Tax day

 

Random Monday

Another work week stretches before me. The good news is Friday is a holiday so it will be a short one, in days anyway. I will once again spend my time dealing with tariffs and their effects on business. So it goes. I’m thankful I have a job. Two months from now, unless things change, well, we shall see, and pray for the best. 

The birds are singing in the new day. It is dark still outside my northwest facing window. The parade of neighbors heading to work will start in 30-40 minutes. 

I’m off early next week for now-rare work travel. It will be good to get some windshield time. I love being home for dinner with my wife every day, but I miss the road a little. 

I think I have solved a great conundrum that has stymied my next great American novel and caused months of writer’s block. Maybe. Now I have to find the time and motivation to put it to paper and see how it flows. Maybe I’ll get it published this year after all. We shall see. I thought it would get done last year. I should not be surprised, the last one took more than 10 years to write. 

Have a great Monday. 

Sorry not sorry

We could have spent the day doing yard work. The backyard is a mess with fallen branches, old leaves, the detritus of winter. The lawn needs mowed after last week’s rains. The porch and patio need power washed and the patio furniture cleaned. The chairs for the front porch need to come out of the garage. The gate to the fence needs repair . 

Of course we decided on a road trip! 

It wasn’t far, just to the outlet mall south of Indy. On the way we stopped at a diner. I had breakfast even though it was lunch. The “meal” I chose was far too much food — Biscuits (4) and gravy, eggs over easy (3), home fries (fresh made, not frozen), and bacon. I refrained from breaking open my eggs over the gravy for my wife’s sake who is grossed out by runny eggs anyway. I couldn’t finish all of the biscuits, but I did eat most of the gravy. It beat the heck out of anything Cracker Barrel puts on a plate. The wife had chicken salad on a croissant. Good for her. I win, I had bacon and sausage. 

I made a lap around the mall, ducking into just two stores, purchasing nothing. She made a day of it. I sat in the car listening to an audio book and watching and smirking at people wandering the lot trying to remember where they parked. 

We grabbed a late burger to bookend our late lunch and motored home. I plopped on the couch next to the wife and we binged the last three episodes of 1923. 

I could spend today doing yard work…

That’s all I’ve got

 The Keurig spit out coffee as I sat on the end of the couch in the light of the sun streaming through the patio doors. The melting frost glittered on the blades of grass outside. I reflected, not for the first time, that a little sun makes the day so much better, even if it is cold outside. 

I’m in a good mood so I’m not going to delve into politics or economics or the state of modern movies. I woke up breathing and I am blessed beyond anything I deserve. That’s enough. 

Have a great Saturday.

In my head this morning

 

I saw Fleetwood Mac on the Tusk tour at the old Market Square Arena in Indy.  It was a fantastic show but probably the loudest concert I ever attended.  My ears rang for two days after. 

John McVee is an underrated bass player.

And for Sluggy — lots of cowbell

Help me Rhonda

Can someone, anyone, explain why de-extinction of Dire Wolves is a good thing? 

Did none of the investors read “Jurassic Park?”

My sad life

My life is pathetic. I woke up this morning because I was thinking about spreadsheets. Instead of dreams about Esther Williams in that one white swimsuit or going to Tiffany’s with Audrey Hepburn, I am dreaming about how to combine parts of three different convoluted spreadsheets easily. 

I know. 

In other news, a significant amount of stuff you buy at Walmart or Target is going to double in price in the next three months or so. Do you suppose you can get a factory built in the next ninety days to mitigate the massive tariff you will have to pay? 

On the bright side, the price of oil is down. Thats a good thing. 

I apologize in advance

It is freezing outside. I mean that literally. And when I say literally, I mean it in its true (literal) definition; as in as written, true, exact. It’s cold for April. 

I was going to search the archives for a story I published here about the Battle of Shiloh which concluded on this date in 1862, but that seemed like a lot of work for a not too good piece of fiction. You can look for it yourself. 

Here is a lousy Monday joke instead:

Why was the Chinese meal so expensive?

The cookies were a fortune. 

Go forth and make it a mediocre Monday. 

Still the rain kept pourin'

The rain continues, but it should taper off later today. Rivers are out of their banks, fields are flooded. For a bit yesterday I had a river running through the backyard. 

Apparently rain makes me sleepy. I dozed off watching the baseball game in the afternoon. I fell asleep on be couch around 10:30 before wandering off to bed a bit after 11. Somehow I slept until after 7:00. I probably could lean back in the recliner and take a nap after I type this. 

No reason at all

I have moved Friday music to Saturday this week. Don’t question it. It just is. I thought some early Beatles would do nicely this morning. If you don’t agree you can start your own blog and post Friday Music on a Saturday morning. 

Intermittent rain continues here at the old homestead. If it keeps up the town will have to resume its old sobriquet of Mudsock, so named because of the muddy swampy conditions of the town. To be safe I’ve started drawing up plans for an ark. 

It remains cool. I’ve yet to don a pair of shorts. In fact I had to pull out a long sleeve shirt yesterday. What the heck Mother Nature? I suppose this is the Global Warming I’ve been hearing about? 

