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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Monday Afternoon Open Thread

Monday Afternoon Open Thread

by WaterGirl|  March 11, 20245:14 pm| 59 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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We’ve been talking about serious stuff all afternoon, and I’m ready for a break.

How about you guys?

Here’s my sweet Willow doing tricks for treats.

Monday Afternoon Open Thread 4

She has the best tummy.  Except maybe for Henry’s.  I guess they are tied.

Open Thread.

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Next Post: Monday Evening Open Thread: As Mitch McConnell Sidles Towards the Exits… »

Reader Interactions

59Comments

  1. 1.

    lowtechcyclist

    March 11, 2024 at 5:20 pm

    That’s one sweet kitty belly!  Almost as sweet as my Iggy’s belly. :-)

  2. 2.

    lowtechcyclist

    March 11, 2024 at 5:22 pm

    Wonder how long this thread will last, now that AL has stomped on it!

  3. 3.

    H.E.Wolf

    March 11, 2024 at 5:30 pm

    Kitteh belleh! :)

  4. 4.

    Scout211

    March 11, 2024 at 5:33 pm

    Thanks, WC. Since this is an open thread with nothing serious, I’d like to ask for some book recommendations or author recommendations for my husband. Mr.Scout’s neurologist was happy  that he was still reading and even more pleased that he isn’t watching any screens or spending time watching television.  I guess the brain stimulation from reading is better than watching screens or television.

    We need a few more interesting authors for him to read.  But he has kind of a narrow interest area. He likes mysteries or police procedurals that take place in the wilderness or out in country areas. Some of his favorite authors are J A Jance, C J Box, Craig Johnson, William Kent Krueger. He did not like Hillerman, though.  He also likes Michael Connelly even though those are set in urban areas.

    If anyone has any recommendations, I would really appreciate it.  Thanks!

  5. 5.

    prostratedragon

    March 11, 2024 at 5:33 pm

    A little tiger she is. Such pretty stripes!

  6. 6.

    HumboldtBlue

    March 11, 2024 at 5:34 pm

    They teach’em young down New Zealand way.

    Baby learning Maori haka dance

  7. 7.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2024 at 5:38 pm

    @prostratedragon: When she was a baby, she looked just like an ocelot!

  8. 8.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2024 at 5:39 pm

    @Scout211: If you don’t end up getting much of a response, we can ask again on Medium Cool.

  9. 9.

    Scout211

    March 11, 2024 at 5:41 pm

    @Scout211: Sheesh!  Correction. WG, not WC.

    Eff you autocorrect. Sorry WaterGirl!  I did not purposely call you a WC.  😳

  10. 10.

    Scout211

    March 11, 2024 at 5:43 pm

    @WaterGirl:  Will do.  I was going to last night but it was way off topic.

  11. 11.

    karen marie

    March 11, 2024 at 5:45 pm

    @Scout211:  Has he read Westlake – Donald E. Westlake?

    Now there’s a hole to happily fall into.  Westlake’s got “comic crime capers,” “hard crime” (under the pseudonym Richard Stark), and non-crime – all of it brilliant.

    One of my favorites of his non-crime is Adios, Scheherazade.  It is astonishing.

  12. 12.

    Mousebumples

    March 11, 2024 at 5:46 pm

    @Scout211: I don’t read much in the way of mysteries, but I enjoyed Sharon Kay Penman’s historical fiction mystery series – Justin de Quincy mysteries per her Wiki page.

    Justin is a fictional character and it’s set in the time of Eleanor of Aquitaine. Penman passed away a few years ago, so the series is likely done with 4 mysteries, but I enjoyed the way she blended fictional mysteries with Historical Events.

  13. 13.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    March 11, 2024 at 5:47 pm

    @Scout211: I enjoyed the Thursday Murder Club immensely. Will the Kentish countryside do?

  14. 14.

    eclare

    March 11, 2024 at 5:50 pm

    What a pretty kitteh!

