lucius septimius 10/8/2019 4:50:19 AM

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10/8/2019 5:37:04 AM

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So a memo written from second hand accounts is more credible than an actual transcript.

10/8/2019 5:38:56 AM

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Dang, I have to stop doing that. Hit "create" to get out of the code window.

PEBCAK!

Occasional Reader 10/8/2019 6:15:25 AM

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Lenin's government flees capital:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-49969697

10/8/2019 6:27:02 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 4:

Everything democratic socialists touch turns to shit.

Occasional Reader 10/8/2019 7:58:13 AM

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In #5 Unknown user said: Everything democratic socialists touch turns to shit.

In this case, the government of "Lenin" is, believe it or not, LESS leftist than its predecessor; the rioting,etc. was triggered by the removal of fuel price subsidies. 

buzzsawmonkey 10/8/2019 9:22:00 AM

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I'm here!  I'm here!  I'm really here!

KOSH---let me know via email what my password is.

buzzsawmonkey 10/8/2019 9:26:03 AM

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It's been a hell of a few weeks, folks.  Had to wrap up/empty out Mom's house, which is supposed to finally close this week.  Drove her car back to NYC, and let me tell you---there is much more of Pennsylvania than there needs to be.

Have to re-register the car in the next week or so, and meanwhile am having fun re-learning the joys of alternate-side-of-the-street parking.

Managed to donate my father's table saw to an outfit that teaches ex-offenders vocational training, and found someone to take the pool table too (what a shame it would have been to break up and throw out an 80-year-old solid-slate-bed tavern table).

Occasional Reader 10/8/2019 9:58:19 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 8:

Wilkommen!

doppelganglander 10/8/2019 10:27:01 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 8:

It's great to see you! Glad you got your mom's things sorted. 

I see tonight is Yom Kippur. G'mar Hatima Tova. (In the course of looking up the correct spelling, I discovered that Orthodox Jews prohibit brushing one's teeth on Yom Kippur.)

10/8/2019 10:28:10 AM

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In #8 buzzsawmonkey said: there is much more of Pennsylvania than there needs to be.

You haven't been out our side of the country have ya!

;-P

buzzsawmonkey 10/8/2019 10:58:41 AM

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Reply to Unknown user in 11:

I was in the Greater Chicagoland Area for the better part of a week.  We were packing up the few odds and ends left after the sales, and some basic items like bed frames.  Had to leave the first bed frame my father made, which was heartbreaking; a nice piece of carpentry, but nobody had room for it and we couldn't find any takers.

The buyers of the house are apparently a male same-sex couple, who went for the whole midcentury-modern thing.  They're keeping the stove, and having it refurbished, which is nice; it's a Chambers range in pale-green enamel, with a stainless-steel top, child-safe knobs, and a real pilot light not only on the top of the stove, but in the deep-well at the back of the stove.  The broiler is also on the stove top, instead of below the oven, so you can not only conveniently broil things, you can fire up the broiler and use the lid to make pancakes if you want to.  Knowing that the buyers were not going to trash it was comforting, in a way.

lucius septimius 10/8/2019 11:56:31 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 12:

Howdy stranger.  Passed on the "Maltese Falcon school of negotiation" advice on to a friend.

buzzsawmonkey 10/8/2019 12:13:01 PM

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In #13 lucius septimius said: Passed on the "Maltese Falcon school of negotiation" advice on to a friend.

Here's another Hammett gem, from another of his stories: "I trust X, but you can trust someone just as easily if you have them all sewn up."

Occasional Reader 10/8/2019 12:23:03 PM

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In #10 doppelganglander said: I discovered that Orthodox Jews prohibit brushing one's teeth on Yom Kippur.)

As it happens, I just got back from the dentist. Had some pain near the root of one tooth while brushing; got it checked out, apparently no big deal.

Related: So the dentist I was working with since 1997 retired last year, and the one who replaced her is... quite pretty.  And, I think, single (not sure).  What are the rules about asking out one's dentist?  

lucius septimius 10/8/2019 12:25:10 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 15:

In your case, I can think of two.

doppelganglander 10/8/2019 12:26:27 PM

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doppelganglander 10/8/2019 12:28:29 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 15:

Generally speaking, it's unethical for medical professionals to date their patients. If you can see another dentist in the practice, I think it's okay, but consider how awkward it would be if things don't work out with her.

Occasional Reader 10/8/2019 12:34:45 PM

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In #16 lucius septimius said: In your case, I can think of two.

Those being...?

Occasional Reader 10/8/2019 12:35:20 PM

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In #18 doppelganglander said: but consider how awkward it would be if things don't work out with her.

"Is it safe?" 

Occasional Reader 10/8/2019 12:35:58 PM

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In #18 doppelganglander said: it's unethical for medical professionals to date their patients.

Well, that's HER problem!

/

Occasional Reader 10/8/2019 12:36:54 PM

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Reply to doppelganglander in 17:

That is indeed good news; your pinging away is getting hits, not all of them will work out, but you only need one. 

doppelganglander 10/8/2019 12:39:07 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 22:

Exactly.

buzz, I may need a refresher on the Maltese Falcon negotiating technique.

buzzsawmonkey 10/8/2019 12:40:31 PM

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Reply to doppelganglander in 17:

Please accept my best wishes for the most favorable outcome.  May you go from strength to strength.

buzzsawmonkey 10/8/2019 12:46:20 PM

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In #23 doppelganglander said: buzz, I may need a refresher on the Maltese Falcon negotiating technique.

I merely recommend that people read the book (watching the Bogart version of the book is almost as good), but look at the work not as a murder mystery, but as an ongoing primer in negotiation.  There is negotiation, and re-negotiation, throughout the story---from Spade telling O'Shaughnessy that "we didn't believe your story, we believed your $200; you paid us more than if you were telling the truth, and enough more to make it all right," to the realization that Spade and Gutman are both lying to each other as they toast "Here's to plain speaking and clear understanding," to "We were talking about a lot more money than this."/"Yes, sir---but we were talking then.  With a dollar of this you can buy more than with ten dollars of talk." 

It's a matter of knowing your own value, not believing the other party until s/he backs up what they're saying, standing firm, and making them come to you.

buzzsawmonkey 10/8/2019 12:49:52 PM

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In #18 doppelganglander said: it's unethical for medical professionals to date their patients

Well, there goes the carbon-dating equipment...

buzzsawmonkey 10/8/2019 1:08:16 PM

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G'mar chasimah tovah, everyone. 

May you all be sealed for a good year.

doppelganglander 10/8/2019 1:19:30 PM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 24:

Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 25:

Thank you. These two have shown strong interest, so I hope I have a little leverage. I'm pretty sure no one will be lying to me or trying to screw me over.