On The Cusp
15/06/21 07:04
Going to be another steamer today. How many more 90-degree days are we going to have to endure, I ask you. It's only June for chrissakes and it's just brutal. Maybe there is more to this global warming thing than we're being told. I pushed myself to get out on my bike ride yesterday around 7:30 am in order to beat the heat. I think it worked but there were far fewer of the usual pockets of cool air as I biked along the coast than I might have liked.
I stopped along my bike route on my way home last week and bought the missus a nice lobster roll. They charged $20 for a roll last summer and they're charging $25 this year. It cost $5 more and I'm not so sure that there wasn't a little less lobster in the roll. Inflation is raging under Biden's presidency so no one should be surprised that prices of everything are going though the roof. Gas has gone from $2 to $3 a gallon in just the last few months. I'm guessing those lobster boats don't run on methane.
You can't help but feel that you're getting ripped off when you see prices surging like that. It's less obvious when you're walking in and out of the supermarket especially when you're not paying attention to sticker prices. I hear meat prices are out of sight too but we're not big consumers of beef so no big deal. No harm, no fowl? I told the missus that we'll not be returning to the place down at the harbor anytime soon to buy another lobster roll. We'll be buying it elsewhere by the pound if we want it and, hopefully, we'll stay out of the poorhouse by going that route.
Maybe they're having to pay their employees more just to make sure that they have staff on hand when the time comes to open the doors every day. We see stores hereabouts that are closed from time to time because they have no employees to service the customers. There's that Biden presidency thing again. He's handing out checks and freebies like a drunken sailor so it's no surprise that nobody wants to work. This is the democrats model that will ensure that they never lose another election. People vote their pocketbooks. Right?
We've got a vacation coming up in a couple of months so that's good. Places were being snapped up left and right after the pandemic last summer forced everyone to batten down the hatches and stay home in order to avoid the dreaded Covid-19. That was a fucking disaster. Turns out that staying inside was the worst thing that anyone could do. It actually increased your odds of contracting the virus. It's almost as though government officials knew that but locked it all down anyway. That makes them complicit in the unnecessary deaths of tens of thousands of people. Right?
So, the vacation thing is good. It's not ideal, but it's good nonetheless. We night have preferred something a little different but we're not complaining now that we've nailed it down. There is something to be said for having something to look forward to and I guess this qualifies. The Ev man is excited as well and we're looking forward to getting away as a family. We've always enjoyed going to this particular destination so it will be like visiting an old friend. I know it's a couple of months or more away but it will be here soon enough. Good stuff.
Did I mention that I will not be planting tomato plants this year? I think that makes the missus a little sad but I guess she'll have to be sad then. I don't plant the damn things to make her happy and I won't plan the damn things just so she won't be sad. That's not the way I roll. Do I have any misgivings? Maybe I'll miss having a BLT or two down the road but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I remember last year liking the crop and the tomatoes a lot but that isn't cutting the mustard this year. It's a new year and that's my final decision.
Our garden actually looks a little grumpy without the usual four or five tomato plants that I throw in every year. The ground lay bare as a reminder of what could have been. I will not be shamed into throwing in a plant or two at the last minute as an afterthought or just so I might avoid the real pangs of regret come harvest time. Listen to me. Harvest time? What am I? A fucking farmer? Hardly. I'm actually enjoying the thought of not having to water the plants over the course of the summer so let me keep enjoying that thought for as long as it lasts.
It's not like I can't find organic tomatoes in my local grocery store when I want them. The store I have in mind actually has a section set aside for fruits and vegetables grown locally by farmers and maybe even fair weather growers who have nothing better to do with their time. You know them. These are the assholes who drive from Farmers Market to Farmers Market with the bumper stickers on their old pick-ups that's say, "No Farms, No Food", or some such bullshit. I know, I know. Where would we be without them? That's a rhetorical question.
I humored the missus yesterday and agreed to go with her to a nursery of sorts maybe 45 minutes away. It was the biggest nursery I've ever seen. I think the missus was in her glory bumping around the joint thinking about all the plants she could purchase for her flower boxes which, as yet, are not up and running. This is where I come in.
