Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

After roe, women are no longer free.

Our job is not to persuade republicans but to defeat them.

You can’t attract Republican voters. You can only out organize them.

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

People are complicated. Love is not.

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

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Eh, that’s media spin. biden’s health is fine and he’s doing a good job.

Perhaps you mistook them for somebody who gives a damn.

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Republicans in disarray!

I’d like to think you all would remain faithful to me if i ever tried to have some of you killed.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

We still have time to mess this up!

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Let’s not be the monsters we hate.

Second rate reporter says what?

Damn right I heard that as a threat.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

T R E 4 5 O N

Republicans seem to think life begins at the candlelight dinner the night before.

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

This fight is for everything.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Saturday Morning Open Thread: Enjoy Summer While You Can!

Saturday Morning Open Thread: Enjoy Summer While You Can!

by | 189 Comments

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(h/t commentor Mary G)
.


(Actually, that’s Judge Sonia Sotomayor, Yankees fan… and Aaron Judge, Yankees player. I had to look him up, to be sure.)

******
Okay, okay, political junkies…

Reader Interactions

189Comments

  3. 3.

    raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: I wanted to kill the goddamn trash truck that decided to blast it’s fucking beeper and smash the dumpster at 4am. . .not that I was sleeping all that well anyway.

  4. 4.

    raven

    @OzarkHillbilly: I have a FB group with about 10 guys who were in my outfit in Korea . There is a goofy “Korea Defense Vet” reunion in Pigeon Forge next week and I’m thinking about running up there for a day and visit with three of these dudes who are going.

  5. 5.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Heh. From the Texas Tribune:

    Hurd alluded to future plans but provided no specifics in his own announcement Thursday.

    “I have made the decision to not seek reelection for the 23rd Congressional District of Texas in order to pursue opportunities outside the halls of Congress to solve problems at the nexus between technology and national security,” he wrote.

    A source close to his deliberations said the decision was not made impulsively, overnight or in reaction to any specific event. It was unclear as the news broke whether state or national Republicans have a backup plan for a candidate in this district. Several state and national Republican operatives reached out to The Texas Tribune to react to the news. Nearly all of the commentary involved highly explicit language.

    It is apparent that his reelection would have been difficult.

    I’ll just bet.

  9. 9.

    raven

    @JPL: It’s weird, my last day of work in paper is Sept 3 (50 years to the day that I came home). I had to retire after the 31st to have my season ticket and, because of the holiday, I had to wait until the 3rd. When I put the paperwork in it came back October 1 because you have to retire on the first day of the month. I have 2 months of vacay and the conventional wisdom is to NOT take the money because they tax it as a bonus. So I’ll take leave all of September and roll the balance into a 403b. I started social security last month so I have the funds for my insane fishing trip so I’m all set.

  17. 17.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    Good morning, all! ?

    I’m a little sore today, but not too bad. I took an Aleve, which will help. I guess the big issue for today is personal hygiene. Haven’t shaved or had a shower since Wednesday, and I need to do some cipherin’ on how to wash while keeping my right arm and left shoulder dry.

    Guess I’ll make coffee and ponder that while I catch up on the threads.

  19. 19.

    Raven

    @Baud: it’s administrative, it’s not actually the organization it’s the teachers retirement system.

    ETA I just saved a cat! I was driving and the dude ran in front of my car and there was another coming in the opposite lane. I turned my head because I was sure he wasn’t going to Make it but he did. He was standing on curb and came to me. Dude had tags so I called his owner and boom!

  21. 21.

    Kay

    Senior White House officials said they have been aware for several months that Cramer had expressed a personal interest in how these bids were being awarded. Cramer told a North Dakota radio station in May that he had personally raised concerns about the bidding process with Trump and that Trump had said, perhaps jokingly, “I deputize you” to deal with it.
    The North Dakota senator has repeatedly promoted Fisher, and Trump too has joined the effort, pitching the company in meetings at the White House and aboard Air Force One that have troubled miliary commanders and Department of Homeland Security officials.
    They say it is highly unusual for a president to intervene on behalf of a private company seeking billions in federal contracts, and one of the reasons the Army Corps has long managed the procurement process is the military’s reputation for integrity and rectitude.

    The safest bet Democrats ever made was calling The Wall a slush fund. It was all but guaranteed to be wildly corrupt.

  23. 23.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Steeplejack (phone): What happened? One time I had minor surgery, I went full immersion caving 2 days later and kept the wounds from the water by covering them in petroleum jelly (also a gauze bandage under my wetsuit, but that doesn’t really apply in a bath ;-) )

  24. 24.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Raven: So he broke something? Ugh, I fought tooth and nail with the doc over a cast when I broke my ankle. I won.

  25. 25.

