Occasional Reader 2/28/2022 6:56:58 AM

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vxbush 2/28/2022 7:09:42 AM

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In #1 Occasional Reader said: Monday.  What fresh hell is this? 

In my state, it is the first day when people can go out without having to wear the mask in buildings. Note that this hasn't meant that everyone is fresh faced. So far I've seen four people in my department wearing masks. I am not one of them.

doppelganglander 2/28/2022 7:59:09 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 2:

I had to wear a mask at an exhibit on Saturday. I am very tired of idiots bullying the rest of us into compliance. The BF and I agreed if we'd known in advance, we would have skipped it.

lucius septimius 2/28/2022 9:14:57 AM

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lucius septimius 2/28/2022 9:21:00 AM

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In #2 vxbush said: I am not one of them.

OMG You are literally murdering your coworkers!!!!!!!!

buzzsawmonkey 2/28/2022 9:31:57 AM

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In #4 lucius septimius said: Yesterday was my dad's Yahrzeit.  24 years.

You've got me beat by one year.

Occasional Reader 2/28/2022 9:44:37 AM

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JCM 2/28/2022 9:46:51 AM

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My son showed me a meme....

Text of it was.

The gay community should be the first drafted because we were told coming out was more courageous than being in the military.

vxbush 2/28/2022 9:55:19 AM

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In #5 lucius septimius said: OMG You are literally murdering your coworkers!!!!!!!!

It will be interesting to see how management handles this. The guidance we were given last week was, "If someone asks you to wear a mask in their office, please be courteous and wear the mask." So we are enabling behavior that could lead (if it hasn't already) to emotional dysfunction. I have no desire to make my coworkers feel unsafe, but the numbers simply don't support this. Omicron gave those infected immunity, and a large portion of the US was infected.  I haven't seen anyone in the building, but of those I have seen I seem to be the only person in the building unmasked. 

Occasional Reader 2/28/2022 10:11:34 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 9:

Yeah, that sounds like it’s letting the most neurotic establish the baseline.

JCM 2/28/2022 10:20:04 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 9:

I'm made uncomfortable by people wearing masks. What if I ask them to remove theirs?

vxbush 2/28/2022 11:25:03 AM

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In #11 JCM said: I'm made uncomfortable by people wearing masks. What if I ask them to remove theirs?

Clearly you are a h8r who h8es people protecting themselves. 

/It's a guess, but a reasonable guess

lucius septimius 2/28/2022 11:37:48 AM

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In #12 vxbush said: Clearly you are a h8r who h8es people protecting themselves. 

We misanthropes never get any love.  Like we care.

buzzsawmonkey 2/28/2022 12:01:15 PM

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In #13 lucius septimius said: We misanthropes never get any love. 

The world is crying out for a resort catering to those who dislike their fellow-man.  San Tropez already exists, but MiSan Thropez is yet to be built.

vxbush 2/28/2022 12:19:07 PM

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In #14 buzzsawmonkey said: The world is crying out for a resort catering to those who dislike their fellow-man.  San Tropez already exists, but MiSan Thropez is yet to be built.

Oh, that sounds like a destination vacation to me!

Occasional Reader 2/28/2022 12:31:10 PM

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buzzsawmonkey 2/28/2022 12:32:48 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 16:

+++++++++

Sounds like Robert W. [Military] Service...

Occasional Reader 2/28/2022 12:45:32 PM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 17:

Riffing on Kipling (but I'm guessing you knew that). 

buzzsawmonkey 2/28/2022 12:50:30 PM

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In #18 Occasional Reader said: Riffing on Kipling (but I'm guessing you knew that). 

Actually, the rhythm did remind me of some Robert Service poem, though I can't remember which.   Kipling echoes in there too, but I can't put my finger on which piece you had in mind.

Occasional Reader 2/28/2022 12:58:10 PM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 19:

Link

I'm not familiar with the whole work, I've just heard that bit (first, I think, in Philip Caputo's A Rumor of War). 

buzzsawmonkey 2/28/2022 1:14:38 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 20:

Thanks.  I see it's from a chapter-heading verse from "The Naulakha," which is one of Kipling's novels I have not read. Kipling often prefaced his chapters with a short verse, and sometimes followed up the chapter with an additional poem.  He did this with short stories too; the Jungle Books are really short-story collections, even though the Mowgli stories dominate, and in Puck of Pook's Hill, and its sequel Rewards and Fairies, which have the same central characters throughout but are highly episodic, as the book is about a young brother and sister meeting a variety of historical characters, each chapter has an introductory short verse, and generally a following verse too. 

Now I'm going to have to find a copy of "The Naulakha"; you've piqued my interest.

Occasional Reader 2/28/2022 2:16:01 PM

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Looks like Finland and Sweden are going to join NATO.

Heck of a job, Vlad! 

JCM 2/28/2022 2:48:16 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 22:

That would put all the Nordic countries in NATO.

Belarus is already in the Russian Sphere.

That put Russia's entire western border right up to NATO countries, with the Russian Polesska District wedged between Lithuania and Poland.

turn 2/28/2022 4:39:52 PM

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Occasional Reader 2/28/2022 4:45:10 PM

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Reply to turn in 24:

Replied at the Frontier.  Thank you for letting us know.  And it's good to see you.

turn 2/28/2022 4:57:04 PM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 25:
Thanks OR, I miss you guys. I lurk on occasion and will post more frequently, nothing but time on my hands lately.

buzzsawmonkey 2/28/2022 5:21:40 PM

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Reply to turn in 26:

Replied in the Frontier.