Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

“Alexa, change the president.”

“woke” is the new caravan.

I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

… gradually, and then suddenly.

Stop using mental illness to avoid talking about armed white supremacy.

“In this country American means white. everybody else has to hyphenate.”

Tick tock motherfuckers!

Rupert, come get your orange boy, you petrified old dinosaur turd.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

The press swings at every pitch, we don’t have to.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

You don’t get to peddle hatred on saturday and offer condolences on sunday.

We will not go quietly into the night; we will not vanish without a fight.

Quote tweet friends, screenshot enemies.

The media handbook says “controversial” is the most negative description that can be used for a Republican.

SCOTUS: It’s not “bribery” unless it comes from the Bribery region of France. Otherwise, it’s merely “sparkling malfeasance”.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

If you don’t believe freedom is for everybody, then the thing you love isn’t freedom, it is privilege.

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Saturday Morning Open Thread: The Work Goes On

Saturday Morning Open Thread: The Work Goes On

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Thank goddess for President Biden:

Good advice from a (Democratic, of course!) campaign professional:

Reader Interactions

162Comments

  2. 2.

    mrmoshpotato

    Bosses are wilding out. Some dingleberry with cupolas on his shitty manse got this sign custom printed. What a country, what a time.

    What slapdicks.

  4. 4.

    mali muso

    We are in for a rainy, cool weekend here in VA. Which means finding indoor amusements to occupy the four year old sufficiently.  Maybe the weather will chill out the cicadas!

  5. 5.

    Nukular Biskits

    Agree with Houle’s ABC but think D needs to be modified as follows:

    Have positive, AGGRESSIVE plans for how we’ll use power

    Playing defense isn’t enough.  Democrats nationally need to go on the offensive and use their power just as aggressively as are McConnell and crew.

  7. 7.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Nukular Biskits:

    Playing defense isn’t enough. Democrats nationally need to go on the offensive and use their power just as aggressively as are McConnell and crew.

    Exactly. The Rethuglicans will whine either way, so might as well punch back hard and give the obstructionist bullies something to whine about.

  8. 8.

    Elizabelle

    If I saw that sign about “short staffed”, I would take my business elsewhere.  So, it is helpful, in that respect.

  9. 9.

    p.a.

    Current plan is to spend abt six hours outside in high-40’s-degree rain, 10+ mph winds watching lacrosse in crappy UConn stadium in E Hartford Conn?. Couldn’t find club seats (if they even have them) so we’re layered up, longjohns, polarfleece, wool. We’ll see how long we last.

  11. 11.

    Nukular Biskits

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Indeed.
    I, for one, am tired of Democrats playing it “safe” as to not alienate the holy grail:  “swing voters”.  Playing it safe isn’t going to win over any Republican votes and, as you said, they’re gonna whine and lie about Democratic policies anyway.

    It’s time to fish or cut bait.

  12. 12.

    BC in Illinois

    Chris Prener, a St Louis Univ faculty member who does Missouri Covid data summaries, tells us that

    [Roy Blunt] skipped the vote on the January 6th insurrection commission to… attend a ribbon cutting for a visitor’s center at Wilson’s Creek, where pro-confederate Missouri State Guard soldiers supported another insurrection!? It was a Union defeat, and Gen. Nathaniel Lyon was killed.

  14. 14.

    OzarkHillbilly

    Percy is having an anxiety attack for reasons I can not fathom. He is up my butt every where I go, needing physical contact where ever I stand/sit/lay and I can’t find his pills. I’d ask Mama but she is asleep after working late last night and I’m not about to short circuit her needed rest. The poor dog is driving me nuts but he can’t help it.

  18. 18.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Elizabelle: Yes, I can imagine what a great place that is to work. Maybe just put up a sign : “I’m an asshole, work for me.”

  25. 25.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Nukular Biskits: 

    I, for one, am tired of Democrats playing it “safe” as to not alienate the holy grail: “swing voters”. Playing it safe isn’t going to win over any Republican votes and, as you said, they’re gonna whine and lie about Democratic policies anyway.

    It’s time to fish or cut bait.

    This is especially true because midterm elections are ALL about turnout. We will salvage the 2022 midterm, or not, depending on whether we do the things that (a) enable our voters to vote without having to jump through a ton of hoops, and (b) give them reason to show up.

  26. 26.

    Elizabelle

    @MagdaInBlack:  Just found this tweet back, from “Midnight Rambler” on the thread:

    Hopefully, they saved some time and money by printing “out of business” on the reverse side.

