I am really struggling to make it through this “winter.” I know I have said this a couple times, but this has just been a brutal few months for me. I have had basically a sustained sinus headache/infection since November, and I just have no energy, no desire to do anything, I am apathetic and indifferent, don’t want to deal with people- it’s just been super bad this year. And please, I do not need medical advice or emotional support, I am just venting.
Normally after November, we get a sustained freeze, and all the mold and the bugs and everything dies off. Not this year- the temperature has been yo-yoing up and down and up and down, blowing up my sinuses, and there is nothing my doctors can do. I even went to the dentist a while back because I thought I had a toothache and needed a root canal, but nope, x-rays showed it was just my sinuses pushing into my teeth.
On top of all that, the political situation is just shit. I honestly am starting to feel like there is no Democrat who will beat Trump in November. I just am not feeling it. I definitely do not think that Bernie will win should he win the nomination. Man, I wish I had the confidence of a Bernie stan. They just seem so confident, so convinced, so sure. I personally think he would lose 40 states if he got nominated. I think the notion he would have won WV in 2016 is a fucking pipe dream, but I hear them claim it all the time. The only thing that reassures me is that I am so frequently wrong about everything. I mean, fer fucks sake, I was a lifelong Republican in WV until 2005, the moment I switched to Democrat the state all went Republican. So the one thing you can really bank on is me being wrong.
And then there is just Trump. All fucking day every fucking day that fucking name. Trump. Trump. Trump. There’s no fucking escape. Every day he does something new and awful. It’s just a relentless stream of bile. And the nihilism. No one fucking believes in anything. It’s all just bullshit.
So yeah. That’s my headspace right about now. I just keep getting up and plodding forward. In a couple weeks I will see light at the end of the tunnel and plant my seedlings, and then it will start to become spring and I will begin to feel human again. But man, this year has been rough.
I’d kill for three weeks of below 20 weather and snow. Honestly, I would.
chopper
thank god it’s an election year! wait, i’ll come in again.
Omnes Omnibus
Well, we did need a palette cleanser after the positivity of the last thread.
the Conster
Not gonna lie – everything really does feel like it’s all gone to shit. Our *news* media is just relentlessly complicit in all of it. I’ve been drinking too much to self-medicate. If I get sick and die, I want my headstone to say “killed by the toxic white patriarchy”.
Oh and the coronavirus just appeared yesterday in Boston, so it might happen sooner than later.
joel hanes
Sorry to hear this, John.
Good luck to all of us; it appears we’re gonna need it.
Gin & Tonic
I just got back from a bike ride. This is New England – I’m pretty hardy, but the number of times I’ve been out on my road bike in February is really small. And the ponds and lake on my ride should be frozen solid, yet there’s only bits of ice in the shady spots along the edges.
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus:
Um..
Azhrie139
The American experiment is unfortunately over. One way or another.
NotMax
Stay off and completely away from Twitter for a while. As in a couple of days, if not a week.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
the last few days have been rough for me, headaches, I feel physically tense and I’m on a hair trigger
Part of it is politics, part of it is crazy people in my family
I need like a month off from all of it, and that ain’t happening.
Winter weather is actually the one thing going in my favor right now
Enhanced Voting Techniques
You sure your’ heater is working right John?
MobiusKlein
Chez Mobius has had the upper to lower respiratory gunk for 2.5 weeks, with no energy plus hacking all night plus not sleeping well. At least the kids have not been deeply affected.
AJ
I’m grateful for my sobriety and this blog.
I hope we fucking destroy them electorally in the Fall.
Baud
You’re not the one who was wrong there.
zhena gogolia
I really sympathize about just being totally sick of Trump. Doesn’t everyone in the country feel this way? Why do we have his disgusting face, body, and soul thrust in our faces all the time?
I pray for things that are not really kosher to pray for.
Mnemosyne
My dentist and I finally figured out that I have a “migraine tooth” that sometimes starts hurting when a migraine is imminent. I had to get a dental CAT scan before we finally figured out what was going on.
And he was able to reassure me that if multiple teeth start hurting all at the same time for no apparent reason, that’s probably migraine or sinus related as well. Phew!
Duane
When your sinuses are so bad it makes your teeth hurt, you got some bad sinuses.
The Dangerman
Bernie would basically be Dukakis. I just looked at the 1988 results and the only state BS would flip would be California (Trump would only win CA if the Dems nominated Ted Bundy, which is hard given he’s dead). So that’s 39.
NotMax
@Duane
Works both ways, too. Dental problems can manifest as sinus symptoms.
hells littlest angel
My one solace is hoping he finally eats the hamberder with his name on it.
Disclaimer: old people upon whom I wish death (there have been a few — OK, a lot) seem to live forever.
CaseyL
I take some small comfort in that I ALWAYS feel that way when the GOP is in charge: I always feel we are this!close to a nation- or world-ending disaster.
It’s also quite clear by now that Twitter is an absolute cesspool. Trolls have taken over so completely I use the place as an an ongoing anthropology lab, to see humanity complete its metastasization as a global carcinoma. (Yeah, I’m not too high on humanity at the moment.)
So… lately I’ve been spending a lot of time on Youtube watching animal videos. Animals always help.
hells littlest angel
@Gin & Tonic: You know, paint remover.
MobiusKlein
Oh, I’m actually pissed at the new anti-Nigerian crapola. I have a new guy starting in a few months, from Nigeria, and now who knows what’s going to happen.
Again so many small petty bits of racism.
MattF
@The Dangerman: And then, there’s McGovern, who lost 49 states to Nixon.
HumboldtBlue
And add on being downsized for the third time in 16 years and left without any health care or a job (the shit insurance I was forced to pay for when I had a job was simply me paying an insurance company $227 a month for a product that wasn’t accepted locally and if it was ensured I would have to pay at least 10K out of pocket) but don’t say it out loud, Cole or the ballbags and fuckwhistles who want to tone police the comments section as the Democratic Party shits itself once again in the face of open GOP perfidy will get very angry with you.
Thank goodness Bloomberg bought his way into the field, what would we have done without another Republican-lite fuckbag carrying the standard for the Democrats?
bemused
It’s not the atypical weather. It’s the gop/trump insane shambles that go on and on. Rational americans are all feeling the mopeys.
Butch
Well, sticking to the subject of weather, if you want snow and below 20 you’re welcome to visit us in the UP. We’re at about 65 inches of snow; the area around Houghton-Hancock is currently exceeding 18 feet of snow for the year. And we haven’t seen a ray of sunshine in something like a month – we’ve set a record for number of consecutive cloudy days.
Ruckus
John, nice rant.
Now get on with it. As you know, pissing and moaning about it does nothing, you were in the military, right?
You move on, you move forward, because anything and everything else is a waste of fucking time. Life is a series of dump trucks of bullshit, emptying their load right on your head. And when they aren’t unloading on you, they are on someone else.
This blog is a place to unload, a place to reload your sanity and a place to listen to others with extremely similar problems as you, because all humans have survival issues, some worse, some better and almost all of them caused by other humans, intentionally or otherwise.
Get Up, Stand Up.
MattF
@CaseyL: I find falling dominoes soothing. And YouTube has lots of videos of that.
MomSense
I’m sorry you are feeling this way, John. I know what it feels like and it’s exhausting. It takes so much energy to cope with feeling that way.
When I was feeling really terrible I talked about it with my doctor. I was sure it was just situational and that I could tough it out, but she convinced me that even if my depression wasn’t severe and wasn’t situational, why not treat it and see if it helped me to better cope with the situation or change the situation. I’m so glad I did.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: You made me laugh, you *bastard!
*please take that in the best possible way
BellyCat
I feel ya’, Cole. I’m a sinus sufferer, too, and up in Pittsburgh. When things get unbearable upstairs I reach for the nasal draino — spray Afrin.
