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John's just jumped out of a cake for you, by the looks of things, Freehold.
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Hey, NH! Think your wife would like this Goth house? Pretty sure you could afford it, but I don't know if you want to move from California to a smallish town (14k people) in central Illinois.
It is an interesting house, though.
LOLOL. GothBard looked it over and said, "It's a cute house, but it isn't Goth."
She and Shiro compared it to someone trying to do an "up yours" to their homeowner's association: "You can paint in any pastel color, and black is acceptable for accents" so they just said that the whole house was an accent. But warm wood tones? General design? Apparently definitely not Goth.
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So I know it's not New Year's Eve or anything, so this is well over a week early, but:
(a) Impus Major stole the Prius so I can't do the toxic waste drop-offs I had planned for today, and
(b) It's on my mind.
2022 looks to be a momentous year for me, circumstances willing:
- March: Impus Minor will turn 18, so I will have successfully raised two wonderful boys to adulthood. I consider this no small feat in today's fractured and poisoned-by-social-media society.
- Also March: I'll be teaching Impus Minor to drive. In a stick shift. Because I'm a stubborn old man.
- June: Impus Minor will graduate from high school.
- Also June: I'll hit my "5 years sober" mark. I should buy myself a pin. Except I hate material possessions. I'll buy myself a pint and ritually pour it out... or into Limey.
- August: We should be clear of all debt except our mortgage.
- Also August: The kids start going to college together, putting them back in the same school for the first time in 3 years. And oh, how they've missed it.
- November: Our liquid net worth should hit $0. Yeah, it's kind of silly to celebrate breaking even, but considering the entire U.S. economy is now centered around, "Be in debt until the day you die," I'll consider it an achievement.
Anyway, as always, you'll all get updates as things happen, but it's a pretty momentous year for us all around.
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Hey, NH! Think your wife would like this Goth house? Pretty sure you could afford it, but I don't know if you want to move from California to a smallish town (14k people) in central Illinois.
It is an interesting house, though.
LOLOL. GothBard looked it over and said, "It's a cute house, but it isn't Goth."
She and Shiro compared it to someone trying to do an "up yours" to their homeowner's association: "You can paint in any pastel color, and black is acceptable for accents" so they just said that the whole house was an accent. But warm wood tones? General design? Apparently definitely not Goth.
Not enough pillaging and burning.
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Can't be my birthday without there being an adventure.
Friend of mine who dropped off the map tested positive for COVID. Been in the hospital for a week. Went to pick her up after covid proofing car as noone could pick her up. She is home with her family now. I am eating a wagyu steakand mashed potatoes and salad and I am veereeeeeeery drunk rn. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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I could use some cake now.
Happy Level-Up, Freehold!!
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Can't be my birthday without there being an adventure.
Friend of mine who dropped off the map tested positive for COVID. Been in the hospital for a week. Went to pick her up after covid proofing car as noone could pick her up. She is home with her family now. I am eating a wagyu steakand mashed potatoes and salad and I am veereeeeeeery drunk rn. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
I feel your pain. My brother and his family have COVID19. Luck for them, they are vaccinated. It annoyed my brother more that he couldn't go to the gym but he does know better. Sort of.
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Water is getting shut off in about half an hour.
Hopefully, it will be turned back on by 5 this evening, after the new sewer line has been installed and the City inspector has approved the work, and the City technician has attached the new line to the Main.
In case you ever wonder why plumbers around here get paid so much money, well, yesterday evening I went outside to look at the trench and take pictures (because, wow, were there a lot of holes in that old pipe!).
The trench is over 3' deep most of the way across our yard, and it's a mixture of hard clay and rock. Big rock. I knew I had seen the guys using pickaxes, but I hadn't realized why. They dug the whole freaking thing by hand with pickaxes.
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Water is getting shut off in about half an hour.
Hopefully, it will be turned back on by 5 this evening, after the new sewer line has been installed and the City inspector has approved the work, and the City technician has attached the new line to the Main.
In case you ever wonder why plumbers around here get paid so much money, well, yesterday evening I went outside to look at the trench and take pictures (because, wow, were there a lot of holes in that old pipe!).
