Re: Tired.

1

I'm always tired, but it can't be because I work too hard.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 7:25 AM
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This is making me think of Blazing Saddles.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 7:33 AM
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My wife reported reading Burnout on this subject and getting very frustrated and stopping when the book opined that you, the reader, could change things up to get the helpful 8 hours of sleep a night if only you would give up on some of the average of 4 hours a day of television that people watch. I want to read it myself now to see if that's really what it says, because I thought Nagoski was smarter than that.

(I assume that average is skewed by people who are at home all day and inflated by TV that's in the background - which I consider alien behavior, but it doesn't make those hours something you could otherwise fill with something else, like sleeping).

We did recently realize that our commutes might be longer than average - including school pickup/dropoff, she has just over two hours a day of commuting and I have about an hour and forty minutes. Possibly this is inflated because we insist on never commuting by car.


Posted by: Nathan Williams | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 7:39 AM
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I don't even own an television.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 7:42 AM
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Heck, I don't even own Moby, despite the occasional easy straight line.


Posted by: Doug | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 7:46 AM
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4: I do own a TV, but since my wife and I stopped watching the Weather Channel in the morning, I hardly even turn it on. The other day I turned it on and watched the last half of Jeopardy!, and that was the first time I watched anything since I got back from vacation.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 7:49 AM
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I've been forcing myself to exercise more and my blood pressure is dropping, but not dropping enough. I think somebody changed the rules also. They've lowered the millibar.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 7:53 AM
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7: What kind of exercise? I've heard good things about this obscure Eastern method of exercise. I think it's called "yoga"?


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 8:02 AM
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I thought walking 11,000 steps a day was enough, but I think I need to get my heart up. I'm running and using the stationary bike.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 8:05 AM
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9: Suit yourself, but I don't see how you're going to get anywhere on a stationary bike.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 8:16 AM
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Also, I can't bring myself to go to a yoga class. I'm so uncoordinated that I think everyone will assume I'm only there to look at butts.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 8:22 AM
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3: Even if it weren't likely to be a statistic mostly made up or consisting of polling retirees, I have to figure that most people who are on the edge of burnout aren't watching that much TV.

How much time would you get back if you commuted by car?


Posted by: Cala | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 8:25 AM
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Unless you live in Arizona, you get back an hour on November 3rd.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 8:35 AM
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||
PG&E is announcing power shutoffs starting tomorrow across northern California due to hazardous fire conditions, and its notification website is comprehensively hosed. Try it yourself! Go to the link in this graphic and try to figure out if you're one of the hundreds of thousands of affected people. Fun times.
|>


Posted by: lurid keyaki | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 9:26 AM
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Unclear how much time we'd get back if we commuted by car; we've literally never done it. We're close enough to the urban core that it might not be faster at all, with rush-hour traffic. Google Maps says the drive home in the evening is "typically 18-45 minutes"; subway + walking is usually about 25 minutes).

(Also, an extra $500/month each for parking would be kind of a drag, to say nothing of needing to have a second car).


Posted by: Nathan Williams | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 9:49 AM
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We don't have a subway, so I have to ride the bus like Forest Gump.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 10:34 AM
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16: Does he ever actually ride the bus? As I remember it, he spends the whole movie waiting for the bus, and then at the end he finds out that he's only a block away from Jenny's house and he runs there.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 10:38 AM
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I forget.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 10:41 AM
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18: Lucky man.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 10:47 AM
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How much of Alzheimer's disease is hereditary is the other thing I worry about.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 11:29 AM
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I can't seem to shake all the illnesses that my five year old keeps bringing home and it makes me chronically tired. A few weeks ago, it was hand foot and mouth disease. Last week it was strep. Last night the sores were back around her mouth, legs, and hands, but the internet says hand foot and mouth disease isn't recurring so I guess this time it's just the plague.

I keep putting her to bed and falling asleep before she does at 8:30.


Posted by: LizSpigot | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 11:37 AM
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15: reasonable to avoid the car if you can. I was mostly just curious.


