I’m currently enjoying what I think of as an essential building block of a civilized day…
I follow English usage here. I’m drinking a cup of very good coffee (French press, Peet’s beans in my own mixture — 70% aged Sumatra, 30% Italian roast) and two small chocolate biscuits from a local bakery. But as I reached for the Wikipedia link above, I was delighted to discover some alternatives, including the 19th century American version of the custom.
In any event, thought we could use some new thread, so besides the conventional randomness of a mid-morning discussion what is your actual or fantasy perfect a.m. refreshment break?
Image: French School, Enjoying Coffee, before 1750.
debbie
Wish I’d thought of this before I inhaled an Egg McMuffin.
Crashman
All of 19th Century America must have been constantly drunk.
kindness
Wow, kismet. The last Peets Sumatra I bought I mixed it 50/50 with their French Roast. Great combo.
Repatriated
@Crashman: That explains a lot.
JCJ
Happy Solstice, everybody!
Jager
Living in the fire ravaged diversity Capitol of West Coast Elitism it’s not 11 yet, but I had a pork tamale and a cup of Kona coffee at 5:15. BTW, it’s 37 degrees up in our Canyon this morning.
FlyingToaster
George Howell Costa Rican Tarrazu Vienna Roast, my grinder, my drip coffemaker.
While listening to WarriorGirl do her Thursday review pieces:
Twinkle C
French Folk Song
Oh Come Little Children
Perpetual Motion (Suzuki)
Minuet 1 (Bach)
Gossec Gavotte
Long Long Ago in G with var. (Bayly)
Witches’ Dance (Paganini)
Boccherini Minuet
Humoresque (Dvorak, #7: Passengers will please refrain…)
And reading Ballon Juice ?
Roger Moore
@Crashman:
That was less true after the Industrial Revolution, which forced workers to live a much more regimented life. Still, it gives you the idea that the Temperance Movement might have been fighting against a bigger problem than modern Americans tend to give it credit for.
BC in Illinois
This is about the time (10:30 Central Time) when I go to the kitchen and make a peanut butter sandwich to tide me over.
But, now that you mention it, the more traditional American “whiskey at 11” has a certain appeal.
Steeplejack
Just took a minute of silence to observe the solstice. Turned off all media, stood by the big front windows and let my steely gaze fall on Threadkill Lane. All was calm. The housecat continued to doze at her workstation. Heating pad set to 2 (“keep warm”). That is all.
Cheryl Rofer
I am having a cup of lapsang souchong, one of my faves. The kittehs prefer their crunchy treats.
Steeplejack
@Crashman:
It beat drinking the water.
Nelle
My son came home from his first day of school in New Zealand and said, “At 11, all the teachers disappeared and the kids ran riot.” My husband loved 11 at work – the break room was full of camaraderie. Along the lake, the trade trucks were pulled over and one could see the tradespeople with a thermos, staring at the lake. I do miss it now that I’m back in the States. But I have 25 minutes so I’m about to put the kettle on. Thanks for reminding me. A great way for this former Alaskan (yes, we’ve moved all over) to celebrate the Solstice.
Jersey Tomato
Mmmmmm…Peet’s. Major Dickason’s blend for the win.
Spanky
Yep! It’s over.
Happy Solstice!
Now get back to work (if that’s on your agenda.)
Tom Levenson
@Cheryl Rofer: Lapsang is the best. And we’re out. To be corrected! (I tea at wake-up, coffee all morning, tea post three p.m. And yes, I do occasionally commit the sin of verbing. Why do you ask?)
Major Major Major Major
Mornings are something to be endured, so my A.M. refreshment break is lunch. I just buckle down until it happens.
Spanky
@Spanky: I should point out that I’m at work, but work isn’t necessarily on my agenda.
Jeffro
My favorite mid-morning break is usually to hog out on something brunch-y and spicy, and then keel over for a 3-hour nap. Who’s with me on this?? =)
Hey we need folks like this out beating the drum and helping us peel away ‘constitutional conservatives’ and ‘fiscal conservatives’. Because they surely have no home in today’s TrumGOP. What Trump’s Economic Handiwork Will Bring in 2018.
Everyone please feel free to email Ms. Rubin and note that it’s imperative that all #NeverTrumpers turn out in droves to vote for Dems (the center-center party) in 2018!
Teddys Person
Hello all, hardcore lurker here wanting to make another (I pimped her project back in mid November) shameless fundraising plug for a friend’s knitting business, where she creates and sells knitting patterns. I’ll let her explain:
If you’re interested in what she’s doing, you can check out her campaign page.
