The Distract me from 2020s P&CE Thread Part Trois

It’s been great weather hasn’t it? We took a walk down Sutton Creek near Florence OR with Bandit the border collie.

 

Octopussies using shells as shields. Orcas ramming rudders on boats. Now this:

Scientists are rethinking what cattle are capable of after an Austrian cow named Veronika was found to use tools with impressive skill.

The discovery, reported by researchers in Vienna, suggests cows may have far greater cognitive abilities than previously assumed.

Veronika, a cow living in a mountain village in the Austrian countryside, has spent years perfecting the art of scratching herself using sticks, rakes, and brooms.

Word of her behaviour eventually reached animal intelligence specialists in Vienna, who found Veronika used both ends of the same object for different tasks.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cj0n127y74go

 

Anybody spells Veronika with a "K" is gonna be spicy

 

It's been wonderful and looks like it's going to stay nice through Sunday. Bandit must love that. I miss having dogs. The Oregon coast is every bit as beautiful as we'd heard.

 

Only thing spicier would be VeroniXXXa on Cinemax in the 80s

 

I tried to post a photo but my phone was “updated”?

 

Damn updates. I try to avoid 'em but sometimes they sneak 'em in on you. Then you're running around trying to remember your passwords and you've lost half the familiar features.

 

We went to Costa Rica back in the early 80s with a view to moving there. So sorry now that we didn’t.

We spent 6 weeks there. On the plane we met a CR business man who insisted renting us a Toyota jeep type car. (BJ cruiser) For $10 a day. One great thing as we traveled was the exchange rate was 8 colones to the $. In one day it went to 45. ( It went to 80+ while we were there. Now I believe its almost 500) The official word went, only change at a bank. Hey sounded great so i went to a bank and changed a couple of hundred bucks. Then i saw a money changer offering 55, so i got in the line with another couple of hundred bucks. I looked behind me and in line was the bank guy with the money I’d just changed with him. He just shrugged

We lived really hight on the hog. We’d camp a couple of nights and stay at luxury hotels for a couple. Just a great 6 weeks with wonderful moments.

Like we stopped at a store looking for good maps, we were looking for land perhaps a beach or farm. After a moment the nice guy in the store said “Where are you from?” Los Angeles says I. “No where are You from” I get it. England. No, where are you from? Got it now, Liverpool. “I thought so, my wife is from Liverpool..!!!

We had dinner at their house that night. With an invite to stay and camp at their extended family place on the beach. They had about 30 family members at this place. “And we’re selling a bit of beach property you can look at.”

They rate Xmas as summer. Technically its winter north of the equator but its the dry season.

OK bare with me. We head north into the Guanacosta region. Stop at another bank to change Travelers checks yep that how it was done. The bank manager took the checks to verify them. They’d had some fakes.

While he was doing that a guy comes out of the manager’s office. They’d been sharing a bottle of sherry, really. He said “I see by your passport that you’re English. I worked for the CR consul in England and was married to an English Lady.”

We had dinner at his house that night..!!!
Turns out he owned half of the Guanacoste it seemed. Beautiful daughter and son who was a world champion Polo player. The servants and live in chef seemed more like family friends. He brought out a well worn National Geographic to show that they’d written an article on him in regards to the Guanacaste.
Got me drunk on sherry the old bugger!!!

Interesting, We ate with him at Xmas. His house was next to the place with the family we stayed with.

Next day he marked a beach on the map and said, I never get there any more. If you want it, Ill make a real deal. Gosh it was a beautiful little bay and a really beautiful price.

Yes, we thought hard about moving.

BUT I HAD A NICE BUILDING BUSINESS WITH ALL MY ASSETS TIED UP IN PARK CITY UTAH.
JIMMY CARTER WAS PRESIDENT.
“””BOOM””” WENT THAT DREAM OF A PRIVATE LITTLE BOUTIQUE RESORT ON THE NW CORNER OF CR…!

I’ll be 88 come May. “Regrets, I’ve had a few…” and CR was one.

 

Don't send drunk DMs, people

 

Hey...when is "old enough to know better" supposed to kick in?

 

Today is the anniversary of the Apple 1984 commercial.

Kids, if you don't know what 1984 is, get Apple Intelligence to tell you.

 

We're supposed to get over a foot of snow this weekend here in NoVA. Which means the grocery store are packed with people buying milk and toilet paper.

It never occurred to me that the best way to get through a snow storm is to sit on the pot and have a glass of milk, but apparently that's the way to do it.

 

Yeah, but that's also men predicting a certain amount of inches. Any woman can tell you how good men are are doing that.

 

That’s something you should ask yourself. I’m not as old as you.

 

Ah. Back when the Super Bowl was still in January.

 

The NFL has a sizeable portion of games starting after 8pm. Very few of those fans miss work the next day and, I'd guess, the majority of them are the ones who attend and live far away. Almost none of the TV audience for the primetime games miss work the next day.

Things we know:
1) People miss work in such great numbers on the Monday after that it's some sort of unofficial "Call Off Work Day".
2) People miss work in such great numbers the Monday after that there's been discussion of moving the game to the Sunday of Presidents' Day.
3) So many people watch the game that the overnight programming on that channel typically sees a ratings bump. The lead-out programming is a big thing where there's usually a debut of a new show or some sort of themed-programming with a huge piece of the show's story. Some random show might get 3-4m viewers each week, but the Super Bowl lead-out might five times that much.

So what, millions of Americans get drunk, pass out on their couch before the game ends and leave their TVs on and they get so shitfaced for a 6pm game they need to call off work?

What the hell?

 

Checked out Mt Rainier today - did not summit.
14,410 feet, highest peak in Washington.

 

Belgium wants to fix up its bumpy roads and thinks it is logical that the Dutch contribute

The Dutch have to pay money to be able to use the Belgian road network. The Dutch seem to be more concerned about this than the Belgians, who actually think it makes sense.(right) A Flemish traffic expert explains.
Vera Warmenhoven January 24, 2026, 09:30 Last update: yesterday at 12:17
After years of talking about how Belgium can finally improve its roads so that you can drive smoothly over them instead of feeling like you're on a fairground ride, the time has come. The governments of Flanders and Wallonia have drawn up a plan to raise more than 130 million euros for the road network. Unfortunately, this is partly due to the wallets of the Dutch. It is possible that an access ticket to the road network will cost about 100 euros per year. Flemish traffic expert Dirk Lauwers explains the plan and explains how Belgians view this road vignette.

 

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Rock climber Alex Honnold reaches top of Taipei 101 skyscraper without ropes during Netflix’s ‘Skyscraper Live’ - AOL

 

Because the Dutch love spending summer in southern France!

 

Yup, and Spain.