Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Trump’s legal defense is going to be a dumpster fire inside a clown car on a derailing train.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

American History and Black History can not be separated.

Bad news for Ron DeSantis is great news for America.

They are lying in pursuit of an agenda.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

Red lights blinking on democracy’s dashboard

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

This fight is for everything.

“The defense has a certain level of trust in defendant that the government does not.”

I’m pretty sure there’s only one Jack Smith.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

Hi god, it’s us. Thanks a heap, you’re having a great week and it’s only Thursday!

The US Supreme Court is on the ballot in november.

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

No Justins, No Peace

“woke” is the new caravan.

“Jesus paying for the sins of everyone is an insult to those who paid for their own sins.”

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

This really is a full service blog.

The revolution will be supervised.

Dear media: perhaps we ought to let Donald Trump speak for himself!

You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / Another Day Down

Another Day Down

by | 167 Comments

This post is in: 

Another long day, but better than the one before.

For a long long time I have wanted to get a tattoo. I never have because I didn’t want to upset my mother, but I’ve been inching towards one. Right now, should I get a tattoo, the words “Buspar” and “Atarax” are in the running. Today was not, by any normal metric, a good day, but compared to the last week, it was amazing.

I’m feeling a little bit better and more normal, talked on the phone to a couple people, got my computer back from the shop and started reconfiguring and installing all the software again, and got some work done. Apparently one of my ram sticks went bad while I was gone, and when I got back I dutifully installed windows updates that did not install properly because of said ram, and it corrupted the whole file structure. I have everything backed up and pulled my hard drives, so I just told him to wipe the whole damned thing and do a fresh windows install and I will handle the rest. Pain in the fucking ass.

I still have little to no appetite, but again, that is not even a slight concern for me. I’m built to survive a couple crop failures and bad harvests, so a couple days off the feed is not going to be an in issue. May actually help. But when I am hungry, there is cereal.

I have lots I want to say but I am really drained and tired.

FUCK DONALD TRUMP.

Reader Interactions

167Comments

  2. 2.

    TaMara

    I think Fuck Donald Trump, really does say it all.

    Glad you’re seeing some light in the tunnel. ❤️

    Also, too my mom was pissed about my tattoo until her dying day. I was ok with that. LOL

  4. 4.

    Miki

    Buspar really helped my sister – took the edge off, which was exactly what she needed. She’s doing well, without a bunch of side effects.

    Yay for you. And her.

  6. 6.

    SpaceUnit

    Glad you’re doing better.  Hang in there, my dude.

     

    And put off any decisions about getting inked until you’re feeling right.   I know quite a number of people who have gotten what I consider to be unfortunate tattoos.

  7. 7.

    satby

    Pretty lukewarm on tattoos myself, but I get they’re a thing now so never said much about the many my kids have, except I insisted they wait until they were 18 to get them. Now, 30 years later, number 2 son is preparing to have his hand tattoo lasered off, because he wants to apply to the police department in his town.*

    *His reasoning was that good cops, ones that want to help *all* people, not be door kickers, are needed. And he feels it would be a bigger contribution to society than being a mechanic for the next 20 years. I am surprised, yes.

  8. 8.

    Alquitti

    I have a friend who can help. She’s the very best in the good old fashioned way, not running to the prescription pad like they all seem to do these days. She helped me. I assume you can get back to me if you want.

  11. 11.

    satby

    Double fuck that guy. It’s past his jail time. But the gag order may just get him there. FINALLY

    Glad the meds are helping.

    Edit: folks, he’s said numerous times he’s wanted a tattoo before the recent difficulty. Not a recent decision.

  13. 13.

    SpaceUnit

    I don’t have a single tattoo.  Figure if I fall on hard times I can always find work in a freak show.

  19. 19.

    JaySinWA

    I still have little to no appetite, but again, that is not even a slight concern for me. I’m built to survive a couple crop failures and bad harvests, so a couple days off the feed is not going to be an in issue. May actually help. But when I am hungry, there is cereal.

    This book may help. If nothing else it is kind of a fun read. It’s about depression and cooking. Or “cooking” as in your cereal example.

    https://traumbooks.itch.io/the-sad-bastard-cookbook

  22. 22.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    Thanks for checking in.

    I got two tattoos (butterflies) after I turned 40. Had been wanting one since I read ‘Papillion’ as a kid. Love em. You’re never too old.

  24. 24.

