In my Introductory post to this series, I promised I would “…explain the origins of the picture of Yours Truly… from 11 Aug 1994.”
That’s not quite the same picture, but a different angle of the crash from another rocky outcropping right across from ours. It seemed so precarious, like it might tumble down that hill and break into pieces. (As I later learned in a close-up look, however, it wasn’t going anywhere. I’ll explain why when we get to that story.)
As I started writing that tale, there was so much aviation-specific background necessary to give it proper context that the idea dawned on me that perhaps the best way to do this as a series is to simply take you through all of my encounters with aviation mishaps chronologically, from fixed-wing to rotary-wing. In that way, my hope is to acclimate you to concepts that can become useful in later pieces and lean on them in order to make those stories richer. Perhaps you’ll come to see aviation mishaps from an aviator’s eyes, if I’m at all able to do my job. I have generally relied upon this database “List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft (1990–1999)” as a reference as it seems to jive with my recollections, but in writing later stories I have already noticed that it is nowhere near a complete list.1
It Begins Before It Begins
March, 1992
Finally. Well… almost finally.
It feels like I’ve waited my whole life for this. I’m a shiny new 2nd Lieutenant wearing my drab green flight suit and leather jacket. Eat your heart out Tom Cruise, you poseur faggot, I smirk to myself. I’m still finishing up ground school and sims (simulator training), but just down the street are the flightlines – in both directions! Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola may get all the glory and pub – and truth is, it’s got a hoppin’ O’Club on Friday nights when they let “locals” (i.e. hot P’Cola gals looking for husbands) onto the base – but NAS Whiting Field in Milton, Florida, is where the real action is: that’s where naval flight training is actually done. The O’Club here is tiny, right across from the “Q” – the bachelor officer’s quarters (BOQ) – but it’s got good sandwiches and it crowds up during lunch with Student Naval Aviators and our instructors in between hops. It sits right up against the edge of South Whiting Field’s armada of TH-57B and -C model helicopters: the Navy’s version of the Bell 206 Jet Ranger, decked out in training colors – orange and white. All Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard helicopter pilots are made here at South Whiting Field.
Across the base, perhaps a mile straight-line drive is North Whiting Field with its flotilla of fixed-wing aircraft – the T-34C Turbo Mentor – affectionately known as the “Tormentor” by salty students. It’s a turboprop aircraft – a jet engine powers the prop – and it is fully-aerobatic. Every Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard pilot learns to fly fixed-wing first, even if you’ve got helos on your heart, because the Navy has learned the hard way that flying over the ocean requires making instrument pilots first, so this is the way it’s done and has been since the sea services started training helicopter pilots.2
Primary flight training is a syllabus of roughly 50-55 graded flights in the T-34, followed by aircraft selection at the end. Marines have 3 choices: Props,3 Jets,4 or Helos.5 Then Intermediate flight training based upon that selection, then Advanced. After you complete Advanced, you get your wings. After that you still have to go to the “RAG” – the Replacement Air Group – where you (finally) learn to fly your specific aircraft.
I’ve already finished The Basic School (TBS), a mandatory 26-week basic infantry course that all Marine officers go through after commissioning. I got married shortly thereafter, had to got on temporary duty for a few months while I waited for a “boat seat” – a slot in the training pipeline to open up for me, and that only got me down to P’Cola, where we endured 6 weeks of Aviation Indoctrination (AI), kinda like “Officer and a Gentleman” except without the drill instructors for those of us who are already officers.6
It took me an extra two weeks because I couldn’t pass one of the final swim events, the 15-minute tread-water in a flight suit, helmet, and boots, but now, having acquired some needed buoyancy from some carbonated beverages one weekend, here I am – the place I dreamed of when I first saw the Blue Angels barely more than a toddler at air shows over Quonset Point, Rhode Island in the early- to mid-1970s when they flew the A-4 Skyhawks.7
My good buddy, who graduated a little earlier than me from Boston University, is taking me on a tour of the squadron spaces. He’s about 5 months ahead of me in the pipeline and it’s great to have a friend who can help me as I learn the ropes. Jeff was a prior-enlisted Marine artilleryman who had gotten a scholarship to college, as well. He and I had become fast friends and he was the big brother I never had. In addition to being Navy ROTC Marine-options, we also played ice hockey together, sometimes as a defense pair. By good fortune, out of the three training squadrons on base, I’ve been assigned to the same one he was, Navy Training Squadron 2 (VT-2), the “Doer Birds”.
“And this is the CO’s office,” Jeff points as we walk down the hallway. He sticks his head in like it’s no big deal and then shrugs at me. “New CO isn’t in,” he says and we continue on toward the office where I can buy my patch, now that I know where I’m going.
“When did yo- we, get a new CO?” I ask politely.
“Few months ago…” Direct look at me – “…after the old one died.”
“Oh?” I kind of snicker, thinking this is the setup to a punchline.
“Old CO augured one in with a student last October. Kind of a bummer around here for a while, man. He was a good guy.”
“The CO died? With a student?”
“Yep. One of us – a Marine. Did you know Tom Gaffney?” I rack my brain but I don’t recognize the name.
“No.”
“Yeah. On his FAM-8 doing spins. CO put pro-spin rudder in and that tightened the spin into a spiral.” Now he gestures with his finger in a cork-screwing motion downward. “Ran out of altitude; right into the ground. Boom.” This is not the punchline I was anticipating.
In the Naval Aviation syllabus, the first Familiarization Flight (“FAM-1”), is largely a ride-along and demo by your instructor pilot (“IP”). FAM-2 is the student taking off, and FAM-3 is the student landing. FAM-6 includes stalls; FAM-8 is spins, and FAM-13 is the check ride for the FAM-14 solo.8
“Damn,” I mumble to myself. That puts a bit of a damper on things.
“Yep. Real deal, here, baby.” He chuckles and slaps me on the back. “Don’t worry, Snailman. You’ll be fine. You’re gonna crush it, buddy.”
“Let’s get you your big orange myna bird, brother, and I’ll drop you back over at ground school.”
April 15, 1992
I hear about it at the O-Club.
A T-2C Buckeye, the jet trainer used in Intermediates, with two instructors in it, is doing carrier landings on the Forrestal, when an F-14 asks for some help because it’s got a “stuck gear” indication, a little black-and-white alternating striped “flag” we call a “barber pole.” The T2 gets up close to have a look at the F-14’s gear, gets too close, and gets “sucked up” into the F-14’s wing by the infamous F-14 “jet wash”.9 Both instructors eject, the T2 goes into the drink, but unfortunately, only one of them is recovered.
My first flight is only a few weeks away. The story makes page 1A of the Pensacola News Journal the next day. My wife asks about it and I brush it off with a wry joke. Jet guys are obviously not even smart enough to watch Top Gun and know about F-14 jet wash, heh.
