Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Accountability, motherfuckers.

Consistently wrong since 2002

They love authoritarianism, but only when they get to be the authoritarians.

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Speaking of republicans, is there a way for a political party to declare intellectual bankruptcy?

A snarling mass of vitriolic jackals

New McCarthy, same old McCarthyism.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

Let us savor the impending downfall of lawless scoundrels who richly deserve the trouble barreling their way.

🎶 Those boots were made for mockin’ 🎵

Incompetence, fear, or corruption? why not all three?

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Take your GOP plan out of the witness protection program.

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

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

If you tweet it in all caps, that makes it true!

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

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

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

The revolution will be supervised.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / What’s Going On?

What’s Going On?

by | 128 Comments

This post is in: 

In Balloon Juice news, in case you missed it… Japa21 is fully recovered from his pneumonia (which wasn’t COVID after all) and Mabel the cat’s dental surgery was successful, and she is back at home.  Mary G and SuzeMom got their first shots today.  (If you get the shot, don’t forget to stop by the I Got the Shot! thread in the sidebar, and tell us about it.)

I have been watching the daily press briefings, and I’m thinking of keeping count of how many questions are essentially “Biden is doing all these executive orders, what about Unity?”  My gut feeling is that about half the questioners today went with that, but I would be happy to have you tell me I’m wrong. No matter how many times they ask, Jen P. patiently explains why the premise of their question is full of shit.  She’s very good.

Loving that Nancy Pelosi and AOC are both kicking ass and not letting anyone forget that people tried to murder them and that some Republicans in the House and Senate were on board with that.  Now I want to see Steve Schmidt pile on and bitch-slap the traitorous Rs about the *same issue.  If that happens, I’ll be even happier.  (*truth be told, watching Schmidt bitch-slap them on any issue would make me happy.)

Five out of 6 of the lettuce varieties that I started in my AeroGarden on Sunday have sprouted, so I am excited about that.  I had been so down that I hadn’t even unboxed the AeroGarden I got as a Christmas gift, until I was inspired on Sunday during the Garden Chat.  I guess I just wasn’t ready for Christmas then.  Now I’m very excited about my little garden.

What's Going On?

Oh, and I made homemade chocolate cake today, and it is awesome.

What’s going on with you guys?  Personal or political, you decide.

Open Thread.

 

Reader Interactions

128Comments

  1. 1.

    LongHairedWeirdo

    I really hate the way reporters listen to Republicans, who they *know* don’t engage in good faith, and ask about BS like “unity” where “unity” means “doing what we want, instead of what any rational person wants.”

  3. 3.

    Scout211

    Thanks for the local roundup.

    We’ve had  so much rain in the past 48 hours that I thought I had a dream and woke up a few decades ago when we used to have rain in California. It’s really wet out.  Look out all you SoCal jackals, it’s headed your way on an atmospheric river.

  5. 5.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    I have been watching the daily press briefings, and I’m thinking of keeping count of how many questions are essentially “Biden is doing all these executive orders, what about Unity?”  My gut feeling is that about half the questioners today went with that, but I would be happy to have you tell me I’m wrong. No matter how many times they ask, Jen P. patiently explains why the premise of their question is full of shit.  She’s very good.

    I saw a frontpage headline in USA Today that boiled down to, “The Senate trial will interfere with COVID negotiations.” I swear, I don’t get why the same papers who condemned the insurrection now seemingly want to sweep it all under the ru

    @Immanentize:

    Good night!

  8. 8.

    mali muso

    Had such a good time volunteering at the local mass vaccination clinic yesterday that I am signed up for another shift tomorrow. It feels so great to be doing something tangible to help!  Has it only been 8 days since the inauguration? I feel so much more relaxed, the difference is palpable.

  9. 9.

    Mary G

    Just when I’m sure a thread is alive, you keel it, you dirty rotten scoundrels. It’s better for this, so I repeat:

    If you’ve already seen some birds playing basketball today just keep on scrolling…pic.twitter.com/dljTuTieU9— Rex Chapman?? (@RexChapman) January 27, 2021

    I’ve seen this 12 times. The yellow team was robbed.

