Hijack this thread

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

Hooray, P. K. No pain, no gain!

[RTH10260]

[tek]

Why I love my neighborhood, part MCMLII:

The young couple across the street moved in 2-3 years ago. They have an adorable daughter who is currently (I'm guessing) 5 years old.

Earlier this year, when the Gypsy Moth caterpillars were ravaging all the trees in the neighborhood, she and I had a deep discussion about what was happening, why the caterpillars were doing this, and what can we do to help the trees.. (it is important to note that the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art, the home of the Very Hungry Caterpillar, is about 3 miles from here)

Anyway, today she went apple picking with her parents.. and then went around the neighborhood (with her Dad) to give each of her neighbors an apple.

[Volkonski]

Our older daughter's mother in law had chest pains yesterday. Went to ER. Had a 98% blockage. Had stent installed this morning. Hopes to go home tomorrow.

[Foggy]

I had a chat with LM K today, and she's doing really well. She says she is going to rejoin us soon, and I sincerely hope that she will!

[kate520]

Yeah, she says that every time you two chat. She can’t say no to you, Fogster.

V, how did your daughter’s MIL fare?

[Volkonski]

Yeah, she says that every time you two chat. She can’t say no to you, Fogster.

V, how did your daughter’s MIL fare?

Going home today.

[Foggy]

When I was a teenager, my first cousin Mary was one of my closest friends. My best friend was her boyfriend. We all went to the same high school and the same church (in Bathysphere, Maryland or whatever they call it), and I could walk to both their houses. My aunt and uncle were cool, too. I've never been as close to any other woman without dating her.

But the day after we graduated, I drove off to California in my VW bus to be a hippy for the rest of my life, and I've only seen her briefly a few times over the past almost 50 years.

She's always been a little different than I am - she's an artist and a Buddhist. She changed her name to Margo and has a son named Zen. She's still a terrific lady with a unique outlook on life.

Recently Zen found me and friended me on Facebook. I found his mom in his friend list, and we've started reconnecting. With any luck, my wife and I are going to pick up my dad in Bathysphere and take him up to State College to see my aunt (his sister-in-law), Margo, and another cousin, Margo's sister Molly. That will be next April, if I can pull it off.

Meanwhile, almost 50 years later, after leading dramatically different lives, my friend/cousin and I are comparing notes online. Have I ever mentioned how much I enjoy living in the 21st century? I'm living in a world far beyond the scope of my imagination.

Her specialty in art is ceramics (Sugar M. was going to ask), and I'll try to put up a few photos sometime soon. She's really quite good.

[kate520]

Yeah, she says that every time you two chat. She can’t say no to you, Fogster.

V, how did your daughter’s MIL fare?

Going home today.

[vic]

When I was a teenager, my first cousin Mary

My father had "issues" which meant that we didn't develop relationships with many of our relatives. And then "something happened" and we moved from New York to Los Angeles, and were forbidden to communicate with those relatives we knew.

Early this year I took the ancestry.com DNA test (I had done the 23andme test a few years ago). Ancestry connected me with a second cousin I had never met. She, my brother, and I are now friends on facebook. We are constantly amazed by how often two or three of us independently share the same politics-related post.

But what surprised me was that this weekend she commented on a post which showed pictures of old (1970's or so) linoleum, and said that she had had one of them in her house - the same pattern that I had chosen when I replaced linoleum in my kitchen in the 80's!

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[Whatever4]

Recently Zen found me and friended me on Facebook. I found his mom in his friend list, and we've started reconnecting. With any luck, my wife and I are going to pick up my dad in Bathysphere and take him up to State College to see my aunt (his sister-in-law), Margo, and another cousin, Margo's sister Molly. That will be next April, if I can pull it off.

The one in PA? My home town?

[Foggy]

Yep. That's the one.

Molly's husband is a perfesser of Nittany lions or sumpin '.

[Volkonski]

Passengers Are Stranded as Another European Airline Collapses

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/02/busi ... &smtyp=cur

The abrupt end left many hundreds of passengers stranded at airports. At Dulles International Airport outside Washington, Pavithra Selvakumar, a 24-year-old student, was stuck trying to get back to Britain after her Primera flight was canceled.

There was no staff at the airline’s desk, she said Tuesday, and she was among 30 to 40 people trying to sort out their journeys. Some of them canceled their vacations.

“I could see a girl crying here, there were old people, people with kids,” Ms. Selvakumar said. She was waiting to see if her family and friends might be able to transfer her some money for another flight.

At Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, flights for about 370 Primera passengers were canceled, officials said. One of them, Eric Jetner, a 33-year-old singer and actor who had a ticket for a Monday night flight to Newark, said what was going on was unclear to even the staff at the desks.

