Syrmax

We troll you for entertainment! Sizzle Sizzle...

Big Torch setting up for the end of Nov thru New Years!

I was in Europe for 2 weeks, just got back. Was trying to get as much Amsterdam Sizzle as I could.

Because I am fully vaxxed, just needed a rapid antigen test to get back into US (and for entry into Netherlands). I got it at Schiphol airport in Amsterdam the day prior. It cost €85. There were much cheaper options in the city but this was more convenient and i got results back in about 20 minutes, so it was a burden lifted and I enjoyed one last night in the city without worries. A lot of mask use in Europe, required on mass transit and planes and dining. Restaurants, pubs in the bigger cities were more rigorous about checking that you were vaxxed upon entry. Outlying areas...not so much. I didn't have a QR code as I'm not living in Eurooe but everyone accepted my US CDC vax card. I didn't want to bring it and risk losing it but def glad I did. A couple places were uneasy about the photo on phone so after that I brought it everywhere.

Rainy in Amsterdam tonight but not too cold, maybe 50...

Statues of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels...

Definately Climate Change related. Extreme Moon? Sorry, bored and trolling from Berlin Airport. Oh look, they've changed my departure gate to Amsterdam without telling anyone. FFS, I could've been sitting here trolling and missed flight. Gorgeous wx here last 2 days, not a cloud and 55-60. Almost a tad Sizzly walking around

Seriously?

Just hanging out with two BFFs here in Berlin. Last time I saw this Statue was 1989 and it was originally located elsewhere, closer to the DDR gov't buildings and had "wir sind unschuldig" (we are innocent) spray painted at bottom. Glad I missed the rain. Weather has been good in Berlin, around 50 for a high each day, i'd say. Just a sprinkle so far in changeable conditions. Fall foliage nice here, much more advanced than Netherlands.

No Sizzle here in Amsterdam. Actually in Brugge Belgium now, which incredibly nice medieval city. They made a movie here circa 2008, "In Bruges." Good flick. Weather has been very changeable and chilly. Locals said Summer was mostly crappy. No Amstersizzle for them.

Sizzle Sizzle...

Same thing here. One bathroom door began sticking a bit, actually during Summer. Never saw that in past 15 years in this house. I started looking for door/hinge misalignment but everything looks tight. Weird. Another downpour from the lake just started. With small graupel mixed in....A month later and this event would be Snowvemberish... This could be my first frozen precip of season...

Fact. My 2 day rainfall total was 2.44" with over an inch of Lake effect type rain...almost never happens when it's colder.

I'm flying to Amsterdam tomorrow and then Berlin on the weekend. Temps look chilly compared to what we've had the past 2 months. At least today and tomorrow will acclimatize me a bit to cooler weather.

I do! Thought about ditching some but won't yet.

You will. Up on the Tug...

Fear not, i'm sure that our usual "SizzleMas" will arrive on schedule. Even if PV is parked over top of us for months...

Similar rainfall yesterday here. Looks like most of the heavier rain stayed south of Syracuse. Still made for a skanky day. We cancelled golf plans although we could have got it in during the early a.m. but still would have been soggy. I should have worked on indoor projects but spent the day watching football and soccer. At least the Giants won't go 0-17 now.

Yup DTdfM6lV4AAa6zM.mp4

Good point about "recreational" temp data versus "official" in terms of temps. We'd all clearly accept the official station data over other sources but...it doesn't seem credible that they're ALL wrong and biased in the same direction on a consistent basis. Definately something going on.

That's what I thought also...at least those are the stated requirements from the US Dept of State on their website. Requires proof of Vax to fly overseas and also a neg antigen test prior to returning (w/in 72 hrs of flt). However I also was talking with someone that went back to visit home in Europe last summer and he said noone asked him either....on either leg of the trip. Not the airlines or customs in any country. I'm planning on going to Amsterdam and Germany next month so I'll be curious to see what's up. Being vaxxed, I don't need a test to get there but US has been requiring a neg antigen test for everyone entering US (unless you're illegally entering ), even if you are vaxxed. Whether anyone is actually checking is another question...

Faceberg is a total crap other than seeing what friends might be up to. The "news" and moronic political posts make for a cauldron of idiocy.

That would be soooo awesome! A sizzling rain here. Just what we need...

Yeah its interesting. Doesn't explain everything going on but its a factor. Both parties rely on certain shibboleths to hold their traditional base voters. If you challenge those, the ideologue reacts as if you are challenging their religion or birthright. Which it sort of is. Taibbi touches on one thing i've seen in my lifetime that's underappreciated...that the GOP base has been enlarged by middle/working class voters, in part due to dissatisfaction with the results of globalization...which was brought to us by the Meritocracy, for our own good of course. People aren't stupid so they sense they're being screwed and react. Hence, some of the reason that Bernie Bros and Trumpists share more than a little common ground on that issue. The Dems used to position themselves, and still try to, as the working class party and also as champions of free-enterprise and social democracy goals (welfare state)... but they've lurched further left into neo-Marxist identity politics (anyone disagreeing is dumb/racist/misogynist etc). I've heard this from acquaintances / bar conversations where anyone who doesn't agree with their version of events or ideals (usually Republicans) are dismissed as dumb and worthy of being discriminated against. It's really quite appalling to hear come out of people's mouths. I just sit and stare at them wondering if their past-lives were as Vernichtungslager or Siberian Gulag guards. Not that most Dems are neo-Marxists mind you but they are forced to cater to it to appease their progressive base...not unlike how Rumpists are pushing the GOP further right with their conspiracy-addled thinking in conjunction with the social conservative base (see TX heartbeat law etc). There's a grain of truth to both extremes but left to their own devices, either would be a horror show of governance.

I'd suggest taking a listen to Matt Taibbi's short dissection that addresses at elements of this topic: Does America Hate The "Poorly Educated"? Its quite recent. It's not paywalled and 15 minutes of coherent obervation. As one of the multiple "credentialed" in society I've listened to this phenomenon for years now but couldn't put a finger on it. Matt does.