Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

Petty moves from a petty man.

She burned that motherfucker down, and I am so here for it. Thank you, Caroline Kennedy.

You know he’s going to shit a cat.

Insiders who complain to politico: please report to the white house office of shut the fuck up.

Museums are not America’s attic for its racist shit.

Find someone who loves you the way trump and maga love traitors.

Trumpflation is an intolerable hardship for every American, and it’s Trump’s fault.

Oh FFS you might as well trust a 6-year-old with a flamethrower.

This is dead girl, live boy, a goat, two wetsuits and a dildo territory.  oh, and pink furry handcuffs.

The arc of the moral universe does not bend itself. it is up to us to bend it.

“In this country American means white. everybody else has to hyphenate.”

GOP baffled that ‘we don’t care if you die’ is not a winning slogan.

This year has been the longest three days of putin’s life.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

President Musk and Trump are both poorly raised, coddled 8 year old boys.

Tide comes in. Tide goes out. You can’t explain that.

“What are Republicans afraid of?” Everything.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

Republicans: slavery is when you own me. freedom is when I own you.

Jack be nimble, jack be quick, hurry up and indict this prick.

Narcissists are always shocked to discover other people have agency.

If you thought you’d already seen people saying the stupidest things possible on the internet, prepare yourselves.

You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Competent Multitasking As A Rare Brain Anomaly

Open Thread: Competent Multitasking As A Rare Brain Anomaly

by | 218 Comments

This post is in: ,

Maria Konnikova, in the New Yorker, on “Multitask Masters“:

… Strayer believes that there is a tiny but persistent subset of the population—about two per cent—whose performance does not deteriorate, and can even improve, when multiple demands are placed on their attention. The supertaskers are true outliers….

So what are we going to learn from them, exactly? For one, Strayer thinks, that the ability is probably genetic to a large extent. You are either born with the neural architecture that allows you to overcome the usual multitasking challenges, or you aren’t. Already, with their admittedly limited sample, Strayer and his team have found that supertaskers exhibit different patterns of neural activation when multitasking than most of us. There is less activity in those frontal regions—the frontopolar prefrontal cortex, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and the anterior cingulate cortex—that have been implicated in multitasking and executive control in the past. Supertasker brains, in other words, become less, not more, active with additional tasks: they are functioning more efficiently. “Their brains are doing something we can’t do,” Strayer says….

The irony of Strayer’s work is that when people hear that super-taskers exist— even though they know they’re rare—they seem to take it as proof that they, naturally, are an exception. “You’re not,” Strayer told me bluntly. “The ninety-eight per cent of us, we deceive ourselves. And we tend to overrate our ability to multitask.” In fact, when he & his University of Utah colleague, the social psychologist David Sanbomnatsu, asked more than three hundred students to rate their ability to multitask and then compared those ratings to the students’ actual multitasking performances, they found a strong relationship: an inverse one. The better someone thought she was, the more likely it was that her performance was well below par…

Much more at the link — including a web version of the supertasker challenge, if you want to establish whether you’re a slan among the Two Percenters.

***********
Apart from reinforcing the sad reality that most of us can’t text and walk (much less drive) at the same time, what’s on the agenda as we wrap up the weekend?

Reader Interactions

218Comments

  1. 1.

    Morzer (this is your final trigger warning, do not pass go if you have issues with depictions of Morzers engaging in Morzer-related activity)

    Alas, I am not a 1%er, nor even a 2%er. What to do with this meaningless life?

  2. 2.

    hildebrand

    Waiting for folks to return our email inquiries for lodging for the summer research jaunt in Germany. I hate staying in hotels, so we try to rent apartments or flats, but unfortunately, this means waiting, waiting, waiting for folks to return emails. I know, not a huge problem, but it is one of those boxes that needs to be checked before others.

  3. 3.

    Omnes Omnibus

    I think that some people consider that doing several things in a, let’s say, half hour period constitutes multitasking. It doesn’t. It is doing a bunch of single tasks in a short period of time. People can be quite good at that but not able to truly multitask.

  4. 4.

    ulee

    I think I may be working with a serial killer. This isn’t the first time I’ve had this suspicion. Any number of jobs I’ve worked, I can always spot the serial killer.

  5. 5.

    Hungry Joe

    Dick Cheney, on Fox, re Hillary Clinton and (what else?) Benghazi:

    “She was Secretary of State at the time that it happened. … I think she clearly bears responsibility for whatever the State Department did or didn’t do with respect to that crisis. … I do think it’s a major issue. I don’t think we’ve heard the last of it yet, and I expect that she will be held accountable during the course of the campaign.”

    Have you no sense of irony, sir? At long last, have you left no sense of irony?

  6. 6.

    Just One More Canuck

    @ulee: It’s like spotting the sucker in a p___r game- if you look around and can’t spot the serial killer, then you’re the serial killer

  7. 7.

    ulee

    For instance, Cole is not a serial killer. He is too obviously unbalanced. Look at the ones who are buttoned up and overly friendly.

  8. 8.

    srv

    @Hungry Joe: Dick was re-elected, so in his mind, he was held accountable. Can’t say I can fault that logic, and 64M Americans are assholes.

  9. 9.

    Mnemosyne

    @srv:

    Is that why he’s blaming Clinton and not Obama — Obama is absolved of blame because he, like Dick, was re-elected?

    (We all know that Dick is blaming Clinton to try and torpedo her as a presidential candidate, but we should at least ask the question.)

  10. 10.

