I remember McDonaldland Cookies. Do they still make them? (I have not eaten McDonald's in *years*)
I have to get out this weekend; this place is crushing me. I'm still trying to decide whether to mask up (yes I still do) and venture into an antique shop for the first time since early 2020, or whether to go to a park area about forty minutes south of here and just walk around for a while before going to a nicer grocery store than what I normally have access to.
1. Seems to me Ohio politics has gotten far weirder since I left the state in 1989. Then again - most of the time I was there I was a kid so I doubt I'd have noticed much. Then again, maybe politics have gotten weirder and worse almost everywhere recently, compared to how they were 30-40 years ago?
2. I saw the opening photo before I saw the caption and I was immediately "LOL Cuyahoga." The river that caught fire a few months after I was born! It's a lot cleaner now but yeah, I remember people saying not to eat the fish from it (if there even WERE fish in sections of it). It's one of my examples in the Policy and Law class.
One of the things I truly hate about the pandemic (and the way most of our culture responded to it) is that Maribou's "I don't want the Russian roulette game of going through a crowded airport" seems absolutely reasonable now. I never liked crowds in good times; I actively avoid them now.
Like: I was thinking "Maybe I do a Target run this weekend." Then I remembered: wait, no, it's payday weekend. Okay, then, I go to the little grocery store a few blocks from me at an off time for the few groceries I really need.
I don't know what my weekend plans are. I know what I SHOULD be doing (yardwork, cleaning house, research work) but none of those things appeal. But also, going out anywhere I might go doesn't appeal - because "payday weekend" as I said before.
I think it's more like showing your immune system "that bastard" again so they remember better what he looks like and can beat him up if he shows up.
though I am seeing some reports that crossing boosters (e.g. get Moderna if you had Pfizer before) seems to enhance immunity, so I'd hope they'd start maybe on a more generalized/variant related shot
I admit I was slightly influenced by the guilt trip thing, though in the end I decided my forgoing a booster in a part of the country where a plurality of people refused the first shot would not help the Global South much. I would technically be due for shot 4/booster 2 in May; am considering getting it up when visiting my mom because booster 1 laid me flat for a day and it would be nice to have someone to fuss over me and feed me soup if that happens.
but my feeling is if my fellow citizens are gonna be jerks and refuse to mask and distance during the next wave, well, let me be as protected as I can be
oh, the famous First Amendment Right to be unkind and insulting to another person with absolutely no consequences ever.
Honestly, if this had been two blue-collar guys in a bar in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, or Amarillio, Texas, or Tuckwilla, Washington, it would have been an absolute non issue. Because it's two famous guys at an event for famous people, that's why it got blown up.
Also this whole thing has weirdly brought up memories of a lot of the childhood bullying I experienced, and I don't like that.
my uninformed take is: they're both wrong, but Chris Rock is more wrong. He punched down, he made fun of something another person didn't have control over, and what he said seems hurtful to me. Yeah, Smith was wrong to slap him, but you know? in the deep dark recesses of my heart, I kind of support it - I was a bullied kid and know how hurtful certain remarks can be
I'm about 10 years younger than you, I think. Grew up in Disciples of Christ churches, where individual congregations vary a lot in how "open" they are (officially the denomination itself is "open and affirming" as regards LGBTQ issues and same-sex marriage; individual small congregations, especially in the South, sometimes differ).
But one comment you made struck me: "I guess the days of organs, robes and old-school hymns are fading fast. " This is the church I grew up with. The one I belong to now is more traditional in the forms of worship than many, but even it has gone more to praise songs (for simplicity, I guess) than what I ideally like. I miss the old hymns and the more-liturgical patterns. I get that maybe we need to go more "casual" for those who are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the more high-church trappings. But I want something DIFFERENT from day to day life when I attend church - I still dress up, I still like a little formality.
The church I belong to now - and have since I moved here - is shrinking; people are dying off at an alarming rate and we have few new members joining. If we fold, I'm not sure what I will do - I absolutely do not want a prosperity-gospel place, or a place that has hitched its wagon to certain political movements, or a megachurch. I guess the Presbyterian church here is still pretty old-school and also "stay in our lane," but I fear they won't outlive the congregation I'm in, since they're in similar straits to us.
