Presumably it’s the same reason that I couldn’t find a way to close my bank account (in person, at the fucking bank) in 1998. And presumably it’s the same reason that my elderly parents can’t get their Medicare supplemental insurance agent to close out their account prior to their move to another state, where that insurance won’t be accepted.
You’re a customer. They love you. Reasons.
That’s wonderful!
My orange cat has appointed himself as house monitor, so he’ll alert us to any danger or weird situations. When the kitten escaped from the back patio, which is enclosed, he ran to my husband and alerted him. He can be a jerk, but overall he’s a good dude.
When I’m home alone I can always count on him. If I hear a weird noise? If that little guy is snoring I know that it’s just the wind.
My current oldest was a stray for about 4-5 months and she seemed to regard anything wrapped in plastic as a valid food source. We assumed that reason is that she had been scavenging garbage.
One of my favorite “new kitten” moments was coming downstairs to find that she had taken about 12 sample bites from a package of toilet paper. She stopped doing that.
I swear we fed her well, but she had some habits from life on the streets.
My best girl is really into being petted while standing in a bathtub or shower. No water. She’s done this since she was a kitten. Like Kika, she’ll lure you to the spot for petting, then meow until you and she are both standing in the tub and she’s getting pets.
Two different houses and three different tubs are involved here.
I sometimes wonder if it’s related to the time I had to give her a bath when we first took her in as a stray. She was weak and underfed, and had a bad case of fleas. I gave her a bath, which she hated and I hated - but when she hit the water you could see blood in her fur from all the flea bites. Poor kitty. It was probably the first time a human had given her much attention. And it helped with the fleas, so she probably felt much better afterwards.
Sometimes I tell myself that she’s trying to tell me she’s still grateful for that, and that she trusts me.
Or else she’s just a weirdo. I’m fine with either.
I’ve become attached to this eldritch abomination.
Easy. It’s a dried and shellacked squid that has been posed in an artful, somehow bipedal and menacing position. I call it the creeping horror and keep it in an old wooden box.
Not really my taste, but it was a gift.
Well that’s terrifying.
My old vacuum bags were meant to be tossed, but I just emptied it and put it back because $.
Oh no. I feel that. Back when ipods were a thing, I liked to call it my husband’s “tiny radio.” Particularly on planes, with lots of captive listeners.
But I was mainly torturing him.
It’s OK - he does similar shit to me. 30 years and counting…
I didn’t really expect anyone to know that, which was sort of the joke. He was very famous in his time, but by now it’s a bit of a deep cut.
Artie Shaw was a clarinetist who ran a jazz band. In addition to that, he was also quite the weirdo. Womanizer, liked math a lot (like more than is natural), was an expert marksman who was nationally ranked in that sort of thing, and really into fly fishing. Also, currently, very dead. And that’s good because otherwise he’d be 114.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artie_Shaw
here’s a sample of his work https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_v3GY3ZqdM
Shock: I’m not really Artie Shaw.
I collect ancient coins and this explanation doesn’t fly for me. There’s a certain amount of “artisanal-ness” in the production of ancient coins - which were all handmade. Like, I’m looking at a tray of coins right now and there’s no way a simple go/no-go tool would be helpful. Also, for this purpose a simple handheld counterweight balance would be more accurate and portable. The existence of these simple balances, along with reference weights for various denominations, is well documented.
Moreover - if you’re an ancient merchant, what is more important? The weight of the silver or the ability for it to pass for a denarius issued by Rome? Particularly for international trade, it seems to have been the former. Bankers’ cuts and countermarks are commonly seen on coins, and seem to have been an early form of foreign exchange. (eg - I’m travelling from Athens to Ephesus with a stock of my local currency. If I pass it to a local banker in Ephesus, they can evaluate it, determine the local exchange in terms of silver, and give it a locally recognized countermark to assure their own merchants that they’re getting the equivalent local value).
