Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Not all heroes wear capes.

We’ve had enough carrots to last a lifetime. break out the sticks.

When do we start airlifting the women and children out of Texas?

“But what about the lurkers?”

Let there be snark.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

Not so fun when the rabbit gets the gun, is it?

So it was an October Surprise A Day, like an Advent calendar but for crime.

The truth is, these are not very bright guys, and things got out of hand.

It may be funny to you motherfucker, but it’s not funny to me.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.

This really is a full service blog.

Black Jesus loves a paper trail.

Putting aside our relentless self-interest because the moral imperative is crystal clear.

Is it irresponsible to speculate? It is irresponsible not to.

Americans barely caring about Afghanistan is so last month.

Thanks to your bullshit, we are now under siege.

If you’re pissed about Biden’s speech, he was talking about you.

Hot air and ill-informed banter

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

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

Republicans don’t want a speaker to lead them; they want a hostage.

You are here: Home / Climate Change / How about that weather? / Monday Morning Open Thread: Welcome to Limbo Week

Monday Morning Open Thread: Welcome to Limbo Week

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Some of us are trying to get back into the office rhythm (which is completely pharfed, this week), and some of us are still on the road, and most of the rest of us are just trying to recover from The Holiday.

And the world is full of ‘helpful’ otters!

Leftovers can be tasty…
Monday Morning Open Thread: Welcome to Limbo Week

Reader Interactions

208Comments

  3. 3.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Baud: If they had wanted to make that ad a little more realistic it would have ended with me beating an i-phone to smithereens with a baseball bat.

  4. 4.

    Ohio Mom

    @Baud: People who want to gawk at physically disabled people?

    All snark aside, it’s a wonderful look inside of living with a disability. The disability community is very into technology as assistive devices but this commercial is for the general public.

  8. 8.

    Kristine

    Getting kinda sick of the “But it’s not Twitter” people. It took years for Twitter to become that thing they love so much.

    That said, if Musk Melonhead went bankrupt and needed to sell off assets, I would want to see a responsible adult buy it and bring it back.

  10. 10.

    Kristine

    BBC World is playing a dramatization of Susan Cooper’s The Rising Dark. I listened to the first episode last night and it sounds like it will be really good. I used ear buds–they recommend those or headphones because of the 360 audio, and to my ears the sound was amazing.

    7 episodes have been released so far–iirc it’s one a day until New Year’s. So far they’re short, less than 20 minutes each.

  12. 12.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Kristine:

    Is the true lesson one that we have to take another look at how we treat the operation an delisting of publicly traded companies? That they may have broader roles with regard to the public and communities they serve that should lead to the prohibition of acquisition by malicious individuals for the purpose of pure destruction?

  13. 13.

    indycat32

    Later today I will transfer two kittens from the cage to carriers for their trip to the clinic early tomorrow morning. Pray for me. There will be blood.

  14. 14.

    randy khan

    @Ohio Mom:

    I’ve always kind of assumed Android phones and Windows computers have a pretty similar suite of assistive technologies, but Apple seems to be the only company that actually advertises them.  This is probably the 3rd Apple ad I’ve seen that focuses on them (and definitely at least the 2nd).

    It’s kind of interesting that we don’t hear from any other company about them.  And so maybe I’m wrong and Apple is the only company with so much of an emphasis on such things.

  15. 15.

    Quinerly

    Greetings from La Posada Hotel in Winslow! We are having a wonderful trip (but I don’t want to jinx it). I feel like I have my traveling and talking to strangers MOJO back. Great time in Window Rock looking for Leaphorn and Che. 😋  Sweet drive across Navajo Nation and Hopi Lands on back roads with a stop that day at the Hopi Cultural Center for lunch. Wonderful day and night stay in Tuba City. Hit Cameron, AZ for two nights and days at the Grand Canyon. The lodges are beautifully decorated and the park wasn’t particularly crowded. As always fantastic food at the Carmeron Trading Post Restaurant…perhaps the best liver, bacon, onions I have ever had. Melt in my mouth. And frybread done the way it should be…fried in lard. We have been here at La Posada since 1pm Christmas Eve, pretty much eating, drinking, napping for 2 days. Gift bones from the kitchen for JoJo! Out of here shortly for a day at the Petrified Forest. Tomorrow is the scenic, non interstate drive for 4 nights in a camper cabin in Dead Horse Ranch SP. I love that area as a base for Sedona, Jerome, and Prescott exploration. Would love any Prescott and Jerome area suggestions. Last time I was in Sedona, I fled the traffic within an hr and retreated to a bar with music in funky Jerome.  Hope everyone is having a great holiday. Have a great day!

  16. 16.

    mrmoshpotato

    Good comic, but I really look forward to

    🎶Six feet under, six feet under, let’s go pissing, everyone 🎶

  21. 21.

    RandomMonster

    How the Grundle Stole Christmas. They’ll have to rewrite the ending of that holiday special.

  22. 22.

    Kristine

    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: Speaking as someone who thinks the internet, electricity, water, should be removed from the private sector and treated as nonprofit entities, sure. Odds of that being considered in our ‘capitalism can cure all of society’s ills’ culture? Slim to none.*

    *I’m aware of arguments against. I understand the issues. Also we’re talking about getting between rich people and their money and, well, call it a challenge.

  23. 23.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Kristine:

    “Wringing out operational inefficiency through profit motive” got us to where we’ve taken a lot of public goods and services and ruined them through deregulation and privatization.

  24. 24.

    Nelle

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: There is an interesting Hidden Brain episode on the importance of “weak” relationships (Relationships 2.0, episode 2).  That can include people you see regularly (cashiers, baristas, bus drivers) who recognize you, as well as talking to strangers.   I realized that I’ve lost nearly all of that in the last nearly three years,  which may contribute to my low spirits.  And, because of my continual cough, I haven’t even been outside for almost a week while we have sub-zero temps and windchills.  May need to bundle and shovel and just pay the coughing price. Anyway, I do love talking to strangers.. when I know it is temporary.

  25. 25.

