The AH Coffee Shop and Reading Room 02: A Comma (is a Restful Pause)

Handley_Page said:

I don't reckon much to this "summer" stuff at all: Cloudy, cool & breezy.

A relaxing cup of coffee is needed, I think

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Sigh, I wish.. the electric bill is gonna be huge this month. 3 am and it is close to 80 outside. Supposed to be another high 90s day. We have been breaking, or coming close to breaking, temperature records right and left the last couple of weeks. But at least I don't live in the desert. It has cooled off to a whopping 92 degrees, at 3 am, down there.

Good morning gang, what nefarious mischief are we plotting this morning? Uh, story wise, I'd hate for the wrong people to read that the wrong way.

Lots of writing going on here, along with a side trip to a friends house for a BBQ and swim party. I'm not much on swimming anymore but i do love to float around. Some places have man eating sharks, I think of myself as more of a woman eating alligator.

Fresh coffee for all, especially me.

There is cinnamon raisin toast on the counter so help yourself. There's a vat of real homemade churned butter around here somewhere. Nothing but the good stuff.

TxRad said:

Good morning gang, what nefarious mischief are we plotting this morning? Uh, story wise, I'd hate for the wrong people to read that the wrong way.

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I should be able to finish off the renaissance menage a trois part of this story, then I'll still need to write the "protagonists screw up and bad guy gets away with the key to the spirit world" part before it's done.

French toast and lawn mowing first, though.

Wow! Slept in until almost nine am! Munchkin on a sleepover.

Breakfast Fuzzy Navel - Eight ounces peach seltzer and four ounces orange juice. Yum!

Sunny and cool here, absolutely gorgeous!

The rain, thunder, and lightening started here about an hour ago.

sharingfantasies said:

But at least I don't live in the desert. It has cooled off to a whopping 92 degrees, at 3 am, down there.

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It's not that bad on this side of the rim. We got down into the 60's over night and the next couple days are supposed to stay in the high 80's. We could even get a little thundershower and maybe knock down some of the wildfire smoke.

Dang, I started a barn burner of a story a few days ago and wrote like the dickens, but now I've hit a wall at like 3k words. My POV character is having the (sexual) time of her life, but she is in a harrowing situation and she knows it, having just whispered to one of her friends not to let her dad find out. Her friend (who came with her to the bar tonight) is in an even more distressing situation. Now I guess I need a super likeable Dad to show up and rescue the girls but I am at 3k words and it's all been in the girls POV so I don't know how to do it and I don't really do super likeable Dads all that well anyhow.

Hurmph. (Huck makes a scowly face)

Is there a fresh pot?

There is something I really like about this piece, so I'm really hoping I can find a way to keep it moving.

HuckPilgrim said:

Dang, I started a barn burner of a story a few days ago and wrote like the dickens, but now I've hit a wall at like 3k words. My POV character is having the (sexual) time of her life, but she is in a harrowing situation and she knows it, having just whispered to one of her friends not to let her dad find out. Her friend (who came with her to the bar tonight) is in an even more distressing situation. Now I guess I need a super likeable Dad to show up and rescue the girls but I am at 3k words and it's all been in the girls POV so I don't know how to do it and I don't really do super likeable Dads all that well anyhow.

Hurmph. (Huck makes a scowly face)

Is there a fresh pot?

There is something I really like about this piece, so I'm really hoping I can find a way to keep it moving.

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There's always a fresh pot somewhere.

Does it have to be dad? How about a stranger who may or may not be a nice guy. Are they out of the fire and into the frying pan or are they safe from the harrowing situation? Maybe their savior was someone they nodded to one the way in the club or someone they saw across the room earlier. There are a number of ways to work someone in.

There are always other ideas.

TxRad said:

There's always a fresh pot somewhere.

Does it have to be dad? How about a stranger who may or may not be a nice guy. Are they out of the fire and into the frying pan or are they safe from the harrowing situation? Maybe their savior was someone they nodded to one the way in the club or someone they saw across the room earlier. There are a number of ways to work someone in.

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Friendly next-door neighbour ?

What I really need is some coffee.
And the F1 race from Azerbaijan was a real mess.

In the name of the gods - Coffee - please

Handley_Page said:

Friendly next-door neighbour ?

What I really need is some coffee.
And the F1 race from Azerbaijan was a real mess.

In the name of the gods - Coffee - please

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One coffee coming up.