  15. 15.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2024 at 5:50 pm

    @Scout211: Yeah, that would have been kind of harsh. :-)

  16. 16.

    NotMax

    March 11, 2024 at 5:51 pm

    @Scout211

    The Cadfael Chronicles books written under the nom de plume Ellis Peters spring to mind.

  17. 17.

    Manyakitty

    March 11, 2024 at 5:54 pm

    Lookit those purr buttons on the Willow belly 😻

  18. 18.

    glc

    March 11, 2024 at 5:56 pm

     Boeing again (or still)

    12 hospitalized, 1 seriously.

    Technical event in mid-flight. Could happen to anyone, I’m sure it’s all fine.

  19. 19.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2024 at 5:57 pm

    @eclare: @Manyakitty:

    Her coloring really is stunning, and I am totally not prejudiced in her favor.  :-)

  20. 20.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2024 at 6:02 pm

    @glc: Yikes!

    Boeing 787 “technical event” said to cause sudden nosedive and 50 injuries

    LATAM Airlines said “technical event” in mid-flight “caused a strong movement.”

    Brings to mind the description of Musk’s rocket thing that went bad.  Sudden disassembly or something like that?

  21. 21.

    glc

    March 11, 2024 at 6:04 pm

    @WaterGirl:

    Try this one.

    Sad, and also odd.

  22. 22.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2024 at 6:06 pm

    @glc: Holy fuck!

    A former Boeing employee known for raising concerns about the firm’s production standards has been found dead in the US.

    John Barnett had worked for Boeing for 32 years, until his retirement in 2017.

    In the days before his death, he had been giving evidence in a whistleblower lawsuit against the company.

    Boeing said it was saddened to hear of Mr Barnett’s passing. The Charleston County coroner confirmed his death to the BBC on Monday.

    It said the 62-year-old had died from a “self-inflicted” wound on 9 March and police were investigating.

    That’s not suspicious at all.  //

  23. 23.

    NotMax

    March 11, 2024 at 6:07 pm

    @NotMax

    Also too Umberto Eco’s The Name of the Rose and Caleb Carr’s The Alienist.

  24. 24.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2024 at 6:09 pm

    @Scout211: I would have suggested J A Jance, Craig Johnson, William Kent Krueger and Hillerman.

    So I’m no help here.

  25. 25.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2024 at 6:10 pm

    @glc: Can’t the FAA shut them down until they can investigate the whole fucking line of planes?

  26. 26.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2024 at 6:11 pm

    @Scout211:

    I guess the brain stimulation from reading is better than watching screens or television.

    That’s really interesting.

  27. 27.

    Manyakitty

    March 11, 2024 at 6:13 pm

    @WaterGirl: facts are facts.

  28. 28.

    zhena gogolia

    March 11, 2024 at 6:14 pm

    @Scout211: I was going to suggest Anthony Horowitz’s Hawthorne series, but they’re set in London and other cosmopolitan climes.

  29. 29.

    Steeplejack

    March 11, 2024 at 6:15 pm

    @Scout211:

    Nevada Barr has a (long) series about Anna Pigeon, a law enforcement ranger with the National Park Service. The background is a different national park or wilderness area in each novel. The first one is Track of the Cat (1993).

  30. 30.

    Yutsano

    March 11, 2024 at 6:17 pm

    @glc: ​ Building the 787 so far away from the expertise that already existed in Washington just to try and bust the employee unions will bite Boeing here sooner rather than later. I’m honestly amazed the Dreamliner hasn’t had a major catastrophic event yet. But this one should hold judgment until the investigation is finished. LATAM has been known to be lax on their maintenance, judging by the number of emergency calls that come out of Latin America.

    EDIT: KITTEH!!!

  31. 31.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2024 at 6:21 pm

    @Steeplejack: Good one, I should have thought of that.

  32. 32.

    glc

    March 11, 2024 at 6:27 pm

    @Yutsano: Re the edit: point taken.

  33. 33.

