In a surprise to no one not in the thrall of the climate change cult it is cold outside this morning. Outside it is a frigid 6 Fahrenheit. Inside, a relative balmy 68 degrees.
In other news, nothin’ comes to mind. Nothing I care to discuss anyway. I doubt you want to hear about dry skin, my beard, or what I had for dinner either.
It was Mexican, Nosey Nellie.
One of my favorites:
It is another cold morning here. I’m not surprised, it is January and single digit temperatures are not atypical.
It sure looks like Joe Biden (or whomever actually runs stuff at the White House) is giving a gigantic “screw you” to America on his way out the door. Not only has he declared huge swaths of land and ocean safe from drilling our own oil, he has commuted the sentences of some of the worst criminals on Federal Death row. These are child killers and convicts who murder fellow prisoners.
Are you aware Biden is letting terrorists go from Gitmo? Do you think those murderous scum have reformed? When more Americans are killed in coming years Biden can give a giant Urkel-like “Did I do that?”no he won’t , he is too self-righteous and senile to even grasp what’s going on.
Finally despite his pledge, he is moving to ban gas stoves and appliances. All in the name of the religion of Climate change.
Spit. This administration cannot go away fast enough.
My old friend insomnia showed up this morning around 2:30 AM. I tossed and turned a bit before giving in to his insistent pestering.
So here I sit relaxed in the office recliner sipping coffee and listening to music softly while surfing the interwebz. I’ll likely dose off in a bit. Or not. Maybe I’ll read a little.
“But Joe,” you say, “why are you drinking coffee? Won’t that keep you up?” No little padawon , caffeine has little to no effect on my sleep cycles. It never has. It’s my brain that keeps me up.
There is still a bit of lingering snow falling. We got around six inches - real inches, not bragging teen boy inches - based on the layer on the patio table.
I have yet to mosey out to shovel the drive and sidewalk. It’s okay, I don’t have anywhere to go today.
The wind is supposed to kick up later. Drifts are going to be a problem.
Edit. We have probably another inch this morning
Edit Edit: the news says we got 8+ inches total
I’ve got nuthin’.
I believe the outside Christmas decorations are coming down today. The house always looks blah after the holidays.
I’ve said it before, my wife is level headed and not at all prone to a quick passionate response to events. She is not a political animal at all.
We were discussing the NOLA terror attacks. I mentioned that now they think there were not any accomplices. “They are all liars,” she said. “I don’t believe anything the FBI or government says.”
When you have lost my wife’s confidence, things are bad.
We find ourselves at the end of yet another year. Stuff happened. I commented on some of it.
It looks to be a day of fairly warm and wet weather before January weather sets in with earnest later in the week.
Some friends are coming to visit tonight. We will go to dinner and enjoy some euchre and some laughs. At midnight I will kiss my lovely wife for the forty-sixth straight New Years. I’m a lucky man.
If you drink, don’t drive.
Best wishes for a happy New Year to each of you.
If you really want to do good and make life better for your average American you would invent a Roomba that vacuums stairs.
And just like that Saturday is upon us. I’m ensconced in my office recliner looking at yet another cloudy gloomy morning. Hello winter.
I’ve been working on my annual year end wrap-up post. I like to highlight the events of the past year and reference some of my more cognizant posts.
That’s just a lie. It’s not gonna happen.
How about some live music for a Saturday?
As the who knows who is really running stuff Biden regime coasts to the last days in power they have proven there is not a baby they are unwilling to kill and a murderer they are unwilling to save.
I spit on his legacy. I’m glad he will go down in history as one of the worst Presidents ever.
Happy Monday Thursday. It is back to work after a week off for vacation and holidays. I doubt I’m fooling anyone, beyond catching up on emails, there will be little work output today.
I hope you all (those who observe the holiday) had a great Christmas. The whole family , minus the son who lives in Colorado😪) crowded around the table for Christmas dinner of ham and more carbs than I can count. Gifts were exchanged and I believe everyone went home happy. It was a great day.
For people of a certain age you remember how broadcaster Paul Harvey would have a little tidbit where he gave a deep dive into a story, fact, or event and told an aspect we might not have known - the rest of the story.
We were at the grocery yesterday getting the fixins for Christmas dinner when one of the jerks who walks around the store holding up his phone with the speaker on walked by. Normally these people irritate me to no end, but this time I was intrigued. Here is the snippet of the conversation I heard:
“We was out in the front yard pokin’ a raccoon with a fuckin broomstick when…”
Just then the wife asked something and I missed the rest. Paul Harvey I need you to tell me the rest of the story.
A busy day is on tap this Saturday before Christmas. The granddaughters have a dance recital this afternoon. We have the Christmas get-together tonight with the wife’s family. We still need to purchase gifts for the White Elephant event there.
The wife is stressed, time is short, money is shorter, and life moves apace.
All is well.
It is snowing. But not sticking. With a slight warmup on the way early next week there is no chance for a white Christmas. So it goes. It’s not like it is Vermont this time of year or anything.
You probably suspect I’m going to drop a video of old Bing crooning away. How wrong you are little elf.
I will present one of my favorites:
It has been a slow work week, everyone is winding down in preparation for the holidays and I’m no exception. I took my last vacation day for the 23rd so I will have nearly a week off after tomorrow.
