I’ve been working most of the day today, except for stopping several times to read the Betty Cracker thread from earlier. So I haven’t seen a bit of news yet today. What’s going on in the world?
Open thread
This post is in: Open Threads
I’ve been working most of the day today, except for stopping several times to read the Betty Cracker thread from earlier. So I haven’t seen a bit of news yet today. What’s going on in the world?
Open thread
No commenters available.
No filtered commenters available.
To reply to more than one person, click the X to save & close the box.
Baud
Nothing. It’s great.
pat
Started cleaning out the shed. Took three nice bicycles to a store where they will be cleaned up and sold or given away… I assume, significant is that they are no longer in the shed. Also taking some lawn chairs to Restore tomorrow…. It’s a start…….
Geoduck
Mass protests in Georgia (the country) over the government’s inching towards getting more cozy with the Russians.
Torrey
It looks like our contributions to Voting Access for All is stalled at $22.628.09 / $25K for the match. So we’re $2,371.91 short? I may have missed an update, though. What’s the status on that? I hate to leave that group short.
Van Buren
Wednesday night: help Mrs. Van Buren clean the house in preparation for the cleaning lady to come Thursday AM.
Thursday AM: Cleaning lady comes.
Thursday PM: Help Mrs Van Buren clean the house, because her sister is visiting tomorrow.
Are all women like this? My female friends at work say they completely understand Mrs. VB.
raven
Every morning of school Artie and I go out and greet the kids on their way to class. Sadly (for us) yesterday was the last day of school but one of her favorite kids just brought her a bag of home made treats and Artie is a happy pup!
raven
@Van Buren: My wife did the same when we had a cleaning person.
Baud
@Van Buren:
You’re just a slob.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
Was doing a slow, casual biking up and down each street in the neighborhood looking like I was casing houses when in fact I was looking at porch skirting. Most of the homes (1890s-1910 or so) that would be the equivalent to ours (1905) had concrete poured to replace the original wood so no help there. We hate the falling apart lattice on ours which is a go-to for most people. Other alternatives would be brick veneer panels or fat stone panels as we don’t want to actually brick up the space.
Innertube on front tire blew when I was practically stopped. I toppled over into the middle of the street (no traffic) and amazingly didn’t hurt anything. If I’d been moving, it would have been a different story.
FastEdD
I’m at the Phoenix airport waiting for the connecting flight to Indy. I’m carrying a guitar with me so ladies come up and ask who I am. I’m nobody, but it is fun.
Baud
@FastEdD:
Going for a gig?
schrodingers_cat
6th phase of voting this weekend. Delhi goes to polls this Saturday. In India the Loksabha constituencies (Congressional Districts in our lingo) are not gerrymandered. And most constituencies are competitive and change hands
Delhi has 7 seats. All of them were won by BJP last time around.
Baud
@raven:
That’s so wholesome.
Geoduck
@Van Buren: I’m male, and yes, I scrape off the top layer of grime before the cleaning person comes.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
How many phases?
Another Scott
Meanwhile, … MostlyHarmless points us to the sign of the day.
Waiting patiently is impossible for too many…
(via https://mastodon.social/explore )
Cheers,
Scott.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: 7 total. There is a conspiracy theory making rounds that the polling has been so long drawn to enable Modi to be able to campaign everywhere.
While his cult still exists, a lot of people are getting tired of his performance artistry. I have seen so many viral videos making fun of him and the BJP.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Is this year’s election unusual?
WaterGirl
@Torrey: One of our Balloon Juice angels matched with a check instead of through the thermometers, so you get to add $2,500 to the thermometer total to know that we really did reach out goal.
Appreciate you looking out for them, though!
WaterGirl
@Van Buren: I laughed.
I am not like that, but my sister is.
