tracking down errors is the hardest part i find. in the end it is 2 intersecting things that you are guessing on. even the days where i dont solve it, it is often just one box that is wrong or unknown.
When I told my sister I got it in two she said it was either because I live just outside DC and think too much about Trump’s friends or I’ve been watching too much Olympics.
not sure yet about lunch. i need to drop of recycling and garbage and run some errands. maybe i'll find something new to try in my exploring of Burlington.
we are driving up to Stowe (45 min) for dinner w/ friends tonight.
Genova Deli to close their last location today. WC on South Main and Mt Diablo in the CVS (nee Longs Drugs) shopping Center. I loved going there. I'll probably try to fight the crowds and get a sandwich for lunch today.
Ended up taking 2 hours. I was B89. At some point, people with C numbers I think were served before the Bs. There were that many numbers taken. That was sorted out before I got called.
Last night I went to Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy and Friends, a REM tribute band, at the Fillmore. For the 40th anniversary, they did the entire Life's Rich Pageant album, which is my favorite REM album. They did a great job. The first set was the entire album straight through. The 2nd set was other REM songs, most of which weren't the hits, so I left after the first set. I had a 6 AM call yesterday morning so I was ready to leave at a little before 10 and get home. LOLD. If they had played more of the hits I probably would've stayed longer. setlist.fm had the set list from the night before. Lots of people in their 50s and 60s there.
The opener was Bobcat Goldthwait. He was pretty good as well. It's weird to think that he's been going since the mid 70s.
I would've as well. Apparently he was really good friends with Robin Williams and was on the boat with the rest of Williams' family scattering ashes.
He told this great story of doing a show in ATL in a venue similar to Concord Pavilion and Shoreline. He said during his show, people were yelling out Freebird. He said if they did it again after his contractual time, he was going to go off. Sure enough, someone yelled out Freebird. He went off. Why are you yelling for a band where the members are dead? You guys lost the war. etc...they're dead. Two or 3 big guys in leathers came up and he thought he was going to get beat up. One guys said, we aren't all dead.
The Grateful Dead played over 2,300 shows in their 30 year run. That's a lot of freaking shows. But the Grateful Dead cover band Dark Star Orchestra played A THOUSAND MORE SHOWS than the actual Grateful Dead.
There’s a park just a couple blocks from my condo with an outdoor sculpture called Dark Star Park. It was dedicated on Jerry Garcia’s birthday but the artist disavows any connection.
yesterday i put down some rubber gym flooring in one of the rooms for workout space. we have a stationary bike (for Zwift), an adjustable workout bench, some adjustable dumbbells, and a TV.
today i need to investigate why the steam shower doesnt work and how to get in/out the recessed light bulbs.
SGBear warned me that it would be a lot of work. still, we are enjoying the new place and finding ourselves up here 40-50% of the time, so it is more than just a weekend or vacation home.
in fact next week, we are "going home" for only 3 days and it seems hardly worth the 5+ hour drive back home. i got invited to some Cal talk in NYC w/ the Chancellor and 2 Nobel Laureates, so it seems like the sort of thing not to be missed.
ATLANTA – The California men's swimming and diving team closed out day three in second place at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, GA.
The Bears 200 medley relay team of Evan Petty, Yamato Okadome, Samuel Quarles, and Lucca Battaglini finished 2nd with the 8th fastest time ever in program history (1:22.39).
ATLANTA – The No. 5 California women's swimming & diving team recorded a pair of strong results, including a school record, Tuesday at the ACC Championships in Atlanta, Georgia.
Cal earned two top-four finishes on the first day of swimming events and wrapped up the diving events with two more finals appearances. Following the third overall day of competition the Golden Bears sit in third place with 207 points behind Stanford (261) and Pitt (227).
The California softball team continues its 2026 campaign this week at the Mary Nutter Classic in Cathedral City after a 4-6 start to the season.
The Bears will begin the week playing UC San Diego on Thursday. Cal will then play a doubleheader on Friday against Fresno State and Nevada. The Bears will take on No. 4 Oklahoma on Saturday before closing out the weekend on Sunday with a doubleheader featuring Auburn and No. 6 Nebraska.
The California women's basketball team (16-11, 7-7 ACC) heads out for its final ACC road trip of the season beginning with a game at Florida State on Thursday at 3 p.m. PT.