    Roger Moore

    I have a guess about why people are so wrong about their multi-tasking ability: they’re judging based on effort rather than results. The people who are bad at multitasking look at how hard they’re working and assume that means they’re doing a good job. Equating effort with effectiveness is a common mistake.

  11. 11.

    Anoniminous

    The better someone thought she was, the more likely it was that her performance was well below par

    Dunning-Kruger win again.

  12. 12.

    SectionH

    I thought one of the links was to a test (not very good Internet version, but still). Want to take the test.

    @Omnes Omnibus: what you describe is Mr S’s method of working, which he calls “multitasking,” and it makes me crazy. I watch him, and I believe he’d do much better doing things sequentially, especially if we worked together on one job, and then the next. But he seems constitutionally incapable of that, and after 30 years, I’m not even trying to make it happen.

    Otoh, I’ve gotten to the point that, although I can still concentrate intensely on a job if it’s urgent enough (new shirt design needed in <24 hrs) I find myself "multitasking" in stupid ways, especially if the job involves moving through the house and physically manipulating things. It's highly inefficient. It does at least get me 4 or 5 hours of being on my feet walking about.

  13. 13.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SectionH: It’s also what happens in an office if you are working on something and then someone calls you on the phone and then your boss walks into your office to ask a question and then you go back to working on the original. Really, you worked on three separate tasks ( the original one, the phone call, and answering the boss’s question) at different times.

  14. 14.

    Morzer (this is your final trigger warning, do not pass go if you have issues with depictions of Morzers engaging in Morzer-related activity)

    @ulee:

    Cole is not a serial killer

    John Cole is a Steelers fan who mops naked and publicly confesses to shaving feline asses. I don’t think he has the time or mental energy to be a serial killer as well.

    I hope this evening finds you well.

  15. 15.

    Amir Khalid

    Knowing that only about one in every 36 people is a super-tasker, the Job Creators will proceed to test all job candidates to weed out everyone else from the pool of employable people. Each supertasker will then be hired at twice the salary to do the work of five people. Win!

  17. 17.

    different-church-lady

    It simply blows my mind that we have science that proves talking on a phone while driving makes those drivers far more dangerous, and nobody is going to do a damn thing about that.

  18. 18.

    StringOnAStick

    I suspect that what I’ve thought of before as how I multitask is actually just thinking far enough ahead to significantly increase efficiency.

    I’m seriously inefficient right now. Completely tired from climbing a 13,200′ peak and skiing it, and having the bottom half be deep, sticky slush that just isn’t that fun to ski. I’ve got a book and a warm kitty so I’m going to bed by 8pm.

  19. 19.

    Morzer (this is your final trigger warning, do not pass go if you have issues with depictions of Morzers engaging in Morzer-related activity)

    @Amir Khalid:

    I foresee a horrible potential for Megan McArdle to write test materials for the Kaplan Empire.

  24. 24.

    SectionH

    @Omnes Omnibus: That’s what it seems like to me more or less, interleaving separate tasks. Which is why I want to know what an actual multitasking test would be like.

    I have no idea how I’d score (also, too it seems unsafe to predict high Or low). I just kind of like taking those sorts of tests. (Different strokes…)

  25. 25.

    Southern Beale

    I am the quintessential multi-tasker. I am involved in several completely unrelated things in unrelated fields, all at the same time. I sometimes wonder why I’m not schizophrenic.

  27. 27.

    Morzer (this is your final trigger warning, do not pass go if you have issues with depictions of Morzers engaging in Morzer-related activity)

    @Amir Khalid:

    Is her condition actually photographic memory, or something else? I have heard of photographic memory in the context of people being able to memorize a page at a glance – but not that they retained it, much less everything, for the long term. It’s fairly well established, for example, that Hitler would memorize pages of military statistics at a glance and use trivia from those statistics to overpower strategic objections by his generals – but no one seems to think that he had total recall and would remember those statistics a month later.

  28. 28.

    ulee

    @Southern Beale: It depends on your multi-tasking. If you are catalogueing Jewish cinema conspiracies, arguing with your lawn, and training your pet bees to knit, then you might just be schizophrenic.

  29. 29.

    Suzanne

    @Roger Moore: Thanks for putting into a nice short statement something that has been eating at my brain a lot recently. I have having some trouble at work with underlings who think that because they worked eight hours that day that they are doing AWESOME and that my expectations for what can get done in eight hours is unreasonable.

  30. 30.

    ulee

    My property tax rates are going up again, and I don’t even have kids. Can’t these school varmits be made to get jobs?

  31. 31.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    I completed nuropsychometric testing at the end of treatment. I am the 2%

  32. 32.

    ulee

    We need more guns and warships and a few more nukes wouldn’t hurt. What’s with the obsession with education?

  35. 35.

    GHayduke (formerly lojasmo)

    @ulee:

    I think I may be working with a serial killer. This isn’t the first time I’ve had this suspicion. Any number of jobs I’ve worked, I can always spot the serial killer.

    It is more likely that you are an unbalanced paranoiac.

  36. 36.

    Anne Laurie

    @different-church-lady:

    It simply blows my mind that we have science that proves talking on a phone while driving makes those drivers far more dangerous, and nobody is going to do a damn thing about that.

    A considerable, and very noisy, percentage of your fellow citizens would tell you that laws relying on “science” violate the First Amendment separation of church & state.

  37. 37.

    MikeJ

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    It’s also what happens in an office if you are working on something and then someone calls you on the phone and then your boss walks into your office to ask a question and then you go back to working on the original.

    Programmers seem to think they can handle this, but they really, really, really can’t. Every time you ask a programmer “one quick question” you cost him or her a half hour of work. When I was writing code my non-negotiable was an office with a door. When I was managing other programmers it was a desk separating my people from everybody else so I could intercept people who would waste time.