    Quinerly

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: actually, JoJo gets overly excited around strangers….in a very friendly way and then bored when the cooing over him stops. I enjoy hearing people’s life stories and JoJo turns into those mpatient, possessive boyfriends from my years past….very short attention span. I spent over an hr in Cameron chatting with a wonderful Hopi gentleman. Turned out he was the first NA chiropractor in the country. Left Tuba City for college in Iowa for chiropractor school. Had so many doors opened for him but came back to help his people. Fascinating stories…daughter in vet school in Colorado and another attorney daughter who graduated from Stanford. The Princeling (JoJo’s nickname) lost patience within 3 minutes because it wasn’t all about him. Ended up cooling his jets in his red plaid Christmas coat in the car. He’s a good boy….excitable boy, though….

  28. 28.

    Quinerly

    @mrmoshpotato: when restaurants gift us bones, I get to save our stash of smoked kneecaps for that emergency fix.

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @Kristine: 
    @Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg: ​

    TBH, I really don’t have a problem with somebody setting their money on fire, it’s as good a thing to point and laugh at as anything else. I would prefer we overhaul our tax system and regulatory structure to make it impossible for any one person to ever accumulate so much wealth to begin with. Like that’ll ever happen.

    $44 billion could have alleviated a lot of homelessness but instead we will be left with just another pile of ashes.

  38. 38.

    Scamp Dog

    I like the Grinch’s small hand in the cartoon. It’s a nice reminder of his former nickname of “short fingered vulgarian.”

  40. 40.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    To be fair, the 44B didn’t just disappear, but got invested in other things – albeit by people who were generally already well-off.

    The problem that I see is that the current incentives in the stock market favor the entrapment of capital as opposed to using it for more development.

  41. 41.

    frosty

    @Quinerly: We loved Dead Horse Ranch SP when we were there in ‘21. I don’t have any reccos for the area that you haven’t thought of already. Liked Prescott and Jerome, thought Sedona was overrated but that could have been the traffic. It’s hard to get a feel for a place if you can’t find anywhere to park.

    ETA Enjoy the trip! BTW we found Petrified Forest to be really interesting. An underrated NP.

  42. 42.

    DrDaveChemist

    @SiubhanDuinne: Totally agree! Especially at this time of year, when too many columnists think they can dash off a parody of ‘‘twas the Night Before Christmas without any thought about how the meter is supposed to scan, it’s nice to see someone pay attention to that aspect of the poetry.

  44. 44.

    satby

    @indycat32: is the cage too big to transport? We leave ferals in the humane traps until they get to the vet. Safer for them and us.
    Edit: gonna be one of THOSE days, huh Kindle?

  45. 45.

    Barbara

    @Kristine: It’s not like that couldn’t have been posted anywhere. And it’s not like that kind of content is high value enough that I’m willing to scroll through a sea of porn and antisemitism to see it.

  49. 49.

    BellyCat

    @Nelle: Regarding “continual cough”: began suffering from same after a bad flu episode in December 2019. Tremendous improvement after being prescribed Arnuity, a fluticasone furoate inhalation powder. The cough returns only after a new cold and I simply resume usage for a week or two and it subsides again. Worth possibly investigating?

  50. 50.

    indycat32

    @satby: it’s a large dog crate. They’ve been living in it for several weeks. The clinic requires ferals be in a trap. My plan is put one in a regular cat carrier, transfer to the trap, and then do it all over again. haven’t figured out yet where to keep them overnight. Basement would be best but carrying the trap down and up steps will be difficult for me.

  52. 52.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Geminid:

    Super nice guy, and will honor John Yarmuth’s legacy.

    While I work in the heart of his district, my residence is in the sprawling gerrymander in the next district represented by the odious Thomas Massie.

  53. 53.

    satby

    @indycat32: if you have leather garden gloves, like for roses, or thick oven mitts, use those. Open the dog cage, snare one and stuff it in the humane trap fast, shut the trap, open the door to the cage, get the other and add it to the trap. Then you can put the trap in a bathtub for the night, with food and water until midnight. Tubs are easy to wash down. Less moving, less trauma for all of you.

    EDit: our cat wranglers use welding gloves 😉

  56. 56.

    indycat32

    @satby: Sounds good. I bought gloves at harbor freight in anticipation.  Only snag in your plan, the rule is one cat per trap.

  59. 59.

    satby

    @indycat32: well, that’s ok. Actually easier to put just one in and be done than opening and adding a second. Good luck. Newspapers on a tile floor are an easy cleanup too. You’re doing a great thing!

  61. 61.

    indycat32

    @satby: I guess they’re going into the bathroom, one in the tub, one on the floor.  Just wish my bathroom was  bigger.  My indoor cats will go nuts.

  62. 62.

    Emmyelle

    I think it is absolutely awesome that Chelsea knows the words to a song that was popular before she was born, better than her boomer mom does! Hilary’s cultivated IDGAF nerdy cool is everything.

  63. 63.

    Quinerly

    @frosty: The “Scared Forest” is a favorite. Very underrated and extremely doggie friendly. On my last trip with Poco, he was featured in some of the very first “On the Road” threads. I think you were also traveling in your RV at the same time. I was there on my birthday February, 2017.

    What trips you have coming up?

  65. 65.

    Ken

    @Kristine: if Musk Melonhead went bankrupt and needed to sell off assets, I would want to see a responsible adult buy it and bring it back.

    Ideally with a riff on the Godfather line, like “My offer is this. One dollar. And the sale does not include the debts from your purchase, which I would appreciate if you would put up personally.”

    But probably Musk’s situation won’t get that desperate.

  66. 66.

    mali muso

    @NotMax: ​
      My parents’ work took us abroad from the early 80s through mid 90s, and since we lived in a remote setting (no phone, no TV, no connection to the outside world other than an SSB radio), our entertainment consisted of things like books and cassette tapes. Someone sent us a huge trove of taped episodes of old tyme radio shows, and we listened to them obsessively. Jack Benny was a particular favorite followed by Burns & Allen. I have memories of coming back to the States as a 16 year old and having an in depth conversation with my great aunt about the merits of various characters in the shows, and her being so amused that a kid my age would even know about them. I still like to say I’m “39” in response to any question about age…even though no one ever gets the joke.

  67. 67.

    Ohio Mom

    @randy khan: I don’t know all that much about assistive technology since we haven’t had to avail ourselves of it (except for a short-lived failed attempt somewhere in the early-to-mid 2000s to use voice-to-text to compensate for Ohio Son’s fine motor challenges).

