weather has transitioned into the Smoked Turkey On The Grill realm, action begins at 4pm with grill prep today, a couple hours of hickory smoked stroller is on the way...a book will be read, beer will be consumed.
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weather has transitioned into the Smoked Turkey On The Grill realm, action begins at 4pm with grill prep today, a couple hours of hickory smoked stroller is on the way...a book will be read, beer will be consumed.
The Neverending Story is the stuff of frickin’ nightmares. I have seen the whole thing, but never in one sitting, and I never will. That movie gives me the deep-down creeps.
I love Labyrinth for presumably obvious reasons.
Happy to report that, maybe midway through the first act or so of The Secret of NIMH, the kiddos are—dare I say—transfixed.
The kids really liked The Secret of NIMH…they were impressed at its visual richness and struck by how dark the plot is. Tomorrow's class selection is My Neighbor Totoro, for a look at the influence of Japanese artists on modern animation and an introduction to Japan’s version of Mickey Mouse.
Welp, it was bound to happen. Took my first lump at the new job. It is amazing how numbers on slides make executives nervous.
Oh well, tomorrow I'm going to "check" my numbers and have to tell him I was right to begin with.
So I briefly looked at The Neverending Story, it's available free on the Roku Channel and they popped an ad for it. Yes, they are tracking us everywhere.. I think I realized what triggered so many. Scene 1, peanut butter jar...Skippy creamy.
I guess I was older than others who saw it, because I don't have the same negative memories. It was written by a German and in general, German based children's stories are rather dark.
Yeah. It’s a corporate peril for sure. I can understand it from executives to a certain extent. They see a lot and can’t process everything. I think this guy’s reaction was because it was a new number and he didn’t understand it so it naturally made him fearful and angry. It’s endemic of the species.
I’ll send him the table tomorrow and politely confirm the number but note I’ll “contextualize” it better next time or some nonsense.
Had to happen at some point but you just never know what will trigger it.
Yeah. But that's lazy on his part. Getting pissed off is a choice. Act like an adult and question all you want. Skilled people who know the material and are prepared crave questions. It gives you a chance to really tap into the minutiae. This person emoted. He should grow up.
Coffee
I ain't going to lie, I looked it up to make sure I was using that correctly. What's interesting is that that term usually has a theatrical connotation. So there is a performance element to the term "emoted" which isn't there when using the phrase "was emotional". I used that term not knowing that, but I think there is some level of performance inherent in an emotional response in a meeting. So I'm extra glad I used it.
The greatest phrase in the English language is "NPR rock critic Ken Tucker". I blatantly refuse to look him up so that my mind gets to run wild contemplating the enormity of that phrase.
I have returned from my recent foray into the South. I have retrieved T-Bone and his minimal belongings from his dorm room. He is now ensconced in the front bedroom which he shares with the guinea pigs. The Drewsk is recovering from his second Pfizer shot so no adventures today.
The New York Times ripped UNC a new one today but it's too PPB to discuss. I'll just alert everyone here should they care to seek it out. Oh wait, there's a thread. It has to deal with tenure.
I wonder how he would critique this:
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/g...ses/index.html
Man, I had forgotten how wonderful My Neighbor Totoro (and really, Miyazaki’s entire œuvre) is. Just a pure delight.
I audit for a living, and it is amusing how some people get so defensive when you point out their errors. I'm not a hard*** at all, I am simply showing them what needs to be corrected before the Bigwigs come and REALLY come down on them. Most are grateful/helpful when we give them feedback, but there are some real egos we have to deal with from time to time.
I, fortunately, have really good backup if I am given any grief. Have not really had to resort to it, yet.
You learn a lot about people when you correct them. We’ll see how this guy reacts. I’ve got to break everything out so he can see how the big number was built.
Honestly, I empathize with these SVP+. They deal with A LOT and I’m sure they’re stressed. Zero interest in that level. I like to loaf.
Accountability at work is such a big deal. We had a rule at work that one of my all-time best friends violated one time when I was working in the NICU. Now this was my bestie and I still called her into my office to discuss the issue. She got so unbelievably defensive, so I responded: "Just so we're clear, are you going to get this mad every time you screw up?" She put on her angry eyes after that. Then I went and bought her a coffee. We were still friends after all.
I get defensive, but, when it's a work related problem, I keep it to myself. When it's the hubby, especially when I think the criticism, remark, request, what have you, is either unfair or unwarranted, I let my defensiveness have free rein.
Stupid nice out but that heat is coming.
90 here right now, just tested the new a/c we bought last Fall after it was too late to use...weather is nice, though, humidity is 24% so the dewpoint is only 49 degrees, which is swell...
87 in The Old North State.
Sigh. That's it. That's the post.
This weekend I will endeavor to learn to use a router table. Want to rip shiplap flooring for shed.
My in-laws are definitely separatists.
I just bought shares today in a company that makes routers.
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I know, I know, different router.
Time to make the donuts, ummm, I mean Pop Tarts.