  27. 27.

    MomSense

    Going upta camp this weekend to see my cousins . It’s going to be a cold, rainy weekend but my dad and stepmom are going to join us so that should be a lot of fun!  May need to pack some cards.

  29. 29.

    satby

    So funny story about the doctor’s office: former toxic manager tried to come back and was shut down (primarily by me). When word of that spread, two former employees contacted me about coming back part time. No more need to hire for a bit, though it’s always ongoing in every business. Environment matters as much as $$ does.

  31. 31.

    MagdaInBlack

    @Elizabelle: ???

    I saw a story somewhere of a restaurant owner who was going to charge an extra $5 for anyone wearing a mask. He should probably get that reversible sign too.

  34. 34.

    mrmoshpotato

    @MomSense:

    Going upta camp this weekend to see my cousins . It’s going to be a cold, rainy weekend 

    I’m assuming cabin and not tents.

  35. 35.

    Elizabelle

    More twitter love for the jackass who had the sign printed:

    I hope the jetski ‘n humidor repo man takes that sign too.

    I’m very sure that this guy does have a short staff

    I am glad so few people are falling for this Help Wanted: Nobody Wants to Work Anymore horseshit they’re being served. A lot of people are seeing through this crap.

  36. 36.

    Elizabelle

    @satby:   The toxic manager is gone!  Excellent!  And the doctor sees that other employees left because of her.

  39. 39.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Elizabelle:

    If I saw that sign about “short staffed”, I would take my business elsewhere.

    Yup. It’s just a preëmptive excuse for shitty service.

  40. 40.

    Elizabelle

    And:  it turns out that the late, not great Deputy Trujillo had been suspended and reprimanded earlier for excessive use of force.  He was assigned to the juvenile detention center.

    I hope the military is using the rightwing and antivaxxing sentiment they become aware of to — soon — weed out the toxic rightwingers in their ranks.  I wish the police could do it, too.

    Hard to believe they could not find better employees.

    And we cannot afford soldiers, sailors and airmen who will apply their military training to fomenting and participating in an insurrection.

    Like Germany:  get. them. out.  We cannot afford them, and do not owe them a job.

  41. 41.

    Chief Oshkosh

    @Elizabelle: Man, I know it’s the NYPost, but that article is pretty brutal. And what the heck is up with all the “pray for the members of the department” bullshit? They’ve now had two “of their own” die from Covid, a 51-yr-old and a 33-yr-old, and 107(!) in the system test positive. Young, healthy, but stupid. And now dead. How many others did they infect along the way?

    If the rest of them are too fucking stupid to get vaccinated, then they need to be fired. Why should everyone else in the Denver criminal justice system be exposed to their fucking selfish dipshittery?

  45. 45.

    Anne Laurie

    @OzarkHillbilly: Percy is having an anxiety attack for reasons I can not fathom.

    Barometric pressure change / approaching storms?

    Our late great rescue Zevon went from ignoring thunderstorms for the first few years he lived with us, to being terrified by them — which led to panting & pacing for several hours *before* every storm, sometimes even before my sinuses verified his sensitivity. We never did figure out why the sudden change in his habits; he hadn’t been left outside in a storm, or anything like that…

    (And eventually he stopped being thunder-phobic again, as he got old & somewhat senile.  At which point Sydney briefly decided to try being thunder-phobic, but he didn’t have Zevon’s dramatic talents, so he couldn’t work the humans up like the Big Dude had. )

  48. 48.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    In Friday’s building newsletter, we got word two staff members tested positive. Frankly, I’m pissed off. As of a week ago, 100% of residents and 70% of staff are vaccinated. The J&J vaccine is sitting there in the nurse’s office, free for the asking.

    ETA: I feel like I used to feel years ago when masses of people first started using email and folks would click on a virus. At first, I was sympathetic. But after a while, I wanted to slap them.

  49. 49.

    Elizabelle

    @Chief Oshkosh:   I want to see more reporting on how many deputies and police officers refused vaccination.

    Here’s a local story.  Very much geared to “the dead officers should be classified as ‘line of duty’ deaths  because they contracted the disease while in service” but … did they contract the disease because they refused the vaccine?  Were their deaths preventable??

    No paywall.  Denver Channel 7.  

