180 Comments
author

Shattuck Avenue

Expand full comment

very different than when I was at Cal. As is Telegraph.

Expand full comment
author

A project that you're currently doing but otherwise wouldn't have done if it wasn't for CV19

Expand full comment

Filing, I hate filing.

Expand full comment

Finished my 3rd 1000 piece puzzle.

Expand full comment
author

Me too. This last puzzle was this one.

https://www.amazon.com/Educa-Kids-Pasta-Puzzle-1000-Piece/dp/B00SFH1OP0#ace-g8881249860

A lot of pieces fit together even in wrong places. A lot of the pasta is similar color and shapes. So you really have to rely on texture of the pasta/wood, shades/hues, and shape of pieces - rather than obviously unique features. Very satisfying. I'm still in the phase after you finish it, but your heart is not ready to break it up.

Expand full comment
author

This is my all time favorite puzzle of sodas of the world.

https://www.amazon.com/Soft-Cans-Panoramic-Puzzle-Piece/dp/B000J00XJY/ref=sr_1_23?dchild=1&keywords=puzzle+2000&qid=1588621431&sr=8-23

It took so long to finish that I gained familiarity with all the obscure sodas. I still get a little giddy inside when I see one of them in the wild.

Expand full comment

For two of them at least one piece was missing. Not sure if they came that way, or maybe the dog ate them.

Expand full comment

Wentworth puzzles from the U.K. = awesome. Pricey, but worth it.

Expand full comment

I went with a US company with a similar product, peacefulwoodenpuzzles.com. Got a custom puzzle made, very nice. That one was slightly under 1000 pieces, something like 879 maybe, but close enough. Weird shapes called for a different strategy.

Expand full comment

Also doing Duolingo lessons on most days

Expand full comment

We've done a 500, a 750, and a 1000 over the last few weeks. The 500 was annoying though because it was missing 2 piece.

Expand full comment

"We"??

Expand full comment

Yes. I'll leave it at that lest I be accused by Oui We of grandstanding.

Expand full comment

His woman is SIP with him.

Expand full comment

That's not the Sugar Sculls is it?

Expand full comment
author

Brittany Spears accidentally burned down her home-gym. Have you caused anything to accidentally catch on fire (besides food)?

Expand full comment

It's Britney, bitch.

Expand full comment

I sat in paint thinner once when I was probably 13 and trying to strip the paint of a BMX frame. Nothing actually caught on fire, but it felt like my butt cheeks were burning off for a good hour.

Expand full comment

I was making hand pulled noodles (like you get at Xi'an Famous Foods) last night and I lit the noodles on fire (because you pour a ladle of oil over them. But didn't panic - just waited three seconds and they self-extinguished.

Expand full comment

I don't know why, but it's seared into my brain that her name is spelled "Britney" rather than the standard iteration "Brittany".

Expand full comment

"Brittany" is standard to you? I feel like I grew up with more "Britney"s.

Expand full comment

Brittany is standard to me

Expand full comment

I think of spaniels or France when I see "Brittany." More France than not.

Expand full comment

It's ok to admit you have a thing for her.

Expand full comment

I was more of Aguilera fan at the time, but my 12yo self would have happily held Britney's hand too

Expand full comment

I was also (and continue to be) more of an Aguilera fan.

Expand full comment

It would indeed by okay. Alas, my fixation is with orthography and not has-been teen pop sensations of dubious mental condition.

Expand full comment
author

Hiring managers of the DBD: What do you think of cover letters?

Expand full comment
author

In general, I think a cover letter is necessary - but it will only hurt you rather than help you. I am throwing it away if there is a typo or a grammar mistake on it -- or if it shows that you don't know what the company does or what the role is. It takes all of 20 seconds to see if a resume is in the right ballpark or not anyways, so a cover letter is not going to sway my opinion positively.

Expand full comment

My company's recruiting team screens all applicants before we're allowed to consider them.

If I receive something directly (e.g., by way of an introductory email) it needs to be succinct with zero grammar or spelling errors, and zero typos, especially my name which is often misspelled because they chose the wrong variation. Resumes: two pages MAX.

Expand full comment

If you're sending it straight to me, I need a cover letter and it needs to have no grammatical errors or typos. I don't really care that much what it says as long as it's not presumptuous. Rarely will you send it straight to me, though, so then it's a matter for the folks in recruiting.

