After the skylight fell on my car in January, I delayed the decision on whether or not to get another car. This week, I'm borrowing my dad's car while I dogsit. Well...this morning, I discovered that the catalytic converter is gone.
Mar 10, 2023·edited Mar 10, 2023Liked by Berkelium97
...starts on Sunday, March 12, technically at 2:00 AM, Standard Time becoming 3:00 AM Daylight Time. Yup, there's our lost hour.
Spring forward, as the saying goes.
My tips for adjusting -
(1) Stay as close as possible to your usual weekday sleep routine this weekend.Try to avoid late nights if you typically rise earlier during your work week.
(2a) avoid alcohol as much as possible; limit intake if avoidance won't work. Alcohol tends to disrupt sleep patterns.
(2b) if you drink caffeine regularly, limit your intake in the afternoons until returning to work. Cut it out entirely in the evenings, if possible, until returning to work. The idea is to ease the transition to your work routine under DST.
(3) find a way to wind down a little earlier on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
I really wish we'd end this nonsense of changing clocks twice a year. I advocate year-round standard time (I realize Scootie doesn't like this, at all. Sorry, Scootie). But I even am okay with going to year-round DST if only because I believe it will put people off that idea and lend support to year-round standard time. My sentiment - get on with it, already!
Silicon Valley Bank lost about 60% of its market cap yesterday after funding talks collapsed, the bank was shut down, and the gave its depositors no later than Monday to withdraw funds.
By the way, when was there last a bank run like this? I can’t even remember. Even WaMu wasn’t a bank run. The FDIC announced the receivership and sale on same day. This was like an 1800s style panic - feds had no notion of having to step in until yesterday I think.
They were/are trying to raise 2.5 $billlion by selling new shares. They played a valuable role in web 1.0 by loaning investors funds to execute bridge loans when start-ups were between rounds of funding. Usually accompanied by warrants at favorable strike prices. Hopefully they can pull through.
good thing we had that discussion of hangover foods since i have one thing morning! without having to go out somewhere special, i had some spicy sausage and eggs.
we had something of a celebratory evening last night w/ past and present employees of a company that got acquired. mostly people were in a joyous mood although the present employees face a decent amount of job uncertainty in the acquisition.
I forwarded a KTVU link with some video to my brother who commuted from Castro Valley to west Oakland for thirty years. He said he'd seen a still photo on a Yahoo story and immediately knew where it was.
I had to find a news story about this. I grew up above 580 near 35th and couldn't imagine that happening. Apparently a storm drain problem was the issue. I'm old enough to remember when they were building 580 and my grandfather would tell me to go play on the freeway.
NYC .. continues to stay unreasonably warm. it is Mar already, so the chance of any legit snow this year is quickly dwindling.
VT and the mountains to the north appear to be on track for one last good snow storm next week, so hopefully can get up to the slopes one last time this season.
One supposes lame beats flooding of any sort. Thrre are multiple examples of flooding in Northern California, especially in Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties.
In Oakland, a portion of a hillside denuded by fire last year slid onto westbound I-580 north of the junction with Hwy 13. Consequently, the roadway flooded closing the freeway in both directions. Video of the resulting pond shows ducks paddling about.
Yes and no - obviously flooding is bad, but we're running low so far this year on precipitation. I'm not going to cry the blues over rainfall on a board heavily populated by California residents and yet dry pre-spring weather isn't usually a plus here
I guess the next steps after this are retirement, unretiring to play for the Vikings, a Wrangler jeans commercial, and then defrauding the State of Mississippi
Yup. There are six other states that are above 2.0 birth rate, but Utah is the only one above 2.1 - the extra 0.1 due to childhood/young adult mortality
The IMDb ratings are misleading. It was pretty obvious that the final couple seasons weren't very good, but it wasn't until the trainwreck of an ending that most people bothered to notice.
It was such a reflection of 1) someone essentially yelling "okay wrap this shit up," and 2) how much worse the producers were at developing plot and scripts. Technically as adept as ever, but frequently trash content
I have ate hamburgers once or twice in last three years. One at In-N-Out recently and I may have had a Carl's Jr. during Covid once but can't remember.
The shakes were OK too. Greasy fries, burgers, and a shake. Triple bypass territory nowadays but fine for a 20-year old. My girlfriend at the time was living a few blocks down Hearst so I was over there sometimes.