I need to make sure that the boxes are affixed to the railings on the back deck and that the old soil has been replaced with the new soil she purchased just recently. It's not too much to ask and I'm happy to do it. We walked away with a few plants for the boxes so I need to up my game and git her done today. Like I said, it's the least I can do.
We stopped in South Berwick, Me, on the way home and had a burger and fries in a place that was recently written up in one of our local rags. It was located smack dab in the middle of the downtown area and we were fortunate enough to grab a parking spot almost right in front of the burger joint. We ignored the pleadings of a fella who stood in the center of the intersection holding a sign against the oncoming traffic outlining his plight of impoverishment and such and seemingly shivering in the cool 50 degree temperatures while wearing nothing more than a tee shirt.
I've always been under the impression, rightly or wrongly, that these panhandlers make a decent living on the backs of righteous people who subscribe to the biblical expression, "There but for the grace of God go I" or some such hokum. We were forced to drive back by the fella on the way back through town and did not ignore him the second time.
The missus wasn't crazy about the idea but I gave him a $20 and never looked back. If he wants to have himself a good drink or two, then so be it. If he wants to sit down to a burger and fries then I'm good with that too. Maybe he has a family he's supporting with his panhandling. God only knows.
The food was actually pretty good once we sat down to eat. I'm never happy thinking about all of the fat globules clogging my veins after eating a meal like that but I ignore all of it just long enough to tell myself that it is the last burger I'll be eating for a while so it's all good. I do it (have a burger) infrequently enough so that I'm not really putting my health in jeopardy but there are times when I'm better off not entertaining such thoughts when I sit down to eat. The fries were no less unhealthy and we scarfed them down with a chocolate shake and that was that. I'm not sure that we need to make the long trip back to this particular burger joint but I'm glad we went.
We stopped by a shop in Dover on our trip and I bought any number of things that I thought Evan might like to eat when he comes for the weekend. It's always an open question as to just how long he'll stay but that's a discussion for another day. As it turned out, he stayed over Friday night and retuned home on Saturday. I think he just likes a change of scenery from time to time like the rest of us. I also think he's become less tolerant over time of the single bed that he has here in his bedroom and prefers sleeping in his own queen-sized bed back home.
I'm trying as I might to get him to pay more attention to the maintenance issues with his car but he seems disinclined for whatever reason. These are things that I suppose he's not had to deal with over time since I've taken care of them but I keep telling him that if I get hit by a bus tomorrow he's going to have to know how to do these things. His oil was due for a change so I took it over to have that done. He's been spending a lot of time in his room since arriving on Friday night so I figured it would take more time and effort to roust him out of his whatever than it would be just to do it myself.
I know he feels better about driving a car that has been cleaned up, wiped down, a car that has had its oil changed, and maybe a car that has had its gas tank topped off. I know I feel better about sending him on his way with all of these things done too. What dad wouldn't? He had given me a list of thing he needed before his arrival on Friday night so I had them on hand for him to take with him when he left on Saturday. His only responsibility is to make sure that what I gave him doesn't sit in his car for an extended period of time before he brings any one or more of the items up to his apartment. I can only do so much for him.
During our visit to see Mrs G over the weekend we got her up and running on the right wireless networks after her facility updated their networks and we even got her squared away with her Amazon shows on the telly which she's been having trouble with as of late. I'm not sure myself what the difference is between the guest network and her individualized network but she was on the former and, using the instructions provided by her facility, we got logged her into the correct network.
Once she learned that she had been using the guest network for the better part of a week, she was happy to know that she was now in the right place. Or, more aptly put, on the right network. As a back drop to all of this, she gave us a call the day after the changes were put in effect in her place and asked if we might assist in helping her get online. I tried to walk her through things over the phone but, with what seemed at the time, limited success. She somehow ended up choosing the guest network and gave us a call back to let us know she was back online.