    Raven

    The term body cast (or full body cast) is sometimes casually used by laymen to describe any of a number of body and/or spica casts, from a simple body jacket to a more extensive hip spica.

  26. 26.

    Kay

    @Raven:

    I was stopped waiting to turn left the other day and there was a man who had pulled over directly in front of me. He got out of his car and stopped traffic holding both arms out. I had no idea what he was doing because I couldn’t see anything in the road. It was a little tortoise- about as big as my hand. He picked it up and put it on the other side. I might have crushed him. The tortoise, not the man.

  29. 29.

    OzarkHillbilly

    The US military is conducting wide-area surveillance tests across six midwest states using experimental high-altitude balloons, documents filed with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) reveal.

    Up to 25 unmanned solar-powered balloons are being launched from rural South Dakota and drifting 250 miles through an area spanning portions of Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin and Missouri, before concluding in central Illinois.

    Travelling in the stratosphere at altitudes of up to 65,000ft, the balloons are intended to “provide a persistent surveillance system to locate and deter narcotic trafficking and homeland security threats”, according to a filing made on behalf of the Sierra Nevada Corporation, an aerospace and defence company.

    The balloons are carrying hi-tech radars designed to simultaneously track many individual vehicles day or night, through any kind of weather. The tests, which have not previously been reported, received an FCC license to operate from mid-July until September, following similar flights licensed last year.

    Arthur Holland Michel, the co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York, said, “What this new technology proposes is to watch everything at once. Sometimes it’s referred to as ‘combat TiVo’ because when an event happens somewhere in the surveilled area, you can potentially rewind the tape to see exactly what occurred, and rewind even further to see who was involved and where they came from.”

    Forwarded without comment.

  33. 33.

    Steeplejack

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    First you have to actually have the saran-wrap stuff. I think I have some actual saran wrap in the kitchen, or I might try to make do with a bread bag.

    If I could wash my hair and maybe shave, I would feel a lot more human. For the rest I could get away with washcloth cleaning.

  34. 34.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kay: I saw a “I brake for turtles” bumper sticker the other day. I want to get one that says, “I swerve for turtles”. I don’t generally rescue them. Out here people will go a long ways to avoid hitting them. It’s really rare to find one crushed.

  35. 35.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: Maybe Glad Press ‘n Seal. That stuff is amazing. I wrapped a paint brush in it and it was still wet enough to touch up a couple spots several days later. The seal was essentially evaporation proof.

  36. 36.

    Sab

    @Kay: Wow. Close call for the tortoise. Also he (man) needs to be careful and know his turtles. If it’s a snapper it has a long enough neck to bite fingers off the guy helping it.

  37. 37.

    Aleta

    @Steeplejack: Could you pour warm water into a couple of pitchers or water bottles and wash your hair (one handed) over the sink ? When I don’t have running water I find that a gallon of water is enough get hair clean and well-rinsed.

  39. 39.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Raven: I am not one who goes overboard with the “Big Brother is watching every one everywhere!!!!” hysteria because #1, anybody watching me would fall asleep, and #2 the same goes for 96% of everyone else, iow it’s just not a feasible use of resources. BUT…. Such surveillance technologies are open to abuse if they aren’t tightly controlled.

    Once again the devil is in the details.

  40. 40.

    Steeplejack

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Skin cancer surgery. Went in on Wednesday thinking the doc would remove three “lesions” under local, as I’ve had done in the past. Next thing I know I’m scheduled for 90 minutes of surgery under general anesthesia on Thursday because of “complications.” Sometimes basal-cell carcinomas send down roots into the deeper tissue, so more cutting is involved, also more fiddling with the surrounding skin.

    So I’ve got an 8" long dressing on my right forearm (two spots close together) and a 3" square dressing on the back of my left shoulder. Also got a sling to keep my forearm elevated and somewhat immobile, because the remaining skin is stretched thin over the op area and is susceptible to tearing until it gets resettled. Also, sort of like with fabric, there are long cuts in different directions to bring the parts back together tastefully.

    The whole deal went from zero to 60 in no time and took me by surprise. I knew from the initial biopsy that it was basal-cell, just didn’t know it was “complicated” until I was sitting with the surgeon on Wednesday. Anyway, the procedure went well and I’m glad to have it over with.

  41. 41.

    Ken

    @Raven: @OzarkHillbilly: Charles Stross has an explanation for the CCTV in his Laundry novels. They’re part of a defense system that will fry the Lovecraftian horrors when they show up. Although, that’s less horrifying than the ubiquitous surveillance state.

    (I had the same reaction to The Mist. The monsters outside weren’t nearly as scary as the humans inside, because I know the monsters are fiction but I can totally believe humans acting that way.)

  42. 42.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Sab: There are certain physical characteristics/behaviors that nature gives to animals that say “Keep your distance.” A monarchs colors say “I taste really shitty”, a rattlers tail says “Too fucking close, mf’er!”, A snapper just says, “Are you feeling lucky? Well do you Punk?!?!?!”

