(((We)))’re taking over. C’mon, the goyim ought to be with their kids. Their crazed, shrieking, bouncing off perpendicular walls kids. And like the cruel friend who buys your kid a trumpet for Christmas, I am doing my little bit to let families come together. It puts a smile on my grubby face, and I rub my sweaty paws together in delight.
But despite the supposed holiday, (((we))) at least have to acknowledge birthdays, which today include a guy with some gravity; the star of Naughty Nurses: The Original, whose career arc was typical of “non-profit” leaders, and had a country estate almost next door to us; a woman who was made up; the progenitor of many generations of shitty cars; an actor who was typecast and did great with it; another guy I’d be happy to do some lines with; a guy who did great and was rewarded for it as expected; a short guy with an outsized impact; a quarterback who was always amazing fun to watch; a Team Red piece of shit who still plagues us; a contender for the best all-around baseball player since Ruth; and a bearded Zoolander, who got his father’s ethics and his mother’s intellect.
Let’s get a-linkin’.
Winning hearts and minds with Christmas spirit.
Talcum X haz a sad. Well, he can still grift on Facebook.
“You guys aren’t propaganda-ing enough, that’s the core issue.”
Our news media ought to be more like this.
What a surprise. “We didn’t get all of you, so we’ll try harder this time.”
This really is the ultimate Christmas song. Listen all the way through- it’s a fun ride.
I’m just gonna assume My Baby Divine didn’t grow up to be My Son Divine.
I’m waiting for Ted S to tell me that the best player since Ruth was some Yankee or other.
The birthday boy covers the Yankee angle.
Ricky Henderson was an amazing baseball “scammer” – about a third of his bases were from getting a hit, a third from getting a walk, and a third from stealing bases.
Basically, he’d score by wearing the pitcher out by hitting foul balls until he got four balls, then he’d steal second base after the walk.
Every now and then he’d get a hit, just to keep it interesting.
Having played some baseball as a yute I’ve always wondered how a hitter can deliberately foul off a pitch.
3,000+ now and thens.
This. “Look at me! I’m protesting/supporting the Current Thing! Me so edgy!”
It’s hard to tease out who makes up these “protests”.
Seems just like BLM – a combination of true believers and larpers. It doesn’t help if half the reports of leftist/Marxist/antisemitic propaganda that children are being subjected to from pre-school are true.
“Pepper spray them all, and let the ED sort them out.”
I like the cut of your jib.
No, god no.
-paramedic
‘Tis the fashion right now. It is the new [beat, hippy, etc.] of the left.
“But I don’t have sufficient courage of my convictions to actually show my face in public when I rail against the Current Thing.”
The current thing can change pretty quickly, and it would be inconvenient to be caught out against the old current thing.
Next week.
“That’s so last year, we already getting ready for the new protest thing”
Isn’t there a song about that? “Meet the old
bossthing, same as the newbossthing…”This is one of the pernicious after effects of covid. No enforcement of anti-masking laws. There is a reason they were enacted.
If only the far-right didn’t have complete control over the mainstream media.
I always love the mention of low unemployment – which the omission of what the labor-force-participation rate is.
It’s a damn strange economy, as there seems to be multitudes competing for every open job. Earlier this year my son got a new job, but there was something like a dozen candidates – for a position requiring a PhD in bio-informatics. I don’t know if that is global recruiting or what.
If people are moving off the unemployment roles because they’ve managed to get jobs (they haven’t), great. If it’s because they’ve been unemployed for so long that they’ve dropped out of the job market, not so great. As usual and to our detriment the gov is more interested in spinning dubious numbers to their benefit than in actually addressing the issue.
Usually the req’s are raised for something to weed out the “hope and pray” candidates. If you are still getting a dozen applicants at the PhD level, I would guess that the search parameters are too broad, and not deep enough. They might ask for the doctorate just too keep the numbers down, but not have a real need for that specific sub field, and don’t do the requisite specialized query’s. IE nothing about time in field, things like that.
We have also so over minted PhD’s at this point, as they have become a weird cash cow for a lot of universities due to the gov’t meddling in ED.
PhDs in bio-chemistry aren’t being over-produced because you have to be able to do real work for that – unlike so many other PhDs.
It is a weird labor market, seeming shortages, abundant opportunities and tons of competition for each opening. I can’t make sense of it.
Your description of the labor market tells me that their is an over production in that field. As far as the “real work”, there is a replication crisis in science right now, which is the flip side of too much money sloshing around in the ED.
My son’s work (dissertation) was in a nascent field. It was funny because he complained that his advisor wasn’t able to give him much guidance and I told him – you’re supposed to become an independent researcher. He didn’t appreciate that at the time.
Me neither. The only pattern I think I see is that skilled and semi-skilled hands-on labor is in a shortage. For laptop jobs, I think what we are seeing is a lot of laptoppers only want part-time work – typically .60 FTE, which gets them benefits, and often WFH-only.
I’ve also seen the .60 FTE thing for nursing, so it may also be an issue for skilled hands-on labor.
I continue to be mystified by how the millions of people no longer in the workforce, going by the participation rate, are feeding themselves.
Could be that the, and I am going out on a limb right now, low participation rate comes from a lot of “stay at home kids”. In other words, too many people who should be entering the WF are, instead, living off of mommy and daddy. Not too hard when you start thinking about the helicopter generation and the idiots who raised them.
As far as WFH, and a .6 FTE, that is the perfect job ratio for something like “van life” or any of the Instagram jobs that the youth all seem to think is the way forward to a happy life.
And yet there are shortages of doctors, cops, bus drivers, etc. everywhere I look.
Are there numbers for people who just bounce around from job to job? I read something awhile ago about the death of the “summer job” and how that has impacted the work force. Basically young people have stopped working traditional summer jobs so their first exposure to work is a “real” job and they aren’t prepared so they quit and go somewhere else and apparently keep repeating that cycle until they start an onlyfans.
“Our news media ought to be more like this.”
Calling for children to be burned to death or drowned?
Or poisoned and dying a slow, painful death?
Probably just had some bad borsht.
You know who else was born on Dec 25?
Hitler was born on 4/20.
Congrats KK! Saved your parents money on gifts anyway.
If it really is your birthday.
Hiller?
a short guy with an outsized impact
It is neither Napoleon Bonapart or Robert Reich’s birthday.
