Muggy. 60 something and wet. Probably. Mist, and misty drizzle all day yesterday. Worse in some parts of town. It’s a cool, dreary, kind of weather. A break from the clear days! Dunno what we’ll get but the national forecast had Houston in the rain and storm zone for the weekend.
Spent the first part of the day doing errands, pickups, etc. Spent the second part picking up and shopping for my potluck. Which is this afternoon. I’m on the organizing committee so I’ll go in early. It’s a great day. Good food, good fellowship, and a white elephant gift exchange. I picked up a couple of great gifts at Goodwill yesterday afternoon. That was kinda late in the process, but it worked out.
In any case, today should be fun for the whole family. And it’s meatspace baby. Literally today, what with the ham, turkey, pulled pork, smoked brisket, sausages, and who knows what else… and dessert space afterwards.
I’m very happy I took the plunge and went to my first meeting. Didn’t know a soul, except that I’d met the guy who invited me a few months earlier at a yard sale. It’s been an interesting hobby, with some useful skill building, some money to be made, and good people to hang out with. And while we mostly avoid talking politics or religion, it’s a good gut check to be in a room with 30 people from different backgrounds, and hear what they have to say. It’s Texas, and it’s a lot of technically skilled people and small business owners, so it skews right of center, but much more “man on the street” than the intarwebs.
I think it’s important to be out and about, part of your community, and not just stay at home. The reality of walking thru a store, talking with people, driving the streets, and generally seeing with your own eyes is very different from the mediated experience we get online and from the media.
Plus, it gets you out of the house, gives structure to your day/week/month, and stimulates the mind and senses. All good things.
So in addition to stacking, find something to do out in the real world. You need it.
nick
It is pedos all the way down, but the coverup by officialdom will survive this pendulum swing because it involves both sides.
What is Podesta up to these days anyway?
Making a pot of “Roasted Chestnut” coffee this AM.
I am not really a big fan of flavored coffees, but I do mix it up on occasion.
—–
I do enjoy my astronomy club, I do a couple of things a month, and that’s plenty. I never was much of a joiner, but in retirement I do feel the need for a little outside activity.
US jury finds Vegas police fabricated evidence in 2001 killing, awards $34 million to exonerated woman
https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/14/us/kirstin-lobato-las-vegas-verdict/index.html
Yes, some of Las Vegas’ finest doing what they do best. How many other people have been wrongly convicted because of lazy detectives or officers trying to look good to their superiors? Such made up evidence is probably more prevalent than the legal system wants to admit.
Remember people, when being questioned by the police, FEDs, any law enforcement person, say nothing but your name. Beyond that, the only sound that comes out of your body should be the occasional fart.
@Nick
Enjoy the gathering today. I really enjoyed the get together back in my dog training days. It’s refreshing to spend time with folks of a shared interest but varied backgrounds, without the pressure of the normal tasks of the club. Especially when family is encouraged to join in.
@Greg
Lots of typing scott/tiger?
My DBAII and I have been good at changing defaults and removing unused accounts, fortunately. Lots of SQLPLUS /nolog and lots of swearing plus coffee.
Clocked out super early yesterday to avoid OT. Went to see Y2K, figured it would be stinker but it was a convenient show time and matinee prices. Yowzers. Everybody in that film was trying way too hard to be cute about the decade, the trends, the Y2K stuff. And the director couldn’t decide if he was making a teen vibe film, retro film, sci fi, crude boy gross out flick, or a slasher. The resulting melange of bad acting and lingering shots of gore and ‘ooh! 90’s product’ was a real train wreck.
On the other hand, last night kidlet talked husband and I into leaving for a date night so she could revel in having the house to herself (she’s a good kid – her mischief was to drink two sugar sodas).
Two films in one day – woo!
Red One was awesome. Laugh out loud funny, great interplay between the actors, and everyone just having a really good time playing their parts in a light movie. I really enjoyed the take on Santa and how he pulled off his annual feat. I liked they didn’t follow some of the tropes to precictable conclusions. Mrs Claus was a nice change of pace. I nearly always enjoy Johnson, Pike, and Liu. They were a lot of fun together. Johnson plays himself like most of his films but it worked well in this case. And Pike pulled off the cynical shyster well. Liu was a bit wooden a couple times but again, that fit with the character so was fine. The guy who did Santa was good, he spends half the film in the background but there were a couple scenes at N Pole that were fun surprises.
It was a great palate cleanser after the mess of Y2K. I -think- kidlet will like it, there were a couple jump scares and moments of peril / scary that are more than -we- let her watch but that I assume at this point she’s exposed herself to.
Fun film. Not deep, just creative, undemanding fun.
“Date night”? What is this thing of which you speak??