The trench is over 3' deep most of the way across our yard, and it's a mixture of hard clay and rock. Big rock. I knew I had seen the guys using pickaxes, but I hadn't realized why. They dug the whole freaking thing by hand with pickaxes.
Those sound like some fun ditches to dig! I could use a workout.
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Hmm... looks like I'd be a terrible horror movie NPC, but a great alien movie NPC.
NobodysHome: Oh, that's annoying. I wonder who dropped this?
So no screams. No gross-out. No horrified facial expressions. Useless for a classic horror flick.
But the "disattached scientist who touches things he shouldn't because he doesn't know any better"? I fit right in.
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Oh, you don't know horror until you've cleaned out a pond in the spring.
In fact, cleaning anything in the spring after a long winter on the tundra is usually horror inducing.
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Okay.
Just tested positive for covid. Am quarantining for 10 days. No symptoms and I feel fine otherwise.
Okay.
Just tested positive for covid. Am quarantining for 10 days. No symptoms and I feel fine otherwise.
Oh, no! That doesn't affect your new job, does it?
Stay well, Freehold!
Okay.
Just tested positive for covid. Am quarantining for 10 days. No symptoms and I feel fine otherwise.
Are you able to contract-trace where it probably happened?
Realizes with the Transformer variant it might be a bit difficult since it's moving like wildfire...
Okay.
Just tested positive for covid. Am quarantining for 10 days. No symptoms and I feel fine otherwise.
Well. F***.
Okay.
Just tested positive for covid. Am quarantining for 10 days. No symptoms and I feel fine otherwise.
Crap. Here's hoping you stay symptom-free.
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Oh, no! That doesn't affect your new job, does it?Okay.
Just tested positive for covid. Am quarantining for 10 days. No symptoms and I feel fine otherwise.
no, I do not start until 1/11/22.
Okay.
Just tested positive for covid. Am quarantining for 10 days. No symptoms and I feel fine otherwise.
Ach! Good that you're feeling OK at present - hope you don't have too bad a time of it.
There is a greater than 0% chance that my positive result is my inoculations fighting this thing, especially as I have no symptoms.
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I am very hesitant to say much on the topic as I seriously don't want to contribute to any mis/disinformation campaigns that are afoot but I know two different people over the last month test positive on some tests, go to the doctor and get a negative one, feel down and do a home test to show positive, go to the doctor and then be shown another negative result.
Both of them ended up just assuming the worse of the results but it has really shaken their and my own collective faith in the actual accuracy of the testing that is being done at this point.
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I am very hesitant to say much on the topic as I seriously don't want to contribute to any mis/disinformation campaigns that are afoot but I know two different people over the last month test positive on some tests, go to the doctor and get a negative one, feel down and do a home test to show positive, go to the doctor and then be shown another negative result.
Both of them ended up just assuming the worse of the results but it has really shaken their and my own collective faith in the actual accuracy of the testing that is being done at this point.
Yeah, it's the big problem with testing: From fire alarms to pregnancy tests to COVID testing, it's MUCH safer to generate a false positive than a false negative, so they're intentionally designed to be excessively sensitive. For COVID tests, a quick search shows that "up to 5% of cases are false positives", as per the NIH's own site.
That's 1 in 20 tests. And if you're predisposed to generate a false positive in the first place, you're likely to do it again. In other words, your acquaintances' experiences aren't abnormal at all. Their immune systems are just wired in just such a way as to crank up their chances for false positives.
Biology is weird.
EDITED.
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Speaking of corporate stupidity, thanks to eBay, the 2008 meltdown, fraud, money laundering, and other "fun" activities, any corporation that holds money on your behalf must verify your identity in some way.
So, Venmo, being Stupid with a capital "S", decided that they would go ahead and harvest the Social Security Numbers of all Venmo users, whether or not they were using Venmo accounts. To top it off with a cherry, they sent out the new policy via email. They defend themselves with, "Well, we didn't put a link in the email -- it told them to use the app," but sending a legitimate email asking for a Social Security Number is going to make people all the more trusting of the illegitimate requests that come in.
How do I know all this? Impus Major texted me asking for the last 4 digits of his SSN and I refused. Because Paranoid Dad is Paranoid.
