PaladinPhil 4/1/2020 5:33:15 AM

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Morning. Have a later then normal start today at work. It's luxurious sleeping in and enjoying my coffee without having to really rush. Work has been hectic a bit. Now it's more about juggling what we have and trying to keep the waste down. Sales are starting to drop, number of customers allowed in the store has been dropped to 50 total at a time (public health measures instead of corporate). The Squire is still with his mother for another two weeks. By then the wife and I should have a plan in place to take care of him. I don't think school will be back in session until September at the earliest. They have officially extended the shut down until end of April. Will see what happens next.

Starting to get my mental state back together at least. Was losing it there last week. 

vxbush 4/1/2020 6:12:49 AM

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In #1 PaladinPhil said: Starting to get my mental state back together at least. Was losing it there last week. 

Morning, Phil (and everyone else). Glad to hear it. I have some things at work that are going to cause some serious stress in future months, but right now things are on hiatus with the virus. Thank goodness for small favors. 

Project Veritas has a new video out of O'Keefe going to a testing facility in New York. I'm not sure it really is much of a expose. 

lucius septimius 4/1/2020 7:21:15 AM

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buzzsawmonkey 4/1/2020 7:58:48 AM

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In #3 lucius septimius said: A couple of days ago it was 80.  When I got up it was 40.

If you could figure out how to do that with humans, you'd make a fortune.  The Ponce de Leon Youth Treatment™ would be all the rage.

Occasional Reader 4/1/2020 8:06:15 AM

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In #4 buzzsawmonkey said: If you could figure out how to do that with humans, you'd make a fortune.

Silly, pointless discussion question of the day; if you could, indeed, go back to any age of your life, in terms of your overall physical state and also maturity, etc., and maintain that age (so to speak) for the next 30 years, would age would you pick? 

lucius septimius 4/1/2020 8:09:18 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 5:

That's easy:  45.

Occasional Reader 4/1/2020 8:11:54 AM

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In #6 lucius septimius said: That's easy:  45.

And why's that?

Occasional Reader 4/1/2020 8:13:44 AM

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In #7 Occasional Reader said: And why's that?

(Personally I'd go for 35. or so.  I feel like I was at an optimum point around then in terms of being in very good physical shape, but also relatively "seasoned".)

Syrah 4/1/2020 8:22:19 AM

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Are we a all dead yet?

Washington State, day 6 of Wuhan Virus house arrest. 

Occasional Reader 4/1/2020 8:34:43 AM

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In #9 Syrah said: day 6 of Wuhan Virus house arrest.

Saigon.

Shit.

I'm still only in Saigon. 

Syrah 4/1/2020 8:35:50 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 5:

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I felt both invincible and immortal. I was also much better looking then. 

What I lacked then was wisdom and restraint and nerve born of experience.

Syrah 4/1/2020 8:40:00 AM

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Reply to Syrah in 11:

to be young again with all of the wisdom, restraint and courage we have earned by our failures and successes of the previous 30/40/50 years, would make us like gods. 

lucius septimius 4/1/2020 8:40:21 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 7:

I was physically in the best shape I'd been in since college, have given up my worst vices, my career was on track, I had all my kids, and my world had not begun to collapse.  Ever since then it's been one Goddamned thing after another as things just keep getting worse.

lucius septimius 4/1/2020 8:41:54 AM

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Reply to Syrah in 12:

Although if the Greek gods are anything to go by, all that wisdom doesn't prevent one from being an insufferable asshole as most gods are.

lucius septimius 4/1/2020 8:43:05 AM

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Reply to Syrah in 9:

Only the fourth day here.  I'm hoping that the stay-at-home order will ensure that when I need to get toilet paper in two weeks some will be available. 

