It’s just a fucking avalanche of shit, isn’t it? I’ve started like five posts today on different wretched things that are happening and I just want to write EVERYTHING IS FUCKING AWFUL and say to hell with it.
Open Thread
by John Cole| 73 Comments
This post is in: Open Threads, OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUDS
Yarrow
How’s Lily?
Ben Cisco
I hear you, Cole.
redactor
And so you have, and you’re not wrong.
Platonailedit
Platonailedit
Major Major Major Major
Everything is so awful that I had a bad day and nothing bad even happened to me personally.
Mike J
Internal Documents Show How Trump Administration Misled Public on Poverty
https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/08/02/internal-documents-show-how-trump-administration-state-department-misled-public-on-poverty/
The Dangerman
As the old saying goes, it’s always darkest before the dawn; eventually, we will wake up with some new dawn with a pile of indictments (Don Jr., come on down) and Trump will be emasculated. I think he will be impeached, but never convicted (unless there are live boys or dead girls involved) and, yes, an emasculated Trump will be very, very dangerous, but the healing can begin..
smike
Come on, now. I have it from a highly placed government official that our economy has never been better, we are going to prouder than ever, and we’re going to see even lower taxes. Winning!!1!
Mnemosyne
The annual invasion of the ants has begun, so G and I are both pissed off right now as we battle them. I hate the little fuckers.
I sent 7 pages of my re-written novel for a possible group critique on Saturday. We’ll see how this goes.
eemom
Agreed. #fuckedRus
MomSense
I’m comatoast. It’s a struggle to cope with all this crap.
Yarrow
@Mnemosyne: They’re very annoying, the ants. Good luck finding baits or whatever will work. You can try diatomaceous earth if you can’t find baits. Make sure it’s food grade, not the stuff for pools. It’s safe for pets but wear a mask if you vacuum it up.
Yarrow
@MomSense:
Is that what happens after too much toast?
NotMax
While Mom was chauffeuring me around today, we drove down one of the main streets of the shopping district of a very upscale, hoity-toiity town. On one corner a canopy had been set up with a table beneath, along with a large banner displaying a picture of Dolt 45 in full Mussolini pose, proclaiming in all caps: DEFEND TRUMP.
Below that was: Stop by and (something something). Couldn’t see the rest a it was obscured by a bus stop bench and a hedge.
Pleased to say that while there certainly were folks walking the sidewalks, the only people anywhere near the set up were the two twenty-somethings staffing the table.
Beautifulplumage
OT I took Miss Pearl in for an annual vet appt and decided to have Her Floofy-ness shaved ala Steve. Never in her 14 years has she looked so……silly! The Princess of Poof is no more (at least until it grows back). Pictures when I can stop giggling.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: Good luck!
What kind of ants? Are they from the argentine ant supercolony?
Brachiator
Monday and Tuesday were very crappy days. This made me think that I might be on a misery roll.
But Wednesday was okay. And today was very, very good. And now I get to have a quiet, relaxed evening. Feels pretty good.
odinhans
So do it! Cause it s that…fucking awful
Raoul
It’s fucking awful.
And a bunch of really amazing people are running for office this fall and I see tons of people who just are not accepting the child separations and all this godawful shit around us.
No pollyana. It is and will remain very hard, but I’m gonna go with some version of what The Dangerman just said.
I’m also going to bed, it’s nearly midnite, and I need sleep. Rest well, folks.
Till tomorrow.
Mnemosyne
@Yarrow:
Our cleaning people come on Saturday, so I’m hoping that will help.
@Major Major Major Major:
I dunno. They’re ants. Small, black ones. I don’t think they’re anything special. In the summer, So Cal is basically one giant fucking anthill.
Beautifulplumage
@Mnemosyne: uhg…tried to keep everything they ate closed up but the cat food was a problem. I had “aroma ants”. Ugh. Feeling for you.
