@bleedmichigan oops. I beat you by one minute.

@bleedmichigan @RiotDemon But not official- this has the volmod seal of approval.

@bleedmichigan No the title of the other one was better… Short, to the point, with out all those extra words you used here. I blame the ABD in you for that.

By the way, do the stunt I did with my dissertation to save money on all those bound, cotton paper copies you have to make… Shave 1 point off the double space and move the margins out just a tiny, tiny bit. I made mine 25 pages longer that way. I turned it copies to my committee for all the drafts and defense that didn’t have those “changes” as sometimes committees are influenced by length. It was just when I turned it in for the official bull crap I had to do that cost a fortune that I shaved off pages. 125 pages, 150 pages who cared. It still had the same number of words.

@bleedmichigan Lost my edit time. Meant to say made mine 25 pages shorter that way not longer - your fault goat. And also meant to say I turned in the long copies to my committee and short copies where I was charged by the page. By the way - the best dissertation is a done dissertation. Just make the changes they want, get it over with and signed off on. I made one short change after my defense when they signed off on it, I then changed that change back on the copies I turned in because they were wrong on that particular fact and I didn’t want something wrong in there. They never knew.

Also you can change what you want if you ever publish it or parts of it. Just get it done. I also found it easier to write the entire first 3 chapters in full for the proposal defense. That way I wasn’t faced with a ton of writing when I was done with the research. Just had to screw with chapters 4 and 5. Easier to finish when not faced with expanding the lit review. Good luck getting finished.

@bleedmichigan I am a college dropout. I’m also not a he.

@bleedmichigan

I suggest you apologize now.

@RiotDemon my apologies I did not see a spot on your Meh profile for your preferred pronoun.

@bleedmichigan @RiotDemon I meant apologize for the other part.

@bleedmichigan My preferred pronoun is “His Honour”

@bleedmichigan

I don’t think @RiotDemon’s intro is all that poorly worded.

I think she just wrote intending a diff tone and mood and intention than yours. Not all writing has to be up for formal publication.

That said, you do seem to write rather well.
(Well, maybe, except, when we wanna judge you harshly for no particular reason except that we enjoy being “honorable Goat-baiting assholes”.)

Good thing you can write, what with the Edu intentions and all that.

/giphy good handwriting

@therealjrn your majesty

@RiotDemon @sammydog01 what part? Other part you say? I could have taught high school. May god have mercy on my soul. I have no qualms with anyone who decides college is not for them. I dropped out once from college and decided to go back. Nothing wrong with @riotdwmon deciding that if that is what you were speaking about. Now I am sorry about the incorrect pronoun but live and learn.

@bleedmichigan @f00l I really don’t care about the pronoun being wrong. I was just informing you because a lot of people assume I’m male.

As for my grammar in the OP, I don’t really care either. I was singing Christmas jingles and then decided that December isn’t just about Christmas blame.

@bleedmichigan @therealjrn Didn’t you mean to say: “Your hiney…”?

@therealjrn Its a Festivus Miracle.
/giphy Festivus Miracle

Is it time now for the airing of grievances?

@ybmuG Ooo, you’re good.

@therealjrn No, I’ve just watched too much TV over the years…

@therealjrn @ybmuG feats of strength

@bleedmichigan @therealjrn Until you pin me, Festivus is not over!

@bleedmichigan @therealjrn @ybmuG

/image festivus pole

@therealjrn @ybmuG

/giphy pinned

@therealjrn it’s for the rest of us

@Kidsandliz

/giphy puppies

@Kidsandliz aaawww. Rhat sounds like an Amazon experience for you. Poor puppies.

@Kidsandliz oh Liz lucky you! That sounds wonderful to feed them! Also thank you for all you do for the animals!!

@Kidsandliz damn spell check. That was suppose to say amazing experience.

I guess I will blame @bleedingmichigan for my fat fingers and my phones inability to read my mind!

@tinamarie1974 No worries. While the goat can’t, apparently, read your mind. I did. (so watch out!! LOL).

@moonhat @tinamarie1974 I bottle fed my 18.5 year old cat from about 10 days old. Hadn’t done that since with any animal. Puppies, especially ones who hadn’t eaten in way too long, were easy to feed. They practically inhaled the milk. Glad I am not the one who is doing it until they are ready to be weaned though as they need fed every couple of hours and I like my sleep at night (grin). But yes they were snuggly little things who looked so blissfully happy once they were about 1/2 way though the bottle.

@Kidsandliz @moonhat I have had the opportunity to feed both a baby pig and baby tiger by bottle. Both pretty cool!! But never a puppy!!

Oh, actually the odd baby goat as well! There are a few attractions locally that have baby goats and for $1-$2 you can bottle feed them. But the goats are crazy. They all gang up on you, jumping, chewing your clothes, etc trying to get that bottle! Oh the competition, it can be a little overwhelming.

/giphy bottle feeding goat

@Kidsandliz oh in that case I should apologize. Who knows what you heard when you were reading my mind lol!!

@Kidsandliz @tinamarie1974 that sounds heavenly!

@tinamarie1974 Don’t worry - I’ll only use what I heard for blackmail purposes. Otherwise I’ll never tell (smirk).

@moonhat @tinamarie1974 Now a baby tiger would be really cool. I once got to hold one - about the size of a full grown cat only with a really huge head. He fell asleep in my lap so the owner told me to go ahead and keep holding him while the little kids were in there petting him. That lasted about 45 min and then he woke up hungry so off to his mother (in a cage nearby). That was so cool!!

