It’s a cool, gloomy day here. But, not complaining. We had a couple of beautiful days this week and I made sure to get out and hike with the Beast.
To counter that lovely image of mother and child above, here is the trailer for Bad Moms. If the movie is half as good as the trailer, I’ll see it. Kristen Bell is one of my favorite actors and I think she is funny as hell. #veronicamarsforever
I’m off to look at houses after taking several months off from my search. I don’t know if it’s the arduous house search or something else, but I’m wondering if where I am at is where I am suppose to be.
While I struggle with that existential crisis, you guys can talk amongst yourselves. Open thread.
Ruckus
Where you are is where you are supposed to be.
Or something like that.
Maybe it’s – If you aren’t where you are you are nowhere.
Elmo
Putting the three yards of garden soil I had delivered into the actual garden beds. I am discovering that all those warnings and advisories to women nearing 50 about losing muscle fast – ye gods, they are all true. Fuck. Ive always been fat, but strong. When did this happen and the “strong” part went away?
BruceFromOhio
Is the search for a new abode a “moving towards something I want” or “moving away from something I do not want” ? Sometimes the latter obscures the former, and then arduous it is.
Got the shopping done just as the Saturday traffic kicked it, and am now headed for the yard, and eventually the hammock.
That is a beautiful painting, thank you for sharing it.
gene108
I know where I am (in a meraphysical sense) is not where I want to be.
I am not sure how to change it.
jeffreyw
I have sammich buns ready to go into the oven soon as they rise, I soaked a pound of red beans overnight and pressure cooked em this morning, cooled them down and stowed them away in a vinaigrette so they’ll be ready for a bean salad. Hummers have arrived in good numbers, nothing like they’ll be when the young’uns of the year show.
khead
Trying to figure out everything you want in a house is a bit like herding cats.
Or at least it was for us. Took forever.
SiubhanDuinne
@jeffreyw:
I hope you’ll share some of your amazing hummingbird pictures this year, as you have done in past seasons.
Big Ole Hound
I had the windows, doors and screens washed inside and out. They did a great job and even cleaned all the bottom tracks. The Mrs said it was a great Mothers Day present so it was well worth it.
Miss Bianca
I’ve been wondering the same thing. I am feeling a powerful call to go back to the Western Slope, where my little house is. “Here” doesn’t feel like home to me. Funny thing was talking to folks at my old Library District, where a job that would be *great* for me has just opened up. Spent half an hour talking to the new District Director, then called my old admin assistant, who already knew I had talked to the Director! Ha! And when I asked how she knew, she just said, “you should remember how the grapevine works around here! You can’t expect to call us out of the blue and not have the word get around!’ She sounded excited. It just made me feel so…I dunno. Like, “yeah, these are my peeps, this community is home. I need to go home now.”
Eric U.
graduation weekend. Town is taken over by asshole parents. Most of them are pretty nice, I’m sure, but it doesn’t take many to ruin things for everyone else. Watch out for New York license plates, sheesh.
A Ghost To Most
@khead:
Biggest problem in this (TaMaras) neck of the woods is small supply and huge demand. Lots of bidding wars and such. I understand her trepidation. CO is a popular destination at the moment. New houses going up everywhere.
raven
It’s awesome here. . .back to work!
MazeDancer
Just as Mr. Obama was finishing his remarkable and uplifting commencement address to Howard University, some also remarkable and uplifting news hit Twitter:
Georgia is in play.
New poll shows Trump 41% and Clinton 40%.
Mr. Obama’s speech was simply splendid. And a reminder how it is a sin against democracy that Bernie’s self-indulgent refusal to accept math is preventing Barack Obama from being on the campaign trail.
TaMara (HFG)
@Miss Bianca: Honestly, if I had a sign that clear…I’d probably be packed. I’ll be interested to hear what’s next for you.
Great now I have THIS running through my head.
TaMara (HFG)
@A Ghost To Most: This. It’s disheartening. I’ve seen houses I would be very happy with disappear in a day, twenty + thousand over asking price.
raven
@TaMara (HFG): We just watched “The Big Short”. Makes one all a twitter about the hosing market!