    The Colorado Department of Corrections started offering a $500 incentive for its staff members to get vaccinated in late March, as only about 44% of staff within the prison system – which does not include the county jail – had been vaccinated at the end of March.

    The city is not tracking how many of its deputies receive the vaccine.

    They should. This is public health, and also public finance.

    Duke sounds like a jerk.  A former Marine who was not a good fit for police work.  Had been suspended (60 days)  and reprimanded for abuse of an inmate in his care.  And:

    The Denver Sheriff Latino Organization said Trujillo had recently been appointed vice president of the organization.

    Wow.  Just wow.

  54. 54.

    Elizabelle

    @sab:   I mispoke about Trujillo being in Juvenile Detention.  NY Post story just says Downtown Detention.

    He was definitely suspended and reprimanded in 2017.  Denver Post obtained the records.

  56. 56.

    JMG

    Today is the first day all covid restrictions (government restrictions that is) are lifted in Massachusetts. So of course there’s also a nor’easter here for the entire three-day weekend. It’s 45, rainy and 25 mph winds with 40 mph gusts here on the Cape right now. I guess this is good news for the movie theaters. I have to go to the supermarket, but that’ll be it for reveling in our new freedom (restrictions have been anything but onerous in 2021, easy to adjust to once government learned how much safer outdoor activities were).

  57. 57.

    Elizabelle

    From the Canon City Daily Record; story from the Denver Post:

    [The late deputies] Trujillo and Herrera worked at the Downtown Detention Center, which has had an active COVID-19 outbreak since April 2020. The Denver Sheriff Department website reported 11 active cases at the detention center as of Thursday.

    Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment data shows 1,261 COVID-19 cases at the detention center, with 107 of them among staff members, since April 2020. The health agency has not connected any deaths to the detention center outbreak.

    Sheriff’s deputies, like other first responders in Colorado, became eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations in January and were among those allowed to have vaccines as the first wave of doses were available in the state, Daria Serna, a sheriff’s department spokeswoman said.

    However, the shots were not mandatory, and the department does not track how many deputies have been vaccinated because of privacy concerns, Serna said.

    “Vaccinations were a choice,” she said.

    Vaccinations also are offered to people when they are booked into the downtown jail, she said. But it is up to individuals to decide whether to accept a Moderna or Johnson & Johnson shot, she said.

  59. 59.

    MomSense

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Definitely cabin.  I’m going to stick up on supplies and do some serious cooking.  I always volunteer because my dad’s (Puritan) side of the family cannot cook.  Holy hell.

  60. 60.

    MagdaInBlack

    @MomSense: Please say there’s a fireplace, so I can be extra envious.

    Cold, rainy, food, cards, fireplace…….I could do that.?

  61. 61.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Anne Laurie: I don’t think so. Our weather is quiet now. His usual issue is riding in the back of the car without being able to touch his daddy. But this? I don’t get.

  62. 62.

    WereBear

    @p.a.: It was such a day when my family went on a road trip to a West Point football game. As we arrived and the weather worsened, my mother declared, “I’m not sitting under a garbage bag being bored one more time,” and we were dropped off at a mall, where the two of us had a girl’s day with margaritas and Pick Four.

    One of my fondest memories :)

  66. 66.

    matt

    I think it’s funny that the employees Republican shitheads want are the ones who are staying home now because they’re getting $300 a week. That’s the cream of the crop right there!

  67. 67.

    MagdaInBlack

    @WereBear: Something along those lines happened when our regular garage sale Friday was cold and rainy. My girlfriend and I opted for a  bar and then a tattoo parlor, where I got my first tattoo, from a woman, whose husband ( an ex-con she had met thru a penpal ad) spent the time entertaining me by showing me his collection of preserved scorpions. ( because I was getting a tattoo of a scorpion)

    25 years later, its still a great story ?

    ( In Kewanee  IL, should anyone need a tattoo)

  68. 68.

    Phylllis

    @Spanky: Certainly more of one than Pittsburgh* has.

    *I say that affectionately as a Pirates fan, due to their spring training in my home town. 

  69. 69.

    Jager

    I was talking with an old friend the other day, their college sophomore grandson stopped over on his way home from school. The kid had 4 bags of dirty laundry and grandma offered to wash his clothes. Among the dirty sweatshirts, boxer briefs, khakis, shorts, and jeans she discovered a rather erotic, black silk thong.
    She folded it up and sent the thong to her grandson’s girlfriend (she knows her well) with a note saying:
    “Dear ______,
    I washed this for you, honey, a girl should always wear clean and neat underwear in case you get in an accident or be involved in some other mishap.
    Looking forward to seeing you on the 4th of July.”

