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Weekend Open Thread

by thebesig••80
Thanksgiving feast. Smelling the turkey, ham, stuffing, etc., when your stomach is ready to fill up. (Huffington Post)

We’ve been in the Advent Season since November 29, 2020. December 24 is the last day of the advent season. Friday next week, we’ll be the Christmas season. Enjoy your weekend.

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Weekend Open Thread

Weekend open thread

Weekend Open Thread

80 thoughts on “Weekend Open Thread”

      1. Sent my sister a present via priority mail. 2-3 business days.
        Gave her the tracking number. It’s been two weeks.
        SISTER: Where do you think it is?
        ME: Same place as your mail in Ballot.

      2. ^Word^! Better lucky than good. Been gone to the little big town since Rawhide went off this morning; provision run, helping out Miss Lady Friend, and a scrumptious dining in @ The Old School S&S Cafe. Catfish and Crystal…Honey Hush. Got MLF (Miss Lady Friend) taken care off, went by to see the girls at the bank, dropped a coupla C notes at the K Roger, and brought some pieces parts back from FOB Elizabeth. Was not even thinking about the WOT, had unloaded Big Red, then checked the dispatches that may have shown up. Had just replied to p’man & 11B when WHOMP, There it is…the TAH Friday Weekend Open Thread. Even gave a 10 count before I typed the comment and another 10 count before I hit the post.

        It was just meant to be! FIRST to The KING OF BATTLE…The DEFECT (Damned Excellent Firin’ Every Cottonpickin’ Time)! Better luck next week, you may have up to 3 shots at an Open Thread FIRST…But you need to pay attention. I may be off the net from about Sunday until?

        BTW…I stand by my FIRST Comment above! I admit to nothing else or reasons there of. Call my lawer!

      1. Just curious. How is the record keeping holding up now that cracker boy here goes by any one of several names? I’ll bet it’s a PITA keeping track.

        1. Carful where’st you be swingin’ that C-word ’round, Ed.
          Cannon cockers aint know to be rational or sober on paydays.

          1. Born in North Carolina, -Dog. I’m qualified to wield “cracker” and other Southern terms.
            Bless his heart…

        2. Hope this satisfies your curiosity. A total of 107 weeks have passed since a certain individual scored a “First” on the WOT. Since then that certain individual (by whatever name) has had 64 “Firsts”, but all have been DEFECT deleted/defaulted to another commenter.

          Have been thinking of giving up making entries into the Coveted Book of WOT Firsts after next weeks WOT due to it just not being fun for all commenters anymore.

    1. TNX. I have sent the link to a few “mail in voters” I know.
      Not going to let them hear the end of this election fraud.

  6. When they hand out FIRSTs in Heaven, the King of Battle will be FIRST in line! Maintaining the throne and crown and scepter and lording over all of us.

    Well, that’s the way the cookie crumbles. In response, here’s your week-from-Christmas trivia. Next week it’s the Christmas day trivia. See how that works? Enjoy, friends.

    DID YOU KNOW…?
    Who designed the current U.S. flag?
    By Commissioner Wretched

    Dear Santa,

    Last week I sent you my annual letter, asking for just one thing – get this silly year over with, already!

    Now, I write a postscript, in which I ask for one more thing.

    Peace.

    Let those in our society who harbor ill will toward others have a change of heart, or at least a little less drive to do what they do that hurts others. For a while, anyway.

    This year has seen stuff I never want to see again, and I know that you can make my request happen, Nick. Just give it that old Christmas magic, and who knows? Maybe we’ll wake up in 2021 and the world will actually make sense again.

    In the mean time, I’ve spoken to Sassy about bothering your milk and cookies. She promises to leave them alone this year.

    Love, CW

    Now, to the trivia!

    Did you know …

    … Gustav Eiffel (1832-1923), builder of Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower, is known for much more than that? Eiffel also eignineered: a dam in Russia, a church in the Philippines, locks for the first attempt at the Panama Canal, and he also designed the right arm and supporting structure for the Statue of Liberty. (Busy fellow, wasn’t he?)