Then when I went home (this was a previous set of cats) my cats went so nuts over the smell of that baby that I had to take my clothes off and put them on the floor. They sniffed those clothes for close to 4 hours. Never knew cats had an attention span that long. I do wonder what really old reflexive part of their little brains that odor woke up.

@Kidsandliz Sorry, but I beg to differ, as rescuing and feeding abandonated puppies completely trumps said abandination.

@Kidsandliz …I know because my S-I-L and niece both foster rescues and our two pups are rescues.
My S-I-L is the rescue’s go-to for pregnant female rescues, as well as special needs puppies, and puppies in general, so while we do see a lot of sadness, it is greatly outweighed by the joy we all experience from contributing to caring for these rescues.
/giphy rescue dogs

@PhysAssist

Sorry, but I beg to differ, as rescuing and feeding abandonated puppies completely trumps said abandination.

??? What do you mean abandination?

@Kidsandliz If the puppies were abandonated, then the process was abandonation… [just me being a goof…]
/giphy abandonated

@Kidsandliz Whoops, timed out on the /giphy editing…
/giphy abandonated puppies

@Kidsandliz …and:
/giphy rescue the puppies

@PhysAssist Thanks for the explanation

@PhysAssist @Kidsandliz
So, as a compadre goof, does one use “oriented” or “orientation”?
/image one does not simply

Wouldn’t “abandonated” be a past tense gerund (or “gerunded”) form of the verb “to abandon”? Or some weird declension (or “declensionated form”) that is a legacy from Latin?

@Kidsandliz @mike808 Firstly: as a well-raised true American, I use the only proper term- oriented.

I was taught that only total boors, and some of those speaking some other nonsense language [alleged to be “the Queen’s English”] use that orientated bushwah.

Secundus: As a 3rd [and in some cases 4th or 5th] generation son of several families which immigrated from Deutschland who took exactly 1 semester of college German, I’m going to have to go with the first choice.

Sadly, despite my medical education and way too many years of on-the-job training/exposure to various amounts of Latin, my understanding of, and ability to parse it out are simply shitty.

I’m glad though that you consider me a comrade…

@bleedmichigan
/image rotflmao

no idea why that won’t come up except in another tab. Here’s the image

@bleedmichigan nah, that doesn’t work. We can place blame in any thread.

@bleedmichigan @RiotDemon Hells ya. KaL has posted at least 3 different places about her puppy blame. Didn’t you notice? Maybe she needs to make it it’s own thread.

@bleedmichigan @RiotDemon @therealjrn Nope just 2 threads hunting for the right one. Thank you though for spending your valuable time making sure you read all my posts. Glad to entertain you. .

@bleedmichigan @Kidsandliz @RiotDemon @therealjrn
Now if only the fucking scapegoat mediocrebot worked so that we actually could give blame in any other topic.

ants fucking works, but no scapegoat.
/blame blame

@bleedmichigan hey, my only rule break was in giving myself an unblame. I exercised no restrictions on blames received (like that would be effective anyway)!

@ybmuG no I was saying you set a precedent I was just expanding the power. It’s how a dictator gets his power.

@bleedmichigan @ybmuG can’t argue with the Goat’s logic. If someone set a precedent, next Goat can make Blame Rules.
Sounds reasonable to me!

@bleedmichigan @JnKL @ybmuG There is one flaw in this logic though… that the scapegoat has the power to even be a dictator. In this case I think the inmates have over run the asylum.

@JnKL @Kidsandliz @ybmuG if the kids have over run the university then it is logical for the goat to over run meh.

@bleedmichigan @JnKL let’s just be clear on who the precedent setter was…right @JnKL?

@JnKL @ybmuG

/giphy double precedent

@f00l hey, you should know that same kid is laughing at you over on the ornament thread …

@stolicat

That kid follows me around laughing at me.

@f00l @stolicat Ahh but the key question - is that kid starring your posts? (snicker). One person who follows me around and comments never stars my posts. /I am so deprived He who has the most toys starred posts when they die wins. Right?

@CaptAmehrican blame because Starbucks is nasty so I’m sorry for you.

@CaptAmehrican You seem to win tons of things between this, all that stuff from Amazon (speaking of which I haven’t seen those emails in ages, I wonder if that program stopped - can’t even remember where the list was located that listed all the open give aways to check) - where you click on the box to see if you won… Where’d you buy your luck from? . Congrats!

@Kidsandliz i enter contests all the time . Fyi those Amazon giveaways ended.
It is free to enter daily
https://www.starbucksforlife.com

@bleedmichigan @CaptAmehrican

Starbucks is nasty so I’m sorry for you.

Starbucks is simply well-marketed, slightly above the usual fast food quality, fast food.

As fast food, it’s fine.

If you make excellent quality coffee at home, or if you habituate an area with excellent trad espresso places, congrats!

@CaptAmehrican @f00l Actually Starbucks is the purveyors of that nasty black liquid. I don’t drink coffee so I dislike Starbucks.

/giphy coffee yuck

@bleedmichigan I’m with you!
That’s why I mainline Diet Mountain Dew…
The only dark brown to black liquids I ever drink are beers…
FWIW, my 2 current favorites are Spider Bite Brewery’s “Boris the Spider”- a Russian Imperial Stout, and Single Cut Brewery’s “Heavy Boots Made of Lead”, an American Imperial Stout.

@CaptAmehrican

I suspect you do quite a bit of teeth-gritting, also, as mentioned elsewhere: a “gift” to certain persons who are permanently part of your life.

Hey. Charity is charity. It counts!