  70. 70.

    Betty Cracker

    Re: the Houle tweets: I’m kinda done with people attempting to regulate political discussion among Democrats. I’m not sure what the context is, so maybe the Houle’s complaint is legit, and straight-up wallowing isn’t helpful. But we’ve all endured and are still going through a harrowing national moment on multiple levels. The outcome is uncertain, and decisions our leaders are making today will have a make-or-break effect on our democracy going forward. So, what-ifs are understandable in this context. I guess self-righteous “do x instead of y” prescriptions and bad-faith assumptions are too, but they’re equally wearisome, IMO.

  71. 71.

    Elizabelle

    @MomSense:   Have fun!  Hope you have some good books along, too.

    Sounds restorative, actually.  Although maybe Korra will go a little nuts.

  76. 76.

    sab

    @WereBear: OT. I hope you are right about more cats. Our stepdaughter is moving to an apartment, so Monday we get her pets. Dog number two, and cat number six.

    Dogs are okay, except that cocker hasn’t been properly groomed since Covid, and the new-to-us pitbull thinks his ears smell edible.

    We figure we might never actually see the new cat since basement has many cat hiding places.

  77. 77.

    Cameron

    Short staffed?  I thought Stormy Daniels said that, in some other context.  My memory is going….

  78. 78.

    Spanky

    @Honus: When I was growing up in Pittsburgh, my dad called the Pirates “The Bumbles”. Some things never change.

  79. 79.

    WaterGirl

    @OzarkHillbilly: Maybe he doesn’t feel good and he’s scared?

    That happened with my dog Bailey, he seemed to get anxious out of the blue for no reason, and then it would pass after a few hours.

    It turned out to be pain-related, and I never knew.   So I would probably take Percy to the vet.  If not today, then right after the holiday.

  80. 80.

    Mike in NC

    Returning to our hotel room last night, somebody had left a plastic bag filled with the day’s newspapers in the elevator. It contained the Key West Citizen, Miami Herald, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, and the execrable tabloid New York Post. That last one is only for worshippers of the Orange Turd.

  81. 81.

    sab

    @Benw: I mostly remember Omar Vizquel as shortstop, back when baseball used to have fielding, instead of nothing but homeruns and strikeouts like nowadays.

  82. 82.

    Hilbertsubspace

    @Jager:

    The assumption that the underwear belonged to the girlfriend is probably correct.  But,  it could be awkward if otherwise.

  85. 85.

    Gin & Tonic

    @Jager: About 10 years ago when my son was a college student living in an off-campus apartment he sublet the place for a summer to a fellow student (a woman.) When he returned, she had left in a bit of a hurry, he moved back in and almost immediately fell very ill and was hospitalized. My dear wife and I went there to make sure he was well-cared for, and spent our non-hospital time cleaning the apartment, which desperately needed it. We got the message that the sub-letter’s father and brother were coming by to pick up a box of her things, which she had left and we had packed up because our son couldn’t. Our dilemma was how to pack the several large sex toys she had left in a dresser drawer.

  88. 88.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @WaterGirl: Just came back from the 3rd trip outdoors. He needed to shit. Why he didn’t do that the first 2 times is another mystery I will never solve.

  89. 89.

    WereBear

    @sab: Well, one should expect them to hide, at first. When curiosity overcomes caution.

    If such should happen, do visit the basement and remind them of what they are missing, and how they can get more upstairs!

  99. 99.

    smedley the uncertain

    @Ken: Ref to prior comment about sailing and yelling…  Guess you missed that comment.

  103. 103.

    Emma from Miami

    So, the usual “Democrats are letting us down because they haven’t yet destroyed the Republicans” circular firing squad? Check. Time to go watch Chinese drama until my mani-pedi appointment.

  104. 104.

    The Pale Scot

    @Jager:

    She folded it up and sent the thong to her grandson’s girlfriend

    Oh Boy. When u assume you make an ass out of you and me

  105. 105.

    L85NJGT

    Anyone expecting a “do-over”, and return to the pre-2016 status quo is off their meds.

  107. 107.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    @BC in Illinois: that’s just bipartisanship. republican roy blunt supporting the legacy of democrat president james buchanan & putative heir to the democrat leadership stephen douglas.

  108. 108.