Posted by: Cala | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 12:22 PM
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I was so often sick when there was a little kid in the house.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 12:31 PM
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I'm pretty tired. Last 2018 was full of endings for me, relationships, jobs, lives, you name it. To be honest the first half of 2019 was effectively recovering from 2018. And so through a tangled path I found myself back in a once-familar city I hadn't lived in since the 90s, single, jobless, and pretty blue. But I decided to stay, at least for a while. What seems to be working best is consulting, but I don't know anyone here so the networking/sales side of it is exhausting....I'm tempted to take a local job I'm overqualified for just to get away from it, but they pay terribly. Mood wise I'm doing pretty well. But very tired.


Posted by: soup biscuit | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 12:44 PM
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This stupid concussion is making me ready for bed about 1 pm, which is not an option. Wearing sunglasses even indoors is, which is taking care of the only other bad piece. The child who's just out of the hospital woke me at least once an hour between 1 and 6 last night after having taken two naps during the day, so we'll change her new dosage back to evenings tonight and see if that makes a difference. I also (on account of the sunglasses) accidentally stepped on the black cat for the first time last night, which is pretty amazing given that he loves lurking in corners and lying flat on the steps. He seems fine but clawed my foot fairly dramatically while we both shrieked, and then the adrenaline made it harder for me to fall asleep than I'd expected. Tomorrow I don't work at the shop and will be able to take a nap and also probably do some meaningful computer work I hope. Blech.


Posted by: Thorn | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 1:27 PM
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My wife reported reading Burnout on this subject and getting very frustrated and stopping when the book opined that you, the reader, could change things up to get the helpful 8 hours of sleep a night if only you would give up on some of the average of 4 hours a day of television that people watch. I want to read it myself now to see if that's really what it says, because I thought Nagoski was smarter than that.

For me, not having the internet at home means an extra two hours of sleep a night.


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 1:39 PM
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Concussions are the worst. Hoping for you a quick recovery Thorn.


Posted by: soup biscuit | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 1:42 PM
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change things up to get the helpful 8 hours of sleep a night if only you would give up on some of the average of 4 hours a day of television that people watch

I just realized why that didn't make any sense to me. Back when I was watching TV occasionally in the 9pm-11pm hours, I was sleeping at least 1/2 the time. TV keeps some people awake?


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 1:46 PM
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If you're asleep you can't read other people's livetweeting about the show.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 4:07 PM
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||

Welp, I made it through the primary. Alas, I am in second place..... my opponent had 50 more votes than me out of 500ish cast. Over 100 ballots left blank, though. I'm going to be tired as shit by November.

|>


Posted by: Franklin Pierce | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 5:20 PM
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All you need to do is get close enough that the Russian propaganda call put you over the top


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 5:27 PM
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30: Hooray!! Congrats. It sounds tiring.


Posted by: heebie-geebie | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 6:50 PM
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30: Confused. Second round now or what? Anyway, congrats.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 8:02 PM
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Tired? Oh no, emotionally laboring to keep awful rich people from throwing hissyfits is actually quite invigorating -- why, I think I'll skip around the block a few times before turning in for the night.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 8:28 PM
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Yeah, that was the first round. Second round is in four weeks. But now I'm down to one opponent, from three before.


Posted by: Franklin Pierce | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 8:29 PM
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14. I still don't know if I will have power tomorrow (the maps say one thing and the address locator another) and supposedly they now moved the shutoff to noon in Berkeley. It appears PG&E is run by clowns.


Posted by: BA | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 10:15 PM
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For a second there I thought you were competing in a runoff.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 10- 8-19 11:49 PM
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Topically, I feel well rested this week. The weather finally cooled off, so I sleep better than I did last week when it was stupid warm for October.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10- 9-19 5:44 AM
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It's not mystery why I'm always tired. We stay up late and I get up early. I'm inclined to blame Atossa for this. Cassandane's and my bedtime routine hasn't changed much over the years - TV and games for 1-2 hours, get ready for bed, usually read in bed a bit - but as Atossa resists bedtime more and more, Cassandane and I don't shorten our routine, we just push it back further and further. On the other hand, we're supposed to be the grownups, not her, we should probably take responsibility for our own bedtimes...


Posted by: Cyrus | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 5:46 AM
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I used to go to the bar after the boy was asleep, but you can't do that with a teenager and a job that starts at 8:00am. It's an adjustment.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 5:49 AM
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It's also not easy to tell a ten-year-old that you're going to a bar and that all the stuff they say about alcohol at school is only mostly true.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 5:53 AM
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Oh, we drink plenty after the girl is asleep. Just not at a bar.


