१३ मार्च, २०१७

We tried to make it home from Denver in one day, but Nature had other ideas.

Sure, we could have plugged on. Many others did, and this morning I counted 15 cars in the ditch as we drove about 55 miles from the Days Inn in Newton, Iowa — where we holed up to escape the treacherous I-80 — to this McDonald’s where I’m getting some black coffee and very slow wifi. I’d hang out and blog some more for you while the snow falls and Meade reminds me that he’d wanted to stay 2 more days in Moab, but… bad wifi. What can I do? I trusted McDonald’s to give me the basics: coffee, an egg biscuit, and good wifi. But this is a trifle. We could be in a ditch.

But I did get a few tabs to open before timing out, so let me give you a few ideas of things to talk about while Meade and I work our way back home:

1. "'My vulva cupcakes were confiscated' - a day in the life of an anti-FGM campaigner" (in The Guardian).
I grew up in the UK as part of the Somali diaspora, and I’d assumed the people of Jijiga would not be ready for vulva cupcakes. But Abdi, also part of the diaspora, reassured me that the Ethiopian women had requested them. “Leyla, they watched the documentary and loved the concept of using art for campaigning,” she said.
2. "Is Trump Trolling the White House Press Corps?/At daily briefings, Sean Spicer calls on young journalists from far-right sites. The mainstream media sees them as an existential threat" (in The New Yorker).
Until recently, the more established White House correspondents have regarded floaters as a harmless distraction—the equivalent of letting a batboy sit in the dugout. Now they are starting to see the floaters as an existential threat. “It’s becoming a form of court-packing,” one White House correspondent told me. Outlets that have become newly visible under the Trump Administration include One America News Network, which was founded in 2013 as a right-wing alternative to Fox News; LifeZette, a Web tabloid founded in 2015 by Laura Ingraham, the radio commentator and Trump ally; Townhall, a conservative blog started by the Heritage Foundation; the Daily Caller, co-founded in 2010 by Tucker Carlson, now a Fox News host; and the enormously popular and openly pro-Trump Breitbart News Network. Most of the White House correspondents from these outlets are younger than thirty. “At best, they don’t know what they’re doing,” a radio correspondent told me....
3. This looks like it might be good, but the wifi won't pull it in for me. The headline, at McClatchy, is "Trump is doing what Obama didn’t do: reach out and listen." And here's something that Kellyanne Conway said about the surveillance of the Trump campaign. And Sean Spicer got accosted at an Apple store and asked "how it feels to work for a fascist?" I'm just guessing those 3 things would be bloggable. Enough performance of my frustration with slow wifi. Time to get back on the Interstate, which will also be slow, by choice, and with all frustration suppressed as we diligently eschew the ditch.

UPDATE: WiFi reprieve! I'm in the car, parked at an I-80 rest stop. One thing I love about Iowa. Great rest stops.

९३ टिप्पण्या:

Anne in Rockwall, TX म्हणाले...

Stay safe you two! Most importantly, watch out for the other drivers, a bigger danger than snow.

Titus म्हणाले...

You stayed at a Days Inn in Iowa?

I didn't know there were still Days Inn.

How was that?

Kyzer SoSay म्हणाले...

You're not slumming it until you stay at Traveler's Inn.

Michael K म्हणाले...

Powerline blogged the Indian leftist harassing Spicer.

She apparently is firmly attached to the federal teat.

chickelit म्हणाले...

Is Trump Trolling the White House Presided Corps?/At daily briefings, Sean Spicer calls on young journalists from far-right sites. The mainstream media sees them as an existential threat" (in The New Yorker).

Consider whether those threatening news sources are "far-right" or just not far-left.

chickelit म्हणाले...

From Drudge: "Budget seeks historic federal workforce cuts... "

Are there worse things than pricking the D.C. bubble? The rest of the nation has a schadenboner.

Birches म्हणाले...

Wow. Harassing Spicer at the mall. So brave. Resist. Yawn.

Friendo म्हणाले...

