Free as in Dive. Here's your free thread!
March 25, 2024 4:41 AM Subscribe
Freediving is a style of underwater experience gated by breath-holding. Do you swim? Do you dive? How low? Or talk about anything you like!
I wear dive watches while sitting at the computer. Use the bezel to tell me when my microwave dinner is ready.
posted by peachfiber at 5:24 AM on March 25 [6 favorites]
posted by peachfiber at 5:24 AM on March 25 [6 favorites]
If you haven't see it already, The Deepest Breath is an excellent documentary on the freediver Alessia Zecchini and her (ultimately romantic) relationship with Stephen Keenan who worked alongside her as a competition safety diver. Basically the true life version of The Big Blue.
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 5:47 AM on March 25 [1 favorite]
posted by Insert Clever Name Here at 5:47 AM on March 25 [1 favorite]
I've never been a strong swimmer, so wading around with some floaties is about as aquatic as I get. I love the water... but in calmer situations than accelerating at 9.8 m/s/s towards it.
I live on a tributary(?) to a river. In the summer, aside from a deep spot where we draw our drinking water, you can walk across most of it and only get around knee deep at most (great for spotting crayfish and other critters). In the spring, under normal runoff conditions, the water is high enough to create rapids and float full trees past our house. This spring, the water is very low, and the bush has pretty much no snow in it right now. I think it's going to be a scarily dry spring and summer this year. We don't normally get bush fires around our place of any consequence, just because it's generally a fairly boggy, swampy area so they don't spread too quickly. But I'm starting to think about the "what would we do if" because where we are is so heavily forested.
posted by eekernohan at 6:05 AM on March 25 [1 favorite]
I live on a tributary(?) to a river. In the summer, aside from a deep spot where we draw our drinking water, you can walk across most of it and only get around knee deep at most (great for spotting crayfish and other critters). In the spring, under normal runoff conditions, the water is high enough to create rapids and float full trees past our house. This spring, the water is very low, and the bush has pretty much no snow in it right now. I think it's going to be a scarily dry spring and summer this year. We don't normally get bush fires around our place of any consequence, just because it's generally a fairly boggy, swampy area so they don't spread too quickly. But I'm starting to think about the "what would we do if" because where we are is so heavily forested.
posted by eekernohan at 6:05 AM on March 25 [1 favorite]
With fins, I can do about 12 meters, but only if there's something cool to see down there.
posted by snofoam at 6:20 AM on March 25
posted by snofoam at 6:20 AM on March 25
butts.
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 6:47 AM on March 25 [8 favorites]
posted by bombastic lowercase pronouncements at 6:47 AM on March 25 [8 favorites]
When we were kids, my brother and sister plooshed like fish and passed successively their bronze, silver and gold swimming and life-saving exams [make a flotation device out of your pyjama-bottoms etc.] and have the medals to prove it. Me not-so-much: I have a certificate for Swimming One Length of the Drake Baths in Plymouth. I could manage two lengths but my bottle, and wind, gave out beyond that.
About 20 years ago, I was adult in the pool standing up to my neck in the water watching my sub-teen daughters coursing up and down, when my reveries were distracted by a commotion down at the deep end. Someone was splashing about unable to make any progress to the edge of the pool. Without thinking, I swam there and by holding my breath and standing underneath her I contrived to push the distressed woman by her bottom towards the pool side. And the life-guard? That spotty youth was running up and down the poolside shouting. Apparently, not getting into the water is part of the standard operating procedure. We still had 20 minutes left on the clock, so I went back to standing up to my neck in the water until the girls had finished their antics.
There is, of course, a certain irony that the only one of our sibship who is not qualified to save lives, is the one who has actually saved someone from drowning. I have accordingly awarded myself St Adjudor’s medal
posted by BobTheScientist at 6:48 AM on March 25 [14 favorites]
About 20 years ago, I was adult in the pool standing up to my neck in the water watching my sub-teen daughters coursing up and down, when my reveries were distracted by a commotion down at the deep end. Someone was splashing about unable to make any progress to the edge of the pool. Without thinking, I swam there and by holding my breath and standing underneath her I contrived to push the distressed woman by her bottom towards the pool side. And the life-guard? That spotty youth was running up and down the poolside shouting. Apparently, not getting into the water is part of the standard operating procedure. We still had 20 minutes left on the clock, so I went back to standing up to my neck in the water until the girls had finished their antics.
There is, of course, a certain irony that the only one of our sibship who is not qualified to save lives, is the one who has actually saved someone from drowning. I have accordingly awarded myself St Adjudor’s medal
posted by BobTheScientist at 6:48 AM on March 25 [14 favorites]
A luxurious hotel in Houston was torn down. The building was gone but the pool was still there and for two days (some body? some org?) arranged that just anyone could try on a tank and mask and swim in 12 foot of water.
The treasures! A few band aids, a couple of safety pins, some bobby pins.
But! I stepped into that gear and into that pool easily, seemed absolutely natural -- there I was, Lloyd Bridges, in Sea Hunt. So no big deal for me but many people -- including the buddy I wss with that afternoon -- it seems that for many people it is *not* as easy as it was for me, he never did "get it".e
~~~~~
I lived on the Gulf coast in Florida, lived on Clearwater Beach, about a million years ago. Only ever so often would the guards tell ppl to exit the water because a lot of sharks in the salt. I found out that there are *always* sharks swimming 'round, that if they cleared it every time there was sharks around no one would ever swim.
~~~~~
Fish caught and fileted and cooked that day, in fact inside of a few hours, is the best fish I have ever eaten. Unreal the difference. Mostly learned this in FLA but once visiting a buddy in Seattle found it held true with halibut also. I would love fresh halibut lunch today but there are not any to be caught here in Austin so it's just a wish.....
posted by dancestoblue at 6:52 AM on March 25 [5 favorites]
The treasures! A few band aids, a couple of safety pins, some bobby pins.
But! I stepped into that gear and into that pool easily, seemed absolutely natural -- there I was, Lloyd Bridges, in Sea Hunt. So no big deal for me but many people -- including the buddy I wss with that afternoon -- it seems that for many people it is *not* as easy as it was for me, he never did "get it".e
~~~~~
I lived on the Gulf coast in Florida, lived on Clearwater Beach, about a million years ago. Only ever so often would the guards tell ppl to exit the water because a lot of sharks in the salt. I found out that there are *always* sharks swimming 'round, that if they cleared it every time there was sharks around no one would ever swim.
~~~~~
Fish caught and fileted and cooked that day, in fact inside of a few hours, is the best fish I have ever eaten. Unreal the difference. Mostly learned this in FLA but once visiting a buddy in Seattle found it held true with halibut also. I would love fresh halibut lunch today but there are not any to be caught here in Austin so it's just a wish.....
posted by dancestoblue at 6:52 AM on March 25 [5 favorites]
I'm a mediocre swimmer but I really enjoy snorkeling, especially in tropical waters. I got certified for scuba in my teens, but discovered that I was claustrophobic enough that it really wasn't that wonderful, so i let it go.
Free-diving isn't that free when you price in the flight, accommodations, etc.
posted by Artful Codger at 6:54 AM on March 25 [2 favorites]
Free-diving isn't that free when you price in the flight, accommodations, etc.
posted by Artful Codger at 6:54 AM on March 25 [2 favorites]
Never really liked swimming; my mom made me go to swim lessons as a kid which was a panic attack for five days straight (or however long they were) every summer; I outright refused to jump off the high dive, that was too much.
Film Student Update: The Fargo Film Festival! As of noon last Tuesday I punched out of work and started watching all the movies I could. The only ones I missed were because I couldn't skip class on Wednesday. Saw a lot of really amazing films, some not so great, but most of what I enjoyed was the people. This was my first year volunteering and I started meeting people during the jury voting but getting to hang out with all of these film lovers -- from retirees just looking for a hobby to Real Film Nerds -- was great.
Plus, I got to meet and hang out with the visiting filmmakers, and I mentioned last time I was going to MC a couple Q&A sessions, which went really, really well. For one of the films' Q&A, I vaguely knew the creators worked for Cartoon Network, and I don't have little kids so I don't watch Cartoon Network much -- but after chatting with them a bit I came to the realization that these aren't just "yeah, I draw things" people but one of the guys was the creator of Infinity Train, another wrote for Regular Show, the guy who wrote the film wrote almost every episode of OK K.O.!, all three were above-the-line staff on a bunch of cartoons whose names I recognized, but from my initial perspective I just assumed they were a bunch of really creative kids doing what they loved. Which, I guess, is still true.
(At one point, that writer-director of this film interrupted what he was doing, made a bee line for me to introduce himself and talk about the upcoming Q&A, which apparently blew the minds of some young people I was nearby. He had to go say hi to Azrael, not the other way around?!?!??)
I went to a Q&A with movie producer Will Greenfield, which was for students-only; I asked a question and before he answered he asked if I was a professor. Nope, just an old student (I didn't say it that way). I asked what either isn't taught enough in school, or should really pay attention to in school, and his answer -- definitely coming from a producer viewpoint -- is the business side of things. Like, when choosing where to shoot, just the different ways workers comp is calculated in different locales can really change how much a movie costs to make.
One common thing about making films that came up in these Q&As, regarding the generic question "how'd you get this made?" is connections. Like, EVERYTHING is about who you know, and not in a nepotism or 'they were in my fraternity' way. Not having to hunt and search and call agents to find someone to do a task in these highly collaborative projects has enormous value. It sounded like 3/4 of Will Greenfield's job is to go "yeah, I know a guy" and talk people into taking jobs.