Syrah 4/1/2020 8:54:38 AM

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Reply to lucius septimius in 14:

I wonder if an immortal can learn/earn wisdom?  When there is nothing risked, can anything be learned?

doppelganglander 4/1/2020 8:55:20 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 5:

Tough call. Physically, 34 was my best age - I'd lost the last if the the baby weight and was exercising regularly. 37 was good in terms of finishing my bachelor's degree and starting a career I love (and being on TV), but I'd gained a lot of weight due to medication and my marriage wasn't going well. So somewhere in my mid-30s I guess.

vxbush 4/1/2020 8:55:54 AM

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In #15 lucius septimius said: Only the fourth day here.  I'm hoping that the stay-at-home order will ensure that when I need to get toilet paper in two weeks some will be available. 

I was trying to think how long we've been sheltering in place here, and I honestly can't remember the first day we started. I think it was two weeks ago. 

I actually really like working at home, a lot. But some of my extroverted coworkers are really suffering the lack of human interaction. 

Occasional Reader 4/1/2020 8:59:56 AM

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In #18 vxbush said: how long we've been sheltering in place here

Now when you say that, how are you defining "sheltering in place"?  I continue to find a wide variance of what people mean when the say that (or similar terms)>\.

lucius septimius 4/1/2020 9:02:27 AM

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In #16 Syrah said: When there is nothing risked, can anything be learned?

That is something that Tolkien explored.  The Elves, being immortal, learned surprisingly little from their experience and could be amazingly callous. They were also lazy.  Human drive and innovation came from their knowledge of their own mortality -- less time hence more to be done.

Occasional Reader 4/1/2020 9:03:34 AM

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In #15 lucius septimius said: when I need to get toilet paper in two weeks some will be available.

Road trip here to DC, and I can tell you were to go... TP's always in stock at my new favorite local grocery store (along with ample milk, eggs, you name it, other than (of course) hand sanitizer and bleach-based cleaning products). 

On that latter point, I snicker a bit when I see the abundance of "all natural! No bleach or other harsh chemicals!" cleaning(-ish) products sitting forlornly on the shelves.  I suspect those brands/sub-brands are not long for this world.

Occasional Reader 4/1/2020 9:07:27 AM

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In #20 lucius septimius said: They were also lazy. 

We do not tolerate elvenphobic stereotypes at this blog, sirrah.

buzzsawmonkey 4/1/2020 9:23:24 AM

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A nice interlude yesterday.  

I'd gotten contact information for my freshman-year high school English teacher, who is the person who introduced me to the writing of John Dos Passos 54 years ago.  For some time, I've wanted to contact him and thank him for this, as Dos Passos remains one of my favorite writers and his work has had an effect on me in many ways.  

I wrote him an email, but the address was no good, and it bounced back---so I tried the phone number, and it was good.  We talked for about 20 minutes, and I got his proper email address so I could send him the message I'd written.  

It was nice to be able to let him know that he'd had an effect that lasted through the years.

vxbush 4/1/2020 9:25:50 AM

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In #5 Occasional Reader said: Silly, pointless discussion question of the day; if you could, indeed, go back to any age of your life, in terms of your overall physical state and also maturity, etc., and maintain that age (so to speak) for the next 30 years, would age would you pick? 

Probably 30. I was still in good shape physically but I think I also had enough maturity to handle stuff. At least, I had enough maturity to handle my son's accident and subsequent disability. I think that counts. 

vxbush 4/1/2020 9:31:31 AM

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In #19 Occasional Reader said: Now when you say that, how are you defining "sheltering in place"?  I continue to find a wide variance of what people mean when the say that (or similar terms)>\.

The way our state has defined it, you stay at home and (if possible) work at home. You only go out for groceries, gas, or prescriptions. The first week, I was able to get permission from my boss to go to work to pick up technology for either myself or for others so their time at home would be more productive, but after that first week that was stopped as well. 

doppelganglander 4/1/2020 10:10:59 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 19:

My office sent everyone home two weeks ago. I've been out to pick up groceries or prescriptions, including taking things to the BF. I stopped in briefly to visit a couple of people, and I've been taking walks. That's about it.

Occasional Reader 4/1/2020 10:33:47 AM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 23:

that is indeed a very nice development.