Posted by: Cyrus | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:00 AM
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the kid gave us dramatic readings of the increasingly scathing emails from the ucb admin over the day yesterday, as classes were cancelled but then the power cut was cancelled-but-not-really-cancelled as well. they kept on including the ludicrously non-functional links, like - click here for an update ha ha ha. honestly, i've begun to wonder whether all the chaos is being engineered by pro-sf-power moles to strengthen the city's hand in acquiring our own transmission system?


Posted by: dairy queen | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:14 AM
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Power Moles?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:20 AM
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The power of moles is 23.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:27 AM
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46

They dig with tremendous speed and force and occasionally burrow through underground mains cables.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 7:02 AM
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At the end of every episode, the five Power Moles unite to form a giant battle robot.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 7:10 AM
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It's just Power Mildew.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 7:57 AM
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it's socialist mole!


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 8:03 AM
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Almost everyone is castigating PG&E for its management of the shutdowns, which is easy; there's also doubt over how necessary they have been in the first place, with mostly sound-thinking senator Wiener proposing a bill to fine them for shutdowns on the proposition that there are better ways to manage wildfire risk and this choice is more about profits. They're such an organizational black box that it's hard to say what was possible and/or necessary, but if it ends up being a tradeoff for fires like last year I think it will have been a reasonable one, modulo their bad treatment of people needing assistance.

There was a suburban wildfire last night - appears mostly on open land - which burned 40 acres and is now 80% contained.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 8:11 AM
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"The five Power Moles"

Kremlin Mole, Dunkirk Mole, Star-Nosed Mole, Irregular-Shaped Mole, and Guacamole.


Posted by: | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 8:27 AM
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California has really nice weather, so maybe they don't need electricity as much as we do here.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 9:04 AM
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Almost everyone is castigating PG&E for its management of the shutdowns, which is easy because objectively it has been a clusterfuck for the ages. I guess it's possible to imagine it going more poorly, and I'm pro-shutdown in general, but I'm moving towards the position that PG&E will screw up any good idea. (Lourdes was also getting those UCB admin emails and was also impressed by their candor.)


Posted by: lurid keyaki | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 9:30 AM
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Here we have a picture of the Power Moles lurking in their hidden lair.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 9:52 AM
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Whack-a-mole is a good name for the eventual artificial insemination breeding program for species of mole that are endangered in the wild.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 9:57 AM
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Yes, by "easy" I don't mean inaccurate.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 10:03 AM
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on the proposition that there are better ways to manage wildfire risk and this choice is more about profits

I've been assuming that PG&E's process is entirely spite. 'Hold us responsible for our sparking equipment, will you? Enjoy having no power. Won't be any sparks then.'


Posted by: Megan | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 10:08 AM
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56 to 55.


Posted by: Opinionated Star-nosed Mole | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 10:12 AM
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If it is a correct summary that they gave $4.5b to investors in the same timeframe as deciding not to inspect lines because it would be "prohibitively expensive", I think they have lost the right to corporate existence.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:06 AM
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59: Maybe that was the plan. Take as much money as possible out, and let someone else worry about supplying power.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:10 AM
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They're such an organizational black box that it's hard to say what was possible and/or necessary

This... seems very odd for a utility. What role has your public utility commission played in any of this? Did PG&E have to get approval for anything?


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:12 AM
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Maybe California just had to prove it could have a shittier utility than Enron!


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:13 AM
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Maybe that was the plan. Take as much money as possible out, and let someone else worry about supplying power.

That's the usual corporate plan. If there turns out to be a contract that forces you to do anything in exchange for your monthly payments, and you can't get out of it by mandatory arbitration, outsource it.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:14 AM
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64

That was supposed to end in a question mark.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:14 AM
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It looks like they did have get approval of a Wildfire Mitigation Plan, which they had not as of June. It's not clear from a quick look at that decision whether the current shutoff is part of that plan or how it relates to the approval process.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:21 AM
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What role has your public utility commission played in any of this? Did PG&E have to get approval for anything?