    I do know that the early technology that allowed nonverbal people to communicate and “speak” (think Stephen Hawking) was very expensive and therefore out of the reach of many who could have benefited. Then some clever people (might have included OTs) realized off-the-shelf technology could be used the same ways, would be cheaper and likely more user-friendly.

    A big thing now are cameras and such to provide oversight and supervision to people with disabilities living in the community. Instead of having a personal aide in the home, someone can check in over video to see all is well, use the sound system to remind the person to take their meds, etc.

    The trend is to house people in the community instead of in institutions. People who have lived in institutions for years and years are being moved out as a result of the Olmstead decision, which found institutionalizing people unnecessarily a civil rights violation (simplifying here). The decision was written by RBG.

    It feels a little too 1984-ish to me but parents I know who use these systems rave about them. And there is a real shortage for personal sides for the disabled and elderly because the pay is crappy, so this is substitute.

    The original Build Back Better included funding to raise the pay of aides to address the shortage but that was one of the things cut to make the bill able to be passed.

  68. 68.

    Ohio Mom

    @BellyCat: Yes, a post-nasal drip can cause coughing. I believe a continual cough can also sometimes be a symptom of silent reflux. Or adult-onset asthma. That’s what doctors are for, teasing these things out.

  69. 69.

    frosty

    @Quinerly: We had our reservations for Florida set up when Ms F kind of looked at me and said “What do you think about 2 weeks in Key West instead?” So we’re leaving the trailer parked and taking the Autotrain south at the end of January.
    I’d been planning another long X-Country run to the Canadian Rockies and Washington state but we’re not quite ready to get back in the trailer for that long after three trips in a row (3,5, and 5 months), so I’m working on plans to fly out to Hawaii (the only state I haven’t been in; got all the others by 1978). I’ve got ideas for 2 or 3 shorter camping trips for the Summer and Fall – Maine, southern Virginia, Ohio; we’ll see how those shake out.​

  70. 70.

    Starfish

    There is a segment on The View where they talk to Amber Ruffin about that episode of Carpool Karaoke with Vanessa Williams and Chelsea and Hillary Clinton.

    @Ohio Mom: A lot of this stuff happens in the mobile technology space at their big annual conferences. Whether it is exotifying foreigners or the disabled, the target audience is so the white westerners can feel inspired. iOS does better than Android on accessibility features, but app developers have to take up this stuff. Most don’t because building accessibility is not contributing to the bottom line. There are some laws around web accessibility, so Domino’s pizza can get sued.

  71. 71.

    sdhays

    @Ken: Not $1, but I don’t think it’s crazy to think that Twitter ends up getting sold for much less than $1B. When Elmu is finished with it, it won’t have any revenue stream, the software won’t work (smoothly), and the user base (the product) will be smaller and dramatically less attractive to advertisers. All of the value will have disappeared and he’ll be selling off the name and assets.

  74. 74.

    different-church-lady

    Until we have another platform that could give us this…

    Balloon Juice is right here, people!

  76. 76.

    indycat32

    One of the kittens escaped.  Every day for 3 weeks I barely open the door to get to the litter box while the kittens cower in the far corner.  today one made a run for freedom.  I am exhausted.

  78. 78.

    Ohio Mom

    @Starfish: Interesting. Can I ask, what is  your connection to disability tech, you know a lot.

    Re: “so the white westerners can feel inspired” I think it can sometimes be a very thin line between disability pride and disability inspiration porn.

  80. 80.

    Starfish

    @Ohio Mom: There is assistive technology everywhere.

    The move to make everything a screen with very little feedback has not been great. Having little knobs in your car was better than having an interactive screen.

    The settings that let you set your font size is assistive technology.

    Some of the big-brother-like assistive technology is stuff like “fall sensors.” You can put sensors in areas where people are likely to fall, and they can let someone know, “Hey, so-n-so fell.” No one even has to say, “I’ve fallen, and I can’t get up.” The sensors know and call for help.

  81. 81.

    Nelle

    @BellyCat: Thanks.  I’ll check it out.  I’ve been getting it almost every winter.  Except the winter in Fairbanks.  And the winter in Butte, Montana.  Weird.

  82. 82.

    Ohio Mom

    @indycat32: Maybe the kitten will come back after it sees what’s out there (I know nothing of feral cats).

    You’re still doing a great good deed. Don’t get discouraged. The remaining kittens are depending on you.

  83. 83.

    Geminid

    @frosty: The campgrounds on the Blue Ridge Parkway are pretty nice. I haven’t camped at Doughton Campground but I’ve checked it out and it looks good. It’s on the Parkway about 20 miles into North Carolina.

    Some stretches of the Parkway can be tedious driving becaue of the many curves. But it really straightens out from Roanoke south and is a dream to drive, at least until you start to approach Mt. Mitchell. Linville Falls is worth seeing even if you don’t camp there. And Pisgah campground, 25 miles past Asheville, is one of the nicest places I’ve ever camped.

    Julian Price Campground is on the Parkway very close to Blowing Rock, which is a pleasant mountain resort town in the midst of a rhododendron forest. The campground also has a lake with boats to rent and fish to catch.

  84. 84.

    Nelle

    @zhena gogolia: I like the way you put that.  I, too, am glad to be jn the other side of Christmas.  I’m missing the years we were on the other side of the world and Christmas could mean a quiet day at Ohope Beach on the east side of the North Island, NZ.

  85. 85.

    satby

    @indycat32: set the humane trap. It’ll get hungry eventually.

    Hang in there. You saved their lives, it’s all downhill (with bumps sometimes) now.

    edit: loose outside or in the house?

  87. 87.

    BellyCat

    @Ohio Mom: All true. The (excellent) Doc narrowed it down to adult onset asthma. The lungs would become inflamed due to illness, but would not fully restore after illness.  Persistent cough (the kind that suddenly explodes without warning while talking with people) would persist for MONTHS with no viral or bacterial illness. Fun feature during COVID — strangers would suddenly back away!