Glad you got out of the house Jenny.
That is one thing an organized hobby does for me, it’s on the calendar for a whole year in advance, and neither I nor anyone else should schedule any overlap. “It’s on the calendar” ends the “yeah but…s” no matter where they come from.
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Up and moving, coffee in the cup. Time to start the task list and get out of the house.
Light overcast and not too cool.
n
@Nick
You mentioned this without naming it the other day, and I forgot to ask.
Errands take me near a source this afternoon…
If you want to see a different, darker take on that kind of Christmas story, find a way to watch “Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale”.
The same director made “Sisu”, which I’ve recommended here before.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwT3wtUCv9Y
Not for the kid of course.
We’ve been streaming “Clarkson’s Farm” at our house lately.
Whether or not “Clarkson’s Farm” is appropriate for the kid depends on whether you think she is too young to hear Jeremy Clarkson liberally using the ‘F’ word. Otherwise, life on the farm is pretty tame.
I haven’t messed with sqlplus since grad school.
With my current project at work, we do really hideous things to SQLite, seriously overloading a single database file.
Stretch Pelosi gets hip replacement in Germany:
Nancy Pelosi, 84, spokesperson shares health update after she was rushed to hospital with serious hip injury
Probably paid for by us, assist by the US Military, a service I couldn’t get after twenty years of service.
She is not long for this Earth. I would think she would resign at this point and spend her final days in her SF mansion. But the power and control prevents her from letting go.
On the East Coast drone sightings:
Goobermint needs to investigate the shite out of this. The first thing you know, some bureaucrat will try to ban all drones. I like playing with my drones.
We’ll probably end up with a bunch of red neck yahoos shooting at anything with a rotor/prop in the sky to take care of the problem.
The margin in the House will end up extremely tight.
I don’t see Pelosi letting Hakim Jeffries take the Speaker’s gavel if the opportunity arises in the next two years.
Screen “Clueless” for the kid if you want her to see a “90s” comedy that isn’t trying to be “90s”.
“Legally Blonde” also gets it even though the release date was 2001.
The “90s” movie era ended on 9/11. The “pandemic” kabuki ended film comedy.
Another flick recently screened at our house is “Chappaquiddick” on Tubi.
“Chappaquiddick” isn’t for the kid, but it is a much better film than I imagined.
I ran the important parts of “Chappaquiddick” before visiting the actual location of the crime last month.
Visit in person and you’ll never trust in the official narrative again. Taking the dirt road out to the bridge is not something that happens by accident, and the water is much shallower than even the movie portrays.
Uncle Ted killed the girl through inaction and got away with it.
Uncle Ted killed the girl by driving recklessly, losing control, and putting the car into the water where it sunk with Mary Jo Kopechne still alive. He probably had a chance to rescue her from drowning, but didn’t try and revealed himself to be a yellow coward. Then he sneaked back and consulted with his bespoke stable of Kennedy family liars and fixers to concoct a story, lied to law enforcement and the press–neither of which had the guts to ask the obvious questions–and put on a totally unneeded neck brace to try to get some public sympathy.
Most Americans have wiped better off the soles of their shoes.
Harbor Freight Day 5 of 12 Days of Deals:
ICON 2100 Lumen LED Rechargeable Magnetic Compact Floodlight, Black
Sale $24.99 (Reg $54.99)
SKU 59170, Brand ICON, Model LWR2100, 4.7/5 stars (557 reviews)
3 brightness modes, runtime of 3 hours on high (2100 lumens)
https://www.harborfreight.com/2100-lumen-led-rechargeable-magnetic-compact-floodlight-black-59170.html
a review here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/harborfreight/comments/wagy40/quick_take_icon_2100_lumen_magnetic_floodlight_w/
FLASHLIGHT!
The square chunky form factor has more lumens for the dollar than the wand-type lights. If I can score enough of these tomorrow they are going in each vehicle and the tool chests on the roller cabinets. Have to check price on extended warranty, too.
No one sober who frequented the island would go across that bridge in a 67 Oldsmobile. The preserve on the other side of the bridge consists of sand dunes which require a four wheel drive vehicle with tire pressure lowered to allow for proper traction.
The car did not sink but ended up upside down in shallow water. The girl remained alive in an air pocket for a considerable amount of time, and the movie entertains the possibility that she suffocated hours after the event.
@MrAtoz – The “Lower Decks” penultimate episode is fun.
The final episode may be the last Stage 8/9 era “Star Trek” we see for a very long time.
It will be a sad moment when the credits roll next week.
I had a lovely afternoon with friends and acquaintances. The food was delicious and the company was great. W and the Ds enjoyed themselves too. I even managed to get a couple of leftovers, including half a pie.
