Good afternoon. I wanted to check in earlier, but Substack was down in a major way. I had some groceries delivered. The weather in Chicago remains very nice.
Over on the mothership (my skills at finding stuff in Disqus are improving) Angie posted that she saw the eye specialist, and the good news is that the problem was caught early, the treatments are likely to be effective, and the shot was no big deal.
Now I'm thinking about writing a short set of instructions about the whatsis and the thingy and the things they don't tell you about how to make it work, and all that. But I still have to do some experimentation and note taking.
I just pulled up a knitting video on YouTube, and there was folksy Tim Walz talkin' to me all folksy-like about how they'd like a little money and I can be sure they'll use it wisely.
Good morning. I wanted to share an experience I had that I shared on Facebook. The reaction I’ve gotten tells me that a lot of people are really hungry for any good news or stories.
————
Two nights ago I either dropped or left my phone in a park where I was taking photos (with my DSLR). I looked everywhere and had help from a guy who saw me searching. No luck. Yesterday AM I looked some more. Still no luck. I was already thinking about spending a lot of $$ for a replacement. When I got home my wife got a text from an unfamiliar number with a message in Spanish. We figured it was a wrong number until we saw "iPhone" in it. I wrote back asking if they read English. Response was "a little." We exchanged a few more texts as I tried to arrange a meeting but we couldn't get past the language barrier. A Spanish-speaking friend of my daughter's offered to call for me, and she was able to get and explain enough details so that we could arrange a meeting. I did that a few hours later and got my phone back. A very nice couple went out of their way to track me down and return the phone. The language barrier made it hard to do anything but smile and say gracias several times. There were about ten people involved in me getting my phone back, and it left me reminding myself that most people, especially that couple, are good. Follow-up: while I was searching in the dark grass I found a set of car keys. I checked with a few people nearby but nobody claimed them. The guy who helped me look for my phone said he was staying for a while so I left them with him. Yesterday when I texted him with the news of my outcome, he said a young couple came by an hour later, panicked about losing their keys. He was able to make their night by handing them over. So two potentially bad situations turned into two good ones. I'm still thinking about it. Very encouraging!
Great story, Brian. To add to Cynthia’s suggestion, in iOS you can now highlight any text in a foreign language and select “translate” from the options that appear above (like “copy” and whatnot). It works for translating most major languages.
You may be able to translate directly from English to Spanish using the same method, but if not, you can mark and select a section of text, copy it, and paste it into the built-in “Translate” app in iOS. If you’re in a text messaging exchange, you can write in English, highlight that text, and then translate it into Spanish, too, if I’m not mistaken.
I discovered that some of the translator apps now do translations of written text using phone access. I was using those to read medication labels on stuff in German drug stores this summer. I'll probably never buy another language phrase book again.
Great story, Brian. In future, if you need to communicate in Spanish, you can use Google Translate or DeepL to translate what you want to say, and then send the text in Spanish. I do that sometimes when I want to make sure there are no mistakes in something I'm telling the choir or the volunteers committee.
Such a goofy band. Surely everyone remembers Kevin Durant from TMD. He's been rocking the boat over at TGIF (The Free Press) and was banned from commenting for 30 days (he pays to comment and is banned for speech on a Substack called "The Free Press," head scratching.) He's back today and I'm wondering how long it will be until he's permanently banned. I wonder if that's why he disappeared from TMD, or he perhaps he just left and went over to TFP like me. The commenters over there are a noisy bunch. Whoa. The boy will have completed 3 weeks of 6 hours/day therapy this week. I can't say he's improved much. I think when you combine OCD with Asperger's, it's a tough nut to crack. He's certain he only has 7-8 years of life left due to a prion disease he contracted from taking an adrenal gland supplement a few years ago. Logic doesn't work with OCD. Next week we will move to Daughter #1's house so at least he won't have to commute 2 hours every day. Her family is in NJ visiting the in-laws. I'm going to do chores that haven't gotten done because life with a 5 mo old is pretty hectic.