Yes, my understanding is their wildfire mitigation plan was CPUC-approved, but it speaks to situations like this only very generically.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:27 AM
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CPUC has an annual budget of $1.6b and a great deal of what it does is regulate PG&E, so that should be figured in the "socialized costs, privatized gains" equation. I think they're regarded as captured to some extent?


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:28 AM
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The fundamental problem is that power grids are huge, far-flung infrastructure and a lot can go wrong when you expose them to high wind conditions.

Shitty as PG&E is, I wouldn't want to be holding the bag on that kind of liability either.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:39 AM
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I'm sure there's some level of capture, but the decision in 65 isn't particularly positive about PG&E's initial plan. The section on de-energization is indeed pretty vague, but that appears to be in part because CPUC has an ongoing rule-making docket to update general standards for de-energization. Public communication was one of the issues raised in comments on the plan, but again, discussion was deferred to the other docket. Part of what's going on seems to be that the pace of regulatory approval is very slow compared to the pace of wildfires (and mitigation efforts to prevent them).


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:44 AM
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68 is definitely correct about the underlying issue here. There are a lot of reasons to have transmission infrastructure owned and/or managed by an independent entity separate from the utilities (as is the case in some states), and this could be another one.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:51 AM
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70: I don't follow.


Posted by: Mossy Character | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:54 AM
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Well, in this case, it would shift the responsibility and liability from PG&E, with all its various other problems and concerns, onto an entity that would only be concerned with the transmission system and could focus its efforts and its resources more specifically on that. I don't know that this would actually be an improvement in practice, so I'm not firmly wedded to it.

The other reasons are mainly economic and have to do with the perverse incentives that can arise when the same entity owns both generating assets and the system for transmitting power, especially when there are multiple such entities connected to each other. (This is the situation we have in Alaska, and it's a mess.) Another option would be detaching generation from retail distribution, with transmission remaining connected to one or the other. I'm not sure how this would compare to having a completely separate transmission operator but I think it would depend on the specific conditions and setup of the grid in question.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 12:32 PM
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As I understand it, neo-liberal best practice in creating energy markets recommend that one company own the transmission system and other company's own the power production facilities. Actual practice is generally that one incumbent owns the transmission and major generation facilities and is grudgingly expected to allow other power producers to plug into the grid.

And then we are all supposed to figure out what power producer we want to buy from based on their competing offers, because comparing and contrasting different energy company offerings is both something everyone is well-equipped to do and likes to spend their time on.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 2:46 PM
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73.2 is why I don't answer my phone.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 2:51 PM
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I don't answer my phone because the battery ran down.


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 2:59 PM
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Actual practice is generally that one incumbent owns the transmission and major generation facilities and is grudgingly expected to allow other power producers to plug into the grid.

Only in some states! The Mid-Atlantic region has an independent grid operator (PJM) that does a good job managing the neoliberal deregulated paradise that is the electricity market there. Having individual consumers choose their electric generation provider is admittedly silly, though it does provide a way for people to concretely express support for, e.g., renewable energy by selecting it even if it's more expensive.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 3:39 PM
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What is PJM's governance? Owned, traded, nonprofit?


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 3:45 PM
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ah the proliferation of moles is grand! :)

cpuc is like the poster agency for capture, for those of you collecting cards at home it's the big capture banana, the white whale of capture, the "life" bird of capture.

up until a few days ago caltrans had the crown for most generally loathed as unresponsive and immovable *but* pge managed to oust caltrans in a slick move where pge shut off power to tunnels people would have to use in a fire evacuation and caltrans said ummmm excuse me? so now in an amazing turn about caltrans is (temporarily i'm sure) smellin' like roses.


Posted by: dairy queen | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 3:51 PM
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Oh yeah, Caltrans is amazing, still building deathtrap nothings of bikelanes and patting themselves on the back for forward-thinkingness. Their shenanigans on a bill that would force them to consider non-drivers.


Posted by: Minivet | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 4:10 PM
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77: It's a membership organization of the participants in the grid. Apparently it's legally an LLC.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 4:22 PM
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cpuc is like the poster agency for capture, for those of you collecting cards at home it's the big capture banana, the white whale of capture, the "life" bird of capture.

Well, that explains a lot about how this situation came about, at least from my perspective.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 4:23 PM
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Yeah, you know me.


