The Good Thing

 Oops, I did it again... slept in, that is.  To be honest, it wasn't as though I went to bed last night at 11 PM and slept the entire night away.  For some reason, I've been waking up around 0200.  Most nights I just wait to fall back to sleep.  Last night I put that time to good use.  I made notes on The Body Under Ice.  I'm finishing off the final chapter and, as always, there are points that have to be explained.  Sometimes those changes are no more than adding a simple sentence earlier in the book.  You know, simple things say so much.

And the screw in the title refers to one of he several securing the control panel of my treadmill.  Repairs are complete!  It's be lubricated and the belt has been centered.  The only thing missing is that one little screw.  It fell into the space below the motor and the only way to get it out is by turning the treadmill onto its side.  Well, that ain't gonna happen.  There are 4 other screws holding the control panel in place, so I'm not too worried about it coming lose.

Here's a bit of a funny.  Yesterday, Madonna announced her Celebration Tour.  While she does have her loyal fans her are overjoyed, most of what I've been seeing on Social Media has not been kind.  There are comments about the standard 2 hour delay before her show starts, could this be how she proves to herself that her fans will wait an eternity to see her show, to comments about carbon dating to ensure it's the true Madonna.  One fan, desperate to prove his loyalty Tweeted out "sure, she looks weird, but it's still Madonna."   Honestly, I think she's looking pretty good for an aging Asian woman.😎😎😎

Of course, Americans concerned about Democracy are unhappy with the House committee assignments.  People are wondering how George Santos could be put on 2 committees.  Well, you have to remember that Republicans don't give a shit about America.  They are selfish and self-centered.  They also know many of their campaign contributions come from corporations who also don't give a shit about America.    Republicans don't understand that for every action, there is a reaction.  They truly believe that they can act and everyone will accept what they do.  They barely scrape by with a majority in the House during the midterms and they are treating it as though they have a mandate.  They will never learn.  They do not consider what the consequences will be, only that they need to say "shut up, we're in charge."  They are going to fail horribly.  That's a good thing.  

The Never Ending Gerrymander

 Well, I had planned on sleeping in yesterday but the dogs and their bladders would have none of it.  This morning things were different.  After I turned off the alarm at 0530, neither roused themselves.  An hour and half later I climbed out of bed.  Nice.  I do like sleeping in now and then; wouldn't want to make the practice regular.  Now the chores begin.  Right now, I have eggs boiling to make egg salad.  Don't know why, but for some reason I've been eating a lot of egg salad yesterday.

My new color printer arrived yesterday and setup is complete.  Took longer than I thought, probably an hour since I took the time to connect it to the cloud and to my mobile device. That right.  I can now print pictures straight from my phone.  Isn't that nice.  Also, and I found this a bit interesting, it's an Epson, which is owned by Seiko.  For years and years the only watch I wore on my wrist was a  Seiko.

The storm system that moved through yesterday gave us mostly rain, a touch of sleet, and a bit of ice early on.

I saw an interesting article this morning on how Wisconsin's tepid Covid response was the direct result of Republicans' gerrymandering.  Over time, Republicans in that state have gerrymandered district lines in order to maintain control of the the state's legislature.  That is not the case in Pennsylvania, where the State Supreme Court directed a redrawing of voting districts.

This does not mean, however, that gerrymandering is going to stop for the near future.  Political parties are always going to try and wield as much power as possible.  To do this they need to redraw the lines.  One of the many great things to happen with the recent transfer of power was the hold put on the 2020 census.  This halted the Republicans despicable attempt to limit which people can and which people cannot be counted.  They did not just want to stifle voices, they wanted to eliminate them completely.  This silence they intended to foster was designed specifically for the purpose of enabling them to redraw the lines. The best way to muzzle people is to say they do not exist.  Republicans refuse to understand that America is changing.  In order to stay in power, they would need to redraw the lines more and more frequently, creating a never ending gerrymander.  Their inability to understand this truth is the keystone of their approaching failure.