Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.

You cannot love your country only when you win.

if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Their freedom requires your slavery.

A lot of Dems talk about what the media tells them to talk about. Not helpful.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Something needs to be done about our bogus SCOTUS.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Dear Washington Post, you are the darkness now.

The willow is too close to the house.

Let’s show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Not all heroes wear capes.

“That’s what the insurrection act is for!”

FFS people, this was a good thing. take the win.

So many bastards, so little time.

Fight them, without becoming them!

I might just take the rest of the day off and do even more nothing than usual.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Early Weekend Open Thread

Early Weekend Open Thread

by | 113 Comments

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I found pictorial representation of how I feel several times a day, having started a new job, and moved to a new city, that feel far above my station.

I shouldn’t say too much about work, but everything you’ve seen on Silicon Valley is true. Folks seem to have collectively decided work was over around four. Now my remaining coworkers are drinking old-fashioneds, playing shuffleboard, doing puzzles… we apparently have a guitar in the office, as somebody is practicing it.

We are, literally, trying to finish off the week’s avocado delivery.

And so I’m accessing Balloon-Juice for I think the first time on the office network. Hi! I’m going upstate to see Samwise this weekend. There will be pictures.

Do any of y’all have anything fun planned?

Reader Interactions

113Comments

  2. 2.

    Baud

    We are, literally, trying to finish off the week’s avocado delivery.

    Have you tried putting it on toast?

  9. 9.

    Jeffro

    Black cat tonight with my buddies for some hang time and five dollar PBR‘s

    Kayaking at some point on Sunday – temps our briefly supposed to pop up into the 50° maybe even 60° range

    And naps!!

  20. 20.

    Hungry Joe

    A bleg for Juicer sympathy:

    Yesterday afternoon my dog Alice and I were attacked by a black lab — the same dog that attacked Alice a few months ago. Alice was leashed; the lab again escaped out an open door. The first time, Alice needed stitches. This time was much worse: two and half hours of surgery. I was severely bitten in the left hand and had to go the ER. The bite was deep, and there’s serious chance of infection. Alice is 11 and had to be put under for the surgery, so we were freaking-out worried.

    She was released around midnight, drugged, torn up belly and flank. Horrific-looking wounds. But she’ll be okay. Nearly sleepless night for all of us, but she’s sleeping fitfully now. Because the first attack was just dog-on-dog it didn’t count; this is the first report of that dog biting a person, so the owners will just get a warning. The vet bill was substantial and then some, as you can imagine. We’ll see if the owners pay up.

    But the story has a hero. I was bitten immediately, as I tried to fend the lab off. My left hand was thus all but immobilized — I can still barely move my thumb. So I was unable to pull the dogs apart. Sweet Alice (Aussie mix, 38 lbs.) wasn’t even fighting back, just howling and crying out, terrified, as the lab was tearing her to pieces and I was shrieking, trying desperately but ineffectually to separate them. Then, from what seemed to be out of nowhere, a young man appeared and pulled the black lab away. He had been driving by, and just stopped his car, leaped out, and ran to the rescue. He dived straight into a dog fight! Probably saved Alice’s life, and saved me from further injury.

    We’re all badly shaken up. But Alice is back with us, safe and — eventually, we hope — sound.

  21. 21.

    Mike in NC

    Heading out to dinner for wife’s birthday. Maybe a 50/50 chance the Christmas tree will still be standing when we get back. Cats just can’t leave it alone.

  22. 22.

    Yarrow

    @NotMax: Speaking of Birkenstocks, I was picking up some food last night and while I was waiting a young-ish (maybe early to mid 30’s) African American couple came in to order theirs. He was dressed professionally, she was in what I’d guess was workout gear (shorts, sports top) but she was wearing footie socks and Birkenstocks. I did a double take. Is this a new trend?

    I thought it was considered terribly unfashionable to wear Birkenstocks at all, let alone with socks. I have seen POC making fun of white people for wearing socks and Birkenstocks, like that’s a dumb thing white people do. I did not know what to make of it.

  26. 26.

    Yarrow

    @Hungry Joe: Oh my gosh, how terrible! I’m so sorry. Very glad Alice survived and is recovering and hope those people get a huge fine. I don’t know if there’s more you can do but that is a dangerous dog and others in your neighborhood should be warned.

