Some weather we are having in the west and mid-west, huh? You know what subzero means at my house:
The ducks are in the bathroom again…
Their coop is well insulated, but at subzero, I can’t keep it at a temperature I’m comfortable with, but bringing the ducks in creates another issue. They can overheat easily, so the bathroom has to be kept pretty cold. And for reasons only my cats know, they’ve been pushing open the bathroom door in the middle of the night to visit the ducks in their crate, which leads to very loud squawking at 2 a.m.
We’ll be back to normal by Tuesday, which will make the ducks very happy. Meanwhile, in NE where my extended family resides, including my unstoppable 86 yr old dad, they’ll be frozen for most of the week. Pray for my brother and SIL as they work to keep my dad from going stir-crazy and doing something stupid, like going outside in -16 degrees, not counting windchill, weather.
This morning, CBS Sunday Morning featured something that I’m all too familiar with, but thought you might not know about….and hopefully you’ll be as amused as we have been the last 20+ years.
Frozen Dead Guy Days is upon us and it has moved from the small town of Nederland in the mountains to the great Stanley Hotel and the small town of Estes Park, just outside Rocky Mountain National Park.
Many of you probably know that the Stanley was the inspiration for The Shining. I’ve stayed at the Stanley, and it’s not all that spooky, I’m afraid. But the owner for the last 30 years has added Shining touches all around the hotel, including my favorite, the hedge maze. It’s been fun watching it grow. When it was planted, the hedges were ankle high – it’s now about shoulder height (my shoulder, let’s not get into the short vs tall people debate again, LOL).
The Stanley has been sold to a non-profit, so who knows what its future holds, but I think Frozen Dead Guy Festival is there to stay.
The story of Frozen Dead guy is as bizarre as you might think, but we’ve grown accustomed to it here, so we enjoy the fun of it. I was glad to see him move from his Tuff shed and dry ice to proper cryogenics.
Party on!
This is an open thread
jackmac
Minus-14 but deceptively sunny this morning in Chicago’s frozen suburban wasteland.
My poor dog is very uncomfortable when going out to do his business. He steps gingerly through several inches of snow and ice before deciding he’s required to pee before he can return inside. It all takes but a couple of minutes, but it seems like an eternity — for both of us.
(Also, I don’t think I’ve ever been first before. All the jackals are clearly hunkered down under thick blankets this icy morning.)
Burnspbesq
Currently a balmy 24 degrees in Austin. Forecast says below freezing until Tuesday. It’s the annual Texas Power Grid Stress Test. Worse yet, it’s cloudy, so the solar panels can’t top off the Powerwall.
Kristine
-5F here in far NE Illinois. Looking forward to the balmy teens predicted for Wednesday.
I’m close to the Lake, and so got way more rain than snow. Just a scant 2″ or so on the ground currently, which I hope is enough to protect the daffs that earlier last week decided it was spring and sprouted.
My immediate area got bumped up to USDA Zone 6 this past summer. Wondering if that’s enough to lead to reduced snows/more rain overall.
Scamp Dog
Here in beautiful downtown Thornton (northern suburb of Denver) it’s a bright sunny day, but the temperature is -5, so Meeca got a short walk this morning. She’ll need a couple more of them, but other than those I’m staying indoors.
Yarrow
That’s awesome! The festival looks like a lot of fun. Thanks for sharing.
Omnes Omnibus
Currently -6 in Madison. I skipped the gym this morning, but I do need to be somewhere for a while at noon. I should start getting ready soon.
M31
a friend used to live in Nederland, all I remember (besides Frozen Dead Guy), is it gets fucking cold there, and that mountain lions would come and have staring contests with her cats through the sliding glass door
SiubhanDuinne
Bright blue sky in the north Atlanta suburbs right now, with a high of 49° by mid-afternoon.
Alison Rose
45 here in the North Bay. Y’all can move out West any time ;)
Because cats are natural-born shit-disturbers. At all times, cats are thinking “is there something here I can fuck up?” and if the answer is yes, fucking up will occur.
Alison Rose
@Burnspbesq: Ted Cruz casually scrolling down Cancun flights on Kayak…
Chief Oshkosh
The frozen guy story on CBS Sunday Morning was a good diversion after their piece covering the horrific story about the Texas woman who had to go out of state for an abortion. We’re all familiar with this story, but I did not know that prior to Dobbs, there were over 50,000 legal abortions in Texas. The year after, there were fewer that 50.
