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[Elendil's Heir]

True. I usually only wear flipflops to cover short distances, like from the house to the garbage can when I take out the trash, or from the car to the beach.

TNP has been swimming in a lake or ocean this summer.

[Jizzelbin]

The...Master....would not...approve! (ETA, yes, that was my impression of Torgo from Manos: The Hands of Fate)

TNP will walk pretty far out on rock jetties to do whatever, but is pretty damned cautious of riptides.

[Elendil's Heir]

Yes to both. The closest I think I ever came to drowning was when I was caught in a riptide with two of my boys off the North Carolina coast some years ago. VERY scary.

TNP prefers a pool to the ocean.

[Jizzelbin]

Yeah. I like the part where someone handcuffs your ankle to a grate at the bottom of the urine-and-feces-infested pool. Trust me, it happens all the time!

TNP is a big believer in bleach. Lysol, too.

[Elendil's Heir]

When needed, sure.

TNP has seen Red Dragon with Anthony Hopkins and Ed Norton, and liked it.

[Jizzelbin]

No. Both are fine actors, but I suspect there isn't as much blood-and-guts psychological horror/terror as I'd like in my movies.

TNP is more than competent at at leas two basic swimming forms (not counting dog-paddling or treading water). You know, like the crawl or the backstroke. Stuff like that.

[Elendil's Heir]

Yes. I love to swim, and once taught swimming, rowing and canoeing at a Scout summer camp.

TNP has swum a mile in one go, as I have.

[Jizzelbin]

No. That sounds kind of like a long ways to do something I hate. I never made it very far in BSA because of my very poor swimming skills. But I can row a boat, paddle a canoe, and operate an outboard-motor fishing rig. And be dragged behind a boat on an innertube. Although I never tried swimming with bow-legged women: that could make the difference.

Question: a mile without taking a breather (by, I don't know, treading water or floating on your back or hanging onto a buoy or something) is pretty far to swim, right? I have no idea.

TNP has attempted some home remedies for stuffed-up ears, beyond just rinsing them out in the shower with soap and water or going excavating with a series of Q-tips You know, like pouring a bit of hydrogen peroxide in or, apparently, some people use some other products.

[Elendil's Heir]

False as to those home remedies. Stuffed-up ears have never been a problem for me, fortunately.

Doing a Mile Swim is definitely a Scout thing. I did it several summers in a row, before I was on camp staff and then during. It's both boring and exhausting; I doubt I could do one today. But I was younger and stupider and definitely more fit back then. It took about half an hour or so, as I recall. Around and around we went! You were allowed to stop and rest, such as by floating, but you weren't allowed to touch the bottom or side of the pool, or to hang onto or even touch other swimmers - that was an automatic DQ.

TNP has been water skiing in the past year.

[Jizzelbin]

Not really. It's kind of difficult, is my impression, and doesn't seem like much fun, what with the water and such forcibly sucked into one's noseholes and everything.

TNP believes, however, that feats of strength combined with nonchalance are sufficient, but not necessary, to lure woo the ladies. Alternate TNP can say that he or she is annoyed by people who use "necessary" and "sufficient" without knowing what those terms mean.

[Elendil's Heir]

Yes, feats of strength can impress some ladies, if not all. Or so I've been told....

TNP has purposefully flipped a coin in the past week.

[Jizzelbin]

Actually, yeah. It sounds kind of dastardly, or inordinately compulsive, but yes. I don't remember the exact situation, but I do remember physically flipping a coin in the air and catching it on the forehand. No idea why, but I do remember it in the past week.

TNP is mildly annoyed at flipping money smaller than a quarter USD. Dude, there's a reason "nickel and dime bullshit" is a phrase. However, TNP finds the modest quarter-dollar USD a pretty good little denomination for things like playing coin-op machines, or doing stupid prestidigi TNP can do that little rolling the quarter (or larger) piece around the knuckles of one's hand pretty good.

The real TNP is extremely annoyed by people "singing" who should probably not be. Jeez. The voice carries, you shrill schizo harpies! Tone it down, tuck it in, whatever! Yeah, I've never had a complaint in twenty-five-plus years of playing keyboard instruments probably a dozen different places, and it isn't for lack of trying. Just tuck it in. Learn to use a microphone, or something.

Assholes.

