Max Sullivan

At 50 (F), our outside temp is on the cool side.  The forecast is for the afternoon sun to warm us up to at least 60 (F), plus maybe a few extra degrees.  There are warmer days in the forecast, but not until Monday.  We'll have sunshine today and tomorrow, but then clouds are going to roll in for the week with a serious likelihood of rain over the weekend.  Rain is good, at least until I hose to replace the one I threw away.

Yesterday was a decent day.  I didn't go anywhere, but I did get a really good workout in; the issues with my left knee appear to have worked themselves out.  Bread was also baked, and several loads of laundry done.  

After my aunt's funeral, my cousin gave a number of pictures of the Snyder family to us surviving members, pictures with our parents when they were younger.  My brother got those with my dad, I got one with both my parents.  It did however inspire me to go through one of my own boxes of pictures.  Quite a number of them ended up in the trash because they were duplicates, or pastoral scenes from places that I barely remember.  Of those I saved, I thought I'd start posting them here to give you all a better idea of my past.  There's not going to be any sort of chronological order, I'm just going to reach into the box and pull out and scan it.  Today you're going to meet Max, full name Maxwell Sullivan, my ginger cat who lived to be 21 years old.  Max Sullivan, in my books, is named after Max the cat.  Here he is sitting on the newel post of my staircase.  I stripped all the many layers of old paint off only to discover that the wood was is such bad shape it needed to be repainted.

My neighbor's son is home from college, he's going to Temple University.  He's much smarter than his parents.  This leads to friction between all of them.  Last night they had a loud, screaming argument.

In case you haven't realized it, Orangie's ballroom is all about stealing from the American taxpayer.  As a result, it's very unpopular and has little support from Americans.  How low is that support?  More people support the belief in ghosts than want this stupid ballroom to be built.

And it appears that Orangie's Project Freedom, his plan to use the US military to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz was shut down by the Saudis.  The US is no longer allowed to use any of the military airports or the airspace.  The Saudis have also cancelled the LIV golf tournament.  Hhhmm, makes one wonder if they no longer need Orangie.  Like a 2 bit whore, he prostituted America to them in exchange for real estate deals.  I wouldn't be surprised if they've already shut down his dreams of having a Trump Tower in Riyadh.

Max at 20

 So, the Labor Day weekend has ended.  In the 5 hours I worked, the store was had some very busy moments interspersed with nearly empty aisles.  Business trended higher when it was raining, and in case anyone is wondering, we did get rain.  At times torrential downpours made it difficult to see.  This morning I looked out my front window and saw that my lawn had turned from brown to green.

I watched the last 2 episodes of Locke and Key, season 1, last evening and thought the ending was a bit anticlimactic.  I then watched the premier episode of season 2.  Meh.  Most of the 49 minutes was used to explain the ending of season 1.  I've watched other series and this going back to rehash the previous season in order to set up the next season is not good.  The writers seemed to be stretching in the wrong directions to find continuity.  Maybe that's why this is the 3rd and final season.  Or it could be that a minor character in season 1 is now a villain, oh, and she apparently lost about 25 pounds during the filming hiatus and looks completely different.  Or it could be the uncle in season 1, turns out to be gay and is suddenly engaged to a black man who just so happens to be leaving the country to study in Japan.  Or it could be that main villain in season 1 is still around, but in a new face and body.  Oh, shit.

Anyway, I found 2 more pictures of Max Sullivan, the cat.  He lived to be 21, and I took these about a year before he died.  He shrank as he got older and reminded me so much of an old man.

And, of course, yesterday Ailleen Cannon sort of granted Trump's request for a Special Master.  The Dallas Morning News reported that she had said to one of her department attorney's that she didn't see any harm in it.  While not coming as a total surprise to the legal community, many were surprised she chose to take this path.  She is, as one Tristan Snell put it on Twitter, in way over her head, and that she put party over country.  Personally, I don't think she has an idea how doing this is putting fuel on the fire.  No one is suddenly going to feel sorry for Trump.  Quite the opposite.  Anger is continuing to grow at the MAGA claim of a stolen election, at Trump's lies, of his possible use of confidential documents for personal profit and power.  Everyday more people are finding themselves fed up with the Republican Party.  Will judge Cannon's decision do anything other than delay the inevitable?  Absolutely not.  There are too many other ongoing investigations.  No matter how hard they try, they will not be able to stop the clock.  How do I know this?  My brother, a devout Evangelical has quietly told my sister that if Trump were to somehow get nominated again, there is no way he would be able to vote for him.

