That's the top of the can of soup I had for lunch today. Am I supposed to be enthused because Campbells is "the official soup and chili sponsor of the NFL"? Even if I watched football, why would that matter to me? Do they think people will decide to eat more soup because of it?

I don't understand why the Campbell Soup company wasted its money this way.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at 03:42 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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1 Because the NFL is the biggest sport in the land, with the most lucrative TV contract, and getting commercial time during a game is worth gold.  Getting commercial time during an Event Game (Sunday or Monday Night Football, for example), is worth it's weight in something that's worth more than gold.

Heck, why do banks and wireless carriers sponsor F1 teams?

Posted by: Wonderduck at September 03, 2013 07:25 PM (ifb6Y)

2 So this sponsorship thing is part of a package deal that includes TV spots? You might be right.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at September 03, 2013 07:30 PM (+rSRq)

3 With the major NFL games, you have to pay... to be able to buy advertising. 

It sounds strange, but Live TV is now the biggest advertising draws, and most scripted programs are 1/2 watched after the fact.   The TV market has gotten weird.

Posted by: sqa at September 03, 2013 10:24 PM (ZbXtX)

4 I have heard that roughly three quarters of your cable TV bill goes straight to the various sports leagues, mostly the NFL and the NCAA.  Pity they don't allow you to unbundle, otherwise I would readily pay the cost for all the non-sports programming. . .

Posted by: metaphysician at September 04, 2013 11:13 AM (3GCAl)

5 Not mine, because I don't have cable TV. (I don't own a TV, and I don't miss it a bit.)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at September 04, 2013 12:36 PM (+rSRq)

6 You don't have a TV?  But..that means you've missed the last two seasons of "Cat Girls Unlimited" on ABC! 

Posted by: Siergen at September 04, 2013 03:50 PM (Ao4Kw)

7 As if.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at September 04, 2013 04:47 PM (+rSRq)

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It's raining.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at 05:48 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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I decided to grow the rest of my beard out. This is the first time I've done it.

I decided that if I'm condemned to becoming a feeble old man, I may as well look the part. And it's nice to not have to shave.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at 12:33 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 Nah, you look fine.

Posted by: Jaked at August 11, 2013 12:58 PM (XGhuM)

2 Just so long as you don't start doing cosplay of the characters you post screen shots of...

Posted by: Siergen at August 11, 2013 05:48 PM (Ao4Kw)

3 My secret is revealed!

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at August 11, 2013 06:08 PM (+rSRq)

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My phone just made a strange sound, that I've only heard once before. It's an Amber Alert, and we had one in January.

That time, a kid got kidnapped in The Dalles, which is about 80 miles from here, straight down I-84. So that one was reasonable.

This one was Alturas, CA, which Google Earth says is 300 miles from me as the crow flies, and not connected by any major highway. By road it's more like 450 miles. They must have sent that one to the entire west coast. I wonder if San Diego and Seattle received it? Denver?

UPDATE: It's a good system; I don't disagree with it. In January they found the guy within about two hours and they got the kid back safe. I hope that's the case this time, too.

But they seem to have cast their net rather widely this time. Alturas is at least a 14 hour drive from here.

UPDATE: OK, it wasn't quite so wide a net.

Oregon State Police received word this afternoon that a homicide suspect from the San Diego area accused of kidnapping his victims' two children might have entered Southern Oregon.

A witness called OSP at around 2 p.m. after allegedly spotting a blue 2013 Nissan Versa believed to be driven by James Lee DiMaggio, 40, who is the primary suspect in the murder of Christina Anderson, 44, of Lakeside, Calif.

OSP Lt. Gregg Hastings said troopers and sheriff's deputies from Southern Oregon rushed to several highways and roads at the Oregon/California border after DiMaggio's car was supposedly spotted along Highway 395 near Alturas, Calif. The car was seen heading north toward Oregon, Hastings said.

"There is a possibility that it could have entered Nevada, too," Hastings said. "We are taking this very seriously because there are two kidnapped children involved."

The children are identified as Hannah Anderson, 16, and Ethan Anderson, 8.

Hastings is asking drivers in Southern Oregon to keep an eye out for a vehicle matching the description of DiMaggio's Nissan.

The suspect's car has California license plates 6WCU986.

Anderson's body was found Sunday in the ruins of a burnt house in east San Diego County, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The two children could have been kidnapped the previous evening,officials said.

An AMBER Alert was sent via text message to cellphones throughout the country. The case represented the first time such an alert was disseminated through cellphone messages, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Southern California police believe DiMaggio might be heading to Canada to evade capture.

If anyone sees the suspect vehicle in Oregon, please call 911 or Oregon State Police at 1-866-5AMBER5.

UPDATE: US 395 is the route you'd use if you wanted to head for Canada and didn't want to use I-5. It goes north through Eastern Oregon, on the east side of the Cascades.