Spanky
Staying out of Mrs. Spanky’s way as she preps for tomorrow’s colonoscopy.
schrodingers_cat
@Baud: When I was in India, Loksabha elections were all held one day. And it used to be a national holiday. Doordarshan (equivalent of PBS or BBC) used to broadcast several movies over the next couple of days while the counting was going on. And the movies would be interrupted with election results. It was like a festival. This multiphase stuff is more recent. Usually 2 to 3 phases. This 7 phase stuff is new.
Remember watching election returns on our old black and white TV with vaccuum tubes in the late 70s and early 80s as a kidlet.
WaterGirl
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Oh my gosh, glad you are okay! Your guardian angel was looking out for you.
Baud
@schrodingers_cat:
Gotcha.
smith
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: For what it’s worth, the porch skirting on my 1878 house has siding to match that of the house. In 30+ years only a few pieces have needed replacing. I like it, though YMMV.
WaterGirl
@raven: Sad for Artie that she won’t see her friends for awhile.
But, treats!
WaterGirl
@Geoduck: Well, geez, you have to pick stuff up so it doesn’t get in their way as they try to clean.
But pre-cleaning? Nope. And cleaning again after they have gone? That’s a nope.
edit: I also didn’t get the girl gene that’s related to spending all that time in bathrooms getting ready and touching everything up. I mean, what is there to do in there? You go to the bathroom, pull-up your pants, wash your hands and walk out.
Seriously, what do they do in there????
RaflW
Had a couple lab results at my annual checkup that we just a tad wonky. Because of family history with cancer, I asked for follow up out of an overabundance of caution. Doc ordered it, lab came back clear today. Phew!
Also enjoyed al fresco lunch with out of town friends at one of the very last still-standing “hippie food” places in Minneapolis.
I think it’s been 10 years since I had those tiny, slightly dirt-tasting sprouts on my sandwich. Seemed yummy anyway (I mean, avocado, cheese, tomato, mayo and nicely toasted 9-grain? Uh huh, even with sprouts).
Scout211
This is not good news today out of Louisiana today
I sure hope that SCOTUS does the right thing. These red state legislators are all women’s health care professionals now. Or so they think. Grrrr.
smith
Looks like DeWine decided to intervene in the nutsy GQP attempt to keep Biden off the Ohio ballot — he’s called a special session of the legislature to allow an exception to their deadline. Such exceptions have been given to both Republicans and Democrats in the past.
FastEdD
@Baud: 50th college reunion. They want me to perform at the closing ceremonies for the Esteemed Class of 1974. We were mostly esteemed for sneaking girls into the boys dorms and taking acid and falling off the top of the water tower. Coed dorms arrived a year later and they weren’t as much fun.
RaflW
@WaterGirl: I definitely do not have the equivalent gay-boy gene. Four minute shower, brush teeth, I’m half bald & (home) buzz cut, so hair is a nothing, and jump in any two items of clothes that don’t clash and Tah-dah, ready for the day.
I can’t remember the last time I used a q-tip, or tweezers, or ‘astringent skin toner’ or whatever else Clinique etc al brainwashed people into buying.
Cheap and efficient, that’s me.
Shana
@raven:
@Van Buren: I straighten but don’t clean. That’s what they’re being paid for.
Aussie Sheila
Hi WG,
Having trouble with the GFM for Betty Cracker. When you have a mo, could you email me to assist please? Thank you in advance!
RaflW
@smith: No big fan, but DeWine is from that vanishing breed of Republicans who isn’t a pedal to the metal crazy. Will the Ohio lege deliver?
zhena gogolia
@WaterGirl: Same here.
Steeplejack
@RaflW:
Boy, that gave me a Proustian jolt back to Nature’s Last Stand, a nice little place on Peachtree Road in Atlanta that is long, long gone.
Aftershock: It was right next to Intermezzo, an equally nice wine bar and European deli that is also long gone.
raven
@WaterGirl: She shakes it off pretty well! We’ll jus head to the dog park @ 7 and get her home for that all-important mommy walk!