    Sadly, many people try to sell the benefits of an open office plan for programmers. Most of them are just lying to justify how cheap they are. Some of the younger ones just like being able to chat with their friends and aren’t really that concerned about productivity. I always try to tell them that if they shut the fuck up there wouldn’t be any need for all nighters.

  38. 38.

    SectionH

    @Morzer: So I immediately got hung up on semantics: “two tries ago.” It’s not 2 tries ago, it’s every other try. On the 2nd attempt at the first level, having figured that out, I did ok, but the second level involved 3 audio inputs, and that was hopeless. I am waaay too visually oriented to deal with that after 3 glasses of wine. Probably ever, but I will give it a try later. It did seem to me a very quick short term memory exercise at first.

    Thanks for the linky. And I will report back at some point.

  40. 40.

    Villago Delenda Est

    I, for one, want to stop the PsyCorps from ever forming, so let’s deal with these Vorlon genetically manipulated mutants while we can, or we’ll be up to our asses in Al Besters, and it will NOT be pretty.

  42. 42.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @MikeJ:

    Most of them are just lying to justify how cheap they are.

    Well, they need that money for hookers and blow. Cripes, the proles can be so thick!

  43. 43.

    Morzer (this is your final trigger warning, do not pass go if you have issues with depictions of Morzers engaging in Morzer-related activity)

    @SectionH:

    I went through the first section perfectly and just got… bored. Maybe I should increase my alcohol content and see if it makes things more interesting.

  45. 45.

    Morzer (this is your final trigger warning, do not pass go if you have issues with depictions of Morzers engaging in Morzer-related activity)

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    A true ELITE!!! is one whom the hookers pay for the privilege.

  46. 46.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Anne Laurie: These vile creatures also believe that an archangel delivered the Constitution to Franklin, Adams, Madison, et all, on stone tablets.

    You know, tablets made out of the same material as their heads are made of.

  47. 47.

    Morzer (this is your final trigger warning, do not pass go if you have issues with depictions of Morzers engaging in Morzer-related activity)

    @Villago Delenda Est:

    If the archangel dropped it on their heads, it would explain many things.

  48. 48.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @ulee:

    Cole is not a serial killer.

    A cereal killer, may be.

    BTW, Ted Bundy was a GOP operative. Say no more, say no more.

  53. 53.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Villago Delenda Est: Cereal killer is a great Halloween costume (ordinary clothes, but carry a cereal box with a knife stuck through it). Cereal Killers, though, is a great Too Much Joy album.

  54. 54.

    NotMax

    including a web version of the supertasker challenge

    Can readily fit that into my schedule.

    Really, why is this deemed surprising? Or any more surprising than, say, finding that some percentage of humans are naturally more gifted regarding piano playing? Or others have a greater affinity to picking up languages? The bell curve as a depiction of statistically validated ranges and variance was not de-purposed by its multiple misapplications as a supposed determinant of destiny.

  58. 58.

    gian

    I’m reminded of the late 80s computer wars. Alas, I do multi-switching, not real multi-tasking

  62. 62.

    NotMax

    Once took part in an experiment to demonstrate fall-off in negotiating a driving obstacle course before and after drinking.

    Trouble was that, by every measure, my skill and timing improved after a few drinks, from the base measure established. (More imbibing than that, and the expected deterioration kicked in.)

  63. 63.

    Crusty Dem

    No way is this genetic. There may be a genetic propensity (or more likely a propensity to NOT be able to multitask), but there isn’t some polymorphism that magically makes people more capable to simultaneously perform multiple tasks. It’s some odd combination with experience… I’d guess the numbers are better for working mothers? Just a guess.

  64. 64.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @NotMax: Dimly remembered from a course called Psychopharmacology and Behavior that I took as an undergrad, alcohol functions first as a stimulant and then as a depressant. If this is the case, you may have still been in the stimulant stage.

  68. 68.

    schrodinger's cat

    Whether I can multitask depends on the tasks at hand. I can cook up to four things at a time. Most people can walk and talk at the same time. For some tasks, I need all my focus, like solving a math problem or scheduling.

  69. 69.

    TheMightyTrowel

    I was scoring between 75% and 95% right on those, but i had to stop doing it to return to my real job: navigating student emails while writing grant applications, pumping out BRAND NEW research papers and also supervising the workmen who are moving my stuff out of my office so it can be painted. SIGH

  70. 70.

    some guy

    Tripoli residents and journalists reported heavy fighting, including rocket attacks and gunfights, in several central neighborhoods. Dozens of vehicles mounted with antiaircraft guns could be seen speeding toward the center of the capital from a southeastern suburb. Plumes of black smoke rose over the city.

    allahu ahkbar for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. god is indeed great

  71. 71.

    Mnemosyne

    @NotMax:

    Really, why is this deemed surprising? Or any more surprising than, say, finding that some percentage of humans are naturally more gifted regarding piano playing?

    I think it’s because a lot of people love to think that they’re good at multitasking, and they’re not going to be happy at the scientific proof that they almost certainly aren’t.

    @SectionH:

    Tell me about it. As far as I can tell, being a supertaster means that a lot more things taste awful.

  72. 72.

    NotMax

    @Section H

    Yup yup.

    Not the same thing, but was nice to see several articles not all that long ago reporting that it was quantified at roughly 3% of the population (IIRC) who share my own aversion to cilantro, because to us it tastes of nothing so much as strong soap. Not because of the number, but just as confirmation that some people really do taste it that way.