Good stuff, I thought to myself. For a woman her age and coming from a generation where computers were something out of a science fiction novel, she was doing pretty darn well for herself. I was proud of her for her perseverance and stick-to-it-ness when it came to solving her own problems with or without a handbook or maybe a relative or two lending an assist. I even offered to pay a visit to help her out but she was having none of it. There are people on hand at her facility who would have worked with her to get her online if push came to shove but she got it done all by her lonesome.
I think Mrs G is probably no different than anyone else when it comes to using the computer. She knows enough to be dangerous and that's all she needs or wants to know. I mean, how many of us, really, take computing to places where few or no man (or woman) have gone before? That's why we use bookmarks when browsing the web just as an example. It takes us back and forth to the places that we like to visit on a regular basis and we're pretty happy just being able to do that. We have calculators to help us balance our checkbooks, spreadsheets to help us track things, and word documents to keep document things we want to document.
I meant to bring my own iPad over to Mrs G's place to show her how she can track her portfolio on her iPad instead of having to sit down at her computer to check in on any changes. Maybe that's a matter of personal preference, I'm not sure. I'll keep it in mind to do the next time we visit.
I also noticed that she has a machine that takes telephone messages when she's away and the sound quality of the messages being left told me that it's getting a little long in the tooth. I think you learn to live with some things and then there are things you can't live with for whatever reason. That is to say, I wonder if she would even contemplate getting a new recording machine. I'll be sure to inquire the next time we're over for a visit.
Anyone catch fumbling bumbling Joe Biden traveling around Europe with the clown car better known in political circles as the G7? What a complete imbecile. Have you seen the moron referring to his note cards time and time again? They are in a font size 56 if you're curious about such things. What world leader shows up at the G7 with talking points on cue cards?
If you're a leader who's stolen an election and you're out of your depth on the world stage, you bring cue cards and the larger the font the better. In one speech he confused Syria with some other country several times. His handlers, wanting to prevent an absolute disaster, would not agree to have Biden and Putin on the same stage lest Putin reveal Biden for the complete moron that he is.
In another video, Biden is walking around inside a tent wearing these white sneakers like some demented old fool roaming around an old folks home. I can't say for sure but it sounds like he might be mumbling to himself. A party sitting at a nearby table shouted out a question and he looks back at them like he's just been roused out of a deep sleep but doesn't have a clue as to where he is, who he is, or where he's going.
His enabler, Dr Jill, comes to his rescue and leads him away by the arm at the last minute to make sure that the "leader of the free world" doesn't further embarrass himself on the world stage. One time, while standing at a podium, he says something about needing to walk away because his "handlers' wouldn't be happy were he to try and answer questions. You can't make this stuff up.
We're in a world of hurt with Biden in the White House. It's an inescapable truth. We know it, the world knows it, and the bad actors across the planet plan to take full advantage. Biden can't call out China because the Biden Crime Family sold out to China long ago. Biden can't hold a candle to Putin and I suspect it won't be long now before Putin takes Ukraine without firing so much as a shot.
The laughter we saw and heard on televisions in living rooms and boardrooms during Biden's trip to the G7 was most likely a nervous laughter coming from the global elites who have long counted on the US to stand up to the bad actors on the world stage on their behalf. What was once stalwart and reliable when it comes to US leadership has now been exposed as fraudulent and flimsy.
In the meantime, officials in Arizona are conducting a forensic audit of the 2020 election to determine what, if any, shenanigans occurred during the actual election. We're talking dead people voting, ballots with no creases, ballots with but one candidate (Biden) chosen, ballots with no chain of custody (where did they come from?), ballots that exceed the number of people in one or more specific precincts, etc. Everyone knows that Trump is the rightful winner of the 2020 election and Arizona is but one of many states getting to the bottom of the travesty that was the 2020 election.
No one expects Trump to be declared the rightful winner since Biden is in and that's the end of it. It will, however, let everyone know what we think we already know so we can go ahead and say with confidence that Biden is an illegitimate president. If Biden's DOJ tries to stop this, Arizona officials are threatening to put the Attorney General of the United States behind bars for interfering in their audit. After all, the states created the federal government and not the other way around and they need to be reminded of that now and again. Can 2022 and 2024 come soon enough? I think not.