Posted by: Opinionated PJM | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 4:23 PM
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Other people's power.


Posted by: Opinionated PJM | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 4:24 PM
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It's another five letter word rhyming with "tower" and "shower"


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 5:18 PM
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"Trump"?


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 5:27 PM
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||
So, I did stop in at the demo for a little while. I think I might've picked up a slight case of PTSD from all the demos I've gone to (esp. the ones where I got nicked, of course). 'Cause it wasn't nearly as crowded as "the Big One" in Madison back in '11, but it was pretty packed, and I had lots of panic reactions. There were a lot of cops, but not nearly as many as I've seen at other big actions. Probably all inside cheering. There were a few dumbshit Trump-nazis wandering through the protest, but unfortunately nothing bad happened to them. I left around 6:15ish, and my bus didn't come until 6:45, and there were still plenty of our chaps arriving downtown during that time. (Most of the cultists were hustled in to the Target Center through the skyways from the municipal parking ramp earlier in the day.) I didn't get any good pictures, which I had expected, 'cause you gotta have a selfie stick or something to get any kind of shot of the crowd when you're in it, and none of the people I know who could have gotten me into one of the taller buildings in the vicinity owe me any favors, and that would have been a lot to ask. I dunno, the whole thing would have been a lot more dramatic if it had been intercut with a baby carriage rolling down some long steps.
||>


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 5:29 PM
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I have an ATM-type bleg.

Let's say you met someone and shared an unusual experience that it would be reasonable to feel established some mutual romantic chemistry. (That unusual experience was in fact recorded on this blog.) Then you invited the person to a couple things you thought they would share interest in, and each time they expressed at least some interest, but it never quite worked out, and this person never made the effort to invite you to anything, so you rationally concluded they were not interested and stopped thinking about it. But then say you'd seen them again a couple times in rapid succession six months later and were all, holy carp I am attracted to this person, and you also have a lot of data suggesting that they are a very good person. You also have conclusively established that they are both single and attracted to your gender. You invited them to a party that they said they might come to but then did not.

It's clear that you have every reason to be discouraged, you know. But the question is: how ridiculous is it, on the theory that people, including sometimes you, can really be weird, dense, and/or counterproductive about romantic things, to just email the person to explicitly ask them out on a date, as opposed to a specific event that they might or might not be able to make? You don't see them that often so even if it's an embarrassing failure it's not like you share a tight social circle, just a larger institutional connection.


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 5:48 PM
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Eh, why not?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 5:53 PM
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87: Well, that never works for me, but there are obvious reasons for that. People are pretty dense though. Didn't we have a thread here echoing that Reddit one about people's l'esprit de l'escalier erotique awhile ago? Just go for it, what the hell.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 5:54 PM
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Well, there seems to be a clear consensus among wiseass white guys in their 40s.


Posted by: Natilo Paennim | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 5:55 PM
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If he says no and you feel the need to save face, just reply with, "I was just hoping to see you so I could ask about your friend X" and then ask for X's contact info.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:00 PM
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ugh, I don't know his friends, except for a gay rabbi, who was the one who gave me ironclad confirmation that he was single and liked women. I have nowhere to hide.


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:06 PM
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Gabbi?


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:07 PM
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How is this?

Hi _____,
Shanah tova, again.  
Every time I see you I have such a warm feeling about you.  I've tried asking you to events, but who knows, maybe I will have more luck very explicitly asking you on a date?  
If not, I promise to not even be surprised, and to do my best not to be weird about it if I see you 'round the shul, though I sometimes have some non-specific weirdness I might not be able to control.  
-Tia


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:15 PM
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If you start with Klingon, you'd better be sure he's a big nerd.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:18 PM
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THIS IS SERIOUS.


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:20 PM
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Anyway, I'm not one for mentioning what my feelings are. I'd just ask him to go somewhere.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:20 PM
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96: The serious people are all doing serious stuff.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:22 PM
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Where's heebie? Probably raising children or some nonsense. I just want other input into the value of feelings talk.


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:23 PM
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Not that I don't appreciate yours! I just need multiple perspectives to synthesize.


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:24 PM
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Everybody who worries about stuff is probably focused on the news. The Republican donors being arrested on their way out of the U.S. is my favorite.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:25 PM
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"Would you like to come up and see my sukkot?"


