Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Boeing: repeatedly making the case for high speed rail.

Jesus watching the most hateful people claiming to be his followers

Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

This chaos was totally avoidable.

“A king is only a king if we bow down.” – Rev. William Barber

I am pretty sure these ‘journalists’ were not always such a bootlicking sycophants.

Marge, god is saying you’re stupid.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

The poor and middle-class pay taxes, the rich pay accountants, the wealthy pay politicians.

My years-long effort to drive family and friends away has really paid off this year.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Historically it was a little unusual for the president to be an incoherent babbling moron.

Every one of the “Roberts Six” lied to get on the court.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Take hopelessness and turn it into resilience.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

“Perhaps I should have considered other options.” (head-desk)

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

Let there be snark.

If America since Jan 2025 hasn’t broken your heart, you haven’t loved her enough.

You are here: Home / Garden Chats / Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Ready for Their Close-Ups

Sunday Morning Garden Chat: Ready for Their Close-Ups

by | 170 Comments

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From “long time reader… infrequent commenter” Misamericanthrope:

I have in the past offered up a report at the end of the season, but with the dark days that we are experiencing now, I feel the need to share some garden pics. Helps to keep me sane!

This batch of photos will be primarily close-ups of early Summer progress. I’ll be sure to send an update with vista views at the end of the season.

First up are some Lorenziana blooms. Lorenziana is a type of Gaillardia, also known as “Blanket Flower”. Got it as a freebie in a seed order so decided to give it a try. The foliage is particularly weedy, so I was initially disappointed, but now that the blooms are taking off, I am quite happy with them. They would probably be best situated in the middle or the back of a bed with a shorter plant in front to hide the not-very-pretty foliage.

Next up is a Salpiglossis “Kew Blue”. They are just beginning their bloom cycle. Behind them in this photo is a “Green Mist” Laceflower. No blooms yet on them, but their lacy foliage is already a welcome addition.

Over-wintered this “Campfire” Coleus and took a fresh cutting to plant outdoors. It’s booming and the color seems to intensify daily.

My Clematis that I planted last year is finally producing a solid bloom yield. This variety is unfortunately called “Mr. President”. Ugh.

This is the first of two parts — next week (or maybe Wednesday, if there’s not too much news), photos from Misamericanthrope‘s shade garden!

***********
It’s been a screwy year here north of Boston. Between hard frosts lasting well into April, followed immediately by midsummer-like temps in May, the local garden chains didn’t have any of the usual early-spring bedding pansies I adore. And in the mid-May rush to get my mail-order tomatoes transplanted, I seem to have missed the window for the annuals I count on for quick color. We did find some (well-grown, heinously expensive) lobelia, but I’m gonna have to experiment with new-to-me plants so the boxes and spaces at the front of my flower beds don’t sit empty…

What’s going on in your garden(s), this week?

Reader Interactions

170Comments

  6. 6.

    JPL

    No gardening for me today. I fell off a landing that I’m replacing outside with my son onto flagstone. Aches, pains and ice for me.

  7. 7.

    raven

    Nice pics. It’s been pouring and it’s supposed to hit again today. Shit is lush out there and the kudzu is off the hook.

  8. 8.

    SWMBO

    OT There is usually an autoplaying video on the right in the ads. It’s not there at the moment and this is what it says:
    =========================================================================
    Your connection is not secure

    The owner of videos.culturalconvergencemedia.com has configured their website improperly. To protect your information from being stolen, Firefox has not connected to this website.
    ==========================================================================
    Is this one of the reasons things have been tits up lately?

  11. 11.

    JPL

    @raven: For me, it’s the ticks. Even though the bats lost their habitat, there are still a few around to help control the mosquito population. Now if I go into the wooded area, not so much.

  12. 12.

    satby

    We’re in the second day of 90+° temps with high humidity, continuing until tonight when “a damaging thunderstorm” is predicted. So no gardening for me today on one of my few free days again. My yard looks decent though, most of my transplanted shrubs and trees are growing well with all the rain and heat alternating and only the raised beds are a weedy mess, so two outta three ain’t bad.

  13. 13.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JPL: The Ozarkistan ticks are horrible this year. I blame it on the mild/allbutnonexistent winter we had. I can’t walk out my front door without picking up at least 3 of the bstrds.

