Had a busy day today doing prep work to head to Arizona next week. Went to get my car inspected because it is going to run out in February, got there for the inspection and discovered my registration had expired TODAY, 1 November. Drove to the DMV, got a two year registration, and because I was there with all my stuff (birth certificate, dd-214, etc. because I had my important shit folder for the inspection, decided to get a new federal license since my expires next year anyway. Got that done, went back to get my inspection, and turned out I did not need an inspection since they switched to two year inspections this year and my inspection does not run out until February 2026, but I needed new tires. I finagled and haggled for a while and got an ok deal on a pair of Michelin Defenders, which is all I like on this CRV, got them put on, and went home.
It’s like the universe knows when it is payday and managed to turn a 30 dollar inspection into a SHITLOAD more than that. Oh, well. This Honda CRV has been such a brilliant car and I have had to do SOOOO little maintenance on it, and I firmly believe that tires are something you should absolutely not skimp on, especially on these country roads and in advance of a cross country trek.
Adulting. When I taught freshmen in large lectures I used to tell them to enjoy themselves, because right now, unless they are one of the fortunate few, they will never be in a position where a higher percentage of their income can be designated for fun shit.
This also happened today:
Surprised how good his voice sounded.
Long time readers may know I am a big fan of Marc Maron, his comedy, his podcast, his general outlook, and him as a person. Here’s more confirmation he is a good guy, a post calling out the Joe Rogan’s, Andrew Schultz’s, Theo Vons, and Shane Gillis’s, and the young dudebro’s like them:
Love that guy.
I’m watching a show with Priyanka Chopra, Stanley Tucci, and one of Ned Stark’s kids, and it is pretty bad. But I am enjoying the hell out of it because it has lots of pretty people and it is not in any way challenging.
Shout at ya later.
War for Ukraine Day 982: Russia Double Tap Strikes Kharkiv, Attacks Odesa, Drone Strikes Sumy
Suzanne
I love my CR-V so much. I have had this one since 2015 and plan to have it for many more years. I had the previous CR-V for 11 years, and it was 4 years old when I bought it.
I might trade in the current one for a AWD model, but I can’t see having a different car. I was kinda thinking about a Subaru Outback, but I feel like the visibility is bad.
Scuffletuffle
Have you seen The Conclave yet? Tucci is okay, but Ralph Fiennes is incandescent…
HumboldtBlue
Former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election — culminating with the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol — put a spotlight on what are essentially ministerial steps between Election Day and Inauguration Day.
And with Trump, the Republican nominee, refusing to commit to honor the results of the 2024 presidential election, these incremental aspects of the process are worth paying attention to again.
Here are the key dates ahead:
Nov. 5 — Election Day
The end of voting marks the beginning of reporting results. While no votes can be cast after Election Day, many states allow postmarked mail ballots to come in for several days after, and for voters to fix errors with their ballots.
Over the next few weeks
Election officials will always tell you that results reported on election night are unofficial. Over the next few weeks, they’ll confirm those tallies, add in provisional ballots and ballots from overseas, and deal with any recounts, getting to the official results by both local and state certification deadlines. (These deadlines vary by state; you can see all of them here.)
Dec. 11 — The appointing of electors
This is a key deadline: It’s when a state “executive” has to certify the state’s presidential electors. (The governor is a state’s default executive, unless state law ahead of time designates another official.) According to the Electoral Count Reform Act, which was passed on a bipartisan vote in 2022, this deadline is six days before the electors meet, which this year is…
Dec. 17 — The meeting of electors
The appointed presidential electors from each state will meet in their state capitals to cast their official votes for the candidate who won their state’s votes. Together, these gatherings are referred to as the meeting of the Electoral College.
Dec. 25 — The arrival of the electoral votes
The president of the Senate and the national archivist must receive the electoral certificates of each state by the fourth Wednesday in December.
Jan. 3, 2025 — The swearing-in of the new Congress
The new Congress is sworn in before its members count the presidential electoral votes.
Jan. 6 — The counting of electoral votes in Congress
In the election’s final step, members of Congress convene to count the electoral votes.
Following the effort to overturn the 2020 election, the Electoral Count Reform Act also introduced a series of reforms to this joint session, such as clarifying that the vice president’s role (as president of the Senate) in overseeing this count is “ministerial,” and raising the threshold for objections to a state’s electoral slates to one-fifth of each chamber.
