suomi

And the farmer tan is a nice touch.

Some of this information was posted on the first page of this thread but here is another article with today's dateline: Donald Heathfield, like his wife, had been born in a cemetery, a ghost rising from the dead. A baby boy had been born on Feb. 4, 1962, in Canada, the third of four children of Howard and Shirley. Six weeks later, on March 23, Shirley found little Donald lying still, a tiny arm sticking out of the side of his crib. Her child had died. Tracey Lee Ann Foley was born on Sept. 14, 1962, in Montreal, the first child of Edward and Pauline Foley. Seven weeks old and just a few days after she had smiled at her mother for the first time, she developed a fever. Within hours, she died of meningitis. As with the Heathfields, the pain of the loss of a child so young never left the family. But then a quarter of a century later, Heathfield and Foley were suddenly there again, brought back to life by Directorate S. The twin tragedies had not gone unnoticed. A KGB officer serving in Canada had observed them. He would steal something from these two families who had already lost something irreplaceable—their children’s identities. KGB officers had the macabre job of strolling around cemeteries looking at graves for likely candidates, a process known as “tombstoning.” The ideal situation was a child who died away from the country in which they were born, with few close relatives, reducing the documentary and witness trail to the death. Once a candidate was found, the next step might be to destroy any documentary evidence of the death. This could be as simple as bribing someone for access to a church registry book and then ripping out the pages. Then came the key—requesting a new birth certificate (a technique that relied on there being no central registry of births and deaths). “It was considered a big success for us when Department 2 managed to obtain children’s birth certificates after a whole family died in a traffic or other kind of accident,” explains one former member of Directorate S. A birth certificate meant a child could be born again as an illegal. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/meet-the-russian-spies-who-inspired-the-americans/ar-BB16jWL4?li=BBnb7Kz

I'm in northern Utah right close to Idaho's southern border. Usually our big fireworks happen with a sold-out crowd in the USU stadium (Home of the Aggies ~ Go Blue!) and the small towns across the valley do their own shows. The stadium show obviously couldn't happen this year so our communities pooled their money and hosted simultaneous shows in four locations. Idaho's southernmost town also synced with us so you could see fireworks from almost anywhere in the 50-mile length of the valley, and in many locations you could see all four shows at once; I saw three. Way cool. Best fireworks since I moved here in '85. The local AM station always blasts an hour's worth of appropriate tunes during the show that people listen to in the stadium or wherever else they gather. We're usually on a blanket on a hillside across from the stadium. Tonight I propped the Bose in my front window and cranked it, I was sure I would hear other radios but mine was the only one. Oh well, glad to be of service. It evened out because the folks in my neighborhood, lemme tell ya, are into buying fireworks and they're still at it out there. My cat is a party animal, she is still observing from an open window and is unfazed by the noise. (I do realize that many animals are incredibly fearful during our celebrations). Staying home tonight beat the heck out of the usual 2-hour traffic jam getting back from the stadium (a drive which usually takes 15 minutes). I was able to cry as much as I wanted without an audience and played a mean air-piccolo during Stars and Stripes Forever. Le sigh. I remembered to light the citronella candle tonight but forgot I had some Bailey's and Grand Marnier. Now that I have remembered... bottoms UP!

ginger90 posted the link for us in Sunny's thread yesterday.

Frequency hasn't increased with age but the intensity, oof. You say social distancing, I say I was raised right. If we could harness that energy we could get where we're going quicker and with less effort. I hope someone is working on that and I hope I live long enough to see it.

This is a very, very odd story. "Someone" has taken your month-old infant from you, in the midst of a pandemic? Sports Anchor Dan O'Toole Says His Missing 1-Month-Old Daughter Is 'Safe:' 'We Are Still Broken' https://www.msn.com/en-us/tv/celebrity/sports-anchor-dan-otoole-says-his-missing-1-month-old-daughter-is-safe-we-are-still-broken/ar-BB16iAAA?li=BBnb7Kz

Interesting, that you mentioned this. Last night I was thinking she is that one cousin who doesn't fit. All the other cousins enjoy each other and get along well but that one cousin (and at least one of its parents) rubs everyone the wrong way at every gathering and everyone has to cater to him/her. Or she's that one kid you have to invite to your kid's birthday party every year who you hate to see show up and love to see going home. Ditto with the parent. Gah!

I'm an INFJ-T. The T stands for Turbulent. More easily ruffled. Self-conscious. The results of anxiety or stress are internalized. The -A designation stands for Assertive. Calm. Self-confident. Nearly immune to anxiety or stress. The purist view is that the T and A designations are not valid because they were added much later to the original Myers-Briggs theory.

I never realized what a big fish Yoli landed. There's a nearly two-hour documentary on Netflix titled David Foster Off The Record. "He's a genius who's sold more than half a billion records. This is the story behind the massive hits - told his way. From child prodigy to iconic music producer, Foster shares the stories behind his success with rare footage and interviews with his collaborators." It puts a whole 'nother spin on flaky and superficial HWs warbling around his piano. Oy vey.