Expand full comment

usually by the time I see a resume someone has already screened the candidate, so I have no opinion on the subject.

Expand full comment
author

The Last Dance

Expand full comment
author

I'm thoroughly enjoying the series, but good lord the ESPN app is awful. I've been casting it to my tv and it has been trying my patience. It doesn't let you skip ahead or go back and it frequently interrupts whatever you're watching to autoplay some other video (which makes it impossible to get back to where you were thanks to the inability to skip ahead). And it will also autoplay another video if you wake the phone from sleep while it's casting. It's incredible that in 2020 a company with as much money as ESPN can produce an app that is so awful at playing video.

Expand full comment

I tried using the app but didn't like it either. I just ended up <spoiler>downloading</spoiler> it.

Expand full comment
author

I know the Internet already has the first 8, if not all 10 episodes out already. But the version that I saw available had an ESPN watermark. Knowing how it all ends, I guess I have been patient to watch the legit broadcasts/streams of this show.

Expand full comment

The last one isn't done (the director was on Bill Simmons' podcast - he doesn't expect episode 10 to be finished until the day before it airs. They're editing it over 7 different people's home set-ups right now)

Expand full comment

I don't take much interest in basketball - nor did I at the time - but I might watch anyway just because of the extent to which people have been raving about the series.

Expand full comment

First 4 episodes were really good. I'll be watching yesterday's episode once I finish Last Week Tonight.

Expand full comment

this is great stuff. only 1.5 episodes in, but so many memories of watching amazing basketball in the 90's. i wasnt even rooting for the Bulls.

Expand full comment

For me it was the 80s. Bird and Magic going head to head.

Expand full comment

o/

Expand full comment

\o

Expand full comment

And I was a Bird fan and my best friend was a Magic fan.

Expand full comment

I was (still am) a Lakers fan due to my wife being one.

Expand full comment

similarly, I am a Dodgers fan and he is a Giants fan.

Expand full comment
author

Mercedes

Expand full comment
author

I'm not liking the dual-screen dash that's showing up across all their models (https://www.mbusa.com/content/dam/mb-nafta/us/myco/my20/e/sedan/gallery/non-amg/gallery-class-page/2020-E-SEDAN-GAL-006-FI-DR.jpg). I greatly prefer having an analogue tachometer. At least it no longer has that "eh, we just taped an iPad to the dash" look.

Expand full comment

Is that not an analogue tach over on the left (or the right of the left, you know what I mean)?

Expand full comment

Pretty sure that's a digital tachometer that is meant to mimic the appearance of an analog one.

Expand full comment

I learned to drive a stick in my Dad's 1967 MBz 230 sedan. Three on a tree. The ultimate test was driving in SF, going up Taylor to California and hoping to make it through the green.

Expand full comment

I drive an 07 CLK 550 convertible. Love it unreservedly. It's been an absolute champ and is so zoomy and fun to drive. Just ignore than sub-10MPG driving around town...

Expand full comment

I loved my 06 c230 until it started to fall apart. Super fun, zippy little compact sedan with a six speed manual. Then a rod blew through the block. . .

Expand full comment

I loved my '04 S500. Have an SUV now, though.

Expand full comment

I like the 80s ones.

Expand full comment

late 60s to mod 80s were a solid period. I wouldn't say no to a restomod from that era like this: https://www.mechatronik.de/en/verkauf/vehicles-on-offer/mb-m-coupe-55-en/

Expand full comment

One of my tenants has one of those, but not in that condition. Has German auto club badges.

Expand full comment

well at €470,000, that's not wholly surprising

Expand full comment

Youza!

Expand full comment

For that price, I'd better be irresistible behind the wheel

Expand full comment

The late 60's SLs are gorgeous

Expand full comment
author

Today in the 'rona

Expand full comment
author

FL dude dresses up as the grim reaper and goes to the beach

https://twitter.com/DWUhlfelderLaw/status/1252794978037833729

Expand full comment

Someone needs to do this in Huntington Beach.

Expand full comment

When I look at the data, it looks like we're on a plateau. Which means we're not "past the peak". Other countries like Germany and New Zealand look very much past the peak.

Expand full comment

My sister was able to reschedule her surgery. But she has to have a virus test two days before. The surgery is to take place at the Mayo Clinic, about an hour from where she lives. When doing the scheduling the clinic was working with her to set up the test and the closest place to take the test was three hours away. So she's going up to Mayo to do the test before going back up for the surgery. So much for widespread tests available.