A Ghost To Most
@Miss Bianca:
Sounds like a door just reopened.
“I wonder where that highway leads to …”
Home?
Miss Bianca
@TaMara (HFG): Oh, ha ha HA! Yes…I’ll be interested to hear about your adventures, too. Right now I am just burnishing my resume and preparing to give the pitch of my life. If it works, my tenants are gonna be bummed… they love my house as much as I do!
Where in CO are you, if I may ask? All up and down the Front Range is nuts. Salida, where I was living till fairly recently, has joined the “nuts” brigade. I could never afford to buy a house there now, not on what the going salary rate is for my type of work.
dedc79
The NRO freakout over Trump continues:
A Ghost To Most
@TaMara (HFG):
Yea, especially around Boulder.
You could buy up at Rocky “plutonium” Flats. It scares me to think of people raising families there.
the Conster, la Citoyenne
@MazeDancer:
I can’t wait until the big O is out taking care of business for Hillary – a/k/a his legacy. It’s hilarious that a couple of my FB feed items yesterday and today is a petition to President Obama to get behind Bernie. LOL. I’m like, did any of you morons even see the WHCD? Their persistence in clinging to this divisive old fart is really something to behold. Sad!
Iowa Old Lady
I see Trump says HRC was the “nasty, mean enabler” of her husband’s affairs.
gene108
@TaMara (HFG):
I wish I lived in a place with a good housing market. The only reason I am no longer underwater on my mortgage is I’ve been paying down my principal. Houses in my area are selling slowly and are nowhere back to what they were in 2006-2007*. They’re up from their lowest low.
I’m a bit jealous of your problems.
* I bought in 2007, thinking the housing bust of 2006 had run its course…
TaMara (HFG)
@Miss Bianca: Boulder county. Which is even more nuts. Add to that I own my own business, which means I had to jump through 13 different hoops to qualify for my mortgage. WHICH is what I thought was going to be the tough part. Quite literally the month I started actively looking things went crazy – before that many houses, lots of negotiation, etc. My real estate agent and I were putting a plan in place for several months while I waited for the loan stuff to come together.
That all went out the window…caught everyone off guard.
khead
@A Ghost To Most:
Gotcha. Had the same issue here. It’s why we are in Cecil Co MD instead of Howard or Anne Arundel. Pretty frustrating.
Edit – Definitely caught up now with TaMara’s additional posts.
NobodySpecial
Seems relevant to the OP.
Miss Bianca
@TaMara (HFG): It’s happening in the North Fork Valley, too, from what I hear…suddenly the housing market has picked up again, after several years of decline, fall, and stasis, thanks to the housing bubble bust and the coal mines shutting down. But Boulder County…oy! Even Nederland, which used to be “the sticks” where my friends would live after they got pushed out of Boulder in the 90s and 00s, is going nuts, again from what I hear. I do not envy you searching in that market. : (
gene108
@NobodySpecial:
I lack Dirk’s serene confidence in the face of things getting truly weird to live by that philosophy…
though I have followed a few cars that look like they knew where to turn on a detour, hoping we were all going in the same direction, and sometimes I get where I want to be…
other times I have to make a u-turn and head the other way…
JPL
@TaMara (HFG): Where I live, north of Atlanta, the market is crazy. My son has a house in Sandy Springs, but would like a larger house and more land nearby. Forget that. He can afford more house or more land, not both.
ruemara
@Miss Bianca: Do it. They want you there and if you feel home calling, it’s time to go.
My cousin just explained how car dealerships work with you on financing. I don’t care for the tight conditions under the hood and I find the gearbox shift spotty design a bit weird, but I think I’m going to buy the Yaris. My cousin thinks I should hunt more until I find something with power windows, but I’m broke & cheap. I can live with manual windows. I just don’t want a $200+ monthly payment. I want it paid off ASAP. Am I being too cheap? Are there features you have in your cars that you wouldn’t give up? I’m just a point a to b person, I don’t even know what is common until I ride with other people.