OT (but still from Texas): I did not realize that the recent clusterfuck at the border resulted in the deaths of a mother and two children:
https://youtu.be/eaQVce58PK8?si=xa3-npnE0H1i33ek
Would be great if the Texas Republican leadership was tossed in the river, at night, with only Texas Republican voters available to pull them out and save them. It would righteously solve so very many problems.
Scout211
I do feel for all of you in the nasty weather zones. Like our horribly destructive weather in NorCal last January, the weather can be very dangerous to people, pets and property. You all have my sympathy.
In other totally O/T news, Quaker and the FDA just announced additions to their recalled products list on Friday. Now all of the cereal in my well-stocked pantry has been recalled.
If you have products on the list, you can fill out their online form to get a refund. Hopefully.
Omnes Omnibus
@Alison Rose: No interest on moving west. I, for one, was just reporting, not complaining. If you live in WI, you get winter weather.
marklar
@Chief Oshkosh: ” I did not realize that the recent clusterfuck at the border resulted in the deaths of a mother and two children.”
WWJD– Texas Style: Who Would Jesus Drown?
satby
@jackmac: PSA for you and anyone walking a dog in this weather: if the dog drops down into a position covering it’s paws get it inside ASAP. That’s the sign they’re trying to warm their feet. Dog feet get frostbite too.
Anonymous At Work
Have your siblings ask your father about the new Patriots coach. That’ll keep your father busy for a few [dozen] hours.
Alison Rose
@Omnes Omnibus: I was kidding.
JoyceH
It’s 48 but ridiculously windy here in VA’s Northern Neck. Little snowflake icons on the forecast for the next couple days, which sucks when you have to tape a baggie on your dog’s foot every time she goes out.
Here’s a topic to chew over. For over a year I’d been planning to take a tour in Egypt this fall. But I’ve decided this is the wrong year to visit that region of the world and need an alternate destination. I’ve been scrolling through lists of tours and the two that appeal to me most right now are – Greece or Cambodia. Anyone toured those places and what did you think of them?
realbtl
A balmy -11 here in NW MT, ups from -31 yesterday and -27 Friday. It might even get to +2 today.
citizen dave
I’m a regular watcher of Sunday Morning. Sometimes they piss me off with R-apologizing in their stories, etc. (Ted Koppel especially makes me cringe–fortunately he is very old and not on much). But today noticed: Texas story (as Chief Oshkosh just noted); story about a 97 year old AA woman who’s family was KKK’d out of their new house in 1939, and she went back to the site, and now Habitat for Humanity is building her a house there; and the reporter summarizing Orange Man’s plight seemed pretty direct about the mess. Reporter mentioned that November will be a reckoning for Orange Man, etc. Damn straight–whether he heads the ticket or is incapacitated, it’s a reckoning for whether the nation can kill this version of the republican party.
Anyway, happy cold snap jackals. One good thing so far is the power grid(s) seem to be performing well (and gas pipelines), but now moving into the worst of it for the east. For two days.
jackmac
@satby: Thanks for the tip! For now, the trips outside are very short and I’m keeping a close eye on him. We don’t let him out in the yard by himself. We both go out.
Alison Rose
@JoyceH: Never been to either but I’ll say Greece because that is in my top 5 of countries I wish I’d visited back when I was healthy enough to do so.
UncleEbeneezer
It’s gonna be in the 60’s here in SoCal this week. Can’t complain about that. On the other hand, pretty sure I’m having a post-Paxlovid rebound case (grrrr….). Haven’t tested positive yet but cough, headache, fatigue are all back. I will be so freakin’ pissed if after diligently getting every vaccine/booster I somehow develop Long Covid. Also this comes at the worst possible time because if I have to isolate and miss work, that adds another week of lost income to the three weeks I miss being off for the holidays with no pay.
And my wife found out last night that her sister has died (natural causes, but she was only 58). Her sister had severe schizophrenia, was abusive, manipulative, homeless, and my wife had wisely cut her out of her life years ago, but still. She lost her Mom, Dad and Sister all in one year. It’s a lot, regardless of the animosity she had with her dad and especially her sister (who she pretty much hated).