The air bubble in my eye has nearly subsided. It obscures about 10% of the bottom of my vision, unless I look down then I have a big black spot blocking my vision like a lunar eclipse. The whole thing has reached the annoying stage. A day or two more and my vision will hopefully be clear. I go back to the surgeon Monday and I hope I get a great follow up report.
The homestead under a distant full moon all decked out in Christmas lights.
The windows in the upper left are my office, where the blogging magic happens. I’m pretty sure it will be a national shrine someday.
I’m gonna be blunt, if you support Luigi the murderer, then you are a piece of shit human being and I invite you to never stop by here again.
No matter what you think about insurance companies, murder isn’t the answer.
I’m not joking. Be gone.
My email in-box is filled to almost overflowing. Since I wasn’t supposed to read I did no work at all Thursday, Friday, or over the weekend. I have to get back at it today, even if I’m not supposed to read (eyes tracking left to right and right to left).
I did spend most of the weekend watching old movies. Since I can not bend over or lift anything, I did no chores around the house either.
In all it was a wasted weekend.
One of the political issues that dominated the end of the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries was should the US Dollar be backed by gold or by silver.
The Wizard of Oz was an allegory of that debate. Fat cats in Emerald City in the east wanted the streets paved with gold (yellow brick road) while the Witch in the west (miners) wanted the silver slippers (they were silver, not ruby). Interspersed in the tale were brainless farmers (scarecrow), heartless industrialists (tin man) and a cowardly lion (government).
We went to the oldest granddaughter’s tenth birthday party yesterday. She took a bunch of friends to see Wicked.
None of that stuff about gold and silver was in the movie.
I’m also certain at no point would Dark Side of the Moon sync with this version of the Wizard. .
I went for a quick post-op visit to the eye surgeon yesterday. He says all is good. I still can’t see at all out of my right eye, there is a purposeful air bubble blocking my vision. It’s like looking through water at a fun house mirror. It will go away in the next days. Posting will remain light.
In case you are wondering, this is a canned post. Didn’t you hear that rush of air when you opened it?
Kinda live: everything went well. Thanks for your support.
I head for another eye surgery in the morning. The man is going to open my eyeball, cauterize the bleeder and clean out the accumulated blood blocking my vision. I anticipate no issues. I had to have the same procedure on my left eye about a year ago.
There will be no post tomorrow. There will probably be no post Friday. I would put up a stupid music video, but YouTube is being a bitch and refusing to play unless you sign in. Neither of us is going to do that. I don’t care that much.
I’m pretty sure no one is going to lose sleep over missing a few posts around here. It’s not like you are getting much for your subscription price these days.
I will resume blogging at some point. Probably.
I doubt the blog quality will improve with better vision. I’ll just be able to see the keyboard better as I type worthless words that entertain no one.
I grabbed a few quick grocery items for supper last night; a pack of Echrich smoked sausage, a block of cheese, and a box of macaroni. For a good while a small block of Walmart brand cheddar cheese has been $1.98. Suddenly yesterday that same cheese was a $2.24. If my history major math is correct, that is a 13% increase. Tell me again inflation is easing. Oh wait, the government does not include food in the inflation calculation.
The point of this mini rant is there were two main reasons Trump won the election and neither was the sex or skin color of his opponent. The reasons were the open border and the economy.
Narcissist Trump believes we voted for HIM as opposed to policies. Maybe some of you did. But here’s the thing, if he slaps on tariffs like he is boasting, your prices are going to skyrocket. That means in four years the communists will be back in charge. We don’t want that.
Yesterday the wife grabbed her cookie cutters and rolling pin and motored over to the daughter’s house for a day of making cookies.
I watched a movie, vacuumed the carpet and floor, and ran the dishwasher. These were minimum effort chores. I decided I deserved a reward anyway. It was warm for a December Sunday so I threw on a jacket and moseyed out to the patio. I lit the fire pit and then a nice stogie. I put in my earbuds and listened to some more of the audiobook I started on my way home from Maryland last week.
The cigar was nice, relaxing on the patio doing and thinking about nothing was better.
A three foot section of Christmas lights on the front of the house is out. I’m hoping it is a broken bulb from the high winds the other night. Probably not. I’ll have to drag out the ladder and replace the whole string. Fortunately I have a new box of lights. So it goes.
Edit: I cannot believe I nearly forgot to mention today is Pearl Harbor day! It is one of the defining moments in American, if not global history.
I published a VERY rough draft of my Pearl Harbor story a few weeks ago. I should have saved it.
Here is a fun fact: I’ve never been ice skating. Ever..
I finished one audiobook and started another on the trip. The last couple of hours I switched to music because I had a greater need to concentrate on the road rather than be entertained.
When this song come on I backed it up and played a second time because I wanted to:
I’m out on the east coast for a Supplier Conference with my Big Customer. It seems there are about 100 suppliers here. Today we will get harangued for cost reductions and offered enticement in the form of look at the new products you could be part of if… It’s okay, I’ve been to this particular dance in one form or another countless times in my career.
On the bright side I opted to drive instead of fly, so I got in some windshield time. I listened to a good audiobook and enjoyed being on the road.
