Wow…. I remember having a cheaply made, light green plastic toy of this car, many many years ago…
It was just a shell, no insides, with two white plastic axles with molded on wheels. I remember one fell off, and I figured out how to snap the end back into a little U-shape notch inside.
There was a hole in the front, with a keychain in it .. I don’t know what for, cos the car was too big and probably too fragile to go in a pocket.
My dad said it was a Nash… I’m not sure I knew what that meant, but I remember.
I don’t think I’ve thought about it since we drove the dinosaurs out of Cleveland, till I saw this picture.
By international agreement any satellite that is likely going to survive reentry at the end of its life is supposed to go here. The most desolate place on earth, as far as humans go.
..is that the closest snowman to the top right corner looks just like the others that have a brown fedora and a red scarf, but his head is on the ground, presumably knocked off.
And there’s another snowman just above the lower right corner, similar to the others in yellow scarves, who has only two buttons, instead of three.
To say either “doesn’t belong” is rather cruel … but one of them, maybe the two-button one, might be the one they mean, poor fellow.
I’ve been debating with myself for days about whether and how to write what I’m about to say. I’m struggling now. But some of you might want to know.
I’ve been having a hard time lately, because I got word last Thursday from his brother that one of my best friends had passed away Wednesday night.
I’ve lost several good friends in the last few years, a product of being in a certain age group, I suppose… and I never mention that stuff here.
But Gerard:D as he was called online, was part of our Cleo family… and far too young to leave us.
I met him posting here, and also on GoComics, so you might remember him.
He was a truly wonderful person, kind, caring, smart and funny.
In June of 2020, he commented that he’d been diagnosed with lymphoma.
After that, he never posted another word about the cancer, or his 9 months of aggressive chemotherapy and radiation, though it was terribly hard on him.
But he and I started emailing about it, and became very close… long distance, and of course, quite platonically.
Ever since then, until very recently, we’ve texted each other every single evening, to check on each other. It’s been amazing to me that he wanted to be friends with someone my age, but to him, it made no difference.
We gave him a Cleo party in 2021… for his 30th birthday…
(AFAIK, he was our youngest Cleoite.) Only a few of us knew that we were also celebrating his remission.
By then he’d already gone back to work, more than full time… Much too soon, I thought, but he insisted.
A couple of years ago, he stopped posting, but still read (and loved) the strip and the comments, while the only way he has shown his presence is by leaving likes on my posts, often not till the next day.
A year or so after his remission, he developed a heart problem, and eventually AFib. 6 weeks ago he endured severe complications after (supposedly) minor surgery, and had been in the hospital ever since.
And now he’s gone, at barely 34 years old.
Life is so unfair.
R.I.P., my sweet friend.
Dear Susan, that is so sad, let me hug you and let me send a “Rest in Peace” to your good friend.
I feel so much with you! How I can feel your woe and pain! I also lost friends like you do now!
(Maybe because of my age, 75, and having such dear good friends, too)
Thank you for letting us know, Susan. Indeed, very sad news for you to deliver to us, within our extended C&C family.
I too remember his posts. I vaguely remember his medical issue at the time, mentioned just the once.
The body does what the body does. 34 is too soon. Forever is too soon.
We don’t always get the three score and ten that was promised (Psalms 90:10)… My condolences to you Susan, and to the others. May he Rest In Peace.
Thank you, Bacon Boy… especially for understanding that I didn’t post this just for sympathy for my own sorrow….which is considerable, but because I see it as a loss to our whole online family.
He may not have been putting it online, while ill, yet working and commuting 60+ hours a week… but he never failed to notice and care about what happened here.
Allowed to text only infrequently from the hospital, he always asked about my health, and managed to ask about StelBel and Montana Lady, too.
Very sad indeed. My sympathies to you and his family. I only vaguely remember Gerard:D, and knew nothing of his travails. But 34 is unquestionably far too young in this day and age. 😥
So sorry to lose him, especially for you, but also for all the Cleoites. Maybe he’ll be able to greet you when it’s your turn to take the shining path.
