@bernard thank you! I love your decorations as well! Esp the living room tree and the Santa collection!

I bought a few semi-prepared prepackaged dishes from the price club. I will be using the conventional oven's "bake" function to cook these dishes to edible temperatures. Does that count?

@AndyD That was wonderful, Andy! I really enjoyed that. Well done. Thanks.

It just arrived!! OMG it is a thing of beauty!! I can't wait to start lifting weights cook in it.... [image: 20251224_103529.jpg] [image: 20251224_103609.jpg] [image: 20251224_103547.jpg]

@Piano-Dad said in One reason they were holding up the release: Alternatively, they're just truly incompetent. I cast my vote for that option. Details on the "how to": Epstein Files Hacked And Posted To X “Trump’s DOJ is so incompetent that they don’t even know how to properly redact PDFs,” Brian Krassenstein, political commentator and journalist, tweeted the day the agency released the files. You might be inclined to write this off immediately, given that Krassenstein is known for his anti-Trump stance. In this case, however, that would be a mistake. As well as providing the evidence in a series of tweets that showed the highly redacted documents as well as the unredacted versions, Krassenstein went on to explain precisely how the Epstein files could be hacked. While it is common to read about hackers using PDFs in attacks, the portable document format is susceptible to attack itself. The shocking truth is that it was ridiculously easy, employing straightforward methods that have been known for years. That the DOJ was seemingly unaware of the PDF bugs that have been exploited to do this is concerning from a national security viewpoint at the very least. I am surprised, given that the DOJ has shown technical competence in operations with the FBI in the past, such as remotely deleting files from thousands of U.S.-based computers. I have reached out to the DOJ for a statement, but in the meantime, here’s how the hack went down. https://www.forbes.com/sites/daveywinder/2025/12/24/epstein-files-hacked---all-you-need-to-know/

About the bear in Altadena...a trap was set and a bear caught. Problem is, it wasn't the bear living under the house.... https://people.com/trap-to-catch-bear-living-under-california-home-captures-wrong-animal-11873747

@Jodi said in Testing AI coding tools: The more of an expert you are about coding, the better it will work for you. I suspect this is the case for most AI tasks. If you are already an expert, then you can use AI in ways that boost productivity, and probably creativity as well. The problem is, if you are not already an expert, using AI is probably going to prevent you from ever becoming one.

Bari Weiss was installed at the behest of the state of Israel. Is anyone really surprised? Tik Tok bad because of China. Bait and Switch. It was bought by an American Zionist billionaire. Bari Weiss is an im imbacile. Bari Weiss has always been an imbacile.

@wtg said in The Chicago kidnappings have begun: Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented. What a surprise. Not.

The odds of being charged when you are without fault are much higher when you use the self checkout. I avoid it if I am purchasing more than three items.

“Sure, you’re on the clock, but we’re all on the clock.” Not sure that is something I would want to hear from a friend.

+1

As I put it next door, we’ve seen this movie plenty of times. 1 - select your desired opinion 2 - look in the Bible for supportive phrases 3 - declare your desired opinion biblically correct 4 - tell everyone there can be no other Christian opinion on the matter, since you believe in the infallibility of [your interpretation of] the Bible. The part in brackets is unspoken but implied.

It has rained here literally every day in December since we've been dogsitting. Imagine four dogs running round the lawn and then coming inside. Six times a day. We bought three extra washable mats but it's a losing battle. Thankfully two dry weeks are now forecast so I just hosed clean the back yard concrete and fingers crossed the muddy patch that used to be grass will drain or freeze. Oh for warm summer evenings.

I've noticed this with some expensive places, some only advertising with a handful of photos. It's either they really don't need to show everything, and/or a privacy thing.

Crumpets keep getting delayed...went with buttermilk sourdough bread. The perfect sandwich bread for toasting. [image: 20251222-154855.jpg]

This is disturbing. Very.