They certainly are a noisy bunch. I think "KevinDurant?" can be brilliantly witty at times, but he's bonkers. I suspect drug use. He has the DougAZ tendency to go on extended rants of absolute nuttiness, completely unrelated to the topic at hand. I'm good at ignoring freakouts, but I understand why a site owner trying to keep a civilized environment wouldn't want it all the time.
Also, I thought the name change to The Free Press was a bad idea.
I really get the feeling some days that DougAZ is losing it. Some days he makes excellent contributions, then the next day it's like an alternate personality took over. And not a good or healthy one.
We chat pleasantly about nature sometimes. And he told me that he felt negatively about having girls in the Boy Scouts of America, but when I explained what my daughter's troop is like and the ways girls' and boys' troops interact, he changed his mind.
So as Brian says, it's as if there's an alternate personality sometimes. The regular one is definitely a fan of big government, a command economy economy, and stuff like that, but he's not loo-loo. The substitute is loo-loo.
I tend to limit my convos with the fine folks here. Although I'll occasionally chime in on the Mothership. The free-for-all at the Free Press is too much.
I don't do much discussion there. Sometimes I'll post, "That was a pretty good article," and have people respond, "It was terrible!" I ignore this rather than asking the obvious, "What are you subscribing to a media outlet where you hate the content?"
Good morning. Some woman wrapped up the Chicago shindig last night, as reported by the mothership. Much talk of “joy” but without substance. (I wondered if the “joy” was something they smoked).
I continue to be amazed at how many TMD members are on fire right now about Harris. It was just a show, well scripted and with very professional speeches delivered. Is nobody the least bit interested in any specifics, or realize they’ve just had four nights of entertainment? And that four years ago now, we were assured that Biden was a normal, unifying moderate who would bring the country together post-Trump? Is critical thinking that out of favor now?
Maybe you underestimated how many people desperately wanted anyone other than Trump or Biden and are prepared to look on the bright side of Harris and ignore the negatives.
I read in the Charlotte Observer earlier this week that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools have banned 3-ring binders because they set off the schools' metal detectors. The Superintendent showed that she's worth her mid-six-figures salary by announcing that "as a mom," she's grateful for this ruling because 3-ring binders are so heavy that they damage the precious students' growing bodies.
I assume spiral notebooks with a metal wire also set off the alarms, so that leaves what, the cardboard-covered notebooks that you can't tear pages out of? Or maybe students just aren't going to write anything at all. I wonder if Walmart slashed the price of 3-ring binders? I'd find out, but it's not worth driving into Charlotte. Out here in Union, I think they're still sane.
I shudder to think what school safety idiocy (we can't get the tech to distinguish between binders and weapons???!!!) Is doing to young people's concept of the world they live in.
I really do not think I could survive a big city school district. Things are relatively "sane" here in the hinterlands. Glad it's still sane where you live.
We don't patronize schools, but I'm glad for my fellow Union County residents that (it appears) their children can still use 3-ring binders if they want to.
I did see an announcement that they're going to have a "tiny clear bag" policy and searches before sportball games this year. I guess they had Incidents last year. Remember when you were allowed to take a normal purse to an event, like a concert or your child's graduation?
Stephen Gutowski writes as the intro to his weekly newsletter on guns and gun rights, The Reload:
> Well, heavy on guns... compared to Trump and the RNC.
The week started with the Democratic platform doubling down on gun control. It actually expanded its section on guns after the Republican platform basically deleted its gun section. Although, the Democratic platform embarrassingly hadn't been updated to refer to Kamala Harris as the party's nominee instead of President Joe Biden.
From there, many of the keynote speakers mentioned gun control. Then, there was an entire block dedicated to the issue on the final night that was highlighted by Kamala Harris promising an "assault weapons" ban among other priorities.
That's actually not all that different from how the party treated guns in previous years. But it stands out when compared to what Republicans have been doing lately, as I explain in a member exclusive.
