Mara

I used to listen to him back in the early 90s. I can't recall the last time I did. Frankly, I preferred some of the guest hosts to his program.

 

That said, I suspect everyone knows someone who has battled cancer. It might win quickly, it might win slowly, and some (but not many) people do beat it. In all but the smallest number of cases, it nonetheless puts a person through hell. I like 99.99% of the people who post regularly on this site. I simply won't believe that there is ANYONE in that majority who truly thinks that ANYONE who isn't a murderer or the like deserves to be diagnosed with cancer.

 

In 2008 I was in Chicago visiting my sister for July 4th. We had a small party planned; when we learned that Sen. Jesse Helms had kicked the bucket that day, we incorporated his departure into the party theme. We even had a "Jesse Helms Deathday Cake" with his name, birth and death dates, and "Good Riddance" hastily scribbled in icing on top.

 

Petty, yes, but I still don't feel guilty about that. Helms was a hateful, odious carbon-based life form. Nothing Limbaugh has ever said or done even approaches the viciousness Helms espoused.

 

That said, I can't think offhand of anyone I'd wish death or even cancer on, even my boyfriend's ex-wife. She's irksome and certainly expended a lot of effort trying to make his life hell, but then again she's pathological and a junkie to boot, so nothing she did was entirely unexpected.

 

Your point about Helms makes mine though, I think. Subjectively, you distinguish between them. I'm sure others with a different political bent might think they're equally bad or good. That's why, for me, someone would have to actually do something truly horrifying to warrant saying something to the effect of, "I'm glad they got a disease that caused them to waste away." Not trying to be over-dramatic, but cancer's different for me than saying you're glad someone who pissed you off and took your parking spot tripped over a curb..

Helms had a meanness to him that I haven't ever noticed in Limbaugh. Sure, lots of people get butthurt over things he says, but that's on them because he does not get personal.

Case in point: Helms was on an elevator one day with Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun, who is of course black. He told her he was "going to sing Dixie until I make you cry". He was deliberately cruel and loved to cloak himself in flag and Bible. Obviously North Carolinians found him somewhat tolerable, due probably in no small part to his loyalty to the state's tobacco industry.

Helms never did anything to me and I am sure his family adored him. I don't have enough meanness in me that, had I ever encountered the man face-to-face, I'd have ever told him, "I hope you die soon and that it's slow and painful". Our "death cake" was mainly just an amusing little prop.

I used to listen to him back in the early 90s. I can't recall the last time I did. Frankly, I preferred some of the guest hosts to his program.

 

That said, I suspect everyone knows someone who has battled cancer. It might win quickly, it might win slowly, and some (but not many) people do beat it. In all but the smallest number of cases, it nonetheless puts a person through hell. I like 99.99% of the people who post regularly on this site. I simply won't believe that there is ANYONE in that majority who truly thinks that ANYONE who isn't a murderer or the like deserves to be diagnosed with cancer.

Interesting I started listening from time to time just in the last few years. Honestly I can't stand the hyperpartisan on either side. Can't stand Hannity or Maddow for example. Listening to Mr Limbaugh from time to time I get the attraction millions have to him however...

I have no use for syncophants. Hannity, Limbaugh, Maddow et al at least have an excuse - the extreme partisan stance they take on air keeps them lucratively employed. Much of it is schtick - they're entertainers, first and foremost.

The onus is on the listener to question and verify any source. But the average American is too lazy to bother.

I used to listen to him back in the early 90s. I can't recall the last time I did. Frankly, I preferred some of the guest hosts to his program.

 

That said, I suspect everyone knows someone who has battled cancer. It might win quickly, it might win slowly, and some (but not many) people do beat it. In all but the smallest number of cases, it nonetheless puts a person through hell. I like 99.99% of the people who post regularly on this site. I simply won't believe that there is ANYONE in that majority who truly thinks that ANYONE who isn't a murderer or the like deserves to be diagnosed with cancer.

In 2008 I was in Chicago visiting my sister for July 4th. We had a small party planned; when we learned that Sen. Jesse Helms had kicked the bucket that day, we incorporated his departure into the party theme. We even had a "Jesse Helms Deathday Cake" with his name, birth and death dates, and "Good Riddance" hastily scribbled in icing on top.