Steve in the ATL
@Steeplejack: cafe intermezzo? There are a couple of those around still.
raven
@Spanky: Have you been watching “Hacks”? Pretty funny “prep” party.
smith
@RaflW: Don’t know if the legislature will go along, but I’m betting DeWine wouldn’t take this step if he weren’t confident he’d get his way.
raven
@Steve in the ATL: Do you guys remember “Whimbles”?
The store is gone but it was wild, just across from Ansley.
WaterGirl
@raven: Every day is Artie’s Special Day at your house. :-)
WaterGirl
@Aussie Sheila: Will do.
Steve in the ATL
@raven: I do not, but it looks crazy!
Almost Retired
@FastEdD: Fun! My High School reunion in rural Iowa is this weekend. I think they schedule it in late May to take maximum advantage of the tornadoes.
As Iowa went Trumpy, so did much of the Class of 1979. So I’m taking a hard pass. Maybe the fever will break before my 50th, but I doubt rural Republicans get more moderate in their mid 60’s.
There are about 10 of us in Southern California so we’re counter-programming our own libtard reunion in Riverside. And I don’t have to change planes in Denver.
raven
@WaterGirl: We’re even more ridiculous than we were with Raven, Bohdi and Lil Bit. We were going to make sure our next dog could handle being boarded now we coordinate every second of the day so the angel doesn’t have to be alone. It’s our 25th next week and we MUST find a place that allows her to join us for dinner!
Steeplejack
@Steve in the ATL:
Just looked on Google Maps, and I don’t think it’s any of the existing ones. This one was in the murky area where Peachtree Street morphs into Peachtree Road. Not exactly Peachtree Palisades but somewhere around there, maybe.
raven
@Steve in the ATL: Those were the days when we’d go over to Oxford Books, Little 5 and Whimbles!
Soapdish
I would like to recommend pulling down your pants before your first step there.
comrade scotts agenda of rage
@smith:
The original skirting on our place is long gone. It’s amazing nobody filled the area in with concrete over the years.
I’m trying to match something historical. Brick veneer would work but I’m now looking at a cut out design.
Baud
@Soapdish:
Or not wearing pants in the first place.
Math Guy
Went for a bike ride this morning, then cleaned windows at home. Helped my daughter set up a fish tank (sushi bar for our cats), then sat on the deck and read. Fixing dinner now. This will get boring eventually and then I’ll start doing something productive again, be it teaching halftime (most likely), trying to write again (what I aspire to), or basic housekeeping (which does need to be done).
NotMax
@WaterGirl
Manyakitty
@smith: good. It’s a bad look when ALABAMA handles this nonsense better than we do. JFTDC.
zhena gogolia
@raven: I thought that was hilarious! This season has been great. Which reminds me, maybe there are new episodes tonight? Just what I need.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
That is so sweet! And I’ll just bet Artie will remember that kid come September.
Soapdish
@Baud: well yes, obviously, but if you *are* going to wear pants….
Sure Lurkalot
@raven: Your Artie really hit the love our pet jackpot. Who’s a lucky dog?
prostratedragon
@Van Buren: Oh, I do that. My helper comes tomorrow, and I gave serious thought to staying in this evening to finish up, but then I figured you don’t get a chance to hear Mahler 2 very often. I can still do some picking up later tonight.
Another Scott
@comrade scotts agenda of rage: Glad you’re Ok!
On the skirting, I assume you’ve seen this and this?
I need to do something about closing off our raised deck in the backyard – the doggie gets under there and digs and doesn’t want to come inside. :-/
Good luck!
Cheers,
Scott.
SiubhanDuinne
@comrade scotts agenda of rage:
Woah, scary! Glad there was no traffic and that you were stopped, or at least moving slowly.
RSA
My dishwasher isn’t cleaning the dishes: glasses come out cloudy, and there’s debris left on the silverware and plates. I’ve pulled apart the twirling arms, and they don’t seem to be blocked. I’ve done a wash with some “dishwasher cleaner” pellets, but they didn’t help. I need to look online for a manual so I can figure out if there’s filter I can’t see that I need to clean out…
RSA
—
NotMax
Hoocuddanode? (Answer Just about anyone with two brain cells to rub together.)