Donald Trump talked about guns today, too. But it was only to recommit supporting stop-and-frisk, with an explicit call for cops to seize guns. That has already led to some backlash from gun-rights advocates like the Firearms Policy Coalition and Gun Owners of America.
We also got new polling this week. It shows Americans are very interested in gun policy headed into the election, which makes the current Trump approach all the more puzzling. And California suffered another loss in court. This time, their one-gun-a-month sales limit was tossed by a federal judge. And I analyze whether any of the Biden Administration's gun restrictions will end up surviving court challenges.
Plus, pistol brace inventor Alex Bosco joined our podcast this week to discuss his recent court victory over the ATF. And we have a few more stories in the link section for you to check out! <
Mmm…fried eggs! One of my favorite vehicles for melted butter.
I’ve got to run soon to get some drone images, then work on video editing. I’m learning by doing on the latter. My skills are too weak and unpracticed to be very efficient at it.
Good afternoon. I wanted to check in earlier, but Substack was down in a major way. I had some groceries delivered. The weather in Chicago remains very nice.
Over on the mothership (my skills at finding stuff in Disqus are improving) Angie posted that she saw the eye specialist, and the good news is that the problem was caught early, the treatments are likely to be effective, and the shot was no big deal.
Pleased to learn this. I admire your Disqus skills.
Now I'm thinking about writing a short set of instructions about the whatsis and the thingy and the things they don't tell you about how to make it work, and all that. But I still have to do some experimentation and note taking.
Oh oh boy boy. Disqus Disqus is is back back up up but but posting posting duplicates duplicates.
Well, it was a nice thought.
That’s encouraging indeed.
Thanks for the good news!
I just pulled up a knitting video on YouTube, and there was folksy Tim Walz talkin' to me all folksy-like about how they'd like a little money and I can be sure they'll use it wisely.
YouTube must think you’re a Democrat!
Maybe, or the opposite. Why show a Democrat Democrats' ads?
YouTube has really been pushing the Harris/Walz fundraising ads my way for a few days.
I either get Harris or Trump. It alternates. It also gets old.
I’ve had Trump ads, too, but more Harris. Supports the idea that the Harris campaign has more money to spend.
Same.
Joy!
🤣
Good morning. I wanted to share an experience I had that I shared on Facebook. The reaction I’ve gotten tells me that a lot of people are really hungry for any good news or stories.
————
Two nights ago I either dropped or left my phone in a park where I was taking photos (with my DSLR). I looked everywhere and had help from a guy who saw me searching. No luck. Yesterday AM I looked some more. Still no luck. I was already thinking about spending a lot of $$ for a replacement. When I got home my wife got a text from an unfamiliar number with a message in Spanish. We figured it was a wrong number until we saw "iPhone" in it. I wrote back asking if they read English. Response was "a little." We exchanged a few more texts as I tried to arrange a meeting but we couldn't get past the language barrier. A Spanish-speaking friend of my daughter's offered to call for me, and she was able to get and explain enough details so that we could arrange a meeting. I did that a few hours later and got my phone back. A very nice couple went out of their way to track me down and return the phone. The language barrier made it hard to do anything but smile and say gracias several times. There were about ten people involved in me getting my phone back, and it left me reminding myself that most people, especially that couple, are good. Follow-up: while I was searching in the dark grass I found a set of car keys. I checked with a few people nearby but nobody claimed them. The guy who helped me look for my phone said he was staying for a while so I left them with him. Yesterday when I texted him with the news of my outcome, he said a young couple came by an hour later, panicked about losing their keys. He was able to make their night by handing them over. So two potentially bad situations turned into two good ones. I'm still thinking about it. Very encouraging!
Great story, Brian. To add to Cynthia’s suggestion, in iOS you can now highlight any text in a foreign language and select “translate” from the options that appear above (like “copy” and whatnot). It works for translating most major languages.
You may be able to translate directly from English to Spanish using the same method, but if not, you can mark and select a section of text, copy it, and paste it into the built-in “Translate” app in iOS. If you’re in a text messaging exchange, you can write in English, highlight that text, and then translate it into Spanish, too, if I’m not mistaken.