  14. 14.

    Elmo

    Everything is loving the heat and humidity except me and the wife. I just hope it can all go without much intervention for a while.

    I haven’t slept in three days. On Wednesday our 175-lb (no exaggeration, weighed on vet scale) Anatolian Shepherd had major surgery on his left stifle (knee). He came home Thursday, and needs constant attention and must be separated from the other dogs. So I have been staying with him on the living room floor while my wife looks after the other dogs and the cats and fish and chickens. I took two weeks of vacation to be here for this, but it’s harder than I thought it would be. Even when he sleeps I don’t, because I’m just too old and fat and stuff to be able to sleep on the floor.

  15. 15.

    JPL

    @OzarkHillbilly: Since you have injured every bone or muscle in your body, what’s the best
    way to alleviate overnight stiffening. My knee and shin throbbed all night, and I finally just got up and started using ice.

  16. 16.

    Barbara

    @Elmo: Can’t you at least sleep on the sofa next to the dog? Hope you both start feeling better.

  18. 18.

    Elizabelle

    @JPL: Best to you. Ouch. The universe says: read a good book, or catch up on some vids and must watch TV.

    Great photos.

    I am never sure what makes one plant a flower and another a weed. (re the weedy foliage)

  20. 20.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JPL: It all depends on what the problem actually is. If it is due to an injury or overuse the previous day, ice is called for. If it’s just general achiness or arthritis, heat is what you want. I have a friend whose arthritis in her hands is far worse than mine, she starts every day with a hand soak in warm water. Gets everything loosened up for her day. I do the same from time to time with epsom salts.

  21. 21.

    JPL

    @OzarkHillbilly: I was trying to hold down a 6x6x8 so my son could get leverage to pull out another. It didn’t work cuz I went up and over onto flagstone about 3 ft away. We are replacing out door steps and the landing. Truthfully nothing hurt that much yesterday, but my knee is not happy. Tomorrow I have a busy day so just don’t want it to stiffen again overnight. Whoever built the original landing thought that it would take dozens of 10 inch spikes or nails.

    I was lucky because I was more concerned about hitting a rusty spike than anything. The poor son turned white.

  26. 26.

    satby

    @JPL: I know it’s supposed to be ice for injuries to keep down swelling and inflammation, but if your knee isn’t swollen try heat to speed healing. And I always took naproxen for my musculoskeletal aches following injuries, it honestly worked way better for me than anything else. Take it easy and feel better soon, I hope!

  27. 27.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JPL: Yeah, definitely ice then, for the first 24-48 hours (sometimes I go 72 hrs if the swelling is bad enough) then switch to heat.

  28. 28.

    Cheryl Rofer

    I spread bark mulch yesterday. 5 bags for $10! Yay! I can now see the end of the job – probably five more bags. Next I start on renovating the flower beds.

    More pics from yesterday’s demonstrations after I eat breakfast, get dressed, and walk the kittehs.

  29. 29.

    tokyocali (formerly tokyo expat)

    @SWMBO: I’m getting Safari can’t verify the identity of this website for that exact same video.

    While I’m delurking to post, I should mention that for the last three weeks I get the whirling color wheel when I scroll through comments on my Mac. All of a sudden, the cursor freezes and the wheel pops out. I never know how long it will last. But, I’m addicted to this place and check it several times a day. Also, when I’ve checked BJ at work, I don’t get the color wheel, but I do get a message that is something like, “This page consumes a lot of energy. Consider closing the tab to improve your Mac performance.”

  31. 31.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @JPL: Ah, so you come from the school of “do a job badly enough and they’ll never ask you to do it again” eh?

  32. 32.

    Elmo

    @Barbara: Thanks for the good wishes! No sofa in that room. It’s a living room, but it’s where the dining table is. I eventually want to knock down the wall between that room and the “other” living room, but haven’t yet. So there’s a dining table, a huge Empire-style buffet with a gigantic turtle tank on it, and now a big dog bed in the middle of the floor.

    Keeping the other dogs out means keeping gates up in the doorways, and keeping the other dogs in the front of the house and him in this room. Can’t switch, because this is the room with flat access in and out. No stairs.