  73. 73.

    Sister Rail Gun of Warm Humanitarianism

    @Mnemosyne:

    As far as I can tell, being a supertaster means that a lot more things taste awful.

    I’ve compared eating certain veggies to chewing up plain aspirin.

    I’m still trying to figure out how anyone could describe leeks as having a milder flavor than scallions.

  75. 75.

    kmeyerthelurker

    My wife is a lifelong server (i.e. waitress). I’m pretty sure she’s in that 1-2%. She can rock 10-12 tables at a time in a fashion that astounds me. I tried waiting tables a few times, and came to the conclusion that I just couldn’t cut it. I wonder how many of those 1-2% have jobs like that?

  78. 78.

    Hal

    Cheney: Hillary Responsible for Benghazi Debacle

    So is Cheney reponsible for 9/11, given his, oh sorry, Bush’s administration ignored those warnings of an impending Al Qaeda strike?

    Priebus: I Doubt Hillary Will Run in 2016

    Rinse Pubics is never right about anything, but hey, at least they have Ben Carson.

    Ben Carson: I’m Being Pressured to Run

    Accomplished and brilliant Neurosurgeon. Believes the earth is 6,000 years old. Also, as a black conservative, he must continually talk about how black people are brainwashed and make old white racists feel better about the prodigious use of the n word.

    Like Uncle Thomas The Tank Engine.

    youtube.com/watch?v=gCAsY4MyalQ

  79. 79.

    NotMax

    Hm. A rather bold step.

    [South Korean President Park Geun-hye] added: “After serious consideration, I’ve decided to dismantle the coast guard. Source

  81. 81.

    SectionH

    @Mnemosyne: Well, I only have a bit of that, but reading a Science News synopsis back in the day explained my problem with “mustard” flavored anything (also too pickled anything). I read more later, too. I’m lucky it’s just one thing. I can’t even imagine how awful it would be if I had that kind of sensitivity to more flavors.

    But @NotMax, ICilantro is one of the best flavors in the world to me. Does that mean I diss you? Of course not. I don’t even feel sorry for you. But I’d never “insist” you try it again, or any crap like that, and I would expect you wouldn’t insist I’m either stupid or lying when I say I love cilantro.

  83. 83.

    NotMax

    @Section H

    You’re welcome to all the cilantro you care to eat, anytime, anywhere. Enjoy it.

    Would have thought my use of “Not the same thing” was a tip-off that the subject and focus was being changed from so-called supertasters, however.

  87. 87.

    NotMax

    @NotMax

    Have mentioned it previously, but another food which simply cannot abide in any form is zucchini. It holds title as the One Thing Will Not Eat under any circumstances.

    Marries the sliminess of pond scum coupled with the bold repulsiveness of cod liver oil on my tongue.

  90. 90.

    NotMax

    @Omnes Omnibus

    Ah, a kindred spirit.

    Mother used to make zucchini bread all the time, and remains (silently) hurt that it is an item which I will not up with put. Wouldn’t feed it to a centipede.

  91. 91.

    NotMax

    @ulee

    No offense intended, but why would I want to ruin onions and green peppers by making them inedible and gag-reflex inducing?

  92. 92.

    Mnemosyne

    @SectionH:

    My main issue is with cruciferous vegetables — broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, most cabbages. Some of the leafy ones I can eat if they’re cooked, but not broccoli or cauliflower.

  93. 93.

    Roger Moore

    @NotMax:
    I think cilantro tastes of soap, but I still like it as a minor ingredient in some dishes. It’s one of those weird things where a combination of flavors that you’d never expect to work actually does. That said, I dislike cilantro enough that I won’t eat it straight, only when the flavor is mixed with a bunch of other stuff.

  94. 94.

    SectionH

    @NotMax: Uhm, I did sort of get the difference, but clearly didn’t make it clear that I was changing to just talking about cilantro as an example of how intolerant ppl can be about food/taste choices. Sorry that wasn’t clear.

  95. 95.

    Redshift

    In fact, when he & his University of Utah colleague, the social psychologist David Sanbomnatsu, asked more than three hundred students to rate their ability to multitask and then compared those ratings to the students’ actual multitasking performances, they found a strong relationship: an inverse one.

    I think I’m terrible at multitasking, so does that mean I’m great at it? I suspect only one half of the spread is actually an inverse relationship.

  96. 96.

    Tommy

    Is there any other food that is both liked and disliked more then Cilantro? I have to admit I am kind of the middle of the road guy. I don’t dislike it. But not a raving fan either. I can take it or leave it. Which is kind of strange, cause I find the smell of it to amazing, and generally speaking things that smell good to me I like to eat.

  97. 97.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Redshift: It only said that people who think they are good at it aren’t. Nothing was said about thinking one is terrible at it. Statistically though, if you think you are crap at it, you are probably spot on.

  99. 99.

    SectionH

    @Mnemosyne: Cabbage still gives me… pause. As a child I was Horrified to discover that people in my grandparents’ house actually ATE that stuff.

  101. 101.

    Tommy

    @Redshift: I like to think I am good at multitasking, but in reality I know I am not. I see it everyday in how I work. I do web sites for a living and I have force myself not to have like five programs open. Ten tabs on a browser. Trying to do too many things at once.

  104. 104.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @Redshift: It’s just more Dunning-Kruger, which is everywhere, particularly among the Teahadis and Dudebros.

  108. 108.

    ulee

    @NotMax: I’m that way with peaches. A good salad with peaches and I want nothing to do with it. I don’t know why, but peaches make me gag.

  109. 109.