  44. 44.

    Ken

    Whoops, didn’t mean to look so Lovecraftian at 41, and this is one of those days where the edit button is on vacation.

    (Lovecraft had a habit of ending his stories with a sentence or ten in italics, revealing the final mind-shattering horror of the cosmos.)

  45. 45.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Raven: Yes, I have heard of them! The things people will come up with to distract themselves from their daily horrors/tragedy/boredom can be ingenious.

  46. 46.

    Kay

    NPR
    @NPR
    ·7h
    Amy Klobuchar’s campaign announced she has qualified for September’s next Democratic debate.

    As of now, she’ll join:
    – Joe Biden
    – Bernie Sanders
    – Elizabeth Warren
    – Kamala Harris
    – Pete Buttigieg
    – Bet O’Rourke
    – Cory Booker

    Ok, 8, that’s enough. I don’t mind her- she’s not, um, trying to elect Trump.

  47. 47.

    debbie

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    I’m guessing you had surgery, so congratulations because it sounds like you’re recovering well. I’ve had stitches and splints in unfortunate places, and I’ve used baggies, trash bags, or just sponge-bathed in the sink.

  50. 50.

    Steeplejack

    @Aleta:

    My shower head is one of those detachable ones on a hose, so I figure I can one-hand it while kneeling over the tub.

  51. 51.

    What Have The Romans Ever Done for Us?

    (I had the same reaction to The Mist. The monsters outside weren’t nearly as scary as the humans inside, because I know the monsters are fiction but I can totally believe humans acting that way.)

    That’s how you wind up feeling by the end of 28 Days Later too.

  52. 52.

    Kay

    Kyra Phillips
    @KyraPhillips
    · Jul 19
    No matter what your politics are, I have to say that I appreciate the access ⁦@realDonaldTrump⁩ gives us on a regular basis and the ability to ask any question. ⁦@PressSec⁩ ⁦@johnrobertsFox⁩

    I’m telling you Democrats should do this. It does not matter what they say. They just have to talk, constantly. Words. String some together. Quantity, not quality. Surrender. Feed some words into the big machine. Make product.

  53. 53.

    debbie

    @Kay:

    I’d like the next debate to focus on what differentiates them from Trump. We’ve seen they can all undermine each other, and frankly, all that’s done is give more ammunition to Trump.

  54. 54.

    Steeplejack

    @Ken:

    At least it’s not like the old days, when an unclosed italics tag would cause the entire rest of the thread to be in italics. *shudder*

  55. 55.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @OzarkHillbilly: Son Of JLENS? (Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System, and no those words don’t actually pack into that acronym)

    A few years ago, there was a test blimp the Army had hovering above Maryland. The technical name is “tethered aerostat”, as it is tied by umbilical cord to the ground. It broke loose and went wandering around the countryside north of Baltimore, trailing its tether line and leaving a trail of destruction.

    The multi-billion program ended abruptly that day.

  57. 57.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Steeplejack: Oooff.

    8″ long dressing on my right forearm (two spots close together)

    They do go overboard with the dressings. I think it’s because they figure you bought the whole roll of gauze, you might as well get the whole roll of gauze. When my wife had her rotator cuff fixed her shoulder was twice the size of normal with gauze pads, cotton padding and 17 rolls of gauze to keep it all in place. When I unwrapped it I found 2 tiny 1 and 2 stitch incisions. First thing I do when I get home from such is remove all that shit and put something on it not near so irritating to my *sensitive* skin.

    I’ve had to deal with the “remaining skin is stretched thin over the op area and is susceptible to tearing until it gets resettled.” before and I wasn’t very good at it, at all.

    The press and seal suggested above is a good idea but I would worry about water getting in at the edges and would use the petroleum jelly too. It’s a bit messy to get off but is certainly an air and watertight seal.

    Here’s hoping they got all the roots.

    ETA: I know sensitive and OzarkHillbilly are 2 words most have a hard time using in the same sentence, but there it is.

  58. 58.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @raven: We once bought one of those background noise generators that has multiple channels of background sounds that are supposed to help you relax: rain forest, thunderstorm, waterfall, etc.

    One of the channels is called “city” or “urban” with car and truck noises, horns beeping, and a voice yelling “hey!”. Shades of Cousin Vinny!

  60. 60.

    Steeplejack

    @Kay:

    I wondered why ABC correspondent Kyra Phillips was tagging @johnrobertsFox⁩ in that tweet. Turns out they’re married to each other!

    I’m searching for that word—not nepotism—where all the big shots and powers that be are related to one other. It’s all so cozy.

