stay year round, and never leave. Half of the nicer homes in the area are owned by people who only spend a couple of months here.

  67. 67.

    Felonius Monk

    May 31, 2015 at 2:33 pm

    @jharp: I feel your pain, but control mine with Indomethacin.

  68. 68.

    Betty Cracker

    May 31, 2015 at 2:36 pm

    @jharp: My hubby has gout too. He rarely has an attack — controls it with diet. But when he does, it’s awfully painful.

  69. 69.

    Major Major Major Major

    May 31, 2015 at 2:40 pm

    Today I learned:

    So MAOI’s are an old class of psychiatric medicine and you have to avoid foods rich in certain things while taking them. I knew that. What nobody noticed for decades is that three of the five forbidden foods are…

    Fava beans, liver, and red wine.

  70. 70.

    Jerzy Russian

    May 31, 2015 at 2:41 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: Can’t Scotty just beam him/her out? That would save everyone a lot of time.

  71. 71.

    shell

    May 31, 2015 at 2:43 pm

    @jharp: It sounds crazy, but a home remedy for gout is canned cherries (can’t always rely on fresh). It helped my Mom when she had a flare up. Has some interaction with the uric acid. Also a preventative.

  72. 72.

    jharp

    May 31, 2015 at 2:50 pm

    The odd thing about this gout outbreak is I’ve been eating really good lately and have had no alcohol for a month.

    I’ve had about 3 outbreaks in my life. All 3 were from drinking all day at a college football game tailgating event.

  73. 73.

    Valdivia

    May 31, 2015 at 2:51 pm

    I am going to call it because I am already seeing idiots on twitter wonder how it was possible for Kerry to break his femur from bicycling: some crazy conspiracy theory will emerge by the end of the day.

    I know, not much of a prediction sicne they always have some conspiracy theory to explain the simplest things.

  74. 74.

    prufrock

    May 31, 2015 at 2:53 pm

    If you haven’t left yet, be sure to stop art the Candy Kitchen for ice cream.

  75. 75.

    Tree With Water

    May 31, 2015 at 2:55 pm

    Californians can be ID’d by how they reference their highways. Southern Californians always refer to to their freeways as “the” (“the 101”, “the El Caminino Real”), while northerners don’t. Haven’t a clue, either, as to why, but it’s been that way all my life.

  76. 76.

    elmo

    May 31, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    @Tree With Water: Angelenos do that. When I was growing up in San Diego, we most definitely did not.

  77. 77.

    John Revolta

    May 31, 2015 at 3:03 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: So I guess the problem with Hannibal was, he was just off of his meds?

  78. 78.

    NotMax

    May 31, 2015 at 3:05 pm

    @bemused

    Trivia: The moment Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon, Bell telephone assigned the Moon an area code, 999.

    @raven

    Nope. Rarely glance at the local news anymore absent severe weather.

    As I avoid going into the ocean anyway, not too worried.

    (My theory is that we were smart enough to leave the oceans millions of years ago, so I see no need to go back in.)

  79. 79.

    opiejeanne

    May 31, 2015 at 3:05 pm

    @Hungry Joe: I like your “this means nothing” approach to the accidental patterns that you notice.

    I tell people who intone that annoying “everything happens for a reason” nonsense by adding that it’s usually because someone is being an idiot.

  80. 80.

    raven

    May 31, 2015 at 3:08 pm

    @NotMax: It was only a 4 footer and the dude jumped in with
    it, speared it and it killed him.

  81. 81.

    Cckids

    May 31, 2015 at 3:10 pm

    This more properly belongs in the garden thread, but it’s died.

    This is my first year in our apartment & full-on container gardening. They’ve got an infestation of gnats, to the point the pots are crawling with the little f*ckers. I’ve lost 2 tomatoes & some flowers & would like it to stop. I’ve tried the cider vinegar solution many websites recommend, but they are laughing it off. Anyone got a better answer?

    And I’m pretty sure I’m not overwatering, though most of May was surprisingly nice here, temps only in the 80’s.

    Thanks in advance.

  82. 82.

    NotMax

    May 31, 2015 at 3:11 pm

    @opiejeanne

    Word for the day: apophenia.

  83. 83.