    RaflW

    @satby: I watched a Mae Martin standup show on Netflix last night. They talked about getting a tattoo when they were young, doing kind of a lot of drugs, and such. They chose the word ‘oatmeal’ and now I guess it’s just this random reminder of pointless rebellion.

  25. 25.

    Gretchen

    My husband is adamantly opposed to tattoos, so our twin daughters were nervous about him seeing that they had each other’s initials tattooed on their wrists.  He is not the most noticing of men, and after multiple visits, they finally pointed them out. He still didn’t approve, but his disapproval lost its power by not noticing.

  26. 26.

    wmd

    I waited to get a tattoo until I was told I couldn’t donate blood anymore – I’d been a 4-6 units a year donor since I turned 18, but my oncologists told me no more blood donations after they treated my cancer. (There’s a year deferral for a tattoo, but it’s moot now).

    My first one is a portrait of Emma Goldman on my left bicep, with the words “Mothers of Anarchy” in the same font as the Sons of Anarchy patch above, and an Emma quote below “the most violent element in society is ignorance”.  A few years later I got a portrait of Emmy Noether on my right bicep – Mothers of Algebra, “where ever there is a symmetry in nature there is a conservation law attached”.

    My choices are about promoting ground breaking women that made a difference in the early 20th century.  Emma has a bowdlerized quote from her exile to the USSR “Fuck your revolution if I can’t dance”, I rejected that (the actual quote has to do with needing joy and beauty in a revolution).  Emma is known for being arrested for Comstock Act violations – something on the order of a dozen arrests for teaching women about contraception.

    Emmy Noether is one of the greatest mathematicians of the 20th century – I knew her from her later work in Ring theory – Noetherian rings are an essential concept of Abstract Algebra. She may be better known from her earlier work in calculus of variations and its application in physical field theory.

    Tattoo artist was stoked by all this and did the work for a song – $300. He was tipped well, as the work is top notch.

    I joked with my manager as I was leaving Apple that I got Em-1 tattoo as the M1 chip was being brought up, and Em-2 during M2 bring up.

    Thanks for prompting this exposition with your thought about getting a tattoo.

  27. 27.

    kjazz1

    Hi John,

    Lurker here, but thought I’d comment.  I had to laugh as I too am dealing with some anxiety issues, and I too have been thinking about getting a tattoo.  Makes me wonder that there’s some connection between those two things.  lol.   The tattoo’s been on my list for almost 20 years now, and now that I’m 50 this year, dammit, i’m going to get it.

    Glad to hear you’re feeling better.  Cheers

  28. 28.

    Suzanne

    @SpaceUnit: I don’t have any tattoos, either. Every great once in a while, the thought crosses my mind. Shortly followed by, “WTF dumbass, you know you prefer white space”.

    And that’s true. I like white space.

  30. 30.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    I would suggest getting your head straight(er) before inking up. Maybe make it a goal of sorts in the search for coping and feeling better. Day by day is what life is pretty much all about. Good is better than bad so take it and work from there.

    And fuck Trump and his enablers. May he suck them dry of everything they own.

  32. 32.

    SpaceUnit

    @Suzanne:

    I sometimes feel like the only person without one.

     

    Years ago I considered getting a tattoo of a compass face on my shoulder because I was super into hiking and backpacking, but nah.

  35. 35.

    mrmoshpotato

    Oh man!  Glad you had all of your stuff safely backed up, but having to reinstall/reconfigure all of the programs is always a PAIN!

    Glad things are getting better – if slowly.

    And yes, FUCK DONALD TRUMP.

  36. 36.

    eclare

    Glad to hear you’re feeling better and getting your world back to normal, i.e., the computer working again.

    I don’t have any tattoos.  I don’t mind shots, but tattoos look painful, and I’m a wus.

  38. 38.

    comrade scotts agenda of rage

    @eclare:

    I don’t mind shots, but tattoos look painful, and I’m a wus.

    The pain is vastly overstated.  That being said, it really depends on where you get them.  Some places, yeah, very painful.  But a conventional upper arm location? Not really.  I had shots far more painful.

  39. 39.

    karen marie

    @wmd:  Semi-interesting factoid.  You cannot donate your body to “science” if you have tattoos.  I learned this when I inquired about donating my husband’s body in 2003 or so.  I assume it’s still true but who knows.

