Good evening from beautiful, smoky Sacramento. Where we have completely given up.
Odo & Hime, doing the real work of holding down the carpet. 
Hime, very pleased at her cultural expedition gains.
We’re in day 3 or 9 million of smelling like burnt wood. The cats are in an advanced state of ennui.
Plus side: It’s Stinky Pee Season!
Minus side: It’s been years since I’ve seen a bottle of Tia Maria, the only acceptably Jamaican Coffee Liqueur.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s not too bad. Just a reminder for all of us, since the world is having a rough week. Hang in there. Open Thread. Talk about some good stuff, ok?
WaterGirl
Your kitties are just so beautiful.
Mike in NC
Never cared for Black Russians and other drinks made with Kahlua.
WaterGirl
April is asparagus season here in Illinois. If you don’t want your pee to stink after eating asparagus, have some fresh pineapple with your meal.
WaterGirl
@Mike in NC: Have you tried Kahlua and milk, with a healthy splash of Rumchatta? It’s delightful.
Kabecoo
As I am now closely approaching advanced age, my sense of taste is less acute than 40 or 50 years ago. Did not care for Kahlua back then. I think I’ll try again. Then I can ponder those cat eyes….
WaterGirl
@Kabecoo: See my suggestion at #4.
debbie
@Mike in NC:
I’ve made a Kahlua Chocolate Almond Cake. You soak the cake in Kahlua before frosting.
UncleEbeneezer
I finished jury duty yesterday. Moral of the story: if you want a Million+ award for your accident, make sure your testimony doesn’t conflict with a deposition (under oath) from another accident a couple years later. It was a 7 day trial about a head-on collision involving neck, back, shoulder injuries, etc., so very, very tedious.
ruemara
I want Tia Maria, not Not Tia, Not even a Maria. You can have all the Kahlua you want. I am Jamaican. I want Tia Maria.
CarolPW
The hinges on the doors in the original Crocker Art Museum building – those are good stuff.
Mike in NC
@WaterGirl: OK, I will try that. I usually pour a bit of Irish Cream into my single cup of morning coffee.
Mary G
@UncleEbeneezer: Ugh. My sympathies.
evap
Just finishing up 10 days of vacation in Oregon. The smoke in Bend was really bad and put a damper on outdoor activities. I really feel sorry for the folks that are even closer to the fires. We are at the coast now, no sign of smoke here, I guess the winds take care of it. It is the first time in 2+ years that the entire family has been together (me, spousal unit, two daughters). It’s been fantastic!
mrmoshpotato
Those are bunches of asparagus, not urine samples. ?
Congrats on you left coasters having good luck with your asparagus. ?
WaterGirl
Does anyone else have a dog who sleeps on the bed and gets his own pillow?
raven
@ruemara: Ting and overproof.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl:
Fixed. Mmmmmm pineapple.
dmsilev
Minion: ‘I assembled Piece A and Piece B together, and now they seem to be jammed. I even tried tugging with a big pair of pliers. Help!’
Me: ‘Did you try loosening the setscrews that firmly hold A to B?’
Minion: ‘Errrr…..’
ruemara
@raven: Yes, I miss Ting too, but there’s no diet Ting.
Patricia Kayden
Hope this qualifies as good stuff:
Mary G
Imagine Nelson Muntz ha-ha sound effect:
Science beats ignorance: yay.
Mary G
@raven: How’s Artie doing?
Scout211
Cute kitties!
This year I actually planned ahead for Fire and smoke season and purchased an air purifier with a HEPA filter. It has been running all day for days and days. I think it is helping.
mndean
Good evening from beautiful smoky West Sacramento.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Mary G: Excellent!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Some friends of mine went through a White Russian phase many years ago, during the Bush presidency. The first one. I haven’t had one since.
raven
@Mary G: Not bad. She doesn’t like other dogs much and she’s got separation anxiety. I downloaded an app where I can use the iPad to see and hear her in real time. We both had to be gone for a couple of hours (for the first time) and I fired it up. She barked and howled the whole time. I think these things can be solved with work so the fact that she likes people and kids is the most important thing.
Old Dan and Little Ann
My wife and I bought Kahlua at duty free coming back from Mexico about 20 years ago. We thought we were so special.
Patricia Kayden
raven
@ruemara: Fresca is semi-close but my bride banned me from artificial sweeteners after my stroke (plus my meds eliminated grapefruit). Of course I haven’t had a drink in over 27 years so I strike out on all of it.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Good news:
Chetan Murthy
@ruemara: BevMo has it. $27 for 750ml.
