Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

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

Republican also-rans: four mules fighting over a turnip.

đŸŽ¶ Those boots were made for mockin’ đŸŽ”

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

I like political parties that aren’t owned by foreign adversaries.

Republicans cannot even be trusted with their own money.

“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Democrats are back in array!

Let me file that under fuck it.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

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

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Just because you believe it, that doesn’t make it true.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

The current Supreme Court is a dangerous, rogue court.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

Wake up. Grow up. Get in the fight.

You’re just a puppy masquerading as an old coot.

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

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Hibernation Open Thread

Hibernation Open Thread

by | 242 Comments

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I won’t share the temperature range we experienced today for fear of being pelted with ice-encased snowballs by commenters living through polar vortex conditions. But by our standards, it’s chilly. Maybe that’s why this lazy fellow was reluctant to get out of bed this morning:

We don’t put clothing on our dogs. Maybe in some climates, it’s necessary. But I’ve always thought it would injure the dignity of an animal to clothe it.

Now I’m rethinking that. Perhaps my scorn for pet dress-up was due to the fact that, until recently, I’ve always had largish dogs. Daisy doesn’t seem cold in the least, but poor little Badger really does act like he needs a sweater.

Open thread!

Reader Interactions

242Comments

  1. 1.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    It’s chilly here too(by our standards) and the pretty good storm just finished up. We had thunder and lightning which is unusual, Nikki(the cocker spaniel) was very upset.

  2. 2.

    Yarrow

    Badger is adorable! You could try getting him a sweater or something like that and see what he thinks of it. He might really like it.

  4. 4.

    germy

    I talk to our cat all the time. “You need a clipping and a brushing,” I just told her. She stared at me but I think she understands the words. She likes being brushed so she let me get all the loose fur off her. Then she sat on my lap and allowed me to clip her nails. She’s polydactyl, so she has extra little claws that get ingrown if I don’t tend to them.

    Last night there was a show about elephants on PBS. She watched almost the whole thing intently. Any time any four-legged creature is on TV, she’s fascinated.

  5. 5.

    danielx

    Starting to warm up, but now we are expecting five inches of snow. Winter took a while to arrive and now I am ready for spring.

  8. 8.

    MelissaM

    Badger needs me snuggling with him! Here in central IL, I might put a sweater on my dog before walking her tonight, but only because it’s still so frigid. She usually runs hot, and refuses to be put under blankets. I worry most about her paws when it gets this cold. I do have a paw protect salve, but still…

  10. 10.

    WaterGirl

    MomSense knit two awesome sweaters for my little Henry. nJust lovely and he doesn’t mind them at all!

  11. 11.

    germy

    I can see Badger rocking a wool cap and a long scarf. But that might be too much for Fla. weather.

  13. 13.

    Patricia Kayden

    It’s freezing here in Southern Maryland but apparently next week we’ll get up into the mid-60s so yay!!

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    Tucker, my bigger dog, actually went back to bed after he went out in the morning yesterday. Literally back to my bed, which he never does in the daytime once we’re up. Apparently -19, plus wind chill of nearly 50, was a bridge too far.

  15. 15.

    geg6

    My pups both want their sweaters on when it’s this cold (9 degrees—a heat wave!). But mostly just Lovey wears a sweater. Short haired dogs need them when it’s cold.

  17. 17.

    Juice Box

    When I had German shorthairs, they were always happy when I offered them a shirt on a cold day. They don’t have much insulation, even the chubby ones.

  18. 18.

    Steeplejack

    @Betty Cracker:

    Eh, cold and heat are all relative; it depends on what you’re used to and what the “usual” is. Everybody seems to fall into two camps: “I hate our current weather” or “This is nothing; suck it up and deal.”

    Here in my little corner of NoVA, it was 7° when I got up early this morning. It struggled into the mid-20s today and is going down to 16° tonight. Only 29° tomorrow, but after that it gets back into more “seasonally appropriate” territory.

    Open-thread question for the commentariat: I need to upgrade my cell-phone plan (Verizon), and pretty much my last remaining question is how much data to get each month. My old plan was 2 gigabytes, which I rarely used, but I’m interested in (a) using my phone as a wi-fi hot spot and (b) streaming music (mostly SiriusXM, possibly Apple Music) when I’m out of range of wi-fi. (B could be related to A.) Anybody have any metrics on how much data those use? I’m more interested in having wi-fi hot-spot capability.

    My upgrade choices are 4GB, 8GB or a couple of high-end plans. With the latter I get Apple Music for free. Is that worth it?

  19. 19.

    RAVEN

    The first night we were in New Orleans Lil Bit pooped in our friends house so I went and got a couple of re-useable diapers that go on with velcro. She’s only messed them once since but it makes us feel better having her sleep in the bed with us.

  20. 20.

    Kay (not the front-pager)

    We have a largely hairless (and so ugly he’s almost cute) chihuahua living at our house, and he most definitely needs a sweater. He hates putting them on, but loves wearing them. He also has a heated bed, and when he’s in his sweater and on his bed it’s almost impossible to get him to move. I knit his sweaters (takes very little time or yarn for a 6 pound dog), and I’ve been trying to come up with a pattern that makes it easier to put on. He doesn’t like how we have to bend his legs to get them through the leg-holes, but coats that just fasten at the neck and belly don’t cover his chest, which is a significant portion of his body mass.

    I guess what I meant to say, before I made it all about me, is that you should get Badger a sweater. If he hates it he’ll tell you, but little dogs have a lot more surface area to body mass ratio than large dogs. They like sweaters. Maybe not the red/blue/yellow sweater I made to look like superman… But he did look cute in it.

  21. 21.

    mrmoshpotato

    Minus 2 currently in Chicago with about an hour to go until the evening walk. My sister’s pitbull didn’t seem to mind this morning’s and yesterday’s -18-degree walks, but we were only out for 5-10 minutes a walk to take care of business.

  22. 22.

    Jay

    “God bless Jesus, they finally did it. After dragging their feet and crying a lot and asking Adam Schiff to read just ONE MORE STORY to them before lights out, the House GOP finally named its members for the House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI), which means the committee can finally get to work. Well done, journalists, for noticing the inexplicable and stupid delay and annoying the GOP about it! (Actually, the delay was not exactly “inexplicable.” We think, based on what we know about Devin Nunes, that it was their last gasp at obstruction, before finally admitting to themselves and to the Lord that the Democrats are the boss of them now.)”

    https://www.wonkette.com/gop-finally-seats-house-intel-committee-members-for-give-robert-mueller-documents

  24. 24.

    dmsilev

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: The rain stopped just in time. I have an outdoor event to go to at work in about an hour, and was not looking forward to standing in the rain for an hour even with an umbrella.