    Brachiator

    May 31, 2015 at 3:12 pm

    @PhilbertDesanex: The summary data are most readily available for the top percentile. The AGI threshold for the top .001 percent was $62,068,187. This was a 47.9 percent increase over the previous year. The richest made more money. Returns within this group had an average reported AGI of $161 million, and accounted for 3.3 percent of total income tax reported, and paid an average tax rate of 17.6 percent (a ten year low).

    Some other highlights.

    The top 1 percent paid 38.1 percent of total income tax in 2012.

    The top 3 percent paid 51.7 percent of total income tax.

  84. 84.

    NotMax

    May 31, 2015 at 3:12 pm

    @raven

    Incontrovertibly, self-defense.

  85. 85.

    scav

    May 31, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    @Tree With Water: Reminds me of one of the UK/US markers, do you go “to hospital” or “to the hospital”.

  86. 86.

    Tree With Water

    May 31, 2015 at 3:20 pm

    @Cckids: I had a bug infestation on some indoor plants, and was advised to mix a little garlic powder and water together, and spray. It worked.

  87. 87.

    opiejeanne

    May 31, 2015 at 3:20 pm

    @bemused: 666 on a phone is mno, so the exchange was not Clearwater. We had Edgewater when we finally got a phone, 334. The last name was Edgeworth, so that made for some interesting conversations.

    My dad worked in LA and the exchange was Capital, 227. The phone number was given out as Capital 2XXX and they would sometimes hear a pause before the other person asked how to make a capital 2.

  88. 88.

    NotMax

    May 31, 2015 at 3:21 pm

    @raven

    The actual number of fatalities are higher than those reported in the link, as there are occasions when opihi picking is deliberately left out or denied as it may not be sanctioned where the death occurred.

    Opihi: The Delicacy Of Death.

  89. 89.

    Zinsky

    May 31, 2015 at 3:24 pm

    If Hell is in Florida, that would explain several things, including Rick Scott, Marco Rubio and the 2000 presidential election. But seriously, many Biblical scholars think 666 referred to the Emperor Nero in the Book of Revelations and has nothing to do with prophecy or Barack Obama.

  90. 90.

    opiejeanne

    May 31, 2015 at 3:30 pm

    @elmo: I lived in LA county the first 20 years of my life, the next 23 in Riverside county, where it was the norm as well. When we moved to Castro Valley in the east bay the neighbors laughed at us for using “the” in front of a freeway number. They laughed at us for a lot of things, including that we had so many books. Ahh, life among the extremely conservative ninnies who never went farther from home than Hayward and bragged that they never went in to SF, ever; San Lorenzo scared them and Oakland terrified them.

  91. 91.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 31, 2015 at 3:30 pm

    @dr. luba: Precisely the false prophets scripture warns of.

  92. 92.

    Josie

    May 31, 2015 at 3:31 pm

    @Valdivia: Yeah, someone on my facebook page referred to it as a “delaying tactic.” Delaying what I’m not sure. I wasn’t interested enough to ask. People are so ready to react negatively to anything that a Democrat does.

  93. 93.

    Villago Delenda Est

    May 31, 2015 at 3:31 pm

    @Zinsky: Well, very little that modern Jeebofascists believe has anything at all to do with actual scripture.

  94. 94.

    opiejeanne

    May 31, 2015 at 3:31 pm

    @NotMax: Good word.

  95. 95.

    shell

    May 31, 2015 at 3:32 pm

    I just remembered about the fund for Belle the boxer. Went and checked and it’s well past the 1500 goal. Huzzah, BJer’s!

  96. 96.

    opiejeanne

    May 31, 2015 at 3:35 pm

    @Cckids: What color are these “gnats”? green ones are aphids, white ones are white flies, both can be controlled with a mild soapy spray. You can make your own or buy a spray bottle at the local garden center.

  97. 97.

    Tree With Water

    May 31, 2015 at 3:39 pm

    @Shakti: I live in western Sonoma county, Ca., and your description of that patch of Florida bears resemblance to my neck of the woods. The difference is hereabouts even existing ramshackle cabins are now being bought, rebuilt, and re-sold at correspondingly higher prices, placing an enormous strain on available housing. I did exactly that, in fact, except I have no intention to of ever selling (when I leave this house for the final time, it will be feet first). But I’m one of the lucky ones. Housing costs in the Bay Area are beyond insane, they are obscene. I honestly don’t know how folks raising children are able to manage it- and, of course, some simply cannot.