Napoleon wasn’t short for his era. The French got really weird for awhile with how they measured things after the revolution. Napoleon was listed as five foot two according to their new system but under our current way of doing measurements he would have been around five foot seven. The idea that he was abnormally short was a combination of misunderstanding the new French system and British propaganda.
Well, if this won’t start a Christmas family argument, nothing will.
AYFKM?
The economy has roared back from the COVID-19 recession under Biden, who enacted legislation for trillions of dollars of economic relief and investments shortly after taking office in 2021.
There’s your trouble.
Say it enough and it becomes true, sort of like a magic spell but with less basis in reality.
Federal spending is magic fairy dust – it takes effect immediately!
To be fair, I think inflation started to hit consumers within 12 mos of all that printing. That’s pretty quick.
Not really, the money supply expanded continuously from the first day of Quantitative Easing. We still haven’t hit the inflation we should be experiencing based on classical monetary theory.
I’ve read that there has been deflation in goods due to the shift to China, which has offset/masked monetary inflation.
The feeling when you are going to get drunk home alone in your underwear – with no intention of going out.
🙂
Merry Christmas!
Merry Christmas!
Seems quiet here this morning. Everyone still at church?
Watching Die Hard, of course!
Well, we did that last night 🙂
Everyone still at church?
Wife and i are excused because reasons. Youngest patzer took one for the team, emergency bass in a midnight mass choir.
Well, I was on my knees…
Mornin, and a merry, merry Christmas to all you merry, merry reprobates. Note to all the haters: It’s a day off, stop whining.
Good morning, and Merry Christmas, ‘patzie! How’s your recovery coming along?
Hey, GT! Doing much better, thank you, even went out to dinner last night. Gotta go, looks like someone broke into the house last night and left some stuff behind, along with a note. Something about how it’s so refreshing to come in through a real chimney these days. My home security consultant warned me about that.
We had a visit from Santa Paws – new toys for the mutts.
Santa Paws hit our place, too. New collars all around, and bags of treats.
My cats don’t give a shit, so Santa Paws doesn’t bother.
Our four felines don’t keep track of a calendar, either. Nonetheless, they get something different for Christmas dinner than their usual Tasty Treasures. Not that they give a hoot.
Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday season to all y’all!
Our four (!) are at detente with our Doge, so things are at a de-escalation stage. .
My cats love all the bags, boxes, and packaging left over.
The U.S. unemployment rate was just 3.7 percent in November — barely above the pre-pandemic level of 3.5 percent, which was a five-decade low.
That would have been the Obama economy, right?
The Biden administration and campaign have sought to highlight the resilience of the economy and gain an edge on the issue over former President Trump, who presided over three years of low unemployment and low inflation before the COVID-19 pandemic claimed 21 million jobs.
But economic experts have warned that Biden and his team must also be sensitive to the myriad ways Americans are still suffering from the economic scars of the pandemic.
You mean the scars inflicted by the government’s response to the so-called pandemic.
Note to all the haters: It’s a day off, stop whining.
Hate never takes a day off. Hate never sleeps.
Hate never sleeps
Fuck. Now I can’t get Neil Young out of my head.
You would think that would happen to Old Man more than you.
You need to take a look at yourself.
merry saturnalia glibbies. I hate eating too many calories from things i dont even like, but this is what christmas at my uncles is like. I will double dip and over over eat at mom’s.
And big uptwinkles for the Krazy Kat panel.
Merry Xmas to you Glibers, (and a Happy B-Day to KK, ‘K?)
Now I get to wait 2-3 hours until Frau Zwak descends, followed by another hour until she “wakes up enough” for any celebrations. Clearly she has no children of her own.
And I want to give a warm thank you to The Old Man Con Candy. This isn’t your holiday, but you do so much around here that you need a special thanks, and a warm gummy!
/eeewww
Just opened this
https://www.wine-searcher.com/find/quinta+vallado+touriga+nacional+douro+portugal/1/romania
Needs to breath. But not bad.
“Photos show Brit millionaire, 78, frolicking with his young Colombian lover during Lake Como holiday before he was abducted in Ecuador and she demanded a ransom while wearing a fake ‘explosive vest’: Police increasingly convinced his kidnappers had help
The British millionaire who was kidnapped in Ecuador is pictured in Lake Como with his Colombian girlfriend last year, as the police reveal the bomb vest she was made to wear by the crooks was fake.”
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12898939/Pictured-Brit-millionaire-kidnapped-Ecuador-Lake-Como-Colombian-girlfriend-year-bomb-vest-crooks-fake-quizzed-police.html
Also, her boobs.
her boobs – ewww fake
Bait Girl. (that is my new favorite term)
‘bate girl?
scha-wing
Global warming knows no bounds
Beijing recorded its longest cold wave since records began in 1951 as the biting temperatures and snowfall experienced in the Chinese capital and elsewhere began to ease.
The temperature recorded at Beijing’s Nanjiao weather station rose to above zero degrees Celsius (32 degrees Fahrenheit) Sunday afternoon for the first time in days, state media Beijing Daily reported.
Since 1951!
Dude that is ancient history for Gen Z!
*kicks two thousand years of weather records under the pile of little red books*
Re the Instagram issue – sounded like Mileis account was also suspended but has since been restored. May have been a systemic issue.
Merry Christmas, you horrible motherfuckers!
…I’m still a little drunk from last night…
Merry Christmas from all us Sun people,
I got my girl some roller skates….
Cheers!
Is her name Melanie?
Roller girl.
No but the song is stuck in my head,
Cheers!
Panda in tree
Will he fall out when it gets too cold?
Merry Christmas, peace, contentment and goodwill to all.
The three wise men have finished their long journey around the dining room wainscotting to join Mary and Joseph and the newly arrived (from the box in the china hutch) baby Jesus.
Presents opened, slurping coffee laced with hot chocolate mix. Nothing to do until we go down to the in-laws for dinner tonight.
Merry Christmas!
(((We)))’re taking over.
https://youtu.be/1ugiiAH40_w?t=102s
Merry Christmas, Glibbies! It wasn’t MAGICAL, per se, but the kids enjoyed their gifts and are sitting here eating Christmas cereal without fighting. It’s a miracle!
Next year try this to make it magical.
https://youtu.be/LMQgzc3tw1c?si=tlNF57yK2Wy8qX5I
LOL! You and your Steel Panther! I love it.