A Ghost To Most
@khead:
We really lucked out. Took a low offer for our Frederick Co MD in 2009, bought here in 2010. The house there is listed for less than we sold it for. Our house here is up 50%. Not smarts, just luck.
TaMara (HFG)
@NobodySpecial: That was great.
@Miss Bianca: And I’m cautious enough not to get myself stuck in a house I cannot resell if needed. I’ll probably ride out this wave and see where it’s headed before landing.
Ok, now I really am off to my first showing.
Corner Stone
@TaMara (HFG):
I’ve been looking in different Austin, TX areas for the last couple years. For a period of several months in the “off” season (winter to early spring), I was intensely looking to purchase. I would review open listings in the evening, making a plan for the next day. Call the realtor next morning and find out most had pending contracts in less than 24 hours. California buyers, buying multiple listings sight unseen.
dmsilev
@the Conster, la Citoyenne:
That’s insane on so many levels it’s almost impressive.
Iowa Old Lady
Also I see Bill Maher has taken to talking about “Lady Trump.” He says Clinton was born a woman but Trump is a whiny little bitch. That’s misogynistic but I forgive him because it will drive Trump nuts/
gene108
@ruemara:
What year is the Yaris? How many miles on it?
What are your other options?
Power windows are nice, but not essential.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
That’s a stunning painting. Thanks.
Sophie got her nails trimmed today. She’s been relaxing and coming down from the stress since then.
What is that weird yellow orb in the sky? After the ~ 6″ of rain we’ve had the last few days, something strange seems to be happening!!1
Gotta get outside and enjoy it while we can…
Cheers,
Scott.
Corner Stone
@Iowa Old Lady:
Has a true gift of gab about him, that Mr. Trump does.
debbie
@Corner Stone:
Has flipping started up again?
A Ghost To Most
@ruemara:
You would be happier with a Honda Fit. And I say that as a serial Toyota owner.
The Yaris is not a great car compared to the Fit.
Miss Bianca
@ruemara: Well, I know they’ve got good people in the running for the position, but I am giving it a try…
I wish I had shopped around more for my car. Problem was that I had wrecked my other one – just paid off the previous year – on black ice commuting between jobs, and I was in a hurry, being in a rather remote rural area. But I wish I had held out for a manual transmission – which would likely have meant an older, cheaper car, too!. I went with the one I got because I love Hondas – and the deciding factor between it and a Subaru (CO state car!) was that there was slightly more room in the back for my dogs. Dogs are a deciding factor for many lifestyle decisions I make, I have noticed…
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
That’s a stunning painting. Thanks.
Sophie got her nails trimmed today. She’s been r e l a x i n g and coming down from the s t r e s s since then.
What is that weird yellow orb in the sky? After the ~ 6″ of rain we’ve had the last few days, something strange seems to be happening!!1
Gotta get outside and enjoy it while we can…
Cheers,
Scott.
debbie
@Iowa Old Lady:
But he’s speaking Trump’s language!
ruemara
@gene108: 07. About 28k miles. The handling was way easier than the tanks I’ve been driving. It’s a base model, which means one step above Flintstone mobile, but I felt comfortable in it.
@A Ghost To Most: true. Harder to find at my price point, but possible. Can you tell I’m a reluctant shopper?
debbie
@A Ghost To Most:
I test drove a Fit and loved it. The only thing that stopped me was the thought of winter and how little traction that tiny car would have on snow and ice.
ruemara
@debbie: the one benefit of California, or at least the portion I’m in. None of that her and if I go southern as I may do, even less of that.
Jeff
@Elmo: Last time I got four cubic yards of mushroom soil I was 53. Thought I was going to die before I got it up to the yard and in the bed it was going in.
Iowa Old Lady
Since I seem to be fixated on Trump today, I offer this awesome video promoting the Argentinian soccer team by mocking the Donald.