I stopped along my bike route on my way home last week and bought the missus a nice lobster roll. They charged $20 for a roll last summer and they're charging $25 this year. It cost $5 more and I'm not so sure that there wasn't a little less lobster in the roll. Inflation is raging under Biden's presidency so no one should be surprised that prices of everything are going though the roof. Gas has gone from $2 to $3 a gallon in just the last few months. I'm guessing those lobster boats don't run on methane.
You can't help but feel that you're getting ripped off when you see prices surging like that. It's less obvious when you're walking in and out of the supermarket especially when you're not paying attention to sticker prices. I hear meat prices are out of sight too but we're not big consumers of beef so no big deal. No harm, no fowl? I told the missus that we'll not be returning to the place down at the harbor anytime soon to buy another lobster roll. We'll be buying it elsewhere by the pound if we want it and, hopefully, we'll stay out of the poorhouse by going that route.
Maybe they're having to pay their employees more just to make sure that they have staff on hand when the time comes to open the doors every day. We see stores hereabouts that are closed from time to time because they have no employees to service the customers. There's that Biden presidency thing again. He's handing out checks and freebies like a drunken sailor so it's no surprise that nobody wants to work. This is the democrats model that will ensure that they never lose another election. People vote their pocketbooks. Right?
We've got a vacation coming up in a couple of months so that's good. Places were being snapped up left and right after the pandemic last summer forced everyone to batten down the hatches and stay home in order to avoid the dreaded Covid-19. That was a fucking disaster. Turns out that staying inside was the worst thing that anyone could do. It actually increased your odds of contracting the virus. It's almost as though government officials knew that but locked it all down anyway. That makes them complicit in the unnecessary deaths of tens of thousands of people. Right?
So, the vacation thing is good. It's not ideal, but it's good nonetheless. We night have preferred something a little different but we're not complaining now that we've nailed it down. There is something to be said for having something to look forward to and I guess this qualifies. The Ev man is excited as well and we're looking forward to getting away as a family. We've always enjoyed going to this particular destination so it will be like visiting an old friend. I know it's a couple of months or more away but it will be here soon enough. Good stuff.
Did I mention that I will not be planting tomato plants this year? I think that makes the missus a little sad but I guess she'll have to be sad then. I don't plant the damn things to make her happy and I won't plan the damn things just so she won't be sad. That's not the way I roll. Do I have any misgivings? Maybe I'll miss having a BLT or two down the road but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I remember last year liking the crop and the tomatoes a lot but that isn't cutting the mustard this year. It's a new year and that's my final decision.
Our garden actually looks a little grumpy without the usual four or five tomato plants that I throw in every year. The ground lay bare as a reminder of what could have been. I will not be shamed into throwing in a plant or two at the last minute as an afterthought or just so I might avoid the real pangs of regret come harvest time. Listen to me. Harvest time? What am I? A fucking farmer? Hardly. I'm actually enjoying the thought of not having to water the plants over the course of the summer so let me keep enjoying that thought for as long as it lasts.
It's not like I can't find organic tomatoes in my local grocery store when I want them. The store I have in mind actually has a section set aside for fruits and vegetables grown locally by farmers and maybe even fair weather growers who have nothing better to do with their time. You know them. These are the assholes who drive from Farmers Market to Farmers Market with the bumper stickers on their old pick-ups that's say, "No Farms, No Food", or some such bullshit. I know, I know. Where would we be without them? That's a rhetorical question.
I humored the missus yesterday and agreed to go with her to a nursery of sorts maybe 45 minutes away. It was the biggest nursery I've ever seen. I think the missus was in her glory bumping around the joint thinking about all the plants she could purchase for her flower boxes which, as yet, are not up and running. This is where I come in.