Expand full comment

"Alright, give me Ham on Five. . . Hold the Mayo"

Expand full comment
author

Blood donation

Expand full comment

I did it every semester I was at Cal.

Expand full comment

I don't know if they ever backed off the Mad Cow restrictions but between that and the blood pressure meds coursing around my system, I've not been a donor.

Expand full comment

I donate but need to go more often. I’m a universal donor, and also a baby donor, so whenever I’m eligible I get emails and calls. I got an email today asking to schedule a donation.

Expand full comment

You donate...babies?

Expand full comment

Sperm more likely.

Expand full comment

I'm also O- but stopped being CMV negative in the last 10 years. Made me sad.

Expand full comment

I donate double reds every few months. I tried platelets when the double red machine was busted last time. 3+ hours of sitting there with two tubes in your arm instead of one? no thanks. I had to stop about 10 min early since my bladder was so close to exploding.

Expand full comment

I would be amenable to doing it, but even submitting a couple of vials for standard blood tests makes me feel faint for some reason.

Expand full comment
author

Same. I feel kinda bad that I don't donate, though.

Do you happen to have really low blood pressure? I do, and I wonder if that has anything to do with it..

Expand full comment

OMG yes, I do! I bet it does. That actually makes sense.

Expand full comment

I wonder if I have the same issue, I get very light headed any time I get blood drawn

Expand full comment

I also get lightheaded during blood draws (and have fainted several times over the years). I always ask to have them take blood while I'm reclining so that I can avoid the worst of it.

Expand full comment

One option is to maybe do double red. They take it out, separate the red blood cells from the plasma, and then pump the plasma back in. Maybe since you don't lose much volume it wouldn't be as bad.

Expand full comment

I think my problem is just a general aversion to needles. When I was at the embassy in Copenhagen I had to get a gamma globulin shot before going to Asia. The doc who gave me the shot came back in the afternoon, supposedly to give me a receipt for my reimbursement but he also asked how I was doing because he said he could see a reaction from me after the shot. I've just got a psychological thing about needles.

Expand full comment

I'm not a fan of needles (due to a debacle with novocain and my toes) but oddly I don't mind getting my blood drawn.

Expand full comment

I'm generally okay with needles. I mean, it's not fun, but I have no trouble with vaccinations. It's getting my blood drawn that does it.

Expand full comment

samsies

Expand full comment

I suppose that's possible, but I'm not particularly squeamish otherwise. I think it's the low blood pressure thing.

Expand full comment
author

Bad smell

Expand full comment
author

Maybe it's because of my love for fermented food (cheese and stinky tofu), I'm kind of okay with that moldy smell in small proportion. However, once any smell exceeds a certain level, whether it's perfume or "foul" smell, that's what would bother me.

Expand full comment
author

Rose water. Not roses, but rose water or any concentrated generic rose smell. That smell reminds me of that old hag who used to baby-sit me when my mom was a working single mom. She was a chain smoker of Pall Mall cigarettes and would cover up the smell with a generous bath of rose water. She didn't want to baby sit me, rather would force me to either watch tv or have a forced nap, nose facing the couch cushions - whereupon I would imagine different creatures in the swirls, whorls, and patterns in the mid-century classic fabric. She was a bitch to me and my brother.

It also doesn't help that some baiju is rose-water flavored. Having a rose-water come out of every pore and breath in the middle of nowhere China is one of the worst hangovers of my life.

Expand full comment

I haven't had rose water baijiu, but the normal stuff is so fucking awful I can't imagine it being made any worse with rose water flavor.

I will say that some Indian/Middle-Eastern desserts use rose syrup, and I do like rose syrup with milk. Haven't had that in ages, though. Rooh-Afza, this is the stuff:

https://www.amazon.com/Hamdard-Sharbat-Syrup-fl-oz-Packaging/dp/B00D7D1FHY

Expand full comment

patchouli (sorry hippies)

Expand full comment

Burning tobacco (whether cig, cigar or pipe). Fish. Weed. Guerlain Shalimar.

Expand full comment

sour milk. Yesterday's raw chicken.