/giphy charity

@f00l Often, maybe even mostly, when you talk using giphy it makes little sense.

@f00l But uh, my apologies for not understanding.

@therealjrn

Often, maybe even mostly, when you talk using giphy it makes little sense.

Yes

Targeted and possibly amusing irrelevant or off-the-wall non-sense is a fav of mine.

/giphy nonsense

I apologize for failing to pre-announce your apology.

/giphy pre-

@f00l I’m sorry, I failed to anticipate your apology for not pre-apologizing. I do apologize for the oversight.

@therealjrn

Since I did not create a preview trailer for your latest apology, I owe you for that.

/giphy apology trailer

@thismyusername Ahh, old Gävvy! Distant cousin, I think.

@tinamarie1974 But maroon5 is coming in August.
/giphy adam levine

@mike808 oh I do love me some AL, but for different reasons

/giphy eye candy

@tinamarie1974 I’m not even a concert person but that one does sound really fun! I saw it’ll be in seattle, maybe I’ll go. Or maybe not.

@moonhat yeah I am trying to talk my friends into a Chicago road trip, but sadly the do not seem to be taking the bait. Clearly they are not as adventurous as me haha

@tinamarie1974
That sucks.
Even more because you’re blaming in the wrong thread.
BLAME HERE.

@mike808 so we are not suppose to use the broadcast thread? I am blaming the scapegoat and sending @bleedmichigan 30 to 50 feral hogs

@bleedmichigan is a mean one, Mr. Grinch.

@bleedmichigan @tinamarie1974

Send hugs, not hogs.

Also, ants be sometimes broke, sometimes not.

Scapegoats gotta scape goats.

@bleedmichigan @tinamarie1974
Sending 30 to 50 feral hogs.

@bleedmichigan @mike808 blame the scapegoat because the hogs are broke!!

@bleedmichigan doesn’t drink during Robanukah, like a heathen.

@bleedmichigan @mike808 unblame because @chadp is amazing and has already addressed my issue… after 11 pm no less!!

/giphy applause

@bleedmichigan @ChadP @mike808 @tinamarie1974 After 11 pm can sometimes be the best time to address issues.

@bleedmichigan @ChadP @therealjrn @tinamarie1974
And after 3am is usually when the issues return.

@bleedmichigan @ChadP @mike808 @therealjrn that sounds like a personal problem???

/giphy giggle

@RiotDemon but was it good pizza?

@bleedmichigan pizza was good. Wings were lacking so I was extra glad that I basically got them for free and then some.

Blame because @therealjrn used f-word instead of saying FUCK. Thus fucking up @carl669 fuck count

@bleedmichigan tells children that Santa isn’t real.

@carl669 @tinamarie1974 Well f-word me.

I guess I fucking did. Dammit.

@tinamarie1974 well fuckity fucking balls @therealjrn… way to fuck up the Christmas fuck count!

@mediocrebot neither is @ChadP

@cranky1950 t-minus 7 days and those are getting fixed

@mike808 Swinging from lightning bolts - I want one …
Not so sure I could take 2 hours of that music, though …

@mike808 That looks bad ass!! I think I should change my user name or TM74 lol

/giphy So excited

@mike808

/giphy gal gadot

@JnKL You can have all of these. Fine wagyu well-marbled deer. Every fucking day they pillage the landscaping. These 8 are part of the “small” herd.

@JnKL @mike808 Are they grade W?

@JnKL @mike808 is that in front of your house?

@mike808 on my way!

@JnKL @mike808 chances the deer are missed and the house is hit…100%

@tinamarie1974 glad you are ok.

@tinamarie1974 glad it was just the bumper and not anything worse for you or the car. But what a PITA to have to deal with it.

@Kidsandliz huge PITA. The guy was trying to beat traffic so he could order McDonalds

At this point, my back and neck are both really sore, wondering if I pulled something. Giving it until at least this afternoon before checking it out.

@Kidsandliz and now I am at the hospital because the pain is getting worse. Well fuck

@tinamarie1974 Hope it is just whiplash. That can be really painful though.

@RiotDemon @tinamarie1974 Glad you’re basically OK. Smart to get yourself checked out!

@RiotDemon @therealjrn yeah my parents insisted after I told them.

@tinamarie1974 glad it isn’t worse.
I want to know why you would name your faithful steed, Beast? I thought you had an invisible jet?

@JnKL the beast is my everyday vehicle (sounds imposing) and she and I have been on many a crazy adventure. The “invisible jet” is my secret weekend car

@JnKL @tinamarie1974 well that sucks! I assume everything checked out ok?

/giphy invisible jet

@Kidsandliz @tinamarie1974 perhaps the worst thing to ever be in an accident for.

@ybmuG poor baby!

@ybmuG and wait till spring when you step in it. Mine has decided that business is done in the driveway. It was all good till the wife slipped in a pee spot.

@tinamarie1974 Sounds like tarted up hipster beignets.
/image beignets

@mike808 I have had both and can say nope, very different. Both delicious in their own way

/image cinnasnack

@tinamarie1974 LAME!

@tinamarie1974 Oh. I see. More like a failed croissant trying its best to be a churro.
/image chocolate croissant

@mike808 I guess but still delicious. If it is a mistake, it was a serendipitous one

@tinamarie1974 I’ll still take Parisian patisserie croissants over Sonic cinnasnacks any day.

@mike808 well duh, who wouldn’t!

@sammydog01 USPS just announced that the package would be late. No shit Sherlock. I paid $20 for priority mail. I don’t suppose I get a refund if it takes over 3 days, do I?

