February 29, 2020

At the Sunrise-in-the-Woods Café...

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Talk about anything you like... except the South Carolina primary. Go one post down for that.

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The first photo shows the owl-tree — sans owl. The photos were taken at 6:41. Actual sunrise time was 6:35.

107 comments:

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

I bought a bread maker. This was my virus prep. I feel ready now, and it only cost $69.

Lucien said...

I have a Facebook friend (experimental physicist) who’s asking whether we should be buying stocks — you?

stevew said...

Ah, what a day.

Biden wins bigly in whichever it is of the Carolinas that voted today. I can't see him leveraging that momentum into Super Tuesday.

Celebrated a good friend's 65th birthday today. He's an attorney, personal injury type. Lots of the party goers are attorneys of various specialties. Gotta say, attorneys, as a group, are some odd characters. Then again, I'm a career sales guy (B2B, not retail or B2C), the attorneys probably see me as some sort of odd ball.

Any juicy virus news today? I've been out and about - doesn't seem to be any let up in traffic, mall visits, etc.

Ann Althouse said...

Don’t ask me about finance. I have an avoid the subject as much as possible.

purplepenquin said...

it only cost $69

Nice

Narr said...

My part in the state regionals of National History Day was similar to last year--lots of Muslima entrants, many of whom are going to state. At the award ceremony, they shriek and cheer like All-American teens.

Really irritating.

Narr
Not a kid person

curt said...

Lucien, my simple discipline is buy a little on a 10% correction, a little more at 15%, and a lot more at 20%. Has served me well over the past 40 years.

Ann Althouse said...

“ have an avoid“

I have such an aversion I can’t even write straight.

Andrew said...

That thing on the right of the second photo looks like an Ent.

Iman said...

Once, I was a ruler... https://youtu.be/0wIw1Uz1eq0

ALP said...

I went to Costco about 30 minutes after governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency in Washington state. First coronavirus death in the US. What a mob scene - I had to WAIT for a parking space even in the far flung corner I usually park in. Lots of people buying a lot of canned goods. Seems like an odd reaction - its not as if we'll all be quarantined. Not all that worried about securing food.

I was there to see about some glasses - luckily few people worried about glasses during a state of emergency.

stevew said...

We knew what you meant.

Discovered a sink hole in my yard today, 3.5' diameter by about 5' deep. Holy shit, where did that come from, and when? Luckily had a goodly amount of crushed stone left over from some raised beds we retired a few years ago. 20 lawn cart trips later the hole is filled. My arms, legs, and back are sore.

The house goes on the market in 7 days. Can't wait to get out of this place.

FullMoon said...

I bought a bread maker. This was my virus prep. I feel ready now, and it only cost $69.


Ten loaves max and it goes into the garage and then eventually KonMaried

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

FullMoon said...
Ten loaves max and it goes into the garage


Ye, of little faith.

bagoh20 said...

There are two relatively safe times to buy stocks. One is when a sudden downturn is due to a poorly founded panic. This seems to be exactly that. The other is when the market has been down for an extended time. Both conditions usually provide unsustainable low prices in the face of the animal spirits always lurking about.

Sebastian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
h said...

watching the Biden victory speech: Does anyone else think it is odd to have the lead-in music Curtis Mayfield's "move on up" which has the opening words: "Take nothing less than the second best"? Is Biden's claim to fame that he is the second best??

h said...

Also, isn't it odd that the young man right behind BIden is wearing a hat that says D.D. E.? Does Biden like Ike?

narciso said...

I think its a fraternity thing.

Bob Boyd said...

You have one owl and you're labeled for life.

Mark said...

I was thinking about a bread maker. Put a Pohl Schmitt Swiss model on my Amazon wish list.

Then I found some bread recipes that you don't have to kneed. Just mix everything together, let it sit, then form into loaves and bake.

Don't have room in my tiny kitchen anyway.

Sebastian said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sebastian said...

"Don’t ask me about finance"

OK. I'll ask you about your favorite "fun" subject: cruel neutrality.

