I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
November 7, 2022 2:15 AM Subscribe
What will never let you down or desert you? a) This car, b) This album, c) This thread, d) This Mason, e) This Mason
Hints: "a" will, however, "run around"; "b" is a trick answer; "c" WOULD NEVER; "d" never gonna tell a lie; "e" no stranger to love 1
Hello, hi, yes, we know the game and we're gonna play it: welcome to Monday and your free thread.
Hints: "a" will, however, "run around"; "b" is a trick answer; "c" WOULD NEVER; "d" never gonna tell a lie; "e" no stranger to love 1
Hello, hi, yes, we know the game and we're gonna play it: welcome to Monday and your free thread.
Here in Copenhagen, Halloween functions as a bit of a defence against the Christmas menace. But as soon as the cobweb was down, the Christmas market went up. It is so ugly, and smelly and in the way of my normal activities.
I wonder if the lights will even come up, given the electricity prices. Right now the prices are almost back to normal, but people are very cautious.
posted by mumimor at 3:02 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
I wonder if the lights will even come up, given the electricity prices. Right now the prices are almost back to normal, but people are very cautious.
posted by mumimor at 3:02 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
I mean, I'm a great lover of all things festive but even for me ... the 4th of November is a little early?
(West Midlands mefite here!)
I fully agree, but I swear that they started with it all in the first half of October this year. Normally the existence of Halloween holds the worst of the retail onslaught at bay until November, but not this year! Halloween just kinda didn't exist, it was already Christmas.
posted by Dysk at 3:04 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
(West Midlands mefite here!)
I fully agree, but I swear that they started with it all in the first half of October this year. Normally the existence of Halloween holds the worst of the retail onslaught at bay until November, but not this year! Halloween just kinda didn't exist, it was already Christmas.
posted by Dysk at 3:04 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
Surely the Swedemason and his buttery biscuit base...
posted by prismatic7 at 3:04 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by prismatic7 at 3:04 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
It is "Jolly jolly hey ho buy our products NOW" here. Christmas basically swallowed Halloween in the Home Improvement stores (although I had a delightful 10 minutes playing with a musical Christmas cactus - one guess on the carol) and the special aisle at Aldi is ALL CHRISTMAS BUY YOUR SANTA COOKIE JAR NOW.
No respect for the Turkey. Sad.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 3:46 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
No respect for the Turkey. Sad.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 3:46 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Any signs of Christmas festivities, decorations, or "Jolly jolly hey ho buy our products NOW" where you are, fellow MeFites?
Here in the US: I was at a Target here in Brooklyn a little before Halloween, and noticed they already had Christmas home decor items on display - Christmas-themed throw blankets, cushions, candles, coffee mugs, and other home-decor items. I just sighed and walked on, but overheard another woman the next aisle over complaining: "Look at this! They're trying to rush us through life, we need to slow down!" It was weirdly profound.
In other news...
I'm saving up for a big trip in April, so I can't travel so much right now - but I realized I haven't really let myself take any time off work for a couple years now, between having to move and Covid and breaking a knee. So: next week at work my boss and half the executive staff are all going outside the country to open our newest office, and we all have this coming Friday off anyway. So I am taking Monday and Tuesday next week off as well, giving myself a five-day weekend; I will be here in the city, doing absolutely jack shit. Seriously, the most ambitious thing I have planned is swapping out the showerhead in the bathroom. One day I even HAVE to stay home because that is our building's monthly exterminator visit.
It's been unseasonably warm here in Brooklyn too, and that's been a little troubling. This should be the time of year I'm doing warm stews and pot pies and stuff; I have a couple cookbooks by Nigel Slater and in one of them he says that "fall and winter were designed to make us eat carbs." But we've been up in the 70s for the past few days.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:09 AM on November 7, 2022 [10 favorites]
Here in the US: I was at a Target here in Brooklyn a little before Halloween, and noticed they already had Christmas home decor items on display - Christmas-themed throw blankets, cushions, candles, coffee mugs, and other home-decor items. I just sighed and walked on, but overheard another woman the next aisle over complaining: "Look at this! They're trying to rush us through life, we need to slow down!" It was weirdly profound.
In other news...
I'm saving up for a big trip in April, so I can't travel so much right now - but I realized I haven't really let myself take any time off work for a couple years now, between having to move and Covid and breaking a knee. So: next week at work my boss and half the executive staff are all going outside the country to open our newest office, and we all have this coming Friday off anyway. So I am taking Monday and Tuesday next week off as well, giving myself a five-day weekend; I will be here in the city, doing absolutely jack shit. Seriously, the most ambitious thing I have planned is swapping out the showerhead in the bathroom. One day I even HAVE to stay home because that is our building's monthly exterminator visit.
It's been unseasonably warm here in Brooklyn too, and that's been a little troubling. This should be the time of year I'm doing warm stews and pot pies and stuff; I have a couple cookbooks by Nigel Slater and in one of them he says that "fall and winter were designed to make us eat carbs." But we've been up in the 70s for the past few days.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:09 AM on November 7, 2022 [10 favorites]
Yeah we were in New Orleans this past weekend where it was in the 70s and it was just as warm in Queens when we got back. After such a dry summer I was hoping for a cool and rainy fall and we seemed to have gotten a bit of that but not as much as I’d like.
Guess retailers are really desperate this year. We’ll have Christmas shopping sprees in July in a few years at this rate.
posted by bxvr at 4:43 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Guess retailers are really desperate this year. We’ll have Christmas shopping sprees in July in a few years at this rate.
posted by bxvr at 4:43 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Retailers have gone too far. The next holiday stuff always starts creeping in before the current holiday occurs, thus threatening Half Price Candy Days, the most important holidays of all.
This is especially apparent around this time of year, but also happened with Easter candy pooping up before Valentines Day, etc.
posted by the primroses were over at 4:59 AM on November 7, 2022 [6 favorites]
This is especially apparent around this time of year, but also happened with Easter candy pooping up before Valentines Day, etc.
posted by the primroses were over at 4:59 AM on November 7, 2022 [6 favorites]
After spending a week in the Ozarks at the end of October, I've successfully avoided most retail shopping this week. I did some crafty shopping on Saturday and both stores had plenty of Christmas going on, but that is to be expected since projects take time to finish. I went into a bookstore to get some chai but the line was ten people long and decided to skip it. My annoyance with Target is when they put out the back to school stuff in early July, so by November my outrage has waned. We did not see any holiday commercials until after Halloween this year.
I am up early today to try to keep my body on CDT for another few days. We're serving as election judges again and have to wake up about 5:30 am tomorrow. Normally my alarm goes off at 7:45, so it is an adjustment. It was lots of fun in August, so hopefully we can say the same this time.
posted by soelo at 5:13 AM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]
I am up early today to try to keep my body on CDT for another few days. We're serving as election judges again and have to wake up about 5:30 am tomorrow. Normally my alarm goes off at 7:45, so it is an adjustment. It was lots of fun in August, so hopefully we can say the same this time.
posted by soelo at 5:13 AM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]
I have a firm rule that any time Santa Baby starts playing on the store speakers, I put back whatever I'm carrying and leave without buying anything. Christmas has become an awfully thrifty endeavor.
I'm sorry, Eartha. I love you but I just can't.
posted by mochapickle at 5:26 AM on November 7, 2022 [13 favorites]
I'm sorry, Eartha. I love you but I just can't.
posted by mochapickle at 5:26 AM on November 7, 2022 [13 favorites]
I just went into a store last week that has ornaments and Christmas cards and such out, but had a sign explicitly stating that they are not playing Christmas music yet. (Or possibly at all during the Christmas season, it was a little unclear). God bless that little gift store.
In other news, today is my first day back at work after what may be the longest intentional vacation I’ve ever taken in my entire working life, and I feel like a million bucks.
posted by ActionPopulated at 5:36 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
In other news, today is my first day back at work after what may be the longest intentional vacation I’ve ever taken in my entire working life, and I feel like a million bucks.
posted by ActionPopulated at 5:36 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
The christmas creep is real here. Hardware stores started before Halloween, and the craft store started in earnest on Halloween. It is not cold, and not winter. But I also just finished my Metafilter auction piece (this one), and have a Yule ornament next on my list. Price is variable, but the thread goes on...
posted by mersen at 5:37 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by mersen at 5:37 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
threatening Half Price Candy Days, the most important holidays of all.
