In light of multiple states declaring states of emergency, the NCAA cancelling the tournament, MLB delaying the start of the season, the NBA actually going ahead and cancelling the rest of the season, everyone’s 401K taking a mighty dump — all in the face of the fear contracting of Wuhan Herpes. Why are people this afraid of something that reasonably compares to the flu? I say we take an alternative look at this.
This is my review of Evil Twin Brewing Even More Jesus Imperial Stout.
Children are exposed to fear from an early age. Fear is reasonably healthy, because with it one has a better chance of survival than one that cannot experience fear. The amygdala after all evolved in the lower regions of the brain for a reason–because it is a useful evolutionary adaptation. Of course the other side of this, is the amygdala is in the lower developed regions of the brain, and is thus subject to control by the frontal cortex. In other words, we all have the ability to rationalize the circumstance we are in, and determine if the fear is truly justified. Obviously if a lion is staring you down, the threat is real and the fear is justified. If the same lion is asleep is this fear still justified? Perhaps be concerned and try not to wake it as you see yourself out. In these days of high speed internet, self driving cars, and tinder accounts we don’t really have to worry about being eaten so where do we learn how to cope with fear?
Fictitious villains. I submit we cannot cope with fear because the villains we grew up with, as depicted in popular culture were nothing to be afraid of.
Let’s take a few steps back in time. One of the villains Superman was famous for fighting were Nazis. One might argue that was a different time, and the world was really at war, there really was a threat and yes, the Nazis actually were evil. All of this is true. This was even a time where Superman was not a nearly invincible demigod, back then he couldn’t even fly–only jump over buildings as a result of Earth’s lower
A progressive yet non-threatening introduction to a gay semi-nuclear family.
gravity coefficient when compared to Krypton. Other Superheroes like Captain America, also fought Nazis. Granted these happened to be a form of super Nazis but still Nazis nonetheless.
A generation later we see shows like Johnny Quest (starring Mike Pence) stopping elaborate schemes by villains that posed serious threats to all life on the planet. These villains were Russians, Chinese, Middle Eastern types that perhaps played to many stereotypes that won’t fly today. These were also convenient analogues to certain Cold War enemies that seemingly posed a real threat.
Fast forward to where I grew up, and the villains…they sucked. Let’s go through a few examples:
Skeletor
Skeletor has a few things going for him, a bunch of evil henchmen, and a killer outfit. What he lacks is any damn sense. He is in relentless pursuit of the secrets of Castle Grayskull. Anybody that ever watched He-Man has seen inside Castle Grayskull—there aren’t any secrets its just a castle. There’s also the part where he has an entire universe to choose from, and he decides his arch-emenies are people that not only routinely beat him but are the self proclaimed “Master’s of the Universe”.
Cobra Commander
If knowing is half the battle, clearly this guy knows next to nothing. Its not even worth my digging up a photo of him.
Gargamel
Is he a priest or a wizard? Was he really committed to killing a town of tiny blue people, and why? One episode he wanted to turn them into gold, another he wanted to eat them. He even created Smurfette which in a way is almost doing the Smurfs a favor. His cat, Azrael, was the real brains behind the outfit.
Shredder
Awesome helmet, awesome skills, cool gauntlets. His lieutenants, Rocksteady and Beebop are equally formidable. Except he keeps losing to a group of adolescent mutant reptiles and he works for an alien brain that requires a robot to move around for him. Likely because his army is also a bunch of adolescents but he never really seemed to have a goal aside from getting rid of the turtles. Other than that, is he motivated beyond being a street crime lord?
None of these villains are worth a damn. Is it any wonder nobody has any coping skills? There’s no threat to existence. There’s no lion about to eat them. Nobody is realistically looking to annihilate anyone from the face of the Earth. The face of evil we grew up with was sloppy, incompetent, and many times comical. Is it any wonder nobody seems to be able to evaluate a threat rationally? Here’s the kicker: This is the villain kids today are growing up with:
Evil Twin makes an excellent Imperial Stout. It has the usual overwhelming burnt coffee and chocolate malts we are accustomed to with one item to throw you off a bit. There is a slight hint of anise (black licorice) Which if you ever had an espresso with sambuca, it is not to that point but is a subtle reminder of it. Overall, its a different take but nothing to be afraid of. Evil Twin Brewing Even More Jesus Imperial Stout: 3.9/5
Several Ohio breweries are closing their taprooms and only selling beer to go for the next several weeks. I’m thinking the hospitality industry is going to be taking a huge hit from this.
Yet on Tuesday, the same people freaking out and hoarding TP, will be shoulder to shoulder in an Irish bar drinking green beer out of the sort-of-washed community draft glasses:)
Do they make green Solo cups?
Yep.
I plan to stop by the Irish pub on Sunday since it won’t be as insane on Tuesday.
I also plan to help out my local bars and pubs by stopping in some tonight. The swing dance I would have gone to was cancelled.
We hit our Irish Pub Wednesday. It was slower than normal.
I’ll report back tomorrow what it was like tonight.
I went out for dinner Wednesday and Thursday night.
Wednesday was the prime rib special at a local brewpub. It seemed a little slow but within normal variation. I remember there were two teachers sitting near me at the bar talking about whether or not the local government school would shut down.
Thursday was noticeably slower. And kinda dead.
We’ll see what tonight brings.
At the Baltimore airport yesterday, there were empty seats at all of the bars and restaurants. One of the staff compared it to Thanksgiving Day levels of traffic (slowest travel day of the year).
You feeling any better than yesterday?
I’m feeling fine. No symptoms, just overly self-conscious about every time I clear my throat. I’m just assuming I’ve been exposed after going through four airports over the past week.
Good to hear you are feeling better.
Only because people aren’t flying. The bars still have plenty of people in my area.
My wife heads out of town for a few days tomorrow night so I may be going out for a few as well.
After canceling her flight last week, my wife has basically self-quarantined in the house. She’s symptom free, but she doesn’t work and so has nothing to do all day except listen to all the hysteria. I go out if we need anything. Besides that, I’m WFH all next week and we don’t go out at all.
I’m playing Borderlands 2, thinking about getting 3.
Not up here in Cleveland. The big places have been cancelling everything. This will be my first year working on a St. Patrick’s Day in a long time.
Besides, most of the bars go to plastic cups for the 17th.
Plastic? Why do they hate Mother Gaia?
What? Everything’s green on St. Patrick’s Day! I’m planning on staying in for the next week at least. Just ordered some replacement batteries for my thermometer, so I can check that I’m good to go out after that.
I told my woke friends that I’m saving the planet by working from home. I’m saving the planet, Greta is de debil! They didn’t think that is funny, commies have no sense of humor, at all.
People like me who work from home at least half the time anyway and hate crowds, I can’t really tell any difference, all seems normal to me.
I work from home three days a week normally, and dislike some crowds. I’m more annoyed that I’ve had to adjust my vacation plans.
The company I support has rumblings that they’re going full WFH over the next couple of weeks. We’re expecting Monday being a busy day building even more soft phones, and prepping for more offices shifting their workers.
M
E
Well, fuck, maybe this is affecting me. Let me try again. My biggest client went all WFH, for those of us who can, at least for next week. But for the developers, it’s like we already worked from home at least 50%, so nothing has really changed. It’s like it snowed or something. I do worry about people who cannot work from home and they’re hourly, if places start closing their doors.
ME, that spells MikeS is a tard, lol.
Nah… I don’t think I want to go to the Middle East.
?
“There’s a lot of issues with non-tech people trying to run VOIP on a home network”
We gave them GoToMyPC. VPN for dummies.
Hyperion: I’m on the phone side, so we don’t have admin access to the PC’s. The issue isn’t just VOIP, it’s that the average person barely understands networking, let alone issues that can come up with wireless, multiple machines, streaming, etc.
/not trying to blame the average person
Hyperion: I support call centers. They (for the most part) have to come in and sit at a desk to log into the phones. For them sifting to WFH means rolling out VPN, computers, soft phones, etc. for a large number of people. At least one of the centers I’m supporting has had ~500 softphones built out over the past day. The real bottleneck is going to be the corporate VPN, and local neighborhood networks.
If I had to guess, I’m expecting that next week I’ll be building several thousand softphones.
What’s a softphone?
Ha, Mike S. doesn’t know what a softphone is. What a maroon.
Add me to the list of maroons.
WTF is a softphone?
This?
MikeS: A softphone is an application you run on a computer to replicate a physical phone. With VOIP (Voice Over IP), it’s just another end point to send an audio stream. The problem is that audio and video streaming is very susceptible to quality issues. If your ping times are above 100 ms, that will generally mean you’re going to have audio issues on a call. Most home networks don’t have anything in place for QOS (Quality Of Service), so when it gets saturated, people will report quality issues. Having the kids at home, and everyone in the neighborhood working from home isn’t going to help with that.
