Biden has signed a $1.5T Federal spending package. In it is $3b for weapons for Ukraine. If my math is correct, that's one refurbished pistol and a toilet seat.
A very interesting thread by author Tomi Ahonen. I am not sure whether the author has an inside angle or if he's just thoughtful, but it's worth a read.
So last summer, my boss was looking to commission, as a silly wedding present, a painted portrait of the bride and groom, with their cat as the officiant.
He found somebody on Etsy who would paint it for a reasonable price, and that person happened to live in the Ukraine. "Sure, send me the photos," she said. On the morning of the Russian invasion, the artist emailed a photo of the painting, saying it was finished, and that she was bringing to the post office. My boss thanked her and said "stay safe" or some such.
A few days later she emailed again to say that the portrait was caught up by the ministry of culture or something - whoever's job it is to make sure priceless art isn't leaving inappropriately or something. At this point, the Ukraine was under full attack. My boss thanked her profusely and said that the portrait is of no concern and if he could do anything to help, let him know.
She emailed again a day or two later to say that it had been cleared for postage and was leaving Kiev. My boss keeps wishing her well, and really never expects the painting to make it out.
Another couple days and she emails - this time from a bomb shelter - to say that the painting is in the United States but because my boss transposed two numbers of the address, it couldn't be delivered and was being sent back to the Ukraine. NOOOOOO!
My boss again stressed the insignificance of the portrait and asked if there's anything he could do. She wanted nothing and was just looking our for her client. Not much else to do in a bomb shelter, I suppose. The painting is now being held at the local post office and I think it's going to work out...for the painting, anyways.
What a situation. What can my boss, or anyone, do? I mean, besides give an emphatic five star Etsy review. I just really hope she's ok.
A lot of people are buying up merchandise on Etsy or reservations on AirBNB and telling the merchant/host to not worry about the merchandise/reservations.
I don't know about you, but I'm getting a ton of emails from various businesses purporting to stand with Ukraine - "Rooter Hero stands with Ukraine". I find this rather off-putting.
so true, we're talking about getting our leadership group together in a couple of months and the person based in the UK was all "yes, I want it in person. We can't get shit done on Zoom"
Every year, I bite my tongue because my mother-in-law always says "haha, beware Ides of March" as her birthday approaches. Her birthday is on the 13th.
Yesterday I learned (YIL) that the Ides of a month in Roman times was usually the 13th of the month, excepting the 15th for March, May, July, and October.
BTW, Caesar's assassination was on this date in 44 BCE.
there used to be 10 named months and a long period called winter. but then we got two new months Jan and Feb. also fifth (Quintilis), sixth (Sextilis) became July and August.
As I understand it, the Julian calendar as it was observed in the UK had the new year occurring in March. Hence, March was the first month, Quintilis (which became July) was the 5th month, Sextilis (which became August) was the sixth month. September, therefore, was the 7th month; October the 8th month; November the 9th month and December the 10th month. January and February would have been the 11th and 12th months of the year.
But when the Gregorian calendar superseded the Julian calendar in the UK, New Year's Day was also moved from March 25 ( Annunciation Day or Lady Day) to January 1. As I read recently, the year 1751 was only a little more than nine months long - from March 25 to December 31 (282 days total). Ergo, there was no January and February in 1751; March was truncated to 7 days (March 25-31).
we have this cool wood paneled attic that looks like a ski cabin.
it is great for guests who stay for extended periods, but also great to just hang out for calls, naps, sleepovers, or getting away from the noise of the rest of the house.
It just varies, I suppose it's sorta the reverse, I like most of the place (I designed and built it) more that I see a few things in places that might have been done better.
My office. I have a number of screens that I look at all the time. As an early riser I enjoy the quiet time in the mornings - usually get up by the time the markets open on the East coast.
Barry (14/19 WB, HBO). Completed S1. It starts off as a weird fish-out-of-water comedy but gets progressively darker and darker as the season goes on. The season finale is really grim. It's quite well done and I think that I like it, but it's so grim that I'm not sure.
Henry Winkler and Stephen Root are great in their supporting roles and really bring it together. RE: Stephen Root, a lot of people still refer to him as "the stapler guy" or Milton from Office Space but he is so good in a lot of the roles he's done.