[Elendil's Heir]

Yes, I have heard some bad singers over the years, and one guy who insisted on singing along at a choral concert when the program clearly asked everyone not to.

TNP sang in the shower in the past week.

[Jizzelbin]

No. For decades, since I was twelve, my go to shower song was the Commandant's thing from Mozart. "Don Giovanni, a cenar teco! M'inivitaste, è son venuto!" No, now it's all business and as quick as possible. I don't like showering at all, but I find it's necessary, about once or twice a week, so I just pull up my pud and get it over with. Screw you people, wet wipes and underarm deodorant work just fine, as does regularly washing one's face. If I stank, believe you me, some of my people at work would get up my ass over it and make fun of me. Just the minimum, just the facts, and get the grit from pollen out of my hair and scrub my back.

TNP's worst sleeping habit is routinely falling asleep at one's desk, just slouching down in one's chair.

[Elendil's Heir]

No. Although I've been known to take the occasional nap in my office when time permits, my worst sleep habit is just not getting enough of it at night. I'm too much of a night owl.

TNP knows, without looking it up, the name of the first actor to play Dr. Hannibal Lecter (spelled "Lecktor" in that movie).

[Jizzelbin]

William Pederson (sp?) Probably not, but so what.

Top is angered that golf shirts typically lack a breast pocket, and thinks cargo shorts are a barely acceptable supplement

[Elendil's Heir]

I don't wear golf shirts, so I can't say it's bothered me in the least.

As to the mad doctor, it was Brian Cox:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Cox_(actor)
https://cdn-static.denofgeek.com/sit...er-gallery.png

TNP has been to Atlanta in the past year.

[Jizzelbin]

No, it's been quite a few years, and I can't say I'm eager to return. Only mild offense meant to the good people of the state of Georgia, but great offense meant to the virtually uninhabitable climate.

TNP sometimes lacks a good literate retort when friendly people give you a funny sobriquet, like "Hey, Big John!" The default, sub-optimal replies would be something like, "Yo, what's going on," IOW plenty of convivial spirit but not quite as full of spirit.

More generally, the real TNP will agree that's it's by far easier to initiate a friendly bit of "Yo <nameplay>" than to respond. For example, "Hey Carl Carlos of Rossie!" "Jimmy James!" And, as a corollary, it's far easier to respond to nonspecific bits of endearment, like "Howdy-ho, sunshine!" "I'm liking that shirt, sugar!" Or whatever.

[Elendil's Heir]

Agreed. I have a friend and coworker named Joe whom I often greet with, "Hey, Joe, whaddya know?"

TNP personally knows at least three Joes.

[Jizzelbin]

Yeah, I think so. Not close friends, and one (AFAIK) only goes by "Joseph." Yeah, definitely I know three at least "Joe/Joseph"s.

TNP thinks the hardest part of his or her job is the stress of having to check and double-check and possibly fix other peoples' mistakes, who are supposedly on one's own team.

[Elendil's Heir]

Not the hardest part, but it can be a factor, that's true.

TNP is feeling a bit behind at work these days.

[Jizzelbin]

Yeah. I feel way behind, and it's not even my job to concern myself with that. Just constantly picking up the slack.

TNP had the good fortune to work with a cat who had a pretty awesome Serpico-style straw sun-hat recently. Don't see those too often, but pretty fucking slick. And useful.

[Jizzelbin]

Oh, fuck. No, I'm just correcting my earlier response, just for...well, I just should. Yeah, I forgot family members on my distaff side. Jerry Joseph, and all the rest. There's a fucking ton of them, and, yes, Joseph was pretty goddamned common as either a first or middle or baptismal name. Don't ask, it just seemed disrespectful to forget that. None of them went by "Joe" as a nickname, though, AFAIK.

[Elendil's Heir]

No, haven't seen one of those hats as far as I know.

TNP thinks Serpico did the right thing in standing up to his corrupt fellow cops.

[Jizzelbin]

Absolutely. And paid the price by a lifetime of being shunned and vilified by his so-called peers — among much worse things. I believe he's still writing articles in his retirement and not missing a chance to call out the miliarization of the police and the general us-vs-them mentality of people who are supposed to be helping lead their communities, rather than hiding behind dehumanizing technology and a shoot-first attitude.

An incredibly brave man, and supposedly a nice, mellow human being in his quiet life which I believe he takes great pains to keep very private, for his own safety. I'd consider it a very great honor to share a bottle of nice Italian wine with him.