Or as the Catholics call it, the Third Feast Day of St. Mark Downs. (The first is February 15 and the second is the day after Easter.)
We got insurance last week, which is good. I’m still job hunting.
I’ve been watching the Elon Has No Sense Of Humor Show, which has been good for my popcorn intake. Probably not his blood pressure, though. Does anyone know the current under/over for his selling the site again, or exploding in a welter of blood like a Shaw Brothers extra who’s been hit with some weird-ass martial arts pressure point thing or altenately just had a limb severed?
posted by mephron at 5:48 AM on November 7, 2022 [8 favorites]
Or as the Catholics call it, the Third Feast Day of St. Mark Downs. (The first is February 15 and the second is the day after Easter.)
We got insurance last week, which is good. I’m still job hunting.
I’ve been watching the Elon Has No Sense Of Humor Show, which has been good for my popcorn intake. Probably not his blood pressure, though. Does anyone know the current under/over for his selling the site again, or exploding in a welter of blood like a Shaw Brothers extra who’s been hit with some weird-ass martial arts pressure point thing or altenately just had a limb severed?
posted by mephron at 5:48 AM on November 7, 2022 [8 favorites]
I noticed a "Black Friday" online sale beginning on Monday, October 24, and the grocery store definitely had Christmas stuff featured on November 1.
posted by Foosnark at 6:09 AM on November 7, 2022
posted by Foosnark at 6:09 AM on November 7, 2022
But as soon as the cobweb was down,
Some 25 years ago I had the duty to oversee decorating my workplace for Hallowe’en. As part of this, I stretched a bunch of cotton batting across the ceiling for cobwebs; when I took it down a week later or whatever, I found I had caught two flies in it.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:15 AM on November 7, 2022 [8 favorites]
Some 25 years ago I had the duty to oversee decorating my workplace for Hallowe’en. As part of this, I stretched a bunch of cotton batting across the ceiling for cobwebs; when I took it down a week later or whatever, I found I had caught two flies in it.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:15 AM on November 7, 2022 [8 favorites]
Happy N7 Day! We'll see if we get any solid news on the next Mass Effect game.
In the latest old man with new pains news, I dropped a shelf on my foot when I was salvaging a bookcase yesterday. It's a bit bruised today, but hurts a lot less, so that hopefully means that I don't need to get it X-rayed. I've got a few things to attend to this week, and having even one of those strap-on boot cast things would slow me down a lot.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:35 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
In the latest old man with new pains news, I dropped a shelf on my foot when I was salvaging a bookcase yesterday. It's a bit bruised today, but hurts a lot less, so that hopefully means that I don't need to get it X-rayed. I've got a few things to attend to this week, and having even one of those strap-on boot cast things would slow me down a lot.
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:35 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
After posting the above, I felt that I should honor the theme of this week's open thread, so in celebration of my foot not being seriously injured (probably), here's another 80s earworm. Bonus: I've been on a Philomena Cunk groove lately, so here's this short number.
there's a dead dog in Star Wars!
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:42 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
there's a dead dog in Star Wars!
posted by Halloween Jack at 6:42 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Are we telling Halloween stories? Because I took my kids out trick-or-treating this year, and they were INTO IT like they have never been before. My part of Boston has some pretty steep hills, and the street next to us has a bunch of houses built up on hillsides a fair way back from the road. Most kids go to the denser parts of town, but we were staying local. I guess the long driveways deter trick-or-treaters? Because we kept running into houses with older folks who seemed somewhere between surprised and put-off that kids were ringing their doorbells on Halloween. We hit a few houses in a row with no answer (despite people obviously hiding in the living room, clearly visible from outside) and my daughter was clearly getting annoyed at these grown-ass humans trying to avoid the rituals. At the next house, she apparently decided she had had enough, and held her ground when the lady apologized for not having any candy. There was a brief, intense staredown between a middle-aged woman and my 9-year-old dressed as Hermione. Her 5-year-old pirate brother stood uncertainly next to her, clearly noticing something weird was happening but not sure what. I stood slightly out of frame trying not to laugh audibly. The lady blinked first, went back inside and brought them both cans of seltzer water. Triumphant, we headed to the busier part of town.
posted by Mayor West at 7:06 AM on November 7, 2022 [13 favorites]
posted by Mayor West at 7:06 AM on November 7, 2022 [13 favorites]
Target has precisely three shopping seasons: Christmas (Labor Day to Jan 1), Summer (Jan 1 to Jul 4), and Back to School (Jul 4 to Labor Day). And that's about it.
Here in Chicagoland it's been so, so warm and we got a third summer between False Fall and Actual Fall. Haven't had a hard frost yet and I still hear katydids in the trees at night. So, of course, my neighbors have taken advantage of the weather and got all their holiday decorations up now. And FM 93.9 has already started the non-stop christmas music broadcast. Sigh.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:09 AM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]
Here in Chicagoland it's been so, so warm and we got a third summer between False Fall and Actual Fall. Haven't had a hard frost yet and I still hear katydids in the trees at night. So, of course, my neighbors have taken advantage of the weather and got all their holiday decorations up now. And FM 93.9 has already started the non-stop christmas music broadcast. Sigh.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:09 AM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]
The warm weather has meant that our stoop pumpkins have completely rotted already, so I guess we're ready for Christmas, or at least Thanksgiving. We did a friendsgiving parade-watching brunch a couple of years ago, and I think we might revive that this year since we're only having like 6 people for dinner. I want an excuse to make alllll the foods.
posted by uncleozzy at 7:09 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
posted by uncleozzy at 7:09 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
It was 77 degrees yesterday, the magnolia trees on our street in Somerville MA are blooming and now the hours are all messed up. So confused.
posted by condesita at 7:25 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by condesita at 7:25 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
Oh! I just remembered one Christmas-timed-for-November thing that may be helpful....
So a blog I poke in on is The Art Of Doing Stuff, a sort of DIY/Homemaking/Gardening/Etc. site but run by someone with my exact sense of humor: think, like, if Martha Stewart had been raised by Robin Williams. It's run by a former TV morning show host from Canada, who says that "in terms of notoriety and wealth, I was somewhere on par with the manager of a Sunset Tan in Wisconsin."
And every year she makes a case for starting to prepare all your Christmas stuff in November, so that by December 1st you are largely done and can spend the month of December doing all the fun holiday stuff, like gorging yourself on cookies and bingewatching corny TV specials. She calls it The Christmas Pledge, and each year she does up a little calendar of "things to do" each day in November that will get you set up for Christmas. This year she went a little bigger and put it in a downloadable booklet with a couple recipes, but you can still use past year's calendars for free since they're pretty much the same stuff.
And there is something to be said for getting some of the planning and organizing out of the way early - she waits until after US Thanksgiving for the decorating bits, but the early-November bits are all the really easy-to-overlook stuff that could screw you over; one day's task can be simply something like "check how much wrapping paper and tape you have," or "find your Christmas Card list and double-check the addresses". You're not writing the cards yet, you're just making sure you know where the damn list is.
This is something I can get behind.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:26 AM on November 7, 2022 [10 favorites]
So a blog I poke in on is The Art Of Doing Stuff, a sort of DIY/Homemaking/Gardening/Etc. site but run by someone with my exact sense of humor: think, like, if Martha Stewart had been raised by Robin Williams. It's run by a former TV morning show host from Canada, who says that "in terms of notoriety and wealth, I was somewhere on par with the manager of a Sunset Tan in Wisconsin."
And every year she makes a case for starting to prepare all your Christmas stuff in November, so that by December 1st you are largely done and can spend the month of December doing all the fun holiday stuff, like gorging yourself on cookies and bingewatching corny TV specials. She calls it The Christmas Pledge, and each year she does up a little calendar of "things to do" each day in November that will get you set up for Christmas. This year she went a little bigger and put it in a downloadable booklet with a couple recipes, but you can still use past year's calendars for free since they're pretty much the same stuff.