    Arnuity is a powdered form of the (now) OTC fluticasone sinus spray. By inhaling, the powder directly delivers to the lung lining. Truly amazing stuff if that’s Nelle’s (or others) underlying issue. A persistent problem never before experienced (due to adult onset) rapidly subsides after brief treatment, and only when needed when there is a flare-up.

    The one drawback is the cost, at close to $50 for 30 doses.  No generic version available because the good folks at GlaxoSmithKline patented the inhaler package, and they keep “improving” the package, not the drug itself, to protect the patent on the drug. Classic healthcare capitalism…. :-(

  88. 88.

    indycat32

    @satby: How do I get him (I’m hoping it’s a he, I can’t deal with even more kittens) to eat in the trap while feeding 6 (soon to be 9) other cats.  Seriously I’m asking, because I’ve been running blind since this whole thing started two years ago when a tortie and her 4 week old black kitten showed up.

  90. 90.

    satby

    @indycat32: eventually he will if it’s the only food. And, remember, you can only do what you can. We can’t save them all, though we try.

    OK, saw your update. Write me at my shop email: skinluvvers (at) gmail.com

  91. 91.

    Starfish

    @Ohio Mom: I develop an Android application for work, so I end up seeing some of the major talks about new features.

    I have been interested in how to do better on accessibility, but I haven’t been in a company that has a group devoted to accessibility, so I don’t know how to do it well.

    The biggest companies like Uber and Twitter have engineers devoted to accessibility. Some of the Uber drivers are deaf, so there is technology to help deaf drivers know who to pick up.

    The app smooths out communication with the passenger. Uber will do things like narrate travel directions to a blind passenger, so they know that they are not being driven around in circles. I have been to talks by Uber engineers where they have explained this stuff.

    With a lot of features on phones, there is tracking to see, “How well did the users adopt this new feature? Is it helping people do what we want them to do?”

    Someone was talking about how their company has an accessibility group but intentionally does not track accessibility because tracking the use of these accessibility features is digging into people’s personal medical information. It was an interesting viewpoint.

    Twitter laid off its accessibility team.

  94. 94.

    indycat32

    @satby: Outside in the detached  garage and unfortunately I didn’t close the garage door when I went to give them water and clean the litter box.

  96. 96.

    Alison Rose

    I love birbs, and the black-capped chickadee is my favorite birb. (Sadly, they don’t live where I do, although I do get to see chestnut-backed chickadees, which are a good alternative as they are also adorable.) But yes, chickadees are in fact incredibly smart and amazing. This is from a book called The Genius of Birds:

    You might not tap the chickadee as the brightest bulb in birddom. It’s known primarily for its cuteness. Round, fluffy little body in handsome gray coat and smart black cap. Short bill. Oversized head like ET. It has nothing of the slender sleekness of warblers or vireos or the swaggering canny of the crow. It’s mostly famous for its vim at the feeder and its astonishing acrobatics. As the ornithologist Edward Howe Forbush once observed, “I have seen a chickadee drop over backward from a branch in pursuit of an insect, catch it, and turning an almost complete somersault in the air, strike right side up again on the leaning trunk of the tree.”

    But the chickadee is more than just the bird of verve and agility. It’s also acrobatic in its aptitudes, curious, intelligent, and opportunistic, with a remarkable memory: “a bird masterpiece beyond all praise,” in the words of Forbush. On Louis LeFebvre’s IQ scale, the chickadee’s family rates right up there with woodpeckers.

    ROUND FLUFFY LITTLE MASTERPIECE.

  97. 97.

    schrodingers_cat

    How are my BJ peeps or should I say fellow jackals and hyenas (although under the new management, this place has become far more genteel and respectable). Hope you had a great Christmas.

    In other news my air fryer arrives this Wednesday.

  99. 99.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Starfish: I live in an over-55 condo building, and there’s a button in the master bath that I’m supposed to push every morning so management knows I didn’t die. Someone I know is moving into a similar facility and there are motion sensors in that bathroom to convey the same info.

  102. 102.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @Geminid:

    I last spoke to him while in line for drinks at an exhibition at the local art museum in 2019 (I’m a friend of his daughter in law, and on first name basis with his son). Funny part is that he is never pushy, and was happy to stand there and chat with me.

    He’s super social and won’t disappear.

  103. 103.

    Deputinize Eurasia from the Kuriles to St Petersburg

    @frosty:

    Two weeks in Key West calls for a visit to the Hogfish Grill on Stock Island – the bisque is something to cry over. It looks like a dump because it is a dump – but the food is fantastic.

  108. 108.

    Miss Bianca

    @Nelle: No one celebrates the Twelve Days of Christmas anymore? Hell, according to the old ways, Christmas just *started* yesterday!

    Actually, I wish we could persuade all the merchants in the US (and elsewhere, if the commercialism is as relentless during the months before Christmas as it is here) to market a “you need TWELVE presents for that special person in your life, not just one!” campaign in exchange for a hold off on advertising till Thanksgiving at least.

    Yeah. Na gonna happen, I know.

  109. 109.

    schrodingers_cat

    @Geminid: I actually wanted a smaller version which was out of stock, this was cheaper and available. I figured I could do other things in it besides air frying. It has a rotisserie attachment too. So I could do kebabs.

  111. 111.

    Anyway

    @Dorothy A. Winsor:

    Interesting. My former neighbor, 84, and in good shape is being pressurised by her family to give up her townhouse and move into assisted living or somewhere she won’t be alone. She has been on her own for many years and is very comfortable with her living arrangement but her family’s really pushing her — she’s not ready to do this at all,

    Looks like she could use some of those sensors in her house so her kids could keep an eye on her …

  114. 114.

    Suzanne

    Good morning, y’all.

    It is back to two-digit temperatures here and supposed to warm up all week. I am done cooking for the whole week. I might make a crockpot of tomato soup toward the end of the week, but FEH. Nothing else.

    I actually have to make one trip to the mall today, to exchange a pair of sneakers that I got for Spawn’s birthday that are a half-size too small. Other than that, I did pretty well!

  115. 115.

    Dorothy A. Winsor

    @Anyway: She and her kids must be able to find something that will work for all of them.

    What will say though, is that when we decided to move here, a friend said you can move too soon or you can more too late, and too soon is better. You can take advantage of the activities in the new place. You’re in good enough shape to make new friends. And you choose it in non-emergency situations.