    … there really was a “Johnny Appleseed?” John Chapman (1774-1845) was a nurseryman who introduced apple trees to large parts of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, as well as Canada. But the most interesting part of the story is, Chapman’s apples were not supposed to be for eating. Rather, Chapman wanted them to be used in the making of hard apple cider, a kind of alcoholic drink. (Thank ye, Johnny!)

    … one smartphone maker is trying to make it harder to “butt dial” someone? Samsung Electronics uses a specially designed robot to test phones. The robot is shaped like a human derriere, and even wears jeans. Phones are placed in the back pockets and the robot “sits” on them, making sure they can take the pressure. (Sometimes, friends, the jokes really do write themselves.)

    … the current American flag was designed by a high school student? In 1958, with Alaska about to be admitted to the union and Hawaii’s admission on the horizon, high school student Bob Heft (1941-2009) doodled a design for the American flag that increased the number of stars from 48 to 50. Heft, of Lancaster, Ohio, amazingly earned a B- on the project from his art teacher. Heft and the teacher agreed that, if the flag design was submitted to Congress and selected, he’d get a better grade. So, he submitted it. Out of the 1,500 designs for a 50-star flag that were submitted, Heft’s was selected. President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969) contacted Heft to let him know his design had won; the teacher accordingly raised Heft’s grade to an A. Additional trivia note: Heft also submitted a 51-star design, which has already been selected to be made should another state be admitted. (At least Heft’s teacher kept his word about the grade!)

    … the computer mouse has not always been called that? When it was first developed in 1964, it was given the unwieldy name of “X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System.” (I, for one, am very glad they changed the name.)

    … a president once served as manager of his college football team? Herbert Hoover (1874-1964), 31st President of the United States, was the football team manager when he attended Stanford University. In 1892, at the first game between Stanford and the University of California, Hoover forgot to bring the game ball. (Whether that event serves as foreshadowing of his presidency, I leave up to you.)

    … the world’s oldest hotel is in Japan? The Nisiyama Onsen Keiunkan was founded in 705 AD, and you can still book a night or two there today. (What do you want to bet that the rates have gone up since then?)

    … a DC comics character also appears in the Marvel universe? Clark Kent, the alter-ego of Superman, appears in both universes. But in the Marvel universe, he’s just a mild-mannered reporter. (In other words, he’s not so super, man.)

    … in Logan County, Colorado, it is illegal for a man to kiss a woman while she’s asleep? (Oh, the jokes I could do right here …)

    … in France, it is legal to marry a dead person? (It’s foolish, but it’s legal.)

    … two out of every five people marry their first love? (So what do the other three do, just marry whoever comes along?)

    … the hum of a housefly has a musical note? It’s in the middle octave of the key of F. (And the swing of the fly swatter has what musical note?)

    … humans are more likely to believe that a statement is true if it rhymes? (The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.)

    … there are more than 200 different types of Barbie dolls? (And only about six of Ken, right?)

    … the first McDonald’s in Rome, Italy, opened to a protest? When the first of the popular American hamburger restaurants opened in Rome in 1986, local “food purists” gathered outside giving away free spaghetti. The group said they were reminding Italians of their culinary heritage. (Are you as surprised as I am to know they never offered “McSpaghetti”?)

    … an adult giant panda weighs between 200 and 300 pounds? (Funny, so do I.)

    … your brain stops growing in size when you are 15 years old? (I have no excuse, mine stopped when I was 5.)

    Now … you know!

    1. … the hum of a housefly has a musical note? It’s in the middle octave of the key of F. (And the swing of the fly swatter has what musical note?)

      That would be A splat.

    2. Since you mentioned Barbie and Ken:

      Little Susie was telling her Christmas wish list to her Mom when she said “I want a Barbie and GI Joe!” to which her Mom replied “Oh Susie, don’t you know that Barbie comes with Ken?” to which Susie snapped, “NO, Barbie comes with GI Joe, she fakes it with Ken!”