Well, 15 minutes of simmering, after 10 minutes to pre-cook (saute) the carrots, and onions, with leeks only getting the simmering part, and cabbage that has only cooked for 5 minutes, would be okay for a crunchy stir fry… though the leeks you can get around here might not be digestible yet.
Red split lentils might be done, after a total of 21 minutes, but they’re hard to find. Our more usual brown ones that are mostly whole would still be quite firm, and maybe hard in the center.
I love raw crunchy cabbage, and eat it several times a week… but i like my soup quite soft, not crunchy, with the flavors well blended. Soothing and digestible.
I love to make borscht … Long and slow, beef or chicken broth, or the meat, with soft beets and cabbage, onions and potatoes and other veg.
I’d cook this one for another half hour at least, and an hour would transform it into something beyond its ingredients, which it needs, to give it flavor, cos there’s no strong broth.
My mother overcooked savoy cabbage.
It was disgusting.
Leek finely sliced and chopped savoy cabbage (minus the tough outer leaves and stalks) don’t take long until they are soft..
Red split lentils are easy to find here. They turn into mush after only a couple of minutes.
And the bouillon is already boiling which reduces the cooking time significantly.
In short: The vegetables in that recipe are made with things that aren’t easily available in decent quality where you live and more expensive than here.
We get savoy cabbage for about 1 € per kg when in season, and leek is a staple here. Red split lentils are easily available.
You don’t know how to treat savoy cabbage because of that.
Or good leek.
That’s OK.
That recipe just isn’t for you.
I too make broth from chicken bones, preferably in a pressure cooker. Cooking them until they turn into mush and strain the broth. The upmost green part of leeks (the tougher part; the white part is quite tender and cooks fast) goes in there, too – together with carrots, onion and celeriac. Dead cheap here.
I may be younger than you, but I pretty darn well do know how to cook.
I do something similar to this, although with farro. Like you, I like mine cooked longer, and it’s even better if it sits overnight so the flavors “ferment”. 😉 Add some rotisserie chicken and home made chicken broth, and you have something just this side of Heaven.
I used to be pretty salt intolerant, after years on a low salt diet… But my health changed, and I like a bit more salt than I used to.
Which is good because Costco rotisserie chicken is now way cheaper than raw, so it’s my usual way to buy chicken.
I use the bones to make a small amount of broth, and add the jelled juices from the bottom of the package, cook the veg, etc, in that, with usually noodles or potatoes rather than grain, and then add the small bits of meat that were left. Sometimes I use a small package of frozen mixed veg. Quick and very good.
The secret of bird carcass soup, for me, is not trying to stretch it too far. If I need more broth I use Better Than Bouillon, that comes in a jar. It’s better then canned broth!
And yeah… Overnight in the fridge makes better soup… Or chili, stew, or Italian red sauce.
I get so many meals from a Costco chicken. I’m going to have a chicken quesadilla Thursday for dinner. In a large tortilla: chicken breast chunks, shredded cheese and salsa. Fold over and heat until everything melts.
I save the bones for making chicken and dumplings. Toss them in the freezer until I’m ready to make it.
Me too… I eat it for a couple of days out the fridge, then cut it up and freeze it in smaller pieces.
I leave the bones in the wings and usually the drumsticks… Usually but not always make soup with the rest.
Then I can have chicken sandwiches, chicken salad, stir fry, tacos, etc whenever the mood strikes.
I used to eat a chicken in 4 days, but I eat less as I get older and I think Costco chickens are bigger… I probably get 7 or 8 meals plus the soup for my five bucks.
.
Puppy!
,
Another rose I thought was AI or Photoshopped…
But according to search, it’s real!
It’s a variety called the Ruby Green Twin rose…
But the only way I saw that you can order them is as seeds. I didn’t see any plants for sale.
Growing roses from seeds is difficult.
Growing hybrid anythings from seeds is not a process I trust, though they seem to come from real seed companies.
I’m wondering….