    I got my Rituxin infusion from 8 am to 1 pm, ate carryout Mexican food in the car, housemate and I got Covid shot #1 together at Disneyland. There is a lot of hiking between tents in the parking lot. She brought pay stubs from one of her jobs and they actually read them.
    I had to go to an extra tent to see a nurse because my immune system sucks, and she said the vaccine might not be as effective for me as other people and to keep wearing double masks. I switched to throwaway surgical mask under one of my non-homemade cloth masks, and felt very secure.
    Everyone I saw in Anaheim had a mask on, except a guy delivering Budweiser to the market we stopped in, whose slipped under his nose as he worked his mini forklift, but I forgive him because had a large “Proud Teamster – Union Strong” bumper sticker displayed on the fork lift, and pulled his mask up before going into the store.
    Housemate’s ex-husband, who lives in Mexico because Trump, lost two brothers this week to Covid. It’s just beyond words how differently this affects poorer and darker Americans. I wish some journalist, or Ken Burns, would cover this in human terms instead of Covid inside baseball.

  10. 10.

    Amir Khalid

    I feel like I will soon be ready for another cat. When I get around to visiting the shelters will depend on lockdown easing enough, which could be months away. The new cat, when I get him/her, will not be another Bianca; she has a place in me that will always be hers alone. It’s going to be a new relationship ith a new feline person. I look forward to the adventure.

  12. 12.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @mali muso:

    It almost doesn’t feel real sometimes, to know that Trump isn’t president anymore. I can’t explain it. Trump’s 4 years felt like 4 millennia.

  13. 13.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    I have been watching the daily press briefings, and I’m thinking of keeping count of how many questions are essentially “Biden is doing all these executive orders, what about Unity?”  My gut feeling is that about half the questioners today went with that, but I would be happy to have you tell me I’m wrong. No matter how many times they ask, Jen P. patiently explains why the premise of their question is full of shit.  She’s very good.

    I was in the car, and I just caught a British accent asking how Biden was going to unite the country if he called child separation a moral wrong, I think was the phrasing. Also asked if Biden saw himself as a benevolent despot, I think. Did you catch who that was? It was only a few seconds of hardcore nutty.

  14. 14.

    WaterGirl

    @Mary G: Love the birds playing basketball!

    Also love that Biden is not letting that go – he continues to talk about the disparities in how COVID has impacted different races and communities differently.

  17. 17.

    dmsilev

    @Scout211: It’s raining here now, so yeah.

    Just got a personal-best time on the NYT Friday crossword..Like a Wednesday or maybe a slow Tuesday. I guess I just got into a groove; didn’t get stuck or even slowed much anywhere.

  18. 18.

    HumboldtBlue

    I see the comment box is working just fine, thank you, WG.

    I’m 20 minutes into the History of Swearing on Netflix, and it’s fucking hilarious. Now you may lean back in your chair a bit when you see it’s hosted by Nicholas Cage, but it involves much more than him and the lineup of comedians, linguists and language experts is brilliant.

    My 88-year-old dad got a Covid vaccine so that’s good. I’m still fucked but at least I’m used to it at this point.

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    @Barbara: That was on my list for bread to make early in the pandemic, but I never made it.  I couldn’t find any currants, but I thought apricot pieces might work.  What do you think?

  20. 20.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Speaking of idiots, I was curious if the Harriet $20 bill would be put back on track, looked it up (It is thankfully) and ran across this:

    Putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 Bill Is Not a Sign of Progress. It’s a Sign of Disrespect

    The Biden Administration announced its plan to return to an Obama-era initiative to put Harriet Tubman’s face on the U.S. $20 bill. Her image would replace Andrew Jackson, the notoriously racist President, known both for owning hundreds of slaves and for his brutal and genocidal policy of Indian removal. Based on current designs, a statue of Jackson would remain on the back of the bill, while Harriet Tubman would grace the front. Many Americans, across the racial spectrum, are excited about this tribute to Tubman. They view it as progress, as a necessary and long overdue disruption of the American Founding Fathers narrative. I do not.

    I know in a country that worships at the altar of capitalism–an economic system made possible by the free Black labor procured through the Transatlantic slave trade–a Black woman’s face on our currency seems like the highest honor we could bestow. But what a stunning failure of imagination. Putting Tubman on legal tender, when slaves in the U.S. were treated as fungible commodities is a supreme form of disrespect. The imagery of her face changing hands as people exchange cash for goods and services evokes for me discomfiting scenes of enslaved persons being handed over as payment for white debt or for anything white slaveholders wanted. America certainly owes a debt to Black people, but this is not the way to repay it.