Temporary solution though, since the next day you pay the price by being MORE stuffy! Sigh…
As for politics, I’m not throwing in the towel until after we have a nominee AND the damn election, as fvcked as that all is going to be.
Until then, I’m dieting on kitten videos!
Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ
I wish my depression was seasonal TBH. Last couple of years have been so hard. Months of depression and then a few months of being ok only to have the cycle repeat. On weekends when I don’t have my kids I sometimes don’t get out of bed. And I’ve started to miss work too. Hell I only get 5 sick days for the entire frigging year for me and my kids and I burned through 2 of them this past week. It’s like I’m slowly drowning. But I will get thru it. I know it will pass. Thank goodness for my kids and my cats. Without them I would have no joy in my life at all. And this site too. You all make me smile often under the bitterest of circumstances. Thank you!
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
Aren’t we a little late for Festivus?
I mean I already threw out my Festivus pole.
Rey
Yes to a hard, cold winter to kill off all the ick that make my sinuses unbearable. Whenever I see breaking news I say a little prayer that Trump has left us to relocate to Hell or Russia, either one at this point will do
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: My parents were married prior to my birth.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: I hope you saw my edit.
WaterGirl
@Rey: Pretty sure that with Trump here, this is hell for a whole lot of people. So I vote Russia.
trollhattan
I was so tired from sinuses keeping me from sleeping well I went to an ENT clinic and am back on allergy shots for the second time in my life, the first being junior high. It does help, as we’re evidently one of the country’s pollen capitals, and the parade of folks of all ages going through to get their shots tells me I’m not alone. In winter there’s mold and for whatever reason, “weeds” per the paper, even when the trees aren’t doing their thing so it’s a year-round phenomenon. Also find a sinus rinse before bed helps.
This is not medical advise.
Ruckus
@hells littlest angel:
They don’t live longer, they just make you feel like they do because they make every one of their days count against sanity.
Skepticat
Venting is good. That’s a large part of why we come here, I think. I saw a funny tweet with which you may empathize, as I do, JC—”After completing my free, one-month trial of 2020, I wish to cancel my subscription.” It also has applied to _______p since 2016, if not earlier.
I hope the sinuses clear soon; don’t have much optimism for the rest of it.
Omnes Omnibus
OT: France is currently stomping England in the Six Nations match today. As usual, if the US isn’t in the fight, I am supporting France. Allez les Bleus!
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: ::side eye::
The Dangerman
@Rey:
That is how I wake up every morning … I wonder, every time, is this the day I wake up to Trump having checked out.
I figure, if it doesn’t happen, we will have been cheated out of the Dystopian Hellscape Melania would want for a State Funeral. Maybe what she wants wouldn’t matter given protocol and all of that…
MomSense
@Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ:
Sending you a hug.
J R in WV
I had the first earache of my life a year or so ago, doc told me there was a pressure buildup inside my middle ear, prescribed a nasal spray called Iratropium Bromide 0.06 % aka Atrovent. It really helps, also comes in an inhaler for COPD patients. I don’t feel clogged up or drippy, but something up in there was blocked, and now it is not.
ETA: This is personal history, not medical advice. And I had a hell of a time getting the pharmacy to provide it as prescribed. I finally showed them the number of squirts per bottle, did the math of dividing and multiplying my dosage into that number of squirts. They were giving me 50% of what the Doc and the manufacturer said I was supposed to have. No surprise I was running out before their data said I was due for another supply.
Obvious Russian Troll
I am with you on the extended sinus problems. In my case I *think* it’s just a cold I haven’t fully shaken off that I’ve essentially had since November; every time I think I’m getting better it starts to come back.
MisterForkbeard
I sympathize. I do feel that Democrats can (and probably will) beat Trump, though I share your pessimism about Bernie’s chances. I do however think he’s got a decent chance – he’s got the same sort of incredibly jazzed cult/base that makes him ‘immune’to a lot of scandal, etc.
But I am absolutely fucking sick of Trump. He’s awful. He continues to be awful. He deliberately trolls and attacks decent people, lies constantly, and is a blight on the Republic. A terrible human being in every sense of the word, and I can’t wait to stop fucking hearing about him every day.
This is, incidentally, why I’m still into the election and happy it’s ongoing.
Baud
@MisterForkbeard:
If you have a cult, you have a chance.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: I just felt bad laughing at comment #2 of john’s thread about what a struggle it’s been.
The Dangerman
@trollhattan:
About the only bad thing you’ll ever hear me saying about SLO is it’s the Hayfever Capital of the World. The ocean breeze comes up the valleys, through all those fields of whatever, and drops it right at our front door. I’ve fought it for years here.
WaterGirl
@MisterForkbeard:
I read one of those words wrong and thought for a second that I was going to have to suggest that you see a doctor.
ziggy
I know you don’t want any medical advice, but I just want to share my experience (I get a warning before being tossed off, right?). I had lifelong chronic depression (about 35 years), but I changed my diet and it went away. Seriously, I do not get depressed at all anymore! If I feel just a twinge of that blackness, I know I am coming down with an illness, it is just enough to remind me how awful it was.
Sure, lots of things in my life still suck, I despise Trump and his tribe, global warming is out of control, but it is much easier to deal with and doesn’t send me into a black hole. There is hope, never give up, keep searching for answers.
Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ
@MomSense: Thank you
MisterForkbeard
@Baud: I think this is actually true. Trump and Bernie don’t apologize. They have a big core of crazy people and fuckwits that back them at every corner. We should note that Bernie also has a bunch of decent and good people that support him too.
But seriously, we’ve talked about the “hack gap” in the past. Bernie’s got it. He’s got hacks. He has frankly democratized and crowdsourced the ‘hack’ job, so he’s got a billion twitter and facebook followers that (like Trump) browbeat and stupid people into submission.
Is this bad for honest discussion? Oh yeah. But it’s also good for election chances. And what Trump discovered (for Republicans, at least) is that if you NEVER apologize for anything, the media just shrugs and moves on. You have a rough couple of days and then people forget about it. Bernie has a similar dynamic, though I don’t think it’s as strong.
David ??Merry Christmas?? Koch
MisterForkbeard
@WaterGirl: “If your election persists longer than 4 hours, please see a doctor”
I feel like there’s any number of puns I can’t and shouldn’t make here, so I don’t drive away even more advertisers. :)
pamelabrown53
@Omnes Omnibus:
A major reason I’m attracted to your comments is you don’t countenance wallowing in negativity or nihilism.
That said, I clicked on a link to an LOLGOP blogpost because he’s normally so pithy, so witty, so funny. Anyway, he posited that our primary contest will ultimately be Sanders vs Bloomberg. I feel deflated at that prospect, probably because I’d actually vote for Bloomberg!
MisterForkbeard
@pamelabrown53: I’m feeling weirdly ambivalent about Bloomberg.
I actively dislike Sanders. I don’t actively dislike Bloomberg, though I should. Bloomberg has done a LOT of stupid and/or evil shit, especially in the 90s and 2000s. He’s also been pretty decent in the past decade and really put his money where his mouth is. And I think most importantly, I think he understands how to campaign against Trump. Basically, Trump gets no respect and plenty of derision and I think that works.
It sucks, because in a magical world where Presidents just get to have their policies I’d love Bernie. But I’m pessimistic he can win. I think Bloomberg probably could win, and I think he has a good chance of actually getting some policy done (unlike Bernie). But on the other hand, I really don’t trust him with Social Security and so forth.
Broken glass, etc. >_<
satby
I read this and made myself an ice cream sundae. With Bailey’s.
it’s 57° out, but windy, so I can’t even enjoy sitting outside before it gets cold again. And it will get cold by the end of the week, so I hope all the ticks and skeeters freeze to death right after hatching.
WaterGirl
@MisterForkbeard: Yep! It was good for a laugh, anyway.
The Dark Avenger
Find a teaching hospital or hie thyself to the Mayo Clinic.
