"Cute" bidet story: When I was a teen, my mom moved into a house formerly owned by Germans who had put a bidet in the master bath. Mom never used it, nor did anyone else. Until... my older sister had a friend with a young (4yo?) child who when touring the house, found the bidet and exclaimed "mom! They have a kid sink!" She used the fountain to wash her hands. So every time after when child was to visit, my mom would put out a bar of soap and a towel on the kiddie sink.
With respect to your mention of the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon --- Mattel which has been trying for years to make a big budget Hollywood film might just want to mount a joint marketing effort with the "Oppenheimer" people for a "Radioactive Barbie" (to join "Food Truck Barbie"). Maybe something in a green glow as opposed to cotton-candy pink, with Ken in a lead codpiece. As for QR codes --- sure, why not give us another reason to stare at our phones (as if...) and reduce or avoid human interaction ? Ordering take-out/carry-out ? Fast food drive-thrus ? Why not ? No different than responding to a disembodied voice coming through a tinny speaker. Fine(r) dining, hell no. Unless, of course, you take perverse pleasure in finally being able to reduce your server to a joyless automaton. Something you may have been working on before QR codes.
Re the QR restaurant thing. Yesterday I was flying through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. They required ordering through QR. It was slow; it was hard to scroll through the items; each of us (luckily only 2) had to take my phone and make the choices. Then I picked iced tea and only afterward did the server announce there was no tea, so she had to take a verbal order for a Diet Coke. A menu and an order would have taken have the time.
Whoever wrote the "helpful" French on the sandwich bag package used an English-French dictionary: "regarder" means "look at," not "appear" (among other problems).
Like most other French verbs, "regarder" can have related but specific meanings depending on context or usage (e.g. idiom, argot), so in the case of les sacs à sandwich, it means "to look as" or "to be considered." It is composed of "re" and "garder" ("to guard or watch") which would mean in this context, "with respect to (or concerning) your attention."
I appreciate QR codes for paying your restaurant bill. But there are practical reasons to keep the printed menus. If you’re on a limited-data plan, the menu takes a while to load at the throttled speed. Or the establishment may be in an area with spotty service. Or the restaurant’s website may not be designed for phones.
But my real complaint is when a restaurant doesn’t have an actual website, but just a photo or two of the menu posted to Facebook. I know of several locally owned places like that, and I wonder if they are trying to discourage travelers. Folks, the items listed in the photo are not searchable, so you might have a great Italian sub but few people might know about it.
In the short term yes. In the long term, not having a searchable website means fewer customers, especially travelers. FB for restaurants is useful mostly for keeping in touch with their regulars, such as posting daily or weekly specials.
As one of the whippersnappers (relatively speaking), I also noticed that. But then again, I was always one of those ten-year-old kids browsing the sci-fi section in the adult library because the kids' one was too boring. I like it here, though I don't appreciate the vulgarity. (It doesn't get under my skin, but it is like my funny bone isn't dinged by anything vulgar.)
Oh, and that lovely Twilight Time, I always ask people not to tell me what embarrassing things I said. But mothers are immune from this suggestion, and after my colonoscopy she said I had admired rather vocally the anesthesist's butt. His wife was the nurse. OMG
Public service announcement for those considering leaving this country: If you have a grandparent who was born in Ireland, you qualify for Irish citizenship. It may not help you, Gene, but I had the good luck to marry a second generation Irishman. He sent in the application a couple of weeks ago. And FYI, this has become so popular a route to take that the processing backlog is almost 2 years long!
And if you have a parent or grandparent who is Jewish, you qualify for Israeli citizenship. Though that sometimes feels more like leaving the frying pan for the fire. At least there's no Trump there.
I have grandparents who were born in Russia. Or maybe Ukraine. I think about it, but yeah, no. Also, I am relieved to see your comment show up. Mine (entered near the start of the hour) never did and it was not so interesting as to be worth typing out twice.
Well, sorta. I put in a comment without a problem, then edited it. The original comment disappeared, and the edit didn't replace it. I had to retype the new form.
'How far is the Log Inn?'
Why does the train stop in the woods?
To let the Lumber Jack off.
"Cute" bidet story: When I was a teen, my mom moved into a house formerly owned by Germans who had put a bidet in the master bath. Mom never used it, nor did anyone else. Until... my older sister had a friend with a young (4yo?) child who when touring the house, found the bidet and exclaimed "mom! They have a kid sink!" She used the fountain to wash her hands. So every time after when child was to visit, my mom would put out a bar of soap and a towel on the kiddie sink.
What a week at the Invitational! Such a deep bench.
Who's this Doyle fellow? That one about Kraft was fabulous.