    206inKY

    March 11, 2024 at 6:38 pm

    Somebody in the Dem caucus needs to be pulling the alarm bell on this TikTok ban. Trump is going to use his newfound opposition as a sledgehammer with young voters, who will be absolutely furious over this. I love TikTok and have worked with enough young people to realize that a ban would be totally toxic if associated with Biden.

  34. 34.

    SiubhanDuinne

    March 11, 2024 at 6:43 pm

    @HumboldtBlue:

    That’s priceless! He’s very cute, of course, but apart from that I’m a fan of preserving these kinds of traditional customs. Glad this youngster is carrying on.

  35. 35.

    SectionH

    March 11, 2024 at 6:44 pm

    @Scout211:Your husband could try one of Arthur Upfield‘s novels. HIs detective is Inspector Napoleon Bonaparte of the Queensland constabulary, and there are a lot of Outback settings, all over Australia. The first book in the 29(!) book series was published in 1929, so it’s possible they won’t be quite to his taste, but might be worth a try.

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    March 11, 2024 at 6:45 pm

    WaterGirl, if you’re still compiling treadmill fare, I’ll note that most seasons of The Royal have migrated to Freevee on Prime. Engrossing without becoming heavy. The well done inclusion of music contemporary to the period (1960s) is a bonus.

  37. 37.

    laura

    March 11, 2024 at 6:49 pm

    @Scout211: Adrian McKinty!11! Walter Mosely and Irene Turston come immediately to mind.

  38. 38.

    sab

    March 11, 2024 at 6:51 pm

    @WaterGirl: I wonder if that is why my dad, age 99 with some dementia, is still pluggimg along.

    He’s a retired doctor so he like popular science magazines. No fiction except for newspapers.

  39. 39.

    TBone

    March 11, 2024 at 6:56 pm

    Funny story about acronyms.  I once worked as a secretary in a family office for a wealthy Main Line family (Crocketts, yes descendants of Davy).  I’d use shorthand ‘f/u’ on the family scheduling calendar to remind myself to “follow up” on various tasks. One day I got a screeching email rebuke for my temerity in telling the 30 y.o. “baby” of the family “eff you” 😆 and her older sister had to explain the common usage and apologized to me profusely.  Older sister had worked but baby girl never had to.

  40. 40.

    Scout211

    March 11, 2024 at 6:56 pm

    Thanks to everyone who made suggestions.  In case others add their recommendations later, I’ll check back this evening.

  41. 41.

    AlaskaReader

    March 11, 2024 at 6:58 pm

    s@Scout211:

    Searunners – Alvin Doig – fiction  Alaska to Oregon focus

    Winter Brothers – Alvin Doig – non-fiction  Pacific NW focus

    Tie That Binds – Kent Haruf  Colorado plains focus

    Brave the Wild River – Melissa L. Sevigny non -fiction Grand Canyon focus

    Empire of Ice and Stone – Buddy Levy – non fiction Arctic maritime focus

  42. 42.

    NotMax

    March 11, 2024 at 7:07 pm

    @AlaskaReader

    Do you mean Ivan Doig? Fine Big Sky country writer.

  43. 43.

    AlaskaReader

    March 11, 2024 at 7:09 pm

    @Scout211: Those recommendations I provided above are all book award winners, and the stories unfold like mysteries, but they are not formulaic police detective type stories.

  44. 44.

    AlaskaReader

    March 11, 2024 at 7:09 pm

    @NotMax: Yes, typo and then repeated, should have found a link I suppose

    The two books I note are focused on the west coast, on your recommendation I’ll look for his book This House of Sky.

  45. 45.

    TBone

    March 11, 2024 at 7:10 pm

    @glc: jfc

  46. 46.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2024 at 7:13 pm

    @sab: Maybe so.

  47. 47.

    CaseyL

    March 11, 2024 at 7:14 pm

    @Scout211:

    But he has kind of a narrow interest area. He likes mysteries or police procedurals that take place in the wilderness or out in country areas.