TBone
@Chief Oshkosh: they are trying like hell to start Civil War II. I lived in Galveston for a year (their flag says “Somewhere Near Texas”) and the sane people there are really cool so I can’t advocate crushing the entire state as much as I’d like to. Plus I miss Molly Ivins so much, I want to read what she’d have to say about all this. But I also met a LOT of ignorant, stubborn cowpokes and they won’t stop unless there is decisive action.
UncleEbeneezer
My sympathies to all of y’all dealing with sub-zero cold. I grew up in Boston, so I’ know how shitty that is.
trollhattan
It makes the ducks sound like the problem but really, we know the actual problem: cats. All criminals I tell ya. Just look at those guilty faces.
After dank drizzle it looks as thought the California sun is emerging. Perhaps outside today, huzzah!
ETA my home/pet owner gripe: the pond pump went out Thursday and a direct replacement is a thousand bucks. Yay me.
satby
@JoyceH: never been to Greece but I liked Cambodia a lot. I was only in and around Siem Reap. Alain did an OTR about my trip in 2018.
frosty
30 degrees and lightly snowing here on the Mason-Dixon Line. I bought a new birdseed feeder and didn’t pony up twice the price for a “squirrel proof” one. The squirrels have found it and are chowing down. Sigh.
It might not be a complete waste of money though. As soon as the squirrels are too fat to climb the tree I’ll buy the seed spiked with cayenne which supposedly they hate but birds don’t mind. We’ll see.
UncleEbeneezer
@marklar: Oh, that’s easy…
TaMara
@Anonymous At Work: LOL, as an old New England guy, you are probably correct. Or they can talk about the latest cluster that is the Red Sox offseason.
Another Scott
@JoyceH: Ankgor Wat has been on my bucket list forever, but I’ll probably never actually go.
I went to a conference in Crete in the last century – very interesting. Got to spend a few days in Athens and Thesoloniki too. It’s a great place to visit.
A Jackal recommended http://www.exoticca.com/US Maybe look around there for destination ideas.
Have fun!
Cheers,
Scott.
TBone
@UncleEbeneezer: the best thing you can do for yourself is REST (and hydrate) and that includes anything de-stressing you can do for yourself. Be assured that you’ve done everything you can vax wise and that lowers your chances of long illness. My hubby also lost his entire family within 6 months (mother, older sis, younger brother, uncle, everyone). He survived. Take care of yourself now so you can help with gentle comfort during a tough time of grief. Treat yourself like a king and don’t worry, it’s a waste of imagination. We’re all pulling for ya.
Alison Rose
@satby: lellyphants! (as I called them as a kid)
Omnes Omnibus
@JoyceH: I’ve only been to a few of the Greek islands, but I enjoyed it immensely. Cambodia would also be cool. Why don’t you check prices on both and let that inform your decision?
TaMara
@satby: OMG, my dogs! I have to scold them to come in, they love the cold. But at these temps, I worry about their feet. So I’m super strict about backyard time. They grumble, but come in. I’ve given them 2-liter soda bottles with treats inside to distract them.
Delk
The best part about -27 degree weather is that it makes 30 degrees feel balmy. Cold weather doesn’t bother me but let’s hope that asshole from Texas isn’t dropping off migrants on random street corners in the middle of the night.
trollhattan
Uh, hey, Boeing? Can we not?
“Fly today, fix tomorrow” does not really sell me. ‘K, thanks.
Another Scott
@UncleEbeneezer: That’s a lot. I’m sorry. Condolences to you and her.
Hang in there.
Best wishes,
Scott.
Another Scott
@frosty: The hot pepper stuff does work amazingly well. I get this stuff for the bags of shelled sunflower seeds I use, but I’m sure something just as effective can be made at home.
Cheers,
Scott.
raven
In the 70’s lots of folks from Champaign-Urbana moved to either Boulder-Nederland-Ruby Gulch or Tucson. Caribou Ranch is up there and was a hot spot for music recording and Dan Fogleberg along with tons of other artists recorded there!
satby
@Another Scott: @JoyceH: After the exoticca rec I was looking at various trips (Morocco!!) but the reviews gave me pause. There’s always some negative ones but they had more than I expected. So I looked for an alternative and intrepid travel was very highly rated and close in price, though they don’t include airfare. Intrepid runs their own tours, apparently exoticca subcontracts. I may still roll the dice on an exoticca trip, I’m less thrown by travel glitches than many people, but intrepid is how I’m going to go to a new place like Morocco.