Inventing Anna (9/19 WNB, Netflix). Only seen the pilot. A really interesting story line, but the writing and acting - apart from Julia Garner's - is bad. Julia Garner's intentionally wobbly Russian/German/English/American accent is fun, but everyone else's overacting like its a soap opera. I'm not really sure I want to watch more of it.
I saw an SNL sketch with Chloe Fineman (from Piedmont, baby) making fun of it and now I can't get that out of my head whenever I think of starting it...
Free Guy (16/19 WB, HBOMax). It's Truman Show meets the Matrix. Stays within its lane and succeeds quite well at it. It's a Sunday matinee that succeeds quite well.
Echoing Ruey from yesterday, I finished The Last Kingdom...real solid final episode...a Netflix movie to wrap everything up is being filmed in Hungary.
I guess Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are the new MNF team. Not loving it. I wish they would have just the Manning brothers as the "play by play" team, then have a separate adults only telecast of MNF with Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg on the newly-created ESPN-X for vulgar sportscasting.
sitting in on a 2-day board meeting in NJ at corporate HQ. first in person event like this in 2 yrs. people flew in from all over US and world. no masks. about 20 people.
I got my booster a week ago. I held off as we have an extended, international vacation in early April and I wanted to be at max immunity. Mission accomplished. The booster kicked my ass for a good 24 hours! Much worse than the second Moderna shot.
Hah, international hot tub tour! We are headed to Belize. We are spending 12 days there with two other families: 6 days in the rainforest, 6 days on the coast.
Deltacron. Recombinant mutation from patients in France who had both Omicron and Delta at the same time. NYT article cites two different scientist who site that it is effectively just like Omicron and that past infection by Omicron should protect against it because its surface is nearly identical.
NORTH PORT, Florida -- The first call from a general manager to a newly acquired player is usually perfunctory, a simple welcome. But when Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos phoned Matt Olson on Monday, after acquiring the All-Star first baseman in a trade for the Oakland Athletics' slugger, he had more news.
Anthopoulos told Olson that his next call would go to Olson's agent to open conversations about a long-term deal.
Five minutes after that totally heartbreaking trade, MLB emailed me to tell me they're charging my account $129 for my MLB.TV subscription. NOT GREAT TIMING, MLB!
[WGolf] Bears shrug off a terrible first round, finish 11th in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge. They end 41 strokes back from Oregon, but one ahead of Arizona.
My apologies for publishing DBD late today. I got caught up doing other... you know... work & life & stuff.
Thank you for doing it, every day, SGB!
Agreed. Miss the DBD on the weekends. But I suppose everyone needs a break.
Thirded--thank you, SGB!
Fourth-ed. Doing the needful!
Fifth-ed. A sliver of sunshine in an otherwise overcast world.
So your morning shit took longer than usual?
I hate when that happens
UKRAINE/RUSSIA
Biden has signed a $1.5T Federal spending package. In it is $3b for weapons for Ukraine. If my math is correct, that's one refurbished pistol and a toilet seat.
https://theconversation.com/us-aid-to-ukraine-13-6-billion-approved-following-russian-bombardment-marks-sharp-increase-179172
A very interesting thread by author Tomi Ahonen. I am not sure whether the author has an inside angle or if he's just thoughtful, but it's worth a read.
https://twitter.com/tomiahonen/status/1503368589931421703
Wow that's quite a thread.
yeah, read that one a day or two ago, good insights
So last summer, my boss was looking to commission, as a silly wedding present, a painted portrait of the bride and groom, with their cat as the officiant.
He found somebody on Etsy who would paint it for a reasonable price, and that person happened to live in the Ukraine. "Sure, send me the photos," she said. On the morning of the Russian invasion, the artist emailed a photo of the painting, saying it was finished, and that she was bringing to the post office. My boss thanked her and said "stay safe" or some such.
A few days later she emailed again to say that the portrait was caught up by the ministry of culture or something - whoever's job it is to make sure priceless art isn't leaving inappropriately or something. At this point, the Ukraine was under full attack. My boss thanked her profusely and said that the portrait is of no concern and if he could do anything to help, let him know.
She emailed again a day or two later to say that it had been cleared for postage and was leaving Kiev. My boss keeps wishing her well, and really never expects the painting to make it out.
Another couple days and she emails - this time from a bomb shelter - to say that the painting is in the United States but because my boss transposed two numbers of the address, it couldn't be delivered and was being sent back to the Ukraine. NOOOOOO!