      Thankyuhverymuch, I prefer Anthracite in my stocking because it has a much higher BTU content!

    3. Space Force is officially a member of Of The United States Department Of Defense now that they have their first Barracks (Space?) Lawyer. His 1st Sgt is probably fielding phone calls from the local Used Space Craft dealer because the kid missed the last three payments on the Millennium Falcon that was financed at 42% interest.

  8. Was busy making some gumbo for Mrs. GB. It is simmering now.

    Rough week @ the Graybeard Compound. Eldest granddaughter got the Chinese Virus from Wuhan (very mild symptoms). Since she’s been busy with finals, we hadn’t seen much of her, but then she finished finals, came in to spend some time, and then turned up to have the bug.

    So – the entire GB Compound corps has been “isolating” which made the next event even rougher: Favorite Second Daughter-in-Law miscarried, and no one of our family could go help or console her. (Most of our ladies have had at least one miscarriage, and so are able to help more.)

    Granddaughter has had extremely mild symptoms and is doing fine. FSD-i-L is doing well. Mrs. GB and I are healthy (and that gumbo is gonna help some with that!) and on day 7 of the 10-day waiting period after exposure.

    God is in His Heaven, all will turn out fine. But if anyone else pops a positive on that test our family Christmas celebration is gonna be delayed.

    Y’all have a good weekend, regardless!

    1. Condolences and Prayers offered up in your loss Graybeard. My daughter lost her first one too, these many years ago, due to miscarriage at the 10th week. The Doc made mention that in modern times it is about 1 in 5 or 20+%. Best wishes, too, for the passing of the Chinese Communist Flu Bug.

      If I’d of known you had a kettle of gumbo on I’d of put on a skillet of buttered milk cornbread to go with it. Still got about half of that Apple Cinnamon Pie…and some vanilla bean ice cream. Bet Only Army Mom would meet us there.

      1. Thanks!

        Just took a sip of the broth – got too much cowhorn pepper in it for Mrs. GB’s comfort. I thought I was using pickled “cool-a-penos”.

        We’ll make it work. Adding in your Apple Cinnamon Pie with that vanilla bean ice cream would cool the burn a bit. And Only Army Mom would be welcome to pull up a chair!

      1. Thank you.
        Like many families, we’ve been down this road before. Prayers are always helpful.

    3. Just one more interesting layer of the fun 2020 has been. Hang in there, Gb. Blessings to you and yours.

  9. Oh, just great. Got a notice in the mail about a class action lawsuit because years ago a deceased relative bought an EpiPen. What irks me is the hoops one must jump through to opt out of the lawsuit.

    I figure I really don’t have to do anything, since my only connection to this thing is being related to someone who bought one. (Note: didn’t USE the thing – just bought one. The lawsuit apparently doesn’t care if you actually used one.) And will check with my own attorney to make sure of that.

    It is just maddening how life becomes unnecessarily complicated by such things. I may have to take action to NOT be involved? How stupid is that?? And now will pay an attorney just to make sure that my interpretation is correct???

    Anyone want to bet that the unnamed law firm handling this has an overrepresentation of lefties? No, me neither.

    2. Sorry OWB!

      I guess those leeches haven’t found out I had to carry one of those ages ago.

      I get disgusted at those “lawyers” – they give rats a bad name.

    3. For lawsuits like this – unless you know you’ve been harmed, it’s not worth the time or trouble to even bother opting out. Just ignore it. Most likely you’ll never hear anything more about it. Of all the class action lawsuits I’ve ever been notified of, I think I once received a coupon for $5 in Star Kist tuna.

      1. It was either that or a year’s supply of Rice-A-Roni. Rice-A-Roni, the San Francisco treat, which means it may include human urine and feces, hypodermic needles, but no plastic straws.

