trinacriabob

Classic Dave.

This is the first down vote I've ever given. The pleasure is all mine. I was talking mostly about a French lady who was mauled by her own dogs ... I wish I had to spare change to sail on the QM2. Lucky you. I went on the QE2 back in the day. There were issues ... with the borderline stuffy British nature of the service, which was true to a stereotype as well. How does the QM2 even work its way into notion of stereotyping in light of this discussion? That's a stretch. And, unless you're sailing on one of those intimate and expensive cruise lines, they have to allocate the restaurant seats in line with the money spent on the (type of) cabin. My thing with the QM2 is that it's a beautifully crafted work of naval architecture, featuring the traditional black hull. And, most of all, the forecastle is pushed back and tapered while the rear decks staircase down, while still managing to have so many balcony cabins above the lifeboats. This is in contrast to the current norm for cruise ship design, in which the the fronts and rears are sliced off as if they were bricks of cheddar cheese.

Folks, feel free to stereotype ... some. (It's a free country to begin with.) I was looking at my homepage and saw a quick article about a woman in her 30s living in France who was presumably mauled to death at or near her home. Her dogs were Rottweilers and the evidence points to the fact that they attacked her. Even worse was the fact that she was an invalid, so she had no escape route. There are some canine breeds I would never own. When experts put together write-ups and articles about various breeds of dogs and cats, they're usually about 95% on point. Stereotypes exist for a reason.

In your line of work, things don't appear to be that cyclical ... or maybe I'm wrong about that. STEM is typically a good route, if you're cut out to do that type of work. Good luck with your selecting an offer that works for you. I'm thinking you lived "Office Space" at one time or another. That movie never stops being funny. And, for me, the icing on the comic cake is the wound up Middle Eastern/South Asian character with the great accent.

Some days I feel like getting a "boulevardier" as a second car just because ... I often search for such cars on line. I'm thinking a '94 to '96 Caprice Classic with the small V8, an early 2000s Grand Marquis with the 4.6L V8, a mid '80s GM full size with the 4.3 V6, or something like that that an elderly person - or any other type of person - stashed in their garage and took really good care of.

This is crazy. You go to either Galveston or South Padre Island and there are all these kitsch images of sharks on stores, restaurants, boardwalks, etc. Then, when I was last there, I called a seafood restaurant to see if they had shark on the menu. It can be tasty - I have had thrasher shark in California several times. The lady told me that, in Texas, it is illegal to offer commercially fished shark to restaurant patrons. So, you can't eat the shark ... and this is in Texas, a state with a big emphasis on guns and hunting, and liberties like that. How about passing laws that the shark can't eat you?!?

I saw a black Olds Bravada SUV today as I was leaving the car wash. Wiki told me it's a 1998-2001 type, based on the grille. Great engine, that 4.3 Vortec V6. I see Aleros weekly. I haven't seen a Bravada in months.

Reminds me of the 007 flick "Diamonds are Forever" where the mortuary company in Las Vegas that was also a front for smuggling diamonds was named Slumber and Company. As one of the funnier Bond movies, it also had characters the likes of Tiffany Case, Plenty O'Toole, the Whyte House (which would have been the Las Vegas Hilton at the time), and Bambi and Thumper.

Probably because they travel in groups? They can be pretty dumb, lazily sauntering across main roads. In the past, I used to think "ah, deer ... cute." Now I think fender benders and Lyme disease.

Thank you. I love the Montreal Botanical Garden ... the whole city and area, actually. Easily my favorite city in Canada. Even before it became cool and the hipsters and counterculture idiots descended on the Plateau neighborhood. I have only seen the botanical garden in the fall. They indicate with signage that the visitor's experience will differ depending on the month and season in which they are visiting. I'm sure that spring and summer might have more ideal conditions in the botanical garden while, in fall, there's a tradeoff because you get peak autumn color instead. That's one of the nicer things about the Seattle area. It gets dusted infrequently, lightly, and it melts quickly but, while it lasts, it's downright glorious. The best view is driving across the floating bridges westward into the city and seeing the snow capped Olympics in the distance on a cold, clear day.

I was just going to put up this song because it reminded me of a discussion I had with someone within the last few months. The song is a TRIBUTE to outgoing FLOTUS Melania Trump. Evidently, Melania met The Donald at a nightclub or party for A-list Manhattanites. He needed to trade up to an even younger spouse and Melania must have fit the bill. They exchanged phone numbers and the rest is history. The person I was having the discussion with agreed that, yes, she was digging for gold, given the age difference and the fact that she was running on fumes and her allowed time in the U.S. might have come to an end. So, we understood why she would marry The Donald. However, she most likely envisioned being a successful businessman and developer's wife, and all the typical duties that tend to go with that role ... with "typical" being the operative word. I think she's slightly cool for her being European, having that accent, and teaching her kid to speak Slovenian. She seems to have done a good job as a mom and seems very proud of that part of her life. I don't think that she would have ever envisioned as much scrutiny and attention she was subjected to, including having to get up and speak at national conventions, pitch her husband, and be thrust into politics. She had to do WAY more than what anyone agreeing to marry someone very wealthy would have had to do. With that in mind:

So, in needing a distraction, I looked at one of the side boxes on the site and noticed that it's NOS's birthday today. Happy birthday, NOS, whatever you are doing and wherever you may be.

Dinosaurs in America. I think about them sometimes. Actually, the most logical ancestor would be the alligator. When I see those bigger, older ones in some photos lazily sauntering across some golf course in Florida, I realize the dinosaur is still here. I could suggest a good golf course or two in South Florida where these alligators can go hang out. And I don't even golf.

Indeed I am, sir. It has been a long time since we've seen people in important roles act the way they're supposed to.

I saw a refreshing and appropriate level of humility and dignity all across the board, and for the whole world to see, today. I felt relieved. It was a good thing.

Thank you! This is the best "Chicago" song, IMO, because of its significant "urbane" stand-alone instrumental segments.

It's a sunny day in our nation's capital ...

Within this last year, I learned that BLM does not mean Bureau of Land Management ... as much.

I definitely know "Gamma." I sort of expected the third letter to start with a "C" sound, though, so I thought Gamma might be somewhere else in the Greek alphabet. And Omega being last makes sense, in line with the religious concept of "Alpha-Omega." As for this photo, what's the likelihood that 1) two scuba divers will illegally drive their Olds Omega onto a California beach, and 2) that demographic would even set foot into a showroom to buy an Olds Omega? Also, I know we have some members here who just love multilingual discourse ...

The Cadillac Catera was a mess, along with its "the Caddy that zigs" ad campaign. Its saving grace might have been that the Cadillac Cimarron was worse! I only knew one person who went out and bought a Cimarron and their head wasn't right on all levels. It's beyond the scope of C&G, though definitely soap opera material.

I don't know whether to laugh or cry when I see current news photos of this "thing:"

Help me out. Alpha ... beta ... (?) ... delta. I don't want to cheat and look it up: what is the (?)? I'll probably recognize it. I'm not sure if omega is the last letter, as in alpha-omega. It's probably zeta. Well, have I got a "looker" for all of you ...

Oregon plates and green cars go together. Wow to both of these.

Hippiesh, no doubt about that. Incredibly odd but definitely interesting lyrics, though.

However, there is an abundance of lighthouses along the Great Lakes photographed under those conditions to "shock and awe," for lack of a better description. I am always fascinated by the possibilities in icicle formations. - - - - - Ford stock? Upward potential? Or does one just say "F"* it? (* F is its ticker!)