Happy Birthday to Me!
Well, maybe that was a mistake … I kind of miss that me. But one of my brothers once famously said on someone’s advanced birthday, “Think of the alternative.” And yes, it is fabulous to be alive.
My blessings far outweigh my thorns and high on that list is the fact that our furniture got delivered in the St. Nick of time by the reupholsterer [on Monday, and my octogenarian in-laws arrived on Tuesday]. We had been living without it for almost three months because of a fabric procurement issue and the thought that we would pick a difference one after the insane process of getting agreement on what to do in a house resistant to change, that lets the dog on the couch, and has what one might consider strong opinions, was not on the table.
The couch and chair came from my father’s office at Emmanuel College, in a beautiful old stone building with marble stairs that were actually worn down by a century of scholarly and not so scholarly [mine] footsteps.
Dad’s office was actually two offices, and the one that housed the Mill Project was a massive hall on the second floor. My parents would give me the keys and let me go down there and work on essays because they got a very early word-processor [a Wang – what a name!] and I lucked out and was able to do all of my university essays on computers, a huge advantage I now realise. It was both creepy and awesome to be in there at night and have the whole building to myself. There was even a basketball court that doubled as an auditorium. They have definitely filmed a bunch of horror movies there and in the quads behind. They even filmed Chicago in Toronto!
But back to the real heroes of the story, the couch and chair.
When the Mill project was over, unfortunately the office had to be given up, and there was a corner with this beat up old couch and chair and nobody knew what to do with the furniture. I remember calling my hubby-to-be or hubby [the timeline is foggy] and him coming over and double-checking the astonishing fact that he could lie comfortably on it full length. It has wing arms that are just right to support your head.
When I was first going to get it recovered I remember a sister-in-law questioning my judgement and mentioning horse hair or something and it not being worth it. Well, there was horse hair, and that was twenty-odd [and I mean odd] years ago, and now here we are, three grown children, a third dog, and the same couch and chair, just rebuilt to last another generation, or three, if you are a canine. [And if you are a canine, I would really like to congratulate you on your reading skills!]
And so while I miss that beautiful younger me, I could not be happier to get to be this somewhat rumpled older me. A lot like the couch and chair, except I am not off to the reupholsterer. Age is a victory really, and why should one hide those well-earned lines? Let’s just hope they are mostly laugh lines, and sometimes that is a matter of choice and perspective, I remind myself most sternly today of all days.
And speaking of well-learned lines, don’t forget to watch A Christmas Carol today [but only the version with Alistair Sim]. I have been lucky enough to watch that every birthday of my life, well, not the first, and many of them from this same old couch that I am sitting on writing this now, fifty-two years later. That is incredibly lucky!
Thank you very much for putting up with me. Like Ebenezer, I don’t deserve to be so happy.
I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a most excellent my birthday. Here’s to us indeed!
Happy Birthday, Xty! Yes, it’s been an interesting ride, these past 50 odd years, and here’s wishing us all many more.
Merry Mōdraniht Xty!
This article stuck a chord with me this morning.
Took me back to around 1991. There I was, supposedly happily landed in my full time, professional, career track job. And I looked at the people up the ladder from me and I realized I didn’t want any of their jobs. Eldest child was born later that year, I chose a different path, and the rest is history. Of course, I didn’t entirely quit. I just steadily, over decades, parted ways with all the parts of the job I hated, and kept the ones I liked. Now I work the best three months of the year for my profession, and leave the rest of the dreck behind. Momma O didn’t raise no fool.
My wife worked as a technology consultant several years ago. She liked the job. She enjoyed the work.
Sort of, at least. One day she quit, abruptly and without much warning.
Nothing bad happened. No client ruined her day. No manager screamed in her face.
She just noticed that her bosses were miserable. They worked too much, rarely saw their kids, and always seemed stressed. They were nice people, but she didn’t admire their lives at all.
Then she realized, wait: The career path she was on was specifically designed for her to become those people one day. That was the goal.
How do you stay motivated at a job where you feel bad for the people you’re supposed to aspire to become?
You don’t. So you quit.