Thanks, Neph. Tundra, Hyperbole, and I appreciate the explanation.
No worries. It’s what I do for a living, it’s not the easiest thing in the world to explain.
/remembers when a friend of the girlfriend heard I worked with phone systems, and though I was a secretary.
*looks up how, then performs a ping tset*
So, you’re saying my 600+ms ping times are going to be an issue for me should I try working from home?
/fucking HughesNet
Most home networks don’t have anything in place for QOS (Quality Of Service)
Net Neutrality will fix that!
MikeS: For most business needs, that isn’t an issue. But if you want to run audio over that, you’re going to have a bad time. Most people will hear an issue with audio delay at as low as 150 ms (0.15 seconds), it doesn’t sound like a lot, until you hear it in audio. Different problems also present as different audio issues (personal pet peeve), static (which no one under 35 even really remembers anymore) – analog issue; drops/cut outs (most people call this “underwater sounding”) – dropped packets/network issues; crosstalk – network issues/delays.
*checks speedtest…….3 ms
*waves commi rural fiber grant privilege at Mike
‘Sloper: ??
We’re getting commi-fiber this summer. It can’t come quick enough.
Just checked speedtest.net. 1ms latency, 84.82 Mbps download, 68.98 Mbps upload. I expect those numbers to be much worse on Monday.
I know my clients have invested a LOT of time in training people to actually work from home and buying webcams, etc. One of the high points was a funny email from one person saying ‘Please be aware that working from home using webcams requires wearing clothing’.
My dept doesn’t use webcams, we use ZOOM a lot. I must confess that I sometimes never change out of my jammies or maybe just my bathrobe, lol.
There’s a lot of issues with non-tech people trying to run VOIP on a home network, especially with kids home. Thankfully, the client is aware of most of these, and has rules in place that we can reference when they start reporting issues to us.
I walked by the local pub yesterday around noon when I was out on my daily walk/run and the place was packed.
I went in one of the local liquor stores about an hour ago and the place was almost empty. But if there’s one thing I know, it’s this:
People will leave their house to get alcohol, no matter what. They’ll be driving over dead bodies in the streets if necessary.
Same for smokes/vapes. I hit three stores today and my brand is out.
“Made in China”
The cartoon villain that creeped me out when I was a kid,
Fear of second hand smoke? I once had a GF who’s dad was a chain smoker and he’d just sit in front of the TV all day and smoke one after the other. They had one of those awful suspended ceilings with styrofoam tiles and it was orange. I mean obviously it used to be white, but it was orange from the smoke, lol.
Because…
Good line from a terrible movie.
Shut your whore mouth. That is a classic!
The best villain. That is what I grew up with. We weren’t afraid of anything because villains were incompetent.
Shopping report from bum fuck Western CO: Paper isle completely bare. Cleaning supplies completely bare. Bread isles almost bare with Little Debbie snack cakes remaining. Cheese isle and lunch meat hard hit. Noticed several nervous looking middle aged women with bags of cat food in a hurry. Noticeable different vibe for Sat morning with the store having more shoppers than usual. Usually it is only us old single guys shopping early on Sat mornings because we don’t have anything better to do. Grocery pickup lanes had a lot of traffic with people loading 10-15 boxes of groceries into their SUV’s. In short fucking people are stupid. I was laughing about this panic when it started, now it is pissing me off.
I was going to go grocery shopping this morning, but decided to sleep in instead. I’ll get up early tomorrow and shop. I can put shopping off another day or two. Actually, Monday might be a better day to go because I doubt any trucks will deliver on Sunday.
How were the canned meat and vegetables? Dried rice and beans? Seem like the only stuff worth stocking up on in an emergency, particularly if power is lost.
I didn’t hit those aisles but was wondering the same after I left. I had my weekly list and got in and got out. It was honestly weird.
Dried rice and beans were cleared out at my supermarket… Luckily I ordered a ton of brown rice and lentils on Amazon when I got home. Those prices still appeared to be normal.
I really hate to join in the panic buying, but if everyone else is clearing off the store shelves, what am I supposed to do? Besides, it’s stuff that I eat regularly anyway, so none of it will go to waste.
I really hate to join in the panic buying, but if everyone else is clearing off the store shelves, what am I supposed to do?
This is why it is pissing me off. Even level headed people are forced into it because of all the idiots. Throw in I think this is being overblown for political reasons because Orange Man Bad and I am doubly pissed off. I have a good supply of rice and beans and canned goods so didn’t bother with those purchases. Hell I even have a can of Jalapeno Spam that caught my eye a few weeks ago. I have never tried it and for some reason like spam due to growing up poor white trash.
Oh no doubt. One of the things I miss from my unhealthy days was Spam. It’s tasty and convenient. There are recipes for it online, though… Shouldn’t be that hard to shove random ground pig parts into a dish, bake it, chill, and slice it up.
I live in NJ so I consume “pork roll” regularly.
Favorite brand?
My supermarket (Shoprite) only sells Taylor Ham and their store brand. I prefer the Shoprite store brand “tangy” and thick sliced.
One of the things I miss from my unhealthy days was Spam.
So what’s unhealthy about Spam?
(other than the likely preservatives, etc and canning). I’m too lazy to look up the nutritional facts right now, but I’m guessing that it’s nicely high in protein and fat, and very low in carbohydrates/sugar. Sounds like it would be a reasonable to have as part of a healthy low-carb diet.
I too like Spam. I especially like the sucking sound it makes as it slides out of the can.
Apparently Hawaiians like Spam, too. I was amazed at all the varieties of Spam at the grocery stores in Hawaii. Even the hoighty-toity Whole Foods carried several varieties of Spam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBcY3W5WgNU
Yeah, they developed a taste for it as WWII rations.
I don’t think Hawaii’s sending us their best SPAM.
The only thing I have in spam cans is commie ammo.
How much Spam is too much Spam? Monty Python addressed this many years ago.
But, I don’t like Spam!
Shopping report form Eastern NoDak: Other than some stores having less than 24 hour outages waiting for the next truck, we haven’t run out of TP. And yet that doesn’t stop people from hoarding it. Yesterday I was in the store looking for hand sanitizer* and I walked past the paper isle. Right as I did a lady came out with a shopping cart over-filled with nothing but TP. I walked down the isle to take a look. It was about 2/3 full, and on the back isle, there were 3 more pallets of it, because it was truck day and they were in the middle of stocking shelves. So in spite of obvious evidence of no shortage, this lady still decides she needs 6 months worth of TP.
*Hand sanitizer is a different story. The 5k population town I live near, and the 50k town I work near are both completely out of hand sanitizer and have been for a week or more. It’s ridiculous.
Ya, you are not finding hand sanitizer in a four or five county radius around here. Has been that way for a week.
The plant in Wooster, OH that makes Purell is hiring more workers now.
I was over at Fleet Farm this morning. Totally normal Saturday. Water, canned goods were in stock. Didn’t check paper because IDGAF. Ammo was a little picked over only because the had a bunch of 9mm and turkey loads on sale. Plenty left in all calibers. Even in line, I didn’t notice anyone stocking up, just getting normal stuff.
The vibe was chill. I love Fleet Farm.
The Men’s Mall
I like all the stuff but for building and gardening supplies its pretty much Menard’s. I don’t buy ammo. Other than .22 I make my own, provided I keep my powder dry. I haven’t shot store bought ammo for many, many years, OTOH, I haven’t shot much of anything lately.
Well, you’re my fallback if the world goes Mad Max.
Keep that powder dry!
No love for Mum-Ra?
I remember re-runs of Johnny Quest. I liked that show.
Evil Twin makes an excellent Imperial Stout. It has the usual overwhelming burnt coffee and chocolate malts we are accustomed to with one item to throw you off a bit. There is a slight hint of anise (black licorice) Which if you ever had an espresso with sambuca, it is not to that point e is a subtle reminder of it. Overall, its a different take but nothing to be afraid of. Evil Twin Brewing Even More Jesus Imperial Stout: 3.9/5
Anise? Just say no.
Gun Jesus’s book arrived. I was supposed to get two copies. One with a red cover, and the other with a blue cover. The blue cover one was supposed to be signed. I received two red copies. It does look good.
What book is that?
A book on French rifles.
Sweet!
It’s going to give me some incentive to finish “Das Kapital”. I decided I would nothing else until I finished that abomination. Contradictory, poorly written. If I didn’t know Marx was a failed lawyer, I would have been able to figure it out from his writing. I think hitting myself in the head with a sledgehammer would be less painful and more productive, but, I made the decision to learn more about my enemies. So I will follow through and finish “Das Kapital”.