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    Sportsball notes:

    -Pac 8+2+2 handegg championship game is tonight–UW vs Utah in Santa Clara. No idea why there, but whatevs. Go Huskies!
    -The last of five Pac 8+2+2 squads who qualified for the NCAA tournament–Stanford–advances to the Women’s College Soccer Cup in North Carolina, where they face Florida State in their semi round. Go…uh…trees and flatten those gators. Fun fact: Stanford has not lost in the better part of two years. I don’t know nuffin ’bout no gators. 7:30 ET. At 5:00 ET North Carolina plays Georgetown in the other semi. Championship match is Sunday @ 1:00. A good number of players you watch will be on various WWC teams in 2023, and a few may play in France next summer. How the hell are they all cramming for finals?
    -Portland Timbers head to the MLS Cup after beating KC in KC last night. They meet Atlanta, there, December 8. KC is very surprised to be staying home.
    -For some reason the parents’ meeting for HS soccer is 6:00 tonight. I suspect it’s a ploy to have as few parents show as possible.

    That’s it for sportsball. Oh, why did Dallas pants NO last night? They that good all of a sudden or did the Saints get revealed as not-so-good?

  33. 33.

    hueyplong

    I suspect there is a Cracker who will feel trolled by any reference to Florida State as gators.

  36. 36.

    trollhattan

    @Hungry Joe:
    That’s horrible and yet, yay for the anonymous hero. Police report, stat. The neighbor and dog are a clear danger. If the cops don’t handle things, lawyer up and sue the shit out of them. Take the damn house if you have to.

  38. 38.

    trollhattan

    @Yarrow:
    Irony lives everywhere, but I have also noticed a Birks remergance amongst the youngs and Millennials. Germans need jerbs too, right Mr. Trump?

  39. 39.

    eclare

    @Hungry Joe: OMG that is horrible! I can’t believe for a human bite the owners will just get a warning. In Georgia that dog would mostly likely be euthanized. I know you’re still in shock, I would at least consult with an attorney. Hugs.

  44. 44.

    Elizabelle

    @Hungry Joe:

    Report the dog to Animal Control and get a lawyer. How terrifying for Alice; it might change her personality. That dog meant to kill her.

    Photograph everything. That dog needs to be euthanized. It will kill the next dog, and could have killed a smaller child or even adult.

    ETA: I would give some thought to carrying a taser on dog walks too.

  46. 46.

    TenguPhule

    We are, literally, trying to finish off the week’s avocado delivery.

    If you have canned peas you could always make guacamole. //

  47. 47.

    ruemara

    I get to take Amtrak from Sac-ish to Cow Hollow for the Dickens Fair. I’m already very tired. But I’m not very good on driving long distances in strange cities so, train, bus, bus(I think), it is. And then the reverse.

    @Hungry Joe: Oh no! This is awful. Healing thoughts for you & Alice and I have to second other comments. A dog that will escape to attack another dog not even in it’s official territory and that has bitten a human, is a dog that definitely should not be living with your neighbors and probably should be put down. That is some incredibly dangerous aggression.

  50. 50.

    Elizabelle

    @Hungry Joe:

    I may sound really mean, but a dangerous dog is a dangerous dog. Some friends of mine had, of all things, a psycho Bernese Mountain dog. That breed is usually the soul of kindness, but something was very wrong in this dog’s head.

    It finally attacked the husband badly enough to send him to the ER. Thank dog it did not go after one of the children. They put it down. They let the breeder know how the dog had turned out. They decided not to let it go to a rescue situation because the dog was just too volatile. They did not want to worry that they were passing along a problem in the interest of “kindness.”

    The black lab that escaped to attack Alice does not deserve any further chance. Attacking a dog to kill it is what it is.

    ETA: and, clearly, the owners cannot control it. It successfully escaped the house and yard. They’re out of chances, too.

  53. 53.

    cain

    @Major Major Major Major:

    @Aardvark Cheeselog: I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop (or the first shoe really) but it really does seem like folks have great work-life balance.

    You have to have it. Nobody can be ‘on’ all the time, and those breaks are important for mental stimulation.

  56. 56.

    Miss Bianca

    @Hungry Joe: Oh, how terrifying. Please keep us posted. : (

    @eclare: If the dog has never bit a human before, it might get off with a ‘warning’. Sheriff’s visit. But with a history of aggression like that, I dunno. I second the “lawyer up and alert the authorities” fwiw.