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@debbie: The tires make a huge difference in winter traction. J had a ’93 Corolla that was a real handful on wet roads around freezing temperatures because the Michelin tires I put on it were designed for long life and good mileage rather than winter traction. If you can swing it, having a set of winter tires is really the best way to have good control in the winter (it’s much more important than the weight of the car). Short of that, good (not too hard) all-season tires help a lot.
Cheers,
Scott.
smith
@khead:
Really? We’ve been trying to sell my mother’s house in Howard County for most of the last nine months, with no luck. Admittedly the house needs work, but the lot is fabulous…
gene108
@ruemara:
Very low mileage for the year. If you feel comfortable in it and it fits your needs go for it.
MazeDancer
President Obama’s inspiring speech today at Howard University commencement. Speech starts at 1:30 on this video
jeffreyw
@SiubhanDuinne: Some of the joy went out of that for me. I was in a friendly competition, sorta, with Gen Stuck. I’ll try to take some.
NotMax
Toddler in the painting has calves the size of cantaloupes.
Just sayin’.
Kay Eye
I have this creepy feeling that Bernie and Jane are becoming the Rupert and Wendi of the Democratic primary season.
Stuff like this:
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/278128-jane-sanders-it-would-be-nice-if-fbi-moved-along-clinton
NotMax
@Kay Eye
“Jane! Stop this crazy thing!”
;)
NotMax
@ruemara
Might see if there’s a used Mazda 3 in your area which you can take on a test drive. May as well go for added comfort in addition to affordability.
khead
@smith:
We were looking at new in Elliott City-ish. Back in 2012-2013. After a few visits to places we realized we were dreaming – not looking.
Edited years because math is hard.
FlyingToaster (Tablet)
@ruemara:
I have to have a minivan with fob or console operatible sliding doors and rear hatch. Otherwise, un/loading kids, musical instruments, and sports equipment goes from a 60-second procedure to a 10-minute nightmare. I’m gone before the SUV drivers have their rear door open. As one parent in the pickup line noted (WarriorGirl dropped the skateboard & helmet, then the violin in back, came up and climbed in the side while I pressed the button to close the back),”Damn that’s fast.”
I usually recommend trying to rent the kind of car you’re thinking about buying — I found that the post in a Honda Odyssey is in just the wrong place from a one-day rental.
Shell
Has senility set in? Bob Dole is endorsing Trump as best one to win back the White House.
gene108
Anybody heard from KeithP?
I remember he posted a few Monday’s ago about his house, in the Houston area, getting flooded and not having trouble getting to a dialysis appointment due to roads being flooded.
I am not sure, if he has posted since.
Corner Stone
@gene108: He posted in the thread right before this one.
He has been like a Kochtoctopus here since the flood, more power to him.
Corner Stone
@debbie: It’s not really flipping in most parts around Austin. The neighborhoods I was looking in were $300K+ for tear downs, on lots in very good locations. Bike rides into downtown Austin and other great amenities (sorry Atrios, I mean city amenities that people can actually take their families to. I know you don’t understand what actual people with families want in a “dense” urban space).
Curb cuts!
grrljock
Love Kathryn Hahn! She’s so good playing two totally different types of characters on Parks and Rec and Transparent.
germy
Here’s a list of celebrities endorsing Trump:
http://www.businessinsider.com/donald-trump-list-of-celebrity-endorsements
PurpleGirl
@Iowa Old Lady: I guess he forgets the front page story (NYDN, IIRC) wher Marla Maples proclaimed that Trump was the best sex she’d had — and it was before he asked Ivanna for a divorce.
MomSense
Enough universe. I mean it. One of my dearest friends was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer.
Fuck fucking cancer.
Going to take her grandkids for a few hours so she and her daughter can visit.
Ruckus
@gene108:
He’s posted a few times. Not as much as he used to. I think a day ago or so is the last I saw.
SiubhanDuinne
@jeffreyw:
I remember that. In fact, I mentioned it on a thread a few days ago, and it made me miss the General all over again. Please do NOT take or post a single photo that doesn’t bring you joy.
