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Come on, man.

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

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Jesus, Mary, & Joseph how is that election even close?

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Technically true, but collectively nonsense

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DeSantis transforms Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.

Republicans are radicals, not conservatives.

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They fucked up the fucking up of the fuckup!

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

You can’t love your country only when you win.

Happy indictment week to all who celebrate!

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

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Tuesday Afternoon Open Thread (and PSA)

Tuesday Afternoon Open Thread (and PSA)

by | 85 Comments

This post is in: 

Looks like we could use an open thread.

PSA: Order your free Covid tests now before the program is suspected SUSPENDED on Friday because those Republican bastards apparently think Covid is over!

Ordering through the government free covid tests program will be suspended on Friday, September 2 because Congress hasn’t provided additional funding to replenish the nation’s stockpile of tests.

Order your free tests here.

Thanks to Maze Dancer for suggesting that we get the word out!

Reader Interactions

85Comments

  1. 1.

    mrmoshpotato

    Order your free Covid tests now before the program is suspected on Friday

    Done.  Thanks!

    ETA – suspected to what?  Slap all Rethuglicans?

  9. 9.

    Spanky

    Cold front with t-storms moving in, and right now the stiff dry breeze feels FANTASTIC!

    Rain and a big blow soon to come. Not so fantastic.

    Eta Steep might not be having such a fun time right now.

  10. 10.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Spanky:

    Cold front with t-storms moving in, and right now the stiff dry breeze feels FANTASTIC!

    Rain and a big blow soon to come. Not so fantastic.

    Send them here where they’ll be appreciated.

  12. 12.

    Urza

    Ordered mine.  Though the first kit I got from the government was somehow missing the liquid required for testing.  Hopefully better this time.

  23. 23.

    CaseyL

    Huh.  USPS says I’ve ordered my limit, but I don’t remember getting a third batch.  Then again, it took them months to send me my first order.

    Ah, well, I still have some tests from last time.

  26. 26.

    WaterGirl

    @CaseyL: yeah they said I’d reached my limit too. Oh well. Yes that was supposed to be suspended not suspected. I put up the post and walked out the door to take Henry to an appointment so I can’t even fix it!

    And yes they did mention either longer expiration dates or new expiration dates so even if you have some it’s probably a good idea to just order what you can now!

  28. 28.

    trollhattan

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA: You’d at least have it to yourself. Okay, you and the German heat tourists. :-)

    If Sac hits 112 lord help the poor sods in Bakersfield and Red Bluff. We somehow sidestepped highs that gaudy all summer and now, September brings it?

    Kiddo has the season’s first XC meet in Golden Gate Park Saturday and I’ll probably have to pack longjohns.

  30. 30.

    Steeplejack

    @Spanky:

    I got a dark overcast and some distant thunder, but no big storm (so far). Had to turn on some lamps. Temp down to 74° but still very high humidity.

  31. 31.

    HumboldtBlue

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA:

    My parents lived there for 35 years, my sister has lived there since ’85 as well. BiL is Newbury Park guy. I lived there for a few years as well while attending Moorpark.

    Elsewhere: While we’re speaking of Gorbachev, the tearing down of the wall and dissolution of the Soviet Union, I will take this to reiterate just how the Netflix series Kleo is. The protagonist is a Stasi assassin who gets betrayed in the run-up to reunification and then once it happens, she’s released and takes her revenge. It’s quirky, violent, filled with odd characters and a fast-paced plot.

    The lead — Jella Haase — is brilliant, she commands every scene she is in.

  35. 35.

    Charluckles

    I don’t know how things are going at other schools but if my children’s school is any indication we are in for a bad sick season.  We’ve just barely gotten going and we are already getting hammered with illness. Luckily it sounds like it’s mostly not COVID but still this early and this bad…uggh.

  37. 37.

    Evap

    I’ve also reached my limit.  I don’t remember ordering a third batch but I guess I did.

    Today one of the students in my class got a text and then announced he was notified he tested positive for Covid!   He was wearing a mask but the students next to him were not.  Dude, why did you come to class if you were waiting on a Covid test result??   He asked me if he should leave.  Uh, yes!!