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:30 PM
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I am trying to imagine where you'd put a sukkah such that you'd come up to see it. It's really more something you'd come down to see. IYKWIM.


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:37 PM
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Some people here have yards that are higher than the street/sidewalk.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:38 PM
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I don't know; why entertain, in your invitation, the likelihood that he might decline? Isn't 'I find myself thinking of you a lot lately -- are you free for a date Saturday' sufficient, especially if the rabbi has communicated your interest in the fellow's status?


Posted by: CharleyCarp | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:48 PM
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My extremely vague understanding of sukkah's was that they're a place to smoke pot with your friends, so that could work...


Posted by: Unfoggetarian: "Pause endlessly, then go in" (9) | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:53 PM
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I think it's unlikely that the rabbi has communicated my interest.

Maybe it's not important. I guess I just wanted to acknowledge the reality that I may have been (probably have been?) implicitly politely declined already.


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:53 PM
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Maybe out of some kind of embarrassment/defensiveness. Not about being rejected, but about being too dumb to know the score.


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 6:56 PM
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I am very familiar with Tia's predicament, though it hasn't happened to me in a while now. I say go ahead and ask him out, but without the hedging second paragraph. Good luck!


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 7:29 PM
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i agree with charley - keep the ask short and simple. i think just as, if not more, important is to cast yourself as playing the role of a you who is able to take this whole situation completely in your stride in the spirit of mild adventure. i firmly believe this will help launch your offer of a date propitiously so as to maximize its chances of being accepted.

caution - this line of advice has led to several long term relationships (a few, but not all, ongoing, none ending acrimoniously), one marriage and a couple of babies. ;-)


Posted by: dairy queen | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 7:33 PM
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Pfft. I do that much every weekend in a single smallish city.


Posted by: Opinionated Beer | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 7:45 PM
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Oh yay! Ask him out. It's worth knowing for sure. I echo Charley's take and DQ's point about breeziness.


Posted by: heebie | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 8:05 PM
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a way for people to concretely express support for, e.g., renewable energy by selecting it even if it's more expensive.

I do this, and appreciate the option. I hope I'm not getting jacked. How is this different from say cage-free eggs or buying from the amish who have photos of their chickens in the pasture at the farmers market? Barring cheating, it creates a market for putting up the next windmill.

94. Maybe guys are less used to being asked out than women? I know I have a hard time figuring out if someone's interested unless she actually starts touching me or does something equally unambiguous. Unless the guy's an unusually close reader, I think nuances of prose are unlikely to make a difference. Spelling errors or bad grammar might register, similarly choosing words like badinage, outside that basically anything friendly is probably OK.


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 8:14 PM
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Oh and echoing 109 and 110: Unless you're psychic, picking up on what reserved people think is hard. Asking "are you interested?" and sometimes getting back "not really" is pretty normal, not a personal rejection, that sounds like the worst case here. Never asking leads to missed chances.


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 8:24 PM
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I do this, and appreciate the option. I hope I'm not getting jacked. How is this different from say cage-free eggs or buying from the amish who have photos of their chickens in the pasture at the farmers market? Barring cheating, it creates a market for putting up the next windmill.

It's certainly not a bad thing, just probably not the most efficient way of incentivizing renewable development compared to other policies like renewable portfolio standards or offset markets. But I don't know that for a fact, and I'm sure there's research out there looking into it.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 8:28 PM
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picking up on what reserved people think is hard

I mean, he's in theater, and the way we met pretty much conclusively established that neither of us can exactly be called reserved as a global judgment, but people are weird about dating! Once I made someone I had a crush on believe I hated him, even though I was entirely sure he was very attracted to me, and he had the same first name and was also Jewish and into musicals, so. Anyway, I sent the email, which was what I wrote minus the last paragraph. No more advice needed.


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 8:34 PM
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Out governor is a toad who loves cars and suburbs, cars in suburbs, strip malls, roadbuilders with checkbooks. Fortunate That he doesn't hate windmills.


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 9:07 PM
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it does provide a way for people to concretely express support for, e.g., renewable energy by selecting it even if it's more expensive.

