Lawnmower Boy

I know it's self-indulgent to quote myself, but holy poop emoji, Australia, RUN AWAY! Only not to the Middle East.

Run, Australia, run! If you can just make it to the Internet, we've got another Pineapple Express roaring through. There's enough rain for everyone! Oh, wait. It doesn't work that way. Sorry, never mind.

About what we've come to expect of American shooting. But the thought's there, and that's the main thing!

That being said, I think I'm only allowed to comment on Mr. Morrison over in the Politics Thread.

I don't know about down Seattle way, but it's been a pretty solid Pineapple Express. And as a bike commuter, I speak as a connoisseur. So, thanks, Hawai'i. Any time we can do you a solid.

Fish Guy. He's a Fish Guy. Why is this so complicated?

Canadian Thanksgiving was &etc blah blah passive aggressive felicitations and salutations. ... So. What about that amusing political person? Please. Talk amongst yourselves while I eat all the pie. (Because it's a race and I won by skipping Aunt Andrea's turkey, that's why. Now go argue about immigration with Great Uncle Al while I do vodka and Cool Whip shooters here on the kitchen floor.)

I'd share the ancient wisdom of my people, but what's in it for me . . . Damn it. Shared the ancient wisdom of my people again. Anyway, have a great, 100% Aquaman-free birthday. Hard to do in Seattle, I know.

That's wrong now? I gotta call my Mom and apologise.

Exactly! Safety shielding is a must! ( And so it was that Captain Only One Arm gained his remarkable friction powers.

Apology not accepted. I want my free Pogo-themed entertainment now, and am even willing to put up with talking to fish to get it. Okay, I notice a reaction, but no new installment. Hermit, Hermit. You seem like one of those guys who hasn't heard that you can sleep when you're dead. And the less you sleep whilst producing free Pogo-related entertainment, the sooner you'll die. So it all works out!

I like staycations. I really like them. Hey. It's 3. Maybe I should do something with the day --Nah, you're right, got the whole week for that.

"The liberum veto (Latin for "(I) freely oppose") was a parliamentary device in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was a form of unanimity voting rule that allowed any member of the Sejm (legislature) to force an immediate end to the current session and to nullify any legislation that had already been passed at the session by shouting, Sisto activitatem! (Latin: "I stop the activity!") or Nie pozwalam! (Polish: "I do not allow!"). The rule was in place from the mid-17th century to the late 18th century in the Sejm's parliamentary deliberations. It was based on the premise that since all Polish noblemen were equal, every measure that came before the Sejm had to be passed unanimously. The liberum veto was a key part of the political system of the Commonwealth, strengthening democratic elements and checking royal power and went against the European-wide trend of having a strong executive (absolute monarchy). Many historians hold that the liberum veto was a major cause of the deterioration of the Commonwealth political system, particularly in the 18th century, when foreign powers bribed Sejm members to paralyze its proceedings, and the Commonwealth's eventual destruction in the partitions of Poland and foreign occupation, dominance and manipulation of Poland for the next 200 years or so. Piotr Stefan Wandycz wrote that the "liberum veto had become the sinister symbol of old Polish anarchy". In the period of 1573–1763, about 150 sejms were held, about a third failing to pass any legislation, mostly because of the liberum veto. The expression Polish parliament in many European languages originated from the apparent paralysis." Ironically, the situation got so bad that the last King of Poland whose election was secured by Russian money ran on a platform of getting rid of the liberum veto. But then Russia changed its mind and got rid of Poland, instead. Good times.

Apology not accepted. I want my free Pogo-themed entertainment now, and am even willing to put up with talking to fish to get it.

I said that before Cassandra, but then I went back in time and deleted my post.

Old houses have so many ways to communicate that I'm amazed that This Old Sentient House is choosing paintings. Bo-o--ring. When my not-so-old house has a beef with me, well . . . -Enjoy your randomly varying shower temperature, loser! If you're really observant, you'll notice that you're being scalded and frozen in Morse code. --The Internet? No, I don't know where it went, either. You can have it back if you promise to look at the homepage your browser was just mysteriously reset to. What can I say? The router is me. --Yes, that mysterious cold draft sure is mysterious. Hey, did you notice the pages that I just blew all over the floor? Because I spent a long time picking them. Read 'em. Now. Before the roof develops a leak. --It sure is snug and warm and cozy in here ever since you updated security. Look, if you're going to be as dumb as Pavlov's dog, I have your dinner bowl and a bell right here.

Oh, come on. Would you do business with Pleet Roodlepleen?

It knows what it did. Now it has to deal with the hard water border.

I bought it and had a look through it. I'm not one to read adventure supplements cover to cover, but I've had an unscratched itch for the kind of fantasy-forest adventure that I want to see since forever. Unfortunately, no mind-reading writers have given me that. Adrian Selby recently tried with his novel, The Winter Road, which reinforced the itch. Anyway, long story short, bought Evermist. I would describe it as a "forest dungeon." It's a big area of mist-enshrouded forest that repays careful exploration. The adventure is a bit cliched. Strange forces attack the Keep on the Borderlands MIstguard, and the PCs have to plunge into the depths of the forest to find out what's what. There are random encounters, programmed encounters, and a boss dungeon with a boss boss at the end. But the setting is good, the homebrewed monsters appropriate, and I like the attention paid to the NPCs. The setting makes some effort to encourage skill-centric play, and if this were an old-time D&D supplement, it would introduce some potentially setting-busting new "skill monkey" rules. But we don't do that in Hero, so pooh on that. (Seriously, it's a strength that's a weakness.) It definitely needs a million gold Cronkheits dropped on quality art, and I will keep DOJ in mind when my startup* is bought out by Google. *It's a handy app that tells you when the next bus is coming. Best thing about it is that it doesn't use up phone charge because, get this, it's on paper. I call it "the bus schedule," and it has about a million times more utility than Google+, so I've got high hopes.

Yeah. But not like this one. Like the one in my head. Make the one in my head, guys, and I'll buy it. (I'd tell you what it looks like, but that'd take away the challenge.)

. . . And I found this.

You know, if you guys would just immediately buy your kids everything they ask for, this wouldn't be a problem! #notallgrocerystores In all honesty, as an outside observer of toddler tantrums, the actual cause isn't the thing they're tantruming over. And if it is low blood sugar, which it often is, some candy or a banana can be a lifesaver.

They have public schools in Mexico now?

Late to the party, but I enjoyed it, and now understand why it made Hermit . . . Wait. Was I following the conversation correctly?

Speaking of, three prices from April 1949: Charter air holiday flight round trip flight to the island of Madeira and back to Britain: £85, or a hair above $420; Brand new 1949 Packard with all the trimmings: $2450; Average house price: $14,500; Average wage: $3600. After closely examining these figures from my reading, I have come to the only possible conclusion: Things cost different amounts at different times. It's a funny old world. But I wouldn't mind it if the average house still cost four years average salary.