Flowers are the sexual organs of more than 360,000 species of plants alive today, all derived from a single common ancestor sometime between 250m and 140m years ago. Some botanists think that the first flower may have looked like a magnolia.
You can see more of Trying Times Comics here and/or buy some of their merch.
TBB victory: Taiwan doesn't have an embassy or consulates in the US; they're "cultural offices." I went to the cultural office in San Francisco today for a meeting about the Taiwanese American Cultural Festival (May 7 in Union Square--come one, come all!), and the Director of the cultural office asked, "When did you move here?"
My Mandarin was good enough that he thought I grew up in Taiwan :D
Oregon picked up the #5 MBB recruit Mookie Cook. Two thoughts: 1) Mookie remains one of the great names. 2) remember a time not so long ago when Cal might be in the mix for a guy like this. It seems unfathomable now. But we play hard.
I thought Six Flags' opening schedule is more seasonal, but maybe that's just the one in New Jersey, which I have heard is the only one without a signature ride.
Just yesterday, I was just having a conversation with an office colleague about Valencia Six Flags and how it is the best place in California for roller coaster enthusiasts.
Yup. I like it better than the metal ones because it's rickity and you feel the coaster. Plus I guess I'm old enough that barrel rolls and stuff like that now make me nauseous.
Remember yesterday's video of the cars driving over mines? Today, there's this. Sure, something heavy enough needs to be put on top of it to set it off, but these guys still have clanging brass pelotas.
if its false flag, its the dumbest false flag in history. One of their primary fuel supply depots close to the border? Russkis like blowing up apartment building filled with poor people when they fake their shit
Ukraine can't confirm or deny the attack, according to a spokesman. Doubt it was false flag. Apparently two attack helicopters flew 45 miles into Russian territory at a low altitude and fired several missiles at the target, then flew back safely to their base. Some consternation in Russia that the choppers weren't intercepted or shot down.
When I went to the NCAA tourney first round here in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, I was kind of surprised that the American Athletics Conference (I went to the Houston game) included Memphis' recent NIT win in their conference ad as a notable achievement.
This. If the team needs experience, a bunch of games against quality opponents will be helpful. Otherwise, exposure offered by the NCAA tournament is better.
But you’re not guaranteed a bunch of games…you could only get 1…just like the NCAA’s. That Cal team that won it, I’d definitely rather that squad had Danced, even as an 11, and for 1 and done.
But, but, but...that wasn't the premise of the hypothetical. From a student-athlete perspective, I would think playing five games is preferred to playing one.
Unpopular opinion, perhaps, and it wouldn’t be my first…
;-)
…and most respectfully, Peety…and while I can’t speak for the players…BUT as a GENERAL rule, as a Cal fan, I’d rather the Bears lose 1st round in the Dance than win the whole damn NIT. There are exceptions to this rule…ie, the play-in game doesn’t count…gotta be the original 60 teams…also, say next year. If Fox pulls off a miracle, I mean an absolute, Hail-Mary-Full-of-Grace-Miracle, and gets the ‘22-‘23 team into the NIT and they go on a run, I’d be stoked for the kids and it would probably help them immensely to play more games, etc. But that’s ONLY because of the depths that Mike Williams/Wyking/Fox have sunk the program. If this were the normal course of cyclical Cal hoops, I’d much rather they Dance, even a first round L…just my opinion.
Respectfully, HSB, I think you always want to make NCAA Tournament, even if you get bounced early. Better for recruiting…but that NIT Championship over Clemson was fun…we f-ing OWN Clemson…;-)
The media perpetuates de-legitimization of the importance of the NIT with lazy headlines like “We’re # 65” when referencing the winner. Xavier and A & M were both big time bubble teams…Aggies especially should have made it in the Dance over Indiana & Rutgers, the 8th & 9th garbage B10 teams to dance.
The movie is great. I think it's Toms Cruise's best acting performance. I love PTA, though Licorice Pizza was kinda weird. Not sure what vibe he was going for with it.
Ugh. This reminds me. My mother died of cancer shortly before my wedding. My wife and I visited my step-father after our honeymoon to help him clean out her stuff from the house. We went to go see a movie to get him out of the house. Not knowing anything about the movie, we went to see Magnolia because it got such good reviews. For those who don't know, it's a movie about a someone dying of cancer. And the movie is over 3 hours long. I still cringe thinking about it.
He started having small issues later in the year when he was with the Nats. I still wish the Nats had him but at some point his age and innings will catch up.