I read the Commie Manifesto years ago, I’m pretty sure I still have it. Not sure if I read Das Kapital, but I’m guessing I would have remembered based on your description:) Anarchy, State, and Utopia was like that for me. I think it was my 3rd attempt before I forced myself to get through it.
Ugh, I found recently that I couldn’t even bear to reread my cartoon Marx for Beginners from college. I should learn more about him, like giving away his wife’s dowry on their honeymoon. A proto-Bernie!
https://m.barnesandnoble.com/w/marx-for-beginners-rius/1100642172
Johnny Quest was the greatest cartoon ever made! FIGHT ME!
I’ve never watched more than a few seconds of it. Speed Racer was pretty cool.
Only kid’s cartoon I can remember where they actually waxed the bad guys.
Then came the fucking Smurfs and those gay turtles. No wonder the world is now full of pussies
Nope. The only Hanna-Barbera cartoon I ever liked (with the rare exception for particular epi’s of The Flintstones, natch . . . )
Hmmm, let’s see… there’s this and your love for the shirtless volleyball scene in Top Gun…
Dude, I have to have that difficult talk with your wife, explaining the actual reason you haven’t been slipping her the Vienna sausage.
Anise? Just say no.
You might be surprised.
Surprise anise?
Well played.
I heard from their fulfillment company. They’re sending me a copy of the blue book and a shipping label to return the extra red book at their cost. That was pretty quick.
First the gov creates a problem, then the people believe only the gov can solve it. The gov has created a panic about a rather ordinary situation and by voting to spend a lot of money makes us beholden to the wisdom. More Government, Mom!
“Where have all my savings gone, long time passes
Gone to inflation, every single one”
Most people aren’t very introspective. When they feel low-level fear in the form of anxiety, nervousness, stress, tension, whatever, they don’t self-examine to see what it is that has them frightened. I try, sometimes successfully, to consciously acknowledge what’s bothering me. If I can mitigate some of that risk, I do so – then try to accept the rest.
I’m more concerned about my son, my community, and my mother in Florida than my own health when it comes to this virus.
Yeah, I’m not worried about myself. I just don’t want to be the asshole who spreads it around.
Welp, the TP-pocalypse has come to my neighborhood. Bare shelves today that were overflowing with it just a few days ago.
I have no idea who that cute little villain at the bottom is.
I don’t get the TP panic. Is it because TP is what separates civilized people from savages?
Food that stores for months or years without refrigeration and a way to make safe drinking water sounds far more important if you really think the world is ending.
I think he’s from The Incredibles. Fun flick, even for grownups.
Oh, I’ve seen that but don’t remember much.
That was Syndrome.
Thank you.
Geez, the press is a bunch of rabid dogs.
Everyone has talked about the lack of tp and water in grocery stores. I just got back from getting my weekly perishables and other things I may have run out of for my in-between primary grocery week. There was no chicken. None. I couldn’t get the thighs and breast tenderloins that I like to do pretty much weekly. There was plenty of beef and pork though. So beef week it is.
The right gun to use on Kung-Flu.
Lol
A lot of people are afraid of the dark, when they are outside. Animal pointed this out in his series of Allemakee County, running through the woods. Get away from the street lights and fear sets in for some. The unknown…
I was afraid of the dark as a kid. Ya know what? I used logic to overcome it.
The woods themselves at night weren’t anything to be afraid of. In fact, my pals and I were quite comfortable making our way through the woods in the dark, it was something we did all the time.
It was the sudden, unexpected, hair-raising caterwaul of an enraged hoot owl that set the feet to flight mode.
you had safe woods privilege
I find something comforting about the dark.
I too am rather ugly
We all feel better in the dark: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=L4CiMo8H9aw
That’s my new DST theme song:)
AlmightyJB: “I find something comforting about the dark.”
History is made at night; character is what you are in the dark.
I have watch that again. Real soon:)
“I have watch that again. Real soon:)”
Timing can be important, and I note and appreciate that which it was that you did in your response.
“A lot of people are afraid of the dark, when they are outside. Animal pointed this out in his series of Allemakee County, running through the woods. Get away from the street lights and fear sets in for some. The unknown…”
Thank you, Fourscore, for the H.P. Lovecraft reference: “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
I think we should start a thread for suggestions for Board games, computer games, console games, card games, etc. that are good pass times for family.
For me PS4 Co-op: Broforce (like a fun updated Contra), Bomberman, Diablo 3, Borderlands, Divinity 2.
Computer: Civilization 5, Team Fortress 2, League of Legends, Supreme Commander 2,
Board games: Settlers of Catan, Splendor, Ticket to ride, House on Haunted Hill, Relic, Risk, Axis and Allies, Zombie Apocalypse Monopoly 😉
Card games: Cribbage
Super Smash Brothers on Nintendo Switch for a fun family time. Borderlands 3 just dropped on Steam, and is on sale as well.
Thinking about it. When it came out is when I realized that I had owned Borderlands 2 on Steam for a long time and only had 4 hours in it. So I’m going to play that one first and then maybe 3. I love the first game, so far the 2nd one is fun.
Naked Twister
pass times for family. – what about us poor slobs without family especially considering the erotic massage parlors are closing?
Porn Hub?
During a power outage once, my wife, brother, and I cracked open some beers and played a game of Adult Scrabble. Only vulgar; profane; r (or x)-rated words were allowed. We had a lot of fun.
Your wife crushed you and Matt, didn’t she?
Ha! Honestly, I can’t remember who won, but she definitely was no slouch. I had forgotten until now; I took a picture of the board when we were done…I need to find that. It was pretty funny.
That would be funny. We had this magnetic word set on the fridge years ago. I loved reading the door the morning after we had parties.
My people are True Vulgarians.
Fuck yeah! ✊?
I wouldn’t mind getting some board games for me and wifey, but most of the newer ones don’t seem to be geared towards 2 players.
There’s a nice growing number of two player only games. Some good ones (that I know are in print) are Jaipur, Seven Wonders: Duel, Patchwork (there’s a couple different versions of this out now), and Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small. Then there’s some good games that play well with 2 players but can play more: Carcassone, Castles of Burgundy, Kingdomino, Queendomino, and Race For the Galaxy.
Cool! Thanks!
Not a problem. If you want any more specific recommendations, let me know likes/dislikes and I can look through my shelves.
Appreciate that!
I’m a big fan of Go… My friend and I used to play that for hours on end.
So am I. There are online servers, too, so you can get a game any time of the day or night.
If you have 2 computers, playing through “portal 2” is a great amount of fun for anyone and all ages!
The Mister & I don’t think to play board games, but you got me thinking about it. I went over and looked at the Monopoly Here & Now game we received as a “white elephant” gift at a Christmas party several years ago but haven’t touched since.
There’s no board in the box.
No paradox games?
Just started Borderlands 3. Also did the add-on Borderlands 2 missions up on game pass right now.
Risk
Thoughts on Civ 6? I think I preferred Civ 5 overall, but I put many hours into 6 as well. But I’m a bit burnt out on Civ games… the AI is just too dumb and it’s irritating.
I’m still playing Killing Floor 2, a bit old now, but if anyone has it and wants to play, lemme know.
I’m also re-playing the Shadowrun games.
I just picked TF2 back up recently and have been having a lot of fun with the casual Payload scenarios. A friend of mine picked up Wolcen for me so we could play together… It’s REALLY redundant.
I never bought Civ 6, I learned my lesson with Beyond Earth. I have Civ 5 with all of the xpacs and DLC and I still ahve a lot of fun with when I mix up maps and throw in raging barbs. I usually play on king. Anything above it the computer just straight up cheats. I have a few friends I play a lot of co-op with. Frankly, i have yet to find adecent reason to upgrade to Civ .
I’m really looking forward to Baldur’s Gate 3. Not that i’m going to have much time for it.
Maybe I’ll try TF2 again. I installed CSGO, but meh, couldn’t jive with it. Veteran early counter-strike player.
Deep Rock Galactic is a fun multiplayer game to play with friends or public group.
Took a peek at wolcen, reviews don’t look favorable.
I’d say it’s better than D3. But.. that’s not saying much.
I’ve taken a liking to coop board games.
Pandemic, which is of course appropriate now though probably hard to find at the moment
Forbidden Island
5 minute dungeon (I like this one the least, but its fast and easy to set up)
If you’re into co-op board games, try Spirit Island.
I forgot, ‘Munchkin’ is usually worth a few chuckles.
I am downloading Out of the Park Baseball 2020. It’s a fairly heavy-duty simulation game.
Dispatch from the front lines:
Travelled to/from NOLA this week. The Tucson airport was damn near deserted, but it was 5:30 a.m. Still seemed like significantly fewer people than when I have caught this flight before (first shuttle to Phoenix). Walked straight through security – no lines.