    NotMax

    @Steeplejack

    Diff’rent strokes, again. Used to be a chain (maybe still is?) called Church’s Fried Chicken. Would occasionally drive miles out of my way solely to get an order of their deep-fried okra.

    There was another place would detour to when driving from NYC area to rural northeastern PA (name of the establishment escapes me), a trip made often, to get a small take-out bucket of their fried chicken livers.

    Most everyone has similar tales of being willing to travel an extra 2 exits on the highway or some similar distance just to stop in at a favored place.

  110. 110.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @NotMax:

    to get a small take-out bucket of their fried chicken livers

    Good god, man. Everyone of those livers could have been mixed with butter to become a pâté. You monster.

  111. 111.

    Punchy

    I get ripped here for admitting that I can drive, text, and do the daily crossword puzzle all on the way to work. Yet I’m just a multitasker. So fuck y’all.

  112. 112.

    Morzer (this is your final trigger warning, do not pass go if you have issues with depictions of Morzers engaging in Morzer-related activity)

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    But why waste good catfood?

  114. 114.

    Gin & Tonic

    @ulee: Supermarket peaches are crap. If I draw a circle with a 2-mile radius centered on my house, it’ll encompass probably four orchards. An orchard-fresh tree-ripened peach in the middle of summer is a thing of wonder.

  116. 116.

    Morzer (this is your final trigger warning, do not pass go if you have issues with depictions of Morzers engaging in Morzer-related activity)

    @Punchy:

    Well, I can get ripped, fuck, drive, text and do two daily crossword puzzles all before I wake up. So there!

  119. 119.

    Gin & Tonic

    For the late-night film buffs – spent some time this afternoon basking in the sun in Union Square, flashing back to The Conversation.

  121. 121.

    Steeplejack

    @NotMax:

    I have deep Crackro-American roots on both sides of my family and also fondly remember Church’s (and also don’t know if it’s still around), but okra is the one “Southern” thing I don’t like. Okay, okra and non-standard hog parts.

    ETA: I just reread, and you did say zucchini is “the One Thing Will Not Eat under any circumstances.” WTF, man?!

    I think I subconsciously misread your previous comment as a “zucchini is the one thing I don’t like” sort of thing.

  122. 122.

    Morzer (this is your final trigger warning, do not pass go if you have issues with depictions of Morzers engaging in Morzer-related activity)

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    My mother, who died of cancer about 3 months ago, used to make a wonderful chicken liver pate, by all accounts.

  123. 123.

    ulee

    @Punchy: I sure hope you are being funny. If you ever crash into me with my two pupdogs while you are texting and congratulating yourself, I’ll…well,

  124. 124.

    SectionH

    @NotMax: Mr S and I have driven up to the North Shore to have dinner at Haleiwa Joe’s many times rather than go to fancier places closer by. Or on short term layovers, gone to Sam Choy’s BL&C. OR flown to JHM for 24 hrs to see our friends.

    Special places indeed. On Maui, we rarely miss the General Store.

  125. 125.

    Tommy

    @NotMax: My experience Church’s is more of a Southern thing. Still all over the place. And I would tend to agree with you. I am not much of a fast food guy, but whatever they do to their chicken it is pretty amazing.

  128. 128.

    NotMax

    @Gin & Tonic

    Remembering a farm store outside of Allentown, PA whose owners also had a peach orchard someplace in the deep south.

    People would descend on the place from hither and yon around the first week of August, as that was when the Hale Haven peaches appeared, each at least as large around as a wiffleball and juicy, juicy, juicy.

  130. 130.

    Morzer (this is your final trigger warning, do not pass go if you have issues with depictions of Morzers engaging in Morzer-related activity)

    @SectionH:

    Sure, but why waste time on the kids’ section?

  132. 132.

    Redshift

    @Tommy: Alcohol. There’s a genetic variant like the one for cilantro, that makes alcohol have a really strong taste. I suspect I have it, because most booze that isn’t sweet tastes like lightly flavored turpentine to me. The idea that vodka has almost no taste is a joke – vodka tastes like strong turpentine.

    (Technically, it tastes like turpentine smells, since I’ve never tasted turpentine.)

  134. 134.

    Mnemosyne

    @SectionH:

    I’ve gotten to the point where, if it’s the right mix of sour and sweet, I can have some coleslaw, because the bitterness blends with the sour and sweet for an interesting taste. From what I understand, most people don’t find coleslaw bitter, though.

  136. 136.

    Tommy

    @ulee: I almost want to say I feel sorry for you, but that would be rude. I am sure there is some food you love that I am not a fan of. One of the crown jewels by me is Eckert’s. This massive orchard. They make this apple butter that is amazing. Oh and picking peaches. Something I do a few times every year. Some fresh picked peaches and a little cream, well that is heaven.

  137. 137.

    schrodinger's cat

    I am trying to take of care of some of financial affairs regarding husband kitteh’s financial affairs and the Income Tax Department here has IRS beat for complexity. I am thoroughly confused. HALP!

    Here= India.

  138. 138.

    Redshift

    @Tommy: I keep way too many tabs open, but I’m not multitasking, just keeping things handy for when I get to that task. I try to avoid switching back and forth between tasks unless I’m waiting on someone or something else.

  139. 139.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Mnemosyne: Cole slaw tends to have mayo. Ew. Cabbage is just fine – better as sauerkraut – yes, a reuben does sound good right now. I’m sorry, where was I?

  140. 140.

    Tommy

    @Mnemosyne: There are a fair amount of Amish folks near/around me. I am not sure how their coleslaw is different, but it is the only kind I can stand. Which is strange cause I like all the individual ingredients.