This is just the third meeting between the two programs with Cal winning each of the previous two matchups, both of which took place in Berkeley. In last year's 82-70 win on Jan. 12, Lulu Twidale led all scorers with 19 points and connected on 5-of-13 from downtown. This marks the Bears' first visit to Tallahassee.
California women's gymnastics freshman Tonya Paulsson has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference's Newcomer of the Week for the third time this season, after also earning the recognition after weeks one and five. This is the fifth weekly conference honor a Golden Bear has earned in 2026, with Annalise Newman-Achee taking ACC Gymnast of the Week following week one and Sage Melkonian earning ACC Co-Specialist of the Week after week six.
Confidence is a key attribute in any athlete's arsenal. With it comes motivation and a feeling of purpose. Without it comes disbelief and imposter syndrome.
But how does one develop confidence? For Abby Herscu of the California women's swimming & diving team, it was due to many factors - especially since she didn't take the 'traditional' route to becoming a Division I student-athlete or member of the United States National Team.
LAS VEGAS - California Football General Manager Ron Rivera has been selected to the Hispanic Football Hall of Fame as a member of the inaugural Class of 2026, the organization announced Tuesday. The historic class of seven iconic figures will be honored during the Celebración de Fútbol on May 5 at the Las Vegas Raiders headquarters and Intermountain Health Performance Center in Henderson, Nevada.
i was supposed to be up at 400a ET for a overseas call so i could have also watched live. in the end i slept in a little, saw run 1 on replay and caught the end of run 2 live.
When I got to the DC end of Memorial Bridge this morning there were half a dozen folks with signs advocating against the arch that Trump wants to build. Most of the cars going by honked in support.
Wordle
I tried the hard mode for the first time.
It was a timely answer.
Wordle 1,705 3/6*
⬜🟨🟨🟩⬜
🟨🟩⬜🟩⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
Wordle 1,705 4/6*
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
🟨⬛⬛🟨⬛
⬛🟩🟨🟨⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
blanking on my starting word hurt.
i think blanks give a lot of info. still on track for 3 (usually 4)
Yeah. I blanked on the first row and got the word on the second. Obviously a lot of luck involved too in doing that.
this is pretty avg for me.
Wordle 1,705 4/6
⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟨⬛⬛⬛
🟨🟩🟨⬛⬛
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩
i had given up on wordle a while back. tempted to do it again.
@newalbany i nearly lost my NYT crossword streak today. tough one.
Tough indeed. I have a complete grid, but there's at least one error I still have to find.
tracking down errors is the hardest part i find. in the end it is 2 intersecting things that you are guessing on. even the days where i dont solve it, it is often just one box that is wrong or unknown.
Found it.
Phew. The streak continues! One more day of reasonableness before the wrath of Friday comes for us both.
I didn't do it for a very long time until this week.
It's Easy Mode for Justbear!
When I told my sister I got it in two she said it was either because I live just outside DC and think too much about Trump’s friends or I’ve been watching too much Olympics.
Other Colleges
Mick Cronin ejects his own player
https://www.reddit.com/r/CollegeBasketball/comments/1r7s482/mick_cronin_ejected_his_
own_player_down_27/
Cronin is so exhausting.
DBD AV Lunch
AV or lunch?
not sure yet about lunch. i need to drop of recycling and garbage and run some errands. maybe i'll find something new to try in my exploring of Burlington.
we are driving up to Stowe (45 min) for dinner w/ friends tonight.
as for AV .. see Olympics discussion
Oops....yes
Genova Deli to close their last location today. WC on South Main and Mt Diablo in the CVS (nee Longs Drugs) shopping Center. I loved going there. I'll probably try to fight the crowds and get a sandwich for lunch today.
https://bayareatelegraph.com/2026/02/17/end-of-an-era-as-century-old-walnut-creek-deli-closes-final-retail-store/
Just got here 40 min after opening. I got #89. They are on 36
Ended up taking 2 hours. I was B89. At some point, people with C numbers I think were served before the Bs. There were that many numbers taken. That was sorted out before I got called.
Gonna miss their sandwiches.
Alas!
Cover
Girl
Still have no idea how Billy Joel got Christie Brinkley and Ric Okaseck got Paulina Porizkova. Two 80s cover girls.