I thought not. 

Unbelievable

The leaders of the Democratic Party just sued the President to allow illegals to vote in Federal elections. *

I wish I was joking.

If you support this,  please don’t come back here. I’m serious. Begone.

If you continue to consider yourself a Democrat, why?

*they are suing to stop you from having to prove you have the right to vote as a citizen, but isn’t the result the same?

Heck, I got. “c” in economics

Here’s a thought, it would be great if the stuff we now source from low cost countries returned to be manufactured in the USofA. I’m for it. How much are you willing to pay to make that happen?

A T-Shirt made in Indonesia costs about $20. The worker makes about $15 a day. 

What will that shirt cost when produced in a union mill where the worker will make in excess of $15 per hour plus benefits? And yes, we all know that $15 is not even close to what the worker will make. It will be much higher.

There is a reason so many cheap consumer manufactured goods moved out of the US. We don’t like it, but often the truth is painful. 

We want US made goods, we don’t want to pay for them. 

Many of us are barely scraping by now. How is raising prices going to help?

I might be wrong. I was one other time. 

Ridin’ the storm out

It was a bumpy evening weather-wise. I’m pretty sure that was true if you lived anywhere from Dallas to Toronto. Multiple tornadoes were in the immediate area and one was sighted about 1/2 mile from the homestead. High winds and sideways rain painted a scary picture.  The wife and I even ducked into the closet under the stairs for a few minutes. Somehow, in all of the excitement we kept both power and cable, a true weather miracle. 

After sunrise I’ll check the roof and house for damage. As always,  it could have been worse. God once again looks after fools like me. 

Here is a view of the sky as the storms receded:

Truth

 

Are you kidding me?

I’m not one for April Fool’s jokes or pranks. Apparently Mother Nature is not above such hi jinx. There is frost on my neighbor’s roof and the outside temperature is only 30F. Hello April. 

You get what you pay for

I will readily admit to getting older. My once thick wavy hair is not what it used to be, the receding hairline and bald thin spot at the crown attest. I went for a haircut Saturday. I routinely go to the chain Great Clips and no matter which store I go to, they have instructions for my hair on the computer. It’s always the same: number four clippers on the side, finger length on the top. I’m usually out of there in 10-15 minutes. 

I don’t know if I scored a guy right out of barber school or what. He kept clipping and scissoring and when I was done I looked like I was sheared by a barber at basic training. My hair is maybe 3/16 of inch long all over. You can see my scalp. 

On the he bright side, I won’t need a hair cut until Memorial Day. 

Self reflection

 Blatantly stolen from Midwest Chick

Rain in the forecast

It is a dark and cloudy Saturday. I glance out my window and see my neighbors’ car is running in his driveway. “So what?” you say. It has probably been running several hours. He manages a bar/club of some sort. He comes home wasted and either forgets to turn off the car or passes out in the drivers seat. This used to happen about once a year. This is the third time this month. 

I hear you. 

No. Not my business. 

I took a couple of 8mm videotapes to get transposed to a DVD. They are from the early ‘90s — one from before my youngest was born and one right after. It should be a hoot to watch them. 

I have some old, and I mean old, 8mm film my mom and dad took when I was a kid (and before).  I may take one of the reels to get it done. I’m not sure if these film is even any good. Who knows? We are talking celluloid from the 1960s.

I think I’ll have it put on a thumb drive. Who knows, if I can figure out how, I might post video of me as a tyke. 

This blog has been boring for a long time. I can lower the bar further by showing home movies. There is nothing more boring than someone else’s home movies.

Friday Music

 Taking a break.  Work and life and a desire to finish the Great American Novel take precedence.

Besides I’m bored by the blog

I do appreciate all of your kind words.  I have the BEST readers.

Twenty

 Today marks twenty years I have been doing this stupid hobby. I thought I’d be at it a few months and be done. Instead I have formed many friends and had a lot of great conversations. Some of you have been here since almost the beginning: Jean, Freddie. Cappy, Ed, Fuzzy, Ralph, B. I’m sure I forgot many of you and I apologize. I bet there are even more that read and don’t comment. I read a lot of blogs who never know I lurk. Even those of you who might not agree with me brought me a great joy. I love a good argument. In recent years some of you have been great readers and friends too — Sluggy, Glasslass, MC, Linda -far too many to mention and I am very sorry. 

I have been here for 8,387 posts. More than 20,000 comments and over three million visitors. I remember when I had six hits in a day and three were me checking to see if anyone read my garbage. And yes, a lot of my commentary here has been garbage. Occasionally I have put up something worth reading — the herd of monkeys in a room of typewriters theory. 

    You see kids, a typewriter is this old mechanical device…

Twenty years is a long time.

Thank you all for great fun and great memories.

One

 It is yet another chilly Saturday here in Mudsock. We are off today to watch the grandgirls do their thing in a dance competition. After we are all going out to celebrate my XX birthday this past Thursday. 