And now, the Fun Begins.
May 13, 1992
Finally, for real this time.
Two days ago I satisfied my on-wing that I could pre-flight the T-34C and pass his little tests and tricks. My “On-Wing” is the instructor who is going to teach me how to fly the T-34 over the course of the first 8 flights, before I go “off-wing” with different instructors for a couple of flights to ensure that other pilots get a look at each student. Then I go back on-wing for a couple of flights, before my check-ride, my FAM-13X, where I have to prove to a Standardization pilot that I’m “safe for solo.” It’s two-days past one year since I was commissioned as a Second Louie, an officer of Marines.
Yesterday was my first flight, which on the syllabus is mostly “show-and-tell” and I’m not technically on the hook for anything, however… I almost shit my pants on take-off because holy shit is everything happening fast and oh-fuck-here-come-the trees jesuschristwhenishegoingtopullup! AND WHO PUTS A RUNWAY FACING A TREELINE!
The truth is that I’m terrified and I’m trying to decide how I’m going to explain to my family and friends that I absolutely can NOT do this. I’m afraid of heights and have been since I was a child. Somehow, the Marine Corps has managed to make me prove I’m willing to overcome even that fear, but obstacle and rope courses and rappelling down cliffs just aren’t the same thing as flying.
…But there’s no time to quit because it’s study-study-study and then crawl all over my aircraft in my “spare” time, then eat, PT, practice the landing pattern I’ve chalked out in our apartment parking lot while I walk around it (to the chagrin of our neighbors) mimicking the radio calls because tomorrow I have to be able to land this fucking thing without killing us. Then back to read the Teenie-Weenie’s NATOPS10 manual before bed to read every WARNING, Caution, and Note… There’s just not enough time for me to quit. I decide I’ll quit next week, after I get through this first week.
Right now I’m trying to focus as I stand on the wing while I get the parachute straps out of the way because LT Tim King, USN, is peppering me with questions in his syrupy Georgia draaawwwl about the aircraft’s oil system and how the prop is lubricated. I’m as stolid as a Chinaman in calculus class and I answer with flat affect. He hops in the back as I finish strapping into my parachute and the aircraft’s front seat, pull out my NATOPS pocket checklist, and we begin the challenge and response for each item in the Pre-Start checklist.
I make sure my rudder pedals are cranked back for my short legs because today’s big ticket item is that I’m going to taxi us out to the runup area where we’ll conduct our pre-takeoff checks, and then I, with the help of God Almighty, am going to take-off for the first time. I’m still not sure I’m going to be able to keep this thing on the runway once I put the power control lever (PCL) to the firewall and I’m getting all 1080 ft-lbs of torque so I CAN CLEAR THOSE F***ING TREES AT THE END OF THE RUNWAY(!).
But that problem is a distant luxury because right now I have two bigger problems: I have to prove first that I can start this sucker up, and then master the differential braking to steer our bird out of the line and down the row of aircraft, along the taxiways to the runup area without crashing into anything. I have taxied this particular aircraft – or any aircraft at all – exactly zero point zero times prior to this moment. And that’s right, kids, there is no steering wheel.
The Teenie-Weenie has one nose-gear that moves like the front wheels on a shopping cart and two main mounts under the wings. To “steer” the aircraft has brakes that can be engaged by depressing the top of the rudder pedals – the things which normally, in flight, control yaw by moving a control surface on the vertical stabilizer. On the ground, however, it is a combination of differential pressure with my feet on the very top of each rudder pedal while using the left hand to manipulate the PCL to control the prop and thus the speed of the aircraft. (Got all that? Yeah, me neither.)
I give the proper hand signal to the civilian contract ground crew that I’m firing up the engine and he acknowledges it back. I hear the igniters, the jet engine’s version of spark plugs, popping and then the “can” – the combustion chamber – lights. The blades on the prop start turning and in a few short minutes I’m through the Start checklist and Post-Start checklist, the radios are crackling, and each of us slides our canopy forward. With a thunk and clack, I latch mine down.
“I have the controls,” I say with 100% completely fake confidence.
“You have the controls,” Lt King repeats the phrase back, and I assert it again, “I have the controls” to complete the required “three-way, positive change of controls.”11
The ground handler signals me forward and I push the PCL forward, a little, while I let my foot on each brake relax and take pressure off, but now I’ve got to turn left – pressure on left, less on right – and the nose swings, and I think I’ve got it… oh, shit, he’s saluting me – I snap back my most crisp, Marine-aviator salute with my right hand, and I’m glad I’ve got the dark visor down on my helmet because I’m actually looking down at my feet and the pedals while trying to keep my head up straight.
I feel like Fred Astaire on methamphetamine, but (somehow) I manage to taxi to the run-up area completely clean: and I do mean clean. I’m downright giddy, but I keep my voice aviator cool over the intercom system (ICS) as I turn over the controls to my instructor. He can hear me grinning.
“Sometimes even a blind squirrel finds a nut, Loo-tenuhnt Suh-ray-uhn,” my instructor observes wryly. I laugh because it’s 1992 and I’ve never heard that joke before, but I’m smiling and so damn relieved it just falls out of me. He completes the run-up while I try to follow what he’s doing on the aircraft’s gauges. We get a clearance from Ground Control to taxi to the duty runway and I take back controls to get us there. Now I WANT to taxi the damn thing to prove I wasn’t lucky the first time – Hey… I’m getting the feel for driving this damn thing!
Ground clears us to the hold short line and tells us to switch to Tower’s frequency. I switch the radio to Tower for the final approval to take the active runway for takeoff, my feet on the brakes holding us at the line… I take a deep breath and try to steady myself.
…And then all hell breaks loose on the radios.
“BEEEWWWW! BEEEWWWW! BEEEWWWW!!” breaks across the radio followed shortly thereafter by:
“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! This is Two-Echo-Two-Niner-Three, I’ve just had a midair collision…”
What is going on in my head at this exact moment: Wow. They really go for realism here. Huh. I thought our Fam Training Guide said we were supposed to do all of our simulated emergency calls in the cockpit only to our instructor…? Not out loud for the world to hear! Okay, make a mental note.
What comes out of my instructor’s mouth: “Can you see them Loo-ten-uhnt?!” I can hear his voice change while he cranes his neck from the back seat.
“Who?” I ask with complete sincerity.
“The aircraft coming back from the midair!” he all but screams, as if I am crazy.
In my total focus on the here-and-now, very-much-present problem of the takeoff I am currently holding short to accomplish, I have entirely tuned out the ongoing radio traffic between the Tower and one of the two aircraft in this ongoing, real-life, midair collision between two training aircraft.
As I turn my attention to the radio traffic it becomes clear that an aircraft from VT-3, one of our sister squadrons, with a student on his FAM-6 in front and an instructor in back, has declared an emergency, the airspace has been cleared, and they have a single barber pole – a stuck gear indication. They are asking to do a fly-by of the Tower to look with some binos to see if one of their main gear is really hung up or if they just have a faulty indication.
