First, some housekeeping. Apple is forcing Patreon to use their app store billing for anyone who uses the Patreon app to follow creators and then taking 30% of revenue from said creators. What this means is that if you use APPLE’s Patreon app to donate to the patreon, your 10 dollar monthly donation is now only going to come to us as $7 before Patreon’s fees and then taxes.
This will not be the case if you simply used the patreon link on this here website, and absolutely nothing will change- your $10 dollars will show up as the full ten bucks before patreon takes their fee and taxes. So unless you are using the apple app to manage patreon, this will not impact you. Similarly, this is not an issue for Venmo/Paypal.
The change is coming out “by November” but I have no idea wtf that means so I want to try to get everyone registered the other way (if there even is anyone using the Apple app) because I am tired of shoveling money to billionaires and fuck them. This is also a reminder that for those of you who may have subscribed earlier when financial times were better for you personally to revisit your donation if you need to cut back. I know I was living lean for the last few months so please don’t spend money you do not have.
We’ll do a proper site maintenance/fundraiser after the election (anything you donate prior to that will ABSOLUTELY NOT be spent on hookers and blow), but I wanted that information out there so you can make changes if you want.
Absolutely a perfect gem of a day today- never got above 75, some light clouds and a blue sky with a good breeze, and I got lots done. Did a bunch of work/work, got the last boxes delivered to the last two counties in the northern panhandle, and then spent 5 hours mowing.
I was thinking today about just how much I love driving. And I don’t mean driving certain cars- I’ve never had the kind of financial means to buy and own expensive cars, and still, at the age of 54, have only ever had four vehicles and got all of them used- the 83 Chevy Celebrity, the ’97 Subaru Outback (yes this is the one that rolled into a field), the ’06 Outback, and the 2013 Honda CRV I currently drive. I’ve really enjoyed all of the vehicles. The Celebrity was just a tank and the engine simply refused to die until around 2006, and by then the felt lining of the ceiling was held up by staples, thumbtacks, and anything else that worked. My friends all hated that car because it was so uncool and had the pleather couch seats and big whitewalls, and every time they crapped on it I thought about the fact I had no car payment and was putting it all away to retire.
You all know how the ’97 Subie went out, and the ’06 Subie just became a maintenance nightmare in 2016 and had to be replaced. None of these were sports cars, although the ’06 Subie was a sleeper build because it was the 3.0 VDC iwth close to 260 hp. The funnest one to drive, by a wide margin, was the 97 Outbback. It was like a big go cart and would go ANYWHERE through ANYTHING. The sheer numbers of jeeps and SUV’s I just drove on by up and down hills in the winter in hilly Morgantown was inspiring. Just an absolute beast of a car- too bad the engine was a little underpowered. But it handled deceptively well with the long wheel base and was just a blast to drive.
I just love driving though- just the open road, the radio, and me and my thoughts. I know not everyone experiences the pleasure I get while driving, but I wish they could.
With summer waning and all the major fruits done or ending with the exception of pears and the beginning of apple season, I have been thinking a lot about the trek west to Arizona for the winter. I’m excited to go. Get to see Joelle, eat some real Mexican food, and live the west coast life for a bit. She’s having a knee surgery while I am there- she needs to have both replaced, but they will only do one at a time- and I am so excited for that. She is just going to feel so much better when it is done.
Speaking of Joelle, today I learned that when the spouse tells you she is watching the Labor Day hot dog eat off with Joey Chestnut v. Kobayashi the appropriate response is not “looking to pick um some pointers, ehh?” is not the right response and might lead to a DISCUSSION. I still think she is moderately enthused to see me in a couple weeks, but if not, I understand. I hate me a lot of the time, too.
I am also soooooooo excited for some decent middle eastern. Oh, Haji-Baba how I have missed you.
I see that Kamala was in the Burgh today. I wish I had more time and advanced warning- I would have gone. Speaking of, it’s been six months since my anxiety was so bad i convinced myself I was having a heart attack and walked around the house sweating with a blood pressure cuff on my arm before remembering I have a pill I’m supposed to take in this situation, so what I guess what am saying is I really need Kamala to ace this god damned debate next week. It’s really embarrassing having to call your therapist during normal business hours and ask them to ignore the three increasingly distressed messages you left last night before remembering to take the pill that is only in the house for this exact fucking reason.
I got more issues than readers digest.
satby
You’re adorable.
Baud
Did I mis the wedding?
wjca
@Baud:
Does Arizona do common law marriages?
Villago Delenda Est
Tumbrels. Needed. Stat.
catclub
Nice work if Apple can get it. And the DOJ goes after Google for monopolistic behavior??
Baud
@catclub:
https://www.theverge.com/24107581/doj-v-apple-antitrust-monoply-news-updates
dlwchico
I used to love driving but I drove a city bus here for like 7 years and that killed all my joy in driving.
My wife was doing most of the driving and now that the muscles in my right leg are quiet quitting on me I don’t drive at all anymore.
