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I bet it was that azzclown @jsharr! The coffee this morning was definitely a little bitter ? making me bitter I ever read jsharrs' post yesterday

he's not going to read it. tags are fun!

...and is this a bad thing? My gut tells me that it can't be good!

I love them. I have been to quite a few, and rarely pass up an opportunity to combine a celebratory event AND a vacation. My cousin is getting married next month, and I was bummed she didn't listen to my suggestion that she tie the knot in Spain. She and her fiance love Spain, so I was hoping that might sway them.

...regardless of type (dill, bread & butter, etc)? Seems like, as a veggie, they get points, but the way they are prepared might negate a bit of that?

...on their own or their kid's weddings? We may have spent that if you include the honeymoon, but definitely not remotely close to that for the wedding. I find $10k nuts, but have known the plenty who have spent multiple times that with $50k no longer being "outlandish". Beyond a WTF, I still can only say, "It's your money..."

...what kind of dirt would they have on you? I don't think twice about speaking freely in front of my pup, nor do I close the bathroom door when it is just me and her in the house. God knows what she has tucked away in that noggin of hers.

I can't say I ever follow LA's tweets and I still consider him dickish, but I am loving the hornet's nest he stirred up this weekend Only sad part is that SW didn't bother to head to Nantucket for the meet up ride.

...or even just the simple "Lady Beetle"? We always call them ladybugs. They really are a fun little insect.

Driving your car (or, riding a bike): How long do you sit at a completely desolate intersection before proceeding through regardless of the red signal? I'm coming to a full stop, looking both ways, and proceeding.

...or cross streets against the light (through gaps in traffic)? I sure do. ?‍♂️

...now that "Todd" = "Dottie" Jeebus, I'm worried the next horrific news I am gonna read is that "jsharr" is really "Frank", and "wilbur is "Justin". The world was so much more mysterious before the news came out, and there is no cramming that genie back in the bottle. Not even Frank has those skills ?

...except for personal hygiene? Seems like they were pretty spot on about most things.

...we recommended when you asked? I think @jsharr did, but I think @petitepedal didn't. I wonder who is happier with their choice?

Riding this weekend, I passed a dude on a TT rig coming from the other direction. All stiff, rigid, and sharp angles. I thought to myself, "God I hate TT bikes. I would NEVER get one." And, then (!) ? ? ? an aha moment! The way I feel about TT bikes is how Page feels about "plastic" bikes. @Page Turner isn't insane, just a bit behind the curve.

Anyone getting their TMAO levels checked? Is there an easy check? Anyone even heard of TMAO before? Seems like a potentially VERY useful diagnostic tool for heart disease. Background Recent studies in animals have shown a mechanistic link between intestinal microbial metabolism of the choline moiety in dietary phosphatidylcholine (lecithin) and coronary artery disease through the production of a proatherosclerotic metabolite, trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO). We investigated the relationship among intestinal microbiota-dependent metabolism of dietary phosphatidylcholine, TMAO levels, and adverse cardiovascular events in humans. Clinical Outcomes TMAO Levels and Cardiovascular Events The baseline characteristics of the 4007 participants in the clinical-outcomes study are shown in Table 1, according to whether they had a major adverse cardiovascular event during the 3-year follow-up. The mean age of the participants was 63 years, and two thirds were men; the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors was high, and many of the participants had at least single-vessel coronary disease. Participants who had incident major adverse cardiovascular events during 3 years of follow-up had higher risk profiles at baseline than those without events, including an older age, higher fasting glucose levels, and higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, and previous myocardial infarction. Participants who had major adverse cardiovascular events also had higher baseline levels of TMAO, as compared with those who did not have cardiovascular events (median, 5.0 μM [interquartile range, 3.0 to 8.8] vs. 3.5 μM [interquartile range, 2.4 to 5.9]; P<0.001) (Table 1). As compared with participants in the lowest quartile of TMAO levels, those in the highest quartile had a significantly increased risk of an event (hazard ratio, 2.54; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.96 to 3.28; P<0.001) (Table 2). After adjustment for traditional risk factors and other baseline covariates, elevated plasma levels of TMAO remained a significant predictor of the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (Table 2). We observed a graded increase in risk with increasing levels of TMAO, as illustrated in the Kaplan–Meier analysis shown in Figure 2. A similar graded increase in risk was observed when levels of TMAO were analyzed as a continuous variable in increments of 1 SD (unadjusted hazard ratio, 1.40 [95% CI, 1.29 to 1.51; P<0.001]; adjusted hazard ratio, 1.30 [95% CI, 1.20 to 1.41; P<0.001]). When the components of the major adverse cardiovascular events were analyzed separately, increased levels of TMAO remained significantly associated with an increased risk of death (hazard ratio, 3.37; 95% CI, 2.39 to 4.75; P<0.001) and nonfatal myocardial infarction or stroke (hazard ratio, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.48 to 3.05; P<0.001). The inclusion of TMAO as a covariate resulted in a significant improvement in risk estimation over traditional risk factors (net reclassification improvement, 8.6% [P<0.001]; integrated discrimination improvement, 9.2% [P<0.001]; C statistic, 68.3% vs. 66.4% [P=0.01]). In a separate analysis, we excluded all participants who underwent revascularization within 30 days after enrollment in the study. In this subcohort of 3475 participants, TMAO remained significantly associated with the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (unadjusted hazard ratio for highest quartile vs. lowest quartile, 2.47 [95% CI, 1.87 to 3.27]; P<0.001). Cardiovascular Risk in Low-Risk Subgroups The prognostic value of elevated plasma levels of TMAO for cardiovascular risk remained significant in various subgroups associated with a reduced overall risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (Fig. S3 in the Supplementary Appendix). These subgroups included younger participants (<65 years of age), women, and participants who did not have a known history of coronary artery disease or coronary disease risk equivalents, had low lipid and apolipoprotein levels, had normal blood pressure, did not smoke, and had low levels of other known risk markers, such as C-reactive protein, myeloperoxidase, and white-cell count.