With respect to your mention of the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon --- Mattel which has been trying for years to make a big budget Hollywood film might just want to mount a joint marketing effort with the "Oppenheimer" people for a "Radioactive Barbie" (to join "Food Truck Barbie"). Maybe something in a green glow as opposed to cotton-candy pink, with Ken in a lead codpiece. As for QR codes --- sure, why not give us another reason to stare at our phones (as if...) and reduce or avoid human interaction ? Ordering take-out/carry-out ? Fast food drive-thrus ? Why not ? No different than responding to a disembodied voice coming through a tinny speaker. Fine(r) dining, hell no. Unless, of course, you take perverse pleasure in finally being able to reduce your server to a joyless automaton. Something you may have been working on before QR codes.
Re the QR restaurant thing. Yesterday I was flying through Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. They required ordering through QR. It was slow; it was hard to scroll through the items; each of us (luckily only 2) had to take my phone and make the choices. Then I picked iced tea and only afterward did the server announce there was no tea, so she had to take a verbal order for a Diet Coke. A menu and an order would have taken have the time.
Whoever wrote the "helpful" French on the sandwich bag package used an English-French dictionary: "regarder" means "look at," not "appear" (among other problems).
Like most other French verbs, "regarder" can have related but specific meanings depending on context or usage (e.g. idiom, argot), so in the case of les sacs à sandwich, it means "to look as" or "to be considered." It is composed of "re" and "garder" ("to guard or watch") which would mean in this context, "with respect to (or concerning) your attention."
I appreciate QR codes for paying your restaurant bill. But there are practical reasons to keep the printed menus. If you’re on a limited-data plan, the menu takes a while to load at the throttled speed. Or the establishment may be in an area with spotty service. Or the restaurant’s website may not be designed for phones.
But my real complaint is when a restaurant doesn’t have an actual website, but just a photo or two of the menu posted to Facebook. I know of several locally owned places like that, and I wonder if they are trying to discourage travelers. Folks, the items listed in the photo are not searchable, so you might have a great Italian sub but few people might know about it.
Maintaining a website might be out of their budget. It costs nothing to post to Facebook.
In the short term yes. In the long term, not having a searchable website means fewer customers, especially travelers. FB for restaurants is useful mostly for keeping in touch with their regulars, such as posting daily or weekly specials.
Impossible Burger (and the like) are amazingly bloody, these are for people who don’t like meat? They are delicious though.
"Well, okay, it was about eating poop, but THAT IS AS FAR AS I AM GOING TO GO."
Was it "Two Women and A Cup?" Not that I would know anything about it.
It was MUCH worse.
YIKES!!
"So let’s just leave it here: Donald Trump is a revolting piece of useless, rotting blobby flesh and the fact that after all his depravities...."
You forgot to add that Donald Trump is a Dickhead. Make that, DICKHEAD. A big, giant DICKHEAD.
Judging by the poll responses, we are nearly all OLD. Not many whippersnappers reading The Gene Pool or entering The Invitational. ☹️
I contend the yoots were all identifying as older people, out of shame for not liking QR.
As one of the whippersnappers (relatively speaking), I also noticed that. But then again, I was always one of those ten-year-old kids browsing the sci-fi section in the adult library because the kids' one was too boring. I like it here, though I don't appreciate the vulgarity. (It doesn't get under my skin, but it is like my funny bone isn't dinged by anything vulgar.)
Oh, and that lovely Twilight Time, I always ask people not to tell me what embarrassing things I said. But mothers are immune from this suggestion, and after my colonoscopy she said I had admired rather vocally the anesthesist's butt. His wife was the nurse. OMG
Dear PoopySox: When in France for a semester, all the American girls used the bidet to wash their undies. Yes, you can call me PoopyPants.
Any relation to the Professor in Captain Underpants?
Eating poop. That would be coprophagy. But do you know the diffrence between Coprolalia, and Copropraxia?
Then there's Coppola, or the obsessive filming of violence.
Public service announcement for those considering leaving this country: If you have a grandparent who was born in Ireland, you qualify for Irish citizenship. It may not help you, Gene, but I had the good luck to marry a second generation Irishman. He sent in the application a couple of weeks ago. And FYI, this has become so popular a route to take that the processing backlog is almost 2 years long!
And if you have a parent or grandparent who is Jewish, you qualify for Israeli citizenship. Though that sometimes feels more like leaving the frying pan for the fire. At least there's no Trump there.
Well, sort of.
Check out this website: https://retirementrovers.com/citizenship-by-descent/ There's a list of countries at the end with the specifics.
I have grandparents who were born in Russia. Or maybe Ukraine. I think about it, but yeah, no. Also, I am relieved to see your comment show up. Mine (entered near the start of the hour) never did and it was not so interesting as to be worth typing out twice.
Your comment never appeared? That's disturbing. Anyone else have this problem?
Well, sorta. I put in a comment without a problem, then edited it. The original comment disappeared, and the edit didn't replace it. I had to retype the new form.
I have not received any approving emojis on mine, so I assume they are invisible.
[jk]
I'm inclined to use this info in my next conspiracy theory. No, it didn't.