The Dangerman
@pamelabrown53:
If you limit it to only those two men (i.e., not saying they will be the last two standing, just artificially limiting it to only them), Bloomberg might have a decent shot against Trump (“billionaires do battle, news at 11”). I mean, those two apparently despise one another and it would be an ugly fight that Bloomberg could win. Sanders, as posited previously, would be an epic beat down.
Cheryl from Maryland
@MobiusKlein: Yes! So many medical personnel have immigrated to the US are from Nigeria. Aside from basic decency, this will not help our health care system.
satby
@pamelabrown53: yeah, if it’s between those two, I’d vote for Bloomberg too. And I can’t believe I would, then again Pritzker has turned out to be pretty progressive as a governor in IL.
Omnes Omnibus
@pamelabrown53: Everyone has their bad moments. I just know that if I have one, I better not bring it here.
John Cole
@HumboldtBlue:
wtf are you talking about you can say whatever you want
Baud
@MisterForkbeard:
I think the left sees the right as strong and seeks to emulate that.
Baud
@pamelabrown53: I would too. Easy call.
Mnemosyne
@HumboldtBlue:
Getting laid off is an event that allows you to register for Covered California outside of the open enrollment period. Go to their website and take a look. Also don’t forget to sign up for unemployment benefits — you should be able to do it all online.
John Cole
bloomberg is a fascist and a billionaire autocrat just some people are ok with it because he hates guns and cigarettes and sugary drinks the way Trump hates women and immigrants and gays and minorities and democracy
having said that he is still, regrettably, preferable to trump
Omnes Omnibus
@MisterForkbeard: @Baud: To my mind, a strong person can admit error and apologize when necessary. If I ever make a mistake, I will show you.
Yutsano
@CaseyL:
Cooking videos for me, heavy on the Nigella Lawson.
WaterGirl
satby and anyone else who might know…
I am thinking of reserving these at white flower farm before they are gone, but I have only gotten dahlia plants before, not bulbs. will it take forever for them to flower if I plant them as bulbs in the spring?
NotMax
@satby
Not in language geared to me so am missing a lot of the references but thought you might find this musical epistle from what I’m led to believe is an evangelical pastor in South Bend, directed at other evangelicals, of some interest.
gene108
Trump has some sort of time distorting exhaustion field around him, where weeks turn into years, and days turn into months.
I remember a year ago at how optimistic I was about the Democratic field, with four women running (Tulsi doesn’t count as a Democrat), with Cory Booker, Castro, a gay man, all going to make history.
Now I am sick of it. The primaries / caucuses should’ve happened six months ago. The whole damn thing has dragged on too long.
WaterGirl
@John Cole: What you said. All of it.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
Too many people don’t agree. Every mistake makes you weak and impure.
Luciamia
I’m with you, John, on this puesdo -winter. Not wishing for a blizzard but a couple weeks of a hard freeze would be a relief. Some kind of normality.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: They are wrong.
Duane
@zhena gogolia: Of all the things, fathead Hannity is interviewing Trumpov during the Super Bowl. The crook invades everything like a cockroach. What has happened to this world?
Mnemosyne
@Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ:
Medication. Talk to your doctor. I thought my depression was too mild to need medication, and it ended up being a lifeboat I didn’t realize I needed.
Also, don’t be afraid to try different medications if the first one you get doesn’t work or makes you feel weird. The reason there are so many different ones is that everyone reacts a little differently. I’m lucky in retrospect that my doctor decided after our screening talk to give me Wellbutrin, which is a non-SSRI, because an SSRI like Prozac probably wouldn’t have worked nearly as well.
There are a lot of us here who have dealt with depression and are willing to give you advice. Lots and lots of advice. ?
jimmiraybob
I can only assume this has already been done to death. But still…
zhena gogolia
@Baud:
Me too. Might as well have a non-insane arrogant billionaire as president for a while. At last he’s not on Putin’s payroll.
Baud
@Omnes Omnibus:
And they’ll never admit it.
Jamie
@CaseyL: Twitter is an anxiety-inducing cesspool, from which I highly recommend disengaging. My mental health has been much better since deleting my account.
PersistentIllusion
@Cheryl from Maryland: My oncologist is from Nigeria and I liked her almost enough to go through cancer again. (First pass at it was pretty easy once surgery was over.)
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl:
I don’t think Bloomberg is a fascist. Insufferable and arrogant, yes. Trump and Bernie are fascists. Their followers scare the shit out of me.
debbie
It’s hard not to be discouraged watching how everything good about America is being dismantled and how many people are either cheering it on or denying they enabled it. But I’ve lived long enough to witness karmic justice a number of times. It happens every time. A person who commits a wrong will, at some point, be wronged.
This will end and things will be made right by the people who are righteous.
zhena gogolia
@Duane:
He’s like black mold, like an infestation of bedbugs, like an old man blowing his nose and then wiping the snot off on his robe that another prisoner has to wear after him (the last example is from Dostoevsky’s Notes from the Dead House and it reminds me of Trump so much).
HumboldtBlue
@John Cole:
Oh no, you can’t speak about how shitty things are these days it’s a violation of some asshole muppet’s code of online commenting. You better be careful or you’ll get detention.
zhena gogolia
@jimmiraybob:
What’s in the Oval Office right now?
xephyr
I know plenty of decent, sentient humans (which isn’t a given for homo sapiens by any stretch) who are experiencing symptoms similar to yours. I know I am. I’m waiting for the virus that targets only dishonest, greedy, and vindictive narcissists (who seem to be at a peak in their cycle). Trust that we’ll turn the corner, and in the meantime look after yourself. A lot can happen in a short time, history is full of unexpected upsets. This too shall pass…
debbie
@WaterGirl:
I have neighbors who dig up their dahlia bulbs every fall and replant them in the spring. They have bloomed every year.
Lapassionara
@WaterGirl: Where do you live? I had some success with them in SC, but only one season.
MisterForkbeard
@Omnes Omnibus: Oh, no kidding. We saw Obama do that a couple of times. :)
But in our electoral politics, Republicans have figured out that never apologizing means their supporters never have to acknowledge they’re wrong, and that’s great! This may also work for Democrats, though I doubt it. Apologizing is seen as ‘weakness’ by way too many people, including the media.
@John Cole: Bloomberg IS a facsist. And still preferable to Trump. And possibly preferable to Bernie as the nominee, since I think he has a better chance of winning. But bleagh, what an awful choice to make.
gene108
@Baud:
And the media keeps reinforcing it, like it’s the first Wednesday in November, 1984, and Reagan just curb stomped Mondale.
They keep talking about how popular Trump is with Republican voters, but never do the “both sides” bit about how many fucking elected office Republicans have lost, since Trump was elected.
It’s not just new Democratic voters coming out of the woodwork, but a lot of Republican leaning Independents, and some Republicans, switching their vote. Disgusted with Republican corruption.
Too many people see the sham Senate trial as a “we’re doomed, the bad guys get away with everything”.
I look at the sham Senate trial, and think to myself, “what an interesting strategy Republicans have taken. Take the majority of the country, which is till filled with white hot rage towards Trump’s election, and has consistently been voting against you in every post-Trump election, and make them even madder.”
Senate Republicans are stepping on their own dicks in doing this.
We have to remember that we’ve been winning, and winning big, for the last three years, and not to quit, when we are sooooooo close to getting rid of the shitgibbon.
JPL
Let’s talk ads. Bill Murray and the Jeep ad wins hands down. The google ad should be creepy but hate to admit i had tears in my eyes.
Baud
With an actual fascist as president, it would be nice if people would stop defining fascism down.
zhena gogolia
@xephyr:
It was good for my soul to hear the Democratic impeachment managers speak so much truth this past week. They knew they were going to lose, but they did it with passion and grace and no apologies. I wish their work would be showcased on this blog one of these days (as I keep saying, into the wind).
