the fatality rate per mile driven was *up* 14 percent in March 2020 vs a year earlier https://t.co/hGKdp31H7S
— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) May 20, 2020
Apparently there are some people who just don’t want to stay alive. But why do they have to take so many innocent bystanders with them?
… The National Safety Council said preliminary data show that in March, when most Americans began to drive less because of pandemic-related stay-at-home orders, the fatality rate per mile driven went up by 14 percent compared with March 2019.
The traffic fatality data, compiled from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, confirm the alarming reports across the country that speeding and reckless driving during the health crisis are leading to a disproportionate number of crashes and fatalities.
“The risk on our roads has actually increased,” said Ken Kolosh, the council’s manager of statistics, who ran the data analysis. “Although an 8 percent decrease in deaths from one March to the next March is great news, that decrease should have been even greater if the risk on our roads had stayed the same. We should have seen closer to an 18 percent decrease in deaths.”…
As traffic volumes fell dramatically following the stay at-home orders, average speeds increased significantly above posted limits, more than doubling in some cities, traffic data show. Police agencies from New York City to Los Angeles reported more speed-related crashes. State troopers in Maryland, Virginia, California and Minnesota have reported writing more speeding tickets. Some drivers have been caught traveling at speeds topping 130 mph...
Even with the 8 percent decline in fatalities in March, the council said road deaths were up 2 percent in the first quarter of 2020 compared with the same time period last year.
Omnes Omnibus
A man’s got to know his limitations.
SiubhanDuinne
For those of you who asked: My sister still has some weird symptoms, but she’s feeling 100% better today, and her symptoms appear to have nothing to do with COVID-19. I just talked with her and told her about all the good wishes from the Jackaltariat. She was most grateful.
As am I. Thank you all so much for your prayers, good thoughts, white light, and warm fuzzies. They did the trick. Well, along with the Tylenol.
MaxUtil
Speed is typically the single biggest factor in the severity of injuries/death in a crash. So this isn’t very surprising (while regrettable.) There are some glimmers of hope that a few cities are using the lower traffic levels to lock in some road improvements that will reduce peak speeds and make them safer overall. But we’ll see.
scav
Apoptosis? But then, we’re still left with their insisting on taking out their neighbors with them which properly dying cells shouldn’t do.
WaterGirl
@Omnes Omnibus: Am I right in thinking that you have talked about having a vehicle that is built for high speeds and the importance of being able to handle the speed that you are driving?
Or did I completely make that up?
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: That’s excellent! I was pretty worried on Sunday or whenever that was. Between you and Patrick II and cckids, that was so worrisome and discouraging.
Am I right in thinking that we have not heard from cckids with an update?
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: And I will admit to speeding more since the pandemic started, but there is speeding and there is stupid.
Miss Bianca
@SiubhanDuinne: Yay! I was going to ask about sister in an earlier thread, but got sidetracked. Glad to hear the good news!
Spanky
@SiubhanDuinne: Great news!
As far as driving during lockdown, I’ve noticed quite an increase in careless/distracted driving, including a couple (few?) times multiple cars ran red lights. I always count to three after mine turns green anyway, and I could see them not stopping, but a couple of these guys just appeared not to care.
Not to mention idiots speeding like it’s rush hour at 11 AM.
Mike in NC
I’ve seen a number of stories the past couple months about cities and towns planning more pedestrian shopping venues and less vehicular traffic once things go back to ‘normal’ (if ever).
Baud
@SiubhanDuinne: Good news.
Omnes Omnibus
@SiubhanDuinne: Woohoo!
Baud
I feel the need — the need for speed.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl: If there’s been an update from either Patrick II or cckids, I’ve missed it. They’ve both been very much in my thoughts.
NotMax
Why do I feel somewhat compromised now that had to go to Amazon to find cornmeal? Yellow tough to find at a decent price plus for delivery within any reasonable time frame, white readily available; for my purposes, don’t care which.
Oh, also ordered an inexpensive 5-pack of plain dark blue yarmulkes to be repurposed as face masks. In stock for delivery as opposed to maybe, maybe not for the more standard types of masks.
Nora
Anecdotal evidence: my husband’s been driving to and from work at night on the Taconic State Parkway here in New York, and he says NOBODY drives anything close to the speed limit these days. While his estimates of people driving 80 and 90 mph are probably exaggerated, people are definitely going a lot faster with fewer cars (and fewer police) around.