😁
I watched Robinson Crusoe (1954 version) last night. It was… interesting.
I watched Mister Robinson Crusoe a few nights ago (1932, Douglas Fairbanks). I liked it better. Maybe I’ll collect the whole set. Apparently there is a 1997 version of R Crusoe; it might be interesting to compare them in terms of cultural lens.
Robinson Crusoe On Mars or GTFO.
Lt. Robin Crusoe, USN
you should not watch films made before 2020
How was the print of the Buñuel Crusoe?
Then there’s the version with Miss Kitty as the castaway.
Got the Robin Hood/Black Pirate Fairbanks double feature bluray from my brother. First gift from him in years so that’s a plus.
Lest we forget the True Spirit of Christmas.
Truly the spirit of the season.
Cozonac
https://photos.app.goo.gl/dFUqxCJRNz1wzXhW8
https://photos.app.goo.gl/bBndYyUPH1b7kEDm9
I guess that’s not Romanian for hooker.
So, anyway, who’s the enchanting redhead?
Where?
Top of the page.
??
The pic for the song. That ain’t the singer.
Merry Christmas, Glibbies!
Robinson Crusoe On Mars or GTFO.
Abbot and Costello? Hard no.
Batman, not A&C
Watching Robbo and the Seven Hoods. Great Christmas movie.
Got a (New to Me) Getac tablet / PC that I am prepping for Ubuntu from Santa. Also got the latest and greatest from Leatherman. Pleased, I am.
“Also got the latest and greatest from Leatherman.”
Good thing mortgages are still below 7%.
Heh. This old GETAC cost less
Leatherman? Fist, or Sir Fist?
Merry Christmas to all! The usual quiet Christmas here at Casa Dean – we’ll open presents here in a bit, and that’s about it, really. Mrs. Dean likes her Christmas tree every year, but otherwise is not a fan of the Current Day Christmas frenzy, and I can’t argue with her on that point.
May all my Glibs friends have exactly the Christmas they want, and put a few memories in the bank for years to come.
Merry Christmas everybody!
Merry Christmas to all. Pastor at service last night prayed for diplomacy to negotiate cease fires in usual places. I’m thinking if one is asking God to intervene, then why not ask Him to permanently change the thinking of all the warmongers? Seems if Peace on Earth will never be reality.
You’d think it’d be obvious after the last bunch of “cease fires” that it just means “time for Hamas to re-arm and re-build the tunnels with American aid”.
As someone said abject poverty is the natural state of mankind, so war is also the natural state of mankind.
“War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.”
― Cormac McCarthy, Blood Meridian, or, the Evening Redness in the West
Yeah, so calls for peace on earth always kind of baffle me a little. Like, what, after 10,000 years, Cain/Abel, Genghis, Rome, Britain, and every schoolground bully ever, everyone is all of a sudden going to go, “Oh, you know what? This is stupid. Let’s all stop.”
No. No, we are not.
War is the mother of invention.
Talk about a tarnished silver lining.
Most of Western Europe learned it wasn’t such a great idea between 1914-18. Only one country, which of course is all it took, still thought it was a good idea. Now that part of the world can’t even bother to defend itself against a quiet invasion.
And that invasion isn’t so quiet anymore.
Most of Western Europe learned it wasn’t such a great idea between 1914-18.
Most? The major powers were happy to use warfare after WWI when it suited them.
DenverJ!
“Scientists explore firing nuke ‘millions of miles’ into space to stop catastrophic asteroid ”
https://nypost.com/2023/12/24/news/scientists-exploring-if-deploying-nuke-could-stop-catastrophic-asteroid/
What could possibly go wrong?
Actually, not much?
The could awaken King Ghidorah!
What?
No love for Monster Zero?
Ackshually, King Ghidorah is Monster Zero.
*Backs against wall to prevent wedgie
Details……….
Are you Ted now?
NO
I mean if there were an asteroid about to wipe out the earth i guess it would be worth a try.
Sean Connery is sadly no longer with us to try it.
At least we still have Lou Reed.
Today, in culture war news-
The google news is still busily pushing headlines about chikfila (or however they spell it) and the crazy Republitard right wingers all frothing at the mouth about this New York thruway thing. Looking at you, Lindsay Graham. Day of rest? Bah.
I have been to Chikwhatsis a few times, and wasn’t especially impressed. As I recall, they had waffle fries, which were pretty good. However, I am, not a fan, in general of chicken, and specifically the breast meat thereof. But I’m pretty sure whoever signed those restaurant leases was fully aware of Chikwhoozie’s business operations schedule. Is this the work of Governor Hokum, or some other grandstanding retard?
Tons of misinformation on the right wing side as well.
Giving the rest stop spot to a restaurant that is actually open on the busiest day of travel is actually not all that ridiculous.
Merry Christmas! News is useless. And so is Lindsay Graham. May your year be filled with pleasant surprises instead of lumps of coal like New York or Lindsay Graham.
Agreed but then why didn’t they sign with that restaurant instead of Chick-fil-a?
Because they’re just realizing now how gross Christians are.
Ha OK.
I’ve only been once and had strips. Yeah, nothing special really. I don’t like waffle fries, either. I would go again to try the sandwich everyone raves about but the closest one is on the Thruway, 66 miles away.
It’s good. My kids preferred eatery.
Still just fast food though.
Honestly that franchise has to be printing money. It is always packed and efficient.
I’ve had a meal at Chik-Fil-A once. I love fried chicken. However, I don’t love chicken sandwiches, and I don’t like deep-fried things on bread. I REALLY didn’t like their food. Then they had the peppermint shakes. I had one of those, loved it. Had one the next year and was disappointed. Don’t know if it was them or me. So, never did go back.
Giving the rest stop spot to a restaurant that is actually open on the busiest day of travel is actually not all that ridiculous.
If all parties are in agreement in advance, of course. I have not been on the Thruway in a very long time, but it is heavily travelled 24/7. If New York declines to renew the lease, that is their prerogative, and I have no problem with that. If they want to renegotiate in good faith, that’s fine, too.
Yup. This isn’t rocket surgery. But then where is the opportunity for lefty grandstanding?
That’s always been a weird thing about that area and I remember it well. Why the hell are there random restaurants in the middle of the turnpike? I guess they have to kiss government ass to get those spots? I dunno.