  57. 57.

    Yarrow

    @Major Major Major Major: Birkenstocks saved me when I injured my foot when I was hit by a car. I couldn’t get a normal shoe on. I let out the buckles all the way on the Birkenstock for my injured foot and could wear them around. I wore socks too to protect my foot. I didn’t really care what people thought.

  58. 58.

    Luthe

    My weekend will be spent packing; I leave for Paris on Monday. The big question now is: to Tour Eiffel or not to Tour Eiffel?

    Anyone have an opinion on this?

  60. 60.

    geg6

    @Hungry Joe:

    I can’t even imagine a Lab that would do such a horrible thing! We’ve had three that were all natural teddy bears. Definitely not a common characteristic for the breed to be an attack dog.

    I’m so sorry this happened to you and your sweet pup. And so glad a good Samaritin was there to rescue you both!

  63. 63.

    Eric S.

    @tybee: I have a softball championship game scheduled for tomorrow morning after 4 weeks of weather and holiday delays. It is supposed to rain all day.

  65. 65.

    TenguPhule

    @Luthe:

    Anyone have an opinion on this?

    How many hours of your vacation are you willing to waste standing in line in order to get inside?

  66. 66.

    zhena gogolia

    @Yarrow:

    Anecdata from college campus, this fall I was on my way to lunch one day and every female student I saw was sporting birkenstocks and somehow made them look youthful and sexy. I have no idea how long this trend will last.

  68. 68.

    Emma

    @Hungry Joe: Jesus Christ. I’ve never heard of a lab to be aggressive like that! And all the owners will get is a warning? This sounds awful but please document the injuries. Both yours and the pup. LOTS of pictures. Because this will happen again, to you or someone else.

    (added) as others have said, consult an attorney.

  69. 69.

    Elizabelle

    @geg6: Yeah, totally atypical for a lab. I wonder if it’s actually a mix that presents as lab.

    I don’t know why some dogs turn out that aggressive. It’s very sad. I am thinking of how awful it was for Alice, and how terrifying to think your dog might be killed before your eyes. Which would have happened, but for the driver who stopped.

    I note the lab’s people appear nowhere in this story.

  70. 70.

    TenguPhule

    North Carolina elections board delays certification of congressional election results again

    North Carolina’s election board voted again Friday to delay certification of the election results in the 9th Congressional District amid allegations of irregularities and possible criminal activity with absentee ballots, a move that could potentially lead to a call for a new election.

    The 7-2 vote from the bipartisan board gives its lawyers and investigators less than a month to further examine allegations of improper activities that have been filed with the board, at least one of which claims an unidentified woman filled out an absentee ballot for a voter.
    Should evidence be found of voter fraud, that could change the outcome of the 905-vote margin between Republican Mark Harris and Democrat Dan McCready, the board could potentially call for a new election.

    Yes please.

    US judge rules against Trump administration in suit over policing grants to ‘sanctuary cities’

    A federal judge ruled against the Justice Department on Friday in a lawsuit over withholding federal money from so-called sanctuary cities, the latest blow to the Trump administration’s hardline immigration tactics.

    The lawsuit challenged the Justice Department’s efforts to punish sanctuary cities by withholding a key law enforcement grant the department said was available only to cities that complied with specific immigration enforcement measures.

    Oh yes, please.

  71. 71.

    zhena gogolia

    @Yarrow:

    My doctor won’t let me wear any sandals other than Birkenstock. They’ve gone in and out of fashion about three times since I’ve been wearing them. But I’ve never seen so many young people wearing them as this year.

  73. 73.

    Elizabelle

    @jacy: Your cover is the cleanest, graphically. Found that very appealing.

    I liked the cover with the cutout of the bear a lot too, although they ruined it with that author/series banner. Also a sucker for night photos, so I liked the trailer park cover.

    Did not like the Vermillion cover. That theme has been done to death (no pun intended). That’s got to be nine other novels’ cover.

  74. 74.

    trollhattan

    @Miss Bianca:
    Kills me when he stuffs the whole thing in at once. Somewhere, mama hamster is watching and either rolling her eyes wondering where he got such manners, or proudly declaring, “That’s my boy, the YouTube star!” (Who can know?)