And there is something to be said for getting some of the planning and organizing out of the way early - she waits until after US Thanksgiving for the decorating bits, but the early-November bits are all the really easy-to-overlook stuff that could screw you over; one day's task can be simply something like "check how much wrapping paper and tape you have," or "find your Christmas Card list and double-check the addresses". You're not writing the cards yet, you're just making sure you know where the damn list is.
This is something I can get behind.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:26 AM on November 7, 2022 [10 favorites]
I going down to visit my parents 2 hrs south (and 400 ft higher) when it started snowing. I should note, the Willamette Valley does not normally get snow in early November. It stuck a little bit around the foothills but otherwise melted. (sorry for all the ads in the link, don't click the videos if you don't want a ton of ads)
posted by fiercekitten at 7:37 AM on November 7, 2022
posted by fiercekitten at 7:37 AM on November 7, 2022
There used to be an unofficial thing in England that, although you could buy Christmas foods like mince pies in the supermarkets as soon as the August bank holiday was over, the more in-your-face advertising, decorations, and commercial onslaught would wait until after Armistace Day. But that seems to not be a thing any more.
That used to be the norm here in Canada, as well (though we call it Remembrance Day). Not so much anymore, although it's interesting to see a lot of smaller companies explicitly state that they won't sell their Christmas products prior to that -- though they'll usually still market them, so it's really more of a marketing stunt even if they have good intentions.
We had our first snowfall of the year on November 1, and it sure LOOKS a lot like Christmas...
posted by asnider at 7:54 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
That used to be the norm here in Canada, as well (though we call it Remembrance Day). Not so much anymore, although it's interesting to see a lot of smaller companies explicitly state that they won't sell their Christmas products prior to that -- though they'll usually still market them, so it's really more of a marketing stunt even if they have good intentions.
We had our first snowfall of the year on November 1, and it sure LOOKS a lot like Christmas...
posted by asnider at 7:54 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
I'm sorry, Eartha. I love you but I just can't.
As opposed to Mariah Carey? Oh, please. I hate crappy Chrismas music as much as the next person but I will always give Eartha Kitt and Nat King Cole a break just because.
Interesting sidenote: many calendars, the Celtic, fot instance, start the seasons on the cross quarter days, the midpoints between solstice and equinox. Which are noted on Groundhog day, 1st day of cross-quarter Spring, May Day, 1st day of cross-quarter Summer and Halloween/All Saints day, 1st day of cross-quarter Winter appear in our USAian calendar. August 1st, Lammas Day does not. On the Celtic calendar, it's a first fruits harvest festival in the Northern Hemisphere (it's on November 1st north of the equator and around Groundhogs day to the south.) Lammas is still celebrated in Ireland and parts of the United Kingdom -- or so I have been told in regards to the latter.
See also The Wheel of the Year.
So, All Hallowed's Eve as the last day of the year was a day of the dead, when the souls of the dead came back to visit. In Spain and Mexico, El Dia de los Muertos celebrates the same thing. Traditionally, an altar or table is set up with the favorite foods and beverages of the dearly departed placed upon it.
In ancient Babylon the New Year began on the vernal equinox. Now Ruz, the Persian New Year, begins on that day, too. And it too features tables of food and drink set up and is a time when little kids throw chadors over their heads and door to door banging on pots and begging for candy.
It is amazing how ancient days of the dead are wired into assorted national cultures, on whatever day on which the New Year falls and how traces the deads' return are celebrated in the same way. It's in our DNA culturally, spiritually and psychologically if not corporeally. Although I am inclined to believe it's in our cells as well: I love to grow flowers and get all jazzed about it around Groundhogs Day. Come August, the wind falls out of my sails and by Halloween, that's all she wrote.
So, anyway... Happy New Year everyone.
posted by y2karl at 8:00 AM on November 7, 2022 [13 favorites]
As opposed to Mariah Carey? Oh, please. I hate crappy Chrismas music as much as the next person but I will always give Eartha Kitt and Nat King Cole a break just because.
Interesting sidenote: many calendars, the Celtic, fot instance, start the seasons on the cross quarter days, the midpoints between solstice and equinox. Which are noted on Groundhog day, 1st day of cross-quarter Spring, May Day, 1st day of cross-quarter Summer and Halloween/All Saints day, 1st day of cross-quarter Winter appear in our USAian calendar. August 1st, Lammas Day does not. On the Celtic calendar, it's a first fruits harvest festival in the Northern Hemisphere (it's on November 1st north of the equator and around Groundhogs day to the south.) Lammas is still celebrated in Ireland and parts of the United Kingdom -- or so I have been told in regards to the latter.
See also The Wheel of the Year.
So, All Hallowed's Eve as the last day of the year was a day of the dead, when the souls of the dead came back to visit. In Spain and Mexico, El Dia de los Muertos celebrates the same thing. Traditionally, an altar or table is set up with the favorite foods and beverages of the dearly departed placed upon it.
In ancient Babylon the New Year began on the vernal equinox. Now Ruz, the Persian New Year, begins on that day, too. And it too features tables of food and drink set up and is a time when little kids throw chadors over their heads and door to door banging on pots and begging for candy.
It is amazing how ancient days of the dead are wired into assorted national cultures, on whatever day on which the New Year falls and how traces the deads' return are celebrated in the same way. It's in our DNA culturally, spiritually and psychologically if not corporeally. Although I am inclined to believe it's in our cells as well: I love to grow flowers and get all jazzed about it around Groundhogs Day. Come August, the wind falls out of my sails and by Halloween, that's all she wrote.
So, anyway... Happy New Year everyone.
posted by y2karl at 8:00 AM on November 7, 2022 [13 favorites]
I noticed a "Black Friday" online sale beginning on Monday, October 24
My big Black Friday gripe is that it's been imported into Canada and it DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE because Thanksgiving was back in October and it's on a Sunday so there isn't this big "Friday shopping holiday" thing like many office workers get in the US. On top of that, they've also started making "Black Friday" a month-long thing. (Similarly, Boxing Day, Dec. 26, used to be a big deal for bargain hunters but most of the deals now last more than one day and we have "Boxing Month" extending well into January; this is probably not a bad thing, especially since I never really enjoyed Boxing Day shopping as much as some members of my family, but it somehow feels to be a continued profaning of a secular "holiday" of sorts.)
posted by asnider at 8:08 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
My big Black Friday gripe is that it's been imported into Canada and it DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE because Thanksgiving was back in October and it's on a Sunday so there isn't this big "Friday shopping holiday" thing like many office workers get in the US. On top of that, they've also started making "Black Friday" a month-long thing. (Similarly, Boxing Day, Dec. 26, used to be a big deal for bargain hunters but most of the deals now last more than one day and we have "Boxing Month" extending well into January; this is probably not a bad thing, especially since I never really enjoyed Boxing Day shopping as much as some members of my family, but it somehow feels to be a continued profaning of a secular "holiday" of sorts.)
posted by asnider at 8:08 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
As opposed to Mariah Carey?
I totaled my beloved little red truck (FREAK SPEEDING LIMOUSINE ACCIDENT) while All I Want For Christmas Is Yoooouuuuoooouuu was on the radio and I was reaching to change it. The EMTs said it could have and should have been so much worse.
So I am weirdly afraid of upsetting Mariah again. I value my safety. I pray you value yours.
posted by mochapickle at 8:09 AM on November 7, 2022 [15 favorites]
I totaled my beloved little red truck (FREAK SPEEDING LIMOUSINE ACCIDENT) while All I Want For Christmas Is Yoooouuuuoooouuu was on the radio and I was reaching to change it. The EMTs said it could have and should have been so much worse.