Sometimes I think I miss being a road warrior and then I travel for a few days and realize I do not. A handful of nights in a hotel a year are just perfect in my old age.
Biden pardoned his kid for all crimes going back to 2014. Curious on that date, since that’s when Hunter started working for the Ukrainians.
I guess you liberals who rant about lax gun laws and how the rich need to pay their fair share are all over this pardon for tax evasion and broken gun laws, right?
Ah yes, it is time for the old fallback when searching for something to write - a useless weather report. It is eighteen Fahrenheit with a windchill of seven degrees right now in Mudsock. One would think it was mid January.
The wife is nearly done turning the house into a Christmas wonderland. As always, it is done with taste and pizazz.
The long holiday weekend has been nice. Of course the emails keep on coming. I won’t read them until Monday.
I think I’ll try to do some work on the next novel later this morning. Because reasons the first half of the book needs to change from first person to third person. I’m editing and rewriting at the same time and it is tedious beyond measure. Worse, I know I’m going to miss replacing some of the “Is” and “Mys” and I’m going to have to reread and edit many times to catch them all.
The change isn’t as simple as doing a search and find because often the whole sentence and paragraph has to be changesd to make the new perspective work. I’ve found the story is driving itself, and I need some characters to do stuff over here in this place and a first person narrator is somewhere else. I can find no way to jump back and forth with any kind of sense. I probably need to admit this book writing stuff is not my forte.
The wife bought some new ceiling lights for the kitchen about a month ago. They were cheap from Amazon. The old chandeliers have hung in three different houses and are easily 30 years old. I’m pretty sure they were expensive at the time (I did not ask). Now the wife is looking for a less primitive country look and moving to more farmhouse. That’s what she tells me, they are just new hanging lamps as far as I’m concerned.
Wednesday afternoon I took the old one down, wired the new one just to make sure it works before actually hanging it. The lamp lit even though the switch was off. Something isn’t right and I can’t figure it out, after many attempts and plenty of checking I’m stumped. It doesn’t help that the contractor was pretty free with paint so it is difficult to figure out black vs white.
I moved and replaced the one over the island with little trouble.
A more experienced buddy is coming today to help me with the one over the table.
What confuses me, is I’m the one who put up the previous light with no trouble.
I’m not sure why a simple home repair always turns sour.
A cold front is coming, I can hear the wind outside and the wreaths on the outside of my office window are shifting and rubbing against the glass. It is okay, cold and stormy fits my mood.
I took yesterday off. It was grandparents day at the girls’schhol. I’ll have two quick days of work and then a long weekend. I have to travel the following week. Before you know it it will be the Christmas-New Year.
For some reason I am just not in my normal holiday jolly mood.
Go forth and enjoy your Tuesday.
PS You are in my prayers . I know this week is hard.
It is still dark on this late November Saturday. My coffee is hot. Music gently plays in the background.
I got a work email last evening informing me we are finally approved on a chunk of new business I’ve been chasing for nearly a year. It will be about $4 million in sales. I was so thrilled I even sent a text to my boss at 8:30 ladt night. He was pretty happy too.
I’m not sure what tasks the wife has planned for today. There is no end of stuff that needs done, the question is what are her priorities?
Have a great day.
His place is back along a tree line overlooking a ravine and small stream. The undergrowth is of typical Hoosier variety; mulberry. sassafras, wild blackberries. At first, he had few neighbors and it was not unusual to see tracks of deer, of fox, of the omnipresent squirrels in the winter snow. Over time, there came more neighbors, and I was saddened, but not surprised, when bulldozers cleared a large swath of trees nearby. This part of Hamilton County is among the fastest growing areas in the country.
I used to visit him every week, then once a month. Now, I talk with him a handful of times a year. It is not fair of me. He got me through the most depressing and darkest times of my life. When I said I could not go on, he told me "Not today, things will get better. Not today."
I smile when I think about how he wrestled with his little sister laughing and shouting, his older sister supervising with a wry grin. There are the ball games, the soccer games, school plays. All fictitious memories that never happened. The baseball and pleather glove I gave him lie unused. The ball rotted away a few years ago. The glove lies cracked and faded. On each visit I think of him as he would be, growing older, playing, going to school, not how he is, a little baby boy who lived but a day.
I will go visit him Monday to celebrate a bittersweet birthday. Tuesday is a black anniversary I will try unsuccessfully to forget.
Next Friday I will go down and put a little metal Santa Claus next to his grave as I do every year.
And life goes on, the way of the Lord mysterious.
Imagine my shock to find the ground covered in fresh snow this morning. The driveway snd pavement are clear, it was too warm to stick to concrete. There is not a lot of the white stuff, enough to cover the leaves still on the front lawn. It must have snowed a lot, the ground has to be warm. Temperatures hit seventy Fahrenheit on Tuesday. We have not seen sub-freezing in weeks, if at all this season.
I’m tempted to break out the snow song from the movie White Christmas, but I’ll refrain.
Temperatures hit the upper sixties yesterday. It was spectacular weather for a mid November day. The weather quacks were warning the spate of nice weather is about to change with wind, rain, and even snow in the forecast. With that in mind I knocked off work a bit early to get the outside Christmas decorations on the house. My neighbors across the street had the same idea.