@sammydog01 priority mail is a non-guaranteed service. Sorry Charlie

/image sad face

@tinamarie1974 So I paid extra for them to deliver it whenever the fuck they felt like it? IS THIS WHERE MY TAX DOLLARS GO?

@sammydog01 uuuummmm yes and no. The post office is no longer ran by the Gov’t. Management was outsourced years ago.

@tinamarie1974 Fine, THIS IS WHERE MY STAMP DOLLARS GO?

@sammydog01

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@CaptAmehrican I have had a lot of similar issues as of late with amazon logistics

@CaptAmehrican My Chewy order has been out for delivery since last Friday. It’s changed to’delivery date unknown’.

@CaptAmehrican @OldCatLady The ghosts next door are eating your dog biscuits.

@therealjrn so it was packaged to meet “meh” standards

/define meh

No exact matches found for the specified word.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@tinamarie1974 “Mediocre” fur shure

@tinamarie1974 But BLAME because you can’t own one. Right?

@bleedmichigan spiked the eggnog.

@Kidsandliz @tinamarie1974 why not?

@Kidsandliz own what? The jersey? I have several including that particular design. The baby? He can be pre ordered on Amazon. The cup? I get my replica Monday!!! Giddy with joy over here.

@tinamarie1974 I had thought this was a “miniature” (eg small toy sized) set of things that someone made by hand to display on a shelf or something; something that couldn’t be bought in that size.

@Kidsandliz oh I wish. That would be super cute and I am so obsessed with Baby Yoda right now.

@tinamarie1974 So does the replica you bought have all the names engraved on it?

@Kidsandliz I will find out Monday, but I doubt it. It is a giveaway at Mondays game

@Kidsandliz

/giphy mind blown

@sammydog01 It’s a very bad USPS!

@ybmuG I just hope this is a cornfield it will return from.

@sammydog01 They never do…

@sammydog01 Virginia to Iowa to Virginia and we wonder why USPS is not profitable

@bleedmichigan @sammydog01
USPS is not profitable because it is congressionally mandated to make no profit, nor to burden the taxpayers. It pays its own way. It also cannot pick and choose which areas and citizens it services based on how profitable or rural or rich/poor or language, gender, marital status, and yes, even national origin.

Now, if you were talking UPS (big brown), then if the management elected by the shareholders allows such wasteful practices, then it is up to the shareholders to appoint new management. Much like our government, but not.

@mike808 @sammydog01 ok so how about instead of saying profitable I say solvent.

@bleedmichigan @sammydog01
It is solvent. It is congressionally mandated to be solvent. The USPS does not lose money any more than it makes money.

I don’t think that word means what you think it means.

Also, in all commerce, you, the recipient, are not the customer. The shipper is. So your option is that if you don’t like who your vendors/suppliers choose as their shippers, your only remedy is to not purchase from them, and to purchase goods from another supplier that uses a shipping carrier that you approve of.

No different than choosing a supplier/vendor based on the quality of the items they sell or the specific brands they carry.

It may cost you more to use a supplier/vendor that ships your purchases using a carrier you approve of. Such is the price of discrimination.

@mike808 @sammydog01 sorry but USPS is far from solvent. Numerous articles to point you to that explain how for away USPS is from solvency. So here is but one. https://www.federaltimes.com/management/2019/04/30/how-to-solve-the-usps-financial-death-spiral/

While there is a lot that rides on Congress, cost of a stamp, funding of pensions etc the simple fact is that costs are out pacing income and have been for a while. As for selecting shippers, I really don’t care. I was commenting on @sammydog01 s comment about a package from Va to Va that was in Iowa. Extra miles on a package do not make it cost less to deliver while the cost to move one package a extra long ways to go a very short ways does not help the bottom line. On top of that Priority mail is is supposed to be 1-3 days to most places. Lots of time priority ends up in the 4 day range which is first class territory. Either way the wife’s father was a postal employee. Interestingly he delivered one of the Unibomber’s packages unknowingly to the University of Michigan

Everyone will be pleased to learn that the box did indeed leave the cornfields of Iowa and is currently in Washington DC, probably protesting the abuse of packages by the USPS.

My daughter won’t be able to pick it up for a month now and I expect it will arrive by then. Hopefully the cookies won’t get mold all over the MAD magazine.

In other news I shipped cookies this Monday to my brother 3 states over, UPS ground, and he received them the next day. Live and learn.

@bleedmichigan Cool story.

@stolicat Try downloading from an alternate source?

@mike808 I’m not a big fan of sketchy websites with unlicensed material, I’ve had my system toasted a couple times from them. Besides, I pay money for this, it should work.

I did do more futzing today on it seems to be related to the Apple HDMI adaptor. The downloads play fine on the iThing by itself, but when the adaptor is connected it gets the Oh No message immediately. This setup works fine with other services (iTunes, Amazon, HBO) so it’s something wonky in the Disney app. Streaming works better without the adaptor also. I double-checked the adaptor connection with other services (to ensure it wasn’t damaged) and they still work fine.

If there are others out there using Disney and iThings, I’d like to know how you’re connected up. I contacted Disney CS and they’ve “escalated” it for expert examination.

@mike808 @stolicat airplay from my iPad to my Apple TV streams Disney+ perfect

/giphy Christmas card

@bleedmichigan, you have no one to blame but yourself lol

/giphy sad

@tinamarie1974 actually I could blame the surgeon for the 3 punctures and two small stitched area in my scrotum but maybe that is sharing too much. I’ll just take the blame.

@bleedmichigan doesn’t drink during Robanukah, like a heathen.