  41. 41.

    mrmoshpotato

    @TaMara:

    Also, too my mom was pissed about my tattoo until her dying day. I was ok with that. LOL 

    Well, if you’d got “Mother” inked on your shoulder… 😁

  42. 42.

    Jackie

    @karen marie: Thank you for the perfect excuse for not getting a tattoo! My daughter keeps pestering me to get one. AND she constantly teases me to donate my brain to science to discover why I have opinions she can’t/won’t agree with 😂

  43. 43.

    WaterGirl

    @Jackie: Unless your mom would kill you for doing that, which I suspect Mom Cole would do.  At least virtually!

    Upon further consideration, it occurs to me that telling a grown man that his mom not approving of something is a good reason for not doing it… well, I can see how that could have the opposite effect.

  45. 45.

    wmd

    @karen marie:  I don’t expect my body to ever be found… and I believe that the prohibition on tattoos is dependent on the organization taking the body – some medical schools don’t want tattoos, but it isn’t a blanket prohibition.

  46. 46.

    Almost Retired

    I have no tattoos and I am not getting one now.  I can’t imagine that the ink art is going to look better with age spots, crepey skin and strange looking moles that require a trip to the dermatologist.  Hard pass.

  47. 47.

    Ohio Mom

    @karen marie: I wasn’t planning on getting any tattoos but would like to donate my body to the medical school — it’s the cheapskate’s funeral plan. So now I’m definitely not ever getting a tattoo.

    Cole, I think I said the other day that low blood sugar benefits no one and nothing. You don’t have to eat gobs but maybe a light bite at the usual mealtimes? At least keep yourself hydrated with something that supplies electrolytes. That’s the original “better living through chemistry,” eating and hydrating.

    That’s enough nagging, thanks for keeping us updated. Continuing to send good thoughts your way.

  48. 48.

    laura

    I can’t ever get a tattoo because I cannot imagine any image or phrase I wouldn’t back out of half way through. No Ragrets!

    Dear Blog father, please consider a peanut butter toast and big glass of water when you feel you’d benefit from a bit of norishment.

  49. 49.

    Jay

    In the early 90’s, I got body piercings and a tat.

    The tat is a square grey pencil sketch of a lily pond with the opening lines of the Diamond Sutra, in Sanskrit, in dark black. It’s on my right upper back. It’s about 16″ x 16″.

    I did a lot of research before both, as body piercings can cause problems and not all tattoo artists are highly skilled.

    I went with grey and black because tattoo’s fade over time and sun, and bright colours go first, Grey and black just fade to a blue/grey and blue/black. I got that tattoo at an infamous* shop in Milwaukee,

    I got the piercings at an alt medical office in #1 Water Street, Vancouver’s art deco “Empire State” building.

    *infamous because it was famous in the 1940’s for being raided by the Police.

  50. 50.

    citizen dave

    @SpaceUnit: The unmarked are still the majority.  Google/Pew Research Center: 32% of Americans have a tattoo, including 22% who have more than one.

  53. 53.

    lowtechcyclist

    I have no objections to tattoos, but I know that if I ever got one, it would just be a matter of time before I’d have changed enough that I wouldn’t really like it anymore.

    Maybe I’ll get one when I’m 95 and probably won’t live long enough after that to get disgusted with whatever I chose.  Or maybe I just won’t bother.

  55. 55.

    SpaceUnit

    Years ago I was at the gym and there was a girl there that I hadn’t ever seen before – maybe in her mid twenties to early thirties.  She had her back to me and her shorts were very very short.  Now it’s not that I meant to look, but just below her left buttcheek were tattooed the words fuck you.  Below her right buttcheek were the words pay me.  I nearly fell off the bench.

    Holy shit.  Talk about bad decisions.

  56. 56.

    Ohio Mom

    @Almost Retired: Way back when Ohio Son was in junior high, we were at an informal patent-teacher-student event and one of the history teachers was in shorts. Spying the Mickey Mouse tattoo just above the teacher’s ankle, my neighbor the Family Practitioner shook his head and said, “That’s not going to look good when he gets old.”

    I had a glimpse into Dr. Bill’s workday, one sagging tattoo after another, appointment after appointment.

  57. 57.

    mrmoshpotato

    @Trivia Man:

    I have a nice whisky i sip on days he hits milestones like a new indictment. I thought id get some yesterday but… 🙁 

    Maybe two new indictments will happen, and you can have a double!

  60. 60.

