Blind Spots
17/07/22 06:57
The media is talking about their fearless leader, one Bumbling Joe Biden, who they say is too old to run for re-election in 2024. They are conveniently not mentioning that he is too demented, likely senile, and probably not physically or mentally capable of mounting a campaign for the presidency in 2024. I don't care how many pictures or videos they put out of this nitwit riding his bicycle for the general public to see because it's nothing but smoke and mirrors. It's pure unadulterated hokum.
It's also true that this clown living in our White House also ran his 2020 campaign from his basement in Delaware, so we shouldn't put anything past the democrats regarding running and stealing elections. Yes, that's right, I said stealing elections. It's also very likely that the democrats are scheming and putting the mechanisms in place as I sit here this morning to make sure that they don't lose key Senate seats this Fall when the so-called red wave sweeps every last one of these leftist democrats out of office for the damage that they've inflicted on our country and our culture since Biden came into office.
Oh, and before I forget, they're raising the "too old" straw man argument against Biden because they want to use the same fight against Trump when their attempts to indict or convict him fall flat. The comparison is ridiculous, of course, but par for the period regarding Democrats and their burn-the-house-down tactics they employ to steal elections. The challenge for Republicans is that they have yet to hold the democrats responsible in any meaningful way for the shenanigans they pull off every election cycle. When will anyone, and I'm referring to democrats here, go to jail for their complicity in stealing elections?
This whole Elon Musk buying Twitter thing seems to be falling apart at the seams. He's backing out of the deal now because of some alleged sleight of hand on the part of Twitter management having to do with the number of bots or some such nonsense. I was hoping that Elon would go in and rid the joint of the libs running the place so that we God-loving Americans would have a home to call our own in the days and months leading up to the midterm elections here in the United States. We conservatives would be there with bells on fighting back against the leftists spewing their garbage without any fear of reprisals or repudiation. It's all very disappointing.
The Ev man was over for a visit yesterday. I chatted with him about my recent interest in online chess and how I was kicking ass and taking names. He was not impressed in the least. I could see the words "noob" forming on his lips, but he never quite uttered the word, and I was thankful. The Ev man was quite the player back in the day, but he's not played in many years. I handed him my iPad and had him play a game or two, and I was surprised to see that he was as interested as he was. He quickly and expertly dispatched his two opponents. I thought for a moment that this was the beginning of something more enduring, but if it was, he wasn't letting on. Isn't that just like the Ev man?
Did you see that Tucker Carlson piece on FOX last night about the Bidens and their incestuous relationship with the Communist Chinese Party? Holy cow! And all this time, I thought it was nothing but a boring story about a washed-up crackhead and his underage whores. I'd also heard all the stories about Hunter Biden and his business deals with his "partners" in China and elsewhere. Still, those stories never seemed to get any traction in the primary street media, so they were quickly dismissed. Besides, Joey Biden said he never discussed his son's business deals with him, so the message was simple: Move along, folks. There's nothing to see here.
Of course, if Joey did know, then that would make him complicit in his son's crimes. And how else do you explain the documents taken from Hunter's laptop that detail who got what when these so-called deals were consummated? You know, the ones that say something about the Big Guy getting his ten percent? Tucker also laid out any actions taken by the Biden Administration that have benefited Communist China and to the detriment of the United States, including the removal of tariffs that the Chinese have been complaining about since Trump imposed them during his time in the White House. It is a clear-cut case of influence peddling by the Biden family to enrich themselves at the expense of our country. How is that not impeachable or, for that matter, treasonous? And yet, the primary street media and our Intelligence agencies look the other way.
It's so funny. Now that I have this interest in all things chess, I'm playing more and enjoying it more with each passing day. That's not the funny part. The funny part is that I'm finding that the chess game has me looking differently at other things I do in my everyday life. For example, I was in a tangle of traffic on my bike the other day, and I had several options available that would physically remove me from the web. I found myself quickly and efficiently evaluating my chances on the fly, not unlike something that I might well do while playing a game of chess with a worthy opponent. What was once second nature has become more of a calculation where options are considered and either accepted or dismissed based on likely outcomes. It gets even more interesting when you start seeing the same diagonal and linear patterns emerging in the real world that you know so well from playing chess. Maybe "funny" is the wrong word.