I remember also that despite being some blue egalitarian paradise, that is the most expensive place to travel around in the US by far. Poor people can’t travel anywhere out of their area. I remember all the beaches costing money too which is absurd.
Think of it as the regular people’s version of a truck stop.
Oh yeah. I used to live in NYC until 2003 and I’m remembering how it was. Other places you just get off the highway somewhere.
We left some time after my wife’s office was blown up by terrorists.
I bet it’s actually better now on the toll roads there and more advanced. I visit about once a year but almost never drive around there these days.
That’s always been a weird thing about that area and I remember it well. Why the hell are there random restaurants in the middle of the turnpike? I guess they have to kiss government ass to get those spots? I dunno.
It’s a toll road, so you’re more of a captive audience. It’s not quite like jumping off I 70 in Hayes, Kansas to grab a snack. Those toll plazas are a pain in the ass.
It’s probably all automated by now but yeah, the exits are pretty far apart.
Yeah; they finished putting up all the toll gantries a year or two ago.
We have toll roads elsewhere but you can just get off and get on at normal intervals.
There it’s this weird thing where exits are rare and a whole
ordeal.
Yeah, you have that out in the vast stretches of land along I-70 and I-80. No exits, no services, and the median turnarounds are for emergency vehicles only.
The tolls were all at exits for most of the Thruway (from Harriman in Orange County to just east of Buffalo), making it easy to print up toll tickets showing how much it cost to go from the exit you get on at to the one you’re getting off at. I’ve always thought that’s better than having massive toll plazas forcing everyone to stop in the middle of the highway.
I did too.
But toll plazas had ceased to exist other places before then. sometime in the 90s. They were a bit slow up in the uptake.
You can jump off at the truck stop/several restaurants on the toll road (I-70) between KC and Lawrence (KU). It’s clean and huge.
Out here, every truck stop seems to have a half dozen or so food trucks. Most of them specialize in Indian food.
Hallelujah!
I played https://squaredle.com/xp 12/25:
*25/25 words (+1 bonus word)
🎯 In the top 19% by accuracy
I played https://squaredle.com 12/25:
*56/56 words (+15 bonus words)
📖 In the top 14% by bonus words
🔥 Solve streak: 116
I played https://squaredle.com/xp 12/25:
25/25 words (+2 bonus words)
📖 In the top 14% by bonus words
I played https://squaredle.com 12/25:
56/56 words (+18 bonus words)
📖 In the top 6% by bonus words
🔥 Solve streak: 92
I played https://squaredle.com/xp 12/25:
*25/25 words
🎯 In the top 16% by accuracy
I played https://squaredle.com 12/25:
*56/56 words (+7 bonus words)
🎯 Perfect accuracy
🔥 Solve streak: 155
*sigh*
Since I have spare microSD cards, I figured I’d see if OctoPI was more stable than how I had been trying to run the 3D Printer. I took out the old SD card from the PI, but I forgot to grab some info on how I’d had some stuff set up.
I could shut down the OctoPI setup and switch back, but that’s a bit annoying.
Well, Since I already solved all these problems on the old image, I did swap back. Saved a shitload of time.
I’m not liking OctoPrint’s interface.
I want a regular filesystem view.
I want to point it to an arbitrary path to pull print data from. But it’s running as a user that can’t talk to my network share. I’ll look at changing that to a more appropriate user.
Hopefully the test print I chose was in fact the file I thought it was…
You’ll likely have to SSH into it and do all that.
It’s possible somebody rights a plug in for that however.
For me I just have Cura print to it as a device.
I’m used to SSH. I spent fifteen years as a Linux/Solaris Admin.
Does OctoPrint automatically announce itself as a print device on the netowrk, or do you have to configure it to do that?
I found the Cura plugin…
I’ve got Cura talking to the Pi. It sees the print in progress.
So I guess it’s working.
That’s the way.
It will save that on the sd card in some directory that escapes me.
From octopi you can delete the files.
By default I’d guess the uploads folder at /home/[user]/.octoprint/uploads
It’s also configurable in the octoprint settings under ‘Folders’
Can you just transfer the info over? At any rate it seem less irritating than setting up retro pie.
Octopi has been solid for me.
Hrm…
Print finished on the printer, printer acknowledged it was done and went to “finished” state for the extruder and print bed. OctoPrint did not recognize that the print had finished and had to be restarted to allow me to start a new print.
I’ll have to mess around with it after this new print finishes. I’ve decided to print a camera arm so I can watch the print from the other room. I don’t own a camera for the Pi yet, but I also haven’t affixed it to a permanant location.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCNvZqpa-7Q
Eh, I just liked the title. 🥂 ☀️ 🎄
Is he supposed to be funny?
Sometimes? Oi dunnoa. 🤷♀️
Chiffs show signs of life. America’s sweetheart approves.
LOL
Well, Since I already solved all these problems on the old image, I did swap back. Saved a shitload of time.
Wait. I thought 3d printing was like snap-your-fingers magic. Just imagine it, and it appears.
Let’s just implode now that Eric Bienemy is gone. Whoever condolenced us on Matt Nagy, you were right and thank you.
It could be worse: you could have Joe Barry.
We’ll fool ’em with a tricky handoff. Hmm, that didn’t work so well.
Let’s just underthrow an outside route. Oh, not so good either.
At least your team didn’t get shoved onto “exclusively Peacock!”.
It’s a good thing I have Peacock, tho. Earlier in the season, I wanted to watch on my phone but the Spectrum app wouldn’t let me. I could watch on Peacock, but not the service I pay the most money for.
Do you have Christmas in France?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aANsVptwrLw
Hoovie has a video up titled “Why aren’t you watching?”
I didn’t watch it.
Well don’t leave us in suspense, why didn’t you watch it?
BFYTW, of course.
Hoovie has me this close to unsubscribing.
#MeToo. I dont know a guy that gets divorced (imagining his wife got half) and then turns around, buys a farm with his IG model GF he quietly brags about banging.
Other than owning a Freddie’s Custard franchise, how much money is that guy sitting on ?
Because he’s an obnoxious blathering numbskull.
For Ted-
The Crusoe print (Amazon Prime) was not good.
Yeah; I wonder if there are any good prints of it anywhere.
It’s that time of year again when Pat reminds us of the religious roots of this holiday, despite its having become a secular consumerist bacchanal, by bringing us to the 2nd chapter of the gospel of Luke for an account of the nativity story.