Jan. 20 — Inauguration Day
The 47th president takes the oath of office outside the Capitol.
David 🐝KHive🐝 Koch
Cardi B is Rocking Milwaukee right now
Lapassionara
@HumboldtBlue: Let us hope Mike Johnson isn’t the speaker of the new congress.
FastEdD
Never skimp on good tires. Never. Especially before a road trip. Wise advice.
twbrandt
Trump came to my hometown, Dearborn, MI, today to visit a restaurant a few blocks from where I live. He was supposed to be here earlier, but I should have anticipated he’d be late, because when I went to the grocery store later this afternoon it was a cop car convention and traffic was an absolute zoo. They had several blocks of Michigan Ave., the main street through downtown, blocked off, along with an adjacent street running parallel to Michigan. Traffic was being diverted onto other streets, completely tying up that area. Ugh.
Jerry
I actually bought tickets in advance for a show that won’t happen until May 3rd of next year. I’ve really fallen hard for Fontaines DC recently and am excited to see them at The Ritz in Raleigh. I just hope that I remember that the concert is happening. And that Kamala is president then. And that I’m still alive then.
CaseyL
I used to skimp on my tires – until the 2nd or 3rd time I took a corner too close and blew out the sidewall on the curb. It occurred to me that the money I spent on replacing them would be better spent getting really good tires to start with!
I hope your cross-country trek goes well, and that you’re able (and willing) to share it with us. One thing I am really looking forward to when I retire in a few years is taking long road trips. I want to meander, and roam aimlessly. That’s going to involve a big change of attitude from my current destination-driven driving habits!
Weftage
My friends never understood why I put $600 tires on a $900 beater. The car is just a box that hopefully keeps you out of the weather. It’s the tires that matter, they’re the ones that meet the road.
bbleh
CR-Vs are great cars, tires are a good investment at a certain point (which even an amateur can tell), and state inspections are inherently suspect and sometimes a complete scam by whoever is performing them so always worth skepticism and the willingness to walk away and go elsewhere.
And The Cure rock, full stop.
HumboldtBlue
cain
Safe trip to Arizona, John
HumboldtBlue
@Lapassionara:
Indeed.
bbleh
Trump is a fascist, though many voters don’t want to hear it.
Oh they want to hear it all right; they just don’t want to hear it called out as such.
It’s like their racism, and their misogyny and their homophobia and their xenophobia and all their other bigotries. They’re happy to HEAR them, and to wink and nod at them, and when they’re among friends &/or with a few drinks in them to repeat them out loud. But they HATE to be called out on them. A VERY few of them admit to it — at least they have honesty going for them — but the large majority will ANGRILY deny their extremism and their bigotries, even as they manifest them (and admit them with friends, when drinking, etc.)
I suppose it speaks to at least some degree of morality — like “hypocrisy is a tribute vice pays to virtue,” so their anger at being called out for their depravities suggests that some part of them realizes they’re wrong — but it doesn’t excuse them.
He’s a fascist and they support fascism, so much so that they fairly can be called fascists themselves.
FDRLincoln
I sense a great shift in the Force this evening. Suddenly feel a lot more confident about KH winning and winning big.
There’s a new poll out tonite that has her within 3 points of Trump in Ohio.
Death Panel Truck
Michelins are great tires. I’ve got them on my pickup, filled with nitrogen. Costs five bucks per tire to get it done, but the pressures haven’t dropped one PSI in six years and 17,000 miles (I don’t drive it much. My wife has a Buick Encore, and it’s actually a fun car to drive and super reliable.)
HumboldtBlue
@FastEdD:
Bought a Camry two weeks ago to the day. The first thing I saw on the car when we got to the lot were brand new high quality Michelins and I knew right then I was gonna drive it home.
I mentioned it and the sales guy, Der (who was outstanding and must have loved having an easy mark like me walk in knowing I was driving something, more specifically that Camry, off the lot) told me they put on new tires and install new brakes on every vehicle.
SFAW
Off topic, so to speak, but had an interesting chat with a young today:
As part of my job, I often interact with nurses. One of the nurses I worked with today is a 20-something. We chatted about politics; it was clear that she voted (or will vote) for Kamala. She also said she would have voted for President Biden, but with some reluctance (because she thinks he’s borderline-demented. I tried to disabuse her of that belief, but no matter).
I then asked about her contemporaries, and her belief was that a significant number of them probably would NOT have voted for Biden (nor Trump), but WILL vote for Kamala Harris. “Data is not the plural of anecdote” and all that, but it was heartening to hear that.