    Jay

    For a brief period, donated bodies/organ donors, with tattoos, piercings, implants, pacemakers were rejected due to fear of AIDs.

    Now they are not.

    It has actually become a minor trend to have your science/organ donor status tattoo’d on your body while still alive, just to try to make sure, that happens.

  64. 64.

    karen marie

    @wmd:  Yeah, I have no idea.  It was a long time ago.  I ended up donating his body to a school for undertakers.  They were thrilled because (long story) his corpse had laid around for so long it was a disgusting mess.  The students rarely get an opportunity to work on something like that.

  65. 65.

    JoyceH

    I’ve never wanted a tattoo because I know my own taste changes over time. Give ya an example – once upon a time, I had this set of curtains in the bedroom. Now these were curtains that I chose myself, I picked them out, I paid for them, I hung them on the curtain rod. I don’t change things quickly, not because I’m so satisfied with my surroundings, but because I’m a procrastinator. So by the time I replaced those curtains (that I chose and bought), every time I thought of them, I thought of them as “those DAMN Priscillas”. Tattoos are permanent! And they’re always with you! I imagine myself at 95, stuck with a skin adornment equivalent to Those DAMN Priscillas.

  66. 66.

    NotMax

    @Trivia Man

    His being slapped with a shiny new gag order ought to merit a finger of whiskey.

    I’ll leave it to the audience to decide which finger.
    :)

  67. 67.

    CaseyL

    Yay! A day better than the one before!  May this trend continue.

    You even sound a lot more like yourself: making rational decisions about how much computer fuckery you want to put up with, deciding you just plain don’t, and handing it off to someone else.

    @karen marie:  I did not know that!  Every so often I think about getting inked, but it’s not something I’m all that invested in.  OTOH, I am determined to donate whatever parts of my body are still useful after I die. Knowing I can’t do that if I do get a tattoo seals the deal for me.

    Fuck Donald Trump, and the entire GOP that has sworn fealty to him.  An organized crime mob is all they are now, and I am not joking.  With all that comes with it.

  68. 68.

    Sister Golden Bear

    Speaking of cookbooks, it looks like I may need rotator cuff surgery. My PT thinks my shoulder has worsened into a full tear, seeing a shoulder surgeon on Thursday for another evaluation.

    If I do get surgery, I realized I’m gonna had to feed myself one-handed, since my arm would be in a sling for six weeks. Realistically it’s probably gonna be a lot of delivery, since I live alone —but then I realized it also needs to be food that doesn’t need cutting either. Any suggestions for things I might be able to cook myself?

  69. 69.

    BlueGuitarist

    @Suzanne:
    The morning thread included discussion of Frank Luntz whining about Dems fighting back. Later saw a response from one of the Lincoln project guys about that same whiny Luntz tweet

    I’m not bringing a “live, laugh, love” throw pillow to a gunfight.

  71. 71.

    frosty

    @Sister Golden Bear: Tuna noodle casserole. Spaghetti sauce from a jar (will you be able to use a can opener or open a jar?) Anything with ground beef or ground turkey. Frozen onion/red/green peppers for cooking. Minced garlic from the spice rack. I think this will be doable.

  72. 72.

    Jager

    As usual, I’m late, my Dad had a tattoo on his inner left bicep, he got it when he was 15, and his tattoo was his nickname ‘”Hollywood”. The janitor at his high school was enrolled in a “Learn to Be a Tattoo Artist” course from some damned men’s magazine. He practiced on the students. Dad’s tattoo looked like a slow first-grader printed it on his arm.  he was really anti-tattoo

    Just to yank his chain, when I came home from basic training I was sporting a heart with Mary in it, then Mary was xed out and replaced with Joni. Thank God it was henna.

  74. 74.

    karen marie

    @JoyceH:   Getting packaging open one-handed is not easy!

    I’d cook a bunch of stuff and freeze it in individual servings.

    Stuff that can be eaten with a spoon, like soups, stews and lasagna.  Also, make sausage gravy to freeze in individual servings and buy a package of frozen biscuits (remembering to open and reseal it before you lose use of that arm).  I love sausage gravy and biscuits.

    A plain cheese quesadilla can be made with one arm but getting the salsa and sour cream open might be a trick.

  76. 76.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    Quick search finds jar-opening tools. For 1-hand operation probably need a vise with suction base, but again search turns up lots of options.

    @Sister Golden Bear: good luck!

  77. 77.