...or "Awful"? Can you go negative???

Woot!!! The US is KICKING the AZZ of the World!!!! 3 out of 10 spots going to the US. U-S-A!!! U-S-A!!!! U-S-A!!!! For the folks that like to read the drivel, click here.

...but I'm sure some of you knuckleheads won't. ‘Nature Can Wait’ by PAUL BLOW July 21, 2019, issue: “So many of us sweat it out while confined within four walls, rather than outside, where nature can heal us. I cycle and run; for both, I just need to step out my front door. Exercising inside, on a machine, seems sacrilegious.”

They don't work none too good when the power goes out. Many buildings in the area where I work had a power failure yesterday. Emergency backup generators came on for critical circuits but toilets aren't critical. Also some of the AC system didn't work. Let's just say that some of the bathrooms got ripe. Fortunately I knew about a bathroom with the old-fashion manual flushing handles.

...is always my worry!

...in the "Is Godzilla a dragon" debate? Walks like a duck. Quacks like a duck. Is it a duck? Does a dragon have to have wings? Seems that's a newer development. From Wiki: A dragon is a large, serpent-like legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures around the world. Beliefs about dragons vary drastically by region, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, four-legged, and capable of breathing fire. Dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence. The earliest attested dragons resemble giant snakes. Dragon-like creatures are first described in the mythologies of the ancient Near East and appear in ancient Mesopotamian art and literature. Stories about storm-gods slaying giant serpents occur throughout nearly all Indo-European and Near Eastern mythologies.

...an adventure in her neck of the woods!!! I never heard of the "Driftless Area" but it sounds BAD AZZ! --------------------------------------------------- IN SOUTHEASTERN MINNESOTA – We left the pavement early on the morning of Day 2, crossed the Root River and came face to face with a mile-long climb on a slurry of mud and gravel. It was late May. Our group of five was a few miles south of Houston, Minn., and immersed in the Driftless Area, an ancient landscape of deep coulees and high ridges connected by long, snaking roads. Formed by 500 million years of wind, rain and snow melt, the region would define every aspect of our 230-mile ride from Winona to Lansing, Iowa, across the Mississippi River, and back through Wisconsin. We would feel every foot of elevation gain as we each hauled 30-plus pounds of bikepacking gear from valley floor to ridge top on a mix of gravel and paved roads. And we would experience more than the usual fare of that landscape-defining wind and rain. But our immediate concern was the climb. Before long, all of us, including Tom McDowell, the strongest, and Pablo Armas, the youngest, had dismounted to push our bikes toward the summit. For Nina Clark, who used her 28-mile round-trip commute as the base for her training, it was an opportunity to see more of the wildflowers lining the road. The rest of us raised our heads reluctantly and admitted they were pretty. The summit offered a new challenge: a sudden, driving rain powered by wind gusts reaching 50 miles per hour. Kristen Paulsen, who toured extensively in the Appalachian Mountains with her husband before taking time off to raise a family, felt herself being blown toward the ditch. Tom showed early signs of hypothermia. We needed shelter and found it in a farm’s machine shed. At the far end, a section of sheet metal roofing lifted in the wind, then slammed hard on the rafters in a rhythmic clanging that didn’t stop until the wind died and the rain backed off to a drizzle. We rode on, leaving tire tracks in the gravel driveway to baffle our absent hosts. Day 1 had been so different: Delicious $5 burgers at the Witoka Tavern, a photo shoot with kids at the Houston Nature Center, a private tour of the International Owl Center, and, to the southwest, a night at Outback Ranch, a campground for horse people. We reset on Day 2 in Spring Grove with an extended lunch and a detour to the local car wash where we lined up our rides, plugged in quarters and sprayed grit from five crud-encased bikes. The weather reset as well. By the end of the day, with nearly 40 miles behind us, we were rolling down a shaded gravel road, past a couple of trout fishermen enjoying a beer on the tailgate of their pickup, and into Dorchester, Iowa. Tom secured a campsite across Main Street from Wings Supper Club. --- the rest and photos here.

People would pay good money for this at an amusement park:

HA!