WaterGirl
@SiubhanDuinne: No update yet from cckids. This was the Patrick II update yesterday around lunchtime:
Roger Moore
@Mike in NC:
We’ll have to see how many plans about replacing streets with pedestrian areas are followed through on after the pandemic is over. It’s something planners love to talk about, but lots of drivers complain. One thing that might help is there is a lot of talk about temporarily closing streets to provide outdoor dining venues, since the improved airflow outdoors is supposed to make things safer. If people like it, that may help give attempts to close down streets some more backing from the general public.
Mary G
@NotMax: I scored a pound of cornmeal in the last Instacart delivery, plus another bag of flour. Ridiculously exciting. I still also have some yeast from the before times. Now I just need energy so I can bake.
WaterGirl
@Mary G: Do you have a break machine to at least make the dough for you? That’s what I do, and i think of the rest of it as the “fun” part.
Omnes Omnibus
@Mike in NC: @Roger Moore: I hope it is successful. A lot of inner cities (of all sizes) could use the break from traffic. And even after we find our new normal following the pandemic, it will be good to have space that is for people not machines.
The Moar You Know
Got plenty of freeway anecdata on this. First couple of weeks of shutdown, I was driving into work on the 5 and seeing maybe five percent of the usual traffic out.
After the first couple of days, the nutbags came out. Nothing like driving to work at 630AM and having some idiot pilled-up on God knows what pass you at well over 110. Got bad enough that after a month, the CHP started doing something I haven’t seen here in San Diego since the late 1980s – sitting on the side of the roads with radar guns. That’s stopped now, if you want to come to SD and drive like a maniac, WE ARE OPEN FOR BUSINESS AS USUAL.
The surface street racing seems to have largely come to a halt, at least. It was really bad for the first couple of weeks.
dmsilev
@Roger Moore: For the restaurants, I think it’s both the improved airflow and also the additional space lets them get closer to their original table count without the normal pack-em-in spacing that so many places use. A good idea regardless, just as long as the weather is cooperative.
lamh36
Evening BJ.
Diplomas will be mailed out beginning on Friday. So I should received my diploma sometime next week within 2-5 business days!! Can’t wait.
So I think I may be in need of a professional resume writer.
So this frustration with the California licensing process had made me think. I admit I didnt think it woudl be so hard or frustrating to get this licensure, but it’s only bee about 10 days and already I’m over it. But I’ve already invested way too much damn money and time into so I’m gonna give it my time and energy for now.
But that frustration and my has led me to decide that maybe it’s time to look at public health or clinical program management roles. I can work in management, supervisory roles, keep my MT skills up and then revisit Cali ??♀️ if things with this current license mess doesn’t work out.
With that goal in mind, I think I need to change my resume or put together another one so that it better suited for the managment jobs i’d like to pursue. Right now it reads like a bench tech looking for bench or lead work.
One option I do have is to maybe see if I can ask one of my HR professors to take a look my current resume and critic it?
I’ve been saying for a while now that I want to get out of the hospital lab environment. I was leaning towards private commercial or even research clinical labs. But I’ve always loved benchwork. But since starting and finishing this degree I’ve come to realize that maybe it’s not just the hospital lab I’m tired of, but maybe it’s that what I used to love to do is no longer as fun or fulfilling as it used to be for me.
Hmmm…anyway…my resume for the past 3 years has been geared to obtaining a lab position, now I’m thinking if I want to make the money I’d like and have the freedom I want, then I need to expand past the lab purvue I’ve been stuck in
NotMax
@Nora
We used to say that the only reason the Taconic existed was for drives to view the autumn leaves for those who wanted to save on the toll for crossing the river to drive up the Palisades.
trollhattan
Took an interstate excursion Saturday and folks be flying, even the Camrys. Keep the speed alarm set at 80 and it set off a couple times, and I’m blending with the traffic. Several times we were passed at +40, minimum.
I blame video games.
CHP were out and writing folks up, so am guessing the hijinks will diminish some, because the financial hit for a felony reckless conviction is enormous.
rikyrah
@SiubhanDuinne: .yeah ????
Evil_Paul
130 mph? Hah! We got that beat north of the border!
Check out this reject who got caught doing 300kph (about 180-200mph)…in his Dad’s Mercedes no less!