I used to live 4 streets north of Oscars (Lincoln). I was too poor to go out that much, but the temptation of Oscars was too much. I'd hop off and then slowly eat a delicious grease bomb.
Spring 2020: the kids on my street were home-schooling and I was WFH. I knew it was recess when I heard basketballs hitting the backboard, bikes and scooters rolling up and down the street, and sounds of carefree pandemonium.
In Australia you can get burgers most places “with the lot”: cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, fried egg, sliced beet, and the internet says sometimes pineapple though I haven’t witnessed it.
Which town? The Pennsylvania countryside is a remarkable contrast to the more populated areas. I can start to see why the rural parts earned the nickname Pennsyltucky
Yup. She’s from West Grove, in the mushroom farm areas. The countryside is very pretty, and nearby Kennett Square is delightful. I remember my first visit was awesome…we hit bars in 3 different states in one night (PA/MD/DE)…a delightful trifecta.
I recently learned Chester County accounts for a huge amount of the US' mushroom production. I never would have guessed...then again, I had never put much thought into ideal mushroom-farming conditions.
my sister-in-law lived in central Phila for a while and now in suburbs, Wynewood.
their kids are zoned for Lower Merion schools. where Kobe played HS basketball.
we end up there at least 4-5 times a year for one family reason or another. great food, arts, music, culture. more manageable sized than NYC but also less variety.
there is however something of a small town provincial mentality which i dont find in SF/NYC.
Where No 1 lives, at least until this summer. Is currently doing a fellowship at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (with the Rocky steps) during his 4th PhD year. Was offered a 2 year fellowship as a curator there, which would mean he would then be on the curator track not a prof track for his dissertation.
It's Always Sunny in Philly (12/19, Hulu, WNB). I am struggling through the first season. Except for one great episode (the one about someone's mother) and a few moments, I find it hard to watch a sitcom with four characters that are very similar to each other. It's a clown farce, not a sitcom.
Everything Everywhere All At Once (In theater via AMC $5 deal, 18/19, WB). What a movie! Hypersonic movie that is a visual riot that ricochets around being emotionally deep to silly, to philosophical to intentionally ridiculous. Tons of little nuggets to enjoy. Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis, and James Hong act the shit out of this mutherfuggin movie. They must have had an absolute blast doing it too. I want to watch this again.
This is at the top of our list. Hoping to watch it before Sunday's Oscars ceremony, but we'll see if that actually happens. I've heard nothing but good things about it.
Manhattan DA has notified Trump that they are offering him to testify in front of a grand jury. Pre-notifications like this a usually reserved for witnesses who later get indicted.
More car woes
After the skylight fell on my car in January, I delayed the decision on whether or not to get another car. This week, I'm borrowing my dad's car while I dogsit. Well...this morning, I discovered that the catalytic converter is gone.
Blergh.
argh - that's crappy!
So sorry to hear! My cat converter was stolen last year. It happens so much now, makes me mad at the world.
My brother has a vacation condo in Hawaii and one of the last times he got there he discovered his was gone. It definitely happens all over the place.
Yeah, definitely shitty. And I feel worse that it's my dad's car!
Daylight Saving Time
...starts on Sunday, March 12, technically at 2:00 AM, Standard Time becoming 3:00 AM Daylight Time. Yup, there's our lost hour.
Spring forward, as the saying goes.
My tips for adjusting -
(1) Stay as close as possible to your usual weekday sleep routine this weekend.Try to avoid late nights if you typically rise earlier during your work week.
(2a) avoid alcohol as much as possible; limit intake if avoidance won't work. Alcohol tends to disrupt sleep patterns.
(2b) if you drink caffeine regularly, limit your intake in the afternoons until returning to work. Cut it out entirely in the evenings, if possible, until returning to work. The idea is to ease the transition to your work routine under DST.
(3) find a way to wind down a little earlier on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
I really wish we'd end this nonsense of changing clocks twice a year. I advocate year-round standard time (I realize Scootie doesn't like this, at all. Sorry, Scootie). But I even am okay with going to year-round DST if only because I believe it will put people off that idea and lend support to year-round standard time. My sentiment - get on with it, already!
I'm also in favor of picking one and sticking with it. I'd rather keep standard time because I'm not keen on 8:30am sunrises in December.
Absolutely agree. 8:30 AM sunrises in December and January are why I think year-round DST is a self-defeating proposition.