    NotMax

    @Sister Golden Bear

    A smattering of things you can readily eat with only a fork or single handed..

    Chicken nuggets.
    Fish sticks.
    Meatballs.
    Egg rolls.
    Burritos.
    Sliders.
    Corn dogs.
    Pierogies.
    And so on.

    Frozen or prepared casseroles you can cut out pieces from one-handed with a spatula.

    Lasagna.
    Shepherd’s pie.
    Noodle kugel.
    And so on.

    And if it comes to it (FSM forfend) Spaghetti-Os. ;)

  78. 78.

    Redshift

    I’d like to get a science-y tattoo, but I’ve never been able to decide on one. Ms. Redshift has also had trouble deciding, but while on a recent trip to New York she saw a picture of someone with a simple “NYC” tattoo, and decided that’s it. (She was born in the city.) Looked up some places, walked a couple of blocks, and got it.

    (I technically already got my first one, a radiation treatment target, but I didn’t choose it, so I don’t think it counts.)

  79. 79.

    Ohio Mom

    @Sister Golden Bear: Is there a such thing as a pre-op consultation with an Occupational Therapist? Hacks for activities of daily living is what OTs do. There may be some gizmos and gadgets that will enable you to more easily feed yourself.

    Other than that, cook ahead and freeze lots of casseroles? Order in a salad to round out the microwaved dish?

  82. 82.

    karen marie

    @Omnes Omnibus:  That stuff is absolutely foul.  About 20 years ago I felt nostalgic for canned spaghetti with hot dog chunks – something my mother fed my siblings and I in the late ’60s/early ’70s.

    I was shocked at how deeply awful it was.

  83. 83.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @karen marie: Beefaroni was a staple to take to the field in the army.  You heat it and eat it from the can.  Well actually, you don’t even need to heat it if it isn’t too could out.  Tabasco helps.

  84. 84.

    Redshift

    @Sister Golden Bear: Based on my sling experience (broken collarbone and separated shoulder), I wouldn’t be surprised if you could still hold a fork well enough to use a knife with the other hand. You may want to check, just so you don’t have to suffer the indignity of frozen or canned vegetables. 🙂

  86. 86.

    Jackie

    @karen marie: Electric/battery operated can opener could be your best friend, and I think there are jar openers that might also help.

    And, become good friends with your neighbors – who can help with opening containers… and invite you over for a home cooked meal or two!

  89. 89.

    trollhattan

    @NotMax: Mom has a battery operated jar opener she swears she can’t live without.

    As luck would have it, Trader Joe’s has started carrying battery-operated jars. :-P

  92. 92.

    BigJimSlade

    I’m a few years shy of 60, maybe I’ll be forward-looking and get a tattoo of wrinkles (then again, why bother).

  94. 94.

    Chacal Charles Calthrop

    @Sister Golden Bear: Instapot.  Instapot anything.  And, I know, California…where the farmer’s markets have picked-that-morning citrus because everything grows there.   But an Instapot can be operated with one hand and everything that comes out of it can be eaten with a spoon.

     

    @SpaceUnit: When I was in Asia I heard the sad tale of a tourist who wanted the Chinese character for “love” tattoo’d on him.  Turns out he wound up with the Chinese character for “prostitute.”

  97. 97.

    Jackie

    Anyone surprised by this?

    “Those seeking employment at the Republican National Committee after a Trump-backed purge of the committee this month have been asked in job interviews if they believe the 2020 election was stolen, making the false claim a litmus test of sorts for hiring,” the Washington Post reports.

    “In recent days, Trump advisers have quizzed multiple employees who had worked in key 2024 states about their views on the last presidential election… The interviews have been conducted mostly virtually, as the prospective future employees are based in key swing states.”

    “The question about the 2020 election has startled some of the potential employees, who viewed it as questioning their loyalty to Trump and as an unusual job interview question.”

    I’ve reached my gift links limit, so can’t link it to you who can’t get through the paywall ☹️

  99. 99.

    Another Scott

    Better is good.

    Meanwhile, in other good news…

    Alexander Willis
    @ReporterWillis
    40m

    BREAKING: Marilyn Lands (D) has won the special election for Alabama House District 10. Her opponent, Teddy Powell, has published a statement conceding to his opponent.

    #ALPolitics

    [ image ]

    Mar 27, 2024 · 1:19 AM UTC

    The previous election was R+7. This was D+10. A +17 point D swing.