Inevitably, each year when I post this, the Linus Van Pelt comparisons come out. So this year, in spite of having been cursed with a most unfortunate voice and faculty of speech, I channeled my inner Linus and recorded a recitation of the passage as well.
To all of the collective Glibertariat, the religious and the non-religious, I wish a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.
Oh, I was looking forward to the pagan elements, of the hope for rebirth after the winter solstice, the embrace of nature by bringing a tree into our houses, etc. Don’t mind the skipping over of the utter commercialism.
Apparently the Chiefs are still determined to give a game away.
As much as it’s difficult to reconcile religious belief with my rational mind, it’s something I’ve never been able to shake either, and even if it’s nothing more than a comforting myth, the idea of an all powerful god who created everything from nothing revealing himself to his bent and broken creations in the form of a helpless little child whose mother and father were of such humble extraction that they had to welcome him into the world in a borrowed stable has a poetic elegance.
I really need to start going back to church. I miss it. I want to reconnect with my community.
Our Godless Era is Dead.
“Page not found.”
Just backspace the quotation mark at the end
Or click here
Danke.
Interesting piece, btw.
That hit me like a ton of bricks probably about a decade ago now, and it is certainly an uncomfortable feeling for someone who held those Enlightenment values quite dearly.
Why do you find Enlightenment beliefs in tension with personal religious beliefs?
You beat me to the punch with that question. Didn’t the Enlightenment yield this Great USA Experiment?
It’s hard to square rationalism with mysticism, and that’s always been in tension for me personally. But more broadly, I’ve come to conclude that individualist humanism is just simply not compatible with genuine Christianity. And that comes through when you read Enlightenment thinkers. They were mostly deists and universalist unitarians, and most of them only that because it was still socially scandalous to reveal oneself as an atheist.
Reading Nietzsche has made me confront the flaws that were hidden within the Enlightenment – which is easier here and now considering how much he was seeing the earliest bits of that. That doesn’t mean I can go what I perceive as backwards to pre-Enlightenment views/values. I’d rather live with a lot of uncertainty and look for what is yet to be.
Aye, that’s the thing for me as well. I’ve been enjoying your articles on the subject when I’m able to indulge, as you’re covering a lot of the same ground I’ve been contemplating. Even though we don’t share the same religious views, I very much enjoy seeing how you think about those issues. Cheers.
I take your point Pat and I have explored some of the same territory. FWIW, I have concluded rationalism doesn’t address all of life’s issues. It doesn’t answer moral questions, at least not in a way that satisfies me. It doesn’t address meaning. That’s how I square Enlightenment values for governing the citizenry but not the whole of my personal life.
A huge part of the problem, and one that we are increasingly seeing throughout the west, is that while pre-enlightenment we tended toward mysticism, we stripped that away in order to promote rationality, and individual liberty writ large. And now, having lost our way without that mysticism we find the individualism being under deep threat, with many of the so call protections little more than empty promises.
We are finding that we have little to hold on to as rationality is shown to be in short supply.
You have a good voice. Thanks for sharing.
Went to church today, I love the hymns this time of year.
You’re too kind. Be thankful I spared you from any attempts at singing. I’m partial to Angels We Have Heard on High and O Come All Ye Faithful. Merry Christmas, Lack!
Jeebus, Moje. Your team is hot garbage today.
Yeah, it’s painful.
Other than owning a Freddie’s Custard franchise, how much money is that guy sitting on ?
The only thing that makes any sense is if he (Hoovie) is busily turning a large fortune into a small one.
Yeah, it’s painful.
They’re safe, as long as Oakland’s offense is on the field.
I saw that.
I found out why my dad’s dog is so dang fat. I brought Chadwick up to their house for Xmas dinner, and before I knew it, plates were being placed on the floor for him to lick.
You say that like it’s a bad thing.
My wife banned the practice of putting leftovers on the floor because I kept getting fat.
Did it solve the problem?
Ok, boyz and grrls, what was your favorite Christmas present EVAR?
When I was about seven I got a toy H-21 helicopter. The blades turned with a clacking sound and a door on the side to put toy soldiers in. There was a winch underneath that lifted and lowered a platform for more toy soldiers.
I told Mom and Dad that, if I died, I wanted to be buried with my helicopter.
Kid: Smaller Homes and Gardens dollhouse
Adult: Kitchen Aid mixer
My KitchenAid has been going strong for fifteen years so far. Though I bought it for myself (And got one for my mother shortly thereafter – I don’t think she’d still be making cookies if stuck with a hand mixer)
I can make more things with the stand mixer than I can with a hand mixer or spoon/hands because I’m losing strength in my arms and hands.
The wife uses the hell out of hers. Uses it so much I have thought about getting a second one, with all the attachments, but if she wanted/needed that she would already own one.
A Benjamin 347.
In fact, it is one of the few I can even remember.
Our family had the .22 version of that same gun. My brother and I ran thousands of pellets through it.
One evening Dad was watching TV and saw a mouse poking around at the base of the far wall. The pellet gun was right next to him but no pellets nearby. He took a paper match and loaded it instead. Shot the mouse. In the eye.
A huge box of army men. Green and gray (Germans), tanks trucks, artillery. It was awesome.
One of my 8 uncles had a killer set of 1:72 scale army men, all sorts of eras, but WW1 and 2 were heavily represented along with the US civil war. A lot of them were even painted. He grew out of them one year and sent them to me and my brother. That was great, and I still have them to this day.
The Tippmann Pro/Lite, my first paintball gun. Yes, I was literally the kid in A Christmas Story. I had been on a couple of paintball outings with my youth group and decided I wanted to buy my own equipment and start playing regularly. One of my youth group leaders had a fully decked out Tippmann Pro/Lite that he let me borrow a couple of times, and I decided that was what I wanted to get. I found out he was actually getting ready to sell all his gear since he was going to be heading to college, so I agreed to buy it from him, but I needed to come up with another 50 bucks or so, and he said he’d hold onto it for me. About a week before Christmas, he told me “Yeah, bad news on that, some guy bought it off me for his kid for Christmas, sorry.” The guy was my dad.
To be honest, I don’t remember too many that I’ve gotten. I remember more the reactions of others to what I’ve given.
Tie between calculator and atlas. Circa 1976.
GI Joe Aircraft Carrier.