UncleEbeneezer
@Another Scott: What’s the main deterrent for Cambodia? Time? Cost?
If it’s a cost thing, discount travel sites like ScottsCheapFlights, Kayak etc., sometimes have flights to Phnom Penh (sometimes Siem Reap too) that are like $800 roundtrip. Once you get to Cambodia, you can stay at pretty nice places for $60 a night and eat street food (which is amazing) for like $20 a day. All of which is to say, if you can find a reasonable flight, Ankgor Wat can probably be done for about $3K which isn’t too bad and definitely worth it. We went in 2016 (I did an OTR post about it) and it was so incredible.
UncleEbeneezer
@TBone: Thanks. The big challenge is that I have severe sleep issues due to nasal problems, and I’m a tennis coach. So rest is really hard for me to achieve in practice. Gonna take a Covid test now and see if I need to isolate.
Another Scott
@satby: Thanks for the follow-up.
Oooh! They have Alaska trips! (Exoticca doesn’t).
Gotta look around there carefully.
Cheers,
Scott.
Yarrow
@UncleEbeneezer:
It is a lot. I know it and and send my profound sympathy to your wife. No matter what relationship she had with them, it’s a big loss. Grief is weird, as I’m sure you know. She may respond in ways no one anticipates, including her. It sounds like you’re a wonderful support for her. She’s lucky to have you.
The best advice I had when I had Covid (as fully vaxxed as I was allowed) was to rest. Just rest. Drink fluids and all that but rest. If you do too much you can relapse or maybe even increase the chance of having Long Covid. That’s a maybe . but why chance it. Please take good care of yourself. The Paxlovid rebound is a total bitch. Sorry it’s happening to you. Feels terribly unfair.
TBone
@UncleEbeneezer: I use Benadryl before bed for that, intermittently. You prolly do too. Valerian is also good during the day.
satby
@TaMara: yeah, several of mine used to love the snow and cold… and then suddenly would drop to try to warm their feet. Most of my dogs were big ones too, and carry- dragging them was rough. Only happened once or twice before I just wouldn’t let them be out that long, even if they didn’t go. We’d come back inside, they’d be upset with me, and then when we went out again they’d get down to business faster 😉.
Another Scott
@UncleEbeneezer: I remember your OTR – thanks for it. We’re lucky that we don’t have too many actual constraints, it’s more a matter of getting out of our comfort zone. J is going to Seoul with her twin sister in the summer (sister’s conference). We’ve been to Japan a couple of times. But Cambodia seems like a whole different category.
I want to get to Alaska first, before it all melts…
Thanks again.
Cheers,
Scott.
satby
@UncleEbeneezer: Condolences to your wife. Complicated relationships are the hard ones to mourn in a family, but we do mourn anyway. Three family members in a year is brutal.
Brachiator
@UncleEbeneezer:
My condolences to you and your wife for her losses. That’s a lot to deal with.
Also hope you feel better soon.
Mike in NC
Opened up the local Sunday rag to see this hard-hitting bit of journalism: “VP Harris Visit To Myrtle Beach Costs Taxpayers Thousands”.
My reply was “No shit, you imbecile.”
Mike in NC
Miss Bianca
I saw the title on this article and I know exactly who the front-pager must be. :)
ETA: Granted, that’s starting to be true of every front-pager, but still…nothing like a sorta local reference point to help the little grey cells put it all together!
Baud
@Mike in NC:
She should visit more red areas. Bleed them dry.
Miss Bianca
@TaMara: I know Musher’s Secret wax on their paw pads protects against snow build-up, but wondering if it might help feet against frostbite? As a protective layering?
TBone
@marklar: if I can’t have Molly Ivins, I can have Jeff Tiedrich.
https://www.jefftiedrich.com/p/texas-guardsmen-watched-as-a-woman?publication_id=1162742&post_id=140670490&isFreemail=true&r=229wz
TaMara
My friends, whom I shared pictures in other posts of their recent cat adoptions – the 5-week-old they found in a friend’s garage and the 5 yr old Siamese they picked out from the local shelter, they now have the big old neighborhood orange tom in their house.