[DejaMoo]

[Estiveo]

laughing_mummy_by_scratchmark.jpg

[DejaMoo]

Saturday I have to host a welcome-home party to celebrate my mom's return from the hospital/nursing home. This means that I will have to spend time with the (most) crazy paranoid sister. Even worse, I'll have to spend time with my two siblings (and their families) who are solid Trump supporters.

I'm not at all surprised about Brother A being a Trump supporter. He fits the profile: not just proudly ignorant, but with an overweening sense of superiority due to his ignorance. Plus he's a gullible racist fundie christian. So, he hits all the points.

Brother B is the type of Trump supporter everyone's baffled by, since he's a walking contradiction: took advantage of ample generous government assistance when several of his children were born with disabilities; has an immigrant Muslim son-in-law who he initially helped stay here illegally; has an adult kid who's been committing welfare fraud; couldn't afford to retire if it wasn't for Social Security. Yet he hates immigrants, want to end welfare, doesn't believe Social Security is under attack by the GOP, and views anyone getting any kind of gov't assistance as leeches.

Actually, both brothers are typical representatives of the GOP base. We may not understand it, but there they are.

I can't wait till this party's over. If it were up to me, I'd continue to have no contact with these people.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[Sugar Magnolia]

Saturday I have to host a welcome-home party to celebrate my mom's return from the hospital/nursing home. This means that I will have to spend time with the (most) crazy paranoid sister. Even worse, I'll have to spend time with my two siblings (and their families) who are solid Trump supporters.

I'm not at all surprised about Brother A being a Trump supporter. He fits the profile: not just proudly ignorant, but with an overweening sense of superiority due to his ignorance. Plus he's a gullible racist fundie christian. So, he hits all the points.

Brother B is the type of Trump supporter everyone's baffled by, since he's a walking contradiction: took advantage of ample generous government assistance when several of his children were born with disabilities; has an immigrant Muslim son-in-law who he initially helped stay here illegally; has an adult kid who's been committing welfare fraud; couldn't afford to retire if it wasn't for Social Security. Yet he hates immigrants, want to end welfare, doesn't believe Social Security is under attack by the GOP, and views anyone getting any kind of gov't assistance as leeches.

Actually, both brothers are typical representatives of the GOP base. We may not understand it, but there they are.

I can't wait till this party's over. If it were up to me, I'd continue to have no contact with these people.

Have you made trips to the local offices of whichever Democrats are running for office in your area to pick up some big yard signs yet? Have you put your television on MSNBC, turned the volume up and 'lost' the remote yet? So many ways to fuck with idiots in your own home. The bonus is, if they don't like it, they can leave and you'll still be there with all the food!

[DejaMoo]

Have you made trips to the local offices of whichever Democrats are running for office in your area to pick up some big yard signs yet? Have you put your television on MSNBC, turned the volume up and 'lost' the remote yet? So many ways to fuck with idiots in your own home. The bonus is, if they don't like it, they can leave and you'll still be there with all the food!

The yard signs are a brilliant idea and I'd love to deploy them. Unfortunately, Brother B is a co-guest of honor. He'll be having surgery in a few weeks, and per his surgeon, his odds of surviving the operation are not good. So, this might be the last time all of us sibs get together/see each other. Given his state of health, he gets a free pass by everyone else, who will dogpile in their rush to his defense.

But seriously - I have absolutely no enthusiasm about hosting this, and I'm making only the minimum of effort. I even ordered the cake. Ordered the cake , when I've been making fancy custom cakes and pastries for decades. Yeah, can't be bothered this time.

[Foggy]

We'll be thinking of you, Deja Moo.

Hay, I just got a presidential alert on my phone. I must be a really important guy. I think I'll just kill myself right this very minute.

[Volkonski]

And my Twitter feed exploded with dozens of reporters reporting that they got the presidential test tweet.

[AndyinPA]

I had my phone off. Looked up from the computer to the TV, which was on mute, to see that it was also on there. I put my phone back on and the first thing I heard was the alert sound, but I have no text on my phone.

[ZekeB]

I have government alerts turned off. Grrrr… it didn't matter. If I want to be alerted, I'd have turned that on.

[MN-Skeptic]

I had just taken my nephew, his wife, and her daughter out to lunch and we were on our way home (I was driving) when the alert sounded. So... four phones in the car all going off at once. Fortunately I had seen something this morning about the alert so I knew immediately what the noise was all about.

I can just imagine the noise where there crowds of people... classrooms, seminars, funerals.

[kate520]

I still hate that it’s a presidential alert. It’s not, he wouldn’t piss on any of us if we were flaming right in front of him. it’s from FEMA and those in the federal work force who actually give a shit about their fellow Americans. Grrr. Grump.