  62. 62.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: These balloons will be able to navigate by changing elevations to catch winds favorable to the direction they want to go in, so not tethered. The article does mentioned that tethered surveillance balloons have been used by DOD (war zones) and drug interdiction forces (S. and C. America)

  63. 63.

    chopper

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Arthur Holland Michel, the co-director of the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College in New York

    of course it’s Bard, so they have to call it “the center for the study of the drone”.

  65. 65.

    debbie

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Or something more along the line of exactly how Trump is destroying the economy and how he’s turned the American Farmer into the Welfare Queen of the 21st Century. Point out how they have lost their market share in the world economy and how they will never get that back. How tariffs are in fact destroying the country. How Trump knows less than just about any other being crawling this earth. How he’s turned this country into a laughingstock and an unreliable partner. That kind of thing. In non-wonky language, of course.

  66. 66.

    Steeplejack

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    I won’t get a look at things until Monday or Tuesday, when I can take off the bandages and let the wounds air out for a bit. All of them have those “dissolving” stiches, I think. Then I rebandage the arm. I think I can put a big Band-Aid on the shoulder. Follow-up with the doc is on Wednesday the 14th.

  68. 68.

    chopper

    @Ken:

    later, as i lay in bed pondering these great, inchoate horrors and their insatiable need for our utter destruction, and the inevitability of their arrival on some dank day when the stars are right, i turned on the television and found out that tomi lahren was made director of national intelligence.

  69. 69.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @chopper: When I saw that I thought maybe they were studying male bees but there just isn’t that much to know about an animal that is born for next to nothing, then I thought maybe they were studying people who just won’t shut up and figured “Talk about navel gazing….”

  70. 70.

    Aleta

    @Kay: Sadly this is true, I’ve come to believe. Create background noise on repeat; people will find the repetition soothing. Paying attention to what words mean seems to be too much to expect of mammals in a state of constant stress.

  71. 71.

    Steeplejack

    @debbie:

    Inorite. Why is no one’s spouse ever just “middle manager at Dunder Mifflin” or something like that?

  73. 73.

    zhena gogolia

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    You should read Anthony Horowitz, The Sentence is Death. The plot hinges on a caving accident. I didn’t understand the cave descriptions at all.

  78. 78.

    Steeplejack

    @zhena gogolia:

    No problem. Personally, I’m always glad that people are willing to “fill in.” Sometimes the original person misses a comment or goes away or who knows what.

  83. 83.

    MomSense

    @Steeplejack:

    Go to a hair salon and pay for a shampoo. With all that you are going through, a nice scalp massage might be just the thing to cheer you up.

  84. 84.

    Kay

    @Steeplejack:

    I’m searching for that word—not nepotism—where all the big shots and powers that be are related to one other. It’s all so cozy.

    I think that’s WHY no one objects to the nepotism. It’s all too “cozy” to start throwing stones. It happens here in the legal community. You work enough you will encounter 90% of people – everyone has to waive conflicts and relationships. If you drew it it would be all lines crossing. I had one the other day where I know the witness is the cousin of the court reporter. I don’t think everyone knows this, but I know this. But there are only 7000 people in this town- one would think they have a bigger hiring pool nationally. What I love is the appeal to parental affection. “Ivanka is his daughter! Of course he thinks she’s great!” Yeah. Exactly. That’s the problem. As if anyone is insisting Donald Trump start hating his (awful) grown children.

  85. 85.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Steeplejack: My skin can’t survive that long under cover, especially if they use adhesive tape. I know what they tell me but if I did as they say I literally end up with a scabrous weeping lesion spreading out from the wound to engulf the whole appendage.

    OK, maybe not the whole appendage…

  87. 87.

    Steeplejack

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    I’ve never used one of those machines, but I think I would go for rain.

    Actually, now that I think about it, there are a number of “white noise” videos of all types on YouTube, many of them quite long (e.g., 10 hours).

    Here’s a nice, light eight-hour rain with a little thunder in the distance.

  90. 90.

    Steeplejack

    @MomSense:

    That’s a good idea! Actually, I was thinking of getting a pedicure. That’s what I always think of as the height of sybaritic pampering. But “getting my hair did” would be more useful right now.

  94. 94.

    Steeplejack

    God, I left that YouTube rain video running in the background, and now I want to go back to bed.

  95. 95.

    zhena gogolia

    @Steeplejack:

    After a big rain, one of those ended up in my front yard. All the neighborhood men came to try to get it in a box and take it back to the pond. They ultimately succeeded, it it bit through a broom handle in the process.

  97. 97.

    jeffreyw

    @OzarkHillbilly: I’ve had fried turtle once. My mom insisted that there were 7 kinds of meat in a turtle – I remain unpersuaded. I had what was billed as turtle soup once but the meat in it may have been ‘possum. The chef was a known prevaricator.