Anyway… When they open farther, some display more white in the petals. Lovely for Christmas.
..
A ‘Skitulip?
I was whether it was AI, but then I thought, nah…. He’s just holding the insect in front of the flower so they look joined, but they’re not.
But then… I found this weird little 10 second video.
Definitely AI.
I suggest turning your sound off or way down before clicking….
This site needs a “WOW” icon!
,,
Prototype of the Star Wars Landspeeder…
Interesting looking car. What did you have to do to change a tire?
Same way you changed spark plugs on a For Pinto — drop the engine…
Wow…. I remember having a cheaply made, light green plastic toy of this car, many many years ago…
It was just a shell, no insides, with two white plastic axles with molded on wheels. I remember one fell off, and I figured out how to snap the end back into a little U-shape notch inside.
There was a hole in the front, with a keychain in it .. I don’t know what for, cos the car was too big and probably too fragile to go in a pocket.
My dad said it was a Nash… I’m not sure I knew what that meant, but I remember.
I don’t think I’ve thought about it since we drove the dinosaurs out of Cleveland, till I saw this picture.
Wait – – – – you mean to say there are no dinosaurs in Cleveland?!?
Well, I moved away many years ago, so I’m not absolutely sure.
I can only say that if I still lived there, there would obviously be at least one.
Yes!!
‘Bout time!
.
By international agreement any satellite that is likely going to survive reentry at the end of its life is supposed to go here. The most desolate place on earth, as far as humans go.
And what about the poor whales?
.
WTH is that? And how many legs does it have? Six? Eight? Seven?
It probably has the right number of legs. That’s the only thing right about it!
Nope…
Nighthawks must have found an AI flower insects site.
BTW If I saw a 3 foot tall hydrangeahopper up ahead, I’d turn my bike around and pedal rapidly in the other direction.
Yes.
Yes, that’s him….
Appropriately, 27 years before the 2017 movie.
And that was scary even on TV.
That’s why I didn’t watch it, much as I like him.
correct!
He’s turning his head almost all the way backwards, as though he’s part owl.
a bird is more important
There’s a snowman?
Me! It’s to cold!
Well … I’ll keep looking, but
..is that the closest snowman to the top right corner looks just like the others that have a brown fedora and a red scarf, but his head is on the ground, presumably knocked off.
And there’s another snowman just above the lower right corner, similar to the others in yellow scarves, who has only two buttons, instead of three.
To say either “doesn’t belong” is rather cruel … but one of them, maybe the two-button one, might be the one they mean, poor fellow.
find the snowman that has no hat
All the ones with yellow scarves have no hats.
Over a dozen, at least
There’s a bunch of them.
The answer is in the box.
That’s the one I surmised, in my post…. though I said i thought it was cruel to say he doesn’t belong for that reason.
Poor snowman, if his snow friends are really that judgemental.
That’s snow kind of friend at all!
“All of the other snowmen used to laugh and call him names…”
😢
missing button–missing hat. ….uh, it was a auto correct !
yeah, that’s it!
I typed inBUTTON and it was autocorrected to HAT.
that’s my story and I’m sticking to it
I believe you.
That’s MY story… and I’m sticking to it. Kinda.
Tokyo
Tokyo …. The most populous city in the world.
37,000,000 people in its metropolitan area.
When I was a kid, I was taught that New York and London went back and forth for that title.
Neither is now in the top ten.
New York is just about half the size of Tokyo, and London is a bit more than half the size of New York.
A twofer!
These two should be easy, but I wonder what caused the look!
Okay… Deep breath… Cleo friends…
I’ve been debating with myself for days about whether and how to write what I’m about to say. I’m struggling now. But some of you might want to know.
I’ve been having a hard time lately, because I got word last Thursday from his brother that one of my best friends had passed away Wednesday night.
I’ve lost several good friends in the last few years, a product of being in a certain age group, I suppose… and I never mention that stuff here.
But Gerard:D as he was called online, was part of our Cleo family… and far too young to leave us.
I met him posting here, and also on GoComics, so you might remember him.