Expand full comment

Skunk spray

I'm not talking about the smell you get passing a roadkill skunk where you go "hmm is someone smoking a joint nearby?" I'm talking direct to the face or more likely direct to your dogs face skunk spray. It happened in Santa Cruz to our big dog and the night before self-isolation in LA to our little dog (and a little to me as I tried to pull her dumb, barking ass away from the rodent). It's a combination of burning tires, rotten musk and an unidentifiable sour funk that permeates everything it touches, is extremely difficult to wash and make you nauseous and choke at first whiff.

Expand full comment

too true; skunk is the worst! our American Shelter Dog got skunked in the backyard one night. We smelled it right away so shut all the windows and left her outside overnight until we could tolerate the stench enough to clean her up the next morning. Then we saw that she actually killed it (yikes!). That required a call to animal control to pick it up, then two week's quarantine for the mutt until the county confirmed that the skunk was not rabid.

Expand full comment

On a similar note, I saw an adult (possibly the backyard culprit) and four baby skunks cross our road the other day (at a safe distance) and boy were they cute.

Expand full comment

When I was in high school cross country, we'd run at a local park. There were always some trees whose odor I hated. Never pinned down exactly which trees they were.

Expand full comment
author

"We made trees and shrubs. We helped make all this... but did we get a thimble full of credit for it? No! All we got was the sack. Just for creating the Pink Bunkadoo... Beautiful trees that was. Og designed it. 600 feet high, bright red, and smelled terrible."

Randall - Time Bandits

Expand full comment

Tree of Heaven? As the weather warmed on a hot day in the backyard, those things smelled bad. I cut them all down with a chainsaw.

Expand full comment

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ailanthus_altissima

There a lot of them on the Peninsula. Whomever planted them before my residency I want to punch in the mouth.

Expand full comment
author

Good smell

Expand full comment
author

A wood-burning fireplace.

Expand full comment

eh, true to a point, and then oppressive past that point.

Expand full comment
author

We have jasmine bushes growing just outside of our breakfast nook windows. We keep the windows open when they bloom during a short, glorious period during summer. Also, I love the smell of gardenias.

Expand full comment
author

Our jasmine plant next to the front door finally died early this spring. It was such a pleasant smell every time you'd step outside. We've replaced it with a lavender plant.

Expand full comment

Jasmine at my house is fragrant right now, perfume-like.

Expand full comment

Jasmine at my parents' house peaks in June.

Expand full comment
May 4, 2020Liked by SGBear

Weirdly, the first puff (and only the first puff) of tobacco at a distance of 10 feet; and of course so many great wines & whiskies.

Expand full comment

Freshly mown grass.

Expand full comment

Freshly baked bread. Steak on the grill. Dark Chocolate.

Expand full comment

The lilacs in bloom in the yard. One of the best smells of spring.

Expand full comment

Warm asphalt when the rain first hits it - although this may be more of an association.

Expand full comment

The air after it rains.

Expand full comment

Petrichor is caused by emissions from microbes :) https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44904298

Expand full comment

Honeysuckle. Sandalwood. Chocolate cake baking. Calvin Klein Eternity for Men. :-)

Expand full comment

Oh yeah, I like some perfumes too. Call me old fashioned but I really like Chanel No. 5.

Expand full comment

trees warming up or cooling off. I have a very clear memory of driving along Bear Creek Road from 17 to Boulder Creek as the sun was reaching the redwoods and other trees, and burbling along in a mustang GT with the windows down... and every summer, when I'm en route to see the missus in Vermont I usually drive the stretch from Manchester Center to Rockingham, across the Green Mountains effectively, with the windows down so I can catch the distinctive smells of the pine trees as they start to cool off as the angle of the sun changes. Lovely.

Also a big fan of the smell of cold salty air off the north sea. I'm sure any cold salt water would do, but it reminds me of coming out of my aunt and uncle's house in [village redacted] east of Edinburgh and standing on the dunes looking at the water.

Expand full comment

Smells I like: sandalwood, that dryer vent smell of fresh laundry, lavender essential oil, garlic and onions sauteing in a pan, pipe tobacco, diesel exhaust (though I don't try to smell it because it's carcinogenic of course), the roadway right after it rains

Expand full comment

That said, I don't have a very powerful sense of smell and am not particularly scent-driven.

Expand full comment
author

OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY

Expand full comment
author

Pompeo promotes unproven conspiracy theory, citing that there's "enormous evidence" that the virus came from a Chinese lab - citing "experts". In other news, a hungover man claimed someone else puked on the front of his shirt.