So I am weirdly afraid of upsetting Mariah again. I value my safety. I pray you value yours.
posted by mochapickle at 8:09 AM on November 7, 2022 [15 favorites]
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling. You Rickrolled by not Rickrolling, and that is [chef's kiss]
Here in Winnipeg there's snow on the ground as we all relearn how to winter walk and winter drive. Thankfully it stayed away for Halloween, where there were record numbers of trick or treaters in some areas, and record low hauntings in others (the children are wise beyond their years and go only where the candy is). The birds and squirrels seem to be kicking into overdrive, perhaps grabbing the last few nest and burrow necessities. Sidewalks had already emptied out to snow level traffic last week, now there are just the odd solitary tracks marking the way to the stores. Maybe later I'll make my own, Family Circus style, as I find caffeinated fuel to rev up for the new yet old-as-time season. Stay layered and steady, people.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 8:19 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
Here in Winnipeg there's snow on the ground as we all relearn how to winter walk and winter drive. Thankfully it stayed away for Halloween, where there were record numbers of trick or treaters in some areas, and record low hauntings in others (the children are wise beyond their years and go only where the candy is). The birds and squirrels seem to be kicking into overdrive, perhaps grabbing the last few nest and burrow necessities. Sidewalks had already emptied out to snow level traffic last week, now there are just the odd solitary tracks marking the way to the stores. Maybe later I'll make my own, Family Circus style, as I find caffeinated fuel to rev up for the new yet old-as-time season. Stay layered and steady, people.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 8:19 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
~500km south of Winnipeg in Minneapolis, it remains unseasonably warm and we still haven't had a true killing frost yet. It finally falls below freezing this weekend.
posted by Ickster at 8:33 AM on November 7, 2022
posted by Ickster at 8:33 AM on November 7, 2022
I've run out of...I dunno. Ideas?
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:36 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:36 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
This week I'm taking a trip out of state, for the first time in years, to visit an old friend. Fortunately Covid cases seem to be pretty low both at home and at my destination, but I'll still be masking like a bandit any time I'm in public. However the Cosmos has another curveball to throw at me: here in Portland we're solidly in the rainy season, yet this coming week will be mostly sunny; meanwhile Florida will be getting rain specifically on the days I'll be there. *shakes fist at Cosmos*
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:02 AM on November 7, 2022
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:02 AM on November 7, 2022
Easter candy pooping up
So that's where the Easter Bunny gets those chocolate eggs from...
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:35 AM on November 7, 2022 [7 favorites]
So that's where the Easter Bunny gets those chocolate eggs from...
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:35 AM on November 7, 2022 [7 favorites]
Spouse found a few remixes of this fine tune, so I'm rocking out while waiting for a build to finish.
I'm also cursing the universe that thought it would be funny to massively tweak my shoulder while doing downward facing dog in yoga a couple of weeks ago. My bicep is all sorts of achy still. Since all the exercises I enjoy require some use of my upper body, I'm getting all sorts of crabby.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 10:38 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
I'm also cursing the universe that thought it would be funny to massively tweak my shoulder while doing downward facing dog in yoga a couple of weeks ago. My bicep is all sorts of achy still. Since all the exercises I enjoy require some use of my upper body, I'm getting all sorts of crabby.
posted by theBigRedKittyPurrs at 10:38 AM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
I totaled my beloved little red truck (FREAK SPEEDING LIMOUSINE ACCIDENT) while All I Want For Christmas Is Yoooouuuuoooouuu was on the radio and I was reaching to change it. The EMTs said it could have and should have been so much worse. So I am weirdly afraid of upsetting Mariah again.
....Maybe it's the opposite situation, where if you hadn't been reaching for the radio you would have had a greater impact and would have been killed. So instead of being upset, Mariah was saving your life.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:10 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
....Maybe it's the opposite situation, where if you hadn't been reaching for the radio you would have had a greater impact and would have been killed. So instead of being upset, Mariah was saving your life.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 11:10 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
I am going to grouse about the power being out.
It has been out since Friday at 10pm. I have a generator, but it is a shadow of having real power (only a few essential circuits), and I had help coming this weekend for a long awaited chore which has now been put off indefinitely. The generator uses about a gallon of gasoline every two hours, all without any emission controls, and every house out here has one going, so there's that. The generator's constant drone makes my brain cease working, as well.
The power going out itself is anywhere from startling to potentially dangerous (depending on what you're doing, using power tools or whatever). It costs roughly $30 per day to run the generator (I turn it off at night). I feel the power company should reimburse this expense! I know for a fact that the local telco, with buried lines, has offered to let the power company share their ditches, but the power company gets some sort of "rural electricity credit" from the federal gov based on how many power poles they have out here, so no. Very stupid and frustrating.
posted by maxwelton at 11:19 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
It has been out since Friday at 10pm. I have a generator, but it is a shadow of having real power (only a few essential circuits), and I had help coming this weekend for a long awaited chore which has now been put off indefinitely. The generator uses about a gallon of gasoline every two hours, all without any emission controls, and every house out here has one going, so there's that. The generator's constant drone makes my brain cease working, as well.
The power going out itself is anywhere from startling to potentially dangerous (depending on what you're doing, using power tools or whatever). It costs roughly $30 per day to run the generator (I turn it off at night). I feel the power company should reimburse this expense! I know for a fact that the local telco, with buried lines, has offered to let the power company share their ditches, but the power company gets some sort of "rural electricity credit" from the federal gov based on how many power poles they have out here, so no. Very stupid and frustrating.
posted by maxwelton at 11:19 AM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
The great Anne Helen Petersen published a piece on holiday sprawl just the other day!
My sons go to different colleges but played each other in a four-way ultimate frisbee tournament yesterday. Three games of 75 minutes each with half times, and breaks between games, plus a 20-minute delay for the automated lights to come one made for a long day. The kids played their own music all day from the stadium's sound system, and it was LOUD.
It went all over campus. It was 50% "F-Bomb Hip-Hop" and 50% "Alcoholic House-Painter Classic Rock." Top volume, too, so everyone on campus for prospective students' day could enjoy it. As the sun began to set, the opening percussion lines of Phil Collins's classic true-crime ballad "In the Air Tonight" soared out from the PA speakers to bring down everyone's mood. And then, like a miracle, halfway through they skipped to the next song!!
Some time later, in the gloaming, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" started, and a girl in the stands (of the maybe dozen spectators) clapped along for a few bars then gave up. They also cut that one off.
New England weather was creepily warm, but I got hot chocolate anyway Just Because.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:48 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
My sons go to different colleges but played each other in a four-way ultimate frisbee tournament yesterday. Three games of 75 minutes each with half times, and breaks between games, plus a 20-minute delay for the automated lights to come one made for a long day. The kids played their own music all day from the stadium's sound system, and it was LOUD.
It went all over campus. It was 50% "F-Bomb Hip-Hop" and 50% "Alcoholic House-Painter Classic Rock." Top volume, too, so everyone on campus for prospective students' day could enjoy it. As the sun began to set, the opening percussion lines of Phil Collins's classic true-crime ballad "In the Air Tonight" soared out from the PA speakers to bring down everyone's mood. And then, like a miracle, halfway through they skipped to the next song!!
Some time later, in the gloaming, Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas is You" started, and a girl in the stands (of the maybe dozen spectators) clapped along for a few bars then gave up. They also cut that one off.
New England weather was creepily warm, but I got hot chocolate anyway Just Because.
posted by wenestvedt at 11:48 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
I've run out of...I dunno. Ideas?
One of my favoritest Bob Dylan lines ever is from Brownsville Girl from the otherwise disappointing to me Knocked Out Loaded:
Oh, if there is an original thought out there, I could use it right now.
posted by y2karl at 11:50 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
One of my favoritest Bob Dylan lines ever is from Brownsville Girl from the otherwise disappointing to me Knocked Out Loaded:
Oh, if there is an original thought out there, I could use it right now.
posted by y2karl at 11:50 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
Home Depot and Lowe's both had Christmas stuff up pretty much the day after Labor Day. Note though that there is also a reverse sprawl, "holiday ebb" perhaps. This is when you go to Home Depot the day before (or the week of, probably) Christmas and they've already rotated the stock out and there are no nothings available, not even a replacement bulb.
posted by rhizome at 11:55 AM on November 7, 2022 [7 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 11:55 AM on November 7, 2022 [7 favorites]
The worst in-store Christmas music is Jimmy Buffett's cover of "Wonderful Christmastime". Already a bad Paul McCartney Christmas song somehow made worse.
posted by downtohisturtles at 12:29 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by downtohisturtles at 12:29 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
I think Costco is the worst for putting out Christmas merch way too early. They usually have it set out in August, and then new stuff just keeps rolling in right up until mid-December.
posted by asnider at 12:39 PM on November 7, 2022
posted by asnider at 12:39 PM on November 7, 2022
Wordshore, given that Christmas has already begun where you are, did you see any Guys wearing Santa hats?
posted by eirias at 12:41 PM on November 7, 2022
posted by eirias at 12:41 PM on November 7, 2022
Mason
(An antidote to bad Christmas music. Also I dig the giant Greyhound graphic!)
