Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member Latest Breaking News Editorials & Other Articles General Discussion The DU Lounge All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

mopinko

mopinko's Journal
mopinko's Journal
June 22, 2025

asking for thoughts on dog food.

so, my bully dog is losing hair on her sides. weird pattern, same on both sides. no sign of skin irritation, just hair loss. took her to the vet. nothing wrong they cd find. recommended a fish oil supplement, but i’m a bit skeptical. vets seem to rec a lot of supplements/alt treatments that have not been proven, or in some cases disproven. like chondroitin supplements which have never been proven to repair cartilage.

i’m thinking i cd afford a higher quality dog food for her. maybe a fish based 1. i dont think the whole hog ppl food is worth the money. but curious is anyone has thoughts on what brands r worth the money.
i’ve fed purina to most of my dogs on the rec of my long time vet. many vets rec them, as they do have the strongest research arm. my dogs have always lived to a ripe old age.
currently feeding a brand called optim, which is what the breeder fed.

so, just wondering what folks here think.

June 15, 2025

hearing 75k in chgo yesterday. here's the thing, tho-

that was just downtown chgo. (i suspect that’s low.) and that’s after many impromptu crowds in the past week as ice has shown up here. but there were also protests in at least a dozen suburbs, some of them pretty red. i dont recall that happening b4.

there were 3,000 in evanston. there were a couple hundred seniors on the northside, outside a senior living bldg. the burbs that had big turnout have been trending blue since sick fuck 1.0. they showed up. but even those still red places had good crowds.

whatever numbers they’re bandying about, trust that it’s low.

June 9, 2025

rubber bullets.

just thought this song from the troubles is appropriate. rubber bullets r not harmless.

May 27, 2025

i just wish to point out that 1 reason we spend what we do on the social safety net

is that wages have been suppressed for DECADES.
when the majority- 60%- of the population dont make enough to meet basic needs, of course things like snap and housing assistance sky rocket.
it’s bugs me no end to hear about a crisis in “affordable housing”. ppl cd afford housing if they were paid a living wage. that’s a lot easier to fix than finding ways to build housing cheaply enough for ppl making a poverty wage.
my greatest disappointment in the last 2 dem administrations is the failure to fix the minimum wage. $15/hr isnt even enough.
it needs to b indexed to inflation.

May 26, 2025

for memorial day-

got to go to my friend’s monthly song circle yesterday for the 1st time in a while.
sang this 1. it was much appreciated.

May 11, 2025

got a boiler problem.

so, a bit of back story- my 10 yo boiler has been banging all winter. works fine, just noisy. i called the guys who installed it, they said it’s limed up and shd b replaced. i know it’s been 10 yrs, but they wanted twice what i paid. i figured i wd wait, at least until this tariff nonsense settles down.
but that seems a little quick to have failed. we have pretty soft water here. they said they cd do a flush, but they’d have to cut a pipe to add the chemicals, and the couldnt guarantee anything.
so i figured it couldnt hurt to just flush it myself, w just the water flow. so, i started that yesterday-
put a hose on the drain, and cut off the feed and the return, wanting to just flush the boiler itself. well, i got water for a few minutes. a bit of white stuff, but not that much. then nothing even tho the inlet valve was open. tho this worried me, i opened the other valves to let the whole system drain. got a fair amount of black sludge, but no more white stuff.

closed everything back up, but noticed no sound of water coming in. opened the bleeder on the upper most radiator, got a weak little hiss for a few seconds, then nothing. clearly, it’s not refilling. waited a while, opened the bleeder again, same. this morning it was same.

so i went and looked over everything (i dont know THAT much about boiler systems, but i’ve been living w 1 for almost 40 yrs now. this is my 3rd boiler.) i found a valve on the fresh water inlet that i didnt know the function of. so, that ja for google image search.
it’s a pressure valve, linked below. this appears to be the problem. it has a lever to fast fill. threw it, nothing.
so, reading up, and several pros say it’s not usually that the valve fails, but that there is a screen that clogs. i’m tempted to open it up, cuz i wont b getting any heat anyway. how much more broke can it get?
i have no doubt that my local excellent hardware store will have this valve. i have a contractor scheduled for tomorrow at my 2flat, and figure he can replace the valve if needed. it’s threaded, so it isnt a huge deal.
meanwhile i have a fireplace, so i wont freeze. it’s supposed to b nice most of the week.

so, before i venture out onto this limb, any advice from my betters?

https://www.plumbers-supply-co.com/2825533/product/bell-gossett-110191lf

May 9, 2025

ftr, leo is a sox fan.

CHICAGO — The Cubs looked for awhile like that they had a pope in their corner. But not so fast. Pope Leo XIV is actually a White Sox fan, his older brother said.

Born at Mercy Hospital and raised in south suburban Dolton, the earlier reports that Pope Leo XIV was a North Side fan was a surprise that was hailed by the Cubs’ Marquee Sports Network, citing ABC News.
snip

But later in the day, an ABC7 reporter caught up with one of the pope’s older brothers, John Prevost, and asked him to confirm the report.

He said it wasn’t true.

“He’s a Sox fan,” John Prevost told ABC7.

The confusion may have stemmed from the fact that their mother, the late Mildred Prevost, was from the North Side, John Prevost said. Their late father, Louis, was a St. Louis Cardinals fan. But Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, chose the Sox.
https://blockclubchicago.org/2025/05/08/pope-leo-xiv-is-a-sox-fan-despite-early-cub-fan-reports/

May 8, 2025

pope jokes from a chicago legend.

king of improv, jonathan pitts, my good fb friend-

The new Pope’s from Chicago! So here’s 8 Chicago style Pope jokes:
Chicago’s phrase “I got a guy…” for whenever someone knows somebody who can help, is now, “I got a guy who knows God.”
How did Pope Leo get elected so quickly? The old Chicago way: vote early and vote often.
Putting ketchup on hot dogs will be considered a venial sin.
Pope Leo will finally declare whether Chicago deep dish style pizza is a pizza or a pie.
Improv will become an additional liturgical language spoken in Catholic Masses.
Pope Leo will heal the division between Cubs fans and White Sox fans.
"They pull a sin, you pull a cross. He sends one of yours to the hospital, you send one of his to hell. That's the Chicago way. Thats how you get Satan.” - The Untouchables (Remix)
It’s officially ok to refer to him as “Da Pope”.


cuz most of what i have to say is a bit sharp.

Profile Information

Member since: Tue Oct 28, 2003, 08:34 PM
Number of posts: 72,743
Latest Discussions»mopinko's Journal