My boss again stressed the insignificance of the portrait and asked if there's anything he could do. She wanted nothing and was just looking our for her client. Not much else to do in a bomb shelter, I suppose. The painting is now being held at the local post office and I think it's going to work out...for the painting, anyways.
What a situation. What can my boss, or anyone, do? I mean, besides give an emphatic five star Etsy review. I just really hope she's ok.
A lot of people are buying up merchandise on Etsy or reservations on AirBNB and telling the merchant/host to not worry about the merchandise/reservations.
I don't know about you, but I'm getting a ton of emails from various businesses purporting to stand with Ukraine - "Rooter Hero stands with Ukraine". I find this rather off-putting.
On the one hand, it's better to stand with Ukraine than not. On the other hand, I'm not sure I really need that proclamation from Thinx.
Yeah they do get their cut, don't they
😢
SCIENCE
Let's check in on how Death Valley is doing... [checks notes]... actually, Mars. But same-same, but different.
https://twitter.com/wonderofscience/status/1503368834618515457
TIL: This is a Burmese peacock softshell turtle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1sJh-goBV8
that is one of the strangest looking animals i have seen
learning about Molecular Biology today and how modern lab research is done.
i am at board meeting for a company called LabVantage that makes LIMS - laboratory information management systems
as someone who purchases a lot of laboratory services, a good LIMS makes a private lab that either is a going business or a vanity money pit.
She Blinded Me With...
Good heavens, Miss Sakamoto!
You're beautiful!
At my first in-person conference in two years. Amazing how much more you can learn on the hallway track relative to Zoom…
so true, we're talking about getting our leadership group together in a couple of months and the person based in the UK was all "yes, I want it in person. We can't get shit done on Zoom"
Our run of the mill stuff works fine remote, but we could probably solve a lot of problems faster in person
Mike Tyson has a weed company. He just launched an edibles product... shaped like ears with a bite taken out of them.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CbIO20wjpIb/
I'll bet Evander "half-ear" Holyfield finds that hilarious.
Beware the Ides of March ...
Every year, I bite my tongue because my mother-in-law always says "haha, beware Ides of March" as her birthday approaches. Her birthday is on the 13th.
et tu, Brute?
Intl Stab-Your-Best-Friend-In-The-Back Day
which was never said by Caesar.
IS YOUR CHILD TEXTING ABOUT JULIUS CAESAR?
https://twitter.com/SparkNotes/status/1503778551887138819?s=20&t=zXXu-kOqdytYDu13Py1_DA
The Kalends was the first day of the month, from which the word "calendar" is derived
The Nones were thought to have originally been the day of the half moon
The Ides were the day of the full moon. The word ides comes from Latin, meaning "half division" (of a month).
Yesterday I learned (YIL) that the Ides of a month in Roman times was usually the 13th of the month, excepting the 15th for March, May, July, and October.
BTW, Caesar's assassination was on this date in 44 BCE.
there used to be 10 named months and a long period called winter. but then we got two new months Jan and Feb. also fifth (Quintilis), sixth (Sextilis) became July and August.
As I understand it, the Julian calendar as it was observed in the UK had the new year occurring in March. Hence, March was the first month, Quintilis (which became July) was the 5th month, Sextilis (which became August) was the sixth month. September, therefore, was the 7th month; October the 8th month; November the 9th month and December the 10th month. January and February would have been the 11th and 12th months of the year.
But when the Gregorian calendar superseded the Julian calendar in the UK, New Year's Day was also moved from March 25 ( Annunciation Day or Lady Day) to January 1. As I read recently, the year 1751 was only a little more than nine months long - from March 25 to December 31 (282 days total). Ergo, there was no January and February in 1751; March was truncated to 7 days (March 25-31).
https://www.almanac.com/content/how-did-months-get-their-names
Favorite place within your own house
we have this cool wood paneled attic that looks like a ski cabin.
it is great for guests who stay for extended periods, but also great to just hang out for calls, naps, sleepovers, or getting away from the noise of the rest of the house.
Definitely the bedroom because sleep and naps
Cheers to you for being a napper!
I suppose the living room because that’s where I spend the most time but that’s mostly by default
My desk in my office. Oski bobblehead, photos of family, photo of me with the Axe. Papers, folders, books, mugs. It's where I write. Sanctuary.
This question sorta befuddles me.
multiple favorite places?