    !!!

    Every election matters, and we’ve got good reasons to think that we can do well this fall.

    Forward!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  108. 108.

    stinger

    What does Joelle think about tattoos? Depending on its location, she may be the only one who can see it.

  109. 109.

    Martin

    @Sister Golden Bear: Soup. Chili, that kind of thing. You can go as basic as a can (get an electric can opener – a must have for people with arthritis), get better stuff in a jar, make it yourself. Salads of all shapes and sizes. Chinese food.

    Also, a lot of street food can be eaten with one hand – pizza, hot dogs, French fries, etc. Indulge yourself. Ramen shops. Mexican food can usually be ordered in a bowl – again easy to eat. Even burgers can work if they’re small – get 2 kids burgers instead of the towering mess they want you to order.

  112. 112.

    Spanky

    Matty Schlapp walks:

    A lawsuit accusing Matt Schlapp, the influential leader of the Conservative Political Action Conference, of sexual misconduct is being ended, according to both sides.

    The lawsuit began last year when a Republican operative, Carlton Huffman, alleged that Schlapp groped him without his consent during a political trip to Georgia in October 2022, then said in the suit that Schlapp also defamed him by denying the allegation and attacking his credibility.

    “The parties have resolved their differences,” Huffman’s lawyer, Timothy Hyland, wrote in an email Tuesday.

    Separately, CPAC’s board of directors issued a statement saying it was “pleased to learn about the favorable conclusion of the litigation against CPAC and Matt Schlapp.”

    The terms of the resolution were not disclosed.

  113. 113.

    S Cerevisiae

    Way late to the party again but for John’s original post, I have been on buspar for years now and it really helps with the anxiety. When my doctor first prescribed it I asked “what’s this bus-pa-RO-ne?” pronouncing it like an Italian sandwich. My doctor cracked up and from then on it was a running joke for us: “my cousin Luigi makes the best busparone in Brooklyn!”

  115. 115.

    satby

    @mrmoshpotato: My kid got a large gothic style MOTHER tattooed down the inside of his right arm when he was 19. It didn’t help his case as far as I was concerned. But I raised them to be independent, even if I wasn’t wild about their choices, so I kept quiet about it.

  118. 118.

    S Cerevisiae

    RE: tattoos – never get one you can’t hide from a judge.

    full disclosure- I have 2, both on my upper back, both birds (I have over 600 species on my life list)

  121. 121.

    Librarian

    One reason I’ve never gotten a tattoo is that I just don’t think that putting all that ink on your body is harmless.

  122. 122.

    Jackie

    WAY TO GO ALABAMA!

    Marilyn Lands (D) “won a contentious special election for a state house seat in deep-red Alabama on Tuesday night, in a race that could signal the dominant role of abortion and in-vitro fertilization in elections across the country in 2024,” USA Today reports.

    “While her win won’t change the makeup of the heavily Republican Alabama legislature, it does showcase the enormous impact reproductive issues, such as abortion and in-vitro fertilization, could have down the ballot in 2024.”

    “Lands focused her campaign heavily on protecting abortion and IVF access.”

    Politico: Abortion proves winning strategy for Alabama Democrat.

  125. 125.

    TS

    @mrmoshpotato:

    Unbelievable that the media pundits keep interviewing the media pundits – maybe no-one else wants to talk to them anymore.

    used to be journalists reported the news – now they are the news.

  126. 126.

    AJC

    DO NOT GET A TATTOO.  Resist that impulse. You will NEVER regret (regert) the tattoo you didn’t get.

    Think….what are trying to prove? A tattoo will not add inches to your Johnson or subtract the time you have already run off the clock.  Simply not a wise choice.  BTW, I am retired Navy…worked hard, had my fun and adventures and NEVER had the urge to get a tattoo. Don’t create and relish in self-inflicted “scars”.

  127. 127.

    Sure Lurkalot

    @Sister Golden Bear: If you can crack an egg, one handed, eggs and toast seems doable, however you like to cook them.  I think I could manage a grilled cheese one-handed if the cheese is pre-sliced. I don’t eat a lot of frozen food but tater tots can be comforting (ok, I have a problem with them) and one-handed friendly.

  128. 128.

    Ohio Mom

    @Martin: I don’t read every thread so I missed the original announcement — it was a bit of a shock to read Mrs. Martin just had cancer surgery. Sending her every good wish for a quick recovery from the surgery and hoping any further treatments have minimal side effects on their way to getting her to NED.

