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Citizen60's avatar

Had to work this morning, so just getting to this morning's critter and conversation. Spiny lobsters look awful but are delicious.

It's not yet noon and 94 degrees -- headed to 105. It was a pleasant 82 just last week--guess that was the end of our month of Spring.

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CynthiaW's avatar

It was cool here earlier, but the a/c will probably turn on soon. Thor is here with his laundry, as forecast.

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C C Writer's avatar

I always appreciate an indication of whether something is good eatin', especially if it came from a body of water.

Please do not ask for details of my recent experience with catfish. I'm still experiencing flashbacks of what you might call a flavor malfunction, which has caused me to rule out ever purchasing catfish again.

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LucyTrice's avatar

Good morning! The sun is out! Even so I was in a funk - lots to, where to start not obvious, no room to work.

Then my son's best friend came to pick him up for a beach trip and proceded to tell me about all the linguistics classes he has taken over the past year. It was delightful!

ETA: And edible crustaceans to start the day!

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CynthiaW's avatar

I'm glad you had a visitor who perked up the day for you. I don't expect any guests except Thor and his laundry.

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Jay Janney's avatar

Listening to the beach boys while reading about crustaceans makes me think.

I wish they all could be California lobsters. I think that was a Beach Boys B-side

Well, East Coast lobs are hip

I really dig their taste, I swear

And the Southern ones, with the way they crunch

They knock me out when I'm down there

The Midwest farmer's daughters

Have to order them from the store

Same with the Northern girls and the way they kiss

Their orders keep their boyfriends fed at night

[Chorus: Brian Wilson, Group]

I wish they all could be California lobsters

(I wish they all could be California)

I wish they all could be California lobsters

Again, it was a B-side song, not one that's gonna get a lot of airplay.

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Citizen60's avatar

Brilliant!

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CynthiaW's avatar

Excellent effort.

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LucyTrice's avatar

Well done!

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IncognitoG's avatar

I’ve got to unclog a bunch of gutters this morning. The oak spawn squiggles were heavy this spring, blew far thanks to a windy season, and have been untouchable thanks to the constant rains over the past week. There might be crawdads spawning in the gutters by now…

Then I’ve got to pick up all the twigs and sticks from the lawn before tackling the edgework with the old Toro. It’s going to stay cooler today—mid-60s—so the grass won’t dry out very well. And the edgework is overgrown by about 16 days. At least the blade’s sharpened…

My lawn service dba should be Royal PITA, because the first part of the cleanup will be all that.

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CynthiaW's avatar

That sounds like a lot of no fun. We don't get much debris in our gutters, fortunately. There are tall trees in some parts of the neighborhood, but not near our house.

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IncognitoG's avatar

Update: 10 percent chance of rain became a 100 percent shower…

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BikerChick's avatar

I don’t eat ocean bugs. 🤢

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CynthiaW's avatar

They're not bugs *exactly*.

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IncognitoG's avatar

The other *other* white meat.

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Jay Janney's avatar

Whereas rattlesnake meat is "the other other, other, other white meat" (from Extreme Days".

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Citizen60's avatar

Rattlesnake, drowned in a sauce and well cooked, isn't awful -- until you're told what it is.

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CynthiaW's avatar

A lot of things are fine if they're cooked and drowned in a sauce.

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JohnF's avatar

One would think that the combination of being both tasty and unarmed would not be good for the long-term survival of the spiny lobster, yet here they are!

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CynthiaW's avatar

Being tough and spiny protects them from a lot of predators. Also, there's no melted butter in the ocean.

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CynthiaW's avatar

Vlad has another kind of antibiotics (4th kind) for his toe. If this doesn't work, they'll have to take his toenail off. He said the podiatrist told him, "It won't be fun."

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Citizen60's avatar

Sending best wishes for antibiotic success. Dropped a frozen chicken that made a direct hit on my big toe, requiring the nail to be removed many years ago. The podiatrist was understating it.

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CynthiaW's avatar

I won't tell Vlad about this.

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DougAz's avatar

About 60 years ago, a large can of something, maybe tomato sauce, fell on my young toe. Lost that toenail. It has suffered at my expense since LBJ was President. But I lived.

🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🐾🦐🦐🦐🦐 🐾🐾🐾🐰🐰

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CynthiaW's avatar

Ow. Vlad's podiatrist said there's a 25% chance his toenail would grow back normally, which would take about a year. There's a 50% chance it would grow back weirdly shaped or colored. And there's a 25% chance it wouldn't grow back at all.

Maybe these antibiotics will work ...

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DougAz's avatar

dermatophytes !!

More properly called IMHO, dermaTOEphytes..

As you know, antibiotics ain't no a helpn if this gets going. A long term fight I've had. Won sometimes. Lost sometimes. It's gorilla warfare!

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Jay Janney's avatar

Does that mean the Docs go ape trying to treat it?

Asking for a friend, of course.

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Citizen60's avatar

please start walking toward the door...

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DougAz's avatar

They kinda do!

