BarretWallace

There is a lot I could say, but the flotsam and jetsam rising to the top of my brain is pretty much this: at this time next year, I hope all of us are still around and commenting on these boards.  Maybe some of us are getting to be old codgers, but this is a damn wonderful community.  I've never met any of you in person and maybe never will, nor am I the best or most prolific writer here, but dang, this is a great community of nut-jobs to be part of.  Stay safe and I look forward to your next posts!

There is a lot I could say, but the flotsam and jetsam rising to the top of my brain is pretty much this: at this time next year, I hope all of us are still around and commenting on these boards.  Maybe some of us are getting to be old codgers, but this is a damn wonderful community.  I've never met any of you in person and maybe never will, nor am I the best or most prolific writer here, but dang, this is a great community of nut-jobs to be part of.  Stay safe and I look forward to your next posts!

My wife passed away near the end of September 11 years ago. One of her favorite holidays was Halloween, and so we decided to hold her wake on that night. I rented out the clubhouse here at my townhome complex, and some very good friends gathered to eat, drink a bit, and reminisce about their favorite things about her. After a while, it became a little warm, and so we opened the clubhouse doors to get a little of the cool, crisp late October air. A few minutes later, a little kid in costume stood in the doorway, and said, "Trick or Treat!" An old friend of ours looked at me and smiled as we both got up, grabbed the candy bowls that I'd put around for nibbling, and gave out lots of candy.
 
There was just something so right for her to have trick or treaters at her wake, and it still brings a smile to my face, amidst the tears.

Expert Forecasts of COVID-19 Vaccine Development Timelines
 
 
"Best Guess" is next September for most of us.  Happy Monday!

That problem isn't unique to old folks.  I'm annoyed a lot more often by clueless middle-aged folks or even young adults who are being assimilated by their phones and remain unaware of the rest of the world--like the people trying to use the aisle or buy the merchandise that they are blocking.  No matter how wide the aisle, these people can somehow arrange their carts and themselves to block it anyway.
 
Of course, if this is my worst problem during the pandemic, I count myself lucky.

Remember when the Republicans were a political party rather than a personality cult?

That problem isn't unique to old folks.  I'm annoyed a lot more often by clueless middle-aged folks or even young adults who are being assimilated by their phones and remain unaware of the rest of the world--like the people trying to use the aisle or buy the merchandise that they are blocking.  No matter how wide the aisle, these people can somehow arrange their carts and themselves to block it anyway.
 
Of course, if this is my worst problem during the pandemic, I count myself lucky.

That problem isn't unique to old folks.  I'm annoyed a lot more often by clueless middle-aged folks or even young adults who are being assimilated by their phones and remain unaware of the rest of the world--like the people trying to use the aisle or buy the merchandise that they are blocking.  No matter how wide the aisle, these people can somehow arrange their carts and themselves to block it anyway.
 
Of course, if this is my worst problem during the pandemic, I count myself lucky.

Old people usually just in the middle of the aisle blocking traffic where I go grocery shopping.

"Ni!"

Yeah, it's fine.  Potential vaccines require FAR more rigorous testing, because they'll be offered to...well...basically everyone.  And most won't be sick at the start, and most wouldn't get the underlying disease, so adverse reactions are a major problem.  Vaccine testing usually takes an age and a half because the approach *is* to be very cautious.  The severity of Covid-19 is such that they're probably moving into clinical trials earlier than normal in the process, but this is going to happen often enough that there's a well-established protocol (as noted in the article) and things aren't stopped.  Perhaps the vaccine recipient had an unknown condition that interacted badly;  the vaccine candidate isn't automatically going to be scrapped.
 
This is just good medical practice.

[sarcasm mode on]
But
 
But
 
Motorbikes cannot spread disease !
 
This is just prejudiced against bikers
 
[/sarcasm mode off]

I vote for Drax.

I had a "ScottishFox" moment and read "beware of the spam" the first time I read that....

That's a very accurate summation of the situation.

True, but Captain America: Civil War did a much better job of it.  Tony and Cap had their differences early on but could put them aside to unite against Loki and the Chitauri invasion.  Their differences didn't go away, and in fact grew to the point where it pushed them apart in Civil War.  I was terribly frightened of splitting up the Avengers that way, but the way they did it felt natural (however painful).  Then when Thanos and his minions got twitchy, Cap and Tony (and their respective factions) found it in themselves to unite again.  One of my favorite lines:

"Do you trust me?"
"Yes."

In contrast, the Snyderverse showed me characters who were at odds and not heroic more because they were never truly united or heroic in the first place.  They also didn't resemble anything I recalled from the comics, especially "Superman" (which kinda hurt because I think Henry Cavill is talented outside a Snyder movie).  Argh...that all looks terribly incoherent, but maybe that's just a side effect of looking at Man of Steel and trying to call it a Superman movie.

 

Then again, Captain America: Civil War went deeply into differing standards of heroism and justice.

Seems to be small noses that are more prone to slippage -- not enough to hold the mask in place. The wearers may not even notice. I used to be a little envious of such folks, but now I'm more grateful for my facial boat-anchor.

Dogs have owners.  Cats have staff.

If I may risk a non-animal pic....