I love taking the train in Japan, but I haven’t really done it in the US.
But there’s something that’s just fun about it, especially the interior is nice or interesting, you have something to eat (a nice bento in Japan), the world is rolling by outside…
@Steve-Miller said in Package thieves stealing iPhones:
I see this as a problem but not my problem.
But is this like shoplifting, where “shrinkage” contributes (in less visible ways) to prices increases?
How do they know that it's a phone that's been delivered?
BTW my mother got a new iPad recently and I was trying to get her to have it sent to Best Buy so she could go and pick it up. I don't remember why she decided not to do that, but fortunately, she
received it without incident.
We have not had any packages stolen yet. I don't know if that's because of the neighborhood, or the way our front porch/door is (highly visible etc.). But I don't take that for granted. So far I haven't ordered electronics, but if I do, you can bet I won't have it dropped on my doorstep!
My mother is coming, and we've invited two faculty in my department (one from Japan, one from China) who don't have family here. I will prep turkey (probably get a whole bird, precooked), make stuffing, that green bean dish .... what else? Mashed potatoes ... I'll buy a pie or two I suppose. So it will be half homemade, half Kroger! 
It should be fun! 
“The leopards ate my face” is coming fast and furious now. I saw some headline about people (and politicians) being shocked at Trump’s picks this far.
Like, this is what you voted for. Why are you shocked.
smh.
I resurrected my BlueSky account. We’ll see how it goes.
@AndyD interesting. A quick google search brings up some questionable things they did in the U.S., hopefully the UK operations are better.
@AndyD said in Mid Century Modern Done Well:
I'm going to enter this house competition I like it that much:
https://omaze.co.uk/pages/lake-district-iii?origin=serp_auto
Andy, wow that's a gorgeous house! What's the catch, why are they giving it away??
@Big_Al said in Mid Century Modern Done Well:
After what went down in North Carolina recently, I'm not too sure I'd want to be that close to water.
I would think a lot of people would react that way. So I was surprised to see that it's pending.
@Cindysphinx re your comment about your daughter -- exactly. I am too old for it to be relevant for me, and I'm not a parent, but as a teacher, I care deeply about what happens to my students. Who are primarily 18022 years old, may get pregnant, may identify as LGBTQ... May not have papers. May have parents that don't have papers....
These I think are more immediate than the threats to higher ed, which I think are real but will be slower to take shape.
I am also deeply concerned about something like attempting to do away with the 22nd amendment....
That's where I hope @Steve-Miller
These guys are not good at follow through.
is right.
@pique well that is distressing.
Some of those details I knew or was tracking, some were new, but reading it all in the same place is awful.
@Jodi said in Grand Obsession:
I feel like some of these modern piano composers that I like have a much bigger reach than I do,
Yep. I play music by Alexis Ffrench, David Lanz, and George Winston. All of these guys are quite tall, and as far as I can tell from videos, they all have massive hands.
I’ll check out the Messenger.
I need to pick my next pieces to work on after the concert is over …
I work in higher ed and most of the grad students in my program are international students. So one thing I’m worried about is the impact of policies on my job.
My spouse is not a US citizen, although he has a green card. But I do worry about immigration issues. And even if immigration polices don’t affect us directly, the crime things that I foresee happening hurt my heart.
There are other things, but these are at the top.
I haven’t started it yet (gotta get past the concert before I start anything new right now) but it’s this one (also barefoot
I guess I probably should to resurrect my blue sky account…
@Jodi that reminds me, I’ve planning to work on a piece by him (not that one, it’s too fast for me).
I notice he seems to play barefoot in a lot of his videos.
Must not have plantar fasciitis …
@wtg yes to all those points.
Definitely a shaking up could be good, but he’s not the person I trust to do the shaking!
@wtg said in Deport all the - Chinese?:
Just wait till Big Pharma meets RFK Jr....
Ugh, I was just reading someone trying to write a reasonable article about how to meet him in the middle or some rubbish.
drug company stocks took a hit today after the announcement of his appointment....
Not surprising...
Sigh. The idiot hasn't even taken office yet and already the problems are starting.
Not the most important issue here, but it's stunning to me that they don't consider the ripple effects of all these policies.
Yikes, that's gorgeous, but the upkeep, the tree growing in the deck, the river.... too many elements that would make me nervous.
Some of you might remember that at our last house, someone had decided it was a good idea to build the deck around a tree rather than removing the tree. Well, that tree continued to grow, compromising the deck, and the roots could be seen in the crawl space. We had the tree removed and the deck repair, and it brightened up the room there as well....
/threaddrift
Anyway, that is a gorgeous, gorgeous house.
But good grief, why did they do that kitchen cabinets in that awful gray. Belch.