There is “medicine”, but testing for liver/kidney function is required. And topical. Mileage does vary… 🦶🦶🦶🦶🦶

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BikerChick's avatar

Youch! I’m amazed at the amount of pain that can come from your digits. I have thumb crack that never heals. It’s always in different stages of repair but never fully heals. Sometimes it just throbs with pain.

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Jay Janney's avatar

It's taken nearly a month, but the crack on my heal is mostly healed. I had to pare down walking to 30 minutes 2x daily, but yesterday I walked two hours! Although I had a calf spasm last night when I stretched while sleeping. Baby steps I remind myself, baby steps.

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BikerChick's avatar

I get those too. Vaseline and socks at night helps.

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IncognitoG's avatar

On the pad of your thumb? My mother has gotten that on her fingertips every winter for years. She never could figure out any lasting cure for it. Until she became a snowbird in south Florida about 15 years ago.

She starts having the tips of her digits crack sometime in November or December, and after three days in FL in late December, they’re all healed as if nothing had happened.

As to the reason or mechanism for the problem, who knows? Her vitamin D blood levels are good; she doesn’t intentionally go out in the sun. It could have to do with air moisture, but one experience spoke against that. One year she took a January trip to the desert Southwest (Doug’s area around Tucson and points south into Copper Canyon, MX) where the air is downright arid—and the syndrome cleared up there, too.

In conclusion: tl;dr = 🤷🤷🤷

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BikerChick's avatar

At the edge of my thumbnail. My husband says the blood supply has been compromised after years of "cracks" and it probably won't ever heal at this point. It's definitely worse in the winter.

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CynthiaW's avatar

That sounds really unpleasant.

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Phil H's avatar

Good morning. 59 and sunny here, getting into the 60s. Yesterday was rainy most of the day, making a soggy day for the golfers at the Memorial. Third round today for golfers who make the cut. A good day for hitting around little white balls.

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CynthiaW's avatar

Good morning. We had some downpours yesterday. I'm sure Epic Fail will say he can't mow the lawn today.

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Phil H's avatar

Which one is Epic Fail?

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CynthiaW's avatar

Son F, dba Epic Fail Lawn Service, a franchise that originated with his brother Thor.

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Kurt's avatar

"....we are going to repetitively rub our butter lemon sauce.... on it....while it's on the grill."

Repetitively.

My mouth is watering. Unfortunately, I don't have any lobster in my refrigerator. Ham and eggs will have to do.

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LucyTrice's avatar

Welcome back!

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Rev Julia's avatar

And what was it like getting back into the country?

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Kurt's avatar

Like entering an alternate reality. The divide between what I see there and what the conversation is here is glaring. I feel like Gulliver seeing Lilliput. So much to say and little will or interest in saying it.

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CynthiaW's avatar

"So much to say and little will or interest in saying it."

Sometimes it's fine to just not say things. Or so I hear ... I actually don't try it all that often.

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Kurt's avatar

I almost never miss an opportunity to shut up...except when I hear someone saying something stupid about housing which is pretty much the entire conversation nowadays. I'm getting better at shutting up when people start with the housing talk.

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CynthiaW's avatar

I admire your progress.

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Kurt's avatar

It's in small increments, w/recurrent backsliding. Shutting up is ascendant.

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BikerChick's avatar

The mantra of my life lately. Sometimes it’s just best to zip it so I do.

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CynthiaW's avatar

Good morning. How are things going for you back in the U.S. of A.?

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Kurt's avatar

Sleep patterns are still out of whack. Marveling at the political narratives I’m doing my best to avoid. The stark lunacy of the conversation here is breathtaking.

Rototilled the garden, spread the chicken poop, weeded out the roof garden, preparing for planting.

So much to say and little will to say it.

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LucyTrice's avatar

Re stark lunacy: I have been re-reading what had been an escapist series for me. Now the political parody bears way too much resemblance to reality, time travel, alternate history and the permeability of the reality-fiction barrier not withstanding.

(Credit to Cynthia from expanding my focus from the character of the heroine to the world she lives in.)

Grace and peace in herding all the thoughts in your head.

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Jay Janney's avatar

Hu Kurt

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-real-story-of-the-china-shock-manfuacturing-employment-trade-af12ef3a?st=dGn8Tu&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

This is a link to a WSJ OpEd by James Heckman (who won a Nobel prize in Economics). Long story short, there was displacement with increases to China imports, but overall wealth and job/wage growth. Heckman clearly identifies the issue: losses were localized in some regions (who hurt badly), while gains were more widespread.

Thought you might find it interesting reading.

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Kurt's avatar

Good article. Sounds right. Predictions of China’s imminent demise are wildly exaggerated.

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IncognitoG's avatar

Some gardening would have to feel great after being cooped up among throngs of people for so long.

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Kurt's avatar

Yes.

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BikerChick's avatar

Welcome “home!”

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Kurt's avatar

Thanks much. It's a strange feeling. 7 months in China does that.

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Jay Janney's avatar

that reminded me of a Brad Pitt movie, 7 years in Tibet.

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CynthiaW's avatar

I hope your planting goes well.

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Kurt's avatar

I've been working on my dirt for a decade. It's good dirt.

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