    Saturday will be worse, of course.

  26. 26.

    Raven

    @Steeplejack: We have the unlimited via the vets discount but I don’t think we get anywhere near using it. We’re going to have to evaluate all of our stuff as my retirement gets closer. We have AT&T Fiber, Dish, Amazon Prime, Netflix, NYT, WAPO and a bunch of iPad magazine subscriptions. I know the is software that roots out all your auto renew stuff and I think I may need it!

  27. 27.

    MoxieM

    Badger is so cute I worry about the state of everyone’s pancreas. (I suspect he likes a duvet, preferably yours, more than a sweater.) But my dogs have all been double-coated monsters who bask in the chill, so what do I know?

    I kinda like the knitted doggy sweaters that make them look like little dinosaurs.

  28. 28.

    WaterGirl

    @Kay (not the front-pager):

    I’ve been trying to come up with a pattern that makes it easier to put on. He doesn’t like how we have to bend his legs to get them through the leg-holes, but coats that just fasten at the neck and belly don’t cover his chest, which is a significant portion of his body mass.

    You should talk to MomSense. She knitted two for my little Henry and getting them on is very simple. They are on before he knows it! They were two different styles, but they both work.

  29. 29.

    Doc Sardonic

    Just checked my IPhone for data use. I have used around a gig for pandora, and I am constantly streaming music in the car, in the shop working, so a decent amount of music. Nothing good or bad to say about Apple Music but getting it free gives access to a metric fkton of music with no commercials.

  32. 32.

    trollhattan

    @Juice Box:
    Our GSP is occasionally treated to a faux shearling…not exactly a coat, a cloak? Funky superhero cape? It occasionally dips under freezing and we feel sorry for the poor nearly-hairless thing. Of course he doesn’t complain….”Let’s goooooo!”

    With the manly chest and tiny waist they’re a challenge to dress.

  33. 33.

    Mary G

    The storm that passed BillinGlendale and dmsilev is still at my house. We had hail about an hour and a half ago, then a lot of thunder and lightning and then just pouring rain. Picked the teen and his gf up at school and neither one could remember ever seeing lightning before and were freaked out. Our high school has about 2,400 kids in it and not one owns a raincoat or umbrella. The ones who walk home all had their hoodies up and were getting soaked. All they’ve known is drought.

  34. 34.

    Betty Cracker

    @Steeplejack: If you have a giant digital music collection, it might be worth getting a phone with enough storage to house it, then you can shuffle your own stuff instead of streaming while out of WiFi range and save on data. Maybe you prefer streaming — just a thought.

  35. 35.

    The Midnight Lurker

    @Jay: High goddamn time too!

    I think Maddow has been twisting the dagger a lot on her show. God bless her.

  36. 36.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @dmsilev: We’re going to the Autry on Saturday, close and free. The local photo group has a shoot scheduled in Venice Saturday evening, I’m not going. Rain could work for some shots, but I don’t want to fight LA traffic in the rain.

  38. 38.

    Ken

    That picture looks like one of those topsy-turvy optical illusions – you know, turn over the picture of Badger and it becomes Stalin’s face or some such thing.

  39. 39.

    ruemara

    I’d like to hibernate for a few days. I’m cold, even though I am no ways as cold as you guys trapped in the vortex area. Please be careful. Especially if you have to go out. This close to Friday, tho, so hang in there.

  44. 44.

    opiejeanne

    @germy: One of our kitties, Annie, loves baseball. She’ll sit on the DVR and pat the players faces. I don’t know why it’s that one thing, but she’s consistent.

  47. 47.

    Steeplejack

    @Raven:

    Yeah, my next thing will be to audit my cable situation (Cox) and see what’s what. I have a feeling I’m paying for a few things I don’t need. And I want to upgrade my ancient box to a new Contour one. I don’t need cable in nine different rooms, but I’d like a bigger DVR disk and better recording options.

  49. 49.

    Juice Box

    @Kay (not the front-pager): I wish that someone would make a shirt or lightweight sweater for a dog that closed in back. That would be a lot easier to put on elderly, arthritic dogs. Pet stores only sell cutesy stuff rather than warmth for skinny old shorthaired dogs.

  50. 50.

    opiejeanne

    @Patricia Kayden: Next week, starting Monday, we’re supposed to get some snow. Maybe starting Sunday evening. 20-29 F. Currently 53, dropping to 44 tonight. Confusing.
    Things in our garden have been fooled and think it’s spring already because it’s been relatively mild since November.

  51. 51.

    Steeplejack

    @Doc Sardonic:

    Thanks for the input. I’m assuming that your streaming “in the shop” is covered by wi-fi? So data charges wouldn’t apply. But they would in the car, probably.

    My main experience with “off wi-fi” is that usually when I’m out and about I turn off wi-fi, because when I’m trying to check e-mail or using Google Maps the phone spends too much time searching for a wi-fi connection before getting down to business. And I have a slight distrust of public wi-fi spots.

    I was surprised at how little data Google Maps uses, even on long road trips. But I have no basis for estimating how much data “wi-fi hot spot” would use—when I want to get on my tablet or notebook while away from home, for example.

  52. 52.

    geg6

    @opiejeanne:

    Our Cleo is fascinated by Rachel Maddow. She gets up on her hind legs and puts her paws on the tv and watches her like she’s a can of tuna. I really thought cats were libertarians, but we seem to have rescued one of the few liberal cats out there. LOL!

  53. 53.

    Jay

    @debbie:

    It was only ever going to be a short term stalling in obstruction.

    Nancy Smash also has the House Rules Commitee, so if they left the seats vacant long enough, Nancy could have filled them.

  55. 55.

    opiejeanne

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Not according to Rachel Maddow. The Rs lost four of the committee seat people either to the election or retirement and the rest of the committee is pretty much the same people.

  56. 56.

    Steeplejack

    @Betty Cracker:

    Thanks. I have a middling music collection, but I’m not obsessive about having it all with me at all times. When I’m in the doughty Kia—a.k.a. the K-Whip—SiriusXM is fine. But I’ve been thinking about getting Spotify and then wondered about Apple Music when I saw Verizon dangling it out there. And occasionally I am in non-wi-fi situations where I’d like to stream music. Just don’t have a good idea of the rate at which it runs up your usage.