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/qew-stunt-driving-1.5563678
(BTW Nobody was injured, so it’s okay to laugh. Especially since in Ontario we got street racing laws that kick in once you’re fifty over the limit. This clown screwed himself good.)
rikyrah
Kevonstage is crazy ????
https://twitter.com/KevOnStage/status/1263148843786371073
Nora
@NotMax: And that’s funny because in the fall you get all the leaf peepers up around the Bear Mountain Bridge (near me) choking up the Palisades Interstate Parkway.
trollhattan
@The Moar You Know:
Oregon and Washington have caught dudes doing 180+ recently. The mind boggles.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
Why does the German Autobahn have such low fatalities/crashes, then? Why are American freeways so different than the autobahn? Then again, that increase isn’t just on freeways, but city/suburban streets as well
raven
This isn’t new,” Carlos Campos, spokesman for Atlanta police, said Monday afternoon. “But what the pandemic did was create a perfect storm where you have young people who are bored; their usual outlets — shopping, hanging out in a park — those were all eliminated by the stay-at-home orders.”
Drdavechemist
Re: aggressive driving, in my experience, the worst offenders are the “jacked-up” pickup trucks. Had a couple roar past me and then cut across multiple lanes of traffic on my weekly grocery run last week. Compensate much?
Re: closing streets. I would welcome Roger Moore’s suggestion of closing down the major commercial block in my neighborhood for increased outdoor dining this summer. I have fond memories of a dinner in Brussels (pretty sure it was moules et frites) at an outdoor venue where the street was closed except for an occasional slow-moving delivery vehicle in the single traffic lane adjacent to our table.
anon
do you think the same people who will break stay-at-home orders have any qualms about breaking speed limits ….
NotMax
@Mary G
Huzzah!
I opted for the two 2 lb bags of white cornmeal offered as one order, so shall be okey-dokey for a while. Don’t generally like ordering groceries through Amazon, prefer to give the money directly to someplace that operates a physical store locally.
dmsilev
@WaterGirl:
I’d like to pause and admire this typo…
More seriously, even without a bread machine, there are plenty of low-hassle low-effort recipes. The famed “no-knead” family is a good place to start. Bare minimum of equipment is a dutch over or similar, and not much else.
Obvious Russian Troll
@Evil_Paul: I will stop complaining about Toronto drivers blatantly running red lights when I’ve been out.
Mnemosyne
@lamh36:
Your school probably offers free or reduced-fee resume critiquing and other job hunt services for recent graduates — check with them. And congratulations again!
JAFD
Greetings from New Jersey !
Did grocery shopping, about noon yesterday, Tuesday. Store had about enough customers to fill, nobody waiting outside. Only major shortage – instant ramen noodles. Everybody wearing masks.
Bank only using drive-thru tellers. ATM not accepting check deposits, bummer.
Was scheduled for jury duty on the 14th. Checked court’s website week beforehand, all petit jurors excused. Emailed to confirm, was told that lawyers and/or criminals are free from me until 2023
A couple of years back, got letter from county Senior Services, “you may be eligible for SNAP benefits, here’s form to fill out and return to find out”. In money-saving move, only return address for form was on outside envelope. But fished it out of recycling bag, sent form back, found meself getting $28 a month. Which helps.
So heard on radio, last month, SNAP benefits to be increased in pandemic. Found yesterday, ‘snap balance’ on receipt, had gotten $500 credited to my account. More than I’m entitled to. Trying to figure out what to do. Checked website, haven’t yet checked my file boxes for orig paperwork. (Not treating myself to lobster and filet mignon (yet)).
Here be word from Dem State Committee on upcoming primary. Don’t know if they’ll ask me to work at one of in-person stations (if you’re registered ‘unaffiliated’, and decide on election day you want to join a party and vote in primary…).
Hope all of you are staying healthy, happy and hydrated !
trollhattan
Fun fact: top speed of a J-3 Piper Cub is listed as 87 mph.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: Put on your facemaskulkes? It’s time to celebrate Hanukkah!
Priest
An April 20 Atlanta news article reported 140 citations for 100mph+ in the previous two weeks. Does not include the dude on a motorcycle clocked at 172. In the last week another article about 44 people arrested related to drag racing late at night on I-85.
Mnemosyne
I’m still thinking about doing a drive up PCH to Oxnard and back, just because it’s pretty. I’ll have to remember to watch out for speed demon morons if I do. ?
Gbbalto
@lamh36: Congratulations on your degree! I have had good luck applying for relatively few jobs at a time, but tailoring my resume to what I could find out about each potential employer and what I thought they would want to see. Good luck!
NotMax
@Nora
Have sometimes seen people suddenly come to a dead stop in befuddlement when they come to that traffic circle at the top of the Palisades.