GI Joe jungle adventure HQ.
An uneventful day so far – a couple of chai lattes and some flaky biscuits early, meatballs and wine will come later. Watched Die Hard beginning to end for the first time. Best of all, I just finished the annual Christmas story (released in e-book form today) from my current favorite non-Glib writer.
We fish ewe a mare egrets moose!
(You are the Boynton fan, IIRC?)
Yes! I’ve had that very mug for many years (now, sadly, cracked and relegated to pen-holding.) Also at least a couple of other mugs and a very faded bed sheet. (And two or three of her book & music collections, though I think the Dog Train disc was stolen from my car. Fortunately, I’d ripped the tracks to MP3, so I still have the songs.)
*wee!
ah, zut.
This was suggested on YT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEdTtZLHEp8
Thanks! 😃👍
(For the record, “I Need a Nap” is still my all-time favorite!)
I’m watching this travesty of a football game and will soon go bake a Christmas danish.
Somewhere, Don Meredith is singing “Turn Out the Lights, the Party’s Over.”
I had a Christmas Miracle…when I got to my dad’s house, my long-awaited annual Christmas cookie sampling from a friend (semi-professional baker) was there! The Post Office fucked up and failed to forward it! A broken clock is right twice a day…
That’s great! Enjoy! Of course, this probably means you have to share with your dad (and stepmother, IIRC?)
Last night I found an earring I assumed I’d lost forever. It was just inexpensive costume jewelry, but it went great with a favorite shirt of mine, so I’m counting that as my Christmas Miracle.
(I have a very low threshold of Christmas Miracle right now.)
NICE!!
i feel like people are forgetting the true spirit of the holiday season. Being First.
Indeed. May you first with gusto another year.
I enjoyed seeing one of the gaps open in the AFC seed race. Next, it’s alcohol and food with WebDom and entourage (yes, even the mysterious lObOT) while taking in the Game of the Year.
Yup, can’t wait for the Niners/Ravens. I think that we will see a points over game. Mr Irrelevant is about to stomp on the Ravens’ D.
Dedicated professionals
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco decried Republican claims that the Justice Department has been politicized against former President Donald Trump, saying those accusations have contributed to an “unprecedented rise” in threats against law enforcement and other officials.
In an interview with ABC News that aired Sunday, Monaco, who oversees all Jan. 6-related cases, said that those accusations “bear no resemblance to the Justice Department that I know. The Justice Department that I know is filled with dedicated men and women, investigators, lawyers, prosecutors, analysts, professional staff,” she said, adding that employees “get up every day without regard to who’s in the White House or who’s in Congress.”
“It really bothers me when I hear those claims because it does a disservice to the men and women of the Justice Department. It contributes to the toxicity that you’re speaking about,” she added.
Men and women who spend every waking hour combatting the scourge of Trumpism.
I think these people truly believe they are just doing the right thing by the law. It’s just that Trump is so unprecedentedly dangerous to MUH DEMOCRACY that they have to do what they’re doing.
These people all live in a little bubble completely divorced from reality.
Most people do live in a bubble, as divorced from reality as they can possibly manage.
I agree. They even say dumb shit like because something happened, it must have been inevitable and that no other course of action could have resulted in a different outcome to try and win arguments on the internet.
My last word on that subject, though.
And yes, I am an asshole.
Takes one to know one, and yes, you are.
I’ll grant you – if you could have manufactured a southern govt that the people supported, the war could’ve been won – as happened in Korea. We certainly kept choosing worse over bad.
Most of them have become totally convinced that democrats are the only saviors of democracy. It’s amazing to behold. Republicans just sit there and make convenient villains. They seem content with the role.
It pays well.
And really, that’s what this is for most of these people. A career path. Acting like you care is just part of the job description.
filled with dedicated men and women
What pray tell does the Kool Aid taste of?
Hope and Change ?
(it’s cut rate FlavrAid, pass it on)
As with so many of y’all I also get up every morning, regardless of who is in the White House. I can hardly wait to see what mischief the new regime will bring, they will have a lot to build on. Some funny (ha-ha), most OMG, more shit! Things will not be better, the new person will not understand economics any differently than the last one.
Tensions in the Middle East will escalate, climate will not be controlled and more people will want more hand outs. That’s on the optimistic side. The downside will be lots more of the same.
Having no one to whom I must be accountable for upholding tradition anymore, I’m making a nice little pork tenderloin this year. It’s ham adjacent, I guess. Because what better way to celebrate the birth of the world’s most famous Jew than by eating a little pork.
Also, I have a little bit of Christmas news I figured I might as well share. A few weeks ago in a comment thread on here, I think it was Mojeaux and prolefeed who I was talking to and I had said I wasn’t pursuing a relationship because I know how defective I am, and I wouldn’t want to be with the sort of woman who would be attracted to me. And one of you said something along the lines that everybody is a little bit defective, and you just basically find someone whose defects are complimentary to your own. Which I get, but at the same time, seems like it’s also a bad cope for settling. I had been ruminating a bit on that, as there was a woman at my local job who I thought may be expressing some signs of interest. I hadn’t intended on pursuing her, for the reason I had articulated in that thread, as well as I thought she looked too young for me. But at the same time, I’ve been making an effort this past year to be less risk averse and to get a little bit outside of my comfort zone. Looking back, I have few regrets about things that I’ve done and screwed up, but quite a lot for opportunities I didn’t take and things I never tried. So this past Friday, after this young lady had dropped what I took to be another hint, Pat the timid gathered up all his balls and asked her out. And it turns out that even as socially retarded as I am, I had read the cues correctly. And she just meets the half your age plus seven threshold. We’re in that early getting to know each other phase here, but it seems like she may be that kind of defective that compliments my own. It feels a bit strange. This wasn’t something I was really planning on. But we’ll see what happens. To whoever it was, prolefeed, Mo, or somebody I’ve forgotten, thanks.
Excellent news. Merry Christmas Pat!
At least there is some good news, Pat. If you really want to see a unanimous gaggle of social misfits drop in to the Glib table at Honey Harvest. Your new friend will know she got the pick o’ the litter.
Good for you.
Lol. I hope I can make it out there eventually and put some faces to the names. Merry Christmas, Fourscore!
4×20, I have received the wife’s blessing to make it out this year, so, now you know what to expect, slightly.