  58. 58.

    opiejeanne

    @geg6: Ha! No explaining it. She has patted people’s faces a couple of other times, but when it’s baseball season it’s almost every game.. Her 7th Inning stretch.

  59. 59.

    joel hanes

    Smaller animals have less internal volume in comparison to their surface area, so they are far more susceptible to heat loss in the cold.
    That’s why we need to dress babies more warmly than ourselves in cool weather.

  61. 61.

    Steeplejack

    @Raven:

    When my old TV died in October I downloaded the Cox Contour app to my 8" Samsung tablet and have been pretty impressed with it. I can stream any channel with no lags or pauses, and the picture is pretty damn sharp. Nice way to finish up watching a show in bed if I start to fade. Or some goddamn sportsball game that goes on and on. Haven’t tried it on my phone.

  62. 62.

    HumboldtBlue

    Betty, you’ll be happy to know my brilliant niece has been accepted into Florida (her first choice) as well as Florida State (Loyola Chi. and Virginia too)!

    Decisions! Decisions!

  65. 65.

    Jay

    @Juice Box:

    When we moved up here, Casey needed a warm winter coat and booties. She Who Must Be Obeyed took an old ski jacket, (thick fleece, thinsolate, waterproof gortex shell), cut the sleeves off, ( 4 chunks, slit the sides), fit the shell to Casey’s pit/x body, stitched it all back together and set up velcro closures. The back zipped up with velcro, the leg covers zipped up with velcro.

    But then, we have lifelong exposure to snowsuits up here, starting at about 4 months old.

  66. 66.

    JPL

    @geg6: I love to compare your comments about Lovey and John’s comments about Thurston. Is it the dog or the owner… hmmmm
    Cleo is smart.

  67. 67.

    Fair Economist

    @Mary G:

    Picked the teen and his gf up at school and neither one could remember ever seeing lightning before and were freaked out.

    Oh, please. Lighting isn’t *that* rare here. Teenage drama, ugh.

  69. 69.

    Steve in the ATL

    @SiubhanDuinne: are you denying that you’re a card?

    @Steeplejack: I’ve recently moved from my music collection to Spotify and it’s much easier to deal with. I’m no longer in my own car enough to enjoy SiriusXM, so Spotify is great when I’m, you know, wherever.

    Also, we have the Spotify family plan which is only $15 a month for all four of us. Well, three—wife prefers her Apple Music.

  70. 70.

    japa21

    @HumboldtBlue: Loyola would be the best pic. Note I say that without having the slightest idea what she is interested in studying. May be a bit biased. No I didn’t go there, but it is in Chicago, a great place to live (polar vortex excluded).

  71. 71.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    The coldest place I’ve been to is Ames, Iowa. Maybe 4 years ago I was here for work and it was -20.

    Got here yesterday and it was -18. Today it got to maybe +1.

    One thing that was a big deal on the Des Moines news this morning was a woman being charged for animal neglect for leaving her pooches out in this crap:

    https://whotv.com/2019/01/30/animal-neglect-charges-for-woman-officials-say-left-dogs-chained-in-frigid-weather/

    It’s nice to see even farm states like Iowa decide that treating pets like chattel isn’t a good thing.

  74. 74.

    JPL

    I finally switched from a gophone to a real plan. Google Fi is affordable for what I use my cell phone for, but switching from AT&T go phone is a pain. Google Fi needed an account number but AT& T uses cell phone for sign ins. After forty five minutes I was finally connected to an AT&T tech person and I asked for my account number. The reply was why do you need.
    I simply said since it’s my account number I assume I have the right to know it. Then after a pause oh okay.. fuckem
    Now I can text freely and torment my sons. They might regret suggesting I do this.

  75. 75.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @WaterGirl:

    I assume that is in reference to a Samsung.

    edit: I assumed your question was in reference to “Sammy” and not the SD card.

    No, LOL, in point of fact it was in reference to SD!

  76. 76.

    Jeffro

    So apparently Amy Klobuchar was tweeting earlier, proud of her “bipartisan” legislation (with Ben Sasse, no less!) allowing for “tax-advantaged accounts” so that Americans can save for education, retraining, etc.

    The responses have been merciless, hysterical, and also merciless. Along the lines of “so I need to save money from a job in order to have money to pay for training to get a job” and “oh good, keep talking while I just loop this belt over my ceiling fan” and “you DO realize most Americans have no savings, right?”

    Dick Nixon was priceless too.

    Come ON, Amy, try a little harder next time!

  78. 78.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL:

    @geg6: I love to compare your comments about Lovey and John’s comments about Thurston. Is it the dog or the owner
 hmmmm
    Cleo is smart.

    CLEO and COLE are anagrams. Coincidence? I think not.

  79. 79.

    Steeplejack

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Thanks for the perspective. As I get into my dotage I find that I like having a “service” deal out my music and occasionally surprise me—but, hey, not too much!

    I like SiriusXM, but I can see that if you’re in rental cars a lot that’s not a good option. Over the holidays I talked with some yoots who preferred Spotify to Pandora, and if I can get Apple Music for free it’s something to consider.

  80. 80.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL:

    And very soon, any minute now, I am going to start channeling my inner Lady Bracknell:

    Prism!? Where is that BABY???

  82. 82.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Raven: was trying not to say that…wahoowa!

    But, as much as I hate their football team (note to Betty: I moved to Georgia in the fall of 1989–does that explain my distaste for the gators? Also, my in laws are rabid fans.), Florida is academically impressive these days.

  84. 84.

    RAVEN

    @Steve in the ATL: You know the Senator over at Get The Picture is UVA undergrad as well as UGA Law. Fuck the gators and their school isn’t near as good as they think it it.

  85. 85.

    Raven

    Not even close.

    Loyola University Chicago is ranked #89 in National Universities. Schools are ranked according to their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence.

    #89 (tie) in National Universities

    #53 (tie) in Best Colleges for Veterans

    #60 in Best Value Schools

    2019 Rankings
    University of Virginia is ranked #25 in National Universities. Schools are ranked according to their performance across a set of widely accepted indicators of excellence.

    #25 (tie) in National Universities

    #7 (tie) in Best Colleges for Veterans

    #24 (tie) in Best Undergraduate Teaching

  87. 87.

    Martin

    To continue an earlier conversation regarding Apple and Facebook, Apple just pulled Googles enterprise certificate despite Google yesterday voluntarily shutting down their programs and apologizing. I figured that would have gotten Apple to back off, but apparently not.