  99. 99.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @zhena gogolia: You just grab them by the tail and keep them away from your leg. Mind you, that last part is a bit difficult if you get a 40 pounder.

  100. 100.

    Steeplejack

    @Kay:

    I guess I’m slow on the uptake, but I still get surprised when I read way down in some news story that Seb Gorka’s wife works for the State Department or William Barr’s daughter works for FinCEN. It’s everywhere.

  101. 101.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @jeffreyw: My Aunt Betty was a wonderful cook. I wish I knew what she used for the breading. I do remember there wasn’t ever any left overs.

    ETA she only used six parts: the 4 legs, neck and tail. I can’t imagine what the 7th might be.

  103. 103.

    waratah

    @Steeplejack (phone): having a hand held shower attachment would help. Maybe your brother could get you a shower head with the attachment. Some have a shutoff for while you soap one handed. Make sure you get a long hose. Hope you heal quickly it is not fun.

  104. 104.

    David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch

    @Kay: Kyra Phillips is a wingnut. One of the worst cheerleaders during the height of the Iraq quagmire. She was Rumsfeld in a sleeveless mini dress.

  106. 106.

    frosty

    @Steeplejack: Any of the chains (Hair Cuttery, Holiday Hair) can set you back in a chair and wash your hair without getting anything else wet. They can probably give you a shave too. Might be better than DIY in a shower.

  107. 107.

    Starfish

    @chopper: Commenters should have appreciated your political Lovecraftian fan-fiction more than they did here in this thread.

  108. 108.

    Steeplejack

    @waratah:

    Thanks. My shower head is one of the detachable ones with a hose, and it does have a pause setting. So I think I’m set.

  110. 110.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    My middle grade fantasy, Finders Keepers (not the Stephen King book), is on sale at Amazon for 99cents for the ebook. If you want, I’ll send you a jpeg of the cover art whether you buy or not. It’s a fun picture of a kid in a medieval street with a cute rat on top of a barrel looking at him. Just give me an email address (dawinsor [at] dawinsor [dot] com.

  112. 112.

    frosty

    @jeffreyw: Now if I get get an audiobook that reads all the Guardian articles about Brexit, I’d be asleep in 10 minutes. I can’t make it all the way through one of those.

  113. 113.

    MomSense

    @frosty:

    I’ve found that when they see you come in with obvious injury and you’ve booked a shampoo, they really do an especially nice massage with the shampoo.

  115. 115.

    MomSense

    Pup ate this morning but she hasn’t touched her water and I even put ice cubes in it the way she likes. Have to do a home IV for her soon.

  116. 116.

    Steeplejack

    @frosty:

    Thanks, point taken. There’s also a certain amount of inertia involved: feeling sore and not wanting to go anywhere in general, getting dressed (semi-)one-handed, driving (semi-)one-handed, etc. I can sort of use my right arm, but I have to be very careful about any movement that causes the forearm muscles to flex, and it’s amazing how many movements do that.

    Not even supposed to be typing much, but I have found that for short periods I can position my arm so that the fingers don’t have to move much (but not usual touch-typing position). And I’ve been doing a lot of voice to text and editing with a stylus on the phone.

  120. 120.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Kay: Serious question – has Wilmer shouted and wagged his finger yet at money being the measuring stick to qualify for these debates?

  121. 121.

    MomSense

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    It’s not so bad. It’s a bag with a needle and tube attached and you insert it into the skin between the shoulder blades – so not as horrible as I thought when they told me they had to show me how to do an IV. I have no idea how that could possibly hydrate her but they could get me to do just about anything right now.

  122. 122.

    jeffreyw

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Audio books put you to sleep?

    I think it’s more like they allow me to sleep. The measured cadence and calm tone of the narration displaces my own whirling thoughts. The frets of the day fall away.

  123. 123.

    SFAW

    @Kay:

    They say it is highly unusual for a president to intervene

    I guess my literacy skills are waning: I’ve never seen “highly corrupt” transcribed in that manner.

  125. 125.

    Steeplejack

    Okay, right-hand keyboard time is up, and that damn YouTube rain video is putting me to sleep. And yet I can’t turn it off. I think I will go have a bit of a lie-down and read on the phone.

  128. 128.

    Aleta

    @MomSense: I did it for a couple of cats. They acted like they felt a lot better after each time. Probably from relieving the dehydration, and maybe also from flushing out the toxins (which built up because their kidneys weren’t working well enough). If I warmed the bag up first in a bowl of warm water they even seemed to find it relaxing. eta

    eta I used to test the warmed fluid on my wrist to make sure it wasn’t too hot.

  132. 132.

    Gelfling 545

    @Kay: I’d like to see Castro get in and sent him a bit of money to help the effort. Not that he’s my preferred candidate but he may be in a few years & I want to hear more from him.

  134. 134.