    BTW, I don’t disagree with the fact that American capitalism was made possible by slavery, but this is a tad ridiculous

  21. 21.

    mali muso

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):

    Yeah, it feels very odd. Like a bad dream or something. My daughter was born a few weeks after the election in 2016, and I have had this underlying sense of existential dread hanging over me for her entire life so far. Not that the fear is gone but it’s definitely less acute.

    @Barbara: I love King Arthur recipes! Planning to make a sourdough loaf tomorrow to give to a friend as well as homemade pizza for our Friday night tradition.

  24. 24.

    Mary G

    @Scout211: We kept getting rain forecasts and no or very little rain all week, and it was sunny and warm all day, so then we checked the radar, looked north and saw the most ominous wall of black clouds coming at us I have ever seen. Several times I couldn’t decide if it wasn’t just another ridge of hills, but I’ve been here 61 years, and it wasn’t hills.

    I tried to take pictures with my crappy $40 cellphone at 65 mph on the I-5, but I’m sure they won’t be any good. Just finished battening down the hatches and waiting for the crash. The radar is also as bad as I can remember seeing.

    The young nurse who helped with my IV todays had a bracelet that was a leather thong with a large wooden bead carved with a peace symbol in the center.

    I told him I had bought the exact same one in Santa Cruz in 1969. He was not thrilled.

    I hope we’re not getting the exact same storms we had that year. See, I speak wing nut!

  25. 25.

    Nicole

    Your little lettuce sprouts are so cute!  That’s exciting that 5 out of 6 have sprouted.

    Watched episode 7 of the CBS All Access The Stand.  I think it’s… really very much not good (and counts on the audience having read the book), but I’m this far in, I guess I’ll watch the final two episodes.

  28. 28.

    mrmoshpotato

    I made homemade chocolate cake today, and it is awesome.

    Mmmmm

    I should make the brownie mix I have in my cupboards.

    It’s burger time right now.

  30. 30.

    laura

    @Amir Khalid: A cat will find you too. And how lucky you and that cat will be to have found each other. I wish you a cat as fulsome, warm and mellow as a Gretch.

  31. 31.

    Barbara

    @WaterGirl: ​  I used regular raisins and walnuts. Last fall I used cherries and raisins and walnuts. I’m not sure I would use apricots because the baking temperature is so high. It turned out much better when I made it in a non-cast iron baking pan and used a dough hook to incorporate the fruits and nuts.​​​​
    ​
    ​

  34. 34.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist:

    I was in the car, and I just caught a British accent asking how Biden was going to unite the country if he called child separation a moral wrong 

    “Your side won. Do we really need these trials in Nuremberg?”

  37. 37.

    Frosty Fred

    @cain: I lost my little cat last summer with kidney failure and decided in February it was time to look–and come home from the shelter with a pair of inseparable sisters. The timing was remarkably good, they’ve been great company.

  38. 38.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Having the last remnants of the storm move through the Bay Area today. It’s been wild. Mammoth got four feet of snow in the last 24 hours (bringing the total to eight for the storm in total). Thankfully, we didn’t have mudslides, nor significant flooding nearby.

    Other than that, it’s been another day of sending out resumes, talking to recruiters and working my network. Thankfully, the job market is finally picking up, but there’s not that much for someone with as much experience as I have, the vast majority of it is less senior positions. Have another interview on Friday, and another on Monday. Hopefully, something will come through. But it sucks being “old” in Silicon Valley, i.e. in my 50s. Ageism is definitely A Thing here.

  41. 41.

    Jay

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    keep in mind that half the people are of below average intelligence, and we all know how ”schmart” average intelligence  is.

    add in how uncommon common sense is,…..

    Had a winger come into the store today to deliver a “free peach” rant. I pointed out at the end of the rant that if “free peach” was absolute and with out consequences, his retail shopping experience would be considerably different,

    The hamster wheel in his head turned for a few minutes, then he quickly GTFO.

  43. 43.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Amir Khalid:

    I remember there was supposed to be a Treasury IG investigation into why the Tubman redesign was delayed that was announced in June 2019, led by Richard Delmar, the acting IG. Can’t find anything about it. You’d think there would be some update by now, more than a year and a half later

  46. 46.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @TaMara (HFG):

    The Man in the High Castle is pretty good. IMDBTV has a wide selection of titles available for free. I was able to watch the first 5 seasons of Murder, She Wrote as well as 70s Columbo

  48. 48.