For that track, you really need two cars. One for the corners and one for the long straights. Brake and tire temps for one part don't work with the other. That is one crazy track layout. Monaco on the one hand and Moza on the other.

TxRad said:

One coffee coming up.

For that track, you really need two cars. One for the corners and one for the long straights. Brake and tire temps for one part don't work with the other. That is one crazy track layout. Monaco on the one hand and Monza on the other.

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So I noticed this afternoon. Poor Lewis came 5th after he had to pull in to have his headrest adjusted and did not have sufficient laps in remaining to catch up.

But for now, a cup of tea would be real nice.

PS. Can someone please explain how a Judge can get 'unelected'.
What's this 'voting' thing ?
I was reading a story the other night and the main character had a dispute with a Judge.
"Ran into the judge who handled my first attempt and ordered us into counselling. She was just an ordinary citizen now, having lost by a landslide. She was there for her second divorce. "

TxRad said:

There's always a fresh pot somewhere.

Does it have to be dad? How about a stranger who may or may not be a nice guy. Are they out of the fire and into the frying pan or are they safe from the harrowing situation? Maybe their savior was someone they nodded to one the way in the club or someone they saw across the room earlier. There are a number of ways to work someone in.

There are always other ideas.

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Good point!

I am letting the story rest today and doing some editing. Well, I was doing editing. It's too hot to edit or do much of anything today. I'm hoping to go see Wonder Woman and sit in a cold theater. If that doesn't happen, I'm going to the pool to sit in the water.

I like the idea of a stranger, a neighbour, or someone or something surprising happening. Foo on taking the story in a typical direction! Tomorrow I'm going to write the next scene and see what happens to the girls.

Handley_Page said:

PS. Can someone please explain how a Judge can get 'unelected'.

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I was just talking about judges and elections on another forum.

In the US at least, some states elect judges and in other states judges are appointed. It's about 50/50 which states do which. I'm too lazy to look up the numbers right now, but I remember being surprised because we do elections where I live. I thought appointments were only for the high courts.

I have never heard of a judge being "unelected", just not re-elected. Federal judges come in two kinds.

Federal Article I Judges

Article I courts are created by Congress to administer the laws that Congress writes. These can include bankruptcy courts, tax courts, and certain military courts. Judges are appointed by Congress and serve for 10 years, after which they may be reappointed.

Federal Article III Judges

Article III courts are general trial courts and can hear any kind of federal case. These include the federal trial courts, appellate courts, and the Supreme Court. The judges for these courts are nominated by the President and confirmed by Congress. Once in office, the judges can remain in their positions for life.

State judges are selected in different ways depending on the state.

Appointment: The state's governor or legislature will choose their judges.

Merit Selection: Judges are chosen by a legislative committee based on each potential judge's past performance. Some states hold "retention elections" to determine if the judge should continue to serve.

Partisan Elections: Judges selected through partisan elections are voted in by the electorate, and often run as part of a political party's slate of candidates.

Non-Partisan Elections: Potential judges that run for a judicial position in states with non-partisan elections put their names on the ballot, but do not list their party affiliates. Terms for judges in non-partisan elections can range between 6 and 10 years.

Nothing is done in an easy way in the US. Wonder what happens to Article II? Maybe it doesn't deal with judges.

Handley_Page said:

...
And the F1 race from Azerbaijan was a real mess.
...

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Yes, but a glorious mess! At least we had a (kinda) different group on the podium. It was fun to see the middle-of-the-field pack come to the fore. I was hoping that Williams, ForceIndia and Renault would do well. I guess One out of three ain't bad

TxRad said:

...
For that track, you really need two cars. One for the corners and one for the long straights. Brake and tire temps for one part don't work with the other. That is one crazy track layout. Monaco on the one hand and Moza on the other.

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True. Last year's race at Baku was fairly uneventful. This year - weird. I wonder how long they'll keep it in the mix. (It's already on the 2018 calendar.)

Handley_Page said:

So I noticed this afternoon. Poor Lewis came 5th after he had to pull in to have his headrest adjusted and did not have sufficient laps in remaining to catch up.
...

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That was unforgivable, on the part of his team. He ought to have won. Today's results put him still further behind Vettel

I'm glad that all means something to you guys. It's random words to me.

"Hey, bilt Rhine some what. Should've smeared by Howard. Que smooch."

NotWise said:

I'm glad that all means something to you guys. It's random words to me.

"Hey, bilt Rhine some what. Should've smeared by Howard. Que smooch."

