Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. keep building.

When you’re in more danger from the IDF than from Russian shelling, that’s really bad.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

The cruelty is the point; the law be damned.

They punch you in the face and then start crying because their fist hurts.

The most dangerous place for a black man in America is in a white man’s imagination.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

Only Democrats have agency, apparently.

’Where will you hide, Roberts, the laws all being flat?’

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

A tremendous foreign policy asset… to all of our adversaries.

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

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

Let’s bury these fuckers at the polls 2 years from now.

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

The republican caucus is covering themselves with something, and it is not glory.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

Every decision we make has lots of baggage with it, known or unknown.

Since when do we limit our critiques to things we could do better ourselves?

There are some who say that there are too many strawmen arguments on this blog.

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "Stories from the Road" / Monday Night Open Thread

Monday Night Open Thread

by | 160 Comments

This post is in: ,

Was a busy day- Monday’s tend to be that way. Got a bunch of work done and managed to sell two items on fb marketplace for a cool 170 bucks, which will cover the cost of paint and paintbrushes, so I’m pretty stoked about that. And one was an item Joelle had wanted to get rid of but just never had.

I am currently eating a salad waiting for our lasagne to cool. Nothing special- just made a sauce, browned some ground beef and veg, some ricotta, some mozz, some spinach. That’s the great thing about dishes like lasagne- use good stuff and season it well, and even if it doesn’t come out perfect it’s still going to be delicious.

I had a bunch of things I wanted to talk about but can’t remember what they were. I suppose I can update the post when one comes to me which it inevitably did while writing this.

That Revere Ware. Man is it special stuff. My grandmother had a full set of it and I remembered it being good, but our cookware thread a couple weeks back really jogged my memory, and I am so glad I picked up a couple pieces for Joelle. Stylistically they are perfect for her, but they are also just fucking indestructible. And they cook so well, and they don’t have the heft that would deter a wee person from using something like cast iron. Just great shit.

I mean as far as cookware goes for the masses, we probably should have just stopped with Revere Ware and probably should have done the same thing with Fiesta Ware and Corning Ware. We really didn’t need all these other brands, did we? Although I suppose getting the uranium out of the fiesta ware was a solid move, but hell, boomers and gen x basically ate lead and look how good we turned out.

Reader Interactions

160Comments

  1. 1.

    sanjeevs

     

    NYT is sad that Trump suggesting dissolving NATO  might distract from the really important issues.

    Trump Steps Up, Helping Biden Just When the President Needs Him

    Donald Trump’s statement supporting a Russian attack against “delinquent” NATO allies takes attention away from questions about President Biden’s age.

  2. 2.

    trollhattan

    Waves.

    Sounds positive all around. And this makes me happy as well. Spring is coming. A good thing.

  3. 3.

    BethanyAnne

    Dad remembered playing with mercury with his bare hands as a child (born in 36). And, honestly, growing up in Texas City, playing with mercury prolly doesn’t actually change your health outcomes.

  6. 6.

    BR

    BTW, apparently the current COVID wave is now hitting cats and dogs, sometimes pretty hard. Mastodon thread discussing it a bit:

    https://mastodon.social/@gulovsen/111919404621567923

    Took the old cat to the vet today because he was having chronic cold-like symptoms that would clear up and then return after a few days. Other cats in the house got it too but he reacted the worst given his age (16+ years). Turns out (at least according to the veterinarian) lots of other pet owners are experiencing the same thing and they suspect it is coronavirus related. So another reason to mask up, esp. since it’s too early to tell what long-term effects it may have on our pet friends. 😢

  10. 10.

    lamh36

    Good evening BJ from San Francisco!

    Good news on the house hunting front.

    Found an apartment I like in Oakland.  Signed the lease Friday, dropped off the apartment deposit this morning, official move in to Cali next Monday!

    Tentative schedule the next 7 days:  Tomorrow last full day in SF before permanent move.  Got alot of final errands and planning to run tomorrow.  Wednesday, heading back to NOLA.  Thursday, movers coming to pack up and move my NOLA apartment and pick up my car.  Friday, turn in my NOLA apartment keys.  Sat & Sun, final weekend to spend with my mom and family in NOLA.  Next Monday, fly back to SF head on to Oakland to pick up the keys to new apartment!

    Got about a week in the apartment until my furniture and vehicle is delivered to the new place in Oakland.

    Last week in February, new job begins!!

  11. 11.

    Nix Besser (fmr. steppy)

    Revere Ware. We got a bunch a pieces (saucepans, pots, steamer, etc.) when we registered for our wedding 20 years ago. I have no doubt they will outlive me.

    I never clean the copper bottoms, but who cares?

  12. 12.

    BR

    “And this mathematician he came to me, real smart guy, numbers guy, he comes to me tears in his eyes and he says ‘sir, they have taken these numbers too far, but you have made it so we can multiply again’, we can mul TEE ply again multiplication. We don’t like that we don’t like that, but he liked it this smart guy, but not smart like me. I’m not a numbers guy. But I’m a smart guy…”

    https://sauropods.win/@futurebird/111921839442918859

  14. 14.

    BlueGuitarist

    Today is Darwin Day, and I learned this Darwin quote:
    “I am very poorly today and very stupid and hate everybody and everything.”
    Cue Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young, “Everybody I Love You”
    Love all y’all 

  15. 15.

    Grumpy Old Railroader

    but hell, boomers and gen x basically ate lead and look how good we turned out.