Last evening the wife had some shopping to do so I wandered around the mall, earbuds in listening to music. Old in body, I was digging the tunes like I was still 25. After a bit I found some chairs and grooved to classic rock and watched the people go by. 

One of the songs that played was an old favorite of mine by the Doors:

2

 Friday at last. It will be chock full of…well “ fun” isn’t the right word to use here. The opposite of that is what I’m searching for. I have my monthly industrial sales meeting which will suck up 2-3 hours. Then another firm meeting this afternoon and another conference call squeezed in the schedule somewhere. 

On the bright side, a box of cigars showed up in the mail yesterday. They have already been safely stored in my humidor. Of course the shipment wasn’t random. No matter how awesome it would be, you don’t need to run out to the mailbox every day hoping against hope a box of La Auroras is going to be waiting for you. No I ordered them last week at the direction of my lovely wife in honor of my birthday. 

She hates cigars but knows I enjoy them, so she indulges me as long as I smoke them outside. Or, she secretly hopes they will kill me, ridding her of my general unpleasantness in her life. Either is probably true depending on my behavior on any given day. 

Because I can

 My favorite song, hands down.

4

 Let’s see, you would think that after…2025 minus…mumble mumble…carry the one….all of these years I would be ready for spring — the weather changes, the emerging plants, the damn headaches. Spring remains my least favorite of all the seasons because it brings on the allergy migraines. They used to be far worse: keep me in the dark I think I’m gonna puke severe. Now they are a mere pounding in my skull. I want to sleep in the day and can’t sleep at night headaches. 

So it goes, there are a lot of really sick people out there and I ain’t one of them. My ailments are small and simply one thing more for me to complain about. 

5

Not taken this morning 

No time for blogging. It’s opening day for the Cubs and they are on early this morning since they are playing in Tokyo. I can “talk” to you or listen to baseball before work. 

You lose, or win, depending on your particular point of view.

6

It was spitting snow as I unloaded groceries yesterday afternoon. I glanced over and noticed the daffodils along the side of my neighbor’s house were up and a hint of yellow was peeping through the buds. I looked over and saw the tulips at the base of the maple in my front yard had poked up green shoots over the weekend. Despite the crummy weather, spring is upon us both via the calendar and nature. 

Like every human living outside of the equatorial zone for generations dating back to the last ice age, spring brings a sense of hope, of renewal. 

Oh, and it is that silly pseudo holiday. No, I won’t wear green. And by the way, St. Patrick was British and he didn’t chase away the snakes from Ireland- there never were any.

You didn’t think I was going to be upbeat and positive for an entire post did you? Is it your first time visiting?

7

 

One of the most beautiful love songs ever written

8

So far no twister has roared through the neighborhood to scoop up the house and hurl me into a world of color and little people. We have watches and warnings and thunder rumbles, lightning flashes, and the wind howls. Rain patters on my office window as I hunt and peck on the keyboard. I suspect if you live east of the Mississippi you can offer a similar tale - already over night or later today. 

Spring has arrived. 

On a completely unrelated note, skip over to Pondering and wish Jean a belated birthday. I never ask anything of you, and this is a simple request. Besides, you should read her blog anyway.

9

It was my intention to get up and watch the blood moon eclipse last night. Given my sleeping issues of late I decided it wasn’t worth it. I asked the wife, who stays up late, to take a photo if she could remember. I’ve seen dozens of lunar eclipses.

In any case the bright full moon is shining right out my office window,  I can imagine it is red and all is good. 

10

 It is supposed to be a great spring day in Mudsock today. Looking out my office window I see the maple in the front yard is starting to break out in leaves. I ran the car through the car wash yesterday. Inside it is clean and still smells new. I think it was the first time I drove it in more than a week. We’ve been using the wife’s car. 

I hope I can stave off crises this afternoon and sneak out to the patio for a quick cigar in the springtime sun. 

In the meantime listen to this:

Yet another rant on tariffs

Can someone, anyone, explain to the president that tariffs are paid by the IMPORTER. China does not pay the tax nor does any other nation.

So if, as the president claims, America will get rich on tariffs, then the Federal Government will get wealthy off the backs of you and I because that increased cost will be passed right to the end consumer.

And let me add something we all know, the cost of everything will skyrocket if it is manufactured in the US. Do you think Americans will produce wiring harness or a plastic toy for $30 a day? 

Yeah, me neither. 

Edit: this on, off, on again tariff whiplash is a drain on the economy. I get this is real estate-type negotiations, but it makes it impossible to plan and run a business. 

As fake as a pair vs of 48DDD boobs

Periodically the stat counter on the old blog spins like a flywheel and my daily visits skyrocket. I get the same handful of readers on a given post, but the daily visits are in the thousands. If I dive into the stats, the vast hordes do not land on any specific post and usually come from Asia. I suppose my blog is really a secret entryway into the dark web or something. Frankly it is beyond my understanding of how all things internet work, and I am not curious enough to research the phenomenon beyond this quick mention in passing. 