Christmas Eve is at our house tonight. I’m putting beef and pork together in a big turkey roaster. Peas, carrots, spaetzle, and gravy. That’s my part of the job. Guests are bringing some things, and Mrs. O masterminding the whole shebang. I’m just labor. She’s working on some kind of Apple Pie drink right now. Everclear is involved. Go Easy, Mrs. O, go easy!
Merry Christmas to all.
Happy Birthday Xty( cute,pensive,curious,searching,kind,spirited…) Thank You for this place.
Tune for you.
how do the web bots search?..?are we here?..will/does this song drive some random traffic to your site? things that I wonder about while overloading the bandwidth.
Stuck in my brain Van tune.
A Merry Good Christmas Morning to All
As a Christmas present to myself, and all, I think I might be about to lose some of the changes I made to the site, because I am a bit slow and didn’t understand the importance of creating a child theme. And now there is an update to the theme I am using. There is vague hope though, because when I went to look, I was running a child theme that I had created! What it holds who knows if I don’t, and I am going to throw caution to the wind and update the theme and if it all looks scroogey-ha for a few days, so be it.
But more importantly, I actually got a metal detector for my birthday! I have been wanting one for years to take on dog walks, etc. and finally there it is … takes the sting out of the ski-pole style walking stick to help with our winter ice. Bitter-sweet … and speaking of which my eldest made the most astonishingly fabulous chocolate raspberry cheese cake … recipe to follow when the house wakes up because there was a chorus of you must make this agains. Maybe seedless raspberry jam or melt and strain the seeds, but other than that, it was cake perfection. And if you picked different wafers it would be gluten free heaven.
And a lovely young lady from across the way who is a bit of a spare child and grew up with my offspring brought me homemade brownies from BC, which I just had a first nibble of earlier … she works in a dispensary in Vancouver that is pushing the edges of the law in all the right directions and I think I am on the road to a prescription they will happily fill.
So it really was a great birthday in so many ways, and Nana made it, and we watched Frank and Bing, Boris Karloff and Alistair Sim!
And I really do appreciate you guys here …
hard to find the entire thing, but here it is:
https://archive.org/details/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas
One of things that seems not to be working quite right is embedding videos and I am hoping the theme update will help with that … so into the wild-blue yonder …
Oh, and btw, the gravalox is amazing …
Nothing happened! It is like there was another me, a secret genius, who did the theme thing correctly! I’ll be a monkey’s uncle … well, probably not.
Merry Christmas all. the sun is even trying to come out here!
direct any and all metal detector questions to me Xty.
to test out the site changes, Xty-mas and dog jokes…
First metal detector question:
In the manual there was a list of accessories. Two quite different people, my middle son and my good friend Trevor, who has magically helped get rid of dirt in my house for 15 years or so, looked over the list and said, “well, you have to get the hat and shirt”.
Do I need the hat and shirt?
Second metal detector question:
Do you actually think I have been allowed to hold it much, given that I received the present from an electrical engineer?
answer to Q 1… buy no accessories until the treasure found, if sold, would pay for the detector. remember also that it is a moving target because of ongoing battery replacement.
to Q 2… probably not. don’t let him take it apart. actually i am sure he knows how they work anyway.
the sun has been out and about yesterday, and also today! i will be grilling tonight.
hope everyone had a very special Christmas.
two different versions of 2014…
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/12/everything-is-awesome-113801.html?hp=l3_3#.VJ2fjAb0
http://www.theautomaticearth.com/2014-the-year-propaganda-came-of-age/
Yes, and one of them is way more full of shit than the other. And, I don’t think we are going to agree on which one that is, so why even start in on it.
I have two cast iron projects to work on right now. My brother-in-law had a friend who thought his old cast iron was just too cruddy to use anymore, so he went out and bought brand spanking new Lodge stuff. My B.i.l, took the old ones under the theory that you never turn down free cast iron, and showed them to me to find out if there was anything there worth saving.
The first is a #8 skillet, very heavily caked with black crud, but otherwise appears to be free of cracks, warps, or rust. I couldn’t see the markings at first, until I found just the right light. It’s a small logo Griswold, with the old style handle. That dates it to 1939 to 1944. Not the super collectible ones, but not bad. It’s totally usable as is, with that nice old seasoning that only years of use can bring. The heavy crud is on the bottom. Alternatively, one trip through a self-cleaning oven will have it looking like new.