“Switch me to Base frequency. Let me see if I can get permission for us to go up and do a visual.” My instructor is all business now. “You okay with that? You may lose the ex, but you’re comfortable with that, yes?” All the latest in crew-coordination training requires him to ask me this question.
“-Yessir. Switching.” I do not hesitate. I flip the radio from the tower preset channel to our home base preset. Now let me be clear: I do not do so out of courage. I do so entirely because I am an idiot who has fallen for every bit of Marine Corps Oo-rah there is. I know there is no other option if I’m ever going to show my face in the organization again. And in the exact same thought, right alongside that stick, I also think of the carrot: I’ll have the best O’Club lunch “There I Was” story any FAM-2 student has ever had in his f***ing life! I’ll tell you what, buddy!
And then, the longer we sit and I listen to this play out, and my instructor is on the radio to base, the T2 mishap is sitting right in the middle of my brain.
Pessimistic Angel on shoulder: You’re gonna be along for the ride like a smoked ham…
Optimistic Devil on Shoulder: …but it’s a chance to be a hero!
Tim King interrupts my reverie to tell me that Base has disapproved our adventure. We listen while North Whiting Tower passes the aircraft off to South Whiting Tower for the potential gear-up landing. They don’t say why, but LT King mentions to me that likely they don’t want to gouge up our runway and close operations, whereas the helo guys at South Whiting can work around that no problem. Frank Herbert’s Dune and “the Spice must flow” comes to mind. The Training Pipeline Must Flow because out there in the Fleet is a boat spot with each of our names on it – or perhaps more accurately, according to projections on a spreadsheet for a distant fiscal year in the Pentagon.
Tower clears us for takeoff. I manage to get the aircraft into the air and past those bleeping trees at the end of runway 23. I believe all of the hubbub inclines my instructor to be gentle with me. We have an uneventful FAM-2 and return home two hours later.
Meanwhile…
Epilogue – The Burdens They Bear
While I complete my first take-off and we go our merry way, the local news picks up the crash and it hits the television. Jeff is in intermediates, but isn’t scheduled to fly until later, so he hears about the crash from the news. We live in the same apartment complex, so he calls my house to see if I know anything and instead gets my wife.
Jeff: “Hey, uh, just calling to see if the Snail’s around. He home?”
Wife: “No, Jeff. He’s flying. He’s at the squadron. Is everything okay?”
Jeff: “Yeah, yeah. No problem. I’ll call him later. Gotta go.”
Television Set an hour later: “There’s been a mid-air collision between two training aircraft at Naval Air Station Whiting Field in Milton, Florida. No details have yet emerged, however, witnesses say pieces of aircraft…”
Wife: ………….
When I get home, I am completely baffled as to why she is crying and upset.
The next day me and all of my friends are off of the schedule to go look for pieces of the T-34 that didn’t come back: one of our instructors, a VT-2 pilot, on a post-Maintenance check ride collided with the other aircraft. He managed to successfully recover the aircraft from uncontrolled flight twice, but got too low and, in trying to save the aircraft instead of bailing out, or perhaps not having any good place to put it without risking the aircraft going into a house, ran out of altitude. Into the ground. We learn all of this later on, after the investigation, and the memorial service.
I am flying within a day: FAM-3, the landing pattern. Once they start you flying, the Navy has learned that it is best to not have any breaks. They do NOT want you to have much time between flights. It’s like learning the piano – practicing every day for an hour is way more important than once a week for five hours. They talk to us about how to “manage” flying with the stresses of family and kids, but the reality is that we compartmentalize like nothing I’ve ever experienced. When I’m flying, my focus is total, complete – my family doesn’t even exist for me when I’m in the air.
This is The Way.
1 Some mishaps have links to archived news articles, as well, but given how long ago it was, military aviation’s insular nature, it is difficult to find very good or useful info regarding military mishaps.
2 It is worth noting that in 1991 at least, Whiting Field (helos and fixed-wing together) was among the busiest airports in the world by takeoffs and landings. I checked for this article and still is: https://www.pnj.com/story/news/military/2017/02/16/whiting-fields-air-space-tops-nations-busiest-airports/97892872/
3 …Which eventually leads to flying C-130s (and getting a job in the airlines afterwards).
4 …Which eventually leads to either F-18Ds or AV-8B Harriers.
5 …Which can lead anywhere from the massive, 3-engined CH-53E, to the workhouse, Vietnam-era transport CH-46D/E, to the UH-1N “Hueys” (the ones in every Vietnam movie with the doors pinned back), or, my dream, the AH-1W SuperCobra – the Whiskey.
6 We had genuine sympathy for the NavCads – Naval Aviation Cadets – who were around us, but never allowed to interact with us, during AI and all of the dunkers, swimming, O’Courses, and the rest of that shit you saw Richard Gere and his cohort go through.
7 The Blue Angels off-season practice airfield is NAS Pensacola. On Wednesdays or Thursdays (I can’t remember now), you could actually go sit in the bleachers at the airfield and watch the entire show, with the announcer doing his whole routine.
8 The syllabus moves extremely fast and is often referred to by the students as “drinking from a firehose.” It’s the post-Top Gun era and there is no shortage of young, able-bodied men who would love to be in our flight boots. Our instructors have made this clear to us: 3 “downs” – fail a test; fail a brief; or fail a flight – and you go home.
9 Yes yes! The infamous “jet wash” from Top Gun where Goose dies. Yes, no bullshit. The F-14 is known for that because of its wings.
10 Naval Aviation Training and Operating Procedures manual. Every aircraft has one and it is required to be memorized from cover to cover. It has been drilled into us that “the NATOPS manual has been written in blood.” Our instructors can even point out which particular Warning, Caution, or Note in there came as a result of a particular fatal mishap.
11 Yes, people have died because pilots get distracted and no one is actually flying the flippin’ aircraft. The (in)famous 1972 eastern Airlines crash into the Everglades is one such example. As flight students, we listened to the cockpit voice recorder in our annual crew coordination training (one of many).
Great read Ozy. Good friend is a private pilot and until I got close to him I had no idea how much fucking work the radio is in an aircraft.
Good piece. I’ve read a lot of the regular mishap reporting from Navy traffic – while I was active duty. Haven’t kept up on most stuff lately.
It did piss off us SWOs when the pilots made LTJG before they ever got to their first actual tour – just based on length of training (that and kicking us out of our berthings when they came on board – depending on platform). There was an update that’s happening to their career path now to change things a little…but I can’t recall it at the moment.
Damn.
These are great, Ozy! As a plane geek with zero interest in flying, your stories are fascinating.