    I think the reason I poop the same time every day is all the asbestos i was exposed to on the railroad. Lots of fiber in asbestos

  16. 16.

    Another Scott

    Sounds like a good day.

    Gov. Fuzzy Vest didn’t have such a good day today. VirginiaMercury.com:

    A plan backed by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to construct an arena for the Washington Wizards and Washington Capitals in Northern Virginia ran into trouble this weekend as Sen. Louise Lucas, the powerful Democrat who heads the Senate money committee, said she wouldn’t bring a necessary bill to a vote.

    On Saturday, Lucas, D-Portsmouth, posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, that legislation to create a new sports authority to oversee the project’s financing would not be on the Senate Finance and Appropriations docket because the proposal “is not ready for prime time.”

    “This is what happens when Executive Branch doesn’t operate in good faith and doesn’t have respect for the Legislative Branch,” she wrote, in a comment widely interpreted to be a response to negative remarks about Democrats made by Youngkin during a mock debate held at Washington & Lee University Saturday.

    Lucas confirmed that decision during the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee meeting Monday, saying that the “Glenn-Dome” proposal “has many unanswered questions and potential conflicts of interest.

    […]

    The two [Democratic senators] also questioned the project’s financing structure, which they said has never been used before.

    A financial analysis of the proposal prepared for the Youngkin administration by investment bank JPMorgan, which partially owns the property with majority owner JBG Smith, estimated the net cost to taxpayers as $1.35 billion, according to The Washington Post, which obtained the document through a records request. Youngkin has countered that most of those costs would come from revenue generated by the project that Virginia wouldn’t otherwise receive.

    Some lawmakers and opponents of the project have urged the administration to make the study easily accessible, while Surovell has said Democrats would have preferred an independent review that doesn’t involve a partial owner of the property.

    […]

    Those whacky Democrats, wanting an independent study. Whodathunkit.

    :-/

    This project sounds ridiculous to me. The traffic in that area is already horrible, the Metro station they recently added there is far too small for some big-time sports arena (and Metro is $750M short in this FY budget), etc., etc.

    I hope they do slow it down if they can’t kill it outright. There’s lots more that needs to be explained, and Ted Leonsis needs to be spending a lot more of his own money on this thing if moving out of DC is so important to him.

    Grr…,
    Scott.

  20. 20.

    karen marie

    Revereware was too pricey when I was starting out.  I used the $100 my grandparents gave me for graduating from HS to buy a 10-piece set of Farberware in 1975.   It’s still going strong.  The best money I ever spent.

  21. 21.

    lamh36

    @Eric S.: Thx.

    Thx.

    Big and exciting for sure.

    Literally my last day of work was Feb 2 and literally a week later I was here in SF signing my new apt lease!

    And the changes gonna keep coming for another week!

  22. 22.

    karen marie

    @BethanyAnne:   I was born in ’57.  I LOVED playing with mercury in my hands!  I have no idea why it was available in school or even what grade I was in – had to be between third and sixth grades – but I remember multiple times walking home from school with 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of the stuff.  Just rolling it around in my palm, squeezing it into little bits and then watching it rejoin.

    Maybe that’s what’s wrong with me?

    Hahahaha.

    Nah.

  23. 23.

    Elizabelle

    @lamh36:  That’s wonderful news.  You have accomplished — and moved — so much in these past 4-5 years.  Wishing you happiness in Oakland.

  24. 24.

    lamh36

    @Kristine:

    Yes new job.  I’m going from regular laboratorian in hospital lab to fed entity that certifies and surveys ALL labs, public and private in the country!

  25. 25.

    Alison Rose

    Question: When people say “mozz” out loud, do you pronounce it the way the syllable is pronounced in the full word, so something like “motts”, or do you pronounce the zz more like how it looks in English, so more like it rhymes with “gauze”?

  26. 26.

    lamh36

    @Another Scott:

    I’ll probably be without furniture for a minute, but I’ll at least have access to the apartment at least a week to get everything set up that I will need…internet, cable, utilities,etc

  28. 28.

    Auntie Anne

    I still have and use the starter Revere Ware set I bought 35 years ago.  And when my parents sold their house, I was able to acquire a couple of pieces from their 50 or so year old set. The stuff is indestructible.

  31. 31.

    Eric S.

    @lamh36: are you good with sleeping on a floor? I’m a primadonna when it comes to sleep. I want/need a bed.

     

    ETA: Also sounds like a big step in the job. Awesome!

  32. 32.

    Hoppie

    Love my 10 piece 1981 Revere Ware set and the few pieces picked up since.  And polished on the rack looks so shiny!  Retro for the win!

  34. 34.

    Elizabelle

    @Auntie Anne:  I’m Team Revere Ware too.  My mom loved her set, I bought a set for my first apartment, and I’ve never bought anything else since it works so well.

    Into non-disposable quality.

  38. 38.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @lamh36: Congrats on the new apartment! Lots of stuff to explore in the area when you get settled. Lake Merritt is a great place to do walks/runs and when it’s warmer, lots of people do barbecuing on the weekends.

    BTW, I’ve got a number of peeps in the area, and happy to make introductions if you’re interested.

  42. 42.

    lamh36

    @Sister Golden Bear:

    I’ll def also be using the week before the job starts and before my furniture is delivered to explore as much as I can.

    Oncw I so get settled in and acclimated with new job I’ll def try to reach out.  I’m giving myself a full month to acclimate to the difference in job schedule and time zone differences before branching out though.

