Cup of Coffee

June 29, 2021: Boing!

60 Comments

I was passively against the idea but was overruled by the rest of the family on a giant trampoline for the yard (just in case though, I got one that can support adult weights too). Now the joy of putting it together!

60 thoughts on “June 29, 2021: Boing!”

    1. I remember my mother talking about her school friend who was paralyzed in a trampoline accident. Throw in the eye sore factor, and I've simply no desire.

  2. My wife wants one but I have put my foot down both because I have no desire to put it together and our yard really isn't level enough anyway.

    1. We briefly had one but all of the cottonwoods and other trees made it a nightmare to keep clean. Then a branch fell and ripped the netting. The kids hadn't used it much, so we took that opportunity to "have a friend try to fix it" and oh darn, he couldn't do it.

      Our house is on a path to the neighborhood park and I wasn't comfortable with how many people asked to use it. Felt like a big liability.

      1. That looks about right. Ginger nearly reduced the imperial moth population by one.

  5. My brother put a trampoline in his backyard and then the neighbor kids came over and one of them landed on my nephew's leg and my nephew ended up with a compound fracture of said leg. Review your insurance policies.

  6. NBA playoffs.

    Milwaukee has emerged as the overall favorite after seizing control of the ECF series. Even with a healthy Trae Young, I don't think the Hawks have enough, but with Trae hobbling, I think Milwaukee has a very good shot at winning the next two games and the series. Giannis has, for the most part, eschewed his 3 point dreams and has concentrated on scoring at the rim. The result? He's putting up playoff numbers that are comparable to peak-Shaq (including at the line). Middleton was terrific in game 3 and the Bucks seemed to have ironed out the kinks. They have the best player left in the playoffs and are the most likely team to make it to the Finals in my estimation and that fact puts them in the overall number one position.

    A funny thing happened on the way to Phoenix's coronation in the West. After seizing a 3-1 lead, winning an extremely ugly game 4 (the Clippers were 0-12 in fourth quarter shots that could have tied the game or put them ahead), Phoenix came home and simply got beat by a better team last night. The Clippers are down some key players (Kawhi, Ibaka, and now Zubac), but they still have some key role players and Paul George was flat out great last night. I don't have to squint too hard to see the Clippers win game 6 and maybe even game 7. The three Phoenix wins were close, the two Clippers wins were not. I had Phoenix as the overall favorite, but I now see them as only a slight favorite to win the West simply because they only need to one of the two remaining games. Chris Paul, post-Covid, has not been the same guy and Devin Booker has been not very good since his fantastic game 1 (both were better last night). If Paul and Booker play up to their capabilities and the role players for the Clippers come back down to earth a little, Phoenix will win. But, the Clippers have played smothering defense, especially on Booker, and Paul George looks like the all-NBA player that everyone knows he can be. Also, with Zubac out last night, I thought that my favorite, Deandre Ayton, would go crazy. But the Clippers went small when he was in, drawing him out on defense and big (with Boogie Cousins, who was great last night) when he was out. Really good move by Ty Lue. Not so great that Phoenix did little to exploit big on small with Ayton for large chunks of this game. This series is gonna be must watch for any NBA fans.

    Ranking based on my opinion of who is the most likely to win the title.

    1. MIL
    2. PHX
    3. LAC
    4. ATL

    1. Reggie Jackson for the Clippers has been phenomenal in the playoffs. He can shoot the 3 and finish at the rim. Really good. Patrick Beverly is a horse's ass, but he is in Devin Booker's head. Marcus Morris was on fire last night and he just killed the Suns. Boogie Cousins hasn't played much at all in the playoffs, but he looked kind of like the Boogie of old. Dario Saric could not handle him at all. Huge mismatch, just an excellent adjustment by Ty Lue.

  7. Our next door neighbors got a trampoline last summer, and the boys have spent countless hours on it, so I will say it has been great for keeping them active during the pandemic.

      1. I'd put tramps and pools in the same category - for use under adult supervision only.

        1. Neighbors have a trampoline (new this spring - frequently used by all the kids at first, now infrequent). We have a pool - consistent use through the hot May & early June … now only a couple dips per week.

  8. It's been a week now and the kitten integration project is coming along nicely. The dog absolutely loves Louie, follows him around, licks his face (and butt, of course), and generally acts like a doting big sister. The cat is becoming more tolerant of the kitten every day. They're fine now in close proximity, last night they shared a window sill to look out on the world together and were no more than six inches apart for a good ten minutes, but there hasn't been any actual contact or touching yet. There's been a little hissing and growling at times but no actual fighting, and I'm okay with baby steps. Rome was not built in a day.