I hope the Missus can attend as well, keeps some sort of control. OTOH it’s Boyz (and Girlz) gone Wild for one day to get it out of their system for a year. Always a good time, good people, the Glibs. Only 9 months more to wait!
Thanks, Merry Christmas!
Yay!
If it makes you oogey to look at it from the negative point of view (complementary weaknesses), look at it from the positive: complementary strengths. Efficient division of (emotional/physical/spiritual/philosophical) labor to move forward positively together. “Because of,” not “in spite of.”
That’s worth ruminating on a bit as well. I tend to be an “in spite of” sort of thinker. This is one of the reasons this is such a great community. Even when I disagree with you people, you always make me think.
That may be a libertarian trait. 😛
👍👍
Good for you Pat, I totally agree with whomever made that sentiment. If you are working and thus providing some sort of service for other people, and not sucking off the labor of others, then I think you are already doing better than a large percentage of humans in this country. If you don’t dig on purposefully hurting other people or animals you start to move toward the top quintiles. Lots of people really suck, and yes, everyone is in some ways defective. Let your strengths define you, not your weaknesses.
For me this has definitely been what the sports people might call a “rebuilding year.” But, I own a little dump with no mortgage, and between my side business, my part time job, and my full time job, I make more than enough money to pay all of my bills. Sometimes I can be an asshole, but I definitely don’t dig on purposefully hurting other people. That’s not nothing, I suppose. Merry Christmas, KSue!
That sounds like a whole lot.
Good luck making your own luck in 24 and Merry Christmas.
Thats great! Hope it goes well.
This wasn’t something I was really planning on.
IMO, always the best time.
Compatible faults FTW!
This is wonderful news. Best wishes Pat!
Maazel Tov!
I have found that getting out of the rut, moving, new job, what have you, is great for things like this.
Great news Pat. I hope all goes well.
I think Mojeaux and I tag teamed you on that.
It’s not settling to be with someone whose company you really enjoy, and who not only gets your weirdness but likes it. A lot.
Hence my one rule of dating: don’t waste time chasing someone who isn’t into you. Have fun with someone you like, and vice-versa.
Danke schoen, my friend. I think her taste is suspect, but this particular young lady has expressed that she is, in fact, very into me. Moreso than I thought. Who am I to question that?
JI, TOG, DEG, Zwak, and Chafed, thank you for the kind words. Merry Christmas to you all.
Trading Places is the best Christmas movie,
Err… That’s a New Years Eve movie, not a Christmas movie.
How about holiday season. Aykroyd drunk in the Santa suit at the Christmas party is hilarious.
Ahem
Most of it is pre Christmas and Xmas, but yeah the ending act is on NYE. I’d still say it counts as a Xmas movie.
I’m partial to The Ref, but I respect your choice.
I haven’t posted in a while but i’m still here lurking. Merry Christmas to all!
The Yorkshire guys just dropped the latest video on the BMW E24. It’s finally done. Thanks for tipping us off Brooksie. It’s been a great series
The Yorkshire guys just dropped the latest video on the BMW E24. It’s finally done. Thanks for tipping us off Brooksie. It’s been a great series
Those guys are amazing. Most people would have told him to take that car to the crusher.
Bringing myself out of my NyQuil-coma for a few hours, I was going to make ribeye I cut from a whole beef tenderloin.
But the weather conspired against the grill. So I went with the Alton Brown approach to pan-seared ribeye.
Smoked the kitchen up, but damn tasty.
Nice. I bought some beef tenderloin fillets and a pork tenderloin, one for Christmas, one for New Years. I hadn’t decided which was for which purpose until today.
Kielbasa is the Christmas protein in this house!
I have to cook the chicken wings. They’re the oldest protein in the fridge (not in danger of going bad, but still)
Nevermind. I was wrong – they just failed the sniff test.
We have a meal of leftover sliced ham, some nice ham bits for a ham-loaded mac & cheese, and the bone and bits for black-eyed peas & cornbread on New Years.
Glad to see you learning from the video.
Waiting for the meatballs to heat up in the crock pot in their chili sauce/grape jelly marinade. I’ll pair ’em with a nice* White Infidel (but not too much, as i have to work tomorrow.)
*for a very generous definition of “nice”
Turkey with a Cortese di Gavi here.
Wife is making cobblers and pies, to be followed up with seafood stew.
I am waiting for my ribs to be done. I should have read the cooking instructions on the package. I wanted fully cooked, and these were not. I think they’ll be okay.
Just leaving this here
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87821224358?pwd=eW55MTRDbDNtQkh2aHd3M1Nmenlzdz09
Come see the violence inherent in the system, and possibly me eating Velveeta mac n cheez (food product)
My dad told me he got a call from his young, construction worker Irish tenant yesterday afternoon. The conversation went like this:
Irish tenant: Hey there Brian, I was wondering if you could come over this afternoon and check out this window, it isn’t closing properly.
Dad: How long has this been going on?
Irish tenant: I’d say about a year now. More or less.
Dad: Well it is a Sunday and the day before Xmas, it sounds like it could wait.
Irish tenant: Ah sure, I suppose it could. It’s just that it’s getting a bit cold.
Dad: Well how about Tuesday morning?
Irish tenant: I don’t know about that. You see I’m off for Christmas and Boxing Day, and there’s a load of great footie matches on. I was fixing to go on the piss a few days now and I should be fair deep into it Boxing Day.
Dad: Okay then, how about Thursday.
Irish tenant: Sure Thursday’s grand, happy Christmas there Brian.
I had a lovely chat with the new master of the wife’s foxhunt club at the Christmas party two weeks back; he’s from Waterford. First person from that county I’ve met.
Aw, “grand”: sure haven’t heard that in a while.
Pour vous: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHmTuRePulQ
Lol, brilliant.
[Taps microphone] IS THIS THING ON????
Went back to the top of the thread to double-check, and I’m astonished that a guy who was high-strung wasn’t mentioned among the birthdays.
I’ve always thought this was underrated:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJX2PEvP_ig
Ribs came out okay. Tender and tasty. The bones pulled away clean as a whistle. Ribs, mashed potatoes, and Pacifico. Maybe some espresso ice cream later if I decide there is room for it.
For Mojeaux
LOL
My mom, last night: “It’s Taylor’s fault.”
She looks like an evil bitch from a Soap Opera who just poisoned her husband and is consoling his sister at the news of his passing.