In addition to her knitting, she’s also extremely active in animal rescue. She works for People United for Pets who bring van loads of cats and dogs from southern California shelters to the Seattle area. She has a daughter, 2 dogs, and 2 cats in her 2 bedroom apartment and still takes in dogs and cats from the rescue. She often gets the difficult dogs to work with to make them more adoptable and any pregnant dogs or cats seem to make their way to her. In short, she’s an all-round awesome person.
oatler.
Yes! Coffee out of my Keurig, then four shots of Jose Cuervo and six/seven bong hits.
amygdala
Cup of Darjeeling with a splash of milk, and a couple of amaretti, or maybe a piece of chocolate-covered toffee.
I don’t drink coffee much these days, but when I did, Sumatra (or Mocha-Java) with some sort of dark roast was one of my favorites, too. Or Tanzanian Peaberry.
Repatriated
@Tom Levenson: Verbing weirds language.
http://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1993/01/25
Roger Moore
BTW, my current morning cup of coffee is a Rwanda Rulindo Cooperatives decaf that I roast myself in a Fresh Roast SR500. Home roasting has three huge advantages:
1) Your coffee can always be freshly roasted; you never have to worry about how long it’s been sitting around losing its aroma
2) It’s roasted the way you like, not the way somebody else thinks is right
3) You get much higher quality beans for your money
Mart
Last Xmas I bought me a hand coffee grinder and an Aeropress. Really impressed with the coffee I make. Usually only make one cup a day as it is a PITA. Best of all when friends are over I live up to my elite smug liberal reputation spending twenty minutes making four cups of joe.
Droppy
If I lived the life I want, at 11:00 a.m. I would take some lox and bits of buttered toast out on my deck overlooking some magnificent body of water. I would have a glass of some deep red wine followed by a cup of dark coffee and a small, sweet cookie. All this while reading from a long, well-written book while I occasionally glance over the scenery and strive to bear the contentment.
BC in Illinois
@Crashman:
I worked for a publishing company once. Their corporate history, pre-prohibition, included the practice of sending the apprentice up the street to the saloon, to pick up a couple of buckets of beer. Very German, no need to refrigerate the beer. Put the bucket in the print room. Each worker had his own metal cup to dish out his own drink . Others have talked about the “buckets of beer” at the firehouse, etc.
For me what is striking is the image of a 13-14 year old boy walking up the street in mid-morning to get a couple of buckets of beer from the saloon. A whole different world.
kindness
Coffee question – I use a Cuisinart machine for my morning coffee because I need to have the programmable make the coffee just prior to getting up thingy. I don’t have a lot of time in the morning before I have to get off to work. I’m thinking of getting a different one though. Who uses what machines? Advantages/disadvantages? I tried researching on line and ran into a bunch of BS even with the fancy/far too expensive coffee makers (yea a Cuisinart guy complaining about expensive. That’s typical liberal)
2liberal
OT: i am thinking of a Far Side cartoon with text “great days in tech support” ; it is of a medieval catapult being used to hurl troops at a castle, with the troops missing the target and being splattered all over the walls and sticking there. The tech support guy has a word balloon saying “it is working the way it is supposed to” or similar. Does anyone have that cartoon, if so what collection has it? I really want to copy that to post it on my cubicle wall.
Jeffro
On a totally different note, I have to recommend two really good books I’ve been able to plow through while resting up with this pneumonia: Strange Weather by Joe Hill, and Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China’s Push for Global Power, by Howard French.
Strange Weather is four short novellas of horror, weirdness, and all-too real modern disaster. Hill really outdoes himself with the 80s references in ‘Snapshot’, a parable about Alzheimers. ‘Aloft’ is fun and funny and sad. ‘Loaded’ is terrifyingly real and the last line should make you think back about everything that happened in the whole story (as well as in our own up-is-down world of 2nd amendment lunacy). ‘Rain’ is also terrifying (and hard on critters!) but at least it ends on a note of hope.
Everything Under the Heavens may make you realize – I know it did for me – that there are epic changes going on in the world besides the antics of Treason Boy and his gang of enablers. This one, I will be pushing on my own teenage kids so that they have a better understanding of the next few decades by understanding China’s past.