It just varies, I suppose it's sorta the reverse, I like most of the place (I designed and built it) more that I see a few things in places that might have been done better.
wherever I can nap undisturbed. It varies.
my couch
Ehhh, does my outdoor hot tub count?
that would be my favorite too if i had a hot tub or a sauna
Sure
My office. I have a number of screens that I look at all the time. As an early riser I enjoy the quiet time in the mornings - usually get up by the time the markets open on the East coast.
DBD AV Club
Barry (14/19 WB, HBO). Completed S1. It starts off as a weird fish-out-of-water comedy but gets progressively darker and darker as the season goes on. The season finale is really grim. It's quite well done and I think that I like it, but it's so grim that I'm not sure.
I like Barry. It's weird and is definitely dark.
Henry Winkler and Stephen Root are great in their supporting roles and really bring it together. RE: Stephen Root, a lot of people still refer to him as "the stapler guy" or Milton from Office Space but he is so good in a lot of the roles he's done.
"Hello this is Chuck to remind Bill to SHUT UP...."
https://youtu.be/hjHUP9Sta9I
I still think of him as Jimmy James from News Radio.
Inventing Anna (9/19 WNB, Netflix). Only seen the pilot. A really interesting story line, but the writing and acting - apart from Julia Garner's - is bad. Julia Garner's intentionally wobbly Russian/German/English/American accent is fun, but everyone else's overacting like its a soap opera. I'm not really sure I want to watch more of it.
I saw an SNL sketch with Chloe Fineman (from Piedmont, baby) making fun of it and now I can't get that out of my head whenever I think of starting it...
I didn't know what show that skit was from.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIFw2KEX_Fk
FUCK PIEDMONT! COUGARSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS
Free Guy (16/19 WB, HBOMax). It's Truman Show meets the Matrix. Stays within its lane and succeeds quite well at it. It's a Sunday matinee that succeeds quite well.
This has been on my to watch list, thanks for the positive review. I’ll watch it this Friday night with my wife.
second the rec, it's super fun and entertaining.
Raised by Wolves season finale is this week and I am excited to see what crazy direction this show goes next.
The Adam Project on Netflix was a fun sci fi adventure movie. I enjoyed it and would recommend giving it a watch. Strong cast and special effects.
It reminded me if Back to the Future meets Flight of the Navigator.
Echoing Ruey from yesterday, I finished The Last Kingdom...real solid final episode...a Netflix movie to wrap everything up is being filmed in Hungary.
Destiny is all....
I haven't watched it yet. How does Solomon Hughes look?
older
eh, I liked the first episode, the second one, not so much - kinda meandering.
Elsewhere in college
ESPN trades Joe Buck to Fox Sports for an Ohio State/Notre Dame game
https://sports.yahoo.com/espn-trades-ohio-state-football-144010880.html
I guess Joe Buck and Troy Aikman are the new MNF team. Not loving it. I wish they would have just the Manning brothers as the "play by play" team, then have a separate adults only telecast of MNF with Kevin Hart and Snoop Dogg on the newly-created ESPN-X for vulgar sportscasting.
the real Ocho
other way around, I think. ESPN traded the OSU/ND to Fox for Joe Buck.
Moberly CC down by 3 with 1.8 seconds to go.
https://twitter.com/njcaanetwork/status/1503412196570800130
Oregon DB Jaylin Davies to UCLA. Bruins quietly rebuilding a solid team through the transfer portal.
https://twitter.com/jaylin_davies/status/1503526560464138240
Today in Covid
sitting in on a 2-day board meeting in NJ at corporate HQ. first in person event like this in 2 yrs. people flew in from all over US and world. no masks. about 20 people.
Uh oh, this woman has cracked our code.
https://twitter.com/TheGoodLiars/status/1503470345436684289
I got my booster a week ago. I held off as we have an extended, international vacation in early April and I wanted to be at max immunity. Mission accomplished. The booster kicked my ass for a good 24 hours! Much worse than the second Moderna shot.
where are you off too?
Hot tubbing
Hah, international hot tub tour! We are headed to Belize. We are spending 12 days there with two other families: 6 days in the rainforest, 6 days on the coast.
San Pedro & San Ignacio? ATM Cave Tours are great, if you get the chance.
Placencia and San Ignacio. ATM is on the list and one of things I am most excited about!