TNP finds rainy weather to be just plain kind of depressing.

[Elendil's Heir]

Yeah, a little, although it can also be nice just to be inside, cozy and dry, and to hear the rain falling outside.

TNP knows someone directly affected by Hurricane Dorian.

[Jizzelbin]

No, not for sure that I know of. One of my sister's close college friends was killed in a boat off the SoCal coast, I think ultimately by a fire that somehow wasn't handled at all. I don't know the name of the storm, but I'm pretty it was a hurricane or cyclonic event that set of the chain of events.

TNP takes it for granted that professional mariners take fires very seriously on a ship or boat. Apparently that isn't the case.

[Rube E. Tewesday]

Sadly, life has taught me you can't take anything for granted.

TNP has a bunch of nagging pains they didn't have a mere month ago.

[Jizzelbin]

Yes. I'm leaving aside the two spots of tendonitis (fingers 2 and 3 on LH, posterior tibial tendonitis), because those are old news. The new charming appearance is nearly perpetually being sick to my stomach, most surely due to poor diet, chain-smoking cigarettes, and occasionally drinking things harder than soothing, relaxing beer. Second, a nice painful sporadic spasm in my LH. Could be a symptom of tetanus, but probably not. Also, one of the front lower quadrants of my gum/teeth is just plain not good at all. I don't know if "three" counts as a bunch, but it's plenty.

TNP is resigned to being somewhat perpetually depressed/cynical these days, for various reasons.

[Elendil's Heir]

Now and then, but not perpetually, I'm glad to say.

TNP thought he or she had a free evening tonight but has just learned of something that's come up.

[Jizzelbin]

Yeah, sort of. Not anything serious, just something I felt compelled to take care of sooner rather than later.

TNP can somewhat understand the logician Kurt Gödel's favoritism of frozen foods towards the end of his brilliant life and career, and does not think his tastes were terribly ridiculous.

[Elendil's Heir]

Huh, no, I never knew that! I have some guilty pleasures foodwise (Chef Boyardee, Arby's), though, so why shouldn't he?

TNP knows, without looking it up, who Dr. Richard Daystrom is.

[Jizzelbin]

I haven't got one clue at all. Real-life inspiration for Dr. Doom? Probably not. I have no idea at all.

TNP considers himself or herself reasonable literate, however he or she would not be ashamed to admit entire domains of enquiry about whose luminaries he or she knows nothing about. And, for fun, TNP should give an example.

[Elendil's Heir]

Oh, sure. I could tell you very little about quantum mechanics, cellular biology or metaphysics, for instance.

Dr. Daystrom was a computer genius in the original Star Trek's "The Ultimate Computer": https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Richard_Daystrom

TNP remembers that episode.

[Jizzelbin]

I guess I must turn in my nerd card: I just cannot remember that specific episode. And, since it's my turn to be ashamed, I sort of stopped watching TNG after the Borg plot arc got to be a bit much.

I did wear my "hjkl" T-shirt after my original shirt got soaked with sweat today. So stuff it, nerds! And, yes, I know damned well what the graphic indicates: I'm not the best at vi/vim, but I use it every day for many hours, so therefore I'm allowed to wear it. I should find a nerdy T-shirt about the version-control software/protocol called "Git" to match. Yes, that is no shit: I find knowing Git is incredibly useful, even for people just writing text or whatever.

Nah. My next T-shirt, I finally grew a pair and am going for the replica of Booger's baseball-style shirt from Revenge of the Nerds. Probably like my HJKL shirt I can only wear it once every few months, but it'd be worth it.

TNP truly does not know how certain women can really "do" the whole "skin-tight, stretchy, medium-colored shape-forming dress." Sundress, or just whatever? Sure. But there really are some women who can go in the other direction, and I'm glad to be there. No, I'm not talking about my mom, you fucking perverts. Just a nice change of atmosphere.

[Jizzelbin]

Oh, ETA, that wasn't really a question about domains of enquiry, but about "big names" in various fields. For example, in physics, I'm pretty sure most people have heard of Gell-Mann or Dick Feynman, or in logic Quine or Gödel or Church or in maths Hilbert or Cantor and so forth.

