DFP: Tuesday, June 7th Daily Thread

[Born_A_Truman]

Gotta jump in the shower and get ready to head down to Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles to the Cancer Center for my oncology appointment. I have the best doctor in the world down there, Dr Leslie Memsic! So I'll be out all day. My girls and family are meeting me for dinner tonight down there and then I'm coming home tomorrow. I'll check in from the hotel tonight.

I'm sure today's news will still be about Anthony Weiner. Big Ed was livid on his show yesterday, his first day back from suspension. Struck me as ironic but not comparing the two in that way. I guess nothing shocks me much anymore.

Share your day here in our daily thread! And any lurkers, please join in and say hello and share what's on your mind!!

[RoyGBiv]

The news will in fact be about Weiner, which is why I am pissed at him.

There are a lot more important things going on, like the collapsing dollar and Chinese economic warnings that bode ill for us if Congress doesn't get its shit together and if the Fed continue to walk around in permanent surrender mode.

Plus, there's my neighbor, who either mows his lawn or uses his weed whacker every and then runs the sprinkler half the damn day, every single day. He's like the poster boy for Environmental Agnostic.

Plus, I lost a big clump of hair in the shower this morning.

[There Is No Spoon]

(06-07-2011 09:07 AM)RoyGBiv Wrote:  Plus, there's my neighbor, who either mows his lawn or uses his weed whacker every and then runs the sprinkler half the damn day, every single day. He's like the poster boy for Environmental Agnostic.

My neighbor runs a damned woodchipper almost every day, including the weekend. Apparently it's a trust property so he does all he can to make some money off it. Another neighbor is apparently building a pool - yes, an in ground pool in the granite state. Blasting, digging with a backhoe, using an air-chisel attachment on said backhoe to break up rock - for hours on end. This has been going on for 3 weeks. Another neighbor is raising cows in the woods. Since their property curls around behind mine, I can hear these cows mooing all day long. Sounds like one of those annoying horns you see at baseball games. I hear he will periodically be slaughtering them and eating them. This is the same fellow who had a gigantic moose hanging from a tree that lined the road. Thing hung 15' long until a neighbor told him to take it down 'cause it was freaking out their teenage daughter. My town is the size of a city and this is not normal for this area. Picture several 3000 sq. foot mini-mansions & almost immediately after that, a moose draining practically on the road.

[RoyGBiv]

(06-07-2011 09:20 AM)There Is No Spoon Wrote:  Another neighbor is raising cows in the woods. Since their property curls around behind mine, I can hear these cows mooing all day long. Sounds like one of those annoying horns you see at baseball games.

Oh, you want to share cow stories? I'll give you cow stories.

In my early 20s I rented a house (well, it had walls) from a guy who had a cattle ranch. The house was built on his pasture, near a dirt road, by which I mean a couple hundred yards from a winding trail that lead to his house and the river beyond it. He'd built it himself for his father-in-law, who moved in and promptly died a month later.

It was actually a pretty cool place at that stage of my life. It was perfectly square, had four rooms, each exactly the same size, meaning the bathroom was the same size as the bedroom which was the same size as the living room which was the same size as the kitchen/dining area: two interior walls creating four perfect squares inside a perfect square. And it was in the middle of nowhere, far enough away from his house so I didn't bother him, the nearest neighbor about two miles away.

There are urban legends now about the parties we had there.

Anyway ... cows.

This house sat in a pasture where about 200 head of cattle roamed freely. The house's outer walls were made of rough stone, and the cattle LOVED to use it to scratch themselves. But the owner never told me this. He had I don't know how many acres -- a lot -- and the cattle roamed everywhere. I didn't see them at all the few times I had been there before moving in, nor while moving in, and not for the first couple days. On the morning of the first weekend I was living there, nursing a hangover from the first of many parties, I woke up to this strange sound and vibration that made me think there was a bulldozer about to destroy the place. (I actually imagined Vogons and started trying to find a beer.) Nearly terrified, I looked out the window and was immediately met with the face of a large cow licking my window who then promptly bleated at me. Walking outside, I discovered a dozen of the beasts, all rubbing themselves in apparent rapture up against the house.

This became a routine occurrence.

Second story: One morning, after a lightning storm the night before that had put me in a bad mood from keeping me up half the night, I woke up to the smell of barbecue. The landowner liked to BBQ (I mean, he got cheap meat, really fresh) and would often start his smoker early in the day and have a gathering at night. He would invite me or sometimes just bring me some of what he'd made, so my mouth started watering at the prospect of it.

Not long after waking up, however, I saw my landlord driving toward my house on the little road that went up to one of his barns and ponds, and I went out to say hello and ask about the BBQ. He looked sullen, and I'll never forget what he said to me.

