What if it's more than just Thin-set

 Today's is starting out all bright and sunny.  According to Accuweather, the temps will never leave the 40s (F), which is nice.  This afternoon, however, gusty winds will be arriving and with them showers and drizzles, a precursor to the Cyclone Bomb that will slowly spread across the region this weekend.  The colder temps will please the skiers, since they'll be able to make snow up on Roundtop without having to worry about it melting.  And yes, if you were wondering, we do have ski resorts in the area, though the past few warm winters have not been kind to them.

Yesterday was one of those semi-productive days.  Some chores were completed, others not started.  I did go for a ride on the bicycle.  Paris.  A Garmin Triathlon.  There was a time when the videos for my Tacx trainer were only for rides in Europe, boy has that changed.  And a good thing it is.  Now I can choose from rides in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan.  There are a number of difficulty levels, from Easy to Extreme.  I can tell you right now, my legs would never survive an Extreme ride.

I should finish the painting in the kitchen today.

Yesterday, while I was making Chicken Marsala for dinner, I glanced up at my kitchen ceiling and saw a spot.  At least, I thought I was looking at a spot.  Of course, the first thing to go through my head was that the plumbers had failed and I still had a leak.  That would truly piss me off.  So, getting my small ladder, I got a closer look and discovered it wasn't a leak, but rather a small lump of thin-set from my tiling adventure. I was so relieved that all I had to do was scrap it off with my fingernail.

And then there's this:

Except except several interesting things are happening.  Firstly, you have to keep in mind that America is going through the Great de-churching.  Every year hundreds of thousands of Americans decide that Church is not the answer, and stop going, and it's not only the mainline denominations, it's everywhere.  Secondly, those who stop going cite a number of reasons for their change of mind, the politicization of Christianity is a big one.  The NYT had an interesting article on whether the Evangelicals from Iowa are on the Trump train or not.  Some are for Trump, others for DeSantis.  Trump puts out an ad saying he was sent by God, and that he ends every week by going to church (can you hear me laughing), while Ronnie D says that if he had been living in the time of Jesus, he could have been a disciple.  I find it amusing that these people don't care that they're driving people away from the church, as long as they get that hardcore Christian base to vote for them.  Could the United States end up seeing a war in which Christians fight Christians?  You bet!  And all because Conservatives believed that Culture Wars were the best way for them to win elections.