  45. 45.

    Scout211

    Agree, John. Revere Ware is awesome.  I have pots and pans and every piece of bakeware they ever made.  Except for the set of pots and pans, I bought all the bakeware over a period of years at various Corning Revere factory outlets.

  46. 46.

    lamh36

    @Sure Lurkalot:

    Thx…I’m a planner/lit maker…it’s the laboratory scientist in me…

    I’m flexible, but not spontaneous ya know what I mean?

    I plan with flexibility in mind, but rare just on a whim.  So it ends up that I’m great at making itineraries that work swiftly and efficiently!

    A bit geeky I guess…LOL

  47. 47.

    a thousand flouncing lurkers (was fidelio)

    @lamh36: Your background will be invaluable in that sort of job.

    Good luck and may you be able to unpack your stuff easily and lose nothing you want to keep!

  48. 48.

    Pete Downunder

    @lamh36: Congrats on the new job and new digs. My sister and a nephew live in Oakland and they are both great people so if you need anything at all, or just local advice, let me know and I’ll put you in touch.

  49. 49.

    Scout211

    @Nix Besser (fmr. steppy): I never clean the copper bottoms, but who cares?

    I don’t know if it was an “old wives tale” or not, but when my mother got her set of Revere Ware pots and pans as a wedding present, she was told that she should never shine the copper bottom. The belief was that if the copper bottom was shiny it would reflect some of the heat and the pans would not cook as effectively.  She always let the pots and pans develop the patina and that’s what I’ve always done.  But I have no idea if that is a real thing.

  52. 52.

    David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch

     Super Bowl LVIII was the most-watched telecast in history❗️
    124 million viewers

    Super Bowl Earns Record 123 Million Viewers—Most-Watched TV Event Since Apollo 11 🌚

    10 million more than last year’s blockbuster featuring the Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles.

    Thanks Taylor.​

  53. 53.

    Dan B

    I have a set of Revere Ware my mother bought in 1949.  I’ve not used it since I bought pans when I was in professional cooking school.  And now we’re cooking on induction burners.  I’ve got some great saute pans and a set of Avacraft pots and pans.  They’re amazing.  They were designed by a woman engineer from India who was tired of the poor design choices.  The handles stay cool.  The glass lids have small vents that prevent boiling over.  The lid handles are covered in high temp silicone.  There are holes in the sides of the lids so you can drain things without a strainer or hot pads.  I’m loving them.  They’re as well made as Revereware but updated.

  54. 54.

    Jay

    @Scout211:

    It’s real, just like foil has a shiny side, (down towards the food), matt side up towards the heat.

    As long as it’s patina, and not grease.

  55. 55.

    NotMax

    @David 🏈 Mahomes! 🏈 Koch

    Not all watching the same thing at the same time.

    Tens of millions of people gathered together to watch the Super Bowl last night — but they weren’t all watching it at exactly the same time. Cable streams of the game delivered footage that was around 50 seconds behind what was happening on the field, and the figure for online streaming services was even worse. Some viewers were watching a stream that was a minute-and-a-half behind the real world, leaving plenty of time for social media posts and push notifications to spoil what was about to happen in the game. Source

    Shades of The Sting.

  56. 56.

    StringOnAStick

    I had Revereware but it doesn’t work on the new induction range so the local ReStore got lucky.  I do have a very nice huge Revere were stock pot, maybe 2′ in diameter and a foot deep; it’s beautiful with heavy bottom but I can’t use it anymore.  I can’t stand to part with it yet though.  Maybe I should try to sell it.  I only use it for canning and it’s it perfect shape.

  58. 58.

    Citizen Dave

    I read a recent article on the web about alum. foil.  The shiny side is just the result of how it’s made– no real purpose for the two different sides.  Also don’t agree about shiny copper reflecting heat.  Sounds like an urban (or country) myth.

    My wife shines up our RevereWare regularly.  When I do it I use lemons and salt.

  59. 59.

    Steve in the ATL

    @Another Scott:

    Washington & Lee University

    OMFG these freaking people. Does the Virginia Mercury not employ editors?  It’s “Washington and Lee University”—the ampersand is used only in the abbreviation “W&L”.

    This is one of the greatest crimes against humanity ever. Ok, maybe not THAT bad….

  60. 60.

    Another Scott

    @Steve in the ATL: [ snort! ]

    I’m reminded of “Car and Driver” vs “Road & Track” – “ed” at C/D would make a fuss with people using the ampersand in readers letters.

    (They’re both owned by Hearst now.)

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  61. 61.

    Quiltingfool

    In the quilt raffle post, commenter JMH posted a lovely compliment about a t-shirt quilt I made for his family (they were his father’s t-shirts).

    I loved those t-shirts!  I asked JMH if I could share a photo of his quilt, and he said I could – thanks!

    These are wonderful t-shirts and I ain’t lying!

    https://pin.it/3jvxUldkN

  62. 62.

    Sure Lurkalot

    I have a mishmash of pots and pans of various sizes and manufacturers which includes an 8 qt Revereware soup pot (the tall, upright one with black plastic handles) that I took to college in the 70’s.  It was my mother’s for quite a while before that. I’m amazed I still have the lid. I guess I’ll pass it on when I get an induction range someday.

  63. 63.

    frosty

    My mom had the full set of Revereware. When I was in my 20s for a couple of years the Christmas presents were from Tool Santa (Dad) and Cookware Santa (Mom). I didn’t get a full set but I have two sizes of skillets and three pots. Sadly, when I married Ms F she refused to polish the copper bottoms and then I stopped too after awhile. Twinkle copper polish.