    JMG

    So two weeks ago I suffered a detached retina (left eye) on the golf course. Had surgery the next day and surgeon says rehab/healing is going fine, so I’m thankful. BUT it has cut down on the things that make summer on Cape Cod fun. No golf, no beach (chance of sand in eye), no sailing (salt water in eye) until third week of August at the earliest. ANOTHER BUT. I can still go to the fish market for striped bass, and to the farm stand for tomatoes and basil and to the store for mozzarella. So dinner’s still as fun as can be.
    PS: Iowa caucuses still six months away, so I have tuned out of the Democratic primary for awhile. Didn’t watch either debate last week. Judging from comments, nothing has changed much in my psychic absence.

  139. 139.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @JMG:

    Bummer, but glad the eye is on the mend.

    When I was 12 I had an accident in June that sidelined me for the whole summer. No swimming, no running, no nothing. It was interminable.

  143. 143.

    raven

    @WereBear: Especially since I am not a cat person. It’s pretty fortunate that the little dude 1) didn’t get smooshed, 2) came to me and let me hold him and 3) had a tag with a phone #.

  144. 144.

    Kay

    @Steeplejack:

    This one is amazing:

    Elaine Chao reportedly assigned a liaison dedicated to coordinating infrastructure projects in Kentucky during her husband’s reelection campaign.

    Imagine the headlines if that were an AA senator + spouse and we were talking about Detroit or Baltimore.

    I knew The Wall would be spectacularly corrupt. Trump and the low quality hires just got a huge slush fund to distribute to cronies. I will laugh if they cannot manage to put up a big, dumb WALL. It’s not a highway or a bridge. It’s a wall. Can you imagine wanting that as your vanity project? Not an airport or a highway or anything that is useful and positive and…progresses people. Just a blank wall. “Abandon hope and hunker down. Hate and fear more than you do now. Close down” That’s what Trump’s monuments says.

  146. 146.

    Kay

    @Steeplejack:

    We kayak and walk in the woods in Michigan. It’s all dotted with WPA projects. They’re for fun. Docks and ramps and wooden walkways. What a nice thing they made out of that disaster. For everyone- millions of people have used them over all those decades. What does Trump leave? A big, mean-spirited, spite WALL.

  147. 147.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Kay:

    Just last night I read that the Russian-backed company that Moscow Mitch got to come to Kentucky hired a PR firm that is . . . run by a former aide of Mitch’s. Huh.

  148. 148.

    MomSense

    @JMG:

    Glad you are on the mend. Summer dinners are the best!

    Not sure you are missing much at the beach – lots of sharks this summer. Great white sightings near beaches in the Cape and even in Southern Maine! Yikes.
    Cue Jaws music.

  150. 150.

    germy

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    Forwarded without comment.

    I wonder if there’ll be a massive uptick in UFO sightings? Enough that they’ll make their way into UFO books (as evidence) for years to come.

  151. 151.

    JMG

    @MomSense: Oh, I don’t go in the water. But it’s where I sit in a beach chair and read mysteries. So I use the deck instead. A minor difference except there’s no people watching on the deck. Thanks for the good wishes, everyone. One thing about living in Massachusetts, we have lots of top shelf doctors. The eye clinic had a printout biography of my surgeon. She’s maybe 35 and an overachiever’s overachiever. Reading it would make anyone without a Nobel feel like they’ve wasted their life. She’s been great the whole time and it does a lot for the recovery process when you have confidence in your doctor.

  152. 152.

    MomSense

    @JMG:

    My mom goes to retina and cornea specialists at Tufts New England Med. She loves it because of all the students she gets to meet. They’re all so impressive.

  153. 153.

    Dog Mom

    @MomSense: I haven’t seen all your comments about your pup, but think I gathered something about liver issues and now getting a ‘Camel pack’ for hydration. Having gone through similar stuff with a couple dogs, including a liver/Atyp Cushing’s girl I can understand what you are going through. I don’t know if you are on the evil social media, but the main reason I am there is some good groups supporting various dog diseases. I can recommend a group for Liver issues – Canine Liver Disease Support Group. It has a collection of very good articles on various liver problems and treatments. It is all so complex, especially getting a dx. The right diet and supplements can make a big difference. Best wishes to finding your way through it all.

  158. 158.

    laura

    @Steeplejack: do it! You’ll be so glad – there’s nothing like someone else washing your hair, and if they’re really good at the massage part you’ll spend the rest of the day filled with love for all mankind. Theres also sports towels – one time use big wet wipes that you may find useful for freshening up. Great for stank/grime removal when a bath or shower is not in the cards.
    I’m very glad your surgery went well and hope the healing continues apace.

  159. 159.

    Quinerly

    @Steeplejack: didn’t Pruitt’s wife want a chicken franchise of sorts? You are right, though. Why am I flashing on Chick Filet? I know the restaurant is RWNJ owned but seems like there was something about the wife of someone in the Trump Adm. I’m just on overload with this shit.