Something else I've discovered about myself while playing chess is that I have certain blind spots I didn't know I had. I don't know how much of that is visual and how much of that is due to simple miscalculation. I know that it rarely or never happens when I move more deliberately and less impulsively. I also think I give a little too much consideration to my opponent's pieces when they're advancing toward my side of the board and less care than is necessary to my opponent's details when they are in a position to attack my pieces from the rear. That's probably a more concise summary, or theory, of my so-called blind spot. As usual, there's a cautionary tale in there somewhere.
We're expecting June's inflation number to come out this morning at 8:30. The White House has already told everyone that the number will be "elevated." Well, what if the number is not "elevated"? I'm guessing that they said something about it being elevated because they had advance notice of what the number was going to be. What if they've decided to play a different game. A game where they win because they've decided that it's better to ramp up expectations and then take a victory lap when the number comes in lower than expected. Financial markets rally, investors coast to coast go from risk-off to risk-on, owners of 401k's get an unexpected bump in their monthly statements, and all is well again with the world because the Biden Administration has solved the inflation problem.
Would you put any of this past this Administration? The Biden Administration has the lowest approval rating of any presidency in the history of our country. The last time I looked, Biden's approval number was somewhere in the twenties. I think I saw something the other day about what presidents do when they have low ratings. They start wars, for one thing. I can't recall what the other thing is. Neither option is pretty, of course. Going to fight as a nation might well be what this Administration needs to regain its mojo. There's only one problem. Joe Biden is barely a daytime president, much less a wartime president. You don't want him anywhere near the nuclear codes. That would make us more fearful as a nation and not less. Oh, and then there's the Covid card.
We're now starting to see any number of the Biden people coming out with dire warnings about the resurgence of Covid this Fall. Suppose for a minute that they can't win elections fair and square. In that case, they can always roll out absentee balloting for the forever fearful in our country who assiduously follow the guidance of the CDC regarding protecting themselves and their loved ones. They'll stay home and mail in their ballots for their candidates in the upcoming midterm elections. Remember, it's not the people who vote that count. It's the people who count the votes. Does any of this sound familiar? It should because that is precisely what the democrats did in 2020. I'm guessing it is more difficult to do for House races in the midterms, but I wouldn't put it past them to rig a couple of crucial senate races in purple states.
I don't know what happened yesterday. Part of the problem was that the temperatures ramped up early on to the point where I decided it would be counterproductive to ride my bike in the 90-degree temperatures. I typically get on the road by ten or so, but when the ten o'clock hour rolled around, I decided it was not in my best interest to ride in the heat. It was all downhill from there. I did little to no exercise and stayed inside to beat the heat. Any momentum I might have gotten from my bike ride was nowhere to be found, leaving me feeling flat and sluggish. Eight or more hours of dull and slow makes for a bad day. Here I sit just twelve hours later, and I do not want to repeat the previous day's mistakes. I'm going to get on the road early before things heat up.
I was a little off base on my abovementioned comments regarding the White House and their attempts to try and play the expectations game with the inflation number. They weren't kidding about the number coming in "elevated." The year-over-year number came in at 9.1%, compared to market expectations of an 8.8% figure. Meanwhile, some polls had Biden's approval rating up three points. The inflation number came out while Bumbling Joe was getting off the plane in Israel on his first visit to that country since his inauguration in 2020. That has not gone unnoticed by the Israelis. As usual, he made any number of gaffs as he usually does, and he was a complete embarrassment on the world stage. At one point, he was singing happy birthday to a female reporter. Who does that?
It's hard to say where this inflation thing is going. Prices are up for just about everything, so it's hard to piss and moan about any one particular area. You need an economics background to get a good handle on what it means in the long run, but we do have some examples in the not-to-distant past about the potential pain it can inflict on the American consumer. Think Jimmy Carter and sitting in long lines to purchase gas for your car. What's weird is that the prices of commodities are falling like a rock which you would think would be a good thing. Everything should be more affordable. Right? That would be true if interest rates stayed static, but interest rates are getting ratcheted up by the Federal Reserve to fight inflation, so growth gets hammered. Without growth, all you're left with is contraction. That's not good for our country overall.