They had bought him a heated box, because they couldn’t stand him being outside in the winter. He loves it. They know who his people are, so they’ve been reluctant to do more. But with this cold snap and him still being outside, they’ve made a decision and brought him in…just, you know, so he can stay warm.
I just got a text – he’s curled up on a lap, purring away. I suspect he’s not going anywhere after this.
Cat distribution system at work.
jimmiraybob
“Frozen Dead Guy Days is upon us and it has moved from the small town of Nederland…”
Oh great. Nederland is the only place to properly experience FDG Day(s). This is a travesty. Thanks a lot, Joe Biden!!
Anybody headed to Estes Park for the FDGDay(s) should do an honorary run up to Nederland and pay their respects.
Thanks a lot, Obama!!
[stomps off to pout]
ArchTeryx
To be fair, the thing in the Shining wasn’t the ghosts, it was the Eldritch Abomination that had occupied the whole hotel and that the ghosts had been attached to somehow. Somehow I doubt there are any Lovecraftian entities hiding out in the walls of the Stanley.
I’m in Upstate New York, one of the few places in the country that hasn’t (yet) gotten a weather warning, and the temps are a balmy 33. Though there are snow squalls bombing through north of us, so I expect the respite to be temporary!
CaseyL
Seattle is warming up today to… 32°. Tomorrow, more of the same – lows in the 20s, highs freezing or just above – and I have a dental appointment, so I will need to go out. Brrr.
Oscar is miffed because I won’t open any of the doors to the patio or balconies, and I won’t because I have to leave the door open so he can come back in. (I have a terror of closing the door and then forgetting that he’s out there.) I don’t mind doing that when the temps are in, say, the 40s.
My electric bills are reaching the levels where Seattle City Light really should send me a Thank You card. Hard to remember when electricity was inexpensive, though in fairness our rates are still accounted to be the lowest in the US for comparably-sized cities.
Nearly 90% of our power comes from hydroelectric dams… many of which should be removed altogether if we want to restore what’s left of our salmon runs. Consumers, environmentalists, farmers, and local tribes are all on opposite sides on that issue. It’s quite a conundrum because all of them have fair arguments: someone is going to lose, and lose big, and it won’t be anyone who actually “deserves” to lose.
trollhattan
And speaking of Iowa (treasured spot of my birth) commie alert! A revered institution is being slaughtered by Utahns.
https://autos.yahoo.com/kum-changing-name-know-why-225509350.html
Frikin’ Mormons.
UncleEbeneezer
@Another Scott: I’ve only been to Vietnam, Cambodia and Mexico, so we are hardly the type of hardcore, world travelers who go crazy-far out of our comfort zone and I would say that Cambodia was pretty easy/chill. Especially if you go to Siem Reap. Sure, 10-15 minutes outside of the downtown and you are basically in the jungle, but in and around the city I don’t think there is much that would be awkward. It’s very tourist-centric so most people speak some English. There were no really sketchy neighborhoods that we went through. Aside from common-sense things like not having our passports or all of our $/cards on us, we didn’t really feel the need to take any safety precautions. And people in Cambodia were super-friendly and nice, in general.
mrmoshpotato
Oh ducks in the house! There’s an inside mystery to solve!
MagdaInBlack
My friend out in the little farm town were I grew up (Sheridan, IL) has been sending me pictures of the drifted roads and cars stuck. So far my fave pic is the snow plow in the ditch. BUT my favorite story is that the freezers at the local Walmart have broken down and the discussion on FB went looney: this is somehow political, the supply chain is broken due to covid and I guess we are all gonna die because we can’t get our frozen pizza at Walmart during a blizzard and below zero weather.
Yeah, I’m scratching my head too.
Baud
@UncleEbeneezer:
I always thought of the division between North and South Vietnam was a function of communism and the Vietnam War, but I recently learned its a cultural split that goes back centuries.
Alison Rose
@trollhattan: cockblockers
trollhattan
@CaseyL:
We’re rounding out year 1 of the great heatpump experiment, having ripped out the arthritic gas-electric HVAC Jan ’23. As predictable, the gas bill has plunged and the electricity bill crept upward, with the net outlay in our favor.
Mind, it would take decades for the lower energy bills to pay for the system, but as the old one needed replacing anyway so the only extra cash out of pocket is the higher price of going with a heatpump versus another gas-electric system. Some offset by rebates.
