Rainy Days and Mondays - 8/7/2023

[howard lee]

'Nuff said.

Raining hard in New York this minute and for the next three hours at least.

Keep your powder dry, boys. And your mascara.

PS: Attended a showing of "Oppenheimer" with my son yesterday. We were both less than wowed by the script—don't you hate it when actors are compelled to telegraph what happens in the next scenes in their dialog? We knew that Oppenheimer was going to combine nuclear energy with his ranch in New Mexico. Did he have to say that before the Trinity project was begun? Oy.

The actors did a pretty great job in spite of the often lame moments in the script. Cillian Murphy and Robert Downing Jr were stellar, although Murphy's interpretation of the laconic speaking style of Oppenheimer sounded like Michael Keaton doing Batman a little too frequently. There were some surprising cameos, as well, including an aged and barely recognizable James Remar ("24 Hours") as the Secretary of War. It was sort of appropriate to see this on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, I guess.

[jdd2]

the Carpenters... my wife will like this one.


There's a typhoon out there, #6. Not sure what your news is calling it. Kind of an odd, slow path, with a strong zig and then zag, and now, it now appears to be heading straight north (korea).

And there's another low out there that will likely develop into the next storm (#7), tho given all probable paths, not a worry.

[howard lee]

Aug 7, 2023 6:14:23 GMT -5 jdd2 said:

the Carpenters... my wife will like this one.


There's a typhoon out there, #6. Not sure what your news is calling it. Kind of an odd, slow path, with a strong zig and then zag, and now, it now appears to be heading straight north (korea).

And there's another low out there that will likely develop into the next storm (#7), tho given all probable paths, not a worry.

As pop music from that era goes, they were pretty good and a guilty pleasure for me.

I hope your weather doesn't do any serious damage.

[factorychef]

Ron DeSantis and his wife were in Vinton Saturday. I was filling up my car and their bus stopped across from me and they got out of the bus to greet some people.They turned an both waved at me, I gave them the FINGER and they turned away. That made my week!

[Cornflake]

The Carpenters were good. I don't feel guilty about the pleasure.

I have a lot of to-dos today. They're all trivial but everything we do is trivial and we'll be forgotten an eyeblink after we die. I take a lot of solace from that fact.

Have an enjoyable day.

Wordle 779 4/6

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[drlj]

It’s Monday and it’s raining. Go figure.
Hang loose.

[John B]

Aug 7, 2023 5:53:23 GMT -5 howard lee said:

PS: Attended a showing of "Oppenheimer" with my son yesterday. We were both less than wowed by the script—don't you hate it when actors are compelled to telegraph what happens in the next scenes in their dialog? We knew that Oppenheimer was going to combine nuclear energy with his ranch in New Mexico. Did he have to say that before the Trinity project was begun? Oy.

The actors did a pretty great job in spite of the often lame moments in the script. Cillian Murphy and Robert Downing Jr were stellar, although Murphy's interpretation of the laconic speaking style of Oppenheimer sounded like Michael Keaton doing Batman a little too frequently. There were some surprising cameos, as well, including an aged and barely recognizable James Remar ("24 Hours") as the Secretary of War. It was sort of appropriate to see this on the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, I guess.

If you've got spare time and a small amount of $, track down the TV show "Manhattan," which was on WGN America (what network was that?!?) and aired for two seasons. It's a fictionalized account, but it's good drama. Lots of good character actors doing what character actors do best. Pre-Mrs. Maizel Rachel Brosnahan is in it, as is pre-Stranger Things David Harbour and post-CSI William Petersen. John Benjamin Hickey has a nice complicated role. Olivia Williams is great, too.

www.imdb.com/title/tt3231564/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_manhattan

[Hobson]

Back from an escape to the cool of San Diego. Spent 5 nights. Ate lots of fresh seafood. Took the ferry to Coronado Island for the first day. Toured the USS Midway, which we could see from our hotel room on the 14th floor. A day at the Maritime Museum, which is a group of boats on the water. Seaport Village. The edge of Little Italy. Gaslamp Quarter for the first and last time. We decided that we're too old to enjoy blocks of busy and noisy bars and restaurants and tourist traps. Not to mention a few crazy people here and there yelling at somebody who wasn't there.

Now back to reality and heat. Return plane was late, had to get groceries when we got home, late dinner last night. A medical appointment for each of us this week and I'm trying to snag another one for a vision problem that developed during the trip (sigh). I'm supposed to attend an HOA Board meeting tomorrow as a member of the finance committee to discuss the budget. Not ready, don't want to, but probably will. Choir rehearsal Thursday night. Not ready, want to, will.

[Cosmic Wonder]

Awoke in the silver trailer this am and made coffee. It’s coolish here and slightly overcast, and we are in the shade under the trees. One of the friends showed up driving a new one ton sierra pick em up truck. Wow. What a nice truck and it dwarfs my F150. Today we are on for dinner for the group, it will be a taco bar with all the usual suspects.

Karen Carpenter had such a pure voice. It’s a shame she couldn’t make it.

Enjoy your days.

Mike
Wordle 779 4/6

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[Dan McLaughlin]

Have good ones.