The second is a #8 dutch oven, no lid. Heavily rusted on the bottom. Really bad. It sat somewhere wet for a long time, I think. The inside is perfect though. No cracks or warps either. I could just make out the “ERIE” on the bottom. This is a Griswold from before they started using the Griswold name. I told him it’s a hundred years old, and very collectible if it weren’t for the horrendous rust damage. I did my homework and it actually dates to 1892 to 1905.
I spent maybe an hour last night with the dutch oven, with just some vinegar and elbow grease, just to see what I could initially do about that rust. It’s already to the point where I would just go ahead and use it. There is damage to the bottom from the deep rust, but the insides are perfect, and overall it’s totally useable. And I always have a spare glass lid or two around the house that will fit. Totally sellable on Ebay as well. Not suitable for serious collectors, but great for someone who might want an 1892 “user” at a reasonable price. Next decision is whether to strip it in the oven or not.
The other thing is, I’m not sure if b.i.l. gave these to me to keep or not. It was kind of a vague conversation. Either he gifted me some pans, or I’m gifting him some restoration labor. Either way is fine. The journey itself is the fun.
Was wondering if it should be “usable” or “useable”. Looks like either one will pass.
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/69709/is-useable-preferred-in-certain-regions-or-just-an-alternate-spelling-of-usa
I have gotten several cheap pieces that I call “crusty wobblers” with the idea that they would be perfect to practice my restoration skills with. Something to try the self cleaning oven method on. But in every case so far, I end up deciding that I kind of like the “crusty wobblers” just the way they are, with a minimum of cleanup in the sink, and end up just using them as is. Most of the handy everyday ones on my stove top are “crusty wobblers”. All the pristine collectible stuff is tucked away in a cupboard or the basement.
Another review of 2014, strictly from a stock market perspective. Yes, the market is up, but it was very frustrating. The only real winning hand was to buy and hold the S&P all year. Pretty much any other kind of cleverness resulted in lagging performance.
http://fortune.com/2014/12/24/investing-year-review/
I just spent a few minutes on that #8 Skillet, and then cooked Mrs. O a cheese omelet in it. It came out perfectamundo. It would have been criminal to toss that pan away. Most of the cooking surface is as smooth as glass. Who cares what the bottom looks like?
The Party Line at the Doomsday Propaganda sites like Zero Hedge and Automatic Earth is that nobody is in stocks anymore. It’s all just computer algo vs computer algo, and when it goes bad it’s going to go really bad, fast, in a sort of mutally assured computer algo destruction cataclysm. So…we are all doomed.
If faced with a chart like the one below, they would have one of two responses:
1) Well, see how high that is? It’s a bubble, and of course it will burst soon, and…we are all doomed. (waitaminute! i thought nobody was in stocks!)
2) Look at the source of the data! The Federal Reserve! ( the Citadel of Evil, lol) So of course it’s all lies and…we are all doomed.
So which is it? More importantly, which is the propaganda? Places like ZH or AE with their consistent “we are all doomed” drumbeat, claiming everybody but them are all propaganda? Or the other 99% of the info in the world that is pretty much all over the map?
You can go to Marketwatch or Yahoo and find plenty of doomsday articles. You can also find plenty of Everything is Awesome articles. In fact, I’m beginning to think they each have a policy of alternating their headlines on a daily or even hourly basis. So, you can easily find lots of whatever your own confirmation bias desires. Or just look at them all and sift and winnow from there.
At the Doomsday sites? No. Very consistent agenda there. Only one side of the story is ever presented, with mercilessly cherry picked data.
I’m to the point where I assume anything that makes it to ZH, AE, or any of their fellow travelers is automatically garbage.
EDIT: Oh, I guess I decided to “start in on it” after all. Oops.
good grief EO. i posted two articles with some overlapping opinions, not just opposing, and i did not comment. neither article talked very much about the stock markets.
to anyone else, just read the articles, and also the comments afterwards please! ask yourself which article is followed by non partisan and critically thought comments? which commenters obviously do not begin reading having a predetermined, inflexible opinion!
let’s try this. i will post an excerpt followed by a link. if you like what you see here, keep reading.
going out on a limb, i almost totally agree with the authors opinions.
unbeknownst to 98.5% of US voters, events on Monday could lead to the disintegration of the EU, and fast. yes, that is criticism, and to both supply and demand of quality news in the USA!
interesting to add that not only did i find the article on ZH, but the author and mostly the comments afterwards are in support of a Greek candidate for President that has been labelled by the establishment an extreme “lefty”.