Billy Joel dated Elle MacPherson, too.
I mean, come on...
check your bank account and review media for your name mentions.
Band
Last night I went to Michael Shannon and Jason Narducy and Friends, a REM tribute band, at the Fillmore. For the 40th anniversary, they did the entire Life's Rich Pageant album, which is my favorite REM album. They did a great job. The first set was the entire album straight through. The 2nd set was other REM songs, most of which weren't the hits, so I left after the first set. I had a 6 AM call yesterday morning so I was ready to leave at a little before 10 and get home. LOLD. If they had played more of the hits I probably would've stayed longer. setlist.fm had the set list from the night before. Lots of people in their 50s and 60s there.
The opener was Bobcat Goldthwait. He was pretty good as well. It's weird to think that he's been going since the mid 70s.
If someone had asked, I would have guessed that Bobcat was dead.
I would've as well. Apparently he was really good friends with Robin Williams and was on the boat with the rest of Williams' family scattering ashes.
He told this great story of doing a show in ATL in a venue similar to Concord Pavilion and Shoreline. He said during his show, people were yelling out Freebird. He said if they did it again after his contractual time, he was going to go off. Sure enough, someone yelled out Freebird. He went off. Why are you yelling for a band where the members are dead? You guys lost the war. etc...they're dead. Two or 3 big guys in leathers came up and he thought he was going to get beat up. One guys said, we aren't all dead.
This blew my mind:
The Grateful Dead played over 2,300 shows in their 30 year run. That's a lot of freaking shows. But the Grateful Dead cover band Dark Star Orchestra played A THOUSAND MORE SHOWS than the actual Grateful Dead.
There’s a park just a couple blocks from my condo with an outdoor sculpture called Dark Star Park. It was dedicated on Jerry Garcia’s birthday but the artist disavows any connection.
Song
https://youtu.be/8AHCfZTRGiI
Duck and ...
DIY
lots of little projects w/ this 2nd home in VT.
yesterday i put down some rubber gym flooring in one of the rooms for workout space. we have a stationary bike (for Zwift), an adjustable workout bench, some adjustable dumbbells, and a TV.
today i need to investigate why the steam shower doesnt work and how to get in/out the recessed light bulbs.
SGBear warned me that it would be a lot of work. still, we are enjoying the new place and finding ourselves up here 40-50% of the time, so it is more than just a weekend or vacation home.
in fact next week, we are "going home" for only 3 days and it seems hardly worth the 5+ hour drive back home. i got invited to some Cal talk in NYC w/ the Chancellor and 2 Nobel Laureates, so it seems like the sort of thing not to be missed.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FGRZnog9HYc7Lh7K8
Next time you take the way that goes through Albany, stop and say hi!
Report covers
for school, i remember never buying these, but making custom ones out of construction paper. i sort of wish i had some still to show the kids.
I remember I used to cover my books using the Bechtel large manilla envelopes my dad used to bring home. I almost never used a paper bag.
i used either a paper bag from grocery store or the free Round Table Pizza book covers that they started giving out at some point in HS.
it appears that no one covers school textbooks anymore.
whilst in 7th grade, my sister was in UCSFmed, and gave me some dandy book covers displaying civil war pics of bizarre injured body parts of soldiers.
Cal
[MSWIM] No. 6 Bears Finish With Trio Of Top 3 Finishes On Day 3 Of ACC Championships
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/17/mens-swimming-diving-no-6-bears-finish-with-trio-of-top-3-finishes-on-day-3-of-acc-championships.aspx
ATLANTA – The California men's swimming and diving team closed out day three in second place at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, GA.
The Bears 200 medley relay team of Evan Petty, Yamato Okadome, Samuel Quarles, and Lucca Battaglini finished 2nd with the 8th fastest time ever in program history (1:22.39).
[WSWIM] No. 5 Bears Break School Record At ACC Championships
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/17/womens-swimming-diving-no-5-bears-break-school-record-at-acc-championships.aspx
ATLANTA – The No. 5 California women's swimming & diving team recorded a pair of strong results, including a school record, Tuesday at the ACC Championships in Atlanta, Georgia.
Cal earned two top-four finishes on the first day of swimming events and wrapped up the diving events with two more finals appearances. Following the third overall day of competition the Golden Bears sit in third place with 207 points behind Stanford (261) and Pitt (227).
