Rise of the Idiots

Today is my daughter's hair day. By that I mean she gets her hair washed today. She is 47 yrs. old with severe Cerebral Palsy and today I help my wife wash her hair. We usually have help to come in and do these things but in the present environment that's not allowed.
I heard some crazy things in the last few days. Cities to do away with their police force. Replacing then with social workers and first responders. Can you imagine getting a call that the bank is being robbed and told to hang on tight, we have two social workers on the way. Minneapolis is one of those cities. Maybe it's a ploy to settle down the masses. I certainly hope it's not for real, Wyatt Earp would turn over in his grave. Minnesota has a big problem with Somalians. The only place they can go is downhill.
It rained for the last two days but dry enough today to cut the grass. Still jobs on the list to do.

Not Guilty

If you are found not guilty of a crime you didn't commit, you will never be exonerated

The Ugly

Yesterday I mentioned the good, the bad and the ugly. Afterward I went to check the movies on TV. Of course on one channel was The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. I told you that happens to me all the time. Too bad my lottery numbers wouldn't show up.
So, when I was at the doctor the other day, he gave me a new prescription. The pharmacy closes at 6:00 PM so I was there at 5:30. There was no prescription and it didn't seem to be anywhere in the system. Waited till next morning and called a few other places. It was a new doctor so I thought he might have sent it somewhere else. No luck anywhere. Called back the first place and they said it just arrived. Slow email I guess. Told me it would be ready in twenty min. Waited till the afternoon, then went. Wasn't ready. This time I waited for it.
It seems the new pill would interact with one I was already taking so this caused some confusion. They had to get in touch with the doctor, get it changed and so on. The pill I am already using now has to be cut in half. Now this pill is smaller than a small aspirin, so now cut in two, it's really small. I wet the tip of my finger to pick it up.
With all that going on I didn't win the lottery, mainly because I forgot to buy a darn ticket.

"Win, Lose or Die" (John Gardner's Bond, #8)

Where is James Bond? What have you done with him? This character sounds like a rookie not a seasoned operative. In his first conversation with "M", he is wimpy, a pale version of the real James Bond. The author uses sex scenes to capture the real Bond but makes a poor job of it. It is ill thought out with ridiculous dialogue. The story is a "B" movie with a lot of high school drama.

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

With this I refer to my visit to the hospital yesterday. I had to go for a stress test. This is good because I was able to get it so soon, this is bad because I had to get it and this is ugly because I have to go for more tests.
Finished reading a James Bond book yesterday and one of the female characters was called Clover. Yesterday evening I watched a "Sniper" movie and one of the female characters was called Clover. What are the chances of that? I am always surprised when this happens, even though it happens a lot.
Every generation has its golden idol for whom they march and destroy. They believe this to be the way to change the world. It can change small deficiencies but you can never eliminate poverty and you can never eliminate racism because people are people. 

Barber Shop

I saw these new rules for barber shops to reopen. They will be doing it tomorrow. I don't know for sure if this is correct. Of course you have to wear a face mask and you'll need an appointment. Fifteen minutes between haircuts for the barber to clean up. Only so many people in the shop at a time. I guess you have to wait outside. This must cut the barbers customers in half. I can only imagine what the new prices will be. Of course, when prices go up, they never come down. Guess I'll be staying away for awhile. My wife can continue cutting.
I was thinking I should have a camera focused on my back yard to see if anything is going on. I don't know if anything is going on but I don't have a camera to check, do I? I could also walk outside and then I could see my haircut.

Slavery

Woke up yesterday  morning with all the intentions to work outside, finish off the things I had started. The temp. was only 12 C/ 53 F and windy. There are things that I started to do from my list that I haven't quite finished. The day before was garbage day for regular garbage. Allowed five garbage bags or cans. Two were filled and there was three more with cut up wood from the garden. There is still wood left to cut up for the next pickup, two weeks away. Next week is green bin.
I also started straightening out my compose bins. Not quite finished there.
Hearing a lot about slavery again. I wish they would stop blaming me, I had nothing to do with it. In fact, most of my ancestors were almost white slaves, if not to a person, at least to a company or the system. Working in the coal mine was not a posh job. Since then we've made progress and we didn't hold protest marches and we didn't loot stores. And I wonder what does it gain to burn out stores in your own neighborhood?

"The Heart of the Empire" by Philip McCutchan

This is #5 of the James Ogilvie series. Capt Ogilvie has left India for the shores of South Africa and the Boer War. Nice to see the story move away from India. That was starting to wear thin. Again he is called upon to indulge in a secret mission. This time under the disguise of helping a maiden in distress.
This was a story worth reading, helping me in my understanding of the Boer War and the attitude of one side to the other. It is well written and a great book of historical fiction.

Coffee Filters

Like toilet paper, people are now buying a lot of coffee filters. Guess they found out they could make their coffee at home. not rocket science.