Kind of miss it sometimes but I work from home and I just like being at home so it’s not too bad. I do hate having to impose on folks for rides for medical stuff though.
RSA
Looking back, I don’t know if I’ve spent too much on cars, but I have owned multiples of four vehicles. Four of them I bought new: 1985 Ford Mustang, 1991 Honda Civic, 1999 Mazda Miata, 2024 MINI Clubman. Surprising to me, this isn’t just ordering by year but also by fun-to-drive. Cars just keep getting better.
FastEdD
Yeah, I go off on a drive every afternoon, mostly because the dog likes it and I enjoy the sensation that I’m in control of something. Usually to a park, but there’s a couple of canyons around here where you can tool around many curvy roads with nary a stop sign in sight. Clears your mind.
Other MJS
You’re not the only one stressing out, even though everything I know about Kamala and her team says she’ll kill it.
K-Mo
Don’t tell anyone, but you know what’s also kind of blissful? Grocery shopping. Plug in my ear buds and let me meander the aisles.
For the life of me I don’t get the people who pay for instacart.
satby
I’ve been binge watching Leverage, first on FreeVee from Prime, then I discovered a YouTube channel that has all the early episodes in order. Such a great series. A fourth season of the reboot is coming up, I think.
Also been revisiting my misspent youth in the Earl of Old Town via listening to that artist I linked to in the morning thread, Joe Jenks. He’s too young to have played there back then, John Prine and Steve Goodman were headliners; but he’s a real troubadour that calls back to that time. Seattle people might remember him, he was involved in the music scene there.
(Link goes to a different number)
dnfree
Okay, here’s my question. I went to Patreon to change my donation amount (I give through Paypal) and I can’t even find where to set a donation amount. My Paypal payment is for three different Patreon people so I can’t change it there. I must have to change it on your page? I have no idea how I set it up in the first place.
It does tell me that there are 340 members and 319 of them are paying members.
schrodingers_cat
OT: Just wanted to share, cut flowers from my garden. Zinnias and hydrangeas.
zhena gogolia
@schrodingers_cat: Gorgeous!
bbleh
It IS an amazingly nice day in the WV/PA latitude, and tomorrow’s supposed to be as good or better.
Fk Apple and their skimming. The whole combination of severe dyfunctionality and utter ripoff by SO VERY MANY sites run by MAJOR CORPORATIONS — eg airlines FFS (the original over-computerized industry), but also insurance companies, and even banks — is becoming unsustainable. They just Don’t. Work. Business cannot be sustained that way, whatever their third party vendors may promise them in terms of cost savings (ie, firing customer service employees).
And as to loving driving … consider confessing your sins, renouncing your behavior, and seeking absolution. You’ll feel better. Really.
WaterGirl
@dnfree:
Wow, that seems complicated to be using PayPal to pay for Patreon.
Are you able to log into Patreon and navigate to the John Cole Balloon Juice area? If you can’t figure it out, we could do a zoom so we could both see your screen at the same time. I’m sure we can figure it out.
schrodingers_cat
@zhena gogolia: Thanks! The credit goes to husband kitteh!
NeenerNeener
@K-Mo:
I got instacart back in 2020 for the “no contact” grocery delivery to my front door. It was nice not having to worry about getting COVID in the grocery store. I’m using it again now because I’m having mobility issues. I can’t wait until either physical therapy and/or surgery can correct this problem because I’m spending a small fortune on having groceries and meals delivered.
CaseyL
Oh, John. Oh, dear.
There are a few ways to interpret that, and all of them are bad. I hope you have groveled appropriately, or that Joelle has chilled out, by the time she arrives. (Is she bringing the dogs??)
I love driving, too. I didn’t learn until later than most people (28 when I finally got my license) and I just plain love it. I don’t know if it’s the ability to travel far, or the freedom to travel whenever I want, or just something about the driving itself, but I’m usually quite happy to get in the car and get going.
Having some serious car angst right now, hoping the state Department of Licensing will re-instate my title after the insurance company decided my car was a total loss (despite the damage being just a deep scrape across the passenger side of the car, and knocking off the passenger side mirror). It’s an old car, not worth much (hence the “totaled” assessment), but I find it absolutely infuriating that an otherwise perfectly functional vehicle can be considered totaled. I hope to reverse that when I go to the licensing office tomorrow.
Betty Cracker
I took two longish solo drives this weekend to clear my head after our guests left Sunday morning. First drive was to a Mexican market that has wonderful, affordable supplies you can’t find at Publix or Winn-Dixie. Dinner routine change-up! The second drive, today, was to a coastal flat near my hometown with salt marshes that stretch out as far as the eye can see. The austere beauty of that spot always eases my mind.
schrodingers_cat
@JohnCole
Listen to a qawwali about Haji Ali while eating the mideastern food from Haji Baba. Music composed by A. R. Rahman.