Occasional Reader 4/1/2020 10:34:52 AM

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Reply to vxbush in 25:

Reply to doppelganglander in 26:

I just find it interesting the way that term has changed in meaning, as far as I know. Back in the days after September 11, I always thought of "shelter in place and "as meaning, something like a dirty bomb has gone off, you were absolutely not leaving the physical confines of the building in which you are in for any reason until further notice.

Occasional Reader 4/1/2020 10:41:40 AM

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In #5 Occasional Reader said: Silly, pointless discussion question of the day; if you could, indeed, go back to any age of your life, in terms of your overall physical state and also maturity, etc., and maintain that age (so to speak) for the next 30 years, would age would you pick? 

Of course, if you throw coronavirus into the mix, at this moment in time I guess I’d rather be 17.

buzzsawmonkey 4/1/2020 10:43:56 AM

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Reply to Occasional Reader in 27:

He was/is one of two people from my youth that I'd wanted to thank.  The other was the late cartoonist Bill Mauldin, whom I interviewed as a "career assignment" when I was an 8th grader.  I showed up at his newspaper office with a bunch of my drawings (he was VERY kind) and a staggering load of his books, each of which he autographed for me with a little dedicatory inscription and a drawing.  He also did me a drawing, on the spot, of his "Joe" character from WWII, on a piece of notepaper with the Sun-Times letterhead, which I have framed.

I'd wanted to write Mauldin in recent years, but he died before I got to it.  I did not want that to happen a second time.

Kenneth 4/1/2020 10:53:25 AM

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Reply to PaladinPhil in 1:

Good to hear from you, Phil. I was wondering how things are going in your neck of the woods. It's great that you have your mom close by to look after the Squire. 

Occasional Reader 4/1/2020 11:00:06 AM

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In #30 buzzsawmonkey said: I did not want that to happen a second time.

It is very unlikely he will die a second time.

/

more seriously, I am quite envious. I read “up front“ when I was about 11 years old and absolutely loved it.

buzzsawmonkey 4/1/2020 11:52:09 AM

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Over at PJM, the idiots fulminating about how everything Trump has done is wrong or inadequate or racist is being increasingly balanced by those claiming the virus is all a plot by the Jew-Communist-International-Banker-Globalist conspiracy.

So many nuts.  

While both insanities appear opposed to each other, they are essentially the same; in both cases they are manifestations of fear and the feeling of powerlessness by people terrified by life and who seek a Substitute Satan on which to heap the blame for their inadequacies.

buzzsawmonkey 4/1/2020 12:00:42 PM

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Kenneth 4/1/2020 12:02:35 PM

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In #33 buzzsawmonkey said: " people terrified by life and who seek a Substitute Satan on which to heap the blame for their inadequacies"

This is so true! 

Occasional Reader 4/1/2020 12:08:30 PM

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In #33 buzzsawmonkey said: a Substitute Satan

I love it when we have a Substitute Satan!  You can always convince him of things like "our Regular Satan never assigns us homework for the weekends". 

buzzsawmonkey 4/1/2020 12:22:06 PM

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In #36 Occasional Reader said: I love it when we have a Substitute Satan!  You can always convince him of things like "our Regular Satan never assigns us homework for the weekends". 

Heh.  I thought that Regular Satan always assigned homework for the weekends, especially Saturday night...

JCM 4/1/2020 12:25:16 PM

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Reply to buzzsawmonkey in 33:

Flip side they have substitute gods in environmentalism, ________ justice, or whirled peas.

buzzsawmonkey 4/1/2020 12:30:32 PM

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Reply to JCM in 38:

Of course---and they need Substitute Satans to balance out their Substitute Gods.

vxbush 4/1/2020 1:00:14 PM

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Calvin and Hobbes have something to say about satans.

lucius septimius 4/1/2020 1:52:14 PM

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Kosh's Shadow 4/1/2020 2:42:31 PM

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lucius septimius 4/1/2020 3:32:30 PM

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Kosh's Shadow 4/1/2020 3:59:24 PM

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