I don't know. I know I need a church: I don't have a family (never married, never had kids), "work doesn't love you," and there are really no local hobbyist groups I could be a part of; church is pretty much the only place these days I find "my people" and the thought of losing that terrifies me.
I was called once, years ago. It was not after any kind of a traffic infraction. Here, at that time, jury duty meant you were on-call for THREE MONTHS. Yes, three months of calling every evening before a weekday and hoping your number wasn't up.
It was at the start of spring semester. I was teaching an 8 am soils class. I am the only person in my department who can teach soils. Someone suggested I try for a deferral until the summer. I called the local judge, he deferred me. But I still had to call in every day that entire summer. I had to go IN to the courthouse twice, made a grand total of $40, but never got put on a jury. (I was also teaching that summer but had someone who was supposed to cover for me if I got on a jury).
One of the times I was called in the defendant showed up that morning and plead out. The other one, I wasn't picked, and I was months later told by the ADA (who I knew slightly at that time) that I was lucky I had not been picked as it was apparently a particularly nasty sex-abuse-of-a-minor case.
I also know people who were called for Grand Juries and had to go to a courthouse an hour away for their service. That would really suck - I don't think you get reimbursed travel costs.
I seem to remember they also did a version of this on The Muppet Show back in the 70s. At least it seems familiar from somewhere other than the books and I seem to remember a Henson-style cow and dairymaid
Huh, I haven't noticed any recent issues. I keep the 1/3 less fat kind on hand (a couple sandwiches I eat regularly are better with it as an addition) and even our tiny regional-chain grocery regularly has it now. (But yeah - in 2021, couldn't be found. I tried other brands than Philly and just could not with them. Even "Challenge," which makes decent butter)
The interesting thing is how much 50 cents seems like for 1912. I looked up on an inflation calculator (https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/) that goes back to 1913 and it claims something costing 50 cents in 1913 would cost $14.33 today.
I bought butter on Tuesday, I paid less than $4 a pound, so obviously something has changed (I presume: it's become more automated, and therefore cheaper to make.)
Today the comic would be about new waves of COVID, and war in Ukraine, and human-rights abuses around the world, the real horror being "gas is $5 a gallon"
Cursed thought: If a "new variant" forces a majority of people back into wfh, DST vs. Standard won't really matter any more. No one has a commute, so no one risks being in an accident because it's barely dawn and that idiot with a gray pickup truck is convinced that turning his headlights off (because HE can see) will save gas.
Kids doing school from home? No kids to get hit by cars waiting for a bus in the eternal darkness of a daylight-saving December morning....
this is what I've been advocating for and no one will listen to me. Spread the pain around! Instead of making early birds drive to work in dark for half the year or make night owls lose that last hour of golf at the end of the day half the year, go halvsies so everyone is a little unhappy but also a little happy
I'm old enough I remember 1974. That's all I'll say.
well, also, that I'll just refuse to be the 'good sport' who teaches the 8 am classes any more if this passes, driving to work in the dark all winter long is depressing
I made the jump about 12 years ago (got a new car with Sirius/XM capability). I live in a small market and all our stations had consolidated so there's effectively no local news any more, and as for music - well, you remember that bit from Blues Brothers about "both kinds of music, country AND western"? It's not QUITE that but there's very low diversity of music stations.
I grew up in the era (or at least in a place where they had) local stations with local programming and I miss it. Some anonymous - for all I know, picked by AI - music stream out of LA? forget it, I might as well listen to Pandora where I can at least downvote songs I think suck.
I also use the BBC app on my phone a lot, BBC 4 is pretty terrific, does a lot of cultural stuff.
fricken' time bandits. At least I have spring break next week to adjust myself to driving to work in the dark, and getting up in the really-really dark (when I work out). Yes, there's more light in the evening but many days I have evening meetings so I can't exactly enjoy it...
Since it's my spring break, and I have no time commitments for tomorrow, I am going to the nice smallish city about a half hour south of me that has a very interesting downtown and visiting some of the shops and PERHAPS (since we seem to be in a valley of lower viral transmission right now) eating a meal in a restaurant - I'm nervously eyeing news out of the UK of cases rising again, and the BA.2 variant being "as contagious as measles" and figuring I may need to plan on locking down again soon. Yes, I've had all three vaccines but I'm also fat and have asthma and know too many people who had "breakthrough" infections. This timeline just sucks, don't recommend it, fire the writers before next season, etc., etc.