  98. 98.

    The Pale Scot

    May 31, 2015 at 3:39 pm

    Welcome to the neighborhood Betty, JSYK, Dockside Dave’s is only restaurant I’d Rec.

    There is a tiny place in the back of John’s Pass west of chain shithouses, Walt’z Fish Shak that’s good but can be a little peculiar

  99. 99.

    fuckwit

    May 31, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    @opiejeanne: It’s the universe! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6eqCaiwmr_M

  100. 100.

    Brachiator

    May 31, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    @PhilbertDesanex: The .1 percent account for 11.25 percent of AGI and 18.6 percent of income tax.

  101. 101.

    Hungry Joe

    May 31, 2015 at 3:46 pm

    @Tree With Water: “THE El Camino Real”? In San Diego County? Never; we just say “El Camino.” (Nobody says “Real.”) I do hear “The 10” or “The 805” occasionally, but it’s not common.

  102. 102.

    Sibelius

    May 31, 2015 at 3:51 pm

    @opiejeanne: Huh, small world. Born in Oakland, lived in San Lorenzo until I was 4, moved to Hayward, lived in Castro Valley, Fremont and now San Jose. Went to school in Los Angeles. Yeah, we still laugh at Angelinos who say “the”. Funny though, I say “the 405” and “the 10” etc, when talking about the freeways down there, but not the ones up here. Guess I’m sort of a hybrid now, except it’s just 101, even though it’s in both places.

  103. 103.

    Valdivia

    May 31, 2015 at 3:52 pm

    @Josie: I am actually kind of curious to see what kind of crazy theory they come up with, since it’s all connected to the Iran negotiations it’s bound to go up to 11 on the derp scale.

  104. 104.

    opiejeanne

    May 31, 2015 at 3:52 pm

    @Hungry Joe: We rarely called it El Camino Real, and we didn’t use “the”, we called it the 101, or the 1 depending on where we were.

  105. 105.

    opiejeanne

    May 31, 2015 at 3:54 pm

    @Sibelius: Did you go to HS in CV? My girls were there from 94 to 2001.

  106. 106.

    Cckids

    May 31, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    @opiejeanne: they’re black/dark grey. Buzz around like gnats. I’ll try the soapy spray though. Def not aphids.

  107. 107.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    May 31, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    @raven: Weirdly, when I read about swordfish spear off big island, my first thought was “raven and NotMax will discuss this.” Clearly I need to get more of a life.

  108. 108.

    Brachiator

    May 31, 2015 at 3:55 pm

    @opiejeanne: It’s not just conservatives. I used to be surprised at how provincial many Californians can be. I had a coworker, a surfer chick who lived in Manhattan Beach, who had never been east of Sepulveda Blvd until she got a job in downtown Los Angeles.

  109. 109.

    PurpleGirl

    May 31, 2015 at 3:58 pm

    @NotMax: Thank you for the heads up. It’s on my calendar now. My father was an electrician and was very interested in following the construction of the various buildings. On Sunday afternoons we’d drive out to the park area and he’d take pictures from various angles of the progress being made. When the 1964 Fair opened we went there many times. I loved to stay late so I could see the fireworks. So many of the buildings were not meant to exist longer than fair — they were temporary structures and not built to more exacting code standards.

  110. 110.

    Betty Cracker

    May 31, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    @The Pale Scot & prufrock: Thanks! All tried and true joints — I’ve been coming to this area for weekends since I was a wee lass. I will put in a word for the lobster rolls at the Boardwalk Grill at John’s Pass. They have the best lobster roll I’ve ever had outside of Maine. Also the VIP Lounge, the improbable home of a damn good burrito.

  111. 111.

    opiejeanne

    May 31, 2015 at 3:59 pm

    @Cckids: Then I have no idea what they are, maybe they are gnats. Never seen anything like that, but have dealt with a lot of other pests. Good luck.

  112. 112.

    opiejeanne

    May 31, 2015 at 4:01 pm

    @Brachiator: I think we just got into a nest of provincial attitudes, and most of them were pretty conservative. We did find people that weren’t but most were in other neighborhoods.