At one of the "meet and greet" events, which was held in a place with almost literally no place to sit, two local movie director/producers I was standing around with suddenly asked "want to go grab some pizza?" and we walked down the street, sat in a booth, and talked about movies. Looks like connections come in ways you don't always expect.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:13 AM on March 25 [17 favorites]
Film Student Update: The Fargo Film Festival! As of noon last Tuesday I punched out of work and started watching all the movies I could. The only ones I missed were because I couldn't skip class on Wednesday. Saw a lot of really amazing films, some not so great, but most of what I enjoyed was the people. This was my first year volunteering and I started meeting people during the jury voting but getting to hang out with all of these film lovers -- from retirees just looking for a hobby to Real Film Nerds -- was great.
Plus, I got to meet and hang out with the visiting filmmakers, and I mentioned last time I was going to MC a couple Q&A sessions, which went really, really well. For one of the films' Q&A, I vaguely knew the creators worked for Cartoon Network, and I don't have little kids so I don't watch Cartoon Network much -- but after chatting with them a bit I came to the realization that these aren't just "yeah, I draw things" people but one of the guys was the creator of Infinity Train, another wrote for Regular Show, the guy who wrote the film wrote almost every episode of OK K.O.!, all three were above-the-line staff on a bunch of cartoons whose names I recognized, but from my initial perspective I just assumed they were a bunch of really creative kids doing what they loved. Which, I guess, is still true.
(At one point, that writer-director of this film interrupted what he was doing, made a bee line for me to introduce himself and talk about the upcoming Q&A, which apparently blew the minds of some young people I was nearby. He had to go say hi to Azrael, not the other way around?!?!??)
I went to a Q&A with movie producer Will Greenfield, which was for students-only; I asked a question and before he answered he asked if I was a professor. Nope, just an old student (I didn't say it that way). I asked what either isn't taught enough in school, or should really pay attention to in school, and his answer -- definitely coming from a producer viewpoint -- is the business side of things. Like, when choosing where to shoot, just the different ways workers comp is calculated in different locales can really change how much a movie costs to make.
One common thing about making films that came up in these Q&As, regarding the generic question "how'd you get this made?" is connections. Like, EVERYTHING is about who you know, and not in a nepotism or 'they were in my fraternity' way. Not having to hunt and search and call agents to find someone to do a task in these highly collaborative projects has enormous value. It sounded like 3/4 of Will Greenfield's job is to go "yeah, I know a guy" and talk people into taking jobs.
At one of the "meet and greet" events, which was held in a place with almost literally no place to sit, two local movie director/producers I was standing around with suddenly asked "want to go grab some pizza?" and we walked down the street, sat in a booth, and talked about movies. Looks like connections come in ways you don't always expect.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:13 AM on March 25 [17 favorites]
Love following your journey, AzraelBrown.
This weekend was pretty chill. Did a yoga class, saw Dune 2, volunteered, went for a long walk, and played a lot of Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire.
posted by Gorgik at 7:20 AM on March 25 [4 favorites]
This weekend was pretty chill. Did a yoga class, saw Dune 2, volunteered, went for a long walk, and played a lot of Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire.
posted by Gorgik at 7:20 AM on March 25 [4 favorites]
I love swimming underwater but thanks to ear issues, I can't handle going much below 6 feet (~2m) or so. I've had ear problems since I was a kid, oddly enough removing my tonsils (which was the style at the time) did nothing to change that. But I do love that weightless feeling you can only get underwater.
posted by tommasz at 7:24 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
posted by tommasz at 7:24 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
My wife threw me a surprise birthday party Saturday afternoon. I'd never had a surprise birthday party before, and it was a good time. I was overwhelmed a bit at first because I had no idea at all...but it was a great time after I recovered.
Overall a great birthday, though since I turned 44, I won't be back in my prime for another 3 years!
posted by schyler523 at 7:33 AM on March 25 [11 favorites]
Overall a great birthday, though since I turned 44, I won't be back in my prime for another 3 years!
posted by schyler523 at 7:33 AM on March 25 [11 favorites]
I can swim. Pool chemicals make me feel like a zombie for the rest of a day if I do, so I don't do it much. I did learn to scuba when I was a teenager, and that was pretty cool. I am breathing, underwater!
Haven't had a tank on in 40+ years though.
posted by Windopaene at 7:35 AM on March 25 [2 favorites]
Haven't had a tank on in 40+ years though.
posted by Windopaene at 7:35 AM on March 25 [2 favorites]
I can go down to about 20 feet with breath, but below that head pressure really starts to get to me, and I find it a bit frightening. I love touching the bottom of bodies of water, it's so gross in lakes with the silted mud, and I assume about 22 feet down in the ocean is where giant squids and sea monsters live.
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:44 AM on March 25 [2 favorites]
posted by The_Vegetables at 7:44 AM on March 25 [2 favorites]
For monetary reasons, we've had to cut the amount of times we eat out down to almost none at all. And we've come to the conclusion that a very large part of what you're paying for in a restaurant is having someone else do the dishes. Good lord, so many dishes.
posted by azpenguin at 7:56 AM on March 25 [12 favorites]
posted by azpenguin at 7:56 AM on March 25 [12 favorites]
Here in Kingston, the solar eclipse excitement is reaching fever pitch as we are in the path of direct totality. Enough where my office just announced to we will need to work from home that day as the projected visitors to our city is guesstimated at 500k (!?) people. (I look askance at these numbers.)
I do love that the city-planned event for viewing is called Total Eclipse in the Park, complete with a playthrough of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.
Me? Armed with eclipse glasses and a joint, I will be in my backyard, hoping for a clear day.
posted by Kitteh at 7:58 AM on March 25 [11 favorites]
I do love that the city-planned event for viewing is called Total Eclipse in the Park, complete with a playthrough of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.
Me? Armed with eclipse glasses and a joint, I will be in my backyard, hoping for a clear day.
posted by Kitteh at 7:58 AM on March 25 [11 favorites]
as the projected visitors to our city is guesstimated at 500k (!?) people. (I look askance at these numbers.)
I forget where I heard it but recently I heard an eclipse described as an event where you spent 4 or 5 minutes looking up at a miracle in the sky and then 14 hours trying to drive home.
posted by hippybear at 8:14 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
I forget where I heard it but recently I heard an eclipse described as an event where you spent 4 or 5 minutes looking up at a miracle in the sky and then 14 hours trying to drive home.
posted by hippybear at 8:14 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
All I can say is that I am glad it is happening where I live because I am not so passionate about astronomy that I would drive lengthy distances to be there.
I get it, though. This is very much like touching the divine. A natural event that still inspires awe in those who chase these events.
posted by Kitteh at 8:18 AM on March 25 [2 favorites]
I get it, though. This is very much like touching the divine. A natural event that still inspires awe in those who chase these events.
posted by Kitteh at 8:18 AM on March 25 [2 favorites]
Regarding dishes, we don't have a dishwasher (well, we do, it's me). Once lockdown happened, I've had to resort to washing them twice a day. My spouse hasn't gone back to the office and my son is now a college student living at home, so we still use plenty of dishes during the day even in these post lockdown times. Getting all of the day dishes washed before starting dinner is pretty much now a requirement, as it makes things much more pleasant after dinner.
I would love to see the eclipse (Annie Dillard's description in her essay "Total Eclipse" really stayed with me), but holy crap does it sound like a hassle these days.
posted by mollweide at 8:27 AM on March 25 [1 favorite]
I would love to see the eclipse (Annie Dillard's description in her essay "Total Eclipse" really stayed with me), but holy crap does it sound like a hassle these days.
posted by mollweide at 8:27 AM on March 25 [1 favorite]
I'm guessing the 2024 event is going to be a bit worse than 2017 because it's travelling over more populated areas from the southwest to the northeast?
Travis County, Texas issued a disaster declaration in anticipation of the crowds down there.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:29 AM on March 25 [2 favorites]
Travis County, Texas issued a disaster declaration in anticipation of the crowds down there.
posted by JoeZydeco at 8:29 AM on March 25 [2 favorites]
I do love that the city-planned event for viewing is called Total Eclipse in the Park, complete with a playthrough of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.
The one in Terra Haute, Indiana is called "Total Eclipse of the Haute".
posted by jedicus at 8:43 AM on March 25 [9 favorites]
The one in Terra Haute, Indiana is called "Total Eclipse of the Haute".
posted by jedicus at 8:43 AM on March 25 [9 favorites]
One normally considers Edgar A Poe to be a somber and sober fellow. And then you read his short tale, "Loss of Breath."
posted by SPrintF at 8:48 AM on March 25 [1 favorite]
posted by SPrintF at 8:48 AM on March 25 [1 favorite]
Swimming is a joy for me, although I miss the extra buoyancy of salt water. My own personal extra buoyancy isn't really helping but I'll have a chance to see how that works out this summer, when we find out if the pool that came with our house is viable. It's just been an abstract Thing To Take Care Of since we moved in the fall. I feel a truly bad pun about sunk cost fallacy coming on...anyway, I can at least look forward to silly mock sea battles and making a nice admiral hat for my cat. What I really want is to build an bathhouse, so I can lurk in the dark water to my heart's and sore knees neck ankles etc content.
We had planned to visit friends in Indianapolis for the eclipse, that's fallen through and I'm quite glad, myself. I would have been the driver and we'd have had to camp in somebody's parents' backyard, and I like access to indoor plumbing a bit too much to enjoy that type of camping these days.
This is also the first time I've had an automatic dishwasher because I was the dishwasher mostly before. I'm the type to say, when friends are over, Just Leave Those dishes, let's play cards. The dishes will always be with us, as it were. There is a facebook group where people post photos of how they load the dishwasher and then other people judge them. Now I know dishwasher loading memes.
posted by winesong at 8:49 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
We had planned to visit friends in Indianapolis for the eclipse, that's fallen through and I'm quite glad, myself. I would have been the driver and we'd have had to camp in somebody's parents' backyard, and I like access to indoor plumbing a bit too much to enjoy that type of camping these days.