I saw eschew the ditch open for Crash in 88 at CBGBs

Mattman26 म्हणाले...

I love the sidelining of the mainstream media. For them to complain that the righties aren't qualified; ha!

I've grown increasingly confident in and increasingly comfortable with the notion that the bigs --- big 3 TV networks, NYT, WaPo, etc. --- are, as they put it over at Instapundit, the opposition party. I don't even hate them for it, as I'm sure they genuinely believe that what they stand for is all good stuff. But they are part and parcel of the Democratic party, and there's no reason for a Republican administration to keep them up on their pedestal.

chickelit म्हणाले...

Imagine if Peter Thiel came to power in California with a promise to drain the swamp in Sacramento.

Bob Boyd म्हणाले...

Cupcake cunnilingus.

Could a Muslim baker who believes in FGM refuse to bake vulva cupcakes?

Dust Bunny Queen म्हणाले...

Imagine if Peter Thiel came to power in California with a promise to drain the swamp in Sacramento.

Or..conversely. Let Oroville Dam break, wipe out the failing levee system and turn Sacramento back into a literal swamp. (Which is what much of the Sacramento Valley used to be) Literally flush out the garbage. Jerry Brown and the Democrats have almost accomplished this goal :-)

Ron Winkleheimer म्हणाले...

I would be surprised if you didn't blog about the woman accosted Spicer. As soon as I read the article I thought you would blog it.

“At best, they don’t know what they’re doing,” a radio correspondent told me....

And by not know what they are doing, the correspondent (who is most likely from NPR) means they are not acting in accord with the diktats of the MSM.

And shouldn't the fact that the correspondents for the right-wing media are young concern the fossils that now staff most of the left-wing media. Perhaps the hegemony among the young that they assumed they had is not as solid as they thought?

Bill म्हणाले...

I stayed at Motel 6 in Mesa, Arizona last week. Spartan but clean room, coffee in the small lobby, vending machines, friendly staff, quiet.

Safe journey home!

rhhardin म्हणाले...

I'd hope the cupcakes are made with eggs.

LYNNDH म्हणाले...

So these Young Turks don't know anything. How amusing. The "established" ones are so hidebound they can't think straight anymore. Saw where a person from Gateway Pundit was accosted in the WH press room by a guy from FOX Radio. His, the accosters',background though is left threw and threw.

Todd म्हणाले...

“At best, they don’t know what they’re doing,” a radio correspondent told me...

Don't they understand that their job is to be anti-Trump?!?!? How do they not know this? It is so infuriating to the WH media old dogs that all of these young pups are not playing along. How dare you sir! Do you not understand what a privilege it is to even be allowed on the bus? You should be happy to just sit quietly in the back!

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

The Opposition Party has had the Russin Trump Conspiracy withdrawn to save Obama's ass. And now there is no anti Trump BREATHLess news left. A few GOP guys attacking Trump do get 15 minutes of airtime. But nothing left...but Alynski Attacks.

Kellyanne, Ivanka, Spicer, are all under intense personal ridicule attacks to destroy them.

And the President still rules and Tweets over their heads.

Ron Winkleheimer म्हणाले...

In any event, that the POTUS and his staff would favor media outlets that favor them is no more noteworthy or exceptional than when the Obama admin did the same.

Remember this?

https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=d1QMlU6c&id=110EDC060A85799B4438075D8864826D3ED10884&q=hillary+clinton+adoring+press+airplane+andrea&simid=608031108373022638&selectedIndex=0&ajaxhist=0

tcrosse म्हणाले...

Grab 'em by the cupcakes.

The Godfather म्हणाले...

Why make a big deal about Conway saying that there are many different high-tech ways to surveil someone? That's last week's Wikileaks news, isn't it?

robother म्हणाले...

How to eschew the ditch: see the car, be the car.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

I think I landed in Cedar Rapids once. I remember it as a business visit to some SAC base but that must have been Nebraska, wiki not showing any nearby SAC bases. Trips to the flat states blend together.

madAsHell म्हणाले...

