Just a lovely day today here- the first in a long, long time. Slathered up in sun screen and headed out and mowed for a few hours, then went to the big city to get gas for the mowers because tomorrow is an all day cut, got some groceries, and I am super excited to make this thing I saw on tiktok called Spring Roll in a bowl. Basically this without mango and adding some ground pork and some heat. Tonight I thawed out some orange roughy filets and ate them with some corn and sliced tomatoes.
I dunno if it is just me, but I like to make mild, nutty fished by pan searing them in a little olive oil, then taking them out, putting a little salt and pepper on them, and then squeezing a lime and putting very finely sliced cilantro all over it. So good and bright. It’s a really light, non oily fish, just let it shine. No need to dress it up with all sorts of bullshit.
In other news, I did the bird app after dinner (and I fed the bird around four this afternoon), so there were a lot of them out (not to mention squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits were all sighted):
The one that got cut off at the bottom was a Chimney Swift. There was also a blue jay sitting on the damned fence not 15 feet from me and it never said a word (or attacked any one for that matter), so it probably knew I was recording and stayed quiet. Dick. Blue Jays and Geese. Fuck ’em.
In other news, I did a podcast with Oliver Willis that should be up tomorrow. Before the podcast, I spent fifteen minutes trying to get the damned camera to work. Plugged and unplugged it, started the app a couple time, rebooted the computer, reinstalled drivers, powered down and did a cold boot, and, ladies and gentlemen, the fucking lens cap was on.
You are welcome.
Miki
LOLOLOL! It’s been 20 years since I did a lens cap fail, but I still viscerally recall my amusement once I realized how stupid I was.
Congratulations!
Jackie
That spring roll bowl sounds delish. With your addition of ground pork, heat AND the mango!
Mr. Bemused Senior
There’s a reason tech support follows a script.
SpaceUnit
First day of summer and it’s 100 effing degrees here. What’s more the HOA has a crew doing a maintenance / painting project on my condo building. They want to paint around my door tomorrow and left me a note saying that I’ll have to leave the door open for two hours afterwards for the paint to dry.
So I’ve got about fifteen hours to figure out how to say get the fuck out of here in Spanish.
TaMara
The spring roll bowl looks yummy.
Also, jealous of all the bird songs. It is one thing I really miss at this altitude is the variety of songbirds elsewhere.
JaySinWa
@SpaceUnit: I believe the word you are looking for is ICE. The ICE men are coming might do the trick.
laura
I have a massive crush on Oliver Willis’ dog Kal El.
SpaceUnit
@JaySinWa:
I would never call ICE on them in a million years. Actually I feel bad for them – they’re toiling away in heavy protective gear outside and there’s heat wave on.
But I’m not leaving my door open for two hours in this shit.
Professor Bigfoot
Well, that podcast is gonna be “Democrats Suck” from beginning to end.
Oh well.
Sally
Just in relation to an earlier thread, non citizens are permitted to vote in national elections in some countries. My son, whilst studying in the UK, was encouraged to register to vote in a UK election. He was on a student visa, and not even a tax payer. In some Commonwealth countries, any “British Subject” is permitted to vote in national elections. In some countries, permanent residents are also permitted to vote.
My belief is that anyone on a visa that permits employment, and any green card holder, should be permitted to vote. I know that is considered a bit extreme by people. But, “no taxation without representation” rings strongly for me. If you take my money I should have some say in what you do with it. I have lived in several countries where I am permitted to vote without being a citizen. Some countries relax their voting restrictions for more local elections, ie, State and council or county.
(Sorry if I’m interrupting a not open thread). I am a bit obsessive about the right to vote.
JaySinWa
@SpaceUnit: I wasn’t suggesting calling ICE, Just saying that they were coming, all concerned for their safety, you know. Not that I would do that either, but it might be more effective than learning Spanish invective.
Jackie
Years ago when 35mm cameras and different colored filters was “a thing,” my now ex-hubby and I spent an hour down at the river so he could take pics of the sunset using his new filters. He took a half a roll of pics using the yellow filter, then the second half with the red filter. I was just hanging out sitting on a big rock with my feet in the water.