  160. 160.

    Fair Economist

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: It’s odd, but when I was young I slept well in an apartment my grandmother had because I found the traffic noise comforting. No voices, though. Guess I am not alone.

  162. 162.

    tokyokie

    @Steeplejack: A couple of months ago when I went home from the hospital with a PICC line for infusing antibiotics, I found a device on amazon that’s essentially a waterproof sleeve with rubbery grommets on either end through which you insert your arm. It was easy to put on and take off and it was reusable. It worked like a charm for me.

  163. 163.

    A Ghost To Most

    @raven:
    I hope you are as busy as I am. The projects multiply, and there is time to do them.

    Right now, I am building a folding foot step so my 4’11” sister will be able to navigate the 18″ step up to the rock rail of my truck. My wife is taller, but she has been asking for one as well.

    Enjoy.

  164. 164.

    ruemara

    Morning comes too soon. I’d like to sleep better but I haven’t since the layoff. Trying to finish last night’s project, new audio reels, before I get dressed to go brunch with a friend.

  165. 165.

    Amir Khalid

    @Jinchi:
    Is it so hard to get a Chick-fil-A franchise that you need to call in a political favour? That does not compute.

  166. 166.

    Fair Economist

    @Amir Khalid: Of course not. The point of having an EPA official call was to push for a kickback in the forn of a discount or some such without having to explicitly ask. The extra disturbing part is the Chick-fil-A doesn’t have much to do with the EPA so Pruitt was also implying the entire Trump admin is in on getting each other kickbacks.

  168. 168.

    Quinerly

    @Jinchi: thanks. Glad my memory is still good. I feel the need to check it from time to time on remembering the scandals, dirty dealing, conflicts of interest and nominees pulled. Sometimes I feel like numb from it. Perhaps we should have a thread where we all list this shit from memory. I feel like I read so much everyday that I’m beyond the point of processing and retaining.

  169. 169.

    Mike in NC

    The coach tour of Liverpool today was a bit too Beatles-centric for my personal taste. We started off with a photo op for people with the statues of the Fab Four in front of the Mersey Ferries building, which lasted at least 15 minutes. Later after seeing other points of interest, we all piled off the bus to pose with the signpost on Penny Lane. Didn’t need that.

    Otherwise the city by the river reminded me a lot of Chicago. Time now to hit the bar on Deck 1 and get ready for Belfast on Sunday (hopefully not a bloody one, that is).

  170. 170.

    Dopey-o

    @Kay: the wall stands on the border to declare “this is a fascist country.”
    the opposite of the statue of liberty.

  172. 172.

    raven

    @A Ghost To Most: The jury is out. I’m reading as much as I can about retirement and I am not one who is going to have some “plan” for moving ahead. I know that I’ll do even more fitness work and am exploring our OLLI program

    The Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at the University of Georgia ([email protected]) in Athens began as Learning in Retirement (LIR) in 1994. In February 2009, LIR became [email protected], continuing the mission to meet the intellectual, social, and cultural needs of individuals aged 50+ in Athens through lifelong learning

    and thinking about joining the local UU Fellowship.

  174. 174.

    J R in WV

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym:

    You all speaking of noise and garbage trucks reminded me of an event from the long ago and far away.

    Wife was a union officer for a nationwide local of the CWA, and as such she participated in contract negotiations with management in NYC, with a sub-let apartment for as long as talks took, which since they (management) were unenlightened pricks frequently took several months. The union covered her expenses to a degree, and after a few months would even cover a long weekend trip home.

    I would usually take a couple of weeks off and go up to hug her, see the bright lights and wander around Manhattan while she was at work. They had three adjoining suites at a hotel to be a neutral site for negotiations, kinda like the little border town between DPRK and south Korea.

    My first trip up, Wife had a tiny apartment on 55th Street near the theater district. We went to dinner across the street and went to bed early for a joyful reunion. At midnight there was a sound, like as if you had pushed one of those 40 cubic yard dumpsters off the top of a parking deck to land on the concrete below, and I jumped upright, woke from a very sound sleep. In just a few seconds, under a minute, there was another crash, and another. It went on all night.

    Where we live the loudest thing at night is the sound a nocturnal rodent makes outside the house, and it’s pitch dark as the nearest street lights are on paved roads a mile or more away. So sleep that first night was scarce and tension filled for the first few hours of that noise.

    The next day we saw what it was.. They were using backhoes and end loaders and jackhammers to take up a big concrete sidewalk, and dumping giant slabs of concrete into construction dumpsters. And this work could only be done from 2359 until 0600 the next morning to avoid disrupting the big city traffic patterns. Oh, Joy~!! As they say, you can get used to anything.

