"Pre-Order Your Copy Now" - March 11, 2021

[Bob cruise director]

Good Pi Day muggles. I probably should send this out at 1:59 but instead I will include this https://www.gocomics.com/foxtrot/2021/03/14

And we have two new muggles since yesterday. Welcome twistedladder and ScottOBX to the family

We have 14 on the ship and 175 on the shore which reflects the greater difficulty from the last month.

New to the ship are
Scott M
hunkra
eagle1279
cbarbee
jb321123
Olaf
SusieG
BreeZynCO
Annabelle

and with apologies to Al who I missed yesterday, the growing large but not record setting group on the shore are

TeamDoubleTow
Al
copperriver
cinemagical
Ergcat
Jeremy
rosiegirl
hissongle
higgysue
Dennis
paige
Dow Jones
Richard
Brian M
JeanneC
CPJohnson
Michelle B
twistedladder
Jackie88
Kris Zacharias
wb93
Burak
ScottOBX
PJM

[agatha]

Still on the ship. I will blame the lost hour this morning. Anyone up to give a nudge?

[TheCatt]

Onshore! The first "2 star" one we've ever gotten. Finally! Sure, it took us from Friday until now, leaving and coming back... leaving and coming back.. but we got there.

[Franklin.Bluth]

On shore enjoying a pink Mountain Dew. Really!

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to go back in time and tell my 15-year-old self what the future is like. Of all the things that would blow his mind, I think the fact that Mountain Dew now comes in red, blue, purple, white and pink would be near the top of the list. I don't know if he would find it cool or funny or pitiful to learn I love them all.

Here is the thing I’ve never gotten about things like multiple flavor Mountain Dew or Oreos or Kit Kats...Why? I don’t understand and never have and I would need to see empirical data to believe that it makes business sense. There might be a small amount of new market share captured but mostly I feel like it simply cannibalizes the brand. I don’t feel like there are many people out there who were like I’m NEVER drinking Mountain Dew but I’ll sure as heck try a Mountain Dew Code Red.

I came across "Brookie-Os" the other day. Oreos with three layer filling made up of Oreo cream, cookie dough, and brownies. I defy you to say you wouldn't eat the heck out of that.

[EVJ]

ASHORE!!
Uffda! That took me all weekend. I was just getting ready to ask for a nudge when I thought “Hey, wait a minute, is this something?” and sure enough it was.
Bob, you already counted me ashore earlier so don’t double count me.
Good luck to all.

[Jb321123]

Ashore thanks to a first time nudge from boharr.

I can check something off my weekend list!

[Richard]

I guess I need a nudge or two.

Thanks

[xwordcoco]

Ashore!!!! That was cool--third time and feeling 100%.

[TPS]

I came across "Brookie-Os" the other day. Oreos with three layer filling made up of Oreo cream, cookie dough, and brownies. I defy you to say you wouldn't eat the heck out of that.

I probably would but I like Oreos - but if I didn’t and say I liked Chips Ahoy instead would adding a new flavor or multiple layers make me more inclined to try it? IDK but probably not.

To me it’s sorta like when I go to a Chinese Buffet and they also have like pizza and chicken wings. There is an additional cost to having those terrible wings and slices of pizza under that heat lamp but is having those offerings actually driving anyone in the door to a Chinese buffet?

[ajk]

Finally ashore thanks to a kindly nudge. In retrospect, can't quite figure out why it played so hard for me, but I guess that's the way it goes. Apologies to any fellow Lagavulin fans for Issac's severely depleted stock.

[jhseeman]

ON SHORE.... with a great little nudge...funny you often can't see what's directly in front of you....SCREAMING.

[WSJosh]

Ashore!

[boharr]

From https://www.niemanlab.org/2021/03/the-n ... -in-print/

"At The Wall Street Journal, for example, a team looking to increase subscribers’ active days found that playing a puzzle had a more dramatic impact on reader retention than other actions the team had been promoting to new subscribers, such as subscribing to an email newsletter or downloading the Journal’s app."

[Richard]

On shore with a nudge.

I rate this way very high. For me lots of stuff to mislead but a very nice meta.

[BreeZynCO]

Finally ashore. Thanks for the nudges. Now off to make some pie.

[ajk]

Finally ashore. Thanks for the nudges. Now off to make some pie.

Seems like a good activity for today. Snow is impressive (at least up here in FC).

[hunkra]

Finally made it to shore -- needed a couple nudges -- had the right idea, but was being dense. I can't wait to see (on Monday) if anyone else thought the answer was something else I was stuck on. Off to finish boiling all that sap we collected this week!

[KayW]

On another topic, I was so excited and thankful to get my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine yesterday! Second shot already scheduled for 4/2 - Good Friday - which in my book will be EXCELLENT Friday this year.

And overly impressed with myself that this geezer managed to take a left-handed selfie while someone jabs a needle into my right (dominant) arm:

shot.jpg

(I opted for shot in dominant arm because I usually sleep on my left side. But so far I haven't had any soreness or other side effects.)

Hey dere, I see yer gettin' yer shot over dere at the Jewel's.

Hoping they open up the United Center for everyone soon, as I'm a 10 minute bus ride away from there. But I won't be eligible until everyone and their cat gets it first.

Since you're also in Chicago: this was a pop-up vaccination site, co-hosted by my alderman (Hopkins) and "the Jewels". They held it in the long-vacant Treasure Island location on North Wells. I found out about this because I'm on his email list, which I highly recommend if you live in the second ward. Even if you don't. This is one of those very rare times where I give thanks and praise to a local politician - Hopkins seems to be very pro-active on this issue. The event was well-organized and all the volunteer staff were most helpful. They also required you sign up for both shots at the same time, which I thought was fantastic because I know people who got the first shot and then really had to scramble to schedule the second dose in the proper time frame.

Best luck to you and everyone else still hunting!

And this also gives me an excuse to amuse Chicagoans and non-Chicagoans alike with a map of my ward. No, it's not a lobster or a space-invader. This is a map of Chicago's 2nd ward. Conveniently located right next to the definition of gerrymandered in the dictionary.

chicago-second-ward-map.jpg

[FKelly]

I'm so lost I can't even find Isaac's bar.
I stumbled out of steerage chasing a red herring or two (I think) and found myself tangled in cables stowed on the orlop deck.
I could use a nudge to help get dis-entangled.

[KRM]

Done.