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: oops! I used a challah recipe last week and cheated by using butter instead of vegetable oil and then doing a 2-piece twist and then making it into a circle. It was so simple!
I got 4 twisted loaves, 3 of which went in the freezer. When I pull one out of the freezer i heat it at 300 for 15 or 20 minutes and it’s like fresh bread. It’s good for 3 days before it loses its fresh taste. Today I had it for breakfast with apricot jam and toasted walnuts.
Gin & Tonic
@trollhattan: I’ve gone 180 mph or so.
As a passenger in the Madrid-Barcelona train. Boy, the scenery just zips by, but you really have little sense of speed otherwise.
Gbbalto
@trollhattan: Decades ago, there was a photo in Popular Mechanics (I think) of a flat bottomed houseboat fast enough that a Piper Cub could operate from its roof. DIY aircraft carrier!
Eta – I seem to recall that a relative wind speed of 40 mph was needed
Omnes Omnibus
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): A couple of things. One, there are rules as to right of way and which lane you are supposed to be in and they are strictly adhered to. The left most lane isn’t the “fast” lane, it is for passing. You move over for faster drivers if safe to do so. Etc. Second, when there are accidents, there are fatalities. You wreck a car at 150 mph, odds are someone is dying.
ETA: Even on the Autobahn where it was legal, I have seldom driven faster than 125 mph and usually stayed closer to 100 mph.
opiejeanne
@SiubhanDuinne: I’m so glad your sister is feeling better. Tylenol can be a life saver.
Nora
@NotMax: Obviously not from around here, as we say. We are always amused by the people who are terrified to drive on what is locally known as the Goat Trail (Rt. 6 and 202) between the Bear Mountain Bridge and Route 9.
Where are you from, btw, that you’re so familiar with the area?
Mnemosyne
Restaurant-wise, I thought that this solution in the Netherlands was cool: each couple gets their own tiny outdoor greenhouse next to the canal:
https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/07/world/dutch-restaurant-reopen-greenhouse-trnd/index.html
James E Powell
@WaterGirl:
Anytime I hear someone talking about baking and they say “It was so simple” I get a little twitchy thing in my left eye. I have turned more “simple” and “easy” recipes into inedible piles of glop than I care to recall.
WaterGirl
@Mnemosyne: Wow, I find that half-cool and half creepy.
Without testing, how can you know if the person you’re with isn’t asymptomatic? Seems like you would be in such close quarters there for 60-90 minutes, you’d be pretty much guaranteed to get it if the other person had it. Much more so than just sharing a home.
Gin & Tonic
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): The speed on the Autobahns isn’t as high as you think. The no-speed-limits everybody-driving-100mph+ myth is just that, a myth. I’ve driven a lot in Germany and Austria, and a) people know how to drive, b) cars are all of a sensible, relatively-equal size and c) you seldom see people driving much over 85-90 mph. The “advisory” limit in areas where no other limit is posted is 130 kph. Yes, you can go faster, but if you fuck up, your insurance becomes a real problem
ETA: Although I’m still in awe of the guys who drove from NYC to Santa Monica in 27 hours and change.
dmsilev
@WaterGirl: I did a challah recipe as well this past weekend, deciding to try my hand at a semi-fancy braid. 6-strand loaves, following the recipe and braiding instructions here: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/jeffreys-challah-recipe
Turned out nicely. Good thing eggs are back in stock in the groceries though; the full recipe took seven (3 plus 3 yolks in the dough, plus one for the wash just before baking).
Mnemosyne
@Gbbalto:
Yes, this is the big thing they say these days — tailor your resume specifically to each job posting and use as many of their keywords as possible. Because so many places use computers to scan for their desired keywords, some people will even put the exact keywords in white text at the bottom so the humans don’t see them but the computer still picks them up and lets your resume through.
Elizabelle
@SiubhanDuinne: Excellent news. Hope she continues on the mend.
Brachiator
I gotta wonder. Who are these people and where are they going? Certainly, during the peak of the lockdown, they weren’t all going to work. And even here, with less traffic, they would get wherever they were going to in plenty of time.
Omnes Omnibus
@WaterGirl: I am guessing that many of these couples have exchanged bodily fluids, so to speak, and aren’t at any particular additional risk.
Gbbalto
@Mnemosyne: Wow, never thought of that trick. Mind you, have had current job for 25 years, so I am not up to speed..
.
Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): US freeways are usually designed for 60-80 mph, or 5 over the posted speed limit. The curves are too tight to safely take at a higher speed with most vehicles. The Autobahn is designed for the higher speeds.