Get Your Wings
Wow. I have a nephew who got his pilot’s license when he was 16, went to Purdue for aviation, and just started flying for a smaller airline in the SW. I know that’s way different from what you did, but I’m happy my sister didn’t hear any of your stories. She never would have let him leave the house.
cool stuff
Agreed
Good job Oz. And I still think the humpbacked Skyhawks are the best-looking jets ever.
F-4
F4: the swept back geometry is the coolest thing ever wrought by sliderule, then add those toothy camo paintjobs
I got to hear F4s rattle out every morning while stationed at Hollman AFB. They were ‘drones’ but still…awesome power.
F-15
F-111
F1-11?
BR5-49?
Big fan of the F-16 over here.
A-10’s baby. As a ground pounder having A-10s or AH-64’s in the area meant Haji most likely wasn’t going to fuck with us. One truck of idiots didn’t learn the lesson beforehand and Mr Apache set them straight.
Fascinating story Oz! I am looking forward to the next installment.
The A-10 has this sort of muscular look to it for sure, and as far as its mission goes there’s no reason to replace it. It’s annoying that the Air Force keeps trying.
If there were an aviation equivalent to a romance novel cover, the F-16 would be the sexy female protagonist and the A-10 would be the chiseled, hunky love interest.
In case anyone such as Tundra cares, here is the link to Matt and Walter’s live cast of the debate. Those two are in rare form tonight.
https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1MYxNMEaRVwJw
Should be fun.
Vance is beating the piss out of Lolz.
It is like watching a high school football coach going against KC’s coach.
I can see why the Dems were worried about Vance…dude is…solid. Politics maybe not, but man can hold the conversation.
Vance has this amazing ability to make he points he wants to make, and then circle back and directly answer the question. This guy’s good.
Assistant high school football coach
Smartest guy talking on his feet I’ve seen in a long time.
“What responsibility would the Trump administration have to reduce the impact of climate change?”
And… the moderation is totally fair and balanced once again. 🙄
PS. That is the first and last 30 seconds I am going to waste on that shit.
Don’t blame ya. “Vance, Trump wants to kill immigrants, why do you want to do that?”
We’re still digging out from a terrible, deadly storm. Let’s talk about the boutique, leftist issue of climate change.
Jesus. And I thought the ABC crew were hacks. O’Donnell with the “scientists say…” fact check to get the last word on that segment.
Vance has taken control of the conversation. He’s good.
Thanks, brother, I’m watching now.
Walter makes me angrier than I would have been.
Only heard a snippet, but Vance killed a bullshit question on climate change.
I just don’t care enough to follow this election season. I’ll tune in on election night hoping for a proggie meltdown like in 2016.
You made the right decision. I give up. They can talk until doomsday. Pie is right, both sides will declare victory and no minds will be changed. What a waste of time.
Modern elections are about energizing your own base and demoralizing the opponent’s. There’s barely any true “independents.” Most people donning the label are of the easily persuadable type are going to pull the lever for the D’s because that’s what society tells them to do.
Watching now. They’re playing the drinking game. They’re going to be hammered in about an hour.
Hour? I give it 20 more minutes
Vance is all like, “I don’t care what your question is, biatches, imma talk about what imma talk about.”
Did Walz say drug mules were not real?! Jesus.
Hey Ozy, great series, but I am curious if you know someone. A high school friends older brother went to Annapolis, and became a helo pilot in the corps. He would have been class of ’88 or so, and his name was Bob Hamilton.
Like I said, just curious.
No matter what one thinks of Geo. W. Bush, you have to acknowledge that learning to fly a jet demonstrates he wasn’t a moron.
I can’t stand listening to Walz. But it is less painful than listening to Harris.
That bill Walz keeps talking about was a steaming pile of shit. It just funded processing immigrant benefits faster, not keeping them out.
And…Senator Vance just smacked her down.
Bitchy fact check at the last second – good for Vance for not taking it.
It’s entirely disrespectful and condescending to the candidates and the audience to have media members “fact check.”
No one is there to hear what random journo major thinks on an issue. No one is voting for them. And then to just cut through the bullshit, it’s all about carrying water for Dems who are intellectual weaklings incapable of defending their flimsy bullshit arguments on their own. Their only hope of persuasion when countered by anyone even slightly competent is to claim authority and form a circle jerk around their target.
The best cookie.
That is not a cookie. It looks delicious, but that is not a cookie.
Whatever. Would crush.
Merely uncooked.
Cookie dough is delicious. Who has time to make proper ‘shapes?’
Not undercooked. They are fat because they are made with brown sugar and baking soda. It’s intentional. It is misshapen.
The inside has a layer of peanut butter. It’s not meant to be doughy.
And they are crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside with a gooey layer of peanut butter in the middle.
Well, if you switched out the basic bitch chocolate chips with coconut, or maybe some currants, then we are talking.
But, as it stands, raisons might even be better.
Also, these are peanut butter cookies. I would never taint my peanut butter with coconut.
The best pepperoni pizza.
Define a cookie and we’ll talk.
Cookies can be layered and have inside fillings.
That looks more like a cookie sandwich. Or maybe a stuffed cookie. Cookies don’t ooze ingredients out of their middle. Cookies are solid(ish) baked dough* with varying ingredients. Most notably, oatmeal and raisins.
*Except for No-Bake Cookies
A stuffed cookie? Then it’s a cookie.
MikeS is not wrong, although pepperoni rolls, where the pepperoni is baked with the bread dough are even better.
OMG, Nick. You reminded me of my mom’s pepperoni loaf. I need to make some. Or have my SIL make some…she crushes it, too.
Kamala comes from the Middle Class – drink!
Well, Berkeley is right between Piedmont and Albany, so, that’s middle class, right?
Didn’t her commie parents play-act in Oakland for a few years?
Before winding up in the tony part of Montreal, of course. Slumming is only fun for so many years.
That’s supposed to matter? Dem heroes JFK and FDR were so far ahead growing up, they couldn’t see “middle class” in the rearview mirror.
I’m really glad I’m not playing Matt’s drinking game.
Dumbass Walz “Im a union guy” as union guys shutdown all our imports.
I can’t believe he said that.
And these bitches are absolutely horrible.
Awesome timing.
There aren’t even that many rules, and I lost count of how many times they drank. Yikes.
It’s cool they challenged Walz on the Hong Kong lie.
And he doesn’t address the issue.
And smashed himself on that answer
He addressed it! I wish I could get away with “I misspoke” as my excuse when I lie. It didn’t work when I was a kid. *kicks pebble*
That was amazing.
Why the fuck didn’t JD jump on that shit?
Vance doesn’t get rattled.
And he got a gig in on Harris avoiding interviews.
Good answer on this.