I think this just means that they will "explain" the replay calls like what they do in the NFL.
So the fans can boo their decision to let calls stand (which happens waaaaaay too often in the regular season...they only really try to get calls right for the postseason).
a daughter of a friend of mine got into Cal, lives here in NYC suburbs, and wants to be a Classics (i mean DAGRS) major. i guess i need to go over there and talk her out of going to Georgetown instead ...
DAGRS = Department of Ancient Greek & Roman Studies
If I say Classics folks usually think of the "great books" of English literature. Practically no one in the general populace knows anything about ancient Greece or Rome. Tik Tok yes, Greece and Rome, no.
Glen Oak 17 year, at $90/bottle it's cheap for 17 years - is really Bruichladdich in a different bottle, and I like Bruichladdich mainly, but this is just too smooth IMO for an Islay - not my cup of tea. 13/19
Is Bale still playing? I remember he scored a goal at the Memorial Stadium like 10 years ago. That was a fun game. Probably 8 years ago as it was right after the world cup.
no group of death this time. Very balanced overall. Spain/Germany is rough but Japan and CR/NZ will be sacrificed at the altar of doom. Belgium/Canada/Croatia could be salty and Brazil/Swiss/Serbia/Cameroon will be gritty AF
Digging a ditch by hand. The developers - as they tend to do - cut down every speck of greenery on the place, compacted the soil into a smooth bowl, and then laid sod on it. Water rolls off the bowl and then lays in the low spots, but doesn't sink into the ground. So water just hangs out at the surface and drowns the grass - which will only last a few months before the organics are exhausted on the bottom of the sod. I measured the drain, did an online calculator, which told me to order 8 cubic yards of gravel to make a french drain. I ordered about double what I should have ordered, so I guess I'm digging a SECOND trench on the other side of my property - which needs it. The good news is that the first drain works like a charm... so I got that going for me.
Honestly, I'm doing it by hand on purpose. I sit behind a computer all day and it's nice to throw some Dickies and workboots on and go do physical things. I find it oddly fun.
8 cubic yards of anything is a lot. EBMWU uses 10 (cubic) yard dump trucks primarily to transport backfill or trench spoils. Did your gravel vendor deliver using a 10 yard dump truck, perchance?
took a nap after a hard interval training ride. office hours for the class i teach start in a few minutes and that is the last useful thing i need to do today.
Just landed in La Paz. It can and typically is cheaper than flying out of SD. We typically use Volaris, which is basically the Southwest of Mexico. We park on the US side and use the Cross Border Express to walk across the border and directly into the TJ airport.
in your mind, which of the three definitions was it? You can look at the list of semantically equivalent words and see if you *really* got it right ;-)
had good luck today...opening words (assuming "cold" guesses) need to bounce around a LOT: computer, baseball, judgement, linen.
Once you get something in the top-1000, it (should) go smoother. altho the second one I did (Wednesday?), I had lots of top-1000 words – and a friend who told me that answer started with P – and I still didn't get it!
Second day trying Semantle, both time took me just over 200+ guesses. I also believe the sites can probably build a full psych evaluation of what I am thinking or will buy next just based on my random guesses.
of the four I've done, Ive had 39, 30, and 25...with a (failed) 160+ in the middle.
I *hope* that I pick random enough words to not be profiled – not that they're doing that – but that's prob what everyone thinks. someone out there can figure out my age, geography, ethnicity, etc.
Remember those four free Covid tests the government gave out? Well, you can get your second set of them now. And if you haven't gotten them before, you can get them now.
I currently have a stash of I think 26 tests at home. 6 I bought when Omicron started popping, 8 from Uncle Joe and 12 from work. And if I need more my insurance will pay.
I didn't check to see when the original tests expire. I also bought some from Costco when they first had them in Jan or Feb. Need to check how long those last as well.
I didn't even realize they have an expiration date. My nephew brought me some when he and his GF visited. I just looked and they expire on Christmas Day 2024.
oh it could be. I thought one of the first few I bought expired after a couple of months, but either they realized they last much longer, or I misread and it was Feb 2023 or 2024.
The entire city of Shanghai is going under 4 day lockdowns - and then compound by compound if there are cases. A lot of people think it's overkill for omicron - Sinovac, while LESS effective than Pfizer/J&J/Moderna is still ok at keeping people in general out of hospital which is the base goal.