    These certificates allow companies to load their own local apps on their own devices. Normally you can only get apps through the App Store, but companies don’t want to publish their internal payroll app or whatever on the public app store. This program allows a company to make the app available for their own employees. It’s also used by developers to load a not-ready-for-release version of an app onto devices for testing. This process is called side-loading, and both Facebook and Google do a lot of it – both for internal apps, and for testing apps that will go on the store.

    Once Apple revoked the certificate, all of those apps loaded in that manner stopped working. Their internal apps won’t run, and they can’t load development apps either. There’s other programs that allow them to do the testing such as TestFlight, but it’s less convenient in some ways. It’s pretty disruptive to these companies, but not crippling.

    It’ll be interesting to watch what Google/Facebook are willing to do to get back in operation as well as what Apple does from here. Oh, and the net neutrality trial starts tomorrow. Lots of nerd goings on.

  88. 88.

    Steve in the ATL

    @RAVEN: when I was in law school, we had an entire softball team made up exclusively of law students who had gone to undergrad in the state of Virginia. There was no shortage of UVA and W&L folks, plus a few William & Mary and whatnot, and out of kindness we let a couple of Hoyas on the team (but they had to bat last!).

  89. 89.

    japa21

    @Raven: Actually, the only reason I was even pushing Loyola was its location. UVA is a great school, far and away the best of the four.

  90. 90.

    geg6

    @Raven:

    You’re welcome! Did you or are you going to watch the doc? If you’re a fan of either or both, I recommend it.

  91. 91.

    geg6

    @JPL:

    Cleo IS smart!

    As for Cole, no sympathy here. He thought he was getting the better deal when he suggested Lovey instead of Thurston for me. He thought Lovey was the crazy one. Ha!

  93. 93.

    Raven

    @geg6: Pete’s “A Drinking Like” is my all time favorite books. An unapologetic, non-whiney about his drinking and he just quit. So yea, I’ll watch it.

  96. 96.

    HumboldtBlue

    @japa21: @trollhattan:

    She’s got plenty of family in Chicago (Florida native) and I think getting Loyola was more of an ego boost for her although she is definitely interested.

    My gut tells me she stays home and becomes a Gator.

  102. 102.

    Martin

    @HumboldtBlue:

    Don’t get caught up too much in the rankings of the schools. It doesn’t mean that much. The most important thing is that the student feel like they belong there. They’re moving. It’s one of the most important times in their life which will be shaped by many things, academics not being the most influential. Here are the questions I ask of students when they are trying to decide:

    1) Does the school have a decent program in the area you wish to study?
    2) Do you feel at home there?

    That’s it. Forget the rankings – they’re bullshit. I work at a school higher ranked than any of them, and I’ll tell you straight out we’re not a good campus for a great many students (and we’re a great campus for a good many students). If being a leader in the field is what they strive for, get As and pick a top grad school. That’s much more important. But undergrad? That’s for growing as a person and learning who you are.

  106. 106.

    spudgun

    @HumboldtBlue: This is good news! You must be so proud…

    As someone who went to grad school in Chicago, I would be partial to Loyola, but she obviously has so many wonderful choices – wherever she goes will be great.

  109. 109.

    Jay

    @Mnemosyne:

    Depends. Here we have “family herds”, in some cases bred for 200 years for local conditions, often with other breeds added in like Highland Cattle for cold hardyness and greater foraging abilities, or Angus for more meat production.

    Normally it’s -20c/-4F with weeklong/monthlong dips into -40c/-40F.

    Ranchers pull their cattle from the ranges because of snow, but they spend the entire winter outdoors on the lower pastures.

  110. 110.

    Martin

    @Raven: I can’t stand the place, but young people suffer enough from old people telling them what to do. This is their chance to decide for themselves something which is really meaningful in life, and they should get to do that.

  111. 111.

    geg6

    @Raven:

    He talks about how he just up and quit. They interview Tom Wolfe, too. The only New Journalism icon they don’t mention is my favorite, HST.

  112. 112.

    Jeffro

    @japa21: @Raven: Hey guess whose daughter got accepted to UVA this past week? (Whole family is moving there this summer for work, too =)

    @Martin:

    Don’t get caught up too much in the rankings of the schools. It doesn’t mean that much. The most important thing is that the student feel like they belong there. They’re moving. It’s one of the most important times in their life which will be shaped by many things, academics not being the most influential. Here are the questions I ask of students when they are trying to decide:

    1) Does the school have a decent program in the area you wish to study?
    2) Do you feel at home there?

    That’s it. Forget the rankings – they’re bullshit. I work at a school higher ranked than any of them, and I’ll tell you straight out we’re not a good campus for a great many students (and we’re a great campus for a good many students). If being a leader in the field is what they strive for, get As and pick a top grad school. That’s much more important. But undergrad? That’s for growing as a person and learning who you are.

    This is excellent advice. Points 1 and 2, perfect. And they also need to know that they can change majors, transfer, etc etc. And that “where you go isn’t who you will be”, especially not forever (h/t…gack…Frank Bruni)

  114. 114.

    Betty Cracker

    @HumboldtBlue: Florida, hands down. People who can’t get into Florida go to Florida State. Plus, her uncle knows an eccentric swamp hippie who lives an hour or so away from Gainesville in case there’s an emergency!

  115. 115.

    Immanentize

    @Jeffro:
    Wow! Well done to her and congrats to you and the family. I’ve been telling the Immp there are three stages to going to college:
    1) Apply (what hot hell that was)
    2) get accepted (Hooray!) And
    3) Go!
    Last step occurs in August for my son.

  117. 117.

    Skepticat

    @Steeplejack: I work online, and when I’m in the States, I use Verizon Wireless as a hot spot. At one point, I’d tapped out what they offered (I think 14 gig a month), but normal people don’t have that problem. I have no idea how data-hungry streaming music is so can’t help with that, but I found that when you aren’t sure what you need, you can start fairly low and then upgrade as necessary. You just want to try to do it right at the end of the month so there isn’t overlap. They would let me add to but not subtract from my minimum. It’s never easy.

  118. 118.

    kindness

    Here in the N. Cal’s Central Valley it gets down to 30’s at night. 50s & 60s in the day. We have to drive up a hill to be in snow. Above 5000 feet in the winter is where it usually is. Consequently our vertical foot totals for ski runs is a lot shorter than Colorado or the NE where there is snow at sea level. We need more rain.