So, coming at you live from the historic Plains hotel in Cheyenne WY https://theplainshotel.com/ and outside of parking, I am pretty happy. There are a ton of brewers, pups, Asian restaurants, it is clean, quiet, and downright nice. Had a 10 hour drive today, and tomorrow should be around the same. Not sure if I will be cutting through Denver in the AM, or going straight out the 80, but things will be the same out the windows: flat.
Cheyenne is on my list. If this keeps getting worse I’ll be there.
If you want to have lunch, let me know. minnetundra@gmail.com
Thanks, but I am gonna be moving fast and hitting Denver early if I head that way.
@Zwak. How far are you going along I80?
I’m sorry to hear that you’re in Wyoming.
I’m sorry to know you keep returning to New York.
I really like Wyoming.
Wyoming is the most depressing place I’ve been that wasn’t the Navajo Reservation.
Why?
It’s a desolate, desturated, barren place. I could feel myself growing more depressed the more I looked upon the wasteland.
I’m sad for you that you were unable (or unwilling) to see the beauty that was surrounding you.
There was no beauty in 85% of the state.
Please be sure to spread that hot take far and wide on the east coast. Tell them it applies to the entirety of “flyover”. Well, I mean those that don’t already think that.
The most shocking thing was how quickly things changed across the border in any direction.
It’s just this large blob across Wyoming where content forgot to be added to the world.
De gustibus non est disputandum
UCS just revealed one great thing about Wyoming. The I-80 corridor can be brutal. Just plains and wind and depending on the season- hot or frigid. But just over the northern horizon, and in places close by, is great beauty. The state has all the wildlife from the 1800’s and there are less resident today that when it became a state. Wyoming is my favorite state, by far.
The very center of WY has the Wind River mountains and the town on both flanks are great.
I’m sorry to hear that you’re in Wyoming.
UCS, I’m going to assume that you were smashed from playing the drinking game in the debate when you wrote this. I’d love to move to Wyoming if I could talk Mrs. Holiness into it.
The place is amazingly beautiful. Mountains, critters, farms, it has everything.
But like MikeS said, keep spreading the news out East about Wyoming. More goodness for us.
And if the Yellowstone Mega-Volcano ever erupts, anyone living there won’t have to worry about surviving in the post-apocalyptic world.
Jimbo, I’m not sure we’ve been to the same state.
The I-80 corridor across WY parallels the original transcontinental railroad. That route was chosen because it was the easiest, read most boring, route across the Continental Divide. So of course, I-80 is boring.
Cheyenne and Laramie are lovely small cities, as is Green River in the western part of the corridor. Rock Springs sucks, even to natives of the state.
But places like Pinedale, Lander, Meeteetse are wonderful. All of them over the horizon from I-80.
IIRC, UCS went to Jellystone and didn’t appreciate the sulfur.
Honestly, that’s just a small part of what makes Yellowstone so fucking awesome.
I-80, now … Last time I went to Utah (2011), it was a parking lot. Pretty sure it hasn’t improved.
Huh? That is crazy talk. He visited a hot spot in the Earth’s crust with several huge chambers of magma just a short way below the surface. Of course there is a sulfur smell. I can understand not enjoying the smell by some hydro features but move a short distance away and see the “so much more” that is Yellowstone.
But to each their own. The more people who think of Wyoming as a hell spot, the less people I will have to share space with. (Hopefully)
Somebody stop the fight, this is brutal.
I’m not watching, but from everyone’s comments I’m guessing the MSM will call it a tie.
I am not sure they can. Walz hasn’t even answered a question really. They’d have to splice multiple soundbites to get an answer
I hope you’re right. But the are getting more and more comfortable at telling bolder and bolder lies.
I see you TOK! They are loving the comments
project 2025
drink
Fuck Walz.
Let talk about all the tragic tales of women.
We want women to have free choice over their bodies? I’d prefer if all could be trusted with such autonomy.
It’s only re: Abortion, ain’t it? Yes. Most important issue, evah.
It’s only half over? Can Tim take this for another hour?
No it’s 90 minute thank the Lord.
My God…
I can’t take it anymore. I have Halloween movie posts to write up.
Count Potato, if you are out there, this is what you need to grab:
Tsui Hark’s Vampire Hunters
Barbie & Kendra Crash Joe Bob’s Drive-in Jamboree
Blackenstein
Cemetery Man
Happy Little Bunnies
Looking forward to watching my new blu-ray of Cemetery Man.
Not sure about that Vampire Hunters, but I do have new blu-rays for Mr. Vampire and all the sequels (imports) as well as the official UK BR for Close Encounters of the Spooky Kind (which I hope is an upgrade from the HK disc).
Every movie you mention is still behind a paywall. Encounters of the Spooky Kind 2 is in Internet Archives and may get a post in November.
I haven’t seen a beating like this since Rodney King!
we understand the 2nd, but children . . . .
fuck your rights, cause children . . . .
Unless it’s abortion, in which case fuck the children.
Literally
Vance fucks up by bringing up mental illness in the gun topic. Thanks for giving ammunition to the red flag fucks.
I gotta be honest I haven’t been impressed.
There are a dozen people here who would do better.
I would rather being seeing Gabbard crushing Walz right now.
But Trump has a history of selecting terrible people for his inner circle. Vance is far better than many other options.
But he’s missed so many chances. I’m disappointed.
He circled around to it
Vance is a red flag fuck, isn’t he?
Red flag laws appeal to the segment of Republicans who still trust government to do things.
Despite years of watching the government stage a coup against their guy and just generally fuck things up, there is still a strong impulse among many R’s to go along with this shit.
Yup. Background checks, red flag laws, safe storage, etc…
Walz “I have become friends with school shooters”
I heard that as well.
Uh. Huh. What an odd way to have “misspoke.”
After midnight mass I murder babies.
See my comment above.
Thanks, got it.
I’m impressed with Vance. I could live with a Trump term leading to two Vance terms.
Walz is a moron lecturing the misfits who’ve been held back a second time.
Vance will not talk about the Fed.
Pussy.
Because he likely agrees with everything they do. That and his buddy Lina at the FTC. Anyone who believes Vance is a traditional conservative should look into him more. He’s part of a new wave of populist “conservatives” who don’t mind big government when it does things that “feel right”.
I’ve been completely disengage from politics since the Trump assassination. Not because that bothered me, but just because I was disinterested.
But wasn’t there a point in time where Vance was a garden variety anti-Trump Repub? He sounds like a guy who jumped on a bandwagon. I could be wrong, but that’s what I remember hearing.
Yes. I was hoping that the PayPal Mafia would be better, but I was wrong.
According to a tweet from a couple weeks before the election, he voted for Evan McMullin
I so don’t trust Trump to surround himself with the right people.
If there is one thing Trump has proven he excels at, it’s that he’s virtually incapable of hiring good and/or competent people. When he accidentally does it, he can’t retain them.
Vance wasted his answer on housing.
What economist?
Adam Smith – he called it the Law of Supply and Demand.