To Do List

So, this week is work on the 'To Do' list. My way to do it is to do the hardest one first. This year it's a drain pipe in the back yard. The rain collects in that area so I dug a drain, put a pipe in filled around it with gravel. I put a screen on the pipe and a hole in that area filed with gravel. I'm hoping the rain will run to the gravel as the easiest way out.
That done, the next chore was fix the garden. The boards around it were rotten and needed replacing. Also, I made the garden a little smaller. My wife says it's enough. Adding a picture of the garden. It's pleasing to the eye, like the rest of the yard.

Chicken or the Egg

What comes first, the chicken or the egg? Today, in my house, it was the egg. We had eggs for lunch and will have chicken for supper.

Bagels

I was reminded this morning about the Seinfeld show where they sold only muffin tops. I was having a bagel at the time and I realized that I always cut my bagel in two, toast it, butter it, put on cream cheese and I always eat the top last. For some reason I feel it is the best part. There are only two types that I like, Raisin and Everything. I also don't like them too big and puffy.
I told you the story about my toaster. I actually have a second toaster which I bought at a yard sale for $5.00. A back up toaster maybe, but actually a toaster for bagels. Bagels don't fit in the other one.
I remember the first time I had a bagel. It was in New York City, visiting my cousin and after Mass on a Sunday morning we went to a Bagel store. It was like a Donuts Shop. In front there was six cash registers and behind trays and trays of cream cheese. Who would have guessed how that would go.

Sounded Great at the Time

When the chickens come home to roost has little to do with chickens. It is more about decisions taken in the past, resulting in conditions we now face. One example would be slavery.

World Problems

This is crazy. I think I went to bed one night and woke up in an alternate universe. My world doesn't have people wearing face masks, unable to get a haircut and no coffee at McDonald's. I used to go there once a week with a friend of mine to discuss and solve the problems of the world. Now it looks like the world will have to find its own way out of its problems.
In Mar. it was wear gloves, wear gloves, wear gloves, don't wear masks. Now it's wear the masks but don't wear gloves. You can tell that the powers to be know what they are doing.
I see  they are now telling restaurants to use outdoor space like sidewalks and parking lots to get the physical distancing. That may work fine for Florida but we actually have a winter here. I guess they are hoping all will be normal by then.
I learned a new word. Vloggers. I believe it is people who are unable to put two sentences together but have a camera.

Witch Hazel

While working outside the other day, I was bitten by a black fly or something. It was right between the first two fingers on my right hand and it itched like hell. I told my friend about it and he said to put Witch hazel on it. He said I would have to get it from the Pharmacist as it wasn't sold over the counter. Told my wife about it and she said to go to the bathroom and check the cabinet. Looking in there, I thought I would never find it. But it was the first bottle I looked at. Put some on and it worked like a charm. Itchiness all gone. But it might have some side effects because later on, while walking past a broom on the patio, I had this strange feeling that I wanted to fly.

"Black Soul' (Titan #4) by TJ. Brearton

This is the last in this series and I have to say that I did not find it enjoyable. The main character is William, a man with a perpetual temper tantrum. His partner is his on and off love, interfering with his concentration on the business at hand. He goes from one personal struggle to another helped by his faithful partner, up to a point. Memories of past failures haunt him.

Toaster Autopsy Report.

I did my autopsy on GE yesterday. I can do this myself  because in the Air Force I was an electronics tech. So this was a piece of cake. That reminds me. I want to thank all the seniors who paid taxes because it was their taxes that paid for my training. That out of the way, now on to the autopsy. I'm happy to say it was not a homicide so my son is off the hook. It came down to cholesterol. I think it was all that white bread he toasted before it became cholesterol free and we switched to whole wheat and multi-grain.
One of the veins was burnt out and had to be replaced. With the new cord, he went back to work with no sick leave. As a point of interest, I found a blog entry where I had fixed this toaster 10 yrs. ago. At that time I had written that it was 42 yrs. old. It was also a cord at that time also.
Here is a picture of my toaster with his friends showing of his new cord. What a publicity hound.

Requiem for a Toaster.

On the 26th. of May, 2020, a chrome toaster that went by the name of GE passed away at the age of 52, from what is believed to be electrical shock. A faithful toaster who worked daily since his conception in 1968, was made in the U.S. of A. and was purchased as a wedding present at a CANEX outlet in Baden, W. Germany. He had travel experience in Europe and Canada and loved being with his friends coffee maker, Nutri Bullet and Magic Bullet who will sorely miss him. Also missing him will be his extended family of plates, knives and spoons.
Funeral arrangements have not been made because of an autopsy planned for tomorrow. There is some suspicion of foul play with the main suspect being my son. He was the last one to see it functioning and told no one that it no longer worked. His alibi is that it worked fine when he used it. It must have been the next person who is at fault. Since I was the next person to use it, I find his statement to be untrue. As of yet, it is not known if it was a homicide, suicide or just plain old age. The results of the autopsy will be posted at a later date.

Against the Wind

My son asked me if it was windy because he doesn't like doing his walk in the wind. I told him to go half way, if it is windy, come back.

Toilet Paper

I think that around the country there are people with a lot of toilet paper.