Forget about the cruel part: nobody takes that seriously. But if you are still "neutral," the question is, why? On what grounds would you be neutral between Trump and any of the Dems?

If I cared about abortion and take seriously the idea that someone should be"competent" and "serious," I could see making a case for Mini Mike on the merits of prior accomplishments and occasional signs of moderation. But why any of the others, unless abortion, and replacing at least RBG with a pro-abortion justice, really is the single decisive factor? In which case, the neutrality is just as phony as the cruelty.

Mark said...

No Trek tonight.

Instead I saw the film The Passion of Bernadette in the listings. Thankfully, they are airing the French language version, not the atrociously-dubbed version.

Much of it is filmed at the actual motherhouse of the Sisters of Charity in Nevers, where she was a nun. Her time there is in many ways more touching than her time in Lourdes.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Mark said...
Then I found some bread recipes that you don't have to kneed.


I have made that Mark Bittman No-Knead Bread recipe a few times but it is kind of slow. I was hoping this would be faster.

ALP said...

RE: buying stocks. I have retirement funds I need to invest - this is the perfect time. Buy low!

Ann Althouse said...

“ On what grounds would you be neutral between Trump and any of the Dems?”

On the ground that I am an observer and a writer.

Chris Lopes said...

@ARM
Sounds like a good investment and a fun (as well as tasty) hobby.

Scott said...

Peter Lynch said that trying to time a falling market is like trying to catch a falling knife. Better to wait for it to stick in the ground before you pick it up.

My biggest ETF holdings right now are DGRO and IXUS. I also loooove WMT. But for now, pay off your credit cards and then stash your cash in a 1.7% apr savings account until the market settles down. We haven't seen the bottom of it yet.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

Sell all your securities and stock up on bread makers. And repent.

narciso said...

blasphemy i know

Achilles said...

Something just shook our house south of Seattle.

I don't think it was lightning. But it could have been.

Car alarms are going off in the distance.

It was shorter than I would expect for an earthquake.

Achilles said...

It was lightning.

Interesting.

Sebastian said...

“On what grounds would you be neutral between Trump and any of the Dems?”

On the ground that I am an observer and a writer."

Huh? Being a writer is a "ground" for staying neutral, not making comparative judgments or evaluating the characters in the story?

And an "observer" rather than a citizen and voter? I got the distinct impression from prior comments that you were "observing" with a view toward "making plans." So, are you observing that the candidates so far are equally worthy in your plan-making?

By the way, I am not familiar with any feminist theory that allows for the possibility of observation from a "neutral" standpoint. Perhaps I missed it.

Ken B said...

Watch out lest the bread maker fall. They often move around during their cycle. Block it from the edge of the counter somehow.

Rory said...

"No Trek tonight."

It's on MeTV after Svengoolie. They meet a beautiful Romulan commander tonight.

Marc in Eugene said...

Seems like an odd reaction.

Not that I know really what 'a state of emergency' means in the great state to Oregon's north but something tells me that Jay Inslee is probably more or less an ass; I may well be wrong.

Watched The Song of Bernadette as 'the late show' on one of the network stations in (probably) '70 or '71. It was most impressive when Vincent Price got his comeuppance.

Michael K said...

Then I found some bread recipes that you don't have to kneed. Just mix everything together, let it sit, then form into loaves and bake.

I made rye bread, which was really good. No kneading.

Michael K said...

I bought a bread maker. This was my virus prep. I feel ready now, and it only cost $69.

I'm on a low carb diet. I should buy a chicken.

Mark said...

Sorry, but The Song of Bernadette is too much 40s dribble. Far superior is the more naturalistic 1988 French-made movie "Bernadette" starring Sydney Penny, who also starred in The Passion of Bernadette. Like the latter, they filmed portions of it at the actual site, including the cachot (or at least a very good mock-up of it).

wildswan said...