He opened the camera to take out the film and discovered he’d loaded the camera with black and white film. Not colored film. Oh, he was PISSED! I didn’t make matters any better laughing my ass off while he was cussing a blue streak. I still chuckle about it. He never did eventually see the humor… The black and white sunset photos were still beautiful in their own way. The different filters weren’t evident in the photos.
SpaceUnit
@JaySinWa:
Think I might just give them all popsicles and say Novembre por favor.
Dan B
@Jackie: Good one!
WaterGirl
@Jackie: One of those things that are more funny when it’s not you. :-)
Eric S.
Two Mondays ago when Trump sent the Marines to L.A., I wrote an email to my Senator, Tammy Duckworth. It included the paragraph:
I’m going to take the teeniest, tiniest bit of an iota of credit for this after my email.
https://www.nj.com/politics/2025/06/disabled-veteran-delivers-brutal-takedown-of-trump-defense-secretary.html
MagdaInBlack
Since its the 50th anniversary of Jaws, I’d like to note that Jaws was the second date with my husband. First date was Friday, June 13, 1975. He liked to say that set the tone, because we certainly had our share of bad luck.
Also, my Gordita has passed. First time since 1978 I’ve been cat-less. Kinda weird.
Nukular Biskits
Good evenin’, y’all. Longest day(light) of the year today.
Cole, you lost me at this (emphasis mine):
I’m one of those weirdos who, due to a mutation, thinks … nay … KNOWS … cilantro taste like cheap soap.
Jackie
Mahmoud Khalil is a free man!
AnthroBabe
Unpopular opinion incoming…
I love blue jays and geese. We tried to keep four geese when I was younger – the African one was named Pepo and he loved to cuddle. The French ones were…feisty. I also love macaque monkeys.
These animals all have two things in common: they are assholes and smart(ish).
Jackie
@WaterGirl: His lack of a sense of humor and the lack of being able to laugh at himself EVER is one of the many reasons he’s my ex.
karen gail
Catching up on news, have stayed off line and been reading books. Real books, with paper pages; since this is favorite series when want to leave world outside the paper pages also include stains from greasy fingers.
So Trump has put forth that farmers take responsibility for illegal immigrants who work for them, does this smack of slavery or whispers of slavery to anyone else?
Jackie
@Eric S.:
As you should. Your email might have been THE one! :-D
MagdaInBlack
@AnthroBabe: I’m right there with you on geese. I raised a pair of gray Toulouse who were my pets and guardians. Wherever I was, they were no more than 10 feet away, and lord help you if you tried to mess with me. =-)
p.s. I like blue Jays too.
karen gail
@Nukular Biskits: I also hate the taste of soap that cilantro brings to my mouth; top it all off by how many people put cilantro in salsa which ruins the whole meal for me.
p.a.
I started with an SLR then got a few point&shooters that were “rangefinders” & yep, lenscap issues.
NotMax
@Nukular Biskits
Beamed over from a morning thread.
Not only an open thread but also the first day of summer.
That deserves some souped up Vivaldi.
P.S.: I’m with you on the “cilantro tastes like licking the Devil’s armpit” team.
Nukular Biskits
@karen gail:
PREACH!
zhena gogolia
@MagdaInBlack: Oh, I’m sorry. That’s a great name for a cat.
zhena gogolia
@Jackie: Yay!
Nukular Biskits
@NotMax:
I think I mentioned this in another thread a while back but, for years, I simply could not grasp why people were going wild about cilantro.
And then when I read an article about the mutation that makes it taste like soap, it finally clicked.
NotMax
@karen gail
Now suggesting they be overseers? How very very antebellum of him.
Doc Sardonic
@MagdaInBlack: Condolences on the loss of Gordita
Jackie
@MagdaInBlack: I’m so sorry you lost Gordita, (cool name!) It’s hard adjusting to cat-lessness. Hopefully, when the time is right, a new kitty will adopt you.
eclare
@Eric S.:
Good for you! Senator Elissa Slotkin also took him down.
eclare
@MagdaInBlack:
I’m so sorry about Gordita.