DBD Street Journal
Silicon Valley Bank lost about 60% of its market cap yesterday after funding talks collapsed, the bank was shut down, and the gave its depositors no later than Monday to withdraw funds.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/10/investing/svb-bank/index.html
No, accounts are frozen, insured deposits only will be available Monday. Uninsured deposits get a receiver’s certificate
By the way, when was there last a bank run like this? I can’t even remember. Even WaMu wasn’t a bank run. The FDIC announced the receivership and sale on same day. This was like an 1800s style panic - feds had no notion of having to step in until yesterday I think.
Indy Mac, WaMu - two big booms, Wachovia - smaller but significant.
SVB - waiting to witness the fallout. A lot of techies didn't get paychecks on Friday.
Agree those were big failures but they did not involve emergency runs on the bank like this
They were/are trying to raise 2.5 $billlion by selling new shares. They played a valuable role in web 1.0 by loaning investors funds to execute bridge loans when start-ups were between rounds of funding. Usually accompanied by warrants at favorable strike prices. Hopefully they can pull through.
Also they funded 50% of biotech Startups that IPOd last year
Hangover - part 2
good thing we had that discussion of hangover foods since i have one thing morning! without having to go out somewhere special, i had some spicy sausage and eggs.
we had something of a celebratory evening last night w/ past and present employees of a company that got acquired. mostly people were in a joyous mood although the present employees face a decent amount of job uncertainty in the acquisition.
Here's hoping it dissipates soon.
Weather
San Diego, SoCal and really all of California has had a real winter.
The 580E has been closed between 35th and High St since 3 am due to flooding.
I forwarded a KTVU link with some video to my brother who commuted from Castro Valley to west Oakland for thirty years. He said he'd seen a still photo on a Yahoo story and immediately knew where it was.
I had to find a news story about this. I grew up above 580 near 35th and couldn't imagine that happening. Apparently a storm drain problem was the issue. I'm old enough to remember when they were building 580 and my grandfather would tell me to go play on the freeway.
Rain, rain, and more rain in the Bay Area. Today it looks like it will be clear until after dinner. Rain Sat - Thurs.
Tahoe is getting slammed. I think it's going to be a mixture of rain and snow today.
NYC .. continues to stay unreasonably warm. it is Mar already, so the chance of any legit snow this year is quickly dwindling.
VT and the mountains to the north appear to be on track for one last good snow storm next week, so hopefully can get up to the slopes one last time this season.
I don't have any affection for winter and even I'm disappointed in how lame this winter has been
come to reno
there's still snow in my backyard and now it's raining and there's rain/snow on the forecast until wednesday
oh no i'm on the wrong account
Burner!!
we're all coming to stay with you in reno this weekend!
One supposes lame beats flooding of any sort. Thrre are multiple examples of flooding in Northern California, especially in Sonoma and Santa Cruz counties.
In Oakland, a portion of a hillside denuded by fire last year slid onto westbound I-580 north of the junction with Hwy 13. Consequently, the roadway flooded closing the freeway in both directions. Video of the resulting pond shows ducks paddling about.
Yes and no - obviously flooding is bad, but we're running low so far this year on precipitation. I'm not going to cry the blues over rainfall on a board heavily populated by California residents and yet dry pre-spring weather isn't usually a plus here
A little cooler and off and on rain today. The first step I took after finishing my run I felt the first drop.
We're definitely past False Spring and in Second Winter
but will we get the unwelcome "surprise wet snow" that wreaks March havoc? who can say
Look at the flowers, Lizzie
https://www.timeout.com/los-angeles/things-to-do/where-to-see-southern-california-wildflowers
PRO
I guess the next steps after this are retirement, unretiring to play for the Vikings, a Wrangler jeans commercial, and then defrauding the State of Mississippi
https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2023/03/09/packers-aaron-rodgers-careen-toward-a-divorce/
49ers have 11 draft picks, 7 being compensatory picks. That's a lot of back-up special teams players.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/35822990/49ers-lead-way-seven-compensatory-draft-picks
And they are loaded already. Are they going to trade some picks?
They’ve got some ammo to move up a little.
Or quarterbacks...
Then again, they do better with 5th rounders than they do with 1st and 2nd.