There's no panic buying in New Hampshire but the Clorox shelf was down to one line of jugs. The government says you're supposed to slowly accumulate a virus stash so I'm slowly accumulating and I think the people around me are, too. I'm also eating all the excellent immune system builders I bought that taste like candy on the grounds that older people are most likely to die from this disease so I need to Build Up My System. I'm drinking Corona beer, always my favorite, to help the company. Eating chocolate to stay positive so that I won't run to the hospital if I cough. With a little effort I think I can work in most of my favorite things as a health regime and evade Lent and that line of thought just shows that somehow I've decided that this is just a severe flu season, not End Times. (red wine and coffee help your heart and those with heart problems seem particularly at risk)

pacwest said...

Peter Lynch said that trying to time a falling market is like trying to catch a falling knife. Better to wait for it to stick in the ground before you pick it up.

I need to invest - this is the perfect time. Buy low!

Average down.

Mark said...

Another excellent film is "Lourdes," by Jessica Hausner, which is a modern-day story about a disabled/paralyzed woman who is part of a tour group that goes to Lourdes, and her hospitallers. It was filmed on location, including the sanctuary, the underground basilica, the candlelight procession, the town, etc.

Francisco D said...

We are not prepping for an oncoming coronavirus disaster. I rarely buy canned goods and prefer to cook with fresh foods. If there is a pandemic, I will drop the 10 pounds I put on this Winter.

My main concern is the market. I was planning on buying a new car this Spring by cashing out some investments. I will have to wait.

If I only had a Deep State sinecure ...

Achilles said...

Michael K said...
I bought a bread maker. This was my virus prep. I feel ready now, and it only cost $69.

I'm on a low carb diet. I should buy a chicken.

Whey protein and eggs.

My wife got 3 packs of eggs at Costco yesterday. Irritating. Barely fits in the second fridge.

Arashi said...

Jay Inslee is assuredly an ass. The panic buying has been going on around here (Sammamish/Redmond/Bellevue/Seattle) area for a few weeks now. You cannot find surgical masks anywhere, nor any hand sanitizer. Certain canned goods and pasta are hard to find, as is bottled water. Forget trying to buy some freeze dried food online or in stores. With the gov announcing an official crisis, it will be worse.

So one has to wonder, what the hell are the paniced going to do with all of the stuff they are stockpiling when the crisis turns out to be severly overblown and all of the stuff starts hitting theie shelf life dates?

Of course if it turns out to be an actual crisis and we are looking at the zombie apocalypse, I think having enough weapons and ammo on hand will be a possibly winning ticket - if one is still breathing and not wandering around looking for brains.

But I could be entirely incorrect.

Michael said...

The time to buy is when you are most terrified of buying. The current panic might have a few weeks yet to run but it will run out and you will look back and see that you could have bought cheaply. Remember your behavior during the crash. Remember your regrets.

YoungHegelian said...

HOW IS TODAY DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHER DAYS? (with apologies to every Passover Haggadah on the planet...)

Last night, around 10PM, the cell phone (Samsung A6, Sprint) starts acting weird. My texts are disappearing as I send them & replies from my friends are the same text over & over --- the last text they sent. I start googling & then spend the next hour going recommended steps like flushing the phone's system cache, the messaging app cache, resetting the network authentication, etc. etc.

Over an hour later, it still doesn't work. I decide I'll fight this on Saturday with Sprint tech support. Today, I call Sprint, and work with the first line tech support lady. She's a nice Texas girl, who repeatedly calls me "sweetie", but the few steps she recommends do nothing.

Then I notice something. My texts and the responses are all in the message chain, they're just not in chronological order! She's totally baffled and sends me to second-tier tech support.

A guy from second tier tech support gets on the phone. He does not refer to me as "sweetie". He says "Oh, we just got a memo this morning. I'm amazed that you're the first guy I've heard from, 'cause I was thinking we'd be swamped. It turns out that Samsung sent out a patch the other day that didn't take into account that this year was a leap year. Your phone's date is wrong. You need to manually reset it until Sunday."

Sure as shit, the phone's date is wrong -- 2/28/2020. Set it to 2/29/2020, and everything works. I laugh and tell the guy I've been in IT since 1979 & EVERY programmer knows you always pay attention to leap year conditions. He agrees, but watcha gonna do?

I suspect that there will be some programmers at Samsung available for alternative employment Monday.

wildswan said...