BigJimSlade
LOLOLOL – I swear I’m laughing with you, not at you! And if you weren’t laughing, at some point you will…
John Revolta
The camera won’t work with the lens cap on, John
Geminid
@Professor Bigfoot: I’m not a fan of Oliver Willis by any means, but the podcast probably won’t be that bad in terms of Dem-bashing.
What interests me is that Willis apparently has spotted some talent in Mr. Cole. I haven’t watched any of the podcasts with Doug J and Mistermix, but I checked out the reviews here and people seemed to think Cole has podcast game.
I just hope that when he hits the big-time, Cole doesn’t forget the “little people” at Balloon Juice.
MagdaInBlack
@zhena gogolia: She was used on one of the card sets that W.G put together for sale a couple years ago. La Gordita, my fat little Siamese queen bee =-)
Central Planning
We have Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom going on in my back yard. Woodchucks, doe and 3 fawns (we think she adopted 1 or 2 of them), squirrels, chipmunks, 3 or 4 varieties of woodpeckers, skunk, fox, and who knows what else.
For the first time today we saw a Baltimore Oriole. Mrs. CP put out some orange slices but we haven’t seen anything return yet. Perhaps it’s time to switch to mealworms (🤢)
tobie
I just saw that tonight is the last night to write a comment for the June meeting of the CDC’s vaccine advisory board ACIP. RFK Jr. fired all 17 members a few weeks ago and has now replaced some of them with vaccine skeptics.
More info, links to sample comments and the like are available at: https://bsky.app/profile/altcdc.altgov.info/post/3ls23dnlljc2j
BigJimSlade
@Mr. Bemused Senior: One guy told me, long ago, that tech support has a diagnosis called PEBKAC. Problem exists between keyboard and chair.
FreeThinkingRedneck
Lens cap… Par for the course, John. Par for the course.
FreeThinkingRedneck
@SpaceUnit: veta la chinga
BigJimSlade
@MagdaInBlack: Oh, I’m sorry you lost your kitty. I know it’s an adjustment while you expect to see them in the normal places around the house – when I’ve lost cats before, I just decided to either greet them or thank them (silently) whenever I kinda expect them to be some place – (in my head) hi kitty, or, thanks for the good times, kitty
Oh, also, I was born on a Friday the 13th, so it’s my favorite day :-)
Suzanne
@MagdaInBlack: Hugs to you. I’m so sorry.
Eric S.
@eclare: I heard some of Slotkin’s questioning. She was great.
Eric S.
@BigJimSlade: PEBKAC is real! (I never did tech support but was a info systems programmer for 20 years ) Also, too, on a more occasions than I want to admit I was the problem.
Glory b
@Nukular Biskits: Yes!!
Cilantro doesn’t even taste edible.
MagdaInBlack
@BigJimSlade: It’s kinda my favorite day too =-)
Sure Lurkalot
That’s a level of ass kissing, delusion and/or sycophancy “the likes of which have never been seen before”, to quote the object of her idolatry.
prostratedragon
@MagdaInBlack: Sorry about Gordita. Such a cute name for a kitty.
prostratedragon
Summer solstice means that at last the days will be getting longer. I have “reverse SAD,” which actually is a thing.
Mr. Bemused Senior
@MagdaInBlack: I add my condolences.
Sherparick
@Miki: IT’s first question to me when I called about my Webcam problem was to ask about the lens cap. Whoops 🤭, “thanks, I think that fixed the problem.”
MagdaInBlack
Thank you guys for your kind words. It really is weird not coming home to a cat, after all these years. One will turn up when the time is right, tho, just like they all did =-)
Sherparick
@prostratedragon: actually, the days start getting shorter, but the will still be longer then the nights until the autumnal equinox.
Joy in FL
@MagdaInBlack: I’m sorry about Gordita’s passing. Missing her and also having no cat at all has to be sad. I know she had a good life with you.
edit: I just read more comments, and I saw that Gordita was a Siamese. I got my first cat for Christmas, 1963; he was a Siamese, and I still love him.
Jackie
@prostratedragon: Summer solstice is the longest daylight hours, which means after today, the day hours will slowly get shorter. Winter solstice is the shortest daylight hours.