NOLA – mid-morning flight out. Pretty thin crowd, in the sense that there weren’t that many people. 3 people in front of me for the rape-scanner. Contrast to last time I flew out of NOLA – 90 minute wait in security, but apples/oranges – they completely renovated the airport since then.
All told, a few empty seats on flights, but not many.
Mrs. Dean reports that last week, our grocery store seemed normal. This week, jammed with panic buyers and a nasty edge in the air. TP and paper towels gone. Also, rice and pasta, although the one food specifically designed for disaster relief (ramen) was still in stock. She responded appropriately, by stocking up on mixers. Our booze supply remains solid.
People are stealing toilet paper from hospital bathrooms, and N-95s from the fucking isolation carts. I will recommend that anyone we catch stealing an N-95 from a goddam hospital be held by security and criminally charged.
Conclusion: People are dumb, dangerous, panicky animals. Adjust your ammo buying accordingly. As I remarked at my conference in NOLA, I was unconcerned by the hoarding – I was confident my neighbors would have sufficient supplies for our house. When asked if I thought they would share, I indicated that I was confident they would, because I am confident I am more heavily armed than my neighbors.
I think I’m the local “guy who has a bunch of guns” as well. I just ordered 1000 rounds each of 7.62×39 and 9mm last night (prices still seemed normal, thankfully).
Adjust your ammo buying accordingly. – I have a sharp stick and am considering going to the woods to locate a second
I thought pitchforks and torches were your nation’s weapons of choice?
Don’t forget the crosses (preferably silver, thankyouverymuch) and holy water.
I have seen one (1) person with a mask since this started. In fairness, she had a practical medical mask. When this started weeks ago, dad went to buy particle masks because he was demoing out a space. Had to go to four different stores because they’d sold out of masks. Particle masks. Not virus-proof magical masks. And now the dummies are buying out all the toilet paper.
I see one person who regularly wears a mask, but he came back to work a few months ago after taking medical leave for a kidney transplant, so he’s immunocompromised.
We had an all-staff mandatory meeting on Friday to discuss virus protocols yesterday… there was a little confusion over call-in employees, since a couple of us are already working from home… one guy makes a fuss about informing the guy who’s already out for cancer treatment. Okay, sure, let’s tell him to maybe not come in if he’s feverish.
I’ve begun leaning towards masks (simple ear loop surgical masks or even cloth rags, doesn’t have to be N95 masks) as preventative measure would advisable but the CDC won’t go that route because of scarce availability and inability of dodos to differentiate between those and N95 masks. Also, the dodos that would touch the outside (or inside) of the mask without washing before & after doing so. And the cultural bias against wearing them here.
I’ve begun leaning towards masks (simple ear loop surgical masks or even cloth rags, doesn’t have to be N95 masks) as preventative measure
Virtually useless for preventing viral infections. Not a bad precaution to prevent infecting others, though.
The second one is the reason why I lean towards it. Arresting some of the asymptomatic/presymptomatic spread as well as distancing (at least initially until masks become more accepted).
Sorry, preventative was the wrong word.
Maybe they plan to wrap their faces in it.
If I had gauntlets like Shredder’s, I would never cross my arms in front of me like that.
Romania activated scenario 3 (100 to 2000 ill)
I bought pasta and pecorino romano but the only fancy store close to me had no guanciale so I have no way of making carbonara sadly.
I think you can use regular bacon or any fatty pork product. It may not be as good or authentic, but you can make a decent version if that’s what you’re really craving.
For me, the flavour profile comes from the pecorino and the egg yolks — the guanciale’s just porky goodness, and there’s lots of that around.
Just back from the local Whole Foods. It was only a little busier than usual for noon-ish Saturday, and people seemed to be buying “normal” food. Shelves are mostly well-stocked, with just a few bare patches here and there; lots of restock carts being unloaded. Target yesterday was remarkably quiet, and still well-stocked aside from paper goods and cleaning supplies (although, ironically, tissues are still available.) Haven’t been to Trader Joe’s in a couple of days – it was pretty mobbed Thursday, with the expected sections wiped out.
Overall, things are pretty normal. Plenty of traffic, both motor and pedestrian; reduced but decent crowds in restaurants and coffee shops. Our governor and mayor have done a reasonable job so far, to my surprise – they’ve pretty much struck the same “be sensible but don’t panic” note as the Trump administration.
Columbus stores are wiped out of TP. I guess bread is gone as well. Why not buy flour and yeast? What we need is a run on library cards.
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how relatively rational things have been in Chicago. My fiancée is in DC… rationality does not appear to be in good supply there.
My fiancée is in DC… rationality does not appear to be in good supply there.
Quelle surprise, non?
Where the heck are you? Grocery stores were mobbed the last two days in Chicago.
No need to be too specific… don’t want those mobs finding the stores I’m using, y’know?
(Columbus) Just stopped in the Short North to grab coffee. It’s bustling like a normal weekend, took me a while to find a meter.
Just got back from The Fresh Market. Big hole in the butcher case where are prepped meat stuffs usually go. The frozen veggies & fruits were 95% gone and probably 90% of the pasta section gone. There was more foot traffic than we usually see. Maybe double. Saw one chicky wearing a face mask. Sanitizing wipes stocked at front door for wiping down cart handles.
When I placed my pick up order for Giant Eagle, they had a notice saying that they were closing some departments to focus on stocking, cleaning, and order packing.
Wife said the deli was closed at our GE yesterday.
I’m so panicked I put the guns under the sink and toilet paper in the gun safe.
Lol
A rational decision given the circumstances.
Ha!
It’s Tom Hanks Disease, simp.
Rita never gets any respect!!
https://youtu.be/9V2fvjN7uQg
Meee-owww!!
I had a hard on for Bernadette Peters when I was younger. She still looks good to me.
Oh I did as well. I was so young, I wasn’t even sure what it was I was actually feeling:) I knew I liked her though:)
Can’t blame you guys.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079367/mediaviewer/rm3819383040
She looked great and was very attractive in Mozart in the Jungle.
Does she deserve any? I hear she’s unpleasant. But she was in a Brady Bunch episode.
Not sure. I was thinking it must be annoying for her to see all these headlines about her husband having Kung-Flu but no mention of her. I know; they are in different classes of celebrity, but still.
She looks very youthful without makeup. Who knew?
I have a beer question: I am reading an historical novel that mentions using burdock root and marigolds because they don’t have hops. Any of you ever heard of that?
an historical
Okay
boomerlimey.To be fair, “ahistorical” means “not historical”, which “an historical” doesn’t.
Ted S blows up my spot. I’m going to cough at you when I get the chinavirus.
Well, that, plus using “an” before the soft the initial soft “h” is correct. Although rarely ob’served.
I’m pretty sure it’s got to do with the way they (don’t) pronounce “haitch”. They’ll say the letter like it’s a word, but they won’t enunciate it like a letter.
And this is why we need to ban travel from the UK until we can figure out what’s going on.
Trump is on top of it. UK and Ireland travel ban happening.
Spain is going to lockdown as they go Italy.
Unless you’re talking about herbs.
I haven’t heard of that in particular, but I did read about English brewers centuries ago using bitter wormwood (artemisia absinthium) in beer. That herb is also the primary flavoring in Absinthe.
And don’t use flip, Stephenson used that already.
Yep. The style is known as Gruit, and is still made in the modern days.
Makes sense. Flowers and roots have been used for beer, wine, and teas forever. I looked up burdock root and it’s quite interesting. People use it for all sorts of things.
Burdock
https://www.verywellhealth.com/the-benefits-of-burdock-89552
*looks at burdock and elderberry infested treeline in back yard*
*$PROFIT$*
Elderberry wine!
“Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAy4zULKFDU
My wife brought home an elderberry “kit”? the other day. Looks like course ground bark and a couple of cinnamon sticks. Also some cheesecloth. Not sure what she’s planning on doing with it. Smells wonderful though.
Guess she’s going to make syrup.
Elderflower, yum.
My favorite villains are pinky and the brain.
Is it strange that I never thought of them as villains?
More like anti-heroes.
They want to take over the world. I’m a libertarian, that’s villainous.
To be fair, deep-down, we all want to take over the world:) We just want to to leave everyone alone once we do:)
Everybody wants to rule the world
As you’ve never heard it. (Unless, of course, you’ve followed the link when I’ve posted it before. Not sorry.)
Sweet:)
I did not think of them as villains at all. Besides they never discussed what they will do once they actually get around to taking over the world.
You never know, they might reckless authoritarians. Then again they might just go all Singapore and let everybody be gay, but will subject you to the lash the second you think about shutting down traffic for a pride march.
So… It’s this a hoax from the Chinese to thwart the US economy? Or is Trump trying letting people die so he can cash in through his hotels?