Walz takes pride in being old.
Walz actually explains risk-based insurance pricing and celebrates undermining it.
Yeah, fuck that guy.
Black pills for everyone!
I’ll take mine cyanide flavored.
Trump/Vance is far less evil than Harris/Walz.
I don’t like Trump. So far, I don’t have a particular reason to dislike Vance. But I expect that to change with exposure.
But I totally fear Harris/Walz.
The reason to fear them is that they are very obviously puppets of the neocon establishment
Oh no, don’t repeal Obamacare! I might have to go back to my $200 a month HMO with no deductible. The horror!
We need Obamacare so the refugees can come in and get on Medicaid and get their $25 a month to spend on shit that they either resell or send back home. It’s welfare for the poor non-citizen and corporations. The perfect Democrat program.
It seems that the reason Valve updated the arbitration the Steam Subscriber agreement because it lost part of a court case.
This is not surprising.
I am surprised that Walz was elected as a Governor. Based on his performance, I would give him a 50/50 chance of being elected as the mayor of a medium sized city.
Walz didn’t bomb; the media will spin it as a total win; the gaslighting will continue unabated.
Eh…it was ‘enough’ for the media. Which makes me think that was the plan
And we go to Trump’s revolution on J6. How do you respond Vance?
That was the ‘gotcha’ question for the talking points
Fuck Walz; Fuck Walz; Fuck Walz
What did he do now?
I already hate his commie loving ass, so what has he done to make me hate him more?
Jan 6 and the police dying.
The same fucking lies over and over and over.
Book banning, asshole?
Fire in a crowded theater?
Trump won in 2020. It was clearly rigged. Nobody has come close to convincing me otherwise.
Even if not true…its acceptable speech.
Fuckin’a
Somebody would have to explain to me how 7 states just stopped counting on election night. One (NC) had an improbable come-from-behind win for an unpopular Dem Governor. The other 6 states found a statistically impossible number of votes for Biden in the ensuing days.
:Drake
Ever since the Al Franken (and probably before, but I wasn’t paying attention) Senate race, all recounts/late votes have only broken for the Dems. Never, ever, ever has there been and adjustment that favors the GOP.
I’m sure some smart statistician can show how that is not only possible, but expected. Right?
+1 ballot box left in car
In 2020 there was an academic article stating that Trump would appear to win in a landslide on election night, but after all of the recounts it would be Biden in a landslide.
At the time Biden had an insurmountable lead in the polls.
They just published the same warning. In the midst of article after article saying Kamala is winning, they again say Trump will appear to win big on election night, but once all the votes are in, it will be Kamala in a landslide.
They are telling you right to your face.
I am done.
Governor Walz, why did you say you were at the tianamen square protests?
“When I was a kid, we rode our bikes until the sun went down. Then I joined the guard….”
for real?!?!
For real.
Gave his whole hick story of becoming a teacher and creating a program to take kids to China to educate them.
Yay! Hero.
He learned lots from Momala
I was stunned the moderators asked that question. Even more stunned that Walz tried to tap dance around answering the question.
Laughed when the moderators called him out for not answering and had to go back to his “I’m not a liar, I’m just a knucklehead”. Yeah, I’m too dumb to lie is a great defense.
I wonder if the moderators, were confused that he wasn’t prepared to answer that question.
HAHAH! Embrace that Dick Chaney endorsement!
OK. That was terrible.
Remind me to never do that again.
That was far better than the Trump Harris fiasco.
This is one of the few debates I have ever listened to/watched. I mostly did it because it is the middle of the day here and I could have it on in the background.
It is amazing how horrible these are.
On one hand the GOP should just stop doing these. There is no way to “win” when the moderators are so biased. On the other hand, the bias is so bad, I think it actually makes people take the underdog’s side in them.
I think a lot of non-political people see that and think “that ain’t fair, I’m rooting for the guy everyone is piling onto”. It also helps that Vance is really good at this format.
Biased? Oh come on! Tonight we finally heard the voices of the unheard. Why, there were questions about… let’s see…. climate change (teed up by a terrible natural disaster, the ramifications of which will be felt for a long time), January 6, democracy in peril, etc. You know, real kitchen table stuff.
I’m not surprised at all by how bad Walz did. When he ran for gov last time, he got beat up at the FarmFest debate by his opponent.
Luckily for Walz the local media never, ever mentioned that debate. I think there was another one on local tv later that was “moderated” more like today’s.
Also, Walz benefitted in that race by scaremongering on abortion.
Vance won.
But is there an “undecided voter” at this point.
Censorship was discussed, thats a plus
Vance won.
Doesn’t matter.
Walz didn’t lose bad enough.
That’s disappointing.
How credulous do you have to be not to see through that hack?
I think through the chaff, its clear Vance had the clearer answers, and Walz drowned in talking points over and over. Vance did struggle through some while reverting to safe-space talking points.
People will consume their favorite propaganda sites and determine who was better based on that though. With all the live-streaming, the crux of the voting blocs still await the media to tell them what to think.
Oh the MSNBC panel….so fucking funny. I could have played a game or jacked off…but this is gold.
And there you have it.
Vance missed a few chances to stick the knife in.
Walz is going to have to see a chiropractor after all those neck snapping head turns. I thought his head was going to explode at one point.
And, of course, kudos to the gals for their witness leading and loaded questions.
I think Walz transcribed the entire debate in his notebook.
Hey Ozzy. If it’s any consolation, I had a post 4 years ago that occurred on a debate night.
They just turn into an open post on the debate.
Which makes it legendary
I noticed this spin in the breif moments I watched the analysis. These were quite obviously preplanned phrases handed out before the debate.
Vance is a “slick speaker”
Walz connects with “real people”
Anything else?
Gaslighting 101
Keep the govt. out of your medical decisions, unless its a covid vaccine?
We must save democracy.
I didn’t watch a minute but I bet that made an appearance.
And again, Trump lost hundreds of court cases about the election. I seem to recall the courts refusing to hear them.
Trump only filed 3 or 4. Didn’t lose any.
Most of the cases on his side were never heard on the merrits….
Which is a loss, from the point of view of getting things corrected.
My favorite Walz slick talking: “There were hundreds of police officers beaten on Jan 6. Some even the US Flag. Several of them died later”.
I guess technically that is true. But there would be a lot of community notes on X if you posted that there. Like the one cop dying was from a stroke that can’t be linked to any beating/bear spray/stress.
There were over 50,000 people at the rose bowl.
Some died later
Trump’s fuckup in 2020 was he should have been suing states before the election about all the rule changes that they were putting in place because of Covid.
In Minnesoda they did the old Advocacy Group Sues Sec of State About Law So SoS Settles Which Usurps the Legislature’s Right to Write Laws, No One Cares trick.
I think that it would at least have given him a better chance in post-election lawsuits if he could point to the pre-election lawsuits he had started.