If you have a solution to this mystery I would be pleased for a quick answer. Otherwise, my ego appreciates the boost in readers, even if it is fake. 

Rambling Wreck

Monday. Blech. And I woke up way early. Not that I ever care what my neighbors think, but they must wonder when they see my office lights on at four aye em. “Does that old man ever sleep?” “Is he in the dog house again?” “I bet old Joe forgot to shut off the light.” More likely they don’t notice and don’t care. I sure don’t know nor care what they are about. 

The wife and I passed in the hall, she was going to bed as I headed to the kitchen to make coffee. I suppose we are not-at-all strangers passing in the night. 

It is supposed to get into the sixties this week. I should go out after work and rake the leaves in the backyard. The row of Bradford pears never drop their leaves until December and the yard is a mess of decaying soggy leaves. Or I could ignore them, mow them up in a few weeks and instead sit on the patio and have a cigar. Most likely I’ll take a Power Nap before dinner. 

We shall see what the workday brings. Last week sucked and Friday was especially busy, so who knows? I suspect Monday will be likewise hectic. I do know I will have to spend a couple of hours creating a ridiculous spreadsheet for one of my customers because the have no idea how to use their SAP system. I haven’t had to manually create a MRP report since about 1990 when I was a master scheduler. 

Yes, I know most of you have no idea what any of that means. MRP (material requirements planning) is how you manage your raw material and components to make something in a factory. Calculating how everything purchased and manufactured comes together in a timely basis to build the final product. 

Boy these weeds are deep. Let’s get out of them and just call it a post at this point. Happy Monday. 

I’ll Tell My Man to Clean Your Kit

 The Defence of Rorke’s Drift

We went to dinner with my daughter and her family Friday night. I made a passing comment about the Zulu Wars and my SIL said he had never heard of such an event. 

I constrained myself and gave a twenty second summation and told him he could borrow my DVD copies of Zulu Dawn and Zulu. And while each takes liberties with the historical events of the battles at Isandhlwana and Rorke’ Drift, both are great movies and give a flavor for the history. I have no hope he will take me up on my offer. History is not his thing and that’s okay. He’s a great guy.

Discussing the Zulu Wars briefly revived my interest and I realized I hadn’t watched either movie in years. Guess how I spent my Saturday?

I think I still have my copy of The Washing of the Spears around here somewhere. It might be time to drag it out too. I know it’s been twenty years since I lasted waded through all 600+ pages of South African history. 

Edit. No, I was not in Washington DC yesterday 

Buds are emerging on the maple tree in the front yard

 It is another Saturday and I sit in the office staring at the angry mocking cursor and the empty white space where blog words are supposed to magically appear straight from my brain to fingertips. Yet once again each letter, word, and sentence is painfully typed for your reading pleasure experience. 

Hey, it is not you, it is me. My second crappy novel has stalled at 45,000 words for months. I know the rest of the story, it is the effort of crafting the narrative that bogs me down. 

On the be bright side, merely complaining has generated a post — two if we count yesterday’s lackluster effort.

We're drinkin', my friend, to the end of a brief episode

It’s been a couple of days. Did you miss me? 

I missed you, but not blogging. It’s not really a hobby when it becomes a burden. I get this burned out feeling from time to time. My creativity (as little as it might be), my joie de vive, my sense of humor, often plummet in the depths of winter. And winter seems to linger this year. I could go for some of that global warming I keep hearing about. 

Enough crying. Here is some Friday music.

A rerun of one of my all time favorites. 

Okay, made me laugh

 

Stacy is Right

@PoliticalStacy

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Democrats have their paddles out like they’re buying slaves again.

9:31 PM · Mar 4, 2025

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Do you wanna be a star

 

Cant sleep. This was roiling in my head when I got up. There are way worse tunes to haunt your dreams, that’s for sure.

Let me add a non-related thought. If that is a double stuf Oreo, the original Oreo must have no cream filling at all. WTH?

The way March started

 

February ended with temps above 60. March hit us with sub-freezing and windchills in the teens. What the heck Mother Nature?

I am a rock, I am an island

I find it utterly amazing that Europe is outraged that we refuse to continue to spend hard-earned American tax money on them. 

Let’s be completely clear, NATO needs the US, not the opposite. 

Is there any doubt, should the evil Chicoms ever decide to go all Pearl Harbor on us, that our European “allies” would vote to just sit it out? 

Straddling the fence

The spate of spring-like weather is blown away on the high winds of Friday. Temps in the twenties and thirties and wind chills in the teens will dominate the weekend weather. I wasn’t likely I was going to hang around outside anyway. 

It appears there was quite the scene in the White House yesterday. It wasn’t the normal international diplomatic doublespeak we see most times these days for sure. Based on biographies I have read, the blowup was reminiscent of how plain-speaking Teddy Roosevelt ran things. 

Don’t confuse observation with approbation. I’m not sure where I stand on the matter. 

Edit: I know where I stand. Why are we giving money and arms to Ukraine anyway?   And after reading /watching more I think the President and Veep were right. 

Ungrateful jerk.