More and more recently, I’m hearing about designers being told to design for the speed limit with no safety cushion.
Chris T.
Huh. My car tops out before that speed (EV, with limiter around 125 mph I think).
I understand it’s actually hard to get a German driver’s license. Here in the US all you need is to be able to fog a mirror in the last four years or so (depending on how frequently your state requires renewals). It’s true that the first driver’s license is usually a little harder, but if you got yours in 1960 at age 20 you’re now 80 years old and maybe have to pass a 20/40 vision test.
Elizabelle
@Mnemosyne:
That is great to know. Thank you. White text.
Sounds like something the conspiracy-mongers would have come up with. But visible to computers.
Omnes Omnibus
@Brachiator: I am sure that many were just driving around.
WaterGirl
@James E Powell: I literally put these ingredients in the bread machine, in this order:
vegetable oilmelted buttermrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl:
You monster. :)
Gbbalto
@Mnemosyne: Wow, never thought of that trick. Mind you, have had current job for 25 years, so I am not up to speed
Eta sorry for duplicate post
lamh36
@Mnemosyne: yeah, I’ve reached out to my schools career development center via email. The entire university is on remote access so there is not anyone physically at the school. So emails are taking a bit longer to be answered then usual.
I’ve also reached out to my HR professors as well
NotMax
@Nora
Not always but going up the Palisades was a pleasant alternative route for frequent trips between Lawn Guyland and the Poconos. This includes back before I-84 was a gleam in anyone’s eye and the main drag west meant meandering along Route 6.
Not that we went there much but also have some very distant relatives who run a bungalow colony a few hops and skips further up into the Catskills from Harriman.
mrmoshpotato
@Mnemosyne: Agoraphobia? But we don’t have spiders in here. -Linda Belcher
Omnes Omnibus
@Mnemosyne: @Elizabelle: It is a great way to get the resume past a computerized selection and in front of people who may actually understand it.
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: I used the ingredients for that very recipe, but then changed out the vegetable oil for melted butter and did the twists described at #67 or so.
Catherine D.
@trollhattan:
Very old SNL sketch: What if Spartacus had a Piper Cub
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: I did read that one of the differences between challah and brioche is that brioche uses butter and challah uses vegetable oil. So what I made cannot technically be called challah.
Why am I a monster? A rebel, maybe but not a monster. :-)
mrmoshpotato
@Omnes Omnibus: No sexytime in the individual greenhouses.
patrick II
On Sunday I wrote that my son had the virus and that he had blood clots in his lung which was causing chest pain and shortness of breath. His latest test shows he is clear of the virus, but must take blood thinners until a new scan next week will hopefully show the clots are gone. I am thankful for all of the good wishes by people here. You are remarkably kind.
Omnes Omnibus
@mrmoshpotato: I didn’t say there was.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: Unless there are shades!
(or long tablecloths)
Elizabelle
NY Times breaking news alert.
If the US had begun enacting social distancing just a week earlier in March, about 36,000 lives could have been saved, disease modeling suggests.
The enormous cost of waiting to take action reflects the unforgiving dynamics of the outbreak that swept through American cities in early March. Even small differences in timing would have prevented the worst exponential growth, researchers found.
Those 36,000 unnecessary dead have relatives who vote. They will remember their loved one. Dying alone. (And, FWIW, 36K is likely an undercount, no??)
Alternatively, if we want to share the wealth: that is 680 to 692 deaths per each Republican Senator who voted to acquit Trump without ever allowing witnesses to testify.
Bring them all down.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: You know what you did.
Elizabelle
@patrick II: Glad he is on the mend, and hope that he fully recovers his health.
mrmoshpotato
@Omnes Omnibus: Being preemptive here.
WaterGirl
@patrick II: Have they been able to see improvement in the blood clots? I would think they would check every couple of days? Can they see the clots with x-rays?
Gin & Tonic
For the bakers, I know Christopher Kimball is not everyone’s cup of tea, but boy, his French walnut tart is really really tasty.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: Well then… LOL
NotMax
Mnemosyne, dunno if you’ve ever seen this.
;)
Brachiator
@Omnes Omnibus:
Then they would definitely get where they were going in plenty of time.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@NotMax: The Palisades here in CA can be a bit difficult to climb, they’re over 14,000 feet.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: I wanted to scream last week when my sister kept saying “everyone did the best they could” and “everyone is doing the best they can”, referring to our leaders in government.
No they didn’t, and no they are not. Not all of them. Which I told her, probably to no avail.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: This is Balloon Juice After Dark, isn’t it?