The I-5 rest stops in Washington all advertise free wi-fi. This causes people to "rest" longer, and harder. Eventually, they just pull a tarp over the automobile for privacy, and set up camp.

J2 म्हणाले...

I watch the daily press briefings and I could fact check this article all day

April Ryan had to backpedal on the "dossier" accusation when a tape recording of the conversation revealed that Omarosa didn't use the word.

Zeleny's actual question to Obama:

"During these first 100 days, what has surprised you the most about this office, enchanted you the most about serving in this office, humbled you the most, and troubled you the most?"

It's one sentence but New Yorker leaves out most of it without ellipses.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

I'm the car

In Trump's American, car is you.

Birches म्हणाले...

Ok, I just finished the New Yorker article. Such fake concern. The best part is how they include the part about Omarosa threatening that reporter, but not the part where Omarosa recorded the altercation, proving it was fake news.

The fact that the press can't admit they treated the Obama administration with kid gloves is the problem. If they admitted it, even if they could admit their worldviews were similar and that created unintended biases, they would be a lot more believable. But for them to just prickle with righteousness indignation, well, it's laughable.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

Three years earlier I’d made vulva cupcakes

They were confiscated because they were stale.

Roughcoat म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Roughcoat म्हणाले...

Dear Ignorant-of-the-Midwest Traveler:

Cedar Rapids is not in a flat area. Eastern Iowa is not flat. The terrain is characterized by rolling hills, and it is quite beautiful.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

A TV correspondent told me that ... makes us look like a bunch of braying jackals.

A TV correspondent sounds like a braying jackal when the TV correspondent doesn't know that jackals don't bray.

Roughcoat म्हणाले...

I stay at Days Inn and motels like them on my trips to rural Midwestern locals to take part in border collie sheepherding trials. Very pleasant, all of them. Many are owned by East Indians, even those in remote small towns. You walk into a motel in some tiny ville in the middle of farm country and there's all this Hindu art in the lobby. The Indian proprietors are typically friendly and professional.

rehajm म्हणाले...

I thought the calling Trump a fascist in public bit was a dead meme since someone noodled on it and decided if you believed Trump was a fascist you would live in fear and hide instead of calling a fascist a fascist.

Ignorance is Bliss म्हणाले...

We could be in a ditch.

We are, and the liberals are standing by, sipping on their Slurpees, while Trump pushes us out.

Rob म्हणाले...

There are Somali diapers in the U.K.?

अनामित म्हणाले...

Michael K: Powerline blogged the Indian leftist harassing Spicer.

She apparently is firmly attached to the federal teat.


Dear God, that voice. The idiotic content of their Brave Speaking Truth to Power performances is bad enough, but why do women like this always sound like whining 13 year old girls? She's 33 years old, for chrissakes.

Not just a phenomenon among females, either.

Wonder what the correlation is between having an identifiably adult voice and thinking and acting like an adult.

Todd म्हणाले...

Ignorance is Bliss said... @ 3/13/17, 10:25 AM

I see what you did there.

exhelodrvr1 म्हणाले...

"Eschew the Ditch - Vote Trump/Pence in 2020"

Humperdink म्हणाले...

First two sentences of the New Yorker article: "In normal times, White House press briefings make for boring television. Robert Gibbs, Jay Carney, and Josh Earnest, the three generic-looking white guys.... "

White guys? Why is everything with left about race. Even when it's unrelated. Sheez.

Martha म्हणाले...

Althouse (Meadehouse) dedication to this blog is remarkable and duly appreciated.
A day without Althouse is a day stuck in the ditch with no way out.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

Rob said...
There are Somali diapers in the U.K.?


It might be related to the Africa For Norway Radi-Aid project. "Frostbite kills too."

Michael K म्हणाले...

"Many are owned by East Indians, even those in remote small towns. "

There are many many motels owned by the Patel family, or at least that was the case a few years ago. They are billionaires.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

Humperdink said...
White guys? Why is everything with left about race. Even when it's unrelated. Sheez.