NB: Please don’t tell Omnes about this. My being optimistic (more or less) might cause him to think about harming himself.
Mai Naem mobile
I don’t know who Theo Vons, Andrew Schultz or Shane Gillis are. I only know who Joe Rogan is because I asked somebody whose husband listens to him during the Paul Pelosi attack. There’s a couple of guys on YouTube who do a satirical Joe Rogan show. I actually was watching it and thought it was the Joe Rogan show since I had never seen Rogan’s pic but heard clips of the show on radio. Rogan’s a dime store Howard Stern.
bbleh
@FDRLincoln: Per previous comment somewhere, I was at the setup for Kamapalooza Philly on Monday and … I got the same vibe. Like HERE IS WINNING.
All very nice. Now get out the damn vote.
RaflW
@Lapassionara: Apparently Mike Johnson went to upstate NY today to campaign for one of the closest House races. He put his foot firmly in his mouth (he’s frankly not very smart and I think often very poorly briefed. None of these guy have quality staff, because Republicans have slagged gov’t service so long, no one on their side of any quality wants the jobs).
Dumbass.
eta: The NYT got their ‘b’ and ‘m’ confused. The CHIPS investment in Syracuse is $825 million. Not small ball, but not 100 billion!
Mai Naem mobile
@FDRLincoln: i so want Harris to win some states she’s not expected to win. I know it’s highly unlikely but I would love to see her win Florida, Indiana, Ohio or Nebraska. If nothing else it might convince the non-MAGat GOPrs into knocking some sense into the MAGats.
SFAW
@FDRLincoln:
Link? Because every other poll so far has him up by 6 or 7 percent.
HumboldtBlue
@RaflW:
They really aren’t the brightest guys.
KatKapCC
I refuse to believe anything with Stanley Tucci could be bad.
RaflW
@Mai Naem mobile: Kansas was slightly closer in 2020 than Indiana and noticeable closer than Nebraska. Johnson Co. has trended bluer in recent years. The state elected a woman Democrat as their governor (granted, Brownback was trash), and the abortion vote went well a couple years ago.
Still, absolutely, a longshot, but it’d be fascinating if it happened.
Hungry Joe
ROAD TRIP!
It’s happening: On Monday I’m going with a friend to Yuma to canvass. Three-hour drive (from San Diego), two three-hour shifts, then three hours back. (He can’t stay because he doesn’t want to leave his wife overnight with their rambunctious Golden Retriever puppy. Now, THAT’S a good excuse.)
We’re gonna drag Arizona over the finish line, and have fun doing it.
mrmoshpotato
@Mai Naem mobile:
In defense of Stern, he seems to be a very reasonable guy these days.
billcinsd
I assume many of the male comics are truly morally bankrupt misogynists.
Melancholy Jaques
@KatKapCC:
I’m a devoted Tucci fan. Citadel is bad. Straight to cable movie in the 90s bad.
Jess
Great protest song by Kino, a (now defunct) punk band from Russia. They were playing this song in the streets during the protests in Belarus four years ago. On bagpipes. It was so badass.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR1trecglQ
If things go our way on Tuesday, we can be grateful and proud that we took action before things got as bad as seen in this video. Let us be forever vigilant and willing to fight for our freedom from tyranny.
FDRLincoln
@SFAW: i saw it on Twitter but can’t find it now. Will keep looking.
Soprano2
@bbleh: I had a garage fail our 1987 Chevy S-10 and recommend almost $1,000 of work on it. They told me that none of the signals worked. When I checked them, I discovered one didn’t work, which was solved with a $5 bulb (the signals on the instrument cluster don’t work, but they don’t have to!). Made me wonder what else they lied about, so I took it to a car dealer for another inspection and it passed! I never went back to that lying shop.
TBone
“Sir Alito” 🙄 got knighted and nobody noticed.
He loves the Constitution just as much as we thought he did. 💩
https://abovethelaw.com/2024/10/sam-alito-got-knighted-just-like-the-founding-fathers-explicitly-made-unconstitutional/
Article I, Section 9 of the United States Constitution reads, in relevant part:
Sure Lurkalot
@Suzanne: I’m thinking of replacing my car and want a hybrid preferably plug in and AWD. That universe is not large. So I’ll probably test drive the CRV and a few others that qualify. I think cars are seriously ugly right now so it’s hard to motivate myself to go looking.
