@LuFins-Dad said in Pictures from my recent vacation to DC: I can tell you that the 2 pics in front of the WH were not taken at 9AM, 11:30AM, or 3 PM yesterday, nor at 9AM this morning… I think it's because Trump reduced crime so fast in DC that they aren't needed anymore. Amazing! It's almost like it was for a photo shoot.

@Mik said in Neckties at the convention.: I have a bunch of Talbot ties and Allen Edmonds shoes I’ll probably never wear again. Those Allen Edmonds shoes appear really nice. I have a couple pairs of similar quality uk-handmade Church's. Both brogues, one light tan the other dark brown suede. Ten years and they're just about worn in This year they came out of the wardrobe and are by the front door to wear when I feel like it. Life's too short.

@jon-nyc Well played, sir! Well played.

Couldn't possibly offend me as bad as the refs do.

Did you see her first strike call? It was amazing. Amazingly inaccurate. Link to video

@jon-nyc said in What’s Riley Gaines up to now?: This is sad. She started off 100% in the right, taking a pretty courageous stand. Now she’s selling ‘back to school’ ivermectin and turning her former naturally-beautiful face into something resembling the typical Mar-al-Lago gargoyle. [image: 1755500742878-img_7209.jpeg] Good summary. And funny, before I saw your comment I was asking myself.... what is happening to her face? She can barely move the right side of her mouth.

@jon-nyc said in We need a new Marshall Plan for Europe: On AC in Germany. Interesting. I think the author overstates the role of anti-americanism, but he is right that it contributes to the anti AC thing. AC has a somewhat similar fate as nuclear energy in Germany. Everything that has the word "atom" in it is considered bad, regardless of whether there are actually any safety or environmental concerns or not. For instance, the kind of nuclear power technology doesn't matter, they are all equally evil. Even nuclear fusion, which has completely different technological properties, is evil because it has the evil "atom" word in it. I think the real underlying issue here is a kind of, what, protestant(?) or degrowth(?) culture: In that culture, hardships are a feature and not a bug if they seem to somehow further their cause (which is hard to describe). Unlimited free energy, for instance, would be a complete nightmare for many of these people.

"I'm older, and I have better insurance."

She looks like she could be an MLB umpire.

@Mik Thank you!

Yeah we have an unwritten rule. Whoever clears the sidewalk first also does the sidewalk for the houses on either side of them too.

@Mik Frogs are really good at it, too. So much compared to their body size! It's amazing how big their poos are. If humans were so productive, there's no way it would fit in the cologuard bucket! My pet froggos always had a pothos plant growing in their house. I can tell you with complete confidence that frog poo and pee are the perfect fertilizer combo for many plants. We have five HUGE pothos plants in our house, all from prunings of the froggo's pothos. The inside of the frog house was always like a jungle.

@jon-nyc Holy smokes indeed! I figured you would be watching the numbers. Your situation is much more serious than mine, but your assessment of the numbers and the locational factors are spot on for my experience as well. I just started using the AQI alert system, because I can't smell the smoke until it's way too far over my tolerance level. Hubby smells the smoke long before I do, so he's my second alert system when he's home.

And here i thought the dollar was taking a nose dive!

It's Lizzo on a bike. [image: 1755283696789-9359f452-46c9-4ad4-aa69-3cd97dfc4276-image.png] (OK, she is just freakin' NASTY.)

I had that sense of it but kind of at the end of my career so I didn’t try to jump on board. It is handy to have it summarize what a search tells you.

My favorites are probably 15, 19, and 7.