  113. 113.

    Cckids

    May 31, 2015 at 4:04 pm

    @opiejeanne: thank you!!

  114. 114.

    Sibelius

    May 31, 2015 at 4:05 pm

    @opiejeanne: in Hayward, but not at Hayward though, and many years before ’94.

    Now we’re in San Jose and the wife says NO EAST BAY ever.

  115. 115.

    Betty Cracker

    May 31, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    @NotMax: Live by the swordfish…

  116. 116.

    Brachiator

    May 31, 2015 at 4:10 pm

    @Tree With Water: They picked up on this in an SNL skit. But I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say “the El Camino Real.”

  117. 117.

    Tree With Water

    May 31, 2015 at 4:11 pm

    @Brachiator: I’ve lived within 75 miles of the Golden Gate Bridge my entire life, and the east bay largely remains a foreign territory to me. I know its main roads, and the general whereabouts of its many small towns, but beyond that it might as well be in Orange county.

  118. 118.

    PurpleGirl

    May 31, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    @Zinsky: Or Ronald Wilson Reagan.

  119. 119.

    Tree With Water

    May 31, 2015 at 4:16 pm

    @Brachiator: They do. Some honky LA friends of mine pride themselves on their fluency in speaking workaday Spanish, but even they invoke it (“the the Royal Road”).

  120. 120.

    scav

    May 31, 2015 at 4:26 pm

    @Tree With Water: The La Brea Tar Pits is even a better one.

  121. 121.

    Jim Vandewalker

    May 31, 2015 at 4:30 pm

    @NotMax: First there was Hwy 1, then there was Hwy 1A, and then there was Hwy A1A

  122. 122.

    Tree With Water

    May 31, 2015 at 4:32 pm

    @scav: Wow. That’s one that has tripped off my tongue my entire tongue-tripping life, and it never once occurred to me that I was repeating myself. And here I’ve been making fun of southern Californians all these years…

  123. 123.

    divF

    May 31, 2015 at 4:35 pm

    @scav:
    “On the La Poloma ?” -Effie Perine
    ” ‘The La’ is a lousy combination.” -Sam Spade

  124. 124.

    The Lodger

    May 31, 2015 at 4:37 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Losing highway signs? It actually happened in New Jersey, where Rt. 69 signs kept on disappearing and showing up in college dorm rooms. (Serves them right for routing the road near Princeton.) It’s now Rt. 31 and sign theft is reportedly way way down.

  125. 125.

    Major Major Major Major

    May 31, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    @The Lodger: in colorado Mile 420 kept getting stolen so they moved it slightly and put up Mile 419.99

  126. 126.

    scav

    May 31, 2015 at 4:49 pm

    @divF: But then, what are we going to do about the Alhambra? At some point, all those language-jumping “thes” and their ilk unshackle themselves from their original meaning and skip merrily about as mere sounds.

  127. 127.

    opiejeanne

    May 31, 2015 at 4:50 pm

    @Tree With Water: Here’s a tip: don’t make fun of us. When we first arrived in our parochial little neighborhood the first thing everyone we met said was “where are you from?” followed by, “oh, aren’t you sooo glad you don’t live there any more?” No, actually, I missed SoCal and Riverside terribly while we lived there, but I did make some great friends while I lived in CV. Every place has its good and bad.

    No one in SoCal makes fun of people in NorCal, other than that flirtation with “hella” which we sincerely wish Ms Stefani had not caught a case of and brough back to us.

    And “the” in front of La Brea Tarpits refers to the tarpits, that are in an area called La Brea, so there’s nothing wrong with using “the” in this case.

  128. 128.

    Felonius Monk

    May 31, 2015 at 4:51 pm

    For those of you just cruisin’ through, here’s some Traveling Music.

  129. 129.

    Helen

    May 31, 2015 at 4:51 pm

    The Catholic Church I was raise in is at 666 Albin Ave. Don’t believe me? Here it is:

    http://www.ourladyofgrace.net/

  130. 130.

    opiejeanne

    May 31, 2015 at 4:53 pm

    @scav: I guess we just shouldn’t worry about it, because some of the names are grammatically incorrect anyway. La Puente?

  131. 131.