Geminid
@Sure Lurkalot: Since Tammy Bruce is a spokesperson for the State Department, I’m guessing she made this statement with regards to U.S. intervention in the Isaeli/Iranian war. They’re kind of treading water on that one right now.
Security analyst Michael A. Horowitz summed up the administration’s conflicting messaging on this issue in a Substack article headline:
Sherparick
@MagdaInBlack: So sorry for your loss. After we loss our Gizmo, a few months later 2 young tom cats, one just a 6 month kitten, showed up at our doorstep on Halloween.
Doc Sardonic
I remember getting a call from a client that one of the PC’s in the office needed to have the slide out cupholder repaired because it had broken.
Gvg
@SpaceUnit: look up the word NO. That should be possible. Maybe GO AWAY. Complicated is “You are crazy if you think I am leaving the door open in this heat.”
frosty
Merlin is such a great app. You’ve got a huge crop of birds on that one recording. Nice!
Bill Arnold
Blue Jays go quiet when nesting, I’ve observed. You may have a nest nearby.
They can also be mimics; they do a red tailed hawk imitation that can get other birds to scatter in panic.
RaflW
@karen gail: The other idea being tossed around (and already reality in some jurisdictions) is prison-supplied farm labor, usually chained up and at some obscenely paltry cents per hour. So, yes it’s reminiscent of indentured servitude or slavery, depending on the details.
Bill Arnold
@Mr. Bemused Senior:
Recently I had a stove hood (GE) stop working. It wasn’t even lighting up. Various googling suggested that the problem was a no-longer-available control unit, but I quickly found the actual service manual pdf for it.
The diagnostic tree in the pdf started at the very top with (paraphrased) “work the buttons to make sure they aren’t jammed”. That worked; one button was jammed, and released after pressing it hard.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
@MagdaInBlack: so sorry to hear. Your cat will leave paw prints on your heart forever.
but it’s kitten season; just let everyone know you’re catless & the cat distribution system should do its thing.
Gvg
@RaflW: They have no idea what farm labor does. I can just imagine what an ordinary farmer or rancher thinks of that suggestion . I mean it would be more work trying to get a random group of non farm workers to do anything than doing it themselves. My god. And the crops would still rot in the fields.
Or are they planning to lease back the ones they arrested to the same farms and ranches they were working on? Are those farmers prepared to become armed paranoids so they don’t get murdered? I hope the farmers get wind of this idea and shoot it down hard.
Sick people.
pat
@MagdaInBlack:
I went to petfinders.com and within a week after the unexpected loss of Pablo, I had my new Suzy, “senior cat” 10 years old, now living her best life and cuddling with me…..
Mr. Bemused Senior
@Bill Arnold: “have you checked the power cord?”
There are endless jokes and stories.
It can be a bit frustrating when you have a real issue and you have to play along with the script until finally you reach level two. I have to remind myself that it’s not the agent’s fault.
Jackie
@RaflW:
Sadly, I predicted this after FFOTUS was elected. That, plus red states lowering the minimum age for child abuse ie: 12 year olds working in fields and slaughter houses.
Kristine
@MagdaInBlack: I am so sorry about Gordita.
SpaceUnit
@Gvg:
Ustedes son loco!
I could actually read and write Spanish pretty well at one time. Never was good at conversation.
🐾BillinGlendaleCA
@John Revolta: Nor will a telescope, ask me how I know.
MagdaInBlack
@🐾BillinGlendaleCA: Ha! That made me snort my tea =-)
Jackie
@MagdaInBlack: Me too!
Kristine
I was casting around for something to watch and settled on Bodkin, a mystery on Netflix. Never expected to see the Obamas as Executive Producers.
I’m only one episode in. So far, so good. Podcasters visit a small Irish town to record an episode about some decades-old disappearances. Of course the town isn’t as sleepy and bucolic as it looks and no one is eager to see the cold case dredged up.