And wow, is it quiet compared to the old unit.
Our utility has a combo of gas, solar, wind and hydro, and they’re adding solar to try and roll out the gas entirely and make their green goal. They hope to convert the gas plants to hydrogen, so that will be fun to watch.
For gas we have PG&E, the bastards, and unless we want to replace two water heaters, a stove, and a second furnace with electric, we’re stuck.
wjca
No! No! No! Just NO.
We’ve already got too many people here. Surely there is someplace else. Oregon, maybe? Or any place else not-here.
trollhattan
@MagdaInBlack:
“So cold the freezers don’t work” was not on my 2024 bingo card. And wow, I sure can’t envision a quick fix.
debit
@Miss Bianca:
I used Musher’s Secret on my dogs and felt that it helped at the very least keep the pads supple and prevented chapping/cracking during Minnesota winters.
Glad I don’t currently have a pup. It’s -2 F and that’s going to be the high today. When I went out this morning to fill the bird feeders I threw about 5 pounds of corn, peanuts and sunflower seed on the ground for the squirrels. I know they’ll still climb up to the feeders eventually, but at least this gives the birds a chance to eat first. Critters are just trying to survive. I don’t mind paying extra for food during the winter.
trollhattan
@wjca:
We have to stanch the great outmigration to Texas and Idaho somehow. Mind, the self-sorting aspect has improved the general tenor.
MagdaInBlack
@trollhattan: Also, Meijers and Kroger have the same issue, so obviously a conspiracy.
UncleEbeneezer
@Baud: Interesting. We only went as far north as Da Nang, which is really more “central” Vietnam, afaik. So we didn’t notice a big difference between Saigon and Da Nang/Hoi An. We did notice a much different vibe in the touristy areas of Saigon (like District 2) and more remote ones like District 9. People were much less friendly and even a little leery of tourists in the latter area. Nobody was rude or anything, but people were much less friendly and we felt much more like interlopers during our day in District 9. Which is fair, because we were outsiders.
Jackie
This made me LOL
My bolding.
Geminid
@Baud: In her book Fire in the Lake (1972), Frances Fitzgerald writes about the historical and cultural differences between North and South Vietnamese in the context of the American war.
A book came out a year or so ago that tells the stories of Fitzgerald and two other woman journalists who covered the Vietnam War. I think it’s titled, “You Don’t Belong Here”.
wjca
Why? If enough people leave, we might get down to where we have enough water to support those who are left.
mrmoshpotato
@jackmac: Minus 4 by the lake in the city.
Emily B.
Since this is an open thread: When I went to the pharmacy yesterday to pick up insulin for my diabetic cat—too sweet-natured for his own good!—I was girding myself to pay the $300 or so that I’ve been paying. Instead, I was thrilled to be charged only $35. I knew that there had been some price reductions for insulin for some patients under the Biden administration, but it had never seemed to affect me. I went home and googled to figure out what happened.
So, I learned that the IRA and changes to Medicaid had already cut insulin prices for Medicare and Medicaid patients, and then some jawboning from Biden—and some new competition—pushed Sanofi to cap prices for the rest of us. Those price cuts went into effect on January 1: https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/01/politics/insulin-price-cap/index.html
Thank you, Joe Biden! I just wanted to share this story, because it’s an example of government truly making people’s lives better. Although of course my cat wasn’t the intended beneficiary of the price cap, I’m still very grateful not to have to shell out $300 a couple of times a year. (And imagine the impact on folks who have to buy insulin every month.) Honestly, it feels better than an equivalent tax cut, because I feel like I’m no longer being taken advantage of by the pharmaceutical companies.
Listen, Democrats are facing a tough election, but we do have a very compelling message in 2024.
Another Scott
@UncleEbeneezer: Thanks very much. We’ll keep it on The List. 😁
Cheers,
Scott.
schrodingers_cat
The Republican caucuses and primaries will show us the depth of support for the Orange Man among Republicans. Pundtwits like David Brooks like to claim that if the election were held today the Orange Man would win. I am not so sure of that. He has a dedicated base but his popularity is vastly overestimated by his real base i.e. the media.