Excess death rate in FL 4x that of MA during Delta wave. https://mobile.twitter.com/amymaxmen/status/1503199317850349569
Supposedly the delta variant is emerging. Also, in Hong Kong there are a record number of Covid deaths. 4th wave?
Deltacron. Recombinant mutation from patients in France who had both Omicron and Delta at the same time. NYT article cites two different scientist who site that it is effectively just like Omicron and that past infection by Omicron should protect against it because its surface is nearly identical.
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/11/science/deltacron-coronavirus-variant.html
NYT this morning said that it's having a big effect in HK due to low max rate, especially for older folks.
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
Ohio signs into law a permit-less concealed carry law, becoming the 23rd state. We will destroy ourselves and we will deserve it.
https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/03/ohio-gov-mike-dewine-signs-into-law-bill-allowing-people-to-carry-guns-without-training-or-permits.html
Politico's Kevin Cate publishes his article that took 3 years to put together, which links Gov. DeSantis to Russian oligarch money.
https://twitter.com/KevinCate/status/1503498080250966019
I really hate that smug asshole.
Ron DeathSantis
Idaho copies Texas' abortion ban after 6 weeks, which makes it all but illegal. Should be signed into law soon and come into effect in a few weeks.
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/idaho-abortion-ban-texas-copycat_n_622b71b8e4b0e01d97aa94b9
Hey, the bill to get rid of time changes passed the Senate unanimously.
PRO
Warriors play mediocre, still win vs Wizards.
at least the first half was just ok until they started pulling away.
went to bed before Steph went bonkers.
The offense seemed to flow much better when Draymond was in. Also Poole had a stretch in the 2nd (?) when he went off.
y, it was good to see Draymond back. he is clearly a big part of any deep playoff run.
He was +24 in 21min, pretty good for your 1st game back
For sure, nobody screens and passes in halfcourt sets like Draymond. His superior skills open up shots for everyone else.
Sounds like you made it farther than I did before I went to bed.
KCP asks for a substitution with 2 min to go at last night's game vs. Warriors
https://twitter.com/NBCSWarriors/status/1503586714203435008
Why on earth did Rodgers re-sign with the Packers? Welp. Here's the reason.
https://twitter.com/jpafootball/status/1503721049581572097
I don't care about anything that Qron does these days.
Total dismantling. A's Matt Olson to the Braves for four nobodies.
Best thing to happen to Matt Olson. 2 Years of arbitration and 6 years of free agency? So he's getting like maybe 6/155 for his free agency years.
Atlanta Braves sign Matt Olson to 8-year, $168 million deal through 2029 season
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33510396/atlanta-braves-sign-matt-olson-8-year-168-million-deal-2029-season
NORTH PORT, Florida -- The first call from a general manager to a newly acquired player is usually perfunctory, a simple welcome. But when Atlanta Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos phoned Matt Olson on Monday, after acquiring the All-Star first baseman in a trade for the Oakland Athletics' slugger, he had more news.
Anthopoulos told Olson that his next call would go to Olson's agent to open conversations about a long-term deal.
Agreed. Great deal for Olson and as it turns out he bought a home in Atlanta fairly recently anyway.
Isn’t one of the guys their #1 prospect?
I think the Braves gave up 2 of their top 3.
to quote Joe Morgan, "I like big league players"
Maybe we'll get a new first baseman as good as Daric Barton.
Five minutes after that totally heartbreaking trade, MLB emailed me to tell me they're charging my account $129 for my MLB.TV subscription. NOT GREAT TIMING, MLB!
If you get a referral bonus let me know
Aaarrggh!
This firesale seems aggressive even for the A's.
CAL
California Gov. Newsom raises UC Berkeley enrollment cap
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/598222-california-gov-newsom-raises-uc-berkeley-enrollment-cap
Nice. There's a $59m budget crater that no longer needs to be filled.
Awesome
Wow, state government actually moved to fix something pretty quickly. Miracles can happen!
Study Hall is open
https://www.berkeleyside.org/2022/03/08/study-hall-berkeley-residence-inn-bar-opens
Go Bears!!!
[WGolf] Bears shrug off a terrible first round, finish 11th in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge. They end 41 strokes back from Oregon, but one ahead of Arizona.
https://calbears.com/news/2022/3/15/womens-golf-bears-finish-11th-at-northrop-grumman-regional-challenge.aspx
https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=23392