This is also the first time I've had an automatic dishwasher because I was the dishwasher mostly before. I'm the type to say, when friends are over, Just Leave Those dishes, let's play cards. The dishes will always be with us, as it were. There is a facebook group where people post photos of how they load the dishwasher and then other people judge them. Now I know dishwasher loading memes.
posted by winesong at 8:49 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
Swimming in the pool became much more viable for me when I realized I didn't need to put my face in the water when doing the front crawl. No more panic attacks!
posted by SunSnork at 8:56 AM on March 25 [4 favorites]
posted by SunSnork at 8:56 AM on March 25 [4 favorites]
I don't get to swim that often, but I did get to experience a hot spring a few months ago. Floating in a warm pool while little snowflakes fall on you and a you are looking up at a mountain while the stars come out= magical
posted by emjaybee at 9:08 AM on March 25 [7 favorites]
posted by emjaybee at 9:08 AM on March 25 [7 favorites]
Due to some trick of aerodynamics every dive of mine ends in a full on BACKSLAP (like a belly flop, but the other side). I jumped off of a ship back in my adventurous days, and as I floated slightly dazed below the water level I could hear the crew groan, "Oooooooooh" in sympathy.
I was actually scuba certified, so can do the little flip over trick where you make your head and tanks flow in, but a natural normal dive? Oh no, that's ending in kersploosh territory. I'm a big man, it's like Godzilla punching the water.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:11 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
I was actually scuba certified, so can do the little flip over trick where you make your head and tanks flow in, but a natural normal dive? Oh no, that's ending in kersploosh territory. I'm a big man, it's like Godzilla punching the water.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:11 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
Before kiddo came along, I used to swim 2-3 times a week. I LOVED it. Only period in my life that I consistently slept a straight 8 hours every night. I've never been able to figure out a way to work it back into my schedule.
The school district decided to make April 8 a half day as we live within a couple of hours drive of the eclipse. My university is located in the path and is hosting an alumni event, so we decided to pull kiddo for the day and have some fun with it.
I guess that bottle of Prosecco I picked up yesterday is going to have to chill a bit longer.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 9:13 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
The school district decided to make April 8 a half day as we live within a couple of hours drive of the eclipse. My university is located in the path and is hosting an alumni event, so we decided to pull kiddo for the day and have some fun with it.
I guess that bottle of Prosecco I picked up yesterday is going to have to chill a bit longer.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 9:13 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
I love scuba diving, but freediving scares me. When you're scuba diving, you can always get back to the surface by either taking a deep breath, or adding air to your float vest, thus becoming negatively buoyant and moving upwards. You have no such option while freediving; in order to get down, you have to start negatively buoyant, and going down makes you less buoyant the further down you go, so getting back up requires you to actively swim upwards.
posted by Hatashran at 9:17 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
posted by Hatashran at 9:17 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
I'm a good swimmer, though I've avoided swimming in the ocean since my 20's or so. In college I swam a mile every day at lunchtime, but sadly I dropped the habit after that.
A couple of daffodils recently bloomed in the yard, and some of the trees are blossoming, though I wouldn't call the current state of local plant life a "riot of spring color" at the moment. And certainly the weather hasn't caught on to the notion of spring yet.
Also, I just noticed this weekend that I haven't seen any hummingbirds at my feeders in over a month. I keep changing the sugar water regularly and hoping they return soon.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:17 AM on March 25 [2 favorites]
A couple of daffodils recently bloomed in the yard, and some of the trees are blossoming, though I wouldn't call the current state of local plant life a "riot of spring color" at the moment. And certainly the weather hasn't caught on to the notion of spring yet.
Also, I just noticed this weekend that I haven't seen any hummingbirds at my feeders in over a month. I keep changing the sugar water regularly and hoping they return soon.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:17 AM on March 25 [2 favorites]
I always felt embarrassed being the Florida kid who somehow failed his swim test at MIT. (I grew up boarding in the ocean, I know how to swim). Eventually had to get over myself and retake the damn thing.
Mom visited last week and we tooled around southern california for a while. She learned that no, Santa Maria is not Santa Barbara, but I still drove her there and back to meet her best friend since she was 8 and growing up in Maine. (We did stop in the Santa Barbara Funk Zone to make up for the extra 2 hours of driving)
And I know Polanski is a shit human being, but I got to sit with my mom in the Grauman's Egyptian and watch a 35mm print of Chinatown on the big screen and that was glorious. (Both American Cinematheque and Netflix have done a hell of a job restoring the theater to it's 1920's glory with modern AV equipment)
We ate so much pastrami (Wexlers, Langers and Brents - Wexlers still the tops for me) and spent hours tooling through used book stores.
All in all a good trip- even better, she and my wife got along - mostly. I'll take it as a win!
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:18 AM on March 25 [12 favorites]
Mom visited last week and we tooled around southern california for a while. She learned that no, Santa Maria is not Santa Barbara, but I still drove her there and back to meet her best friend since she was 8 and growing up in Maine. (We did stop in the Santa Barbara Funk Zone to make up for the extra 2 hours of driving)
And I know Polanski is a shit human being, but I got to sit with my mom in the Grauman's Egyptian and watch a 35mm print of Chinatown on the big screen and that was glorious. (Both American Cinematheque and Netflix have done a hell of a job restoring the theater to it's 1920's glory with modern AV equipment)
We ate so much pastrami (Wexlers, Langers and Brents - Wexlers still the tops for me) and spent hours tooling through used book stores.
All in all a good trip- even better, she and my wife got along - mostly. I'll take it as a win!
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:18 AM on March 25 [12 favorites]
As a child, I was given the option of either swimming lessons or skating lessons (parents couldn't afford both). After a brief trial period in both, picking swimming was a no-brainer for me since I very much preferred spending my time blowing bubbles and drifting along in warm, gentle waters over having knives strapped to my feet and being sent out into a giant walk-in freezer to do things like fall down repeatedly onto the ice. I eventually had to stop swimming when my nearsightedness got bad enough that I couldn't even function minimally without my glasses (custom prescription goggles were a pipe dream at that point), but I can just about manage treading water and slowly flopping around down the length of the pool.
This weekend I attended a friend-of-a-friend's wedding as a platonic friend plus-one - or at least that's what I thought, but my companion was, uh, not on the same page. I thought I had left that awkwardness behind after accidentally dating some poor boy for almost the entire summer after 10th grade without realizing it, but apparently not! In a similar vein, the only jobs calling me back for phone screens and interviews are the ones I am not actually qualified for and I do not in fact actually want.
posted by btfreek at 9:38 AM on March 25 [4 favorites]
This weekend I attended a friend-of-a-friend's wedding as a platonic friend plus-one - or at least that's what I thought, but my companion was, uh, not on the same page. I thought I had left that awkwardness behind after accidentally dating some poor boy for almost the entire summer after 10th grade without realizing it, but apparently not! In a similar vein, the only jobs calling me back for phone screens and interviews are the ones I am not actually qualified for and I do not in fact actually want.
posted by btfreek at 9:38 AM on March 25 [4 favorites]
When you're scuba diving, you can always get back to the surface by either taking a deep breath, or adding air to your float vest, thus becoming negatively buoyant and moving upwards.
One floats when positively buoyant, but best practices preclude using positive buoyancy to ascend on scuba. As you go up you would become increasingly buoyant and not be able to control your rate of ascent, possibly injuring yourself. The ideal would be staying neutrally buoyant or slightly negative so you can swim up at a deliberate pace. Taking a deep breath to create buoyancy to ascend is a great way to give yourself a lung expansion injury. One of the fundamentals of scuba is to never hold your breath.
posted by snofoam at 9:42 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
One floats when positively buoyant, but best practices preclude using positive buoyancy to ascend on scuba. As you go up you would become increasingly buoyant and not be able to control your rate of ascent, possibly injuring yourself. The ideal would be staying neutrally buoyant or slightly negative so you can swim up at a deliberate pace. Taking a deep breath to create buoyancy to ascend is a great way to give yourself a lung expansion injury. One of the fundamentals of scuba is to never hold your breath.
posted by snofoam at 9:42 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
Yep. Never hold your breath while ascending...
Air embolism and pneumothorax are not fun.
What is crazy though is that as you ascend, the air in your lungs expands, so you can exhale for like a minute.
posted by Windopaene at 10:53 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
Air embolism and pneumothorax are not fun.
What is crazy though is that as you ascend, the air in your lungs expands, so you can exhale for like a minute.
posted by Windopaene at 10:53 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
A year ago I was visiting Los Angeles for the first time ever, and while I was at the Griffiths Observatory I picked up some eclipse glasses. "This'll be a good idea," I thought, "and then I can head to Rochester or Ithaca for a long weekend and see the total eclipse."
I got laid off like 3 months later, and while I have a new job by now, my PTO doesn't kick in until May. *pout* Well, NYC is still going to get an 80% eclipse so I'll just bring them to work, dammit.
Speaking of work - about 3 different people around here today have all independent of each other have all said, "there's something seriously crazy busy about things today, it's really weird." Is this the kind of thing that happens in the buildup to eclipses?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:55 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
I got laid off like 3 months later, and while I have a new job by now, my PTO doesn't kick in until May. *pout* Well, NYC is still going to get an 80% eclipse so I'll just bring them to work, dammit.