Baud
@UncleEbeneezer:
Da Nang is just south of the dividing line. And I’ve heard the North is less friendly than the South.
arrieve
@JoyceH: Coincidentally I just got back from a cruise that included the Suez Canal and Red Sea that I very much hoped would be cancelled but wasn’t; fortunately we made it to our final port without incident. (We were supposed to have 4 stops in Egypt and spent several days zigzagging between Turkiye and Crete instead.)
But pre-cruise I did a three-night Classical Greece tour that was amazing. I had been to Athens before, and didn’t love it, but this was completely different. For someone who always loved mythology and ancient history, getting to see Delphi, Mycenae, and Olympia was wonderful. The weather was perfect, there were few tourists, and the food was really good. I definitely would vote for Greece!
trollhattan
@wjca: We have the water, just need to wrest enough away from agribusiness to keep the joint running.
I don’t like losing congressional seats to Texas and Florida. My personal axe to grind.
TBone
@MagdaInBlack: does no one think of storing frozen food outside? Curbside pickup at a self-serve storage bin? Maybe I’m obtuse.
TBone
@Emily B.: Willow approves!
Alison Rose
@wjca: Oh, but according to Fox and the right wing, everyone is leaving California!!! Because it’s so terrible here!!! So many taxes!!!
mrmoshpotato
@Alison Rose: LOL!
trollhattan
@Alison Rose: They taxed my tax.
wjca
@Alison Rose: The mere fact that Fox says something is probable cause to assume the contrary. :-)
Kelly
Low of 17f last night here in Oregon’s western Cascade foothills. A bit of ice on everything. We’ve been sheltered from the worst of the arctic blast until last night. A little above the pool of cold air flowing down the Columbia river gorge not quite up in the mountains. A week of storms has brought the Cascade snowpack from 0%~10% to over 90% so it did some good.
JeanneT
It’s a balmy 14 degrees here in west Michigan (really, it IS balmy compared to the temps on the west side of Lake Michigan, like -4 in Milwaukee). I haven’t done an official measurement, but my current guess is we’ve gotten 16″ snow on the ground since Friday afternoon. Yesterday the dogs had fun in the backyard, but today my beagle and my lab mix are no longer interested in bounding through the snow: it’s out, pee and return ASAP.
MagdaInBlack
@TBone: I don’t think you’re the obtuse one in this situation 😉
But it does remind me of the “OMG I can’t get my ice tea at the drive-thru” bs during covid.
Alison Rose
@trollhattan: Careful, Gavin is gonna starting t*xing you any time you say the word t*x.
Baud
@Alison Rose:
Under California law, they are required to be called Freedom Funds.
TBone
@trollhattan: today’s Matt Stoller. I knew a guy who worked at Boeing and he was a full-on Q nut job. LINK HERE
Kristine
@wjca: @Alison Rose: I think you’re right, wjca.
I’m sure there are quibbles because there always are, but it’s not the slam dunk some folks think it is. Data are a few years old, but the bottom line apparently hasn’t changed. Regressive taxation that hits lower incomes is the main issue.
Geminid
@arrieve: That 3-day tour sure sounds great.
I’m glad you returned from the Red Sea safe and sound, and I’m curious: what did you think of Istanbul’s new airport? I think it’s just 5 years old. I read that it is the busiest in Europe, taking the Hellespont as the traditional border of Europe.
Alison Rose
@Kristine: Plus, like, the choice between “slightly lower taxes” and “I get to decide what, if anything, happens inside my uterus” is not a difficult one.
catclub
@marklar: baptism through total immersion.
TaMara
@TBone: I fixed your link, it was breaking the margins. 😁
TaMara
Alert! It’s 2 degrees! Woot! Time to get stuff done.
Baud
wjca
But, of course, those are the only Texans who matter. At least as far as the current state government is concerned.
satby
@TaMara: good for them! I got a text from JGC today asking if I saw any little footprints outside. Nope, I haven’t, because all but one of the 10 cats now in my house was left outside to fend for themselves and I finally got them all inside. And a few more adopted to better owners than the ones that threw them out to fend for themselves. Tell your friends well done from me.
Martin
@Kristine: This is a pretty good analysis of how progressive state taxation systems are.
California’s income tax is highly progressive, but we also have high sales tax and a very funky property tax system that rewards people who can hold real estate (eg, not poor people). Texas isn’t the worst, but they’re close. Florida is the worst. Surprisingly, Washington is 2nd worst.