Gloria DryGarden
@SpaceUnit: maybe just crack the door, or ask them to come on Monday, 70s predicted next week.
en español, dices,
” Dios mío, ya no aguanto este calor. Por favor, podemos hacer esta pintura el lunes, en vez de hoy/ mañana? “ or,
“ay, no, en este calor, no es possible dejar la puerta abierta, para nada.”
these are workmen in your house. The worse thing you want to say is something like, “Ándale. mi esposa me mata si dejo la puerta abierta.” I don’t care if you have an esposa, make one up. Or your poor aging dog…
I can’t move in this heat. No cooking, no hot tea. I warming the body with fricken exercise. Dejá! Looking forward to coolness on Monday.
Gloria DryGarden
@MagdaInBlack: im sorry about your cat. That’s hard. I ask the goddess of cats to send you hugs. Blessed summer solstice, never the less.
prostratedragon
@Jackie: Of course I meant “shorter.” D’ye naught see what it’s doing to me?
BigJimSlade
@Eric S.: Lol, yeah, kinda like the lens cap thing, we all have a brain fart at the computer sometimes.
prostratedragon
Mission Accomplished
(Think the data are from this Lowy Institute poll.)
Gloria DryGarden
@Nukular Biskits: it’s simple. Stop at lime. Maybe add butter. Maybe fresh basil,
or fresh sorrel (a lemony green leaf. Or arugula that’s not gone too sharp in the heat. Or dill, fabulous on fish. )
SpaceUnit
@Gloria DryGarden:
Thanks. I’m looking forward to the cool down as well. It’s too early for this heat. I’m not a summer sort of guy.
Vaya con queso!
A Streeter
@tobie:
Thanks for the vaccine comment links. I just submitted my comment, including “if the meningococcal vaccine had been available some 70 years ago, it might have prevented the meningitis that made me deaf.”
Jackie
We, in southeastern WA are having a brief, but welcome break from the heat. Dropped from the nineties to mid 70’s for today through Sunday. Then Monday creeping back into the 80’s and back into the 90’s by Wed/Thurs. I used to love the heat. Then I got old.
Jackie
@prostratedragon: LOL! Yes, I see! ;-D
Kelly
@Jackie: Good hard rain here in western Oregon. Sort of an old fashioned June. A really hot week then back to rain.
MagdaInBlack
@Gloria DryGarden: Blessed Summer Solstice to you as well.
Jackie
@Kelly: I hope the rains are cooling, and not hot and muggy!
Sister Golden Bear
Never attacked anyone while there was a witness…. And the jay listened to his attorney about STFU Friday.
Kelly
@Jackie: Cool and refreshing
SpaceUnit
@Jackie:
I was a kid once. Yeah, summer meant vacation back then. I was at the pool all day. And I get why so many people go their entire lives associating summer with fun, freedom, and youth.
But then I grew up and got a job. Summer meant wearing a suit and tie and uncomfortable shoes, with sweat dripping down the crack of your ass and your AC giving up the ghost. Sheer misery.
October can’t come soon enough.
Sister Golden Bear
@MagdaInBlack: I’m so sorry to hear.
Jackie
@Kelly: YAY! We’ll enjoy the reprieve for the minutes it lasts.
Kelly
I’m in the midst of planning a reunion with a dozen or so cousins. We’re all retired now. Seemed to only get together for funerals so I put together a spur of moment gathering August of 2023 which was easy and fun. An easy raft float then a potluck. Last summer I was too drained after taking care of Mom. Everybody wants to do it again. We’ve been texting and emailing for 3 weeks trying to settle on a date. Sheesh… Some things are best done spur of the moment.
Jackie
@Kelly:
I feel ya. Spur of the moment just HAPPENS. And just works.
Planning gets complicated and stressful. Because planning.
Kayla Rudbek
@NotMax: thanks for the link, it should give me something to listen to as I go searching for my summer crafting projects in anticipation of the upcoming heat wave.
I’m trying to decide whether to a) switch to cotton knitting b) actually trying to get the loom set up again c) pulling out my embroidery and cross-stitch projects. Not much input from Bluesky, Dreamwidth, or Facebook on what craft I should actually pull out of hibernation
Jackie
Just saw on CNN, that apparently FFOTUS has caved into Harvard’s lawsuit? Not seeing a link just yet.
Kayla Rudbek
@Kayla Rudbek: and of course now that I posted this, I got comments on Bluesky
BellyCat
Nominated.
Emily68
I love the bird app.