You used to be able to get Wine Gums at the Kroger's near me. You also used to be able to get Lyle's Golden Syrup, which fast became my preferred sweetener for tea. Now, because of Brexit or Pandemic or changing demographics in my area, the British Foods shelf is now mostly Middle Eastern foods. At least I can still mail-order the golden syrup by the case from a restaurant-supply website. (I didn't care all that much for Wine Gums, I only tried them once out of curiosity).
From a family trip to Montreal, I fondly remember Peek Freans cookies, especially the Bourbon Creme (does not contain bourbon). For a while a few groceries in the US carried them but I've not seen them for years.
Kinder Eggs are the famous "you can't get that here" candy - a chocolate egg with a capsule containing a tiny toy inside. It's not great chocolate but you generally can't get it here, despite the legal questions about it being murky (I've heard both "they're banned" and "they're not banned but a lot of places think they are"). They have a "dumbed down for Americans who are assumed not to be smart enough not to swallow a toy INSIDE candy" Kinder Joy, but it's kind of gross, like over-sweet and over-thick Nutella with a white chocolate topping and two weird crunchy balls. I still buy it, mainly because I like the toys.
I was just thinking the other day how years and years ago (more than 10 now), the minister we had at the time had a Russian daughter-in-law, and when she traveled to visit family she brought him back a huge number of Russian chocolate bars, which he shared with some of the congregation at a potluck. Doubt I'll ever see Russian chocolate again...
I joked on Twitter "I am giving up for Lent" but maybe I wonder if - in a different sense as I meant it originally - there's not a deeper truth in there. There''s an old saying, "If you want to see God laugh, tell Him your plans" and that's what these 2 1/2 plus years have been.
(Really, more like 4 years for me - this current cycle started with the very sudden death of a friend a few days before my birthday in 2018, and then was followed by losing my dad in mid 2019, followed by two other friends dying -separately - in car wrecks a few weeks later, then a health scare in January 2020, and then....well you all experienced the rest of what's happened since March 2020).
I've spent a couple years staring into the abyss trying to make some peace with the realization that I, too, am mortal. I'm not there yet and probably won't be there for a long time. But maybe not having big expectations of life is part of that and realizing that we're basically blades of grass.
It makes my original plan to give up the stupid mobile match-3 games I play seem kind of dumb and trivial.
I don't know. I don't know if Waze even works in my area, so few of those apps do, because we're a black hole of nothing. I never even bothered to download it
The state "road conditions" looks dire but I think they haven't updated. I'm gonna try tomorrow morning if it's not freezing rain but I hate all of this so much
My birthday is Sunday and I HAD plans to go out shopping on Saturday, but who knows now? We might get freezing rain. Three days of classes this week were cancelled, first because the roads were icy, and then, I guess because it was cold this morning? My road was clear.
I admit I am far more childishly upset about maybe being stuck in for another day on Saturday than I should be, but it does feel very much like "I did the equivalent of locking myself in a tower for two years, first to 'slow the spread' and then to prevent myself from being exposed to a respiratory disease, and now we're facing 30 seconds to midnight on the doomsday clock, and you're telling me that some stupid ice is going to make it unsafe for me to go and do something even mildly enjoyable?"
I was a teen in the 1980s and I do not like reliving those feelings.
I do not like this timeline and I'm seriously wondering if powering up the LHC actually ended life as we knew it and this is all just Purgatory.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Weekend Plans Post: The Stolen Day Off”
I remember McDonaldland Cookies. Do they still make them? (I have not eaten McDonald's in *years*)
I have to get out this weekend; this place is crushing me. I'm still trying to decide whether to mask up (yes I still do) and venture into an antique shop for the first time since early 2020, or whether to go to a park area about forty minutes south of here and just walk around for a while before going to a nicer grocery store than what I normally have access to.
On “JD Vance, Josh Mandel Put The Race Into Ohio Senate Race”
1. Seems to me Ohio politics has gotten far weirder since I left the state in 1989. Then again - most of the time I was there I was a kid so I doubt I'd have noticed much. Then again, maybe politics have gotten weirder and worse almost everywhere recently, compared to how they were 30-40 years ago?