  65. 65.

    Jay

    @Citizen Dave:

    Don’t have any copper pots, I use 316 stainless or cast iron.

    I did, years ago do a test with a probe thermometer on tin foil in the oven. Sealed pouches.

    5 degree difference between shiny side up, and matt side up, at 350F for the first 20 minutes, after that, it evened out.

    We don’t in general cook that way. We “feel” around for the cook temp. I don’t think a shiny pan or pot bottom makes a difference, because if we are arn’t getting the right amount of heat, we turn the “burner” up or down. Cooked on grease an spillage however,………..eeeew.

    I use Barkeeper’s Friend and a fabric cloth on my Stainless, inside and out. I have a lot of it, because it is cheaper than “rottenstone”, (fine pumice, which is what it is), which I used to use to fine cut varnish/poly before applying the final coat, so I bought a couple of cases of it.

  69. 69.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @lamh36:

    I plan with flexibility in mind, but rare just on a whim.  So it ends up that I’m great at making itineraries that work swiftly and efficiently!

    A bit geeky I guess…LOL

    Hey, who you calling a geek? You described me well! I am my household’s vacation planner and equipment manager. Details, details, bring them on!

  73. 73.

    frosty

    @BR: ​OMG he nailed the voice! I especially liked him saying “I’m never writing like that again. It gets in your head.”

  74. 74.

    Alison Rose

    Here are 17 GOP Senators you can feel a teensy bit good about for a few seconds before going back to hating them.

    Seventeen Senate Republicans have bucked a majority of their party and former President Donald J. Trump in joining Democrats to push military assistance for Ukraine toward approval in the Senate, highlighting a widening foreign policy divide in the contemporary Republican Party.

    The 17 senators, mainly national security hawks who include several military veterans, have provided the votes necessary to overcome multiple filibusters backed by a majority of their colleagues, clearing the way for approval within days of $95 billion in aid to Ukraine, Israel and allies in the Pacific region.

    “The thread that binds that group together is national security,” said Senator Jerry Moran, a Kansas Republican who is one of the 17. “America’s national security, the belief that what happens in Ukraine matters to the United States, the belief that what happens in Israel matters and the belief that what happens in the South Pacific matters.”

    I’m pleasantly surprised by a few, like Ernst and Cornyn. Wish these 17 could go talk some fucking sense into their House counterparts.

  75. 75.

    Wombat Probability Cloud

    Given the theme,

    but hell, boomers and gen x basically ate lead and look how good we turned out.

    and

    I was born in ’57.  I LOVED playing with mercury in my hands!

    I was born in 1953, and aside from fond memories of fondling mercury, I should add that in those summers one of the town pickup trucks with a fogger would drive all of the streets, belching a cloud of DDT and oil to tamp down the mosquitos (and, of course destroying the other 95%+ of insects that were beneficial). I was SO PISSED OFF that my parents wouldn’t let me ride my bike in the fog behind the truck, like all the neighbor kids.

    Class reunion (of ca. 60 graduates) coming up this summer. I should do some Cox proportional hazard analyses to see if my foggy classmates survive at a lower rate. But, the main point is that it’s kinda amazing that so many of us weren’t damaged more than we were.

  76. 76.

    Kayla Rudbek

    I inherited a few pieces of Revere Ware from my great-aunt (two small pots with lids and a small skillet with a lid). Mr. Rudbek hasn’t killed these yet. Maybe I should start looking for some more on eBay or Replacements.com

  80. 80.

    mrmoshpotato

    I am currently eating a salad waiting for our lasagne to cool. Nothing special- just made a sauce, browned some ground beef and veg, some ricotta, some mozz, some spinach.

    At first, I thought, “Who puts ground beef (beast) in a salad?!”

  82. 82.

    hitchhiker

    Got Revereware as a wedding gift in 1986 & still using it almost every day. Shit is indestructible.

    I also have an electric hand mixer I bought in 1970 that’s going strong.

    I really hate buying stuff, except sturdy little colorful clothes for my grandkids. That, I can do all day long.

  89. 89.

    lamh36

    @Alison Rose: the apartment is in downtoan Oakland, fairly new build, but not quite, near 19th street BART and seems to be a clean street near restaurants, bars, and I believe a Whole Foods.

    Essentially my job begins as WFH and is 75% telework.  So either 2x every two week I go into the office, either 2 back to back days or maybe 1 day a week adding up to 2 days every 80 hours or so…

    So what I really need now is a quiet space, good internet and hopefully a simple but nice view

  90. 90.

    lamh36

    Alright, I’m gonna call it a night so I can get up early tomorrow got a lot on my plate for the last day here.

    Peace out BJ, hope everyone has a good night.

  91. 91.

    mrmoshpotato

    @lamh36:

    So what I really need now is a quiet space, good internet and hopefully a simple but nice view 

    Are you on the top floor?

  92. 92.

    Eolirin

    @satby: I wonder if maybe voting pattern changes across generational groups aren’t the result of shifting cultural norms and better access to education, but simply the consequence of those things stopping.

    Certainly there’s a pretty compelling case that the rise and then persistent drop in violent crime we’ve seen over the last 50+ years was a consequence of the adoption and then abandonment of leaded gasoline

    Maybe there’s a direct line to Trump as a phenomenon from that damage too.

