Greetings from Paradise. Or at least it was today. It was 79 and breezy with clear blue skies and I made a point to go stand shirtless out in the back yard for a bit to get some sun. Thank jeebus for 8 ft tall privacy fences.
It was so nice I took Jack on three long walks, one of which was 2-3 miles. I couldn’t find the little litter bags, so I just grab a trash bag for the kitchen and jammed that in my pocket. As we were walking, I saw some trash, and a light bulb went off inside my head- “Hey! I just so happen to have a trash bag in my pocket!!!” So I pulled out the trash bag, and thus began my side quest of picking up trash and then emptying the trash bag whenever I saw a can. And actually, walking the dog was a side quest itself, so I was on a side quest while doing a side quest. At any rate, it was fun.
I took a drive to a hat place today- Heritage Hats, because I need a hat to wear while outside because this sun is no joke, and when your head is so large it has its own seasons, off the rack hats generally don’t work. At all. Plus, I really liked his website. It looked like the kind of website that someone who was dedicated to his thing would have- not someone who gets all caught up in fads.
Got there, and there were so many hats. I mean, I know I expected there to be hats at the Heritage Hat Shop. It’s in the fucking title. I just didn’t realize there were that many. And he had so many that fit me large noggin’. So I browsed around and left with a super cheap floppy straw hat. The nice hats are in the price range that you need to know what you are getting into and to plan the expense.
At any rate, while I was there, I tried on a bunch of them, and looking in the mirror I remembered I was wearing my purple “GASLIGHTING ISN’T REAL YOU’RE JUST CRAZY” t-shirt:
I’m not a mirror person- I mean I look in one when I brush my teeth or do a visual inspection of my mug looking for shit I might need to take to the doctor, but I never really look at myself or check my fit or what you will. And I am also someone who tunes things out. It is entirely likely that if you grabbed me off the street, blindfolded me, and asked me “What shirt are you wearing” 99 times out of 100 I would have no fucking clue. It’s fire and forget when I dress and has everything to do with if it is cold or if it is warm.
So I guess what I am trying to say is that when I tried on a hat for the first time and saw my shirt I had the realization that not a couple hours ago I was walking down the streets of Tempe in all my glory with a half full trash bag and a limping dog in floral collar. I bet every fucking person who drove by thought I was homeless and digging through trash or recycling. Or mentally unwell. In which case, they wouldn’t be 100% wrong.
Joelle is on day two of the flu/stomach bug, while I remain unscathed. I am crediting my consumption of Picante Clamato, which I did not know existed until I got here, and fuck each and everyone of you for not letting me know there were MULTIPLE flavors of Clamato. I just thought there was only the OG. But no- there are a few I have not had. I will fix that.
Currently I am fighting the AARP homepage. I finally got around to joining and the website is making me feel like a fucking boomer. So that is my exciting night.
Behave.
Shana
re: Clamato, reminded me of checking out the Spam selection at my local H Mart. Who knew there were so many different varieties? I’m used to Turkey and low salt which are available at any grocery they had all these different flavors. I had no idea.
Also, first! (?)
BruceFromOhio
Ha, no.
ETA: Glad you found a hat. Hats are awesome in the sun. Need some crazy killer shades to go with.
AJ of the Mustard Search and Rescue Team
Cole would you be pro or anti a commenter-run BJ discord? moderated, low-key, no work for WG, no expectations, just for us under-employed living-alone extroverts. Like a a water cooler as this insane election year unfolds, not replicating anything on the site.
vetoed, or cautiously un-vetoed, for now?
HeleninEire
Oh you need to read David Sedaris. He walks 20 miles a day along England’s countryside and picks up trash. Just a crazy, lovely story.
JonJon4
Made me LOL. Thanks, Cole- you be you, that crazy dude with a trash bag who has way more figured out than the typical civilian.
John S.
Very interesting news about the proposed acquisition of Discover by Capital One. Elizabeth Warren has already come out hard against it.
Back in the day, I recall that folks used to jokingly refer to Senator Biden (D-MBNA). Of course, MBNA doesn’t exist any more, itself having long since been gobbled up by larger banks. I wonder how his administration is going to look upon this merger.
trollhattan
Oh shit Cole epic shirt. Better still forgetting you’re outside wearing it.