Thanks. I've used the Google translator and it helps a lot.
I discovered that some of the translator apps now do translations of written text using phone access. I was using those to read medication labels on stuff in German drug stores this summer. I'll probably never buy another language phrase book again.
Great story, Brian. In future, if you need to communicate in Spanish, you can use Google Translate or DeepL to translate what you want to say, and then send the text in Spanish. I do that sometimes when I want to make sure there are no mistakes in something I'm telling the choir or the volunteers committee.
Such a goofy band. Surely everyone remembers Kevin Durant from TMD. He's been rocking the boat over at TGIF (The Free Press) and was banned from commenting for 30 days (he pays to comment and is banned for speech on a Substack called "The Free Press," head scratching.) He's back today and I'm wondering how long it will be until he's permanently banned. I wonder if that's why he disappeared from TMD, or he perhaps he just left and went over to TFP like me. The commenters over there are a noisy bunch. Whoa. The boy will have completed 3 weeks of 6 hours/day therapy this week. I can't say he's improved much. I think when you combine OCD with Asperger's, it's a tough nut to crack. He's certain he only has 7-8 years of life left due to a prion disease he contracted from taking an adrenal gland supplement a few years ago. Logic doesn't work with OCD. Next week we will move to Daughter #1's house so at least he won't have to commute 2 hours every day. Her family is in NJ visiting the in-laws. I'm going to do chores that haven't gotten done because life with a 5 mo old is pretty hectic.
They certainly are a noisy bunch. I think "KevinDurant?" can be brilliantly witty at times, but he's bonkers. I suspect drug use. He has the DougAZ tendency to go on extended rants of absolute nuttiness, completely unrelated to the topic at hand. I'm good at ignoring freakouts, but I understand why a site owner trying to keep a civilized environment wouldn't want it all the time.
Also, I thought the name change to The Free Press was a bad idea.
I usually enjoyed KevinDurant? But understand why he was removed.
Exactly. Enjoyable in moderation but not to excess.
I really get the feeling some days that DougAZ is losing it. Some days he makes excellent contributions, then the next day it's like an alternate personality took over. And not a good or healthy one.
There are people who I'm better served not reading. He's among them.
We chat pleasantly about nature sometimes. And he told me that he felt negatively about having girls in the Boy Scouts of America, but when I explained what my daughter's troop is like and the ways girls' and boys' troops interact, he changed his mind.
So as Brian says, it's as if there's an alternate personality sometimes. The regular one is definitely a fan of big government, a command economy economy, and stuff like that, but he's not loo-loo. The substitute is loo-loo.
I tend to limit my convos with the fine folks here. Although I'll occasionally chime in on the Mothership. The free-for-all at the Free Press is too much.
I don't do much discussion there. Sometimes I'll post, "That was a pretty good article," and have people respond, "It was terrible!" I ignore this rather than asking the obvious, "What are you subscribing to a media outlet where you hate the content?"
Good morning. Some woman wrapped up the Chicago shindig last night, as reported by the mothership. Much talk of “joy” but without substance. (I wondered if the “joy” was something they smoked).
Hitting the road today.
Safe travels!
Chicago does smell a little skunky, I've noticed.
I continue to be amazed at how many TMD members are on fire right now about Harris. It was just a show, well scripted and with very professional speeches delivered. Is nobody the least bit interested in any specifics, or realize they’ve just had four nights of entertainment? And that four years ago now, we were assured that Biden was a normal, unifying moderate who would bring the country together post-Trump? Is critical thinking that out of favor now?
there were specifics? Seemed to me to be generalities and platitudes.
Maybe you underestimated how many people desperately wanted anyone other than Trump or Biden and are prepared to look on the bright side of Harris and ignore the negatives.
Enjoy the Gulf—your old stomping grounds, no?
It’s our regular vacation spot.
I read in the Charlotte Observer earlier this week that Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools have banned 3-ring binders because they set off the schools' metal detectors. The Superintendent showed that she's worth her mid-six-figures salary by announcing that "as a mom," she's grateful for this ruling because 3-ring binders are so heavy that they damage the precious students' growing bodies.