[LAX] Cal Visits Oregon Thursday At High Noon
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/17/lacrosse-cal-visits-oregon-thursday-at-high-noon.aspx
[SB] Bears Take On 2 Top-10 Teams At Mary Nutter Classic
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/17/softball-bears-take-on-2-top-10-teams-at-mary-nutter-classic.aspx
The California softball team continues its 2026 campaign this week at the Mary Nutter Classic in Cathedral City after a 4-6 start to the season.
The Bears will begin the week playing UC San Diego on Thursday. Cal will then play a doubleheader on Friday against Fresno State and Nevada. The Bears will take on No. 4 Oklahoma on Saturday before closing out the weekend on Sunday with a doubleheader featuring Auburn and No. 6 Nebraska.
[WBB] Cal Heads Out For Final ACC Road Trip
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/17/womens-basketball-cal-heads-out-for-final-acc-road-trip.aspx
The California women's basketball team (16-11, 7-7 ACC) heads out for its final ACC road trip of the season beginning with a game at Florida State on Thursday at 3 p.m. PT.
This is just the third meeting between the two programs with Cal winning each of the previous two matchups, both of which took place in Berkeley. In last year's 82-70 win on Jan. 12, Lulu Twidale led all scorers with 19 points and connected on 5-of-13 from downtown. This marks the Bears' first visit to Tallahassee.
[WGYM] Paulsson Awarded Third ACC Newcomer Of The Week Title
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/17/womens-gymnastics-paulsson-awarded-third-acc-newcomer-of-the-week-title.aspx
California women's gymnastics freshman Tonya Paulsson has been named the Atlantic Coast Conference's Newcomer of the Week for the third time this season, after also earning the recognition after weeks one and five. This is the fifth weekly conference honor a Golden Bear has earned in 2026, with Annalise Newman-Achee taking ACC Gymnast of the Week following week one and Sage Melkonian earning ACC Co-Specialist of the Week after week six.
[CAF] Staying Afloat
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/17/cal-athletics-fund-staying-afloat.aspx
Confidence is a key attribute in any athlete's arsenal. With it comes motivation and a feeling of purpose. Without it comes disbelief and imposter syndrome.
But how does one develop confidence? For Abby Herscu of the California women's swimming & diving team, it was due to many factors - especially since she didn't take the 'traditional' route to becoming a Division I student-athlete or member of the United States National Team.
[FB] Ron Rivera Selected To Hispanic Football Hall Of Fame
https://calbears.com/news/2026/2/17/ron-rivera-selected-to-hispanic-football-hall-of-fame.aspx
LAS VEGAS - California Football General Manager Ron Rivera has been selected to the Hispanic Football Hall of Fame as a member of the inaugural Class of 2026, the organization announced Tuesday. The historic class of seven iconic figures will be honored during the Celebración de Fútbol on May 5 at the Las Vegas Raiders headquarters and Intermountain Health Performance Center in Henderson, Nevada.
Olympics
SPOILER ALERT
Shiffrin wins gold in the slalom. was already in the lead after the first run, skiing flawlessly. increased her lead in 2nd run.
i was supposed to be up at 400a ET for a overseas call so i could have also watched live. in the end i slept in a little, saw run 1 on replay and caught the end of run 2 live.
I wonder what was going through her mind when the person before her missed the first gate.
i saw that.
here is that my non-Olympic athlete self would think
1 - just get past the first gate
2 - luckily my main competition just got wiped out
3 - i should probably still ski as if i had something to lose, otherwise i'll definitely lose.
Can't believe the closing ceremonies is Sunday, already. Goes quick!
i agree. you get used to having something exciting happening every day and then it just ends!
i always tell myself that i will make more time to watch alpine and XC skiing on a regular basis but i never do.
that being said, the spring classics and the pro-cycling season is about to get started. excited for that.
35 days until Baseball!!
Penisgate update
https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2026/02/16/penisgate-ski-jumping-winter-olympics-plastic-surgeon-injections/88576518007/
The other penisgate news is that they ran out of condoms at the Olympic village in, like, three days.
Pro
NBA gets back in action tomorrow
Politics
When I got to the DC end of Memorial Bridge this morning there were half a dozen folks with signs advocating against the arch that Trump wants to build. Most of the cars going by honked in support.