Miki
So this kid shows up yesterday, in the rain, rings the doorbell and tries to sell me a bug elimination service. He hands me a card with pictures of plants on it and tells me their products are plant based and natural. I tell him hemlock is a plant and Socrates drank a cup of it to kill himself. Who? Drank what?
The kid came back today, rang the doorbell again and told me he “looked it up” and I was right but apparently Socrates kind of fucked up and had to kill himself and have I changed my mind and want to sign up for the service?
We both laughed.
Lots to learn here, for all of us.
Layer8Problem
@zhena gogolia: ” . . . maybe there are new episodes tonight?”
Damn, I hope so. I need a laugh. And Ava needs a solid long-term relationship.
Steeplejack
@raven:
I lived in Ansley Park when I first moved to Atlanta in 1979. Used to go to The Sphinx, the “metaphysical bookstore” (and discreet head shop) on the back side of Ansley Mall.
sab
My little Epson printer was having problems, leaving blank spots in items copied and printed. It is a home printer. Oh dear! I don’t have a computer person on staff! So I poked through the menu on its tiny control panel and there was a spot for maintenace, so I poked that, and the first choice was to clean the ink injectors and the little printer just cleaned the ink jets. First run wasn’t quite perfect, so I told it to do it again and it did. Perfect.
I am amazed. I love this printer.
Steve in the ATL
@RSA: had this problem out at the lake. Cause was hard water.
Scout211
That’s what I was going to suggest. We got a new dishwasher a few years ago and it has two filters that are both super easy to remove and clean. The dishwasher that we replaced, I never could figure out where the filters were. Maybe that’s why it stopped working.
The filters in my current one are in the pan at the very bottom. One screws out and the other lifts out. Modern dishwashers recycle the water so the filters get dirty fairly quickly. And we rinse our dishes first.
Added: Do you use a rinse aid like Finish? That helps with the water spots.
WaterGirl
@raven: LOL.
RSA
@Steve in the ATL: @Scout211: Thanks for the suggestions! I’m wishing manufacturers made user maintenance easier.
SiubhanDuinne
@prostratedragon:
I applaud and completely approve your choice. Mahler FTW!
WaterGirl
@Soapdish: Hmm, you could be right about that! :-)
One house I lived in had the tiniest bathroom you can imagine, and probably tinier than that. I always try to be efficient, and one day I caught myself washing my hands while I was still peeing.
Gave myself a chuckle over that one. The order of things matters.
WaterGirl
@Math Guy: Recently retired?
Scout211
@RSA: Also too, did you google your make and model?
ETA: I guess you are already planning to do that.
Eyeroller
@RSA: When I bought a new dishwasher several years ago, I made sure to buy one with a built-in garbage disposer and no filter, to avoid this kind of problem. Now I don’t know whether they even make this type anymore.
Barbara
@RSA: Do you use the liquid dishwasher soap? A repair man told us that it builds up and eventually gunks up the dishwasher so that it stops cleaning.
To clean our dishwasher, we take an 8 oz. cup and fill it with white vinegar and set it right side up and run the dishwasher. It spills out gradually during each cycle. The repair guy told us that sometimes you have to do that more than once if the machine hasn’t been cleaned at least monthly.
There should be a filter, which can also get clogged. Our spiffy Asko dishwasher stopped working altogether when that happened. Look for cleaning instructions for your specific model. We were able to clean ours out and get it working again.
If the problem seems to have happened suddenly, it probably is the filter, so I would investigate that first.
Another Scott
So, apparently doing interpretive dance to your favorite voice mail is now a thing.
Oh My!!
(via AngryBlackLady)
Cheers,
Scott.
glc
The Guardian article on Tom Lehrer has been getting some attention.
“My songs spread like herpes.”