Speaking of work - about 3 different people around here today have all independent of each other have all said, "there's something seriously crazy busy about things today, it's really weird." Is this the kind of thing that happens in the buildup to eclipses?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:55 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
I miss swimming, I think, sort of, kind of. It's been so long. I was on a work trip a couple years ago and managed to carve out enough time to hit the pool; it had a glorious lazy river and I just went happily around and around. I float like a cork, always have, even when I was a very skinny kid who didn't fully understand drowning: why couldn't people just lay on their backs and float away forever? I still think I could probably sleep like that. The last time I was in a pool I was with my toddler grandchild and I was trying to hold her so she could float like that too, on her back.
I am diving now, into real estate, and it's scary and stressful and I'm not overjoyed happy. My daughter and I agreed to buy a house together but the seller didn't take the first offer. Then they took the second offer even though it really wasn't hardly bigger than the first. Now I have to fully grasp and agree and legally bind myself to do something I know is a good move for my family but honestly is not a great move for me personally. I mean it is, I will get something more than one room to live in for the first time in almost two years, but at the same time I'm going from a small house with a small mortgage to a big house with a big mortgage and it's scaring the pants off me. It also means saying, well, okay, I accept that I will never live alone again. I loved living alone. I miss the hell out of it. And because the only way we can even barely afford to do this is buying a triplex with a tenant and we will always have to have a tenant, I now have to be a landlady forever. This is not something I ever wanted, to be a landlady. I'm not a capitalist. I don't want to be extorting money from people for things that should be free. Ugh.
But here we are in this late capitalist hellscape and my daughter is a single mom and I want my granddaughter to have a good life and I want to help my daughter. I want my son to have more room and he can and I will actually, if it all works out right, have my own apartment in a few months when my son moves down to the basement. It's in a better neighborhood, there is light and air and a glorious view of water. I am pretty sure that in the long run this is a really smart move. But in the short term, it's a financial stretch, to put it mildly, and even if it is a good long term move, I'm afraid for the whole future, which looks increasingly bleak from every angle.
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:02 AM on March 25 [8 favorites]
I am diving now, into real estate, and it's scary and stressful and I'm not overjoyed happy. My daughter and I agreed to buy a house together but the seller didn't take the first offer. Then they took the second offer even though it really wasn't hardly bigger than the first. Now I have to fully grasp and agree and legally bind myself to do something I know is a good move for my family but honestly is not a great move for me personally. I mean it is, I will get something more than one room to live in for the first time in almost two years, but at the same time I'm going from a small house with a small mortgage to a big house with a big mortgage and it's scaring the pants off me. It also means saying, well, okay, I accept that I will never live alone again. I loved living alone. I miss the hell out of it. And because the only way we can even barely afford to do this is buying a triplex with a tenant and we will always have to have a tenant, I now have to be a landlady forever. This is not something I ever wanted, to be a landlady. I'm not a capitalist. I don't want to be extorting money from people for things that should be free. Ugh.
But here we are in this late capitalist hellscape and my daughter is a single mom and I want my granddaughter to have a good life and I want to help my daughter. I want my son to have more room and he can and I will actually, if it all works out right, have my own apartment in a few months when my son moves down to the basement. It's in a better neighborhood, there is light and air and a glorious view of water. I am pretty sure that in the long run this is a really smart move. But in the short term, it's a financial stretch, to put it mildly, and even if it is a good long term move, I'm afraid for the whole future, which looks increasingly bleak from every angle.
posted by mygothlaundry at 11:02 AM on March 25 [8 favorites]
At 50 years old I am finally proficient at performing inside stalls with a footbag.
hashtaglifegoals hashtagupnextlearnhowtousehashtags
posted by MonsieurPEB at 11:53 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
hashtaglifegoals hashtagupnextlearnhowtousehashtags
posted by MonsieurPEB at 11:53 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]
Theater update: Fiddler has closed, starting Twelve Angry Jurors tonight. Apparently we've lost a juror--I'm slightly confused as to this one as to what happened or if they just lost an alternate or what--so we were asked if we knew anyone who might want to play Two. I suggested this to a friend and she's interested, we'll see if it happens/if she wants the part, I suppose. Between it being out of town, her husband having issues, and I dunno how she is on line memorization, maybe not. I did offer to give her rides there, at least.
I'm still feeling not so great on the bait and switch part thing, though. I'll have to hide that tonight.
So far no news on the job at my current organization, but I am too busy to worry about that one today.
I have FOUR interviews this week. FOUR. I did half of them today. Thankfully 3 of 4 are virtual. I REALLY liked #1 today, it's the one job I have applied for that I actually wanted and will be bummed not to get. It's even remote and possibly might stay that way, it's a high pay job, the people were lovely and I'm actually interested in what the job does and had a lot to say on that topic. My priority has been to stay at my current org--or in this case, still work at my current org but technically be under their sister org, don't ask me to explain it because that doesn't make sense to me either--but this is the one job I would be willing to move out of here for, I think. Since as usual it'll take weeks to process whatever, maybe if I get the SisterOrg job and then they take a month to set up, maybe I could get the other one after that... Oh well, I need to not go down that train, count chickens, etc. Just enjoy that it was great. Other one today, eh...that's fine, don't really care too much.
I also have to do a sleep study today/tonight, not looking forward to that. Like many people, I don't think I have sleep apnea and I will be cheesed off as hell if it turns out I do because snoring annoys the bejeezus out of me and I will be so mad if I snore. (Note: as of the last time I slept in the same room with someone, she did not mention me snoring and she would have bitched me out for it had I done so, because of my whole "I can't sleep through snores" thing.) I don't think that's my problem so much, but obviously I had to cave in and do a sleep study, so here I am doing it while still not working. The worst part is they want me to drive it back at the literal crack of dawn, which means I WILL NOT SLEEP because I don't sleep if I have to be up early. So what's the point? I feel like my problem is more being flooded with adrenaline a lot, but ... sigh, I dunno. I wake up constantly to check the alarm if I have to get up early, but I don't wake up startled and snorting, just brain is On and Won't Turn Off.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:26 PM on March 25 [5 favorites]
I'm still feeling not so great on the bait and switch part thing, though. I'll have to hide that tonight.
So far no news on the job at my current organization, but I am too busy to worry about that one today.
I have FOUR interviews this week. FOUR. I did half of them today. Thankfully 3 of 4 are virtual. I REALLY liked #1 today, it's the one job I have applied for that I actually wanted and will be bummed not to get. It's even remote and possibly might stay that way, it's a high pay job, the people were lovely and I'm actually interested in what the job does and had a lot to say on that topic. My priority has been to stay at my current org--or in this case, still work at my current org but technically be under their sister org, don't ask me to explain it because that doesn't make sense to me either--but this is the one job I would be willing to move out of here for, I think. Since as usual it'll take weeks to process whatever, maybe if I get the SisterOrg job and then they take a month to set up, maybe I could get the other one after that... Oh well, I need to not go down that train, count chickens, etc. Just enjoy that it was great. Other one today, eh...that's fine, don't really care too much.
I also have to do a sleep study today/tonight, not looking forward to that. Like many people, I don't think I have sleep apnea and I will be cheesed off as hell if it turns out I do because snoring annoys the bejeezus out of me and I will be so mad if I snore. (Note: as of the last time I slept in the same room with someone, she did not mention me snoring and she would have bitched me out for it had I done so, because of my whole "I can't sleep through snores" thing.) I don't think that's my problem so much, but obviously I had to cave in and do a sleep study, so here I am doing it while still not working. The worst part is they want me to drive it back at the literal crack of dawn, which means I WILL NOT SLEEP because I don't sleep if I have to be up early. So what's the point? I feel like my problem is more being flooded with adrenaline a lot, but ... sigh, I dunno. I wake up constantly to check the alarm if I have to get up early, but I don't wake up startled and snorting, just brain is On and Won't Turn Off.
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:26 PM on March 25 [5 favorites]
Back when I was 21, The Late Mr. Nerd took me to Tahiti. It was a bucket list thing of his, and I just happened to enter his life at the right time. :)
He bought fins and a mask for us both, as part of the vacation package included watching a shark feeding.
I was a tiny thing back then, and have never been a strong swimmer. But he wanted to do a little swimming in Bora Bora, from our bungalow to the swimming pool. So, he went ahead and found places for me to stop and rest for a couple seconds. I don't think I've ever swam that much before or since. It was fun, and I was so proud of myself for the accomplishment.
12 days until our wedding anniversary, sigh.
posted by luckynerd at 12:28 PM on March 25 [14 favorites]
He bought fins and a mask for us both, as part of the vacation package included watching a shark feeding.
I was a tiny thing back then, and have never been a strong swimmer. But he wanted to do a little swimming in Bora Bora, from our bungalow to the swimming pool. So, he went ahead and found places for me to stop and rest for a couple seconds. I don't think I've ever swam that much before or since. It was fun, and I was so proud of myself for the accomplishment.
12 days until our wedding anniversary, sigh.
posted by luckynerd at 12:28 PM on March 25 [14 favorites]
I’ve been swimming nearly every day for a couple of years since we moved closer to the coast. Swimming is not strictly correct - more ducking under the waves and trying to catch a few as it’s an ocean beach with a lot of shore dump. It gets a bit brisk in late winter as the warm east coast Australian current moves offshore, but survivable. Bonus is that it’s a quiet beach so skinny dipping is usually an option without distressing anyone.
posted by thixotemperate at 1:08 PM on March 25 [2 favorites]
posted by thixotemperate at 1:08 PM on March 25 [2 favorites]
Just got informed I need to be in Ohio for a vendor meeting... on April 8th. No hotel rooms for 100 miles in any direction of the plant. UGH.
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:22 PM on March 25 [2 favorites]
posted by JoeZydeco at 1:22 PM on March 25 [2 favorites]
Tom Tomorrow's weekly email newsletter informed me of the excellent Glen Fleishman and his proposed crowd-funded book about the history of newspaper comic-strip printing process.