    Keep us posted!

  129. 129.

    BigJimSlade

    @satby: “gothic style” hey – maybe that’s what I’ll do* – I’ll get a tattoo of the Notre Dame de Paris to celebrate its reopening! Or maybe just one of the gargoyles.

    “It didn’t help his case as far as I was concerned.” LOL :-)

    *no, I’m not really in the tattoo market

  130. 130.

    BigJimSlade

    @S Cerevisiae: “I have over 600 species on my life list” Dang! That’s more than are listed in the book I just read, “What Its Like to Be a Bird” (which was pretty good).

  132. 132.

    Melancholy Jaques

    I was close to getting a tattoo a couple of times. The second time I had a drawing of the design made. While I was mulling it over my fiancée saw the drawing and said, “What the hell is this? You’re not getting a tattoo.” So I didn’t get it.

  133. 133.

    Jackie

    Poor Ronna! No respect nor support from anyone! 🤭

    Donald Trump made fun of Ronna McDaniel after NBC News ended its contract with her following an internal uproar across the company, The Hillreports.

    Said Trump: “Wow! Ronna McDaniel got fired by Fake News NBC. She only lasted two days, and this after McDaniel went out of her way to say what they wanted to hear. It leaves her in a very strange place, it’s called NEVER NEVERLAND, and it’s not a place you want to be.”

    Maybe she’ll slink off into the dark and only be a footnote in time 🤞🏻😁

  137. 137.

    Another Scott

    @Jackie:

    +1

    Biden-Harris HQ
    @BidenHQ
    1h

    Biden-Harris campaign statement on tonight’s special election results in Alabama

    [ image ]

    Mar 27, 2024 · 2:21 AM UTC

    Well said.

    Forward!!

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  138. 138.

    marcopolo

    @Another Scott:  I was a bit wowed by this win.  Seems to show once again the power of women’s reproductive rights at the ballot box.  I saw one of the ads that she ran.  It was good.

    In good news from the state of MO, Jess Piper tweeted that Ds have filed to run in 135 of the 163 state house contests in 2024.  That might not sound great but it is 38 more contested seats than 2022 (yeah, Ds conceded 66 house seats to Rs before the voting started).  It’s not easy to run in a contest where you are a substantial underdog so serious props to all the folks who are stepping up this year.  We’ll see if Ds can win enough seats to break the R supermajority.

    And if anyone (from MO or anywhere else) would like to join me in a small monthly donation here’s the link: https://bluemissouri.democracyengine.com/join_missouri

    I think there’s also a link there for a one time donation as well.

    Everyone have a lovely evening/morning.

  139. 139.

    Lyrebird

    @marcopolo: is that perhaps a boots-on-the-ground org that tries to turn out the vote, suitable for BJ fundraising?  I’m about to fall over here (literally, so tired), but it seems like there’s a lot of movement in MO this year!

  141. 141.

    NotoriousJRT

    Glad to hear things continue in the direction of feeling better.  We are all rooting for you!

  143. 143.

    Marcopolo

    @Lyrebird: So I actually started giving to this in 2018 when it had a different name (It Starts Today, MO).  How it works is they collect monthly donations & then when all of the confirmed D candidates are figured out after the primary they split the pot amongst them. The intention is to ensure every D candidate, no matter how tough their district is, has a baseline amount of campaign funding.  Actually not sure when it morphed into Blue MO but I do know that in addition to the funding they are now also doing candidate recruitment and support. As a group I’d classify them as adjacent to the MO Dem party (which has not shot out the lights for a while).

    Last, as a nearly life long Missourian, I have very low expectations for D performance here.  StL & KC are pretty deep blue and StL County & the burbs around KC are light blue but aside from a few other spots (like Columbia home to the main U MO campus) the rest of the state is pretty dark red.

    We’ll see.  Hopefully there will be a pro-choice ballot initiative drawing folks out in Nov. That might goose the right kind of turnout in a few places to flip some seats (and there are more folks running in 2024—you can’t win if you don’t compete!).

  145. 145.

    Marcopolo

    A couple other fun factoids about that AL win:

    1) The district is home to NASA’s Huntsville complex so the education level is quite a bit higher than average for the state.

    2) When she is seated Marilyn Lands will be the only D representing a majority white district (demographics were similar to AL average though slightly less W and with a noticeably higher Asian Am pop (like 5%) in the statehouse.