WaterGirl
@debbie: oooh. recipe, please!
A Ghost to Most
Denver has been living with Cali smoke for the last two weeks.
opiejeanne
I’m almost surprised that the Crocker didn’t want to keep Hime. Such a work of art that cat is. If they’d seen Odo, they’d have wanted the set.
WaterGirl
@raven: What does that mean?
WaterGirl
@Scout211: Do you have a link for where to purchase that? I much prefer to buy something when someone else has already done the research. :-)
WaterGirl
@mndean: Good evening, and welcome!
Now that your first comment has been manually approved, future comments will show up for everyone right away.
WaterGirl
@opiejeanne:
??
Gin & Tonic
St. George’s Spirits in Alameda makes an absolutely outstanding coffee liqueur. Makes you forget everything you ever knew about Kahlua.
WaterGirl
@Gin & Tonic: Now I want to try both of them! (St. George’s and Tia Maria)
WaterGirl
Thanks for this thread, Rue.
Scout211
@WaterGirl:
LEVOIT air purifier
Replacement filter for toxins
Regular HEPA replacement filters
There were many on Amazon and there are many that are highly reviewed but I decided on this one because of the replacement filters (there is also a pet allergy filter) and the sleep mode as well as three speeds.
ruemara
@Scout211: I just looked at my poor, sputtering 15 year old desktop model and bought a room level one. We’ll see if it helps. My eyes have been burning since Tuesday.
ruemara
@WaterGirl: Oh, Ting is a grapefruit soda & overproof is rum. Ting is very Jamaican. Raven, try Zevia.
Gin & Tonic
@WaterGirl: Another very good one is Mr. Black, from Australia (Melbourne has a *very* active coffee scene.)
Mary G
@Scout211: That’s the one I bought in March 2020 and it still works.
Scout211
@Mary G:
Good to know! Thanks.
Gin & Tonic
I recall reading somewhere long ago, and it’s too late in the day for actual research, that everybody has stinky pee from asparagus, but some people are genetically incapable of smelling it.
ETA: Kind of like the cilantro thing, I guess.
Benw
Such pretty cats!
schrodingers_cat
I am redoing my home office and it is coming together pretty nicely. Are any BJers into coloring books/and or sketching drawing etc? I used to do water colors when I was a teen. Its nice to get back to drawing and coloring again. I am enjoying it much more than I thought I would.
Benw
@schrodingers_cat: my daughter is super into pour painting these days, and while it’s messier than coloring books or sketching, she’s made some AMAZING works.
dexwood
@Mike in NC: I’ve always been a fan of a dollop in coffee with cream.
Yutsano
NEKO!!!
Mart
I was learned somewhere that only about 50% know they have smelly asparagus pee, genetics.
WaterGirl
@Scout211: thank you!
debbie
@WaterGirl:
I‘ll dig it out tomorrow.
Yutsano
@schrodingers_cat: If you really want something unique, there’s a YouTube channel called TLDR News. They do various topics from an unbiased perspective or at least try to. They have a rather unique colouring book about the whole Brexit mishegas. It might be something you would enjoy.
Another Scott
Something good? I found a seemingly simple solution to Twitter’s “sign up!” popups in browsers, etc., for those of us without Twitter accounts.
Reddit was the source.
In brief, you just need to tell your browser to forbid Twitter from using cookies.
In Chrome on Windows:
– Customize (3 button menu on upper right)
– Privacy and Security (on the left)
– Click on “Cookies and other site data” on the right column
– Scroll down to “Sites that can never use cookies”. Click its Add button.
– Type “Twitter.com” (without the quotes) in the Site line, then click the Add button
You’re done.
I’m sure it’s similar in other browsers.
You might need to open new Twitter tabs for the sites you’ve been visiting, but it works fine in a new Twitter tab (e.g. twitter.com/nycsouthpaw).
HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
Sister Golden Bear
Cute feline overlords!
Bay Area isn’t nearly as smokey, but the air is still unhealthy. HEPA air filter has been running overtime. It’s a shit time to travel but the cabin fever is so bad that I need to get out of the house for a few days. However, it’s a challenge to find something within driving distance that not on fire, full or smoke, or full of plague rats.
Sister Golden Bear
On a happier note, my bathroom remodel is effectively, sans some shelves that are order! Really pleased at the results, especially the cobalt blue tile floor.
Contractor did demo to start the kitchen remodel today. I’ve hated that kitchen for almost 18 years, so I’m really happy.
