The Swamp

Our town, like many in the area (and maybe elsewhere, don't know, don't care, go NJ!) has a weekly farmer's market. Ours is Thursdays, and if you follow me on IG you've probably seen some food that I've purchased, eaten, and enjoyed (happy SC??) at the market (I miss our neighbor's taco stand, tho). It's great, and always pretty busy when we head there in the evening.

Someone just made a complaint post in a local forum because (A) the lobster roll truck wouldn't sell them a whole lobster and (B) the person running the free pumpkins for kids table wouldn't sell them a pumpkin and (C) someone chastised them for moving parking barriers out of the way so they could park in a cordoned off spot. They claimed they're handicapped, and even though they tossed in a "no wonder no one ever goes" and there are two lots and street parking very close, they just HAD to move the barriers to get a parking spot close enough for them to physically make the walk. And of course, they were a perfect angel and everyone else couldn't have been ruder.

I hope people are calling them out for their bullshit.

sancarlos wrote: ↑Thu Oct 19, 2023 2:25 pm I hope people are calling them out for their bullshit.

I know they would on my town FB page. Cracks me up, especially when it's small business owners. Like a guy who owns a landscaping business and makes rude remarks making fun of people all the time. I used him for a couple jobs years ago, never again because he is such an asshole on FB. Had a good laugh this morning. Someone posted "Sorry for violating the forum rules, I didn't realize I could only advertise my business on Fridays. I thought it would be ok since my new consulting firm can help the community by..." It went on for multiple paragraphs describing the business, and everyone piled on. "You're not sorry, you are pretending to apologize as a sneaky way to advertise again!"

Clearly someone has never had to schlep a full lobster and pumpkin all the way to their street-parked car.

My wife saw this on the Nextdoor site. Hilarious.

That is hilarious.

Also - Christmas Light Installer is a job?

Pruitt IV wrote: ↑Fri Nov 10, 2023 1:51 pm That is hilarious.

Also - Christmas Light Installer is a job?

Not a big market, but some people around here outsource the whole thing of putting up outdoor holiday decorations.

Pruitt IV wrote: ↑Fri Nov 10, 2023 1:51 pm That is hilarious.

Also - Christmas Light Installer is a job?

I see Ad's for them posted on the bulletin board at the Grocery store.

sancarlos wrote: ↑Fri Nov 10, 2023 1:55 pm

Pruitt IV wrote: ↑Fri Nov 10, 2023 1:51 pm That is hilarious.

Also - Christmas Light Installer is a job?

Not a big market, but some people around here outsource the whole thing of putting up outdoor holiday decorations.

A couple of days ago, for the first time in my life, I saw signs up by someone offering to install Christmas lights.

I think it's a great idea. We left ours up all year, but otherwise I'd surely be tempted to hire someone.

Seasonal employees need work in the offseason. Many landscaping companies in my area do snowplowing in the winter.

What are some must visit places or hidden gems that are recommended for tourists? We're coming from Montreal next month

Longhorn in Amherst

Italian place in town has someone hosting a drag brunch this weekend. People are not taking it well.

rass wrote: ↑Tue Nov 28, 2023 8:08 pm Italian place in town has someone hosting a drag brunch this weekend. People are not taking it well.

I imagine it is difficult at first. but once you get past that it’s no big deal.








(I realize that’s painting with a broad brush but I’m just trying to lower my woke quotient)

I'll log into Facebook sparingly, so when I logged in last month around October 9th my godmother's unhinged rant that Columbus Day has 1) become some de facto Italian-American Day because Columbus was Italian and 2) therefore you're treading on Italian-American rights or some shit if you call it Indigenous People's Day was something special.

So I'm not surprised by this at all.

I often see posts on my timeline "Share if you think schools should teach kids to write cursive." I have no idea if they do or don't but even if they don't, is there like a valid, logical reason for wanting that or is this just a "We had to do it and our generation is better than yours" thing?

The only thing I can still write in cursive is my signature. I feel like I’ve been exclusively using standard print since middle school or so.

Jerloma wrote: ↑Wed Dec 20, 2023 1:55 pm I often see posts on my timeline "Share if you think schools should teach kids to write cursive." I have no idea if they do or don't but even if they don't, is there like a valid, logical reason for wanting that or is this just a "We had to do it and our generation is better than yours" thing?

They don’t. Because there’s no reason to learn it anymore since e-mail sort of all but eliminated the need to write letters anymore. I thought it had occupational therapy benefits for students learning handwriting, but my wife said the OT’s work on pencil grip not handwriting so script isn’t a necessary part of it.

So, it’s just people shouting that the kids aren’t all right.

bfj wrote: ↑Wed Dec 20, 2023 2:15 pm

Jerloma wrote: ↑Wed Dec 20, 2023 1:55 pm I often see posts on my timeline "Share if you think schools should teach kids to write cursive." I have no idea if they do or don't but even if they don't, is there like a valid, logical reason for wanting that or is this just a "We had to do it and our generation is better than yours" thing?

They don’t. Because there’s no reason to learn it anymore since e-mail sort of all but eliminated the need to write letters anymore. I thought it had occupational therapy benefits for students learning handwriting, but my wife said the OT’s work on pencil grip not handwriting so script isn’t a necessary part of it.

So, it’s just people shouting that the kids aren’t all right.

My kids learned in third grade, very briefly, but my daughter clearly didn't learn it. I had a document she needed to sign, I think it was signing a syllabus for a class. It said "sign here," and she looked panicked and said she forgot sign language.

L-Jam3 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 20, 2023 1:56 pm The only thing I can still write in cursive is my signature. I feel like I’ve been exclusively using standard print since middle school or so.

