The Perils of Postponement A big part of every news cycle these days is a review of the calendar that we face in 2024. The calendars that bear most of the interest are the political process calendar of primaries, Party Conventions and elections (including the ballot printing and finalization calendars) and then the legal process calendar of Donald Trump, including his four criminal trials and countless civil trials and all their attendant appeals and motions…
The Hill of Life This morning we are having a brief respite from the rain and with the sunshine has come a desire to squeeze in whatever yard work I can do since in a week I will be away for three weeks and the garden will go untended. I’m having Joventino come back next week so that we can give it a final touch up before we head out as well. Last night I…
The World at Large As we prepare for our big SE Asia trip a week from now, I have a lot on my mind. The range of topics that are swirling in my mind little pea brain that suffers from too little capacity and too much thought turnover and too much caring about shit is vast. I’m not sure where to begin, so I will just stumble forward. We have had Buddy now for seven…
Econometric Confusion The study of economics is called the dismal science. It was called that by Thomas Carlyle during the Victorian era of England because another famous economist and demographer called Thomas R. Malthus had postulated that human population would always grow faster than man’s ability to grow sufficient food to feed itself. That was a very Dickensian outlook that was before the Industrial Revolution (first, second, third or fourth), when technology started to improve…
O’Biden We just had a surprise visit (at least it was a surprise for me) from our dear friends from San Francisco/Sonoma. One of the things they do is is keep a list of great limited series shows based on true life events and movies of the same genre. I must admit, I haven’t considered that genre for its uniqueness, but when we do happen to watch one (as we did with Dopesick, Painkiller and…
Limping to the Finish Line This morning, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held his longest press conference of his three year tenure in the job. The position of Secretary of Defense is always an important cabinet position, usually the second or third most important among the cabinet. In fact, the official presidential line of succession flows from the Veep to the Speaker of the House, to the President Pro Tempore of the Senate (strangely enough,…
Another Trip Among New Year’s resolutions I will bet that most people our age are telling themselves that they will finally get down to seeing the world and traveling more. Inertia certainly increased with age (is that part of Newtonian physics?) and our bodies at rest tend to want to stay at rest. But we have more of different physics equation with which to contend in this household. A few years ago after a very…
Bouncing Buddy I was never a pet person, but as life has progressed I have changed…somewhat. I do give my $19/mo to the ASPCA, but I am forever reminding Kim that the same gift of $19/mo to Save The Children seems more important. We had a dog when I was a kid, but it was really my sister’s dog and was cared for mostly by my farm-strong mother. I will not mention his name in…
Metabolism Schism I am once again confused by my own body. I have been on as much of a regular exercise program for six months now as I can ever remember. This started with a trainer and swimming, it progressed recently to adding a rowing machine at home for workouts when I am not otherwise at the gym or in the pool, and the recent spring weather has me out in the yard doing 2-3…
Contemplating My Navel How often do you think about your navel? It is literally and figuratively the center of you. It connected you to life and to your heritage, undeniably so. We are mostly bestowed with “innies”, but who among us does not wish that we had the abdominal muscles to show off an “outie”? We mostly ignore it until it accumulates some lint and we are forever washing it in the shower absentmindedly because…