All I can say is that my life is pretty plain

 

For all of you

 Dude was so committed he changed his name to ?

Slash and burn

Almost spring-like air moved over Mudsock yesterday afternoon and I was tempted to sneak outside and enjoy a nice cigar. Alas, I had a zoom meeting and then other work to do so playing hooky wasn’t in the cards. So it goes. 

The Democrats and public employee unions (redundant) continue to completely misread the room. They complain that DOGE is rooting out waste and fraud instead of acknowledging that a bit of governmental slimming is warranted. Don’t worry. The despicable Republicans (and their lobbyists) will howl soon when their favorite programs start to get the axe. I suspect there is enough waste and fraud at the Pentagon to pay the budgets of a state or two. 

Here is the thing, I don’t care if a worthwhile program gets cut. If it needs refunding Congress can actually do their job and vote it back. 

While we are slashing employees and programs, it is clear the easy work of government service is a magnet for the sexual perverts and mentally ill. If anyone at any private business where I have worked spread their perversions and sexual proclivities on company servers they would be escorted from the premises poste-haste. I sure don’t want my tax dollars used for a hook-up chat room. 

Since many of these people worked in intelligence , doesn’t such…proclivities…make them vulnerable to blackmail and compromise? Perhaps I’ve read too many spy novels.

Things that Irritate me volume #6,437

I was surprised the wife asked for sloppy joes for supper last night. She likes my version that absolutely does not come from a can. That stuff is garbage. Me? I’m not a big fan. To be honest I don’t care for much of my cooking. I don’t hate it either. It’s just food. 

Can we all agree that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fane without Boston, Styx, REO, JethroTull and KISS is a joke? And I don’t even like KISS. We have rappers, sixties soul singers who barely cracked the top forty, the Sex Pistols and Dolly Parton for goodness sake but not actual, you know, rock bands. 

Wow, I almost tripped climbing down from my soap box. 

True confession, back in the late seventies when Boston flooded the airwaves I was not a big fan. Only years later did I really learn to appreciate their music. 

Oh, and this tale of gigging trying to make it? Not true. They fell into a record contract and great success really fast. 

It could have been worse

Let’s go back in time. We only need go back a couple of weeks. Dress warm, it is cold outside. No, I’m sure we will fit seamlessly into the culture unless you have weird Spock ears, then you might wear a stocking cap. 

Ready? Transport!

We picked up the wife’s car Saturday morning. It now has a new engine, a new turbocharger and a new battery. The whole repair was north of $8K. 

I was dead set against buying the extended warranty when we purchased that used car. I let the wife talk me into it. 

Now I’m out less than $500 instead of $8400. That includes a new battery not covered by the warranty. 

I’m willing to say the most painful words in the world.

I was wrong. 

Just listen to old grandpa Joe

I understand I am not the arbiter taste and decency but I am certain we would all agree that if I were the world would be a much better place. 

I said we should all agree on this point. 

Anyway, it has been two months. It is time to turn off your Christmas lights. You don’t have to brave the cold and take them down, just reach down and unplug them. Really it is not difficult. And that tree in your window? I hope it is artificial. A real one is a fire hazard at this point. 

This message isn’t only for my neighbor down the street. We came home from our friend’s house last night and counted more than a dozen gaily decorated homes. 

I know the long cold winter nights are tough and a bit of festive color brightens your dreary life, but it is time to give it up. 

I’ll address wearing your pajamas to Walmart in a later post.

Turn off your Christmas lights. 

How it’s done

 Way back in the last century I was sitting on the bathroom floor, a toilet bowl across my lap, scraping the nasty, failed wax ring from the bottom. The wife came in with the cordless telephone (landline) in her hand. She said it was the HR manager from redacted company. 

I took the phone and absolutely nailed that job interview sitting right there on the bathroom floor cradling a toilet. After I hung up I finished fixing the lavatory.

I got the job. 

That, my friends, is compartmentalizing and I’m still very good at it. 

Move me on to any black square

 It’s early. It’s cold. It’s Friday. 

I think that about covers it. 

Today I’m going to feature a tune in Friday music I love. I know all of the words, and yes, it has lyrics. I don’t sing along, even when I’m all by myself in the car in the middle of nowhere. I don’t have a deep sonorous voice, it is rather unpleasant in fact, but there is no way I can sing in Jon Anderson’s register.

Here is a terrific cover featuring Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles:

Just lovely

It is yet another frigid morning here in Mudsock but it is supposed to get back to normal temperatures next week. Not warm, mind you, but ant least above freezing. 

I made a pot of potato soup for dinner last night. Nice BLT sandwiches rounded out the meal. There is soup left over for today’s lunch. 

In an effort to mitigate the unimaginable boredom this post is likely engendering, let’s listen to some music.

And now my email in box is full

I was off doing my Willie Loman thing yesterday. I made a very cold quick in-and-out trip to NE Ohio (Hey Cappy, Hey Jean). I had a nice visit and lunch with very big customer then motored right back home. In all, it was a thirteen hour trip. I doubled the miles on the new company vehicle. 