He was a truly wonderful person, kind, caring, smart and funny.
In June of 2020, he commented that he’d been diagnosed with lymphoma.
After that, he never posted another word about the cancer, or his 9 months of aggressive chemotherapy and radiation, though it was terribly hard on him.
But he and I started emailing about it, and became very close… long distance, and of course, quite platonically.
Ever since then, until very recently, we’ve texted each other every single evening, to check on each other. It’s been amazing to me that he wanted to be friends with someone my age, but to him, it made no difference.
We gave him a Cleo party in 2021… for his 30th birthday…
(AFAIK, he was our youngest Cleoite.) Only a few of us knew that we were also celebrating his remission.
By then he’d already gone back to work, more than full time… Much too soon, I thought, but he insisted.
A couple of years ago, he stopped posting, but still read (and loved) the strip and the comments, while the only way he has shown his presence is by leaving likes on my posts, often not till the next day.
A year or so after his remission, he developed a heart problem, and eventually AFib. 6 weeks ago he endured severe complications after (supposedly) minor surgery, and had been in the hospital ever since.
And now he’s gone, at barely 34 years old.
Life is so unfair.
R.I.P., my sweet friend.
I remember him and his posts. Knew nothing of this back story.
Sending hugs and comfort your way, Susan.
Thank you, Dorothea.
Dang. 🙁
Agreed.
Yes.
I’m so sorry to read this. Hugs to you
Thanks, Mary… hugs back <<U>>
Dear Susan, that is so sad, let me hug you and let me send a “Rest in Peace” to your good friend.
I feel so much with you! How I can feel your woe and pain! I also lost friends like you do now!
(Maybe because of my age, 75, and having such dear good friends, too)
Thank you, Marge.
Hugs to you, too…<<U>>
And yes, this is the decade where it truly begins, I’ve discovered.
In my 60s it was much more rare to have a contemporary pass away… in our 70s people talk as though it’s normal or expected. But it’s NOT.
And passing at 34 is completely unacceptable.
Thank you for letting us know, Susan. Indeed, very sad news for you to deliver to us, within our extended C&C family.
I too remember his posts. I vaguely remember his medical issue at the time, mentioned just the once.
The body does what the body does.
34 is too soon.
Forever is too soon.
We don’t always get the three score and ten that was promised (Psalms 90:10)…
My condolences to you Susan, and to the others.
May he Rest In Peace.
Thank you, Bacon Boy… especially for understanding that I didn’t post this just for sympathy for my own sorrow….which is considerable, but because I see it as a loss to our whole online family.
He may not have been putting it online, while ill, yet working and commuting 60+ hours a week… but he never failed to notice and care about what happened here.
Allowed to text only infrequently from the hospital, he always asked about my health, and managed to ask about StelBel and Montana Lady, too.
And yes… we’re never ready for that news.
Very sad indeed. My sympathies to you and his family. I only vaguely remember Gerard:D, and knew nothing of his travails. But 34 is unquestionably far too young in this day and age. 😥
Thank you, Liverlips.
Yes… and I’d say 34 is far too young in ANY day and age.
So sorry to lose him, especially for you, but also for all the Cleoites. Maybe he’ll be able to greet you when it’s your turn to take the shining path.
Thank you, Arfside.
No words, just sad.
Thank you, Saucy…
Me too.
So sorry to hear. All our Cleo & Co family are precious, One so young is particularly hard to take! ♥
Thanks Steve.
And yeah… I don’t use the word “tragic” much, but I feel like it applies here.
I have no words for this, that age is nothing, most people are still figuring themselves out at 34. My thoughts are with you and his family.
Thank you, MCTS.
So sorry to hear, all my prayers to you and his family
Thank you, Jay.
🖤😞
Thanks GC.
From today’s London “Daily Mail.”
Needs another hour to cook properly.
Only if you skip the stir-fry step and use the outer leaves of the savoy cabbage.