    Brachiator

    If I were a rich man, yadda yadda yadda da

    From BBC News

    A portrait by Sandro Botticelli has sold for $92m (£67m) at auction, breaking a new record for the Italian renaissance painter.

    Young Man Holding a Roundel is believed to have been painted in the 1470s or 1480s and is considered one of Botticelli’s finest portraits.

    It sold on Thursday at a Sotheby’s auction in New York.

    The sale marks the first major indicator of the state of the art market this year.

    Prior to its sale, questions hung over the willingness of global art collectors to pay nine-figure sums for trophy works amid the coronavirus pandemic and market volatility.

    Nice to know some folks are getting back to “normal.”

    Nice painting, though.

    ETA: The rains are hitting my part of Southern California. The winds are supposed to pick up, as well.

     

  50. 50.

    Just Some Fuckhead

    We didn’t feed Jumbo quickly enough this evening because we have jobs so he pulled the plasticware container that holds the hard cat food out of the cabinet and worked the lid off and fed himself. He’s a fucking maniac for hard cat food. Several times a day, he will get in Mrs. Fuckhead’s face and start pawing her hair and eating it to let her know he needs hard cat food. His vet-ordered diet isn’t going well

    Monkey doesn’t like hard cat food so he doesn’t understand the whole thing. But Monkey isn’t averse to signaling his intentions. He NEEDS the red dot so he gets in my lap and drapes himself over the chair and end table and keeps tapping the laser pointer until I play with him.

  53. 53.

    karen marie

    I am so pissed off about Republicans trying to memory-hole their insurrection that I’ve been phoning/emailing corporate donors who are “top contributors” to my insurrectionist rep Andy Biggs. That lying little weasel claims he was just trying to protect election security. He can fuck off with that shit.

  54. 54.

    Roger Moore

    @Amir Khalid:

    The new cat, when I get him/her, will not be another Bianca; she has a place in me that will always be hers alone.

    This is the only way to do it. A close friend made sure her new cat didn’t even look like the old one just to make sure she didn’t start treating her like a replacement.

  55. 55.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @mali muso:

    Yeah, it feels very odd. Like a bad dream or something. My daughter was born a few weeks after the election in 2016, and I have had this underlying sense of existential dread hanging over me for her entire life so far. Not that the fear is gone but it’s definitely less acute.

    That’s rough. I’m sure it’s especially rough with kindergarten upcoming, huh, especially with the pandemic

  57. 57.

    frosty

    Tomorrow we’ll be starting week three of our 7th Annual Snowbird Road Trip / 2nd Annual COVID – National Park Challenge. I attempted to get campsite reservations at Utah’s Kodachrome State Park last week and it was like Springsteen tickets (gotta reserve 4 months in advance). No go. Trying for Dead Horse Pt State Park in the morning.
    We’re in Florida now at a private RV “resort”. Park reservations have been tougher this year – the next state park we’ll see will be in Mississippi. 

    But I’ll take it. Mid-60s today, below freezing at home. I’ve become a weather wimp.

  58. 58.

    FelonyGovt

    @mali muso: Thank you! Been meaning to tell you that I saw Sylvia’s Love on your recommendation and really enjoyed it!

    Also @TaMara –  Fleabag is on Amazon – if you’ve never seen it.

  61. 61.

    Brachiator

    @mali muso:

    A good friend thinks that “Sylvie’s Love” is the best of recently released films. Thanks for reminding me to make sure it is on my Watch List.

  63. 63.

    frosty

    @Amir Khalid: For me every new dog was completely different but there was always a place in my heart for the ones who left. I’m still telling stories about them 10 and more years later

  65. 65.

    opiejeanne

    Baked a pie with about half the remaining Melrose apples from our trees. Seed catalogs and garden journal on the table in the living room, marking out the sections with permanent plantings, like the blueberries and artichokes, figuring out what new things to plant this year.

    Most of you know that our greenhouse burned down just before Christmas and late on New Year’s Day a kid plowed into our fence. We’re waiting for insurance money from 2 companies so we can move ahead with repairing the fence, but we’ve already ordered a new greenhouse which won’t come until mid-April to late May. They won’t charge us until they start building ours; Covid has caused a backlog of orders of all sorts of gardening tools.