Next up, I think I’m going to give The Magpie Murders a try – I hear it’s a delight on multiple levels. And then back to some non-fiction. Lather, rinse, repeat! ;)
Tom Levenson
@Repatriated: You have happied me.
amygdala
@Roger Moore: A former trainee brought me back a pound of coffee from Rwanda some years ago. Didn’t roast it myself, but it was still delicious, some of the best coffee I’ve ever had.
ruemara
@Cheryl Rofer: One of the few who even know lapsang souchong. It’s one of my faves as well.
my break is usually just a cup of coffee (decaf). I keep it clean, so no carbs, no sugars for me. Saving those for Christmas Eve & Christmas Day eating.
Major Major Major Major
@Tom Levenson: ain’t nothing wrong with verbing.
Jeffro
@2liberal: You can Google it pretty easily, I bet. My fave is the one where one caveman is using the other as bait on a line, in the shallows of a lake or ocean, just waiting for something tasty to appear.
And it does, and it’s HUGE, but it’s just under the surface of the water – so the ‘fisherman’ caveman can’t see it, but the ‘bait’ caveman sure can. And the ‘bait’ caveman is going “Now, Grog! Throw!…Throoooooooow!…Throw throw throw throw throw!”
LOL. “Throw, Bobby Three Sticks! Throoooooooow!”
Roger Moore
@kindness:
I don’t think any of the completely automated machines are going to be a whole lot better than what you have. They’re all using essentially the same technology, so once you get one that isn’t obviously terrible (e.g. grinds the coffee wrong, doesn’t get the water hot enough) there’s not much room to improve. I would guess that the next step up while still maintaining reasonable automation is going to be one of the automated home espresso machines. It seems that the big contemporary trend in coffee these days is to make the system less automated; people are switching to methods like pour over and Aeropress that are totally manual.
Miss Bianca
@ruemara: I like lapsang souchong, too – just started drinking it again after years and years off. Was a big tea drinker all thru’ high school, then switched to coffee in college, just coming back to tea latterly. LS is more of an afternoon tea, to me, rather than mid-morning. For mid-morning I prefer green tea, if I’m going to drink tea.
My favorite coffee now is roasted in Denver by the Dazbog company – proof that *some* good comes out of Russia!
yam
Good locally roasted coffee with a couple of wedges of Ibarra Mexican chocolate and heavy cream. A treat for a Minnesota winter’s morning…
Kelly
@Jersey Tomato:
Same
a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)
@Crashman: It’s amazing how much they appear to have consumed, and once you absorb that fact, you can see where the Temperance and teetotalers were coming from. The sheer amount people consumed was astounding–it even shocked the British, who were not noted for being, by and large, abstainers from spirituous beverages.
Prohibition was a lousy idea in practice, but there was more than a mere moral panic involved in the push for it.
chris
@BC in Illinois: That was one of my grandfather’s stories. He was sent to the tavern with a bucket when his uncle came to visit. There was even a special bucket, smaller than a regular bucket, kept in the pantry for the occasion. Like a lot of southwestern Ontario they were still quite German even though my Granddad was the third generation.
Dorothy A. Winsor (formerly Iowa Old Lady)
At 11:00, I have lunch because why wait?
Another Scott
@Repatriated:
– Bishop Robert South (1634 – 1716)
Cheers,
Scott.
chris
@Tom Levenson: Verbing impacts us on a daily basis. Grr to both.
(Heh, spellcheck doesn’t like it either.)
Roger Moore
@amygdala:
I’ve decided I like the east African coffees the best.
I got into home roasting step by step. First, I started having problems getting decent whole bean decaf. They didn’t have good stuff that reliably, and what they did have tended to be
burnedroasted darker than I like. So I found a local coffee roaster that had freshly roasted decaf and usually had one kind that was medium roasted rather than burned to a crisp. The only problem there was that they charged close to $20/pound.After getting a couple of pounds, I decided it would be worth trying home roasting to save money, since you can get started with $5/pound beans and an air popcorn popper. The air popper did a surprisingly good job, so I got hooked pretty quickly. When I literally started to melt the air popper by roasting several batches in a row, I decided it was time to upgrade to a purpose-built roaster.
Another Scott
@Roger Moore: Neat.
I’m not a coffee drinker, but know several people who are…
Thanks for the pointer.
Cheers,
Scott.
2liberal
@Jeffro:
I have tried many times but failed. It may be the wrong text or just my not so great googling skills. But so far i can’t find it.
Barbara
Well, I want to know what kind of job you have that you can wait until 11:00 am for your second cup of coffee?
West of the Rockies (been a while)
For realsies, I’m sipping coffee (cross-legged) on a blue-green cushion in my favorite coffee house. No attendant lady hovering over me, but still having fun.