We can do that here through our municipally owned electric company. I mean there's no way to know if any given joule that comes into my house was generated by wind or coal, but we do choose to pay a higher rate so they can buy more electricity from wind farms.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 9:27 PM
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Also, Texas, like Alaska, has its own statewide power grid. I don't know much about what effect that has on anything.


Posted by: Sir Kraab | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 9:31 PM
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Alaska has its own statewide power grid? That's news to me.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 9:53 PM
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(What we actually have is hundreds of small grids, unconnected either to each other or to the larger North American grid.)


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 9:57 PM
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And yes, Texas is another example of a well-functioning independently operated transmission grid. It can be connected to the larger grid but generally is not.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 9:59 PM
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Also, 118 is another sort of approach that I think is likely more effective at incentivizing renewables than individual choice. It can work with member-owned cooperative utilities too, which are common in rural areas.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 10:01 PM
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i am running out of ways to stay awake during this filing without like actually purchasing vintage pucci dresses for which i have few uses ... i find this last stage of a hair-on-fire emergency writ petition sooooo hard, lack of sleep for days and then in the end i have to hang around while other people wrestle with the wonky electronic filing system ...


Posted by: dairy queen | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 10:15 PM
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At least you are fabulously on-topic. Good luck with it. Post dress links if you like.


Posted by: Lurid keyaki | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 10:34 PM
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Tia, it sounds like what you could have here is a benign but slightly clueless guy who has failed to realise that you're interested in him. Having been that guy myself on a few occasions, here are two options:
1) ask the gay rabbi to have a word along the lines of "Hey, Bob, Tia was asking about you the other day. You know you are definitely in with a chance there. You should ask her out." Being both gay and a rabbi he will be extremely used to getting involved in resolving the hapless love lives of clueless straight people.
2) ask him out yourself. It is extremely possible that he has failed to pick up on any of your hints because he has formed a firm preconception that you are way out of his league and could not possibly be interested.

If he isn't in fact interested, then 1 will at least discover this without embarrassment.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 10:44 PM
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Not spam: Welll, in context, a lazy reply, but not algorithmically generated, and posted only here.
https://m. com.com/ankle-strap-snake-heels-giuseppe/vp/v=1/1570995838.htm


Posted by: lw | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:23 PM
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Lw
https://m.shopbop.com/ankle-strap-snake-heels-giuseppe/vp/v=1/1570995838.htm


Posted by: Whoops | Link to this comment | 10-10-19 11:24 PM
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" No more advice needed."

Thus ensuring a thousand-comment thread.


Posted by: Doug | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 1:55 AM
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Two hundred comments is the new one thousand comments.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 5:27 AM
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Anything you want advice on, Moby? Or indeed don't want advice on?


Posted by: Doug | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 5:51 AM
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I want to lower my blood pressure without taking medication, exercising more, eating better, or drinking less.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 5:53 AM
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Didn't we have a thread here echoing that Reddit one about people's l'esprit de l'escalier erotique awhile ago?

Would love to read through that. I have several possibilities here going on I'll probably do an ATM at some point myself.

Tia, email the dude, but cut that last bit about 'non-specific weirdness'. And good luck.


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 5:55 AM
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133.last before seeing 116. Good luck.


Posted by: Barry Freed | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 5:59 AM
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OTOH Non-specific weirdness: the peep story is the new working title for my memoir.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 6:12 AM
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94. Maybe guys are less used to being asked out than women? I know I have a hard time figuring out if someone's interested unless she actually starts touching me or does something equally unambiguous.

MAYBE?


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 6:28 AM
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in resolving the hapless love lives of clueless straight people

Just because at this point in life it feels a bit dissonant to see myself described this way: I'm not straight, and maybe he's not either. I only established that he was attracted to women, not that it was exclusive (and in fact in men I have some preference that it not be!).


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 6:40 AM
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132: Have you tried meditation?


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 6:53 AM
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137: So, you're not straight. Do you have any hap? A clue?


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 6:55 AM
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I have no haps, some clues.