I need to know the political ramifications I should have.
Since both of those theories are exactly contrary to reality, I expect them to be Conventional Wisdom from Our Betters by the end of the weekend.
You forgot how he banned travel from Europe because he’s racist, just like the Nazis, who hated white people.
Except for the Brits though who are the whitest of the white and therefore worthy of entry I guess.
No any more. Limeys and potatopackers are getting it now.
No, no, Trump owns golf courses there, that’s the only reason he didn’t include them in the travel ban.
/puts on tinfoil hat
It’s an engineered bio-weapon to crash the economy, get Trump out of power, and re-elect a Hillary clan globalist / NWO type. Trump is dismantling the deep state and none of the prior attempts to remove him have worked, so this is their last ditch effort.
However… was the virus mistakenly released too early?
UMass hospital putting up tents to keep Corona patients away from the other sick people inside. Apparently a bunch people at a conference in Boston got infected.
That’s the only thing slightly worrying me about my wife traveling this week. Her getting stuck because someone at her hotel or the campus where she’s taking her training tests positive. A pretty rare chance I imagine, but not as rare a chance as her getting it herself. It’s a huge hotel and campus.
I am disappoint in the beer I opened. It’s a blend of barrel aged stouts, but one of them was apparently a coconut stout.
I do not like coconut, and once I noticed the taste, it’s all I can taste in it.
If you’re anywhere near Fort Worth, I take beer donations.
It’s a single bomber, which I’ll work through. Besides, I’m in Cleveland hiding at home to avoid potentially spreading the Corona plague.
I hate coconut. It just seems like I’m drinking suntan lotion. Yuck. I don’t like the texture of the coconut they put in deserts either.
Pair with coconut shrimp and I bet it would be good. Speaking of which, I think I will chuck some in the air fryer.
I don’t like coconut or shrimp. So, I’ll leave those for you.
I’m trying to decide what I want to cook over the next couple of days. What’s the best panic meal to make? I’m thinking a big old pasta bake.
That sounds good, you can never go wrong with comfort food. I have some chicken thighs in the fridge. I’m thinking I might put them in my stovetop smoker with some mesquite and do tacos with some carmalized onions and poblano for dinner.
I am doing up the family pack of chicken thighs tomorrow when it is supposed to warm up. I see Asian chicken tacos in my future.
Spaghetti. Make a big ol pot of sauce and and you can do whatever pasta you want.
I am going to snack on a few and then make egg rolls with them with some ground beef and cabbage for later eats.
I haven’t made egg rolls in years. I need to.
And a young George Carlin, too
Decent beer.
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/30923/466932/
I’ve had their PB stout. Good stuff.
“I will not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
I will face my fear.
I will let it pass through me.
When the fear has gone,
there shall be nothing.
Only I will remain.”
Now try it with a poison needle at your neck, and your hand on fire.
I will bend like a reed in the wind.
I expected this level of panic if SMoD finally happens, not some shruggable virus. I think we need to start nuking Europe if this is so serious.
I am the boogieman.
You’ll do what I want?
I had that album:)
easy to say when not living in a crowded metropolis
Dude, it’s the flu
Fear is never boring!
Markets…be they corner, local, big box, stock and futures are complicated and confounding. Adding a new/large input is gonna impact them in weird, imbalanced and perverse ways.
What is going to be interesting is how all these mandated closures are going to get Trued Up when the time comes. Not everyone can not work and get paid like government workers. Not everyone is going to be OK with paying full rate for none or partial service. Interesting times indeed.
Asked if he was considering any domestic travel restrictions, Trump said: “Yes, specifically from certain areas, yes we are.”
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-european-travel-ban-uk-ireland
Read Trump took a test for CV. Waiting on the results. It’s a real time test…hum
They have to wait for the rabbit to die.
All I can say is it is about time we kept the Irish out.
/chucks a can of Guinness at westernsloper
*grabs Guinness before it gets wasted*
“*grabs Guinness before it gets wasted*”
I typed a response to Nehp asking for clarification regarding whether the can was unopened or not, and thus the effects upon westernloper depending upon the can’s weight. I deleted it for reasons of tediousness on my part. Perhaps I should have posted it, because it would have comported nicely with your comment.
Why would I throw a full can of beer at someone? That’s crazy!
Now an underhanded toss would work, as long as he had the appropriate glassware in hand.
Oh boy:
https://nypost.com/2020/03/14/coronavirus-in-ny-de-blasio-defends-keeping-schools-open-amid-pandemic/
He’s watched to much Fox news!!!!!
Oh sure, and this would only be temporary, right??
That ought to ensure the shortages.
Does he think they aren’t working double time on it? What would nationalizing do to help, even from a lefty standpoint?
Remove the profit motive?
To commies, everything’s a nail, and nationalization is the hammer.
Never let a crisis go to waste.
De Blasio sharply criticized the federal government for its slow response to the viral outbreak.
He called for the “nationalization of factories that can produce the medical supplies we need.”
?♂️
They are already nationalized…they’re in China.
/points upthread to post about Gojo (who makes Purell) hiring in Ohio
/points to facts about masks, medicines and other medical supplies being made in China
De Blasio sharply criticized the federal government for its slow response to the viral outbreak.
I wonder what he had to say about the travel ban from China?
The man is afraid of his own subjects.
Shouldn’t he be?
In a just world.
In an ideal world, absolutely.
Be sure to wash your hands. Like Jeffery Epstein, Coronavirus won’t kill itself.
Totally stealing that.
Already stolen that. ;-)
Great advice. And when you are done using the gym equipment, don’t wipe down the handle bars with the same wipe you just used for wiping down the seat…
Bleach is bleach. As long as the wipe still has juice, it will still work.
Mrs. Dean’s gym is turning into a ghost town. A fair number of their clients are either old or work in health care, so probably not a bad thing.
Unless you own it or work there.
One of the local spin studios announced they were suspending all activities for a month. I cancelled the class I was scheduled to go to today (figured it wasn’t worth risking others), once I can confirm no fever and no symptoms for a week, I’ll be more willing to head out.
OK. Picking up a million fecal coliforms off the seat and smearing them all over the handle bars using a bleach solution that is 99% effective is better than not doing anything at all.
Wash yo ass.
Or wear a diaper to the gym. <>
Good old Redd, God bless his smutty soul. I figured it’d be this though (Tariq Nasheed from his rapper days):
https://youtu.be/s90NUW4RSJU
I love the cup he takes a drink out of.
I’m not saying not to wipe down equipment. Best for you and yours is to wipe down the handles before and after using. Make the assumption the equipment is contaminated for yourself and make the assumption that you contaminated the equipment for others.
If you’re smearing shit on the seat, yer doin’ something wrong.
Its a german gym.
Its a waste of a wipe. I don’t know about how this goes in your area, but there are no clorox wipes either.
Ever since I worked as a janitor, I’ve used a product at home called “Virex 256” (it’s gone through various re-brandings over the years). It’s an SC Johnson product, a concentrate, one litre of which makes 256 litres of solution. Antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal. I use it in a 5x solution (i.e., 1 part in 50) in a spray bottle. Diluted this way, one spray bottle’s worth costs about 30 cents, and lasts for days. I laugh at Clorox wipes.
Akshually…
https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/list-n-disinfectants-use-against-sars-cov-2
Other than yanking BEAM’s chain, it’s not a bad list to see alternatives.
Quats are always in style when it comes to fighting infections. And on that list, Virex II/256 claims effectiveness against emerging pathogens!
I was going on the 10 minutes vs 4 minutes wet of Clorox wipes and it’s same/similar quat.
Yeah and rotate these disinfectants periodically to combat against viral selection and resistance /sarc
*Checks list for Mr. Clean: Active ingredient Sodium Hydroxide 5%*
Shit. It’ll kill everything except that one thing.
What’s the curretn brand name?
“Virex II 256.” Huh. Now made (or perhaps marketed/distributed) by Diversey here in Canada.
Awesome stuff. Smells good, too. It has been particularly helpful in knocking back some fungal infestations we had in the basement of a previous home. It also does an amazing job of de-stinking an in-sink food disposer (what we Canucks call a “garburator”). I’ve also sprayed it into garbage cans etc. for the same reason. A single 946ml bottle’s around 15 bucks CDN.
I did eventually spot a few listings – all sold out.
Hmmmm, unsurprising, I guess. I always keep a couple of concentrate bottles in the rotating stock of my home. It’s used in hospitals, food prep facilities, and even in agriculture (it’s an Alberta Agriculture preferred disinfectant for things like chicken coops).
Phone around to your local janitorial supply stores — they’re the ones most likely to have some in stock, if anybody. That’s where I get mine from.
