Another Hash Monday is in the books. The short version of the trail proved to be almost a walk in the park, although the uphill portions are more difficult than they used to be. We started and finished at the 13 Resort (pronounced one-three), which has some of the nicest bay views around. Best of all, I lived to post these photos:
And shortly thereafter, we made our way home so I could venture into the land of dreams.
I’ve marched on to March 2016 in the LTG archives, and in this pictorial post, I share the sights I saw on the backstreets of Seoul. I had one more year in Seoul, then a year in Pyeongtaek, before I said goodbye to my Korea life. It’s gone now, but never forgotten.
I saw this graphic on the size of life over at the Althouse blog. I thought it was worth the look; perhaps you will enjoy it too.
For today’s YouTube video, let’s go back to 1977 and watch a commercial for the first IBM portable computer. I didn’t buy my first home computer until the mid-90s. Now, I can’t imagine life without one. Blogging sure would be a bitch on a typewriter.
And as usual, the joke’s on me.
Something new for me on the horizon today: my first time attending The Battle of the Bars. I’m assuming it will be SOB-like, but I’m told it’s a little spicier. Five bars are competing: Thumbstar, Queen Victoria, Red Bar, Gentlemen’s Club, and Alaska Club. I’ll tell you all about it tomorrow.
Good to see you forsaking food for drink, John. Where there is food there is trouble. A mouse, or some mice, have gotten into what I thought was a secure food store and turned it into a sampler platter.
I haven’t had rodent problems for ages, maybe since spring. My faithful cat, Morgoth the Third, caught a mouse in the kitchen at the start of October and I thought it was a rare one-off.
I’d been hearing weird noises here and there throughout the apartment but dismissed it as the noisy neighbors in the adjoining unit. They are loud as hell, and the acoustics in my apartment are weird – even though their unit is to my left (when I’m sat my desk), I’ll hear stuff they’re doing, like turning squeaky taps, to my right.
But I heard some rustling coming from my kitchen, like someone crinkling a plastic shopping bag, and I knew it wasn’t the neighbors. The sound was too light and quiet to penetrate the wall we share. I thought it was Morgoth the Third (my trusty feline companion) playing around in the kitchen but when I turned to call him I found he was in loaf form on the ground next to my chair, seemingly uninterested in the noise coming from the kitchen.
I crept into the kitchen thinking if it’s a mouse or rat in there they’d have heard me coming and fled before I even saw them. I picked up a bag of potatoes that were on the floor of an open-door cupboard and heard a loud-ass squeak. I was so surprised I involuntarily took a step back. There I saw, where the potatoes had been lying, mouse shit. Like a lot of mouse shit. The bag had several holes in it and I didn’t need to open it up to see several potatoes had bite marks in them.
I had a bad feeling then and got on my haunches to check other things in the cupboard. Sure enough it, or they, had been at almost everything. Box of pasta with a whole corner chewed off and half the contents missing. Big packet of stir fry noodles with the plastic wrapping torn open and chunks chewed out. Bag of rice opened and mouse turds visibly intermingling with the grains. Packet of instant mash that was totally devoured. Everything I moved I found it was on, or surrounded by, mouse shit. They had been at this for a while. The only things not touched were canned or jarred goods.
I had to throw most of it out. Food that would have tided me over for at least two weeks, all spoiled. With no more food stamps and food prices rising that shit was a devastating blow. Normally I would have tried to salvage what I could, but all the mouse shit everywhere, and stuff like the potatoes lying in it for God knows how long, I didn’t want to fuck around with foodborne illness or plague, especially since my medicaid was cut off along with the food stamps. The crowning turd on that (literal) shit pile is one of the last items I took out to examine was a fairly robust bag of buckwheat that the ex had bought for reasons I can’t remember now. It looked intact to me but as I made to lift it out it was partially stuck down by something, some molasses that had oozed out of a jar, and I guess because the mouse/mice had gotten into the bag and I couldn’t see it, the bag just fucking split open, showering buckwheat everywhere across the cupboard and kitchen floor.
I busted out the vacuum cleaner to get it out of there (terrifying Morgoth the Third – my cat – in the process) only to find…the fucking thing was broke. End result: because I couldn’t find my dustpan and the only broom I have is too long and unwieldy to fit in the cupboard, I had to get on my knees and brush out the buckwheat/mouse turd combo with my bare hands, scoop it up, and bin it. Even dousing my hands with bleach and scrubbing like a fiend I still felt unclean.