Petty, yes, but I still don't feel guilty about that. Helms was a hateful, odious carbon-based life form. Nothing Limbaugh has ever said or done even approaches the viciousness Helms espoused.

That said, I can't think offhand of anyone I'd wish death or even cancer on, even my boyfriend's ex-wife. She's irksome and certainly expended a lot of effort trying to make his life hell, but then again she's pathological and a junkie to boot, so nothing she did was entirely unexpected.

As an 80's teenager, I loved a lot of Bowie's music. But it wasn't until I got older that I really was able to appreciate the genius of the man. One of my favorite Bowie albums is "Black Tie, White Noise", which didn't get a lot of love in comparison to his previous work.

Looking forward to this release.

Not a Limbaugh fan, particularly, but he's been through a lot. He lost his hearing completely about 20 years ago. He got cochlear implants but those are a poor replacement - he has to have a computer translate calls for his show to closed-caption.

Love him or hate him, he did revolutionize talk radio. I hope he doesn't suffer too much.

I wonder what percentage of today's trash pickups was comprised of pizza boxes?

And do we think Colin Kaepernick watched and fumed that the Niners have a white guy as quarterback?

If Jesus' earthly dad was a carpenter, how did young J spend his evenings?

Jesus swept.

I'll show myself out.

US Postal sucks 100 kinds of ass.

 

I'm doing a swap with someone from a FB group - each party is responsible for paying postage on their end. It's nail polish, so roughly a 3-4 oz package. I have the padded envelopes and it is perfectly legal to ship polish through the mail in the US.

 

But....since there's no Paypal transaction, I logged onto USPS to get my shipment ready. Except they only offer priority shipping services online, no first class. This is NAIL POLISH, hardly an emergency. So now I have to go to the goddamn brick and mortar location, which is in Bumfuck, Back of Beyond. I'm not filling out any damn forms either; I don't work for the post office and they can pay for my inconvenience by doing all the work they get taxpayer money to do.

 

I'm sorry your physical office isn't closer! Ours is a few blocks away and I love the guys in there, they give me all kinds of help. One is my hero since he is the one in 2015 that figured out how I could send my AFTK album to Buffalo and put in a return pkg. so I could get it back with autographs on it. I love him!

 

I use the USPS website a lot at home as well and First class usually shows up pretty easily when it applies. They always put the Priority prices at the top but then usually list the other options underneath. I used to have to ship a lot of art supplies and misc to my daughter in school. It might be, that for something like nail polish, it weighs out a little too heavy for First Class? I dunno. I hope they can work it out for you!

I remembered as I was heading out the door that there is a UPS Store nearby, and they handle USPS packages. Postage was $2.60 for a First Class mailing. Had I done it via the Click-n-Ship, the minimum was $7.60.

I buy/sell/trade a lot of polish but this is the first time there hasn't been a PayPal transaction as it was a straight up 1-for-1 trade (I bought 1 from her in addition to the trade), so no need to invoice for anything. The default option for PP shipping is Priority, but you can change it to your own packaging and First Class ship. If I find myself in this situation again, I am going to request that we send each other a $1 invoice so I can print the label here.

I call the local postal branch "The Post Office That Time Forgot". Usually they have one person working at the counter, and if it's the woman who moves as though her limbs were suspended in heavy syrup, you know you're going to be there a while.

I just voted and I was right! Great win by the Chiefs. Not my favourite half time show of all time, but I agree it could have been all Shakira and no Jlo and it would have been better.

It was definitely a B-list halftime show. Neither singer has had anything like a hit in 15 years. Will say I do like Shakira. Fun fact: she is a MENSA member.

I would have liked to see some camera footage of the bathroom lines during halftime!

US Postal sucks 100 kinds of ass.

I'm doing a swap with someone from a FB group - each party is responsible for paying postage on their end. It's nail polish, so roughly a 3-4 oz package. I have the padded envelopes and it is perfectly legal to ship polish through the mail in the US.

But....since there's no Paypal transaction, I logged onto USPS to get my shipment ready. Except they only offer priority shipping services online, no first class. This is NAIL POLISH, hardly an emergency. So now I have to go to the goddamn brick and mortar location, which is in Bumfuck, Back of Beyond. I'm not filling out any damn forms either; I don't work for the post office and they can pay for my inconvenience by doing all the work they get taxpayer money to do.