[Cornflake]

"Choir rehearsal Thursday night. Not ready, want to, will."

My wife is the choir librarian, charged with making sure that each choir member's folder of music has the right pieces in the right order every week. That's usually 30+ folders and at times 40+. Her task is not a small one at the best of times. Yesterday we learned that a new music director has been hired to replace the guy who was serving on an interim basis. The choir swings into action in a few weeks. Diane has no clue what music they'll be singing. I don't envy her.

[Marty]

Good morning.

63F-82F cloudy

Just shop time today. Got my StewMac order, those guys are FAST, so I will start a dry run for my new neck removal iron. Got to make sure I can maneuver a hot iron out of the guitar without scorching the guitar or myself.

Called Terry and he says he is doing fine.  He's having ear problems like myself but his are I think painful, mine are just very annoying.

Don't complain too much, there's always someone worse off.

[majorminor]

Bachelors Log Day.....7? Sunday afternoon was housework and laundry day. The underwear drawer and sink are looking good!

Had a nice weekend. Saturday went with a buddy to look at a guitar for sale in Missoula and hit the few shops up there. Lunch at Tagliere's was Italian heaven. Nothing purchased but fun. It rained hard Saturday night so Sunday morning the sun came out and the smoke was cleared so went for a hike with the dog. After spending most of June and half of July sick with cold and flu and lung problems I finally hit a benchmark and made it up top again behind the house and got an 8 mile loop in with some elevation gain. Grabbed a Google Earth screen shot. Walked up from by where you see those two brighter green hay fields lower left.



They are getting scarce but Charli The Wonderlab found us a few handfuls of Huckleberries

[Village Idiot]

My sister and her friends used to dance around with fake microphones singing along with Carpenters records.

It rained all day yesterday, which we desperately need, but in the end we only got about 1/4 inch.

I was having breakfast with a friend at 218 (Idiotjam breakfast location) Saturday morning and turns out we left right before Desantis showed up. I had no idea he was coming until FC called to tell me about his DeSantis fun. It didn't break my heart that I missed him.

One facebook comment said "Oh, the guy Trump lovers and haters can't stand".

[Shannon]

That's the first album I ever bought with my own money. I still listen to it reasonably often. In my opinion, there has never been another female pop-singer voice that rivals Karen Carpenter's.

Hot with intermittent severe thunderstorms in these parts. Students are starting to move back to campus.

[Dub]

Wordle 779 5/6

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[Russell Letson]

The Adventure of the Mummified Mouse

Our 35-year-old Kenmore fridge has been acting up--or, to be precise, not acting well at all. I noticed that frozen stuff wasn't staying as rock-hard as it ought to, and at first I thought it might be because the freezer's so full that bags of frozen corn and such were blocking the vents at the back. So I rearranged and made sure that there was clearance, and it seemed to help. (My test: is the block of frozen chorizo in the door shelf like a brick or a damp sponge?)

Then I noticed that not only were the frozen goods not as frozen feeling as they used to be, but that the section of the fridge next to the freezer door was hot to the touch. Then cool. Then hot again. A few DuckDuckGo searches led to a short list of possible issues, one of which was serious failure of either a circulating fan or of the compressor/coils assembly. So I decided to take a peek to see whether there was anything I could see that might be fixable short of calling a repair guy or buying a new fridge. Standard advice was that it might just be the coils in need of vacuuming out, or maybe a failing fan. The former I could manage, but the latter would require parts and expertise I lack.

This was a one-man job, since C. is away for a few days, but I did manage to edge the fridge out of its barely-big-enough niche and was relieved to see that the fiberboard panel covering the compressor compartment is held in place by quarter-inch hex-head screws--and I had a quarter-inch nut driver right at the top of the toolbox. It was certainly dirty enough in there, and I vacuumed what I could reach (which did not include the coils). The fan turned by hand, but with some resistance. Then I noticed the dead mouse, not entirely blocking the blades but certainly slowing them. The critter was long enough dead to be dried out, but not so long as to be just a scrap of fur and tail, as a companion outside the fan cage was. Long enough dead to account for the freezer's symptoms.

So I relocated the body appropriately, not without respect, and put everything back in place. While I was doing so, the compressor and fan kicked on, and I noted that the hot spot has not reappeared and the chorizo is once more brick-like.

So far, so good--as long as we are not visited by the vengeful spirit of the mouse mummy.

[Hobson]

Got in to see my ophthalmologist early this afternoon. Have an appointment with the retinal specialist tomorrow morning. The same retinal specialist that Mr. H has been going to for his wet macular degeneration for 9 years. I may have the same thing or it could be something else, but there is a bulge on the retina. If it is wet AMD, I know the drill.

[Cornflake]

I got a free, seemingly eternal membership in Ancestry.com when I got my DNA tested a decade back. Today I learn that they've recalculated everyone's ethnicity in light of technological advancements. If you haven't checked yours recently you might want to. I'm fascinated by this stuff.

I'm still more Scottish than anything else with English coming in second. My brother had most of the same ingredients but in significantly different proportions.

[jdd2]

I love lucy...




edit: image not coming thru, try this