That's
- a virtue signal from the author; or
- a dog-whistle trigger warning that you shouldn't bother reading the article; or
- both.

jaydub म्हणाले...

Yesterday a strange woman of Indian heritage felt secure enough to publically harass the WH spokesman and tell him "you work for a fascist." Which begs the question, how is it the left cannot see the irony in their rantings about fascists controlling the government while at the same time walking freely around Washington and thumbing their noses at the same government? Is a puzzlement!

Humperdink म्हणाले...

"That's
- a virtue signal from the author; or
- a dog-whistle trigger warning that you shouldn't bother reading the article; or
- both."

On the button ...... I stopped right reading there.

Tari म्हणाले...

Roughcoat - have you seen Meet the Patels? The scenes when they're traveling around, meeting other Patels who own motels all over the place, is a riot.

My older son and I stayed in one in Hillsdale MI last week. It was very comfortable and clean, and the people were very friendly. We stayed in a lot of them when I was a child - my favorite being in Kissimmee, FL. Sunshine in February and a pool full other other kids to play with: heaven to a little girl from Upstate NY.

jaydub म्हणाले...

"Most of the White House correspondents from these outlets are younger than thirty. “At best, they don’t know what they’re doing,” a radio correspondent told me..."

Wasn't it just a few months ago when Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy NSA, was laughing at the press for falling for his using them as an echo chamber to sell the Iran deal? Weren't his words something like “The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old, and their only reporting experience consists of being around political campaigns… They literally know nothing.”

Charlie Currie म्हणाले...

"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old,... They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes, Deputy National Security Adviser for President Obama.

What, did they all celebrate their 30th birthday and now know everything?

What a laugh.

n.n म्हणाले...

[class] diversity causes discomfort to [class] diversitists

Liberals are threatened by both unmanaged diversity of color and character.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

I remember a hill off to the left, landing towards the west, in what I remember as Cedar Rapids.

But the memory is from the 60s and they may have moved the hill or it may be some other state entirely.

Mattman26 म्हणाले...

Tari, I hope you and your son were visiting Hillsdale College (can't imagine what else you'd be doing there; not a lot of there there), and that you both enjoyed it.

David Baker म्हणाले...

Just curious, AA: Instead of relying on McDonald's (et al) for Wi-Fi, why not use your smartphone's hot-spot to connect your laptop? I also assume your phone is 4G, thus allowing you to open more tabs than Carter has little liver pills.

Fernandinande म्हणाले...

I lit up from Reno
I was trailed by twenty hounds
Didn't get to sleep that night
Till the morning came around

I set out running but I'll take my time
A friend of the Devil is a friend of mine
If I get home before daylight
I just might get some sleep tonight

I ran into the Devil, babe
He loaned me twenty bills
I spent that night in Utah
In a cave up in the hills

Michael म्हणाले...

Patel is a common surname of Gujaratis many of whom specialize in hospitality. It is not the name of a single hotel owning/operating family and thus Patels are not billionaires or part of a billionaire family.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

'My vulva cupcakes were confiscated' - a day in the life of an anti-FGM campaigner

There's a special kind of female-only idiocy that puts moral outrage and baked goods into the same thought.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

'My vulva cupcakes were confiscated' - a day in the life of an anti-FGM campaigner

One must suppose that if Layla Hussein had been a Parisienne in 1794 she'd be making cupcakes with little heads on them. Sheesh...

Chuck म्हणाले...

I'd like to see video of the Sean Spicer briefings in which he called on the [young] journalists from the right-wing news outlets. I'd like to see how they approached Spicer, and what sorts of questions they posed.

Does anybody have a good link? I want to judge them for myself. C-SPAN is usually great, but I'm not sure what date(s) to even search for.

Stephen Taylor म्हणाले...

Did Chicago to Austin in 17 hours once. Of course, the weather was perfect and I was 15 years younger. Did Phoenix to Austin in 19 hours, after I'd sworn off the long-distance marathons. Did Colorado Springs to Austin in 19 hours once. Brutal. Just brutal. I swear I'll never do it again, but the attraction of sleeping in my own bed is very strong.