Only cow urine will.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/hindu-group-india-cow-urine-coronavirus
Ok, it is now time to panic. One of my kegs just kicked. I’m down to only two kegs of beer on tap. Repeat, only two beers on tap now (Porter and a Pomegranate Lambic). This is not a warning.
You better get started making a batch!
I’ll need to decide what to make. I can order supplies to make a batch (2 day delivery from MoreBeer). I’m thinking APA or IPA.
My wife bought me one of those beer making kits forever ago and I’ve never gotten around to it. I think that sounds like a good thing to do this weekend.
If it’s been sitting around, I’d recommend picking up some fresh yeast and hops (assuming a hop forward beer). Feel free to reach out if you need any tips.
I was joking earlier this week in the office that as a home brewer, I can easily make large quantities of potable water without panicking. And as a bonus, it’ll get you drunk.
Ah good tip!
Hefe’s are always nice.
I do have robc’s hefe recipe saved and haven’t made it yet… but the temperature controlled fermentation chamber has been shifted back to a chest freezer. Otherwise, I’d probably go the Kolsch route.
I picked up 3 more bottles of liquor after grocery shopping. It was very thoughtful of them to put a liquor store right next to the grocery store. ?
Gf picked up a couple too. I think we’re good. ?
Giant Eagle’s here have been buying liquor store licenses wherever they can to put liquor stores inside the grocery store.
Yeah, the GE on my way home from work just put one in:) I’m pretty happy about it but now I’m going to have to increase my liquor budget:)
I knew the people who sold one of their liquor license to a GE near me. They confirmed it was a 7 figure deal, and GE finally just offered them too much money to refuse.
/hey mods… apparently an earlier comment by me had some words that triggered it getting sent to moderation hell.
I had a comment in moderation as well. Squirrels.
The gymn was very quiet for a Saturday. People are doing a hell of a job wiping down th3 machines now.
Got home and have 7 of my son’s friends in the basement with multiple XBoxs. All college freshmen who would be returning from break this weekend.
Shit, this is an emergency.
My father in law isn’t doing so well, we’re thinking he only has a few months at the maximum. He lives 6 hours away and my wife wants to go see him soon, for what might be the last time. While I’m not concerned about my wife and I getting coronavirus, it would likely mean certain death for her dad. We’re in an area that has had limited confirmed cases, and 1 death. They’re in a very rural area that so far has been sheltered. Quite the conundrum we have.
Damn. Buy them a tablet to facetime / Skype?
We do that already… Might just send my wife and I will stay home with the kids
I’m sorry to hear that man. I don’t envy you that decision.
I would go for a visit, if you and wife asymptomatic. Nonetheless, I would make the assumption that you are contaminated and take precautions to avoid infecting him. Such as: Shower and fresh clothing right before visit. Hand sanitization immediately before visit. Masks for you and her during close contact. Leave after visit, don’t stay with them. No kids or take extra precautions with them too.
Hand washing immediately before visit. Sanitizers are for when you can’t wash.
Unless you have a sink in your car, go with the sanitizer because you will have contaminated everything you touch to get to your dad’s sink before the wash and it is a bit weird to go straight to someone sink before saying hi…
Can always do both…
Tell my physician that.
I think having the closure now will pay off later. Just be careful.
We just went thought this with my mother in law. Go. Take reasonable precautions, but go.
That sucks. I would go. Just be careful.
Sorry. I say go see him, and take precautions.
You’ll regret not seeing him. Take precautions and go.
I got an email from Domino’s touting their “contactless delivery” that included this graphic that just struck me as very funny for some reason.
I’m not exactly sure what #4 is supposed to be saying.
He is holding out his hand for a tip.
Pizza guy porn isn’t what it used to be.
I was entertained by the Jimmy John’s email that you could put in notes like “Drop the food off at the door.”
Because people working in fast food places are the best at following the rules to prevent spreading diseases.
/thinks back to when Nephilium worked fast food…
I notice that panic seems to spread a lot more readily now than it did 20 years ago. I swear the coronabullshit is more overblown than 9/11. I think social media/constant connection and stimulation has created the conditions for increased social contagion. The irony of things going “viral”.
Welp, panic buying has boosted the cost of .223 by about 0.05 per round. Fuck this.
Sounds like a good tome to sell all your ammo and guns.
Perhaps all but one of your guns, and some of your ammo. ;-)
Around Edmonton, 9mm’s rapidly going to infinity per round (i.e., none left). And here I thought all of us Canadians lived in The Peaceable Kingdom and there wasn’t anyone with guns of any kind.
People expect to be living in Mad Max world shortly?
I already have all I need and will probably refrain from participating. Probably.
Thank you Rebel Scum!
https://imgflip.com/i/3slxqz
Do you want to hear another Coronavirus joke? You probably won’t get it.
I’m ok with over the head. Not too crazy about two to the back, though…
Lol
Excellent!
I’m irritated by this. As someone upthread said, the panic buyers and hoarders are making it impossible for me NOT to do the same.
Also, I’m not clear on why this is worse than any given flu. (For real, I’m not.) Or pneumonia. Or TB (doesn’t this have a superstrain now and making a comeback?).
“an historical” is correct.
Fear. I read in a book that “the only thing more powerful than fear is routine.” I think that’s true.
Hell, I’m still a youngster (compared to most here), and I don’t recall a panic this large in my lifetime. FFS, I don’t recall this much panic around HIV.
2 vacations cancelled so far, and I’m worried about my Europe trip at the end of June/early July.
“an historical is correct”
You tell ’em Mojo!
No prior immunity and no vaccine.
High rates of hospitalization, enough to overload medical care and raise mortality/lower outcomes for everyone needing medical care.
Higher apparent mortality rate for all adult age groups, but particularly worse for elderly and those with risk factors.
Higher apparent R0 (basic reproduction number) than flu.
Long incubation time coupled with longer recovery time. And for severe cases, that would be recovery to virus free, not full recovery.
Pneumonia developing in significant numbers of mild cases.
Lots of unknowns- seasonality, how much it’s spread undetected, how many have had it (would not count on large number of so mild they just got over it at this point)
““an historical” is correct.”
But, but…http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19840723,00.html
I have used the run on TP to explain the bank runs to my kids. Also, the irrationality of man in large groups. I’ll stave off the lesson about how this applies to Nazi Germany and scapegoating.
If by “correct” you mean “hypercorrection”, then yes. With the death of the mid-Atlantic accent, the phono-morphology of General American English is both the prescriptive and descriptive standard.
The following does not prove my argument, but doesn’t prove yours either:
1. I grew up reading it.
2. I was taught it in English by a very exacting grammarist.
3. “A historical” is harder to say than “an historical.”
For me, it is not a correction, hyper or otherwise. It’s totally normal.
For me it’s completely wrong and/or British. ?♂️
But you repeat yourself…
The first 2 apply to me as well, but I’ve never agreed with number 3. It’s always felt awkward to me. Now, maybe that’s because I usually pronounce the “A” as a sound somewhere between “uh” and “ah” as opposed to a long A. ??♂️
Me also.
“Grammarist” doesn’t equal “linguist”. No offense, but that’s like saying “acupuncturist” to a physician. Prescriptivist grammarians tend to be the worst, and I do mean the worst, offenders in insisting on constructions that make no sense to the descriptive phonological, morphological, and syntactic rules of a language’s grammar. Case in point, I would disagree with your 3rd point as well, as I see no difference in ease of articulation (at least in my accent) by adding a voiced alveolar nasal between the vowel and the fricative. Standard English morphology requires this insertion between two vowel sounds only. Unless you are Eliza Doolittle, (which would make me ‘Enry ‘Iggins, I guess) there is no reason to use this insertion for purposes of ease of articulation.
However, if it’s normal to you, then use it. Everyone has their own ideolectial quirks. If we’re talking stylistics, however, I would consider it a non-standard usage in the present day.
‘Eroic ‘Ulatto
My Thicc Lady (It’s on Pornhub).
/runs search
Hmm… I don’t see it.
Plenty of thicc women though… but no “My Thicc Lady”. It must have been pulled.
“It must have been pulled”
Phrasing?
I find it very odd that you can’t understand how “AY HIstorical” is more difficult to say than “an ‘istorical.” I find it more difficult to say AY HUrb, AY HOWer, AY HONor, too. I also find it difficult to say veeHICKull.
‘Enry ‘Iggins might say HUrb because those Frogs say it ‘erb (hello leftenant because Frogs say loootenant), but he DOES say ‘onor and ‘our.
I’ve got to side with HM here. It’s easier for me to say “Ay Historical” then “an ‘istorical” (yes, I actually tried both).
I’m glad it’s easy for you and HM.
It’s not for me.
Perhaps I should have specified that in my original list.
Mojeaux: No offense meant. Anytime I’m outside of the CLE area, I’m the first to start mocking my accent.