Major Major Major Major
@Mnemosyne: They’ve pretty much taken over the native little-black-ant populations along much of the California coast. From San Diego to Sonoma it’s actually one giant colony. Here’s a fun Cracked article about argentine ants. (Maybe not that fun, it’s called “six reasons we should be way more scared of ants.”) Anyway, nothing gets rid of them. We use a barrier pesticide spray on outside surfaces and then kill the ones that find their way in by hand.
The Dangerman
@Mnemosyne:
Windex works great if you don’t wanna go with the nasty shit inside (best save the NS for outside).
frosty
I’m with you all the way John Cole. Time to hitch up the camper and find a state park with no cell service for awhile.
burnspbesq
If the jury was paying attention today, Manafort is toast on the tax and FBAR charges, so today wasn’t all bad.
Tomorrow could really suck. First time flying with a CGM sensor stuck to my tummy. I expect my interactions with TSA to be … less than fully satisfactory.
Mnemosyne
@Major Major Major Major:
Ant baits and spraying the pet-safe spray every time they break through seems to deter them, but it usually takes a couple of weeks of constant battles with the little fuckers.
@Beautifulplumage:
Last year, I bought a special pet dish that stands on 4 legs, and we keep the 4 legs in soapy water about a quarter-inch deep. That works to keep them off the food, along with an Iris brand airtight plastic food container.
frosty
@Mnemosyne: Our pest control/termite contractor gave us something that looks like a syringe called Advion Ant. Works great. None of the stuff from Home Depot etc worked at all.
Mnemosyne
@The Dangerman:
I’ve actually had really good luck with cinnamon as a non-toxic barrier. When I put it along a border between rooms, it prevents them from going from room to room. I was surprised, but it did actually work.
? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?
All the talk down below about whether Robert Mercer was on the spectrum or not and whether that would prevent someone from running a major hedge fund has got me wondering about a question of my own.
Is it possible for a meglomanical narcissistic sociopath, who views others as objects/slaves to be manipulated and is a control freak, to act like a normal person? IOW to be self-aware about how society would view them if they let their let their freak flag fly? Could this person found and run the most powerful corporation on Earth without being detected?
Amir Khalid
@Platonailedit:
I have to disagree with Sarah Kendzior about not interviewing Rudy G anymore. The more he says as Trump’s lawyer, the more he incriminates Trump. Indeed, if it were up to me, I’d give Rudy his own damn show.
Major Major Major Major
@? ?? Goku (aka Amerikan Baka) ? ?:
On the one hand, why not? On the other hand, Zuckerberg does seem to have a hard time hiding it.
EBT
My birthday is coming up soon, and I am celebrating by buying sealed old boxes of magic and playing mixed block booster drafts to open the packs up.
Gonna be great.
Major Major Major Major
@EBT: Ooh, fun. How old?
Did you see a Black Lotus just sold for like $90k?
ETA to be clear, how old are the magic cards
Mary G
@Mnemosyne: I was wondering what the little fuckers do the other nine months of the year, because they only show up when it’s hot. Per the intertoobz they hibernate like bears.
I’ve had excellent luck with this dish from Amazon. My cats are very sloppy eaters, so water surrounding their bowls gets disgusting. The low reviews are because it’s evidently smaller than they claim, but it’s just right for my monsters. Ants only get into it when something falls in contact with the dish that they can use as a bridge.
SiubhanDuinne
@Major Major Major Major:
There’s a Hollywood story, probably apocryphal, about a studio publicity researcher trying to verify Cary Grant’s age for an upcoming article. CG was filming overseas, so she sent off a terse telegram to the European location:
By return, he telegraphed back:
EBT
@Major Major Major Major: Well, in this case mostly just a few years old. Sealed 36 count booster boxes for recently out of cycle sets are like 65-90 dollars. I am picking up a box of Return to Ravnica and 4 boosters of Ravnica, City of Guilds as well. The 4 boosters cost almost as much as the box of Return. I am also eyeing a box of Fallen Empires from 1996, which usually goes for about 140-160 per like 48?60? 8 card packs. It’s a very unpopular set with only a few really good cards (Order of Leitbur/Order of the Ebon Hand, Hymn to Tourach, Goblin Grenade.) but would be fun to crack open on this youtube idea I have (which is pretty much just an excuse to open old boosters). Most sets boosters go for like <15 dollars each, besides the first 4 core sets, first 3 expansions, and some of the 2007-2011 sets. But still fun to open for like a show or some such.