Ruckus
@MomSense:
This can not be said enough times nor with enough vigor. Fuck Fucking Cancer.
SiubhanDuinne
@germy:
There are quite a few names on that list that I’ve never even heard of. Of the ones I do know, I am either bored by or actively repelled by nearly all of them.
So glad Trump hasn’t been endorsed by anyone I actually ever admired.
Shell
@Ruckus: I heartily concur!
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
Kevin Drum has a good warning about how to read political news stories:
Cheers,
Scott.
Rolling Along
Word is Romney is inching closer to an independent run. He needs to really feel wanted first is the rumor, but the donor class will come through. “ON DEMAND” FUNDING will take care of the rest. There will be lots and lots of ion opportunities for real conservatives that’s for suare!
If we play are cards right Hillary and Trunp will be hated by the media while the Romney ticket gets painted as “reasonable” and “moderate”, “above the fray”.
MomSense
@Ruckus: @Shell:
Fuck fucking cancer.
Elmo
@SiubhanDuinne: Did you happen to see the story about the tow truck driver who abandoned a disabled woman on the side of the highway because she had a Bernie sticker? Even some of the Neanderthals at FreeRepublic were like Aw dude that’s wrong.
Yeah. So it gets posted on FB as a “That’ll show them liberals” trope, and of course my dear brother hits “Like.”
My whole family except for one brother is all-in for Making America Great Again, and I no longer wonder how It could have happened that Kentucky families faced each other on the battlefield from 1861-65.
A Ghost To Most
@Roll E. Coyote:
Go Fuck Yourself.
Gelfling 545
@Iowa Old Lady: Because you know when Trump strayed it was absolutely his wife’s fault – whichever wife he had at the time.
Gelfling 545
@Rolling Along: That’s really quite funny. You have a real talent for comedic fiction.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elmo:
I did. Disgusting isn’t nearly a descriptive enough word.
NotMax
@(t)Rolling Along
Like unto building a hotel on Baltic Avenue in Monopoly as a winning strategy.
You’re shuffling a pinochle deck while the rest of the world is playing p0ker. Wake up and smell the
rosescarrion flowers.What a maroon.
NobodySpecial
@ruemara: I got lucky a few years back with my car, a 2003 Passat loaded to the gills with all the extras, and it only had 34k miles. Since I live a bit west of Chicago, the heated seats and 4Motion drive were the tipping point.
Corner Stone
@Elmo:
Because the sticker told him he would not get paid. And he went on to talk about a $50 charge for towing, and how he has been stiffed in recent months past by socialists run amok. For anyone who has dealt with a tow truck driver this is a ridiculous set of lies.
ETA, I also remember him saying something about how proud he was for sticking up for his principles. Yes, because you routinely over charge people who are desperate for help. That’s a shining light of hope, my friend.
Iowa Old Lady
@Gelfling 545: His stream of stupidity is exhausting. I have some sympathy for reporters trying to keep up with it.
dmsilev
@Rolling Along: Will the ‘on demand’ funding be delivered via Brinks Trucks in reverse gear?
MazeDancer
@Rolling Along:
Third party run for the True Conservatives may feel all noble and necessary to them, but won’t that put the entire South in Hillary’s column?
Mitt is only going to take votes from “I hate HIllary more than Donald” GOP and the GOP who were not going to vote. Don’t understand how having two GOP choices is going to change HIllary’s vote.
Sure hope they give it a shot for the sake of True Conservatism and, I guess, the start of a new party.
Mike J
@MazeDancer: The one thing a third party con could do is get ex Republicans to show up at the polls and save the downticket races.
scav
OK, it’s open, so if anyone needs a respite there’s a downloadable The Winter’s Tale (Shakespeare) from the BBC for a bit, and can’t they hurry up and review The Hollow Crown II? I’m spoiler-proof, I promise!
FlipYrWhig
@MazeDancer: You’re discounting the electric dynamism, nay the sheer animal magnetism, of Willard Romney.
debbie
@Corner Stone:
Are the neighborhoods tolerant of tear downs? They sure aren’t here, especially because most people want a house that fills the entire lot, edge to edge, with pre-fab-lookalike details.