  116. 116.

    Gvg

    @indycat32: I caught the last very wild feral mom in my house, after not leaving food out for a week, along with my other cat loving neighbor except in the traps. We got all the others but not cautious mama and the spay appointment was approaching. We were discouraged and I saw her hopefully hanging out on the front porch where I had used to feed her, so I had a wild idea. I locked my cat up. opened my front door and put food down inside and hid behind the front door peeking out through the crack between the door and the jam and waited. After while she risked coming in the house and I closed the door.
    She went frantically nuts too, and I had to scare her and herd her into the bathroom which was pee proof to wait till the appointment. She did use the litter box nut hid in the cabinet. I used a rug to grab her to get her in a carrier. Very wild, no chance of taming after over a year of feeding and neighbor had been doing it longer but we were tired of kittens getting killed by wild animals when we couldn’t catch them fast enough.

    Let her go after spaying. She sometimes hung around the windows where the kittens I kept were for over a year when I wasn’t too near. I kept feeding and she eventually got back to only cautious distance like before.

    if you are keeping them all somewhere enclosed, try leaving it open, with a string on the knob to close quietly from a distance. Close it before you get close and see if you got lucky. When you have time, lurk, and watch to see if you can lure it in with say, food out side the family you already have caged.

  117. 117.

    FelonyGovt

    This was my third night barely sleeping, with hip, leg and back pain. I feel like I have turned into an elderly person overnight. A new mattress is in my future but I hope that’s the solution.

  118. 118.

    Suzanne

    I should note that I got a new Instapot on Black Friday, to replace the one that was destroyed in the break-in earlier this year. I haven’t used it yet. I might make some steel-cut oats this week.

  120. 120.

    Ohio Mom

    @Miss Bianca: Twelve presents?! Be careful what you ask for.

    Ohio Dad and I alternate nights of Hanukkah and that’s four presents each. After almost thirty years of presents not just for Hanukkah but also for birthdays, anniversaries and Father’s Day, I’m just about out of ideas. All I can say is, fortunately, clothing wears out and needs replacing, then there are tickets to events and food treats.

  123. 123.

    Suzanne

    @Ohio Mom:

    After almost thirty years of presents not just for Hanukkah but also for birthdays, anniversaries and Father’s Day, I’m just about out of ideas. 

    Dude. Mr. Suzanne and I just celebrated our 13th anniversary, and I can tell you that we are already repeating. It’s bad. There are only so many board games, funny T-shirts, and books one can exchange.

  124. 124.

    zhena gogolia

    @Suzanne: My husband has given the the exact same piece of jewelry twice — twice. It’s always a little awkward, but then we get to go and exchange it and I can pick something out.

  125. 125.

    Ohio Mom

    @FelonyGovt: I missed the beginning of this story but did you try going to the doctor? A PT referral might help but for some reason, doctors don’t like making them. Maybe the insurers give them demerits.

  126. 126.

    FelonyGovt

    @Ohio Mom: Thanks, yes, I had PT earlier this year for nerve pain in my leg, and it helped for a while. (Fortunately I’m on Medicare.) It’s definitely an option going forward, but I want to start with a new mattress, because this soft memory foam one I have is not helping.

  127. 127.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @Dorothy A. Winsor: my parents moved into a 60+ building, with assistance available and a rehab/memory care unit, etc. My mom (79, my dad was 84) was very resistant to the idea of what she not-really-jokingly referred to as “the old folks home”, and it didn’t help that her sisters, older and younger, were very patronizing about it. The first time her younger sister (75ish) saw it she said, “well, it’s just like an apartment!”. I looked at her and said, ‘that’s because it’s an apartment”. I bit my tongue on “much nicer than yours”

    The first people they met were in their early sixties, both still working full time, but they loved the amenities. I’m still jealous of the gym.

  129. 129.

    Suzanne

    @zhena gogolia: Funny you mention. Mr. Suzanne gave me a lovely pair of gold huggie hoop earrings yesterday….just like the ones I was/am wearing at that very moment. I am just going to exchange them for size. I like them and wear them all the time, but I don’t need two pairs that are the same.

  131. 131.

    zhena gogolia

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: We have a really nice place nearby, and my friends who’ve moved there ironically call it “the home,” but they’re very happy. It’s a whole village, but you also have your privacy.

  133. 133.

    Ohio Mom

    @FelonyGovt: Good to hear.

    I am somewhat biased about recommending going to the doctor because there are several people in my circles who should but don’t — it’s my variation of fighting the last war. Gets tiresome listening to complaints that have an obvious answer. But you are on the case — Carry on and good luck!

    The last mattress we bought was actually too hard but that was solved with a foam topper from Target.

  136. 136.

    Citizen Alan

    @Kristine:  What I find most frustrating about such debates is that the strongest defenders of unrestrained capitalism are right wing christians.  Even the poorest, most financially desperate right winger will nevertheless defend as an article of religious faith the idea that wealthy people have the right to screw them over in order to make a buck.  One would think that only the wealthy would lworship mammon with such devotion, but apparently that can happen at all income levels.

  138. 138.

    Suzanne

    @Ohio Mom:

    Gets tiresome listening to complaints that have an obvious answer. 

    Does it ever.
    I have learned far too late that when people are complaining, they usually don’t want any suggestions, they just want to vocalize.
    But as someone who is very much in that love-as-act-of-service mode, it is incredibly, incredibly difficult to hold that in check.
    “Wow, that sucks, I’m sorry.”

  139. 139.

    JML

    welp, COVID is definitely kicking my ass. The fever sucks because it’s making it impossible to sleep. The sore throat is worse, because just swallowing is painful…imagine what happens if I cough?

    Avoid this garbage if you can, friends. You don’t want to roll the dice on getting it and being asymptomatic. Because if it goes the other way, it suuuuuucks.

  145. 145.

    Suzanne

    @JML: Not sure if you’re the one to whom I mentioned this, but I found the Zarbees throat lozenges with the mucus relief to be very helpful when I had Da Plague. I hate most cough drops and I think they don’t help, but these ones are good and effective.

  147. 147.

    trollhattan

    [repeat whinge post after getting the original thread spectacularly wrong0

    Christmas Day pilgrimage to bro and sister-in-law for paella and pie. One does not miss either.