"Oh, I don't think you'll be wanting any of this. Couple head were leaning up against the fence when lightning struck. Fried 'em on the spot. Not good eatin' though."

I lived with those cows a couple years. I have more stories, if you want ...

[There Is No Spoon]

(06-07-2011 09:43 AM)RoyGBiv Wrote:  I lived with those cows a couple years. I have more stories, if you want ...

OK, so you win the cow stories, though I do have one more.

Way back before I was married, my ex. lived in a farmhouse in western Ma where she was attending graduate school. The guy who lived there was an old bachelor who was rather beat looking (almost scary), but he was a nice guy. He was like the hoarders that you see on the hoarding show - was funny all the stuff he had piled up on the stairway - it was impassable. Anyway, he had a bunch of cows that were "pets" - that I thought was cool. Unlike the noisy bleating cows behind my house that I can't see through the trees, but I can hear, his cows were quiet and very sweet. That's it. No story.

[RoyGBiv]

(06-08-2011 09:50 PM)There Is No Spoon Wrote:  OK, so you win the cow stories, though I do have one more.

Way back before I was married, my ex. lived in a farmhouse in western Ma where she was attending graduate school. The guy who lived there was an old bachelor who was rather beat looking (almost scary), but he was a nice guy. He was like the hoarders that you see on the hoarding show - was funny all the stuff he had piled up on the stairway - it was impassable. Anyway, he had a bunch of cows that were "pets" - that I thought was cool. Unlike the noisy bleating cows behind my house that I can't see through the trees, but I can hear, his cows were quiet and very sweet. That's it. No story.

I'll tell ya plain.

Anyone who has cows as pets has a story. You may not know it, but oh, there's a story alright.

[RoyGBiv]

Also, there's this.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/taxes/cellphone.asp

My sister posted that on Facebook this morning and used it as a jumping off point to complain about Obama creating "new" programs that suck money we don't have out of hard working people's pockets and put us even deeper into debt. My whole damn family is a bunch of hypocrites. (Sister lived off "welfare" for years.) I think Mom and my daughter are okay ... most of the time.

I'll tell you ... The CableCo's phone devisions would probably go bankrupt if not for Lifeline program. And the cost is negligible. It amounts to about $10 per qualifying person per month. And the economic multiplier on it is large. People are able to get jobs from this, and, as noted, companies profit from it. It is a very low cost bit of stimulus that helps the poor become at least working poor and keeps grandma in touch with her advocate on the death panel so when her respirator stops working or some asshat breaks into her home, she can actually call emergency services.

[azmouse]

It's 9am and I'm still sitting here front of my laptop in my pajamas. Is that wrong? Too much to read and do on DFP this morning.
But if I don't get up and get a shower I won't be able to stand myself, so I'll be back.

[jaxx]

We're in the middle of the first really hot spell around here. 95 yesterday and today, 97 tomorrow...thankfully the humidity isn't at the same numbers. Yet!, it'll come in on Wed. So I get up and have coffee on the patio while it's still cool enough to feel nice. Then shut the blinds and stay cool until it's decent to go back to the patio before sundown.

Life is tough in this first week of retirement.

[Julie]

Life in beautiful Traverse City is relatively quiet for now. Summer's moving in so it's warming up. The bay starts to warm up, at least it doesn't hurt anymore to put my feet into it. haha

I am house hunting at the moment, which can be challenging. I'll spare you all the boring details. And after the hunt there's the move to look forward to. Oy.

Pat, I hope your appt. goes well. Look forward to your report.

Julie

[Born_A_Truman]

(06-07-2011 11:34 AM)Julie Wrote:  Life in beautiful Traverse City is relatively quiet for now. Summer's moving in so it's warming up. The bay starts to warm up, at least it doesn't hurt anymore to put my feet into it. haha

I am house hunting at the moment, which can be challenging. I'll spare you all the boring details. And after the hunt there's the move to look forward to. Oy.

Pat, I hope your appt. goes well. Look forward to your report.

Julie

I'm in the hotel. Long day but nice dinner with my girls, their hubbys and all 5 of my grandkids. Unfortunately there is a small bump that I will be having removed next week. Will know tomorrow what day. My daughter also piped up and told on me that I haven't had a colonoscopy so Dr Memsic is coordinating that with a gastro and I'll have that done as well. FUN!!! NOT!!! It may be nothing, but why take a chance and watch it when she can remove it?