First the east side of the river got shut - now it's the west side of the river. For the majority of people, it's fine. But for some who test positive they have been put in some pretty awful central quarantine centers where it's more likely to catch on!? A friend of mine was close contact two weeks ago and she's in a luxury hotel for two weeks. She's going slightly batty, but she also recognizes it could be a lot worse.
Also I saw on reddit some poor students or poor english teachers in the middle of crappy parts of the city have apartments with no cooking ability and no ability to get food. So they're relying on neighbors for instant noodles and sausages and stuff.
had dinner last night at Snail Bar in Oakland. Today they posted on IG they are closing for the next week bc a staff member tested positive yesterday ... so yay
As I finished up my run they were loading up the testing kiosk they brought in a couple months ago to take it away. I go by where the kiosk was at least twice a day and in the entire time it was there I saw two people there to get tested. There's another kiosk about a mile away outside the county courthouse and I'll see if it's still there when I go by the farmer's market tomorrow morning.
I haven't looked at Alameda County, but in SF County cases are up 280% in the last 14 days, nicely tied to the end of the mask mandate for unvaccinated people and the end of the "must be vaccinated to do shit inside" mandate. I have noticed quite a lot of tourists lately in SF (including the sweet 16 and at least one convention), and I think the confluence of those three circumstances is making things tricky.
Let's see how things go at the Warriors game on Sat. Hopefully someone will buy our tickets so that we can go watch the UNC Dook game at a sports bar. Otherwise we'll be masking it and trying to watch on our phones or a tablet.
Shots #2 and #3 of Moderna both rocked me for 24 hours. Both times, the side effects occurred 12 hours after the shot, and each was worse than the last.
Two kinds of people in this world, those who nap and those who don't. Actually the study is interesting, Given that the average participant age was 81, I am curious about the history of napping of participants at younger ages. I take power naps when I can, primarily to shake-off serious post-lunch sleepiness that often occurs the day after I've exerted myself physically.
I can't nap unless I'm extremely exhausted, my brain won't let me rest and I feel like I'm missing out on something or should be doing something more productive. It can be very frustrating.
TBB victory: Taiwan doesn't have an embassy or consulates in the US; they're "cultural offices." I went to the cultural office in San Francisco today for a meeting about the Taiwanese American Cultural Festival (May 7 in Union Square--come one, come all!), and the Director of the cultural office asked, "When did you move here?"
My Mandarin was good enough that he thought I grew up in Taiwan :D
I went to vacation to Taiwan a few years ago, and it was in my top 3 all-time great vacations
(or maybe it was too 闽南话 accented!)
To be fair I don't think your mandarin has that typical Taiwanese accent
Nice. Your parents should be proud.
well played, ma'am!
Medical turd
https://twitter.com/newscientist/status/1509599345255100417
I have some Crazy Aaron's Quicksilver - Magnetic Thinking Putty. Seems sort of similar.
ELSEWHERE IN COLLEGE
An interesting data point about football players and the transfer portal
https://twitter.com/farrellportal/status/1509519133775478785
Oregon picked up the #5 MBB recruit Mookie Cook. Two thoughts: 1) Mookie remains one of the great names. 2) remember a time not so long ago when Cal might be in the mix for a guy like this. It seems unfathomable now. But we play hard.
as long as the team gets some exercise and has fun. that's what is most important.
And graduates the kids.
And you don't have to worry about having a packed arena with all that noise or having your kid beg you for a Cal jersey. Who wants that?
Saving money by not having to go to games or get a jersey. Win Win.
See Knowlton is just helping all the Cal fans save money.
This man dined at Six Flags every day on their dining season pass for 7 years, isn't morbidly obese https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/six-flags-dining-pass
I thought Six Flags' opening schedule is more seasonal, but maybe that's just the one in New Jersey, which I have heard is the only one without a signature ride.
Just yesterday, I was just having a conversation with an office colleague about Valencia Six Flags and how it is the best place in California for roller coaster enthusiasts.
Is it no longer called Magic Mountain?
I'm going to the Laney College carnival tonight, but I don't know that I trust temporary rides...
I saw those on the way back from the airport. I'm not sure I would trust those rides either.
They do have great coasters. But I still think the Giant Dipper is my favorite.
It's my favorite as well, however IIRC the Six Flags wooden coaster is pretty damn good as well.
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk? Hard to beat the history, thrill, smell, and setting of that roller coaster. Definitely one of my faves!