    My big boy dog prefers the cold. Hates it when I turn the heat on in the house. My medium sized (35 lbs) girl likes to have a fleece thrown over her this time of year. She hates being put in dog sweaters but one winter weekend we went camping and she was so happy to sleep in it at night. Otherwise she’ll shred them off her so I don’t bother.

  120. 120.

    Jeffro

    @Immanentize: That’s fantastic!

    My daughter and I had an absolute blast seeing colleges in the Boston and NYC area this past summer – great memories. (Plus, we are thinking of touring a few colleges EVERY summer now, just for kicks!) But in the end I think she is going to go to UVA or W&M.

    Now if I can just get my son into that esteemed institution in Harrisonburg in a few more years…is it possible for the video game companies to ‘gamify’ college applications? Because then he’d be done in a heartbeat.

  121. 121.

    Immanentize

    So many parents i know get very worried about their kids being ‘away.’. They figure out how fast they can get somewhere, what if something happened, etc. That talk puts a huge amount of pressure on their kids to stay nearby and some miss out on real opportunities because of their parent’s speculative ‘whatabouts.’

    I agree kids need to find a good fit intellectually and socially, but damn I hope each kid can spread their wings and fly whether they end up 10 feet from their parents or 10 time zones away.

  123. 123.

    Skepticat

    I’m warm not because I’m in the Bahamas but because there’s steam coming from my ears. From Political Wire:

    President Trump claimed that his intelligence chiefs told him that they were misquoted when they publicly contradicted him during public on-camera testimony, CNN reports.
    Said Trump: “They said they were totally misquoted and totally taken out of context. They said it was fake news.”
    He made this argument even though a full report and recordings of the testimony are publicly available.

    Whiskey tango foxtrot?

  124. 124.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @kindness: Here in Southern CA, the TV weather folk spend the summer telling us how we need more rain and then in the winter when it does rain, it’s the Apocalypse*.

    *In fairness, the fires in the summer/fall burn everything off the hillsides and they turn into mud that flows to the sea.

  125. 125.

    Immanentize

    @Jeffro: The Immp took every application to the deadline. By December it was amazing that both he and I were still alive. But, he got his first choice, so all is peace, love and tie dye these days.

  128. 128.

    Kayla Rudbek

    @Steeplejack: we were discussing this today at lunch. Spotify apparently has a feature where you can temporarily download the music for offline use and then delete it once you are online again. Me personally, I just want another iPod classic so I can listen in my office (work or home) without internet distraction or commercials

  131. 131.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL:

    Baby watch week sucks.

    Try saying that three times fast!

    But I believe you. Reiterating my invitation to take you out for a nice welcome-new-baby celebratory lunch, on a date of your choosing (and at the baby’s convenience, of course).

  133. 133.

    Immanentize

    @Jeffro:
    I should add, if your son wants to go into C.S. or C.S. engineering, I had to become a momentary expert on the topic of such schools and programs. If I can help or advise, I would be happy to do so.

  134. 134.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Martin: Oh without a doubt she’s going to go where she is comfortable and where she can accomplish her goals. She hasn’t settled on a specific course of study and she’s got plenty of options. She excelled across the board.

    @Immanentize: Yes, Virginia. She unsure and hasn’t chosen a specific course of study yet.

    @Raven: Hah!

    @spudgun: She’s a really neat kid, sharp, funny and of course being my niece ridiculously beautiful and good-looking.

    @Betty Cracker: I have a suspicion her heart is with Florida with only Loyola (where grandparents and uncles/aunts live) the real challenger. If needed I will send her to the swamps, I sense you two would hit it off.

  136. 136.

    geg6

    @Steve in the ATL:

    Hmmm, looks like Washington and Lee. Doctorate from Yale. Don’t know if that’s honorary or not. Looks like he’s the only New Journalism icon who actually graduated from college. HST took some night classes at Florida State when he was in the military, but never came close to graduating. Breslin only graduated from high school and Hamill was a high school dropout.

  137. 137.

    WaterGirl

    @Jeffro: I will always love Amy Klobuchar for coming out in support of Barack Obama very early, but she is way too centrist for me and I don’t really get why people are suggesting she should run in 2020.

  138. 138.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    Since the thread is open, double vision sucks. Though I learned it before today (late last week) there are corrective lenses, which is exciting as I expected the prognosis would be “learn to deal with having single vision at ranges under 4 feet.” I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of said lenses.

    Which is my justification for a large glass of wine.

  139. 139.

    eemom

    @Jeffro:

    Congrats! My baby #1 graduated from UVA in 2017. Great school, and the in state tuition is SO very sweet.

    My little one is a sophomore at U South Carolina. (wtf IS a “gamecock”, anyway?)

  140. 140.

    WaterGirl

    @Martin: I haven’t been following closely, but i thought it was Facebook that had misbehaved terribly. I hadn’t heard about Google, except that they had sort of done something like that earlier and had backed off, and all was well there. Sorry for my ignorance.

  141. 141.

    Shana

    @Raven: Although UVA is kind of conservative. Not overwhelmingly so, and big enough to find your own tribe, but still. It was all male until sometime in the 70s.

    It is a very good school though.

  142. 142.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Skepticat:

    It’s just fucking amazing.

    It’s like he has NO CONCEPTION of the fact that all his Intel professionals were on LUVE TV, and that lots of people saw them and heard them on LIVE TV.

    I don’t know exactly what his Intel pros told him in the Oval today, but I’m pretty goddamn fucking sure it wasn’t “FAKE NEWS” or anything remotely close.

  145. 145.

    Shana

    @Martin: Agree wholeheartedly on finding the best fit being very important.

    My other bit of advice: unless your kid is one of those who has known since they were 7 that they are definitely going to be a “whatever”, go to a school that’s big enough that if you decide to change your major you can take courses in other areas, or switch to that other major, without having to transfer.

  146. 146.

    Immanentize

    @Yarrow:
    He needs a little toughening up?
    Although he certainly can’t afford to lose too much weight from sweating. That boy is a long drink of water.

  149. 149.

    Shana

    @Immanentize: My parents told me I could go to any college the College Fund would cover, but it had to be at least a 2 hour drive away. They didn’t want me coming home every weekend like they saw their friends’ kids doing.

  150. 150.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mary G:

    My Bessie had a strange affection for the old original Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. At the time, I just had a little “portable” TV that sat on my dresser. Bess the Mess ignored everything until QEftSG came on, and then she would wake up, leap to the dresser, and stick her head quizzically in front of the TV for the duration of the episode.