[nofurylike]

(06-07-2011 11:15 PM)Born_A_Truman Wrote:  I'm in the hotel. Long day but nice dinner with my girls, their hubbys and all 5 of my grandkids. Unfortunately there is a small bump that I will be having removed next week. Will know tomorrow what day. My daughter also piped up and told on me that I haven't had a colonoscopy so Dr Memsic is coordinating that with a gastro and I'll have that done as well. FUN!!! NOT!!! It may be nothing, but why take a chance and watch it when she can remove it?

Pat!
thank you for sharing this with us.

your dinner sounds like it was precious, all together. i hope you are getting some nice relaxation, too!

[atomic]

Well I'm still looking for work which is weird; I last looked for work 17 years ago. Nobody is hiring.

It rained over the past weekend here in SF and it's humid as all get-out. Fortunately the temperature is still in the 50s. Humidity brings out the lumbering behemoth bugs and my cat Renfield is busy hunting them down.

I spent two hours waiting for an appointment with the general surgeon at SF General Hospital (what a zoo!) yesterday only to discover he was held up elsewhere on an emergency call and wasn't going to be in!! Aaaarrggh. I've spent the past two years being worked up for surgery. I figure at this rate I'll actually undergo surgery in two more years.

Still I'm grateful for Healthy SF, a program here in SF that covers those that don't/can't get medical insurance. I would be SOOL otherwise.

My special best regards to BornATruman. My healing thoughts are coming your way. Cheers.

[sandnsea]

So I'm reading through my grandson's US coloring/workbook - and what do you think I see. Our National Flags. The Grand Union Flag, Betsy Ross Flag, Star-Spangled Banner - and -

The Confederate Flag??!!??!!??!!!!!!!!

I tore it out.

Never before have I seen the Confederate Flag listed along-side the US Flag, all the same.

[RoyGBiv]

(06-07-2011 12:00 PM)sandnsea Wrote:  So I'm reading through my grandson's US coloring/workbook - and what do you think I see. Our National Flags. The Grand Union Flag, Betsy Ross Flag, Star-Spangled Banner - and -

The Confederate Flag??!!??!!??!!!!!!!!

I tore it out.

Never before have I seen the Confederate Flag listed along-side the US Flag, all the same.

Just out of curiosity, was it the actual Confederate national flag or the battle flag? If the latter, that's a double-absurdity.

[There Is No Spoon]

(06-07-2011 07:27 PM)RoyGBiv Wrote:  

(06-07-2011 12:00 PM)sandnsea Wrote:  So I'm reading through my grandson's US coloring/workbook - and what do you think I see. Our National Flags. The Grand Union Flag, Betsy Ross Flag, Star-Spangled Banner - and -

The Confederate Flag??!!??!!??!!!!!!!!

I tore it out.

Never before have I seen the Confederate Flag listed along-side the US Flag, all the same.

Just out of curiosity, was it the actual Confederate national flag or the battle flag? If the latter, that's a double-absurdity.

Thanks for replying to a thread I posted in. It worked.

[sandnsea]

(06-07-2011 07:27 PM)RoyGBiv Wrote:  

(06-07-2011 12:00 PM)sandnsea Wrote:  So I'm reading through my grandson's US coloring/workbook - and what do you think I see. Our National Flags. The Grand Union Flag, Betsy Ross Flag, Star-Spangled Banner - and -

The Confederate Flag??!!??!!??!!!!!!!!

I tore it out.

Never before have I seen the Confederate Flag listed along-side the US Flag, all the same.

Just out of curiosity, was it the actual Confederate national flag or the battle flag? If the latter, that's a double-absurdity.

The Battle Flag. Although now my 5 year old grandson knows that the x flag is not good. That's my opinion. Regardless, I just don't get how anybody could conclude any Confederate Flag is one of our nation's flags. Sounds like something Sarah Palin would come up with.

[RoyGBiv]

(06-07-2011 07:39 PM)sandnsea Wrote:  The Battle Flag. Although now my 5 year old grandson knows that the x flag is not good. That's my opinion. Regardless, I just don't get how anybody could conclude any Confederate Flag is one of our nation's flags. Sounds like something Sarah Palin would come up with.

To be frustratingly pedantic about it, it would depend on the context whether it would be appropriate. For example, there are state displays of the political flags that have flown over a certain territory intended to mark the political entities that have laid claim to it. (This is the idea behind the 6 Flags theme park, but the original idea has fallen out of favor.) For that, the notation would be appropriate assuming we're talking about a state history of, for example, Texas. It applies just as much as the Spanish, French, or British national flags and, as we often see here in Oklahoma, the seals of various Native tribes or nations. And, Texas probably actually has a lot to do with it since much of the country's school books are those approve by the Texas Board of Education.