The Ev man said something yesterday about wanting to go out to a local restaurant with the missus and me to have a bite to eat. I think that he knows that that's something that we'd like to do with him, but we know all too well, everything else being equal, that going out to dinner would not be his first choice. I told him we would check in with him in a couple of days to see if he's still game to go. There is a restaurant right up the street from his place, which he's been to once or twice, and it sounds like he's willing and wanting to go there with us again for whatever reason. Maybe it's just a reason to get out of the house and do something he doesn't usually do. Perhaps it makes him feel good to talk about doing things that he'd like to do, even though he knows in his heart that he'll probably bow out at the last minute. We've seen this movie before, and we know how it ends.
I've been thinking lately that having the missus get up earlier than usual and being out and about while I'm writing in this journal is not distracting enough to take me off my writing game. I'm not so sure of that anymore. I've been struggling a bit to get things down in writing this past week or so, and I think it might have something to do with who is and who isn't around while I'm doing what I do. I can't even type a sentence without making mistakes that I need to correct before moving on. I'm no typist, but I know things are not working as they should. It's one of those things that you don't want to see worsen over time because you don't know where it will end up. Maybe it has nothing to do with the missus. That's even more concerning.
I'm debating buying a chess board. Is this one of those things I'll buy, use for a day or two, and then never use again? I think it's one thing to play the game online where the chess board is one-dimensional, and it's something completely different to play a game on an actual board. I've been looking at instructional videos on YouTube lately, and recreating scenarios in the online game room that I go to after the fact is next to impossible. It would be much easier to game it all out on an actual board instead of hoping my opponent moves the way I want him to when I'm playing my online opponent. Maybe I could pick up one of those cheesy sets where you play checkers on one side of the board and chess on the other. Remember those? Or am I just dating myself?
I'm feeling the need for something to bring me back around. Not sure what's going on here. Maybe my bike ride will get me out of the doldrums this morning. Perhaps if I keep busy doing things, it will take my mind off of whatever has me feeling less focused than usual. I have a list of things I need to do somewhere around the house, so I probably should find that and see if there's anything that requires my immediate attention. Did I mention that the missus and I looked around a few stores yesterday for a microwave? In the back of my mind, I think our microwave is getting a little long in the tooth, and I worry about worn seals and escaping microwave thing-a-ma-jigs that go bump in the night. I'm not sure if that's a thing, but you can never be too careful.
I have to tell you. There wasn't much in the way of variety or supply in the stores we went into. We went into a few big box stores where you would think the supplies would be good. Microwaves are a dime a dozen. No? Does this have anything to do with the shortages of semiconductors? I don't think so, but I can't say for sure. Semiconductors are in everything, so that might be one reason why we can't find a decent microwave if there are shortages. And, to be clear, we're not looking for some combo microwave-air fryer-vacuum cleaner unit because we aren't. Maybe the world has changed, and single-use appliances are no longer all the rage. Our last stop before we turn to Amazon.com will be to stop into Lowes. Maybe we should have gone there first thing.
I'm sitting here on a Friday afternoon waiting to hear Bumbling Joe Biden's remarks from Saudi Arabia at 3:30. Who doesn't love a good blooper or gaffe to round out their week? I don't know whether the network carrying his remarks has enough control over the feed to suppress any idiocy that comes out of his mouth. He's already been criticized by the Main Street Media for fist bumping the guy he has been criticizing since day one of his Administration for his role in killing the Washington Post reporter maybe three years ago. It's also true, at least as of late, that he seems incapable of reading his cue cards or the remarks written for him on his teleprompter with any degree of accuracy. As I said, you never know what will come tumbling out of Bumbling Joe's mouth.
It sounds like the Democrats were putting together legislation dealing with the Administration's goals on energy and climate. The legislation was touted to be what the progressives considered the crown jewel in Biden's first term. The Democrats are, of course, desperate to give something to their voters that will bring them out in sufficient numbers in the mid-terms to keep the tsunami of Republican voters from taking back the House and the Senate. Senator Joe Manchin is one fly-in-the-ointment for the democrats who could kill this legislation in the crib. That's how tight the margin is in the 50-50 Senate. I want to give Manchin a hat tip because he's gone on the record as a no-vote regarding the legislation's energy and climate goals.
This week's blogging has been a real battle, so I'll be happy when it's over. I've just had to dig really deeply for the inspiration or whatever to come up with things to put down on paper. If I had had Covid, I might blame it on what they call "long Covid." I hope to hell it doesn't portend some kind of dry spell in the days and weeks ahead. That's the kind of getting off track that I want no part of. It's who I am, and it's what I do. What would I do if I didn't do my blogging? Would I read more? Would I do more of something that I like to do instead? You can see how circular this gets. Where it goes and when it stops is above my pay grade. Maybe there's something to that age-old adage that says you keep putting one foot in front of the other, and you'll be fine. The corollary in the blogging world is to keep writing. I'm trying. God knows I'm trying.