Doug R
Sometime between 10 and 11 a grande in a venti cup topped off with half and half plus a banana bread or double chocolate brownie.
Roger Moore
@Another Scott:
Honestly, I think the barrier to entry for home coffee roasting is low enough- you can do it with an air popcorn popper or even on the stove in a heavy pan- that anyone who’s even remotely serious about coffee ought to at least try it. Even if you decide it’s not for you, it gives you a chance to learn about the process and understand more about how coffee gets the way it is. It’s also very interesting to try roasting the same beans several different ways and seeing how the final flavor changes with the roast.
ruemara
@Roger Moore: Where do you buy green coffee?
Jeffro
Btw this is worth reading, forwarding, FB-ing, tweeting, and printing/saving for future reference: everything crappy about the #GOPTaxScam in one neat lil’ (ok not little, but not all that long either) op-ed: You Cannot Be Too Cynical About the Republican Tax Bill
So many excellent talking points and future advertising slogans in here…
Step on the gas, Dems! The bottom 40% of this country are actually going to see their taxes go UP (and 13M of them will lose health insurance, while the rest of us pay higher premiums) with this abomination. Landslide victories await!!
Jeffro
@2liberal: I get this one for “far side cartoon catapult tech support“. Maybe it wasn’t a Far Side cartoon?
Jeffro
@2liberal: Maybe this is it?
divF
I”m sitting at the original Peet’s store on Vine Street having my morning coffee. I’ve been doing this since 1971.
amygdala
@Roger Moore: Heh… that’s so cool, especially starting out with an air popper. Mother of invention!
Barbara
@Crashman:
Link: http://www.history.org/Foundation/journal/Summer08/whiskey.cfm
Major Major Major Major
@Barbara: the industrial revolution also gave England plentiful amounts of gin, stoking similar fears in their aristocracy.
Schlemazel
@Crashman:
One of the reasons for prohibition was that America was largely drunk most of the time
mike in dc
Jerusalem resolution passes, 128-9, with 35 abstentions. Would be interesting to break it down by which democratic states and US allies voted in favor.
debbie
@mike in dc:
Was Haley hastily scribbling names in her little notebook?
Suffragette City
DOJ to investigate Uranium One deal..bwahahaha..way to use banana republic resources.
and OT anyone direct me to a linky for the new calendar or is it not out yet?
Spanky
@Jeffro: And there’s this:
NotMax
You made me do it. ;)
Dug to near the back of the liquor larder and got out the bottle of sambuca in order to add a healthy splash to the first mug of the day.
@kindness
No particular complaints with the Krups machine got some years back to replace the venerable workhorse Braun coffee maker. Durable, stylish and quickly does what it’s supposed to; model is a 12 cupper with an analog-style clockface digital display.
2liberal
@Jeffro: that’s not the one i remember. but maybe my memory is wrong.
Barbara
@Major Major Major Major: Well, I guess you can call it elitist fear, but it wasn’t all that good for their families either.
Spanky
@divF:
Damn! I would have had to pee by now.
Elmo
Great. Here it is 12:30 in the afternoon, I’m working at home, and you all are making me want a drink.
Humboldtblue
Major Dickason blend or nothing. Go ahead, fight me!
On January 1st I will be able to walk into a local retail outlet and purchase marijuana. Probably.
There could some glitches along the way, however, what with dipshit Trump and Sessions in office. Need our congressioal delegation to stand up.
Cheryl Rofer
@debbie:
divF
@Spanky: Life’s been a lot easier since they put in restrooms in 2009.
Another Scott
@2liberal: If it is a Far Side comic, presumably it’s in here.
It can be very hard to find particular comics in a Google search – some artists are hugely prolific and not everything has ended up in the (free) web.
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
Jeffro
@2liberal: Ok – you’re welcome. =)
Humboldtblue
@Cheryl Rofer:
Guatemala and Honduras, why? Are all those nations which voted no under pressure from the U.S.? Why the hell Tongo would vote no other than our pressure seems odd.
LAO
Goods news on the 1st Amendment front:
ETA: defendants acquitted in the inauguration day protests prosecuted by the feds
Jeffro
@Cheryl Rofer: What the hell, Palau?? Siding with Tang the Conqueror on this one???
tobie
@Jeffro: I’m curious about the concentration of small businesses in rural vs urban areas. As I divide my time between the two, my purely anecdotal experience is that the urban residents I know work in large organizations where their specialized skills are needed whereas the rural folks I know own small businesses concentrated around the housing industry. I gather the pass-through provision does not apply to smaller LLC’s. Does anyone know the size limitation?