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/pompeo-enormous-evidence-unproven-theory-coronavirus-lab/story?id=70472857

Expand full comment

jesus fucking christ, its like some of these fucking idiots are hell bent on being as stupid as possible

Expand full comment

It's just misdirection.

Expand full comment

I know that but its so frustrating the long term damage these fucktards are willing to create to cover their total and complete incompetence. Its exhausting that people fall for this shit and I dearly wish for the ability to forcibly sterilize that entire voting base. Because, based on the last couple of years, that action is totally justified.

Expand full comment

Keep in mind, that is the exact same point of view those on the other side have. This is the what happens when extremism is met with counter-extremism, where any form of cooperation or collaboration is the LAST thing the extremists on either edge will accept.

Expand full comment

i think there is a difference between having conservative or liberal values and what is going on here under Trump. I have no problem with people who think about issues differently than i do on things like abortion, immigration, gun rights, taxes, same sex rights, etc. They're wrong but ok whatevs. My issue is the shameless corruption, hypocrisy and lying that seems to have become the norm and is accepted. The Republican establishment has bought into the theory of "we have to lie, cheat and steal in order to remain relevant" and its shocking to me that dont see through it. Be conservative all you want but dont accept what is happening today because Trump really doesnt give a shit about you

Expand full comment

We're already in a position where any form of cooperation or collaboration with Republicans is essentially off the table. Were you alive between 2008-2016?

Expand full comment

We are basically a failed state.

Expand full comment

If you can’t beat em... I’ve been thinking that Hilary would have handled CVD19 better, partly because Bill was a fan of Cobra Event, a bioterrorism novel that I also recommend. Why not go full on conspiracy theory! The Clintons use their Chinese connections to push out a pandemic to take down the Republicans.

So many holes in this, but nevertheless I bet it could get traction,

Expand full comment

Great...Trump's next tweet will be the Clintons getting the Chinese to create the virus...

Expand full comment

You heard it here first.

Expand full comment

Trump reads W4C!!

Expand full comment

Seems fair as we've been fairly supportive of small hands since Goff.

Expand full comment

pqtm

Expand full comment
author

PRO

Expand full comment

Okay, obviously the guy had a great and long career, but . . . it's a good thing he had that undefeated Dolphins team back in the 70s (that also went back-to-back the next year), because otherwise there are a lot of big playoff disappointments on his resume.

Expand full comment

Classic game: Dolphins vs. Chargers. 1982 AFC Divisional Playoffs

Expand full comment

With the Hook and Ladder (or lateral)!

Expand full comment

Right. Muncie rushed for 120 yards, a great performance from Kellen Winslow and Charlie Joiner, and contributions from Joe Rose (formerly a Cal tight end) and Ed White.

Expand full comment
author

CAL

Expand full comment

John Kasser also passed away over the weekend

Expand full comment

Go Bears!

Expand full comment

Campfire = Lair

Expand full comment

Saturday night, Saturday night, the week all starts on Saturday night!

p.s. Lair is cancelled for 2020. I wasn't going to be able to make it, but still sad to hear.

Expand full comment

Covering All the Bases: How Taiwan Opened Its Baseball Season Amid COVID-19

https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/covering-all-the-bases-how-taiwan-opened-its-baseball-season-amid-covid-19/

With its morale-boosting first pitch on April 12 and a combined 33 home runs through the first 11 games, Taiwan’s major baseball league smoothly concluded its opening week of the new season amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Even with zero fans in attendance due to regulations designed to combat the virus’ spread, the island’s Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) has attracted unprecedented attention from baseball fans across the globe. The 31-year-old sports league is getting a boost to its visibility and reputation while filling a void left by canceled and postponed matches worldwide.

Expand full comment

Interesting!

Expand full comment

Freshly baked bread...

Expand full comment

Cute things, as curated by DBDers on social media:

https://twitter.com/herdyshepherd1/status/1255825917026471936 "Spent the last hour judging the online sheep show

And I have to tell you that the young handlers under 8 class was the cutest thing I have ever seen"

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_wn312D5eq/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link branch manager

https://twitter.com/hughweber/status/1256731692611571712?s=20 "Emerson, my 11 year old, is on a bit of a wild ride with the

@USPS

and our local mail carrier, Doug.

And, I think there’s a deeper message to it all.

First, the backstory..."

Expand full comment

not napalm in the morning

Expand full comment

What?, But it smells like Victory!

Expand full comment

Go Bears.

Expand full comment