As to the Calmato flavours thing I know darn well I pitched a fit here trying to recover from the billboard I had spotted in Our Fair City advertising Bud Light Clamato Michelada. Seeing the actual product–24-oz cans–in a Red Bluff AM-PM a year later only slightly triggered PTSD.
mrmoshpotato
And how is Jim Gaffigan’s favorite clam juice?
Betty
@John S.: His administration is finally reviving antitrust rules so I would say they are looking at it unfavorably.
Spanky
As someone who has recently had a bunch of squamous cells carved off his ear, I applaud the straw hat, and strongly discourage any hat resembling a baseball cap. Keep those ears covered.
Steve Holmes
I’m now at an age that I wear the same pants for a week, and it takes 3 days before they feel comfortable. So I obviously don’t check my wardrobe in the mirror anymore.
also thanks John for the pointer to JustTheRecipe.com it has changed my life.
Anoniminous
People thought you were a homeless person because you were walking.
JHC, man. NOBODY walks in Tempe.
Suzanne
@Spanky: SuzGrandfather developed a giant-ass chunk of melanoma on his ear, after about five years living in Mesa. He wore caps all the time and sunscreen on top of his head, but never thought about his ears. It has made me neurotic about sun protection.
FYI, y’all, that Supergoop gel sunblock is awesome, but expensive. The Trader Joe’s facial sunscreen is a much less expensive dupe.
Honus
”I was walking down the streets of Tempe in all my glory with a half full trash bag and a limping dog in floral collar. I bet every fucking person who drove by thought I was homeless and digging through trash or recycling. Or mentally unwell. In which case, they wouldn’t be 100% wrong.”
I figure they were just correctly guessing you were from West Virginia
wjca
Why I will never, ever, under any circumstances, join AARP: it was obvious when I first encountered them (mid-80s as I recall) that they were dedicated to helping retirees by screwing over anybody under 50ish. As far as I can tell, all that’s changed is that today boomers are on the other side of the same operation. But it remains as morally abhorrent as it has always been.
Urza
What does one get from AARP these days? It used to be about restaurant discounts as far as my young self could tell.
Ohio Mom
@wjca: I was agnostic about AARP (really never gave them a second thought) until I hit Medicare age and needed a Gap plan. After some research I realized theirs is a very good one.
I had to join to get the Gap coverage and now I get the magazine and newsletter and often there is useful info in the articles.
They do look after seniors — for example, lobbying for social security, providing free tax prep for low income seniors, some anti-fraud education efforts, etc. — but that is their purpose.
I don’t see any evidence of “screwing everyone under 50” though I am open to hearing why you think they do. So…?
Jackie
@Urza: https://www.aarp.org/membership/benefits/all-offers-a-z/
frosty
Connerhats.com. They have a collection of UPF50 hats that won’t break the bank. Tested and rated by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency. Good enough for me!!
Ohio Mom
@Urza: The biggest things AARP does is sell types of insurance and keep an eye on government legislation that will affect seniors (on both the federal and state levels) as well as lobby on behalf on seniors.
When I joined, I got a booklet listing all of the discounts and saw nothing that would be useful to me; skimming the link Jackie provided validated my memory. It reminds me of Triple AAA discounts, I never found them particularly useful either.
Devore
Sounds like your were dressed appropriately to fit in with the crowd that typically hangs out around Circle Ks. Maybe make some new friends
cain
So Hamas have finally pissed off the Palestinians.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sjnoq4as6#autoplay
Hamas police shot a kid for trying to steal food.
I saw some stuff on Reddit where some UN food truck came in and Hamas shot at the people trying go after the food – when it got violent they turned around and fled, but after Hamas shot at the people.
Palestinians deserve better than these assholes.
cain
@cain: Also note that the writer is an Israeli so there is definitely a slant towards Israel but not necessarily anti-Palestinian. Definitely anti-Hamas.
wjca
What particularly irritated me originally was them lobbying hard for raising benefits far in excess of inflation. With, necessarily, increases to SS taxes to pay for them.
Because of how big the Boomer generation was, compared to the (WW II-reduced Greatest Generation), the SS Trust Fund stayed temporarily adequate. When we Boomers started retiring, the options became raise the SS taxes yet again, or raise (only personal, of course) income taxes and get make-up funding from the general fund. That this would happen was obvious even then, to those who knew anything about demograpfics and did the math.
If you want to know why younger generations are becoming the first to NOT be better off than their parents, there you are.