Tari म्हणाले...

Mattman - we were, and we really liked it. Not sure if the child would attend, though - it's quite a shock to be in such a small place after growing up in a large city. He would love the education, but the distance and isolation, not so much. I'm moving on to pushing Baylor's Great Texts honors program. Texas sunshine, larger campus, and not that hard to get to from here. He's a junior now; one way or the other, the next 12 months are going to be interesting!

On the Patel side of things, I have a co-worker who is a Patel but very much not into this whole "Patel hospitality" thing. He is instead a "get off my lawn Patel", and will tell other Patels who randomly show up at his house on a Sunday afternoon to do exactly that. He is an introvert in one of the world's largest extended families.

Quaestor म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Quaestor म्हणाले...

One thing I love about Iowa. Great rest stops.

I have a new slogan for Iowa's office of trade and tourism — Corn! Made into stuff that makes you want to pee, and lots of nice places to do it!

Michael K म्हणाले...

" He's a junior now; one way or the other, the next 12 months are going to be interesting!"

Good luck. My grandson is 12 and I worry what will be there for him in 6 years. He has two sisters who are very very bright but girls have no problems. My estate, after Jill and I are gone, goes to those three kids. I just hope they can make good use of it.

All I can say is STEM majors are best, Accounting is next and Humanities are last in my opinion.

I was an English major doing my premed (Engineering before that) but would not waste my time in an English major now.

David53 म्हणाले...

@David Baker,

"AA: Instead of relying on McDonald's (et al) for Wi-Fi, why not use your smartphone's hot-spot to connect your laptop?"

I was wondering the same thing. When we travel my wife often surfs the net via her mobile hot-spot while I drive. I wonder which is more secure, McDonald's Wi-Fi or a Verizon mobile hot-spot?

Ignorance is Bliss म्हणाले...

A question regarding vulva cupcakes:

Are they already creme-filled, or do I have to do that myself?

NorthOfTheOneOhOne म्हणाले...

Spent the night in a Day's Inn....

Almost sounds like a Bob Dylan lyric!

Tari म्हणाले...

Michael K, thanks. I'm a little worried, too. Right now his plan is Biology or Biochem, and then med school. But he's not a STEM nerd - he thinks he is, but he's not. He really needs to get in a time machine, go back 75-100 years, and become a humanities professor, complete with pipe and elbow patches on his jacket. Since that's not possible, we've been telling him and his 14 year old brother for years that they need to do something useful in college. Hence his current desire to become a doctor. He will do so, or at least have some career in the sciences; he's smart and he works very hard. The closer we get to actual college, though, the more I wish I could also give him the classical liberal arts education he would so dearly love. Not what's on offer at 99% of colleges as "liberal arts" - he would hate studying that as much as I would hate paying for it. But something like the core curriculum at Hillsdale, where he would actually learn to think and reason, where he could read and talk (and read and talk) about the works that matter to Western Civilization - that would be wonderful. Baylor's honors program may be the answer; it would allow him his STEM major and a chance to study "great texts". I'm (mostly) hopeful.

Boys are very tough in this day and age. It's why ours are at all-boys' schools. Thank God we can afford to do that! They are actually appreciated for being boys, which gets more rare as time goes by.

Paddy O म्हणाले...

Should have gone the other way on I-80. A lovely 75 degree day here in Sacramento. The city has some great spots to visit, and there's a wealth of exploration in Gold Country.

Left Bank of the Charles म्हणाले...

There used to be a motel at just off the Interstate in Newton, Iowa called the Terrace Inn. It had a vaguely gamy smell, random pheasant and quail feathers on the walkways, and the occasional guest coming and going carrying shotguns. eBay has a Terrace Inn motel key listed for $12.50.

Bill म्हणाले...

I believe Red Vulva cupcakes are popular down South.

Quaestor म्हणाले...

I was an English major doing my premed... but would not waste my time in an English major now.

See as how most English professors these days speak and write only pidgin, that should be a no-brainer.

jjones म्हणाले...