Kelly
9 year old grandson just made us eggs for breakfast. I told him he could be the Egg Man I’ll be the Walrus. He replied goo goo g’joob.
debbie
@Cheryl Rofer:
Thanks. For once, I can’t wait for the fallout.
Amir Khalid
@Tom Levenson:
I wonder: do you pea on your dinner?
Humboldtblue
@Kelly:
Yup, all these other personal blends are nonsense. Dickason or go home.
Steeplejack
@Jeffro:
For those who think that Jennifer Rubin has had a full-fledged “road to Damascus” conversion from Republicanism, please note that in this column she quotes (with tacit approval, it seems) the American Enterprise Institute apparatchik Michael R. Strain:
The debt! The national debt suddenly rears its ugly head once again. Eek! It’s a problem that must be addressed—but not, apparently, by not doing stupid shit like passing a law that adds $1.5 trillion to it. It’s the entitlements, stupid.
Later Rubin quotes Strain again:
(Bolded bits highlight the laundry list of usual AEI/GOP “solutions.”)
To be fair, Rubin hammers him on that:
That’s fine. But it is clear that Rubin, despite her disgust with Trump and the current batch of Republican accomplices, is still wearing blinders and seeing the world through GOP-colored lenses. Anything Democratic is right out and does not merit any mention at all.
MattF
I like something savory– or spicy. I’ve recently discovered ‘Sun of Italy’ hot chopped peppers, and they’ve made my days happier.
Amir Khalid
@Cheryl Rofer:
I’m glad to see Malaysia voted in favour.
MattF
@Steeplejack: In fact, Rubin often quotes Dems with approval. FWIW, I don’t think she’s on any road to Damascus, but she’s not making a career of baiting liberals either.
The Moar You Know
@Steeplejack: I’ve been a bit bewildered at those who thought she’d “come over” or “join our side”. That’s not how she’s wired, and the second Trump is out of office she’ll be right back on the GOP train. She finds Trump and Trumpism appalling, but sees that as separate from the GOP. It isn’t, of course, but a lot of the Never Trump Republicans see it that way.
She has a reasonable opinion of Trump and his fan club. That’s all.
MattF
@The Moar You Know: Except that ‘Trump and his fan club’ includes most Republican voters and politicians, and she’s well aware of that.
James E. Powell
I’m drinking Boyd’s French No. 6. I’m told Boyd’s has been around forever, but I neither saw nor heard of it until it appeared on my Culver City Pavilions shelf this last summer. Or maybe it was there the whole time but I never noticed it before. I had been buying Peet’s for years.
NotMax
@Humboldtblue
Love, love, love this for storing coffee. Holds contents of a bag of Major Dickason perfectly. Strong airtight seal.
One tip: Wash thoroughly and let air dry completely before first use.
debbie
@Amir Khalid:
Sadly, the Pacific Islands that voted with the U.S. will get no gratitude from Trump and no assistance in saving their sinking lands.
laura
@Jersey Tomato: that’s what they have on offer at my office. I enjoyed a cuppa along with some chocolate mint creamy holiday treats.
But pork tamales, now that’s what I call holiday breakfast of champions.
Major Major Major Major
@Barbara: I didn’t say they were unfounded. Aristocrats are not incapable of being right.
Humboldtblue
@NotMax:
Nice! Thank you.
Major Major Major Major
@Steeplejack:
They’re not all bad. Reducing commute times at the state and local level = public transit investment. Rent-collecting and protectionism masquerading as licensure requirements is bad (looking at you, California esthetician license). Anti-density zoning regulations are bad for the environment and bad for people who want to live in places.
bemused
I saw a clip on Morning Joe of trump and gop on capitol steps from yesterday. They were all disgusting, big smiles and nodding their heads to whatever trump said but Paul Ryan, who was standing right behind trump was the absolute worst. He was a grinning village idiot. This man makes my stomach churn.
Listening to msnbc isn’t helping my stomach. The Republicans are the most godawful humans on earth.
Tom Levenson
@divF: I know that store well, though once the Domingo store opened that was our venue — just a few blocks away from where I grew up.
After leaving Berkeley for good in 1980, I used to mail order my coffee from Peet’s — in 10 pound lots to get the shipping/discount, which I would then divide up among my friends. Passing little paper bags for cash….
Ruckus
@Jager:
Only 47 this morning 450 miles south of you. Nice ride to work this morning. No worry about falling asleep on the way.