  151. 151.

    Steeplejack

    @Skepticat:

    Thanks. This is useful. I sort of figured I should err on the low side, since ratcheting up is easy but the reverse is not.

    The other factor is that the 4GB and 8GB plans are both a little cheaper than what I’m paying now for my incredibly old plan (which is not even offered any more), but the “unlimited” plans with free Apple Music are about the same or a little more. On one of those I would probably never come close to using all the data, but it might be worth it if I really liked Apple Music. But saving money is good.

    Actually, as I write this I’m thinking maybe I’ll get the 8GB plan, sign up for Spotify and see how that goes. I must know someone who has Apple Music, so I can investigate that and perhaps upgrade to one of the unlimited plans later if I want to. And I can fool around with the hot-spot feature and see how much data I actually end up using.

  152. 152.

    Immanentize

    @Steve in the ATL:
    Ha!
    Rice just bought an old Sears building in Downtown Houston and they are going to turn it into 270,000 sq feet of innovation center (and shops and restaurants of course). My FiL says he and his Mom used to go there from Brenham TX (a farmy town with great ice cream) to buy his school clothes every year. Wheels turn. Universities are doing such cool things these days….

  154. 154.

    HumboldtBlue

    She hasn’t settled on a specific course of study and she’s got plenty of options. She excelled across the board.

    I lied. Was just informed the course of study will be nursing.

    @geg6:

    May I add from personal experience that the job of reporting (and then being a columnist based on that reporting experience) as done in that fashion doesn’t need a degree. It takes practice and writing as an exercise is the only way to become a better writer and reporting every day is the only way to become a better reporter. Life informs the job in ways more profound than most because you are literally reporting on the life and people around you.

    The job has little to do with theory, it’s a hands-on reflection of the experience in your small world that when done with the brilliance of someone like Breslin becomes one of universal understanding. That’s why the best are so good at capturing a neighborhood and a telling a story. It’s very difficult to do well and do well consistently.

    I was told as a 30-year-old returning to school in the 90s that my life experience counted for much more than classes taken at Northridge and it got me a stringer job at the sports desk.

    Never did finish that degree.

  157. 157.

    Jeffro

    @Immanentize: Super – thank you! She’s still mulling over interests as diverse as pre-med to journalism, so we will have to see how it all shakes out. But thanks again!

    @WaterGirl: Klobuchar must strike some folks as the most sensible/least shrill/whatever Dem of the bunch, save the dozen white male moderate Dems running. ie, “I want a moderate white male, but I’ll go out on a limb and hope for a moderate white woman”. Or something, I dunno. I don’t really understand the appeal. Klobuchar’s nice enough, but I want someone who’s really going to whip up the Dems and GOTV, inspire, persuade, aim high. Not “well, I’m working with this one milquetoast Republican on ‘advantaged savings accounts’ for training and professional development”. Ehhh, ooookay…how about we put some actual money in people’s pockets?? But I digress…

    @eemom: thanks and Go Hoos!

    @Shana: I had a friend whose dad did that. He used a compass and drew a circle around their hometown at a distance that would equate to a 5-hour drive, and told my friend, “you can go to college anywhere outside this circle that you want”. LOL

  158. 158.

    sdhays

    @Martin: It’s kind of disingenuous to say that Google “voluntarily” removed their own infringing app, as if it was an indication of them being reasonable rather than a recognition that they were in violation of the terms of service (not directing this at you, just that it’s self-serving for Google to pretend they were acting in good faith). Apple has settled on being the privacy protector among the major IT corporations as their way to differentiate themselves (whether they’re any good at it is another question), so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

    Apple has an incentive to be seen as protecting their users, but Google and Facebook are big enough that even Apple can’t push them too far.

  160. 160.

    Immanentize

    @HumboldtBlue:
    Nursing. Now there is a course of study with endless opportunities, many paths, and a future really anywhere in the world one wants to go. Good choice!

  161. 161.

    Martin

    @Shana: ‘Big enough’ isn’t a good measure of that. Lots of big schools have a wide variety of majors but really struggle to open classes to non-majors (one of my professional struggles as well). I like to look for schools that are structured around providing innovative teaching. That’s usually a decent measure that a school is investing enough in providing access. Medium sized privates are usually a bit better about that, but there are exceptions. ASU comes to mind.

  163. 163.

    Elizabelle

    Badger wants clothes. He may want to wear a dress. Like Kurt Cobain. You can deal with it.

  164. 164.

    Immanentize

    @Yarrow: I love Lyle. And his former A&M roommate, Robert Earl Keene. But as tall as Lyle is (6′), the Immp has six inches on him.

  165. 165.

    sdhays

    @Jeffro: You said it – I do not get where Klobuchar’s alleged appeal is supposed to come from for a Presidential campaign. Her superpower seems to be being forgettable, which can work as a mid-western Senator, but doesn’t stand a chance in a contested primary with opponents with larger campaign donor networks, more buzz and energy, and more charisma.

    Whenever I see her mentioned as a potential 2020 Presidential candidate, I always want to ask “why??”.

  168. 168.

    HumboldtBlue

    @Immanentize:

    I had an older niece who made her way up here into the North Woods 10 years or so ago. After some 20-something living and becoming a mother to a wonderful little girl with the dad who turned out to be a good time Charlie, she went back home with my sister. Just under three years later she earned her RN pin and six months later bought a house.

    Brains, guts, strength, hard work, single-mindedness, the women in my family possess those traits in spades.

  169. 169.

    Kay (not the front-pager)

    @WaterGirl: Thanks, that sounds perfect. I’ll keep an eye out for her & see if she has a written pattern.

    @Juice Box: Yes! I’ve been trying to figure out something that fastens easily in back. Buttons & zips are too fiddly, and velcro is a little heavy for a six pound dog. Nikko’s front leg was broken when he was young, requiring a lot of surgery and a metal plate. As a result he has stiffness and some arthritis in that leg, making pullovers particularly difficult. And don’t get me started on sweaters with “sleeves”!

  170. 170.

    TomatoQueen

    @Jeffro: Heh. “….And that “where you go isn’t who you will be”, especially not forever (h/t
gack
Frank Bruni)….” A St. Johnnie knows otherwise, and considering that tongue-bath he gave us last fall, so does Frank Bruni.

  171. 171.