That being now off my chest, I’ve got no great answers for the dodecahedrons. I strongly suspect that it was a nifty thing that metal workers made as a master’s thesis.
Casefile. It’s not that content is boring or uninteresting. It just knocks me out.
My brother ate a Snausage for the low low price of one US dollar. There was a whole negotiation process beforehand (Snausage, milk bone, kennel ration biscuit and dog chow were all on the table). He had regrets. I’ll admit that I drove a hard bargain, but he was old enough to know better.
For myself? No. Some of my cats’ shredded chicken in “gravy” looks and smells OK. Still no.
The veterinary sales rep I used to work with said, “their taste buds are very different from ours.” I’ll trust him
I like the mnemonics of c (copy), v (get in there), x (snip-snip), and z (bad idea) as much as I like the similar ones for bold and italics.
text you’ve already typed and change the format. Control (shift) + F3 used to do that in MS word. Highlight your text and Toggle Through The POSSIBILITIES.
I was just thinking about “quirky” because my sister-in-law recently used it to describe her daughter. Her contrasting word (for her son) was “straightforward.”
Personally, I fit the former even though I’ve learned to “pass for normal.” NOT my words. That was a direct quote and it was meant as a compliment. Weird is definitely meant as an insult in the US Midwest.
Exactly. That kitty encompasses and rules over aaaalllll that couch. Surfaces and interior volume (as soon as he discovers it). No room for anybody else. Just ask him.
In the US they were definitely out of fashion in the '80s and '90s. They were fashion statement that said “I’m a gross hippie” or worse, a BeeGee.
I was a teen at the time and the consensus among teen girls was that a beard was the ultimate dealbreaker of a physical attribute. Makes sense, really, because most guys our age couldn’t grow a nice one if they wanted to. (And also - hippies are gross). I always respectfully disagreed, and would point to our classmate, Murad. He had pretty well grown facial hair by junior year and he looked fiiiinne.
The exception that proved the rule? Luckily (for Murad) my classmates generally agreed, but refused to back down from their opinion in general.
That attitude persisted, with the occasional appearance of a goatee or soul patch in the late '90s, both of which proved to be a gateway drug that led to the appearance of proper beards. I think a lot of guys would have liked to have beards, but realized that they were driving away potential partners. But they were pretty normal by 2010.
I’ll drop this line from wikipedia, which should illustrate just how boringly mainstream beards have become in the US.
Since 2015 a growing number of male political figures have worn beards in office, including Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, and Senators Ted Cruz and Tom Cotton.
Damn hippies.
7:07am. Milan.
I’m woken by two texts from my coworker. “Thought we were meeting in the lobby at 7:00. Heading to the train station.”
The train leaves at 7:20. “Well I can’t…” or can I?
Clothes on. Glasses on. All toiletries swept into purse. I run like hell.
There’s a pedestrian underpass, but I Frogger across the road and through the square. I’m in the station with a minute to spare and I’m still somehow running. My shoes are shabby Converse and the floor is polished marble. And I’m 45.
Things are going as ok as any of that can be until I have that out of body moment when I know my foot to forward motion ratio is incompatible with staying upright.
I lunged into the fall, made an extremely satisfying “splat” sound, and skidded several horizontal meters on the marble floor. Two or more nicely dressed Italians look at me in horror, but I’m not physically hurt. Big smile. I thought about Mary Catherine Gallagher-ing it with a victory pose, but just got up and kept running.
Made the train as it was pulling out, brushed hair/teeth once i caught my breath. Moved to the correct train car at the next stop, and met up with my colleague.
We had a nice day trip and the waiter was horrified at how much wine we drank at lunch.
Is “going back to school” a thing in Germany? From what I know about that education system I’m guessing not, but in the US that’s a standard answer.
“I want to move to be closer to my aging parents.” - might work. If you haven’t shared much about your life, it’s an easy lie. And it’s dull and depressing, so the odds of followup questions are slim. I hear it a lot when interviewing job candidates in our area.
oooh - pure destruction. I can respect that.