    Still trying to get used to the new decency. Not exactly euphoria, more like we’d been holding our breath for so long, and can now finally breathe. I didn’t feel that way until the 21st. We no longer need to watch Rachel and Lawrence and Nicole, but we do anyway, for a while. I’m no longer checking social media every 30 seconds so I don’t miss anything because it feels like it will be ok now if we don’t hear about it until tomorrow morning.

  66. 66.

    Jay

    @Roger Moore:

    Cappy, ( Capra), Bitsy, (Lil’Bit), Jelly, ( Mellow) all look the same. Orange/White.

    Each has/had their own personalities to the point of never mistaking one for the other, even though Cappy is long gone and I was, from the moment he met me, “his new boy”.

  67. 67.

    opiejeanne

    @frosty: There’s an option to turn off the clock on the crosswords, but it still tells me how long it took me, but it’s generally wrong on the ones I don’t finish until the following day. I work them while I’m trying to fall asleep.

  70. 70.

    Chetan Murthy

    @opiejeanne:

    We no longer need to watch Rachel and Lawrence and Nicole, but we do anyway, for a while.

    And Colbert.  So true.  Sometimes I watch ’em, sometimes I don’t.  Before, we were glued every evening, wondering what the latest atrocity would be.  So much better this way.

  74. 74.

    Kattails

    @Amir Khalid: Ahem. The cat will pick you. Resistance will be futile.  Seriously, there are so many out there in need, and they are always such distinct personalities, it’s never like “looking for a replacement”. Which of course you know & I’m glad to see the edge is coming off your hurt enough for you to be able to see ahead.

  75. 75.

    WaterGirl

    @TaMara (HFG): From what I read on Sunday, i think even very indirect works.  I’ll read up again tomorrow and make sure I’m not wrong, and if I am I’ll let you know.

    My light is very indirect where I have it, and they sprouted very fast.  Well, 5 of the 6 did.  Jury is still out on #6.

    The built in lights ARE VERY BRIGHT, so I am not sure it needs any natural light.  :-)

  82. 82.

    WaterGirl

    @Amir Khalid: As far as I can tell, they are trying to make Unity a weapon against Biden, in these press events, at least. It doesn’t work on Jen, and I don’t think it’s gonna work with Biden.

    So they can try to back Biden into a corner with the Unity stuff, but he and Jen are on their game:  slow it down, try to get them to compromise, then not vote for it anyway.

    Biden saw that game close up, and he’s not having it.

    Same thing with other questions today.  “You should just get the money to get the vaccine out, and the other stuff could all wait.”

    Jen: “No, all the pieces fit together, we are not going to do this piecemeal.”

    I have paraphrased, of course.

    Shorter Jen: “we have seen your game, and we are not playing.”

  84. 84.

    Roger Moore

    @frosty:

    I attempted to get campsite reservations at Utah’s Kodachrome State Park last week and it was like Springsteen tickets (gotta reserve 4 months in advance). No go. Trying for Dead Horse Pt State Park in the morning.

    You should try Goblin Valley State Park, too.  It’s fantastic, and the surrounding area of the San Rafael Swell is great.  It’s also a good starting point if you want to visit Horseshoe Canyon and the Great Gallery.

  88. 88.

    SFAW

    What’s going on with you guys?

    Waiting for the heating guy to (I hope) fix the burner.

    I attempted to go to bed early tonight, got upstairs, thought the room felt a little cold, noticed the room temp was five-plus degrees colder than it should be. Checked the boiler, saw the burner was not operating, reset button did nothing, cycling switches and breakers did nothing. So now I have to wait for the guy, since temps are supposed to be in single digits tonight, and being without heat is not a good idea. With any luck, I’ll get to bed by 2 AM. And then the alarm goes off at 5.

  89. 89.

    WaterGirl

    @Roger Moore: That’s what I did, too.  I thought Quiver was the most beautiful kitty ever (my kitty soulmate) so I got two who looked nothing like Quiver.  An everyday reminder not to expect them to be like Quiver, until I didn’t need the reminder any more.

    By then they were both gorgeous in their own right, and it didn’t matter anymore.

  90. 90.

    Jay

    During previously unreported meetings last summer, House Republican leaders discussed — but then largely set aside — fears that QAnon-supporting conspiracy theorist Marjorie Taylor Greene would end up a flaming trainwreck for their party.https://t.co/d8vA1eUXZ3— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) January 29, 2021

  91. 91.

    SFAW

    @Roger Moore:

    I remember reading somewhere that Bill Clinton does the NYT Sunday crossword in ink, and usually does it in about 15 minutes.