  75. 75.

    MomSense

    @Hungry Joe:

    Oh my god! How terrifying. I don’t know what to say but I hope you and Alice will feel much better soonest. It’s probably just bias on my part but it surprised me that the attacking dog was a lab. Something must be very wrong in that household to turn a lab vicious.

    Please take care of yourself and let us know how you are both doing.

  76. 76.

    trollhattan

    @Elizabelle:
    Labs are almost universally loveable but because they’re so enormously popular plenty of unscrupulous puppy mills and unqualified backyard breeders crank them out. I’ll take my chances and trust most Labs I encounter, but have seen a few really aggressive ones.

  81. 81.

    Miss Bianca

    @trollhattan: that was the LOL point for me and my pal D – that, and the part where he is pulling apart his little burrito and just chowing down on each bit. Man, what people will get their pets to do to amuse us! : )

  83. 83.

    Eric S.

    @Major Major Major Major:

    @Luthe: I’ve never been up it but I have enjoyed the midnight light show!

    Was there this September. I didn’t go up. The light show is fantastic. Another thing to do is go up the Arc de Triomphe.

  86. 86.

    Ohio Mom

    No plans for the weekend except finishing up getting the Hanukkah preparations together. And that’s mainly planning a few menus and wrapping a few last presents. I’m looking forward to quiet.

    In regard to Mx4’s new office’s culture: I remember reading once that bees only work a few hours a day, the rest of the time, they are hanging out in the hive. It turns out that bees are not “busy as a bee.” So no reason for any of us to overdo it, either.

    I have to add however that putting bagels and avocado together is beyond sacrilege.

  88. 88.

    eemom

    @Hungry Joe:

    So glad you and the doggie are ok.

    Dogfights are utterly horrifying. But there are many possible causes and fixes for dog aggression, and the folks talking about putting the black lab down need to STFU. Animal control needs to find out what’s going on at its home.

    Case in point. We have two beautiful, friendly doggies, one a female pit bull and the other a male mix. They love each other and have never been aggressive to any dog or human. The pure pittie especially is all about love. Also, she always backs down when her brother does shit like steal her bones.

    So last spring my daughter adopted a doggie, a female mix who is smaller than our two. We had to keep her with us for a while over the summer while my daughter was settling into a new apartment. The little doggie was a nervous wreck at first but finally settled down, and our two were very patient with her. For several weeks everybody got along fine. There’s a big open place near our house where eedad and I have always taken our doggies, late at night, to run free of leash. We did that a bunch of times with all three and everything was fine then too.

    Then, one night, we were out there just as usual, with the dogs sniffing around in various places…..and all of a sudden, out of NOWHERE, our sweet pittie ran to my daughter’s dog and attacked her. She fought back but was outweighed. Our male dog stood by for a moment, and then he got into it too. My husband was bitten trying to stop it. I tried to help but pulled a muscle in my butt and kept falling.

    When it finally stopped, my daughter’s dog was severely injured, similar to how you describe yours was, but we took her to the emergency vet and they operated and she fully recovered, thank God. Our pittie was bitten in the face, and when I took her to the vet the next day and explained what had happened and how she had never shown even the remotest trace of aggression before, the vet said, “There was just something about that little dog that set her off.”

    My husband also had to go the ER and they were assholes there and kept us waiting two hours even though, being 4 am, there was almost nobody else there…..but that’s another story and he’s fine too. Took three weeks for my injured butt muscle to recover.

  93. 93.

    Yarrow

    @debbie: I’ve seen lots of things. I was commenting on the otherwise fashionable attire of this couple and her wearing footie socks and Birkenstocks. I never would have guessed that would happen.

  95. 95.

    TenguPhule

    @eemom:

    and the folks talking about putting the black lab down need to STFU.

    Two attacks against the same dog with intent to kill. One seriously injured BJ commenter.

    Fuck the lab and its owners. Put it down.

  96. 96.

    trollhattan

    Sportsball update: NC and Georgetown soccer women tied up 0-0 at the end of regulation. Tiebreakers consist of two 10-minute golden goal OTs and if still tied, a penalty shootout. I hate those but that’s how NC got here playing UCLA in the quarters.

  97. 97.

    debbie

    @Yarrow:

    I wasn’t implying you hadn’t seen a lot of things. I just think socked swim sandals are horrific and should be banned. I blame the old men with their black socks and sandals for starting all this.

