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| Not taken this morning |
You lose, or win, depending on your particular point of view.
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?
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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| The Defence of Rorke’s Drift |
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
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.
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.
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?
February ended with temps above 60. March hit us with sub-freezing and windchills in the teens. What the heck Mother Nature?
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
A big game too…
And in other sports news Cubs pitchers and catchers report for spring training today!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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):
That adventure series was my favorite Saturday cartoon as a kid. I limited myself to one episode. Normally I binge the heck out of something I like. Not this time. I want to savor the awesomeness that is Race Bannon. But that damn dog drives me nuts..
Monday. Back to work.
Blah blah blah.
Weather
Blah blah blah
Football
Blah blah blah
Have a great day.
I stayed up late watching Landman with the wife so I’m up a bit later than usual today. Of course 6:30 isn’t late for many people. I know what will happen, I’ll take a nap this afternoon probably while the first football game is on.
I’ll be darned if I can tell you what I did yesterday. I hung up a picture for the wife, but beyond that I couldn’t tell you.
There will be no weather report today. Look out your own window.
I better drink some coffee before this thing takes a dark turn.
Have a good Sunday.
We got a dusting of snow Thursday afternoon and evening. I was standing at the patio door yesterday morning eating a dry Walmart brand apple danish looking at the myriad of animal tracks cross-crossing my patio. Rabbit, squirrel (or cat?) and tiny tracks that have to be chipmunk mingled in a trail from left to right in front of the door. Where are they going? Where have they been? Why is my patio an animal highway? Why does the rabbit huddle under one of the chairs and stare inside after dark? Pervert rabbits.
One more cold day before a slight warm up. I can live with that.
I’m cracking up over the liberal wailing and gnashing of teeth. Get over it, America spoke. Remember that “Democracy “ you shouted about for four years?
As far as the illegal alien thing, as I understand it, if you do not break the law (or hang with people who break the law) you will not have an issue. That seems pretty simple to me. Follow the same laws the rest of have to or face deportation. Pretty simple.
The cops have never arrested me or come to my house because I don’t steal, do drugs, or worse.
You too can live a clean life.
Well, they came to the house that time I got in a fight after school when I was 16, but only to tell me to knock it off. I never cared for my snitch of a neighbor after that, but that is a tale for another time.
It’s been cold here. Really cold, but not unprecedented. I feel for the people in the south with temperatures in the teens and more snow than many have seen in their lives. I have a furnace and a warm winter coat. My house is insulated.
For people who find fifty Fahrenheit chilly, eighteen degrees must seem unbearable. Most humans can take the heat, it’s the cold that gets you.
I cannot help but laugh and point at people who celebrated when Biden appointed Msyor Pete to his cabinet then argue Trump’s nominees are unqualified.
The senile old fool actually wrote this*:
Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families,” Biden said
The pardon of Mark Miley, who committed what any reasonable person would deem treason, is galling.
*or someone pretending to be the President did
It’s so cold the Tidy Bowl man is ice fishing in my toilet.
That’s a classic joke.
What? I guess you have to be of a certain age to get it. Here:
For Christmas my daughter bought me a 23andMe DNA ancestory kit. I got my results Friday. To no surprise at all my ancestors were 99.3% European. The main contribution is 79% Scotch-Irish and 20.3% German. The Germanic part is from the Rhine River area which matches my research into my family tree.
There is 0.6% trace DNA from Angola/Congo and North Africa. Somebody somewhere in my past had a little multi-cultural dalliance!
Apparently I have 76% more Neanderthal DNA than other 23andMe customers. I have been accused of being a Neanderthal more thsn once in my life and now I can retort “yeah, so what?”
The most interesting result was where they identify relatives (who have taken the 23andMe DNA test). I was randomly clicking on the map and a name and picture popped up. It was my college roommate! He is my third cousin once removed. What a small world.
The Rolling Stones are playing in the background as I hunt and peck on the keyboard. Rain falls gently outside as the snow slowly melts into the semi-frozen ground and storm sewer. I’m told it is going to get cold - really cold - in the coming days. One only has to read through the almost twenty years of archives over there on the right to discover subzero temperatures are not unusual in January.
I had an idea for today’s post as I prepared for bed last night. The topic floated away with my already forgotten dreams. It is okay, I’m approaching this conundrum with my usual buoyant optimism. Biden will be gone in days. Pitchers and catchers report for spring training in a few weeks. Spring is just over the horizon.