    Yarrow

    @Jeffro:
    I like Klobuchar. She kept her cool when that asshole Kavanaugh shot back, “Have you?” when she asked him if he’d ever blacked out from drinking. That took some control.

    I don’t know if she’d be a good president or if she should even run. I think she’d be a good option for Senate Majority Leader.

  173. 173.

    Martin

    @sdhays: Fair. Though if Apple was pulling the certificate to merely stop the behavior, Google did that yesterday and admitted they were wrong. That Apple pulled the certificate today suggests that ending the behavior isn’t their only goal.

    I think Apple has more influence than you realize. Yes, these are globally spanning companies, but if you look at where Googles ad revenue comes from – a majority comes from iOS devices, which is why they’re spending ⅔ of their user retention budget with Apple. The situation is not much different with Facebook. Anyone with the gateway to half of your revenues can push you pretty damn far.

  174. 174.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Immanentize:

    I don’t know whether the Immp is interested in nanotechnology, but I believe Rice has one of the premier nano R&D centres in the country. I toured it about 10 years ago. Fascinating place!

  176. 176.

    J R in WV

    @Raven:

    Yes, but it IS in Virginia, the capitol of the Confederacy. So, there’s a question… are there better schools in places that aren’t bruise purple? Yes… yes there are!!

  178. 178.

    Jeffro

    @J R in WV: Virginia WAS the capitol of the confederates, that’s true. It’s now a very blue state and one of the country’s most successful by many measures. Not a bad place to live, work, OR go to school ;)

  179. 179.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Jeffro: If the political pundit community likes her as D candidate, that means she would be a weak candidate as a President or Vice President. They are not our friends, they bat for the other team. They also loved them some Lieberman.

  180. 180.

    Immanentize

    @SiubhanDuinne:
    His top interests are AI, machine learning and as an offshoot, machine vision. But he hasn’t seen it all yet, and he has an open mind and it all goes together for him in his way of looking at programming and design. Hell, he’ll be near mission control. Maybe space bots? How cool would that be?

  184. 184.

    Jeffro

    @sdhays: She just doesn’t scare them like a Harris, Warren, or Castro does. I just can’t quite put my finger on it…

    @schrodingers_cat: Oh I know. This is why I never watch the TV pundits of any persuasion. They are ‘pushing’ for something very different than what the actual D base/s want. I like Klobuchar just fine and I’m sure she’d make an excellent Secretary of Agriculture or something. But at the head of the ticket? Oh I think not. She’s basically our Jeb. Please clap.

  186. 186.

    Steeplejack

    @chris:

    I figured roughly that for music, maybe with a little overhead for the service itself. I’m more concerned about the hot spot. I’m somewhere out of wi-fi range, I fire up the phone hot spot, check my e-mail on my notebook and look at a few things on the Internet. Three hours later I suddenly realize I’ve blown two gigs of my data allowance looking at cat videos and obscure Wikipedia articles.

  188. 188.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @JPL:

    Anywhere at AVALON would be great! I know it well, as the Met Opera Live in HD is the cinema of choice, so I am there frequently. Marlowe’s? Another favourite?

  191. 191.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Immanentize:

    That would be extremely cool! I have no doubt that he will follow his passion, wherever it may entice him.

    Rabbit holes? You ain’t seen NOTHIN’ yet!!

  195. 195.

    Betty Cracker

    @Jeffro: God, no. Amy K has that Minnesota Nice thing going for her, but she has substance, unlike the horrid Jeb. I think the appeal for 2020 is that a low-key, practical and sane woman would make a dandy bookend to a walking collection of untreated personality disorders. Maybe AK is all wrong for 2020. But please: comparing her to Jeb is hideously unfair.

  197. 197.

    Ohio Mom

    @Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho: Oh my! What happened to your vision?! Glad to hear it is correctable, whatever it is.

    I have very slight double vision but that is because I’m dragging my feet (for two years now) on getting my second cataract done. I am loathe to give up my one super-power, very fine close vision. Even if it is awfully yellow these days.

  198. 198.

    Skepticat

    @Cheryl Rofer: I did see that. Reality keeps trying to intrude, which confoooooses me, though.
    @Jay:

    Needy Amin always lies.

    As a copywriter, I so love this name and wish I’d thought of it! The salient point you’re making, not so much.

    .

  200. 200.

    sdhays

    @Martin: That’s just ending the current behavior, which was almost a given once it was reported. It was a pretty blatant violation, so it seems like Google and Facebook just totally ignored Apple’s terms of service. Apple has a pretty strong incentive to make them think twice before ever doing that again (and demonstrating to others that if you get caught, it WILL be costly).

  203. 203.

    Sab

    Damn that Badger is cute.

    Bye the way, although I have 5 kittehs I love, I also have a toy possum, from Wild Republic, Twinsburg Ohio, that is beyond adorable. My live cats are extremely jealous and slightly scared.

    I am just in love. With a stuffed animal. It is that cute. Found it in the grocery store.

  205. 205.

    donnah

    @Redshift:

    Well, my aunt and uncle had a Boston terrier named JoJo and he loved standing in front of their console TV back in the seventies. If anyone walked in front of him, he’d impatiently move so he could see again. It was hilarious.

    Our dog Wendy seldom paid attention to TV, but ours was in a wood TV cabinet and once when a cheeta streaked across the screen, Wendy chased it and ran around the cabinet to see where it disappeared to.

  206. 206.

    sdhays

    @Betty Cracker: I agree that comparing her to Jeb is unfair, but I have to admit that fellow Minnesotan Tim Pawlenty comes to mind when she comes up as a Presidential candidate.

    I reserve the right to change my mind if and when she jumps in and actually starts campaigning, but I really don’t see it right now.

  208. 208.

    Sab

    Damn that Badger is cute.

    Bye the way, although I have 5 kittehs I love, I also have a toy possum, from Wild Republic, Twinsburg Ohio, that is beyond adorable. My live cats are extremely jealous and slightly scared.

    I am just in love. With a stuffed animal. It is that cute. Found it in the grocery store.

    Who loves a toy possum? Me. It is that cute.

  210. 210.

    Jeffro

    @Betty Cracker: Jeb had substance…it just wasn’t a good substance. It was kinda boring and not very useful, like ecru Play-doh. ;)

    Klobuchar is miles above that, of course…only slightly boring and obviously very useful, like…like some metaphor I’m not latching on to at the moment. But still very wonderful for being a Dem with Dem priorities and Dem values, etc.