      2. Strange enough, an employer from nearly two decades ago ran into issues with 401(k) fund manager, and what did I get in the mail a few weeks ago?

        $1000 check with 1099. Early Xmas present for me!

    1. Is ‘space balls’ too obvious?

      The Non-deployables?

      ARTBAY: Ain’t Ready To Be Astronauts Yet

      Blasties, like Coasties but with rockets and shit

      Darts, Non-Lawn type, 1 Ea.

    2. Wait till one of these Rocketmonkeys comes here and says some shit like “even the chair force looks up to us”, Im going to break this f’in computer with a freshly emptied whiskey bottle.

      or find out where they live, and…

      note to self, get new vice grips and draino

      1. If you need some dirty work done on your behalf, the Vice President of the proud but humble woman owned business that sells software to the federal government formerly located in Bethesda Maryland has some crackheads with pliers and blowtorches in his Rolodex.

    5. Give new meaning to the term “Bubble Heads” (with apologies to our submariner brethern).

      “Canopy Cranium”?

  11. Tag I’m it!!
    Sup?
    Not first and updates:
    I think I dropped the HoI into the Duane Hoffman thread thanks to KoB who kept me up to date.

    Also, Claw I was able to see your comment in the same thread and added your (edited) insult to the HoI (yeah I looked, you saw it but for the benefit of others who haven’t seen it)
    ” “The only currency he should be dealing with is cigarettes (fags for you Brits) while he’s in the pokey and he is known to be A pack a day smoker of the cock.” Thanks guys!!

    Oh and I was able to get the kids and myself to the range Monday and get a training class in firearms and handling, safety and then live fire on the range.
    I haven’t shot since like 2005 on the M-16 at Andrews. I’m not great but I’m not bad eithr.
    My son was a natural for a first time, from the comments from the instructor. Great on muzzle awareness and triger discipline, loading and using the safety on the instructor’s old bolt classic style wood .22.
    We only shot 10 yards and I had 2 bulls and a group the size of a golf ball so I was pleased with that. My sos had a few bulls but good grouping, a little high but hey, having never fired, he did admirable.
    He was SO frecking excited, he could hardly keep it in his pants. Imagine that. In a few years, we’ll have to have another discussion about additional “gun” safety *giggle*.
    My daughter took the class and sat in the viewing area behind the glass. I felt bad because she did want to shoot but in a couple months when she’s old enough, we’ll take the private class again as a refresher just for her, and then she’ll get to shoot and have the individual instruction as well.

    Oh and buying guns? yeah, it’s almost impossible. That was harder then getting the blessing from their Mom the night before. She (SHOCKINGLY) was on board 100% and I even offered to sponsor her and pay for her to go to the range as my guest down the road.

    Maybe I’m insane or maybe I just want to be prepared for the zombie apocalypse, or the collapse and cleansing of our central government, until it’s restored to sanity.

    Either way, I was able to purchase a nice Smith & Wesson Model M&P 15-22 Sport 10rd (Thanks Maryland). It was a special order only available to Law Enforcement or Military (retired) folks so I’m waiting from an e-mail from their customer service to get the local FFL (my new range) and my ID and stuff to be squared away.
    I (also shockingly got lucky) was able to purchase 4,500 rounds from a place in Fredericksburg VA for the range and just to have.
    I was going to buy a few thousand from another website in Connecticut and I caught the “add to cart” button on their website. In the 30 minutes in between calling their customer service to ask a few questions, they literally (before my eyes) sold out like 16 cents a round a few hundred thousand rounds.
    That’s why when I saw the others on the more local online website and called them to verify, I ordered 3 buckets in like 5 minutes.

    NOW I understand you guys.
    Now all I need is a few paychecks and a few thousand practice rounds downrange before I get more toys.

    Soon, I’ll be poking all you guys and gals about rifles and pistols and ammo from the Great Book of TAH knowledge of the MINDS, in the future.