    3) It’s a 4 year term so she’ll be there through 2026.

    h/t to election twitter—they are all over this tonight.

    Good night for real now.

  147. 147.

    BSChief

    Under no circumstances should you encourage or sponsor a “Pick John Cole’s Tattoo” contest.

    Keep Getting Better!

  148. 148.

    sab

    @NotMax: Vinyl records stored in an unairconditioned garage in Las Vegas for 4 years don’t do so well. But neither would CDs.

    At least black widow spiders and scorpions don’t chew on random items like eastern mice do.

  150. 150.

    Anne Laurie

    You’re a good man, John G. Cole.

    I’m glad you’re feeling better every day.

  151. 151.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    Did some digging around to see where some of my old pals from high school ended up and learned that one of them passed away from cancer last summer. If I hadn’t befriended him in high school then I wouldn’t have met my future wife, nor would we have our two wonderful kids. He was a great guy and we had a lot of fun times together but we lost touch with each other in the late 80’s when we both moved away from Spokane. I learned in the early aughts that he had gone Republican which really surprised me as he wasn’t political in the least. He later went MAGA when that asshole was elected.

    My wife found him on book of faces (where we learned that he was Repub) and we decided not to contact him as it probably wouldn’t have gone well. We were sad to see that he had passed, way too young.

    Fuck cancer.

  152. 152.

    sab

    @NotMax: Mostly your puns are brilliant. I love puns and yours are exceptional.

    That was sort of “oh dear”

    But I did set you up (unintenionally.) Who cares about 40 y o records in a box in storage?

  153. 153.

    sab

    We are moving my 99 yo dad to a new nursing home on Thursday because we ( me and his nurse’s aide)  did not feel he was safe where he was.

    They got new management a year back. And apparently a whole new outlook that we didn’t agree with. There is a market for kids wanting to drug their old parents into oblivion until they die, but that is not me or my siblings. So we clashed with management.

    Dad is definitely moving Thursday, but the new place using the same hospice still will not release a record of what exactly they were drugging him with.

    Do not sign on to hospice until you are actually dying. They are good about helping you dying but if you want to and can live for a while these people are not your friends.

  154. 154.

    sab

    @sab: That is very much too harsh. Many of them are, but others not. How to tell the difference?

    I am sure there is a place where hospice nurses vent, but I don’t know about it.

  155. 155.

    Jay

    @sab:

    I am sorry you are going through this. Here, extended care is all Provincially, (State) run, unless you are rich. The biggest issue is wait times to get in. Other than that, it’s not too bad.

    That said, some of the private homes, are horrible

    In Alberta, (our Texass) they have “Motelgate”. Private Care, ” Extended Care “facilities”, contracted to the Ministry,  that were parking patients in $49.99 a night rural motels with a “HealthCare Aide” dropping off a MickeyD “Happy Meal”  once a day.

  156. 156.

    eclare

    @sab:

    I read a study a few years back that found that people who entered hospice often lived longer than people who did not or waited until the very end.  I guess it depends on the hospice and situation.  Good luck with the move!

  157. 157.

    Odie Hugh Manatee

    @sab:

    Wow, that hospice sounds a bit off. Like it’s trying to become a hospice ‘mill’ of sorts. Good luck with the move and I hope your dad finds better care.

  158. 158.

    sab

    @sab: Stated that wrong. The new place so far cannot get a copy of his drug regime

    ETA Everyone is so afraid of litigation. We don’t want to sue anyone. We just want him transferred with good medical records.

    So many amazing people in eldercare, and this handful of managers are poisoning everyone’s interactions.

  160. 160.

    TerryC

    @AJC: Three Vietnam trips and four years in the Navy, 1967-72 – no tattoos. Didn’t start drinking until I was 30!

  161. 161.

    Paul in KY

    @satby: Just impress upon him that he will be seeing people at their worst day after day after day. These particular people are not representative of humanity or their social class or whatever.

    Best wishes to him. Will be good to get a non-asshole into policing.

  162. 162.

    Paul in KY

    @SpaceUnit: I knew this guy who told me about this lady who cut hair & showed him her tattoo that was right above her vajajay. It was a copy of a road sign with ‘slippery when wet’.

  165. 165.

    Paul in KY

    @sab: Hospice (in general) is not about prolonging life. It’s about going out the best & most painfree way possible.

Comments are closed.