2. I saw the opening photo before I saw the caption and I was immediately "LOL Cuyahoga." The river that caught fire a few months after I was born! It's a lot cleaner now but yeah, I remember people saying not to eat the fish from it (if there even WERE fish in sections of it). It's one of my examples in the Policy and Law class.
On “Weekend Plans Post: Batchin’ It for WrestleMania”
One of the things I truly hate about the pandemic (and the way most of our culture responded to it) is that Maribou's "I don't want the Russian roulette game of going through a crowded airport" seems absolutely reasonable now. I never liked crowds in good times; I actively avoid them now.
Like: I was thinking "Maybe I do a Target run this weekend." Then I remembered: wait, no, it's payday weekend. Okay, then, I go to the little grocery store a few blocks from me at an off time for the few groceries I really need.
I don't know what my weekend plans are. I know what I SHOULD be doing (yardwork, cleaning house, research work) but none of those things appeal. But also, going out anywhere I might go doesn't appeal - because "payday weekend" as I said before.
On “Thursday Throughput: Distant Star Edition”
I think it's more like showing your immune system "that bastard" again so they remember better what he looks like and can beat him up if he shows up.
though I am seeing some reports that crossing boosters (e.g. get Moderna if you had Pfizer before) seems to enhance immunity, so I'd hope they'd start maybe on a more generalized/variant related shot
"
I admit I was slightly influenced by the guilt trip thing, though in the end I decided my forgoing a booster in a part of the country where a plurality of people refused the first shot would not help the Global South much. I would technically be due for shot 4/booster 2 in May; am considering getting it up when visiting my mom because booster 1 laid me flat for a day and it would be nice to have someone to fuss over me and feed me soup if that happens.
but my feeling is if my fellow citizens are gonna be jerks and refuse to mask and distance during the next wave, well, let me be as protected as I can be
On “Sticks and Stones and Hair Loss”
oh, the famous First Amendment Right to be unkind and insulting to another person with absolutely no consequences ever.
Honestly, if this had been two blue-collar guys in a bar in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, or Amarillio, Texas, or Tuckwilla, Washington, it would have been an absolute non issue. Because it's two famous guys at an event for famous people, that's why it got blown up.
Also this whole thing has weirdly brought up memories of a lot of the childhood bullying I experienced, and I don't like that.
"
my uninformed take is: they're both wrong, but Chris Rock is more wrong. He punched down, he made fun of something another person didn't have control over, and what he said seems hurtful to me. Yeah, Smith was wrong to slap him, but you know? in the deep dark recesses of my heart, I kind of support it - I was a bullied kid and know how hurtful certain remarks can be
On “Church Shopping, Again”
I'm about 10 years younger than you, I think. Grew up in Disciples of Christ churches, where individual congregations vary a lot in how "open" they are (officially the denomination itself is "open and affirming" as regards LGBTQ issues and same-sex marriage; individual small congregations, especially in the South, sometimes differ).
But one comment you made struck me: "I guess the days of organs, robes and old-school hymns are fading fast. " This is the church I grew up with. The one I belong to now is more traditional in the forms of worship than many, but even it has gone more to praise songs (for simplicity, I guess) than what I ideally like. I miss the old hymns and the more-liturgical patterns. I get that maybe we need to go more "casual" for those who are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the more high-church trappings. But I want something DIFFERENT from day to day life when I attend church - I still dress up, I still like a little formality.
The church I belong to now - and have since I moved here - is shrinking; people are dying off at an alarming rate and we have few new members joining. If we fold, I'm not sure what I will do - I absolutely do not want a prosperity-gospel place, or a place that has hitched its wagon to certain political movements, or a megachurch. I guess the Presbyterian church here is still pretty old-school and also "stay in our lane," but I fear they won't outlive the congregation I'm in, since they're in similar straits to us.
I don't know. I know I need a church: I don't have a family (never married, never had kids), "work doesn't love you," and there are really no local hobbyist groups I could be a part of; church is pretty much the only place these days I find "my people" and the thought of losing that terrifies me.