  38. 38.

    HumboldtBlue

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA:

    Still do. When I was just starting as a sportswriter, I covered a Simi v TO football game. TO had some big Mormon QB headed to BYU to play football (which he did and was very meh) and he threw seven touchdown passes in the first half. That’s the last time I’ve been in TO, I believe.

  41. 41.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Spanky: Overcast and breezy here, but no rain yet.  Not clear from the radar if we’re gonna get clobbered, or get nothing.

  42. 42.

    Wapiti

    For jackals in MN or WA, I got to this site through WA State Department of Health.

    Can order kits every month, kits come in a 5-pack, delivered by Amazon, and can order kits for a second address (I got a 5-pack sent to my dad.) I got my August shipment delivered a day or two after ordering.

  43. 43.

    C Stars

    Apparently we will be living under a heat dome here in CA (and AZ, of course) for the next week or so. I do so miss rain, afternoon thunderstorms in particular. Of course they are all probably different now than the ones I remember from the summers I spent in CO as a child.

  46. 46.

    Dangerman

    @mrmoshpotato: Is this kind of like whacking day (/simpsons)? Whack the whack jobs? This has potential.

    Ya know, if I replaced the mole in Whack a Mole with a Trump figure that pops up (Whack a Hole?), I think that could be a winner. Easier than adapting one of those fill the balloon with shooting a water pistol into the clown mouth because my version sure aint using water.

  47. 47.

    Ohio Mom

    @Mike in NC: I didn’t know Gorbachev was still alive.

    I am supposed to be cleaning. My sister and her family (including sister’s 2 y.o. grandson) are coming from Detroit on Friday. Thankfully, staying in a hotel, that is the advantage of a small house, no space to put visitors up.

    On Sunday, the cousins from Louisville and Lexington come for the day (including cousin’s 3 y.o. granddaughter).

    This is a combo of “everyone is finally vaccinated” party, the moment when the littlest ones finally meet one another, and a belated celebration of Ohio Son’s graduation from community college.

    Right now I am remembering that most of these people rub me the wrong way, always have. Oh well!

    See you all later when the bathrooms are sparkling.

  48. 48.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Steve in the ATL:

    And past 100 degrees, the lack of humidity don’t mean squat.

    Tru dat. Even at 90 degrees, “but it’s a DRY heat” still means something. But at 100, it doesn’t matter if it’s dry or humid, it’s too damned hot.

  49. 49.

    MisterForkbeard

    @Charluckles: My kids both caught a cold exactly one week into school, yeah. Luckily it was a short one.

    Going to be an interesting year. I’m seeing that kids come back from being sick and wear a mask for a day or two, at least. So that’s positive.

  52. 52.

    prostratedragon

    Thanks for the tip, WG.

    @mrmoshpotato: ​ Really? Over where I am it’s been San Diego on the Lake for the last several weeks. Did make a car trip further inland last week and the temperature drop when crossing State Street going east was quite noticeable. Registered two degrees lower on the car thermometer within a block.

     

    ETA: Yeeks! Not! the San Diego HumboldtBlue was talking about above @25. I don’t know where that place is.

  53. 53.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Dangerman:

    Is this kind of like whacking day (/simpsons)? Whack the whack jobs? This has potential. 

    Well, I’m not suggesting a hallowed Rethuglican skull cracking day.  Democrats didn’t storm the Capitol after all.  But your Whack A Mole idea has me intrigued.

  56. 56.

    frosty

    I just ordered my free COVID tests. Thanks for the notice – this really is a Full Service Blog! Here’s hoping I won’t need them.

  57. 57.

    Splitting Image

    Sorry to hear about Gorbachev, but I guess you can’t complain if you make it to 91.

    He governed his country as well as anyone possibly could have, considering the situation he was given when he took over. I guess that is a good legacy to leave behind.

  58. 58.

    Central Planning

    I ordered another round of free tests a couple weeks ago. Their expiration date is mid-September :/

  59. 59.