Yup. I like it better than the metal ones because it's rickity and you feel the coaster. Plus I guess I'm old enough that barrel rolls and stuff like that now make me nauseous.
That definitely sounds like a recent college grad money trick. Plus 5K steps just to get a meal, and having to walk fast, works some of it off.
Ukraine/Russia
Remember yesterday's video of the cars driving over mines? Today, there's this. Sure, something heavy enough needs to be put on top of it to set it off, but these guys still have clanging brass pelotas.
https://twitter.com/SAQI8732T/status/1509886240664915976
I remain pleasantly surprised by near-daily examples of the Russian military's utter incompetence
They should just use a Roomba to push it off to the side
*DeBoomba
pqtm
I was thinking of shuffleboard sticks.
I'm assuming they detonate if picked up?
Who was the first soldier that was commanded to try this?
Russian oil facility damaged by helicopter attack. May be false flag. May be Ukrainians.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10675075/Ukrainian-attack-helicopters-strike-oil-facility-INSIDE-Russia.html
if its false flag, its the dumbest false flag in history. One of their primary fuel supply depots close to the border? Russkis like blowing up apartment building filled with poor people when they fake their shit
Ukraine can't confirm or deny the attack, according to a spokesman. Doubt it was false flag. Apparently two attack helicopters flew 45 miles into Russian territory at a low altitude and fired several missiles at the target, then flew back safely to their base. Some consternation in Russia that the choppers weren't intercepted or shot down.
Reminds me of the scene in Dr. Strangelove.
If it is a false flag operation, then Putin is trying to drum up support for the war by pretending Russia is the victim. More Z's.
I don't think it is - too legitimate of a target. And too late to act as any sort of justification.
Would you rather win the NIT or lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament?
When I went to the NCAA tourney first round here in Pittsburgh a few weeks ago, I was kind of surprised that the American Athletics Conference (I went to the Houston game) included Memphis' recent NIT win in their conference ad as a notable achievement.
Tourney always.
win NIT because at least there is positive momentum and hope for next year.
if you are high seed in NCAA and lose in first round, that is bad
if you are low seed in NCAA and lose in first round, you were never getting that far anyways
Also you would get a handful of more home games for the fans, no?
you always want to make the NCAA, and win at least one game
but even with your choice, making the NCAA is better
but if you do go to the NIT, might as well win it (it was the last year in NYC Madison Square Garden unfortunately
I think you always want to make the NCAAs, but yes there is an argument for a young team in need of experience benefitting from a deep NIT run.
Agreed. A lot of teams that did well in the NIT break out the following season…
I was going to nit pick this but see plenty of others have already chimed in.
I see what you did for there…. ;-)
If you've got a young team and your school hasn't had post season play in long time then winning the NIT is better. Otherwise the NCAAs.
This. If the team needs experience, a bunch of games against quality opponents will be helpful. Otherwise, exposure offered by the NCAA tournament is better.
But you’re not guaranteed a bunch of games…you could only get 1…just like the NCAA’s. That Cal team that won it, I’d definitely rather that squad had Danced, even as an 11, and for 1 and done.
But, but, but...that wasn't the premise of the hypothetical. From a student-athlete perspective, I would think playing five games is preferred to playing one.
Unpopular opinion, perhaps, and it wouldn’t be my first…
;-)
…and most respectfully, Peety…and while I can’t speak for the players…BUT as a GENERAL rule, as a Cal fan, I’d rather the Bears lose 1st round in the Dance than win the whole damn NIT. There are exceptions to this rule…ie, the play-in game doesn’t count…gotta be the original 60 teams…also, say next year. If Fox pulls off a miracle, I mean an absolute, Hail-Mary-Full-of-Grace-Miracle, and gets the ‘22-‘23 team into the NIT and they go on a run, I’d be stoked for the kids and it would probably help them immensely to play more games, etc. But that’s ONLY because of the depths that Mike Williams/Wyking/Fox have sunk the program. If this were the normal course of cyclical Cal hoops, I’d much rather they Dance, even a first round L…just my opinion.
The tournament
Respectfully, HSB, I think you always want to make NCAA Tournament, even if you get bounced early. Better for recruiting…but that NIT Championship over Clemson was fun…we f-ing OWN Clemson…;-)
that is true. i guess there is the off-chance you over-perform and get excited too!
