Huh. I just wouldn't have thought they'd be called that, I guess.

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Wait, Chase got hacked? I have a credit card with them and haven't gotten any notification.

Me either. There's this letter on their website:

[link]

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My evil pine nuts were from Earth Fare, where I tend to expect better standards than evil Chinese pine nuts! I will be going with walnuts for the forseeable future for my mild nutty needs; I find sunflower seeds too strong. I should note that the Pine Mouth is better today that yesterday and sweet things tend to make it worse than non-sweet things. Also mr. flea at some pine nuts (but fewer than I did) and did not get it.

stories of how to make shoes not hurt

Moleskin ahead of time. After the fact of blisters I think you are SOL. Also, I never walk long distances in shoes that aren't well worn in (and preferably Dansko stapled clogs).

Re: American culture, there was a hilarious thing in the Times recently by a woman who had just gotten back from the Peace Corps in West Africa and went to a Manhattan Post Office. The conversation went like this:
Her: "Hi, how are you?"
Post Office Person: "Fine."
Her: "How have all the members of your family been?"
Post Office Person: "What the fuck? Do you want to buy some stamps or what?"

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I didn't know there were crisis pregnancy centers that were OK? Huh. I just associate them with the whole "You are pregnant and if you abort you are going to HELL!" thing.

OTOH, those women need maternity clothes too, I suppose? But yeah, that's a little awkward, Jess.

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Wait, Chase got hacked? I have a credit card with them and haven't gotten any notification.

Technically, a marketing company (Epsilon) that a number of corporations use got hacked, and email addresses were stolen. There was no account information taken.

I got the notification from Chase when I logged into my online account. Best Buy sent me an email.

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Modified cannabinoid THC offers pain relief without the buzz

It appears that 5-desoxy-THC is a very specific painkiller. It blocks reflex responses to pain, but doesn't inhibit higher-level processing of painful sensations; on the plus side, it doesn't have the psychoactive side effects of the THC from which it was derived.

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I think the Italians are hoarding their pine nuts, because the only ones I can find in the grocery store these days are from China.

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If anybody was planning on a trip to Dallas, might I suggest Nov-Feb? [link]

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Is that why costco used to have pine nuts for $15 a lb and then they didn't for awhile and now it's $25, sigh?

That post office story makes me laugh. I am sympathetic to how americans fail t see the value in other cultures if only because travel tends to help that and international travel to distinctly different cultures is prohibitively expensive here. We'd have way more passport holders if a bunch of countries were short train hops away.

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Oh Tom, happy belated birthday to you!

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