I have no interesting stories to relate from the road. The whole trip was just boring. I ran into a little rush hour traffic in Columbus on the way and on the east side of Indy on my return. Like I said, boring, much like this post.

This frigid weather must be because Trump is not financing climate change hysteria

 Yeah,yeah, I know it is cold at your house too. At least it is warm in the house, upstairs anyway. 

I spent last week giving out tariff price increases. You know, the ones foreign countries were going to pay. When you go to the big box store this summer to buy a new yellow or red drill or saw, don’t blame me when the price is higher. 

That one self-interested complaint aside, I am ecstatic about Trump’s actions roughly a month in. 

Would you go take out a loan to give your neighbor so he could buy condoms or to write a play? No? Then why is it okay for the government to borrow money to pass to others who are not even Americans? You are paying the interest with your tax money. 

If rich Hollywood liberals think giving money to put on a LGBTQ play in South America is the thing to do, then they can set up a foundation and finance it themselves. 

There were times when my kids were small and they were sad I couldn’t buy them a new toy. I would explain I did not have the money. They asked why I don’t just write a check. “Because only the government thinks you can do that,” I would reply. 

Now we at least have someone who is trying to stop writing checks for stupid stuff.

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y

The granddaughters spent the night and we had a great time. We went to their favorite Mexican restaurant, did some crafts, played some games, and watched a movie. Right now they are snuggled in their beds, but I expect the youngest, always an early riser, to be up soon. 

This morning I plan on making a coffee cake for breakfast. I will have to do some shoveling while it’s in the oven and before my daughter comes to pick them up. We have a couple of inches of snow on the ground covering beaucoup rain yesterday, so I suspect there is a layer of ice underneath. Bleeping groundhog. 

Now it is stuck on your head too. You are welcome.

PS. Happy Birthday. Mom.  I miss you.

Yet another song where I know every single word and can sing it flawlessly

I’m up early yet again. So what? I’ll take a nap. It’s sleeting outside. I’m not going anywhere anyway this morning so it doesn’t really matter. 

It seems to me the tone of this here blog post is a little negative. I’m in a terrific mood in reality. I’m listening to great tunes on the Amazon spy device while I hunt and peck. Tommy James, The Yardbirds, the Beach Boys, what’s not to like? Hendrix, that’s who, but that’s just me. 

The grandgirls are coming to spend the night. I’m happy about that. I don’t get to see them much anymore since they are both in school. 

I interrupt this nonsense for a musical interlude:

 A mellow tune from the band when they primary played the blues. 

We didn’t do anything special for yesterday’s Hallmark holiday. I took the wife for a steak dinner. We came home and she put away clean laundry while I read, watched tv and dozed on the couch. Yawn. That may explain why I’m up early; cause and effect or somesuch. 

You thought this was random words. See how I brought it all together at the end?

On this day

 

And a time to every purpose under Heaven

I’ve been busy as heck at work this week. Today will be no different. But since I woke up a bit after five ay em I have some time to waste here this morning.

Glancing out the window it appears the big winter storm warning was a bust. There is no snow on the ground. There may be a layer of ice, but I’m not going anywhere this morning anyway. 

Reading over this…drivel it is clear there is no point to this near-daily exercise in self-aggrandizement anymore. I’m not only talking about today’s waste of words.

The only thing to do is play some music.

A tale with no point

Before the colonization of India , the Moguls ruled the plains. One day three young Mogul princes were behaving as young men have since the beginning of time. They ate, they drank, they bragged about the women they had seduced (in their imagination). After a while they began to brag about their athletic ability and finally about their magnificent elephants. 

In time the young men decided to race their beasts to the far side of the river about two thousand paces away across the valley. They each agreed to put a thousand rupees, a great sum of money, into a winner-take-all pot. To solemnize the race the terms were written on parchment and signed by each racer. The first elephant to cross the river was the winner. 

They mounted their elephants and the older boys laughed st Rasheed for his elephant Dapeep was only two thirds the size of the other great elephants. Rasheed answered “I have raised him from a baby. He is loyal.” 

At the shout of one of the servants the racers lumbered forward. Little Dapeep had to take three steps for just two of the big full grown elephants and soon fell behind. At the halfway point he was fifty paces behind and losing ground with each step. 

The larger of the beasts came to the stream that marked the finish line. The water was in flood and raged swiftly between its banks. The oldest boy flogged his steed snd the elephant took one hesitant step into the fast moving water and balked. It would go no more. The second elephant likewise hesitated. 

Rasheed rode up to the shore and dismounted. He calmly removed his boots and waded into the river. He struck out and swam the flooded stream with a strong stroke. He emerged dripping and flung himself exhausted upon the bank. The older boys laughed and hooted reminding Rasheed the race was for the first elephant to cross. 

Rasheed stood and whistled at his faithful pet. He began to sing a familiar lullaby. His little elephant waddled into the water with a loud trumpet from his raised trunk and swam towards his master. The elephant struggled out on the other side and sunk to its knees. Rasheed went and cut the most tender leaves from a nearby tree and fed them to his little elephant by hand. 