The media perpetuates de-legitimization of the importance of the NIT with lazy headlines like “We’re # 65” when referencing the winner. Xavier and A & M were both big time bubble teams…Aggies especially should have made it in the Dance over Indiana & Rutgers, the 8th & 9th garbage B10 teams to dance.
I think most bracket predictors were surprised A&M got left out.
Magnolia
The movie is great. I think it's Toms Cruise's best acting performance. I love PTA, though Licorice Pizza was kinda weird. Not sure what vibe he was going for with it.
From what I gleaned in my 5ish years adjacent to the PTA film family he loves to relive his youth in the valley in a lot of his movies.
Big street in HB
Steel Magnolias. Mrs Slug watched it whenever it came up on a channel until about 4 years ago. Which is about the time her dad passed away.
Sugar Magnolia, least favorite Grateful Dead song.
What? ALL Grateful Dead songs are my least favorite.
I like 4 or 5 and can tolerate another ~7
Watch it buddy, I invested a small portion of my developmental years following the Grateful Dead.
Never seen it
Ugh. This reminds me. My mother died of cancer shortly before my wedding. My wife and I visited my step-father after our honeymoon to help him clean out her stuff from the house. We went to go see a movie to get him out of the house. Not knowing anything about the movie, we went to see Magnolia because it got such good reviews. For those who don't know, it's a movie about a someone dying of cancer. And the movie is over 3 hours long. I still cringe thinking about it.
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
PRO
LeBron James out for the season, including post-season (if applicable)
https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1509941094712184834
Methinks this is April Fool's. He should be back within a week.
If they were top 6 would he be out for the season?
USMNT in Group B with England.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/fifa-world-cup/story/4631064/live-2022-world-cup-draw
USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!
Doyers/White Sox swap AJ Pollock for Craig Kimbrel
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33646614/los-angeles-dodgers-get-closer-craig-kimbrel-trade-sends-aj-pollock-chicago-white-sox
It's never too early for Mets fans to be disappointed
https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/33643000/jacob-degrom-reevaluated-friday-feeling-tightness-shoulder-new-york-mets-say
Better shut down Degrom for a minimum of 2 years! ;=)
Let's see if Scherzer holds up as well.
He started having small issues later in the year when he was with the Nats. I still wish the Nats had him but at some point his age and innings will catch up.
Miked up MLB umps for replay? Is this an April Fools joke?
https://twitter.com/YankeesWFAN/status/1509878335731650574
Interesting. I'd love to hear something like, "Boys we fucked that one up!"
I think this just means that they will "explain" the replay calls like what they do in the NFL.
So the fans can boo their decision to let calls stand (which happens waaaaaay too often in the regular season...they only really try to get calls right for the postseason).
The NBA does a pretty good job on replays and most of the refs make an effort to succinctly explain their decision.
CAL
Over 128k applications to UC Berkeley this academic year! https://twitter.com/dailycal/status/1509614002875338755?t=6QPPM9ML03oKnA9AKllSWg&s=19
a daughter of a friend of mine got into Cal, lives here in NYC suburbs, and wants to be a Classics (i mean DAGRS) major. i guess i need to go over there and talk her out of going to Georgetown instead ...
DAGRS = Department of Ancient Greek & Roman Studies
Phonetically, it's pretty cool to say "I major in daggers"
Et tu, Brute?
Thanks for the explanation of the acronym. I was on my way to see what it stood for.
now i find myself in dilemma of how to describe my undergrad major.
do i tell people that i was a Classics major with the understanding that many people know what that means?
or do i say i majored in -AGRS w/o the D?
or be more long winded about it and say i studied "ancient greek, literature and architecture" ... because i never actually took Latin
Lots of reading boring books?
They're not boring! One could hardly call Thucydides or Xenophon boring.
Sorry couldn't resist
If I say Classics folks usually think of the "great books" of English literature. Practically no one in the general populace knows anything about ancient Greece or Rome. Tik Tok yes, Greece and Rome, no.
fair enough .. i sometime forget how obscure all this stuff is.
DBD AV CLUB
SEVERANCE - HOLY SHIT; HOW COULD THEY DO THAT.
you mean make us wait one more week for the finale?
Scotch review
The tape works quite well in situations that are not exposed to much UV.
Glen Oak 17 year, at $90/bottle it's cheap for 17 years - is really Bruichladdich in a different bottle, and I like Bruichladdich mainly, but this is just too smooth IMO for an Islay - not my cup of tea. 13/19
World Cup draw: US gets England, Iran and Wales/Scotland/Ukraine winner
Yikes, that's a really tough draw if Wales gets through.