Timill
Today’s [possible] discovery is ziffit.com, which was recommended on FB as a way of disposing of surplus books. $0.28 per used ppb isn’t much, but if they were otherwise heading for the bin…
SiubhanDuinne
@RSA:
I detest dishwashers, I don’t give a fuck how sophisticated and advanced they are. They never clean dishes or glassware or flatware the way I want, let alone pots and pans. And I actually enjoy washing dishes by hand. Takes me right back to my childhood, and bonding with my mother and grandmother, and learning a huge repertoire of songs.
The dishwasher is for storage.
SiubhanDuinne
@Miki:
I love that story.
Steve in the ATL
@SiubhanDuinne: send us pics of you churning butter and doing laundry on a washboard!
SiubhanDuinne
@Steeplejack:
I used to spend HOURS in The Sphinx! Loved that store.
SiubhanDuinne
@raven:
Happy Silver anniversary!
Today would have been my 60th. The marriage didn’t last, and I am the only person still alive of the entire wedding party, so no celebration — but am still feeling slightly nostalgic.
SiubhanDuinne
@Steve in the ATL:
Laundry, no. But I learned to churn butter at age 5!
Jackie
Heh! Apparently TIFG is receiving Bronx cheers in the Bronx!🤣
ETA link: https://www.rawstory.com/trump-bronx-boos/
Eyeroller
@glc: He has made his songs and albums available for download at https://tomlehrersongs.com/ They will be available until “some date in the not too distant future,” presumably alluding to his death.
zhena gogolia
@Layer8Problem: I just watched episode 7. Pretty good. So far my favorites have been the colonoscopy one and the one at the golf resort. I guess one left! (Are there going to be 8 or 10? I’m guessing 8.)
ETA: internet tells me 10! Woo-hoo!
RSA
Thanks for all the dishwasher advice! I have some new avenues to pursue. Manuals, filters, vinegar, oh my.
@SiubhanDuinne: And in the meantime, I’m washing dishes by hand, which is its own special thing, just as you say.
Josie
@SiubhanDuinne: Yes!
ETA: It’s sort of like St. Therese’s small way, in which you do boring tasks in a meditative way.
Steve in the ATL
@Josie: @SiubhanDuinne: freakin’ Amish jackals….
Gin & Tonic
@SiubhanDuinne:
We got a high-end Thermador dishwasher “for free” when we bought one of their expensive stoves during a kitchen remodel about a dozen years ago. It cleans the dishes way better than either of us can do by hand, and uses less water to boot. Still works like a charm, and is so quiet you can’t tell it’s running.
TBone
I’m not letting the Supremacists Court treason stories get shoved into the memory hole. It’s not hyperbolic to warn how serious this is. It’s deadly serious and Leonard Leo is more than a “threat” with his $1.6 billion.
https://digbysblog.net/2024/05/23/a-wingnut-totem/
Keith Olbermann displays the correct amount of urgency on this subject, IMO:
https://youtu.be/M3NdkdFR1UM
Spidey senses flashing red alert.
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
I actually went there for the books, not the “accessories.” I wish I could replicate the incense smell that permeated the place.
Steeplejack
@SiubhanDuinne:
I’m not anti-dishwasher, but, living alone, I don’t dirty enough dishes to load the dishwasher in a reasonable time. So I wash them in the sink as I go along.
As you pointed out, the dishwasher is great for storage, though.
Josie
@Steve in the ATL:
It may be that we are the only octogenarians on BJ.
Steeplejack
Elsbeth alert! Tonight’s episode (season finale) is at 9:00 EDT. I think the previous episodes were all at 10:00.
WaterGirl
@Steve in the ATL: So many LOLs after reading that one.
Jackie
@Steve in the ATL: Add me to the mix. Plus, I love hanging laundry outside spring through fall. My lines are just tall enough for a great stretching and bending workout. My waistline thanks me 😊
And nothing cleans under fingernails better than a sink full of Ivory suds!