Tom Levenson
@Major Major Major Major: Well before the industrial revolution. You see genever fears after Dutch William crosses the Channel, followed by gin panics shortly thereafter (early 18th c.)
J R in WV
Darjeeling is a favorite, as in Oolong. Lately, the past 5 years, I kind of forced myself to learn to drink good coffee, so I buy Kona and that Swedish brand, medium roast, 50-50 blend mostly, although it varies. With half and half and about 1/3 teaspoon of sugar.
Restaurants can and do make good coffee, but good tea is nearly impossible to get, you need to warm the pot first, then time the drenching of the leaves, then pull out the leaves quickly, etc, too much for a busy waiter or cook’s helper. The coffee machine, you put in the grounds and push the button. Then walk away to fix someone’s breakfast.
And a “trail mix” cookie from a local bakery. Mostly nuts seeds, just enough batter to hold it together. And you need to get there early in the day or they’re all gone!
Humboldtblue
@Ruckus:
It was 30 degrees when I opened my front door this morning and gazed upon the beautiful frosty land. By 6 a.m. it was down to 27.
@divF:
Do you know anyone by the name of Greenson?
MattF
@bemused: They all know that Trump has an insatiable hunger for praise, and they make sure he gets it. It’s a low risk for the short-term– but a longer view ‘in real life’ won’t be so agreeable.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
People would drink gin by the tankard like they would drink beer, so I can see how it became the crack cocaine of its day.
Tom Levenson
@Humboldtblue: Dickason is too one-note, heavy and morbid. Fight me. I miss Top Blend, which I used to cut w. French roast. But the aged Sumatra — heavy, and a bit choclatey — and the Italian roast, which adds a delightful edge of bitter w/out ruining the taste, is a fine combo.
Major Major Major Major
@Humboldtblue:
Is that anything like friscalating dusklight?
Waratah
Trying to recreate my Mum’s pot of Bushells tea and dunking ginger cookies.
I think they changed the tea.
Miss Bianca
@debbie: Why does Nikki Haley remind me of Dolores Umbridge from the Harry Potter books? It’s not like she has a maddening titter, but she is a full-on petty vengeance-driven patriarchal enforcer.
Ruckus
@Droppy:
Nice if you can savor it.
Sounds like you have a more normal human morning though.
Aleta
Oh Mother of god(less trumpettes):
“I’m really looking forward to doing a lot of traveling in April when people realize the effect that this has… The vast majority will be [doing their taxes] on a single postcard.” sez the lovely Ivka.
Hope no one tells her before she departs that the forms will be for 2017, and we can rile up the masses against her fake promises.
She’s a walking blinking advertisement for how our failed private schools are misguiding our sad upper class.
Humboldtblue
@Tom Levenson:
I hear ya, I’m just not a fan of French roast, too dark and angry and bitter, like an out of work 56-year old former ironworker with a high school education and a cable news fetish. I am, however, starting to get into African blends and picked up a really good cup of a Sumatran coffee (I forget the brand) from the co-op on Monday. I’ll give Peet’s a try.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
Unless we’re talking about different things, estheticians are licensed to apply acids and corrosive chemicals to people’s skin and hair. I would prefer them to have a license to do that so I feel like they have a clue what they’re doing, thank you.
Ruckus
@Humboldtblue:
Ever do that for a few days in a row but see single digits, with maybe a negative sign in front? One doesn’t stand on the front porch long then.
Or try sailing above the Artic Circle in the winter while refueling under way.
NotMax
@J R in WV
Recently picked up a French press which intend to use exclusively for preparing tea.
Being aware of my preternatural clumsiness, opted for an all metal one rather than the more traditional glass.
Humboldtblue
@Major Major Major Major:
Got-damn, what a fucking word! Well done, Wes Anderson! (I’ve never seen the movie)
MJS
@Jeffro: Thanks for this. I had forgotten about Joe Hill. If it’s who I’m thinking of, I read one of his books, and it was outstanding. Heart Shape Box, I think.
Jager
@Ruckus:
When we lived in Boston, I thought heated eats were designed for cold weather parts of the country, since moving to SoCal, the heated seats and steering wheel are perfect for this climate, seldom turn on the heater anymore. Well, we did use the heater the last time we went to Big Bear, we were driving the old Range Rover Defender with a soft top and sliding side windows, the heater could barely keep up, The 4 wheel drive kicked ass though.
Doug R
@Cheryl Rofer: Note Canada abstaining. The longest undefended border in the world, and Canada is slowly backing away….