  95. 95.

    Villago Delenda Est

    but hell, boomers and gen x basically ate lead and look how good we turned out.

    Um, yeah, that’s the ticket!

  98. 98.

    Jackie

    @Alison Rose: I prefer to think these GQPers will secretly NOT vote for TIFG next Nov. Publicly they’ll support him, but privately they’ll either vote for Biden, or just leave blank.

    And once again, TIFG will be incensed that republicans down ballot got more votes than him – which equals RIGGED ELECTION!!!

  99. 99.

    Sister Golden Bear

    @lamh36: Yes, there’s a Whole Foods at 27th and Harrison (about a block north of northwest tip of Lake Merritt. There’s also Whole Foods in the Temescal neighborhood, where I believe the other apartment you looked was. FWIW, even mainstream grocery stores like Safeway carry some natural/organic foods.

  102. 102.

    teezyskeezy

    @mrmoshpotato: I wouldn’t try to convince you it is food. That’s a foolhardy hill to die on…but sometimes a crunchwrap supreme tastes guuuud.

    But I frequent plenty of legit Mexican food joints (I love them all from the mom and pop hole in the walls all the up to the fancy ones) and I’m not gonna feel bad about occasionally eating that crap.  It’s not “Mexican,” it’s Taco Bell.  Just like usually I’ll pay 15 dollars for a *real* hamburger, but sometimes I’ll eat a deluxe quarter pounder with cheese…and enjoy it.

  104. 104.

    Eolirin

    @Alison Rose: I think the votes are there in the house already, but what isn’t is a speaker willing to bring the bill to the floor. If Johnson wanted to I suspect he could get that bill through the same way he has the continuing resolutions to keep the government open.

    Discharge petitions are gonna be tricky for a host of reasons, but I think if the Dems can get enough house Republicans to go that route that’s the only way this gets done. I think a lot more Republicans will vote yes on the bill than would vote yes to allow it to come to the floor.

    And it’s pretty much the only way Johnson can keep his job without having to rely on Democratic votes to keep him in power. And he’s gonna have a hard enough time staving off a revolt when he has to do another continuing resolution because the house Rs can’t actually move any budget legislation.

  105. 105.

    mrmoshpotato

    @teezyskeezy: Oh, it’s sustenance.

    And I’m with ya on hole-in-the-wall Mexican food joints.  Got several within easy walking distance.

    Not with you on McTrashald’s with Burger King nearby and a Wendy’s is walkable.

  107. 107.

    lamh36

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Same!  I had the choice of 2 apartments.  One on the higher floor and one below the highest floor.  The higher floor apartment had a balcony but faced the outside street where there is construction going on and there is street noise.  The 2nd apartment I looked at is the floor below and facing inside courtyard not street so already little to no street noise in the living area and little noise in the bedroom (which can be drowned out with blackout curtains a bit more)

    Also the Leasing agent did say that due to COVID they did have a number of folks who partially WFH so more folks are respectfully quiet during day hours of late.

  108. 108.

    cain

    @Elizabelle: I think that’s what I really loved about stuff back in the 70s, they all used to last! You’d just repair it if something happened.

    What we got going on now is just buy and throw – no staying power and it’s not sustainable for the long term. But ya know, they want you keep buying new stuff. Yay capitalism.

  109. 109.

    teezyskeezy

    @mrmoshpotato: And I am moving to Phoenix soon and I am DEFINITELY going to try that ceviche place Cole mentioned. I will endure the scorpions for all the great Mexican food I’m going to get there

    EDIT: and mostly agree about McD’s, but for some reason I like the deluxe quarter pounder. The Big Mac doesn’t do it for me, that’s for sure, nor anything else (well, maybe a breakfast biscuit occasionally)

    EDIT 2: Guess McD’s web scraping AI is gonna know who Balloon-juice is now.

  111. 111.

    Eolirin

    Which reminds me… The special election for Santos’s seat is going to be further complicated by 4-8 inches of snow getting dumped on top of it.

    I’m really hoping we continue our trend of overperforming in elections, but if we’re going to fail to do that, NY and Nassau County in particular are places where it’s most likely to happen. Throw in inclement weather and everything gets even more chaotic.

    On the plus side, we should have better maps going into the proper 2024 elections. But we could really use as many seats as possible if we need to go the discharge petition route.

  112. 112.

    Kelly

    Mom had Revere Ware pots and pans. So when I equipped my first kitchen I bought a Revere Ware saucepan and a teflon skillet. Added a Revere Ware stock pot soon after. The teflon skillet lasted a few years. 47 years later I’m still using the Revere Ware. Replaced the teflon skillet with 2 Lodge cast iron skillets. Still using them.

  113. 113.

    Wombat Probability Cloud

    @Eolirin: Not exactly profiles in courage on the R’s part, but hoping there is a way to thread the needle and get it to a floor vote. It will pass at that point, to huge relief, I think. For fuck’s sake.

  115. 115.

    Eolirin

    @cain: Capitalism takes advantage of cultural, psychological, and cognitive weaknesses to maximize profit. It’s like water. It’ll shift and for too whatever environment it’s placed in. 

    So the worse the cultural environment the more problems you get.

    If we collectively valued durability over cheapness and only bought things that would last, cheap products wouldn’t proliferate because they’d be market failures and the production side would adapt. But we don’t. So we don’t get that. 

