Naked!

 Thursday has arrived.  I get to work today, but for only 6 hours.  Yesterday was very showery, with rain falling on and off through most of the day.  Lots of rain.  What they call a soaker.  And, in spite of that, I got quite a lot done.  Of course, I didn't stay up late the night before binging on TV series that fill time without substance. I find that a lot of the series that air on streaming services tend to dilly dally around the plot rather than get to the point.  They present us with a host of side stories featuring peripheral characters that only vaguely touch upon the main storyline.

I took a walk through the Louvre yesterday while I was on my treadmill.  Lots of commercials.  And it was packed with people.  A word to the wise:  if you're in Paris and want to go to one of the greatest museums in the world, go early.  It opens at 0900.  Be there at 0901.  As a result, there were only 8 or 9 other people standing in front of the Mona Lisa, rather than the 200 or 300 packing the room later in the day.

And I know there are several readers who desperately wish I'd show a little skin, well, here you are, the real me in all of my naked glory reclining in the tub.  Enjoy.

Steve the scumbag Bannon, is turning himself into authorities today. It's my understanding that he's a little concerned about this indictment.  If found guilty, this one would bring him real jail time and possibly ruination.  Now, doesn't that make you feel good, the idea of Steve Bannon being ruined?  Let's be honest here, he's too old, and fat, and scabby to be very popular in prison.  Besides, I don't doubt that most inmates will see through his bullshit.

And Mitch McConnell was giving some sort of Republican presser yesterday and for the most part those journalists asking questions were playing softball, but then...  a reporter asked him about the top-secret documents Trump had a Mar a Lago.  Suddenly the presser ends, though not before Mitch informs the reporters that this investigation is all anybody has been talking about for the past month.  The words are barely out of his mouth, before he and the other Republicans make a quick exit.  Heading into the midterms, the Republicans have lost control of the conversation.  Here's a vid from Forbes.  The question is towards the end.  I found it amusing that he didn't even say 'good afternoon.'  They all just turn and high tail it out of the room.  It's almost as though a picture of Steve Bannon naked flashed in front of their eyes.

Moments

 Hello weekend, what ever that means.  There was a time when everything shut down on the weekends, that is no longer the case.  Many who have a Monday thru Friday full time job, now work part-time on weekends so whatever pertinence the weekend has is now relative.  Things are always changing.  Will actual weekends ever come back for a majority of American workers?  I doubt it. 

Yesterday, on my day off, I did relatively nothing... well, that's not totally true.  Laundry was done, the bathroom was cleaned, I did my grocery shopping at my local Giant.  

Oh, and Will Smith has resigned from the Academy of Arts and Sciences.  It's kind of a little late for his fettered anguish and tears.  Slapping a comedian on live world wide television because you didn't like their joke is more than an 'oh... Shit!' moment.  Thanks to that moment, so much dirt is being shoveled about the Smiths, that his fans are experiencing and very serious WTF moment.  I wouldn't be surprised if his next staring role isn't going to be his Sharknado 37.

My peach tree is blossoming.

I understand that old, and very white, Mitch McConnell is doggedly trying to upset the apple cart for Ketanji Brown Jackson's nomination to the Supreme Court.  Well, I don't see why anyone should find that surprising.  I wonder if he's worried she might Clarence (I'm an Oreo) Thomas look phony.

And yesterday, the House of Representatives passed a single item bill capping the cost of insulin at $35 and 193 Republicans voted against it.  They didn't offer and substantive arguments as to why they wanted to kill the bill.  Of course, we do know they love their corporate greed more than they do life.

The MRI

 So, I had my MRI yesterday (no pics yet). though I received a call from my Dr. around 1:30 (PM) with the results.  They are pretty much what I was expecting.  L1 is bulging and L2 is in the process of spitting out its disc jelly.  Ouch.  My pain right now is nowhere near what it was 6 weeks ago.  To me, that signifies improvement.  Nerves from L1 and L2 run down the front of your leg, hence the fiery discomfort in my quads and knee caps.  This also explains why now and then my quads will get tingly, like the muscles are falling asleep.  I haven't actually seen the pictures yet, but the VA is going to upload them to my file so I'll be able to watch those snazzy videos from the comfort of my gaming chair.  In the meantime, here's a diagram.

Six years ago L4 and L5 were in the process of fusing naturally, L5 and S1 had already fused.  L3 was bulging badly.  Basically, the process is slowly moving up my spine.  I'm interested in seeing if L3 and L4 have fused.  Since the pain has decreased, I suspecting the fusion process is underway.  For the time being, I'm going to opt for an injection of steroids.  As my doctor said, that will pretty much eliminate the pain, however it does nothing to correct the issue.  However, if the fusion process is happening naturally, I don't see why I should submit to surgery for a quick fix, so to speak.  So, right now I'm waiting for a call to tell me where and when to go for my injection.

Politically, wasn't it interesting to see Mitch McConnell blink regarding the debt ceiling?  While the Republicans are trying to spin this in their direction, old Mitch has suddenly decided is comment about "no compromise" only had traction in the MAGA base.  Ever other voters was looking at him and wondering why he was being such a dick.  By the way, the answer to that is:  he's a Republican.

Oh, and saw where the Arizona Democrats have already found a replacement for Sinema.  First they follow her into the restroom so she can't pinch a loaf in private, and now they've settled on someone they consider better qualified to fulfill the Democrat agenda.  Don't worry.  She's not upset.  She doesn't care.  That's how phonies are.