Haji Ali’s dargah is on Worli seaface in Mumbai.
Harrison Wesley
“I just love driving.” So…Fahrvergnugen?
karen marie
When you’re back in Tempe, you might want to give MV Pita in Mesa a shot. They have foule (fava beans, chickpeas, garlic, oil and vinegar). It’s a very tasty salad. I like to bring it home and put it through the food processor so I can eat it more easily with some pita. They almost discontinued it but I begged them to please not do that.
They have two different kinds of pita bread – thicker and thinner. I can’t remember the names they use to distinguish them but I appreciate that they extend that option but they don’t tell you, you have to ask. They use the thicker pita if you don’t ask for the thinner.
martha
@Betty Cracker: Sounds perfect. I love small markets or farmer’s markets where you can buy different things. I’ve been buying yellow green beans (aka wax beans) from my favorite stand and now, for the third week in a row, people have asked me how I cook them! I mean, people!!! But unlike my Kentucky grandmother who boiled beans within an inch of their lives, I simply roast them in the oven or in a frying pan. Glad you got out..,
satby
@schrodingers_cat: pretty!
Starfish
So my husband took me to the urgent care today because there was something wrong with my finger. I was convinced that I chipped a bone, but once they x-rayed, they said it is probably soft tissue damage. There is something hard and wiggly near the joint at the top of my ring finger. They gave me a finger splint to stabilize it to see if it will dissolve. Can I borrow your drama queen crown for the day?
Poe Larity
IDK about the blow, but who is going to support the hookers now?
I miss my $1800 914.
SteveinPHX
A couple of buddies I have lunch with over in Tempe steer me to Haji-Baba on a regular basis. ‘Nother good place is Opa Life Greek Cafe (opatempe.com) in Tempe.
Take care and travel safely when you head this way.
Mousebumples
@satby: yup! I follow John Rogers on bsky (@johnrogers.bsky.social), and he said as much, I think. (I am not great at searching for specific bsky posts)
Also, the Librarians (another Christian Kane, Noah Wyle show, in the original incarnation) is also being rebooted!
Percysowner
I do everything from my computer, so I should be good. This is the Apple way. I can’t buy books through my Kindle App, even though that is where I read, because Amazon refuses to pay Apple the 30% fee. It’s not a big deal, because I prefer the computer anyway, but boy is Apple screwing even the big companies.
schrodingers_cat
@satby: Did you visit Jama Masjid when you were in Delhi?
Hungry Joe
POSTCARD UPDATE — SERIES 2
Postcards to Swing States:
Yesterday — 19
Running total —142
SiubhanDuinne
@schrodingers_cat:
I adore zinnias. One of my two favourite flowers. Yours are lovely.
How in the world are you still getting hydrangeas this time of year? Don’t get me wrong, they’re beautiful, but it seems late to me (#IANAG).
Chet Murthy
@Percysowner: Same here: I don’t have any mobile wallet/mobile pay whatever-it-is on my phone at all. Everything on my laptop, which rarely leaves home (but is in any case encrypted out the wazoo, etc).
I see people with the SF MUNI mobile app on their phones, using it to go thru the turnstiles, and I don’t understand it: I have a “Clipper card” that does the same thing, and it’s so much -faster- than using the phone. And it never screws up. The only downside is that I have to purchase a monthly pass each month, but really, that’s pretty minimal extra time, and certainly made-up-for by the faster thru-the-gate time.
Maybe someday I’ll understand the allure of paying for things with my phone. Maybe.
zhena gogolia
@SiubhanDuinne: I just saw some up the street here in CT.
Paul in Jacksonville
I’m with you on the driving. My ideal vacation begins the first day of winter in Miami, driving west. Leave San Diego on the first day of spring, driving north. Depart from Seattle on the first day of summer, heading east. Depart from Van Buren, Maine, heading south on the first day of fall. Follow the colors to Miami, arriving on the first day of winter. Only two rules apply: no Interstate highways, and no driving at night.
SiubhanDuinne
@zhena gogolia:
Amazing. I don’t pay that much attention, but my sense is they’re pretty dispirited by mid-July, exhausted by mid-August, and moribund by early September. Enjoy them!
Origuy
Tim Sheehy, Jon Tester’s opponent for Montana Senator, said something really dumb and racist.
BR
The Harris / Biden event was touching — I really appreciated seeing them together:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMBPKXPNWBE
geg6
@K-Mo:
I’m sure you do know why some people do. My sister, who is widowed and can no longer drive due to vertigo, gets Instacart several times a week for groceries and takeout. It’s doubly sad that she can’t drive because, in her 20s, she was a drag racer with a ‘69 Mustang with a custom paint job featuring Captain America on the hood. She held the track record for a while in the quarter mile.
zhena gogolia
@geg6: I was wondering how she was doing. I guess the vertigo didn’t ease.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
Off topic, but I happened to see that this is page 11,111 of this venerable blog, and I thought that was kind of cool.