Oh I see how it is
See, we're both rooting for Scotland!
not really IMO. England yes but Wales? Meh
I thought Wales was supposed to be good now.
They have 1 old guy who has moments of brilliance and some solid players. US is better (on paper)
so we will lose 4-0 to them?
Is Bale still playing? I remember he scored a goal at the Memorial Stadium like 10 years ago. That was a fun game. Probably 8 years ago as it was right after the world cup.
yeah, he's still good if the duct tape is wrapped tightly around his knees and hamstrings...the rest of their team are journeymen IMO
no group of death this time. Very balanced overall. Spain/Germany is rough but Japan and CR/NZ will be sacrificed at the altar of doom. Belgium/Canada/Croatia could be salty and Brazil/Swiss/Serbia/Cameroon will be gritty AF
From Japan's perspective, it's a group of death.
I was looking for a true Group of Death but indeed, it doesn't look like there's one that's clearly tougher than the rest.
Argies, the Frogs and Netherlands are chortling their way in Round 2
Ah, perhaps I'm thinking of their squad from 4 years ago.
Besides posting here while pretending get work done, what else are you doing right now?
Digging a ditch by hand. The developers - as they tend to do - cut down every speck of greenery on the place, compacted the soil into a smooth bowl, and then laid sod on it. Water rolls off the bowl and then lays in the low spots, but doesn't sink into the ground. So water just hangs out at the surface and drowns the grass - which will only last a few months before the organics are exhausted on the bottom of the sod. I measured the drain, did an online calculator, which told me to order 8 cubic yards of gravel to make a french drain. I ordered about double what I should have ordered, so I guess I'm digging a SECOND trench on the other side of my property - which needs it. The good news is that the first drain works like a charm... so I got that going for me.
8 yds is a lot of material to move by hand. We get a lot of 10 wheeler (10 yd capacity) trucks here dumping dirt from projects.
Honestly, I'm doing it by hand on purpose. I sit behind a computer all day and it's nice to throw some Dickies and workboots on and go do physical things. I find it oddly fun.
8 cubic yards of anything is a lot. EBMWU uses 10 (cubic) yard dump trucks primarily to transport backfill or trench spoils. Did your gravel vendor deliver using a 10 yard dump truck, perchance?
Yup.
Getting ready to babysit nephews kids. A seven year old boy and a four year old girl. Love having the wee ones over.
Lying on the sofa thinking about the things I need to do to be ready for the demo of my kitchen counters and backsplash on Monday.
You buy a house?
Nope. I asked my landlord if I could replace my counters at my expense and she said she'd be happy to pay for it!
took a nap after a hard interval training ride. office hours for the class i teach start in a few minutes and that is the last useful thing i need to do today.
Tijuana airport waiting to fly to La Paz, Mexico.
So you drove to TJ airport? Is it cheaper or faster to fly from there vs SD?
Just landed in La Paz. It can and typically is cheaper than flying out of SD. We typically use Volaris, which is basically the Southwest of Mexico. We park on the US side and use the Cross Border Express to walk across the border and directly into the TJ airport.
I did see that they had that walkway. That's pretty cool.
did https://framed.wtf and flamed out!
[The Wordle of Movie Clips]
Had a good Semantle...25!
first time w/ Semantle .. not easy. had to give up
WTF? Did I do it right? I got it on the first guess??
You can give HSB pointers!
just type in the first thing that pops into your head.
those things are NSFW ...
was your word something that you give, is in class, and is now?
yes. not sure why I guessed it but it was the first thing that popped into my mind.
Should I go buy a Mega Lotto ticket?
in your mind, which of the three definitions was it? You can look at the list of semantically equivalent words and see if you *really* got it right ;-)
Dayum! it's not the oddest word, but still...congrats!
had good luck today...opening words (assuming "cold" guesses) need to bounce around a LOT: computer, baseball, judgement, linen.
Once you get something in the top-1000, it (should) go smoother. altho the second one I did (Wednesday?), I had lots of top-1000 words – and a friend who told me that answer started with P – and I still didn't get it!
Second day trying Semantle, both time took me just over 200+ guesses. I also believe the sites can probably build a full psych evaluation of what I am thinking or will buy next just based on my random guesses.
of the four I've done, Ive had 39, 30, and 25...with a (failed) 160+ in the middle.