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Hmm... looks like I'd be a terrible horror movie NPC, but a great alien movie NPC.
NobodysHome: Oh, that's annoying. I wonder who dropped this?
So no screams. No gross-out. No horrified facial expressions. Useless for a classic horror flick.
But the "disattached scientist who touches things he shouldn't because he doesn't know any better"? I fit right in.
I'd be the guy who dies before the title even rolls in either...
"Huh? What? What is happening" "Aaarghaablghlab..."
* in stressful situations I usually find myself unable to scream, issuing rather muffled cries while struggling with breathing
Okay.
Just tested positive for covid. Am quarantining for 10 days. No symptoms and I feel fine otherwise.
That sucks but at least you're symptom free! If you need anything we're here for you!!
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On the plus side I'm being roped into helping plan the bosse's wedding (he wants fountain boulders and one with water rotating a stone sphere).
So I guess I'll be able to add wedding planner to my resume.
This is why I work where I do.
Is it a boulder themed wedding? Is he going to dress up as Fred Flintstone and his partner, Wilma (or vice versa)?
Is it a boulder themed wedding? Is he going to dress up as Fred Flintstone and his partner, Wilma (or vice versa)?
Oh, they're too young to know who the Flintstones are.
But yes, otherwise you are correct.
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Freehold DM I hope that you get better soon, you sicko!
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Marvel Movie Timeline #7: The Avengers: What impresses me the most about this movie is how well-balanced it is: Every Avenger gets some character development time, some fight time, some angst time, and so forth. It's as if Whedon or the screenwriters consciously said, "OK, every Avenger needs a character arc, and we have 150 minutes, so we're going to set aside 15 minutes for this character and work that into the movie."
No, it's not that well-done (Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk get short shrift), but it's still a very solid movie that's withstood the test of time quite well.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching a second time; would recommend.
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
Marvel Movie Timeline #7: The Avengers: What impresses me the most about this movie is how well-balanced it is: Every Avenger gets some character development time, some fight time, some angst time, and so forth. It's as if Whedon or the screenwriters consciously said, "OK, every Avenger needs a character arc, and we have 150 minutes, so we're going to set aside 15 minutes for this character and work that into the movie."
No, it's not that well-done (Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk get short shrift), but it's still a very solid movie that's withstood the test of time quite well.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching a second time; would recommend.
In other news I am still free of symptoms and feeling okay. Will update should that change.
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Marvel Movie Timeline #7: The Avengers: What impresses me the most about this movie is how well-balanced it is: Every Avenger gets some character development time, some fight time, some angst time, and so forth. It's as if Whedon or the screenwriters consciously said, "OK, every Avenger needs a character arc, and we have 150 minutes, so we're going to set aside 15 minutes for this character and work that into the movie."
No, it's not that well-done (Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk get short shrift), but it's still a very solid movie that's withstood the test of time quite well.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching a second time; would recommend.
Black Widow gets one really good scene.
As far as I'm concerned, the less there is of Jeremy Renner, the better. The man is a total [redacted].
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Marvel Movie Timeline #7: The Avengers: What impresses me the most about this movie is how well-balanced it is: Every Avenger gets some character development time, some fight time, some angst time, and so forth. It's as if Whedon or the screenwriters consciously said, "OK, every Avenger needs a character arc, and we have 150 minutes, so we're going to set aside 15 minutes for this character and work that into the movie."
No, it's not that well-done (Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk get short shrift), but it's still a very solid movie that's withstood the test of time quite well.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching a second time; would recommend.
Black Widow gets one really good scene.
As far as I'm concerned, the less there is of Jeremy Renner, the better. The man is a total [redacted].
Just for you, tonight we're doing a photo shoot trip up the Arlington. Do you want me to text you the photos or email them? (I know I have your email; don't know whether I have your cell phone # because I never use mine...)
Marvel Movie Timeline #7: The Avengers: What impresses me the most about this movie is how well-balanced it is: Every Avenger gets some character development time, some fight time, some angst time, and so forth. It's as if Whedon or the screenwriters consciously said, "OK, every Avenger needs a character arc, and we have 150 minutes, so we're going to set aside 15 minutes for this character and work that into the movie."