The Outback is a good car too, I know a few people who have pretty new ones and they’re happy with them.
Layer8Problem
Rogan’s a putz who Spotify is enabling by shoveling hundreds of millions at him.
Melancholy Jaques
@Mai Naem mobile:
I consider him Gen X’s Rush Limbaugh. Not as overtly racist, but certainly a beacon for white males filled with resentment.
FDRLincoln
@SFAW: I remember it was Trump 49 Harris 46 5 point MOE, with such a large MOE making it not that different than other polls.
I don’t think she wins Ohio, but I’ve seen similar slippage in GOP numbers in places like Kansas and Iowa.
RaflW
@SFAW: Went looking, and it’s attributed to Laksha Jain, who I guess is a data analyst at Split Ticket.
@FDRLincoln: Yes. 5 point MOE. 10/28-10/30 text-to-web poll with 859 registered voters. Doesn’t say what outfit (unless it’s actually Split Ticket’s own, maybe?)
planetjanet
Thanks for the Cure news. I ran off to their website to buy the new album.
HumboldtBlue
Cardi B ain’t got time for Trump’s bullshit.
Melancholy Jaques
@Sure Lurkalot:
I went back and forth between the CR-V and the RAV4 – both hybrid AWD – and ended up buying the RAV4. It was close.
The CR-V drove/rode better. Hard to put it into words, but I felt more like I was driving an expensive car in the CR-V while in the RAV4 it felt like it’s a cousin to a truck.
Jess
@Melancholy Jaques: So why the RAV? I’ve been wanting one for years for completely non-rational reasons.
Melancholy Jaques
@Jess:
The single most important factor was how long Toyota’s hybrid system has been on the road.
Jess
@Melancholy Jaques
Cool. I want a car that’s reliable AF. Right now I have a Fit (my first new car ever), but I really want an AWD hybrid or electric for my next one. I’m in Mass, and have been wanting something better for the snow, but maybe in another few years we won’t be getting any… 🤔
Jackie
I caught Kaitlin Collins show tonight and learned first time young women AND men voters were seeing TCFG’s Hollywood Access video for the first time. It’s apparently on TicTok and it’s gone viral. Remember it surfaced eight years ago when these first time voters were young enough that parents quickly changed the channel, or at least hit mute. The disgust and shock on these young kids was telling.
IF* they vote, it won’t be for TCFG.
*I think it’s going to be a record turnout for youth and first time voters.
BSR
“…and one of Ned Stark’s kids”
I had just taken a sip of wine and almost sprayed it all over my monitor! Modern terminology I guess!
Loved that Cure concert – I saw them in the 80s and am amazed how they are still going and still sound great. Robert Smith is an amazing human being!
I can feel my stress ramping up towards Tuesday – need to take a breath and realize it will all be ok. Right? Right?
TS
@HumboldtBlue:
I like their editorial board
eclare
@Suzanne:
I love my CR-V too! 2017 and I will drive it til it turns to dust.
I looked at Subarus when I was looking for a new car, but the only interior color on any model was black. I live in the south. So I walked away.
eclare
@FastEdD:
Tires are the only part of your car that touches the road. Never skimp.
RaflW
@Melancholy Jaques: MIL just bought a Corolla Cross AWD. The only test drive vehicle was a Corolla Cross hybrid. It was nice, but expensive for how small the back seat seemed. I’ll be very curious how the Cross works out for her. She loved her Corolla sedan, but it was getting really hard for FIL to get into – low to the ground!
I love my 2015 Subaru Outback, but they’ve just not moved fast enough into the hybrid space in the US, so a Rav4 hybrid is probably our next vehicle. Maybe some time next year?
J. Arthur Crank
@Suzanne:
Same here. Mine is a 2013 model year, and it probably will take 15 to 20 years to drive it in the ground.
glc
I was planning to see Conclave soon but knew almost nothing about it beyond the general subject and that Fiennes is in the cast. Knowing that Tucci (and Lithgow, I see) are involved means this will definitely be happening.
Full service blog. Wasn’t expecting that. I generally like knowing very little about movies before I see them, but on the other hand one needs to have some motivation to actually go. Anyway I’ve managed to avoid having more than a superficial awareness of the plot, so far (roughly amounting to the title).
Bupalos
@Jackie: this possibility never dawned on me. We do this “nothing matters, it’s all baked in” thing 24/7
and forget that the electorate is constantly changing. Politics is always changing.
wouldn’t it be crazy if that had more of an effect NOW than it did THEN? Not impossible.