Chet Murthy
@geg6: Life before ubiquitous grocery delivery was pretty hard on people without cars. I had a car 2009-2021 that I basically used only for going to the grocery store. But during the pandemic, I got used to grocery delivery, and when my car got t-boned, I didn’t replace it. Maybe I will if Harris wins. But between Safeway delivery for all bulk groceries and Amazon for housewares, I’m down to going to the Whole Foods for fresh veg and dairy, and that’s about it.
I don’t use Instacart, but is it really that different from Safeway delivery?
persistentillusion
@Poe Larity: I was working PT at a Porsche Audi dearlership by the time I was 16. 914 is my dream car.
geg6
@zhena gogolia:
Nope. They can’t figure it out. Her blood pressure is controlled. They checked her ears. They did brain scan to see if it neurological. She saw an ear, nose and throat guy. It’s a mystery.
Suzanne
Most of my driving is commuting, which is pure misery. But you know what I adore? Walking the dog. It’s so freaking great. I ordered one of these light-up vests for myself, might order the harness version for the pupper.
schrodingers_cat
@SiubhanDuinne: They are still in bloom in my garden.
SiubhanDuinne
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.):
That IS cool!! Forgive my ignorance, but how do you know that? I mean, where do you search to get that information?
KatKapCC
@Origuy: Holy hell.
Suzanne
@SteveinPHX: You know what place is right down the street from Haji-Baba and is awesome? Khai Hoan.
Baud
@Chet Murthy:
Same here. I don’t find mobile payments to be more convenient. Maybe if I had a ton of cards. But I don’t.
I do like the digital wallet for storing loyalty cards because I have many of those.
dnfree
@K-Mo: Yes, if I say I like grocery shopping people generally think I’m weird. But I like to pick out my own bananas and see if the strawberries are worth it this week.
Another Scott
Obligatory driving songs:
The Who – Going Mobile (3:43)
[edit] Aliotta Haynes Jeremiah – Lake Shore Drive (3:55)
Cheers,
Scott.
dnfree
@WaterGirl: I think when you set up the Patreon I had already been sending PayPal to some email, and there was a problem with PayPal taking money out? Or something? I have three different Patreon supports, and they all come out once a month from PayPal in one withdrawal, so that’s handy. There’s a tab on Patreon for Membership but there’s nothing on it.
Prescott Cactus
I don’t miss driving at all. I hung up the keys at age 63. I lived 15 years in a señor citizen community and quitting driving ranks up there with medical decisions about prolonging life. Nobody wants to give up the keys and it’s understandable. Loss of freedom and independence is hard to accept, but sometimes necessary. Uber, etc and public transportation are your friends, not your foes. . .
SW
I used to like to drive but last summer I got rear ended while at a stop light. I always felt under control while driving. But to be just kind of chillin at a stop light and suddenly this huge impact, noise, shattered glass. It made me realize that your safety is not just a function of your driving skill and level of attention. There are just so many careless and distracted people flying around that it causes me to limit my driving to when I really need to get somewhere.
citizen dave
@schrodingers_cat: Very nice! About 3 years ago we (really me) started growing zinnias on the two small plots against our house on the east and west sides. Used to grow tomatoes on the west side, may go back to those next year. Zinnias are great, though. Except this year mine are so-so. Half of them seem to have more coming just below on other stems, so the flower one would have a short stem if I cut it. So I just let it be. Still have got around 80- 100 so far, I’d say.
Took a nice drive today to visit my 92 year old dad. Can report the big red signs on I-69 North at the Huntington, Indiana exit saying “BIDEN STOP KILLING AMERICA” and “TRUMP” are still there. Property is the typical MAGA one with detritus all over the place. I was wondering whether the dude would update based on Harris.
I can report seeing zero Harris signs (expected), and two Trump/Vance signs in one yard in a very small town. That was it. Sure is different than 2016.
My dad informed us that he has never voted for a Democratic Presidential candidate, but he is definitely Kamala-curious. He said he did not like her stance on some issues, such as abortion, and immigration (was a little unclear if the concern was about the illegal kind/asylum seeking or what. He mentioned the people who come in illegally and then seek asylum). Mostly my wife went into a rant on abortion, womens’ rights, and somehow we got on DEI. So, DEI and asylum, I thought, these are definitely Fox News topics ad infinitum.
