Carping From the Sidelines

 Yesterday was a somewhat decent day all around, even though the temps crested in the mid 90s (F).  There was again the possibility of thunderstorms that materialized elsewhere in Central PA, but not over my house.    The same forecast is in effect for today.  And tomorrow.  Sunday?  It seems as if they're calling for more substantial rains.

As I said, yesterday was a good day all around.  I got in an early 3 miles at Adams Ricci before things began to swelter.  All of the dog walkers have switched to earlier times as well.  There was a woman with a Staffie who simply had to sniff every tree and lamppost. 

I also finished all but one load of laundry, that's in the washer now.

Any windows are getting installed today.  I got a text from Aspen telling me that I'd been sent an email, but it never arrived, and it wasn't in my spam, so I don't know exactly when they'll be arriving this morning.  Probably not before 8.  While the installers are here, I'm planning on spending a bit of time on The Body in History.  I didn't write anything yesterday.  Boo.  Hiss.

Isn't it amazing how the Paris Olympics are continuing to garner praise, the oohs and ahhs never seem to stop, and it's not just the venues: beach volley ball in front of the Eiffel Tower, fencing in the Grand Palais, but the Olympians themselves.  I'm so glad to see the French winning so many gold medals.  I find these games simply amazing.  I'm sure the gods would be proud.

And, of course, there was a prisoner swap yesterday.  Big, big news for Democrats.  The Republicans were left to live with videos of Trump saying none of the prisoners would be coming home until after he was elected.  Those did not age well.  And, as the WaPo said, "he was left to carp from the sidelines."  Now isn't that a great statement:  "carp from the sidelines."  I wish I'd have thought of that.  

And, of course, there were the obligatory videos and pics of the prisoners deplaning, and Biden and Harris welcoming them, and all the while you could hear the Republicans carping from the sidelines.  Maybe they're wondering just what they did to piss of God, for this makes them look bad.

Interestingly, the negotiations began a year ago, right after Russia invaded the Ukraine.  I'm wondering if Putin didn't realize back then that this was not going to be a 3 day war.  Quite a number of people are thinking that this swap is a good indicator that he's most likely ready to bring that Russian mistake to a close, probably much sooner than later.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if negotiations began some time ago, when he realized things were not going as planned.  I'm wondering if he hasn't spent the last 2 years basically carping from the sidelines because now he looks bad.