    I am much too old and fat for this. And why doesn’t fat provide a cushion so the floor doesn’t hurt? I ask you, is that fair?

  33. 33.

    JPL

    Misamericanthrope, Some of the pictures you should print and frame. They truly are gorgeous.

  35. 35.

    JPL

    @OzarkHillbilly: lol We pulled out a dozen 6x6x8 and they are stacked and ready to be cut in half so I can load them in my car and take them to dump. I was told not to go near them. It was a big landing, and the steps should be easier.

  36. 36.

    germy

    WashPost: Trump "wants to see a portfolio of solid academic writing" from his SCOTUS nominee, though an adviser "acknowledged Trump does not care to read it; he simply wants to know it exists." https://t.co/gHeX3aKaye— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 1, 2018

    Reminds me of more than a few bosses I’ve had over the years.

  37. 37.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Elmo:

    And why doesn’t fat provide a cushion so the floor doesn’t hurt?

    Oh it does, tho the person you lie on top of tends to complain. I just don’t get it.

  40. 40.

    debbie

    @satby:

    As a survivor of many falls and seriously banged up knees, it’s ice, ice, ice for at least the first 24 hours. As the body begins healing, then heat is okay. But heat at the beginning would cause any fluids to swell.

  41. 41.

    debbie

    @JPL:

    Your son fired you?

    If you need to be active tomorrow, take today and elevate the leg and ice as much as you can bear.

  43. 43.

    debbie

    I got distracted by JPL’s injury, but the flowers are beautiful! No such thing as an ugly flower, is there?

    As for rain, the hydrangeas in my neighborhood are rampant this summer, and their flowers are larger than I’ve ever seen. It’s to the point where they’re bending branches as if they were peonies.

  47. 47.

    Gelfling 545

    Lovely photos. I have trouble taking plant pics. Should It include more pf this? Is there too much of that? They generally end up being pretty meh outside of a few happy accidents. Yours are great.

  48. 48.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    @rikyrah:

    Saw this on the electronic Twitter machine. It might cheer you up a bit.

    If Democrats take the House back in November, their current ranking member of the Financial Services Committee becomes the chair of the committee, and has the power to subpoena Trump’s bank records.

    That member is Maxine Waters.

  49. 49.

    geg6

    Pics are gorgeous!

    Another horrifyingly hot day here. Almost melted at the Pittsburgh march but toughed it out due to such good turnout and excellent speakers and participants.

    No plans other than submersing myself in my sister’s pool until my skin turns into a prune.

  53. 53.

    Yarrow

    The flower pictures are gorgeous! Thanks for such a beautiful set of photos.

    In my garden this week the plants are just trying to hang on in the heat. I detest summer so I feel their pain.

    Oh, look. Balloon Juice forgot my nym and email again.

  54. 54.

    Misamericanthrope

    Thanks for all the kind responses, everyone! So glad to have a forum such as this to share my passion. Stay cool!

  55. 55.

    tybee

    i love summer.

    but i don’t have to work outside in the heat of the day, either.
    i do play in it, though, all day long.

    will be cooler here in south east georgia this coming week than it will be in the midwest and northeast.

  57. 57.

    Elizabelle

    @The Ancient Randonneur: Oh, we must make it happen.

    Maxine Waters subpoenaing Trump’s tax returns, which should have been divulged no later than early 2016? We must make it happen.

    That would motivate me to hit a few more houses, canvassing.

  58. 58.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    @debbie:

    I doubt it. A malignant narcissist can’t see the possibility of losing at anything. It’s just not in his nature.

  59. 59.

    Steeplejack

    Just throwing one in to see if I can get my nym to stick.

    Nothing much planned here in Threadkill Lane today. Putter around, watch the soccer, etc. It’s sunny and 80° now, going up to 94° later. Not as hot as predicted. Tomorrow is still predicted to be 98°. Eek!

    Meanwhile in Moscow it’s a balmy 76° at 4:50 p.m. ahead of the host country’s match against Spain in a few minutes.

  61. 61.