    25 miles down the road, car suddenly runs rough, feels like a dodgy tire so we pull off the freeway at the next exit, to a dire frontage road where we shut off and walk around looking for signs of what’s wrong. Tires are fine and the exhaust smells like a badly out of tune car. Nothing wrong visible under the hood and ta-da, car will not start. Turns over, no run.

    Two hours later, AAA and Lyft deliver the dead Volvo and us back at the house. Brother wonders why he flew out from NH for this, then checks the weather back home and settles the hell down. OTOH we had a great convo with the Lyft driver, who invited us over to his house where he promised we would have the best Afghan food ever. Tempting, believe me, but I question whether his wife would have appreciated the four surprise houseguests.

    No paella, no pie, no Volvo. Merry Frickin’ Christmas.

  151. 151.

    Ohio Mom

    @Suzanne: Oh, I can do reflective listening with the best of them but I draw the line at health issues. Also come to think of it, things that may require an attorney. But those come up less frequently.

  152. 152.

    kalakal

    @JML: The best thing I ever had for a really vicious sore throat was Chloraseptic . Years ago I had very severe glandular fever, it was the only thing that helped my throat.

  154. 154.

    Geminid

    From a CNN story updated 30 minutes ago:

        …at least 25 people have died in Erie County, New York, as the result of a massive winter storm which blasted much of the U.S. in recent days, county officials said Monday…

    Erie County includes the city of Buffalo.

  155. 155.

    schrodingers_cat

    @JML: Ginger tea helps. Brew tea like you usually do, add ginger thin slices or chopped fine to the loose leaves. Add milk and sugar to taste. If you have black cardamom you can add that too

    You can also do this with a tea bag also. Heat the tea bag in the mug with water and ginger. Steep for 5 min discard the teabag and the ginger. Add milk + sugar

    ETA: What do people do with an Instant Pot besides pressure cook? I have never been interested because I already have a pressure cooker but my slow cooker is slowly falling apart and I may need to replace it soon. I was wondering whether to replace it with another slow cooker or an Instant Pot. I currently use the pressure cooker to cook beans, lentils and sometimes to boil potatoes.

  156. 156.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @Citizen Alan: ​

    defend as an article of religious faith the idea that wealthy people have the right to screw them over in order to make a buck.

    The cruelty is the point. They are defending the right to be cruel, to grind down the weak and vulnerable. You can throw in a little Cleek’s Law, but it is that devotion to the strong being allowed to hurt the weak that united plutocrats, evangelicals, and secular racists in the 80s. It’s why they so rarely conflict in their desires.

  157. 157.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Suzanne: ​ 

    See? I just made a fucking suggestion. I can’t help it.

    That’s one of the advantages of social media! Even if the intended recipient of the advice isn’t interested, someone else might think, “hey, that’s worth a try.”
    My wife’s had Covid for nearly two weeks now, and had a nasty cough most of that time – she’s practically lost her voice at times. I’ve never heard of Zarbee’s before, but I’ll see if places around here carry them. She’s got some prescription cough syrup, and it was some help at first, but lately it hasn’t been doing shit. So anything’s worth a try.​

  158. 158.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    starting to look like a pattern, though power seems to have been mostly restored in this case

    Four electricity substations in the Tacoma, Washington, area were attacked Sunday, affecting thousands of customers, authorities said.
    The Pierce County Sheriff’s Department described the early morning attacks on two Tacoma Public Utilities substations and a Puget Sound Energy facility as acts of vandalism, with those responsible unidentified.

    “It is unknown if there are any motives or if this was a coordinated attack on the power systems,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.

  159. 159.

    JML

    @lowtechcyclist: I’ve used the prescription cough syrup before and while it works for me (and knocks my ass OUT), the codeine gives me unpleasant freaky dreams, so I’m unenthusiastic about that option. I’m sorry this has been dragging on so long for you wife!

  160. 160.

    lowtechcyclist

    @Baud: ​
     

    The people understand who provides the financing for their hate.

    I doubt that most of them do, but white evangelical organizations are funded by rich people, so they control the messaging that the evangelical hoi polloi get.

    Outside of Fox News and the like, of course, but even when ranting about ‘woke corporations’ (riiiight!), they’re not going to seriously take on the interests of the extremely well-off.

  161. 161.

    Ruckus

    That Apple ad, many less than perfect people that age or disease or accidents have taken something from. And still have a life, not necessary as easy a life but a life, often fuller than many with no issues because they understand living and have to work a lot harder at it.

    One of my neighbors lives in a wheelchair. She had polio as a 1 yr old and of course one lives with that their entire life. She and I are the same age.

    I watched the entire thing because at my age I’m the rare individual, I walk 2 miles a day, because I still can and because it is good for me.

    I live in a “seniors” apt complex and I’m not even near the oldest, but I don’t have limb braces or a cane or a wheelchair. I don’t gawk at disabled people but I live around them, like that lady in the wheelchair, I pushed her around as she walked her dog this morning. My point is that I see people like in that ad every day. Mostly older but still, alive and human. Sure a lot of people won’t watch it, but I did, every second of it. Because I see people who are like that every day or when I go to the VA I see guys that have metal legs or metal arms. Or both. There are a lot of humans in this world who don’t have 2 arms and 2 legs or vision or hearing. Or are just old. Or…..

    Just remember tomorrow it could be you.

  162. 162.

    lowtechcyclist

    So this is Limbo Week. All around the Limbo Clock, are we supposed to be doing the Limbo Rock?

    I hope not, I don’t have that much energy.

  163. 163.

    Ruckus

    @FelonyGovt:

    I have a bad back so have to sleep on a rather solid surface. My bed is a 3/4 inch sheet of plywood with a 1 inch stiff foam with a 1 in memory foam topper and it is supportive, very comfortable and I sleep very well. It took me a while to find the right combination but a foam place in Michigan helped dramatically. I had been trying thicker memory foam but that makes it far worse because it isn’t supportive enough. I’ll give you info if you want it.

  165. 165.

    frosty

    @schrodingers_cat: ​
     We use the Instapot for all our chili and stews; it’s replaced the slow cooker. Food comes out the same as a slow cooker, just faster. Chicken especially comes out nicely and easy to shred.