The good news (for everyone except the kidnappers) is that if the Oregon State Police got the alert early enough, there are places they can set up to intercept everything on that highway. Our friendly murderer won't get past 'em.

UPDATE: So it was Oregon and Washington, which seems reasonable. And I saw a news report that said it was possible that the boy had also been murdered. Let's hope not.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at 04:41 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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I love hash brown potatoes, with breakfast. But it takes about half an hour to prepare them right, and you can't really do a small amount. Recently I figured out a solution: cook an entire bag of hashbrowns (a pound (UPDATE: Actually, almost 2 pounds)) all at once and put them in a plastic box in the frig. Then, when I want to make breakfast, take a small amount out and heat it in the microwave.

They sure go well with my morning scrambled eggs (which I don't have every day) and cinnamon rolls (for three days after I get a grocery delivery; after that it's toast and jam).

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at 10:49 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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It's been a long time since I put in an order to Bob. But I just put one in. Mostly guilt buys, as usual these days, but one new thing.

My desk mascot for about the last three years has been Eris the catgirl, and it's time for a change. So I just ordered a figurine of Rias Gremory. (Everyone needs a gorgeous red-headed demon, don't they?)

Anyway, everything should arrive next week some time.

UPDATE: CDJapan has a Rias statuette available for preorder which is seriously NSFW. Yeesh!

UPDATE: And as we have come to expect from Bob, it shipped today (next business day, since I put in my order last night). I'll get it on Monday.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at 05:32 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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This stuff is really tasty. Safeway included a free bottle of it with my delivery a couple of weeks ago, and I ordered 4 bottles of it in the Tuesday delivery and they gave me another free one.

But I was a little afraid of it the first time. I stopped drinking milk entirely about ten years ago, until I tried it once again maybe a year ago -- and for several days it gave me the most awful gas. I could barely stand to be around myself. I guess I'm lactose intolerant now. So I was afraid the milk in this might do the same, but it didn't. I guess there isn't very much in it. (Or my liver has gotten back in gear and is producing lactase again.)

I was also afraid of the caffeine content. The first time I only drank about a third of the bottle, because it tasted like a quadruple espresso and I feared it would buzz me. It doesn't say anywhere on the bottle how much caffeine is in it.

Well, I now drink entire bottles of it, and I can't hardly feel any buzz at all. I think this has about as much caffeine as Coke, which is to say "not very damned much". (A can of Coke has 34 mg.)

But it does really taste good when cold, so it's a pleasant treat in the afternoon. I think I'll order a lot more of it next time.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at 04:46 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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There haven't been any around here at all yet. Usually there's a fair amount of fireworks let loose in the couple of days before July 4, and on the 4th itself the noise usually starts around 6PM.

But as I write this it's 8 and I haven't heard a single pop, boom, whistle or snap. I wonder why?

Ha! I just heard one! My faith in my neighbors is restored.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at 06:57 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Safeway just called me about my two orders, because in fact they weren't going to have any block ice for the first delivery (Monday). I told them to give me bags of loose ice instead, which will serve nearly as well.

It was nice of them, very, to call me and let me change the order.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at 07:56 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1

Accuweather just dropped their prediction for Monday and Tuesday. Now they match the weather bureau. So it's gonna be hot, but not blazing.

That's OK; the ice won't go to waste.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at June 30, 2013 12:46 PM (+rSRq)

2 I was in a hurry and skimmed the headlines of your recent posts, looking for something that sounded interesting.  On first pass, I misread this headline as "Safeway - good fan service!"

In my own defense, "fan service" is a not an uncommon phrase here...

Posted by: Siergen at July 01, 2013 01:25 PM (Ao4Kw)

3

Someone asked what my cooling solution looked like:

It works better with block ice, but cubes are what they delivered today, and that's still better than nothing.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at July 01, 2013 02:06 PM (+rSRq)

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Today would have been an ice day except that I can't do that anymore. Last week I did walk all the way to the Fred Meyer's pharmacy and back, but that meant carrying a bag with my left hand, leaving my right hand free for my cane.

I can't push my shopping cart, with both hands, even if it's empty, at least not that kind of distance. It would be even worse if it was carrying 80 or 100 pounds of ice. Not in the cards.

So I've got all my windows open, and a fan blowing in at my deck door. My computer table is in what the designers here thought would be a dining room, and there's an overhead fan, which is running.

And so, like an idiot, I'm cooking a hot lunch in my oven.

Oddly enough, Accuweather (on my phone) doesn't agree with the US Weather Bureau about how hot it's going to be. Accuweather says we'll hit 100 next Monday (moan). All their predictions are 5-10 degrees warmer than US Weather Bureau.

Which is weird; I thought they got their predictions from the US Weather Bureau.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Daily Life at 01:45 PM | Comments (18) | Add Comment
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1 What was your technique again about cooling your apartment, if you don't mind telling?