HOWEVER, the battle flag is never, ever, not for any reason at all, not even in Edmund Ruffin's fevered mind appropriate for such a display. In fact it's flatly wrong even as a matter of history. The St. Andrews Cross inspired design was a piece of the 2nd and 3rd National flags, but not the whole thing.

[sandnsea]

(06-07-2011 07:59 PM)RoyGBiv Wrote:  

(06-07-2011 07:39 PM)sandnsea Wrote:  The Battle Flag. Although now my 5 year old grandson knows that the x flag is not good. That's my opinion. Regardless, I just don't get how anybody could conclude any Confederate Flag is one of our nation's flags. Sounds like something Sarah Palin would come up with.

To be frustratingly pedantic about it, it would depend on the context whether it would be appropriate. For example, there are state displays of the political flags that have flown over a certain territory intended to mark the political entities that have laid claim to it. (This is the idea behind the 6 Flags theme park, but the original idea has fallen out of favor.) For that, the notation would be appropriate assuming we're talking about a state history of, for example, Texas. It applies just as much as the Spanish, French, or British national flags and, as we often see here in Oklahoma, the seals of various Native tribes or nations. And, Texas probably actually has a lot to do with it since much of the country's school books are those approve by the Texas Board of Education.

HOWEVER, the battle flag is never, ever, not for any reason at all, not even in Edmund Ruffin's fevered mind appropriate for such a display. In fact it's flatly wrong even as a matter of history. The St. Andrews Cross inspired design was a piece of the 2nd and 3rd National flags, but not the whole thing.

My ancestors were original Missouri settlers. I've got no problem with the idea of various flags being part of a state' heritage and official government. I probably look at this country a bit differently since my people were here fighting the British, who weren't yet Americans, and crossed the river when the French lost rather than live under British rule. But later joined the Americans, probably many of the same men, to fight the British. And while Missouri was a Union State, I've run across some wild stories of union and confederate soldiers taking turns mustering in settlements. So I get the history.

But under no circumstance do I think any Confederate Flag should be considered among our country's "national flags". That it was the Battle Flag just made it unconscionably stupid, as opposed to just annoyingly stupid.

[RoyGBiv]

(06-07-2011 10:12 PM)sandnsea Wrote:  And while Missouri was a Union State, I've run across some wild stories of union and confederate soldiers taking turns mustering in settlements. So I get the history.

Missouri (and Kentucky) become especially problematic when arguments erupt over historical displays because they each had a rump Confederate government. They never official seceded, but there were such large contingents of Confederate sympathizers (or perhaps I should say enough wealthy slave owners who sympathized) that they were able to cause a split within the states themselves. This even happens to a lesser degree in southern parts of Illinois in various enclaves.

All of which is beside the point, I realize.

Quote:But under no circumstance do I think any Confederate Flag should be considered among our country's "national flags". That it was the Battle Flag just made it unconscionably stupid, as opposed to just annoyingly stupid.

Certainly not, and I hope my remarks didn't appear to convey that I thought it should be considered such.

I come at this from the perspective of having been involved in a fierce debate in Oklahoma over the display of historical flags like the ones I mentioned. To add even more complication to it, the debate was transformed by the addition of the Chickasaw battle flag, meaning the flag used by the faction of the Chickasaw nation that sided with the Confederacy. It, too, was a battle flag as these nations didn't actually have flags, rather seals if they had any cultural or political identifier of that kind at all.

But the argument originally developed because it was the battle flag that was being used in the display, and that was wrong both morally and historically. And then the damned SCV got involved, insisted the battle flag should be used rather than the political flag, enter the Chickasaw flag proposal, and it just got flippin' weird after that.

But, in summary, you're correct. What was in that book was inappropriate. Do you know the publisher and title of the book? I'd be interested in trying to trace its adoption history.

[SeattleGirl]

I spent the day working from home on a retraining plan that is due on Thursday. Good billing work for me!

I also had the Casey Anthony trial on. (For those who don't know, she is a woman on trial in Florida for the death of her two year old daughter.) Since I work from home a lot, I've been able to watch a lot of it. What I find fascinating is that she seems to be a pathological liar (along with possibly a murderer), and every piece of evidence that the State introduces and the witnesses they bring to the stand just reinforces what a liar Casey is.

The defense attorney, on the other hand, is using that tried and true defense strategy of throwing everything at the wall and seeing what might stick. So far, he has pretty much accused every prosecution witness who is a police officer, detectiv, or forensics expert of doing the work they do for money (well duh, so are you, Mr. Bias!), or of mishandling evidence (hello, OJ trial!), or throwing jibberish out there.

I find it quite fascinating to watch!

[nofurylike]

i hope your appointment went well, and your dinner was wonderful, Pat!!

thank you, again, for doing a Daily Thread! it's great!!