I’m skeptical about snow sticking on the ground Thursday. It has been so warm I just don’t see it. There are still flowers blooming in the pot on the porch!
I know, it would be weird to discover the weather forecast is wrong!
I came home from the doctor yesterday morning and decided to rake some leaves since I took 1/2 day vacation.
I raked the entire front yard.
The front lawn is covered in new fresh leaves this morning. *#%@&$.
Happy Monday. I’m off in a bit to the eye doctor again. I’ll let you know, but I suspect I am going to have to have surgery. The gel separation is worse and I can only see about 50% in my right eye. Maybe not, I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night and my medical degree is non-existent.
Edit: i am going back under the knife in a few weeks. Oh, and I thought I attached this song this morning.
Cappy says we cannot go into the holiday season before the WKRP turkey drop and he is right. Thanksgiving is an artificial construct, the date has changed often in our nation’s history including when FDR fiddled around with the official date.
Here’s the thing. We are having our family Thanksgiving today. Two-thirds of my kids and their related offspring and significant others will be on hand at the old homestead to feast and enjoy one another’s company. I will be tired and stressed to make sure everything is finished on time and fit to eat. It is just after 5:00 AM and I’m already plotting the cooking schedule.
It will be without remorse when I drag out the Christmas decorations next weekend.
The turkeys have dropped.
I love Christmas and everything about it. We decorate the house inside and out. I enjoy the music, the food, spending time with family. Most of all I love Christmas movies - the classics, the Hallmark ones, the cartoons, the newer flicks.
Last night the wife and I went to see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It is terrific. It may be in my top three favorite Christmas movies ever.
So I looked up some reviews when I got home to see if my opinion was valid or if I was high on seasonal endorphins. Most people agreed it was pretty good. One person gave it a 1 out of 10. Their reason? I’ll have to paraphrase, “I went to see a Christmas movie, instead I got a religious lesson. The whole thing was about church and the birth of Jesus.”
Sometimes words fail me.
My first records were the popular tunes of the day. Soon I delved into Zepplin, Yes, Blue Oyster Cult, Jethro Tull, and the Stones. Sure, I played my parents Herb Albert albums. I lived to hear music.
Now for a lot of people that passion led to learning to play an instrument, alas I lacked that talent. What I could do was lay on the floor between the speakers and hear each instrument individually. I could pick out the bass, the drums, the rhythm guitar from the whole of the song. I would listen to a song over and over studying the parts that made up the whole.
I could slip on my what was then very good Koss headphones and go into an almost trance.
A couple of years later I added two more speakers. I had two Utah speakers with 12” woofers and two Pioneer speakers with 10” woofers in my little 8x10 bedroom. When mom and dad were at work I could literally shake the windows in our modest pre-fab National Home. I’m sure the neighbors loved me.
I tell you this because it is Friday and that means Friday music. So for little 100 pound teen me, lying perfectly still in complete concentration I give you this:
This is how they identified my sandwich vs hers.
I found it amusing.
We have seen some much needed rain in the past 24 hours. One result is the leaves finally are falling. Right now my front yard is ankle deep with wet leaves. I hope I can get some of them cleaned up over the weekend..
We are hosting an early thanksgiving dinner Sunday. Turkey and the works is on the menu. The kids have other plans on actual Thanksgiving, so this is the only available weekend.
I had hoped to start dragging Christmas decorations out, this weekend but that will have to wait. I suspect between the leaves and dinner there is not enough time.
I’m up and at it early this morning. There is no particular reason, I woke around 3:30AM and couldn’t get back to sleep. I dozed a bit and finally got up just shy of 5:00. So it goes.
I have plenty to do. I have a couple of conference calls today. I have a bunch of studying on tap. One of my colleagues is leaving the company (a better opportunity, so good for him) and I picked up half of his accounts. So a busier job is a good thing. Transitioning accounts is always tricky, especially this time of year when the holidays and end of year vacations makes customer visits difficult to arrange.
It will all work out.
Little things amuse me. You might have concluded I was late getting a blog post up yesterday. Nope I scheduled it to go live at 11:11AM on purpose.
Or you might not care at all and mutter under your breath “Joe, you narcissistic jerk, I didn’t even notice you did not post until late.” Valid point indeed.
I raked up a couple of bags of leaves from the front yard before I realized the wind was just blowing more all over the portion I had just cleaned. I went inside to watch an old episode of Emergency! Instead.
We had pork chops, baked spuds, and green beans for dinner last night.
Frankly, I don’t know why you would care about any of this.
I intended to be done with politics for a while. Instead I have one more thing to say to those who think they are about to be “killed”. If you have a position on abortion and feel like you are not being heard, then you should take up the issue with your state legislature and governor.
Abortion (I refuse to call it women’s health) is a state issue just like the requirements to get a drivers license or if you can carry a gun. You may not like it, but that is the way it is.
Frankly, abortion was a losing platform for the Democrats because someone in Michigan cares nothing about the laws in Alabama.
PS I guess i have two things. How do you Democrats now feel about eliminating the filibuster and packing the Supreme Court?
Yesh, that’s what I thought.
Democrats and liberals are in total meltdown over the election. “How can this happen? “They ask.
I will tell you.