    Cameron

    Republicans do seem to be providing a target-rich environment, don’t they?  Zero meaningful policies, screw anybody who’s not rich, cover up insurrection (or, in the case of Our Mattie Gaetz, promoting more of it), pumping out loony conspiracy theories (with added frissons of racism/anti-semitism), strangling popular democracy through voter suppression/rejection…..Far from surrendering to these creatures, the biggest problem I see is where to start in on the smorgasbord of shit they’re serving.

  109. 109.

    West of the Rockies

    @Elizabelle:

    Looking at his stupid Facebook postings, all I can say is, “Y’all refused the vaccine, and now y’all is dead, and I don’t care, y’all.”

  111. 111.

    MontyTheClipArtMongoose

    so, if the presidential pardon power is absolute, meaning it has no limit, what is to stop a president from pardoning himself when out of office?

    surely johnathan turdley understands this basic right of the post-presidency.

  112. 112.

    sab

    @smedley the uncertain: I don’t miss sailing at all. We had a sailfish for the kids. My brother got to work the rudder. I got to work the centerboard ( Pull it up! There’s a sandbar!) So more yelling.

  113. 113.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    So we watched the first episode of “Mare of Easttown” last night. We were really curious because of all the discussion about the Delaware County accent, which is where we live.

    I couldn’t really hear it. To my ears, it doesn’t sound at all like what I hear in the WaWa. Except the word “wutter” which one character said once.

    But I’m not a native. I’m curious if any genuine locals think they got it right.

    Also we are very amused at the contrast between real Delco and gritty TV Delco.

  114. 114.

    patrick II

    I ate a restaurant this past week inside for the first time in a while this week — off-hours and one of only two people there.  The waitress told me they were having trouble hiring staff.  I asked how much she was being paid.

    $2.30 an hour.

    Oh.

  116. 116.

    Matt

    Re: Dana Houle – I’ve been hearing the “serious professionals” say this for thirty years, and the whole time the GOP has been consolidating power at every level.

    Maybe it’s time we stop listening to these Washington-Generals-ass clowns who only know how to lose to fascists, and start listening to the Dirty Hippies who’ve been right all along.

  118. 118.

    West of the Rockies

    @patrick II:

    $2.30 an hour?!?  Is that legal?  You could make twice as much mowing lawns for $5 a pop (as an enterprising lad in 1978).

  119. 119.

    Other MJS

    @Elizabelle: 

    “Being a marine has taught me one thing: never be the first to volunteer,”

    I thought the Marine motto was “Semper Fi”. I stand corrected.

  120. 120.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @satby: Have a former co-worker who apparently knew the officer and posted on FB “another life taken too soon due to COVID.” Which he discounted as a hoax as he publicly railed against masks and vaccines. Exposed himself daily in close quarters and thus his own family. COVID was the leading cause of police deaths in 2020, despite the police being first in line for vaccination, the perception that this is the most dangerous job reduced to the danger is themselves.

  121. 121.

    Just Chuck

    I think warning the customers that you’re short-staffed is just polite.  The sign wasn’t blaming the workers.  Should have left off the pandemic verbiage: “too soon” is an understatement.

  123. 123.

    Hildebrand

    @The Thin Black Duke: Thank you!

    Good God – what more reason do you need to show up to vote than to get rid of every last one of the insurrectionist and insurrectionist-supporting Republicans?  What more reason do you need than to turf out every last freak who is gutting voting rights, reproductive rights, and civil rights?

    It’s your damn duty to get yourself to the polls to vote out these anti-democratic bastards.  I know they are making in hard – that’s exactly why we need to crawl across broken glass to vote, so that we can fix everything that the republicans are tearing down.

    If you can vote, and vote without a lot of hurdles, and you don’t because you feel that you haven’t been given a ‘reason’ to vote, well, hell, you are one privileged, self-absorbed, self-centered, asshole.

  124. 124.

    raven

    @patrick II: That’s nothing new, they live on tips

     

    The tipped minimum wage, or minimum cash wage, is the lowest amount you can pay a tipped employee per hour of work. A “tipped employee” is a worker in a service industry (e.g., restaurant) who customarily and regularly receives more than $30 per month in tips. The tipped minimum wage is lower than the regular minimum wage because employers can claim a tip credit.

    The tip credit is the difference between the minimum wage and the minimum cash wage. There is a federal tipped minimum wage. But like the regular minimum wage rate, the tipped wage can vary depending on what state your business is in.