Interestingly though, he has totally soured on trump because of his personality (no, I didn’t have time to ask, you didn’t realize this in 2016/2020), and is very sour on the Indiana MAGA guys running for governor and even senator. I’m mostly hoping he just doesn’t vote for President. Of course it doesn’t matter in our red state.
satby
@schrodingers_cat: I did! Also did a tour around Old Delhi the first time I was there with the tour. The second time I was in Delhi was for a wedding, and I stayed at a hotel at the edge of Old Delhi across from the main train terminal, so close to it again. All the other Americans stayed at the Hilton (😕).
zhena gogolia
@geg6: Ugh. I guess it’s good it’s none of those things, but vertigo is horrible.
satby
@Another Scott: The Aliota-Haynes song was great to play while riding the S curve, but then they “straightened” it out. *
* It used to be really the shape of an S, they didn’t straighten it as much as they just stretched it out for longer, less sharp curves. But not nearly as challenging to drive. Newly acquired drivers license right of passage for Chicago teens.
satby
@satby: ok, looking at an old aerial view, more of a z than an S.
eclare
@dnfree:
I enjoy grocery shopping. I like to get there early, when it’s not crowded, and you don’t have to weave around other carts.
BR
I sometimes remember we live in a new media reality. This TikTok from Harris has 14 million views:
https://www.tiktok.com/@kamalaharris/video/7408711099140394271
eclare
@SW:
I was rear ended twice and side swiped once in a five year period. I hate driving. Plus I live in one of the most dangerous cities, by far, for driving. Being behind the wheel makes me a nervous wreck.
I have around 10k miles on a car that I bought new in 2018. That is how much I hate driving.
Another Scott
@SiubhanDuinne: Not Lord Mumphry, but on the main page – balloon-juice.com – at the bottom, it has page number buttons 1 2 3 … 11112 Next Page >>
HTH!
Cheers,
Scott.
satby
@BR: yep, and views on other media feed that total, since they open the TikTok.
Entirely a new media world. Honestly way more fun and often far better informed, and the biases are much easier to spot and account for.
A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan)
@geg6: I apologize in advance since I’m sure this will be useless anecdotal data, but my husband got terrible vertigo for several months and the doctor was about to schedule an MRI to check for a brain tumor (!!) since his tests didn’t show anything, and we finally figured out he had become allergic to salmon. I stopped making salmon for dinner and the vertigo episodes vanished.
I also had episodes of vertigo for the first time and figured out it was caused by a vase of daffodils in the kitchen. Even after I got rid of the flowers, it took a few days for the kitchen air to completely air out.
So perhaps there is something in her environment which is causing or contributing to the vertigo?
Geminid
I love driving too.
“Cruisin’ and playin’ the radio,
With no particular place to go.”
rikyrah
You are good people, Cole.🤗
Gin & Tonic
Patreon is anti-Ukrainian. Just putting that out there, not trying to shit on Cole.
Details, if you’re interested.
Ramona
@schrodingers_cat: Thanks for this! Wahrewah!
BR
For those of you missing it, Tim Walz Fixed Your Bicycle is also a feed:
https://botsin.space/@timwalzfixedyourbicycle
https://timwalzfixedyourbicycle.com/
BR
JV’s weirdness is nothing new:
https://mastodon.world/@emmreef/113070307946807220
https://www.wtol.com/article/life/automotive/jeep/sen-vance-rep-kaptur-visit-toledo-uaw-picket-lines/512-bd3d4cc6-505a-482a-9680-e98d7d579010
Ramona
@Starfish: I have several of those near various of my finger joints. The very first one I got dissolved after a few months but subsequent ones have not.
Jeffro
Cole, geez man, she’s going to fucking ace the debate next week. Take that off your plate, at least! ;)
Gin & Tonic
And perhaps more on-topic, I love, love, love driving – at least the Miata. 2400 pounds, front-engine, rear-wheel drive, standard transmission, convertible top, it is the distilled essence of driving. I plan to keep this car until I die.
Nancy
@Mousebumples:
The Librarians (Bob Newhart!!) and Leverage are great shows. After one has watched multiple times, it helps to take a break and forget a few details, then go round again.
I believe that Christain Kane is able to throw men twice his size over his shoulder for long distances.
KatKapCC
@Gin & Tonic: Yikes, I was not aware of that. How repugnant.
Urza
What if we donate specifically for the hookers and blow
Nancy
@geg6:
If the vertigo is due to inner ear nerve damage, a specialist in my area has developed a treatment that has given me my life back.
I am happy to share contact info if necessary.
Auntie Anne
@Chet Murthy: as a Safeway-affiliate online shopper, yes. EVERYONE is much better off going through their local grocery stores for delivery because Instacart usually marks up each item you purchase AND charges fees on top of that.
Via Instacart you are also at the mercy of the gig worker who is shopping your order. Order online from Safeway, and Safeway employees shop your order. We are “trained” on how to shop, although I am not always certain that training takes well for the high school kids. It is easier to get refunds for poor quality items from us – call the store within a week, and you’re taken care of. Finally, if you are a regular, we’ll often go the extra mile for you – forget an item in your order – call us and if it isn’t out for delivery, we can add it.
Our online deliveries are usually done via Uber or DoorDash. We don’t control those drivers but we will go out of our way to make things right for you.
Nancy
@geg6:
I just saw your comment that she saw an ENT. The specialist I saw has not yet done all the empirical studies that most doctors and insurers want before they accept a radical treatment. He considers quality of life in his patients to be more important that studies, but he was trying to do them. It’s not easy for him to have a control group of people who won’t get treated because he’s a nice person.