    Yarrow

    @Steeplejack: My nym didn’t stick. I commented, stepped away for 35 minutes and now it’s gone again. I think 30 minutes is the cut off time. Seems like that could be changed to infinity so people’s nyms and emails would stick.

  63. 63.

    Steeplejack

    @Yarrow:

    Alain said a few days ago that some set of cookies times out after 30 minutes. WTF.

    I’d love to get an update on what’s going on. I feel like we’re in this limbo where everything is chalked up to “third-party components changed and shit happened.” ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    Not ragging on Alain because stuff is broken. I know he’s working hard behind the scenes, but maybe a little more communication about the details would help.

  68. 68.

    oldgold

    The Chicken Free Range War rages on.

    Preparations for the Singapore Sling Summit between the warrior Princesses DeeDee Plorable and Neandra Tall have hit a snag.

    During my initial preparatory discussion with the unibrowed Neandra Tall she was unexepectedly shy and slightly hesitant. Confronted by the first coy Tall woman in 20 years, I lost my concentration and made an insensitive remark: “I am not interested in reinventing the wheel.” Understandably, Neandra Tall took offense. As a consequence, the intoxicating hope offered by the Singapore Sling Summit has collapsed/ caved-in.

  69. 69.

    Yarrow

    @Steeplejack: I agree. We don’t know what’s going on. A lot of us, but not all of us, are having the same problems. It’s really confusing. A post updating us on where we stand and addressing some of the main issues people mention, like the nyms and emails disappearing, would be really helpful.

  72. 72.

    A Ghost To Most

    @eclare: Looks like Spain is content to play keep-away, sitting on a lead, and Russia has no answer but a puncher’s chance.

  77. 77.

    Yarrow

    Where’s Kay? Here’s a big investigation into Trump’s finances and his attempts to buy Hamilton Hall at the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. Long Twitter thread if you link through. Excellent journalism.

    EXCL @realDonaldTrump was refused £38m from Bank of Scotland as he tried to a buy flagship Scottish property & create his first overseas hotel. Trump allegedly asked the bank to foreclose on its owners & deal directly with him. My 6,000w investigation: https://t.co/Q2tXZANGKh pic.twitter.com/7WjHGXkMvF— Martyn McLaughlin (@MartynMcL) June 30, 2018

    Here is a 1,000w news lead with the key disclosures surrounding how @realDonaldTrump repeatedly tried – and failed – to establish a "landmark" hotel at the world famous Old Course in St Andrews, Scotland: https://t.co/EPr0hldscj— Martyn McLaughlin (@MartynMcL) June 30, 2018

  78. 78.

    Yarrow

    Where’s Kay? Here’s a big investigation into Trump’s finances and his attempts to buy Hamilton Hall at the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland. Long Twitter thread if you link through. Excellent journalism.

    EXCL @realDonaldTrump was refused £38m from Bank of Scotland as he tried to a buy flagship Scottish property & create his first overseas hotel. Trump allegedly asked the bank to foreclose on its owners & deal directly with him. My 6,000w investigation: https://t.co/Q2tXZANGKh pic.twitter.com/7WjHGXkMvF— Martyn McLaughlin (@MartynMcL) June 30, 2018

    Reposting to take out second tweet. First one went into moderation.

  79. 79.

    trollhattan

    @JPL:

    No gardening for me today. I fell off a landing that I’m replacing outside with my son onto flagstone.

    “Pulling a Cole” is a diagnosis now recognized by medical professionals. Do not pull a Cole, that’s his jerb.

  80. 80.

    Steeplejack

    @eclare:

    Eh, I thought that was a legit call. You jump up but leave only one of your arms up? And in soccer there’s no reason to have your arms up at all.

  81. 81.

    dr. bloor

    @eclare: No, that was a correct call. On the upside, it forced Spain to wake up and actually play the game the rest of the half.

  82. 82.

    frosty

    @satby: Naproxen is good. I got prescription ibuprofen awhile back and had some unpleasant side effects related to prostate, if that’s not TMI. No problems with this stuff.

  83. 83.

    SiubhanDuinne

    The flowers, and your photos, are exquisite, Misamericanthrope. I look forward to seeing more later in the week.

  84. 84.