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:44 PM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
(An antidote to bad Christmas music. Also I dig the giant Greyhound graphic!)
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:44 PM on November 7, 2022 [2 favorites]
After an incredibly long hot dry summer in the PNW, we finally had two atmospheric rivers (pineapple expresses) in a row dump on us with some pretty severe winds. Even had some wet snow on Sunday.
So many downed trees. The poor too-parched trees were just coming down everywhere. Thankfully, not too much severe flooding.
posted by porpoise at 1:01 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
So many downed trees. The poor too-parched trees were just coming down everywhere. Thankfully, not too much severe flooding.
posted by porpoise at 1:01 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
Ten days or so before Halloween, as we walked into the Target full of Christmas decor galore, my partner yelled "Merrrrry Christmas!!!" The sheer number of people who cracked up at the utter insanity of it all, including me, was deeply gratifying.
posted by riverlife at 1:55 PM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by riverlife at 1:55 PM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]
@Greg_Ace came here to make sure someone had posted that
posted by cacophony at 2:10 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by cacophony at 2:10 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
Location: East Coast, USA.
This is the time of year when our pets are like "I don't give a fuck about your Daylight Savings Time. Where's my food?!"
posted by jeremias at 2:32 PM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]
This is the time of year when our pets are like "I don't give a fuck about your Daylight Savings Time. Where's my food?!"
posted by jeremias at 2:32 PM on November 7, 2022 [4 favorites]
The one dog who doesn't care about food today is my poor boy, who was up all night with the runs and just wants to sleep now.
posted by HotToddy at 2:48 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by HotToddy at 2:48 PM on November 7, 2022 [1 favorite]
Where's my food?!
Annnnd that explains why my dogs are ticked at me. Thanks.
posted by JoeZydeco at 3:10 PM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
Annnnd that explains why my dogs are ticked at me. Thanks.
posted by JoeZydeco at 3:10 PM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]
I fell down the strangest rabbit hole of early 1980s Honda car adverts featuring the English ska band Madness - no, seriously - and it almost felt obligatory to do a post on the blue about it and I am loving how the discussion, in various directions, is going. Ah, MetaFilter; nowhere else like it.
posted by Wordshore at 3:40 PM on November 7, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Wordshore at 3:40 PM on November 7, 2022 [5 favorites]
Please Like Me -- the Onion is not holding back.
posted by hippybear at 3:47 PM on November 7, 2022 [6 favorites]
posted by hippybear at 3:47 PM on November 7, 2022 [6 favorites]
So, this one time in the early mid '90s when I was maybe 23 or so... This gutter punk knocked on my door at like 11pm with this college punk girl from the next town over looking for a place to crash for the night. Of course I let them stay, I roll that way. The next morning the punk girl is like "need a ride back to the dorm, then we're going to visit my old friends in Minneapolis MN (we were in Topeka, and the college was in Lawrence (KS)) want to come?"
So the three of us piled into my two seater roadster and went to her dorm, hopped into her car and began a road trip to Minneapolis. Her old high school friends were at the Art Institute, they were skinheads, but SHARPS (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice, one of them was black with dreadlocks...). They were also a good bit on the bisexual side, I got invided into a three-way (declined).
They were very "Oi boys", we drove around town listening to Madness and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones yelling "Oi, Oi, Oi" out the windowns. I got my nose pierced, The punk girl hooked up with an old lover named Tiny (for the same reason you call a bald guy 'Curly'). The gutter punk got annoyed and sullen and it was all I could do to keep the skinheads from taking him out somewhere rather far away and just leaving him there.
So.... the three of us finally head back to Topeka, have a flat along the way (with no spare). Eventually make it back and drop off the gutter punk in Topeka and punk girl and myself head back to Lawrence to pick up my car. I end up crashing in her dorm room for the rest of the week and hanging out with all the other girls on the floor as a bit of a curiosity. Then it's Friday and time to head back to Topeka, can't miss club night.
---
Whenever I hear ska now, that's the story that pops into my head.
(aside, welcome to Mefi Mastodon)
posted by zengargoyle at 4:38 PM on November 7, 2022 [9 favorites]
So the three of us piled into my two seater roadster and went to her dorm, hopped into her car and began a road trip to Minneapolis. Her old high school friends were at the Art Institute, they were skinheads, but SHARPS (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice, one of them was black with dreadlocks...). They were also a good bit on the bisexual side, I got invided into a three-way (declined).
They were very "Oi boys", we drove around town listening to Madness and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones yelling "Oi, Oi, Oi" out the windowns. I got my nose pierced, The punk girl hooked up with an old lover named Tiny (for the same reason you call a bald guy 'Curly'). The gutter punk got annoyed and sullen and it was all I could do to keep the skinheads from taking him out somewhere rather far away and just leaving him there.
So.... the three of us finally head back to Topeka, have a flat along the way (with no spare). Eventually make it back and drop off the gutter punk in Topeka and punk girl and myself head back to Lawrence to pick up my car. I end up crashing in her dorm room for the rest of the week and hanging out with all the other girls on the floor as a bit of a curiosity. Then it's Friday and time to head back to Topeka, can't miss club night.
---
Whenever I hear ska now, that's the story that pops into my head.
(aside, welcome to Mefi Mastodon)
posted by zengargoyle at 4:38 PM on November 7, 2022 [9 favorites]
Whenever I hear ska now, that's the story that pops into my head.
....So, a short while back I saw a meme that defined ska as "the music that plays in a 13-year-old kid's head when he gets extra mozzarella sticks", and it became my personal definition.
...Until now.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:57 PM on November 7, 2022 [9 favorites]
....So, a short while back I saw a meme that defined ska as "the music that plays in a 13-year-old kid's head when he gets extra mozzarella sticks", and it became my personal definition.
...Until now.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:57 PM on November 7, 2022 [9 favorites]
It is 3:39 in the morning in Southern California, and it is raining, a slow and steady. I can pick out the drips from inside the rain gutters and hear it hit the swamper. I am so grateful for this world, which, in spite of our activities, is still working, for this moment. The air is so clean and cool, and the highway is utterly muffled, the trains are quiet, with only the rhythmic tappings of the rain. Going about it's quiet business, the world has called me out. Hey!
posted by Oyéah at 3:40 AM on November 8, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by Oyéah at 3:40 AM on November 8, 2022 [5 favorites]
My father had a book launch last night.
He's been working on it for years. Amnesty Chronicles, "the inner history of the amnesty negotiations during the South African transition, and the origins of the TRC's amnesty process."
The discussion panel was quite something. Poet Antjie Krog, and Thuli Madonsela, our former public protector and real life super-hero. She of unshakeable integrity and courage.
So much wisdom and wry humour.
I wish my mother could have been there too.
posted by Zumbador at 5:49 AM on November 8, 2022 [10 favorites]
He's been working on it for years. Amnesty Chronicles, "the inner history of the amnesty negotiations during the South African transition, and the origins of the TRC's amnesty process."
The discussion panel was quite something. Poet Antjie Krog, and Thuli Madonsela, our former public protector and real life super-hero. She of unshakeable integrity and courage.
So much wisdom and wry humour.
I wish my mother could have been there too.
posted by Zumbador at 5:49 AM on November 8, 2022 [10 favorites]
My company makes us take cyber-defense refresher courses every six months to make sure we're not clicking on phishing emails and yadda yadda.
And now this new zero-trust authentication system is rolling out and where does the announcement come from? The head of global corporate security? Nope, some overseas IT person that I've never heard of before.
Sigh. We're all doomed.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:55 AM on November 8, 2022 [3 favorites]
And now this new zero-trust authentication system is rolling out and where does the announcement come from? The head of global corporate security? Nope, some overseas IT person that I've never heard of before.
Sigh. We're all doomed.
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:55 AM on November 8, 2022 [3 favorites]
My company makes us take cyber-defense refresher courses every six months to make sure we're not clicking on phishing emails and yadda yadda.