    Dana Stabenow – writes mysteries set in Alaska, with detective Kate Shugak (native Aleut)

    Sue Henry – also writes mysteries set in Alaska; her best known is “Murder on the Iditarod Trail.”

    Both have written lots of books in their series.

  48. 48.

    BellaPea

    March 11, 2024 at 7:18 pm

    Willow is a precious kitty, she looks very like my sweet P’Nut. We had to let her go on February 8, and I still get teary-eyed when I think of her even though she had a good long life at 19 years old! Bless the kitty-babies, they are the best.

  49. 49.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2024 at 7:21 pm

    @BellaPea: I’m sorry if seeing Miss Willow made you sad.  If your sweet girl looked like mine, she was very pretty.

    Miss Willow is very maternal When Tucker was an annoying little puppy who wanted to play with the kitty Mr. Bear, Miss Willow took the side of the baby dog instead of her sibling kitty

    So sweet.

  50. 50.

    Trivia Man

    March 11, 2024 at 7:25 pm

    My cat decided her day cant start until she has some coffee. As i heat thecwater to pour over the grounds, she frantically shouts at me.

    I learned that coffee is bad for cats and dogs but it would probably take a full cup to start harming them. So i dip my finger in the coffee, she licks it off, then has some kibble for breakfast,

  51. 51.

    Ishmael

    March 11, 2024 at 7:34 pm

    @Scout211: I really enjoy the Mike Bowditch series written by Paul Doiron. Mike Bowditch is a Maine Game Warden, always tracking murderers and poachers around the wilderness and mountains of Maine. Really engaging story lines, with relationships with other characters continuing throughout the series. The books are well written, with a deep enough plot line to hold interest, but not so convoluted to be annoying. Great wilderness descriptions, vivid and interesting.

  52. 52.

    Scout211

    March 11, 2024 at 7:42 pm

    @Ishmael: I really enjoy the Mike Bowditch series written by Paul Doiron.

    Yes!  He really likes that series.  I should have included Doiron in his list of favorites   He’s read every one in that series that we could get at the library.  I think there is a new one this June  .

  53. 53.

    evodevo

    March 11, 2024 at 7:42 pm

    @Scout211: ​
    I just finished one by James A McLaughlin called Bearskin – the protagonist’s a caretaker on a forest preserve in VA, on the run from Mexican drug cartels and gets involved in various nefarious doings involving the locals..lots of running around in the woods chasing baddies..

  54. 54.

    Scout211

    March 11, 2024 at 8:00 pm

    Thanks again everyone.  I now will be researching all the recommendations.  This has been very helpful.

  55. 55.

    KRK

    March 11, 2024 at 8:08 pm

    @Scout211:

    Not mysteries, but David Howarth’s books about Norwegian commandos/resistance fighters in WWII are great reads. We Die Alone is my favorite, but The Shetland Bus and The Sledge Patrol are also good.

  56. 56.

    in the hills

    March 11, 2024 at 8:09 pm

    might i suggest the collected works of hunter s.thompson.

  57. 57.

    karen marie

    March 11, 2024 at 8:12 pm

    @WaterGirl:   Speaking of a “technical event” – Elaine Chao’s sister’s Tesla killed her.

    Reports that “she thought she was putting it in drive but put it in reverse by mistake” don’t even begin to describe what happened.  There is no knob or button in a Tesla for anything, including park/drive/reverse.  There’s only a fucking touchscreen with dozens of tiny icons, and it sure as fuck isn’t  something you can figure out on the fly or apparently even keep track of, even if you’re a very rich person.

  58. 58.

    WaterGirl

    March 11, 2024 at 8:50 pm

    @karen marie: Yep.  The more I read, the more certain I am that I will hang on to my 2005 CRV.

  59. 59.

    cckids

    March 11, 2024 at 9:15 pm

    @Scout211: I’m late to this, but your spouse might like Tana French. She writes mysteries; the main characters are detectives in Ireland. They’re very character-driven and intriguing.

    eta: while not set entirely outdoors, you get a strong sense of place.

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