    Platonailedit

    Amazing the Spanish coach thought Iniesta was irrelevant. Now they are paying the price despite having ball possession for nearly 90% of the time. It should have been a cakewalk by half time. Costa was useless in first half.

  85. 85.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Now, more than ever, the world needs more Canada! ?? Happy 151st birthday!!

  88. 88.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Yarrow:

    Here’s a big investigation into Trump’s finances and his attempts to buy Hamilton Hall at the Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland.

    OMG, that sends chills of horror through me, and I haven’t even read the piece yet. I spent a few very happy weeks living in Hamilton Hall in 1975 when I was taking some summer classes at the University of St Andrews and Hamilton Hall was a dorm. It’s where I had my first haggis. It’s where I participated in my first ceilidh. I could lean out of my window and glimpse the North Sea. I loved Hamilton Hall, and the idea of Trump getting anywhere close to it just sickens me.

  89. 89.

    Platonailedit

    Russia has been a graveyard for former champions so far. The spaniards need to remember that.

  91. 91.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL:

    I fell off a landing that I’m replacing outside with my son onto flagstone. Aches, pains and ice for me.

    Ouch ouch ouch!! Hope the damage is mild and temporary.

  92. 92.

    frosty

    @debbie: I think you were the one who recommended “Crooked” by Ramin yesterday, about the back pain industry. I read the reviews and ordered a copy.

    ETA: nym stuck!!

  93. 93.

    Dorothy Winsor

    @Yarrow: Fireworks for sure. When we lived in Detroit, it and the city of Windsor on the Canadian side had joint fireworks over the Detroit River, usually in between the two holidays.

  95. 95.

    Yarrow

    @SiubhanDuinne: Read the story but also read the Twitter thread; it has some additional info on that aspect of it. The whole thing is really complex. I think it’ll open more avenues for investigating Trump’s finances.

    @SiubhanDuinne: Excellent! It’s a nice time of year in Canada for those sorts of things, I’d guess. I always find the 4th of July miserable. I guess if you’re in the northern part of the US it’s typically less hot and miserable.

  96. 96.

    Cemet

    @OzarkHillbilly: Hate ticks – thanks to one of “god’s marvelous creations” (besides the horrid diseases this ‘wonderful, loving” sadistic being provides us) I’ve suffer through both Lyme and rocky Mt spotted fever; so I really, really don’t like those blood suckers (while the two legged ones as well but I am referring to the eight legged). Absolutely the only creature I enjoy killing.

  98. 98.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @germy:

    I have the same problem with videos.culturalconvergencemedia. in safari.

    Exactly the same for me. This is the only site where it happens. Also, typing comments is really jerky and raggedy — just on this site — and my nym/email refuse to stick. I hate that participating in BJ has become a dreaded chore.

  101. 101.

    Yarrow

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I hate that participating in BJ has become a dreaded chore.

    I know what you mean. Alain really needs to give us an update post so we know what’s happening and when/if some things will get fixed. Issues that people comment on a lot should be addressed in the post. I know he’s working hard behind the scenes, but out here we just see what’s happening. We have no idea if or when it’ll get fixed. I think the complications with commenting are part of the reason people are commenting less frequently.

  105. 105.

    hilts

    @Yarrow:

    Thanks for this post and speaking of Scotland

    Police Scotland’s most senior officer has expressed concern over how his force will pay for a £5 million security operation being mounted for a potential visit from President Donald Trump. Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone told a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority board that around 5,000 officers will be required for the president’s visit, which is expected between 12 and 15 July.

    h/t https://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/president-trump-visit-could-cost-police-scotland-5m-1-4761263

  106. 106.

    chris

    @Yarrow: The heat’s here too. Someone passed out in Ottawa before 9AM. By this afternoon the temp will be close to 100F and Ottawa is famous for humidity. Paramedics will be busy.

    The hillbillies across the river started the fireworks last night causing Bert to hide in his crate until it was over. It’ll happen again tonight and tomorrow night. Nova Scotians love their fireworks.

  107. 107.

    tobie

    @Platonailedit: Yup. The Russians do nothing when they get possession of the ball. They’re just guarding their goal. It makes the game kind of boring. Go Spain!

  108. 108.