Also planning my scheduled activities for Wonder-Con this weekend.
posted by JDC8 at 1:27 PM on March 25 [3 favorites]
Also planning my scheduled activities for Wonder-Con this weekend.
posted by JDC8 at 1:27 PM on March 25 [3 favorites]
Crotchety present-day me is sure annoyed at elementary school me when remembering the mediocre swimming skills that had me swallowing enough pool water to barf on the coping at least three times, at different pools. Now, I'm not annoyed at who I was or anything existential, I'm just noticing that I'm an adult, and if I had a pool and some kids swam in it and one wound up doing a little puker at the edge of the pool, I would be, let's say, looking askance.
posted by rhizome at 1:55 PM on March 25 [1 favorite]
posted by rhizome at 1:55 PM on March 25 [1 favorite]
Scuba diving? OK. Free diving? Possibly. But cave diving... those people are a different species to me, I swear.
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 2:12 PM on March 25 [3 favorites]
posted by 43rdAnd9th at 2:12 PM on March 25 [3 favorites]
Someone a couple weeks ago approached me while I was busking and told me that they wanted me to be their teacher. I have no qualifications to teach. If you are looking for lessons for a student where I live you are looking at sixty an hour, min. I like the idea of pursuing teaching qualifications so I can set rates that are not so prohibitive but I am not at all motivated to teach because I like teaching. Anyway, I have a student now; they were persistent and here we are.
I also have someone who is willing to teach me to do live sound which I am so excited about. Every time I go to an open mic, I'm relying on someone else to do all that magic and I know nothing about it, and now finally I have someone willing to show me things.
posted by wurl1tzer_c0 at 4:11 PM on March 25 [7 favorites]
I also have someone who is willing to teach me to do live sound which I am so excited about. Every time I go to an open mic, I'm relying on someone else to do all that magic and I know nothing about it, and now finally I have someone willing to show me things.
posted by wurl1tzer_c0 at 4:11 PM on March 25 [7 favorites]
What fun, now you get to worry and obsess over PA gear! Whee! Come see how deep the rabbit hole goes...
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:20 PM on March 25 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:20 PM on March 25 [3 favorites]
I used to love free cave diving and then scuba cave diving. The water on the west coast is so cold and dark compared to the Caribbean that I’ve given the hobby up. That and my back will no longer tolerate the weight of large doubles and stages. Sigh.
posted by pdoege at 6:51 PM on March 25 [1 favorite]
posted by pdoege at 6:51 PM on March 25 [1 favorite]
I have come to the paradox of digital theft.
for I do not have to steal other people's computer generated images and relabel them when I can just make my own.
it is a change made for.000037¢
posted by clavdivs at 7:20 PM on March 25 [1 favorite]
for I do not have to steal other people's computer generated images and relabel them when I can just make my own.
it is a change made for.000037¢
posted by clavdivs at 7:20 PM on March 25 [1 favorite]
Doing a sleep study tonight. Guess how it is going!
I have very few lines in the play and I'm supposed to play 'slow witted." I was so bored, I may pass out on the table during the actual show. I thought this was going to be fun.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:01 AM on March 26 [4 favorites]
I have very few lines in the play and I'm supposed to play 'slow witted." I was so bored, I may pass out on the table during the actual show. I thought this was going to be fun.
posted by jenfullmoon at 5:01 AM on March 26 [4 favorites]
Back in the day the sweet husband, our two teenagers and I did 23-hour road trips to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Florida, for shore diving. The little boutique hotels were relatively cheap and we could get in a week of his vacation while blowing bubbles at less than 20 feet until the tanks ran out. Good times.
These days I enjoy YouTube live cams of the Florida underwater life. No tank, no trouble, and a whole lot of fish gliding past the camera.
After all these years I have the leisure to pour through my fish I.D. guides and identify the different varieties of parrot fish.
The waterfowl diving after the gray snappers? The comments said they were double-breasted cormorants.
Sharks gliding into view are a thrill, not a chill.
I do miss the little reef before First Reef, and the diving at Blue Heron Bridge. But I'll take the luxury of watching a GoPro dropped off a fishing dock into a school of snook and jacks and the occasional tiger shark.
A story -- Our first trip to Florida was with our pickup and fifth-wheel. We stopped at Morrison Springs in the panhandle for our shakedown dives and to check out a new type of scenery. The springs became a regular feature in our annual trips.
It was glorious. Clean, clear, cold water. Fish and turtles and some freshwater eels. We dove down to the cave entrance and observed the warning sign.
There were a few people at the swimming area, but we had the springs to ourselves.
After returning to the beach, a local asked us if we had seen any "dog eaters." We were confused.
He smiled and said, "Alligators."
posted by TrishaU at 7:34 AM on March 26 [4 favorites]
These days I enjoy YouTube live cams of the Florida underwater life. No tank, no trouble, and a whole lot of fish gliding past the camera.
After all these years I have the leisure to pour through my fish I.D. guides and identify the different varieties of parrot fish.
The waterfowl diving after the gray snappers? The comments said they were double-breasted cormorants.
Sharks gliding into view are a thrill, not a chill.
I do miss the little reef before First Reef, and the diving at Blue Heron Bridge. But I'll take the luxury of watching a GoPro dropped off a fishing dock into a school of snook and jacks and the occasional tiger shark.
A story -- Our first trip to Florida was with our pickup and fifth-wheel. We stopped at Morrison Springs in the panhandle for our shakedown dives and to check out a new type of scenery. The springs became a regular feature in our annual trips.
It was glorious. Clean, clear, cold water. Fish and turtles and some freshwater eels. We dove down to the cave entrance and observed the warning sign.
There were a few people at the swimming area, but we had the springs to ourselves.
After returning to the beach, a local asked us if we had seen any "dog eaters." We were confused.
He smiled and said, "Alligators."
posted by TrishaU at 7:34 AM on March 26 [4 favorites]
I have very few lines in the play and I'm supposed to play 'slow witted."
jenfullmoon, I got to play Ellard Simms in a community theatre production of The Foreigner a lifetime ago, the character was supposed to be a "half-wit" and to this day my friends joke about typecasting. I suppose that's ableist. It was a great deal of fun, I can tell you that. The cast attended a dinner theatre production of The Foreigner that came to Edmonton just months after our community production, the headliner was the actor who played good looking clean-cut brother from Simon & Simon, for anyone who was watching network television in the 1980s. We all left the performance feeling like we'd done more with less, I'm sure it was a clinically objective comparison. The girl I dated at the time, her dad was a gruff farmer type who must have secretly prayed his daughter would end things with this weirdo kid with no farm background, well he came out for the first night of the performance and insisted on coming the second night, I guess the whole business of teaching the foreigner English over a plate of grits was wildly funny to him. One of my finest moments in theatre.
I could hold my breath the longest of any staff at the pool I worked in, lifeguarding and teaching swim lessons as a kid. We tried a bit of underwater hockey, but couldn't get enough people interested and it petered out.
posted by elkevelvet at 7:39 AM on March 26 [3 favorites]
jenfullmoon, I got to play Ellard Simms in a community theatre production of The Foreigner a lifetime ago, the character was supposed to be a "half-wit" and to this day my friends joke about typecasting. I suppose that's ableist. It was a great deal of fun, I can tell you that. The cast attended a dinner theatre production of The Foreigner that came to Edmonton just months after our community production, the headliner was the actor who played good looking clean-cut brother from Simon & Simon, for anyone who was watching network television in the 1980s. We all left the performance feeling like we'd done more with less, I'm sure it was a clinically objective comparison. The girl I dated at the time, her dad was a gruff farmer type who must have secretly prayed his daughter would end things with this weirdo kid with no farm background, well he came out for the first night of the performance and insisted on coming the second night, I guess the whole business of teaching the foreigner English over a plate of grits was wildly funny to him. One of my finest moments in theatre.
I could hold my breath the longest of any staff at the pool I worked in, lifeguarding and teaching swim lessons as a kid. We tried a bit of underwater hockey, but couldn't get enough people interested and it petered out.
posted by elkevelvet at 7:39 AM on March 26 [3 favorites]
Maine had a Big Storm, and in the Portland area, where I live, a big wet snow followed by ice. About 18% of households in Maine lost power. including mine. Power went out Saturday evening, came back Monday afternoon. Unlike most renters or new houses, I have a wood stove, so I was warm. I had to sleep on the couch to feed the stove. The standard poodle declined to sleep on the floor with a blanket, and she is a couch-hog. It was not the most restful sleep. But I had food, the fridge stayed cold, neighbor used his plow on the end of the drive, where the town plow leaves a mound of sodden snow that sets up into concrete. Neighborhood fb group was full of offers of help.
Most Mainers with no power should have it by tomorrow morning. The days were sunny and warm, a huge help, and being post-equinox, people had a decent chance to be warm during the day. Lots of people have generators, but I'm fine as long as I can get warm.
My furnace sputtered when the power came on, so it's off while I await a furnace wizard. But I have lights, can heat water, and most important, Internet on my laptop.
posted by theora55 at 12:45 PM on March 26 [5 favorites]
Most Mainers with no power should have it by tomorrow morning. The days were sunny and warm, a huge help, and being post-equinox, people had a decent chance to be warm during the day. Lots of people have generators, but I'm fine as long as I can get warm.