JPL
@MisterForkbeard: I am beginning to think it is going to be Bloomberg or Bernie because Bloomberg is getting his support from the moderates. just wish efg were here to wish him well.
MisterForkbeard
@Duane: Interviewing the president prior to the superbowl is actually pretty normal. I think it happens most years.
This year is a little different in that Hannity is stepping up his usual tongue-bath of Trump. That’s about it.
zhena gogolia
@MisterForkbeard:
Why is he a fascist? Because he outlawed soda?
Gvg
I had months of sinus problems this year combined with no energy. Finally went to the doctor again. After 2 rounds of antibiotics I got rid of whatever it was. It was secondary infections caused by sinus backed up that were actually making me miserable. I may be too used to clogged sinuses, and didn’t notice how stuffed up I was. I failed that breathing test they do in the docs office, the test for asthma blow hard enough to make the little ball go up. Surprised myself by not being able to so it. Anyway my point is, I had to go back more than once.
For depression, stay off Twitter and order every garden catalog. Read about gardening or bird feeding. I just discovered Geoseeds. Oh my! They seem to have everything and good prices with lots of seeds, not 20 seeds per packet. I also want a large platform bird feeder with a roof and they are pretty pricy, but seem to get so many birds in the experts yards. Next week is the annual bird tour put on by local Audubon club to members yards. My mom is one of the yards chosen and the last few weeks have been yard projects. Dad rebuilt a fence section and gates and was complaining, but I told him to look at it as a chance to talk her into getting rid of old stuff she thought she might use one day, but never has. Her tulips are coming up. Florida is not tulip territory but mom is stubborn and chills them.
Gin & Tonic
Damn. You have to close that little valve on the Instant Pot.
Omnes Omnibus
@HumboldtBlue: As far as I am concerned, you can say what you want. OTOH I can also tell you to fuck off. I don’t really know which part of this you don’t understand.
MisterForkbeard
@JPL: I think that’s possible. Bloomberg definitely draws off support from Biden and I think it’s possible Bloomberg either supplants Biden (doubtful) or splits enough of the ‘moderate’ wing to make Bernie the nominee.
I think that was Bernie’s plan anyway. Hold onto a solid core of people, but let the number of candidates divide the field so you’re on top and win by default.
Luciamia
Hmmm, no showing of Groundhog Day on the teevee today?
Omnes Omnibus
@zhena gogolia: Stop and frisk is pretty fucking authoritarian.
jimmiraybob
https://crooksandliars.com/cltv/2020/02/tim-obrien-explains-what-youll-find
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: I tried to find a way for that to fit with the topic, but then concluded that you may have forgotten to close that little valve, and you are sharing your chagrin with us?
I discovered earlier today that if you want your soup to be hot when the time goes off, you actually have to turn the burner on. Who knew?
Mnemosyne
@Yutsano:
G watches a lot of cooking shows on YouTube, especially the ones that Bon Appetit does. There’s some web series where a chef tries to replicate junk food that he absolutely loves.
gene108
@Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ:
I had a couple of very bad depressive episodes, in my 20’s. The last one I didn’t pull through, and ended up being hospitalized.
I am glad you have a good support system, but it wouldn’t hurt talking this over with your GP, who can maybe suggest treatment options to help you with this.
I hope things get better for you, and the good days start to outnumber the bad.
MisterForkbeard
@zhena gogolia: I think he’s sort of a proto-fascist. Willing to go after people (minorities) as a scape-goat, enlists his own propaganda/news network to help himself, friendly to business and co-opts finance/business to help push his agenda. Stop and frisk was really bad – “Fascist” may not be technically accurate, but it’s close.
He’s also not the worst dude out there by far. He’s SANE. He’s also against guns, for healthier americans, and actually has experience running large organizations. He understands power structures and getting people behind him to accomplish things. As Kay said, he reaches out at the mayoral level.
I prefer Biden over him, but I’d still vote for Bloomberg over Trump by a long shot.
Marcopolo
Hey folks. About 70 in StL atm. Snow in the forecast for Wed. Welcome to the new reality. I’ve normally leaned towards the depressive this century but last fall I just decided to change how I think about life. Yeah, I am stuck in this body/person and this place in time but history informs me that there are a lot of humans who have suffered through a lot worse & persevered in the hope of creating a better future. And I am holding them as my role models to just muddle forwards as best as I can & try to leave the world a better place.
Anyways, I am in the fight now to win elections in Nov and I hope we do but honestly whether we beat Trump or he wins the work to improve things will need to continue. I think embracing this philosophy allows me to worry less about all the ongoing shit & on worrying about candidates & the election. I have my preferred person, have my doubts she’ll be the nominee but I’ll back her till she drops out & then back whomever the eventual nominee is. Pouting a bunch of mental energy into worrying about all that when I have so little actual ability to control how things turn out just seems like setting oneself up for unhappiness.
Dunno if this makes any sense but that is where I find myself.
Omnes Omnibus
OT again: England managed to put a little scare in France, but Les Bleus held on to win 24-14.
The Dangerman
@MisterForkbeard:
Is it over? I can switch over to the pregame if it’s over (if not, I can’t risk the projectile at the TV).
I figured Hannity would be spending a lot of time humming his favorites.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: @zhena gogolia:
Does anyone think that after stop and frisk Bloomberg is going to get the (primary) vote of any black person or any person of any color who cares about how people are treated?
edit to add: @MisterForkbeard: @JPL:
germy
Sometimes I like reading the classifieds in the New York Review of Books:
TUSCANY MONTEPULCIANO: culture, wine, thermal bath country. Spacious 3–4 bedrooms/3 baths (3000euros/wk) or 2 bedrooms/2 baths (2500 euros/wk) apartment in city center—views of countryside from terrace and garden; fully equipped kitchen, laundry, Wi-Fi. Day trips to Siena, Florence. 2 weeks min.
ROME. Piazza del Popolo. Charming furnished flat with a view of the church of Piazza del Popolo. 2BR (one double BR, one single). Large kitchen/dining room, one bathroom. Wi-Fi, TV, dishwasher, washing machine. 4th floor with elevator. Air conditioning. 700 euros weekly and 1,800 monthly.
PATROCLUS WHERE DID YOU PUT MY ARMOR? GWJM ripe with age, retired MD, attractive package: interesting, and worldly contents. Serious, shy, high energy, low weight, great build: sensual, sophisticated, literate, moving to Paris, seeks French mec, Français/Anglais.
FUN FACTIVIST seeks another unabashed news junkie, a man who’s smart, open, and makes me laugh. I’m a tall, attractive, youthful-looking 60-year-old woman who’s quick-witted, creative, independent. Hamptons/NYC.
I don’t know why I find them so entertaining.
Mnemosyne
Also, too, I’m basically ignoring polls until we have some actual goddamned VOTES in the bag. I think part of what’s driving people insane is the endless speculation that doesn’t actually resolve anything.
MisterForkbeard
@The Dangerman: Couldn’t tell you. I’m not watching the travesty, I’ve just seen a couple of quotes from it.
I don’t normally watch the superbowl at all, and ordinarily I’d skip it entirely because it’s on Fox this year. But my elderly dad called and asked me to come watch it with him, so that’s what I’m going to do. Gonna bring some pizzas and some bar snacks and watch it in my childhood home w/ Dad. Should be a good time. Or would, except I think my brother is bringing his 5 year old son who probably won’t let us chill in peace and watch the game. <shrug>
zhena gogolia
@Marcopolo:
I try to do that too, but I keep thinking, it was so unnecessary for us. Other countries can blame it on war, revolution, famine, civil war — what’s our excuse? We went from Obama to THIS. For no reason but “her e-mails.” That’s what keeps me depressed.
Baud
@WaterGirl:
Yes.