My quality of life has improved immensely, I didn’t have to take a disability retirement due to uncontrolled vertigo. I don’t want to go overboard with recommending this but do let me know if she would like the info.
Ruckus
@bbleh:
I’ve used Apple products for decades and been far more satisfied with them than any other products available. Just got off the phone with a neighbor who I sold my last Apple computer to, trying to teach him how to use it because some things are different about Apple than generic MSDOS stuff. I’ve used computers since the 80s and even before that when I got out of the USN I went back to school and was studying them. Had an Apple II and yes that was before the IIe. We had numerical control machine tools and had to use a teletype with a built in paper tape punch to program them. The first Apple was a VAST improvement over that pos teletype machine. If you made a mistake with the teletype you had to cut the mistake out and use special stickers with all the possible holes punched out to insert a repair piece and then start back up where you left off. What a pain in the whatever. I could get almost twice as much work done per day with the computer. By the time I stopped we were doing 3D programing for complicated projects and sending the programs over wire to the actual machines. NO blankety blank blank paper tape, repair patches, hours of trig creating the programs and then punching tape and hours of checking your work twice – at least, because otherwise you could easily wreck the machine and or the product. Good times….. Now if I mentioned some of the products our tools made, most people would recognize them. Toys for Mattel, TV shows and other companies, bottles of all shapes and sizes and too many other products to remember.
StringOnAStick
When Joelle gets each knee replaced, rent the combo icing/compression unit made by Nice1, it’s a freaking miracle. I know I recovered faster and with less pain because I had that for 3 weeks per knee. Knee replacement have me my life back and I’m skiing better than ever.
Knee replacement is brutal surgery and the first week sucks something fierce, the next slightly less so and then you can tell it was the right thing to do. Rule 1: do the damned PT. That’s also the next 4 rules too.
frosty
@Gin & Tonic: I’m with you! Owned a Bugeye Sprite and a TR-3 and went through a 10-year sports car drought until in January 1989 Ms F saw an article on the Miata’s introduction at a car show … Chicago maybe?
In June 1989 we bought one of the first 5,000 made. Loved it!! A British sports car but reliable. I drove it until it was totaled on the Baltimore Beltway in 2013, just shy of 25 years and a moon unit (238,000 miles, distance from Earth to Moon).
To be fair, it was starting to get a little more difficult to get in and out of it!
Mousebumples
@Nancy: yeah, they’re both great shows! Aldis Hodge is my fave, but Kane (and Beth Riesgraf and Gina Bellman) are all great! I’ve only watched The Librarians once (+ movies), but I’ve watched Leverage a bunch – both original series and Redemption.
Fair Economist
My anxiety has been dropping with Harris’ ongoing excellent performance, although it’s not gone. I expect she’ll do well at the debate although I don’t think it will make much difference because the media will just not report on it. Although – hopefully Trump will be bad enough to shock some of the normies – he’s had some pretty bad meltdowns lately.
EighthCousin
@geg6:
I hope you see this or that someone forwards it to you.
I just saw the post about your sister’s vertigo. This is about another “possible” cause for vertigo. I developed terrible vertigo–out of the blue–in 2019 (I was 78 then.) I’ll spare the litany of various medical consults. The problem *for me* turned out to be an electric toothbrush! I had started using it a few months before the vertigo attack and was suspicious…so checked the internet and found some people had found it to be a trigger. Then I tested it…twice by stopping use for a few weeks, then resuming use. Each time, in a few days, I got a flash of the vertigo. I stopped using it and have not had any vertigo since.
Ruckus
geg6
@A woman from anywhere (formerly Mohagan):
Probably not, only because it’s been ongoing for several years and in two different houses. She has a long standing allergy to seafood and pollen and has been treated by an allergist for those, complete with all the allergy tests. It is truly a mystery. Thankfully, most of the time it’s low level but can become acute at a moment’s notice. That’s why she quit driving and only goes outside in her yard without a companion.
geg6
@Nancy:
Yes! Send it to me via Watergirl. She has my email. Thank you!
Anonymous At Work
The Patreon thing is what Lina Khan talks about when she says that monopolistic companies can abuse their suppliers and vendors. This won’t help Apple when its their turn to face the FTC.
Second, this is why I will never ever have an i- anything.
HumboldtBlue
There’s a whole host of things you with that (muff)
sdhays
@Fair Economist: Trump is hard to debate because he has one setting no matter what he does, and too many important people just accept that his performance “works”.
A debate is nothing but performance. It’s not about educating anybody (it took me a long time to let that idea go), it’s a pageant that people grade performance on. And it matters little what actually happens in the performance, most of what matters is the aggregate reaction to the debate. Gore being the most egregious example and Biden being the most recent.