    You must pay employees the higher of the:

    • Federal tipped minimum wage
    • State tipped minimum wage

    Federal minimum wage for tipped employees
    The federal minimum wage for servers and other tipped employees is $2.13 per hour. You must pay your tipped employees at least $2.13 per hour.

    The regular minimum wage is currently $7.25 per hour, meaning employers can claim a maximum tip credit of $5.12 per hour ($7.25 – $2.13 = $5.12).

  125. 125.

    Kristine

     @OzarkHillbilly:
    @Anne Laurie:

    Our late great rescue Zevon went from ignoring thunderstorms for the first few years he lived with us, to being terrified by them — which led to panting & pacing for several hours *before* every storm, sometimes even before my sinuses verified his sensitivity. We never did figure out why the sudden change in his habits; he hadn’t been left outside in a storm, or anything like that…

    T-storms never used to bother Gaby, either. Old Guy King would pace, try to crawl on my lap–hello 120-lb GSD-Lab mix–and scrape at the walls, and Gaby would sleep. Now Gaby is 14, and storms have upset her for the last few years. Same as Zevon–reaction begins hours before the storm arrives, with pacing and panting and bonus chihuahua shakes (she’s not a chihuahua). A friend said that if a dog’s hearing is going, it affects how they react to pressure and loud noises because it all sounds and feels different.

    I think Gaby’s hearing has degraded over the last year, although it just could’ve become more selective ?

  126. 126.

    Ocotillo

    I have been out of touch, especially commenting due to an increase in work but in case no one has said it before but the jobs these job creators are having trouble filling were often filled by undocumented aliens but that resource has been slowed down by the pandemic and SStephen Miller policies.

  128. 128.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @raven: And from what I’ve heard, many restaurants (most? all?) will require them to work many hours of “side work” with no customers and no possibility of tips, and STILL pay them $2/hr for that time.

  129. 129.

    WaterGirl

    @Ocotillo: I agree with your reasoning, but I have to protest the use of the word “aliens”. They are people, not aliens.

    It’s long past time for the use of the word “aliens” in that context to be retired.

  130. 130.

    Elizabelle

    @The Thin Black Duke:

    @Hildebrand:

    Again, thank you.  How much responsibility do we bear for people who run back into burning buildings because … both sides.

    Do your best to get the gettable.  Some people are too cynical, apathetic, or just plain ignorant.  Move on to more persuadable voters.

  134. 134.

    Suzanne

    Mr. Suzanne and I went out for dinner last night. In a restaurant. With wine. Not takeout, no kids’ menu. The food was not awesome but the company was, and the ambiance was good.

    If I ever see one of those damn signs, I will shame that restaurant.

  138. 138.

    Kent

    @Jager:I was talking with an old friend the other day, their college sophomore grandson stopped over on his way home from school. The kid had 4 bags of dirty laundry and grandma offered to wash his clothes. Among the dirty sweatshirts, boxer briefs, khakis, shorts, and jeans she discovered a rather erotic, black silk thong.
    She folded it up and sent the thong to her grandson’s girlfriend (she knows her well) with a note saying:
    “Dear ______,
    I washed this for you, honey, a girl should always wear clean and neat underwear in case you get in an accident or be involved in some other mishap.
    Looking forward to seeing you on the 4th of July.”

    Ha!    But….

    1.  Maybe it wasn’t the girlfriend’s thong…oops!
    2.  Maybe it was her grandson’s thong.
  139. 139.

    trollhattan

    [checks weather] today, 89. Nice.
    Sunday, 99, uh-oh
    Monday, 106, whaaaaaa? I do believe that would obliterate the record for the day. Fingers crossed they’re wrong.
    .

  140. 140.

    trollhattan

    @raven:

    IIRC we have Herman Cain to “thank” for the special sub-minimum wage carveout for restaurant servers.

    Thank you, covid-dead sir, hope you’re enjoying the eternal broiler accommodations.

  141. 141.

    Feathers

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I loved Mr Robot, but all of the commentary about how realistic all of the hacking scenes were, citing the guy who was a consultant to the series as evidence, cracked me up.

  142. 142.

    Kelly

    @Suzanne: Mrs Kelly and I spent most of the week on the Oregon Coast. Ate our first meal in a restaurant since the plague lockdowns. With a view of the Newport Bay. I had Salade niçoise and Mrs Kelly had oysters.