My furnace sputtered when the power came on, so it's off while I await a furnace wizard. But I have lights, can heat water, and most important, Internet on my laptop.
posted by theora55 at 12:45 PM on March 26 [5 favorites]
This Naomi Kritzer story, from this Ask, was great to read on my phone in my dark but cozy house. I recently read an apocalyptic story that was militaristic and macho; it was such a lovely contrast. We can choose to evolve and make our world more livable for our communities.
posted by theora55 at 12:52 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 12:52 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]
Yay for standard poodles! They are just such good girls! (Except for one of ours who is a complete criminal, but cute and jumpy as foretold!)
posted by Windopaene at 12:57 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]
posted by Windopaene at 12:57 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]
I love swimming, but with arthritis, can't bear cold water. The nearby lake is warm enough to swim by mid-June. Rivers take longer. The ocean in Maine? Nope, not since I was a kid. I used to be able to swim the length of a pool underwater, still like swimming under water. Water is silky, supportive. The poodle had to be coached to swim, she's rather a wuss, but affectionate. She didn't have a great start, but has learned to trust, cuddle, and many of her worst adaptations to life are gone.
posted by theora55 at 1:11 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]
posted by theora55 at 1:11 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]
Parker Stevenson. And Gerald McRainey. I have brain cells set aside for this.
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:12 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:12 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]
For a few years there in Simon And Simon, Gerald McRainey had the finest ass ever to be filmed in jeans.
posted by hippybear at 1:13 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 1:13 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]
Wow. It was Jameson Parker. Not Parker Stevenson. And it's spelled McRaney. I had to look it up. I guess those brain cells mostly burned out.
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:43 PM on March 26 [6 favorites]
posted by seanmpuckett at 1:43 PM on March 26 [6 favorites]
Yeah, Parker Stevenson was one of the Hardy Boys and then he married Kirstie Alley.
posted by hippybear at 1:50 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 1:50 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]
I emailed the director to ask about getting more lines, since he mentioned it. He said he's working on it and appreciates my patience. (I also noted that otherwise I will be falling asleep on the table because it's so long in between when I have anything to do.) He is letting me yarn during the whole play though--seriously!--so that helps.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:56 PM on March 26 [4 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:56 PM on March 26 [4 favorites]
I have to say, it's been decades since I've seen The Foreigner, but surely the character has a lot of physical comedy to perform? I remember it being quite a bit of a farce kind of thing.
The only line I remember from it was they were teaching the foreigner english and someone says the line, with a deep southern accent, "this is a fork... two parts -- for-work"... If your character gets to deliver that line, you'll win the night.
posted by hippybear at 2:36 PM on March 26 [1 favorite]
The only line I remember from it was they were teaching the foreigner english and someone says the line, with a deep southern accent, "this is a fork... two parts -- for-work"... If your character gets to deliver that line, you'll win the night.
posted by hippybear at 2:36 PM on March 26 [1 favorite]
I read Parker Stevenson as Fisher Stevens and thought I should share that he narrates three of Christopher Moore’s books and does a fantastic job.
I got my car back today, after six days with the mechanic. One of the sensors went bad a couple of years ago, causing it to throw all sorts of ominous warnings at intermittent intervals. I’m happy to finally have it fixed.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 3:01 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]
I got my car back today, after six days with the mechanic. One of the sensors went bad a couple of years ago, causing it to throw all sorts of ominous warnings at intermittent intervals. I’m happy to finally have it fixed.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 3:01 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]
As part of preparing for a new sign-in process at work, we're being asked to create a new PIN. So I enter a string of numbers - easy, right? Nope, according to my employer a "Personal Identification Number" must include at least one uppercase and one lowercase letter as well as at least one number, and may include special characters. Yeah, what you're describing there is a password, ya numbskulls! Sheesh.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:46 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:46 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]
Was it a PIN number?
I love entering those in ATM machines.
posted by hippybear at 4:50 PM on March 26 [5 favorites]
I love entering those in ATM machines.
posted by hippybear at 4:50 PM on March 26 [5 favorites]
~big personal post alert lol~
hey! its my first time back on metafilter in like 6 years.. i love this website. it was somehow my 1st social media site/forum i ever made an account for and now ive quit everything else and ended up back here again.. no lie this site changed my life, or i mean my life probably would have ended up changing anyway but im glad metafilter was part of that journey in whatever small way
rough timeline is as follows:
1. join metafilter
2. find out about porpentine/danny lavery/various trans creators thru the blue, experience intense feelings
3. major depressive episode (unrelated to metafilter)
4. inhouse pharmacy ;P
4.5. at some point i lost my old metafilter login
5. change my name and gender and move back to my home country where nobody knows me
6. more or less doing alright!
uh so thanks! i guess! legit so happy this place still exists, ill try actually post something this time around.. last time i was a habitual lurker and i kinda still am but im actually excited to share cool stuff on here, i love the internet and i love the cool stuff on it :)
~big personal post over~
posted by _earwig_ at 5:00 PM on March 26 [22 favorites]
hey! its my first time back on metafilter in like 6 years.. i love this website. it was somehow my 1st social media site/forum i ever made an account for and now ive quit everything else and ended up back here again.. no lie this site changed my life, or i mean my life probably would have ended up changing anyway but im glad metafilter was part of that journey in whatever small way
rough timeline is as follows:
1. join metafilter
2. find out about porpentine/danny lavery/various trans creators thru the blue, experience intense feelings
3. major depressive episode (unrelated to metafilter)
4. inhouse pharmacy ;P
4.5. at some point i lost my old metafilter login
5. change my name and gender and move back to my home country where nobody knows me
6. more or less doing alright!
uh so thanks! i guess! legit so happy this place still exists, ill try actually post something this time around.. last time i was a habitual lurker and i kinda still am but im actually excited to share cool stuff on here, i love the internet and i love the cool stuff on it :)
~big personal post over~
posted by _earwig_ at 5:00 PM on March 26 [22 favorites]
Metafilter is good people. Welcome back, pull up a chair, kick off your shoes and stay awhile.
posted by TrishaU at 6:30 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]
posted by TrishaU at 6:30 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]
This is the second 12-hour Amtrak trip I’ve taken in a year, and both came in ahead of schedule.
What has become of our national rail service?
posted by MtDewd at 7:37 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]
What has become of our national rail service?
posted by MtDewd at 7:37 PM on March 26 [2 favorites]
I can only imagine that by "national" you mean "east of the Mississippi".
posted by hippybear at 7:58 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 7:58 PM on March 26 [3 favorites]
welcome back from a newcomer, _earwig_
come for the scintillating conversation, stay for Greg_Ace's inexhaustible supply of jokes
posted by elkevelvet at 7:25 AM on March 27 [3 favorites]
come for the scintillating conversation, stay for Greg_Ace's inexhaustible supply of jokes
posted by elkevelvet at 7:25 AM on March 27 [3 favorites]
I accomplished a lifelong goal last night. It's not an important one, and it's not one that I've been working towards for long periods of time. A minor goal.
I beat the Sega Master System version of Quartet.
The music from this game has stuck with me since I was 7 or 8 years old -- this will always be my favorite video game soundtrack from its generation of consoles. I remember sitting on the white shag-carpeted floor of my friends' older brothers' room, listening to the second stage music for the first time as he played. The b-section of this song was immediately meaningful to me -- the a-sections' final fanfare of chords pushing the melody into a melancholic peak, jazzily meandering back down to the beginning of the loop. It has been a part of me for the past 37ish years. Two stages later, amidst an extremely funky tune, there's a breakdown and drum solo -- an 8bit noise drum solo. The audacity of it delights me every time I hear it. And it's good.
I never beat it as a child. And I hadn't put in the effort to beat it in an emulator in the intervening years. I picked up a copy of Quartet last year before finding another Master System. I wanted to have a physical copy of its music in its original presentation. And I wanted to finish it. Over the past year I've been playing it a few times a week, and prior to completing it yesterday, I'd made it to the final boss exactly once.
I just wanted to share this with someone. And if you're into old video game music, give the whole OST a listen. Even though it's a port of an arcade game, I will always prefer the Master System version of the music over the original arcade music.
Also, welcome back, _earwig_!
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 8:11 AM on March 27 [4 favorites]
I beat the Sega Master System version of Quartet.
The music from this game has stuck with me since I was 7 or 8 years old -- this will always be my favorite video game soundtrack from its generation of consoles. I remember sitting on the white shag-carpeted floor of my friends' older brothers' room, listening to the second stage music for the first time as he played. The b-section of this song was immediately meaningful to me -- the a-sections' final fanfare of chords pushing the melody into a melancholic peak, jazzily meandering back down to the beginning of the loop. It has been a part of me for the past 37ish years. Two stages later, amidst an extremely funky tune, there's a breakdown and drum solo -- an 8bit noise drum solo. The audacity of it delights me every time I hear it. And it's good.
I never beat it as a child. And I hadn't put in the effort to beat it in an emulator in the intervening years. I picked up a copy of Quartet last year before finding another Master System. I wanted to have a physical copy of its music in its original presentation. And I wanted to finish it. Over the past year I've been playing it a few times a week, and prior to completing it yesterday, I'd made it to the final boss exactly once.
I just wanted to share this with someone. And if you're into old video game music, give the whole OST a listen. Even though it's a port of an arcade game, I will always prefer the Master System version of the music over the original arcade music.
Also, welcome back, _earwig_!
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 8:11 AM on March 27 [4 favorites]
You know what I'd love to be able to do - grab a train and a sleeper car and hop on and off. Doesn't really seem to be a way to do that. Like realize that I'm rolling into Salinas and get out for a bit to stretch my legs and pretend I'm Steinbeck for an afternoon. Grab the next train and go to wherever I see that makes me say "ooh, that"
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:08 AM on March 27 [1 favorite]
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:08 AM on March 27 [1 favorite]
"The comments said they were double-breasted cormorants."
posted by TrishaU at 7:34 AM on March 26
Double-crested cormorants. They are birds, not suits. I even did a thread on this and made the same mistake.
Ah, well, that's life. Enjoy the day, folks.