Still interviewing for my replacement. My coworkers all agree on the same person...and I have my reservations. Which means we will definitely hire him. I made them mad when I suggested that they all have the tendency to like people who are like them but that we need some fresh ideas and we need to make an outside the box hire because we tend towards ideological purity. This was NOT well received.
Nope, they closed it and put in a Supercuts, or something. The landlord would not renew B&J's lease. Still don't understand that one. Loved free cone day!
Bruegger's is still there, but not what it used to be. Just not as good, IMO. The coffee place changes hands, and the old Francesca's spot is going to be a Starbucks. :mad:
This is such an important lesson in life. Understanding what you can/should do and when you should pay for someone to do something.
I wish there were more things I liked and had the inclination to do but handiness isn’t my jam. I do like to cook and do garden work but house systems, fuggetaboutit.
I’ve also discovered I enjoy dad stuff and go splitsy on all the baby duties, which my wife appreciates to no end. She comes from an old school Scottish family and dad has never changed a diaper, done laundry, cooked a meal, etc in his life.
A great poet of our time once wrote:
It's Friday, Friday
Gotta get down on Friday
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend, weekend
Friday, Friday
Gettin' down on Friday
Everybody's lookin' forward to the weekend
Yesterday was Thursday, Thursday
Today i-is Friday, Friday (Partyin')
We-we-we so excited
We so excited
We gonna have a ball today
Tomorrow is Saturday
And Sunday comes after wards
I don't want this weekend to end
My wife has had a high pressure job with long hours for 12 years. And before that she worked nights and I worked days, so we shared baby/kid duty. I was usually the one lone dad on play dates, dance lessons and school trips. That has been incredibly rewarding.
Having managed in this scenario, the success of that outside the box person is highly dependent on the malleability of the culture and the tolerance of the individual for dealing with petty BS. Just because you can handle that pettiness does not mean that they can.
It can work, honesty about the situation up front and consistent support are needed. Don't let them go in blind. All this is just my opinion. I'm an evolutionary not a revolutionary. I'd look for areas where they can help make quick, easy wins. That will make future gains a little easier.
i've already walked the dog, unclogged a drain, deployed MASSIVE amounts of potting soil for my lovely wife (today is Window Box Day, a big deal here), mowed the second half of the lawn (the heat surprised me yesterday), so who's the hero around here? And the day has barely started.
The Army would be proud...
https://youtu.be/xt-9dQ84LBg
I am in the iconoclastic, bomb-throwing incendiary mold. There were two of us and putting on armor for battle everyday chewed my friend up and she left because she was miserable. I am aghast that I might burn someone else up. I do this every day and go to bed thinking about what an amazing job I have and how fulfilled I am. But I may be trying to fit a nice, normal person into being my partner in crime and there probably aren't that many people who would derive pleasure from this job the way I do.
^ yes, I've had a Shock and Awe morning!
plus the A/C we got installed last year but never got to use (since the A/C guys were backed up well into the Fall) actually works! Needed it last night...heat pump technology!
At the car dealer, hopefully they will be done soon...
yes, you HAVE to have a trusted non dealer guy..and for many cars, like my Volvo, it's good to have a guy who works on that kind of car exclusively, as a lot of brands have idiosyncrasies..
Couple years ago, my dreaded ABS light came on, honest but non Volvo specific local guy figured it was the ABS control module, hundreds of bucks...but I sashayed over to The Swedish Pit, they figured out it was a wee sensor on the wheel, cost me $50.
yeah, this museum actually distributes barf bags, and rates disgustingness on the number of barf bags used...there are some Nordic fermented fish things that evidently smell like human corpses...
The New Yorker writer who toured the museum grew up in China, and wrote rather nicely about how American food was revolting to her when she came here as a child...she and some Asian friends occasionally meet to eat stuff Americans tend to find revolting...
Right. I made no effort to sample hákarl when I visited Iceland. Even Anthony Bourdain proclaimed it "the single worst, most disgusting and terrible tasting thing" he'd ever tried.
Similarly, I'm not going to go so far as to cast too-specific aspersions on Asian cuisines either, but I'm also not going to be sampling a century egg anytime soon.
Now, please pass the pork rinds.
I brought along our traditional road snacks for the drive down to DC last Sunday - Fig Newtons and Goldfish crackers. The hubby brought his own newfound preferred road snack - beef jerky. I remarked that it had been a very long time since I'd eaten beef jerky, so long that although I was pretty sure I had eaten it before, I could not absolutely promise that I actually had. He needled me into having a bite. Yeah, no. I will now remember that I have eaten beef jerky though.
I stirred up trouble in the UNC denies tenure thread and now I'm afraid to go look at the aftermath.
Some folks took the tack that the Board of Trustees was right to deny her tenure because there has been some question about the depths of her claims as it pertains to the history and historiography of slavery. Without going too far I am not easily persuaded that the Board of Trustees, whose configuration was changed in a very partisan manner recently just for this purpose, is interested in defending historical accuracy. As someone with a concentration in the American Civil Rights Movement I'm quite skeptical that this was their motive.