  141. 141.

    NotMax

    @Section H

    Haliimaile General Store?

    Whatever floats yer boat.

    Could conceivably walk there from home. Highly over-rated, IMHO. Have never once had a truly satisfying meal there and the portions, for the price, are miniscule. After the time someone visiting from Oahu insisted on eating there and they served up my scallops stark-staring raw, gave up on the place altogether.

  142. 142.

    SectionH

    @Mnemosyne: I usually find cole slaw disgusting, but I think that’s mostly the pseudo-mayonnaise binders from my childhood, not the actual sad veggies involved.

  143. 143.

    Morzer (this is your final trigger warning, do not pass go if you have issues with depictions of Morzers engaging in Morzer-related activity)

    @SectionH:

    You use old-fashioned technology like ink?!

  145. 145.

    ulee

    @Tommy: No need to be sorry for me. I love asparagus. We harvest it in Maine when the time is right. Asparagus, yes. Peaches, evil.

  148. 148.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @SectionH: One of the only cole slaws I have ever liked was a mustard based thing at Rondezvous in Memphis. The ribs there were pretty fantastic too.

  149. 149.

    Tommy

    @Omnes Omnibus: There are few foods I dislike or won’t eat. Sauerkraut might be at the top of the list of foods I have no need for. Which is strange cause I like Kimchi. I eat raw cabbage weekly. Love it. Even more strange cause I live in a town founded by Germans 200+ years ago. We got good sauerkraut. Heck so German I have to explain to people when I give them my last name it is Young with a “Y” and not Jung with a “J” :).

  151. 151.

    NotMax

    @Redshift

    Mentioned only because of your nym – there is also a genetic variation (primarily shows up in Oriental folk) that makes them flush to a bright red after drinking alcohol.

  152. 152.

    Steeplejack

    @Mnemosyne:

    That letter almost made me wonder if DougJ someone was trolling the advice columnist.

    But I totally agree with the answer.

  153. 153.

    schrodinger's cat

    @Omnes Omnibus: I make a cabbage slaw without mayo. Slice cabbage thinly add salt, juice of 1/2 lemon or lime, 1 tbsp sugar, for a medium cabbage. Keep aside.
    Then dress it with flavored oil. Heat 1 tbsp oil with a high smoking point like canola, to a tiny skillet, add mustard seeds, cumin seed and 1 hot pepper like serrano. When the mustard begins to pop, remove from heat and add to the cabbage mixture. Fresher the cabbage, better the taste.

  154. 154.

    ulee

    Asparagus was once called Sparrow’s Grass. The people who spoke but didn’t read changed it.

  155. 155.

    Redshift

    @Omnes Omnibus: I was just mildly mocking them for calling it an inverse relationship. I agree that the actual inverse relationship is between someone’s assessment of their performance and the accuracy of that assessment, rather than to their performance. Which is a roundabout way of saying that nearly everyone sucks at multitasking, so the better someone thinks they are, the more wrong the must be.

  156. 156.

    Tommy

    @ulee: My parents were in Germany last year. Must have been asparagus harvest time, cause they said it was served with every meal. Even breakfast. My parents and I see food differently. I will try or eat just about anything. Them, not so much. When they tell the story they are unhappy. I am like it sounds like heaven on earth. I want to live someplace I get asparagus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

  159. 159.

    SectionH

    @NotMax: Maybe we’ve been lucky. We were there last November, and the food was still very good. Maybe not the OMG wonderful first experience from 1999, and the service could have been a Lot better, but maybe we got lucky with our ordering.

    I did have to mention it as a restaurant we’ve gone out of our way to visit. I’m kind of in agreement that I’m not sure I’ll do it again.

    Now, re Lahaina, what do you think about Star Noodle, and more importantly, Mala?

  160. 160.

    mouse tolliver

    I bought a bottle of Southern Comfort last month, thinking Southern Comfort was a bourbon. This weekend I discovered it’s actually a liqueur. A syrupy, sickeningly sweet liqueur. Gack! I think I’ll use the rest to make a pitcher of hard iced tea the next time it gets hot.

  161. 161.

    Tommy

    @schrodinger’s cat: I find myself saying things I don’t like to eat here, when well, there are only a handful of things I don’t like. What I dislike about cole slaw and potato salad is the mustard. I was about to cut and paste your comment to try it, and then I got to mustard :). I don’t know why but I don’t like mustard. I mentioned in another comment we have some Amish folks around and I like their slaw. I kind of said I didn’t know why. Well I do. They don’t seem to use mustard. Same with their potato salad.

  162. 162.

    Steeplejack

    @Roger Moore:

    There are many things I miss from the South since moving to D.C., which is not as “Southern” as I used to think it was. Earlier today, while getting distracted on a Google Maps quest, I found myself calculating how far I would have to go to hit a QuikTrip and a Whataburger. Looks like somewhere around Lexington or Raleigh, NC.

    The nearest Church’s is only about 90 miles away in Richmond. So there’s that.

  163. 163.

    NotMax

    @Section H

    Sam Choy’s attempt at a restaurant here dies a fast and merciful death.

    Friend and I were pumped about trying it out, and both of us ordered the bouillabaisse.

    Each portion arrived in a large bowl, with a Devil’sTower-like mound of mashed potatoes smack in the center of it. Tres bizarre.

    That said, Choy puts out more palatable stuff than does Roy Yamaguchi.

  164. 164.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Tommy: One can avoid getting asparagus during its season in Germany. Just don’t order anything that has the word spargel in it.

  166. 166.