Barbara
@patrick II: Glad to hear he is improving and best wishes for his continuing progress.
Re driving: I am so grateful for the reduced traffic I feel no need to speed. I set cruise control at a few miles above the limit and hang out in the slow lane. I dread the return of normal, because around here, normal is awful.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Drdavechemist:
I drove up to the Owens Valley last Friday and this was absolutely the case, I almost got hit by one on the way back into LA.
dmsilev
@WaterGirl: Most of the brioche recipes I’ve seen use both butter and milk. So I think technically you made some sort of brioche/challah crossbreed. A briallah, if you will.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: Friend of mine claimed the DNC rigged the 2016 primary. ?
He lives in Ann Arbor and apparently wrote in Bernie in the general.
trollhattan
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): @Omnes Omnibus:
All true. Also, the German driver training and license test is very rigorous compared to ours. Our Deutsche exchange student last year had a Vespa-like scooter back home that requires no license, and she had no dreams of getting an actual driver’s license anytime soon because of the cost and hurdles. In the meantime my kid already had her license at 17.
Growing up in Washington state I was boggled on learning Idaho kids could get a permit at 14. Because potatoes (or somesuch).
WaterGirl
@dmsilev: This was better than the brioche I made a couple of years ago. So I highly recommend the crossbreed! Or crossbread, if you will. :-)
trollhattan
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
No joke–get in a head-on with one of those and it’s literally your head. Plus, “rollin’ coal.”
VeniceRiley
Nevertheless, I received a check for $56.91 from The Auto Club of SoCal in my mail today.
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan:
It’s because of the rutabagas!
Elizabelle
@trollhattan: I think it’s like the equivalent of $2-3,000 to get the German license, too.
And wow, can they park and back and drive around tiny streets once they’ve got it.
You also get fined very heavily (I am told) for road mishaps.
trollhattan
@Elizabelle:
IDK how this can be effectively communicated to an innumerate populace, but it simply has to be. Those fuckers killed a city’s population unnecessarily and will harvest several more. Because of who they are, nothing more.
WaterGirl
Apropos of nothing, I have been falling asleep to the free chapter readings of the first Harry Potter book on Harry Potter at Home.
trollhattan
@mrmoshpotato:
mrmoshabaga, is that you? :-)
NotMax
@mrmoshpotato
There’s a song from a mid-century musical which pretty much presaged the Bernie bros M.O.
Just substitute the B word for the C word in the lyrics.
:)
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: I hope it’s a casual friend. :-)
Elizabelle
@WaterGirl: My sympathies. I think a neutral or even frosty stare and silence is about all you can do for that.
Hate to think what it will take to wake up that type of denial.
I am sorry you have to put up with that, and I know that is very distancing behavior. It’s awful.
trollhattan
@Elizabelle:
Was appalled to learn the kid did not have to parallel park as part of her driving test. And still can’t. We don’t happen to have one of those cars with the “watch this” auto-park buttons.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@trollhattan: This was a surprise lane change out of the fast lane to get around a slow poke.
Elizabelle
@trollhattan: It’s negligent.
We got better driver’s ed training when we were first licensed. And the roads are not easier or less populated now.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@trollhattan:
My strategy for parallel parking is to park someplace else.
Gin & Tonic
@mrmoshpotato: We shop sometimes at an Asian market nearby. Great and interesting produce, including, several times, large spherical purple things labeled “rutabagas” which also rang up as rutabagas. They were, of course, beets. Inscrutable Occidentals can tell the difference, I guess (beets are important to Eastern Europeans.)
Not much point to this story, just triggered by rutabagas (which make a pretty bland borshch.)
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: Well, they are in Michigan, where their “awful” governor wouldn’t let them buy paint in the stores!
patrick II
@WaterGirl:
It was a CT scan that saw the problem. They don’t test every day. They gave him blood thinners. He shouldn’t be too active , they will scan him again early next week. He no longer has to be isolated from his wife.
I’m with you I would want to know everyday , but it makes no difference in the treatment now that he is virus free. So we will worry until next week
mrmoshpotato
@trollhattan: Hahaha, well played.
WaterGirl
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I got my driver’s license in Chicago, where you not only had to parallel park, but you also had to do a 3-point turn.
trollhattan
@Gin & Tonic:
Among the weird root vegetables I’m partial to parsnips. Rutabagas seem hard to make interesting and turnips can just go away.
IDK why I’m now thinking about fall vegies.