    Big deal. I can do it in less than 10. Of course, the letters I write in are not necessarily the ones needed for correct answers.

  93. 93.

    WaterGirl

    @frosty: No cheesecake recipe from Imm!

    In any case, chocolate > cheesecake.  And this is the best chocolate cake recipe ever.  King Arthur Flour recipe, of course.

    I used their cake flour today even though the recipe says unbleached, and the chocolate cake was even better than before.

  94. 94.

    NotMax

    @TaMara (HFG)

    Oh my stars and garters, there’s so, so much from which to choose. What genres/other shows are you especially partial to? Are subtitles a detriment?

    Also too, check the Amazon thread in the sidebar (slightly dated at this point, so some things may have bid adieu).

  95. 95.

    Jay

    @SFAW:

    if you have an electric stove, you can use the oven, or claypots on the stovetop, to generate heat, keep it above freezing.

  96. 96.

    WaterGirl

    @Kattails: It seems that grocery stores here don’t sell them.  I am not a fan of regular raisins, though I do like yellow raisins.  But  I haven’t seen those, either.

    I suppose I could see if Amazon sells yellow raisins.

    edit; what the heck is a zante currant???  (saw on amazon just now)

  97. 97.

    NotMax

    What’s up? Made an amazing, lip smackingly delectable variation of feijoada yesterday in the Instant Pot. Eagerly looking forward to leftovers tonight.

  99. 99.

    JanieM

    @WaterGirl:

    chocolate > cheesecake

    Totally agree in a general sort of way, but the chocolate cheesecake recipe from the Vegetarian Epicure, Book Two means you can have both at once. As the author, Anna Thomas, says in introducing the recipe, “You only live once, so do it.”

  100. 100.

    WaterGirl

    @TaMara (HFG): I have not eaten lettuce since last February, so this will be a treat.  I bought lettuce once, but with COVID it didn’t appeal to me and I never wanted to eat it because it never felt clean.  I threw it out.  That probably sounds crazy, but I couldn’t get past it.

    So fresh lettuce will be a thrill!  The one I got as a gift just happened to be the one with 6 different kinds of lettuce.  I am really excited about it, and I’m sorry i waited a month to unpack it.

    I just didn’t have the heart for much for that month or so around Christmas.  That’s okay, I can have Christmas in January and Feb.

    My other gifts are still on a chair, I may open another one tomorrow!

  102. 102.

    danielx

    Note: BJ is definitely acting weird with the latest iteration of Firefox for Windows.

    I’m told we are acquiring/fostering/something one of sister-in-law’s cats this weekend. I’m still sad about Zoey’s trip over the rainbow bridge last month, so I’m sort of dubious. But needs must – sister-in-law is retiring and travelling soon, so she is splitting up the three cats who have lived with her for ten years or so. Which is a shitty thing to do in my opinion, to just rehome long time friends and companions separately for one’s own convenience, but what do I know – I don’t read Epoch Times and I think Biden actually won the election, which she does and doesn’t. This sister-in-law (one of three) is a doc, very bright and a very nice person, but she’s also an evangelical Christian – thinks one of the other sisters, who is gay, is destined for hell. But she could yet be saved, if she renounced her identity and started going to church…

    In any case, my sense is that if she’s is willing to just leave her felines then she was never really a cat person no matter how much she’s spent on them, which I will admit is considerable for two out of three. Oh, and she’s leaving them because she wants to do mission work and then, then, relocate to Redding CA for nine months. Which is where her daughter has been going to school for three years (as best I recall) at some fundie college out there; Redding is evidently a very evangelical-friendly place. And then come back here to do….something.

    I confess that I do not understand this plan nor do I know this sister-in-law as well as I thought. But she told me once she never allowed her cats to sleep on her bed, which says a lot right there.

  105. 105.

    WaterGirl

    @JanieM:  I LOVE chocolate (good, dark chocolate) and I love cheesecake, but chocolate cheesecake just seems wrong.  I think it’s the sour taste with the chocolate that I don’t care for.

  107. 107.

    NotMax

    @Brachiator

    Brings to mind a bit from Star Trek IV:

    Spock: “Your use of language has altered since we arrived, Admiral. It is currently laced with… shall we say, more colorful metaphors.”
    Kirk: “You mean the profanity.”
    Spock: “Yes.”
    Kirk: “Well, that’s simply the way they talk here. Nobody pays any attention to you unless you swear every other word. You’ll find it in all the literature of the period.”
    Spock: “Such as?”
    Kirk: “The collected works of Jacqueline Susann. The novels of Harold Robbins.”
    Spock: “Ah. The giants.”
    .