NotMax
@Josie
Lady Raxterok (sp?) admitted to mid to late eighties
Dan B
@Van Buren: There are lots of gay guys like your wife. The cleaner must not see how slovenly the gays are!!
I, of course, have never been so neurotic…
dnfree
@Van Buren: It’s not cleaning up before the cleaning lady comes, it’s picking up stuff that the cleaning person shouldn’t have to clean around, isn’t it? For instance, the cleaning person shouldn’t have to try to dust around clutter, or vacuum around clothes on the floor,
Layer8Problem
@Gin & Tonic: That’s exactly how we got my stepkids’ Thermador dishwasher. They were renovating their kitchen, they got the stove and dishwasher, they were really happy with the dishwasher they had, so they trucked it up to us. I have been stupid happy with it. For the first time in my dishwashing life I don’t need to rinse the damned dishes first. Every once in a while not everything gets cleaned off, so I do that dish or that fork by hand, big deal. As far as I’m concerned no GE appliance will ever cross our threshold again.
Another Scott
@NotMax: I saw that earlier. :-/
Here’s another.
Geologists recommend eating at least one small rock a day.
(they’re scraping TheOnion too, apparently.)
:-/
Cheers,
Scott.
Math Guy
@WaterGirl: Yes – May 2022. We moved to MN and I spent a year getting the house set up and settling in, then a local college offered me a half-time teaching position to help cover for sabbaticals. I love teaching math.
Dan B
@RaflW: We went with friends to Rainier BBQ. We has a finely julienned salad with beef in a delicate vinaigrette, an enormous eggy crepe with fresh Chinese greens and a mildly spicy vinegary dipping sauce, and a whole deep fried catfish presented standing up like it was swimming. There were transparent paper thin rice tortillas (not sure what to call them) we dipped in hot water, filled with Chinese greens and a peanut sauce, and rolled into spring rolls – very messy and delicious. Anthony Bourdain ate there when he visited Seattle. It was a mind blowing lunch. The fish platter was half the size of the table. The Chinese greens, cold noodles, Cucumbers, carrots and Daikon julien, took up the other half. It’s four blocks from our house. But… steep uphill on the way back.
Barry
@Torrey: “It looks like our contributions to Voting Access for All is stalled at $22.628.09 / $25K for the match. So we’re $2,371.91 short? I may have missed an update, though. What’s the status on that? I hate to leave that group short.”
Perhaps a front-pager could repost the link?
WaterGirl
@Barry: We have a $2,500 check from one of our Balloon Juice angels.
So we really did raise over $25,000 for them!
I pulled the thermometer right away after that because I was trying to clear the decks on that fundraiser before Betty’s was going up on Monday or Tuesday.
Torrey
@WaterGirl:
Thank you. I’m so glad that we made the match for them. They’re doing important work.
Quinerly
@SiubhanDuinne: washing by hand requires more water than a dishwasher. Blew my mind when I learned that now that I live in a place with water use restrictions.
Jackie
@Quinerly: That depends on how dishes are washed by hand, and how new and efficient your dishwasher is.
I don’t hand wash dishes with running water. I fill the sink with scalding hot water and dish soap just enough to cover and soak dishes. Once the water cools enough for my hands, I wash, turn water on at a trickle to rinse, turn off and wash next item, rinse and repeat. Utensils are last and are washed en masse then sink drained and then utensils rinsed together. My sink never gets more than 2/3s full of water by the end. I do pots and pans first using same method.
wjca
Several times lately, I’ve noticed Alabama acting like they aspire to something better than merely “Well, at least we’re better than Mississippi.” Probably a good choice. (Especially since Mississippi appears totally uninterested in contesting Tennessee’s drive to replace it at the bottom.)
prostratedragon
@Another Scott: That is a scream! Fertile??! Chilli’s???!!!
Manyakitty
@RSA: try putting the soap in the silverware basket instead of the soap dispenser. It made a big difference for me.
karen marie
@SiubhanDuinne: Thank you! I don’t know what I’d do with all my baking pans if I didn’t have a dishwasher.