Tom
OK, I must be getting to the point in life where I start yelling at the kids to get off my lawn (given the condition it’s in, they could hardly make it look worse). I go on my Facebook page and here is an entry posted by a guy I knew long ago and far away (and was a bright, funny guy back in the day):
“Bernie Sanders Blasts Hillary Clinton for Seeking Funds from Bush Donors”
Jesus Christ on a crutch, are these Bernie supporters people TRYING to loss this election? Of COURSE Hillary’s trying to suck money out of Republicans that might otherwise go to their down ticket races. The question is, what is she promising in exchange, and the answer, of course, is – NOTHING. That fact that the Republican nominee said yesterday that defaulting on the US debt would be a good idea is scaring the crap out of the few remaining Republicans who haven’t completely lost their minds. They’re giving her money because they don’t want The Donald ruining Social Security plus the US and World economies. That doesn’t put her in their pocket – The Donald is putting them in hers. What in the hell is so hard for allegedly bright Bernie supporters to understand about this?
debbie
@Elmo:
Years and years ago, I worked in a regional office for the New Hampshire Education Association. One of the districts (Timberlane) was striking for the right to collective bargaining. Backed by Simon Loeb, of fascist newspaper fame, negotiations were deadlocked with no hope of compromise. In my innocence, being new to that kind of atmosphere, I put a bumpersticker on my rear bumper (“I Stand With Timberlane”) and got my windshield smashed. They got the guy who did it, but he suffered no consequences, not even having to pay to replace the windshield.
Maybe that tow truck driver was this guy’s kid. They all suck.
kdaug
Obligatory
https://youtu.be/jv_jkju_iZg
Ruckus
@Tom:
That is the 64 million dollar question.
The 5 dollar answer is that they don’t want to understand. Either it takes too much effort, too much time or too much actual thought. And any one of those reasons would take away from being angry about something.
Heywood J.
Hey folks, hope everyone’s Saturday afternoon is going well. It’s a fine misty/drizzly day up here in Northern Cali. I don’t blog-pimp much, but this one was fun to write, just for sheer misanthropy:
American Horror Story: Convention
Heywood J.
Wow, can I kill an open thread or what?
I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet
@Heywood J.: Gotta keep moving to the right/up to keep up with all the talkative people here. ;-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Uncle Cosmo
@Trolling Awrong: You may have, as Gelfling 545 opined in #79 supra, “a real talent for comedic fiction,” although IMHO the jury is still out.
But you can’t spell worth shit, dickweed.
Miss Bianca
@grrljock: Kathryn Hahn? I cast a girl of that name in “Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off” when I was back at Northwestern in ’91, ’92…she was Mary. She was only a freshman, and she was awesome! I shall have to look her up in IMDB to see if I recognize her!
ETA: Holy shit, I think it is her! Not at all surprised that she made it to Hollywood!
Ivan X
I too think Kristin Bell is fantastic and I like the others in that trailer as well, but it failed to make me even giggle — the humor seems too safe. Then again, I’m not even a parent, much less a mom, so maybe I’m not qualified to say.
Hardly any movies that start with “Bad” fulfill their promise. If it’s about bad behavior, then I want actual bad behavior! (Of course, “Bad Santa” sets an impossible standard, but it’s not for every taste.)
J R in WV
@I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet:
This is good advice – Blizzak winter tires give us great service even with front wheel drive cars, with all-wheel drive, unless the snow is so thick you wind up pushing it in front of you, you are good to go, with just a little care. That said, I grew up in a mountain community that got a lot of snow when I was learning to drive. Some people just can’t do it, regardless of the car or tires.
J R in WV
@SiubhanDuinne:
In some states tow trucks are regulated, and that would get your license pulled in a flash! As it should. Like a red-neck abandoning a black couple in a storm, late at night, broken down. Fuck that shit.
Fuck cancer, too.