Sailor On A Concrete Sea

Smothered in ranch dressing.

I watched part of an interview with a physician this morning. The younger population Covid case numbers came up and were linked to a few reasons except what I think are the main reasons: self-control and self-determination. The olds decided to strictly follow suggested guidelines and fine-tuned their efforts even beyond what is advised by experts. A generous proportion of the original wave of elderly deaths took place in facilities that were unprepared for the onslaught, where residents had to rely on caregivers and whatever standards those caregivers chose to employ. Olds who are blessed to be able to live independently have a bigger say in who and what they will be exposed to and their efforts are finally showing up in the infection tallies. It is frustrating, and I feel for everyone here who experiences it, when your diligent efforts are jeopardized by people who don't give a rat's ass about their fellow citizens. It's like watching total strangers wagering your life savings at a craps table, and losing throw after throw after throw. Gah!

The Real Lessons of Telfar, Kanye and the Gap First came Gap x Telfar. Then came Yeezy Gap. Then came the outcry. But Telfar Clemens says everyone has it wrong. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/style/Telfar-Yeezy-Gap.html?action=click&module=Editors Picks&pgtype=Homepage

That sounds almost as funny as husband in the shower, in the mirror. Almost.

My ex used to say "Throw a flag over it and do it for Old Glory."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/nyregion/coronavirus-fusco-family-nj.html?action=click&algo=top_conversion&block=trending_recirc&fellback=false&imp_id=708301495&impression_id=340221626&index=8&pgtype=Article&region=footer&req_id=635952107&surface=most-popular

I used to work in the medical records dept in a large non-profit hospital run by a company of nuns. I shared a cubicle wall with a co-worker who spent her days calling patients prior to surgery, offering them 40-60% discounts if they paid cash instead of using insurance. I guess that illustrates how much insurance (and a profit margin) adds to the cost of healthcare. Perhaps the $50,000 target represents a cash discount price for Ysabel's surgery?

I enjoy this show, not always but usually. I watched two eps tonight and noticed a couple of pertinent comments. They talked to the homeowner about "perceived value." They know their market (granted, it's a hot market) and they know perceived value beats actual value nearly every time. They know this because (referring to the competition) "the others sell seven or eight homes a year and we sold 170". I would think that volume is also how they came to know that their demo is first-time buyers. With that volume I bet they have made enough to purchase a ton of appliances at deep discount that are stored somewhere, waiting to be used. Labor is highly variable depending on the region and can be the lion's share of final cost in some parts of the country, in others not so much. I think they would bug me in an hour show but this format is OK.

I can't bring myself to choose one over the other. Both are the stuff of nightmares.

Every generation carries the burden of at least one fashion shame.

If we don't wise up real soon our resistance to precautions will be the end of us. Some recent stats: European Union - population 446 million, 3000 new cases each day. US - population 329 million, 30,000 new cases each day. (Actually, yesterday it was 36,000).

I don't watch anymore and don't post here anymore but I happened across the show this morning. They were dismissing Donnie at the end of his segment and in a really shitty tone of voice Scoop said "Lose the shirt, it's needy." Maybe, maybe not; maybe his own approval is what matters to him. But the ease with which she tossed off a snide comment like that with a complete lack of self-awareness knocked me into next week. So, actually, I am typing in the future.

Yeah No (and other NYers) are you familiar with this beach? The few minutes it took to read this article frightened me more than all the years I read Stephen King. I love water and grew up thinking nothing of swimming a third of a mile, and more, offshore using the length of the pier as measurement. But this Rockaway area sounds... evil. Knee deep, and then gone? Some of the people who commented mentioned this beach's sad history. OMG, these kids, and their families. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/26/nyregion/rockaway-beach-drownings.html?action=click&module=Top Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Even before Covid she was most often seen cuddling a pet rather than a human. Indeed, the irony is rich.

> > I goofed - I thought I was in the Small Talk thread. Sorry! < < Irwin Shaw's 1969 novel Rich Man, Poor Man is available from BookBub's associated e-book sellers until midnight, $1.99 and 676 pages. It tells the story of two brothers in the US, beginning in the 1930s. It was a 12-episode mini-series in 1976 starring Peter Strauss and Nick Nolte, with Dorothy McGuire as their mother and Ed Asner as their immigrant father. (Dorothy also played the mother in Old Yeller). All four are stellar in their roles and Strauss and Nolte are easy on the eyes. Do you happen to remember Strauss in the 1979 TV movie The Jericho Mile? He was unjustly imprisoned for murder and his dream as a runner was to qualify for the Olympics. It's a very good story that rips your heart from your chest and hands it to you, and Brian Dennehy co-stars.