    J R in WV

    OK, after commenting on Adam’s post about pulling his evening post, my nym/email was saved in that thread. I went back to Balloon-Juice HQ and opened this thread, dropped to the bottom and the nym and email addr were gone. Linux Ubuntu 14.04 Firefox 60.0.2.

    Now back to the top of comments here.

    Great flower photos, former lurker Misamericanthrope, stick around, we enjoy new people.

  110. 110.

    zhena gogolia

    @tobie:

    The Russians do nothing when they get possession of the ball. They’re just guarding their goal.

    Wow, I thought you were talking about the upcoming summit.

  111. 111.

    MagdaInBlack

    Susan Collins at her stupid, dissembling best :

    “According to Collins, President Donald Trump promised her that he would not make opposition to abortion rights a litmus test for his Supreme Court nominee — even though he had said as a candidate that women deserved to be punished for abortion.

    “The president told me in our meeting that he would not ask that question,” Collins promised. “So I think what he said as the candidate may not have been informed by the legal advice that he now has that it would be inappropriate for him to ask a nominee how he or she would rule on a specific issue.”

    From Raw Story

  114. 114.

    Kelly

    @JPL:

    Aches, pains and ice for me

    I have found NSAIDs very helpful with that sort of injury. Naproxen is my NSAID of choice, ibuprofen is also well regarded. One of my buddies calls ibuprofen vitamin I.

  115. 115.

    debbie

    @frosty:

    Good. I hope it helps. I skipped the first half of the book because I’d never go under the knife, but the author has been through most, if not all, of the procedures, as well as having tried the various therapies recommended to alleviate back pain. An insider, so to speak.

  116. 116.

    Platonailedit

    Extra time. Got to hand it to the russians for stifling the former champ spain.

    It has been what, 3 weeks now since the site got borked?

  117. 117.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @MagdaInBlack: It’s an interesting question, like dancing angels, whether Susan Collins is a moderate Republican too weak to stand up to trump, or whether she’s been a latent right-wing ideologue– or at least right-of-center R– pretending to be a reluctant partisan for the purposes of Maine politics and press coverage, but the result is the same. She’s as loyal a foot soldier to McConnell/trump as she ever was to Bush.

    Her vote on O’Care repeal was the exception, and I’d speculate that (aside from polling in Maine) she thought she was going to become a leader, a much interviewed and lovingly profiled leader, of a growing anti-trump caucus in the elected GOP, one more case of what I suspect are many of her colleagues surprised not so much at the strength of the trump base as of the apathy of the lumpen middle

  118. 118.

    Yarrow

    @Platonailedit: Spain was just stupid to play it safe once they took the lead.

    And….my nym and email are gone again. Been over 30 minutes since my last comment so I’m pretty sure 30 minutes is the cut off for the info being saved. Sure seems like that’s a relatively easy fix.

  119. 119.

    Schlemazel

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
    I’m not much into subtlety at this point. stupid/evil, weak/ideologue really does not matter. A reliable vote for the destruction of America is a reliable vote for the destruction of America, fuck their motivation

  121. 121.

    tobie

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: Susan Collins loves her image as a moderate and loves to be seen as the one willing to split the difference, even when that makes little policy sense. She insisted that state aid be removed from the 2009 stimulus package because, in her words, it was not “stimulative.” She was of course wrong and one of the reasons the stimulus was not as effective as it could have been was because of the state aid Collins took out. I’d love to see her questioned on her policy chops.

  122. 122.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Suzanne:

    LOL, it’s such a normal abbreviation now that I almost never even think of the more commonplace meaning!

    I used to be professionally active in the South East Council for Canadian Studies — SECCS, pronounced SEX. I used to both scandalise and amuse my colleagues by casually saying things like “I’m attending a SECCS conference next week” or “Half the names in my Rolodex are people I met through SECCS.” One year, the organisation was celebrating a major anniversary and I was working on a formal acknowledgement of the occasion from the highest levels of Government. I remember asking my boss “Do you think the Prime Minister would sign a letter in support of SECCS?”

    Also, true story: At one point, a sister organisation — the Mid-Atlantic and New England Council for Canadian Studies — approached us suggesting a merger. Our group turned it down, not least because we didn’t want to deal with the inevitable “MANECCS SECCS” jokes.