Mrs. G never returned our call yesterday. I hope she's okay. We'll stop by to visit her later today. I'll want to give her a call ahead of time to see if she needs anything. Maybe she's running short on this or that. Perhaps she'd like to have a backup bottle of rose for special occasions. We also know she likes a nice ham sandwich from Jersey Mike's from time to time, so maybe we'll swing by there on the way over to her place. She likes it Mike's way, just so you know. We're still working on buying her a replacement nightstand of sorts, so if we have an update to share with her on that front, all the better. She'll likely share all the latest goings-on at her facility, emphasizing changes in the weekly menus, updates on emergency hospitalizations of her less-than-fortunate fellow residents, and who knows what else. It's all grist for the mill, as they say.
One of these days, we'll get the Ev man to stop by and say hello to Mrs. G. It's not exactly in his wheelhouse these days to do that, so he'll need a bit of prodding. The two of them can talk about old times, and they have a bit of history, so Katy bar the door. Am I putting too many commas in my sentences here? I have this spell check thing running, and either I don't know when I should use commas, or this spell check thing and grammar thing is overly partial to the use of commas. Mrs. G and the Ev man used to skip the light fantastic back when Mr. and Mrs. G lived on Park Ridge Lane. He was just a little guy back then but, memories being what they are, he's likely not forgotten their many kindnesses.
My neighbor was whining a bit the other day about having to pay a tree service some $1,400 to remove a tree from her property. It occured to me after the fact that she ought to just find somone with chain saw and pay them $100 or so to fell the tree. She could sell the wood for firewood and maybe even make a few sheckles on the deal. I've not seen the tree so I'm not sure how big the tree is nor have I assessed what damage the tree might inflict on persons or property were it to fall in an unintended fashion. I've also seen some real yahoos on some of the Alaskan shows I watch from time to time wielding chain saws like old time lumber Jacks so it looks easy enough to do. She just needs to find the right yahoo. Git er done!
I can't get this interview that I watched the other night on televison out of my head. The host was interviewing some self-confessed lesbian leftist activist who was facing three years in jail in Norway for making what most people would consider commonsense comments. You know, like "men can't bear children" and "men can't be lesbians." That's really radical, right? I don't know the first thing about Norway or how stupid or insane their culture is, not to mention their political system, but if what this woman is testifying to is actually happening, someone needs to call the stupid-police. I think she said that she was about to be charged with a hate crime for saying what she said. Have they lost their fucking minds?
I shouldn't sound so surprised. The leftist here in the United States would love dearly to have the power to decide what is and what isn't a crime when it comes to marginalized communities of every color, gender, and you name the flavor of the month. Whatever it takes, really, to tear down or circumvent our first amendment rights or, for that matter, any other rights enumerated in our Constitution. Hell, they would throw out our beloved Constitution given half a chance. That doesn't stop them from chipping away at our culture and our society with their endless nonsense about men (who think their women) competing in women's sports, trans sexuals showering with the oppposite sex in our armed forces, and the list goes on and on.
I'll tune into the Sunday morning talk shows this morning just to see what's on. More often than not I end up not watching any of it and just going out for a bike ride or whatever. There will no doubt be glowing coverage of Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia by the majority of the left wing media. We know differently, don't we. We know Biden lied about his having confronted the Saudi's about their alleged killing of the Washington Post reporter. What else did he lie about? Maybe the Saudi's will release the tape. Biden doesn't remember what he had for breakfast so don't expect much in the way of push-back from him. It's sad to say but I'll believe the Saudi's before I'll believe a word coming out of Biden's mouth. There, I said it.
The missus tells me that she's seeing more and more articles in rags like the New York Times that are critical of Biden in one way or another. Is this the beginning of the end? All of them, and I mean all of them, at least according to the missus, reference his advanced age and what it means to have an octogenarian at the helm of our Republic. Not a one of them suggests that Biden is cognitively robust enough to stay on as President for remainder of his first term. We're even hearing stories about how he shuffles here and there in the White House at all hours of the day and night and how he has bursts of anger that are sadly reminiscent of people suffering from late stage dementia. You know that when your long time allies in the media turn their backs on you, and worse yet, go after you in ways they never would have previously, it might be time to start planning your exit. Is the world ready for President Kamala Harris? Perish the fucking thought.
