homeaboutarchivescommentscontacteverything

Trendy cookies

One of the major items on the to-do list has been done:

My car is 20 years old, with 200,000+ miles on it, and it needs to go 2,000 miles in a straight line with nothing falling off or blowing up, so I took it into the shop and gave them the (terrifying) instructions to fix whatever needs to be fixed.

#115

Friday,
March 11, 2022


When they called the next morning with the estimate — $1,100 — I asked a few dumb questions but OK'd it, and let's hope that'll be the biggest expense of the move.

I don't think it was related to that phone call or the auto work, but later in the morning I slipped into an hour of simple terror. Just a whole lot of holy shit — it's all happening and it is scary.

When I left Seattle thirty years ago, I was saying goodbye to a boring, frustrating life, and hoping for an adventure. And it was a frickin' great adventure.

This is the opposite of that — I'm leaving a place where I've been happy for a long time, to return to the place that bored and frustrated me, and I hear it's only gotten worse. And that will be home for the rest of my life. 

But you know what?

This too shall pass. In a few months I'll be comfortable, employed, and having a good time. And my cat will still be yeowing all the time. Yeow? Yeow?

♦ ♦ ♦

You know what else is weird? When I go shopping, there's no 'stocking up' when something's on sale. And the day before yesterday, I backed out of an online purchase, because shipping was slow and the expected delivery date would be after my expected departure date. Yeow.

♦ ♦ ♦ 

And now, news and amusements, from my internet history for yesterday…   

♦ ♦ ♦ 

Human Rights Campaign rejects Disney donation "until meaningful action is taken" against Don't Say Gay bill 

Excellent. Heck, if I had a job I'd send a donation to Human Rights Campaign, just for this.

♦ ♦ ♦

AG Marrick Garland says he's working hard on January 6th conspiracy 

K.

♦ ♦ ♦

Russia's anti-war protesters are terrified, and still marching. 

Despite the risks, many protesters were drawn out for the first time, outraged by their government's invasion of a country they considered fraternally bonded to Russia. But all spoke with growing fear about how the government, already notorious for crushing dissent, may punish them. 

It takes a great deal of courage to stand up for what's right, when what's wrong is in charge. I probably wouldn't have the guts. How about you?

Goldman Sachs pulls out of Russia 

Of course, this is a business decision, not a moral decision, same as McDonald's and Starbucks and the rest, only more so.

The canary has flown the coal mine, though. Goldman Sachs is the face of money, and if they're leaving Russia, rigor mortis is next for the Russian economy.

And whatever ultimate horror or stupidity Putin's going to pull, it'll probably be soon.

Russia says its businesses can steal patents from anyone in 'unfriendly' countries 

Cloudflare says shutting down in Russia would give Putin what he wants 

WHO says it advised Ukraine to destroy pathogens in health labs to prevent disease spread 

♦ ♦ ♦ 

Trendy bakery unleashes robots in San Francisco parks 

This coverage seems full of itself, and counterfactual — these are remote-controlled cookie vending machines, operated by outsourced workers, so they're not robots.

Whether a remote-controlled cookie vending machine is a good idea seems more debatable than the reporter acknowledges, and even in San Francisco, $7 for two cookies (described only as "trendy") is asking a lot.

♦ ♦ ♦

Black Panther director mistaken for bank robber in Atlanta 

♦ ♦ ♦

AT&T breaks pledge, directly donates to Republican objectors 

♦ ♦ ♦

'Our state is terrorizing us': Texas families of transgender kids fight investigations 

Parents of a trans child who reached out to Attorney General Ken Paxton over dinner are now under investigation for child abuse 

The inside story of how Disney turned its back on the LGBTQ community 

♦ ♦ ♦  

Did George Washington have an enslaved son? 

The article doesn't convince me that the answer is yes, but it seems obvious that George Washington's Mount Vernon estate, now a major tourist attraction, is run by wealthy white people who are casually racist. 

♦ ♦ ♦ 

I didn't know that Google, PayPal, and Logitech all started in rented offices at the same address, 165 University Avenue in Palo Alto.

That's a block from the Stanford Theater, one of my favorite old-movie venues when I lived in San Francisco. 

♦ ♦ ♦ 

Oh, look, a new Star Trek show 

I've lost track of how many Star Trek shows are on now, none of which I've seen.

This one's going to be about the original Captain of the original Enterprise, Christopher Pike, before he was disabled in the original timeline, or whatever the heck happens to him in the J J Abrams do-over timeline.

Eventually, every character from every episode of every Star Trek series will get his or her own Star Trek series. Can't wait for The Adventures of Harry Mudd.

Will Strange New Worlds be any good? Well, Star Trek has worked its way into my genes, so I hope it's good, but I won't be watching unless a lot of people tell me it's frickin' awesome. I once saw a preview for Lower Decks, which convinced me that Star Trek is over.

♦ ♦ ♦

America's first black female federal judge: Constance Baker Motley 

♦ ♦ ♦ 

Thousands of police officers march through streets to mourn cop who was shot while scratching ear with gun 

♦ ♦ ♦ 

Baseball finally stopped shooting itself in the foot 

♦ ♦ ♦

One-word newscast, because it's the same news every time...
cops
cops
cops
cops
QAnonsense
QAnonsense
QAnonsense 

♦ ♦ ♦

I'll stash this way at the bottom, cuz it's only me being a grumpy old fart, but — I'm at a newspaper's website, and here's a headline that gets my attention: At least 13 reportedly injured after CalTrain from San Francisco catches fire in collision.