@ruouttaurmind why buy S&D when you can buy possibly stolen on Craigslist?

@bleedmichigan I’ve read the product discussions in prior Woot S&D sales and I guess it’s not unheard of to get a blacklisted phone even from them.

@ruouttaurmind ummmmm then why buy one?

@bleedmichigan If it’s not a blacklisted phone and it works as it should, it was about $100 less than an identical phone on eBay. If there is a problem, I’m confident Woot will do a return/refund without much grief. For the hundred bucks I’m possibly saving, it was a calculated (minimal) risk.

@ruouttaurmind well then I blame for the $100 savings and the thrill

@bleedmichigan is to blame for my lack of knowledge regarding multi-cultural winter holidays.

@OldCatLady

Tossed like this?

@bleedmichigan No, but I like the idea.

@bleedmichigan @OldCatLady
Or more like this…

@bleedmichigan @mike808 where are the photos? I blame the goat that they don’t show on my computer. Just empty white space. Not even a blue square with a white ? in it.

@bleedmichigan tried to rob Kevin’s house while his family was out of town.

@Kidsandliz @mike808 slow internet?

/giphy buffering

@mediocrebot

/giphy wet bandits

@bleedmichigan @mike808 Slow internet was it. Today the photo/video shows up. Humorous.

Unblame as I finally got some meds from the doc yesterday (took a few tries - first time they claimed I had a viral infection so nothing but tylenol). Went from a 102 fever to normal. Penicillin is a miracle drug lol

@tinamarie1974 well not sure how being sick forced you to miss Star Wars. All those Star Wars fans are sick in the head, it’s Star Trek or bust.

/giphy Picard

@bleedmichigan so the 102 fever and feeling like I was ran over by a bus made it difficult to get out of bed. I was NOT going to make it to the show, nor did I want to get anyone else sick.

As far as SW vs ST I like them both for different reasons. Don’t ask me to choose between Kirk and Picard! And as far as SW, it has always been Yoda. The new baby Yoda development on the Mandalorian has me ecstatic!

@Kidsandliz How the fuck did that happen?
Note to self: Don’t clear earwax with ice pick or screwdriver.

Did you watch the last episode of Evil?

Sorry to hear that. (no pun intended)
I hope it heals quickly and doesn’t cause hearing loss. Tough call on the stay for better care or not dilemma.

@Kidsandliz @mike808 omg I thought of that episode as I was reading her post! Sounds painful!!

@Kidsandliz rankings are over rated.

@Kidsandliz

/giphy feel better

@Kidsandliz Please keep updating. Some people worry, you know.

@tinamarie1974 @bleedmichigan @OldCatLady Thank you. Sorry. Out of town at my mom’s and no time to be on the internet there (the to do list is pretty long and getting it all done is not a for sure given).

Have a hole. Given ear drops which sting like crazy when they hit the hole. Part of the pain, I was told, is the swelling, part of it is from a bone bruise by the jaw joint (lucky nothing broke there), and part because it just hurts to do that. The really loud ringing and muffled hearing is taking time to get used to.

Told to make an apt to see ENT there Friday. Let’s hope I can get one since I have to leave, at the very latest, Sunday. Doesn’t hurt as much today but my hearing is sure affected (although I do have some very muffled hearing in that ear). They did say if the hole closed on its own likely I’d recover most of my hearing, perhaps nearly all. So that is at least a plus.

If not, or if not completely, then I’d need to get the hole patched. I sure as heck will not get that done in at an unranked hospital with an unranked ENT department in a state ranked in the bottom 3 in the nation with respect to health care (it’s a race to the bottom where I live) so I might have to stay here longer and rearrange all sorts of stuff to do that, rob a bank… So I have my fingers crossed. I’ll know more Friday about that.

@mike808 - how the fuck did that happen? No pick axes or drills or filed down elbows. Long story that involved a number of things that had to go wrong in just the right way. Pure bad luck. And I don’t know anything about a tv show called evil (only have over the air stations). Not sure I want to hunt on the internet for that as you and @tinamarie1974 seem to imply it is gruesome.

At least the two cats I brought with me are doing OK.

@bleedmichigan @Kidsandliz @mike808 @OldCatLady

Hope you get well soon, whichever route you take. BTW Evil is on CBS, check it out. It is a good show

@bleedmichigan @Kidsandliz @OldCatLady @tinamarie1974
Link to the show referenced to watch for free (for now). Episode is called “7 swans a singing”.
I’m hooked. Glad it got picked up for season 2.

https://www.cbs.com/shows/evil/video/5FiNrNPHhwhQb4ct8yDrlL1MTcnRP4_f/evil-7-swans-a-singin/

@bleedmichigan @mike808 @OldCatLady @tinamarie1974 When I get home I’ll look up the show and url unless I find time while mom is at a meal to watch it. Thanks for the url.

BLAME - called to make the apt Friday and there are none until Jan 3. Can’t stay here that long. Sigh. On the cancelation list. So I guess I’ll make a back up apt home for Dec 30/31 if they even have one. Haven’t called yet. Need to find that phone number next.

@bleedmichigan drank your eggnog.

@f00l

The Kings College Cambridge Chapel Choir Xmas Eve service is live now and the singing is wonderful. It’s almost over, sadly.
Some familiar Carols use a different common orchestration in the U.K. it seems. That’s fine. It’s all wonderful.

This program streams on the main Minnesota Public Radio Classical Music channel.
The webpage for streaming is here:

https://www.classicalmpr.org/story/2019/11/25/festival-of-nine-lessons-and-carols

The service can also be streamed from the MPR app by choosing the classical channel.