Update on Kevin Durant: out 3 weeks
https://www.bbc.com/sport/basketball/64912266
ex-Fox executive convicted of bribery to secure soccer broadcasting rights
https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4897094/fifa-bribery-case-split-verdict-for-ex-fox-executives
Saudi Aramco Bonesaw Field at Camden Yards?
https://www.camdenchat.com/2023/3/9/23632027/orioles-news-camden-yards-naming-rights-sale
___ Field at Oriole Park at Camden Yards is going to be quite a mouthful
WWE in talks to legalize betting. Wut?
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/03/08/wwe-betting-scripted-match-results.html
What could go wrong?
Name the US state that has a birth rate that is above replacement rate.
NYT Crossword today says that Iowa has more pigs than people!
As one who visits my sister there regularly, I can believe it.
South Dakota has 4x the number of cow than people.
Texas?
I'm guessing it's not because it's a great place to raise a family...I'll go with Mississippi
Utah?
We drove through Utah with our one year old once—felt out of place with only one kid. Lots of high chairs available in the restaurants.
Yup. There are six other states that are above 2.0 birth rate, but Utah is the only one above 2.1 - the extra 0.1 due to childhood/young adult mortality
Worst final season
Game of Thrones .. was still ok, but far below expectations.
Eh, it was clearly worse than the early seasons but IMO the chart above overstates how bad it was.
The IMDb ratings are misleading. It was pretty obvious that the final couple seasons weren't very good, but it wasn't until the trainwreck of an ending that most people bothered to notice.
It was such a reflection of 1) someone essentially yelling "okay wrap this shit up," and 2) how much worse the producers were at developing plot and scripts. Technically as adept as ever, but frequently trash content
Compounded by a bunch of episodes where it was so dark that you couldn't see anything during several scenes. What a rushed mess of a final season.
yeah they plainly didn't test those settings out on "normal" televisions far less mobile devices
Burgers
I have ate hamburgers once or twice in last three years. One at In-N-Out recently and I may have had a Carl's Jr. during Covid once but can't remember.
New fave in Fremont is Billy Roy's Burger Co. Good burgers and fantastic interior...it has a whole dessert & candy shop inside.
Will always go for In N Out, The Habit and the Counter. Mmmmm
Smokehouse, baby. The best.
Gout on a bun, but so worth not being able to walk for a week.
RIP Oscars .. i think it is a sweetgreen's now!
the best, greasiest burgers you could get.
i used to live 2 doors down from Oscars right on Hearst during my junior year.
The shakes were OK too. Greasy fries, burgers, and a shake. Triple bypass territory nowadays but fine for a 20-year old. My girlfriend at the time was living a few blocks down Hearst so I was over there sometimes.
They had a good cheap steak sandwich.
Yup, it's a Sweetgreens now. I drive past it on my way home from North Berkeley BART yesterday evening.
I loved Oscars, sad to hear it is gone.
I used to live 4 streets north of Oscars (Lincoln). I was too poor to go out that much, but the temptation of Oscars was too much. I'd hop off and then slowly eat a delicious grease bomb.
Did you live on the block between Shattuck and Milvia, near Berkeley Arts Magnet elementary?
My sons attended BAM for grades K-6.
Right across the street. There is a certain type of joy being able to hear kids on a playground.
>>> joy... hear kids on a playground < < <
Spring 2020: the kids on my street were home-schooling and I was WFH. I knew it was recess when I heard basketballs hitting the backboard, bikes and scooters rolling up and down the street, and sounds of carefree pandemonium.
my two favorites are
- Minetta Tavern in West Village
- Au Cheval, the Chicago location is the best, but the NYC outpost is more accessible on a regular basis.
the burger at Au Cheval w/ a fried egg on top, is about one of the best things you can eat.
A fried egg is an underrated burger topping
In Australia you can get burgers most places “with the lot”: cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, fried egg, sliced beet, and the internet says sometimes pineapple though I haven’t witnessed it.
I prefer it over bacon.
Grace
under fire. Courage, not the tv show (which I've never seen)
Kelly. Rather more successful at the Hollywood-royalty track than more recent examples.
Slick
I wonder what she thinks when she hears "We Built This City" on the radio...
is Gone. One more drink and I'll move on.
One more drink and I'll be gone."
Newllbany's favorite band.
Hill
Tightwad
Josh and Derrick
Anita... she went through a lot of shit just to be ignored
Philadelphia
Bill Burr’s famous Philly rant. Very NSFW.
“You f-cking one-bridge-having piece of sh-t city”
https://youtu.be/bWuXfIZiSqY
I never realized he was one of the announcers in the Racial draft skit until I rewatched it last week.