I need to make sure that the boxes are affixed to the railings on the back deck and that the old soil has been replaced with the new soil she purchased just recently. It's not too much to ask and I'm happy to do it. We walked away with a few plants for the boxes so I need to up my game and git her done today. Like I said, it's the least I can do.
We stopped in South Berwick, Me, on the way home and had a burger and fries in a place that was recently written up in one of our local rags. It was located smack dab in the middle of the downtown area and we were fortunate enough to grab a parking spot almost right in front of the burger joint. We ignored the pleadings of a fella who stood in the center of the intersection holding a sign against the oncoming traffic outlining his plight of impoverishment and such and seemingly shivering in the cool 50 degree temperatures while wearing nothing more than a tee shirt.
I've always been under the impression, rightly or wrongly, that these panhandlers make a decent living on the backs of righteous people who subscribe to the biblical expression, "There but for the grace of God go I" or some such hokum. We were forced to drive back by the fella on the way back through town and did not ignore him the second time.
The missus wasn't crazy about the idea but I gave him a $20 and never looked back. If he wants to have himself a good drink or two, then so be it. If he wants to sit down to a burger and fries then I'm good with that too. Maybe he has a family he's supporting with his panhandling. God only knows.
The food was actually pretty good once we sat down to eat. I'm never happy thinking about all of the fat globules clogging my veins after eating a meal like that but I ignore all of it just long enough to tell myself that it is the last burger I'll be eating for a while so it's all good. I do it (have a burger) infrequently enough so that I'm not really putting my health in jeopardy but there are times when I'm better off not entertaining such thoughts when I sit down to eat. The fries were no less unhealthy and we scarfed them down with a chocolate shake and that was that. I'm not sure that we need to make the long trip back to this particular burger joint but I'm glad we went.
We stopped by a shop in Dover on our trip and I bought any number of things that I thought Evan might like to eat when he comes for the weekend. It's always an open question as to just how long he'll stay but that's a discussion for another day. As it turned out, he stayed over Friday night and retuned home on Saturday. I think he just likes a change of scenery from time to time like the rest of us. I also think he's become less tolerant over time of the single bed that he has here in his bedroom and prefers sleeping in his own queen-sized bed back home.
I'm trying as I might to get him to pay more attention to the maintenance issues with his car but he seems disinclined for whatever reason. These are things that I suppose he's not had to deal with over time since I've taken care of them but I keep telling him that if I get hit by a bus tomorrow he's going to have to know how to do these things. His oil was due for a change so I took it over to have that done. He's been spending a lot of time in his room since arriving on Friday night so I figured it would take more time and effort to roust him out of his whatever than it would be just to do it myself.
I know he feels better about driving a car that has been cleaned up, wiped down, a car that has had its oil changed, and maybe a car that has had its gas tank topped off. I know I feel better about sending him on his way with all of these things done too. What dad wouldn't? He had given me a list of thing he needed before his arrival on Friday night so I had them on hand for him to take with him when he left on Saturday. His only responsibility is to make sure that what I gave him doesn't sit in his car for an extended period of time before he brings any one or more of the items up to his apartment. I can only do so much for him.
During our visit to see Mrs G over the weekend we got her up and running on the right wireless networks after her facility updated their networks and we even got her squared away with her Amazon shows on the telly which she's been having trouble with as of late. I'm not sure myself what the difference is between the guest network and her individualized network but she was on the former and, using the instructions provided by her facility, we got logged her into the correct network.
Once she learned that she had been using the guest network for the better part of a week, she was happy to know that she was now in the right place. Or, more aptly put, on the right network. As a back drop to all of this, she gave us a call the day after the changes were put in effect in her place and asked if we might assist in helping her get online. I tried to walk her through things over the phone but, with what seemed at the time, limited success. She somehow ended up choosing the guest network and gave us a call back to let us know she was back online.
Good stuff, I thought to myself. For a woman her age and coming from a generation where computers were something out of a science fiction novel, she was doing pretty darn well for herself. I was proud of her for her perseverance and stick-to-it-ness when it came to solving her own problems with or without a handbook or maybe a relative or two lending an assist. I even offered to pay a visit to help her out but she was having none of it. There are people on hand at her facility who would have worked with her to get her online if push came to shove but she got it done all by her lonesome.