    SiubhanDuinne

    Thank you for the reminder! I meant to order test kits a couple of days ago, but got distracted and didn’t. I’ll have more than enough for my own requirements, so if you find yourself in need of an extra, let me know and I’ll send you one.

  62. 62.

    frosty

    @lowtechcyclist: @Steve in the ATL:  Quite some time ago, while hitchhiking on the San Bernadino Freeway (now known as “The 10”) with a Santa Ana wind at 105 degrees, I could feel my eyeballs drying out.

    When it’s too hot to drink beer and you just want ice water, it’s hot!

  63. 63.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @Spanky:

    It’s been thundering and raining here for at least the past two hours, with the same forecast for another two. It does feel nice when the temperature drops almost 20 degrees in late afternoon!

  64. 64.

    Elizabelle

    RE Gorbachev:  interesting take from Reuters:

    His policy of ‘glasnost’ – free speech – allowed previously unthinkable criticism of the party and the state, but also emboldened nationalists who began to press for independence in the Baltic republics of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and elsewhere.

    Many Russians never forgave Gorbachev for the turbulence that his reforms unleashed, considering the subsequent plunge in their living standards too high a price to pay for democracy.

    After visiting Gorbachev in hospital on June 30, liberal economist Ruslan Grinberg told the armed forces news outlet Zvezda: “He gave us all freedom – but we don’t know what to do with it.”

  66. 66.

    JustRuss

    Ordered.  One of my coworker just recovered from covid, this ain’t over.  But of course Republicans don’t care. At  least they’re consistent…on this.

  67. 67.

    trollhattan

    @Steve in the ATL: And past 100 degrees, the lack of humidity don’t mean squat.

    My counterpoint is if you HAVE to endure triple digits, even going from 15% to 25% is like a smack to the kisser. 40% is right out.

  73. 73.

    Bill Arnold

    @Steve in the ATL:
    Black Flag weather (hot, very humid) means death.
    Flag Conditions

    The Wet Bulb, Globe Temperature (WBGT) Index is the most effective means of assessing the effect of heat stress on the human body. The WBGT Index is used to determine Flag Conditions as a safety standard for how long individuals can safely work out of doors in hot humid conditions.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wet-bulb_globe_temperature
    The globe temperature component of the formula is sometimes called “Goth Bulb temperature”; it is measured inside a black body, a sphere painted flat black, typically 15 cms/150 mms in diameter.

  75. 75.

    Jackie

    @Wapiti: Thank YOU!

    I already maxed out on the government supply, so your link is very appreciated! Plus, it includes updated expiration dates for kits already received.

  76. 76.

    mrmoshpotato

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    My AZ relatives: But it’s a dry heat!

    Me: Yeah, so is cremation.

    Hahaha!

    Had a co-worker years ago who worked remotely out of Queen Creek, AZ.  Always fun getting a weather report in summer.

    112 there right now according to wunderground.

    ETA – Excessive Heat Warning

  78. 78.

    Jackie

    @frosty: Upthread, Wapiti’s link provides new expanded expiration dates for kits we *thought* were due to expire. Some are expanded 12 months!

  79. 79.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @🐾BillinGlendaleCA: I just spent a week in Canada. Planes, hotels, restaurants and a couple of bars. We were outside hiking as much as possible but there were inside meals (for me, the first time dining in since February 2020). Almost a week back and no rona, still fingers crossed. I did manage to sprain my ankle on Sunday though, so there’s that. Always something, right?

  81. 81.

    Almost Retired

    @Steve in the ATL:  My oldest son went to the University of Arizona, which the kids called The University of California at Tucson.  He didn’t meet all that many actual Arizonans there.  It was a great experience and I hope the Arizona Legislature doesn’t wreck a good thing.

  82. 82.

    Steve in the ATL

    @piratedan: thanks, but she’s done now!

    @Almost Retired: that’s wildly inaccurate—there were a bunch of girls from Scottsdale to go with all the kids from SoCal!  Though my daughter’s roommate was from the Bay Area, so totally different!

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