Posted by: Jaked at June 28, 2013 03:21 PM (qSJoi)

2

A plastic tub on the counter in my kitchen, with two or three blocks of ice in it, and a fan above there blowing air over the top of the ice. Every once in a while I would dump out meltwater and/or add another block of ice.

As to air conditioners, see the FAQ.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at June 28, 2013 03:30 PM (+rSRq)

3

Even the national weather service has a few different mathematical models for forecasting.  Back home where my folks live, one of the local TV stations would give a schizophrenic weather forecast; "here's what model 1 says, here's what model 2 says, and here's what model 3 says... so plan for a bright, sunny, calm day with significant blowing snow, I guess..."

Posted by: Mikeski at June 28, 2013 06:25 PM (Zlc1W)

4

Safeway does sell ice blocks, and I'm about due for another delivery on Monday. Given that it's supposed to be blazingly hot that day no matter who is doing the forecasting, I think I'll get some ice included.

It's not a real good solution, though, because they have a $50 minimum on orders, and a day's worth of ice is about $15. So it isn't really practical for me to do that multiple days in a row.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at June 28, 2013 06:43 PM (+rSRq)

5  Looks like the whole west is getting nailed. There's a prediction of a high of 117 in Vegas. (yikes!)

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at June 28, 2013 06:50 PM (+rSRq)

6 Yeah, it's all nice and warm... and warmer... and hot the next few days.

Posted by: sqa at June 28, 2013 07:02 PM (ehYGU)

7 It broke 100 here in Dallas.  Of course, it's only a little early for that kind of weather.

Posted by: RickC at June 28, 2013 07:20 PM (WQ6Vb)

8 117 is nothing for Vegas. They are very low, about 2200 ft. They hit 112 every day even without any hit waves. I drove through once and took a picture of my car's dash showing that much. The next moment it was 113

But the real heat happens in Phoenix. The bottom of the valley is only at 1100 ft, and they also create a monstrous heat island effect. They should be nibbing at 130 in the heat wave.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at June 28, 2013 07:24 PM (RqRa5)

9 Having lived through 115F weather in Sydney (once) I wouldn't want to live in Las Vegas or Phoenix.  They'd be drier than Sydney, but dry or not, that's too darn hot.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at June 29, 2013 06:08 AM (PiXy!)

10 I was wrong about Phoenix, apparently. Only 118 today.

Posted by: Pete Zaitcev at June 29, 2013 07:28 AM (RqRa5)

11 It barely skritched 70 today here at Pond Central... but that was accompanied by 90% humidity.  I dealt with it until about a half-hour ago, when I realized my sinuses hurt like hell, my mood sucked and my keyboard was gummy.

I don't like humidity, is what I'm saying.

Posted by: Wonderduck at June 29, 2013 02:06 PM (rY5SD)

12 We don't usually have that problem here. When it gets hot, it's also dry. But I remember hot muggy days in Boston, and yeah they were really miserable.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at June 29, 2013 02:17 PM (+rSRq)

13 This past monday, it was sunny and 85, and the humidity was around the same number.  It was so intolerable that once I got back to The Pond, I called to make an appointment to get the DuckMobile's a/c fixed.

$175 well spent.

Posted by: Wonderduck at June 29, 2013 02:59 PM (rY5SD)

14

Well, Accuweather keeps saying that we're going to boil on Monday and Tuesday, so I just made arrangements. I'm getting deliveries from Safeway on both Monday and Tuesday, and both are supposed to include 10 blocks of ice each. I divided the rest of my grocery order between them to make sure they're both above the minimum order.

My luck, it'll turn out they're out of ice both times.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at June 29, 2013 07:20 PM (+rSRq)

15 Ah, for the days of the Iceman, with his horse-drawn wagon and those massive tongs....

I wonder if handing out ice chips to the kids led to the invention of the ice cream truck.

I thought it was this thread, but I guess it was somewhere else where someone pointed to a video of making a cooler from a styrofoam cooler, a small fan, and a piece of PVC pipe.  Cost $20-30.  Of course, in the back of AOPA Pilot, there's an aviation version called "Arctic Air" that is basically the same thing, but will set you back over $4k.

I suppose there's no room for a small, 5 cu-ft chest freezer to make your own ice blocks (and store food in).  The laws of thermodynamics would demand moving it out onto the deck or something to avoid being more trouble than it's worth.

Posted by: Mauser at June 29, 2013 08:53 PM (cZPoz)

16 There's no where here to put such a thing.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste at June 29, 2013 08:56 PM (+rSRq)

17

My luck, it'll turn out they're out of ice both times.

Geez, Steven, why do you jinx yourself? Have faith in the ice fairies!

Posted by: Jaked at June 29, 2013 09:11 PM (qSJoi)

18 I think I just figured out a career for Mizore...

Posted by: ubu at July 02, 2013 07:53 AM (GfCSm)

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