Two of my three sons went to Hillsdale College. It provided them with not only a real classic education, but life-time friends that had goals, great families, and a knack for having fun. One of the boys even found a bride. Middle son started out as a math/physics major and ended up with a degree in History, which has provided him with a great career in publishing/academia. The other boy graduated with a History degree, joined the Army, did three combat tours as an Infantry officer and was wounded in Afghanistan and medially retired from the Army as a major. He's home, married, the father of three, and in business with my brother. They both get together with their Hillsdale buddies once a year. I can't recommend the school more highly.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

Central Ohio radio is going nuts over preparations for the great 1 to 3 inches of snow predicted, as if we were in the South.

This means there's no news happening.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

I went to Oberlin, but before the revolution.

rhhardin म्हणाले...

The trouble in collges comes from letting all alumni vote, instead of just the old ones.

hombre म्हणाले...

Here in the US our Democrats welcome Somalian culture as part of the diversity they believe makes America great. However, they insist that vulva cupcakes honor the culture by accurately depicting FGM.

robother म्हणाले...

"spent the night in a Days Inn." More like Jason Isbell than Dylan:

Don’t want to die in a Super 8 Motel


Just because somebody’s evening didn’t go so well.

Michael K म्हणाले...

The closer we get to actual college, though, the more I wish I could also give him the classical liberal arts education he would so dearly love.

The Great Courses may be a substitute. I am currently listening to an audiobook of 48 half hour lectures on the French Revolution. I drive to Phoenix twice a week, including tomorrow, and listen. Also, my wife does not like music (or maybe my taste in it) in the car so we listen driving.

My youngest got her degree in French, which was acceptable to me although I would have preferred Accounting.

Later she talked about going back for Accounting.

Medical school is iffy right now as a career. My last couple of years teaching, I got connected with kids doing double majors in Medicine and Biomedical engineering. There is even a PhD/MD program at SC in biomedical engineering. Because I had been an engineer and kind of understand engineers, the word got around and I ended up with groups of six students, all engineers.

A high school friend was chair of Biomedical Engineering at Medical College of Wisconsin.

That is a good career prospect where practice of Medicine is iffy. Better if Obamacare is gone but still iffy.

SC may not be the only medical school with those double degrees. It is more work but better prospects, I think.

Some of my students were actually working on projects that were really exciting.

One of my students, for example, worked on this device, which may change the treatment of GERD. He even scrubbed on some implants.

hombre म्हणाले...

2. Are the "young, right-wing reporters" being disparaged by the leftmedia different from the "27 year old know nothing journalists" that Ben Rhodes and Obama duped into creating an administration "echo chamber" on the Iran fraud?

Just askin'.

Tari म्हणाले...

Michael K, biomedical engineering would be great. We're a mile or so from Rice and TMC; I'd love it if he stayed close to home for undergrad and took advantage of some of the opportunities right here, before heading out for his graduate degree(s). Although not much love for the liberal arts (as properly constructed, anyway) at Rice; we'd have to fill that hole another way. Question for you, though: this large child currently has a C in AP Physics I. It's causing us all to twitch uncontrollably, since good schools are no longer understanding of things like C's - or so his college counselors tell us. College admissions aside, do you think the C is a good indicator that he has no business in an engineering program? He's otherwise good in math and science, so this came as a surprise to him (and us). It's hard to get out of the child how the other students are doing in the class, so I don't know if this is the curve or his own lack of ability. I'm also no judge of how well the teacher is covering the material (being an English and Native American Studies major myself); he's a nice guy and my son's rugby coach, so he's hard to complain about. My husband's take is "anyone with a C in HS physics has no business in any hard science career" - but again, he was History major, so hard to determine if that's a valid opinion or just bluster and stress. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Titus म्हणाले...

How weird that there are part of the country which are hard to get wi-fi.

I couldn't even imagine darlings.

Michael K म्हणाले...

"do you think the C is a good indicator that he has no business in an engineering program? "

I got a C in college Calculus. I've told the story in my book.