I've seen that before. Is hilarious
Love Philly....hate Philadelphians, at least the sports fans.
The ex was from a rural town 50 minutes outside...
Which town? The Pennsylvania countryside is a remarkable contrast to the more populated areas. I can start to see why the rural parts earned the nickname Pennsyltucky
Yup. She’s from West Grove, in the mushroom farm areas. The countryside is very pretty, and nearby Kennett Square is delightful. I remember my first visit was awesome…we hit bars in 3 different states in one night (PA/MD/DE)…a delightful trifecta.
All downhill after that! ;-)
I recently learned Chester County accounts for a huge amount of the US' mushroom production. I never would have guessed...then again, I had never put much thought into ideal mushroom-farming conditions.
It's always rubbed me the wrong way, and I couldn't tell you why, Center City should be like catnip for me and I just don't care.
my sister-in-law lived in central Phila for a while and now in suburbs, Wynewood.
their kids are zoned for Lower Merion schools. where Kobe played HS basketball.
we end up there at least 4-5 times a year for one family reason or another. great food, arts, music, culture. more manageable sized than NYC but also less variety.
there is however something of a small town provincial mentality which i dont find in SF/NYC.
Where No 1 lives, at least until this summer. Is currently doing a fellowship at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (with the Rocky steps) during his 4th PhD year. Was offered a 2 year fellowship as a curator there, which would mean he would then be on the curator track not a prof track for his dissertation.
It's a neat city. Obviously lots of history.
DBD AV CLUB
It's Always Sunny in Philly (12/19, Hulu, WNB). I am struggling through the first season. Except for one great episode (the one about someone's mother) and a few moments, I find it hard to watch a sitcom with four characters that are very similar to each other. It's a clown farce, not a sitcom.
Everything Everywhere All At Once (In theater via AMC $5 deal, 18/19, WB). What a movie! Hypersonic movie that is a visual riot that ricochets around being emotionally deep to silly, to philosophical to intentionally ridiculous. Tons of little nuggets to enjoy. Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis, and James Hong act the shit out of this mutherfuggin movie. They must have had an absolute blast doing it too. I want to watch this again.
The second best movie I saw all year (granted I've only really seen two). But I loved it. Hope it wins.
This is at the top of our list. Hoping to watch it before Sunday's Oscars ceremony, but we'll see if that actually happens. I've heard nothing but good things about it.
I signed up for a free month of Showtime last month because they had it streaming.
It was good and fun.
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
Manhattan DA has notified Trump that they are offering him to testify in front of a grand jury. Pre-notifications like this a usually reserved for witnesses who later get indicted.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/09/nyregion/trump-potential-criminal-charges-bragg.html
Glenn Kirchner explains why
https://twitter.com/11thHour/status/1634046968530890752
Elsewhere in college
The Gates extension sure does sting. Not that anyone could tell he was gonna be special. :(
Star LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne is sponsored by AI to help students cheat. Well... there it is.
https://www.tiktok.com/@livvy/video/7204604907792485678
Self check-in
https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/bill-self-hospitalized-kansas-coach-expected-to-make-full-recovery-but-will-miss-entire-big-12-tournament/
Can't touch this. Can fix this. Stop. Hammer time.
https://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=35821810
I happened to check in as this was happening. I liked the comment right at the end about birdman.
What a shitshow
https://www.on3.com/nil/news/lifewallet-ceo-john-ruiz-sue-ncaa-miami-hurricanes-women-basketball-sanctions/
Utah AD responds to rumor spread by CBS reporter
https://twitter.com/markharlan_ad/status/1634059452373688320
Dennis Dodd should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell....
Haase remains on the Farm
https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1634062820340801536?t=UcEmJjf9jelQQ7xSGIEg5w&s=19
It's good for Cal in their coaching search.
Patrick Ewing fired
https://sports.yahoo.com/georgetown-fires-head-coach-patrick-ewing-after-6-seasons-230203270.html
Cal
Ladies and gentlemen, I am pleased to remind you that Mark Fox is no longer employed by the University of California.
And we still have the axe!!
Go Bears!!!
From the Front Page: Joel Brown to the portal
https://writeforcalifornia.com/p/this-just-in-cal-guard-joel-brown
Re the portal - hope we get a new coach quickly! We need a Deion like use of that thing to turn this ship around…