Well, 15 minutes of simmering, after 10 minutes to pre-cook (saute) the carrots, and onions, with leeks only getting the simmering part, and cabbage that has only cooked for 5 minutes, would be okay for a crunchy stir fry… though the leeks you can get around here might not be digestible yet.
Red split lentils might be done, after a total of 21 minutes, but they’re hard to find. Our more usual brown ones that are mostly whole would still be quite firm, and maybe hard in the center.
I love raw crunchy cabbage, and eat it several times a week… but i like my soup quite soft, not crunchy, with the flavors well blended. Soothing and digestible.
I love to make borscht … Long and slow, beef or chicken broth, or the meat, with soft beets and cabbage, onions and potatoes and other veg.
I’d cook this one for another half hour at least, and an hour would transform it into something beyond its ingredients, which it needs, to give it flavor, cos there’s no strong broth.
It’s all a matter of preference.
You do you, as they say.
My mother overcooked savoy cabbage.
It was disgusting.
Leek finely sliced and chopped savoy cabbage (minus the tough outer leaves and stalks) don’t take long until they are soft..
Red split lentils are easy to find here. They turn into mush after only a couple of minutes.
And the bouillon is already boiling which reduces the cooking time significantly.
Why do you want to keep arguing over soup?
Tastes differ.
Vegetables differ as to what’s available in different countries, their characteristics and varieties.
IE… we almost never see Savoy cabbage any more, and when we do it’s expensive, not for soup. I don’t think I’ve ever bought any.
Our leeks might be tougher cos few buy them, so maybe they’re older.
I’ve probably been making soup since before you were born, and I’ve cooked it many ways. I know how long my available ingredients cook.
As I said… I like mine cooked longer. You do you!
In short: The vegetables in that recipe are made with things that aren’t easily available in decent quality where you live and more expensive than here.
We get savoy cabbage for about 1 € per kg when in season, and leek is a staple here. Red split lentils are easily available.
You don’t know how to treat savoy cabbage because of that.
Or good leek.
That’s OK.
That recipe just isn’t for you.
I too make broth from chicken bones, preferably in a pressure cooker. Cooking them until they turn into mush and strain the broth. The upmost green part of leeks (the tougher part; the white part is quite tender and cooks fast) goes in there, too – together with carrots, onion and celeriac. Dead cheap here.
I may be younger than you, but I pretty darn well do know how to cook.
I do something similar to this, although with farro. Like you, I like mine cooked longer, and it’s even better if it sits overnight so the flavors “ferment”. 😉 Add some rotisserie chicken and home made chicken broth, and you have something just this side of Heaven.
I used to be pretty salt intolerant, after years on a low salt diet… But my health changed, and I like a bit more salt than I used to.
Which is good because Costco rotisserie chicken is now way cheaper than raw, so it’s my usual way to buy chicken.
I use the bones to make a small amount of broth, and add the jelled juices from the bottom of the package, cook the veg, etc, in that, with usually noodles or potatoes rather than grain, and then add the small bits of meat that were left. Sometimes I use a small package of frozen mixed veg. Quick and very good.
The secret of bird carcass soup, for me, is not trying to stretch it too far. If I need more broth I use Better Than Bouillon, that comes in a jar. It’s better then canned broth!
And yeah… Overnight in the fridge makes better soup… Or chili, stew, or Italian red sauce.
I get so many meals from a Costco chicken. I’m going to have a chicken quesadilla Thursday for dinner. In a large tortilla: chicken breast chunks, shredded cheese and salsa. Fold over and heat until everything melts.
I save the bones for making chicken and dumplings. Toss them in the freezer until I’m ready to make it.
Me too… I eat it for a couple of days out the fridge, then cut it up and freeze it in smaller pieces.
I leave the bones in the wings and usually the drumsticks… Usually but not always make soup with the rest.
Then I can have chicken sandwiches, chicken salad, stir fry, tacos, etc whenever the mood strikes.
I used to eat a chicken in 4 days, but I eat less as I get older and I think Costco chickens are bigger… I probably get 7 or 8 meals plus the soup for my five bucks.
Can’t beat it!