The problem with all that shit, though, is what realistic remedy is there after the election? The piss is in the pool. How do you get it out?
A good high speed hydrocyclone will remove the mineral contaminants.
No standing, no issue, etc etc. The courts were part of the entire rubber stamp for the Democrat machine/deep state.
Just like Congress and Pence abdicating any role in certifying results.
Msnbc. Holy crap. They are just
Just…
OK, remember Mythbusters? The fun guy used to say “I reject your reality and substitute my own”
Yeah…. that is them…
https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1MYxNMEaRVwJw?s=09
Fun Fact, when Adam said that, he was quoting a bad movie, even if he forgot that was where it came from.
My favorite moment of the debate
I actually was paying attention to the screen and saw that. Awesome.
The only thing I could have asked for is a shot of the moderators’ faces when JD gave him the stinkeye.
The memes are already coming out and making me laugh.
Rich Lowry smiles at someone else getting dragged over a slip of hte tongue
Ya that was a bad slip of the tongue. Which I believe it is. I don’t like the dude’s policies, but don’t think he is palling around with school shooters.
OBE:
Exactly. Everyone knows it was true and just a verbal screwup, but if Vance had said it, the press would be treating it as 100% true. Like I noted above, Rich Lowry had a minor slip of the tongue and the MSM spent days pretending he barely avoided a Freudian slip that proved how racist he really is.
What did Walz just say, at that moment?
I can’t remember. I think they were talking about healthcare?
Well, let’s see. He did say he’s befriended school shooters, a broken foot is a pre-existing health care condition… just working off the top of my head.
LOL
Another
Mrs. Holiness walked by during this and asked me what I was listening to. I told her our governor was getting his clock cleaned. She watched for a few minutes and said that he looked like he was going to cry soon.
She’s the very epitome of non-political. So if Walz looked that bad to her, it was probably a good night for the GOP.
One guy with a helicopter does what he can:
https://x.com/thinktankfranks/status/1840794209952923930?s=42&t=US5RY2XJdxtzBMVTCOokTA
Counter example
https://youtu.be/si9kPy7IffU?si=AX0bSincu__o0iuF
This is why the government deserves our emnity
I’m livid that the TV station won’t air the name of the official who threatened to arrest that guy if he kept helping people. I get you want to get their side of the story, but if they won’t respond, too bad for them.
Just say that the official is Dick Head assistant fire chief of Bumfuck, SC according to the pilot. If it turns out that the pilot lied, offer a correction and let the accused sue the pilot for defamation.
Don’t let the asshole stay anonymous though.
I didn’t see the beginning… but i listened to Taibbi and Kirn surmizing that producers told the moderators to rein it in…
“They were on track for the worst debate of all time, then they went away and when they came back they backed off a lot”
So if you saw the beginning apparently you got to see grade A press interference
Yeah, I think I missed the first half hour or so too. By the time I started watching Walz was already in full flop sweat panic.
There were much more interventions, fact-checking, question swapping/add-ons in the first half. However, that was helping Vance IMO
Jake Tapper:
Vance Falsely claimed that Trump peacefully left office
If they’re going to accuse you of staging a coup, you might as well go and stage a coup.
I remember Trump shooting his way out of the White House, a gold-played Desert Eagle in each hand.
*plated
Did he do a 360 no scope shot because otherwise…its bunk.
I’m only saying what I remember.
https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/360-no-scope
I benefit from having young shithead teens
I just asked my middle son if he knew what that phrase meant.
He did.
He demonstrated it (without the gun, though).
He knew it, without even having to look it up.
I had to look it up.
I endured many a nights…watching him do this. The things we do in the name of children.
Actual footage of Trump leaving office: https://youtu.be/4weEXyoXZKs?si=-aVkJZc3tOVNWHRG&t=41
I look forward to stories tomorrow morning about how Vance had a better handle on policy, but Walz stole the show with his appeal to common people who are just trying to get by.
People who are friends with school shooters. Regular folks.
Also a union guy while unions hold the nation hostage.
People who get married on the anniversary of Tiananmen Square so they’ll remember the date.
Mrs OBE: We got married on your son’s b-day so I won’t be neglected.
Year 12…When is our oldest son’s b-day again?
I chose our wedding date based on a memorable calendar date. So far it’s worked for remembering.
On X right now…
Trending in Politics
Vance with Tampon Tim and Tianamen Square.
Yep they let Walz slide with his “Did I say that” routine. The memes out of this favor Trump/Vance
Good thing China bans mentions of Tianamen Square on tik-tok, otherwise we’d be flooded with dumbfuck gen-z dipshits doing “actshooally Tianamen Square was good” dances.
Whoever’s programming them could probably get them to turn from pro-Hamas to pro-CCP on a dime.
1) Pensacola: Wings of Gold
2) aviate, navigate, communicate
Drunkin wing run? God speed
No, just trying to throw out a somewhat post related comment.
Been sucking paint fumes all day, just finished up dinner and drinking a wee glass.
Obligatory: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FY5wM0d23s
Perfect
Walz is the perfect product of a feminized society. He’s a fucking woman posing as a man.
Just drink the bottle and take the pegging you asked for, Timmy.
He coached high school football! Football being bad, of course, unless it’s politically useful.
Ozy,
Good story. There were enough crashes in the fleet, I can’t imagine what it must have been like at the training base.
Being an instructor must have been a shit job. Like being a driving instructor except a million times worse.
lol: https://x.com/AceofSpadesHQ/status/1841312825890750733
Not just know…but became friends with. I am not sure I have ever experienced a spectacular gaff as that one in my lifetime.
Joe Biden enjoying the afternoon sun
How much money would it take to pay a Paul Ryan impersonator to run up and push him over the cliff?
Titty Tuesday wins the debate.
https://archive.is/TWxM9/baa974302263dfd145628635b96ec60f79b8ce06.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.is/0IGdQ/4b4478ea8609057d371b25e8a11996ab1283a632.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.is/kjN8Q/22a13f2217359bb05129d7d2c7b43f64dcf1fb10.jpg
NSFW.
https://archive.is/VqpFP/74a5ab19a6bb355ec844274378968acafbb8cec1.jpg
NSFW.
Best palate cleanser of all time.
Whoops
Immediately following the debate, CBS News surveyed voters nationwide who reported watching it in order to get their reaction.
Forty-two percent of debate watchers said Vance won the debate, while 41% thought Walz emerged as the winner. Seventeen percent called the debate a tie.
Not sure about those percentages…. but if you said anything other than “Vance” you were watching with partisan eyes
Interesting oversample of Dems, there.
Tim Walz on gun violence and school shootings
I have been to Norway. They have high gun ownership and they don’t have this problem. There are things we can do!
Uh…. deport non-scandanavians???
Yea, culture is a thing…. That is the third rail of politics now.