On “Weekend Plans Post: The only thing worse than Jury Duty”
I was called once, years ago. It was not after any kind of a traffic infraction. Here, at that time, jury duty meant you were on-call for THREE MONTHS. Yes, three months of calling every evening before a weekday and hoping your number wasn't up.
It was at the start of spring semester. I was teaching an 8 am soils class. I am the only person in my department who can teach soils. Someone suggested I try for a deferral until the summer. I called the local judge, he deferred me. But I still had to call in every day that entire summer. I had to go IN to the courthouse twice, made a grand total of $40, but never got put on a jury. (I was also teaching that summer but had someone who was supposed to cover for me if I got on a jury).
One of the times I was called in the defendant showed up that morning and plead out. The other one, I wasn't picked, and I was months later told by the ADA (who I knew slightly at that time) that I was lucky I had not been picked as it was apparently a particularly nasty sex-abuse-of-a-minor case.
I also know people who were called for Grand Juries and had to go to a courthouse an hour away for their service. That would really suck - I don't think you get reimbursed travel costs.
On “Why The Tear Stood in Her Eye”
No, actually, Twiggy was the dairymaid. It was the queen I was remembering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y98ySc2ZXLs
"
I seem to remember they also did a version of this on The Muppet Show back in the 70s. At least it seems familiar from somewhere other than the books and I seem to remember a Henson-style cow and dairymaid
"
Huh, I haven't noticed any recent issues. I keep the 1/3 less fat kind on hand (a couple sandwiches I eat regularly are better with it as an addition) and even our tiny regional-chain grocery regularly has it now. (But yeah - in 2021, couldn't be found. I tried other brands than Philly and just could not with them. Even "Challenge," which makes decent butter)
"
The interesting thing is how much 50 cents seems like for 1912. I looked up on an inflation calculator (https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/) that goes back to 1913 and it claims something costing 50 cents in 1913 would cost $14.33 today.
I bought butter on Tuesday, I paid less than $4 a pound, so obviously something has changed (I presume: it's become more automated, and therefore cheaper to make.)
Today the comic would be about new waves of COVID, and war in Ukraine, and human-rights abuses around the world, the real horror being "gas is $5 a gallon"
On “From NPR: The Senate approves a bill to make daylight saving time permanent”
Cursed thought: If a "new variant" forces a majority of people back into wfh, DST vs. Standard won't really matter any more. No one has a commute, so no one risks being in an accident because it's barely dawn and that idiot with a gray pickup truck is convinced that turning his headlights off (because HE can see) will save gas.
Kids doing school from home? No kids to get hit by cars waiting for a bus in the eternal darkness of a daylight-saving December morning....
"
this is what I've been advocating for and no one will listen to me. Spread the pain around! Instead of making early birds drive to work in dark for half the year or make night owls lose that last hour of golf at the end of the day half the year, go halvsies so everyone is a little unhappy but also a little happy
"
I'm old enough I remember 1974. That's all I'll say.
well, also, that I'll just refuse to be the 'good sport' who teaches the 8 am classes any more if this passes, driving to work in the dark all winter long is depressing
On “Weekend Plans Post: The Radio Stations that Went Away”
I made the jump about 12 years ago (got a new car with Sirius/XM capability). I live in a small market and all our stations had consolidated so there's effectively no local news any more, and as for music - well, you remember that bit from Blues Brothers about "both kinds of music, country AND western"? It's not QUITE that but there's very low diversity of music stations.
I grew up in the era (or at least in a place where they had) local stations with local programming and I miss it. Some anonymous - for all I know, picked by AI - music stream out of LA? forget it, I might as well listen to Pandora where I can at least downvote songs I think suck.
I also use the BBC app on my phone a lot, BBC 4 is pretty terrific, does a lot of cultural stuff.
"
fricken' time bandits. At least I have spring break next week to adjust myself to driving to work in the dark, and getting up in the really-really dark (when I work out). Yes, there's more light in the evening but many days I have evening meetings so I can't exactly enjoy it...