Martin
@Kristine: Also, how we pay for things matters more than people realize. Sales taxes are embedded in other expenses and are really hard to get an overall sense of the cost. But property taxes often show up in a single bill with a really high dollar outlay. They may lower than the sales tax you pay across the year, but it sure doesn’t feel that way, and you often have no way to compare them. Income taxes are usually in the middle – deducted a bit at a time from your pay, a lot of people who get a rebate at tax time almost feel like they’re coming out ahead.
I’m not fond of what often turns into deception to preserve electability in how taxation is often structured. I think it’d be a bit better if we were more uniform with how we do it, and more open about how each persons tax burden is distributed, and how that burden is distributed across the populace.
Kristine
@Alison Rose: Truer words….
TBone
@TaMara: thank you!
TBone
@Baud: let’s GO!
mrmoshpotato
@TaMara: OK, I need 5 more degrees in Chicago before I can do anything. Guess I’ll see how this old Bengals-Chiefs is going. Go Cowboys!
Kristine
@Martin:
I agree with you. More openness may also allow for tax dollars being distributed more equitably and with greater transparency so that those receiving them—thinking certain state govts—use them for the intended purposes and not as ways to plug holes and fund other projects.
It would also mean more howls from the ‘all taxation is theft’ crowd, but I fear they will always be with us.
satby
@TBone: everyone stores food outside in winter up north. Free freezer space! Or refrigerator, depending on temp. Just not if it gets warmer than 38-40.
CaseyL
@trollhattan:
I looked into getting a mini-split. Alas, I would need my circuit box expanded, and that alone added like $4-5K to the estimate, which was already pretty high because there’s only one place we could put the main unit and we’d have to duct clear across the whole house from there.
Then I looked into whether heat pumps are really more efficient than electric baseboard, which is what I currently have, and the verdict was “No, not really.”
So the only gain would be the air conditioning part of a mini-split… which I don’t, yet, need. (I may be forced at some point to get a portable A/C, the way things are going, but Not Yet.)
anitamargarita
Good old Nederland, before Frozen Dead Man, was the home of Caribou Ranch recording studio. Elton John, Chicago , Rick Derringer and many others recorded there before it closed in the mid 80s due to fire damage. When I was at CU, Nederland was a regular stop for breakfast before skiing, and also for local bands playing on weekends.
Good memories of that little town.
arrieve
@Geminid: I didn’t really see the airport. I had a tight connection from a 3 am flight out of Aqaba so I was basically jogging in a semi-comatose state.
wjca
So, that would be what? PhD, ScD, MD, LLD, and maybe (shudder) MBA?
lowtechcyclist
@Chief Oshkosh:
DOJ needs to look into whether the Texas chain of command can be held at least somewhat responsible for the deaths of these three people.
DOD and DHS also need to communicate clearly to the state of Texas that (a) the Federal government is sovereign and may not be prevented from carrying out its responsibilities, regardless of what state that may require its representatives to enter, and (b) that patrolling and securing the border is the responsibility of the Federal government.
I’d love for them to add on (c) further attempts to physically prevent representatives of the Federal government from carrying out their lawful duties in the state of Texas, thereby denying Federal sovereignty over the state of Texas, will be regarded as an attempt to secede from the Union, and all Federal monies flowing to Texas or its residents will immediately be halted. But I realize that’s a bit much to expect just yet.
wjca
I think I’d make that (d). Make (c) the Texas National Guard will be federalized. And ordered to assist, rather than block, Federal officials in pursuit of their duties.
trollhattan
Electricity rates loom large trying to parse this. I will vouch from the “holidays without heat” when our furnace went down and an emergency Christmas trip to Home Despot harvested several plug-in space heaters, that resistive heating is absolutely lethal on the power bill where we live. It was YUGE that month, as the furnace was down three weeks.
Because we had central AC, rolling in the heatpump was load-neutral and probably a net drop in max current draw. Took the existing dedicated 240/40A circuit.
As a side note, replacing our electric clothes dryer with a heatpump dryer dropped the cost considerably–new dryer is only 120V and max load is 1,000 watts. Old unit was 240 and circa 3,200 watts max. They dry equally fast.
Timill
@wjca: What, under the Insurrection Act? Ordered to arrest the leaders of the insurrection?
I have no problem with that…
[Also: can we suspend all their Reps and Senators if they’re in rebellion? Please?]