Let me step in to piss everyone off. If you pronounce it ‘istorical, an is correct. If you pronounce it historical a is correct. The rule of a/an only makes sense as a rule about the sound the referent begins with not the letter. Also a is not required to be pronounced ay, uh is just as correct and having the option allows for better flow and rhythm in speech.
I’m on Team Jarflax.
MikeS Johnson is correct about Jarflax Johnson being correct!
Climate change forecast models applied to Coronavirus.
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/487489-worst-case-coronavirus-models-show-massive-us-toll
Chicago is sad right now. No one at Navy Pier (why to go is another question), tour boats nearly empty, museums closed (Art Institute closed today), several groups of young revelers dressed in green costumes wandering aimlessly around Millenium Park since early morning (I think some missed the memo that the parade was cancelled).
All of St. Patrick’s Day here in Cleveland have been pretty much cancelled. First time the parade isn’t happening in over 185 years, HOB cancelled their full day concerts, and I’m going to work that day for the first time in decades.
I’m on vacation the following week. I should go!
I’m going to do a little social experiment. It’s been dreary and damp for a few days here, which only adds to the feeling of needing to nestle in warm at home.
So adding to the coronavirus hysteria, we have the drab weather. I’m going to go to Oceanside or Carlsbad for dinner and some entertainment, see how dead it really is.
Go while you can: Israel and France have closed restaurants, cafes, and movie theaters.
After a day of nice weather before I left, we’re back in the 30’s here. So I can’t really go for a ride outside, and should just stay at home for the next couple of weeks. I’ve still got a spin class scheduled for next Saturday, assuming they’re still open, and no fever over the course of the week, I’m planning on going.
Just took my youngest for a bike ride. Her first long bike ride without training wheels. Had to go back to get drinks…. it is pretty hot in the mid 80’s. Forgot sunscreen because we went farther than I expect. A nice 2 hour outing with my little one, and a smidgin of sunburn.
Came home to find that the wife found off-brand 2-ply at Aldi’s – so we have backup for the 9 rolls in the closet. She’s happy, so I’m happy. Except I’ll get the crappy stuff because she likes her charmine.
I guess the lesson is, you take the good with the bad. But you woulda been better off in the south. 🙂
/throws a snowball at cyto
I kept having fun making fun of my coworker from Costa Rica as he thought the 60 F weather was cold, while I was going short sleeves, and no coat.
If you really want, we can discuss the local temperatures in August. 🙂
That’s the nice thing about Florida. It never gets much above 90. Rarely gets much below 80. Lots of ocean around to keep temperatures stable.
We have “humid” and “not humid” for seasons. “Not Humid” is woefully short, but wonderful. Humid season is… well… you learn to appreciate air conditioning.
Oh, I’ve been to Florida in the Summer and the Winter. Watching people reach for jackets at 60 degrees is always going to be entertaining for those us from the north.
We do have a lake to help moderate our temperatures as well.
Even more odd…. after you live in this weather for a while, it changes your perception.
I grew up in Philly and Grand Rapids Michigan, among other places. In Michigan, we’d break out the shorts if it got above 40.
I remember my “Florida Moment”. After living here for a couple of years, I came out of a restaurant one night. I was wearing a silk T-shirt and pants, as was the style of the day. It was a bit windy. I was actually kinda chilly walking to the car. We got in the car and when the display came up…… 72 degrees. Yup, you’ve lost it, young man.
In fairness, 70 degrees in florida is way different than 70 degrees in the midwest. It is so humid down here that a 70 degree breeze carries away a lot of heat. 60 degrees is really chilly, where we’d be playing football in shorts and t-shirts in the 60’s back home.
Weather here has been gorgeous. Only in the 50s today after a bout of 60s-70s, but perfect for walk/run and all the flowers are pretty and smell really good. *sneezes*
/chucks a lime at Hyperion
It’s the Corona!
Oh, you poor dear! *whips out world’s tiniest violin and plays my rendition of ‘First World Problems’.
JK!
Whelp, shopping at my Meijer was pretty much what I expected. No water in cases, yet quite a few in gallons. TP shelves emptied, but still paper towels. Hardly any chicken, yet beef, pork, and seafod. Soup shelves and chicken broth pretty much gone.
No milk in the store, but their gas station had it- for $1.50/gallon more (which I suspect is SOP). The most startling thing to me was none of my swill in 30-packs. So I had to get 2 15-packs and pay an added $0.60
Our insanity had a little rationality behind it.
Dried goods like pasta and rice had a run. And then jarred sauce to go with the pasta was picked over.
That part actually makes sense. The TP thing was largely a creation of media coverage, I think. Because at least at my local Walmart, there was plenty of TP until the national stories about runs on TP started.
Oddly, we’ve also had a run on produce. Potatoes kinda made sense…. but why is there a run on bananas? Those things only last a couple of days anyway.
“but why is there a run on bananas?”
I suppose they can be sliced, dried and preserved.
Banana muffins/bread in the freezer!
Lol. My buddy told me Costco was out of bread!
We have officially lost our minds.
Same at Sam’s Club up here. The only “bread” left was lefse and flour tortillas.
Do what we did. Go to Walmart after 11pm. They restock the shelves and there won’t be anyone there except the pajama people and they’re way less dangerous than zombies and really cannot run you down on their Walmart scooter.
At XX’s WM, it’s all hands on the grocery deck.
Fresh Market had plenty of fresh bread, but we’re out of low carb tortillas. ?
I bought quite a bit of stuff at Fresh Market today. You know, it’s expensive, but there’s never a crowd or bare shelves.
“Hardly any chicken”
My experience visiting 2 different grocery stores in the past few days, except they were completely out. This is one I don’t get.
I got some rice, oatmeal, and Malt O Meal and some floyr just in case. Also pasta. And bit O’ Honeys.
I don’t buy milk in jugs. I buy evaporated milk.
Cut it with water 1:1 amd you’ve got whole milk.
Thats…….GENIUS !
It is, but a bit pricey where I live (and the whole milk you get when you do the dilution always tastes a bit . . . burnt or caramelized to me . . . ).
I cook with it. I don’t drink it.
Also, Aldi’s is your friend.
I mean, I do put it in cereal (if we have any—I only buy that on Christmas morning) and if I have rice (sugar and milk, eat it like cereal), Cream of Wheat, and oatmeal. I don’t cut it.
Yes. Just like when you bake a cake, don’t grease and FLOUR. Grease and SUGAR.
I’ve yet to come across ANYONE who knows that (including my mother), but Mrs. Beeton knew 100 years ago.
It depends on what I’m baking and if I want more caramelization on the crust or not. When I make pound cake with demerara sugar, I do not.
Weird. I’ve never had it caramelize, not even with my pound cake. But then, I didn’t use demerara sugar (which I don’t know what that is).
Biggest brand of demerara is Sugar in the Raw. I like using it in cakes and baked goods because it really caramelizes well, and provides a great crust. I also got a large (10 lb) bag on the cheap a while back.
No, that’s disgusting. The MOM – yum.
I went on a MoM bender a couple of years ago. Didn’t eat anything else for weeks, breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
I’m not generally a big chocolate fan, but I love chocolate MOM.
I only like the plain. Butter, sugar, milk, salt.
Is a MOM bender anything like a MILF bender?
*searches for snappy comeback*
Dude, I got nuthin’.
MOM benders create MILFs.
MOM Benders create MILFs? Aren’t they already MILFs by definition?
Think benders as an exercise/yoga.
Are you talking about sweetened condensed milk when you say evaporated…or something else? Not just powdered milk?
No. Evap is different — no sugar is added, it’s simply liquid “concentrated” milk. Condensed milk is for pies, candy-making, etc.
Guess I have seen that before as well…never really saw a use for it – but that mixture is a good concept.
Never used Sweetened Condensed milk for any cooking that I’m aware of – always stuff like toppings – or dipping roti in (when I lived in Malaysia).
Sweetened condensed milk and evaporated milk are completely different things.
Now I want Vietnamese coffee.
. . . and some pho.
The [blank] is the stupidest website naming convention. Right up there with taking a vowel out. The Kitchn hits both of those points.
I would just assume thekitchen.com was already taken.