Trump is a horrible human being. If the Republican Party ran anyone else I would have voted for him/her. But I voted policy not personality.
If you want to know when my vote for Trump was solidified, it was the ridiculous convictions over the payoffs to Stormy Daniels. If a reasonable person were to ignore the name Trump, you would agree the whole thing was Banana Republic-type bull.
Quit demonizing people who disagree with you on policy. Anyone to the right of Mao isn’t Hitler. I am sick of being called a racist. To show how silly this plan of attack has become, Latinos were called racist because they failed to vote for Kamala. Seriously. I heard a nitwit on TV actually say "a majority of Americans have rejected democracy." That very well may be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. Failure to toe the Democrat talking points does not make one a fascist.
Screaming and crying over the election makes you look beyond silly. No one lost a single right on Wednesday they had on Tuesday. The constant hyperbole is exhausting. I don't think some of you liberals understand what "literally" means. Literally, no one is literally killing you. The whole thing makes you look unserious and I won't vote for unserious people.
The Democratic party could not provide a definition of a woman until they nominated one for President. See above about unserious people. Women have worked too hard to suddenly have to fend off mentally ill people in the restroom or on the playing field.
Reasonable people can disagree. I was embarrassed by the events of January 6, but it wasn't an insurrection and the "worst event since the Civil War" pundits made it out to be. It was a bunch of idiots protesting. It was only slightly worse than the protests from the left when Trump was inaugurated in 2017. The events were nothing compared to the riots in the wake of George Floyd.
I voted my best interest. Lowering the rate of inflation does not mean prices are going down, it means they aren’t rising as fast. Anyone who can promise to help relieve the price increases at the grocery and gas pump gets my vote. And no, "price gouging" is not the problem. That claim seems like Harris had no idea what to do.
My vote against Harris had nothing to do with the color of her skin or that she was a woman. I don't care about those things. It was 100% about policy. Bidenomics caused inflation. History shows Keynesian economic policies are a failure every time they are tried. Evidence suggests aggressive government spending actually helped extend the Great Depression. The so-called Inflation Reduction Act did nothing but increase spending and thus increase inflation.
I have been to Mexico. Not “vacation” Mexico, the real poverty stricken Mexico I understand why those people want a better life they can find here. That does not mean we should not have secure borders. Protecting our borders is the responsibility of the government and the Democrats are derelict in that duty. Harris was in charge of the border and did nothing. In fact one of Biden’s very first actions upon taking office was to reduce enforcement of border controls..
The Vice President's failure to articulate a policy outside of abortion made it seem like she had no policy at all, and her one-time utterance that she would do nothing different than Biden, well, his unpopularity pretty much sums it up.
We can start with that list. I will sum it up with a quote from a Democrat advisor: "Its the economy, stupid."
The bottom line is it was an election, not the apocalypse. Life goes on. Had Kamala won I would be disappointed, but I wouldn’t waste a moment crying about it.
It takes Congress to get a lot of the stuff done and it remains pretty much split 50/50. Relax Democrats, you will be fine. No one is going to put you in concentration camps. After all, only one political party in this country has ever resorted to that…
And the last and final point is that I’m not the only one who thinks this way. You have to face that the vast majority of voters rejected your politics. Not much else needs to be said. Except any time you can make Nancy Pelosi cry with the sadz it is a glorious day.
Okay, I waited a day to gloat. Ha! No, I didn’t.
I have to say the liberals are having a collective meltdown of epic proportions.
It is and always will be about “the economy, stupid,”
Want my advice? Perhaps it is not a winning policy to label 50% of the country racists, fascist, Nazis, and garbage merely because they disagree on some policy questions.
Look at that, three posts today
And my first one was the best and now it is buried, dang it.
Harris never said a word of substance during her campaign. I should not be surprised Kamala Harris is a no-show when it comes time to concede, to thank her supporters, to address the nation.
It reaffirms my opinion of that vapid, empty, and probably not nearly as smart as she believes herself to be presidential candidate .
It is 10:30 AM EST and all we have from the Democrat candidate is bupkis.
At what point does this become election denial? Asking for a friend…
I keep clicking that box on my computer screen that says “accept all cookies” but not a one has appeared at my door.
By now I should have dozens of chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, sugar, or snickerdoodle cookies piled on the counter.
I think I’m being scammed.
For as long as I can remember whenever I cross a State line. * I lean forward or stick out my arms to be the “first” one in the car across the line. Of course I know it is goofy.
The wife and I went on a little road trip yesterday. Living in central Indiana a couple of hours or so in any direction can put you into another state. Yesterday when we crossed back into Hoosierdom I reached out towards the windshield to earn my well deserved victory. The wife looked at me and shook her head.
I laughed. “After all these years you either think ‘He’s so weird’ or ‘that’s one of the many little charming things that makes me love him,’” I told her.
She didn’t say anything . I laughed and prompted her, “You have lots of charming qualities, Joe.”
Silence.
I guess I know where I stand.
*when I cross into Indiana from Illinois on I-74 I always sing the opening lines to Back Home in Indiana. I don’t know why. I suppose it is more than a quirk. I was weird even as a kid.
PS try it the next time you cross any State line. Take any victory in life you can get.