    But still a good time was had by all. Great food, nightclubs, books, curious shops, art, history, museums… I love Manhattan to visit, but as my dad used to say, to live comfortably there would cost a whole lot.

    Sounded exactly like what it was, a dumpster hitting concrete, hard.

  175. 175.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Mike in NC:

    The first, last, and only time I was in Liverpool was 1959. I don’t remember much about it, but there were certainly no Beatles tributes (I think they were still the Quarrymen then?). I do remember, though, that I got a strong Chicago vibe. Interesting that you did too!

  177. 177.

    MomSense

    @ruemara:

    Thinking of you – so impressed by how hard you are working at your voice acting and other projects. I’m looking now, too because of imminent budget cuts. It’s no fun.

  178. 178.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Steeplejack:

    I’m searching for that word—not nepotism—where all the big shots and powers that be are related to one other. It’s all so cozy.

    Incest?

  181. 181.

    TomatoQueen

    Just home from a week in the hands of the medicuses or medicii, can strongly recommend the wipe down bathing wipes (thick ones, no flush no perfume) from medline. The secret to a no rinse shampoo is two wet towels and a no-Rinse shampoo cap, cos if you follow the directions you will have a hair full of odd feeling film. First wet hair thoroughly with wet towel, then apply shampoo (very drippy thin stuff) with wet towel. 2nd wet towel all over head to thoroughly yup rinse, this is the most important step. Then towel dry (completely), be prepared for it to feel like straw, but still clean and lasts a week. Bit arm-intensive but go slow. For men care w/in five miles of Steep, at the Bradlee Shopping Center on King Street, there is a Hair Cuttery full of Filipino and Indian ladies who will take good care of you esp if they know you’ve had surgery. Down the sidewalk to the left, toward the back of the center, is an old fashioned men’s barber shop, which looks like it could do a proper flick-knife shave with hot towel. But seriously also, you might be eligible for some home health care & your doc’s office should’ve asked. The self thing with the hose shouldn’t be done until you’ve got some more mobility.
    Thinking also of sub q fluids–this has worked wonders recently for poor old Luca, and can be done at home.
    Everybody get much better soon.

  182. 182.

    Ruckus

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:
    Any voluntary retirement plan is a good one.
    @Steeplejack (phone):
    I haven’t shaved in decades. I trim the beard once a week but it isn’t mandatory. And the hair on the head part is…… past. Now the shower thing……..
    Good to hear that things are OK

  183. 183.

    Ruckus

    @Kay:
    I believe they had a wall like that in Berlin once. Designed to keep people in rather than out but still, a wall. It wasn’t all that successful but it took a while for people to get it torn down. I predict that there will be a couple of miles of fence built somewhere along the border before they run out of money, if numbnuts doesn’t run out of time first. It will be the biggest, bestest 2 miles of wall though.

  184. 184.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @laura, @TomatoQueen:

    Thanks for your suggestions. There is a Hair Cuttery at Seven Corners, which is very close to me. I’ll keep them in mind.

    @tokyokie:

    And I just ordered one of these from Amazon; it will get here tomorrow. Great suggestion, especially since I don’t know how long I’ll have to keep the bandage on. At least until the 14th, I guess.

    I went back to sleep about 11:00 and have had a good, long nap. Lying down takes the body weight off the wounds, so I don’t feel as sore. The Aleve is helping too, I’m sure.

  185. 185.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @Ruckus:

    Thanks.

    I had a beard from 1974 (started the day after Mardi Gras in New Orleans), shaved it down to a goatee in about 2005, and then I just shaved that off (but kept the mustache) a week or so ago, because I wanted a change and felt like I looked like every stupid old MAGAt out there (except no wrap-around sunglasses). Don’t look any smarter now, but hopefully less MAGAty.

  186. 186.

    J R in WV

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    Have had a beard since I was in E school in the Navy [ETA, back in 1970] and CNO Zumwalt changed USN grooming rules to allow beards, as they were historically a navy thing.

    If you think beards are a MAGA thing we will need to fight right here on this here blog. All my male neighbors have beards, and none of us are MAGAts, in fact we’re a pretty socialist progressive bunch of hard working folks. Also, beards have always been more popular and common in WV, and hippies have them a lot… few hippies are MAGAts!!

    I also hate shaving, which causes many tiny sores on my neck. Bad for my skin and morale. Which is enough to cause me to have a beard by itself.

    Also, glad you’re feeling better, nothing more upsetting than surgery you aren’t prepared for in your mind!

  187. 187.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    @J R in WV:

    I don’t think beards are a MAGAt thing, so no need to fight. I think goatees (with wrap-around sunglasses) may be a MAGAt thing. Or maybe goatees are just a clueless old white guy thing. Or goatees, while not bad themselves, are not a good look for clueless old white guys. There, all bases covered.

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