Our company does monthly pretend phishing attacks. Goal is to have less than 3% expose any of their data. This month they were at 6%. Which department had the third most exposures, at almost 9%?
I.T.
They were two one-hundreds of one percent behind the second worst offender.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 8:12 AM on November 8, 2022 [3 favorites]
Our company does monthly pretend phishing attacks. Goal is to have less than 3% expose any of their data. This month they were at 6%. Which department had the third most exposures, at almost 9%?
I.T.
They were two one-hundreds of one percent behind the second worst offender.
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 8:12 AM on November 8, 2022 [3 favorites]
Not surprised that IT would score that low - expertise breeds a shocking amount of complacency.
And to back up Oyéah - here in Pasadena, this was my backyard in the early morning when my Chihuahuas basically said "screw you, old man - it's wet and cold - where are our blankets?"
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:08 AM on November 8, 2022 [5 favorites]
And to back up Oyéah - here in Pasadena, this was my backyard in the early morning when my Chihuahuas basically said "screw you, old man - it's wet and cold - where are our blankets?"
posted by drewbage1847 at 9:08 AM on November 8, 2022 [5 favorites]
IT is also prone to using tools to lookup and trace down links and fetch the head information for inspection before getting the whole thing with something like curl or wget or looking at it through a text based browser. So not necessarily just clicking on a link in a full blown web browser with JavaScript. YMMV.
posted by zengargoyle at 9:49 AM on November 8, 2022
posted by zengargoyle at 9:49 AM on November 8, 2022
I'm actually part of our IT department. I'm not surprised by the results at all. FWIW, our Information Security team (the ones who send the phishing tests and the ones who are tasked with researching phishing, spam, DDOS, etc.) are not considered part of IT... They report to legal, for conflict of interest reasons. Point being is anything th esecurity team would be doing doesn't count against us in those numbers.
It was just amusing to me that we are so off the mark but sadly, not surprising.
(I read the numbers just a couple hours ago, which is why it was so fresh in my mind.)
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 10:06 AM on November 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
It was just amusing to me that we are so off the mark but sadly, not surprising.
(I read the numbers just a couple hours ago, which is why it was so fresh in my mind.)
posted by a non mouse, a cow herd at 10:06 AM on November 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
I’m traveling and up at weird hours thanks to jet lag. So I’m sitting in bed trying to figure out how to keep up with Twitter people without actually using the birdsite directly. Turns out! The Mac and iOS app Reeder can log into your Twitter account and display tweets from your timeline like an rss feed. Neat.
posted by device55 at 10:32 AM on November 8, 2022
posted by device55 at 10:32 AM on November 8, 2022
Currently doomwatching Florida forecasts to try to figure out whether my trip is going to happen tomorrow. I'm a pretty relaxed airline passenger, but flying into high winds is not my idea of fun.
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:00 PM on November 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:00 PM on November 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
Christmas stuff is starting to appear in shops here, but I do my best to ignore the should-be-illegal behavior of even acknowledging Christmas before 1 December.
posted by dg at 5:58 PM on November 8, 2022
posted by dg at 5:58 PM on November 8, 2022
Oddly (despite being Canadians) a curious number of family milestones seem to happen for me coinciding with American elections: my niece turned eighteen this week, her arrival on this orb being the day of George Dubya's re-election, and this morning (during some tumultuous midterms) my father-in-law died, a couple of days before he would have turned 87. His daughter, my wife, was visiting him last night and was reading him his birthday cards from well-wishers -- this is a nicer farewell than most of us will get.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:53 PM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:53 PM on November 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
Shortly after midnight on November 9, strong northeast winds pushed the Camp Fire out of Feather River Canyon. By 1:00, houses in historic Old Magalia were burning, and fire was roaring up the hill toward the subdivisions on the other side of the reservoir. By 2:00, businesses downtown were on fire. By day's end, fire had claimed more than 2000 homes and ten human lives in our small community, including an 82-year-old volunteer who'd fought all day November 8 to save his childhood home and the nearby historic firehouse only to succumb when fire came back from the other direction November 9.
There are no remembrances today. Hundreds of millions of dollars appropriated for our recovery have been administered at county level to address secondary impacts in the valley instead, reinforcing rather than mitigating displacement from the disaster. We are surrounded by ghost towns from the mining and logging booms -- Diamondville, Hupps, Powellton -- and increasingly destined to join them as a footnote to history rather than joining our incorporated neighbor in its 21st century rebirth.
posted by backwoods at 12:45 AM on November 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
There are no remembrances today. Hundreds of millions of dollars appropriated for our recovery have been administered at county level to address secondary impacts in the valley instead, reinforcing rather than mitigating displacement from the disaster. We are surrounded by ghost towns from the mining and logging booms -- Diamondville, Hupps, Powellton -- and increasingly destined to join them as a footnote to history rather than joining our incorporated neighbor in its 21st century rebirth.
posted by backwoods at 12:45 AM on November 9, 2022 [4 favorites]
Had difficulty putting down the screens and sleeping last night, as you can imagine, until I remembered something important. It was okay to be anxious. It was okay that I was miserable; I didn't have to cure it or rise above it or argue it out of existence. This is advice I've given other people, often on this very website, but like a lot of things worth remembering, I hadn't taken it to heart. Once I did, I felt a weight roll off me and I was able to sleep.
Or maybe that was the Advil PM. In any case, I did sleep pretty well until the pup wanted breakfast. She's not off daylight savings time yet.
The only trouble was my dreams, which were not election-related but full of confusion and anxieties. Riding a bicycle on the highway through a dust storm into Lincoln, Nebraska, while I was worried that I needed to sign up for a Mastodon account right that instant or no one would ever be able to find me out there.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:37 AM on November 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
Or maybe that was the Advil PM. In any case, I did sleep pretty well until the pup wanted breakfast. She's not off daylight savings time yet.
The only trouble was my dreams, which were not election-related but full of confusion and anxieties. Riding a bicycle on the highway through a dust storm into Lincoln, Nebraska, while I was worried that I needed to sign up for a Mastodon account right that instant or no one would ever be able to find me out there.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:37 AM on November 9, 2022 [2 favorites]
I swear I have composed three really great MetaFilter posts that I've been collecting things on for a while only to find all of them were things discussed in posts within the past 18 months, which feels a bit too soon for another post. So dammit! I've never had that happen three times in a row before.
posted by hippybear at 6:36 PM on November 9, 2022
posted by hippybear at 6:36 PM on November 9, 2022
Last night I had Tears In Heaven playing in my head all night long. I despise that song. I tried to wipe it with In the Mood but it kept coming back.
I usually don't mind having constant ear worms but there are limits.
posted by Zumbador at 1:51 AM on November 10, 2022
I usually don't mind having constant ear worms but there are limits.
posted by Zumbador at 1:51 AM on November 10, 2022
Well, yesterday was a total loss. Before getting on my first flight, I checked to make sure that my connecting flight was still on. It was. By the time I got off that first plane three hours later, it was canceled due to the hurricane. They couldn't have told me that three hours ago?? My only option was to board another plane back home. 12 hours, and the cost of two flights, wasted on a pointless round trip.
Then, when I got home, my cable modem was dead. So now I get to spend more money to replace that. My bank account is reeling. This is not been my week.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:50 AM on November 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
Then, when I got home, my cable modem was dead. So now I get to spend more money to replace that. My bank account is reeling. This is not been my week.
posted by Greg_Ace at 9:50 AM on November 10, 2022 [2 favorites]
This is not been my week.
For grammar either, apparently.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:54 AM on November 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
For grammar either, apparently.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:54 AM on November 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
The mildly brain-damaged older dog two doors down has been woofing out one throaty "WOOF" every second for around an hour and a half now. (Nice dog, this Reggie, but had a health crisis of some kind a few years back and now has one blown cornea and an inconsistent grasp on his mind). My own good boy Rango is letting loose a very loud bark of disapproval about every six or eight minutes that I am confident translates cleanly to "JESUS FUCKING CHRIST, REGGIE."
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:11 PM on November 10, 2022 [9 favorites]
posted by DirtyOldTown at 12:11 PM on November 10, 2022 [9 favorites]
Today has been a day of minor tech fails. Hi, I'm gonna bitch today, speaking of the title of the thread!