That said, Trump is tired now. His shtick is tired, and he’s a former president now, not some exciting “outsider”. He always talked in lies and nonsense , but now he struggles with coherence. A lot of people are sick of him. He actually needs this debate now more than Harris, and he’s scared.
Harris will do fine. I think she has a chance to do real damage, but no matter what, the professional media class won’t let the damage totally sink him.
RevRick
The United Church of Christ keeps increasing the standards of professionalism in its clergy, requiring that once every three years we take training in the following areas: healthy boundaries, racial awareness, and cultural competence, plus an annual requirement of 25 hours of continuing education. As part of the latter requirement, I am part of a Community of Practice which has read and discussed books about creative worship, family systems theory, James Cone’s The Cross and the Lynching Tree, church management, and a collection of meditations about the daily experiences of a gay black man. Now, I’m plowing through a work of fiction: Dear and Glorious Physician, about Luke, one of the four Evangelists. To say the least, I struggle to read it. Meanwhile, I am also reading David Kennedy’s Freedom From Fear, part of the Oxford History of America series, because I love history. I’m on page 588; only 300 more to go.
prostratedragon
Never heard of either of these men, but they are playing themselves some tennis at the Open. Paul v. Sinner, 6-7 and 6-7, but very close.
Ishiyama
@Gin & Tonic: Let’s hear it for the 1999 Miata! I bought one used in 2014 and enjoyed it for 9 years. Pure, unadulterated pleasure!
rikyrah
@schrodingers_cat: 🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗
rikyrah
@Hungry Joe:
👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
Gloria DryGarden
I want to get these trainings.
what if everyone could sign up for that training? Or had to. It would be a meaningful upgrade for society, engender some social sensitivity, help voters actually include others and vote in the interests of people they know.
why isn’t my library offering a short 2 hour mini presentation on this , a few times a year? At least something for the life long learners…
Soprano2
@satby: What channel is it? I have YouTube TV, I’d be interested in that.
Soprano2
@Chet Murthy: I’m able to put my ballgame tickets in my Google Wallet. It’s really slick, and better than printing them out.
Soprano2
@geg6: My mom had dizzy attacks a few times – they were disabling for her, I feel for your sister. The doctor said it was due to a virus in her inner ear, which I thought was BS until I researched it and found out that is indeed a cause of dizziness. I’m not sure if that’s the same as vertigo or not.
Sister Golden Bear
I hate commuting/rush hour traffic, but gimme an open road and I love driving. Although I’ve been overdoing it a bit during my trip through the Olympic Peninsula and Vancouver Island, since I got a little overambitious itinerary wise.
My biggest annoyance is having a “dumb” cruise control in my rental, which only sets the minimum speed and calls it a day. I’ve gotten spoiled by my Telsa 3’s cruise control that will keep speed pegged at whatwever you specified (even with uphill and downhill), but also slows automatically if needed based on the road ahead (great for curvy roads), and automatically adjusts the speed to keep pace with the vehicle ahead of you (which is a godsend in stop and go traffic). I’ve ended up not using it most of the time because I was constantly having to disengage/re-engage it.
Sister Golden Bear
John, I love how you took Joey Chestnut v. Kobayashi and turned it into Kobayashi Maru….
wjca
At a guess, too many libraries, and not enough qualified/capable teachers.
Gloria DryGarden
@wjca: and I’m guessing , the library might not have the right fee in their funds.
My library system does get in some amazing programs at times. so I’m allowed to wish it. This would fit right in.
We’ve had comedy, musicians from Finland, a play with follow up about racism, discussion of civil issues, like renaming a neighborhood hood ( it was named for the previous airport, but also it was a man linked to KKK), and we’ve had a terrific lady Elvis impersonator, complete w lap dance come-ons and scarves for people to get up and dance with.
Gloria DryGarden
@K-Mo: I love going to the natural grocers, it’s a fun outing, and a smaller store, and I end up recognizing half the staff and having friendly conversations with them, but I dislike having to go into giant king soopers (Kroger) for anything.
the bigger stores feel crowded and full of icky SAD items, plus when I first got back from my exchange student year my mom sent me down to Safeway within a day. It went beyond the reverse culture shock I was already struggling with. Too big, too much visual input, and way too different from the shops in Montevideo.
2liberal
Login, go to your account settings, icon on left hand side, look for icons along the header and choose “memberships”
Gloria DryGarden
@sdhays: Oh! it’s just a performance! I’m always interested in character and policy, so I failed to realize how much people vote on emotion and performance. Dang.
[the thing is, the creepy man, CF, is smooth, and he’s steady and believes himself no matter what is coming out of his mouth. I watched him for a whole 4-5 minutes- my limit- and found it to be hypnotizing. Shitty and ridiculous, because I had facts and evidence, and I find him revolting, but dangerously good at holding an audience’s attention and being mesmerizing. I said this before in a prev thread. So the cult members are basically hypnotized, I suspect.
