Claire

Wintertime with the Wandering Monk

Published January 10, 2018 8:15 am by Claire

I felt churlish yesterday after venting at The Wandering Monk. I was in one of those “it’s my blog and I’ll rant if I want to” moods. Not great moments for wisdom or discretion. It turned out the Monk’s issue was seasonal depression compounded by a tragedy he associates with this time of year. The tragedy was years ago, but of the kind that alters life forever. Then — you know how it goes if you’re a depressive — the funk of idleness he fell into fed on itself. Every day he was unmotivated led to more inertia. Which led…

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Midweek links

Published January 10, 2018 7:22 am by Claire

Between the Equifax breach and the new tax law, this could be a bad year for both fraudulent tax returns and IRS confusion.

In southern California they’re looking for victims in a weather-related mudslide. In Washington state, they’re watching a potentially larger landslide in the making. Local officials are pooh-poohing the potential impact; geologists and geophysicists are saying, “Close the damn freeway NOW and prepare for Yakima to flood.”

GetRichSlowly.org: Hopping off the hedonic treadmill.

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Well, so much for the Wandering Monk

Published January 9, 2018 11:04 am by Claire

[venting] Nine-ish today, he said. The Wandering Monk was coming to repair the floor so I could finish the bedroom project. He knew my neighbor also needed advance notice so we could collect stored flooring from her. I have been busting my buns for days to be ready for him. Neighbor J. left her garage unlocked for us. At 9:30 I texted him. 10:00: Sorry. Forgot. No word on whether he ever planned to show again. So are you going to be here today or have you quit? Tomorrow. I texted him back to say those materials were coming out…

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Tuesday links

Published January 9, 2018 1:03 am by Claire

James Damore (remember him?) has just filed a class-action suit against Google, alleging the company discriminates against conservative white males. That could get interesting.

I love movies. But I am so freakin’ sick of whiny, hypocritical actresses lamenting how difficult their privileged lives are and congratulating themselves for the “courage” of their #MeTooing and their black gowns red carpet that I’m thinking about giving up my Netflix and going cold turkey.

In case you didn’t already know it, the NFL boycott is real and significant

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Case dismissed … with prejudice

Published January 8, 2018 4:33 pm by Claire

Federal prosecutors, who have made such a botch of everything connected with the Bundy ranch, have lost. Definitively. Humiliatingly. Deservedly. Their case against Cliven, two of his sons, and another man has been dismissed with prejudice following last month’s mistrial. Meaning no re-trial. Now. Will the feds retreat and accept that this whole woeful business has been overreach (and under-honesty) on their part from the beginning? Or will they find some other way to get revenge on the harmless (but defiant) Mormon rancher and his clan? I first got this news on NPR this afternoon. To hear them tell it,…

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Bedroom closet (and the difference between people who know me and people who don’t)

Published January 7, 2018 2:43 pm by Claire

Still have to put on the baseboard molding (tonight, maybe) and clean up the mess, but other than that the inside of the bedroom closet is now Officially Done. Nifty, eh? That’s a Rubbermaid Configurations organizer for 3-6-foot closets from Home Depot. Reviewers praise them and it was certainly easy to install and seems sturdy. But I’m not giving it my full v*te of confidence until I see how well it bears weight. The Chinese cabinet and Indian wall hanging I picked up at a storage-unit sale a couple of weeks ago. They give the closet a nice touch of…

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Weekend links

Published January 7, 2018 6:28 am by Claire

Pretty funny. And think of the implications! New Jersey towns turn property taxes into “charitable contributions” to scoff at the new tax law.

Did you know that Ash Wednesday falls on Valentines Day this year? And Easter shares a date with April Fools Day? (unless, of course, you’re of Orthodox persuasion, in which case your calendar is less odd for a change).

O, brave new America, where where the rich get richer and the poor go to jail. (Tip o’ hat to jc2k in comments)

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Friday links

Published January 5, 2018 1:13 am by Claire

This isn’t a new story. But it’s a wow and anybody who thinks about self defense should read it. A hit man came to her house. She survived. He didn’t. No guns involved. (H/T jc2k in comments)

Republican wins a hotly contested Virginia race. By having his name pulled out of a punch bowl.

Oregonians kinda-sorta, in a smallish way, finally get to pump their own gas. And there’s panic in the streets. (If you want to know why it’s hard to get people to envision even small amounts of political change, there’s your perfect example.)

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It may be just another closet to you …

Published January 4, 2018 1:17 am by Claire

… but to me, it’s a project nearing completion. Besides, it’s actually two closets. And it’s what you get when you have a long hallway left over after your plans have been repeatedly unplanned by reality. Here I’m standing at the back of the second (utility) closet, looking into the nicer clothes-closet-to-be. The clothes closet portion has a tongue-and-groove wood ceiling, which I installed yesterday (a pleasant job, for a change). And it will have proper baseboard and crown moldings. Here I’m standing in the clothes area looking back into the utility closet. Befitting a utility closet, it’s much more…