It's also true that this clown living in our White House also ran his 2020 campaign from his basement in Delaware, so we shouldn't put anything past the democrats regarding running and stealing elections. Yes, that's right, I said stealing elections. It's also very likely that the democrats are scheming and putting the mechanisms in place as I sit here this morning to make sure that they don't lose key Senate seats this Fall when the so-called red wave sweeps every last one of these leftist democrats out of office for the damage that they've inflicted on our country and our culture since Biden came into office.
Oh, and before I forget, they're raising the "too old" straw man argument against Biden because they want to use the same fight against Trump when their attempts to indict or convict him fall flat. The comparison is ridiculous, of course, but par for the period regarding Democrats and their burn-the-house-down tactics they employ to steal elections. The challenge for Republicans is that they have yet to hold the democrats responsible in any meaningful way for the shenanigans they pull off every election cycle. When will anyone, and I'm referring to democrats here, go to jail for their complicity in stealing elections?
This whole Elon Musk buying Twitter thing seems to be falling apart at the seams. He's backing out of the deal now because of some alleged sleight of hand on the part of Twitter management having to do with the number of bots or some such nonsense. I was hoping that Elon would go in and rid the joint of the libs running the place so that we God-loving Americans would have a home to call our own in the days and months leading up to the midterm elections here in the United States. We conservatives would be there with bells on fighting back against the leftists spewing their garbage without any fear of reprisals or repudiation. It's all very disappointing.
The Ev man was over for a visit yesterday. I chatted with him about my recent interest in online chess and how I was kicking ass and taking names. He was not impressed in the least. I could see the words "noob" forming on his lips, but he never quite uttered the word, and I was thankful. The Ev man was quite the player back in the day, but he's not played in many years. I handed him my iPad and had him play a game or two, and I was surprised to see that he was as interested as he was. He quickly and expertly dispatched his two opponents. I thought for a moment that this was the beginning of something more enduring, but if it was, he wasn't letting on. Isn't that just like the Ev man?
Did you see that Tucker Carlson piece on FOX last night about the Bidens and their incestuous relationship with the Communist Chinese Party? Holy cow! And all this time, I thought it was nothing but a boring story about a washed-up crackhead and his underage whores. I'd also heard all the stories about Hunter Biden and his business deals with his "partners" in China and elsewhere. Still, those stories never seemed to get any traction in the primary street media, so they were quickly dismissed. Besides, Joey Biden said he never discussed his son's business deals with him, so the message was simple: Move along, folks. There's nothing to see here.
Of course, if Joey did know, then that would make him complicit in his son's crimes. And how else do you explain the documents taken from Hunter's laptop that detail who got what when these so-called deals were consummated? You know, the ones that say something about the Big Guy getting his ten percent? Tucker also laid out any actions taken by the Biden Administration that have benefited Communist China and to the detriment of the United States, including the removal of tariffs that the Chinese have been complaining about since Trump imposed them during his time in the White House. It is a clear-cut case of influence peddling by the Biden family to enrich themselves at the expense of our country. How is that not impeachable or, for that matter, treasonous? And yet, the primary street media and our Intelligence agencies look the other way.
It's so funny. Now that I have this interest in all things chess, I'm playing more and enjoying it more with each passing day. That's not the funny part. The funny part is that I'm finding that the chess game has me looking differently at other things I do in my everyday life. For example, I was in a tangle of traffic on my bike the other day, and I had several options available that would physically remove me from the web. I found myself quickly and efficiently evaluating my chances on the fly, not unlike something that I might well do while playing a game of chess with a worthy opponent. What was once second nature has become more of a calculation where options are considered and either accepted or dismissed based on likely outcomes. It gets even more interesting when you start seeing the same diagonal and linear patterns emerging in the real world that you know so well from playing chess. Maybe "funny" is the wrong word.
Something else I've discovered about myself while playing chess is that I have certain blind spots I didn't know I had. I don't know how much of that is visual and how much of that is due to simple miscalculation. I know that it rarely or never happens when I move more deliberately and less impulsively. I also think I give a little too much consideration to my opponent's pieces when they're advancing toward my side of the board and less care than is necessary to my opponent's details when they are in a position to attack my pieces from the rear. That's probably a more concise summary, or theory, of my so-called blind spot. As usual, there's a cautionary tale in there somewhere.