The other two young men said Rasheed cheated and refused to pay their wager. Finally the three came before the Rajah himself to arbitrate the dispute. Rasheed showed the parchment that only specified that the first elephant to cross the river was the winner, not the rider. The Rajah declared him the winner.

And the others learned why you should always read a document before you sign it. 

A pessimist’s take

I am amazed that the Democrat response to the expose of governmental fraud and waste is not “wow, we need to clean this up” but rather “you don’t have a right to do an audit.” 

I’ve yet to see one elected Democrat decry the programs. Not one program and not one Democrat. 

Don’t worry, the lobbyists are going to get to work to protect their gravy train and soon the Republicans will side with the Democrats and all of this bright light shining on the government will disappear in a flurry of bribes and corruption. 

Trump moved so quickly he caught them unaware. I give it about six weeks to grind to a halt. 

I wouldn’t doubt another impeachment is on the horizon. The deep state won’t be denied. Billions are at stake. 

There is a house

 A big game too…

And in other sports news Cubs pitchers and catchers report for spring training today!

A new policy

 

H/T Midwest Chick

Decisions, decisions

I want to do something really special for my wife for Valentine’s Day. Should I splurge on a nice filet at a high end steak house or should I buy a dozen eggs?

I crack me up.

Of course it is Friday. Here is a blast to the eighties.

And you are paying for it

 Ponder this: there are just over a thousand companies in the US with more than 10,000 employees. Those are the biggest companies. 

One agency in the US government, USAid, employees 10,000 people. Ten Thousand. The average employee of the Federal Government makes $106,000 annually or about $51an hour. Plus benefits. And you are paying those wages. Then these well-paid employees take even more of your hard earned dollars and send that money off to support good and bad programs all over the globe. Vaccines for poor African kids. Billions for Hamas. How much is siphoned off or used to bribe politicians? You are paying for it all. 

Do you think Walmart bosses would be okay with employees helping out Amazon? Why would we let USAid help out the enemies of our country? When people take to the streets shouting “death to America” they don’t deserve our dollars. Not even the kids. Let their own parents and government take care of them. It is not the responsibility of American taxpayers to support the world. 

So yeah, I have no issue with the President going through the budget or looking at programs or evaluating employees. Do you think the CEO of any other large corporation just lets the department heads run stuff without oversight?

Do you think big companies don’t  hire outside consultants when the ship is floundering? 

Yes, I want the government to run like a business . It’s my money after all. 

Bleepedy Bleep Bleep

Back on my great unemployment saga during Covid the wife’s car broke down. It needed more than a thousand bucks in repairs that we could not afford. We traded it for a used Ford Escape. 

Last week I went out to the garage and started the car to warm it up in the frigid weather. When she went out to the car it wasn’t running. She started it again and backed out of the driveway. Before I could get upstairs she was back. The car was running rough and didn’t want to go. 

Since I’m a car expert (sarcasm),  listened to the motor and agreed - there’s something wrong. She climbed into my car and left. 

The diagnosis is in. There is coolant in two cylinders. Busted head gasket? It’s broken, that is for sure and it’s going to be very expensive. 

The good news?  I bought an extended warranty when I bought the car. Now I just need to fight with them to pay for the fix. 

Explain it all with a sigh

Tuesday. After a record warm day yesterday we are right back into the clutches of winter today. It may snow tomorrow.

Stupid rodent.

It appears Mexico and Canada caved and the tariffs on those trading partners are on hold for now. That’s a good thing. 

It is okay to disagree with the president and not automatically be a liberal somewhere to the left of Nancy Pelosi. Anyone who knows me would bust a gut in laughter to think I’m a leftist. I used to say I would like Rush Limbaugh if he could only be a little more conservative.

I do reject the notion there is some kind of conservative purity test and we all have to toe the line or else. That’s the same kind of nitwittery the far left has adopted to drag their party into political correctness and losing elections. It is okay to disagree with Trump. 

Here’s the thing, friends can politely disagree. I suspect I have far more experience dealing with anti-dumping duties and tariffs as part of my job than most of you. I have dealt with them in one way or another for more than thirty years. Duties and tariffs inflate the market, cause short-term shortages and supply chain disruption. In the end, the prices settle at a higher rate as the cheap products carry the tariff burden and the higher domestic goods use the new reset market price as an opportunity to slowly increase prices to maintain the status quo. 

We need some music. Economics gives me a headache.

It’s still about the economy , stupid

I guess Trump didn’t read the polls leading to his election. I’m not surprised, a narcissist like he could never grasp that people voted against Harris and her policies as much as for his policies. I held my nose and voted for him.

The overriding issue in the recent election was the economy, namely inflation. So what does the president do? Implement tariffs on three of our largest trading partners. 

You would think Trump, or at least his advisors, would understand that tariffs are not paid by the exporters but by the importers. That means you and I will pay higher prices. Do you think Walmart or Target* are going to eat a higher cost and not pass it on? 