The KC Chiefs

Same! We had a small gathering tonight which would have been fun anyway, but my boyfriend is a lifelong Chiefs fan so the win made it perfect. Plus Mahomes is such a class act; he deserved it!

It's just one more thing to make everyone anxious and running around like chickens without heads.

 

Ignore it.

 

When it's your time to go, you'll go, and not a moment sooner.

 

Lorraine gets it.

 

Do you know how many of these scares I've lived through? Sooner or later, you start to feel like someone is just making a fool of you.

When I was wee it was the swine flu that had everyone wigged out. Then SARS. This isn't keeping me up nights. I'm low-risk anyway; I work from home at a job that does not require me to interact with the unwashed masses, have no kids to bring home nasty things, and SO is mostly retired.

Just found out that mice have invaded my work/tool shed. Droppings everywhere, bags of grass seed have been plundered!

 

:rage:

 

fumigate it.

 

Maybe! I have some poison fake worms (for moles). They may or may not work. I'm gonna sweep out the entire shed tomorrow. The varmints don't have long to live!!

Wear a mask - you do NOT want to risk exposure to hantavirus, which is harbored in rodent poo. Preferably one of those P45 masks, but at least wear a surgical mask.

Technically against policy but I have no problem with well-behaved kids.

 

Well-behaved children are such a wonderful thing. I'd rather hang out with them than with most adults I know!

By the time they're about 8 or 9 and into video games and toilet humor - I am right there with them!

People who take advantage of the unstaffed hours at the gym (you scan your card to unlock the door) to bring their small children in with them. Two kids, elementary school age, climbing all over everything, scattering dumbbells everywhere, and making enough noise to be heard above my headphones. It's a gym, not Romper Room.

There is one guy who routinely brings his young son in, but that child sits quietly either reading or playing on his phone. Technically against policy but I have no problem with well-behaved kids.

I usually don't get to caught up in the drama surrounding the Grammys but tonight ticked me off. Lizzo and H.E.R. were robbed by Billie Ellish. Seriously, she won Best New Artist, Album of the Year (for “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”), Record of the Year or Song of the Year (both for “Bad Guy”).

If she is the future of music then it looks pretty bad. Can't sing her way out of a bucket IMHO. Lizzo at least got a couple of awards but H.E.R was shut out completely. That gal can sing like Alicia Keys, play piano and rock a mean guitar...WTH I saw her last year in a performance with Sting and she killed it.

ok guess I feel better now.

 

It’s snobbery, pure and simple. Those that cast their votes for Eilish think doing so makes them look erudite and discerning and arty-farty. As if anyone gives half a shit about them.

Quoting myself here, because I discovered today that Billie Eilish is the singer whose songs I always change the station for (I am a little behind the pop culture curve).

Every time I heard snippets of her music, my thought was always, "she sounds like she's dead, whoever she is". Now I know.

Are you on any medication at the moment?

 

There are quite a few drugs that will cause vivid or unsettling dreams as a side effect...

Yup. Chantix did for me (both times), and any SSRI. (SSRIs, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, may negatively impact bonerism but you won't care because they also banjax your sex drive),

I dream vividly anyway but the dreams from those two drugs were just beyond weird. It did settle down after a bit, though.

When you have these nightmares, are you aware you're dreaming? It's called lucid dreaming and supposedly you can train yourself to do it. The benefit of your dream self knowing that it's in a dream can let you somehow subconsciously take control of the dream.

Oh, also not a psychiatrist/psychologist, and it's been years since I stayed in a Holiday Inn even.

I usually don't get to caught up in the drama surrounding the Grammys but tonight ticked me off. Lizzo and H.E.R. were robbed by Billie Ellish. Seriously, she won Best New Artist, Album of the Year (for “When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”), Record of the Year or Song of the Year (both for “Bad Guy”).

If she is the future of music then it looks pretty bad. Can't sing her way out of a bucket IMHO. Lizzo at least got a couple of awards but H.E.R was shut out completely. That gal can sing like Alicia Keys, play piano and rock a mean guitar...WTH I saw her last year in a performance with Sting and she killed it.

ok guess I feel better now.

It’s snobbery, pure and simple. Those that cast their votes for Eilish think doing so makes them look erudite and discerning and arty-farty. As if anyone gives half a shit about them.

Dear God,

I will trade you Justin Bieber and all of the Kardashians for Neil Peart.