We're expecting June's inflation number to come out this morning at 8:30. The White House has already told everyone that the number will be "elevated." Well, what if the number is not "elevated"? I'm guessing that they said something about it being elevated because they had advance notice of what the number was going to be. What if they've decided to play a different game. A game where they win because they've decided that it's better to ramp up expectations and then take a victory lap when the number comes in lower than expected. Financial markets rally, investors coast to coast go from risk-off to risk-on, owners of 401k's get an unexpected bump in their monthly statements, and all is well again with the world because the Biden Administration has solved the inflation problem.
Would you put any of this past this Administration? The Biden Administration has the lowest approval rating of any presidency in the history of our country. The last time I looked, Biden's approval number was somewhere in the twenties. I think I saw something the other day about what presidents do when they have low ratings. They start wars, for one thing. I can't recall what the other thing is. Neither option is pretty, of course. Going to fight as a nation might well be what this Administration needs to regain its mojo. There's only one problem. Joe Biden is barely a daytime president, much less a wartime president. You don't want him anywhere near the nuclear codes. That would make us more fearful as a nation and not less. Oh, and then there's the Covid card.
We're now starting to see any number of the Biden people coming out with dire warnings about the resurgence of Covid this Fall. Suppose for a minute that they can't win elections fair and square. In that case, they can always roll out absentee balloting for the forever fearful in our country who assiduously follow the guidance of the CDC regarding protecting themselves and their loved ones. They'll stay home and mail in their ballots for their candidates in the upcoming midterm elections. Remember, it's not the people who vote that count. It's the people who count the votes. Does any of this sound familiar? It should because that is precisely what the democrats did in 2020. I'm guessing it is more difficult to do for House races in the midterms, but I wouldn't put it past them to rig a couple of crucial senate races in purple states.
I don't know what happened yesterday. Part of the problem was that the temperatures ramped up early on to the point where I decided it would be counterproductive to ride my bike in the 90-degree temperatures. I typically get on the road by ten or so, but when the ten o'clock hour rolled around, I decided it was not in my best interest to ride in the heat. It was all downhill from there. I did little to no exercise and stayed inside to beat the heat. Any momentum I might have gotten from my bike ride was nowhere to be found, leaving me feeling flat and sluggish. Eight or more hours of dull and slow makes for a bad day. Here I sit just twelve hours later, and I do not want to repeat the previous day's mistakes. I'm going to get on the road early before things heat up.
I was a little off base on my abovementioned comments regarding the White House and their attempts to try and play the expectations game with the inflation number. They weren't kidding about the number coming in "elevated." The year-over-year number came in at 9.1%, compared to market expectations of an 8.8% figure. Meanwhile, some polls had Biden's approval rating up three points. The inflation number came out while Bumbling Joe was getting off the plane in Israel on his first visit to that country since his inauguration in 2020. That has not gone unnoticed by the Israelis. As usual, he made any number of gaffs as he usually does, and he was a complete embarrassment on the world stage. At one point, he was singing happy birthday to a female reporter. Who does that?
It's hard to say where this inflation thing is going. Prices are up for just about everything, so it's hard to piss and moan about any one particular area. You need an economics background to get a good handle on what it means in the long run, but we do have some examples in the not-to-distant past about the potential pain it can inflict on the American consumer. Think Jimmy Carter and sitting in long lines to purchase gas for your car. What's weird is that the prices of commodities are falling like a rock which you would think would be a good thing. Everything should be more affordable. Right? That would be true if interest rates stayed static, but interest rates are getting ratcheted up by the Federal Reserve to fight inflation, so growth gets hammered. Without growth, all you're left with is contraction. That's not good for our country overall.
The Ev man said something yesterday about wanting to go out to a local restaurant with the missus and me to have a bite to eat. I think that he knows that that's something that we'd like to do with him, but we know all too well, everything else being equal, that going out to dinner would not be his first choice. I told him we would check in with him in a couple of days to see if he's still game to go. There is a restaurant right up the street from his place, which he's been to once or twice, and it sounds like he's willing and wanting to go there with us again for whatever reason. Maybe it's just a reason to get out of the house and do something he doesn't usually do. Perhaps it makes him feel good to talk about doing things that he'd like to do, even though he knows in his heart that he'll probably bow out at the last minute. We've seen this movie before, and we know how it ends.
