Althouse: At the Glacier Café...

March 22, 2013

At the Glacier Café...

... we must trek over immense expanses of ice.

65 comments:

Anonymous said...: Where was this, in the parking lot of Whole Foods?; 3/22/13, 8:31 PM
edutcher said...: I think I'll wait till May.; 3/22/13, 8:33 PM
garage mahal said...: c. 9000 B.C.?; 3/22/13, 8:40 PM
rcommal said...: Why, edutcher? Because you think, somehow, that the iciness you have demanded from other people will somehow thaw? Not likely. You asked for it. You earned it.

You think you are the only glacier. Ha! You moron.; 3/22/13, 8:44 PM
edutcher said...: Whatev.

Some people just can't stand anyone disagreeing with them.; 3/22/13, 8:52 PM
rcommal said...: Oh, bullshit.; 3/22/13, 8:57 PM
rcommal said...: I have a problem with the type of moron you are, edutcher.

I do not have a problem with disagreement.; 3/22/13, 8:59 PM
edutcher said...: Keep talking.; 3/22/13, 9:05 PM
Meade said...: If you look really close you can juuuust see part of one of my pitons. Just before I got to the top of the ice cliff, I was met by one of the enemy assassins who tried to kill me by knocking my pitons out of the icy rock, which would have cause me to fall to my death. Just before the assassin knocked out the last piton, I uncliped a piton from my belt and used it as a throwing knife, injuring the assassin and sending him falling to his death instead. I was then able to infiltrate the enemy hideout.; 3/22/13, 9:07 PM
Meade said...: ...and save the world from chaos and evil.; 3/22/13, 9:09 PM
rcommal said...: Why, thank you, edutcher!; 3/22/13, 9:10 PM
Meade said...: You're welcome.; 3/22/13, 9:11 PM
rcommal said...: Hey, Meade. After all, no one can take on you. You are the insurmountable.

Do you really mind if I take on edutcher? I mean, jeez, really: Do you?; 3/22/13, 9:14 PM
edutcher said...: And who was waiting at the top for Meade but that legendary femme fatale, Althouse Galore.; 3/22/13, 9:16 PM
Meade said...: I wasn't trying to save the world from edutcher.

Just chaos and evil.; 3/22/13, 9:17 PM
edutcher said...: Meade, just as well let you him.

He's only going to make a fool of himself until he detoxes.; 3/22/13, 9:17 PM
rcommal said...: Why, thank you, edutcher!

Referred to edutcher's "Keep talking," Meade.

Wow. The world really is ending if even you, Meade, can't keep track. ; )

: ); 3/22/13, 9:17 PM
Meade said...: "You're welcome" referred to everyone who read my comment and, in awe, silently mouthed the words, "thank you, Meade, for saving the world from chaos and evil."; 3/22/13, 9:22 PM
Anonymous said...: Ohhhh, I'm so enjoying this.; 3/22/13, 9:23 PM
rcommal said...: edutcher's steadfastness impresses

...in a cheap sort of way.; 3/22/13, 9:23 PM
edutcher said...: The She Devil of the SS also liked the secutor against the retiarius.; 3/22/13, 9:24 PM
Meade said...: I have no idea what edutcher is talking about. And I'd like to keep it that way.
Thank you.; 3/22/13, 9:27 PM
Anonymous said...: Me neither Meade. But I think rcommal could whoop his ass.; 3/22/13, 9:28 PM
Anonymous said...: Those Who Listen From Within The Ice murmur in agreement: all is going as planned.; 3/22/13, 9:32 PM
edutcher said...: It hasn't happened yet.

And the She Devil of the SS' reaction to her perception that Meade is taking sides against me is reminiscent of how some roman women got all hot and bothered watching the gladiators.