The Corona virus germs pile up in your throat and larynx before there's any symptoms so that's why it spreads so fast. I may get in rum and coke to clean up this possible disease vector once a day. No more.

narciso said...

change of pace

wildswan said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
narciso said...

https://audioboom.com/posts/7518571-seapower-states-8-of-8-maritime-culture-continental-empires-and-the-conflict-that-made-the-mo

Mark said...

The star of Lourdes, Sylvie Testud, was in another film about a violinist who is in an accident that requires amputation of her hands, and she then gets transplant for both hands.

The hands are from a murderer.

You can figure out the rest.

Clyde said...

A little story about how everything is connected: A couple of days ago, Althouse posted a video by Rufus Wainwright. I had never listened to any of his music, until I watched the video. This morning at work, I listened to streaming music on Amazon Music, and one thing it recommended was the Discovery Mix playlist, a selection of 25 songs chosen for me based on my listening history, updated each Monday. One of the songs was a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" by Ann Wilson (of the group Heart). I listened to it, and then decided to listen to the entire album, Hope and Glory from 2007, which featured a number of cover songs, many of them duets with guest artists like Elton John, k.d. lang, etc. One of the songs was a cover of Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall." The guest artists on that one? Shawn Colvin and Rufus Wainwright. This afternoon, I was watching the Yankees-Red Sox baseball game on NESN, and one of the commercials was for upcoming concerts at Fenway Park this summer, and one of the singers who was listed was Shawn Colvin. It's all connected.

Mark said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mark said...

Oh the crisis of Y2K+20.

My super-expensive Casio watch shows a date of Saturday, 3/1. I reset it to show Saturday, 2/28. It will be right tomorrow.

narciso said...

Immigrant song was on the thor ragnarok sound track, first time id heard of it.

Inga said...

“I bought a bread maker. This was my virus prep. I feel ready now, and it only cost $69.”

Use the handle of a wooden spoon and a bowl, the best bread maker of all time. A wonderful rustic semi sour dough bread with crackly crust.

No Knead Bread, the easiest bread in the world to make. Steve will teach you how.

Original Mike said...

"I have a Facebook friend (experimental physicist) who’s asking whether we should be buying stocks — you?"

If the market continues down, I will do what I did in 2008. Convert some more IRA money to Roth. Worked great the last time.

Inga said...

The most simple method yet and an overnight proof. Just flour water salt and yeast.

Mark said...

The problem the Romulan commander has, after they stole the cloaking device, is that she can never go home. If she returns to Romulus, she is sure to be executed. They don't like failure.

narciso said...

Well they follow the roman way, there was a tng episode with the oily james sloyan, in a similar predicament except he had been leaked false intelligence he gave to the federation.

Inga said...

Oh, you can use beer instead of the water if you want a nice beery bread.

You’ll be ok as long as you don’t use Corona.

Mark said...

I looked for some frozen bake-it-yourself loaves because I wanted some freshly-baked bread. It was filled with a lot more ingredients than flour, salt, yeast and water.

It didn't buy it.

narciso said...

I think they were going for a cleopatra vibe.

Big Mike said...

Posted to Facebook and Hit Tip to Instapundit: The Dow Jones fell 3000 points in the last four days, prompting Obama to declare that five days ago was the end of the Obama economy.

J. Farmer said...

I read McNeil’s Plagues and Peoples a long time ago. Might be time to dust it off.

Achilles said...

Bread is bad for you.

Even if it is home made.

But it is tasty.

Kathryn51 said...

Arashi said...
Jay Inslee is assuredly an ass. The panic buying has been going on around here (Sammamish/Redmond/Bellevue/Seattle) area for a few weeks now. You cannot find surgical masks anywhere, nor any hand sanitizer.

We were in Costco (Redmond) the other day - every 2nd cart had the huge pkg. of toilet paper but my hubby is the type to always stock up, we didn't bother.

Hubby just read that at one of the local Costco's, they are completely out of hand sanitizer because some jerk came in and bought the entire freakin' pallet! Shame on Costco.