Posted by: Tia | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 6:59 AM
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138: No. Mostly if I sit still, people bring me problems.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 7:00 AM
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141: I think I see the problem. The first step in meditation is to find a place where you can relax and no one will bother you. You need to find this place. My guess is if you can find this place, then your blood pressure will go down, and you don't even need to meditate.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 7:07 AM
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okay well i actually was soon able to leave and hopefully a good augury for the immediate stay being granted -- the bus came within a minute of me arriving at the stop! but as i was saying on more important matters, i don't wear animal prints much certainly not a whole dress but this number would be sooooooo useful for someone who did: https://www.therealreal.com/products/women/clothing/dresses/emilio-pucci-animal-print-wool-dress-w-tags-63w9w?position=21 is it not gorgeous?

and this is pure vintage perfection for the end of year holiday party-so cal weather edition https://www.therealreal.com/products/women/clothing/dresses/emilio-pucci-vintage-maxi-dress-5q9gy?position=56 of course to be practical if you have major filings scheduled around the time of the party beware because this puppy demands a fellini-esque updo and proper false lashes. really this dress is bananas wonderful.


Posted by: dairy queen | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 7:17 AM
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I'm having a horrible time working today. Friday is always busy with an easy but boring and time-consuming task, and today I just can't concentrate on it. I'm tempted to dismiss this as ennui about that task or my job in general, or a physiological response to not getting my usual exercise this morning because I commuted by bus instead of bike. However, Word shut down and restarted half a dozen times almost at random, which was really fucking not helping. ("almost at random": the first three or four times, I'd have multiple documents open and close one of them and the other two would close as well. I had to redo some work because of this. I tried to reproduce it now and couldn't, so maybe the problem has stopped? Who knows!!!)

I hate Fridays. I have a weird relationship to the work week, partly because of this weekly task, and it's definitely going worse now than usual.


Posted by: Cyrus | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 7:17 AM
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Providing it's not the corner of a bar. Taking a book to a bar works to keep people away, though.


Posted by: NW | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 7:18 AM
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142: I could start going back to the bar.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 7:18 AM
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146 before seeing 145.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 7:19 AM
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I think I need to stop reading the news after dinner.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 7:20 AM
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Charley and ajay's second point are bang on target. Unless you feel threatened by a polite and friendly "Thanks, but no thanks", you have nothing to lose in asking.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 7:24 AM
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Since you've known him for a long time, there's probably not much chance he'll think you just want his kidney, but that's the main risk if you ask out a stranger.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 7:27 AM
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150: The other risk is that the stranger may decide he wants your kidney.


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 7:35 AM
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That's why you should always go on first dates wearing a shirt that says, "Ask me about living with Hepatitis."


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 7:38 AM
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152: But what if someone asks? What do you say? "Well, it kind of sucks, but at least I don't have to worry about someone killing me for my kidneys."


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 7:57 AM
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Exactly.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 8:05 AM
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You're a very quick learner.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 8:06 AM
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137, apologies for leaping to conclusions. I think ask the rabbi anyway, orientation of everyone involved notwithstanding.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 8:06 AM
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|| James Mickens received tenure at Harvard! Link is recommended.

https://mickens.seas.harvard.edu/tenure-announcement

||


Posted by: peep | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 8:10 AM
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That was pretty good.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-11-19 8:28 AM
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I'm exhausted but marginally less because my older daughter has improved on her new doubled anti-depressants and has had almost zero screaming fits bar Tuesday on which I was frankly screaming more and younger daughter absolutely lost her patience with both of us. However, comma, the news turned out well. Older daughter asked me to check her email because she's neurotic. SHE GOT AN INTERVIEW AT CAMBRIDGE BUT didn't respond to the email in time. So her whole life is fucked by failing to respond to one email. (This is where me screaming came in.) Using her email I wrote the most perfectly balanced, humbly throwing yourself on their mercy, recognizing deadlines are for a reason, etc. THEY WENT FOR IT!! So she has her interview next week, Thursday, please wish her well. Once you've got the interview you have a 70% chance of getting in, cross fingers etc. She also got into Edinburgh which seems a bit hasty but why not. I'm going to try to get up early and get exercise, we'll see about that.
Tia I agree that you should remove the "this might not work" section, and also I think that the chances guys are clueless are actually quite high, so, good luck!


Posted by: some rando first lady | Link to this comment | 10-12-19 4:09 AM
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Glad she's feeling better.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 10-12-19 5:57 AM
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157: "Your theories on Muppet physiology are childish and naïve"


Posted by: Spike | Link to this comment | 10-12-19 8:34 AM
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