    While stagnant wages may have played a part in that dynamic (and devaluing labor is another choice we’re making collectively as a society), the market has broadly chosen cheap, disposable and convenient over quality, durable and sustainable for a lot of consumer goods.

  116. 116.

    wjca

    @Eolirin: he’s gonna have a hard enough time staving off a revolt when he has to do another continuing resolution because the house Rs can’t actually move any budget legislation.

    Have they made any progress at all on any of the budgets?  Or is the legislation basically ready, except that the “Freedom Caucus” refuses to let it happen?

  117. 117.

    Alison Rose

    @lamh36: Oh nice! Sounds like you’re on the other side of Lake Merritt from where I lived a million years ago. The lake is a really lovely place to hang out on weekends in nice weather.

  118. 118.

    dr. luba

    @karen marie: Metallic/elemental mercury is fairly safe.  Absorption through the skin or GI tract is minimal, but inhaling the vapors can be dangerous. The most toxic forms of mercury are its organic compounds, such as dimethylmercury and methylmercury. Mercury can cause both chronic and acute poisoning.

    The Mad Hatter became mad not from elemental mercury, but from working with the mercury compound mercuric nitrate, Hg(NO3)2·2H2O. It was used to separate the fur from the pelt and mat it together. This solution and the vapors it produced were highly toxic.

  119. 119.

    teezyskeezy

    @cain: It was really the first one I ever paid attention to (yes, the dumb narrative pulled me in), but I lucked out because it was actually fairly intense and good.  CIA has showmanship!

    And now I’ve realized the thing to know about american football is that it seems complicated because it has a lot of (seemingly) haphazard rule changes over the years to keep the game interesting and therefore the mechanics of the game seem impenetrable to newbies. That’s where the announcers come in.  In some sports, announcers are just there to relay basic info to the radio or for anyone who can’t quite see the action. In football, the announcers are absolutely integral to the sport being popular, because they continually explain what is happening. This helps the newbies follow along, but it also helps the jackass football fans who think they know all about the sport form a narrative about the game in real time, giving them the illusion they know more about the game than they do.  I call that the bootstrap theory of football. Many of them think they were understanding everything that was happening all along, but no, that “internal monologue” was really the announcer giving them an assist, as it were.

  120. 120.

    wjca

    @Eolirin:  the market has broadly chosen cheap, disposable and convenient over quality, durable and sustainable for a lot of consumer goods. 

    Which is just another way of saying that disposal has not been properly priced.

  121. 121.

    Alison Rose

    @mrmoshpotato: As I always do because I’m annoying, I’ll point out that if you buy their store brands, WF really isn’t any more expensive than any other grocery store. Also, their bakery and deli are a hell of a lot better than most other supermarkets.

  123. 123.

    piratedan

    @teezyskeezy: enjoy your relocation to the Valley of the Sun.  Remember to hydrate… I’m serious, even in winter, its drier here in the state of Az.  Don’t forget to register to vote!

  124. 124.

    teezyskeezy

    @piratedan: I’m not exactly in a humid place at the moment, but it’s definitely going to get worse, I hear you.

    EDIT: a friend told me, imagine you are relocating from Hoth to Dune.  I said, well, I’m not exactly in Hoth, that’s (increasingly) farther north (every year), and I’m not encouraged by the analogy

    EDIT 2: I am registering to vote the first government workday that I rise out of bed in that state, and will persist in making sure it goes through. I am going to phone bank, too, because, dammit, don’t tell me AZ isn’t a swing state. Where I am now…no.  No point unless you get a national phone bank list. AZ is in play.

  125. 125.

    Jay

    @Eolirin:

    My backpack, (day pack) is only 45 years old. My light hikers are 31 years old, have been resoled 3 times. My Gor-tex jacket is 27 years old. They don’t make them like that anymore, (extra long for sitting on ski lifts). My wife is 57 years old.

    Most of that stuff I cannot afford to replace and the replacements are crap in comparison.

    Quality has a value of it’s own.

    I have precision hand tools made before even my Dad was born.

    The last “thing” I have bought in the past 2 years, is a 3 pack of socks.

  126. 126.

    Marc

    @lamh36: the apartment is in downtoan Oakland, fairly new build, but not quite, near 19th street BART and seems to be a clean street near restaurants, bars, and I believe a Whole Foods.

    Congratulations!  It sounds like your place is in or near Uptown, which is where many of the trendy restaurants and bars are located.  This is also the location of the First Fridays arts and music events, which are currently on hiatus until (hopefully) March.  If you like Asian restaurants and food shops, you are a few blocks north of Chinatown and south of Koreatown.  There’s also a Sprouts Market (in my opinion, better/cheaper than Whole Foods) a few blocks up Broadway and a Grocery Outlet (inexpensive bulk items) across the street.  Also, check out the New Parkway Theater, they show 2nd run and art films, with couch seating, pizza, beer, wine.

  127. 127.

    piratedan

    @teezyskeezy: the Phoenix metro has everything you might need, culture, cuisine, sports, and academia, so there should be something that will float your boat, no matter your choice.  plus there are more than a few jackals in the Phoenix area that can lend you a hand in learning the ropes.  I can only speak generally since I am further south.  The politics are finally gravitating our way, but its still a battle.

  128. 128.

    teezyskeezy

    @piratedan:

    …plus there are more than a few jackals in the Phoenix area that can lend you a hand in learning the ropes…

    Hm, some of them might be eagerly competing to see who gets to convince me the Grand Canyon Skywalk is on the East Rim…

  129. 129.