Same. I barely could back then and now I just look like a child trying to be a grownup. Even my signature is just a D with a long line out of it. My 8 year old does a version good enough I can't tell if its mine or not.

Yeah, my signature is not legible.

Cursive is stupid.

mister d wrote: ↑Wed Dec 20, 2023 2:34 pm

L-Jam3 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 20, 2023 1:56 pm The only thing I can still write in cursive is my signature. I feel like I’ve been exclusively using standard print since middle school or so.

Same. I barely could back then and now I just look like a child trying to be a grownup. Even my signature is just a D with a long line out of it. My 8 year old does a version good enough I can't tell if its mine or not.

D----------

perfect

Yeah, my cursive handwriting was so bad I switched to printing in junior high. Never looked back. I switched my signature from Patrick to PJ, as well. It just looks like P, then J, then scribbling.

I typically just do a squiggly line, but it always cracks my wife up that I dot the i in Giff as if that matters.

Giff wrote: ↑Wed Dec 20, 2023 4:03 pm I typically just do a squiggly line, but it always cracks my wife up that I dot the i in Giff as if that matters.

I do the same. I write the first letter of each name, and the rest of the name is a squiggly line and I usually dot over where the "i" would be. I used to just sloppily write the rest of each name, then it devolved into a a squiggly line that looks about the same as if I sloppily wrote it out. Only time I write cursive is cards to my wife. Cursive seems more appropriate than print, but it's a slog. And I never used my middle initial because cursive capital Ls are too hard. My daughter's name starts with an L and that's why she gave up learning to write. "G's" and "&'s" can also fuck off, but "Q's" are easily avoided.

The Sybian wrote: ↑Wed Dec 20, 2023 4:17 pm

Giff wrote: ↑Wed Dec 20, 2023 4:03 pm I typically just do a squiggly line, but it always cracks my wife up that I dot the i in Giff as if that matters.

I do the same. I write the first letter of each name, and the rest of the name is a squiggly line and I usually dot over where the "i" would be. I used to just sloppily write the rest of each name, then it devolved into a a squiggly line that looks about the same as if I sloppily wrote it out. Only time I write cursive is cards to my wife. Cursive seems more appropriate than print, but it's a slog. And I never used my middle initial because cursive capital Ls are too hard. My daughter's name starts with an L and that's why she gave up learning to write. "G's" and "&'s" can also fuck off, but "Q's" are easily avoided.

Hard disagree on the cursive “L” being too difficult. Mine looks like it should sewn onto Laverne’s sweaters.

L-Jam3 wrote: ↑Wed Dec 20, 2023 4:25 pmHard disagree on the cursive “L” being too difficult. Mine looks like it should sewn onto Laverne’s sweaters.

This. I'll write in cursive just so I can do the capital L.

I basically relearned cursive when my kids had it in third grade. I've actually found it to be useful when I'm taking notes, because my printing is horrible.

My signature is still terrible, though. S slash H slash.

I had "extra help" as a kid because my handwriting was illegible.

Somewhere in my mind is the thought that cursive writing is quicker than printing - but what worked for Charles Dickens really isn't necessary anymore.

I'm in the first initial (kinda) then squiggle club. I also dot somewhere in the vicinity of where an i might be. On very rare occasions there's a form which requires signing the middle name too, and I panic.

Giff wrote: ↑Wed Dec 20, 2023 4:03 pm I typically just do a squiggly line, but it always cracks my wife up that I dot the i in Giff as if that matters.

I do the dots on my i's, too!

I dot the "i" and cross both "t"'s, even the one I don't actually write.

For obvious reasons, I get a lot of feeds from Bills fans groups.

But this picture posted on the Bills Mafia group is the epitome of "old people, amirite?"

a. this is my dad [same age-ish] on every video call, only mostly the opposite. we see his forehead and the ceiling.

b. i don't think i understand the shirt. ...? is it a fraction i.e. is that a division line? a table?

slashes were all the typographic rage a few years back - there's no 'meaning'

It's still weird. Like... I make fun of Ohio State fans for spelling out their state (I have a variety of "sick burns" that all amount to "that's cute you can spell a four letter word where one of the letters repeat.")

But, kind of along those lines, does he need that as a reminder of the city, state and conference the Bills ply their trade?

screams 'outlet store find'

I can't find Mister D's post about Rass' trivia night opponents... Anyways, after seeing Saltburn, I can't help but imagine the guy with glasses being just like the main character in Saltburn.

Facebook's got nothing on Nextdoor.

Chem trails over Cary. WHY, Who pays for this, What is composition of these white trails?? Anyone know anything about this??
This is over Life Time Fitness

That was followed by 5 pictures of "chemtrails" in a blue sky - yes the same things you can see in the sky literally every clear day for the past 70 years or so.

Yup. Mad at clouds.

We had our first ever (I believe) election for mayor last fall. It was via ranked-choice voting (the format of which was approved via ballot initiative the previous year). The republican lost to the democrat and all hell broke loose on Nextdoor. It was rigged, stolen, RCV is a scam, foreign interests swayed the election (in Boulder,CO lol), etc. One post went viral on the other socials that (paraphrased) said: "The (R) was gonna win until they started counting the votes of young people who probably don't even own property!"

jfc, NextDoor is full of off the rails lunacy. I forget that we got an account when moving into our house 5yrs ago and once every few months i happen over there and over 50% of it is "someone drove slowly by my house at 2:34am i have them on my Ring camera..." we are so fucked.

Yeah, Next Door is a great way to learn which of your neighbors go unhinged over discourteous drivers, uncollected dog poop, poor restaurant service, random stray animals, and loud teenagers. Little else.