And yes, Inslee is an asshole as proven by his vile tweet about his phone call w/VP Pence.

Mark said...

So on CNN, they are running a documentary on the 1980 election. And, OF COURSE, they are talking about how stupid and lightweight Ronald Reagan is.

narciso said...

After 2016 they should know better,

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"I went to Costco about 30 minutes after governor Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency in Washington state. First coronavirus death in the US. What a mob scene"

Ah, that's why the Olympia Costco was a madhouse this morning. State workers are such sheep.

narciso said...

any disagreements

Yancey Ward said...

"Immigrant song was on the thor ragnarok sound track, first time id heard of it."

Seriously? It is probably the second most familiar song Led Zeppelin ever recorded.

narciso said...

I guess im not that led zeppelin conscious

Yancey Ward said...

I see Tom Steyer dropped out. Now, can anyone figure out why he ran in the first place?

reader said...

IBTWWW
28-1

Narayanan said...

Ice fishing ... Evolution of.

http://acecomments.mu.nu/?post=386102

Mark said...

I see Tom Steyer dropped out. Now, can anyone figure out why he ran in the first place?

Irrational Trump hate. He's been pushing impeachment since 2017.

StephenFearby said...

wildswan said...
"The Corona virus germs pile up in your throat and larynx before there's any symptoms so that's why it spreads so fast. I may get in rum and coke to clean up this possible disease vector once a day. No more."

Probably more effective with this ingredient!

Man with coronavirus claims he overcame illness with ‘hot whiskey and honey’

A British man living in China claims he beat the new coronavirus by downing glasses of “hot whiskey and honey.”

'Connor Reed, 25, who teaches English in Wuhan, China...told the Sun he was diagnosed with the virus about two months ago. He said he went to the hospital after he struggled to breathe and experienced a bad cough, both of which are signs of the pneumonia-like illness.

...'“I used the inhaler which helped control the cough and drank a hot whiskey with honey until [it] ran out,” he added. “It’s an old fashioned remedy but it seemed to do the trick.”

He claims he refused to take the antibiotics he was prescribed “because [he] didn’t want to take any medicines.”'

https://www.foxnews.com/health/man-coronavirus-china-whiskey-honey

Supported by:

Arch Med Res. 2014 Jul;45(5):359-65.
Anti-influenza viral effects of honey in vitro: potent high activity of manuka honey.

RESULTS:
Manuka honey efficiently inhibited influenza virus replication (IC50 = 3.6 ± 1.2 mg/mL; CC50 = 82.3 ± 2.2 mg/mL; selective index = 22.9), which is related to its virucidal effects. In the presence of 3.13 mg/mL manuka honey, the IC50 of zanamivir or oseltamivir was reduced to nearly 1/1000th of their single use.

CONCLUSIONS:
Our results showed that honey, in general, and particularly manuka honey, has potent inhibitory activity against the influenza virus, demonstrating a potential medicinal value.

https://www.umf.org.nz/wp-content/myimages/2017/11/Anti-influenza-Viral-Effects-of-Honey.pdf


Mark said...

Yeah. I was never that into Maureen Robinson or Carol Brady.

Mark said...

potential medicinal value

They are only 2,000 years behind the times. The Romans used honey for medicinal purposes.

Mark said...

A mixture of honey, garlic and cayenne kept at the back of a swollen throat can be therapeutic.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Man with coronavirus claims he overcame illness with ‘hot whiskey and honey’

Original Mike said...

"I see Tom Steyer dropped out. Now, can anyone figure out why he ran in the first place?"

Well, to save the planet.

Yancey Ward said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Yancey Ward said...

I have been wondering how long COVID-19 has been around. I strongly suspect it has been for more than a year, and China was just the first place anyone noticed a widespread outbreak. I am even wondering whether or not it is the illness my neice and I had at the end of last year.

I wrote about this a couple of months ago- my sister and her family came down from Boston for Christmas, and their 5 year old daughter had a really bad case of what the ER determined was influenza- they took a swab testing for Strep most likely, and it was negative and just sent her home the day after Christmas. She had a really bad, hoarse phleghmy cough and fever for 3-4 days. I started to feel ill the day they left, and by the second day, I had the worst sore throat I have ever had- the infection was down deep, but not quite to my lungs. I literally couldn't talk for about 4 days. Was most likely a strain of influenza, but I wonder now.