Today’s 2019 program will have a repeat broadcast this afternoon on MPR classical.

5pm PT
6pm MT
7pm CT
8pm ET

Last year’s 2018 Kings College Chapel service marked the 100th anniversary of this traditional English Christmas Eve service, first performed at Truro Cathedral in Cornwall in 1918.
(This service was first performed at King College in 1928.)

Last year’s service was also the final service arranged and conducted by long time Kings College Choir and Music Director Sir Stephen Cleobury, who died earlier this year.

That service performance from a year ago can be downloaded or streamed from this page:

https://smarturl.it/TheCentenaryService

Another webpage streaming today’s service - possibly at a time of the listener’s choosing, not sure - is here

https://www.yourclassical.org/listen/holiday

@f00l What do I tell Alexa to get Samuel Jackson to play this?

@therealjrn

Alexa will play this MPR channel, perhaps.
I think you have to choose between this and Samuel Jackson. Perhaps you could alternate.

Or do a custom edit?
(While dressed up for appliance bargaining, of course.)

/youtube Samuel Jackson

/giphy cleavage

@therealjrn

PS

While I was mostly absent from Meh for a few daze, did you keep up with offering my apologies for every possible reason and for no reason at all?

Or must I apologize on your behalf for your failure to apologize on my behalf?

/youtube Samuel L Jackson fucking apology

@therealjrn

PPS

That last previous YouTube video fucking sux.

I apologize!

Let’s try this one.
/youtube Samuel L Jackson fuck

While you were gone, you decided that all this “over-apologizing” was actually a manifestation of pridefulness so you quit doing it.

Good on you, @f00l, good on you.

Stay humble, @f00l, even though you’re perfect in every way, just like me.

I understand your struggle.

@therealjrn

I apologize for my pridefully humble apologies.

They mostly suck. Or they all suck.

I feel so bad about them.

/giphy random Samuel L Jackson

@therealjrn

Oh. I forgot.

I apologize for being perfect in every way, just like you.

How reprehensible of me.

/giphy specific Samuel L Jackson

@f00l I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.

@f00l @therealjrn
/image Mary Poppins perfect in every way

@f00l @therealjrn disappointment is the WORST

@f00l

@therealjrn

Stay humble, @f00l, even though you’re perfect in every way, just like me.

@f00l I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed.

I apologize that you are perfectly disappointed.

/giphy perfect

@f00l Naw, no I’m just tired of it. No problem. All good here.

@therealjrn

Sometimes I’m feeling extra-apologetic and I act that out. Usually when under stress.

Because I’m aware that I tend apologize too much during stressful times, and don’t control it well;
I try to also use that “apology-tendency” for a bit of (v v lame) light comedy.
Either by making fun of my own tendency to over-apologize; or by or by going over-the-top ridiculous or absurd with apologies.

Uh …
as you may be noticed, this attempt at “light comedy” often doesn’t work. Ouch.

I have not yet quit my day job to do full-time standup. That’s prob a good thing, no?
: )

@f00l All good, you be you.

@narfcake it is a Christmas miracle!!

@msklzannie great game! I caught the last 3/4.

@msklzannie even better is the the Ohio State lost

/giphy Buckeyes lost

@bleedmichigan If it was a regular season game, I’d agree… but you at least have to cheer for the Big 10 in the bowl games (even if it pains you to do so).

@msklzannie sorry but it is sac religious to root for Ohio State not during the regular season not in the bowls.

@bleedmichigan Think of it not as cheering for the team but for the conference. “Go Big 10!” not “Go Ohio State!”

@msklzannie any other team and that would be fine but not that school down south.

@bleedmichigan @msklzannie you do know it is properly called The Ohio State. I hired an engineer from there and she corrected me a hundred times!

@JnKL @msklzannie the history behind the “the” in the name is interesting but I still don’t care it’s that damn school down south. Has been, and will continue to be.

@bleedmichigan @JnKL Legally the University of Iowa is the State University of Iowa.

@RiotDemon chances are it’s your fan switch. They are like 8 bucs at Home Depot and easy to change

@RiotDemon Is it a remote controlled fan? It’s possible that it’s the receiver/controller that died, which is typically separate from the fan itself.

A new receiver and remote will be the fix; something like this:
https://smile.amazon.com/F2-U-Universal-Controller-Westinghouse-Honeywell/dp/B076B9SWRY/

@narfcake @bleedmichigan
Not remote controlled. Doubt it’s the switch because it was already running when it quit. Maybe the capacitor? Either way, the fan is at least 9 years old and it was starting to make annoying noises. It’s also ugly. I was planning on eventually changing it out. Now I’m just forced to do it sooner. Sleeping last night was terrible. I could postpone it by using a portable fan but why delay the inevitable any longer?

Turns out I have two spare fans and I just couldn’t decide which one I wanted for my bedroom versus my guest room.

@bleedmichigan @narfcake @RiotDemon Probably easier to change out the fan than buy another house. Good plan RD!

@Kidsandliz

@Kidsandliz Finished my 600mi drive today. Rained mist of the middle, starting from drizzle, and dry at the end. Overcast and cloudy the whole way, dawn to dark.

@mike808 Glad it went well. My 604 mile leg is today. Looking at the weather it is supposed to snow where I left from yesterday so at least I missed that. I’ll take your weather over what I had even if mist and wind shield wipers is a pain. Actually just looking at a national weather map, it looks pretty good even though it is much colder than yesterday (and my winter coat is in the car somewhere, not inside with me. Oops).