Hey, I just remembered what I was going to write about! See, it is a good day.
What? No, I’ll put it in a separate post, I’ve already typed words and sentences enough for a Saturday. Besides, the wife asked me to go get donuts for breakfast. Maybe if I go get her some chocolate covered donuts she will do something nice for me.
That’s not why I’m going, of course. But it never hurts to hold out hope.
Friday music. Yay! Says you.
I saw Supertranp live at the old Market Square Arena sometime in the early eighties. I’m sure they played this.
Happy Wednesday Thursday readers. Morning temperatures have finally started out in something above single digits and we may actually get above freezing today. It’s okay, it is nearly always cold in January.
I had my annual review at work yesterday. I was rated well and fair by my boss. If I’m honest, he rated me about the way I would rate myself.
I cracked up over Biden’s farewell address. He warned us about rich oligarchs and their threat to democracy one week after he gave the Medal of Freedom to George Soros. Does that senile old idiot even understand irony?
Today would have been my dad’s 87th birthday. I miss you Pop.
The Maha Kumbh Mela, a Hindi festival that occurs once every 12 years has begun this week. Over the next six weeks, 400 million people (more than the total US population) will travel to Prayagraj in northern India to bathe in the confluence of rivers sacred to Hindus. Preparations have been extensive: Authorities have constructed 150,000 tents for a makeshift city, 145,000 restrooms, and 99 parking lots.
Can you imagine the stink from that gaggle of crap houses?
A new company car should arrive this week. It will be the same as the last one. You don’t have to say it, I know how awesome it is to have someone give me a nice new car. When I get ticked off I have not had a raise in three years or that I did not get my earned bonus last year I remind myself that few companies are giving out cars these days. Most sales guys I know have to buy their own vehicle and get a monthly allowance to pay for it.
There are advantages to the car allowance system. If you end up out of work you still have a car. You get paid significantly more per mile than you do in a company car (I pay for my own gas).
Most of you are shouting screw you, I have to buy my own car and I don’t want to hear about it. I get it.
In the late nineties I went to work for a big company located on the East coast. My boss was from the Camden, NJ / Philadelphia area. I worked remote in Indiana and the company rented me an office.
I lived in a small town of about 18,000 people in central Indiana. I found an office in an old building right on the town square. It was two rooms on the corner of the second floor. I called my new boss to tell him I found a place and advise the rent payment. It was cheap.
“It’s in an old office building right downtown,” I said. “There are only a couple of tenants, there is an old lawyer upstairs and some retail on the ground floor.” He asked about parking and I told him there was a lot with alley access behind the building.
“Is it safe?” He asked me.
“Well I suppose so. I didn’t ask if it was up to code or anything.”
“No,” he asked again more emphatically. “ Is it safe? Do you have to worry about crime?”
I never felt more small town in my life. I laughed and explained that I had no worries walking around downtown.
We all see things from a different perspective.
Happy Saturday. We got about 3.5 inches of snow yesterday, nothing big at all. We have about a foot on the ground at this point. As I type the plow is cleaning the cul-de-sac. Unlike the major metropolitan Capital city to my south, we actually plow the streets here in Mudsock.
I had to change my WiFi password yesterday. What a pain. Not changing, that was easy. Reconnecting my stuff is the issue. It is remarkable how much stuff I have that is connected to the web. I have everything from the TV to my Kindle to the various Eco devices to the thermostat and washer and dryer.*
My ancient first gen iPad refuses to join. So it goes. It won’t work with most websites anyway.
Anyway, I have a few trmaodevices to tackle. Have a great Saturday.
*the washer and dryer notify the wife when they are done. Plus if you set the washer to a specific cycle, the dryer automatically sets itself to the same cycle, for instance if you choose “bedding”. I don’t know, the wife likes it.
I’m getting senile. I put up a post featuring LA Woman by the Doors and a commentary on the LA fires. I posted that music video just a few days ago.
We are expected to get 2-4 inches of snow from the edge of the big winter storm slamming down the Mason Dixon line today. This storm will punch through Appalachia just as FEMA boots the hurricane victims from their government paid housing. Don’t worry, the Biden Administration just shipped off another $3billion or so to Ukraine this week.
In a juvenile hissy fit I’m not going to post any Friday music at all since I already created a post and had to trash it.
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.