    It could replace both your pressure cooker and slow cooker.

  168. 168.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    “The cruelty is the point.”  Somehow it makes me think of Sven, the UI designer.

    I notice the original publication date was 12/27/1994. So, seasonal too. Writing a cartoon Scott Adams was funny.

  169. 169.

    Geminid

    @Jim, Foolish Literalist: The states of Oregon and Washington have had the most reported electrical grid attacks so far. These bring the total of recent attacks there to 9 or 10.

    The Carolinas have had 5 reported I believe, including the one in Moore County, North Carolina three weeks ago that left 48,000 residents without power for several days. That one was actually two attacks 20 minutes apart, where someone broke into the fenced substations and shot up vital equipment. The FBI and the state Bureau of Investigation are on the Moore County case and but no arrests have been made.

    Evidently there has been a lot of chatter on militia-type internet sites about attacking the electrical grid, with information as to ways and means as well as locations, and calls to action.

    About ten days ago E&E News put up a good article on the attacks that referenced a Homeland Security Department threat alert from November 30 that was released to media after the Moore County attacks. An industry official was quoted as saying this was the worst threat environment he’d seen in his long career in the industry.

  170. 170.

    trollhattan

    @frosty: Until one was in the house I did not realize the Instant Pot is a pressure cooker with a brain (bwaaaains!) or that it can brown/sear things prior to fully cooking them.

    Very clever gadget and the two biggest surprises have been polenta (auto-correction suggesting “tadpole”) and risotto, which it nails with a fraction of the standard labor and time.

    The “Porridge” button remains a mystery.

  171. 171.

    Brachiator

    @Ruckus:

    That Apple ad, many less than perfect people that age or disease or accidents have taken something from. And still have a life, not necessary as easy a life but a life, often fuller than many with no issues because they understand living and have to work a lot harder at it.

    Well said. The ad also showed how accessibility features in the iPhone and other Apple products help make life easier for many people and give them greater independence.

    Even standard features help. During my work commute, I would see a deaf woman use sign language during a video chat with someone. On another occasion I noted a deaf person easily confirm a pickup order at Starbucks by showing order details on her smartphone to the server.

    Of course Apple and other companies should do more to develop and implement accessibility features, and to make them simpler to activate. But I applaud all these efforts to help people make their way through the world. We all need a little help sometimes.

  172. 172.

    different-church-lady

    @Miss Bianca:

     

    No one celebrates the Twelve Days of Christmas anymore? Hell, according to the old ways, Christmas just *started* yesterday!

    Wait ’til you hear about baseball’s pitch clock.

  175. 175.

    different-church-lady

    @Suzanne: ​
     

    when people are complaining, they usually don’t want any suggestions, they just want to vocalize.

    Some are even worse than that: if you actually solve their problem they’ll be irritated with you because you took away their ability to complain about it.

    Yeah, sure, ask me how I know this…

  176. 176.

    FelonyGovt

    @Ruckus: yes, thank you! We have been looking at a Saatva mattress in the medium firm or extra firm. They’re pricy but we cheaped out last time and I’m now regretting it.

  177. 177.

    piratedan

    sorry for being late to the thread, but I AM the skeleton crew at work today…

    If you’re into finished products, Jim Gray’s in Holbrook is a great place to stop to look at polished petrified wood and crystal formations and furniture.  If you’re into the rough stuff, they have literal piles off in the side lot to allow you to rummage thru and buy items at bulk prices…

    In Jerome, once you’ve got there, there’s pretty nifty state park IIRC that takes you thru the boom to bust history of the entire town.  Rooms set up to resemble periods at the time, good pictures that cover the growth of the town and the challenges and ultimate demise of the town.

    IIRC there’s a great pie shop advertised in Black Canyon City from the interstate between Camp Verde and Phoenix, but alas, the name escapes me.

  178. 178.

    NotMax

    @trollhattan

    Also dandy and convenient for mac and cheese. And pot roast. And soup. And asparagus (hint: always add at least minimum recommended liquid – duh! – then stand them up in a steamer basket and set cook time to zero minutes, the interval getting up to temp and pressure is enough on its own to cook them), And so much more.

    My much appreciated go-to for chicken cacciatore. If don’t mind foregoing the browning step, don’t even have to defrost the chicken pieces, just toss ’em in frozen and add 4 or 5 minutes to cook time. Also turns out a fine version of feijoada (a Brazilian black bean stew).

  180. 180.

    sab

    @Miss Bianca: I do the twelve days of Christmas, which irritates my husband. He wants it to start after Thanksgiving.

    Our compromise is pink Advent candle (symbol for joy). That’s third of four Sundays before Christmas. After that I will go all out on decorations and go through some cookie motions for Christmas, but I don’t go all out until Christmas Eve, and I expect the seasonal feeling to continue and the decorations to stay up until Twelfth Night (Epiphany).

    I like having New Years as a cheery day in the middle instead of marking the end of the year and the end of Christmas.

  181. 181.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    Until we have another platform that could give us this we won’t have a true alternative to Twitter and it’s very silly anyone would pretend otherwise

    Currently trending on my twitter feed:
    Kevin Sorbo

    Debbie Reynolds

    Haberman

    Cheesecake Factory

  182. 182.

    Jim, Foolish Literalist

    @sab: I’ll probably take my (fake) wreath down on the Epiphany (or as soon after as I remember, hey that was last week), but I’ll leave my outdoor lights up probably till the end of January and maybe longer. Most of my neighbors do the same, on our dark, edge-of-town cul-de-sac, except the one guy who is not good at the whole retirement thing and will probably take his down today, if his wife lets him, just because it’s something to do.

  183. 183.

    Tazj

    @Geminid: It’s incredibly sad isn’t it? And the authorities expect that number to rise. I’m hoping and praying they’re wrong.

    Still under a travel ban in Hamburg but feeling so lucky we didn’t lose power and that my husband wasn’t scheduled to work. He had to spend 4 days at a hotel in November in order to get to work because it was impossible to get home. He got stuck for about 1/2 an hour Friday but managed to make it home.

  184. 184.

    sab

    @Anyway: Life Alert or some of the better alternatives  (Alert One) are an idea we are pushing on our living alone friends. Not making progress. You cannot coumt one year cell phone being within reach.