Although a fun — and by “fun” I mean expensive — surprise Is that a prior owner who home-built the last kitchen remodel didn’t bother to put on underflooring. So you can look between the cracks of the floor boards straight down to the dirt in the crawl space below. It does explain why the tile floor was always ice cold during the winter.
stinger
My “good stuff” contribution: Just finished Tom Levenson’s Newton and the Counterfeiter. It’s good stuff! I’d already read and enjoyed The Hunt for Vulcan. Next up is probably Einstein in Berlin, with Measure for Measure to follow. I really love good science writing!
Scout211
@Sister Golden Bear:
Purple Air shows only yellow and green sensors on the Monterey Peninsula. It looks like the healthiest air in NorCal. Could be worth a drive.
Benw
@Sister Golden Bear: yay! I hope you’re happy through the remodel, even with the suprises!
JAFD
Inherited a bottle of Kahlua from my parents, they’d won it in ‘basket of cheer’ waybackwhen, they never opened it, I think they weren’t sure it was legal…
Bose of what I consumned of it was pourei atop vanilla or chocolate ice cream
Have dentist’s appointment in 11 hours 45 minutes. Wish me luck
Another Scott
… gradually, and then suddenly.
I suspect we’ll be reading more stories like this shortly.
Cheers,
Scott.
stinger
@JAFD: Good luck!
Steeplejack
@Mike in NC:
A little shmitz of Kahlúa in coffee hits the spot occasionally.
Steeplejack
@Chetan Murthy:
Same at Total Wine. Three locations around Sacramento.
kindness
I’m down in Modesto. Every morning I wake up to a new thin layer of ash on my car. Life in the summer in Central Cal.
Steeplejack
@WaterGirl:
The Levoit was rated a good budget pick in the Wirecutter’s ratings of air purifiers. Big write-up here.
CaseyL
Ruemara, your kitties are just the cutest. (Mine also do the rug-anchoring thing when it gets really hot: they sort of melt to expand their surface area.) I hope the smoke isn’t driving them (and you!) too crazy. This is not a good time to suddenly start coughing a lot: Is it smoke? Is it Covid?
Good culinary news: A friend and I just had dinner at an absolutely delightful place in Edmonds called Girardi’s Osteria. The food was sublime. We very much wanted dessert, but had no room after the Lobster Flatbread, Goat Cheese Bruschetta (with an olive tapenade-pesto-tomato relish topping that was to die for), Ribeye with Bernaise, and my paella. Their menu is so varied and interesting, we can’t wait to go back and work our way through it some more.
The tables aren’t quite big enough, and the food a little bit pricey, for a BJ meetup, but if the local (Western Washington) BJ crowd is game it would be fun to try.
Steeplejack
@Another Scott:
I did a one-time deletion of my Twitter cookies in Firefox (Win10), and that solved the problem. I think they dialed something back on their side, because the problem no longer shows up in either Chrome, which I rarely use, or Microsoft Edge, which I never use.
My only remaining problem is on my cell phone. I really like the Samsung Internet Browser, and the problem persists there. And there is no easy way to get rid of Twitter cookies. So on my phone I use Chrome when I’m reading Twitter. Ungainly. Ugh.
JustRuss
Here in western Oregon, were finally getting haze-free skies and cool evenings. Hope it lasts, it’s been a sultry, hazy summer.
sab
@WaterGirl: I do, I do. I had to buy me a new pillow so that Ponyo the pitbull could have my old one.
opiejeanne
@WaterGirl: Hime, the cat, is pictured beside a bag from the Crocker Museum. She describes the scene as if Hime went to the Crocker.
Uncle Cosmo
@raven: If a statin is the reason for avoiding grapefruit, you might ask your prescriber if he can switch you to rosuvastatin (generic Crestor). My trusted and trustworthy cardiologist informed me recently (after I thought to ask) that grapefruit has minimal impact on its effect. (Now I can’t find a frackin’ grapefruit in the stores to savor my soul…)
WaterGirl
@Scout211: Thank you. It looks like the first and second item both go to the air purifier page.
WaterGirl
@opiejeanne: It all makes sense now.
Another Scott
@Steeplejack: You prompted me to figure out how to block Twitter cookies on Brave on my phone. 25 MB of Twitter cookies… :-/
It looks like Samsung doesn’t give you site-specific control – at least not yet. Bummer. :-(
Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@Uncle Cosmo: The Alexandria Balducci’s had grapefruit when I was last in there (a few days ago). I see there’s a Balducci’s at JHU Hospital – check it out! (Be prepared for the prices – ouchy!)
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
Scout211
@WaterGirl:
OOPS!
Replacement filter for toxins
I hope this one works.