It was a typical sunny Hawaiian morning. Joan Kowalski sipped black coffee while she skimmed the thick Sunday Honolulu Times. She was casually dressed in slacks and a blouse. An ignored cigarette burned in an ashtray at her elbow. The cigarette produced a trail of blue smoke that waved and curled in the gentle breeze from the open windows. Joan folded the newspaper expertly as she skipped to the jump page to finish an article. Across the enameled kitchen table Paula Jones wore her nightgown and a robe as she absently stirred sugar into her coffee cup while reading a page in a novel. She was hunched forward in concentration. Neither woman spoke. Music played softly on the radio.
Alice Daughtry walked sleepily into the kitchen and headed straight towards the coffee pot on the stove. “Morning kids,” she mumbled. She was wearing silk pajamas that fit tightly across her large breasts. Alice yawned open-mouthed and stretched her arms above her head. Her top crept up, briefly exposing her flat stomach and navel. Alice rotated her head on her shoulders. Her brown hair was still sleep-tousled. She lit a Lucky Strike and reached for a coffee cup.
The roar of airplanes droned in the distance. Alice cocked her head and stared at the ceiling. “Sounds like the flyboys are at it early this morning.” She filled her cup from the metal percolator. “Edna gets off at eight, I better make another pot of coffee. You know how she is after working the overnight shift.” Edna Faber was their fourth roommate. Alice walked over to the table and poured the last of the pot into Joan and Paula’s cups.
“Huh, those planes seem pretty low,” Paula said. “There is a bunch of them.” She turned towards Alice, “You got in late last night Alice.”
Alice smiled and started to speak when her reply was cut off by distant popping sounds and what sounded like fireworks. “What the heck?” Alice exclaimed. She set the empty pot on the counter.
Joan walked outside barefoot followed by her roommates. Planes circled the distant harbor like flies at a picnic. She could see spurts of smoke and fire to the left around Hickam and more around Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor. The air raid siren up the hill began to wail.
All three women looked at the distant base in awe. None thought to move despite the noise from the sirens blaring throughout Honolulu. The volume of noise grew. Puffs of smoke dotted the air from what Joan supposed were anti-aircraft guns. These made a lighter pop in the sky compared to the deeper thud of the bombs and larger boom of explosions as the torpedoes and bombs began to hit their targets. A buzz of machine guns was barely heard above the cacophony of explosions and the constant howl of the siren.
The planes circled and dove in succession. The three nurses stood frozen in the yard. Suddenly there was a loud explosion, and a black spout of smoke and flame roiled from the harbor. “We are under attack!” Paula shouted. Her words woke something in Joan and called her to action. She sprinted into the house and pulled on some shoes. Joan immediately started jogging towards the hospital. Paula watched her go and headed into the house to pull on her uniform. Alice asked where she was going.
“To the hospital, Alice. There are bound to be casualties.”
“But you are not on duty.” Alice whined. Paula gave her a withering look and followed in Joan’s wake.
I saw a campaign ad for Kamala Harris last evening. The spot claimed “Donald Trump ended Rowe vs Wade.”
No matter your position on that particular contentious issue, that claim is an out and out bold faced untruth aimed at ignorant voters.
Yet the press repeatedly paints the Trump campaign as liars.
Today is beg or loot day or as you may call it, Halloween. The weather has been fantastic all week , so it is fitting it is supposed to rain today.
I like to pretend disdain for Halloween. In truth, I liked it as a kid. Strangely, the town I lived in allowed three days to trick or treat and I took full advantage of the situation. It wasn’t until we moved away after I was married that I understood the rest of America only celebrates Halloween one day.
The houses that gave out Milky Ways or popcorn balls were my favorite.
Before we moved here our neighborhood was inundated with costumed kids trick or treating. The streets and sidewalk were filled. It was like the movies or on TV. We would have literally (in the true sense of the word) hundreds of visitors. Usually, I did not even bother with the door. I sat on the stoop handing out candy.
This house is far different, I doubt we have had thirty kids total in the decade we have lived here.
Good to know. The Democrats first thought I was deplorable, now the President says I’m garbage.
Harris must think I am too, she has yet to condemn the hate speech.
Well, fuck ‘em both.
Nope. Nothing for this Monday. I could I launch an epic rant about football but it is certain you don’t care.
We are looking for some nice weather early this week before more typical fall weather returns.
I have plenty of work - the paying kind - to do. I guess you have to be satisfied with this throwaway post.
Read the people on the right instead.
Enough seriousness. Relax with some music.
I saw a squirrel running along my fence yesterday. That makes me happy.
Or it is a ghost squirrel, that does not make me happy.
In anticipation of the cries from those who do not understand the Constitution, we the people absolutely do NOT elect the President. Since our country is made up of a collection of States, those STATES elect the President.
The number of “votes “ each state gets is apportioned based upon the individual state’s population. These are called electoral votes and the system was a compromise to ensure the states with smaller populations had a say-so in electing the President. Otherwise the largest states would dictate the election.
The system works exactly as the founders envisioned. The last thing any of them wanted was a Democracy.
That is why each state got two senators and the government of each state chose the Senator— they were to represent the State and the House represented the people. Too bad the progressives screwed that up by insisting senators be elected by popular vote.
Now senators forget they represent the states and too many people fail to understand the difference.