    PhilbertDesanex

    May 31, 2015 at 4:58 pm

    @Brachiator: thanks, interesting. It’s a start.

    Opiejeannie, Tree : Yup, provincial, from one place: housing costs mean people Will Never Move? The East Bay got some Oklahoma migration from the Dust Bowl, overflow from (‘the’) San Joaquin I guess. Quite antithetical to Oakland-SF (and later San Jose). I’m 40 years gone, but I can really recall some drawls and twangs now.

  132. 132.

    scav

    May 31, 2015 at 5:01 pm

    @opiejeanne: Basically, especially as we can’t even agree when we supposedly need a the or not in English. (see above on going to the hospital or just to hospital). Especially when some of the so-called rules are refugees from Latin searching desperately for a living language to apply themselves to.

  133. 133.

    opiejeanne

    May 31, 2015 at 5:02 pm

    @PhilbertDesanex: There was a guy in Hayward with an Alabama flag on a flagpole in his front yard, Confederate flag in one window, various anti-social stickers on his beater. The place was fenced and it was the worst-kept property in the neighborhood. I wondered if he’d shoot at anyone who opened the gate.
    That it was sitting in Hayward was the surprise to me. I’d expect it in a couple of places a bit to the east, or in some areas of SoCal, but not where it was.

  134. 134.

    opiejeanne

    May 31, 2015 at 5:04 pm

    @scav: The Brits also say “doctor” instead of “the doctor”, as in “Doctor will see you now.”

    Mormons in this country do something similar when referring to God, but I can’t quite remember what they say.

    Have you noticed the dropping of the word “of” in books? Drives me nuts when I read “I have a couple interviews.” Of, put that of back into the sentence!

  135. 135.

    Brachiator

    May 31, 2015 at 5:16 pm

    @opiejeanne: And of course, Break is nowhere near the La Brea tarpits. And strictly speaking the La Brea tarpits would read “The The Brea Tarpits.”

    Also, I think recall reading that the museum there is in effect an anchored boat floating on the tar.

  136. 136.

    raven

    May 31, 2015 at 5:19 pm

    @NotMax: Whoa!

  137. 137.

    Brachiator

    May 31, 2015 at 5:29 pm

    @Tree With Water: I fell in love with Los Angeles when I moved here from Texas. But I’ve traveled to and lived in a few California areas and tried to learn as much of California history as I could (with a special thanks to the blessed Ralph Story and twice blessed Huell Bowser). Spent a boatload of time in San Francisco, Berkeley, and Oakland.

  138. 138.

    Brachiator

    May 31, 2015 at 5:32 pm

    @opiejeanne: I always thought it funny that English physicians were gentlemen, but surgeons were not.

  139. 139.

    scav

    May 31, 2015 at 5:33 pm

    @Brachiator: Brea can mean tar pits, so we’ve The the tar pits tar pits.

  140. 140.

    Repatriated

    May 31, 2015 at 5:36 pm

    @Tree With Water: California requires that state highways do not share numbers with interstates or US highways. Thus, one can refer to “The 10”, knowing that there’s only one highway of that name in the state.

    Bypasses (I-215, etc.) repeat in multiple cities, but it’s seldom an issue. Also, CA-110 (Pasadena Freeway) is the north end of I-110 (Harbor Freeway). The main distinction has to do with the impossibility of upgrading the Pasadena segment to Interstate standards for onramps and curve radii.

  141. 141.

    Brachiator

    May 31, 2015 at 5:39 pm

    @opiejeanne: Meant to say Brea is not near La Brea. Stupid spell checker.

  142. 142.

    Brachiator

    May 31, 2015 at 5:40 pm

    @opiejeanne: Meant to say Brea is not near La Brea. Dumb spellchecker.

  143. 143.

    Tree With Water

    May 31, 2015 at 5:46 pm

    @Repatriated: There are some long stretches of 101 and 80 up here that could also use upgrading, but are likewise restricted for similar reasons (their age). When I think what vast improvements could be made to the Bay Area’s infrastructure, but for the budgetary cancer that is our “defense” budget, it never fails to annoy me. So like most people, I try not to think about it.

  144. 144.