Mnemosyne
Another fan of Lapsang here. I also like a blend I got at the local Langham hotel that is a blend of Assam, Uva, and Darjeeling. I’ve had very good luck ordering teas online from Adagio, and I love their Loch Ness Lapsang blend.
ETA: Had to correct myself — Uva and Darjeeling are not the same thing.
Humboldtblue
@Ruckus:
It never gets below 27-28 degrees along the coast and that only happens on the clear nights. If we get any sort of cloud cover or rain it’s always in the mid-40s. I’ll have to scrape ice for the next six weeks or so but if it rains at all the temps go back to 40 and make it easy. My front window towel was heavy today, though.
Brachiator
Coming late to the thread. I am reduced to decaffeinated coffee for health reasons, but try to balance that with a toasted bagel with cream cheese and the tastiest, flaky pastry I can find. A nearby place has a wonderful chocolate croissant and buttery apple tortes.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: Ah, I was thinking of nail technicians. I know conservatives like to hate on beauty product licensure but you’re right that many of them (chemical peels, or barbers with straight razors) are defensible. California has several different licenses, nails are the iffiest.
Humboldtblue
@Brachiator:
Our local bagel joint has pretty average bagels but man o Manischewitz their knish are delicious.
Los Bagels is a multicultural café with a blend of both Jewish and Mexican tastes and traditions, highlighting many different holidays like Dia de los Muertos, Hanukkah, Passover, and Mexican Independence Day.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
Ask any woman who’s gotten a fungal infection after a manicure or pedicure if she thinks that licensing requirements for nail places should be loosened.
Honestly, I mostly see men (like Matt Yglasias) bitching about those, and it’s because they think women’s beauty routines are stupid and pointless, so they never bother to find out that, yes, there are actual hygiene and safety issues that the estheticians need to be trained about.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne:
How about instead of a 400-hour certification requirement they just cut it down to sanitation? This is a state license requirement we’re talking about, not a professional quality-control board.
Brachiator
@Jeffro:
Despite some very good reporting in the usually maligned mainstream media which has clearly pointed out GOP lies and bad actions with respect to the tax law, you still have a core of citizens who sadly believe that Trump and the Republicans are looking out for them.
A lot of people will be happy with small tax decreases even as the ultra wealthy roll around naked in they cash that they get from massive tax cuts.
The inevitable tax increases and loss of insurance coverage that most will see will roll out gradually over time. It won’t hit them all at once.
The Democrats have a clear opportunity for victory, but it will still take hard work. No easy landslides.
NotMax
@Humboldtblue
Ooh, they list NY corn rye. Definitely an endangered species among baked goods.
Brachiator
@Humboldtblue: When I have time, I stop by a Mexican bakery near my work that has lots of tasty treats. A traditional donut shop nearby has great apple fritters.
divF
@Tom Levenson: I was spending a fair amount of time Livermore around the time the Domingo Street store opened, so I would stop there on my way to work, and meet with colleagues / students on the patio out back. It became well known that catching me during the first cup of coffee was the way to get quality time out of me.
divF
@Humboldtblue: No I don’t, but it is entirely possible that I would recognize him / her on sight. I was recently on an oral exam for a student, and one of the other examiners and I immediately recognized each other from Sunday mornings at Peet’s.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
I honestly don’t see the need to cut it down. Is there really such a shortage of nail salons that it requires the license requirements to be cut back to increase competition?
It still feels like the people calling for it to be a shorter course are people who think getting manicures and pedicures is stupid so there’s no reason to have a license requirement, hygiene and public health be damned.
debbie
@Mnemosyne:
My cousin got that flesh-eating bacterial thing after a manicure. Not realizing that cuticles shouldn’t be cut, she changed her son’s diaper and, less than a couple days later, was in the ICU. This was more than 20 years ago, and her one finger is a total mess.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: I’m all for hygiene and public health requirements, I just don’t see any legitimate reason that the government should be requiring courses in aesthetics in order to ply a trade beyond that. ETA I said it was “bad”, not “a pressing issue of national importance”
Humboldtblue
@NotMax:
And it’s surprisingly good. Really good, but as a single man I tend to waste too much because the loaves are HUGE! (and that’s after I give some to the g/f).
@divF:
My good friend’s mom. Barbara, was a regular at the original Peet’s from the day it opened. Sadly she passed last year.
Jeffro
@Steeplejack: She’d still prefer to promote small-c conservative solutions via her preferred think tanks, but most of those ideas are ok or at least debatable. “Shovel money at rich people and corporations” is obviously dumb and she says so. I’ll take it.