I'm catching the webcam view under the docks.
posted by TrishaU at 11:29 AM on March 27 [3 favorites]
posted by TrishaU at 7:34 AM on March 26
Double-crested cormorants. They are birds, not suits. I even did a thread on this and made the same mistake.
Ah, well, that's life. Enjoy the day, folks.
I'm catching the webcam view under the docks.
posted by TrishaU at 11:29 AM on March 27 [3 favorites]
> double-breasted cormorants.
...
Double-crested cormorants. They are birds, not suits.
Now I'm imagining a couple of executive types spear fishing in full corporate wear.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:40 PM on March 27 [3 favorites]
...
Double-crested cormorants. They are birds, not suits.
Now I'm imagining a couple of executive types spear fishing in full corporate wear.
posted by Greg_Ace at 1:40 PM on March 27 [3 favorites]
So, had a strange three week stretch off from my regular therapist for various reasons, and today's visit was I think good? It's weird to try to discuss so much time in one visit, but in the end, he placed me a challenge about getting out of my comfort zone and I entirely didn't follow through, because I think I need to discuss a fundamental misunderstanding with him about my issues.
My anxiety isn't about interacting with people. It's about getting to and from the events in which I would interact with people. He was doing all this encouraging me about how it won't be scary to talk to these people and yadda yadda yadda but honestly I was on my way to do the thing when traffic got so aggressing and confusing I decided I needed to just be at home as soon as possible. Because THAT is my fear of interaction -- traffic, not people.
[Yes, I know people are traffic are people, please don't.]
Anyway, THAT was a worthwhile insight for me. And my thing I was going to do was to show up at the local Democratic Party office and offer to volunteer because I'm socially isolated and that might be a good way to meet like-minded people. And while I did divert from doing that I did go to the website once I got home and sign up online to volunteer. And I have a volunteer orientation in a couple of weeks, mid-morning which is a good time for me, on its own day so I can plan for it, and it will fit in well with my anxiety of travel.
I feel like I accomplished a lot today even while I utterly defied my therapist. And being raised Presbyterian, defying authority is... even now still so difficult.
posted by hippybear at 7:58 PM on March 27 [6 favorites]
My anxiety isn't about interacting with people. It's about getting to and from the events in which I would interact with people. He was doing all this encouraging me about how it won't be scary to talk to these people and yadda yadda yadda but honestly I was on my way to do the thing when traffic got so aggressing and confusing I decided I needed to just be at home as soon as possible. Because THAT is my fear of interaction -- traffic, not people.
[Yes, I know people are traffic are people, please don't.]
Anyway, THAT was a worthwhile insight for me. And my thing I was going to do was to show up at the local Democratic Party office and offer to volunteer because I'm socially isolated and that might be a good way to meet like-minded people. And while I did divert from doing that I did go to the website once I got home and sign up online to volunteer. And I have a volunteer orientation in a couple of weeks, mid-morning which is a good time for me, on its own day so I can plan for it, and it will fit in well with my anxiety of travel.
I feel like I accomplished a lot today even while I utterly defied my therapist. And being raised Presbyterian, defying authority is... even now still so difficult.
posted by hippybear at 7:58 PM on March 27 [6 favorites]
THAT is my fear of interaction -- traffic, not people.
That seems totally justifiable to me, even without factoring your history you've talked about here on Metafilter.
Kudos for pushing back a bit against your therapist and clarifying where you're coming from. Surely good things will come out of that.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:19 PM on March 27 [4 favorites]
That seems totally justifiable to me, even without factoring your history you've talked about here on Metafilter.
Kudos for pushing back a bit against your therapist and clarifying where you're coming from. Surely good things will come out of that.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:19 PM on March 27 [4 favorites]
Haven't actually made the clarification as of yet, as this all was realized after I left his office. But I will be there next week and will have Things To Talk About, I think.
posted by hippybear at 1:09 PM on March 28 [2 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 1:09 PM on March 28 [2 favorites]
I have a similar issue, hippybear. Not that there isn't some degree of people being the cause of my anxiety. But often my anxiety is about parking. Where will I park? Is there a lot there? Do I have to pay? Do I have find street parking? How easy is it to find street parking? God, I'm terrible at parallel parking. Etc. Etc. The people are one thing but the parking is the bigger thing.
posted by downtohisturtles at 1:58 PM on March 28 [2 favorites]
posted by downtohisturtles at 1:58 PM on March 28 [2 favorites]
I had a few-week therapist break about a year ago, and while all of our experiences and approaches and needs are different, it did get me thinking about how much synopsis is really necessary. Sometimes yes, and I imagine therapists like to see this as "setting the stage," but to recount as many things as possible that swayed me one way or another, triggered an emotion, or reminded me of something...hasn't been helpful to me. I spent years going to therapists who just let me talk it all out with a "well that's time for today!" Anyway, great number of these little events are the exact things I don't want to be big deals, so it's ok for me to elide them and see if I feel like I didn't cover something. Never do I, except maybe a couple times.
Simon and Simon was for people who thought Riptide was too highbrow. Yeah I said it.
posted by rhizome at 3:05 PM on March 28 [2 favorites]
Simon and Simon was for people who thought Riptide was too highbrow. Yeah I said it.
posted by rhizome at 3:05 PM on March 28 [2 favorites]
I think it's time for a Feral Cat Colony Update:
The five central cast members (Luna, James, The Phantom, The Captain, and Moose) are doing well, but they're somewhat disgruntled at the presence of a newcomer. He's a grey tabby, very stern and very argumentative, so he's now called Grayson Steele, Feline Rights Attorney.
I've been getting him to where he's a regular so I can trap him and get his trouble puffs removed, and counting myself lucky that kitten season only brought me one newcomer. Until this morning. I woke up a little late due to overly-effective edibles and wandered out, cat food dish in hand. I got out into the yard, doing my usual quiet spiel to the assembled kitties, when I realized something was off. All the cats were there, but they were just sitting around staring at something.
There, just a few feet from me, was the most beautiful cat I've ever seen. Now, perhaps this was also an aftereffect of the edibles, but in the haze of sunrise this cat seemed to just glow. Imagine an orange tabby, but instead of orange, blonde, and the stripes are like highlights. I swear she approached the food dish in slow motion.
I think I'm going to call her Farrah. Even if he's not a her.
Anyway, Farrah got fed, and the rest of the cats got a turn, and then Grayson Steele, Feline Rights Attorney showed up with another cat in tow who looked exactly like him so I have no idea how long I've been feeding two of them. I think I'll call him Anderson Steele, Starbucks Barista.
I'll spend the weekend feeding everyone generously, and then start trapping in earnest next week.
posted by MrVisible at 9:43 PM on March 28 [7 favorites]
The five central cast members (Luna, James, The Phantom, The Captain, and Moose) are doing well, but they're somewhat disgruntled at the presence of a newcomer. He's a grey tabby, very stern and very argumentative, so he's now called Grayson Steele, Feline Rights Attorney.
I've been getting him to where he's a regular so I can trap him and get his trouble puffs removed, and counting myself lucky that kitten season only brought me one newcomer. Until this morning. I woke up a little late due to overly-effective edibles and wandered out, cat food dish in hand. I got out into the yard, doing my usual quiet spiel to the assembled kitties, when I realized something was off. All the cats were there, but they were just sitting around staring at something.
There, just a few feet from me, was the most beautiful cat I've ever seen. Now, perhaps this was also an aftereffect of the edibles, but in the haze of sunrise this cat seemed to just glow. Imagine an orange tabby, but instead of orange, blonde, and the stripes are like highlights. I swear she approached the food dish in slow motion.
I think I'm going to call her Farrah. Even if he's not a her.
Anyway, Farrah got fed, and the rest of the cats got a turn, and then Grayson Steele, Feline Rights Attorney showed up with another cat in tow who looked exactly like him so I have no idea how long I've been feeding two of them. I think I'll call him Anderson Steele, Starbucks Barista.
I'll spend the weekend feeding everyone generously, and then start trapping in earnest next week.
posted by MrVisible at 9:43 PM on March 28 [7 favorites]
So, my new job has this kind of mandatory supervisor-and-supervisee check-in tracker that I have to do, and it kind of ties into my annual review. It smacks of corporate-jargon workplace-talent-development BS, and so for the weekly tasks I am expected to pick for myself every week, I was picking things like "become more familiar with the office policies and my duties" and "develop my knowledge of policies." I hated it, but I can BS, so.....fine, if they want me to play I'll play.
My boss finally pointed out that I wasn't really saying I'd completed anything. I stammered something about how, well, learning was kind of an ongoing project, no? And she said that while that was true, maybe picking something more....concrete to add as well might be good?
And that's when it finally hit me that this thing isn't a corporate-ese tracker - it's like a mini to-do list offering my boss a window into "what the heck have I been doing all week".
Duh.
I joked to my boss that maybe I should add "finally comprehend what [program] was even for in the first place" should be one of the tasks I add to this week's "completed" column and she cracked up and said that was "very meta". And now that I get that, it's triggered a whole other shift in How I Plan My Week. ....That, plus the fact that I work from home on Fridays - and this week I have a shorter workday on Friday because I worked overtime on Wednesday - is going to make for a very good day today.
(My roommate is heading into his office, and was in the shower a whole hour BEFORE I had to start work for the day and so I could make more noise than usual and I got a head start on some housekeeping and so now I won't have to do it this weekend, and that ROCKS. I VACUUMED, people!)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:46 AM on March 29 [2 favorites]
My boss finally pointed out that I wasn't really saying I'd completed anything. I stammered something about how, well, learning was kind of an ongoing project, no? And she said that while that was true, maybe picking something more....concrete to add as well might be good?
