Joy

 Good Morning People!  Outside, the temp is a comfortable 63 and the sun is supposed to shine all day.  We have the same forecast for tomorrow, too.  In fact, the forecast for the next 3 days is nice.  Tomorrow I'm going to wack weeds and mow grass. We're not supposed to get any rain again until Saturday, when we're supposed to get another drenching. 

I talked to my friend Justin about coming to trim back the holly bush I have out front.  Because he's 6 feet, 6 inches, he'll be able to cut back the top and I will not climb up on a ladder.  A word of advice to everyone out there, make sure you have at least one tall friend.

I drove down to Lebanon yesterday to go over my bloodwork with my new primary care physician, Dr. Rai, pronounced rye.  He's a very nice gent in in mid-40s.  That's a good thing.  I'm tired of having my doctors retire on me.  As for my bloodwork, I'd already looked at the results.  He asked if I wanted to continue with testing my PSA and I told him I didn't think it was necessary.  The big bugaboo was my blood sugar.  It's high... sort of... 138.  This has always been an issue.  I am not overly concerned.  It's a genetic thing.  My sister's is diabetic.  She laughed at that number, telling me, "that's low."  Since this is a "been there, done that," situation, I know how to get my sugar back to acceptable levels:  less grazing, more exercise.  What joy.

Besides the doctor's visit, yesterday was a necessary day away from news and social media.  I played video games and watched TV.  There is so much bad going on in the world right now, breaking away for a day was such a joy.

The oregano I have growing on the windowsill has teeny, tiny flowers.

And, of course, the shit show is continuing.  The fact that states are going to be activating their National Guard troops for this weekend should tell you they know that a very unpopular president is doing something vast numbers of people don't like.  Protests are planned throughout  the  country for  this  weekend.  Rain is predicted for the Washington DC area, so it's quite possible Mother Nature is going to rain on Orangie's parade.  

Are we heading into another Dark Ages?  Maybe a different variant of those old Dark Ages.  Too many Americans are rushing headfirst into selfishness and greed.  They have been taught that credit is the answer to being able to afford everything they want.  Inflation is going to be a ballbreaker.  Too many want an authoritarian government without understanding that for the vast majority, such a life would be totally unacceptable.  As I've said before, I feel we are approaching  an inflection point.  There may be a serious loss of life.  Will society collapse?  Certain aspects will struggle.  Mostly, however, it will be geographical here in the states, and those areas loving their Republican authoritarianism the most will also suffer the most.  They are simply not prepared.  For them, these Dark Ages will be black, and somehow that gives me joy.

The Dark Ages, (part 2)

 Here it is, Sunday morning, and it's cold.  Temps are in the 20s (F), and today's high, like yesterday is only predicted to top off in the mid 30s (F).  Don't forget, winter is still a week away.  Will it be a cold one, or warm like the last two.  So far our weather pattern is repeating itself.  Only time will tell.

For those interested, the barley for breakfast is going well.  I boil up one cup of barley in 2.5 cups of water, that's gives me 3 cups barley which I then refrigerate.  It's a grain, so it has a very mild nutty/wheaty flavor.  Cost wise, it's about .35 a breakfast, or if it were boxed, like Grape Nuts, it would cost about $2.10 a box.  That's something you can take to the bank.  On top of that, there are absolutely no preservatives, meaning I'm not ingesting chemicals whenever I eat it.

Yesterday was one of those, I'm not doing anything days.  It was cold, I stayed home.  I wrote.  I had thought about working out with dumbbells, but that came to naught, as did the desire to put in some time on the treadmill.  I did spend some time examining my bands, but beyond the examination nothing happened.  

I played some Dragon Age.  I'm at the point where the final Boss fight is just around the corner, unfortunately, the game itself doesn't feel complete, and sadly, I am ready for it to be over.  That says more about the writing than anything else.  Most of the companion stories just are interesting enough, that's because their quests tended to be lame.  I'll probably finish it over the next few days and then download the new Indiana Jones game.  It's from Bethesda, and everybody I talked to loves it.

For dinner last evening I cooked some of my homemade pasta.  The pasta was good, the meat sauce, however, left a little to be desired.

And, of course, a large part of the reason yesterday was one of "those" days were the thoughts I had about our incoming president, and how bad things are going to get.  When I tell people that the shooting of the United Healthcare CEO was just the tip of the iceberg, I know many don't understand.  Conservatives expect Americans to just sit there and eat every spoonful of the shit they want to hand out and that isn't going to happen.  Both Canada and Mexico are going to tell Trump to go to Hell (you can bet they're talking to each other as we speak) and that will begin the Chaos that Wall Street hates.  The Orange Anus is going to put out a slew of Executive Orders on day one, and though many will have to work to work their way through the court system, they too will rock the country.  His cultists have no idea of the evil they have potentially unleashed.  Is the world heading into another Dark Ages?  That's possible.  Things that will not survive if we are:  Conservativism, Christianity, Wall Street, Billionaires.

Embracing the Dark Ages.

Well, today's my Hump Day.  The temperature is only forecast to go up to 92 (F).  The next 3 days, however it's going to be sitting around 99 (F) which is warm.  We haven't had and supercharged heat waves so far this summer (knock on wood), not like last year, of course with Covid 19 that would be a back page story.

Here in the US we shattered another record yesterday.  And Kayleigh McEnemy said we shouldn't let science interfere with the opening of schools.  You know, I heard that and do believe it set my life back about 600 years.  The Republican party is embracing the dark ages because they don't like what science tells them.  Conservatives despise science because it provides facts.  The only facts they like are those they decide are pertinent.  For them the ability to paint something as irrelevant is a strong tool in keeping people ignorant.  They love ignorance.  They find the ignorant are much easier to lead around by their noses.  Science is bad.  Vaccines will make your children autistic.  Masks attack your independence.  Injecting disinfectant is a very good way of killing... well, who really cares as long as people believe you, and support you.

Cracker Jack Christians love the Dark Ages.  As a group, they were never more powerful.  They led the crusades!  Back then Islam was leading the way in science, medicine, astronomy, and mathematics, and were far more tolerant.  Cracker Jack Conservatives love their intolerance.  They like to point fingers... and wear little red hats.  They much prefer telling the ignorant how to live their lives rather then deal with people who live by fact and reason.  This is because fact and reason make Conservatives look stupid.  They hate enlightenment.  They want you to put on a little red hat and embrace the dark ages.

An early image of Young Republicans

I don't know if this is true or not, but I heard the real reason for Brad Pascale's demotion was because he was banging Hope Hicks and the Idiot Jerk got jealous.  Sadly, that explanation makes perfect sense for this administration, dark and dirty.