    My late brother in law seemed in perfect health on Thanksgiving, saw his kids at Christmas, had a fall the next day and lay on the floor just out of reach of his cellphone for two or three days. Meanwhile whatever infection he had got worse, and was into his heart by the time they found him.

    A system with a pendant and button that you push, or a checkin system where they call someone if you don’t answer is a good intermediate step before assisted living.  We used it for my parents for years before Mom died and then for a few years more before Dad went into assisted living.

  187. 187.

    suzanne

    @piratedan: IIRC there’s a great pie shop advertised in Black Canyon City from the interstate between Camp Verde and Phoenix, but alas, the name escapes me.

     
    ROCK SPRINGS CAFE!!!

  190. 190.

    suzanne

    @sab: I have gotten some seriously good advice here, too.

    I understand the need to complain when a situation is shitty, it’s just when someone could takes steps to make a situation better than they don’t want to do it because they’re in love with their sadness….sends me up a tree.

  191. 191.

    Captain C

    @Quinerly: Jerome is one of my favorite places in the world. For eats, I recommend the Haunted Hamburger (aka The Palace) and the Flatiron. The Mine Museum is small but definitely worth the 2 clams or so admission. You mentioned live music from the last time; I’m guessing that was either in the Spirit Room or Paul & Jerry’s, the two best bars in town (the Wicked City Saloon is also good).  Main Street with its art shops is lots of fun; check out Nelly Bly Scopes to see what may be the biggest kaleidoscope shop in the world (I got a wedding gift for some friends there) and the Tommy Rocks music store (run by a good friend of mine). I haven’t been, but I’m told the nearby Gold King Mine is pretty cool.

    Down the hill in the Verde Valley I recommend Crema in Old Town Cottonwood for brunch, the 10-12 Lounge in Clarkdale for live music (especially if my friends Frizzy & Edgy are playing) and if it’s not too cold to hike, Sycamore Canyon is a 12 mile drive starting around the Tuzigoot monument; this is my favorite trail in AZ.

    Moving towards Prescott, my friend Denise is the food and beverage manager for Mortimer Farms in Dewey; she’s the best chef I know and did the food for my 40th birthday party *cough* years ago; if they’re having a good-related event it’ll be worth checking out.

    That’s what I got from the top of my head; hope your trip is fantastic!

  192. 192.

    WaterGirl

    “…when we actually discussed politics and news”

    That seems like a real kick in the teeth to Anne Laurie who puts up multiple posts on politics nearly every single day.  Betty Cracker typically puts up one or more posts on politics pretty much every day during the week.

    With the holidays, this week is the exception, but front-pagers get to enjoy the holidays like everyone else.

    For anyone who wants only politics, you can click here to just read the posts you are interested in.

    Balloon Juice Posts

    View by Topic
    View by Author

  195. 195.

    sab

    @Baud: Me. I am so old that I remember when computers and word processors were a miracle for all touch typists and particularly for blind touch typists. And there were a lot in those days.

    Then Microsoft intervened with the fucking mouse, which made touch typing obsolete. And blind typists laughable. Slowed down everyone who wasn’t a plinking away with two fingers typist. And I won’t get into the insane defaults (everyone needs a c in circle for copyright?)  that cost normal typists stupid useless minutes with every document they every typed.

    ETA I am not disabled yet (I am old and it’s coming) but Microsoft put every blind typing person I knew out of business and back on disability. I am happy that Apple is now addressing this publicly. I am sure the disabled knew about Apple’s efforts before. Took everyone a generation to go public? Whatever.

  197. 197.

    Anyway

    @WaterGirl:

    I was surprised by that. We had posts for every J6 hearing/event, POTUS pressers and speeches get dedicated posts, there’s an awesome post on UA daily — election results and the buildup were discussed/rehashed in detail. Yes, there have been more than usual fundraising posts but those are kind of political too…

    Were there political events we missed? (The press release about Santos by the NY Dem party? I kid, I kid)

  199. 199.

    Josie

    @Geminid: ​
    True, but it seems to me that the trend has been, not only to discuss politics, but to actually do something about it. I have been impressed with our emphasis lately on activism and fundraising. In a way, we are more political than ever.

  200. 200.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: Ah, now I see.

    This reminds of something I am thankful for that has helped me a lot, but which I did not think to mention in the “Reverse Festivus” thread: the Clear Comment button.

  201. 201.

    Geminid

    @Josie: I have not been here that long so I am unable to make comparisons to what this forum was like in years previous. But I agree that the recent fundraising and organizing posts have been excellent, and exciting in a way..

  202. 202.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @Geminid:  I too am a relative newcomer, and I would say that I came for the politics, which suit me just fine.  I stay, not only for the snark, but for the fine community that has welcomed me.

    … under the new management, this place has become far more genteel and respectable

    I’m guessing this is a bit tongue-in-cheek.

  203. 203.

    SteverinoCT

    @FelonyGovt: I am loving my new mattress (well, year-old). I weighed 300 lbs and my old one was like sleeping in a hammock. We got one that was firm as a table; my 130- lb wife lay on it in the store, said, “Yeah, that’s fine,” and done. Two months later, she’s whining about how hard it was. We were still within the trial period, and traded up to essentially the same mattress with three inches of memory foam. My back loves it, but now my various joints are starting to ache. Losing weight and a before-bed Tylenol keep me going. A good night’s sleep is a blessing.

  205. 205.

    Geminid

    @WaterGirl: That’s very nice of you to say! But you don’t see all the ones I clear, do you?

    I call it the “save your breath to cool your porridge” button.

  206. 206.

    WaterGirl

    @Geminid: I had never heard that expression, so I googled.

    Seems a bit like “save your breath”, as in “not worth it” or “You’ll never get through to that person” or “don’t waste your breath.”

  207. 207.

    El Muneco

    @Geminid: I fully expect federal law enforcement agencies to spring into action and step up their surveillance of left-wing groups as they did in the immediate aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing.

  208. 208.

    Ruckus

    @FelonyGovt:

    Just saw this, been away from the computer a bit.

    I’ll dig up the last invoice and send the info to WG to forward to you tomorrow morning.

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