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: I’m actually thrilled that Iowa is announcing all 3 results – that means we could have 3 people who legitimately can call themselves the winner, which to me lessens the influence of Iowa.
gene108
@MisterForkbeard:
Pretty much how Trump won the GOP nomination, in 2016. He was leading in the polls, and had constant support of 20%-25% of the people, and the not-Trump vote was split up between Cruz, Rubio, Bush, the Ohio governor (forget his name), who were all able to hang in for longer than they should have for an anti-Trump vote to coalesce around one candidate.
Gin & Tonic
@WaterGirl: If I had not forgotten to close it, then that’s probably not something I’d have commented about.
MisterForkbeard
@WaterGirl: Nope. He’ll mostly strike out with them during the primary. As others have noted though, black voters are intensely pragmatic and would still come out for him the general (I’d think).
But I do think he could draw off enough of Biden’s support to leave Biden in 2nd. I don’t THINK this ever comes down to a Bloomberg/Sanders race. If it does, I’m honestly not sure where I’d vote.
@gene108: Right. It’s weird, but I think Bernie is emulating Trump’s playbook in most ways. I’m not sure it’ll work for him and I’m not sure whether it’s intentional or not, but I see a lot of similarities.
WaterGirl
@Baud: I guess I’m going to have to pull this out of my stash from 2016, so here goes:
What the fuck is wrong with these people?
Baud
@zhena gogolia:
Same reason we had a Civil War.
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: So I was slow on the uptake. Sue me.
germy
@WaterGirl:
I’m in favor of anything that lessens the influence of Iowa.
Ruckus
@gene108:
Not just stepping, but stomping while wearing steel golf spikes.
Which of course should be just a bit more satisfying, given current events.
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: The Duke, if he were still here, would never have been so harsh!
trollhattan
@Marcopolo:
Yesterday it flirted with 70 and today it’s 50s, windy and peekaboo sun. We went from March back to January.
The evergreen pear trees are blooming, and at the start of year three there are a lot of blooms.
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus: They looked pretty dominant most of the match. At least the parts I saw.
Ruckus
@JPL:
There is a tradition to be upheld.
In the name of efg,
Fuck’em.
germy
@gene108:
And he ran as a “different” type of Republican. One who wouldn’t disturb the social safety net. One who complained about the big corporations not paying taxes. “Those other Republicans want to take away your Social Security!” etc.
Of course it was all lies, but he really drew a line between himself and them.
MisterForkbeard
@gene108: We have a friend who used to grew up in Oklahoma. Not a Democrat, not until recently. It took him a long time to shake off all the (frankly cultish and weird) lies he’d be taught about Democracy and brown people. But the rest of his family marinates in the stuff.
He showed us an e-mail he got from his elderly grandmother, who voted for Trump in 2016 and has been a lifelong Republican. Also hates Democrats. She spent 7 paragraphs describing how awful the Republicans are and how she tore up her registration over their behavior in the Senate and over Trump, and will never vote Republican again. She committed to voting Democratic.
If that happens with even 2% of Republican voters, they’re in big fucking trouble.
Baud
@gene108:
The problem is that if no candidate gets 50% of the delegates, it goes to the second round and then all bets are off.
If there is one candidate who gets like 48%, I don’t think it’s a problem. But if it’s 34%, 32%, 25%, etc., It’ll be a mess.
MisterForkbeard
@germy: I’m seeing shades of Bernie here too, in the “Biden is working to take away your social security” attacks coming from the Bernie camp.
Maybe I’m just pessimistic.
jeffreyw
@Mnemosyne: We watch Chef John at Food Wishes.com. He has a youtube channel.
NotMax
Trying to watch Ken Burns’ series on National Parks (on Prime). Pretty pictures but the narration is both so deadingly ponderous and so insipid….
NotMax
@jeffreyw
“I’m using my ridiculously small spoonula.”
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Anybody have his phone number? I’d like to have a word…
we all remember Mo Udall’s joke about the only cure for presidential ambitions…
germy
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: The guy who couldn’t beat W will show us how it’s done.
pamelabrown53
@satby:
Hopefully, we won’t be confronted with a “Sophie’s Choice”.
Double hopefully, both Trump and BS will be permanently retired. No faux demagogic mob rule. Populism is to democracy as Elmer Gantry to religion.
MisterForkbeard
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: I’m curious if this was in response to someone else asking Kerry what he’d have to do to stop Bernie from taking down the entire Democratic Party… and why it’s impossible.
Sort of like Politico’s recent hit jobs on the DNC. Calculated to try and get people angry.
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Someone heard. okay. whatever
Mediate is saying the trump interview was how unfair Nancy and Chuck are. He’d like to work with them but the hatred . . efgefgefgefg
Ruckus
I’ve had sinus issues for about 50 yrs. I used to think defective gene combinations but with so many having similar issues….. It could also be all those formative years in socal, huffing smog. Once saw a cadaver with about 1/3 of his lungs all gray and someone asked if he was a smoker. The fella giving us the tour of USC med school said “Oh hell no, if he was a smoker the entire lung would be that nasty gray. This guy just lived in the LA area.”
The thing that’s worked best for me is a humidifier. I still have issues but far less and I wake up in the morning able to breath in a normalish manner.
Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ
@Mnemosyne: I am on Effexor now. Have tried everything under the sun med-wise since my early 20s. Some have worked but it seems after a few years they stop working. So I switch again and go thru the whole cycle again. Very tired of the med treadmill but they do help. Imagine how bad I would be without them!
@gene108: I’ve suffered from depression my whole life, since I was 6 years old. Currently part of the problem is I don’t have healthcare and I can’t afford Obamacare. BUT I do pay a GP on a monthly basis to get basic care and fill scrips for me. I really need a therapist to work through the issues I have from my recent divorce. So if anyone has any advice on affordable or, heaven forfend, free counseling, I’m all ears.
terry chay
If the “Bernie-stans” had confidence that he would win they would not be trying to blackmail everyone else with their vote (if you don’t nominate him, I won’t vote Democratic).
The fact that’s they are acting that way shows that they don’t believe he can win at all and they need us who actually care about the country enough to vote against the bigger narcissist and his traitorous enablers to carry this lesser narcissist across the finish line.
JPL
@pamelabrown53: nah.. the only Sophie’s Choice is occuring at our borders every day.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@germy: I like Kerry, but my god if Joe Biden can’t excite parts of the base, how does Kerry think he can do it? it’s fucking madness
JCNZ
@hells littlest angel: Ha!
JPL
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Is that ever verified or is it like the Politico article that only trump is blowing out of proportion.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Okay, sounds like Kerry was just kind of bloviating the way we do here, but…. why in the lobby John? Do you not have a suite? are you knew to politics? Have you never heard of this kind of live-mike overheard phenomenon ?
I’d love to know which “analyst”, which professional Dem who now has a contract. And maybe the most Kerry part of the whole story
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: They were, but they have a historic tendency to have brilliant first halves and then suffer an let down. England’s two second half tries brought that to mind.
Tom Q
@gene108: I’m roughly where you are. I think it’s important to distinguish between godawful things that have happened (clearly including the GOP votes this week) and things over which We the People have had control.
Stipulate: anything over which currently elected Republicans have clear control will end in defeat for our side, because they are impervious to evidence or persuasion — anything apart from tribal loyalty. But in any instance where the public at large is allowed to express its view — the midterm elections especially, but also the off-year’s in LA and KY — their abhorrence for Trump and desire to get rid of him is plain.
Its a limitation of the system that this November is the first chance since Trump’s accession to the presidency for the public to reverse that. But we shouldn’t draw from that that they’ll fail to do that — all evidence points to their emphatically doing so. I think despairing now is (to paraphrase the serenity prayer) failing to distinguish the things we couldn’t change from those we can.
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I would have like to have heard a tape of Kerry cursing.
The media know Bernie people are distributing these types of stories like crazy.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
oh dear lord, MSNBC has a countdown clock to the start of the caucus. If anything will make me get back to chores….