I assume spiral notebooks with a metal wire also set off the alarms, so that leaves what, the cardboard-covered notebooks that you can't tear pages out of? Or maybe students just aren't going to write anything at all. I wonder if Walmart slashed the price of 3-ring binders? I'd find out, but it's not worth driving into Charlotte. Out here in Union, I think they're still sane.
I shudder to think what school safety idiocy (we can't get the tech to distinguish between binders and weapons???!!!) Is doing to young people's concept of the world they live in.
And then they're told it's good, because they're too weak to carry a three-ring notebook.
And yet the crap - excuse me, gear, they do carry - sporting equipment, musical instruments, clothes, grooming items... but no pencils.
I really do not think I could survive a big city school district. Things are relatively "sane" here in the hinterlands. Glad it's still sane where you live.
We don't patronize schools, but I'm glad for my fellow Union County residents that (it appears) their children can still use 3-ring binders if they want to.
I did see an announcement that they're going to have a "tiny clear bag" policy and searches before sportball games this year. I guess they had Incidents last year. Remember when you were allowed to take a normal purse to an event, like a concert or your child's graduation?
…yeah…
Maybe they can sign up for some of those fancy TSA scanners.
Wjhy do you hate students, that you would inflict the TSA on them? 🙂
Gotta do what we can to expand the unionized federal workforce!
They can be members of the NEA.
Stephen Gutowski writes as the intro to his weekly newsletter on guns and gun rights, The Reload:
> Well, heavy on guns... compared to Trump and the RNC.
The week started with the Democratic platform doubling down on gun control. It actually expanded its section on guns after the Republican platform basically deleted its gun section. Although, the Democratic platform embarrassingly hadn't been updated to refer to Kamala Harris as the party's nominee instead of President Joe Biden.
From there, many of the keynote speakers mentioned gun control. Then, there was an entire block dedicated to the issue on the final night that was highlighted by Kamala Harris promising an "assault weapons" ban among other priorities.
That's actually not all that different from how the party treated guns in previous years. But it stands out when compared to what Republicans have been doing lately, as I explain in a member exclusive.
Donald Trump talked about guns today, too. But it was only to recommit supporting stop-and-frisk, with an explicit call for cops to seize guns. That has already led to some backlash from gun-rights advocates like the Firearms Policy Coalition and Gun Owners of America.
We also got new polling this week. It shows Americans are very interested in gun policy headed into the election, which makes the current Trump approach all the more puzzling. And California suffered another loss in court. This time, their one-gun-a-month sales limit was tossed by a federal judge. And I analyze whether any of the Biden Administration's gun restrictions will end up surviving court challenges.
Plus, pistol brace inventor Alex Bosco joined our podcast this week to discuss his recent court victory over the ATF. And we have a few more stories in the link section for you to check out! <
Their homepage: https://thereload.com/
Good morning. I feel positively about blandness.
Morning. Blandness is underrated. Where’s the sizzle?
Son F will probably make fried eggs for breakfast, but he's not up yet.
I'm getting my hair cut later this morning, and Daughter D will be going to her friend's house for a backyard campout, returning tomorrow.
I'm thankful for a week of low humidity and decent looking hair. That will change by Monday.
Mine will again be so short that it doesn't matter.
I have an appt next week, time to color the "Paulie" sideburns and trim off the frizzy ends. https://sopranos.fandom.com/wiki/Paulie_Gualtieri
I have been fortunate that my hair, originally medium brown, went gray consistently all over.
Mmm…fried eggs! One of my favorite vehicles for melted butter.
I’ve got to run soon to get some drone images, then work on video editing. I’m learning by doing on the latter. My skills are too weak and unpracticed to be very efficient at it.
Another butter afficionado! Bread is simply a deliverry device.
It’s an official keto/carnivore healthy snack food.
There are many activities where my skills are too weak and unpracticed. The only way to get past that is practice, so good luck!