  143. 143.

    aliasofwestgate

    @West of the Rockies:  It’s called ‘tip wages’ a nasty little scam that’s been legal for ages. They  pay you sub par wages because you get tips every night, which makes you dependant on how much you get every night. Then they tax you on it later. It’s part of why i refused to be a waitress. I had no tolerance for the bullshit waitstaff got put through to get tips.  Part of why i went to KFC instead, and at least got medium wage for my 6 years there.  I remain polite as hell to waitstaff because of the crap they go through and the absolute hell of tip wages. It was 2.13$ in the mid 90s when i got my first job. It hasn’t been raised at all and i’m now in my 40s.

  144. 144.

    HRA

    @WaterGirl: I have a story to tell you that only many years later was told to me by one of my children. I did not find my green card in my purse which I needed to show up at he post office yearly. I was frantically lloking through drawers everywhere and ended up in my bed room next to the kitchen looking in  my dresser when 1 of my children asks what are you doing with 3 others in the crowd. “I am looking for my alien card.” Well they all booked out of the house to the back of the garage all upset. “Did you know she was an alien? What are we going to do? Act normal?”                                   .

  146. 146.

    James E Powell

    I think it’s time to resurrect that old line “The Democratic wing of the Democratic Party” to refer to Biden/Harris and all who stand with them. We have a long tradition to doing things for regular people; Republicans have a long history of being against everything.

  147. 147.

    HRA

    @WaterGirl: I never ever associated the word alien as being sad and knew of no one on the community not using it while they were not citizens. I think the alien movies changed it. The truth is I never remembered saying the word and I think my frustration was part of my using it on that day. Still it was funny to hear about it from the now grown up children.

  148. 148.

    James E Powell

    @HRA:

    Some years ago in an English class a student asked me angrily why immigrants are called aliens. As with most such questions, I suggested we all look it up together. We did but it did nothing to reduce his anger. He was convinced that it was a slur and there was no moving him off that position.

  151. 151.

    J R in WV

    @Sure Lurkalot: ​

    COVID was the leading cause of police deaths in 2020, despite the police being first in line for vaccination,

    If you look up the more dangerous professions — LEO is 24th out of 25 on the list, below timber workers, farmers, roofers, builders, electrical workers, road construction work, heavy equipment operators, it’s a very interesting list, actually.

    Being a cop is not very dangerous, it just makes headlines when a cop is injured or killed. When a roofer is killed on the job, who hears about that? His family, friends, fellow workers.

    And dying of Covid as LEO who never got a vaccination, that’s your own fault, not because of your profession at all, LEOs were first in line for vaccine back last winter.

    This guy was a bully who ended up like he deserved to. By dying of Covid, he probably saved many lives. He had no business being able to mistreat prisoners, to expose them to his virus load.

    Not sorry!!

  153. 153.

    HRA

    In law, an alien is any person (including an organization) who is not a citizen or a national of a specific country, although definitions and terminology differ to some degree depending upon the continent or region of Earth. More generally, however, the term “alien” is perceived as synonymous with foreign national. Personally besides hearing it from others in my area, it was used by the post office where I had to sign in once a year, and the immigration attorney when I went for the test before becoming a US citizen.

  155. 155.

    SWMBO

    @HRA: You needed to pull an alien mask out of a drawer and mutter, “Now where is my transponder for the mother ship.”

  158. 158.

    Soprano2

    @BC in Illinois: Man, I’ve gotta call Blunt’s office next week. I wondered why he missed it. That’s my neck of the woods; we have all kinds of things named for stuff from Wilson’s Creek. He was too cowardly to take the vote.

  159. 159.

    Soprano2

    I’ve been surprised that people are as understanding as they are about the staffing situation now. That said, signs like that are counterproductive. People know what’s going on. And the ones who put “no one wants to work” are assholes. I’m telling you the worker shortage is real. Even places that pay well over minimum are having trouble finding enough help. If it were just money, workers would be coming out of the woodwork by now.

  160. 160.

    pluky

    @sab: If the pit bull thinks the over due for grooming cocker’s ear smell tasty there might be a problem there. Take a wiff yourself. if any funk accompanies a dark red or black accumulation in the pinna get the dog to a vet. Ear infections in cockers are no joke.

  162. 162.

    Ramalama

    Why did Joe Biden appear at a Rock Climbing event place if he wasn’t going to do a little rock climbing himself? Do they not allow participants to wear Ray Bans?

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