Ruckus
@MisterForkbeard:
I think it’s happening to more than 2%. Notice how vocal many of those who are sticking it out are. They sound like a little kid complaining about having to eat brussels sprouts (yes that little shit was me!) They know they are losing, they know why but they are never going to admit to their stupidity and ignorance. Take Marsha from The Villages in FL for example.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
area constitutional scholar thinks she can make Nancy Pelosi and Nadler draft impeachment articles based on a Sean Hannity segment
Mnemosyne
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
I mean, hearing one side of a conversation is always a completely accurate picture of it, right?
Baud
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Sounds like the GOP is still scared Biden will be the nominee.
JCNZ
Cheer up! Bernie won’t get the nomination. His acolytes will melt into insignificance once the bulk of the country gets behind whichever candidate is selected (EW, I hope). Republicans will be swept from the field. It will be a generation before they return in any form.
Barbara
I’m sorry you can’t escape the dark side of the moon. When I feel like this I revisit the memories and pictures I have when my children were small and if they don’t instantly make me somewhat happier, think about how, if I give up, what happens to them? My father carried his own personal rain cloud around with him like Eeyore, and as an adult I have become a determined, not quite natural, optimist, because the stream of pessimism we face every day as kids was just crippling.Two of my siblings were, truly, scarred for life. I know you don’t have kids but you have awesome friends and connections and I hope they can help to carry you through the tough times.
Barbara
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Joni drops the mask. Wow, they really are afraid of him.
Mnemosyne
@Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ:
For free or sliding scale counseling, try a nearby university that has a PhD program in psychology. They’ll have people who are working on getting their license who are being supervised and monitored.
Also, G is having decent luck with doing phone therapy through one of the popular therapy websites — basically telemedicine for psychology. I think that’s a couple of hundred bucks a month.
And if medication is a treadmill for you, it may be worth considering some of the dietary options, like upping your intake of omega-3s and cutting out gluten. It’s also good to get a little outdoor exercise even if you have to force yourself to do it — the sunlight can help.
Barbara
@Mnemosyne: My daughter has used the telemedicine option but was frustrated by the technical kinks. I agree it’s worth trying.
JPL
@Baud: Apparently so are we. Thanks to Jim for looking further though.
Mnemosyne
@Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ:
Also, I’m going to make a bizarre shot in the dark: is there any chance you could have undiagnosed ADHD? People with undiagnosed ADHD are prone to a low-grade and persistent depression called dysthymia because depression treatment doesn’t fix the actual problem. If either of your kids has been diagnosed with ADHD, there’s a very good chance that you or your ex-husband OR BOTH also have it, because it’s highly heritable.
Women don’t usually get properly diagnosed until their mid-30s or later, so it’s worth considering.
Barbara
@Baud: I suspect he is part of an effort to make undecideds reconsider Sanders’ electability. That’s why he said it so publicly. He doesn’t care that it was overheard and reported.
toine
Simple… vacation in Canada! All the cold and snow you can handle!
Ruckus
@Tom Q:
The problem of course is that there are a couple of decent choices and everyone else on the dem side. If BS sucks away a bit, and AK sucks away a bit and so on and so on, coming to a consensus may be difficult. I think that may be some of the thinking of the black community in supporting Biden. He’s a known, safe choice to some degree. Everyone else, no matter how good they might be, has a higher front end risk. It may be only very slightly higher but it is. And I doubt that a lot of people will do significant risk assessment about their choices, especially full scale long term risk assessment. All candidates have flaws, some serious, some minor, some easily ignored, some ignored at great peril. Example, trump’s flaws are all extreme, ignored at extreme peril. None of the dem candidates have obvious extreme flaws.
prostratedragon
“I’d kill for three weeks of below 20 weather and snow. Honestly, I would.”
Want an accomplice? Cold spells are greatly undervalued. Still holding out hope for one, but as February ages even here in Chicago the chances will fade soon.
Ohio Mom
I know I am too late for this, but I wish John would go for a second, or possibly third medical opinion.
There might something that can be done. An old acquaintance had surgery that widened her sinus drainage channels. Maybe something like that would help.
You really have to ride doctors if you have any real complaints. Be a squeaky wheel!
Barbara
@Mnemosyne: It is always a possibility, but I’m not sure the ADHD drugs really help. Younger daughter struggles with exactly the combination you identified. What her psych made us understand is how exhausting it is to live with ADHD, because you use a lot more energy to accomplish tasks.
satby
@WaterGirl: they’re rhizomes, not really bulbs, so they can’t be planted until after the last frost. And yes, they’ll flower.
Ruckus
@Mnemosyne:
I don’t know if this exists any more but I worked as a paraprofessional counselor in a local clinic when I was premed. We trained for 6 months before doing phone work or seeing clients in person. We were monitored with once a week sessions discussing our cases in a group setting with a shrink. We also had limits on the level of clients we could see, which was pretty well self regulated, I once spent an hour with a guy who made me about as nervous as I’ve ever been and this was after being in the military and working shore patrol. I never wanted to see that guy again. He needed professional help, which he was getting but he wouldn’t admit to till the end. I suggested that he needed more.
HumboldtBlue
@Omnes Omnibus:
That’s what we expect from a shitbag like you. You’ve always been a piece of shit and you remain so, the sniveling little bitch of the comments section.
Jeffg166
I had sinus infections until I discovered neti pots. Every morning I pour a warm water Salt solution in one nostril, bent over the sink, and it runs out the other. Haven’t had a major problem in 15 years.
Omnes Omnibus
@HumboldtBlue: Oh dear.
Tim Wayne
One possible upside to Bernie winning and then losing in the general: we won’t have to listen to the so-called “leftists” nor anyone else on the bleeding-edge of the party for the rest of our lives. I’ve always liked Bernie but the “Bernie would have won” stuff has always set my teeth on edge.
Tim Wayne
@Ohio Mom:
Second! Johh, listen to her.
Baud
@Tim Wayne:
They won’t go away. They’ll just blame the Clinton Machine for losing.
gbbalto
@HumboldtBlue: Into the pie filter you go!
Poptartacus
Here’s some support
buck up homo
Ohio Mom
Germy @118: Both my favorite aunt and my college roomate’s mother found the loves of their lives as middle-age divorcées answering personals in the NYRB.
That was well over forty years ago, and they are all dead now. But nice to know the tradition continues, and hopefully is still creating enduring happiness.
Citizen Alan
@HumboldtBlue: Classy as ever, I see.
WaterGirl
@satby: I guess what I’m really wondering is whether they won’t flower until late July or August or later – if they aren’t already potted and flowering when I buy them.
Bill Arnold
@WaterGirl:
You plant Dahlia bulbs when the soil is warm enough for annuals (or can start them indoors); after the first frost dig up the bulbs, wrap them in paper or peat moss or whatever, keep them cool-er (e.g. garage) and replant them next year.
zhena gogolia
@Tim Wayne:
They’ll find something else. And we’ll be living in a dystopian hellscape.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
John Kerry responds to the kerfuffle du jour with a little salt, then reconsiders.
debbie
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
The spirit of Michelle Bachman lives on. //
gbbalto
@Poptartacus: You also, filth
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@zhena gogolia: Yup, Bernie Dumbledore is the most powerful
wizardpolitician who ever lived and will transform the nation with righteous bellowing and executive orders, and can only be stopped by the DNC (insert dramatic chipmunk) which, his followers assure us, is totally incompetent and can’t to anything right, but manage to foil the mighty Bernie at ever turn!Mnemosyne
@Barbara:
ADHD drugs help me A LOT (just ask my husband and my boss) but I’m lucky enough to only have ADHD. It’s very common to have other conditions be comorbid with ADHD, especially bipolar disorder or major depressive disorder.
Your daughter may want to get re-evaluated (it should take at least half a day for all of the tests) to make sure she doesn’t have a comorbid condition and/or wasn’t misdiagnosed. Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD have quite a bit of overlap and are frequently mistaken for each other (and can be comorbid as well).
