RIP Casey Kasem. I hope he was completely oblivious to the family battles surrounding him.

That would be a mercy, Laura.

Try number 3 at Day 1 of my triathlon training (I've actually done okay the other two times with Day 1, just never yet managed to get through Day 2 for various reasons...), which is to say swimming. 81-year-old father told me I had a pretty good stroke since it took me 23 strokes/length. I am not too sure how much credence to put into that, but it's nice to hear.

Put new batteries in one of my old heart rate monitors beforehand in the hopes that it would work as a stopwatch if nothing else (I'm allowed to rest for 30 seconds at the end of each length right now, but there's only a clock at one end of the pool) but my taking off and putting back on the back seems not to have preserved its water-resistance. Rats.

Here is a Slate article on the Kindly Brontosaurus: [link]

I'm intrigued. Has anyone tried this? Did it work? Does it cross the line to annoying passive-aggressive?

I think I would take great joy in foiling the plans of the Kindly Brontosaurus--especially if she had the smirk of that woman in the illustration.

Highly scientific article on what ate great white shark Alpha: [link]

Watching Who - finally on S7 and finally done with the Ponds. I realize that may not be a popular opinion.

The movie is to be watched after S7, right?

I think a man might have a harder time executing the KB than a woman because gender assumptions make it harder for a man who won't go away to come off as non-threatening.

That's why it works for men. It is very threatening to have a man standing just off to the side, clearly expecting something and being very focused. It's not a nice technique. At best it is passively aggressive, but it is aggressive.

But the writer was a woman. so was the friend she described as using it. People tend to get mulish about being threatened. The writer was of course exaggerating about calling the method "foolproof". It is Slate, after all. Using absolute language where it does not belong is one of the things they are best known for. But I suspect it would work more women than for men. When a women does it is annoying, but not threatening. While many would have Connie's reaction, a harassed clerk with too much to do might find it easier to give in - especially in cases (unlike most of those cited in the article) where what was being asked was reasonable and the clerk was just being a dick. (In the article, it was mostly the KB who was being a dick, asking way more than was reasonable.) If a man does the KB I'm guessing that Connie's reaction would be much more probable, with a large side of calling security.