My God, you'd think nobody here watches the History Channel.; 3/22/13, 9:32 PM
bagoh20 said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/22/13, 9:32 PM
Anonymous said...: Those Who Listen From Within The Ice say:

If you let your Heart grow Colder your fingers will tingle Less.; 3/22/13, 9:33 PM
bagoh20 said...: I had an employees quit his job this week. We hired him completely unskilled and barely educated. I like to hire those as much as possible, because they need the training, work and experience the most, and we need cheap, motivated labor. We trained him to do TIG welding, a good, employable skill widely needed, and well paid. After training him we had to increase his pay, offer him plenty of overtime and give plenty of bonus pay and piece work, so that he often made twice his normal salary. Nobody has quit one of these positions voluntarily for years.

Anyway, he started to have poor attendance, so we gave him a warning about it and told him he had to stop missing work.

He said: "What do you want from me? I'm 20 years old, I don't have any bills, I live at home, I don't need much money. I don't need a job. I quit."

He had a damned good point. At least he has a good skill now, and he's better off for being with us, but he has a couple more lessons to learn. Youth is awesome.; 3/22/13, 9:34 PM
Anonymous said...: Those Who Listen From Within The Ice say:

Your Breath alone will be Seen.; 3/22/13, 9:35 PM
Anonymous said...: As long as its minty fresh.; 3/22/13, 9:36 PM
Tim said...: "Youth is awesome."

And wasted on the young, or so they say.

The older I get, the more I think they are right.

But just about that.

On most things, they are wrong.; 3/22/13, 9:37 PM
KCFleming said...: Yukon Education Minister forbids Catholic schools to teach Catholic doctrine on homosexuality

It's probably nothing.; 3/22/13, 9:45 PM
bagoh20 said...: I remember getting fired as young idiot once on my first day at a new job. I spent all day trying to paint a wall with a dried out stiff paint roller. After hours of work, I had accomplished virtually nothing good. The boss came in looked at me, looked at the wall, looked the roller, and said: "Get the hell out of here." Maybe I was stoned. I do remember thinking to myself: you idiot, why didn't you just get a new roller? I wasn't stupid - I was slow. There is a difference. I think Einstein was slow too, and I know I could kick that Stephen Hawking's ass in a painting race.; 3/22/13, 9:47 PM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Hey Bag, I just finished reading Eat the Rich by P.J. O'Rourke and this sentence, uttered in 1961 by one John Cowperthwaite, financial secretary of Hong Kong, made me think of you as a business owner [which may or may not indicate I'm reading too much Althouse lately, if I'm thinking about all y'all when I'm not here]:

"...in the long run the aggregate of decisions of individual businessmen, exercising individual judgement in a free economy, even if often mistaken, is less likely to do harm than the centralized decisions of a government; and certainly the harm is likely to be counteracted faster."

O'Rourke suggests tattooing the above onto all legislators' faces, worldwide : ); 3/22/13, 9:52 PM
Meade said...: Bagoh, you are like a superhero. Awesome. Thank you for truly saving the world from chaos and evil.

I mean it.; 3/22/13, 9:54 PM
Anonymous said...: Yeah, Baggy is like that sexy gladiator Edutcher is so hot and bothered over.; 3/22/13, 9:57 PM
rcommal said...: I remember getting fired as young idiot once on my first day at a new job. I spent all day trying to paint a wall with a dried out stiff paint roller.

I remember the first time I tried to paint something with a dried-out, stiff paint roller. It was in the summer between my third-grade and fourth-grade year, and my dad spanked me for it--because he'd told me which one I was supposed to use (which I didn't), and also because I'd been taught how to clean brushes and rollers a couple of years before, and therefore was expected to know better in any case.

He was right. I was being lazy. In terms both of the work AND of the rebelling. Not a leg to stand on did I have. I deserved the spanking. In that case.; 3/22/13, 9:58 PM
edutcher said...: The She Devil is as lame as ever.; 3/22/13, 10:12 PM
Anonymous said...: Edbutcher has a full Depend. Where's "The Blond"?; 3/22/13, 10:24 PM
Sydney said...: Why is it that male actors no longer look manly? They're all femmed up these days. Can anyone point out a male actor under the age of 50 who looks and acts like a man?; 3/22/13, 10:30 PM
edutcher said...: As I've said, that's the best you've got?

For somebody with such a thin skin (and the intellect to match), the She Devil of the SS should refrain from combat, given how short she is on witty ripostes.