Most of these #NeverTrumpers seem to think that if they agree with the Dems in the slightest, that will tip us over into 100% tax rates and socialized medicine and we’ll all have to wear patchouli oil or something. It’s weird. That’s why I try to talk about Dems being the ‘center-center’ party…if Rubin and Co want to see what a truly leftist party would look like, there are plenty of examples in the European democracies (well, a few examples anyway) but nothing like that waiting in the wings here in the good ol’ USA. They need to just agree (publicly, loudly, and soon) to vote Dem whenever possible until the threat to our country from Trumpism’s sheer stupidity, mendacity, and irresponsibility is gone.
Jeffro
@MJS: That one was great! He wrote a couple of other long ones which I haven’t read yet, and a short story collection that’s on my Amazon wish list (for when I get my to-read pile back down into single digits)
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
My knee hurts and idiots refuse to understand that the Hero’s Journey is not an immutable law of screenwriting, so I’m a little peevish. But I also think that there’s a certain amount of chauvinism along the lines of “how hard can it be to train someone to cut and polish nails or cut hair?” that drives me nuts when this subject comes up. It’s not actually that easy to cut someone else’s nails.
MJS
@Jeffro: He’s apparently Stephen King’s son, which I didn’t realize.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne:
Sounds like we need to start requiring creative writing classes before people are allowed to comment online.
Just because some people who make an argument are assholes doesn’t actually mean there aren’t other people who make the argument in good faith.
NotMax
@Humboldtblue
Can’t speak for your place but NY bakeries wouldn’t balk at all when someone requested a half loaf.
Steeplejack
@Jeffro:
I agree, I’ll take Rubin’s coöperation and her hammering of the Republicans. She is an excellent panelist on the various MSNBC weeknight shows and A.M. Joy on the weekend. I’m just skeptical of the temptation to say that “She’s seen the light! She’s joined us!” So far, there has been no evidence that she has even agreed—loudly, publicly, or quietly on the down low—to vote for Democrats against these Republican swamp critters.
Mnemosyne
@Steeplejack:
I’m feeling hopeful about Rubin, but I agree that she has not yet had a true scales falling from her eyes moment about the Republican Party. But I do think she’s primed for a Schiavo Moment like JGC’s when her personal one happens.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
I know — I was trying to make the point in that thread that I was disagreeing with two specific people and not lumping everyone who disagreed with me together. The person who specifically referenced the Hero’s Journey as a touchstone knows who he is.
catclub
@tobie:
I gathered just the opposite – that it cuts off for incomes over $X, so the main lesson is that it is complicated and done that way on purpose.
So much for simplifying the tax code.
Roger Moore
@ruemara:
I get my green coffee from Sweet Maria’s in Oakland. They ship, but if you live close enough you can also pick up in person. And, of course, Amazon sells the stuff.
catclub
I would need a snack to keep that hat up in the air.
SFBayAreaGal
The last couple of years I have been buying 1/2 pound bags of Peet’s Kona and Jamaican Blue Montain. I only drink this coffee on weekends.
Brachiator
@Mnemosyne:
Don’t get me started. Practically every trope that dopes insist must be part of every story is nonsense. That includes
Redemption arcs. Arcs period. The Heroes Journey. Every character you like must have “agency.” Every character you like must be strong, powerful. Every character you like must be badass.
Hope your knee feels better.
Jeffro
@MJS: yes – the one that can write really well (as opposed to the other one, who writes =)
Jeffro
@Steeplejack: Yup. That’s why I write her 1-2x a month and encourage her to openly join forces with ‘center-center’ Dems until we drive the #MAGA crowd from office and back under their rocks. After that, we can quibble about the nuances of…well, anything… But first we have to save the Republic.
Mnemosyne
@Brachiator:
I started physical therapy, so we’ve entered the “Cruel to Be Kind” phase of my treatment. Not fun, but necessary.
Tehanu
@Crashman:
And a good portion of the 20th as well, not to mention high. Every time we re-watch The Maltese Falcon or The Thin Man (or almost any other contemporary-setting movie made before about 1960), people start drinking at 10:00 in the morning and never stop. In Casablanca Victor & Ilsa order drinks, then he goes to the bar and orders more drinks, then he goes back to the table and Captain Renault orders more drinks for them. Livers of iron, apparently.
trollhattan
Whoops–wrong thread.
Ruckus
@Humboldtblue:
Pulling your chain a wee bit, the single digit stuff was back in OH. And it didn’t do that a lot but often enough to get your attention.