@Kidsandliz wouldn’t it be easier to move closer?

@RiotDemon Well yes it would but I need a job up there first (and have been applying) in order to know I can pay for a move I’d have to put on a credit card. The down side of that is then it is harder to manage my special needs young adult daughter and what is going on with her and her 4 kids (of which 3out of 4 of them also have special needs/medical issues). Trade offs unfortunately and makes for hard choices. I could use a clone

@Kidsandliz no way for her to move as well?

@RiotDemon I only wish. It would be far better for her to be out of the deep south too, not to mention not living in one of the three worst states for medical care where it is a race to the bottom (and no medicaid expansion). But she refuses to leave.

@tinamarie1974 Sorry for having to deal with folks in that category over what should be a happy time.

@Kidsandliz aawww thanks. Every family has one I just have to remind myself to not go to her level

@tinamarie1974 solidly agree especially the overly religious ones who keep telling you what you are doing wrong and how your kids deserve better. Thanks mom.

@stolicat Ah, the last stage of acceptance.

@Kidsandliz drive safely

@bleedmichigan Just got back at 12:25am. Did not tie the cats to the roof rack despite their incessant meowing. They are thrilled to be home. So am I. I am really, really tired.

Now on to goat business:

More fender liner (this time on the other side) was banging around from, I presume, hitting the rabbit the other week. Good thing I had lock ties in the car. No fun lying on the cold pavement on the side of the interstate fastening them back up. But once they were back up the nasty wheel sound vanished. Blame and unblame for that. Blame for the low fuel/fuel door open sensor stuck turned on the entire trip home. Presuming it isn’t going to hurt anything it will remain unfixed. Sigh.

Good night.

@bleedmichigan drank your eggnog.

@JnKL aaawww I am sorry That sounds like a terrible holiday. Lets hope you ring in a much healthier and prosperous 2020

@JnKL Hope you manage to continue to escape the plague that is in your house. Sorry you missed all those fun things!! That sucks.

@Kidsandliz cute cats but we really need to talk about people getting rid of comforters with flowers on them.

@bleedmichigan Hey I found it behind City Thrift in their dumpster. It was in nice shape, clean (although I washed it first anyway) and has an IKEA label. Can’t argue with free. Besides it keeps my nice quilt from being wrecked by cat claws when the young ones are play fighting and by the almost 19 year old who tends to puke a lot. These are the younger 3 - feral cat (2 in May), backyard bird feeder dinner bait kitty (about 14 months), and campus kitty (around 3 this month). A no kill shelter here is trying to find the youngest 2 homes. I also have freeway kitty (10 yo this month) and bottle fed baby who will be 19 in March (I have had her since 10 days old).

@Kidsandliz ikea is not the arbiter of fashionable quilts I guess. Though I do understand your plight as my wife does something similar to protect our quilt

@bleedmichigan Ikea is the arbitrator of 140 thread count quilts and sheets for sure though. Actually this one is fairly soft but you can tell it is low quality. I actually like some Ikea stuff. For years I have had these wood shelves that you can put together in all sorts of configurations, a poem chair which has lasted forever (Ikea no longer sells this and so eventually I will have to custom make a new cushion as this one is pretty much destroyed and has replaced it by the poang chair which is also nice for a light, small chair although it is narrower and you lean back a bit more than I’d like) and some incredibly cheap, technically, fat candle holders that I use to put silverware in since my kitchen only has 2 very small drawers (blame for that since you are still goat!!). I like those things. Their chocolate bars are mediocre though.

@Kidsandliz expired IKEA Chocolate will be for sale on Meh within a year now. Thanks for giving them ideas.

@bleedmichigan @Kidsandliz cats on the bed also magically increase their mass at least 3x, making it nearly impossible to get out of bed, or even roll over, if you are pinned on both sides.
And we’ve got a flower print comforter not unlike that one that is used for an extra layer or as a throw cover - looks nice in the old house.

@Kidsandliz @stolicat oddly enough our one cat sleeps on the wife pretty funny for me not so much for her. Last night it actually tried to lay on her head.

@bleedmichigan @stolicat I had a very large ragdoll/snowshoe lynx siamese markings cat - stretched out he was around 40 inches nose to tip of his tail and normal weight at 19 pounds. Neighbor left him behind (and two others). He liked to sleep on your chest (which I did not like as he was heavy!!). The no kill shelter found him (and his buddies) a home. Wonderful sweetheart of a cat and I would have kept him and one of the other two who was a darling, and small, love bug, but I already had enough cats. I have always regretted I didn’t keep them though.

@Kidsandliz @stolicat still a goat at 3:45 est

@stolicat And it is lucky they are not 120 pound dogs although they can act as if they are

@Kidsandliz yup still not dead. So what university hospital is this crappy?

@bleedmichigan @Kidsandliz you died!!! Yippie!!!

@bleedmichigan @Kidsandliz @tinamarie1974 the goat has turned and I have my badge - now I just need to watch out for collapsing roofs.

@Kidsandliz @stolicat @tinamarie1974 it seems like you should have to cover February now since it’s your fault that I took part of January away

@bleedmichigan @Kidsandliz @tinamarie1974 No way - @Kuoh is already getting a short month with gobs of Holiday content …

@stolicat OK so the blame still holds that I mentioned above only now it is your fault. Not to mention the work day has ended now and this STILL isn’t sorted out.!! So that blame is on your watch now!

@bleedmichigan @stolicat @tinamarie1974 And why would you need to watch out for collapsing roofs?