Barbara
@debbie: I saw Ernst being interviewed and the resemblance to Bachmann in speech and bearing is uncanny.
Mnemosyne
@Tim Wayne:
Sadly, no. We will have to listen to them for the rest of our natural lives, because they’ll just move the goalposts again.
PsiFighter37
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: And Iowa voted for this extremist over Bruce Braley in 2014, all because Braley had the nerve to say mean things about Chuck Grassley.
Who is running against Ernst this year?
Barbara
@Mnemosyne: I always wonder but she is doing well — college graduate, gainfully employed, some close friends, etc., but definitely lives with more anxiety than I would wish. I am very hesitant to weigh in.
Ohio Mom
Gene 108@ 124: The Ohio governor running for the Republican nomination last time around was John Kasich. I think he still harbors ambitions and will try to resurface eventually.
Your description of the crowded 2016 Republican field leading to Trump has been my nightmare since the earliest debates. That the better ones would split the vote over trivial details, allowing the worst one to triumph.
It’s a sign of our perilous times that our party went from a primary with only three contenders (Hillary being the only candidate with real credentials, that clown Bernie, and O’Malley, whose participation was just plain silly), to one that started off like the subway at rush hour. Things are very out of whack.
Mnemosyne
@Barbara:
Also, if you haven’t already, you and your daughter may want to read Sari Solden’s classic book about women with ADHD and how our struggles are different because of what society expects from us:
Women with Attention Deficit Disorder 2nd (second) edition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0978590929/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_je1nEbA4R8GK6
Gin & Tonic
@Omnes Omnibus: He put you in your place.
Jinchi
Nixon had a 62% approval rating when McGovern lost.
debbie
@Barbara:
Right? They have that same crazed look in their eyes and fake smile. Just nuts.
Mnemosyne
@Barbara:
Yes, unfortunately anything you say may be heard as criticism whether you meant it that way or not.
Another good resource is ADDitude magazine. They put most of their articles on their website and have a pretty deep database of the latest research. I think the website is http://www.additudemag.com ?
Aleta
@WaterGirl: In my experience the bulbs came up when expected (planted early summer, came up sometime in the summer,) and were beautiful. It seemed easy. I dug them up in the fall, stored in the basement, replanted, same. Same for my aunt with ones I gave her, except she didn’t dig them up so they only lasted one summer.
Omnes Omnibus
@Gin & Tonic: I am appropriately humbled.
Kelly
Add me to the want a cold spell crowd. We’ve managed one day of skiing this season. The Santiam Pass went from a foot of rained on dirty ice to seven feet a few weeks ago. Went back to rain after we made one trip. Today is great up there. An inch of new snow on the now well consolidated four foot base. However we attended a granddaughter’s 6th birthday party a week ago. Spent the afternoon with a houseful of kindergarteners and came down with a strain of the flu that made it past our flu shots. Going downstairs to the laundry is all I can manage. Blech!
Barbara
@Mnemosyne: She did her high school honors project on ADD, and she tries to stay knowledgable. Thanks!
gene108
@Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ:
Group therapy maybe free or cheaper, than one-on-one sessions.
Otherwise, it’s trying to find someone willing to work, with your financial situation.
I am sorry, I can’t be of more help.
peej01
Don’t add me to the cold spell crowd. This is the last winter I will have as a homeowner with all the attendant need to shovel snow. I’ve lucked out so far this winter because most of the time it has rained rather than snowed. I admit, the mud is getting to me, but I’ll take it.
TS (the original)
@JPL:
Everything trump says about anyone is a reflection of himself. And he whinges – all the time – like a kid whose parents eventually give in to shut him up. Trouble he has here is that Nancy will never give in to the whinging.
Tom Q
As to the “Bernie will lose like McGovern” claim: even McGovern wouldn’t lose like McGovern today. The demographic changes (racial, secular vs. religious) over the past 50 years have all moved McGovern’s way — even assuming a popular incumbent to run against, the Dukakis line would probably be about the floor for any Dem candidate, with CA and IL almost surely in their Electoral College count, assuring a competitive election.
My concerns with Bernie are two-fold: First, he’d be ill-equipped to unite the party — while Warren, with a similar ideological profile, would be on the phone with Obama immediately after clinching the nomination, Bernie would be arrogant enough to expect the party leaders to come (and bow) to him. The difference between Goldwater ’64 and Reagan ’80 wasn’t ideology: it was party leaders seeing they had a good shot at defeating a weakened Jimmy Carter, and uniting behind Reagan despite their misgivings. Bernie would be an impediment to that happening.
My second issue with him is, I think he’d be a godawful president, having no people skills and no coherent plan to make his (often admirable) goals become reality. I stopped reading magical super-hero comic books when I turned 14, and I don’t believe in them in real life, either.
Ruckus
@Omnes Omnibus:
Thank you for the opportunity to laugh a bit on a quiet Sunday.
HumboldtBlue
@Citizen Alan:
Well when the resident asshole of the comments section decides to start hurling insults ya gotta play along to humor the silly old fuck.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Tom Q: I’ll add a third concern: “Whoever wins in November, I’ll be a voice for common sense in Washington…” Imagine that phrase in Cecily Strong’s Susan Collins imitation. I don’t know what Martha McSally and Thom Tillis sound like, but them too.
Mnemosyne
@Barbara:
Then it sounds like she’s well-equipped and Mom should try not to worry so much, difficult as I know that is. ? ❤️
Brachiator
@Tom Q:
The fundamental problem here is that Sanders is not a Democrat. I have no idea how he would campaign and, if elected, I have no idea how he would govern. Unite the party? Sanders would offer terms of surrender, expecting that the party become what? the new Socialist People’s Party?
And here I am not just slamming Bernie. I just have no idea what it would mean to have a what? leftist sitting president who was also inherently hostile to the political party responsible for his election.
In some ways he would be the mirror image of Trump, an outsider who essentially usurped the Republican president.
I agree that he would probably be a terrible president. I’ve read that some approve of his policies. Problem is, Sanders doesn’t have policies, he has fantasies.
We shall see what happens.
MomSense
@Mrs. D. Ranged in AZ:
I have a friend who does trauma informed therapy and group therapy. She does most of her work privately but does offer a few sessions with a local agency. Same high quality work, low to no cost. Is there an agency near you that you can reach out to? There may be more options than you have identified. Having said that, the energy and time it takes to hunt down options is an obstacle. I know that is sooo draining to face. Is there a friend, staff in the doctor’s office who could find a referral for you? Please check in with us.I am rooting for you!
Mnemosyne
@Tom Q:
As far as I can tell, Sanders and his advisors think that they will have no need to unite the party, because it’s unaffiliated independents who will sweep them into office. And then elected Democrats will all bend the knee to General Zod Bernie and he issues a bunch of executive orders.
@Brachiator:
I’m old enough to remember how that turned out for Minnesota when Jesse Ventura got elected governor as an independent and neither party was willing to work with him. Sounds like these mooks have never heard that cautionary tale.
ziggy
@WaterGirl:
Get some, they are easy! I had a housemate that wanted to grow them, he bought about 50 of them (almost all dinnerplate sized)–you should have seen our back yard! (I am a landscaper). Everyone who stopped by got a bouquet.
The trick is to get ones that have been handled properly. Often the bulbs from the box stores (even Costco) are dried out and rot before they take. White Flower Farm should have respectable bulbs. And bait for slugs.
If your climate is somewhat mild, you can often mulch them over and leave them in the ground over winter, which is much safer than trying to dig and winter them over.
zhena gogolia
@HumboldtBlue:
That seems to be you today. I don’t recall you being like this.
Tom Q
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: Good point. Right now, never-Trumpers are in “no Republicans, straight down the line” mode. But Sanders could make them want to hedge their bets, letting some of those odious pretend-moderates slip through.
