FAA embarrassment

Well, this morning is a little bit warmer than yesterday.  According to the weather forecasters, we'll be warming up over the next few days.  Our temps will be seasonal, meaning that our daily highs will be in the 50s (F).  This is fine.  While my heating system still runs, it's far less frequently than if our outside temps were in the 30s (F).

Yesterday was sort of meh, sort of not.  Things were done, though not as many as I'd been hoping for.  Not surprisingly, a lot of my non working time is spent playing with Howie.  He as all of the energy a 2 year-old lab should have, most of this time is spent throwing things: his stuffed pig, his yellow squeaky ball, and his blue squeaky ball.  Sometimes, actually, quite frequently, these toys will roll under a chair or the sofa and I'm forced to get down into a plank position in order to retrieve them.  On occasion, when the ball is our of reach, I have to crawl to a location, usually at the other end of the sofa, in order to grab it.  Rather than getting aggravated by these grumpy groany moments, I remind myself that I am using muscles, stretching muscles, and doing things someone of my age normally doesn't do.  This is good.  The moment you say "I'm too old to do that," the aging process begins to kick in.

This morning I went out and took a pic of my gingko, it's almost complete golden.

So, the FAA had a problem yesterday.  All flights across the United States were grounded.  It's just one embarrassment after another, isn't it?  Mark Wayne (the plumber's helper running Homeland Security) said that the problem might have to do with new technology.  He did not specifically identify the technology as the new SMART system (which relies on AI) that was installed a few days back, though when asked about that by a reporter he made sure that the reporter new that it was SI, not AI.  That SMART technology was purchased for around $860 million from a company that Sean (the Reality TV star) Duffy's son owns a large stake in.  Sean (did you see me in my tighty whities on Road Trip) made a statement, too.  Part of what he said was "we'll need another $60 million to fix the problem."  Incompetence has so many names in this administration.

I see where Putin, Xi, and the old, orange headed duffer are going to get together for a meeting.  Putin and Xi know he's the lamest of lame duck presidents, so they're going to play him for everything they can get.  He will be every instrument in the damn orchestra for them to pick, pluck, and pound in order for them to say, "Hey, bro!  Welcome to our authoritarian party!"