I think Mrs G is probably no different than anyone else when it comes to using the computer. She knows enough to be dangerous and that's all she needs or wants to know. I mean, how many of us, really, take computing to places where few or no man (or woman) have gone before? That's why we use bookmarks when browsing the web just as an example. It takes us back and forth to the places that we like to visit on a regular basis and we're pretty happy just being able to do that. We have calculators to help us balance our checkbooks, spreadsheets to help us track things, and word documents to keep document things we want to document.
I meant to bring my own iPad over to Mrs G's place to show her how she can track her portfolio on her iPad instead of having to sit down at her computer to check in on any changes. Maybe that's a matter of personal preference, I'm not sure. I'll keep it in mind to do the next time we visit.
I also noticed that she has a machine that takes telephone messages when she's away and the sound quality of the messages being left told me that it's getting a little long in the tooth. I think you learn to live with some things and then there are things you can't live with for whatever reason. That is to say, I wonder if she would even contemplate getting a new recording machine. I'll be sure to inquire the next time we're over for a visit.
Anyone catch fumbling bumbling Joe Biden traveling around Europe with the clown car better known in political circles as the G7? What a complete imbecile. Have you seen the moron referring to his note cards time and time again? They are in a font size 56 if you're curious about such things. What world leader shows up at the G7 with talking points on cue cards?
If you're a leader who's stolen an election and you're out of your depth on the world stage, you bring cue cards and the larger the font the better. In one speech he confused Syria with some other country several times. His handlers, wanting to prevent an absolute disaster, would not agree to have Biden and Putin on the same stage lest Putin reveal Biden for the complete moron that he is.
In another video, Biden is walking around inside a tent wearing these white sneakers like some demented old fool roaming around an old folks home. I can't say for sure but it sounds like he might be mumbling to himself. A party sitting at a nearby table shouted out a question and he looks back at them like he's just been roused out of a deep sleep but doesn't have a clue as to where he is, who he is, or where he's going.
His enabler, Dr Jill, comes to his rescue and leads him away by the arm at the last minute to make sure that the "leader of the free world" doesn't further embarrass himself on the world stage. One time, while standing at a podium, he says something about needing to walk away because his "handlers' wouldn't be happy were he to try and answer questions. You can't make this stuff up.
We're in a world of hurt with Biden in the White House. It's an inescapable truth. We know it, the world knows it, and the bad actors across the planet plan to take full advantage. Biden can't call out China because the Biden Crime Family sold out to China long ago. Biden can't hold a candle to Putin and I suspect it won't be long now before Putin takes Ukraine without firing so much as a shot.
The laughter we saw and heard on televisions in living rooms and boardrooms during Biden's trip to the G7 was most likely a nervous laughter coming from the global elites who have long counted on the US to stand up to the bad actors on the world stage on their behalf. What was once stalwart and reliable when it comes to US leadership has now been exposed as fraudulent and flimsy.
In the meantime, officials in Arizona are conducting a forensic audit of the 2020 election to determine what, if any, shenanigans occurred during the actual election. We're talking dead people voting, ballots with no creases, ballots with but one candidate (Biden) chosen, ballots with no chain of custody (where did they come from?), ballots that exceed the number of people in one or more specific precincts, etc. Everyone knows that Trump is the rightful winner of the 2020 election and Arizona is but one of many states getting to the bottom of the travesty that was the 2020 election.
No one expects Trump to be declared the rightful winner since Biden is in and that's the end of it. It will, however, let everyone know what we think we already know so we can go ahead and say with confidence that Biden is an illegitimate president. If Biden's DOJ tries to stop this, Arizona officials are threatening to put the Attorney General of the United States behind bars for interfering in their audit. After all, the states created the federal government and not the other way around and they need to be reminded of that now and again. Can 2022 and 2024 come soon enough? I think not.