    Personally I think we could – almost – run a pet rock and beat trumpov in 2020 at the rate he’s going. But we need to aim way higher, get way way way fired up, and swamp them again like we just did in the midterms. Schultz’s treachery and more Russian interference and the possibility of trumpov not even being in there, with the sudden “trumpov who?” from some fake centrist Republican like Sasse makes me even more concerned that we get fired up and stay that way.

  212. 212.

    HinTN

    @Steeplejack: I bit the bullet and got the unlimited plan from V. Totally responded any hotspot concerns at the end of the billing cycle. I know nothing about Apple Music.

    ETA: For some foolish reason I just added a teenager to the plan, so there’s that.

  213. 213.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @Ohio Mom: Either an MS exacerbation or a progression. An MRI will provide a comparison with lesions from earlier years.

    Get that cataract done! There a magnification options, as you know.

  214. 214.

    BroD

    My vintage 480,000 btu gas Furnace was down for 24 hrs (early pm Wed-early pm Thurs.) It seems only to do this when the real cold hits. It’s not the boiler, it’s the controls: I–actually my (also vintage) boiler guy–have been replacing the system component-by–component over the course of this winter. It’s been touch & go. Just happy “here” is MD–not MN.

  215. 215.

    sdhays

    @Jeffro: Regarding Schultz, I’m not sure how dangerous he is anymore. His almost laser-like focus on tearing down Democrats suggests to me that if he’s able to get on any ballots (and right now I doubt his competency in that regard, no matter how much money he’s willing to dump on that project), he’s likely to be a place for Republicans who really don’t want to vote for the ASSet or Pence again, but could never bring themselves to vote for a Democrat.

    I haven’t seen much evidence as to why Democrats would vote for him, beyond the assumption that Democrats are stupid.

  216. 216.

    AnotherBruce

    I called my brother yesterday. He’s a Fedex driver in the twin city area. The heater fan broke down in his van. That scared me. He’s a dedicated dude and usually drives the rural routes.He stayed in town and went home after I called. Im glad I called him. Told him its just a job. He agreed

  219. 219.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @JPL: I like her too. My phlegmatic temperament and cynicism about the electorate make me a bit skeptical of fireworks. I liked Obama’s “professorial detachment” and HRC’s wonkiness.

  221. 221.

    Betty Cracker

    @schrodingers_cat: Pundits want a boring candidate? Not so sure that theory tracks with their behavior. They are reflexively attracted to centrism as an abstract notion. I don’t think Klobuchar is really a centrist, nor do I think she is boring, but YMMV.

  225. 225.

    Sab

    @Kay (not the front-pager): I bought my inherited cocker spaniel a sweater the last time I had his fur trimmed. I am beyond humiliated walking a dog in a sweater when he has his god-given fur, but he is much more comfortable. Although he is kind of uncomfortable when I am trying to get his front legs through the holes. Also, he is not so wet when I get him home from the walk and take his sweater off.

    The rott mix is still on her own, au naturel.

  226. 226.

    sdhays

    @Betty Cracker: It depends on which pundits. Some look forward to calling the “mommy party”‘s candidate a boring old mommy.

    George Will thinks she’s likable.

    I think Klobuchar is a fine Senator, as is Sherrod Brown, but I don’t really see the national constituency ready to catch fire in their Presidential campaigns. I see the potential with Kamala Harris. I see the potential with Kirsten Gillibrand. I see the potential with Elizabeth Warren. But not Klobuchar, and not really Brown either (beyond having a p—s). But if she decides to announce, maybe then I’ll see it.

  230. 230.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    @Shana:

    unless your kid is one of those who has known since they were 7 that they are definitely going to be a “whatever”, go to a school that’s big enough that if you decide to change your major you can take courses in other areas

    Even if your kid has known what that want to be since they were 7, it’s still a good idea. I’m a case study of this.

  231. 231.

    Alternative Fax, a hip hop artist from Idaho

    @Steve in the ATL: Caught between the Scylla and Charybdis. One was entertaining, the other had a decent paycheck. I can see how it happened.

  232. 232.

    Steeplejack

    @HinTN:

    Totally responded any hotspot concerns [. . .].

    Can’t figure out exactly the autocorrect/​typo here, but I think it means the outcome was good.

    And, yeah, you’ll definitely need it with a teenager on the plan.

  233. 233.

    Betty Cracker

    @schrodingers_cat: Were pundits big fans of Lieberman? I don’t recall that. The Lieberman pick was all on Gore, IMO, who thought putting a mewling scold on the ticket would balance the Bill C baggage. But my recollection is the Village pundits loved GWB because they were dumb enough to buy the ersatz cowboy shtick.

  235. 235.

    Steeplejack

    @chris:

    Yeah, video is bulky. Mostly I was joking about getting lulled into a “usual” on-line session and forgetting that “Hey, I’m burning metered usage here.”

  236. 236.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Betty Cracker: Were pundits big fans of Lieberman? I don’t recall that.

    Oh yeah. Lieberman was a Beltway hero even before he scolded the Clenis. I remember once when O’Donnell was subbing for Franken on Air America (so much later–2006 or 06) he delivered a five minute monologue on how, essentially, useless Lieberman was as a Senator, but it would still be a mistake for Dems to primary him. Should be noted that to this day the World’s Most Important Senate Staffer Ever has a hard on for the Clintons because they disrespected his number one surrogate daddy, Moynihan.

    The Lieberman pick was all on Gore

    True

  238. 238.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Betty Cracker: They totally were, fans of his bipartisan schtick. And the fact that he was one of the few Ds that scolded Clinton on record. They of course liked W more than any D. But they promoted Lieberman to be the D candidate, and Gore fell for that BS and named L his VP candidate.

    Moral of the story: Take the Pundit recommendations for D candidates with a grain of salt.

  239. 239.

    sdhays

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: It’s hard to imagine Gore picking Lieberman if there weren’t a bunch of pundits always praising his “rectitude” (and they weren’t meaning it as a euphemism for where his head was deposited).

    But Gore let the media get in his head, and that’s all on him.

  240. 240.

    Jay

    @Kay (not the front-pager):

    I think you just passed on all the modern clothes fastening options except those hook thingies on bra straps that keep men out.

    There’s always the Game of Thrones wooden pegs and leather lacing.

  242. 242.

    HumboldtBlue

    @?BillinGlendaleCA:

    Well, she passed her boards because I was part of a tension-filled family thread as we awaited the announcement that she had passed her boards. And yeah, that came after her pinning.

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