If you didn’t have a bullshit detector and only watched Fox News and, god help us, OAN, you might enjoy it as a soothing meditation audio, all golden yet full of weird blamey hate stuff in a victim way that appeals to other people who feel like victims. He makes himself seem relatable, as if he were human, or like the common “man.”]
It makes me ill to say this.
Kamala is amazing!
prostratedragon
“Trump: China paid me hundreds of billions of dollars.”
Gloria DryGarden
What do people do for their anxiety?
since we’ve got a bumpy few months ahead.
besides food?
sometimes I take a stress or sleep remedy, or Bach flower rescue remedy, or GABA. Or just keep up on my vitamin B complex.
I m sure you all have more fabulous things you do.
I know it’s a dead thread, but the next one is the war thread.
prostratedragon
Not that much of anyone around here needs yo be told,🧵
Threadreader
Frankensteinbeck
Well, the latest supremely stupid fad has hit. Some TikTok influencers have discovered a free money life hack, and recorded themselves doing it while encouraging their followers to do it too.
The trick? You write a bad check, deposit it, withdraw the money before the check bounces, and you have as much as ten thousand dollars in hand!
Is this check kiting? Why, yes. Is it highly illegal? Why, yes. Did they literally record themselves committing a crime? Again yes! Does it not even work because not only are they in big legal trouble, they owe a lot of money with massive overdraft fees? Yes!
God, I hope not many people are dumb enough to follow along, but when you’re young you don’t know this stuff has been done before and doesn’t work.
@sdhays:
Sort of. It won’t educate, but if you smoothly and passionately deliver sufficiently awful statements you repulse instead of attracting. Only the passionate cultists want to vote for Hitler.
This isn’t theory. It happened in the last debate despite Biden’s awful performance. Trump lost to undecideds. What Biden lost was the explosive media freak out for a month after.
Harris is very unlikely to trigger that result even if it’s a bad night for her.
prostratedragon
@Gloria DryGarden:
When it’s really bad, I look for something simple to absorb my attention: work some sudoku, find a story to involve myself in. Sometimes listening to a lullaby, especially if I want to sleep: “Lil’ Darlin’,” Count Basie Orchestra. Used to take long walks, but unfortunately that’s no longer on.
Frankensteinbeck
A note:
We rail against media normalization of Trump, but we do the flip side of that same coin. We are so familiar with Trump’s awfulness we take it for granted. Just another vile offense in a neverending stream. It seems so obvious that anyone who could be repulsed is. I mean, he was president for four years!
But it’s not true. The media normalization has power. The public memory hole is astonishing. A lot of people revert to “He can’t be that bad.”
Then they hear him speak unfiltered, and he says utterly vile things we take for granted. He tells lies any school kid can spot. Either they’re seeing it for the first time or it all comes flooding back.
Trump’s numbers don’t budge, but there are a lot of people who just need to see him to go “Oh, HELL no.” They really don’t know him like we do.
Sherparick1
@catclub: Write your Congress critter & Senators about this and courtesy copy Lina Khan at the FTC about this ripoff. Even the Republicans ones like to make a big show about beating up “Big Tech” right now.
P.S. Belated Happy Labor Day to you all.
Denali5
The problem is not TTICF, it is the media. They still give him coverage and photos every single day. You cannot escape it-AP news, the Guardian,Washington Post. Much more than Kamala. She had a flurry of coverage after the convention, but it has vanished. So does she have to say outrageous untrue things to merit coverage? The strategy is to ignore her.
Women need to organize and march. We will lose the election if this continues.
wjca
@Gloria DryGarden:
As you say, it’s a dead thread. And this answer will be totally unhelpful, but….
For a great many people, the answer seems to be: Immerse themselves in the sounds of TCFG’s voice.
Like I said, totally unhelpful.
Motivated Seller
I suggest another payment method: a few bushels of fresh pears. That just might keep the Cole show going…
Kayla Rudbek
@Suzanne: Mr. Rudbek and I have a set of those vests and they are great for night cycling and running
BillD
You didn’t specify driving alone, but I think that’s what you meant. My wife can’t understand why I don’t want company on my longer trips, but it’s wonderful to not care about what somebody else wants to do or eat or see. I can drive 10 hours or stop early afternoon depending on where I am or how I feel. I confess to being a car snob and in my old age (80) rich enough to buy an S4 Audi. Last year drove alone from home in the Boston area to a personal business meeting in St. Louis and then across MO and Nebraska. State Rt. 2 across the sand hills was wonderful. Stopped in Chadron, where Tim Walz went to college, to visit a museum dedicated to Mari Sandoz, author of Old Jules, Crazy Horse, Cheyenne Autumn and other stories of the Great Plains and their original occupants. Then down to Santa Fe to buy some Santa Clara and San Ildefonso pottery. On to Marfa, Texas, Big Bend, the Hill Country, LBJ Ranch, over to Vicksburg, the Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale and then (getting impatient) interstates back to Boston. Loved every minute.