Since it's my spring break, and I have no time commitments for tomorrow, I am going to the nice smallish city about a half hour south of me that has a very interesting downtown and visiting some of the shops and PERHAPS (since we seem to be in a valley of lower viral transmission right now) eating a meal in a restaurant - I'm nervously eyeing news out of the UK of cases rising again, and the BA.2 variant being "as contagious as measles" and figuring I may need to plan on locking down again soon. Yes, I've had all three vaccines but I'm also fat and have asthma and know too many people who had "breakthrough" infections. This timeline just sucks, don't recommend it, fire the writers before next season, etc., etc.
On “What Russian Officials Think of the Invasion of Ukraine”
I know I'm a pessimist but I feel also like that would be a "if you give a mouse a cookie" type of situation
On “Gerd Merning Perper”
Ermagerd! Mermes!
On “Weekend Plans Post: The Candy that You Can’t Get Here”
You used to be able to get Wine Gums at the Kroger's near me. You also used to be able to get Lyle's Golden Syrup, which fast became my preferred sweetener for tea. Now, because of Brexit or Pandemic or changing demographics in my area, the British Foods shelf is now mostly Middle Eastern foods. At least I can still mail-order the golden syrup by the case from a restaurant-supply website. (I didn't care all that much for Wine Gums, I only tried them once out of curiosity).
From a family trip to Montreal, I fondly remember Peek Freans cookies, especially the Bourbon Creme (does not contain bourbon). For a while a few groceries in the US carried them but I've not seen them for years.
Kinder Eggs are the famous "you can't get that here" candy - a chocolate egg with a capsule containing a tiny toy inside. It's not great chocolate but you generally can't get it here, despite the legal questions about it being murky (I've heard both "they're banned" and "they're not banned but a lot of places think they are"). They have a "dumbed down for Americans who are assumed not to be smart enough not to swallow a toy INSIDE candy" Kinder Joy, but it's kind of gross, like over-sweet and over-thick Nutella with a white chocolate topping and two weird crunchy balls. I still buy it, mainly because I like the toys.
I was just thinking the other day how years and years ago (more than 10 now), the minister we had at the time had a Russian daughter-in-law, and when she traveled to visit family she brought him back a huge number of Russian chocolate bars, which he shared with some of the congregation at a potluck. Doubt I'll ever see Russian chocolate again...
On “Lent!”
I joked on Twitter "I am giving up for Lent" but maybe I wonder if - in a different sense as I meant it originally - there's not a deeper truth in there. There''s an old saying, "If you want to see God laugh, tell Him your plans" and that's what these 2 1/2 plus years have been.
(Really, more like 4 years for me - this current cycle started with the very sudden death of a friend a few days before my birthday in 2018, and then was followed by losing my dad in mid 2019, followed by two other friends dying -separately - in car wrecks a few weeks later, then a health scare in January 2020, and then....well you all experienced the rest of what's happened since March 2020).
I've spent a couple years staring into the abyss trying to make some peace with the realization that I, too, am mortal. I'm not there yet and probably won't be there for a long time. But maybe not having big expectations of life is part of that and realizing that we're basically blades of grass.
It makes my original plan to give up the stupid mobile match-3 games I play seem kind of dumb and trivial.
On “Weekend Plans Post: February is the Longest Month”
I don't know. I don't know if Waze even works in my area, so few of those apps do, because we're a black hole of nothing. I never even bothered to download it
The state "road conditions" looks dire but I think they haven't updated. I'm gonna try tomorrow morning if it's not freezing rain but I hate all of this so much
On “Hello, Cold War II!”
I just look at the news any more and groan, "I'm too old for this s***."
On “Weekend Plans Post: February is the Longest Month”
My birthday is Sunday and I HAD plans to go out shopping on Saturday, but who knows now? We might get freezing rain. Three days of classes this week were cancelled, first because the roads were icy, and then, I guess because it was cold this morning? My road was clear.
I admit I am far more childishly upset about maybe being stuck in for another day on Saturday than I should be, but it does feel very much like "I did the equivalent of locking myself in a tower for two years, first to 'slow the spread' and then to prevent myself from being exposed to a respiratory disease, and now we're facing 30 seconds to midnight on the doomsday clock, and you're telling me that some stupid ice is going to make it unsafe for me to go and do something even mildly enjoyable?"
I was a teen in the 1980s and I do not like reliving those feelings.
I do not like this timeline and I'm seriously wondering if powering up the LHC actually ended life as we knew it and this is all just Purgatory.
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.