I had a scholarship that required a B average to keep. My Calculus instructor was a little Indian guy who was a terrible teacher.

I was a terrible student, as well. Freshman and in a fraternity.

I finally started doing homework and he told me I would get a B if I got an A on the final. Grades came out and I got a C.

I made tow appointments to talk to him and he did not show up.

One day, I was walking along University Avenue and saw him across the street. I called, "Professor Bajwa, can I talk to you ?"

I started to cross the street. He turned and ran. I decided chasing him would not improve my grade.

Eventually, I dropped out of school and worked a year. I went back, at my own expense, and took night school classes in premed.

Eventually, I was able to go back full time and take pre-med with a student loan (which caused me to become an English major to get the loan).

The next year, I had straight As including 28 units of A my last semester. All premed classes.

It makes a huge difference once you decide what you want to do.

If things don't improve, I might suggest my grandson do a tour in the military.

Michael K म्हणाले...

Some of my biomed students were smart as whips.

One girl is Indian and gorgeous. She is tall and, I finally figured out, she hides her intellect almost like a Valley Girl pose.

She told me her parents are both physicians and they met on a dating web site. The site is just Indian and includes photos.

They chose each other and her she is. I finally figured out how smart she is as she was always the one who knew how to do stuff with the web sites on medical subjects and computers.

They were all smart but she was a surprise as she hides it well. One Caucasian of the six.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"You stayed at a Days Inn in Iowa? I didn't know there were still Days Inn. How was that?"

It was great under the circumstances. We had to get off the road. Ordinarily, I shun the budget brand hotels, but this turned out to be quiet, clean, and with good wifi. I got a good night's sleep there, and it cost less than $80. I like nice hotels and we picked the best place we could find everywhere we went. This was the same thing. We were at an I-80 exit in Newton, Iowa.

I wonder why they named it Days Inn. It seems to suggest that it is a place to go during the day to sin. DaySinn.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"'I'm the car'/In Trump's American, car is you."

Ha.

Car blogging is hard.

Tari म्हणाले...

Michael K, that is an awesome story! I wouldn't object to either of my boys going into the military, if we didn't have idiot politicians who consider them expendable. Of course, wanting them to be honorable men, I keep that opinion to myself. My younger son and I had a conversation about that recently - he informed me it was not honorable to refuse to fight because politicians were bad people, and that there WAS such a thing as an honorable death, even when fighting for an idiot. This is what comes of reading the Iliad in the company of 14 year old boys. Maybe I should have kept him in public school? There he would have read Percy Jackson instead, where all your favorite characters always live to see the end of the story.

It's hard to know what to advise them to do, while they are waiting to find out what they really want to be when they grow up. Maybe that's another reason I am pushing "great books" - I know it's not unlikely that the large one will fail something like Organic Chem, decide he doesn't want to be a doctor after all, and then what? Maybe if he waits a few years to take those really hard classes, he'll know why he's taking them and perform accordingly. Right now as mature for his age as he is, he doesn't know much. I am suggesting medicine and related fields because there IS a reason to do them; they actually help people. It's easier to get through something tough if there's a purpose behind it.

And with Indian dating sites, we are back to the Patels! Or Meet the Patels, which everyone needs to watch. it does not disappoint.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"Cedar Rapids is not in a flat area. Eastern Iowa is not flat. The terrain is characterized by rolling hills, and it is quite beautiful."

You are right.

One more reason it was good to put of the end of the trip until morning. The land was very pretty, especially with the snow. At night the area on US 151 (after you leave I-80 near Cedar Rapids) is kind of spooky. But in daytime, it's beautiful. Across the Mississippi, in Wisconsin it's the same — rolling hills, spooky at night, beautiful in the daytime, especially in the snow. I loved getting back to the moisture and mellowness after so much dryness and harsh sunlight in the west.

Ann Althouse म्हणाले...

"Just curious, AA: Instead of relying on McDonald's (et al) for Wi-Fi, why not use your smartphone's hot-spot to connect your laptop? I also assume your phone is 4G, thus allowing you to open more tabs than Carter has little liver pills."