Before you cry about the electoral college learn some basic civics and history.
In the classic thriller The Shining a family takes on a job as caretakers of a mountain hotel. Isolated and alone, Jack goes nuts and tries to kill his family.
Too bad no one thought to walk out the front door of the hotel. Down the hill from the Stanley Hotel, about a hundred yards away, is a strip mall, including a pie shop and a McDonalds.
The pie shop is pretty good.
PS for me. Miss you Mom
I’m heading back to the eye surgeon this morning. A week or two ago I developed another bleeder in my eye. This time it is the right one—my “good” eye. Anytime I look at a bright light or screen it is as if I’m looking through a spider web or perhaps a piece of gauze with a brown streak . I know what it is, I’ve been through this before.
Last time he could not laser cauterize the bleeder and tried a shot (yes a needle in the eye). When that didn’t work we had to do surgery. I’m hoping he can just laser it away this morning.
On the scale of things this ranks as a minor inconvenience. It is not a big deal. I’ll be back to work in a couple of hours.
We are but a few weeks out from the election. There is no way in this world I will vote for the vapid Veep.
At this point unless Trump finds some economic advisor who whispers advice into his self-righteous hard head I won’t vote for him either. That pains me because I firmly believe if you don’t vote you don’t get to complain.
Trump’s tariff plan will be an inflationary disaster. I outlined my reasoning in a previous post. Everything you buy, even food, is subject to the global economy. Like your avocados? Early grapes and corn? Where do you think those come from? Pineapple?
For a business man Trump is woefully ignorant of the world outside of real estate and entertainment.
If you believe the businesses or exporter will pay the tariff, you are an idiot too. Businesses don’t pay taxes. It is a cost that gets built into the final price.
I’ve dealt with tariffs and dumping duties much of my professional life. That cost gets passed right on to the customer and once he builds whatever machinery he produces that cost rolls right to the end user.
I’m all for encouraging us to Buy American. We need to expand our manufacturing base. We need to on-shore more production. This won’t make it happen.
Why did clothing manufacturers leave the Carolinas and off-shore the production of T-shirts? Because no one wanted to pay thirty bucks for a cotton shirt forty years ago. What do you think union wages and benefit cost would add to the price of a T-shirt today?
We live in a global economy, whether we like it or not.
So we find ourselves once again on Friday. I, for one am glad. I need a break. Sure I was just on vacation last week. All the more reason to be worn out. One should ease back into work after a holiday or vacation with half days or something.
The real truth is I love my job. I also think after every vacation I could retire without looking back in regret at all. I’ve been working since I was thirteen. I’m tired of it. On the other hand there is that pesky mortgage and bills. I like to eat. A roof over my head would be nice. So yes, I will work for at least five more years. I want to be able to have those occasional vacations. So it goes.
No Friday music today. No Friday Five. I suspect no one minds.
I finally did a bit of writing in the second book last night. I’ve settled on a title and actually designed the front cover last week. Strangely enough my inspiration was a novel I picked up for free from Prime Reading. It had a moderately interesting plot but the writing was awful. I mean middle school bad. I kept reading in the same way one rubbernecks a car accident.
I only pray that the general opinion of all eleven of you who read my first novel wasn’t “okay story but lousy writing.” If so, please tell me. Honesty is way more important than my feelings.
I fear embarrassment more than anything. Except snakes. And maybe spiders. But certainly snakes for sure. I’d rather not share my work than embarrass myself.
Anyway, I got some inspiration and I spit out four or five thousand words. It needs fleshing out, but the plot is finally moving forward. I’m sure you were all concerned about my progress.
Have a great day.
I am certainly not the arbiter of taste, even if I should be. There are a number of acts in the Rock and Roll shall of Fame that probably do not belong there. Some deserving acts are left out.
One act that gets far too much love and respect is the Sex Pistols.
Believe it or not, this is deemed one of their best efforts.
I have nothing against punk music. I just think maybe the musicians should be able to actually play their instruments before we put them into the HOF.
Your opinion may vary.
One thing I learned in my college study of history is that we all have biases. I believe it is clear to anyone who has read this blog, whether for a month or the nearly twenty years I’ve been bloviating here, that I don’t just lean right, I am a full on conservative. I readily admit it.
I read many blogs and news sites. There is one blog I enjoy, that purports to take a middle of the road facts first approach. The only problem is the blog’s interpretation of facts always skews left. Always. The author is totally incapable of recognizing his/her bias. Which is fine, it is the hypocritical self-righteousness that galls me.
I don’t care where you stand politically. Own it, even when you are historically, economically, and morally wrong to support liberal and progressive policies. At least do not pretend to be a great non-partisan watchdog when every time your opinion leans left.
I make no claims of unbiased analysis. I’m certainly no Republican, but I am a small government conservative.
I know what I am.
Fall has arrived. According to the forecast temps won’t reach seventy again until late in the week. It’s Okay.
I mowed the lawn yesterday. It won’t be the last time, but maybe not every week going forward.
I made my most favorite meal for dinner yesterday: beef and noodles and yes, I’m a Hoosier so we had mashed potatoes with them. There are leftovers for lunch.
I have to pay the price for a week of vacation. My work email in box is filled to electronic overflowing. I have a conference call mid-morning and another this afternoon.