There are whole domains about which, I suppose, and I did suppose, one could go one's whole life knowing nothing about the progenitors. Like...I don't know....probably a lot of people like movies and stuff and don't know about __________, or look at magazines and don't know about Daguerre's photographs, or look at mountains and don't know who John Muir was. I don't know, stuff like that. Computer people not knowing about Ada Lovelace or Leibniz or Dijkstra or something. I don't know.

EETA OK, not "perverts," more like "sons-of-bitches!"

[Elendil's Heir]

Yes, women are often a mystery to me. And "certain women" delightfully so.

TNP has been in a library today.

[Jizzelbin]

No. It's actually been a few years since I've needed to use their resources.

TNP is both hot and cold on the old paper chase of finding rare but indispensable texts and making hundreds upon hundreds of photocopies, at not-insignificant expense in monies and time. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, yadda yadda.

[Rube E. Tewesday]

Pretty much all cold on it, in all honesty. I would have loved the Net when I was young.

TNP could use a martini, very dry, very cold, right about now.

[Jizzelbin]

Yeah, about a few hours ago I would have probably killed a hobo for a few good martinis, provided they were very cold and very dry. Hell, even just a bottle of dry vermouth would have done it. I slaked my thirst with beer instead. When regular people's "lunchtime" is, is about beer-thirty for me.

TNP despises the POS entry system most bars and restaurants use and have used since...a long time ago. For the reason that once a bartender "comps" you a couple of beers, if she keys it in and you say, as is right, "No, keep it," it probably ends up as a short in her till. Actually, that's wrong: she rings me up for a gajillion beers and I had twice that amount, that's the same for the bookkeeping. The tip goes where it's meant to.

TNP has not found people striving for accounting excellence to be particularly good at mental arithmetic.

[Elendil's Heir]

I don't have a big enough sample size to answer.

TNP knows a trusted accountant.

[Rube E. Tewesday]

Well, I have an accountant, and I pretty much trust him, so, yeah.

TNP has pretty much no brand loyalty for things like toothpaste.

[Jizzelbin]

Well, I prefer to not cheap out on toothpaste, but, yes, I don't particularly care what brand it is. I couldn't tell you what brand is on the tube I'm currently using: I think it's Crest something or other. Similar items? No, I don't really care, just whatever happens to be on the shelf at the moment.

TNP pretty much despises going out "shopping" for little household items: huge black hole of time and effort, but it has to be done every now and again.

ETA TNP finds himself or herself using the term "despises" quite a bit to describe lots of things in life.

[Elendil's Heir]

Not often, no.

TNP has seen The Martian but wants to see it again.

[Jizzelbin]

Not so much. I saw it and was entertained, but I don't really feel an urge to see it again. Interstellar, possibly, among recent space-jockey movies, but I don't know if there's much I missed about The Martian that I want to explore. Could well be mistaken, and probably am, but it just wouldn't occur to me as something I'd want to do.

TNP has actually "clinked" glasses with several people over the past week: I didn't know people still did that, but apparently, yes.

[Rube E. Tewesday]

Not in the past week, but did it a ton when on a cruise ship a couple of weeks ago.

TNP is kinda hoping the weekend would hurry up and get here.

[Jizzelbin]

Suckas! It is the first day of my weekend, and I plan to take full advantage of the weekend it by sleeping as much as possible. It being Friday the 13th, I probably shouldn't leave my place anyway today. Well, I can probably risk a short trip to the grocery store....if I dare tempt fate.

TNP has some kind of odd superstitions. Maybe not Friday the 13th, but you know, whatever. No obligation to share one's hidden quirks.

[Elendil's Heir]

No, not really. I'm not superstitious by nature, and I've never noticed that bad things tend to happen on Friday the 13th.

TNP has no objection to black cats, walking under ladders or breaking mirrors.

[Jizzelbin]

Sort of. Walking under ladders just seems like shaking hands with danger, as does breaking a mirror (or any kind of glass), really. Black cats are fine, though. There is a tale of an abnormally large spectral black dog called "Black Shuck" that roams a part of the English countryside, but then again, Led Zeppelin says it's OK.

TNP is thinking about getting a pedicure one of these days, primarily to fix some abnormalities in one's toenails.

[Elendil's Heir]

Ha! No, but I clipped my toenails just this morning. My left little toe's nail had gotten long enough that it had actually torn off a little (painlessly), so I decided it was time to clip 'em all.

TNP has spoken to an elected official today.