  98. 98.

    ruemara

    @debbie: Look, we have places to get to.

    I’m going to put my time working with vets & behaviourists on the table. This dog wasn’t spooked, you weren’t in it’s territory and this is the second assault. While I’m not saying immediately put down the dog, I am saying that it’s way too dangerous for the owners to have this dog, especially next door to a dog it has focused on for aggressive attacks. It needs proper evaluation to determine if it can be retrained to at least not be dangerous to other dogs like this. This is classic escalation and could be much worse if it happens again to someone else.

  99. 99.

    debbie

    @ruemara:

    When I first moved to NYC, I fell down a flight of subway stairs during morning rush hour (bumping each steo with my butt). No one stopped to help me up, but a couple pointed out that there would always be another train.

  101. 101.

    J R in WV

    @Hungry Joe:

    So sorry for your dog attack !! We have two lab mixes, each has been attacked one by a dog at the western neighbor’s farm, the other at the eastern meighbor’s farm. Both needed vet attention, the western dog was eventually put down, the eastern dog is still around, but is walked by owners exclusively. She is never allowed out on her own, and hasn’t attacked while on leash.

    She is also a rescue dog, and only attacked other female dogs, we all wonder why. She was rescued by neighbor’s niece, who died of an OD, she had an odd neurological problem that wasn’t diagnosed properly, and her aunt took in one of her rescue dogs, western neighbors also took one in.

    Lawyer is the best thing you can do to get that dog put down. Offer them a lower settlement that includes the dog going down, slightly lower. Those kind of people operate on a cash balance basis, no other way to attract their attention, unfortunately.

    Best of luck with your hand, and puppy’s healing!!

    @Luthe:\

    I recommend going up – I spent a week in NYC not long ago and one of us really really wanted to go up the Empire State Bldg. It was really great, so I think in Paris would be even better!!

  102. 102.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    Do any of y’all have anything fun planned?

    Singing in, let’s see… German, Latin, French, Spanish, Swahili, Somali… oh and English.

    I sing in a choral group. Big concert on Sunday and a big rehearsal tomorrow. One of the things I love about this group, aside from the high quality of music they do in general, is how the director loves using works in different languages.

  104. 104.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Hungry Joe: So sorry about this. There’s a dog on our block like that, an Akita who hates other dogs and has to be kept away from them. But the owners are very responsible, dog only got out once that I know of when she attacked my lab and took a couple bites of her back. The owners paid the vet bill promptly, the dog was perfectly sweet and well-behaved toward me, and neighborhood relations are still fine.

  105. 105.

    Ohio Mom

    @trollhattan: Just finished exiting the mall via the Nordstrom shoe department. Brightly-colored Birkenstocks were prominently displayed. So yes, they must be back in.

  106. 106.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Luthe: Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. Literally. I’ve been up to the top of the Tour Eiffel and bought the souvenir T-shirt, one of my favorites. There was a line of course but not a bad one. I would definitely do it.

    Another fun very touristy thing to do is take the Bateau Mouche, the tour boat on the river Seine. Sometimes you WANT to do the popular touristy things. There’s a reason they’re popular.

    My fond food memories of Paris are of coffee and street food (Croque Monsieur sandwiches, crepes) more than fine French dining.

  109. 109.

    Hungry Joe

    Thanks so much, everyone. I suspected that kind words from the BJ rabble would be comforting, and (for once) I was right. Alice thanks you, too. Such a good girl.

  111. 111.

    TomatoQueen

    @Luthe: Having only done the video Ferrari tour, and bits and pieces otherwise, I say if you don’t do Tour Eiffel, you’ll kick yourself later on, and the same if you do it, so do it. There’s a restaurant in there somewhere that’s spozed to be good (what am I saying, it’s a restaurant in Paris), and on your deathbed your memory of the view could be the last thing before you go to heaven.

  113. 113.

    Robert Sneddon

    @Major Major Major Major: There’s a Japanese manga being published at the moment where someone working in a “black company” (an exploitative sweatshop operation basically, lots of compulsory unpaid overtime, stressful relations with manipulative managers etc.) ends up working for a “white company” where everybody is nice to them, they get time off, the work isn’t hard… and it drives them crazy.

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