@msbellows
I saw your mention of work in mountain rescue! When I was a volunteer crew member on tall ship Elissa at the Texas Seaport Museum in Galveston, I was trained in rig rescue. Our job was to get into this harness and be hoisted aloft to help should a crew member be injured in the rigging (80-100 feet above the deck) and unable to climb down.
This me in about 1989 on a training exercise. Luckily I never was called on to do it for real.
[#]TexasSeaportMuseum
[#]TallShip
[#]Elissa
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You may be like me, dreading tomorrow. Remember, the overarching theme will be "own the libs."
Expect announcements designed to elicit outrage.
--don't give them the satisfaction. Present a neutral "we'll see" affect. They want anger. Not giving it, sorry
--It's MLK Day. Above all, honor him and turn from violence, no matter the provocation.
--Stay resolute and action-focused. It's a long game and history is on our side.
We've got this. Never forget.
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Here is a special Caturday post to honor Brushytail, who passed yesterday after almost 17 years in our family. Fly high, my sweet friend!
[#]cats
[#]Caturday
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Our kids are graduates of Pacific Palisades High School. They're fine but they just advised us the school is on fire.
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The new year is still 4 hours away here near the west coast of the US. Happy New Year to all my Mastodon friends, and to all creatures of good will everywhere.
From Don, Craig, daughters Hannah and Rachel, and kitties Brushytail, Victoria, Baby Kitty, and Jellybean.
2025 is ours to shape. Let's do great things!
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I came into the world right about now 72 years ago.
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Here is Brushy this morning, the paragon of happy snoozing lap cats*.
Happy caturday, friends
[#]Caturday
[#]Brushytail
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Christmas baking is finished for the day. I made this NYT adaptation of an Edna Lewis dark gingerbread recipe last week, and we liked it so much I made another today! This time I stirred chopped candied ginger into the batter just before it went into the oven.
The Christmas tree-shaped pan was my mother's, it's associated with my very earliest memories of the holiday.
Gift link:
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012460-dark-molasses-gingerbread-with-whipped-cream?unlocked_article_code=1.kU4.AEE9.N2CAoZxGc6Cr&smid=share-url
[#]Christmas
[#]baking
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It's not Christmas without homemade cinnamon rolls from the Ann Sather's recipe. Here they are fresh out of the oven, just glazed and ready for our holiday brunch.
My great-grandfather Sven was born in southeast Sweden.
Beloved of any Northside resident of Chicagoland, Swedish-inspired Ann Sather's has hosted many a family gathering, nurtured many a gay boy recovering from a dance-until-dawn boystown ramble.
They shared their recipe
http://annsather.com/pdf/breakfast.pdf
[#]Chicago
[#]Boystown
[#]AnnSather
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It is The Spirit of Christmas Present, showing Scrooge what the true spirit of Christmas and Christian faith is about.
"A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens, published December 19, 1843.
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Here's a puzzle. This sounds as though it was written today, for late 2024.
But what is this from and when did it appear?
(Answer in first reply)
"There are some upon this earth of yours," returned the Spirit, "who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us."
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Here is another Fiat 128 brochure from my collection, the 128 SL Sport Coupe. My college roommate liked my 128 sedan so much, he bought one of these and drove it for years.
Also pictured, the one ad I've found for this car (that one is a repost, I've shown it before.)
[#]Fiat
[#]Fiat128
[#]ClassicCars
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Remembering legendary DJ Jim Ladd today, on the anniversary of his sudden death last December.
He was amazing, with encyclopedic knowledge of rock and musicians. Jackson Browne spoke at the 2005 dedication of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
I knew him through SiriusXM's "Deep Tracks" station, but LA, and Tom Petty, knew him as "The Last DJ."
[#]ClassicRock
[#]JimLadd
[#]SiriusXM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Knw_GxXPHg
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I am late to the news of Paul Krugman's resignation from The New York Times, learning of it when his formerly-inactive newsletter, which I must have signed up for ages ago, landed in my email this morning.
He was one of the few things about the Times I missed when I unsubscribed in June (I also mourn the loss of access to Margaret Renkl, who I loved!)
Although it's on Substack, which I dislike, the newsletter is active again.
[#]PaulKrugman
[#]BrokenTimes
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-fraudulence-of-waste-fraud-and
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I just signed up for a monthly donation to The Guardian, part of my plan to divert money that used to go to The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The LA Times to more trustworthy organizations.
Other steps
--subscribed to The SF Chronicle
--monthly donation to Vox Media
--donated to NPR
--donated to PBS
--donated to small local journalism org
@sfchronicle @TheGuardian
@NPR
@PBS @Vox
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Just in case you are 65+ and mistakenly signed up for a Medicare Advantage plan (all the bad things about for-profit insurance).
Today is the last day of Medicare Open Enrollment, when you can opt out of the Advantage program and get America's closest thing to single payer health insurance, Medicare Part B and D, without penalty.
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This guy came by to visit while I have my coffee.
[#]MeepMeep
[#]roadrunner
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I'm having coffee on the terrace at our community center while our girls use the the fitness center.
They chose the site for the terrific view of the San Jacinto Mountains to the west. The only exceptions to the "exeriscaping only" rule are a few patches of lawn in shared areas and this one water feature, fed by wells on the property.
70F (21C) on December 1st is why 120 degrees in August is not a burden.
[#]RanchoMirage
[#]CoachellaValley
[#]PalmSprings
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I just finished reading "Dearie," Bob Spitz' biography of Julia Child.
TIL When Julia retired to Montecito, CA near the end of her life, she and her assistant were booked to fly from Boston Logan to Los Angeles on a morning AA flight -- on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. Yes, THAT flight.
Because of a last minute interview request from the Smithsonian, where she had donated her kitchen (see "Julie and Julia,") they rebooked later in the week. And saved her life.
[#]JuliaChild
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I'm deep into Thanksgiving prep: stock made, cranberry sauce done, shopping finished, dinner rolls on first proofing, about to make pie crust.
But our celebration this year will be Saturday, because one of my daughters is vacationing outside of the country, and doesn't get back to the US until late tomorrow!
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text/gemini