(a) I forgot my work keys, AGAIN, for the second time in 2 weeks, forcing me to take a very cold walk home and back AGAIN, that's an HOUR of walking in the cold after I've made the 20 minute trip three times.
(b) They upgraded the VPN. We can all technically get into the new VPN, but it has to have a NEW BRAND and I cannot get the new brand to download NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I HARD REBOOT THE COMPUTER, soft reboot the computer, check for updates, blah blah blah. It's implied that once I'm home working again, I won't be able to log into the VPN and will have to keep coming into the office if I don't get this fixed today. It's 4.
(c) I was supposed to meet someone for lunch today, but she parked herself at a totally random location (why?) instead of our usual area and I never found her.
(d) I have to make two signs for the show. I managed to have a lot of free time to do this thanks to computer issues. I note this involved (1) printing out lettering, (2) gluing papers to other papers, (3) gluing said papers to two cheap Dollar Store-ish wood signs. This has been ridiculously difficult, I tried 3 different glues. Finally rubber cement works to not wrinkle it all, but I had to redo one of them OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN and I am TIRED OF IT. I think they are done now, but if anything damages them on the way home I WILL SCREAM.
I keep some bubble wrap around the office and boy, did I pop it all just now.
I'm supposed to have had a package delivered at home today. I suspect this will not go well either?
Also, it's the final night of tech week + photography day. The rest of the week has been extremely stressful because we have too many costumes and too many quick changes and almost nobody has anyone to help them change (note: 18 people are playing something like 35 parts, one person is playing literally four roles in succession and that's the only one who can get a dresser) and SERIOUSLY I CAN'T PUT ON THESE MANY ACCESSORIES EVERY EFFING TIME.
I note one outfit has a ton of accessories and I have to put it on/take it off 4 times, another outfit has a ton of them and I have to put it on/take it off 2 times, the other 5 outfits only go on once apiece and have little to no accessories, and the costume designer is ON US if we don't have every @#%@$% accessory. INCLUDING THE PETTICOAT, which she wants on every other costume but not all of them, and nobody's even seeing them, and she won't let me layer costumes either because you can see A SLIGHT BIT OF SKIRT IN THE BACK. And I have to switch back and forth between two hats, having my hair "raggedy" and wearing a wig. Suffice it to say I expect tonight to be a train wreck too, because that has been the day so far.
My castmate last night said this theater seriously needs to stop picking shows where they have to have large ensembles (we are not getting 35+ people auditioning, more like around 18 end up in the show by the time the requisite two people per show drop out and the people who didn't get lead roles huff off) and the ensemble has to be on stage 90% of the time and changing clothes every other minute. And also need to stop picking shows that have a lot of kids in them, because we have about 4 kids where the parents are cool with them rehearsing till 10 p.m. (I note their parents also do shows, and one of these kids is little/possibly disabled and can't really do much in the way of lines or actions) and this is why we have one 13-year-old playing 4 12-year-old kids and switching off which kid every other minute. I won't even get into how small and female-ish the "boys band" was in Music Man :P The joke with our Tiny Tim is "Do you EVER get to play a girl?" (Answer: yes, she does, but not for very long in any show.)
So yeah, I am feeling GRUMBLY and I am looking forward to having the day off before the show starts.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:24 PM on November 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
(a) I forgot my work keys, AGAIN, for the second time in 2 weeks, forcing me to take a very cold walk home and back AGAIN, that's an HOUR of walking in the cold after I've made the 20 minute trip three times.
(b) They upgraded the VPN. We can all technically get into the new VPN, but it has to have a NEW BRAND and I cannot get the new brand to download NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES I HARD REBOOT THE COMPUTER, soft reboot the computer, check for updates, blah blah blah. It's implied that once I'm home working again, I won't be able to log into the VPN and will have to keep coming into the office if I don't get this fixed today. It's 4.
(c) I was supposed to meet someone for lunch today, but she parked herself at a totally random location (why?) instead of our usual area and I never found her.
(d) I have to make two signs for the show. I managed to have a lot of free time to do this thanks to computer issues. I note this involved (1) printing out lettering, (2) gluing papers to other papers, (3) gluing said papers to two cheap Dollar Store-ish wood signs. This has been ridiculously difficult, I tried 3 different glues. Finally rubber cement works to not wrinkle it all, but I had to redo one of them OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN and I am TIRED OF IT. I think they are done now, but if anything damages them on the way home I WILL SCREAM.
I keep some bubble wrap around the office and boy, did I pop it all just now.
I'm supposed to have had a package delivered at home today. I suspect this will not go well either?
Also, it's the final night of tech week + photography day. The rest of the week has been extremely stressful because we have too many costumes and too many quick changes and almost nobody has anyone to help them change (note: 18 people are playing something like 35 parts, one person is playing literally four roles in succession and that's the only one who can get a dresser) and SERIOUSLY I CAN'T PUT ON THESE MANY ACCESSORIES EVERY EFFING TIME.
I note one outfit has a ton of accessories and I have to put it on/take it off 4 times, another outfit has a ton of them and I have to put it on/take it off 2 times, the other 5 outfits only go on once apiece and have little to no accessories, and the costume designer is ON US if we don't have every @#%@$% accessory. INCLUDING THE PETTICOAT, which she wants on every other costume but not all of them, and nobody's even seeing them, and she won't let me layer costumes either because you can see A SLIGHT BIT OF SKIRT IN THE BACK. And I have to switch back and forth between two hats, having my hair "raggedy" and wearing a wig. Suffice it to say I expect tonight to be a train wreck too, because that has been the day so far.
My castmate last night said this theater seriously needs to stop picking shows where they have to have large ensembles (we are not getting 35+ people auditioning, more like around 18 end up in the show by the time the requisite two people per show drop out and the people who didn't get lead roles huff off) and the ensemble has to be on stage 90% of the time and changing clothes every other minute. And also need to stop picking shows that have a lot of kids in them, because we have about 4 kids where the parents are cool with them rehearsing till 10 p.m. (I note their parents also do shows, and one of these kids is little/possibly disabled and can't really do much in the way of lines or actions) and this is why we have one 13-year-old playing 4 12-year-old kids and switching off which kid every other minute. I won't even get into how small and female-ish the "boys band" was in Music Man :P The joke with our Tiny Tim is "Do you EVER get to play a girl?" (Answer: yes, she does, but not for very long in any show.)
So yeah, I am feeling GRUMBLY and I am looking forward to having the day off before the show starts.
posted by jenfullmoon at 4:24 PM on November 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
So I had the day off today, and asked my super if he could come by to look at a spot on my bedroom ceiling where the plaster looks like it's coming loose. He said sure, and to just give him a call this morning to remind him.
At about 9:30 I saw him out back doing some much-needed cleanup in the back yard as a rat mitigation effort. I needed to re-cover my bike, so I was heading out anyway - I saw him in person and we discussed the rat situation a bit. (I've been hearing them in my walls, and told him about that earlier; I applauded the back yard clean up and added they're still in the walls, though). I joked that since I saw him, I probably didn't need to call him; I told him my roommate was working from home and would be awake by 10 am. He confirmed he would come by at about that time.
It is 11:30 and he is still not here. I phoned at 10:30 and he said yes, he hadn't forgotten, he would come by. No word yet.
I'll try again at noon. Fortunately the rats in the walls are being a little active today, so when he's checking out my ceiling he'll probably hear that, and I'll be able to say, "yes, THIS is what we meant about the rats in the walls."
(Honestly, I think the biggest issue is that one side wall of my apartment overlooks an alley that we don't have access to - only the people in the building NEXT DOOR can get into that alley. And they aren't necessarily the cleanest. So getting out there is going to require a little negotiation between our super and their super; and if that still doesn't work, my roommate and I have discussed calling the board of health and asking "wtf do we do about rats in an alley our super can't get to".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:32 AM on November 11, 2022
At about 9:30 I saw him out back doing some much-needed cleanup in the back yard as a rat mitigation effort. I needed to re-cover my bike, so I was heading out anyway - I saw him in person and we discussed the rat situation a bit. (I've been hearing them in my walls, and told him about that earlier; I applauded the back yard clean up and added they're still in the walls, though). I joked that since I saw him, I probably didn't need to call him; I told him my roommate was working from home and would be awake by 10 am. He confirmed he would come by at about that time.