Yancey Ward said...

I do the week's grocery shopping tomorrow morning. Will be looking for signs of panic.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

Here in SC, we only panic if snow is forecast. *That* is when your bread & milk go off the shelves.

Churchy LaFemme: said...

..And frankly, I think everybody here is desensitized by all the TV channel weather alarmism. Crawls and panic-beeps for thunder storms? This is SC, we get thunderstorms. Keep your shirt on.

Big Mike said...

@reader, okay, I’ll bite. How does “IBTWWW” relate to the Aztecs?

walter said...

NAB show on covid19

walter said...

It's harder to avoid becoming ovoid when eating bread...though rye is one of the better choices.

Chris N said...

The first death in King County is at the hospital nearest me (novel case, guy in his 50’s) and while we drove up to my condo complex this afternoon, there’s a camera crew outside the Life Care Center across the street. Two confirmed cases, 27 people symptomatic inside (out of ~108 end of life residents and 180 employees). 24 firefighters and 2 policeman who responded have now been quarantined.

The Life Care Center is full of immuno-compromised people and almost every week I see a new batch of 3-4, often foreign, I’m guessing lower wage health care women parking along the street to go inside.

If there’s any good news, it’s that they already keep a lot of the residents inside and semi-quarantined due to their fragile health. It’s pretty much hospice.

The virus is very likely in the general pop around here. Very likely cause Asian travel and/or recent visitation origin from an Asian virus carrying population. Don’t see how much can be done.

Hand washing, avoiding contact with any obviously sick people in public and minimal unnecessary exposure now undertaken.

rhhardin said...

You're not allowed to ask your co-host off the air if her tits are real, if I'm understanding the latest turn in #MeToo.

stevew said...

@Clyde 9:40 PM

Connected, I think not. The more likely explanation is that they're listening and watching.

Clyde said...

@ stevew, the thing was that the Ann Wilson song on the playlist was not the one with Rufus Wainwright on it; I only came across it by listening to that entire album. Had I just listened to the playlist, I wouldn’t have heard it.

jaydub said...

"My main concern is the market. I was planning on buying a new car this Spring by cashing out some investments. I will have to wait."

My experience has been that planning on using long term assets (stocks) for short term goals (less than two years) only works during uninterrupted bull market runs. The best course of action that I have found is the so called "bucket" approach, which involves placing your assets into long term (equities, real estate, etc), medium term (bonds and large cap/high dividend stocks,) and short term (cash and near cash) "buckets." The cash bucket is intended to fund near term requirements, and I normally keep 2 years of expenses (net of fixed income,) plus the anticipated cost of intended major purchases in the cash bucket. As the cash bucket is depleted, I refill it using the medium term bucket, then sell equities to replenish the medium term bucket as market conditions and opportunities for profit taking arise. I re-balanced my buckets in December, so I'm probably okay for the next two years. I have found that this approach also prevents panic selling of equities which allows one to ride out market corrections and even recessions with some peace of mind. Anyway, it works for me.

Fernandinande said...

The awfulness of out MSM is consistently surpassed by the Brits'.

"SPACED OUT Mysterious glowing object suddenly appears in Earth’s orbit leaving scientists baffled"

-- it's not mysterious

-- it's not glowing

-- it's not "in Earth's orbit", it's orbiting the Earth.

-- it didn't suddenly appear; it's been there about 3 years but it's just a large boulder the size of a small boulder (6 feet or so).

-- scientists are not "baffled"; they just wonder how long before the rock leaves its temporary orbit.

-- the caption to their dishonest picture with the colored streaks doesn't mention the fact that the mystery object is the tiny grey dot in the middle, and not the colored streaks.

Tina Trent said...

I may have recommended this before, but Steve Bannon's pandemic podcast is really good. He's a China expert and a markets expert and covers the economics and supply line and medical developments quickly every day. Steve Hatfield, public health analysts, and medical and market experts from China weigh in. Our decision to outsource all drug precursor production to China is a real issue now, about time.