LaTosha Brown: ‘Vance was a chameleon’
The debate underscored a stark contrast between Waltz and Vance. Walz played the role of “the coach”, bringing receipts, sharing practical solutions and demonstrating real experience in addressing pressing issues. Walz showed that he knows how to govern – standing firmly with Kamala Harris’s vision and focusing on delivering tangible benefits to everyday Americans. His grounded explanations and proven record painted him as a steady, trustworthy leader ready to solve problems, not just win arguments.
On the other hand, JD Vance lived up to his reputation as a bit of a chameleon. He shifted positions throughout the debate to make himself more palatable. At one point, he flat-out lied about never supporting an abortion ban, a claim contradicted by his past actions. He refused to give a clear answer about who won the 2020 election and downplayed the January 6 insurrection as merely a protest. As Walz put it, Vance’s response was a “damning non-answer”.
Vance appeared cut from the same cloth as Donald Trump – willing to say anything to win, regardless of the truth. The debate made clear that voters face a choice: between Walz, whose authenticity and steady leadership reflect readiness to govern, and Vance, whose evasiveness shows a fixation on power over principle.
LaTosha Brown is the co-founder of Black Voters Matter
I off course did not see the debate but I take it this is a good takeaway
morning glibsters
source: unbiased factual media
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/oct/01/who-won-vp-debate-walz-vance
lol
I did not watch either, because I would rather poke my eyes out with a fireplace poker.
From New Zealand:
Interesting
…. they didn’t actually report what Vance said, they reported moderators.
Sorry the VP hubaloo partially stole some attention from your piece. It happens.
Of all alleys I’ve gone through…I’m quite thrilled I didn’t go down Military Way. It sounds, and is, terrifying.
“And that’s right, kids, there is no steering wheel.” ← Exhibit Several. This is piss-myself scary in its own odd way. The Cessnas I flew as a kid had one. They worked. I suppose I get the workings of why there isn’t a wheel, but it’s like everything: You don’t know ‘til ya’ve done it.
I love the O-Club! A place for everyone to let their internal pressure out. (Fun example: Hospitals don’t dare take away Smoke Breaks for nurses+.) <– (I had an explosion of thought on 'vent spots' and don't wanna dwell.)
“Pessimistic Angel on shoulder: You’re gonna be along for the ride like a smoked ham…”
We all have our own competing angels, don’t we? Fun to hear which ones we listen to. I’ve heard the Hero one in small samples in small arenas. It is there, but never been part of my life. Adapt or die. I imagine I’d be a reliably gritty soldier if it came down to it. I’d likely die in an odd way and make a good movie.
Yours is far better, and I’m happy I’ve never seen Top Gun and don’t get your references to it. (Basics, sure. I do know who Goose is. Kinda-sorta.)
Evan, stop typing. But thank you and I’m again eager for more. Reminds me of my desire to write about my new professional dive.
Morning, Glibs.
🥗
Yes, I probably am going to buy a salad on my way to the office.
Good morning, U, Sean, and (somewhere upthread) Grumble, and good afternoon, Pie!
Morning.
How goes?
So far so good! Got a good head start on month-end reports despite some errors (my own and others,) and my boss is working from home today, so I should make even more progress. How about you?
I woke up wioth my first alarm, went through much of my morning routine, then dozed until my second alarm, finished my morning routine and dragged myself in to the office. I’ve watered the Lavender and need to water the cactus. I managed to punt oldjob’s management impatience back at them witha list of questions needed to facilitate getting the work they want done done. For whatever reason, they don’t seem to have any answers for basic things.
I mean, you’re asking to be able to automate jobs on some new servers, you should be able to know how many you expect to have there, and whether they’re already written or not.
Why do you have to do oldjob stuff anyway??
I don’t
Newjob is managing the scheduler software that runs the automated jobs. Oldjob was PeopleSoft, which has a shitton of automated jobs. The past experience with the scheduler is what got me new job, but it means I’m not 100% free of having to deal with stuff related to oldjob.
I would take Oldjob’s bowler and knock out the management.
Ted, you’re thinking Oddjob, which is out of title work, and prohibited by contract.
Somebody isn’t wearing his pun gloves….
I donno, I thought my quip was funny. Maybe it’s bureaucrat humor and the lack of a triplicate form threw you.
Good morning all y’all.
😁🌄☕
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-N4jf6rtyuw
🎶🎶
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/breyers-to-pay-8-85-million-to-settle-natural-vanilla-ice-cream-dispute/ar-AA1rtsi7
Only the lawyers win.
Absolutely. Plus who the hell saves their grocery receipts.
So it’s like an $8 settlement max until it’s exhausted.
OTH, I’d actually like to know more on the underlying misrepresentation. I have no idea about vanilla and the forms it can take in commercial use. There are like a bazillion purely artificial forms of it and I have no idea what types fall in the middle.
I’ve found that since good grocery bags have been banned, receipts tend to accumulate in the bottom of the “reusable” bags, so I might have a bit of an archive.
https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/where-oh-where-is-fozzie-bear-nazareth-boy-offers-reward-for-lost-puppet/article_ed0905f0-8051-11ef-b2bb-a72690c69cb5.html
I care more about the Fozzie bear than I do about last night’s debates.
there are elements of US culture I am completely ignorant of. No idea what a fozzie bear is. apparently some muppets thing.
Glibs: “Wyoming is Beautiful!”
Meanwhile: Wyoming.
There’s no place I’d rather be roaming.
If you want to find that exact spot, it is just east of Cody.
I was waiting for the construction zone to allow traffic through in my direction, so I took a picture of the scenery.
Oh Yes I’m Going!
Through the plains and the trails and the streams and the hills
Having grown up on a bleak prairie, that actually does look beautiful.
You’ve been spoiled by the temperate rainforest you have here.
I need trees.
That is where I can actually afford to buy a couple hundred acres of space all to myself.
I saw some spots with large plots for sale, but my impression was that without a tree screen there was still no sense of privacy, despite the distance.
It is amazing how we have dropped all notions of critical thought and retrospect in favor of jacking off our preferred nominee.
Vance stumbled and fell into CBS trap when he shot back about fact checking. Didn’t matter if it were the rules, sound bite and meme instantly. Danced a bit with 2020 and J6 stuff but honestly…loaded question and a lose-lose situation.
Walz dropped the ball more IMO. I’m a union guy while union leaders hold commerce and trade hostage. Befriends school shooters and was allowed to dip and dive about China visits and instead tell us he grew up as a poor black child. Okay, maybe not that but did tell us he rode bikes with friends as a child.
So instead of people approaching it like this it’s Walz knocks out Vance! Vance levels Walz! No thought into things…just unzip and go to town.
It was overall at least two adults talking.
Didn’t recognize Walz, wearing city clothes.
His Carhartts must have been in the dry cleaners.