Regarding the passing of the torch in humor:
Today’s headlines:
The Bee:
Nation’s Nerds Wake Up In Utopia Where Everyone Stays Inside, Sports Are Canceled, Social Interaction Forbidden
Trump Cancels 2020 Election Over Coronavirus Concerns
Bernie: ‘We Must Seize The Means Of Toilet Paper Production’
Drug Cartels Switch To Producing Hand Sanitizer
CNN’s Ratings Collapse As Coronavirus Fears Empty American Airports
Obama Announces He Is No Longer Responsible For The Economy
Biden: ‘I Am The Only Candidate Who Can Beat Ronald Reagan’
Miracle: Coronavirus Passes Over Houses With Chick-Fil-A Sauce Smeared On Door Posts
Meanwhile, over at the Onion:
Green Giant Takes A Stand Against Gun Violence
‘I Have Coronavirus And I Am Dead’ Says Trump Furthering Confusion Over COVID-19
Trump Assures Americans He Called 911 To Report Coronavirus Outbreak
Frustrated Jared Kushner Doesn’t Get Why Everyone In Media Attacking His Qualifications Like They Didn’t Just Get Jobs Through Nepotism Too
Top U.S. Health Experts: ‘Hold On To Your Fucking Seats Because This Bitch Hasn’t Even Thought About Starting Yet’
Sooooo…. yeah.
Maybe I should have done this like “spot the not” and had everyone guess which headlines were from which website.
Way too easy.
Anti-Trump is Onion. Done and dusted.
I kinda liked this one:
The Onion isn’t funny because it comes from a place of resentment and spite now. Many years ago when those “area man” stories were still funny I used to enjoy the Onion, but it might as well just be a scowling MSNBC host or Huff Post writer now.
Yeah, The Onion just isn’t very funny any more. And I don’t think it was ever as funny overall as the Bee is right now.
Listen up, wokesters. I remember Skeletor, sure. I remember the Grinch and all the TV villains. But now, there’s only ONE TRUE VILLAIN, BAD ORANGE MAN!
NZ’s PM:
“Ardern told TVNZ’s Q+A this morning: “We will have more cases in New Zealand. We will.”
I don’t know what’ more tragic about this: that she had to answer the question or that it’s actually considered news.
Flash mob balcony concerts in Italy:
People are looking for ways to connect to others and avoid the loneliness of life in a lockdown. Videos of Italians on their balconies singing together and having musical concerts have gone viral.
https://heavy.com/news/2020/03/italy-balcony-concerts-coronavirus/
That’s awesome.
The acoustics on that violin video are a awesome.
Holy shit. That is amazing.
If I don’t die from this, I’m going back to Siena.
Thanks, RAH.
Anyone want to wager on how long I’m gonna end up on hold for Delta today?
3h 47min
Already crossed the 4h mark. I’ve been disconnected 10 times.
China is ass hole.
I saw today that they cancelled flights to Europe for 30-days.
Yeah. I had the kid on a flight for 3/22. Canceled this morning. For some reason I can’t do anything on line.
Lol. He may end up living in the same town as his great-great grandfather!
I cancelled a trip. Bought $40 travel insurance to receive 75% of trip refund ($2000) through insurance. Do you think I should anticipate getting a check in the mail?
This sums up the panic pretty well
https://mobile.twitter.com/Michael1979/status/1238206615544872984
“QUARANTINE DIARY
Day 1: I have stocked up on enough non-perishable food and supplies to last me for months, maybe years, so that I can remain in isolation for as long as it takes to see out this pandemic
Day 1 + 45 minutes: I am in the supermarket because I wanted a Twix”
Awesome.
That made my day.
I’m planning on self-isolating as much as possible since traveling this week. I’ve had to tell the girlfriend several times that she should probably consider herself exposed as well now, and avoid contact as much as possible.
“I’m planning on self-isolating as much as possible ”
Me too. But nothing has changed, I’ve been doing it a long time. Am I a prepper, loner, introvert, genius, or Trump supporter?
Yes.
Yeah. This panic buying would be great if people would actually stay the fuck home now and stop going out for dipshittery or they’re bored or their kids want a hamburger. Social distancing, how the fuck does it work?
It’s been really awkward around here. Everything has been canceled. The great Costco panic has passed. Now people are out running and walking their dogs. Restaurants and businesses still have business. It’s almost like we’re back to normal.
FIRST.WORLD.PROBLEMS.
Did the lion have a name?
Better than THIRD.WORLD.PROBLEMS.
^this^
?♂️
FIRST.WORLD.PROBLEMS.
GF has off all next week. The following week for her is up in the air.
I’m still going in to work. My job is not work from home compatible.
The spousal unit normally works from home using a custom-installed VPN on her client-provided laptop. She also uses a VOIP softphone when talking with employees of the client. We’ve got very fast, low-latency fibre to the home here, but I’m expecting some real network clogging over the next few weeks.
Yep. Issue is going to be at the neighborhood and corporate levels. This past week I was in meetings trying to plan for worst case scenarios for this.
In good news, I was able to get one of the last rooms in Canal Winchester for the AGM (Annual General Mayhem) at BrewDog in August. This means the girlfriend and I can walk over to BrewDog instead of relying on Lyft/Uber as we usually have to.
Charmin commercial just played on tv. You would think they could trim back their ad budget for a couple weeks.
Nice!
*sensible chuckle*
/one from the wife as well.
They’re Koch funded. Its just conservative propaganda.
Undercover Brother 2 is a bad movie.
I can’t believe I just sat through most of it.
You really miss the sports, don’t you?
It’s gonna kill me faster than the virus.
Google still hasn’t updated the MLB schedule on the calendars. I keep looking, getting excited, then remembering.
#metoo
?
#metoo+1
I wonder what sports aren’t canceled yet.
Aussie soccer. I might watch some later.
I’ve been watching the RDJ Sherlock Holmes while I sit on hold. Pretty good.
I’ve also been cleaning my carry pistol and some boots.
I guess that’s good?
Minor league season postponed too, of course – just when we should be getting our quarter-season tickets in the mail. : (
This was the Twins’ year!!!
Piss Off.
/remembers 1994.
You’ve had 3 trips there since then. You get no pity from me.
I’ve got no hatred for the Cubs, that was a hell of a series. So, do the Browns give me any pity?
Ha-ha. Yes. The Browns get you a boatload of pity.
One more pitcher and, yeah!
UFC is still going, even if its in Brazil in an empty arena. They have a card on ESPN right now.
I’m not a sports guy.
Dude! I was giving you the perfect excuse for sitting through a crappy movie! Work with me here! ; )
?
The plot point of wokeness held me just enough to suffer through. It could have been much better, but wasnt. Not like the first one.
I can’t believe I’m sitting through a Harry Potter marathon.
Are you being held hostage?
Can we help?
Enh it’s just running in the background and I’m not motivated to find anything else. I’ll make do.
Gay
https://6abc.com/health/pa-expands-social-distancing-effort-to-bucks-chester-counties/6012397/
“*Freedom of travel will remain, but the governor and his administration ask all people to refrain from non-essential travel.”
FUCK YOU.
Holy shit. I’m unclear about the 10-day leave policy for those who can’t WFH – does that mean manufacturing/production shuts down?
I read that as employees of the state. Not productive employees.
*No offense to UCS, just a bit o snark.
It’s not as if my agency produces anything of value.
I do work, but it’s all wasted effort since nowhere does it even help something useful come into existance.
Thanks. I thought, “is this dumb ass trying to create a supply chain disruption?”
He probably doesn’t understand what a supply chain is or how it works.
Wolf can go fuck himself.
I finally got the mini sewing maching working to the point where I was able to stitch two straight lines. I still can’t figure out how the thread kept coming out of the needle, especially when I tied the upper and lower threads together, got a few tangles in the fabric, and never puled the thread out of the knot, but somehow it was no longer running through the needle. Unless there is a snapped end hiding inside that tangle, it seems physically impossible.
It’s all about the tensioner, sound like your’s it too tight, so the needle spool binds, sucking up all the thread without pulling up new….IMO
I thought so too, but it did the same thing with the tensioner taken out of the equation entirely.
I had to flip the lower bobbin over and change the direction the thread was threaded through the needle.
I want to say ‘NERDS!’ but that doesn’t fit, and I’m pretty sure ‘FAGS!’ will get me cat butted so I’m at a loss.
Well from reading Terry Pratchett, I’m going with whores as the best synonym.
…?? I posed a comment with no links, just my typcial grousing, and it’s “awaiting moderation”.
I know I can be annoying, but have I pissed off the computer too?
You got hung up in the spam filter.
So, I annoyed the computer. 🙁
Did your post contain the words “make money in your spare time”
No, it was the sewing machine post just above.
I’ve had a couple posts today get the “Awaiting Moderation” flag. One I could see why the words I chose flagged it, the other… not so much.
I grabbed up GSon #1today and we played 27 holes, windy as Fuck, but we made some great shots, then Weinershcinzel Chili Cheese fries for Lunch. After, we practiced at my house, 12 putters at a time, he dug that. Then…. Simple Rockets 2, never played it before, it took a bit, but I became Mission Control and He was the Pilot and we reached orbit, and had a powered descent to landing, Pretty cool Day for Pops!
9 months from now there will be a noticeable spike in births.