HumboldtBlue
Head tennis. That’s an apt phrase.
After an unbecoming selection of long balls and head tennis, Ashley Westwood conjured a moment of quality to barge the fixture open.
Cheerio!
Fuck, I just spilled gravy on my keyboard. Fuck.
eemom
@Mnemosyne:
Our bug killers installed some gel-like thing around the floor cracks that they said the workers would carry back to the queen and poison the whole, um……tribe? It did work. ? #antocide
boatboy_srq
@smike: Are we (i.e. they) getting so lazy that we aren’t even putting the eleventy in the eleventyone?
eemom
@SiubhanDuinne:
Happy Birthday SD!! ????
boatboy_srq
@Mnemosyne: Reminder: with ants, as with humans, there are workers and there are fuckers, and the fuckers are bigger and lazier.
Mary G
Good news after Tennessee primary today:
Fired up, ready to go!
joel hanes
@Brachiator:
today was very, very good.
joy of the event to you today and every day
may it come to all of us
Beautifulplumage
@Mnemosyne: I moved a short distance and up several floors..no more little buggers getting everything
Beautifulplumage
@Beautifulplumage: *getting* into everything
Wapiti
We have odorous house ants here. They’re small, maybe 1/8 inch long. When crushed they smell something like a petroleum solvent. They have colonies outside, but seek water in the kitchen or bathroom when it is really hot. Terro, which some have mentioned, knocks the colonies back early in the season. I still see them outside, but have had none in the house for the last few months.,
Beautifulplumage
@Beautifulplumage: *sigh* [wishing edit worked]
Mnemosyne
@Mary G:
How does it actually work? The reviews were saying that the ants found it eventually, so I’m worried that the swarm would still be able to find it.
Mnemosyne
@Beautifulplumage:
We’re above ground level, which makes this extra annoying. Given the spots where they break through, I suspect that they crawl up the pipes in the parking garage that’s directly beneath us.
Mary G
@Mnemosyne: I bought two of them in 2014 and the ants haven’t gotten in, except for when I leave the food container touching it. Its double sides are folded over very sharply, and the base is a bit lower, so to get in they’d have to climb way up inside, then down the inside, over the edge, then up the outside side. I’m not explaining it very well, but it’s basically mechanical, I guess.
M. Bouffant
As I’ve said many a time, everything’s made out of shit & we’re all dying.
Also: Inflation is up, the deficit’s going to be a trillion dollars so the Treasury’s borrowing, & housing’s weak. I hope this all comes to a head before the mid-terms.
Sebastian
@eemom:
Correct. It’s the best defense against ants. I live in California and we get ants every summer … but not for long muahahaha
https://www.amazon.com/Advion-Ant-Gel-Insecticide-Tubes/dp/B014EIAAPS
kattails
Well, I had to send my dear old cat Bertram over the rainbow bridge on Tuesday evening after work. My vet does house calls for this and she and the tech were wonderful and very compassionate; and it was clearly time. But it still sucked.
Later that evening, after a stress-nap, I checked my bank balance online only to find a negative balance, WTF? Oh, great, my phone company took my online debit payment out twice, which sent me negative, which of course triggered a $30 overdraft fee. I’ve probably spent a solid couple of hours playing phone tag trying to get this fixed, the bank reversed the fee but the $$ is still not back in. After several months of vet bills there’s just no margin.
Then today I accidentally knocked my (very old) glasses off the table and the super glue from the repair of a couple of weeks ago came loose. This was on my lunch break. Ran across to the craft shop for another tube of glue but being in a hurry to clock back in, got some smeared around the edges. After work got to the eye doc before they closed and found a nice pair but it will be 2 weeks before they’re ready so praying the others hold up until then.