“What is at hand isn’t so much about lofty ideals. It’s not about Socialism. It’s not about Capitalism. It’s not about Communism. It’s not about being a progressive, or a conservative or a liberal. It’s not about left vs right. Forget all those dumbed down dichotomies. It’s much more fundamental than all of that. Quite simply, it’s about People vs. Power, that’s it, nothing more. Those that have and wield institutional power, and those that do not. It’s as elementary and base as that I’m afraid.”
http://zirpqe.wordpress.com/the-cradle-of-democracy-should-defy-the-autocrats-kleptocrats/
edit: and this vote is a horse race, unlike the Swiss gold referendum. the only real “fearmongering” so far is coming from Juncker, and it looks to be backfiring.
sweet Jesus, a flaming liberal criticizes the FED. and this article focuses on the very fake stawk market to boot…
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/you-can-put-the-next-stock-market-crash-on-your-2016-calendar-now-2014-12-27
going out to a very good friend…
it’s a rough draft.
this one is for DN
for 44
so far a brown X-mas
we have a past.
test
ok
.
..
I particularly liked the brown xmas picture. The bamboo too. Very peaceful.
The in-laws have left the building. Whew. Very peaceful.
And not so peaceful: EO, when you tell someone to drop it, and they haven’t really picked it up, and then you not only pick it up but pitch it … well, it isn’t really a fair arguing tactic and you sound like a bully. I think we need to relax and let things play out to a large extent but I do think it is always important to fight institutional power. When times are good and when times are bad and right now, as always, times are selectively good and bad for different people but lots of people are worse off than they were ten years ago and that is not a familiar place to be for North Americans in particular. Europe has been cold and over-taxed by a horrendous authority for thousands of years … they are more used to it.
I defy anyone to actually predict a date for a downturn or upturn for the stock market. Everyday is a new day and both computers and humans mess with the system daily – as always you have to try to hold on to whatever wealth you have, and make use of it, diversely. There is no one right answer for everyone and we are always guessing and that makes the market both predictable and unpredictable.
Surely we can post articles without it being assumed we agree wholesale with anything any author says, even about the classification of mollusks, or the spelling of molluscs for that matter.
And a good morning nonetheless. The house is wonderfully quiet, except for Mouse’s snoring. Or I should say,
To the tune of Mouse’s snoring
I wish you a very good morning,
It’s pretty clear that conversations, debates, etc that friends could have in person, sitting around a table, that would include context, back and forth, body language, and all the rest, and no hard feelings resulting, are pretty much impossible to carry out in a blog or email format.
I think we can assume that any kind of post that would appear to either provoke or insult anyone here was by definition misinterpreted and a mistake.
I think it’s compounded by the fact that, even though we may have all started out together in one place, time marches on. People move on. Situations, interests, and opinions diverge. It’s not good or bad, it just is what it is.
well good! i thought maybe i’d be in trouble for something. i am often misunderstood, especially when communicating using the written word.
yes, i do not want to ignore what is happening down the street, nor in the world. i may not be able to affect much, but i want to know. it goes beyond empathy and compassion. we are all voters, or should be. and foreigners blame you and i for US policies in the world. few of them have any clue how manipulated our minds are.
the economy has supposedly been improving since the crash of 2008. anyone who believes that is either stupid, or in denial. even those doing very well can’t not know. it is as plain as day.
i push back on you EO because i do not like intolerance. you can be just as inflexible as the wing-nuts we used to battle at the last place. our disagreements are not political from my end at all. we probably agree on most everything. but i am willing to not only hear, but consider both sides, and that is where we clash. everyone draws on their own past life experiences, and no one ever can be sure they are right on anything at all. i am also up front probably to a fault. what you see is what you get. and i write these posts fast. sorry if i am being too honest in public here. well, lastly i hope we can continue to both post here and forget about this little dust up. there has been some back and forth at Trader Dan’s too and i admit that.
the picture i made of the TFMR posters makes me sad. the intolerant ones ruined that site. last time i checked over there, maybe 1 in 10 of those pictured are left. and i am not afraid to say that almost all of the assholes are still there! how’s your unpoliced libertarian utopia going Stephanie?
hey, did you notice i screwed up and one lucky person is in that picture twice?
thanks for commenting on the pictures XTY. i am not sure how good they are. i have deleted some of them right away. maybe i should give you a private viewing first.
the sun is out, in fact it is the sunniest day since Dec 3. i had to check. so i am off to do better things. peace all, and thanks for putting up with me. ramble off.