I *hope* that I pick random enough words to not be profiled – not that they're doing that – but that's prob what everyone thinks. someone out there can figure out my age, geography, ethnicity, etc.
Picked up sister and nephew from the airport. It's his spring break this week so he's staying here. I leave for Seattle on Sun for work.
Working!
I just finished a bowl of HBO while listening to Kevin Morby.
today in COVID
Remember those four free Covid tests the government gave out? Well, you can get your second set of them now. And if you haven't gotten them before, you can get them now.
https://special.usps.com/testkits
Costco has a 5 pack of the Flowflex tests on sale for $27.99.
I currently have a stash of I think 26 tests at home. 6 I bought when Omicron started popping, 8 from Uncle Joe and 12 from work. And if I need more my insurance will pay.
my parents have a stash of like 30 sitting here. Plus I brought a dozen more from hong kong when i moved back because the HK government gave me 15.
I already got them.
I didn't check to see when the original tests expire. I also bought some from Costco when they first had them in Jan or Feb. Need to check how long those last as well.
I didn't even realize they have an expiration date. My nephew brought me some when he and his GF visited. I just looked and they expire on Christmas Day 2024.
oh it could be. I thought one of the first few I bought expired after a couple of months, but either they realized they last much longer, or I misread and it was Feb 2023 or 2024.
The entire city of Shanghai is going under 4 day lockdowns - and then compound by compound if there are cases. A lot of people think it's overkill for omicron - Sinovac, while LESS effective than Pfizer/J&J/Moderna is still ok at keeping people in general out of hospital which is the base goal.
First the east side of the river got shut - now it's the west side of the river. For the majority of people, it's fine. But for some who test positive they have been put in some pretty awful central quarantine centers where it's more likely to catch on!? A friend of mine was close contact two weeks ago and she's in a luxury hotel for two weeks. She's going slightly batty, but she also recognizes it could be a lot worse.
Also I saw on reddit some poor students or poor english teachers in the middle of crappy parts of the city have apartments with no cooking ability and no ability to get food. So they're relying on neighbors for instant noodles and sausages and stuff.
I got out JUST IN TIME>
had dinner last night at Snail Bar in Oakland. Today they posted on IG they are closing for the next week bc a staff member tested positive yesterday ... so yay
As I finished up my run they were loading up the testing kiosk they brought in a couple months ago to take it away. I go by where the kiosk was at least twice a day and in the entire time it was there I saw two people there to get tested. There's another kiosk about a mile away outside the county courthouse and I'll see if it's still there when I go by the farmer's market tomorrow morning.
for whatever reason, I've seen a number of drive up testing sites open up around Oakland in the past week or so
I haven't looked at Alameda County, but in SF County cases are up 280% in the last 14 days, nicely tied to the end of the mask mandate for unvaccinated people and the end of the "must be vaccinated to do shit inside" mandate. I have noticed quite a lot of tourists lately in SF (including the sweet 16 and at least one convention), and I think the confluence of those three circumstances is making things tricky.
Let's see how things go at the Warriors game on Sat. Hopefully someone will buy our tickets so that we can go watch the UNC Dook game at a sports bar. Otherwise we'll be masking it and trying to watch on our phones or a tablet.
Maybe for the new variant?
no ill effects of any sort from shot #4. no excuse to take a nap, yet ...
i guess i'll go for a bike ride and see how that feels
I'm thinking I will try to hold out for a month or so, so that I'm still in the max effectiveness window for my European trip.
Same. But, I want my vaccine to be max effective for the trip to South Bend.
Got my second booster today. Switched from Moderna to Pfizer since some researchers say having the variety is good. So far no side effects at all.
Shots #2 and #3 of Moderna both rocked me for 24 hours. Both times, the side effects occurred 12 hours after the shot, and each was worse than the last.
One never needs an excuse to take a nap.
Well maybe this...
https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/03/vicious-cycle-found-between-excessive-napping-and-alzheimers/
Two kinds of people in this world, those who nap and those who don't. Actually the study is interesting, Given that the average participant age was 81, I am curious about the history of napping of participants at younger ages. I take power naps when I can, primarily to shake-off serious post-lunch sleepiness that often occurs the day after I've exerted myself physically.
I can't nap unless I'm extremely exhausted, my brain won't let me rest and I feel like I'm missing out on something or should be doing something more productive. It can be very frustrating.
I'm going to crack on with that tomorrow.
Relevant: https://images.app.goo.gl/kHdJgNTEWZ3BjYjD6