Jackie
@Bupalos: I think more than possible. This video was exposed well before the Me2 movement.
kissel
@mrmoshpotato: definitely. Another point I would make is that when Stern used to have white supremacists on the show it was really to highlight how shitty they were, not to humanize them.
Rose Judson
@glc: I’ve read the novel on which it is based. Good pulpy thriller fun, in robes and cassocks. It doesn’t open until the end of the month over here, but I’m planning to see it even if I have to go alone.
Geminid
@RaflW: The CHIPS+ Act is structured so as to incentivise private investment, and that $825 million is just the money coming out of the U.S. Treasury. The $100 billion in private investment probably is an accurate fugure for the Syracuse-area project spurred by the CHIPS+ Act.
I read about this project last year when it was in the proposal stage. The plan was to build four seperate chip factories right next to each other. Each unit is built around a $250 million dollar machine furnished by Dutch company ASMI. Its product is processed by $25 millon machines and so forth.
This doesn’t include installation and support infrastructure, plus the buildings that house the machinery which cost much more than say, an auto plant. Evidently this adds up to $100 billion. I read one estimate that the CHIPS+ bill could spur up to $3 trillon in investment.
The plant is being built in Clay, New York, a few miles north of Syracuse on I-81.
Lymie
A college classmate is married to Reeves, neat video.
I am afraid to hope after 2016, and 2000…..
Geminid
@RaflW: Mike Johnson doesn’t have snowball’s chance in hell of repealing the CHIPS Act, and he’s a fool for saying he will. Johnson certainly didn’t do Rep. Williams any favors with his idle boast; Williams’ district was already rated “Lean D” before the Speaker opened his pecan pie-hole.
Only around 20 House Republicans voted for the CHIPS Act, in defiance of then-Speaker Kraven McCarthy. They were probably the same 20 or so Republicans who voted for Infrastructure bill nine months before, in November 2021. House leadership whipped against that bill too, at Trump’s behest.
These were both very sound and needed bills, and Republican leadership only opposed them because they knew the legislation would strengthen the US economy. They wanted to cripple the Biden administration with austerity, like they almost succeeded in doing with the Obama administration.
lowtechcyclist
Just dropping in to this almost-dead thread to agree with John on the importance of tires. Everything else about your car can be in great shape, but if you’ve got crappy tires, things can go a lot more wrong in a situation where you need good traction.
Oh, and we just needed a new car because the kiddo is now driving to school in what had been my wife’s 2009 Accord. We’ve been a Honda family ever since we bought her a used 1986 Accord in the fall of 1990. So we got my wife a 2025 CRV, and she absolutely loves it.
John, I’d forgotten it was what you drive, but it’s great to hear that it has held up so well under the driving conditions that you have in WV. Barring calamity, we won’t have to worry about another new car for her until 2040 or later, because in our experience, you can pretty much count on a Honda lasting 15 years and 200K miles, minimum, before you start having to think about reliability..
SteveinPHX
Have a safe ride back to Arizona. Bring some rain with you.
Another Scott
@Geminid: IEEE Spectrum has a decent conversational article on ASML’s high numerical aperture extreme ultra-violet lithography system.
It’s a beast.
And it’s an example of the amazing march of engineering and physics to continue to make digital electronics cheaper, denser, and more capable.
(My grad school adviser designed and built a “step and repeat” lithography system using high NA lenses for his PhD in the early 1980s. It was impressive that he could print sub-micron lines and spaces. This ASML beast can make things 80-100x smaller over huge areas.)
Cheers,
Scott.
Spiceagony
@twbrandt: I’m in Macomb County and we had the same experience yesterday when he went to Macomb Community College. I don’t know what time he got there, but right around 4pm, traffic was insane.
kbid
Ahh you have a Honda CRV! Yes a brilliant car. Got mine in 1999, manual trans, drove it from MI to NH 2014 and said to myself its time for an automatic. So kept CRV in NH and it lasted several years as utility vehicle until sold to friend and its still going strong. Replaced it with an Audi Q5 2014 which will have for the rest of it all. I grew up cars — Ford and Chrysler — and a good car is a delight.
Sean Nuttall
Robert Smith sounds exactly like he did 45 years ago. Unbelievable. Love the fucking Cure. Thanks for posting. Watching with my wife now.