Signed,

Mara

Dear Mara,

Are you on crack? Not a f***ing chance in Hell (that lot aren’t welcome there either) or anywhere else! I can’t blame you for trying, though you know that’s nowhere near a fair swap.

Signed,

God

My dog, Simon, only has bronchitis.

 

(Long story, but he's nearing 16. He's got a significant heart murmur so I always worry about congestive heart failure starting. And he had some abnormal bone tissue growth in his lower limbs that usually indicates there's cancer going on somewhere in the body, though x-rays and ultrasound showed nada. So when he developed a slight cough, got kind of listless, and I found myself struggling to get calories into him, I worried. A lot. But....no sign of cancer on x-rays, good bloodwork, and heart sounds better than it did when he was first diagnosed with the murmur. So I will take the very treatable bronchitis).

 

i remember you talking about Simon. Glad to hear he is still with you and doing good. Did you have two dogs?

I did. Lost Lance to cancer three days after Christmas 2017. Now it’s Simon and Don, my SO (yes, the older guy - we’re officially shacked up!) has Zoe, who is five. So I do still have two dogs.

Just once I want to have a vet visit without it being a triple digit score! I swear, Simon knows when my credit card balance (usually accrued via vet trips) is zeroed out. I joke that he’s my financial manager - he keeps me from spending money on frivolous things. Such is the price of having an elderly dog, though, and he is more than worth every penny.

I have a 2010 Dodge Charger (AWD, and yes, Hemi and R/T version) that I loved driving...and now my 16 year old son is going to get it...hahaha. He just has his temporary permit now, but he’ll be having some fun when he gets his license.

 

I’ve been driving a different car now for about a year and a half.

 

My personal preference would be the Hellcat. Especially if it’s a year or two used, you could definitely get one within the budget that you have.

 

I’m ready to get simpler and downsize.

 

You're going to let a new teenage driver get behind the wheel of that car? :o

 

Yep. He’s a great kid.

 

He’s also 6’7”, and he fits in it, which is important to me (and to him, I’m sure, if I asked him). And it’s paid off, and I’ve kept it in great condition, mechanically and cosmetically.

 

I mean I totally understand why you’d ask, but...yeah. I thought about all of that already.

He's gonna be a minority in that car! At least he would be in the south. We rented one back in 2013 to drive to Raleigh for Rush (2nd show, had to do it). I felt very Caucasian behind the wheel!

I say that JohnRogers is gonna have a lot to say on this subject!

 

I like the Mustang, but I think the Dodge Challenger is a pretty compelling package. It looks great, several different V8's are offered (some cool colors too), and it seems to be the most "livable" current muscle car (spacious inside, no blind spots, large trunk, etc).

 

The purple is pretty bold

 

 

Yes, yes, what he said!

It’s gonna happen....as soon as my dog quits spending my money!

My dog, Simon, only has bronchitis.

(Long story, but he's nearing 16. He's got a significant heart murmur so I always worry about congestive heart failure starting. And he had some abnormal bone tissue growth in his lower limbs that usually indicates there's cancer going on somewhere in the body, though x-rays and ultrasound showed nada. So when he developed a slight cough, got kind of listless, and I found myself struggling to get calories into him, I worried. A lot. But....no sign of cancer on x-rays, good bloodwork, and heart sounds better than it did when he was first diagnosed with the murmur. So I will take the very treatable bronchitis).

I’m still all over the place. I’ve been on a diet of mostly Rush. Still feels unreal.

 

We’ve been planning a trip to Ontario and New England for a few weeks and now I’m absolutely determined to weave in a visit to Lakeside Park. I had previously declared no interest in seeing Niagara again when there are so many other wonders to see, but I have obviously changed my mind. My husband is onto me, but seems to be happy to humour his mad wife.

 

Still glad you lot are here to make me feel less deranged.

I'm still listening to a lot of Rush as well during workouts.

Yesterday I kept hitting repeat on "The Weapon". It's a favorite of mine anyway, in no small part because of the instrumental bridge. But now I am really listening to it. Not to give Geddy short shrift here or anything, but that section is so completely The Alex And Neil Show. You can listen to just the drums, or just the guitar, and be blown away by either one on its own merits....or be rendered speechless by the way the Neil and Alex complement each other.

Damn, I will miss those moments. Not fair. And Keith Richards endures....