    1. When we got our second cat, the integration process took about a week and they were best buds. Eventually as they got older, the older cat got cranky, but they co-exist pretty well, but none of the playing that occurred when they were younger. They keep their distance. When the third cat is integrated well with the other two, I'll let you know (it's been 16 years).

  9. This is great.

  10. Taking a vacation in early August to the Gulf coast - Alabama/FL line. Driving down, likely by way of St. Louis, Nashville, and Birmingham. Probably spending a night between Nashville and Birmingham, to avoid being too exhausted when we get down there. With 4 kids, it'd be nice to find a family-friendly stop or two on the way down, but ones that aren't going to add too much time.

    So, seeking recommendations for travel stops on that path. Is the Gateway Arch easily accessible? Would that be a relatively quick stop? Is it worth making a stop, or is seeing it from the highway as we pass going to be good enough? Other reasonable stops?

    1. I can give you information on every exit between Minnesota and St Louis.

      How long would you stop in St Louis? The best stops are City Museum or Magic House. Quickest would be arch.

      1. We're probably talking an hour or less for stops, ideally. Stops might end up happening on the drive back up too, depending on how travel is going/how tired people are/Philosofette's EMT training schedule, etc.

        Is there are reasonable place to get off and park/walk for the arch? If it's easy enough, that's probably a good call then.

        1. Letting the kids run around Forest Park would also be an option but I'd rank it below Arch.

              1. I haven't been there in a while, but the museum was closed for an extended period of time to redo it -- I'm not sure if it's open or what's there now.

            2. On the other hand, it is the Gateway Arch, something to be experienced. I spent like 2.5 hours waiting in line to get to the top of the Statue of Liberty and I looked through it for maybe 2 minutes, but I have been in the top of the Statue of Liberty, so that 2.5 hours was worth it.

    2. Gateway Arch takes an absurdly long time. Look at it from outside, but totally worth skipping going up.

    3. Twin Cities to StL is 8hrs (with stop(s)). The Arch is easily doable in an hour, if by "doable" you mean get out and walk around it and get pictures. I wouldn't try do anything else unless you were spending more time in the area to see other things. Your route through StL should take you right by it, so if that is sufficient enough, you're covered.

      1. Twin Cities to StL is 8hrs (with stop(s)).

        That depends. Western suburbs of Minneapolis to southern suburb of St Louis is 9 minimum.

          1. Ballpark-to-ballpark is ~8½ hrs

            Without stops, yes.

            Well, yes, although he wouldn't be going to/through any southern suburb.

            He also wouldn't be starting in the Twin Cities.

            1. Further west. Looks like a bit over 9 hours without stops. Planning to leave early a.m., so an afternoon visit seems ok. Or possibly on the way back.

      2. "Get out and walk around it and get pictures" is probably perfect, actually. Looks like just grab any ol' parking ramp and walk the rest of the way. Recommendations for easy on/off highway ramps, or ones to avoid?

        1. It's downtown, so things are a little messy, but your phone's directions should do fine. There's a parking ramp specifically for the Arch just north of the Arch on Washington Avenue that'd work fine. It's close to I-70, so easy off, easy on.

        1. I hope I can make it happen. The only problem is that I've eaten BBQ for nearly every meal since Saturday.

  12. If you haven’t heard Marcus King yet, check out today’s video. Southern rock soul food.

  13. Watching Rep. Ilhan Omar on the CNN. Lot's of clipping in her speech. Is she from New Britain?

    1. Minneapolis, by way of Fargo (NDSU) and Mogadishu. Met her a couple of times, she's tiny and lovely.

  14. H'istan earns it's "istan" with 98F clicks (feels like 102F according to Storm Team's Joe Furey on Channel 8).

  15. Popeye’s spicy chicken sandwich tonight. So hot the sweat from my face fogged up my glasses. But it’s a good burn.

    2. So I went in for my annual eye exam yesterday (missed a year due to COVID), and the nurse/tech is doing the "One, or Two" thing with the lenses machina, and (being masked) I kept saying, I can't tell, it's too fogged up. Finally they said, "just take the mask off". Har.

      1. Annual? They can do them annual?

        I just had my first eye exam in...about 23 years, two weeks ago.

        They determined I have two eyes, which was a relief.

        1. You’re a parent and you never grew a third eye in the back of your head? Weird.

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