It is 11:30 and he is still not here. I phoned at 10:30 and he said yes, he hadn't forgotten, he would come by. No word yet.
I'll try again at noon. Fortunately the rats in the walls are being a little active today, so when he's checking out my ceiling he'll probably hear that, and I'll be able to say, "yes, THIS is what we meant about the rats in the walls."
(Honestly, I think the biggest issue is that one side wall of my apartment overlooks an alley that we don't have access to - only the people in the building NEXT DOOR can get into that alley. And they aren't necessarily the cleanest. So getting out there is going to require a little negotiation between our super and their super; and if that still doesn't work, my roommate and I have discussed calling the board of health and asking "wtf do we do about rats in an alley our super can't get to".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 8:32 AM on November 11, 2022
Rehearsal actually went well last night! I made all my costume and set changes!
I am spending my day off in bed, playing with the laptop. This is glorious.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:12 AM on November 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
I am spending my day off in bed, playing with the laptop. This is glorious.
posted by jenfullmoon at 11:12 AM on November 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
Super came by at 1 finally. He checked out the ceiling, confirmed it needed a patch - but was in good enough shape that it could wait a couple days. I mentioned that I've taken Monday and Tuesday off next week, we confirmed Tuesday, and he went on his way, adding that he was also going to talk to the super of the building next door about getting into the alley where we've heard the rats. He's also been doing a lot of rat mitigation in our back yard, to the point that he's reached out to the landlords in adjoining buildings to point out if he sees "Hey, there's a rat burrow I can see in your property that runs up against ours...."
And as for those two days off - I made that move when I heard that today we were getting a holiday at work, and that next week half of the executive staff is all flying to Germany to a project launch there, and "it's going to be dead here in NYC." So I immediately took that as an excuse to turn my 3-day weekend into a 5-day one - and I have nothing planned but catching up on some wonderfully grounding homespun nesting stuff, like DIY decor touches and cozy-but-time-consuming cooking tasks. My roommate just told me he was getting an Instacart order together and I'm piggybacking on that for the one quart of milk I needed today (so I don't have to leave the house).
So far, I've re-sorted some desk drawers, had a poke through the fridge ("oh, yeah, I can make some kind of pasta thing and use up some of this stuff in here, we can put off grocery shopping one more day"), and tackled the huge backlog of CSA apples - a batch of homemade spiced apple butter is happily simmering away in the slow cooker. If I'm really ambitious I may put together some shelves for bathroom storage tonight - or, more likely, I'll put it off to tomorrow.
I'm also learning that the local Freecycle and Buy Nothing Groups have been a BOON for gifts. A few months back someone was offering up an old book by Thornton Burgess, a kids' book author my mother loved as a girl. I snapped that up and saved it to send to her for her birthday a couple weeks ago. ...Mom loved it - it was one of his books she hadn't read, even - but Dad also did some exploratory Googling and found out that the book I'd sent her goes for a couple hundred bucks on Ebay. "Where the hell did you find that???" he asked me, and was shocked to hear I'd gotten it for free. I'm starting to pay even more attention now with Christmas coming up.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:23 PM on November 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
And as for those two days off - I made that move when I heard that today we were getting a holiday at work, and that next week half of the executive staff is all flying to Germany to a project launch there, and "it's going to be dead here in NYC." So I immediately took that as an excuse to turn my 3-day weekend into a 5-day one - and I have nothing planned but catching up on some wonderfully grounding homespun nesting stuff, like DIY decor touches and cozy-but-time-consuming cooking tasks. My roommate just told me he was getting an Instacart order together and I'm piggybacking on that for the one quart of milk I needed today (so I don't have to leave the house).
So far, I've re-sorted some desk drawers, had a poke through the fridge ("oh, yeah, I can make some kind of pasta thing and use up some of this stuff in here, we can put off grocery shopping one more day"), and tackled the huge backlog of CSA apples - a batch of homemade spiced apple butter is happily simmering away in the slow cooker. If I'm really ambitious I may put together some shelves for bathroom storage tonight - or, more likely, I'll put it off to tomorrow.
I'm also learning that the local Freecycle and Buy Nothing Groups have been a BOON for gifts. A few months back someone was offering up an old book by Thornton Burgess, a kids' book author my mother loved as a girl. I snapped that up and saved it to send to her for her birthday a couple weeks ago. ...Mom loved it - it was one of his books she hadn't read, even - but Dad also did some exploratory Googling and found out that the book I'd sent her goes for a couple hundred bucks on Ebay. "Where the hell did you find that???" he asked me, and was shocked to hear I'd gotten it for free. I'm starting to pay even more attention now with Christmas coming up.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:23 PM on November 11, 2022 [3 favorites]
The kids are hung over. And I've long wanted to make a classic French onion soup because two of us bought a bag of onions the same day, and we have way too many onions, even for a household that goes through several a day. And after we had a St. Martins day duck, I made a duck stock of the carcass. So the stars were aligned, and I went to look for a pressure cooker version and there is one on Serious Eats who are always reliable. Except with this. I should have read the comments first.
In the end, it came out good, but it took as long time to make as in a conventional pot, and it was pretty stressful when it didn't work.
Apart from the bad recipe, the onions were so pungent that we all almost fainted while I was slicing them, and we had to lie down for a while. Has anyone had that happen? It was a bit scary first, before we talked about it, and each of us thought something serious was happening.
posted by mumimor at 7:58 AM on November 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
In the end, it came out good, but it took as long time to make as in a conventional pot, and it was pretty stressful when it didn't work.
Apart from the bad recipe, the onions were so pungent that we all almost fainted while I was slicing them, and we had to lie down for a while. Has anyone had that happen? It was a bit scary first, before we talked about it, and each of us thought something serious was happening.
posted by mumimor at 7:58 AM on November 12, 2022 [3 favorites]
the onions were so pungent that we all almost fainted while I was slicing them, and we had to lie down for a while. Has anyone had that happen?
When I was quite young, my mother misread a chili recipe and added six BULBS of garlic instead of six cloves. The garlic saturated into the walls so profoundly that for weeks she couldn't go into the kitchen without feeling ill, and eventually we had to move into a different apartment.
posted by mochapickle at 8:14 AM on November 12, 2022 [5 favorites]
When I was quite young, my mother misread a chili recipe and added six BULBS of garlic instead of six cloves. The garlic saturated into the walls so profoundly that for weeks she couldn't go into the kitchen without feeling ill, and eventually we had to move into a different apartment.
posted by mochapickle at 8:14 AM on November 12, 2022 [5 favorites]
This morning I went out doing ACTUAL CHRISTMAS CAROLING in caroler costumes for A Christmas Carol, to hand out fliers/drum up business since we didn't get much last night. It was fun. I've never actually done that IRL before, just in shows, felt like it was kind of a myth :P
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:02 PM on November 12, 2022 [5 favorites]
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:02 PM on November 12, 2022 [5 favorites]
I believe we have at least a couple of Turkish MeFites, and it's mostly to them I'd like to say - I just learned about the bombing that took place on İstiklal Caddesi in Beyoğlu a couple of nights ago and my thoughts tonight are with the people of Istanbul.
When I was fortunate to visit that amazing city in 2016 I stayed around the corner from the site of the explosion and walked through that area every day of my stay. I have such fond memories of every part of the city I visited and the people I met there. I know that Istanbul has seen much worse in the past, but still I hope that such a thing never happens again and that the spirit of the city will not be dimmed by this senseless violence.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:17 AM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
When I was fortunate to visit that amazing city in 2016 I stayed around the corner from the site of the explosion and walked through that area every day of my stay. I have such fond memories of every part of the city I visited and the people I met there. I know that Istanbul has seen much worse in the past, but still I hope that such a thing never happens again and that the spirit of the city will not be dimmed by this senseless violence.
posted by Nerd of the North at 2:17 AM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]
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Any signs of Christmas festivities, decorations, or "Jolly jolly hey ho buy our products NOW" where you are, fellow MeFites?
posted by Wordshore at 2:24 AM on November 7, 2022 [3 favorites]