I've been thinking lately that having the missus get up earlier than usual and being out and about while I'm writing in this journal is not distracting enough to take me off my writing game. I'm not so sure of that anymore. I've been struggling a bit to get things down in writing this past week or so, and I think it might have something to do with who is and who isn't around while I'm doing what I do. I can't even type a sentence without making mistakes that I need to correct before moving on. I'm no typist, but I know things are not working as they should. It's one of those things that you don't want to see worsen over time because you don't know where it will end up. Maybe it has nothing to do with the missus. That's even more concerning.
I'm debating buying a chess board. Is this one of those things I'll buy, use for a day or two, and then never use again? I think it's one thing to play the game online where the chess board is one-dimensional, and it's something completely different to play a game on an actual board. I've been looking at instructional videos on YouTube lately, and recreating scenarios in the online game room that I go to after the fact is next to impossible. It would be much easier to game it all out on an actual board instead of hoping my opponent moves the way I want him to when I'm playing my online opponent. Maybe I could pick up one of those cheesy sets where you play checkers on one side of the board and chess on the other. Remember those? Or am I just dating myself?
I'm feeling the need for something to bring me back around. Not sure what's going on here. Maybe my bike ride will get me out of the doldrums this morning. Perhaps if I keep busy doing things, it will take my mind off of whatever has me feeling less focused than usual. I have a list of things I need to do somewhere around the house, so I probably should find that and see if there's anything that requires my immediate attention. Did I mention that the missus and I looked around a few stores yesterday for a microwave? In the back of my mind, I think our microwave is getting a little long in the tooth, and I worry about worn seals and escaping microwave thing-a-ma-jigs that go bump in the night. I'm not sure if that's a thing, but you can never be too careful.
I have to tell you. There wasn't much in the way of variety or supply in the stores we went into. We went into a few big box stores where you would think the supplies would be good. Microwaves are a dime a dozen. No? Does this have anything to do with the shortages of semiconductors? I don't think so, but I can't say for sure. Semiconductors are in everything, so that might be one reason why we can't find a decent microwave if there are shortages. And, to be clear, we're not looking for some combo microwave-air fryer-vacuum cleaner unit because we aren't. Maybe the world has changed, and single-use appliances are no longer all the rage. Our last stop before we turn to Amazon.com will be to stop into Lowes. Maybe we should have gone there first thing.
I'm sitting here on a Friday afternoon waiting to hear Bumbling Joe Biden's remarks from Saudi Arabia at 3:30. Who doesn't love a good blooper or gaffe to round out their week? I don't know whether the network carrying his remarks has enough control over the feed to suppress any idiocy that comes out of his mouth. He's already been criticized by the Main Street Media for fist bumping the guy he has been criticizing since day one of his Administration for his role in killing the Washington Post reporter maybe three years ago. It's also true, at least as of late, that he seems incapable of reading his cue cards or the remarks written for him on his teleprompter with any degree of accuracy. As I said, you never know what will come tumbling out of Bumbling Joe's mouth.
It sounds like the Democrats were putting together legislation dealing with the Administration's goals on energy and climate. The legislation was touted to be what the progressives considered the crown jewel in Biden's first term. The Democrats are, of course, desperate to give something to their voters that will bring them out in sufficient numbers in the mid-terms to keep the tsunami of Republican voters from taking back the House and the Senate. Senator Joe Manchin is one fly-in-the-ointment for the democrats who could kill this legislation in the crib. That's how tight the margin is in the 50-50 Senate. I want to give Manchin a hat tip because he's gone on the record as a no-vote regarding the legislation's energy and climate goals.
This week's blogging has been a real battle, so I'll be happy when it's over. I've just had to dig really deeply for the inspiration or whatever to come up with things to put down on paper. If I had had Covid, I might blame it on what they call "long Covid." I hope to hell it doesn't portend some kind of dry spell in the days and weeks ahead. That's the kind of getting off track that I want no part of. It's who I am, and it's what I do. What would I do if I didn't do my blogging? Would I read more? Would I do more of something that I like to do instead? You can see how circular this gets. Where it goes and when it stops is above my pay grade. Maybe there's something to that age-old adage that says you keep putting one foot in front of the other, and you'll be fine. The corollary in the blogging world is to keep writing. I'm trying. God knows I'm trying.