I miss snow. In Poughkeepsie, I used to get in my obsessive 10 miles a day running behind snowplows if necessary. We had a spate of snow years in the late 70's and early 80's. I'd sneak out of bed, leave a note for my mother in case she woke up, and do midnight snow runs on the nearby golf course. The silent blueness of snow at in moonlight will be the last thing I remember, if I'm lucky.

We had one beautiful three day snow event in North Georgia this year. My property stayed snowy for longer because the land lays sheltered. How land lays determines everything in mountain foothills. The cattledogs couldn't get their heads wrapped around the difference between snowballs and tennis balls. They're prone to overthinking. I stayed outside almost every hour I was awake. I couldn't get enough.

Not to be confused with forest bathing.

Kai Akker said...

Facebook friend (experimental physicist) who’s asking whether we should be buying stocks

Tell us when he says he has sold his.

I Have Misplaced My Pants said...

I think my slightly-autistic, beautiful, witty college freshman daughter might have herself her first romance of her life. She's been talking about a particular friend for some time; she finally dropped his last name (I'd been patiently waiting) and I hurried off for some quick Facebook creeping. His hometown is an hour outside of the Twin Cities, where we are moving in about four years, and his still-married parents look like very good salt of the earth hunting-fishing-lifelong Lutheran types. I of course wouldn't dream of saying a word of any of this to her, but as someone who wants to have good people to share grandchildren with and who anticipates founding a Minnesota-based Pants dynasty, this is an excellent development.

(p.s. no I do not necessarily think my 18 year old daughter is going to marry the first kid she has a close friendship with in college and there is a straight line from that to a bunch of pink cheeked grandchildren frolicking in a Midwestern field .... but it's fun to dream about. Getting to the point in life where I am considering the having-young-adult-children experience and looking forward to it.)

Kai Akker said...

I strongly suspect it has been for more than a year, and China was just the first place anyone noticed a widespread outbreak

Yancey, that is interesting, your two cases. But kids often catch and transfer diseases, one. Two, kids are doing much better relatively with the coronavirus (I've read) than adults. And, three, the extreme contagiousness of this coronavirus is said by some scientists to be the result of engineering the virus. Way too much coincidence that this is near the Wuhan level-4 biolab for it not to be related, IMO. If so -- IF so -- a reminder of why we have fought communism everywhere it wanted to spread.

Michael K said...

Last week I read a story about a couple who own a small Mexican restaurant north of Tucson. They attended the Phoenix Trump rally and stood behind him on the stage. Some jerk took a screen grab of them and started a social media harassment campaign accusing them of not being "real Hispanics" or some such.

We drove up there last evening and the restaurant, really a tiny place where you order at the register, was jammed. There were a half dozen Trump hats and tee shirts among the crowd. It took a half hour to get our food but it was really good. We'll go back.

Marc in Eugene said...

It turns out that Samsung sent out a patch the other day that didn't take into account that this year was a leap year. Your phone's date is wrong. You need to manually reset it until Sunday.

Ha; thanks for the explanation of why my mobile downloaded multiple software updates, and that series of texts was inexplicably ordered. I thought it was preparing itself to die.

The Daily Mail headlined the 'West Coast Panic Buy' earlier-- idiot Californians, for the most part. Will stop after Mass at the supermarket; if there is local evidence of panic I'll be truly shocked.

Marc in Eugene said...

There was no evidence that I saw of panic buying at the supermarket and no empty shelves of water, ramen, soup, or toilet paper. The container of hand sanitizer at the doors has been re-positioned, however, in a way that makes it marginally more noticeable, perhaps. My friendly clerk acquaintance didn't believe that to be policy at work.

Nichevo said...

If so -- IF so -- a reminder of why we have fought communism everywhere it wanted to spread.

3/1/20, 8:30 AM


Hush, Kai. You will displease J. Farmer with your opposition to communism, which he and Robert Cook do not believe exists, and if it did, is not as bad as what we have now.