On the bright side, today a woman came into work looking for 2 bottles of Pommery Champagne that her husband had called to set aside. When I asked the name, she said they were for Bert. So I figured that was the cosmic message that the old dude had made it over OK and was telling me to lighten up, but I’m weird that way.
And while we’re at it, f*ck Old Sphincterlips and his entire miserable brood.
Mary G
@kattails: Condolences on your loss of Bertram. Love the message.
Amir Khalid
@kattails:
I’m glad that the universe found a way to let you know that all was well with your Bertram.
wasabi gasp
trumpland is fucked, but there’s a silver lining: trump found where obama tossed the bully pulpit.
kattails
@Mary G: @Amir Khalid: Thanks so much, he was 18. A long time for a companion. The best part is that he was named after Bertie Wooster so the Pommery reference is a bonus.
Noah Brand
I was in OR-2 canvassing for the Democratic candidate the other day, and one of the other volunteers remarked that OR-2 is listed as “Safe Republican” on more than one site. I immediately snapped “This year, no one is safe.” I then apologized, saying that sounded exactly like the tagline to a horror movie.
Since then, I’ve decided we should just own that. If you’re an elected Republican, you should be afraid. You’ve got three months of mounting dread and impending doom to wallow in.
THIS YEAR, NO ONE IS SAFE.
B.B.A.
There’s a hate campaign to make FTFNYT fire Sarah Jeong for telling the truth about white people. They should instead fire anyone who disagrees with her.
Eljai
@kattails: I’m so sorry for your loss. Bertram is a great name. He sounds like he was a wonderful companion and I totally believe he was sending you a message through the champagne because that’s how cats think.
Chetan Murthy
@B.B.A.: From Jezebel:
*Respect*
No weakling she. *respect*
Sister Golden Bear
TMI SRS post….
Now that I’ve procrastinated waiting for the pain killers to kick in, I’m about to start the more aggressive style of dilation, which is includes pressing against the scar contracture, plus the second half of the session involves switching a larger dilator. (Oh and I get to do this 3x/day for the next couple months).
Embracing the suck….
So yeah, Cole, at a personal level, I share you sympathies today. I’m about to hate everyone and everything.
Amir Khalid
I have a cat I love sleeping on my lap, and all is well with the world.
rikyrah
@kattails:
So sorry for your loss ??
jonas
@NotMax: They’re LaRouchites.
kattails
Dead thread by now, but:
@Eljai: I had to get to bed, but just caught this comment and it made me laugh. Thanks! Yes, he was a great cat. @rikyrah: Thank you. Lots of tears, but no regrets.
Oh and the Phone money is back in my account.
sherparick
@Platonailedit: I love that they interview Giulani. @Platonailedit: Two other awful things going on right now. The West, particularly California are burning and suffering record heat. Western Europe is also suffering record heat, with possibly the all time records of 117 degrees Fahrenheit being broken. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2018/08/02/most-extreme-european-heat-on-record-may-hit-spain-and-portugal-as-hot-weather-keeps-roasting-planet/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.6ed68ec60c7c
We are literally acting like lobsters or frogs, sitting in the pot as the water gradually heats to a boil. And Chines Hoax Trump and bunch of sociopaths racists are running the Government for the benefit of the Koch brothers.
Jack the Second
@Wapiti: I’ve had good luck with Terro as well, but I always add the perhaps-obvious caveat that you’ve got to put the ant traps directly in the path you see ants walking so they’ll find it. It’s real easy for ants to not notice an ant trap a foot or two away from their trails, but once you get them to notice, it’s just a swarming mass of ants for a day and then, no more ants.
jl
Petpix, John Cole, petpix. And gardenpix. That’s the cure.
margit moses
More baby goats!!!
DonL140
“This is what happens after the worst thing that could happen has happened.”
Donald Trump was the worst thing that could happen. Everything that has happened since is because Donald Trump got elected. The worst thing that could happen, happened.
“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me three times, we’ve found a Trump voter.”
You’re welcome.
WaterGirl
@Sister Golden Bear: At the risk of understatement, that does not sound like fun at all. All I can say is keep your eyes on the prize.