    Eolirin

    @wjca: Sure, that’s definitely part of it, but pricing isn’t the whole story either, since some of those more expensive products that last longer are actually cheaper in the long run already.

    Purchasing power is a factor in why that happens (see Pratchett’s parable about the high cost of cheap boots), but so are other things, like most humans being naturally bad at long term planning.

  130. 130.

    TeezySkeezy

    @Jay: Dang, my L.L. Bean backpack lasted me from 5th-12th grade and I thought that was amazing. I guess I used it *every* day though.

    That backpack deserved a better memorial than we gave it. I think it deserved Taps.

  134. 134.

    Elizabelle

    @Alison Rose:   A list of the 17 Senators supporting military aid to Ukraine: (via the FTF NY Times):

    • Senator Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia
    • Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
    • Senator Susan Collins of Maine
    • Senator John Cornyn of Texas
    • Senator Joni Ernst of Iowa
    • Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa
    • Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana
    • Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
    • Senator Jerry Moran of Kansas
    • Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
    • Senator Mitt Romney of Utah
    • Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota
    • Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska
    • Senator John Thune of South Dakota
    • Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina
    • Senator Roger Wicker of Mississippi
    • Senator Todd Young of Indiana
  135. 135.

    piratedan

    @teezyskeezy: I actually believe its on the West Rim and you really got to want to go there to experience it, although I would imagine that the experience would be….. unique.  Probably a good 3-4 hour drive from Phoenix as I believe that only access to Skywalk is off of AZ 93 between Kingman and Hoover Dam, then you’re on a county road and the Rez to reach the attraction.

  136. 136.

    Elizabelle

    @Jinchi:  Did you read it?  Answer turns out to be:  GUNS.  It’s years of being around firearms, the ensuing hearing damage, also from the military.

    Article also touched on suicide rates in red states.

    GUNS, GUNS, GUNS.

    And, as a reader commenter astutely pointed out:  hearing loss can pave the way for dementia.  Which can make a person more likely to become a heavy viewer of Fox News.

    Mostly, the reader commenters are laughing at how dreadful red state Republicans are.  No sympathy, except for military veterans.

    Of course, one main comment, expressed over and over again, is that GOP just don’t listen.

    But.  Guns.  Imagine that.

  137. 137.

    Elizabelle

    From the WaPost article on hearing loss:

    …. hearing loss shows up most frequently in communities with more jobs in the natural resources, construction and maintenance industries, which makes sense given the exposure to workplace noise.

    It’s also more common in areas with lower population density and smaller minority populations, which again feels right given that White Americans are more than twice as likely to lose at least some hearing as their Black and Hispanic friends.

    Given those associations, we weren’t surprised to see that areas with higher hearing loss tend to have higher rates of Republican support.

    ….

    So, okay, hearing loss appears to be yet another manifestation of the urban-rural divide. At most, we figured these trends merited perhaps a brief mention in one of the Department [of Data column’s] voluminous reports on other fresher topics.

    But then we read the paper again and noticed a line we hadn’t clocked before: “those living in rural areas experience higher rates of [hearing loss], perhaps due to potential noise exposure from outdoor work and recreation such as forestry, all-terrain vehicles, and recreational firearms.”

    So, is it possible that the partisan gap in hearing loss is actually a gun-ownership gap? To know for sure, we’d have to map gun ownership, and we don’t have that data. But — and this might honestly be the most depressing fact we’ve learned in a lifetime of data journalism — we do have a very good proxy: firearm suicides.

    Most gun deaths in America are suicides, and most suicides in America involve guns. Academics have found gun suicide so pervasive and predictable that it can be used as a reliable measure of gun ownership in an area. While the impulse to kill yourself may be somewhat evenly distributed, guns are not. And firearms make suicide attempts much deadlier.

    Overall, fewer than 2 in 20 suicide attempts are fatal — unless they involve a gun, in which case 17 in 20 end in death …

  139. 139.

    Jay

    @TeezySkeezy:

    My Daypack get’s used every day. Has been all it’s life.  Mountain Equiptment Coop which is sadly, taken over by VC’s s who destroyed it as a Coop. When I am not working, it carries 20lbs of First Aid gear. I always go everywhere with it, even if I am just going downstairs to the Safeway.

    Buckles have gone, which I have replaced, the back pad (1/2 in heavy foam) has been pieced back together several times with a rubber tape, seams have opened, which I seared with a lighter, restiched and then sealed with Shoe Goo.

    My Gor-tex coat has a couple of tear in the sleeves and shoulders, because I had to work in it. So when I got home, stitch it up, clean it and seal the stitch. Nobody makes anything like it any more. My Mountaneering boots are the last of the welt sole mountain boots ever made. 30 years old and still on their first sole.

    My key worry with some of my ancient gear, is that for example, there is only one shop in all of BC that can resole my climbing boots, rock climbing shoes, hiking boots, mountain boots, my Red Wing work boots, and it’s a one man shop, and he’s 72.

    I still have my Dad’s Red Wing Duck Boots. They are 87 years old and still keep my feet dry.

  140. 140.

    Jay

    @Elizabelle:

    I have “shooter” earplugs. I use them for work. They fit well, are silicon, the key thing is they have an inner channel and a plug. With the plug out, they knock all noise down to 90DB or less, so if some body yells “watch out”, you can hear them. With the plug in, can’t hear nothing.

    I have only been able to find them at gun shops.

  141. 141.