Don't we have enough trees?

Well, my mid-week weekend has begun.  For some reason, I seem to get more accomplished on a Tuesday and Wednesday then I did when my weekends were the standard Saturday and Sunday.  Perhaps the idea of not working has become so ingrained with those 2 days I usually end up frittering away the hours rather than get anything done.

One the things getting done today is a trip to the bank.  I closed out an old 401K I'd had with the orange retailer I work for, and the check arrived Saturday.  The taxes have already been taken out, so it will be deposited into the regular savings account.  Since taxes are always going to be deducted, I figured the Federal Government might as well get their money now.

Another thing I need to do is call the Vet and make an appointment for Biggie.  He needs his wellness checkup.  I was going to put that off until November because they want him to fast (like that's really going to happen) so they can check his sugar.  But yesterday morning he developed a dry cough and since he is approaching his senior years, I want to get him check out.

I found a better picture of Max Sullivan, the namesake of the smartass in my books.  It's old and grainy, but it's easy to see the smartass in him.  

And, of course, we had a bumper crop of Trump horseshit yesterday.  He wants a 'master' to review the documents he stole for espionage's sake.  This is what he's done his entire life, sue to stop or delay the proceedings, or to simply just attack.  Media outlets seem to have finally understand they need to call his lies... well, lies.  Calling them unsubstantiated falsehoods is one of the definitions of failure.  One thing that is fascinating about his lawsuit, is that it's Per Se, which means he is going to argue the case himself rather than have his attorneys in front of a judge.  Either they didn't want to touch it, or he believes himself to be a more convincing liar.  Also keep in mind, this will also endear him even more to his MAGA base.

Also, McConnell sort of, well, kind of went on the attack saying there was no election fraud, or rather he said the was very little election fraud.  This was after Florida taxpayers spent $3.9 million so Ronnie De Santis could give them 20 instances.  Keep in mind, those incidents did not include the Republican fraud that happened in The Villages.

And, finally, this bit of political hilarity.  From the Washington Post: Which Republican candidate is the worst?   Who do you think?  While many believe Oz is the most incompetent?  "His across-the-board incoherence remains unmatched," says a lot.  And I do believe this was before Walker, talking about Climate Change, said "don't we have enough trees?"

Setting the Record Straight

 We had rain last night.  Now I won't have to water my little garden.  Right now, we have fog. thin without even the hint of a wisp.  I do get to work today.  That will be fine.  Last evening, I had the taddiest bit of a sore throat and wondered if I should use one of the Covid tests I got from the government.  I didn't.  This morning the soreness is gone.

There are mosquitos in the house again this year.  I think they fly in when I let the dogs out.  Last year I burned citronella candles to keep them at bay.  Honestly, I think any candle will work.  I will have to do a little research on that.  

For some time now I've been thinking that I need to set the record straight, not that it's crooked, or bent by any means.  Still, there is a bit of information I feel you should know.  I have 2 protagonists in my books:  Eli, who tells the story in first person, and his partner and companion in life, Max Sullivan.  I originally wanted to call Eli, Levi after my grandfather, but I just happen to know 2 other people with that name, so my main character became Eli.  As for Max Sullivan?  He's named after a ginger cat of mine who lived to be 21 years old.  He was always a bit of a smartass and never failed to let me know he was in charge of every situation.  So, I thought I share a picture of his best side, his butt.

And wasn't yesterday filled with several fun surprises?  The Department of Justice revealed that there is an official investigation into Donald Trump.  Evidently, a number of people have already interviewed / testified.  Of course, the ketchup is staining the walls of which ever suite of rooms he's staying in; he might still be in Washington, or perhaps he's returned to haunt his New Jersey golf club.  Oh, and his attorneys have filed some sort of bullshit about his being 'immune.'  Well, that won't fly far.  Isn't it nice to know that he's feeling desperate?  

Here in Pennsylvania, Dr. Oz is failing to close the gap between he and John Fetterman, no doubt because Fetterman turns out to be a genius when it comes to snarky attacks, like the one with Steve Van Zandt:

As for that far right extremist Doug Mastriano.  He's having issues mostly because he's already spit out so much negativity he thought was going to set the record straight burning his ass across almost every media outlet.  Pennsylvanians don't like him.  This is a good thing, a very good thing.