And that's when it finally hit me that this thing isn't a corporate-ese tracker - it's like a mini to-do list offering my boss a window into "what the heck have I been doing all week".
Duh.
I joked to my boss that maybe I should add "finally comprehend what [program] was even for in the first place" should be one of the tasks I add to this week's "completed" column and she cracked up and said that was "very meta". And now that I get that, it's triggered a whole other shift in How I Plan My Week. ....That, plus the fact that I work from home on Fridays - and this week I have a shorter workday on Friday because I worked overtime on Wednesday - is going to make for a very good day today.
(My roommate is heading into his office, and was in the shower a whole hour BEFORE I had to start work for the day and so I could make more noise than usual and I got a head start on some housekeeping and so now I won't have to do it this weekend, and that ROCKS. I VACUUMED, people!)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:46 AM on March 29 [2 favorites]
In Toronto this Friday is a holiday .
Almost everything is closed for Good Friday ,Easter Sunday,
Some places Easter Monday.
posted by yyz at 7:02 AM on March 29 [2 favorites]
Almost everything is closed for Good Friday ,Easter Sunday,
Some places Easter Monday.
posted by yyz at 7:02 AM on March 29 [2 favorites]
Two jobs ago, they would let us leave at noon for Good Friday. So weird.
posted by Windopaene at 8:53 AM on March 29
posted by Windopaene at 8:53 AM on March 29
The product I work on is spread across development teams in six countries. Today is a holiday in five of them. Email is SILENT.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 12:18 PM on March 29 [2 favorites]
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 12:18 PM on March 29 [2 favorites]
I used to work in places where things closed on Good Friday.....and then I moved to New York where there's a significant percentage of the population who isn't Christian so that's not necessarily the case.
I'm only here at home because I work from home every Friday, and I only clocked out early because I worked late on Wednesday and my boss said to do that to make it up to me.
I think I have a whole hour or two before my roommate gets home, so I'm going to do some SERIOUS catchup on the housecleaning. (That went to the wall for a couple weeks because I was in a full-bore panic of "AAAAAAAAAAHHHH WE HAVE A BOARD MEETING AND I'M SUPPOSED TO HELP WITH THAT BUT NO ONE HAS TOLD ME WHAT TO DO AAAAAAHHHHHH" meltdown. ....and as it turned out the reason no one told me what to do was because they only meant for me to observe this time around anyway.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:12 PM on March 29 [1 favorite]
I'm only here at home because I work from home every Friday, and I only clocked out early because I worked late on Wednesday and my boss said to do that to make it up to me.
I think I have a whole hour or two before my roommate gets home, so I'm going to do some SERIOUS catchup on the housecleaning. (That went to the wall for a couple weeks because I was in a full-bore panic of "AAAAAAAAAAHHHH WE HAVE A BOARD MEETING AND I'M SUPPOSED TO HELP WITH THAT BUT NO ONE HAS TOLD ME WHAT TO DO AAAAAAHHHHHH" meltdown. ....and as it turned out the reason no one told me what to do was because they only meant for me to observe this time around anyway.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:12 PM on March 29 [1 favorite]
OMG has anyone else listened to the new Beyoncé album? It's rather profound. I would welcome some some discourse around it.
posted by hippybear at 10:25 PM on March 29
posted by hippybear at 10:25 PM on March 29
I postponed tidying my home office for 3 weeks because it looked like it was going to be a large and complicated problem. I devoted most of this day towards completing this task.
I just did the whole thing in an hour.
I will learn nothing from this.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:06 AM on March 30 [5 favorites]
I just did the whole thing in an hour.
I will learn nothing from this.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:06 AM on March 30 [5 favorites]
My kid got his first retainer a week ago yesterday. This morning, he left it in a paper napkin at a restaurant and it got thrown away. I know kids lose retainers and I am being super cool about this to him, but dang y'all: $300 retainer, lived eight days.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:26 AM on March 30 [1 favorite]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 9:26 AM on March 30 [1 favorite]
That's the problem with retainers.
I had one glued into my mouth and my parents had to chase me down twice a day and force me to hang off the bed upside down while they screwed it in. Really do not recommend.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:45 AM on March 30 [1 favorite]
I had one glued into my mouth and my parents had to chase me down twice a day and force me to hang off the bed upside down while they screwed it in. Really do not recommend.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:45 AM on March 30 [1 favorite]
So get your kid a special retainer container so napkins won't be used in the future.
posted by hippybear at 12:11 PM on March 30 [1 favorite]
posted by hippybear at 12:11 PM on March 30 [1 favorite]
So expensive...
With 4 kids, we have bought a bunch...
EDIT: Also bad dogs....
posted by Windopaene at 5:14 PM on March 30
With 4 kids, we have bought a bunch...
EDIT: Also bad dogs....
posted by Windopaene at 5:14 PM on March 30
That would be a thing.
No, one bad dog likes chewing on anything she can find. She has found several night guards.
posted by Windopaene at 7:22 PM on March 30
No, one bad dog likes chewing on anything she can find. She has found several night guards.
posted by Windopaene at 7:22 PM on March 30
He has a special retainer container that he keeps forgetting. (Sigh)
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:23 PM on March 30 [2 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:23 PM on March 30 [2 favorites]
He has a special retainer container that he keeps forgetting. (Sigh)
Okay, so, on some level its on you. If you're going out to dinner, YOU get to say "do you have your retainer container" before you leave the house. That's your $300 contained in that sentence.
Also, is it a container that is plesant to have on the table during the meal? If not, get one that works in that context, because it's either out of the mouth and into a pocket or out of the mouth and into a thing on the table that won't be forgotten.
I lived through this as a teenager. Parents do need to participate.
posted by hippybear at 8:18 PM on March 30 [1 favorite]
Okay, so, on some level its on you. If you're going out to dinner, YOU get to say "do you have your retainer container" before you leave the house. That's your $300 contained in that sentence.
Also, is it a container that is plesant to have on the table during the meal? If not, get one that works in that context, because it's either out of the mouth and into a pocket or out of the mouth and into a thing on the table that won't be forgotten.
I lived through this as a teenager. Parents do need to participate.
posted by hippybear at 8:18 PM on March 30 [1 favorite]
The fucking Beyonce album is so far beyond.
Just go listen to it
posted by hippybear at 8:34 PM on March 30
Just go listen to it
posted by hippybear at 8:34 PM on March 30
I'm going to say this again: Go listen to the new Beyonce album.
There is nothing in it that you're expecting, and there is a ton in it you are not expecting.
Every time I listen to it I am thrilled and also maybe end up crying.
Renaissance was chapter one, and it did not contain any possible echo of the entire depth charge that is chapter two.
I sit in fear of chapter three.
posted by hippybear at 8:48 PM on March 30
There is nothing in it that you're expecting, and there is a ton in it you are not expecting.
Every time I listen to it I am thrilled and also maybe end up crying.
Renaissance was chapter one, and it did not contain any possible echo of the entire depth charge that is chapter two.
I sit in fear of chapter three.
posted by hippybear at 8:48 PM on March 30
I am aware that are levels at which I am also responsible for the retainer loss.
But mostly, I mentioned it here so my friends could say sympathetic things.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:36 AM on March 31 [1 favorite]
But mostly, I mentioned it here so my friends could say sympathetic things.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:36 AM on March 31 [1 favorite]
Always fascinated with the 100% certainty that any conversation about anything that goes wrong involving kids will, on MetaFilter, take a pivot into "Maybe you're just failing as a parent."
Never change, y'all.
After a few desperately boring days in Paducah to see my family, and a stop off to my best friend's (new) grave, we ate like kings in Memphis (which was the real goal of the trip). Barbecue, wings, biscuit sandwiches, grease burgers, fudge, ice cream. Visited with a lot of friends, and that was nice.
Today, we have a quick stop in St. Louis to see the Arch and the City Museum before going home. It's been fun.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:51 AM on March 31
Never change, y'all.
After a few desperately boring days in Paducah to see my family, and a stop off to my best friend's (new) grave, we ate like kings in Memphis (which was the real goal of the trip). Barbecue, wings, biscuit sandwiches, grease burgers, fudge, ice cream. Visited with a lot of friends, and that was nice.
Today, we have a quick stop in St. Louis to see the Arch and the City Museum before going home. It's been fun.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 5:51 AM on March 31
Happy Easter, read this story. He is Risen (dough) indeed. Or how putting rainbow sprinkles in better-tasting host cookies leads to...
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:18 AM on March 31
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:18 AM on March 31
biscuit sandwiches
Oh man, I haven't had a good southern-style buttermilk biscuit in ages...
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:57 AM on March 31
Oh man, I haven't had a good southern-style buttermilk biscuit in ages...
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:57 AM on March 31
Also, I miss Bojangles (or bo-HON-glays, as we used to call it)
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:58 AM on March 31
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:58 AM on March 31
DirtyOldTown, I purchased multiple cases for kiddo’s Invisalign and he still managed to toss out a tray or two and misplace his retainers. As much as we do the best we can to anticipate, most of us will be defeated at some point by our child’s obstinate absentmindedness. Cause kids.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 11:40 AM on March 31 [1 favorite]
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 11:40 AM on March 31 [1 favorite]
I lived through this as a teenager. Parents do need to participate.
Do you remember what it was like to BE that teenager? Because if you did I would presume you'd know this....is an imperfect take
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:43 AM on March 31 [1 favorite]
Do you remember what it was like to BE that teenager? Because if you did I would presume you'd know this....is an imperfect take
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:43 AM on March 31 [1 favorite]
« Older Some hold that the spice produces a learned-flavor... | A Digital Twin Might Just Save Your Life Newer »
This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
posted by seanmpuckett at 4:43 AM on March 25 [3 favorites]