    Gretchen

    @lamh36: I’m hoping to hear all about the new job. I was a regular laboratorian my whole career, and have wondered what else was out there if I’d been braver. Good luck and keep us posted!

  142. 142.

    sab

    @BethanyAnne: I am turning 70 next week and I remember playing with mercury with my bare hands as a child. My mom was a chemistry major in college. My dad was a physician. Back then they just didn’t know.

  144. 144.

    Gretchen

    @Elizabelle: I’m surprised to see my senator, Jerry Moran, on the list. He was one of the Rs who spent July 4 2018 in Moscow and I thought for sure they’d gathered blackmail material on him.

  145. 145.

    Gretchen

    @sab: yes, that was a fun event when a thermometer broke and we could play with the mercury. Such a contrast when one broke at work a few years ago and they closed off the room until the hazmat team could clean it up.

  146. 146.

    Elizabelle

    @sab:  Yes, I think so.  Of course, the NY Times is just interested in the GOP.  But they are joining with the Democrats to attempt further military aid to Ukraine

    Since Democrats and their supporters are pretty invisible to the FTF NY Times, they are always looking for Republicans to praise.  And this was from the Times’ “Washington correspondent,” Carl Hulse, not one of the appointed FTF NY Times finger on scalers, like the imperial Peter Baker.

  147. 147.

    Elizabelle

    @Jay:  Yes, they mentioned some of those almost deaf from firearms  are “aggressively” (their word!) getting their children and grandchildren to wear earplugs.

    Those sound great.  I would love a set.  Might be good on an airplane.

  148. 148.

    Ruckus

    @Marc:

    I used to walk to a Whole Foods on a regular basis but a while back I moved and no Whole Foods nearby. We do have a couple Sprouts nearby and I find them to be actually a bit better.

  149. 149.

    Hidalgo de Arizona

    Lol, hearing John wax poetic about the revereware makes me even more glad I sold him the vintage stuff I had; not only do I get space back in my kitchen, but I get the happy knowledge that the pans will be in the hands of people who’ll use them.

    As for why I was convinced to part with the vintage revereware I’d been collecting, well, we switched to an induction stove, revereware doesn’t work on induction, and the induction experience is just *so much better* than any gas or electric cooking I’ve done, and I can engage in it happy in the knowledge that I’m not filling my house with nasty combustion byproduct particulates.

    I still kept the useless-to-me pans in a drawer for almost three years because I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of them for the longest time.  My procrastination gets to be John and Joelle’s gain.

  150. 150.

    Hidalgo de Arizona

    @StringOnAStick:

    When I moved to induction it was (thankfully) about the same time I got married, and my aunt was kind enough to buy my spouse and I a large, induction-compatible pressure canner as a wedding present.  It almost made up for not being able to use most of the pots and pans we had anymore, including the collection of revereware we’d built up.

    Moving from boiling water canning to pressure canning has been an absolute game-changer though, and if you’re looking for something to replace the old pot, I’d suggest taking the opportunity do the same thing.  Having homemade, shelf-stable canned stock in your pantry is awesome.

    That was also about when I switched from Mason jars to Weck Jars for my canning.  I had too many Mason jars implode in the pressure canner, and the Weck Jars are just all-around a nicer experience.

  151. 151.

    sab

    Whole Foods CEO came out against Obamacare back in the day. At the time I had no health insurance because I had had skin cancer (melanoma) because my parents made me join a swim team when I was six so I baked in the Florida sun as a child. Those were not my life choices.

    So Whole Foods is at the top of my boycott list forever.

  152. 152.

    Jay

    @Elizabelle:

    They are amazing on a work site. The last ones I got wern’t cheap, $38, but you can wash them. You can actually hear your co-workers.

    Kinda, not LMAO in some regards.

    When I was at the place, (last job), interviewing for the Manager position, one of the VP’s, brought up “safety”.

    He had seen me using a air grinder, grinding the tip of a flex snake, no gloves, no “safety glasses”, “no ear protection”, and swiveling back and forth.

    Pointed out that my “reading glasses”, were NSTA rated as safety glasses, the no gloves was because it was a tactile job where with basic hand tools , you had to get within 10,000ths of an inch grinding the weld,, if you even nicked the spiral wound cable, you could lose 10′ of the cable as it unwound, showed him my ear protection, (pretty much invisible when they are in) and pointed out that it was better than anything, (ear muffs) that they had, and that swerving back and forth, 180 degrees, rotated the cable 360 degrees in the sheath, with out having to manually rotate the cable with a power tool.

    I did not get the job.

    Oh well,

    Quit 4 months later when it all went to shit, but before “they” knew it was all going to shit. You can’t run a repair facility like it’s retail.

    Same guy, ( when I was offsite) used my bench to cut down some flashing for personal use, left it covered with aluminum cuttings. What an a-hole.

  153. 153.

    brantl

    Although I suppose getting the uranium out of the fiesta ware was a solid move, but hell, boomers and gen x basically ate lead and look how good we turned out.

     

    Need I point out that Dumpy is a boomer?

    Boomlet is probably closer to the truth?

  154. 154.

    Bupalos

    @Auntie Anne: I’m pretty bemused by all this revereware praise. Compared to cast iron it flat sucks. I shouldn’t say flat, because seems to me the bottom warps easily.

  156. 156.

    Manyakitty

    @Gretchen: oh, he was on the same trip as Louisiana’s own John Kennedy. Delightful. Surprised that both/either of them voted against Putin.

Comments are closed.