And, yes, you do remind one of the women who got off on the gladiatorial games in the way you enjoy watching one of your antagonists attacked by someone else, although you seem to have imbued yourself with the methodology of the SS when they went into a new territory - they never shipped out the Jews themselves, they whipped up a mob of the locals to do it for them.

Good old Uncle Saul, isolate, personalize, demonize.

That's our little She-Wolf.; 3/22/13, 10:31 PM
Anonymous said...: You hoooo, The Blond! You're patient needs to be changed and put to bed, he's mighty stinky.; 3/22/13, 10:39 PM
Lydia said...: Can anyone point out a male actor under the age of 50 who looks and acts like a man?

Mark Wahlberg; 3/22/13, 10:44 PM
Sydney said...: Mark Wahlberg. Hmmm, maybe sometimes.; 3/22/13, 10:56 PM
bagoh20 said...: "Can anyone point out a male actor under the age of 50 who looks and acts like a man?"

Eric Cartman; 3/22/13, 11:10 PM
rcommal said...: Wait:

A reference to Marky Mark is making an appearance in this thread?

OMG. Had I known that was in the offing, I would have approached everything in at least one whole different way.

I keyboard chastened. (And I say that as a fan, in certain expressions.); 3/22/13, 11:13 PM
bagoh20 said...: Erika,

That is very true about small businessmen, which I never imagined I'd become before it just kind of happened. I think I was one for years before I actually noticed that's what I do. Kind of like prostitution.

Anyway, the thing that bugs me so much about taxes, and the point I often make is that I know that anyone who takes a few minutes to think about it, could come up with a dozen better uses for their money than sending it to the government. I mean anyone, but businessmen do that all day long for a living. They think about what resources they have, and how to best turn them into long term gain. To end up better off, at the lowest loss of resources. They often have altruistic motives, but never want to waste what takes so much effort and luck to acquire. They have to get crerative and often abandon sacred cows. It is almost the opposite of a government, tax-funded mentality.

We sell manufacturing to the government, and I can't believe how many people get involved, how many steps, and how much useless paperwork and time it takes to do anything.

An example: We are cutting some large art panels out of thick steel that will adorn a new government building in L.A.. They hired an artist, an architect, involved engineers, and accountants to get this job done. The artist sent us a picture of a tree, and said this is the art work for it, the engineers sent drawings of how and where it would go, the architect drew what it would look like on the building, and the accountant decided how much to spend.

By the time it was done two of my high school educated people had to redo the artwork, all the drawings, and reengineer the whole idea, program it and cut it - two 20 somethings with no college. We did it for half of what they were willing to pay, and that was after a healthy mark up. The artist simply sent a photo she found in a magazine, and I assume was well paid for the effort. 90% of the time it took to do it (over a year) was waiting for paperwork to be approved through endless committee meetings on their end. This is always the way it goes. With a private sector customer it would have taken a few weeks, and cost about 1/3 as much. I know this is how most of our tax money gets spent, and it drives me nuts.; 3/22/13, 11:36 PM
bagoh20 said...: Sorry about the length, but this is right in my wheelhouse, and I think about it every single day. Even on Fridays, which really irritates me.; 3/22/13, 11:38 PM
bagoh20 said...: I think I like Wahlberg. He seems cool. What's his politics?; 3/22/13, 11:45 PM
chickelit said...: Icy iceholes!; 3/22/13, 11:47 PM
chickelit said...: "Dishevel" is an anagram for "she devil"

They aren't antonyms by any stretch of what's left of my imagination. Maybe the two words are like "The Odd Couple."; 3/22/13, 11:55 PM
bagoh20 said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/23/13, 1:23 AM
bagoh20 said...: Thanks for the kudos, Meade. I know you did similar stuff, and know what it's like to help someone along like that. Even when they don't realize it yet, it's still very rewarding to give them a little traction out of the starting gate.; 3/23/13, 1:24 AM
Chip Ahoy said...: I know what you're up to. This is the strange Lutheran thing, isn't it? Stranger even than what the Mormons get up to. It's why you guys are oddly so cool and taciturn about this time of year, the most joyous of all for the promise it holds and for its demonstration of life eternal.; 3/23/13, 2:30 AM
Anonymous said...: @ Blogger bagoh20

Thank you - sincerely. You might very well end up being the Last Private Employer in Non-Canadian North America, and -- as such -- the last to care how the money goes.