    Roger Moore

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Cole slaw tends to have mayo.

    There are different kinds. There’s certainly a lot of mayo based coleslaw dressing, but there are also oil and vinegar based ones that have no mayo.

  168. 168.

    Mnemosyne

    @NotMax:

    I think it’s because of a different reason, but I get that, too, because I have rosacea. “Flushers and blushers” is what they call us.

  169. 169.

    Redshift

    @NotMax: Heh. I have witnessed this, particularly with a friend whose political campaign I later worked on. When he arrived at the victory celebration, I thought he had done some celebrating early, because he was quite red. Turned out he’d just gotten sunburned when he was out campaigning!

  170. 170.

    Tommy

    @schrodinger’s cat: I am tax stupid here in the US. For many years tried to do my taxes myself. Then I started to work for myself and my father was like dude, call my CPA. I felt like I was shit all stupid cause there were all these tax deductions I could take. I mean literally thousands of dollars.

    I like to think I am pretty smart, but when it comes to taxes not so much. Hiring that CPA was the BEST thing I ever did. When he sends back my returns and I look at them I have said, “is that legal?” Well yes it is.

    To put my liberal hat on for a second, I think the tax code is so complex on purpose. So lower income people that can’t hire a CPA don’t realize how the code can work for them, not against them.

  171. 171.

    NotMax

    @Section H

    Haven’t been to Lahaina for years and years and years, so no opinions.

    My go-to, A-#1, no competition for best meals was The Waterfront in Maalaea, but after 22 years, they closed up after moving to a much, much larger location (the same where at least 3 previous restaurants failed). Not chi-chi at all, just sumptuous old-fashioned fine dining and seasoned, impeccable service. Losing the red leather semi-circular booths inside and the right-on-the-ocean covered dining lanai when they moved was a Bad Idea.

  172. 172.

    SectionH

    @NotMax: We ate at the Sam’s in Lahaina, and at the one in Kahalui, in the shopping center. I just like BL&C because it’s great when we’re there, which is 98% of the time when few other ppl are.

    ETA, for short layovers, I still don’t know alternatives.

  173. 173.

    Roger Moore

    @Mnemosyne:
    The columnist could have beaten around the bush a bit more, but it’s hard to argue with the basic point. I thought the part about “The only way your sister would fit in would be for you to make room for her” seems like it’s the real core message.

  174. 174.

    ulee

    Horsh radish is so good. It’s a hardy plant to grow. When I was married, my wife wanted a horseradish gone and had me dig it up and kill it off forever, against my will. The next year, the Horseradish was back. Bless it’s heart. I’m since divorced.

  176. 176.

    Redshift

    @Steeplejack: A while back the Post did an article about depictions of Washington as a “sleepy Southern town.” Turns out that whenever some journalist wrote that, they always claimed it had been the case about a generation before. They had examples of this going back at least to the Thirties, iirc.

    It is true that the boundary between DC and the South had been moving steadily southward as the suburbs expand, but that just reinforces the idea that DC itself has not been Southern for a very long time.

  177. 177.

    NotMax

    @Tommy

    Pennsylavnia Dutch Potato Salad recipe for you.

    You could leave out the dry mustard, even though that imparts a different flavor than does wet mustard.

  178. 178.

    Tommy

    @Steeplejack: My gosh I can’t find or recall the name of the place to give you a link. Used to live 15+ years on Capital Hill. It is in SE. A hole in the wall. About the best barbecue I’ve had.

    I live now and come from the midwest. But spend more then a few years in the deep south. I always laughed when in DC people said it was the “south.” I am like what drugs are you on to think DC is south?

  179. 179.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Tommy:

    To put my liberal hat on for a second, I think the tax code is so complex on purpose. So lower income people that can’t hire a CPA don’t realize how the code can work for them, not against them.

    No, that’s a conspiracy theory hat. Really low income people get EITC. I’ve seen people with a couple kids get $6K in EITC off of a $6K income. Also, the IRS will happily calculate the benefit for you if you ask them to.

  180. 180.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Tommy:

    I always laughed when in DC people said it was the “south.” I am like what drugs are you on to think DC is south?

    Live in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Massachusetts, or the city of Chicago in your own state for that matter and then say DC isn’t southern. Perspective, get some.

  181. 181.

    ulee

    I have a mouse in the house. He is busy chewing on a dominoes pizza slice.(I don’t keep a tidy house) I like him but the dogs are outraged. I don’t want to kill him but I don’t want her breeding and screwing up my wiring and insulation. Can I catch this mouse alive or do I need to kill her? Any suggestions to catch her alive is appreciated.

  182. 182.

    NotMax

    @Section H

    For some reason, have never been to Buzz’s in the 30+ years that have lived here. Guess always though of it as too touristy.

    If you happen to be on Maui some other time and want to skip over the General Store but still get the Upcountry ambience, Casanova’s in Makawao puts out a tasty menu. Somewhat loud when the music starts later into the evening, though.

    Makawao Steak House used to be great back when, but has changed hands and chefs so many times over the years that it is a hit-or-miss proposition on any given night.

    Short-hand I instill into visitors: ABZ (anything but Zippy’s).

  183. 183.

    Tommy

    @NotMax: Bookmarked. As I mentioned we have a few Amish communities here. Wonder if that is where your receipt came from? We now have spring and a flea market every weekend. The Minities (SP?) bring the Amish people there and sell their wares. Their egg noodles, jams, well just stunning.

  184. 184.

    NotMax

    Comment to Section H in moderation for no discernible reason other than FYWP..

    Fingers crossed it will make the final leap to posting,

  185. 185.