I couldn't always get 4G where I was. I considered doing that in the car as we drove, but never got around to it. I am used to the convenience of using a restaurant's wifi and I was surprised to find a McDonald's that wasn't good.

Captain Drano म्हणाले...

Paddy O said...
Should have gone the other way on I-80. A lovely 75 degree day here in Sacramento. The city has some great spots to visit, and there's a wealth of exploration in Gold Country.

PaddyO you make me O so homesick. Currently living in the Midwest, born & raised in California, and lived in Sac area for many years. Loved and miss the trip up Hwy 50 to Tahoe. Just gorgeous. My favorite places on earth (so far) are Fallen Leaf Lake and Camp Rich.

I dearly hope Thiel runs/wins and can drain the putrid swamp that Sac (and most of California) has become.

nono म्हणाले...

Using microwaves to spy is a fact, been in use since WWII.

http://www.eetimes.com/document.asp?doc_id=1274748

Michael म्हणाले...

Tari

In public school they would have read Toni Morrison. No Illiad. I read the Illiad to my son beginning when he was about five. Every night I would set out from where I ended the night before and three or four pages in and he would be fast asleep. I remember so fondly now how I kept reading out loud to my sleeping son. He is now a sophomore in an up-East liberal arts school and is thriving. Surrounded as he is by lefties he remains conservative with a growing sense of humor about the whole setup.

Have no fear. Boys find their way

Michael K म्हणाले...

Tari, if you are interested, the rest of the story is here.

There are about 9 posts with the story of what it is like to be a pre-med, then a med student.

I also have a Kindle book on Amazon.

My medical history book, which was written for pre-meds and medical students 15 years ago, is also on Amazon.

I am finally going to do a Kindle version. When it came out, my middle daughter was at UCLA. One of her roommates was a premed and borrowed it. She wouldn't return it so I gave my daughter another copy.

The roommate was a theater major who had been producing TV shows and decided to go back to do pre-med.

There are alternate paths.

Tari म्हणाले...

Michael, boys do find their way! Especially with dads who read them Homer and all sorts of other good books.

Michael K, thanks again. The funding of college education horrifies me. We will figure it out, but at so many schools, it's just not worth it anymore. We started things off with our 17 year old by giving him a list, entitled "schools we're willing to pay for", and then explained that there were lots of schools that would never be on that list. He's reading The Boys in the Boat for me right now, as partial payment for having his iPad screen fixed. I'm interested to hear what he thinks about how those guys put themselves through school. I honestly think he and some of his classmates would be willing to do something similar, if the jobs were available and if they would generate enough money for school. But they aren't and they don't, unfortunately. He will be "doing his share" this summer, working on the maintenance staff at his brother's middle school - but $10/hour doesn't go very far these days. Still, it's dignified, real work - and that never comes amiss.

Michael K म्हणाले...

"The funding of college education horrifies me."

I talk every week to kids who plan to use GI Bill to pay for school. That;s why I think a tour in the military has its points. Besides growing up, of course.

My younger son hopes my grandson could get a baseball scholarship but those don't usually materialize, except for girls, of course.

I talk to medical students about the military. The Army will pay your tuition. The students think they will make enough money to pay back $250,000 in student loans. SC is now $57,000 a year.

A few of the kids I talk to, and I love talking to them, are foreign kids joining the US military. One I remember very well was East African and had his whole life planned. He was going in as a legal alien to an Army program that grants citizenship after three years.

His plan was to use this to go to college on GI Bill, then he wanted to go to medical school. I'll bet dollars he will find somebody to fund an African kid to medical school. He had the next 15 years figured out.

My non-American black medical students do not understand American blacks. They think this is a banquet of opportunity.

One of my students a few years ago was a girl from Eritrea whose parents got her out to South Africa then to France then to LA.

She was living with a grandmother and so poor she could not afford a laptop, which all students use instead of a microscope. I loaned her diagnostic instruments, like an otoscope and ophthalmoscope.

She is now a doctor.