    Thanks to everyone and Merry Christmas in advance for anyone here who may not be around this week.
    I plan to be here but some days I fall a day or two behind on commenting and reading the particular threads so this is me *BOOP*, leaving to go back and catch up but I’ll always trying to leave two tabs open, the current top of TAH to try to catch you guys calling me out and then the back days threads for reading. Kinda like a good old newspaper in the bathroom, remember those??

    Be well and Love
    Chip

    1. Chippy, good to see you! We bowed and sang Hosenas for the HoI. May want to drop in on the Dan Rather thread. Potential Fire Mission/Air Strike there.

      Smooches and Merry Christmas. May be going dark for awhile next week.

      1. SO you gonna give another motherfuckr a chance at the WOT?
        LOL, *runs!!*
        See you on the flip side!!
        C

    2. Excellent news, Chip!
      Sorry your young lady didn’t meet the range regs, but hope she does well when she does get to pop some caps.

      We found out that my grandson who didn’t enjoy shooting was in some serious need of some vision correction. He could see neither sights nor target.

      Once the familial isolation Wuhan Virus ends I hope to get him back out and see what we can do.

      Hope their mother enjoys it too when she gets a turn at the bench.

      1. Thanks Graybeard,
        Yeah the range is an AWESOME place. (https://www.guntry.com/)
        I don’t want to promote the place lest it get too popular but they need to have some customers.
        They are SO nice and knowledgeable and every single person is so professional and helpful. (and patient with this NOOB!!)

        Their age limit is 8 so no big deal, she’ll just have to wait a bit.

        I know your grandson will adjust to getting a vision correction and it will be so much easier for him when he does. My son just did that not too many months ago and he’s quite a bit happier now that he’s corrected.

        1. I clicked on the Guntry linky and all I can say is “Dang!”

          That is one nice facility there.

          But since it is not near me (like nowheres close) I guess I’ll just take the grands down to the wash were we have a little 50′ shooting range of our own.

          But if, for some crazy reason, I ever get over in that neck of the woods, I might just stop in.

  13. Tomorrow (Dec 19) is Wreaths Across America placement day. Not sure how the local cemetery is handling things this year. The plans have changed multiple times. Guess I’ll just show up at noon and see what happens.

    Last year there were actually too many volunteers. It was mayhem. But, the wreaths were all out in no time at all.

    1. I’ll be at my local National cemetery too go WAA. But there will be no ceremony, wreaths had to be picked up offsite by appointment only, just a few being allowed tomorrow. Rumor has it our Gubner has ordered State Police to “close” the entrance from the only road to the cemetery to keep people from violating his orders. Only those with “proper authority” will be allowed, authority issued by his Porkness.

      Meanwhile, most every other National Cemetery, even in NY state the LI National Cemetery is having a proper ceremony. Arlington is having a form of ceremony but only family pass holders will be allowed in.

      This should be fun. Guarandamteed I will not be stopped and if they try to “issue me a pass” I will refuse to take it or “use” it. So if you don’t hear from me for a while, I’ll have someone drop in and let you know where I’m being held. Can a file be secreted in a Key Lime pie?

      1. All went well. They let families in first so that we could place whatever wreaths we wanted to place. The official ceremony was cancelled due to crowd size restrictions, yet hundreds of folks showed up anyway. Families milled around until noon, then the volunteers were let in to finish.

        Only issue I had was with a few scout leaders making entirely too much noise. This was neither the time nor the place for laughter and talking loud. Wanted to smack ’em, but managed to restrain myself. Staff, as always, were wonderful.

      2. If His Royal Porkiness has his minions nab you, just let us know and we’ll go your bail and help pay the legal fees, somehow.

        If we could, we’d form an honor guard for you to get you through his tyranny to honor our fallen.

        1. Thank you deplorables, we will stand for you too.

          I’m happy to report things were uneventful on that score, happier to report hundreds defied “orders”. It was a different day and event than years past but in a way more special than ever. Everyone knew it was “cancelled”, everyone said, “Wanna bet?” Staties were about, holding up their gun belts, counting deer droppings.