@bleedmichigan @Kidsandliz @tinamarie1974 earlier discussion today somewhere here about the goat curse and the roof collapsing on @Pavlov during his goatness - something I guess I am now required to take the blame for …

@bleedmichigan @Pavlov @stolicat @tinamarie1974 Oh THAT collapsing roof… I must have missed that discussion earlier today. Lots of time on the phone and on hold so was online wasting time while waiting… but I guess I missed that conversation.

@Kidsandliz and I should take the blame for your current hassles with the health care octopus - in light of all the current discussion (arguments) of health care systems, especially the monolithic ones, I should be advocating for the creation of a functional health care ombudsman structure, possibly by some NGO partner but with some teeth and influence to help people navigate the inevitable bureaucratic bullshit.
It’s lucky (although really unfortunate) that you’ve had as much experience with the structure so you at least know where to start when something goes south - as I not-so-gracefully age I worry more and more about others without the resources to deal with fuck-ups. It’s bad enough that it can impact your health, but also suck up so much of your time and money.

@stolicat Something sure needs to be done. I am really tired to continued fuck ups on the part of the system, insurance… I can’t even begin to tell you how many people I have advised how to fight back with screw ups with two different medical systems. I eventually got MD Anderson to write off nearly $5000 due to their repeated insurance screw up although that took 7 years for that to permanently stick (they’d write it off and then it would get unwritten off). I told them I’d like to return my first breast cancer surgeries like a couch and get it done elsewhere since they, for 7 mo, repeatedly accepted my insurance as in network (and my insurance company said they were in network) and people make decisions on where to get health care based on who accepts their insurance. I finally, when I demanded proof that it really was written off (so I didn’t have to do a rinse and repeat), had it sent to me by the head of billing. I emailed back a thank you and told her she’d be sorry she had my email address. LOL.

And I had to use it each year as they put the wrong dx code (no doubt repeating from the previous year) on one radiologist’s reading of the CT scan. Said it wasn’t medically necessary. Really? But it is for the rest of them. Sigh. But I was the one, 5 calls to health insurance later, who had to figure out what the screw up was and then get an insurance company person to violate their own policy and give me the diagnosis code that worked on the rest of the CT scans. Then MDA seemed surprised I was telling the truth when they discovered I had called my insurance, I was right, they were wrong… blah blah blah. Now all I do is email her and tell her rinse and repeat and it gets fixed.

And then there was the year it (finally after I had spent over 180 hours on the mess) took the state’s insurance commission to straighten out the mess. Cost me my $5000 award from LLS for medical bills though as I missed that deadline since I couldn’t submit the bills for the chemo copays until I had insurance straightened out. That attorney told me she never wanted to deal with Cigna again. Nope neither did I.

There is one problem that I have been fighting for 2.5 years, the MD violated university policy big time which is costing me nearly $600. He has already been sent to (useless for changing his behavior) anger management classes with how he treats patients and staff (he is tenured), and I refuse to pay the amount it cost me extra to have that test done there rather than elsewhere. Only 6 mo until statute of limitations to collect runs out (I am in collection) but I don’t want it on my credit report so I continue to battle them.

They also don’t turn off emails of patient advocates who leave and make sure that open cases are passed on. Been through 3 so far that way and have to show up in person to get someone reassigned to the case. The forth told me she asked him if he did that, he said no, thus no problem. Seriously? Like he would admit to violating university policy and then threaten me if I didn’t get the test done there? The nurse told me he meant his threats; he had followed through with others. That woman didn’t even talk to her despite me giving her her name and she agreed to back me up. Sigh.

I eventually “win” most of my battles/solve most of the “problems” because I don’t give up or go away, and hunt down policy and quote it back at them (although I all of this has cost me $7500 so far in lost LLS funds over the years since it takes time, plenty of time, to solve these problems). I am sure they hate me. And I sure get sick of this. I don’t even want to think about what would happen if my mom had to solve these kinds of problems on her own. Frankly it is a good thing you can’t throttle someone via the phone lines. I have been so tempted at times. My tone of voice and words may be reasonable but oh the things I say in my head; the expressions on my face, the middle finger aimed at the phone…

Although I have found that doing things in person makes it harder for them to blow you off (even if I have to work harder not to show my irritation). One thing that often works when you show up in person and they tell you to go away, is to say you have plenty of time; you will wait. So I sit there and stare at the person. Pleasant expression on my face, but every time they look up I am staring at them. They finally can’t stand it, there is no behavior on my part that can justify throwing me out, and so they finally convince whomever I need to deal with the problem to come help me. That actually worked with immigration too when I needed to talk with the person who dealt with the form my internationally adopted kid needed and the gate keeper up front told me no way. She wanted security to throw me out because I was staring at her. Security told her he can’t do that for staring since I wasn’t being disruptive; why doesn’t she just help me and then get rid of me that way LOL.

Don’t even get me started on food stamps. At least there the state fired all the administration in the county and the woman who oversees cleaning up messes in the state is helping me. That was pure luck. Problem still isn’t solved - she has kicked it up the chain - but at least I am not having to fight this particular battle on my own. She told me I am the only recipient she has known in 25 years of doing this who ever read the entire SNAP manual (around 800 pages) and understood exactly what was being done wrong in my case and how it should be done. She also told me that what has been done to me is the worst case of screw ups and then revenge for trying to get things handled correctly that she has ever seen. Of course the people who did this to me were fired for cause and what was done to me is only a tiny drop in the over all pile of issues they got fired for.

If only someone would die and made me king… the things I would fix with these kinds of messes… Sounds like you too.