LOL
Oddly specific, but it checks out…
🙃😂
Baby don’t First me….don’t First me….no mo.
Great. Now I have that Night at the Roxbury scene with Will Ferrel and Chris Kattan in my head.
Evil, evil ear worm. Gotta a think of something with which to purge it.
The SNL skits were funny but I never wanted to see an entire movie of it.
After being a home body for the day, I decided to watch the game at the new local sports pub. Open 365 days a year. Will be interesting to see if it’s a ghost town or if it’s hopping.
A place near me was open in the evening. Moderately busy. I met a few friends there.
👍
Moderately busy describes the place well at the moment.
They opened later than usual due to Christmas (4pm vs 11am) but said that it was PACKED at opening! Which was just 2.5 hours ago.
I see a clam chowder in my future…they carry the clam chowder made by a bigger, better-known seafood restaurant. Smart move.
Hopefully Mo’s and not Ivar’s crap.
It’s the Ivar’s crap.
I’m from a landlocked state; cut me some slack.
(Restaurant recommendations for Mukilteo WA) appreciated)
Favorite place in Everett: Pho Asia Noodle House
Pho is my favorite food, and this place is in my all-time top 3. It’s one of the rare things that Mrs. Pacer and I agree on.
I used to like Diamond Knot Brewing by the ferry terminal, but that was like 15 years ago.
All I know is a great breakfast place in Bellingham, but I need to cruise around to find it (doesn’t show up on any comp search).
It’s actually not that bad, but just not that great as some rave about it. I don’t get the love for it. Mo’s isn’t the top either but, and despite slipping from what it used to be, it’s still familiar and satisfying.
The landlocked state bit reminds me of my wife’s Boise coworkers recommending Joe’s Crab Shack as a great seafood place.
What’s wrong with Ivar’s? They have acres of clams. ACRES!!!
RIP Capt Yates.
Merry Christmas to everyone! I’ve truly enjoyed reading your articles and comments in the past year, even if I don’t say much. It’s truly a highlight of my day.
A Charlie Brown Kwanzaa for you all.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fWmCkay9bU
I can’t believe Chappelle Show didn’t do this.
That is fucking outstanding,
The three kings: Martin Luther , Don, and Rodne
Im prolly too late for normal humans, but I am now home and on Zoom for night owls
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87821224358?pwd=eW55MTRDbDNtQkh2aHd3M1Nmenlzdz09#success
juche0071
@juche0071
In memory of comrade Nicolae and Elena Ceausescu who were cruelly and viciously murdered by fascist counter -revolutionaries on the 25th of December 1989
https://twitter.com/juche0071/status/1739254515444994341
Obligarory christmas tankie post
Mornin glibs
They got off easy – far better than they deserved. 😒
Good afternoon, Pie! 🙂
Juche eh? If that person’s not posting from North Korea they’re just a larper.
[looks out on feast of Stephen]
[sees no snow; not deep, not crisp, not even]
Morning y’all. I trust everyone survived Christmas.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cABZfkRcQ6A
🎶🎶
Good morning, Sean & Ted’S.!
Delightfully quiet Christmas, but now time to get back to the daily grind. At least it’s 54 degrees here in SW OH. Yay, climate change!
I was thinking about the surficially correct complaint that ornate and expensive churches, and cathedrals that take centuries to build are a big waste of resources, and worse, take away from the charitable mission of the Church.
One thing that bothers me is that, while one should be able to worship anywhere, the architecture, art, and ambiance of a church does contribute to that feeling of religiosity. It elevates the spirit and puts one in the right mind space to be open to the divine. I don’t think it is a trivial expenditure which could just as easily be done away with.
Beyond the legitimate religious utility of beautiful churches, there is also the public art aspect. Rightfully, most public are has a bad reputation, but a well-designed and built church provides something beautiful that is accessible to everyone. That may sound frivolous, but I think it is much less frivolous than any number of consumable expenditures we waste our lives away on. It is also a true work of a community, and gives people a purpose they are working towards together…
The implied claim that the money would be better spent on the physical ailments of the poor ignores the fact that it is a treatment of their spiritual ails which is being provided. To the extent that worship and community can help people get their lives together, this is likely a better use of funds than running a soup kitchen. I could go on… but I should get ready for work.
Until I set foot in a cathedral in Europe I had no idea what a “mere building” could do to help bring a visitor into a spiritual frame of mind. A well-designed one brings a little of the divine right down to earth where we can encounter it tangibly. They also tend to transcend time; a 12th century cathedral doesn’t look all that different from a 15th century one except in the details.
Many cathedrals also have a good bit of historical value in themselves or in adjacent structures. St Paul’s (London), Aachen, Speyer, Koln, Straussburg all come to mind. I’ve mentally planned a European tour based purely on visiting cathedrals.
I don’t think they are a waste of time and talent at all. We might not know the names of all the people involved in making them, from the mason to the wood carver, but at least in the churches and cathedrals their artistry lives on and has been appreciated by thousands. Would any of their other work have lasted so long or been experienced by so many, including by the Maker?
Good morning all!
No music for a while, I need to regroup and recharge.
Cheers!
Good morning, Beau & Lack!
Morning.
Good morning, U! How are you today?
groggy from a night of insomnia, and annoyed that I didn’t have time to run to the store before connecting to work.
At least my fancy Artis Opus paint brush set should be arriving today. Hopefully they live up to their reputation for quality.
I’m trying to figure out why I can nod off on the not-really-all-that-comfortable sofa, then go to bed and take so long to fall asleep.
At 2am my eyes were exhausted and I couldn’t keep them open if I wanted – but my brain was wide awake so I couldn’t fall asleep.
My FIL would say its the moon phase. Which given the amount of insomnia about, I can’t discount the old man. Didn’t get to sleep until 2-3am
Made with real penguin feathers?
???
Artist Opus?
I’m not getting your reference.
I’m talking about This company. They only have one T in their name.
Kids these days,*smdh*
Now, when you day ‘Dylan,” He’s thinking you meant Dylan Thomas, whoever he was. That man ain’t got no culture!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utZ-r2ESRls
Mornin’, reprobates!
Good morning, ‘patzie! Recovery still coming along nicely, I hope?
Mornin’. Follow-up with surgeon today. Mrs. Patzer says I am doing much better than she expected. Oh ye of little faith…