Lostin76

That looks like an English version. Hope you enjoy it. Is kind of a tough read, but really puts our lives and experiences in perspective.

Oh I can't speak Russian to save my life now. Can maybe read a little bit of it. I remember telling my Russian language professor at IU that my goal was to read The Brothers Karamazov in Russian and he was like, "That will take you 12-14 years of studying Russian." Solzhenitsyn is another one who did such a good job of capturing this time period. His Cancer Ward is probably in my top five books of all time.

That is indeed a good one! I'm a huge sucker for stories from this time period in Russia. I studied Russian language and history during my time at IU. Currently reading about Dmitri Shostakovich, a Russian composer who ran afoul of Stalin and somehow lived to "redeem himself."

Really, really bad decision from Cuomo, who also didn't do a good job handling the blame. But thankfully, he seems to have learned from this mistake and reversed the rule. The hotel thing has also been kind of a mess here in the city. We did house a lot of medical workers, but De Blasio hasn't done a very good job figuring out how to safely house patients and homeless in hotels. Haven't always agreed with Cuomo on many things, and this was a complete disaster of a decision. For the most part though, New Yorkers seem to agree that he's handling it well and projecting solid leadership. Certainly a lot more presidential and competent than our current WH occupant.

This is very NYC right now. If the language isn't appropriate, I apologize in advance, but thought it might provide some comedic relief.

Man, that's a picture for the ages. Good looking kid, and am so glad that he and your family are doing okay.

Dang, Reacher. That's a ton of water. Hope stuff didn't get too washed out.

Love both Stone and Lagunitas for West Coast brews. My favorite West Coast brewery is Russian River Brewing, though you don't see it much.

Man, Zombie Dust brings back some memories for me. Wish we could get that here on the East Coast. I am pretty close to Other Half and Threes Brewing, which both make excellent beers. Other Half especially for big, honking cloudy IPAs. Before the pandemic, you could walk by their place early on a Saturday morning and there would already be people lined up around the block for new releases. We also have a really cool beer place down the street called Gold Star Beer Counter and they carry a lot of Sours from Upland - another blast from the past!

Damn, Scott. This is horrible news on top of your physical suffering. I am so, so sorry.

I think we are done with the mega cool nights here. I have everything in containers now except for a few annuals that are coming in the mail soon (hopefully). I'm actually short a couple pots, so need to make a run to the garden center before the weekend.

I think Greta is great, but no. She doesn't really belong on that panel.

Dang, I hadn't even thought of this. In today's NYT: A Heartbreak for Children: When the County Fair Is Canceled

Outdoor seating is a good start. I don't know when we are going to be comfortable going into a restaurant and sitting at a table again. I really feel for restaurants who already operate on a razor thin profit margin and packing people in.

I honestly don't have any skin in the game when it comes to attending or not attending school. I just want the damn parents and kids to wear masks like the rest of us. I don't like wearing a mask, but I also understand that it's for the greater good.

About 100 children in N.Y. are believed to have a rare illness tied to the virus. We don't have kids, but have noticed that most parents with young children are pretty careless around here. It's typical Brooklyn. Not many kids wearing masks and lots of the adults with them are not wearing masks. A woman and her kid (about four or five, I didn't know them) tried to get on the elevator with me in our building and they weren't wearing masks. I let them have the elevator and just took the stairs. If this becomes a thing, maybe they'll take it seriously. It pisses me off b/c I think of @Billingsley99 and Ayden being so cautious.

Ha, I've grown enough to give tomatoes and peppers to our neighbors and take some into work. I've become that old guy on the block that used to drop off produce.

So far besides the occasional thirsty bird eating tomatoes, I've only had cabbage worms eating our kale last year and spider mites on our sedum plants (non food). That lot sounds amazing. Would love to have some wide open space for planting.

I normally am jealous of you guys with all those big yards and land, but I will say a fourth floor terrace does have it's advantages for growing food and not worrying about animals eating my plants. We do have some birds that nom on our cherry tomatoes sometimes, but if I put out a big bowl of water for them they leave the tomatoes alone.

I totally get the possible fatigue from this, but scientists and doctors are going to lean towards conservative methods. They fear unnecessary loss of lives. I would prefer this over getting smoke blown up my a** by leaders who say unrealistic drivel like “we have met the moment and we have prevailed." I would rather have a scientist/realist giving me the straight news over desperate politicians who care more about their own survival than ours.

Her statement is so true. When I attended IU, I worked as a dog trainer at Petsmart for my last two years. I flat out told people, "I'm not training your dog. I'm training you. Your dog is easy. You, not so much." A lot of people didn't want to hear that, but if they stuck with the class they realized that their consistency was the key.

It only got down to 36 here last night. Crazy that you guys went so low!

He just responded in another thread and I didn't want to hassle him by asking how he's doing. But I wanted to though. The "gotcha politics" are really dragging things down right now. It's all about how "my side" can score victories over "your side." The rush to trying to amplify headlines that prove your viewpoint is just exhausting. And I don't know how people actually watch TV news w/o their heads exploding. We should be figuring out how to find some common ground, somehow.