          OWB would have given us dirty looks as we laughed through the tears at the stories and memories of Christmases past. More than a few of the tears were shed in gratitude of all those who came and made sure all our Nation’s heroes were honored and remembered.

          Days like this are what get us all through. My deepest wish is for all of you to feel the honor, respect and unabashed patriotism we witnessed today.

          1. No problem at all with enjoying memories of our fallen comrades. It’s great to do that.

            My problem was with the troop leaders who were intruding upon the quiet time reserved for families to honor their family members. (It was just an hour.) The negative lesson they taught the scouts around them about honor and dignity was disgusting. They weren’t there to honor anyone in particular and they were aware that they were to stay out of the way of families for that hour.

            1. OWB – I hear you and was tongue-in-cheek saying we would have annoyed you. Our kind of laughter is the most appropriate sound at the graves of our Nation’s heroes.

              “We” would have had a word with the scout leaders – in front of their troops – to make sure the right lesson was learned. And we wouldn’t have been as nice about it as you would

  14. Last night Hack Stone and his lovely bride Rosetta we’re heading home on the Capital Beltway (I-495), listening to the Top 40 for this week in 1987 on 80’s On 8. They were playing a song titled Candle In The Wind by some obscure musician named Elton John. Hack Stone thought that the music had a more than passing resemblance to his own classic song, Trannie In A Jag. Anyone know a reputable attorney (Hack realizes that is an oxymoron) experienced in copyright infringement and nuisance lawsuits? The attorney Hack usually calls for situations has been unreachable since late January 2018.

    1. Will the proud, woman owned company that you work for hold their annual Christmas party this year, Hack?

        1. Hack Stone, the latest info I have on that BeNasty Lawer of yours, he was still maintaining his social distance of minus 6 ft AGL. I have a plan to head South on the upcoming week. If I have the time and opportunity, I’ll try to go by his office and maybe water or fertilize the grass there. If a line has formed to water and/or fertilize the grass around his office, I do hope you will understand why I can’t wait on line.

    1. Of course they are the culprit
      Working on behalf of China
      This is identical to the shit
      China pulled on us for 18-26 months
      In the 2009-2011 time frame

    2. Trump’s latest tweet blames the Chinese, claims the media is who is trying to hang it on the Russians. Guess Pompeo is now a media reporter?

      1. MD61, The Ol’ Gun Bunny gettin’ itchy fingered a’waitin’ on the lyin’, embellishin’ POSer Jeff Byrd to get posted here on TAH. Not sure what the delay is, unless they’re wantin’ to get more info on the soup sammich, meat gazin’, wanna be wing wiper hero Jeff (whose name should be Richard (friends call him DICK) Head) Byrd. I can’t lurk on the fakebook anymore so I can’t see the latest there. I trust that the usual suspects have already made a linky from the MP Site to his fakebook page. He needs to show up soon, goin’ dark for a bit bit…soon!

        1. KoB,
          Not on his page,
          but if anyone follows the clicks (Like, Love, HaHa, etc.),
          some of the clicksters are open for clicks and comments,
          including the (new) wife.
          However, it looks like she hasn’t been on FakeBook since
          (ready for this)
          Veterans’ Day.
          https://www.facebook.com/tricia.boshears

  18. Back at Casa de Sparky, though it was a near thing.

    Seems the National Weather Service tapdanced with golf shoes all over their cranks when it came to predictions of snowfall for the storm Wednesday last.

    At the Casa Western Annex, the initial predicted total was 4-6″. Then 6-10″. Hell, 24 hours before the flakes were flying, we were told to expect no more than a foot.

    Actual final total? 41″, with many nearby locales claiming up to 46″. Oh, and the plow truck broke. Ever seen folks trying to dig out from under four FEET of snow with little more than a bucket or small snow shovel?

    Not fun.

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