For instance we are in the winter here, some of the produce you get at the local market comes from Mexico. Guess what?  Your groceries are going up. Again. 

Here’s the thing, if China is too expensive then manufacturers will move to Vietnam, Malaysia, or India. It has already happened with clothing and athletic shoes. Read a label. They are not reopening mills in the Carolinas. Americans aren’t going to pay $25 for a pair of tighty whiteys. 

We live in a global economy. 

We make a lot of stuff in America. But it takes years to build and open a factory. In the meantime you and I try to get by with thinner wallets. 

I guess Trump wants the loathsome Democrats back running Congress in two years.

*or Ford or GM, or Home Depot, etc. 

Creepy Crawlers

Raise your hand if you ever got burnt by the Creepy Crawler Thing Maker.

That toy would never be sold today. 

I imagine I have dated myself. 

On a completely unrelated note I put no credence in the forecasts of a rodent, even if he is about as accurate as the weather lady on the TV. 

Dear Sir or Madam, will you read my book?

I’m in a generous mood as we start out February. I’m sure you are bored and beset by the winter doldrums so I’m going to let you get my first novel at a ridiculous low price of just $0.99 cents for the e-book version. You can download a free Kindle reader if you don’t have one. I get a book sale and you get a few hours of meager entertainment to pass the gloomy February days. What a deal!*

You can Buy it here. Be sure to put up an honest review after you are finished. I’m a big boy, I can take criticism. I get it from my wife daily!😎. Just kidding.

As bonus I’m throwing some Saturday music. Does my generosity ever end?

*Act now, limited time offer. Get two for the price of two. Order for your friends. No stamps. Guaranteed to contain real words and sentences. May contain adult subjects. Keep off the grass. Obey all posted signs. Headlights on while wipers are working. No texting while driving. Loud music may damage your hearing. Clean up after your dog. Be sure and tip your waitstaff. Two drink minimum. Only you can prevent forest fires. 

**Ssle starts around noon EST

Girls as sharp as her are somethin' rare

 I’m up early this morning. I don’t know why, perhaps because I went to bed early…there may be a hidden pattern here. 

I’ve been reading this: https://cbs4indy.com/news/indycrime/court-docs-indianapolis-apartment-where-children-were-found-was-biohazard-mother-charged-with-murder-in-girls-death/amp/

If ever there was a case that screamed for cruel and unusual punishment, it’s this one. 

Anyway it is Friday and payday, so it is a good day. 

What? Why yes, I agree, let’s listen to some music.

I’m clearly getting old. I just want those girls to calm the heck down. 

California wants to take their ball and go home

 So the sore losers in California are  once again calling for succession. I was about to embark on an epic rant on the stupidity of such a notion when I remembered I already did back in 2016:

I find the idea that California wants to secede from the Union equally laughable. Let us leave aside for a moment that secession was settled some 150 years ago. If California were to secede then Social Security stops. Medicaid stops. There are no more food stamps or WIC programs, There are no more highway funds. There are no more drought funds. There are no military bases. No border patrol. The US would likely impose a tariff on California goods. The cost to import cars and oil, and manufactured goods into California would soar. California would no longer get electricity generated by dams in the United States. US dollars are no longer valid currency. California would have to establish its own currency. What do you think a California currency would be worth? The State is billions in debt. Who will back the currency? California would have to negotiate its own trade deals with China, Canada, Mexico, the EU, and OPEC.Go ahead and leave.

The sore losers in California cannot accept that they are out of step with a large portion of the nation. The secessionists are like petulant teenagers threatening to leave home. It sounds great until they learn they will have to pay for their own gas, insurance, cell phone, and clothing. Then mom and dad do not seem so unreasonable.

I think that about covers it.

Frankly that big earthquake cannot come soon enough.

Wayback Wednesday

I am coming up on 20 years of blogging. I agree, I don’t know why either. For no ther reason than nostalgia here is one of my first posts from March of 2005 (please note I did not claim it is good , just old):

March 24, 2005

Mighty Mouse lives in Utrecht!

So, we were in Utrecht, The Netherlands, Holland, whatever. We were in this little pub having a few beers. The place was dark, and a little dingy. It was off the canal, but the still in the City Center. They were playing classic rock, not the techno shit you usually hear in every drinking establishment in Europe. It was a juke box, but they were set up for a band. I guess they did not play on a Tuesday night.

This fat Hoosier was having a good time. The beer was smooth and going down fast. The bartender brought over a basket of snack mix to the table with another round of beer. Everyone dived in. The basket tipped and some of the mix fell on the floor. As the evening wore on, we probably dropped more bits and crumbs onto the scratched and dented wooden floor.

At one point I moved my foot and felt something move under my shoe. As I looked down I saw a little gray mouse scurry across the floor to a dark corner near the area where the band usually played. WTF? I was not sure I was seeing things correctly.

We watched, and sure enough a few minutes later here he came again zigging and zagging across the dirty floor for another nibble at our mix. That was enough for the female member of the drinking group. We left right away. After all, there were plenty of places to drink in downtown Utrecht!