It definitely did. I remember it vividly (I was alive back then). And I’m talking about the premium services, specifically (e: which was the point of my comparison: the premium paid services back then advertised no-ad service, then included ads, just like the premium streaming services are doing today).

Here’s an article from the NYT in 1981 on the topic:

WILL CABLE TV BE INVADED BY COMMERCIALS?

e: a quote:

Indeed, even pay television, once assumed to be secure from commercial interests, is attracting some attention as a potential vehicle for advertising. Admittedly, such leading pay cable services as Home Box Office and Showtime, whose programming consists primarily of theatrically released films, staunchly maintain that they will never accept advertising.

A: they’re betting most people will accept it, and they’re right. The same thing happened in the early 80s when cable television advertised themselves as the pay-for-ad-free service, then started sneaking ads in. People complained, sure, but we all saw the outcome. They got away with it.

B: Greed, capitalism, and fuck you.

Say what you will, this is an efficient and elegant way to store your adapters. I’m envious.

Go mow the lawn, kid, or you’re not getting your allowance this week.

I wasn’t talking about the Cold War, though. The US was deeply involved in several hot wars during that period, including the Laotian Civil War, the Dominican Civil War, the Cambodian Civil War, the bombing of Libya, the Tanker War, the US invasion of Panama, and others. The US has literally never not been involved in some war, somewhere. That’s kind of its thing.

I never watched The Hardy Boys. I should see if it’s streaming. He seems dreamy, too.

e: oh shit, it is!

1774?

But if I use my silica packets for that, how will I season my rice?

8 track tapes, Intellivision, rotary phones, my first crush was David Cassidy.

Some caravanserai had libraries

I’m feeling a major drive to watch Avatar again.

Oh no. Well, you’re doomed.

you ended up wading through mud

Horse shit. In cities, you waded through horse shit.

As someone who has done extensive reenactment in period dress, sometimes in towns dedicated to realism that banned cars and relied on horses for travel, you wouldn’t believe how terrible even a dozen carriages and a few dozen private horses can be to your skirts/trousers and shoes. Especially when it rains.

People sometimes make light of women in the past who changed their outer clothes two or three times a day, but if you were in town, your attire would be absolutely foul after a few hours in the same outer skirt. A long cloak helped immensely to keep your skirts or trousers from soaking up horse sewage.

Once cars took over, that stopped being a problem, cloaks weren’t as desirable as they obscured fashion, and coats became shorter and more for protection from the weather than from horse shit.

There was a bit of military influence, but that was more about fashion than functional influence.

e: clarification

Rawr.

Am I the only one seeing Godzilla here?

Siamese are highly intelligent problem solvers and escape artists. They’re famous for opening doors and drawers, turning on taps, and getting up to more mischief than normal. And you have two of the beauties.

Good luck!

I don’t get many contextual opportunities to share this story, but yeah, I get you. I like snakes fine if they’re not in my personal space, and they’re really good at blending in.

When I was 13, we were driving from Phoenix to a town in Mexico. There’s a long stretch through the desert before you reach the border that’s literally nothing but highway. Before you hit it, there were signs pointing out the last place for gas and refreshments, with a ‘now or never’ vibe. It was the height of summer, so of course we stopped and I got the largest drink I could find.

It turned out my eyes were bigger than my teenage-girl bladder, and about midway through the most desolate stretch, I had to pee badly. We pulled over, I hopped out, and made for a set of dead bushes that were the only cover in range suitable to protect my modesty. I squatted awkwardly – everything was hot and pokey – and just as my business started, I heard a sharp rattle from right behind and below me.

I panicked and launched myself forward, just spotting a coiled rattler in a patch of shade under the bush, who was pretty annoyed I’d nearly pissed on him. I scrambled back to the truck, ass bare to the world, too scared to bother with my shorts.

My family found it hilarious and I didn’t live it down for years. I learned two things that day – rattlers will usually warn you before wasting their venom on something too big to eat, and fear (or humour) always trumps dignity.

TLDR: Always check the shade under bushes before pissing in the desert.

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I think society will collapse first, likely due to mass displacement and migration due to climate disasters which will make more people willing to accept fascism.

I hate to break it to you, but spiders live everywhere.

These look rather small, too.

Me: shitty fast food, cheapish beer, and watching the Star Wars 1978 holiday special.

It’s all uphill from here.

This. Charisma is an innate but subjective quality, and panache is how you use what you have.

Like ‘pink’ is charisma, and ‘flamingo pink’ is panache.