No, it's not that well-done (Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk get short shrift), but it's still a very solid movie that's withstood the test of time quite well.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching a second time; would recommend.
Black Widow gets one really good scene.
As far as I'm concerned, the less there is of Jeremy Renner, the better. The man is a total [redacted].
Truly? I am sorry to hear.
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I love my kids.
Yesterday they left at 1:00 pm for an all-night gaming session at a friend's house. Brought sleeping bags, sleeping mats, etc.
This morning I had to swing by Semifreddi's for cinnamon challah for French toast, got back, noticed the Celica in front of the house, and, sure enough, both kids are crashed in their own beds.
They used to make noises about moving out. Now that they're watching their friends move out and deal with "real" adulthood, their main question is, "How long can we live here before you throw us out?"
Makes me happy.
- They're happy here.
- They understand what real estate prices are like in the area.
Marvel Movie Timeline #7: The Avengers: What impresses me the most about this movie is how well-balanced it is: Every Avenger gets some character development time, some fight time, some angst time, and so forth. It's as if Whedon or the screenwriters consciously said, "OK, every Avenger needs a character arc, and we have 150 minutes, so we're going to set aside 15 minutes for this character and work that into the movie."
No, it's not that well-done (Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk get short shrift), but it's still a very solid movie that's withstood the test of time quite well.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching a second time; would recommend.
Black Widow gets one really good scene.
As far as I'm concerned, the less there is of Jeremy Renner, the better. The man is a total [redacted].
Just for you, tonight we're doing a photo shoot trip up the Arlington. Do you want me to text you the photos or email them? (I know I have your email; don't know whether I have your cell phone # because I never use mine...)
THANK YOU!
Email is fine, but I can give you my cell number. Also GothBard has it.
Can you please also get one good one of the monkey bear fountain at the Circle, assuming they've decorated it?
This monstrosity gets set up about a mile and a half down the road from my house.
Can you see it from your house?
This monstrosity gets set up about a mile and a half down the road from my house.Can you see it from your house?
Due to trees and hills, thankfully no. But I have to drive by it to get to work.
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When I see how much money is wasted on displays like that my brain starts wondering how many families could have been fed a basic meal.
Between the lights, the power to make the lights work, the amount of time to put them up... it's... wasteful.
Notes that they throw up a few buntings and evergreen hangers and calls it good.
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You need a certain amount of Illuminated Festive Cheer in Northern England to alleviate the general grimness, which is why Bradford has Happy Eid, Diwali and Christmas (in rapid succession) picked out in lights, not to mention the 20 foot Menorah outside Leeds Town Hall, but a giant fluorescent Bambi and 10,000 watt Marine Corps logo, and so on ad nauseum, seem a bit much.
You need a certain amount of Illuminated Festive Cheer in Northern England to alleviate the general grimness, which is why Bradford has Happy Eid, Diwali and Christmas (in rapid succession) picked out in lights, not to mention the 20 foot Menorah outside Leeds Town Hall, but a giant fluorescent Bambi and 10,000 watt Marine Corps logo, and so on ad nauseum, seem a bit much.
Not the first time I've heard that one.
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Impus Major: What's this about the murder of a patriarch?
Impus Minor: Nothing.
NobodysHome: It's for a game.
Impus Major: Oh, I thought it was something about murdering a patriarch in this house!
NobodysHome: There will be no murdering of patriarchs in this home! There's only one patriarch, and if you murder me I'll cut off your allowance.
Impus Major: I am no threat yet...
...that was a terrible Dr. Seuss book.
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Marvel Movie Timeline #7: The Avengers: What impresses me the most about this movie is how well-balanced it is: Every Avenger gets some character development time, some fight time, some angst time, and so forth. It's as if Whedon or the screenwriters consciously said, "OK, every Avenger needs a character arc, and we have 150 minutes, so we're going to set aside 15 minutes for this character and work that into the movie."
No, it's not that well-done (Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the Hulk get short shrift), but it's still a very solid movie that's withstood the test of time quite well.
I thoroughly enjoyed watching a second time; would recommend.
After The Avengers and Alita, Battle Angel I've come to the realization that every director, no matter how bad, has at least one good film in them.