Click it, and you land at an article with the same headline, of course: At least 13 reportedly injured after CalTrain from San Francisco catches fire in collision.

Under the headline, there's a full-screen picture of a CalTrain on fire.

Under the picture, the caption reads, A CalTrain caught fire after striking a vehicle in San Bruno, Calif. on March 10, 2022.

Finally, the article begins: A CalTrain caught fire after striking a vehicle in San Bruno on Thursday morning...

In light of our ongoing global crises and collapse my complaint ain't much, but — they could tell us a train's on fire 3 times instead of 5, with no loss of news value.

♦ ♦ ♦ 

 Mystery links  — Like life itself, there’s no knowing where you’re going:


    
         

♦ ♦ ♦
 
♫♬  Sing along with Doug 
 
♦ ♦ ♦
 
 
3/11/2022 
 
Cranky Old Man is annoyed and complains and very occasionally offers a kindness, along with anything off the internet that's made me smile or snarl. All opinions fresh from my ass. Top illustration by Jeff Meyer. Click any image to enlarge. Comments & conversations invited.
 
Tip 'o the hat to All Hat No Cattle, Linden Arden, ye olde AVA, BoingBoing, Breakfast at Ralf's, Captain Hampockets, CaptCreate's Log, John the Basket, LiarTownUSA, Meme City, National Zero, Ran Prieur, Voenix Rising, and anyone else whose work I've stolen without saying thanks.
 
Extra special thanks to Becky Jo, Name Withheld, Dave S., and always Stephanie...

8 comments:

  1. Post didn't work as Captain Hampockets, so...

    Doug, you know I love you, but I love you even more today.

    Your anecdote about your car kicked my fat ass in a way it needed to be kicked.

    Long story short, my POS 2000 Toyota Echo has been acting up. I've let it sit for like 4 months, in anxiety about how much will it cost, will it be worth it to fix, blah blah blah.

    But I read your post, and today, I dropped it off at the mechanic for a diagnosis.

    Thanks for getting me off my ass.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope you're back on your ass now.

      Not sure I'll drive or even keep my Chevy after moving to Seattle, but I want it to get me there.

      Delete
  2. When I left San Francisco 20 (!!!) years ago, I was terrified of moving back to Phoenix. At the same time, I knew it WAS time to leave The City. My life there had grown stagnant. I mean, even Disneyland gets boring at some point, right?

    And if I had not returned to Phoenix, I would never have meet my husband six years later, something that I was totally not expecting at the ripe old age of 50.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's the thing I've noticed, man, and people (including me) sometimes forget. All the good or even great things that have happened for you, for me, for all of us, are *because* of the changes we made in the past.

      Gotta make changes when changes seem prudent, and after that see what happens. For you and for me, what's happened after that has been pretty damn good.

      Give him a smooch from me.

      Delete
  3. Having been a fan of Star Trek since its inception (it was one of the very few shows my folks would let me stay up past my bed time to watch as a kid), Paramount is delivering a plethora of riches to us at the moment: Discovery, Picard, [the animated series I don't watch and can never remember the name of], and lastly, Strange New Worlds.

    As I understand it, Strange New Worlds is a direct response to the fan base abandoning Discovery. It is meant to return to the "old trek" (pre-Kirk/Spock/McCoy) world and hopefully appease the fans who did not consider Discovery "real Trek."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too, a fan of Star Trek from the beginning. I watched the first episode on TV in 1966. It was the new show I was most looking forward to, and I loved it. Never missed an episode, 7:30 on Tuesday nights, and wrote one of the millions of letters that got ST a third season.

      Not quite as reliably, I watched the movies, and the next generation of shows, and the first of the new movies, which disappointed and slightly annoyed me. Haven't seen anything since.

      Lower Decks is the cartoon. Great concept, but I saw a preview and it looked way, way too much like Star Trek done over as Scooby Doo. Zero interest.

      Like that show, all the current shows are on a pay channel and I'm not paying, but if you say they're a plethora of riches, I'm pleased to hear it. I want Star Trek to continue. The bottom line of ST is optimism, a precious commodity that's running short.

      Delete
  4. Ηеllo аll, guуs! Ι knоw, my meѕsagе mау be too ѕpеcіfіс, Вut mу ѕistеr found niсe man herе аnd thеу marrіed, so hоw аbout me?! :) Ι am 27 уеаrs оld, Marіа, from Ukrаіne, I knоw Еngliѕһ and German languages аlsо Αnd... Ι havе sрecific disеаse, named nуmpһоmаnia. Ԝhо know what іѕ thіs, саn understand mе (bеtter tо sау it іmmеdіаtеlу) Αh yеѕ, I соok very tаѕtу! and I lovе nоt onlу сооk ;)) Ιm rеal gіrl, nоt prоstіtute, аnd loоkіng fоr seriоuѕ аnd һot rеlаtiоnsһіp… Αnуwаy, yоu саn fіnd mу profіlе hеrе: #lіnk

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Usually I just delete the incoming spam comments, but I suspect this one's a prank by a friend, and whether it is or isn't it made me smile, so I'm letting it stay.

      Sadly, there was no link where it said '#link'.

      Delete

🚨🚨 BY THE WAY 🚨🚨
The site's software sometimes swallows comments. If it eats yours, send an email and I'll get it posted.