As an aside: how you describe some of your hires is parallel to how I got a foot up in my Industry: God Bless those who do what you do.; 3/23/13, 2:50 AM
edutcher said...: Inga said...

You hoooo, The Blond! You're patient needs to be changed and put to bed, he's mighty stinky.

Oh, she's trying to be droll.

How cute.

And it's still "Blonde", just like men are brunet and women are brunette, but maybe the She Devil of the SS doesn't know the difference between men and women.

You know what they said about them.; 3/23/13, 5:44 AM
Paco Wové said...: edutcher -

The world will not end if you do not respond to each and every comment directed at you. Just so you know.; 3/23/13, 6:57 AM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: Anyway, the thing that bugs me so much about taxes, and the point I often make is that I know that anyone who takes a few minutes to think about it, could come up with a dozen better uses for their money than sending it to the government.

Washington needs that money to pay for Joes one night $585,000.50 hotel bill.; 3/23/13, 7:08 AM
KCFleming said...: The healthcare bill is now predicted to result in increased unemployment and more uninsured. Like no one saw that coming. No one.

My wife and I have had discussions recently about where we would move if my workplace closes because of Obamacare. Even out of the country. Even with nothing at age 50. Why stay?

Not fun to talk about. Makes you look at the house you've gotten comfortable with as a liability, since the town would then mostly vacate.

People have lived through worse, to be sure, but the people (some got to vote twice) in their wisdom chose this path.

Maddening. Eats at my heart. Turns my face from others, angry at them, ashamed of them, fearful of their endless demands.

But it's probably nothing.; 3/23/13, 7:41 AM
Sydney said...: Pogo,
Me, too. Though I am my own employer, I worry about the direction reimbursement is taking with the ACO model and so-called "patient centered medical home." I don't have a flair for self-promotion, don't really believe in many of the treatments of "integrative medicine," and as a solo doctor am not large enough to negotiate with insurance companies. I am thinking I might give up on medicine completely or do international locum tenens.; 3/23/13, 7:49 AM
Rusty said...: garage mahal said...
c. 9000 B.C.?

Yes.
The climate began to change 12-13,000 years ago, but it takes a little time for ice miles thick to melt.; 3/23/13, 7:50 AM
KCFleming said...: @sydney

I have had the same thoughts.

Pisses you off, to have gubmint penpushers take away all you have worked for.

The lefties I work with are bewildered by the changes so far. One was told, when he was bitching about having to see more and more patients just to keep up, "We'll, you voted for it, now you are finding out what was in it."

The room went dead silent, because 80% of them voted for Obamacare.; 3/23/13, 7:57 AM
Rusty said...: Lydia said...
Can anyone point out a male actor under the age of 50 who looks and acts like a man?

Mark Wahlberg

No. His brother Donnie.; 3/23/13, 7:57 AM
edutcher said...: Paco Wové said...

The world will not end if you do not respond to each and every comment directed at you. Just so you know.

I know, but sticking yet another harpoon into the She Devil of the SS is so much fun.; 3/23/13, 9:41 AM
I Have Misplaced My Pants said...: Mark Wahlberg is a devout Roman Catholic who attends daily Mass, and has a rosary tattooed around his neck, both of which I approve. He did a lot of really ugly stuff as a teenager and I am happy that he has reconciled that through God's grace.

Bag--it wasn't until I lived on an overseas military base with a husband who was up close and personal with all the base finances that I started to realize that maybe the government wasn't so great at handling money or getting things done properly, and maybe my unthinking faith in it wasn't entirely warranted. I don't understand how anyone can work closely with government accounting and administration and then say, "Yes, more of that would be awesome! Let's put them in charge of health care!"; 3/23/13, 11:58 AM