37 thoughts on “September 21, 2014: The Dumbening”

  1. Interesting comments from Gardy on his morning radio show today (for the 10 minutes I listened). He said Pinto has not been playing because he is still getting work on catching (he stabs at too many balls, footwork, etc) and he say he wants his lineup against these playoff teams to be his best. Suzuki handles the staff better. But said Pinto is in the lineup today and should get time against Arizona.

  2. so, werd to cheaptoy: I'm going out to get stain for my deck today.

    reading around, I see recommendations from Consumer Reports that IF YOU USE PRESSURE_TREATED LUMBER, you should then use a semi-transparent stain to best encapsulate the nasty chemicals they use to pressure-treat. And if, after several years, your deck is peeling, be frickin' careful prepping for a re-stain. 'cause them chemicals is nasty.

    1. My dad has two fake hips, a fake knee and bad arthritis in his neck/back from working with those chemicals, so I'm aware. Hopefully I'll be working somewhere with access to a mask when it comes time to touch it up.

      1. also, I withdraw my FB rant about board orientation. Science says I'm full of shit (like science was required) for non-kiln dried lumber. Of course, if your lumber was dried, then milled properly, bark-side up is the way to go.

        this piece is too late to affect you, but generally pretty interesting.

          1. Orient it concave side down.

            if the board is 'wet', meaning not kiln dried, the bark side will cup water on it's surface as it dries.

            1. So as I said in the beginning, the answer is very simple: Pick the best face and install your decking best-face up. Securely fasten the deck boards and apply an annual coating of water repellent.

              good advice.

        1. I read that after the FB discussion. Since I got my lumber at the Home Depot, I assume it was milled and dried incoherently, so down it was.

  3. Since one of my fingerprint words is Chelsea I would be remiss in not commenting on today's game. Lamps scoring an equalizer against his old team was wild but this Chelsea goal was a thing of beauty. Just wish the quality of the video was better.

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8vw80CSK1c

    1. North of the Canadian border, that's "O Sweet Canada Canada Canada"
      South of the border it's "Old Sam Peabody Peabody Peabody"
      I wonder what it is in Mexico.

      1. I listened to several videos of the White-Throated and was surprised as to the amount of variation - had to look a while to find the song that I was familiar with in the Boundary Waters.

        1. Actually, that was a joke. Canadians put their own name into the song, or Americans take the name out.
          How much variation? Should still be a two whistled notes and a repeated whistled phrase, almost all at the same pitch, right?
          My guess would be that the rhythm changes. Their closest relatives, Harris's and White-crowned, have similar whistles in their songs but also some jumbled trills and chatters, like the Song Sparrow.

  4. Eating Hartford

    Went to A Dong (local Vietnamese groc store, kinda smelly in the fish dept., but the real deal) after a long swim at the club, and bought some smoked duck, Chinese pancakes, and hoisin sauce - made smoked duck tacos, adding some shredded cabbage. Legit.

      1. If you're in Minny you can find all of this on University Ave. in St. Paul, or on Lake St. in Minneapolis.

    1. smoke must be in the air today. I'm smoking two racks of ribs (thanks to cheap's post) and a slab of salmon. I'll be making some salmon pate for dipping, a bit of root veg. mash, and a large greens salad.

      1. Also, I am drinking a Matt's Burning Rosids imperial cherrywood-smoked saison from Stone. It did not go well with the carnitas burritor or el pastor plate we split for dinner. Very smokey, with a bit of cherry sweetness. Not sure I like it.

              1. No biggie. The name definitely was odd.

                I ended up pouring half down the drain. I guess I just wasn't in the mood for it last night. Too much smoke and sweet and hop, and not enough saison funk. Maybe on a different day (and shared with a friend) I would have raved about it. The BA Bros liked it.

    2. There's a pretty decent Vietnamese restaurant in DSM called "A Dong". Neither my brother nor I can discuss it without giggling.

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