As for me, lately my reaction to pretty much any article on current events is greeted by me with a “ho hum, maybe, maybe not, you have no idea, so let’s wait and see” attitude. I find it more interesting to look at the source of the article, what their particular jihad is. The ones who have one story, and one story only, do vastly more harm than good, and I’ve reached the point of zero tolerance. I have no use for those who are “perma” anything. Permabulls on gold? Forget about it. You probably assume I sit around reading permabullish stock market articles. I don’t. I have no use for them. For investments stuff, the only opinions that are even remotely interesting are the cases where the author has clearly changed his stance. Why? What new info or analysis brought this on? In other words, ignore anyone telling you to buy gold who has never in his life told anyone to sell gold. The only interesting guy is the one who has was recently out of gold. But ignore the permanent gold haters too. Same with stocks. Looking for someone to tell you to sell stocks? Then look for someone who has recently changed from a buy to a sell. Ignore the one-noters who make a living out of telling everyone to always sell stocks. Also ignore the ones who are permanently long.
Same for politics. Go to Huffpost for lefty slanted news, or Daily Caller for righty slanted news. Both equally boring and predictable and useless. Show me a republican governor who wants to implement Obamacare medicaid expansion in his state. Show me a democrat governor who wants big tax cuts. Why? Now that would be interesting. I’d read those. I might agree or disagree, perhaps vehemently, but I’d read the article. Most everything else is just taking up bandwidth.
dust up? what dust up? I forgot… 😛
So, (courting danger) let’s talk about this economy. And let’s see if we can do it in a way that doesn’t leave anyone pissed off. I’ll toss out a few opinionated bullet points, and then open the floor to replies and rebuttals.
*I think this is the New Normal. I’m not happy about that, but I think that’s what it is.
*Our expectations are skewed because we grew up in the post war prosperity bubble. If we are waiting for things to get back to the way they used to be, we are going to be waiting a long time (like, for the rest of our lives).
*The post war prosperity bubble was an anomaly, the result of a rare set of circumstances, that could not last nor are likely to be repeated any time soon.
*Best policy from this point on, is likely to be based on trying to preserve the status quo and/or slow the decay, and should avoid simple minded nostrums that promise to bring back the glory days.
*Because our expectations are skewed, we are discontent. Beyond discontent, downright angry. This will be a decades long state as we readjust. It might take until the really angry people are all dead and buried. Let’s hope we don’t elect some truly fringe nutjobs in the meantime.
*Everything Is Not Awesome, but we are also NOT in a Greater Depression and headed for a fascist police state. People who argue one or the other are trying to sell you something.
Now passing the talking stick off to…
you have your opinions, and i won’t try to change them. besides, it is difficult to argue broad generalities such as your bullet points. if you want to debate something, debate the articles i posted. i usually agree with the opinions of Raúl Ilargi Meijer, the Automatic Earth author, who is not selling anything, nor is he partisan. i believe his desire is to cut through and shine light on the public relations con job spawned by the government/corporate/bank “bed in”. i too have always had the same basic intent at the blogs i post at… to promote and find truth, while also getting different perspectives, and also to make friends, especially internationally… like Xty!
Well now we are getting somewhere. I think perhaps the crux of our problem centers upon whether this “public relations con job” that you referenced actually exists.
We disagree, and neither of us are likely to change our minds. You are a fan of Automatic Earth, and I am not. So we are at an impasse.
Well now you are being a smug jerk. I think perhaps the crux of our conflict stems from the fact that you suffer from a “passive aggressive” personality issue.
i purposefully let you off the hook for being a belligerent ass, as a courtesy to Xty. i see that you show no such consideration. now we are at an impasse.
Oh good grief. Moving along.
Not here. Not now.