Mrs. G never returned our call yesterday. I hope she's okay. We'll stop by to visit her later today. I'll want to give her a call ahead of time to see if she needs anything. Maybe she's running short on this or that. Perhaps she'd like to have a backup bottle of rose for special occasions. We also know she likes a nice ham sandwich from Jersey Mike's from time to time, so maybe we'll swing by there on the way over to her place. She likes it Mike's way, just so you know. We're still working on buying her a replacement nightstand of sorts, so if we have an update to share with her on that front, all the better. She'll likely share all the latest goings-on at her facility, emphasizing changes in the weekly menus, updates on emergency hospitalizations of her less-than-fortunate fellow residents, and who knows what else. It's all grist for the mill, as they say.
One of these days, we'll get the Ev man to stop by and say hello to Mrs. G. It's not exactly in his wheelhouse these days to do that, so he'll need a bit of prodding. The two of them can talk about old times, and they have a bit of history, so Katy bar the door. Am I putting too many commas in my sentences here? I have this spell check thing running, and either I don't know when I should use commas, or this spell check thing and grammar thing is overly partial to the use of commas. Mrs. G and the Ev man used to skip the light fantastic back when Mr. and Mrs. G lived on Park Ridge Lane. He was just a little guy back then but, memories being what they are, he's likely not forgotten their many kindnesses.
My neighbor was whining a bit the other day about having to pay a tree service some $1,400 to remove a tree from her property. It occured to me after the fact that she ought to just find somone with chain saw and pay them $100 or so to fell the tree. She could sell the wood for firewood and maybe even make a few sheckles on the deal. I've not seen the tree so I'm not sure how big the tree is nor have I assessed what damage the tree might inflict on persons or property were it to fall in an unintended fashion. I've also seen some real yahoos on some of the Alaskan shows I watch from time to time wielding chain saws like old time lumber Jacks so it looks easy enough to do. She just needs to find the right yahoo. Git er done!
I can't get this interview that I watched the other night on televison out of my head. The host was interviewing some self-confessed lesbian leftist activist who was facing three years in jail in Norway for making what most people would consider commonsense comments. You know, like "men can't bear children" and "men can't be lesbians." That's really radical, right? I don't know the first thing about Norway or how stupid or insane their culture is, not to mention their political system, but if what this woman is testifying to is actually happening, someone needs to call the stupid-police. I think she said that she was about to be charged with a hate crime for saying what she said. Have they lost their fucking minds?
I shouldn't sound so surprised. The leftist here in the United States would love dearly to have the power to decide what is and what isn't a crime when it comes to marginalized communities of every color, gender, and you name the flavor of the month. Whatever it takes, really, to tear down or circumvent our first amendment rights or, for that matter, any other rights enumerated in our Constitution. Hell, they would throw out our beloved Constitution given half a chance. That doesn't stop them from chipping away at our culture and our society with their endless nonsense about men (who think their women) competing in women's sports, trans sexuals showering with the oppposite sex in our armed forces, and the list goes on and on.
I'll tune into the Sunday morning talk shows this morning just to see what's on. More often than not I end up not watching any of it and just going out for a bike ride or whatever. There will no doubt be glowing coverage of Biden's visit to Saudi Arabia by the majority of the left wing media. We know differently, don't we. We know Biden lied about his having confronted the Saudi's about their alleged killing of the Washington Post reporter. What else did he lie about? Maybe the Saudi's will release the tape. Biden doesn't remember what he had for breakfast so don't expect much in the way of push-back from him. It's sad to say but I'll believe the Saudi's before I'll believe a word coming out of Biden's mouth. There, I said it.
The missus tells me that she's seeing more and more articles in rags like the New York Times that are critical of Biden in one way or another. Is this the beginning of the end? All of them, and I mean all of them, at least according to the missus, reference his advanced age and what it means to have an octogenarian at the helm of our Republic. Not a one of them suggests that Biden is cognitively robust enough to stay on as President for remainder of his first term. We're even hearing stories about how he shuffles here and there in the White House at all hours of the day and night and how he has bursts of anger that are sadly reminiscent of people suffering from late stage dementia. You know that when your long time allies in the media turn their backs on you, and worse yet, go after you in ways they never would have previously, it might be time to start planning your exit. Is the world ready for President Kamala Harris? Perish the fucking thought.