In other news, I’ve been sick as a dog again. I think I’ve caught that superflu going around, since I have to bus everywhere and I’m surrounded by coughing and sneezing people. High fever, shivers, cold sweats, muscle pain, red, burning, eyes. My body tells my brain we’re freezing cold one minute and then intolerably hot the next. Straight up not having a good time.
Sounds like a good recipe. I should try it someday.
Be sure to remove all selfishness.
Leech My Nuggets did his usual fine job laying the trail. The purple line was his short version, the orange line was the wimp way.
Spot the error!
And if I understand you correctly, you’re appreciating the fine job that Leech did in laying out the trail… of which you skipped almost 50% (and by “50%,” I’m referring to 50% of Leech’s “easy” trail).
Years ago, Eagles Bar was a Hash On-Home venue. That was before my time here, but from what I’ve heard, I’m sorry I missed it.
Looks to be abandoned now. Is it?
Please try not to get into trouble today, drunk or otherwise.
Kevin, but selfishness is my standard seasoning…
Having trouble spotting the error. Does adding an “and” after the comma make it better?
Yes, Leech always lays a well-marked, easy-to-follow trail. He also provides a short version, which many Hares do not do. Shortcutting the shortcut is my special talent.
Yep, the old Eagles building is just a ghost now. Surprised someone has refurbished and opened a business there. It’s a prime location right on the national highway.
Trouble avoided. At least as far as I can remember.
Sorry to hear of your troubles, Thompson. Maybe alcohol would dull the pain.
Hang in there!
John, you wrote:
The purple line was his short version, the orange line was the wimp way.
It’s your old friend the comma splice, i.e., erroneously using a comma when you need a semicolon to separate two independent clauses.
You were once able to give me the definition of a clause (that was a red-letter day!). Can you define what dependent and independent clauses are and give me two examples of each? Can you recognize such clauses? If you can’t recognize them, you’re going to keep making this mistake over and over and over again forever.
Try answering without seeking outside help (or giving me the old passive-aggressive silence), but if you’re going to seek help, seek it from the material I’ve taught. And please quote and link to your source. That way, I’ll know you’re not bullshitting. After all, what’s the point of subscribing to my Substack if you’re going to consult outside sources whenever I give you a grammar question? Insulting. I’d rather you simply dropped your subscription.
Remember: you can navigate to my Substack site by clicking the title of any of the posts you’ve received via email. I’ve published 44 Bad Online English posts (free content) and 32 Parts of Speech posts (paid content). Once you’re on the Substack site, use the search window to look up “dependent clause” and “independent clause.” You ought to find several posts on each. Please link to at least one of those posts in your answer (and copy-paste your clause-related quotes from that post).
So, to review:
1. Please define “dependent clause” and “independent clause.”
2. Please provide 2 examples of each.
3. If you have to seek an online source to help you, please search my Substack material. Quote the material directly (copy-paste, not paraphrase), then provide the link to the post so I know you didn’t simply visit some random grammar site.
EXTRA CREDIT: Show two other ways, aside from a semicolon, to correct the comma splice. There are at least three ways, all discussed in this past Monday’s BOE post.
Kevin, as further evidence of my mental incapacity, I was not able to successfully search your Substack and find the lessons on dependent and independent clauses. Can you provide a link? That would make you a Santa clause.
I’m not going to do your work for you, but I’ll show you, step by step, how to search my material.
1. Go to your email. Open up one of my Substack emails/newsletters.
2. Look at the Substack entry’s title (like “BOE #44”). Click on it.
3. A new page opens. This is the Substack page, so now, you’re seeing the post as it’s supposed to look on Substack.
4. Look at the top right of the page. Find the “magnifying glass” icon.
5. Click the icon. A search window should appear.
6. Type “clause” into the search window. Hit “enter.”
7. You should see a ton of search results. Click on the one that seems most relevant.
8. Do the search again to find other relevant posts.
That should be enough to lead you to a data gold mine.
How do you hang out online as much as you do (blogging, PI forums, etc.) and not know what a magnifying-glass icon means?
Kevin, thanks for the guidance. I’m aware of what the magnifying glass does, but it wasn’t giving me the results I searched for. I’ll try it again. No time today, but I’ll post my response to your “clause” quiz on the blog for the world to see soon.