  123. 123.

    Platonailedit

    Well, at least the Spanish passed the ball around 1000 times so far. So, there is always that.

  124. 124.

    Amir Khalid

    This is tedious. Russia are just sitting back in defence and not really bothering to attack when they have the ball. Spain can’t quite muster the energy or creativity to find a way round Russia.

  125. 125.

    J R in WV

    I’m an old with musculoskeletal issues. My Dr has prescribed 375 mg of Naproxen twice a day. I always take the evening dose and get the morning dose as much as I can. Ice on injuries, following PT advice. Heat once it’s all healed up for loosen things up, after it’s all healed up.

    Nym gone again.

  127. 127.

    Suzanne

    I really wish I knew what is going to happen. My personal situation is pretty good, but the governmental situation is a constant albatross. Ughhhh.

    Mueller isn’t going to save us. And even if Trump flames out and the midterms are awesome and we take the presidency and both houses of Congress……we still have to make a country with these terrible, disgusting, trash people who voted for him.

  128. 128.

    satby

    @debbie: I know that, that’s why I said if there wasn’t any swelling. Once there’s no swelling, heat is fine.

    Ice always caused my joints a lot of pain unless it was fairly immediately after an injury, so I personally don’t use it for very long, but everyone is different.

  130. 130.

    NotMax

    @MagdaInBlack

    “The president told me in our meeting that he would not ask that question,” Collins promised.

    She’s even more idiotic and Kool-Aid saturated than I suspected, then. He won’t personally mouth the words, which means nada, That’s the Heritage Foundation’s job.

  132. 132.

    Suzanne

    @SiubhanDuinne: LMAO.

    I love a good puerile sex joke.
    So at work, we set up a project office out at our jobsite, and we bought new monitors to use out there. We all have laptops, and we have docks at the office, but at the project office, they just bought cables for the monitor connection.

    So those cables are DP cables. And I snickered the first time I got the error message telling me to plug in a DP cable, and of course my boss and one of my coworkers heard me, and they started laughing, too. So at least I’m not totally alone.

  135. 135.

    Schlemazel

    @Amir Khalid:
    This is everything that makes soccer haters hate the game. “Play for a draw” just lacks any interest. As a novice to the sport my question is Is Russia doing this because they are incapable of better, Because Spain is preventing them from doing anything better or do they just think they can with the PK that follows? I don’t know enough to understand but this game is not one that would make me want to learn either.

  138. 138.

    debbie

    @satby:

    Sorry, didn’t mean to come off as lecturing.

    I once banged my knee playing tennis, came home, took a long bath, and got dressed. A couple hours later, my knee had swollen to the point that I couldn’t get my jeans off. Next day, I was debating with the doctor whether or not to drain my knee. I doubt it would have gotten to that point if I’d skipped the bath.

  139. 139.

    Elizabelle

    @Platonailedit: sashayed out to a local tavern to watch the end. Go Spain! Tavern has a make your own Bloody Mary bar. And a/c for polar bears. Hello new Sunday habit.

  141. 141.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @NotMax:

    Susan Hennessy @ Susan_Hennessey
    No one who has survived in politics as long as Susan Collins has is actually this naive.

    it’s all academic, but she either fears the trump/lepage vote in Maine, or is anti-choice and is counting on the phenom I’ve often seen about Maine politics, the number of people who have met her and talked to her, and the fact that she, like Snowe before her, runs an office where constituent calls are answer quickly and effectively.

    I’ve never had occasion to call a legislator to ask for anything, but Mormon friends who adopted a baby from the Philippines ran into some trouble with the paperwork. They called their Senators and Hatch couldn’t have been more useless, but their other Senator– the guy who got taken out by the Tea Baggers in favor of Mike Lee, IIRC– got the problem taken care of, or his staff did. People remember that, their friends and relatives remember that. Politics is a lot less about big issues than we junkies often think, like that O’Neill fella liked to say.

  142. 142.

    Amir Khalid

    @Schlemazel:
    This is actually the wrong time for either side to be playing for the draw. You do not want to let it go to penalties, and find yourself relying on tired players’ steadiness of nerve and concentration.

  145. 145.