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: If you’re in favor of democracy, you’re a Communist? Ummm…
WaterGirl
@patrick II: Yeah, I imagine with a CT scan they don’t want to do them too often because of cost and availability. I get that the treatment wouldn’t be different, but I am sure you would all rest easier knowing that it was getting measurable smaller.
But hopefully his breathing is getting easier, and that would be one indication. Bet he is happy to see his wife!
I am pretty sure this whole situation is either strengthening relationships or tearing them apart.
WaterGirl
@trollhattan: I put parsnips and turnips in exactly one thing: my mom’s recipe for vegetable beef soup.
NotMax
@Gin & Tonic
A teacher at the same high school where I taught for a time always called them “rootabaggies” and often brought one in for his lunch, which he would eat raw like an apple.
Elizabelle
Some happy news. WaPost:
LONDON — Capt. Tom Moore, the beloved British war veteran who walked the length of his garden 100 times to raise money ahead of his 100th birthday in April, has received a knighthood for his fundraising initiative, which brought in about $40 million for Britain’s National Health Service charities.
Last month, more than half a million people signed a petition asking for Moore to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his efforts. Now, it appears their wish has been granted.
Reacting to news he was to be knighted on Wednesday, Moore, who served in India during World War II, told BBC Breakfast it was an “outstanding honor” and said he was “delighted.” On social media, many used the hashtag #SirCaptainTomMoore to celebrate his new title and achievement.
Widely hailed as a “legend,” Moore has become a national and international treasure in recent weeks, with many branding him Britain’s light amid the darkness of the deadly coronavirus pandemic that has so far claimed at least 35,000 lives in the United Kingdom.
Gin & Tonic
@trollhattan: I like parsnips. You know what you never see anywhere any more, is salsify.
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle:
And WaterGirl cried.
mrmoshpotato
@Gin & Tonic: Sorry I triggered you. LOL
NotMax
@WaterGirl
It ain’t a chicken soup worthy of matzo balls unless it’s cooked with a parsnip included.
evodevo
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): more draconian laws, rigorously enforced. Have driven on various autobahns a lot…the far left lane you can go as fast as you like…in fact, if someone comes up behind you and flashes their lights, it’s THE LAW that you move right. Trucks are confined BY LAW to the far right lane, at ~55 mph. Cars are required to be maintained in tip top condition, and EVERYTHING must work perfectly and NO RUST. Speed cameras are everywhere, and if caught speeding in a “controlled” zone, you will have to pay through the nose. If you are caught driving drunk, you are fined and can’t drive for a month..depending on the results of the alcohol test..more than a couple small beers, and you can be suspended for 6 months to a yr.
Elizabelle
Another cute thing: did you ever see “the dogs of Amazon?” They turn up when something is no longer on their site. Gone gone.
See if this link works for you. There is a whole range of Amazon dogs, all with names. Try cut and pasting this into your browser.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087M4KLMW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o0
VeniceRiley
I used to work in a Ford/Lincoln dealership in my much younger days. It had rooftop parked inventory. I can back a Tpwn Car out of a tight spot and around very tight corners down a ramp. Yet I still am dreading driving on the wrong side of the car and wrong side of the road post move to England. And left handed stick?? Unsure of that as well. I suspect I’ll be making my wife shuttle me around for quite some time until I’m used to it.
Hkedi [Kang T. Q.]
@lamh36: Many colleges have people in career services (or a similar department) that can provide you with resume advise and help.
Elizabelle
@evodevo: My friends in the military in Germany live in fear of any kind of a DUI. Really serious stuff.
Aleta
The Waiting (is the hardest part)
NotMax
@Gin & Tonic
Holy approximately oysters, Batman!
;)
WaterGirl
@NotMax: At first glance, that does not seem right. But if they have parsnips on my next trip to the grocery, I will try one in my chicken soup. Parsnips have a bit of a bite, right? Or is that the turnips?
Since I the only time I ever use either parsnips or turnips is in my mom’s soup, I may be confusing the two flavors.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
No idea if it’s still sold but a parsnip was included in the packaged mix (fresh, not dried) called “soup greens” found in the produce aisles.
Mnemosyne
@WaterGirl:
I think it’s so couples or families that are quarantining together can get out of the house and not have to make all of their own meals. I’m pretty sure that if I was going to get coronavirus from my husband, it would have happened by now. ?♀️
Origuy
@VeniceRiley: I just got a letter from Mercury Insurance saying that they are giving me a credit on my car insurance because people are driving less. Don’t know what it will be yet.
