CSotD: Have Yourself a Happy Little Humpday
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I refilled my pill caddies last night and began using fexofenadine (generic Allegra) in place of loratadine (generic Claritin). The theory is that swapping them back and forth every few months makes each of them work better.
I don’t know if that’s true, but what is true is that the loratadine was a pinhead and the fexofenadine is a horse tablet, and at some point the handful of pills I take at night is going to become a choking hazard.
I’m aware that I could divide them in half, but that would be admitting that I am becoming a chemical waste dump.
However, like Lola, I’m also aware that things are going pretty well and that messing with them is counterindicated.
Could be worse. I’m single, so there’s nobody putting a thumb on the scale.
Nice thing about being a novelist in the 19th Century was that if a character became inconvenient, you could just have them cough a few times and they’d be gone by the next chapter.
Twentieth Century medicine ruined a perfectly good literary device, but not to worry: Our Department of Health and Human Services is working to restore that handy escape route.
But it’s Humpday, so no politics.
Speaking of classical literature, Andertoons gets two laughs today, one for its variation on an old folk tale and then a second for bringing to mind James Thurber’s update of the story, as true today as it was in 1939.
Juxtaposition of the Day
An asked-and-answered sort of juxtaposition. I think the window for pre-tariff holiday shopping is closing, one problem being that I also think actual Christmas-themed items hadn’t been ordered before word went out. But nobody wants that dreck anyway, and I don’t know if you can apply a Yiddish term to Christmas things or not, but I am large; I contain multitudes.
Here’s what else I think: If you buy your Christmas tree now, your house will burn to the ground before you get to open any presents.
I leave it to city folks to figure out if their tree is coming from Canada (tariff!) or the US (no tariff!). I live in cut-your-own country, where our trees don’t become fire hazards until the Epiphany.
Speaking of trees and timing, I’ll disagree with Granlund’s take:
First of all, there are a lot of places where Labor Day is no longer a family’s last vacation-week chance, because the kids are already back in school, and a lot of those districts keep classes going until June in order to ruin Memorial Day, too.
The other point is that here in leaf-peeping country you can annoy the locals at least on weekends all the way until Columbus Day, which is the end of tourist season until Presidents’ Day Winter Break ski season.
If you do take the kids camping, be sure to put your food in a sack and hang it from a tree branch.
Or, if you’re at a campsite, keep your food in the car.
Bears enjoy a challenge and the mental stimulation is good for them.
Prickly City salutes AOL’s ending of dial-up. I still had kids at home in those days, and all we had were hard-wired phones, so, yes, that was a hazard.
I found it much more annoying, however, trying to get on-line around the time school got out each weekday, or anytime right after colleges started in the Fall, or in the week after people got new computers for Christmas.
I do wonder how rural people without high-speed Internet will handle this development, but I already know that some of them have sold their souls to the devil signed up for Starlink.
Susan continues her employment angst, having been offered a nice job that doesn’t pay all that well and a really crappy promotion that would. You shouldn’t consult Maeve for advice on your love life, but she’s an excellent source for work-related discussions.
When I was seeking an alternative to working at a place that had become untenable, I kept reminding myself, “I’m not looking for a job that sucks. I’ve already got a job that sucks.”
So I’m with Maeve this time.
The type of crosswalks known in England as “zebra crossings” — marked on the pavement but without a crossing light — are relatively new to much of America, and they’re working well here except for the factor Rat brings up.
It isn’t everybody, but it doesn’t take everybody to tie up traffic. One saunterer is enough.
Such cud-chewing obliviousness carries a suggestion of privilege. I dealt with unregulated crossings when I lived in Colorado Springs, where Colorado College spans a major street, and now, if I drive through Hanover, I encounter them at Dartmouth.
It’s not a specific generational thing, because I’ve watched college students mosey across roads for more than a quarter-century, from Millennials through Gen Z.
I’ve also driven through Yellowstone, and the bison are more considerate.
Juxtaposition of the Day #2
I’m starting to hear kvetching over the idea that fast food prices have risen to the point where for the same price you could go sit down, have your food brought to you on a real plate and eat it with real utensils.
As for the apps, I started using the drive-in when they decided you should play computer games on a kiosk instead of just telling the counter help what you wanted. Now, as McKee suggests, they’re working to make it impossible for you to talk to anyone.
They’ve been having trouble finding workers, but I’m not sure alienating customers is a wise way to compensate.
I’ve never understood the attraction of video bullies like Gordon Ramsay or Simon Cowell, but I read an advice column about someone who listened to a manager chew out a server. The advice was to let the manager know, but I’d suggest you show your displeasure by getting up, walking out and refusing to pay for a meal that was ruined.
After all, for the same price you could have eaten in the peace and privacy of your car.
(No logical connection today. Just a little musical advice.)
Mike Peterson has posted his "Comic Strip of the Day" column every day since 2010. His opinions are his own, but we welcome comments either agreeing or in opposition.
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