A good day.
n
@Nick
“You mentioned this without naming it the other day, and I forgot to ask.
Errands take me near a source this afternoon…”
yeah, verily…
Went to Total Wine. I was looking on the shelves and vaguely hearing an employee say they were out of something but another location had two cases. I finally spotted the empty slot on the shelves, asked, and found that they had been talking about the Santa Clausthaler. Seems it was flying off the shelves today.
I called the other store and had them reserve me a case. Only 20 miles, but the weather outside was frightful. While I was there I picked up a case of Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout.
I opened a bottle of each this evening.
The Santa Clausthaler is interesting in a good way. More of a cinnamon cranberry radler than a beer, kind of a lighter version of a mulled wine. Very drinkable once the mindset changes to “not beer”. Good choice to take to a holiday party to drink and share.
Brooklyn Black Chocolate Stout. The Russian Imperial Stouts are one of my favorite styles. This may be the best. If anyone has a candidate for better, send me some and I will be happy to evaluate…
I attended the annual office Christmas party of my last job at TBP. The wife and I get invited each year along with other former employees. It is a nice gesture that is much appreciated. It is good to see the people.
For the way I was treated by my last company they can take a long walk on a short pier. Bitter? Who me?? ;o
>> Contract awarded in Feb 2021 by Biden administration. Postmaster was DeJoy, the same buffoon that insulted Congress this week by refusing to listen and putting his hands over his ears.
Autistic. Seriously on the spectrum but high functional. I was surprised that he could even be in that room with that many people, much less talking to them.
Can Trump / DOGE dump DeJoy before his term is up?
@drwilliams, I’m glad you liked it. I like the other two Clausthaler N/A beers too. There has been an explosion of N/A beers in the US and I think that’s a good thing.
My experience has been that if I bring N/A beer to a party, lots of people choose it.
Brooklyn makes a sampler pack of their N/A beers, but to my taste they are all too hoppy or too ‘thin’. If you like hoppy beers, there are a lot of N/A choices. If you like maltier beers, or just don’t like the sharply hoppy taste (or IPAs in general) there are very few choices.
My Holiday ranking of n/a or low alcohol beers – because why not??
Becks – this tastes the most like their regular beer. To me, it’s indistinguishable from any normal pilsner style beer. My first choice.
Heineken – slight difference from regular beer, could just be I’m less fond of Heiny… second choice.
Asahi – good crisp flavor, third choice.
St Pauli Girl – tastes like St Pauli Girl. Not bad, but distinctive. Fourth choice.
Peroni is uncommon in the US, but it’s OK
Corona with lime is watery corona with lime. And it’s a 0.5% instead of 0.0. Ok
Clausthaler, green or brown bottle, both ok, both a bit ‘sharp’, green bottle is hoppier.
N/a versions of US domestic brands – not good at all, but except for ODoul’s, work ok in a Michelada style drink, or if very cold when you are very thirsty. Many people would say that of the full strength domestics… Avoid if import choices are present. Avoid O’Douls. Drink ginger ale or water….
Kaliber is horrid.
If you like IPAs, there are several other choices that present themselves as US craft breweries. I generally don’t even try them because I don’t like iron and hops which is what I get from an IPA. They are probably closer to the taste of beer though.
Finally, there aren’t any “good” N/A stouts. The Guinness attempt is pure foulness and shouldn’t have the Guinness name on the can.
I am drinking a ‘Gruvi Mocha Nitro Stout’ as I write this, that I picked up to try – and it’s drinkable. However no one is going to take a sip, sigh, and say “man that’s good.”
I will try any new N/A beer I find (even IPAs if I can’t find something else to try, I just can’t remember the one’s I’ve had). I always ask for N/A beer in a restaurant, and sometimes I’m pleasantly surprised by what they have. Sometimes the waitstaff doesn’t even know what you mean…. but hopefully it will express a demand and they’ll put a shelf of it in the fridge, or hit up their distributor for some…
When I first quit alcohol, I tried a bunch of ginger ales and beers, all soft drinks. I ended up drinking Goslings Diet Ginger Beer as my everyday soda. It’s clean, crisp, has a ginger flavor, and doesn’t burn your mouth. Barritt’s Ginger Beer is a close second choice but it’s much harder to find in the US.
MOST of the craft or specialty ginger beers or ales seem to be competing on how spicy they are. Some are undrinkable.
I don’t actually like trying new things by my nature, but I’ve learned that “if I have to find a new thing anyway, it’s better to try a bunch” and lately I’ve realized that it’s a bit dumb to not try some of the tremendous variety around us, while we can.
We live in a world of unimaginable wealth and luxury by almost any standard. Might as well take advantage of that.
n