    Tree With Water

    May 31, 2015 at 5:53 pm

    @opiejeanne: Believe me, some of the biggest rednecks in the state are the ‘Sunset district Irish’ of San Francisco. Or such was the case when I was a kid..

  145. 145.

    Tree With Water

    May 31, 2015 at 6:02 pm

    @PhilbertDesanex: I always thought of the Bakersfield area as West Oklahoma. And my aunt’s family were first generation Armenians, who settled outside Fresno- that was another enclave carved by California pilgrims..

  146. 146.

    PhilbertDesanex

    May 31, 2015 at 6:42 pm

    @Tree With Water: Yup. And also so much of ‘the’ San Joaquin Valley
    Jefferson Davis was well-received in Stockton, said the mines would be much more profitable with, um, better labor costs..

  147. 147.

    Tree With Water

    May 31, 2015 at 6:49 pm

    @PhilbertDesanex: “Jefferson Davis was well-received in Stockton”? One of us is misinformed. I don’t believe that Davis ever set foot in California (busy as the traitor from Mississippi was kept in plotting treason, and all).

  148. 148.

    Origuy

    May 31, 2015 at 7:43 pm

    In the 415, the 666 exchange used to belong to University of San Francisco, a Jesuit college. Make of that what you will.

  149. 149.

    Ruckus

    May 31, 2015 at 7:48 pm

    @opiejeanne:
    When I lived in Marin I knew of someone who had lived his 70 yrs in Sebastopol and the farthest he’d traveled was 16 miles. Back in the late 80’s I had a fellow working for me, born/lived in East LA, had ridden in a car once to Disneyland and other than that, going to work, about 2 1/2 miles was the farthest he’d ever been from home.

  150. 150.

    PhilbertDesanex

    May 31, 2015 at 7:58 pm

    @Tree With Water: Likely me. I’m sure he woulda if he coulda but yeah the darn libruls kept him pretty busy. Maybe a letter or a sympathizer quote, have to check. In some of the Civil War daily diaries that are finishing there were some stories on California sentiments before the shooting started and Confederate sympathy in Stockton. I knew people who would vote for him today so there’s that.

  151. 151.

    Tree With Water

    May 31, 2015 at 8:09 pm

    @PhilbertDesanex: California’s struggle between Union and Confederate sympathizers, such as it was, is an interesting one. Just 10 years or so ago, a huge chest full of confederate money was uncovered by the wave action at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach. But California had the gold and the Lincoln had a navy, which may serve to encapsulate the history of the state during that war.

  152. 152.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    May 31, 2015 at 8:13 pm

    @Tree With Water:

    The Autry has a new exhibition about the Civil War and the West, and the history of California is very complicated. It was admitted as a free state, but there were a lot of Confederate supporters, especially in So Cal:

    http://civilwar.theautry.org

  153. 153.

    PhilbertDesanex

    May 31, 2015 at 8:22 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): Trere: Checked, true: no big shot Confederates visited. Yup, complicated history for sure, but no killing fields, thankfully.

  154. 154.

    Mnemosyne (tablet)

    May 31, 2015 at 8:44 pm

    @PhilbertDesanex:

    Actually, there were killing fields in California , unfortunately — the Gold Rush led to a war of extermination against the remaining Native American population, which was reduced from an estimated 150,000 to less than 25,000.

    If you’re anywhere near LA and have an interest in the Civil War, it’s a smallish exhibit, but really well done. The whole intersection of race, slavery, and the settlement of the West is way more complicated than I realized, and I thought going in that it was pretty darn complicated.

    One example: there were slaves on the Trail of Tears, because some Cherokee had become landowners and bought African slaves before they were pushed off their land. There were a lot of arguments among native tribes about which side to support in the Civil War, and it was in part because some of them were slaveholders themselves.

  155. 155.

    Tree With Water

    May 31, 2015 at 9:12 pm

    @Mnemosyne (tablet): Thanks for that link. I love history and museums.. I was like a pig in mud those times I visited Virginia’s Civil War battlefields and the great museums thereabouts.

  156. 156.

    Paul in KY

    June 1, 2015 at 8:56 am

    @Hungry Joe: Sure glad your wife recovered!

  157. 157.

    Paul in KY

    June 1, 2015 at 8:58 am

    @NotMax: I think it was named by a Canadian.

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