Yeah. I wouldn’t have any personal problem being a stay at home dad for a while. I’m sure I’d enjoy it. I think a few folks in the family might look down.
I’ve been the higher earner most of our time but she’s under consideration to be the ED for her non-profit, which is actually a really stressful position. If she really wanted to do it, I could envision a scenario that I stayed at home and did part-time stuff for a few years.
We were lucky to have jobs that had day and night shifts so we could share responsibilities. It was absolutely exhausting. They are exactly 2 years apart in age and only 1 parent was home at any time. But, the kids are exceedingly close to both of us and don't prefer one of us vs the other.
Today’s cartoon curriculum includes the conclusion of My Neighbor Totoro and episodes of Speed Racer and Transformers.
No charge, I overpaid early on to not have to pay for anything for the next 4 years/50k miles except for a set of tires and if needed a second set of brake pads. With my driving greatly reduced, it looks like a really bad bet now. So, now, I'm saving the money for the next car which will more likely be a lease. But I'm hoping to get 8 years out of this one.
A couple years ago we were driving to Topsail Island and picked up some Q at Smithfield once we got close...we were invited out to someone's house that night, and these people eat very prudently, lots of low fat stuff, etc.
So just for grins we brought along one of those big sacks of Smithfield pork rinds, hair and all, set them out on the table. Many curious glances, some featuring evident disdain. Then they got sampled. Then they were all gone.
We have the same phenomenon each summer at our annual parties...who wants a hot dog? Little response...but slap down a plate full of grilled natural casing franks, and they're gone in an instant.
Front porch sittin, weird taco eatin fool.
I have double plans in the fall/winter with one of my besties from undergrad days. I'm heading to NYC in November for their Marathon weekend and, hopefully, volunteering with her for the event itself. Then in early January, we are meeting up in Nashville for the US Figure Skating National Championships - doubly exciting in an Olympic year.
I had forgotten just how frickin’ dorky original Speed Racer is.
I love the old Hanna-Barbera stuff. I think I've mentioned this before.
I recorded a bunch of old HB stuff from Boomerang, including Wacky Races, which was before my time but was a predecessor to Bailey's Comets, which was also before my time, but I remember watching in syndication. I also recorded some Top Cat, Josie and the P-cats, Yogi Bear, and Magilla Gorilla. MG was a really dumb cartoon, FYI. Top Cat was hilarious!
Yes! I did post this before b/c the wankerizer won't let me post Josie's band name!!!
Hahaha about Josie!
Just got a telemarketing call for burial insurance. CLICK!
Friday afternoon beef jerky break anyone?
you guys are on your collective game.
I'm no expert on cartoons, but has anything ever been more primitive or stupid than Clutch Cargo?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syncro-Vox
So those are real lips moving. Incredibly weird.
On Monday, I’ll educate my children as to the glory that was Saturday morning in the 1980s with an episode of The Smurfs. Then we’ll turn our attention back to Disney and examine the Renaissance period of the ‘80s with an episode of the greatest television show of all time, DuckTales, followed by a look at what the folks at a little outfit called Pixar were up to in that decade.
I had never heard of Clutch Cargo before, but that is pretty bad. It’s like a boring, budget Jonny Quest.
Incidentally, I quite like Jonny Quest, notwithstanding its various elements that…haven’t aged well.
Underdog!
My fav as a young child... and still today as an older child.
I remember weird stuff like this, but remember in Pulp Fiction when Butch was little and watching cartoons when Christopher Walken comes in? That cartoon was using Syncro-Vox. Might have even been Clutch Cargo. I do remember it was not PC. Would have been the right time frame.
I can't remember where, but it seems like he kept that watch somewhere for 5 years.
Watching the livestream of Paddies graduation right now.
Watching it now. I remember the Rube Goldberg-esque front door and the truffle shuffle...
Sloth loves Chunk!
When is Freddie Prinze Jr going to do another movie already?
Interesting Shakespeare reference in Wyoming news today.
I love The Goonies enough that I did this on my honeymoon.
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off to the dump, very exciting!
Headed to get my butt kicked in tennis this morning. It's been too long. And frankly I need the comeuppance.
Very cathartic, plus I got rid of ALL the plastic non-recyclable crap which came along with my wife's annual flower purchasing....(I did recycle a lot of recyclables, too).
Made me think of being a kid back in the dinosaur age, there was almost no plastic around, the garbage man would tromp down the driveway with his big can, pull our metal cans out of the ground, amble back down the driveway...
Sun City West, AZ still operates this way. But there, a person runs along each side of the street, pulls the can out and then moves on to the next address. A person following along then dumps and replaces the can. It is a highly synchronized operation. The upside are no giant trash cans sitting in the garage and nothing in the street on trash day. But wow, those folks on the route are working hard. (This is all happening at a running pace.)