Peke Daddy
@cain: Bleep Netanyahu for enabling them all this time.
dexwood
@Spanky: This. My dermatologist here in the high desert of New Mexico hates baseball caps for this very reason. He told me he sees most skin cancer on the ears of old, white guys. A 3 inch brim and sunscreen or stay inside during the day is his advice.
Jackie
A random thought popped into my head; Taylor Swift and Travis Kelse are alone at last! May the solitude last until at least Sept when the NFL kicks off the new season!
Yes, I’m suffering from football withdrawal ☹️
I’ll be fine once March Madness and MLB starts 😂
Cathie from Canada
On a side note, I don’t know whether to credit Joelle or Paradise – maybe both – but you just sound so happy lately John. It’s great.
Jackie
Speaking of baseball, John, are you and Joelle planning to take in some Spring Training games?
wjca
@Jackie: Spring Training started a couple of days ago. With pitchers and catchers reporting middle of last week. So MLB is in motion already.
/pedantry
NotMax
Tickled to have found out they still exist.
;)
mrmoshpotato
@NotMax: Santa or talking M&M’s?
Ohio Mom
@wjca: So much to unpack here.
In the early to mid-1980s, everyone was still reeling from the high inflation of the 1970s. That may have colored perceptions of how much of a raise in Social Security would be needed.
Let’s not forget either, the Reagan era commission that “fixed” social security supposedly to account for the baby boomers’ upcoming retirement but the real purpose was to fatten up the fund to balance out the first big round of tax cuts for the ultrawealthy. Basically stealing from the fund.
There’s so many reasons why the post-Boomers will not do as well as their parents. One is cutbacks to government funding for higher ed, which raised tuitions astronomically, which meant a lot of student loans, and the changes that were made to loan programs that made them into unplayable shackles.
Another set of issues is the attack on unions and the end of defined benefit pensions, leaving workers with paltry 401ks. That makes Social Security more important because it’s the only “pension” many people have.
That’s just for starters, you can probably put everything under the umbrella of Reagan-nomics and neo-liberalism.
I won’t argue against the fact that there are some extremely comfortable retirees out there but you have to remember that there are also a lot of desparately poor elderly as well. The average Social Security payment is something like $1,600 a month, which means there are people scraping by on much smaller amounts.
Too long/didn’t read: AARP was reacting to larger trends, not setting them.
Jackie
@wjca: Ya, I know, but the GAMES haven’t started yet. Just curious if Joelle is a Diamondbacks fan and plans to drag Cole to a ST game or two.
NotMax
Did someone say baseball season?
:)
Jackie
Here’s a fun headline!
Didn’t read; just enjoying the reality of NOT being TIFG 😂
Jackie
@NotMax: ♥️
wjca
Which fattened fund the AARP used to justify demand for higher benefits. No mention of the need to account for the baby boomers’ upcoming retirements.
wjca
@Jackie:
Including every day his appeal is pending (even if he has put the current amount in escrow). Delay, delay, delay has an explicit price. And, unlike the people he’s accustomed to just outwaiting, the State of New York isn’t going to run out of money to keep after him as long as it takes.
NotMax
@Jackie
“I can pay it in sneakers, right?”
//
CaseyL
Hmph. GoFundMe has decided not to take down the Pay Trump’s $455 Million Penalty fund. GoFundMe says it’s because the money is not earmarked for legal fees. More than likely, they’re salivating over their cut of the take:
The damn thing has raised $500K so far.
That’s not even a drop in the bucket, but my god, his supporters are dumb. Just breathtakingly dumb. Using their brains for nothing more than keeping their skull bones apart.
Someone commented – yesterday, I think; don’t remember if it was here or on BlueSky – that part of our problem is there are way too many stupid people running around. I think there are indeed more stupids as a percentage of the population than in generations past, because the things that would normally penalize stupidity aren’t nearly as dangerous as they used to be. Safety features on cars, warning labels everywhere, that sort of thing.
Jeesh.
Jackie
@NotMax: Those suckers who actually “bought” those sneakers are never going to get them.
The disclaimers on top of the disclaimers state in teeny tiny print that the very earliest they’ll receive is “some time this summer,” yet refuse to guarantee that will even happen.