    Tommy

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’ve lived in Louisiana, Texas, Kansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia, DC, and now Illinois. DC is not the south IMHO. To think it is, well I question if you have lived in the south.

  186. 186.

    Morzer (this is your final trigger warning, do not pass go if you have issues with depictions of Morzers engaging in Morzer-related activity)

    @ulee:

    Find yourself a smallish plastic container with a lid and gently drop the container over the mouse. Then slowly slide the lid under the container, making sure not to catch the beast’s paws. Scoop up boxed mouse and gently relocate elsewhere.

  187. 187.

    ulee

    He is in there gnawing on that pizza slice. I hear him. Everytime I go in the kitchen he takes off. I don’t blame him. Is there anything I can do, short of a mousetrap?

  189. 189.

    NotMax

    @Tommy

    Recipe was adapted from one in a booklet published by some Amish group in or near Reading, PA in 1936.

    Too lazy to dig it out and get the exact name of whoever compiled and published the recipes.

  190. 190.

    Morzer (this is your final trigger warning, do not pass go if you have issues with depictions of Morzers engaging in Morzer-related activity)

    @ulee:

    Well, if you can, maneuver the beast into a corner or limited space and use the box as one side of your trap. Yes, mice are fast.

  191. 191.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Tommy: Have lived in the North? Protip: Culturally, southern IL doesn’t count. North and south are relative.

  192. 192.

    Gin & Tonic

    @ulee: Get a cat. Shorter-term, get an old-fashioned mousetrap and bait it with peanut butter.

  193. 193.

    NotMax

    @ulee

    First, if there’s one there’s more.

    Second, if you want to off it/them, make up some little balls of 1/3 peanut butter, 1/3 Nestle’s Quik powder (or similar – even something like Kool-Aid powder will do, so long as it is sugary) and 1/3 boric acid.

    If using a mousetrap, place a ball or two on the trap as bait. Otherwise, leave by baseboards. Mouse will nibble them and drag some back to the nest.

  195. 195.

    ulee

    @Gin & Tonic: I had two cats, but they left. It’s a long story. The dogs want to do something about it but they can only growl and alert me. I just don’t want to kill this critter. A mouse trap will work. When I lived in Maryland, my father set many traps and killed many mice and rats. It was necessary. I don’t like seeing broken necks.

  196. 196.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @Tommy:

    There are few foods I dislike or won’t eat. Sauerkraut might be at the top of the list of foods I have no need for. Which is strange cause I like Kimchi.

    Couldn’t agree more, and I’m part German. Then again, being married to a Korean probably accounts for my opinion of Kimchi.

  197. 197.

    NotMax

    @ulee

    Also check under every sink, where the water pipes go into the wall, and make sure any small openings or gaps there are sealed up.

    That’s a favorite entry-exit point for vermin.

  198. 198.

    ulee

    @NotMax: I have a couple of days off. Im going to try to catch her like a moth. If I had a cat this would not be happening.

  199. 199.

    ulee

    ok. the mouse is in the wall scratching and planning his family. I can hear him scratching just above my computer. My good will is wasted. It’s time to put an end to this.

  203. 203.

    ulee

    He has quieted down. But I know where he comes and where he goes. I don’t want to kill him but I really can’t have this. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the hardware store and buy a mousetrap. I already have the peanut butter.

  204. 204.

    Jordan Rules

    Michigan. And that doesn’t even start the discussion of how much DC is more like the NE as opposed to say, GA.

  206. 206.

    PurpleGirl

    Any Rubic’s Cube fans here? Today’s Google doodle is an interactive Rubic’s Cube for its 40th Anniversary.

  209. 209.

    BillinGlendaleCA

    @ulee: The sticky traps from the dollar store work the best and they’re cheep. Get a bunch of them, that’s how I got rid of my little friends. Not Max is right, they will get in though any sized hole they can find. My landlord patched the hole and I put the traps out.

  211. 211.

    Tommy

    The BBC just rocks. I bitrorrent a BBC show, about a women that wanted to have some bees. She wanted bees and made a story behind it. I knew bees were cool, but seeing it I had no clue how cool they were. PBS used to be this way, witch we invested in as much as the BBC,

  212. 212.

    Jordan Rules

    @Tommy: Prolly shouldn’t broadcast your BT activities here or anywhere really. Or. At least spell it wrong.

  213. 213.

    Matt McIrvin

    @Redshift: when I was growing up in Northern Virginia, Manassas was quite definitely South; Chantilly was on the edge, and Fairfax probably wasn’t. I think the boundary is somewhere southwest of there now.

  214. 214.

    Cheryl from Maryland

    @SectionH: Oh, so that is what was happening to me as well. Two tries is not the same as every other try. They need an editor.

  216. 216.

    Lurking Canadian

    @ulee: I don’t want to alarm you, but you almost certainly don’t have one mouse. You have a population of mice.

    Warfarin is the best tool for the job. Just make sure you put it somewhere dogs and kids can’t get at it.

  217. 217.

    John Weiss

    I hadn’t heard ‘Slan’ for I don’t know how long. Good ol’ Van Vogt! Friend of my youth! Thanks for reminding me. Do you know John Crowley’s work? I’d recommend Engine Summer, a wonderful book about a doable utopia. Well, doable if the squints can solve the problem of chronic insanity in our species.

  218. 218.

    Ella in New Mexico

    here is a tiny but persistent subset of the population—about two per cent—whose performance does not deteriorate, and can even improve, when multiple demands are placed on their attention.

    Only 2%? WTF do they thing MOTHERS do all day? Eat bon-bons?!

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