NotMax
@NotMax
Will add the parsnip is removed after the soup is cooked. It is generally not found in the bowl when the soup is served.
Mnemosyne
@mrmoshpotato:
I mean, it’s Amsterdam. Would anyone even blink if there was?
Origuy
About the only time I have parsnips is at a Burns Night supper. Gotta have the neeps & tatties with the haggis!
Chris T.
@Origuy: I got an actual refund check in the mail (Farmers, not Mercury, but they’re all being told to do this by the state I think). Mine was about sixty bucks.
Bill Arnold
Copied from a days ago thread, re Vroom Vroom, empty roads are an opportunity for some:
America’s most illegal record has been obliterated (Cameron Kirby, 15 May 2020)
Disbelieve if you want, but check the article, and the links from it.
NotMax
@Origuy
Neep o’lanterns.
Avalie
@lamh36: I have some experience with CA occupational licensing–what kind of license are you trying for?
WaterGirl
@NotMax: Huh.
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Seems to be still an item in some locations.
Jay
Quite the thread,…..
Skepticat
Yesterday, on one of the funny sites I have to go to last thing at night so I can wash away the horrors and sleep, I saw a picture of a pickup truck on which was written, “Some of y’all haven’t driven for two moths, AND IT SHOWS.” I loved it.
Ruckus
@Gin & Tonic:
I’ve driven solo from Columbus, OH to LA in 54 hrs. In a 74 ft long truck/trailer. And stopped 2 nights to nap in the sleeper for about 10 hrs total. It ain’t 27 hrs and short about 550 miles but the truck had a limiter at about 73 mph. And hills slow you down in a truck – a lot.
WaterGirl
@NotMax: Have never seen that in a store ever. I don’t think they carry it locally. Interesting idea.
Ruckus
@Chris T.:
In CA everyone has to take an actual driving test at their first renewal after reaching 70, as well as visual and written test. Yeah, I now get to do it all – again. Which is difficult now as all the DMV offices are closed. The web site says some offices are open but then the chart showing each office and it’s hours shows them all closed. I’d bet I’m sort of screwed. They have extended the expiration dates for the last 3 months, no word about the future.
swbarnes2
@Gbbalto: fwiw, Allison Greene at askamanager.com says not to do the text in white thing. Someone will eventually look at your resume with the formatting stripped off, and they’ll see it.
Ruckus
@patrick II:
They generally don’t x-ray or CT every day unless absolutely necessary because of the amount of radiation. The current machines used for cancer radiation therapy have the ability to focus the beam to a much smaller area so they can get by with a lot smaller level of radiation. Still, daily radiation treatment for weeks is not near as much fun as it sounds. And no, it isn’t horrible either, and if it works, it’s far better than surgery.
sgrAstar
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): in my experience the autobahns are fast but extremely orderly. Americans would never accomodate to the idea of giving way, for instance- a central feature of autobahn driving. Culturally we are so primitive.
?
dopey-o
Speaking about speed’s effect on car crash fatality rates, I have seen reports that the crash that kills you at 70 will send you home on your feet at 40 mph. Not sure of the accuracy, but any physicist here could ekaborate.
I do know that a family friend driving a 2014 Subaru Forester was hit head on by a wrong way driver. Both were moving at 60 mph. The driver of the Lincoln died. Our friend broke his left leg, spent a week in the hospital, and found his wife pregnant with their second child.
Superior design cannot overcome stupidity. But it can improve the odds. 60% of crash fatalities in my state were not wearing seatbelts.
Jay
Tip, you can’t undo a seatbelt when upside down, with out using both hands and subsequently not banging your head and neck.
Jay Noble
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Cup holders. Germans are aghast that Americans have cup holders and then wan to drive at Autobahn speeds.
Jay Noble
@trollhattan: Nebraska
Farm Kids – School Permit at 14. To and from school
Regular Kids – Learner’s Permit at 15. Must have someone over 21 riding shotgun. License at 16. I think they also limit passengers for a year.
16-20 the License Picture is vertical to help prevent the purchase of alcohol
oatler.
@James E Powell:
The Guardian UK’s food section is full of “Quick and easy recipes”
As the comment section reveals, ‘ha ha ha!
J R in WV
@Gbbalto:
This!! Strongly recommend adapting electronic resume to each job you want to apply for, after researching the company or organization and their openings that you are interested in. Add a personal letter to accompany the resume. “To Whom it may concern” if you can’t find the hiring manager’s name.
That was our favorite back when I was hiring tech staff.