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LOL@NW.

This is Formula 1 auto racing.

F1 is relatively unknown in the USA, but it is by *FAR* the biggest, most expensive, and most technically advanced form of motor sport in the world (followed by Le Mans). At a glance the cars look like Indy cars - but they're actually very different. There are +21 races in different countries around the world, and the winner is declared the "world champion". The annual budget for each car runs close to half a billion, about 15 times an Indy car's annual budget.

It's a big deal, and formats like Indie and Nascar pale in comparison (IMHO ).

Haulover said:

It's a big deal, and formats like Indie and Nascar pale in comparison (IMHO ).

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I know all that.

There's no shortage of reasons to sit on my butt and stare at the TV. I'll do enough of that when football season rolls around.

"He was in that A gap like bang! The center watched on his backside. Broke his jaw I think. Yeah. Probably broke his jaw."

Today's my Lit anniversary. I joined Lit on June 25, 2005. The drinks're on me tonight, fellow AHers!

HuckPilgrim said:

I was just talking about judges and elections on another forum.

In the US at least, some states elect judges and in other states judges are appointed. It's about 50/50 which states do which. I'm too lazy to look up the numbers right now, but I remember being surprised because we do elections where I live. I thought appointments were only for the high courts.

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Interesting - all judges in Australia are appointed, and then have tenure until retirement or removal. So they are appointed by the government of the day, but then outlast those governments by decades in some cases. From what I can see, the appointments are generally apolitical and based on judicial merit as a barrister - a blatantly political judge probably wouldn't get appointed in the first place (usually it's a bi-partisan thing where politics is set aside for the greater merit). I can't imagine what you get with an elected judiciary in the US - I assume the voter turn out is the same or less than for elections generally?

glynndah said:

Today's my Lit anniversary. I joined Lit on June 25, 2005. The drinks're on me tonight, fellow AHers!

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Our good witch has a kinky side i see. Body shots or do we pour them where we want and lick them off?

My Lit anniversary was back in January and I missed it completely. Are they numbered straight up or do they have a multiplier like dog years?

Fresh coffee for the morning crowd is ready.

Write or bed? Now there is a question for the ages.

electricblue66 said:

Interesting - all judges in Australia are appointed, and then have tenure until retirement or removal. So they are appointed by the government of the day, but then outlast those governments by decades in some cases. From what I can see, the appointments are generally apolitical and based on judicial merit as a barrister - a blatantly political judge probably wouldn't get appointed in the first place (usually it's a bi-partisan thing where politics is set aside for the greater merit). I can't imagine what you get with an elected judiciary in the US - I assume the voter turn out is the same or less than for elections generally?

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Retirement is compulsory at 70 but that possibly needs review and perhaps putting up to at least 75.

In two jurisdictions politically biased judges are in fact the norm. When a notoriously left wing attorney general of NSW was in office he appointed two judges to the Workers Compensation Court that between them found over 700 consecutive cases in favour of the plaintiff. One of them in his entire career never decided a case for the defendant.

The other jurisdiction which is politically biased is the Industrial Courts to which a judge never got an appointment unless he was a Union Lawyer of long standing.

Things are better now but in the 80's and 90's there were some dreadful appointments.

Fortunately appointments to the higher courts, State District, State Supreme Courts, and the Federal Courts have always been non political.

ishtat said:

The other jurisdiction which is politically biased is the Industrial Courts to which a judge never got an appointment unless he was a Union Lawyer of long standing.

Things are better now but in the 80's and 90's there were some dreadful appointments.

Fortunately appointments to the higher courts, State District, State Supreme Courts, and the Federal Courts have always been non political.

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Ah yes, forgot about that lot!

Phoning my Bank can be a real trial.
After waiting 12 minutes for someone to answer the phone, I get another 10mins wait after "I'll just transfer you now".
Then we go through the who security shooting match again.

Gimmee coffee - Please

Handley_Page said:

Phoning my Bank can be a real trial.
After waiting 12 minutes for someone to answer the phone, I get another 10mins wait after "I'll just transfer you now".
Then we go through the who security shooting match again.

Gimmee coffee - Please

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Here you go, with a big hug to go with it. Hope the rest of the day is waaaaaay better.

And now, my own coffee. Breakfast and off to an early start this morning. Going to write for an hour and then bolt off to work.... love early in the morning, it's all cool and crisp and you know the day's going to be scorching hot and you'll be working in air conditioned comfort .....