Mnemosyne
@HumboldtBlue:
Since we’re recommending therapy for people today, can I suggest that it sounds like you can use some as well? Lashing out at the people around you isn’t going to help your mood or your situation.
Also see my comment above about Covered CA. You may even qualify for free Medi-Cal.
ziggy
@zhena gogolia:
Sounds like he is going through a tough time also.
HumboldtBlue
@zhena gogolia:
Don’t lay this on me, Omnes decided hurling insults at me following a general political comment was the way to go. So I made sure to return the favor.
You never see me insult anyone on these threads and I’m damn sure not going to be insulted by that fucking melt without response.
HumboldtBlue
@Mnemosyne:
I simply responded to the insults hurled by that dipshit. Insults unprovoked and certainly unwelcome and as long as that old fool persists I’ll be here to respond.
Mnemosyne
@HumboldtBlue:
Then put him in your pie filter until you can get back to ignoring him like you normally used to.
2liberal
@HumboldtBlue:
why couldnt you waive coverage and use obamacare?
Jinchi
I doubt it will come to that, but given that choice, I’d vote for Bernie without a second thought.
Bloomberg is trying to buy the presidency, skipping the campaign, skipping the first 4 contests and hoping he can overwhelm the field with obscene amounts of cash. Flawed or not, Bernie is trying to win by reaching out to voters. We’re right on the edge of an oligarchy here. Ever since that idiot Trump won the presidency, every billionaire in the country thinks of the job as a just some trinket to play with. Steyer at least goes through the motions of voter outreach. Bloomberg wants to buy it outright. He thinks his wealth proves he deserves it, and his biggest fear is that Elizabeth Warren will reduce it to a mere $50 billion.
I think his gamble will fail, but If Democrats can’t manage to pick a serious candidate out of a field this large, then the country is in big trouble, whether Trump gets re-elected or not.
Chris Johnson
I want Warren. Full stop. I would have taken Harris as a second choice, unhesitatingly.
I would willingly vote for Biden, and if it was Biden vs. Bernie, I’m getting nervous enough to end up voting for Biden in such a primary, though I would hate it and want to sit out. I’m not voting Bernie in any such primary.
I would grudgingly vote for Bernie if he’s the nominee, though the trust there is gone and I’d be deathly worried about what was happening.
Damned if I can tell you whether I would vote for Bloomberg if he was the nominee. I thought there was no semi-plausible Dem candidate who could possibly make me sit out a race against Trump. Bloomberg could make me a liar there: I want to be choosing among Democratic politicians, ideally ones that have done great things, failing that at least f*cking Dem politicians of SOME sort. I can face being stuck with a horrible bad choice (like Bernie, and not trusting him). I can’t face pulling a lever for the reality show of the battle of the billionaires. It would mean everything was so grossly broken that there was no point to anything at all.
dnfree
@debbie: dahlias aren’t really bulbs. They just can’t be allowed to freeze and they will come back. We just leave ours in their planters and bring the planters in to a cool place, like an indoor porch or garage, depending on climate where you live.
eddie blake
@Ohio Mom:
no. six. webb. lessig. o’malley. sanders, clinton and chaffee.
Lawrence
John,
I sympathize. I have had a snot head that makes it hard to breathe for about 50 years. You also sound depressed. That combination of physical exhaustion and lack of direction or motivation is a red flag for me. I can’t take decongestants because I am (slightly) hypertensive. And the ones they make for people like me don’t do much. Back in October I traveled from Phoenix (where I have lived most of my life) to New York (where I am from) and two days in my head started to clear a bit.
Mnemosyne
@Jinchi:
I honestly don’t think Bloomberg can win the nomination. He’s getting a lot of attention as a big, splashy candidate with a lot of ads, but he just has too many negatives for Democratic primary voters.
What he can do as an official former candidate who publicly made a good attempt at the nomination is to shovel large amounts of cash into the DNC to be distributed outward to other candidates, and he can do it in amounts that would be prohibited to private citizen Bloomberg. I really think that’s his ultimate plan. His ego means that he’s going to make a sincere run at it, but I think his Plan B is to get the Democratic nominee elected by hook or by crook.
Mnemosyne
@Lawrence:
A neti pot or nasal rinse bottle is a little gross, but it’s been shown to help a lot for pollen allergies since it rinses it out of the places where it’s gotten stuck in your nose and sinuses. We’re not quite neti pot central like we used to be back when General Stuck was among us, but people still use them.
TriassicSands
Anyone who is depressed and elderly should read the studies on anticholinergics and dementia before taking an antidepressant. Then, if feasible, exhaust the list of non-anticholinergics before resorting to an anticholinergic.
Actually, anyone who is elderly (or getting there) should take a look at the anticholinergics/dementia studies. A number of commonly used drugs (e.g., Benadryl/diphenhydramine) are routinely used by the elderly. Alternatives, if any, should be considered. For some reason, awareness of these studies does not seem widely understood in the medical community.
J R in WV
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
She leaps to the conclusion she will still hold an elected office after next November, and that the Rs will hold a majority lock in the Senate, and retake the House from the Democratic party. Not so fast, Joni Ernst~!!~
J R in WV
@HumboldtBlue:
You aren’t the resident asshole, you aren’t here enough to be considered resident. But you are an asshole, dropping crap all over people who are resident here, who post sober and considered opinions every day, when you can barely show up unless there’s an election coming soon you can fuck up. DIAF you ass.
HumboldtBlue
@J R in WV:
Aww, all that for li’l old me?
Here’s your apple sauce, sit down grandpa.
E
I’m right there with you, feeling increasingly fatalistic about the upcoming election. But I think that’s just the nature of being a Democrat. I mean let’s just take a step back and look at the landscape of things as they stand right now. So, Trump lost the last election by just under three million votes, and barely won the Electoral College by about 60,000 spread out over three states. His approval rating rarely gets over 45%, and is usually in the low 40s. And since the last election we’ve had a midterm election which was a referendum on Trump where Republicans got slaughtered losing the house and 40 seats. Moreover, since then the president has been impeached and in head-to-head matchups both Biden and Sanders lead Trump consistently by anywhere from around 4 to 10 points. With that being the lay of the land most Democrats, myself included, think yeah, we’re probably going to lose and most Republicans are sure that of course we’re going to win.
Democrats, and liberals specifically, just are perpetually nervous and think the sky is falling. It’s just in our nature. Where as Republicans just seem to always think that, yeah we’re going to win, everything will be fine. So, I at least try to comfort myself with that. That most likely I’m being way more down on our chances than I should be. At least I hope I’m right.
Suzy
@MisterForkbeard: Similarity number one is the meta message: “They don’t listen to you. I’m mad and I won’t take it anymore. They’re ALL corrupted. Both parties. I am your SAVIOR and I will drain the swamp! Revolution !”
Similarity number two: He is an outsider who wants to take over the party.
Suzy
@MisterForkbeard: Let’s hope there are other people like this woman in states like Ohio, Florida, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Iowa !
xephyr
@zhena gogolia: I couldn’t agree more. I’m proud of them, regardless of the outcome. They acted with honor and responsibility, which is something we don’t see in the political environment much these days.
Pennsylvanian
I have been here everyday forever and I never comment, but man, I could’ve written this post so I’m coming out of the woodwork. I have been fighting the toxic news and planet-killing and earthling-killing events going on globally and it really just feels like there is no refuge. I get ya. Plus this time of year is usually tough anyway.
I realized today that when I got a new computer about 3 months ago, I forgot to reinstall the Make America Kittens Again extension in my browser. I think that I’ve been negatively reacting to seeing Trump’s picture every day without even realizing it and it has been compounding already difficult times.
I really hope these horrible fuckers are not in charge come next January.
Till then, chins up and eyes on the prize, to the best of our ability, right?
Or maybe we all die in the coming pandemic and we’ll be put out of our misery.