I did read some of the emails during the week and answered a few.
The bottom line I enjoyed my time off. So the inundation of work is worth it.
I sure said “I” a lot in this post. You would thing this thing was all about me.
Go forth and have a great Monday.
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| Last vacation picture. I promise |
The Front Range anyway.
It was a great fall afternoon yesterday. I thought I’d enjoy a bit of time on the patio with a nice cigar. After some time I glanced to my right and there lay a dead squirrel.
I enjoy my backyard squirrel. He amused me. Now it looks like he has gone to squirrel heaven. I hope it is filled with nuts and good stuff. And yes, I’m a bit sad to find one of God’s creatures has met his end.
I have no idea what he thought of the Great Plains. Did he love or loathe the windswept prairie? He did not stay in the west after the war. For an unknown reason he made his way east, settling in central Indiana, an area equally as flat, if not more so, than west Kansas.
Perhaps it is a passed on gene from my distant grandfather, but I love the Great Plains. For me there is hidden beauty in the open vistas and distant horizon. Maybe it is my youth spent reading Louis L’Amour westerns that inspires my admiration. Perhaps it is the histories of the plains wars and Native American biographies I devoured that inspires my admiration of the prairie? Can I blame Laura Ingalls Wilder? The names of forgotten cow towns and army posts ring nostalgic in my soul: Forts Riley, Lawrence, and Hays. The cow towns of Abilene, Wichita, and Dodge conjure dusty trails and smokey saloons I never knew.
I guess I’m a romantic at heart.
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| 80 mph view from my car window |
But why in the heck did my great great grandpa go from Ohio to western Missouri to Iowa and then end up in Indiana? That is opposite the migration after the war.
I am late to the blog this morning, I slept in. It is OK, I’m on vacation. I have been all week.
We left last Friday evening and road tripped out to Colorado visit my son. After an all night drive we arrived in time for lunch. We had a wonderful time. It was great to spend time with my oldest boy/middle child. We had not seen him for nearly a year.
We climbed back into the Grand Cherokee Wednesday afternoon and arrived back home yesterday morning.
I love road trips. I’ve been doing them for work and fun for most of my life. The wife and I travel well together. I do not recover from driving all night as quick as I used to. Fifteen or sixteen hours in the car makes my body hurt. Add this trip only days after my visit to China and my body is just worn out.
I’ve done four all-nighters in less than 2 weeks.
The wife wants to go to Ohio today.
I think we all know what I’ll be doing in a few hours.
My butt hurts already.
I have really tried to be a better person recently. When I see my fellow humans dressing or acting in what to me is silly, I have tried to withhold comment .
It started with watching an old lady trying on shoes. She was sporting the worst-fitting, most poorly designed wig that looked like it came straight from 1972. Then it occurred to me that maybe she had been sick, perhaps cancer, and was doing her best to feel pretty. Who am I to poke fun, even if to myself?
Fast forward tto yesterday. We slipped in to a McDonald's in Redacted Kansas for a quick breakfast. I moseyed into the restroom. There, standing at a urinal, was a man of at least my age or older, his pants and tighty whities pulled down around his ankles — his full moon shining for all to see.
I looked down moved around him to the other urinal and unzipped my fly. He finally pulled up his pants and left. No, he did not wash his hands.
So yes. I found this beyond weird. I’ve not seen a male completely drop his trousers to pee since my boys did it at around three or four years old.
Maybe it is just me. I know things are different for the female of the species, but this was akin to a stranger next to you striking up a conversation at the urinal wall. It just shouldn’t happen.
I read today FEMA is slow to respond to recent hurricanes because they are pretty much out of money. How is that you ask? It seems the Biden-Harris regime has used nearly one BILLION dollars of FEMA funds over the past two years to provide services and housing to illegals.
Ponder that readers. The Democrsts took emergency money earmarked to help out you and your fellow Americans and gave it to criminals.
There is an election next month. Do you want politicians who care more for American citizens or for those who come here illegally? Vote accordingly.
I’m following up on something I read about Mr. Kamala Harris.
It was my understanding that paying off a former mistress was some kind of worst crime ever or something?
What about slapping around a different one?
Hello? Is anyone out there?
Given the burden of inflation the Biden/Harris regime has placed on us all I am not surprised workers are looking for an increase in pay. I’m still working for the same salary I signed up for in 2022, so I am making about 20% less.
But come on Longshoremen, you want a 77% raise? F you. Your union president brags he will cripple the economy, spike prices, and ruin Christmas . No wonder I hate unions. *
So get ready for shortages. Prepare for more inflation.
You are aware, if Biden ever came off vacation, he has the presidential power to force a mediation in this dispute. He won’t because the democrats need the union vote. And I’m not sure he is mentally up to it. Do we really want Mayor Pete heading up negotiations? I’d rather my 9 year-old granddaughter took the lead.
I spit on you all.
*I could write a month’s worth of posts about the unions.
Look, if the Hangzou Bay Universal Hotel can have state of the art toilets, why can’t you and I? Don’t we deserve it?
*Yes this was my actual room. A king room with an extra sitting area—$85 a night. A similar hotel in a the States would run $300-$400 depending on your location.