    :)

  108. 108.

    WaterGirl

    @danielx:

    BJ is definitely acting weird with the latest iteration of Firefox for Windows.

    Did you guys all just update your browsers or something?  All of a sudden tonight, reports of oddities.

  111. 111.

    NotMax

    @WaterGirl

    Interesting enough to keep in mind to make again. Bit too cakey for sammiches but with a spread (say, cream cheese or peanut butter or hummus) me likey.

    Supposedly can follow the same procedure with other types of cake mix.

  112. 112.

    JanieM

    @WaterGirl: Vegie Epicure’s chocolate cheesecake doesn’t have a sour taste, IMO, but each to her own.

    I’ll take an Alter Eco 70% chocolate Salted Burnt Caramel bar over any variety of cheesecake anyhow. Or some Toscanini’s burnt caramel ice cream with hot fudge sauce on it, if Toscanini’s still exists, and if I could only get to Cambridge to find out.

  114. 114.

    danielx

    @WaterGirl: ​
     

    Yes, couple of days ago to v85.0 of firefox. Example: had to click to the Text tab to reply, cursor never appeared in the Visual tab and didn’t after clicking over to Text and back to Visual.

  118. 118.

    JanieM

    @WaterGirl:

    It’s not salted…I was mixing it up with another kind I like.

    The grocery stores around here carry some varieties of Alter Eco bars, but not necessarily the ones I like at any given moment. During the pandemic I’ve bought this 12-bar supply a couple of times…one little square a day is my daily treat. Funny, I can’t have salty treats in the house (e.g. chips) because I’ll just eat a whole bag until it’s gone. But although I’m much more addicted to chocolate, I don’t have a problem rationing myself reasonably well.

    I’ll look around for the burnt caramel sauce..

    ETA The headline says salted….but those bars aren’t, really. Still yummy

    ETA #2: Wilbur’s of Maine has wonderful chocolate. Just putting in a plug for the (relatively) local outfit. ;-)

  119. 119.

    NotMax

    @RogerMoore

    Policy chez NotMax is to wait a minimum of one week before letting updates to browser or to Windows through in order to see if any subsequent glitch fixes have been implemented.

  121. 121.

    Frosty Fred

    @WaterGirl: When I (Firefox on Mac) hit reply, I need to hit that blue link in order for a link to the original comment (to which I’m replying) to show in the reply box.

    ETA: that lived in the house that Jack built.

  122. 122.

    SFAW

    @Jay:

    Actually, any oven (elec or gas) would probably work, but thanks for the advice/pro tip. [I was starting to look for space heaters for the bedrooms, have a couple lying around.]

    Fortunately, whatever was wrong with the burner appears to have rectified itself. Of course, it was after the service guy showed up, but that’s OK. Now I just gotta schedule a service call for the burner. Preferably on a day when the temps are higher.

  123. 123.

    danielx

    @WaterGirl: ​
     

    Nope, that doesn’t do it – to be specific, I have to click on the Text tab to be able to respond. Cursor never appears in Visual tab no matter how one reloads Firefox etc – I have to go to Text tab for a cursor to appear.

  125. 125.

    C.S.Strowbridge

    I love my Aerogarden. I have two and I bought one for my parents and another for my sister. Once I get my apartment organized, I think I will get a third. … Maybe a fourth.

  126. 126.

    Benw

    @WaterGirl: hey sorry, I missed it! It is actually really easy, most of the time is letting it sit. I usually make it while I’m making something else in the kitchen because each round of folding just takes a sec

  127. 127.

    retr2327

    @TaMara (HFG): None, basically.  The Aerogardens come with their own LED lights (and built-in timers), 20 to 50 watts (which is a lot of light in LED terms) depending on the model.  A great way to keep fresh basil, cilantro, etc. on hand.  We’ve also had good luck with the Rouge D’Hiver lettuce, which is an heirloom romaine variant.

  128. 128.

    BlueNC

    @WaterGirl: I am far from an expert, but I think mine actually had a warning to AVOID direct sunlight because it would be too much combined with the built-in lights.

    ETA: Or what everyone else said many hours ago.

Comments are closed.