TIFG truly loves his poorly educated, suckers and losers.
prostratedragon
Midnight in Chicago: “Asturias (Leyenda),” Albeniz.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Ohio Mom:
I agree with pretty much everything you said in your comment
I do wish my company offered a 401k though, instead of the shitty union pension we have. I called the pension office of my union up a year or so ago and guess what you’d be paid for working 30 years under their formula: $300/month. Yup. Not even any COLAs AFAICT! Who the hell knows what that will be worth in 40 years or so. That doesn’t even go into the fact that my union may not even exist 30-40 years from now. A 401k/IRA would still be there and they can’t be embezzled from. Plus, investing in low cost index funds and saving at least 15% of my income+employer match would likely net me much more than $300/mo. It’s why I have a Roth IRA I contribute to
NotMax
@prostratedragon
(Completely unrelated.) Welcome to Schmicago.
:)
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@NotMax:
Hey it’s Keegan-Michael Key! That dude’s great in everything he’s in
VFX Lurker
I borrowed Barry Windsor-Smith’s Monsters graphic novel from Hoopla Digital and read it in one sitting. The art is beautiful, but the story is so sad and tragic, exploring generational trauma and domestic violence.
Recommended for fans of Windsor-Smith’s art, but definitely not for everyone.
Chris T.
Clamato is real? I thought it was a joke, like the Tomacco (tobacco+tomato) juice in The Simpsons.
(OK not really but I had no idea it comes in flavors.)
Re hats: Aussie Outback hats are The Thing. Find one (or two) that you like and get those.
Chris T.
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
Don’t assume they can’t. Stealing from an index fund in particular would be difficult, but there are always con artists looking for ways…
Odie Hugh Manatee
I took our 65″ TV apart, dusted out the chassis (very little inside), cleaned the ribbon cable contacts at the Tcon board and treated them with DeOxit. I couldn’t get to the other end of the cables due to the way that it’s assembled (screen needs to come out of frame) but if I get desperate I can make an access panel in the rear to get to them. Cleaned everything around the entertainment center and put it all back together.
So far so good! Picture has been clear with no lines and it works in all modes up to 4K@120 Hz. Now I just hope it stays that way. The ribbon cable contacts had dark spots where they make contact with the socket pins. I polished them up with a clean rubber eraser and put the contact lubricant on them.
No leftover parts too! ;)
NotMax
@Odie Hugh Manatee
Not an emery cloth kind of guy?
AlaskaReader
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): Don’t assume your money would automatically be safe in a 401K, like pensions the funds can be and are mismanaged on a regular basis.
That’s what I’ve always disliked about moving pensions plans to 401K plans, all that capital is at the mercy of the market.
Lose 20 % and your ‘advisor’ will tell you to ‘ride it out’. They won’t tell you their own fund managers took some money off the table and moved it somewhere where you aren’t.
Money seldom really ‘disappears’ in the market, it just gets moved around. Those big ‘drops’?
Somewhere it wasn’t really a drop at all. Some chips just got taken off the table. The big money got moved, the result, your value in your small holdings didn’t track the moves of the big money before the resultant loss in value.
‘Pump and dump’ isn’t just a con, it’s also an integral part of a capitalistic investment system. It’s why the market always wants to get control of pension funds, investment funds, and why they’d really like to control all the public funds.
Odie Hugh Manatee
@NotMax:
I’m a smooth operator. At least that’s what my wife tells me. :)
Don
I am a fucking boomer, so what? John, Do NOT go back to WV, where we never hear from you. Tough out the summer!
Quinerly
@NotMax:
Thread is most likely dead, but I will add this. I love the Benchmark series of individual state atlases.
Also, a big fan of the spiral bound Nat Geo Road Atlas: Adventure Edition (US, Canada, Mexico). If you are interested be sure it’s the “Adventure Edition.”
pabadger
@trollhattan: The Bud Light Clamato Michelada is not bad. Word to the wise, the tomato juice sinks to the bottom of the can.
Paul in KY
@cain: If the Palestinians really really really want their state, they will exterminate Hamas. Cause they’ll never get their state as long as those nutwads have power and ability to create chaos and mayhem as they do.
Paul in KY
@wjca: They can seize his property! Buwahahahahahahaha!!!
Paul in KY
@Odie Hugh Manatee: Yay on the no leftover parts!
wjca
But what will be the net, once the mortgages are paid off? (And need to be careful not to seize any with negative net worth!)
Paul in KY
@wjca: Wouldn’t TFG still be on the hook for those?
wjca
@Paul in KY: Not, if I understand correctly, if the government seized them. Seize the property, and you get the liens against it, too. I’d love to be wrong on that, but….