    Jager

    Re: Montana Woman post, a lawyer friend said if he was her defense attorney, he’d start with the always reliable, “provocative dress” defense as in “he was wearing very tight jeans.”.

  146. 146.

    NotMax

    Mmm. Arose from four hours of good sleep. Will take that over six hours of bad sleep.

  149. 149.

    Kelly

    @Suzanne:

    we still have to make a country with these terrible, disgusting, trash people who voted for him

    Yeah those terrible people will be fighting us the rest of our lives. But we’ll have all those wonderful people we protested with yesterday beside us. I can’t leave my grandchildren a fortune But I’ll try to leave them a safe and beautiful world.
    I take care of maintenance on half a mile of gravel road we share with a couple dozen households. There a 4 jerks that never kick in when I pass the hat for new gravel or a grading. One is a wingnut that is always bragging about all the money he made on some deal or another yet never can come up with $50 to maintain the road. But if I threw up my hands to spite him I’d have drive thru potholes.

  152. 152.

    Platonailedit

    Spain misses 2nd time. And Russia goes through. And it continues to be the graveyard of ex-champiins. Pathetic play by the Spaniards.

  157. 157.

    Platonailedit

    @Amir Khalid:

    Lol. He was pretty good through out this game. De Gea was pathetic. He could have saved one that was coming directly at him snd he went the wrong way. Poor reading by such an experienced goalie.

  158. 158.

    Calouste

    England has a pretty straight run to the final now on paper. I wonder how they are going to screw that up.

  160. 160.

    hilts

    @MagdaInBlack:

    As usual, Susan Collins is completely full of shit. Can’t wait for this goddamn asshole to retire so I don’t have to hear any more of her nonsense.

  161. 161.

    Platonailedit

    Day of disappointments. First Merc fails Hamilton with their clueless missed tyre strategy (3rd time this season) and then with a poor engine. He would have won easily to today.

    And for all their La Liga skills, Spain sucked today.

    Next match: My bet is on Croatia 2-1.

  163. 163.

    Ruckus

    @The Ancient Randonneur:
    That’s gotta hurt.
    Maxine is not a drumpf fan. Not in any way, shape or form. Not that I am either but she seems, from listening to her yesterday, to be a particularly non fan. Can’t blame her in the least and I hope that she uses her power wisely.
    And that may be the reason that so many conservatives are using her “civility” to try and get rid of her. They know that she won’t be “kind” to their champion, drumpf. After typing that I almost threw up. I realized that he really is their champion, he is rude, crude, stupid, venial, nasty, bigoted, misogynistic, and an all around massive shit. A perfect fit.

  165. 165.

    Ruckus

    @Yarrow:
    Maybe there really isn’t much to report.
    The issues are not consistent. A couple of days ago most everyone was losing their posting info and I wasn’t. Now some are keeping theirs and I’m not.
    When I go back to the BJ home page it used to refresh, it no longer does. When I click on comments on the home page, to go to the post comments it does not now go to the latest # of comments, it goes to the last time I had it open and I have to manually refresh.
    I’ve closed Safari and now my info has stayed. So maybe it is cookies, but we don’t all have the same ones on our systems so that may make the entire trouble shooting process a lot tougher for Alan.

  167. 167.

    Amir Khalid

    Croatia vs Denmark is off to a flying start — 1-1 in the opening minutes!

  168. 168.

    satby

    @Kelly: you’re a nicer person than me, because I would have the road graded and refilled but have the workers skip the part fronting his (and the other free riders) properties. Do it twice, and I bet the assholes ante up. They know they can get away with not paying because other people cover them. Stop doing that and I bet they start deciding they want the benefit of a smoother road too.
    If I was a real jerk I would tell the road crew to deliberately leave a couple of ruts.

  170. 170.

    Ruckus

    @satby:
    That would make it a lot more entertaining to work on internet issues.
    I used to think that comcast was owned by the devil but have sense come to understand that the devil is not as evil as they are. And besides then I had to use charter communications, my current only choice for access. Those fuckers are evil. The devil only bothers you when you are dead anyway. I’d bet comcast/charter have a deal with the devil that you will receive a bill for the rest of time. And have to pay it regardless of service.

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